Guild Wars 2

Pretty much what the title says. I haven’t played ranger yet since HoT, and I’m wondering if there’s options for strong, and hopefully flexible power builds for ranger right now. My brain just keep coming up with condi trapper setups :P

Is this a thing? If no, why not?

Narcarsis.5739:

Pack, Durability, Hoelbrak, Svanir (Double Necro), and any of the above mentioned. Runes can be used to slot against what you’re facing and help mitigate any weaknesses against those specific classes.

Interesting. What are your thoughts about Wurm runes?

Caed,

You mentioned further up that you dropped daredevil runes for runes that offer more utility; care to share what runes you’ve been trying out?

I was on the fence about the idea of staff, but oddly, your comments have convinced me it could be a good idea. While I completely agree that thief has no use for another flippy/evasive/burst-oriented melee playstyle (seriously, if there’s one base we have covered, it’s that), your comments about staffs being designed to disable or incapacitate got me thinking about the idea of staff as a control-oriented melee weapon. Knockdown sweeps, blocks, knockbacks, and even stuns could be at home on a staff weapon set, and those are things that for the most part we don’t have access to (yes there are a few stuns, but their usability is limited, except bask venom). Without knowing what anet are doing for pve really in HoT it’s hard to say if this would have much use there, but in pvp it could be a piece of the puzzle to get us something we currently can’t really offer a team: teamfight presence. Obviously there has to be a damage mitigation element there too, but an elite spec is much more than a new weapon, and we might not need as much mitigation as, say, a guardian, since we still have things like the acrobatics line at our disposal. The skill with a setup like that would be in landing your control abilities in such a way that you avoid getting blown up while doing it.

As for the idea that staff — or control-staff — isn’t on-theme, I think that’s pretty irrelevant. Part of the point of elite specs is to add new thematic elements to existing classes, so it’d be the easiest thing in the world for them to make it be on-theme. I would be surprised if they actually used the word ‘monk’, since that means something specific in GW lore, and is a word many players still associate with dedicated healers. Still, I can imagine an elite spec with melee staff designed to let thieves build for teamfight presence that incorporates elements, thematic and otherwise, of the GW1 dervish.

I was a longtime ranger player in GW1 and have been playing GW2 for quite a while now, but I’m only just getting around to really learning the ranger. I’m looking for some info on how to select which pets make sense for a build. In PvE I can simply google and find out which ones do the most damage (seems to be cats?), but for PvP and WvW the choice seems a little more complicated. It makes sense that almost every build uses a wolf, but what are you guys’ thoughts on the second pet? How do you decide what to run?

Slight tangent, but outside of pure dungeon builds, I don’t think I could be satisfied playing my thief without shadowstep. Hands-down one of the very best utilities in the game, on any prof.

In other words, a necro at 15% HP and 90% deathshroud takes highest-tier damage from heartseeker, takes executioner damage, etc.

Another way to address condis without SA is to run a shortbow with cleansing/purity, or cleansing/generosity, or similar. It’s not perfect but it is one more thing in the toolbox.

Off the top of my head, you may be able to cancel the offending animation by binding “stow weapon” and hitting that before you want to FS. Not sure if this works as I haven’t played much s/d, but could be worth a try.

This is an idea I’ve had in the back of my mind for a couple weeks now; I haven’t gotten around to testing it out, but I thought I’d post it here to see what you guys think.

Build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vZUQNAqaVl0Mh2mYZTw0Jw/EH8EFvEygRwHFPRVoPzfIAA-TlCFABVfIAwe/BAeAAFq+zVKBRSpiAnAgkUWFxRAIN9BBAQA4m38m38m3sQACGDA-w

In a nutshell, the idea is that Trapper runes give P/P the on-demand stealth it generally lacks, while the traps themselves create opportunities to land undodgeable Unloads. Synergy with Shadow Arts boosts survivability.

There are a couple things I haven’t really nailed down and which probably just need some testing. Some random thoughts:

- The 2nd trap doesn’t have to be tripwire. Either of the others might be good; ambush trap makes it tempting to slot venomshare in SA.

- The master and grandmaster traits in SA are a bit penciled in. That being said, Shadow Rejuv would help feed the init-hungry pistols, and Hidden Thief makes the fairly juicy combo of (precast)Tripwire – Steal – Sneak Attack – Unload quite easy to do. As a side note, if anyone knows how/if the SA minor traits interact with stealth from runes, let me know.

- The second weaponset doesn’t need to be shortbow, but it’s hard not to take it, especially since on-demand stealth makes the shortbow immob much easier to use. It may be that a melee set is needed though.

