sneakytails.5629

The Greatsword matters because if you run any other weapon set on your Warrior you will see very quickly how dependent Warrior is on this weapon in competitive play. So I would say that it matters a great deal.

There are massive differences in sustain between Core Warrior and Spellbreaker. Berserker is not even in the same zip code as those two. For some reason you keep using the term Warrior like they all have the same levels of sustain, when they clearly do not.

PvP also has its own balancing with weaker versions of the most important Warrior Traits and Skills, further increasing the gap in power between the specs.

**Really what you are experiencing here is a spec designed for sustain (Spellbreaker) stacking damage, movement and sustain just like all the other competitive classes stack with their weapon, trait and skill choices. This is why they are actually competitive, because this game (and PvP even more so) forces you to do that.**

The solution to a lot of your problems is to stop trying to outplay a specific spec on a node who is designed and optimized to hold the node. There are clearly ways to play around this as many videos out there show the good players doing just that.

Best way to learn a classes weakness is to roll one yourself. You would have a lot less trouble with the mobility once you learn the timing and when to CC or not. Most fights between the same classes by players who main them go on for a lot longer than normal for this reason.

Once you roll some of the other classes you will see that they can stack annoying stuff just like Warrior can. This is a problem with the game itself and not any one class.

Warrior is good at what it does, but beyond that it struggles. Take away its meta weapon (GS) and it **really** struggles. Ranger is the same way with longbow.

Spellbreaker has been adjusted multiple times with nerfs to sustain and damage, at this point specs like Holosmith and Soulbeast are really close to overtaking it if not already doing so.

The best way to defeat your problems with the class is to roll one or to seriously duel alot until you figure it out.

I fixed the sentence structure to reflect the ideas better, thank you grammar police.

Overall, Warrior is completely outclassed by Thief and Mesmer. However, Holosmith and Soulbeast can do just as good if not better at 1v2. Considering the huge nerfs to skills like Endure Pain, Berserkers Stance, and Balanced Stance, what you are complaining about (movement abilities?) does not even make any sense. Warrior has taken a huge hit over multiple patches to things that directly effect the classes effectiveness. Nerf mobility and Warrior is for sure DOA, its one of the few things the class has left.

Once you start playing the other classes, you begin to see where the Warrior currently stands, and its not near the top anymore.

The recent buffs to Longbow and Sword have helped Condi Berserker significantly. Ever since the recent Sword buffs I have put a Condi Berserker back into my build rotation in WvW. Its doing just fine, and Thieves and Mesmers are less of a problem than when I play my power builds. The burst potential feels really good right now. With power taking back the meta, most enemies are not running many clears right now.

Power Berserker is what feels weak to me right now, I always destroy them when on my Core Warriors, its the power version of Berserker which could use some buffs. Some of the skill tweak ideas above sound good. It needs to be hitting way harder.

Lol I was getting worried there for a second. Good thing I am not a editor, I missed it too.

Some good changes, but some weird ones as well. The one that stands out for me as weird is moving Shield Master to Tactics, and Burning Arrows to Defense? That change by itself would really hurt the Core GS/Axe-SH spec that is accessible right now to all players, not having SM would only push the spec even further down. I feel its important to have a strong core Warrior spec as a baseline, and to be the jumping off point for more aggressive builds, and newer players.

These guys are good scouts and fighters too. I remember saving North Camp on TC Alpine Borderlands more than a few times with their help. They would make a good addition to any server.

Love the rifle buffs. One of my mains runs A/A-Rifle. Its a decent weapon even more now.

Whenever I come across a DE on my core Warrior I just go full cheese and switch to double EP with the shout reveal. I let them proc my Passive EP and then save the skillbar EP for just after they remove my second reveal.

I usually never run double EP but I will against DE. Sometimes you just gotta bust out the cheese.

> @"Schwahrheit.4203" said:

> Trust me when I say this, Berserker does have a high skill cap. You could do really cool things like for example with a Mace zerker: Normal Non-Berserker mode Skull Crack > Bait Stun Break with autos > Signet of Fury > go for the skull grinder burst.

