Looking for good 2h/bow stamina warden build

zvierzu

Hello, I'm looking for self sufficient build for solo content (vMA and solo dungeons) and also viable for veteran dungeons.
I mostly play only this type of content, maybe occasional normal trial with my casual guild but I doubt I'll ever set foot in veteran one and I don't play PvP at all.

I watched several content creators with their build ideas and for now I set my eyes on Alcast 2h/bow guide.
I'll probably switch several skills like Brawler or add some self healing if necessary, but I'm mostly curious about sets.
Can I safely assume that sets from his guide will allow me to perform adequately in content I'm interested in or there are better options?

And how about Monster Sets? Will I lose tons of damage by not using them?
Right now I have 2/2 Velidreth + 5/5 Hunding + 5/5 Briarheart and I'm wondering if it's worth it to remove Velidreth and get Titanic Cleave + Thunderous Volley instead?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated

Arbit

I’m a stamina necro and also use a 2 handed build for solo content. I use titanic cleave as well with brawler and it makes for great mob clear while still making you tanky. I’d suggest you ditch hunding’s rage for something like tzovgins for extra crit and minor force. It’d probably synergize really well with briarheart too and give you an extra flex slot where trap would go. I’ve cleared vateshran a lot with a similar build, only I had relequins instead of briarheart. You won’t miss the monster helm. They’ve nerfed almost every good stamina monster helm to dust at this point xD I’d also suggest forgetting maelstrom bow if you’re doing solo arena content and use black rose dual wield for backbar. Using deadly cloak with it gives you 6% more damage and protection while also giving you major evasion so you get a lot tankier with it. It keeps you mobile too while maelstrom bow is stationary. Up to you tho that one is purely my preference.

Zodiarkslayer

Scratch that. Warden speaking here.

Okay. First Briarheart and Hundings are equals. Period. You have 50% more damage, but 33% less uptime on Briarheart.
You should switch one of them out for a crit focused set, that is true. I'd decide on availability of body part pieces for the replacement set.

Tzogvin is a DLC dungeon set and has this stack dependence. I personally prefer Leviathan. No proc, no conditions, just plain old stats. Simple and much more fitting to the Stam warden Class, IMO. If you want it simple, try Gryphon's Ferocity. It's overland and has a simple proc condition, that StamDen easily get early in rotation.

As for Monster Sets, they <are not good> for Stam, there's no real DPS impact anymore, maybe like 3% to 5%. You are better off with Stat increases (2 one piece sets), or one monster piece and one Mythic. I prefer Pale Order Ring as a carry set and Slimecraw/Grundwulf for Bosses.

Yes, you can use Maelstrom Bow on Backbar or Titanic Cleave on frontbar. But Titanic Cleave will fall behind in Boss fights and you will probably swap for a single target ability like Dizzy Swing/Wrecking Blow, anyway.

Abilities is where the fun is at. With Pale Order Ring the Stam Warden shines. Self healing is the only weak spot of the class, because of lacking Stamina Morphs for all the healing abilities. We only really have the Shrooms for Burst. And any MagAbility is usually too weak to slot, because of scaling with MaxMag and Spell power. Vines are nice on paper, but the heal is too small in comparison for higher DPS.
So yeah. <Not good> to be us.

Just keep your Animal Companions Abilities up at all times and supplement with Fighters Guild where you can. The rest is straight forward.
Rotation Rotation Rotation.

Arbit

Zodiarkslayer wrote: »

Scratch that. Warden speaking here.

Okay. First Briarheart and Hundings are equals. Period. You have 50% more damage, but 33% less uptime on Briarheart.
You should switch one of them out for a crit focused set, that is true. I'd decide on availability of body part pieces for the replacement set.

Tzogvin is a DLC dungeon set and has this stack dependence. I personally prefer Leviathan. No proc, no conditions, just plain old stats. Simple and much more fitting to the Stam warden Class, IMO. If you want it simple, try Gryphon's Ferocity. It's overland and has a simple proc condition, that StamDen easily get early in rotation.

As for Monster Sets, they <are not good> for Stam, there's no real DPS impact anymore, maybe like 3% to 5%. You are better off with Stat increases (2 one piece sets), or one monster piece and one Mythic. I prefer Pale Order Ring as a carry set and Slimecraw/Grundwulf for Bosses.

Yes, you can use Maelstrom Bow on Backbar or Titanic Cleave on frontbar. But Titanic Cleave will fall behind in Boss fights and you will probably swap for a single target ability like Dizzy Swing/Wrecking Blow, anyway.

Abilities is where the fun is at. With Pale Order Ring the Stam Warden shines. Self healing is the only weak spot of the class, because of lacking Stamina Morphs for all the healing abilities. We only really have the Shrooms for Burst. And any MagAbility is usually too weak to slot, because of scaling with MaxMag and Spell power. Vines are nice on paper, but the heal is too small in comparison for higher DPS.
So yeah. <Not good> to be us.

Just keep your Animal Companions Abilities up at all times and supplement with Fighters Guild where you can. The rest is straight forward.
Rotation Rotation Rotation.

