Guild Wars 2

note
added first build for WvW, PvE and Hearth of the mists. Now i’m working on a more offensive build which can aslo use the “zero damage” formula.

What’s the aim of this project?
Simply, as title, don’t worry about enemy attacks because our HP will be always full letting us go drink a coffee. This does not mean anymore that we take 0 damage but simply that we gain more HP than we can lose under enemy attack.

In order to get so we need to focus on 3 points:

1. toughness
2. protection
3. regeneration

also really important (turned out after some discussion here) is to understand how damage calculation works and how damage reducers influence it.

skill damage= power * skill coefficient * weapon damage / enemy armor
skill damage with modifiers= (skill damage / enemy armor ) * (1-x-y-z )
where x, y and z are damage reducers like protection and abilities

How to get the best damage reduction
as everyone can find from the above formula hp gain scales better than armor infact:

X hp = ((skill damage) / target armor ) * (damage reducers)
this formula shows how many power is needed in order to overcome our damage reducers + healing per sec and deal effective damage

by using few numbers, for a direct comparison you get better results with more hp per sec than with more armor. Just one:

200hp = ((skill damage) / 3000 ) * (1-0.33)
-> with 100 more hp/sec and 100 less armor -> 1.298.507 skill damage required
-> with 100 more armor and 100 less hp sec -> 462.686 skill damage required

TRAITS
in order to get max damage reduction from traits we need:
30 points in valor -> extra toughness and trait
30 points in honor -> extra vitality and shout cd + heals + cond removals
10 points in virtues -> 10% extra boon duration + 25% retailation duration

UTILITIES
healing skill: shelter (the best in slot)

1. utility: signet of judgment (-10% damage)
2. utility: old the line!: for protection (it’s a must to keep up protection)
3. utility: save yourselves!: for protection (as above)
4. elite: tome of courage (for 20sec protection!)

WEAPONS
mace/shield: is the best set in order to keep up regen and protection at the same time
hammer: is the best in slot of course because of protection spam
scepter/focus: very good because of range, cc and more ways to block
greatsword: very strong if considering the great combo “0 damage + perma retailation”
staff: very usefull for “0 damage + healing”

Conclusion and prototype of build (i want to underline that this build is only to show that 0 damage is possible and needs more work in order to be implemented)

note
check in page 2 for Bunket anti-nuke build; the following one is only an example
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNApeSlUgKCnFyvDm4ERWhVi9AjfsjXPSoEZIA-jEzAYMBRqBIFCiIAkAX0aWMg1twWdjW5NIqZioatNmJvIa1yAYOGA-w

to get a 100% damage reduction from toughness + protection + damage reducers is impossible but we can get it “in theory” with damage reduction + heals per sec

for example this build allows us to get

hp per sec:
regeneration 255hp
virtue of resolve 84 + (0.06 * 1000) = 144hp
writh of the mercifull 107 + (0.075 * 1000) = 182hp
altruistic healing 69 + (0.01 * 1000) = 79hp
mango pie 85hp
total: 745hp per sec (without considering heals, rolls and elite)
adding that to the above formula give us:
754hp = ((skill damage)/ 3468 ) (0.57) -> skill damage= 4587494.7
enemy power= 4381*

so the only way for enemies to lower our HP is to get >4381 power which is impossible to reach (i suppose).

That’s all. I’m waiting for constructive comments and feedback.

What are you talking about man?

Are you are one of those smart guys “if you don’t like the pet just reroll rifle warrior” ?^

You can’t compare rifle warrior with ranger… too many differences

Pegaasus.3280:

Most players chose the ranger cos they like the class style, weapons, or they just like a nature-themed adventurer profession. These ppl were forced by anet to use a pet. Atm the ranger has no options at all, the class is a pet class, end of story. Personally i have no problem with pets in spvp or even pve (and i have been playing the class since release in tpvp, wvw and pve). The problem is in wvw, i hate my pet in wvw, especially while fighting a zerg with a small party. And no it’s not a l2p issue.

That’s really wrong… pet is a good help for us but not a necessary one, especially if you are using a power build. I did, that’s why, and my pet is only the cherry over my pie XD

Pegaasus.3280:

They poorly implemented our pet mechanic, they should have tested it a bit more, it’s too late now. They should stop with this stupid “class philosophy” kitten and start reworking things. I’ve never seen a worst pet mechanic, it’s just that bad, lots of useless ugly pets nobody uses. Pigs really? Lol -yea let’s add tons of stupid pets so players can have fun collecting them, yea super c00l!!!11-

Obviously there will be leveling pets and end game pets… if you start to use ranger and you are lvl 10 a pig… is an appropiate pet! lol and also the ability to give you a random weapon is quite fine for leveling (low levels) because there are some hard hitting items…

Pegaasus.3280:

No pet customization; all the pets i see around are named the same “juvenile kitten” cos you can’t even save your pet’s name after choosing a different one. Even the pet swap mechanic i think is really bad and poorly implemented -oh kitten the aoe spamming is killing my pet let’s summon the second one- The truth is they ruined the ranger class with their stupid “philosophy”. And what about you guys? What do you think?

No pet customization? Do you mean… to modify your pet appearance or skills?
In the first case this isn’t monster truck game so you can’t modify the body… in the second one… then consider that there are a lot of options… every pet with its abilities so you have only to chose. Also modify pet skills has no sense… do you imagine a pig launching lightining bolts… or an eagle with a fire breath… the only possible way to improve pet ability is to give us the possibility to choose between 3-4 similar attacks to use as f2 ability… but hey, will this change your opinion on ranger class?

There is a lot to do with rangers i know, everyone know, but just wait for devs to see what and how to do it.

Asmodal.6489:

tanshiniza.8629:

1: Greatsword
2: Evenly matched
3: Depends what you want to do each have their strengths and weaknesses
4: Hammer
5: I’ll say Hammer due to the 3rd auto attack dropping a protection symbol plus you can CC enemies
6: Greatsword
7: Both are equal however I usually go Hammer

I’ll give more detailed answers if you let me know the specific kind of thing you’re looking to do.

this

also I think you could argue 1%2 in favor for Hammer if traited.

