Guild Wars 2

Any advice on how to improve my craft? I’ve been playing a playstyle with sort of a mix between vash and supcutie, but some games i still feel like im not doing it properly.

After 2k+ pvp matches, i feel like the leap blurred wrack combo is too predictable since its been here for ages. Either the engie blocks it, or any class just dodges the leap.

So yeah, any advice from you veterans/skilled peeps out there? I seriously need inspiration lol.

Ya the ileap swap can be hard to land. Personally I like stealth/blink shatters, basically everything in the vash vid. Setups from stealth work quite well imo.

Stealth + mirror blade + blink (if necessary to close distance) + dodge shatter + mind stab is my favourite. Thief killer, glass killer… timed right, no one can see it coming.

Sw+T is usually positional/evasive set. If the enemy is good then stealths + positional shatters (mind games) is usually the way to go. Sometimes I might use the 3, 3, 2, F1 combo, but only if I expect the enemy to do something predictable – otherwise it’s a waste of good evasion and in combat blinks. Depends on the situation – for example fine against a necro, not good against a s/d thief unless you time it perfectly after baiting.

But depends on the enemy – things like engis can soak up any initial burst with ease, so it’s usually a case of backing away for boring pew pew to keep the pressure on them before diving in for a second (or more) burst. I had a 1 v 2 engis on mid point in Forest (this was just hotjoin) earlier, and my god the most tedious fight ever that accomplished nothing – spent ages just trading blows with both of them, not able to finish one but resigned myself to toy around with them (was pretty funny tbh) until eventually losing cooldown rhythm and forced to run away to be ganked by a thief…

Anyway, engis are so so so so annoying and tedious to fight, especially in conquest, so I sympathise. There’s no fun or satisfaction in fighting, killing, or being killed by an engi, only relief that the tedium is over. Funnily enough the 0/4/6/4/0 traited focus condition CI build eats engis for breakfast, but at the same time has an achilles heel when it comes to eles and fellow mesmers…

Just a note that gs2 is unblockable and using it on a block happy guard or engi that thinks it’s safe while shields are up can really make them panic.

Yes, i know a lot of these stuff already,. I’m asking like what if the competition is now with really skilled players, how can I pull of shatters really well?

The blink shatter works for unsuspecting foes, without them seeing you first, if they manage did see you first they can count, and dodge or block the incoming shatter.

Any new tips on surprising foes or landing shatters really well?

I like using my Gs5 blink push, I think not all people are expecting that.

StickerHappy.8052:

Yes, i know a lot of these stuff already,. I’m asking like what if the competition is now with really skilled players, how can I pull of shatters really well?

The blink shatter works for unsuspecting foes, without them seeing you first, if they manage did see you first they can count, and dodge or block the incoming shatter.

Any new tips on surprising foes or landing shatters really well?

I like using my Gs5 blink push, I think not all people are expecting that.

The issue is that we need more ways to root opponents to land shatters. Since iLeap/Swap isn’t always reliable and very predictable, you could try playing a stun/shatter build. So you run the typical 4/4/0/0/6 but with sw/p and signet of domination. Now you have iLeap/Swap and two stuns at your disposal with which to more frequently land shatter combos. I understand pistol #5 and signet of dom are rather slow, but with two stuns, you’ll be able to overcome most builds which typically take one stun break.

I tried a build like this awhile back, but it was too support focused. Having both of those stuns at my disposal really helped land the shatters when I needed them though, helping me control the fight in that sense. I just needed more damage. I might try something like this again with that different perspective.

skcamow.3527:

StickerHappy.8052:

Yes, i know a lot of these stuff already,. I’m asking like what if the competition is now with really skilled players, how can I pull of shatters really well?

The blink shatter works for unsuspecting foes, without them seeing you first, if they manage did see you first they can count, and dodge or block the incoming shatter.

Any new tips on surprising foes or landing shatters really well?

I like using my Gs5 blink push, I think not all people are expecting that.

