Curse

Warskull · Jul 03, 2006, 04:56 PM // 16:56

Most PvE warriors suck. Tanks aren't very good, yet most people insist on playing one. Here is how to play a decent PvE warrior.

1) Put 16 in your weapon attribute. Your weapon attribute makes you do damage. Just because you payed way too much for that req 8 sword doesn't mean you should only put 8 points in swordsmanship. More points in swordsmanship makes you deal more damage.

2) Take at least 3 attack skills, two of which should be adrenaline based. This is your offensive core. Warriors exist to make stuff dead, fast. If you play a warrior right you can have targets dead before the dumb ele finishes casting his meteor shower.

3) Limit your defensive skills to a few well selected skills. You want your defensive skills to be highly effective and require minimal slots. Wasting 3-4 slots on stances is just plain stupid. As a warrior most of your defense comes from your armor and your shield. Good defensive skills are watch yourself and Bonetti's defense (just turn it on to relieve pressure for the monks for a few seconds or use it as a stance cancel.) Try not to use more than 2 slots on defensive skills.

4) Take a rez sig! TAKE A FRIGGIN REZ SIG! You are pretty darn durable as a warrior so if something goes wrong you probably won't be the first to die. Getting an ally back up on their feet within 3 seconds makes a huge difference. Teams that are fast on the rez are strong teams. Leave the hard rez to an e/mo or something.

5) This will leave you with 2-3 skill slots remaining. You fill these with utility or another attack or two. Increased attack speed stances are good (Tiger Stance is good in PvE.) Some interrupts can be good (distracting blow or disrupting chop.) Heal sig can be good for yourself. Alternatively adrenaline builders such at "To the Limit!" and "For Great Justice!" can enchance your offense. Fill these slots with stuff you imagine would be useful in the mission. If the enemy has a lot of condition plague touch will serve you well.

R. Mindwalker · Jul 03, 2006, 05:03 PM // 17:03

i see a lot of things from GvG battles, but its a very good steplist for a PvE warrior.

Nice work mate

mtm · Jul 03, 2006, 05:03 PM // 17:03

But before all that, don't run 3 aggro circles away from your group spamming healing breeze on yourself while the rest of the group dies under the pressure of the 100 enemies you aggro'ed in the meantime

Jeremy Untouchable · Jul 03, 2006, 05:06 PM // 17:06

i would agree with most of that, except that tanks arnt much good. They are the only truly selfsufficent class. not to mention most versatile solo farmers. but yeah, bring a sig...........and defend your self..........and watch out for monks low energy supply before leroying into the next mob.........other then that enjoy being the "badarse" that anet has made the tank to be

FalconDance · Jul 03, 2006, 05:16 PM // 17:16

Warskull, excellent advice!

I run a strength build. I'm maxed out on strength, nearly so on swords and the rest in restoratrion (for Flesh of my Flesh and a bit of self-heal). NO, on second thought, there are a token few points in tactics that were leftover

.

Three adrenal skills (one is an elite), the rest energy based and I carry a focus instead of a shield to augment a warrior's pathetic energy base. All in all, a sweet little warrior.

Warskull · Jul 03, 2006, 05:17 PM // 17:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeremy untouchable

i would agree with most of that, except that tanks arnt much good. They are the only truly selfsufficent class. not to mention most versatile solo farmers. but yeah, bring a sig...........and defend your self..........and watch out for monks low energy supply before leroying into the next mob.........other then that enjoy being the "badarse" that anet has made the tank to be

No, tanks tend to suck. Farming builds are different as they have a set goal, they aren't really tanks. However you will see groups looking for tanks or players advertising for tanks. You then end up getting some warrior with only 8 points in swordmanship, no attack skills, dolyak signet, watch yourself, 5 different stances, and mending. At the same time a warrior with a shield can take the damage well enough and output it quite well.

