As I’ve said before, GW2 builds are all about tradeoffs.
I’ve been considering the main thing that is lacking for each of my current Warrior builds in PVP:
- “Run and Gun” (RnG) lacks sustained CC to control situations (Axe/Warhorn has no CC capability)
- “Captain Hammer” (CH) lacks sufficient DPS to apply meaningful pressure
Hammer has continued to grow on me, and Rifle is an excellent ranged weapon, so I decided to pair those weapons together. After experimenting with various builds I landed on the “Hammer Gun” (HG) build. HG works well in sPvP and in WvW, just make sure for WvW to take the falling damage trait (Death From Above) instead of Bersker’s Power.
Build Calculator and Gear
http://www.intothemists.com/calc/?build=-ss-70;0VKkN0_47L-60;9;49OJ-E4;026-09;23;0I-k3;2ZF18ZF185Ba
The spec lacks the sustained healing, mitigation, and boon uptime of CH, but the burst and sustained DPS are significantly higher and I can apply meaningful pressure to targets, and the ranged capability of HG is vastly superior.
HG lacks the AOE mobility and endurance effects that the Warhorn provides with RnG, but HG provides far better control, and the dropoff in overall damage from Hammer to Axe hasn’t been that significant. Although to be fair I do not take the Axe traits with RnG.
HG has excellent synergy with Adrenaline, specifically the 3 Adrenaline-based buffs (up to 12% damage, 9% crit, and healing ticks for 360 every 3s) and enabling use of the Hammer burst ability Earthshaker, which is awesome in AOE situations.
While HG lacks stability and doesn’t have particularly high mitigation, the ability to interrupt and lockdown opponents provides high value in group situations and in 1v1s.
Build Pros and Cons
Pros
- Very good sustained CC capability: 2 knockbacks (one is AOE), a knockdown, an AOE stun, and an AOE fear
- Good sustained damage
- Ability to skirmish up to 1200 range and handle close-quarters combat
- High crit rate (47-56%) triggers crit-based effects: Sigil of Superior Air procs, vulnerability, and bleeds
- Sustained condition removal via shouts and Mending
Cons
- Lacks high-end burst damage
- Lacks stability boon and oh-crap buttons
Narrated PVP Videos
“Hammer Gun” Build Overview
Conclusions From Build Testing
I theorycrafted and tried various Hammer / Rifle specs, and here are my conclusions:
- Berserker’s Amulet outperformed Knight’s Amulet. While the latter provided more HP, fights took longer to resolve because of the lower Power (-229) and lower Crit multipler (1.85 vs 1.7). This reinforces a theme that has become increasingly apparent to me in GW2: it’s better to end fights quickly than try to try to wear down your opponent. DPS seems to beat damage reduction, and by reduction I mean mitigation and condition removal. I have witnessed this dynamic in tournaments, as multiple guildees have run tank builds that perform well in sPvP but simply don’t work in tournaments because they can’t apply meaningful DPS or boons or debuffs or sustained CC or area denial.
- 30-pt Tactics healing trait Vigorous Shouts does not provide meaningful healing unless you stack +healing. If you invest 30 points into Tactics but don’t stack +healing, what you end up with is healing that is not significant, even factoring in the AOE aspect of it. Shout healing without +healing is merely a speed bump for opposing DPS.
- 30-pt Defense retaliation trait Spiked Armor wasn’t worth the investment, even for a Power build. The main issue is that the boon only lasts 5s, and even with 30% duration from 30 points in Tactics, the 6.5s uptime wasn’t enough to justify the opportunity cost. Other classes (e.g. Guardian) have better retaliation mechanics.
For more Guild Wars 2 content, subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on Twitter.
Revision History
- 2012/12/09: replaced Sigil of Superior Air with Fire, replaced Rending Strikes with Deep Cuts for Attack of Opportunity uptime, and replaced Heightened Focus with Inspiring Shouts
- 2012/10/15: switched from Sigil of Superior Blood to Superior Air for more burst damage
- 2012/10/01: updated build links to use intothemists.com’s calculator
Taugrim's MMO Blog 
it saddens me that your most playeable profession is Warrior.
What’s wrong with Warrior?
It’s the class that offers the greatest diversity of specs.
hmm sound interesting!…I can’t wait for your video guide about this build!
hi,
thank you Taugrim for sharing your exact thoughts about this build.
i will try it today.
i am excited to watch your video to this build soon.
