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A GWF's journey

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  • briarrabriarra Member Posts: 49
    edited May 2013
    Yay. Level 40.

    I did Throne of Idris. GF, DC, 2xTR, me. We had a smooth run, except we wiped on Idris herself, one time. That was mostly because we had a very passive tank, so as we came up onto her level of the, ohh, pyramid or whatever, he just stood there. Idris waited a moment, like she was saying 'what's the tank doing?' Then, she walked over with all her friends to invite us to tea. It didn't go well. The second time went better, with the tank almost being, like, you know, agressive.

    Damage was very close. One of the TRs came in first at 1.51 million. I came in second at 1.41 million, and TR2 was at 1.39, So, we really were all close to even. On kills, I led at 288, with the first TR at 202 and the cleric at 201. Fun little run, and the Idris fight is much less annoying than the Mad Dragon.

    At 39, I went Steel Blitz, Rank 2 and Disciple 5/5.

    At 40, I took Savage Advance, Rank 1 and swapped it in for AoS to test it. +1 to Str and Dex. As for me feat, I was not happy at all. I didn't like any of the choices. I ended up going with 1/5 in Staying Power, since it seemed the best of the bad choices, given that I love Weapon Master's Stike.

    ArPen is at 1880, or 22.2 percent enemy DR ignored. I've also gone to the cleric for a companion.
  • chronomancerchronomancer Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 1,223
    edited May 2013
    Lv 40-50 is where we shine the best (we feel like the superman)... after that... it's like... WTF happened! Weapon master strike is our bread and butter... max staying power asap (best used with WMS + Roar or Not so fast or Intomidable weapon strike). Also get Student of the Sword from the Sentinel tree. You can pair Sure strike + WMS or Wicked Strike + WMS. My opinion of Steel Blitz is kinda mixed.. it's CHANCE to do an extra attack based on how many enemies you got (it complements our aoeing skills). IMHO I think it's better to go with Destroyer + Weapon Master.

    Note: Intomidable weapon strike is actually a cone attack altho it's a very narrow cone.
  • chronomancerchronomancer Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 1,223
    edited May 2013
    This not true. A good GWF with good build and gear will always outdamage any rogue.I never get second place in dps even on castle never runs. The problem is that a rogue is still far more useful than a GWF because he has much more single target damage for the bosses. Apart from that GWF dps is fine

    The core problem is CW is way more useful than a GWF in dealing with adds. They do the same damage as a GWF yet they can control adds better than GWF (since taunt/aggro is so broke). TR is pretty much given an assured spot in the dungeon run because they do overwhelming damage to a boss than we'll ever can. Most of our damage comes in the form of AOE. In terms of single target damage no way we'll be able to outdo TR, however we can outdo TR if there are a lot of adds.
  • briarrabriarra Member Posts: 49
    edited May 2013
    Lv 40-50 is where we shine the best (we feel like the superman)... after that... it's like... WTF happened! Weapon master strike is our bread and butter... max staying power asap (best used with WMS + Roar or Not so fast or Intomidable weapon strike). Also get Student of the Sword from the Sentinel tree. You can pair Sure strike + WMS or Wicked Strike + WMS. My opinion of Steel Blitz is kinda mixed.. it's CHANCE to do an extra attack based on how many enemies you got (it complements our aoeing skills). IMHO I think it's better to go with Destroyer + Weapon Master.

    Note: Intomidable weapon strike is actually a cone attack altho it's a very narrow cone.

    About Steel Blitz: While I didn't test it, I was never tempted to slot it. I picked it up mostly to spend the points, to get to the next tier, since everything less I liked was already at Rank 3. I think I would have preferred it if powers went to Rank 5, giving greated build diversity, while the tiny incremental bonuses to one thing feats went to three. That way, more skills could be given tiny bonuses, so that you had more choices.

    Of course, I would have preferred a real feat tree, and not the tiny bonus option.
  • briarrabriarra Member Posts: 49
    edited May 2013
    I've finished the barbarian area. I enjoyed it overall. I've hit 41 and gone to Rank 2 in Savage Advance, and 2/5 in Staying Power.

