Guild Wars 2

Alright, so now that we know that we’re pretty stuck with the state of PvP until February, let’s have that discussion about PvP builds for Druid.

Note: Druids are meta. At least for now. It took awhile, and many people here still aren’t happy with the state of the class, but it is considered effective in PvP, which is always a good thing.

Here’s the metabattle build (note: this has been altered every week the ESL stream happens): http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Druid_-_Celestial_Avatar

Generally speaking, for this build, NM is more popular than MM, as this build has been copy/pasted from a particular player from the last ESL and somebody edited the page.

Variations of the build include LB over GS or Sword/Torch over GS, and potentially Crusader’s Amulet as a less popular amulet choice (and probably less effective).

The other build has a base setup of this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQFAGjEqQLL4wCctYJTwgnp90hqTiLB04aSWBgDQJT7M

Common selections for weapons are the same as the above build, but more dependent on the rest of the build. The utility slot can either be another Survival skill or Signet of the Wild. Amulet choices include Celestial or Sentinel’s, no other choices have really been witnessed in high end PvP.

Above all, this is the place to have the discussion about PvP builds. I’m not claiming any of these builds to be the best, I really just want to have the discussion about PvP builds because I’ve been struggling to settle in on a build myself.

Generally speaking, again, these will be the common opponents, not counting other Druids:
http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Chronomancer_-_Alacrity_Bunker
http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Chronomancer_-_Power_Shatter
http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Dragonhunter_-_Meditrapper
http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Herald_-_Condition_Mallyx
http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Herald_-_Power_Shiro
http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Reaper_-_Carrion_Frostfire
http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Scrapper_-_Marauder_Hammer
http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Tempest_-_Celestial_Auramancer

Some questions I’ve had:

• Which of our builds competes the best in the current metagame?
• Is the mightstacking build worthwhile or the best choice given the existence of the heavy counters in the metagame (Reaper, Condi Herald)?
• Can we come up with a “generic” build for league queuing that fairs well against common enemy builds/threats?

I’d love to hear some other peoples input.

Will preface by saying that I find the current meta very lame and boring. Way, way too many builds running around that have too much sustain without giving up anything really. Scrapper and revenant being prime offenders. On top of that I find the aura tempest build to be quite cancerous and that it just exacerbates the problem with these other builds.

Generally, I feel that the meta is moving more and more towards condi spam. Can attest that boon stacking is very risky vs reapers and the emergence of condi rev. I’m liking trapper personally, but think some sort of bunker variation is our best bet in league queuing.

This is what I’ve ended up with personally: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJAWTnUqAFsiVsCOsActgFMBDum2TLqP3gVVFrZZNACAlMtzA-TJxHABCcJACf/BAeCAFVGAA

I actually hate “having” to make a lot of the choices I made, but it seems like I needed to up against this meta.

The boonstacking is still a huge issue against people that actually know how and when to corrupt, but at some point I had to figure that Revenants and tempests are throwing boons around like candy anyhow that can be corrupted, and that having the boons is nice when it works out.

I guess you care only about Conquest, but in Stronghold Cleric Druid is insane team support (23-5 or so in Ranked so far as soloQ).

Here you got a bit more variations of Pro League Druid builds: http://competitivegw2.blogspot.com/p/ranger.html
(also in “News” you can see ROMs Soldier build)

@jcbroe.4329, build you run very close to what I’ve been using, I highly recommend you spend few days running Refined Toxins. There just to much Daze going around for Shared Anguish to be as useful as it was Pre-HoT.

Poison upkeep from Refined Toxins is extremely strong, most of time fighting someone 1v1 E.g. Engi’s have allot of ways to passive heal this includes regen. That -33% heal should be counted as heal mitigation so in reality it’s hidden damage that everyone overlooks, on average let’s say target is getting 200 heal a second from regen that’s 12,000 heal every 60 seconds only real way to mitigate that healing is via poison which might not seem like much but in 1v1 the player who can keep poison applied the most in evenly skilled fight normally wins.

The build I use, http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJAWTnUqAFsiVsCWsActgFMBDum2TLqP3gVVFrZZV4CAlMtzA-TJxHABCcJACf/BAeCAFVGAA, you could say its almost 100% the same.

I’ve been thinking some games of dropping Alignment for Stone Signet or Tide depending on what other team is, if there condition heavy I won’t take Stone but if there burst happy I’ll take Stone.

