10 replies to this topic

[Thorfinnr]

Greetings all.

I have not put together a pure hammer build before, but a friend asked for my input.

http://gw2skills.net...JJSymkLJZSLIGjA

He does not want to run shouts or banners, he likes the passive benfits of a full compliment of signets. I used Healing Surge as a quick Adrenaline recovery booster.

I tried to balance out the traits to support what he described to me. I also based it on selective use of the F1 skill on hammer to keep adrenaline full most of the time.

I'd like some input on making it as balanced as possible.

He's not going for support, more Damage/Control/Survivability. He likes to hit crits with his hammer as well as knocking people around.

The build editor i used doesn't take into account armor type, but I see this as using Knight's with Full Beserker accessories.

The rune is very open to change...as I do not think all are listed, any combos would be welcome as well.(2-3 runes x 2 each, or maybe Runes plus Jewels.)

Also in the Rifle, I was thinking to using Bloodlust for building Power stack, or Sigil of Perception to help stack a Precision Bonus to help him Crit. (Perception not listed in this editor.)

I'm not claiming to be making this the "Ultimate hammer build", but something that will fit his playstyle and give him the functionality he is looking for and be fun.

So please, take a look, and I welcome all constructive suggetions.

[Bariusdrop]

While I am myself still struggling to come up with a solid hammer build that doesn't revolve around shouts or banners, I hope I can give some constructive feedback on your build.

First, Signets on the warrior are pretty lackluster, the 90 power/precision is pretty negligible in most cases. That said, Signet of Rage is great to help the hammer generate the adrenaline you need. Dolyak Signet can more easily be replaced by balanced stance, but either is fine for your average PvE brawl if you can anticipate the stun.

As far as traits go, I would drop 5 off of Discipline (lowering you to 15) and increase Arms by 5, giving you a substantial damage boost fairly consistently (most dungeon fights will have a bleed on them) with a decent crit chance. This would push you away from signets and I would swap Deep Strike for Unsuspecting foe. Cull the Weak could also be tossed out for Sure-Footed (balanced stance+frenzy benefit), Embrace the Pain, or Turtle's Defense for a better experience overall.

Hope this helps!

[Thorfinnr]

Bariusdrop, on 17 January 2013 - 04:25 PM, said:

While I am myself still struggling to come up with a solid hammer build that doesn't revolve around shouts or banners, I hope I can give some constructive feedback on your build.

First, Signets on the warrior are pretty lackluster, the 90 power/precision is pretty negligible in most cases. That said, Signet of Rage is great to help the hammer generate the adrenaline you need. Dolyak Signet can more easily be replaced by balanced stance, but either is fine for your average PvE brawl if you can anticipate the stun.

As far as traits go, I would drop 5 off of Discipline (lowering you to 15) and increase Arms by 5, giving you a substantial damage boost fairly consistently (most dungeon fights will have a bleed on them) with a decent crit chance. This would push you away from signets and I would swap Deep Strike for Unsuspecting foe. Cull the Weak could also be tossed out for Sure-Footed (balanced stance+frenzy benefit), Embrace the Pain, or Turtle's Defense for a better experience overall.

Hope this helps!

I like swapping out Cull the Weak for Embrace the Pain...helps rebuild the Adrenaline...nice call. Unsuspecting Foe, also good call since Hammer will stun. I'm not sure how much he activates his Signets, so losing the recharge boost may be viable with his play-style. I will definitely make sure he tries swapping out Dolyak for balanced Stance just to see what works best for him.

Here's the build with these suggestions applied:

http://gw2skills.net...JJSymkLJZSLIGjA

Thanks!

I plan to point him to this Thread to read over and consider these ideas, so I will try to adjust and post taking what I know of how he likes to play into account.

Looking forward to other ideas/suggestions as well.

[Mjölner]

I'll assume this is for general PvE content: hearts, events and stuff, and not dungeons, as a Signet build in dungeons is just... blah.

It looks alright to me, though unless you spam weapon swapping for the rifle's bleeds/Sigil of the Earth on the hammer, I don't think those five points in Arms will do you much good. Sure, in a burst situation or group where you have a devoted Bleed applier (another warrior, thief etc) it will be great, but that's relying on them attacking the same target/being alive.

I don't like the rifle myself, but each to his own. Oh, and about those Signets of yours: 90 power and 90 precision are not better than For Great Justice, which applies three stacks of Might and Fury, and it doesn't have a downtime (when FGJ runs out, it's ready again). I would've gone for Signet of Stamina as dodging is never to be sneered at (and cures all conditions).

