Guild Wars 2

This is my potentially overzealously supportive build. I am a lover of healing and supportive builds, so I like to go balls-deep with this sort of thing even if it’s potentially impractical. Perma regen, quickness, protection, a kittenton of aegis, perma 17 stacks of might (w/o alacrity), a ton of stability, and pretty solid healing as well. Some traits and skills could be changed accordingly, but this is the general idea of what I’d like to go for.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNApeWnsADFBjFDBmBB0EhlHCDLAUB+A7zz8ZAN7EMfyAA-jBiXABbrEM0HBoPIYlHHpCjunBAA2fIW1HkTJGpA8bkF-e

I personally love this idea.

Pvt Frosty.6973:

StickerHappy.8052:

Pvt Frosty.6973:

shadowpass.4236:

jcbroe.4329:

I just want to preface this by saying as far as this thread is concerned, this isn’t going to be some revolutionary build posting, just a refinement.

So, after stress testing some more builds, I think I’ve gotten to this version of all the builds as the one I like the best: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNBmYD7kQFoWQsfFwhFgrFsMJYOVuLXmrJA84mAw/0iaTtEjnG-TphIQB+7BAsj9HAwRA4YHEg3VGwgXAAA

I’ve found this build to have the most staying power and be the most capable of killing things in an environment where you need to constantly worry about being outnumbered and surviving/winning the outnumbered fight. As well as roaming and dueling and all of the other roles/strategy discussed previously.

Note:

• I’m still deciding between battle or energy on the sword set. I don’t know that the might stacks are significant enough to run them over getting dodge energy back.

I hope you guys get some good mileage out of it, I know I’m enjoying it.

Why do you recommend warhorn?

Sigh this has been said countless times. Warhorn is used because of the swiftness and regen it offers, the build lacks any form of those otherwise.

jcbroe.4329:

I just want to preface this by saying as far as this thread is concerned, this isn’t going to be some revolutionary build posting, just a refinement.

So, after stress testing some more builds, I think I’ve gotten to this version of all the builds as the one I like the best: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNBmYD7kQFoWQsfFwhFgrFsMJYOVuLXmrJA84mAw/0iaTtEjnG-TphIQB+7BAsj9HAwRA4YHEg3VGwgXAAA

I’ve found this build to have the most staying power and be the most capable of killing things in an environment where you need to constantly worry about being outnumbered and surviving/winning the outnumbered fight. As well as roaming and dueling and all of the other roles/strategy discussed previously.

Note:

• I’m still deciding between battle or energy on the sword set. I don’t know that the might stacks are significant enough to run them over getting dodge energy back.

I hope you guys get some good mileage out of it, I know I’m enjoying it.

I have considered protect me, it is good if you fear for survival, however, the build is already ridiculously tanky, so you should only ever consider going more tanky if you are playing with ppl that you know are above your level. The quickening zephyr offers a surprising amount of kill pressure on the build in competitive play, something don’t think im willing to give up jut yet

One thing I can recommend to anyone is trying out healing spring, it makes your teamfighting massive, something noone will expect.

I realise I’m often talking about competitive while most ppl here talk solo/duo queue. In queues I have been having a ton of fun on core ranger. So much fun!

would you still recommend healing spring if you don’t trait for skirmishing? I feel like it’s hard to survive on a 30 sec cd heal.

Yes I would, you lose a small amount of self sustain against power damage, that is true. Not nearly enough to be relevant tho

Have you tried Skirmishing out? After work I may play around with WS/SK/DR with Skirmishing 3,2,1. Quick Draw could make up for not having Windborne Notes, and would open up some fun combos with CA/Staff as well, and the quickness could be quite nice for pressure with the sword (and more evades). Traited Healing Spring is quite nice as well and would make up for the heals from TU, but risks being stripped since it’s regen. The long-lasting water field would be nice too, especially in tandem with Quick Draw for double blasting with CA3/Staff3/WH5. Could also work with dagger since there’d be some swiftness uptime. Not sure how I’d feel about not having Allie’s Aid and Protective Ward, but it may be worth a try.

jcbroe.4329:

The role of this build relative to past seasons metabuild is completely the same. You’re “off-support,” where you have the mobility and capability to rotate the map and carry small scale fights and even large team fights, as well as win all your 1v1s. This is important because it means you can force 2 people to rotate in to you to have to deal with you, and in effect win the teamfight for your team by forcing the enemy team to have to fight outnumbered teamfights so they can deal with you.

