Guild Wars 2

I started playing Engineer only to learn that a lot of my time would be spent switching through various kits in order to combine effects and make combos. The idea was a little daunting, and completely against my preferred set up where I focus exclusively on a weapon, or type of attack.

On my warrior, I discovered that a popular build involved mainly using the greatsword, but also switching to the hammer on occasion. I’m not sure how much the builds utilize the hammer, but I’m pretty sure that a lot of warrior builds rely on weapon swapping. Especially with the Discipline specialization which improves upon the feature.

I simply dislike the mechanic and am hoping to avoid it. I like the thief I used (up to level and I mained a Rogue and WoW, so I’m pretty sure the thief will be a class I will enjoy. I just wanted to learn about how their weapons work.

Equipping a dagger in my main hand on my primary set and offhand on my secondary set is an interesting way to get around weapon swapping, while still benefiting from the perks. It sounds like the shortbow is useful more as a utility than as a weapon, in which case that might work really well for me.

In either case, you guys have given me reason to believe I won’t be disappointed if I invest my time in a thief, thank you very much.

I am considering making a thief (or furthering the progression of my level 8 thief).

How much do thieves rely on weapon swapping? I know it is in the game, I dislike it, but I know a lot of builds are based around the fact that you can swap weapons. I’m thinking about making a thief and using dual daggers, or at least a dagger, and I’m wondering how much I’ll need to conform for the meta. Looking at PvP mainly, but I’ll need to PvE to level up.

What are some distinct things about being a thief? Other than stealth. I’m pretty new to the game, I currently have a 60ish warrior who I’m enjoying.

So, I had like 20 hero points (because the passives were all I needed haha), so I spent some of them on the few stances that are in the build so I could try them out in a more controlled environment. I learned what pulsing is and how it works. I’m a little confused as to the point of pulsing, the most I can see it being used for is preventing dispelling type effects. Stability pulses every 3 seconds with a duration of 3 secs. This happens 3 times for a total of 9s Swiftness and 9s Stability (being swift and stable is a sick combo!), but what is the purpose of a 3s buff every 3s instead of a single, 9s buff?

The best way for me to git gud is to start PvPing with a solid and consistent build and simply learn the visuals for important enemy abilities, right? It seems like the biggest factor is your ability to read your foe.

How do you use the vanilla set up? I will probably take it with me to PvP today.

Do you ever activate the signets? If so, then when? Because I know the passive stops working until the CD ends.

When do you use the utilities? Endure Pain I’m assuming when you are about to die, but before that, when you perceive some burst damage coming, or maybe when a foe pops some offensive CDs. But with my lack of experience, I’m likely not going to use it this ability well.

Berserker Stance I imagine is best used when you have a number of conditions on you, or when you really need adrenaline, but I can’t imagine the extra adrenaline being a life saver.

Balanced Stance???? Idk… when I need to reach my foe and my throwing sword and rush are on CD. Or… when I predict I’ll need some stability, but again, with my lack of experience this will likely not be used tactically.

Would you please correct me and/or elaborate on this build?

Also, got my warrior up to 18, and my god! I did not realize how big of a difference these passives made! The Power passive increased my power by 33% and my precision passive increased my crit chance by 20%. It’s insane!

Thanks guys, I’ve been playing my warrior again.

I did not know whirlwind was an evade, that’s pretty amazing.

For PvP Warrior, Power = 2 handing, right? Do you swap between GS and Hammer? That is the PvP build I found online. Do I need to reliable switch between movesets, or will I be okay with only 1?

But Warrior is fun?

Even with 5 signets being used as passives and single 120sec CD banner that provides yet more passives?

How is that fun? I really want to main a warrior, but I don’t understand how the class is fun at all with only 5 abilities, half of which are purely situational.

To me, it seems like warriors have no flavor.

Thank you for all of the information. based on 5), I’m guessing Engineer might in fact not be the class for me. I am really not interested in a lot of moveset swapping like that, though, it feels like the whole game is designed around that as all of the classes seem to rely on that. So, simply, is there a class that is more… reliant on something consistent?

If I played Warrior, could I rely on being able to use a single weapon set the majority of the time? Like, if I favor the Greatsword. Or, as a Thief. I wish the game had better explanations for the way their classes are played and used, in addition to simple lore. Can I play a Thief and rely on a something standard? I don’t want to have to combo abilities on various movesets. I don’t want to do something with a pistol and then pull out my dagger to combo with that. It seems like that is a lot of what Engineers do (even tho that is not something I do at all, and would prefer not to HAVE to do).

