Guild Wars 2

TL;DR
I’d also like to recommend Guardian.

Why?:
GW2 meta is currently build around as much DPS as possible in PvE and every class can do that, the key, how-ever, is offering as much support as you can with a minimal loss in DPS. imo generally a Guardian offers the most: Condition Removal, Reflect (anti-projectile by bouncing it back to it’s source,) Stability (prevents stun, knockback etc.) or Protection (33% damage reduction) Aegis (blocks next attack) Blinds (next outgoing attack misses) Mesmer also supports the team in similar ways (Reflects, Condition Removal, Short-lasting Stability) but not nearly as much as the Guardian, but they add to the team in different ways. (Portals, some Stealth etc.)

You can spec any class as a healer or supporter, but it’s currently in a bad place, negating damage (dodging, reflects, aegis etc) often does a lot more than any of your heals can do and can be provided by DPS-specs just as good, whilst killing an opponent faster.

For WvW there’s more option to go something else than Damage and support shines a lot more. Any class can build quite nicely around anything support or healer-like (Necromancers can go for healing wells, Engineers for healing Bombs etc.) but most commenly people use the Waterfields from Elementalists, Engineer and Rangers to then Blast them for Area Healing. Guardians are often seen as a must since they can apply (long-lasting) Stability to a group of 5, which is needed with all the crowd control.

All this makes Guardian a solid choice for both PvE and WvW for someone who enjoys supporting the team. As a bonus they’re also quite easy and forgiving to level, their HP might be on the low-end, all their group-support keeps them alive in a solo situation. Perfect for a new player (but can feel a bit difficult when you start with team-content.)

I didn’t include sPvP since I feel almost every class have their strenght and weaknesses there and skill and versitility is suddently a lot more important than in PvE or even WvW. On top of that any low-level character has instantly access to all the skills and traits (with few exceptions to new traits/skills anyone has to unlock.)

I can’t really help since I’m still learning the robes myself, but some useful links:
http://www.guildwars2tradingpost.com/ a blogger focussed on flipping, investing, trading, anything TP really.
http://gw2profit.aws.af.cm/ still figuring this one out myself but it’s amazing apparently.
http://www.gw2spidy.com/ for statistics on items you might consider flipping.

In sPvP almost every class can find a place aslong as it’s build well and most importantly played well. Ofcourse everyone wants the right balance between role (roamer, farpoint assaulter etc.) but many classes can fit different roles with the right builds. Ofcourse some classes are more beloved than others, but it’s 25% class/build and 75% skill in PvP lowering the difference.

In PvE there’s always optimal set-ups for a certain situation since it never changes (until updated) and is incredibly preditable, aka no need to build your team to be able to face anything since you know what’s coming (slight exception in Fractals at the most.) These set-ups will be applied and showed off by the hardcore guilds and people attempt to copy them, even in PuGs, resulting in certain classes being desired and others slightly left out of the picture. Personal experience can make quite an effect aswell, if someone runs into a lot of bad players on class Y and good players on class X they can easily make the assumption class X will be a better addition to the team. (Most famously Bearbow Rangers, no-one likes them, but a meta-Ranger on the other hand… pretty nice to have) Luckily not everyone is like that, but if you want to be beloved by every single group it’s smart to pick a Favour of the Month class (like almost any group carries a Warrior and an Elementalist.) But if you rather play something you like, pick what-ever and join the groups that fit you (I’d recommend this) or ofcourse form them yourself!

I enjoy all professions and I think they’re all fun. I love certain classes more in PvP and some more in PvE but I don’t think any class is in a really bad shape. For PvE I think Necromancer needs some changes, I feel it doesn’t stand out in anything except being scrappy, but besides that I think it’s the typical MMO balancing issues. I doubt any MMO will ever pull it off that all classes are equally desired and keep them all unique and interesting. From past experiences I actually think gw2 isn’t doing too shabby on that part, assuming you ignore the no holy trinity = everyone’s DPS in PvE aspect.

I didn’t play a year ago so I can’t say what’s changed, I can say how I view their position currently.

For PvE Ranger offers quite a bit to a group through Frost Spirit and Spotter and thus can be a nice asset to orginized teams, sadly there’s still quite a lot of bias towards them due to most people playing non-meta builds on Rangers in PuGs and not bring much to a team. I must say I’ve seen about 2 Rangers in 3 months using Sw/Wh + Sw/any which is the highest DPS, combined with Frost Spirit, Spotter and Feline (Jaguar for damage, Stalker for group Might) and currently meta, so I think the bias might not be completely invalid. There’re plenty of groups accepting anyone though.

In sPvP they can hold their own quite well in 1 v 1 and can bring a lot to a groupfight with Spirits (different builds) depending on build, definitly worth giving a go if you like the class.

For WvW I assume conditions are the meta, but I don’t play WvW with my Ranger.

As for pet-control I’d try and put it on passive and manually let it attack what you like. My pet’s never pulled anything I didn’t want aggro off and always follows my targets due to that, it’s a bit more effort though. Also f2 has a slight delay and some skills (Sic ‘m spring to mind) will interrupt since the pet goes into some rage (hence the name Sic ’m.) As a slight bonus, Pet’s are wonderful pullers since they only take aggro of what they damage, though I only use this in very few situations, but it’s nice since I don’t use ranged weapons.

