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Random GWF Thoughts from a Semi-Newb
cheezewezzel
Member Posts: 0 Arc User
In order to better develop my understanding of the class, I’ve put together my thoughts on the GWF. As I wrote earlier, I’ve only recently started to seriously play a GWF, and I’m having a great time. My lovely lady is Candi Payne, a half orc Swordmster Destroyer.
Say hello, Candi.
“Argghh, me want to kill with big sword!”
Thanks, Candi.
I’m using quite a bit from Lazalia’s High Crit build guide with some of the ideas from Lia Knowle’s similar guide. In spirit, I’m following in the footsteps of Bubba, a friend’s fighter PC from back in the dark distant past of D&D when we were all real excited to get the Greyhawk supplement rulebook. Another, move visual inspiration are the images of orcs and half-orcs by Shabazik on DeviantArt. Some of these are nekid so I won’t post any links in order to avoid trouble. However, look for the mama orc in the picture, “The Axe, use the Axe,” for a well muscled woman who could ruin your entire day.
I’m posting this much less for the instruction of the assembled masses and more so that others can see what I’m doing and offer helpful (or not) comments and criticism. And in case it’s not obvious, this is totally PVE only. I don’t PVP and share the concern that attempting to achieve PVP “balance” is damaging the rest of the game.
Starting Rolls
I started with strength 18, dexterity 17, and constitution 13. I felt a little happier with one more point of constitution even though this was probably more psychological than practical. You’ll see a number of examples of such caution (fear?) as you go along. At level 60, I’m at strength 24, dexterity 25 (+3 from a lvl 37 Twined Rope belt), and constitution 16.
At Wills
This is an easy one. There is Weapon Master’s Strike to start off a sequence of Sure Strike and for its AOE, and Sure Strike for single targets.
The Third Encounter
I’m very happy with Daring Shout and Indomitable Battle Strike. However, I’m torn as to my third encounter. In the running are Flourish, Restoring Strike, and Not so Fast. Actually, I do try to switch back and forth between Not so Fast for trash clearing and either Flourish or Restoring Strike for the big guys. Which did other folks prefer for single-target work, Flourish or Restoring Strike?
I’ll be honest, I don’t seem to be able to properly use either Punishing Charge or Mighty Leap. Am I missing something here? Are there other encounter powers that I should be trying?
Daily Powers Not That Exciting
Overall, I don’t see the dailies as all that critical. They’re nice but more of the cherry on the sundae not the sundae itself. Crescendo is an easy choice, but I’m not certain about my second daily. I’ve been running Spinning Strike but in big fights, I keep feeling that I’m being knocked back so that it’s not having much effect, and I’m having trouble controlling my movement while Spinning Strike is active. However, I’m not all that impressed by either’s Slam’s damage or Avalanche of Steel’s casting time. I’d greatly appreciate others’ thoughts and experiences with the GWF Dailies.
Heroic Feats
Disciple of Strength – 2/3
Toughness – 3/3 (I prefer the additional hit points from the last 2% of Disciple of Strength)
Endless Assault – 2/3
Armor Specialization 3/3 (once more paranoia over survivability trumps the extra offensive punch)
Steely Defense - 5/5
Weapon Mastery – 2/3
Devastating Critical – 3/3
Destroyer and Instigator Feats
Exactly as per Laz’s guide, though I used to run the Sentinel feats, Unstoppable Recovery 5/5 and Powerful Challenge 5/5, in place of Laz’s Instigator feats. I got this idea from Lia’s guide because I liked the defensive benefits of Unstoppable Recovery, and I thought Powerful Challenge might be a partial substitute for Viscous Advantage. However, after dropping Unstoppable Recovery, I don’t feel any more squishy. I’m assuming that the precursor to Viscous Advantage, Student of the Sword, doesn’t offer any benefit if I already have armor penetration maxed, or am I misunderstanding something about the use of the word “mitigation?”
