Guild Wars 2

What do you guys think the new raid meta will look like? Trying to figure out which chars to gear up / focus on. I want to be able to find pugs easily.

The most in demand “roles” will always be tank and healer. As you’re limited to 1 of each at best (fight depending). Tank is unlikely to change as Chrono will still be good. Healer, with what we have seen will still have Druid being better in most cases than anything else.

For something that will guarantee you are in raids, play atleast 2 dps classes of varying types, condi/power.

From what we can see nothing major is changing. Rev will still be viable (borderline optimal), Thief / Ele will still be player dependent, and Warrior is Warrior.

But if you want to improve your stuff, the first thing to do is get into a raiding guild. Pugging isn’t going to help your chances as ultimately it’s about 60/40. Where as a good raid guild will normally have atleast 15 people you can swap in and out and typically have a stable 10 man roster.

Any tips on finding a raiding guild? I haven’t seen any guild recruitment spam in Map chat in ages…

Chip Skylark.2367:

Any tips on finding a raiding guild? I haven’t seen any guild recruitment spam in Map chat in ages…

Do fractals, alot. Most of the people who raid are into fractals. Add them as friends, talk to them about their guilds/interest and see if you find one that fits.

I wouldn’t really trust the map chat ads, for raid guilds as they typically are bigger guilds that have 7-8 decent players, but ultimately not dedicated enough to actually pull through a raid. Harsh but sad reality of bigger guilds is they tend to be social rather than caring too much about progression.

TexZero.7910:

Rev will still be viable (borderline optimal)

rev will be stronger than before.

NoTrigger.8396:

TexZero.7910:

Rev will still be viable (borderline optimal)

rev will be stronger than before.

How? Their sword auto is getting nerfed

Blah, alright thanks

rev auto damage is being put into precision strike so overall it’s not a nerf but I don’t see how it’s a buff either

NoTrigger.8396:

TexZero.7910:

Rev will still be viable (borderline optimal)

rev will be stronger than before.

I’m holding on the neutral side of this. If they can fix bugs, and actually don’t “nerf” but rather just adjust where the damage is coming from then it should in theory, be stronger. However, historically speaking that’s not the track record we’ve seen.

Shovel Face.4512:

NoTrigger.8396:

TexZero.7910:

Rev will still be viable (borderline optimal)

rev will be stronger than before.

How? Their sword auto is getting nerfed

The current highest personal dps classes for the raid are revenant, tempest, and condi warrior. Revenant might be getting their sword auto nerfed, but tempest and condi war (and many other classes) are getting their alacrity nerfed, which likely will amount to a similar dps loss. Additionally, Revenant’s sword 2 is getting a pretty decent buff, as it will be extremely easy to hit any of the current raid bosses with all three projectiles every time.

So even if Revenants deal less damage than before overall, relative to most other classes they will stay about the same (or maybe get better). And all this ignores the fact that their party buffs are extremely good (on demand regen, fury, might, boon duration, protection for five people; ferocity buff for five people).

I would guess that a typical build will look something like this:

1 Druid
1 Chrono
2 PS Warrior
2-4 Revenant
2-4 Tempest (Staff vs Fresh Air depends on fight and group needs)
0-3 Condi Engineer
0-2 Thief (Power)

Obviously any of the fights could be and currently are completed with the classes I didn’t list here (in fact if Sabetha’s flak gets fixed then two condi necros would be meta in that fight). But pug groups tend to want the current “best” comp and I would guess that it will gravitate towards something like this.

And of course, a lot of what becomes the new meta comps depends on the specifics of the patch. It’s possible that the new King of Fires will actually be really good, and condi wars will just switch to rune of balthazar or nightmare or something and get spammed fire auras by 4 tempests. It depends on the implementation of the trait. Similarly, the usefulness of Thieves depends a lot on exactly how much damage they gained, because they provide zero in the way of party buffs which really makes them only interchangeable with tempests in a group comp.

It will depend on the encounters that we are given.

Thief will probably skyrocket in popularity because of the huge damage buffs it’s getting. Mesmers will probably not be mandatory with the Alacrity nerf, Necros getting boon strip and their already mediocre damage. Warriors will probably still be very meta, not actually convinced the condi “nerf” is really a nerf.

But at the end of the day encounters will dictate the most how the meta forms.

Shovel Face.4512:

NoTrigger.8396:

TexZero.7910:

Rev will still be viable (borderline optimal)

rev will be stronger than before.

