Guild Wars 2

I’ll update the original post as I procure feedback from the community. This will act as a guide for players both new and old. I think it is important for players to identify and subsume realistic expectations of themselves and their team-mates in regards to the capabilities of each of the Bunker varieties.

Format:

Guardian

Advantages
+ Stability
+ Boon-Sharing through Shouts
+ Condition Removal
+ General blocks to assist in avoiding burst (aegis/shelter/ focus)
+ Best class for rezzing (traits, sanctuary)

Disadvantages
- Poor Mobility (in terms of kiting and getting out of a fight)
- Not a true bunker when compared to other bunkers (more of a hybrid group support)
- The least capable bunker when solo bunking
- The most susceptible to burst if you are not paying attention due to low health pool.
- Very low damage.

-

Engineer

Advantages
+High damage output for a bunker
+Lots of control (knockbacks mainly)
+High dodge rate
+Lots of blocks
+Condition heavy (for a bunker)
+Knockbacks are easy to time for interrupts
+Lots of AoE
+Many Blast finishers (good for stacking might/healing)
+Ability to self revive (If running Elixir R)
+High regen uptime
+Can decap a point very fast

Disadvantages
-Susceptible to burst
-Not much condi removal
-No stability
-No viable access to buffs
-Bad for rezzing down allies in a fight.
-Not much team support

-

Elementalist

Advantages
+Good damage output for a bunker
+Good condition removal
+Good heals on a low CD
+Great team support (boons, heals, condition removal)
+Ok stability uptime
+3 Stun breaks
+Mist Form
+Mobility (if you hit your target)
+Good for rezzing if Mist Form is off CD

Disadvantages
-Needs boons to be effective => vulnerable to boon removal
-Low HP => vulnerable to burst
-Needs to dodge a lot to tank => vulnerable to immobilize, knockdowns, etc.
-Mobility (if you don’t hit your target)
-Bad for rezzing if Mist Form is on CD

-

Ranger

Advantages
+High Damage
+Condition Removal
+Very good Healing/Regeneration
+Decent group synergy (combo fields)
+Powerful Elite
+AoE Buffs from Pets
+Built in Evades

Disadvantages
-Limited group support
-Buggy Pet AI

-

Mesmer

Advantages
+ Great group support through mantra heals, random boons and vigour.
+ Invulnerabilities vs Bursts
+ Great in-combat mobility
+ Decent cleansing
+ Stability
+ Good defense vs CC through instant casting heals/movement skills while stunned

Disadvantages
- Dies to condition overload
- Susceptible to Interrupts
- Weaker if solo-bunkering

-

Necromancer

Advantages
+ Deathshroud
+ High HP-Pool
+ Plague form

Disadvantages
- No stability (besides the useless trait)
- Not enough healing
- No stun breaks
- Nothing to defend against projectiles
- No viable access on boons
- No support for the group, besides fears and wells

-

Thief

Advantages

Disadvantages

-

Warrior

Advantages
+ Boon sharing (warhorn, banners; statincrease)
+ AoE Rezz
+ Condition remove (warhorn, shouts, mending)
+ Good in Rezzing (traits)
+ blocks / 0-dmg receive (endure pain, shield stance)

Disadvantages
- Not enough healing to sustain (shouts not healing effectively)
- Doesn’t bring much teamsupport in
- Bad in 1v1 situations
- Not enough stability / save-stomps (balance stance has a too high cd)
- No synergy in traitlines/utilities for bunkering (endure pain and balance stance are not shouts = not healing)

-

Guardian:

+ Stability
+ Boon-Sharing through Shouts
+ Condition Remove
+ General Blocks to avoid bursts (Aegis/Shelter/ Focus)
+ Best class for rezzing (traits, sanctuary)

- Mobility (in terms of kiting, get out of a fight)

Warrior:

+ Boonsharing (warhorn, banners; statincrease)
+ AoE Rezz
+ Condition remove (warhorn, shouts, mending)
+ Good in Rezzing (traits)
+ blocks / 0-dmg receive (endure pain, shield stance)

- Not enough heal to sustain (shouts not healing effective)
- Doesn’t bring much teamsupport in
- bad in 1v1 situations
- not enough stability / save-stomps (balance stance has a too high cd)
- no synergy in traitlines/utilities for bunkering (endure pain and balance stance are not shouts = not healing)

Necromancer:

+ deathshroud
+ high HP-Pool
+ plague form

- no stability (besides the useless trait)
- not enough healing
- no stunbreaks
- nothing against projectiles
- no viable access on boons
- no support for the grp, besides fears and wells

sec. part is coming soon

I think on guardian it’s important to note the aoe nature of the condition removal, with both soldier’s runes and Pure of Voice, as opposed to only having soldier’s runes available as a warrior.

