Guild Wars 2

Hello,

After switching at about lvl 60 from Necro to Ranger, I have now took the Necro to 80 and back as my main.

Thought I would post my current build with variations I use for farming wvw etc.

This build has probably been posted before since its a conditionmancer build and they seem pretty widely used.

PVE solo/farming.

http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mcVczm0zMmaFwMmaFwM0xGG0MkmVMca

PVE in group

http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mcVczm0zMmaFwMmaFwM0xGG0MkmVMmo

WvW

http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mcVczm0zMmGMwMmaFwM0xGG0MksVMoR

I’ve not done that many dungeon runs with this build yet but would prob use the PVE group build.

Currently got 6/6 Carrion exotic armour along with exotic sceptre and dagger and some jewellery.

I find the build for farming one of the best i’ve used in any MMO, the snow trolls in frostforge sound, I can pull about 6 at once stacking conditions and slowing then use epidemic to burn the pack down.

With my current gear with the might stacks from Power is Blood im just short of 2k condition damage and 29k health, thats including 25 stacks from corruption sigil but only got the major not superior at present on my sceptre.

Anyone have any feedback on what would be best for Dungeon runs as I will be starting to farm these soon?

Thanks.

WildmanUK

Hello,

In another thread I posted my Greatsword tank style build

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMMQNBhODbkoKyuvyxC1OQ0ewJLd+/Ba5ZIK/fxH3NB

I currently have 5/6 Knight’s emblazoned and a Knights pearl broadsword (exo), with about 3k armour (toughness + def), 21k health, walking about with 30% crit.

This seems fine for farming normal mobs for mats, and even tanking group event champions etc.

I hadn’t really done many dungeon runs as was waiting for others that rerolled to catch back up, and some late starters.

After doing AC it felt like it held up well as a tank style spec and I could for most parts, trash and some bosses just plant my feet and take the damage, I did have an elementalist friend with full +healing gear and spec keeping me up.

Last night I ran CM for the first time, the heal spec elemenalist has now gone full condition damage build but still mostly in the cleric exos while they slowly replace.

In CM there seems to be a lot of large packs of enemies and the greatsword even with the high health pool and stacked toughness seemed to fall short. I was getting destroyed in melee ranged and found myself switching to a longbow rather than axe/warhorn.

I ended up a lot of the time getting the attention of the pack then using Muddy Terrain on CD to keep then slowed using the longbow to damage them while running backwards, then rolling past them as they got clear of the slow so they passed back over and kiting them back and forth.

Im starting to think would a Longbow/Shortbow build be better to kite the mobs, same knights gear so I can take the damage from ranged but then keeping at range and slowing the melee mobs in the way described above, and also getting the shortbows skills to help kite?

I was thinking something like this…

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQJATVjAVR2VWOWoWCili8Eo+BOxUwfG9Pk+S2UUA

15 points in Beastmastery line to get the quickness on swap and quicker pet swaps so more quickness, also means the spiders can use their internal skill that cripples more often.

Not sure if maybe losing 25pts in Nature magic and so 2.5k health might be a bit too much, but hopefully wont be getting hit as much?

Is the 20 points in skirmishing trait line worth it for the 20% CD reduction on LB/SB when SB has short CDs anyway?

Would an extra 5 in beastmastery be worth it to get intimidating training 4 sec cripple on the spiders f2? Already muddy terrain lasts 20 secs and CD is 24 so seems maybe a bit ott?

Any feedback would be most appreciated.

Sleepy.2647:

Imo, aggro is completely random on this game. Mobs don’t chase the one who does the most damage or anything, they seem to attack randomly…usually the first target they see and then they switch targets.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Aggro

There seems to be some sort of system but its not the typical system.

From what ive read in places it seems that if the target has say a strong melee skill and a weaker ranged skill they will prefer to attack melee targets.

So someone in melee range will get attacked more than a ranged, unless the ranged suddenly does something that gets the attention like a big spike of damage or AoE damage etc, its then seen a bigger threat.

Also I believe if you had a melee character with high armour next to the target and then a light armour user walks into melee range, the target see’s they are easier to kill and trys to take them out.

A lot of this im reading from various posts on here and on other forums so dont hold me to it.

It would be nice if Arena Net gave a more detailed version of the aggro system at some point.

