Guild Wars 2

I’m new to the game and new to fractals. Every build I read about for fractals/raids (dulfy/Metabattle/these forums) usually mentions going berserker (I currently play ele and chrono). The rationale is usually “survival should be based on skill, not stats.” But my fellow guildees who run fractals are telling me zerker builds are out in HoT, and if you run higher tier fractals you will be kicked if you are in berserker gear. This is based on survivability and the crit-to-boon mechanics in 41+. They are also telling me that condi is better than crit in general.

So what’s the story? Are zerker builds still the way to go. Or did HoT change things dramatically, and the theory-crafters haven’t edited their guides yet?

And please refrain from “play what you want to play” responses. I’m trying to learn mechanics, stats, and strats. Thanks.

Berserker/Assassins is still completely fine, everyone who’s telling you otherwise just… well, sucks.
That being said, yes, condi is really on the rise; however not every class has effective condi builds or they’re not effective in every situation.
Fractal mobs hit weaker than before, even on scale 100 and the toughness on 51+ now got nerfed too, so that should really not be much of an issue. The instability on 41-50 is usually done once and then never touched again because it’s such a bad one, and even then you’re better off just powering through.

Juanpierre.8913:

But my fellow guildees who run fractals are telling me zerker builds are out in HoT

He is 100% wrong

Berserker/Assassins is still completely fine, everyone who’s telling you otherwise just… well, sucks.

True

Some classes are currently better on Sinister/Viper, Some classes are currently better on Berserker/Assassins, Some classes are currently good on both.

Before FoTm fix Patch on Fractals 50+ “Meta” was condition only, after the fix wtver, feel free to choose.

Juanpierre.8913:

This is based on survivability and the crit-to-boon mechanics in 41+. They are also telling me that condi is better than crit in general.

For crit-to-boon mechanics you can just ignore, or get one mesmer with Phantasmal Disenchanter.

And NO, you dont need Carrion, Rabid or Carrion for any Content (only maybe tanking on the raid), they dont have more DPS than Sinister/Viper, for fractals and almost any content look for Sinister/Viper builds.

The whole “condi is better” had some merit before this week’s patch as Toughness scaling in higher level fractals got to absurd numbers. In that case it’d be better to burn through their armor (literally) rather than hitting them with raw damage only to see them soak it up.

Now that the patch is in play classes that excel in condi builds are still welcomed, but they’re not as quasi-mandatory as they used to be.

HoT and Fractals are two different things. Berserker/Assassins/Viper’s is what you want in Fractals since you can safely and comfortably focus on damage and survive based on your active/passive defenses.

HoT [maps], on the other hand, may not be so great to wear full offense gear if you’re running the meta events. For example, if you happen to be standing in a spot where you catch sniper crossfire you’re pretty much dead. At that point though it’s a matter of whether you want to toughness up a bit to sustain more hits, or you can stick with offensive gear and just have to waypoint back a few more times than other. Honestly, it boils down to luck sometimes in HoT maps as to whether or not you get caught in a bad spot.

Thanks for the info everyone. Appreciated.

My thief is full zerkers and I do HoT and fractals just fine. I guess this is some people’s opinion over what’s actually doable. Actually it’s a Daredevil with Dash, so there is more survivability there from evasion than most people might assume a thief to have in full zerkers.

Despite never kicking anyone for running zerker gears, I do, however, advise them not bringing any squishy glassy builds to fractals with No Pain, No Gain instability. I’ve seen many staff eles due to being stubborn reduced themselves to camping water attunement – it’s hideous.

For HOT meta events its best to still run full zerkers/sinister/assassins with maybe your rings or accessories having some survivable stats. But just a little bit. Its the same for fractals once your comfy at the encounters in fractals then you can go full damage. Honestly I completed my 1 to 100 fractal achievements before the toughness de scale this was with pugs and guildmates. No one got kicked because of zerkers/damage stats. What mattered the most is skill past the 50s. But the adds/boss dont hit as hard as they used to so it was more of a test of patience (long boring fight). The scale I hated the most was afflicted because its not random condis its just immobilize and fear!!!! But we powered through that scale then boon thieves I had to retire my Guardian and switch to my ele or engi for those last scales because retal would cause so much wipes.

But you can run what ever build/stat combo you like in fractals the only difference is time. But this is only advice from a salty GW2 veteran player, youlls have all the ascended gear youll want and spares to from fractals the only question is how much dedication are you ready to learn a class to do raids.

Raids is something I suggest you try after you are comfy with your class. Also unless your the healer or tank you have to be in damage gear. Its a very unforgiving encounter to new players and require hours of constant wipes to beat. But the feeling of finally completing a wing is satisfying. My guilds current goal now is to get every member the eternal title from raids.