Guild Wars 2

Yes pls golden fractal skins are too ridiculously rare, having done all the fractal achievements I chose the golden staff skin and with the 4 golden relics I threw in the mf I got a frikin golden harpoon gun, seriously Anet if you’re going to ignore underwater combat why still with the underwater weapons? Doing master dailies Everyday and barely even a ring drops let alone the golden skins. So technically I’m screwed because the only think I can rely on now is the random golden weapon box which if rngesus hates me as much as I think he does, I’d probably get another underwater skin. That leaves me with a golden staff, 2 underwater skins and a tiny infinitesimal chance to get another golden skin.

Dahkeus.8243:

Condi vs Power is a valid point, but even if Condi pulls a bit ahead, I’m not sure that it would be worth dropping NM and I would be surprised if it could make a big difference.

Damage boosters of WS:
Expertise Training – for pet DPS
Ambidexterity – for torch DPS or Refined Toxins for self and pet poison (may be debatable since the pet will carry more DPS weight when you’re in healer gear)
Poison Master – The only DPS increasing trait, but without Refined Toxins and a weapon that deals poison, it may not do much.

Damage Boosters of NM:
Bountiful Hunter – Effectively a 9% flat boost for self and pet
Fortifying Bond – Pretty strong boost for your pet, who will carry more relative DPS weight when in healer gear. Even if your group can keep 25 stacks of might + fury up, they probably won’t apply much if any to your pet without this due to the 5 target limit.

So, is it worth losing pulsing stability, might, and vigor (plus vigor on pet swap), even if some of it will be redundant to go condi? It’s worth questioning, but I’m skeptical.

Here to help you swing more towards the condition side hehehe I’m the devils advocate for making this a condi build.

You can forgo precision and take toughness which would be the apothecary stat in PVE. Together with either full Balthazar runes or 4 nightmare 2 trapper coupled with either smouldering or sigil of malice, plus koi cakes and toxic focusing crystals you can easily reach almost 100% duration on burns or a balance of both burns and bleeds depending which runes sigils you pick without actually investing in expertise. This would solve the problem of zealot having technically glass cannon stats. Now you are a more tanky Druid dishing out the same if not more dps than your zealot counter part. With the toughness you would be able to reliably heal your party members without fear of being burst down.

Hmm about the pulsing stability, might and vigor, I mean think about it, how often do you actually need stability other than some special scenarios. And for those special sceneries you could do an on the fly swap in the traits to have the pulsing stability. Now might, think about it, why would you want to be the might provider of the party when it is so much harder and cost you to sacrifice more to provide that might for you party? Why not just let it go be a free man build a snowman and let the heralds, ps wars, fireflies blasting engis, and pesky eles take on that burden. They were born for it anyways, providing might won’t be much of a problem for them. Be free don’t be bound by the shackles of providing might and embrace the awesome dps power of the mighty ranger class. Come on you guys are the number 2 if not number 1 condition dmg class right now, why don’t you embrace it?:O you are an NBA star! Why do you want to be a FIFA star? You were born to play Basketball! Don’t play Soccer, let those born to play Soccer do it. You get what I’m saying? Lol weird analogy I know. As for vigor, it’s like one of those iffy boons, it’s like hmm if I have it or not it doesn’t really matter. Do you want to sacrifice so much for an iffy boon?! Ahah

As devil advocate for condi I hope I have made some delicious sounding points that might sway your fence sitting.

Prophet.1584:

Fluffball.8307:

Without having checked the numbers, I suspect power is more efficient for a secondary function of a ranger over condi. The problem with condi is it loses massive damage boosts very easily. Not keeping the torch rotation up, not using condi duration food… just using healing food instead of condi food drops your damage about 20%.

I’m no math guy, so I’ll let others chime in with facts though.

without having done the math myself either any druid build is going to sacrifice a ton of dps just by gearing into healing power. ferocity is needed to maximize power dps, and now expertise is needed to maximize condition dps. the loss of the bonfire/quickdraw combo is a big loss to condi dps as well.

Ahah but there is where you are mistaken^^ there is a rotation using axe torch and staff which is able to semi efficiently proc quickdraw using CAF, it is by no means the perfect QuickDraw proccing rotation but it goes something like this staff>QuickDraw bonfire>CA enter>CA exit> QuickDraw bonfire > staff > QuickDraw bonfire^^ it is not the perfect QuickDraw rotation as it has a downtime one you reach back to the staff you gotta wait for 5 to 7 secs in order to proc QuickDraw again by swapping to axe torch. However is it so far the most efficient way I find to proc QuickDraw using a condi axe torch staff setup. Now if you used this rotation but instead swapped bonfire for the war horn skill you would be able to get might which would be a dps lost. So technically abusing QuickDraw in a power build grants more might while abusing QuickDraw in a condi build grants more dps. Which again brings me back to the question, is the might really worth it? That’s why I said this build is a great might producer but is it really worth using if you need to sacrifice so much? Not to mention that many other classes can provide might without sacrificing as much dps as a might war horn Druid.

Fluffball.8307:

Without having checked the numbers, I suspect power is more efficient for a secondary function of a ranger over condi. The problem with condi is it loses massive damage boosts very easily. Not keeping the torch rotation up, not using condi duration food… just using healing food instead of condi food drops your damage about 20%.

I’m no math guy, so I’ll let others chime in with facts though.

Haha it’s cool, but I just wanted to point out that since the buff to condis condis have been taking the dps Spotlight instead of power builds, because of longer fights and tougher enemies (harder mechanics requiring dodging and movement which would be more detrimental to power builds than condi builds). And since this build was mentioned as a build for raids I’m sure fights will be drawn out longer. Take the DnT meta condi ranger build for example. If you say condi builds will lost out in terms of dps because of harder rotations than that would be a player skill problem instead of actually build problems now wouldn’t it?:D I won’t make any hasty comment that condis are definitely better than power but I will go crunch the numbers and be back here tmr with screenshots. Gonna take 1 for the team! kitten crunchy numbers. Also another thing to add about the Low survivability problem:/ I hate to say this but I don’t see much condi cleanse in this build which might be a HUGE problem seeing that healing is the only main form of survivability you have. Imagine a boss attacks you burst with massive dmg, and you are on the verge of dying because of zealots amulet which is basically glass cannon stats, AND you somehow get poisoned.. Wouldn’t that make you a somewhat dead Druid? Unless this build has the dodge to remove poison trait which I missed and would apologise, poison would be a major killer for it.

Dahkeus.8243:

Hmm…I don’t really see it this way. This build pretty much maximizes healing as much as you’d want to, so I don’t see that as being sacrificed for any other support.

And the support brought here is really the ranger-specific (Frost Spirit, Sun Spirit, Spotter, Glyph of Empowerment, Grace of the Land), so you’ll want that in your group, whether the ranger is a healing druid or dps focused. There’s not a single utility you can drop that could be replaced by a non-ranger, so traps/signets don’t make sense. You could swap the elite, but that’s there directly to be a part of healing.

I’m also not seeing where there’s a loss of healing/damage in order to provide duplicate boons. Do you mean Nature’s Vengeance? There’s not really a better option than unless you’re swapping the entire trait line for what…Marks? There’s a bit of a damage increase there (more damage modifiers to you from traits, but less boons to your pet and no damage per boon modifier for either of you).

Warhorn is another source of boons, but it’s also a source of healing since it’s a blast finisher for water fields. For a DPS focus, you could go with axe…but that’s a pretty small increase for a non-zerk geared player.

