Guild Wars 2

LughLongArm.5460:

EnderzShadow.2506:

Oh how I miss gs/Staff when it was viable.

Legacy of the Foefire-Stealing far 1v1, knocking down the gate, tanking almost any class, killing the Lord.

Then the Lord got buffed
We got nerfed.
Other classes got buffed.
QQ

I use GS/Staff dedicated build, for the last 2 seasons and its very viable.

Mind sharing your build? or msg me?

I’m always up for trying something new.

EnderzShadow.2506:

LughLongArm.5460:

EnderzShadow.2506:

Oh how I miss gs/Staff when it was viable.

Legacy of the Foefire-Stealing far 1v1, knocking down the gate, tanking almost any class, killing the Lord.

Then the Lord got buffed
We got nerfed.
Other classes got buffed.
QQ

I use GS/Staff dedicated build, for the last 2 seasons and its very viable.

Mind sharing your build? or msg me?

I’m always up for trying something new.

Sure:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJARWnUqAVsi1CC+CCctgl/A7JN8DGewr136dd51lBCAlMs0A-TpBIABF8AAA4QAEfZAvvAAhdEAyZ/BA

The best thing about the build is how much mayhem you bring to team fights, to can cleave hard downed players and aoe interrupts revives(one of the biggest issues with bad players). Strong healing capabilities and support with combos that can kill an unaware thief in 2 sec. You can even pressure mender ele/druid with this build for a decap(but it will take some time). Just avoid 1v1 warriors they’r highly favored vs this build. If I c more than 2 thieves/revs, I change guard for SoS, and vs 2+ warriors i go for LR over guard.

Update:

As I’m climbing higher and higher and starting to queue with people in the top 50-100, I’m finding that I don’t have to run a blade offhand (Sword or GS) for the survivability, because everybody can actually carry their own weight and perform correct rotations and play their roles in teamfights.

As such, the LB build is feeling 1000x stronger than my initial impression because I can play more off point, and when I call targets for the LB combo, those targets actually die because the players are at a skill level where there is a mutual understanding of the tactics that are happening.

In general, having people that understand what the build can and can’t do and play their role to encompass their game knowledge helps me to understand why the metagame would want Druids to be running LB, since a LB pick with some amount of competence in a team and organization can instantly snowball teamfights.

jcbroe.4329:

Update:

As I’m climbing higher and higher and starting to queue with people in the top 50-100, I’m finding that I don’t have to run a blade offhand (Sword or GS) for the survivability, because everybody can actually carry their own weight and perform correct rotations and play their roles in teamfights.

As such, the LB build is feeling 1000x stronger than my initial impression because I can play more off point, and when I call targets for the LB combo, those targets actually die because the players are at a skill level where there is a mutual understanding of the tactics that are happening.

In general, having people that understand what the build can and can’t do and play their role to encompass their game knowledge helps me to understand why the metagame would want Druids to be running LB, since a LB pick with some amount of competence in a team and organization can instantly snowball teamfights.

Does this mean you are using the shoutbow meta build or your own set up?

Anela

I play Staff/LB when running with a group that knows what they’re doing. Since I tend to Pug more than anything else I spend most of my time in Staff/GS and I find it far superior to sw/d. personally, I don’t run SotW, it’s a crutch and as soon as it gets pulled out from under some people they’re going to fall down.

I personally find the skirmishing QD shoutbow to be significantly more effective than the NM version for both damage and defense. I’d be interested to know if you’ve messed around with that any, jcbroe, since I’m likely never going to be ranked.

I’ve unfortunately stopped taking the season seriously after my crazy dropping of like 20 games. I’m sure I could work back up to where I was as things average out of a larger set of games, but I have absolutely no desire to play sober versus the current gold 1 tier players.

While I’ve been really enjoying reading how everyone’s doing and how you’re all finding the different weapon/trait set ups (especially how it’s all your own personal experiences and not negatively commenting on others) I have to say this

Fluffball.8307:

whatever floats your boar

is still my favourite part of the thread.

I saw that typo the day after I posted it and intentionally left it because the mental image of someone digging a h0@l in their backyard, filling it with a garden hose, and throwing a squealing boar into it made me laugh. Glad someone is as weird as me I suppose…

Anela.3867:

jcbroe.4329:

Update:

As I’m climbing higher and higher and starting to queue with people in the top 50-100, I’m finding that I don’t have to run a blade offhand (Sword or GS) for the survivability, because everybody can actually carry their own weight and perform correct rotations and play their roles in teamfights.

As such, the LB build is feeling 1000x stronger than my initial impression because I can play more off point, and when I call targets for the LB combo, those targets actually die because the players are at a skill level where there is a mutual understanding of the tactics that are happening.

In general, having people that understand what the build can and can’t do and play their role to encompass their game knowledge helps me to understand why the metagame would want Druids to be running LB, since a LB pick with some amount of competence in a team and organization can instantly snowball teamfights.

