44 replies to this topic

[Yawz]

Hey, this is how I like to play my level 80 warrior. This build is geared towards being a little beefy, while supporting your team/group/friends and obviously - doing the damage. I'm going to be going in depth on what traits I use and why (as well as other options) and armor/trinket/weapon setup.

General solo PvE:
http://gw2skills.net...jCqYSVot0jzQLNA

Weapon Selection
This is a Greatsword/Longbow build primarily, so traits will be focused on that aspect. However I often switch the longbow for a rifle during boss fights since it has stronger single target damage. I recommend Having both a longbow and rifle, but either or is perfectly fine.

Utility Skills
Healing Skill
I use both healing signet and healing surge depending on the situation. Basically it's burst heal vs healing over time. Know the fight and plan accordingly. For general PvE I do use healing signet more though.

Utility Skills
The 3 utility skills I mainly use for solo PvE are For Great Justice (FGJ) for the might & fury boon, On My Mark (OMM) for the damage/vulnerability & Bull's Charge for the movement/CC. Both FGJ and OMM also heal you and your group for roughly 1.3k HP due to the nature of the spec. Great offensive and support abilities. For group situations and dungeons I run FGJ, Shake It Off and whatever the situation requires for my last utility skill.

Elite Skill
I almost exclusively run Signet of Rage. Only picking up Battle Standard for certain dungeons (usually pugs because I'll have to run banner support, but with my guild I run signet of rage). The rest of the elites in my opinion are trash.

Traits
Strength - 10 points - Berserker's Power
Fairly straightforward trait. Can't go wrong with an extra 12% damage when at full adrenaline, which will be full a lot since I rarely use the burst skill for the greatsword.

Arms - 20 points - Rending Strikes, Forcful Greatsword
Rending strikes for the synergy it has with the Greatsword auto attack making the mob take more damage from everybody. Forceful greatsword for the reduced cool downs giving a damage & utility buff as well as the might on critical strike (bread and butter damage booster).

Defense - None
I get toughness from other sources, and the only thing worth it past the toughness for me would be Adrenal Health, but I like the group support you get from shouts more.

Tactics - 30 points - Stronger Bowstrings, Lung Capacity, Vigorous Shouts
Stronger Bowstrings is mainly subjective and because I use a bow in my second weapon set. However most of the traits are okay for other situations. Want to roll banner support? Increase your groups power? Increase your damage from boons? This trait depends on what you want. Lung Capacity because your group support is based off of shouts, and this lets you do it more. Vigorous Shouts for the synergy with Lung Capacity.

Honestly you can run banner support and be just as effective, I just prefer shouts because its less tedious and regeneration is pretty common.

Discipline - 10 points - Heightened Focus
Used for the synergy with Berserker's power & obtaining might stacks. Free crit chance pretty much, yes please!

Gear
On all my main armor, I run Knight's (Power, Precision, Toughness). This effectively increases your ability to take hits and do the damage. I like to have a nice mix of Vitality and Toughness so I'm not so squishy. Vitality obviously coming from the Tactics trait line and Toughness from the armor. For runes I run Runes of Strength which has great synergy with FGJ and the Forceful Greatsword trait. You get the might stacks, and they stay there effectively increasing damage.

For trinkets I go with Berserker's for the Power/Precision/Crit damage increasing the damage. I'm still undecided whether I want a Knight's Amulet for the added Toughness or Berserker's Amulet for the crit damage.

On my greatsword I use the Sigil of Strength again because of the synergy it has with might. Although I'm unsure whether this will be a higher damage increase than Sigil of Force. If someone has the math behind it please share ^^ (it seems that once you get around 1800-1900 power you need roughly 3 stacks of might gained only from your weapon to have the same influence on your damage) Keep in mind if you're already at 25 stacks which happens frequently the Sigil of Strength becomes useless while the Sigil of Force retains its value. For the Longbow I use Sigil of Force.

There you have it, this is how I play my greatsword warrior & have found it to be really effective. Hopefully this helps some people out.

Thanks.