Gear
I’m doing well with professions on my other two level 60s, and I’ve been able to take advantage of the recent drop in T2 armor prices. So, I’m well equipped with the Avatar of War and the Ancient Castle’s Champion sets. I spent real money/zen for the Black Dragon Ioun Stone because I’m weak. (I also spent the real money to get the White Tiger mount because I think it’s a cool ride for Candi.) For artifacts, I have the Waters of Elah’zad active as a heal panic button along with Sigil of the Scourge (I like the additional deflect), and Heart of the Red Dragon. I have one piece of Artifact Equipment, a Twined Rope at level 37. How I’m ever going to get it to level 60 in a reasonable amount of time is beyond me. I have been churning out Dragon’s Hoard Enchantments both for my use and for sale, and these are of some help.
Companions
Other than the Black Dragon Ioun Stone, I don’t have much here. I leveled with the healing kid, but he doesn’t bring much to the game as an active companion. I see that Dancing Blade is 900K AD in the auction house, so I suppose I should start saving my pennies.
And that’s it. If you made it to the end and have some useful thoughts you’d like to share, many thanks.
Say hello, Candi.
“Argghh, me want to kill with big sword!”
Thanks, Candi.
I’m using quite a bit from Lazalia’s High Crit build guide with some of the ideas from Lia Knowle’s similar guide. In spirit, I’m following in the footsteps of Bubba, a friend’s fighter PC from back in the dark distant past of D&D when we were all real excited to get the Greyhawk supplement rulebook. Another, move visual inspiration are the images of orcs and half-orcs by Shabazik on DeviantArt. Some of these are nekid so I won’t post any links in order to avoid trouble. However, look for the mama orc in the picture, “The Axe, use the Axe,” for a well muscled woman who could ruin your entire day.
I’m posting this much less for the instruction of the assembled masses and more so that others can see what I’m doing and offer helpful (or not) comments and criticism. And in case it’s not obvious, this is totally PVE only. I don’t PVP and share the concern that attempting to achieve PVP “balance” is damaging the rest of the game.
Starting Rolls
I started with strength 18, dexterity 17, and constitution 13. I felt a little happier with one more point of constitution even though this was probably more psychological than practical. You’ll see a number of examples of such caution (fear?) as you go along. At level 60, I’m at strength 24, dexterity 25 (+3 from a lvl 37 Twined Rope belt), and constitution 16.
At Wills
This is an easy one. There is Weapon Master’s Strike to start off a sequence of Sure Strike and for its AOE, and Sure Strike for single targets.
The Third Encounter
I’m very happy with Daring Shout and Indomitable Battle Strike. However, I’m torn as to my third encounter. In the running are Flourish, Restoring Strike, and Not so Fast. Actually, I do try to switch back and forth between Not so Fast for trash clearing and either Flourish or Restoring Strike for the big guys. Which did other folks prefer for single-target work, Flourish or Restoring Strike?
I’ll be honest, I don’t seem to be able to properly use either Punishing Charge or Mighty Leap. Am I missing something here? Are there other encounter powers that I should be trying?
Daily Powers Not That Exciting
Overall, I don’t see the dailies as all that critical. They’re nice but more of the cherry on the sundae not the sundae itself. Crescendo is an easy choice, but I’m not certain about my second daily. I’ve been running Spinning Strike but in big fights, I keep feeling that I’m being knocked back so that it’s not having much effect, and I’m having trouble controlling my movement while Spinning Strike is active. However, I’m not all that impressed by either’s Slam’s damage or Avalanche of Steel’s casting time. I’d greatly appreciate others’ thoughts and experiences with the GWF Dailies.
Heroic Feats
Disciple of Strength – 2/3
Toughness – 3/3 (I prefer the additional hit points from the last 2% of Disciple of Strength)
Endless Assault – 2/3
Armor Specialization 3/3 (once more paranoia over survivability trumps the extra offensive punch)
Steely Defense - 5/5
Weapon Mastery – 2/3
Devastating Critical – 3/3
Destroyer and Instigator Feats
Exactly as per Laz’s guide, though I used to run the Sentinel feats, Unstoppable Recovery 5/5 and Powerful Challenge 5/5, in place of Laz’s Instigator feats. I got this idea from Lia’s guide because I liked the defensive benefits of Unstoppable Recovery, and I thought Powerful Challenge might be a partial substitute for Viscous Advantage. However, after dropping Unstoppable Recovery, I don’t feel any more squishy. I’m assuming that the precursor to Viscous Advantage, Student of the Sword, doesn’t offer any benefit if I already have armor penetration maxed, or am I misunderstanding something about the use of the word “mitigation?”