Thank you all for answers. I like to carry every avaiable weapon with me and to know when i can carry out the best from them… so i was asking about “when is better to use hammer over gs (and viceversa)?”

Also can you explain better of what “trait” for hammer are you talking about? 20% reduced CD? or the one for chill? Also spam hammer #2 with 4sec cd will not give you a good mobility since the range is 300 (… i don’t remember exactly but very low) and the animation last 3/4 sec… with swiftness you can cover 300 range in less than 3/4 sec.

Hello guys,
i need your help in order to decide which weapon (greatsword or hammer) can give me better results in those comparisons:

1. which one deal more damage to a single target?
2. whcih one deal better aoe damage?
3. which one is better for pvp?
4. which one as more control over enemies? (not only the quantity but also the “quality” of those)
5. which one is better for support?
6. which one gives better mobility?
7. which one is more viable in fractal? (slash and dash…)

thank you.

It depends… if you want a female warrior go for norn but if you want a male warrior… then charr ftw!

Chaos Archangel.5071:

Kjeldoran.3849:

- strong in pvp (of course)
- non only focused on condition (but if a good condition build is avaiable… good to know)
- ranged is better but that’s not so important

Thank you for help

Sounds like your heart is calling for a Necromancer.

thank you for answer,
can you give me a link with a build which follows my game-style??

Hello,
i might suggest you to try this kind of build
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQJArYhEmmbxR4gjEIEFngLMKkBiHWgDwhlCzAA-j0yAYrASiAJCAZPh1EoiYlsIasqFMVJgyEVfqI7NKiWNA-w

i said “kind” because i did i in 10 sec on the skill editor and equip can be still optimized… but that trait disposition and weapons (scepter/dagger) allow you to decide when to be “tough” and when to deal massive damage… just learn to swap-combine-defend

Cmon guys! what are you doing! Ranger is really strong with a power/crit build! of course i’m not talking about a full zerker build but a balanced one like:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQJATRjIVF2JWCWs2Bg1j96bwWhMZPOkxFB-j0yAYrARigICAZPiM2EIUFsIasqFMVZQVmI6zI7NKiWtMAMLA-w
(don’t look at gear… that can be optimized but i did that build in 10 sec)

With these traits, weapons and utilities there is nothing you can’t do! I really enjoy to play as a power build ranger and i always get an high score in HotM but here, as everyone know, condition builds are the best… anyway i’m still able to kill condition builds a lot of times.
Also if you talk about WvW a power build is really better due to the massive aoe damage (barrage) and the great support (fury with pet and reviving with spirit and healing with healing spring)…

really guys, no need to be so oppose to power builds… ranger can be really strong! and skill is the key… learn how to wipe your foe, how to evade best enemy attacks and how to use the environment as an andvantage… then you can kill everyone.

As someone said spirit build is stronger… but only in hearth of the mists and only against a non-condition build and/or noob player because every time i had a 1vs1 against a condition ranger/necro/engineer and i lost… then you can be sure that was an epic fight (always more than 5 mins of fight) and the enemy has only a bit of hp remaining…

my advice is to play ranger as you want! It’s viable as power/crit build and as condition build just get skill (unlike warriors or guardians) and you can kill everyone =)

Hello,
today i’m here because i’m looking for my 4th pg (i still have a guardian, ranger and a mesmer) but i’m really… really undecided: i’m starting this new pg because a friend is coming on gw2 and i want to do all again (story and world exploration) but i want also to get a good charr (good for me) because i want to use it at lvl 80 (mainly for wvw/hotm).
So please can you tell me which is the better choice between elementalist, thief and necromancer?
These are few thing i want to get with “this” charr:
- strong in pvp (of course)
- non only focused on condition (but if a good condition build is avaiable… good to know)
- ranged is better but that’s not so important

Thank you for help

jubskie.3152:

Just so you know, this forum is extremely negative and what someone sees as “useless,” another sees as “great.” Case in point, this thread, you and the 2 other posts i quoted

ok man… but 2 positive feedback over 13 posts… aren’t so good…
and nothice that A “was partially positive…” and B “was positive only for a single boss in the new living world”… so i don’t think that’s enough. The aim of the sticked thread is to help players to find their build not to make a list of tons of builds half of what are good only for a single thing (not reported in notes) and not optimized (i suppose)… but the thread is yours… i was only trying to help better beginners.

jubskie.3152:

Added to the compilation thread!

Man, i think is better to wait before add a build to the “main” build thread. I think is better to way for users feedback then add it only if the feedback was positive… what’s the sense to add an useless build? (i’m not saying that this build is useless… but no one in this thread gave a positive feedback… ).

I will also suggest you to correct the sticked topic because there are tons of builds which are no longer viable for a competitive pve and/or pvp so i think is better to choose few of them (the most representatives) and add a short description of them while removing all those build which can’t be used.

That’s because if the aim of that thread is “are you new? look here for build!” a new player which look at this thread wouldn’t learn “what build should he/she uses”.

Returning on thread discussion; i wouldn’t also suggest you to run a full zerker build for tons of reasons:
- ranger is really easy to burst down especially if you are not using LR, SoS (for active + trait), PM and entangle.
- ranger damage is high… but not so high to allow us to destroy an enemy with a skill or two: while a full zerker warrior is still able to one shot you with “kill shot” we can’t one shot with a single “rapid fire”… so i dont think is a viable one.
- lack of mobility and sustain

Diehard.1432:

Have you tried the current fotm spirits build? I personally hate the build but I think it has a good chance, afterall everyone has been crying it OP, that must mean something

can you give me a link to this “OP” build? I really hate condition builds but i want to give it a look; maybe can help to learn how to kill and enemy with that build…

johnIV.3849:

So I got my ranger to level 21, and I have to say I am enjoying it. Anyways I have been reading some on the ranger forum, and all I hear is ranger is bad.

