Guild Wars 2

Is there a point to other gear that isn’t Berserker being worth anything?

Mostly curiosity as to why I’m asking this question. So far, being fairly new to this game (playing a bit over 3 weeks now), I’ve been reading and following things and it seems that the majority of the player base don’t really care for any other way than the fastest. Now don’t get me wrong, although I haven’t been high level in this game very long, I have been high level in other games. I’ve ran certain content to the point of it just being a chore but I haven’t really encountered such a hard emphasis on 1 build.

And to answer what may come, nope, I am not kitten that I can’t really run what I want. I’m currently working on berserker gear now (prob will mystic forge cleric since it’s 99% useless) and trying to learn to stay alive in it (just need practice haha). I honestly wish there were a bit more diversity to pick from sometimes but I’m down to learn and what not so it makes dungeons easier for the vets.

What do the vets and new players feel about the current state of gear? Would you guys actually welcome more builds if the meta shifted that way for some, unforeseen reason?

For PvE, diversity is in the traits for the most part.

WvW. You will possibly want different armor sets for the different game modes.

As for trying to learn how to use berserkers, it may be a difficult road, but it’s really worth it. I approve of your willingness to learn. I personally started with like 3ish pieces of knights gear mixed in with my zerk, then slowly switched it out as I felt more comfortable.

Number of builds we have is actually pretty decent for each class, from what I can see. I think it’d be awesome if ranger and necro had more builds.

Diversity indeed comes by your actual build, berserker is nothing but the optimal equipment choice. Optimal builds usually change from situation to situation, with at least small differences in efficiency. One thing that doesn’t change, though, is sacrificing as much passive defense, as you can make up for actively, in order to improve your possible damage output. This is just natural, though. If you were a succeeding Formula 1 driver you possibly wouldn’t want to go back to Formula 3.

Ah right! I thought about traits but for some reason neglected to even mention them haha. I guess I sort of tunneled on the armor part and forgot not only about the traits, but weapons as well.

In all honesty, I’ve been running into people that are just coming back to the game so their quite similar to me as in not being the cream of the crop so to speak and learning the ropes. I was heavily biased about the gear department but started trying new things and liking the numbers that came out (even with a mix of zerk rare gear and assassin exotics). Hell, I’m trying to figure out how the one dude (ok I know she’s a female from her video ._.) got that 49k fire grab…kinda wanna hit the big numbers myself.

@Digi, I’m glad to see someone else started in partial knights to learn. I’ve recommended that to 1 or 2 people as I knew from doing a fractal with them that they didn’t try to avoid red circles (even if you’re new to an instance, you usually try to avoid the “danger” signs) so that’s reassuring.

I honestly still find myself putting on cleric gear sometimes during parts I KNOW a group usually has trouble with but I switch to dps gear when I feel comfortable.

On a different note, are conditional builds in general bad for PvE? So far, I’ve noticed things die pretty fast depending on who’s experienced and such so that the DoT spells of say necros or eles wont be all that great but what about for longer fights?

Aphrodesiac.2913:

Ah right! I thought about traits but for some reason neglected to even mention them haha. I guess I sort of tunneled on the armor part and forgot not only about the traits, but weapons as well.

In all honesty, I’ve been running into people that are just coming back to the game so their quite similar to me as in not being the cream of the crop so to speak and learning the ropes. I was heavily biased about the gear department but started trying new things and liking the numbers that came out (even with a mix of zerk rare gear and assassin exotics). Hell, I’m trying to figure out how the one dude (ok I know she’s a female from her video ._.) got that 49k fire grab…kinda wanna hit the big numbers myself.

@Digi, I’m glad to see someone else started in partial knights to learn. I’ve recommended that to 1 or 2 people as I knew from doing a fractal with them that they didn’t try to avoid red circles (even if you’re new to an instance, you usually try to avoid the “danger” signs) so that’s reassuring.

I honestly still find myself putting on cleric gear sometimes during parts I KNOW a group usually has trouble with but I switch to dps gear when I feel comfortable.

On a different note, are conditional builds in general bad for PvE? So far, I’ve noticed things die pretty fast depending on who’s experienced and such so that the DoT spells of say necros or eles wont be all that great but what about for longer fights?

Many people started off not knowing any better. I know for a fact that someone who’s now in a speedclear guild used to run a cleric’s AH Guardian cough.

Personally, I advocate learning using full zerk and die learning in the process (immediately down into the deep end of the pool so to speak). It helps you to know immediately what you can or cannot afford to do whilst in full zerk.

The problem with condi damage is the cap and how other people’s condis will be able to override your condi damage. It’s kinda viable for solo play where you don’t have those problems.

Aphrodesiac.2913:

Ah right! I thought about traits but for some reason neglected to even mention them haha. I guess I sort of tunneled on the armor part and forgot not only about the traits, but weapons as well.

In all honesty, I’ve been running into people that are just coming back to the game so their quite similar to me as in not being the cream of the crop so to speak and learning the ropes. I was heavily biased about the gear department but started trying new things and liking the numbers that came out (even with a mix of zerk rare gear and assassin exotics). Hell, I’m trying to figure out how the one dude (ok I know she’s a female from her video ._.) got that 49k fire grab…kinda wanna hit the big numbers myself.