Sword mainhand has always been used for the in and ouf of combat mobility and defensive utility. Without damage stats, the GS doesn’t have the DPS pressure nor the defensive strength to make it strong enough to compete with running sword. Higher skilled players will bait out the tiny burst you do bring with Mender stats, and take the opportunity to either reset or catch you mid aftercast on one of the abilities and light you up with a burst.

Ultimately, if your goal is to be doing big damage and bursting targets down, while whether or not that sort of build is competitively viable at a high tier is a discussion on it’s own entirely, the fact is; these builds will not make you a high damage dealer.

With this build, you are looking to outplay your enemy through superior rotation and better mechanical play than anybody who tries to fight you. Nothing should be able to kill you in a 1v1, and there really isn’t a class you shouldn’t be able to, at the very least, get a point neutralization against within a reasonable amount of time.

My personal suggestion to anybody who feels the damage is low is to first try swapping back to the Smokescale/Bristleback combo. The Bristleback damage is much scarier than the Wyvern and you can bait cooldowns and neutralize points because people kite off point and blow their defenses because of how scared they are of the Bristleback.

Beyond that, try the LB variant Frosty posted. You’ll lose your mobility and be more susceptible to getting decapped/backcapped as well as lit up in teamfights with the lesser mobility, but you do get a knockback and burst that people respect and that you can use to get that feeling of needing to deal more damage than you would otherwise with the sword setup.

I greatly appreciate how thorough your response was for this. Seriously, thank you, it’s a great help for me.
I’m quite content with where my damage is (I’m actually surprised at how much it is able to dish out for a mender’s amulet, but this is coming from someone who plays ventari rev on occasion for fun), but my question is moreso about killing other sustain classes, like an engi for example. Should I expect to kill them? Eventually, I am sure it’s possible, but in most encounters so far, it ends up being somewhat of a stalemate with me on the upperhand, but still not able to fully down them. If on a contested node, I am usually able to provide enough pressure to force them off-point enough to decap it, and I haven’t really had much problem sitting on the node in 1v1s to hold the cap, I am just curious if I should expect more of myself. I personally don’t think I could give up the s/wh for the longbow because I love the utility the set brings so much. I will try out bristleback more though, as I am having trouble positioning the wyvern’s F2 and have had many wasted moments on that (although the retargetting tip someone mentioned has been very helpful).

Thanks again for your feedback, very nicely explained. Rotationally, I would say the biggest thing I have to get used to is when to stay in a teamfight vs when to leave to stop a backcap, for example. Playing a thief has given me pretty good map awareness, but I have caught myself rotating too much like a thief, if that makes sense.

I have been using jcbroe’s WS/NM/Druid variant and I absolutely love the build. I am still new to PvPing on ranger as I have mained d/p thief for most of my sPvP experience, but I am quite surprised with how much of a beating I can take, on top of being very slippery and mobile. It’s nice to able to support the group a bit as well, although I feel like my killing potential is still a bit low. I am still learning what my role is exactly, but I really love the playstyle and I love the synergy that all the traitlines have. Any more personal advice on what role the druid is best at would be much appreciated. I hadn’t ever given QZ a chance, but kitten do I love that skill now, especially when traited with WK. Love it.

Krispera.5087:

I wish the Pigs F2 were working like Thief steal and would store the bundle for us, instead to make us pick and then use it.

That would be amazing. Yes please.

A pet skill rehaul is what I am hoping for most now. With the Soulbeast soon approaching, it is the most appropriate time to do so, and even more important than ever. I know that the Soulbeast has to do with temporarily removing the pet, but a huge part of the success of the spec involves polishing the pets first. As much as I appreciate the new cats aesthetically, it was a bummer to me that they added 2 more (of 5), which relieved them from having to make any non F2 skills. Who knows, maybe they’re working on something for the PoF launch.

