Guild Wars 2

Being a pure Thief, I’m not an expert on blocking. With Basilisk Venom’s new improvement (and having a 1 second activation), outside of Aegis, when are the best opportunities to make use of its effect as a blocking counter?

Thank you! :-)

Using a different skill that they would usually Block? This requires counting dodges.

Alternatively, opening on a Guardian, since they have the passive Aegis. Lets you bypass that for your first couple of hits.

Well…the tough thing that kinda takes BV down a notch, even with the unblockable buff is that it still has a cast time. This means that while in theory, you could cut through things like Shelter, you most likely won’t on purpose. However, here are a couple situations where I’d say it’s well suited:

• When a guard gets low on HP, pop BV to make sure your finishing blows aren’t blocked.
• When a rev uses Crystalline Hibernation
• After a mesmer uses their block for the first time (they’ll likely cast it again shortly after)
• When a warrior pops their shield block
• The same situations you would use it before.

The last point is mainly a reminder that just because it’s unblockable doesn’t necessarily mean that the best time to use it is when someone is blocking.