Guild Wars 2

Hey all,

I thought I would make this thread as a result of a post I made in a different thread regarding the skill Static Shield (shield skill in slot #5). It possesses a quirk that people may not be aware about. As such, I would like to point it out here (not sure it would get read in that tips and tricks thread).

As a side note, I am not the discoverer of this, I’m simply disseminating information.

Static Shield is a defensive skill, but it is actually possible to perform actions while the effects of the skill are active. Most notably, you can attack during the “animation” of Static Shield, meaning it provides a method of being offensive while being defensive. More generally, you seem to be able to perform pretty much any action while Static Shield is in effect.

The reason most people probably don’t know this is that there is no mention whatsoever about this on the tooltip, and it is rather counter-intuitive. Similar skills, such as the Gear Shield featured in the Tool Kit, do not allow you to take additional actions while the blocking effect is active, and cancel their effects if you attack or do something else. As such, it is not obvious that you can do this with Static Shield (it is not also readily obvious you can move while using Static Shield, but people generally discover that quite quickly).

I will give some examples of things you can do below. Note that taking these actions does not prohibit you from using Throw Shield afterwards, nor do they diminish any other effects Static Shield has. Also note that being attacked in melee will generally cancel any action you are currently performing, although it will still stun the attacker as normal.

Example 1: Static Shield + Dodge

It may seem a little odd to dodge while blocking, but you are allowed to do it. This may come in handy if you want to be sure that you either block or dodge an attack, although it can simply just be a waste of resources. This is different from most skills that generally cancel when you dodge though. It may also help you get over unblockable attacks, such as unblockable marks or traps, which I believe can still be evaded (haven’t directly tested this). If true, then you can effectively dodge the trap/mark while also blocking incoming attacks.

Example 2: Static Shield + Pistol Attacks

Probably the more basic thing to do with this Static Shield quirk is shoot your pistol while the shield is up. You can get about 2-3 explosive shots off before the animation ends. However, you can also take 2-3 explosive shots and then toss the shield if you want to for some extra ranged attack power.

In fact, if you activate Poison Dart Volley immediately after activating Static Shield, you can fire off all 5 of the darts and still have just enough time to use Throw Shield immediately after that. Essentially, this gives you protection from ranged attacks while shooting off Poison Dart Volley and allows you to toss the shield after if you want. Note that being attacked in melee during the volley animation will cancel the rest of the volley (but the melee attacker is still stunned).

Example 3: Static Shield + Heal Skill

You can use Static Shield as a defensive measure to ensure that you are able to pop off your healing skill. This can make it very easy to heal yourself in those clutch moments when you are low on health and really need a good second of time to use your healing ability. You can also toss the shield after if you want to. Note that being struck in melee while using the healing skill can cancel your healing skill animation (which could be very bad), although it will leave the melee attacker stunned. This might be better left for when you are being pelted by ranged attacks so as to not risk the cancel of the healing skill.

Example 4: Static Shield + Kit (Med Kit, Bomb Kit, Grenade Kit, Tool Kit, Flamethrower, Elixir Gun)

You can take out one of your kits after using Static Shield. This does technically put your shield away, but the effects of Static Shield are still present. This affords you the blocking ability while also being able to use the skills from your kit.

This is very handy for Med Kit, because you can block attacks while dropping down your items, allowing you to heal, cure a condition, and gather some speed while blocking ranged attacks. Melee attacks will still interrupt a skill animation, although that won’t really matter too much when dropping the items from Med Kit. If you swap the kit back before the Static Shield effects wear off, you can toss the shield if you want to.

This will work with any kit, such as the Flamethrower and Bomb Kit. I’m not aware of any very practical uses aside from having a few seconds of block while attacking with those kits, but I’m just pointing out that it’s possible to do.

I believe the trait Kit Refinement will function fine with this as well, although I didn’t explicitly test it.

I did find a neat trick with Tool Kit. You can activate Static Shield, swap to Tool Kit, and use magnet. This will keep Static Shield in effect, meaning you will protect yourself while waiting for the magnet animation to complete. In fact, I found it was possible to do the following combo:

Static Shield -> Swap in Tool Kit -> Magnet -> Pry Bar -> Swap out Tool Kit -> Toss Shield

The timing for this combo is very precise, and you have to do it quickly enough so that there’s still time to toss the shield at the end (you’re essentially stowing the Tool Kit in the middle of the Pry Bar animation). I don’t think this combo is very practical (particularly due to the slow toss and the daze not synergizing well with confusion), but it is just another possibility.

