Guild Wars 2

I am currently running the zerker shiro/glint herald build, the thing is the recommended rune for that build is superior rune of strength (that thing is like 15g’s per piece!) As I don’t have 90G’s to blow on this (I dont even have ascended armor yet so I feel like it would be a total waste on exotic armor), are there any alternative runes people use for that kind of build?

Same query about the sigils, sigil of air and force are both expensive too =(

Run rune of the scholar if your talking about PvE.

I am doing PvE and I mostly PUG, I’m almost never over 90% health I’m generally hovering around 60%. I was considering rage runes, or hoelbrak, or something else that’s servicable until I (one day maybe) get rich =D

I use Melandru. They are cheap.

If you (like me) struggle to stay above 90% health, then I’d say Rage is a decent choice. Has some synergy with the idea of alternating Facet of Darkness with Facet of Strength on alternate Glint legends, keep your Fury uptime high.

Bear in mind that upgrading to the best runes from a suboptimal set gives a bigger DPS increase than going from Exotic to Ascended armour. And is much, much cheaper.

Sigil of Strength is presented as an alternative already? Moderately spendy. Dungeon DPS guides often suggest Frailty as an alternative where Night doesn’t apply. Definitely an option, especially on the Staff or Hammer.

Scholar runes about 3g per meaning 18g for full set. Rage runes are about 60s per and that means 3g for a full set.

If you’re worried about money I’d get Rage. Sigils are all fairly expensive regardless of choices so Rage and some decent Sigils wouldn’t be a bad call.

Runes of Rage are perhaps the cheapest near-optimal choice right now for Shiro/Glint.

I know you don’t like Runes of Scholar because staying above 90% can be difficult. But they’re relatively cheap right now, you still benefit from the +100 Ferocity when below the health threshold, and you might find yourself surprised with how much of your time is spent at 100% health.

If you’re only worried about ‘wasting’ Runes of Strength on Exotic gear, don’t worry. Barring sheer luck, you will not be getting Ascended Armor anytime soon – plus you can always extract the Runes with a Black Lion Salvage Kit. If you can’t do that because you’re using Karma armor, Draconic armor with Berserker stats is going pretty cheap on the TP last time I checked.

As for Sigils…

Fire Sigil only does a bit more than 30% of the damage of Air Sigil against a single target over a long period of time. However it also affects 5 targets.

Purity Sigil solves one of Revenant’s biggest weakness – condition removal. Very cheap too. Just rather unreliable.

You’ll have to craft Cleansing Sigil, but getting condition removal upon Legend or Weapon Swap is far more reliable than Purity.

Bloodlust Sigil is the best if you can maintain its stacks. Not difficult to do most of the time, but occasionally not possible when you really need those stacks.

Rage is a solid secondary choice besides Strength. Both gives a damage bonus when you have their respective Boons. Though that said, it’s effect is lessened by the fact that we can keep ourselves fed with Fury practically endlessly, but it’s still not a bad Rune set.

rage is useless with facet of darkness. go scholar

If you do decide to spring for strength, make sure you put them in exotics you can salvage. Then you just salvage a piece at a time as you make ascended to recover the rune. If you want berserker stats, just buy Devona’s.

I’d pick superior sigill of cruelty over bloodlust because at about >50% critchance it’s the bigger damage increase.

Thanks for the advise guys, I went for rage because it was just so kitten cheap it was like 3G and change for a full set. I’ll use those for now until I earn enough G for the runes of strength if it i s THAT much better

Tiggers.3890:

Thanks for the advise guys, I went for rage because it was just so kitten cheap it was like 3G and change for a full set. I’ll use those for now until I earn enough G for the runes of strength if it i s THAT much better

I think a lot of people have done that. It’s a perfectly fine choice. Have fun with it!

Am i the only one that’s always thinking that, if I actually need Scholar rune dps levels, I won’t actually be over 90% most the time? Is it faulty thinking?