Greetings from Austria
Bela
k, i played it now for some hours – its a nice build.
sometimes i have troubles using the right weapon. normaly i try to stay on distance. if i have to protect someone or under attacke from melee i switch to hammer.
what do you think? when does you use and switch your weapons?
ciao
bela
I use Hammer when fighting at objectives or when I want to lock down an opponent with chain CC.
The nice thing is that even with Hammer, this spec does solid damage.
It would be great if we could see you playing, and hear you teaching about the other professions. It would be best IMO if you would make a cover about all of them, than make more video about your chosen one (by the way, have you decided witch one will you level up to 80 first?). Your play style and how you speak about class mechanics is inspirational. Thank you for all your hard work.
Greetings from Hungary
Peter :)
I would love to cover every class!
The main constraint right now is my RL schedule.
Ok I had tried this build in sPvP and so far so good! Way much better than RnG imo.
The Hammer with its CC is awesome for node fights.
I suggest you call it the “Space Marine” build :) Awesome for providing this info. Thank you.
I use a similar build in PvE (not tried it in PvP). I normally use the gun to draw mobs in or in events where its much easier to deal with multiple spawning mobs instead of running up to mobs which are dead by the time you get there . For tougher fights, the hammer is great to go toe to toe.
Video forthcoming? I enjoy your vids.
Why “Space Marine”? I’m not getting it :D
Glad to hear a similar build is working in PVE, and that makes sense.
Space Marine from warhammer no?! :p
Exactly, pun intended :)
It’s like you’ve read my mind… again.
This is the weapon build I’ve been trying to spec out since beta. Can’t wait to give your spin on it a whirl. Thank you!
Are you using the same trait selections? Curious to hear what your experience has been.
Honestly, I had been stumbling around with very little direction or solid plan. I knew I enjoyed both rifle and hammer, but hadn’t found the time to discover a build with good synergy. Didn’t help I was using a skill calculator that’s out of date. :P
Ed, for your armor, besides the runes, what are your stats you have in them? Are they still precision, power mostly?
PvP armor doesn’t have any stats. You get them via runes, amulet and traits only.
All the stat-related components are in the link in the build calculator.
This looks like a really nice build. With that amount of control and damage you should do very well. Have you tested it in wvw? Im currently running your run and gun spec there and when considering this spec over that the usage of “Charge” is just so nice. If you die you have a sprint buff. Heck I have saved a bunch of people a couple of times just by providing a run buff and removing conditions for them when the zerg came. Not to mention it lowers your running time. Not for the first time I wish there was a way to easily swap out one of the weapon sets by pressing a button.
I think Warhorn is a great choice for WvW for the reasons you mention above. Mobility is king.
I haven’t tried “Hammer Gun” in World PVP but I designed it with sPvP in mind.
“Run and Gun” is a good spec for WvW due to the ranged capability and mobility.
Yup. If my fear and/or knockback are on cd when something comes close Im pretty fubared. :/
I also posted this comment because I get the feeling some just ask and dont read again. I always keep track of these posts that interest me .)
You have the ability to swap weapons with your keyboard – it’s in the UI tools and by default it’s the ‘ (accent) key.
I am going to change the key since I am mashing buttons and miss far too many times with it right next to the #1.
Keyboards are not set up for pvp – that’s one thing I wish I could do, get rid of the asdf and just have keys that makes sense – some, like me, who learn only by doing over and over ad nauseum, have a huge learning curve on this game – and any first person shooter.
Thanks for the Hammer Gun build, Ed! I am going Warrior after failing to get the attention of anyone to make the necessary and already admitted changes that need to be made to Ranger :)
I miss my pets.
Hey Taug, nice looking build, was just wondering what the reasoning was behind relying on shout utilities when there are no traits that improve them?
B
y changing discpline 5 to 6 maybe you could use signets for stability and or condition removal, such a thing would lose you some crit however.
Thoughts?
Sorry i see you are running Soldier runes now the extra condition removal is nice. How about just changing one of the shouts to balanced stance then, i feel some sort of stability is really important to securing fast stomps in Tpvp is all
You could replace Fear Me with Balanced Stace. Depends whether you want the CC or the stability. Tough tradeoff choice.
