Guild Wars 2

I never played GW1, so some of the concepts in this game are new to me. One of them is condition stacking.

Using bleeding as en example, I understand that each time I strike my enemy with a skill that applies bleeding, a stack happens.

So, if I apply a bleeding condition, then apply another one 2 seconds later, and then another, and then another, the icon will show 4 stacks of bleeding.

Are these 4 separate effects all ticking away independently? It would make sense for it to be 4 separate effects, since each bleed has its own duration, but if that is the case then it seems I can only see the most recent bleed applied (by anyone) when I’m targeting the enemy. Maybe that is OK, though, based on the “more is always better” principle.

So, moving on. I understand that bleeding can stack up to 25 times. What happens when 25 is hit? Do older bleeds get replaced by newer ones? Or do lower-damage bleeds get replaced by higher damage bleeds? Or do new bleeds simply go into the void? Something else?

Can someone clarify this for me, or perhaps point me at a resource?

Each Boon/Condition stacks in one of only two ways:

• Intensity
• Duration

— The vast majority of these stack in Duration … the only Conditions that stack in intensity are Bleeds, Confusion, and Vulnerability.

Vulnerability is difficult to maintain above 10-15%, and Confusions are rare with a short duration ….

— … Meaning the only condition stacks you really need to pay close attention to are BLEEDS. (These can easily stack up to the cap of 25 stacks, can be maintained pretty well, are common across many classes, and do significant damage.)

Certain conditions that are stacked in duration should be watched as well, mainly…

• Burning
• Weakness
• Poison

… because while they are not as naturally evident as Cripple/Frozen, they can be as crippling if ignored.

• Any of these 5 conditions are things you want to make it a priority to remove if the duration gets up in the 10+ seconds range.

If, in bleeding, for example, a player stacks on a targer 3 stacks of 10 second duration bleeding, and, 5 seconds later, another player stacks 5 stacks of 8 second duration bleeding, the game will show the duration of the 8 second bleeding because it’s more recent, but will show a total of 8 stacks of bleeding. When the 3 stacks duration is over, it will show only the 8 second duration bleeding, and will show only 5 stacks of bleeding.

Got it?

As for the bleed cap, I think a dev should answer this, but I believe either the older stacks are replaced or the stronger ones stay. There’s no reason at all to simply ignore all other stacks.

Yeah each bleed stack is completely independent, you will see the duration of the highest bleed.

So if you apply x3 bleed at 5 seconds, tics to 4s, you apply x1 bleed for 10s, the stack jumps to ten, then 4 seconds later 3 fall off.

And I believe conditions prioritize the strongest.

Conditions are varied in their effects, but basically are split into 2 groups: ones that stack by duration and ones that stack by intensity.
For conditions that stack by duration, each additional stack will increase the time that the condition lasts. Examples of these would be Burning, Poison and Weakness.
Conditions that stack by intensity have a set duration but with each additional stack the damage increases. Examples of these would be Bleeding, Confusion and Vulnerable.
There are two that this does not apply to: Blind and Fear that do not stack at all.
For more information I would suggest you have a look at the Wiki in particular Conditions.

Thanks for the responses. I’ve marked an answer so hopefully other confused people will be able to find the information quickly.