Also they said that you shouldnt be able to stand and take the damage like a classic tank and it was more about kiting and evading etc but on my ranger I currently have Toughness and Def combined to get 3k armour, and 21k health, combined with a friends heal specced elementalist, I can pretty much just plant my feet and take a good few mobs on at once, or even a champion, I have to kite a bit to get health back at times but only if I get caught by a big attack, often you can see these coming and roll back then go back into melee range.

I tend to use Quickening Zephyr plus the quickness you get from swapping pets if you have 5 points in the Beastmastery tree.

I actually take 15 point in that tree so you can swap pets more often and more quickness, this seems to work in getting the aggro from the pet.

From the my other post on here you might have seen I have been trying to create a good Greatsword Tank style build with my ranger.

In terms of survivability it works great and really enjoying it, but at times ive found it hard to keep aggro on a group of mobs. Or the other day I had aggro on a champion and a dps spec ranger pulled it off me and I couldnt seem to get it back even with regular use of quickness to cause burst damage.

Anyone know how the aggro system fully works in GW2, I know theres some rules based on distance to a player closer to the target will be classed a bigger threat, then its based on damage, and certain rules like guardians produce more threat by default and also read a shield wearer will cause more threat also.

Just wondering how as a GS ranger I can get mobs to keep wanting to attack me, a lot of the time it seems to work fine and ive had a full pack of mobs stuck to me.

Maybe that ranger just had much better gear and pulled aggro, and the other times its been AoE pulling aggro.

Would something like the flame trap be better to grab the mobs?

Current build.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMMQNBhODbkoKyuvyxC1OQ0ewJLd+/Ba5ZIK/fxH3NB

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMMQNBhODbkoKyuvyxC1OQ0ewJLd+/Ba5ZIK/fxH3NB

Is my current GS tank build, im going for mostly Knight’s gear which gives power/precision/toughness

Currently have head/shoulder/chest Exotic level.

Now ive reached 3k armor im looking to the best way to mix up the armour/jewellery etc to start getting more Vitality in the mix.

I think I might end up going full knights exotic armour with sigil of the dolyak 6/6, then use jewellery to get more Vitality, either of the soldier stuff or Valkyrie.

Hi,

I have a lvl 80 Female Norn Ranger, at the start I chose the hair style with the bandana, and picked a natural brown sort of colour for it,

Now about half of the med armor helms including all the Norn cultural ones are face masks, which means the bandana still shows. If I change my armour colour while wearing a mask style helm it all looks totally mismatched unless I colour the armour the same dull brown.

Its quite annoying you cant chose the dye colour of the head accessory after you set it at creation, is there anyway at present via gemstore etc to change the hairstyle of your character.

They should add a barber npc and say 20s-30s for a haircut haha!

Ok so the 4 sec without the points in nature magic goes to 6, I get that but I had 25 points in nature magic so surely the trait should buff the 5 seconds to 7.5s?

Either that or it should boost it to 6 then the point add +25% duration to that new total, either way its not doing it correctly.

Other wise the points in nature magic have done nothing for it?

@Duzilla I know the pets dont get your boon duration but the concentration training trait says its boosts any boons granted by the pet.

As I posted above though this seems to be in combat so will check it later.

Right I think I might have got to the bottom of the problem with Concentration training but will have to check it later.

The traits like speed training, concentration training etc apparently only work in combat so that would explain as I was testing the trait in Lions Arch.

Will give it a go later and see if I get the longer 7.5s protection in combat.

I have a blue moa and 25 pts in Nature Magic its F2 skill says it gives 5 secs of Protection.

If I pick the trait Concentration Training (+50% boon duration for boons applied by pet) the tooltip and the actual amount time the boon lasts on me over my bar still stays as 5secs, rather than 7.5s .

The regen listed for the Fern hound on the tool tip says 12 secs but it only lasts for 8ish again the trait does nothing to boost this by 50%.

EDIT: Just noticed this in the actual list on the first page and it seems they only work in combat. Will check this later when I get home.

Checked this in combat at the training dummies and it seems like the Hounds regen gets boosted it was doing 8 before and now 12 but the Blue Moas protection still stays at 5 secs def bugged.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Icy_Screech I saw this as well but theres a note at the bottom saying it shows the old F2 skill that gave regen but now it just gives AoE Chill.