EDIT Figured I’d add this, when comes to fighting classes like boon stripe Rev/Reaper I don’t really factor in loss of might, something to test to get feel for what I mean is put on soldiers amulet and do few rapid fires to a target now put on cele amulet and you will find the average damage output on cele is higher without any might. Ranger is very dependent on having a decent amount of critical damage, so unless your running Cele/Crusader/Valkyrie amulet your damage is always going to be less than Cele, then you add in next factor Druid scales really well with healing power Regen + Signet of Wild works out to be almost 300 heal a second which is roughly 18,000 every 60 seconds, now take away that healing power and its rather large chunk of healing over time you lose, not to add the amount of healing you lose from skills and traits. It also affects Natural Mender by allot over duration of a fight.

So this kinda makes Valkyrie less effective, so now you’re left with Cele and Crusaders, now this meta is too condition heavy for Crusaders to work so now you’re left with Cele amulet. This is all targeted towards being viable in the current meta, Marauder on Ranger as it stands isn’t viable due to Rev’s dealing allot more damage and more survival.

So keeping that all in mind really narrows builds down. Just my imput on what I’m seeing.

I was using carrion trapper before HoT.
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQRAnY8fjMqQ7K2tCmrAVLGSEqPAi9Xvvgd9D4FozD9CWlA-TJhGABLVGAgnAAJ7PQ8JBAA
After HoT I’m using Settler Trap Druid. Sometimes I change undead runes for durability if I want more HP. Main problem with this build is restoring astral force after they kill you 3v1 :/ .
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQRAnY8fjMqQ7K2tCmrAVLWcEM4k6UNr28tiVVAmAwk7yVyKOD-TJhGABTVGYm9HA4JAQ8JBAA

jcbroe.4329:

This is what I’ve ended up with personally: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJAWTnUqAFsiVsCOsActgFMBDum2TLqP3gVVFrZZNACAlMtzA-TJxHABCcJACf/BAeCAFVGAA

I actually hate “having” to make a lot of the choices I made, but it seems like I needed to up against this meta.

The boonstacking is still a huge issue against people that actually know how and when to corrupt, but at some point I had to figure that Revenants and tempests are throwing boons around like candy anyhow that can be corrupted, and that having the boons is nice when it works out.

I like it. Personally refuse to run celestial, but I think it is our best choice atm other than going some pure bunker ammy. Would swap SoS depending on match ups.

Morwath.9817:

I guess you care only about Conquest, but in Stronghold Cleric Druid is insane team support (23-5 or so in Ranked so far as soloQ).

Here you got a bit more variations of Pro League Druid builds: http://competitivegw2.blogspot.com/p/ranger.html
(also in “News” you can see ROMs Soldier build)

I find that some sort of healing druid in conjunction with a tempest is usually gg in sh, especially against pug teams.

With the actual PvP system in place they are seriously limiting the choice the players have to build their toons.

For WvW i use an modificacion of a Apothecary build that deals good ammount of condition damage + heal more than enough and tanky enough to stand the thief burst not losing more than half HP.
It’s fun to see enemy players running away when they see your staff drop conditions like crazy.
Also healing with the staff around 115HP in AA.

But you can’t have that build for PvP because you can’t adjust your build to what you want. Celestial is the closest i can achieve.

@Sol;

Thanks for the write up, I’ve been having a lot of similar thoughts as I’ve been playing.

I’ll have to try out refined toxins definitely. I’ve always just taken Shared Anguish because “free stun break” is logically good as utility bar compression is invaluable, but really there is only a single CC I’ve even been having any issues with and it’s something Shared Anguish doesn’t solve, and that’s the revenants passive Taunt from their retribution line. Especially when I accidentally drop a Celestial Form 3 on it, and realistically, any organized team would have more than enough time to destroy me when that mistake is made.
But yeah, I had considered Refined Toxins, I just have to ask; is the threshold manageable?

Last thing; for the Alignment versus Tides debate, I literally have a mental debate with myself before every game starts over it lol. What I came down to is Alignment not because of their direct effects, but because of cast times. Tides cast time makes the traited heal/removal for it happen on more of a delay than Alignment making it harder for me personally to use the traited effect reliably, which is why I ended up dropping Tides for Alignment.
If Ancient Seeds starts working with Tides, I think my favor would switch back towards it, but I also hate that currently Tides can eat an Ancient Seeds proc and you will never get the root from it ever.

@Everyone;

I see that for the most part, we’re all thinking similarly; build for healing power, pick up stats that support your build, try to be tanky.
Not a lot of responses so far, but it’s generally good to have some sort of established consensus like that.

