Guild Wars 2

Hello, I just hit 80 and was wondering what some of you all are using for builds. in WvW. A lot of people seem to go full kitten spec, just focusing on crit dmg precisions power, no vit or toughness at all.

I was wondering what people have been using that isnt so much kitten spec. Something that will play better with Crit Tougness Vit Power.

For what its worth, I use GS / Swrd focus. Seems pretty standard.

Anyways, just looking for build Ideas. Would much rather be tanky and have a build fit to play around that than to just kitten kids down as fast as possible.

Thanks for any feedback.

Builds I have run in WvW:

1. 30/30 Mantra build. Pew pew pew 8k iB crits, 4k+ Mantra of Pain crits, 4k+ 1x Mind Wracks (10k+ 3x). It blows people up the best of any build, because it just does more big numbers on people. GS + x.

(ratings out of 5)

Kill: 5
Utility: 2
Flexibility: 2

Skirmish: 4
Siege: 5

2. 20/20/0/0/30. IP is great for skirmishing. High offense all around. GS + x. It has less damage than build #1 but does not require Mantras, so you have more flexibility and mobility with Blink/Decoy, Feedback, Null Field, etc etc. Best all-around offense.

Kill: 4
Utility: 4
Flexibility: 3

Skirmish: 5
Siege: 4

3. 20/0/0/20/30. More IP for skirmishing. Warden’s Feedback for prosauce everything. This is the best hybrid build, IMO. The point spread is also 100% compatible with a 99% full investment as a GLAMOUR build (although you would have to swap to at least some condition damage gear to support the confusion). GS or Staff + x/Focus.

Kill: 3
Utility: 5
Flexibility: 5

Skirmish: 5
Siege: 5

4. 20/20/0/25/5. Lol phantasm lololol pew pew. Throw phantasm pew pew. Any + any weapons. Recommend GS + x/Pistol or Focus. This build is ideal for siege + flexibility (e.g. it’s like build #3 but weaker for skirmish and stronger for sieging).

Kill: 3
Utility: 5
Flexibility: 4

Skirmish: 4
Siege: 5

There are some others, but these are probably the best because I’ve run them.

4. 20/20/0/25/5.

I run that now but I opted to take ten points into the third tree so I could get 3% dmg reduction per illusion out. Thought it would help keep me alive longer, will have to play with the other builds and come back to comment.

Thanks man

Are those iBerserker crits against low level players?

Given the mantra build a try myself but I’ve never seen a number that high.

What runes do you run for that build? Perhaps it’s a difference in setup.

Well yeah, low level players for sure. Highest hits on glass 80s are in the 6.5-7.5k range. Mantra crits for 3.5k-4k.

Full berserker exotics, Scholar runes, 25 stacks of bloodlust. Usually 3 orbs. Haven’t remembered to buy and/or eat truffle steaks.

Ah you’re on JQ arn’t you? Scholar runes makes sense, running ogre myself. It seems the thing I’m missing is the bloodlust rune but I’ll have that cash shortly.

EasymodeX.4062:

There are some others, but these are probably the best because I’ve run them.

Love the humility here. ;-)

I think the real reason that these builds tend to work so well is the synergy they have with the Greatsword. I know how much you enjoy killing those hard-to-reach trebs with iBerserker.

I’d say the only real requirements here are the 20 in Domination for GS training and 5 in Illusions so you can spam iB all day long. The other 45 points are pretty flexible.

Solomon.7532:

4. 20/20/0/25/5.
I run that now but I opted to take ten points into the third tree so I could get 3% dmg reduction per illusion out. Thought it would help keep me alive longer, will have to play with the other builds and come back to comment.

Coming from someone that plays a 20/20/0/25/5, I think you’re really missing out by dropping those 10 points in Inspiration. My main reason for going 20+ in Inspiration is for Warden’s Feedback. I’ve found that having the reflection on Temporal Curtain is a real life saver in WvW. Alternate between Curtain, iWarden and Feedback, and you can nullify a group of ranged attackers for an extended period of time.

I’m not a big fan of Illusionary Defense in WvW. In most WvW situations my phantasms tend to die to AoE damage before they get a second attack off anyway. Instead, I treat it like a “throwaway phantasm” build. I usually just let iB or iW do it’s first attack (maybe 2 if I’m lucky) then shatter it.

If you want to go into Chaos anyway, I’d recommend the “Descent into Madness” trait. The 50% falling damage reduction is pretty handy to have in WvW. As a bonus, you can portal your teammates down cliffs that they might not otherwise survive.

I stepped away from Ogre because a lot of Ogre’s value relies on getting hit in the first place to proc the pet, and then the pet going and doing stuff.

