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Sentinel GWF Build - PvE Focus (PvP viable) - Leeroy Jenkins!
kolatmaster
Member Posts: 3,111 Arc User
Update: 12/17/2013: Updates Top of Page 24 for Mod 2!!! Link is: Here
Greetings everyone, I hope your day is rocking well thus far!
I've decided to share my current Sentinel build of my GWF - LEEROY JENKINS, along with my general opinion of the class and how it plays. Now this build is simply how I do things, it fits my play style, and I greatly enjoy it. That doesn't mean it's perfect, nor necessarily right, for you, but it is hella fun!
So, let's begin with my general premise, then the powers/feats and so on... I'm going to type out as much as possible, with the 4 image limit, so you'll have to suffer through using your literacy skills to follow what I am throwing down for you.
So my general premise for GWF was to go with the Sentinel Build. I've been running this since before the June mega patch, but I have changed it up a bit w/respec's since then. So it is ever evolving. I wanted to play a toon that brought good things to a party, could stand laughing in the face of a Red Dragon's Breathe, and still be viable in PvP (as I find it fine to play a few matches a day). Thus this silly build began...
I'm going to list the Powers that I have maxed out that are always in rotation on my character, as that leaves room for people to work around as they see fit.
Powers:
Sure Strike: 3/3 *
Not So Fast: 3/3
Mighty Leap: 3/3
Restoring Strike: 3/3 *
Slam: 3/3 *
Takedown: 3/3
Bravery: 3/3 *
Weapon Master Strike: 3/3 *
Roar: 3/3
Weapon Master: 3/3 *
Flourish: 3/3
Daring Shout: 3/3
Indomitable Battle Strike: 3/3 *
Spinning Strike: 3/3 *
Punishing Charge: 3/3 * The New Hawtness!!!
Note: I have put a * next to the powers I use as my standard setup in PvE.
Now in the order I took the Feats as I leveled are as follows...
Heroic Feats:
Unstoppable Action: 5/5
Toughness: 3/3
Armor Specialization: 3/3
Steely Defense: 2/5
Constitution Focus: 3/3
Devastating Critical: 3/3
Weapon Master: 1/3
Sentinel Tree Feats:
Student of the Sword: 5/5
Powerful Challenge: 5/5
Grudge Style: 5/5
Master at Arms: 5/5
Sentinel's Aegis: 1/1
Destroyer Tree Feats:
Great Weapon Focus: 5/5
Disciple of War: 5/5
As for items/weapons/enchantments, currently I am wearing/using the following:
Now some insight to the stats, with varying enchantments that I use. Keep in mind I do use an Ioun Stone of Allure, which obviously affects my PvE stats. What follows isn't all, but it gives more insight into the build and where I went with it...
Damage Resistance: 43.4%
Deflection (Not counting Weapon Mastery Passive) Chance: 23.2%
Damage Gained As Hit Points: 9.9%
Hit Point Regeneration: 4.8%
For weapon enchantments I use Perfect Bronzewood Enchantment and Greater Plague Fire. Yes that means I am rocking 2x Ancient Castle Champion's Greatswords. I use two because it allows me a bit of utility in PvE (and sometimes PvP). Since Plague Fire is a very common weapon enchantment, I saw it being doubled up a lot in my PvE dungeon runs. Thus limiting it's effectiveness. Therefore about a month or so ago I began collecting/trading for Shards of Lightning Enchantment and eventually worked my way up to a Perfect Lightning Enchantment. So for most dungeons I run Perfect Lightning (more damage on normal hits + threat/aggro generation), unless we don't have a Plague Fire on someone else or if the dungeon is (for example) Spellplague where the Perfect Lightning's Chaining ability is more of a liability.
For Armor Enchantment I use Greater Briartwine. I know everyone loves Soulforge, but with the survivability this build brings I almost always (like has only happened a few times) have time to pop a Potion/Health Stone when I need to in PvE. Thus a few months ago I was looking around, and figured with my goal of getting oodles of lifesteal and desire to generate aggro whenever I can, that Greater Briartwine's 3.2% damage return to any attack on you would be cool. I've enjoyed it ever since! Yes, yes... I know it's not "optimal", but it's my choice and I've liked it.