Anyway, I’m using Rage right now, but I mostly do overworld pve for now.

i dont know what youre talking about... what build recommended you strength runes? if youre using your revenant as a boon bot why using it at all? warrior keeps the might up anyways at all time while doing damage. you need to keep up your rotation and not stack random boons. youre there for fury, the f2 (,swiftness) and regen. you give 5 might because of your traits and thats more than enough. anyone not recommending scholar doesnt know what hes talking about, u dont camp glint.

as for a cheap alternative as it was already said rage runes are perfect because u get the %modifier with a permanent uptime.

tldr: dont use strength runes on rev ever

Goldenrevolver.4371:

i dont know what youre talking about… what build recommended you strength runes? if youre using your revenant as a boon bot why using it at all? warrior keeps the might up anyways at all time while doing damage. you need to keep up your rotation and not stack random boons. youre there for fury, the f2 (,swiftness) and regen. you give 5 might because of your traits and thats more than enough. anyone not recommending scholar doesnt know what hes talking about, u dont camp glint.

as for a cheap alternative as it was already said rage runes are perfect because u get the %modifier with a permanent uptime.

tldr: dont use strength runes on rev ever

This is somewhat true. Thing is, Warrior isnt overly popular anymore. Ive run well over 100 fracs since HoT and I honestly rarely see a warrior on my team. Theres NOTHING wrong with Strength rune on rev, at all.

Rage runes are good for people who don’t have money, I’ve personally tried both, and I have to say that strength runes are by far better overall, I would barely hit 10k or close to it, but thanks to strength runes, I’m literally hitting over 10k easily.
The way I see it, go for rage, save up money for strength.

Goldenrevolver.4371:

u dont camp glint.

I do and love it. Go call the meta police. Though this is a shiro/glint thread, which I don’t run, so I should shut up now.

If you have no gold for Strength then go for https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Superior_Rune_of_Hoelbrak since it helps with DPS build weaknest against Condi. it goes for 2g each and if you still can’t get that then just build a tank condi class its allot cheaper.

I generally tend to be a crit junky, so i default to Sigil of Accuracy on just about any weapon i use. Outside of that i’m running Frailty for my second sigil simply because vuln is nice and we have the ability to get life siphon when enemies have vuln. While this isn’t an issue with sword since our auto attack gives us that, it does help for whatever secondary weapon you use.

In terms of armor runes, i’m running Scholar. While i don’t generally stay at 90% or more HP while in melee range, there is something to be said about 231% crit damage without food. I also tend to do a fair bit of WvW and you do tend to play the “range” game while doing this. So its not too uncommon for me to be 90% or more before an initial engagement. That being said, Scholar Runes + Hammer 2 can drop people when they are 50% or less hp in a single shot. I mostly just find this to be funny, so i stick with it for the time being. However, once i’m finished making Bolt, i’ll likely swap to Strength armor runes and strength weapon rune in place of my frailty rune.

I use rage for the price but i will upgrade to strength if i keep playing rev.

If you have trouble staying at 90%, lean more into Hammer and learn when it’s safe to go in… When you have that, try to weave your rotation so you run out of energy in Glint when the safe phase approaches → Shiro → Q → Sword 3 → UA until you run out of energy and then Hammer + Glint and back off

Tiggers.3890:

I am doing PvE and I mostly PUG, I’m almost never over 90% health I’m generally hovering around 60%. I was considering rage runes, or hoelbrak, or something else that’s servicable until I (one day maybe) get rich =D

Scholar is only good if you have more than one set, or only pick Rev to play in Dungeons/Fractals/Raids.
I’ve been playing with Hoelbrak runes in the maguuma jungle and it’s great so far.

Its really stupid how everybody thinks he talks about fractals or dungeons…

Tiggers.3890:

Thanks for the advise guys, I went for rage because it was just so kitten cheap it was like 3G and change for a full set. I’ll use those for now until I earn enough G for the runes of strength if it i s THAT much better

How’s it working out for you?

Karma.3064:

I generally tend to be a crit junky, so i default to Sigil of Accuracy on just about any weapon i use. Outside of that i’m running Frailty for my second sigil simply because vuln is nice and we have the ability to get life siphon when enemies have vuln. While this isn’t an issue with sword since our auto attack gives us that, it does help for whatever secondary weapon you use.

In terms of armor runes, i’m running Scholar. While i don’t generally stay at 90% or more HP while in melee range, there is something to be said about 231% crit damage without food. I also tend to do a fair bit of WvW and you do tend to play the “range” game while doing this. So its not too uncommon for me to be 90% or more before an initial engagement. That being said, Scholar Runes + Hammer 2 can drop people when they are 50% or less hp in a single shot. I mostly just find this to be funny, so i stick with it for the time being. However, once i’m finished making Bolt, i’ll likely swap to Strength armor runes and strength weapon rune in place of my frailty rune.

