Guild Wars 2

Tamuraki.3851:

After the patch, is it worth going 6/4/0/0/4 or 6/3/0/0/5 having Amplified Wrath as a trait?
Or the extra 100 power isn’t worth it?

Condition damage is bad for pve. There is nothing good for grandmaster zeal so you will get more out of putting points elsewhere than putting more than 20 points to zeal. Having 25 for hammer would be great but you would have to give up master of consecrations to get there so it’s still not worth it.

Isn’t Rage a viable Sigil? 3 Seconds of quickness every 30 seconds comes out to exactly a 5% DPS Boost if you’re attacking continuously, but it’s front-loaded for burst damage making it even better if you aren’t attacking continuously. Isn’t that just as good or better than Sigil of Force?

Thanks a lot for the guide!

Just thinking out loud but would 4/2/0/4/4 be viable?
That would be II and VII in Zeal, VI in Radiance, II and IX in Honor and II and IX in Virtues. Utility would be Save Yourselves, Hold the Line and Stand your ground (optional).

What is your opinion on this? Trinkets and armour would be berserker btw.

Strill.2591:

Isn’t Rage a viable Sigil? 3 Seconds of quickness every 30 seconds comes out to exactly a 5% DPS Boost if you’re attacking continuously, but it’s front-loaded for burst damage making it even better if you aren’t attacking continuously. Isn’t that just as good or better than Sigil of Force?

Force is more reliable. Rage can proc at unfortunate times like when you need to dodge, heal, if you get downed, or if your in a time warp. It also makes shelter and such faster which can hurt you. I’d say force is the better choice.

Tibokio.6482:

Thanks a lot for the guide!

Just thinking out loud but would 4/2/0/4/4 be viable?
That would be II and VII in Zeal, VI in Radiance, II and IX in Honor and II and IX in Virtues. Utility would be Save Yourselves, Hold the Line and Stand your ground (optional).

What is your opinion on this? Trinkets and armour would be berserker btw.

Your lacking renewed justice which is really good support. Two handed mastery is a waste given that you should be doing rotations which will lead to more damage, vuln, and blinds that two handed mastery will give. It would be points better spent to get blind spam but now that you have 3 in radiance taking 2 out of zeal to get 5 in radiance would lead to more damage. It’s viable but brings less support and dps.

Sorry if i missed this in one of your videos/in this guide….what would be the best infusion to use now for ascended rings/accessories. I remember pre-patch you had a lot of precise WvW infusions…Now that Ferocity is around, would a power infusion be better? or would it be better to just go for something else entirely like utility infusions (for those of us who don’t care too much about min/maxing)?

What about the new Amplified Wrath trait (+33% burning damage). It looks like a pretty solid choice to take.

Toxic Massacre.9870:

Sorry if i missed this in one of your videos/in this guide….what would be the best infusion to use now for ascended rings/accessories. I remember pre-patch you had a lot of precise WvW infusions…Now that Ferocity is around, would a power infusion be better? or would it be better to just go for something else entirely like utility infusions (for those of us who don’t care too much about min/maxing)?

Precision was better before which is when I got them. I suggested power in the video since pretty much everything was leaning towards power like stacking sigils and consumables. Ferocity and precision are a bit low given valor sucks for pve and we don’t have things like sigs that add to precision so we don’t benefit as much as we used to from stacking precision. Dekeyz was doing calcs for me to help me figure things out so I’ll try and get her to run some calcs to make sure tomorrow.

jsannn.8197:

What about the new Amplified Wrath trait (+33% burning damage). It looks like a pretty solid choice to take.

Going for damage multiplier traits is better than condition damage. That’s why you don’t want to put more than 20 points to zeal. It doesn’t do as much damage and others will be applying burning as well.

Toxic Massacre.9870:

Sorry if i missed this in one of your videos/in this guide….what would be the best infusion to use now for ascended rings/accessories. I remember pre-patch you had a lot of precise WvW infusions…Now that Ferocity is around, would a power infusion be better? or would it be better to just go for something else entirely like utility infusions (for those of us who don’t care too much about min/maxing)?

