Runewarden SaB v DwS v DwB v 2h

Duhnk

I have recently returned to Achaea, and have settled on playing runewarden, but I am having a hard time deciding which of the four specs to choose. The one that I am most familiar with is DwS just because it seems like old knight but with a couple slight changes here and their. While the three newer specs all sound fun, I am having trouble deciding on what I want. I am currently 2h and love the idea of it but it just seems way to slow. Would anyone mind explaining the general differences between the four.

What I am really looking for is a really good hunting, as well as good pk spec as well because I do want to get back to fighting, after I have seen what all has changed. 

Tsuujin

@Nazihk does a great job of explaining the differences in this thread: http://forums.achaea.com/discussion/5667/yet-another-help-me-pick-a-class#latest

Kythra

I feel like this has been answered in every thread, and people don't look hard enough but plain and simple.

DwC is best all around. Engage/Lunge stupid useful, double nairat in group, the potential for so many tricks and ability to easily rift, soft, and focus lock people.

2h is great hunting towards the end when every WSC insta kills everything. It's a boon stomper and packs a heavy hit, and can secure kills in group combat just doesn't bring much to small engages minus potential for heavy swings.

DwB is great at an artefacted level and less so without. They still can pack a wallop but only like @Josslyn and @Dochitha play it to my knowledge. It's mediocre and so prone to hinder.

SnB is my favorite spec. Its hunting is God awful but safe due to shield + hunting runes + full plate. The combat can be long but you can almost always secure guaranteed torso disembowels against the average PKer. You can focus lock so easily if you know how to track in your head or have an aff tracker.

Overall people usually will always say DWC or 2H to start out. But it really depends on your play style. Some 2Hs just can't do DWC because venoms or how fast it is. Some SnBs can never do 2h because of how slow it is. Find your favorite style and ask people IG about their specs.

Farrah

They're all pretty solid for pk. All but sword and shield are good for hunting.

Dual blunt: Simple. Fast limb prep. Break limbs, then finish. Not much in terms of afflictions.

Two-handed: Slow. Momentum-based. Build up fractures with your attacks. People have to choose between sipping health to recover from damage and applying health to cure fractures. Once you build enough fractures, you devastate to turn them into broken legs and then finish them.

Dual cutting: Old knight basically. Uses venoms and limb prep. Kills with disembowel. Has dual runeblades, which are nice.

Sword and shield: Similar to dual cutting. Slower prep, but better at focuslocking. Also better at disemboweling. Has dedication which lets you fight through paralysis at the cost of health and mana. Can wield a shield for better defense. No dual runeblades. And when I say slower prep... it's really fking slow. Also horrible at hunting.

Dochitha

2h is best at hunting if you don't have Artefacts but it feels slow. Make sure you Battlefury focus speed before every hunting attack. Pk wise, it is a health momentum class, pressuring ppl on health so fracture can stack into a kill.

DWC is best in hunting if you have Artefact scimitars. It is quick, 1.8-9s balance. Pk wise kill path is pretty good, will need creativity and switch path depending on your opponent ability to cure. 

SnB is the worst of all 4 in terms of hunting. Even artied, it is still horrible. Pk wise, very reliable kill path, also allows you to focuslock people while you are prepping. Damn long prep tho and you better live long enough. 

DWB hunting is in the middle, not the best, not the worst, I have no idea why. Personally I think it should carry the same damage output as DWC but that's not the case, artied or unartied. Pk wise people don't like it because lack of hinder due to no venom control. I personally like it very much, and fighting decently with it. Very reliable kill path, strong damage. Burning a leg prep to hinder is always a strong option. I think DWB has the best hinder of all Knight class but there will be disagreement, it is how you choose to play it tho. You get 4s hinder every 6-8s of prep. Op stuffs. Put in head stun on leg break, you get 5s. With Artie that gives you 2 full doublewhirl with stars to almost fully prep another limb. Free hinder. Free hinder people! More ppl needs to play DWB. 

Sobriquet

When he says he plays DWB for PvP remember he has lvl 3 arties, just in case you're comparing. 

Just to to jump on this, for those with a specialisation switch Artie, are you finding it useful and which one to you end up using the most?

Antonius

I find it useful. The majority of PvP I do right now is group, so I tend to just stick with DWC since it's a nice balance of damage and affliction contribution (plus lunge). It's nice to be able to switch whenever I feel like messing around with something else (DWB in groups is fun, since I have level three arties) or need to test things.

Kogan

@Sobriquet Cheapest one is 350 and trades in for 231 I believe. So that's an investment of 119 credits. During a normal month those 119 credits convert to 714 lessons. You consider it takes 100 lessons for each swap without it. So if you swap a total of 8 times it has essentially paid for itself.

Dochitha

Spec change Arty is worth while. It gives you freedom of not having to consider spec switch. Switch as you like. 

While we are at it, the L3 spec switch at 1200 cr granting only 1h improvement is really disappointing. I'd hope the cool down is shorter...

I switch in between DWC and DWB. 

Kenway

All the specs are kind of absurdly strong with level three arties. SnB has a huge jump in effectiveness between forged and level one but stays pretty constant after, DwC probably ends up with the strongest net-gain with level threes followed by DwB. Until it's level two or more, DwB falls off a bit on higher health targets. 2h has the potential for the fastest kills of all the specs despite it being so slow but it falls off sharply when unartied against high dodge chance targets or targets with an assload of regen/sip arties. This is all just 1v1 I'm a group scrub and I never hunt.

Atalkez

I actually haven't noticed artie weapon being much use at all for SnB, slightly slightly faster

Reyson

Will say, L3's for DWB seem kind of hilarious. 

Nazihk

I have the one with the 2 hour cooldown. I've got 2h and DWB artifacted up. L3 bastard sword for the one, and L2 stars/L3 flails for the other. Truthfully, I spend the vast majority of my time in DWB and rarely take full advantage of it. The sword and insignia are sort of a waste for me right now.

I'm almost entirely a group fighter and DWB is just such a goddamn powerhouse in groups that it's hard to justify being 2h. Most groups I am in have a good amount of affliction power. What they're missing is upfront burst damage, and DWB has that in spades.

Exelethril

2H probably scales the most, given how reliant they are on damage and accuracy for gaining momentum. Was on the receiving end of a L3 Hugalaz sword/hammer the other day, could outpace my clumsy/arties very quickly. Though, I gave him the Dagaz/Uruz advantage cause I was being nice idk

Kenway

Atalkez said:

I actually haven't noticed artie weapon being much use at all for SnB, slightly slightly faster

L1 lets you use the bypass or lock 50/50. -Just- too slow to pull it off with forged.

Atalkez

Did not have an issue focuslocking with forged

Kenway

Atalkez said:

Did not have an issue focuslocking with forged

Not the lock itself but the 50/50 every three combos is what the level one longsword let's you pull off. At least that was my experience with it.