Warden spec - Phoenix Freeshard

Just curious what is a good warden spec for mainly small man/solo RvR. I’m pretty set on going at least 39 weapon but am open to lowering that a bit if it is better.

The specs I like so far are:
39 blades (attack speed debuff style)
35 regrowth (good heals and health regen)
36 Nurture (2nd bubble and damage add)
16 parry

39 blades
26 regrowth (decent heal)
46 nurture (best bubble, damage add, and speed)
5 parry

44 blades
2 regrowth
46 nurture
17 parry

(This one is really tempting but not sure how good it would be)
50 blunt (9 second stun after parry)
2 regrowth
38 nurture (2nd best haste, bubble, Damage add, and resists)
19 parry.

Any input on any of these specs or new specs would help greatly! Thanks in advance!

Tue 5 Feb 2019 8:00 PM by PingGuy

I'm not an experienced Warden player, but I have been agonizing over a spec for the last week, so I feel like I can contribute a little. Having read a bunch of other threads on this, I know the basics.

Nurture - 36 or 45 are the only two levels that seem to matter, if you care about group expectations. Those are the top two pulsing bladeturns. I'm really trying to find a way to do it with 45, and aside from that 50 blunt spec you mentioned, it's generally pretty easy to achieve.

Blades - The side Snare at 10 is basically mandatory. Now you could go to 39 for the follow up on the best anytimer chain, but the growth rate is lower than the side stun follow up at 15. Not much else in blades is very exciting.

Blunt - The side Snare for this weapon type is on the second in the chain, at 21. I like 34 to get the third style in that chain, which has a good growth rate. 39 gets you a Parry reactionary, but it's pricey to go that high. 50 is the trap, it sounds so cool, but to get that, and enough Parry to actually be able to use it, you have to gimp Nurture and Regrowth. It might be viable for a solo spec though.

Regrowth - I've seen people looking at 2, 12, or 22 here, for the fatigue consumption buff. I like to look at it more from the point of Major Heal, which means 26 or 33 are the smart buys when trying to save points. Failing that, 22 is an ok fallback, and anything less than that leaves you relying on the base heals.

Parry - Whatever is left, unless you are going 50 Blunt, then it's still whatever is left, but with more bargaining and waffling.

My goal right now is: 45 Nurture / 33 Regrowth / 34 Blunt / 8 Parry

That squeezes just about everything that can be squeezed out of everything I've got. If you stick with Blades, you can do a bit better. Staying at 34 gets you a back style with a decent growth rate. Or you could go 25 Blades and 24 Parry, and still have your full Parry chain available with nice growth rates. Not to mention enough Parry to actually do something with it.

I hope that helps.

Tue 5 Feb 2019 9:06 PM by Tomthabom10

Are the base heals all that bad when soloing anyways? Also does the health regen buff make much of a difference? I feel like the fatigue consumption buff may not be all that useful since most people run with tireless, LW, and endo pots anyways (plus wardens have that endurance regen pulse too)

The 50 blunt spec (maybe at higher RR) is really tempting if you can stack some mastery of parry to get the parry chance up. Hit them for the 9 second stun, pop wraith of God’s and Damage add I think you could burst a surprising about of damage.

Tue 5 Feb 2019 9:36 PM by PingGuy

For soloing, I think the base heals would be fine. They have a slightly slower cast time, which doesn't matter, but about double the power cost, which will matter a little as far as downtime and longevity goes.

The health regen buff is pretty handy. I've only got the lowest one so far and at level 30 it makes a difference. If you are going to be relying on the base heals then I think having at least some level of regen is worth it. Now this is for PvE, I can't say how useful it is in PvP, probably less so.

I think the fatigue consumption buff is important, but even just having the lowest one is probably fine. With the End regen pulse, the lowest fatigue consumption buff, and Tireless, I can perma sprint. That comes in handy when you have the Hastener speed buff and want to really get moving. As you mentioned, there are other ways to get there, but 12 Regrowth is easy to get.

I'd love to see somebody use the 50 Blunt spec and actually have it work out well. The problem is that the coveted 50 Stun is on a Parry chain, so it's usefulness is limited. As you mentioned, with the right RA's it could make for a powerful spec, though likely most useful for soloing.

Tue 5 Feb 2019 9:37 PM by Cadebrennus

If Blades do not go any lower than 39 Blades. Spectrum Blade is just that good.

Tue 5 Feb 2019 10:04 PM by Tomthabom10

If I can get by soloing/small Manning with the baseline heals then I think that might be what I do. I could even go 12 regrowth for the fatigue consumption buff or 14 for the second health regen buff if it’s even worth it. With that I could still pull off something like 46 nurture, 39 blades, 14 regrowth, 22 parry.

If the regrowth heals and health regen buff make that much of a difference I might have to rethink that.

Tue 5 Feb 2019 10:07 PM by Thinal

I wouldn't worry too much about the END4 chant. The problem is that twisting this into combat with PBT and / or damage add chants ends up consuming enough END to offset its effects. It's okay for lower levels, but I'd work on getting END pots instead, even the lower level pots available before level 30.