You just need 40% crit all pow and ferocity. Invo trait line have master where you get 100% crit buff.

Try hoelbrak, sigil of strength and bloodlust for pve or chilling for pvp. Cheap and good until you can get strength rune but I would suggest to stay on hoelbrak because of its deffence against condi.

Superior Rune of Durability

lxghostxl.5097:

Karma.3064:

I generally tend to be a crit junky, so i default to Sigil of Accuracy on just about any weapon i use. Outside of that i’m running Frailty for my second sigil simply because vuln is nice and we have the ability to get life siphon when enemies have vuln. While this isn’t an issue with sword since our auto attack gives us that, it does help for whatever secondary weapon you use.

In terms of armor runes, i’m running Scholar. While i don’t generally stay at 90% or more HP while in melee range, there is something to be said about 231% crit damage without food. I also tend to do a fair bit of WvW and you do tend to play the “range” game while doing this. So its not too uncommon for me to be 90% or more before an initial engagement. That being said, Scholar Runes + Hammer 2 can drop people when they are 50% or less hp in a single shot. I mostly just find this to be funny, so i stick with it for the time being. However, once i’m finished making Bolt, i’ll likely swap to Strength armor runes and strength weapon rune in place of my frailty rune.

You just need 40% crit all pow and ferocity. Invo trait line have master where you get 100% crit buff.

I know, i’ll likely use something else over Accuracy once i have full ascended gear but i generally want to stay at 90% or higher crit in full zerker gear and with what i have right now, i’m sitting at 93.61% with my current set up. Basically just got full ascended accessories right now. Chances are i’ll be at 90% crit once i get the rest of my ascended gear and i’ll cut accuracy then for a strength sigil.

Surprised no one mentioned Ogre runes. A full set gives the same amount of power as Strength or Scholar runes, 35 Ferocity, and a static +4% damage that has no activation conditions. The Rock Dog can be a little annoying, but his attacks tend to be worth losing the small amount of Ferocity you’d get from most other Zerker oriented rune sets.

Not horribly expensive either.

Prothescar.7842:

Surprised no one mentioned Ogre runes. A full set gives the same amount of power as Strength or Scholar runes, 35 Ferocity, and a static +4% damage that has no activation conditions. The Rock Dog can be a little annoying, but his attacks tend to be worth losing the small amount of Ferocity you’d get from most other Zerker oriented rune sets.

Not horribly expensive either.

This. I used to use Rage runes, and switched to ogre. Good change imo. Also the rock dog can be annoying, but only because he can actually survive for a while due to the changes to minions and AOE – this improves his damage, but he can get aggro on stuff which can be annoying in certain situations.

I would actually NEVER use scholar over ogre, maybe there are plenty of people skilled enough to pull it off, but my rev is almost never at full health. I sit around the 75% mark most of the time, just because of how our heals work.

Yeah, I wouldn’t dream of using Scholar runes. I’m sure there are people that do that it is fantastic for. I’m also sure there are people that do, who see little benfefit. Pretty sure I would be in the latter camp.

Hoelbrak would be my rune of choice, if Strength wasn’t an option, good for Might stacks and Condi protection.

Strength: Good if you are providing most of the might stacks for a group. Otherwise something else is probably better. The ferocity from rage runes gives you more personal DPS than the power from strength and the same +5% while buffed.

Hoelbrak: Great for the condi duration reduction but will be a DPS loss without the percent damage bonus.

Ogre: I’ve no idea how 1% compares to 35 ferocity off hand, but rage is probably better DPS.

Odokuro.5049:

Hoelbrak would be my rune of choice, if Strength wasn’t an option, good for Might stacks and Condi protection.

That’s what I use cuz conditions make me sad and might is right. ;s

The one to Rule.2593:

rage is useless with facet of darkness. go scholar

Rev is heavily connected to fury and as soon as you use the darkness facet as your only Glint Stunbreak (or also for its blind) or Swap legends your Fury is gone within seconds on you and your party

RageRunes make it possible to stack up enough fury to be free to use all your options at any time without panicing about loosing your fury.

