Guild Wars 2

I missed out on the preview with the elites, so I’m curious: do the shades attack passively like minions? Or do they only attack when you use an F skill?

I’ve not seen it in action but if they don’t attack passively it doesn’t look like there’s much damage potential. Or am I missing something? Thanks for any feedback.

In a nutshell… Meh.

I’m going to play semi- devil’s advocate here, and say that I don’t like the pigeonholing Anet is moving towards. Each elite spec should be able to benefit condition OR power play. I haven’t looked at Scourge too deeply yet, but here’s what I see could make Reaper good for both power and condi depending on how you play.

Deathly Chill (public enemy #1): I have two variations on this-

1) make the PVE version the same as PVP (1 stack, 8 seconds). That makes it less OP but doesn’t help power builds. But even with 1 stack it’s not horrible for conditions.

2) remove Bleeding altogether. Gain Might and apply Vulnerability when applying Chill (at the same time remove Might from Chilling Victory and eliminate the ICD). 2 stacks of each. 1 second ICD, maybe 2. This one I like the most for multiple reasons. Both Might and Vuln help power builds and condition builds. I know Spite builds those (and axe auto) but face it- Power Reaper doesn’t get nasty until the foe is <50% due to the Spite traits being the way they are. This would make Power Reaper have more consistent damage output regardless of the enemy’s health.

Reaper’s Onslaught- attack 15% faster while wielding a melee weapon (doesn’t have to be in shroud). Greatsword too slow? Well there you have it! Boosts dagger output at the same time for those who want that. Nice DPS bump for power builds. Doesn’t offer enough for a condition build to take over Deathly Chill. Keeps the Ferocity buff.

Soul Eater: keep 20% recharge reduction. ALL GS attacks steal health. Lower amount though, due to the AOE/cleave of the GS skills. Probably between 30-50 per strike, not too different from that Blood trait.

Nothing Can Save You: Keep the unblockable buff. Block attacks for 1/2 second for each foe this shout strikes. Increase recharge to 30 seconds.

After quite a few tweaks I got 50 kills with my Necro (full Viper’s, and Reaper runes). I used Greatsword the whole time, and slot skills were Well of Blood, Well of Darkness, Suffer, YAAW, and CTTB. Chill and blindness- spam, spam, spam! Stand right in the middle of the spawn point and unload as soon as they spawn. Sometimes you get feared, but either of your instant-cast shouts will clear that.

You want to try to get the first 30 kills before Shadow escapes. That only leaves you with 2 amped up groups to kill. The boosted enemies do hella damage but they don’t seem to have extra health (I might be wrong there, but they don’t seem to take longer to kill).

You’ll get more bleeds if you use Reaper runes with the Augury of Death trait. Spamming shouts is fun! When I use that setup I bring 4 shouts and Flesh Golem. Just using Suffer will put 6 stacks in a radius, plus 3 from each other shout. And that’s before you even get down and dirty with your weapon skills.

You will have to use at least one consumable to get 100% bleeds though.

Berries all day. You can hit the nodes with all your characters and it’s a fast run.

Blood rubies are the slowest by a long shot. So you either want the stat-change trinkets or you just love the map, to be farming those.

Drarnor Kunoram.5180:

Vitali.5039:

Our necromantic power has just increased!

Is Thread Necromancy a problem in the Necromancer forum?

Can it even be a problem?

You know what I say when I see a year-old thread lifeless and neglected?

“Rise!”

Note to self (from work)… wait for the patch after the patch before using Epidemic.

I will keep it brief… I’m stuck at 17/18 items for Cin Business because “Solve the mysterious happenings frightening Seraph lumber workers” doesn’t happen during night, even with the Seraph controlling Noran’s Homestead. No bandit ghosts, no stolen wood, no achievement.

Night falls, people wait, nothing happens. I spent the entire 40 minutes at Doric Lumberyard once yesterday waiting. Overall I’ve wasted close to two hours waiting for something that just won’t happen.

It’s not just me, based on map chat during the time I spent out there.

An ICD would kill it. But that’s what we expect from Anet balance. Overbuff then nerf until it’s worse than if they had left it alone.

I prefer one of these scenarios:

Reduce bleed stacks to 2. That might still prove to be OP, but perhaps not.