It really is, i guess it comes down to playstyle and your role in your team. Good looking build anyway :)
Any thoughts on a signet-heavy build to take advange of the Arms trait “Deep Strike” (Gain +40 precision for each unused signet you have equipped)? I’m not sure how well it scales in PvP or at level 80, but at level 20 with four signets my Warrior has enough precision to exceed 100% crit chance (in PvE).
I’m not a fan of the Signet-heavy builds for a simple reason. The more Signets you actively, the more passives you lose, and the trait’s value diminishes.
It’s the same philosophy for why I wouldn’t play a Mantra-based Mesmer.
I’d concede your point if I felt there were any signets besides Healing (or perhaps Stamina) worth activating. :P
Maybe that’s an indictment in its own right? I dunno… +100% crit chance for leveling up (in PvE) still feels kinda awesome, especially given that’s independent of my gear. :)
You’re talking PVE, I’m talking PVP.
The context makes all the difference.
Iv’e also tried the spec, pretty nice. The damage is abit higher with the rifle and the CCs from the hammer really helps in team fights.
However, the main problem i have with it is that it’s harder to get out of a bad situation. Sure, i can use my fear bomb and if i have some adrenaline i use the earthshaker to create some gap, but that’s about it. The charge ability from the warhorn was very useful in that regard. So if i get overrun, all i can do is use all the hammer CCs and hope some help arrive.
Also, the slower hammer animations makes it harder to hit foes. When the cripple from the 3rd ability runs out, it’s sometimes harder to hit them especially if they have better ping than you.
That’s the 2 main problems iv’e had while playing it. It felt harder to play as the defy pain and the last stand traits are really awesome passive bonuses. Found myself using my slot skills alot more to get out of all the CCs and stuff.
Anyways, great build and interesting mix between CH and R&G. Looking forward for a video :)
Agreed.
Understood.
I usually pop Fear Me and run before I drop below 10k HP, if it looks like help is not coming. And I use Rifle 2 to help create a gap from the nearest opponent.
Absolutely this is the hardest thing about adjusting to the Hammer, for either Warrior or Guardian.
I think it’s balanced though. If the animations are too fast, landing CC would be too easy.
If Tau would call it Space Marine build, then by all means you would have to accept “And they shall know no fear” space marine rule and a part of code of conduct (called Codex Law), thus no retreating (you can also notice Tau is not using backpeding making this build even more like a true Emperor’s chosen. :P
So far i like it, was testing something similar before, but found thief more interesting. But now, when all i see is PW spammers i want to play a real man combination.
NIce work! have u a perfect build only for livelling?
[…] 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 […]
best…build..evar.
Hey Taugrim,
Interested in your thougts on the role of this spec (especially in tournament play)? Seems to me there are concievably better point defence builds, and lacks the damage / mobility for roaming. Or do you see this more as standard sPvP where things are less organised?
Also, may I ask the philosophy of playstyle? Would you see yourself prefering to stay rifle in open play until at a cap point (or forced to melee), then hammer?
This is an offensive spec that brings CC and DPS to the table. I play it as such. The Hammer is great for node fighting and the Rifle for harassing from range.
Heavy armour, gun and hammer. Thought of space marines :)
What about: ”Snipe ‘n’ Swipe’ or Malleteer (Musketeer and Mallet) or Gat ‘n’ Bat?????
Maybe “Pellet Smasher”?
[…] For open field WvW, you may want to check out Hammer Gun, the spec I posted today: https://taugrim.com/2012/09/15/guild-wars-2-hammer-gun-warrior-build/ […]
Hello Taugrim I have been studying your trait choice, I noticed you put 25 points in arms which gives you about 3-4% more crit chance plus 10% damage to bleeding targets. I wonder if it would be better to put those 5 points in defense which will give you about 60 more power and a little more toughness. I’m not sure how power stacks with damage but it maybe something to keep in mind.
I was wondering why you used shouts again but, I noticed you are using soldier’s runes so there’s my answer not to mention shake it off and fear me are extremely good i was gonna say maybe you can change for great justice for one of the signets but I’m not sure that would work.
I will try this tonight and see how it goes.
missed a few punctuation marks there at the end…
The bleed uptime with this build is high, and a 10% boost to direct damage is quite a lot.