The build will not lead the DPS charts in a dungeon, and will usually get 2nd (mostly) with sometimes a 3rd place depending on party composition. Then again it's not designed to lead in DPS. The build is designed for survivability, while not being completely pillowfisted. You are also a great insurance policy if someone makes a mistake like if your DC messes up Astral Shield, the TR doesn't joust the boss and dies, or the CW doesn't Arcane Singularity correctly. Your ability to run in giant circles (no effing joke!) fast enough to stay alive and long enough for your party (who died) to make it back from the campfire (on the bosses this matters on) is invaluable. You can also Sprint to rez anyone, even within red circles, and make it back w/o detriment to the team.
So there it is in a nutshell... Hope you enjoyed reading, and I look forward to quality discussion as it's never a bad thing for a build to evolve with intelligent discourse!
Here is how my toon looks, and his evolution thus far, w/his gear: LEEEERRRROOOOOOOYYY JEEEEENNNNKKKKIIIIINNNNSSS!!!
Here is my PvP treatise: The Tao of Disengaging (needs a bit of updating!)
Greetings everyone, I hope your day is rocking well thus far!
I've decided to share my current Sentinel build of my GWF - LEEROY JENKINS, along with my general opinion of the class and how it plays. Now this build is simply how I do things, it fits my play style, and I greatly enjoy it. That doesn't mean it's perfect, nor necessarily right, for you, but it is hella fun!
So, let's begin with my general premise, then the powers/feats and so on... I'm going to type out as much as possible, with the 4 image limit, so you'll have to suffer through using your literacy skills to follow what I am throwing down for you.
So my general premise for GWF was to go with the Sentinel Build. I've been running this since before the June mega patch, but I have changed it up a bit w/respec's since then. So it is ever evolving. I wanted to play a toon that brought good things to a party, could stand laughing in the face of a Red Dragon's Breathe, and still be viable in PvP (as I find it fine to play a few matches a day). Thus this silly build began...
I'm going to list the Powers that I have maxed out that are always in rotation on my character, as that leaves room for people to work around as they see fit.
Powers:
Sure Strike: 3/3 *
Not So Fast: 3/3
Mighty Leap: 3/3
Restoring Strike: 3/3 *
Slam: 3/3 *
Takedown: 3/3
Bravery: 3/3 *
Weapon Master Strike: 3/3 *
Roar: 3/3
Weapon Master: 3/3 *
Flourish: 3/3
Daring Shout: 3/3
Indomitable Battle Strike: 3/3 *
Spinning Strike: 3/3 *
Punishing Charge: 3/3 * The New Hawtness!!!
Note: I have put a * next to the powers I use as my standard setup in PvE.
Now in the order I took the Feats as I leveled are as follows...
Heroic Feats:
Unstoppable Action: 5/5
Toughness: 3/3
Armor Specialization: 3/3
Steely Defense: 2/5
Constitution Focus: 3/3
Devastating Critical: 3/3
Weapon Master: 1/3
Sentinel Tree Feats:
Student of the Sword: 5/5
Powerful Challenge: 5/5
Grudge Style: 5/5
Master at Arms: 5/5
Sentinel's Aegis: 1/1
Destroyer Tree Feats:
Great Weapon Focus: 5/5
Disciple of War: 5/5
As for items/weapons/enchantments, currently I am wearing/using the following:
Now some insight to the stats, with varying enchantments that I use. Keep in mind I do use an Ioun Stone of Allure, which obviously affects my PvE stats. What follows isn't all, but it gives more insight into the build and where I went with it...
Damage Resistance: 43.4%
Deflection (Not counting Weapon Mastery Passive) Chance: 23.2%
Damage Gained As Hit Points: 9.9%
Hit Point Regeneration: 4.8%
For weapon enchantments I use Perfect Bronzewood Enchantment and Greater Plague Fire. Yes that means I am rocking 2x Ancient Castle Champion's Greatswords. I use two because it allows me a bit of utility in PvE (and sometimes PvP). Since Plague Fire is a very common weapon enchantment, I saw it being doubled up a lot in my PvE dungeon runs. Thus limiting it's effectiveness. Therefore about a month or so ago I began collecting/trading for Shards of Lightning Enchantment and eventually worked my way up to a Perfect Lightning Enchantment. So for most dungeons I run Perfect Lightning (more damage on normal hits + threat/aggro generation), unless we don't have a Plague Fire on someone else or if the dungeon is (for example) Spellplague where the Perfect Lightning's Chaining ability is more of a liability.
