Guild Wars 2

Hello everyone,
i want to be short since this isn’t a real “guide” on this build, because i don’t have pieces yet, but only a good theorycrafting start point.
(SBB = sword big burst XD).

Ok, the enitre build is based on sword massive damage, i can say this will be something like one shot, simply because the build works with 100% crit chance a 100% critical damage multiplier.
So basically all what you need to do in order to kill an opponent (and notice that this will be a viable build only in solo roaming/hearth of the mists (if you can replicate the build)); just follow few skill rotations:

1 ) the entire build is based on meditation and so:
- heals on use
- fury on use
- short cd
2 ) also the build is based on defense:
- got some armor and vitality (not a full zerker one)
- vigor spam
- blocks
- tons of heals
3 ) excellent mobility:
- permanent +25% movement speed
- 2 teleports + 1 immobilize
- various condition removers
4 ) absurd damage burst (the most important point):
the is a principal burst rotation followed by some variations:
1. shield of wrath
2. binding blade
3. virtue of justice
4. judge’s intervention (yes if you use this you can avoid a roll from enemy and it is needed for fury)
5. zealot’s defense

total =
on enemy:
1x shield of wrath blast (100% crit) + 1x full zealot’s defense (100% crit) + 2x burning + 3x vulnerability + 2x blind
on you:
up to 2 attacks blocked + 3 might + 1x might per block + 5sec vigor + heals (on meditation use) + fury (4.75 sec)

(ps: what happens if you need heals and use "Lytany of wrath + zealot’s defense (100% crit) ?? )

notice also that sigils aren’t random; infact there is a sigil of battle on sword so you can switch to scepter when a foes is downed and kill it at range… get a stack (if you weren’t full) and switch back to sword with a 3might stacks boost.

BUILD LINK
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQRAsd7fnQElGacIuhwHiiIXg1DAeQ/hL46BEjYDB-jUCBYfDimiAmEBkIIQpmFRjtMsIas6aYKXDRWFDVKgIGGB-w

tell me if you have suggestion and notice that this is only the base for a powerfull offensive (but not squishy) power build for guardian: add and change what you want in order to make it suits your playstyle.

enjoy.

update:
guys i have problems with SweetFX, when i put it in my gw2 folder i cant run the game :<
can you help me? maybe it is because mine is a 64bit OS?
Answer me in private message if you can.
thank you

Krisszboss.6084:

I’ve heard that the ranger is a very bad class to play….I just want to see if its true! I want to use my ranger in WvW solo/small group roaming.

oh man… i’m bored as a main ranger user to see those posts… cmon let’s stop this! do you heard that ranger is a stupid class? Then DONT PLAY RANGER. When you start to think with your mind you will find that ranger works fine and it is really strong also with the underpowered power build… you can find that warriors sucks and guardian are useless but only if you really want this… if you don’t let’s think as the mass: warrior “OP”, guardian “the most usefull” thief “one shot” and go play with barbie if you don’t like those classes.

From what i can say: ranger is absolutely the best class (togheter with guardian, but i play offensive/support guardian not the tanky one…). If you want to see what can a ranger do give a look to my power build guide:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/ranger/A-Ranger-Guide-Power-Build/first

cya

Saucermote.9140:

Bios is almost always either F1 or Delete, I would repeatedly hammer both during boot.

You can probably download using the nvidia experience software. It has gotten a lot better in recent patches. Just run the custom install when it asks and don’t install the 3D drivers if you don’t have a 3D display.

If you geforce experience have it installed, you’ll probably want to make sure you disable the shield streaming service disabled in the windows services.

Also know that due to the way Guild Wars 2 stores its configuration information, nvidia experience won’t be able to “optimize” it.

---

Non-Anet Approved but should be fine and are used by lots and lots of players:

Disclaimer: SweetFX is a set of shaders that make the game look “better” and don’t affect the performance of the game by much. Typically you’ll want to turn off the FXAA in-game and let SweetFX do SMAA instead.

