Guild Wars 2

Now not all fun-to-play builds are necessarily good builds so I’m wondering what criteria the players use to decide whether a build is good or not. I know for some it is pure damage but I imagine that isn’t the only metric that people are going by.

Wether a build is “good” or “better” is, as you stated, only determined by the metrics you measure it with.

The most commonly used, at least for GW2 is DPS (Damage Per Second). Because GW2 does not have inherent healer classes and every class can fill most roles to some extent many players go with “Hit so hard it can’t hit back”, because the heal skill is enough to keep them alive.

However some players may use different measurements, like “Time sustained against X players” or “Xv1”. Often used by WvW roamers it determines how many players worth of power you can withstand or even counter before being overwhelmed.

For Fun-to-Play builds and casual PvE the most widely used Metric is “Fits you best”.
The variety of builds you can run for certain activities is near limitless. Most players emphasise on a certain mechanic of the enemy they’re put up against in order to use or abuse game elements or class combinations to the best of their abilities. Some call it cheesing, but I think if your build can abuse that one weakspot of an enemy you deserve striking it. Also most of these builds are very situational and often require swapping multiple skills or even entire traitlines just for one encounter.

A build could be said to be “good” when it achieves the task assigned at the level of competence expected.

Sagramor.7395:

A build could be said to be “good” when it achieves the task assigned at the level of competence expected.

Given the wide range of possible expectations by players, this is the only thing that makes sense.

Sagramor.7395:

A build could be said to be “good” when it achieves the task assigned at the level of competence expected.

I like this idea.

I also like the idea of Xv1 measurements too. That’s a good metric to start using.

I take the build to Southsun Cove and solo veteran karka.

I’ve found it to be a really good litmus test if I’m playing something viable. If I die: faulty build. If I have less than half health: still needs work. If I have more than half health: solid build. If I’m at near full or full health: I’m a Charr demi-god.

~EW

Similarly to EW, I take my classes to the champ in the lava caves in Kessex. When I can solo it, I am happy.
Also if you can solo Kol in Harathi Hinterlands, you are good.
Then, the final test, is taking on blobs of enemy mobs in either the dredge cave with the jp in Dredgehaunt Cliffs or Orr.

There are others, however, that test by soloing dungeons or WvW roaming. All up to you.

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

I take the build to Southsun Cove and solo veteran karka.

I’ve found it to be a really good litmus test if I’m playing something viable. If I die: faulty build. If I have less than half health: still needs work. If I have more than half health: solid build. If I’m at near full or full health: I’m a Charr demi-god.

~EW

I will try this.

DGraves.3720:

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

I take the build to Southsun Cove and solo veteran karka.

I’ve found it to be a really good litmus test if I’m playing something viable. If I die: faulty build. If I have less than half health: still needs work. If I have more than half health: solid build. If I’m at near full or full health: I’m a Charr demi-god.

~EW

I will try this.

Please give it a go and let me know what you think.

For me I find they demonstrate most traits in one beasty that you’ll find spread amongst most creatures in the game. They’ve got high armor, high health, do burst damage and high condi damage, as well as require moving around to effectively face them…. yet they’re not impossible to solo like some champs in the game. They’re uncommonly tough for veterans, I find.

~EW

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

DGraves.3720:

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

I take the build to Southsun Cove and solo veteran karka.

I’ve found it to be a really good litmus test if I’m playing something viable. If I die: faulty build. If I have less than half health: still needs work. If I have more than half health: solid build. If I’m at near full or full health: I’m a Charr demi-god.

~EW

I will try this.

Please give it a go and let me know what you think.

For me I find they demonstrate most traits in one beasty that you’ll find spread amongst most creatures in the game. They’ve got high armor, high health, do burst damage and high condi damage, as well as require moving around to effectively face them…. yet they’re not impossible to solo like some champs in the game. They’re uncommonly tough for veterans, I find.

~EW

I like this limitus test. It is hard enough to be difficult without being overwhelming and lets me see the flaws in my strategies more clearly.

With karka, are you really evaluating your build or your ability to play a build/know the fight mechanics? Either way, I agree they are a good place for testing.

Their difficulty relative to other veterans rests solely on their frequent use of retaliation, in my opinion. The rolls and poison are probably a decent test for "can the player move in a fight and use dodge when needed", I suppose, if you haven’t already figured that out. If you burn yourself down on retaliation that’s not really a build’s fault. Even if you have some boon stripping it likely won’t be off cooldown enough for the fight.

I like the idea of seeing how much health you come out of the fight with as some kind of measurement, but that still should be tempered by what one aims to achieve. A tankier set of skills and armor could easily pass that metric, but the fight might take a long time for just one enemy. On the other hand, a DPS-focused build will defeat the vet far more quickly but pose a risk of getting downed much more easily.

So it depends on what you’d like from the build. If you want to prove you can sustain through a tougher fight, seeing if you can maintain high health easily through farming vet karkas is great. If you want to do better damage and then find yourself not always winning or often having low health, it’s a good fight to work on getting better and/or learning to adapt your utilities for the area and foes you will be facing.

Sagramor.7395:

A build could be said to be “good” when it achieves the task assigned at the level of competence expected.

^This. nothing more to say.