Guild Wars 2

Good day all

Always interested in finding / making none fashion builds and trying them out.
Please do let me know your opinions and how this can be made even better.
(Some will say yeah right, another sick build but lets not even go there…)

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQJAT2m97AekittendilEiKb/6vB8aZDgLQ+5j+sH-TFjDABAYCKinAwLqCAlyMOVTxhLAAjqUEnugEUCK/+DPp0giDBApAiYoF-w

Role: DPS & Utility

Rules:
1. Must use Staff + Ranged weapon on swap
2. Must have ~20k health & ~3k armor
3. As high power as possible.

The build functions with some specific combos that should be timed well.
Start with staff and skill 4. Swap to long bow. Guaranteed 3x crits (from sigil)
Rince and repeat every 9s. Maintain in between those seconds 20-30% crit chance from trap / elite. Auto attack on staff cleaves and burns.

Utilities can be swapped as needed depending if facing zerk or condi player. Same for Monks Focus VS Retribusive Armor on talents.

Looking forward for your opinions.
Sam

Invigorated Bulwark with bow and staff?

Guildie of mine carried to an absurd extent on this build.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQJAWTnsABVditCB+7AEEhFLiSu2z9fHLAOgHIL8KvzD-TFDEQBaRpBmUJofqBEv9HewjAwdHBQTw70B4LlYTUZA/U1RQKBBwFAgUAeN1C-w

This was before the nerfs though, but holy hell did it carry. As shown here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_kQq-bQzqY

Kaim.5483:

Invigorated Bulwark with bow and staff?

Hows this constructive in any way?
Check the trait line, there isnt anything better to take unless you planning on falling all the time. Feel free suggesting something else.

Gokil.2543:

Guildie of mine carried to an absurd extent on this build.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQJAWTnsABVditCB+7AEEhFLiSu2z9fHLAOgHIL8KvzD-TFDEQBaRpBmUJofqBEv9HewjAwdHBQTw70B4LlYTUZA/U1RQKBBwFAgUAeN1C-w

This was before the nerfs though, but holy hell did it carry. As shown here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_kQq-bQzqY

Thanks for that mate.
Very interesting indeed. He has sacrificed power for boon duration hence more of a support / carry role. I am focusing more on actually doing high dmg. This build is going 2800+ power with staff buff and doing some absurd (for guardian) numbers. But i liked some choices he did there.

Here is what I use for small scale and roaming stuff: http://asphyxia.tv/guardian/

Its pretty fun to play and surprisingly good damage for being Celestial.

XTR.9604:

Here is what I use for small scale and roaming stuff: http://asphyxia.tv/guardian/

Its pretty fun to play and surprisingly good damage for being Celestial.

Yep. Pretty common build. Cheer mate

Have you considered crusader armor instead of cavalier? Pretty easy to swap over for a sacrifice of some toughness?

My opinion would be this build is horrible for roaming and subpar for team fights.
You slot traps but forgo traiting for traps?
You build for survivability with 1 big hit but give yourself no reliable way to deliver that hit.
You give yourself no way to avoid fights you cannot win.

Best of all, you choose save yourselves but have zero condi remove outside smiters boon??

You’ll be ignored until more effective players are dead then be mopped up yourself.

LetoII.3782:

My opinion would be this build is horrible for roaming and subpar for team fights.
You slot traps but forgo traiting for traps?
You build for survivability with 1 big hit but give yourself no reliable way to deliver that hit.
You give yourself no way to avoid fights you cannot win.

Best of all, you choose save yourselves but have zero condi remove outside smiters boon??

You’ll be ignored until more effective players are dead then be mopped up yourself.

Not sure how you came up with all the above but certainly you did not “read” my build / gear very well.
Let me explain a few things to you.

You slot traps but forgo traiting for traps?

There are 2 traps used on this build and both for a big reason. They provide significant dmg boost for the downtime duration (when I am on staff is downtime)
This is because Possession of Blades apart from the dmg it does it provides me with 20% crit chance more which is highly needed for my high ferocity to shine.
Similar effect with the elite trap but power instead of crit.
My dmg is very high whilst on bow. The idea of those 2 utility skills are to increase my dmg whilst on staff too. Put aside all that when doing PVP spec for traps, when doing WvW spec for immo which i think shines allot in there.

You build for survivability with 1 big hit but give yourself no reliable way to deliver that hit.

On weapon swap its 3 hits not 1. Both skill 2, 3 and 4 can and will crit. Doesnt matter with which order. Not sure what you mean with no reliable way to deliver that hit? Elaborate that please.

You give yourself no way to avoid fights you cannot win.

