why bring a spellbreaker?

[frednought.1238]

I've been playing spellbreaker pretty much exclusively this season after having abstained throughout the last due to it feeling, frankly, broken. My question now, though, is whether it's still worth playing at all. It seems to me that, though I like warrior, the class as a whole doesn't have enough utility to keep it relevant when it's not overpowered.Yet, I still see some people list spellbreaker among the strongest current specs, and I'm not sure why. My understanding is thus: mirage, scourge, and firebrand are obviously mandatory in any organized team comp. Thief isn't necessarily required but is highly desirable for backcapping and killing firebrands. Your last slot, assuming no duplicates, would then be a choice between a holo, druid, or spellbreaker. Holo has high aoe damage and a surprising amount of utility--group stealth, invulnerability for stomps or resses, and potentially elixir R. Druid doesn't do much damage but has excellent mobility, good 2v1 potential, and some group healing if necessary.
Spellbreaker, after the nerfs, is basically just a good duelist. Not an unbeatable duelist, either--it loses badly to mirage, stalemates versus bunker druid, and has a very hard fight versus dodge holo. It can sometimes kill bad scourges but dies if the scourge times their interrupts properly. It has a hard time surviving if plussed by a competent thief, especially one running sword/dagger. It can teamfight if needed but doesn't provide any group support or consistent aoe point pressure.My question here is: am I wrong? Am I misunderstanding the potential of my class, or is spellbreaker--and warrior as a whole--truly as lukewarm as it seems? If so, what could be changed about warrior to make it actually a valuable teammate even when it's not in a state where it's comfortably winning 3v1s? I'm curious if my perception is widespread or if others are having a much different experience.

[sephiroth.4217]

I'd like a decrease on Warbanner but I'm retarded and would like to see builds of old come back into play.

[Jacobin.8509]

For power holo is probably overall better, but SB is one of the few builds that can fight on point for a decent amount of time and still do decent damage and CC while being able to quickly disengage. Its a tankier roamer that is very easy to pick up and play.

[tartarus.1082]

Tbh I honestly think core war is better rn. for the most part sb actually struggles keeping up with core war in a 1v1 due to core having more cc, burst damage, and of course the might stacking.

Plus if kited well with core war can actually sustain very well, assuming you don't eat a significant condi bomb. Plus it's very easy to burst with counterpressure.

pre nerf sb was basically a bunker with huge damage. Obviously, being able to sustain 3 people at a time and still let out counterpressure wasn't ok. However with the nerfs now the sustain boost feels like a poor trade off for core war's damage.

[Keyba.9570]

@tartarus.1082 said:Tbh I honestly think core war is better rn. for the most part sb actually struggles keeping up with core war in a 1v1 due to core having more cc, burst damage, and of course the might stacking.

Plus if kited well with core war can actually sustain very well, assuming you don't eat a significant condi bomb. Plus it's very easy to burst with counterpressure.

pre nerf sb was basically a bunker with huge damage. Obviously, being able to sustain 3 people at a time and still let out counterpressure wasn't ok. However with the nerfs now the sustain boost feels like a poor trade off for core war's damage.

You won't be dueling another warrior the entire match. Majority of POF specs will eat a core warrior alive in this meta. Core vs Spellbreaker is pretty even but I'd rather be playing spellbreaker in conquest because the randomization of your opponents.

[Master Ketsu.4569]

Pre MMR nerf core warrior was fine and could fight most other specs if you were good.Post MMR nerf all core warrior can really fight is SB and rev.

[HeadCrowned.6834]

Spellbreaker does more damage than a druid and can push basically any 1v1. You have enough sustain to hold a 1v2 or even 1v3 for a while. I still see spellbreakers quite a lot in pvp and they can be pretty effective there. I don't play spellbreaker myself, but I just observed this in pvp in general.

[sephiroth.4217]

I bring spell breaker at low end pvp, higher I go the classes change in order to be effective.

Bronze-Silver: Can play spell breaker, Daredevil, soulbeast.Silver - Gold: Can play Tempest, Burn builds, Condi trapper buildsGold - higher: Have to play Holo, Scourge, Thief or Firebrand.

I don't care much for PvP now anyway, too many scourges with firebrands nut hugging each other.

[frednought.1238]

Seems to me that the main benefit of spellbreaker versus anything else is that it can land a few 2-4k hits on a scourge in a teamfight before having to disengage because your resistance is gone. I guess that's...something?

I found the MMR core build more fun to play but with the nerf to berserker stance and now MMR it doesn't have enough defense versus conditions to perform consistently, I feel. RIP dodge warrior, we hardly knew ye.

[otto.5684]

I do not play warrior. In my opinion warrior is lacking in damage. Sure gs can deal good damage, but locking down the target is pretty difficulty. Add the boon corruption and it is pretty difficult to play when there is nearly 2 scourges every game. Resistance is futile.

I honestly find warrior is one of Anet impossible to balance classes. They are either op or borderline on useless.

[Ferus.3165]

warrior has always been lacking in the aoe department, and the problem is that sb has even less dmg (no str traitline and dagger has a lot less dmg than axe) than core warrior but has better sustain (FC and resistance and even some protection). The problem is that vs most of the pof specs the increased survivability is mandatory.

best thing to do is probably wait for the balance patch to bring the top classes down. Other than that i don't think it would be a good idea to give the warrior more dmg but some more utility (because that is where warrior is lacking the most) like boon removal on dagger auto (e.g. every third hit removes a boon from enemies hit).