Guild Wars 2

oh quick random question, semi-related.. when you crit, is the crit damge % calcuated based on the damage AFTER any given modifiers?

and thanks for all the replies guys! taking a look at all of these now. good to know i’m on the “right path” for now.

it’s been pretty fast clearing maps with this guy so far and it’s fun. looking forward to getting to 80!

i’ve done small scale fights with AH + shouts (was getting back to my group) and you DO have “better” utility through access to a ton of boons as well as stability, and done so relatively successfully. though of course, this all depends on who you’re fighting and how the rest of your build is set up. if you’re focusing on mainly roaming, and solo roaming especially, meditations any day of the week. on average, better than AH shout roaming.

hmm. put it this way. i don’t miss JI and smite condition as much as i miss my boons or stability to be honest.

though again, if you’ll be roaming with a few buddies or small 5man havoc, what have you, an AH shout build can be pretty strong. your buddies get all the beneits of your boons, and you get more mileage out of AH as well. can always take two shouts and then JI. i used to run that for a bit.

guanlongwucaii.3162:

Also, don’t forget that Gandalf actually had a 1H sword mainhand, and only really used his staff for utility and helping his party skip bosses. He didn’t camp staff while fighting.

LOLOL dangit. you gots me good.

tbh, the only use i find for staff in dungeons is actually line of warding when people have trouble running through stuff.

you’ll have to answer to SoR first, TC!! muahahaha.

if i can help that at all. O____o pls be nice.

weird you say that. the most dodged skill on one of my nights in WvW was scepter 3. :// and it’s insta. no big tell. haha i think it was bad luck on my part. check boons on your oppoents as best as you can. if there’s aegis, use an auto to take that off first.

the scepter is best played close-mid ranged though, tbh. since it.. i forget the term, but it estimates where your opponent is gonna be and fires in that direction. so if you ever end up against a scepter guard (or ranger or any bow users for that matter). if you strafe left and right, you won’t get hit at all. lol.

you can try the 20/x/30/x/x build. 30 in valor mainly for sustain and i would recommend meditations to go with scepter. good luck! when played well, scepter can do a lot of damage. and gives us the little edge (as a WvW Guard) in taking down fleeing foes when our mobility skills are on CD.

if it was general PvE (not dungeons), i’d recommend a 20/30/x/x/x build. but for WvW, you’ll ideally want SOME sort of sustain.

you can always try a 20/0/30/20/0 build and bring up your crit chance through gear, runes, etc.

last week, i ran a 10/30/30/0/0 build with mace/torch + scepter/focus as meditations DPS burst Guard and it’s the most fun for me, if you can find decent small fights : ))) scepter autos hit for 2k on average of course. depending on the target but usually pretty darn high.

smite is awesome. the damage ticks fast and racks up quite a bit. scepter 3 to keep ‘em standing in it. though if more than one foe is standing in it, the total damage gets divided up amongst the number of targets, iirc. it’s good for VoJ passiev procs. dangerous against retaliation.

a lot of people have been asking for it to become a symbol too, but i personally feel that’d change the skill too much itself and you won’t get as much damage against a single target vs if it were a symbol, which ticks per second and even with immob, they can get out reasonably fast.. but we’ll see. : ))

hahaha poor mace.

the GS + mace/focus symbol build is not bad. better for roaming then anything though. and you have to kind of fight on point – which can be tough in WvW if you’re opponents know what’s going on.

very strong in PvP.

oops, completely missed that. Linnael is correct.

the only traits that affect the Scepter are Zeal IX (Scepter Power) and Radiance XI (Right-hand strength). which, when combined, and with the right gear, do do a lot of damage. : ))

i’m down to run around. woot woot oceanic!

hello Warriors.

am only early level 40’s and on my warrior right now and using him mainly for map completion. running sword/warhorn and GS for getting A to B fast, and then i switch to axe when i need to kill stuff (for Weapon Master and it kills pretty darn fast).

so far, my gear is all power main stat. and then traits i don’t have a lot of points but so far i’ve just put ’em into power and crit as well.

utilities i have the charge skill just for more mobility. and then the rest are signets.

is there anything i should be doing differently? i assume when i get to the higher lever maps this’ll have to change a bit (doing all low level zones first). also, when i get to 80, what’s the meta PvE build? namely just wanna kill fast and map complete fast (time for dungeons / WvW will come later ; )) ).

