(edited by DataPhreak.2506)
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I’m actually actively running 0/0/30/20/20 apothecary in WvW, and I will tell you that it is incredibly viable. I run a similar build (Shaman) in sPvP and can go toe to toe permanently with any guardian. I’ve even tanked guardian/necro in sPvP for 5 minutes. I call it the troll build.
The main thing to remember, that your primary stats are toughness and healing power. Condition damage is kind of a side note. If you want to do dps, the you shouldn’t be rolling 0/0/30/20/20. Let’s not kid ourselves here, we’re not going to be downing people in 5 seconds no matter what we do. While Toughness is preferable to healing power, there are no other armor sets that provide those stats.
The nice thing about this build is it’s versatility. I run with this build 90% of the time in WvW:
Just swap Toughness with Healing in the amulet and you have apothecary. (Seriously, why can we not get these stats on exotic armor in pve/wvw?) I carry 1 pistol, 2 daggers, 1 sb. Shortbow and pistols both have Sigil of Agony. Daggers have Sigil of hydromancy in the offhand, Sigil of Superior Venom(Sigil of corruption for wvw) in the main hand. You can swap amulet and rings for shaman’s to get some extra vitality, Might not be a bad idea to carry those around with you for specific situations.
Don’t listen to anyone who ever tells you that condition duration is better than condition damage. They haven’t done the math. point for point, bleed does better with damage than duration. I only suggest condition duration for sb/pistol because the conditions are so short. (also corruption is horrible for sPvP, always run bleed/poison duration.) I ran the numbers, and i don’t remember exactly what I came up with, but it was something to the effect of 10 Condition damge works out to 1.5% damage per second, while condition duration is a static 1%. Can’t find where I posted that at at this time.
At any rate, versatility, right, back on track. There are SOO many different talents you can swap out to change how the build works and feels. IX in shadow arts is a given. The Master slot and Adept slot have A LOT of flexibility. X is good for initiative, which means more spam, which means more stacks. VIII is great for survivability, and being able to close distance invisibly makes for some interesting situations. Master of Deception, or 1, is a GREAT talent. The only bad ones in this line are 9,7,3, and 2. (even if you main shortbow, for this build you don’t want 7 because it only increases damage for hits, we are focused on bleed/poison) #4 I would only spec if you go with dagger storm and signet of malice.
DAGGER STORM AND SIGNET OF MALICE!!! OMG!!! 7 1/2 seconds of being practically invulnerable, stacking all kinds of bleed. The bigger the crowd, the more invincible you are. Signet works well with death blossom and cluster bomb, too. Not so great a combo for sPvP, though. Still, if you spec DS and Signet, be sure to slot tallent 4 for condition removal, as you lose that capability from hide in shadows.
Next is the acrobatics line. All of the master level talents are decent, but 10 and 9 stand out. 10 is decent healing , but I wouldn’t call it epic, and depending on your play style you might do better with 9. I still roll 10 almost exclusively. 7 is also useful but not great. Often I find that I get killed most often because of cripple. You shouldn’t need 7 if you are running talent 4 from the shadow tree, though. For the Adept slot. 2 and 6 are the most universally useful. I replace signet of shadow for ambush trap in sPvP, so 5 might not be bad in that situation. In WvW, when I’m heading downhill, I’ll always put in #1, which is awesome, cause it stealths you and everyone within melee range.
The final talent tree, trickery, isn’t that great. You NEED preparedness. Unfortunately, the Master level talents all suck. Some people swear by bountiful theft. Personally I think it’s crap. Sometimes, it can be useful, and if you spec #8 in shadow, may even be absolutely worth it. Most of the time, I only use it when someone is running away, or I run low on initiative. Again YMMV. This leaves us with the Adept slots, which, 1, 3 and 6 are actually pretty good. 2, 4, and 5 aren’t bad either, but don’t really work with this build. I would take 5 points out of this line and put it into deadly arts for serpents touch. However, if you were doing that, it would mean that you are focusing more on stealing. If that’s the case, thrill of the crime and bountiful theft are better talents for the task.
So as you can see, very, very….. very versatile. Give it a run. Make people mad. Have many lulz.