Alright, before I get into this, I want to say that I do not frequent the Warrior forums, so I don't know if this build's already out there, but I wanted to post it and see peoples' reactions. And if you think it's a crap build, please comment on it, but I do not want this thread to become a flame war. With that said, I bring you my Hundred Chilling Blades build!
[skill]Hundred Blades[/skill]
[skill]Standing Slash[/skill]
[skill]Whirlwind Attack[/skill]
[skill]Sun and Moon Slash[/skill]
[skill]Flail[/skill]
[skill]Rush[/skill]
[skill]"Save Yourselves!"[/skill]
[skill]Conjure Frost[/skill]
You need an Icy sword for the build to work. Otherwise, equipment is pretty much the generic stuff. The build utilizes the Warrior's AoE and multi-hit attacks with Conjure frost to put out some very nice dps. Mostly self-explanitory, but I'd like to mention that it's best to use Standing Slash between the other attacks so you get the most out of the big adren boosts (i.e. HB > SS > WA > SS > S&MS > autoattack > SS). Also, Rush should only be used as a cancel stance (fairly obvious, but I thought I'd mention it).
Variants:
Of course, you can change Conjure Frost for either Conjure Lightning or Conjure Flame if you have a Shocking/Fiery mod on your weapon. Just remember that some monsters have defenses/immunities against fire. Also, you can replace Rush with another skill (Final Thrust works well) if you know that the foes in the area do not move around much, or have a slower running speed. You could also replace both Rush and Standing Slash for Sever Artery and Gash. You could also replace "Save Yourselves!" with another skill if you don't have an Allegiance rank ("For Great Justice!" would work well, though you'd have to watch your energy). The main core of the build is the Conjure, an IAS (Increased Attack Speed), and Hundred Blades, Sun and Moon Slash, and Whirlwind Attack.
Damage:
With a an attack speed of one attack per .8778 seconds, or ~1.14 attacks per second, and an average damage of ~20 at 14 Swordsmanship, you'll be dealing ~22.5 DPS from autoattacks alone, before Conjure. Add in a 15% damage modifier, and you have ~26 DPS. With Conjure, your autoattack DPS increases to more than 40. Below are the amounts of damage each attack skill does:
Hundred Blades = ~75.5 damage to target foe and all adjacent foes to that foe
Whirlwind Attack at 6 SS Rank = ~52 damage to all adjacent foes
Sun and Moon Slash = ~75.5 damage damage to target foe
Standing Slash = ~76 damage to target foe
Pros
Excellent damage
Good defense (through the warrior's base 80AL alone)
Excellent utility (through "Save Yourselves!" your allies with be taking 1/5th damage from non-armor-ignoring attacks)
AoE attacks
Fairly flexible
Cons
No self heal
Cannot use IAS if foe moves around
Easily countered by enchantment/stance removal and anti-melee hexes
BIG IMPORTANT EDIT: This is PvE... That's all.
My New Build - Comments?
Jaigoda
Arkantos
If you want AoE, just go triple chop/cyclone axe/whirlwind attack. Hundred blades just....well, sucks.
Replace hundred with dslash, replace whirlwind with FGJ and you have a good build.
Replace hundred with dslash, replace whirlwind with FGJ and you have a good build.
Jaigoda
But HB is the core of the build. The AoE double-attack is what makes it so powerful, Triple Chop can't do that (less damage, slower recharge, other axe skills suck, you can't use both Cyclone and Triple without lots of e-management), and neither can DSlash (no AoE, though I would admit that DSlash is probably a bit better than this, just from the fact it can compress your bar).
The.D0pefish
well i like this build...
i'm not even sure if you need a cancel stance in PvE
i like hb: good for adrenaline, good dmg and the best about it: SWORD-ATTACK!!! xD
All in all it looks good but Rezz ftw ;P
i'm not even sure if you need a cancel stance in PvE
i like hb: good for adrenaline, good dmg and the best about it: SWORD-ATTACK!!! xD
All in all it looks good but Rezz ftw ;P
Jaigoda
IMO, the only res's useful in PvE are Rebirth (for a party wipe, and you managed to get away; a warrior should have tried to stay back and hold the aggro while another runs away) and Death Pact Signet (the downside isn't that bad in PvE, just tell 'em to stay back), both of which are unavailable to this build, cause you need /Mo or /Rt secondary. To me, the Warriors (and the monks too) should not be ressing, and they should be focusing on what they do well. It should be the necros, eles, paragons, channeling rits, and in some cases, rangers, who should be ressing. Warrior's just aren't built well for it.
Arkantos
The actual damage from HB is crap. Even if you manage to hit a lot of enemies, HB is inferior to triple chop.
Yichi
It has hundred blades....
umm....
trying.....
nope, nothing
umm....
trying.....
nope, nothing
Jaigoda
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arkantos
The actual damage from HB is crap. Even if you manage to hit a lot of enemies, HB is inferior to triple chop.
You're forgetting Conjure Frost. Yes, alone, it's inferior to Triple Chop, but with Conjure, you're adding 30 damage from that alone (a bit less than TC's +damage), plus you have two hits of about 17-18 damage. And also, it recharges faster, and Swordmanship has much better attack skills for pressure than Axe Mastery. IMO, TC can't stand up to HB+Conjure.
Hey, and also, I found an arguement against DSlash. While HB+Conjure and DS+FGJ have similar damage and adren gain, HB has AoE, and DS is spammable, but it also decreases in efficiency once FGJ expires. Now, my build takes both HB's and DS's shortcomings and remedies them. The build is very spammable, has little downtime, has AoE, excellent E-management, great damage, etc. And it's downsides (mainly that it's easily countered by anti-melee, and stance/enchant removal) are common in almost all melee builds. DSlash's only really big advantage is the ability to bring more utility, but really, the best utility in PvE is a dead mob.
