Curse

Harry_Pothead6009 · Aug 15, 2007, 12:58 PM // 12:58

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EDIT--This was before I did nightfall. I don't use this build anymore.
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I wanna see what you all think of my current swords build:

Swordsmanship 14
Strength 9
Water Magic 9 (with balanced stance) / 10 (without balanced stance)
Tactics 6 (with balanced stance) / 3 (without balanced stance)

**These 5 skills are always on**
Berserkers Stance
Tiger Stance
For Great Justice
Dragon Slash
Conjure Frost

**and usually 3 of these 4 skills depending on the situation and what enemies I'm fighting***
Balanced Stance
Warrior's Cunning
Armor of Mist
Rez Signet

Berserkers is an IAS that I use in the beginning of the fight to build up adrenaline.

For Great Justice and Dragon Slash I use in combination to chain the skill.

Tiger Stance as my IAS for when I'm dragon slash chaining. The reason I use this stance is because I've figured out that a dragon slash chain is broken if your attacks miss or are blocked--so why not use tiger stance as your IAS since the downside it imposes is one you have to deal with anyway.

Conjure Frost for obvious reasons

Balanced stance and warrior's cunning are there to protect my dragon slash chain from being interrupted by knockdowns and those 75% blocking skills. I've found the addition of these skills increases my dragon slash chain reliability by alot.

Armor of Mist provides run speed and armor which is very often useful, but it's main purpose is to protect conjure from being removed. While this isn't enough against large groups of disenchanters like the scarabs in the desert, against balanced-party enemies that often have a mesmer and/or a necro among others, it protects conjure great.

Rez sig for if im in a group that needs it. If I have to run this I'll drop balanced, cunning, or armor of mist depending on which occurs the least in where we are fighting between knockdowns, 75%blocks, and disenchants.

The build is not designed to do alot, but it's designed to do what it does really well and most importantly, reliably. That's conjure, IAS, and dragon slash chain. I originally had sever artery and gash in the build (legacies from before capping dragon slash), and I found that while the build had the potential to do more, it didn't do it as reliably. Lots of mobs are immune to bleeding and deep wound, and when they aren't most of the time someone else is applying those conditions. I also found that knockdowns and espeically 75%blocks were frequently screwing up my dragon slash chain attempts.

The one thing I don't like about the build is the high number of energy skills compared to adrenal skills. But the skills that use higher energy like armor of mist and warrior's cunning are situational skills designed to protect my conjure and dragon slash chain from specific disruptive abilities.

Critiques would be helpful.

Stormlord Alex · Aug 15, 2007, 01:04 PM // 13:04

Needs more Sun and Moon Slash, less Armor of Mist, Balanced Stance, and Berserker Stance.

... Do you have Nightfall?

Mitchel · Aug 15, 2007, 01:07 PM // 13:07

Save Yourselves, Flail and Whirlwind Attack (if you have it) in
Armor of Mist and Berserkers stance out.

Harry_Pothead6009 · Aug 15, 2007, 01:32 PM // 13:32

Yes I have nightfall but I haven't done any of it yet, except to get a ferry to the consulate docks so I could get olias.

Harry_Pothead6009 · Aug 15, 2007, 01:39 PM // 13:39

And dang, those sunspear skills are rediculously good. I'm surprised they aren't elite.

Stormlord Alex · Aug 15, 2007, 01:40 PM // 13:40

If you have Nightfall, drop Tiger and Berserker.
They suck.

And take Flail.
[skill]flail[/skill]

Harry_Pothead6009 · Aug 15, 2007, 01:48 PM // 13:48

The movement penalty doesnt hinder you too much? I notice now I'm constantly running to the next mob in a fight, and not only that mobs frequently kite or are chasing our kiters--fighting them is very annoying when I have snare hexes on me.

Stormlord Alex · Aug 15, 2007, 01:54 PM // 13:54

No, not really. Kiters are honestly not a big deal at all in PvE.
Besides, [skill]rush[/skill]

Darkpower Alchemist · Aug 15, 2007, 04:57 PM // 16:57

I have to say that you aren't killing not one damn thing with that build of yours, my friend. 1 attack skill, and that's it? I've seen some things but that is news to me.