@Digi, I’m glad to see someone else started in partial knights to learn. I’ve recommended that to 1 or 2 people as I knew from doing a fractal with them that they didn’t try to avoid red circles (even if you’re new to an instance, you usually try to avoid the “danger” signs) so that’s reassuring.

I honestly still find myself putting on cleric gear sometimes during parts I KNOW a group usually has trouble with but I switch to dps gear when I feel comfortable.

On a different note, are conditional builds in general bad for PvE? So far, I’ve noticed things die pretty fast depending on who’s experienced and such so that the DoT spells of say necros or eles wont be all that great but what about for longer fights?

A 49k Firegrab was probably in a group completely stacked to the teeth with party buffs (25 might, vuln, banners, frost spirit) or against an enemy with very little armor. There are a few enemies in Arah particularly that show very high numbers just because they have high health and low armor.

Condition builds are less than great for the reason you stated, their damage just takes far too long to work, and only in extremely good situations will it even match the damage a direct damage build can output.

I see. The only thing I fear while that may be a good (or better?) way to learn is that if you die TOO much, you might as well just 4 man an instance haha (which I’ve done in the past…except it was 2 people constantly laying on the floor ._.). But I do get what you’re saying. I honestly wish there were a noobie guide around for basic things that’d help fresh 80s. Time to go forum digging. \o/

Aphrodesiac.2913:

I see. The only thing I fear while that may be a good (or better?) way to learn is that if you die TOO much, you might as well just 4 man an instance haha (which I’ve done in the past…except it was 2 people constantly laying on the floor ._.). But I do get what you’re saying. I honestly wish there were a noobie guide around for basic things that’d help fresh 80s. Time to go forum digging. \o/

DnT streams their runs. GW2dungeons gives you lots of information of what you can do for different classes.

Many dungeon mentors in Noob are there to hold your hand and based on testimonials, they’re superbly patient.

I learned about the fight on Lupi from YT, but honestly, it’s nothing compared to practicing it yourself, especially duo-ing or trio-ing for the best learning experience. Unfortunately, this isn’t something that PUGs can help you achieve…

And I know some people go into the extreme deep end immediately, attempting to solo Arah, and then failing, and then grudgingly become even discouraged to join 5-man runs. So, you know… Know your limits as well

Assassins has a place in certain builds (where the extra precision is needed).
Knights gear has its place as well – mainly as a training wheel leading up to Berserker.

The rest of them are (generally speaking) useless for PvE – as PvE boils down to harder enemies just having more HP, not more skill – which is why DPS gear is preferable to non-DPS gear

WvW and PvP, on the other hand, brings Rabid, Carrion, Soldiers, Clerics, and Valkyrie (might be missing one or two) into play thanks to other players not just being HP sponges.

Also of note: All Rare/Exotic gear has SOME inherent value – for the Ectos / Dark Matter that comes from salvaging them.

OP, what class(es) are you playing? I’m guessing ele because of the mentioned fire grab damage. If that’s the case, check out the guides in the uploads here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEDhisolJVBrp7sEfl_ckaQ

Probably the best source of information for elementalists that you’ll ever find

edit: double post -.-

Yup ele haha and yea that’s the person I’ve been watching fractals videos from. I seem to be stuck using s/d though as it’s more fun than d/f so far.

As other mentioned already, the only point for non-berserker’s gears is WvW. Unless people would really buy a separate set for wandering the maps which would be a huge waste of money imo.

Silvia.9130:

As other mentioned already, the only point for non-berserker’s gears is WvW. Unless people would really buy a separate set for wandering the maps which would be a huge waste of money imo.

Well… I have a sentinels set for when I map with my hubby because he gets upset if I kill everything without him. So there’s that

Lilith Ajit.6173:

Silvia.9130:

As other mentioned already, the only point for non-berserker’s gears is WvW. Unless people would really buy a separate set for wandering the maps which would be a huge waste of money imo.

Well… I have a sentinels set for when I map with my hubby because he gets upset if I kill everything without him. So there’s that

Why not clerics? Doesn’t he like being healed either?

Ohwell, got to pay at least 100g for an armor set for it to be good enough to wear, I guess.

Dub.1273:

Lilith Ajit.6173:

Silvia.9130:

As other mentioned already, the only point for non-berserker’s gears is WvW. Unless people would really buy a separate set for wandering the maps which would be a huge waste of money imo.

Well… I have a sentinels set for when I map with my hubby because he gets upset if I kill everything without him. So there’s that

Why not clerics? Doesn’t he like being healed either?

Ohwell, got to pay at least 100g for an armor set for it to be good enough to wear, I guess.

I bought the insignias when they were less than a gold.

Aphrodesiac, you find scepter more fun than dagger MH?! o_O

I personally hate scepter. Terrible damage and unless they make dragon’s tooth less obnoxious to cast without a target selected I’m always going to opt for dagger :P

Well MH dagger isn’t bad, I just don’t know how to really use focus offhand lmao

Aphrodesiac.2913:

Well MH dagger isn’t bad, I just don’t know how to really use focus offhand lmao

Yum @focus earth 4 blast and 5 invulnerability and air 5 reflect and fire field on fire and and and… stuff. I love focus. However I don’t enjoy dagger mainhand. I get that.

You guys don’t love fire #3 on dagger?!

One of my favorite skills tbh.

I try to go with the mass but I always seem to be the odd apple haha