>

> The problem is, whats the point Berserker doesn't allow you to go trigger happy while being defensive? You have to be precise, you can't even be tanky anymore. Only thing zerker has nowadays is condi-burst. When Spellbreaker is more forgiving defense/attack-wise and Core Warrior is looking stronger due to the adrenaline changes + Fast Hands and Mobility on discipline. It's not rewarding enough because you can't defend yourself hard enough on most berserker specs. I bet scourge could still Z-axis teleport too and that makes them infinitely better for condi bomb, but correct me if I'm wrong. The closest that you can get to an "attacking while evading spec" nowadays is probably with Core and Spellbreaker full counter. And even then, you'd be balanced compared to garbage designed characters like Mirage and Ranger. Balanced character just means garbage tbh, playing well designed characters don't really work anymore sadly. It's been this way ever since 2015.

>

> It's just too hard, how will you make zerker work when you have to sacrifice so much. You can be amazing at zerker but you'll still get trolled cause everything else is just easier.

>

This 100%

When I am on my other Warriors and I fight a Berserker I do not even look for when they activate Berserk mode, its that weak now. Even a trash Holosmith can dump all over you before you get to your second burst.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJEQRAoY8enk6CdeglhAWhAciglrATJHk4qBIBgEQBAfDPiPxA-jVCHQBcY/hnoEMM6Ho3JAQkPAAAcEAc2BBAIK/kn6PBAQAuZb2mtZwNv5Nv5NvZt5Nv5Nv5Nv5Nv5NLFQVS2A-w

This is currently what I am running right now. I use Destruction of the Empowered because the Dagger 3/4 combo can be used at the very beginning of a fight (when you have not really stripped a lot of boons) if your target lacks a lot of stability, so things like Necros and Thieves are good targets for this. The extra damage is nice to have, I find I can drop enemies just using one dagger 3/4 combo if everything goes right. You dont really need DotE though, your choice.

Sigil of Severance is the important part of the Dagger 3/4 combo along with the Trait Sun and Moon Style, main hand dagger provides the interrupt and procs the extra damage buff and quickness while offhand dagger drops the target hitting harder and faster.

Its still possible to get kited pretty hard due to the short range weapon sets and AOE damage is a lot more dangerous too because you have to get so close to your targets.

Its not meta, but I find it fun to play.

I run D/D-S/SH in WvW.

It has really strong non-f1 bursts (dagger 3/4 and sword 3), that way I can concentrate on my F1's just connecting and not really being the main burst. I usually lead with dagger F1 or FC into a dagger 3/4 combo, and then if necessary finish with a Shield bash and Final Thrust. Good mobility with 3 leaps, two reflect (with traited shield), and high single target damage.

Negatives are really short range, and low cleave potential. I run it mostly roaming and small group with some backline diving in zergs to burst priority targets.

So last night on TC there was a que for the 4-5 hours that I was on that night, this usually does not happen on a weeknight.

Its great to see active nights again, however there is a problem for me, I have around 5-7 characters in rotation, they each have a specific look, name, and build. I am finding that its impossible to switch characters at times.

I only see this problem getting more pronounced when the new alliance system comes and the activity will most likely pick up drastically, so I feel that this will be the new rule and not the exception going forward.

**Personally I feel we should be able to switch characters and builds right from our spawn location, that functionality should be built into WvW.**

Since that is not currently possible, I will have to manually upgrade a character of each class to all of the specs and keep all of the gear in my stash and not on any characters. That way when I really need to change builds and gear for certain situations I will not be "locked out" due to a que.

I know I am not the only one who has unique characters with specific builds, so this cant be just my problem.

Then again it might be more common in PvE.

So what do you guys think?

Have you ever been locked out of character swapping due to a que?, should we be able to swap characters and builds while on a map?

****

Yes, Axe/Axe-Rifle is situational but it can work. Been running it for years in WvW, I like it better for point defense, and occasional zerg play, usually defense or anything that's not open field. I still roam with it though, even though its at a disadvantage to quite a few things I come across. I dont think you could run this in any sort of organized WvW stuff but for PUG play it can work.

Was running with another Warrior last night and getting all the extra might letting my Kill Shots land for 19k, and Eviscerates for around 16k. I usually do not have that kind of buff up a lot because I tend to do a lot of solo work but it was nice to splurge like that for a change.

I am to the point where I can 1v2 with it, the cleave damage can really surprise enemies ,and the Rifle can really help.

But I still feel it has its bad match-ups(most kits do), the lack of a Shield can hurt at times as well.

