Guild Wars 2

Been playing a Ranger constantly since HoT released and my guild has noticed something about it: It breaks Defiance like crazy.

I’m not saying other profs can’t tear up Defiance but we definitely do it well.

I’ve made a few changes to my build to adapt to HoT:
Black Moa: The Daze functions really well with BM Taunt for CC’ing groups and breaking Defiance on single things. This pet has been super handy. I did keep a DPS pet like Jag or Bristleback on swap.
Moment of Clarity: Between Moa, Quick Swap and GS, there’s a lot of play here. It also helps you shred defiance bars.

Speaking of Moment of Clarity. After obtaining the 400 needed for Druid I’ve been toying around a lot with MoC + Glyph of Equality. This Glyph is so useful! 24/30sec CD no animation 4 sec Daze with good range + some dmg is awesome!
Disclaimer: Considering every(?) profession has really strong stuff right now, I don’t feel that GoE is enough to be considered OP.

MoC+GoE has been the reason why I’ve been running Marksman, Skirmish, Druid for PvE lately. I have dropped the Moa after obtaining Druid though.

I wanted to try it out in some fractals and when I mentioned to my guildies “I want to test some Druid supporty stuff” They asked about the healing and I told them I just want to CC everything so there’s no healing needed! Everyone was surprised at the idea but it really helped smooth out the run. It’s really nice support for lesser experienced players.
In addition: Going into CA, casting 4 once, then leaving CA immediately does pump the group with Grace of the Land stacks. It’s definitely worth taking advantage of when you finally get the bar filled and now that it doesn’t drain OOC, can be used prepull to help burst: super nice trick.

Combined with support things like Vuln burst, Spotter, Frost Spirit and MoC+GoE+GS, GotL we definitely have the ability to bring a lot of offensive and defensive support.

Between PvP and PvE, I’m continuing to enjoy Druid. Now we just need to get that beta healer style back for raids! nudge

Editted to clarify topics.

What kinda gear are you using? Nomad? Magi? Cleric’s? Zealot?

OMGimAnoobLOLOL.4730:

Been playing a Ranger constantly since HoT released and my guild has noticed something about it: It breaks Defiance like crazy.

I’m not saying other profs can’t tear up Defiance but we definitely do it well.

I’ve made a few changes to my build to adapt to HoT:
Black Moa: The Daze functions really well with BM Taunt for CC’ing groups and breaking Defiance on single things. This pet has been super handy. I did keep a DPS pet like Jag or Bristleback on swap.
Moment of Clarity: Between Moa, Quick Swap and GS, there’s a lot of play here. It also helps you shred defiance bars.

Speaking of Moment of Clarity. After obtaining the 400 needed for Druid I’ve been toying around a lot with MoC + Glyph of Equality. This Glyph is so useful! 24/30sec CD no animation 4 sec Daze with good range + some dmg is awesome!
Disclaimer: Considering every(?) profession has really strong stuff right now, I don’t feel that GoE is enough to be considered OP.

MoC+GoE has been the reason why I’ve been running Marksman, Skirmish, Druid for PvE lately. I have dropped the Moa after obtaining Druid though.

I wanted to try it out in some fractals and when I mentioned to my guildies “I want to test some Druid supporty stuff” They asked about the healing and I told them I just want to CC everything so there’s no healing needed! Everyone was surprised at the idea but it really helped smooth out the run. It’s really nice support for lesser experienced players.
In addition: Going into CA, casting 4 once, then leaving CA immediately does pump the group with Grace of the Land stacks. It’s definitely worth taking advantage of when you finally get the bar filled and now that it doesn’t drain OOC, can be used prepull to help burst: super nice trick.

Combined with support things like Vuln burst, Spotter, Frost Spirit and MoC+GoE+GS, GotL we definitely have the ability to bring a lot of offensive and defensive support.

Between PvP and PvE, I’m continuing to enjoy Druid. Now we just need to get that beta healer style back for raids! nudge

Editted to clarify topics.

Hey, thank you very much for the info. I haven’t had a chance to try Druid yet, and have been sticking with core Ranger (which is really nice right now). I love the style of play you describe, so will give it a try. What kinds of Armour are you using?

I was running Zerk with Ranger runes. I do swap between GS, LB, S/A but I’ve been specifically toying with GS MoC breaks.

I don’t think I’d be toying with PvE healer stuff until raiding. We’re leaning toward the idea of Nomad since the Druid can dedicate to healing and high toughness lets the druid also do tank/positioning stuff at the same time. Sustained Staff still gets into CA fairly quickly.

Would u consider zealot as a viable choice for Druid pve?

Poke Bird.5847:

Would u consider zealot as a viable choice for Druid pve?

