Build Overview
This guide discusses my “Run and Gun” build for GW2 Warrior.
The build leverages Rifle and Axe/Warhorn as the weapon sets. For tournaments, I recommend either my “Captain Hammer” support/CC spec or the “Hammer Gun” DPS/CC spec, as those specs bring more CC to the table. For WvW, check out the WvW “Run and Gun” build.
Build Calculator and Gear
sPvP Build: http://www.intothemists.com/calc/?build=-s707-0-VKkN0_47L-60;9;5OT-E;116-07A;14;0L-V44;1ZF18ZF185Bx
Amulet + Jewel: Berserker’s + Berserker’s: 923 power | 644 precision | 329 vitality | 20% crit damage
Runes: 6 x Runes of the Soldier: 165 vitality | 50 toughness | shouts remove a condition
Build Pros and Cons
Pros
- Excellent range (1200)
- Good gap control CC (cripples, 1 knockback, 1 fear bomb) complemented by high Swiftness uptime
- High crit rate (47-56%) triggers crit-based effects (bleeds, vulnerability, lifesteal)
- Good sustained direct damage
- Sustained condition removal via shouts and Mending
- On-demand group movement and fury/might buffs
Cons
- Limited multi-target capability (mitigants: Rifle shots pierce, so any targets in the line of fire will be hit. In melee range, Axe provides functional short-range AOE)
- Lacks sustained disabling CC
Build Mechanics
I made a conscious choice to favor direct damage over bleed (condition) damage for the following reasons:
- The Rifle is better suited to direct damage than bleed damage, due to there only being 1 attack that applies a bleed effect, and it’s a single-hitting ability and as such does not synergize with Sigil of Superior Earth. Therefore, I chose not to buff bleed duration nor condition damage
- There are many condition removal abilities in the game, and some classes have strong counters to condition-based specs. This is not to say that condition damage isn’t viable – it just doesn’t fit the playstyle and mechanics I’m shooting for (no pun intended)
The excellent Crack Shot trait enables use of Aimed Shot (5s cripple) and Volley every 8 seconds, Brutal Shot (debuffer) and Rifle Butt (knockback) every 12 seconds. In addition, Crack Shot ensures that your Rifle attacks hit the intended target(s).
The Rifle burst ability Kill Shot can crit for 8k+, but keep in mind that it has a self-rooting cast time with a very visible animation (your character crouches). To increase the probability of landing the Axe burst ability Eviscerate, you can use Rifle Butt then follow with Eviscerate.
The more I play the spec, the more I have come to value the Axe mainhand. It’s fantastic for killing low-HP pets (e.g. Mesmer illusions, etc) and for dealing sustained damage on targets on objectives. I also use Axe to circle-strafe targets that can’t handle a moving target.
This high crit rate supports the following synergies:
- Lifesteal procs from Sigil of Blood: SoB provides a 30% chance on crit to heal for 453. The opponent is damaged by 453 but the damage seems to be mitigated by Armor
- Precise Strikes + Attack of Opportunity: these synergize to provide a 33% chance on crit to proc a bleed effect, and bleeds buff your direct damage on the target by 10%. Keep in mind the auto-attack for Rifle provides 1 bleed effect, and the crit-based procs will help ensure good bleed uptime regardless which attack abilities you use
- Furious Speed: excellent uptime on Swiftness, which allows the use of Rifle for running down or maintaining distance on opponents
Narrated PVP Videos
Videos listed in reverse chronological order.
5v5 tournament video on live :)
5v5 tournament video with lots of 1v1s:
Two 1v1 fights, the first against a Mesmer, the second against a Necromancer:
Some fun 2v2 action featuring my Warrior paired up with a Guardian, facing an Elementalist and Warrior:
The traits, gear selection, and mechanics of the spec, with illustrative gameplay (note that the spec in this video is slightly outdated due to changes after BWE2):
Revision History
- 2012/10/15: switched from Sigil of Superior Blood to Superior
AirFire for more burst damage - 2012/10/01: updated build links to use intothemists.com’s calculator. Added WvW build (thanks Rocket for the suggestion)
- 2012/09/16: added links to other specs for tournament play
- 2012/09/02: replaced Rending Strikes for Furious Speed. More run, more gun!
