Guild Wars 2

just trying a staff condition build but I’m finding the DoTs a bit weak in comparison to some of the hard hitting opponents I come across. Trying to survive while the damage slowly ticks away is painful.

Has anyone created a decent build where this works? or do people just give up and go D/D, or do they stick with staff and go for power or crit.

I might add this is for WvW. Any sort of advice from people that have found the staff to be successful would be appreciated. thanks.

The staff has a few decent condition damage skills, but the main reason why I avoid it is because most of them are tough to actually hit the opponent with.

Having said, have you ever considered a scepter build? The earth and fire auto attacks can add a good amount of DoTs while also being a lot easier to hit with.

Hi,

I’ve long used my staff in PvE as well as in PvP/WvWvW as a main weapon. I also used a condition build, using a Carrion set + Undead Runes + 30 points in earth.. (today I would use different trait lines for a bit of survivability…)

In PvE it was fun to see the enemies melt away, as well as in WvW, as long as it was possible to stand in the back or on a keep wall… I never had problems with the amount of DMG, for you can keep bleeding and burning constantly up. But as soon as you are forced in short range fights, it’s more painful than fun, also because of the lack of in fight mobility when using staff… If your opponent has a lot of condition removal, you’ve even got a bigger problem.

That’s why I soon switched to a similar build to the one of daphoenix (his guide didn’t exist back then, but since then I couldn’t come up with any build with a similar usability).

I tried lots of times to change back to a condition build and change it for more survivability, but I always came back to my mixed aura build… I’m still trying and hope that some future changes will help me to play a condition build again…

Another thing, because you said staff condition build:
I could never play just one weapon. For me it is always important to use the right weapon for the right situation. When in a group/zerg, defending keeps, events/boss fights, dungeons etc. I always use my staff. When I need mobility or travel alone, I always prefer D/D as weapon set… etc. (even though I still hope that staff will get more usable soon)

So what I always do when playing around with builds is, to make sure that I can also use it with other weapons by simply changing some traits without havingt to change the trait lines (what I mean is without buying back my trait points and rearrange them).

If you are successful in finding a good build, I would be very glad. I also will try again when I come home and will also follow this thread, just in case someone has a solution

Like Thibash said, if you’re going for condition damage then Scepter/Dagger earth + signets build is your best bet. Staff leans more toward Power as a base supplemented with Precision/Crit Damage to get the most bang for your buck.

I have played a lot with both staff and S/D earth condition builds… I found out that in the long term direct damage staff and D/D both beat them, both in PvE and PvP. By PvE I mean events: in instanced conditions work well, but in events the conditions blow.

I have a D/D condition build and when I did the final story mission (my first dungeon sort-of-speak) I realized that I needed range…so I picked up a staff and started using it last night. I realize that I’ll probably be using D/D for solo and Staff for groups but now I’m seriously questioning my decision to go condition over direct damage. I’m starting to lean towards the belief that condition isn’t worth the sacrifice and that I might respec into a full direct damage build that would fit either of my weapon choices.

I have both full exotic condition base and power base gear and I don’t found much difference in terms of damage, however I prefer power because condition doesn’t work on structures and condition can be removed.

staff is better with precision and crit damage. You only have 1 fire skill that inflicts burning, and 1 earth skill that inflicts bleeds, making condition damage quite useless. Mix some condi damage in if you want, but don’t focus on it if you want to play staff.

thanks for the tips, I might change my build around a bit more now.

cheers guys.