*** NOTE: This description has officially been updated to reflect the changes in Drop 2. Last updated was 8/19/2014.

Stream: Multi-Gladiator Warrior PvP (Xcite)

--- ABILITIES ---

Relentless Strikes is your basic kinetic energy builder with better damage than other options. It will be your go-to GCD move when all other moves are on cooldown or your kinetic energy drops below 250 -- the amount needed to use Rampage.



Rampage will be the move you spam off cooldown. It is your highest damage burst ability (along with the addition of Detonate).



Expulsion is a move that is an ability that cleanses TWO debuffs off of you. I really wanted to throw this ability into prior builds, but the moveset would not allow it. Now that I only use Relentless Strikes and Rampage for damage, I have one free slot to add this move which can be used to not only remove Root but also Blind and numerous other annoying debuffs as well (allowing you to save your Unstoppable Force for more important moments).



Bum Rush was another move I had always really wanted to throw on my bars, and at some point, I realized that they had changed Bum Rush to have a 3 second duration on damage reduction (and if I recall, the last time I checked it was only 1 or 1.5 seconds, which is quite small. Three seconds, however, is huge).

Having two Bum Rushes with the Tier 4 ability, in conjunction with Expulsion and Unstoppable Force, allows you to be in a state of almost constant motion. This is fantastic for not only avoiding situations where your about to be bursted down but also situations where you need to close a gap (and your Grapple is on cooldown). I love this ability, and I only wish I had known sooner that the damage reduction duration was upped to 3 seconds.



Kick is your basic interrupt move. Not much to explain here other than it can be used to interrupt critical spells/abilities from casters. It also has great potential to set up a burst on an unexpecting opponent.



Grapple is an ability that I have been back and forth on in each of my builds. The ability to close gaps is always quite useful, but its ability to remove Interrupt Armor is eventually what caused me to slide this back into my build. While its usefulness in given situations can sometimes be rather low, there will be moments where you are glad that its your only ability not on cooldown to land yourself the finishing blow.



Power Link is a fantastic ability, both in solo and group situations. I originally ignored the hype around the ability due to the amount of AMP investments you had to make to get it (on top of the fact that it takes up a valuable Ability spot on your action bar), but the amount of damage increase you get from it is overwhelming. Especially in Group PvP situations, having this ability could mean the difference between winning and losing a close fight.



Unstoppable Force breaks every form of CC and grants freedom to the user. Gap-closers are important, but getting the killing blow on an enemy will often require the user to be allowed to deliver uninterrupted blows for a few seconds. Needless to say, it can also help get you out of sticky situations where you are positioned far from your healers.

--- AMPS ---

NOTE: Given the amount of changes in Drop 2 as well as the significant changes to my abilities selected, my AMP choice has also changed significantly as well.

Assault Tree

Tier 1

Maximizing your critical hit potential and damage output is favorable for this build and will give you the highest burst potential, which is a standard for competitive PvP. With that being said, grabbing Assault Power, Critical Hit, and Critical Hit Severity will maximize your efficiency toward that goal in the first tier. (NOTE: I only put 2 AMP points in "Critical Hit" for the 45-Point AMP build; the 3rd point comes with Elder Gems)

Tier 2

Tier 2 contains a nice little amendment to your Overdrive ability known as Detonate. Detonate adds a side effect to your Overdrive ability that does a whopping 225% technology damage to everyone within 8 meters when Overdrive is used. You might ask yourself, "well exactly how much is 225% technology damage?" Go to your character screen and multiply your "Tech" damage by 2.25. It's a lot.

Tier 3

The third and final tier of the Assault tree contains one AMP to take note of, and that AMP is Kinetic Fury. Kinetic Fury grants you Empower after reaching 250, 500, and 750 kinetic energy, respectively. Each higher level grants you an increased damage buff that will surely up your DPS. As this ability is in the third tier and requires 6 AMP points, I recommend holding off on this one until you get your Elder Gems. Maintaining high kinetic energy consistently is actually difficult, so this buff will only be up occasionally, but it's nice to have when you have the extra AMP points for it.

