Guild Wars 2

I know classes aren’t balanced around 1vs1.
But who is the current 1vs1 King of the Hill?
Please separate old classes from new elite specs when ranking.

My ranking:

1) Chronomancer (F5 + chain spam burst, reset by F5, repeat chain spam burst)
2) Druid (the healing sustain is real)
2) Scrapper (the healing sustain is real)
2) Revenant (the healing sustain is real)
5) Dragonhunter
5) Daredevil
7) Reaper
7) Berserker
9) Tempest (never seen one in a 1vs1 fight before…so not sure how they do)
10) The rest of the old classes. They don’t stand a chance against the elite specs.

Take herald down a few hundred notches, please.

If you, for whatever reason, block their UA (which you have no excuse avoiding in a pure 1v1 setting), that’s all their burst. They’ve got access to approx 13.8k healing on demand across their two legends and two weapon sets which means very little with all the DPS flying around (1.5 unloads from my thief). Infuse light can be considered a block since you have no business attacking them once they pop this.

Honestly, I see these guys as more mobile medi guards with 0 condi cleanse, but medi guard is capable of more burst, a better ranged weapon, and slightly less telegraph to skills.

SlayerSixx.5763:

Take herald down a few hundred notches, please.

If you, for whatever reason, block their UA (which you have no excuse avoiding in a pure 1v1 setting), that’s all their burst. They’ve got access to approx 13.8k healing on demand across their two legends and two weapon sets which means very little with all the DPS flying around (1.5 unloads from my thief). Infuse light can be considered a block since you have no business attacking them once they pop this.

Honestly, I see these guys as more mobile medi guards with 0 condi cleanse, but medi guard is capable of more burst, a better ranged weapon, and slightly less telegraph to skills.

um no UA is not the only burst a rev has.

You are right about Chronomancer and Druid being good at that for a while… but since they produce no damage, they are doomed at the long term when their skills get in CD. DH plays in a different league than the other classes and eventually will destroy them.

venusiano.8246:

You are right about Chronomancer and Druid being good at that for a while… but since they produce no damage, they are doomed at the long term when their skills get in CD. DH plays in a different league than the other classes and eventually will destroy them.

are you talking about normal 5v5 pvp or 1v1?
i see chronos winning dh quite often in 1v1.

Berserker above tempest? What?
I’d put reaper and scrapper in top 3 above Chrono actually. Good Scrappers and reapers are incredibly hard (borderline impossible) to beat.
Warrior/Berserker needs a rework and thief to an extent also needs some love.

Berserker of course.. rock bottom Trash. Let’s just pretend Berserker has always existed and the good Ol vanilla warrior is our Elite

I seriously still can’t believe how one trait line can turn a class into a joke

SlayerSixx.5763:

Take herald down a few hundred notches, please.

If you, for whatever reason, block their UA (which you have no excuse avoiding in a pure 1v1 setting), that’s all their burst. They’ve got access to approx 13.8k healing on demand across their two legends and two weapon sets which means very little with all the DPS flying around (1.5 unloads from my thief). Infuse light can be considered a block since you have no business attacking them once they pop this.

Honestly, I see these guys as more mobile medi guards with 0 condi cleanse, but medi guard is capable of more burst, a better ranged weapon, and slightly less telegraph to skills.

Don’t underestimate the auto of a Herald’s Sword, nor the damage output of individual skills on the Hammer, even if it’s somewhat slow—it’s not that hard to use it.

Drop the Hammer combined with shortly following up on it by using Elemental Blast, forces many opponents (in a sense) to get hit by one or the other, sometimes in part both. Throw out a Chaotic Release in that mix and it’s incredibly difficult to avoid these things. Precision Strike is another source of Chill as well. The Phase Smash skill not only hurts, but it makes the Revenant evade and apply Chill. Want to stealth? Gaze of Darkness will deny you that, and Blind you. Burst of Strength is another decent skill that will hit for some reasonable damage, and it will put 20 stacks of Vulnerability on you unless you dodge it.. meaning with the auto, you are probably looking at 25 stacks. The Herald is quickly very painful to fight, while having some sustain to them.

