Guild Wars 2

so the staff has never been my thing, and im not super into the scepter. rather than simply join the hordes of d/d eles out there, ive been trying to make d/f work with mixed results, wondering what everyone else thinks or if im wasting my time.

first, losing the offhand dagger hurts. lightning flash is almost a crutch to escape any situation and u have to play a lot more aware/position oriented by losing it. and losing the offhand fire and earth hurts your potential burst quite a bit.

that said, with the focus you gain a lot of control and defense, all at range. which helps to lock down those necros/rangers perched on a ledge. in order to feel useful in this setup, i find i need to gear for glass, but spec/utility for defense (30 water, mist form, and arcane shield). and usually arcane wave for extra damage.

so its stat focus is pow/prec/crit damage, and vit. this setup works best in team fights, since your dagger skills are aoe and hit fairly hard. and by managing defensive cds, protections, etc, u can survive pretty well despite being glassy. and have 3 ways to safely stomp.

but u lack the overall defense and single target burst, so i find its not a great 1v1 setup. and u lack mobility (mostly swiftness from auras or attuning to air. can take teleport as one of the utilities), so u really need to be aware of yr surroundings and bail early sometimes. but i find its good control, aoe sustain damage, and survivibility. and u have 1 big falcon punch with fire 3 + arcane wave

so i guess has anyone else had success with this setup in competitive tpvp? if so, how do u run it?

I’ve tried S/F and D/F many times, trying to get it to work, since the focus is more defense orientated I’d expect it to be great on bunker builds however it is very lack luster. It’s not that you can’t make it work it’s the fact that the dagger offhand offers a lot more, I had a condition D/F bunker build using Shamans and a 0/0/30/30/10 (Evasive arcana seemed pointless due to the lack of fields/finishers). The condition damage was great (It felt better than S/F) as I was able to have constant bleeds, a lot of burning damage but also some decent support. Anything outside of this and I haven’t managed to make it work for myself, I’d love to see some videos or examples of what you do, if thats possible? I can’t really say I’ve seen anyone with D/F.

I have used it in spvp some. my only decent skill set is around d/d but i did find that dagger/focus feels a lot like dagger/dagger in its skill flurry.

I would atuntment dance for damage and might and then bring out the ax or FGS. it did get me some kills but having only done a few times it just does not compete with dagger/dagger skills.

I switch to dagger/focus in wvw sometimes when i want a more stationary defensive setup.

i have also used this in pve and the one thing i have to say about this setup is that it was “fun”. I dont know why as i am still way better with dagger/dagger but nonetheless the action is still fast.

@sachiel thanks for the video!

Crunchy Gremlin.5798:

I have used it in spvp some. my only decent skill set is around d/d but i did find that dagger/focus feels a lot like dagger/dagger in its skill flurry.

I would atuntment dance for damage and might and then bring out the ax or FGS. it did get me some kills but having only done a few times it just does not compete with dagger/dagger skills.

I switch to dagger/focus in wvw sometimes when i want a more stationary defensive setup.

i have also used this in pve and the one thing i have to say about this setup is that it was “fun”. I dont know why as i am still way better with dagger/dagger but nonetheless the action is still fast.

@sachiel thanks for the video!

exactly, thats part of the reason im tryin this setup, is that its similar to d/d in that theres 2 auras, mostly no ground target skills (flame wall only one). its a tradeoff of mobility and burst (which is a big tradeoff), for ranged control, anti ranged, and survivibility.

when managing my cds right (mist form and arcane shield, earth 5, protection on earth attune or heal in earth, ranged chills/dazes to keep them far away from me), i find this can be quite survivible in a glass setup, and your dagger 1-3s still do pretty good damage, but if u do get blindsided or exhaused yr cds you do go down pretty quick

and since most of yr damage skills are pbaoe, u can attack the zerg while locking down the ranged support guys.

anyone else run this in tpvp? any opinions? or what do u run and why?

In WvWvW I run my roaming D/D duellist build.

But in tPvP I can´t even remember when I used the D/D or S/D combination the last time. I tried S/F once and loved the defensive abilities.

The 2 downsides compared to D/D are that it offers less mobility and you will miss Cleansing Wave, Ride the Lightning and Shocking Aura.

However, the focus completely destroys any opponent who tries to kills you with projectiles. Also you have a strong Knock down and really defensive abilities on earth (blind, +armor, magnetic aura and invulerability). You deal a lot of condition damage with the following build, while staying hard to kill and with a lot of condition removal and regeneration:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEUQJArdhEmYbtR5gjDAkHmADLjHhACJlCzA;TsAg2Cuo2xsjYH7Oudk7MA5Uw8DA

(I am constantly switching between Ether renewal and the signet heal. Signet heal is strong because of the earth trait, but ether renewal is strong if the enemy has a lot of conditions.)

Always cast the elemental in Lightning (for the stun and damage) for balanced fights or in Water for fights with more opponents than teammates (for the heal). Always cover your signet of fire and your bleeding stacks with other condition (last on, first removed) e.g.: Vulnerability, Blind, Chilled. Your water attunement, your water 3 and Signet of water and mist form will all heal you for a great amount, and the ether renewal is quite strong since it removes a lot of conditions (take care that it will not be interupted, e.g. use it after an enemy used his CC).

Maybe you will try my build and find it somewhat effective, it is great for point defending, attacking and duelling. It lacks in AOE CC and Mobility compared to D/D, so it is weak as roamer.

Greetings, Hunkelmunkel