Guild Wars 2

I’ll give the Mace a shot then. Thanks for all the info and a great guide!

Red, wanna say ty for some inspiration here. I’m messing with something completely different but this post brought me back to an RHS build. I was Sword before the crit/food patch but I’m back now after messing with the build calc.

I’m actually surprised by the performance of Mace, I also don’t think it would match Swords sustained damage but I feel it could come pretty close. If you view Protectors Strike as a means to dps it does quite well. I’m seeing 6K+ crits out of it which is equal or bigger than ZD on the same CD and if timed right the damage/block happens very quickly. With Protectors Strike timed right you can burst kill stuff just about as quickly as Sword. I need to run it more to see how it does in the long run but I think its a viable option.

Blood

Are you able to fraps a fractal run with your build? No commentary needed. I just want to see it in action Thx

Bloodgruve.6038:

Red, wanna say ty for some inspiration here. I’m messing with something completely different but this post brought me back to an RHS build. I was Sword before the crit/food patch but I’m back now after messing with the build calc.

I’m actually surprised by the performance of Mace, I also don’t think it would match Swords sustained damage but I feel it could come pretty close. If you view Protectors Strike as a means to dps it does quite well. I’m seeing 6K+ crits out of it which is equal or bigger than ZD on the same CD and if timed right the damage/block happens very quickly. With Protectors Strike timed right you can burst kill stuff just about as quickly as Sword. I need to run it more to see how it does in the long run but I think its a viable option.

Blood

Well, assuming you time it well and since it hits AoE instead of single target then you could get good DPS out of a mace too.

RHS works with any one-hander btw.
Even scepter deals big DPS with this build, especially vs stationary targets.

manudiao.9803:

Are you able to fraps a fractal run with your build? No commentary needed. I just want to see it in action Thx

I’m really not into the whole videomaking thing honestly.
If you’re up during the morning you can join my 2-man Lupicus teams and see how I do before going to work. :p

Red Falcon.8257:

If you’re up during the morning you can join my 2-man Lupicus teams and see how I do before going to work. :p

Do you play in EU or NA? I’d like to see that 2-man lupi.

haviz.1340:

Do you play in EU or NA? I’d like to see that 2-man lupi.

EU, Far Shiverpeak.
2-man lupi is nothing special tho, considering people solo it nowadays.
So far Guardian is my only class I can’t solo it with, I haven’t yet found a way to get beyond phase 3; I SYG the first bubble, RF the second, SYG the third but then I’m out of stability and get bubble’d to death.
I could try Indomitable Courage but I’m not sure it would be enough.

Your build is pretty tanky so you could use a focus for 3 blocks.

Nike.2631:

Its very similar to my Archon (0/30/10/20/10)…

I went with Sigil of Accuracy (flat 5% crit bonus) and Sigil of Generosity. With over 75% crit chance Generosity hands off conditions pretty much as soon as you get one, and unlike the signet it doesn’t go into internal cooldown until it’s actually used.

All sigils trigger and go on cd regardless of if they do anything, i.e. all sigils always check for procs and will cd if they get one.

haviz.1340:

Your build is pretty tanky so you could use a focus for 3 blocks.

The point of this build is Protection and Projectile reflection to cover your team.
If I ditch the main source of this (shield) to get a focus which only offers 3 blocks it would defeat the whole point.

Xynn.2748:

All sigils trigger and go on cd regardless of if they do anything, i.e. all sigils always check for procs and will cd if they get one.

Yup sadly this is true.
I considered that sigil until I discovered it’s flawed.
It should be made that it won’t go on CD when not removing a condition imo.

Do you really have to use staff for solo?

Can I ask what utilities you use during the Lupicus fight, because I want to start doing Arah?

haviz.1340:

Do you really have to use staff for solo?

No, focus is a good offhand for additional blocking if you feel the ones you have aren’t enough.

Lunatic.9314:

Can I ask what utilities you use during the Lupicus fight, because I want to start doing Arah?

SYG is a must for phase 3 bubble, others are a toss up but I prefer Retreat for an additional Block (very useful to block those green balls he spams at you) and Swiftness (also useful to kite his shadowstep attack without using a block/dodge), then either SY for more swift/prot or WoR to JI to get another escape from bubble.

