Guild Wars 2

And sadly enough, nobody in the community has the knowledge/time/other excuse here to really put out a decent alternative to metabattle, so really it’s all we have. Forums are notoriously barren, especially in regards to discussing what works/what doesn’t. Subreddits are even more so less populated.

I suppose I really don’t get how the game can have this many players but so few theorycrafters and build makers. Is it a fault of anet for making very few possible viable builds for all the classes? Is it our fault for being lazy? Who the hell knows.

To be honest I’m kinda hoping on mace (MH or OH) as a condi weapon so I can build Eureka to match HOPE.

Blood Rubies
Petrified Wood
Chak Eggs
Siege weapon blueprints
Golden Fractal Relics
Tenebrous/Shimmering Crystals
Vial of Cadmium Salts
Infusions? Maybe following the purchasable sizes that you can get from the fractals (+1, 3, 5, 7, 9)
Black Lion Claim Tickets/Scraps.

Tonic storage? Doubtful but Just wanted to toss it out there anyways.

Mystic Forge items maybe? Philosopher’s Stones, mystic crystals, mystic forge stones, etc.

Long shot items: How about the various gifts we can craft/receive? I’m fairy casual but I’m sitting on gifts of exploration, jungle, fleet, maguuma, Skirmishing, competitor, battle, and chak.

What I would want to see in the next possible elite spec is an expansion on condi, and it could even work within the mech suit archetype.

New Weapon: Main Hand Mace

One of the things i like about engi classes is their ability to build and repair crap. We got a wrench with the scrapper elite spec, but how about a hammer to bang it back into place? I was even considering maybe giving the mace some debuffing as well as mech (both the engi-form mech and maybe even turrets?) repairing capabilities.

Mace 1 Generates stacks of bleeding when hitting a foe, or repairs a friendly mechanized unit (mech, turrets, etc).
Mace 2 Could have a strong confusion stacker and/or ability to daze a target (perhaps when casting?)
Mace 3 could be a smaller static field, similar to hammer 5, albeit smaller. Perhaps even tacking on a super-charge function (trait line, mechanized units in your lightning fields get a small overclock or supercharge buff that increases damage/fire rate/etc).

I suppose in order for it to work as a condi weapon it would have to be as good in condition application as a MH pistol, or synergize extremely well with traits/elite spec skills/etc. So numbers and condis would be up to specific tuning.

Another suggestion for the Mech itself is actually having an ejection seat. Something similar to the Titanfall perk that caused your Titan to self-destruct if you ever ejected, causing a large amount of PBAoE damage. In this case, as a condi spec, it could apply massive amounts of burning and bleeding and maybe leave a fire field.

In any case, I’m too stoned to think of an entire spec, just my 2 pennies. I also want to justify being able to use Eureka and HOPE on the same character. They were made for each other kitten!

Title is the bulk of my question. I usually just run around with the same build as I’d use in fractals (I don’t raid), but it kinda bums me that I lose out on 2 of my utility skills for banners that I’ll rarely use unless I run into a big mob or event (which can also be made useless if it’s an event that moves). So I’m curious what everyone runs for their daily open world shenanigans. Usually I’m running GS+Sword/WH with a longbow I usually swap out too, or a mace/shield when an event/mob needs CC.

Well, yeah, a game built around PvP is much more likely to be successful than a game with alternate modes. This isn’t news.

I mean, if people are leaving because they don’t like the game, then ok, whatever. Happens all the time. Either they’ll be back or they won’t. It’s no bigs.

Xyonon.3987:

Wahoo!

---

Sazdek.6830:

Hey Xyo, a couple of times now I’ve seen you mention that scrapper is a strong, if not the best, FotM class. What build(s) are you running for your fractals? Just curious =)

I simply use the normal power or condi engi builds, but I swap utilities very often, basicly for each encounter, to be able to counterplay in the best possible ways.
Against much trash, I’d go power, if you have a long fight before you, condi.

You can pm me (here or ingame) if you want more tips or infos !

Greez!
- Ziggy

I actually sent you an in-game mail some time ago (does mail work between EU and NA? shrug) in any case I was curious which I should bother gearing up first, the power or condi spec, though I suppose power is likely the most universally useful spec for most everything. (eventually getting a condi set regardless because…HOPE….much want)

In any case, with the power build, which utilities/kits are essential? Guessing probably grenade and bomb kit (maybe?) with the third slot being elixir gun or random utility based on encounter. Do you have links to said builds? =3 sorry if it’s a bother, always curious to see the more experienced players trait choices when it’s a class that I’m relatively newer with.

