Guild Wars 2

Shiiroi.6035:

To Iao :

Yeah that’s almost the builds I have, I’m still testing out amulets between wanderer, viper and rabid. Rabid gives a little better survavibilty. The increase power on viper add a little of damages, but not so much as short bow have really low damages so I am still hesitating, plus you are really squishy. Wanderer is basically a rabid with less toughness but little better crit and condi (thanks to increase duration ). For the rune, mad king works better with viper due to the fact they are both power based as well as condi, but with rabid and wonderer I tend to like the krait more, and it also deal multiple condi on my elite which is a nice bonus against condi cleansing. I also think Light on your feet is overall better, but in some situation quick draw is nice too.
I’m testing out with sword dagger on the other hand at the moment for more survavibilty (evades) because overall the build is quite squishy.

But yeah overall it’s similar to what I’m doing atm
Btw as I have you on my friend list (I played the sniper warrior when we met) we can test or play together if you want !

To Natzo :

I think your build is working better in PVE, and I’m more PVP oriented. The spirits aren’t so good in PVP due to their lack of mobility. I understand it’s nice because you can stack some good burn with bristleback’s ability but it will probably be tough to use well in PVP.

Oh cool man I didn’t realize that was you! The thing about Rune of the Mad King is you’re gonna be processing many more conditions than Rune of the Krait offers for your elite (I’ll assume Entangle). With Fury and Wanderer’s it comes to around 8 bleed stacks on average and ~2k damage, while Krait only gives 1 of each of the three conditions. So it’s better for burst potential which is where I think the build really shines. But yeah, it’s certainly a matter of preference.

Oh and I forgot to say— I recommend Refined Toxins over Ambidexterity. It’s basically a better version of Sigil of Doom that also applies to your pet. The constant poison application will be more useful than the extra condition damage and offhand skill cooldown reduction because it also applies while you’re using the shortbow, which you’ll probably have out 80%+ of the time.

I also highly recommend Light on your Feet over Quick Draw because it is incredibly useful for cleaving enemies in downstate with good positioning and getting through to a target blocked by other enemies or minions. Plus if you’re using Viper’s Amulet that 10% damage boost is actually quite nice.

All in all this is the build I’d recommend for shortbow Druid: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAV3fjEqQLLWyCOsAVLWMEM4s6YNt28uSdtAmAwor0B-TZRFABtt/w5lBA4JAUwFAQhDCAA

Torch can be swapped for Dagger, Sigils can be changed up, Signet of Stone can be changed for Spike Trap or Glyph of Equality (both great for enemy rez denial), Rune of the Mad King can be swapped, swap for Viper’s, etc.

A tip because I didn’t see it anywhere in the thread: if you have Spike Trap save it for their block heal and you’ll destroy them. It’s unblockable and launches enemies, so it interrupts the heal and gives you chance to burst the kitten out of them.

It’s also a good opening for your pet F2 especially Bristleback’s or pet taunt/weakness/blind, you just need to time it well.

I often win 1v1s against Revenants as a condition (Wanderer’s) or hybrid damage (Celestial/Viper’s) build. Especially hybrid when on point with sword/torch + axe/warhorn, but keep in mind this is a non-Druid build.

After Unrelenting Assault (which is mitigated in numerous ways stated in this thread) I use axe 2 & 3 + warhorn 4, then switch to sword + torch, pop Quickening Zephyr, and spam its skills. Once the block heal inevitably comes, plant Spike Trap and do another burst rotation. If they tried to stay on cap they’re dead, but if they try to run I use Entangle and spam the sword auto attack for constant cripple application while each hit does 1-1.2k per crit, switching to axe/warhorn if they use a movement skill.

As a Druid I’d use Shortbow + Axe/Torch (or Dagger) with Wanderer’s/Viper’s and it’d be largely the same occurrence except Ancient Seeds and Celestial Form would help quite a lot. Honestly I don’t see myself losing 1v1 to a standard Revenant build that way.

^ Yeah that’s the standard shortbow trait build. There’s really nothing better with the Druid variant. Personally I suggest Wanderer’s or Viper’s because the Expertise/condition duration makes a big difference.

If you don’t mind losing the condition damage from your rune, try Rune of the Mad King for bleed application burst. The ravens hit 16 times (it’s the same as the warhorn’s Hunter’s Call skill) which processes Sharpened Edges and sigils like crazy and does ~2k damage. Plus even though it’s a Power-oriented rune it has just 5% less bleeding duration increase than Rune of the Krait. Personally I prefer it, especially when people pop their condition removals or go into stealth early.

And I agree with Klonko about sigils, though maybe Sigil of Earth instead of Sigil of Torment because the latter’s 5 second cooldown.