But when it comes down to being beloved I’d say they’re far behind Warrior, Elementalist and Guardian still.

I’d recommend Celestial, the post above explained perfectly how to craft it. The reason behind this is that the Elementalist can use most of the stats, the condition damage gets some use through burning and the healing gets a lot of use if you’re using soothing wave, Signet of Restoration, Water 5 or even Ether Renewal if you use it instead of the Signet. Giving you plenty of survivability (slightly less than Soldier’s but it’s off-set by having stronger heals) but I’d also swap in some Berserker’s, Cavaliers, Knights or even Valkyrie’s gear (all available on the TP, berserker also in other places like WvW-badges) to buff your damage a little. The downside is the time-gate, same for Ascended Armor, it takes quite a few days to refine. If Ascended is more your thing, this is the only guide I know.

Never liked my Mesmer, been toying with this set every since Flamekissed got a reskin for me Elementalist, but it ended up on my Mesmer somehow. Old look and new. (In between just a phoenix set with feathered headpiece, so boring.)

Set 1: Elite Acolyte, Whispers Top, Whisper Gloves, Arah Leggings, Karma Shoes (forgot their name, only visiable in Warden’s spin/underwater)
Set 2: Feathered headpiece, Cabalist Shoulders, Phoenix Tops/Gloves, Flamekissed Leggings/Shoes, though looking for alternative shoes/gloves.

vizjaqtaar.8620:

hi guys .just hit 80 today and decided to start to get 80 sets for my guardian i ve found a guide on net with celestial gears but then lot ppl told me theyr outdated.i wanna go as in power ,toughness vitality and precision and with 0,0,4,6,4 build with gs/s,f.. for pve dungeons and www …where should i start ? with crafting or should go get gears from tp ? i really dont know where to start or where to " farm"…190k karma , 1200 badges of honor , 75 seeds of batttn, 65 deadly blossoms in my wallet atm ..ty again from a real lost newbie.

Celestial Gear has changed, but it’s still slightly lower in survivability than Soldier’s but for some classes their Heal/Condition damage useage off-sets this loss. How-ever it’s heavily time-gated so I’d still recommend avoiding it for now.

I’d get gear in a mixture of TP/Karma/Badge of Honour, whichever you have available! For example 5g 44s and 950 badges buys you full set of 6 armor-pieces in Soldier’s, Knights, Carrior, Clerics, Berserkers or Rabid.

For Trinkets you could use Laurels (assuming you have them) Guildcommendations, or coin. WvW-Laurel Vendors also do a mixture of badges + laurels for Amulets, highly recommended. Any stat-combination that’s in the game is available. Alternatives would be WvW-merchants (they have Soldier Trinkets, exotic, if I recall correctly) or the Trading Post/Crafting.

gw2spidy.com you can see if something is cheaper crafted or bought, also remember to check the named sets in case it’s cheaper.

And lastly, Karma, the wiki-page Temple Armor should be able to redirect you.

For my first set I also went for a mix of whatever I had available, but once you’re 80 the options to make a buck gets easier. If you’re in need of more currency I recommend:
EotM Karma-train for Karma and Badges of Honour (and some coin.)
Easy dungeons providing a stat you like, e.g. Ascalonian Catacombs for Soldier’s. Also gives you plenty of coin. (Note: avoid zerker-only groups unless you’re full zerker build and gear to avoid an unpleasent experience on both sides)

There’s 2 ways conditions stack: Intensity (bleeding, torment etc.) and Duration (Burning, Weakness etc.) Each Intensity stack has their own timer and will drop off when their duration is done and if it works like Boon-stacking the last applies seems to override the first, but I’m not 100% sure it works for conditions aswell. The damage depends on who-ever applied it and their condition damage currently (e.g. you applied a bleed, then gain might, the bleed gets stronger.)

Duration simply keeps stacking in time until removed (e.g. blind on hit or a cleanse) or when the opponents dies, and from what I noticed when it runs out for the first applicant it goes to the next damage-wise.

This is one of the reasons condition-spec are slightly unbeloved in PvE, if they’re not overwritten they are on par with zerk-builds, but if they get overwritten (either by 2 condition-specced people in the group or even unavoidable bleedapplication such as Warriors and Necro’s because it’s a minor trait) but if they are they can lose quite a chunk of damage.

This is all from personal experience and if someone says I’m incorrect and tells me how it does work, I believe them.

Buy-orders don’t always mean it’s to use the dye, by either opening them or crafting the Bifrost, and thus reducing the supply. I think very slowly they will go back to what they used to be, but very, very slowly. I got 7 stacks at 15s/each because it’s all I could afford back and have them stored in case I take a break and return.

I’ve noticed no such thing. What I do notice how-ever is that once in a while I’ve got a big streak of bad luck and it tends to be compensated with some luck after, which I think your issue comes down to aswell. Remember a 25% chance to succeed is also a 75% chance to fail.