On the other hand, the fatigue reduction buffs make a huge difference. Rounding seems to work in your favor, so the second level chant is only 25% instead of 20% reduction, but it reduces 2 points off of the sprint tick cost where the first level reduced 1 point. So this enables permasprint with END3 pots and without the END4 chant, Long Wind, or Tireless. This saves a couple of RA points and enables you to stack your speed chant with permasprint. The speed chant can't be twisted, so this (or the RAs) would be the only way to stack these when solo.

If you use Cadebrennus's 39 blades and my 22 regrowth as target specs, you can get 47 nurture (top damage add and top personal haste) and 11 parry. This is a good solo spec, but it's not going to lock you out of groups. You'll only be missing the top resists for spirit and energy and some opportunity cost healing capabilities.

Tue 5 Feb 2019 11:04 PM by Tomthabom10

Oh that actually does make pretty big difference. Is it worth it to lower nurture from 47 to 46 and parry down to 5 to get 26 regrowth? Would be 46 nurture 39 blades 26 regrowth 5 parry. That gives me the 26 spec heal and the next health regen buff. Or does having that low of parry really hurt me While soloing?

Tue 5 Feb 2019 11:11 PM by Cadebrennus

One of my buddies was looking at this spec for Phoenix. FYI he was one of the best, if not the best, Warden on live.

35 regrowth
38 nurture
11 parry
39 blades

Tue 5 Feb 2019 11:32 PM by Tomthabom10

I was thinking something like that too.
39 blades
36 nurture
35 regrowth
16 parry.

I just think having the yellow speed and nurture buffs might hurt me more than help me. Like I was saying I can drop regrowth pretty low and still get 46 nurture and 39 blades and still tinker around that 16ish parry mark.

Why is he leaning towards that spec? Any specific reason?

Wed 6 Feb 2019 12:55 AM by Cadebrennus

Tomthabom10 wrote: ↑
Tue 5 Feb 2019 11:32 PM
I was thinking something like that too.
39 blades
36 nurture
35 regrowth
16 parry.

I just think having the yellow speed and nurture buffs might hurt me more than help me. Like I was saying I can drop regrowth pretty low and still get 46 nurture and 39 blades and still tinker around that 16ish parry mark.

Why is he leaning towards that spec? Any specific reason?

He went 38 nurture instead of 36 for the 2nd highest haste in the line. We dueled and it was like dueling a buzzsaw that is wielding a 4.4 speed Blade. Beat me every time. The other reason he went high regrowth is that it's good for solo play (for example, getting the Blades block reaction = stun) to get distance and heal yourself. In addition most groups are expecting regrowth in the 30s range so you will have an easier time getting groups.

Thu 7 Feb 2019 3:33 PM by Thinal

Tomthabom10 wrote: ↑
Tue 5 Feb 2019 11:04 PM
Oh that actually does make pretty big difference. Is it worth it to lower nurture from 47 to 46 and parry down to 5 to get 26 regrowth? Would be 46 nurture 39 blades 26 regrowth 5 parry. That gives me the 26 spec heal and the next health regen buff. Or does having that low of parry really hurt me While soloing?

I was just demonstrating the availability of the highest personal benefit from nurture (47) with the target blades (39 for ASR) and regowth (22 for fatigue reduction 2) under discussion. Reducing nurture / parry for increased regrowth might or might not lead to an overall better build, and I'm not endorsing a particular build in this case.

I haven't played a warden for any significant gametime on Phoenix, and haven't rolled one at all since beta. On Uthgard, while I preferred to concentrate on my healing capabilities, my groups seemed more concerned with the resist buffs and PBT. I don't know how the changes to Phoenix have resulted in any culture changes, and perhaps now they'll be more concerned with how well I heal.

Wed 13 Feb 2019 9:43 PM by PingGuy

I think I've finally settled on a spec.

47 Nurture
22 Regrowth
39 Blunt
11 Parry
No points left over

It's an odd combo, but it fits with how I'm playing. First, I'm a Firbolg, and I want to utilize that with strong melee. Second, I'm mostly solo and probably will be for a while, so Regrowth won't matter as much. Choosing Blunt was just a personal thing, Blades seems like it's better, but I want to hit things with a hammer!

This gets me the best PBT, and the best Haste, the 25% end consumption buff, and one Parry style and one Back style. I was initially worried about peeling ability, but I'm enough of a spaz to think I'm not quite coordinated for that kind of stuff yet. Plus, being solo (among the zerg), somebody will break that snare since we aren't coordinating.

It may end up being terrible, but I'm going to embrace for a bit and see how it goes. My backup option would be to respec to what Cadebrennus posted. I like the sound of it, but want that high Nurture for the first try.

Thu 14 Feb 2019 2:44 PM by Thinal

PingGuy wrote: ↑
Wed 13 Feb 2019 9:43 PM
I think I've finally settled on a spec.