Personally I prefer Glint+Jalis for the interrupt with Forced Engagement, condi cleasing while healing on Soothing Stone, and both damage and Stability from Inspiring Reinforcement. Vengeful Hammers can also be pretty painful as an addition to the already decent damage. The shield skills are another couple healing sources.

I switched mains from a lockdown Mesmer(/Chronomancer) though. Maybe my playstyle is different to that of most Revenant/Herald players.

1) Scrapper, Druid, Dragonhunter
2) Chrono, Herald , Reaper
3) Tempest
4) Berserker, Daredevil

Old d/d ele can still trade blows with these specs in a 1v1 when played well, but scrapper is basically just an improved version of it. A big reason for this is that new elite specs get either the equivalent of RtL without a 40s CD (like scrapper and druid) or have even more support than base ele. Base ele is sub-par in teamfights (compared to something like a scrapper, druid, or well chronomancer) with all of the random damage that flies around.

Also, tempest is very bad for 1v1s. They are mostly just support bots who have some aoe damage to spam that helps in teamfights b/c of the grouping on-point. When you play tempest, it is sort of like old bunker guard, you mostly try to avoid 1v1’s, and instead just look for teamfights.

Good heal sustain builds are nigh inpossible to beat 1v1. Played a (non-meta) scrapper and fought a mesmer for over 10 mins untill help finally came (for the mesmer ). Same probably goes for reaper, mb herald, and Tempest to some extend. Of course, to win a 1v1 you actually have to kill your opponent, this is where Tempest falls off

venusiano.8246:

You are right about Chronomancer and Druid being good at that for a while… but since they produce no damage, they are doomed at the long term when their skills get in CD. DH plays in a different league than the other classes and eventually will destroy them.

No damage ?
Celestial amulet says hello.

Also I don’t get it how there are so much diversity in everyone’s reports.
Some say UA is weak, some say it’s OP, some say AA chain is the strongest melee chain and vice versa.
Even with energy bar that limits the usage of skills, along with sustain Revs have, they still have a wide variety of possible outcomes during a fight (I don’t say they are OP becuase casual shiro/glint is really freakin’ squishy).
Though UA is kind of annoying it should lack the evade because you can’t CC a rev unless you have a CC boon like shocking aura, but not everyone has those.

TIP for guards with DH spec
When such rev is damaged, it’s good to drop a spear on them because when they use shield skill to heal, crystal hibernation, you can pull them and interrupt it.

ANET doesn’t care about 1v1. If they did that would mean they would have to balance the game. The Cop-out is they will balance the game around 5v5 but we know thats not balanced also and never has been.

EremiteAngel.9765:

I know classes aren’t balanced around 1vs1.
But who is the current 1vs1 King of the Hill?
Please separate old classes from new elite specs when ranking.

My ranking:

1) Chronomancer (F5 + chain spam burst, reset by F5, repeat chain spam burst)
2) Druid (the healing sustain is real)
2) Scrapper (the healing sustain is real)
2) Revenant (the healing sustain is real)
5) Dragonhunter
5) Daredevil
7) Reaper
7) Berserker
9) Tempest (never seen one in a 1vs1 fight before…so not sure how they do)
10) The rest of the old classes. They don’t stand a chance against the elite specs.

I really have to disagree with your rankings and this is based on my own 1 v 1 experiences in arena matches. I usually will go out of my way to 1 v 1 someone so I recognize the trigger effect and what to look out for per class.

My experience in 1 on1 place them at this ranking.
1) Reaper
2) Dragonhunter
3) Scrapper
4) Druid (close tie between the scrapper)
5) Chronomancer
6) Revnant
7) Tempest
8) Berzerker
9) Daredevil (close tie to berzerker)

Some old builds are still viable, but yes elites do seem to have the upperhand.