Shouts for the condition removal with Soldier’s runes.
Really like this build, Still new to GW2 but so far the more I play the more I like it. Thanks for sharing your insight.
Hey Tau, what’s the minimum amount of healing power that’s worth bothering with? If I have 15 in toughness and a cleric’s jewel, is it worth the impact or should I change the jewel?
and by toughness I mean defense trait line, doh >.<
It doesn’t make sense to use Cleric’s Amulet or Cleric’s Jewel with this spec. This is an offensive / CC build.
If you want healing / CC, go with “Captain Hammer” build instead.
Hey Taugrim, i’m a big fan of yours both here and buildcast, and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this guide, as it is the weapon choices I’ve been running since the BWE’s. I’m glad that I don’t see nearly as many people saying ‘hammer is terrible’ as when the game first launched, can’t tell you how many times I got openly scoffed at until I trapped someone against a wall and downed them in one hammer rotation. I can’t really manage to pull myself away from it for sPvP. Originally I had bolas instead of “fear me” for gap creation/landing those harder animation hammer skills and kill shots, but since seeing your “Run and Gun”, went from divinity to soldier’s runes, very disappointed i never got to play around with pre-nerf melandru. Also use three shouts now for the sustained condition removal and make do with Leg Specialist instead of bolas which actually works pretty well considering both hammer and rifle benefit from it. This build focuses mainly on dumping my adrenaline as soon as it fills, with high burst, good cc, and decent survivability, it also doesn’t feel like as much of a “carry” as the others. http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fIAQJASUjgONvVPKPMxBE0jqIL2izjkIAJvUBxA;T0Ag0CnoyyklILbWuskZtwYgxBjNBPMA
I very regularly play around with switching around Deep Cuts (Arms 3) to Unsuspecting Foe (Arms 4), and Last Stand (Defense 8) with Merciless Hammer (Defense 10) for a more “hammer centric” build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fIAQJASUjgONvVPKPMRCE0jqgL2ijClIAVFmjUBxA;T0Ag0CnoyyklILbWuskZtwYYxBjNBPMA which is very close to H&G, but i’m pretty attached to primarily the rifle and i have the most success with the former build. I also toy around with switching Warrior’s Sprint (Discipline 3) with Furious (Arms 11) but frankly I feel I need the extra mobility as I’ll frequently switch to hammer when running between nodes, and that it is necessary when using hammer primarily for damage. You do have to be very careful to not get caught in hammer when engaging either way because then you’re pretty much wrecked.
That being said, I could see where Fast Hands would be tempting and my earliest builds included copious amounts of Discipline for not only frequent swaps but the extra might, burst cooldown, and burst/crit damage when doing so (a la CH) but after doing some testing there is some sort of icd (20 sec i’m not sure though) when using Battle sigils on both weapons so the quick swapping for the sigils doesn’t work. it does work for the 25 point might however, and you can still get up to 16 stacks of might or so which is…pretty good lol. Originally I wanted to have a build that was built for just dumping full adrenaline kill shots as fast as possible, something like this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fIAQJASUjgOxutOKPMxBEjifQ8OKSiAU9YOqj4A;T0Ag0CnoqxUjoGbNuak1soYYxxiNBPKA and the bolas helped to guarantee that the kill shots would land and nothing would live through them, but personally i’m much more in favor of the high survivability that the R&Gish traits offer in high level play.
Here is a more glass cannon-y version that I’ve been experimenting with, as Sweet Vengence (Discipline 7) is too tempting to pass up when you can pop up and score your own rally with volley/kill shot. However I don’t find it to have very much merit outside of pubstomping. http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fIAQJASUjgOJvNPWPMRCEkiqgLOKUiAUpYOujUBxA;T0Ag0CnoyyklILbWuskZtoYYxxiNBPKA
My main questions are: 1. What are you opinions on the first two builds i linked, both my primary build, (considering one is very close to R&G, why did you change your build to 10 Arms for H&G?) and the more hammer centric one? 2. Do you consider Fast Swapping (15 in Discipline) a make or break trait like i’m assuming we both consider Crack Shot (7 Arms) to be? 3. Do you find the merits of blood on all weapons to outweigh the extra burst from air>rifle and fire>hammer respectively? I go back and forth quite a bit on if blood actually is helping my fight sustainability. 4. Would you consider Shrug it Off (Tactics 7) or is that simply overkill on condition removal? 5. I know in one of the first buildcasts you had said that Unsuspecting Foe was a good pick now that it worked on all disables, they must have changed it 10 times by now, does that still hold true or has the ability/your opinion changed?