For Armor Enchantment I use Greater Briartwine. I know everyone loves Soulforge, but with the survivability this build brings I almost always (like has only happened a few times) have time to pop a Potion/Health Stone when I need to in PvE. Thus a few months ago I was looking around, and figured with my goal of getting oodles of lifesteal and desire to generate aggro whenever I can, that Greater Briartwine's 3.2% damage return to any attack on you would be cool. I've enjoyed it ever since! Yes, yes... I know it's not "optimal", but it's my choice and I've liked it.
The build will not lead the DPS charts in a dungeon, and will usually get 2nd (mostly) with sometimes a 3rd place depending on party composition. Then again it's not designed to lead in DPS. The build is designed for survivability, while not being completely pillowfisted. You are also a great insurance policy if someone makes a mistake like if your DC messes up Astral Shield, the TR doesn't joust the boss and dies, or the CW doesn't Arcane Singularity correctly. Your ability to run in giant circles (no effing joke!) fast enough to stay alive and long enough for your party (who died) to make it back from the campfire (on the bosses this matters on) is invaluable. You can also Sprint to rez anyone, even within red circles, and make it back w/o detriment to the team.
So there it is in a nutshell... Hope you enjoyed reading, and I look forward to quality discussion as it's never a bad thing for a build to evolve with intelligent discourse!
Here is how my toon looks, and his evolution thus far, w/his gear: LEEEERRRROOOOOOOYYY JEEEEENNNNKKKKIIIIINNNNSSS!!!
Here is my PvP treatise: The Tao of Disengaging (needs a bit of updating!)
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
I chose Dwarf for a number of reasons...
1. They had the stat bonus increase I wanted for my characer: +2 STR and +2 CON
2. As a Great Weapon Fighter I knew I'd be in the mix of things right from the get go, and wanted to stay there so the Stand Your Ground (You have increased resistance to Knock and Repel effects: 20% Increase) seemed like a great ability to keep me next to the baddies I wanted to smash. However there may be a bug with this in that it only works in PvP and not in PvE. If so, I'd love to see this fixed! They also have Cast Iron Stomach which is less damage to DoT effects, so less damage is never a bad thing(!), though this may also be bugged...
3. Aesthetically I just like the Dwarf race with Epic Dwarf Beards being paramount.
My Base Stats (Bonus in Parentheses) were as follows:
16 (18) STR
15 (17) CON
13 (13) DEX
11 (11) INT
9 (9) WIS
11 (11) CHA
Final Stat Line (Camp Fire Bonus in Parentheses) are as follows:
24 (25) STR
23 (24) CON
15 (16) DEX
13 (14) INT
11 (12) WIS
13 (14) CHA
The reason I went with STR and CON bonus is specifically because I wanted to not be pillow fisted, and wanted to take hits well (along with have high ArmPen). DEX could be higher of course, if you want more Crit % and that is your decision to make.
I chose 11/9/11 for the 'Off Stats' because I figured I would want them all in the positives at the end of my run of stat increases and with Camp Fire Bonus it would be 14/12/14 end line, which I liked.
Not saying these are optimal, but I've enjoyed it thus far so take it as you well!
The Tao of Disengaging - PvP Theorycrafting for GWF
Greetings my friends and fellow GWF enthusiasts! Below you will find my, updated, theorycrafting on PvP for the Sentinel spec GWFs (w/o using Tenebrous) and it is more on the actually techniques you can use, etc.
I took time to truly look at the goals of PvPing and theorycraft the GWF strengths/weaknesses in relation to the other classes. Some of this may be redundant for what you have read/known before hand, but I believe it is important to clarify.
TR - Use Stealth to attack from unexpected angles, can hit extremely hard.
GF - Hard as hell to kill in their front 180 degree arc, can chain Prone you.