If you want to be able to all-round, then it is probably the best choice. Armor and Weapons anyway. Since they do not have ascended Zealots trinkets yet and the exotic ones are stupid expensive, sub in some clerics/magi if you feel too squishy or just zerker if you need more damage. It’s a pretty decent compromise that allows damage, survivability and healing.

Poke Bird.5847:

Would u consider zealot as a viable choice for Druid pve?

Have been running ascended Zealot’s since HoT released. In a word: yes. It is extremely viable. Even prior to the nerf to the Hero Points, I was 2 manning the champs! I ran with an Engineer teammate, while able to still dish out great dps I would hop into Avatar form and heal when needed then right back to the damage again!

Bear in mind I have all ascended everything, 2 legendary weapons, etc. I wouldn’t expect an ‘average’ Druid to be met with exactly the same success. This being said, however, I’ve found Zealot’s to be fantastic for Druid!

To the OP
I am still experimenting with weapon combinations, glyphs, the list goes on. But man I’ll tell ya, yes sir, Glyph of Equality is a new must have for me. It really depends on what your goals are in the build you are using, but one synergy I found with GoE is the trait ‘Ancient Seeds’ with an Axe weapon. Pop the glyph when surrounded by enemies, they are dazed, follow up with a toss of the axe and delight as they are all additionally rooted in place since the axe bounces to each target! This all being said, imo Axe always has been and still is in a weird place. Using Zealot’s stuff as I have been doing, I prefer other weapons

The CC Druid provides is really useful in the new HoT events, where a lot of CC is needed. Been using the E-Wyvern, Staff daze swap, GoE/GotT, GS and CAF to break defiance bars really fast. I haven’t tried MoC yet in PvE though. Does longer lasting Daze break more defiance?

Well, that’s a very interesting build, it seems to allow you to give good support without totally give up your damage. Thanks for sharing!

I can concur, I’ve mostly been using CA for the Lunar Impact, Natural convergence, Lunar Impact combo to bust down a break bar. I’ve been running Beastmastery and Wilderness Survival/Nature Magic just ‘cause I have Celestial gear and I’ve never gone without beastmastery since June 23rd.

I thought MoC druid would be a cute little synergy, I should’ve tried it out sooner. Once I finish up my Zealot ascended gear I’ll try out your build (that stuff’s far too expensive to settle for exotic).

Poke Bird.5847:

Would u consider zealot as a viable choice for Druid pve?

For Story modes and fractals, no. Any HoT stuff less than Dragon’s Stand, no. Even Dragon’s Stand is a maybe at best.

In a 5man you won’t be spending much time healing or in Staff. This is largely about dealing damage and instant breaks instead of healing and doing little/no damage. The Druid version was actually an variation/improvement to the “Break Ranger” DPS variant I was working on.

A variant of a variant and bringing some Druid synergies to the rest of Ranger is what this post is about. This isn’t a completely alien build just because of the Elite spec.

OMGimAnoobLOLOL.4730:

Poke Bird.5847:

Would u consider zealot as a viable choice for Druid pve?

For Story modes and fractals, no. Any HoT stuff less than Dragon’s Stand, no. Even Dragon’s Stand is a maybe at best.

In a 5man you won’t be spending much time healing or in Staff. This is largely about dealing damage and instant breaks instead of healing and doing little/no damage. The Druid version was actually an variation/improvement to the “Break Ranger” DPS variant I was working on.

A variant of a variant and bringing some Druid synergies to the rest of Ranger is what this post is about. This isn’t a completely alien build just because of the Elite spec.

I actually answered this question much more accurately earlier in the thread, as a player with experience using Zealot’s gear since HoT released. This answer is not accurate, because Zealot’s is actually very viable in all pve. I have had excellent success with Zealot’s in dungeons, fractals, open world, you name it. This question isn’t about the viability of your build using Zealot’s.

In general, using Zealot’s gear the only thing you give up from a full zerker’s gear set is the ferocity(extra damage on crits). In exchange, you are able to still hop into Avatar and heal very adequately. In fractals or dungeons, this is extremely helpful because you can focus on dps as per the usual and if things heat up you can heal up the party very quickly. I’ve had good feedback from many parties(especially in fractals) for the heals. It’s not necessary, it wasn’t necessary before, but just having the heals as a backup plan is extremely helpful. Using Zealot’s you actually have the option. Carry on as usual and if the damage starts adding up you have a way to counter it.

Additionally, especially in Dragon’s Stand the Druid heals are useful. I have literally watched ppl drop left and right during the lane pushes without heals going out. With a quick swap to staff, it’s fun to keep all those downs from happening. Events overall just go smoother, you have people barely losing health and as a direct result they aren’t dodge rolling or avoiding things. Instead they are dealing steady dps without worry.

