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PvE GWF Swordsmaster Destroyer "Guide" - Blitz Krieg
helloz2
Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 205 Bounty Hunter
General
Pros and Cons
- Good DPS
- Lifesteal in PvE
- Mobile
- Relatively Squishy
- Not as viable in PvP compared to Sentinels
- No Iron Vanguard Powers
Recommended Races
Half-Orc
+2 DEX
+2 CON or +2 STR
+5% Critical Severity
+10% Run Speed for 3s when you enter combat which can only occur once every 20s
Seems to be the most viable option for this setup due to the Critical Severity bonus as well as 2 more CON or STR compared to Humans. STR is recommended for this build though.
Human
+2 Any Ability Score
+3% Defense
+3 Heroic Feat Points at Levels 10,15 and 20
On the bright side, Human has more character customization options than Half-Orc.
Other than that, the additional Defense adds a little to the Power Steely Defense gives and you get more Heroic Feat Points which are useful. Chose this as my race but Half-Orcs should be a much better option.
Ability Scores
STR: 18(+2)(+6)
+16% Stamina Regeneration
+16% Damage Bonus
+16% DoT Damage Resist
DEX: 13(+6)
+9% Critical Chance
+9% AoE Damage Resist
+4.5% Deflection Chance
CON: 13(+2)
-5% Resistance Ignored
+10% Maximum Hit Points
PvE Character Sheet (With Stone)
Equipment
For armor, Avatar of War 4/4 is strongly recommended as the set effect is really good to have to increase DPS output. (+450 Critical Strike at 2/4 and +1350 Recovery/Power upon proc at 4/4).
For weapon, some weapon sets (Ancient, Dread Legion, Fomorian, Fallen Dragon) give +450 Critical Strike which could be very beneficial, but not necessary.
For rings, neck and waist, you might want to focus a little bit on Power, along with other stats on the side to keep it balanced.
For shirt and trousers, if you need:
Armor Penetration and Deflection => Gemmed Exquisite Gambeson and Gemmed Exquisite Trousers
Recovery and Critical Strike => Gemmed Exquisite Shirt and Gemmed Exquisite Pants
You might also want some Life Steal to get better sustain while DPS-ing.
Enchantments
This setup currently has 2 Defense, 7 Offense and 3 Utility slots.
Offense:
x1 R7 Dark (+185 Armor Penetration)
x3 R8 Dark (+220 Armor Penetration)
x1 R7 Radiant (+185 Power)
x2 R8 Radiant (+220 Power)
Defense:
x2 R8 Azure (+220 Defense)
Utility:
x3 R5 Dark (+120 Movement)
Weapon Enhancement Slot:
Vorpal recommended
Armor Enhancement Slot:
Soulforged recommended (PvE)
Artifacts
Currently have the following: (not final though)
Bloodcrystal Raven Skull (rank 60)
+183 Recovery
+300 Regeneration
+166 Stamina/Guard Gain
Waters of Elah'zad (rank 75)
+300 Recovery
+228 Defense
+256 Regeneration
Lantern of Revelation (rank 73)
+300 Critical Strike
+222 Armor Penetration
+244 Combat Advantage Bonus
As for the actives, I like to use Bloodcrystal Raven Skull the most among these three as the temporary HP boost could prevent my character from dying at some point, Lantern of Revelation is also a good choice since it speeds up DPS, while the active of Waters of Elah'zad does not seem to be as effective at this point.
Pros and Cons
- Good DPS
- Lifesteal in PvE
- Mobile
- Relatively Squishy
- Not as viable in PvP compared to Sentinels
- No Iron Vanguard Powers
Recommended Races
Half-Orc
+2 DEX
+2 CON or +2 STR
+5% Critical Severity
+10% Run Speed for 3s when you enter combat which can only occur once every 20s
Seems to be the most viable option for this setup due to the Critical Severity bonus as well as 2 more CON or STR compared to Humans. STR is recommended for this build though.
