Guild Wars 2

obal.3218:

Velimere.7685:

obal, how is the staff’s DPS compared to that of the sword?

Amethyst Lure.5624:

Anybody know how much damage you lose by swapping to staff for certain tasks like the cc break bars? I’m kind of annoyed with how damage traits focus on the sword either through a direct buff or to dual wield; not that I hate sword and it’s a great primary but it is annoying that it doesn’t affect the Hammer or staff if you have those on swap.

Anyway, I suppose the damage isn’t all that important if you swap to it to smash that bar, but I still wonder…

Here is using just staff. I use it at the start of a fight but don’t swap back to it after that. This doesn’t account for the surge of the mists nerf and it assumes you have no dps downtime since it takes time for most bosses to run back after using it.

Thank you.

Morwath.9817:

Without a single word of explaination… how unprofessional you guys are.

It’s called censorship, and it’s a tool of social engineering.

Is there any content where you absolutely have to use ranged attacks in Heart of Thorns in order to avoid certain defeat? I’m not very far into it, but I’m really loving using mainhand sword on both sets for my Revenant right now.

Luclinraider.2317:

Glint-

Make the heal on it’s first activate pulse “Resistance” not “Regen”

This is sheer genius!

This has made getting certain Hero Points in Central Tyria an utter nightmare.

obal, how is the staff’s DPS compared to that of the sword?

FeelsAlright.5860:

Lévis.5489:

They removed it because the summoned pets trigger dragon hunter traps

And they eat half the damage from unrelenting assault.

This guy gets it.

glaphen.5230:

Velimere.7685:

I’m certain this rune was removed to keep Unrelenting Assault powerful in the 1v1.

Oh see I didn’t even think of that, indirect buff to Revenant 1 vs 1, dev probably got kittened when it happened to him.

That, and add in the fact that the other two removed runes also had minion summons.

Given that, it’s difficult to consider any other reason for these runes being removed.

I’m certain this rune was removed to keep Unrelenting Assault powerful in the 1v1.

pinkliz.8275:

Your achievements UI had red star icons next to categories with achievements that grant them, then the particular ones had the red mastery icon.

Thank you very much.

How do I figure out which Mastery Points I left that I need to get? I only have two tiers left to finish the Legendary Crafting Mastery before I’m done with the Central Tyria Masteries altogether. It’s really bugging me.

Captain Unusual.9163:

Necromancer
Reaper—Blighter’s Boon: This trait now only procs for boons you apply to yourself. Increased healing level multiplier by 25%, increased healing attribute multiplier by 330%.

Blighter’s Boon now only triggers off of self-applied boons, but heals for significantly more. Seems fair to me, I think. A Herald or Warrior shouldn’t be instantly giving us full life force and healing forever.

I checked with both the Celestial Amulet as well as the Cleric Amulet, and both Healing Power values barely added any amount to the healing value of Blighter’s Boon. With 1200 Healing Power (Cleric Amulet), it’s a measly 200 health.

I think Dragon Hunter is really balanced. If you stack multiples of it in order to 100-0 enemies in team-fights, you lose a lot of rotation speed, so that in and of itself is already good enough counter-play to me. People are just so quick to scream for nerfs over things they simply don’t understand. I beat most Dragonhunter players playing Chronomancer, and people call Chronomancer OP as well. Yet after watching this past ESL cup, the two Chronomancer players were getting absolutely wrecked. People just need to chill out.

Nyel.1843:

Velimere.7685:

I play Mantra Mesmer in both PvE and PvP.

May I see your build / could you a little explain your playstyle?

And thanks, I didn’t know that those traits became build in!

This is the build that I use for PvP.

Mantra of Pain adds to your front-loaded damage, and it can be used to eat a blind allowing you to fire off a more important skill without it missing. You can also cast it on targets attacking you while you’re blocking their attacks with Echo of Memory.

This is the build that I use for PvE.