The issue is that we need more ways to root opponents to land shatters. Since iLeap/Swap isn’t always reliable and very predictable, you could try playing a stun/shatter build. So you run the typical 4/4/0/0/6 but with sw/p and signet of domination. Now you have iLeap/Swap and two stuns at your disposal with which to more frequently land shatter combos. I understand pistol #5 and signet of dom are rather slow, but with two stuns, you’ll be able to overcome most builds which typically take one stun break.

I tried a build like this awhile back, but it was too support focused. Having both of those stuns at my disposal really helped land the shatters when I needed them though, helping me control the fight in that sense. I just needed more damage. I might try something like this again with that different perspective.

Hmm interesting, but what do you replace over Signet of Domination then?

StickerHappy.8052:

skcamow.3527:

StickerHappy.8052:

Yes, i know a lot of these stuff already,. I’m asking like what if the competition is now with really skilled players, how can I pull of shatters really well?

The blink shatter works for unsuspecting foes, without them seeing you first, if they manage did see you first they can count, and dodge or block the incoming shatter.

Any new tips on surprising foes or landing shatters really well?

I like using my Gs5 blink push, I think not all people are expecting that.

The issue is that we need more ways to root opponents to land shatters. Since iLeap/Swap isn’t always reliable and very predictable, you could try playing a stun/shatter build. So you run the typical 4/4/0/0/6 but with sw/p and signet of domination. Now you have iLeap/Swap and two stuns at your disposal with which to more frequently land shatter combos. I understand pistol #5 and signet of dom are rather slow, but with two stuns, you’ll be able to overcome most builds which typically take one stun break.

I tried a build like this awhile back, but it was too support focused. Having both of those stuns at my disposal really helped land the shatters when I needed them though, helping me control the fight in that sense. I just needed more damage. I might try something like this again with that different perspective.

Hmm interesting, but what do you replace over Signet of Domination then?

Depends on how married you are to condition removal. I would personally run SoD, cleanse mantra and blink.

skcamow.3527:

StickerHappy.8052:

Yes, i know a lot of these stuff already,. I’m asking like what if the competition is now with really skilled players, how can I pull of shatters really well?

The blink shatter works for unsuspecting foes, without them seeing you first, if they manage did see you first they can count, and dodge or block the incoming shatter.

Any new tips on surprising foes or landing shatters really well?

I like using my Gs5 blink push, I think not all people are expecting that.

The issue is that we need more ways to root opponents to land shatters. Since iLeap/Swap isn’t always reliable and very predictable, you could try playing a stun/shatter build. So you run the typical 4/4/0/0/6 but with sw/p and signet of domination. Now you have iLeap/Swap and two stuns at your disposal with which to more frequently land shatter combos. I understand pistol #5 and signet of dom are rather slow, but with two stuns, you’ll be able to overcome most builds which typically take one stun break.

I tried a build like this awhile back, but it was too support focused. Having both of those stuns at my disposal really helped land the shatters when I needed them though, helping me control the fight in that sense. I just needed more damage. I might try something like this again with that different perspective.

Sticker heard me say this in FB chat, but I’ll write it here too. I’ve been running Staff/Sword-Pistol in spvp and having some fun with it. It’s 26006. Reduced cooldown on pistol gives a lot of utility with the stun on only 20 seconds — and the phantasm on 12. Pretty much when I’m ready to burst, the pistol summon is ready. The tradeoff is that I’m playing without shattered concentration, in which case DD eles and other really boon-reliant classes will just walk all over me.

But that one stun allows for a lot of mind games. Like pistol 5 into sword 2 and they panic/stunbreak/dodge and you’re free to lock them down. Also, if you’re patient, just wait a bit before casting swap after you’ve summoned the leap clone.

The LAST thing. Just shatter! If people are waiting for the immob. Let them wait and mindwrack all over their face. in that case you have the immob for when they actually try to get away.

The pistol is really underrated, and very strong when traited. You’re sacrificing a lot though.

a fun favorite of mine when i run solo is to bring Mirror Images and blink.

