Guild Wars 2

So in a completely unrelated forum topic, there was an interesting little conversation that started.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/Druid-streaming/first#post5719670

The long and short of it there was a bit of discussion on the pros and cons of cele vs marauder, weapon choice, and if there’s any value in going totally boon heavy with all these reapers running around.

So today I spent most of my day playing builds that went a bit lighter on the boon front. Specifically I wanted to play builds that didn’t rely on might stacking/pet swapping for offensive pressure. I played with both LB/S and GS/S. Trait lines were Marksmanship, Wilderness Survival, Druid.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJARWjEqQLLWyCOsAXLW+DM4zac9uu86yABgm+VNYHUy0OD-TZBFABiXGohLAADPAACOEAAcEAAA

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATWjEqQLLWyCOsAXLWIEM4u6ZttusDCAVtm51KIGUy0GD-TJBFABiXGggLBwCPAAAOCAAA

Runes I was trying are Leadership. Increased protection duration and more fury. Superior rune of Surging could be interesting for the Remorseless build. Shocking aura is quite strong and would be another trigger for Ancient Seeds I think.

GS is definitely stronger than LB on a point. I also think the GS build 1v1s a bit better. That being said both builds felt strong enough. That was with quite a few esports sightings.

After playing with Natural Stride, I’m liking it more and more. The condi duration reduction is really useful and the move speed bonus makes losing Beastmastery hurt so much less. Ancient Seeds is an interesting trait. It doesn’t always feel reliable. I think the fact that it triggers on foes your team mates cced is pretty valuable though, and makes it strong enough to pick.

As far as Glyphs vs Survival skills. Glyphs can let you absolutely take over a point in most matchups. They feel really weak though if you’re blinded, your enemy dodges, they have stability etc… Survival skills however feel useful pretty much all the time. Stun break, condi cleanse and better positioning. For now, I feel like survival skills in combination with natural stride make me much harder to lock down, no matter what weapon set I’m using.

What do you guys think? Has anyone found any builds that use even fewer boons but still churn out good offense?

I certainly don’t consider these builds to be finished and any constructive criticism is welcome.

On my phone right now so I apologize for the lack of links/builder.

After the conversation, I really buckled down and worked on my builds FOR might stacking, and essentially ended up with what ROM runs but with LB over GS, which ended up feeling more “right” to me.

Cele NM/BM/Druid
312
312
123
LB blood/Air
Staff Energy/Air
WHaO
Tides
Equality (the daze/stunbreak?)
SoS
SotP
Bristleback/Smokescale

I don’t know what it is about Greatsword. I feel like my LB is doing more damage, has more utility, and more reliably sets up and procs Ancient Seed.
I feel I’ve tried up and down to make the GS work and outside if the initial swap into Swoop and/or Maul, the weaon does no damage when I use it. It could be very dependent on my playstyle too.

Outside of dueling a guild member who was running a reflect based chronomancer, I haven’t felt myself really wanting GS for anything but mobility. I have, however, found myself wanting LB on a Staff/GS build over GS quite a few times, thinking to myself that I didn’t bave the damage or pressure to push the kill.

With new light on all of that;
Regarding non-might stacking buids:

Marauders WS/NM/druid
232
312
133
Hoelbrak
LB Air/Blood
GS Energy/Air
Troll
LR
QS
SoS
Entangle

So yeah, I was to the marauders build again condi heavy teams now personally.

This is what I’ve found myself using the most
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATWnEqAVsitsAOsActglMBDem2THqOJuEQjrJZFAOAlMtKA-TpBFABiXGggLAwCHCgEOCAtv/AAPAAA

With Runes of Leadership I can have the same stats as pre-HoT with Traveler, and not lose the condi cleanse on Elite (ran entangle instead of SotP, but SotP is now a must have with all the CC flying around). I’m not losing the movement speed either by taking Natural Stride. Also that 50% boon duration is lovely ^^

I took the Staff as defensive weapon over pre-HoT GS as it helps gain Astral Force faster. Glyph of Equality is really nice, always a stunbreak and can be used as instant Daze or clear 2 condies.

Regarding traits I basically traded Taunt with all the Druid goodness (more CC, heals, support).

I tried the Celestial build that’s got really popular but didn’t find that so great, not my thing really. I prefer this as I don’t need to rely on might stacking to deal dmg, which will get removed anyway by Chronos/Reapers.

Yeah so I played these builds all day that one day, made this post………………then went right back to playing might stacking cele. >.< Too fun lol.

Between LB and GS I’m not sure we’re going to see one edge the other out in this meta. Most people playing Druid now played LB/GS power ranger builds. Most also probably had a preference of one vs the other. I think we’re in a better place now in that we have THREE weapon sets that provide utility and damage.

Personally I don’t think I get the results on LB/S that I get on GS/S. I really feel like I can control the pace of play much better, both in terms of fights as well as map control. I have to chuckle a bit Jroh, because I feel I have the same complaints about LB as you do about GS.

Between Glyphs and Survival skills, I feel like Glyphs are a bit more relevant currently. QZ and LR are still both very strong personal utilities. Glyphs seem to be more useful to the team though. The heal and blind and condi remove. The cc. The cc is really useful and having access to more cc helps you and your team stay ahead of other cc.

As far as boon stripping/corruption we really only have reapers to worry about right now. I see mesmers/chronomancers so rarely in matches. They are just getting eaten so hard by DH’s right now. There are so few Revenants running Mallyx as well that it’s not really worth mentioning. That leaves reapers, and really, if you kite them well and save your dodges for the really big stuff (Elite Shout and shroud 5) the fight is winnable.

In any case I’m not sure what else I wanted to say right now. There’s a lot that’s still up in the air and as always there’s a bit of waiting to see where the other classes settle.