There’s a good place for almost any class in WvW due to the big numbers in the group and every class has their own speciality to bring to a zerg. For example:
Guardians: Provide the neccesary buffs for a zerk to stay alive such as Stability, Protection, Condition Removal.
Warrior: Good Frontliners, especially feared for the crowd control on Hammer.
Elementalist: Waterfields, Firefields (people blast them for healing/damage) and some crowd control and great AoE potentional.
Mesmer: Portals, Veil (makes the whole zerg invisiable for 5 seconds) and boonstripping.
Necromancer: Boonstripping.
Engineer: Quite a bit of healing with bombs in the right spec.
Ranger: No idea, only roamed with them.
Thieves: Finishing off any stranglers mainly, Shortbow gives them loads of blastfinishers, but once again I only really roam with them unless the zerg needs numbers.
And almost any class can provide plenty of damage to actually kill the enemy zerg. For roaming any class works though I’ve encountered Necromancers very little if at all. Most popular are likely Thieves due to stealth, Mesmers, due to once again, stealth and Elementalist, high mobility.

For PvE there’s less room (5 people vs 10+ or even 30+) for verstility and generally people want one thing: as much damage as possible with the needed survivability (dodge covers a surpisingly big amount.) Though every class can contribute in one way or another, Necromancers, Engineers and Rangers tend to be the least beloved by the average group where-as Warriors and Elementalist seem to be beloved in almost any group.

Do keep in mind meta’s can shift and classes can go from strong to weak and the other way around. Make sure if you pick just one class you enjoy their mechanics.

Cash.2385:

The thing that really boggles my mind is when I get beat up by like a mesmer, thief, asura, smaller character than myself or lighter armor…even someone wearing a lighter armor skin, bugs me. I like the knight build mace and shield. It would be cool if size and armor counted for more in pvp, like heavy verse light head on they would lose, quickly… I don’t know if its because I don’t have a team or coms.. but I find it unbalanced, most of the time I swing at air because so much evading, I want to just stand there and trade… everyone’s a rabbit or an illusion.

How would it be ‘cool’ if a specific race or specific armor-class would gain a huge advantage over the other? You’d see no Asura warriors because a Norn could beat them by sneezing. You’d see only Charr Engineers because the Iron Legion just provided them with the latest gadgets etc. It’d simply mean everyone would roll a class with the best race that in order to stay competitive.

Evade is an important aspect of the game and so is mobility in and outside of combat, try to get used at using it and at predicting when someone can still dodge and when they’ve ran out of endurance so you can land big hits. Immobilize will also prevent someone from dodging. If you can’t stand evading, Guild Wars 2 will not be an enjoyable game.

Also learn to how certain classes work and what their role is in order to be able to compete with them, a helpful link for that: popupar tPvP-builds by Dante like this you can atleast research what people throw at you.

Lastly try to figure out key mechanics from a class. GW2 classes are quite distinctive, each carries an unique mechanic even when they’re filling the same role (e.g. roamer, bunker etc.) for example:
Mesmers are quite easily found between their clones, the clones do nothing but auto-attack and stand still, where-as it’s very likely the player will be moving. If the character disappears and a clone jumps at you it means the mesmer just used Decoy meaning it will re-appear soon after or has ran way. When all Illusions/Phantasms run towards you it means they just used their class-mechanic of shattering for various effects, I’d highly recommend you dodge.
Thieves are squishy but can be difficult to pin down due to blinds and stealth, how-ever a thief in stealth can still take damage. Meaning you can use auto-attacks or area’s of effect in the location you assume they’ll be (most likely trying to stab/hit you in the back) especially when they put up Shadow Refuge you know where they’ll most likely be for a few seconds.

Like this every class has things that are just the way the class works, big part of the fun is learning to deal with them and become a better player. If you just enjoy mashing things without ever losing it sounds PvE is more your thing. Most importantly, never give up!

You can’t equip armor that’s for different races, you’ll have to pick non-cultural skins if you wish to share your gear across your characters.

Nekroseth.5186:

Only by crafting 1 to 400 i get like 10 ish level. So that is like 20-25 at best i guess levels.

Craft boosters affect the crafting experience (e.g. materials required to craft) not the actual XP and thus it’s safe to say no matter what you get 7 levels from 1-400 and 3 levels from 400-500.

Anyway the way I’d recommend:
- Birthday Scroll to level 20 and finish the tutorial. (Level 20)
- Level cheap crafts (Cooking ~5g Jewel and Artifice ~10g/each) for 21 levels. Always the fast guide, or it takes too long. (Level 41)
- Optional: Run to important waypoints now you have 3 utilities and an elite skill if it will be a PvE-toon rather than WvW. (~level 45 to 50 depending on desired amount of WPs)
- Edge of the Mist / Dungeons, Edge of the Mist tends to give ~3-4 levels per hour if a decent Commander is on and keeps are unprotected (the usual) they give 1/3rd of a level on their own. Dungeons give atleast 1 level each, especially rewarding if you use boosters due to a decent amount of trash generally, quite a few paths can be done in very little time but might require friends. (until Level 80)

The big amount of champions killed either way makes sure a toon can hit level 80 with plenty of skillpoints and quite a buck if you know when to open the champion bags. (Linen <3) and either some Karma or some Dungeon tokens for gear.

In reality how-ever, I just PvP and use Tomes of Knowledge, with the new reward track I get tons of weapons to give a new alt any weapon she needs, or might ever need by the time I got her a set of gear, all this whilst I’m having fun.

