Revitalizing Warrior: Re-working the Sword
That sword is a woefully-underperforming weapon needs little explanation. So with no further ado, here are my suggestions for a re-work (please note: I have drawn inspiration from many sources in coming up with these skills, including many well-conceived ideas on these forums. Kudos to those authors):
*Note: damage numbers are approximations based on running Berserker’s gear with fighter rune (PVP values)
F1: Final Thrust
Now a leap attack (channeling Saito’s Gatotsu for any that catch that reference) with Range 450.
3/4s cast time; Targets: 1
Same damage as it currently does (approx. 900 when health >50%; 1800 when health <50%). This is the same for all tiers of burst.
Attack now inflicts bleeding regardless of whether target is <50% health or not. Bleeding increases based on adrenaline level:
Level 1: 3 stacks bleeding if target >50% health; 6 stacks if <50% health
Level 2: 4 stacks/8 stacks
Level 3: 5 stacks/10 stacks
Sword 1: AA Chain:
Same skills/damage as it does currently but remove after-cast from all skills and change activation times to 1/4s, 1/4s, and 1/2s for first, second, and third attacks, respectively.
Sword 2: Savage Leap
Same as it currently is but no longer applies cripple. Instead, the attack is a 3/4s evade.
Sword 3: Galrath Slash (Any GW1 vets remember this one?)
Attack foes with a powerful slash that applies Weakness (5s)
Cast time 1/2s, CD 12s
Targets 3
Damage ~1200
Sword 4: Impale/Rip
Same as it is now, but instead of impale applying cripple, it inflicts 2s of immobilize
Sword 5: Bonetti’s Defense (another GW1 throw-back)
Spin your swords around you, evading attacks while inflicting bleeding slashes upon your foes. Gain adrenaline for each attack evaded. [Imagine Flurry plus thief’s Dagger Storm]. May move while using.
Damage/bleeding same as Flurry currently. Does NOT apply immobilize.
Cast time 3s, CD 30s
Targets: 5
Evade: 3s
Adrenaline gain per attack evaded: 1
Discussion:
The new burst will keep the finishing power of Final Thrust while making it a more consistent applier of condition damage. Also, the 3/4s cast time is ridiculous for what it currently does (Axe 4 does the same amount of dmg regardless of health level and has 1/2 s cast time). The new skill retains the 3/4s cast time but makes use of it as a gap-closer. This, in combination with Savage Leap, will give Sword main hand excellent mobility and make it easier to land Sword’s biggest damage spike. Also note that the damage potential is available at Level 1 burst, meaning that all classes of Warrior, even SpB, can make good use of it.
Our current AA chain is terrible because it is SO. KITTEN. SLOW. This is odd, as Sword (in GW1 at least) was conceived of as the “fast attacking” weapon. So let’s speed it up a bit. This will allow for a more sustained damage output (and condi application) from sword main-hand.
Turning Savage Leap into an evade is an attempt to lessen our reliance on GS. I am increasingly convinced that Whirlwind attack is the MVP skill of the GS because it is an evade on short cool down. This (along with other things) makes GS incredibly difficult to forgo. By adding a low-CD evade to sword, I hope to give players an alternative to GS in this respect. Alternatively, you could potentially take GS and S/x to make use of 2 evades on short cooldown, possibly allowing us to forgo shield in favor of a more offensive off-hand weapon.
Bringing back Galrath Slash is an attempt to further increase Sword’s spike damage potential. It’s not explicitly a source of condi damage, but the application of weakness is an important defensive tool and offers synergy with Cull the Weak.
Impale/Rip is kinda gimmicky, to be honest, but I think it has some potential. Changing the cripple to immobilize offers a few important things: a.) Proc’s the Opportunist trait in Arms, b.) facilitates using Rip, c.) synergizes with Torment (since immob’d foes take more damage), and d.) is tactically much more useful than cripple.
Bonetti’s defense would allow us a powerful defensive/offensive tool that would allow us to escape survive bursts while simultaneously pressuring the enemy and/or providing presence in the middle of a team fight.
These changes will make Sword a well-rounded weapon capable of significant damage spikes, excellent mobility, good condi application, and powerful defensive measures. This will be a strong improvement in all content, PvE included. Moreover, the more consistent condi application will help make a condi-warrior (outside of berserker) more of a viable reality.
Alright, novella completed. I look forward to your commentary and ideas for improvement!