    I also did Gray Wolf's Den. ZOMG, it's way too long, but that's an issue I've seen a lot in Instances. I really think Cryptic needs to look at Instance design, to make them shorter. Even Cloak Tower could be cut down in length. You don't need to kill hundreds of mobs to have a good dungeon. We had one of each class.

    We ended up failing on the end boss, two wipes and people bailed. I died 4 times, as the DC didn't seem to want to heal me at all, but that's ok. Now, that last fight was annoying. The typical too many adds, coupled with the bosses insane AOE, made it hard.

    In a numbers sense, I was meh. TR did 2.3 million, CW did 1.7, I was third at 1.2. I don't think I played bad, I just think the instance played more to TR and CW. And I had to spend time ducking out of fights to potion, and I did die twice before the end boss. So, I could have played better, but I could have had better support, too.

    Kills: I led with 207, CW had 203, TR had 184. I did my normal lead there, but not as impressively as normal. Still, it's a plus point.

    Not sure if I'll try the lair again, though, as a normal. Sooooo long. I may just shrug and move onto Pirate's Skyhold.
  • chudovishyechudovishye Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    briarra wrote: »
    I've finished the barbarian area. I enjoyed it overall. I've hit 41 and gone to Rank 2 in Savage Advance, and 2/5 in Staying Power.

    I also did Gray Wolf's Den. ZOMG, it's way too long, but that's an issue I've seen a lot in Instances. I really think Cryptic needs to look at Instance design, to make them shorter. Even Cloak Tower could be cut down in length. You don't need to kill hundreds of mobs to have a good dungeon. We had one of each class.

    We ended up failing on the end boss, two wipes and people bailed. I died 4 times, as the DC didn't seem to want to heal me at all, but that's ok. Now, that last fight was annoying. The typical too many adds, coupled with the bosses insane AOE, made it hard.

    In a numbers sense, I was meh. TR did 2.3 million, CW did 1.7, I was third at 1.2. I don't think I played bad, I just think the instance played more to TR and CW. And I had to spend time ducking out of fights to potion, and I did die twice before the end boss. So, I could have played better, but I could have had better support, too.

    Kills: I led with 207, CW had 203, TR had 184. I did my normal lead there, but not as impressively as normal. Still, it's a plus point.

    Not sure if I'll try the lair again, though, as a normal. Sooooo long. I may just shrug and move onto Pirate's Skyhold.

    Too long? Perhaps you're not doing enough damage. Hint on adds, drop companions. And as GWF in those dungeons, you need to find a way to stay healthy without relying on the cleric. It's possible, trust me, I'm doing awesome at 60 and I figured out how to pull it off around 45.
  • briarrabriarra Member Posts: 49
    edited May 2013
    Too long? Perhaps you're not doing enough damage. Hint on adds, drop companions. And as GWF in those dungeons, you need to find a way to stay healthy without relying on the cleric. It's possible, trust me, I'm doing awesome at 60 and I figured out how to pull it off around 45.

    I was talking about the actual, physical, length of the dungeons. Wolf's Den, for instance, has two zone changes. Yet, most of it, is just corridors and caves. You could cut the number of those in half, and still have an excellent instance. The more rooms you have, the longer it takes to get through, even if there were no monsters at all.

    As for non cleric healing, yes, I know. I pop pots like candy, and I'm always buffed with with a buff potion, which is something I've noticed a lot of people don't do.
  • shad99shad99 Member Posts: 79 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Sadly Cryptic seems to want a dungeon that averages 40-60 minutes to travel through from start to finish. As opposed to skirmishes which are designed at 20-30 minutes or PvP at 10-20 minutes. With this in mind the daily awards, limit on foundry time to complete, and other design choices make sense.

    Also think he means more regen/life steal gear. Or even popping unstoppable whenever possible. Or both. My GWF uses pots only when absolutely coming under to much fire, though my HP will swing up or down while I play. I do occasionally die, but it's usually getting caught in a criss cross of elite attacks I cannot escape.
  • chronomancerchronomancer Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 1,223
    edited May 2013
    briarra wrote: »
    Not sure if I'll try the lair again, though, as a normal. Sooooo long. I may just shrug and move onto Pirate's Skyhold.

