Warrior WvW | Small Group Hammer, Axe/Shield | Roamer All-Purpose Hammer-Jammer (Updated 12/16/13)
Table of Contents
Summary
Influenced heavily by the builds of Avlis and Lord Titan, this all-purpose WvW build offers great damage and great survivability! It also has excellent Condition Management: something Warriors have historically struggled with.
Whether you're in a zerg, a covert-ops squad, or roaming, this build will jam for you. So what're you waiting for? C'mon and slam!
I. Weapons and Skills
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- Hammer Bash½Bash your foe again.Damage: 333Range: 130
- Hammer Smash½Smash the ground and damage nearby foes.Damage: 444Range: 130
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Weapon and Skill Details
Primary
- Hammer - The meat and potatos of this build. Your hammer is not only a beastly crowd-control tool, but it also crits like a truck. Because the hammer swings so slowly, skill rotation and situational awareness is very important when you have it out.
Be mindful of your opponent's dodges and boons: look out for Aegis and Stability when attempting to CC-chain. Count their dodges, too: if you see an opponent dodge twice in a row it is time to unload.
If you go to your keybinding options, you can assign a "Stow Weapon" key. If you press your stow weapon key during a long weapon animation (i.e., Hammer 4 and 5) you can cancel the cast and put it on a 3 second cooldown instead of the full duration. This is excellent for baiting dodges from your enemies, as well as cancelling swings you know won't connect.
As for rotations, swing as you see fit until you're ready to CC. Use your Hammer 2 whenever possible, as the weakness it will apply to your opponent effectively reduces his or her damage output by 25%, as well as reduces their dodge regen rate.
When you go to start your CC chain, I recommend starting with Earth Shaker unless you are already on-top of your opponent. Earth Shaker is the preferred opener because of the gap closer and large range of it, whereas Backbreaker has a short range and is easier to dodge or miss. Be wary of using your Hammer Whirls if you're in a group. You may push people out of your allies' AoE.
During your CC chain, you can get the most out of your knocks by doing one or two auto attacks or your Fierce Blow or Hammer Shock before moving into your next ability. This will allow you to put on more pressure and prevent you from overlapping your stuns wastefully.
The Warrior's Hammer has arguably the highest skill ceiling of any weapon in the game. It will take some time to get used to the way it handles, but the difference between a greenhorn and master Hammer Warrior is astounding.
Offset
- Axe / Shield - The Axe/Shield combo is a staple of melee Warriors in PvP situations. It offers excellent damage, control, and survivability. The only thing it doesn't offer is mobility. The abilities on this set follow similar rules to the hammer: watch your blinds and your enemy's boons. You never want to have a Shield Bash or Eviscerate blocked. Be sure to utilize your Axe 2 and 3 to apply Vulnerability and Cripple respectively.
Also note that your strongest hit is your sixth auto-attack (yes, you have to hit six times in a row to do a good amount of damage.) Even if you can't line up your initial auto-attacks, try and get that sixth one to land!
- Sword / Shield - A good alternative to Axe/Shield that provide much higher mobility. If you choose to use this set I recommend bringing Rending Strikes for extra bleed pressure. Like the Axe's Shield Bash > Eviscerate combo, you can do some absolutely devastating hits by chaining Shield Bash into a Final Thrust.
- Greatsword - A good alternative to Axe/Shield due to its mobility and damage output. While it lacks control, its synergy with the Hammer makes up for that.
With your Greatsword, you should go into a Hundred Blades after hitting Backbreaker instead of continuing to DPS with the Hammer. You should be able to land about half of it before the enemy gets up which is nothing to scoff at. An added bonus of this is that when your opponent tries to kite you, you have two additional gap-closers to get back in range to start your Hammer chain all over again.
Skills
- As always, your utility skills should change based on what you need.
- Having Bulls Charge can be valuable because it provides extra mobility, both offensively or defensively.
- If you choose to run three stances, try Vigorous Stances in the Discipline tree for free Vigor.
II. Traits
Strength
Arms
Defense
Tactics
Trait Details
Optional Traits
- Your first arms trait is up to you. There are several good choices here but none of them are particularly better than the other. Just go with it!
- The extra 10 points outside of Arms and Defense are also up to you. I really do recommend keeping Warrior's Sprint if you're alone, however, because you won't have 100% Swiftness uptime. If that's not a concern, go for Signet Mastery so you can have reduced Signet of Rage cooldowns, or Vigorous Stances if you're a stance-dance kind of guy.