Carpboy.7145:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/Guide-DPS-Guardian-for-PVE

Definitly this guide ^

Remember that the best Guardians are the ones that adjust on the fight; Need stability? Hallowed Ground/Stand your Ground. Need a lot of Condition Cleanse? Purging Flames. Need Reflects/Anti Projectile? Wall of Reflection/Shield of the Avenger. Need more Aegis? Retreat.

Same for weapons. Sw/F + GS is the highest DPS, Hammer + GS is good damage with high team-support, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a Scepter or Staff (TA blossom clearing in skips) in your storage. (BTW on Guangs point, the first field gets dips, so if there’s already a firefield up, you can place a lightfield, Elementalist usually carry 1 longlasting Firefield, it gets predictable.)

Personally I’ve already become happy if a Guardian puts up a Wall of Reflection and knows how to pull mobs (Greatsword 5) but there’s so much more you can do for your team! I love you for wanting to improve <3

Dulfy provides plenty of weaponskins, just mentioned them with a link to the WP, besides that there’re not that many except the expensive cultural ones. Might be worth going to the Badges of Honour and Coin section.

I agree with CountzuCrytus.7256 when it comes down to the gear. An Elementalist is squishy and you will struggle surviving in Berserker gear, but if you can, do it. It is possible if you’re good at positioning, if you can’t put in as many PTV/Celestial pieces as you need. Sometimes I run full Berserkers but on difficult assaults I swap in quite a bit of PTV. Only you can decide how much you need.

Just a common misconception I’d like to point out. Most of the Elementalists ‘healing’ in big zerks comes from putting down a Waterfield and people start blasting it like crazy, this is not affected by your healing-power. When people take Cleric Trinkets it’s to make their Ether Renewal heal more, but if that’s a desired effect I’d recommend Celestials for a bit of both worlds.

Buildwise I’ve been playing with:
0 0 4 (III, VIII) 4 (III, X) 6 (V, VIII, XI) since Stability can be invaluable.
0 0 2 (III) 6 (III, X, XI) 6 (V, VIII, XI) more focussed on Condition Cleansing than Stability.
0 6 (VI, X, XIII) 0 4 (III, VI) 4 (V, VIII) using the new air-trait for damage, but I’m unsure how useful it is, besides whilst Tornado’ing around.

Cantrips as utilities with Tornado, Staff, Mix of Celestial/Berserker/Soldier’s gear based on preference with either Strenght Runes (plain DPS) or Hoelbrak if Strenght is too much of an investment. Sigil of Bloodlust with either Strenght or Energy, swapped out to Strenght/Energy at 25 stacks (Bloodlust on Trident) but Sigil of Restoration can be a defensive alternative (you’re not a frontline and should avoid damage, but it isn’t always possible.) and lastly Precision Food or Omnomberry Compote/Lemongrass as defensive alternatives + Sharpening Stones

Playwise it’s 90% positioning, 5% listening to the Commanders field-wishes (Fire #2 for Might, Water #5, 3 for Healing and Air #4 for Swiftness, little use using them randomly since you need others to blast it. 5% being a pain in the meow with Meteor Showers, Static Field, Unsteady Ground and Debris Tornado.

PS: If you’re human you should see the joy of D/D roaming with Avatar of Melandru for chill.

I’d like to recommend you to the stickies on the Elementalist forums: DEKeys’ guide explaining all meta-possibilities very indepth and Anierna’s guide more aimed at Dungeon Speedclearing (which from experience works just fine in PuGs aswell.) For amazing well-indepth guides.

I personally prefer swapping build a lot depending on what the team needs, easily reviewed in Aniera’s Diagram but if you’d just go for 1 set-up I’d recommend: S/F with 5/4/0/5/0 or 0/4/5/5/0 both explained in depth in DEKeys guides. Focus offers survivability I find incredibly important whilst running in a PuG, you simply are a squishy class. If you need to provide Fury go with 30 in fire for Persisting Flames, I’ve hardly ever run into groups that need it though due to Warrior’s For Great Justice, Rangers Warhorn and Staff-Ele’s.

Scepter offers easy to place blast-finishers with relatively high burst: Fire #2, Fire# 3 in the Firefield of either Dagger or Focus; Fire #4 with a blastfinisher from Earth #4. In the meanwhile Focus offers: 5 seconds of invulnerability (Earth 5) self-Condi-cleanse with mini-reflect (Earth 4) an anti-projectile (Air #4) another Blast (Water #5) at the cost of a smaller firefield, single condi-cleanse (water #5) and mobility (air #4, 5) that /D offers. (Note: To aim Dragon’s Tooth (Scepter Fire #2) aim your camera up, walk a step forward and it will drop infront of you, try it a few times to see the distance, if you feel like pre-stacking Might.)

Other Blastfinishers are provided with your Utilities: Arcane Brilliance (Heal) Arcane Wave and Lightning Hammer auto-attack (3rd in chain.) Hammer only triggers if someone else in the group provides a Firefield how-ever.

