Scrapper - Explosive Hammer Roamer

The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great

Focused on: Strike damage and Sustain

Designed for: WvW Roaming

Difficulty:
TBD
This build was last updated on May 14, 2023 and is up to date for the March 19, 2024 patch.

Overview

A bruiser style WvW Scrapper roaming build with high damage and sustain focusing on Stability Stability uptime and Might Might stacking. Quite durable overall because of the defensive boons and stats, but its limited amount of cleansing could make condition matchups difficult especially for beginners.


Skill Bar

Hammer
Utility


Skill Variants

Utility

There are 2 viable picks for the optional slot, both of them offer Stability Stability on their toolbelt which is what the build needs most:

  • - has a cast time and offers less sustain vs strike damage than the gyro but provides better uptime on your offensive boons from both the main skill and as well as Resolution Resolution which is great against conditions in a build that lacks frequent cleansing.
  • - very defensive skill with good barrier and Stability/anti-projectile on . More forgiving than Elixir B as both the normal and the toolbelt skills are instant and can be used even while CC'd, but offers worse Stability uptime and less boon diversity.


Elite

  • - while the Stealth Stealth duration on this is extremely low, currently we recommend it because it's still a valuable escape tool. Without stealth you'll have a much harder time surviving outnumbered situations.
  • - bit of a gamble as you have no control over which form you'll get, but both of them offer great mobility and CC at the very least. could also act as a finisher, allowing you to CC-chain low HP enemies to death.
  • - ranged CC, combo field for stealth, bit of extra damage.
  • - does great damage when spamming skills on it with Quickness Quickness but it's primarily a defensive pick because of the Blind Blind and the extra healing, plus it has some useful combo fields for aura combos and even more healing with .


Anti-condition variant

If you're struggling against conditions a lot then you might want to try a combination of the following:

  • with for reduced incoming condition duration and frequent access to Resistance Resistance. could also work, this works best against debilitating conditions like Weakness Weakness and doesn't lock you into a specific elite skill.
  • Consumables that reduce incoming condition duration such as or .


Template Code

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Specializations

Variants

  • - trades sustain for better burst.


Equipment

Head
Celestial
Shoulders
Celestial
Chest
Celestial
Hands
Celestial
Legs
Celestial
Feet
Celestial
Backpiece
Celestial
Accessory
Celestial
Accessory
Celestial
Amulet
Celestial
Ring
Celestial
Ring
Celestial
Hammer
Celestial
Sigil
Sigil
Rune
x6
Infusion
x18


Runes

There are several other viable runes, but taking for the optional utility slot is highly recommended if you're replacing Pack because otherwise you'd lose too much Fury Fury uptime:

  • - the build struggles a bit against conditions, this is an excellent defensive rune that could help you out in those matchups quite a lot. Works best with which allows you to proc the 6th bonus as often as possible for high Resistance Resistance uptime.
  • - sort of a middleground between defensive and offensive runes. Has good stats, Might Might stacking synergy and offers some defense against conditions too.
  • - general tankiness.


Sigils

can be replaced by:

  • - improves Quickness Quickness uptime considerably and the ICD lines up perfectly with .
  • or - more damage and synergy with a bunch of traits including .
  • - could make your entire burst combo more deadly.
  • - more condition removal.


Infusions

  • A full set of Mighty WvW Infusions would also do just fine if you already have those and don't want to get a set of Precise ones.


Consumables

Food

  • - passive strike damage mitigation and Celestial-like stats.
  • - same stats as the Peppercorn version but this one reduces incoming condition duration. The build doesn't have great cleansing so this could make all the difference against certain specs.
  • - cheap anti-condition food if you can't afford an ascended feast.
  • - defensive option with synergy due to more frequent dodging.
    • - budget version.


Utility

  • or


Usage

General

  • Might Might stacking is one of the most important aspects of the build. Most of it happens passively whenever you use an elixir or have Stability Stability thanks to and .
  • Try not to overlap your Stability sources as the boon stacks in intensity, NOT duration! Maximizing Stability uptime is the goal.
  • Stability sources in the build:
    • which is also your only stun break so be a bit careful.
    • procs.
    • or (depending on your choice of utilities).
    • , feel free to use it to bridge gaps in Stability uptime if you're not roaming in a group.
  • Other important things to maintain are Swiftness Swiftness and Superspeed Superspeed as these heal you for a considerable amount through (or increase your damage via if you went for that trait).
    • Swiftness procs from every 30 seconds, the trait, , and (if taken).
    • Superspeed comes from , , and .
  • Hammer skills 2-5 are both defensive and offensive in nature. does great damage in melee while reflecting projectiles, has a lengthy evade frame on top of being a double combo finisher and having high damage, stuns enemies while leaving behind a pulsing damage field.
  • is the most defensive skill on Hammer. While the damage is mediocre it's still worth using it in melee as you gain barrier whenever the skill strikes an enemy, but even if you don't do that the block is still very useful.
  • Most of the burst damage comes from and . Try to CC enemies with Thunderclap or use Stealth Stealth from to make these two skills easier to land, as it's easy to lose out on damage against moving targets.
  • Condition cleansing is the build's real weakness, limited only to the passive trait and which you can proc by entering or leaving once every 9 seconds. Winning against condition builds is by no means impossible, but requires proper CD management especially chaining blocks, CC and evasion while keeping the pressure up and kiting a lot.
  • The damage of is often underrated. With high Might Might and stacks this becomes a 1/4 sec cast ranged AoE burst CD.


Ratings

This build has a rating of 5 stars based on 2 votes.
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5 stars
Gkhougaz gave this build 5 stars • July 2023
Hear me out: I'm addicted to the Firearms trait line. Firearms has crazy synergy with Explosions' Shrapnel trait. Celestial stats allow you to abandon Alchemy and don't sleep on cele condi dmg. I run full Celestial except a Berserker hammer + Rune of Fireworks for zoomies, instant might ramping and bonkers boon uptime. Replace alchemy with firearms 2-3-2, explosions 1-2-2, scrapper 3-3-3. Your grenade crits cripple and bleed, and every bleed gives might so you'll have ~15 might 1v1 or 25 might in 2+. Applied Force gives stability when you touch 10 might and Mass Momentum pulses might when you have stability. Nade tosses quickly ramp to 3k+ dmg with an additional 1.5k/s bleed. The cripple causes players to panic and pop defensives but it just keeps coming. Tossing toolbelt nade is mega 6-7k blast. Swap elite to Mortar for range pressure in group play, otherwise Sneak gyro. Gigabrains will dunk me but I bring Sigil of Air + Fire on my primary roaming hammer. Air+ Fire pair immaculately with nades. You always get a crit per toss and roamers don't typically freecast so these sigils add 2k burst on your first toss every 3-5secs. According to ARCdps selfskills menu, air+fire each do about 10% of my total dps in 1v1 combat for a total of a 20% boost.
5 stars
Hanz gave this build 5 stars • March 2023
I knew it was strong but I was never really a fan of Scrapper in WvW, trying the Celestial version however changed that. The added sustain and boon duration elevate the build quite a lot and the sacrifice in burst damage can barely be felt, mostly because of the better Might stacking that comes with Cele. Overall very strong build with high damage and sustain, but the lack of condi cleansing can be awkward if the fight drags on, which is a real threat especially against Harbingers and their Weakness spam.

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