I updated the original post. I got some additional feedback in game and in my inbox… Nevertheless, I would like to urge everyone to participate actively in the thread and refrain from sending me private messages. I’d like to encourage some healthy discussion and debates as well concerning some of the contributions.

Kind Regards

Someone sent me some information to update Rangers. Still looking for more feedback from the community.

Elementalist

Advantages

• Good damage output for a bunker
• Good condition removal
• Good heals on a low CD
• Great team support (boons, heals, condition removal)
• Ok stability uptime
• 3 Stun breaks
• Mist Form
• Mobility (if you hit your target)
• Good for rezzing if Mist Form is off CD

Disadvantages

• Needs boons to be effective => vulnerable to boon removal
• Low HP => vulnerable to burst
• Needs to dodge a lot to tank => vulnerable to immobilize, knockdowns, etc.
• Mobility (if you don’t hit your target)
• Bad for rezzing if Mist Form is on CD

I hope this helps.

Thief bunker is going to be difficult to define, not because it’s impossible, but because the methods of approaching thief bunker are hugely varied.

you need just one guy in the teamfight for aoe stability so your dmg dealer won´t get cct while dpsing a downstate target and unfortunately only guard can do this.

Well, a thief bunker shouldn’t use stealth, right? For if he uses it, he will lose his point. Correct me if I am wrong, I don’t play thief.

redslion.9675:

Well, a thief bunker shouldn’t use stealth, right? For if he uses it, he will lose his point. Correct me if I am wrong, I don’t play thief.

Yes, this is correct.

This is also just about the only point that you could say about bunker thieves in general. :/

less typing more playing

why no bunker thief written lol…. so they just built for offense. and still many ppl complaining about steal boon flanking strike of thief poor thief very poor

Coloxeus.3480:

why no bunker thief written lol…. so they just built for offense. and still many ppl complaining about steal boon flanking strike of thief poor thief very poor

They can be built more defensively. All of my specs typically run much better survivability than tons of thief builds.

And the people complaining about FS stealing their boons make me laugh.

Engineer
Advantages
+High damage output for a bunker
+Lots of control (knockbacks mainly)
+High dodge rate
+Lots of blocks
+Condition heavy (for a bunker)
+Knockbacks are easy to time for interrupts
+Lots of AoE
+Many Blast finishers (good for stacking might/healing)
+Ability to self revive (If running Elixir R)
+High regen uptime
+Can decap a point very fast
Disadvantages
-Susceptible to burst
-Not much condi removal
-No stability
-No viable access to buffs
-Bad for rezzing down allies in a fight. (excluding throw elixir R)
-Not much team support

Awesome feedback, someone sent me a PM updating Mesmers as well.

yolosmurf.8052:

so you just copy paste what a random r 27 who never ever plays the game posts

NICE!

overall i gotta say QUATILITY THREAD!

Yes, because rank means everything. Who cares about the theory and the math behind the game?

Arganthium.5638:

yolosmurf.8052:

so you just copy paste what a random r 27 who never ever plays the game posts

NICE!

overall i gotta say QUATILITY THREAD!

Yes, because rank means everything. Who cares about the theory and the math behind the game?

U mad cuz u bad bro?

All I get from this is “Roll Necro bunkers” :P

yolosmurf.8052:

Arganthium.5638:

yolosmurf.8052:

so you just copy paste what a random r 27 who never ever plays the game posts

NICE!

overall i gotta say QUATILITY THREAD!

Yes, because rank means everything. Who cares about the theory and the math behind the game?

U mad cuz u bad bro?

Or because it’s not an accurate representer of skill whatsoever?

yolosmurf.8052:

so you just copy paste what a random r 27 who never ever plays the game posts

NICE!

overall i gotta say QUATILITY THREAD!

are you talking about me?

I play everyday. Refute some things I say, rather than be some annoying kitten

yolosmurf.8052:

so you just copy paste what a random r 27 who never ever plays the game posts

NICE!

overall i gotta say QUATILITY THREAD!

First of all… even if someone supplied counterfactual data, it doesn’t negate the actuality that the thread still possesses the potential of being a thread filled with Quality* data. The expectation I have for this thread is to stimulate healthy discussions on bunker builds.

The information garnered will be 100% community driven. The original post is not set in stone.