The stealth thing is kind of w/e since you can swap a pet for that when you’re ooc without any penalty. The OP also already took that out of his build for the main pet.

I’m more hinting towards the idea of what if he removed the nature magic trait line, and replaced it with wilderness survival and went a condition build with torch instead of providing boons through nature magic in a power build. My reasoning is that sure boons from spirits might sound good on paper but is the might or protection from frost and stone spirit worth sacrificing dps for? Thus I’m suggesting a condi build instead of a zealot power build using sword war horn. If he switches to condi he would lose nature magic trait line and war horn thus losing most of his might support capabilities which can be easily provided by another party member. The problem I have with this build is that I just can’t see zealot stats with sword war horn and a staff being any form of substantial dps for the party. So my question was that is the might/boon buffs from spirit with nature magic really worth sacrificing dps over? If someone has crunched the numbers of this build at 25 might and vuln using zealots amulet can you confirm? Would it be higher than a condi ranger build of the same build except replacing natures magic with skirmishing?

My question is, it it worth running a zealot sword war horn staff build over a condi axe torch staff build provided both have equal buffs. I understand that the zealot build would be providing might for the party while the condi build wouldn’t but instead rely on a better might provider without sacrificing dps. I don’t currently have the numbers but I will crunch them tmr and get back to you. Another jarring problem that I see with zealots is that it focuses on healing power and dps (power precision) because a power build has to rely on BOTH power and precision it sacrifices survivability. Now I have another question as to is running this build in zealots going to be enough to keep you alive Long enough to heal your party. For example if there was a spike in enemy dps, all your dps party members would take a lot of dmg and as you are in zealots you would also take a lot of dmg, I’m wondering would you be able to survive just by out healing your enemy with glass cannon stats? A dead healer is not really a good healer. This is just a question for dps spikes which I am sure we will face sometime in raids. Sure zealots sounds TOP notch in terms of power dps and healing power but what about survivability? Which brings me back to the question would running a condi build of let’s say condi toughness and healing power be more beneficial than zealots, because a condition build would rely on runes sigils and food for condition duration instead of sacrificing a main stat.

This build seems to want to be the jack of all trades and master of non. It wants to buff the party with boons, it wants to heal, it wants to stealth, and it also wants to cc, coupled in with some Dps. My suggestion would be why don’t you just focus on a smaller function for example healing and convert the rest of the other sub par stuff you want to do with a Druid into more dps? Boons? Herald got it covered, stealth? Well you only really need stealth outside of combat so why sacrifice a pet in combat just for a smoke field which doesn’t blind? CC (apparently everybody loves cc), my question would be why sacrifice so much utility just do have a ton of cc? If you want to break a breakbar there are many other ways to do it without sacrificing utility. If I were to run with a Druid I would expect him to be a healer/dps buffer and not some weird combination of everything.

Problem with this build is that if I have a herald in the party, your boon support immediately becomes redundant if I have a engi in the party, your stealth and cc support also immediately become redundant. Heck even with a ps war in the party your might support becomes redundant. Also in all my pve runs no one really cares or notices some small ticks of protection provided by the ranger, it’s kinda like a meh if it’s there it’s there if it’s not I won’t die or anything. At the end of the day if you try to be the jack of all trades, when a master of it comes in you are screwed. My suggestion would be to just focus on healing and dps buffing your party, replace all the other utilities and traits of soft cc knock backs and stealth with actual dps utilities and traits like traps or signets depending on whether you run power or condi.

I can see this build being appreciated in an unorganised pug group where all the support roles have been dedicated to you, but in an Organised group where other classes simply beat you in terms or what you can bring to the table. You will end up being the jester of the party. The only thing and Organised group will notice about this build is your healing and lack of dps.

TLDR: just focus on healing and dps, leave the other stuff for other party members.

However this build is good if the party is built around you. I do wonder though how much dps does this build provide using a sword war horn and staff with zealots amulet. Would it be higher dps than axe torch condi with staff? Assuming both have 25 might might and 25 vuln. I also do realise that if you take out the horn you won’t be able to provide fury, which is easily solved by tigers 100% fury uptime. Hmmm this build is interesting as it acts as a might producing Druid which I have not thought off. Ahh but like I said too much dps sacrifice just to provide might for the party IMO, other classes can do it better without sacrificing dps. Good build nontheless might Druid I’d say, interesting.

Scrimschaw.5784:

Zach.2618:

If you think I have misspoken and you did indeed give me constructive feedback which I might have missed, feel free to crop it out and prove me wrong. Where’s all the constructive feedback that you guys have given on how to improve the build? Because I sure as hell don’t see it.

Okay, here it is.

Scrimschaw.5784:

For better support, invest in Nature Magic and use traited Spirits. Stone Spirit alone will provide an averaged 16.5% damage reduction over the life of the spirit. The Vigor from Sun Spirit will allow your allies to dodge more, further reducing the damage they take. If you can maintain Weakness on enemies (you have good access through pets and Winter’s Bite), this will provide even more defense from hard-hitting enemies. CCing enemies and using CC to knock down breakbars will keep your allies safe as well.

Unless you would like me to list CC skills, I think this was pretty specific.

Yeah but which traits do I replace those with? I don’t need YOU to tell me what the traits do I have the wiki for that. Listing traits is good and all but how do I use it to improve my build? Which trait line do I replace? I wish I had more trait lines so I can take every trait but apparently I only have 3. Anyways I met up with tragic positive and apparently he told me you knew him yeah so I Guess you were just trying to defend him. Ah well I won’t post here anymore, tragic positive linked me to the daze build you guys were talking about with spirits and all but yeah I got my own ways to deal with dazing mobs. It’s all good you guys can enjoy your daze build and such I got no issues.

Scrimschaw.5784:

Swagger.1459:

Let the guy or gal share his or her build in peace. Geez

Of course players are going to offer constructive criticism on a publicly-posted build that does nothing well within the boundaries of its stated purpose. It has nothing to do with META, but strengthening the build. Since OP made claims about DPS (especially given that much of the build is dedicated to providing party DPS in a manner that is lackluster in higher-level fractals), it is perfectly ordinary that people are going to challenge these claims. I also challenged his defensive support and offered advice on how he could improve that, should he desire to provide meaningful defensive support with his build.

What actual advice have you given me besides the sun spirit fact? Which I have already said I appreciate. Besides listing all the various defensive support skills which I already know how about you tell me how I can switch up my traits to another better trait? Or how to change my rotation, or changing my gear or runes of sigils? All the stuff that you have posted besides the sun spirit fact, which again you are right I should be using a sun spirit of that’s the case, are just the facts about what a ranger can do. You have contributed 0 suggestions towards the traits I can swap out, 0 suggestions to the rotation to improve my dps, 0 suggestions towards the weapons and gear I am using, 0 suggestions or screenshots of your own which could help me improve this Druid staff build. The only thing you have actually done is listing all the facts about what skills and traits a ranger has. So technically besides the sun spirit fact you have contributed 0 number crunching, 0 rotation improvements, 0 trait changes I can replace, 0 gear changes I can make, and overall just a big rant on my personal issues with the apparent foe that I have. At least when tragic positive critisized my build he linked me numbers of the dps meta ranger and linked me a tool so I can compare my dps to his. At least he criticised and helped me in some way. What have you don’t besides being a kitten listing down various ranger traits and stuff? Yeah trait knowledge is good and all but if you can suggest how I can add them into my build without affecting my dps than your trait knowledge is basically just a copy paste from the wiki. Why do I need you to tell me what various traits do when I can just look at the wiki? So instead of claiming that you are giving constructive feedback, why don’t you actually give some constructive feedback?

