Guild Wars 2

I’m conflicted as to what I would want on my armor.

Power/Precision/Condition Damage or Power/Precision/Crit.

I’m making my 80 exotics.

The main weapons I’m interested in are:

1h Sword, Pistol, Staff, Focus.

At the moment I’m GS + Scepter/Focus. I absolutely hate scepter. I don’t like constantly making illusions and I prefer having phantasms up instead, so I’m thinking of changing my phantasm heavy build into something like Staff + Sword/Pistol or something. Regardless, I’m wondering what the toss up between condition damage and crit damage. I know condition damage is just okay because bleed caps at 25 and for most bosses it will reach there.

Regardless, please let me know your thoughts and hopefully your reasoning. Thanks a lot, friends

i use carrion armor (power+vitality+condition dmg) and berserker jew (power+crit+crit power), so as result i have nice attack+condition dmg+hp, but need a lil bit def (so runes of dolyak mb),
weapon – berserker

so Flame Legion set is your choice

Phanx.4832:

i use carrion armor (power+vitality+condition dmg) and berserker jew (power+crit+crit power), so as result i have nice attack+condition dmg+hp, but need a lil bit def (so runes of dolyak mb),
weapon – berserker

so Flame Legion set is your choice

What weapons do you prefer? Power/vit/condition damage seems nice but I’m not sure which weapons are good with Precision.

I’m confused…you say you prefer having phantasms up, but you want to not use your phantasm heavy build anymore.

if youre going for a condition build (aka shatter build that focuses on confusion, bleed, burning, etc.) then you want +condition damage. if youre going for a phantasm guild, then you want +crit.

as far as capping conditions, not sure if they do cap, but my build focuses on stacking confusion as much as possible and I’ve never seen that capped, even on bosses (probably because stacks of it are dropped when a skill is used). confusion does more damage in a condition build than burning or bleeding, so I wouldn’t worry about the cap affecting your dps. this build works best with scepter/torch + staff.

for a phantasm build, I hear pistol/sword + staff works the best, so if you don’t like the scepter and want mainly phantasms then it sounds thats what you should go for. and in that case, again you want +crit over +condition damage.

hope this answered your question.

For what is this?
If you do this for Dungeons, you’ll soon join the ranks of the “zomg dungeons are too hard”-whiners. Dungeons go from ridiculously lethal to fairly relaxed just with dropping glass-cannon setups for more defensive setups with Vit / Tough / Healing and fitting trait selections (don’t even have to respec).

echofoxtrot.4239:

I’m confused…you say you prefer having phantasms up, but you want to not use your phantasm heavy build anymore.

if youre going for a condition build (aka shatter build that focuses on confusion, bleed, burning, etc.) then you want +condition damage. if youre going for a phantasm guild, then you want +crit.

as far as capping conditions, not sure if they do cap, but my build focuses on stacking confusion as much as possible and I’ve never seen that capped, even on bosses (probably because stacks of it are dropped when a skill is used). confusion does more damage in a condition build than burning or bleeding, so I wouldn’t worry about the cap affecting your dps. this build works best with scepter/torch + staff.

for a phantasm build, I hear pistol/sword + staff works the best, so if you don’t like the scepter and want mainly phantasms then it sounds thats what you should go for. and in that case, again you want +crit over +condition damage.

hope this answered your question.

For the first part, I simply mean that I don’t think a phantasm build works. I love the idea and love three wardens / duelists up. So satisfying. But in terms of dungeons, one aoe just kills them all and they don’t walk out of poisons and stuff, so I’m feeling like my viability through that build is kittened. I wanted to try out a condition build, but confusion seems pretty ehh considering most bosses swing very slowly so it’d be say, 2k damage every 3-4 seconds.

I’m conflicted on what weapons to use for dungeons because neither seem effective. I suppose once I’ve already done the battle and know the hazards of the fight I could kind of be more flexible and swap, but I don’t want to have to re-trait, nor would I.

I just want a build that will do consistent damage.

