Guild Wars 2

Hopefully with this patch will end all the zerker only lfg.

While Zerker still do the most damage, it is no longer significantly better than other builds. In fact, for some classes that based its damage on conditions or power using non zerker gears is now much better.

Even with warrior I notice with zerker gears I have lost more than 10% damage. I find using Knight now offer better Survivability without losing much damage.

The best survivability is the highest damage in dungeons. Personally, i made few changes on my zerk builds and i can tell you there is no point to look for a condition or “support” build into a speedrun party. With this patch, the only thing happened is you should ping your gear more often into the party chat before you start the run. None of the serious players want a non zerker or condition build in their party, since they are good sure as every class, but there are MUCH MORE better choices.

I wonder if all the people saying they took way more than a 10% damage nerf remembered to set their traits?

Somebody on another thread claimed his non-crit autoattacks were hitting for 25% less. That doesn’t seem possible since the Ferocity changes should only affect crits.

They likely didn’t redistribute their traits like you said.

I also disagree with the OP regarding berserkers vs knights. Power is the primary stat in berserker while it’s the secondary in knights. This is a pretty significant difference especially since PvE is so mind-numbing easy that you don’t need defense/support.

Cloudwalkernz.1328:

Hopefully with this patch will end all the zerker only lfg.

I wish …

Cloudwalkernz.1328:

power using non zerker gears is now much better.

Nope, now they are less worse

Cloudwalkernz.1328:

Even with warrior I notice with zerker gears I have lost more than 10% damage. I find using Knight now offer better Survivability without losing much damage.

But you still lose damage compared to the current zerker, if you kept the zerker you wouldn’t need the knights survivability.

Don’t get me wrong, I always played as a condition trapper ranger on PvE and it is still my favorite build (but not my current build), after playing with other classes I realized that DPS is the only way to go in PvE and you don’t need anything else, if you do is because you are doing something wrong.

Lets have a moment of silence for the zerk……

Ok now thats out of the way. Good riddance. Didn’t much care for the zerker “elitists” mentality that if you didn’t have zerk you were a horrible player and a bad person. Nothing wrong with zerk in and of itself, its just the mentality that bothered me and prompted me to go a different direction with my warrior pre patch.

Now there will be more zerker only LFGs because those zerker groups that previously had enough DPS to bring a non-zerker with them now won’t be able to.

Lord Kuru.3685:

Now there will be more zerker only LFGs because those zerker groups that previously had enough DPS to bring a non-zerker with them now won’t be able to.

Exactly so.
Prepare for more kicking and more gear pinging

Belzebu.3912:

Cloudwalkernz.1328:

Hopefully with this patch will end all the zerker only lfg.

I wish …

Cloudwalkernz.1328:

power using non zerker gears is now much better.

Nope, now they are less worse

Cloudwalkernz.1328:

Even with warrior I notice with zerker gears I have lost more than 10% damage. I find using Knight now offer better Survivability without losing much damage.

But you still lose damage compared to the current zerker, if you kept the zerker you wouldn’t need the knights survivability.

Don’t get me wrong, I always played as a condition trapper ranger on PvE and it is still my favorite build (but not my current build), after playing with other classes I realized that DPS is the only way to go in PvE and you don’t need anything else, if you do is because you are doing something wrong.

^ Pretty much this. It’ll take a lot more than a crit damage nerf to change the PvE dungeon meta to be something other than ZOMFGBERZERKERGOGODPSSTACKSTACKDPSGOGOSKIPALLTHEMOBSSSS!!!!

So long as the best way to control mobs is by killing them and the best way to prevent damage is by killing what is damaging you then damage will be the optimal way to play in a group.

Zerk stack and smack is the most efficient way to complete everything that I have seen. But everything (save arah and aetherblade as we have not done them yet) is doable by children. My two kids say hi from their carrion and clerics. So dont worry you dont have to zerk out if you dont want to.

But it is impossible to deny that zerk is the most efficient. Just go on a run and watch the boss melt in only a couple seconds.

FenrirSlakt.3692:

Remember to always place your trust in the Holy Trinity of DPS.

• May Power, the Father grant you His Might to rain death in the form of large numbers on top of your enemies.
• May Precision, the Son, with His Fury guide your blades into the flimsiest of their armor.
• Though fallen, may Ferocity, the Holy Spirit, imbue you and magnify the virtues of both, the Father and the Son, so that your blows may fall heavy on your foes taking on the shape of more hard-hitting crits.

