1. #1
    Deleted

    [GW2 PvP] First Impressions (Warrior)

    Greetings.

    Last BWE (3) and Stress test yesterday I participated in pvp (non-structured) to see how the game feels in its pvp aspect and here are my impressions as a warrior.

    I tried focused melee build aimed at high crits: http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fIMQ...xWjrGZNLOGcszA
    Also used another build wielding dual axes / axe + shield but same items just different traits.

    From what I saw, raw damage output is just not enough. Raw survivability shouldn't be either. Build needs fine-tuning by the player, so that one has teamwide utility not just personal. Although the case might be different for some classes which could be more effective to the team by just being "selfish" on their builds. (Warriors DO seem like that case, unlike engineer/guardian)

    Going rogue and capturing bases alone can be an effective guerrilla tactic but unless you're confident on your 1v1 and 1v2 skills do not try it. It is better to move around in duos/trios than going solo 99% of time.

    Crowd Controll skills such as fear/knockback/stuns/root are a must, especially for a melee heavy focused build, but also for ranged as well, if they intend to do well. Kiting and Locking down are of great importance and this is where the good use of dodging comes into play (Skill Factor).

    Teammates are the most important thing in GW2 "BGs". You dont just need them to be around, you dont simply rely on them, you NEED to have a good team to win a battleground fight, not just a couple good players.
    Sure, having a good player or two on your team on say a 8v8 match is good, but if the rest of team isn't quite up to average they can't win a team that consist of 70% average skill players.

    Insticts matter. In a non-coordinated team effort such as a hot joinable pvp fight, where one simply goes wherever he pleases, knowing which could be a nice spot to cap or to defend can win the fight.

    Stats screen says nothing. A top player sure did more than the last, but the last could have just played an equally important role in winning a game as the top player.

    Crazy lucky crits. It happens. I heard rumors in the wind of warriors nuking down 100%-->0% in a bull's charge with a greatsword. Deal with it. Most times you'll die cause 2-3 ppl focused you down. Sometimes it'll happen cause someone got his full combo burst hit on you. Your fault either way.

    Even though I was okay player in GW1, GW2 is a totally different game. The dodge mechanic alone, allows for great display of skill, rewards the good players, and the lucky ones while not punishing the not-so-good ones. PvE seems fun too, unlike most other mmorpgs or even single player rpgs. Overall GW2 is going to be one of my favourite games.


    Additional Profession specific notes/questions:
    Warriors are strong in damage output, but the insane amount of CC and knockbacks I ate on my face yesterday makes me think that going into pvp without balanced stance is like a death wish. Endure pain seems great talent for those that cant afford the points in defense trait line, but you'll lose Frenzy or Bolas (or bulls charge).
    -Still cannot determine if bull's charge is superior to bolas.
    -A shield seems like a must for the short cd charge-stun and shield blocking (5th skill) - great abilities for pvp.
    -Not sure if Frenzy is worth it (considering using Endure pain).
    -Norn or Charr? The ultimate warrior question (:Was Charr in BWE3, leaning towards Norn atm: The way armor looks on Charr can be repelling
    -2Hand Axes? - One can only dream the awesomeness.
    -Axe/Axe vs Sword/Axe ? I like sword's mobility/condition. Do not like the burst skill compared to axe.
    -Rifle and/or Longbow build viable for pvp? Did not have enough time to try them out.
    -Norn sword animations (1h) seem quite off or just me? They look like they stab the ground.
    -The Singet of Rage (Elite) seems quite superior to the others. (Non racial ones at least)
    Last edited by mmoc2aad59a6a5; 2012-08-03 at 10:17 AM.

