Warrior PvP Guide - Enshadowed & Moldran
Sat 5th May 2012 - 11:10pm
This guide will cover some of the key concepts you’ll need to know in order to play a warrior to its full potential.
Contents:
1. The Warrior
2. Versatility
3. Weapons
4. Slot Skills
5. Builds
5.1 Reaver
5.2 Outlaster
6. Making the Difference
1.) The Warrior
The Warrior in Guild Wars 2 is the master of arms. A Warrior has the majority of weapons in the game at his disposal; this is what makes a warrior so dynamic. The Warrior has the ability to cover many different roles and adapt to many styles of play. Unlike other “warrior-type” Professions in other games, the Warrior has something unique in Guild Wars 2 that is not emulated by any other game; “The Burst Skill.”
The Burst Skill: The burst skill is a very strong (weapon unique) ability that is gradually unlocked through building up adrenaline. Warrior’s gain adrenaline by many different means, the default is building it by attacking in combat. Although with certain traits you are able to build adrenaline quicker, which powers up and unlocks your burst skill much quicker. There are also a lot of traits that will increase damage or crit chance the more adrenaline you have built up. Adrenaline really determines the capabilities a warrior has being as the whole class is, more or less, tailored around the mechanic.
2.) Versatility
• Versatile Playstyle: I feel the Warrior is the most versatile Profession in the game giving you the ability to encompass a huge amount of playstyle variations.
• Tank/Capture Point Holder: The warrior is naturally very tanky. First off, it has one of the highest natural heath pools of any profession; default is 24k HP. It’s also a heavy armor profession, which contributes to its damage reduction stats and makes it that much harder to be killed. The warrior also has a multitude of weapons in his arsenal, including very defensive weapons, such as shield and hammer. These not only contribute to a defensive build, but towards an effective capture point holder. They offer constant stuns and knockbacks, both of which are substantial for outlasting opponents and obtaining proper capture point control.
• Burst/Capture Point Harasser: A warrior’s ability to dish out immense amounts of damage is nearly unmatched. The warrior definitely (when traited and geared properly) has the ability to take out large percentages of the opponents health bar in seconds. Again, due to the profession’s vast arsenal of weapons you are able to mix and match some of the strongest weapons in a build. With weapons such as Greatsword and Axe, you are able to defeat foes in a relatively short period of time as they are high damage weapons. The Warrior's ability to take down foes quickly and effectively make for one of the stronger “point harassing” Professions.
• Team Support: A Warrior has a lot of options in terms of supporting the team. Warriors have shouts and banners that AoE buff allies with stats and boons. In addition, their vast amount of stuns and knockdowns goes well with another teammate that has more of a bursty Profession that can pile damage on stunned foes quickly.
• Combination of all three: Here is where the versatility really kicks in. You can cover all three roles in one build, with the right weapons, traits and utilities, of course. In example, if you had mace/shield and axe/axe weapon sets, your able to have the defensive abilities with mace and shield (stuns and blocks). You’re able to have the offensive/burst abilities with axe/axe. Mixed with the proper support utilities, shouts and or banners you’ll be very strong in team fights and well-rounded in point harassing/holding.
Warrior Counters: Things to look out for!
• Chill – Brutal against warriors, be sure to remove it as soon as it’s applied to you if possible.
• Condition Heavy Enemy Builds
• If running burst spec, professions that can outlast burst.
• As always - Don't get kited!
3.) Weapons
Greatsword: The most damage heavy warrior weapon. It has strong mobility due to its two movement spells (Rush/Whirlwind Attack). It is great in team fights due to the greatsword’s long swing radius as it’s constantly hitting multiple people. Since it has heavy damage it also applies a lot of pressure to your opponents when you get a few hits off, as they can drop relatively low.
Longbow: Not viable in a Structured PvP Environment, low damage and hard to land spells.
Hammer: Can effectively CC your opponents with various abilities including the burst skill. It can be used to help allies deal solid damage to foes that need to be CCed. The one downside to hammer is that the abilities on hammer are slow and visual making it easier to predict/evade.
Rifle: A bit more viable than the Longbow, however the same issue shines through, moderate damage, not enough utility and the burst skill is very hard to hit.
Axe: A very offensive weapon that has one of the most damaging burst skills out of all weapons. It is a very deadly weapon when traited/geared into power/crit damage.