Pets should have passive +25% movement speed by default since their pathing is so terrible. I literally watched a Ranger’s pet take a 15-second route around an obstacle while the poor Ranger ran up to melee me alone with his 66% damage since all Ranger attacks were shaved by 33% which is accounted for by their pets. I feel really bad for this class.

/signed someone who plays Elementalist and Mesmer in PvP and only touched Ranger for daily wins in hotjoin when necessary

Daredevil doesn’t even get a blindfold…

…Did the developers not watch the Netflix original series?

Tasao.4623:

Josh Davis.6015:

Hmmm, new amulets. Aside from zealots, anything else you folks think would be interesting?

I know this is too late but how about literally ANYTHING that’s not a huge gold sink? Can GW2 have just one area of the game not dominated by them?

Define huge gold sink.

Sagat.3285:

Velimere.7685:

So about that Zealot Amulet…

Maybe next patch. The new condition amulets are all terrible no shaman or anything carrying vitality the only good one was minstrel’s and it’s tank oriented.

We can only hope.

I’ve been running this in PvP with great results.

Please revert this change.

I don’t even play Ranger, but I’d definitely quit playing it after this.

Rym.1469:

Velimere.7685:

Anyone who thinks Chronomancer is OP hasn’t faced a proper Revenant build.

Marauder Sword/Shield & Staff Revenant has a 1-second evade, a 2-second evade, and two 2-second blocks (one of which does more damage than Blurred Frenzy while the other one heals the Revenant) on top of a sustain and DPS heal in Legendary Assassin Stance and an anti-burst heal in Legendary Dragon Stance for a total of 12 seconds of active defense where the highest recharge is only 30 seconds.

Let’s also not forget two stacks of stability on dodge (1 of which lasts 2 seconds, the other lasting 5 seconds) or 100% critical chance with fury (5 seconds from swapping Legends, 10 seconds from using a heal skill, 10 seconds from using a stun break [which can also be traited to proc on swapping Legends], and 3 seconds pulsing every 3 seconds in Legendary Dragon Stance).

What’s more, the Revenant can also apply weakness on a critical hit, receives 10% less damage from you outside of 360 range, and 10% even less damage from you when he’s below 75% health.

He also gains half a dodge every 10 seconds when struck, causes your physical hits and conditions to heal his downed allies, and breaks stun for allies within a 600-radius of himself when he uses a stun breaker.

In short, it’s really a tanky DPS god that ArenaNet likes to call the Revenant.

You’ve just described the legendary 4 specialization Revenant that can pick two, screw it, three traits in the same tier.

I too would be afraid of fighting such cheating monstrosity.

How can I kitten as hard as you do?

There were new sigils added to PvP with HoT?

I play Mantra Mesmer in both PvE and PvP.

Anyone who thinks Chronomancer is OP hasn’t faced a proper Revenant build.

Marauder Sword/Shield & Staff Revenant has a 1-second evade, a 2-second evade, and two 2-second blocks (one of which does more damage than Blurred Frenzy while the other one heals the Revenant) on top of a sustain and DPS heal in Legendary Assassin Stance and an anti-burst heal in Legendary Dragon Stance for a total of 12 seconds of active defense where the highest recharge is only 30 seconds.

Let’s also not forget two stacks of stability on dodge (1 of which lasts 2 seconds, the other lasting 5 seconds) or 100% critical chance with fury (5 seconds from swapping Legends, 10 seconds from using a heal skill, 10 seconds from using a stun break [which can also be traited to proc on swapping Legends], and 3 seconds pulsing every 3 seconds in Legendary Dragon Stance).

What’s more, the Revenant can also apply weakness on a critical hit, receives 10% less damage from you outside of 360 range, and 10% even less damage from you when he’s below 75% health.

He also gains half a dodge every 10 seconds when struck, causes your physical hits and conditions to heal his downed allies, and breaks stun for allies within a 600-radius of himself when he uses a stun breaker.