Been enjoying the kitten out of blast gyro in pvp admittedly.

Seriously though, it’s a .25s increase. It’s the slightest nerf possible. At least they didn’t get rid of its ability to blast its own water field or something.

Hey Xyo, a couple of times now I’ve seen you mention that scrapper is a strong, if not the best, FotM class. What build(s) are you running for your fractals? Just curious =)

I’m personally using the scientific hammer. Quite fitting I think.

Charr Engi new meta

I’m not biased at all. >.>

Question though, on the explosives line, if you’re not running a condi build would it then be better to run Siege Rounds for longer duration fields (namely looking at water for the sustain) and to be able to double tap your fields with the blast finisher? The 15% chance for 1 stack of bleeding and cripple on explosions seems kind of low, but maybe I’m underestimating it.

I was honestly expecting the generic “Any build will work, try everything” response. Thank you very much David, I’ll definitely give it a try probably as soon as I hit 71 in a couple of hours.

So I just recently started my engineer, at level 68 currently. I’ll probably be jumping into HoT zones by saturday night and was wondering what everyone used for open world exploration/fights/events/etc. Assuming pre-scrapper, of course (At least until I clear a few hero challenges then I’m hopping right on that gorram bandwagon). Any help is always appreciated.

Viable? Sure, anything is viable. Ideal? Not at all.

Without a risk to loss of your rank, then it makes ranks meaningless. Higher ranked people will show nothing of their skill (already doesn’t show much, but at least it’s indicative of a positive W/L ratio), only their commitment to grinding. So beyond tired of people complaining about pip loss. Play any competitive game with a league and/or MMR system, you will lose ranks or whatever in all of them when you lose. It’s plain and simple as that. You don’t just get a trophy for showing up. Put on your big boy pants and move on.

Since it’s a movement impairing condition, most classes have a trait that reduce the duration or make it removable with dodge rolling (thief) or using a movement skill (warrior), so it’s already painfully easy to remove without even having to use cleanse. Then add on your classes cleanse abilities, your team’s accumulated cleanse ability, and so forth. Lastly, and what really kind of sucks about reaper chill, is that ANY other chill will overwrite it, so in a team fight scenario it’s not uncommon for the dot ticking version to be overwritten by just regular ol’ chill.

That’s cute, thinking thieves can kill us =)

They are*
Mercenary*

I can’t really say I recall any extended period in time that ele wasn’t viable, let alone top pick/team staple.

All about that charr.

Well, I honestly don’t know how you do well with this build. It melts way too easily and building life force chiefly through scepter 3 and staff 1 (does anyone even use staff 1?) is entirely too slow. I was able to chunk does people exceedingly easily, but staying alive or in RS long enough to do it was a huge problem.

Is it just me or does this build just seem a little too…glass cannon? been giving it a try and I just freaking melt instantly. Might try switching up to carrion from viper.

Now kids, you’re all pretty.

Anyways I’ve been using this on my necro for a couple of days and I love it. The damage is great, rotation isn’t complicated, gear is basically what everyone has anyways. Surviving is even pretty easy too. Can’t wait for the other videos.

Hey now, I was there for the searing too! I just always felt that some of the charr may have had a point. =3

#CharrLivesMatter

Kronicle.4652:

This made me chuckle and I’m feeling generous with the holidays around the corner.

5/7

I get this reference!

Sure, I’ll bite.

7/10 for Lilith, though I totally sympathize with the bad French, I named my human mesmer Leblanc De La Torre (did actually pick the nobility family history however). Anyways, as for mine.

Name: Charon Rimefang
Gender: Male
Race: Charr (#MasterRace)

Reasoning: Charon is a psychopomp in Greek and Roman mythology, also known as the boatman or ferryman to carry the dead over the river Styx and into the afterlife. The more commonly known scythe wielding and hood wearing psychopomp in modern history is Death. So, quite fitting for a necro/reaper. Rimefang I outright stole from an ice dragon in World of Warcrack, but it does also fit into Charr lore. Charr surnames are half given and half chosen. One part is given based on your warband (In this case it’s Fang, and I give it to all my Charr characters), and the other part is chosen or could be given, like a nickname, based upon the person’s personality or what have you. Seeing as necros and Reapers especially do a lot of chilling and freezing, Rime also made a good fit. Hence RImefang was born. (For context, my Revenant is Mistfang and I plan on renaming my engi to something a lit more engi-sounding).

