Warrior Guide

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The warrior is a tank. Yes, I'm sure you've all heard that term one too many times during your MMOG life. Tanks are either your cup or tea or...they're not. They're the shield between a caster and an enemy attacking. Although considered "simple" in most games, the Warrior becomes a lot more interesting due to having a secondary class.



One of the Warrior's most important abilities is sprinting. He is able to get away from a sticky situation quickly, or if you have a monk as your secondary source, get in to help a friend. With this in mind, many consider the monk the best secondary profession for a warrior. There is nothing more valuable then a meat shield with enough strength and HP to rush into the thick of battle to ressurect you.



The main decision to be made as a warrior is that of weapon sets. The warrior has 3 weapon sets (The Axe, sword, and hammer). Each weapon set has specific abilities. For example, the hammer has a skill called Backbreaker. This attack will knock down an enemy for 4 seconds and cause damage.



The most impressive skills of a warrior comes not from weapon skills, but strength-wise. For example, a warrior has a skill called "I will Avenge You". For every ally in the area, the warrior becomes quicker and stronger. Or "Bull Charge" that rushes at an enemy, and when the warrior hits his target, the target is knocked down.



The warrios has no catch. You really can't go wrong with a warrior. They are one of the most valuable and necessary class in the game. When in the middle of a battle where things aren't looking too good, theres no better class to be then a warrior. Even if you go down, one is sure to take a lot of enemies with him.



Introduction



This guide focuses on the warrior. This is a beginning guide. The warrior is the classic tank class for GW. But it's not just a tank because of the secondary classes. The warrior makes a great primary as it is a good foundation for any combination because of its inherent ability to do well in melee combat which can be very essential to surviving in Guild Wars.





The Warrior's Attributes







* Strength















Various skills such as sprint are based off of strength. This skill would be good to raise as a secondary attribute along with one of the weapon ones. All your attack skills gain 2% x your number of ranks in Strength) armor penetration, though this is not 100% confirmed.



* Axe Mastery















Axe mastery adds to axe damage and axe skills. Axes don't do as much damage as hammers or have the utility of swords but it's just fun to swing an axe.



* Hammer Mastery















Hammers are weapons that are all about doing damage. These weapons also have the knockdown ability, and hammer is the weapon a new warrior primarily gets at the start of the game. Defense suffers with the hammer and they are a bit slower, but I found that with better armor, some of the defense is made up. Only downfall here is that there are some tactics skills that require the use of shields which cannot be used with hammer mastery.



* Swordsmanship















Sword and shield along with a good set of armor turns the GW warrior into the classic picture of the knight in shining armor. The sword skills are very utilitarian, doing such things as causing ones enemies to bleed.



* Tactics















There is a set of skills that is specifically for tactics, these skills can add some depth to the combat strategy of the warrior. Healing signet also goes off of tactics.





Talk About the Starting Skills



* Sprint















I love sprint, it fits into my tactics a lot, especially with the monk side of things. Using sprint to get in healing range and getting out of combat range is a handy skill to be able to have, especially with a caster as secondary.



* Frenzy















Lets you attack 33% faster but all hits against you are critical, however, this is good for finishing off a monster that's near dead and you want to assure it dies faster.



* Counterblow















This is a knockdown that works against someone already attacking you. It takes four adrenaline to use, but it effectively gives you a free swing while your opponent is getting up.



* Hammer Bash















Knocks down what you're attacking but you lose all adrenaline; you need hammer mastery four for it to be reliable.



* Healing Signet















Gain 40+ health but all attacks against you are critical. I have found that it works so fast the critical damage is really not a concern.



The warrior is the classic tank, though the GW warrior is a bit nicer than warriors in other games because of self heals, it is not completely party dependent. GW warriors do have the advantages warriors in other games have such as taunting, tanking, taking damage.





Class Combos



Monk secondary class, the monk makes a reliable individual who has resurrection, even if the healing casting is limited compared to a primary monk, it does give the player healing spells that will be very effective for them or their group. With the warrior's ability to survive in combat, you also have a character that could be the last one standing and have the ability to resurrect the rest of the party.



Necromancer as a secondary class and you have a tank that can drain life, has healing signet and great armor. This is a hard combination to beat for having a character that just will not die.



Mesmer, you can hinder your opponents leaving them vulnerable to the devastation against the warrior's melee.



Elementalist will give you distance attack as well as the up close attack of the warrior. Used in conjunction, your opponents can be very hurt by the time you have to engage them in hand to hand.



Ranger's use of the bow gives distance attacks, making softening up your opponents before melee easy; combining dodge and sprint also makes running away a breeze.





Class Tactics



One of the nice things about GW is that switching between weapon sets is quick and easy. This makes it easy to utilize the weapon advantages of ones secondary classes that deal in doing damage from a distance. I also found that even as a warrior/monk, my bow did about a quarter damage to the monster before it got to me depending on it's speed. So even without being a ranger, having a bow weapon set was not a bad idea. On the healing end, sprinting into combat and out to heal or attack is also a good idea.





Skill Combos



Dismember then axe rake/twist combo, Deep Wound -20% max hp, which is carved off current hp as well, followed by Weakness and/or Cripple. That's a pretty rough combo. Takes quite a bit of adrenaline, but it's harsh, and worth it. Swift Chop also does Deep Wound. Not quite the number of skills as sword or hammer, but worthy nonetheless.