Ice-bow is great on either targets with a large hitbox (TA Nightmare tree, AC burrows etc.) or large groups. FGS is great against anything that can be stacked against a wall and use untargetted Fiercy Rush #4 into the wall, Fiercy Whirl #3 into the wall, #5 for damage and evade, #2 for burning, fill with #1. On fights were the boss can’t be stacked I usually don’t bother (unless their hitbox is huge,) I might aswell be stacking might and LH away for DPS whilst giving my group Might.

Lastly, first field laid down counts, so if you run with anything that puts down a field in their dps-rotation make sure you hurry with putting down your field.

Greek.4396:

I changed my ele to Elsa from Frozen <3 Would you like to build a snow man : ]

I’ve always wanted to run into an Elementalist who based herself on Elsa from Frozen, you make me so happy <3

Swimsasa Stoon.8936:

Duran.3196:

I play D/D Zerker.
And yeah today i got a whisper from a warrior: wtf dmg
When i made him half hp in under a sec with burning speed arcane projectile and arcane wave, finishing him of with a 11k fire grab xD.
I usually manage to bring down enemies before they even know whats happening.

What was the cooldown on firegrab again?

45 seconds but in the times it can make a 2 v 1 a quick 1 and a half v 1 it’s nice. Or to win tough fights. A bit like an Elite gives you an advantage, he just tried to make a point about burst.

I’m not going in on the discussion weak or strong, but for the OP I’d just stick with it for a while, maybe watch some good streamers (I wish I had links for you, but I’ve been focussing more on other classes lately) and hit the dummy for more of a feel between the attunement juggling and it will all be ok. For me Elementalist also took the longest to get used to, even though she’s likely the toon I spend most of the time actually playing on.

nagr.1593:

http://dulfy.net/2014/04/23/event-timer/

bookmark this. not so sure about the temple events btw.

I got that one so the Karka-traits aren’t an issue, the 3 temple events how-ever…

Judging from the first post I’m out of luck, waiting around for one toon I might be able to endure, but all 12, not that much. Guess I’ll invest the 3g 20 SPs/each when they become viable in meta or when I have a build I really want them in.

Thank you for the replies

monkeysensei.6492:

So open all Spvp bags in a outnumbered WvW with all MF buffs rolling?

Worth a try I suppose. I doubt it though, they seem to prefer avoiding boxes being affected, whether it’s champion or loot similation-boxes.

Hi,

I was wondering how the temple events work now-a-days, are they on a set timer aswell, if so when do they appear or still on the old timers, if so does gw2stuffs or anything similar still work for them.

Mainly interested in Arah, Lyssa and Grenth for the trait-unlock since I find the prices a bit too outragious to spend on 8 toons just in case I ever want to use them, so far only few traits really impressed me.

And is the trait-unlock character or account-wide for PvE and PvP? As in does my Sylvari Necromancer and my Human Necromancer both have to unlock the same traits in PvE and PvP to have it available or just one of them. Just curious since I’ll find out soon enough.

Thank you in advance!

There is no way to tell from which server someone is for as far as I’m aware, only which one they’re currently playing on. Therefor I’d always highly recommend putting your server location into your recruitment message and warn new recruits if they come to you. Hopefully it will change once Megaservers are fully implented and we can benefit from all extra a guild has to offer outside of WvW regardless of server.

If you insist on checking ask them to enter WvW, but I see very little downside for the guild compared to the member so that might be a bit extreme.

Like Electro said you need the recipe which is available on the tradingpost. The required Recipes for Armor are Celestial Intricate Insignia and for weapons Celestial Orichalcum Imbued Inscription along with the recipe for the specific armor or weapon

I’d like to point out that Charged Quartz Crystal, required by all Celestial pieces (5/each) be it weapons or armor, can only be refined once per day at a place of power at the cost of 25 Quartz Crystals which are available on the TP.

I’d recommend putting you specific piece into gwspidy for a complete material list such as: Celestial Draconic Coat It works wonders for almost anything craftable if you want a buy-list aslong as you know the names, it sadly doesn’t display required recipes.

For trinkets I’d highly recommend getting the Ascended versions with Laurels, but if you want to craft exotic ones this page should be able help you: Celestial Trinkets and put their names into gw2spidey.

Been looking for an updated version, thank you so much! I can finally research what people are throwing at me exactly. Appreciated!!

And my Necromancer finally hit 80. Think I’ll stick with Arah weapons instead of Dreamwhistle for now, they fit decently.

Wraith Mask
Arah Shoulders
Temple Top
Arah Gloves (bone-hands <3)
Starter Skirt
Exalted Boots

If it’s just the personal survivability you could also use Knight’s armor or a few pieces (helm, pants, chest, boots, gloves, shoulder, in that order) without losing much DPS. With the meta-build (taking the one from Phineas Phoe) you already offer:
- Condi Cleanse with Elixer Gun 3
- Healing with Elixer Gun 5 and few bandages from Supply Crate
- Regeneration from toolbelt skills from Healing Turret and Elixer Gun
- Relatively long cooldown Blindness from Bombkit 4
- In case of massive AoE healing needed there’s Healing Turrets waterfield with a bunch of blastfinishers (Detonate Turret, Big Ol’d Bomb, Supply Crate, Elixer Gun 4)
- 3rd Utility can either be used for another Blastfinisher or swapped to Elixer U if you need anti-projectile/reflect or like Sins suggested Elixer R for an emergency group ressurect.
How much more can a team need?