Human
+2 Any Ability Score
+3% Defense
+3 Heroic Feat Points at Levels 10,15 and 20
On the bright side, Human has more character customization options than Half-Orc.
Other than that, the additional Defense adds a little to the Power Steely Defense gives and you get more Heroic Feat Points which are useful. Chose this as my race but Half-Orcs should be a much better option.
Ability Scores
STR: 18(+2)(+6)
+16% Stamina Regeneration
+16% Damage Bonus
+16% DoT Damage Resist
DEX: 13(+6)
+9% Critical Chance
+9% AoE Damage Resist
+4.5% Deflection Chance
CON: 13(+2)
-5% Resistance Ignored
+10% Maximum Hit Points
PvE Character Sheet (With Stone)
Equipment
For armor, Avatar of War 4/4 is strongly recommended as the set effect is really good to have to increase DPS output. (+450 Critical Strike at 2/4 and +1350 Recovery/Power upon proc at 4/4).
For weapon, some weapon sets (Ancient, Dread Legion, Fomorian, Fallen Dragon) give +450 Critical Strike which could be very beneficial, but not necessary.
For rings, neck and waist, you might want to focus a little bit on Power, along with other stats on the side to keep it balanced.
For shirt and trousers, if you need:
Armor Penetration and Deflection => Gemmed Exquisite Gambeson and Gemmed Exquisite Trousers
Recovery and Critical Strike => Gemmed Exquisite Shirt and Gemmed Exquisite Pants
You might also want some Life Steal to get better sustain while DPS-ing.
Enchantments
This setup currently has 2 Defense, 7 Offense and 3 Utility slots.
Offense:
x1 R7 Dark (+185 Armor Penetration)
x3 R8 Dark (+220 Armor Penetration)
x1 R7 Radiant (+185 Power)
x2 R8 Radiant (+220 Power)
Defense:
x2 R8 Azure (+220 Defense)
Utility:
x3 R5 Dark (+120 Movement)
Weapon Enhancement Slot:
Vorpal recommended
Armor Enhancement Slot:
Soulforged recommended (PvE)
Artifacts
Currently have the following: (not final though)
Bloodcrystal Raven Skull (rank 60)
+183 Recovery
+300 Regeneration
+166 Stamina/Guard Gain
Waters of Elah'zad (rank 75)
+300 Recovery
+228 Defense
+256 Regeneration
Lantern of Revelation (rank 73)
+300 Critical Strike
+222 Armor Penetration
+244 Combat Advantage Bonus
As for the actives, I like to use Bloodcrystal Raven Skull the most among these three as the temporary HP boost could prevent my character from dying at some point, Lantern of Revelation is also a good choice since it speeds up DPS, while the active of Waters of Elah'zad does not seem to be as effective at this point.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Post edited by helloz2 on
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Comments
At-Wills
Sure Strike 3/3
Must have. Good single target DPS At-Will.
Weapon Master's Strike 3/3
Must have. Good AoE DPS At-Will which applies mitigation debuffs.
Wicked Strike 3/3
Optional. Good AoE DPS when Unstoppable.
Reaping Strike 1/3
Not viable in this build. Point spent here is automatic though.
Class Features
Destroyer 3/3
Must have. Class Feature which gives bonus damage useful for Destroyer spec.
Bravery 3/3
Must have. Class Feature which gives Run Speed and Deflect Chance useful for PvP.
Weapon Master 3/3
Must have. Class Feature which gives Critical Chance per stack.
Steel Blitz 3/3
Optional. Class Feature which gives a chance for extra attack based on enemies hit.
Steadfast Determination 0/3
Nope.
Steel Defense 0/3
Most of the time, there will be better options.
Steel Grace 3/3
This might be negligible since there's Unstoppable already.
Encounters
Not So Fast 3/3
Must have. AoE DPS Encounter with fast animation cast time.
