Return of Reckoning

I was thinking of coming back to RoR. I was around when the game was on live servers, so its been a minuet or 2.
I was wondering if a 2H SM spec is still viable definitive in a warband or a large RvR situation. Thank you for any advice.

See you in the battlefield

If warband have single target group with wh/lion sw/lion yes sm adds a ton of kiling pressure. In pug blobfest viable but squishy, basically its nonstol spam of phoenix wing and wall or darting steel, tried once - it was fun. In rvr org guild vs org guild, nope, you just would not survive and be weak link that need extra def in party that will eventually die and make cascade of deaths in party.

Then why not just take the 2H option off the table if its ineffective

Not a SM only issue. Maxing block with a shield is always going to yield a much tougher tank than anything with a 2h. Hard to justify dropping the shield in today’s blobfest AoE meta.

Laoch74 wrote: Thu Nov 27, 2025 3:37 pm Then why not just take the 2H option off the table if its ineffective

Its only the premade vs premade situation or very large fights, you can just swap to SnB for that.

Its very good otherwise, and also solo and pve. Pugs very rarely fill up on SnB and are lucky to 8 tanks for a WB as it is.

My advice is to find a guild you like first, to see if the above issues are a problem for them.

What they said. I will note that thanks to Phoenix Wing 2H SM performs okay in certain warbands that are very aggressive but if you get into a situation where you need to hold then you are a liability. One potential mitigation for this is to take Whispering Wind with your 2H which is not only warband friendly but gives you the old, no-cooldown behavior of WoDS for 10s if you need it.

Also I primarily run around solo on my SM both during EU prime and NA (sub-prime?). You work the edges and wait for the right moments to add in when another warband (or bands) charge. I mostly play when Order has AAO and still manage to maintain a positive KD ratio with just some OOP pity heals and potions.

I enjoy it immensely but, ofc, YMMV.

On my SM I just play as 2h solo. I love spamming Phoenix Slash and Wrath of Hoeth on large scale fights until find a weaker target and finish with Ether Dance. You won't be the guy who will make the push in the first line, go with the rest of the dps, spam damage and spirit debuff everywhere, use some challenge, use M2 Haze, and leave the battle happy with some kills and good renown farmed. SM 2h is the best tank dpser, it hits spiritual, it hits hard, its beautiful and make nice couple with WL. Principally because you will spam damage with Nature's Blade on. That's it.