Guild Wars 2

Hi. With the new patch coming up, I need some feedback on a build I have been trying. Ive had good success running around both alone and with friends in either 1v2s, 1v1s and group fights, But I feel maybe I have done the stat placement incorrectly so I need some actual feedback. Any feedback is nice, even something you would consider ‘mean’.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vQAQRBHhhG1IHNl32YjPN83mIkewrfhNoCvn6h7W35A-zkCBYLDimsAkEBmIIQJPFRjtMsIasKbYKXBV7CSFLxECQ3YA-w

I should note; No, this isn’t a specific zerg build. General WvW use or roaming is what Im going for.

I don’t get the 30 points in Death Magic. Imo Spiteful Vigor and Death Shiver are one of the worst traits we have, not to mention the horrible minors you’re forced to take because of them. And Ritual of Protection… you are sacrificing a grandmaster trait slot for 4 seconds of protection tied to a single 50 sec cd skill.

Ritual is a placeholder, Im mostly testing the tree itself. That said, based on the your other comment, I guess maybe this tree will not be worth it. What are good traits in death magic?

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vQAQRBHhhG1IHNl32YjPN83mIge8ec5soCIj6h7W35A-zkCBYLDimsAkEBmIIQpqLjNBKQlhFRjVZDT5SQWFLpECQ3YA-w

And I assume this would be better? If there are any stat problems, that would help.

How important is FitG to your build? Also, I have to agree that ritual of protection is really weak here. For sure I’d drop 10 points from DM and put them somewhere else.

Also, if you’re preparing for the patch, this build will be just fine, I think. Same question with FitG, but just replace the well trait with the new GM and you potentially have a solid setup. Also not sure how great SoS is for this. WoC (if you drop FitG for crit chance), SA, WoD, I feel like there are plenty of choices (for different reasons) that would fill out the build better, depending on what you’re aiming for.

I think the tree is worth experimenting with to be honest. The 30/10/0/0/30 is what I use and will probably continue to use, but it appeared as though you were going for a different playstyle: more Vuln stacking and getting your damage that way in a longer term fight than hitting the hard zerker spikes with CtD.

Which I think is admirable, and probably test-worthy. I’m not a big fan of FitG, but maybe it suits your playstyle/personality better. However, if you DO drop it and get Deathly Perception, you’re going to see huge damage gains. Considering you’re looking to stay in DS, I don’t think 4 seconds at the start is going to be changing the fight for you, really, especially since it doesn’t make DS break stuns or anything. With the 50% crit chance from DP, you can cut any remaining Knights gear, fill with Cavalier, then put yourself at around 2800+ Armor and still have 85% or so crit chance in DS for your LBs.

And once the changes go live, you have your sigils to consider too. I’m not a big fan of 5% crit, but over the long-term it might help you out. However, switching the Accuracy to Energy could give you some additional out-of-DS sustain in the form of an extra dodge or two, and you can keep Flame and maybe add Air to the other side if you want to focus up on a single target.

I also see where you’re coming from with SoS, but I think I like Spectral Armor better, both because Condi removal is more prevalent than Boon removal, and you can SA → DS to be basically immune for a few seconds, even against group focus (though not TOO big of a group). I think Corrupt Boon is too fun/good not to have, and the 3rd slot is always a toss-up for me. This is assuming you drop Ritual of Protection, but if you keep it, then as Bhawb said, WoC could be a better option than Corrupt Boon (though I don’t subscribe to immob → well combos because I think they have a higher chance of failure in roaming WvW where mobility is something people seem to covet highly).

I actually really like the 0/10/30/0/30 build with Vuln stacking options in the mix, so that might be my first experiment with the new traits. But now I’m rambling, so I’ll get back to work.