Hey, and also, I found an arguement against DSlash. While HB+Conjure and DS+FGJ have similar damage and adren gain, HB has AoE, and DS is spammable, but it also decreases in efficiency once FGJ expires. Now, my build takes both HB's and DS's shortcomings and remedies them. The build is very spammable, has little downtime, has AoE, excellent E-management, great damage, etc. And it's downsides (mainly that it's easily countered by anti-melee, and stance/enchant removal) are common in almost all melee builds. DSlash's only really big advantage is the ability to bring more utility, but really, the best utility in PvE is a dead mob.
Arkantos
HB adds no damage. Seeing as lots of PvE monsters have high armor, you won't be doing much damage, even with conjure. With TC, you get unconditional +damage. Add conjure and you're doing more damage then HB. The major difference is on a TC warrior if conjure gets removed you're still doing damage, on your warrior if conjure gets removed you're pretty much next to useless.
I don't see how you can compare this build with dslash. A dslash bar can have FGJ up 30/45 seconds, keep +100 armor to all his allies almost indefinitely, and can keep a foe knocked down until it's dead. Spammable attack, perma knockdown and +100 armor to every player in the party (except you) is much more then what your build has to offer.
Why do you think nobody runs hundred blades? Not because it's underrated or because everyone wants to run dslash on a sword warrior, it's because it's a bad elite. The skill was good back when it wasn't an elite, but as an elite it's a wasted slot.
If you want aoe, use aoe and nothing else. If you want single target dps, use single target dps and nothing else. Running both aoe and single target dps is doing nothing but gimping you.
I don't see how you can compare this build with dslash. A dslash bar can have FGJ up 30/45 seconds, keep +100 armor to all his allies almost indefinitely, and can keep a foe knocked down until it's dead. Spammable attack, perma knockdown and +100 armor to every player in the party (except you) is much more then what your build has to offer.
Why do you think nobody runs hundred blades? Not because it's underrated or because everyone wants to run dslash on a sword warrior, it's because it's a bad elite. The skill was good back when it wasn't an elite, but as an elite it's a wasted slot.
If you want aoe, use aoe and nothing else. If you want single target dps, use single target dps and nothing else. Running both aoe and single target dps is doing nothing but gimping you.
Crom The Pale
If your going to run Hundred blades I would sugest using [skill]Splinter Weapon[/skill] as it does far more damage then conjures.
Hundred Blades is not a damage skill, its a means of building up adrenaline quickly if you can manage to strike multiple foes at once.
When striking any less than 3 foes at a time its just weak and a waste of time.
Hundred Blades is not a damage skill, its a means of building up adrenaline quickly if you can manage to strike multiple foes at once.
When striking any less than 3 foes at a time its just weak and a waste of time.
Jaigoda
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arkantos
Quote: Originally Posted by Arkantos I don't see how you can compare this build with dslash. A dslash bar can have FGJ up 30/45 seconds, keep +100 armor to all his allies almost indefinitely, and can keep a foe knocked down until it's dead. Spammable attack, perma knockdown and +100 armor to every player in the party (except you) is much more then what your build has to offer. But one third of the time your a bit more than half of your normal effectiveness. I guess I'm just one of those people who hate to twiddle their thumbs, so I want a constantly attacking build that has no downtime, like this one. It's only downtime at all is between S&MS and the third Standing Slash, where you have to attack a few times to keep up your attacks (and then you're back into the normal swing), and even then you've still got 40 DPS in that time. And also, my build has all of those you mentioned above, besides the perma-KD (two-thirds of the time...), but it also has AoE, which is godmode in PvE.
Quote:
FGJ and DS are infinitely better for adrenaline gain.|
Originally Posted by Arkantos
Why do you think nobody runs hundred blades? Not because it's underrated or because everyone wants to run dslash on a sword warrior, it's because it's a bad elite. The skill was good back when it wasn't an elite, but as an elite it's a wasted slot.
I don't disagree that Hundred Blades is bad on it's own. But combine it with a Conjure and use it as an adren charge, and you have a powerful skill.
Savio
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaigoda
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In that 30 seconds the mob will most likely be dead unless your in an elite area and some places in HM. Even if the battle is longer then 30 seconds, in that 30 seconds a dslash bar would have done more then what your bar has to offer. A dslash bar will do more then 40dps with ot without FGJ up. Also, aoe is hardly godmode in pve compared to SY, a +100 armor party wide buff which makes it quite impossible for your team to die.|
But one third of the time your a bit more than half of your normal effectiveness.
Actually, if you have DS and Brawling, you're effective pretty much all of the time. Arkantos is being dumb. Quote:
It's actually not comparable in damage. On a TC warrior you have a +38-42 damage 10s recharge aoe, a +11-13 damage 4s recharge aoe, and a +5-20 arenaline aoe. On your bar you have a +0 damage aoe which hits twice 8s recharge aoe and a +5-20 adrenaline aoe. Since HB gives you no extra damage and TC as an extra aoe attack, I think it's quite obvious that TC is superior. Sure it can't compare pressure wise, because a TC build is an aoe build, but for pressure your build is still bad.
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I don't disagree that Hundred Blades is bad on it's own. But combine it with a Conjure and use it as an adren charge, and you have a powerful skill.
You can combine any warrior attack with conjure and it's more powerful. Conjure doesn't make HB a powerful skill, it makes it slightly more powerful. It still doesn't make the skill good. Quote:
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