Guild Wars 2

I just came back to the game from a long break and I am looking for exactly what the title says.

dueling is mostly build vs build but on that note I’ve found hgh hybrid engineer to be a really good preformer for 1v1 in spvp and wvw.

The “Best” dueling class, will be what is broken or OP at the time. Any class can be extremely effective in 1v1 scenarios depending on the build, playstle, and of course the players ability.

Well I’m glad it has remained that way, can you sum up some of the most popular 1v1 builds currently and how well they compete against each other?

Well in a 1v1 pvp setting, I’m really only familiar with a ranger. The most effective 1v1 builds for ranger are any variation of a beastmaster build ( a regen beastmaster would probably do the best), a trapper, and a spirit ranger.

There are of course other builds a ranger could run in 1v1, but those three are generally the most effective, however depending on your playstyle other builds can be just as effective as those.

Reading through the profession forums might give you a couple builds you could try. However you will have to sift through quite a lot of QQ in some of the professions cough thief,warrior,ranger cough, so take what you find there with a grain of salt. Despite that though, there is still loads of useful information in the forums, so checking there will be a good bet if you want to seek other builds.

Deathcon.5903:

Well I’m glad it has remained that way, can you sum up some of the most popular 1v1 builds currently and how well they compete against each other?

Condition Builds

-P/D Condi Thief (Can almost kill pretty much anything 1v1 and put a lot of conditions on you in less then two second)
-PU Clone Death Condi/Hybrid Mesmers (nearly immortal solo can’t kill unless they make a bunch of big mistakes)
-Terrormancer/Perplexity Terrormancer(WvW only) – (A lot of conditions and a lot of damage if you get hit by a fear chain, resulting in either down or depending on your class a lot of your health gone with impairment effects and still ticking damage. Though low mobility, and very vulnerable to stuns and hard CC effects)

-Condition Engineer (Lots of burn and procs and nearly every condition except torment, packed with sustainability and are pretty spammy with kits, they get beat by necros pretty bad since they can send back all the conditions.)

Hybrid
D/D Celestial Ele (Kinda feels like face roll after learning all the buttons, though sustain, decent direct damage, soft and hard CC with pretty good condition removal)
Celestial Axe/Sword + Longbow Warrior (Hurts)

Power Builds
-Meditation Guardian (Really nice DPS, good access to blinds and blocks with 2k heals from meditation use)
-Hammer Warrior (CC chain and medium-high damage)

Lucentfir.7430:

Deathcon.5903:

Well I’m glad it has remained that way, can you sum up some of the most popular 1v1 builds currently and how well they compete against each other?

Hybrid
D/D Celestial Ele (Kinda feels like face roll after learning all the buttons, though sustain, decent direct damage, soft and hard CC with pretty good condition removal)
Celestial Axe/Sword + Longbow Warrior (Hurts)

It is the age of the hybrid.

I see a lot of complaining about S/D thief, how do they rank up in the list. Also how does an Ele fair against a thief?

I think over all the best is regen condi ranger IF its in the hands of a skilled player, those things can be unbeatable to most classes.

Deathcon.5903:

I see a lot of complaining about S/D thief, how do they rank up in the list. Also how does an Ele fair against a thief?

Would get wrecked by alot classes if they are built to duel.

Mesmer was and still is the best dueling class nothing has changed in that regard.

vincecontix.1264:

Mesmer was and still is the best dueling class nothing has changed in that regard.

Yeah. Downed state retaliation is just impossible to counter. Mesmers can melt zergs. 1v1 would be even easier.

a well played thief. nuff said.

After watching you tube videos of players and some streams it seems like, at least to me, a Thief or Ele is the best dueling wise, it just depends on the players skill.

Attention, Attention!!!
the best mesmer build in current meta that can kill anything smallest then Tequatl in 10 sec!!!!
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Daliriants-Mesmer-Meta-High-end-TPvP/first#post4211377

When it comes to 1vs1 both the Thief and the Mesmer have clear advantages simply due to their profession mechanics.

The Thief has stealth, multiple blinds, and multiple evade skills to keep you from hitting them with your attacks while they use their initiative to whittle you down to zero health in just a few seconds.

Mesmers have clones, distortion and stealth to keep you from hitting them with your attacks while they punish you for killing their clones with conditions or simply send them all at you for a massive shatter effect. They usually do not kill you as fast as Thieves do and often win by attrition, but the results are usually the same.

