Guild Wars 2

What builds for each class are now viable? Please answer this in list format and make it organized so as to not clutter everything so much. Normal discussion is also fine on the topic of build diversity.

I find that this is needed right now for both us as players to see and compare how the diversity of our own profession is standing amongst all the other professions in terms of diversity[which I don’t think the difference is too large, now] and for ANet to help them analyze the current situation and perhaps reveal areas of a profession that could use a buff in order to increase the variability.

Also, please note that this is talking about Solo Que and Team Que, not hot join[since hot join is more of a place to test things out, in this context].

What does viable mean?

Where does it matter if something is “viable” tPvP solo q hot join?

If it has never appeared in a tournament before is it not viable? example Survival Ranger or Medi guard with bunker guard falling out of favor – until recently Necromancer was not viable but a few high level players have started to play it in tournaments

This is too subjective IMO

http://metabattle.com/wiki/Category:All_Conquest_Builds

This is the closest thing to a list of currently viable builds IMO.

Really depends on what you mean by viable since various builds outperform others but it doesn’t make them unusable in certain situations.

I only play Engi but based on what i’ve seen in TeamQs.

Engineer – buff gadget synergy, elixirs R/C and Mortar.
- Celestial Nades Engi
- Condi Engi
- Decap Engi
- Turret Engi

Guardian
- Bunker Guardian (Virtues or AH)
- Meditations DPS guardian

Mesmer
- Shatter Mesmer

Necromancer
- Condition Necro
- Power Necro

Thief
- S/D Thief
- Pistol Whip
- Backstab Thief

Elementalist
- D/D Cele Ele
- Staff Cele Ele
- Condi Signet Ele

Warrior
- Hambow Warrior
- Condi Interrupt Warrior

Ranger
- Spirit Ranger
- Survival Condi Ranger
- Power Ranger

Narkodx.1472:

What does viable mean?

Where does it matter if something is “viable” tPvP solo q hot join?

If it has never appeared in a tournament before is it not viable? example Survival Ranger or Medi guard with bunker guard falling out of favor – until recently Necromancer was not viable but a few high level players have started to play it in tournaments

This is too subjective IMO

Well, this isn’t going into hot join, but Solo and Team Que builds. Anything that you find is often used, that you find usable yourself, that you maybe saw once but it was good. It’s supposed to be subjective, however the amount that a single opinion, maybe a outlier opinion, will affect this will be made less and less as more people give lists, so I’m not worried about the opinions of single individuals. I’ll specify that this is not talking about hot join.

Dondagora.9645:

Narkodx.1472:

What does viable mean?

Where does it matter if something is “viable” tPvP solo q hot join?

If it has never appeared in a tournament before is it not viable? example Survival Ranger or Medi guard with bunker guard falling out of favor – until recently Necromancer was not viable but a few high level players have started to play it in tournaments

This is too subjective IMO

Well, this isn’t going into hot join, but Solo and Team Que builds. Anything that you find is often used, that you find usable yourself, that you maybe saw once but it was good. It’s supposed to be subjective, however the amount that a single opinion, maybe a outlier opinion, will affect this will be made less and less as more people give lists, so I’m not worried about the opinions of single individuals. I’ll specify that this is not talking about hot join.

Surely this is a bit too broad? Many players could run anything in SoloQ and still do ok.

I could whip out a Gadget Engi build but i wouldn’t call it viable because it is sub-optimal and would cause many losses vs players at the same level.

Maybe specify it as builds which you would run in TeamQ only?

chungiee.8764:

Dondagora.9645:

Narkodx.1472:

What does viable mean?

Where does it matter if something is “viable” tPvP solo q hot join?

If it has never appeared in a tournament before is it not viable? example Survival Ranger or Medi guard with bunker guard falling out of favor – until recently Necromancer was not viable but a few high level players have started to play it in tournaments

This is too subjective IMO

Well, this isn’t going into hot join, but Solo and Team Que builds. Anything that you find is often used, that you find usable yourself, that you maybe saw once but it was good. It’s supposed to be subjective, however the amount that a single opinion, maybe a outlier opinion, will affect this will be made less and less as more people give lists, so I’m not worried about the opinions of single individuals. I’ll specify that this is not talking about hot join.

Surely this is a bit too broad? Many players could run anything in SoloQ and still do ok.

I could whip out a Gadget Engi build but i wouldn’t call it viable because it is sub-optimal and would cause many losses vs players at the same level.

Maybe specify it as builds which you would run in TeamQ only?

Hm… well, like I said, there will be some outliers, but I don’t think a large portion of the engi population will be running this sub-optimal build you’ve named and call it viable in solo que. Thus, while keeping it open, this thread will dish out the viable builds from the sub-par that people just happen to run.

I’m also reluctant to neglect Solo Que because it is a deeper pond to fish in than Team Que, but more selective than Hot Join, making it the most optimal place to draw this survey from to collect a greater mass of data than a very select data from Team Quers who might only be thinking about the “top tier of PvP”, like the idea that power shatter is the only way to go for mesmers.