thanks for any tips for Warriors in advance.

score is close between TC and SoR!! i know it’s still the weekend (for some?) and i didn’t get to play much during reset. looking forward to the rest of the week, folk.

and i gotta be honest with ya, i don’t miss the queues. <— this is all anecdotal and by no means a representation of SoR map population. ; ))

from the sounds of how you’re gearing.. can i assume this is primarily for WvW?

or a bit of everything?

ahh, okay. i know i’m late… but did someone say fried turkey?? which BL do i go to

also. One Piece <33333333333

30/30/0/0/10 Gandalf build. it’s OP.
just use pro dodge skills to keep Unscathed Contender up 120% of the time all the time most of the time.

:OOO can i haz it Hurrakan? lol
actually , i have dawn and slowly working towards sunrise right now.
i used to want twilight cause i like the look better. but i got lucky with dawn.
and tbh, both look pretty amazing in their own ways.

i’ve heard many say speed is a good alternative since it’s been fixed as well, especially if you need a larger cushion for HP. though from stats optimization, or even in general, you’d get more mileage out of traveler.

yea i used to feel i need sword and gs for medi’s as well but it’s not entirely necessary. : )) the short CD on flashing blade is nice but i have too much fun with the mace lol. and when roaming with the way i play, having scepter is a godsend so i really enjoy being able to use it, while not feel like i’m giving up too much.

if anyone’s interested i’ve been running this all week. started off with sword/focus + scepter/torch and then switched to mace for more blow ups your standard DPS guard but it’s been really fun.

i used buildcraft to add in bloodlust sigil stacks as well as applied fortitude. by the end of the week, i was sitting at around 17k HP. slowly working towards GL that’ll push power up to 2.9k which is i must say quite nice. no bloodlust buff counted atm.

i’ll generally roam like this. but if i know a big fight’s coming up, i’ll swap out Signets to Shelter and Contemplation or purity / Merciful Intervention or even Stand your ground, depending on what i think i’ll be facing. sometimes i swapped some jewelry for more toughness but most of the time i ran as is. and of course, switch up major traits accordingly if i took off signets.

if you need to do big jumps, i’d switch Zeal II to III and then switch back as well. having that flexibility helps a lot actually.

haven’t played this build in a while, but was really fun again. especially when i switched back to the mace. lost a lot of mobility through swapping the sword out but added more instant burst with protector’s strike. last night was hitting consistent 6-9k’s worth of protector’s strike, shield of wrath and zealot’s fires each. symbol of faith ticking up to 2k at one point. autos from mace got pretty high too. smite condition also hit up to 5k highest that i remember of course, everyone’s mileage may vary but in general got pretty lucky with some nice crits.

sustain was not too bad, especially thanks to AF. so i’d say if you enjoy WvW, get it asap and enjoy it. massively. helps deal with Guardian’s low base HP, the stupid crazy condition specs out there, as well as being able to pick up more offensive gear.

(though this coming week, i’m gonna try one of brutaly’s hard hitting tanky builds)

[edit: oops, few typos]

nice. i’ll keep an eye out!!

and yay. it’s the weeeeekendddddddddd.

so 5 man will be the new blob? :OOO

[edit: (actually i have no idea what i’m talkign about. BUT i would like gw2 to continue to flourish and especially thw WvW community on all servers. in an ideal world…)]

agreed being more defensive or “hybrid” gives you more room to sustain and dish out some nasty damage at the same time. and goign the DPS route doesn’t mean you have to go full glass cannon. rather, each player has to guage where they’re comfortable in MOST situations and give and take sustain vs damage. but i wouldn’t go as far as saying full support or more defensive will ALWAYS trump DPS builds. if you’re facing someone who knows how to handle tanky guards, though you may not die as fast, the fight can potentially drag out, also leaving more room for error. better defensive stats, i’ll agree with. but better defensive skills/utilities? i think not necessarily. Guardians have a multitude of blinds, blocks invulns boons and using yuor dodges right to negate a lot of damage. so ou can put those to good use to control the fight as well.

i like to play a variety of builds and with each build, your approach to each encounter will be different. : )) is all. sometimes even your play style, for example, playing way more aggressive can help control the fight, even if you may be lacking in defensive stats.

