Guild Wars 2

So for a good while now I’ve been running the classic Grenades glass cannon spec, with Static Discharge, Tool Kit (for Throw Wrench mostly) and Slick Shoes, with almost full Beserkers (I have Soldiers in a couple slots). I’ve enjoyed the damage and playstyle, but lately I’ve been feeling like I want to be more durable in smaller encounters.

For the time being I mostly run WvW solo, either following a zerg, hitting/defending Yaks, siege/defend keeps and towers with Grenade support and general roaming about trying to support the map where it’s needed. I do enjoy Grenades in WvW so I want them part of any build I run.

So last night I switched to a full Soldier set (except legs which are Knights) and Knights for the Jewelry slots and Rifle. I also moved my build to this …

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcEQFAUl0piYX3ShF17IyIFfWnJSRlpffeQftFEC

The idea was to capitalize on the extra Super Elixir with Kit Refinement from the swapping to the EG, and add a couple traits that help when being focused (auto Elixir S and Protection).

I played it for a couple hours last night and I found it a bit underwhelming. Maybe I just need more time with the build and learn how to play it right, but I felt like I gave up more damage than I gained in additional durability, and in the end it seemed like I died just as much as I did with my glass cannon spec.

Any thoughts and/or suggestions from your experience would be appreciated.

Go the glass cannon. Use elixirs, rocket boots or slick shoes for some survivability.

I have 2 sets of gear with 2 different specs that I use for WvW. The first is the usual full berserker, glass cannon, grenadier build. I use this when running with the zerg taking keeps etc where its more likely that you can snipe from the outskirts, or at least be less likely to take a lot of damage.

The second set is rabid where possible, and carrion for the rings/accessories. This gives you good condition damage with a good amount of survivability. I use this set when I run solo or in small groups, taking supply camps or roaming. For this setup I use a pistol/alchemist build. Grenades are fairly popular for condition builds too. I put out enough damage to whittle someone down fairly quickly while maintaining good survivability with the added defensive stats and condition removal from alchemy.