As for the monk energy supply thing, playing both a warrior and a monk this depends on the player. Monks don't like to hear it, but good monks don't need to rest too often between battles. I know this because I have played monk. Thus as a warrior I will keep agroing and pushing through each group systematically until you let me know that you need a breather. However, unlike many PvE warriors if I agro something I kill it in a timely manner. If I agro two groups and we are under high pressure I start reducing enemy numbers to make things more manageable for the monks. This is one of the reasons why tanks suck. All they can do is sit there and take it. A well built warrior can help the monks by killing stuff.

Quote:

Warskull, excellent advice!

I run a strength build. I'm maxed out on strength, nearly so on swords and the rest in restoratrion (for Flesh of my Flesh and a bit of self-heal). NO, on second thought, there are a token few points in tactics that were leftover .

Three adrenal skills (one is an elite), the rest energy based and I carry a focus instead of a shield to augment a warrior's pathetic energy base. All in all, a sweet little warrior.

Trust me, with the mechanics of warriors it would probably benefit you to just stick at 13 stength and go 16 sword. Each point in sword gives you a 1.5% chance to land a critical hit. Those buggers hurt. Also from my experience in warrior most of the stength skills aren't strong when high specced. In fact looking over the strength line I can't imagine what you are trying to run.

phasola · Jul 03, 2006, 05:30 PM // 17:30

don't use frenzy

FalconDance · Jul 03, 2006, 05:55 PM // 17:55

Theoretically, each point in Strength gives a possible point to armor penetration (I've seen two different explanations: one says it gives a pt to penetration and the other says it merely increases the chance. Either way, it's a good thing, imo). I have found that to be much more useful (on two warriors now) than high tactics for stances (which I don't use except on a very rare instance, in which I adjust attributes). I maintain at least 13 at all times to power my Sentinels armor---have a separate set of armor for tactics if necessary or desired.

I'm not sure what my swords is, but it is far in excess of the req 8.

SnipiousMax · Jul 03, 2006, 05:58 PM // 17:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warskull

Monks don't like to hear it, but good monks don't need to rest too often between battles. I know this because I have played monk.

QFT. Nothing more frustrating then a monk running out of energy half way through a moderate sized mob.

Quote:

Originally Posted by phasola

don't use frenzy

Frenzy's not all bad as long as you don't go on autopilot and have a stance cancel. Used intellegently, you can keep up an IAS longer than just using Tiger's stance.

ETSubmariner · Jul 03, 2006, 05:58 PM // 17:58

Signet of Strength is great - just load after coming out of a town (your next 16/17/18+ attacks are +5 for minimal upkeep). Keep it up, let it recharge along the way. I also use Endure Pain, which takes the edge off initially. As long as the monk is doing their job and I'm doing the right thing by having archers pull a few baddies our way rather than charging in, I don't often see my health below 50%.

I captured the elite, Auspicious Parry, and what a world of difference that made. Blocks next attack and you get 2 pips for 1. Will be testing Dragon Slash when I capture it.

In the city-scapes (Bukdek and Bazaar and in/around the mission areas of the city), I found that switching to bows helped a lot with henchies staying alive. Of course, as a warrior, you charge in but the henchies follow you right in (since they are supposed to follow you). That usually kills the monks and mesmers. I switched to bow and bam! Sometimes a little tight, but otherwise I get through sure enough.

FalconDance · Jul 03, 2006, 06:01 PM // 18:01

ETSubmariner, Dragon Slash is the elite I'm currently using. It is sooooo handy. Only drawback is the long initial charging time (10 strikes). Once charged (and stays charged after that during the fight), however, it is sweet.

SnipiousMax · Jul 03, 2006, 06:02 PM // 18:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by ETSubmariner

Will be testing Dragon Slash when I capture it.

Dragon Slash is easily the best PvE warrior elite. Having your entire combo of adrenaline within a few shots of recharging the entire time is incrediblly powerful.

Duriel · Jul 03, 2006, 06:21 PM // 18:21

In GW there is no "best"... It all depends on what you are after.

