Guild Wars 2

The first thing you’ll notice about this post is that it’s now relatively empty. The previous content has been saved to my computer and may be reinstated somewhere down the line. That, or I’ll request a thread lock and repost if/when I feel a need to. Allow me to explain.

While I wildly appreciate the amount of support and praise that this build has received thus far, the amount of attention (and sometimes the type) it’s brought me is—for lack of a better term—stifling at times and just downright stressful at others when factoring in all of the other things I have going on in reality and with my in-game communities.

I do appreciate the thoughts and attention to some extent, but these factors in addition to the fact that I was reluctant to share my build in the first place have brought me to the following decision: I will be removing the original, first-hand posting of the build from here and any other place I may have personally posted it. I will probably be unwilling to share any further personal developments with the build or any ideas I may be working with.

At some point in the near future, my build videos will be set to either unlisted or private—I’ll never actually delete any of my videos. There’s even a chance I’ll straight up move on from my current build and start working on something else for when I get back to making gameplay videos. Who knows?

Someone will eventually repost the build, which I have little issue with. This move is simply an attempt to relieve myself of some of the pressure of being “known” to any extent on account of having my name attached to a somewhat popular build, among a couple of other minor reasons. Regardless, I’m very happy that so many people have found a use for this build and even happier that people are genuinely having fun when using it.

ArenaNet has crafted an incredibly diverse and enjoyable game, and I hope that we players will be able to continue to use our creativity to come up with scores of other out-of-the-box, fun-to-play builds for each and every profession.

Really sorry for any inconvenience this may cause any of you awesome people. Peace and <3. I’ll see you all in-game.

The link to your build is broken.

I’ll try’n fix it.

Edit: I’m pretty dumb and unsure of how to create a permanently working link on these forums…it works if I copy the link out of the edit box, but not the published link. So I’m going to edit the OP with all of the details myself. Should only be a few minutes.

The build is also detailed in the video.

Oh snap, you posted it! Never figured that was going to happen.

It is nor your bad, just copy the link into a new webpage.

For the backpack, you can have a rare 80 : 14 precision, 14 vit and 20 Healing Power.

Azzan.1650:

It is nor your bad, just copy the link into a new webpage.

For the backpack, you can have a rare 80 : 14 precision, 14 vit and 20 Healing Power.

Thanks for the tip.

As far as the backpack goes, the precision is dead weight with this build’s crit rate already as low as it is, especially compared to the loss of power (as a multiplier) and toughness.

Christos de Soufre.3802:

Azzan.1650:

It is nor your bad, just copy the link into a new webpage.

For the backpack, you can have a rare 80 : 14 precision, 14 vit and 20 Healing Power.

As far as the backpack goes, the precision is dead weight with this build’s crit rate already as low as it is, especially compared to the loss of power (as a multiplier) and toughness.

I understand, it makes sense. With your build, there is one thing you have to fear : poison !

Immobilize is a bit of a bummer too. That’s why I try my best to dodge on cast animations when I know that damage skills are on CD. I also try to stack condition removal without sacrificing too much damage (Purity is a nice alternative to burn blocks against larger groups).

Thanks Christos!

I’d love to try this build out but it would appear I have the complete opposite gear that is required. You have Greatsword/Sword/Focus and I have Hammer/Scepter/Torch & Shield – lol. You mention Clerics armor and I have Knights Exotic Accessories, forget it. I’m not even close.

Not sure how much it would to redo armor and accessories but I’m guessing close to 20 gold for exotics. Weapons I could probably cheat and get by using PvP badge stuff. Darn it all, I like the idea but not ready for it I guess.

BTW – liked the video attachment as well.

Yeahh…it’s a pain to get gear together for other builds. I’ve been dying to try a glass cannon-y build for a while, just to see, but everything just costs so much. I actually want to try Bloodlust to see about getting some more damage into this build since Life doesn’t see much use anyway, but…5g for a sigil? Blergh!

Crapgame.6519:

Not sure how much it would to redo armor and accessories but I’m guessing close to 20 gold for exotics. Weapons I could probably cheat and get by using PvP badge stuff. Darn it all, I like the idea but not ready for it I guess.

BTW – liked the video attachment as well.

I actually cheat Christos’ build by using temple karma pow/tou/vit armor and WvW badge helm, with cleric’s weapons and gems. I think it’s a solid alternative if you don’t have the money/mats to make everything and have plenty of karma (or lots of jugs, which I splurged when my guardian hit 80).