In short, it’s really a tanky DPS god that ArenaNet likes to call the Revenant.

So about that Zealot Amulet…

So about that Zealot Amulet…

ReaperJr.5967:

Hm. My usual source of quickness is from Heightened Focus though, which logically pops before I try to stomp. Still happens to me :/

The same thing happens if you lose quickness in the middle of the animation.

If you gain quickness after starting the animation, the animation itself will speed up while the actual required casting time will not.

Ryan.9387:

Same reason necros get spinal shivers.

Because they take a trait for it? What trait are the Rangers taking for it?

@dominik @Roan @EvilHero

I updated the OP with 2 more builds in light of recent developer responses.

gw2efficiency.com

online.1278:

nice build. since shout has ho stability that allows to fight in close , you combined berserker’s stability with shout.

Exactly! It works pretty well in my experience.

online.1278:

And for condi cleasne you use warhorn plus shout. I see many possibility here.

I can also cleanse via weapon-swapping, Flames of War, and Savage Instinct.

online.1278:

The problem i see now is that you will get bursted down wjen it comes to team pvp via mic by being targetted cuz of no endure pain and shield block.

I have decent vigor uptime (~60.6%), Superior Sigil of Energy procs, weakness application, 1 block, and several disables. I’m not as tanky as other bruiser builds, but I do alright.

Thaelias.7432:

Usually, classes have to give up damage for utility.

Like Mesmer, Thief, and Warrior, right? Oh, wait…

I really hope they add Superior Sigil of Cleansing to PvP!

Here’s the build.

What is the Shoutzerker? The Shoutzerker is a build in the spirit of the Shoutbow build adjusted to utilize the Berserker elite specialization for the purpose of having superior offensive pressure while attempting to maintain strong staying power in team-fights.

Despire using Mace/Torch in place of Longbow, the Shoutzerker also has a fire field and a blast finisher on its second weapon-set. In addition, it gains 2 dazes (one of which blinds, bleeds, confuses, and cripples) and a 3-second stun which gives maximum adrenaline. The Shoutzerker also has more adrenaline burst-gain, an extra stun break, a stability proc on stunk break, and pulsing stability while in berserk mode. That’s a lot of stability uptime!

The on-demand access to stability and quickness via berserk mode can make the Shoutzerker an ideal build for stomping foes and reviving allies, and the pulsing stability makes the Shoutzerker a harder target to lock down, has synergy with Head Butt by being able to negate its own self-inflicting stun, and can cover the activation of “To the Limit!”

My only real qualm is that superior Superior Sigil of Cleansing isn’t a part of PvP yet.

Edit:

Based on Josh Davis’ response in one topic and subsequently his creation of another topic, I think there’s a safe chance of us getting the Zealot Amulet (1200 Power, 900 Precision, 900 Healing Power) as an option in PvP, so I put together another shout build.

This variant makes use of Cleansing Ire and the recent buff to the Warrior’s shield skills while forgoing Disciple (and subsequently Fast Hands) but still taking advantage of the Berserker elite specialization.

Here’s the non-Berserker elite specialization variant.

witcher.3197:

I just really hope that the new 6/6’s healing is nowhere near Necro’s Signet of the Locust, that would potentially be even more OP on cele specs than the current bonus, healing up some players to ~50% HP immediately after the burst.

I’m a bit worried about how lackluster or overbearing this change can be, and I don’t think you’re looking at the big picture here. On the one hand, if it scales like Sigil of Leeching, it can potentially heal for 4875 health. On the other hand, if it scales like Sigil of Blood, it can heal for a potential base of 2265. However, both of these potential amounts would be extremely rare to see in actuality, and the procs on single opponents will be altogether more common making the life-stealing proc a mostly bleak saving grace if that. No matter how you look at it, this new sixth bonus will be a statistical underachiever.

