Guild Wars 2

Hello again! This is yet another L2P thread by yours truly! :-)

So, I’ve been running Sword/Dagger and Shortbow in PvP since the patch. Usually with the Marauder amulet, though I gave Barbarian a try… 24k health <3

Deadly Arts: Mug + Panic Strike + Executioner
Critical Strikes: Flawless Strike + Practiced Tolerance + No Quarter
Trickery: Flanking Strike + Trickster + Sleight of Hand

Withdraw + Shadow Refuge + Haste + Shadowstep + Basilisk Venom

I can usually hold my own in a 1v1. The issue comes whenever I burst a foe to low health, then they pop a defensive skill. “0” or “Blocked” or “Invulnerable” messages start to fly everywhere. I attempt to dodge/evade while still throwing in attacks to see when they can be damaged again.

Unfortunately, many times, another enemy arrives before I can finish off the first guy. Or I take too much damage that I have to Shadow Refuge and escape.

What is the key to counter such defenses? What are the quickest Sword/Dagger attacks/skills to down an opponent? The new haste gives me the speed, I’m sure, but what attacks allow me to maximize that DPS?

Thank you much! :-D

So it’s not the need for more damage but to do as much as possible before they go invulnerable? Hopefully one of the knowledgeable thieves will sort it out but if you can corral their movement and give yourself some flanking area you can burst to Executioner range and then Flanking Strike and auto attack with the Quickness. Maybe hold your stealth or prep Basilik to daze them before they go Invuln and rip some boons if they do.

If you’re not familiar with blocks, invulnerabilities, or endures then I would recommend making one of each class and play the build you were having difficulty with so that you learn what it does, what its cooldown is, and when they are likely to use it.
There isn’t much anybody can tell you if you don’t know that kind of stuff already.

“I attempt to dodge/evade while still throwing in attacks to see when they can be damaged again.”

You’ll notice when for example when a warrior pops endure pain, that there is an icon below his player bar — that will tell you when it expires if you don’t have the duration memorized. This is true for most blocks and invulns, and almost all other blocks and invulns such as engineer gear shield or guardian’s renewed focus are highly telegraphed. It will just take some practice to start to recognize these animations and when you do they should be very obvious.

A good advice is switching to SB ASAP to get Poison Fields running… so that he is permanent poisoned… which will reduce his incoming heal. Most Invul don’t make you immune to poison/conditions in general.

instead of dodging around and trying to throw attacks simply take ur infil return which you should have left in a safe spot and wait for the invuln to be over before infil striking back in. this is how u tell whether something is invuln bud

endure pain has an icon on warriors skill bar, warrior shield block will have their shield raised, guardian shelter will have a blue shield, guardian ult will have their weapons raised to their chest channeling, guardian shield of wrath will surround them with a blue shield, engi invulns will either be a raised shield or they will be small, ranger signet will show on the skill bar, not sure about protect me but not many will use it because if their pet dies it ends, mesmer invulns will show an obvious blur effect to the mesmer or they will be swinging their sword similar to pistol whip, ele invulns will either have an icon on the skillbar (obsi flesh) or they will be an obvious white mist, thief and necro have no invulns

good luck advancing your play dude

Rai.9625:

A good advice is switching to SB ASAP to get Poison Fields running… so that he is permanent poisoned… which will reduce his incoming heal. Most Invul don’t make you immune to poison/conditions in general.

Actually invulns make you invulnerable. . . so no. . .
You can still apply conditions to a warriors endure pain with choking gas ( thats the poison field ) is unblockable.
But this guy doesn’t run short bow. He claims to do better without it.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Signet_of_Stone

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Endure_Pain

really? Nope

Even Mistform is so obvious that you can easily guess where they will de-enter and poison them (often)

On a Guard it is good advice to have Poison on him every time possible (curse you conid clear on guards!) Still good managable, and he gets invul only for a real short time. The blocks/Aegis are more of a problem most of the time…
That is the thing: the poison on SB4 is unblockable

And he states that he is using SB

Rai.9625:

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Signet_of_Stone

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Endure_Pain

really? Nope

that is an ENDURE
not an INVULNERABILITY
invuln is what makes you immune to all incoming attacks.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Renewed_Focus

this is an invulnerability.

read and be enlightened

edit: Last i checked you can’t poison someone during mist form, which is another invulnerability BTW and if your plan was to wait until they pop out you might as well have just stayed on sword anyways.