- 2012/09/02: added 5v5 tourney video
- 2012/07/29: added 5v5 tourney video
- 2012/07/23: updated spec for BWE3. Changed from 0/30/25/0/15 to 0/25/30/0/15 to account for changes to traits. With the addition of Embrace the Pain, the spec now generates adrenaline much faster. Rune of Melandru was nerfed severely and replaced with Rune of the Soldier. Fear Me shout replaced Stomp for clearing opponents, and Shake It Off replaced Bolas, as the spec needed more condition removal
- 2012/07/14: added 3rd video, which contains two 1v1 fights (vs Mesmer, vs Necro)
- 2012/07/06: added 2nd video, which contains chain 2v2 fighting. Changed soloing Sigil from Strength to Blood
- 2012/06/17: After reviewing the BWE2 footage, I’ve decided to swap Opportunity (fury proc on root) for Sniper (shots pierce), to make sure that my Rifle attacks hit my intended target. Without the pierce, sometimes my attack(s) would hit intervening opponents. Pierce also provides limited multi-target capability. Given that, the Leg Specialist trait was no longer as valuable. Here are the changes:
- Switched from 0/30/20/10/10 to 0/30/25/0/15: picked up Fast Hands (-5s on weapon swap cooldown) and Armored Attack (10% of toughness is converted to power)
- Switched from Sword to Axe. Given the low damage from Flurry in BWE2, I’d rather have Eviscerate for adrenaline dumps, and with the 5s cooldown on weapon swap, I’ll be able to switch weapon sets more fluidly mid-combat to use Eviscerate, Throw Axe, and the excellent warhorn buffs
- Swapped out Frenzy for the “For Great Justice!” shout buff. The critical damage component was removed from Frenzy. FGJ provides an AOE fury and might buff on a relatively short (25s) cooldown
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Taugrim's MMO Blog 
Hehehe, transferring your Vanguard to Guild Wars 2? :D
Looks like a fun build to play.
Vanguard has more in common with Riftblade Warrior than my GW2 Run-and-Gun Warrior. Vanguard can neither root nor knockback.
I’ve selected 2 knockbacks with this spec, along with long-range snare / root capability.
So, this Warrior spec has more in common with heavy kiting specs in other games, especially as it has excellent range and gap control.
Powertech Pyro: ranged high burst (5-10) ranged (snare). I´d say theres a lot in common with the pyrotech.
This spec is really good for wvw btw.
Im gonna try that out :P
Hey Ed,
Thank you for taking the time to put your thoughts into words/videos and sharing them with the MMO community. I’ve been following you for SWTOR content/tips/guides/etc. until now and boy, did you provide! My highest praises for your Iron Fist Vanguard build, I switched to it when you talked about it and have never looked back since.
However, seeing as SWTOR is going down (it was a breath of fresh air from WoW, I loved it and am rather sad knowing the developers have made and are making some common/silly/big mistakes and killing the game), I hope GW2 will be the next ‘big thing’. ‘Been keeping my eye on it for a couple of months now, reading, youtubing and have pre-purchased it a couple of days ago. Can’t wait for next week’s beta to try it on for myself!
That being said, I’m looking forward to both the game and your future articles on it.
Cheers,
Vlad
Thanks for the kind words Vlad, I really appreciate it.
I used a similar spec last BWE and I found it very fun. Even though I still did completely fine, at that time, I just wasn’t experimenting with runes and sigils so that little touch really looks like it makes a huge difference now.
I did use the Throw Bolas utility a lot but you seem to have plenty of roots and cripples to make up for it.
However, I did find Shake It Off a very necessary utility to have, mainly as a CC breaker with the added effect of removing a condition. But now that I look at it, Frenzy seems to break stuns as well.
Overall, I really can’t find any major disadvantages, besides maybe getting used to the play style, with this build. Utilities, traits, and pretty much everything just synergizes extremely well. Congrats Taugrim, another (seemingly) perfect build.
I will definitely be trying this out next BWE.
Yea I considered taking SIO but I wasn’t sure which utility skill to swap out.
Frenzy with either Burst Volley or Flurry should provide some very compact burst damage, and as you said it’s a stun breaker too. That being said, EP also breaks stun.
If the base damage of the spec is good, I could drop Frenzy for SIO. It really depends how much of an issue the lack of condition removal is for the spec. As I wrote, it is a drawback and was a reason that I chose the Runes with -45% condition removal.
Well, it’s all theorycrafting. But on paper the spec looks very well rounded.
Next weekend we can test :)
I’ve played allot of rifle warrior so far. The immobilise on criple is pretty cool. +5% vs weakness if kinda weird thou, you could only use it to open a fight, but then being able to dmg from a distance will be at least equally good. I’d swap it for 2-5% dmg based on adrenaline then if I were you.
I’ve tried the freeze mod, but wasn’t to impressed with it tbh. I did have a freeze AoE on weapon swap for my running arround set, which was usefull at times.
I found the rifle burst skill to be ineffective. It’s so obivous when you do it.. only need some practice to dodge roll the dmg, and there’s usually an object to LoS behind. It’s good when you catch some1 ofguard thou, like say you’re at the clocktower window and 2 ppl having a fight on the cap point.
I ran riffle with 6* rune of the soldier once, to make up for lack of vita/def, I really liked the remove condition effect combined with “For great Justice” and “Shake it off”. Think I even gave up the condition heal for sigil heal with 20% reduced cooldown at one point.
the 2 adds on nifle are really easy to solo with this, just a matter of timing ur dodge/kick/rifle butt. Kick n rifflebut are also awesome to help downed players. If only 1 person is stomping, launch him and res up :)
On Khylo, once you’re used to taking certain routes that give you the height advantage it gets quite amuzing.
Overall I was verry pleased with sword/horn as 2nd weaponset to get arround verry quick. Battle can drag on a bit thou, which is fine if you have a good team, you can deny 1 person stealing a point, and either kill him slowly, or hold out till your friend arrives.
