Guild Wars 2

Warcry.1596:

In this thread:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Why-play-anything-besides-guardian/first

Reading through it you will find a discussion about DPS from classes. colesy.8490 stated numerous times that “Guardians out-DPS Warriors”. While I know this to be true, many on that thread laughed and dismissed it as false. Those Warriors wanted proof of his claims, and he offered the experimental findings of Guang, from:

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

Max buffed, from best to worst:

Mesmer (Sw/Sw with 3 phantasms) = ~15k
Thief (D/D backstab) = ~13.5k
Elementalist (fire staff or LH) = ~13k
Guardian (GS+Sword) = ~11k
Necromancer (D/F+WH with all minions) = ~11k
Warrior (Axe+GS) = ~10k
Ranger (Sword and Feline pet) = ~9.5k
Engineer (Grenades) = ~9k

So that being said, colesy asked those warriors to post the question in the Dungeon forum, and said whoever posted would find a very quick response. I am simply doing just that FOR those warriors that do not believe. Can/Does a Guardian REALLY out DPS a Warrior?

Take this as a grain of salt. Guan has been a great contributor to the GW2 community, particularly on the GuildWars2Guru.com forums, but his views on class dps can be a bit…controversial and change over time. He also made the claim that engineers do more dps than warriors at one time I believe and detailed theorycrafting behind the claims can be a bit sparse beyond “trust me”.

As for the topic at hand, I don’t think the dps difference between warriors and guardians is that far off and I agree with Guan that people often think warriors have the highest dps due to seeing the really large numbers of a channeled Hundred Blades attack.

Personally, I don’t think it really matters that much whether a guardian or warrior deals more damage since they are so close that the type of utility your group needs (does your group need fury/banners/etc. or reflects/condi-cleanse/etc.) makes a much bigger impact on success and speed of clear.

I think the point people should take away from a post like this is that Guardians do have very high dps potential, whether it actually passes a Warrior or not.

Personally, I think torch could become a strong offhand for PvE if they made at least 1 of these 2 changes:
– Create a fire field with decent up-time
– Grant fury with a decent duration

Focus gives you pretty much the best defensive skills as well as some of the best support utility (blast finisher, ally condi removal, blind), which makes it a solid choice in both PvE and PvP. Unless you’re encountering projectiles, it’s generally a better choice than the shield for PvE.

In PvP, the shield is a bit better for a bunker since it allows you to knock enemies off a point.

I can’t think of much of a reason to use a torch offhand outside of solo leveling. Maybe a specific PvP build?

Guilds are great for fractals, especially if you’re new. We’ve had several low level members in our guild who were brought along for low level fractal runs and they were a blast. =)

Guild Halls.

^ above all else, this!

Also:
Guild vs Guild
Hall of Heroes
Dungeon/PvE Content that is unlocked for a server/region based upon whether that server/region controls an area or wins a match (think Fissure of Woe/Underworld)

Well, I don’t mind groups using stacking that much (especially not like the OP), but I admit, it’s not really a fun way to go through a dungeon.

Still, the enjoyment of learning the best way of clearing a dungeon and getting through efficiently is really fun for me, so it offsets the lackluster experience of stacking.

Xhean.3452:

I though honor would be rather nice because of empowering might and 1h sword with RHS. What would be the focus in virtues? what traits are the important ones?

Master of Consecrations since there are so many good consecrations that make a difference. Wall of Reflect alone justifies this talent for most dungeons.

Also Absolute Resolution is very strong for cleansing your party.

Personally, I find that Hammer or Sword/Focus with Scepter/Focus on a secondary weaponset to be the best. However, I’m not really a fan of the Greatsword. The damage is inconsistent because of the awkward mechanics of Whirling Wrath and the low auto-attack dps compared to the rest of the weapon skills on the GS.

Between Hammer and Sword, it’s a pretty close tie though. Sword edges you a bit more dps (pun intended), but Hammer gives more access to blast finishers which is great for stacking might and the protection from the auto-attack seal is great for any other teammates in melee.

The Nobleman’s Legguard’s armor has a graphical glitch with the front patch of armor for Sylvari when wielding a staff (see picture). Instead of hanging down, normally, the front patch of armor turns at an awkward angle and clips with the rest of the armor.

