Warrior: 19 weapon sets and no complicated mechanic

The warrior combines heavy armour with the highest vitality in the game, so the largest health pool and the best damage absorption at once. If you have no idea what is happening on screen yet, a warrior will survive it.

Adrenaline and bursts

The class mechanic is adrenaline. It builds while you fight and is spent on a burst skill, a separate button that changes with your weapon.

It fills in three stages, and a fuller bar means a stronger burst. You are rewarded for staying in the fight and attacking rather than for executing a difficult rotation.

This is the clearest mechanic among the nine classes. Compare it with the necromancer, where you have to feel your reserve, or the mesmer and its clones.

19 weapon sets

The warrior wields nearly everything in the game. Two-handed: greatsword, hammer, longbow, rifle, staff, spear. Main-hand: axe, dagger, mace, sword. Off-hand: axe, dagger, mace, pistol, shield, sword, torch, warhorn.

Two sets are equipped at once with a 5-second swap. In practice that means one warrior can fight in melee, shoot a rifle at range, and switch between them mid-fight.

For a newcomer it also saves money: on the trading post you buy whatever dropped cheap instead of hunting one specific type.

Skill types

Banners are planted on the ground and strengthen the group. Shouts are instant and need no projectile. Stances last a set time. Signets give a passive bonus until you press them. Physical skills hit without a weapon.

What it brings to a group

The warrior used to be the banner class that no group formed without. The balance changed, banners were weakened, and there is no longer a slot that belongs to a warrior by default.

The honest version: in strikes and high fractals a warrior is invited less often than a guardian. In the open world and the story you will notice no difference at all.

The elite specialisations

Berserker (Heart of Thorns) adds berserk mode with Primal Bursts in place of the standard bursts, plus rage skills. The straightforward “more damage” path.

Spellbreaker (Path of Fire) brings Full Counter: you set a counter, and if something hits you during it, the response fires by itself. It also adds meditations. This is the specialist at stripping enemy buffs, most useful in WvW and PvP.

Bladesworn (End of Dragons) has Dragon Trigger and the gunsaber: you charge one enormous strike instead of a series. The strangest of the four.

Paragon (Visions of Eternity) adds command skills, chants and refrains.

Advice for a newcomer

Take a warrior as your first character if this is your first MMO or your first game with active dodging. Reach 80, learn how combat reads, and choose your next class knowing what you want from it.

The comparison against the other eight sits in the overview.