Revert back to one stack, but iremove the ICD of Chilling Darkness

Aye she was a beauty b’fore that trap nerf.

I really, really, REALLY want that burning buff in pve. I was drooling over the possibilities the first time they announced the change.

The logic is to kill everything before it has a chance to kill you. But your room for error is much smaller with a low health pool.

The problem with PTV armor is that by killing slower it gives them more time to break down your extra defense and health.

Marauder’s is your friend. You get a huge health boost for only a small DPS loss. Give it a shot…

Problem with hammer is that it’s not a good lead-in weapon. You should lead in with scepter or longbow and then switch to hammer as you close in. Do as much damage as you can from range.

Anchoku.8142:

Nice find, Kumouta. There is sure to be a nerf coming.

So long as they nerf the bundle and not the profession! :\

I should add that for testing, I use the golem for pure DPS numbers, but to take on something that will hit back I go to the Champ Ice Elemental in the Bitterfrost caves. It’s quick and easy to get to and makes for good break bar practice.

I personally use Krait Runes and Ice Sigil too. I have full Viper’s weapons and armor and all trinkets except backpack and amulet, and it has me at 99% bleed, so I am freed up to use Sigil of Earth instead for that last bit of DPS. The meta build with Thorn Runes isn’t great for solo since you have to be taking hits to benefit, and that’s kinda contradictory to what you want as a minion user.

I don’t see Death Magic doing much for you. None of your minions are perma so on the occasions where Rise is on cooldown that toughness isn’t there. Putrid Defense might be better for tanking since your autoattack as well as Death Nova will spread poison. Have you tried Soul Reaping since you aren’t bringing Blood Magic? SR traited 1-2-3 is pretty sick if you’re using a condition build. Shroud 4 to pile on 12 stacks of poison then just autoattack and you’ll wind up with 6 or 7 stacks of burning which are about 2800DPS by themselves, and it’s all AOE. I use it sometimes but it doesn’t have enough sustain if you’re soloing a strong Champ. Just general solo open world it is devastating though. The down side is that without Blood you won’t heal in shroud.

Definitely change your heal though. Necromantic Corruption defeats the purpose of bringing Consume Conditions, and with Augury traited, “Your soul is mine” just makes more sense. I find the minion more desirable as a heal though, only because it’s a trickle heal that can be used as a burst when you need it. Low recharge too.

I absolutely LOVE Suffer! If it weren’t for that skill I probably wouldn’t even use Reaper. But again, it’s yet another condition cleanse, so it makes your choice of heal redundant.

I bring 2-2-2 on Reaper because the AOE chill is too good to pass up, especially since chill stacks duration. If you haven’t used it, it actually applies to the target as well as surrounding enemies. I use Shadow Fiend because of its blinding attack, and overall I can almost keep chill on a single target indefinitely (works wonders for break bars).

Dadnir.5038:

@op I’d say that you are right and wrong at the same time. The point is that guard with a proper build just faceroll PvE content even easier than the necromancer. Honestly, when it come to sturdyness in open world PvE both classes are at a tight tie. It’s just that sturdy builds for guardian are not often use or wildly spread.

That’s just it… I don’t have to build for it, I don’t have to think about it… Even using the generic Rabid gear the 80 boost gave me, and no experience with the class whatsoever, I put down nearly everything in my way with no effort. The times I do get downed/killed it’s because I forget that I have a get out of jail free card with Shroud on top of everything else. Why bother with blocks and blinds and evades for the same result as standing still and autoattacking?

I got almost all my Elite hero points yesterday, and now with Rise! I barely even need to dodge anymore. It’s laughable.

I’m going to upgrade my Ranger next. She’s been my lv 53 salvage mule since the beginning, but somebody else will have to get that job.

I use Mystic Barricade. I still think the shield is upside down, but it looks okay with aegis. Anything symmetrical and large works best.

Since I started playing this game in late 2015 I’ve only played Guardian. When Bitterfrost Frontier released, I could manage but the enemies hit hard and I would get downed pretty often.

So I 80-boosted a Necro and dang, it is totally easy mode! Sure it kills slower, but you have so much cushion that you can play lazy and truly faceroll almost everything. Minions and bleed stacks, repeat as necessary.