SweetFX

Configuration Files

oh man thank you for your post… i really love how this program should work but i need mor einformation before to start using it in order to prevent any damage to my loved (and the only one XD) pc. So can you ensure me there are no risks for my notebook? Also can you send me a site with a complete review of the program (or confirmations from other players)? Thank you any way i will test it soon

Hello guys,
i’ve recently bought a new pc; a notebook: toshiba satellite l50-a-161.
Yes i know it is only a notebook but it has got some great features! Actually i can play the game really fine (like 60-90 fps during commons events, 100+ solo exploring, 30-40 fps wvw) but the problem (if we can consider this a problem… ) is that i usually play with low settings except for:
animation: medium
textures: medium
sample: native
char quality & quantity: medium

now, these are my pc specs:
gpu: nvidia 740m 2gb ddr3
cpu: intel i7 2.4ghz (3.4ghz turbo boost)
ram: 6gb ddr3 (1600mhz)
os: windows 8.1 64bit

so can you help me improving settings without waste too many fps? actually i tried to put “shader” on medium and the visual effect is great (i mean the result is a great improvement in character and mobs graphic quality) but my fps drops down really fast (like 30-40 fps during world boss fight).

tl;tr: can you tell me what to set how in order to improve visual appearance without lose too many fps (and moving shader on medium)?

also can someone explain this passage from the guide:
_______________________________________________
To install NVIDIA® video drivers:
Download and save the latest video drivers from NVIDIA’s Download Drivers page.
Do not run the installer yet.
Go to Start – Control Panel – Add or Remove Programs.
Locate NVIDIA Drivers and click it. Make sure that you only uninstall the Display Drivers.
Do not uninstall any NVIDIA nForce chipset drivers as this will cause system instability.
Click the Change/Remove button.
On the NVIDIA Uninstall window, click the Yes button to continue.
Once the drivers have been uninstalled, allow your computer to reboot.
During startup, the Windows® Hardware Wizard will appear. Cancel out of it.
You may have to cancel twice if your card supports a secondary display.
Install the latest video drivers by running the installer you downloaded from NVIDIA.
Reboot once more to complete the installation process.
____________________________________________
why have i to do all this? Can’t i just install updates with “nvidia experience”? and, above all, it is really usefull?

Thank you for all.

ps: do you knwo how to access bios on this notebook? i can’t find the right button combination and the one suggested on the online guide doesn’t work for me o.O

JonPeters.5630:

Hello JonPeters,
first of all thank you for all your interest in helping ranger class (I have to admit I doubted you would you have done).
I and, the entire ranger comunity (I suppose it is obvious) really appreciate.

I have some suggestion about “how to solve f2 skill lag” and “what to add to Greatsword auto attack chain”.

1) (f2 skill lag)
what about to change the f2 function in order to make it a “ranger skill” and not a “pet skill”? In this way rangers can actively use f2 skills and get a great tactical advantage. This will solve the f2 lag simly because f2 is no longer a pet skill but a ranger one.
Just an example:
(spider) f2 = spider’s next 3 attacks poison your enemy
with this correction:
(spider) f2 = ranger’s next 3 attacks poison your enemy
(here you can add some variation in order to balance it, like to reduce the number of poisoning attacks from 3 to 2 etc.)

2) (gs auto attack chain)
what about to add a stealth factor like a “2 sec stealth”? Stealth may help us to avoid enemies like a “ranger” would do “hiding himself in the wild” and it is required for traits and we still have only a way to get it (longbow)…

Thank you for all.

thank you,
but now my question is:
do i need to change version and get the one to 64bit OS in order to improve general performance or my overal game quality is the same?

Hello guys,
i recently brought a new notebook (really powerfull) and the first thing i did was to copy my gw2 folder on the new pc but i just realized that my new pc uses a 64bit client.
So my qeustion is: can i continue to use my actual gw2 folder (32bit) on the new pc (no problems… for now) or i have to restart the download from the new pc?

thank you

Dardamaniac.1295:

Great build, even tho i do sPvP mostly i can see the potentials..One thing i would change, i will drop the hunters tactics and go for the Martial Mastery

Thank you for feedback.
So do you suggest to change hunters tactics? well, ill look for the possible %dps increase and tell you if it’s a good choice as soon as possible thank you.