CW - Lords of CC, extreme distance and have some powers (IceKnife) that can hit for high DPS.
DC - Hard to kill with heals, and fairly dangerous if DPS spec'd, with enough CC to also be annoying.
GWF Sentinel Build - Amazing longevity if spec'd with HPs/Con/Regen/Lifesteal/Defense/Deflection. Gap closers w/Sprint and Mighty Leap, immune to most CC because of Unstoppable.
So, the commonality I see for the GWF is that we can be immune/annoying to CC, and we can close distances fast, while being tanky enough to be extremely dangerous. If we flip the closing distance fast to being able to extract oneself from a dangerous situation in time of need, we get to the heart of the Tao of Disengaging.
What I do is quite simply really... At the beginning of the queue I suggest that I (if the only GWF in the group) go to Flag 1 while the other four members of the team go to the mid Flag 2. Once I cap the first flag, I run towards the 2nd flag and scout out anyone low on health. If I think I can get in a quick hit w/Flourish/Takedown/etc. I go for it, and do as much damage as necessary to secure mid for the team. If things look in hand I continue on to the opponents Flag 3, and camp it until one or two members of the opposing team come to interfere. When they do come, I am looking to make the fight last as long as possible while having my opponents use as many of their abilities as I can.
Once I am down to 25% or lower hitpoints, I start paying close attention to their level of hitpoints/what they have used/if reinforcements are coming/etc. Once the determination is made that I believe my defeat is inevitable and imminent, I disengage w/Sprinting-Charging and/or Mighty Leaping away. Immediately going to the nearest Health Pot, or my teams DC (if we have one). I will then go back to mid, if help is needed, run all the way back to our 1 if it is being capped, or loop around right back to the 3 flag and reengage the player(s) there.
Once that is done, I begin to roam around again. Constantly trying to engage someone 1v1 or even 1v2 (if they are cumulatively low on HPs) thereby tying them up as the rest of my team controls the mid Flag and/or engages in battle at another flag.
The ability of the GWF to be able to ignore CC with Unstoppable, Spring/Might Leap away from any fight we want to, and be able to take a healthy amount of damage, is something we must strive (particularly in PvP) to use to our advantage. The goal is to cost the opponent more then it is worth to kill you. If you 1v1 a TR or a CW that is one less TR/CW that is engaging the rest of your team. You CAN survive them, and also put a healthy amount of damage to them, and kite them away from more 'valuable' targets. We are insanely mobile when you look at Unstoppable/Sprint/Mighty Leap. To be a true asset to the team, we must utilize this to our utmost advantage.
Since I focused on the Tao of Disengaging, I have found (in well over 100 PvP matches) it to be quite an effective tactic. My Kill/Death ratio is superb... Frequently being 8+ kills with 0-4 deaths, and always better then even. While my points, between capping/assists, putting me in the Top 2 of my team the norm, and 1st place fairly often.
How to fight individual classes, brief description:
TRs - Firstly, any TR who stealth's up to you and then goes toe to toe with you, and let's you wail on them is not very good. It is a dream come true for you, and surprisingly happens fairly often. You regen/lifesteal/defense/deflection will mitigate their crits, while you will be depleting their HPs fairly effectively with Sure Strike/Encounters. Now, the good TRs, those who drop out of stealth and then disengage to restealth (and/or stay at range) are the tricky ones. You need to make a determination if where you are is ground to your advantage... If you are on a flag, I suggest staying there and running to the opposite side of the circle from where the TR disappeared. Make them come to you. Use Sure Strike constantly hoping to nick them, and once you see them I highly suggest using Takedown asap. As once you prone them, IBS/Flourish follow up quickly enough to take them down... Also, don't be afraid to run around a bit randomly, sometimes you can luck out and get close to see them w/short random bursts of Sprint.
DCs - 1v1 this is a long fight, but with your Takedown followed by IBS/Flourish, if you can time it so they don't slide away should put you ahead of their healing. If facing 2v1 I would advise trying to out kill the DC as much as possible. Sometimes you may need to refocus the other if they come in at low HPs, but this is a winnable fight.