Both class mechanics can only be “countered” with AoE abilities and a lot of luck. However since Arenanet specifically has mentioned that they don’t want all professions to have a lot of access to AoE abilities, many will simply have to rely on luck to see them through.

Thanks.

The op did nor specify a game mode. That in mind a mesmer built to duel beats almost everything

glassbow ranger with epic reflexes.

You gotta hit first, or you lose 98% of all battles.

The day Anet finally decides to nerf/revert PU will be the day that people finally wake up and realise mesmers are nowhere near as dangerous in 1v1 as they are assumed to be, at least not anymore as they used to be in the past.

Regarding pure 1v1, p/d condition thief takes the cake, but in any case there are a lot of monsters out there…

Curunen.8729:

The day Anet finally decides to nerf/revert PU will be the day that people finally wake up and realise mesmers are nowhere near as dangerous in 1v1 as they are assumed to be, at least not anymore as they used to be in the past.

Regarding pure 1v1, p/d condition thief takes the cake, but in any case there are a lot of monsters out there…

A well played condi engi would smack a p/d thief no problem. Or anything with moderate condi cleanse.

warriorjrd.8695:

Curunen.8729:

The day Anet finally decides to nerf/revert PU will be the day that people finally wake up and realise mesmers are nowhere near as dangerous in 1v1 as they are assumed to be, at least not anymore as they used to be in the past.

Regarding pure 1v1, p/d condition thief takes the cake, but in any case there are a lot of monsters out there…

A well played condi engi would smack a p/d thief no problem. Or anything with moderate condi cleanse.

Thief can just run and not be caught tbh, though I agree there are other monster 1v1 builds out there.

Maining a class which already suffers from below average condi removal, I find p/d condition thieves the worst to deal with.

DPS oriented guardians running scepter\focus+GS

They can basically scepter number 1 any class and build to death. Completely overpowered if used properly. By properly I mean basic understanding of the class because the build carries the player. I’m mostly into dueling and have taken part in and watched many duels. There’s a specific guardian build that is completely unbeatable.

EvilSardine.9635:

DPS oriented guardians running scepter\focus+GS

They can basically scepter number 1 any class and build to death. Completely overpowered if used properly. By properly I mean basic understanding of the class because the build carries the player. I’m mostly into dueling and have taken part in and watched many duels. There’s a specific guardian build that is completely unbeatable.

No such thing as a unbeatable guardian build unless you mean a bunker spec with no offensive pressure whatsoever. Also Scepter isn’t that good beyond melee medium range. The projectiles are unreliable and easily avoided, and if you’ve got melee in your face you’re kind of a sitting duck. General stun lock and condition overload from a decent engineer or condition build will be able to kill you.

Lucentfir.7430:

EvilSardine.9635:

DPS oriented guardians running scepter\focus+GS

They can basically scepter number 1 any class and build to death. Completely overpowered if used properly. By properly I mean basic understanding of the class because the build carries the player. I’m mostly into dueling and have taken part in and watched many duels. There’s a specific guardian build that is completely unbeatable.

No such thing as a unbeatable guardian build unless you mean a bunker spec with no offensive pressure whatsoever. Also Scepter isn’t that good beyond melee medium range. The projectiles are unreliable and easily avoided, and if you’ve got melee in your face you’re kind of a sitting duck. General stun lock and condition overload from a decent engineer or condition build will be able to kill you.

Trust me. 99% unbeatable and it’s not bunker. It’s a mix of zerker, knights, cav etc. With the build you don’t even have to be that good of a guardian. We’ve only seen the build lose to my guild member who runs a necro and got off a good combo with some corrupt boons and fear.

My other guild member ran the guardian build and it’s completely hilarious how it dominates everything in duels. He think it’s completely boring to play now because it’s pretty much a guaranteed win.

People complain about warriors being OP for instance but they have never fought a guardian apparently. Massive damage with huge sustain due to many blocks, invuln, blinds, protection, regen. It’s absurd. Fighting warriors on the build is a joke, actually.

EvilSardine.9635:

Lucentfir.7430:

EvilSardine.9635:

DPS oriented guardians running scepter\focus+GS

They can basically scepter number 1 any class and build to death. Completely overpowered if used properly. By properly I mean basic understanding of the class because the build carries the player. I’m mostly into dueling and have taken part in and watched many duels. There’s a specific guardian build that is completely unbeatable.