• update: 19/10-*

After latest patch there are 2 important changes we can make:
1) +7% maul damage with a 6sec cd means a +29.16% damage increase in our main source of burst with MoC activation. This means that
actual Maul damage > MoC proc on interrupt (25sec cd and the necessity to interrupt a foe)

So, this build doesn’t need anymore this trait since the bust is enough to literally smash down every kind of enemy (in pvp) with a easy to get 5-8k per maul.

2) Companion’s defense fix:
this means we can come back to the trait and get a good advantage from our “natural vigor” and get a strong support with “primal reflexes” to improve our protection duration.
Anyway the most important think to remember now is: don’t roll twice unless it is necessary because this will reduce our effective protection duration! So the most easy and right way to use “companion’s defense” is to dodge roll and wait for protection to expire. In this way we get a great protection duration. With some numbers:

endurance regeneration = 5% per second = 10sec for a roll = 20sec for full bar
endurance (passive) regeneration (for this build) = 7.5% per second = 6.6sec for a dodge roll = 13.2sec for full bar
endurance (active) regeneration (with vigor) = 10% per second = 5sec for a dodge roll = 10 sec for full bar

with few and approximative calculations:
100% adrenaline -> dodge roll (1sec elasped = 7.5%) -> 2 sec protection (15%) -> 22.5% endurance back … but counting lag, skill activation and waiting we can consider this like a 25% endurance per dodge roll + full protection effect (witout vigor).

Full defensive burst = 100+(-50+25)(-5025)(-5025)= 25 (remaining endurance)
for a total of 9sec duration (3 dodging and 6 with protection)

in general we get “defense boost” for 3 sec (1 dodge + 2 prot) every 6sec/5sec (with vigor)

new build link: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQJATRjEVF2JW+Vs2Bi1DCt/B1PkJOD+zoT2wTaA-jUzAYrARigICAJPFxsHQ6LrVyioxqXwUlo6TE1bgVxQeDlVpAEUZE-w

as you can notice from traits, this build losts the 10% damage bonus when endurance is full and got a -20% signet cd wich is quite good if considering the low but quite good damage per second increasing on SotW and the important stun break/cond remover.

That’s all for now see you in game

ps: sorry for grammar but i writed this at 00:37 -_-

Hello guys,
in those days i tried many times to kill tequatl, as a lot of you, but, there is a but, every time we are going to kill it my gw2 client crashes… fatal error and shut down everything… now it looks really strange to me because this is what happened this morning:
start play at 9:00
first tequatl: fail -> all fine… no crash, no problems
second tequatl: succes -> crash at 25%
third tequatl: fail -> all fine… no crash, no problems
fourth tequatl: fail -> all fine… no crash, no problems
fifth tequatl: succes -> crash at 10%
sixth tequatl: success -> crash at something like 0.x%

in my opinion there is something of wrong… … really… … i don’t know what to think …
if you know how to solve this problem please tell me, i’m using win 7 32bit and i haven’t problems in WvW, scarlet event or everywhere… only this kitten ed boss!

Chopps.5047:

My guardian, Skullcrusher, is level 20. :/

oh really ò.ò ok so i played with someone with your name but different numbers combination i suppose…

katniss.6735:

So now we get op thieves that play without pieces of armor on to show how they can win with 1 button.

When are they going to nerf that stupid class already? I left the match immediately when I saw that trash.

oh man man… you have not seen nothing yet.
Yesterday i played a solo match and i joined a match with those teams:
blu team: ranger (me), thief, thief, thief, thief
red team: guardian, thief, thief, thief, thief

… really… 10 players, 8 thieves… that’s hearth of the mists for now, i hope.

Chopps.5047:

Listen, my ranger has a Marriner’s Flask and can barely stand in the first place.

Chopps! i just realized that i played a cof run with you a week ago i was playing with my guardian (Pala Dino) and you were with your guardian…

Anyway nice suggestion but without pet remove….

thank you!
i’ve got a 10gb internet and i need to use this “mobile connection” only for 18/30 days… i’m in the most strange situation ever seen before… i passed from the “ora et labora” (with less than 1 hour per day dedicated to games) to “play and play” (because there is nothing i can do except wait for the day to pass… i hate this but for now i haven’t an ADSL connection so this “mobile internet” is the only solution to let those days to pass faster…)

the life is really strange…

Hello guys,
first of all i want to say that the following one is the most strange, stupid, ridicolous, no-sense but at the same time immensely important question i’ve asked on this forum.