Example 5: Static Shield + Magnetic Shield

It is possible to activate Magnetic Shield while Static Shield is in effect. You have to use Static Shield first, however. It will not work the other way around (Magnetic Shield will get cancelled). This allows you to reflect projectiles, and will also stun any melee attacker who hits you. However, note that being attacked in melee will cancel Magnetic Shield. Also, you must remain motionless or else Magnetic Shield will be cancelled.

Additionally, you can activate Magnetic Inversion while still maintaining the effects of Static Shield, which means you can effectively knock someone back or take advantage of a combo field with the blast finisher while blocking.

I don’t think this is the most practical use of either skill, but it’s a possibility.

Example 6: Static Shield + Revive Ally

You can revive allies while Static Shield is up. Just use Static Shield before reviving an ally, and you will be able to block attacks for 2 seconds while helping them up. This is a great technique for when a downed ally is under fire and you really need to get them back on their feet without becoming badly wounded or knocked around yourself (such as when they were downed by an arrow cart).

Note that being attacked in melee will stun the attacker, but will also interrupt your revival process. You will have to re-initiate the revival if you still want to revive your ally.

Example 7: Static Shield + Resource Gathering

This is a useful trick to do if you want to ignore mobs while gathering stuff. You can activate Static Shield and then being to mine/chop/harvest, which will block incoming while you gather the resource. Note that being attacked in melee will interrupt the harvesting animation (and possibly put you in combat), so it will be most useful when dealing with ranged mobs.

Example 8: Static Shield + Open Chest

You can not-so-ninja loot a chest with Static Shield by activating it before opening the chest. Being attacked in melee will interrupt your looting process, so it may best be used against ranged mobs.

Example 9: Static Shield + Elite Skill

You can use Static Shield as a way to ensure that you are not interrupted during the use of your elite skill, which helps guarantee that you successfully use it (i.e. you can block during the 1 second animation for Supply Crate). I’m not 100% sure on how it will interact with transformation skills (i.e. Elixir X), but I’m guessing the leftover duration from Static Shield’s blocking effect will carry over to the start of the transformed state.

Example 10: Static Shield + Go Swimming

If you activate Static Shield and then jump in the water, the blocking effect will persist for its full duration, even though you are now underwater. It obviously won’t last for very long, but it can be useful if you are attempting to escape into the water since it gives you a little bit of buffer to swim out, meaning its more likely that the enemies will have to chase you into the water instead of finishing you off from the land.

Example 11: Static Shield + Siege

You can use Static Shield and then activate a siege weapon, which gives you a few seconds of block while you use it. This can be useful if you are under fire but need to make use of a siege weapon, such as when ramming a gate open or when trying to make use of a ballista in close quarters.

Example 12: Static Shield + Tool Belt

All tool belt skills seem to work with Static Shield (I didn’t test exhaustively). Some more notably useful ones are Bandage Self, Super Speed, Toss Elixir S, Big Ol’ Bomb, and Toss Elixir R.

Coupled with Kit Refinement, this also allows you to do the double grenade barrage while blocking, and you can toss the shield afterwards for a daze if you want (possibly to interrupt a heal skill).

Example 13: Static Shield + Stomp

You can activate Static Shield before initiating a finisher on a downed player, which will give you protection from your enemy’s allies who might try to punish you for doing this. It will also block “interrupt” skills that the downed player might use on you (i.e. warrior hammer, ranger lightning, &c.). Note however that being attacked in melee will stop your stomp attempt, although it will stun the attacker. This also happens when you’re right up next to the downed opponent when they use their interrupt skill, but you are not actually interrupted/knocked down and can start the stomp animation immediately again by mashing on “F”.

I constantly see people in all forms of gameplay, especially PvP, who use Static Shield as if it were your typical blocking-type skill, and don’t capitalize on the fact that you can still attack while the block is in effect. I have had to deliberately practice using other skills after activating Static Shield, and it is a bit difficult to learn since it is so counter-intuitive. However, it is a unique quirk that the engineer has, and I wanted to help spread awareness about this technique so people could start to take advantage of a little tool they never knew they had.

I don’t think this is the absolute most practical thing ever or any kind of game changer, but it’s definitely something that you should know if you’re looking to maximize the mileage you get out of your shield.

And no, I don’t have any video footage of this.

Thanks all, and happy gaming.

Wow. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this…very nice work. Bump because every engi should know about this.

Thanks, very helpful post.

