Guild Wars 2

I mostly WvW and am constantly getting trapped by DHs… pun intended. In particularly, Hunter Ward (I think, looks like a chained fence around you) and Dragon Maw.

How do you counter these skills if you are caught up in them?

Either dodge roll when you see it coming, or stability and walk out.

merchantchuck.4875:

Either dodge roll when you see it coming, or stability and walk out.

What if you’re only source of stability is from dodge rolling and you’re already stuck inside it? IE, Revenant.

my first thought was: someone got caught by hunter wards? well i supposed unless you sneezed at the wrong moment and had to go to the bathroom and wiped it off. But yah, unless you have no reason to move while inside it, stability is your best bet, much like when you are trapped inside static field of elem which they cast it quite often.

Lonewolf Kai.3682:

merchantchuck.4875:

Either dodge roll when you see it coming, or stability and walk out.

What if you’re only source of stability is from dodge rolling and you’re already stuck inside it? IE, Revenant.

theres usu plenty of time to walk away before the ward traps u. it drops at the very end of the longbow #5 skill, so either pressure the dh so he breaks the skill before it finishes and drops the ward, or just walk/dodge away from where all those arrows are falling and u be A-OK

in short, see volley of dh arrows all around? move forward faster, back a little, or left/right.

Thanks for the responses everyone.

I do need to learn the animations so that I’d recognize it. But, that’s not actually the problem for me right now. The issue is that in zerg v zerg fights, I often get caught by a DH that I might not see, so even if I did recognize the animation before the shot/trap, I’d still be caught in it. This is especially true when I’m on the retreat after a push in with the commander.

I’m gathering that if I’m caught in it, as a Revenant, I’m pretty much caught. The only reliable on demand stability I have is the dodge roll, which upon ending, nets me a stab stack. But the trap radius around me is so small that I don’t get a dodge in at all and just bounce off the trap wall, thus no stab.

Anyways, thanks again for the advice everyone.

Jalis might give you the on-demand Stability you need.

To counter any Guardian trap, it’s as simple as:

• Dodge
• Stability
• Teleport/Shadowstep

Hunter’s Ward is the Longbow #5 skill. It has a 2.75 second channel time. That is a long kitten time. If you see a Dragon Hunter channeling this skill, or if you’re getting hit by the arrows, very simply move out of the area of effect. The Ward function of that skill (the ring of chains trapping you) only takes effect if you’re in it at the end of the channel. If you think you won’t make it out of the area of effect before the Ward part hits, then give yourself Stability. You’ll be able to walk literally right through the Ward that way. If you’re trapped, you can Teleport/Shadowstep out.

Dragon’s Maw is an Elite trap skill with a 75 second cooldown, 60 seconds traited. This trap creates blue particle effects (like a swirl of 3 blue “light” tendrils) when cast. When triggered, you’ll see a giant blue dragon’s jaw appear. Once the jaws snap shut you are trapped for the duration (6 seconds). To counter this trap, you can dodge before the jaws snap shut (IE dodge through the trap, or walk into it and wait about a half a second then dodge out). There a slight delay before the jaws themselves trap you, giving you plenty of time to react and negate a full Elite skill. If you are trapped, you Teleport/Shadowstep out, or if you have Stability you can literally just walk right through the trap and ignore its effects.

That is the basic rule of thumb for all Guardian traps. Dodge, Stability, Teleport/Shadowstop.

And just because I know someone is going to ask:

Procession of Blades, Lights Judgement, Fragments of Faith counter:
Dodge, Teleport/Shadowstep, Block/Invulnerability.

Test of Faith counter:
initial damage unblockable, follow-up damage only triggers if you’re walking (or knocked/pulled) into the blade ring. Dodge through the blade ring and you’ll take NO damage. Can also be Blocked, Teleport/Shadowstep, Block/Invulnerability. I don’t recommend wasting cooldowns on Test of Faith, as if you simply remain calm and don’t freak out (like everyone in PvP does once it pops) you can simply dodge out and continue about your business.

