Class Discussion: Great Weapon Fighter

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Class Discussion: Great Weapon Fighter

Postby RemyCC » Thu May 16, 2013 8:50 am

If everyone is keen on the idea I'd like us to start some threads to collect all of our thoughts and experiences with each class into a single resource. I'll begin with the GWF.

I re-rolled a GWF after reading several guides and posts on the forums by people insisting that the GWF isn't as broken as the vast majority of players say they are. My second playthrough with this class was marginally better than the first. After getting a handle on the AoE focus of most of it's abilities I was laying waste and mowing through enemies. I was still using a healing pot after nearly every battle but it was still quite fun. I can see how the GWF would be a blast to play in a group with a dedicated healer and tank.

The problem though is still low single target damage. Whenever I'm faced with an Elite mob (I'm calling Elite anything with an extended health bar and special abilites) the weakness of this class is blatant. You're basically spamming Sure Strike which is the lowest DPS At-Will in the game. And when there are two Elites? Forget about it, even your AoEs aren't much use.

Your AoE abilities require you to be immobile and take damage. That's a serious problem when facing Elites that can interupt your channeld AoEs. I can't tell you how many times I channelled Reaping Strike only to have two Elites take turns knocking me back and interupting. It was infuriating. I thought that hitting level ten and gaining Determination would help, but it just didn't keep up with the amount of damage I was taking.

I do better health wise against Bosses but again the low single target damage is a nightmare. The fights last longer than they did with my GF who as a dedicated tank should by all rights be a lower damage dealing class.

People who were in the closed beta have said that the GWFs DPS was seriously nerfed before the open beta. Apparently, they were gods in PvP and enough people complained about it so the GWFs got nerfed into the ground. Someone on the forums said that they don't need to be the best on the DPS charts but they do need to be competitive. He said that whenever he queues for a dungeon he gets /kicked as soon as they see he's a GWF. That's a problem when your class is seen as unnecessary for a successful group. I hope they re-adress these issues because I really want to like this class. I like the feel and powers and it would be my favorite if they weren't so comparatively weak.
Battle.net ID: RemyCC#1202
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Re: Class Discussion: Great Weapon Fighter

Postby Kethron » Thu May 16, 2013 9:12 am

I agree with pretty much all of that. Against groups, the GWF is effective. Against single "elite" or better enemies, however, the class struggles. It's only through my supreme gaming awesomeness (and lots of healing potions) that I was able to get my GWF to 16 and thankfully receive a cleric companion, which has certainly made his life much easier.
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Re: Class Discussion: Great Weapon Fighter

Postby Kethron » Fri May 24, 2013 8:53 am

Revisited: Once I got my GWF to level 16 and was able to use the cleric companion, things got much easier. In fact, I'm rather enjoying my GWF. Kethron Vrailus of Neverwinter was the first character I created, and I had intended him to be my "main." Now that I'm able to stay in fights and swing away, the class is quite fun.
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