So, the problem is that i’m going to use a mobile internet connection for a wile (2-3 weeks maybe) and i need only 1 precious information:
do you know how many kb/mb/gb per hour will this game consume?
The problem of my internet mobile connection isn’t the speed (which is pretty good; around 750kb/sec download) but the fact that i’ve only 10gb per month and after i’ve only around 32kb/sec download speed.

So can you give me a precise number about “how many mb per hour will tis game consume?”

thank you guys.

If i can say my idea…
i want to start wtih a difference between mindless player and skilled player because there is a great difference.

Mindless player
S: warrior, engineer (condition), thief (full zerker)
A: ranger (condition), necromancer
B: mesmer, ranger (power), engineer (power), elementalist (holder), guardian
C: engineer (power), thief (stealth), elementalist (power)

Skilled player
S: warrior ( + ), necromancer (condition), thief (stealth/condition), ranger (spirit), engineer (condition), elementalist (holder)
A: mesmer (phantasm)( + ), ranger (power build)( + ), guardian (holder), engineer (power), elementalist (power)
B: necromancer (power), mesmer (condition), guardian (zerker), ranger (bm)
C: none -with a minimum of skill and a smart party you can do everything-

note: in the “skilled player” list there are more option for the same class (and still few option, like cond and power and holder) because a mindless player only know how to attack while a smart player also know every other particular aspect of a class game-style.

also i want to underline that, if you are talking about hearth of the mists, you experience greatly depends on your team, on your capacity to play with other players and your team’s capacity to do a “team work”… if not, the this top tier list can tell you which team will win but in every other situation every single possible “top tier list” is useless.

Chopps.5047:

Hey Kneldoran, quick question: what armor stats are you using to get all that toughness with all the power/precision/crit dmg? Cool build.

Edit: can’t select armor on that site from cell phone, apparent bug

oh eheheh cell… i never use it for internet :<

anyway… it’s a mix… i can resume it:
armor:
helm, shoulder, gloves, 1x earring, back → berserker
coat, boots, amulet (ascended), 1x ring (ascended) → soldier
leggings → valkyrie
1x ring (ascended), 1x amulet (ascended) → cavalier
runes → of pack
3x exquisite ruby jewel
weapons → berserker (accuracy and battle)
food 1 : none
food 2 : sharpening stone
that’s all

Kjeld.9730:

@Kjeldoran
It wasn’t on the first page anymore, I had to find the link in the jubskie’s sticky but i see you just bumped it :p

AW :< yes i bumbed it because i finded a way to get +110 effective power without losing anything (according to buildcraft) and i changed sticked build

Taku.6352:

I’ll Post my build once I get home but I get around 2900 power and 118% crit dmg with that set. Got some screenies in the other zerker ranger thread below this one.

actually power cap is 2752 for ranger… and you must build it all pow/tough/vit ang get a really low damage due to low crit chance and low crit damage… how did you get 2900 power? Or do you mean 2900 attack?

restoration.2806:

Kjeldoran.3849:

@OP
why to go full zerker and get stucked at “2362” power when with my power build guide you get 2365 power, 50% crit chance, 72% crit damage, 1600 toughness and 18k hp?
my build isn’t “full zerker” had ton of survivability and only a food counted for those stats (there is a free food slot; i put in only "master maintenance oil to get 50% crit chance) and i actually get higher damage… that should make you think on “is a berserker ranger what i need?”

see you.