I guess my suggestion would be to have a 900-radius proc scaling like Sigil of Blood. Even with 3000 power, that would be only but a mere be 225 damage per affected target.

I don’t think Cele D/D Ele will be the build to beat come Heart of Thorns.

Josh Davis.6015:

Hmmm, new amulets. Aside from zealots, anything else you folks think would be interesting?

• 1200 Healing Power
• 900 Power
• 900 Condition Damage

Or more ideally:

• 1000 Healing Power
• 1000 Power
• 1000 Condition Damage

My vote goes for the above with Shoutbow and Berserker Shoutbow in mind.

@Choppy

You yourself said that Last Stand wasn’t proc’ing for you some of the time. I did extensive testing with it prior and it wasn’t working as intended. If it’s not a hotfix, then maybe it’s because the trait needed to be “refreshed” as I had been using Last Stand since before the patch and swapped it to Cleansing Ire then back recently after my initial test. Either way, I didn’t fabricate any of my experiences with the trait, yet you kept coming at me like I did.

Choppy.4183:

This is starting to feel like a long troll, but, in the interest of setting the record straight so everyone (not just you) understands how the trait works and how we know….

I assumed you were trolling from your second post, so thanks for admitting it.

Choppy.4183:

snip

This has absolutely nothing to do with what I’ve been saying.

In fact, it’s the inverse. I have no problems with activating Balanced Stance after Last Stand procs. Rather, as I specifically noted multiple times, my issue was entirely with Last Stand not proc’ing after having used Balanced Stance. Proc’ing Last Stand first is the opposite of what I was clarifying which was clearly proc’ing Balanced Stance first.

Choppy.4183:

And hotfixes… really? Dude, that’s sad.

I think it’s sad as well. They should just admit openly that they’re working on it instead of sweeping it under the rug.

Choppy.4183:

For one, that line contradicts with your claim that a 10s window is still bugged in the same post quoted above. Second, there were no updates when I did the test, these sorts of bugs are typically documented, and the last bug fix was from seven days ago to fix a server crash (https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/info/updates).

A hotfix is when they change something in the game without a client update.

Now you know.

Choppy.4183:

Just let it go. Every warrior reading this thread can test it for themselves, but nobody should do it more than you. You were wrong, accept it, there’s no shame in it, just move on.

I’m not wrong; you’re wrong. The bug has simply changed via their hotfix and Last Stand will now proc from a disable skill even when you aren’t disabled. This didn’t happen before. My test using the same NPC has his disable proc Last Stand on me even when I’m not disabled by it having preemptively activating Balanced Stance: I now go from 5 stacks of stability (read: Balanced Stance) to 9 stacks of stability (read: Last Stand).

Choppy.4183:

EDIT: Also, on a second read of your test, it’s clear that you drew the wrong conclusion I said you did in my original reply to you.

You’re the one clearly drawing the wrong conclusion here.

Elegie.3620:

If he’s wrong about Last Stand (I don’t know nor care about that bug), given your writing skills, it would have been easy to reply to him in a friendly way and convince him to test hypotheses right away. He’s actually a knowledgeable and helpful fellow.

Yet, your replies progressively included harshness and contempt, both in content and style, like a scholar admonishing children, rather than an adult explaining things to another adult.

This is of course a perception, not a fact. That it would have earned you a place in my killfile, should the forum provide for one, is however a fact, not a perception. Feel free to consider that I’m a trigger-happy intolerant person and forget about it.

English is a second language to me, yet you come at me like I have a higher responsibility than the individual who had been arguing against me out of decided ignorance instead of confirming whether or not what I was stating was true until his last reply.

He could’ve tested it at any time with or without my specifications given the specifics I already had initially noted upon instead of assuming one thing over another. If someone says there’s a bug and you just decidedly choose to disbelieve them and then proceed to argue against them on that point, that makes you the one in the wrong period.