CWs - I love CWs. It's a fun fight, because it's all about how good they are at avoiding you versus you being able to close the gap. They will CC you from afar, just wait to pop Unstoppable and immediately Sprint towards them. They will teleport away, the instant you see them start that animation stop Sprinting. You should still be Unstoppable and keep running towards where they teleported. You should be fairly close, so once they are out of teleport hit the Sprint button briefly again to make them teleport a 2nd time. Stop Sprinting and run towards them, now you should be out of Unstoppable but very close to having them in reach. Keep running towards them for a second, letting their bar fill for their 3rd, and final, teleport. Teleport uses up 35% of their stamina bar, thus they can do 2, and wait a second or so to refill for the 3rd, after that they are empty and they are gonna be your pinata. Close the distance and do the Takedown/IBS/Flourish lovefest and watch them melt. Now it's not always that easy in sequence, but that is the general concept!
GFs - This comes down to you being able to make them miss on one of their prone Encounters/Daily's versus them not missing. It all comes down to short, 45 degree angle, bursts of Sprint. GFs are 180 degree tanks, you break that plane and use Takedown and they are in deep trouble. Never use an Encounter power versus GFs if their shield is facing you, it's a waste of time. Short Sprint, follow up with an Encounter, as they shouldn't be able to turn fast enough to block it, particularly with Takedown.
Other GWFs: All things being equal, skill/GS matter here. However some basic advice, do NOT waste Takedown when the opposing GWF is in Unstoppable, that should be obvious. Try and save your other Encounters for when they are 'vulnerable', and be cognizant of what has been used, generic cool down times, etc.
For those fighting a Sentinel GWFs: You now know my strategy, so stop me... If you can!
Please feel free to use this tactic, the Tao of Disengaging, as you see fit. Thus far I have been pleasantly surprised, and I feel it is a valid topic of discussion!
Ok mi amigos, I bring you some knowledge that may be met with much ridicule, but after a week of testing I am happy to face it with a smile on my face and experience to back my opinion...
I am here to sing the praises of the, oft laughed at, Encounter Power: Punishing Charge
So let me begin with the obvious, I am always tinkering with my build and seeking to improve it constantly within the parameters that are given to us by the Developers. Like many GWFs within the past few weeks I have also faced the Action point nerf to our beloved Encounter Power: Roar, along with general AP reduction across the board for all classes. Thus I began for looking for ways to generate AP like the days of old... I took the Elven Boon for 2% Action Point Generation and even started rocking my full Vigilant Warlord armor set for the insane Recovery that it provides me (over 3800 w/Ioun Stone buffs) and other experiments (those updates come in a later post). Even with this I was still bemoaning the loss of the glory field days of our past when we could fill our Daily Meter on a regular basis... Thus I began a grand experiment.
Punishing Charge generates AP for each target hit (5x Limit), with 3 Charges at Rank 3. That's what I read, and I was all like... Hmmmm, why the H-E double toothpicks not?!? I got nothing better to do, outside of grinding my Dailies in Sharandar. So eff it let's do this baby!
I had never, ever, used this Encounter Power before, not even for fun. So I began charing my way through Powries, Cyclops, and Fomorians on my first day, just for the L to the O to the L. I made many errors in angles, commonly missing baddies completely. As the day wore on though, I began to more consistently hit the max of 5 baddies.. Low and behold the AP generation wasn't merely decent, it was actually good! At the point of the game I am, in my Vigilant Warlord set, running around with 27.3% Action Point gain and Punishing Charge definitely takes advantage of that. So for those of you looking for a replacement for Roar, you have it right here!
In fact, I enjoy it a great deal more the Roar, and I don't even gain Determination from it's use like a Destroyer spec would with their capstone. Why do I like it more? It makes a mobile class even more so a headache of position for an opponent (baddie). Punishing Charge is a 30ft Burst with a 4ft wide area of effect, per the tool tip. You may as well consider it a teleport, for all intents and purposes, as it goes through baddies. Yes, even bosses like the Dracolich or Valindra. You slide right through them dealing some damage. So when that baddie throws a cone at you and you want to be on the outside of it, you can bamf away from it to the baddies backside and continue to punish him/her. Very rarely if the timing is off, an AoE can hit you at the beginning of the Punishing Charge animation but that is more about you knowing the animation/timing of the baddies... So pay attention homies!