I had Dekeyz run numbers. Power is the best option overall. I had her check a bunch of different scenarios like 6 infusions, 14 infusions, buffed, unbuffed, etc. If you have precision ones like me it won’t be much of a difference (like 1 EP difference on the one calc she ran).

obal.3218:

I had Dekeyz run numbers. Power is the best option overall. I had her check a bunch of different scenarios like 6 infusions, 14 infusions, buffed, unbuffed, etc. If you have precision ones like me it won’t be much of a difference (like 1 EP difference on the one calc she ran).

Thanks for the quick response Obal :-). I got 3 precision infusions before i realized Precision was being nerfed so glad to know i can keep them without hurting too much…I’ll replace them eventually i guess

obal.3218:

Toxic Massacre.9870:

Sorry if i missed this in one of your videos/in this guide….what would be the best infusion to use now for ascended rings/accessories. I remember pre-patch you had a lot of precise WvW infusions…Now that Ferocity is around, would a power infusion be better? or would it be better to just go for something else entirely like utility infusions (for those of us who don’t care too much about min/maxing)?

I had Dekeyz run numbers. Power is the best option overall. I had her check a bunch of different scenarios like 6 infusions, 14 infusions, buffed, unbuffed, etc. If you have precision ones like me it won’t be much of a difference (like 1 EP difference on the one calc she ran).

Out of curiosity, was that considering Perception stacks and/or Spotter? I feel like the 3-4% crits I’m getting out of it help me reach 90% critical chance. Also without the Right Hand Strength and only 25 in Radiance, we don’t crit much.

It was with bloodlust since perception is less EP. She tested it without EA/Spotter, with EA/Spotter, and just spotter. She also tested it unbuffed. Power is the way to go.

obal.3218:

It was with bloodlust since perception is less EP. She tested it without EA/Spotter, with EA/Spotter, and just spotter. She also tested it unbuffed. Power is the way to go.

Thank you for being so thorough! and thanks for the answer

at lvl 80 in optimal situations and if your group can keep 20 stacks of might, precise is slightly better even without bloodlust stacks.

solo power seems to be slightly better.

now the question is what about lowlevel dungeons?
i noticed precision and ferocity from banners scales better in lower level dungeons than power.

Pretty much everything situation she ran for level 80 showed power being equal or better. The difference was so minimal except for unbuffed that it wouldn’t make a difference there. That’s a good point about lower level dungeoons though. I just planned on mixing in a few precision with power if I ever bother. Now I’m wondering if precision stacking would be better than bloodlust for lower levels.

disci banner gives me 14% critchance and 19% critdmg in AC. really weird scaling.
in SE 10% critchance and SE 13% critdmg.

i was talking to zelyhn and he says precise is probably better in AC than mighty.

and this is what i got as result for lvl 80 dungeons with bloodlust stacks for example.
i used UC, 25 might, banners, ea, 25 vul, but no spotter and no frostspirit.
power food + mighty: 20642.71
power food + precise: 20697.82
precision food + mighty: 20716.88
precision + precise: 20750.73

without stacks.
power food + mighty: 19350.28
power food + precise: 19378.81
precision food + mighty: 19386.49
precision food + precise: 19393.77

for ac:
without spotter:
perception stacks + precise infusions + power food

with spotter:
bloodlust stacks + precise infusions + precision food.

without stacks:
precision food + precise infusions.

AC and the low level dungeons have slight precision scaling issues that work in favor of level 80 characters in full ascended gear. For example, my 6/6/2/0/0 ele with ascended berserker everything, a few precise infusions, strength runes, signet of fire, fury, power food, and a utility consumable that I can’t remember has 92% crit chance in AC story, which was significantly higher than what she has at level 80. I didn’t have a warrior to drop a banner of discipline, but if NoTrigger’s observation holds then I would expect it to put me well over 100% crit chance.

So Zelyhn is correct in saying that precise infusions are probably better than mighty in AC because they’d contribute more than the 5 attribute points contribute at level 80. But you’re going to hit the crit chance cap much faster.