Mighty Leap 3/3
Must have. Good mobility Encounter as well as having a dodge mechanic to it.
Restoring Strike 3/3
Must have. Good sustain Encounter which deals quite a lot of damage.
Takedown 3/3
Must have. The prone effect of this Encounter is useful in PvP.
Roar 3/3
Must have. Most likely the only ranged Encounter for Swordmaster paragon and has CC effects to it.
Indomitable Battle Strike 3/3
Must have. High burst Encounter with massive Action Point generation upon kills.
Daring Shout 0/3
Optional. Encounter which marks nearby targets and good defense buff for a duration.
Come and Get It 0/3
Optional. Gathers monsters and gain a flat damage buff after for one attack.
Battle Fury 0/3
Optional. Immediately regain full stamina and Damage/Action Point gain buff for party. (25% for others)
Punishing Charge 3/3
Optional. Good for charging up Action Points and mobility.
Flourish 0/3
Optional. Good damage but animation time and rather long cooldown gets in the way sometimes.
Dailies
Avalanche of Steel 3/3
Must have. Great AoE Daily, seems to have no target cap and also has prone CC effect to all targets hit.
Crescendo 3/3
Must have. Great multiple hit Burst Daily on a single target which deals a lot of damage.
Slam 3/3
Must have. Daily which deals damage over time applying damage debuffs to targets hit, has a target cap though.
Savage Advance 3/3
Optional. Single target daily which pushes target away and prones it, useful in PvP in some cases.
Spinning Strike 1/3
Not recommended to have. A point has to be inevitably spent here though.
1) Referring to the image, there are two extra points in the end, which can be spent wherever.
2) Referring to the image, Steel Grace, Savage Advance and Punishing Rush 3/3 are not core Powers in this setup, so you may want to redistribute them to other Powers if you like.
Powers Used (PvE)
At-Wills
Weapon Master's Strike
Sure Strike
Class Features
Destroyer
Weapon Master
Encounters
Not So Fast
Restoring Strike
Indomitable Battle Strike
Dailies
Avalanche of Steel
Crescendo
1) Sometimes for more AoE DPS, you might want to switch Sure Strike for Wicked Strike for At-Wills and Weapon Master for Steel Blitz for Class Features. (optional)
2) Not So Fast is sometimes switched to Takedown or Mighty Leap, whenever they are suited best.
Heroic Feats
*Extra 3 feat points since Human race, adjust where necessary.
Disciple of Strength: +2/4/6% damage Strength gives
Endless Assault: +2/4/6% Encounter damage
Steely Defense: Gives Power equal to 4/8/12/16/20% of Defense
Weapon Mastery: +1/2/3% Critical Chance
Devastating Critical +5/10/15% Critical Severity
Feats to improve overall DPS.
Toughness: +3/6/9% HP
Armor Specialization: +5/10/15% AC and Defense effectiveness
Feats to improve survivability, even if slightly.
Unstoppable Action: 5/10/15/20/25% Bonus AP Gain while Unstoppable
The AP gain is quite high, but I prefer more HP though. Choose this for faster AP gain.
Fast Runner: -3/6/9/12/15% Stamina loss while Sprinting
Not viable in PvE and there's better options.
Constitution Focus: +5/10/15% CON effectiveness
Not useful since this build adds DEX and STR instead of CON.
Destroyer Feats
Great Weapon Focus: +2/4/6/8/10% At-Will damage
Increases DPS.
Deep Gash: Damage over time effect upon critical hits, dealing 3/6/9/12/15% Power as damage over 5s
Might be broken or something, but the DPS of this is really high. Must-have nonetheless since it crits.
Staying Power: -2/4/6/8/10% Encounter Mitigation debuff by Weapon Master's Strike
Good debuff addition to Weapon Master's Strike.
Focused Destroyer: 5/10/15/20/25% chance to proc Destroyer when hitting lesser than four targets
Helps in targeting bosses or elite monsters.
