The guardian dueling build
You said spirit weapons and I immediately got turned off, still I looked at the build and tried to not be biased.
Ignoring spirit weapon life and lack of damage, they do bring good control and projectile blocking.
You have traited for Altruistic Healing, which arguably would go great with self heals and spirit weapons nearby, but you do not have a frequently applying boon source such as empowering might, hammer/mace symbols, or even staff empower.
Condition removal is mostly passive 2 removal with signet and trait, and on demand with renewed focus and lyssa runes, which is actually decent, but still can be overpowered by condi builds…can’t help that much lately though. Not sure i"m sold on the purity sigils but again it may be working for you.
You have no self sustain save for your signet heal, as we already addressed that AH isn’t doing the most for you at the moment.
That said, there is a difference between on paper and actual use. I’m not ecstatic about it, but I won’t discount your build without trying it first. Still maybe some things to consider and you can tweek it a bit?
Maybe explain the playstyle and there is something I didn’t consider.
I would like to get my hand on more boons that is true. The elite does renew my virtues and my lyssa rune gives me all boons for 5 seconds when I use the elite. You also apply retaliation when you use a virtue so it counts double boon =) And actually virtue of courage gives you aegis, protection and retaliation. So I still get a lot of boon uptime.
I’ve tried not using the condition removal sigils and I find that they actually make a big difference when added to the passive condition removal. I rarely see conditions as the cause of my death.
I’ve also tried to pick up empowering might but I lose my virtue line boons and will not remove the trait that keeps my spirit weapons alive after using them on demand.
I also partially get AH for the toughness and critical damage. This build is supposed to be for dps but I find it more helpful to go down the valor trait line then radiance.
You also get vigor on crit which helps a ton to stay alive…. Even if it doesn’t add a ton of boon uptime.
I made it so you don’t have to rely on the spirit weapons at all. But when you do they really add a lot to the gameplay. Hammer can stop someone from rezzing a friend when you are stomping. It can actually be used in a lot of situation like keeping them from escaping or using a move and they are too far for you to reach. Most importantly the hammer is a great set up for some burst damage.
The shield was already good and is now a stun breaker. And it does damage and applies weakness to multiple foes on top of absorbing all projectiles.
I find these two utility skills very appropriate for offense.
You can pull off a lot of combos with the weapon setup too. I’ve tried pretty much everything and this works best for me. But you may change them as you want since no trait is tying you to a specific weapon set. Just my personal preference =)
Give it a try. You might be surprised. I think people just get weirded out by the spirit weapons but I personally love them. Also is very different from other builds out there hahah
(edited by Vidal.5384)
This combo set up typically kills off most players easily.
Very first you activate virtue of Justice for burning and 10% increase damage. Scepter immobilize then smite on top. Throw the fireball from torch and then flame his kitten with cleansing flame. During this you activate your spirit hammer for a knockdown. Switch to Greatsword and drop symbol of wrath and then WW on top. At that point your hammer will probably knock the enemy away so you will want to use whirling blade as a dot and the leap to get close to them again. You can then pull them to you if they try to get away and keep using the Greatsword #1 or switch weapon for some range while the dot is ticking away. Either way they are pretty freaked out at that point.
This combos is pretty amazing lol. I’ve killed people in a few seconds with it.
(edited by Vidal.5384)
Actual talking about a spirit weapon build I find this one to work amazing against spirit rangers on points. Typically summon hammer & use sw #2 to port in and then summon shield. If spirit range is using two bows the only damage you will take is from the pet when bubble is up. Hammer just applies great control. I then swap to greatsword use BB (skill #5) drop SW (skill #4) BB again to pull everything in then WW (skill #2). With zealous blade not only do you get great dps but with the pet and all the spirits it’s another complete heal. I typically find my spirit weapons lasting the complete summon time. If I’m going all out I’ll summon sword at the start too but typically part way though the fight. This gives me good spirit weapons up time.
The reason I take shield off hand is for team fights. It improve up time I get with my spirit weapons. Summon spirits weapons apply Shield of Judgment just before entering the fight. I find this give the spirit enough time to get in and start doing the work. Hammer control, Shield bubble (its just too great for range denial) and Sword dps. The spirit weapons also increase targeting errors for the opposing team.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNAseRlYgSBHCSHEf4ER1j9dv8h9QjZcjXFSIA-TsAg0CnIKSVkrITRyisFNKZVykAA
I do like your weapon choice a lot. Used to use it myself.
I’m just not sure on your trait choices… Why 10 valor instead of virtues… What’s the benefit in a minor toughness boost? Compared to the extra boons on virtue and 50% duration on spirit weapons, which seems appropriate for your build. And the trait for resolve to help your team mates seems a little out of place and not very helpful seeing you are not support oriented
Other then that I couldn’t agree more. Rangers are pretty laughable and the new spirit buff has not effected me in the slightest either. I like the way you think. Spirit weapons have a lot of hidden potential. I find that mine rarely die as well. I always get 2 commands out of each weapon.
The 10 in valour has two pluses for me, it adds an extra 10% crit dmg taking my crit dmg to 30% which I find helps my dmg output greatly. But it’s mainly about the trait strength in numbers. In combat this puts me at 2438 armor which I find give enough tankness to survive spikes. This trait also effect my spirit weapons, which with battle presence gives me tougher spirit weapons that have health regen. I’ve found with these two trait that my spirit weapons don’t just melt in large team fights but survive to actually fight.
No matter what build I create I’ll always looking for some way to support my team (even a little bit). Mainly I find my definition of support includes a lot more buffs, control and even debuff(blind, vul, imob, …) and in truth I like the more offence support (which for me spirit weapons fall into).
I also really like the concept of spirit weapons and your right there is a lot of hidden potential. With the latest adjustments they now don’t just melt at first sight and that hidden potential can be used. People just need to give them ago. Mainly I think most people still see then as if they just died in one hit. Also there is a believe that if you want spirit weapons its a all or nothing with the traits. Your build is a great example that trait wise its not a all or nothing.
I see makes perfect sense then. Glad to see someone else coming up with some spirit weapon builds. Maybe eventually more players will revisit them. They have their uses in pve, pvp and wvw.