Mace: The mace is a very defensive/CC oriented weapon. It has a multitude of stun and dazes, which makes it a strong weapon to set up burst combos and interrupt heals, channeling spells, and rezzing.
Sword: An either hand weapon that provides the warrior with gap closing abilities, it has the potential to inflict a lot of stacks of bleeds and in addition it’s burst skill “Flurry” is an effective damage output.
Shield: A defensive offhand weapon that gives you the ability to stun and block. It’s a weapon that is beneficial towards outlasting your enemy and holding off damage.
Warhorn: A support weapon, that gives your close by allies swiftness and vigor. It greatly benefits mobility.
4.) Slot Skills
This section will cover Warrior utilities, healing and elite skills.
The Warrior’s Utility Heal: Like every profession the warrior has three healing skills.
Healing Surge 30s CD
Heal yourself and build adrenaline.
Mending 20s CD
Heal yourself and remove a condition.
Healing Signet 40s CD
Passive: Gain regeneration.
Active: Heal yourself.
Enshadowed’s Pick: Mending is what I feel to be the best healing spell out of the lot. It has a very short cooldown, heals roughly the same as the other heals and removes a condition. Healing Surge has a longer cooldown but it gives you a boost of adrenaline. In my opinion the boost of adrenaline is not worth the extra 10 second cooldown. Lastly, Healing Signet heals slightly more than the other two heals and grants passive regeneration, however I do not feel that those benefits are worth the wait.
-----
The Warrior’s Elite:
Signet of Rage 120s CD
Passive: Grants adrenaline.
Active: Gain fury, might, and swiftness.
Rampage 180s CD
Take the form of a massive juggernaut.
Battle Standard 180s CD
Place a battle standard that buffs and revives fallen allies.
Enshadowed’s Pick: To be honest all of these are very useful, I would go with Signet of Rage for solo play, or even structured PvP in which you will not be consistently trying to hold or maintain a base. If your role is to hold bases in structured then you’re better off with Rampage as it has a lot of abilities that can knock enemies off/away from capture points. Battle Standard is also a nice pick to choose if you expect you will be engaging in many team fights as it can instantly revive fallen allies.
-----
Slot 7, 8, 9: Utilities that I find most useful are:
Bulls Charge: Charges at foe knocking them down for 2 seconds. 40s CD.
Frenzy: Improved Crit Damage and Quickness. 60s CD.
Endure Pain: Take 0 incoming damage for 5 seconds. 90s CD
Or…
Balanced Stance: Grants Stability. 40s CD.
Why I Use These Utilities: Bulls Charge is an essential gap-closer as well as a 2 second knockdown that could either interrupt the target from casting something or set up an opportunity for quick burst.
For most situations Frenzy is extremely useful and can double or even triple your damage for 4 seconds on a 60 second cooldown, very useful in damage/crit based builds.
Endure Pain/Balanced Stance: With Endure Pain you can reduce a ton of incoming burst to zero if timed correctly; it is a highly beneficial ability for outlasting and preventing burst. Balanced Stance is a shorter cooldown stability, meaning if you were in the position to do a lot of damage and you don’t want to be stunned or knocked down to counter your positioning you can use Balanced Stance and be immune.
5.) Builds
Warrior builds are very extensive, having a strong build as a warrior seems to be a bit more beneficial than having strong builds on other Professions.
Please have open http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/List_of_warrior_traits for reference.
5.1) Warrior Build #1: The Reaver
Objective: To dish out immense damage in the shortest time possible/ harass capture points.
Weapons: Greatsword / Axe – Shield weapon set combination is a very strong and heavily offensive choice of weapons. You’re able to deal tons of damage with Greatsword, as well as AoE down clones and minions. In addition you have your Axe/Shield set that can dish out heavy immediate damage with Axe’s burst skill “Eviscerate” and can also stun and avoid damage by blocking for 3 seconds.
Traits: A very important part of all Professions, the traits! What I have found to work best for the Reaver build is:
10 Points in Strength: Restorative Strength
10 Points in Arms: Momentous Greatsword
20 Points in Defensive: Last Stand and Shrug it Off
30 Points in Discipline: Mobile Strikes, Adrenal Reserves and Heightened Focus
Runes: 6x Rune of Divinity
Utilities: Bulls Charge, Frenzy and Balanced Stance.