Now a bit more tech here: You get 3 charges at 8 second cooldown each. As soon as you use 1 Charge it begins counting down, whether you use the 2nd/3rd charges or not. You can bamf forward, turn, bamf back to the exact same spot, and then bamf anywhere else within range (that's 3 charges used) and only have had 2 seconds come off the cool down, leaving 6 seconds left for the 1st charge to be available again. Now that is pretty **** fast, and about the same animation timeframe as Daring Shout. While Daring Shout builds Determination and Marks targets, this power allows you to hit 5 baddies with each charge, so within 2 seconds you can hit 15 baddies. Generating, at my low level of power (4300) in my Sentinel spec an average of about 1000 damage per hit. So that's 15k damage for 2 seconds worth of work... Not too shabby! While also filling up your AP meter much faster then we are currently used too. This allows you to spam Slam a great deal more, still my chosen Daily Power of use.
How fast you say? Well let me tell you!
Three times in the past week, I have started a Slam and had enough AP within the timeframe of the current Slam (10 seconds) to start another Slam. This happens by leading with Punishing Charge, 2 seconds of use, then Restoring Strike, then IBS, then a few normal attacks and 1 last Punishing through remaining baddies and abraca-effing-dabra! lam is back for another round of sweet AoE loving!
This has occurred in Temple of the Spider, Pirate King, and Malabog's Castle. I have witnesses for each instance within/outside my Guild. Now this is not going to happen every run, but with practice it can become a possibility, and an effing fine one at that! I have also started a Master of the Hunt skirmish with a full Daily, popped Slam and by the end I had completed the run I had popped off 16 other Slams. I was keyed in and trying to maximize the Daily just to see how many I could do, but if you're a GWF who has run the Skirmish in the last few weeks do me a favor mentally calculate/remember how many Dailies you got off in that instance with your current rotation... Was it even double digits? If not, and even if it was 10 or 11, do yourself the favor and start practicing with Punishing Charge!
What is also awesome about Punishing Charge is that it is challenging to use correctly, requires practice and attention to detail. Thus battles become less of the same old grind. Now you are constantly looking for angles to optimize Punishing Charge, either solely to get your Daily up, or waiting for the baddies big bad red circle/cone so you can bamf around/through it, and/or set up perfect flanking attacks for you and your BFFs!
As a Sentinel spec I am loving Punishing Charge, and I think a Destroyer spec will love it even more!
So be a cool kid and try the new hotness for GWFs of all shapes and sizes... PUNISHING CHARGE BAY-BAY!!!
Just wanted to write up a bit about my experience running Full Titan and Full Vigilant over the 2x/2x split...
To begin with I'd been using the 2x Titan and 2x Vigilant set combo for over 2 months. Part of is was because I was tweaking the actual stats/enchants/runestones I was running and just felt like going with the solid combination of stats they gave. After Sharandar, and after I had mapped out my boons, I started looking heavily into my armor selection as that was really the only thing left until I could save up/grind out enough AD to expand my Rank 8s into Rank 9s/10s (still working on that! lol)...
So I began to experiment with the different full sets. Focusing on the Titan and the Vigilant as they did the 2 things I wanted most... Titan made me more tanky and Vigilant gave me enough Recovery/AP gain to spam Slam as much as possible (using Punishing Charge!).
The following images are without the Campfire Bonus Stats, so take that into account also!
Visuals of my current stats when wearing the Titan Set:
Currently the Armor Enchantment is a Greater Negation, and the theory behind this was simply that I didn't want to go with the generic Soulforged (which is good!) w/my desire to try something 'new'. Negation was chosen to maximize the times my DR would be through the roof between the 4 Set bonus and the Negation effect itself. Thereby hoping to be as 'tanky' as possible.
This set I use when I am PvPing/Tanking a Boss. Whereas it has far lower Recovery/AP gain then the Vigilant set, I find having 45% base DR and 28.3% Deflection to be superb for this goal. It's been doing very well thus far, and obviously the extra HPs plays a part.