Destroyer's Focus: Determination gain upon dealing damage, +10% Encounter damage when Unstoppable
Capstone feat, must add.
Disciple of War: Gives Armor Penetration equal to 5/10/15/20/25% of Recovery
Since Recovery will not be stacked much, the feat will not be really effective in this case.
Executioner's Style: +0.4/0.8/1.2/1.6/2% Max AP per Reaping Strike kill, +2/4/6/8/10% IBS damage based on missing HP
Reaping Strike is never used, and the IBS aspect is very minor in PvE.
Relentless Battle Fury: 5/10/15/20/25% lesser cooldown for Roar, Takedown and Battle Fury
Viable in PvP, but not that useful in PvE.
Battle Awareness: +5/10/15/20/25% Power during Slam, 5/10/15/20/25% short cooldowns upon using SA
Not good since you will not be using Slam or Savage Advance frequently.
Instigator Feats
Student of the Sword: 5s 3/6/9/12/15% Defense debuff upon critical hits, stacks up to 3 times
Defense debuff which will be helpful especially in party settings.
Vicious Advantage: +1/2/3/4/5% Critical Chance and Damage when having Combat Advantage
No good in PvP, but if you utilize Combat Advantage this feat helps.
T1
Dark Fey Warder: +250 Defense
Dark Fey Hunter: +250 Power
Defense would be better since you get 20% of it to Power with the Steely Defense feat.
T2
Fey Elusiveness: +250 Deflect
Fey Precision: +250 Critical Strike
Crtical Strike will be quite high, thus adding some Deflect might be better.
T3
Feywilds Fortitude: +700 HP
Elven Haste: +2% Action Point Gain
More HP would be better in this case.
T4
Elven Tranquility
Elven Ferocity
It's OK to choose any.
T5
Elven Resolve
Fey Thistle
Elvish Fury
Redcap Brew
More power is always good to have. Elven Resolve is also a viable option.
Dread Ring Boons
T1
Reliquary Keeper's Strength: +125 Power/+125 Movement
Conjurer's Gambit: +125 Critical Strike/+125 Movement
Power's the better option here since Critical Strike is already quite high.
T2
Evoker's Thirst: +250 Life Steal
Illusory Regeneration: +250 Regeneration
Since this build is more PvE focused, Life Steal should be better than Regeneration.
T3
Illusion Shimmer: +3% Deflection Severity
Forbidden Piercing: +250 Armor Penetration
Definitely choose Armor Penetration as your Deflection Chance will not be high.
T4
Enraged Regrowth
Shadowtouch
Personal preference for this one.
T5
Augmented Thayan Bastion
Rampaging Madness
Endless Consumption
Burning Guidance
Chose Rampaging Madness for the Power increase during the buff. Endless Consumption might be suitable too.
Companions
Active Companions
Currently have the following: (not final though)
Ioun Stone Of Might: +2%/+3%/+5% Stamina Regen
Cannot be replaced even though there's better options since it's the Summoned Companion. The bonus Stamina Regen helps though.
Skeletal Dog: +25/+100/+190/+300 Life Steal
Increases sustainability. Might swap this out for Wild Hunt Rider though for more DPS.
Dancing Blade: +3%/+5% Critical Severity
Amplifies critical damage.
Galeb Duhr: Deals up to 10% more Damage based on missing Health
Good to have since you will be taking damage during battles.
Fire Archon: Deals 5% more Damage to targets lesser than 30% HP
Adds to overall DPS and helps strike a killing blow with IBS with a higher chance.
Summoned Companion
An Ioun Stone of Allure (1200 ZEN) or Ioun Stone of Might (1000 Tarmalune Trade Bars) is recommended since it will give you a significant boost of stats to your character in PvE.
For this case, I use the Ioun Stone of Might since it has all Offense slots for Runestones and Ring, Waist, Ring for equipment slots.