[skill=card]"For Great Justice!"[/skill][skill=card]Berserker Stance[/skill][skill=card]Tiger Stance[/skill][skill=card]Dragon Slash[/skill][skill=card]Conjure Frost[/skill]

As the staple of your sword build this lacks in more ways than one. First, you cause no Deep Wound. I don't care what you think you're doing damage wise, without a DW, you're doing no one any good, especially yourself. Second, you are doing in 2 stances what every solid warrior worth his/her salt does in 1. Flail is best for PvE, and all around imo, yet others may recommend Frenzy in PvP scenarios. Also, take into account that D-Slash, though spammable under the heavy adrenaline buildup, isn't doing enough damage or even causing significant pressure against even the weakest played monk. I like conjure frost/fire/lightning-yet, that isn't enough damage to be considered "Pressure" without any conditions being applied by that same warrior.

D-Slash has to be accompanied by [skill=card]Sever Artery[/skill]&[skill=card]Gash[/skill] in order to be maximumly effective. Any who would say otherwise I would question their knowledge of its application. D-Slash without a DW just isn't effective. I personally never see the need for "FGJ!", but with D-Slash not doing the tremendous damage through heavy pressure, you may use this to try to keep it going. Though, it is a bandaid on an open wound, at best.

[skill=card]Balanced Stance[/skill][skill=card]Warrior's Cunning[/skill] as individual skills in any particular build may do well in accomplishing their intended goals, but in your build, it just makes it unwieldingly stance heavy. Take the thought that each stance cancels one another, so that would mean your 2 IAS stances and Balanced couldn't and wouldn't ever coexist in any feasibly acceptable manner. WC, though useful in the short term, has a recharge time of a snail in treesap on a cloudy winter's day. That just adds to the stunted application of the build.

[skill=card]Armor of Mist[/skill] seems to seemingly justify the use of Conjure Frost, though CF justifies itself just fine. If your build generates massive adrenaline, then Rush is more than justified. It can be used as a cancel stance for not only Frenzy, but for flail as well. With "FGJ!", it may even be a better cancel stance variant.

Picking your build apart from a outside perspective gives you an argument agaisnt its effectiveness and application. Agree or disagree as you see fit, but I speak the truth as I see it currently.

Harry_Pothead6009 · Aug 15, 2007, 10:20 PM // 22:20

That's why I put the build up. Though some of the skills I dont have yet (like flail)

qvtkc · Aug 16, 2007, 02:15 AM // 02:15

[skill]Flail[/skill] + [skill]Armor of Mist[/skill] sounds like fun, I think. IAS and extra armor without the slowdown. Not that the slowdown matters that much in PvE, but since it's the only drawback with Flail, it's nice to be able to be rid of it.

Dr Strangelove · Aug 16, 2007, 04:34 AM // 04:34

Actually, you'd have a slight slowdown with both up, moving at 89% normal speed. 100 * 1.33 * .66 = 88.6. Flail + rush is ftw in PvE, anyway.

MBP · Aug 16, 2007, 08:23 PM // 20:23

wouldn't [skill]enraging charge[/skill] be more effective as a cancel stance with flail over [skill]rush[/skill]?

It makes more sense to me in an already adrenaline heavy build to use a 5 energy IMS and adrenaline getter over a IMS skill that eats adrenaline when you can be spamming attacks more frequently

blue.rellik · Aug 17, 2007, 02:51 AM // 02:51

Enraging Charge isn't reliable, Rush is reliable since you can almost always use it when required

AlienFromBeyond · Aug 18, 2007, 01:37 AM // 01:37

In PvE, Enraging Charge is plenty reliable.

blue.rellik · Aug 18, 2007, 01:51 AM // 01:51

You use it

Now you have to wait 20 seconds again.

Get my drift?

Dr Strangelove · Aug 18, 2007, 03:47 AM // 03:47

Enraged charge is probably the better choice in PvE, actually. It's unlikely you'll need the speed boost more than every 20 seconds anyway, and the adrenaline bonus is nifty.

Darkpower Alchemist · Aug 18, 2007, 12:08 PM // 12:08

Rush or Enraging Charge, either gets the job done, though a speed boost isn't needed in every area, if at all. EC is perfect to start flail, but Rush is perfect to cancel Flail.

So, in the end, it's all about preference.

tornadoli · Aug 22, 2007, 10:02 AM // 10:02

take berserker and tiger out put flail in. take enraging charge to cancel flail in case u have to go to a different mob and btw get a good adr bonus. use fgr in the beginning to get adr for flail. keep DS, but put sever and gash in.

YunSooJin · Aug 30, 2007, 06:22 AM // 06:22

Rush
Flail
Sever
Gash
Sun and Moon Slash
Dragon Slash
Prot Strike
Res Sig

you're done