Carighan.6758:

For what is this?
If you do this for Dungeons, you’ll soon join the ranks of the “zomg dungeons are too hard”-whiners. Dungeons go from ridiculously lethal to fairly relaxed just with dropping glass-cannon setups for more defensive setups with Vit / Tough / Healing and fitting trait selections (don’t even have to respec).

The only three dungeons I’ve done were Ascalonian Catacombs story mode, Twilight Arbor story mode and Gates of Arah story mode.

Ascalonian Catacombs wrecked us at level 30, but we got through with throwing our corpses at it. Twilight Arbor was left unfinished because the second boss was simply too overwhelming. Gates of Arah was really easy comparatively. I don’t believe we wiped once, there were a few deaths here and there but the entire group was completely blind. I’m trying to find a consistent build that will not only do damage but allow me to not get killed in one shot. So far, my impression of dungeons is that there isn’t much indication of when you’re about to take “big damage” because the big damage is always there. An autoattack from a ranged mob does 1/4 of my health with 25 points into vit. I have no idea what to do when my spell reflects are off besides sit around afraid to do damage. Melee seems like suicide so I guess I’m mostly interested in whatever weapons will allow me to do damage from a safe distance as well as not have to rely on

1. The mob dying and I lose all my clones/phantasms
2. The mob having any form of simple AoE which means my phantasms/clones don’t stand much of a chance
3. Being in melee range as almost every single mob ability cleaves and will 1-2 shot me

I don’t know what weapons are for me, I don’t even know if Mesmer is for me which is a disappointment at level 80 after about two weeks of playtime. It feels like no build really feels right and it’s all super gimmicky with phantasms, except it’s not executed too well because there’s so many problems that come along the way with Phantasms.

So, if possible, what weapons

1. Don’t rely on phantasms for DPS
2. Are safe and reliable for a majority of encounters

Hrm, tricky. I found in general that not trying to be a DPS Monster works best in Dungeons , and this seems to go for any and all class. You’re far better off doing 33% less damage, fighting 50% longer, but being unlikely to die, compared to the time you lose from single members running back and losing them entirely for the duration.

I went with Sword / Sword / GS so far, for two reasons.

1. S/S works well whenever I need to AE or go fully defensive. Blurred Frenzy and Block are great, my attacks sweep through everyone, and as an added bonus my dodge-clones stack more Weakness and dispel more Buffs if there’s little AE going around. The Phantasm is also surprisingly durable since he jumps out constantly, and in 5mans there’s nearly always a combo field he can trigger.
2. Greatsword gives me some group buffs, another interrupt (I already got Diversion, Sword #4 and Mantra) to prevent enemy attacks with, and also once again allows me to strip buffs.

There seems to be a common theme to dungeon survivability:
The more defensive utility, the more buff-removal and the more interrupts your group brings, the cleaner the fights are. Seriously. The golems in SE are anything from completely crazy lethal to annoyingly long-lived but non-lethal depending on just how many interrupts your group communicates via voicecomm (everyone calls when they’re out and you rotate down the group). Everything they do can be interrupted, including all their really dangerous attacks.
And it’s like this for virtually all boss fights.

So from experience so far, defensive play (hence OH Sword, and hence GS and all the additional interrupts) really shines in Dungeons. I couple this with a fair amount of Vitality and Toughness gear, the rest is Power and Healing. Adds some survivability for when the interrupting goes bad. :P

I would say one issue is the wowthink (to reference 1984) of us all. We think “How can I do the most DPS, given these circumstances”. This implies the “role” DPS, and yes, often we say that in GW2 everyone is a DPSer. Yet this is misrepresenting things, as lacking the other roles the role of the DPSer – by lack of comparability and distinction – disintegrates, leaving … well … no real role.
In other words the goal is not to do the most damage, with or without phantasms. The goal is to be the most efficient. And from experience in dungeons so far, glass cannons can work, but aren’t really efficient. They shine when they work, which they fail to on a fairly frequent basis. :P

Yeah, I suppose it’s not fair to have our monstrous utility coupled with the best damage, and I’m not looking to do tons of DPS but be a detriment having to be picked up constantly, so I suppose I’m just looking for a build that can do damage from a safe distance.