Yea I mistook weakness for vulnerability. So I swapped out Cull the Weak for the Shrug It Off trait.
I considered taking the 2-5% damage trait from the Strength line, but I like having the auto-bubble and the passive regen based on adrenaline.
I’m not sure how much usage I’ll get out of Kill Shot given that I am leveraging a full adrenaline bar for the 9% crit chance buff, and the KS animation (the crouch) is very visible and therefore counterable with dodge and such.
The freeze sigil’s proc rate scales with crit.
Do you remember how much crit you had? As I wrote this spec has between 46% to 75%.
And do you remember how much Power you had?
Mending is the best Warrior heal ability IMO.
Yes, I took 2 knockbacks partly to help with clearing opponents trying to rez a downed enemy.
I think you’re mistaking 2 conditions here in relation to the +5%dmg vs weakened foes trait:
weakness – Causes 50% of attacks to be glancing and reduces endurance regeneration by 50%. Stack in duration.
Vulnerability — Reduces armor by X. Stacks in intensity.
I think you’re mistaking 2 conditions here in relation to the +5%dmg vs weakened foes trait:
weakness – Causes 50% of attacks to be glancing and reduces endurance regeneration by 50%. Stack in duration.
Vulnerability — Reduces armor by X. Stacks in intensity.
As for the numbers, I don’t quite remember, but near 50% critchance, yes. I also had the freeze proc on my riffle, but I didn’t need it there.
And I agree mending seems to be the best one atm.
Thanks for pointing that out. I replaced Cull the Weak trait with Shrug It Off. The passive bubble is really good too.
I ran a http://www.gw2builds.org/create/bwe_1/warrior#3.0.4.3-1.2.1.18.1-20.30.10.10.0-6.4.4.2.7.8.8
Build which is a little more glass and alot more cannon Plus Throw Bolas in an on demand root.
Like John said the finisher for Rifle was easily avoidable and my spec uses 1h axe for its superior burst ability with the added benefit of an active block another stun and another ranged snare in “Throw Axe”. Loved this build alot in sPvP but didnt get a chance to test it much in WvW (was using my thief in WvW)
I was running nearly the same thing, but using axe/warhorn + rifle. Warhorn for mobility and team support.
Taugrim, I do agree with zederok. I think Axe is the superior main hand here. If you aren’t focusing in bleed damage, the ranged cripple on Throw Axe is better than Hamstring, and is on a shorter cooldown. Plus Cyclone Axe gives you *some* aoe potential if you need to clear clones/minions, while also stacking vulnerability.
I would probably take your run and gun build and change virtually nothing but swap sword for axe. And like all builds, the utility skills are “to taste” I think.
Great build, glad to see rifle warrior get some love (easily the favorite thing I played in the game so far)
I considered taking Axe over Sword.
The Sword burst skill Flurry synergizes amazingly with this spec, because Flurry roots, which means it will likely proc Fury, bleeds, and vulnerability multiple times. Say “Flurry procs Fury” fast 10 times.
Eviscerate is awesome but for this spec, it won’t proc effects as much as Flurry.
TA > Hamstring
No disagreement there. Although keep in mind I can ranged Cripple every 8s with Aimed Shot.
Savage Leap is both a gap closer and gap creater. So more mobility there.
CA roots you for the duration right? That’s what I didn’t like about it from previous testing.
Eviscerate v Flurry is a tough call, eviscerate has added utility as a gap closer, but there is a strong chance that’s not needed in this build.
CA does root, but the cast time is pretty short, I didn’t find it too much of a detriment, and AOE vulnerable is very powerful.
As you said, really tough call. Probably comes down to playstyle (higher spike with aze + eviscerate, more mobility/pressure with sword). Also, i’m sure these numbers will all change ever so slightly before launch.
Also keep in mind that most of these builds are pure theory crafting at this point. Even more so considering the leaked changes to Trait Aquisition, which makes me sad.
Can you post a link?
Seen it on reddit. let me see if its still up.
http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/u0ama/trait_tiers_and_how_would_you_do_it/
Oh boy.
Trait tiering = fail IMO, it would totally limit people’s choices.
I love the current “Chinese Menu” style of trait selection. You’re not forced to go deep into a trait line unless you want to.
I have some doubts as to Last Stand. You can’t control when it is going to trigger so it will quite often be wasted. For example, if you get hit at full health by same random AoE stun it will eat the ability. The internal CD on Last Stand would have to be relatively low for it to have value. What is it’s internal CD?
At this time, I’d rather have Endure Pain trigger passively at 25% health (which should almost always be useful) and have Balanced Stance as a utility so I have full control over it.
The knockback on Kick is pretty short. Bolas might be better, particularly if you are trying to control two targets. And it has synergy with your immobolize traits. This next part I’m not sure about, but I *think* that you can not dodge when you are rooted. So, a nice combination would be the rifle knockback, bolas, kill shot. You can still be blocked, blinded etc but at least that would remove getting evaded or line of sighted from the equation (if I’m right).