No such thing as a unbeatable guardian build unless you mean a bunker spec with no offensive pressure whatsoever. Also Scepter isn’t that good beyond melee medium range. The projectiles are unreliable and easily avoided, and if you’ve got melee in your face you’re kind of a sitting duck. General stun lock and condition overload from a decent engineer or condition build will be able to kill you.

Trust me. 99% unbeatable and it’s not bunker. It’s a mix of zerker, knights, cav etc. With the build you don’t even have to be that good of a guardian. We’ve only seen the build lose to my guild member who runs a necro and got off a good combo with some corrupt boons and fear.

My other guild member ran the guardian build and it’s completely hilarious how it dominates everything in duels. He think it’s completely boring to play now because it’s pretty much a guaranteed win.

People complain about warriors being OP for instance but they have never fought a guardian apparently. Massive damage with huge sustain due to many blocks, invuln, blinds, protection, regen. It’s absurd. Fighting warriors on the build is a joke, actually.

That’s type of guard(semi offen med guard?) is strong and also counters thief quite well but still gets wrecked by condi/hybrid pu mesmer.

80%of the roamers are thieves guess why

EvilSardine.9635:

Lucentfir.7430:

EvilSardine.9635:

DPS oriented guardians running scepter\focus+GS

They can basically scepter number 1 any class and build to death. Completely overpowered if used properly. By properly I mean basic understanding of the class because the build carries the player. I’m mostly into dueling and have taken part in and watched many duels. There’s a specific guardian build that is completely unbeatable.

No such thing as a unbeatable guardian build unless you mean a bunker spec with no offensive pressure whatsoever. Also Scepter isn’t that good beyond melee medium range. The projectiles are unreliable and easily avoided, and if you’ve got melee in your face you’re kind of a sitting duck. General stun lock and condition overload from a decent engineer or condition build will be able to kill you.

Trust me. 99% unbeatable and it’s not bunker. It’s a mix of zerker, knights, cav etc. With the build you don’t even have to be that good of a guardian. We’ve only seen the build lose to my guild member who runs a necro and got off a good combo with some corrupt boons and fear.

My other guild member ran the guardian build and it’s completely hilarious how it dominates everything in duels. He think it’s completely boring to play now because it’s pretty much a guaranteed win.

People complain about warriors being OP for instance but they have never fought a guardian apparently. Massive damage with huge sustain due to many blocks, invuln, blinds, protection, regen. It’s absurd. Fighting warriors on the build is a joke, actually.

Any good PU condi mesmer would blow him up most of the time no matter how good he may be. Any good condi Necro would destroy him. A good sustain condi ranger would give him serious troubles too. He would not outsustain a P/D condi dire thief that desides to play defensive so he would eventually go down as well. He would have troubles against a Dire condi war that desides to kite around with sword 2. I’m sure I’m leaving other builds. I’m seriously questioning the people you’re dueling with or your credibility.

EvilSardine.9635:

They can basically scepter number 1 any class and build to death.

Well WTF, you’re a little too hyped up for some reason.

McWolfy.5924:

80%of the roamers are thieves guess why

Interesting may I ask where you got those statistics? The reason why there a lot of thief roamers is not due to there combat abilities its due to there mobility and disengaging capabilities. Thief can pick the fights the want and run from the ones they will lose.

Khenzy.9348:

EvilSardine.9635:

Lucentfir.7430:

EvilSardine.9635:

DPS oriented guardians running scepter\focus+GS

They can basically scepter number 1 any class and build to death. Completely overpowered if used properly. By properly I mean basic understanding of the class because the build carries the player. I’m mostly into dueling and have taken part in and watched many duels. There’s a specific guardian build that is completely unbeatable.

No such thing as a unbeatable guardian build unless you mean a bunker spec with no offensive pressure whatsoever. Also Scepter isn’t that good beyond melee medium range. The projectiles are unreliable and easily avoided, and if you’ve got melee in your face you’re kind of a sitting duck. General stun lock and condition overload from a decent engineer or condition build will be able to kill you.

Trust me. 99% unbeatable and it’s not bunker. It’s a mix of zerker, knights, cav etc. With the build you don’t even have to be that good of a guardian. We’ve only seen the build lose to my guild member who runs a necro and got off a good combo with some corrupt boons and fear.

My other guild member ran the guardian build and it’s completely hilarious how it dominates everything in duels. He think it’s completely boring to play now because it’s pretty much a guaranteed win.

People complain about warriors being OP for instance but they have never fought a guardian apparently. Massive damage with huge sustain due to many blocks, invuln, blinds, protection, regen. It’s absurd. Fighting warriors on the build is a joke, actually.