THE ONLY REAL PERSON WHO HAS GIVEN ME CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK AND CRITICISED MY BUILD HERE IS TRAGIC POSITIVE. AFTER CRITISIZING MY NUMBERS HE WENT AHEAD TO GIVE HIS OWN NUMBERS AND EVEN A TOOL FOR ME TO COMPARE MY NUMBERS TO HIS. IMO THAT IS MORE HELPFUL THAN ALL YOU OTHER PEOPLE WHO JUST TALK SMACK. EVEN THOUGH TRAGIC POSITIVE MIGHT HAVE CRITISIZED MY BUILD ALBIET VAGUELY WITH HIS 1ST COMMENT, HE HAS MY RESPECT BECAUSE HE ACTUALLY WANTED ME TO PROVE MY NUMBERS AGAINST HIS AND NOT JUST BRINGING SWAPPING MY BUILD ASIDE JUST BECAUSE IT LOOKED NOT OPTIMAL TO HIM.

Other than tragic positive who has given me constructive feedback and tool support (jaxnx), the people who have supported my build, and the sun spirit fact that I now know, the rest of the comments are just pointless rants about either how I suck, or my build sucks. I don’t think some of you guys here know what constructive feedback actually means.

If you think I have misspoken and you did indeed give me constructive feedback which I might have missed, feel free to crop it out and prove me wrong. Where’s all the constructive feedback that you guys have given on how to improve the build? Because I sure as hell don’t see it.

A lot of the comments here are just basically you guys supporting each other on how you have criticised my build and how I am an idiot. It’s like you guys are just here to boost each other’s ego or something.

Fluffball.8307:

I was mistaken to post in this thread, against my better judgment. Zach, you’re not going to get any constructive feedback at all in future threads because any time anyone posts on any subject, you respond as though you are debating the entire forum.

Indeed you are mistaken, this is a thread with a build for people looking to use a Druid and a Staff. It has nvr been about being the most optimised dps build for rangers. I have no idea what more do you want? I have posted screenshots proving that the numbers are not terrible on this build. So what? Do you want me to change my entire build to a axe torch condi ranger build? What good would that do? Everyone already knows the max condi dps ranger build. I seriously don’t get what you are trying to imply, is every ranger build other than the condi dps meta build bad? Or what? I’m trying to help people who wanna use a Druid and a staff what is so hard to understand about that. Everyone already knows the dps condi meta build for rangers so why are you here repeating the same thing on a build that is totally not challenging the dps of that? Why do you keep bring up Dps? You want dps? Go play condi meta ranger, it’s simple its there, this is not a dps build. Pls enlighten me as to what exactly is your point in posting on this thread. If it’s just to say my build has worst dps than the meta condi ranger build than I would kindly ask you to kitten off and go troll somewhere else, because this is totally not at all a build meant for MAX dps on a ranger.

And I DO like constructive feedback for instance the sunspirit fact about my build I did not know about, I appreciated that feedback and thanked the person who brought it up. But if by your terms constructive feedback means comparing my builds dps to the condi meta ranger dps, than I think you might be kittened. Again apples and oranges. I’m selling oranges you come into my shop and ask why are my oranges not as good as apples? You see? It doesn’t make any sense? If you want apples go buy apples, if you want oranges come to my shop. The sun spirit fact was a constructive feedback, it was like saying why are some of my oranges so small I should make them bigger. YES I appreciate you giving me feedback about my oranges. But when you start comparing my oranges to apples its it really kind of silly don’t you think? Ok so you want dps, let’s say you want my oranges to taste as much like apples as possible or that you want the vitamins apples give that oranges do not. Yes I can try to make my oranges as similar to apples as possible but at the end of the day they are still oranges! I can’t change the fact tha my build has lower dps because I’m using a staff which is the whole point of the build, Druid staff! Do you see now? Do you see how silly of an argument you are making? Geez it’s like I gotta explain I dont sell apples a thousand times.

Fluffball.8307:

Swagger.1459:

stuff

Your bizarre passive aggressiveness aside, there are no truly serious players that insist on using zerker if it’s not the most efficient for group content. The thing meta-hating soldiers gear people in the old dungeon meta never got is that zerk users want to be as efficient as possible, by taking the best possible builds and gear; they weren’t simply being elitist. Those same people have since moved on to vipers for high level fractals. And those same people are going to use whatever gear is most efficient for finishing raids.

Basically, the meta is always the most effective way to be successful, and the gear worn is not based on simply liking something. Going against the meta is by very definition making your team less likely to succeed.

Zerk is almost without doubt going to be part of the raid meta. Heralds, thieves, mesmers and warriors will probably all use it. Engis will use vipers. And I suspect there will be 1-3 people per raid team that aren’t full glass. But time will tell, and the meta will be dictated by success and math instead of your very odd anger.

Erm nope meta is not always the most effective way to be successful. Unless ofc you run pre made groups all the time for every single group instanced content in the game with a preset strategy which revolves around the meta. I’m sure there are many people who have played a certain class Long enough that they have broken out of the meta and instead found a build that works better for them and the role they are playing. Meta is simply just a build template for people who just want a reasonably decent build without building one themselves. Moral of the story? Don’t get bound by the meta, go create and test builds on your own instead of following a link every time you want to improve on your class. Understand WHAT makes the dps of the meta possible, for example QuickDraw is the main trait which up keeps the dps of meta condi axe torch Rangers, so I went to experiment and play around with a rotation such that I can utilise the QuickDraw trait even when I’m using a staff axe and torch so that I don’t lose out on much dps. It’s not as simple as saying ‘oh once you take a staff you are just a dead weight 0 dps to the group’ Hence the purpose of my post was to share my rotation which utilises the main trait in the dps meta condi ranger QuickDraw by using a staff. The same goes for every class out there, play around with the traits, use the meta as a template and not the final product, play how you want and make it work for you.

Have you ever thought how meta builds were created? It’s by people who extensively tested various build to come up with the most efficient way to do something. And it often becomes meta because those testers are popular. Just because I’m a new ranger on the scene and not well known does not mean that my build is trash. If you think this build sucks why don’t you come up with a different build and rotation which utilises a staff Druid and try to match my dps numbers and support capabilities.

Fluffball.8307:

I would argue it’s a “facts zone”, and DPS is just part of the facts. You have to look at everything a build offers in actual numbers to see if it’s any good.

Well I posted some numbers in one of my post above as a screen shot, there was another screen shot by tragic positive of his meta condi ranger. Why don’t you compare those 2 numbers and tell me the difference, keep in mind he has 20 might and I have only 3, with more might our numbers would be closer. My dps however would obviously be lower but that because I’m using a staff. However I utilise a unique rotation which enables me to upkeep decent dps despite that. Why don’t you show me how much dps you can output as a Druid wielding a staff? Feel free to use any build you like as Long as you are a Druid with a staff, which is the essential part of this thread. To help people who want to play a Druid with a staff.