- Speaking of weapons, the sigils are just some generic sigils/what my own weapons currently have

- Trickery isn’t necessarily required, but it is really really good. It doesn’t have a lot of synergy with the rest of the build beyond the extra init, however. Critical Strikes definitely would yield harder-hitting Unloads, but I’m addicted to Sleight of Hand.

Suggestions/criticisms/thoughts?

Game crashed during wvw. When I try to reopen, the game appears in Activity Monitor but the launcher does not appear. Right-clicking and selecting ‘show all windows’ shows me a blue box. Tried ‘repair game client’ instructions and several restarts without effect. I have had frequent crashes since approximately the beginning of the year, but never any trouble reopening the game other than that it is sometimes slow to reopen after crashing.

Anyone have an idea for how to fix this? I’d reinstall, but I’ve read several accounts now of people with similar issues reinstalling without effect.

Just having Thrill of the Crime with Sleight of Hand (10sec of fury every 21.5sec) and Runes of the Pack (10sec of fury every ~20sec) will give you and your group a very high uptime on fury. If anyone else in the group is sharing fury also, or if you happen to steal some with Bountiful Theft, it adds up to continual fury pretty easily.

It’s hard to say no to the group fury uptime of pack runes + thrill of the crime, though.

I’m looking for a group that likes to fight outnumbered, plays to win but knows how to laugh off the defeats, and isn’t burdened with the egos, negativity, and nasty attitudes one often finds with pvpers. I’m always trying to improve my skill, and I’m looking to play with people who do the same. I primarily play a thief, but I also have a ranger and engi at max. PM in-game or replay here if you think you have the group I’m looking for

I’m confused. Who’s countering thieves now? To me the “slow, strong attacks” of the reaper sounds like it would be hard-countered by the blind spam and interrupts the d/p brings. Not to mention s/d dodges.

If almost everyone already uses it it probably doesn’t need extra help from traits.

‘beep boop’ is another good response.

The biggest problem with s/d in pve isn’t the loss of personal and group utility compared to s/p, but the fact that fs puts you out of position, which can often ruin the positioning of a boss or pack and lead to wiping your group.

In Forest, when playing s/t+a/d and defending the keep against a shatter mesmer who is harassing the point and staff porting up to the ledge whenever I get pressure, what is the correct play? My instinct is to just stay on point and kill clones so I don’t get bursted while I wait for him to come down so I can try to get damage, but what do you guys think?

I don’t really see why everyone is assuming it’ll be a sniper rifle. Rifle itself seems pretty likely, but it just seems like everyone is imagining Kill Shot from stealth, which just doesn’t sound that reasonable to me. Rifle could be fun with a more action-oriented moveset. More Ghost in the Shell and Matrix than Enemy at the Gates. Off the top of my head:

1- Chain. Shoot[basic damaging attack], Double-tap[quick higher-damage attack], Launch Charge[slow arcing-projectile attack dealing high damage and leaving a short combo field like fire or poison]
Stealth- Clobber[damage and knockback target with rifle butt, possibly apply confusion]

2- Ice Bullet[inflict chill and blind]

3- Chain. Action Shot[perform an evasive roll while shooting quickly], HE Charge[slow attack that does high damage and blows out the target plus enemies in a small radius. Blast finisher.]

4- Reckless Leap[Leap at the target for high damage, blinding them. If you hit, you are knocked down briefly and gain stealth. Leap finisher.]

5- Flare[Ground-targeted large light field. Enemies cannot be stealthed within the field and are inflicted with weakness; allies cannot be blinded and gain fury.]

Offhand pistol is really great for pve survival. I prefer S/P over D/P, but either way anything less than a champ can be simply facetanked in the area of your Black Powder. Fighting multiple ranged monsters could be an issue that’s where the long evade on S/P #3 can help. As tempting as it is, don’t spend all your init on pistol whip, you autoattack is pretty high damage.

I’d be tempted to try something like 6/0/0/2/6 with power of inertia, might on venoms, etc, with SB-D/D or SB-S/D to go nuts with SB 2 and some venoms and caltrops on a point in spvp. IDK if it’d be good at all but I think SB 2 offers a really good way to take advantage of hybrid stats.

The damage is actually not bad. The way to use cluster bomb is at close range targeted just behind your target as you circle strafe around them. Detonate just as it passes through them, which should be almost immediately since they’re moving toward you. Lay poison first if the monster heals or if you have lotus poison.

I’ve heard it said that arguing with some people is like trying to play chess with a pigeon. It doesn’t matter if your play is so brilliant that it would make Kasparov weep, the pigeon will still knock over your pieces, kitten on the board, and strut around like it won.