Yea your build is meant for wvw I don’t do wvw. I’m a PvE and PvP type guy.

my build is all rounded for everything i actually do PvE, Dungeons, Fractals, WvW, and also Heart of the Mists (with the variant) with my build ^^

@Kjel
thank you for posting my guide XD i was sure it wasn’t hard to see in the forum :S maybe i was wrong…

update 16-9
i finded a good DPS improvement by swapping some traits and food.

damage output optimization
Ok, maybe i had to do it before, sorry. But there is a nice dps optimization we can do with the current build:

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQJATRjEVF2JW+Vs2Bg1j96bwWhMZPOkxFPZDPpB-jUzAYrARigICAJPhssXUTfgVyioxqWwUlo6TE1bgVxQeDl1ogwI-w

infact swapping “master maintenance oil” for “superior sharpening stone” and “eagle eye” for “spotter” we can increase our effective power from 5222 to 5330.
The most important difference now is that we lost 300 range from our skills but this will never be a problem because there are 2 ways to see that “300 range boster”:
1) yeah, i can hit enemies at 1500 → but they can easily avoid → we can spam our 1 and get mid damage
2) enemy can dodge esily! → so i don’t need it → i can focus on 1200 range and get more damage

in both situations “better damage at lower range” seems to be the better ways to approach them. Also don’t forget that we can give, so, a better party support giving our allies a 150precision boost (7,14% crit chance boost) which is pretty good!

that’s all for now.

First post BUILD corrected
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQJATRjEVF2JW+Vs2Bi1j9s/B1KkJ2jDxoFdyGeSD-jUzAYrARigICAJPhssXUTfgVyioxqWwUlo6TE1bgVxQeDl1ogyI-w

man you want to “revive spvp” with another “trap build”?
I think it’s still dead so… really, i suggest you to try something of new.

Coming back to op:
frost trap → quickening zephir
short bow → axe/dagger
(easy to spam attacks and cause poison, cripple, daze and bleeding)
quick draw → honed axe
rune with condition damage → condition duration
(too many classes get condition removers so you get better overal dps with short but strong conditions than with long but weaker condition, and with rune of undead you can greatly improve condi damage and toughness).

Sensotix.4106:

i guess he is using offhand axe for the defensive abilities
and well good question how i define the top x class:
thats how i do it:
1: i check out the leaderboards
2: i play with the players i interview
3: i talk to other high ranked and well known players who they think is the best in xy class
4: i watch streams and do research and analyze their playstyles
5: i invite the guy who made it through all of this

this sounds crazy and very time consuming: yes it is!
why do i do that then?:
i love guild wars 2 and i want to help the community out and show some initiative to help improve gw2

ok… if it’s the truth… good job really.

Sensotix.4106:

the differences in his spirit ranger build are:
his sigils
his amulett
his pets
his offhand

(well i think thats something )
also its especially for new players that want to know smth about all the classes and their current state in the game

when i consider a build i always talkabout general feature not specific. When talking about spirit build i’m talking about “common traits/skills/play style for spirit build” and this build has all… the difference is the personalization…

@OP
why to go full zerker and get stucked at “2362” power when with my power build guide you get 2365 power, 50% crit chance, 72% crit damage, 1600 toughness and 18k hp?
my build isn’t “full zerker” had ton of survivability and only a food counted for those stats (there is a free food slot; i put in only "master maintenance oil to get 50% crit chance) and i actually get higher damage… that should make you think on “is a berserker ranger what i need?”

see you.

Soilder.3607:

This is a huge Nerf to pve/wvw’ers on a class that is considered the worst for those game types. How can you people be happy?

you surely aren’t a ranger player… go ranger or go home (norn cit XD)

RyuDragnier.9476:

You forgot something there, let me fix it.

With Vigorous Renewal, you’d get the following.

15s Water Field
1 condition removal every 3s
3s Regen for every 3 second pulse for a total of 18s of regen
5s Vigor for every 3 second pulse for a total of 30s of vigor.

With the new way it works, you’ll get the following with Vigorous Renewal.

10s Water Field
1 condition removal every 2s
3s Regen for every 2 second pulse for a total of 18s of regen
5s Vigor ONLY FOR WHEN YOU FIRST PUT IT DOWN!