Is this true? For WvW and endgame dungeons. Should I just roll a warrior or thief. I really liked the idea of being in leather armor with a giant great sword. But if I will be useless/not up to par then whats the point.

Thanks for your feedback.

Man… i know that what i’m going to tell you may sound obvious or not apparently helpfull but trust me:
your main char is the one you enjoy more than every other one… the one that you will pick up when you want to Play with you friend, or your guild, the one that you will choose simply because you like to see what you are capable to do… with your ability.

So, I might suggest you to choose as “main” pg the one you enjoy more… because this is a game… if you play for win but you don’t enjoy it… you have already lost (i’m kinda poetic today lol).

Then coming to ranger description… i can say that ranger isn’t anymore a weak class (“anymore” because a lot of work where made with latest patches) … the are a lot of thing a can tell you… but the problem is that i haven’t videos to show you directly. Anyway i have a ranger lvl 23 (i’m leveling it with a friend… so i’m really slow) and i like to play it in Hearth of the Mists to test my ability (… so i’m not talking anymore of “class ability” but “my ability” because this class has everything which every other class has) and i’m pretty sure that if there will be a kill/death rate (like call of duty) mine would be over 10kills per death because i can simply destroy every other class… just learn how with experience… learn when to run, when to attack, when to defend, when to go over a cliff… and laugh at your enemy… before to say “goodbye b****” xD

I want also to underline that i run a non-condition build in hearth of the mists… which make me really disadvantaged when fighting against some builds… but this is nothing that can stop me from trying… and succeed when i do all right.

I’m really sure that ranger would be my second main (because my main is a guardian) … but i also suggest you to try out every single class olso for few levels (at least 20… because in the first 10 lvl you can’t try anything).
Actually my char cronology is:
warrior (i hate it) -> guardian (my main) -> mesmer (meh) -> elementalist (i love this class… but can’t work) -> hunter (my second main)

so don’t worry about “main class” because you will find it as soon as your will of test and try will grow playing gw2.
See you in game

PS: sorry for my bad grammar ._.

Mcrocha.3891:

…
He will die! Profit! You may have to use SoS sooner if Deadeye starts charging his killshot as it will instakill you so it is imperative to pop SoS.

I use jaguar pet and it is helpful to have it on stow before fight starts as this will cause it to spawn next to you rather than across the arena. Farm this quick before anet nerfs the drops like they did with Subject 7!

Farm this? why? i don’t remember what kind of reward he gave… but are you sure that is so wonderfull? o.O i’m kinda noob with living world and achievements…

Hello,
this is my first char as thief and i’m having a lot of trouble using it into Hearth of the mists…while I see thieves coming at my back and killing me i can’t do anything of this:<

Can you please give me an easy to use build for thief? And also, if there is one, a guide to follow? I have to admit: thief is the hardest class to learn to use! I have already a guradin, a warrior (not skull crack…), a mesmer, a ranger and an elementalist… i learned to use all these classes in about 1-2days (few hours for warrior and guardian XD) and few weeks to master them (again not for guardian and warrior… few days for them XD)… so please can you help me?

As hint for the build.. i don’t like condition build and i really like when spawn a thief, says “hello” and vanish… for ever.

ok i’ll try to be of help by listing pros and cons of both classes in every situation

Thief

PvE (open world)
pros:
- high single target damage
- a lot of ways to escape
- very strong at range with p/p build

cons:
- low survivability in large fights
- low aoe damage (SB and d/d still get low aow damage compared to other classes)

PvE (dungeon)
pros:
- high burst damage (thieves are welcome in almost every party especially for the big burst against bosses)
- high survivability (because you can save yourselves by going stealth and ress your party)
- high mobility (you can easy reach every obstacle and avoid almost every trap/trick)

cons:
- you can never fight a boss face to face… so hope to find a good team because if you get mob aggro… you will simply be one shotted (with boss auto attack)
- as you can easy avoid avery aoe/attack… the cons is that you NEED to avoid every single attack… or die.

sPvP/tPvP (hearth of the mists)
pros:
- very good in 1vs1
- you can easily kit almost every class

cons:
- also in small group fights thieves starts to lose effectivenes
- condition builds may be hard to kill
- thieves condition build isn’t strong as other classese’s one

WvW
pros:
- high roaming capabilities
- really much ways to escape from combat and return in when you are ready

cons:
- really not so strong in zerg fights
- low capacity to be of help for your zerg

Ranger

PvE (open world)
pros:
- really easy to handle almost every situation tanks to your pet
- very good single target and aoe damage
- high ruvivability

cons:
- not so resistant if under direct attack (or if you can’t avoid enemy attacks)

PvE (dungeon)
pros:
- very good damage
- high survivability and ways to avoid boss attacks
- good party support (with spirits, pet’s abilities, traps/fields)

cons:
- a lot of people still consider ranger a weak class… but it isn’t anymore (also if something can still be implemented)

sPvP/tPvP (hearth of the mists)
pros:
- high damage capability
- to many ways to avoid eney attacks (simply exploiting ground structure)
- high resistance

cons:
- really weak against full condition builds (few ways to remove conditions)
- weak against some noob class combos (like the skull crack warrior and the phantasmal mesmer)

WvW
pros:
- really a good class for zerg vs zerg fights and great capacity to deal massive single target and aoe damage
- excellent zerg support with water field, aoe regen, fury (in general: pet abilities) , traps
- knock back (cliff + knock back = toon of fun!)
- good at solo roaming

cons:
- not so good escape abilities so you can be easily kited or attacked and killed by 2 or more enemies (for example if 2 roaming players see you is really hard to escape unless they have 0 mobility)

That’s all

Cogbyrn.7283:

Some of us aren’t defending this build because we use it. We’re defending this build because the arguments used against it are vacuous at best.

the only “vacuous” thing here is your ignorance of gw2 game mechanics and your inexperience (in that field at least).

redslion.9675:

Actually, this build is WEAKER than hammer build. Almost same damage, less cc, less AoE effectiveness. Only bonus is the fact you move a bit faster around, making you a more effective roamer.

