Guild Wars 2

So before Hot it was the GWEN meta with the core frontliners of guardian for buffs and warriors for banners with eles as damage + waterfields and necro for well bombs.

How has this changed post Hot?
Has the meta even settled yet?

It’s the same, except everybody uses the new elite specs. So instead of Guardian, people run Dragonhunter. Instead of ele, people run tempest. Most necros have swapped to reaper as well for added mobility and personal stab. Mesmers run chronos, also there are a bit more scrappers out there than I remember seeing engies before.

The one big change is the addition of revs, they’re popular in the current WvW meta for boon stacking, resistance, and hammer skills.

Big balance patch is coming next Tuesday however, so things may change slightly. But for WvW it’s likely going to remain fairly the same with small changes here and there in builds.

Everything except druid and theif is meta? I mean you see every class naturally but what is optimal?
So if the old ideal comp of 20 ppl was someting like, 6 guards, 4 warriors 5 eles and 5 necros what would the new one look like?
Would you even take a dragon hunter or scrapper over a rev?

The playstyle itself hasn’t changed a lot.
As said above many people run the elite specs now. Warriors seem to have gotten a bit more rare since it’s more and more towards the backline’s damage so you mostly got guards in your frontline for the buffs.

You definitely still find a lot of classic necros. The reaper has a bit better sustain but the meele attacks also kind of restrict you. It’s more of a personal choice there. (Reaper mobility really isn’t that much of an argument for me since you can easily get 100% swiftness uptime)

And of course revenants with their hammer.

For your 20 man setup I’d suggest 6 guards, 1 warrior, 2 revenans, 1-2 mesmers, 3 eles, 1 druid, 4-5 necs and one more optional spot for basically anything. If needed you could also swap 1 nec for another frontliner.

Pride.1734:

Everything except druid and theif is meta? I mean you see every class naturally but what is optimal?
So if the old ideal comp of 20 ppl was someting like, 6 guards, 4 warriors 5 eles and 5 necros what would the new one look like?
Would you even take a dragon hunter or scrapper over a rev?

I see a lot of DHunter chain link fences being thrown around, usually 4-5 at a time.

Aparently 80% warrior,guardian,revenant rest are fillers i guess.

Extreme.8350:

Aparently 80% warrior,guardian,revenant rest are fillers i guess.

Lol replace warriors with necros and you’re about right.

I dont know the NA meta but for EU the warrior is still just for bannering. Guardians is the core of the melee train while the backline will shift between being either heavy revenant (often seen in smaller tighter groups) or heavy necro mix.

Mesmers are seen more often but its not that big of a difference. Eles remain a small part of the backline. Thieves, engineers, rangers are still the kittens of WvW, not being wanted for anything really.

Guessing at least 2/3rds go with elite in zergs while its near 100% in roaming/small scale. The same classes that dominated dueling still dominate, with a notable exception – reapers are very popular (with little surprise, they can be unkillable 1v1). Necros was considered really bad at it before.

Dawdler.8521:

Extreme.8350:

Aparently 80% warrior,guardian,revenant rest are fillers i guess.

Lol replace warriors with necros and you’re about right.

I dont know the NA meta but for EU the warrior is still just for bannering. Guardians is the core of the melee train while the backline will shift between being either heavy revenant (often seen in smaller tighter groups) or heavy necro mix.

Mesmers are seen more often but its not that big of a difference. Eles remain a small part of the backline. Thieves, engineers, rangers are still the kittens of WvW, not being wanted for anything really.

Guessing at least 2/3rds go with elite in zergs while its near 100% in roaming/small scale. The same classes that dominated dueling still dominate, with a notable exception – reapers are very popular (with little surprise, they can be unkillable 1v1). Necros was considered really bad at it before.

So what do zerg frontline DHs typically run these days?

Obviously some traps are very powerful. But do they still take altrusic healing and shouts? Feel that ‘stand your ground’ is very hard to replace.

Weapon set? For frontline, I would assume mobility is important so greatsword is probably still neded. Longbow seems to be a better weapon than hammer and staff.
So is GS/LB a good idea?

This is what I see:

• Dragonhunters with builds like this Some guardians carry bows for bow 5 bugged skill.
• Revenants with full zerker hammer dps build that shares a lot of boons.
• Elementalists for damage / support
• Mesmers for veil and also dropping those gravity wells. Gravity well kills people.
• Necromancers for well bombs. Often traited into Reapers that push into melee range.

The meta right now is go into a BL, realize it is empty, log out.

Guardians, Necros and Eles are still very strong. Revenant/Heralds backliners are ridiculous right now thanks to CoR and Hammer Bolt spam. Everything else is tier 2 IMO. Sure they work in a zerg but lack the group buffs and ranged AoE spam to compete with GREN.

Most of the elites like DH, Tempest, Chronomancer and Reaper hit the OP level in skirmish.

I had something typed out but I disconnected so this is only a part of it…

Anyway:

• Herald – CoR , perma-swiftness/perma-fury, protection via Facet of Chaos & Envoy of Exuberance, stealth reveal via Gaze of Darkness , partywide ferocity via Assassin’s presence , etc
  —> Hammer Bolt hits 5 targets but is projectile
• Reaper – well of corruption is incredibly strong with Heralds everywhere / “Nothing Can Save You!”, chills, Poison via Soul Spiral / Chilblains , “Rise!” for roaming
• Dragonhunter – Hunter’s Ward aka Longbow 5 (breaks stability) / True Shot for targeted damage , Light’s Judgment vs Veil , Test of Faith vs melee train ; occasionally you see Dragon’s Maw
• Guardian – stability (Stand your ground) / protection (Hold the Line) , empower , strength in numbers , wall of reflect vs Golems

• Elementalist – meteor shower+ lava font damage, geyser (small water), healing rain (large water) , static field
• Tempest (Dagger+dagger, dagger+focus) – auras + Elemental Bastion + rebound , “Wash the Pain Away!” ; some run fresh air for overload air
• Chronomancer – gravity well , veil, portal (portal bombs), alacrity on siege , Partywide Distortion / Heals via Restorative Illusions + Healing Prism ; Tides of Time / pull via Into the Void ; Feedback vs Golems (usually doesn’t work if they walk out of the bubble) ; Null Fields
• Scrapper – Hammer damage, Thunderclap as lightning field , Stealth gyro (comes with stealth reveal)/ elixir S , Bulwark gyro (reflect dome) , condi cleanse via purse gyro, superspeed via Slick Shoes/Blast gyro, Elixir C / Elixir B
• Berserker – Banners especially with Dead or Alive ; empower allies, gimmicky Gunflame builds

• Druids with staves – heals / condi clear
• Daredevil – hiding in structures to res chronos ; venomshare

(Sorry for the messiness)