Swagger.1459:

Yes Zach, some of these guys like to jump in threads and just assume it’s all about dps and zerker because that’s what mentality they are still stuck in. I won’t name any names, but they are not paying attention to the shifting meta that will require more defined roles, along with gear and trait changes to enhance these roles. You can even provide dev quotes stating and referencing these things, but some just assume that because the beginner beta raid wing can be done with mostly “me too” zerker set ups, means it will stay that way for raids forever. Little do they know, though, the devs are monitoring these things and modifying it to continuously to kill off most of the current zerker meta. What’s funny is that the devs intent on change can clearly be seen by all the dead zerker wearing people in HoT zone events, and that’s just a taste of how raids and future content will er zealots (pun intended) will start threads complaning about needing to invest in ascended gear that’s not zerker because they’ve been able to get by, or be carried, in their exotic zerker duds up until this point. It will be glorious seeing certain people pinging their ascended soldiers and nomad gear begging for those tanking and healing spots on a good raid team.

My thoughts exactly^^ not everything is about being max dps and my build is certainly not Optimised for max dps as a rangerXD have no idea why my thread suddenly became a dps battle zone.

Hi tragic positive:D thanks for finally crunching out some numbers and giving me some useful feedback and comparisons that I can actually see^^ after sleeping a little and having a fresh mind I realize you guys think that my build is a total support build which leads to a lot of dps lost. However that is not the case:D I don’t think you guys understand what im trying to share in my post. Im not trying to share the highest dps capable for rangers, what im trying to share is how to use a DRUID with a STAFF, being able to support with grace of the land and heals at the same time while sacrificing a little dps than the condi meta dual axe torch ranger. By little I am not totally lying about the fact when I say the dps loss Is about 5 to 7 secs when I swap to staff as staff has no condition dmg at all.

Since you guys are so insistent on calling me a liar about the numbers I have shared, I downloaded jaxnX to test it out myself, and after abit if testing I have gotten some results:D

The 1st picture is when I tested with settlers amulet, which most similarly represents the condition dmg of apothecary in PVE, and the 2nd picture is when I tested with vipers amulet. In both cases I tested as a solo player and had almost 0 vuln on the golem and only about 3 to 5 might from blasting into my firefield with staff and using jungle stalker. That being said if I was in an optimized group I would not use jungle stalker and swap in a better dps pet if I already have 25 might, but this was just for testing purposes.

As you can see the dps I output is nowhere as puny as you guys claim it to be, that is because of my rotation with staff and axe torch which I have explained in my original post which is to reduce the dps loss from taking a staff. Obviously there would be a dps drop from using double axe torch because again staff is not a condi weapon and the loss would be about 5 to 7 secs from weapon swap cooldown.

Tragic positive thanks for sharing your picture and id assume you tested with 20 might or there about with that screenshot? I can see the golem being targeted so I cannot tell how much vuln the golem has but I do see a few people standing around. But in any case I believe my numbers would be higher if I had more might and party support which I dont^^

I hope with my proof of testing you guys will understand that im trying to share a staff axe torch rotation for people wanting to use a DRUID with STAFF and minimizing dps lost.

I thank you guys for sharing the sun spirit information with me as I did not know that sun spirit depended only on MY condition dps^^ I will definitely be using sun spirit from now on in a party situation.

If you guys have any other questions about my build or my rotation which I might not have explained clearly in words, feel free to hit me up in game and id be willing to show you. Ive tested many dps build rotations on the indestructible golem and I can assure you by no means is my build killing the golem that much slower than other dps builds:D hit me up in game and ill show you the rotation. You gotta see it to believe it right?

BONUS: I know you guys love dps and defending rangers roll in a party as a dps class, but in all honesty if I want to dps in a party id bring a real DPS class. Not trying to say that rangers are not top DPS ofc they are good but if you guys really want to stick to you words by saying the best support is the best dps than IMO you shouldn’t be playing ranger in a party. Engis can dps & provide utility, while a ranger if you go pure condi dps meta is actually a huge let down, not to mention Engis actually do condi dps better than rangers. The 3rd picture thanks to my new found love JaxnX is not the DPS of a ranger OR engi. IMO it will be the new TOP DPS class in the next meta, ofc If you wanna know what class and build that is you gotta wait for it to be to become META since apparently you guys like META so much (which IMO only means popular, and sometimes the best might not be the most popular) I took the 3rd picture soloing the golem with only 3 might and 4 vuln, the DPS would be way higher in a party, not to mention the DPS in the picture is not the highest it can go as condis build up over time, I just happened to take the picture a little too early. So yeah:/ sadly if you wanna ’support’you party through DPS ranger is not the class to go to. In my test im using a rabids amulet with Balthazar rune. In a real PVE scenario I would switch to vipers and use food buffs to upkeep 100% condition duration, which would also buff my bleed duration from 33% to 77% leading to a huge DPS increase^^ If I were to use vipers in pvp it would actually be a dps loss from rabids due to not having the required food buffs.

And hey guys add me in game. I will personally sacrifice 5g to buy the pvp vipers amulet to use with this build and show you the rotation on the golem. While you guys go get your meta axe torch build. I will show you that the dps loss is there but it is not that far off. With the approx 5 Sec dps loss when I switch to staff. Any of you guys up for the challenge? You got nothing to lose since you guys are obviously expert Rangers and perfect at your rotations. Just add me and Whisper me anytime I’m online.

Hey tragic add me in game, I’ll show you the rotation, we can compare it with the your own meta dps. I will show you I am not lying when I said a dps loss of approx 5 secs because of staff. You seem to know your stuff but I think you don’t know the rotation I am speaking off, add me I’ll show you. Nothing to lose right? I’ll add you too when I’m next online. I’ll be using a vipers amulet with exactly the build I mentioned above using axe torch and a staff, while you can use any max dps build you want and we can compare dps on the indestructible golem. If you think I’m lying I will prove you wrong. Words are just words they don’t matter right? I’ll show you personally, just add me and show up.

Oh and also after you guys add me maybe we can run a 100 fotm or something and you guys can bring your meta dps Rangers^^ not that I’m doubting your suggestion that everything in fotm hits like a wet noodle. Of course you guys are pro Rangers and have experienced 94 97 and 100 with absolutely non of the ridiculous nonsense like heals and support classes. You guys probably went all out meta dps on every floor since they all hit like wet noodles:D so after you guys add me maybe we can run a few of those floors with your suggested builds^^ it would be fun I promise since you guys are pro Rangers ofc! Again I’m not doubting your claims or anything, as noob as I am I would love to see the pros at work in the higher lvl fotm where apparently everything hits like a wet noodle to their meta dps builds. That ofc after we compare dps on the golem^^ I’ll be waiting guys!:D don’t leave me hanging, Whisper me in game sometime^^

But seriously though stop asking for apples pls. Yes I appreciate the sun spirit fact, but that is so far the only useful change I will make to this build, because this is not a kittening Apple stand. I’m selling oranges. You want Apples? There has Long been an apple shop at the meta build corner for you to buy apples. I’m selling god kitten oranges.

Scrimschaw.5784:

Zach.2618:

Tragic Positive.9356:

@Zach

I did read through your post. Your statements are incorrect. You proved it with your reply. You literally have zero idea about the game, yet. That is something you can’t hide anymore. Targeting people to be “sheep” just because they have better knowledge will not help you promote the build.

I would gladly explain why are you wrong, which numbers are wrong and why is your build weaker than any of it’s fellows… But you were never interested in that. If you were, you’d ask for them instead of hating “meta” that existed for a reason.

What I have problems are not walls of text, because I did read through the one of yours. I have problems reading highly self-valued intel repelling reality or constructive criticism.

By this moment, it’s just obvious the build you provided has not a single fact or number to hold onto and can simply be deemed inefficient.