Gear
I’m doing well with professions on my other two level 60s, and I’ve been able to take advantage of the recent drop in T2 armor prices. So, I’m well equipped with the Avatar of War and the Ancient Castle’s Champion sets. I spent real money/zen for the Black Dragon Ioun Stone because I’m weak. (I also spent the real money to get the White Tiger mount because I think it’s a cool ride for Candi.) For artifacts, I have the Waters of Elah’zad active as a heal panic button along with Sigil of the Scourge (I like the additional deflect), and Heart of the Red Dragon. I have one piece of Artifact Equipment, a Twined Rope at level 37. How I’m ever going to get it to level 60 in a reasonable amount of time is beyond me. I have been churning out Dragon’s Hoard Enchantments both for my use and for sale, and these are of some help.
Companions
Other than the Black Dragon Ioun Stone, I don’t have much here. I leveled with the healing kid, but he doesn’t bring much to the game as an active companion. I see that Dancing Blade is 900K AD in the auction house, so I suppose I should start saving my pennies.
And that’s it. If you made it to the end and have some useful thoughts you’d like to share, many thanks.
Post edited by cheezewezzel on
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Comments
in my opinion, black dragon ioun stone is a HUGE WASTE of AD. You can't fully utilize its bonus (increase crit% chance by 10% when below 50% hp) why? because of how strong healing is in this game, even if there is no DC and you're not using pots you can't try to stay under 50% as much as you can because of one very powerful stat......LIFESTEAL. Yep, an IBS crit can fully heal you specially with the endless consumption boon.
so I suggest every guy who just started on their gwfs not to buy the black dragon ioun stone, the only thing I liked about it is its looks LOL.
Spinning has to be used wisely. After you spammed all your encounters and they're all on cooldown, go unstopabble and only then use Spinning. It'll guarantee you a 100% full daily with no interruptions while casting, and well the damage is superb. Cheers~
The Holy Crusaders guild leader ♚ Mod 10 PVE Destroyer GWF guide ♚ Founding member of the Relentless Alliance
The punchline is that I've come to dislike it's looks and now run it on minimum visibility. I do like the three ring slots. Candi has a cadre of busy jewelers, and I hope some day to put some personalized rings in the black dragon's stone's slots.
I tried that earlier today in the Cult Prison, and it did work well. However, I'm coming around to Avalance of Steel despite the long casting time. After reading Cupcake's GWF guide, I realized that it's a great panic button. If I understand it correctly - you're immune from attack during the casting time, there are no limit to the number of folks hit, and it does generate critical hits. With good lifesteal, this translates into a lot of healing. I used Avalance of Steel during the end fight against the Warden and was well pleased between the damage it did to the adds and the healing that I received.
Think I mentioned it in my guide. Avalanche is indeed a great panic button, but in most cases, only when you're alone. Even with half decent cw's in your party, by the time you land the mobs will be dead and you just wasted a daily. Also it does have a cap. Tested it on Hoard farms with around 50 rotters, only a little more than half got damaged, the rest were unaffected. I might be able to test it better in the future. Whatever works for you though!
The Holy Crusaders guild leader ♚ Mod 10 PVE Destroyer GWF guide ♚ Founding member of the Relentless Alliance
I consider AoS daily my panic button too. You can even drink a heal pot when in mid flight
For pets there are tons of good choices. My favorites for active bonuses are renegade evoker (blasts enemies around you for a 2-3k when you take a crit), Lilliand (good for group play, activating daily hands out a heal to you and friends. Also really cheap in AH because of the winter event)
I hope any of that helped :P
Traxus Atheanes GF
Bastiel Atheanes DC
Ellara Atheanes CW
Keira Atheanes TR
Sarasin Atheanes SW
Jerkface McGee HR
-MANTARA- OP
I tried Punishing Charge for a bit but I had trouble judging my distance to bad guys. I either came up short or went all the through and past, and then I had to run back to them. I'll give it another shot however.