Yeah, I was looking at the karma stuff but not sure if it would work. Clerics set is clearly all Power, Toughness, and Healing compared to the karma temple stuff which is Healing, Precision, and Vitality

Unless there is more armor out there outside of instances / dungeons. I don’t really run them so not sure what they offer in regards to compatibility stats.

You can mix and match the temple sets to get 5/6 Pow/Tough/Vit, and then spend some WvW badges on a helmet. After that, it’s just a matter of finding the money for Cleric’s weapons and Sapphire jewelry.

I don’t know if it’d work as well as full HP stacking, but…hey. If it works for Setis it might work for you. ^^ Eventually you get pidgeon-holed into giving up some HP for Vitality anyway, since there are no Sapphire clone Ascended rings.

Sunrise is also Pow/Tough/Vit, but I might just bite the bullet and xmute the skin onto a Cleric’s exotic…and then farm the Ascended weapon when they launch and xmute the skin onto that. Or I’ll keep the Pow/Tough/Vit; dunno yet. Blergh.

Yep – just took a quick look on the trading post.

Box of Cleric (Exotic) buy out @ 20 gold. Piece meal it and it is almost exactly the same at around 20.4 gold. Give or take a few silver. If you try and ask for bids you may be able to get it down to 13 – 15 gold. Depending of if the sellers will take you on it or not. There are a couple bids still high even with bids…

I didn’t even get into the accessories or weapons – lol. Depending on ones funds the change could be costly. I know it is for me but then again this is something I’ve already been toying with and/or considering.

I can’t check the video ATM, but I applaud you for playing the way you want, rather than the way you are “supposed” to play. I have Cleric’s accessories (all exotic and the green backbrace) and a full armor set of Magi (Karma plus AC boots, all transmuted to taste or lack thereof), and another of self-crafted Draconic Knight’s. Full healing is really nice if one just would play instead of following what I would call, “blind math theorycrafting”. If you like healing power, you like HP, and so be it. You are still contributing to the group, just differently; moreover, you are having FUN. While nowadays I do use my Knight’s armor more (lack of vit is no prob. for me in particular) because it provides a bit more power plus huge defense and synergy with Retributive Armor, my Healing Power goes usually beyond 1,300-400+, as most of my weapons have Sigil of Life (lowest HP I have is 900+with a Berserker’s Hammer, 30 Honor, Knight’s armor, and Cleric’s accessories.)

In a full Healing Power build, one can go above 1,800, but in most cases you would have to sacrifice either power or vitality. It’s up to the player if they are willing/ready to make such compromise. I would only consider risky just above 10,000 Hit Points, but one could run 12,000-14,000 Hit Points builds no problem if you know what you are doing (most Healing builds stack max Honor, so Vitality is only a bonus, not a requirement, IME and HO.)

Hopefully this will inspire others to experiment with HP, as well as respect others that refuse to settle for the most common and latest “meta” builds. Having fun will always trump a supposed standard of “maximum effectiveness” for me, especially since we are usually more effective when we enjoy what we are doing.

I’m assuming you switch sword/focus for scepter/focus in skirmishes tower offense/defense? How do you fight in skirmishes?

With AH crit-hammer I rush the enemy back-lines, how do you handle large battles with this build?

When do you use staff and what weapon do you replace with it?

Can you solo camps?

buki.3108:

I’m assuming you switch sword/focus for scepter/focus in skirmishes tower offense/defense? How do you fight in skirmishes?

I switch to scepter for keeps, towers, and if the enemy zerg is truly large.

I play very aggressively in small-medium group skirmishes. I’ll get defensive if I absolutely have to, but it takes a decent group to make me do that.

buki.3108:

With AH crit-hammer I rush the enemy back-lines, how do you handle large battles with this build?

I test the front lines. If it isn’t too rough, I rush the back line, same as anyone trying to break enemy ranks.

buki.3108:

When do you use staff and what weapon do you replace with it?

I use staff very rarely, and mostly only in select zerg vs. zerg situations and for siege support (rams on gate, etc.) I’ll replace my focus set, since the GS provides more mobility and control if needed.

The main reason I’d pick up a staff is for dungeon group support in place of the x/focus set, and even then it’s sort of rare that I feel the need to swap to it.

buki.3108:

Can you solo camps?

