Guild Wars 2

To put this to rest right now, this thread is not for WvW vets, hence the title of the thread. This thread is for people who are just testing the waters in WvW or getting their toes wet on how to survive in WvW or even EotM for that matter… so let’s begin.

1) Know your Build: Essentially you need to understand what your build is capable of. If you’re roaming and you know your build can hold its own against one to two people, then when you see three or four you may need to look for the nearest control point in your team’s possession and dip which brings me to my next point.

2) Map Awareness: Map awareness isn’t something exclusive to commanders. Constantly be checking your map and knowing what got taken recently and where your nearest capture points are for a retreat if needbe. There are even apps so you can check RI on these points in WvW and I’d recommend getting one if you are able.

3) Know where your Zerg is: If you know where your zerg is you are able to circulate and revolve around them as close or as far as needbe for assistance.

4) Don’t overexert yourself: This coincides with knowing your build but don’t think that because you won the last 7 1v1’s you’ll be able to take on a 2v1 of two people you previously beat with no problem. If people see you a second, third, or any consecutive time they’ll remember you beating them and try and adapt to your build. Don’t assume every victory will be the same.

5) Don’t get “pilot-vision”: The concept of “pilot-vision” or “pilot-sight” is that military pilots would become so focused on their target that they would literally run into it and blow up. Don’t focus so much on your targets that you ignore the fact that the Control Point just south of you was capped by a 50 man zerg and they are likely to be heading your way. Don’t chase a target into a control point that they control either unless you know you are capable of handling the situation.

6) Have a Speed Buff that you can switch out: Anyone will tell you that, in WvW, speed is key. Likewise, for mobility purposes, you would do well to have a speed boost with you to get away and avoid people who would otherwise smite you. When you see a potential target, however, you may want to swap that buff skill for something else if it is just a skill. This is something not a lot of people do because they forget but, before combat, if you can swap a speed skill for another more effective utility skill DO IT. It will give you more chance of winning in your fight and surviving which is what this thread is all about.

7) Stick with the zerg: There may come a time when having 3 fps all the time in WvW doesn’t appeal to you but for starters, if you’re still unsure of the mechanics of WvW, there is power in numbers and I’d recommend sticking with the commander and the zerg. This is an independant tip as the previous 6 can be with the zerg and without.

These 7 tips, which probably seem trivial or elementary to vets, are a solid start to get the newer people who are thinking about WvW to become formidable fighters for their server. If any other vets have other tips that are general enough for all classes by all means share them.

EDIT: One last… non-conventional tip is watch your fps or pay a passive mind to it. One of the things I do as a commander, if we don’t have eyes on an enemy zerg, I’ll watch my fps. If it plummets I know it’s about that time to start dropping AC’s and calling for buffs and stacks. Your fps is your unorthodox “zerg radar” so if it drops and you’re not surrounded by a substantial amount of people, 9 times out of 10 it’s time to dip fast.

Tip 8

Wear PVT

Fuzzion.2504:

Tip 8

Wear PVT

PVT tends to be somewhat pricey for the obvious reasons that it’s the “go-to” WvW gear but yes if you have the moneys, get some solid PVT gear.

P.S. I don’t run PVT… I run P/T/HP or T/HP/CD

Fuzzion.2504:

Tip 8

Wear PVT

+1 for what the Topcheekiest Asuran said. More fun if you survive a fight or two. Unless, of course, you get ambushed by that ultra bear bow power ranger in the pink hat.

X Factor.2641:

PVT tends to be somewhat pricey for the obvious reasons that it’s the “go-to” WvW gear but yes if you have the moneys, get some solid PVT gear.

P.S. I don’t run PVT… I run P/T/HP or T/HP/CD

You can buy PVT gear for 42k Karma from the temples in Orr… And since Karma isn’t useful for anything else, it’s a good trade.

Also, if people were leveling on EotM or WvW, they are likely to have a bunch of badges, which they can use to buy PVT gear cheaper…

The only issue is that you cannot remove runes from both of these, so you shouldn’t put expensive runes on it.

PVT is cheap and effective for many classes.

Stay on the commander tag when zerging. It may seem counter intuitive to charge into a sea of red but if you stay on tag the group heals will usually keep you up longer than if you split off.

Get on your server’s Voip server; You don’t even need a mic. Listening in will make a world of difference to your survival.

Know your basic fields and finishers. When your commander calls for a waterfield, be ready to blast it. If you’re the one providing the field, put it on the commander.

Dodge. Red rings are bad.

Use relevant consumables for your build. they can provide anything from extra regeneration, to stat increases and endurance regeneration. When in doubt, mango pies always add to your survivability and are really cheap for beginners.

These are all really good suggestions which is what this thread is about, good stuff, newbies take notes class is in session

Sticking with the zerg doesn’t guarantee survival, it simply relies on how big your force is and how good your commander is (with more, more variables than that).

Additionally, if you wanted to simply survive in WvW, you just sit in spawn because you’re invulnerable.

Wording is fun.

X Factor.2641:

PVT tends to be somewhat pricey

Are you serious? PVT insignia are cheaper than anything on the market but the rubbish like Settler’s etc.