People have speculated the LS internal cooldown is the same as the Balanced State trait, which is 40 sec. Not that the two share the cooldown.
There may be some difference in how LS works vs BS.
BS tooltip says it breaks stun. LS tooltip says it triggers BS when you get get stunned, knocked down, knocked back, launched, or dazed. I’m not sure whether that means LS effectively eats / prevents the CC effect.
You can’t dodge while rooted AFAIK.
Bolas over Kick is a valid choice. I’ll have to test Kick and see whether I like it or not. Kick might have situational utility that Bolas don’t have, e.g. to stop an opponent from reviving a downed enemy.
Yeah, or keeping an enemy from finishing an ally. I did some rifle warrior in BWE1 and used the knockbacks for doing that. The rifle knockback totally rocks, the kick knockback was good for PvE but felt too short to be worth it for PvP. Stomp is cool but has a cast time and of course takes a utility slot.
I’m thinking the CD is probably 40s as well. It seems common for the internal CD to match up with the ability CD.
Are you sure Stomp has a cast time? I just watched a video and it seemed to cast quickly.
I went ahead and swapped out Kick for Stomp, given that it’s AOE.
I recall there being some kind of buildup on the animation. It wasn’t horrible though. In the end I dropped it due to the slight delay and it’s cooldown length. The knockback distance itself is good. However, I think it could still work out really well the immobolizes (which is something I didn’t test out).
Also good for knocking people off of edges. :)
Flurry is one of the abilities I really need to test during the next BWE. Based on many comments on GWGuru, many who have tried sword have found Flurry hard to land without using something like Bull’s Charge in combination. Flurry apparently immobilizes the warrior as well- which is why I thought you had added all the Freezes to this build.
Flurry has a ton of potential with all its tiny packets and its low recharge, but that seems balanced by its having a fairly high threshold to use effectively. One thread said Flurry delivers 16 separate hits, which is amazing for crit-proc’d builds.
Sword is such an interesting weapon choice with its high utility and then it kind of makes you make a choice between augmenting your damage or using it as a bleed or other proc-based condition applicator.
In your build, the bleeds it produces are almost a distraction for the other conditions you are generating. Condition removal wont do much vs. this build compared to a more pure sword bleed build which delivers the majority of its damage with bleeds.
It will be interesting when this build is revised to see Flurry as a condition-delivery device. If you land a full duration flurry you should generate multiple procs of chilled (duration stacks) and vulnerability (stacks in intensity)- which is great but there maybe a chicken and the egg situation- landing flurry in the first place will be the trick.
Flurry roots the Warrior for the full duration of the channel. The target is rooted based 2-4s based on adrenaline.
In a Beta weekend, I used Savage Leap to gap close then Flurry, although with this spec I might go SL -> Hamstring -> Flurry instead.
Exactly.
Yea, that’s my thought too. I’ll have up to 3 conditions on the target: bleeds, vulnerabilities, and cripple, with some roots thrown in as well.
The bleeds are mostly there for the +10% buff to direct damage, and to help layer the other conditions I care more about. Granted, the bleeds will add some damage too, but the ticks will tick for ~60 instead of 100+ if I had stacked condition damage.
Many condition builds for Warrior take Sword for Flurry for the reason you mentioned. Plus the chain attack for sword applies 2 bleeds in 3 hits, and with proc-bleeds that’s even more.
All that being said, I want to try a build that doesn’t revolve around Conditions.
I played a Condition Elementalist, and while it was generally effective, it could also be countered pretty hard.
This only means that they implemented it so you can only take each trait tier if you buy the book.
So what this means is this:
You buy the first skill book and you get access to the first minor and major trait then you buy the second skill book and you get access to the next minor and major trait and the same for the third set of traits.
In the beta buying the first book opened up all three if you had enough points and this wasn’t Intended. Your major can still be any of the majors in the pool no matter the tier.
This sounds like it only impacts a player while leveling in PVE or leveling in WvW.
I assume in Structured PVP (and the Mists lobby for testing) that we’d still have access to all traits, right?
Its awesome that you already setting up builds for character classes. I love getting the jump on an MMORPG when it first comes out and hopefully this information will help me. I am looking forward to Guild Wars 2 so much. I am also looking for The Elder Scrolls Online (TESO). I love the game series.
Reading up on GW2, but nothing will help more than just trying the game for a weekend.
Before I actually played, I didn’t understand how the calculations for direct damage and condition damage worked, and all the things that a player can experiment with for a build.
But anyway I hope this information is helpful, regardless whether you’ve played the game or not.
Looking forward to the Beta Weekend next week. Am planning on capturing video footage for YouTube video(s) and / or streaming.
Hey taugrim.
this is my first post here, so first off all: Nice blog. I really enjoyed the read of your guides and tips.
I am currently wondering, what class to play in Guild Wars 2. It will be either Warrior or Guardian. I like the warrior’s style, but I fear, that he won’t have enough defensive capabilities, like the guardian has. I’ve seen videos of a guardian, tanking four people and just laughing at their face.