Outstanding vid. I love S/P, so your play is something of an inspiration to me as someone who is just starting to get into fighting other players and trying to learn not to suck. Would you mind if I message you in-game with some questions? I don’t want to spam the thread with them :P

Honestly, whenever someone in an MMO says “Build/strategy X is cheesy” I hear, “Build/strategy X is more powerful than alternatives”. Getting mad about it is like getting mad that someone won a race because they had a faster car.

I didn’t take any offense, I just wanted to get the thread back on track rather than let it become a general argument on the relative merits of jumping in vs reading up.

@Fay: My mistake, I thought PU condition builds where a type of phantasm build. Is there a guide that covers how PU condi works I can read? Are there any decent options for power builds for roaming?

If I could speak for myself, the reason I’m asking for advice is that my usual jump-in approach didn’t work out the first couple times I tried to roll a mesmer, so I figured I might want to get the lay of the land this time.

From what I can tell, it seems like there are essentially 3 main types of builds for WvW roaming (one of the things I’m most interested in):

Power Phantasm
Power Shatter
Condi Phantasm

Is there one that I’m missing? What are the general strengths and weaknesses of each? Right now I’m looking for really macro-level information; some of the guides linked seemed to have great content on specifics, but I don’t really have the game knowledge where mesmer is concerned to make good use of it just yet.

Frankly I can’t figure out where to start. The obvious answer, of course, is to start by rolling a mesmer, but I’d like to have some idea where I’m going. I get that leveling a mesmer is a pain, but the sheer number and variation of usable builds mesmer seems to have at max is overwhelming. While I assume there’s a meta dungeon build I can look up for that, when it comes to pvp and wvw it’s hard to figure out what kind of build will work out well for me. How do I sort through all this stuff without already knowing the ins and outs of the class?

I have two main things I’d like to add here:

First is to second the suggestion I saw farther up of swapping the nerfed Opportunist with Practiced Tolerance.

Second, I’d really like to see something done about the pistol autoattack. This is an OK move for P/D condition-spike builds in WvW roaming, but that’s a pretty narrow gametype. I enjoy playing a build with P/P as my main weaponset, and I’m constantly iterating on my build in a (so far) vain attempt to get some kind of reasonable mileage out of this autoattack. While it is possible to use Unload very often with the current initiative-regeneration traits, and it will probably still be possible under the new initiative paradigm, the reliance on doing so is the one thing don’t like about the weaponset.

It seems like the autoattack either needs to attack faster by having reduced aftercast, deal more direct damage, be redesigned as a chain attack, or be redesigned in some other way to boost its usefulness, both for P/D in non-WvW roaming play, and for P/P in all parts of the game. Of these, reducing the aftercast is probably the simplest thing, though it would improve P/D’s ability to stack bleeds, single-target bleed-stacking is not exactly the most OP thing you can do. My favorite idea is to make it an attack chain, since that creates the possibility of leaving the current attack as the first in the chain, while putting a move that really felt strong, or had some special effect, at the end. Doing this would make pistol #1 feel like it really had a point besides filler while init regens, and would potentially introduce some more decision-making into P/P dps, related to whether you wanted to spend more init to do more damage with Unload, or whether it was worth sacrificing some damage to let the full chain land and have init for, say, Black Powder. In either case, it really feels like something needs to be done with pistol #1 in order for it to pull its weight and feel like it makes sense with the weaponsets to is part of.

Einlanzer.1627:

Buzzcrave.6197:

I find P/P to be perfect with perplex runes, however the 6th ability on the runes need to be nerfed, maybe 15 sec ICD or make it give 1 stack of confusion for each interrupt instead of 5. P/P on burst/zerker though, does not do well.

First, the auto attack is more effective towards conditions. Second, the main burst is Unload which need tons of initiative but deal low damage and easily dodged. Third, the only way to play burst P/P efficiently is to use full zerk, once your utility is burned out, you won’t have any other option to escape, while S/D and D/P does. Not to forget you will be glassy as hell and will die easily. Even worst than LB ranger.

I would definitely agree that some of the problem with P/P revolves around the way most players build for it. Most people use a zerker/glass build with it to maximize Unload which means it has decent burst damage but at the cost of relatively poor sustained damage, poor mobility, and little to no utility.

P/P seems to in fact work better with a more hybridized build that Vital Shot draws some benefit from, where you trade off some of the burst potential for more reliable sustained DPS and significantly better mobility and utility. In other words, a pure condition build should use P/D, a hybrid build should use P/P, and a full zerker build should really avoid Pistols altogether outside of certain situations where you stand to benefit from little other than ranged burst potential.

