Before I dive into this class, let me just say I have never been a fan of heavy classes. However, by personal request I am covering this class. To write the post, I did a fair amount of research from various opinions of the press in the last beta and reviewed skills and traits. I actually found myself pleasantly surprised at their potential.
The warrior seems to be the weapon master of Guild Wars 2. Seriously, looking up all the weapons available and the respective moves was ridiculously time consuming. There are 7 Main-hand possiblities, and 5 Off-hand weapons. Coming from the review of the thief, this was initially overwhelming.
It is important to note that the warrior is capable of ranged attacks with both the rifle and longbow. The warrior is also very capable as a supportive class. The OH Warhorn and Standards/Banners from a warrior utilities could really change the dynamic of a team fight. This is certainly not the warrior of yesterday, which was often involved in charging at your enemy and keeping them close. However, that kind of build is very possible with the mace or hammer.
The unique mechanic of this class is adrenaline. As you fight there is a bar that fills up with 3 different stages. At any time, you can use a "burst" move that depletes the adrenaline, and does increasing damage depending on the adrenaline level at that time. There have been some beta videos of 7-9k hits by burst moves such as eviscerate in 5v5 matches. (Keep in mind that the low hp classes/builds have around 10-13k hp) These are not to be underestimated, and you will need to find a way to deny them these big hits. Dodging or blocking their burst move should definitely reduce their immediate threat substantially.
Take care to note that after downing a warrior, they can rally instantly with a move called vengeance. You will need to outlast them during this phase. After several seconds, they will go straight into a defeated mode.
Also, the elite battle standard scares me quite a bit. The capacity to do an aoe revive on fallen allies could potentially win a large fight.
While there are some very definite strengths to the warrior, I am a little concerned. If you are the warrior that is going to have double melee weapons, you need to make sure you have the gap closer "Bull's Charge", otherwise I am afraid you might get kited with ease. The warrior has a couple of utilities that can negate control conditions such as cripples and chills, but I am afraid this won't be enough. When a warrior gets in close, I really recommend knocking them back and kiting. Once within melee, this profession can really be a huge threat with stuns, knockdowns, and cripples. If you can withstand the charge that most warriors will carry, you need to run. Once a safe distance away, the warrior seems a little vulnerable. The longbow will be primarily aoe, and thus won't be a huge threat in 1vs1 fights. This might cause most warriors to have one melee weapon set, and will be forced into a rifle set. I'm a little worried that there is only one strong, single target, ranged weapon and this problem is amplified by limited mobility. This may reduce this profession's diversity, and force everyone into the rifle weapon set. There simply doesn't seem to be a better alternative for the warrior at the moment. If however this is fixed, or I am wrong, warrior's are shaping up to be a strong contender in all areas of the game.
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