Guild Wars 2

Hi, so fo the first 40 levels i went d/d running with a might stacking build. It got boring as all i would do is pop combo fields, run through the attunements and pop finishers. It is also unforgiving if you mess up.

So for the last 5 levels ive been running a staff build staying in fire a lot but the build has no real focus and feels weak.

Any suggestions on a leveling build, playstule, and gear setup? Much appreciated.

I recommend as much berserker as you can manage. I’d trade in Knights or PVT if you’re hurting on survivability.

The way the game is designed, it’s better to drop the enemy red bars as fast as possible than anything else, so that’s why I say that.

Dagger offhand is usually the best. For leveling up I prefer Dagger mainhand, because it’s really the best all around weapon for AoE DPS and mobility.

I’d put 20 into fire for conjurer and run lightning hammer, because the damage on the auto attack is the best the ele has and the 3rd chain attack blinds.

So basically, D/D and Lightning hammer are best for damage, and damage is the best way to build because of the game’s design.

I dont think the game is necessarily designed around berserker. It just depends on whos behind the keyboard. I think that a group with a support guardian, support eli, mesmer, etc in a dungeon like CoE or Arah fairs better than a group of 5 zerker warriors(or some variation of berserker).

In any case, this isnt a debate about game design. I switched over to D/D, but wondering if anyone has any specific specs they could recommend for either D/D, Staff, or S/D?

S/D is my main build, I run 0/30/0/10/30.
Air: IV, VIII, XII
Water: IV
Arcana: VI, V, XI
Slot skills: Glyph of Elemental Harmony, Arcane Shield, Lightning Flash, Lightning Hammer, Fiery Greatsword

This build does pretty much everything for me.

Mobility
Perma Swiftness: GoEH + Inscription + Air attunement = 26s swiftness on a 25s recharge
Combat: Fresh Air + One with Air helps you keep a safe distance and deal with soft snares
Lightning Leap: Useful while exploring to get to otherwise impossible to reach places
One with air + Fiery Whirl = The longest on demand movement skill in the game (seems as long if not longer than RTL at launch)

Damage Resist
Blind from Lightning Hammer Auto Attack Chain, Dust Devil, and Blinding Flash
3 Blocks from Arcane Shield
Protection on earth attunement swap
+250 Toughness while Rock Barrier is active

Control
Launch from Updraft and Wind Blast (Lightning Hammer)
Knockdown from Earthquake
Stun from Static Field (Lightning Hammer)

Healing
Heal Slot
Regeneration from Water Attunment or GoEH + Inscription
Soothing Mist
Water Trident
Cleansing Wave from itself and Evasive Arcana

Damage Support
Vulnerability from Critical Hits and Water Attunement Critical Hits
High Crit Chance and Extra Crit Damage
Bleeds from Churning Earth and Stoneshards
Burning from Fire Attunement Skills
Might Stacking from Ring of Fire + Dragon’s Tooth, Phoenix, Earthquake, and Churning Earth + Lightning Hammer Auto Attack Chain, and GoEH + Fire Attunement

Raw DPS
Dragon’s Tooth + Ring of Fire + Phoenix
Churning Earth (Use with Lightning Flash to channeling from a safe distance)
Electric Discharge + Lightning Strike Every available every 5 seconds with Fresh Air + Crits
Lightning Hammer Auto Attack chain (attune to water for an extra 20% damage buff)
Fiery Great Sword Auto Attack
Fiery Rush stacking via Wall or Lightning Flash

Extra Notes
Weak spot and Arcane precision will trigger a lot of Vulnerability and some other conditions when landing a lot of hits via Water 1, Earth 1, Rock Barrier Hurl, and Frequent use of Fresh Air. These conditions will also trigger while using conjures.

If there is a condition heavy situation I’ll swap out GoEH for Ether Renewal and Air VI (Bolt to the Heart)

In certain fights where it makes sense to always be ranged, I’ll swap out Lightning Hammer for Flame Axe. Burning Retreat is good for maintaining distance, Fire Axe 4 + 2 combine for a Might blast finisher. Flame Axe 4 + 5 can create a fire aura, but is probably never going to be useful to use.