Sword/sword kind of scares me, especially with greatsword. Greatswords autoattack is super worthless, the 3 roots you and 5 does meager damage and doesn’t knockback large bosses. The phantasm is nice because when you use it the damage is instant and he often times spins himself to safety, but after I use my 2 and phantasm I Just wish I was back in my primary weapon.

I feel like sword/sword will severely hinder my ability to do damage from a range, and I fear I’m perhaps not good enough to simply get by with the block and invuln and having to be in melee range.

Yeah I know, doesn’t sound good. But it works out really well. Ok, for me.
GS damage is no problem for me, not there to burn down enemies fast. I use Mirror Blade a lot, plus I dodge a ton (I get Vigor from critting, Clones on dodge, and shatters give everyone nearby more Vigor) to get more clones out.

I actually started using the Signet of Illusions just so I can reset shatters. I shatter a lot. It gives Weakness and Vigor, plus if the clones get killed otherwise they still cause Confusion and Cripple. Plus it gives me ample access to Distortion and Diversion, and interrupting attacks is a large part of what I do in instances.

Sword/Sword is tricky, I’ll admit that. Backflipping out of harm’s way is incredibly important, but often you have very little time to do so. But don’t underestimate your interrupts. Being in melee range means your clones are there, too, means you can always instant-Diversion. And betwee that, Mantra and #4 Sword, I get by most attacks by virtue of the enemy never getting to use them.

For the other times there’s Time Warp and Feedback.

Carighan.6758:

Yeah I know, doesn’t sound good. But it works out really well. Ok, for me.
GS damage is no problem for me, not there to burn down enemies fast. I use Mirror Blade a lot, plus I dodge a ton (I get Vigor from critting, Clones on dodge, and shatters give everyone nearby more Vigor) to get more clones out.

I actually started using the Signet of Illusions just so I can reset shatters. I shatter a lot. It gives Weakness and Vigor, plus if the clones get killed otherwise they still cause Confusion and Cripple. Plus it gives me ample access to Distortion and Diversion, and interrupting attacks is a large part of what I do in instances.

Sword/Sword is tricky, I’ll admit that. Backflipping out of harm’s way is incredibly important, but often you have very little time to do so. But don’t underestimate your interrupts. Being in melee range means your clones are there, too, means you can always instant-Diversion. And betwee that, Mantra and #4 Sword, I get by most attacks by virtue of the enemy never getting to use them.

For the other times there’s Time Warp and Feedback.

I will try this out then, I love the sword/sword archetype but felt that in dungeons it was really hard to stay alive. My main issue now is interrupting, you make it sound so easy. How can you tell when an enemy is even casting something? The only thing I can tell are the melee enemies that have a severely telegraphed knockup. Am I not looking close enough? Do most enemies have tells that I can look for to know when to interrupt, or is it dungeon-to-dungeon and the best way to find out is to experience it once and learn from there?

For my two specs I use Berserker (power set) or Carrion (shatter set).

I would use mostly Rampager if I had Sharper Images spec that I wanted to gear for.

Zeohi.2853:

My main issue now is interrupting, you make it sound so easy. How can you tell when an enemy is even casting something? The only thing I can tell are the melee enemies that have a severely telegraphed knockup. Am I not looking close enough? Do most enemies have tells that I can look for to know when to interrupt, or is it dungeon-to-dungeon and the best way to find out is to experience it once and learn from there?

It’s really mostly experience with the model types.
For example Golems have three types of attack animations, one is aligning both arms, one is spinning, and one is extending one arm. As soon as their arms move from the idle stance animation, you can see from whether it’s two down, one up or two up which attack it is, and do the interrupt (animation started means it’s fair game).

With other enemies it’s difficult.
Dredge ranged attacks with their sonic rifles are among the worst, unlike say Inquest, they don’t raise their rifle. What you can see though is how they have this sort-of “abort” in their idle stand, they bob a bit, then the animation jitters for a split second (this is because they went from the idle animation to the attack one), that’s when you can interrupt.

On for example the inquest boss in SE, it’s quite easy since he has to go through the normal Asura animations. Watch his feet, Asura stand different during idle and during attacks when wielding MH/OH.