  2. #2
    Bloodsail Admiral Razeo's Avatar
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    I agree with all your points concerning group battles in sPvP. My Warrior's build also has the same purpose as yours (Very bursty crit build and almost no survivability.) Not gonna go into great detail in this post right now since I'm a little *baked* but I'll try my best to make it clear. First off my weapons of choice are the GS for my primary and Rifle as my secondary. And second, I made this build for WvW not sPvP... however during the ST today I went for quite a few rounds of sPvP and I must say I was really pleased with the results. And the part you mentioned about "100%-0%", yea that happened a few times.

    http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fIQQ...KuMcJ4yyljLJXA

    I've tried my best to have my traits accommodate both my weapon choices but the Strength traits for the GS were just too tempting to pass up, so most of my damage will come from there. This build is largely focused on offense so I'll be a little bit more squishy than your average plate wearer, but to me I think it's a decent tradeoff.

    In the strength line alone, I already gain 15% bonus dmg with GS (5% with Rifle) from both major traits + another 10% with my last minor trait in the arms line. I had my arms line traits complement my crits of course, my 1st one (Rending strikes) being a 33% chance to cause vulnerability to the target whenever I crit so there's more bonus dmg right there. 2nd one (Oppurtunist) gives me more crit chance (not sure how much though since the tooltip doesn't give me the amount.) by gaining the "Fury" boon whenever I immobilize my target, and this is where my "Bolas" utility skill shines especially since it's only on a 20s CD. Also if anyone out there can also immobilize any target just call it out so I can do my thing And finally my last one on this line (Momentous Greatsword.) gives me the "Might" boon whenever I crit with my GS (again not sure how much Might I gain since the tooltip doesn't give me the exact amt), and with my crit chance already being at 72% with traits alone I'll be seeing this buff almost all the time

    On the discipline line I chose "Heightened Focus" which gives always gives me an additional 9% chance to crit whenever my adrenaline bar is full, which is good since my burst skill for the GS sucks anyway so my adrenaline bar will always be full. My 2nd trait on this line (Warrior's Sprint) simply makes me run faster when wielding a melee weapon which is good if i'm ever being kited or running after fleeing targets.

    Now only thing about this build is that playing with people you really know (ie guildies.) and skilled for that matter are a definite must. And they also have to compliment your build setup, for me I found it really convenient that 4 of my party members could stun targets for me and I could start doing my work

    So that's my build, feel free to critique if you want... I could always use some pointers.

    P.S. I honestly prefer Bolas over Bull's charge and for 2 reasons: Bolas has a longer duration and a shorter CD.

  3. #3
    Deleted
    @Supajayare

    And Bolas has more range. Dont forget the range! Very important.
    But what makes me partial about it is that you waste half the root time to get to your oponent, making Bull's Charge somewhat similar in terms of Duration.
    Also it's stun, not root like bolas, meaning enemy needs stun breaker to escape, not root breaker. And he can cast while rooted, just not move. While stunned he can't do either.
    But for group play, Bolas might be better since the frequent use due to lower cd, might make them more viable, when you have a pal beating on the enemy too.

    I like your trait build. It revolves mostly around Greatsword, but Rifle seems not like a great choice.
    I would reduce 10 points in Discipline if I were you, and keep Warriors Sprint trait. And with the Axe/Shield combo for 2ndary weapons I would utilize the adrenaline bar since the axe burst skill is highly damaging and with the shield you have an extra charge-stun and shieldwall to cover your low survivability spec!
    Those 10 points would be great in Strength line since you get to unlock the grandmaster traits and the +condition duration passive boost since I see your build is heavy on conditions. (Bleed/Vuln).

    Also for your "For Great Justice" trait. I think it's not great. You get those bonuses with 50% uptime, and stronger! (lvl5 might) and for longer duration with the Elite Signet. The only good part of this is that it gives it to your nearby allies, making it somewhat desirable in teamfights. The short cd is good, but it just makes it more buttons on the rotation. For personal use the elite gives the best boons so I try to keep my utilities like: 1: Balanced Stance (seems like a must) 2. Gap Closing(Bulls Charge/Bolas) and 3.+Dmg skill (Frenzy).
    And why the solar runes? The 10stats/3%crit dmg seems like the greatest choice for you with all that crit chance you got!