I don’t even have Reaper fully unlocked. Just vanilla Death/Curses/Blood melts everything in your path. I started going after hero points the other day, and the HOT zones that always kicked my Guard’s @55 felt like cream puffs all of a sudden. Veteran Bristleback? Pish, just bleed him out. Champ stonehead? Bleed him out.

Not complaining, just making a revelation! It’s actually kind of relaxing to play this way.

The new Bloodstone Fen trinkets are a great way to experiment with stats. Attune or infuse one of your rings and you have 4 trinkets that you can re-stat for only 100 unbound magic cost.

I’ve experimented with Healing Power and Toughness, but neither offered much benefit. Next I’m going to change them to Rampager’s and couple with Signet of Wrath and Kindled Zeal to see how that affects my burns (I play a symbol-heavy build in PVE)

Will we finally discover who the G-Man is?

Mother kitten… wrong Episode 3… grrrrr

Some good ideas in here! Keep hope alive… they listened to us and made Scepter 2 a symbol, so there’s always a chance!

Writ of Persistence, for starters. It’s a must-have for hammer. Other than FMW, forget the shouts. With Writ you are healing for over 100 health per second, receiving 33% less damage because of protection, and your hammer symbol is always up while attacking. Added with your virtue heal and it’s a pretty good sustain. Don’t discount the damage that symbols add! The longer a fight is, the more powerful symbols become.

If you’re only bringing one trap (aside from the heal), bring Procession of Blades. Lower recharge and the damage isn’t conditional.

It’s a toss-up between Virtues and Zeal for your middle specialization, but for different reasons. Look carefully at your skill and trait descriptions to see the synergy.

Example 1- Virtues for Permeating Wrath + DH for Zealot’s aggression, equip Signet of Wrath. Burn every 3 hits, AOE burn, AOE cripple, increased burning damage from signet, 10% extra damage to crippled enemies.

Example 2- Zeal for… well Zeal does it all. Symbols burn enemies and apply vulnerability, symbols so 10% more damage, attack skills do an extra 10% damage to foes inside your symbols, And you get bonus condition damage for your burns.

Either way, the trick is to set yourself up for the best damage modifiers possible.

Dragonhunter runes definitely wouldn’t be my first choice because the T6 bonus is pretty weak. Scholar, Pack, Strength, Eagle (yes, Eagle). Or go cheap with 5 Mesmer + 1 Centaur. For 1G you get 200 power and 100 Precision. Remember that Ferocity is useless without Precision.

Sigils… Force is a must-have. For the second one, Strength if you just want an all-purpose damage boost, or Fire on weapons that only hit one enemy (such as scepter). Air is also good for bonus damage but not my personal first choice.

As for ranged, Scepter is now better than Longbow, but the bow still has some good perks. Longer range, easier to hit a moving target, autoattack can hit 2 foes and cause cripple (triggering a damage bonus). However, the scepter has it beat for pure damage because A) you get >90% symbol uptime with Writ, you can stack Might very easily with the right traits. It isn’t a sexy weapon like the longbow, but it is quite effective.

Even though scepter is a “ranged” weapon, it is most effective when used at melee range because you miss less often, you get the might and healing of your symbol, and the symbol damages your foe as well as applies the bonuses from Zeal.

Hope that helps and doesn’t confuse you further.

Seteruss.4058:

Gwaihir.1745:

Honestly run strength and youll get better dps in any real situation. You take 1 hit in zerker and scholar is worthless. I know some metaboi will qq about this but that’s the way it is.

Much agree.
Strength runes are awesome.
Scholar is only for raids with a good healer to keep you above 90.
But the problem with guardian mobility remains tye same.
We really need a trait or utility to be able to use better runes

I wish so badly that they’d make it part of the passive on Signet of Courage. Put the class’ most desired trait on its most worthless elite. Win/win.

Nope, instead the shave half a second off its cast time. Big friggin whoop.

Seteruss.4058:

if you’ re talking about actual numbers is about 3k i think if i;m not wrong.
If you re going for traveler runes be sure that your armor is for general pve.
If you’re talking about raids just forget them and go for scholar.

I’m assuming that 3k dps is taking into account a raid situation with maxxed buffs?