Your breakdowns in both buildcast and here have been incredibly influential and helpful. Keep up the good work man. Sorry for the essay, maybe i should’ve wrote an email.
FWIW, there are many instances where players since have the wrong perception or understanding about mechanics. Hammer wasn’t the obvious weapon in Beta, given how strong Axe and Greatsword were.
Melandru @ -45% was overpowered, but it’s now -25% and underpowered. -35% would probably be about right.
UF diminishes in value as your Crit approaches 50%.
Keep that in mind as some of the builds you linked already sit at 44%.
Posting here is preferred, so other gamers can read and react.
hi Taugrim,
about 90% of the warriers use the greatsword / axe-shield combo.
i tried it out and it is really strong, allmost imba.
what do you think about it?
(from play and fun aspect hammer is much funnier – but looks like greatsword is more efficient?)
Greetings
Bela
Different builds have different capabilites. GS + Axe/Shield is a very strong melee spec, with some good gap closers and excellent burst.
Hammer Gun has more CC.
that´s true, Taugrim.
i played now many hours “Hammer Gun”. The longer I play, the more i like it. It has very strong aspects and flexibility.
I’ve also tried a Greatsword/hammer build. This is also very strong. But i have to say that every serious player can counter (thats true? dont know the right word) 100blades easily.
thank again for this build and have a nice weekend
bela
PPS: i am still waiting for yout video.
PPPS: dumdidum, ähm you know what i want to say, the vid :)
Thanks so much! i very much enjoy all of your videos! i have spent lost of time debating which build to use with my warrior. i find this extremely fun to play, in PvE or sPvP
-ct
Glad to hear this has been fun and worked well for you.
Quick question, Taug: As you don’t have endure pain or the block stance in your Hammer Gund spec. What is your counter to the insane burst from Thieves?
Fear Me if they get the jump, then chain-lock with my CCs.
I use this hammer/rifle build with my warrior in pve/wvw. I love it but i don’t know which set/jewelry to craft at level 80 for pve/wvw. Can you recommend me some item (rare or exotic) to wear my warrior? Many thanks for your great builds! :-)
Someone else will have to help you out. I don’t know the PVE / WvW gear sets yet.
Taugrim, “Furious Speed” trait is bugged/broken at the moment and completely doesn’t work.
I just tested in Mists on training dummy. Use Rifle 3 to help increase # of hits that crit.
It works.
Hi Taugrim,
thanks for sharing your builds, they are very inspiring!
I have a question about Merciless Hammer, what exactly is a disabled foe? Which conditions and controls cause disable?
And thinking about the trait Unsuspecting foe, a knocked down enemy is not stunned, right? And since F1 is the only ability that stuns (and only for 2 seconds), am I right that this trait is useless for soloing? Are you actually hitting again in these 2 seconds? I have the feeling that the animation of F1 takes too long to hit again while target is stunned.
Thanks in advance!
AFAIK, disabled means they can’t take action. E.g. they’re stunned, feared, etc.
That’s my understanding.
[…] Taugrim’s MMO Blog — Guild Wars 2 ‘Hammer Gun’ Warrior Build. “As I’ve said before, GW2 builds are all about tradeoffs.” […]
Can we get a guildhead link to the build? gw2skills doesn’t seem to be up.
Hello can somebody else use http://www.gw2builds.org for the build, gw2skills is down. :(
i cannot access the build via gw2skills as well. Could you please put up a different link?
Thanks for this amazing guide
You have to update your build links. None of your links is working in either of your Specs!
We can’t see your builds holmes
[…] For detailed information on the “Hammer Gun” build, please see the Guide. […]
The build link does not work. You will probably need to use another site it’s been down for a few days
no worky worky link it is
I wouldn’t wait for gw2skills to come back. The site is disabled pending payment. That’s code for who ever runs it just got smashed with a bill they can’t pay because the world uses the site ;)
Just curious, how do you know that site hasn’t paid its bills?