Choppy.4183:

Description of test:

1. Had opponent shield bash me
2. Last Stand procced
3. Activated Balanced Stance when LS stability ended
4. Had opponent shield bash me once Balanced Stance cooldown was 20s 10s or less

tl;dr: It worked just fine. Procced 100% when Balanced had 10s of CD left.

“It’ll proc within the last 10 seconds of Balanced Stance’s recharge, so it’s not bugged! The other 30 seconds of the recharge are utterly inadmissible as evidence because I say so!”

Sadly for you (since you’re trying to misconstrue), but counting the last 10 seconds of a 40 second activation window simply means the trait was further bugged to have a recharge of 30 seconds while still being put on full recharge following the activation of Balanced Stance. What’s more, there seems to have been multiple hot-fixes today which seem to have fixed it somewhat, but not entirely. For example, Last Stand (as of my testing again prior to this reply) will proc within any duration after using Balanced Stance, but it will also proc even when you aren’t disabled while you already have stability on you provided that a skill that disables is used on you.

Point in case, they’re trying to sweep this one under the rug, and you’re so wanton that you’ll write up a reply confirming that the trait is in fact bugged in your experience all the while still proclaiming that I’m wrong. I don’t know whether I should remain offended by you at this point or simply feel sorry for you having singled yourself out by all but admitting your incapacity to ever admit to being wrong about something.

Rekt.5360:

Yeah that is true but idk, I personally run AxeShield but if I were grouped with another war I’d rather have him play GS/hammer I value the hammer CC and good weakness uptime much more than a cleave. But then again I don’t really do much group fighting on my war and usually go for far or points with only 1 guy on them so I can’t exactly comment on how effective the cleave would be in a group fight.

Don’t get me wrong: I too use axe/shield over hammer.

I’m pretty sure the developers have already accounted for this with their assumingly intentional power creep which I’ve embraced wholeheartedly having spent many hours during every BWE with the majority of the Elite Specializations. Basically, your traditional Celestial Dagger/Dagger Elementalist won’t be anything special when Heart of Thorns hit.

I’m very excited to see how the meta will shift!

Choppy.4183:

Velimere.7685:

Choppy.4183:

My point isn’t to argue whether you’ve contradicted yourself, it’s to set the record straight in terms of what’s happening with Balanced Stance and Last Stand, and how to ensure you get maximum benefit.

No. Your point is to blatantly falsify concerning the fact of the matter.

Choppy.4183:

Regardless of whether your posts agree or not, you appear to think using Balanced Stance puts LS on cooldown. If so, you’re wrong.

Balanced Stance most certainly does put Last Stand on full recharge; this is a FACT.

Alright, buddy. Suit yourself.

Go test it for yourself instead of spewing lies, “Buddy”. I literally tested it 10 times in a row after encountering it for the first time, and it failed to proc all 10 times. It’s faster to test with another person, but I just used Chieftain Utahein in the Heart of the Mists since his Dual Strike pulls you on its way back to him. With Last Stand in your build, activate Balanced Stance. After its stability wears off, get into combat with said NPC and he’ll use Dual Strike on you. Last Stand will not proc while Balanced Stance is still on recharge.

Also, feel free to eat your own words after completing this test. Your intentionally ignorant responses to me have been of the utmost offensiveness to say the least.

Choppy.4183:

My point isn’t to argue whether you’ve contradicted yourself, it’s to set the record straight in terms of what’s happening with Balanced Stance and Last Stand, and how to ensure you get maximum benefit.

No. Your point is to blatantly falsify concerning the fact of the matter.

Choppy.4183:

Regardless of whether your posts agree or not, you appear to think using Balanced Stance puts LS on cooldown. If so, you’re wrong.

Balanced Stance most certainly does put Last Stand on full recharge; this is a FACT.

Choppy.4183:

The first has LS not working upon activation of Balanced Stance. The second has LS not working upon getting cc’d, despite having Balanced already up. The trigger is getting cc’d, not using Balanced. Balanced just doesn’t protect you from LS getting procced.