On the top of your screen there will be PvP-build, next to the gamebrowser. There you can pick your Amulet, Runes (only 6 of the same) Sigils (2 per weapon) and Traits. They will apply to your toon in PvP but won’t override your PvE-armor, runes or sigils, which will always be visiable whether in PvP or PvE, but won’t have any effect besides your 1-5 skills. (E.g. you still need to equip a sword if you want to use a sword, but any sword will do, even level 1 whites.)

If it’s just looks that bug you, it’s worth considering getting a cheap second set and apply any skin you like, stats don’t matter at all, only your choices in the PvP-build section.

Wow, this is quite surprising, last time I checked they were 20g. (Few days ago.)

But ye, supply will be low since it’s fixed and I suppose some people who absolutely loathe sPvP do enjoy collecting skins?

1. Sure why not.
2. Never noticed you can’t, but sure why not!
3. You can already combine them in the Forge and salvage. I tend to do this with light armor around the Linen level, not as profitable as it used to be (about a gold for 10k Karma) but still decent. (I mean, what else?) I think if they’d suddently make the gear salvageble the market would implode a little.
4. My levels! In all seriousness, I personally think if they enjoy their system of being able to level through crafting this wouldn’t be an option. But they could always remove the fee for swapping, I don’t see a big issue with that, most people just use alts now anyway.

My own:
5. Time-gates I dislike you! But I fully understand they want to avoid inflation and things like CoF p1-farm. It takes forever to get Quartz Crystals though, for some puny Celestial Armor of exotic quality.

For high mobility your choices will be; Warrior (Sword #2, Warhorn #4, GS #2 and #5 Bull’s Charge, Signet of Rage) Thief (Dagger #2, Shortbow #5, Steal, multiple utilities) and Elementalist (Air Dagger #4, FGS #3 and #4, multiple sources of swiftness) though most classes can have some form of improving mobility, Mesmer is likely the worst together with Necromancer, so if you can enjoy Mesmer to some extend maybe this shouldn’t be your biggest concern.

Thief might be worth trying out a bit more. S/P (Shortbow in second set, Arrow is too amazing in sPvP) is a weaponset that kinda offers me almost anything I could wish for: Blind from Pistol #5, Interrupt/Evade from S/P #3, Leap/Immo Sword #2 and quite high damage from their auto-attack. A similar build (I’d suggest 2/6/0/0/6 but it’s best to find something you like.) Works well for Roaming aswell, how-ever it severely lacks in Zergs, imo. Most you can do is either be brave and go in with Dagger Storm or sit in the back and kill any stranglers. Unless tagging is your only concern I doubt you’ll find more enjoyment out if it than your Mesmer. Tagging can be done quite decent with Shortbow aslong as you focus on keeping yourself alive through positioning and stealthing.

Engineer might be worth looking into aswell. They have loads of possibilities available to them, decent mobility (perma-swiftness atleast, leap aswell but takes up a utility slot) I’m unsure what the current meta is, but Condition Engi’s are pretty strong in both roaming and sPvP imo, I might be wrong. For zerging just grab your grenade kit and start spamming. Some nice pulls with your Magnet (toolkit) to troll people on walls. Always fun. But Engi tends to be either a big hit or a big miss for people.

Another suggestion is taking 1 toon for Zerging and 1 toon for sPvP/Roaming as they tend to require something completely different.

They also announced a reduction in event rewards as ‘compensation’ for free armor repairs. Obviously it’s just an attempt to stop the inflation. 80c sounds a little low though, have you been hit by Diminishing Returns by any chance?

My toons who are all (some more than others) in a mix-match. Still leveling a human Necromancer who’ll definitly look like the preview attached, except a better combination of Celestial, Spruce, Teal, Abyss and/or Midnight Ice dyes.

From the top of my head:
Charr: Zodiac with T3 Head, Shoulder, Gloves, Arah Boots
Sylvari: T1 Cultural with T2 Headpiece and Boots, Gloves and Shoulders are TA.
Ranger: Krytan Jerkin, Vigil Leggings, Arah Shoulders and Gloves, Heritage Mask, Pirate (Priveteer now?) boots. Rox Quiver.
Elementalist: Simple mix of T3 with Winged, Arah Shoulders, Desert Rose backpiece.
Warrior: Arah with Barbaric Shoulders, Phalanx Boots, Balthazar Gloves/Backpiece with the Scar-tattoo.
Engineer: ?? Glasses, Magitech Chest, Vipers leggings and boots with Aetherblade gloves and shoulders, hidden on the picture but Dynamic Tempered Spinal Blades.
Thief: Heritage Mask, Order of Whispers boots and shoulders, Vigil pants, T3 top. Rox’ Quiver
Guardian: Phalanx mixed with Cultural and Banded gloves, infused Fractal Backpiece.
Last and least, Mesmer: Phoenix Armor with Winged Headpiece, very boring, but Phoenix Armor is so gorgeous, iWardens are broken anyway.

Necromancer: Starter skirt and headpiece, Temple top, Arah Shoulders and Gloves, Exalted Boots.

Finally happy with her looks, I think. Plain and simple.