However, having said that, Vital Shot is still weaker than it should be and it leaves the set in a less than desirable state.

Out of curiosity, what would be the optimal gear setup for P/P? 50/50 Carrion/Zerker? Dire/Zerker? Something else? Kinda seems like that kind of hybrid set would synergize with D/D too, in a P/P + D/D setup.

I keep reading about a new P/P venomshare build, but I can’t seem to find any details on it. Can anyone she some light on this?

One thing that’s often overlooked is that is you’re using flamethrower with Sharpshooter and a good crit chance, Sigil of Earth starts to be worth considering. Since each time you use Flame Jet you make 5 attacks, which can each crit, you can stack bleeds in an area really quite well. I’m not sure I would recommend Flame Jet spam on a single target even so, but once you’re in a teamfight with 3 or 4 targets the damage can get pretty good. Just something to think about.

It’s worth pointing out that with the Sharpshooter minor trait from Firearms which most FT builds will probably have, a decent crit chance, and a sigil of earth, the flamethrower can spread quite a lot of area bleeds. That being said, I agree that the FT is basically a power weapon.

Hidden Flask (the automatic Elixir should work with both Cleaning Formula 409 and HGH, unless it’s been changed since the last time I used an elixir build..

Lol I always get a chuckle out of the box of piranhas. I also get piranhas out of the box.

I’ve been cooking up a turret/SD build, and I’m hoping you guys can get me some input on what I’ve got here. In particular, I’m trying to decide between Thumper Turret and Rocket Turret for the final utility slot. This is primarily meant to be a WvW/roaming build, but I’ll probably try to get away with using it for dungeons and such as well.

The build:
http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-V;4cPVt0l6gSFx0;9;49JT-94;026-57B;11;0VN1;0J0-yt6hoTsWl-Fj7M;1k_;0P-U0Z1d2jZo495V0k4R06Rk0;9;9;6FFx

Thumper brings a potentially-indispensable stunbreak to the build, but Rocket brings much, much better damage at much longer range, plus an overcharge that is probably as good as Thumper’s. It also takes better advantage of the condi damage I’m already running, and has a shorter CD toolbelt for better synergy with SD. So, is 2 blocks and Cloaking Device (or Stabilized Armor) enough to keep me operational in carrion/rabid gear?

And yes, I’m aware that SD doesn’t work as well as we’d like with non-targeted skills (such as turret detonations), but you CAN hit with them, and what’s more, tool kit’s magnet puts a target exactly where they’re likely to get hit with SD off turret detonations. This means you can set up some truly disgusting burst by detonating and using toolbelt skills from turrets all at the same time.

Toolkit works well with everything else by shoring up defenses, helping set up SD burst with detonates, helping with bleed spikes and with kiting, with a good toolbelt skill for SD, and with the ever-popular prybar. I wouldn’t anticipate make a lot of use of the ability to heal turrets, but it can’t hurt.

I haven’t played a turret build before, and I know I’m forgoing a lot of the traits normally considered standard (Metal Plating, Autotool Installation, Accelerant-Packed Turrets, Deployable Turrets… seriously why are there so many traits for them in so many different lines?), however, it also seems like this build operates quite differently than a “standard” turret build, and it has plenty of options left when turrets aren’t up, so I’m thinking I might not need all those things, especially since I plan on blowing them up to zap things.

I’m also in the process of doing this, though I was looking at using elixir gun or bomb kit where you’re using the tool kit. What I’ve got so far is something like this:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcQQJAqelIqSYHxynF1LJy4DdG4DAmoC53nHslcBhA-jgyAIMEsWApFAUlEmDLiGb1sIas6aMFMgOeR1W9ioVDA-e

This can easily swap out the bomb kit for elixir gun by dropping Forceful Explosives for Short Fuse (or Shrapnel, to preference). There’s no reason I can see that it wouldn’t work just as well (however well that is) for tool kit.

Interesting. I would have thought that Enhance Performance and the Altruism runes together would be overkill. Is it not?

I’m contemplating a pistol/shield version of this, but it makes me very nervous to do that without Incendiary Powder, and Forceful Explosives is obviously required. Meanwhile, I’d like at avoid going all 30 points into Explosives if I can. So the question then is: does the extra might result in more damage overall than the burning proc would?

The advantage of the shield is better control and defense options, and one more way to set up a bomb burst than pistol/pistol offers, since you can reflect and block/daze against people who insist on ranging you, use the shield stun to set up bombs, or use swiftness to get in range for a shield-check into glue bomb, into all the other bombs. Plus there’s a handy blast finisher for the combo fields.

