Guild Wars 2

Makes sense. I only have the latter two story arcs of Season 3 unlocked, so I won’t be able to get to Bloodstone Fen and Ember Bay.

Thanks for your help!

UPDATE: Lesser Vision Crystals are given as rewards for the Exotic Attire and Rare Regalia achievement collections, so I bought the skins I didn’t already have and crafted two more pieces, for a total of 3/6 ascended armor pieces after yesterday’s trip to Bitterfrost Frontier!

MikeyGrey.2496:

The map currency nodes in new maps are a good source. Berries for dragonite ore as you mentioned; bloodstone crystals/jade fragments for bloodstone dust and petrified wood for empyreal fragments. Also, if you have a lot of alts, I’d recommend jumping puzzles for fragments.

I’ve been meaning to ask: can you use TP to Friend items to enter the new maps without buying story arcs? The wiki doesn’t mention it either on the item’s page or under the “Getting There” section of the new maps.

Thanks your your replies! I’m sure it won’t take long to get my set of armor thanks to you.

I went ahead and maxed out Armorsmithing to make a Vision Crystal for Caladbolg and decided to craft a set of ascended armor. I’ve got everything ready – except the 5 Lesser Vision Crystals. I can make the coat when the Chest of Loyalty pops in about a week, and I can craft a Lesser Crystal if I get a bit more Dragonite Ore. Dragonite, Bloodstone, and Empyreal mats are my only bottlenecks at the moment, and I was wondering what you guys would prescribe as far as farming them.

I skimmed over the wiki and learned that Winterberry Bushes seem to be a good source for Dragonite Ore. Airship Cargos drop Bloostone Dust and Empyreal Fragments – which is handy, considering the piles of crowbars I have from Mastery grinding (Ydalir requires all Exalted Masteries). I figure I’ll go through A Crack in the Ice first and get back to Verdant Brink on a cargo zerg or something… VB zergs are a thing, right?

What do you recommend?

Probably scepter/torch for condi damage focus and sword/focus for power focus. Scepter is your only ranged weapon until you reach Dragonhunter, so I’d recommend that.

If raids had story modes, they’d be the same as story instances with hardmode motes.
The two are already distinct. Raids are designed to be team challenges, and the personal story can be solo’d.

Let’s not force bigger production on side stories.

Hi again!

Today I’ve got two burn guardian builds to show you. Both use the same weapons, utilities, traits , and sigils. They differ in stat selection, runes and consumables. Which build would you rather play? What kind of playstyle would benefit the most from each build?

Condi Damage Focused
Carrion stats: Condition Damage / Power / Vitality
Scavenging runes: +175 condi damage / Steal health when struck (25%) / Steal health after heal skill / 7% vitality converted to condi damage
Bowl of Orrian Truffle Soup: +100 Condition Damage / +70 Vitality
Tuning Crystal Station: 6% Toughness and 4% Vitality converted to Condition Damage

Totals (with Consumables):
Condition Damage – 2520
Burning Duration – +40%
Burning Damage per Stack – 600.5
Crit Chance – 4%
Health – 21955

Condi Duration Focused
Sinister stats: Condition Damage / Power / Precision
Balthazar runes: +175 Condi Damage / +45% Burn Duration / Burn nearby foes after heal skill / Gain quickness (5s) when below 20%
Bowl of Garlic Kale Sautee: +20% Condi Duration / +70 Condi Damage
Toxic Focusing Crystal: +10% Condi Duration / +100 Condi Damage

Totals (with Consumables):
Condition Damage – 2302
Burning Duration – +85%
Burning Damage per Stack – 561.5
Crit Chance – 49.76%
Health – 11645

To me these builds represent the burst vs. sustain debate for DoT based DPS.

The burst build (condi damage) deviates from typical glass cannon builds and boasts a consistent 600 damage per stack per second, which can be increased by Might, as well as near-tank status with a high health pool and access to Aegis. The build suffers from a poor crit rate, and the low duration makes it harder to apply burning stacks; having played this build myself, it can be very difficult to reach 25 stacks. Nonetheless, I believe the burst build provides an easier open world experience and may be a good build to teach newer players how to effectively apply stacks and survive fights.

The sustain build (condi duration) is more of a glassy build with around 10k less health than the burst build. The duration build also has 39 less burning damage per stack per second than the damage build, but makes up for this with a much higher crit rate and double the duration. I suspect it will be much easier to reach 25 burning stacks due to the increased duration on this build; coupled with the near 50% crit rate, I am convinced that the duration build is objectively better for raiding.