Match-up wise I Like:

1.Thief

2. Engineer

3. Warrior

4. Mesmer

Do not like:

1. Ranger

2. Guardian

3. Revenant

4. Elementalist

Gear wise I run full Zerker with Scrapper Runes and Damage Reduction food. I feel that offsets the lack of a Shield by at least a little.

> @"BlueMelody.6398" said:

> One major issue with stealth is that you can't target stealthed characters at all, and for classes that have no (or minimal) ranged aoe, and where stealth can be reapplied as fast as a targeted skill can channel (thus target is lost thus skill is useless), killing a stealth-based character is next to impossible. GW2 already has a serious issue with targeting, as the various tab versions all work like crap, clicking manually is incredibly difficult in the middle of a fight, and stacking often makes it literally impossible to target the correct item or player. Add in the ability to shed your target every couple of seconds, and high-stealth players are essentially invulvnerable outside of ranged aoe.

>

> Add this to the ability to one-shot (or rapid-burst) from stealth for some builds, and you have a fundamental problem: a zero-risk/high-reward build. The complete lack of balance between risk and reward creates a flaw in the gameplay, and the thief-main defenders who constantly defend this nonsense are a major part of the problem.

I am a Warrior main in WvW but I have put a Ranger and Thief into my character rotations. I would not characterize Thief as zero risk, as all it takes to down one is aoe and cleave damage, they are very vulnerable to it. The more single target in nature your damage is the better able a Thief is to mitigate it through movement abilities and just plain target dropping that they get for free.

With that said target dropping is a very big deal and its a big advantage during a prolonged fight, the longer it lasts the better target dropping is for the stealth class. When I play my Thief I know I am benefiting from it while my target is hampered by it.

You can stack cheese on any class in the game, it just feels worse when you start to consider target dropping and all the other little things that add up when fighting the Stealth classes.

I still think the Initiative resource system is a good idea for a Stealth class like thief, the problem for me is things can still be spammed when they should not be.

What needs to be looked at is the cost of all skills and abilities for stealth classes, technically you could make that case for every class in the game as again, its not just Thief that can stack, and stack things, other classes can too.

Bottom line is that is waters the combat in this game down and you end up stacking cheese to fight cheese and that's just not fun anymore.

I actually feel the Rework on Deadeye turned out pretty decent, its more engaging to play and actually requires an active play-style now as opposed to camping stealth.

The only real problem I have is how they gave Deaths Judgement the Unblockable stat. A skill that has the ability to hit for 25k should never be unblockable. There has to be counter-play there. If you consider the fact that previously the Deadeye had to play around Reflects and Blocks it actually took more skill to use, now it takes less, its almost fire and forget now.

I think getting rid of target dropping, and doing a class wide audit of skills costs and stacking mechanisms could really help alleviate the problems in this game.

It still works, I use it WvW. The thing is that in WvW every player or group you come across are not all super god players. From that reality alone you can run whatever you want. I run a whole host of Warrior builds, I have 5 right now that are in rotation.

But even with that reality out of the way, the spec still feels weak. I know the last 4-5 Berserkers that I have fought on my meta Core Warrior all went down super fast and I was hitting just as hard if not harder then they were. Them entering Berserk mode felt like it did not even matter.

I personally see the spec as a glass cannon at least in Warrior terms, that should be hitting way harder than core. That is not happening right now.

I was experimenting with Shake it Off before the patch as I was getting tired of running Signet of Stamina as my best Condition clear. After the patch SiO is even better. Now I have better on demand Condition Cleanse with more Stunbreaks.

I really hated using Balanced Stance in a emergency for the stunbreak. The new SiO is really nice to have against Holosmiths and other power builds, so now I feel like I can save BS for when I really need it.

Just need a buff to other heals so I can drop HS finally.

Deaths Judgement does require setup, and yes its involved, but it really does hit hard, last night I was hit for 25k in one hit, I do not have a problem with the skill hitting this hard. The tension between the resource system of the class and the durability of the class is what makes the higher skill cap on the class and what makes it play the way it does, its kinda why I picked it up.

My issue is how Deaths Judgement went from a skill that needed to play around blocks and reflects to one that now does not, with the skill hitting just as hard as it was before. The Unblock-able addition has greatly reduced counter-play to this skill.

I really feel like a 25k hit from a skill should at least have a chance to be countered outside of a dodge roll.

