Guild Wars 2

I’ve been on break for awhile and I’m coming back to the game seeing there was a big trait update. I plan on doing dungeons CoF(for some snazzy armor) and cauds manor(for quip) and I was wondering if the new FT/EG 0/25/0/20/25 was viable for these dungeons or if HGH grenades or grenades in general are still the better option? I’ve also never played grenades so if you guys could post your dungeon builds and what armor and trinkets you use that’d be great

That FT/EG build is more than viable. Just don’t go in expecting to top the dps charts (thankfully, they don’t exist in GW2). It’s a hybrid damage/support build. It’s very close to what I’m using in dungeons and it works great.

Grenade Kit is optimal for DPS, but FT/EG provides more group support through Might stacking and condition removal.

Really about which you prefer doing, but the Flamethrower does more than satisfactory damage now. With 25 Might and 25 Vulnerability on targets, Flame Jet regularly does over 6K damage.

Phineas Poe.3018:

Grenade Kit is optimal for DPS, but FT/EG provides more group support through Might stacking and condition removal.

Really about which you prefer doing, but the Flamethrower does more than satisfactory damage now. With 25 Might and 25 Vulnerability on targets, Flame Jet regularly does over 6K damage.

How do you get over 6k damage? I am using rampager’s armor so that may be why and also how do you get 25 vulnerability stacks? I can usually stack only 10 at most

Phineas Poe.3018:

Grenade Kit is optimal for DPS, but FT/EG provides more group support through Might stacking and condition removal.

Really about which you prefer doing, but the Flamethrower does more than satisfactory damage now. With 25 Might and 25 Vulnerability on targets, Flame Jet regularly does over 6K damage.

So running with a ft/eg build I wont be shooed away from pug groups for not running gc grenades? Since I’m working towards a legendary which would benefit me better the rifle or the pistol with this setup?

@Mich: Yes, FT works better with Berserker gear than Rampager. Despite the burning, it’s a power weapon. So while your crit chance is probably high, the bonus damage isn’t. I think the 25 vuln is coming from the combined efforts of the party. If not, I’m curious too.

@Boba: You shouldn’t be shooed away. Bringing along EG (and Altruism Runes as Phineas & I prefer) you can do some serious support by stacking might & fury and dishing out a lot of heals & condition removal. I prefer P/S for the extra utility from shield. Blast finisher, block, reflect, daze, knockback…it’s just too good. Also, pistol gives me a bouncing blind which can be helpful. A FT build generally keeps you in FT kit most of the time so bring whichever offers your playstyle the most utility. You’ll swap in, use the utility, swap out.

Michelangelo.1742:

How do you get over 6k damage? I am using rampager’s armor so that may be why and also how do you get 25 vulnerability stacks? I can usually stack only 10 at most

Yes, that is why. Rampager is a good choice for the Grenade Kit, but the Flamethrower operates best by maximizing Power and Critical Damage.

As for the Vulnerability: There are 4 other people in my party.

I was planning on a build revolving around Elixir Infused Bombs. Is this viable?

Celeras.4980:

I was planning on a build revolving around Elixir Infused Bombs. Is this viable?

Viable yes, optimal no. Even with high amounts of healing power the bombs don’t provide much in terms of healing to offset the much much lower damage you would have by going that route. Even if you take a damage gearset instead, having to go 30 points down a line that has nothing to do with damage will cripple your ability to do so. This is of course from a dungeon perspective where the mobs hit too hard and have too much hp and the best course of action is almost always maximum dps and completely negating the damage coming in through a blind, block,dodge, or the mob being dead. I wish it wasn’t that way, but the sad reality is that is a design flaw of the dungeons. That isn’t to say you would not be able to complete content using a healing bomb build, so that is why it’s “viable”, but you will be carried by your group in terms of effectiveness so it is far from “optimal”.

I’ve been having a decent amount of success with a full clerics build and elixir bombs. The trick is to support the team damage with AoE might using fire bomb combined with blast finishers (Big old bomb, shield 4, elixir gun acid bomb, supply drop). When you stack regen with healing bombs and super elixir, the results are quite pleasing, even in tough dungeon fights.

I run with my zerker armor/accessories in my pack as well, so I can swap roles on the fly, but I rarely have to.

Diremongoose.1326:

I’ve been having a decent amount of success with a full clerics build and elixir bombs. The trick is to support the team damage with AoE might using fire bomb combined with blast finishers (Big old bomb, shield 4, elixir gun acid bomb, supply drop). When you stack regen with healing bombs and super elixir, the results are quite pleasing, even in tough dungeon fights.

I run with my zerker armor/accessories in my pack as well, so I can swap roles on the fly, but I rarely have to.

Yeah, I don’t want to give the impression that it just doesn’t work completely. Certainly in a pug group where you have no idea what you are going to get it can be useful. I guess that is why I wanted to make the distinction between viable and optimal, in a group that knows the encounters/dungeons well it really is not optimal because you “can” get through the content, but if everyone is running in max dps gear and builds the healing power won’t offset the loss of damage where they rely on everyone to be doing as much damage as possible. This holds true even in the tougher dungeons, where things like a proper reflect, dodge, whatever other means for damage negation the group has available will far outstrip any amount of healing power, toughness or vitality in terms of effectiveness. I don’t want it to sound like I am one of those everyone must wear zerker or they are scubs type of people because that is not how I feel about it. I have however reached a point where I have seen just how effective a damage oriented group is in comparison to one who is not and the difference is like night and day, again this is highly encumbant upon everyone in the group knowing the encounters and dungeons well. I am not even talking about just speedclears, because man I hated the obnoxious behavior of the majority of the cof p1 speedclear groups.

I concur with the 6k notes. I had a mix of berserker and knight’s and several weeks ago switched out the final remaining pieces (about when the Magitech stuff hit, because I skinned my berserk stuff all Magitech.) Even with Altruism runes, I frequently see 6k+. Haven’t seen 7k but depending on where I am (dungeon scale) and supporting buffs, at level 80 6k is quite doable.