Guild Wars 2

OK so the game has been out for a while and people have had a chance to really test out the different builds and gear set ups. Personally I haven’t really noticed large variations in what gear works well and I’d really like some tips on optimising my gear set up for dungeons. I understand many people can speed through a dungeon with an experienced group and glass cannon builds, this will not be me for the near future.

I’m looking for tips on how to build a character (in my case a shortbow/axe/warhorn ranger but I suspect most classes will benefit from similar gear when it comes to defense) to maintain their DPS at an acceptable level while also having a fair amount of durability to deal with PuGs and dungeon inexperience.

I don’t think the game communicates very well how much each stat helps you in different situations. I can see toughness and healing being more sustainable than vitality, but saving you less often from big hits which really want a larger health pool. Vitality will probably be more useful against conditions (I plan to run TA but I’d like to have a general use dungeon set, at least to begin with) and I’m not sure if I want to bring a second DPS stat.

What would be the better choices when looking at a durable dungeon gear set up for people starting out? Which defensive stats give you more milage? Is it worth bringing all three? Or two DPS stats and one defensive stat?

imo..i run full dps (power, prec, crit dam), but thats because there is usually some heavy wearer in the group…ill be the first to admit though, im a glass cannon. Although my next set im looking at will prolly move more towards power, prec, and tough…cuz of course, what good does health do for you if the boss hits you for more anyway

Lmnotz.2057:

imo..i run full dps (power, prec, crit dam), but thats because there is usually some heavy wearer in the group…ill be the first to admit though, im a glass cannon. Although my next set im looking at will prolly move more towards power, prec, and tough…cuz of course, what good does health do for you if the boss hits you for more anyway

There’s no much wrong with that if you can avoid the damage and or mitigate it ofc while you’re doing that your dps is dropping down, it’s more important ofc to have utilities, so if you’re running say a full signet warrior build with all dps traits, you’re being carried and it won’t be long til people start calling you on it, just don’t be the one who comes crying on the forums when it happens mate, you can’t just play selfish in gw2 without being punished slightly

If you’re just gearing up for dungeons and aren’t yet experienced with them then I would recommend Knight’s armor as it has Power/Pre/Toughness. I also like the Invader WvW gear, or the AC exotics, as it has Power/Vit/Toughness. If you’re running with a good group, know the dungeon, and can avoid deaths then you can get away with Berserker’s but that will leave you very weak.

Don’t just think you have to be in full exotics to run them either. Masterwork/Rare quality works just fine and masterwork quality is extremely inexpensive and gets the job done while you save up for the good stuff.

Thanks Shiren for bringing up this topic. I have been wondering myself what is the best armor to go with. So very helpful!

As someone above already said, you do not need rare/exotic to clear dungeons. Masterwork will be fine. Save money to supplement lv80 exotics, don’t bother with rare/exotic pre-80 in my opinion. They will be needed once you start trying to clear with max efficiency, but they aren’t a necessity for a simple clear.

As for attribute distribution of your equipment, I would say that unless you have a static group, try to go evenly distributed so that you can more easily adjust to each party you form. Also somewhat related, when choosing your traits, while it’s important to grab the traits that you want, don’t neglect the attribute bonuses provided as well. They make a huge bonus. You may want to forgo a trait in the precision line if you are lacking in vit/tough, for instance.

Always go into a dungeon with every type of weapon available for your profession. You don’t want to get caught needing a particular weapon and not have it available. Again, masterwork will be sufficient.

You can farm up 3 G in 3hrs no problem at 80. This is enough to get full yellows of everything. If you can’t be bothered to do this please don’t complain if your group does bad. Full yellows will due til you get better gear.

This goes for jewlery as well. It’s not bad to have a mix of say:
Saphire: Power/Healing/Toughness and
Beryl: Power/Vitality/Crit Dmg.
That gives a nice blend of power, toughness, vitality, and some crit dmg.
Also your armour signets/runes etc are all things to think about. Say Divinity runes, that give +5 to all stats (major). You could get 4 of those, and then apply Orbs of the particular benefit you want to the other 2 pieces. (Some non percentage (non magic find or crit dmg) Orbs give upwards of 48 to 3 stats, and can be applied directly to armour. )