Do have some kind of secret agenda against me or something? Did I ever insult you in anyway before this post? Because seriously it seems like you might have a personal issue with me more than you have my build.
First of all I have in no where mentioned that my build is the highest condi dps for ranger, i even stated it in my original post. This build is mainly for the people who I have heard asking about balancing support with dps as a Druid when I was sitting around in LA, it is a build I mainly posted to help out other rangers who might be at a lost as to finding a good line between support and dps.
Secondly why do you keep saying I have totally no idea about the game? Is it because I admitted that I am a new ranger? Does that make you think you are infinitely better than me? I didn’t even brag about my experience in the game and am so humble to share a build I found useful to me as a new ranger.
If you must know how inexperienced I am at the game, I have done all of the dungeons countless times with various classes except ranger and necro. I main an engi if you must know. I’ve soloed Arah among other small dungeons, done my share of fotm, hit 100 with the achievements 3 days after HoT launched with a PUG group (yes you can pug you just need to know what to do), pvped a ton 4K matches 1k ranked matches with 600 wins, so yeah if you want proof just add me and hit me up in game I’d gladly prove it to you. I’m not saying I’m the most experienced player in the game but I am IMO not inexperienced.
Lastly I have nvr once in this post stated that I hated meta, in fact I often run meta in min max speed run groups back when dungeons were popular. I am also a guy of min maxing my stats so I am very appreciative of meta builds that avid testers have put out. This build that I have shared it a mix of support and dps which you probably won’t find being meta because it is not the MAX dps build meant for Organised groups. However you will find this build to be very good in pugs and Organised groups.

I’m sorry I had to end up sharing my experience a little (bragging if you must) but when being called inexperienced for no apparent reason besides what I can see as a personal vendetta against me, I feel pushed to defend myself. Now pls tell me how experienced are you?

He doesn’t have any kind of vendetta against you. He’s just pointing out—what is obvious to experienced Rangers and Druids—the flaws in your build. In attributing the weaknesses of the build (and your inexplicable lack of knowledge of build editors) to your inexperience, he is giving you the benefit of the doubt. Nothing malicious here. And quite frankly, you are not exactly being humble in your OP or any of the following posts—which is fine, but then you need to back your assertions with some sort of proof. Nobody is concerned with your personality, but they will address the flaws in the build that you posted.

The fact that you completed FotM 100 with this build is irrelevant, considering healing is not required for FotM 1-100—especially now that enemies hit like wet noodles. Optimizing DPS is the strongest group support that you can provide as a Ranger, considering Rangers are one of the few classes with very strong condition damage builds—placing right behind Viper Engineers, who have the highest in-game DPS and a much more complicated rotation.

On to your build. You overstate the potential of this build considerably, especially considering that it requires stacking for optimization of GotL. You suffer a huge DPS loss in several key ways that is NOT compensated for by your group support. Using Staff at all is a huge DPS loss, since it has no condition pressure even with the sigils you have applied. You use it to fill CAF, which you then camp—close to a 100% personal DPS loss for up to 9 seconds while you wait for Quickdraw’s ICD.

At the very least, you are losing 50% (more if you ever camp staff) of your personal DPS to maintain a potential +15% bonus on your party members—which requires stacking your party members in a small area. Your use of Apothecary armor further reduces your personal DPS. Stating that “this rotation will lose out to the general ‘meta’ condition build by about 5 secs worth of condi skill usage” is demonstrably false and deserves ridicule.

Using Glyph of Empowerment, Grace of the Land, and Frost Spirit do not provide the same DPS increases on higher-level fractals as they do on lower-level fractals due to increased Toughness scaling on enemies. Condition damage is far superior to direct damage. You also do not use one of the best condition support utilities in the game: Sun Spirit. This alone makes your build weaker. Using the Jungle Stalker implies that your group has trouble stacking might, which is by itself up to a 25% DPS increase that doesn’t require a group member losing ~50% of their personal DPS. Stacking Vulnerability provides another DPS increase that is possible without personal sacrifice.

Tl;dr: Your claims regarding the build’s DPS are highly inflated, and the support the build provides is unnecessary in fractals. It may be useful in raids, if raids allow for stacking, but it is currently strongly outclassed by other builds.

I didn’t say it is better than any kittening builds out there, the thread title merely says sharing my Druid build! Yes I use apothecary but I also stated you can use vipers to get closer to the meta condi ranger which would be close to the dps of double axe torch but loses out a few seconds because of the need to switch to staff and wait for the weapon swap cooldown! I already stated all these facts in my post! Did you even read it? And the sun spirit fact I did not know that took into account your own condition dmg but now I know! That’s is because I’m a new kittening ranger! But did anyone care to mention about the sun spirit instead of just shooting out snark remarks? No! Why do you keep talking about Optimisation of dps and kitten, if people wanted a dps meta build it is already there! My build is not an optimised build for kittens sake.

FOR ALL YOU PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT HOW IT IS A DPS LOSS COMPARED TO A META CONDI RANGER BUILD, YOU ARE EITHER BLIND OR TROLLING. NOWHERE IN THIS THREAD DID I SAY THIS IS THE OPTIMIZED BUILD FOR ORGANIZED GROUPS. NO kittenING WHERE, THE TITLE JUST SAYS SHARING MY DRUID BUILD! I EVEN EXPLAINED WHO THIS BUILD IS FOR! IT IS FOR THE PEOPLE IN LA I HEARD ASKING HOW TO USE A STAFF ON DRUID WITHOUT GOING FULL WET PAPER TOWEL. FOR kitten SAKES STOP HATING ON EVERYTHING BEFORE READING, LEARN TO READ BEFORE HATING

OH LORD kitten ME! IT IS SO FRUSTRATING TRYING EXPLAIN AGAIN AND AGAIN TO PEOPLE WHO CANT kittenING READ! IT IS AS IF THEY ARE BABIES OR SOMETHING

DO YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT SOME OF YOU COMMENTS GUYS? ITS LIKE IM SELLING ORANGES AND YOU WANNA BUY APPLES, SO YOU COME INTO MY SHOP AND START COMPLAINING WHY I DONT SELL APPLES. LISTEN UP KIDS, I DONT SELL APPLES BECAUSE MY SHOP kittenING SELLS ORANGES! THIS IS NOT A FULL ON DPS RANGER BUILD! IT IS JUST A kittenING BUILD I WANNA SHARE WITH WHOEVER THAT WANTS TO USE A FREAKING STAFF. SO FOR kitten SAKES STOP COMING INTO MY SHOP ASKING FOR APPLES! OMG!

Look guys all you dps hotheads this build is NOT for optimised dps or Organised groups that don’t need healing! I already stated it in the post why can’t you guys read?! It’s for people looking for a balance between support and dps! It is addressed to the people I’ve heard in LA asking for a Druid build with staff! Wtf is wrong with you guys?! This is NOT a meta build, it is NOT the best optimised build in the game for Organised groups. When did I ever mention this? My thread title says sharing my Druid build, it doesn’t say best Druid build in the game. So pls if you are here to talk about optimising dps on a ranger or Druid you are obviously just trolling or plain ignorant. I also stated in my build I used apothecary which is MAIN HEALING POWER mixed with rabid, it is NOT a full dps build! Come on learn to read guys. The reason I stated it is close to max dps rotation is if you use VIPERS gear with this build, it is almost a mirror or the double axe meta condi build EXCEPT it uses a staff, hence I said there would be a dps lost downtime. Seriously WTF?! Can you read at all? You pointed out that my build has a dps loss YES I already stated that in my post! Why are you guys still hollering on about dps when this frikin thread is not even a dps Druid build! Let me repeat, it is a staff axe torch build balanced around support and dps, apothecary being more support and vipers being closer to the meta! Come on it’s not that hard to understand.
And come on the numbers you provided about the dps buff is calculated by the uptime of it in consideration. But it is STILL the most group dps buff the ranger can provide. And yes I might not have known about the sun spirit fact but if you had just told me that from the start wouldn’t it have been easier? Seriously this build is not for you dps crazy people, it is for the People looking for a use for staff. So pls take your kittening bullcrap dps argument out of my thread pls.

