Guild Wars 2

I’m getting close to a level of fractal relics where I’ll have to make a choice between the infinite mist offensive or defensive potion. And I could really use some advice. The consensus among players of almost every class is that offense is the way to go. But, if I didn’t know that, I would take the defensive potion without thinking twice. Nothing drives me more insane than getting virtually insta-killed by anything that aggros me for more than 1.5 seconds (which happens a LOT).

I have some big learn-to-play issues. I’m fairly new to the game (less than 6 months). And I’ve spent 95% of my time, so far, gearing up. But, now that the gear-grind is over, and I’m starting to face the actual content, I find that I’m dying like crazy. And I’m kinda torn between which of these two fractal potions to get first.

My build is berserker/staff, and my gear is full berserker. Thanks for any advice you can give!

The only problem with the defence potion is that, if you are the only one using it (and everyone is running 1k toughness), then you will draw even more aggro because of it. Personally, I’d go for offensive or mobility first. As a thief your main defence is dodging and mobility potion basically gives you perma Vigor.

I’ll go for offense. If you use Invigorating Precision or other things that steal health, the additional damage will heal you more with the off potion. And the additional damage is huge, making it much more valuable for a damage dealing class than lowering the incoming damage, since your focus lies on avoiding damage anyway, and you do not face tank. For support builds the defensive potion is better.

I made the mistake to think “add a little more sustaniability” by using a few items that give me health or defense. The truth is, the life steal/regeneration that comes from more dps is superior. You just have to constantly deal damage, but that’s what we are trying do anyway.

Ok, you guys convinced me. I just wanted to hear it from people who actually played thieves. I also forgot about the connection between toughness and aggro. Thanks.

I’ll go for defense then mobility then offense. Being1-shotted is really annoying, more dodges is always nice, no rage timers there so damage is least important. If you need healing from Invigorating Precision this is already more then enough (very OP already tbh).

Either way, I’m always using the 3 pots in T4 so it doesn’t really matter what infinite you get first. I’m not using pots in lower fractals.

Since offensive is more expensive I would also suggest to get defensive or mobility first since you can trade the ones you still get from doing fractals to relics, which boost your relics per day for the more expensive one, which is offensive.

PimmoZ.5497:

I’ll go for defense then mobility then offense. Being1-shotted is really annoying, more dodges is always nice…

I’m not sure additional endurance regeneration is an advantage for Thief. I have a hard time keeping my endurance below max as is to make use of the Staff Master trait. If you have a Chronomancer in your group that provides Vigor, you can almost perma-dodge.

PimmoZ.5497:

…no rage timers there so damage is least important. If you need healing from Invigorating Precision this is already more then enough (very OP already tbh).

There are enraged timers for Molten Bosses, don’t know about others though. Damage is always important, more than damage mitigation. If the team goes for max damage, you won’t have to deal much with dodging or being one shotted. If Invigorating Precision suffices for you, then eat something that gives vitality to avoid one shots.

PimmoZ.5497:

Either way, I’m always using the 3 pots in T4 so it doesn’t really matter what infinite you get first. I’m not using pots in lower fractals.

Since offensive is more expensive I would also suggest to get defensive or mobility first since you can trade the ones you still get from doing fractals to relics, which boost your relics per day for the more expensive one, which is offensive.

Sorry, but that makes no sense. You want to use all 3 pots in fractals, so it does matter which one you choose first, or not? I don’t buy mobility pots, I just use them when I looted them. For me, it would make no sense to buy that one. Your last part makes no sense either. Why is it better to buy the cheaper infinite pot instead the most expensive one? The mobility/defense pot costs 25 relics, the offensive one 40. If you buy the infinite offensive one, you can trade in the looted ones for a few more relics.

One could argue if it makes sense to buy them at all. For 8000 relics (not to forget the 8 Integrated Fractal Matrices which include another 120 relics), you can buy 203 large offensive pots. And you have to actually farm for relics, because if you just do your dailies, you get only little more relics than you payed for the pots you used in the dailies. The first few runs are to get even, it’s 90 relics per set, that’s 5 T4 fractals (without pristines).

It’s a convenience item that pays off in the long run, and who likes drinking another 40 relic potion just to do one fractal? I’m going for the omni potion eventually. Need another 4600 relics to buy the infinite off potion though, it’s a long term goal.

OP here,

I wanted to follow up on this post now that I actually have all 3 potions. If you have a regular group of skilled people to play with, then the offensive potion would be a no-brainer. But if you do pickup groups, then survivability trumps max-DPS a hundred times over.

I find myself in the second category (working my way through the fractals with pickup groups). And the damage is already a given without any potions. I always outdamage everyone I’m grouped with. Sometimes I outdamage the whole rest of the group combined. But, so often the support from the other players isn’t there to keep me alive.

So I run all three potions with invigorating precision. And I miss out on low endurance boost and the fury bonus. But I still outdamaged the heck out of everyone anyway. And if I had to pick one potion first (for somebody in my situation… who doesn’t play with a good, regular group), it would probably be defense or mobility. Because DPS makes no difference if you die halfway through the fight and can’t be rezzed.

Good point Fallesafe, it really depends on the group. I see myself adjusting traits/food after the first round with a pug. For example, I start with life stealing food and Invigorating Precision, and if the group is good, I switch to more offensive food and traits.

But in most cases, I outdamage the others anyway too. If someone outdamages me, it’s either a ranger, necro or another daredevil. Elementalists aren’t on that list for some reason. Last time I pugged I decided to not refresh my potions for 90 relics for a few more runs, and nobody questioned it. I was pulling 18k+ without them, and the next person was at 12k. I don’t get how people who use off/def/mob potions and that Scarlet’s Armies potion do so little damage on Molten Bosses, and they are not naked, I would notice that. As someone else in another thread today wrote, if you do 40%+ of the whole damage on a boss, it’s time to look for another group.

Alright, so I just randomly checked the contents of the chests you get from doing T4 dailies and noticed Endless Fractal Tonic (https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Fractal_Master%27s_Chest). It’s a rare drop but I also got legs from one of those chests, which has the same rarity, so it’s quite possible.

If you buy the off pot for 8k relics and then loot that Tonic, you lost 3k relics, because you can trade in that Tonic for any of the infinite pots.

Soooo, it might be smart to postpone buying the most expensive one, just in case you get lucky and loot that Tonic.