Jewels: Crit Damage, Power, Precision
Amulet: Crit Damage, Power, Precision
5.2) Warrior Build #2: The Outlaster
Objective: To capture and hold points. Keep opponents stunned and in other forms of CC while your teammates deal damage to foes.
Weapons: Axe/Warhorn and Mace/Stun, Axe and Warhorn grants you the “Eviscerate” burst skill that does high amounts of damage and mobility for you and your allies. Mace and Shield gives you a lot of CC/Defensive abilities that you can manipulate to your advantage in 1v1/team fight situations.
Traits:
10 Points in Strength: Restorative Strength
10 Points in Arms: Unsuspecting Foe
20 Points in Defensive: Last Stand and Shrug it Off
30 Points in Discipline: Mobile Strikes, Adrenal Reserves and Inspiring Shouts
Runes: 6x Runes of Scholar
Utilities: Bulls Charge, Frenzy, Shake it Off
Jewels: Crit Damage, Power, Precision
Amulet: Crit Damage, Power, Precision
__________________________________________________________________________________
6.) Making the Difference
Warriors turn the tide, so to speak, in structured PvP. It is a fairly strong 1v1 class and even stronger in team fights. Warriors are useful all around and even more so if played to their true potential. If you want to be an effective teammate, you must coordinate stuns and certain other abilities with your teammates in order to maximize damage output. If you want to emphasize on progressing individual skill, the most essential thing to have down as a warrior is the ability to know how to use your skills in the best possible rotation against varying enemies. This will come with time, however practicing with only a few different weapon sets consistently for a few weeks and you will most likely see your individual skill as a Warrior rise is the feel I am getting from my time in beta. If you really want to make the difference in Structured PvP, practice, practice, practice. The better you are in general, the more you’ll contribute to the team and the better your team will become.
http://www.teamparadigm.net/articles/Guides/Guild-Wars-2/17/Warrior-PvP-Guide-Enshadowed-Moldran/
Sat 5th May 2012 - 11:10pm
GUILD WARS 2
When you think Warrior you think TANK. This is Guild Wars 2 however, there are no tanks. The Warrior Profession has been completely gutted and redone for this game and came out sparkling. Don't let all of this new hotness scare you off; a Warrior is still the master of arms and martial combat. There is a comfortable level of familiarity to the Profession and enough brand new to make it really stand out as one of the more rewarding and dynamic Professions in the game.This guide will cover some of the key concepts you’ll need to know in order to play a warrior to its full potential.
Contents:
1. The Warrior
2. Versatility
3. Weapons
4. Slot Skills
5. Builds
5.1 Reaver
5.2 Outlaster
6. Making the Difference
1.) The Warrior
The Warrior in Guild Wars 2 is the master of arms. A Warrior has the majority of weapons in the game at his disposal; this is what makes a warrior so dynamic. The Warrior has the ability to cover many different roles and adapt to many styles of play. Unlike other “warrior-type” Professions in other games, the Warrior has something unique in Guild Wars 2 that is not emulated by any other game; “The Burst Skill.”
The Burst Skill: The burst skill is a very strong (weapon unique) ability that is gradually unlocked through building up adrenaline. Warrior’s gain adrenaline by many different means, the default is building it by attacking in combat. Although with certain traits you are able to build adrenaline quicker, which powers up and unlocks your burst skill much quicker. There are also a lot of traits that will increase damage or crit chance the more adrenaline you have built up. Adrenaline really determines the capabilities a warrior has being as the whole class is, more or less, tailored around the mechanic.
2.) Versatility
• Versatile Playstyle: I feel the Warrior is the most versatile Profession in the game giving you the ability to encompass a huge amount of playstyle variations.
• Tank/Capture Point Holder: The warrior is naturally very tanky. First off, it has one of the highest natural heath pools of any profession; default is 24k HP. It’s also a heavy armor profession, which contributes to its damage reduction stats and makes it that much harder to be killed. The warrior also has a multitude of weapons in his arsenal, including very defensive weapons, such as shield and hammer. These not only contribute to a defensive build, but towards an effective capture point holder. They offer constant stuns and knockbacks, both of which are substantial for outlasting opponents and obtaining proper capture point control.