Any good PU condi mesmer would blow him up most of the time no matter how good he may be. Any good condi Necro would destroy him. A good sustain condi ranger would give him serious troubles too. He would not outsustain a P/D condi dire thief that desides to play defensive so he would eventually go down as well. He would have troubles against a Dire condi war that desides to kite around with sword 2. I’m sure I’m leaving other builds. I’m seriously questioning the people you’re dueling with or your credibility.

*^The exact list of what I hate to fight against on my meditation guard. The chances of winning against those build on my guard are very slim when they guy is experienced/knows how to play(PU Condi clone death you will never beat alone unless they’re really brain dead and make a lot of big mistakes).

@EvilSardine – I have over 5k hours on guardian maybe a little bit more…every guardian I’ve seen or faced in duels now a days are really predictable. Really can’t trust your word at all either since I have no idea who you are. Any guardian with Scepter I’ve seen in WvW has been food. Scepter is really only good when you’re fighting a d/d ele that moves around way too much and tries to run from you when health is low, or when it’s just to dangerous for melee combat and you need a way to put some kind of pressure. If anything post a video up of this build you speak of because I’ve yet to see a guard build that rivals the immortality of a Blackwater mesmer.*

Lucentfir.7430:

Khenzy.9348:

EvilSardine.9635:

Lucentfir.7430:

EvilSardine.9635:

DPS oriented guardians running scepter\focus+GS

They can basically scepter number 1 any class and build to death. Completely overpowered if used properly. By properly I mean basic understanding of the class because the build carries the player. I’m mostly into dueling and have taken part in and watched many duels. There’s a specific guardian build that is completely unbeatable.

No such thing as a unbeatable guardian build unless you mean a bunker spec with no offensive pressure whatsoever. Also Scepter isn’t that good beyond melee medium range. The projectiles are unreliable and easily avoided, and if you’ve got melee in your face you’re kind of a sitting duck. General stun lock and condition overload from a decent engineer or condition build will be able to kill you.

Trust me. 99% unbeatable and it’s not bunker. It’s a mix of zerker, knights, cav etc. With the build you don’t even have to be that good of a guardian. We’ve only seen the build lose to my guild member who runs a necro and got off a good combo with some corrupt boons and fear.

My other guild member ran the guardian build and it’s completely hilarious how it dominates everything in duels. He think it’s completely boring to play now because it’s pretty much a guaranteed win.

People complain about warriors being OP for instance but they have never fought a guardian apparently. Massive damage with huge sustain due to many blocks, invuln, blinds, protection, regen. It’s absurd. Fighting warriors on the build is a joke, actually.

Any good PU condi mesmer would blow him up most of the time no matter how good he may be. Any good condi Necro would destroy him. A good sustain condi ranger would give him serious troubles too. He would not outsustain a P/D condi dire thief that desides to play defensive so he would eventually go down as well. He would have troubles against a Dire condi war that desides to kite around with sword 2. I’m sure I’m leaving other builds. I’m seriously questioning the people you’re dueling with or your credibility.

*^The exact list of what I hate to fight against on my meditation guard. The chances of winning against those build on my guard are very slim when they guy is experienced/knows how to play(PU Condi clone death you will never beat alone unless they’re really brain dead and make a lot of big mistakes).

@EvilSardine – I have over 5k hours on guardian maybe a little bit more…every guardian I’ve seen or faced in duels now a days are really predictable. Really can’t trust your word at all either since I have no idea who you are. Any guardian with Scepter I’ve seen in WvW has been food. Scepter is really only good when you’re fighting a d/d ele that moves around way too much and tries to run from you when health is low, or when it’s just to dangerous for melee combat and you need a way to put some kind of pressure. If anything post a video up of this build you speak of because I’ve yet to see a guard build that rivals the immortality of a Blackwater mesmer.*

I think he might be talking about the Legendary 6/6/6/6/6 Guardian build. I hear those can be quite difficult to fight. Fortunately, there are not a lot of them out there.

Thanks.

Michaeas Magister.1589:

Lucentfir.7430:

Khenzy.9348:

EvilSardine.9635:

Lucentfir.7430:

EvilSardine.9635:

DPS oriented guardians running scepter\focus+GS

They can basically scepter number 1 any class and build to death. Completely overpowered if used properly. By properly I mean basic understanding of the class because the build carries the player. I’m mostly into dueling and have taken part in and watched many duels. There’s a specific guardian build that is completely unbeatable.

