Curse

Father of Mir · Jan 10, 2007, 10:49 AM // 10:49

I came up with this Decapitate focused build and would like some input on it please? I did run it through RA with moderate success as well as some more succesfull runs in AB.

W/Me Attribs:

Axe:15 Superior rune
Strength:13 Minor rune
Tactics: (EDIT) 7 Minor rune

Skills:
Decapitate
"You will Die"
Enraging Charge
Ether Signet
Tiger Stance / Frenzy
Bullstrike / Critical Chop
Heal Sig / Lions Comfort
Rez (Optional for AB) / Axe rake

Weapons:
Set 1: 15^50 nrg -5 axe (Ironwing)
Set 2: nrg +5 axe (Totem or similar)

Charge Decaptitate with IAS getting target down to 75-80%.
Swop to weapon set 1, hit Decapitate. Swop back to weapon set 2 (for 10 nrg gain) and hit "You will Die" and then Enraging Charge in rapid succession for 7 adenaline gain after one swing.
If all goes as planned, Decapitate is charged now so hit it again followed by ether signet and either bullstrike/critical chop or IAS skill.

If the target character is not very well protected or stanced, chances are it will be dead or at least seriously hurting after the second decapitate or shortly thereafter.

Swop back to set 1 and restart sequence waiting for Enraging Charge and "You Will Die" to recharge and allowing energy to rebuild to at least 5 points.

My biggest concern with the build is weapon swapping which I cannot seem to execute effectively but that's probably just me. Can this build be a viable pure spike in PvP?

Note: For an ever greater spike, equip a -5 energy offhand item (Tattered fan etc) on set 1. After swapping to weapon set 2 (directly after the first Decapitate) you will have 15 energy alowing you to execute "You will Die" and then Enraging Charge followed by Critical Chop finished by Decapitate.
Should this be your preferred implementation, it's worthwhile equipping a third weapon set, while Enraging Charge is recharging, since set 1 will have no shield and the +5 nrg axe does not have a 15^50 damage modifier.

PS: I often play the usual shock axe, line backer and "accepted" warrior builds. I came up with it just to see if decapitate can be implemented effectively as a semi-guaranteed "kill" skill?

The build also posted on wiki see http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Build:W...pitate_Warrior

EDIT: I think this is in the wrong forum, as the build ideally needs to be part of a balanced team. Can the moderator please move it to Galdiator's Arena?

Father of Mir · Jan 12, 2007, 07:33 AM // 07:33

Note the wiki build was deleted by the admin as it had some similarities to another unfavoured build.

Riotgear · Jan 12, 2007, 11:53 AM // 11:53

Weapon swapping in the middle of a "spike" is a mess, which is the main reason why decapitate sucks. You're better off just packing evis/exec/crit chop, which you can execute in quick succession for a significantly better spike with significantly less burnout afterwards. Losing Decapitate also means you can switch to W/P and get GFTE, which will give you roughly the same effect without the energy loss suckiness.

Father of Mir · Jan 12, 2007, 12:32 PM // 12:32

Ahh .. so its not just my slow fingers!

I must say however that when it works .. it works well. Under the correct(melee spike lenient) circumstances the target drops on the spot. IMO the double critical and application of deep wound (and re-application) is a big plus. A shame that weapon swap, which should just be an extra keystroke, but in my opinion is just outright unreliable, should cripple it though.

Does anyone know of some research on the game mechanics of weapon swaps or has extensive personal knowledge and can expand on this a bit more?

Tingi · Jan 12, 2007, 06:10 PM // 18:10

you have 15 weapon master....make it 16.

Riotgear · Jan 13, 2007, 12:54 AM // 00:54

Okay, let me re-explain:

First off, there's way too much burnout. That is, long cooldowns and long times spent recharging. When you have to kick several people off of a shrine to cap, you need sustainability. If all you're capable of doing is mowing down one person and then waiting for 20 seconds before you even really do anything, you can already do devastating hit-and-runs much better with a burst/prison assassin.

[wiki]Build:A/W_Berserking_Shadow[/wiki]

Second, as I said, there are better alternatives to Decapitate. Two decaps is +106 damage and two guaranteed-crit attacks.

Eviscerate, Executioner's Strike, and Critical Chop is +106 damage and three attacks, with faster delivery. Sever/gash/final gets +107 damage, with some obvious drawbacks, but lets you use your elite for something else and fits on energy-intensive bars more easily.

In other words, there are better ways to deliver roughly the same damage, ways which will free up more of your energy for IAS for extended confrontations, which can be executed more frequently, and only require 3 skill slots, as opposed to packing three skills and a weapon set just so you can afford to use decapitate again.

Most of the time, when a skill doesn't see much use, it doesn't see it because it's just a bad skill. Decapitate is a bad skill. Build innovation is a good thing, but generally the best thing to do is pick an objective, pick an elite that's proven to support that objective well, and build around that. Bad skills only create bad builds.

I Phoenix I · Jan 13, 2007, 01:11 AM // 01:11

Although at first Decapitate looks good, it turns out bad. You would have better luck with an Evis/Exe/Crit build, as stated above. Weapon swapping mid-spike just ruins the spike. You need ~1 second to switch, and that makes the spike easily catchable. You only have 2 spike skills to use, and you must use Critical Chop first if you wish to get anywhere near a spike, as you can't use it second due to Decapitate. Without Decapitate, you have barely any DPS, something that is more desirable in RA and AB than spike ability. This won't have any chance in GvG, as the weapon swap will render the spike too slow.

To sum it up, I can understand why that build was unfavored and deleted.

Father of Mir · Jan 15, 2007, 10:49 AM // 10:49

Thx for the feedback.

@Tan Blademaster - thats definitely prefereable, as long as strength stays at 13 to ensure 7 adrenaline gain from "You Will Die!" and enraging charge.

@Riotgear - I completely agree about the adverse affects the 20 second cooldown on Enraging Charge has. The only fact which prompted me to post this build is that on a normal warrior spike build, the spike is usually carefully timed anyway, rarely occuring more than twice a minute imo. Given, AB is also a different ball game and this build doesn't include enough "survive-ability" nor dps for that arena imo, which is why (later) I asked for the build to be moved.
As for the damage output (and this @Phoenix as well), do consider that it is possible here to execute Decapitate - Critical Chop - Decapitate in three swings albeit a fraction of a second slower than on other attack swings under IAS. Just equip a -5 nrg axe and -5 nrg focus on set 1.
Also do not discard too easily the additional 2 critical hits which add, not including critical chop, an additional ~55 damage. This, and the certainly valuable re-application of deep wound in the same spike, puts the raw damage output here far above any of the mentioned alternatives. Of course, as mentioned, GftE may partly solve this as it will allow for 1 critical hit on any spike sequence.

Weapon swap however is, again, in my opinion just not reliable. It certainly does not always have a 1 second delay but sometimes it certainly seems that way and at others the weapon swap just does not occur at all wrecking the spike. I can effectively execute this spike ~60% of the time and THAT is what renders it ineffective to me. I am however at least 10,000kms from the closest guild wars server, am not used to weapon swapping and have a slightly delayed broadband internet connection.