How? Their sword auto is getting nerfed

Apparently sword #2 is getting a very large damage buff but will only be single target.

Id expect thief to become the new standard tank assuming the damage buffs are good. Other classes have a bit of difficulty maintaining dps rotations while tanking. Whereas thief tanks by dealing maximum damage. So yeah.

And personally id prefer the chrono not to tank so they can focus on quickness and alac sharing while dealing better dps. Its awkward enough on its own especially when subgroup swapping. Adding tank role into that as well just makes it a headache. Really hate playing chrono tank on VG because of this. Maybe im just a bad chrono though. :P

Shovel Face.4512:

NoTrigger.8396:

TexZero.7910:

Rev will still be viable (borderline optimal)

rev will be stronger than before.

How? Their sword auto is getting nerfed

Chip Skylark.2367:

Blah, alright thanks

rev auto damage is being put into precision strike so overall it’s not a nerf but I don’t see how it’s a buff either

Dinosaurs.8674:

So even if Revenants deal less damage than before overall, relative to most other classes they will stay about the same (or maybe get better).

True enough the Alacrity nerf will have almost no effect on revenant dps, while some profession like Tempest will affected a lot. Still that’s not the point.

Yes, Revenant sword auto-attack will be nerfed, but the Sword #2 will be buffed for single target.

Right now it Sword #2 spawn 1 projectile by target with a max of 3. But with the patch it will always spawn 3 projectiles even if there is only 1 target and all 3 projectiles will hit the target, tripling the damage of Sword #2 on single target. Of course, against several target, the damage won’t be increase, but for raid you mostly have single target boss.

True enough the Alacrity nerf will have almost no effect on revenant dps, while some profession like Tempest will affected a lot. Still that’s not the point.

Yes, Revenant sword auto-attack will be nerfed, but the Sword #2 will be buffed for single target.

Right now it Sword #2 spawn 1 projectile by target with a max of 3. But with the patch it will always spawn 3 projectiles even if there is only 1 target and all 3 projectiles will hit the target, tripling the damage of Sword #2 on single target. Of course, against several target, the damage won’t be increase, but for raid you mostly have single target boss.

It will always be hitting three times if you stand in the hitbox of the enemy

Aradox.6140:

It will always be hitting three times if you stand in the hitbox of the enemy

No it will always be hitting three times if you stand in the hitbox of the enemy and there is 2 other mobs near to it to spawn the 3 projectiles. If there is only 1 mob, only one projectile will spawn.

Pandabro.8743:

Thaddeus.4891:

No it will always be hitting three times if you stand in the hitbox of the enemy and there is 2 other mobs near to it to spawn the 3 projectiles. If there is only 1 mob, only one projectile will spawn.

No, next patch it will always spawn 3 projectiles regardless of how many targets are nearby. Right now you can only do it if there are more targets around.

Precision Strike – now always launch 3 projectiles regardless of how many targets (if there is only 1 target it will receive all 3 projectiles). Reduced the chill duration from 2s to 1.5s per projectile.

That’s exactly what thaddeus was saying.

Pandabro.8743:

Thaddeus.4891:

No it will always be hitting three times if you stand in the hitbox of the enemy and there is 2 other mobs near to it to spawn the 3 projectiles. If there is only 1 mob, only one projectile will spawn.

No, next patch it will always spawn 3 projectiles regardless of how many targets are nearby. Right now you can only do it if there are more targets around.

Precision Strike – now always launch 3 projectiles regardless of how many targets (if there is only 1 target it will receive all 3 projectiles). Reduced the chill duration from 2s to 1.5s per projectile.

Thaddeus.4891:

Right now it Sword #2 spawn 1 projectile by target with a max of 3. But with the patch it will always spawn 3 projectiles even if there is only 1 target and all 3 projectiles will hit the target

Hello?

The alacrity nerf may eventually reduce the quickness uptime, hence reduce Rev auto. Now the question is: will the damage transfer towards precision strike compensate the loss of quickness ?

If King of fires will no longer give 33% burning duration, how will that impact the viper berserker DPS? Would taking a burning duration rune instead of berserker rune be better?

King of Fires will give the 33% still in addition to the new functionality if you watched the live stream. Nothing will change because nothing of consequence is being nerfed and the things being buffed are irrelevant. Enjoy the condi berserker meta for the next raid wing.

Dinosaurs.8674:

Shovel Face.4512:

NoTrigger.8396:

TexZero.7910:

Rev will still be viable (borderline optimal)

rev will be stronger than before.