To contrary of the majority of players I dont mind getting killed by a better player / stronger build. You cannot win everything. So why would I run from a fight that i cannot win? If you mean avoid a zerg or an outnumbered situation I think you need to check better the skills.
Wings of resolve, Line of Warding and whichever else utility on the empty slot.

Best of all, you choose save yourselves but have zero condi remove outside smiters boon??

Retaliation, aegis, protect, regen and guess what crit too… for downtime.
But as above, there is intentionally one utility skill left blank which is changed depending on what I am facing. Be it condi removal or leap or signet.
Same goes for hunters fortification VS Heavy light. The build should be adjusted depending on your enemy, not set in stone. If you are facing too many condi then you sacrifice one more. Possible the trap for a second removal.

You’ll be ignored until more effective players are dead then be mopped up yourself.

I hope we meet up in pvp / wvw so you can try ignoring me.

@Sam.6930, why not take AH over retributive armor, since AH will heal you more with empower or monk focus to reset virtues?

Imo you would be better with a hammer or GS over staff.

Sam.6930:

(..)

To contrary of the majority of players I dont mind getting killed by a better player / stronger build. You cannot win everything. So why would I run from a fight that i cannot win? If you mean avoid a zerg or an outnumbered situation I think you need to check better the skills.
Wings of resolve, Line of Warding and whichever else utility on the empty slot.
(..)

Say that to all warriors, and scrappers, imo DH/Guard imo is really easy to defeat or counter, but that is a class issue that has been poorly taken care, it is to week depending on power creep situations, with to many weaknesses, being the very low sustain the biggest issue, that might the issue i notice on your build but not your fault at designing the build.

The 3k armor and 20k health seems a bit restrictive. I think one would just be a punching bag in this circumstances. It’s not like the toughness would help against a condi user either. And that’s the other thing. You’ll be slow. Even if you could win, they’d just run. And how will you run?

But if you want

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQJATWnsABVdilCBmDBkdilEiSe5b+rPL/+vA8aZDgDA-TlSBABRcIAMTJ4+7PoxDAoS1fwTXAHHBgrUKAwFAILldBAQAc0nb0lb0j2Rv5Rv5RvZpAKXZE-w

Don’t hate bros; I’ve won a 1v2 with something similar to this before. (It had somewhat less vitality and toughness, but not by that much.) They weren’t afk so I am not sure why. It was before the recent bow nerfs though; wouldn’t go with this alone— I really can’t justify using bow as a primary weapon in wvw anymore and staff is a group weapon. But rest assured I only post builds that have actually killed someone; I can’t vouch for quality of opponent though.

Anyhow reasons:

• “Retreat” — To maintain 80% swiftness uptime since no traveler runes, really about the same and grab med packs from sentries (I am serious)
• Judge’s Intervention. Well, how else will you hit anything with your traps? Also use on critters to run for the hills.
• “Unscathed Contender” — No space for consecrations. Retaliation has changed the tide of a small scale fight never. Fire retreat when you’re reading to burst, also increases the effectiveness when you +1 a fight and shoot someone in the back.
• “Zealot’s aggression” — The longbow AA by default doesn’t cripple unless it hits another enemy. It’s pretty stupid. The additional cripple makes things easier for you plus it also adds more damage if you hit them with your test of faith. Hunter’s determination is good too, but I don’t think this build needs it since we have so much defense.
• Those virtue burn traits. Mehhhhhh; survivability is better since we have no condi cleanse! We also aren’t taking condi damage Permeating wrath is unlikely to help in roaming; honestly tagging enemies seems to be its only use w/o condi damage. In theory Supreme Justice would be great but unless you have a tempest or warrior behind you constantly clearing condis, I would not recommend ditching Absolute Resolution. Well, I suppose you could take CoP somewhere. Or purging flames.

• Originally I used air/fire sigil on staff so it’d occasionally do damage; I think that beats the occasional no-condi damage burn. Due to the low crit here, leeching is a better choice. As staff does such crappy base damage, you’re better off squeezing more damage from external sources, instead of having 0 damage for 9 seconds.
• Consider using the sweet bean bun.

Aeolus.3615:

@Sam.6930, why not take AH over retributive armor, since AH will heal you more with empower or monk focus to reset virtues?

Imo you would be better with a hammer or GS over staff.

Sam.6930:

(..)

To contrary of the majority of players I dont mind getting killed by a better player / stronger build. You cannot win everything. So why would I run from a fight that i cannot win? If you mean avoid a zerg or an outnumbered situation I think you need to check better the skills.
Wings of resolve, Line of Warding and whichever else utility on the empty slot.
(..)