This is the thing everybody is having a problem with, which we all consider a nerf since that vigor only really found its use in PvE and WvW.

man i’ve not forgotten anything
i personally think that “vigorous renewal” is a good thing only if we are talking about “how man support can we give?” in a contest in which the greatest boon spam/heal wins… but if we are talking about wvw and pvp and pve we, selfishly, don’t need vigor anymore since we get 50% base endurance regen… it’s enough and the upcoming nerf should be an effort to this consideration.
I’ve never use “vigorous renewal” and i never lacked anything… so i have not really considered.

ahahah guys this thread is epic XD really…
i named mine
drakehound – drakedog
forest spider – boogers shooter
moa – give me cookies
jellifish – only water here

update
ok sorry guys but due to upcoming news i’ll wait to continue with this project and i just started to work on a “pet power build” or “BM power build” and i’m just working on “how each 1 point in bm can improve our damage/defense/tactics” it’s really a long work so for now i can’t continue this project maybe i’ll start it again later… for now it would be better if a moderator can close this thread. thank you.

maybe i’m the only one to be happy for those changes…
remember that almost every time isn’t a good idea to wait your anemies attacks over your healing spring (look at necro’s marks and warrior’s 100b)so while
before we got:
15 sec water field
1 clear condition every 3sec
3 sec regen every 3 sec for a total of 18sec regen
now we get:
10 sec water field (1 less combo leap with gs = 1320 less hp without healing power)
1 clear condition every 2 sec
3 sec regen every 2 sec for a total of 18sec regen

the main difference i can notice is that while we lost a combo field (how many times you did it 2 times in pvp? seriously… 1 time was enough) but we gain a better condition remover and a stackable regen; while before we got regen if we were “over” the water field (3 sec every 3 sec) now we can “wait” 2 seconds and run away with 6sec stacked regen… in my opinion to be “free to run away” is a great thing for a class which must not be captured by enemies…

guys i don’t know you… but all these changes make my day! really… this patch will make shouting ranger shine (do not take it as “we are op! arrr” ) simply because it will make our pet a bit more interesting… more hp? good; better abilities? good! better shouts (related to pets)? wow!
I don’t know if you understand what i’m talking about… only few examples here:
1) if our pet has more hp → protect me… maybe will work this time.
2) if sick em can prevent enemies from stealth (i hope this lasts at least 10sec…) → we can usi it to counterplay thieves and mesmers
3) if we can use 2 shouts → we can use rune of soldier and improve our condition removal…

really interesting… i’m working on and i’ll add news in my power build thread
see you.

Zorgog.3908:

All I do is pvp so I tried the original pvp build but ended up switching I for IV and X for IX in Marksmanship. I felt like you really need a stunbreak or you’ll get locked and bursted down if you happen to get caught up in the mix so I switched Signet of Stone for Signet of Renewal. Several second imunity to physical dmg for a stunbreak and full/passive condi remover? I’ll take that. The result was a very, very fun build that is actually viable. As with pretty much all builds, timing is everything. Knowing your opponent is, as the OP said, very important. Also, knowing whether to use GS3 as a gap-closer or as a tool to get away is vital.

thank you for feedback. My actual build is:
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQJATRjEVF2JW+Vs2Bg1j96bwWhMZPOkxFPZDPpB-jUzAYrARigICAJPhssXUTfgVyioxqWwUlo6TE1bgVxQeDl1ogwI-w

i sobstituted it in the main thread only yesterday. Also traits choice is really subjective.
See you in game

from what i’ve listened… a common spirit build… where’s the news?

@Chokolata
maybe axe only for cc over enemy and defensive bubble…

ps: a good action against a ranged class would be:
axw 4# + axe 5# which can deal massive damage (if power build) or give you pressure, cc, block and a mid-low damage over a single target enemy.

oh… yes i really apreciate those “interview” but how do you define who is “top X class”? Only with their HotM leaderboard? I’d say… there are tons of “top ranger” out of the leaderboard and i wouldn’t take all what “he” says as the truth…
that’s only my opinion

hey, thank you for feedback.
Yes, i’m talking about pvp because a bunker build is quite useless in pve…
From what i’ve learned with guardian tests i can say that protection, trait and frost armor scales additively this mean that we can reach -73% damage.
Also i want to keep up this damage reduction as most as possible and i think that the best way to do so i to use sword/warhorn as off set; what does this means?
frost trap + WH 5# + Sword 2# = 8 sec frost armor every 30 sec… now i only need to test if frost armor duration scales with boon duration…

reserved for updates …

reserved for updates …

reserved for updates …

Disclaimer
The following thread is only theorycrafting . At moment i haven’t that build and i’ve not tested and all that i’m going to say is only based on the math behind gw2. Don’t post off topic comments; this thread is about “bunker” and “condition” gameplay. If you are interested comment if you are not leave this thread or i’ll report any aggressive post.

