Guild Wars 2

Hello,

It’s been forever since I commanded in WvW and am looking to get back into it again. Back in the day I believe gear wise it was all soldier’s or something close to that.

Can anyone advise what a good build would be (gear and traits) for the current state of WvW?

Thanks in advance for the help!!!

I don’t run as a commander but I suspect its a full Minstrel armor set up (Toughness, Vitality, Concentration, Healing Power)

Magical Things.8465:

Hello,

It’s been forever since I commanded in WvW and am looking to get back into it again. Back in the day I believe gear wise it was all soldier’s or something close to that.

Can anyone advise what a good build would be (gear and traits) for the current state of WvW?

Thanks in advance for the help!!!

pvt works. its more on the trait runes weapon type food and sigils and how these all fits with your strategy.

just for kitten , I tried full marauder with pvt, trinkets. does massively good.

even tried pvt with berserker trinkets and weapons. awesome too.

if your old school, it still works.

gvg is another topic

Spartacus.3192:

I don’t run as a commander but I suspect its a full Minstrel armor set up (Toughness, Vitality, Concentration, Healing Power)

Pretty much the worst thing you can do is bringing a supertank. It wont stop you from getting epidemiced, moaed or focused, but it will make you kitten and moan about how there is no damage where you are standing, surrounded by 10 dead zergers because even the frontline couldnt stand still for 2 seconds in the 10×10m carpet of necro marks stacked 10 deep.

Dawdler.8521:

Spartacus.3192:

I don’t run as a commander but I suspect its a full Minstrel armor set up (Toughness, Vitality, Concentration, Healing Power)

Pretty much the worst thing you can do is bringing a supertank. It wont stop you from getting epidemiced, moaed or focused, but it will make you kitten and moan about how there is no damage where you are standing, surrounded by 10 dead zergers because even the frontline couldnt stand still for 2 seconds in the 10×10m carpet of necro marks stacked 10 deep.

Since when was the commander ever expected to do damage? His job is to NOT to die and drive the zerg. Granted I hate zerging but I do remember most average zergs fall apart when a commander dies

Spartacus.3192:

Since when was the commander ever expected to do damage? His job is to NOT to die and drive the zerg. Granted I hate zerging but I do remember most average zergs fall apart when a commander dies

You misunderstud him I think. What he mean is that a commander running 100% tank not will notice the dmg. and therefore not notice that he just killed his group by standing in heavy enemy dmg fields

Much like these guys said. Minstrels is the way to go in the current meta if you want to go balls deep while providing good support and damage.

Sigfodr.9576:

Spartacus.3192:

Since when was the commander ever expected to do damage? His job is to NOT to die and drive the zerg. Granted I hate zerging but I do remember most average zergs fall apart when a commander dies

You misunderstud him I think. What he mean is that a commander running 100% tank not will notice the dmg. and therefore not notice that he just killed his group by standing in heavy enemy dmg fields

That’s more of an issue of decision making rather than gear choice. Nothing mandates that you go full kitten if you have defensive stats.

Obviously if you go full selfish tank with no consideration of your group then you will all fail. But that’s usually not the case.

And the other thing to consider is how organized the group is. There’s a difference between disorganized groups where people are going to die anyways and your goal is to get the most use out of them as opposed to more organized ones where you can count on people delivering various things, and vice versa from you to them. The former scenario usually dictates more tank.

I wholeheartedly agree. As a commander, when I started in my early days. I would run full defensive/healing, and I would hit like a wet noodle. I was surrounded by players with much less armor and vitality, but I was full tank. I was of the mindset that commanders should be the last to die, commanders should be able to endure, blah blah blah.

I learned that as I played, I was often pushing forward and my team was dying all around me. Yet, I was sustaining perfectly fine. I would get frustrated at them and keep trying to get my guildmates to gear up better, play better, use their heals better, etc.

One day, I caught myself taking over for someone else that died, and I was on a balanced frontline build that I used for DPS with just enough armor and vitality to hold my own. I noticed that when I pushed, I could not push as deep, as fast, and as hard as I wanted. But, I noticed that my team was right on my tails, and we rolled together. It dawned on me that my issues was not that my guild mates were that much more inferior…but that my tankiness gave me a security that they did not have.

Since then, I run the same builds my guild runs, whether it be a marauder + durability rune armor set, a crusader’s + mercy rune armor set, etc. I play like they play. Because, when I push into a group…and it is hot for me…then I know it is hot for them, too. If I cannot endure, then they cannot endure. Since then, even though I run a less defensive armor set…our group endures a lot more. Sure, I no longer am the “last man standing” as it used to be. Now, we endure together, and I no longer give myself this false sense of security in battle that everyone can withstand like I can.

So, in answer to your question…look at the “meta”. Look at your guild composition. See what you want your frontliners builds to be like. I run marauders + durability on my guardian, and I run crusaders + monks right now. I focus on stat points over pure tankiness. I used to aim for 3k armor + 20k hp, with 33% crit chance and as much power as possible. Now, due to condi meta, I aim for 2.8k armor, 22k+ hp, and still hitting 33% crit with over 2k power. On my guard, if running a mercy build, I aim for 1200 healing power. I gear up based upon our group comp, and based off stat goals. And I am no longer pure defensive.

Also, the sign of a good commander is good usage of active defense measures…blocks, leaps/teleports, heals, callouts for resistance/stab/protection/frost aura, etc. The team as a whole and their playability will outdo any single pure tank commander.

xivor.8754:

I noticed that when I pushed, I could not push as deep, as fast, and as hard as I wanted.

This sounds like a bad Saturday night, but otherwise, a very thoughtful and informative post.