Well now you know what engineers will be gettin on the next patch day. The Static Shield “fix”.

Did I simply miss it, or did you leave out Stomp?

As an Asura Elixir S bugs the crap out of me, so I see my static shield as a poor man’s Elixir S…

But I’ll admit most of the time I get the timing all wrong.
Much has to do with the fact big WvW fights tend to bug out and lag a bit. And that’s where I use the shield the most.
Guess I’ll have to practice in Orr a bit more on that

By the way: other channeled abilities can be used the same.
Like simple flamethrower #1 or the already mentioned Prybar, they won’t interrupt either. The BIG difference is of course that the Static Shield is a block and makes sense to combine with all these abilities.
Not every other channeled ability has good uses like that.

This is pretty cool. I thought I’d seen it happen before but I assumed it was just lag (of which I have too much) playing tricks on me. +1

Bye-bye, clever use of static shield mechanic.

Kimbald.2697:

Did I simply miss it, or did you leave out Stomp?

As an Asura Elixir S bugs the crap out of me, so I see my static shield as a poor man’s Elixir S…

But I’ll admit most of the time I get the timing all wrong.
Much has to do with the fact big WvW fights tend to bug out and lag a bit. And that’s where I use the shield the most.
Guess I’ll have to practice in Orr a bit more on that

Yep, I forgot about stomp. XD

Adding it to the list of examples…

Yamsandjams.3267

Thank you for this information. I’ve been logging a bunch of hours and I noticed I was able to use a few abilities, but just realized I haven’t taken serious advantage of it in PvP.

Might be relevant and obvious, but still:
When facing off versus ranged characters, you can block for 3/4 the duration of static shield and still throw it at the time the block is about to expire.
You can time it by keeping an eye on the cast bar.
After some practice you’ll be able to do it blindly.

So you get about 1.5 sec’s worth of blocks and a daze (or two, if you position it right)

excellent. I was not aware of that. should be fantastic for stomps/resing.

And yeah. incoming nerf. haha.

About the stomp: Thought about that one again.
If you are close enough to the opponent to stomp him, wouldn’t any attack he makes trigger your stun?

naphack.9346:

About the stomp: Thought about that one again.
If you are close enough to the opponent to stomp him, wouldn’t any attack he makes trigger your stun?

I think so. I haven’t tested the stomping very thoroughly, but it’s not uncommon to have the stun go off and your animation be interrupted. However, it does allow you to initiate the stomp again immediately rather than having to get your butt off the ground (provided the interrupt ability is the one that triggers the stun). It’s probably more useful for avoiding incoming ranged attacks from your downed opponent’s allies, but it’s definitely not a stomp replacement for Elixir S.

FYI the stun doesn’t actually do anything to downed opponent.

I’d say it’s more practical a rez tool than a stomp tool though.

Wow, this is very interesting. Never realized any of this, the only trick I ever found with Static Shield is being able to block ranged attacks and still throw the shield, which I love doing. I’m actually really suprised it never dawned on me to at least try something else.

It makes sense, though, now that I think about it. I have noticed that Static Shield is a buff that gets added to your character, so I assume that means its the buff thats blocking attacks and not any sort of channel effect like most blocks. As such anything besides Throw Shield (which I assume removes the buff automatically) will not deter the ability to block. Makes it most similar to Guardian Focus’ block ability I suppose, except that its obvious you can do other stuff with that skill, and with Static Shield its definately a hidden thing.

I hope they don’t change it, its a cool ability and considering the existance of the aforementioned Guardian skill, doesn’t seem particularly overpowered. I wouldn’t be suprised if they fixed it, but I’d prefer if they just made it the real, and obvious, function of the skill.

Good thread.

This makes SS very good for ranged fights.

Doesn’t the block ability of Static Shield drop when it discharges?

Sporadicus.1028:

Good thread.

This makes SS very good for ranged fights.

Doesn’t the block ability of Static Shield drop when it discharges?

When you are hit by melee the skill discharges.
So against a melee target it serves more as a single interupt.
A nice combo to go along with this trick is FT #5 since it is another skill that can be activated at any time.
So if you want to res someone use SS then right when it ends use FT #5.

I figured this out a while ago by accident and honostly thought everyone knew about it. It can be tricky to notice because using another skill will exit the block animation and reset the casting duration bar. But you can still tell you have the shield because of the black Aegis looking effect.

This is either an animation glitch and the shield is actually stopping or a mistake was made on ANets part. They’ll fix it eventually.