Warriors, are by far, NOT the best damage dealers in PVE. In PvE, they are equiped to deal damage. When playing PvE with my warrior, groups become much more effective if i just tank, and keep myself alive while all agro is on me. Chasing enemies is really bad on a warrior, cause you'll lose agro and mobs will go after your casters...

With this in mind, Healing Signet, Dolyak Signet, Watch yourself is some pretty solid defense... Res signet (or a hard res if your /mo) is a must if your not soloing. Rest depends. If you are soloing, ripostes/attack skills are the way to go, if you are not... You can get some utility skills, or just take attack skills...

Best advise i can give to PvE warriors:

LEARN TO AGRO! Learn to be attacked only by 1 group at a time. Move back slowly if you risk agroing another group (if you move fast you'll lose agro on the group who is currently attacking you). One/Two meteor showers/SS/wathever just outdamages your damage by far... Im not saying you shouldnt attack, but I never have 16 on my weapon atribute while PvEing... On PvP i rarely have under 15...

SnipiousMax · Jul 03, 2006, 06:30 PM // 18:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duriel

.... Dolyak Signet...

I'm sorry, this is a horrible skill. Even if you were just working at maintaining aggro, crippling your mobility for extra armor is not going to help you to keep mobs off your casters. Armor/Shield and Watch Yourself is more than enough. You kill things much quicker than the duration of D. Sig, so you end up spending most of the time walking between targets.

DiceX · Jul 03, 2006, 06:35 PM // 18:35

Very good advice.
I'll add another...
Use a Superior Absorbtion rune. As cheap as they are now, there is no reason not to have one.
If someone says the difference between 2 and 3 damage reduction can't be noticed, they are a complete moron.

Senator Tom · Jul 03, 2006, 06:39 PM // 18:39

6. Agro one group at a time, and only agro when everyone is ready, NOT when everyone is a minimap behind you.

phasola · Jul 03, 2006, 09:01 PM // 21:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnipiousMax

Frenzy's not all bad as long as you don't go on autopilot and have a stance cancel. Used intellegently, you can keep up an IAS longer than just using Tiger's stance.

frenzy is good. in pvp
and i've never seen a pve war cancel frenzy when lvl 24 mobs were on them
tiger's fury is safer

JMFD · Jul 03, 2006, 09:04 PM // 21:04

Can't help but completely disagree with the OP

1) Put max in Tactics, not your weapon. In PvE you are in a group to tank, not deal the most damage. Use tactics-based skills thrill of victory and the ripostes for extra damage instead.

2) Also disagree, I take 1-2 tops, usually a combination of the riposte skills if sword, thrill of victory, an interupt or a condition dealing skill.

3) Defense is critical - never rely on your monk. 2 stances is usually sufficient, sheild and glads being my favourites, followed by disciplined. Watch Yourself can help you and your fellow melleists (who may be the lowly armoured assassin, or fellow warriors).

4) take a res sig if you are not a /rt or /mo, if you are /rt ot /mo take a proper res instead.

5) Never, ever, take frenzy.

Winstar · Jul 03, 2006, 09:40 PM // 21:40

There are cases where stance builds are useful, but in general you can't rely on killing things with riposts and glads when they don't get triggered. In general Warriors get worried about being more defensive than they need to be. Builds are dependant on you situation. If you are talking about joining a group to finish the game and do quests then take a high damage route with some good utility. If you are out trying to solo something the build will have to change depending on the circumstances. Efficient spider farming is different from efficient troll farming generally speaking. But imho, in mission settings you are of greater value to your team if you can actually kill things quickly (caster types and non caster types), being mobile, and having some nice general utility skills to help yourself and your party (watch yourself, for example, not only beefs up you but your party, charge gets everyone moving, shields up etc. etc.)

Loki Seiguro · Jul 03, 2006, 09:42 PM // 21:42

just use one of the preset wars that anet gives you and youll be fine. thats what i did for my first char then i modded the build and later made some of my own builds.