III. Stat Specifics & Effects
Primary Stats
- Health 21512 (+2300)
- Vitality 1146 (+230)
- Armor 3119 (+992)
- Toughness 1908 (+992)
- Attack 3313 (+1286)
- Power 2202 (+1286)
- Critical Hit 23% (+23%)
- Precision 1392 (+476)
Secondary Stats
- Agony Resistance 15 (+15)
- Burst Recharge 10% (+10%)
- Condition Damage 300 (+300)
- Condition Duration (self) -60% (+-60%)
- Critical Damage 59% (+59%)
- DMG Taken from Guards and Lords -1% (+-1%)
- DMG to Guards and Lords 2% (+2%)
- Damage 1111 (+0%)
- Defense 1211 (+0)
- Experience from Kills 20% (+20%)
- Ferocity 897 (+897)
- Healing Power 300 (+300)
- Might Duration 10% (+10%)
- Movement Speed 25% (+25%)
Boons
Conditions
Control
Fields & Finishers
Stat and Effect Details
You should aim for exactly 30% crit chance unbuffed with this build. This will get you 50% crit with Fury up and 100% crit on stunned foes. On top of that 3.2k attack power (before Sigil Stacks and Might) you're going to hurt people. Pretty bad.
You also have the luxury of maintaining 3.3k armor and 60% condition duration reduction (93% on snares) unless your opponent is running Veggie Pizzas. So yeah, enjoy that.
IV. Food, Armor, Trinkets & Upgrade Items
Food Nourishment
Condition Duration (self): -40%
Vitality: 70
Experience from Kills: 10%
- (30min)
- Condition Duration (self): -40%
- Vitality: 70
- Experience from Kills: 10%
Utility Nourishment
Gain power equal to 6% of your toughness
Gain power equal to 4% of your vitality
Experience from Kills: 10%
- (30min)
- Gain power equal to 6% of your toughness
- Gain power equal to 4% of your vitality
- Experience from Kills: 10%
Armor & Runes
- Defense: 121
- Power: 25
- Might Duration: 10%
- Power: 50
- 25% chance when struck to gain might for 10 seconds. (Cooldown: 5 seconds)
- Power: 100
- +20% Might Duration; -20% Condition Duration applied to you.
- Defense: 121
- Power: 25
- Might Duration: 10%
- Power: 50
- 25% chance when struck to gain might for 10 seconds. (Cooldown: 5 seconds)
- Power: 100
- +20% Might Duration; -20% Condition Duration applied to you.
- Defense: 363
- Power: 134
- Vitality: 96
- Ferocity: 96
- Power: 25
- Might Duration: 10%
- Power: 50
- 25% chance when struck to gain might for 10 seconds. (Cooldown: 5 seconds)
- Power: 100
- +20% Might Duration; -20% Condition Duration applied to you.
- Defense: 182
- Power: 25
- Might Duration: 10%
- Power: 50
- 25% chance when struck to gain might for 10 seconds. (Cooldown: 5 seconds)
- Power: 100
- +20% Might Duration; -20% Condition Duration applied to you.
- Defense: 242
- Power: 90
- Vitality: 64
- Ferocity: 64
- Power: 25
- Might Duration: 10%
- Power: 50
- 25% chance when struck to gain might for 10 seconds. (Cooldown: 5 seconds)
- Power: 100
- +20% Might Duration; -20% Condition Duration applied to you.
- Defense: 182
- Power: 25
- Might Duration: 10%
- Power: 50
- 25% chance when struck to gain might for 10 seconds. (Cooldown: 5 seconds)
- Power: 100
- +20% Might Duration; -20% Condition Duration applied to you.
Armor Stat Totals
- Defense 1211
- Power 399
- Might Duration 10%
- Condition Duration (self) -20%
- Vitality 160
- Ferocity 160
Rune Bonuses
Superior Rune of Hoelbrak- Power: 25
- Might Duration: 10%
- Power: 50
- 25% chance when struck to gain might for 10 seconds. (Cooldown: 5 seconds)
- Power: 100
- +20% Might Duration; -20% Condition Duration applied to you.
Accessories & Jewels
- Power: 5
- Agony Resistance: 5
- Precision: 5
- DMG Taken from Guards and Lords: -1%
- Power: 5
- DMG to Guards and Lords: 1%
- Power: 5
- Agony Resistance: 5
- Power: 5
- DMG to Guards and Lords: 1%
- Power: 5
- Agony Resistance: 5
Accessory Totals
- Power:491
- Toughness:692
- Ferocity:466
- Agony Resistance:15
- Precision:5
- DMG Taken from Guards and Lords:-1%
- DMG to Guards and Lords:2%
Weapon Set Sigils
- Weapon Strength: 985-1111
- Power: 239
- Precision: 171
- Ferocity: 171
- Weapon Strength: -
Weapon Set I
Sigil of Superior Fire50% chance to cause flame blast on critical hit causing AoE damage. (This effect cannot trigger more than once every 5s)
- Weapon Strength: 857-1048
- Power: 120
- Precision: 85
- Ferocity: 85
- Weapon Strength: 806-909
- Power: 120
- Precision: 85
- Ferocity: 85
Weapon Defense: 61
Weapon Set II
Sigil of Superior GeomancyYou bleed nearby foes for 10s when you swap to this weapon while in combat. (This effect cannot trigger more than once every 9s)
Sigil of Superior BloodlustYou gain +10 power each time you kill a foe. (max 25 stacks and ends on down or weapon change)
- Weapon Strength: 905-1000
- Power: 120
- Precision: 85
- Ferocity: 85
- Weapon Strength: 905-1000
- Power: 120
- Precision: 85
- Ferocity: 85
Water Weapon I
Sigil of Superior Fire50% chance to cause flame blast on critical hit causing AoE damage. (This effect cannot trigger more than once every 5s)
Water Weapon II
Sigil of Superior Fire50% chance to cause flame blast on critical hit causing AoE damage. (This effect cannot trigger more than once every 5s)
Upgrade Item Details
Nourishment:
- Bowl of Lemongrass Poultry Soup - This is not optional. Eat it! 40% reduced Condition Duration synergizing with your runes and traits will change your life!