    It gets worse as we go up the levels. On # of kills we're definitely usually #1. Don't bother competing with TR in terms of damage done they totally outclass us. We can compete with CW in terms of damage done/kills.
  • briarrabriarra Member Posts: 49
    edited May 2013
    I've been working on Pirate's Stronghold. I have to say, I like all of the zones in the game so far. Up to 44, so I've levelled past Wolf Lair. At all three levels (42-44), I grabbed Come and Get It (which I have yet to test), and Staying Power (which is now at 5/5). I should test Come and Get It, but I like all three of my encounter powers. I needed to spend points somewhere, however, and a lot of people talk about liking CaGI, so I put them there.
  • ardentsunardentsun Member Posts: 17 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    briarra wrote: »
    One, I don't think many people would, and two, I like the idea of her swinging a sword as big as she is!
    I'd just like to point out here that tons of people do this or similar, ever seen the millions of Gnome Warriors/DKs in WoW? Same thing. And all of the GWF's have swords as big as themselves. The sword is scaled with body size, even the human greatsword is the same length as your body.

    Not to rain on your parade, but yeah.

    You also still haven't put in those links I asked for to make it easier to mve from section to section :(
  • chronomancerchronomancer Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 1,223
    edited May 2013
    briarra wrote: »
    I've been working on Pirate's Stronghold. I have to say, I like all of the zones in the game so far. Up to 44, so I've levelled past Wolf Lair. At all three levels (42-44), I grabbed Come and Get It (which I have yet to test), and Staying Power (which is now at 5/5). I should test Come and Get It, but I like all three of my encounter powers. I needed to spend points somewhere, however, and a lot of people talk about liking CaGI, so I put them there.

    Come and Get it is pretty good for dungeons. Those pesky CW keep knocking those mobs far far away ? CoGi it so everything is bunch up nice and tight plus buff on your damage on the mobs ready for the AOEing.

    I've tested Battle fury, while the damage/AP buff is nice that's just a bonus. The major worth of battle fury is to replenish your stamina esp in fights that require a lot of mobility. Run out of stamina while running around ? Battle fury for instant stamina regain!
  • kwazikwazi Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited May 2013
    Don't forget battle fury allowing you to sprint cancel more often, that's the primary reason why I run it.
  • briarrabriarra Member Posts: 49
    edited May 2013
    Thanks for the Battle Fury advice!
  • briarrabriarra Member Posts: 49
    edited June 2013
    I've finished Pirate's Stronghold and moved into Icespire Peak. I've made it to 46.

    At 45, I took Punishing Charge, Rank 1. I tested it, didn't like it, pulled it. I also took Battle Awareness 1/5. I figure the power gain when Slam is up is worth it, since I use Slam a lot.

    At 46, I took Battle Fury, Rank 1. Need to decide what to swap out to test it. 2/5 Battle Awareness.

    I'm keeping ArPen at about 22 percent emeny resist ignored, and it seems to be working well. Still no solo deaths since Tower District.
  • chronomancerchronomancer Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 1,223
    edited June 2013
    Punishing charge is just HAMSTER. The damage is laughable. It's only use I guess is fighting bosses with big AOE that you need to get away from in a hurry. So not worth getting that skill. Maybe 1 point in it if you have reaction issues.

    Intomindable weapon strike - get it and keep it. It's our bread and butter powers. But it has a very slow execution time with 2 sec delay. Once it crits you can see 10K+ crits. Biggest damage I've done is 17K crit with intomindable and that's only if the mob is super debuffed.

    Crescendo - I used to love it. Long execution time and you CAN get CC'd/Knockdown when it executes which is lame and you waste it. However once it executes even if the target moves away it still hits.

    Steel Grace - Okay there's no way to test this. I think it's broken. I tried Rank 3 of it and i don't notice any less CC. In fact I think I got CC even more.
  • chudovishyechudovishye Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Punishing charge is just HAMSTER. The damage is laughable. It's only use I guess is fighting bosses with big AOE that you need to get away from in a hurry. So not worth getting that skill. Maybe 1 point in it if you have reaction issues.

    Intomindable weapon strike - get it and keep it. It's our bread and butter powers. But it has a very slow execution time with 2 sec delay. Once it crits you can see 10K+ crits. Biggest damage I've done is 17K crit with intomindable and that's only if the mob is super debuffed.