@anduriell;

Yeah for WvW I have Zealots armor and weapons with Celestial Trinkets (not ascended Zealots trinkets yet but I’ve ended up liking Celestial better for the HP, toughness, and offensive stats, while still bringing my healing power between 800-900 total for 4k Celestial Form 3 heals and etc on increased healing values).

Ideally I would run something like it in PvP. It’s like the Celestial Might Stacking builds with no need to stack might, which opens up a lot of build diversity through traiting.

ANet probably won’t get around to even bring Zealots to PvP while doing so would be relevant though.

jcbroe.4329:

But yeah, I had considered Refined Toxins, I just have to ask; is the threshold manageable?

Threshold might not always be manageable for yourself, but since it applies to pets, it’s guaranteed poison on pet swap basically.

bloodpyrope.8630:

jcbroe.4329:

But yeah, I had considered Refined Toxins, I just have to ask; is the threshold manageable?

Threshold might not always be manageable for yourself, but since it applies to pets, it’s guaranteed poison on pet swap basically.

True, wasn’t really considering the pet. I’ll have to give it a try later on today, it should really help against the Scrappers and Heralds (power anyhow, condi users maybe not so much).

Here is what I’ve run for 75% of my ranked matches thus far (experimented with Sol’s LB build tonight).

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJARWnUqAVsiFsCOsActgl/AD+s+WvrLvuMQA4JN8DOalMtwA-TZBHABEcIAA4CAQ++DZXGYgnAAA

There shouldn’t be any surprises here for anyone that’s paid attention to the forums and pro leagues the past few weeks. I will say that I just did a match swapping SoS for SotW and it seemed to work fairly well. The sustain out of avatar form that you get from SotW is insane. With regen ticks, Live Vicariously and Natural Mender stacks its over 600 health a second.

As has been mentioned the lower health pool makes you more susceptible to condi pressure. You also take more condi pressure thanks to the fact that you take 2 offensive trait lines vs 2 defensive ones. You do however deal a lot more damage than the LB build and you can daze lock for longer periods of time.

You deal with condis best by not taking them in the first place. Kill faster. Daze longer. 3-4 seconds is a long time for someone to not stack any condis on you. Of course the margin for error here is slim. If you mess up your opening, or make a miss play during the fight, you aren’t likely to come back from it. Especially true if you can’t access shroud.

The vuln you stack and fury you provide can be a real help to your team as well. Personal damage output is less tied to boon stacking as well thanks to Moment of Clarity and Remorseless.

I did spend a significant amount of time tonight playing Sol’s LB build. Scroll up to read his post if you aren’t familiar with it. It is absolutely a good build. You are less susceptible to condis, though don’t think for a second you’re immune. You get more protection. You get more dodges. All nice things. There are times when playing the GS build that I miss having Point Blank Shot. Being able to neutralize or even full cap points is super valuable.

LB provides stronger range pressure than Staff as well. There are lots of situations that are made much easier by having better range. I do however find that LB is hampered in fights with lots of clutter. No way to fit piercing arrows in though. Had a match earlier vs a premade that consisted of 5 Minion Master Reapers. Yuck. I may have landed 1 arrow in 10? We certainly didn’t win the match thanks to kills.

I also find with LB that if you miss a critical Hunter’s Shot or Point Blank Shot, the one that you needed to stay alive, you end up dead. Locked down in the middle of the enemy swarm. Blinding with LB and Smoke Scale or removing condis with LB and Seed of Life both take time and space to pull off, which you won’t always have.

The kill speed can also be a bit slow. The damage out put is more sustained rather than bursty. It can be tough to down other classes that sustain very well.

In my experience both builds succumb to heavy condi pressure. Both builds will drop to heavy cc. While Druid can be really strong in 1v1 and even sometimes (rarely) in outmanned scenarios I find I look more and more for my team mates. Using the Staff, your CC and Avatar Form to relieve pressure from your team mates while they drop the opposing team is really satisfying. Is DPS Support the right term? The less I focus on personally roaming and the more I focus on where my team mates are the more matches it seems I win.

kitten this got long. I’m not even done >.< Too much stuff in my head.

I haven’t done that much sPvP in the past but lately I have been poking around there while WvW has offered no action whatsoever. At first I came up with a daze build of my own I really wanted to try in WvW but the lack of people there forced me to test it in sPvP, unfortunately it did not work. Not at least in this gamemode. Then I picked up a staff/sword+wh might stacking build from some brilliant person (I’m really sorry, I don’t remember who it was! I’m really bad with names and I have a memory of a goldfish.. ) who posted it here in the forums right after HoT launched. Not celestial, not tanky, just pew pew and blood of your enemies all over you!