When i get about 3 clones up and the fight is going well i’ll move in and pop an F2 just for that “ohkitten” reaction where someone will burn a dodge or block or invuln etc..

as they try to get out of the way of my most useless shatter skill I simply blink behind them and out of sight and Throw down Mirror images and a quick dodge in their direction.

if i’m close enough and done it properly they’ve either gone into scan mode trying to find me or their AA has auto locked them on a new target and they’re focused there now. this only works if I and my clones are just out of their frame and the F1 bomb sinks home.

I’ve found that higher tier players tend to disable or neglect their backward dodge and movement and a surprise rush from behind leaves them vulnerable until they can spin their camera around..

and the way the cam is seated.. the clones really only appear as they explode leaving very little room for only the fastest of reflexes and connections to get out of the way.

basically is Feight > abuse camera > set up > Fire away > let the camera do the work for you > stomp if needed? > profit

Alternatively, tho i never was able to make it work very well myself, Bring Viel.

Even charging clones and phants set to shatter that walk through a Viel go invisible. and its very hard to get away from invisible clones…

its a huge CD and sacrifice just to land a big hit tho.

I’ve also seen Focus 4 used to pull an enemy into a clone blob and then get bombed as they scoot along the floor like a dog with a dingle berry..

Pistol is great when traited but 20s still feels pretty long to me for the stun/daze/blind/(extra blind if you’ve got IE) and i feel like i miss out on too much to take it. untraited i wouldn’t bring it along personally..

aand i’m tired and cant think of anything else i dont see done very often..

skcamow.3527:

StickerHappy.8052:

Yes, i know a lot of these stuff already,. I’m asking like what if the competition is now with really skilled players, how can I pull of shatters really well?

The blink shatter works for unsuspecting foes, without them seeing you first, if they manage did see you first they can count, and dodge or block the incoming shatter.

Any new tips on surprising foes or landing shatters really well?

I like using my Gs5 blink push, I think not all people are expecting that.

The issue is that we need more ways to root opponents to land shatters. Since iLeap/Swap isn’t always reliable and very predictable, you could try playing a stun/shatter build. So you run the typical 4/4/0/0/6 but with sw/p and signet of domination. Now you have iLeap/Swap and two stuns at your disposal with which to more frequently land shatter combos. I understand pistol #5 and signet of dom are rather slow, but with two stuns, you’ll be able to overcome most builds which typically take one stun break.

That is interesting, but the problem (which is the same I find when running lockdown) is the need to have a boon-stripping utility. Shattering Concentrations is sometimes not enough to clear stability when needed. Maybe it’s just me, but if stab is buried down by other boons, shattering once may not succesfully strip it and your pistol or signet will be useless. So, you end up with one slot for boonstripping, one for MoD/SoD and one for blink/decoy, which is fine by me but can be a problem for others who want both decoy and blink.

I personally ditched sword in favour of double ranged and I am very happy with it.

StickerHappy.8052:

Yes, i know a lot of these stuff already,. I’m asking like what if the competition is now with really skilled players, how can I pull of shatters really well?

The blink shatter works for unsuspecting foes, without them seeing you first, if they manage did see you first they can count, and dodge or block the incoming shatter.

Any new tips on surprising foes or landing shatters really well?

I like using my Gs5 blink push, I think not all people are expecting that.

Sorry mate, I didn’t mean my post to come across like that.

I think other have covered the lockdown stuff – personally I find it tough to sacrifice choices in a build especially where there are already so many rigid limitations on traits and skills in order to be successful.

Unfortunately I’ve never been much of a fan of pistol – I can see other people being really effective with it, but I dunno, I never truly gelled with it.

Of course, while sword+focus is in a sorry state compared to the past, it’s still good for that warden, pull, ileap, shatter combo. I don’t have the godlike skills to use it successfully all the time – sometimes it pays off, sometimes it fails miserably. As such, I don’t like to use that weapon set much anymore.

Perhaps running Sw+F, Sc+P/T shatter could be an interesting set. Especially if you take both pistol and focus. Ok, you lose the easy burst of the greatsword, but in exchange you get far more control through pistol and focus.

If we had MH pistol, I’d probably run Sw+F/T and P+P/T… one day maybe…