    Crescendo - I used to love it. Long execution time and you CAN get CC'd/Knockdown when it executes which is lame and you waste it. However once it executes even if the target moves away it still hits.

    Steel Grace - Okay there's no way to test this. I think it's broken. I tried Rank 3 of it and i don't notice any less CC. In fact I think I got CC even more.

    Nice points. I tried the charge for a single point, hahaha, wow. You can, however, use it to get up into spawns if you do it right, but it's not easy. Worth nothing IWS actually has a slight cone and can strike more than one target if you aim properly. Crescendo I have mixed feeling about. Decent damage, knocks the opponent down, but, and this is key, it can be easily negated via attack if your opponent times it right. You lose the damage and the daily, as well as seeing the annoying Crescendo glitch for a few minutes after. Grace, hmm, I haven't honestly paid attention, I always arm it for PvP though and it seems to work quite well. Might just be my perception, but seems that way.
  • briarrabriarra Member Posts: 49
    edited June 2013
    I'm pushing through Icespire. Not really liking the zone. Like the look of it, but the story is weak and the mobs are annoying. I'm up to 48. Over 47 and 48, I got Battle Fury to Rank 3, and am at 4/5 in Battle Awareness.

    But, I'm stuck at the Rime Hound. Two deaths on him, same way both times. The 30 percent add pack spwans, I get most of them down, or close to down, and then get chain CCed - wolf trip, boss knockdown as I get up, wolf trip as I get up, dead.

    Part of it is likely me failing to execute properly. But, part of it just reflects the overuse of CC and adds in Neverwinter from the start. No diminishing returns, no stats or talents or gear to mitigate CC, mostly melee classes (3 to 2 is mostly), yet almost every boss has a 360 AoE you have to get out of, which means no DPS. Abilities on shorter cooldowns - significantly - for mobs then players. For instance, Battle Fury is my reset stamina ability. It has a 25 second cooldown. Rime Hound gets 2 to 3 breaths, and 1 charge, and 1 to 2 360 AoEs with knockdown in 25 seconds. I'm starting to really question many of the baseline game design decisions, not class design, but overall game design.

    Don't get me wrong, I love the game, but I'm starting to become a little concerned at all the mistakes other companies made 5, 8, 10 years ago, fixed, and that Cryptic has repeated.

    On the positive side, fighting the 3 giants outside on the mountain was a blast.
  • snugglemancersnugglemancer Member Posts: 105 Bounty Hunter
    edited June 2013
    Ok, this is how I took out the rime hound. It's cheating a little, but there's a hole right outside of the entrance to his room. Punch him into it.
  • chronomancerchronomancer Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 1,223
    edited June 2013
    briarra wrote: »
    g to execute properly. But, part of it just reflects the overuse of CC and adds in Neverwinter from the start. No diminishing returns, no stats or talents or gear to mitigate CC, mostly melee classes (3 to 2 is mostly), yet almost every boss has a 360 AoE you have to get out of, which means no DPS. Abilities on shorter cooldowns - significantly - for mobs then players. For instance, Battle Fury is my reset stamina ability. It has a 25 second cooldown. Rime Hound gets 2 to 3 breaths, and 1 charge, and 1 to 2 360 AoEs with knockdown in 25 seconds. I'm starting to really question many of the baseline game design decisions, not class design, but overall game design.

    Now you're beginning to feel the frustrations of most of us GWF. The CC issues esp in pvp with a CW. They can CC you forever and you can't get to them easily (unless you have mightly leap). Once they got you CC'd once it's almost impossible to break out of it and by the time you do (by using Unstoppable) you're already near death. CC is one of the annoying issues facing a GWF since you can get CC'd over and over with no diminishing returns. And imagine this is just with those annoying wolves.

    Edit: With the rime hound/wolf boss ... I actually cheated a little when facing it.... pulled it out of the cave into that small hallway.. it causes his adds (those little annoying little wolves) to stop spawning. Without it it's almost impossible to beat it solo. Once you get to Mount Hotennow you get another boss that is super annoying (that dwarven boss that hits like a truck with ranged weapons) yeah it's like fighting a TR that throws the dagger at you.
  • shad99shad99 Member Posts: 79 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Ok, this is how I took out the rime hound. It's cheating a little, but there's a hole right outside of the entrance to his room. Punch him into it.