What do you guys think? Feel free to discuss how burn guardians should be!

I found a way to tag this particular point of interest in Auric Basin without participating in the meta event. All you need is Lean Techniques.

It’s basically the same path as the Advanced Gliding method, but when you run out of endurance during the gliding portion, you’ll land on a conveniently placed platform to catch your fall. Simply glide against the wall from here and you’ll tag the point by proximity.

Proximity tagging is also used to get the Versoconjouring Waypoint from outside the Inquest building in Malchor’s Leap.

Video Demonstration

Unfortunately I recorded this after tagging the point, so if someone else can confirm this method works that’d be awesome.

Thanks!

Here’s a build I used when I played Burn Guardian. Maxed out condi damage rather than condi duration, so you should try both and see what works better.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNArfRlsAhmhY5QwSIQQEH6DVNASyx1+AdQfmzwOMEB-TxhAQBCSfwMVCCtTBwnU/pZK/C0+DA4JAAA-e

Looks almost like a cloud outline of the trading post logo

There’s the issue brought up already on non-shield classes being seen with them, which I’m sure some PvPers would take issue with. For classes that DO use shields, it would look weird to hold/stow shields when another is on the back. Why have two shields? And why use a shield and shield backpiece knowing they’d clip when stowed?

One solution would be to code shield backpieces to disappear the same way other backs do when gliding, only set the trigger for entering and exiting combat or stowing weapons. That way shield users can stow their shields without clipping into the backpiece. But for non-shield classes, that would mean shields magically dis/appearing all the time… So the trigger would have to work on shield classes only.

That’s the train of thought I’ve come up with. Seems like too much work for a quality of life thing.

Hi! I’m currently playing through HoT and having a lot of fun with it. Currently I’ve entered Auric Basin running a full Zerker Dragonhunter (Zeal/Radiance/DH) with Sword/Focus + Longbow, but I’ve gotten through Verdant Brink with Greatsword + Longbow. I’ve noticed that I usually run through my Longbow skills first before swapping to my melee weapon, but lately I’ve been swapping to Sword more often than when I was running Greatsword. I’ve even been engaging with Sword instead of Longbow, something I’ve never done with Greatsword unless my swap was on cooldown.

Sword and Greatsword are similar in that they both have approach skills that blind, a symbol, and a multi-hit burst skill. However, I believe that running Sword offers more DPS for the fact that its auto chain (according to wiki) is half a second faster than Greatsword. As well, Sword allows me to approach, blind, and drop a symbol simultaneously with skill 2, which sets up the 10% damage bonus from Symbolic Avenger in less time than it would take for Greatsword (approach with 3, drop symbol with 4).

If I hit with Spear of Justice before my approach, I’ll have cripple, burning, Justice, vulnerability, blind AND a 27% damage boost (Big Game Hunter + Symbolic Avenger + Fiery Wrath) on my target in two skills on Sword rather than three skills on Greatsword. I also engage my enemy with an additional 45% crit chance on top of Zerker’s precision bonus due to Right Hand Strength, Radiant Power and Symbol of Blades.

Writing this all out convinces me that Sword is better suited for DPS than Greatsword under the assumption of a Zerker-based DPS build, at least in open world PvE. I’ll admit to a bias in that I haven’t played WvW, PvP or Fractals/Raids enough to gain sufficient knowledge in each of their respective metagames. This thread is to gain perspective on Sword/X vs Greatsword under those metas. I’d love to hear opinions from all player types: Is Sword/X better than Greatsword? How did the recent patch shift your argument? How does the Dragonhunter specialization affect the argument?

Thanks for reading!

Xiahou Mao.9701:

To me, it jumps out as being intended for a Burning Guardian. Not the most viable class right now, but we’ll see what happens with the next balance patch, I guess.

As a Burn Guard myself, I feel that they’d benefit more from Expertise rather than Concentration. Seems odd for Healing Power to be in this set as well, since Guardians usually support with Aegis and Protection rather than heals. That’s all under the assumption that Seraph stats are “for” Guardians, mind you.

Right now I’m using Carrion stats with Scavenger runes (6th: 10% Vitality as Condition Damage). I’ll admit I’m lacking in burning duration, but my Condition Damage is as high as I can get it.

