Curse

Lux Aeterna · Feb 10, 2009, 08:50 PM // 20:50

Sup

My current W/E build:

12 strength +1 (13)
12 axe +1 +3 (16) (don't use superior runes)
3 air magic

[Primal rage][Rush][Disrupting Chop][Executioner's Strike][Bull's Strike][Shock][Conjure Lightning][Lion's Comfort]

I'm looking for improvements.

Would it be worth it to drop some axe mastery for more points in conjure? I used to use 15 axe 11 str and 10 air magic, the stats someone pinged me for a GvG shock axe build, but I switched more strength for sentinel's.
The version with more conjure seemed to do slightly more damage -- is it better to have a 15 dmg conjure and 11 str or 13 str (+20 armor vs elemental) and an 8 dmg conjure?

Also tried W/N for rip enchantments, or W/Mo for slightly less monk dependance. Would like to use W/D but can't figure out a use for it.

Defense on this build is basically shock --> primal rage --> exc strike.

What kind of things would you suggest?

Is eviscerate good?
Keep in mind it's AB and having a maintainable sprint skill is a big strategic advantage.

scruffy · Feb 10, 2009, 09:19 PM // 21:19

run energy armor on your chest and legs, health on your hand and helmet, and stonefist on your feet

drop conjure for dismember, drop lions comfort for distracting strike

rush seems like a wasted skill slot in alliance battles, i would take strength down to 11 and put tactics at 8 and put in disciplined stance

Rhamia Darigaz · Feb 10, 2009, 09:47 PM // 21:47

no dismember=no dice

Johny bravo · Feb 10, 2009, 10:11 PM // 22:11

drop the W and go Me/E. By the time you get to the cap point they ele on your team will have already cleared it.

turbo234 · Feb 10, 2009, 11:39 PM // 23:39

you need dismember. end of story on that.
and if you're trying to run a conjure while maintaining sentinal's run a 11/10/10, 12/10/8, or 12/11/6 attribute split. the later two would be better for what you are trying to do. i usually run with 14 strength(12+1+1) to counter any weakness you could encounter.

M'Aiq The Liar · Feb 11, 2009, 12:28 AM // 00:28

First of all, forget Distracting Chop. If you add Dismember or Eviscerate, Agonizing Chop is much better. And really, why would you use an axe if you can't Deep Wound?

Second, increase your air magic attribute. Rush and Primal Rage are easily maintainable with lower strength, and Lion's Comfort is a situational heal that can't really be relied on anyway. I'd go 12-10-8 or 12-11-6 for attributes.

Third, get rid of Sentinel Insignia. It won't do you much good in PvP. Mixed Survivor/Dreadnought's and Radiant with a Stonefist is probably your best bet.

Fourth, no superior runes that aren't Vigor. 75 health is a LOT.

Also, it's AB and you're a melee attacker. You will die. A lot. Get used to it. One on one, you're an awful matchup against basically anyone that's not an anti-caster mesmer, assassin, or another warrior. With the amount of rangers and necromancers you'll see in AB, it's best to just do what you can and rely on your team to help you out.

Quote:

rush seems like a wasted skill slot in alliance battles, i would take strength down to 11 and put tactics at 8 and put in disciplined stance

Why would you ever run Disciplined Stance on an axe bar? He's not monking. He's got plenty of adrenal skills, including his self-heal.

Icy The Mage · Feb 11, 2009, 01:02 AM // 01:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by M'Aiq The Liar

First of all, forget Distracting Chop. If you add Dismember or Eviscerate, Agonizing Chop is much better. And really, why would you use an axe if you can't Deep Wound?

Second, increase your air magic attribute. Rush and Primal Rage are easily maintainable with lower strength, and Lion's Comfort is a situational heal that can't really be relied on anyway. I'd go 12-10-8 or 12-11-6 for attributes.

Third, get rid of Sentinel Insignia. It won't do you much good in PvP. Mixed Survivor/Dreadnought's and Radiant with a Stonefist is probably your best bet.

Fourth, no superior runes that aren't Vigor. 75 health is a LOT.

Also, it's AB and you're a melee attacker. You will die. A lot. Get used to it. One on one, you're an awful matchup against basically anyone that's not an anti-caster mesmer, assassin, or another warrior. With the amount of rangers and necromancers you'll see in AB, it's best to just do what you can and rely on your team to help you out.