What class is like the polar opposite of an engineer? I don’t mean simple, slow paced, and boring, but reliable and consistent, where I don’t have to worry about a bunch of quick swapping.

1) Can someone explain, in detail, how blast finishers work? Are these related to Combo Fields? This entire mechanic is lost on me. I’d like an explanation of what it is, how it works, and an example of a good way to utilize this mechanic.

2) I’m a level 18 Engineer. I have used a Rifle exclusively since level 3. What should my stat priority be, in general? Specifically, to min/max my DPS, I’m wondering what I should do. I’m assuming power, precision, and ferocity. But, what amount of crit % is enough/too much/not enough? What amount of attack speed should I be looking for? I don’t have a lot of condition effects and I have 0 proc effects, so increasing my attack speed doesn’t seem like it’s any better than increasing attack damage.

3) Mortar Kit? I’m super excited about this ability and was hoping someone would tell me about it. I really hope it does not suck.

4) I’m worried that I will hit level 80 and realize the way I play my Engineer isn’t going to be effective. I really like Gadgets, I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of my utilities ended up being gadgets. I don’t like turrets, even though I was expecting to focus on them. I’m not a big fan of the kits, either, but I suppose a single kit as a back up could be useful since I cannot weapon swap. I really like the large number of snares and escapes. I like the rocket boots, jump shot, mine, etc. Would I be a viable level 80 Engineer if I did not use turrets or kits? Maybe turrets for dungeons, maybe. But I’ve got my eye on PvP anyway, so I’m not as worried about swapping some skills in a dungeon/raid environment.

I’m brand new to GW2, but I am fairly experienced in WoW, and I do believe I am overthinking this game and driving myself crazy with the idea that I will spend a lot of time on a character that I will end up learning does not fit my playstyle, because I was playing it wrong from the beginning.

Thanks for anyone who spent the time to read this and reply.

The idea of raiding does not impress me, though, I’m not against giving it a shot in Guild Wars 2 (this isn’t WoW, after all). I usually prefer PvP, but I feel like the biggest noob in this game and PvP pre-80 is a no-go because it’s just disorienting. But, ideally, the class I choose will be effective and fun for me in PvP.

There are a couple red flags I’ve found about the Warrior. One of them is the Greatsword moveset. I’ve read that the greatsword is the warrior’s best weapon, and it is the weapon I prefer, but the Hundred Blades seems like the best ability (plus Rush), but it cannot be used while moving, which feels nearly useless in PvP, or situational at best.

The other red flag was that the build I was looking at (granted it was a solo PvE build) had 1 banner and 5 signets for his utility abilities. I can only imagine that being incredibly boring.

PS? Is this Power something? As in, burst damage?

How is it like to fight things at the end game? Because I’ve played on every class in the 1-15 starter zones and one issue I have with melee (mostly Warrior) is that things die so fast, when I am fighting at an event with others I spend the whole time running around and things just die right as I get to them. It makes me feel like I’m doing very little, while the Rangers and Elementals are taking down all the foes.

I’m currently playing a Warrior and wondering if I should switch to Guardian.

I looked at a level 80 build which was full of signet passives for utility abilities. While I enjoy the ease of a lot of passives, I am worried that having so many passive stat boosts will just simply be boring.

I know that Guardian is similar to a Paladin, but is it the kind of class where one can fight and heal himself? I am finding that I die very easily as a Warrior.

Are you saying that I can pretty much do whatever as long as I have minions? Or what exactly should I look for in a minion build? I’ve currently got the one that I created, but I just want to be sure I’m not missing out and any hidden combinations or anything special like that.

All of my utility spells, healing, and ultimate are minions, should any of these be replaced with something else? Like the corruption spell that makes my Conditions spread to nearby targets? Or Lich Form? I think Lich Form would be really cool, but it replaces Flesh Golem.

I have none of Reaper unlocked, boosting gave me everything else.

So, can I have 3 specializations? Is that how it works? I currently have Death, Blood, and one other.

Hello,

I just started playing yesterday and I ended up upgrading to a full account and I boosted my Necromancer to level 80.

Can anyone provide me with a tried and true build and explain how the play the build? Something to get me started?

Thanks, for reference, this is what I’m like currently:

Scepter/Dagger with all of the minions. Blood Fiend, 2 Bone Minions, Bone Fiend, Shadow Fiend or w/e, and Flesh Golem.

I just want a build that I can feel confident with, so when I’m playing and learning how to play my class, I can feel assured that my character himself is not what is causing me problems.