Guild Wars 2

I’ve only been playing about a week now, so please be gentle

I have a 22 Ranger (my first character), for PVE only, and I usually run with Longbow and Sword/Torch (I like the burning effects).

I use Sigils of Bloodlust on everything to get the 25 stacks of additional power.

My question is, then what? I keep the 25 stacks even if I switch weapons, so I feel I need other weapons with other sigils to maximize my potential.

I was thinking Signet of Renewal on Longbow, since it doesn’t give any condition damage that I can see.

What about running Axe/Torch after I have the 25 bloodlust stacks and using dual sigils of bursting, since I’d have 3 attacks there that do condition damage? For that matter, does anyone run Axe/Torch and use the other Sigils (forget the name) that builds up additional condition damage to 25 stacks instead? (The main reason I don’t is because the Longbow does not deal condition damage)

Another idea I had, odd as it may sound, is having Sigils of Impact on all 3 weapons. This is because I’ve been using the Sylvan Hound pet a lot recently. I realize their damage isn’t terrific, but the regen is nice, AND they knock down their enemy, which helps to keep us alive longer. This would give me additional damage when they are knocked down.

Thanks for your advice.

You could run sigils of Bloodlust/Corruption depending on power/condition setup and swap to another weapon with different sigils and keep the stacks.

You should probably consider using weapons with complimentary damage types (power/condition). So if using Axe/Torch, try switching to Shortbow or another Axe/Torch for your secondary since as you’ve noticed Longbow does no condition damage. If conditions are the route you wanna go down, since you like the burning, go after sigils that apply additional conditions, add to condition duration, add to condition damage, or stack might.

The knockdown from dogs is 2 sec on a 40 sec CD, so it wouldn’t be worth slotting Impact.

tbh you’re going to be changing gear so often as you level that it really isn’t worth agonising over and it’s probably a waste of gold to keep sigils optimised.
They don’t add a great deal.

From a non-condition based standpoint with berserker’s armor, you’d want blood lust till it reaches 25 stacks, then switch out to a force sigil weapon. On critical hit sigils also pair well with Berserker sets due to the high crit rates.

If you like burning, One gives you a chance to cause Flame Burst on Crit (AoE fire & burning…not much but effects multiple enemies…I think its Sigil of Fire or Flame) and another can increase burning length (I think that is Sigil of Smoldering).

For Longbow, I use Sigil Peril (increases the length of the Vulnerability condition that skill # 2 applies).

which stacking you use depends on the rest of your build. Stacking Might (Bloodlust?) is good on a Crit based build (I suggest using a Greatsword as 2nd weapon) while stacking condition damage (Corruption) is good if focusing on conditions (you should be using a short bow for the potential constant bleeding, however).

Note that none of these are going to be a big help at the “minor” level, so you may just as well be better off saving your money and using available gems or other upgrade items for general stat boosts until you can use Major or Superior Sigils.

Brother Grimm.5176:

If you like burning, One gives you a chance to cause Flame Burst on Crit (AoE fire & burning…not much but effects multiple enemies) and another can increase burning length.

If you’re talking about Sigil of Fire it’s just a flame blast. It does not apply Burning.

Brother Grimm.5176:

Note that none of these are going to be a big help at the “minor” level, so you may just as well be better off saving your money and using available gems or other upgrade items for general stat boosts until you can use Major or Superior Sigils.

+125 Power helps a lot.

Contiguous.1345:

tbh you’re going to be changing gear so often as you level that it really isn’t worth agonising over and it’s probably a waste of gold to keep sigils optimised.
They don’t add a great deal.

Well considering everyone doing leveling and area completion will be sitting on a near-useless stack of transmutation stones…

My advice is to stay away from stacking sigils while leveling because you loose the stack every time you change maps and when you are downed. Furthermore having stacking sigils on both main-hand and off-hand at the same time is a waste. All this does is slightly increase the stack build-up time. It does not give you any additional bonus.

Not knowing your build, it is difficult to go into specifics, so all I can do is give you my personal set-up.

First, you should be using leveling to try different play-styles and weapon combinations so you have a better understanding of what the class can, or cannot, do. Do not lock yourself into 1 or 2 weapon combos.

Right now, I am using a lot of sword/dagger (sometimes sword/warhorn) and axe/axe in a 20/25/0/25/0 build, full beserker armour and weapons. I also run dual bows LB/SB for some content as well.

You may hear many times in the game: “Might is Right”. Might is both power and condition damage rolled into one. However, the amount you receive for each stack of might is dependent on your level. The higher your level, the more power and condition damage you receive per stack of might.

With 25 stacks of might at level 80, the bonus is +875 Power and Condition Damage. This makes the +125 Power bonus from a fully stacked bloodlust sigil pretty small potatoes, since I can get +140 Power and Condition Damage with only 4 stacks of might. Add on the pain of having to stack the sigil every time you changes maps, to me it is not worth the effort.

I stack a lot of might that I share with my 2 cats (stalker and leopard). When running dual bows, both have sigils of battle, I constantly swap between them to keep stacks of might and fury up on myself and the cats. My greatsword also has a sigil of battle. I use runes of Hoelbrak to sustain the might for a longer period of time.

When running sword/xxx and axe/axe, my main-hand weapons have sigils of strength and my off-hand weapons have sigils of accuracy. Again, this is to generate more stacks of might on crit hits that I share with the cats.

During a short fight, I can easily run up 6-10 stacks of might and sustain 6 over the duration. The longer the fight, the more might I can stack, since the sigil of strength’s internal cooldown is only 1 sec. The sigil of battle has a 10 sec CD, but since the weapon swap CD is longer, this does not factor.

This is longer that I expected, but hope it helps …