That pillar frustrated me until I realized I was a Dragonhunter… I felt real dumb after that.

Here’s my Guardian.
Pit Fighter chestpiece and shoulders
Barbaric helm
Worn Chain pantsu
Scallywag’s gauntlet
Protector’s boots

Dyes are Amenity, Antique Gold and White

Such a late reply! Sorry about that.

I play PvE Core Tyria/HoT exclusively atm… I don’t want to try raids or fractals until I make my first Legendary, or acquire Ascended armor/weapons at least. PvP content is not for me! I like not having to optimize in my builds as much as others.

That said, I’ve updated my crit build. Replaced Acrobatics with Deadly Arts and switched the trinket stats to keep crit chance as close to 80% as possible while boosting Power. If the first two were drafts, I think this build may be something to actually work towards.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vZAQNAW6an8lCFmiVmCGOBkmiFaCbuCuBHhaBgJUEYLPNc2TA-ThSBwAX3fQzBVIiSQa6eecBAKq8DwDAwh5vFHpghq/QKABGhB-e

It looks like you’ll have Retaliation almost constantly. Maximizing that potential damage spike would mean tanking big hits, more importantly TAKING them as opposed to blocking with Aegis. Thinking about balancing Retal damage and sustain, I see two options:

1. Take every hit to maximize Retaliation, emulating a traditional tank. I imagine such a playstyle involves dropping symbols at your feet and holding your ground, not moving around much. Open with Longbow attacks, then prepare your symbols/AOEs and swap to Greatsword for a battle of attrition. Forgo Aegis for Retaliation until you’re about to die, then block attacks and heal up. Soldier’s or Sentinel’s (or even Nomad’s) gear would be good for this type of tank, since you would have to maximize your sustainability for this to work.

2. Burst your target and use Retaliation to supplement your DPS during cooldowns. This would be a more mobile playstyle; instead of taking big hits, dodge and block damage while using your utilities and stronger weapon skills, then take smaller hits while on Retaliation. Berserker’s or Knight’s gear would help with this.

In all honesty, I’d go for option 2. It’s been my experience that DPS is king in this game. Battles of attrition are usually lost here.

I made the changes you suggested and added Rubies to the accessories for more power/ferocity. Current crit chance at 85%, 76% without consumables. What’s the reason for replacing Fist Flurry with Shadow Step, exactly?

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vZAQNAqaWn8lCFmilOBGOBkmiFqiau63+yfLHHsqrrnCgDA-ThSBAB0ov5hDBgUK/ua/BNeQBIY+7VlgDp+DAHBgFOhCkCQgRYA-e

ZacHank.1358:

PW isn’t the only reason, the dps increase from unscathed contender is really nice and Virtuous Solace can be a life saver. I do tend to use my Virtues as often as possible but perhaps I shouldn’t be?

That said, what other trait line would you recommend for a power GS/LB Guardian?

If your current build is Virtues/DH than I don’t think using Virtue actives too often will be much of an issue. In fact, I’d say you get more out of Virtue traits by using them more often; you probably have lots of Retaliation and Might thanks to Inspired Virtue and Virtue of Retribution. You benefit more than me from Virtues because you use the actives more often. My damage is primarily based on the fact that I stick to Justice passive, so I don’t benefit from the buffs to actives as well as you.

Since your build is power-based, consider looking into traits described as “Deal more damage if XYZ” since those bonuses are power-based as well – examples being Unscathed Contender in Virtues, Retribution in Radiance, and Fiery Wrath, Symbolic Power, and Symbolic Avenger in Zeal.
Something else to think on is how often you apply Aegis/Retaliation, drop symbols, or use utility skills.

That said, I think Zeal would be the best bet for your third specialization. You’ve got a lot of options for buffing symbols, Aegis, greatsword, Immobilize/Blind, and burns. It’s a great all-rounder specialization.

I’ve never played Thief before but I built one anyway.
Shortbow/Staff PvE build. Running Assassin’s + Eagle runes and Accuracy/Air sigils.
Traited Critical Strikes, Acrobatics, and Daredevil with stuff I think makes sense.
Not familiar with heal/utility skills so I skimmed them over and picked which might work.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vZAQJAVWnsMBFmiVmCGOBkmilriqbAyxAYbG7rnbO6v+vH-TxBBABTp8DiLpQN6aoZ/BiU/BgnUAsKBJFwo6wA-e

Crits 24/7. I picked shortbow for the teleport, literally no other reason. Which weapons would work better? What other suggestions would you have?