Gear-wise, the temptation to get rampager’s weapons for more precision is strong, but that’s something I’ll have to play around with, I suppose. I can see the value of making sure very piece has toughness or vitality, especially with running bombs, but I have a feeling that less than 40% crit is too low, though I suppose having high fury uptime will help compensate.

I’ve heard of this build, but never seen it. I’m familiar with the usual HGH condi/grenade build; is there really a bomb variation? How does it work?

So I’ve been playing for a little while with a Rifle/FT control build and really enjoying it in PvP and PvE. However, I’m about to start gathering my exotics and I can’t really decide which ones I need. I know I need plenty of precision, but beyond that I’m a little at sea. My skills benefit from both cond damage and power, and with high precision and some skills with good base damage, it seems like it would be a waste not to get some +crit damage. At the same time, this isn’t meant to be a glass cannon build, so some defensive stats ought to be in order. So right there that’s like 5 or 6 stats I’m looking for. My past experience in MMOs and RPGs tells me that spreading myself thin like that is not a good plan. Therefore, I’m hoping you guys can help me narrow it down. What stats do I actually need, and which can I afford to forgo?

For reference, below is the build I’ve been using, including my attempt to plan a gear set. I do change some traits and skills around; Fireforged Trigger, Rifle Mod, and Go For the Eyes vie for the Master tier slot in Firearms, while I sometimes drop Energized Armor for Cloaking Device or Power Shoes. I also sometimes use Elixir B instead of Elixir C. Sigils float between Fire, Earth, and Strength.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcQQFAUlIqyVHwSrF17ISIFFmEC6Bg1X31HFsFdB-jQyAIsgQWCSOsIasF4ioxqrxUmCpK4IbwlmdHCpSBAxCA-e

Be careful about just dropping a bunch of area damage on mesmer illusions. Some builds trait for all illusions to have retaliation, so if you don’t know they have that boon and you drop a bunch of grenades on 3 illusions, you probably just downed yourself.

I don’t really feel the need to see shell casings flying everywhere. If anything I think that would hurt verisimilitude (what part of the gun are those coming out of? how does that work?). The sound effect for them is a very nice touch, though. My personal solution to this problem is to get a MH pistol that looks believably automatic, such as the Asura ones, or there are a few others, and get an OH pistol that looks more blunderbuss-y, like the Norn ones, since that makes more sense to me for blowtorch and glue shot. I do agree that reloading animations would probably be awkward at best. Especially when using two pistols.

Really enjoyed all your videos so far, and doing some commentary was definitely a good idea. It sounds like you’re getting some of the voice-quality issues worked out (though TBH it wasn’t that much of an issue to me), so once that’s done they’ll be really great! Very much looking forward to your next vid; as a new player these are very helpful to me.

Cool; I had nearly the exact same build floating around my head while I was leveling, but I went, “Nah, that’s never gonna work…” Now I’m definitely going to try it. I’ve only just started pvp in this game (think I’ve played 3 sessions of spvp so far), so I’m trying out a lot of builds. This seems like it will fix the awkward gap that I seemed to have when I was using Mask’s P/P HGH Toolkit setup, where I would play out my prybar and pistol shots, and be left autoattacking wishing I had something better to be doing. Looking forward to getting exotics and stuff for WvW, but I want to have a good idea what build I’m going to be playing before I do that.

EDIT: mind if I PM you another build I’ve been thinking about? I don’t want to hijack your thread but I’d love to get some more experienced eyes on it; since I’m so new I can’t always tell if a lack of success is the build or just me :P

@Kolisch: You mean you can hit a single enemy twice with each shot? How?

Really like the stuff you’re doing with your engineer Drakeco, but I have to quibble with something, even though I’m going to look like a schmuck if I’m wrong: I’m pretty sure the gear is “Rabid”, not “Rapid”. Now that I got that off my chest, is a build like this worth trying in spvp? Obviously confusion isn’t as strong, but bombs are quite nice for capping and defending points. Any thounghts?

Thanks for the info Amadeus, but I think you were confused about what I was asking. I wanted to know what advantage your build has over 100nades, which I understand typically uses the same kits and utilities as your build. This isn’t a rhetorical question, by the way; I actually want to know.

This may be a noob question, but what advantage does something like this, or like the P/P HGH/Grenades builds I’ve seen have over 100nades? It seems on paper like 100nades has essentially the same capabilities, but with more of it’s damage front-loaded, and the opportunity for its signature burst. Does (for example) P/P HGH/Grenades or the build you posted, Amadeus, end up doing more damage overall through conditions? I feel like I must be missing something.