Also, when the character does the random idle emote (thumps the staff on the ground or tosses it back and forth between hands), it displays correctly, but returns to the glitched state when the emote finishes.

I know this sounds like a small thing, but this is my favorite armor and addressing this small issue would make a big impact on my play experience. Thank you for your time.

Joreel.9263:

I’m curious how you find guilds in-game? I’ve tried to ask in the chat, but no one ever answers anything I’ve asked so far. I looked at the Guild section of the forum, but it doesn’t actually say what guilds are where, which makes it hard to find out which ones are on which server…

Also like many others, I wish the search feature worked so I could look up the answers lol…

My best recommendation for finding a guild is to post in the ‘Looking for Guild’ section of the forums. That seems to make connections pretty effectively.

Alternatively, there are looking-for-guild websites for GW2 around. I don’t remember the names of any offhand, but they should pop up as google results with a quick search.

With all the uproar about how everyone should be 100% berserker dps-focused, it’s nice to hear a story of how a tanky, defensive focused player can make a positive difference in a group.

xsquared.1926:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQJASRlYg6C33xMEfIFSWhC0mBBBQ1HiHMFYkHB-jgxAY/AR+BoIQJvioxWcLiGrylIqWKgIWGB-e

What about this? 15/25/0/20/10 Hammer/GS.

Been running it for a few weeks now, seems to outdps sword too (Taking 0/30/0/30/10) in mind

That’s what I’m running (except with Master of Consecrations over Unscathed Contender.

Whether it outdpses a sword build or not, it’s close and you get the additional benefit of being able to might stack your party through blast finishers in fire fields. You just have to be careful not to blast through the symbol instead.

Honestly, I’d vote engi for a pug. It brings arguably the highest dps with a ranged build, so you are less likely to be downed because of confusion, mis-communication, or lack of defensive support for melee.

There seems to be some confusion and mis-communication seems to be taking place on this topic, but hopefully this clears things up:
Good – Dailies that can be completed quickly through whichever facet of gameplay the player enjoys the most

Better – A daily system that allows players to do multiple dailies if they missed a previous day: i.e. for players that are busy during the week, but that have lots of time to play on the weekends.

Since you get so much crit on berserker’s gear as it is (easy to hit 100% with pretty much every class), assassin’s gear is almost never better than berserker’s gear. See the below reference for more details and math:
http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/1li5q3/breakeven_points_of_power_vs_precision_mathtable/

For a pug speed run, stack warriors.

For a really min/maxed speed run, however, you’ll want thieves with a ranger and a warrior for your primary dps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWQ-39_C8LI

That’s my 2 cents at least. =P

Thanks for the advice. Ultimately, I think I’ll be running with this:
10/25/0/20/10
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNAS7elYgCDXGyLEfIFRWBRazggAs+Q8wUoRPC-jQyAY/IjtAILBiKAn8GyaCMithioxqrxUuER1A-e

Well, the Perfect Inscriptions was more of something just to have while wielding a hammer that would be switched for RHS on ranged fights, but I’ll go ahead and switch it for the 14 in Zeal.

Also, good tip for the might stacking on the engi. I’ll pass that on.

Obtena.7952:

Dahkeus.8243:

Anyways, with those considerations, I’m wondering the following questions:

- Would it be more worthwhile to put additional points into Virtues to extend boon durations? A lot of the talents in that tree seem rather lackluster.

- For the second tier of Honor, is Writ of Persistence, Two-Handed Mastery, or Empowering Might better?

- Would Ruby Jewels/Scholar Runes be better for a build like this or would picking up the boon duration runes (2x sup monk, 2x sup water, and 2x major sanctuary) be better?

- Is there a better way overall to rearrange traits to fit a good hammer build without sacrificing tons of damage (i.e. keeping 10 in Zeal and 25 in Radiance)?

I run 15/15/0/20/20. It’s a balance of things that I think are important to me for PVE using a hammer. I tend to run writ.

I never run 2H mastery with hammer. It gives little benefit to increasing damage.

I use Ruby cause it’s cheap but there are scenarios (I don’t know the exact details) where scholar are better. I think the damage difference is very small.