I like being sturdy in PVP, but I really dislike the magical unicorn-and-fairy-style and sh*t. Last MMO I played (and still do) is Age of Conan, so I like it upfront and brutal.
Do you think, a warrior can get as sturdy as a guardian? And would you mind to post your build suggestion for this maybe?
Thanks a lot (and excuse my mistakes, since English is not my mothertongue).
Warrior can be spec’d to be very durable / tanky. You can run for example an axe / shield build, paired up with Rifle.
I can’t post a build without knowing more what you are trying to accomplish. Do you want to have CC? Meaningful DPS? etc.
I want to play my warrior as some kind of tanky DPS (think Udyr from League of Legends). Hopefully, I will find a viable build for SPVP as well as for WvW. :)
Hey Taugrim! I have something that might be of interest to you concerning The Secret World beta. Please feel free to contact me via my email or add OrpheusOverdrive to your youtube contact list so I can send you the information. I can’t say much more here unfortunately and I had no other way to contact you. Sorry for being so cryptic. If you get this and have the ability to delete this feel free to do so.
Looks like they changed the Trait system to be more of a tree in the latest build. Hopefully this doesn’t change your build too much. Just thought I’d mention it. You can see a little bit of the new trees in the PCGamer coverage from this weekend.
any word on whether or not the tiered traits will be in this weekends bwe? It would be a shame to see everybodys theorycrafting go to waste, but then again if it’s not in this bwe we might not get reliable information on it until the next, making another whole months worth of theorycrafting potentially useless
Looks like they’re going to be in. But we’ll have to wait until Friday to know how they’re structured and how much this changes theorycrafting like above.
Thankfully, the trait tiering had zero impact on this build.
Hopefully that will remain the case as the trait tiers change over time.
As long as Gun Mastery and Sniper are not in the 3rd tier together, there should be a viable way of making this spec work.
Just tried this spec. It is a great deal of fun, but it seems that my biggest problem with this spec are mesmers. Any tips?
This spec has no AOE, so it can be a pain tracking down Mesmer because of their clones.
That being said, I’ve been playing this spec since last night, and it’s been AWESOME.
I’d enjoy your guides more if they weren’t written so technically. It’s hard for a beginner to understand what you’re on about in this guide. GW2 is confusing enough as it is, your guide is just as confusing as the game :)
How would you suggest I make the Guide less technical?
I want the material to be helpful, so feedback is appreciated.
It’s the terms used. As someone who’s new to PvP (I never bothered in SWG as the elitism annoyed me.) a lot of the terms I’ve had to look up on wowwiki and I guess it’s also how different PvP in GW2 appears, to the likes of SWTOR. PvP in GW2 appears quite confusing and getting hammered by someone who appears to speed in super fast, firing off super fast moves till your dead (as was happening at the weekend with one player, was like he had some weird speed buff) GW2 PvP when written, just seems daunting. The videos, at least the SWTOR ones, were easier to follow and understand. But I think that’s more to do with how SWTOR PvP works and how GW2 seems so complicated.
I think it has more to do with the last sentence than anything else.
SWTOR back in 1.0 and 1.1 was designed to have protracted fights – this was the stated design intent by BioWare.
In GW2 however, if you have two opponents matching up and one is squishy and the other is built for CC and burst, the latter can burst the former down in a handful of ability uses.
I started noticing in BWE2 relative to BWE1 that the pure burst specs were not as effective. People are already learning to trait a bit more defensively (e.g. picking up stun breakers, stability, and condition removal).
This looks like quite a potent ranged build, though im not quite sure how well you would do against certain classes such as the mesmer and necro, also im not quite sure I like stomp.
Seems to have a similar playstyle to the vamp pistol thief, which i found to be quite enjoyable, so ill definitely give it a shot when I can.
The spec has been awesome to play – it brings the pain but also has good utility.
Mesmer with their pets can be a pain as this spec lacks AOE to clear them.
Necro may be the best 1v1 class given how much survivability and sustained condition removal and application they have.
First video of it should be on YouTube in an hour or less.
Nice, sadly I was unable to play during this BWE due too graduating and moving -.- So im hungry for as much info as possible, so thnx for any vids or info you post.
I hope to be ready and set up for the next event, I think my guild is on maul dune currently.
Just a tips to fight a mesmer : Ctrl+T on the real one.
You can try to hide from his pets using the environnement.
Nice video, good job as usual.
That is a great tip.
Wouldn’t be surprised to see that functionality changed though.
[…] Detailed Writeup on the “Run and Gun” Spec […]
Hi, Ed! Just wanted to leave a quick note of appreciation. I first saw you on The Republic and I liked your considered and well spoken thoughts. This led to me trying SWTOR PvP and really enjoying it. I am very happy to see you are covering GW2 as I hoped you would and look forward to your related content.
Oh PS tell Gary that you have to be on Guildcast occasionally, we need a true PvPers views for balance. Also I would love to know your impressions of WvW.
Sorry cut out my middle paragraph somehow.