I assumed 20/25/0/0/25 GS without UC, and by base buffs I mean 25 might, 25 vuln, night/force sigils, slaying potion, banners, and whatever equipment Obal had on when he gave me numbers for power, precision, and ferocity. I considered Sweet and Spicy Butternut, Curry Butternut, and Orrian Truffle Steak as food options. The multipliers shouldn’t impact our conclusions from EP calculations. I also assumed that crit chance and crit damage are not floored or rounded for EP calculations, but EP is rounded to the nearest whole number.

No buffs, no stacks, no inf: Truffle Steak, 10402
No buffs, no stacks, 14 pow inf: Truffle Steak, 10696
No buffs, no stacks, 14 prec inf: Truffle Steak, 10607
No buffs, pow stacks, no inf: Truffle Steak, 11451
No buffs, prec stacks, no inf: Sweet and Spicy, 11144

Base buffs, no stacks, no inf: TS, 16271
Base buffs, pow stacks, no inf: Curry, 17447
Base buffs, prec stacks, no inf: SnS, 17452

Base buffs, no stacks, 14 pow inf: TS, 16595
Base buffs, no stacks, 10 pow, 4 prec inf: TS, 16596
Base buffs, no stacks, 14 prec inf: TS, 16594
Base buffs, pow stacks, 14 pow inf: curry, 17779
Base buffs, pow stacks, 14 prec inf: curry, 17796
Base buffs, prec stacks, 14 prec inf: SnS, 17788
Base buffs, prec stacks, 14 pow inf: SnS, 17799

Spotter, no stacks, no inf: SnS, 16974
Spotter, pow stacks, no inf: Curry, 18195
Spotter, pow stacks, 14 pow inf: curry, 18542
Spotter, pow stacks, 9 pow/5 prec inf: curry, 18545
Spotter, pow stacks, 14 prec inf: curry, 18545
Spotter, prec stacks, 14 prec inf: sns, 18506
Spotter, prec stacks, 14 pow inf, sns, 18532

Spotter+EA, no stacks, no inf: Curry, 17700 GS
SP+EA, no stacks, 14 pow inf: Curry, 18047
SP+EA, no stacks, 14 prec inf: SnS, 18046
SP+EA, prec stacks, 14 pow inf: sns, 19305
SP+EA, prec stacks, 14 prec inf: sns, 19294
SP+EA, pow stacks, 14 prec inf: curry, 19302
Sp+EA, pow stacks, 14 pow inf: curry, 19285

EA, no stacks, no inf: Curry, 16972
EA, no stacks, 14 pow inf: Curry, 17304
EA, no stacks, 14 prec inf: Curry, 17312
EA, pow stacks, 14 pow inf: TS, 18442
EA, pow stacks, 14 prec inf: Curry, 18523
EA, prec stacks, 14 prec inf: SnS, 18545
EA, prec stacks, 14 pow inf: SnS, 18542

Comparing these numbers to what I have from last night, what must have happened is when I asked Obal for his power, precision, and ferocity, I assumed he already had stacks, and he didn’t, so when I told him that power was the better choice overall it was over the cases of no buffs, no stacks; base buffs, no stacks; and EA+Spotter, no stacks.

In suboptimal settings power tends to contribute more to your EP than a similar increase in precision. In optimal settings, if you’re stacking bloodlust, precision infusions pull ahead by a small margin – margins that may be hard to realize given weapon RNG.

Sorry if I missed the dialogue about this, but what is the collective’s feelings regarding the Runes of Strength? Obviously, for PvE, Scholars is still king by a long shot. However, I’ve found myself without the time or the group for min/max’d dungeon/fractal runs and a need for some more casual PvE/WvW play (I’m gonna be playing Wildstar once that launches, so I won’t be spending as much time with GW2.) It will be a tangible loss in top-end potency, but it seems like it’d see higher uptime than scholars, at least in WvW. Of course, this is a PvE thread, but I figured you all might have some first hand anecdotes for me!

Overall I’d just say bloodlust + precise infusions + curry soup would be the way to go. If you don’t stack then precise infusions + truffle steak. If your going for records or something and a lot of damage will come from reflection damage then going for more precision would be worthwhile but it is a rare case. If not the numbers are different given all the cases but the EP differences are pretty trivial. Sorry for the confusion about the infusions.

