Guild Wars 2

I am tempted to try Poison Master just to experience it. I notice that in a group setting, poison does not very often stack to the max like bleeding and burning do. So there is a niche position to focus on poison there.

Poison in its natural state is a rather weak dps condition. But just how good poison is with Poison Master?

Thanks!

poison is weak on its own but couple it with poison master, condi gear and venom/doom sigils and you have permanent poison. Basically you can stack upwards of 30s of posion and permanently maintain it without needing to try at all. Just go about your regular evades and it’ll be there. It also ticks for like 336 which is pretty decent. I use it all the time in 1v1s because when running survival of the fittest there’s no need for empathic bond and bark skin is meh.

That being said, i have no idea how good it would be in groups. condi ranger in general is pretty bad in groups and the poison application is single target rather than aoe.

Any other people think this worth taking for PvP?

I;ve tried it , it is very effective take a Drake pet+ Wolf(fear) with this combo for Aoe poison on its tail swipe.

Pros : very effective in Full Glass Condi builds with a Carrion Amulet Use Krait(condi bomb set) or scavenging for some better Hp sustain/hp draining through life stealing.
cons: Condi removal Very limited to SoR + sigils (unless you go for 0,2,6,6,0 set up)

its not for everyone since it restricts you to Sword+dagger and Evades to survive , using a SB isn’t to most effective though a well timed Daze is good for 2vs1 Situations where in big group fights Axe+dagger is better, while using poison master as the Auto AA leaves you open to attacks so when i tried it and it worked i used Axe+dagger , Sword + torch traited for Off-hand Training+Vigorous Renewal for extra dodge survival.

using the Wolf + longer term bleeds from Axe on Keen edge + split blade it keep bleeds covering the poison and the weakness from the drakes tail swipe covers the poison.

combining that with a Flame Trap + poison trap and Signet of stone as your stun break / survival untill you can start evading again.

your main sources of damage are AA axe, split blade, per poison , Projectile Burning through the flame trap, every other skill between is situational if you are not being targeted to save dodges/endurance.

Raven works well too if you decide not to use Wolf , as blind covers warroirs from using CI to clear condis to make the attack miss though LB shoutwarroirs will still clear condis and the raven is good Protection vs thiefs by blinding them > trap and Bonfire on point or on location.

its worth a shot , though its a glass Condi cannon.

I’ve not tried it in PvP, but its pretty nice for roaming, constant poison is very strong.
Poison Master SB | S/T

Can’t really say I notice a difference tbh. However I do notice the loss of empathic bond despite having SotF. Plus the poison applied by your pets is just a lot weaker due having no condi damage stat (Unless traited). I don’t feel it’s worth the slot.

Curring.9752:

Plus the poison applied by your pets is just a lot weaker due having no condi damage stat (Unless traited). I don’t feel it’s worth the slot.

I need to test this because i’ve never noticed this.

I wonder if it is because poison stacks duration not damage and when you have the permanent poison the pet poison just increases the duration of the existing poison. You never apply your first poison with the pet. you apply it with your evades and then extend it with the pet.

It scales from your condition damage, not the pets. It was changed soon after it was released.

vespers.1759:

Curring.9752:

Plus the poison applied by your pets is just a lot weaker due having no condi damage stat (Unless traited). I don’t feel it’s worth the slot.

I need to test this because i’ve never noticed this.

I wonder if it is because poison stacks duration not damage and when you have the permanent poison the pet poison just increases the duration of the existing poison. You never apply your first poison with the pet. you apply it with your evades and then extend it with the pet.

the whole point of the poison master is too boost your own poison damage by 50% run it with Sigil of doom and Volly or Dagger 4 , the pets poison is simply for Upkeep and not having to waste your own Powerful Poison attacks vs any target that is pretty much already dead .

I’d treat poison master , personal poison attacks as your Condi Starting high damage spike then using the pet to cover the down time untill your burning or poison comes off cooldown , or even use the pet to manage a second source of poison vs a Tanky target just for the -33% healing.

its much more than just thinking about Straight up Damage.

Start with a strong poison and just Extend the duration (if you have already Drained the target of condi clears at this point swap pets and pounce on them don’t waste the pet swap)

Yup, poison is way more about the -33% than it is about the dps.

Zenos Osgorma.2936:

vespers.1759:

Curring.9752:

Plus the poison applied by your pets is just a lot weaker due having no condi damage stat (Unless traited). I don’t feel it’s worth the slot.

I need to test this because i’ve never noticed this.

I wonder if it is because poison stacks duration not damage and when you have the permanent poison the pet poison just increases the duration of the existing poison. You never apply your first poison with the pet. you apply it with your evades and then extend it with the pet.

the whole point of the poison master is too boost your own poison damage by 50% run it with Sigil of doom and Volly or Dagger 4 , the pets poison is simply for Upkeep and not having to waste your own Powerful Poison attacks vs any target that is pretty much already dead .