Edited by Yawz, 16 September 2012 - 01:16 AM.

[Vasadin]

Thank you for sharing. I've been looking for a GS guide. (Only played this game for 2 days)

I am only at lvl 20 now, but I think I will stick with GS/LB for quite a while.

1 question, during leveling, which traits do you suggest taking first? the Strength tree? or Precision?

[Commemorativetshirt]

Great write-up!

I wasn't so sure anyone else came to the conclusion that the toughness on knights gear was worth as much as zerker's crit bonuses :/

Edited by Commemorativetshirt, 13 September 2012 - 12:18 AM.

[Won _Doe]

Vasadin, on 12 September 2012 - 11:39 PM, said:

Thank you for sharing. I've been looking for a GS guide. (Only played this game for 2 days)

I am only at lvl 20 now, but I think I will stick with GS/LB for quite a while.

1 question, during leveling, which traits do you suggest taking first? the Strength tree? or Precision?

Deep Strikes (+40 precision for unused sigs) is pretty strong at lower levels. You'll wanna drop it around the 30-40 range.

[Yawz]

Vasadin, on 12 September 2012 - 11:39 PM, said:

Thank you for sharing. I've been looking for a GS guide. (Only played this game for 2 days)

I am only at lvl 20 now, but I think I will stick with GS/LB for quite a while.

1 question, during leveling, which traits do you suggest taking first? the Strength tree? or Precision?

Pretty much what Won_Doe said. A lot of people look down at the warrior for the cookie cutter "signet build" since it's so powerful early on. Honestly this is the most efficient way of leveling and I personally used it and it wasn't until the 50-60 level range I deviated from that build for more group utility.

Commemorativetshirt, on 13 September 2012 - 12:18 AM, said:

Great write-up!

I wasn't so sure anyone else came to the conclusion that the toughness on knights gear was worth as much as zerker's crit bonuses :/

Well for me I like to have a nice mixture of stats. I still use berserker crit bonuses on my trinkets but for armor I certainly value the toughness more than crit damage. I like to be able to take an extra hit to get off several more attacks than an extra 100 damage on one attack that may not even crit

[Laosduude]

Won _Doe, on 13 September 2012 - 12:24 AM, said:

Deep Strikes (+40 precision for unused sigs) is pretty strong at lower levels. You'll wanna drop it around the 30-40 range.

This ^. Pretty much you'll want some survivability later on because, I myself, have done explorable mode dungeons as a shout heal warrior and yeah, self explainatory lol

[minimimi98]

Can this be sticky? Great guide and we need these on the forum.

So far I am lvl 18 LB/GS, the only thing that I feel unsure of here is the Bull Charge, also this early on I stick more with signets, but definitely moving to (or close to) your advice. Thanks again.

[Konatitan]

Thank you for sharing! I've been looking for someone else who is playing a bit of the same style as I am.

http://gw2skills.net...oIgOKoip0jzQLNA

This would be the build I am currently using for PvE. I am running it together with Cleric armour, Berserker jewelry and a Signet of Superior Fire on the Greatsword. The AoE damage that you are able to get from it is amazing, especially with gear that isn't entirely based on crit damage. I have a few questions here, hoping that you will be able to answer them:

1. You are running a shout-based build without any kind of Healing Power. What made you choose Knight armour instead of Cleric?

2. The difference in traits between our builds is that you've chosen to pick an additional 9% crit, while I am going for 10% more overall damage. Which one would you think gives the best damage increase, and why?

Thanks in advance for any answers.

[Yawz]

minimimi98, on 13 September 2012 - 02:20 PM, said:

Can this be sticky? Great guide and we need these on the forum.

So far I am lvl 18 LB/GS, the only thing that I feel unsure of here is the Bull Charge, also this early on I stick more with signets, but definitely moving to (or close to) your advice. Thanks again.

Bull's charge is mainly for PvE for the mobility really. Everything except for veteran's die in a hundred blades/whirlwhind attack anyways. I run things like stomp, OMM, balanced stance etc in dungeons depending on the situation.