Tragic Positive.9356:

@Zach

I did read through your post. Your statements are incorrect. You proved it with your reply. You literally have zero idea about the game, yet. That is something you can’t hide anymore. Targeting people to be “sheep” just because they have better knowledge will not help you promote the build.

I would gladly explain why are you wrong, which numbers are wrong and why is your build weaker than any of it’s fellows… But you were never interested in that. If you were, you’d ask for them instead of hating “meta” that existed for a reason.

What I have problems are not walls of text, because I did read through the one of yours. I have problems reading highly self-valued intel repelling reality or constructive criticism.

By this moment, it’s just obvious the build you provided has not a single fact or number to hold onto and can simply be deemed inefficient.

Do have some kind of secret agenda against me or something? Did I ever insult you in anyway before this post? Because seriously it seems like you might have a personal issue with me more than you have my build.
First of all I have in no where mentioned that my build is the highest condi dps for ranger, i even stated it in my original post. This build is mainly for the people who I have heard asking about balancing support with dps as a Druid when I was sitting around in LA, it is a build I mainly posted to help out other rangers who might be at a lost as to finding a good line between support and dps.
Secondly why do you keep saying I have totally no idea about the game? Is it because I admitted that I am a new ranger? Does that make you think you are infinitely better than me? I didn’t even brag about my experience in the game and am so humble to share a build I found useful to me as a new ranger.
If you must know how inexperienced I am at the game, I have done all of the dungeons countless times with various classes except ranger and necro. I main an engi if you must know. I’ve soloed Arah among other small dungeons, done my share of fotm, hit 100 with the achievements 3 days after HoT launched with a PUG group (yes you can pug you just need to know what to do), pvped a ton 4K matches 1k ranked matches with 600 wins, so yeah if you want proof just add me and hit me up in game I’d gladly prove it to you. I’m not saying I’m the most experienced player in the game but I am IMO not inexperienced.
Lastly I have nvr once in this post stated that I hated meta, in fact I often run meta in min max speed run groups back when dungeons were popular. I am also a guy of min maxing my stats so I am very appreciative of meta builds that avid testers have put out. This build that I have shared it a mix of support and dps which you probably won’t find being meta because it is not the MAX dps build meant for Organised groups. However you will find this build to be very good in pugs and Organised groups.

I’m sorry I had to end up sharing my experience a little (bragging if you must) but when being called inexperienced for no apparent reason besides what I can see as a personal vendetta against me, I feel pushed to defend myself. Now pls tell me how experienced are you?

ItIsFinished.9462:

Zach.2618:

First of all I’d like to say i am a new ranger/Druid and only recently created a ranger after HoT launched, so far I’ve played about 100 hours on it so I’m not an expert on it. However I’ve been using this build I personally find to be quite effective in group plays and the rotations are smooth. I’ve seen many people talking and asking about Druids in general in LA so I just wanna share it here.

For traits I went with skirmishing. Wilderness survival, and Druid ofc.
Trappers expertise, spotter, QuickDraw
Expertise training, ambidexterity, poison master
Primal echoes, seed of life, grace of the land.

Utilities are:
Glyph of rejuvenation, glyph of empowerment, glyph of unity. Flame trap and frost spirit.

Weapons are:
Axe torch with smouldering and geomancy, staff with leeching and earth.

Gear I use is:
Apothecary (main healing power sub toughness and condi) mixed with rabid trinkets. Ofc you can use vipers or other condi stats depending on how much dmg vs healing you wanna do but this seems to work for me.

Explanation of build:
This build will provide 35% dps boost for your party with frost (10%) grace of the land (15%) and glyph of empowerment another (10%). It also deals consistent condition dmg being only a few seconds behind the so called ‘meta’ condi ranger wielding just an axe and torch.

Rotation:
Frost spirit, all 3 glyphs (giving your party 9% dps boost through GOL), set your flame trap and astral wisp. Once flame trap activates use ancestral grace in the fire field for a nice might blast. Now swap to axe torch and immediately use bonfire which will get a reduced cd because of QuickDraw and do the general rotation of your other skills to maximise condi dmg. Here comes the fun part, you might ask so where is this sustained dps that you are talking about since I don’t have another axe torch to swap to to proc crit draw. Ahh but many people don’t know that CA also procs crit draw. Now before the internal cd of crit draw procs which is about 9 secs swap to CA mode and spam 1 on your entire party further maintaining the 5 stacks of GOL for 15% dmg boost. The trick is to enter CA BEFORE the quick draw internal cd and exit it AFTER tha internal cooldown of QuickDraw. Once you exit CA your bonfire will be ready and charged with QuickDraw so use it, after that spam your other weapon skills that matter and swap to staff (note do not use bonfire again without swapping to staff first or it will than go onto a 19 Sec cooldown). Rinse and repeat.

This rotation will lose out to the general ‘meta’ condi build by about 5 secs worth of condi skill usage as staff does not have any condi skills. However it is easily made up by the 15% dps party support only a Druid can do.

I am well aware than you can just get 2 axe torch sets and do MAX dps but this build is a good balance between support and dps and offers way more support to your party through heals than just going condi dps Druid.

Pets I usually use:
Tiger and jungle stalker for 100% fury and 5 might support. Ofc you can use other pets in diff scenarios.

Testing of dps with settlers amulet (closest to apothecary condi) I can maintain an average of 6k burns with bleeds mixed in.

That’s it for the build I use:D hope it helps whoever who is looking to play a healing Druid and not feel like a dead weight in terms of dps to your party^^ again I’m not a very good ranger so there might be possible improvements that I missed out. I’ve cleared fotm 100 using this build with relative ease due to the huge healing support towards the party:D

Conclusion TLDR:
35% dmg boost for your party (combined with precision boost from spotter), good rotation which is on average only 5 Sec slower in dps than the average full axe torch spam combo. Plus tons of heals with almost max healing power:D enjoy! Feel free to leave some feedback or criticism.

I think what the other guys are trying to say is that there are other builds that can pump out a bit more condi damage than what you are you putting out. In which you did mention that in your original post so I’m assuming they might have missed that part.

The one thing I like about your build is the ability to pump out a decent amount of condi damage while at the same time providing a 35% Physical damage boost to your party. Not very many ‘max condi’ builds can provide a consistent 35% physical damage boost. It will be interesting to try it out when I get home. Thanks for the post.