Thanks!

I personally dislike most heavy armor headgear being skullcaps, at least on humans/norn. Most heavy classes tend to either hide helmets or wear a closed-faced helmet (Barbaric Helmet FTW). I’m also not too keen on most of the medium headwear being train-robber bandannas and light headwear being hoods.

As I understand it, Permeating Wrath better suits a burn guardian than a power-based GS/LB Dragonhunter, and vice versa for Big Game Hunter. As a burn guardian myself, I would lose a good chunk of DPS by using Justice active since I would then have to spend the cooldown period without my AOE burn every 3 hits.

If PW is the primary reason for your choosing Virtues, I’d suggest swapping it for another specialization. You could trait one of the other two grandmasters for team support (another stun breaker when taking Indomitable Courage) as well. I think it really comes down to how often you utilize Virtue actives.

If you’re gonna necro, at least contribute to the dead conversation…

I bought gems to get the rest of the Wintersday drinks I needed for Winter’s Presence. I figured the ~$20 in gems was less valuable and more efficient than the time spent doing the jp for what I calculated to be 25 hours, assuming at least 10 clears per 30 minutes.

I don’t weapon swap. In my defense, I play PvE only and use a scepter/torch burn Guardian with full Carrion gear, so I end up soloing certain champions (troll, ice wurm, Vic the Iron, etc..) without much difficulty anyway. Kindled Zeal and Scavenger runes, baby.

I used the gift cards I got for Christmas to buy $40 in gems. Got me some much needed bank space.

I believe you’ve confused this game for something that allows for any build that doesn’t specialize in damage, sustain, or support.

Don’t be like me and skimp out on crafting until level 80! The best gear – Ascended and Legendary equipment – requires at least level 400 in multiple crafting disciplines. It’s a lot of hard work, so be sure to level up your chosen disciplines early so you don’t have to later. Collect tons of resources and USE them – don’t pawn them off to Black Lion like I did.

Exotic gear is the next best thing, and can be bought from Black Lion, the player market. Sets of armor, weapons, and upgrades can be bought for 100 gold or less, depending on the prefix, so you should have some freedom to experiment with your build. There are also build editors online you can use to pick which combination of prefixes, runes/sigils, and traits fit best with your playstyle.

I would. I know WoodenPotatoes would, too; hell, he’s probably organized most of what such a book would have.

Tenrai Senshi.2017:

If burning is the name of your game, then Whirling Wrath (greatsword 2) is actually better than Cleansing Flame when it comes to triggering VoJ. It can hit up to 14 times against a single target (7 hits + 7 projectiles), can hit more people in a group (5 max targets for WW vs 3 max targets for CF), has a lower cooldown (10s vs 15s so you’re applying more burn stacks in longer battles) and it’s much easier to hit multiple enemies with its wide aoe than it is to aim Cleansing Flame’s narrow cone over multiple enemies (unless they conveniently stand in a straight line for your sake).

In addition to that, WW is also a whirl finisher, so if you use it in a fire field, you can also release burning bolts for even more burning.

To put it plainly, hitting someone with a sword is better at applying burning than breathing a large torrent of fire over your enemies. Funny that…

That’s a good point, especially the whirl on burn field thing. I play a burn guardian scepter/torch and haven’t been using a second weapon for a while now; I think I’ll slap a greatsword on set #2 for Purging Flames synergy.

On torch 5: I like how it is, honestly. Scepter 2 + torch 5 decimates crowds on a condi-based VoJ build (especially those Skritt mobs that spawn from Wintersday boxes). Then again, I’m speaking from PvE experience only, so I don’t think there’s anything constructive I can say towards PvP concerning torch 5.

Those are some good ideas. I never considered swapping greatsword! I’ve always assumed greatsword was invaluable for any Guardian build, but for a burning-focused build it doesn’t provide as much synergy as sword/shield.

On the topic of Amplified Wrath, would mace 3 or focus 5 count as a block? I noticed that mace/focus has more block opportunities than mace/shield.