Konatitan, on 13 September 2012 - 02:30 PM, said:

Thank you for sharing! I've been looking for someone else who is playing a bit of the same style as I am.

http://gw2skills.net...oIgOKoip0jzQLNA

This would be the build I am currently using for PvE. I am running it together with Cleric armour, Berserker jewelry and a Signet of Superior Fire on the Greatsword. The AoE damage that you are able to get from it is amazing, especially with gear that isn't entirely based on crit damage. I have a few questions here, hoping that you will be able to answer them:

1. You are running a shout-based build without any kind of Healing Power. What made you choose Knight armour instead of Cleric?

2. The difference in traits between our builds is that you've chosen to pick an additional 9% crit, while I am going for 10% more overall damage. Which one would you think gives the best damage increase, and why?

Thanks in advance for any answers.

Haha very similar builds . For your first question, I chose knight's armor because I don't think healing power is stronger than precision for my build. It's a little more support driven, but I'm fairly certain that you don't even heal that much more with all the extra healing power. Precision allows me to get might stacks which is the driving force of my offensive. Also I run dungeons with a defensive guardian which helps with regen. For you second question, I chose the additional 9% crit because not only does it help increase my might stacks, but it also increases the crit chance of my 2nd weapon set I use. I feel it's more all around instead of focused solely on greatsword damage. As to which does more damage, I haven't a clue haha. It would probably depend on a lot of different variables.

[Konatitan]

Yawz, on 13 September 2012 - 04:30 PM, said:

Haha very similar builds . For your first question, I chose knight's armor because I don't think healing power is stronger than precision for my build. It's a little more support driven, but I'm fairly certain that you don't even heal that much more with all the extra healing power. Precision allows me to get might stacks which is the driving force of my offensive. Also I run dungeons with a defensive guardian which helps with regen. For you second question, I chose the additional 9% crit because not only does it help increase my might stacks, but it also increases the crit chance of my 2nd weapon set I use. I feel it's more all around instead of focused solely on greatsword damage. As to which does more damage, I haven't a clue haha. It would probably depend on a lot of different variables.

I haven't thought about the 9% crit affecting my longbow as well, though with that in mind, I am switching to the crit one for sure! I actually haven't tried the amount of survival that I get from healing power, but I doubt it's all that much.

[Gutz]

If you want to make your guide easier to read you could just embed the skills like this.

Signet Mastery

Can also save time in explaining etc.

Edited by Gutz, 13 September 2012 - 06:42 PM.

[Yawz]

Gutz, on 13 September 2012 - 06:39 PM, said:

If you want to make your guide easier to read you could just embed the skills like this.

Signet Mastery

Can also save time in explaining etc.

Thanks, I'll definitely update it and make it easier to read when I get home later.

[Gorgexpress]

Great build.

Wonder how Knight would compare to Valkyrie though. Critical Damage and Vitality might scale better than Precision and Toughness.

[OniHouse]

Thank you for sharing, will definitely help with building my warrior.

Got a question though about the secondary weapon: I've been using a rifle but is a bow better then a rifle?

Edited by OniHouse, 14 September 2012 - 11:49 AM.

[MKJoker]

I picked up this build, love it. Has great damage, survivabilty and it's party friendly with the heals from shouts as well as boons!


Might try to come up with a variation for a Axe Shield/*insert ranged weapon here* but for the most part, It's been running great!

Thanks again!

[rentauri]

I'm sorta curious what Runes you use for your character. I myself go for Knight's armor with a complete set of Rune of the Dolyak for the 6 piece bonus of Regen (the Toughness and Vitality bonus are nice). For my weapon I do for the the Sigil of Blood because I enjoy that 30% chance of Lifesteal on my character's weapon but you are right the Strength one is a great synergy.

OniHouse, on 14 September 2012 - 11:47 AM, said:

Thank you for sharing, will definitely help with building my warrior.

Got a question though about the secondary weapon: I've been using a rifle but is a bow better then a rifle?