Finally someone who actually read my post and disclaimers. Not once did I mention this to be the max dps condi build for ranger:/ not sure where the other guys got that idea from haha. Hope you will like the build!:D I have cleared every fractal up to 100 with ease in a party with this build as the healing output is also pretty good:D dps is not too shabby either as I could solo about 25% or the reactor stage on 64 with relative ease after my party wiped^^ hope you enjoy it! If you want more dps you can switch out apothecary for vipers or other stats if you’d like:D

Believe it or not the group dps boost is so substantial if done right that people
Have actually exclaimed during a run that their numbers are higher than usualXD

Tragic Positive.9356:

1st: You got the numbers wrong.
2nd: A link to the actual build is appreciated. No one wants to read through walls so he can imagine what you were trying to say
3rd: Damage is way lower than you claim it to be. Main source of damage of Condi Ranger is Bonfire on QuickDraw use, Sun Spirit and flame trap. You bring none.

If you play conditions, Sun Spirit is more important than Frost Spirit. Having Both is ideal.

As I said I just started ranger so I created this build on my own hence there is no link whatsoever for that, instead why not just read what I have extensively typed out and explain? 1. What numbers have I got wrong if you be oh so not so vague? 2. There’s no link, it’s just a build I was using and decided to share. 3. The dmg is way lower? Erm why don’t you grab a settlers amulet from pvp and test it out for yourself on the indestructible golem and see for yourself? Pvp amulets are free in pvp it’ll only take you 5 mins. I don’t use bonfire sun spirit or flame trap?? If you actually read my post you would see that I do indeed use bonfire and a flame trap I even went on to explain how to use them to the maximum. Frost spirit is way more dps boost in a party than a sunspirit which barely support your party if they are not condition builds.

TLDR? Seems like you have trouble reading text a little longer than a children’s play book. Read and test it before commenting, don’t make yourself look like a fool with baseless snark comments. Thanks for reading.

Oh you are probably one of those people who use DnT ‘meta’ builds when they get uploaded. Hey where do those builds come from? Erm yes people created them. Just like this build I found it very effective in pve. If you’re looking for a ‘meta’ build than you’re looking at the wrong place. Go be a sheep and follow your all so awesome meta builds. Probably one of those players who can’t pve for nuts. Sunspirit is better than frost spirit in a party setting? Yeah right.

First of all I’d like to say i am a new ranger/Druid and only recently created a ranger after HoT launched, so far I’ve played about 100 hours on it so I’m not an expert on it. However I’ve been using this build I personally find to be quite effective in group plays and the rotations are smooth. I’ve seen many people talking and asking about Druids in general in LA so I just wanna share it here.

For traits I went with skirmishing. Wilderness survival, and Druid ofc.
Trappers expertise, spotter, QuickDraw
Expertise training, ambidexterity, poison master
Primal echoes, seed of life, grace of the land.

Utilities are:
Glyph of rejuvenation, glyph of empowerment, glyph of unity. Flame trap and frost spirit.

Weapons are:
Axe torch with smouldering and geomancy, staff with leeching and earth.

Gear I use is:
Apothecary (main healing power sub toughness and condi) mixed with rabid trinkets. Ofc you can use vipers or other condi stats depending on how much dmg vs healing you wanna do but this seems to work for me.

Explanation of build:
This build will provide 35% dps boost for your party with frost (10%) grace of the land (15%) and glyph of empowerment another (10%). It also deals consistent condition dmg being only a few seconds behind the so called ‘meta’ condi ranger wielding just an axe and torch.

Rotation:
Frost spirit, all 3 glyphs (giving your party 9% dps boost through GOL), set your flame trap and astral wisp. Once flame trap activates use ancestral grace in the fire field for a nice might blast. Now swap to axe torch and immediately use bonfire which will get a reduced cd because of QuickDraw and do the general rotation of your other skills to maximise condi dmg. Here comes the fun part, you might ask so where is this sustained dps that you are talking about since I don’t have another axe torch to swap to to proc crit draw. Ahh but many people don’t know that CA also procs crit draw. Now before the internal cd of crit draw procs which is about 9 secs swap to CA mode and spam 1 on your entire party further maintaining the 5 stacks of GOL for 15% dmg boost. The trick is to enter CA BEFORE the quick draw internal cd and exit it AFTER tha internal cooldown of QuickDraw. Once you exit CA your bonfire will be ready and charged with QuickDraw so use it, after that spam your other weapon skills that matter and swap to staff (note do not use bonfire again without swapping to staff first or it will than go onto a 19 Sec cooldown). Rinse and repeat.

This rotation will lose out to the general ‘meta’ condi build by about 5 secs worth of condi skill usage as staff does not have any condi skills. However it is easily made up by the 15% dps party support only a Druid can do.

I am well aware than you can just get 2 axe torch sets and do MAX dps but this build is a good balance between support and dps and offers way more support to your party through heals than just going condi dps Druid.

Pets I usually use:
Tiger and jungle stalker for 100% fury and 5 might support. Ofc you can use other pets in diff scenarios.

Testing of dps with settlers amulet (closest to apothecary condi) I can maintain an average of 6k burns with bleeds mixed in.

That’s it for the build I use:D hope it helps whoever who is looking to play a healing Druid and not feel like a dead weight in terms of dps to your party^^ again I’m not a very good ranger so there might be possible improvements that I missed out. I’ve cleared fotm 100 using this build with relative ease due to the huge healing support towards the party:D

Conclusion TLDR:
35% dmg boost for your party (combined with precision boost from spotter), good rotation which is on average only 5 Sec slower in dps than the average full axe torch spam combo. Plus tons of heals with almost max healing power:D enjoy! Feel free to leave some feedback or criticism.

savacli.8172:

Zach.2618:

I’d say any and every class you can play well, just depends on what build you use. No particular useful classes. I’d take a good thief who can survive and contribute over a viper ‘meta’ condi engi any day. If you can support your party and carry yourself you should be fine.

Only problem with that mentality is that at higher level Fractals physical damage starts to make less of a difference than Condition based damage due to the way toughness scales. In which case something like a Viper Engi/Ranger is even more worthwhile due to them bypassing scaled defenses with high damage output Cindition builds.

You can still bring traditional Berserker/Assassin builds but just know that some encounters are going to take an absurd amount of time to finish due to how mobs will naturally soak physical attacks at those levels.

That’s why I said any class not any build… Which the op was asking about is class. It’s not as if engi is the only class which can use condi. Don’t get why so many people are obsessed with meta condi engi, yes I know it is the highest condi class currently and yes I main engi, and yes I cleared every stage to 100 with engi. I’m just saying you can play any class you want. As Long as you are good I won’t mind that 1 or 2 extra mins our party takes to kill the boss because apparently we don’t consist of a chrono engi ele ps war and ranger. The mentality that most people have is wrong, builds matter classes don’t matter, but what matters more than those 2 is your skill lvl and attitude.

Yes pls!:D I’d love a snowman turret or gyro lol. Plus you can make monies Anet!

I’d say any and every class you can play well, just depends on what build you use. No particular useful classes. I’d take a good thief who can survive and contribute over a viper ‘meta’ condi engi any day. If you can support your party and carry yourself you should be fine.

Mesmer is at a better spot right now in almost every aspect of the game than thieves:D both are fun and usable just depends on which you enjoy More:D

What you have just stepped into is called the engi syndrome (where engi is the class for you but you don’t know it yet) welcome to the engi club my Friend where all your dreams come true!:D

harold.3526:

Maybe the PR affects the daily chests rewards?

Unless the lower pr you got the better the loot I don’t think pr really affects the drop rates.

