Guild Wars 2 Forum

Well, condition builds are efficient, and they offer another type of gameplay – which, like all gameplays, will have its fans and its detractors. That’s the short version.

Now, more about it.

1) Build base

Power builds require that the player invests in power, precision and critical damage, in order to have high direct damage. This means that 3 lines are necessary – but you still need to invest in defensive lines, such as toughness and vitality (or condition cleansing) if you want to remain competitive. This second investment is detrimental to the first.

Now, condition builds do not have this problem. In terms of attack, they only need condition damage. This means that the player is free to invest in defensive lines, without cutting off his attack. Basically, all condition builds end up being very tanky and highly lethal (DoT), which makes them quite attractive – all the more that the player is free to invest in other secondary lines, such as mobility, cleansing… without too much affecting the base.

2) Gameplay

Warriors can apply conditions regularly, but not in very high volumes – so fights are bound to be played in time, generally up to a minute, as many classes may dispel as often as once per 7-8 seconds. Of course, against these types that do not dispell much, victories are more easily obtained!

Now, tactically, many good combinations are available – the most basic one consisting of rooting your opponent in “Combustive Shot” – and have proven to be very effective. A possible variation to speed up fights is to use confusion (using “Distracting Strikes” and/or runes of perplexity), as confusion damage is fueled by the level of condition damage.

3) Evaluation

Strengths:

very defensive,
high damage on time,
free to add mobility, condition cleansing…
ideal for roaming,
can be supportive to a group in a defensive way, e.g. cleansing with the warhorn.

Weaknesses:

some classes can dispel frequently, or transfer their conditions (on pets, on you),
fights are rarely fast (although confusion can come handy),
is not supportive to a group in an offensive way (no control),
condition builds are of limited usefulness in zergs, where conditions can be cleansed way often, and players can get up quickly if a foes dies.

Regards.