Possibilities of new offhand weapons for power berserker (WvW, maybe PvP)

[howdy.7604]

Greetings, my brawny brethren! The weapon master beta thread is a bit disordered rn, and besides, I'm not a very concise lad, so I decided to start a new thread. Last night I made a beta character and tried out both dagger and pistol as offhands for a power berserker build, an did a bit of small scale fighting in WvW. 

I think most of you laddies and ladies know the build, but for those who don't, I'll spend words. The first spec is Discipline. Nothing new here. Warrior's Sprint, Brawler's Recovery and, seeing as it's an axe build, Axe Mastery. Second, Defence. All the upper row, meaning reflect on blocks, Endure Pain when using an elite, and Last Stand to cash out on longer Stance skills with a bit of barrier and vigor. Berserker set up is quite defensive, with all the bottom row taken, meaning you can waltz in and out of berserker mode and get on exit the same things you got on entrance, except the stun break. Healing is Defiant stance. Utilities are Sundering Leap for mobility and aegis, SiO because it's a cleanse and stun break and then Endure Pain. Elite is the headbutt to trigger another 2 seconds of Defy Pain as much as possible and readily enter berserk mode. Also because the animation is hilarious, but I digress. Weapons are mace and shield when you're getting murdered, axe and axe when you're the one doing the shanking. Gear is whatever you're comfortable with, mix and match Marauder, Berserker and Dragon's at leisure. I personally juggle between full Marauder with dragon's axes and full Berserker. The main "combo" is fairly elastic, but may take some getting used to. When you enter berserk mode, you get a bit of quickness, a bit of superspeed, two stacks of stability, some 2 seconds of Blood Reckoning and some 2 of immunity to strike damage. The "combo" is about squeezing between entrance and exit all your damage, so that it may be covered at least by stability, quickness and hopefully fury. When I say "cover", I mean having these boons. Set up your target via stun, first. Shieldbash and Headbutt, or just Headbutt if you're confident you can land it. Enter berserk mode, breaking your self-inflicted stun. Now, if you've already got fury, you can use axe 5 on the entrance quickness and then follow up with the rest, including one or two decapitates, then get out. If you haven't, then get it with axe 2, then Decapitate and the rest, and cover axe 5 with axe 4 and the quickness you get upon exit. You can delay exit and spam decapitate as you see fit. Then, switch again to defensive set, and wait at least for Headbutt and berserk mode to recharge. 

How does all of this work when you take away axe 4 and 5?

Surprisingly, it's quite good, aside from being very fun. However, both dagger and pistol offhand may need some love. 

First, dagger: the set up is the same, but berserk window must be tighter. Shieldbash, Headbutt, enter berserk mode and swap weapons. Fury by axe 2, Wastrel's ruin if the enemy is still stunned, decapitate and cover Bladestorm on exit. For single target it's decent. Axe gets additional quickness and higher damage in a wider area. You'd take dagger for the boonstrip. Unfortunately, boonstrip is generally tuned down, which is a shame. Aside from this, which I would tune up significantly, the first minor thing I'd add is fury somewhere in the mix. Maybe in Bladestorm, based on how many hits you land. You *could* take Heat the Soul, but shamefully enough it doesn't grant quickness and fury in pvp/wvw, only fury and a bit if might on a build without Might Makes Right. And you'd have to give up the Blood Reckoning seconds on entrance and exit, which are essential to sustain: you heal for 33% of the damage you deal, and that is during your invulnerability to strike damage window and your own damage dump. If offhand dagger had fury, it would also open up combos with main hands that aren't axe, which is has it on 2. Sword had its power coefficients recently tuned up, it might be a decent candidate. You don't spam bursts in this build anyways. Second thing I'd do is, if not making Wastrel's Ruin an AoE,  then making it a small leap, enough to trigger movement skills traits (which means likely Warrior's sprint, and also Brave Stride on other builds), and give it swiftness while taking it away from Bladestorm. Or don't give fury to Bladestorm, but to Wastrel's if you land it on a stunned opponent. 

Second, pistol. I preface that I'm gonna wax lyrical about this. Pistol carried me through fights I'd have died in with offhand axe, just last night. The combo is way harder to pull off correctly in the berserker window. The point is squeezing at both ends a fully loaded and covered Dragon's Roar. Set up is normal, meaning Shieldbash and Headbutt. Enter berserk mode, and axe 2 if you don't have fury. Dragon's Roar, Gunstinger, Decapitate, second Gunstinger for 6 ammo, then exit berserker, use Dragon's Roar again and finish with Axe 3. All mostly covered. Last bit is important, because the attacks in pistol 5 are slightly delayed, and they synchronise with a very hurtful flying axe. Why take this over offhand axe? Gunstinger is half the reason. It has Aegis (which reflects, here, and you also incidentally have it on Sundering leap), works for the purposes of Warrior's Sprint and gives 3 ammo. And it's a small gap closer. Dragon's roar is what I've got a beef with: the after cast is a bit long for me, and the knock back is irritating and frankly pointless. First thing I'd propose is making it a gap closer based on ammunitions spent. Second thing I'd do is grant 1 or 1.5 seconds of quickness when firing exactly 3 ammo, and double that when firing 6. This rewards full discharge and trigger discipline. You can shoot a full Roar, then reload it with two Gunstingers (generally with something un between them, it takes a second to be usable again) and do it again, or you can shoot a full Roar, recharge 3 with Gunstinger, Roar again, Gunstinger for another 3 and Roar for another 3. The aim of this is to reward the care you take for ammunitions outside Bladesworn. Shooting 6 rewards you with quickness, and that's the main thing. Shooting half too can reward with quickness, but it requires *precise* timing. I must also emphasise that you can keep respectably high vulnerability on target, more so than axe-axe.

You'd take pistol over axe for more mobility and defence, and high damage to whatever's in front of you. Also, those 4 stacks of stab between entrance and exit are covered by an additional blanket, Aegis. The cost is not being as fast as axe 4 nor as AoE as axe 5. And a more complicated usage. I had a lot of fun with it, with a bit more love I hope to see someone else sport the pistol. As for dagger vs pistol, I reckon sufficient boonstrip should make one think about it. 

On a final note, all three options have a multi-strike 5, meaning blinds and enemy Aegis won't cut it against them. Warriors generally hate both. This isn't my primary langauge, apologies for cumbersome phrasing.