How? Their sword auto is getting nerfed

The current highest personal dps classes for the raid are revenant, tempest, and condi warrior. Revenant might be getting their sword auto nerfed, but tempest and condi war (and many other classes) are getting their alacrity nerfed, which likely will amount to a similar dps loss. Additionally, Revenant’s sword 2 is getting a pretty decent buff, as it will be extremely easy to hit any of the current raid bosses with all three projectiles every time.

So even if Revenants deal less damage than before overall, relative to most other classes they will stay about the same (or maybe get better). And all this ignores the fact that their party buffs are extremely good (on demand regen, fury, might, boon duration, protection for five people; ferocity buff for five people).

I would guess that a typical build will look something like this:

1 Druid
1 Chrono
2 PS Warrior
2-4 Revenant
2-4 Tempest (Staff vs Fresh Air depends on fight and group needs)
0-3 Condi Engineer
0-2 Thief (Power)

Obviously any of the fights could be and currently are completed with the classes I didn’t list here (in fact if Sabetha’s flak gets fixed then two condi necros would be meta in that fight). But pug groups tend to want the current “best” comp and I would guess that it will gravitate towards something like this.

And of course, a lot of what becomes the new meta comps depends on the specifics of the patch. It’s possible that the new King of Fires will actually be really good, and condi wars will just switch to rune of balthazar or nightmare or something and get spammed fire auras by 4 tempests. It depends on the implementation of the trait. Similarly, the usefulness of Thieves depends a lot on exactly how much damage they gained, because they provide zero in the way of party buffs which really makes them only interchangeable with tempests in a group comp.

This looks pretty reasonable, although I’m not sure the thief changes will make them that valuable.

Warriors still seem to be the wild card. I’m sure we’ll see Scorched Earth nerfed, but between the changes to King of Fires and the vague promise of damage increases and removal of aftercasts, it’s possible that there will be other pure dps builds (condi or power) that will make warriors worth stacking, even after you have PS covered. Hell, with the adrenal changes, maybe rifle dps will be worthwhile…

@ Spoj: I still wouldn’t expect to see a thief tank simply because of how much they move during evades and weakening strike.

And what about guardians?

cry

Nothing will change.
The question will still be how much warriors you can stack without loosing dps and Anet does not seem to be interested in changing it.
The buffs to Ele and Rev are a perfect example of failed PvE balancing, unfortunatly

Mortifer.2946:

And what about guardians?

cry

Well…let’s look at the checklist and see where they fit in:

• Heavy might stacking? Nope, Heralds and PS war wins out here.
• Profession-unique damage boost? Nope, still nothing here yet.
• Ability to play healer? Well, not really and a druid could do it while bringing damage boosts at the same time.
• High personal dps compared to other professions? Nope, not really.
• Efficient tank build? Yea, but other classes can tank as well while also bringing big dps or helpful utility.

So, I guess until there’s a need for aegis and reflects, we probably won’t see Guards in the raid meta. Well, unless there’s something else in the patch notes that they haven’t discussed yet. =/

Dahkeus.8243:

Mortifer.2946:

And what about guardians?

cry

Well…let’s look at the checklist and see where they fit in:

• Heavy might stacking? Nope, Heralds and PS war wins out here.
• Profession-unique damage boost? Nope, still nothing here yet.
• Ability to play healer? Well, not really and a druid could do it while bringing damage boosts at the same time.
• High personal dps compared to other professions? Nope, not really.
• Efficient tank build? Yea, but other classes can tank as well while also bringing big dps or helpful utility.

So, I guess until there’s a need for aegis and reflects, we probably won’t see Guards in the raid meta. Well, unless there’s something else in the patch notes that they haven’t discussed yet. =/

I wish there was a trait for guardians that makes Aegis more powerful and block attacks that would be unblockable otherwise, that alone would change absolutely everything.

Something needs to be changed, and it is ArenaNet’s job to figure it out. I didn’t pay 50€ for dragonhunter and raids just to find out I cannot go there with him.

AKA: ALL new specialisations should have a role in raids.

Mortifer.2946:

Something needs to be changed, and it is ArenaNet’s job to figure it out. I didn’t pay 50€ for dragonhunter and raids just to find out I cannot go there with him.

AKA: ALL new specialisations should have a role in raids.

You know…you CAN go there with them. Just because they’re not meta doesn’t mean you can’t clear the raid with one. Hell, VG was killed with a group of 10 guardians.

So yes, the situations not ideal, but it’s not enough to throw a pity party.