If there was misinformation uploaded to the OP and you disagree with the information, you could simply highlight the reality of the situation and ping pong the “facts” among other subject matter experts contributing to the thread.

yolosmurf.8052:

shockwave.1764:

yolosmurf.8052:

so you just copy paste what a random r 27 who never ever plays the game posts

NICE!

overall i gotta say QUATILITY THREAD!

are you talking about me?

I play everyday. Refute some things I say, rather than be some annoying kitten

Idc if you play everyday with your kitten – keep that to yourself.

Your gw2 shack stats show very nicely that you havent been playing jackkitten in months except for that one thursday.

He’s in my guild. He plays every day. He’s also a very good player.

yolosmurf.8052:

Jasher.6580:

yolosmurf.8052:

shockwave.1764:

yolosmurf.8052:

so you just copy paste what a random r 27 who never ever plays the game posts

NICE!

overall i gotta say QUATILITY THREAD!

are you talking about me?

I play everyday. Refute some things I say, rather than be some annoying kitten

Idc if you play everyday with your kitten – keep that to yourself.

Your gw2 shack stats show very nicely that you havent been playing jackkitten in months except for that one thursday.

He’s in my guild. He plays every day. He’s also a very good player.

Wow hearing another kittenkitten noobs opinion on his kittentard noob friend really made me change my mind!

He`s not playing tourneys – pretty much not at all – and thats all i care about so he can gtfo!

which btw brings me back to my initial point:

QUATILITY THREAD!

Nobody cares about what you care about.

yolosmurf.8052:

He`s not playing tourneys – pretty much not at all -!

That’s my point. You ARE wrong. He is in my guild and we are a pvp guild. We play tourney’s every day.

Can I please have an opinion on Low health Disadvantage on Bunker Eles? Low Hp=> Vulnerable to Condition Dams Spam ex: HGH Engine. I emphasize on Spamming Conditions Thanks.

Stealth.9324:

Can I please have an opinion on Low health Disadvantage on Bunker Eles? Low Hp=> Vulnerable to Condition Dams Spam ex: HGH Engine. I emphasize on Spamming Conditions Thanks.

Bunker eles usually don’t have a lot of problems against condition builds. They have low HP but the amount of condition removal makes up for that (especially if you use S/D). The last nerf to eles helped condition builds a little bit though.

When I bunker with my thief I design him to not rely on stealth, and it works. Sword / Pistol is the king here. Focusing on blocking projectiles with smoke screen, evading, blinding and interrupting to stay alive. I also go 10 points in SA to get that sweet condition removal if needed.

Works like a charm for me Only drawback is low health pool and toughness..

If you don’t list the builds you are using when analyzing each class we won’t know just how flawed your reasoning is.

Blackhat.4016:

Stealth.9324:

Can I please have an opinion on Low health Disadvantage on Bunker Eles? Low Hp=> Vulnerable to Condition Dams Spam ex: HGH Engine. I emphasize on Spamming Conditions Thanks.

Bunker eles usually don’t have a lot of problems against condition builds. They have low HP but the amount of condition removal makes up for that (especially if you use S/D). The last nerf to eles helped condition builds a little bit though.

While I agree with you that Eles has a good amount of condition removal,but against the class that spam conditions every second,aka Engine, once u use up all yours options, you are very vulnerable to Conditions, like 3 mins after the fight starts.

shockwave.1764:

Engineer
Advantages
+High damage output for a bunker
+Lots of control (knockbacks mainly)
+High dodge rate
+Lots of blocks
+Condition heavy (for a bunker)
+Knockbacks are easy to time for interrupts
+Lots of AoE
+Many Blast finishers (good for stacking might/healing)
+Ability to self revive (If running Elixir R)
+High regen uptime
+Can decap a point very fast
Disadvantages
-Susceptible to burst
-Not much condi removal
-No stability
-No viable access to buffs
-Bad for rezzing down allies in a fight. (excluding throw elixir R)
-Not much team support

Just wanting to add here, unlike other bunker professions, Engie bunkers often have sutble to major differences in between builds, just because of how trait dependant we can become, so these are subject to change depending on bunker type.

Stealth.9324:

Blackhat.4016:

Stealth.9324:

Can I please have an opinion on Low health Disadvantage on Bunker Eles? Low Hp=> Vulnerable to Condition Dams Spam ex: HGH Engine. I emphasize on Spamming Conditions Thanks.

Bunker eles usually don’t have a lot of problems against condition builds. They have low HP but the amount of condition removal makes up for that (especially if you use S/D). The last nerf to eles helped condition builds a little bit though.

While I agree with you that Eles has a good amount of condition removal,but against the class that spam conditions every second,aka Engine, once u use up all yours options, you are very vulnerable to Conditions, like 3 mins after the fight starts.