Shield? Useless in PVE? We talking about the same game? The one where you drop Test of Faith and knock enemies out of it, then watch them walk right back in? The one where you sling aegis to your team and watch Shattered Aegis and Pure of Heart work their magic?

I’ve not found it to be useless… not at all.

Saiyan.1704:

I rather just improve on Signet of Courage.

Considering we’re basically without a defensive or offensive Elite… the active and passive effects are bad. It should heal for 400 and cleanse 2 conditions every 5 seconds.

The active heal should be similar to Staff#5 – Immobilize yourself while healing nearby allies, 2k heals per second, totaling to 10k healing before Healing Power effects.dw

I think that’s where Anet needs to put 25% speed increase. Add that to the passive and have it pulse healing every 3 to 5 seconds tops, and then it’s not too bad. As it stands now it’s an “elite” that isn’t even as good as Battle Presence. Way too much can happen in 10 seconds for this skill to be of any use.

Alternatively you can wait for the next balance patch, in which traps are almost certain to get nerfed yet again… :p

I don’t PVP but I really appreciate threads like this. Ask for advice instead of beg for nerfs. And it sounds like the advice you’re getting is solid.

I would like them to be invulnerable but to balance it out they can’t hold aggro any longer. In fact just the opposite: the AI automatically targets the owner when struck by a spirit weapon. I think that would be a fair trade.

Well there’s two trains of thought… “kill stuff faster” or “stay alive longer”. Solo roaming the Maguuma zones has put me in the latter camp. A lot of enemy types will put you down in seconds if you don’t know their attacks or get caught off guard.

A decent core-only build that works for me is Zeal/Honor/Valor.  Honor is solely for the duration and healing from symbols. Zeal is to enhance the damage from symbols. If you don’t want to use symbols you can get rid of those two traits and use Virtues and Radiance, which puts you back into the ‘kill stuff faster’ camp. The blinds from Radiance are very useful though because the enemies hit hard.?

For Valor I trait Smiter’s Boon, Stalwart Defender, and Monk’s Focus. My weapons set is sword/shield and scepter/shield. Slot skills are Litany of Wrath, smite condition, bane signet, signet of judgement or wrath (I flip between the two; can’t make up my mind), and Renewed Focus.  

Everybody craps on Litany of Wrath, but with the Valor traits it’s an effective skill. HOT enemies throw conditions around like candy in a parade. Plus it is a large immediate heal when traited, because Monk’s Focus processes twice and the AOE from the smite goes towards your heal as well.?

Sword is very important as both a gap closer and an AOE blind. The arrow frogs will tear you a new one when you try to fight them ranged, but they melt quickly if you get in their face. Works well for pocket raptors too.?

Shield is good for an extra block plus AOE knockback. The extra toughness when traited doesn’t hurt either.?

When you do get DH just use Bane Signet and 4 traps… everything blows up pretty quick. 

Just my two copper. Best build? Nah, but in time you’ll find what works for you.?

I must be missing something… when I don’t need to use DH and take Valor instead, I have a lot of fun with Litany traited with Smiter’s Boon and Monk’s Focus. It’s a huge burst heal (base heal plus monk’s focus is processed twice), AOE damage and removes 2 conditions with a 24 second recharge.

I think all Guardian heals besides Purification are lame anyway, but Litany is the only one that’s at least a little fun. Merely my opinion of course.

Obtena.7952:

I use a shield … and if other people started, they would know how good it is as well. It is, in fact, a great source of indirect buffs to your damage (through traits) Camping torch is crap unless you have a burning build and the Focus 5 CD is unbearable.

But, but,… metabattle sez shield sux so it can’t be no good! :/

The scepter buff made guardians incredibly versatile. With Right Hand Strength and a reliable source of fury, it is a beast of a weapon.

I’m glad I left PVP behind with GW1. Sounds just as frustrating as back in the day. The sooner Anet separates balance for all game modes, the better.

ddoi.9264:

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otherwise fine.

So nothings changed eh?

Jokes aside I’m very pleased that Anet listened to our concerns about scepter being more useful. I LOVE the new changes.

Methinks I will be running around Silverwastes like a mad fool with a sword and wand tomorrow.

Family seeing Star Trek tonight, so I have to postpone one act of nerdism for another.

Anet said a couple months ago that mace was getting some love. I have my fingers crossed.