I always run something not meta if i can suprisingly ranger can afford this
for druid im using :
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJAWRnMqAFsiVsAOsAEtiFGBD+pWV3qPtuSQqjpAc0CAnMtrsC-TpxHABBcIAq9CAI2DAAgjAQRlBGf/BA

if i want to heal,healing spring is amazing heal ,it keeps you bit stationary but its another water field and cures conditions

or pure ranger for dmg:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATRjMqQLLWxCOsAVLG+DqtIWgAo73bfH4PIs3gTm2HWB-TpBFABiXGghDBgb7P02FAYhjAAAPAAA

this one still works:)

Classic BM/MM/D with double Glyph was good enough as soloQ to sapphire for me.

The only thing I’ve changed was Beastly Warden (to prevent stomps/rezes and to make Wolf more oppresive), also Energy/Doom are pretty useful (can be triggered by Celestial Avatar, you don’t have to change weapon).

@jewishjoyride.4693, that was really well written post.

Here is my logic behind team fights, which I need to start doing myself a lot more. Depending on your role but let’s say for example purpose your main role is team fights. So your best option no matters the weapon LB or GS you’re better off sitting in Staff most of the fight, the reason why is team fights are no longer about 1 person doing the damage its mix of skills from everyone on target which breaks them allowing you to win the fight and while this is happening everyone is also supporting each other, ranger has added bonus of having a pet which does fair amount of damage on spike, so by running staff as main weapon in team fights it lets you support and deal damage.

So then you look at the next part of team fights what kind of peel support can you offer your team mates? LB is far better option then greatsword. Greatsword is selfish weapon in team fights. Don’t get me wrong GS is great for 1v1 but that’s about it outside of 1v1 it’s selfish.

There has been many times where I’ve seen target sitting at back free casting and we busy on different target, I will break there block if they have one and use my KB pushing them out of team fight and all I need to do is fire one arrow to immobilise them, this is a major pressure counter which free’s up dps to do there job. Then don’t forget barrage on a point or in area of main fight is major pressure.

And this is why I use LB over GS, also I also believe reason many find LB less effective is they use it incorrectly and LB has higher skill cap in this meta it require a more keen eye.

That’s just my logic behind things sure many have different ideas or logic.

@ Sol,

I couldn’t agree with you more. Whether you run LB or GS you spend waaaaaay more time supporting than killing. We are in this meta now because of the support we bring. That means Staff. That means Avatar Form, and by extension, Glyphs. In my mind the dilemma is less GS vs LB but actually Wilderness Survival Vs Marksmanship.

One build brings more personal sustain and mitigation. You’re harder to kill so you can spend more time supporting with Avatar skills. You can go in to Avatar more times through a fight making your team mates harder to kill as well.

In the other build, you increase the impact that your impactful skills have. 2 second daze becomes 4, giving your team mates and you more time to act without enemies retaliating. The vuln you stack helps your team mates damage stick. In turn you’re easier to kill if you make a mistake.

Weapon choice follows specialization choice. GS with its single hit abilities works well with MoC and Remorseless. LB works better with the Cele ammy, where the higher base crit chance keeps the sustained damage a bit higher.

As a permanent scrub I can also agree that LB takes more skill. Hunter’s Shot and Point Blank Shot have always worked better when their use is planned ahead. As spammy as this meta is, proper timing of any skill usage has become more critical. It’s too easy to burn a cc on an invuln, block or evade.

I am personally starting to lean a bit more in the direction of more sustain. My guildy on his DH and me running the Cele LB build won a 2 v 3 on far Last night, getting the initial kills and then holing out as the respawns streamed back in. 2 Reapers and a Tempest. I camped Staff and Avatar form. If I’d been running the GS Crusader’s build we would have lost for sure. No way to manage that much condi pressure.

In any case for the moment I’ll run whatever until I hit a solid losing streak. Then change builds to dig out of the rut.

Here’s what i’ve been using successfully in pug ranked pvp.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAW3fjMqQHL2tCmrAVLWYEM4o6Vdr2MuqVhAmCwlLAUy0eC-TJRHABQVGIgLCwz7PAwTAAA

It’s a full condi trap build designed to take and hold points with good sustain. The only issues i’ve had are diamond skin ele’s and on the odd occasion chain cc’s. Otherwise it works well. Build is designed around cc’ing the enemy then pouring on the condis. Switch to staff for defensive purposes. Trigger smokescale pet again for another defensive action (smoke/blind) and staff 3 for another stealth.