Rage > Scholar

Tiggers.3890:

Thanks for the advise guys, I went for rage because it was just so kitten cheap it was like 3G and change for a full set. I’ll use those for now until I earn enough G for the runes of strength if it i s THAT much better

it definitively gives some more DPS but not even remotely enough to place >90Gold into it

Loex.5104:

The one to Rule.2593:

rage is useless with facet of darkness. go scholar

Rev is heavily connected to fury and as soon as you use the darkness facet as your only Glint Stunbreak (or also for its blind) or Swap legends your Fury is gone within seconds on you and your party

RageRunes make it possible to stack up enough fury to be free to use all your options at any time without panicing about loosing your fury.

Rage > Scholar

Tiggers.3890:

Thanks for the advise guys, I went for rage because it was just so kitten cheap it was like 3G and change for a full set. I’ll use those for now until I earn enough G for the runes of strength if it i s THAT much better

it definitively gives some more DPS but not even remotely enough to place >90Gold into it

Why would you ever use that for a stun break in pve? Scholar are superior since you’ll have perma fury.

The one to Rule.2593:

Why would you ever use that for a stun break in pve? Scholar are superior since you’ll have perma fury.

because there are a ton of mobs that will stun you to death if you’re unaware for a split of a second?

and yes you can maintain perma fury … but you can’t maintain >90% Life that easy in maguuma and your perma fury is also gone as soon as you stunbreak or swap legends if you haven’t build up enough of it to handle the time till you swap back to glint. (and this for your whole group)

so what you should use? the rune you can maintain a 100% upkeep or the one that looses its effect as soon as a little pocket raptor hits you? – the times of faceroll afk CoFP1 gameplay are over in the jungle

Rage is not the optimal way – but its the safest one

Loex.5104:

The one to Rule.2593:

rage is useless with facet of darkness. go scholar

Rev is heavily connected to fury and as soon as you use the darkness facet as your only Glint Stunbreak (or also for its blind) or Swap legends your Fury is gone within seconds on you and your party

RageRunes make it possible to stack up enough fury to be free to use all your options at any time without panicing about loosing your fury.

Rage > Scholar

Tiggers.3890:

Thanks for the advise guys, I went for rage because it was just so kitten cheap it was like 3G and change for a full set. I’ll use those for now until I earn enough G for the runes of strength if it i s THAT much better

it definitively gives some more DPS but not even remotely enough to place >90Gold into it

Not quite true. Fury is the easiest boon to stack, can easily stack well over 26~30 secs even with just Revenant. If there’re other classes giving fury, or multiple Herald, you can always cancel fury to regenerate some energy back then open it again.

A few things (PvE only):

1) The power/ferocity combination of scholars mixed with full exotic berserkers with ascended trinkets and 40% traited fury alone gives Scholars a 6.5% damage boost over strength/rage runes 5 rune bonuses. That means if the user can stay above 90% hp 40% of the time they came out ahead of strength/fury.

2) Even without fury a good Herald should give their entire party perma fury, so the fury part of rage is useless.

3) Strength runes allow a Herald to perma might cap most groups allowing them to take the place of a PS Warrior.

4)You always want a negative energy rate so that you run completely out of energy every 10 seconds and can switch to your other legend stance to maximize damage.

For PvE rage runes are the best option if you won’t buy strenght runes.

Loex.5104:

The one to Rule.2593:

Why would you ever use that for a stun break in pve? Scholar are superior since you’ll have perma fury.

because there are a ton of mobs that will stun you to death if you’re unaware for a split of a second?

and yes you can maintain perma fury … but you can’t maintain >90% Life that easy in maguuma and your perma fury is also gone as soon as you stunbreak or swap legends if you haven’t build up enough of it to handle the time till you swap back to glint. (and this for your whole group)

so what you should use? the rune you can maintain a 100% upkeep or the one that looses its effect as soon as a little pocket raptor hits you? – the times of faceroll afk CoFP1 gameplay are over in the jungle

Rage is not the optimal way – but its the safest one

I find it quite easy to faceroll almost anything in meguuma with scholar runes and stay above the hp threshold the majority of the time in full zerker as well, are there times where this doesn’t happen? sure. But the dps increase most of the time is worth taking over a rune that gives more time on a boon I already have permanantly on.