[WH] Fifty shades of spec

[popperz]

Hey,

Since the class forum is not very active, I have decided to post various considerations of specs I am using and the outcomes, which may or may not result in some discussion. Any feedback is welcome.

So the input: RR81 WH: Feelings. 90% of the time I am solo or in PUG scenarios.
Career Builder is not working atm, but basically it's the blessed blade tactic-based dragon gun, tree 1-3.

RR-wise I go 4 x parry, 4 x crit and 2 x futile strikes. Tactics: str, AA speed, armor pen and crit dmg. So pretty standard.
IMO it is a stable build, which allows you to solo and grp play (sc's) with good effectiveness and is a good trade-off between offense and defense. Definitely you can't kill a full armor/futile strikes healer with this spec. Getting to 40-50% is typical. But for any other occasion it is good. I bet equivalent gear BAL WH can't kill the same healer too Low crit rate and high -crit mitigation gear/rr spec availability is the bottle-neck and the new invader set (which I don't have) is a disappointment since it will not improve the situation, while healers become even more defensive and/or more healing potent.

But the aim of this topic is to provide some insights on variations of the specs, which at least for me become revelations.

So the first "shade of the spec" is the capability of turret-like WH. Disclaimer: I hate riposte players. It takes no skill. However, surprisingly my current spec has high synergy with riposte.

Passively, I have ~40% parry + WS vanq buff gives ~45%. With parry tactic you can have 55+ and the capability to hit repel blasphemy. Aaand did you know that when you trigger the blessed blade tactic you get riposte hits for 490+ even on medium armor players due to high armor mitigation (90%+)? For me it was a revelation, so I started to hate riposte WHs as strong as riposte choppas

[popperz]

The number of def Witchelfs is rising each day...
I guess the hardest is smth like this: RoR.builders - Witch Elf

In combination with full armor, parry and futile strikes to have 0% to be crit and at least -25% with the tactic it becomes a real issue to win vs such a WE. Most of the damage comes from Witchbrew, kisses and AW's. With such a build the downtimes are like 5 sec (when you don't ignore armor) and then again futile strikes are up (every 20 sec).

If my talismans are weaponskill, with blessed blade tactic I ignore ~95% of armor, so it is the bright side. But there is no point in knocking a def WE down if envenomed blade tactic is already active. So the second shade of the spec is that there is a chance to kill such a witch elf only if all pots are up and I am lucky with knockdown and RB timings...but if not, running in the middle of the fight is the only option. If somebody has a viable and solid strategy to fight against a def WE, please share.

[shaggyboomboom]

>not taking IP

[popperz]

>not taking IP

You don't need IP in such a spec imo. Your strength is like 500-600. Your crit rate is like 5%? Main source of continuous damage are kisses and Witchbrew addded to AW spam. May be a good def WE will provide an insight on that though.

[shaggyboomboom]

I wonder how this “def WE” will deal with WLs with 0 armor while dealing 0 dmg

[popperz]

I would say easy, because the main problems with WL was to survive the burst after KD. After opening of WE, WL has 0% crit chance. That is it for WL. Nevertheless, lets not go into theorycrafting of WLs vs WE. The topic is not about that. The problem is I fail to deal effectively with a witchbrew spec def WE, which makes me to have 0% crit rate. If it is a L2P issue, I would be happy for an experienced WH to share how to deal with this problem I have invested some time into optimizing the rotation, but still there is no stability. I depend on the parry events of WE, which implies that the WE is in control of the encounter.

P.S. 1 vs 1 context.

[Xergon]

I would say easy, because the main problems with WL was to survive the burst after KD. After opening of WE, WL has 0% crit chance. That is it for WL. Nevertheless, lets not go into theorycrafting of WLs vs WE. The topic is not about that. The problem is I fail to deal effectively with a witchbrew spec def WE, which makes me to have 0% crit rate. If it is a L2P issue, I would be happy for an experienced WH to share how to deal with this problem I have invested some time into optimizing the rotation, but still there is no stability. I depend on the parry events of WE, which implies that the WE is in control of the encounter.

P.S. 1 vs 1 context.

Fighting good WE's is more about playing around your CDs, one of my fav WE to fight 1v1 was always Bachata. You need to use your DA RB and Confess depending on situation, also SB is very powerful tool. But generaly DG build is much weaker against 1v1 Melees.

Ofc you would had more chance with EW build or BAL build, cuz you simply can apply million dots and BAL during KD and fade away and repeat, WE has 2 options use big CD cloak to cleanse it or run away. But generally speaking as WH you still should win more encounters simply because of RB, but be careful some WE's knows that they can SeverBlessing it.

Generally if I survive WE opening on me and she opens with KD thats like 90% win already for me. DA, heal up, inco, setup and open while still having around 15s immunity left.

[Ilthay]

Came back to the game refently, and I was under the impression septic blade reduced crit chance by 25% (so 20% is now 15%) rather than reducing the total by 25% (so 20% is now 0).

Are you overstating the usefulness of septic blade tactic?

[drmordread]

I am surprised you dont use the wnds buff from INV/VANQ gear combo. With over 7200 wnds it gives you options to be slightly more offensive /effective vs def spec WE's, Maras and even healers. Add the debuffs from EW spec / tree and you should be set.

[popperz]

Generally if I survive WE opening on me and she opens with KD thats like 90% win already for me. DA, heal up, inco, setup and open while still having around 15s immunity left.

I think you talking about general WE? Glass/Semi-glass spec? There are no problems in general. Especially with those who open with a KD. The problem is the "new" popular def build. With high armor and -crit/parry. The context is the ones that kite you during RB, use detaunts in the middle, KD you during FP, etc

Came back to the game refently, and I was under the impression septic blade reduced crit chance by 25% (so 20% is now 15%) rather than reducing the total by 25% (so 20% is now 0).

Are you overstating the usefulness of septic blade tactic?

I think it is a flat -25%. In any case in combination with futile strikes, according to Enemy parser my crit rate is 0-2%, which makes 2 of my tactics useless and damage funny