This might get me playing again! I hope we see some other decent buffs too. I’d take core guardian over DH in a heartbeat if I can do decent wand damage.

I stopped playing last month when I got DOOM for my birthday. If the patch next week is yet another disappointment then I’ll just work on my Steam backlog until October and check again. I regret missing the first 3 years of GW2. I played GW1 for 5 years but I found it way too easy to walk away from 2 after only eight months.

bearshaman.3421:

Ghotistyx.6942:

Sure, but what I had initially quoted was in regards to Dragonhunter. That’s not going to be changed at this point. Longbow and traps aren’t up for consideration.

Instead, we should be making suggestions for the future, as is the intention of the thread.

Agreed. The OP shouldn’t have used the word “replace” in the title and the initial post. Kinda sidetracked the conversation from what was intended (assuming that was what was intended).

Well it does replace it in a sense because only one elite spec will be equipped at a time. My initial thoughts were which weapon could fill the Guardian’s weak points enough to be favorable over the longbow? Basically if the new elite (weapons, skills, and traits) isn’t at least on par, it won’t get used much or at all.

Anyway it has been a good discussion to read.

Heh you made me laugh with the sword comment. Sad but true. Fixing sword AA 3 would be so easy. Just make it a melee attack that cripples any burning foes that it hits. Cripslash FTW!

I know it’s all theorycrafting, but my thread on what weapon could replace longbow for the next elite still brings up the Guardian scepter’s shortcomings.
 
So- what could make that poor weapon better without being game breaking?
 
Foremost, I think #2 and #3 are fine.  #2 is a multi-hit AOE with short recharge.  Not the best skill in the world, but not the worst either.  Actually works ok with #3 if the immobilize sticks.
 
Scepter 3 is an instant short duration immobilize.  Could stand to last a second or two longer, but no real complaint.
 
No, the biggest issue is Orb of Wrath.  what a stinker!  It is a slow, pitiful attack with no benefits whatsoever.  Foes can simply walk out of its way; unless it’s point blank they don’t even have to waste a dodge.  You can trait to get a few seconds of Might from it, but what good is that if your balls of light keep getting dodged?  I have not played every profession in GW2 but I’m sure this would make the Top Ten of worst skills in the game.
 
It absolutely needs to be improved, but I don’t want such a huge buff that it becomes overpowered, because that will lead to it being nerfed again and useless again.  And honestly, I think it could be made viable with just a little bit of love.  So here goes:
 
Option 1:  The Orb pierces up to 3 foes on its way to the target, doing base damage to each.  If it hits a third foe before reaching the target, it dissipates.  At least this gets rid of the attack being so easily bodyblocked.  You still might not hit your target but at least you’ll have damaged SOMETHING.
 
Option 2:  The Orb detonates on impact (with an enemy or an obstacle), doing base damage to up to 3 foes in a 240 unit radius.  Same attack, same chance to miss everything completely, but with a little AOE to help with risk/reward.
 
Option 3:  The Orb is a homing projectile.  So unless the target blocks or evades the impact, or moves out of range, the projectile will hit.  This can still be bodyblocked of course, but it at least makes the Scepter a more effective single target weapon.  This still isn’t great DPS even if every attack hits, so it might need a secondary effect of some sort.  Perhaps heal or buff allies near the point of impact, assuming that the Guardian is attacking from distance anyway.
 
Are any of these enough to make the wand worth taking?  In my opinion at least, it doesn’t need to be better than the bow, or even as good as the bow.  It just needs to be “good enough” as compared to “useless.”  In many cases I would prefer using 3 core specializations and not take Dragonhunter, but I cringe when the thought of using Scepter comes to mind.

emkelly.2371:

Warhorn 4

• Grant allies copies of your boons
• Boons Copied: 3

Warhorn 5

• 5: Consume all boons healing nearby allies based on how many boons you consume.
• Boons Consumed: 13
• Healing Per boon: 300

Not bad for some situations, couple that with a mace and it would be a nasty Frontline healer… but a primary healer shouldn’t be on the front line. And there again the uselessness of the Scepter in its current state shines though.

It also would be pretty bad for open world since its effectiveness is linear with the number of players in your vicinity.

VocalThought.9835:

They should get an Off Hand Scepter… Yeah, I said it!