Since I’m full glass cannon anyways, I said F that I’m just not gonna get hit and take the Scholar 6pc bonus. Also, it was cheaper at the time. I could make it myself too, which saved about 15s per rune from the TP tax+markups.

I know how much you enjoy killing those hard-to-reach trebs with iBerserker.

THERE AIN’T NO TREB SAFE FROM MAH SPIN2WIN.

“It’s on the kittening vista … you can hit that ?!”

EasymodeX.4062:

THERE AIN’T NO TREB SAFE FROM MAH SPIN2WIN.

“It’s on the kittening vista … you can hit that ?!”

Now if only you could convince people to stop repairing the wall at garrison and back you up…

I think the real reason that these builds tend to work so well is the synergy they have with the Greatsword.

True in many ways. Some things I’ve noticed in terms of weapon selection for WvW:

1. Staff blows because skirmish relies on chasedown or escape, and Staff is not that good at either. The only really useful thing out of Staff is the CC on Chaos Storm, and that’s only strong for slowing a big push by the enemy through a chokepoint.

For everything else Staff is pretty meh, although it could be useful for “bunkering” on a supply camp I suppose.

2. GS is the only useful siege DPS weapon. iD and iWarlock fail at shooting up or down ramparts, not even counting iBerserker’s LOS or lack thereof. You can be on top of a rampart and iW/iD will get obstructed shooting down. So sad.

I like scholar runes, but I also dungeon a fair amount and I’m not sure I can continually meet the health requirement.

EasymodeX.4062:

1. Staff blows because skirmish relies on chasedown or escape, and Staff is not that good at either. The only really useful thing out of Staff is the CC on Chaos Storm, and that’s only strong for slowing a big push by the enemy through a chokepoint.

For everything else Staff is pretty meh, although it could be useful for “bunkering” on a supply camp I suppose.

2. GS is the only useful siege DPS weapon. iD and iWarlock fail at shooting up or down ramparts, not even counting iBerserker’s LOS or lack thereof. You can be on top of a rampart and iW/iD will get obstructed shooting down. So sad.

This is basically it… the no-obstruction on Berserker is really the nail in the coffin as far as greatsword vs staff goes. There are so very few situations in which the staff has any advantage whatsoever.

I’m running 20/0/10/20/20 for WvW with the GS trait, glamour traits, elasticity. I have armor that’s power/vit/crit.dmg (Val. armor) and Jewelry that’s power/precision/cond.dmg. I run with GS/scepter+focus for weapon sets. Skills are blink, feedback, null field, and time warp.

I consider this a bit of a hybrid. It’s good for WvW for the following reasons (all of these are my opinion):

1. Buffs GS which is the best ranged DPS option we have.
2. iBerserker for hitting stuff on walls or stationary objects
3. Glamour skills are buffed (you really need feedback in WvW). Null field is actually quite good if you also use it for boon stripping.
4. Focus is great for pulling foes off of walls, warden for stationary objects (including revivers), and speed buff (it’s our only speed buff)
5. Decent power and health. Crit chance is 25% which isn’t horrible.
6. Some escapability with blink.

Not as tanky as my previous build of 0/0/25/25/20 with staff, but I couldn’t kill much with that tanky build and would often miss out on kill counts due to slow damage build-up.

The greatsword does some amazing damage with mirror blade and iBerserker. The auto-attack chain does 1000pts typically which is decent over 3 seconds. The only problem I ran into was a thief that caught me with my blink on c/d (I really missed staff #2 for that fight).

The only thing I would consider changing is moving the 10 pts from toughness and putting it into something else (like vit for shatter heals, or precision for a bit more crit).

I’ve gotten to 80 running 10/10/10/10/10 plus whatever gear dropped. But it seems like:

1) You’re either a condition build or you’re not. Condition uses staff/scepter, damages with confusion and bleeds, uses + condition damage and defensive gear. Otherwise you’re using GS/Sword and running berserker gear.

2) You’re either generating and shattering many clones or keeping phantasms for dps.

3) You’re either focus firing or you’re trying for large scale disruptions (glamours).

I’m still figuring things out, but to me, the glamours are what makes the class unique so I’m trying to build around glamour / confusion.

I use this for PvE as well but I play WvW pretty often: 0/30/0/20/20, using sword/focus and GS. I tend not to play prime hours so tracking down small groups or getting away is important. Focus is a 3-in-one for that (plus knocking people off walls), add blink, leap, berserker, and wave, and I can usually chase anything that isn’t perma-stealthed. A push and a pull can help prevent finishes/revives, I can also drop a warden on a ram build site and protect it, and blurred is great if I get caught.

In a combat situation the utilities blink/null/feedback but I’m usually running around with portal in one of the slots. Unless I’m skulking the elite is time warp, which is also helpful for finishes/revives.