Guild Wars 2

Will this be being addressed?

Not to complain, but I actually quite like the elixir P/P condi build. The problem I am suffering is that even with Condi duration at max, they just seem to fall off too quickly.

I know I shouldn’t compare other classes, but necro is probably the other pure condi build, doing horrbile stacks of everything.

I am just wondering if anyone knows if it’s actually possible to get 25 stacks of bleed on just pistols? I think the most I have seen is around 10 but that takes a full 5 seconds to get on and then it’s actually only nine. (based on 100% condi duration and no sigils)
Even with procs etc, reasonably you could hit 15-18 stacks but over a very long time and if u get procs a lot. I think that is working entirely on just using the 1 ability.

Personally I think they need to be increased from 2.5 seconds to around 4 across the board. at least then it would be possible to stack condition with the pistol.

Anybody else got an opinion on this?

This is for PvE, not PvP.

The 2 second bleed and low power ratio just make explosive shot pretty horrible overall. I can have like 1500 condition damage and pistol 1 will still be hitting for less than 400 damage overall including the power dmg >.<

On the bright side trying to avoid it has taught me to switch kits continuously to use any skill other than it

EG #1 is better, more damage and weakness in addition to bleed.

I think there is several things that needs to be done with the pistol auto attack.

#1: Make it so the AoE explosion causes bleeds to things other than their target.
#2: Increase the bleed duration at base from 2 seconds to 3 seconds.

…I guess that is only a couple, but that will make pistols a lot better.

Infor.9703:

EG #1 is better, more damage and weakness in addition to bleed.

^ This. I think the EG is necessary for any condition build. It spits out some great conditions (like weakness) and stacks bleeds better than pistol. Plus, it’s got that awesome healing light field.

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

#2: Increase the bleed duration at base from 2 seconds to 3 seconds.

WILL HELP ALLOT yeah!!

Base – 6 – will help.

Hvaran.6327:

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

#2: Increase the bleed duration at base from 2 seconds to 3 seconds.

WILL HELP ALLOT yeah!!

Base – 6 – will help.

You should really mark your posts at being ironic or wasn’t it? ^^
Even the Sigil of Earth has 5s of bleed on 60% chance
so I guess 4 to 5 seconds would be perfect.

2s -> 4s @ 100%
High invest -> low gain
Medium invest almost no gain

3s -> 6s @ 100%
High invest -> medium gain
Still little to none difference without focusing
on a high amount of condition duration

4 – 5s -> 8-10s @ 100%
High invest -> medium / high gain
Still usefull withouth to much focus on CD

The only reasons I use p/s is for the shield bubble/knock back and block/stun (which was nerfed because it was so OP HA!), but with the exception of the static shot, the pistol skills are not even worth discussing.

I had a guildie spectating me for PvP, and he was telling me that I wasn’t using the auto attack enough to build pressure… to which I said, “The auto attack doesn’t create pressure in any spec, it makes the target feel more comfortable just tanking my attacks, effectively doing the opposite.” It rang so true that I wrote it down, just so I could remember.

After that, I just kit swapped between grenades and elixir gun, never spending more than a few seconds either blast finishing, blocking, or blinding.

For bleeds, EG #1 is the way to go. Like people have said, it hits harder, stacks faster, and you’ll appreciate the Weakness every time it nerfs one of the enemies attacks. Weakness really shines against heavy hitting mobs as it can turn an insta-down attack into something that lets you or an ally keep fighting.

EG #3 Fumigate is also good for stacking bleeds via the Sharpshoot trait (Firearms 5pts) provided you have a reasonable crit rate, and it will stack them on multiple enemies.

I’ve become a fan of Poison in cond builds. While it’s damage is mediocre, it makes up for it by nerfing the target’s healing, which has the same effect as applying more (non-burst) damage. For mobs with self-heal it’s invaluable. Of course, the healing nerf only works while Poison is up. So reapplying poison becomes important. That’s where Pistol #2 comes in: it synchs with EG #3 to give two Poison applications every 10s giving you perma-poison on a target.

I find Pistol #3 Static Shot useful but use it less in 1v1s as it requires multiple mobs to be really effective (being insta-cast helps as is doesn’t hold up anything else). The best time to use it is when there are two enemies in close proximity (even a harmless environment creature will do). In that situation it will bounce between the two, doubling the damage and confusion stacks. (WvW note: I’ve found myself using it a lot when being targeted by dual warriors – a common WvW meta – and getting stunned a lot less as a consequence).

Pistol #4 stacks a lot of burning if you’re in their face when you cast it. But in Condition builds we stack plenty of burning anyway, so I don’t use it much. It is a small aoe so it can be useful occasionally for tagging or keeping pressure on more enemies. Its big downside is you really do have to be in the face of your enemy for it to be truly effective.

Pistol #5 Glue Shot is helpful for the immobilize/cripple. Personally, I find Immobilize itself of limited value as most of my attacks have a bit of range on them, but it does come in very handy for pinning down mobs that run around all the time. The extended cripple from a cond duration build is especially useful for maintaining distance from mobs. On the down side, the ground targeting and slow animation sucks, and makes it virtually worthless whenever there’s lag.

Coming right back to pistol #1. Yes, it applies bleeding, but the only time I use this is when skill lag gets so bad that it’s the only attack that will fire – and even then I’d rather get onto the EG and use its #1.

The other quick stacker for bleeding is FT#1 with Sharpshooter. I think it does even more attacks that EG #3 so will lay down even more bleeds.