Guild Wars 2

Speaking in terms of WvW, coming from a core condition Necromancer (not Reaper), how do I properly pressure a Dragonhunter?

It seems like no matter how many conditions I try to apply, they fall off like nothing. And if they’re having trouble cleansing, they just block with either Shelter or that skill I’m uncertain the name of that blocks all incoming attacks from the front/sides.

What should I look out for? (skills, utilities, etc.)
What should I try to bait/how should I do it? (eg. spam scepter AA’s before going for a major burst)
As a Dragonhunter, what do you hate the most? (conditions, CC’s, reflects, etc?)
What is your hardest match up? (build, profession, etc.)

Just trying to figure out how to properly deal with DH’s as they’ve been giving me a lot of trouble lately. Trappers are generally easy but if the DH is decently skilled I start to have a much harder time primarily due to cleanses and the huge amounts of recovery options they have.

Not all DH’s are exactly the same so the amount of condi clear can vary dramatically, but in general you are most likely going to go against Smite Condition and Wings of Resolve (traited); while also often facing Contemplation of Purity and Hunter’s Fortification.

Smite Condition is a low cooldown (16s) utility and removes 2 conditions. There is nothing you can do to stop this. You can try to bait a DH to use it early with CC, since it is the best way to clear CC.

Wings of Resolved (traited) removes 3 conditions, and its animation looks like an angel jumping. I don’t think you can stop the cleanse, but you really want to stop the rest of the ability because it heals for 4k and will go on full cooldown even if the skill fails.

Contemplation of Purity, is similar to Smite in that it is instant cast, but it converts all conditions to corresponding boons. You really can’t stop this as well, but if you have boon corruption you will want to use it directly after CoP. Just be careful because chill gets converted to 2s of resistance.

The Dragon Hunter’s Grandmaster trait is a draw between Hunter’s Fortification (removes a condition every time you block an attack) and Light Heavy (knock back with bow). So if you don’t get knocked back by a bow assume Hunter’s Fortification. Which means don’t attack them when they are using shelter, focus 5, or Shield of Courage because you are just helping a guardian out.

The most common heal in pvp currently is Purification (trap heal). It heals for a lot if your opponent sets off the trap. So if a guardian is low on health do not get close to them because they will try to trap heal.

Best advice I can give you against a guardian is CC, especially near the end of the fight. Guardians have a hard time fitting much stability in their builds and can be easy to lock down once they have used Shield of Courage.

Indure.5410:

Not all DH’s are exactly the same so the amount of condi clear can vary dramatically, but in general you are most likely going to go against Smite Condition and Wings of Resolve (traited); while also often facing Contemplation of Purity and Hunter’s Fortification.

Smite Condition is a low cooldown (16s) utility and removes 2 conditions. There is nothing you can do to stop this. You can try to bait a DH to use it early with CC, since it is the best way to clear CC.

Wings of Resolved (traited) removes 3 conditions, and its animation looks like an angel jumping. I don’t think you can stop the cleanse, but you really want to stop the rest of the ability because it heals for 4k and will go on full cooldown even if the skill fails.

Contemplation of Purity, is similar to Smite in that it is instant cast, but it converts all conditions to corresponding boons. You really can’t stop this as well, but if you have boon corruption you will want to use it directly after CoP. Just be careful because chill gets converted to 2s of resistance.

The Dragon Hunter’s Grandmaster trait is a draw between Hunter’s Fortification (removes a condition every time you block an attack) and Light Heavy (knock back with bow). So if you don’t get knocked back by a bow assume Hunter’s Fortification. Which means don’t attack them when they are using shelter, focus 5, or Shield of Courage because you are just helping a guardian out.

The most common heal in pvp currently is Purification (trap heal). It heals for a lot if your opponent sets off the trap. So if a guardian is low on health do not get close to them because they will try to trap heal.

Best advice I can give you against a guardian is CC, especially near the end of the fight. Guardians have a hard time fitting much stability in their builds and can be easy to lock down once they have used Shield of Courage.

Appreciate the tips.

To be honest, it sounds more like I should avoid a 1v1 with them than anything. Although there are generally tons of boons to corrupt, the amount of cleanses/blocks tend to make the corrupts mostly irrelevant. That, and if I’m not really careful about when I corrupt, I’ll die pretty quickly anyway because most times they just lay down way too much damage. Conditions are too slow and easy for them to cleanse and their damage is too high.

Not claiming in any way OP, just sounds to me like it’s a bit of a losing match unless I’m either lucky or top of my game. If I were running Reaper it might be a different story but it’s just personal preference that I stay core Necro.

Will have to remember to interrupt Wings Of Resolve any time I can, though.

Indure.5410:

Not all DH’s are exactly the same so the amount of condi clear can vary dramatically, but in general you are most likely going to go against Smite Condition and Wings of Resolve (traited); while also often facing Contemplation of Purity and Hunter’s Fortification.

Smite Condition is a low cooldown (16s) utility and removes 2 conditions. There is nothing you can do to stop this. You can try to bait a DH to use it early with CC, since it is the best way to clear CC.

Wings of Resolved (traited) removes 3 conditions, and its animation looks like an angel jumping. I don’t think you can stop the cleanse, but you really want to stop the rest of the ability because it heals for 4k and will go on full cooldown even if the skill fails.

Contemplation of Purity, is similar to Smite in that it is instant cast, but it converts all conditions to corresponding boons. You really can’t stop this as well, but if you have boon corruption you will want to use it directly after CoP. Just be careful because chill gets converted to 2s of resistance.

The Dragon Hunter’s Grandmaster trait is a draw between Hunter’s Fortification (removes a condition every time you block an attack) and Light Heavy (knock back with bow). So if you don’t get knocked back by a bow assume Hunter’s Fortification. Which means don’t attack them when they are using shelter, focus 5, or Shield of Courage because you are just helping a guardian out.

The most common heal in pvp currently is Purification (trap heal). It heals for a lot if your opponent sets off the trap. So if a guardian is low on health do not get close to them because they will try to trap heal.

Best advice I can give you against a guardian is CC, especially near the end of the fight. Guardians have a hard time fitting much stability in their builds and can be easy to lock down once they have used Shield of Courage.

Would just like to point out some things here:

-Immobilize is a great way to get a DH or guardian to blow SC from afar and early on. Often times, a really fervent DH will SC and immediately dodge.If you condi bomb a DH, and stand close to them, they most likely will use SC asap. This is a good way to bait it without taking the hit, but overall SC is a pretty unstoppable skill.

-You can stop wings of resolve’s condi cleanse as far as I’m aware. The condi cleanse and heal occur at the end of the leap. It DOES remove immobilize at the beginning of the leap though. Absolutely try to interrupt this skill, it’s a great way to hurt DH sustain.

-CoP: Is a great tool against necros. In a drawn-out fight, a smart DH is honestly probably going to use this skill very effectively. In a burst scenario, something you can do is condi-bomb the DH, CC him/her, and then DH will use CoP if they have it. Follow this up with a boon corrupt! I’ve been beaten by good condi-necros before who save their boon corrupt all the way until I use CoP.

-When a guardian uses Purification (trap heal), you’ll see/hear smite condition being casted as well due to the adept trait in Valor line. At this point you know the guard has casted Purification. If possible, avoid stepping on it. Switch to staff and turn it into a bit of a ranged fight if you can. If you think the DH may pull you onto it, try to poison the DH to hurt the heal.

^ You’re completely correct the cleanse is after the leap is completed and can therefore be stopped.