- Master Sharpening Stone - You know what it is!
Armor
- Knight's Gear - Easily obtained by doing Sorrow's Embrace every day, Knight's gear provides a large Toughness boost alongside Power and Precision. This is where the bulk of your crit chance will come from. If you already have 30% crit chance you can swap out a few pieces for Valkyrie's gear for more Crit Damage and Vitality that doesn't really do much for you.
- Berserker's Gear - This build can also function with full Berserker armor. This will net you more Critical Damage for bigger burst, but will sacrifice a lot of your armor. If you feel like only living once, go for it!
Runes
- Rune of Hoelbrak - This will net you more Power and give you some more bang for your Might Stacks, but the real reason we're taking this is for the Condition Duration reduction. Stacked with your food that's a total of 60% duration reduction. Stacked with Dogged March, you will rarely be snared for more than a brief moment.
- Rune of Melandru - A more defensive version of the Rune of Hoelbrak: instead of providing Power and Might duration it will provide Toughness and Stun Duration reduction.
Trinkets
- Cavalier's Trinkets - Cavalier's trinkets will offer even more Toughness as well as a boost your Critical Damage. Since you get more Toughness from your trinkets than armor, I recommend taking these if you want to go half-and-half.
- Berserker's Trinkets - Again, this build can function on a Berserker's budget. If you prefer to play the more "Get in, boom 'em, get out" style, go full Berserker!
Weapons:
- Full Berserker weapons. Because.
Sigils:
- Sigil of Fire - The Fire Sigil is pretty much the best way to get more DPS in a high-crit build. The flame blast hits about as hard as a standard hammer auto-attack, but it has a nice range eon it. If you don't want to shell out for a Superior one, you can get a Major for much cheaper. It does the same damage, just has a lower proc rate. But that shouldn't concern a Warrior too much.
- Sigil of Paralyzation - This will increase the duration of your stuns by 15%. It can work quite well on your Hammer and allow for better synergy with your offset weapons.
- Sigil of Geomancy - If you're running an Axe in your offset I highly recommend this. If you switch weapons at close-range (which you should be) you will apply bleeding to your foe. Obviously this build doesn't do much in the ways of conditions, but the important thing is that it will allow you to gain the extra 10% damage from Attack of Opportunity for your Eviscerate!
- Sigil of Hydromancy - Highly recommended if you run a Greatsword offset. If you switch at close-range (which you should be), this will apply Chill to your foe. This can mean the difference between getting a third of your Hundred Blades off and the entire thing.
- Sigil of Bloodlust - This will grant you an extra 250 Power when it's stacked to full. You'll really want one of these on one of your weapons, alongside a duplicate weapon without this sigil. Once it's stacked to full there's no need to keep the sigil equipped unless you get downed.
V. Basic Gameplay
- Whether you run balanced or berserker, this build can function as a frontliner.
- Like any Warrior build, you should pick your battles and know when to disengage. Mind your cooldowns and retreat back to your zerg when you need to. Jump back in once the pressure has been alleviated.
- Try to coordinate with the support players in your group: stand in their water fields, null fields, etcetera. This will help mitigate any mass-condition you may face and keep you trucking for even longer.
- Mind your enemy's combo fields. Earthshaker can be interrupted mid-flight if you do it through a Static Field, Line of Warding, etctera.
- Pay attention to your group's movements. You will often find yourself ahead of the group when engaging and you may find yourself alone if they decided to retreat or try to juke.
- If you find yourself riddled with blinds, try switching to your offset. It is much easier to shake off blinds with an axe or greatsword than it is a hammer.
- Use your offensive skills defensively! You can use Earthshaker and Bull's Charge to retreat, not just close gaps.
- User Earthshaker while engaging. If both zergs are moving into one-another, dropping your AoE stun before the enemy group engages can help split the group and delay their frontliners from entering the fray!
Main Skill Rotation
VI. Video Examples
Some of these are out-of-date.
- Duels (Axe/Shield offset)
- 2v2 Duels (Axe/Shield offset)
- Roaming Encounters (Greatsword offset)
- Zerg Play (Greatsword/Longbow offsets.)