Hello fellow rangers,
today i want to talk with you about a question i had, few weeks ago, in the guardian forum: is possible to get 0 damage?
Obviously that’s impossible but my is still the same: get 0 damage per second
If you think that this is impossible then give a good look to the following math and you will find that optimizing defense is easier than you may think.

Before to start i want to say that this isn’t, still, a build or a guide since these are only few calculation i did in these days… but as soon as possible (after testing) i’ll trasform this thread in a guide/build if the conclusion is positive.

1. Defense, health, condition.
First of all is important to point out that to get maximum defense we can’t point all on toughness (due to the bad scale) and we need to get damage reduction from skill/combo/boon/trait combined with high health regen. To play as a bunker will never save you unless you are able to deal a low but sustained damage and the only “kind of damage” we get while going bunker is condition damage.

2. Zero damage, how?
Ok, “zero damage” is only a symbolic name because you will always get damage but at the end of the second your health will be full; that’s what zero damage means.
The common damage formula in gw2 is the following one:
damage = ((power * skill coefficient * weapon damage)/armor) * (1 -x -y -z)
where x, y and z are damage reduction.

As you can understand the damage is a product between 2 fractions and the only way to get 0 as result is to get x+y+z=1 but this is impossible. So the only way to get “zero damage” is to make our heal per second to cover that “damage” per second we get;
it is not so hard.

3. Regen, Prot, Reduction.
As the most of you can imagine the build is based on regeneration, protection and damage reduction effects . Regen because it well scales with healing power (0.125 * healing power) and we get a 33% boost on duration (with a common +95% boon build it’s 128% regen duration!). Protection is a great damage reduction (a good 6 sec every 10 sec of protection is almost perma prot). And the damage reduction comes from our bark skin trait… yes bark skin! It may seems that to get it at 25% hp is an hard choice but it means that when you reach 25% you may not be killed… really.

4. The starting of a build…
Ok, here you go if you want to have a direct view of what the build will look like:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQBMSU1V5XBaHIaPyU/PPrghcPGVpOFA-j0ABlhRr6KslXBJEATA-w

regeneration:
129 sec of regen every 60 sec -> 215% regen uptime
protection:
5.75 sec every 10 sec -> 0.58% uptime (without use skills and works like a passive prot gain)
damage reduction:
bark skin -> -30% damage at 25% hp
frost armor -> -10% damage for 5 sec

5. Does healing power scales better than toughness?
Of course, it does. So the most important thing (for now… i’ll explain better late) is better to get a cap of 2900-3000 armor and then aim on healing power… anyway apothecary seems to be the best choice for now… but i’ll work more on this.

Healing spring: 4920 + (1.0 * healing power)
Water Field + Leap Finisher: 1320 + (0.2 * healing power)
Regeneration: 130 + (0.125 * healing power) per sec
Spirit of Nature: 480 per sec

6. First conclusions
This will be a really hard to use build because you have to manage defense and offense while good timing both… learn when to raise your defense up to 0 damage and when to attack. While common builds have the “offensive burst” this build is based on "defensive burst which lead us up on a (skill damage/armor) * (0. 27%)=damage which is really… really low; now we only need to get damage… i’m working on. In the meanwhile i’ll be really happy to listen your suggestions and thoughts about the concept itself of “zero damage” … do you think you will never this kind of build? Damage is better than defense? maybe… or maybe not… what do you think?

spoj.9672:

The link is in my signature but here it is again. :p

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fQAQRBIhhu1IjW6elmxGDfCA6Ru46cMjjXm+w6A-jAyAYrBRTRgpMgUBgkXR0YLuFRjVXjpcJiqBA-e

oh sry XD thank you

and as power build for pvp? what can you suggest me to try in Hearth of the Mists?

thank you for answer! can you give me a link?