Shame if it had given regen on a shorter CD I would have got the activating moas gives vigor trait as well which would have been really good for tanking.

Saying this not actually checked this out will do this evening, I read the wiki as being it should chill not regen but maybe it means it should do both..?

Also really enjoying the greatsword build I was previously using a condition damage traps build for dungeons to get as many slows as possible but finding this a lot better and still get Muddy Terrain as well.

The other greatsword build I was using for PVP was a signet based one making the signets affect you too, then make yourself huge and do extra damage, and take no damage for 6 secs as you dive in and land QZ doing mad burst and taking no damage then get back out asap.

That was good for PVP not tried it in WvW as was much lower level when I tried it.

But for PVE up to now preferring the more tanky build.

Also my new revised version of the build:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMMQNBhODbkoKyuvyxC1OQ0ewJLd+/Ba5ZgK/fxH3NB

I have removed the 50% pet boon duration trait as that is doing nothing for me at the moment.

Also I have taken5 points from the Pet trait line, and changed to the pets heal for more trait as someone pointed out that a swapped pet gets its CD’s reset.

I tend to use the Moas F2 skill then once its cast switch to fern hound to get quickness then use the fern hounds F2 regen, so the +healing to pets seemed more useful as Fern hound and Moa both have a heal skill.

The extra 5 points I have stuck in Nature Magic to get more Vit and Boon Duration along with the 5% damage boost for having a boon.

It seems from what people are saying above the +50% duration is working on the spirit procs so making the stone spirit buff last 3 secs rather than 1.5 etc but not working for the pet F2 buffs? My blue moas protection buff reads 5 secs on the tooltip (boosted from points in nature magic). But with or without the trait to boost by 50% it always ticks down for 5 secs rather than it getting boosted to 7.5s. Currently with my build the +50% boon duration from pets talent is useless to me and has been swapped out until its fixed.

If anything you would have thought the main pet would be treated as a pet and the spirit not as it has its own traits.

On a similar top ie tank build rather than that trait:

I am currently just using all gear with Knight prefix for Power/Precision/Toughness.

Even with just my chest exotic and the rest of my armor lvl 80 greens, and a yellow greatsword, my armour is 2900 ish.

Since someone posted 3k is a decent cut off point would I now be best to mix up Knight and Valkyrie gear to get the extra vitality? or is there a better set to go for for Vit?

Yes it seems this is the case:

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Fortifying_Bond

As it gives the pet +2 sec of protection when you gain protection for any length making up the 7 secs I thought I was getting from the trait.

I have just noticed something the spell effect that you gain from the screech stays on the moa for longer but not you, I have a feeling its bugged and only increasing the duration of the buff on the moa itself and not everyone else it buffs.

Right I had the tank build setup at the weekend but the pet part I was theorycrafting from my desk at lunch while at work.

Now i’ve actually got home the tool tip for my blue moa protecting screech says 5 secs this is with our without concentration training trait. Also if I cast it and count it down its still always 5 secs where with the trait it should be 7.5s with the trait. This seems broken to me anyone else having this issue?

Also the tooltip for the health regen on my fern hound says 12.5 sec but its only lasting 8 again no change if I use the trait or not.

Right ok gotcha was thinking how are you getting the it all back to back but yea any damage reduction is good.

Do spirits class as pets for the 50% boon duration thing to work? The main problem I have with it having such a short duration is something could hit you for 1k then 3 secs later hit you for another 1k and it could proc in between and fade before the next hit even happens.

How would you get 10.5s of protection from Stone spirit it only gives like 1.25 secs of protection on the proc on a 10 sec CD?

Lynx called Atari
Shark called Fergal
and a bear named Jeff up to now.

Right I was basing that off the fact concentration training gives +50% boon duration to pets boons and the gw2skills builders tool tip for the moa skill said 12 sec duration.

Looking at other sites its saying 3 secs so 4.5secs duration with the trait, not quite as good as I thought it seems! I thought 18 secs of protection on a 36 sec CD was a bit imba

I was using the signet for the extra toughness passive but when it only gives +40 its not worth it will swap it out for the condition removal one and spirit I will swap out as well.

Thanks for the feedback not really looked at that condition removal one, in fact the active skill on it is pretty good as well pulling all condition from allies to the pet.