    Overall yes, I think warrior needs teamplay to shine, have someone to lock down your targets for you. And the potential is insane
    Last edited by mmoc2aad59a6a5; 2012-08-03 at 09:00 AM.

  4. #4
    Bolas are very easy to dodge if you use them as a gap closer. Also you can chain gs skill 5 and bulls charge complement eachother really well when one is down you can use the other. Whilst with bolas you're more likely to use them just to get in range.
    Imo you need to use x+shield (prefer axe)/gs to make up for the lack of defense.

    With the high amounts of crit you got (and crit dmg) I'm surprised you're using the 100%crit on weaponswap and not (for instance) lightning strike on crit.
    Also the reduced weaponswap is redundant since you most likely won't be switching a lot. (it works better with axe+shield/mace+axe)

    The problem with GS is that it's very easy to deny the high burst. I don't think frenzy is worth it, you're better off with some team utility imo
    http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fIQQ...ljLJXLKGUspYKC or balanced stance instead of endure pain
    I really like this build, it has very high damage potential with enough defense and mobility.

    edit:
    GS is really great atm but I think the moment people realise they need to watch the hundred blades it's oneshotting days are over
    edit2:
    with all the stuns and defensive mechanics of the posted build you can also defend capture points very well on your own in 1v1 or 1v2 situations since you can stun one target for a long period of time and wait for help.
    Last edited by Meledelion; 2012-08-03 at 09:27 AM.

  5. #5
    Deleted
    I don't entirely agree with the "Warriors do best when they're together with other teammates". In BWE3 I ran solo about 95% of the time in SPvP and I did completely fine in 1v1 & 1v2 situations with my GS/axe+shield build, with ~75 crit chance and very little survivability.
    I was mostly able to burst down the first enemy in a 1v2 within 8-10 seconds with a bulls charge and a shield stun.
    I didn't lose a whole lot of health during these battles because the enemy I was focusing was basically stunned the entire time, and most other people didn't really know how to play, so I didn't lose a whole bunch of health with the other 1 wacking at me.

  6. #6
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Proxeneta View Post
    I don't entirely agree with the "Warriors do best when they're together with other teammates". In BWE3 I ran solo about 95% of the time in SPvP and I did completely fine in 1v1 & 1v2 situations with my GS/axe+shield build, with ~75 crit chance and very little survivability.
    I was mostly able to burst down the first enemy in a 1v2 within 8-10 seconds with a bulls charge and a shield stun.
    I didn't lose a whole lot of health during these battles because the enemy I was focusing was basically stunned the entire time, and most other people didn't really know how to play, so I didn't lose a whole bunch of health with the other 1 wacking at me.
    Understood, but that's why I added the other part, and I quote in bold:

    Quote Originally Posted by Ecstatic View Post
    Going rogue and capturing bases alone can be an effective guerrilla tactic but unless you're confident on your 1v1 and 1v2 skills do not try it. It is better to move around in duos/trios than going solo 99% of time.
    So basically, you were doing good as a warrior! Doesn't mean everyone's confident about their skill level yet, and since opponents are inexperienced due to the game being new, I doubt you'll be as much confident when people start to learn to play, and master their professions.
    I would really like to see warrior as an effective solo class, but I cannot. It may be effective once learned how to play, but I think warrior has much more depth to it.
    Mastering the combo's with a partner seems to be a great way to learn how to play your class better, and since warrior has ample opportunities to exploit such things, why shouldn't he? Combo Fields are there, and the warrior is one of the best to do it.
    Warrior is more needed in the middle of the team fight in my opinion - than going solo. Especially when someone's quite new to the game.

  7. #7
    Closing this. Please keep all warrior discussion (including feedback from BWE3) to the warrior thread.

    http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...cussion-Thread

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