Why would you ever run Disciplined Stance on an axe bar? He's not monking. He's got plenty of adrenal skills, including his self-heal.

All of your advice is good, except for that last part. Disciplined stance is a counter to spikes; if you're running around and have no adrenaline, how the heck are you going to activate rush if some palm sin or ranger decides to spike you?

If you're going to run conjure, i would take at least 8 points into your attribute, but combining it with shock and prage is kind of energy intensive. Keep in mind, if you have an enchanting spear with a +1 (20%) "Master of My Domain" air focus than you can get the full benefit of conjure, for the least amount of energy possible. If you feel like being brave, keep shock and bring a high-set to use at critical points. Keep in mind exhaustion carries over even when you die.

tl;dr You're going to have energy problems, drop strength for air magic, ditch the sentinel's insignias, and run this:
[Primal Rage][Disciplined Stance][Dismember][Agonizing Chop][Bull's Strike][Shock][Conjure Lightning][Lion's Comfort]

Tbh, if you have any sort of competent monk, you won't need Lion's comfort, and you could exchange it for [Body Blow]. Do a little mini-spike of:
[Dismember][Body Blow][Agonizing Chop]

scoopins · Feb 11, 2009, 01:44 AM // 01:44

[devastating hammer][flail][crushing blow][hammer bash][bull's strike][distracting strike][death's charge][enraging charge]

[devastating hammer][flail][crushing blow][hammer bash][bull's strike][distracting strike][iron palm][enraging charge]

Lux Aeterna · Feb 14, 2009, 09:08 PM // 21:08

Interesting responses.
Okay let's see.....

Might write a lot coz I just took my medicationz. Haven't had internet for a few days. Love RPG character building.

points

- Sentinel's is really nice, I seem to take noticably less damage from widespread area nuking. I used to run a radiant on my chest and armor on other parts when I played an energy intensive W/A, and I'm good at managing high energy use builds. I'd like to be able to use shock 2-3 extra times per fight but it currently isn't worth taking 30% less damage from carpet bombing eles (esp if i get frenzy locked). Might switch sentinel's for something else later, but 20 non-conditional armor against nukes seems to nice to play around with before I find something better.

- It's really a rush dashing around in P rage.

- I actually don't die very much. Been making sure to have a monk every single time, and I'm very very very tactical about where I want to be in a fight. Also playing war does not mean you can't hit rush and kite like a cute mesmer. That said, if I get hexed when 3-4 anti-melee hexes and frenzy locked I can die in under a second.

- Essentially a warrior is a purely offensive part of the team, defense consists of protecting the monk and rapidly wiping the enemy team's damage dealing capability. Usually I go straight for the enemy backline, and rush back to shock/frenzy any sins that attack our monk.

- Don't use superior runes, I know. I still have 545 HP though. The damage increase is very very noticable. Salvaged a sup swordsmanship rune, tried it in Waijjun bazaar (lol), and never went back. I added it up and decided that the % increase to damage was greater than the % loss to HP, but now I forget exactly how I figured that.

- About dismember/ Evisc: I know everyone always says that you need deep wound but really why? I understand why, but it seems like outside of a high level situation it doesn't matter much. Once a monk insisted that I take it and it didn't really make much of a difference, I can see it helping a coordinated spike in a GvG but in AB it doesn't seem necessary esp when I hit for 40-120.

- May try a build with Eviscerate and Agonizing, but I need to get over Dragon slash (see below) and buy an elite war tome first.

-------------------------

I switched to a Dragon Slash build for interest. At first I was doubtful about Dslash, it seemed like a noobish elite but when I tried it I loved it -- 10 adr + 5 didn't seem great, but as it turns out the 5 adrenaline goes straight back into Dslash, making it essentially a 5 adr attack after the first use.

[Dragon Slash][Sun and Moon Slash][Frenzy][Rush][Bull's Strike][Shock][Conjure Lightning][Enraging Charge]
12/11/6

Essentially after I build 10 adrenaline (which can be easy or hard), I can do this:

Dragon Slash --> Sun and Moon Slash --> 3 reg attacks --> Dragon Slash --> Sun and Moon Slash --> 3 regular attacks --> Dragon Slash ETCETERA

Out of 5 attacks the damage is doubled for two of them, that's a 40% damage increase? In practice it probably isn't quite that much, but this is the fastest attack skill build I've played.