Does this mean you are using the shoutbow meta build or your own set up?

Anela

The only thing I’m back and forth on is the runes at the moment. Even though Dolyak Runes really aren’t necessary to generate Astral Force at the rate needed to enter Celestial Form every 15 seconds, I find that every so often, I end up in that situation where I would have needed Dolyak Runes because of their passive generation of Astral Force versus needing to be active to generate it.

So I’m still playing around with either Dolyak or Leadership runes. With the meta settling on less and less condi builds, and with the way condi builds are working now, I’m finding that Druidic Clarity plus Signet of Renewal (plus Leadership Runes when I have them on) is enough cleansing as long as I use them properly, so I’ve turned away from Soldier/Trooper runes entirely.

So yeah. A good example of what I’m talking about with the runes is if I have to end up kiting a lot in a team fight so that I can’t be active and generate Astral Force and an enemy Necro AoE corrupts the Regen I gave everyone. Or if I make the push to recapture home and their thief is a well known thief that decides they can duel me despite it not being the optimal thief strategy and plays incredibly hit and run so that I can’t actively generate Astral Force and they can slowly burst and wait.

It isn’t always common, but I find myself saying “if I had only had Dolyak Runes there” more than I say that about any other runeset still, which is why I’ve been giving them another go.

jcbroe.4329:

Anela.3867:

jcbroe.4329:

Update:

As I’m climbing higher and higher and starting to queue with people in the top 50-100, I’m finding that I don’t have to run a blade offhand (Sword or GS) for the survivability, because everybody can actually carry their own weight and perform correct rotations and play their roles in teamfights.

As such, the LB build is feeling 1000x stronger than my initial impression because I can play more off point, and when I call targets for the LB combo, those targets actually die because the players are at a skill level where there is a mutual understanding of the tactics that are happening.

In general, having people that understand what the build can and can’t do and play their role to encompass their game knowledge helps me to understand why the metagame would want Druids to be running LB, since a LB pick with some amount of competence in a team and organization can instantly snowball teamfights.

Does this mean you are using the shoutbow meta build or your own set up?

Anela

The only thing I’m back and forth on is the runes at the moment. Even though Dolyak Runes really aren’t necessary to generate Astral Force at the rate needed to enter Celestial Form every 15 seconds, I find that every so often, I end up in that situation where I would have needed Dolyak Runes because of their passive generation of Astral Force versus needing to be active to generate it.

So I’m still playing around with either Dolyak or Leadership runes. With the meta settling on less and less condi builds, and with the way condi builds are working now, I’m finding that Druidic Clarity plus Signet of Renewal (plus Leadership Runes when I have them on) is enough cleansing as long as I use them properly, so I’ve turned away from Soldier/Trooper runes entirely.

So yeah. A good example of what I’m talking about with the runes is if I have to end up kiting a lot in a team fight so that I can’t be active and generate Astral Force and an enemy Necro AoE corrupts the Regen I gave everyone. Or if I make the push to recapture home and their thief is a well known thief that decides they can duel me despite it not being the optimal thief strategy and plays incredibly hit and run so that I can’t actively generate Astral Force and they can slowly burst and wait.

It isn’t always common, but I find myself saying “if I had only had Dolyak Runes there” more than I say that about any other runeset still, which is why I’ve been giving them another go.

Thank you for your response. I appreciate the explanation too.

Anela

I’ve been favoring LB lately as well. Here’s what I’ve been playing.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJATWnUqAVsi9rAOsActglZBzpqNnyaPBg603C+fWQfol480A-TpBFABis/AAHBg+LD0wDAggDBwCXAAA

Nothing really crazy here. The build feels very capable in the current meta. LB has always paired well with pet burst. Is the damage greater overall than S/D? Not really, but if you only have limited windows to pressure, then LB is capable of doing more in a shorter time. The greatest strength I feel is having cc’s to chain together to either lock targets down or peel for team mates.

I personally feel like Dolyak runes are still mandatory. Avatar form is one of the main reasons to bring Druid. Being able to reliably generate Astral Force even when having to kite heavily or while facing bad matchups means you can actually get your Avatar Form off, and then disengage. You can also stay in Avatar form longer knowing you’ll still reliably have it back 15 sec later, if your team needs the extra heals.

I feel like leadership runes work great when you have team mates that know what to do. But when your team is in the weeds and you NEED to get off Avatar Form, Leadership runes end up letting you down.

Unfortunately I think I may be past the point where builds make a difference. I climbed all the way from Silver 2 (7 and 3 in placement matches) to Gold 2 (1450 rating) maintaining close to a 70% win rate. Since then my win loss ratio has tilted and my rating is currently free falling, winning maybe 1 in 3 matches consistently. The most frustrating part is the losses are either 12+ min in length and less than 50 pts, or our team holds a 100 pt lead to around 300, then the throw happens and we lose. I guess maybe I’m not Legendary, but this loss rate feels way too punishing.

Sorry for the small rant.