Bladesworn - Power Shoutsworn Roamer

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Focused on: Strike damage, Control and Mobility

Designed for: WvW Roaming

Difficulty:

Easy

Overview

A high sustain, high mobility WvW Bladesworn build for roaming with decent damage. The build's all about stacking Might not only for damage, but also sustain as several traits heal the Bladesworn whenever they gain this boon.

Archival note: Defense version became more popular

Skill Bar

Axe/Warhorn

Utility

Template Code

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Specializations

Variants

All 3 traits are viable for the second slot:

• Warrior's Cunning is OP against builds that have any barrier at all and also helps against tanky build with a lot of healing in general, as the damage bonus above 80% makes it harder for them to resustain.
• Shrug It Off improves your sustain by adding a frequent healing/cleansing proc that could also break stuns.
• Empower Allies is a middleground between the other two options. This trait frequently applies Might which increases your damage output while also healing you through various trait synergies.

Equipment

Head
Marauder

Shoulders
Marauder

Chest
Marauder

Hands
Marauder

Legs
Marauder

Feet
Marauder

Backpiece
Assassin

Accessory
Assassin

Accessory
Assassin

Amulet
Assassin

Ring
Assassin

Ring
Assassin

Axe
Berserker

Warhorn
Berserker

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x18

Relic

Relics

• Relic of the Defender - better healing.

• Relic of Isgarren - more damage.

Consumables

Food options

• - passive damage mitigation and great stats.

• - extra Precision and armor ignoring damage procs that also heal you. It's cheap too.

• - a very strong defensive option which improves your already great endurance regen. Even has synergy with Might related traits and the Strength line in general.
  • Budget version:

Utility

• or , whichever is cheaper at the moment.

Usage

Elite specialization basics

• Warriors who spec Bladesworn lose access to weapon swapping in combat but gain access to the Gunblade, which works a bit like an Engineer kit (F1 by default).

• Instead of Adrenaline you build Flow in combat. If you have enough Flow you gain access to Dragon Trigger (F2), which roots you in place and starts consuming Flow when used. Dragon Trigger empowers your Gunblade skills. The more Flow you consume, the stronger the first 3 skills get. These 3 skills are the main source of your burst damage.

• While swapping in and out of Gunblade has a 10s CD, this can sometimes be bypassed. Dragon Trigger is on a separate CD and using it puts you back into Gunblade mode.

General

• Gunsaber isn't a very complicated weapon. 1-4 are damaging skills and 5 is for mobility/ Fury application. Skills 1-3 are ranged, 4 can be both melee and ranged. Spam them in whatever order you wish if they're not on CD.

• The 3 Dragon Trigger burst skills are:
  • Dragon Slash - Force: replaces the autoattack, melee cleave.
  • Dragon Slash - Boost: replaces skill 2, a gap closer/mobility skill with good damage. This is the most commonly used Dragon Trigger skill as it deals high damage and has the reach to hit enemies that are farther away.
  • Dragon Slash - Reach: replaces skill 3, ranged projectile attack.

• While Dragon Trigger is active, Gunsaber skill #5 turns into a ground targeted teleport. While the range is short, this could still allow you to reposition yourself in a way to hit targets who escaped to the highground or are hiding behind a pillar.

• Unyielding Dragon makes it easier to land Dragon Trigger skills by giving you Blind immunity while also making it more threatening by adding a Stun.
  • Skill #4's Aegis application could also come in clutch if your timing is good, potentially blocking a CC skill that would otherwise interrupt the channeling.

• Axe/Warhorn is more of a defensive set by comparison, but Throw Axe is an excellent finishing move against low HP targets even from range. It's quick and does high damage.

• "For Great Justice!" is both a defensive and offensive skill. You can either use it to heal/cleanse yourself and your team or boost your damage depending on the situation.

• Use Warhorn #4 on CD to maintain permanent Swiftness.

Sustain

• Every source of Might application heals you thanks to Mending Might and Might Makes Right, turning otherwise damage focused skills like "For Great Justice!" into healing skills.

• Unshakable Mountain is a very important part of your survival kit, giving you barrier whenever you use the last charge of an ammo skill. This includes all of your shouts, Combat Stimulant, Gunblade skills and even Throw Axe.
  • This trait heavily encourages you to spam Gunblade skills to make sure you don't build up multiple charges. If every charge is your last one, this trait keeps the procs rolling.

• Vigorous Shouts adds not only sustain but also group healing to the build, making all of your utility skills stronger.

• Tactical Reload gives one charge to all of the aforementioned ammo skills and makes your next Dragon Trigger stronger. It's primarily a defensive skill, make sure your heal and shouts don't have 2 charges before using this.

• Be careful with the timing of Combat Stimulant! The charges don't stack, if you use the second one before the first heal goes off the first one won't heal you.

• Your best source of condition cleansing is also one of your your only stun breaks: "Shake It Off!" so plan your CD management accordingly.
  • A lesser version of this skill procs from Shrug It Off.

• Endure Pain is the best skill in the build for surviving Power based damage, even allowing you to tank some enemy burst while counter pressuring them. It's also a stun break, so if you're not under any condition pressure you might want to use this first before resorting to "Shake It Off!" later.

• Call of Valor on Warhorn provides much needed cleansing while offering useful boons and barrier for you and your team.