47 Nurture
22 Regrowth
39 Blunt
11 Parry
No points left over

This is definitely a blades spec. You're going to the spec level for big powerhouse blades style, the anytime-chain attack speed reduction (which is strangely better than the conditional ASRs in the same spec line). Blunt's 39 style is the same ASR but it's after-parry. Blunt's big draw is its level 50 style for the ear-ringing 10-second stun; it's kinda meh until then.

Thu 14 Feb 2019 3:13 PM by PingGuy

Thinal wrote: ↑
Thu 14 Feb 2019 2:44 PM
PingGuy wrote: ↑
Wed 13 Feb 2019 9:43 PM
I think I've finally settled on a spec.

47 Nurture
22 Regrowth
39 Blunt
11 Parry
No points left over

This is definitely a blades spec. You're going to the spec level for big powerhouse blades style, the anytime-chain attack speed reduction (which is strangely better than the conditional ASRs in the same spec line). Blunt's 39 style is the same ASR but it's after-parry. Blunt's big draw is its level 50 style for the ear-ringing 10-second stun; it's kinda meh until then.

You aren't wrong, but I just can't get excited about Blades. I have to at least try Blunt before I begrudgingly accept fate and go with Blades. The hardest part was realizing that going to 50 for the Stun burns too many points to be worth it. I'm not worried about peeling so much as I just want to lay out some damage. In a group environment that would be bad, but in the zerg it can be quite useful. I really wanted to go 44 for the second back style, but couldn't give up any more Nurture or Regrowth. I just hope that between being a Firbolg, and having a composite Blunt skill near 50, I can pump out some decent damage. I know it won't be Hero or BM worthy, but I'll still be able to do some healing too.

Thu 14 Feb 2019 11:24 PM by Ebenezer

39 blades isn't about the snare. It's about the interaction between the ASR style and PBT.
It massively increases your survivability in a 1v1, as the reduction makes it very likely PBT will come up again before your opponent can get down a style chain.

Sat 16 Feb 2019 10:40 PM by Tomthabom10

What RAs are must have? Between purge, determination, twf, moc, IP, and even anger of the gods, it’s hard to choose. And that’s not even including the passives

Sun 17 Feb 2019 2:10 AM by Maga

Warden for group play should spec:
49 Nurture
42 Regrowth
12 Blades
6 Parry

Realm abilities should be:
Tireless 1
Longwind 1
Determination 9
Vehement Renewal 1
Purge 2

Mon 25 Feb 2019 7:39 PM by PingGuy

Well crap, I was forced to call my own bluff. Blunt is just not a good spec for a Warden in RvR, the style options are more suited to PvE paired with some kind of Shield spec. I realize you guys already knew this, but I had to learn it the hard way to accept it. I might retry the concept with a Hero instead, but that's a thought for another day.

With 3L0 creeping up, I had to make a decision. Had to skip an hour of RvR to farm up a sword, but finally got one and did the respec. 39 Blades it is (or will be next level).

Final spec will be: 45 Nurture, 26 Rejuv, 39 Blades, 10 Parry

Decided I don't care about the last haste or damage add, but do care about the last speed and pbt. Decided I hate the baseline heals completely, and need the 26 spec heal because the 20 just doesn't cut it. In the end, the 18->39 style chain for blades is just too good to pass on. Even without the attack speed reduction, the growth rate on that 39 style is great for an anytime chain. Add in the side snare and the parry chain and there's just no comparison.

With that said, I did enjoy leveling up using Blunt, and would have no problem doing that again. You live off of the Block style chain, but you get to smash stuff with hammers, and those styles sound great with a big thump.

Watch this space for my next backpedal, when I decide that the all 30's spec that Cad posted is actually the best option. I have one full respec left, so chances are good that I'll waffle at some point.

Tue 26 Feb 2019 8:09 PM by Tomthabom10

Decided with 47 nurture, 39 blades, 26 regrowth on my warden but still on the fence about it. When I get the (extremely rare) clean 1v1 in RvR without any ads I actually hold my own despite being a low RR. Epic chest proc mixed with ATR reduction style and the ABS proc on uaimhs rending claw (4.4 speed blade, almost a must have IMO) makes it pretty hard to kill me with PBT up.

I’m still deciding between raising nurture up to 47 for the better haste since the claw is pretty slow, and if I want to keep regrowth at 26, or lower it all the way down to 12 to raise up parry.

Going to finish temping my guy and get a few more RRs under my belt before I make a final decision, but The anytime style chain for blades is too good To pass up if you plan on going high in a weapon line.

Keep posting your updates! And GL out there!

Tue 26 Feb 2019 8:37 PM by PingGuy

You won't have enough points to do 47/39/26, but 45/39/26 works though. 47/39/24 is the closest you can get.

Wed 27 Feb 2019 5:04 PM by Tomthabom10

Yeah if I raise nurture to 47 I would probably lower regrowth down to 12 and put rest into parry. Probably won’t do that for awhile though