Guild Wars 2

Hey, I’m trying to work out my build, for PvE and maybe some WvW, and I’m kind of between two traits and am hoping someone who’s more familiar with the class or knows their math can clarify as I don’t have a tone of experience with lvl 80 build crafting.

Basically I’m going for a P/P HGH type build, currently at 10/20/0/30/0 and I’m stick with what to do for those last 10 points.

I’m between going 20 into explosives to pick up Enhanced Performance for the 3 extra stacks of might on my heal skill, or going 30 into firearms for Target the Maimed for 5% more damage to bleeding targets (which I figure will have constant uptime from pistol 1) and give the last major trait to flex between modified ammunition or coated bullets.

So I guess I’m trying to figure out how the 3 stacks of might and the 100 power from the traits in explosive compare to a flat 5% damage increase I’d get from Target the Maimed, and if that 5% has any quirks to it (like does it only effect direct damage? Or Direct and conditions?)

Anyway if anyone can help me out with this, I’d really appreciate it.

a ‘plus damage’ bonus (like 15% for Flamethrower and elixir gun, or Target the Maimed) is ALWAYS power based ‘white’ damage only. never conditions.

Might, of course, effects both.

In a HGH build I assume you use Healing Elixir, so i’m not sure if that cooldown is worth the might stacking.
But target the Maimed for pistols… that’s not going to do much in a condition build. It’s something, but nowhere near 5%.
But why not take the 2% per condition? Think that is your best dps option (unless restarting and going grenades).

For pure pistol set up I would go 10/30/0/30/0 in your build.

most HGH p/p builds squeeze in one kit like grenades (offense) or tool kit (defense).
In which case 10 in Tools for Speedy Kits would be a good option
Mind you: do not take grenades unless you specc them, which would totally change your build.

Thanks. Good to know about the % bonuses, the game wasn’t really clear on that one.

Trying to avoid grenades focused builds really. Not bad, but not my thing. Bomb kit has good offerings, but my favorite at the moment is the elixir gun, so I’m probably going to work that in.

Not sure if I’ll go for speedy kits. I’m currently using infused precision and invigorating speed to keep me moving in combat, and I can sort of get by chugging Elixir B and using swapping to medkit for stimulates while I travel, but I can definitely see the value of not doing that slightly ridiculous dance, especially since it would free me up to take coated bullets for shot piercing. I’ll have to try it out, luckily re-traiting is cheap.

Modified ammunition works the same was as target the maimed in that it will only affect direct damage.

That being said, your direct damage is not irrelevant just because you primarily deal condition damage. It will depend on what sort of gear you’re running, but carrion or even rabid gear will still benefit nicely from some improved direct damage.

What other traits are you using in firearms? I typically use rifled barrels, hair trigger, and coated bullets, although I usually use my p/p build in a zerg rather than solo or party roaming.

In firearms I have hair trigger and infused precision to trigger invigorating speed down in alchemy. If I go 30 firearms I’ll probably switch between modified ammunition and coated bullets depending on the situation.

The gear I have right now is Rabid armor with carrion gems. Not sure why I mixed them that way. I also have a full suit of berserker I’m not currently using I can always swap out if I want to try rifle. I had a lot of Karma saved up.

haven’t really looked into runes and such yet. Since I’m running HGH I’ll probably look for things that make might better or happen more frequently.

Best for Enh. Performance is using the Med Kit. Everytime you equip the medkit it counts as using a heal skill. So you can run around with perma-6 stacks of might, since it also triggers outside of combat, without actually using your Heal.

Hyena.2037:

In firearms I have hair trigger and infused precision to trigger invigorating speed down in alchemy. If I go 30 firearms I’ll probably switch between modified ammunition and coated bullets depending on the situation.

The gear I have right now is Rabid armor with carrion gems. Not sure why I mixed them that way. I also have a full suit of berserker I’m not currently using I can always swap out if I want to try rifle. I had a lot of Karma saved up.

haven’t really looked into runes and such yet. Since I’m running HGH I’ll probably look for things that make might better or happen more frequently.

Coated bullets is awesome. I wouldn’t swap it for modified amo ever. being able to pierce will add far more damage to multiple targets then 2% per condition on one as you’re mostly getting your damage from conds. Even Vs. some singe targets it makes sure that you’ll hit your intended target vs a minion/pet. You should be gaining enough direct damage from HgH might stacks to not be totally dependent on conds at the same time.

Personally I went with mostly rabid with a few rampagers items. I find that with toolkit you have enough defensive options to where I can shave down the defensive stats a bit and still be very survivable. That’s more of a personal play style choice though and everyone will have their own sweet spot. The end goal is to put out as much damage without having to be constantly worried about dying.

As far as runes… boon duration/might duration/undead are all good for HgH. Undead runes are very cheap. Boon duration runes you can get a couple from AC and use a couple of major runes which would make this set also relatively inexpensive to try out.

As far as the last 10, 10 in inventions isn’t a bad choice to get either 20% damage reduction when cc-ed or invis on immobilize (which you can then clear with 409 and run around while stealthed). 10 in tools will get you perma swiftness through speedy kits.