Spear of Justice:
the Dragon Hunter F1. This skill has a 20 second cooldown (17 traited) and has a follow-up Pull that has a SEPARATE 40 second cooldown (34 traited). The Hook throw is unblockable, but can have some finnicky targeting issues. Use awkward terrain to your advantage, but don’t place yourself where you can be pulled for fall damage. Once hit, you are tethered to the Dragon Hunter and it will pulse burning periodically. This is the distinct “chain” you see between you and the Dragon Hunter. While tethered, if the Hook Pull is off of cooldown, the Dragon Hunter can activate it to pull you. Distance pulled varies based on terrain, skills being used at the time by the opponent, and other factors. Sometimes it will pull 900 range, sometimes it will only “tug” the foe maybe 150 range and cause an interrupt. As I said, the result varies. Treat it as if it will pull you 1200. If you are tethered, you need to apply Stability to yourself to deny the pull or prepare a plan of action to escape once pulled.

Exemplar.1479:

Jalis might give you the on-demand Stability you need.

To counter any Guardian trap, it’s as simple as:

• Dodge
• Stability
• Teleport/Shadowstep

Hunter’s Ward is the Longbow #5 skill. It has a 2.75 second channel time. That is a long kitten time. If you see a Dragon Hunter channeling this skill, or if you’re getting hit by the arrows, very simply move out of the area of effect. The Ward function of that skill (the ring of chains trapping you) only takes effect if you’re in it at the end of the channel. If you think you won’t make it out of the area of effect before the Ward part hits, then give yourself Stability. You’ll be able to walk literally right through the Ward that way. If you’re trapped, you can Teleport/Shadowstep out.

Dragon’s Maw is an Elite trap skill with a 75 second cooldown, 60 seconds traited. This trap creates blue particle effects (like a swirl of 3 blue “light” tendrils) when cast. When triggered, you’ll see a giant blue dragon’s jaw appear. Once the jaws snap shut you are trapped for the duration (6 seconds). To counter this trap, you can dodge before the jaws snap shut (IE dodge through the trap, or walk into it and wait about a half a second then dodge out). There a slight delay before the jaws themselves trap you, giving you plenty of time to react and negate a full Elite skill. If you are trapped, you Teleport/Shadowstep out, or if you have Stability you can literally just walk right through the trap and ignore its effects.

That is the basic rule of thumb for all Guardian traps. Dodge, Stability, Teleport/Shadowstop.

And just because I know someone is going to ask:

Procession of Blades, Lights Judgement, Fragments of Faith counter:
Dodge, Teleport/Shadowstep, Block/Invulnerability.

Test of Faith counter:
initial damage unblockable, follow-up damage only triggers if you’re walking (or knocked/pulled) into the blade ring. Dodge through the blade ring and you’ll take NO damage. Can also be Blocked, Teleport/Shadowstep, Block/Invulnerability. I don’t recommend wasting cooldowns on Test of Faith, as if you simply remain calm and don’t freak out (like everyone in PvP does once it pops) you can simply dodge out and continue about your business.

Spear of Justice:
the Dragon Hunter F1. This skill has a 20 second cooldown (17 traited) and has a follow-up Pull that has a SEPARATE 40 second cooldown (34 traited). The Hook throw is unblockable, but can have some finnicky targeting issues. Use awkward terrain to your advantage, but don’t place yourself where you can be pulled for fall damage. Once hit, you are tethered to the Dragon Hunter and it will pulse burning periodically. This is the distinct “chain” you see between you and the Dragon Hunter. While tethered, if the Hook Pull is off of cooldown, the Dragon Hunter can activate it to pull you. Distance pulled varies based on terrain, skills being used at the time by the opponent, and other factors. Sometimes it will pull 900 range, sometimes it will only “tug” the foe maybe 150 range and cause an interrupt. As I said, the result varies. Treat it as if it will pull you 1200. If you are tethered, you need to apply Stability to yourself to deny the pull or prepare a plan of action to escape once pulled.

Awesome information Exemplar! Thanks for the indepth info. I think you’re right about using the Road for Revenant when trapped. Unfortunately, I usually use it right before the engagement push to provide stab to the blob. I’m probably going to have to reserve it for trap situations.