Well, the benefit of 2 Mastery isn’t for damage, but for additional blast finishers to provide more might.

I’m currently working on trying to find the right build that I will be primarily be using with my Fractals group (I’m rerolling from Thief since we already have a Thief, but no Guard). Below are some of the main things I want to get from the build:

- Strong personal DPS (I don’t want to run some AH pseudo-tank build)
– Hammer as primary weapon
– Ability to help stack might
– Ability to provide strong support with reflects/stability/cleansing/protection/etc.

Here’s what I’m currently considering:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNAS7+kYgCDXGSRkVQkWPIIALYVh4hpQjeE
Gear will be primarily berserker, although I may use some Knights pieces as well to start out.

My fractals group currently consists of an Ele (not 100% sure of build, but it’s not a Lightning Hammer build. Seems primarily to use fire spells), a Thief (primarily Pistol/Pistol ranged atm, but may switch to daggers later), an Engi (runs grenade kit with elixirs), and a Ranger (using bows primarily).

tl;dr for that: My group is using a lot of ranged builds and brings some might, but we’re never really fully stacked.

Anyways, with those considerations, I’m wondering the following questions:

- Would it be more worthwhile to put additional points into Virtues to extend boon durations? A lot of the talents in that tree seem rather lackluster.

- For the second tier of Honor, is Writ of Persistence, Two-Handed Mastery, or Empowering Might better?

- Would Ruby Jewels/Scholar Runes be better for a build like this or would picking up the boon duration runes (2x sup monk, 2x sup water, and 2x major sanctuary) be better?

- Is there a better way overall to rearrange traits to fit a good hammer build without sacrificing tons of damage (i.e. keeping 10 in Zeal and 25 in Radiance)?

Svarty.8019:

Kurieg.4158:

Ya, that’s normal. There’s 3 tiers of hit points for the 8 classes:
Lowest HP (about 10k)= Ele, Thief, Guardian
Medium HP (about 15k) = Engi, Ranger, Mes
High HP (about 18k) = Necro, Warrior

This is completely arbitrary and nonsensical.

This fact completes my Daily Disappointment Achievement. Every day.

It actually makes a bit of sense when you think about it:
Ele, Thief, and Guardian all have a lot of inherent survival abilities: Thief has stealth and tons of evades while Guardian and Ele have tons of boons and heals.

I mean, Guardians and Eles have historically been the most popular bunkers in PvP because of their skills/talents (even if this has changed a bit in the current meta).

On the opposite spectrum of this, Necros have very few evades to avoid taking damage and the large health pool synergizes with their life siphoning abilities. Also, Warriors, despite having heavy armor, are very offensively focused in their talents and abilities which leaves them to rely on their healthpool to stay alive.

Yea, engineers are really the best choice if you want to stay ranged since they do so well with the grenade kit (assuming you can get used to spam targetting your main attacks instead of letting auto-attack do all the work for you).

They also do pretty equal damage with either condi gear or berserker gear.

Overall, they’re probably one of the more under estimated classes, but their damage is solid and they’re great at stacking vulnerability on mobs as well.

On a side note, for anyone with a new level 80 thief that is gearing up (and also enjoys WvW), I would recommend picking up a full Valkyrie set for your first set of gear. This will give you more survival in dungeons and as you transition to a full Berserker set for PvE, the Valkyrie set is still ideal for WvW (full Valkyrie armor with Berserker weapons/accessories is great for WvW).

xktzzz.7581:

@Dahkeus.8243 critical strike traits there is the second trait slot empty, what would you recommend there ?

Personally, I like Critical Haste, but Furious Retaliation and Signet Use are also good choices. If you switch to S/P or P/P for a certain fight, this can be swapped to Combo Critical Chance or Pistol Mastery.

It’s hard to beat 25/30/0/0/15. It brings the highest dps possible and can work with just about any weaponset. Here’s the basic structure:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYAQNAoYFmI2esTAwT/DkVnBNbJA

If you’re newer to the thief class, running something with 15 in Acrobatics for the extra dodge may be a bit easier as this is a very glass-cannon build, but you have everything you need to be a great contribution to your group if you play it right. Personally, this is what I generally run in most situations:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fYAQNAoYVlYmCO3eS5E95Ex2jdqTe6fgs6MoZLB

Gear is full berserker and slot skills/elite may change depending on the fight.