Hi,

I’ve made a condi burn Guardian build. I know it’s not optimized for the meta, but I ask that you take a look at it and post below describing how you would improve this build. It’s a greatsword/scepter+torch build for PvE stacking Carrion stats (Condition Damage, Power, Vitality) The Kindled Zeal trait and Tuning Crystal Station consumable derives more Condition Damage from Power and Vitality. With full Legendary gear, this build boasts over 2k Condition Damage.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNAR7flsAhKhY5QwZIQQEHxDVNA2y61GCvwjmTxWcGB-TxhAQBNT53MVCCgLqwnU/Jg7PIIdPQ7JF0NgAYIQQQIECr1atWNEChQQKgJVbB-e

Hopefully this link works. If it doesn’t, let me know and I’ll fix it ASAP.

Thanks!

Hi,

First, the essential information:
Server – Tarnished Coast
Niche – Solo/Group PvX
Demographic – Inactive, guildless players who don’t want to leave GW2 just yet.
Recommended Time Zones – UTC-5/6/7; that’s most of North America, right? (Note: I’m accepting anyone who can speak English, no matter where they live. The more members we have, the fewer dead hours in-game.)
Atmosphere – Mellow, somewhere between Meme Street and Psuedo-Intellectual Junction. Don’t be too rude, cursing’s okay, don’t take everything seriously, etc.

Beefcake Squadron is a place to go when you’re probably gonna take long breaks from GW2 or be otherwise inactive for a long, long time. The goal is to become an expansion of solo play; play as you like, and enjoy a nice chatroom as well as beefcake cooperation when you need it. In other words, a collection of friendly loners.

We’re located in Tarnished Coast. By “we” I mean myself, my alt, and a friend of mine who hasn’t logged in for over two months. The two of us live in the Central/East Coast region of the US, so our time zones are Central Time (UTC-6) and Eastern Time (UTC-5), but with enough guildmates that won’t matter as much. I guess we aim to create a mellow atmosphere chat-wise. Our long-term goal is to rally enough beefcakes to actually do things like run PvE trains, PvP zergs, and other stuff, but right now we just want hunky studs to chat with.

Our leader (me) is a level 5X (as of 1/1/2016) Guardian by the name of Horace Dogooder. I do PvE map completion and have little to no experience with PvP, WvW, or crafting. I don’t own HoT and don’t plan to until I reach the level cap and run out of things to do. I am by no means an expert, and I will be inactive from time to time. If any member wants to invest more time to improve guild functions (upgrades, management, what-have-you), talk to me. This is the first guild I’ve created, so I’ll accept any help I can get.

I’m really bored with the game, but I kind of want to stay for as long as I can, hence this thread. My experience with the game thus far is described by initial enjoyment followed by numerous breaks and inactivity. All my time spent on the game has been solo. Most guilds won’t benefit from inactive players, so I never joined any (with one exception, read below). I figure if there are others like me, who want to experience online camaraderie but aren’t active/invested enough to keep up with other guilds, I should try to gather them into our own niche.

I’ll put this out here now so there’s no “Dogooder exposed!” drama in the future; I’ve had an embarrassing history with Tarnished Coast PvX guild War Is Hell [WAR] wherein I falsely accused them of hacking my account. Pretty stupid, huh? I believe I’ve already made an apology on their website (now defunct as far as I can tell), but to be sure: Sorry about that. As someone already pointed out, correlation is not causation. I don’t know if this guild is gone or not, but I still regret what I said. This debacle has been my only interaction with a GW2 community thus far, and that’s no good.

Downer moment aside, hit me up if you want in – I’ll accept anyone who can speak English, regardless of where in the real world you live. Let’s see how far we can go with this.

Cordially yours,

Horace Dogooder
Human Guardian
Tarnished Coast

XOXO

Thank you all, but I would rather stay in Tarnished Coast. I’m going to change the thread title to accommodate that thought.

I play and I’m in college. I don’t really have the time to be totally committed to the game, yet I don’t want to log in to a guild with no active members. I play PVE, but I’m open to PVP/WVW, although I doubt I’d be much help if we’re teamed together.

Currently, my character is a level 22 Human Guardian named Horace Dogooder exploring/grinding Kessex Hills. My goal right now is just to keep up with story quest levels, so of course there’s not that much of an obligation to keep playing. I feel like I’d be cheating myself if I stopped playing so soon after I bought it a few weeks ago.

In short, I’m looking for a biggish, active guild with low commitment standards. Please keep in mind that I’m new to the game, so I probably don’t know about most guild features, like missions and whatnot.

Find me in Kessex Hills, Tarnished Coast or leave me a message. I’m not likely to accept invites without prior knowledge of your guild.