[Thorfinnr]

Mjölner, on 17 January 2013 - 05:48 PM, said:

I'll assume this is for general PvE content: hearts, events and stuff, and not dungeons, as a Signet build in dungeons is just... blah.

It looks alright to me, though unless you spam weapon swapping for the rifle's bleeds/Sigil of the Earth on the hammer, I don't think those five points in Arms will do you much good. Sure, in a burst situation or group where you have a devoted Bleed applier (another warrior, thief etc) it will be great, but that's relying on them attacking the same target/being alive.

I don't like the rifle myself, but each to his own. Oh, and about those Signets of yours: 90 power and 90 precision are not better than For Great Justice, which applies three stacks of Might and Fury, and it doesn't have a downtime (when FGJ runs out, it's ready again). I would've gone for Signet of Stamina as dodging is never to be sneered at (and cures all conditions).

Yes General PvE...I was going to suggest to him switching it up for Dungeons.

He usually runs this War with our guild (His main is a Necro) and we usually have another war or thief like you said.

Like I said, this is for his play-style and he likes the Sigs and the Rifle. (I use FGJ myself and would be VERY reluctant to give it up.)

In this version, I took the second posted one, and replaced the Stance with Sig of Stamina(left Traits the same):

http://gw2skills.net...JJSymkLJZSLIGjA

Thanks for these suggestions!

[Mjölner]

Thorfinnr, on 17 January 2013 - 06:03 PM, said:

Yes General PvE...I was going to suggest to him switching it up for Dungeons.

He usually runs this War with our guild (His main is a Necro) and we usually have another war or thief like you said.

Like I said, this is for his play-style and he likes the Sigs and the Rifle. (I use FGJ myself and would be VERY reluctant to give it up.)

In this version, I took the second posted one, and replaced the Stance with Sig of Stamina(left Traits the same):

http://gw2skills.net...JJSymkLJZSLIGjA

Thanks for these suggestions!

Ah, well, for general PvE, it looks just fine. I mean, hammer is, with or without traits, excellent for control and damage when out in the world. Just be sure to tell him that when he reaches higher levels, that the passive power and precision from the Signets won't do him much good - gear, food, heck even gems, will outshine it. Especially since you're giving up two utility slots for them.

[Thorfinnr]

I think I have convinced him to try 1 Banner...let me know what you guys think abou this:

http://gw2skills.net...JJSymkLJZSLIGjA

Traited just to have banner affect larger and recharge faster...used Banner of Discipline.

[Ninja Battle Lion]

Thorfinnr, on 17 January 2013 - 03:57 PM, said:

http://gw2skills.net...JJSymkLJZSLIGjA

He does not want to run shouts or banners, he likes the passive benfits of a full compliment of signets.

Your friend is a terrible team player and probably can't be saved.

But seriously. If he likes Sig of Might, he should like FGJ! even better.

[Thorfinnr]

OK...one last try...left him 2 sigs, added FGJ and Banner of Discipline.

I figure this should be fairly balanced for him, and keep in line with what he would like to do.

Again, input is welcome.

http://gw2skills.net...JJSymkLJZSLIGjA

[Mjölner]

Thorfinnr, on 29 January 2013 - 07:17 PM, said:

OK...one last try...left him 2 sigs, added FGJ and Banner of Discipline.

I figure this should be fairly balanced for him, and keep in line with what he would like to do.

Again, input is welcome.

http://gw2skills.net...JJSymkLJZSLIGjA

Hmm... I guess he'll be spamming Earthshaker by using the adrenaline gained from Healing Surge and Signet of Fury? I won't deny that it's a pretty awesome burst skill. In all honesty... the trait setup makes me go . It's a little bit of everything - not enough of everything to be a jack of all trades though -so I don't think this wil excel at anything.

[Thorfinnr]

Mjölner, on 02 February 2013 - 02:32 AM, said:

Hmm... I guess he'll be spamming Earthshaker by using the adrenaline gained from Healing Surge and Signet of Fury? I won't deny that it's a pretty awesome burst skill. In all honesty... the trait setup makes me go . It's a little bit of everything - not enough of everything to be a jack of all trades though -so I don't think this wil excel at anything.

Thanks for the input...I'm really just trying to help him find something he enjoys...again, if it were me, I'd only have SoR and then be tinkering wiht the other utilities.