I’ll probably be switching to the following calculator, unless someone can find me a better one:
http://www.intothemists.com/calc/
If you go to the root it says, in Russian, that the site has been disabled by the hosting company. Nice way to say, money owed ;)
Here is the build at Guildhead.
http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#McRo0c0zmRvammRvamapG0fVVkzaV
I hope GW2skills does come back though it is the only site that isn’t buggy for me in Chrome on Mac.
Thanks Tom.
I was under the impression that ‘% on X’ traits didn’t stack. Ie if you have 33% chance to bleed and vuln, that only 1 can trigger per crit. Or is that not true?
AFAIK you can have multiple trait effects proc with a crit.
Should be easy to test in the Mists. Just slot the vulnerability trait and see if you can get a bleed and vulnerability with the same crit.
Very interesting build. Could you help me answer a few things:
1. Seems like a very support build. Very CC centric. How do you handle yourself with a lack of burst if you’re found in 1v1 situations
2. My only problem with the 2H hammer is the lack of distance closer. Do you find yourself with a problem being kited to death or do you give as good as you go with the rifle ?
Other than that, very appealing. I thinking of either this one or the 3 axes evis build. I love the GS (ironically not for 100 blades but the fact that there are so many distance closers available) but everyone seems to running that these days.
This isn’t a support build. It’s a build with high control and good DPS.
In a 1v1 I control an opponent and beat them down. Some classes are tough in 1v1 (e.g. Mesmers, Rangers with Rampage as One slotted, some Guardian specs).
That’s what the Rifle is for, and you can swap via Fast Hands every 5 seconds. Rifle 2 is a long-round snare. You can also pop the elite for the swiftness boon to help close the gap.
The 3 Axes build has really good burst but much more limited control. Just depends what you want.
I wanted to ask which items would be preferred for this spec in WvW.
To the debate Berserker VS Knight, I guess there I should take something like Knight’s armor set/berserker jewellery… Although i’m not quite sure on that.
Depends how much you melee in large-scale combat. The more you do, the more HP and toughness you need.
I’ve been playing around with the spec in wvw and I’m really liking it. To compensate for the lack of mobility with warhorn I typically switch a utility skill to banners when I need to travel, then switch back when I’m about to engage in combat. I’ve also been using bull charge over shake it off for the quick knockdown and gap closing ability. It’s especially useful when I don’t have the adrenaline for earthshaker.
This is also a really good spec if you wvw with a lot of high dps’ers which I have in my guild. The ability to jump into the middle of melee and stun while the rest of your guild burn them down is very helpful.
Exactly.
You can provide CC with meaningful DPS to support focus fire or cover your squishy friendlies.
Toying around with my warrior I wanted to have a build that stacks weakness and keeps it up as much as possible. I tried it for a while in hot join pvp. It’s not a great test drive, however I think it may have potential. Sorry I am posting here I did not know where else to post to have some kind of input from you.
http://www.intothemists.com/calc/?build=-ss-B00-VKFM0_47L-60;9;4T-JJ-46B;159-28;2S-F6A;1KJG4KJG45Bt
There is the build.
The main problem with it could be ranged harrassing, Which I have tried to counter with bulls rush and warhorn. At least I have held my own against some mesmers, rangers, eles, necros but have not had much experience with it yet.
Would like to know what you think.
another weakness would be heavy condition builds, for instance yesterday there were 2 plague necros and every time they were together I went down. Had about 5-6 conditions on me constantly.Even tho I purged with signet of rage, I got screwed 1 second afterwards…
Hey nice build bro.i just want to ask you some questions, i would appreciate if you could answer them, thanks in advice =)
1) Deep Cuts instead of Rending Strikes:
wouldnt it do more dmg?
did you do the math on 50% longer bleed vs bonus dmg from vulnerability?
2)The natural adrenaline gain plus Embrace Pain makes getting Inspiriting Shouts instead of Heightened Focus a bad deal, right?
3)Isnt Healing Surge better than Mending to this build? you already have3 skills to take off conditions, Mending would help you get adrenaline faster and would heal you better since this build build adrenaline fast.
4)Trading “Shake It Off” for Balanced Stance you can still break stuns and you will gain stability instead of conditions removal, isnt it better?
5)Are Sigil of Superior Blood that good? you could use Sigil of Superior Agony on you rifle or +5% dmg, so many possibilities…
I know im asking too much, but please, answer if you have time, i really like you build!