(third ring slot unlocked at Rare, so an upgrade cost of 500K AD is required)
Purpose for the stone is to stack Power as high as possible, to increase DPS further.
For the Offense Runestone slots, I use Empowered Runestone, Rank 7 which gives 185 Power each,
For Equipment, I use Smiting Nefarious items which adds 243 Power and 133 Critical Strike each slotted with a Radiant Enchantment, Rank 7 which gives a bonus 185 Power for every piece.
Currently, the stone gives 1,966 Power along with some other stats as shown above.
Very similar to my build been using since open beta. tys
Fox Stevenson - Sandblast
Oh Wonder - Without You
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
- Dylan Thomas
Drop skeleton dog for a blink dog (if you dont tank is a 5% dmg increase) and switch waters for a Lathander or Seldarine.
Galeb with high lifesteal seem not to work good together, never tried it cause of that, as i am rarely under 75% hp and always healing bk up in 1 sec. Maybe switch it with a lightfoot or a rust monster?
I am not a fan of Disciple of Strengh.. it only offers you 1% dmg increase for 3 points.I find Unstoppable Action a better choice, for pvp is obvious a better choice and for pve i keep forgetting to record a run lately, but from what i remember daily do about 10-15% of our dmg, ofc you can substract the dmg you would do with your atwill, if you would use that instead of your daily, but i still think it gives you a bit more than 1% extra dmg overall and also brings extra utility.
I am an Instigator in this module but i am curious why as Destroyers you dont use Battle Awareness with slam as a daily? It was never a better pick, and you dont rly need 5 points in Focused Destroyer anyway (u can get away with 3).
I personally don't like Flourish due to it's animation and rather long cooldown, so I would replace that with either Takedown/Mighty Leap in my case.
Thanks Steam.
Still deciding on the Companions and Artifacts stuff, good suggestions there.
As for Disciple of Strength, I prefer to use Encounters more than Dailies, so Unstoppable Action will not benefit much.
About Slam, I prefer to use Avalanche of Steel as it seem to work very well with Arcane Singularity in dungeons.
Regaining HP while DPS-ing to prevent dying.
Hola <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font>, np
Blitz does insane dps in dungeons. Can't go wrong with this guide if you are a PVE focused GWF.
I really liked your guide, can I add it to mmominds.com??
Hola Talon, yep I still use them as part of the five active companions. I know that the Fire Archon is awesome at what it brings, but I'm uncertain about the Galeb Dhur's active bonus (meaning there might be better alternatives).
Also, this build hasn't been updated for quite long (sorry!) and I made some mistakes somewhat in some of the decisions made here (like Spinning Strike being unviable, what was I thinking?!)
And yep, awesome run with ya the other day, thanks!
Essence of Aggresion
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Have you suggestions about this guide and the changes of module3 for the paragon feats?
I removed student of sword,vicious advantage and deep gash.
and took disciple of war and executioner style.
I hope that they are usefull after their buff.
Now i have 5 points to distribute..do you think deep gash, SotS or something else is best for it?
(Unfortuantely at the moment Disciple of war gives only the % bonus to power from the character, not from the Stone or Avatar of War 4set proc)
Best Regards. For Module 3 it was an extremely good guide which let me have much fun with my GWF.
Hola and thanks.
I think between the three, I'd prefer Deep Gash over SotS since it helps gain Rampaging Madness stacks as fast as possible as well as those from Destroyer's Purpose.
Yea, pity that Disciple of War doesn't include the +1300 Recovery from the set, could be a huge boost.
Than i will take deep gash again.
But i am curious about your next update of this build.
e.g. what the mistakes of some decisions were (like spinning strike) and why it was a mistake.
But until that: have fun and good loot.
Most of the mistakes lie in the boons where I took many of the defensive instead of the offensive ones, and also some powers like Punishing Charge, which I'd always like slotted unlike what I originally thought that was optional.