Spared and blessed be the followers of the Assassin that, though slightly bent on their ways, share our vision of smooth and efficient speedruns.

May you never degenerate and fall and be led astray to the misguided ways of the Rampager, or the nefarious path of the Soldier, or the wretched lanes of the Rabid.

May your faith in the Berserker never falter, your Fury never quenched, and your Might always stacked to 25.
For Great Justice!
Amen.

That is all.

@above. Especially with the “nerf” the lower tier dungeons. Melt pfft most of the bosses dont even have time to blink.

More like RIP every single build but zerker.

^

Agreed. Zerker is overrated….

Spiuk.8421:

More like RIP every single build but zerker.

Nope – sorry – actually TRY another build. Other builds are more viable now and that is the most important thing.

The “zerker” only groups will now be much more strict.

You have less room for error. Say a guild group with 4 people (all zerker, optimized build) used to run dungeons in a certain time frame, they could just add a 5th of whatever (cleric guardian most likely) and just carry him. Now that they got nerfed, that 5th person NEEDS to be zerker to make up for the nerf.

The better idea would have been to stop hating on the most efficient build, and embrace it.

Ethics.4519:

The better idea would have been to stop hating on the most efficient build, and embrace it.

Never!!! Long live the Valkyrie warrior!!!

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Zerker-was-buffed-in-numerous-zones-PvE/first#post3905579

There is nothing wrong with using ptv. Its just that you arent the most efficient in one section of dungeoning. Specifically speed clearing.

There has been links of ptv and healing power no dodge groups doing dungeons easily. Heck there was one of an ele soloing spider queen.

The fight took 35 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNMltxyvAvo

As for other builds being more viable? You mean like the mesmer staff/ sceptre torch build.

Dusty Moon.4382:

Spiuk.8421:

More like RIP every single build but zerker.

Nope – sorry – actually TRY another build. Other builds are more viable now and that is the most important thing.

They were always “viable” they were just never optimal and amazingly enough after this change, they still will not be optimal and still will not be wanted in groups trying to be optimal.

If anything non zerk users will have less chance of getting in optimized groups because it will not be as easy to carry people using sub optimal builds and gear.

:D Like the Tank guardian in cm I just had. “I have up to 300 extra vitality” Gets downed in 3 hits. Fortunately the lower tiered dungeons are so easy now you can solo them in a reasonable time frame. So I would say

AC/ you can carry 2-3 CM 2-3 TA 2

Dont know about rest as I am too busy on this thread to get a party going.

Dusty Moon.4382:

Spiuk.8421:

More like RIP every single build but zerker.

Nope - sorry - actually TRY another build. Other builds are more viable now and that is the most important thing.

Math is a not a natural science, I don’t have to go out and try anything.

Like many other people I used to be fine with carrying a guy or two with sub-par builds because with 3 guildies running a proper setup you still had more than enough damage to navigate the content in a reasonable amount of time, but that’s not the case anymore.

Feel free to enjoy the gear checks and kicks, you asked for them.

Question would an ele that does double the dmg of the best zerker be aloud to go with you ;3

Larenc.1269:

Question would an ele that does double the dmg of the best zerker be aloud to go with you ;3

It would, but sadly that does not exist.

Wonna come vist me

David.9807:

The best survivability is the highest damage in dungeons. Personally, i made few changes on my zerk builds and i can tell you there is no point to look for a condition or “support” build into a speedrun party. With this patch, the only thing happened is you should ping your gear more often into the party chat before you start the run. None of the serious players want a non zerker or condition build in their party, since they are good sure as every class, but there are MUCH MORE better choices.

I can’t believe what I’ve just read…. this kind of thinking is a plague of this game.

Fenrir.3609:

Dusty Moon.4382:

Spiuk.8421:

More like RIP every single build but zerker.

Nope – sorry – actually TRY another build. Other builds are more viable now and that is the most important thing.

They were always “viable” they were just never optimal and amazingly enough after this change, they still will not be optimal and still will not be wanted in groups trying to be optimal.

If anything non zerk users will have less chance of getting in optimized groups because it will not be as easy to carry people using sub optimal builds and gear.

Sure they will – I have a build using Carrion armor and Knight’s trinkets and it is bloody amazing compared to the same build using Zerker everything and more survivable too.

People just need to experiment now. Stop going and using the same cookie cutter builds posted on the internet.

Berserker is still viable. It is still the best damage. But people bigged it up to be something that it never was. Before the patch, after the patch, it’s just a viable raw damage build that does exactly what you want it to.