Hmm Ascalon <3

Quite a few more zones than the 1-15 have already been changed in Megaservers unless map-chat is messing with me. Bloodtide Coast didn’t mention I was in an overflow and people talked about being from different servers. Fireheart Rise aswell.

My Human Engineer loves your glasses.

In all honestly, I would have preferred if my Engineer would have been an Asura. The hobosack drives the least attention on them in my opinion. If just annoys me on everything else, it annoys me on Asura, but less. I do love the Aetherized Armor and Magitech for bringing some Engi-style to the Medium Armors, thank you Scarlet!

Yes, I’d like this aswell.

I’m not sure what the exact HP is, however when your health drops below zero a green text appears which most likely indicates the number of HP you have in downed state. It’s definitly quite a bit more than your initial HP.

Due to downed penalty you start with either 75% (first time you get downed) 50% (second time) 25% (third time) and 0% (4th time) downed penalty fades after 60 seconds.

Carzor Stelatis.9435:

Esmee.1067:

And for Carzors point of the LA-convenience, that’s exactly what it is, convenience. I can still go to any of the Major Cities (I’m a big fan of Rata Sum) for any of the things that used to be in LA, for the Mystic Forge I quickly hope into PvP or the Vigil Keep, so I once again don’t see the issue with them offering those Airship passes. I still get the exact same services, I just have to walk a tiny bit further. Now if they locked the Mystic Forge, Laurel Vendors and Crafting stations behind a gem-store purchase with no other way of accessing them, we’d have a point.

It’s the principle which is the problem though: they took a feature out of the game we paid for and want us to buy it as a microtransaction, despite the fact that we already paid for it when we bought the game.

We’ve experienced the destruction of LA differently then. If I want to craft I simply go to Rata Sum (I’m not fussed which is the best place) if I need the Mystic Forge I run through a portal and land almost on top of the Mystic Forge or I enter Heart of the Mist depending on my location and press leave when I’m done to land back where I was. If I just want to stand around somewhere, once again Vigil Keep since it’s relatively central and I can grab a banner once in a while. So yes, I don’t feel they took away anything except maybe I have to walk slightly further to the Fractal of the Mist portal.

Few ways to go for PvE:
- Continue Exploring and finish the Legendary
- Do some Dungeons (friendlist, second tab is the groupfinder)
- Do some Fractals (again, friendlist, second tab for groupfinder)
- Hunt some achievements such as Jumping Puzzles
- Wait for the next Living Story
- Make your toon look pretty (pick an armor/weapons, grind the money etc.)

Dungeons/Fractals can feel slightly overwhelming at first but you’ve done them before I think, judging from your Flame Legion Armor.

You can also try to wet your feet in WvW or sPvP if you’d like a change.

I’d do as much dailies as your personal level allow and do the x6 fractal (6, 16, 26 etc.) because that’s when the Relic rewards go up, making it the easiest/most rewarding. Exceptions start at 31+ where instabilities matter more than the level. The daily will reward additional Relics in the chest, though I’d prioritize getting Ascended Rings with the Pristine Relics first.

If you want to do any more than your dailies I’d focus on increasing your personal level to unlock more dailies.

Dark Catalyst.1028:

Well, what else did you expect in a B2P game with a cash shop? I paid $120 for my WoW sub this year which is less than what a lot of you spend in a few months here. And guess what? I get access to everything in game apart from a couple of shop items that are complete fluff. Just have to go out and get it.

All I’ve ever purchased is fluff, fluff, fluff. The convience items like Permanent Gathering Tools, Boosters and Airship-passes aren’t even worth it in my opinion, they don’t offer you anything the game can’t offer you on it’s own.

I’d highly recommend Edge of the Mist, it’s basicly a Karma-champtrain. I got about a mil. Karma just from leveling a bit there (obviously a level 80 will gain more Karma.) Just equip some Swiftness follow a Blue Tag on the map around. Very few Zergs actually bother engaging eachother, the borderlands/EB are made for that. Usually some Guild-Karma Banners and Bonfires around aswell for a little buff.

Some of my friends prefer farming low-level Fractals for Karma and some (used to?) do the Queensdale Champtrain, I’ve yet to compare them.

Cakemeister.5792:

I use gw2crafts.net

This, they calculate the cheapest option go for from 1-500 and even generate a shopping list per tier. The calculations don’t include sell-back in their calculations, so it’s not the cheapest, but the closest you’ll get to it guide-wise.

The things with Elementalist-guides is that Elementalist has a lot of builds that are viable and are expected to adjust on the teams needs. Banzie is completely right, currently all what PvE-content needs is DPS and sadly any other options are left in the dust, but we have multiple ways to do so. This is an amazing feature, but it can be quite overwhelming.

I’d like to recommend you to stick with 1 weapon; Staff. Staff is currently one of the highest DPS-options in game, but more specific to your situation, it’s incredibly easy to play.