More on topic, the build looks great and I will definitely have to try it. Although I know I won’t own with it as well as you showed. I keep swearing I will try other characters and SPvP, only to then getting sucked in to exploring the world with my Guardian….. next thing I know it is Monday morning and I have withdrawal symptoms again! :p
Thanks for the kind words.
I am looking forward to GW2. In many ways, it provides exactly the kind of game experience I want: no tier-based gearing system, meaningful World PVP, and both unranked and ranked PVP.
This build looks interesting… but could be improved to suit my play style.
I Ioved Rift Blade and Vanguard PvP. The way both of those builds could flirt with the target at range and then swoop into close combat and smash face was good fun and effective. It was the movement between close and ranged (and being effective at both) that made those specs fun for me.
I’d like to see a similar build for GW2. I think it will be a combo of Rifle as shown above, but coupled with an Axe (2x axe or axe plus shield) or greatsword. Not, the sword horn combo you are running with ATM.
The problem with the above build is that it does not seem to operationalize the F1-burst skill very effectively for smashing people down. I think a build that makes the F1-burst mechanic a focus will do better. Adrenaline seems to be only used as a buff, but not to burst opponents down. Rather than focus on abilities to keep people at range, make getting into close combat dangerous by having a lethal CC burst set-up in place, plus including some gap-closers/charges as well.
Basically, what I’d like to see is a build that uses rifle to build adrenaline followed by a weapon switch, charge/bull-rush, F1-burst (with all those plus dps on weapon switch Sigils on the melee weapons). That could be very fearsome, being able to kite and wear people down from range, and then swoop into melee with huge burst dps. And if people close with you… well, they fell into your trap.
My thoughts anyway. And, I really want your thoughts, or even better a build, that captures the mid-ranged dps style of Rift Blades in early Rift and the Iron Fist Vanguard build in SWTOR. I think this style of play will be rifles plus great sword, or rifles plus an axe combo.
BTW: Thanks Taugrim, you made SWTOR and RIFT pvp fun.
After reviewing my BWE2 footage, I came to the same conclusion and decided to swap the Sword for an Axe, so that I can use Eviscerate as an adrenaline dump.
The horn stays though. It’s boons for group mobility rock.
You can do the same with Bolas. I love Bull Rush, but for a ranged build, Bolas provide more frequent utility. So when I have a full adrenaline bar, I can close the gap while chucking Bolas, and then when the target is rooted, swap weapons and Eviscerate.
Also, you can use Eviscerate after Rifle Butt or Stomp.
I want to stress something. The Run and Gun build is not trying to recreate a Riftblade or IF Vanguard. RB IMO was a melee spec that had solid ranged capability, not a mid-ranged DPS. Vanguard is a truly short-to-mid ranged DPS with melee capability.
This spec is designed to provide a sustained far range DPS with disabling abilities (Rifle Butt and Stomp), so it’s an RDPS first. But you can close to melee range to CC your opponent, which I did vs RDPS, and with the switch to Axe it has a good melee burst ability.
You’re welcome :)
Hey Taugrim.
I stumbled across your latest GW2 stream last weekend and was pleasantly surprised at your informative presentation. (Along with some good nature guildee on guildee violence.)
Oddly enough, I happened to catch Guildcast this week. You presented an informative and objective view on how putting traits on a ladder spoiled some of the original innovation in the GW2 PvP system. (I may be putting a few words in your mouth.)
I thought I’d present a theoretical solution that came to me on the bus today, if you’re willing to humour me.
In this solution I could see GW2 still having traits of three values (or the three tiers as presented in BWE 2), but you’d be able to slot those traits freely as you could during the first beta weekend. Only now traits of lesser value have a +5 modifier, middle ground traits have a +0 modifier and the cream of the crop have a -5 modifier.
There would be nothing stopping a player from popping 30 points into their crit stat line and slotting three tier three traits; however they would have accumulated a modifier of -15 which would in turn drop the passive stats gained into an investment of 15 points instead of 30.
Like wise someone might slot traits of lesser value or of a more situation nature to bump those passive stats into an investment of 45.
This theory came to me when I recalled the flux system implemented and still present in GW one.
I think with this type of system most players will end up with a balanced spec minus the pigeon holding of set tiers; while also giving serious number crunchers a chance to maximize their builds.
Of course this is theory craft, but I thought I’d send it your way regardless.
Cheers and all the best,
Dinklebot.
situational^ (Sorry about the spam!)
After reviewing the BWE2 footage, I’ve decided to swap Opportunity (fury proc on root) for Sniper (shots pierce), to make sure that my Rifle attacks hit my intended target. The ability to pierce also provides limited multi-target capability. Given that, the Leg Specialist trait was no longer as valuable.