Anyways, not trying to steal your thunder around your personal build. Just pointing out that your opinion regarding Zealot’s as a viable gear set was incorrect. As a matter of fact, in my opinion Zealot’s is probably the best gear available to a Druid.

The option of gaining the ability to sometimes emergency heal is also the option of always stripping away damage. There wasn’t a point in HoT mapping or story that I wished I had significantly more healing, particularly at the cost of damage.

You’d be surprised how often that can create the need for the healing in the first place. I just had a fractal today with a pug Druid familiar with this thread that was running Axe/Warhorn+Staff and his lack of damage (he definitely wasnt outhealing the pressure) was causing problems in a pug. The moment we put some damage on him everything went back to dying under my CC in a timely manner without being overwhelmed. (54 Fractal, Aetherblade, Golems were doing AoE explosions+knockbacks on death)

Just as much as you gained the ability to sometimes heal in a pinch, you always took away the ability to do more damage under CCs. This is the support the entire thread is about: CC locking under high damage. It’s not “CC locking then having to heal because you lack damage to kill things.”

Considering the person asked me the question, you should probably be less territorial about me giving a response.

It’s not territorial, it’s just honest feedback on a forum question. It’s obvious you hadn’t used Zealot’s gear, or else you wouldn’t be so set on trying to discredit it’s viability. I’ve already explained how well it works out, and frankly the healing benefit far outweighs the CC. Also, losing some Ferocity isn’t “lacking damage to kill things”. Damage is still very good, which is why Zealot’s is some of the best gear for a Druid. The only option that will do more damage than Zealot’s is going to be full Berserker’s, and if you are running full zerk gear still spec’d into Druid you are doing it wrong. Completely ignoring the new elite spec mechanic and offering no heal output at all isn’t really what Druid is for. Good luck running the raid content only using CC’s.

I’ll just agree to disagree, since like all builds and gear combos some people can play them and some can’t. You shouldn’t be so quick to make a judgement on something you hadn’t tried yourself personally. The reason I expressed my opinion is because the question was raised about something that I personally have experience with.

You should probably be less territorial about me giving a response about something I actually have experience with putting into practice.

Where do I need extra healing? It wasn’t anywhere in current HoT content and fractals. Neither of us have raided so that’s not applicable either.

@Zealots
Am I supposed to be dropping even more damage to carry Staff so I can be in CA more to heal or am I supposed to sit on less damage for the rare extra healing with slow access to CA?
- I’ve described the playstyle of the build and Zealot puts it in a direction that currently doesn’t fit. Like I said in OP, this is a variation of the core Ranger where the Druid spec is one of three specs that improves it. This is not an alienating build where I’m requiring myself to deviate in odd directions for the sake of it. This is a high damage build with high support. It focuses on its strength instead of weakening them for the gimick: “Slotting Druid? Better require +Healing!” No.
— Even CA is generally used only for extra CC and group damage. The access to CA isn’t really high with 2 DPS weapons if you don’t run TU. The thing that lets me get into CA often to keep CCing and buffing damage is that I don’t overstay in CA. Partially because I’m dropping CA and CA4 ticks it back up faster so I can get back into it.

There’s a lot of scenarios that not DPSing things down in a timely manner puts healing stress on. This is not only a Gw2 phenomenon, any progression raid leader/healer knows that if things don’t die on time then pressure can add up and become overwhelming. -Dropping a healer for a DPS to meet DPS thresholds has been a very real scenario that can be the difference between healers pulling their hair out and getting your first kill on that boss. Example: raids running Smite Priests just because they bump DPS enough while spot healing to beat Berserk timers / DPS thresholds has been a very big thing in a large amount of instances.
I’m very familiar with the dynamic of sliding the bar between healing+damage.

I’ve shared my experience with it and you’ve shared yours. The only place that you’ve mentioned actual viability was that your friend needs a healer for mapping.

That’s the end of that. If you want to talk about Zealot Raid Theorycrafting, I’ve already made a thread about that too.

I’ve been playing a lot with Booster Druid. And it really makes wonders.
It feels satisfying to boost party DPS by 21-30% by yourself without ever using the staff while having the panic phase Astral Form. (standard LB Frost Spotter with Glyph of Rejuvenation and Empowerment, Verdant Etching and Lingering Light)

For stunning – I prefered MoC spirit build. AoE swiftness, +3AoE might, damage from Steady Focus compensated with dmg per boon. Never needing to go into CAF.
Also more Vuln uptime on the target.

6 second AoE daze every 25 seconds with 2500 burst damage felt much more rewarding to me and I felt that fancy boon pulsing around.
You should definitely toy around with this idea for perma-stunning everything to death with your MoC druid build. Believe me. It’s way more sick with than you could imagine.

I only stopped playing the perma-stun breeze-build because people are skeptic and if it doesn’t have META carved into forehead – they’ll kick it without asking.