I can solo fully upgraded camps.

wanted to ask a quick question – would magi’s (HP/prec/vit) work as well? in that sense, you can get some more precision, as well as more vitality? just wondering. i’m trying to invest in some weapons / jewelry to test this build out. ; ))

strangely, after seeing this, it’s actually very close to the build i’m working on with my pow/vit/tou armour. so seeing how this would work.

You’d be comparatively squishy with the lack of toughness, even with a higher health pool. The increased crit rate would have meant significantly more vigor before the patch, but now the effect of more crit on vigor uptime is much less significant.

The idea behind stacking toughness and HP together is smaller hits being constantly covered by larger, more consistent heals. By giving up toughness for vitality, you’re taking damage faster, whereas HP cannot be made to heal you any faster to compensate.

Tried this build last night in sPvP and found it worked and was effective enough on surviving where a guy msged me with a question on the build I was running.

Damage is higher than other bunker type builds I have run, but this is more flexible. It is not insane high burst damage though, so don’t run in thinking you are unstoppable.

It plays sort of non-intuitive to the styles that I have played and relies on you avoiding damage and letting regen and heals come off cooldown either by utilizing blinds/dodges/blocks.

I think this is a decent build and should get more interest.

That’s pretty much how it works in a nutshell. I’m glad it worked for you in sPvP.

thanks for the reply Chris! i figured that was the main reason why. and with a larger healthpool, the healing just becomes “less effective”. that’s something i noticed watching your first video. that it’s more about negating enough dmg taken (either by not taking it, what not) and healing over that. with which both more toughness and not a large healthpool contribute to.

i’ll work on cleric’s instead then. ; )) thing is, i’ve invested semi-heavy for my pow vit tough set and don’t have AS much time to play to get another set. like you mentioned, it’s pricey out there! would this build still work if i went with full cleric’s / sapphire weapons and jewelry?

beein trying to think of ways to further up your dmg. by no means are you killing slow at all with your longevity and ability to stay in the fight. would be even more of a beast if you could up your DPS. which is why i was thinking of the prec and healing gear, but like you mentioend, that takes away from the survivability of this build. hmmm.

Setis uses Pow/Tough/Vit armor and Cleric’s weapons and jewelry, I believe. It seems to work pretty well for him.

As far as damage output goes, I’ve actually got plans to trade out select pieces of gear and possibly move a couple of trait points around…I’ll probably be keeping any effective changes to myself, but I will say that the adjustments are reliant on Ascended gear.

It shouldn’t be difficult for players to use this as a blueprint and find ways to increase output from there, but this is certainly one of those setups that will require a higher skill cap to make up for any survival that’s shaved in favor of more damage.

ha, we’ve like having two separate conversations now O____o

ah, i did read that. like mentioned, i’ll give it a shot and report back once i get my hands on some weapons and the trinkets.

awesome. heh, let us know how it goes! ; )) withou completely disclosing what you’ve done. ascended gear, eh? that’s one area i haven’t really looked into as much yet. but i agree, using what you’ve laid out as sort of the core and have been mixing and matching it to my own playstyle and tastes.

one thing for sure, i can already tell it will take a higher skill cap – which is something i’m looking for anyways. so this is perfect. tested it out a bit in PvE and i did realize immediately i did have to be more aware and learn when to engage/disengage. and this was only with AI, so imagine having to do that in PvP. looking forward to it. i have high hopes for this though! have 2 monk 2 water and 2 major sanctuary. might look into getting some boon duration food as well to see if that makes a noticeable difference.

Got a bit closer to this build tonight while working on the exotic Cleric gear. A few exotic pieces fell today which I’ve sold to pick up some pieces. Ascended gear is something I’m so frustrated at Arena Net for because of the reason you noted Christia.

It is now another source of itemization to contend with. Today it is only two pieces but tomorrow (probably January is my guess, Feb at the latest) we’ll have another two or weapons… I wish they just kept it the way it was or leave Ascended gear to PvE.

Glad to hear you’re getting closer.

I don’t have a weighted opinion on Ascended gear however. I played WoW for years, so I’ve learned to just use what’s available, regardless of how I or others feel about it.

Forgot to add, and I see you made another post, with another video. I saw it earlier and forgot to mention thanks for posting it. Interesting music I don’t mean that in a negative way either. Nice to see people supporting the Guardian and community as a whole.

Thanks.