I knew what you are getting at: He said blocks and invul and “0”.
In each case you use different tactics:
Mistform: the ele is fast, movement with SB and getting Poison running after deenter to decrease the most likely incoming heal is good (if your steal is available it is another matter and using the DA line)

“0” in general means you can happily apply poison

“Block” you can happily apply poison

I did not present the ultimate this will fix everything solution, just a good advice which can be of help. CAN depending on the situation and getting a bit range against guards/warrs for example when they block/invul/ “0” can be good (that is depending, if he runs hammer it can be for example)

EDIT: AND it doesn’t mean your advise in learning by doing (playing the class) is a bad advice, just that I didn’t need to repeat that. I just added another pointer which can help

Rai.9625:

I knew what you are getting at: He said blocks and invul and “0”.
In each case you use different tactics:
Mistform: the ele is fast, movement with SB and getting Poison running after deenter to decrease the most likely incoming heal is good (if your steal is available it is another matter and using the DA line)

“0” in general means you can happily apply poison

“Block” you can happily apply poison

I did not present the ultimate this will fix everything solution, just a good advice which can be of help. CAN depending on the situation and getting a bit range against guards/warrs for example when they block/invul/ “0” can be good (that is depending, if he runs hammer it can be for example)

EDIT: AND it doesn’t mean your advise in learning by doing (playing the class) is a bad advice, just that I didn’t need to repeat that. I just added another pointer which can help

It is good advice ^^; poisoning a warriors endure or interrupting an engies block with choking gas and basilisk venom are both valid strategies.

I’d say for the ele matchup stay away from short bow though — your best tool for killing them is sword dagger.

I mostly play Dagger/Pistol which makes it alot easier… xD as soon as they are running

And I use Dagger Training over mug actually and are happy with that, it is nice poison pressure… xD almost every heal of my opponents gets cut down. Even if they used a condi cleanse and AA is a fun thing on down state, so I won’t have to switch to SB

Though what I would whish for isn’t even make Dagger Training stronger to be more viable, just make it all weapon skills have the chance. Applied Poison Training… that would be heaven for me xD

Back to topic:
against every class and their dmg negating effects: You have to use different tactics and for that you need to know which class does what

Thanks, guys! Really helpful! :-)
Wow, so much to learn!

If I may ask this also… can an offhand dagger Cloak and Dagger off of any of these? I know I’ve tried it with some, but to no avail. I just can’t seem to keep track of which.

Kageseigi.2150:

Thanks, guys! Really helpful! :-)
Wow, so much to learn!

If I may ask this also… can an offhand dagger Cloak and Dagger off of any of these? I know I’ve tried it with some, but to no avail. I just can’t seem to keep track of which.

cloak and dagger will work on endures but not invulns.
endures such as: endure pain, signet of stone, protect me

invulns (will not work against): mist form, obsidian flesh, mesmer invulns (blurred frenzy, distortion), all guard invulns, warrior shield and engi shield, engi shrink

so for the most part no you cannot cnd many invulns, familiarise yourself with the mechanics of each class. the easiest way to deal with invulns is to simply infil return away and infil strike/re-engage when it is over as you should have already left an infil in a safe place. furthermore, infil strike/return is more crucial to s/d than evades imo so if you aren’t using it correctly/frequently then you aren’t using s/d to it’s full potential

Thank you much! :-)

I usually go into evasive mode when I see “0’s” pop up against a ranger. I’ll try to CnD him or his pet next time.

When the hits are ‘0’ you can CnD of your opponent.
On blocks and invulnerabilities you can’t CnD.
I’d suggest waiting it out either in stealth or from a distance, if possible you can try to maintain a bit of condition pressure (preferably poison) depending on the kind of utility your enemy popped.

Kageseigi.2150:

Thank you much! :-)

I usually go into evasive mode when I see “0’s” pop up against a ranger. I’ll try to CnD him or his pet next time.

Rapid fire will track you in stealth, your best bet is to take your infiltrator return back behind line of site so he can’t shoot you like oenvy said earlier.

if you want a suggestion on how to deal with those buff, on my S/D i just shadow return and sit back spamming SB’s cripple till it wears off, then proceed with the fighting.

I recommend going back and reading what I have now put in bold as I think it will improve your play dramatically.