Guild Wars 2

SwiftstompTM Research and Development proudly presents:
“Flame and Frost”, a balanced build for tourney play.

This being the first of my homegrown builds (and the only one to have weathered the KR-Patch, by not using it despite having multiple kits) to be presented to a audience greater than a guild forum.
I would be grateful for constructive criticism and optimization tips!

So without further ado, here comes the build followed by some thoughts/playstyle notes.

http://www.intothemists.com/calc/?build=-WRw;2sP-i0c-3UFx0;9;4T9-9J2475;35;057-Wc0;3ecX9ecX92Vs

Core to the build is the utilization of PBAoE Conditions, with the combo of Grenth runes, Medkit and Sigil of Hydromancy for a massive uptime of freeze.

Depending on Map and/or group setup the build can be played as
- closepoint defender
- farpoint attack / decap
- groupfighter with realy decent condition damage

Further down i’ll post a variant GC Setup i dubbed “Flame and Frost, the Razing” which i sometimes use for pure groupfighting/roaming.

Strenghts of the Build:

Area Control:
The possibilities are almost endless

- AoE Cripple (Toolkit 1, 2, Throw Wrench and Bombkit 5)
- AoE Knockbacks (Big Ole Bomb, Shield 4)
- Stuns (Shield 5, Supplydrop)
- Daze (Shield 5)
- Pull/Knockdown (Toolkit 5)

In adition to our utilities and weapon skills we also have massive AoE freeze uptime:
- By slotting Grenth runes we reach +50% freeze duration, and freeze on heal for 4sec on a 10sec CD, just entering the Medkit is counted as healing and triggers the rune
- Sigil of Hydromancy gives 4sec/9sec CD
- Random freeze on hit by Grenthrunes 4piece bonus (singletarged only)

Defense:

Elixier R for
- stunbreak on a short CD
- 100% endurance refill
- lightfield (including reset at 25% HP) for condiremove and rezzing

The GC Variant below switches Elixier R for Elixier S, as it lacks defense against direct damage, and for stomping (thrown)

Resistance against direct damage
- 2650 Armor is quite near the theoretical optimum, as diminishing returns kick in drasticaly at around 2700-2800
- Alchemy VI grants Protection if disabled, so more often than not its up when enemies set up to burst
- Blinds (Pistol 3 (Bouncing), Bombkit 4)
- Block/Projectile reflect (Shield 4, 5, Toolkit 4)

For added conditionremove a Sigil of Purity is used in one of the weapons, as the build lacks in HP (only around ~16k)

Offense:

Being a conditiondamage focussed build it makes HEAVY use of confusion for either massive damage against reckless enemies or forcing the opponents into playing defensively.
- Pistol 3 (2+ stacks, bouncing)
- Bombkit 3 (5 stacks, AoE)
- Toolkit 3 (5 stacks, singletarged)

in addition we have got
- AoE Burning (Bombkit 2)
- AoE Bleeding (Toolkit 2)
- Poison (Pistol 2, “singletarget” yeah, right!)
- Bleeding (Pistol 1, 30% chance on crit through Sharpshooter trait)
- Burning (33% chance on crit through Explosives V)
- Vulnerability (Toolkit 1)

With stats of 1200 condition damage and ~40% critchance without Fury its getting uncomfortable in PBAoE range rather quickly

Utility/mobility:

100% Swiftness uptime:
5,5sec Swiftness at Kitswap, 5sec CD (Tools VI)
11sec Swiftness, 20sec CD (Medkit 5)

Roundabout 50% Fury uptime (Medkit 5)

Combofields:
- Lightfield (Elixier R-Toolbelt)
- Firefield (Bombkit 2)
- Smokefield (Bombkit 4)
+ Finishers:
- 3 Blasts (Bombkit-Toolbelt, Shield 4, Supplydrop)
- 2 Projectiles (Toolkit-Toolbelt, Shield 5)(+ Pistol 1(20%))

Gameplay notes:

Despite the build being relatively sturdy i would advise against playing too defensively. Forcing opponent into the defensive using chill and/or confusion and pressuring them as hard as possible with multiple condidions works out best (for me).

Due to the fact that every weapon and kit, with the exception of the shield, has its CDs shortened by 20% with their respective traits, and defensive/offensive options strewn everywhere the build is not easy to play. The fact that many skills have multiple purposes only serve to make matters worse…
To be frank, i still feel im far from reaching its full potential jet

Variant:

“Flame and Frost, the Razing”

http://www.intothemists.com/calc/?build=-WRw;2sPVi0c-3UFx0;9;4T9-9J2475;30;057-WN0;3ecX9ecX97Fo

This versions changes four aspects:
- Elixier R → Elixier S (as described above)
- Alchemy VI → Alchemy I
For offsetting the lost endurance gain from Elixier R, and losing the protection/thoughness synergy. (see Amu change)
- Rabid Amulet → Rampager Amulet
Most damage options scale in the build scale well with additional Power/Precision, and the loss of most Condiremoves is mitigated by slightly higher HP.
- Sigil of Purity → Sigil of Fire
Damage is the focus here, Firesigil scales well with power and complements the skills nicely.

Quite a long writeup, and possibly much to thorough
TL;DR: Engies rock, and 409/HGH is not our only option (as strong AND fun as it is!)

150 views and not a single criticism/comment?

aka: shameless selfbump

testing a hybrid of the two variants above atm:

retaining Rabid amulet for more Thoughness/survivability, but using Elixier S and Alchemy I
Sigil changed from Fire (not enough power to support it) to Corruption.

http://www.intothemists.com/calc/?build=-WRw;2sPVi0c-3UFx0;9;4T9-9J2475;30;057-WN1;3ecX9ecX92Vc

I do not like builds without condition removal. But I guess it should work against some classes.