Your rankings almost feel backwards……

1) Chronomancer is not as simple as you make it. It needs to be timed right for chain spam burst to even work, that is under the assumption the chronomancer isn’t cc’d.

1) Druid is highly sustainable; I cannot argue this one, but in order for them to be truly effective they must rely on their pets to output the damage needed. It would be the fight that never ends in a 1 v 1

2) Scrapper? There stealth is more effective than the heals to me. But 3 is a good spot for it.

2) Revenant does not belong this high at all. They have very low condi removal, and the healing is not that great. The reason they appear to heal very well is because people attack them when infused light is triggered. In a 1 v 1 this can be avoided. And for the love of god hit dodge if they use unrelentless. CCing them is a must since they have a lot of evades at their disposal

5) Dragonhunter being below rev is just amusing in of itself. I’d place them at #2. The amount of stuns and cc damage DH can produce is insane. You put in Rune of Trapper and you can apply a trap in stealth, triggering a stun/cc just to reapply it. By the time you get yourself up you could already have a finisher driven through you.

5) I feel for the poor daredevil. Their damage output is insane, but they are as squishy as squishy as can be. So as far as a 1 v 1 goes I’d almost place them last.

7) Reaper being at #7 comes off like a bad joke. It is easily #1.
- They have sustainability with Reaper’s Shroud (unless you can moa them)
- Endless amounts of conditions to apply
- Boon stripping
- So much chill that even Santa goes on vacation on Christmas.
I would much rather face a chronomancer then a reaper.

7) Berzerker doesn’t scare me much at least not anymore. The damage output is immense when they trigger rampapage, but dodging those could result in life or death

8) Tempest is still very tanky and maybe its the way I play now, but their damage output doesn’t seem to harsh. It is getting them to sit still for a second to burst them that can be painful. But the tankiness is why I placed them at 7.

Warlord.9074:

ANET doesn’t care about 1v1. If they did that would mean they would have to balance the game. The Cop-out is they will balance the game around 5v5 but we know thats not balanced also and never has been.

Very good point and agreed. Imagine a 5 man DH team on stronghold or conquest. Good luck holding / capping point with that.

Wolfs Shadow.7234:

EremiteAngel.9765:

I know classes aren’t balanced around 1vs1.
But who is the current 1vs1 King of the Hill?
Please separate old classes from new elite specs when ranking.

My ranking:

1) Chronomancer (F5 + chain spam burst, reset by F5, repeat chain spam burst)
2) Druid (the healing sustain is real)
2) Scrapper (the healing sustain is real)
2) Revenant (the healing sustain is real)
5) Dragonhunter
5) Daredevil
7) Reaper
7) Berserker
9) Tempest (never seen one in a 1vs1 fight before…so not sure how they do)
10) The rest of the old classes. They don’t stand a chance against the elite specs.

I really have to disagree with your rankings and this is based on my own 1 v 1 experiences in arena matches. I usually will go out of my way to 1 v 1 someone so I recognize the trigger effect and what to look out for per class.

My experience in 1 on1 place them at this ranking.
1) Reaper
2) Dragonhunter
3) Scrapper
4) Druid (close tie between the scrapper)
5) Chronomancer
6) Revnant
7) Tempest
8) Berzerker
9) Daredevil (close tie to berzerker)

Some old builds are still viable, but yes elites do seem to have the upperhand.

Your rankings almost feel backwards……

1) Chronomancer is not as simple as you make it. It needs to be timed right for chain spam burst to even work, that is under the assumption the chronomancer isn’t cc’d.

1) Druid is highly sustainable; I cannot argue this one, but in order for them to be truly effective they must rely on their pets to output the damage needed. It would be the fight that never ends in a 1 v 1

2) Scrapper? There stealth is more effective than the heals to me. But 3 is a good spot for it.