    My DC did that... After 3 deaths I just didn't care. The only character of mine to solo the Rime Hound was my CW. My TR couldn't handle it at all and just insta died... Even with another player with me my TR died in that fight. My GWF could almost do it, but that last spawn = chain CC by the mobs until I would die.
  • briarrabriarra Member Posts: 49
    edited June 2013
    @shad: Thanks. It wasn't me as much as the design.

    @chronomancer: I wasn't frustrated with GWF there, just the CC. Neverwinter overdoes CC, I think, especially with no DRs on it. And also thanks to you, as well, for the pull hint. I'll try that!
  • briarrabriarra Member Posts: 49
    edited June 2013
    I think they fixed the pull trick, since I still got the adds. 3 more deaths, and 50ish potions used in them, and it's bye-bye to the Mountain. Dwarves can fix thier own problems.

    I did hit 49 this morning praying. Took Rank 1 in Daring Shout to spend the point, and went 5/5 in Battle Awareness.
  • chronomancerchronomancer Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 1,223
    edited June 2013
    briarra wrote: »
    I think they fixed the pull trick, since I still got the adds. 3 more deaths, and 50ish potions used in them, and it's bye-bye to the Mountain. Dwarves can fix thier own problems.

    I did hit 49 this morning praying. Took Rank 1 in Daring Shout to spend the point, and went 5/5 in Battle Awareness.

    Daring shout = useless when soloing since the "marked" debuff disappears once mobs have their attention to you. I guess it's a decent dungeon/party skill.

    Oh so they fixed it. I think you should get some help in order to defeat it then.
  • adinosoulwoodadinosoulwood Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 82
    edited June 2013
    Interesting read. Once you are done read...
    http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?322931-Best-single-target-at-will/page3

    and tell me what you think.

    Shout is key for soloing bosses/mini bosses. It interrupts them. That stupid AOE where they damage you and heals them... you can stop it with Shout. Does not work in T1/T2 dungeon bosses but till then it is your best encounter with flourish and IBS.
  • kwazikwazi Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    If you're planning on using battlefury at all I HIGHLY recommend the relentless battlefury feat. I have about a 15 second cooldown on my battle fury thanks to my recovery + RBF feat.
  • chronomancerchronomancer Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 1,223
    edited June 2013
    Interesting read. Once you are done read...
    http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?322931-Best-single-target-at-will/page3

    and tell me what you think.

    Shout is key for soloing bosses/mini bosses. It interrupts them. That stupid AOE where they damage you and heals them... you can stop it with Shout. Does not work in T1/T2 dungeon bosses but till then it is your best encounter with flourish and IBS.

    Don't you mean roar ? Roar has a chance to interrupt. Daring shout debuffs the resistance of the mob.
  • chronomancerchronomancer Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 1,223
    edited June 2013
    kwazi wrote: »
    If you're planning on using battlefury at all I HIGHLY recommend the relentless battlefury feat. I have about a 15 second cooldown on my battle fury thanks to my recovery + RBF feat.

    I agree... Relentless Battle Fury is pretty much a must have if you going for the Destroyer tree. It reduces the cooldown of 3 very important skills for a GWF: Roar, Takedown and Battlefury.
  • briarrabriarra Member Posts: 49
    edited June 2013
    I've gone too and finished Chasm. Fun zone. Nothic's are a pain, but the eyes are cool :)

    Up to 52.

    I used 50 to 52 to max IBS. +1 each to Str and Dex and 50. Feats: Destroyer, and Student of the Sword, 1/5 and 2/5.

    @chrono: Yeah, I figured that. The one point in Daring Shout was just a 'I have to spend it somewhere point'

    @adin: Yes, roar is a nice interrupt. But, it doesn't help against wolf trip (which is not interrupable), or against multiple mobs hitting with AoEs on a shorter cooldown than roar.

    Currently, I have Not So Fast, IBS, and Roar as my encounters, with AoS and Slam as daily's. Slam is just sooooo good. Wish I could put it in both daily slots and alternate them :)

    Next: Rothe Valley.
  • bloodraiderx42bloodraiderx42 Member Posts: 74
    edited June 2013
    seems a free respec token and more damage, see how it plays out
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