When you drop your healing spring is very important. Ensure you haven’t laid down another field first. Dropping healing spring and spamming 1 and 2 on your axe skills provides an insane amount of regen to remember to trigger those skills on point when you lay your healing spring.

You can take lightning reflexes instead of muddy terrain for the stun break however i prefer the faster condi clear as well as the cc that muddy terrain provides. Your torch skills are on a low CD so as soon as you immob someone, get close and drop your traps and torch 5. This should make anyone fighting on your point die from eventual condi damage.

Remember your blast finisher. Staff 3 plus smoke field = inviz. Great for kiting away from point if you need it. And blasting a poison field gives area weakness which is extremely powerful. Dont forget your pets!

Always trigger smokescale when it is with you on point. Always trigger spider skill when you have an enemy immob which should be a heck of a lot.

Hi, this is my “tanky” druid build- made for holding a point and lasting long in tough battles. It involves lots of heavy CCs and combo finishers that can give a lot of support to nearby allies. I took soldier’s amulet instead of one that gives healing power because i wanted to be able to do some damage, even though my build is made as a point holder. I’d like to hear people’s ideas on how to improve it/its gameplay, and i hope other people could benefit from it ^.^
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJAWRnMqAlsiNsAWsCEtil/ADet+WrrLvuMQA4549DGelMtwA-TZBEABLcBAI+QAc0+DaVGAgnAAA

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQRAnf8YjMqQ7K2tCmrAVLWcEM4k6UNr28tuAVAmAwkrydyzKHL-TZhAABF8EAUf/hOOIAAcCAErMAA

This is what i’m Running. The build focuses movement and avoiding movement impairing effects while in combat. it is a skirmisher which is to say that it relies in area denial and area punishment.

Traps
Your traps are where alot of your mobility comes from. You use them for area denial and can even spike condi’s with them.

Entangle
Use when you have lured the opponents into all your traps. This will spike more bleeds and increase your damage (see synergies)

Axe/Torch
Use Torch 5 to place your field. Throw through the field for combo or swap to sword and leap finish it.

Sword/dagger
The weapons set has three evasions plaus it has great condi. This weapons set is also your answer for getting past Elementalist Diamond Armor. (also, see bristleback)

Fire Wyvern
Keep him on passive. his attacks are too slow to help out much, and you need him to pull movement conditions anyway. He works better when he’s next to you because he surrounds you in a fire field. Use his F2 at the start of the fight. you can cancel out of it as it ends to switch to bristleback. the circle he provides will proc burning, and gives you an area to control with traps. when it turns into a field you can leap it or projectile it.

Bristleback
This guy has a 6k F2 on 15 sec cool down. leave him on passive and he’ll nearly always be next to you when moving,but the minute you activate his ability he’ll stand still. this is when you pull away from him. he can pull attacks off of you when you go stealth. His F2 ability can be used to break through Diamond armor 90% threshold. At that point it is up to you to capitalize with sword/dagger, then spike Condi’s with traps+entangle

Druid
Mainly you are running druid for the extra survival. but There is a very nasty combo here. that makes spiking condis easier. Ancient Seeds synergizes very well with spike trap. So lets say you hit an enemy with all your traps. Use entangle immediately for 5 more stacks of bleed, and an additional 5 more for ancient seeds.
Spike Trap: 6 bleeds
Entangle: 5 bleeds
Ancient Seeds: 5 bleeds
Plus all the condi’s you’ve been stacking thus far

Celestial Avatar
Especially when fighting with an ally you can fill this pretty quick. This build, when used properly can fill it solo, just by healing yourself and your pet. The skills offered by Celestial avatar can help you tank a point for a short time, but it’s real strength is saving your life or helping your team hold or capture a point. you can end Celestial avatar early if it is no longer needed and this will help you get it back quicker. Also, don’t forget that while you are healing people around you you can still drop traps. Lunar impact also synergies with Ancient seeds, so there is that as well. It’s a but harder to get off though.

Spike Trap: 6 bleeds
Entangle: 5 Bleeds
Ancient seed proc: 5 bleeds
Lunar Impact:
Ancient seeds proc: 5 bleeds
Drop avatar
Any attack that hits.
Ancient seeds seeds proc:

Celestial Amulet
Once you are comfortable running with Celestial amulet you may also try running Sinister. You will be much squishier, but the damage increase is pretty impressive. If you do this, I suggest swapping to Strider’s Defense.

Light on your Feet
I know you do not have a short bow. you are literally just taking this trait for the condi damage after dodging.