2) Revenant does not belong this high at all. They have very low condi removal, and the healing is not that great. The reason they appear to heal very well is because people attack them when infused light is triggered. In a 1 v 1 this can be avoided. And for the love of god hit dodge if they use unrelentless. CCing them is a must since they have a lot of evades at their disposal

5) Dragonhunter being below rev is just amusing in of itself. I’d place them at #2. The amount of stuns and cc damage DH can produce is insane. You put in Rune of Trapper and you can apply a trap in stealth, triggering a stun/cc just to reapply it. By the time you get yourself up you could already have a finisher driven through you.

5) I feel for the poor daredevil. Their damage output is insane, but they are as squishy as squishy as can be. So as far as a 1 v 1 goes I’d almost place them last.

7) Reaper being at #7 comes off like a bad joke. It is easily #1.
- They have sustainability with Reaper’s Shroud (unless you can moa them)
- Endless amounts of conditions to apply
- Boon stripping
- So much chill that even Santa goes on vacation on Christmas.
I would much rather face a chronomancer then a reaper.

7) Berzerker doesn’t scare me much at least not anymore. The damage output is immense when they trigger rampapage, but dodging those could result in life or death

8) Tempest is still very tanky and maybe its the way I play now, but their damage output doesn’t seem to harsh. It is getting them to sit still for a second to burst them that can be painful. But the tankiness is why I placed them at 7.

Very well written reply. Thank you.
Also I wouldn’t disagree with any of your points.
Except for the Reaper.
Just bring a diamond skin ele or tempest and you have a dead condi reaper. even a power reaper will struggle.

Well, chill isn’t a joke with Reaper so can be really anoying. Power reaper it’s a litle better to counter, but not su much if you play with pugs. Awesome class, but Necromancer deserve it, sorry.

Daredevil it’s kittening insane, and well played can beat anyone in seconds. The main problem for DD it’s that everyone got more power creep and the AoE it’s insane, so they can be killed by accident (no joke, I see that before).

Revs are overprised, yes they are doing good, but they are faaar to be an op class. Pretty balanced, just CC’em, condies and it’s a dead herald. His stability and cleaners are meh, because how RNG cleaner works, so, yeah, pretty much. His AA it’s insane, but if Anet nerf that, they are mostly kittened. Right now it’s middle of the pack, with good sustain but not op.

DH its quite good, but people don’t want to learn how counter a DH, it can be possible, just play with your team and to be the hero of the day. Avoid True Shoot, not eat traps that are obviuous, and they are already dead.

Warriors and Ele, still Warrior and Ele, maybe berserker/tempest aren’t that good but meh, they are still good classes.

I think people have been too attached to a style, and now that other classes have just received good improvements, they believe that anet have to nerf them, which isn’t the case. Just learn to play against everyone.

If any, Thief needs improvements.

Wolfs Shadow.7234:

5) Dragonhunter being below rev is just amusing in of itself. I’d place them at #2. The amount of stuns and cc damage DH can produce is insane. You put in Rune of Trapper and you can apply a trap in stealth, triggering a stun/cc just to reapply it. By the time you get yourself up you could already have a finisher driven through you.

Daze is not a stun. This breaks all your arguments.

EremiteAngel.9765:

Very well written reply. Thank you.
Also I wouldn’t disagree with any of your points.
Except for the Reaper.
Just bring a diamond skin ele or tempest and you have a dead condi reaper. even a power reaper will struggle.

Just because there is one single specific build, which can hardcouter (condi) reaper, it doesn’t say, reaper is weak. Especially when we are talking about 1vs1.

Ragnarox.9601:

Daze is not a stun. This breaks all your arguments.

I think he used stun as generic term for every form of hard cc. Which includes daze.

