5 replies to this topic

[Vurall]

Hi there, I've never posted here before, though I've read quite a lot from this forum.

I'm relatively new to this game, and I've been toying around with builds "in practice," and have since abandoned with ever-adored Greatsword. Instead, I'm running Axe / Mace most of the time now, swapping to Warhorn on dodge-heavy fights.

I've stuck with pure knight's gear up until now, yes, I even spent all my fractal tokens on a toughness / crit dmg back (unsure if I regret that yet or not).

http://gw2skills.net...CVpeAnbyleUGapB

This isn't me presenting to you my revelation (build), but rather me asking for your opinions on where this build can be improved. This is mainly designed with fractals in mind, particularly because fractals is the only dungeon worth theory-crafting for at this point, it seems. I'm not at some crazy fractal level though, I've been chilling in the 30's because I'm back at school and pretty much have 0 time.

Explanation:

This build is focused on building and dumping adrenaline as quickly as possible, in order to make optimal use of Eviscerate. Inspiring shouts guarantees a very steady flow of adrenaline on its own, further supplemented by steady adrenaline generation done by Signet of Rage.

A substantial amount of support is offered here (a bit too much, perhaps?). Vigorous shouts will add yet another function to our 3 shouts, and of course lung capacity is swapped out for quick breathing when in a warhorn-intensive fight.

The last 10 points went to Defense because Embrace the Pain is another source of adrenaline generation. I know it isn't ideal to be getting hit at all, but let's face it, as melee, it's going to happen (at least in my experience). I found this preferable to Berserker's Power because I won't be spending much time at all with full adrenaline. I also have enough sources of vulnerability in my Axe / Mace skillbar to justify skipping Rending Strikes, I think.

I think the build also allows for judicious use of Healing Surge, and its adrenaline-capping bonus. Say you were dropped to 50% HP and all shouts are on CD, you can pop your burst, hop back, then pop Healing Surge to be right back at full adrenaline and be ready to go again in a few seconds.

Some things to consider:

• Am I really missing out on crazy DPS by skipping the Dual Wielding and Axe Mastery traits? And if I am, is it worth the 20 points I'd be losing elsewhere?
  
• As far as runes, I'm torn between Eagle and Soldier. Soldier however, seems to become overkill if I have Warhorn equipped and am traited for quick-breathing. Eagle will help me win back some of the DPS I lost by skipping over Strength / Arms entirely, and by going full Knights.
  
• Would it be worthwhile to move 10 more points to Defense in order to gain mace / shield utility? I would also gain Adrenal health which would be limited in usefulness by Quick Bursts... this is why I'm not sure about it.

In general, I'm finding it rather difficult to create a build that is fully optimal in and of itself, that is, not wasting any potential that exists already in any of the investments made.

So, thoughts?

[Lucav]

With this much adrenaline gain, I think you will have problems spending it fast enough. I am able to eviscerate on cd in my build and I have no extra adren gain save the one on weapon swap.

[Potenkin]

Here something i thought for your "eviscerate on cd" build :

http://gw2skills.net...XcpClB;TIAGvEeB

Basically you will have almost 100% uptime of vigor  (maybe 100% with boon duration runes ?) by using warhorn and berserker stance (thanks to trait) on cd, while maxing axe damage.
Since you are using knight gear your crit chance should be pretty high already with fury.

Berserker stance by itself should be more than enough for adrenaline generation, feel free to change the "adrenaline on shout" trait for 9% crit if it's too much overkill (you still have adrenaline from weapon swap).

Let's face it Signet of Rage is almost used on cd for the boons it provides, not adrenaline generation.
With that in thought, I choose to use the last 10 points in tactics rather than defense for % boon duration since you will have most of the time at least 4 differents boon(swiftness,might,vigor,fury) which begin to be noticeable with Empowered (+% damage per different boon).


Cons :
You wont have your shout heal (maybe you wanted to keep it?)
Plus you might not be able to melee all the time, which will make all this adrenaline explode in frustation in your head.
Biggest Con IMO : not very flexible in utility skill, since one slot is taken due to reliance on berserker stance.

Edited by Potenkin, 30 January 2013 - 12:00 PM.

[typographie]

Lucav, on 30 January 2013 - 02:20 AM, said:

With this much adrenaline gain, I think you will have problems spending it fast enough.

I was thinking the same thing.. would Quick Bursts be a better choice than Adrenal Reserves for the 30-point Disc trait? If there's that much adrenaline coming in, in theory it seems like it might be preferable to reduce Eviscerate's cooldown more than to decrease its cost.

[Vurall]

Sigh, haven't had time to test / reply at all this week, just been stupid busy. Anyways, thanks for your responses.

Potenkin, on 30 January 2013 - 09:04 AM, said:

snip

I feel like the condition conversion trait for warhorn is rather difficult to pass up, no? When I'm not using warhorn i can have lung capacity up for more adrenaline (and everything else). But, I'm not too crazy about the shout heals, no.

I do mostly like this though. Putting all those points in strength feels like solid optimization of the axe, since I'll be using it pretty much the encounter doesn't permit it.

typographie, on 30 January 2013 - 02:38 PM, said:

I was thinking the same thing.. would Quick Bursts be a better choice than Adrenal Reserves for the 30-point Disc trait? If there's that much adrenaline coming in, in theory it seems like it might be preferable to reduce Eviscerate's cooldown more than to decrease its cost.

I actually meant to have quick bursts selected the whole time. It's very easy to spend adrenaline and turn its sources of income into other traits, like the crit boost in disc, etc.

Edited by Vurall, 02 February 2013 - 09:36 PM.

[dawdler]

The last 10 points in discipline is pretty pointless overall. 20 points in defense offer more flexibility, especially if you want to WvW with a hammer as secondary on the same build, use a sheild in trickier dungeons situations or use a mace.

Edited by dawdler, 03 February 2013 - 12:45 AM.