Curse

Muk Utep · Jul 04, 2007, 11:34 AM // 11:34

School's out for a month and I have nothing to do so I decided to give GW another shot after quitting about six months ago. Among my characters is a DS warrior that I enjoyed playing, but I've forgotten a lot of things about the game and I'd like to bring the character up to date. Here's what I've got:

Weapons: Forgotten Sword / Sskai's Sword (mostly using Sskai's, sundering doesn't make a noticeable difference)
Exalted Aegis (strength)

All Knight's armor with: Major Swords, Minor Vigor, Major Absorption, Minor Strength and Minor Tactics (I'll be upgrading Vigor and Absorb once I can afford them, and I should probably replace the Tactics)

W/Mo
Swords: 12+2+1
Strength: 12+1
Tactics: 3+1 (or something like that)

[skill]Standing Slash[/skill][skill]Silverwing Slash[/skill][skill]Sun and Moon Slash[/skill][skill]Dragon Slash[/skill][skill]Flail[/skill][skill]Enraging Charge[/skill][skill]Mending Touch[/skill][skill]Resurrect[/skill]

Things I ponder:

I used to run Lion's Comfort but I never really used it. Now that there's HM, I guess I might want a self heal again. If so, which one?

Should I go with three attack skills instead of four?

Should I switch to another set of insignias?

Which hero setup would compliment my build best? So far I've been using a pretty standard healing Dunkoro, a N/Me MM Olias with Virulence/Epidemic, and a standard SF Sousuke.

Thanks in advance

Stormlord Alex · Jul 04, 2007, 11:44 AM // 11:44

Ok... in most areas of PvE - take Sever Artery/Gash over Standing and Silverwing or Galrath. Deepwound kicks ass.

Drop Resurrect. It sucks hard. Take either Rebirth for emergencies (not my personal choice...) or a Res sig/Sunspear res sig. A fast res in the heat of combat can win it for ya.

Other than that... Check what foes you'll fight ahead of time, not every area requires Mending Touch (Holy Veil or Purge Signet are good choice for some areas).

That's pretty much it, a self-heal is really a matter of personal choice - I rarely bring one for PvE, hero/henchway is too damn good.

Perfected Shadow · Jul 04, 2007, 12:46 PM // 12:46

Take the Sunspear skill: Whirlwind Attack. It should increase adren gain.

The Kurzick/Luxon skill 'Save Yourselves!' is also very useful and could be kept up a lot of the time once you have DSlash and Whirlwind Attack going.

The Tactics rune is not needed as you've got no Tactics skills.

Also, Sever/Gash as suggested would kick ass seeing as your MM has Epidemic.

Age · Jul 04, 2007, 09:00 PM // 21:00

When it comes to non fleshies standing and silverwing plus dragon would be good set up.

Twinsoul · Jul 04, 2007, 10:02 PM // 22:02

For heroes, you'll want to set up Dunkoro or Tahlkora as a prot monk... I never go anywhere without one. If you're doing HM, you'll also want some kind of interrupter, usually a BHA ranger.

Marverick · Jul 04, 2007, 11:33 PM // 23:33

Whirlwind Attack is great in areas with lots of mobs.

I would put at least 9 points into Tactics for "Watch Yourself!". You don't need that much strength, 11 is good.

You don't really need a self condition removal if you're going with hero/henches, as they will remove them off you before you even notice it. The exception is areas with loads of conditions like some places in Vabbi with Enchanted Brambles. I would instead take [skill]Enduring Harmony[/skill][skill]"For Great Justice!"[/skill]. They will be up for 30 out of 45 seconds and allow you to spam Dragon Slash -> Sun and Moon Slash back to back without pause during those 30 seconds.

Since you will be in Flail most of the time, a -2/stance shield would be better than a -5/20% shield. I would use Victo's Bulwark if you want a green. Also I dislike Furious as it sometimes wastes adrenaline, I'd use a Victo's Blade or Wahli's Blade instead.

Knight's is really useless on a Warrior. With your current attributes, take Sentinel's; otherwise use Dreadnought's. You don't really need -3 physical damage reduction...

RoadKill97 · Jul 05, 2007, 02:37 PM // 14:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Muk Utep

I used to run Lion's Comfort but I never really used it. Now that there's HM, I guess I might want a self heal again. If so, which one?

Heal Sig when you can have only 4 team members. Otherwise: no self-heal.

Quote:

Should I go with three attack skills instead of four?

Yes. No point having four +damage skills when you can use an attack skill with every attack with three attack skills (it's actually possible with only two attack skills - DS and Silverwing, for instance - but having three gives more flexibility). Take [skill]"For Great Justice!"[/skill] for that. Activate FGJ just before hitting with Enraging Charge on. If you wish to up your damage even more, take Conjure of your choice.

Drop Sun and Moon Slash if you're not using Conjure (and replace Standing with Galrath).
Drop Standing Slash if you are using Conjure.

About Standing Slash, it is only better than Galrath/Silverwing if you can use the skill twice per Dragon Slash without delaying DS. Since this is unlikely, Standing is just a weaker, conditional Galrath/Silverwing.

Quote:

Should I switch to another set of insignias?

Yes. Take extra energy or armor (not Sentinel's). Health if trying for Survivor.

Quote:

Which hero setup would compliment my build best? So far I've been using a pretty standard healing Dunkoro, a N/Me MM Olias with Virulence/Epidemic, and a standard SF Sousuke.

A prot monk with condition and hex removals is a must. Olias as an MM is a good choice, but really pick a better secondary job for him. Blood Ritual, orders, Spiteful, hex removal, take what you think is most useful. Splinter Weapon is awesome, but you have micro it yourself because he casts it on everyone. If you're playing with henchmen, it really helps to take a BR hench (Eve/Claude/Su).

I used to have SF Sousuke in my team before hard mode, but I took him out because SF just isn't great with only one or two SF guys. I'd run an another Dragon Slasher with different utility, an axe guy with Dismember, a Reaper's Sweep Dervish, or a para who deals damage by his own and buffs the team.

Additional notes:
- Have one warrior bring "Watch Yourself!"
- Rebirth Signet and Death Pact Signet are much stronger options for a resurrection skill
- You don't really need to Mending Touch if you have a hero monk in your team
- Get an elemental damage sword for vs. warriors

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stormlord Alex

Ok... in most areas of PvE - take Sever Artery/Gash over Standing and Silverwing or Galrath. Deepwound kicks ass.

A common mistake.

The problem with having Sever Artery and Gash in a PvE DS bar is that you have to sacrifice either a ton of potential DPS or plenty of utility to gain something that some other character is able to do better and with less limitations. There just isn't room for everything.

As for sacrificing damage, it is probably beyond my comprehension why would someone not want to have 70-90 DPS that you could get by running FGJ and Conjure.

As for sacrificing utility, you need to bring certain utility stuff, such as enchant removal (Rending Touch), or your damage will be heavily shutdown by enchants and other stuff. Not having utility (in your team) to counter defensive crap (and offensive, too) is not an option. You can't really dump all of the utility to other melee character because it would kill his DPS. It's not smart either to have a utility character with weak DPS when you could have a damage dealer with utility that still gets the job done.

So my ultimate point is that have someone else, than a Dragon Slasher, to cause deep wound if you really think it is a must. A deep wound is still a deep wound - no matter who inflicted it.

Age · Jul 05, 2007, 10:42 PM // 22:42

I never have to bring FGJ on a DS bar maybe a Final Thrust bar but never a DS bar.I find DS as it say builds the adrenaline up 4 strikes actually which means you can have 4 adrenal attack skills.Then agian you can alway bring frenzy or flail.You could use to the limit as well