Guild Wars 2

Sometimes I do fractal 50 with a random group, stack and I never get hit. Other times I do Fractal 50 my friends and we get smoked over and over. Further, I see videos of groups stacking on a boss (like lupi) and burning him quickly without taking a bit of damage.

So what changes from group to group? Do some guardians cycle blinds and block better then others? With a meta composition, what strategy can my friends and I use to stay untouchable while also pumping out massive deeps?

Say we are something like:
warrior ps
staff elly
staff elly
guardian
thief/mesmer/ranger/necro

Any help is appreciated guys/gals. Ty

Two elementalists, guardian, warrior and thief will pretty must steam roll through fractals due to stealth for skips, high damage and quickness/defensive support from the guardian, this is probably the best all-round set up for fractals. and yes, obviously some players are better than others. However I’d say 2 eles, PS warrior, guard and the last class doesn’t really matter too much, but optimally thief or engineer. In less coordinated groups I think engineer is better than thief because it has more vuln/blasts
and water fields/chills ect… while still retaining stealth. But saying that even classes like necromancer can carry certain encounters such as imbuned shaman with life steal and transfusion so it is really up to you as a player to make the most of your class.

For a general strategy, keep up blinds on trash (sandstorm, black powder, smoke bomb, mortal kit 4 ect…). For bosses stay at max melee, kite around as not to trigger attacks, keep up chill/cripple to make it easier and to increase the cool down on skills, control defiant stacks to icebow 5 the boss (disable for 5 seconds) for easier DPSing and most importantly dodge at the right time.

Everything changes depending on who you play with, ultimately you can contribute to your party no matter what you play, the class isn’t as important as the player

It’s probably about the skill of individual players and their adaptability. Guardian, Theif and Elementalist are the best to keep the team alive and well, but only if they know what they are doing.

- Elementalist that Deep Freeze a boss and nobody waste CC at the start will mean a couple of second when you never get hit.
- Guardian can do a great job with blind/aegis, but if he use them back to back or on small attack, they aren’t worth as much.
- Blind is important too. Painbow list them pretty clearly.
- Stability can help for some specific fight to make sure nobody is interrupt while putting blind for exemple.
- Max might/vul/fury for dps make sure the fight is short enough so that your defensive utilities don’t run out.
- Taking Icebow on the group is something that pugs usually don’t do but help a lot for the dps (and Deep Freeze).

I think the biggest (wrong) perception is the OP’s group trying to cycle Blind and Block whenever they are available. You need to know that you may not have enough of Blind and Block, or even if you can afford all of them you are practically gimping your DPS, when the fight is drawn out. Thus, you need to learn which encounters when using them is appropriate and when there are more simpler methods to use so you can avoid exhausting your active defense.

First, weapon skills have a shorter CD than most utility, so use them deliberately if it’s for personal defense. For example, you don’t need to activate Aegis or Retreat when a single target attack aims at you. A block from Mace or Focus OH is sufficient.

Second, before you want to blind a mob, check if their mob type can be blinded. Bosses only have 10% chance to be blind, don’t waste your skills on it. Dredge cannot be blind. Certain mobs have higher attack rate than your blind pulse, so you are not entirely immune to damage with blind. For example, Fire Elemental, Earth Elemental, etc. Aegis only have one charge, Distortion have one second immune from damage.

Third, against approaching (melee) foes, check if you can ward, immobilize or interrupt them for bursting before blind becomes necessary. I’m talking about Ring of Warding, Line of Warding, Zealot’s Embrace, Unsteady Ground, Static Field, Shockwave, Temporal Curtain (pull), Magic Bullet, Head Shot, Tremor, Net Shot etc.

Fourth, before using Aegis, check if that attack is a projectile which can be reflected (not all projectiles are equal!!!). Reflection is a form damage prevention which consists of both block and reflect. Vice versa, if a projectile cannot be reflected, it cannot be blocked. All spider spit attacks from Elite to Champion to Legendary fall to this category. Speaking of Reflect, please use Reflect skills when there are actually things to reflect, not just cycle them as a safety measure. At the same time, prioritize actual Reflect over Projectile blocking/destroying.

Fifth, almost every single attacks that absolutely for the love of Christ needs aegis have a long long long long winding tell. Use the tell as your signal to get aegis down. Some knockdown/ knockback effect cannot be blocked. It is very likely that the damage portion cannot be blocked as well. Aegis only have one charge so timing is important!

Sixth, Stability is the most useful during channeling a big damage skill (Meteor Shower, Ice Bow). However, Stability now have limited charges, which means you will not be immune from a constant CC effect for a long duration anymore. For example I’m looking at the Golem spin or the Abomination Charge. In both cases, damage prevention is the most imperative. Interrupting their actions/skills works much, much, much, much more efficiently.

1) Equip Glyph of Storms
2) ????
3) End Chest