I would really love for the moas, with their Soulbeast F1 skill being an AoE heal, to have one type be in the Supportive archetype. The White Moa is currently a Deadly pet, but the moas themselves don’t really have any synergy with condi specs, so I don’t see there being too much harm in making this Supportive.
It clearly wouldn’t be able to heal as well as Druid, but it would be fun to see what sort of support-y builds could emerge with things like a SB with a White Moa traited with Invigorating Bond and Leader of the Pack.

What do you think?

I wish the aura looked like Unflinching Fortitude. That is suuuuuch a more elegant design. Overall, I kinda like it, but I agree that it is a bit much and I especially think the falling leaves look extremely cheesy. I feel like I’m a WoW resto druid.

Rap Tiger.1257:

Can arenanet also improve wyverns f1 and f2 when joining the ranger? Simply shameful that has less damage in these two skills f1 and f2 compared to other pets …

The power scaling on most of the pets’ beastmode F1 skills seem very low and I hope they adjust them. I disagree that Wing Buffet needs a damage buff though; it is a great CC. Electric Wyvern brings a ton off CC for Soulbeast.

It’s hard to test anything honestly, but I’m loving GS w/ Rock Gazelle and Smokescale.

I was playing around with this and enjoyed it. I doubt it’s actually viable, but I was seeing how well the new Barkskin worked. Basically ticks for ~600/s in Magi’s, and with Troll Ungent going that’s close to 2000/s with a good uptime, not to mention near-constant Protection and decent regen uptime. I’m not good enough at ranger in sPvP to actually know how it performs, but I enjoyed cheesin’ with it. Doesn’t have the damage that the meta Druid builds have since it doesn’t have BM, but quite good survivability and condi management. Love the Soften the Fall change.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAsYWjEqQDL2rCusARLWmEMnK3saEA/TLqN1mAQDYCUixTD-TZxHQBIrMAAeCAJ8QAEi9HU2JAAA

Use your CC and evasion to your advantage. You have to have a very active playstyle when playing power rev, similar to thief. Try axe instead of sword, it is a fantastic weapon and much more fluid than offhand sword. Also, Glint is probably worth taking over Jalis even if you haven’t completed the entire line. That heal is clutch and in open world it’s such a useful legend.

Yeah, they look ridiculously large. I also love the concept and I think detail-wise they look beautiful, but the size is comical. I previewed them with a weapon equipped (1h weapon on human) and it actually looked pretty good while the elbows are bent. But still, I wouldn’t want to have to be in combat stance to have them look decent.

I love playing Ventari bunker, but I only play it in unranked so my experience is limited. With that said, I have had surprising success with it and tend to win most of the games I play. Here is the build, although I switch out for Soothing Bastion if I think the other team isn’t heavy in condis as the skill can truly kitten you over.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vlAQNAW8un3gmNSuQzJRboNlsP0oS4I6UJ4ENsklZlRNgCeYNjPKxO6q/G-TJR6gA/PBA0yAh7PAcRAAA

I also use mine for decap/bunking because personally I find teamfighting doesn’t suit the rev as well as it does something like the ele. Why? You are still very vulnerable. I can take pressure extremely well in 1v2s with most classes, but in teamfights there is usually too much pressure and it can be hard to simultaneously support your teammates while trying to keep yourself alive. I use a lot of my energy for my weapon skills (staff 3, 4, 5; sword 3, shield 4, 5) and with the energy intensiveness of Ventari, it is hard to have much left to support teammates. Because of this, I won’t often come out of games with incredible healing numbers, but that’s because a lot of this is through all the damage mitigation the rev can offer, which is superb. I don’t take Versed in Stone because of its CD and also, as I am trying to mitigate a lot of the incoming damage, that 50% reduction could be completely wasted if the damage is avoided to begin with. Steadfast Rejuvenation isn’t gamebreaking but it helps a bit with survivability.

I will admit that a fair amount of my success with the rev has to do with the changes to its elite, Energy Expulsion. Spamming it sometimes is honestly a great option in the right situation. It opens up sooooo many possibilities, and it’s great fun. You are great at stopping rezzes and stomps, pulling off rezzes, and it can be a great disengage tool (time it right with tablet #6 to position it in front of the enemy as they are chasing you to knock them back). I have had some really awesome moments with it and it feels like it offers a unique niche for the rev. The rev also, despite its lack of stability, has great stomping potential.