And if this is a noob build, Hammer/Mace is noob, too: I can easily use Mace stuns to setup Hearthshaker, thus nullifying the problem of highly telegraphed skills. All I have to do is manage to stay alive without evades or protection until that time comes.

Sure, we are the king of HotM. Definetely.
And if someone wants to play that build because he likes that? Just like… I like the weapons? I never thought someone should be considered a noob only because of the difficulty of the build he plays.

And it’s in group fights where this build is weaker: yuo can be quickly focused down, your AoE is neglectible and… well, even if you stomp someone, another will come and save him.

Also because this is a roamer build. You WILL fight in 1v1s or max 2v2s, if you are doing your job.

Talking about spvp.
About the easy factor: I find it MUCH, MUCH, MUCH easier to play as engi. Even if it has 3 times the number of skills a warrior has. Heck, especially for that reason.

But yeah, we are ALL noobs if that makes you feel better. I’m sorry, but I won’t play mesmers: I don’t like them.

Ok… i really wanted to avoid this theard because of its stupidity… but your demostration of ignorance led me here… once again… to show how your statements are no-sense and kid like… let’s go.

1) Skull Crack build is weaker than hammer build only if use by a noob (2 random button… do you remember?) and hammer build is still less used because need more (only a bit more) skill to be used … so it’s really hard to see a good warrior with this build
2) Skull Crack build doesn’t need toon of cc… basically you need 1 stun and 1 hundredblades to finish a combat… so no need of all those cc.
3)hammer build deal less damage per second than skull crack one simply because hammer is way slower and with greater cd (while you can perform a complete skull crack combo every 8 seconds).
4) “Sure, we are the king of HotM. Definetely.” yes that’s the sad truth… but there are also condition build in hearth of the mists which are OP… so basically skull cracker warriors can be considered the most strong non-condition build (maybe togheter with full zerker thieves… maybe)
5) if someone like to play this weapons he/she will surelly find toon of fun by using gs 3# and 5# or shield and mace… but “for fun sake” no one will never use that ridicolous combo “skull crack + 100b”… unless you find that build/combo/equip/guide on google and you are the next… noob. gratz
6)actually in group fights skull cracker role is to wait for an easy prey… so no one will hit you if you stay at ranger… then you can press your 2 buttons and kill someone… easy… or do you think that this is hard? because if you do… i don’t think gw2 is the right game for you… you are still playing in ultra-easy mode (for mindless people).
7)you are surely using engi condition build… as i said condition builds are the OP build of hearth of the mists… so basically you passed from the “noob skull crack build” to the noobest “every class-condition build”. good job man… when you decide to play this game seriously you will find toon of fun (or the full zerker rifle-static discarge build)
8)i’m not a mesmer fan i simply know that THIS is an hard class to play (except phantasmal)
9)actually and REALLY you are all (again, not the few skilled warriors… but you aren’t one of them of course) noob player but not because i’m saying this… because facts and 90% of comunity know that as a reality so basically there is nothing you can say that will save you, poor noob skull cracker users, from that TAG. Enjoy.

redslion.9675:

I played phantasm mesmer once… it wasn’t hard at all. With Phantasms I could deal heavy damage while running away. So skillcapped, yeah.XD

Mine was a bit of a joke, about the fact warriors are now strong because only the best remained… but it’s as absurd as saying warrior players are noober than the ones playing other classes.

And I have yet to see all those mighty warriors dominating the scene in HotM.

(the ones playing two random buttons are a joke to beat. Really. If you can’t manage to do it, you are as BAD as them.)

1)i said “shattercat build” non “phantasmal build”; because phantasmal build (aka GS/sword-pistol 30/20/0/0/20) is a noob build like skull cracker warriors.
2)i said that skull cracker warriors are noob simply because if they want to play that build they must be considered noob!
3)warriors still dominate the scene in hotm… read the above answer to “why skull crack build is strong and for noob”
4)the one playing with 2 random botton is a joke in 1vs1 (and i talked about “vs medium skilled” players) but in a 2vs2 or 3vs3 … or simply a 5vs5 you can’t block/avoid everithing… and when you avoid a necro’s mark, ele’s knockbacks and thieves bursts… then you see coming a kitten (i still don’t want to be offensive…) warrior stunning you and dealing 10-20k damage in few moment’s (10k with the most tanky and 20k with the most zerker one)

BurrTheKing.8571:

…
Also, saying a build is OP because most warriors are running it is BEYOND funny. I guess Shatter Mesmer must be MASSIVELY OP because that’s all they run. We run it because it’s generally the strongest build we have, especially in PvP.
…

the removed part of your post simply don’t deserve comment… but this one… ahahah is particularly ridicolous man ahahahh… really… do you want to know the truth? but please don’t answer me with more no-sense statements.

Skull Crack build is OP because it’s really easy to use (also a noob can use it with excellent results) and the fact that everyone even the most demented player can use it (and, in fact, everyone use that ridicolous build) make that build OP for 2 reason:
viability -> also the noobest player can kill a medium skilled one
power -> simply the best squishy build in 1vs1
the problem is that too many people like to easy win … then you have your game… enjoy it but please shut up!
“warrior is the hardest class to play!”
“warriors need more damage!”
“warriors need more sustain!!!”
“warriors need more everything!”

all these statements… i can’t find the right words to describe them… i think i’ll become offensive against warriors noob players (about 50% of gw2 players) … so i’ll simply say: the are merely false.