I see bad odds for you against a ranger, a mesmer, a necro or a HgH engineer.

What I do not understand is that you chill your opponent and use condition damage. Why chill them? It is condition damage. Power and chill are friends. Condition and chill are just neighbours

The condition cleansing in the first (more defensive) variant is ok, if abusing the lightfield from Elixier R…
Your right, the condiremove is my biggest grief in the other variants.

As for your point on Chill/conditions:
Ive always thought of chill as a defensive/pressuring mechanism, inhibiting the use of offensive skills and heals. In addition its potentialy covering up the more offensive condies.

Seeing your point though: if using/thinking about chill as offense its definitely the stronger option to use it in a power build (another strong reason for using grenades).
broadened my mind, thanks a lot

the cooldowns of your sigils work against each other.
When one procs, the other has it’s cooldown also set in work.
Despite them being totally different sigils in mechanic, as soon as both have a cooldown… setting of one also sets of the other.

So if you swap and get the hydromancy proc, it will take 9 seconds before the condition removal of purity can even work at all.
if after those 9 seconds you happen to swap again… no condition removal for 9 seconds again.

Sad, but true.

A shame, since those very 2 are my exact favourite sigils (the generosity version in WVW but in pvp it doesn’t exist).

Other than that I really really like this build, since it is very close to what I tend to use the most myslf.
Lately I’m more experimenting with turrets, so I have to adjust somewhat.
But your build uses several of the core abilities I always want to keep.

The chill on heal is great for escaping by the way. And it’s great to lower burst somewhat too. Not a lot, but some…
I never see chill as damage, even though it does quite decent powerbased damage. I see it as a slow and an attack speed slow. The damage is extra, but not what I use it for (except on grenades, there the 3 x chill hurts as well)

Not that they are the ‘best’ choices, but I simply love them:
- using Power wrench trait with Tool Kit (most don’t bother for this trait)
- using a shield (Reinforced shield gives this extremely good cooldowns, but hard to justify those points).
- sigil of hydromancy (but as condition removal is more important I use generosity/purity more )
- runes of grenth

By no means are these the best things to use, but I fell for them and almost can’t imagine playing without them.

Nice thing about your build: in WvW or dungeons, just get out of combat and pick up grenades instead of bombs if you’re following a zerg.
That build isn’t just for pvp, it’s fun for just about anything.
For me at least, even if my variation is slightly different.

Kimbald.2697:

the cooldowns of your sigils work against each other.
When one procs, the other has it’s cooldown also set in work.
Despite them being totally different sigils in mechanic, as soon as both have a cooldown… setting of one also sets of the other.

So if you swap and get the hydromancy proc, it will take 9 seconds before the condition removal of purity can even work at all.
if after those 9 seconds you happen to swap again… no condition removal for 9 seconds again.

Sad, but true.

A shame, since those very 2 are my exact favourite sigils (the generosity version in WVW but in pvp it doesn’t exist).

Discovered that sad fact the hard way… this is mostly the reason wy i switched to Corruption istead of Purity lately.

Switching out Hydromancy would invalidate the Grenth runes, therefore leading to a radicaly different build… something im just not ready to accept (jet)

Kimbald.2697:

Other than that I really really like this build, since it is very close to what I tend to use the most myslf.
Lately I’m more experimenting with turrets, so I have to adjust somewhat.
But your build uses several of the core abilities I always want to keep.

The chill on heal is great for escaping by the way. And it’s great to lower burst somewhat too. Not a lot, but some…
I never see chill as damage, even though it does quite decent powerbased damage. I see it as a slow and an attack speed slow. The damage is extra, but not what I use it for (except on grenades, there the 3 x chill hurts as well)

Not that they are the ‘best’ choices, but I simply love them:
- using Power wrench trait with Tool Kit (most don’t bother for this trait)
- using a shield (Reinforced shield gives this extremely good cooldowns, but hard to justify those points).
- sigil of hydromancy (but as condition removal is more important I use generosity/purity more )
- runes of grenth

By no means are these the best things to use, but I fell for them and almost can’t imagine playing without them.

The idea of the build was not maximising damage in the first place, but adding together different ways of area-control and winning by outlasting and whittling down opponents.
The weak points are dealing with massive conditions, and/or ranged enemies…
the first weakness i hope to mitigate by using Purity, ranged arent TOO much of a trouble once i manage to get a cripple running by throwing the wrench, or they get magneted into a gluebomb/boxoNails/freeze.
That said, Traphunters are my nemesis… but this seems not to be build specific

Mass conditions are still a problem… but then: in what build but Elixiers with 409 arent they cause of death No.1? (Im missing my Elixiergun KR /sniff/)

Kimbald.2697:

Nice thing about your build: in WvW or dungeons, just get out of combat and pick up grenades instead of bombs if you’re following a zerg.
That build isn’t just for pvp, it’s fun for just about anything.
For me at least, even if my variation is slightly different.

Your totaly right, in PvE/WvW i use a very similar setup:
Exchanging Bombs for Grenades almost permanently, and using 2*Lyssa, 2*MadKing plus 2*Altruism (in combination with Explosives X plus Sigil of Battle foralmost instant 6-9 stacks of Might). Im not to sure about the latter combo, as the build is missing almost any boonduration (10%).
Will try out Geomancy and reduced Grenade CDs as soon as some Gold comes in

With a Givers weapon and Pizza this amounts to 100% condiduration while retaining much of the intended playstyle. Prybar in WvW is just evil!

For Dungeons i often swap out Toolkit for Elixiergun, and Power wrench for Scope (not knowing if that thing was fixed, didnt have the patience to test).

Thanks for your comments, im following the recent threads about turret setups with interest… and itching to try them out soonTM!