Guild Wars 2

Hi all, returning player here. I’m wondering what DH people are finding to be both effective and fun for roaming in WvW. I’ve heard we aren’t in the best shape, but that still doesn’t mean we don’t have some effective builds.

Bonus points if your suggestion isn’t GS/LB bland.

its kinda tough solo roaming. If you want go DH, then the most common one is longbow/GS which you dont want. So then there is the PvP version that you can use in WvW LB Sword./Focus. You almost have to take Traveller Runes for the speed boost.

I dont roam on my guard anymore so maybe someone here with more exp can post theirs.

Warning: Wall of Text

It depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. In general, I don’t see many guards who aren’t medi guards. Most guards are medi but replace one of the 3 utilities with a trap, or bane signet (for additional damage). Stat-wise, most roaming guards tend to be fairly bursty and power oriented with 2500 or less armor and 17k or less hp. Can’t really speak on condi-guards though.

1v1 duels/solo roaming only: I find LB & Sw/focus to be most effective. You have an excellent balance of offence and defence (against both burst and condis).

Group roaming, and 1vX: LB&GS. As bland as you think it is, it’s very effective! Your survivability is still alright, but emphasis is placed on downing opponents and eliminating them quickly to stay alive in a 1vX.

**Optionally: Longbow & Sw/Shield works well too in a group, especially if you’re harassing a much larger group as you will be getting heat from projectiles. You trade your melee-range cleaving for group support. You can still get decent single-target burst with JI + trueshot or JI + sword 3.

Heal, Utilities, Elite:
For group roaming, you’re going to want high burst potential and mobility, I highly recommend having some build that utilizes Judge’s Intervention. Use shelter and RI for your heal/elite respectively. If fighting in a narrow choke, you might actually want to go with Purification, and include a trap or two amongst your utilities/elite.

For dueling/solo-roaming I think it’s actually a much better idea to AVOID judge’s intervention. An experienced opponent is easily going to be able to deal with any JI combo you can pull off. I usually run CoP, Smite condi, 1 trap, for my 3 utilities. Also, as a solo-roamer, sustain is more often more important than sudden burst-mitigation (you still have plenty of burst mitigation through your f3 and dodges imo). As such, go with Purification over Shelter (in most cases). Shelter may be more useful against ranger/druid longbow, non-hammer scrappers and revenants though. For elites, I still prefer RI as a solo roamer, but if you are fighting in a narrow area, consider using Dragon’s Maw.

Traits: Most of your trait variation comes throught he DH line. If you’re using Sw/Shield, you’ll want to run Stalwart Defender in Valor though.

In the DH line:

Adept: run Piercing Light if you have 2 or more traps (especially if you’re running Purification + ToF, or Purification + PoB).

Master: Almost always Hunter’s Determination. The extra stun-break (+ damage and cripple) is just too dang good! If you’re part of a group that has group stun-break (like revenants with Jalis elite, or tempests with the air shout), then it might be okay to go over to Bulwark to give your team more support.

Grandmaster: Use Heavy Light if you’re running longbow, and don’t know what other trait to use. Heavy Light works well if you’re using the ToF trap as it gives you another way to knock people across the ring. Heavy Light is a solid choice if you’re also running full medis, and just are using a longbow. Use Big Game Hunter if you’re part of a group and are either calling targets, or responsible for putting out huge burst damage. F1 tether + JI + GS2 is a fantastic combo and sets the target up for further damage too. Use Hunter’s Fortification if you’re up against heavy condi pressure, and are running Shelter as your heal. Hunter’s Fortification is more important in a group setting imo. In a duel, or solo-roaming, it’s more important to have increased access to CC (therefor, use Heavy Light instead).

Sigils/Runes/Food: Runes of the Traveler, hands down. They greatly help while in combat too. If you really are against using those, Rune of the Pack will serve you well while in combat, just don’t expect to keep up with your group while traversing the map.

For sigils, I recommend having energy on one or both of your weapons. Use sigil of accuracy on longbow if it would bump you up to >50% crit chance (you REALLY want to be critting on those trueshots). Sigil of air, fire and blood are all good choices to tack onto longbow as well. For greatsword/sword/scepter/mace , I would recommend one of the following: air, fire, blood, leeching, hydromancy, mischief, generosity, bloodlust (this one more for group-roaming, not so much dueling).

For food, it widely varies from roamer to roamer. I personally prefer to use food to fill out my stats (especially vitality, as guards have low vit). If you want to run power/precision food, be wary of the price. These are the most expensive foods as they’re the most in demand. Definitely don’t make a build which depends on precision food to meet a certain crit % mark. Personally, I prefer toughness/vitality food as they’re cheap, and I simply build all my armor/weapon stats as more offence oriented. For utilities, Master/Superior-level is affordable and effective for oil/stones respectively. A lot of roamers like Furious oil/stones, but those are impractically expensive and inconvenient to obtain.

Hope this helps!

I have my Guardian builds here: http://asphyxia.tv/builds

The roaming one is a ton of fun to play.