The difference between a skull crack warrior and a shattercat mesmer is that while a skull cracker warrior, as everyone said over and over, is really really really… really easy to use instead a shattercat build isn’t. I challenge you to create a mesmer (shattercat build) and kill everyone in HotM! I don’t think that you can… simply because you are used to press two random button and down an enemy… but you have much to learn (refered to every noob warrior) not about classes… but about game mechanics.
If only Arena Net would make stuns harder to use (not a reduced duration… or longher cd, simply more buttons to get it)… 90% of skull cracker players will change class and that’s the truth.

Dardamaniac.1295:

… I would like to see a Trap that benefits our pets tho…

what about “command your pet to set an explosive trap with a kitty over it and when an enemy touches the kitty the trap explodes causing AOE knockback and make your pet laugh”?

it sounds funny

XD

TheMightyAltroll.3485:

thank you very much

LightningBlaze.4913:

If it is for wvw then based on the 5 things you listed that you dislike I think you might enjoy this build I shared. https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/As-requested-by-the-4-eles-from-last-night/page/2#post2523394

It is very bursty even at range where you can start and finish battles without you getting to melee distance. Of course it has the choice to be in melee and then out to range to continue bursting as well. It is not glassy at all even on zerg vs zerg encounters yet it is not very bunker either to the point where other burst type of players can’t take you out in seconds if you don’t outplay or nuke them first. Being experienced on both type of weapon sets I find the s/d to be much more complicated than d/d so that also fits on your number 4 dislike. It doesn’t have good amount of boon duration so idk where it stands on your number 5 category.

thank you for answer man… there is a problem… in the page you liked there are more than 1 build…
are you talking about this one?
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQJArYhEmIbzR5wjEIEFmAKMKECiHWgDwhlCzAA-jEDBoLA4LgUgAEBgZPDZMBKqVNFRjVXDT5SIV7Ky2bCZmcRVKgKGDA-w

ps: my request was for WvW

thank you for answers… this is the best class section (followed by guardian and warrior).

Hello guys,
i decided to start today my next char and i’m really undecided between necromancer and elementalist. I know really few of them so i thought you could help me… and i post this here simply because ele’s forum isn’t really hospitable… I hope you are

So, can you make a lists of pros and cons of the actual gameplay for those you classes? (i’m mainly interested in WvW/HotM) Because every research on google led me on old posts (like 2012 of early 2013) but recently there were a lot of changes for both classes…

thank you

Hello,
i started today my 5th pg (i know there are players with 15char… but this is my 3rd month on gw2 :< can this help xd) and it’s an elementalist…
At beginning i didn’t like that class… but after some tests… and after testing it on myself… meh i can say that i love this class XD

now… i just stearted my pg today but i’m one who liketo test build in hearth of the mists and get lvl 80 with everything already decided and tested.
So from what i’ve understand there are some big groups in ele’s builds:
1) choice between D/D (called the noob build XD) and S/D (Staff is pretty useless in pvp … but not in WvW)
2) choice between cantrips and auras (also cantrips get some auras)

so what can you suggest me to try out? These ere few things i like/dont like to do:
1)i like go in melee but i dont like to be forced only in melee…
2)i like to survive… so i don’t like full zerker equip
3)i like to deal a good damage… so i don’t like a tanky gear
4)i like to play hard… so i like to use complicated tactics but really effective
5)i really like to play with attudements swaps and manage boons/damages/effects coming from it

that’s all thank you for help

ps: that’s an already tested build with some nice results
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fEAQJAoYhMmmbyx4gjFAkCmEKowoQHiCWUeMDN2A-j0yAYrAShAJCAZPh0Eo0YVrIasqFMVJguMpqzI7NKiWNA-w

braq.1298:

As title says, Why there isnt any Warrior in tourment?

this means warrior need some love from devs?

no, simply because tournaments (in hearth of the mists) are only for condition builds or tanky builds… no more… since a guardian bunker is better than a warrior bunker there are only few skull crack builds and… condition builds of course… and since warriors don’t get a really good contition build: skull crack or nothing, this is hearth of the mists! enjoy.

Fenrir.5493:

Say to me, why are you ignoring all the facts and evidence that proves that this isnt OP.

Im going to tell you why, because all of you are kids that play the tactic of scream things and at the same time put your hands on your ears so you can not listen to the truth, while you continue with your tantrums.

Guys! what the hell are you doing! why warrior thread is full of posts like “warrior is OP” and “nerf warrior”!!!! TELL ME WHY! do you really think that Arena Net is here to listen to every your assumption? do you really think anet will really nerf a class only because a bouch of players say “they are op!” ??? Tha’ts ridicolous…

Now if you still have a modicum of intelligence you will stop that no-sense thread spamming (and waste of time for you) because, i have to admit, warrior is actually the easier class to use (especially with skull cracker build) and the one which gives you great results with no skill… but isn’t to waste hours and hours and hours … and hours here that you will solve the problem!

As you can see (from videos) Arena Net team not only program the game but also play and test the game also after the patch release so if there is really someting of wrong with the class don’t worry… they will do all the necessary to fix it as soon as possible!
NOW STOP THAT KITTEN! this is a forum … where player help player not where player insult and/or ask for nerfs… don’t be kids!

Nurvus.2891:

stuffs

man that will be a great improvement of the game but… do you know how many time is required to change an entire game in a such way? Remember that ArenaNet is doing it for free… remember that they want to keep our interest up in the game not only with the game itself (which is spectacular) but also giving us new events every 2 weeks… remember that there are also a lot of problems (bugs) with the actual situation of the game… remember that they want to literally change things in the second part of 2013; so i don’t think they can never do something like what you are asking for… let’s see how it ends, i’m pretty sure they will never disappoint

Nurvus.2891:

stuffs

man that will be a great improvement of the game but… do you know how many time is required to change an entire game in a such way? Remember that ArenaNet is doing it for free… remember that they want to keep our interest up in the game not only with the game itself (which is spectacular) but also giving us new events every 2 weeks… remember that there are also a lot of problems (bugs) with the actual situation of the game… remember that they want to literally change things in the second part of 2013; so i don’t think they can never do something like what you are asking for… let’s see how it ends, i’m pretty sure they will never disappoint

Nurvus.2891:

…

• Vitality is another Attribute that doesn’t really give you much, specially in long fights.
  - You take just as much damage
  - You take longer to heal up (because you have more health)
  Toughness, by comparison, actually scales with incoming damage, and indirectly increases the effectiveness of incoming Healing – since you are reducing the incoming damage.