Here are the changes:
1. switched from 0/30/20/10/10 to 0/30/25/0/15: picked up Fast Hands (-5s on weapon swap cooldown) and Armored Attack (10% of toughness is converted to power)
2. switched from Sword to Axe. Given the low damage from Flurry in BWE2, I’d rather have Eviscerate for adrenaline dumps, and with the 5s cooldown on weapon swap, I’ll be able to switch weapon sets more fluidly mid-combat to use Eviscerate, Throw Axe, and the excellent warhorn buffs
3. swapped out Frenzy for the “For Great Justice!” shout buff. The critical damage component was removed from Frenzy. FGJ provides an AOE fury and might buff on a relatively short (25s) cooldown
First, i want to say thank you for the awesome guide, it really opened some doors for my warrior ^^
i also would like to recommend you to use – http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php
as it allows you to selected sigil, runes amulets and jewels as well.
You’re welcome!
That’s a nice calculator, I’ve been using it to derive total stats instead of doing it manually.
That site doesn’t yet enable the player to revise submitted builds.
[…] Guide to the “Run and Gun” Build […]
[…] has released a gameplay video to accompany his “Run and Gun” warrior spec, showcasing a pretty intense 2v2 in Battle of Khylo. Whether you’re a […]
Nice guide, played alot with Rifle in BWE2, and i really liked the ranged potential. Good read as always Taugrim. Was following alot of you strems for SWTOR beta and will be gla d to read and view your content for GW2.
[…] Guide to the “Run and Gun” Build […]
Are you going to continue to play SWTOR?
hey taugrim! the traits seem to have changed in BWE3 so I had to choose different ones! couldnt find the auto endure pain trait and reload time for gun skills and the pierce are now 1 trait not 2.
sigil of superior doom for the axe is gone too, so i took sigil of supirior intelligence for 100% crit chance on next attack when swapping to the axe set
i just wanted to let you know
sigil of superior doom is still there
I’ll update this Guide after BWE3, but given the nerf to Runes of Melandru, I’ve switched to Runes of the Soldier and replaced Bolas with Shake It Off, so that I have functional condition removal.
http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.2.8.4.0.21.24.24.0.32.29.38.39.33.50.2.2.41.0.0.0.95.97.0.106.113.116.0.0.0.140.0.0.0.25.30.0.15
I played both the Captain Hammer and the Run and Gun builds during BWE3. I tend to prefer builds that offer group utility at the expense of 1v1 domination. I’d love to combine the range burst of that Rifle rotation with the shout healing of the Captain Hammer build. Would a combination give up too much to be viable?
Maybe something like this:
http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.2.8.4.0.21.0.0.0.0.29.38.40.39.50.2.2.22.0.0.0.92.97.0.0.0.0.126.128.132.140.0.0.0.25.0.30.15
Since you don’t need to go 30 into arms to get piercing and 20% recharge on rifle skills, that frees up 5 points to get to 15 in Discipline for the weapon swaps and still get 30 in Tactics for shout healing.
Also, I must not have been setting up eviscerate properly because I found kill shot to be way more damage so I wondered if maybe I should run with the Superior Doom on the rifle as well. What do you think?
Guide fully updated to account for changes in BWE3.
I’ll be posting some 5v5 tourney footage with this build.
Run and Gun FTW.
Think Sigil of Blood gets nerfed? (or at least gets an internal cooldown?)
[…] the video I am spec’d with my “Run and Gun” Warrior build, which has been fully updated to account for changes in […]
Hi Taugrim,
Great guide, ran something similar myself over the last BW (inspired by your original build).
Heavy hitting with good support & condition removal and decent control.
http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.2.8.4.0.21.25.33.0.34.29.38.39.33.50.2.2.41.0.0.0.95.97.99.106.113.0.121.129.0.0.0.0.0.30.20.20.0
The major weakness in the above (in my mind) is the lack of healing, you’ve basically got passive regen & mending with a 1k heal available every 10 seconds.
Looking at your build 2 thoughts come to my mind.
1 – with 5 sec weaponswap – why didn’t you choose on swap sigils, say superior leeching, over sigil of blood for your axe set?
2 – how much healing were you getting from sigil of blood on your rifle? Did you feel that it was significant enough to make a difference.
Have you considered Signet of Stamina and/or Runes of Lyssa (combined with Signet of Rage) for condition removal at times when you are heavily stacked with conditions?
Well, this Run and Gun guild definitely sold me on Rifle Warrior.
hey taugrim! nice video and great damage
i have one question though, how does you power reach 3k? i see in ur builder it lists u around 1965 which seems normal, but i dont know how ur getting the 3k.
thanks a lot!
You have to add in the weapon attack/power to get to the 3k.
A question about your utility slots:
Earlier, you used the trait that heals you when using a Shout but you no longer have that, so why still the heavy focus on shouts? Wouldn’t some signets be better, with perhaps using the 20% cooldown trait (which would also help your elite, perhaps even to the extent where you would go for runes of lyssa to make use of a 48s cd elite? Except for the thief no other class can have such a frequently used elite, making this rune ideal)
You’re conflating two different builds.
“Run and Gun” has never been about shout healing. “Captain Hammer” has always been about shout healing.
As I documented in the Revision History section, here’s the reason I’m now slotting 3 shouts for utilities:
“Rune of Melandru was nerfed severely and replaced with Rune of the Soldier. Fear Me shout replaced Stomp for clearing opponents, and Shake It Off replaced Bolas, as the spec needed more condition removal”
Given the 3 shots, do you see any viabilty of 25 arms and 30 tactics? Some group healing with that rifle damage would be very nice.
