Guild Wars 2

So Axe 4 and 5 are completely useless? Since release?

What about Axe+Axe? Is Mace offhand that much superior? I love the axe whirle

Why should I not press 2 for vuln?

Its also a reason I am bored with warrior, every kitten build needs to use GS in order to be somehwhat effective in PvE.

Hey guys,
I am currently trying to craft my first ascended weapons for my mesmer and totally unsure which stats I should craft them with. Currently I am on rabid rare gear, I prefer condi playstyle over power. I dont run fractals, I am a very casual player who prefers PvP over PvE, but for the time beeing I want to explore all the HoT events etc.

Can somebody give me a recommendation? What is the main difference between hybrid playstyle and full condi? So far I’d understand that as hybrid you focus on getting your dps phantasms out and full condi is more shatter oriented?

OT:
Does the Toughness of Rabid Gear make me get the aggro from mobs in open world events?

Its really stupid how everybody thinks he talks about fractals or dungeons…

Cygnus.6903:

There was another topic about this a few days ago. Your vid seems alright, although the build is not optimized.

And no, this does not do more dmg then other classes/builds. We can’t touch elementalists ever, but even warrior has a better DPS build, especially now that Berserker has gotten some pretty crazy melee damage buffs. I believe something like this is optimal for warrior now;

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJAQNAR3Zj8cQfHW7BefAnIWKCMjBwDIAkEE+BPv3hby95C-T1RBABUcRAuS5HN7PgnuBAeCAUq+jZKBDAcA87v5bfDWe5lXe5l73f/93f/tUARM0C-w

DPS is higher, group utility way better. And I am not very well informed on PvE, so there are most likely way more optimised versions of this build already.

Any info on rotation?

@Gibon
I run a similar build as the first one. Although I take Chaos instead of Illu. Is Maim the Disillusioned really better than Phantasmal Haste?

Your support build seems like a fun idea, but I lacks consistency imo? Why Maim the Disilli. over Shattered Strength? The build does not focus on damage, so why not take every support trait possible?

Does Illusionary Inspiriation really copy every boon you have to allies around you for every phantasm you create? (newbie question)

Thanks a bunch dude, you are really a mesmer expert!

I would like to use a similar build, which gear stat combination would be best for solo/open world play?

Interesting stuff, I am curious why you use a sword offhand for the PvE build? Can it be replaced with Shield?

@Blood Red Arachnid

Great post, thanks for that! Really helping some newbie mesmer getting the grip on builds. On the topic of stats, is boon/condition duration useful for chronos?

Can somebody give me some hints or directions on how to play chrono effectively for open world?

I have little knowledge about mesmers in general, so much stuff which is discussed here makes no sense to me.

All I know is, i love Staff and would like to give Shield a try. Apart from that I love to be able to take down difficult enemies by myself if possible.

Edit:
To go into a bit more detail here in hope for some response.
So as I said, I really enjoy playing with the staff because it is ranged and I enjoy beeing able to use chaos armor twice etc. On the other hand I want to use the shield in order to fully understand its capabilites.

I am not sure which stat combination I should focus on, neither do I know which trait line I should chose. Chaos seems like Staff oriented, which I like.

As mentioned here and elsewhere, Mesmers main damage should come from phantasms. My main gripe I see with me weapon selection is, that besides of the Warlock there is no real offensive phantasm availble for staff + sw/shield?

@LameFox
25 Pts Strenght trait → damage buff when endurance is not full

GS, Mending, Cookiecutter build…meh

BladeBraverBureba.1052:

Artaz.3819:

Samurro.1463:

dunno why you are so in love with mathematics, as you pointed out.. Iam not.

Math doesn’t lie. Perception does.

This conversation all started with your quote:

And I hardly doubt you do much more damage with 80% crit compared to 34%, it is way more efficient to improve other stats

… which is completely false because your perception is lying to you. 34% critical rate is no where near the mathematical ideal critical rate for a level 80 with the exception of two talents that breaks the mold, Warrior’s Unsuspecting Foe and Thief’s Hidden Killer traits (Sigil of Intelligence as well) but that is for a different discussion/thread.

^^^ G’luck with the Sandy clean up

Well, with 34% being too low, and 80% being “too high”, I end up with 55% using this build. Seems to be close to the middle of the two extremes. So is this “ideal”? If not, what crit chance would be, exactly?

Nearing 100% ofc, because your average hit does higher damage. Well you will never see the difference ingame, but heck who cares.

On a more serious note, it is hard to calculate the most efficient crit rate, because there are many variables. I’d rather look to get maximum crit damage, pump defensive stats until you feel comfortable in the specific enviroment your playing and trying to accomplish the highest crit rate at after that.

tl,dr:
Crit-Dmg=max>enough Survivability>Crit-Chance

Edit:
But I would suggest getting at LEAST 30% crit-chance.