Side note:

I am of the opinion that Magi armor does work well with Cleric’s Accessories, its only drawbacks being less power and less armor. I have never been “squishy” by any stretch of the imagination, because those 17,000 Hit Points do make a difference (especially against stacked conditions.) The reason I can afford zero vitality on my gear with my current armor set is because it’s Knight’s, and the total armor rating is quite high, paired with Cleric’s accessories (3,364 at times). I wouldn’t feel the same way if it was all Cleric’s, because my Precision and Vitality would be so low. Of course, for many builds/rune sets/etc., Precision doesn’t matter, and the power and toughness from Cleric’s is VERY welcome. But as a long user of Magi armor, it’s honestly still difficult to get you killed (uber heals, basically-and still effective since 17,000+ hit points is not really “high”), and the Vitality and Precision bonus are both nice and very welcome (and makes it a more versatile set should you want to go for any build/runes that benefits critical hits.)

Both armor sets would work, however. I would probably never do EVERYTHING Magi even if I could, because we do need some sort of power/defense somewhere (the main reason my backbrace is still the Green Cleric’s obtained from the storyline.)

Loved reading this. I have been looking for something new, even if the AH nerf doesn’t affect me muchI’d love to say ill try this when I get home but I don’t have any AC tokens for monk runes, and I don’t have a clerics set anymore.
I’m using the precision, heal, power karma set.

On a side note, you mentioned you left black gate recently? We have been locked in wvw with them for over a month. So I’m sure we’ve seen eachother.

thanks to your rune setup. i replaced my 5 runes of altruism + 1 healing rune for + 25 healing power for 3 monk and 3 water runes because there is a significant increase in regeneration boon (+ 200 plus healpoints). the decrease in allied heal in healing breeze is only 40 heal points due to the decrease in healing power, which can be compensated by + healing power foods.

Christos de Soufre.3802:

Setis uses Pow/Tough/Vit armor and Cleric’s weapons and jewelry, I believe. It seems to work pretty well for him.

Yeah, ‘cause I’m a cheapskate You get a hair more power and a little more of a health buffer, but lose some healing power (though I still have 1000+ without any Life stacks). Toughness is the same either way. If you’ve got the karma though it’ll save you the pain of making the cleric’s armor.

A reasonable alternative to Monk runes are Dwayna. I used those for a bit, but 20% regen duration is nothing compared to 15% everything.

I’m also back on Blackgate as of 2-3 days ago, to stay.

@StarAce, I’m glad you’re able to find a good balance for yourself with Magi’s.

Christos de Soufre.3802:

A reasonable alternative to Monk runes are Dwayna. I used those for a bit, but 20% regen duration is nothing compared to 15% everything.

Yeah I finally brought myself to run AC explorable last night to get the Monk runes. Hopefully I can finish up today.

heh, good to hear Setis. running with P/V/T now as well. tested it out a bit last night and pretty fun! really gotta be more situational thugh. gotta finish out my cleric’s jewelry set though.

yar, i was running AC and HotW for the runes (and armour for PVT). didn’t get a whole lot of time last night though. so waiting for over the weekend to try again.

agreed i prefer the monk runes. 15% everything really is a big plus. running with omnom chocolate creams (i think is the name). even though it’s a supposed MF food, it gives extra 20% duration.

[added: @StarAce – good to know and i’ll mess around a bit with what i can afford as to how to strike a balance between the stats. at the moment, just need to increase my Healing abit and go from there]

anyone give any thoughts to the new Giver’s armour? it’s got toughness as the major stat, and then healing power and boon duration as minors. though only 1% for boon duration on each piece. and you lose out on power, effectively lowering your DPS.

on first glance, it doesn’t seem worth it.. but could still be interesting.

You’ll hit like a paper bag. The idea of this build is to survive while being able to kill your targets.

that’s what i’d imagine. the stats you’re giving up hardly seem worth it. if anything, it would seem to be more a “fully support” build. like you mentioned, wouldn’t be able to kill much. o well. just a thought ; ))

nearing the end of getting some stuff together. so looking forward to trying this out closer to its full potential soon.

akamon.2769:

anyone give any thoughts to the new Giver’s armour? it’s got toughness as the major stat, and then healing power and boon duration as minors. though only 1% for boon duration on each piece. and you lose out on power, effectively lowering your DPS.

on first glance, it doesn’t seem worth it.. but could still be interesting.

you wont be versatile. you’ll be confined to support roles only.

at least with clerics you can do dmg with GS, and if you wish to go full support, it wont be a problem.

i wouldn’t mind, as i quite enjoy being able to support my allies, and what not. as to how effective it would be? still have my reserves. thing is, i don’t have a static group i run with though at this moment. so i would have to stay more versatile. and like Chris mentioned, be able to survive AND take out enemies on my own if need be.

was just thinking in my head, and it COULD have been interesting. but the more i think of it, i can, too, only find it being able to be supportive in a group setting.