Kelnis.1829:

Sorry if I missed the dialogue about this, but what is the collective’s feelings regarding the Runes of Strength? Obviously, for PvE, Scholars is still king by a long shot. However, I’ve found myself without the time or the group for min/max’d dungeon/fractal runs and a need for some more casual PvE/WvW play (I’m gonna be playing Wildstar once that launches, so I won’t be spending as much time with GW2.) It will be a tangible loss in top-end potency, but it seems like it’d see higher uptime than scholars, at least in WvW. Of course, this is a PvE thread, but I figured you all might have some first hand anecdotes for me!

Testing the different weapons/builds you will need to keep up the scholar buff about 40% to outdps strength runes. However, this is assuming you have the strength buff 100% of the time. Strength runes are a good runner up set like ranger runes used to be. Adding strength sigils with force for daytime dungeons/fractals other than arah to sword/focus and hammer (not gs) would be beneficial with the runes as well. It’s a worthwhile choice.

when i click on the build link i cant see the build. its empty build.

I guess it’s a browser issue since it works for me. I just made them into tinyurls so they should work for you as well now.

If you were going for “max stats” on a guardian would you make all infusions +5 precision and +5 Agony? So Armor, Jewelry, Weapons all infusions.

Dekeyz and I are still working on builds and numbers. There were differences depending on situations and they were all trivial. If your in a rush just go with precise.

Good to know obal. I figured there might be some sort of spilt with a minimal dps difference.

I updated the guide with more builds and a new video.

thank u Obal

but is it worth it to change traits from max utility to max dmg ? I feel its so bothering anytime change traits since in open world i enjoy a longer boon duration when i run around

to be more specific how much is the dmg difference between utility build and max dmg ?

thanks a lot

For GS/Sword it would be around 5% and Hammer it would be around 10%. For open world I just run the utility versions. I swap to damage for certain dungeons or fractal encounters. It’s worth it for that since you will go through a whole dungeon and not really need the extra utility.

Hi Obal, which Fractal fights are the backup set useful in? I have a spare set of Soldiers and wonder if it’s better to use Knights/Celestial or just the same anyway?

Knight/Soldier/Celestial – Starter Set, Backup Set, and “Tank” Set for some Fractal tactics. This will lead to 8-11% DPS loss fully buffed using the hammer build and up to 15% unbuffed. I did not check numbers on the other build.

In a full zerk group it’s pretty easy to maintain aggro of the champ ettin in uncategorized and archdiviner in the last cliffside fight. It helps you hold aggro a bit for the svanir that spawn at the snowblind campfire to kite and cc them while the rest stab the fire. It’s also good for tanking old tom with tome of courage so the rest can melee behind you if you don’t have an ele to summon the elite earth ele. Soldiers offers the most survival. Knights offers slightly more dps. Celestial offers a decent amount more of dps and a little less survival. It would come down to preference and mine is knight for the most amount of toughness since that is what I use it for given the scenarios I listed.

At what point does precision become useless, or nearly useless? I am starting to infuse my gear.

KOPPER.1458:

At what point does precision become useless, or nearly useless? I am starting to infuse my gear.

The difference between Precise and power infusion in a fully buffed team with or without spotter is barely noticeable, something like 100 DPS difference, but in a solo setup/bad team composition, the precise infusion is a little better (also help with reflects where power isn’t accounted for)

So overall for Guardian I believe Precise is better but I like to solo dungeons and when I’m in group I don’t usually have spotter

But, in the future, if we get better food/gear, we might come to a point where we reach 100% critical chance easily, while power has no cap.

Rule of thumb (aka might not always be accurate under every circumstance) is that if your build has RHS you should probably get Power Infusions, if your build doesnt Precision.

That said, there are scenarios where Precision is bad. You can go above 100% crit chance, and your expensive infusions suck. Power, while not always optimal, is always at least good.