Artaz.3819:

Samurro.1463:

if the enemy dies in 5 Seconds compared to 6 seconds…the difference is questionable

It’s not questionable. Again, it’s simply math. In your exact example, you just gained a ~17% increase in TTK from increasing your critical chance. What you are probably trying to argue and not able to do so because you are not able to express mathematically is that the value of item allotment in offensive stats is outweighed by defensive stats because critical chance hits a threshold whereby TTK decrease becomes insignificant (decreases kill time by less than one attack or .25-.5 seconds).

So what you are missing is actual mathematics as to why defense > offense after “x %” critical chance. I don’t necessarily disagree that it is true in extensive TTK scenarios where combat mechanics prevents damaging an opponent but TTK offensive damage increase gained by increased critical chance is highly misunderstood (and ultimately, highly undervalued mathematically versus an onscreen perception of “big damage number”).

Samurro.1463:

I am not talking about chance after crit rate, I am talking about the internal cooldown, every sigil has.

Yes, but in order to talk about the internal cooldown timer (in order for it to begin the timer), you need the ability to proc. In order for it to proc, you need to pass at least these two important milestones. The attack must be a critical hit AND it must randomly proc on a flat percentage basis of 10%, 30% or 60%. The Sigil proc rate can then no longer be applied for “x” seconds afterwards which is what you are speaking to.

However, you can’t mathematically sidestep the conversation about internal cooldown on Sigils without also talking about the likelihood of its flat percentage proc rate which is tied to a mutual exclusive event correlated to your character’s critical chance hit rate.

Now we get to the point it seems, dunno why you are so in love with mathematics, as you pointed out.. Iam not. Your 17%ttk-whatever is still 1 second faster killspeed, which is irrelevant for me, when I trade this 1 second for more defensive stats.

You don’t need to be an ace in mathematics to see damage gains by high amounts of crit chance become less valuable.

For the sigils ofc you cannot neglect the influence of critical chance, still you don’t need such a high crit chance to maximize the potential of crit chance proccs, because you are going to hit the internal cd more often.

Artaz.3819:

/facepalm
If you crit more often, your average damage per hit increases and in actual combat that means that the enemy will die quicker. Each hit is mutually exclusive but assuming the target doesn’t die from one hit (a critter), the more hits required to kill a target means the greater impact critical chance is for time-to-kill (TTK) and reduction of deviation from TTK.

You average damage per hit only increases THEORETICALLY it doesnt show bigger numbers ingame, thats my point with all that bullkitten. Ofc the enemy will die quicker, but if the enemy dies in 5 Seconds compared to 6 seconds…the difference is questionable and you get alot more defensive stats when you don’t shoot for over 50% crit, which is exactly my point.

Artaz.3819:

Crit sigils are either 10%, 30% or 60% proc rate per hit AFTER a critical. You would be correct if crit sigils were 100% and weapon attack rate was not interrupted by other actual combat mechanics (ie. affected by fear or CC)/movement or positioning/dodging.

This is not just theory. It’s math.

I am not talking about chance after crit rate, I am talking about the internal cooldown, every sigil has. Dunno if we misunderstand each other, but I am under the assumption you are talking about procc chance which has nothing to do with the internal cd, afaik.

Edit:
To be clear http://www.gw2db.com/items/28035-sigil-of-rage , has an internal cd of 45 seconds, which means the Sigil doesn’t care if you have 100% crit, it can only procc every 45 seconds. (when we assume you crit with every hit)

@getting 25 might stacks
I don’t care if this possible with any GS build, my statement was just that it isn’t possible with the specc we are talking about in this thread.

Artaz.3819:

…the average strike damage for 80% critical rate would be 164 and for 34% critical chance would be only 127. So in this example, the increase of critical chance from 34% to 80% equates to a 29% (*) damage increase.

TL;DR 34% critical chance is too low and 80% critical chance is questionably too high unless +critical damage bonus is rather large.

This is not true you cant average an attack by the critchance + critdamage multiplier. A strike crits or it doesn’t. Essentialy if you have 34% critchance every third strike should crit in theory. Same goes for 50% and 100%. So using 80% crit has less effect on your damage output compared to 100% ofc, but the gain going from 50% crit chance to 80% crit chance can be theorized, but in actual combat you won’t see any difference.

And you should not forget that every “on crit:..” Sigil has an internal Cooldown, which makes 100% Crit chance useless in that regard.

Edit:
Saying defensive stats are useless or pointless maybe true when hitting on dummies, but in every other scenario more defense stats net more damage output. There is no invinsible limit, esp. in WvW or sPvP.

Robique.8279:

There is some room for improvement but for now 20-25k dmg from Hundred blades every 6.5s is enough.

On level one chickens?

Srsly, stop boasting without any facts behind it. 20 stacks of might without Sigil of Strength is bullkitten, I hardly get over 20 with the Sigil and this specc. And using GS with this build is complete and utter failure. No synergy at all. But stick with 5 signets build if you can’t let go of HB pewpewness.

You don’t improve your damage with more crit if you already have more than enough. Power would be a much better investment or defensive stats.

And I hardly doubt you do much more damage with 80% crit compared to 34%, it is way more efficient to improve other stats, because there are no scenarios besides “smashing on test dummies” where you don’t get hit yourself and defensive stats help you dish out damage for a longer time aka not dying.

over 50% crit chance is whack, as I said I would focus on crit damage, and 34% crit chance buffed.