Esplen.3940:

Sticking with the zerg doesn’t guarantee survival, it simply relies on how big your force is and how good your commander is (with more, more variables than that).

I think this is good advice for later on but new players to WvW would be well advised to stick with the commander. The alternative (at least for those that have never done sPvP) is a quick and likely frustrating death.

Jeknar.6184:

You can buy PVT gear for 42k Karma from the temples in Orr… And since Karma isn’t useful for anything else, it’s a good trade.

42k karma per piece, thats 504k karma to fill out all 6 slots, accessories, rings, amulet and backpiece. Also Karma is used for Shards, which are used for making Ascended gear and thus isn’t useless “for anything else”. Lets keep the facts straight.

GOSU.9574:

42k karma per piece, thats 504k karma to fill out all 6 slots, accessories, rings, amulet and backpiece. Also Karma is used for Shards, which are used for making Ascended gear and thus isn’t useless “for anything else”. Lets keep the facts straight.

The rating you gain karma is much higher than the rating you spend it… I still have millions of karma along with 8 fully equipped (By that I mean at least exotic) toons being 2 of them with ascended gear… Unless all you do on WvW is run around looking for players to gank, karma won’t be a problem.

Ben K.6238:

X Factor.2641:

PVT tends to be somewhat pricey

Are you serious? PVT insignia are cheaper than anything on the market but the rubbish like Settler’s etc.

I’m not sure what the going price on Soldier’s gear is because, like I said, I don’t use PVT but other quality PVT gear (i.e. Sentinel) is pretty pricey (at least the last time I checked which was about probably a month ago) especially compared to other gear. Now if you’re a rich and wealthy player it’s all trivial but as far as gear goes, yes PVT can be pricey.

X Factor.2641:

I’m not sure what the going price on Soldier’s gear is because, like I said, I don’t use PVT but other quality PVT gear (i.e. Sentinel) is pretty pricey (at least the last time I checked which was about probably a month ago) especially compared to other gear. Now if you’re a rich and wealthy player it’s all trivial but as far as gear goes, yes PVT can be pricey.

Sentinel (VTP) is horrendously expensive because the only way to aquire them is buying with guild commendations… Soldiers is cheaper because you can just buy soldiers gear with alternative currencies like Karma or Badges+Gold.

Jeknar.6184:

X Factor.2641:

I’m not sure what the going price on Soldier’s gear is because, like I said, I don’t use PVT but other quality PVT gear (i.e. Sentinel) is pretty pricey (at least the last time I checked which was about probably a month ago) especially compared to other gear. Now if you’re a rich and wealthy player it’s all trivial but as far as gear goes, yes PVT can be pricey.

Sentinel (VTP) is horrendously expensive because the only way to aquire them is buying with guild commendations… Soldiers is cheaper because you can just buy soldiers gear with alternative currencies like Karma or Badges+Gold.

Learn something every day I guess… Well then get some GOOD yet cheap PVT gear which I’m beginning to understand is cheaper than I previously thought. Thank you for the clarification

Straegen.2938:

Esplen.3940:

Sticking with the zerg doesn’t guarantee survival, it simply relies on how big your force is and how good your commander is (with more, more variables than that).

I think this is good advice for later on but new players to WvW would be well advised to stick with the commander. The alternative (at least for those that have never done sPvP) is a quick and likely frustrating death.

i dunno about this one. At least in EotM, with the tag system, every muppet thinks they are now a commander. So many times i’ve seen the group ready to push, everyone is on the commander, and then everyones ’s dead and the commander and 4 other people are PvDing on a door 2 screens away, alive and happy.

There are some commanders i stick to like glue. Theres maybe 2-3 commanders i’ve seen where i would go full zerk on any class and never die if i stick by their side.

My advice would be first and foremost, get in a group, and try to get diveristy within that group. One, you share tags easier, but also boons and whatnot. find a guardian and stay close, the stability they throw out can be a life saver…

mulzi.8273:

i dunno about this one. At least in EotM, with the tag system, every muppet thinks they are now a commander. So many times i’ve seen the group ready to push, everyone is on the commander, and then everyones ’s dead and the commander and 4 other people are PvDing on a door 2 screens away, alive and happy.

EotM is not WvW… it is PvE with a slight chance of PvP fighting. In WvW I advise that new players unfamiliar with PvP combat should stick with other players for a while. WvW roamers have years of experience, usually better equipment, strong builds and are often running with full guard stacks.

I use to be an advocate of PTV for newbies because paper tigers > rally bots, but it doesn’t seem like many players actually take the next step and work in more DPS gear. In fact, many do the opposite and get even stupider with sentinel and nomad.

Use the karma PTV if you’re really poor as a first set, but don’t put expensive upgrades on it, and always be challenging yourself to run riskier stats that force you to do better to survive.

Sentinel’s and nomad’s are terrible armor sets for WvW.

I came back to the game recently. When I quit I completely stripped my account and donated all my gold. When I came back I immediately geared my guardian with full PVT because its a cheap place to start. Eventually I will trade it out with a balance of knights/soldiers and theory craft tweak it from there. PVT is not the best but its a good starting point.