…

man that’s an important point… i was thinking about it all the time and that’s real… you take much damage … but you need more to heal… so the solution is easy:
- to really improve the importance of vitality is necessary to make each heal to heal in % of max hp.

for example:
1- you get 10000hp so your heal (wich scales 50% with your hp) heals you for 5000hp; half of your life
2- you get 6000hp so your heal (wich scales 50% with your hp) heals you for 3000hp;
half of your life and 2000hp less than a build with 10000hp.

that will make a real difference.
Anyway the general formula:
healing skill = x% of hp + (z% of healing power)
can create a great unbalance in classes… since there is a too great difference of base HP among classes.
Also to remove this HP difference among classes and add a trait which allows them to keep up the same (almost the same) advantage will be really important.
Just an example:
→ warriors get high hp pool… so give them a normal base HP and a trait (grandmaster maybe) which give them +300 vitality
→ so they can get back their “peculiarity” or simply look at more

DarkWasp.7291:

1. Burn him down with the 1h sword and don’t worry about getting the finisher off.

2. LB 3 then QZ (if you still have it)

3. Pet swap for quickness (if you have 30 BM)

4. Throw a ton of conditions on and go back to fighting other things

2- very nice!
3- same as 2 but only if you get a condition build i guess
4- still only with a condition build XD

Atherakhia.4086:

Run from someone up a hill and longbow #4 them off the ledge. Never gets old. I can’t believe this one wasn’t listed!

ahahaha man! that’s the most important… so important that can be implied in “long bow” term XD

nagymbear.5280:

Shared anguish is great for stomping in a 1v1 situation as well.

yes! that’s the most important trait for me… but the huge internat cd makes it less effective… at least in hearth of the mists…

another combo is with spider pet (the one which give you a 2sec stun on demand)…

DevO.9854:

In any kind of group fight I always use my wolfs fear to stomp or res someone.

yes … also Moa’s F2 ability will daze the enemy to death but is harder to use…

Scoobaniec.9561:

Kjeldoran.3849:

try out the noob skull cracker build and you get 4sec (5sec if you get rune)

Made my day. Also please take a note who crying about this gimmick “op” build

Ya hear that another sigil of para makes it last 6sec, also theres a special etin soup that gives another 4sec stun? 10sec stun on 7.5 cd!

man that’s false:
base stun duration = 3sec + 30% = 4 sec stun… math isn’t an opinion

ps: warriors need only that… a 10sec stun duration every 7.5sec then they can run around like kitten and perma block a char simply pressing a button… you are mad man…

Hello guys,
i created this topic to discuss some interesting ways to finish someone. I’ve found some of them by playing a bit with my LB/GS build but you surely get some more from other builds

1- go near a downed enemy then Long Bow 3# and vanish in stealth to finish them (like a thief). The problem with this finishing is that stealth don’t lasts enough to complete the finishing but if you do it fastly you appear at 0.25 sec from the end of animation… so there is nothing the enemy can do (since every downed skill as a precast time)

2- if you are in 2vs2 when downed the first enemy let your firend finish and use GS 5# to the downed enemy to prevent him to use anything

3- if you downed a warrior/guardian/ranger/engineer the first thing when enemy is down is to start casting GS 4# in order to block all enemy tentatives to knock down/back/interrupt you

that is all i’ve found… tell me what do you think or if you have more stuff

really strange man… never happened to me :< sometimes combat lasts a bit more… but never stucked in combat

MiLkZz.4789:

400HPs= 12000, in a 30s course. If you can’t deal 12k dmg in 30s, you are either running in white armor or are actually pretty bad. There is nothing wrong with healing signet. A guardian using his heals goes over the 12k every 30seconds. By far even and don’t tell me they are much harder to use than the healing signet, the virtues are instant.

you are avoiding 12k damage every 30 sec without do anything… is it an hard concept to learn?

totalpwnage.6534:

You can can’t nerf the best tank/bunker weaponset because you bad players can’t learn how to counter/stunbreak properly. I play an absolutely full bunker build with 0 damage running mace/shield and sword/warhorn and I rely on that long stun to help reduce damage on me. Nerfing my ability to stay alive just because you can’t learn how to counter a build that wastes one whole weapon set just to use 1 stun is possibly the dumbest idea I have ever heard.

Now go outside and actually practice before raging like a kitten.

no one here want to nerf you noob bunker/tank build … you miss the topic… go to page 1 and read again before to post.

totalpwnage.6534:

I have all 8 classes at lvl 80 and have WvW/PvP experience with all since release date. The only things in my play time of GW2 that I have ever called OP is original D/D bunker eles and thief stealth. Now Warriors have an actual chance in PvP with a stun that is on 7 seconds cooldown only if you have 30 in tactics and gain enough adrenaline before 7 seconds is up (pretty kitten kittening hard) + you know you can stun warriors and also use control effects on them too? It’s not like warriors are the only class who can stun people.

do you have 8 chars? you surely need to play more time on you warrior… try out the noob skull cracker build and you get 4sec (5sec if you get rune) stunby pressing 2 buttons… then press the third button and the enemy (without skill) is down… 3 button to kill someone are enough for you? or do you want a skill that stun target for 10sec then attack it for 20k damage?

that’s all… again… and you are showing only your ignorance… sadly.

Wraith.4103:

Its NOT overpower.
1)LOT of classes can counter this kind of ranger, one of them necromancer, want another? Guards; Another one? Elementalist.