Yes, double the fail!

Okay one more freebie since I’m bored at work.  If you have HOT and unlock Dragonhunter, you can seriously blow stuff up as if you were a walking nuke.
 
Use Virtues, Zeal, and Dragonhunter. 
 
Dodge roll (Longbow) or Leap (greatsword) into a group of enemies.  Drop your symbol (Energy for LB, Wrath for GS).  Immediately put down Procession of Blades, and Purification IF you’re low on health.  For bow, dodge roll out and fire off True Shot.  For sword, immediately execute Whirling Wrath.
 
This is what happens in the next few seconds:
 
AOE cripple and burn every 3 hits (Supreme Justice, Permeating Wrath)
10% more damage to crippled enemies (Zealot’s Aggression)
10% more damage to enemies standing in your symbols (Symbolic Avenger)
7% more damage to burning foes (Fiery Wrath)
10% more damage from symbols (Symbolic Power)
20% more damage if your aegis isn’t broken (unscathed contender)
 
Mobs simply explode before they even know what hit them.  Best part is, you can do this every 20 seconds or so.

You’re new to Guardian so here’s what I run for hammer (not meta but fun for me):

Writ of persistence trait allows autoattack to keep the symbol up 100%. This is an aoe heal and aoe damage, and symbols can crit too.

For healing you have 3 options. Signet of resolve is important for its passive condition removal and a big burst heal for those “oh crap” moments. Or Shelter which could buy you time when you’re getting spiked down. Not a big heal but you have to weigh the utility vs the heal. Then there’s Litany of Wrath / Smite Conditions with the Monk’s Focus and Smiter’s Boon traits. There’s some sick synergy there, trust me.

With hammer I usually use Altruistic Healing because it has incredible sustain with the perma-prot from autoattack. In fact, the more allies you have around, the more invincible you become. You only enemy is knockdown. Stand Your Ground is your best friend with a hammer. You don’t want to not get your symbol down. Feel My Wrath goes well with hammer.

With all that said, if you’re using Dragonhunter, you’re better off with greatsword than hammer, and since you’ll be using a bow, Scrapper runes just won’t be that important. Plus you NEED the Honor spec for hammer to work, and Honor is useless otherwise. Zeal will always, ALWAYS be in your build, so that final spec is better served with Radiance or Virtues if you’re running DH.

I mostly do open world PVE so I usually use Superior Runes of Lesser DPS so I can have my speed boost. But Scrapper runes with the perma-prot hammer build could be pretty tanky. The 7% reduction plus the toughness boost sound pretty solid. You will be drawing all the aggro from every mob.

“for 10 seconds you and your allies deal …% more damage with their next … attacks.”

That’s Feel My Wrath with a slight buff. Not that I’d mind that one bit.

I like your spear idea. In fact, I think the current underwater spear skills would be pretty kitten awesome if we could use them on land! I dare say I’d take that skill bar over longbow’s in a heartbeat.

I wish aegis was similar to GW1 with 50% block chance, not one and done. It’s impossible to survive any focused attack with it like it is.

OK I was thinking about it… DH brought a viable ranged weapon to Guardian, which it sorely needed. Scepter is barely viable in PVE and useless anywhere else.

Problem is, unless xpac 2 brings a new type of weapon, where exactly can we go from here? Who would give up DH for a melee weapon or an offhand?

So I wonder, what would be good enough to give up longbow? Here are a few ideas I think would make the new Elite spec tempting…

1). Dual-wield melee. New elite spec allows use of an axe (my preference) or daggers, and enables dual wielding with current 1h weapons. For HOT we got a more powerful ranged weapon. A more powerful melee option would be good for frontliners.?
?
2). Staff/scepter functions differently with new spec equipped. One or both of those becomes a fast-projectile weapon, and their core skills are replaced with new skills with the elite spec equipped.

3). A different ranged weapon from the current pool. Rifles or pistols? They really don’t fit the Guardian’s “purpose” but it’s just a game. I’m more interested in fun than whether something feels like it fits.

I’m not even going to try thinking what utilities could replace traps. The problem Anet has to face is that core Guardian is so bad that DH is practically a necessity and they have to somehow make a new Elite better while still keeping the class in its “good spot” i.e. trash tier.?