"Scratch that"? like.... for real? wow... ok

well anyways, its really easy to maintain tzovgins stacks, way easier than even relequen stacks, so I'd actually really recommend it over leviathan. Especially since you get a flex slot out of choosing it. I'd still choose brawler as your spammable in single target situations in arenas, cause you're gonna be taking damage. Brawler may not give you the uppercut damage, but itll shield you through the entire fight while you're dishing damage. It sucks up more resources, so make sure you have a nice heal backbar where you can sit for a bit to regen resources/heal/tank up when necessary. Pale order is a good choice, but youre gonna have to sacrifice a set bonus for it. If you do decide to use pale order, then sure follow this guys advice. I've personally never used it, but it seems like a strong pick for solo.

phwaap

I've used Alcast's current 2h/bow on warden, both normal and solo, and they are both more than adequate for the content you mention. You probably don't need the pale order setup for group content.

Zodiarkslayer

Okay. To be clear. I answered from a Solo Warden perspective. OP has made no mention of switching gear to optimise for every trash fight/arena wave/Boss mechanic. So I assume he does not want to.

Alcast has builds, yes. Alcast doesn't have good tipps for playing. You do not improve, following his guides. You just learn how high the bar is.

What OP has is perfectly fine for what he mentioned, as long as he makes an effort with abilities. The Warden Class is really tricky/finicky when it comes to Rotation. And sets where you build up stacks are an additional (high)hurdle, that you have to manage/track. Besides 90% of your SOLO fights are not going to last long enough to stack Tzogvin/Relequen/Berserker/etc. to full. And sets were reworked in U29 to not let stacking sets carry stacks over to the next fight. Pre buffing is not a thing anymore.
So my recommendation is Keep it Simple first and then try META gear, when you are ready.

Titanic Cleave is powerful in vMA and Skyreach and such, but it isn't against Bosses in Dungeons. And you will have to build in more self healing on the warden class. One more slot for vigor. One for shrooms, possibly on the frontbar. A lot in exchange for Titanic Cleave, don't you think?

Another Tip for the Stamwarden is to not use your Bear Ulti until you really need it and use Strategic Reserve for that juicy 1500 health recovery. That helps a lot too. And you can slot damage abilities instead, like Growing Swarm and Poison Injection for more DoT pressure.

I hope those tipps with explanations help. 😁

CableBomb

zvierzu wrote: »

Any tips would be greatly appreciated

Theorycraft your toons yourself. You'll become infinitely more in tune with your character. Research sets, your Class Skills and Passives, all of the Skill lines, Mundus, Traits, and so on.

This is my genuine tip. Alcast and others are wonderful but you'll never be as good as you can be until you start cranking out the numbers yourself. Good luck.

Everest_Lionheart

Zodiarkslayer wrote: »

Okay. To be clear. I answered from a Solo Warden perspective. OP has made no mention of switching gear to optimise for every trash fight/arena wave/Boss mechanic. So I assume he does not want to.

Alcast has builds, yes. Alcast doesn't have good tipps for playing. You do not improve, following his guides. You just learn how high the bar is.

What OP has is perfectly fine for what he mentioned, as long as he makes an effort with abilities. The Warden Class is really tricky/finicky when it comes to Rotation. And sets where you build up stacks are an additional (high)hurdle, that you have to manage/track. Besides 90% of your SOLO fights are not going to last long enough to stack Tzogvin/Relequen/Berserker/etc. to full. And sets were reworked in U29 to not let stacking sets carry stacks over to the next fight. Pre buffing is not a thing anymore.
So my recommendation is Keep it Simple first and then try META gear, when you are ready.

Titanic Cleave is powerful in vMA and Skyreach and such, but it isn't against Bosses in Dungeons. And you will have to build in more self healing on the warden class. One more slot for vigor. One for shrooms, possibly on the frontbar. A lot in exchange for Titanic Cleave, don't you think?

Another Tip for the Stamwarden is to not use your Bear Ulti until you really need it and use Strategic Reserve for that juicy 1500 health recovery. That helps a lot too. And you can slot damage abilities instead, like Growing Swarm and Poison Injection for more DoT pressure.

I hope those tipps with explanations help. 😁

There is a free hidden heal on warden with the animal companions passive when you are low on rss. Cast Netch, wait a second and recast netch.

I ran the Briarheart + Deadly combo for a while. The trick is to get as many dots as possible on the enemy for the bonus damage. You can easily stack 5-6 dots even on a 2h/bow build though I find it much easier with DW/Bow combo to do this.

Tzogvin or Rele is better for long fights. It’s just as easy to run them in a group setting because trash packs will die fast with or without stacks anyway.

Solo wise you may consider a proc set like unfathomable darkness or defiler. These are very fun sets and add to the pet theme of warden.

WW builds you can try deadly+blooddrinker. That will give you 20% plus 33% boost to bleed damage and werewolf deals a ton of bleed damage.

Anyway some of these tips are off meta and that’s OK. Until you get into score chasing trail runs or some of the harder skin runs I say have fun and go nuts with your build. That’s why we play the game after all, to have fun!

zvierzu

Thank you very much for all the answers and help