Seems interesting, might give it a try a little later.

I’m on the last stretch of my emerald yolo que. Started at emerald 3 and 3 or 4 pips this afternoon, just got myself into emerald 5 with my last game. Hoping I’ll get lucky and hit Sapphire by this time tomorrow, if not a little further.

If you really want complex, roll a chrono or a thief I guess? I mained warrior since a couple months after launch and it’s basically as faceroll as you get. I’d argue it’s less complex than rev since, at best with a warrior you’re just switching weapons (sometimes) to blow the high value CD’s and using the occasionally signet or your burst skill. Rev at least requires legend swapping to run down your energy as well as weapon swapping for breakbars and the like. As a warrior you’ll just have less buffs going to your party (but more might), less CC to chew through a breakbar, and less ranged damage if you need to toss on a longbow for a non-melee fight (longbow<rev hammer by far).

But hey, you spend the money, play how you want to play.

So you think something like this then?

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRIQNBhQD7kZTodTslGw4GgeTskLYTDhlQSIeKmFHjQBgGwKA-TBBXgAAK/C1N0r+zjSQA-e

I always like dagger/warhorn as an offset for the swiftness buff as well as being able to bust through break bars fairly easily.

Utilities I’m kind of lost on however, I always like having a well or two to help AoE down mobs, spectral walk for the extra stun break and swiftness, and Your are all Weaklings for weakness, life force, damage, and nothing else I can think of to put there. Elite also for break bars or two make soloing packs of mobs easier, and because it’s fun.

I mostly like MM for the sake of being able to take champions or packs of mobs more easily (fekkin mini raptors). I don’t mind being “not” lazy, just so long as it’s efficient and won’t leave me dead as a doornail every few minutes.

What is everyone’s experience with reaper builds in the open world (namely for things like SW/HoT/Etc)? I’m leaning towards MM with death/blood/reaper.

So then what would be the ideal traits and minions to use until I’m able to get reaper? Guessing DM for sure what with all the minion traits. What about after that?

What about leveling pre-hot? I could insta-boost to 80 if I wanted but I’m taking my time, learning the character this time around. Right now I’m running dagger/WH+Staff with sig of vampirism/well of suffering/well of corruption/sig of locust and Lich Form. SR/Spite and eventually blood magic.

Are minions really that much better to run around with? I’ve head the AI is clunky and unreliable.

In terms of sPvP I’ve been trying out zerker mace/torch+sword/shield. It’s been working quite nicely. Teamfight wise it’s relatively weak, but dueling is nutty. I’ve been able to drop people absurdly quick after I get into zerk mode and Skull Grinder them. Rarely do I even need to trigger it twice.

Currently leveling a necro right now, so I’ll share some of what I’ll be doing during my process.

Weapons: Dagger/Warhorn+Staff. Dagger is totally replaceable if you prefer to be ranged, though dagger does provide more damage. Either way, you can try both and see which you prefer

Traits: (In order in which I’m training them)
Soul Reaping Up→Middle→Middle
Spite Middle/dowm→Middle→Middle
Blood Magic Middle→Down→Up

Utilities:
Heal=Signet of Vamprisim or Consume conditions (personal preference, I like signet for some passive healing and a ton of healing when paired with things like dagger 2)
Well of Suffering
Well of Corruption
Signet of the Locust
Lich Form (Elite)

Locust can be switched for something like Spectral Armor/Walk if you wish. They’re good for stun breaks and gaining a bunch of life force. I like Locust for the passive movespeed boost, and the active when used in a group of mobs will act like a secondary heal.

Stats: Power>Precision>Ferocity

This is basically a power Deathshroud build. Most of your traits will buff up your death shroud, which acts as a secondary health bar, very nice while leveling, especially solo.

Playstyle:
Basically there’s 2 ways in which I kill everything, but both mean I just round up a group of mobs, try and pack them tight, then aoe to death.

First is death shroud. Using 5 and then 4 can normally knock out a ton of mobs pretty quickly. Passive effects with traits will also apply vulnerability and might when using death shroud’s 1 attack. So you often just power through groups of mobs pretty quickly and move on to the next pack.

Second is all of your ground targeted AoE. I’ll start on dagger/warhorn, use Warhorn 5, switch to staff, drop 3 then 2, then both wells (or just 1 if things are dropping quickly enough already). This has usually been enough to drop packs of mobs about as quick as death shroud can.