Visuals of my current stats when wearing the Vigilant Warlord Set:
Currently my Armor Enchantment is a Greater Briartwine, and it's been a fave of mine for a while. Basically it just helps me heal a bit more (not a LOT but it can add up!) over the course of a dungeon and counts as damage to the baddies, so a slight aggro bump there (not a lot but every bit counts!). This is the set I use while running through a Dungeon/Instance with average level baddies and when I am on adds duty when in a boss fight. This is also the set that I use, and am able, to (on rare occasion) get a 2nd Slam ready to go during the duration of the first one.
Here you can see my DR goes down to 42% or so, and Deflect below 20%, however the Recovery up to 28.3% (over 29% with Campfire buff I believe) w/AP of 27.3% really allows the use of Punishing Charge to pump up the AP generation to the max I can.
So that's a brief summation, and showing visuals, of my current Armor Sets and Stats with each one individually. Feel free to offer any constructive criticism and/or comments/questions!
Also a beast in PvP heh.
We are definitely dominating, and we are always about to win.
The PvP has a lot to do with a solid team, which we ran with... The double DC at the mid w/a GF was just silly, and allowed me to enact my Tao of Disengaging very well indeed! Gotta be cognizant of other part make up, and be ready to do short Spring bursts to cut off angles and 'dodge' incoming attacks, etc.
Not even saying it's an mindblowingly great feat (although I do think it is good and much better than many GWF's give it credit for). But I definitely think it's worth way more than Grim Promise, which is the real point here. 15% damage reduction after using a daily? A daily which you won't use if it's an aoe situation (Slam), not to mention one that is actually worse in terms of single target damage to Savage Advance (because Crescendo has a channel time whereas Savage's damage is instant and you continue attacking right after it). No thanks, I'll take 15% extra damage on marked targets.
What were your starting stats? And if I use Human where would you think is the best place to put the +2 attribute bonus, and the three additional feats?
Human wise you could max out Steely Defense or Weapon Master for increased DPS.
As for the +2, that's really up to you... Strength = More damage, Con = More HP/ArmPen, and Dex = More Crit. That's really your call, but I'd aim for Str or Con honestly.
Thanks for the quick reply - I take it all level-ups went to STR and CON.
A couple of quick questions:
Is the crit chance from Weapon Master or DEX affected by diminishing returns in the same way the the critical chance from +crit gear is?
You said you were planning to change Grim Promise for Powerful Challenge. Are there any other changes you would make for those of us who don't want to respec often?
To the best of my knowledge it is not, it is a flat 1% increase to your Crit percentage. Just hover your mouse over the Crit Chance line on your character sheet and it will show you where it breaks down...
Currently that is the only thing I would personally change as is. Baring future patches of course, and I'd change the Crescendo only after they fix the bug in the August patch notes. Of course you could rock the Powerful Challenge from now forward knowing the nerfbat is incoming, nothing wrong with that at all really!
Thanks again.
Perhaps you could consider putting the information about initial ability scores, level-ups and potential changes in the original post so that it is easy to find for newer players?
Nice thread btw leeroy
Since i cant catch you online, since you switched to perfect lightning, how do you find dungeons and agrooing adds from other groups? (namely spellplague). since i only have 2 chains on my enchant, wondered if 3 would stretch its reach even further or does it just bounce back to something your hitting?
and also the featured satirical comedic adventure "A Call for Heroes".
It's on my things to do list for sure!
Name recognition, and shameless self-promotion, maybe? *shrugs* lol
I did a few Spellplague runs the other day, and I switched between PL and GPF. For running through the dungeons I used GPF to avoid chaining into other add groups. One the 1st and last Boss I used Perfect Lighting to generate aggro and it worked well. With PL you do have to be careful on the 3rd chain, as it can run off randomly at times. For the most part though it will stay in your vicinity if there are 4 or more adds. When there is only 3, that's when the Chain can shoot off haywire...
Also how easy is it to keep unstoppable up - can you manage to do this almost constantly as some GWF builds can?
With this build you have to joust less out of Red Circles, in fact standing in them (as asinine as it may sound) helps generate Unstoppable and at times is the play to get instant Unstoppable if you need/want it. I also use Roar to it's max effectiveness, so I would say I am able to Unstoppable (during a boss fight) once every 10 seconds or so. So it is not constantly up, but it is consistently up on a fairly regular interval. Does that answer your question?