Recommened Traits/Build: 6/2/2/2/2
This is not the highest DPS-build for Staff, how-ever Blasting Staff if great for Trash/Moving Targets, hence I recommend it. You can chose to use Glyph of Storms over Signet of Fire. If used in Earth it will Blind, making Trash + stacking a lot easier to survive. As for Gear, Berserker is the best option, how-ever if you feel you need more survivability a few bits and pieces of Knights gear won’t hurt, Elementalists will how-ever always be once of the squishiest classes. Rune-wise Scholar is still Best in Slot (3g each last time I checked) and Rune of Strenght is easier in use (8g/each last time I checked. If Scholar is too expensive, any rune with +Power or +Percision will do in the meanwhile. Ruby Orbs aren’t great but are also worth considering, all depend on your budget. Food such as Omnomberry Ghost, Slice of Candied Dragon Roll or Omnomberry Pie can help you survive, aswell as Slaying Potions (very cheap for a 8%-10% damage Reduction!)

How to play:
Use Fire #2 Lava Font on Recharge, Fire #5 Meteor Shower on Large Targets or a group of Targets. Fill with Fire #1 Fireball. Which means most of the time you’re pressing: #2 > Auto-attack 4x > #2 > Auto-attack 4x > #2. It’s incredibly boring, but it sounds like it will suit you whilst getting used to the harder content.

Upon Enagement it can be helpful to start in Earth and cast Earth #2 Eruption, swap to Fire, Fire #2 Lava Font > Arcane Brilliance > Arcane Wave for a bit more Might/Fury for the group.

Remember to stay near your group to receive buffs (Stability, Condi Cleanse, Might, Fury etc.) How-ever if you’re taking too much pressure and there’s no need to stack, feel free to take a breather by sitting at range for a bit. It isn’t optimal, but if it prevents a down.

When a boss is against a wall, people generally expect you to drop FGS. To use FGS make sure you don’t have a Target Selected (turn auto-targetting off in your settings) and use #4 and #3 against the wall for big damage. Remember #3 is an evade aswell.

That’s about it for a Fight. Outside of Combat remember to use Air #4 for Swiftness and you can chose to use Water #5 and 3 if your party is taking too much heat at the cost of your own DPS, but as you’ve noticed, healing in this game is rather weak. Fire#4 is an Evade which can be used through the boss or against the wall. Experiment a little whilst you get more used to the game.

Once you get more used to the instances I’d recommend to try out some more builds. The Elementalist Forums have wonderful stickies, I’d recommend DEKeys guides (they should get updated in the coming week or so.) She’s also incredibly helpful if you wish to talk to a very experienced Elementalist.

We cry OP whilst the math-guru’s in the Dungeon Forums say Scholar is still superior.

I quite like how we now have 2 meta-sets; Strenght for Solo/Pugging because it’s easier to maintain the damage bonus and groups won’t always be a 25 Might. (Usually when I PuG dungeons 90% of the Might I see comes from me, so my Ele will stick with Scholar, but my Mesmer is definitly considering Strenght.) and one for Groups; Scholar.

It’s a dream to expect a lot of runes to be viable, well they basicly are, but the min-maxers will do the math and there will almost always be one that pulls ahead of others, even if it’s just by a little margin.

Randulf.7614:

Teon.5168:

NoxInfernus.2361:

Love seven of the eight professions that I play. I fully acknowledge that the reason that I don’t care for #8 is a failure of my play style, and not the profession itself (thief, in case you were wondering).

I am in agreement on that class. I played a thief until around level 25 a while back, and just never got into it much…..had everything to do with my playstyle and not the class.
I might trying doing one again, once I have 80s of everything else.

Exactly the same for me. Really struggling at this level and I know it can’t be the class itself since others managed get on alright!!

Try D/D and spam 3 over a group of mobs to deal AoE-damage whilst evading. Death Blossoms spam got me to 80 with hardly getting a scratch, it’s not the way to play at 80, but if I’d level her again, I’d still level her like this. Sw/P is a strong option if you prefer to level like you’d play at 80. Keep up the blinding field from #5 and auto-attack (cleaves, yay!) with the occasional #3 for the Evade. Thieves get a lot stronger once they get their gear/traits.

I’m also very happy with all of the 8th classes. No MMO will ever have perfect classes with perfect balance, I highly doubt it’s even possible. Every class will have their strongsuit and weak points and that will lead to classes going in and out of flavour.

As for the OP, I personally think Guardian is still amazing for PvE, you have a decent Blind-uptime on trash, Reflects, Aegis, Stability, Condition Cleanses, whenever they’re needed you’re there to provide them.

Engineer is still one of the stronger classes in WvW with heal-bombs zerging (or even just Grenade Spamming for loots) or as a Condi-roamer. Quite sure in sPvP/WvW topics people will complain how strong there are, whilst the class-forums cry how weak they are.

Do I need Toughness/Vitality?
No, all damage is still dodge-able and can be negated by full Zerkers.
Do I need a dedicated Support?
No, the Reflects, Aegis, Blinds, Condi Removal and Stability from the Zerker builds are still plenty.
Do I need Control?
No, either it’s unneeded or, shocker, the Zerker-builds can take care of it.
Do I need Damage?
Yes, the more the better.

So I’ve established I need damage:
Conditions, I see the intensity stacking conditions are still capped meaning I can easily lose most of my DPS-potentional if I run into even 1 other person running Conditions. Ok, let’s run a Power-build.

I can’t believe some people can’t see why meta is meta.

Haha and here I thought I was the only one that got annoyed with it.