Against single mobs, veteran or higher, I will switch between both of those, usually starting in death shroud to tank a bunch of damage, then go back to normal, build my life force back up while dropping all of my skills (though usually focusing on dagger damage more than AoE, but against champs or hard hitting enemies this could be a bad idea). Once my life force is back up, I rinse and repeat until the enemy is juicy and corpsified.

Sorry for the wall of text, just wanted to give you an idea of where to go and what to look for. Obviously you can play your own way, and leveling is pretty forgiving enough to where you can use literally any weapons and any traits and still do fine. If you have any questions, let us know.

See title. And yes, I am aware most people will just say “reroll” lol

So, I’m sure I speak for a lot of people when I say I’m sitting on all zerker gear (ascended in my case) which, normally, works just fine. However mobs and events are a pain in the kitten now and I’m finding myself camping in longbow frequently just because I’m liable to get instagibbed when I want to swap to greatsword (especially true for those legendary wyverns).

I’ve been considering condi builds (since having one will be necessary for the upcoming raid anyways) that will double as general pvp as well as dungeon/fractal builds with minimal changes (meaning swapping weapons/utilities at the most).

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJAQNAsfTj8cQlH29B+dAnIW+BsjV4IYpZ8ACANg3n71t7C-TxhAABVr+Tg7PMxJA4alfAcIAG4JAwmSQA-e

Just something I’ve tossed together and would like some feedback on. Parts I’m definitely unsure about is whether torch and the bonus 150 condi while in torch is worth losing the torment and block from offhand sword. As well as runes, which I’m in a toss up between undead, scavenging, or the new Berserker runes (not yet sure how to even get those). For obvious reasons this is a crit and condi damage centric build, with power due to the Great Fortitude trait in Strength. Though the HP difference is negligible when swapping between rabid and sinister armor/accessories, the toughness difference is pretty substantial between the two.

Anyways, I’m rambling and probably boring everyone already. What are y’alls thoughts?

Except for when an entire premade votes for it because they know they can win it more easily than a point defense based map, or people trolling.

So I know I’ll catch flak for this topic since TECHNICALLY while leveling every build is viable. However I’m looking for something efficient in the leveling process to make it as quick as possible. I just want something rather set I can have an idea of what to follow so I can spend as little gold/skill points unlocking traits as possible (or having to do extra zone clears to pick up something).

Hey, just getting back into the game here recently. Any chance of getting an invite to check you cats out?

I find the opposite true personally, being able to stun someone to death will mitigate more damage than using GS3/5 in small skirmishes.

in your build, your 10 slot in arms is blank, just fyi. Awesome video though.

BP Only owns 2/3 of EB?

Slackers….

LAD Infinitum.1675:

Not to be an interloper in another match-up’s thread, but just wanted to pop in and give a little cheer of “Go AR!”

As much as we may have rubbed each other wrong in our long and storied Brolis Rock history, I miss having you guys around. Though it’s too early in the week to tell for sure, from how things are looking in T5 right now you guys definitely deserve to be here. I think we’ve certainly learned a lot from each other, and helped each other improve. Why should that stop now?

And, given Borlis’ reputation for night-capping, etc., I felt you might get a kick out of this post in our current match-up thread:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/pvp/wuvwuv/3-8-BP-DR-EBay/page/3#post1614093

Good luck you guys, hope to see you again soon

Kyle Finnegan
General of [EDGE]
Borlis Pass

Props to BP for making a whole other tier rage. You guys honestly deserve to be in one of the top 3-4 tiers for sure. Hopefully we’ll meet you guys in 5 before you move up =)

Superman.2958:

Not uptight all but if its an inside joke maybe i can laugh at it too I just wanna know. Plus i know about trolls we have some, people that will remain nameless and hopefully they do not come on the forums.

It’s people just trying to grief you really. I’m guilty of it sometimes too like when people try to gank me in the JP or something. Or thieves (always laugh at thieves who are eating dirt).

SO it basically looks like the same gear as SC Hybrid but with different traits. Very interesting.

Lanny.6987:

They danced with us for the last 11 weeks. That’s just under half the time the game has been live. If you don’t get that… well then I guess you don’t get it.

Sazdek.6830:

Why is NSP still posting in this? I don’t get it….

Yeah that’s cool and all, and would be neat if >50% of the posts weren’t trolling/annoying NSP kids who dropped a tier. I can understand the attachment to T6 but I’m sure if they try hard enough they’ll be back =)

Why is NSP still posting in this? I don’t get it….