I’d treat poison master , personal poison attacks as your Condi Starting high damage spike then using the pet to cover the down time untill your burning or poison comes off cooldown , or even use the pet to manage a second source of poison vs a Tanky target just for the -33% healing.

its much more than just thinking about Straight up Damage.

Start with a strong poison and just Extend the duration (if you have already Drained the target of condi clears at this point swap pets and pounce on them don’t waste the pet swap)

Yes you just said exactly what i said in my post haha. i was responding because i have never noticed pet poison being weaker in my poison numbers and wondered if that was because i never use the pet to apply it first. but then the other guy said the pet posion does scale with condi dmg so that’s why.

I don’t see any reason to not take poison master over the others. I very very rarely have any trouble clearing condis with Survival of the fittest and evasive purity so there’s no reason not to take poison except in very specific scenarios. Since you already have permanent poison from dagger 4, sword 3 and venom and doom sigils you might as well take the extra dmg. 350 from poison is not bad at all when it takes no effort to apply.

I love it, but there are specific situations where I would take Bark Skin or Empathetic Bond..

Empathetic Bond when I’m running <3 WS skills (signet of stone + signet of hunt)
Bark Skin when going against groups of thieves or heavy burst damage classes.

Poison master does wonders when engaging against dd eles, warriors, and basically any class that relies on sustained heals.

And yes, like other people have said, it’s the -33% healing that matters most, not the extra damage, but the damage doesn’t hurt =).

HandsomeGentleman.9576:

I love it, but there are specific situations where I would take Bark Skin or Empathetic Bond..

Empathetic Bond when I’m running <3 WS skills (signet of stone + signet of hunt)
Bark Skin when going against groups of thieves or heavy burst damage classes.

Poison master does wonders when engaging against dd eles, warriors, and basically any class that relies on sustained heals.

And yes, like other people have said, it’s the -33% healing that matters most, not the extra damage, but the damage doesn’t hurt =).

Just wondering, but from a WvW perspective wouldn’t food negate the -33%? Maybe it is more duration effect rather than the minus to healing but 33 is coming to mind with food.

Crapgame.6519:

HandsomeGentleman.9576:

I love it, but there are specific situations where I would take Bark Skin or Empathetic Bond..

Empathetic Bond when I’m running <3 WS skills (signet of stone + signet of hunt)
Bark Skin when going against groups of thieves or heavy burst damage classes.

Poison master does wonders when engaging against dd eles, warriors, and basically any class that relies on sustained heals.

And yes, like other people have said, it’s the -33% healing that matters most, not the extra damage, but the damage doesn’t hurt =).

Just wondering, but from a WvW perspective wouldn’t food negate the -33%? Maybe it is more duration effect rather than the minus to healing but 33 is coming to mind with food.

The food in wvw is mainly -condi dur (40% for the highest + hoelbrak = 60%).

Poison reduces healing by 33% regardless of -duration, as long as it’s actively applied. What poison master does is it allows an extra application of poison on pet swap (increases overall poison upkeep), and does more damage per tick.

You can get perma poison w/o the use of poison master so it does come down to damage really. I use it in PvE but I’ve tried it several times in PvP and felt no difference aside from loosing condi clear.
Though in a 1v1 situation against a power build it’s going to trump bond.

^You can with a sigil of doom on one or both weapons – having poison master frees up your weapon sigils for torment, chilling, whatever else you want + increases damage.

Ever get annoyed at thiefs jumping in mid fight after you’ve used up your sword 3 evades.

now you are forced to use bonfire> Sword 2 to relieve the pressure just to get away , with the grandmaster you won’;t have to do that you can save sword 3 for that situation its not needed to apply poison , if used in defence against a stealthed thief/mesmer or even onther Sword AA ranger exiting Hide in plain sight.

“the skill becomes a Reactive Punishment against those players that try the sneak attack by taking a fist full poison while you are damage free and out of the mosh pit freeing you again for kiting.”

as handsome said torment sigils work wonders with the tactic i mentioned in the last sentence it will melt anyone attemping sneak attacks but you can’t do this if you actively use Sword 3 and dagger 4 for poison damage sources and every time you do , you risk your postion in melee range or on a cap point (where you are only the +1 and shouldn’t have to risk yourself)

its all about effective use of poison for damage and for the -33% freeing up may paths of opportunity without so much risk to your hp by having to go Melee to apply poisons actively.

using this grandmaster is Build/ play style Defining and i’d say this build type is most likely much stronger in Strong hold , though i didn’t have enough time to try it during the Beta.

What weapon are you using torment sigils on?

Crapgame.6519:

What weapon are you using torment sigils on?

“On Sword” > AA one chain apply cripple > leap back swap to Axe , apply chill/split blade. (use pet poison but not with KD pet so double hounds isn;t preferable , drake is perfect for this because it also applies weakness+blast from tail swipe) and does not prevent movement.

Weakness makes attacks weaker obviously but that also encourages more kiting/Movement to avoid damage at this point when you swap back plant a bonfire to keep them moving and re-do the above rotation.

this way you can always rely on the evades to avoid the most important attacks as a reactive counter attack.