I use Mender’s over Magi’s because I don’t feel like you’re sacrificing TOO much survivability, and although the damage increase isn’t exponentially better either, it can often be just what you need to finish off an enemy in a teamfight or when an enemy comes to +1 you. Rune of the Revenant I find invaluable because of the resistance. Hypothetically in Ventari stance, you will have 20% resistance uptime, which is huge. Poison kittens up the build, so being able to ignore that 20% of the time can make or break you. I also find it beyond helpful for survivability due to being able to ignore stuff like immobilize, which is a terrifying condi for me. On top of that, it can be hard to manage a bunch of condis with the build, so further help with that is much welcome.

What I have been learning is: don’t be afraid to be aggressive. Most likely you won’t kill anything, but you can really lock down an enemy if they don’t have much access to stab due to all the knockback you have. For example, while defending a point, if I see a thief teammate coming to +1 me, I will often try to time locking down the enemy so the thief has the freedom to spike and burst down the enemy right as it happens.

At the moment, I struggle most with condi classes, especially ones with a lot of point pressure. Competent d/p thieves and power revenants can also be devastating.

I play a lot on my Ventari rev and definitely get frustrated about its speed sometimes. You can only predict so much of people’s movements, and it often feels like half of my heals are wasted due to not catching allies in time, or them deciding to change their path as it approaches them. I don’t necessarily like the idea of it teleporting because I think that could make it too powerful and just feel a little weird, but I think at the very least increasing the movement speed of it would be a huge help. An increased radius on the skills (300 rather than 240) would alleviate some issues as well.

Confirmed, it doesn’t work for me either. Same for Energy Expulsion.

Redfeather.6401:

Can hydromancy and geomancy sigils be put on same weapon set? I am trying to find sigils for my hammer.

Yes, they can. I had those two equipped on my mace and axe for a bit and they would both proc simultaneously upon weapon and legend swap.

I had issues with the way it was before, but its current state feels extremely clunky as well. My suggestions for it would be to either make it stationary, decrease the cast time, or both. The way it is now feels very unpolished. The leap looks great animation-wise but is very awkward mechanically, and there’s not much of a point in moving just a tiny bit forward unless Anet doesn’t want us to reliably blast Mace 2 twice.

Hey everybody,

I am a pretty new revenant player, and have fallen in love with Ventari, so I thought I’d give it a try in PvP to see how it fares. So far, good luck; I have been having a blast with this build. I was curious if any of you have experience with anything similar or have any feedback. This is the build I have been running:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vlAQNAsemn3gmNSuQzJRboNlsP0oS4I6UJ4ENsklZlRNgCawO6q7eNjQGB-TZxHABIXG4n9HA4EAA+TAo2DBAA

As you can clearly see, I do abysmal damage. Seriously terrible. Each match I have played has been a pathetic amount, ranging from 1%-10% of the team’s, but I’d like to think I make up for it with the healing I can offer, which is usually about 60% of the team’s, as well as the support. I have come to really love the utility the tablet can offer, particularly Energy Expulsion and its usefulness in capping/defending points, as well as rezzing targeted allies, especially when combined with Radiant Revival.
Personally, I have found Retribution to be too helpful to give up for Invocation. I have pretty incredible survivability when I’m being focused thanks to Infusing Light, Crystal Hibernation, Versed in Stone, and Soothing Bastion. For Salvation, I am still not sure if it’s worth it to take Selfless Amplication or Natural Abundance.

In your opinions, would you say it’s worth it to have a dedicated support role taking up 1 of the 5 team slots? Clearly it’s a sacrifice in damage, but for what it’s worth, I have the best win/lose ratio on my rev by a fairly significant amount, and feel like I’m making a difference when I play this build. However, I have only ever played unranked so I know that my experience only means so much in the competitive realm. So, any thoughts, experiences, or recommendations from those that are more seasoned PvPers than I am? Would love to hear your opinions.

Thanks!