Guild Wars 2

If I want to add some defence to a build by picking just one of these stats how do I choose between them?

I asked this once before and at the time the general consensus was that since the only armor ignoring damage in the game is conditions and condition removal is fairly easy (especially since I’m playing a ranger) toughness is the better choice.

But now I’m revisiting it without the constraint of tying it into the traits I want and I’m struggling to see what makes armor (toughness) better than health (vitality).

What do you think?

Stack both then use food & utility buffs to convert it to Power Precision Works beautifully. I play a full Tough/Vit Mesmer and can run straight through a zerg and out the otherside, yet when I lay into someone I hit like a truck.

Toughness just reduces the damage your opponents deal. Vitality just makes sure you’d going to survive those crits. You want both high if possible to greaten your survivability.

It all kind of depends on class and play style. Ranger is smack dab in the middle of the base HP pools and armor classes so I’d say focus more on toughness.

The basic idea is that more hp counters condi and large damage spikes (which you should be evading anyway) and toughness protects more against the sustained damage. Also, the more you focus on toughness, it keeps your hp pool lower and increases healing effectiveness on you. With 20k HP and a 5k heal skill, you gain 1/4 of your HP, while 10k HP and a 5k heal skill will heal 1/2 your HP.

YOUNGaz.5690:

Also, the more you focus on toughness, it keeps your hp pool lower and increases healing effectiveness on you. With 20k HP and a 5k heal skill, you gain 1/4 of your HP, while 10k HP and a 5k heal skill will heal 1/2 your HP.

I’ve seen a lot of people say this but I’ve never really understood it.

As far as I remember all healing skills either heal you for a fixed amount or at a fixed rate. So having lower health doesn’t actually mean you get more health from being healed, just that the ball on screen fills up faster so it looks like you’re getting more.

A 5k heal skill will give you 5k health, regardless of whether your total is 10k or 20k.

Danikat.8537:

YOUNGaz.5690:

Also, the more you focus on toughness, it keeps your hp pool lower and increases healing effectiveness on you. With 20k HP and a 5k heal skill, you gain 1/4 of your HP, while 10k HP and a 5k heal skill will heal 1/2 your HP.

I’ve seen a lot of people say this but I’ve never really understood it.

As far as I remember all healing skills either heal you for a fixed amount or at a fixed rate. So having lower health doesn’t actually mean you get more health from being healed, just that the ball on screen fills up faster so it looks like you’re getting more.

A 5k heal skill will give you 5k health, regardless of whether your total is 10k or 20k.

Thing is:
With Toughness you loose less health from direct attacks than with Vitality. That’s why in the end, your healing is also worth more if you take Toughness over Vitality (against direct dmg opponents).

thoughness – if u go against power direct dmg..
if u go against something with lot of condi, go vitality

while its true that healing skills are static, what isn’t is your % relative to your total. for example, if you have runes that give you a damage boost over 90% of your health total, having a lower health pool will allow you to maintain that easier if you heal more often. the more health you have, the harder it is to get back up to that threshold. generally this is what people mean when they say mention healing effectiveness. There are a number of ranger traits that are effected by % health totals.

according to the base stats in the game, it really is as simple as:

Toughness vs Direct Damage
Vitality vs Condition Damage

typically, conditions are not that big of a deal if you have good condi clears or management. rangers have a lot of it.

the same could be said for direct damage. if you dodge well and avoid attacks, why do you need toughness. rangers have a lot of this too.

I would choose toughness over vitality, only for the reason that the utility buffs draw a larger % from toughness than they do vitality. your offensive stats will be that much higher based on your toughness, always.

Thanks everyone, that’s really helpful. Looks like toughness is going to be the best choice, at least in this case.