Guild Wars 2

I’m wondering what all you PvEers are using for builds in Explorable modes and mid-level Fractals (2nd and 3rd tier) these days. Say what you will about it not mattering because PvE is “easy”, I refuse to go full berserker. Dying because I miss one dodge, am a split second late activating DS, run out of what little mitigation I have isn’t my idea of a good time.

So far I’ve had the best luck with a slightly modified version of Nemesis’ hybrid build. Oddly enough, I switched to a full rabid condition build for a few runs the other night and was getting absolutely wrecked. It could’ve been “just one of those runs”, or the rest of the party (3 Warriors and a Mesmer), or the Fractals/situations themselves (harpies and dredge especially), but my health was getting chunked down more than I’ve ever seen.

Anyway, for those of you who run instances a lot, what do you use to pump out a respectable amount of damage without being the guy that always needs a res? I’ve tried theorycrafting power/DS/hybrid/condition builds but I can’t decide and I don’t want to waste ascended gear on something I won’t be happy with or will want to change after finding out it doesn’t really perform.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Hybrid build works perfect in fractals…you need to get used to its defensive capabilities, once you learn it you will feel pretty tough :P Rabid gear is also pretty defensive, dunno why u had problem with it…if u feel you need more defense go for soldiers gear(Power/vit/tough) which also gives hp (you will have aroun 26-28k hp). Soldiers gear and minions is a popular tanky and good dps build, imo its pretty good for dungeons but not for fractals.

The best way to get smooth runs is doing exactly what you refuse to do. Just saying. Going to downed state is not something you should worry about. It happens a fair amount in dps groups but when it does happen everyone can rally each other in seconds. For fractals and dungeons like arah you should always run double energy sigils just to be safe though.

If you do decide to reconsider your view on beserker and improve yourself then my signature has a guide for dps necros. Its a build specifically for dungeons and it works pretty well in fractals. For fractals you might change weapons and utilities a bit more often but it still works fine. You can also use rampager gear with it for fractals and change your weapon sets to include a bit more bleed in the build.

30/25/0/0/15 (Spoj’s link) is a dagger high dps build that is great for dungeons. It is mostly melee though, and can be hard to stay alive with if you arent familiar with the content you are running.

30/10/0/0/30 is the Deathshroud build and has less dps than daggers but it can attack from a safe range using Lifeblast as the main source of damage.

The hybrid build you have been using the still one of the best builds to run because of its flexibility and nice damage output(assuming none of the condition damage is wasted).

Full condition builds I do not have much experience with in PvE. All I know is that for single target fights(aka most bosses), they are very lackluster. I have heard they can be great in higher level fractals where mobs have higher health.

Those higher level fractals dont exist anymore. So condi doesnt have a place anywhere anymore except for solo or for fractal instabilities like 43 and 44.

Also my build has changed slightly btw. I recommend people use 20/25/0/0/25 now which has lower DS cooldown which gives you an easier time at surviving with DS. 30/25/0/0/15 is still the best for absolute max damage, its just not practical unless your group properly carries you with might and fury.

I’m running daily 49 frac with condition build, and I’m just fine. 30/30/x.

On bosses I see many times 4k (and more) damage per tick (sum of bleeding, burning and torment), with a safe distance of 600.
During phases with large set of mobs you often switch to more aoe style and wells (corruption and/or darkness) for a little less damage and more support (like ascalon or Arm seals in cliffside) but it really depends on how many life the mobs have.

I don’t run with groups, so that maybe why I don’t use a power build, but running with pugs and some random friend it’s still fine and I like my condition necro.

I agree with Zaganna. I pug high lvl fractals almost daily with a 30/30/0/10/0 full condi build (dire armor and weapons, dire/rabid accessories, scavenging runes). Upwards of 4k dps (single target) is indeed not at all uncommon, while being plenty tanky and having some options open for support.

The only times this build isn’t up to par is when the bleed stack limit is giving you trouble (pretty uncommon nowadays, it seems) or when you’re expected to do more than 5k dps (which just plainly never happens in fractal pugs and in other dungeons only if the run was advertised as a speed run). In such cases, I’d personally much rather bring my warrior or something anyway.

I’ve tried zerker necro before and I just can’t enjoy it for several reasons:
1) I feel/I am less useful than if I would have brought my warrior (and I’m even A LOT less experienced on warrior).
2) You need a like-minded team to do well or you will go down a lot. Seeing as I mostly pug, that just isn’t always the case.
3) If you go down say half-way the fight, it really doesn’t matter if you just did the combined dps of all other 4. No one cares. No one sees your dps. They see you go down and they have to stop what they are doing to pick you up (and sometimes repeatedly). You feel like a drag to them (even though you might actually be contributing the most) and they will treat you as such (which will make you angry). So, more often than not, at the end of the dungeon everyone is unhappy.