1) New Elite Specs (except Berserkers)
2) Old Vanilla Specs
3) Berserkers

WHY in the world they include BERSERKERS? this class in pvp is useless,horrible,unbelivable terrible…no sustain..outclassed in any way by other class…common from the start devs knew about this but yet THEY STILL DIDNT DO ANYTHING

Peacekid.1463:

WHY in the world they include BERSERKERS? this class in pvp is useless,horrible,unbelivable terrible…no sustain..outclassed in any way by other class…common from the start devs knew about this but yet THEY STILL DIDNT DO ANYTHING

Because some players (who mains other classes)8 don’t want to get warriors buffed and hence always talks up warrior despite knowing they are utter trash atm.

chrono, druid, cele scrapper, and carrion reaper are basically tied. Rev and DH aren’t too far behind. I honestly don’t think there is one best spec for 1v1 atm. which is nice. profs that underperform across all of their specs are thieves, eles and warriors

How the F are eles underpowered? Cele d/d ele will wreck most elite spec when played properly – They got both damage and survivality. Tempest may not be strong but the core class is still way better than some elite specs like Berserker.

ive never lost a 1v1 to a tempest on my druid.

underpowered?hmm warrior..unreliable hmm warrior…useless hmm warrior..atm it sucks warriors we now have the new king of the hill = warrior

Somebody tell me the secret of these mystical godlike druid builds.

i cant ull just kill another warrior….^_^

This is biased as I have only dueled AS a DH and druid, but based on my win/loss ratio and observation of other duels, here’s how I’d rank them:

Druid
Chrono
Scrapper ~ Reaper
DH
Herald
DD
Tempest
(some core class meta builds)
Berserker

Druids just take the cake… All that healing (even with full glass), ancient seeds, and powerful sustained damage; they do even better in wvw duels. Condi chronos are exquisitely difficult to duel. Unless the opposition kites really well, condi chrono will destroy most duelists. Even power chronos are very good duelists. Scrappers and reapers never die. Most of my duels end in stalemates against these. Heralds are good duelists, but very killable once you figure out how their skills work. DH and DD are good duelists, bout middle of the totem pole. Tempests generally aren’t too difficult, but cele d/d tempests can be pretty difficult. Berserkers usually have poor sustain. While they can take out DH, reaper, and scrapper with cheesy gunflame builds, they usually get destroyed by DDs and chronos from what I’ve seen.

Also, most core specs just can’t seem to keep up with elite spec counterparts. In near every case save for traditional power necro vs. Power reaper, I see elite specs dominating.

Chronomancer mantra spam (domination, inspiration chronomancer) GS Sword/torch or shield. Lots of dodges, stealth, heals, condi removal via mantras, interrupts, blinds, it has it all.

ima kongkittenninja.3052:

Chronomancer mantra spam (domination, inspiration chronomancer) GS Sword/torch or shield. Lots of dodges, stealth, heals, condi removal via mantras, interrupts, blinds, it has it all.

i think you got this spot on.
but the ranger and druid and herald sustain is pretty nasty too.

EremiteAngel.9765:

ima kongkittenninja.3052:

Chronomancer mantra spam (domination, inspiration chronomancer) GS Sword/torch or shield. Lots of dodges, stealth, heals, condi removal via mantras, interrupts, blinds, it has it all.

i think you got this spot on.
but the ranger and druid and herald sustain is pretty nasty too.

Ya, those trait lines give you access to more dodges and blinds. Oh wait the traits Critical infusions and blinding dissipation are found in dueling. I guess they have no access to vigor or blinds. Spot on indeed my friend

EremiteAngel.9765:

Very well written reply. Thank you.
Also I wouldn’t disagree with any of your points.
Except for the Reaper.
Just bring a diamond skin ele or tempest and you have a dead condi reaper. even a power reaper will struggle.

A power reaper will only really struggle against an ele if they camp water attunement with diamond skin. Then it’s just a nearly endless war of attrition unless the Reaper can out rotate the ele, or the ele trips. And if a Reaper has full life force, any glass build will go down. Hell, even a DH with all their traps and burst is gonna have a rough time if they encounter a Reaper in its prime