Say that to all warriors, and scrappers, imo DH/Guard imo is really easy to defeat or counter, but that is a class issue that has been poorly taken care, it is to week depending on power creep situations, with to many weaknesses, being the very low sustain the biggest issue, that might the issue i notice on your build but not your fault at designing the build.

Thanks for the input mate.
As i said this build is not for guardians that mash buttons and expect to win. It requires great timing and some complex mechanic setup.
I am glad you picked up a few things. The reason why I havent chosen AH is because in order to get the benefit from it i will need quite a few people to be near me to get the extra heal. The toughness on the other hand is more flat and requires no circumstances compared to the first one.

As for the warriors and scrappers you mentioned. Yes they are ridiculous at the moment. I just avoid them as I find no interest fighting something thats broken to the bone. If they catch me i simply die and release. I find utterly boring running an entire year to save my kitten from someone. Die, release and roam again. Not the end of the world really.

ArchonWing.9480:

The 3k armor and 20k health seems a bit restrictive. I think one would just be a punching bag in this circumstances. It’s not like the toughness would help against a condi user either. And that’s the other thing. You’ll be slow. Even if you could win, they’d just run. And how will you run?

But if you want

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQJATWnsABVdilCBmDBkdilEiSe5b+r/aZDgDIL/+vAE-TlSBABZpsDPdBa8AAMTJ4VKFqU9n93fgjjAAAXAgIOEABAQAc0nb0lb0j2Rv5Rv5RvZpAKSZE-w

Don’t hate bros; I’ve won a 1v2 with something similar to this before. (It had somewhat less vitality and toughness, but not by that much.) They weren’t afk so I am not sure why. It was before the recent bow nerfs though; wouldn’t go with this alone— I really can’t justify using bow as a primary weapon in wvw anymore and staff is a group weapon. But rest assured I only post builds that have actually killed someone; I can’t vouch for quality of opponent though.

Anyhow reasons:

• “Retreat” — To maintain 80% swiftness uptime since no traveler runes, really about the same and grab med packs from sentries (I am serious)
• Judge’s Intervention. Well, how else will you hit anything with your traps? Also use on critters to run for the hills.
• “Unscathed Contender” — No space for consecrations. Retaliation has changed the tide of a small scale fight never. Fire retreat when you’re reading to burst, also increases the effectiveness when you +1 a fight and shoot someone in the back.
• “Zealot’s aggression” — The longbow AA by default doesn’t cripple unless it hits another enemy. It’s pretty stupid. The additional cripple makes things easier for you plus it also adds more damage if you hit them with your test of faith. Hunter’s determination is good too, but I don’t think this build needs it since we have so much defense.
• Those virtue burn traits. Mehhhhhh; survivability is better since we have no condi cleanse! We also aren’t taking condi damage Permeating wrath is unlikely to help in roaming; honestly tagging enemies seems to be its only use w/o condi damage. In theory Supreme Justice would be great but unless you have a tempest or warrior behind you constantly clearing condis, I would not recommend ditching Absolute Resolution. Well, I suppose you could take CoP somewhere. Or purging flames.

• Originally I used air/fire sigil on staff so it’d occasionally do damage; I think that beats the occasional no-condi damage burn. Due to the low crit here, leeching is a better choice.
• Consider using the sweet bean bun.

Thats constructive. Thanks chap.
I will make some adjustments I think appropriate.
To be more precise I will try Unscathed Contender & Zealot’s aggression.
I am keeping the aoe burn because I have been playing with it the last couple of days and I am amazed how well it works surprisingly for a non condi build. This is because it aoe refreshes the stacks on the target and its actually another nice addition to dps through-output. Certainly not game changing but interesting. I also find it extremely powerful versus mesmers.

Oh sorry. I have a bad tendency to keep editing posts, hopefully before people read them so my post is fatter :p

You can keep the burn traits as long as you find another way to defend yourself (cleanse/stability) otherwise it’s hard to finish it off in anything bigger than a duel, plus there’s so many stuns/condis these days. But if you think you can manage without it, that’s also up to you. I think you may have more fun in a party of 3-5.

yes they idea is a group of 3.
Warrior + Thief + Guardian

But we have also been running pvp with 5 guildies and so far it has been doing some interesting wonders. The wall from staff + wall of reflection as utility skill has kittened off / killed -surprisingly- quite a few.

You’ve got to look at your role within your small man, then build accordingly. Are you there for heals? For support boons and group condi clears? For DPS?

Once you know your role then you can move forward onto your build. Id have different builds for different roles, when solo roaming i would run something different to small man.