Overall bubble is your worst enemy there, everything else can be blocked and dodged (except grub on phase 1, remember that when he raises hand you must dodge, can’t block that).

I don’t think you don’t have enough. I’m just giving advices. What 2nd weapon set are you using for GL?

haviz.1340:

What 2nd weapon set are you using for GL?

My set is Sw/Sh+Staff on all content except vs Lupi and the Ooze boss I go Scept/Shield+Scept/Focus.

How can you gain some additional condition removal to this build without damaging its integrity, making it a viable option for WvW ?

You’re good to go then. Sw/Sh+Gs is enough.

awgardner.9634:

How can you gain some additional condition removal to this build without damaging its integrity, making it a viable option for WvW ?

Soldier Runes and add Purging Flames? It already has master of consecrations so that makes Purging Flames a 32sec cool down.

awgardner.9634:

How can you gain some additional condition removal to this build without damaging its integrity, making it a viable option for WvW ?

I use it in WvW, works very well.
Just replace the Valor traits with usual Meditation-healing traits and change your skills appropriately. I personally dump one med for immob.
You’ll see the surprise of people when you immob+ZD for 8k in 2s, knock them back, pull out GS, 5 to rupt obvious heal and finish up.

Oh btw I suggest Sigil of Rage on all weapons. Haste is just too good.
Just make sure you never use WoR when hasted as it halves the duration (wonder if that’s ever going to get fixed).

I am going to give it a shot. I don’t have any ascended gear or what not, but I will replace with the best I can get my hands on with money not being a problem. I appreciate the new concept Red

awgardner.9634:

I am going to give it a shot. I don’t have any ascended gear or what not, but I will replace with the best I can get my hands on with money not being a problem. I appreciate the new concept Red

Thank you.
And you don’t really need ascended gear if you don’t do fracts so you can use standard exotics.

It’s really satisfying to play this. You get top DPS without giving up support and survivability.
The only weak point of this build is condition removal but it doesn’t really matter in PvE.

Does this build work well out of Fractals as well? (in open world pve, and other dungeons? What other weapons do you keep in your inventory?

Also, in regards to the Omnomberry Pies, do you know if the internal cooldown is still only 1 second? I’ve been told that it was much higher than that now.

Thanks for the writeup… gonna try it out tonight

Pies still proc at 1 sec for me.

aFLEX.8230:

Does this build work well out of Fractals as well? (in open world pve, and other dungeons? What other weapons do you keep in your inventory?

Also, in regards to the Omnomberry Pies, do you know if the internal cooldown is still only 1 second? I’ve been told that it was much higher than that now.

Thanks for the writeup… gonna try it out tonight

1) It works anywhere as long as you adapt utilities to situations.
There is no build that fits all content, i.e. if there is tons of CC you swap to consacrated ground / SYG etc.
2) I keep Sword, Shield, Scepter, Focus and Staff, but I also have GS and Hammer for WvW.
3) CD is one second. What people speculate and rumor has little to do with reality, you can check yourself and notice the proc every second (use cooldown timer to gauge seconds).

What do you think about 2x/Hoelbrak instead of Sanctuary?

Red Falcon.8257:

Oh btw I suggest Sigil of Rage on all weapons. Haste is just too good.
Just make sure you never use WoR when hasted as it halves the duration (wonder if that’s ever going to get fixed).

Sigil of Rage? Ick. 45s cd shared on all sigils for something that more often than not will proc at an inconvenient time isn’t attractive to me.

Xynn.2748:

Sigil of Rage? Ick. 45s cd shared on all sigils for something that more often than not will proc at an inconvenient time isn’t attractive to me.

It procs at least once per fight, 2-3 times on any longer fight (up to 4-5 at maw).
It’s a major DPS increase, but to each his own.

Just wanted to thank you for this build idea.
I’ve been running a 0/15/30/20/5 AH-hammer build for dungeons. But this is way better in terms of damage and support.
Only done AC by now, but pugging is much smoother.