Guild Wars 2

One of the most frequently-asked questions in GW2, at least in my opinion, is “what build should I use?” I think that if more people understood how GW2 works, they wouldn’t need to ask that.

In other MMO games, at least in my experience, there are one or two “superbuilds” for a few (or possibly all) classes, but outside of certain skills, traits, feats, abilities, etc., a lot of the “options” presented to you are absolutely worthless. People therefore fear coming up with a build in GW2 because 1) they suspect that if they don’t know what the current meta/“superbuild[s]” for their class is, or whether their class is even viable, that they’ll waste time and in-game money experimenting on a lost cause, or 2) if they don’t use the current flavor-of-the-month builds or overpowered “superbuilds,” they’ll be at a disadvantage compared to other players. For example, I played Diablo 2 for a while back in the day, and basically, if you weren’t a hammer paladin, a spin-to-win whirlwind barbarian, or some kind of sorceress, you weren’t going to get far; necromancers and amazons were often deemed outright useless. I’ve heard that in WOW, there is pretty much exactly one viable build per class, and some classes are decidedly underpowered.

GW2 is different. While some people will berate you for not optimizing your build for group play, every class is viable, and every class has enough options that pretty much any playstyle is viable.

People often ask me what the “best” build is, either for their class or in general. While some may disagree, the best build is the one you enjoy and that you understand how to use. GW2 is not a game where you can slap on the skills and gear a community-made build calls for and expect to win the game automatically. Yes, some people criticize the game for being too easy and facilitating zergs and mindless autoattacking, but if you’re exploring on your own or in small groups, you’ll lose if you’re not paying attention to the enemy and using a build you understand.

The first step is to find a class that conforms to your preferred playstyle. Other than dedicated healers and tanks, I can almost guarantee there’s a class for you. Ask yourself whether your current class is one that fits the way you like to play. If it is, great! If not, don’t waste your time—switch characters, try another class, and see if it works. Do you like micromanagement? Try a mesmer. Do you enjoy a simpler strategy based on surviving up close and doing heavy melee damage? Try a warrior.

The second step is focusing on what you actually want to do with your class. Each trait line caters to a specific style. Figure out what appeals to you and specialize accordingly. Do you like the guardian’s Virtue of Justice, which applies burning? Choose traits related to burning, the use of that virtue, and anything that works with traits that cause burning or improve the virtue—SYNERGIZE. For example, Radiance is the trait line that emphasizes burning and the Virtue of Justice. The 5-point trait causes blindness around you when you activate Justice. Major trait VI causes vulnerability when blindness is applied. Therefore, using those together gives you TWO extra effects when you use that one ability. Add in the 5-point trait from the Virtues line, and you ALSO grant might to yourself and everyone around you when you use Justice! That’s synergy, and that’s what you want to go for. Ground your build in a concept or two, and work towards achieving a certain goal when you choose your traits and skills. The more synergy, the better.

The final step is to know when to adjust your build. No build is so watertight that it will be optimal for every situation; when your environment and the rules of engagement change, you should change as well. Is the enemy immune to certain conditions? Change your build so your skills are useful and their effects aren’t wasted. Do you need a lot of damage, or do you just need to survive? Focus on one or the other, depending on what the game demands of you. Is your build solo-friendly or party-friendly? When you’re alone, you can’t rely on others; when you’re with a group, some skills are worthless because there’s an overlap between your abilities and your party members’, and others are of little benefit when your party members are better in a particular area than you are. If you’re a thief, why bother bringing Spider Venom (adds poison to your next few attacks) when the necromancer in your party can keep your enemy poisoned for the entire fight with just his weapon skills? Your utility skills would be better used to do things the other party members can’t do; leave poison to someone who’s already good at it, since your contribution will be minimal compared to his. This final step is one of the most crucial—I’ve seen far too many people who are adamant about using their favorite builds, even when those builds are woefully inadequate for the task at hand. Would you use a hammer to open a can of soup, or a saw to hammer in a nail? Use the right tools for the job, and you’ll generally succeed. Play the way you want to, but don’t be so rigidly committed to your build choices that you doom your entire group. Insistently refusing to use ranged attacks when going melee a certain boss means certain death isn’t “playing how you want,” it’s downright incompetence. Conversely, using only ranged attacks on an enemy that reflects all projectiles doesn’t make you a good, intelligent, or “pro” player, it makes you an idiot who refuses to follow common sense. Play smart, and listen to your teammates!

I know this will probably be a controversial post, and experienced players probably already know about the concepts I’ve attempted to outline here, but I hope that at least a few people will learn something valuable from what I’ve said here and come up with a build that’s fun, engaging, and effective according to their preferences and playstyle. I’m not the type of person who’s interested in min-maxing, optimizing based on crunching numbers, or anything like that, but if anyone has any questions about making a practical build, let me know either here on the forums or in-game and I’ll do my best to help. Good luck, and happy adventuring!

ADDENDUM: There are many player-made builds out there. Some of them are excellent, but you should NEVER feel compelled to copy and paste those builds onto your character. It’s more constructive to figure out how the build works, evaluate its effectiveness, strengths, and weaknesses, and determine what you like and don’t like about it. Instead of copying and pasting it, figure out what aspects of it you like, and consider working those aspects into your own build. Unless you care about getting the absolute maximum possible effect out of a build setup, you shouldn’t feel that you HAVE to follow the posted build to the letter. Just look at how it was constructed, and take the concepts you want from it, and leave the rest. Consider Bruce Lee’s words of wisdom:

“Too much horsing around with unrealistic stances and classic forms and rituals is just too artificial and mechanical, and doesn’t really prepare the student for actual combat. A guy could get clobbered while getting into this classical mess. Classical methods like these, which I consider a form of paralysis, only solidify and constrain what was once fluid. Their practitioners are merely blindly rehearsing routines and stunts that will lead nowhere.

I believe that the only way to teach anyone proper self-defence is to approach each individual personally. Each one of us is different and each one of us should be taught the correct form. By correct form I mean the most useful techniques the person is inclined toward. Find his ability and then develop these techniques. I don’t think it is important whether a side kick is performed with the heel higher than the toes, as long as the fundamental principle is not violated. Most classical martial arts training is a mere imitative repetition – a product – and individuality is lost.

When one has reached maturity in the art, one will have a formless form. It is like ice dissolving in water. When one has no form, one can be all forms; when one has no style, he can fit in with any style."

In short: if it works, it works. It doesn’t really matter how you do it, as long as you get results, and don’t let people browbeat you into feeling inferior just because you chose an alternative, but no less valid and no less effective, style from what they consider “correct” or “the best.” On the other hand, if your build isn’t effective, I urge you to figure out where its weaknesses are and revise the build until it works. No matter how unorthodox your build, you can’t argue with results. But don’t let this make you feel that your build is the be-all, end-all, either. I continually challenge myself to learn new techniques and strategies and tweak my builds to improve them as much as I know how, and I encourage the GW2 community to do the same. Never settle for “good enough,” and you’ll never stagnate.

Geez, I sound like some cheesy inspirational speech, or a self-help book or something. Nevertheless, I hope this helps