Balthazar is closed quite a bit, but it’s not impossible to find it open (at least speaking for Tarnished Coast). If it’s closed though, your best best is to go out to help out with the event chain that opens it.

With a staff on swap and using “Retreat”/“Save Yourselves”, I typically have probably 80-90% swiftness uptime on my Guardian. Just make sure to use the staff swiftness before your shouts since the staff swiftness only adds 1 second swiftness instead of 7 if you already have swiftness up.

Yup, and it’s even worse for thieves. Running a typical dungeon, I’m using 2 daggers for single target fights, a short bow for AoE/Trash/Blast Finishers, 2 pistols on single target ranged boss fights, and a sword for several other situations such as when mobs have tons of boons (Dredge Fractal), when blind field tanking is ideal (Line of Sight pulls), etc.

Yea, the dps of the mesmer is a bit lacking. However, after looking at the upcoming changes, it seems like they will get some decent buffs to utility since the condition cleanse and stability mantras will be changed to affect your party as well.

Hmm…

Remnants of Hope uses TS3.

Herr der Friedhoefe.2490:

… and how many hours is a guy supposed to grind the fractals solo to get a vial?

Seriously…

I actually have one already (luck drop on probably my second Fractals ever).

However, there seems to be conflicting info on whether I can make a Berserker backpiece from the magic find one. I mean, even if there’s no Berserker option, but there’s still an Assassin option, I would go for it.

Ok, here’s another question. I also have a mesmer that’s already level 80. Would a Mesmer substitute just as well? It would certainly cover reflects, but you don’t get things like the AoE stability for the Harpy fractal.

Hey GW2 forum folks, I need some advice. I currently play a thief and am running fractals regularly with a group consisting of a Ranger, Engi, Ele, and another Thief. We’re currently at level 8 and aim to keep running together to reach as high as we can.

However, I’m wondering if I would be a better contribution to my group, particularly for higher level fractals, if I switched to a Guardian. This would mean I would have to finish leveling my Guardian, then catch up to the same fractal level as our group, but I’m thinking that the condi cleanse and AoE stability may be pretty clutch at higher level fractals.

What do you think? Worth it?

Does anyone know if it’s still possible to make the magic fiend ascended backpiece (There with Yakkington: A Traveler’s Tale)? If so, does it still let you choose the stats after making it, like other magic find items?

I ask because, if so, this could be a much more cost effective way to get a berserker’s backpiece (vicious fangs are much, much cheaper than powerful blood).

Also: In before overreaction to this change.

(anyone who saw the posts on these forums before the stealth-breaking trap was released to WvW knows what I mean)

I actually think that this could add some interesting gameplay, but at the same time, I think thieves are in a good place right now (not too overpowered and not too underpowered).

If the condi meta doesn’t stay as over-the-top as it is now, I think I can see this working.

Azure.8670:

Zacchary.6183:

Roll warrior faceroll stunlock build.

nah I roll people with my engi. I prefer Thief though I just suck! im willing to drop sword altogether and use d/p if I have to, dunno what a good build is for it though. I like the Thief for the burst because all my other toons I play sustained or cond. woe is me.

@Excal I just lose 1v1 against anyone decent honestly. When I pick up my Engi or Mes, I can feel what im doing worng… Thief, i just lose. Im not too squishy either I just seem to do everything wrong. I dunno. maybe im playing too many classes

Yea, engis are pretty strong, but they require a good bit of skill to play really well. They’re also very strong against thieves, which can be a good advantage to have when roaming.

As for being squishy with thief: It takes a good bit of practice. A strong warrior can easily smash most thieves from 100%-0 in a single stun, but thieves have more than enough tools to keep that from happening (especially with a pistol offhand).

In general though, the reason thieves are so squishy at first is because so much of their survival relies on understanding what your enemy is doing so you can avoid it. Many other classes can just tank damage and just focus on smashing, but the evasion style defense that we have makes it much more critical to know enemy attacks.