No, not based on what I’m trying to achieve with “Run and Gun”. Shouts will only meaningfully heal when you stack +healing, and if I do that, my crit rate goes out the window.
Also, 30 points in defense not only provides significant improvements to survivablility but also faster adrenaline regen and more Power via the 10% conversion trait.
Fair points, and I guess staying alive and preventing/acquiring caps is ultimately more valuable to the team than small AOE heals.
[…] the video I am spec’d with my “Run and Gun” Warrior build, which has been fully updated to account for changes in […]
Added my 5v5 tourney video (Episode #2):
i dont seem to get as many crits off as you do, while running this build & gear
Are you keeping FGJ on cooldown? The Fury buff is huge.
Thx for finally making my choice for what to play in GW2! This build made my day :) ps: im going to play asura, so the Kill Shot tell aint that obvius ;)
Did you try it during the Stress Test?
I was wondering: why don’t you put away “fast hands” in favour of 5 more points on arms (“deep cuts” for ex.), which will grant you 2.5% more critic chance and +50% duration bleeds? As far as I can see your build don’t require to swap weapons often so I think normal cooldown is probably ok.
Just my idea, let me know what’s your thinking :)
Actually the 15 points in Tactics makes weapon swapping as often as possible beneficial.
yeah, but what do you get so beneficial in swapping weapons that you can’t wait 5 more seconds? I mean, I know the 5 strike of adrenaline while swapping but this apart (or there’s something else I’m missing?) 50% more duration bleeding + 2.5% more crit chance is overall a better choice, imho :)
Just wanted to know why he makes this choice :)
The 50% duration for bleeds for this spec doesn’t make sense, as I made the conscious choice to focus on direct damage not condition damage for this build.
I mostly care about having a bleed on the target to maintain the 10% direct damage increase from the 25-pt passive Attack of Opportunity. Any bleed damage you get is just icing on the cake with this spec, and the Rifle is not a strong condition weapon due to it having only 1 ability apply a single bleed.
The trait that boosts Crit % based on adrenaline (Heightened Focus) requires 10 points in the trait line. For another 5 points, you get Fast Hands, which is worth considering for any Warrior build.
When I initially played “Run and Gun” I played it as more of an RDPS, but over time I’m getting more mileage and value out of my Axe mainhand,
There are times when you have Axe/Warhorn equipped and you need to switch over to Rifle quickly, especially to drop a runner or to use the Rifle 5 knockback.
And there are times when I have the Rifle equipped, I want to swap over to pop the Warhorn abilities and then swap back to Rifle ASAP.
thank you for your answer.
With yesterday’s stress test annet implemented a change to give all sigils a shared icd of 9 sec, and make it so that they have a hierarchy to the on weapon swap effects (eg leach is ahead of battle types) so if you have two swap sigils in a weapon set only one will go off.
There was also a reduction to armored attack, reducing it by 5%, as well as bumping the cd on mending to 25s from 20s.
Do any of these changes cause adjustments in the build? Especially since having hydromancy will reset the cd on being able to heal on crit.
For reference: http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/49903-here-are-the-stress-test-changes/
This build doesn’t use swap sigils.
Those changes seem reasonable and aren’t gamebreaking.
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/49830-all-sigils-bugged-internal-cd-affecting-all/#entry1743465
If this information is correct, I won’t be changing a thing. A 2-sec ICD is fine.
Hey Taugrim & all,
I notce no posts at all since the game went live? Is this thread still active? Any thoughts on the build since the game released (pre-orders anyways)?
Yes, the build still works.
Been winning tourneys with it.
Hello there,
I’d never really considered the warrior class until I saw your video, it was nice to see something outside the norm. I tried your spec, and after some modifications of my own I’m very happy with what it turned into.
Quite a different animal, but still based on your very first video of this spec, once again using opportunist and leg specialist. It morphed over time into a 30 arms, 20 tactics, 20 discipline build using signet mastery, and I’m loving the shorter cooldown on signet of rage.
(http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.2.8.4.0.21.24.24.0.31.28.38.41.37.50.2.2.41.0.0.0.95.97.99.0.0.0.121.127.0.140.141.0.0.30.0.20.20)
Thanks for the great guides, and for the inspiration to try something outside of my comfort zone.
Is the “Run and Gun” Warrior Build valid for the release?
Are you also working on a WvWvW build?
Run and Gun works well in any PVP context: Hot Join sPvP, tourneys, and WvW.
I’m working on a tourney finals video featuring Run and Gun. Stay tuned!
nice build i’m using this build for PvE too. but just one question regarding rending strikes does it procs a lot?? and does it stacks with (i forgot the name of the skill but it’s on hotkey number 4 the one the gives 5% vulnerability) so does it goes up more or does it stay at 5% but just keeping it active all the time?
RS procs a lot because of the 47% base crit rate, which is 67% with fury.
Also, multi-hitting abilities such as Rifle 3 help to stack it.