For a group of 3, warrior, thief, guard id look to bring a bit of group support to the table, you already have good mobility/DPS from War/Thief. They also have decent condi clear/sustain, so id splash some healing power and pick up things like SYG for that group stab and retreat so you have perma swiftness. Receive the Light for healing group members and AR for the AoE condi clear and heal on wings. RF is there to reset all your vitrtues because the DH virtues are so strong.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQJATWn8ABlChtCBWdC8DhFLiKL8KvzDLAOgHQu2v9eH-TVTDABS8EAaUli53fQOdBPcBAeVJ4wKNySJGAmgaWZQnqpAjqADcIAIFQEDtA-w

Thanks mate. With 2600 power and 200% ferocity I thought the role was perfectly clear but my bad. I am there to dps and provide some utility, to the rest of the team, not sit back and heal. Not saying ofc thats a bad thing but thats not the role I am aiming for.
Cheers for the input though.

Sam.6930:

Thanks mate. With 2600 power and 200% ferocity I thought the role was perfectly clear but my bad. I am there to dps and provide some utility, to the rest of the team, not sit back and heal. Not saying ofc thats a bad thing but thats not the role I am aiming for.
Cheers for the input though.

Ok i see what you are saying, you want your role to be DPS for the group.

Whereas the role i have in mind is more utility. You lose a little power(2603 vs 2373) and ferocity(202% vs 176%) to gain healing power(0 vs 580) and precision(10% vs 13%). And the traits and skills I chose are more based around group sustain.

With a thief/Warrior i think your DPS will be covered, both have good mobility and im assuming both are DPS focused? Some of the Guards core strengths lay with their group support in WvW. You dont need to be in a dedicated healing role to provide this. It’s definitely something you should experiment with to find what works for your 3 man the best.

Take Chorazin’s trait and make your own gear plan mate. Also if we had your mate’s builds and what they want to do….maybe it would be easier for us to understand exactly what your’re role should be in that 3 man.

If utility means clearing conditions,then use Gokil.2543’s utility setup, else keep Chorazin’s setup for utilities,then replace Receive the Light with either healing signet or Shelter if you don’t want to be responsable with healing. You seem sold on ArchonWing.9480 to be fair.

Edit:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQJATWnsAB9Ch97AekittendilEiS+5j+sHbDeuy8aZDgLA-TlSDQBi7QAoRlGOZ/hXpEUCPAA5oL4BXBALp+DAMBFFlZBAOA88zP/8zP3yLv8yLnUARM0C-w

This build respects all the rules you set except for the one about the staff AA having to be able to apply burn…in my build staff cleave has a good chance to poison instead of burn…if you time your attacks right however…you could apply both burn and poison (3 aa from bow,2 from staff).

I kept the utility bit to a minimum because based on your comments I realized you are more interested in doing ranged dps than provide support….that’s why the build dosen’t use the virtues trait line. The only reason why Wall of Reflection is there is because in 1 of your comments you stated that you liked the ability.

I chose Honor over Virtues so you can revive faster, apply Might on crit and for the vitality bost,which with your chosen food and shapeing stone…gives a good bonus to power and the healing you do when you dodge . Personaly I feel this build is subpar, and aims to serve as a place holder for a Herald and a Druid, but it’s what you want in the sense that it respects you’re 3 rules by sacrifing your ability to reliably aoe burn your foes with staff AA.

If I understood your team comp better (I mean if knew what builds your friends were using)…prehaps I could have chosen better utility traits for you.

Putting aside traits suggestions I like the stats you have achieved with your take on but i really dont like the rune you used. It has virtually no utility compared to durability. Any thoughts?

To maintain the same stats you can either get Superior Rune of the Scrapper or Superior Rune of the Reaper…they have the same numbers as Superior Rune of the Brawler. Any other runes mess up the stats. Also removing Force of Will nets in a huge hp loss…so that’s the only imovable trait in the whole build…all others can be swaped though.

If general boon duration is something you are interested in…then go Superior Rune of Surging,you lose 6 power but all your elites apply shocking aura, you can also go with a rune that buffs a specific boon, just as long as you get the +100 power from having multiple runes…..or you can buff your critical damage like crazy with Superior Rune of Scholar (because a good defense is a brutal offense).

If you go with either Scholar’s or runes which increase boon duration, you will have to swap out 2 +5 vitality infusion for 2 +5 toughness infusion to maintain the rules you imposed for the build.

You could also go with Superior Rune of the Daredevil if you feel fine with trading dodges for more dps from critical strikes. Finaly if you don’t like any of the utilities on these alternative runes my final recomendation is this f@ck the utility from runes and go for maximum power, by using 1 of the following runes in conjunction with 5 superior runes of the brawler:
1)superior rune of the enginer
2)superior rune of the guardian
3)superior rune of the reaper

Those are the best options I can think of mate.