There are 3 builds to run given the situation and they differ in what you want to have and not really by much. Precise helps if you don’t have RHS and power if so. Dekeyz did the optimal choice of gear and infusions which makes it hard to tell if you just use full berserker but you can see you would would want assassin pieces for builds without rh strength so precise would be better for those if you have full zerk. For times you have RHS and are in pugs it’s probably not going to hurt you either. Even if you get 100 with RHS it will be with just sword and a lot of your time is spent in GS and everything else you do focus burst, reflects, etc aren’t affected by RHS.

You can see below why it’s hard to give a definitive answer to this. I’d just go with berserker + mix of infusions. The difference in dps for infusion choices is so little as well. I have full zerk and 5 precise infusions. If I make more I would get power to finish it out.

With Party Buffs; Without Stacks, Spotter, or UC
Traits Equip Sigil1 Sigil2 Food Util Infu EP DPS
6/6/2/0/0 *GS Sc F Zerk-Sch Night Force SnS Potion Pow 20303 10908
6/6/2/0/0 GS Sw F AW Zerk-Sch Night Force SnS Potion Pow 20303 10809
6/6/0/0/2 GS Sc F Zerk-Sch Night Force SnS Potion Prec 19423 10452
5/5/0/4/0 GS Ham Sin-Sch Night Force CB Potion Pow 18221 10444
4/6/2/0/2 GS Sw F Zerk-Sch Night Force SnS Potion Pow 19770 10411
5/5/2/0/2 GS Sw F Sin-Sch Night Force CB Potion Pow 19119 10217
4/5/0/0/5 GS Sw F Mix-Sch Night Force CB Potion Pow 17806 9957
5/5/2/0/2 GS Ham Sin-Sch Night Force CB Potion Pow 19119 9901
4/5/0/0/5 *GS Sc F Mix-Sch Night Force CB Potion Pow 16997 9808
3/5/0/4/2 GS Ham Sin-Sch Night Force SnS Potion Prec 15338 9598
4/5/0/0/5 GS Ham Mix-Sch Night Force CB Potion Pow 16997 9546

With Party Buffs and Spotter but not Stacks nor UC
Traits Equip Sigil1 Sigil2 Food Util Infu EP DPS
6/6/2/0/0 *GS Sc F Zerk-Sch Night Force SnS Potion Pow 20460 11194
6/6/2/0/0 GS Sw F AW Zerk-Sch Night Force SnS Potion Pow 20460 11096
5/5/0/4/0 GS Ham Mix-Sch Night Force SnS Potion Prec 18992 10876
6/6/0/0/2 GS Sc F Zerk-Sch Night Force SnS Potion Pow 19712 10776
6/6/0/0/2 GS Sw F AW Zerk-Sch Night Force SnS Potion Pow 19712 10688
4/6/2/0/2 GS Sw F Zerk-Sch Night Force SnS Potion Pow 19770 10685
5/5/2/0/2 GS Sw F Mix-Sch Night Force SnS Potion Prec 19930 10639
4/5/0/0/5 GS Sw F Sin-Sch Night Force SnS Potion Pow 18566 10368
5/5/2/0/2 GS Ham Mix-Sch Night Force SnS Potion Prec 19930 10310
4/5/0/0/5 *GS Sc F Sin-Sch Night Force SnS Potion Pow 17722 10212
3/5/0/4/2 GS Ham Mix-Sch Night Force SnS Potion Pow 15997 9999
4/5/0/0/5 GS Ham Sin-Sch Night Force SnS Potion Pow 17722 9938

Obal, I don’t know if you still look @ this sticky, but what builds are people using for off wall, no reflects Lupi solos? I see a bunch of perma-vigor solos, but don’t know how to get it myself.

Thanks!

I just use this 6/6/0/0/2 with energy sigils when I do it like your asking except for the no reflects part. It sounds painful without it since it saves you dodges and blocks. I guess you can try 4/6/0/2/2 instead and see if that works.

Thanks everyone. Does the decision change much if I have a mix of Berserker and Assassin ascended armor? This is what I wear. I made this before all the changes and have been too stubborn to make 3 more pieces of berserkers. I think the answer is to take a few more power infusions but in the end it probably doesn’t matter much.