So far I’m having the most success with Sols build. I really like the concept of Crusader with the GS but it doesn’t seem to do enough against the meta, and with the meta switching towards viper’s Heralds and classes that support them while self-sustaining, the low healthpool gets even more detrimental. It seems like the concept would have been really fun pre-HoT when things actually died though, so in February when the game gets balanced, hopefully ANet tunes some of the extreme so more builds like this can become commonplace.

I’ve tried the few condi builds and I honestly just don’t have a feel for it. Every time I play them I feel completely outclassed in the condi department by Reapers and Heralds and wishing I was either playing one of them or that I had build more supportive instead of more towards condi. But that really could just be me, I see how the builds would work really well on paper, so it could just be who’s been on my team and who I’ve been up against. Diamond Skin Tempests though, I have no idea how you condi guys aren’t ripping your hair out.

If you’re playing with an organized team, and the team can support the Druid with condi cleanse, then I can definitely see swapping out the cleanses beyond Druidic Clarity and traited glyphs for traits that enhance the capabilities of Druid more, like Moment of Clarity. That would be the most ideal, but with the way teams are running, it looks like Tempest, and Druids are competing for a slot, so seeing both classes on a team might be rare or even inefficient.

jcbroe.4329:

So far I’m having the most success with Sols build. I really like the concept of Crusader with the GS but it doesn’t seem to do enough against the meta, and with the meta switching towards viper’s Heralds and classes that support them while self-sustaining, the low healthpool gets even more detrimental. It seems like the concept would have been really fun pre-HoT when things actually died though, so in February when the game gets balanced, hopefully ANet tunes some of the extreme so more builds like this can become commonplace.

I’ve tried the few condi builds and I honestly just don’t have a feel for it. Every time I play them I feel completely outclassed in the condi department by Reapers and Heralds and wishing I was either playing one of them or that I had build more supportive instead of more towards condi. But that really could just be me, I see how the builds would work really well on paper, so it could just be who’s been on my team and who I’ve been up against. Diamond Skin Tempests though, I have no idea how you condi guys aren’t ripping your hair out.

If you’re playing with an organized team, and the team can support the Druid with condi cleanse, then I can definitely see swapping out the cleanses beyond Druidic Clarity and traited glyphs for traits that enhance the capabilities of Druid more, like Moment of Clarity. That would be the most ideal, but with the way teams are running, it looks like Tempest, and Druids are competing for a slot, so seeing both classes on a team might be rare or even inefficient.

No idea, but based on the various boards and other forums seems the only viable progression sPvP classes are teams that consist of:

2 Sentinel bunker Mesmers, 2 Viper Revenants, and 1 Tempest

Some good posts on here.

@jcbroe.4329, I’ve been testing alot of builds, honestly there isn’t many options left. You require so much investment into survival to withstand the incoming damage and condition pressure from this current meta.

It’s very clear you require Druid/Beastmastery trait lines with Celestial/Durability, “We Heal As One”, Glyph of Equality and “Strength of the Pack”, Staff and don’t forget Smokescale and Bristleback combo.

That should be staple for almost every viable build that works in this meta. There has been few different build floating around, but there is just too many variables for it to work effectively long term.

Having fun with LB/Staff full glass. With Smokescale+Bristleback its a pretty decent single-target Carry.

@Sol;
Yeah I’m right there with that line of thinking as well.

I think the one thing to add to the list is sustained DPS weapons or consistently reliable ones. Like you said, staff for sure, but as a swap, LB or sword/x. Axe and GS both perform similarly in that they rely way too much on being both point blank on an enemy and landing skills with huge, obvious wind ups to be effective. LB and Sword can both put out consistent damage in their own right, though clearly my personal preference is LB.

So basically, personal sustained damage output > burst. Besides, the pet bursts and makes up for any lack of it that a build could have.

@Mcrocha;
I LOVE Marauder Druid and would typically swear by it. Honestly, especially without a dedicated team for queuing, I just run celestial because it carries easier. Both in that it is more forgiving and that it allows for an easier time making up for “weak” teammates.

Personally, I think NM/BM/Druid Marauder does exactly what Marauder Scrapper does but brings more team support. The real issue is that the meta is moving even more condi and that particular Scrapper build has tons more sustain against condi whereas the Druid version does not. If everything had to sacrifice power damage to do condi damage, swapping NM to WS would be fine, but with the Viper builds running around and being perma-CC’d in overload airs, you lose lots of sustain that the scrapper build doesn’t.

I want to believe Druids are 3rd in line for being able to run glassy builds in the current meta. I just haven’t found one just yet. My go to is always WS/NM/Druid though.