Thanks!
Since this is a Power build, the bleeds only ticks in the 50s, and this is not a fast-stacking bleed build.
Inspiring Shouts is more important for builds that focus on burst skills, e.g. Captain Hammer. This build does get good usage out of the Hammer Burst skill, but the Rifle Burst is more situational.
If you want higher healing throughput then yes.
It’s a tradeoff. Having no stability in the build is a weakness, but you make up for it partially by having heavy CC.
I switched to Fire recently, it’s great.
Blood has a 5s (undocumented) internal cooldown now, unfortunately.
have fun with your template in pvp. Coming from a hammer tanky build
In w3 I use a banner instead of the fear for the lack of mobility since it also help a bit my raid
But im really missing the “1 second immobilize on cripple”traits for the #2 rifle and especially the #3 hammer. give you the momentum and also a great area interrupt.Really helpfull when you have a raid behind but really hard to find the missing 10 pts in your template.
I pass on the root on cripple trait (Leg Specialist) because I have the Rifle for managing distance on targets, and once I’m close I can chain-CC the target.
What exotic armor/weapons would you use in your HammerGun build for WvW and Dungeons? Would you change any traits/skills? Thank you in advance for any help.
I looked on guildhead.com and guildwars2guru.com and couldn’t find any good level 80 armor items, nor on the wiki.
If you can link me to a good item list I’ll let you know what I recommend.
http://www.gw2db.com/recipes/armorsmith
That is a link to all the armor that you can make. I will be making a set of the 400 skill armor for my warrior.
The simple breakdown is this:
Berserker – power, precision, Crit
Carrion – power, condition, vitality
Cleric – Power, Healing, Toughness
Explorer – Power, Precision, Magic Find
Knight – Power , Precision, Toughness
Rampager – Power Precision, Condition
I am just curious what you would use if you were going to use this build in PVE. What extra stats would you want?
Also, would you change any of your skills?
Thanks again! :)
There is also Valkyrie, which is power, vitality, and crit damage.
Gear-wise I would keep the soldier runes but a mix of Valk and Knight armor wouldn’t be too bad… I think I’d keep the weapons, jewelry and amulet as Zerker.
As far as build (until/if we ever get a “dual-spec” like in WotLK WoW), I run a mix between the spvp/solo “Run and Gun” and the Hammer Gun (aka “Space Marine”) build: 0/25/20/10/15. The 10 from strength into tactics is for Leg Specialist in WvW- I run with a roaming yak-slapping and supply camp flipping group, and can’t give up that crucial 1-sec immob CC. It also gives a decent choice of tier-1 traits for situational PvE. I switch out traits between WvW (running Rifle and axe/sword + warhorn), and PvE (Rifle and Hammer) based on the goal, but have enough major trait choices to be pretty versital (say farming in Orr with GS). I run Mending, FGJ, and switch between Fear Me/On My Mark/Balance Stance based on the situation. Usually keep SoR on but will pull out Battle Standard with Inspiring Banners in dungeons.
The usual disclosures of “this isn’t the only/best/pro way to build/trait” and “just how I worked it to my personal preference” apply.
Have fun and experiment!
Thank you so much!!!
If you plan on sniping from range with Rifle, go with Berserker.
If you plan on getting into melee range and smacking people around with your Hammer, I’d go with Knight.
In WvW, take Death From Above in the Strength trait line. The falling damage traits rock when you need to bail or cliff jump.
In PVE, Berserker is fine when not tanking too many mobs at once and it will speed up your farming.
The spec works fine in PVE, I wouldn’t change anything.
[…] again over the weekend, and on Sunday night we 2 of 3 tournies. I’ve been playing my Hammer Gun” Warrior spec, and overall it’s been the Warrior spec I’ve enjoyed the most, as it brings […]
Hey Taugrim –
What are your thoughts on using two of runes of water, speed, and air for 100% up-time on swiftness from signet of rage? For wvw this is awesome. :)
I know you are getting bombarded with wvw questions, but this is providing the most unique mmo gaming experience for me.
I’m a big fan of the Sigil of Fire, it deals only 10% less damage than Air and is AOE.
Should read “I run Mending, FGJ, SiO, and switch between Fear Me/On My Mark/Balance Stance based on the situation.