• Burst/Capture Point Harasser: A warrior’s ability to dish out immense amounts of damage is nearly unmatched. The warrior definitely (when traited and geared properly) has the ability to take out large percentages of the opponents health bar in seconds. Again, due to the profession’s vast arsenal of weapons you are able to mix and match some of the strongest weapons in a build. With weapons such as Greatsword and Axe, you are able to defeat foes in a relatively short period of time as they are high damage weapons. The Warrior's ability to take down foes quickly and effectively make for one of the stronger “point harassing” Professions.
• Team Support: A Warrior has a lot of options in terms of supporting the team. Warriors have shouts and banners that AoE buff allies with stats and boons. In addition, their vast amount of stuns and knockdowns goes well with another teammate that has more of a bursty Profession that can pile damage on stunned foes quickly.
• Combination of all three: Here is where the versatility really kicks in. You can cover all three roles in one build, with the right weapons, traits and utilities, of course. In example, if you had mace/shield and axe/axe weapon sets, your able to have the defensive abilities with mace and shield (stuns and blocks). You’re able to have the offensive/burst abilities with axe/axe. Mixed with the proper support utilities, shouts and or banners you’ll be very strong in team fights and well-rounded in point harassing/holding.
Warrior Counters: Things to look out for!
• Chill – Brutal against warriors, be sure to remove it as soon as it’s applied to you if possible.
• Condition Heavy Enemy Builds
• If running burst spec, professions that can outlast burst.
• As always - Don't get kited!
3.) Weapons
Greatsword: The most damage heavy warrior weapon. It has strong mobility due to its two movement spells (Rush/Whirlwind Attack). It is great in team fights due to the greatsword’s long swing radius as it’s constantly hitting multiple people. Since it has heavy damage it also applies a lot of pressure to your opponents when you get a few hits off, as they can drop relatively low.
Longbow: Not viable in a Structured PvP Environment, low damage and hard to land spells.
Hammer: Can effectively CC your opponents with various abilities including the burst skill. It can be used to help allies deal solid damage to foes that need to be CCed. The one downside to hammer is that the abilities on hammer are slow and visual making it easier to predict/evade.
Rifle: A bit more viable than the Longbow, however the same issue shines through, moderate damage, not enough utility and the burst skill is very hard to hit.
Axe: A very offensive weapon that has one of the most damaging burst skills out of all weapons. It is a very deadly weapon when traited/geared into power/crit damage.
Mace: The mace is a very defensive/CC oriented weapon. It has a multitude of stun and dazes, which makes it a strong weapon to set up burst combos and interrupt heals, channeling spells, and rezzing.
Sword: An either hand weapon that provides the warrior with gap closing abilities, it has the potential to inflict a lot of stacks of bleeds and in addition it’s burst skill “Flurry” is an effective damage output.
Shield: A defensive offhand weapon that gives you the ability to stun and block. It’s a weapon that is beneficial towards outlasting your enemy and holding off damage.
Warhorn: A support weapon, that gives your close by allies swiftness and vigor. It greatly benefits mobility.
4.) Slot Skills
This section will cover Warrior utilities, healing and elite skills.
The Warrior’s Utility Heal: Like every profession the warrior has three healing skills.
Healing Surge 30s CD
Heal yourself and build adrenaline.
Mending 20s CD
Heal yourself and remove a condition.
Healing Signet 40s CD
Passive: Gain regeneration.
Active: Heal yourself.
Enshadowed’s Pick: Mending is what I feel to be the best healing spell out of the lot. It has a very short cooldown, heals roughly the same as the other heals and removes a condition. Healing Surge has a longer cooldown but it gives you a boost of adrenaline. In my opinion the boost of adrenaline is not worth the extra 10 second cooldown. Lastly, Healing Signet heals slightly more than the other two heals and grants passive regeneration, however I do not feel that those benefits are worth the wait.
-----
The Warrior’s Elite:
Signet of Rage 120s CD
Passive: Grants adrenaline.
Active: Gain fury, might, and swiftness.
Rampage 180s CD
Take the form of a massive juggernaut.
Battle Standard 180s CD
Place a battle standard that buffs and revives fallen allies.
Enshadowed’s Pick: To be honest all of these are very useful, I would go with Signet of Rage for solo play, or even structured PvP in which you will not be consistently trying to hold or maintain a base. If your role is to hold bases in structured then you’re better off with Rampage as it has a lot of abilities that can knock enemies off/away from capture points. Battle Standard is also a nice pick to choose if you expect you will be engaging in many team fights as it can instantly revive fallen allies.