2)You will not be a god on WvW nor SPvP, the problem is: MOST people just dont care about condition removal skills/traits/etc.
When In fact you play with someone that knows how to play against this you will see how useless you can turn in lots of situations on a 1vs1 battle.
I know you probably kill most of necros and guard you see, but most part if not all is because of the reason I stated above.
3)Condition Warriors AND thieves (now with torment) can be as much OP as a ranger too.
4)So I dont see the reason to this kind of thread, wanting what? To nerf a already hard to play class? We are getting better and I hope it continues that way.

man, be quite… my aim wasn’t to persuade devs to nerf condition builds… it’s only a thread i which we are talking about how simply is to use condition builds and win with them in spvp.
no aswering to you,
1) ranger is not the optimal condition class so it’s normal that a guardian/elementalist specced into condition removal can do alot… but it’s false to think that this is enough to stop a condition build… condition removers have a cd, most of conditions haven’t.
2)you will not be a god in WvW simply because of massive condition removal. While, you will be a god in sPvP simply because there are classes with low capacity to remove condition (also if specced into condition remover build)… so there is no way for them (and renger is one of them)
3)i never said that condition warrior/thief is weaker than ranger. Also condition thief is really really strong in sPvP but not so much as an engineer or a necro (both full condition).
4)actually…. condition build are really easy to play and i can confirm this since i always played engineer with low results in heart of the mists… then i decided to go for a condition build… i was devastating the Mists with my first match i get something like 270 points and 15+ kills… (and this was only an exemple… same thing appened with necro and thief)

Epic.3950:

wolfpaq.7354:

Daecollo.9578:

Gaurdians/Rangers/Engineers/Thieves all have higher sustain.

I wasn’t sure if you were trolling or serious until this post.

Thanks for the confirmation. Grats on all the attention you’re getting with your troll post.

Healing signet outsustains every class in the game with zero thought or skill. Equip signet on bar, get best sustain in the game by far. No need for specialized traits, runes, sigils, nada.

Not sure what ANet was thinking.

hey lets make the worst heal in the game semi good but still underused?

Cant tell if this was just a troll comment or you were serious.

man, he’s right… warrior is the easier class to use with a full signet build simply because get toon of passive bonuses… do you want an exemple?
2x regen (trait + signet)
+180 power (signet)
+180 precision (signet)
+180 toughness (signet)

only with those 3 signets a common noob with a warrior get higher base stat then every other class do with skill

also warrior is the most easy class to play on gw2 and the one which allow you to really kill someone without skill or any capacity (just look at skull cracker build… don’t tell me that you need skill to usa that build!) … if someone here thinkt hat warriors need skill to be used ill suggest them to try an hunter or an engineer… then we can talk about skill…

anyway there are also warriors build which are pretty hard to manage (like the new sword builds) but there are really few of them… the most like to play as noobs only to fast squish people whitout ever think “am i playing seriously or am i pushing random button a killing people?” because the situation is this… until you find a really skilled enemy or a condition build you get an easy win almost all the time.

Also this thopic is useless as its creator starting statements:
1) warrior get the higher gw2 base damage… no comment here
2) warrior get (now) a really good sustain… you need to at least look at skill before pushing them… so you will learn how much DEVS have given him with latest patches.
3) warrior is absolutely the easier class to play in the game: 0 skill, high results.

also the great number of followers in this thread shows how the warrior comunity is formed by people which simply don’t read skill… because it is not necessary to kill someone… at least there are some players who avoided this topic (few skilled warriors) but the most are here to comment and are mocked by other class players for those statements.

Now please stop that useless thread and go home… the show is over…

Kasama.8941:

As written in your other topic; taking into account the extra dodge you get from 50% increased endurance regeneration, you have three initial dodges, meaning you can round the protection from Companion’s Defense up to 3,75 seconds. Without any recharge time at all. Rejuvenation lasts 5 seconds, and has a recharge time of 30 seconds.

oh sorry i didn’t read it before so this may be the solution… thank you!

Puandro.3245:

Condition builds are actually stronger in WvW than sPvP due to conditikn duration food.

Anyways a mesmer will play keep away with phantams and remove any condis with mantras NP. Sure most mesmers dont run them but they have them for use and they are not bad. You think phantams dont hit hard but they do.

that’s partially right… in wvw you have 40% cond duration with food but enemies have -40% cond duration from food… so this is a nox-existent advantage…
while this advantage is false… there is a great disadvantage: toon of condition removal and being destroyed if under massive attack…
infact also a condition build with 2000 toughness and 20k hp will die in a moment if attacked by 5 players… so the damage deal is low (few moments before die aren’t enough to get damage from conditions) and sometimes it’s 0 (especially if you are against an organized zerg with water/light fields).
But the situation really changes when you are 3vs3 or even 5vs5 because you get enough defense to survive a full enemy team attack… and at the same time only 5 enemies can’t be enough to remove conditions aoe (except if you are playing in tPvP where you can find some well organized teams).

so the conclusion is only one:

• do you want to play in Hearth of the Mists? choose a class with a strong condition build or go home.

i don’t know if i’m the only here who hate condition builds… but to have a “only condition” place (like HotM) is really frustating :<

Hello,
as i said in an another topic i’m working on my LB/GS build and now i have a great doubt: i have 5 untiled trait points; should i get “companion’s defense” or “rejuvenation”?
for what i can say:
-companion’s defense
pros:
easy to stack
very good to escape from thieves
cons:
only 2 sec
if you get it you lose 10% damage (but you will walways lose that damage because you need to dodge roll)

-rejuvenation
pros:
5 sec regeneration is a good thing…
cons:
only 5 sec with 30 sec cd…

so what do you think?
anyway that’s my actual build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fMAQJATRjEVF2JWCWs2Bg1j96bwWhMZPOkxFPZDeLF-j0yAYrARigoCA5cokXyyeCsVwioxqWwUlBVdqI7NKiWtMAMLA-w

and i want to remove 5 points from skirmishing to get something of defensive at place of MoC (which isn’t so usefull… at least for me :<)

Gaiawolf.8261:

The better phantasm builds designed for duels/1v1 generally run sword/pistol and either scepter/sword or GS. I prefer the sword/sword and scepter/torch (or pistol) because I feel the iswordsman is one of the best single target pet harrassers in the game and having a block on each weapon set works extremely well for me, plus stealth – more stealth.