So I’ve got every daily box from all the diff tiers since HoT launched and have only got a grand total of 2 rings, What’s more is that the 2 rings were from the 21-50 box, the 51-100 boxes have not given me a single ring Nor chest since launch. I am seriously wondering if this is a loot bug of sorts because I just don’t get why nothing ever comes out of it. In the past 50 would at least give me a ring 50% of the time, now it’s just ridiculous. I’m starting to consider saving them up just in case it is a loot bug and open them when Anet either buffs the drop rates or fixes it.

Prototypemind.4026:

Ape Ghosting.7396:

seems like the op is wanting pay to win of some sort. Not sure how paying is going to win in a mmo rpg tho.

Guess you read what you wanted to read in my posts and not what’s actually there. I said nothing about wanting p2w elements in the game.

Not sure why so many are getting defensive about it, but I guess a few have a secret horse in the fight that I don’t know about.

Probably because of your poorly worded thread. Nobody likes to be misrepresented by some stranger who thinks he knows what everybody else wants. What do you expect when you use ‘we as western players’ and than go ahead to bring up Chinese players finishing the content too fast because you stereotyped them to like grinding. Maybe you’re too young or just too ignorant to see the flaw in your post but if you anger a bull you gotta take its horns.

Dunno if this is a racial stereotype (racist) thread or just poorly phrased. OP you just assumed the entire western player base echoes your opinions by saying ‘we’ as western players, and also assumed that the entire Chinese/Asian player base likes to grind. Lol until you really know the opinions of every single player playing guild wars 2 I think you should refrain from opening such poorly phrased threads just to make yourself and your opinion seem larger than they actually are.

Daiboru.5792:

I’m actually quite surprised. The forums are a very small minority of the community, but lots of difficult people here have come to complain- and there are plenty more in-game unhappy about the Toughness, Rewards, and kitten-RNG and/or Skill Punishing instability mechanics.

So- knowing that this many people are unhappy, and no response? That’s not really great for their playerbase.

Well the people you see on the forums are the ones complaining about it, pretty sure a lot more players also enjoy the new fractal system. It’s just that they don’t have a reason to come to the forums to say oh we enjoy the fractals. Take this thread with a pinch of salt, it does not represent the entire of the fractal runners population, myself and many others do enjoy the fractals now. IMO the title should be changed, this is not a general discussion/feedback of the new fractals, it’s more of a thread for people who dislike it to whine and complain about.

Quickfoot Katana.8642:

I hear people saying “I’ll just go do X while we kill this boss”

X being a random householdtask / surfing the internet / playing other game.

Isnt it ridiculous the level of concentration and skill you require of your players in the new fractals?

What fractal are you playing? Lol there are hard fractals and there are easy fractals, ofc if you do mossman all day you can practically afk with enough support from your teammates. Other than that I think your statement is bullkitten. I wanna see you do 100 while doing household chores, or 97 or 94, even 64, well I could go on and list a bunch of somewhat more challenging fractals for you if you want a challenge. Oh but wait people just wanna do the easy ones to get the rewards and than complain how easy it was. There are easy fractals and there are hard ones that’s how it has always been.

Just put plus 9s in all to get 143 AR than get the singularity for 5 more AR to reach 148, ask your team to give you some space, problem solved:D worked for me, don’t find any reason to spend another 200 gold just to get 5 AR the singularity gives

IMO fractals are too easy that’s why you see people complaining about it, keep the instabilities (boon fumbler included it’s fun subjective) keep the Hp pool add more dmg to the bosses attacks, and ofc increase rewards if you can:D there it’s now fun and challenging. Increase dmg so that Mai trins spinning Attack will 1 shot KO anything medium or light in zerkers:D I do however agree with the OP about the achievements part, also the achievement chest rewards are sellable now I dunno if that’s intentional (probably not) Anet might wanna look into that.

Hi waters!XD and yeah misty trail pls

Tbh the fractals are ok right now, the high health pool bosses are challenging as they drag out the fight making sure that you actually know how to do the boss fight flawlessly. Eg. Reactor fractal, dredge fractal, even some of the middle stage bosses. IMO it’s more fun now than it used to be. After completing a Super Long fight it feels good. It’s either they increase the dmg of the boss dramatically or they increase the health pool dramatically. IMO it’s balanced now combined with the mist instabilities. The bosses could use abit of a buff to their dmg though because right now some of them aren’t hitting that hard. I do agree with the HoT gate to fotm being a problem though, I think fotm should be part of the core game upgrade and not HoT.

Oxidia.8103:

As a person who used to run fractals since they started, comparing rewards then and now.. the loot is 10 times better now that it was before.

What’s in the fractal encryptions btw? I’m curious lol besides the mini and aquatic breather which I got and the 5 gold junk are there other rewards inside?

What you need is a solid anchor like cleric guard or Druid:D you’ll blow through most of the stages with ease.

NovaanVerdiano.6174:

You can actually make acceptable money with fractals as of now, the rewards are simply not liquid by default.
The thing I want the most are more dailies, 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80 and 81-100 please. This gives fractal runners much more to do.

As for the instabilities, most of them seem alright (from those I’ve seen yet). The Condition instability duo can be annoying as heck, but that’s what they’re supposed to be. (I’ve been feared down by the Anomaly in Thaumanova yesterday during my 64 while it only had 0.5% HP left and I was the last one alive, I wanted to throw my mouse into the monitor and shout at it lmao)
The only instability that seems really bad is “Boon Fumbler”, i.e. the one where you lose all your boons upon dodge. I didn’t run one of those tiers yet, but being punished for dodging on its own seems extremely silly. It should be “lose all boons on hit” or even better “lose all boons on a wasted dodge” (i.e. you don’t get an evade-notification). I mean clearly their intent was to require active defense and make use of utility/weapon-blocks (if those don’t count), but there’s classes which can do that better and others that barely have any additional dodges, seems a bit meh to me.

Also, the toughness/HP of the mobs is killing me, either that or my pugs were all super low DPS (I had stuff like 8min Ashym, so that’s kind of painful)

Wait till you get boon fumbler and the one where mobs steal your boons on hit haha you’re gonna hate thatXD judging by how much you love your boons haha

Shh don’t hint to them

What cloth reduction. I still had to use 100 bolts of silk to craft my damask lol good job increasing leather consumption and keeping everything the same, resulting in net increase in ascended armor.

Yeap what other way Anet could’ve have made precursor collection more exciting than to add in more purchasable expensive kitten that you got to gather in bulk to craft. Again not about the experience to get the precursor it’s more of how much gold you have.

It’s not that gw2 is a non stop stealth fest it’s just that people like to use builds which incorporate a lot of stealth, which is not really good for pvp anyways since you can’t hold a node or decap one with stealth. Stealth is really only good for 1v1 or 2v1s troll builds. Or quick stealth for burst which isn’t exactly a stealth fest.

Maybe because a lot of stuff needs nerfing? I dunno just a thought lol. I know Anet needs to get hype and incentive for players to buy HoT, but I believe they will tone things down after awhile.

I do all of those except for emotes and nonsense talk lol, I iust like to jump when there’s nothing to do. And apparently I like to make my character look good with pve stuff. But I still win lol

Guys it’s a ninja compressed laser now to strike your foes when they least expect it:D

I personally found the exploding enemies fun and challenging. Yeah but the rewards do suck lol

As someone who just bought HoT just to play fractals I feel your pain. ANET should fix this! Fractals for everyone! More people more fun.

You can only attune infused rings and nothing else, and yes the infusions will get eaten up.

It’s to trick you into unlocking it lol

I see you have an engi in the video above may I ask if you’re using sinister or zerker?:D I’m trying to use my engi to get there too it would be a great help:D