The simplified comparison between Marauder Scrapper and Druid: Scrapper has high damage, good tanking for a Marauder build, and strong condi removal. Druid only get to have 2 of those options and sacrifices the 3rd where Scrappers don’t.

I still love it though. Damage ranger/druid is much too fun for its own good.

I do have to just quickly mention how fun Crusader GS is with MM/BM/Druid though. It’s the only GS build I’ve enjoyed so far.

jcbroe.4329:

@Mcrocha;
I LOVE Marauder Druid and would typically swear by it. Honestly, especially without a dedicated team for queuing, I just run celestial because it carries easier. Both in that it is more forgiving and that it allows for an easier time making up for “weak” teammates.

Personally, I think NM/BM/Druid Marauder does exactly what Marauder Scrapper does but brings more team support. The real issue is that the meta is moving even more condi and that particular Scrapper build has tons more sustain against condi whereas the Druid version does not. If everything had to sacrifice power damage to do condi damage, swapping NM to WS would be fine, but with the Viper builds running around and being perma-CC’d in overload airs, you lose lots of sustain that the scrapper build doesn’t.

I want to believe Druids are 3rd in line for being able to run glassy builds in the current meta. I just haven’t found one just yet. My go to is always WS/NM/Druid though.

The simplified comparison between Marauder Scrapper and Druid: Scrapper has high damage, good tanking for a Marauder build, and strong condi removal. Druid only get to have 2 of those options and sacrifices the 3rd where Scrappers don’t.

I still love it though. Damage ranger/druid is much too fun for its own good.

I like it bc it absolutely stomps peeps who aren’t expecting a glass Druid. I personally think scrapper is overturned and is the epitome of bruiser specs, but I agree with your overall assessment. I can build for damage and decent condi removal on Druid, but not be tanky like scrapper too. Druid can have some pretty good disengage as well. The only problem is so does scrapper with sneak gyro.

I personally prefer Druid/WS/BM, and then assassins over marauder as durability runes are unbelievably still a thing.

This is what i’ve been running in solo queue

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJARTjUqQJL2yCOsAXLWwEM4a6Pto6s4WAPumlVhLAUy0OD-TpBGABeXGIhDBABXAAAeAABt/wBHBAA

Tons of condition clearing skills and effects, i’ve had no problem with the condi spam unless its 2 or 3v1 and i get overloaded with conditions. 1v1 and 2v1 it can hold it’s own. I’ll swap runes for Wurm runes for more dps if i’m not up against a condi heavy team. The high health pool helps a lot if you get caught by the dh traps or vs reapers and chronos.

@Mcrocha;
Absolutely it’s an issue with other things being overtuned.

I find Druid to actually be in a really balanced spot, where certain amulets and runes are the things that would even make Druid be considered problematic (why is Celestial still in PvP). Compared to the other things I see in game and in the ESLs, I think that bunker mesmers and the Herald builds are in tiers of their own, and Tempests are right below that because they have the ease of boon access to cover their weaknesses with little to no effort, which would be interrupting heals and overloads, and then Druids below that who all you really have to do is wait until a Druid pops Celestial Form and stays in it without flashing in and out, and you can condi/CC/burst them and there is usually nothing that they can do with less than 25% stability uptime and the delayed benefits of glyphs.

You’re making me really want to play glass today by the way lol.

@jcbroe

PBS proc AS → smokescale burst is just too funny.

Has anyone found a solid build that doesn’t get completely shredded by Mallyx revs? The Crusader’s build is great fun, but it melts the second you meet a Mallyx rev, and now every team I meet is running at least two.

I feel like I’m still stuck on Sentinals druid, and occasionally run Soldiers if I feel like we need more damage.

There are a couple builds on this thread already that can manage what you ask. but you are always going to have people who get the drop on you or just plain out class you in skill. my suggestion is just to try out some of the builds on this thread. (not trying to advertise, but even i posted a ranger build here that is fun and can take out mal revs)

I really hope that sometime in the future, that not only will they change the meta enough to a state where you won’t need SoS and similar skills, but rather get rid of skills of this type completely. It’s the most boring skilltype that exist, and I really wish they won’t be needed ever again. But that’s hoping for too much I guess.

I have been running this in solo que. It’s very similar to what others are running in here.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATWjUqQLLWyCOsAXLWyEM4ZaPdo+UDicTsmkVA4AUy0OD-TJRBABxXGgn9HA4SA8wTAAA

Little more power focused. Still has decent burst with longbow and staff has really nice extended trades vs those engineers, mesmers and ele’s. The only time I really struggle is when a player is obviously much higher in skill than me. Condi and cc which are both rampant don’t seem to much of an issue. The only thing that I’ve struggled with is condi rev and well everything does at this point.