Now that I see how Dragon Maw works, I don’t think that’s the other thing that is trapping me now. I thought that was it, but now that I think about it, I hard ever see it on the field. It must be a well of some sort that’s getting me (Chrono’s Gravity Well maybe?). There’s barely any animation to it at all.

Anyways, thanks for the info. I was hoping there was some sort of trick to pull off a dodge while trapped inside to at least get the stab stack on.

Exemplar.1479:

Test of Faith counter:
initial damage unblockable, follow-up damage only triggers if you’re walking (or knocked/pulled) into the blade ring. Dodge through the blade ring and you’ll take NO damage. Can also be Blocked, Teleport/Shadowstep, Block/Invulnerability.

Crossing the blades will also cause you to take unblockable damage, and teleporting across the ring will cause to you take damage as if you walked across it normally. Because of these mechanics, blocks and teleports really aren’t counters to this trap.

I personally feel like these mechanics need to be revisited, because they create somewhat limited counterplay for what can be an extremely damaging trap. These mechanics can also be used against the Guardian/DH profession, so it’s not strictly a nerf to revise Test of Faith. The current version can hinder our use of teleports like Flashing Blade and Judge’s Intervention, and also allow DH’s to interrupt our channeled blocks like Shelter and Shield of Courage with an instant-cast Daze (while putting them on full cooldown). It would reduce the complaints from other professions while remaining a very potent ability, and we wouldn’t have to worry about being badly punished for using some of our most important skills/utilities.

Shadowsteps and teleports should definitely get you out of it unharmed, must be a bug or a really bad oversight if they don’t

Soryuju.8164:

Exemplar.1479:

Test of Faith counter:
initial damage unblockable, follow-up damage only triggers if you’re walking (or knocked/pulled) into the blade ring. Dodge through the blade ring and you’ll take NO damage. Can also be Blocked, Teleport/Shadowstep, Block/Invulnerability.

Crossing the blades will also cause you to take unblockable damage, and teleporting across the ring will cause to you take damage as if you walked across it normally. Because of these mechanics, blocks and teleports really aren’t counters to this trap.

I personally feel like these mechanics need to be revisited, because they create somewhat limited counterplay for what can be an extremely damaging trap. These mechanics can also be used against the Guardian/DH profession, so it’s not strictly a nerf to revise Test of Faith. The current version can hinder our use of teleports like Flashing Blade and Judge’s Intervention, and also allow DH’s to interrupt our channeled blocks like Shelter and Shield of Courage with an instant-cast Daze (while putting them on full cooldown). It would reduce the complaints from other professions while remaining a very potent ability, and we wouldn’t have to worry about being badly punished for using some of our most important skills/utilities.

I’m almost 100% certain Shadowsteps and Teleports (and I know for a FACT Dodges) do NOT take damage from Test of Faith blades if you use them to get in/out. I could be wrong, but my PvP experience hasn’t resulted in any mishaps with them.

I’ve tested it personally with a friend, and you do take damage from teleporting across the ring. We tested Thief, Guardian, and Elementalist teleports (all of which proc the damage), and I’ve attached screenshots of the Elementalist taking damage from teleporting across Test of Faith below. We also tested the Elementalist Ring of Fire, which does also apply its burn when you cross it.

Here’s another topic where others have reported the same findings:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/thief/Shadowstep-crossing-rings-or-barriers

Screenshots (look at the combat log):

1) Before entering Test of Faith
2) After walking into Test of Faith for the first time (initial trigger/damage)
3) Blinking out of Test of Faith with Lightning Flash and taking damage

Sounds like a bug then, if not, just gotta deal with them until the nerfs come

The fact that it applies to all similar ring effects (like Static Field and Ring of Fire) makes me question whether it’s a bug or intended behavior. Even if it’s intended, it needs to change, because it’s extremely counter-intuitive and probably has a lot of people killing themselves on our traps without realizing it. My friend who helped me test these skills has played Thief for about a year now, and he had never realized he was just hurting himself every time he was blinking out of these effects. Combat is too frenetic to track all of the incoming damage easily, and this probably isn’t helping people’s perception of our traps.