Depends on the use. I use a rifle as my secondary weapon but carry my Longbow in my bag to flip it in between combat if I want it. I personally love both weapons but found that the situation is what makes the weapon superior. If you fighting one big target the Rifle (my opinion) is superior as it focuses on single target attacks. If your fighting a group (especially an Event and things are all over the place) then the Longbow really shines because it allows you to target and 'tag' many things at once.

Edited by rentauri, 15 September 2012 - 06:12 AM.

[Yawz]

Gorgexpress, on 14 September 2012 - 08:13 AM, said:

Great build.

Wonder how Knight would compare to Valkyrie though. Critical Damage and Vitality might scale better than Precision and Toughness.

It's a good question. I just love precision because it scales so well with the build since might stacks are a huge part of my damage which means crit is a little more important than crit damage for me. Toughness is just awesome.

OniHouse, on 14 September 2012 - 11:47 AM, said:

Thank you for sharing, will definitely help with building my warrior.

Got a question though about the secondary weapon: I've been using a rifle but is a bow better then a rifle?

They are both really great secondary weapons. It really depends on the situation. Rifle is far better single target while the Longbow is better for AoE. I usually have a longbow equipped and switch to rifle during bosses.

MKJoker, on 15 September 2012 - 05:36 AM, said:

I picked up this build, love it. Has great damage, survivabilty and it's party friendly with the heals from shouts as well as boons!


Might try to come up with a variation for a Axe Shield/*insert ranged weapon here* but for the most part, It's been running great!

Thanks again!

Glad you enjoyed it!

rentauri, on 15 September 2012 - 06:11 AM, said:

I'm sorta curious what Runes you use for your character. I myself go for Knight's armor with a complete set of Rune of the Dolyak for the 6 piece bonus of Regen (the Toughness and Vitality bonus are nice). For my weapon I do for the the Sigil of Blood because I enjoy that 30% chance of Lifesteal on my character's weapon but you are right the Strength one is a great synergy.

I run Runes of Strength on my armor. The toughness & vitality from the Rune of the Dolyak is really great, however I feel that the healing per second isn't very strong. I believe its around 30 HPS. I think there are far better choices if you want a defensive rune set on your armor.

As far as the weapon Sigil is concerned, I still have to do more testing between the Sigil of Strength & Sigil of Force to see which gives me more damage on average.

I've updated the guide a little bit to make it easier to read.

Edited by Yawz, 16 September 2012 - 01:14 AM.

[mbelcikuwh]

does vulnerability on rending strike stacks or it's just one time only with 33% on crit?

i tried this but never got higher than 1,even if i use HB and have a 65% crit chance..or is it bugged?

[Terror]

Fun fact, switch your arms talent points with defence, and you have a slightly more defensive, hammer/mace & shield build.

[Commemorativetshirt]

mbelcikuwh, on 16 September 2012 - 01:40 AM, said:

does vulnerability on rending strike stacks or it's just one time only with 33% on crit?

i tried this but never got higher than 1,even if i use HB and have a 65% crit chance..or is it bugged?

It'll apply vulnerability stacks like anything else.


Hundred blades' application, whenever I decide to take a look, only seems to proc the effect once if the first hit crit.

[qinitup69]

Is there a reason you went knight's over valkyrie? Toughness vs. vitality. I went valk and im really enjoying it. Might stick divinity runes in the armor

[rentauri]

If I would guess why Knight's over Valkyrie it would be because of the loss of Precision when using Valkyrie. The Vitality bonus is nice but getting the effects to trigger require a critical. Its also probably why he uses Berserker Trinkets; getting the Precision and Critc Damage boost.

[F1strael]

This looks nice! Are u having succes with this build in dungeons also? I see u can support your team with heals but is the toughness from the knights gear etc enough for dungeons?

[Mcjimmytonic]

Nice build. Just what i'm looking for. One question though about it. Do you think taking out the points from Strength and putting them in Discipline to get the reduced weapon swap cooldown - sacrifising Beserker's Power for it of course to be okay? Or is Beserker's Power too important?