Mortifer.2946:

Something needs to be changed, and it is ArenaNet’s job to figure it out. I didn’t pay 50€ for dragonhunter and raids just to find out I cannot go there with him.

AKA: ALL new specialisations should have a role in raids.

We’ve cleared the Raid with a DH every week for weeks now, its really not that big a deal.

Coulter.2315:

Mortifer.2946:

Something needs to be changed, and it is ArenaNet’s job to figure it out. I didn’t pay 50€ for dragonhunter and raids just to find out I cannot go there with him.

AKA: ALL new specialisations should have a role in raids.

We’ve cleared the Raid with a DH every week for weeks now, its really not that big a deal.

I know, but the problem is, I’m not a part of any community in GW2. I am in guilds but I didn’t create real gaming friendships. Thus, even when I meet some new people willing to take me to raid with them, it is completely understandable that they don’t want to take in guardian, because they can take burnzerker and chrono can tank instead. Just because they don’t feel like lowering party’s DPS just to accommodate some stranger. But I agree, there are people who don’t mind guardian. It is just sad to see all the negativity in Pugs/ semi-pug parties.

I’m looking for some guardian’s to try something in raids, They hit pretty heavy. If anyone’s interested hit me up in-game.

Guardian’s have a place in raids, people are just too caught up in their “META” comp’s to realize it’s potential.

Mortifer.2946:

Coulter.2315:

Mortifer.2946:

Something needs to be changed, and it is ArenaNet’s job to figure it out. I didn’t pay 50€ for dragonhunter and raids just to find out I cannot go there with him.

AKA: ALL new specialisations should have a role in raids.

We’ve cleared the Raid with a DH every week for weeks now, its really not that big a deal.

I know, but the problem is, I’m not a part of any community in GW2. I am in guilds but I didn’t create real gaming friendships. Thus, even when I meet some new people willing to take me to raid with them, it is completely understandable that they don’t want to take in guardian, because they can take burnzerker and chrono can tank instead. Just because they don’t feel like lowering party’s DPS just to accommodate some stranger. But I agree, there are people who don’t mind guardian. It is just sad to see all the negativity in Pugs/ semi-pug parties.

So…join a guild. I mean there’s no point complaining if your only obstacle is yourself.

Dahkeus.8243:

Mortifer.2946:

Coulter.2315:

Mortifer.2946:

Something needs to be changed, and it is ArenaNet’s job to figure it out. I didn’t pay 50€ for dragonhunter and raids just to find out I cannot go there with him.

AKA: ALL new specialisations should have a role in raids.

We’ve cleared the Raid with a DH every week for weeks now, its really not that big a deal.

I know, but the problem is, I’m not a part of any community in GW2. I am in guilds but I didn’t create real gaming friendships. Thus, even when I meet some new people willing to take me to raid with them, it is completely understandable that they don’t want to take in guardian, because they can take burnzerker and chrono can tank instead. Just because they don’t feel like lowering party’s DPS just to accommodate some stranger. But I agree, there are people who don’t mind guardian. It is just sad to see all the negativity in Pugs/ semi-pug parties.

So…join a guild. I mean there’s no point complaining if your only obstacle is yourself.

For me, it’s less like find a guild and more like: find time to play and befriend those people and become a part of their community. I know… with the current class balance and poor LFG tools, it is the only way. – That’s why I’m waiting until I finish all my exams

As a student you should have plenty of time to do all that.

spoj.9672:

As a student you should have plenty of time to do all that.

I wish I had the time I did back when I was in college, lol. School’s different for everyone though.

spoj.9672:

As a student you should have plenty of time to do all that.

It is a bit different at this moment of my life. Gotta start looking for a job, read stuff for my master’s thesis, learn a new language to be able to communicate with my girlfriend’s parents, and of course there are like 6 courses I have to take. But I agree, that in general, it isn’t hard to play during university/college life

Yeah but I guarantee when you actually have a Job you will be saying “I wish I had as much time as I did as a student”. Your perspective switches.

Oh kitten! Well, thanks for ruining my day I thought how awesome it will be to come from job and have a free evening every day

Mortifer.2946:

spoj.9672:

As a student you should have plenty of time to do all that.

It is a bit different at this moment of my life. Gotta start looking for a job, read stuff for my master’s thesis, learn a new language to be able to communicate with my girlfriend’s parents, and of course there are like 6 courses I have to take. But I agree, that in general, it isn’t hard to play during university/college life

Oh, a master’s student? Yea, I could definitely see you having less time.