Your original complaint was that the “bug” means you can’t get the benefit of double Balanced Stance, but you’re incorrect. Changing your behaviour will ensure you get that benefit.

You are completely and utterly incorrect.

To reiterate,

Velimere.7685:

It doesn’t help that you don’t get double Balanced Stance because ArenaNet bugged the Last Stand trait to go on recharge if you use the actual utility skill itself.

and

Velimere.7685:

If I activate Balanced Stance on my bar and get disabled after the fact, the trait will not activate within 40 seconds after I have used said skill.

detail the exact same bug.

Rekt.5360:

No Pulse.2967:

Maybe it’s just me, but I still don’t see axe/shield being better than hammer. It’s a one trick pony set and can be kited extremely easily. I tried it multiple times, but always switched back to hammer afterwards.

Lol the way you describe axeshield is exactly how I feel about hammer xD though hammer has undeniably more utility in team fights. Landing CC on targets who can’t just pay attention to you is much easier and a 2sec stun/knockdown is wayyyy more useful in a team fight than eviscerate or axe’s auto cleave.

Shield has a 2-second stun, though it’s single-target only. What greatsword & axe/shield provide is superior defense and sustained DPS (axe cleaving is amazing) on a point.

Choppy.4183:

Is it that,

Velimere.7685:

ArenaNet bugged the Last Stand trait to go on recharge if you use the actual utility skill itself.

or,

Velimere.7685:

If I activate Balanced Stance on my bar and get disabled after the fact, the trait will not activate

Those are two different statements but, regardless, I already solved your problem with my very first reply (and every one since then). That’s not harassment, that’s helping. You need to relax, man.

What you’ve quoted is absolutely not mutually exclusive: If Last Stand goes on recharge when you use the actual utility itself (read: Balanced Stance), then the trait will obviously not activate within 40 seconds after having used said utility.

Those are two different statements qualifying the same exact bug.

You didn’t solve anything let alone your inability to comprehend my stated facts.

Choppy.4183:

Velimere.7685:

Umm… I know exactly how Last Stand works, and what I said is a matter of fact whether or not you agree with it. If I activate Balanced Stance on my bar and get disabled after the fact, the trait will not activate within 40 seconds after I have used said skill.

Then your first post was wrong, and your latest post agrees with what I said. In which case, follow my advice and get the full effect of double Balanced Stance. It’s not that hard.

Are you kidding me? My first post is 100% factual:

Velimere.7685:

It doesn’t help that you don’t get double Balanced Stance because ArenaNet bugged the Last Stand trait to go on recharge if you use the actual utility skill itself.

Either get a clue or stop harassing me.

Choppy.4183:

Velimere.7685:

It doesn’t help that you don’t get double Balanced Stance because ArenaNet bugged the Last Stand trait to go on recharge if you use the actual utility skill itself.

Ummm… just don’t use the Balanced Stance on your bar until you’re actually cc’d? Or just pay attention to whether LS has procced? Or sub in Frenzy in place of Balanced Stance on your bar? Or a shorter stun breaker?

You’re welcome.

EDIT: On second read, you appear to have drawn the wrong conclusion. Last Stand doesn’t bug when you use Balanced on your bar, it’s that LS procs whenever you’re hit by a cc, whether you have stability on already or not.

That means you’re using Balanced, getting hit with a cc, that’s triggering LS, and you’re not noticing because you had stability. Follow my suggestions above and you’ll get the full effect of double Balanced, if that’s what you’re after. I dropped Balanced for Frenzy after the LS patch.

Umm… I know exactly how Last Stand works, and what I said is a matter of fact whether or not you agree with it. If I activate Balanced Stance on my bar and get disabled after the fact, the trait will not activate within 40 seconds after I have used said skill.

runeblade.7514:

Wrong. My points counters yours.

Wrong. Your point does not counter mine.