-----
Slot 7, 8, 9: Utilities that I find most useful are:
Bulls Charge: Charges at foe knocking them down for 2 seconds. 40s CD.
Frenzy: Improved Crit Damage and Quickness. 60s CD.
Endure Pain: Take 0 incoming damage for 5 seconds. 90s CD
Or…
Balanced Stance: Grants Stability. 40s CD.
Why I Use These Utilities: Bulls Charge is an essential gap-closer as well as a 2 second knockdown that could either interrupt the target from casting something or set up an opportunity for quick burst.
For most situations Frenzy is extremely useful and can double or even triple your damage for 4 seconds on a 60 second cooldown, very useful in damage/crit based builds.
Endure Pain/Balanced Stance: With Endure Pain you can reduce a ton of incoming burst to zero if timed correctly; it is a highly beneficial ability for outlasting and preventing burst. Balanced Stance is a shorter cooldown stability, meaning if you were in the position to do a lot of damage and you don’t want to be stunned or knocked down to counter your positioning you can use Balanced Stance and be immune.
5.) Builds
Warrior builds are very extensive, having a strong build as a warrior seems to be a bit more beneficial than having strong builds on other Professions.
Please have open http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/List_of_warrior_traits for reference.
5.1) Warrior Build #1: The Reaver
Objective: To dish out immense damage in the shortest time possible/ harass capture points.
Weapons: Greatsword / Axe – Shield weapon set combination is a very strong and heavily offensive choice of weapons. You’re able to deal tons of damage with Greatsword, as well as AoE down clones and minions. In addition you have your Axe/Shield set that can dish out heavy immediate damage with Axe’s burst skill “Eviscerate” and can also stun and avoid damage by blocking for 3 seconds.
Traits: A very important part of all Professions, the traits! What I have found to work best for the Reaver build is:
10 Points in Strength: Restorative Strength
10 Points in Arms: Momentous Greatsword
20 Points in Defensive: Last Stand and Shrug it Off
30 Points in Discipline: Mobile Strikes, Adrenal Reserves and Heightened Focus
Runes: 6x Rune of Divinity
Utilities: Bulls Charge, Frenzy and Balanced Stance.
Jewels: Crit Damage, Power, Precision
Amulet: Crit Damage, Power, Precision
5.2) Warrior Build #2: The Outlaster
Objective: To capture and hold points. Keep opponents stunned and in other forms of CC while your teammates deal damage to foes.
Weapons: Axe/Warhorn and Mace/Stun, Axe and Warhorn grants you the “Eviscerate” burst skill that does high amounts of damage and mobility for you and your allies. Mace and Shield gives you a lot of CC/Defensive abilities that you can manipulate to your advantage in 1v1/team fight situations.
Traits:
10 Points in Strength: Restorative Strength
10 Points in Arms: Unsuspecting Foe
20 Points in Defensive: Last Stand and Shrug it Off
30 Points in Discipline: Mobile Strikes, Adrenal Reserves and Inspiring Shouts
Runes: 6x Runes of Scholar
Utilities: Bulls Charge, Frenzy, Shake it Off
Jewels: Crit Damage, Power, Precision
Amulet: Crit Damage, Power, Precision
__________________________________________________________________________________
6.) Making the Difference
Warriors turn the tide, so to speak, in structured PvP. It is a fairly strong 1v1 class and even stronger in team fights. Warriors are useful all around and even more so if played to their true potential. If you want to be an effective teammate, you must coordinate stuns and certain other abilities with your teammates in order to maximize damage output. If you want to emphasize on progressing individual skill, the most essential thing to have down as a warrior is the ability to know how to use your skills in the best possible rotation against varying enemies. This will come with time, however practicing with only a few different weapon sets consistently for a few weeks and you will most likely see your individual skill as a Warrior rise is the feel I am getting from my time in beta. If you really want to make the difference in Structured PvP, practice, practice, practice. The better you are in general, the more you’ll contribute to the team and the better your team will become.
http://www.teamparadigm.net/articles/Guides/Guild-Wars-2/17/Warrior-PvP-Guide-Enshadowed-Moldran/