It just feels more skill-full on the side of the player, and for those playing against it.

Pierce would have been the better choice.

I am not going to argue about class mechanics, the thief resource system is fine, it has a high skill cap with high reward for skilled players. I am going to leave Stealth out of this for once, never going to agree on that.

I think for a 20k plus damaging hit in one single skill you should have to be aware of Shield Stances and reflects. Now they can simply be ignored, not sure how that RAISES the skill cap on using this skill.

I know I have to be aware of Shield Stances and Reflects when I use Kill-Shot on my Warrior, and I have a long channeling time while kneeling, and I am visible the whole time. If I want my Kill-Shot to to Unblock-able I have to drop a valuable utility slot to take Signet of Rage, and I still have to hit SoR at the right time, When I know my Kill-Shot will connect. I also need 3 bars of Adrenaline as well for max damage, the highest hit I have ever had is 16k.

**I think is fair for the set-up on these higher damaging ranged single shot attacks, (KS and DJ) but they should be vulnerable to Blocks and Reflects (unless a trade off is made) playing around them is the real skill.**

Right now DJ does not follow this rule.

So about a year ago I put a Thief into my rotation as a DE. I am still playing it, before I was really only playing P/P with some D/D thrown in for lulz. With the new rework I find the rifle aspect to be better for me at least, the old version really did not click with me. But there is one issue for me.

I also have been playing against the spec since release on my main and the new change to Deaths Judgment has been a big problem counter play wise. Before I could save my Shield Block for Deaths Judgement and if I used it at the right time I could negate a 20,000 damage hit and even reflect it back to the DE if he let me.

So I had a lot of close fights, if I managed to do the right thing at the right time I could win, if I did not I would loose and I was totally ok with that.

But now things are a lot different, Making Deaths Judgement a Unblock-able attack means an auto loss now, it really does not matter how my timing is, the single most important attack that I absolutely must block will instead hit me every time.

Its one thing to spam dodge rolls early and then get caught out, its another thing to have a really close battle only to get hit by an unblock-able attack for 20k plus. It feels really bad.

I really think piercing was the better route to take for DJ, this could increase the chance for a big hit on multiple targets, but by making it block-able/reflect-able would still have counter-play.

I can still make Berserker Condi work in WvW, but its situational. The recent buffs to sword F1 really did help with bursting ability. Still alot of builds out there with minimal condi cleanse or players wasting them at the wrong time.

Trailblazers gear alone gives more than enough durability to the spec anyways.

> @"MUDse.7623" said:

> > @"sneakytails.5629" said:

> > I thought there was more counter play to the current style of DE, where the hardest hitting attack Deaths Judgement happened out of stealth and had tells.

> >

> > Now it seems like it will be the opposite, very little counter-play to the attack you actually need to be aware of.

> >

> > I would not have a problem with this if revealed was not so easily removed by DE's Shadow Meld, but since it is this just seems like a really bad idea.

>

> what has shadow meld got to do with counters to deaths judgement? shadow meld counters reveal not deaths judgement. with new deaths judement sure reveal will be one aditional counter to avoid it being cast, but man you should be able to already avoid most of those oneshots. using shadow meld then to be able to cast DJ altho you revealed the DE before is same as using BV to shoot DJ thorugh reflect. both on elite slot so you got to choose wich counter for DJ you want to ignore, there are allways plenty others left, most importantly evading - works allways.

>

>

>

There is no comparison between the current DJ which is fired while revealed and the new DJ which will be fired from stealth. The former allows counter-play, the latter does not because its too late, you dont see the DE until after you take the 20k hit.

The only real counter to stealth DJ is revealed which as I mentioned before can easily be made worthless with SM.

That is why I feel the current DJ is better, there is a trade-off when you use it.

I thought there was more counter play to the current style of DE, where the hardest hitting attack Deaths Judgement happened out of stealth and had tells.

Now it seems like it will be the opposite, very little counter-play to the attack you actually need to be aware of.

I would not have a problem with this if revealed was not so easily removed by DE's Shadow Meld, but since it is this just seems like a really bad idea.

No we are not.

The bigger issue for me is that Deaths Judgement can now happen while in stealth, its going to be insane. Good luck dodging it, or hitting your shield block in time, we will not see it coming like we can now.

I can see the trolling in WvW with this coming miles away.