So would you say it is up about half the time, then? If so, it does answer my question.
The reason is I am trying to figure out the effectiveness of taking out three points from Unstoppable Action and placing them in Disciple of Strength. This way you would lose 15% AP gen during unstoppable but always gain 6% extra damage. If unstoppable is up about half the time this is a very favourable trade-off, as you get 6% extra AP from the damage anyway...
I'm not sure I'd ever take any points out of Unstoppable Action, it's really stupid good and losing 15% would be a big damper in my opinion. Again your call, but that I would advise against it.
It is a slightly forgiving playstyle as sometimes you intentionally jump into a bunch of overlapping red circles/AOEs that you know you will survive, just to instantly get a full Unstoppable Meter. I just find it hella fun, and I love running Foundries as a Sentinel spec also... What are your thoughts thus far playing it?
Is your build viable without any enchants? What weapons would you pick if you couldn't afford the Ancient versions?
I'm thinking of rolling either a Human or Halfling GWF based on yours
The Enchants that I use on the build are to increase Crit Strike/Recovery primarially on my weapon offensive slots and the Ioun Stone I use. Aside from that all my defensive slots are Lifesteal Dark Enchants, so any level is good for those (though the higher the better of course!). That withstanding the Sentinel spec is definitely viable unto itself.
The weapon with the highest damage stat available... T1 that would be the Sharpened Ice Axe. I didn't choose weapon on the stats it gave, though the +450 Crit Strike from the Ancient version set bonus is hella nice!
I'd love to hear your findings on the build, what you enjoy about it, what you don't, etc. Particularly from a non-Dwarf standpoint!
I rolled a Halfling with:
17/16/15 Mains
10/10/10 Secondary
For Powers and Feats, how would you change the build you have in the first post based on feedback so far and your own experience? When reading through the thread, it appeared as if you felt that some of the feat choices in particular could still be improved. Would love to know which ones - never played GWF before!
The other guide I read was that one (a bit outdated)
http://mmominds.com/2013/05/18/gwf-dps-build-by-saviorgun/
In particular, I wasn't sure whether Reaping or Sure Strike should be maxed. Playing around at level 6, I find Reaping Strike incredibly difficult to use (esp if you get interrupted) and not that damaging.
Oh and in your powers list, I only see those you maxed - what about those you didn't max? Especially the passive features.
Once the ability to use Slam/Crescendo at the same time is fixed (which it WILL be per patch notes), I will be changing Grim Promise to Powerful Challenge. Dropping the Damage Resistance for more DPS against Marked targets. That's the only glaring one I'd for sure change...
Yea that is a DPS build, kind of the opposite of what I am running... lol
Sure Strike should definitely be maxed out, 100% on this. Reaping Strike, as is, isn't very good in this build so I would put the minimal amount of points in it as possible.
Those I leave for people to make decisions on their own, like what they like the best, etc. Experimentation is important for the health of the build! I rarely, honestly, use any passives besides Bravery and Weapon Master, so you can really do whatever ya want with those points!
I noticed that you don't pick up Endless Assault or Disciple of Strength. Are those not worth getting at all? Personally I'm thinking of dropping Toughness a bit since the added HP isn't that much and get a tad more damage for that. Which of the 2 is better to invest in?
I am pretty sure Disciple of Strength is better since it gives 2/4/6% extra damage to everything (via Strength) as opposed to just 2/4/6% extra Encounter damage.
How about Constitution Focus? Is that better than Toughness?
That depends what you are after. Three points in Toughness gives 9% extra HP.
The same three points in Constitution Focus increases the benefit (i.e. HP/Armour Pen/DOT resist) of CON by 15%. So assume you start with as base CON of 16 and add all level-up points to it for a end-figure of 22. This gives a +12 CON modifier which translates to 24% more HP and 12% extra Armour Penalty. So those three points in CF will gain you 3.6% extra HP, 1.8% ADDITIVE extra armour pen and some minor DOT resist, assuming I have understood everything correctly.
So up to you which you prefer.