Using the weapon swap to constantly switch between Greatsword/Longbow so I get all benefits from both weapons mid-combat.

Edited by Mcjimmytonic, 03 October 2012 - 07:05 PM.

[Naekuh]

20.30.0.20.0 is a better build.

you get 2 dmg increases in 20 pwr traits.
30 in precision, allows u to get Bleeding strikes... gain might with crit and crack shot for rifle burst.
20 in tatics allows quick weapon swap so you can include rifle in DPS combo.
Also has faster signet recharge, which is pretty OP if ur a signet warrior, and gives u more crit chance with adren.

There is nothing wrong with signet builds if ur soloing, which most people end up doing while farming ori or mats.
20.30.0.20.0 build with signets is good enough for cursed shore mob chaining while soloing, and story missions.

I dont see why people hate the signet build so much... i think its because its the most common, and they feel they need to be somewhat unique.

Dungeon's the signets fail, cuz they dont add to your group.
But solo's there is no group, and signet GS build pretty much kills ANYTHING in front of it as fast as if u were gonna use shouts / banners without the downtime of skills refreshing.

Cuz when your soloing, you dont wait til refresh, warriors like all muscle bounded freaks chase after shiney....

Edited by Naekuh, 03 October 2012 - 05:50 PM.

[XionValkyrie]

Naekuh, on 03 October 2012 - 05:49 PM, said:

20.30.0.20.0 is a better build.

you get 2 dmg increases in 20 pwr traits.
30 in precision, allows u to get Bleeding strikes... gain might with crit and crack shot for rifle burst.
20 in tatics allows quick weapon swap so you can include rifle in DPS combo.
Also has faster signet recharge, which is pretty OP if ur a signet warrior, and gives u more crit chance with adren.

There is nothing wrong with signet builds if ur soloing, which most people end up doing while farming ori or mats.
20.30.0.20.0 build with signets is good enough for cursed shore mob chaining while soloing, and story missions.

I dont see why people hate the signet build so much... i think its because its the most common, and they feel they need to be somewhat unique.

Dungeon's the signets fail, cuz they dont add to your group.
But solo's there is no group, and signet GS build pretty much kills ANYTHING in front of it as fast as if u were gonna use shouts / banners without the downtime of skills refreshing.

Cuz when your soloing, you dont wait til refresh, warriors like all muscle bounded freaks chase after shiney....

You mean 20.30.0.0.20 right?   The 20% signet recharge and faster weapon swap is in Discipline, not tactics.   I run OP's build because it's flexible and I don't have to retrait every time I do a dungeon.   The damage difference really isn't that big on most mobs for the shout build.   Sure you'll do less damage on DE bosses but you still have more than enough damage to get gold level participation and tag mobs with a few swings, which is all that really matters.    The added survivability and utility more than makes up for the slight loss in damage.

[Naekuh]

XionValkyrie, on 05 October 2012 - 03:19 AM, said:

You mean 20.30.0.0.20 right?   The 20% signet recharge and faster weapon swap is in Discipline, not tactics.

ack... yeah... thanks for the catch in the typo.

[Dank Rafft]

Why don't use all of those adrenalin-based traits as a greatsword slayer? Something like this:
http://gw2skills.net...ThiuMSiJVh2SFKD

[coxtail]

thanks for sharing this build

i am playing a warrior too, and i must say i am little bit confused with the build i should use,
i  play with GS  and rifle

at the moment i am 38 level  , and i have 10 power, 10 arms and i am completiing the discipline trait as soon as i get to lvl40

my question is i should spent to arms till i get 20 point s to arms or i should start building the tactics traits during leveling??

also i want to ask this build is good for dungeons, ? i havet tried yet to run any

[Karly_gw2]

Thank you very much for this build. I was running another guide's DPS warrior build but that focused on complete DPS and left survivability to party members. This build is a nice balance. After switching, I can solo many things and not have to worry about dying to every blow and still do pretty decent DPS for dungeons, etc.

THe shout heals have saved me many times.