Hybrid Assault/Support Tree

Tier 1

There's only one AMP tree here that is necessary, and given how much of a factor Deflecting seems to be in this game (ever had your Detonate get deflected? Not fun), picking up the Strikethrough AMP has become an agreed upon necessity among highly ranked Warriors. And I can't help but agree with this sentiment. Put 3 points in this no matter what.

Hybrid Assault/Utility Tree

Tier 1

Now that PvP Offense is actually worth investing in, grabbing the PvP Power AMP tree is the natural way to go here. More damage = better.

Tier 2

Festering Blade is still the best AMP in the second tier of this tree, bar none. This ability allows you to Snare an opponent when you land a hit on them. This Snare can increase its mobility reduction by stacking up to 3 times. I really can't see why you wouldn't want this AMP -- picking up this AMP allows you to forgo Ripsaw in the Assault ability tree, freeing up a slot for you to pick up another ability on your Limited Action Set. Also, snaring an enemy while landing a hit will allow you to keep your DPS high by not having to waste a GCD just to snare the opponent.

I'm not a big fan of the other AMP I grab in this tree, but it is necessary to grab it for the juicy goodness contained in Tier 3, which I'll get into in a minute. The second AMP to grab here is Cornered. This AMP gives you a significant boost to damage when you are below 30% health, which, I've found as a Warrior in both RBGs and Arena, you can spend a healthy amount of time in that range. And it's certainly a much more worthy option than your other choices in this Tier.

Tier 3

Your journey down the Hybrid Assault/Utility Tree is almost entirely for the purpose of one AMP, and that MAP is Recklessness. This AMP is absolutely insane, and if your plan is to PvP, this is an AMP that needs to be in your arsenal. The amount of Assault Power gained from stacking this baby up to 5 times can up your damage ten-fold and be the difference between blowing someone up and leaving a small scratch on them that can be cleaned up with rubbing alcohol later. Get this AMP.

Utility Tree

Tier 1

The first Tier of the Utility tree is rather straightforward. After doing enough combat, it becomes very evident that Dash Regen is of the utmost importance, and as a Warrior, you'll most likely be eating more CC than any other class in the game (since you are often on the frontlines and in the middle of more than one telegraph at a time). Getting 3 points in this is a must to keep your mobility high and your CC breaks frequent.

One of the advantages to having Relentless Strikes become a Tier 8 ability is having it reset the cooldown of Rampage for you. This helps negate the absolute need to pick up the Cooldowns AMP right from the get-go, and this AMP tree can actually be ignored until you get Elder Gems. Once you have enough Elder Gems, reducing the cooldown of moves such as Power Link, Grapple, Kick, and Bum Rush becomes rather useful, so it's worth picking up all three points once you've acquired the Elder Gems to do it.

Tier 2

There are a few AMPs that are well worth the investment in the Utlity tree and, at this point, I would say necessary. The first one is Unyielding, which prevents you from ever being Dazed. Expect Sprint to be a button you use a LOT since Sprinting in combat will no longer Daze you. Although you can't attack while Sprinting, you'll often find yourself in Endurance/Dash Regen battles with enemies while they try to keep distance from you and you try to keep them within striking range.

The second one is a sweet AMP called Speed Burst. This AMP gives you a boost in movement speed every time you dash, and if you're being as aggressive as you should be, dashing should be used almost ENTIRELY on cooldown. I've also acquired Epic boots on my Warrior that have the ability Dasher, granting you additional movement speed when you dash AS WELL AS additional dash regeneration. Whenever my Warrior dashes, he moves extremely quickly, making it an absolute pain for ranged classes to hit me while being able to still close the gap quickly. The combo is undeniably good.

Tier 3

Grabbing the above two AMPs will then unlock Power Link, which I've already praised immensely in the Abilities section of this description. Feel free to pick that sexy AMP up for the small price of two AMP points and watch your teammates smile as their damage goes up by a whopping 14%. (NOTE: Until you have enough additional ability points through Elder Gems to pick up Grapple Tier 4, you can place your additional points into Power Link to increase your and your party's overall damage)

_____________________________________________

Anyway, that's all I have at the moment. Feel free to leave comments, thoughts, and suggestions to let me know what you think.

- Xcite