No such thing as a unbeatable guardian build unless you mean a bunker spec with no offensive pressure whatsoever. Also Scepter isn’t that good beyond melee medium range. The projectiles are unreliable and easily avoided, and if you’ve got melee in your face you’re kind of a sitting duck. General stun lock and condition overload from a decent engineer or condition build will be able to kill you.

Trust me. 99% unbeatable and it’s not bunker. It’s a mix of zerker, knights, cav etc. With the build you don’t even have to be that good of a guardian. We’ve only seen the build lose to my guild member who runs a necro and got off a good combo with some corrupt boons and fear.

My other guild member ran the guardian build and it’s completely hilarious how it dominates everything in duels. He think it’s completely boring to play now because it’s pretty much a guaranteed win.

People complain about warriors being OP for instance but they have never fought a guardian apparently. Massive damage with huge sustain due to many blocks, invuln, blinds, protection, regen. It’s absurd. Fighting warriors on the build is a joke, actually.

Any good PU condi mesmer would blow him up most of the time no matter how good he may be. Any good condi Necro would destroy him. A good sustain condi ranger would give him serious troubles too. He would not outsustain a P/D condi dire thief that desides to play defensive so he would eventually go down as well. He would have troubles against a Dire condi war that desides to kite around with sword 2. I’m sure I’m leaving other builds. I’m seriously questioning the people you’re dueling with or your credibility.

*^The exact list of what I hate to fight against on my meditation guard. The chances of winning against those build on my guard are very slim when they guy is experienced/knows how to play(PU Condi clone death you will never beat alone unless they’re really brain dead and make a lot of big mistakes).

@EvilSardine – I have over 5k hours on guardian maybe a little bit more…every guardian I’ve seen or faced in duels now a days are really predictable. Really can’t trust your word at all either since I have no idea who you are. Any guardian with Scepter I’ve seen in WvW has been food. Scepter is really only good when you’re fighting a d/d ele that moves around way too much and tries to run from you when health is low, or when it’s just to dangerous for melee combat and you need a way to put some kind of pressure. If anything post a video up of this build you speak of because I’ve yet to see a guard build that rivals the immortality of a Blackwater mesmer.*

I think he might be talking about the Legendary 6/6/6/6/6 Guardian build. I hear those can be quite difficult to fight. Fortunately, there are not a lot of them out there.

Thanks.

SHHHHH….Never speak of that build here! It’s for the guardian sub forums only! You’ll begin to unveil the guardian’s secret weapon to fight the 6/6/6/6/6 warrior ; . ;

vincecontix.1264:

Mesmer was and still is the best dueling class nothing has changed in that regard.

P/D Condi Thief beats any Mesmer spec.

@OP: Thief > Mesmer > everything else.

probably still the good old maxpower backstab thief. if they get their combo off you are close to being dead.. if not … they may try again a bit later.

my duelling tier list:

T1: Thief, Mesmer, Necro
T2: Ele, Warrior, Engi
T3: Ranger, Guardian

Steelo.4597:

probably still the good old maxpower backstab thief. if they get their combo off you are close to being dead.. if not … they may try again a bit later.

my duelling tier list:

T1: Thief, Mesmer, Necro
T2: Ele, Warrior, Engi
T3: Ranger, Guardian

Ranger bottom tier an engi mid tier? You list is pretty wrong.

well my list is with wvw gear / runes (plex engi).

Jackums.3496:

vincecontix.1264:

Mesmer was and still is the best dueling class nothing has changed in that regard.

P/D Condi Thief beats any Mesmer spec.

@OP: Thief > Mesmer > everything else.

Yup that’s why I said mesmer almost wrecks everything. The general consensus is PD thief beats mesmer but tbh I think its really a 50/50 fight. Really does depend on the mesmer build. Glass phantasm mes with sp/gs great chance. Also arcane thievery is a great utility to have if your a condi or hybrid build.

Sneak attack is the main source of DMG for a PD condi thief. Mesmer can kit among clones and let them take most of the damage. If you have the condi on death trait from you clones great.

A thief can get free cnd off clones but a mesmer can shatter there clones a critical moments denying the thief stealth. As a mesmer I have yet to lose to a PD condi thief.

First fight I vs 2 thief’s one is PD condi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY8Y7pvQQuA

McWolfy.5924:

80%of the roamers are thieves guess why

Roaming is not the same as dueling . . . know the difference plz.