If the problem with Solar Beam was that it can be used to build Astral Force out of combat then why don’t they just make so it can’t do exactly that instead of giving it a needless restriction that makes it even more clunky? Come on Anet.

I agree. The fact that it doesn’t is a huge unnecessary restriction that hinders build diversity.

Just making sure— you realize you need to hit the target while it is stunned/knocked down/dazed/launched for Ancient Seeds to process, right?

Well the thing about trappers is that they are so incredibly predictable. I find them to be a lot less effective in ranked play after the first minute when opponents realize they can just… not walk onto traps. This is a nightmare when you’re against someone who can just chunk you down at range with their autoattack. With this build you’re much more adaptable I think. Though of course you don’t have as much AoE.

Ah cool! Just wondering— how was it?

Hey all I wanted to make a thread to get some feedback on a theoretical Druid version of the common Condition Survival build.

Basically it trades Nature Magic for the Druid traitline. This is mainly for the two traits Natural Stride and Ancient Seeds and possibly a couple glyphs (in that case, Verdant Etching too).

Natural Stride Version (Muddy Terrain can be swapped but it’s really nice if you use it strategically)
Verdant Etching (Glyphs) Version

I won’t detail the core aspects of what the build is based on— you can find that in the Metabattle link. I’ll just look into the pros and cons of the traitline change.

First off, the main cons (in order of severity) are losing Protective Ward, Lingering Magic, Evasive Purity, and Fortifying Bond. Allies’ Aid and Rejuvenation are made up for and then some with Celestial Avatar and Cultivated Synergy. To make up for Protective Ward you can use Glyph of Alignment for Weakness application but the Protection will be lost. The inherent self healing of Celestial Avatar does kind of make up for that however as long as you rotating well. Evasive Purity is partially made up for with either of the Master traits and good condi’ cleanse timing.

Now with that out of the way, let’s look at the pros:

Your immobilization game is through the roof if you have maintain a good rotation, and it doesn’t revolve around the stars aligning for it to be so. Ancient Seeds can be processed every 10s (in a perfect situation) which not only immobilizes but also applies 5 bleed stacks. The reason it can be processed so frequently is Smokescale’s low cooldown (20s) knockdown and the shortbow’s Concussion Shot’s (daze/stun) same cooldown (20s with Light on your Feet). So with them alternating you will probably have a good process rate. You can also optionally switch one of your utilities for Spike Trap for bleed burst if you process Ancient Seeds from its knockdown or Glyph of Equality for daze. Otherwise, you have Wolf/Greathound’s knockdown if you’re switched from Smokescale.

Beyond Ancient Seeds, there’s Entangle’s immobilize, Drakehound/Wolf’s immobilize/fear, Muddy Terrain’s immobilize, and Natural Convergence’s immobilize. Considering all this you can pretty much spam immobilization naturally, making you annoying as kitten in a 1v1 and on capture points (makes it much easier to push Bonfire, Splitblade, and Poison Volley to their full effects) and makes you annoying as hell against fleeing opponents.

Also, an innate movement speed boost is so good. In fact I use Rune of the Traveler over Rune of the Krait in current SPvP just because of it. So Natural Stride’s 33% increased movement speed is pretty major for my own playstyle, considering this build doesn’t have such great escape/chase options (Quick Shot’s swiftness is incredibly minimal, Quickening Zephyr has a long cooldown, no leaps, etc.).

This damage reducing per tick is happening to me as well with Bonfire and Flame Trap, both Ranger skills. Another weird aspect is that if I stack the two upon each other, their burn damage won’t stack. However Torch is ticking for the same, correct damage throughout.

It’s as simple as it reads. Basically, while in the middle an unranked match I suddenly get the “match ready” dialog and horn sound effect, and if I follow through with it will actually teleport me to the newly beginning match while the other one is still in progress.

This doesn’t always happen. However it has happened to me 3 times today. Step by step:

1. Log onto my character
2. Load into Heart of the Mists
3. Press the “Play” button to join the unranked PvP matchmaking queue
4. Go through the steps once the “Match Ready” dialog displays, entering a match just like normal
5. At some point the “Match Ready” dialog displays again, while I’m in the unfinished PvP match. It behaves exactly how it would outside the match
6. When the map is chosen, if you went through with the process, you will load into that map and match abandoning the previous
7. If you canceled the process, you will not load into the game, and things will carry on like normal

It seems that multiple players in the match also experience the issue at the same time as me. In one case, I canceled the dialog thinking “WTF?!” but a few seconds later multiple players in the match disappear. In another I followed through with the process and I was put into a match with someone who was in my previous match, and we talked about it.