2h Stam Build Viability Summerset

JackSmirkingRevenge · April 2018

Alot has been made of the new changes regarding 2h now counting as 2pc. This seems like more of a PvP buff for stamina anyway (magicka builds are going to benefit the most I think). For PvE wont DW still be king considering the passives for DW plus cloak for mitigation? Or will 2h builds actually close the gap somewhat?

xaraan · April 2018

I think it will for many.

Top guilds/players that are worried about doing the HMvTrial world first speed run no death etc etc runs, they will always stress if one build gives them 100dps more than another. That's part of the extreme min/maxing thing.

But if you are a stronger player in one style vs the other, then it might work for you and if your pulling solid dps in either it could come down to just what you prefer.

Only drawback is not having Cloak for mit, you do have brawler, which can be really strong in some situations, but in others if you are forced to spam it for protection, then you'll be giving up DPS. So losing blade cloak is something to be very aware of.

Checkmath · April 2018

this change will barely make differences for stamina in pve, since dual wield just provides better dps skills and mitigation than 2h weapons. but the backbar of stamina toons, the bow, probably will see some buff as long no MSA bow is used.
for magicka classes there will be more changes towards better dps, since they now can have 5/5/2 setups, which wasnt possible before.
for pvp, magicka classes with dual wield and staves will probably see some changes, again since they have 5/5/2 setups on staves now or they change from dual wield to 2h weapons. this results in a slgghtly better base spelldamage, but in a loss of the second weapon trait and enchant. but 2h gives some slightly better passives and an ultimate, where as dual wield pretty much provides nothing for magicka classes.
for stamina classes this is a buff in pvp. a lot of build were stuck behind 5/3/2 setups with special weapons or missing the last boni on one bar. this surely now isnt the issue anymore and results in a gained bonus for most of stamina builds (same as staff builds).

Kanar · April 2018

It will slightly buff training dummy damage. I could drop my asylum battle-axe + VO + TFS and instead use briarheart + TFS + velidreth (or optionally use VO instead of briarheart). The addition of monster set would add some DPS, offset a bit by the loss of VO on bow bar.

However it would be hard to give up the asylum ulti generation in actual dungeons/trials. With asylum you can FDB every trash pack, and on bosses do FDB while standard of Might is still up.

In the cases where blade cloak is currently mandatory (not many, but a few exist), bladecloak will still be mandatory in SS.

Your thread title assume 2h is not currently viable, which is false.

Kanar · April 2018

An interesting combo would be 5-5-3-1.
The two 5 piece sets would only be complete on their respective weapon, something like mechanical acuity + briarheart. The jewelry would be agility and you could wear 1pc monster. That could be good in some scenarios.

Checkmath · April 2018

that only would work without a MSA bow, which boosts damage more in most cases than agility jewellry. also you would miss the 2 piece of monsterset, which also provide some decent damage.

Kanar · April 2018

Clever alchemist + mechanical acuity at the same time, plus the raw damage of agility + kena. Seems like some pretty good burst for PvP.

Integral1900 · April 2018

Dk, hundings rage, paired with a set to boost health and all resistances with maybe Selene, then take one two handed axe and start chopping! I litteraly cannot wait, it’s gonna be awesome

Always hated dual wield anyway, nothing better than swinging that monsterouse two handed bread knife

Ragnarock41 · April 2018

dual wield is just naturally better for stamDK in PvE. I think 2h is already a viable choice( notice how I say viable and not competitive before calling me this and that). But I can definitely see more stamsorcs and stamplars using 2 handers in pve now.

Faulgor · April 2018

I wish, I'm so sick of rogue-style DW/Bow setups. But I don't see anything in 2H that can make up for Rending Slashes, Blade Cloak and the passives. You'll also lose crit chance without daggers as 2H doesn't have an equivalent.

Follow Up might be helpful for heavy attack rotations, but I fear it will mostly be eaten up by initial hits of DoT skills. Depending on how light attacks perform, the new Empower might also help when using Wrecking Blow.
Of course having an execute for classes that don't have access to one otherwise is nice, but you'll lose the Slaughter passive, which I'm not sure is worth the trade.

I'm not sure what they could do to make 2H a great option for PvE. Maybe make the ultimate a good alternative to Flawless Dawnbreaker?

Strider__Roshin · April 2018

Faulgor wrote: »

I wish, I'm so sick of rogue-style DW/Bow setups. But I don't see anything in 2H that can make up for Rending Slashes, Blade Cloak and the passives. You'll also lose crit chance without daggers as 2H doesn't have an equivalent.

Follow Up might be helpful for heavy attack rotations, but I fear it will mostly be eaten up by initial hits of DoT skills. Depending on how light attacks perform, the new Empower might also help when using Wrecking Blow.
Of course having an execute for classes that don't have access to one otherwise is nice, but you'll lose the Slaughter passive, which I'm not sure is worth the trade.

I'm not sure what they could do to make 2H a great option for PvE. Maybe make the ultimate a good alternative to Flawless Dawnbreaker?

The 2H ult is insanely expensive. Having something so easily dodged costing 150 ult is ridiculous. Honestly it should cost only 100.

danno8 · April 2018

Nobody has mentioned the difference in Heavy Attack speeds. It's really time they standardized those, the 2H heavy attack is super slow compared to DW.

Makes a big difference for any build that uses HA as a primary source of resource management.

JackSmirkingRevenge · April 2018

With the empower changes, weaving WB with light attacks wont be so bad

Vapirko · April 2018

For PvP there’s still just the issue of 2H skills sucking. Crit charge has been neutered, dizzy swing is awkward and unreliable/too easily dodged. Cleave is situational at best. Reverse slice is great but that’s really it. This will be a big buff for magicka in PvP but minimally helpful to stam at best since we’re still stuck behind the *** 2H skills. It’s gonna be a magicka dominant patch.