I am going to have to try out that crusaders build. Looks solid, I have yet to find any gs builds I’ve enjoyed yet.

Here is the double melee pre-HoT build I was using for sPvP. Celestial amulet and Krait runes. Axe, dagger, sword, torch. High sustain and was able to hold points forever.

It isn’t my build, was posted on the forums a while back but I enjoy it. Sadly, it isn’t as great post HoT I’ve been trying to fit in the Druid line with no success. So this is a good thread as I hope to find a similar build using the Druid trait line – we’ll see.

Edit: Build Link: http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQRAnY8fnEqAtsgVsA+CCUtghMhqT2A4A+aIVnYPxTgGfANA-TZRHABBcEAA4kAEy+DHVGI4HAAA

I was thinking making new YouTube channel covering builds, skill rotations and mechanics behind Ranger/Druid in SPvP. Only problem is every few months new videos would have to be made due to balance changes and would require players who are willing to help and are mechanically sound.

The mightstacking one is the best, once you master all your bursts (timing very important) and rotations you’re invincible in 1v1 and do really well in 1v2.

Staff/GS is too strong for mobility/stun and damage.

I’ve been using this build with some success. I find the boon duration very useful: 4 sec quickness every 15 sec, over 20 sec might/fury/swiftness, 6 sec protection every 15 sec + some useless regen made barely useful when adding natural convergence.

For some reason, the numbers on the site are a lower overall.

I can revive pretty often, with allies’ aid for the speed and the glyphs for stopping stomping.

I had no particular problems with any profession, except viper revs and scrapper. Really hate scrappers, those little kittens have 2 invulns, a ton of CC, decent damage, decent heal, inviz and what not.

Elxdark.9702:

The mightstacking one is the best, once you master all your bursts (timing very important) and rotations you’re invincible in 1v1 and do really well in 1v2.

Staff/GS is too strong for mobility/stun and damage.

Do you (or anybody else) use the GS build? Curious because I’d like to hear you experiences with it since mine aren’t great.

Mobility yeah, the GS is great. But I still haven’t got the GS to do more damage on any build that has crit chance. On Crusader/Cavalier builds, I’d take GS any day.

I also feel especially shoehorned into Marksmanship if I want to use GS because of not getting the damage I’d like out of it and relying on Moment of Clarity procs more than ever.

So I’d really genuinely (because the Internet doesn’t carry tone well and I’m being sincere) like to here your experiences with it and how you’re getting it to work.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQRAnY8fnEqAtCitsAWsActgFOBDuleT3pPvgRVirZYVpCAlMtwA-TZxFwAWLDk4gAc4JAA4EAca/BA

Bunker condi.

-Strong condi damage
-Direct damage burst (pet with sic em) – for diamond skin eles etc
-Decent amount of stun breaks, condi clears, stability
-Reveal for stealthy builds
-Plenty of sustained heals and evades
-Sustainable astral energy regen with spike heals

I do an off meta build that uses long bow in place of greatsword:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATWnUqANsgVsCmsCctgl/ADet+WvrLvuMQA4JNU8OalMtzA-TphFwAAuAAKOCAGeAAI3fIxhAwZZAA

The monk runes seem appropriate since I’m going for a DPS/healer hybrid but with ranged instead and it gives more healing power, but even with the rune and celestial I can still feel how underpowered healing power is.

I just started playing druid with the leagues season and find it amazingly enjoyable. Before I was using the standard power build.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNBHhZ6keVohFsiVwkVgrFsgJYw50eaR1Zx14qZNLrBQAokpdG-TZxGABAcEAG4BAU++DEcKASqMAA

As for the build, I’m not much of a theorycrafter but I’ve been picking and shifting things as I play and this is what I’m currently at. I have to say I like the warhorn buffs and the axe dps is okay. Reading through this thread though I’m really intrigued by the LB/staff combo. I will definitely give this a try next match. All in all very helpful thread!

This is what I’m running in yoloq:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJARWnEqAtsgVsCmsCUtgl/ADetGXvrLFhMQAopfd72BjIN-TZBHABEcJAA4BAQ++DZXGIgjAAA

It’s trading the team condi clear for some personal survivability. Having LR available when the DH/chrono/tempest cluster Frak happens on point has made a huge difference though.

LR is one of the best stunbreaks in this meta cause it gets you out of the chain cc’s.