Hello,
i’m going to start my next char, a necromancer, but first i want to ask you a little help because it is really the first time i play necromancer and i want to know everything that this class can do before to start it.

First of all i’m interested in power builds (i hate condition builds…); can you suggest/link a basic necromancer power build? i saw a lot of necros with axe and #2 spam (maybe?) hit for someting like 6-7k and then swap to deathsrhoud and spam 1# (and hit for 3-4k each ball) … really strong … while having great survivability.

Also can you tell me how much strong is necromancer in WvW and PvE?

thank you.

Hello,
a long time has passed since i payed mesmer last time and i used a ShatterCat build (the one from Osicat and the best i finded… ) but now coming back to my mesmer i’ve to say that almost every time i play Hearth of the Mists i see only GS mesmers… maybe phantasmal builds and they look really strong simply because the ton of invisibility, health and big damage (phantasmal zerker usually hit me for 2-3k with 1700 toughness… and they spam phantoms… ).

So can you tell me something about GS mesmers? Are them so strong as they appear?
I think the common build would like 20/20/0/0/30 but i’ve never player a phantom/gs mesmer and i don’t know where to start…

enlighten me
thank you.

Hey Osicat what about to suggest us a build with the new “rune of traveler” in order to get 25% movement speed and don’t care anymore to stack swiftness (no more forced to use focus for this and still get low uptime)?
The only other problem for mesmers will be the “condition remove acces” because we get few ways to do so… also to use food with -40% cond duration isn’t enough anymore (since enemies get something like 100-120% more condition duration). The only way we have to face this problem is the nullfield… maybe working on glamour skills can help us…

thank you

what exploit? can you tell me what are you talking about? i’m start to think that i’m the only idiot which didn’t use it

this is my list of races for ranger:
1st Norn (female)
2nd Sylvari (male)
3rd Charr (female)
4th Asura (female/male)
5th Human (male)

also i have a norn ranger and i can ensure you that a female norn really well suit gs/sword/lb-sb skills

guys wouldn’t be easier to make those “ascended gear” salable so everyone can buy it on the TP and lower met’s price (mats to take crafting to 500) and/or make ascended mats salable this will make all easier for everyone and a lot cheaper for those which haven’t weaponcraft etc.

Tribio.8531:

1. none of the three, there are tons of builds for these professions
2. Raw damage: I would say Elementalist here (AoE nuker), but the other two can also deal quite some nice dmg (Necro has lots of conditions (and thus condi dmg))
3. all of them
4. all of them
5. all of them
6. depends on you.. I like Engineer the most out of those 3..
7. Engineer has the steepest learning curve from those 3..

oh … emm what? do you corrected point 7? XD i saw necromancer 2 mins ago…
anyway, from my experience the strongest builds i found for those classes where:
engineer → condition (elixir, HGH etc)
necromancer → power build (axe) or condition
elementalist → holder and power build (air burst)

what can you tell me about those builds?

Hello,
i wan’t to start my 5th char and i’m really indeed among few classes. I already get a guardian, a warrior, mesmer and ranger but now i’ve my last slot (last, for now) and i can’t decide… i already tried those classes in HotM but i can’t still decide! :<
can you make a comparison with your personal experience for me?
Those classes are: elementalist, necromancer and engineer.

What im looking for is:

1. which class isn’t forced into a single build (condition or not)? because i like variety…
2. which class is able to deal a sustained damage without go full zerker?
3. which class is able to defend better without go bunker?
4. which class is viable in WvW?
5. which class is viable in power build (not full zerker and not condition… just power)?
6. which class is more funny to play? (the most important think!)
7. which class is harder to play (i love to learn hard tactics to get maximum benefits from builds)?

thank you for your time

Pegaasus.3280:

I think that all the glass cannon rangers are just nubs who like seeing big crits and don t care if they are 1 hit by a common thief.. They don t realize how much ranger class sucks

+1
wow… so i’m not the only one to know that! gratz but i’ll warn you: continue to say the truth and your messages will be reported, sadly.