Others want to try other things such as supporting the party or bypassing defences with conditions. These were also viable. Just because you don’t see a 10 digit number on the enemy doesn’t mean it didn’t do its job. It just served a different purpose.

The sooner you all learn there is no one true build, there is no one true path to the same outcome, the sooner you’ll all become better, more adaptable players and will stop saying the sky is falling every time someone takes 15% off your damage.

Larenc.1269:

Question would an ele that does double the dmg of the best zerker be aloud to go with you ;3

but that ele is a zerker ele ?

DonQuack.9025:

Larenc.1269:

Question would an ele that does double the dmg of the best zerker be aloud to go with you ;3

but that ele is a zerker ele ?

Nope 50:50 build dmg and toughness XD

Darkobra.6439:

Berserker is still viable. It is still the best damage. But people bigged it up to be something that it never was. Before the patch, after the patch, it’s just a viable raw damage build that does exactly what you want it to.

Others want to try other things such as supporting the party or bypassing defences with conditions. These were also viable. Just because you don’t see a 10 digit number on the enemy doesn’t mean it didn’t do its job. It just served a different purpose.

The sooner you all learn there is no one true build, there is no one true path to the same outcome, the sooner you’ll all become better, more adaptable players and will stop saying the sky is falling every time someone takes 15% off your damage.

My Crit damage bonus dropped from 259% to 229%. It was about a 12% drop in crit damage. 8-9% total DPS drop for anyone who goes all out into a Zerker build.

As a Ranger, I didn’t even notice a change in Damage, since Pet damage wasn’t touched, and its half our class’s damage when people actually use it.

Odd Cuz iirc the zerker ele is at the top of the dps list so how how a non zerker ele can do double I dont know.

IMO the part of this patch that help most the build diversity is the ability to respec anytime anywhere.
It made me experiment and test on the spot various builds.

With my Engi now I’m running a Cleric Build of all things, where I take advantage of the Performance enhancement and Energized Armor traits to balance my stats a little, as well as Healing Bombs to Heal the zerg while doing aoe damage!

I really don’t care about the GS meta, It’s broken.
Next meta will be axe/mace, axe /warhorn in full zerk. axe mace because of vunerability, axe /warhorn for mobiulity and dmg reduction. (well just see what happens if 4/5 warriors swap vunerability and perma weakness the boss…)

Have fun, with all your builds.

Just for the record I got 3 warriors lvl 80
1 with zerk/pvt/carrion armors and zerk/pvt and rampagers trinkets Hybrid/zerk/PVT WvW
(whatever… ALL weapons in BOTH Zerk/Rampager)
1 with rabid armor and rabid or rampgers trinkets (rabid/ rampager S/S & LB) Hybrid tank/condi tank
1 with zerk/cavalier and zerk trinkets (zerk weapons) (Hammer/Rifle) Ferocity Hammerstun / Killshot build

Theay all have their uses, and the rest lost 12% effectiveness as well, only my Hammer/Gs/Rifle/Longbow already have a second set of sigils… TY Anet for 750 refunded dyes,,,

Kite.2510:

IMO the part of this patch that help most the build diversity is the ability to respec anytime anywhere.
It made me experiment and test on the spot various builds.

With my Engi now I’m running a Cleric Build of all things, where I take advantage of the Performance enhancement and Energized Armor traits to balance my stats a little, as well as Healing Bombs to Heal the zerg while doing aoe damage!

Already thinking outside the box!!

Dusty Moon.4382:

Sure they will – I have a build using Carrion armor and Knight’s trinkets and it is bloody amazing compared to the same build using Zerker everything and more survivable too.

People just need to experiment now. Stop going and using the same cookie cutter builds posted on the internet.

If you feel you have a build which is better than the current meta build for whatever content you are doing, feel free to post evidence outlining exactly why.

Perhaps you have, after all metas do evolve, but forgive me if I’m not instantly convinced.

Btw, not everyone using a meta build is blindly following them without a shred of understanding as to why said build is optimal and why they should use it.

Already thinking outside the box!!

Well perhaps not really, the mention of “healing the zerg” somewhat points to wvw zerging or at the very least open world pve zerging and not instanced pve, i.e. somewhere that a) zerk is already not the meta and b) clerics is hardly unknown.

Zerker is dead.

Long live Zerker!