This has a bit less utility than the axe build (Primal rage = bar compression, sprint skills = necessary in AB), but the DPS seems a bit higher and it has a samurai-ish appeal which is cool imo. Makes me want a katana but my set of instantly switchable shortswords is great. I want Lion's Comfort to keep my adrenaline between fights, but don't have a free slot at the moment...

Might also switch in [Crippling Slash][Gash].

What are your thoughts on this?

Michael805 · Feb 15, 2009, 02:01 AM // 02:01

[hundred blades][sever][gash][sun and moon slash][savage slash][sprint][frenzy][optional]
:3

TheHaxor · Feb 15, 2009, 02:14 AM // 02:14

[build prof=W/A hamm=12+1+1 str=12+1 shad=3][Devastating Hammer][Crushing Blow][Hammer Bash][Bull's Strike][Flail][Enraging Charge][Lion's Comfort][Death's Charge][/build]

owns shrines and is beast in skirmish

Krill · Feb 15, 2009, 06:39 AM // 06:39

I run what Haxor posted except distracting strike instead of lion's comfort. Cripslash and PR axe are also fun but I've always liked dev hammer the best for AB. WE is effective too, but probably not as much as a PS sin for that style of play.

[build=OQcTE5J/HasAsYpgpQSkvywC3BA]
[build=OQYjgMScETRFViUFMF/M/EnD/VA]
[build=OQYTgyYS55wCYmaGGtyPxw2NAA]
[build=OQcj8NScETRFCFGFMFTQaF2F4OA]

And if you want to be dumb you could run the old cripslash bonding wammo to make your monk super strong

[build=OQMjQxR4jSHWAGTNBG8V/ExD0DA]

Lux Aeterna · Feb 15, 2009, 11:57 PM // 23:57

Why flail for pvp?

Tyla · Feb 16, 2009, 12:08 AM // 00:08

Your target isn't going to be moving much.

Lux Aeterna · Feb 16, 2009, 12:20 AM // 00:20

Most people don't just lose a third of their hp and stay standing still.

You could cancel flail with rush though, actually I might give it a try since I find myself only frenzying against people standing still. I found flail embarrassing in pve when my targets would run for the monk and I'd end up limping after at -33% movement speed.

Axe or sword? I know, axe.
Is the insta deep wound and extra crit damage the only reason?

Arkantos · Feb 16, 2009, 01:51 AM // 01:51

Quote:

Most people don't just lose a third of their hp and stay standing still.

In AB? You'd be quite surprised.

Anyways, flail is generally used on hammer/cripslash warriors. It's amazing on hammer if you know when to use it, and it's decent on cripslash (although frenzy is still better imo).

Lux Aeterna · Feb 21, 2009, 06:53 AM // 06:53

Going to make a dev hammer build
[Devastating Hammer][Crushing Blow][Hammer Bash][Frenzy][Rush][Shock][Conjure Lightning][Enraging Charge]

Might substitute hammer bash or crushing blow for other attacks.

Is it a very very bad idea to use frenzy on a hammer war? Frenzy lock sucks, but I can see flail lock against a kiting target being even worse strategically (half the time sins just wild strike my frenzy lock anyway). I spent some time watching GvGs and it seemed like 90% of people were Prage shock axes, and none of the hammer wars used elementalist skills. Is there a good reason not to use shock/conjure with a hammer? How much more are people going to hit me for without a shield?

Reverend Dr · Feb 21, 2009, 06:56 AM // 06:56

This is one of my favorite warrior bars for AB

[primal rage][frenzy][frenzied defense][no skill][no skill][no skill][no skill][no skill]

though sometimes I bring bull's

scoopins · Feb 21, 2009, 07:50 AM // 07:50

[devastating hammer][flail][crushing blow][hammer bash][bull's strike][distracting strike][rigor mortis][enraging charge]

[devastating hammer][flail][crushing blow][hammer bash][bull's strike][distracting strike][wild throw][enraging charge]

Syntonic · Feb 21, 2009, 07:55 AM // 07:55

W/D has/had rending touch and stuff like natural healing and access to other run stances/anti-kiting skills via wind. Not really an issue since you make sure you have a monk in your group. Eviscerate is still good but primal rage makes things so much easier.