BeardManly.2140:

Thanks Aidyn, I signed up for the forums, but not sure how to start filling out an application. I’m going to go play the game a bit now, but I probably won’t have a chance to apply until Sunday, I’m going on a camping trip today.

Hey, glad you decided to check us out!

You can submit an application by creating a new thread. This link will take you directly to the instructions and such:
http://remnantsofhope.com/boards/index.php?/topic/8550-how-to-join-remnants-of-hope/

But in the meantime, have fun on your camping trip!

Personally, I think S/P is fine if you play at off-peak times. The root of the weapon isn’t much of an issue, but you have much fewer escape options than something like D/P or even D/D since heartseeker and stealth are great ways to get away when a zerg appears on the horizon.

However, if I’m roaming, I still take a S/P in my offhand along with Daggerstorm for solo capping camps as these are very efficient at letting you take down the NPCs there without having to spend a bunch of time with evasive tactics. (Daggerstorm down ranged scouts while kiting melee, then blind field tank the melee mobs down)

I would recommend trying out a good D/P build, but be forewarned that D/P probably takes more getting used to than any other weapon set. Unlike something like D/D, you’ll be playing very differently depending on who you are fighting. If you’re going against a warrior, then keeping a blind field down at their feet is more important than trying to get a bunch of backstabs, but if you’re going against something condi-heavy, then you will want to stealth as much as possible (especially with the SA trait to cleanse on stealth). Positioning is also much more important with this weapon set since the blind field is so essential to everything you do.

Finally, I would recommend doing a YouTube search for “Yishis Thief Outnumbered” to find some good vids on roaming as a thief in WvW.

OIIIIIO.7825:

Dahkeus.8243:

I’ve almost never had a problem with it being on cooldown from when I used it to travel.

FTFY

huh?

It’s a 15 second cd. If I’m using it to travel, then it’s nearly off cd by the time I get to where I’m going and pretty much always off cd by the time I need a heal. If I’m dying for a heal in the first few seconds of a fight, then it’s time to retreat from the fight anyways.

Fighting smart mobs is always more fun than strong and/or numerous mobs.

Unfortunately, the AI of enemies seems to be pretty stagnant in the MMO genre. Some of the ideas with Everquest Next mobs sound pretty promising though.

Yea, you lose a lot of damage without those last two talents in CS. Dropping the extra 10 in Acro for this will probably suit you better, especially since you already have 4 dodges from Sig of Agi. With the blind field of pistol #5, you shouldn’t be needing to dodge as much anyways.

Also, if you take the 30 point CS talent Hidden Killer, you can easily switch your main armor (head, shoulders, chest, hands, legs, boots) to Valkyrie, which will give you a lot of staying power while still being able to hit like a truck with your backstabs.

Oh yea, I also agree with Ashin that S/P with Daggerstorm is excellent for solo capping camps. Daggerstorm is great against the thief/scout NPCs and the blind/stunlock from S/P allows you to just face-tank all the other enemies.

Coloxeus.3480:

i run perma swiftness with my Superior rune of centaur + withdraw healing skill… +165 attack power.

Same. You get more mobility since swiftness > 25% run speed and when you use withdraw along with it, the dodge also moves you even faster. The cooldown of withdraw is so low, I’ve almost never had a problem with it being on cooldown from when I used it to travel.

Honestly, a strong warrior meta could make more ranged builds viable, which would be a nice change.

Hey Abha,

You may want to check out Remnants of Hope. We’re a mid-sized guild on Tarnished Coast that is active in all areas of the game and we welcome players of all levels/experience. For a full description of our guild, check out our recruitment post here:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/guilds/recruitment/TC-Remnants-of-Hope-PvX-WvW-RP-2/first#post2420649

or go directly to our forums here to have a look for yourself here:
http://remnantsofhope.com/boards/

We regularly join together for all types of activities that are both scheduled (listed on our calendar) and unscheduled (spontaneously started in game). These consist of everything from dungeon runs, leveling parties, jumping puzzles, WvW, sPvP, RP events, player generated events, and more.

Now, one thing you will notice about our guild that is different than most is that we have a more involved trial period than most other guilds. The application to join our guild is a bit longer and we have a 2 week trial period for all new members where we ask them to get involved in our community. However, this allows us to make sure that we maintain a great community of friendly/active people and also get to know all new members so they get to really feel like part of our family.