Sorry but this patch will make me want to gear check even more. I can’t carry dead weight builds anymore. I know this makes me a horrible person and an elitist jerk but I really don’t care. When I am farming for my third legendary gold per hour is more important to me than anything else in a dungeon run. I have no problem with people running non zerker builds but I don’t want them in my group especially now. I understand what a kitten that makes me sound like.

Zerker will always be the best set up for dungeon until they inevitably change their combat system.

This game has no build diversity, compared to GW1. It’s black and white, either go full dps or be a hindrance in dungeons.

Once they remove the armor stats and go back to the system that GW1 had of builds being reliant upon your rune selections and skill loadouts, then you’ll see a more diversified game environment.

Do you guys seriously think it works that way? If prepatch a dungeon clear was 20 min zerk 30 min anything, and new patch it’s 23 min zerk and 30 min anything, I will still take 23 min. Hell, now I won’t tolerate ANYTHING but zerk since it might increase the already longer timers.

Personally I’m never joining a non zerk party again and I will ask for gear ping every. single. time.

@razor
Wow…just wow.
So instead of finding a new way to play, or a different runset/traits you’re going to be an elitist jerk? Its that attitude that drove me away from zerk to begin with. I think the prevailing attitude about the nerf is positive. Yeah its down from what it is, and we are still adjusting to ALL the changes. Good luck finding a party now that more people are TRYING DIFFERENT THINGS. I can almost guarantee you’ll spend more time looking for your ideal party than it would take to just get over yourself and do the kitten dungeon.

People who believe that these ferocity changes will actually cause people to look for non zerker group members have no idea what the mechanics of the game are.

this suxk….
9/12 of my character its zerker.. if they nerf the zerker why dont they allow us to repick the item stats…

pdavis.8031:

@razor
Wow…just wow.
So instead of finding a new way to play, or a different runset/traits you’re going to be an elitist jerk? Its that attitude that drove me away from zerk to begin with. I think the prevailing attitude about the nerf is positive. Yeah its down from what it is, and we are still adjusting to ALL the changes. Good luck finding a party now that more people are TRYING DIFFERENT THINGS. I can almost guarantee you’ll spend more time looking for your ideal party than it would take to just get over yourself and do the kitten dungeon.

The meta will shift most likely, Runes of strength couls get worthwhile axe as weapon over sword will be worthwhile now. But zerk will stay zerk, Ppl will need to be a little more careful playing zerk, but max dmg is and will stay the fastest dungeon. I also play zerk and I also play “freebuilds no stacking open to all (relevant) lvl dungeons” I like helping ppl to learn, but compared to an experienced stacking zerk run most other builds wil just not do. It’s simple DPS = G(old)P(er)S(econd) No more repair costs either. I will do a lot. Only way this will ever change if each dungeon gets a condition-vunerable boss with resistance againt raw dmg. say 5k toughnes..

Until then it’s just DPS, walls, shields, and so on. At least for the ppl wanting to earn quick money. And until now they’d allow a hammer/GS build or something exotic, but that will be over.

Zerker is still the meta, zerker is still king, zerker is still the most dps.

Good players still dont need more vit, more toughness, any kind of healing power to survive in PvE.

Conditions will always be crap as long as there is a 25 cap.

A full zerker group will still clear any dungeon 2-3x as fast as a PvT group. However now that zerker are doing less damage, that means PvT pugs will be getting carried less… longer dungeon runs for the unwashed masses, leading into the exact opposite of what the OP stated.

Elitism will rise thanks to the zerker nerf, not diminish.

Does anyone ever ping zerker gear and then wear something else?

[quote=3912244;PaxTheGreatOne.9472:]

If i have 3 hours playtime and need to grind as many dungeons as fast as possible in that time to get my next legendary – why the hell would i want people slowing me down? If a run can be done in 12 mins but takes an hour with “we must kill everything” “My staff heals are helping you all survive!” “With my pvt hammer ah guard I never get downed!”
Why? I’ve run this these dungeons hundreds of times, i don’t need to dawdle and admire the scenery, i have it memorized.
You are selfishly eating up my time by your inability to see what is most effective.
Full world mapping as a zerk warr – 37 hours.
Full world mapping as a pvt guardian – still haven’t finished after 47 hours.
Combat eats time like popcorn if you’re not specced right.

PaxTheGreatOne.9472:

snip

Your signiture amuses me… Think you’ve got enough Zerk there?

A question, does it take any longer to set up the full zerker parties than just going in with anything? If so is it actually faster overall?

No idea really since I very rarely dungeon..