I won't say you're wrong on the basic philosophy here, but there are a few things I'd like to point out.
Xunlai Agent, on 20 December 2012 - 01:34 PM, said:
Shout warriors are kinda cute but not very effective and frankly Guardians do it better!
You're really dismissing many builds without much thought here.
First of all, no Guardians do not; Guardians are better at Boons, not flat out healing. I'm fairly confident when I say that Guardians cannot match up to a potential 50% group health healed every 20 seconds (Full support shout Warrior). Guardians do however pack things like Regen, Protection, Retaliation, etc. They are the masters of defensive boons, this does not make them the masters of tanking. In my honest opinion, a shout support Warrior is a much better tank than a Guardian, but Guardians do provide reliable boon support that is unmatched.
Secondly, not all "Shout Warriors" are focused on healing, Sonic Boon is a perfect example of such. With the build, you can provide good support and great dps, as well as be survivable.
Xunlai Agent, on 20 December 2012 - 01:34 PM, said:
I felt it gave my a decent mix of defensive traits while at the same time affording my quite considerable offense, even then my build was traited more aggressively than 80% of the builds in this subforum.
This is incredibly untrue, at least for current builds. More like 80% of them are more offensive than that. There aren't a lot of full tank builds here, and there certainly are even less that put 50 points into being a tank/supporter without actually being a tank/supporter.
Xunlai Agent, on 20 December 2012 - 01:34 PM, said:
My genuine advice would be to run a glass cannon spec and learn to survive with that setup because it will make you a much better player.
This is relative; many players have difficulty with this type of build and will only learn to eat dirt. Granted, there are many players that can use this type of build and excel, but saying it will without a doubt make you a better player is untrue.
I do agree that being a glass cannon can improve your ability to some extent. However, the ability and damage come at a cost; you need to be more mobile, attentive, and have great reflexes. The type of build you describe basically makes you a melee Thief with more damage and less mobility/evasion. A lot of people have trouble with the melee aspect of a Thief even when he can jump all over the place. Many more people have trouble using a Warrior in this way.
With all that said, I still genuinely think that glass cannon builds aren't that great. Whether you can dodge like a maniac and still pump out great damage or not, it's likely that your teammates can't. Just because you are ace player doesn't mean your teammates are too, and you should be trying to support them. Warriors have a ridiculous amount of supportive tools at their disposal and supporting your teammates not only leads to better group synergy and teamwork, but better group damage as well.
Most people don't dislike glass cannon builds because they are ineffective; they dislike them because they are selfish. It's much more about a teamwork/social effort than your own personal dps. Let me ask you:
- If you were doing great damage and able to dodge anything the boss throws at you, and you had a downed teammate, would you go over and rez him? How many people do you think answer that with a yes?
A glass cannon build encourages solo play and working alone; If you stopped dodging to rez a guy, you might get killed yourself. It gives you a very selfish outlook on the game and working in your team. We all know too well that there is no "I" in "team", and the "I" in "win" is cancelled out by the "I" in "die".
Again, a glass cannon build is effective, and you can certainly become a great player by using one. This game, however, is about being a great team, not a great player. That's why glass cannon builds are mostly a bad idea. It's better to sacrifice some of your damage for an easier playstyle that helps your team. You'll be more suited to a team environment, and more inclined to actually play as a team.
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