Revised build:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMMQNBhODbkoKyuvyxC1OQ0ewJLd+niY1KnCR5/L+4uJ

Hello,

Based on another greatsword build I saw linked on the forums, I have come up with a Tank style build using Greatsword and Axe/warhorn.

The build:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMMQNBhODbkoKyuwyrC1OQ0ewJLd+niY1KnCRZqL+4uJ

Stat wise im going for armor with Knight prefix so stacking Power/Precision/Toughness.

Currently sat at about 17-18k health.

Idea being able to use pet swaps for quickness along with quickening zephyr which is a good aggro grab on multiple mobs, also useful for burning down a target to help rally downed allies.

I have picked the blue moa and fern hound as with the trait to increase pet boons they give 18secs of Protection and 18 secs of regen which seemed like a good combo for a more tanky build, also the moa has the aoe heal.

On a longer fight can drop the stone spirit out of melee range to try and keep it safe then run into melee range to fight.

Can start with the axe/warhorn on the pull buff with call of the wild and the bouncing axe auto attack can tag multiple mobs, before switching to great sword and diving in with the leap.

The elite skill entangle is good for CC/DPS to stop things running to the other party members, although at times like the big event yesterday I switched to Spirit of Nature to help rally downed allies.

Any feedback on the build would be most appreciated.

Some of my concerns:

The signet is this worth it seems to give +40 toughness is this worth what another skill could add?

The stone spirit has a 50% chance to gain a very short (1 1/4 secs) protection buff, and it has the internal CD of 10 sec per target, not sure this is really worth it especially with spirits being so easily killed and Moa giving 18 secs of protection, might change this for lightning reflexs for a quick get away and vigor?

Also the fact you cant be healed for 4 secs of quickening zephyr seems a bit anti-tank but then you do get a very nice bit of burst from it.#

I was thinking about the natures protection talent in place of the spirit proc one but 20% of 17k is 3400 and with all the toughness stacked I rarely take that sort of hit.

Thanks.

WildmanUK

Hi,

Having trouble with the skill point in Graven Cay its the Statue of Melasandru with the green fog/field around it.

When you get inside the field you get a stacking bleed and cripple, the constant bleed means I cant commune with the skill point.

I’ve tried alsorts. Im a ranger and tried using the skill that makes pet take all damage for 6 secs but that doesnt seem long enough, condition removal doesnt work as it reapplys the bleed to fast.

Is there something im missing?

WildmanUK

Not sure if this would work or not just a quick idea i’ve thrown together.

http://gw2skills.net...LaTKy24ge4ecJNA

Basically the idea is focussing around blinds, i’ve not tried this out so not sure if the +condition duration effects blind or not hopefully it does.

Sources of blind
Skill 4 for offhand dagger blinds 3 targets for 6 secs on a 15.5 sec CD traited (this hopefully gets the duration boosted by the 30 points in spite?)

Well of Darkness = blind on a 48sec CD traited.

Well of suffering = 36 sec CD and combined with the bone minions you can combo the dark field with the blast for an aoe blind again.

Then plague if you spam skill 2 you can chain aoe blind for the 20 sec duration.

Even the off hand dagger skill alone if its not buffed by the pts in spite = 6 sec blind on 3 targets every 15 secs.

Then you get the aoe slow from sceptre 2, plus all the marks from staff, along with all the wells giving protection.

Not sure if theres any runes/sigils that boost blind duration I know theres ones for bleeds etc.

Any thoughts on the build?

WildmanUK

Im more talking about end game PVE rather than PVP I had read that mesmer were good for single target CC but Necro had better aoe CC for dungeons etc.

Hello,

I have been hearing that necros are the best source of Crowd-Control for the tougher end game dungeons.

I was wondering if anyone could post a good build for this style of play? I’ve read the necro basically does very little damage but handles all the CC while the rest can burn things down?

Im guessing this must revolve around blind? So well of darkness, the off hand dagger skill that blinds 3 targets and plague form and spam 2 to keep the blind in the mix?

Then use sceptre/dagger with Staff switch, sceptre 2 gives an aoe slow, mark of chillblains gives chill and mark 5 gives fear?

Is this the general idea or am I missing something?

Any builds for end game CC would be most appreciated.

Thanks.

WildmanUK