This may be, or sound, like a dumb question but does it matter which slots the runes are placed? I don’t think it would since it is split down the middle of 3/3.

And Monk runes are only from a dungeon, eh? I’ve never set foot in any outside a few fractals I’ve done. I usually avoid them like the plague

tested your build , is really awesome, and better than this is fun to play it , i was using those passive skills …
i tested yesterday from lvl 70 till 73 …didnt had enough time to do more in 3 hrs… im new to the game, but even at this levels is awesome, i only add new traits in thoughness, cause im using clerics.
good leveling build, i can solo most of champions that i found so far …

Another question regarding sigils. Are Energy/Life mandatory? Seems they are tied to either killing something (not sure of my success rate in WvWvW) or swapping weapons (which I do a lot of).

Energy is mandatory. Life is not; I’m actually strongly considering swapping to Bloodlust very soon. Neither sigil sees a lot of real use, but I’ll be more inclined to pick up stacks before leaving the zerg when it means I’ll actually kill noticeably faster.

@Crapgame, I wasn’t a huge fan of having to do dungeons for my runes either, but it’s actually pretty simple. AC is probably the easiest of the explorables, and all you have to do is run each path once for two days and you’ve got all the tokens you need. So, 6 15-30 minute runs, depending on your group.

akamon.2769:

i wouldn’t mind, as i quite enjoy being able to support my allies, and what not. as to how effective it would be? still have my reserves. thing is, i don’t have a static group i run with though at this moment. so i would have to stay more versatile. and like Chris mentioned, be able to survive AND take out enemies on my own if need be.

was just thinking in my head, and it COULD have been interesting. but the more i think of it, i can, too, only find it being able to be supportive in a group setting.

but see, there will be times that you will be playing solo (at least for me like doing personal story or exploring). in my case, im not knowledgeable about having gold fast so i have to stick to one armor set. and if ill know how to get gold fast, ill not give in to that giver’s set because it is not versatile. i can do decent support roles with clerics if i wish to party with people, or carry on solo with killing mobs if i want to be solitary. no need to gear swap. saves me inventory space. and gold.

Alcopaul – Gold….the bane of our current MMO / MMORPG or whatever it is called Here is a tip but please note your mileage may vary. You have been warned

Do you craft? No? Ok, cool.
Are you, or did you, gather while you leveled (if 80, or currently in route)? Yes? Ok, cool.
While leveling, or working on 100% map complete, did you bank mats? Yes? Ok, cool.
Are you planning on crafting today? Yes? Ok, stop. No? Cool.

Visit your bank / vault and take a look at the second tab and see how many goodies you have. Then grab a bag or two full of the goodies and proceed to have a fire sale. Sell anything you do not think you are going to use, or plan to use, or have a use of today. Trust me, if you have played since launch, and not crafted yet, chances are high you are not. Furthermore, if it is there chances are high you forgot about it (like me) and running out of space anyway. How many times have you tried to bank ore, only to find you exceeded the 250 cap, and see it in your inventory?

Point is – if you don’t need it, or plan to need / use it, get rid of it. Seriously I did this today and pulled in over 30 gold. 30 gold just sitting in my bank I’m not going to craft. I don’t have the time or really the need at the moment.

On the other hand if you do craft, or plan to, want to, etc. Then this won’t probably work for you.

Ok – serious question

Are there any reasonable (cheap) replacement skins for the Cleric’s Pearl Sabre/Focus???

Not wanting to insult anyone but those things are fugly I mean, they are pretty bad.

Crapgame.6519:

Ok – serious question

Are there any reasonable (cheap) replacement skins for the Cleric’s Pearl Sabre/Focus???

Not wanting to insult anyone but those things are fugly I mean, they are pretty bad.

I used the Tier 1 Ebon Vanguard skins from Ebonhawke. 9.8k karma each.

I use Heritage weapons. The FDS is great, but I’m working towards a better skin for my GS.

Heritage is from GW1 and the halls of monuments, right?

If so, bummer for me. I never played GW1.

Crapgame.6519:

Heritage is from GW1 and the halls of monuments, right?

If so, bummer for me. I never played GW1.

Also required eye of the north expansion, which sucks because I played the original and 1st expansion