If this sounds like the guild you and your friend are looking for, then register on our forums and submit an application! You can find more on this at the link below:
http://remnantsofhope.com/boards/index.php?/topic/8550-how-to-join-remnants-of-hope/

And of course, if you have any questions, feel free to PM me either on the forums or in game. Good luck with your search and if RoH isn’t what you’re looking for, I wish you the best in finding the right guild to call home.

1 and 2 probably require more of an answer than I can fit in one post, but here are some tips for answer 3 regarding stomping enemies:

Stomping a warrior, ranger, guardian, necro, or engineer:
Blind these enemies before trying to stomp them as this will prevent being interrupted by their downed abilities. The blind field from skill 5 on a pistol offhand is best for this.

Alternatively, you can just stealth unless against a guardian or an engineer who has been downed long enough to use their #3 ability. This is because the guardian #3 and engineer #3 abilities do an AoE knockback.

Stomping a mesmer or elementalist:
Don’t attempt stomping these classes until they use their downed skill number 2 as they will just jump away from you. Missing a stomp is as useful to you and your team as you going afk for the duration of the stomp animation. Instead, apply poison (dagger auto-attack or short bow #4) and dps them down.

You can attempt a stealth stomp on these classes and you will probably land it on less experienced players, but a good ele/mesmer will still port away shortly after you stealth since they will count on you attempting this.

THERE IS ONE EXCEPTION TO THIS, which is if you are fighting a mesmer and have absolutely no one nearby. In this case, you can pull off a stealth stomp since a mesmer needs to have an enemy targeted for the teleport to work.

Stomping a thief:
This is pretty much the same as a mesmer or ele EXCEPT if you have Infiltrator’s Signet. If you have this skill (which is a good all around PvP slot skill anyways), stomp like normal, but cast your Inf Sig as soon as the thief ports on their skill 2. This will teleport you to them without breaking the stomp so that you still land it. You can technically also do this with Shadowstep, but you cast it near the location that the thief ports to lightning fast. Considering that a good thief will wait to the last possible second of your stomp to port away, this isn’t nearly as reliable as using Inf Sig.

I THINK you can use Shadow Trap the same way as Inf Sig if you drop it on your enemy before starting the stomp, but I can’t confirm this.

@ Coloxeus: Awesome video with some really great tips/tricks!

edit I forgot the Shadow Step stomp, which works against guardians/engineers, but you can see that in Coloxeus’ vid.

Coloxeus.3480:

i tried all these runes, scholar, orb, ogre in WvW and PvP… but overall i really love the Superior rune of centaur (Withdraw Healing Skill) roaming in WvW and roaming capper in tpvp spvp if u prefer 1v1 il go scholar and when dueling a mesmer,engineer or necro the Ogre rune is my choice.

^ Agreed with this for PvP and open world traveling, but the bonus is a bit wasted if you’re just min/maxing for dungeons.

Personally, I have a Berserker set with ruby orbs (will upgrade to scholar one day when I have the gold) for PvE and a Valkyrie set with Centaur runes for PvP.

Not worth it to me.

As a thief, I use at least 5 weapons in almost every dungeon I run (dagger/dagger for most single target fights, pistol/pistol for boss fights that don’t favor melee, and short bow for AoE). Considering how much time and gold it costs to make 1 of these weapons, there’s no way I could get this with my current playtime if I want to do anything when I log in besides mindless gold farming.

The real question to me is whether it’s worth doing WvW against people that have gear advantages over me. Considering that this is one of the prime reasons I left WoW for GW2, it’s a lot harder to get motivated to play with this change. Bleh…

Put it on while learning the class, then take it off.

Instant cast of shortbow #5 alone makes this worthwhile.

Here’s a great guide for a S/P trickery build: http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/83957-tessa-averys-swordpistol-shortbow-daze-burst-build/

However, as others have said, retaliation can be a pretty hard counter to it. If the enemy doesn’t have a ton of other boons, it’s not bad since you strip with Bountiful Theft, but landing a pistol whip through retal is painful.

I ran this build for a good, long while and it’s pretty solid, but ultimately, I found a good d/p build to work better in most situations.