Crit Damage is most important damage boost for this build, so Valkyrie or something similar is best I guess.

I am not sure what is the most efficient percent for crit chance, with full Precision on gear you get about 40-50% with fury up, which is quite a lot. My guess is that going down to about 33,34% crit chance would be best, to maximize Crit damage.

Edit:
A mix of Knight + Berserker would be optimale for my thoughts, I suppose.

@LameFox

You forget the additional power you get from putting points into strength. Still worth the consideration.

If you drop 10 points from Tactics, you should consider that you could lose permaswiftness, fury and some might stacks.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fIAQNBHhJ6kzhkHjCy5BmIDAGFFFkSxculeUGbpB;TsAg0Cno6y4lwLbQuukBtEZAxUEA

I hope this links works now..

For crying out loud…

http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mmR9wG9MxGVaosbcs

I’ve used a similar Axe based Yojack build for quite some time now, I am a level 80 Norn Warrior.

I think this builds main purpose lies in PvE(dungeons+solo) and WvW! I did not enough testing to comment on the usefulness of this build in sPvP.

I really love the build because of the benefits you get from using 30 Tactics + Warhorn offhand. Perma Swiftness + Fury feels like a must to me, now.

I don’t like the Adrenal Health choice, Yojack made, or I am not convinced it is worth those 5 points. I now respecced to this build. For more crit damage those 5 last points can be spent as seen fit, I hope to achieve somewhat higher damage output by my current choice.

My Norn has full Explorer Gear (dungeons+solo+WvW) because I want to be as effective farming as much as possible. And yet I have to discover any problems with that setup. In WvW I fit more into a support role, with Warhorn condition convertion and Shout heals. And still can dish out some heavy Eviscerates if needed or use a Bow as my second weapon, which I think is a must in WvW..the bow I mean. ^^

First I am glad somebody else saw the potential in Yojacks Build and modified it to use a better 1h alternative. Going into constructive feedback ones I am at home.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/warrior/Yojack-s-Min-Max-home-of-the-Yojack-Build-2012-for-GW2/469275

2h axe…/thread…

No srsly, I need this so badly. I can understand that they had problems designing unique skills for the axe because its a hybrid of sword and mace, but they NEED to implent this with an upcoming addon.

I would also like some kind of Polearm.

EasymodeX.4062:

I also think that a wellplayed Yojack build is far more usefull in a organized WvWvW group compared to your humping dumping cripple machine.

The only useful thing that build does in WvW is to immobilize targets with the sword burst.

AoE Condition Bon-convert/removal + Swiftness + Fury + Might + marginal Heals Buffbot? Hello? Your banner kitten can stay home if somebody uses Yojackbuild he would be 100x more useful.

Badwrong.3596:

My build and playstyle is extremely mobile.

How does your build offer mobility, care to explain? All your build does is beeing a good WvWvW iniator waiting for the cleanup zerg.

There is nothing wrong with that, everybody can play how he wants. But stating your build is somewhat better for anything else than WvWvW is not true imo.

I also think that a wellplayed Yojack build is far more usefull in a organized WvWvW group compared to your humping dumping cripple machine.

@Erased
In my build there are much better runes than Soldier runes which just add more condition removal, heck my example with Shack It Off was clear I thought. When you need more con removal than Shack It Off + Warhorn delivers, you are doing it wrong! Never have seen any scenario where I thought for myself “heck if I had more condition removal right now, I would perform better.”

On a different note you question the usefulness of Shout heals. The gain of cleric gear has the same effect like using Soldier runes, you marginaly increase your effectiveness in one area of the build and kitten yourself in others…

EDIT:
For the love of god, use a different build editor than gw2skills.net, I even copied Badwrongs link and still got a bugged link. guildhead gw2db etc….

EDIT2:
After qouting and copying the link it worked. Again such a one role build which can only do one thing good and brings close to nothing else to the table in terms of beeing useful/effective.

All you seem to do with your build is beeing hard to kill and trying to cripple as much as possible and waiting for your teammates going for the kills?
Shrug It Off + Shake It Off + Runes of the Soldier….srsly?

At first I’d like thank Yojack for bringing this build to the forums. I didn’t clone it, but I used the part of the Tactic tait decisions coupled with using a warhorn in the offhand.

I for myself love to use axe and I think its the strongest 1h weap there is. I also hate bleeds and DoTs in generell, more from a PvP standpoint because burst damage>dps. So my current Trait build includes 25 Points into Strength for the main Axe traits.

Although I am not sure that the 15 point defense Ttrait is worth those 5 points. The life regen seems to tick every 5 seconds and is far from making you very tanky or more durable, imo.

Still I love the combination of healing shouts with condition conversing warhorn skills. And I am also not sure about Shake It Off/Soldier Runes, because you have enough condition removal with your warhorn skills. But I would rather switch in SIO for Fear Me than using Soldier Runes, definitely not worth it.