Also, vitality is better at total damage reduction than toughness is, so you should at least use some degree of vitality to increase your survivability if you’re gonna run bunker ele, or, for that matter, any other class.

Of course, you don’t want to go too far over the top, otherwise your healing will have its effectiveness heavily removed.

Even with Valkyrie for some extra Vit, the max we can reach is just over 14k a bit. Using Soldier Amulet is even an option but u reduce your Healing Power too much.

Stealth.9324:

Even with Valkyrie for some extra Vit, the max we can reach is just over 14k a bit. Using Soldier Amulet is even an option but u reduce your Healing Power too much.

Huh.

Don’t you guys run any water points any more? I mean, the old standard of 30 water was obviously nerfed, but… Still provides some vit.

I’ve never really liked Healing Power all that much, personally speaking, as it doesn’t seem to increase your healing by a significant amount whatsoever unless you build up the HPower really high (granted, my math may not be entirely accurate right now, as I haven’t gone too much into heals yet, but from what I have seen it doesn’t seem to do much for you, relatively speaking). However, I do suppose you could use a Soldier’s Amulet with Cleric’s Jewel (that’s what I used to run on my thief), and then grab some Healing Power with vitality from Water.

I dunno.

Arganthium.5638:

Stealth.9324:

Even with Valkyrie for some extra Vit, the max we can reach is just over 14k a bit. Using Soldier Amulet is even an option but u reduce your Healing Power too much.

Huh.

Don’t you guys run any water points any more? I mean, the old standard of 30 water was obviously nerfed, but… Still provides some vit.

I’ve never really liked Healing Power all that much, personally speaking, as it doesn’t seem to increase your healing by a significant amount whatsoever unless you build up the HPower really high (granted, my math may not be entirely accurate right now, as I haven’t gone too much into heals yet, but from what I have seen it doesn’t seem to do much for you, relatively speaking). However, I do suppose you could use a Soldier’s Amulet with Cleric’s Jewel (that’s what I used to run on my thief), and then grab some Healing Power with vitality from Water.

I dunno.

14k is what I already included 30 pts in Water. With no Water, your Hp is just barely pass 10k. The reason why Cleric Amulet goes very well with Eles due to the fact that Eles can pull out multiple small heals in a short span of time. For all others class, their only source of healing is just through healing skill and Regen Boons. That’s why it is not that useful. And we choose to have high healing power not because we wish to but rather we have to.Otherwise, we are just sheep feed to wolves

aydenunited.5729:

shockwave.1764:

Engineer
Advantages
+High damage output for a bunker
+Lots of control (knockbacks mainly)
+High dodge rate
+Lots of blocks
+Condition heavy (for a bunker)
+Knockbacks are easy to time for interrupts
+Lots of AoE
+Many Blast finishers (good for stacking might/healing)
+Ability to self revive (If running Elixir R)
+High regen uptime
+Can decap a point very fast
Disadvantages
-Susceptible to burst
-Not much condi removal
-No stability
-No viable access to buffs
-Bad for rezzing down allies in a fight. (excluding throw elixir R)
-Not much team support

Just wanting to add here, unlike other bunker professions, Engie bunkers often have sutble to major differences in between builds, just because of how trait dependant we can become, so these are subject to change depending on bunker type.

Good point, I’m trying to think of a solution on how to structure the OP around these subtle differences.

Arganthium.5638:

Coloxeus.3480:

why no bunker thief written lol…. so they just built for offense. and still many ppl complaining about steal boon flanking strike of thief poor thief very poor

They can be built more defensively. All of my specs typically run much better survivability than tons of thief builds.

And the people complaining about FS stealing their boons make me laugh.

ya i agree lol. that’s the only way how thieve’s gaining boon except from few stacks of might and 2secs swiftness on evade and trait gain vigor when using heal. imagine thieves can’t gain protection or stability!?? and Lacenous strike is 1sec casting time and its very hard to hit on foe. if u fail that’s a waste of 4initiatives. they need to try our build 1st. be4 they complain

Toss out ranger disadvantage “not very mobile”. They are one of the most mobile classes in the game. Otherwise, you nailed our limited group utility on the head.

Also add “aoe buffs from pet” and “lots of built-in evades” to the pros.

Faux Sheaux.6179:

Toss out ranger disadvantage “not very mobile”. They are one of the most mobile classes in the game. Otherwise, you nailed our limited group utility on the head.

Also add “aoe buffs from pet” and “lots of built-in evades” to the pros.

I updated it.