Build Creation 101
Hello everyone. In this post ill be going over the basics of build creation from my point of view. Guild Wars 2 is not like many other MMORPGs because as we all know there is no hard trinity. A game not having a hard trinity doesn’t mean there is no trinity because for every RPG game there needs to be a Damage, Tank and Support role (aka rock/paper/scissor) to add diversity and complex gameplay. In Guild Wars 2 there is a soft trinity (thats what I like to call it) meaning every class can take on any role. Each class has their own niche when taking on the different roles. For the sake of the guide ill be using the Necromancer since its the class I main.
The Roles
Burst DPS/Power Burst DPS/Condition Burst DPS
Tank/Power Tank/Condition Tank
Support/Power Support/Condition Support
The Parts
Amulets-Runes-Sigils/Traits/Utilities/Weapons
Weapons tend to be most focused on damage and sustain but there are some that help with support. Amulets focus more on damage and sustain with Healing Power being the only real support stat. Runes, Sigils, Traits and Utilities can all be customized to fill the DPS, Tank and Support Role. The bulk of a lot of support builds will come from Traits and Utilities. Also note that each class has its own support role niche. Using Necromancers as an example our most dominant support role niche is condition manipulation and downstate support.
The backbone of your build will come from the amulet. DPS roles will usually use amulets with 2 attack stats. Tank roles will use 2 sustain stats and support roles will tend to focus on sustain or Healing Power stats. Runes and sigils will help to further optimize your build in which ever direction your going i’d recommend trying to select a rune and sigil that improves your primary stat for example if your building for a precision based power burst build use a amulet thats focus is precision and don’t try to even it out with a sustain stat because your builds sustain will mostly come from utilities and traits. Also since your using precision as your main stat Chance on Critical Hit sigils will most likely give you the most bang for your buck but sigils can be played around with a bit.
When picking your traits you want to more or less go in the direction of your amulet keeping with the precision based power burst build example try and focus 2 trait lines on the more precision attack focused traits and one trait line on more defensive traits. Utilities should be focused more on the sustain side of your build since your weapon sets should be dealing the majority of your damage.
Also note you can play around with it and try and find good combinations to fit your play style better but you should always try and optimize your build for more potency.
The Example
To better help explain the build creation process ill post a step by step example explaining my choices. Note this is all from my POV and others could have a different process. Since I main Necromancer and I’m familiar with the trait lines, utilities and weapon sets ill use it in my example.
Spite 3-1-1
Curse 2-1-3
Death Magic 3-2-2
Scepter/Dagger-Staff
Sigil of Bursting/Sigil of Agony-Sigil of Generosity/Sigil of Earth
Rune of Afflicted
Rabid Amulet
Consume Condition/Corrosive Poison Cloud/Plague Signet/Corrupt Boon/Plague
The build I posted fills the role of Condition Burst DPS. Its main focus is condition transfers and boon conversion. I chose the Spite trait line because it has great boon manipulation and is an offensive trait line. Bitter Chill was my first choice in the trait line because of the amount of chill I have available to me. Staff skill 3 Chillblains Death Shroud skill 2 Dark Path and the trait Chill of Death all apply chill taking into consideration how the minor trait Deaths Embrace applies vulnerability when the enemy reaches a health threshold of 33% I can stack vulnerability effectively. The second trait I chose in the Spite line was Chill of Death not only does it synergies well with Bitter Chill it also removes 3 boons from an enemy every 20 seconds. The last trait in the Spite line I chose was Signets of Suffering. I made this choice because it continues to work towards my role as boon manipulation effecting my Plague Signet and my other trait Plague Sending which is in the next trait line that I will be going over which is Curses.
The second trait line that I chose was Curses. I chose Curses because its the trait line that most effects Conditions. Since the build that I was creating was focused on condition and boon manipulation the first trait that I decided to pick was Plague Sending not only does it help my sustain by removing conditions on me but since I picked Signet of Suffering in my last trait line it also converts any active boons on my enemy into condition basically optimizing the trait further. So I have effectively made a defensive trait work both defensive and offensively while simultaneously making it proc quicker. My next trait in the Curses line was Master of Corruption. I chose this trait because since I am using 3 Corruption skills not only does it reduce the recharge time but since my build focuses on condition manipulation it adds to the amount of conditions that I can transfer to my enemy (blind, cripple and 2 stacks of blood) making my attacks more potent. The last trait in the Curses trait line in Lingering Curse I chose this trait because since I’m running scepter and my build is all about stacking conditions and condition damage it helps me to stack bleed and all the other conditions that I am using as my main damage output.
My last trait line is Death Magic. This trait line is mostly focused on sustain since my first 2 trait lines are more offensive. The traits I chose were Putrid Defense, Reaper’s Protection and Corrupter’s Fervor. Putrid Defense because Scepter 1 last attack in the attack chain inflicts poison and also Corrosive Poison Cloud inflicts poison both able to apply poison. Reaper’s Protection for extra bit of protection when I’m stunned and Corrupter’s Fervor for more toughness and since I apply conditions so easily it gives me an extra 300 toughness to add to the 900 that I get from my Rabid Amulet.
Also note Im using Rabid Amulet which give 900 precision 900 toughness and 1200 condition damage 2 offensive stats and one defensive stat and the traits that I’ve chosen help increase my stats to 900 precision, 1200 toughness (when Corrupter’s Fervor has max stacks) and 1200 condition damage. Also the extra damage I get from Lingering Curse and Sigil of Bursting further increases the condition damage. Besides Sigil of Bursting I also chose Sigil of Agony on Scepter to help with stacking bleeds which is my primary source of damage. Since this build runs on bleed stacks and condition transfers offhand dagger had great synergy both with bleed stacking and condition transfers. Staff with Sigil of Generosity and Sigil of Earth give greater synergy and with its condition transfer and bleed stacking it was a good choice. Lastly Rune of Afflicted Improving Condition Damage and bleed duration to give the build even more opportunities to stack bleed and deal more damage.
The Utilities used are more defensive Utilities but can also be used offensively. Consume Condition is self explanatory. It is your main healing skill and healing power can be increased by taking advantage of your trait Master of Corruption. Corrosive Poison Cloud is great for protecting yourself from projectiles and disrupting your enemies healing both when up and in downstate. Plague Signet can be used both offensively and defensively by removing conditions on yourself or converting boons and transferring conditions to your enemy. Corrupt Boon is your strongest boon conversion skill and is pure attack but can be used to increase the potency on Consume Condition and Plague is great for stomping downed enemies helping allies stomp enemies by using Plague of Darkness and also for sustaining yourself.
End
I hope this helps any new or returning players get a better idea of one of many ways to create a viable build. See you in the mist!
Note this guide is focused on PVP but the general idea can be used for WvW and PvE.
Necromancer Main
thanks for the reply bro.
I click all my skills :P