Traited properly, phantasms can do serious damage (up to +40% more than typical phantasm and have perma Fury), but the real danger to them is the ridiculous amount of evades, stealths, and combat mobility mesmers have access to. A good phantasm mesmer will generally do what he needs to to avoid your attacks at all cost while pooping out phantasms as fast as possible. Can’t apply conditions unless your attacks hit. I run condi removal in my build, but you are right, many don’t, and I feel that’s a weakness, but in wvw many run melandru runes (or air) and lemongrass soup in the current meta.

mmm… nice idea… but almost every phantasm build i see uses GS… anyway ill try that later on my mesmer (maybe if you can send me your trait build in private message so we don’t go off-topic).

Anyway, yes i’m talking about spvp because in open world it’s easy to put on melandru/hoellbrak + food to greatly avoid condition damage… but what can you do in hearth of the mists?

also… a good suggestion to remove condition build power would be to introduce foods also in hearth of the mists!

Ryan.9387:

Rangers don’t need any pvp buffs at the moment. The class is already at the point where a well played ranger can beat any other class 1v1. The amount of fear the enemy has is irrelevant if the ending is the same.

In fact, I like when enemies charge up to me for the easy kill, because that means I don’t have to chase them down.

yes, youre right… i also like when warriors charge me so i can block them with GS 4# and knock them back (like a boss) in their face… but the problem (which isn’t a real problem) is that every one who see you want to try to kill you (also if you kill them, at least) … but no one try to start a fight against a running thief…

so i don’t say that ranger is a weak pvp class (because i’m playing it at moment and i’m killining toon on people in the mists) but we need, maybe, a decisive skill… as warriors have 100B or kill shot we need that high damage skill…

and yes… as said someone, over here, LB requires a lot of skill to be decisive in pvp but i already got some skill… and i’d say that to get a “great damage” skill wouldn’t be a bad idea (in my opinion)…
also DEVS can simply increase a bit rapid fire damage… i’m actually hitting for 6-9k (not full zerker build) but it’s really easy to avoid due to the long cast time… or simply what do you think about to reduce cast time from 4sec to 2-3 sec? because it’s a bit boring to see that number slowly grow

also we can use this thread to theorycraft… what’s your idea?

hello,
i have some suggestion in order to make ranger a really fearsome class … because now if i (or everyone) see an enemy ranger the first impression is “mmm… i can kill it” instead of the first impression when i see a thief (before disappear) is “oh kitten … i have to run!” LOL

so i really think that those 2 changes in Long Bow skills can be a great thing:

hunter’s shot: grant us invisibility (3 sec) and knock back enemy
point blank shot: becomes a 2 sec cast skill with a destructive damage (something like the head shot skill in south survival)

so we can really say “come here, and i will kill you” instea of “come here and after 10 mins of fight i may kill you” XD

what do you think about?

Puandro.3245:

If i wanted to win 100% of the time i would bring my phantasm mesmer out and kill him, its basically impossible to lose as a phantasm mesmer unless you mess up.

are you sure? what kind of phantasm build are you using (off topic)? because if it’s the regular phantasm build you have no chance against a full condition build (unless the enemy can’t find you… but so we are talking of skill) simply because phantasm damage is low and will really be too low on an enemy with 1800toughness and 20k hp and simply because mesmers haven’t ways to remove condition (except null field… with a 40 sec cd)… also just today i killed in hearth of the mists a phantasm mesmer with my ranger (not condition build) without any difficulty at all simply because i know mesmer class and i can avoid almost everything except the gs spam… which is pretty boring

Prysin.8542:

you need more time in WvW, and try out a few more builds…
For most classes, your thesis would be spot on. But rangers are in a sweet spot. Out conditions, doesnt last very long (if going for condition burst), but they hit kitten hard. They also double as combo fields (torch 5). Which means you can provide AOE might to party. If you add ontop of this, the ridiculous toughness and healing you can get from apoth. You will realize that not only are you viable as a zerg unit, you’ll be extremely strong in a roaming/havoc setting too.

All you have to do, is adjust your “role” depending on the situation. If zerging, stay a few step back, support, don’t stay on the front lines. If roaming, kill all that moves.

“you need more time in WvW, and try out a few more builds…”
I take it as an insult… because WvW is my second home and i have 4 pg lvl 80 and tried every single class in almost every single build in Hearth of the Mist…

anyway i’m not talking about condition ranger… or engineer… i’m talking about “condition builds” in general: OP, no more to say.
Their utility in WvW is very low due to massive condition removal and other player’s conditions… but in spvp there is nothing which can kill a condition build (except another condition build). Do you like to use condition build?
“if yes you can actually win… if not i’m sorry but hearth of the mists isn’t viable for you”
that describes the actual situation in hearth of the mists.

And, also a “skull crack” build can’t kill a full condition engineer you forget that “this” engineer has 2x invulnerability, 1800+ toughness, regenerations and protections (it’s an elixir build of course) so the combo “skull crack” + “hundredblades” is like fresh water and if you do 3-4k damage is a great thing (over 20+k hp)…

and i say this only because (as i said over) i tried almost every viable build… so i well know skull cracker and elixir engi…

ps: and those “only 4” pg that i have to lvl 80 had tested more build, in more situation, than a build editor…

Puandro.3245:

Not sure if serious.

… do you think to be able to kill a full condition engineer (for example) ?
with 1800 toughness, 20k hp, 1400 condition damage and 40%+ crit change ? i don’t think there is a full zerker warrior who’s able to kill it…. the only way is to go for another full condition build… and hope.