I run with mixed groups, sometimes they are pugs and sometimes it’s structured.

about infusion part

i use wvw prec infusions i think they are quite cheap

i have 2 rings of dead so i can have those 2 offensive i no more care much for fractals but i still have a second trinket set for frac to switch as well a second gs

60% unbuffed 80% critchance with selfbuff

Maybe it’s been answered somewhere, but I’m curious. How does GS compare to say Hammer when your enemy is not cornered and you can’t get inside to maximize WW? I’d imagine GS damage drops like a rock in those situations where Hammer would remain the same. Just curious if it’s still worth swapping in those situations or if it’s best to just hold out? I can always try and push into him but often that just pushes the boss away and sometimes that’s not what I want.

It’s worth it for 3/5/0/4/2. It becomes less worthwhile for 5/5/0/4/0. Assuming you have to dodge while in hammer the gs burst is worth it. If not there’s really little point to swapping to it for 5/5/0/4/0 unless your starting out with a quick gs burst.

Cool thanks. You always have the info. Just seemed worth asking as I see such huge variances in my WW.

Whats the highest DPS with 100% UC uptime? I would have figured 6 6 0 0 2 beats 4 6 2 0 2, is that correct? Reflects dont play a big role in the fight (Sure Shot Seamus). Talking about soloing.

In a group 66002 with scepter and 46202 without it. I don’t think it would change for a solo setting but I’m not sure. We haven’t run numbers for solo yet but we might after we rerun the group ones.

Backup/Starter Set: Knight/Soldier/Celestial

Is one of these preferable over the others or is this just a matter of preference?

It’s preference. Celestial will give you the most damage with less survival. Soldier would be the other way around. Knight is a little stronger than soldiers but offers less survival. I prefer knight for what i use it for.

Velho.7123:

With a 4/5/0/0/5 Sword+GS build, since I don’t really use Power of the Virtuous with “Save Yourselves!”, could I use 4/5/0/1/4 for the Vigorous Precision trait for more survival?

In a solo setup or party? I’m not sure about solo, but in party, no matter what, you should have 3-5 boons without using save yourselves! if you really want the extra vigor, I think 2/6/0/1/5 is probably better than 4/5/0/1/4. Correct me if I’m wrong

What Trice said or take mace instead of sword for when you need more blocks.

obal.3218:

What Trice said or take mace instead of sword for when you need more blocks.

does mace’s block work like warrior sword5? just thinking might be worth a shot on lupi for my noobish self. Finding warrior much easier on that fight mainly because of that sword5.

No. If your not throwing consecrated walls you should use 6/6/0/0/2 scepter/focus and gs if your soloing. Having an energy sigil in both should be enough dodges. If your walling him at 3 and baiting a barrage you only need one on the gs. Phase 2 and 3 attacks can pretty much all be blocked with 1 dodge + shelter or shield of wrath with renewed as a panic button so it’s best to get used to doing that to save dodges. Camp scepter as much as possible and take the scepter and focus traits in zeal and burning duration in radiance.

I’ve been doing 56012 when soloing lately and running the rest the same. I just find myself fumbling over SoW/Shelter/FR a lot as I’ll go for one thinking it’ll be up, it isn’t, go to next one and sometimes it’s either down or i’m too late =/

So I was hoping I could try mace just while I learn and get use to the fight, as I said i’ve found warrior pretty easy because I can always swap axe/sw and hit 5 and it’s pretty much always up for the phase 2 attack.

And yeah, I could just reflect but I’m mainly just trying to get comfortable and not freak out during the fight more than just trying to muscle out a solo. So far I find myself still dying a lot in groups to the phase 2 attack, and I fail a LOT in phase 1 solo but I’ve gotten him about half way through phase 2. Ranging phase 1 with a scepter though is nice and easy though, just again trying to master him more than just get through things though I guess using mace is kinda doing just that but /shrug I just really need to learn to consistently get through phase 2 so I can start practicing phase 3.

For phase 2 barrage you should be able to alternate shield of wrath shelter shield of wrath with the focus trait. Just dodge back once then walk forward with shelter or shield up and you should be fine or stand in wall with shield of wrath on.

noice build plz coment