Hey all! It’s me again, with another Comic book superhero inspired build!
Last time, I made a tanky, healing/support build based on Captain America. Today, I present, the Ironman Mk1!
Build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcEQJAqal0pqd37SyF17IxoHkuzcG0DAnX+KqAmB
Purpose:
So the goal of this next build was to create a build which would be a homage to Ironman, following my first build which was Captain America. The focus of this build was to deal damage, yet still take be able to take a beating. Clunkiness was also something I wanted to factor in, since the first suit is not perfect, but it gets the job done.
Explanation:
Weapons:
Dual Pistol: This one is a no brainer. Ironman doesn’t use a shield, so P/S is out. And he doesn’t shoot a rifle. Dual pistol is the obvious choice. Especially since it has the blowtorch and fires minirockets with the basic attack. This build is survivable with the gear for this build, so staying near melee range is doable. This way, the Blowtorch hits for more damage and when you spam Poison Dart Volley, more of the shots would hit the target. Remember to start of with Explosive shot to get a 5% damage boost.
Key Traits:
With any pistol focused build, 30 in firearms is a must to get Coated Bullets. Since this build will have a hybrid of power and condition damage, getting more hits from your basic attack will help a with damage output. Hair Trigger is taken so you can keep applying conditions with skills 2-4 from pistol. The last trait depends on preference. Though you can take Rifled Barrels for a range increase, I tend to not since I’m in melee range for my Blowtorch and Prybar. The other two options are Sitting Duck for Vulnerability on skill 5, or Precise Sights for Vulnerability on crits. Up to you. In the Alchemy tree, I grab Blood Injection so my Vitality boosts my CondDmg.
*1
The last 30 points I put into Tools. Speedy Kits is taken for mobility, Static Discharge for the extra Oomph, and Speedy Gadgets taken to use various gadgets more often.
Utilities:
For utilities, I chose to go with gadgets. Most people use dual pistol with elixirs, but for stylistic purposes, I went with gadgets and Toolkit (Healing skill is medkit). It isn’t usually done, but I figured, hey. Ironman uses gadgets. The ones I normally use are Rocket boots and Personal Battering Ram*2. I use the Rocket Kick ability to apply burn and a static discharge, and the Personal Battering Ram for the toolkit ability to deal damage and again apply static discharge. Though clunky, these items do their job, and fit with the theme of Ironman mk1 (especially the rocket boots which misfire ).
Alterations:
1) Something I may try is dropping Tools to 20, bumping Vitality up to 20 and grabbing Invigorating Speed, and grabbing Infused Precision for near constant vigor for more dodge goodness.
2) I tend to keep Medkit and Toolkit in my utilities bar because Prybar is awesome for direct and confusion damage, and Medkit’s Bandage skill is the fastest heal available. Depending on the situation, other gadgets may be better. Utility Goggles may be used to have a stunbreaker, Slick shoes if you need to run away, etc.
Gear:
I’m using mostly the CondDmg/Power/Vit gear from Sorrow’s Embrace, with the Prec/Power/CondDmg chestpiece from Ascalonian Catacombs. In the upgrade slots for my gear, I have Beryl Orbs (I’ll explain below). For jewlery, right now I have Invaders gear(P/T/V) from the WvW vendor, with Exquisite Ruby jewels(again I’ll explain below). My jewelry I know I need to update, but right now I’m pretty happy with it.
Regarding Stat distribution:
I wasn’t going for a full condition damage spec with this build. Yes I have a lot of condition damage, and I grab rocket boots just for the burn, but power affects damage output on all my abilities. That’s why my upgrade orbs have power rather than condition damage. I also grab orbs with CritDmg increases, because of the article I’ll list down below. When I do crit, I want to crit hard. And finally, I grab vitality to boost my hp, as well as boosting my condition damage(a little).
http://flame-throwing.com/2012/09/power-precision-crit-and-you
Overall: So far, I’m loving the build. It’s not as tanky as the Captain America build (since the C.A build has constant healing) but once fully geared, the Ironman Mk1 should have a huge HP pool buffer to survive and handle just about anything that’s thrown at it. Took it into WvW last night, just killing dolyaks and what not, and I was able to take out other roaming thieves and mesmers.
Attached is a pic of my Armor so far. Almost done, I just need to get new boots.