my DPS build uses meditations as well so you get plenty of healing through monk’s focus. and pretty good cleansing as well. of course, there will be times where i wish i’d been in a tankier shout build. and there’ll be times when i wish i had more DPS.

and ain’t gonna lie. i like seeing big numbers at times! depends on the mood lol

any videos of the GvG? sounded like a lot of fun.
and mang. i don’t even know the tell for moa morph lol. (i guess i can count my luck rarely running into moa mes) is it pertty obvious?

i’ve ran across some [Ark] a few times and you guys are fun to fight. tough. but definitely fun.

thanks Handin. : )) and i’ll help out on my end next time if we’re able to plan an SEA one next time!

and to Keiel for the clarification. good to know!

how did it go? or still going??D i am stuck in the office now. so vicariously living through… ehm. pics please!D

also… thanks for the fights this week everyone!!! had some fun running around MagBL last night during SEA. appreciate all those who came out to fight. and that Warrior from [GOAT] (iirc), see you around! hahaha fun stuff and thanks for the fights yo. all the best next week lol

in WvW, after i get killed, i usually transform into something else. sort of like “gah, his true form has been revealed!” so i’m going to be doing the krait next.

though usually the invaders just peace out lol.

oops, lol. good catch!! i meant staff while zerging. yea i usually use hammer for zerging too. very usefulD and then i keep my 1h sets on my offset cause sometimes i get too lazy to change :// bad habit haha

oh mang. talking to u guys make me want to go home and play haha

PvE speaking, aegis is very strong.

in WvW fights, small scale or duels, it can be very strong.

in zergs or big fights, aegis almost means nothing.

if you time it right, or get lucky, it can mean life or death, or mean escape or not when outnumbered, or… not saynig it’s bad by any chance. but if i see someone with it on, you take it off with AA first before using your large hits. if someone used it against you while you’re telegraphing a large hit that can’t be canceled out of, then tough luck.

wont’ say it’s all powerful. but it does help against mainly telegraphed ONE hits. anythign that hits multilpe times? you’d rather want protection or regen for that.

nice, OP. : )) i personally woulda saved the cleric’s for WvW. it provides very different gameplay for the Guardian class. though, if you only plan on doing dungeons, and tight for cash, then berzerkers is a good choice.

i used to run dungeons starting off in knight’s gear. tanky trinkets. then i added zerker trinkets. then now i run full zerker and it does make a HUGE difference. : )) especially if your entire group is full zerker already.

for the Guardian at least, being full zerker =/= full glass, imo. you can still equip yourself with great traits / utilities skills / weapon skills that can 100% negate damage. which is the best kind of support you need. reflects for negating ranged damage, PLUS throwing it all back in the mob’s face. party wide aegis to block h ard hitting one shots from bosses. stability if there is major CC. cleanses for the party if conditions are an issue… so you just have to learn when to use them best, how to use ’em, and learn to play with your dungeon mates.

good luck!!

lol, Tarsius.. but but.. that’s like.. one harvest! haha
too funny. XDDD

ahha that does sound like a lot of WvW, Brutaly. ; )) i’m slowly getting there now. roaming still gives decent WXP too actually – last night was pretty fun roaming

and nice. i really should staff more when roaming zerging. but for roaming, you don’t prestack either? although i guess that does break up the flow a lot, especially if you’re caught by zergs or what not heh.

Handin.4032:

Tarnished Coast Dolyak Parade

Handin, Handin, will there be an SEA one this time around??D

also, server time is… PST?

hmm if this helps at all, for the dungeon vets that go out there and try to help people, with good will, don’t take it upon yourself as a burden to change people and make the better. what you do is offer the tools and methods (which you’ve all so rightly done). it’s up to US, up to the PEOPLE, to make that choice if we want to improve. or at least try new things.

if people want to be helped, that’s awesome. don’t take that for granted. : )) not saying you guys do, but it’s just a reminder. if someone doesn’t want to be helped? well, only they can save themselves (and no, you don’t have to take their conditions from them, let them keep ’em). just know that every single person you WERE able to help, even if just one, will ALWAYS always always outweigh the ones who chose to turn down your help.

it’s unfortunate there are some that go as far as being hateful. just don’t let it get to you. i love what you guys do on here! (though i’ll be honest, sometimes, the trolling gets out of hand, for the unsuspecting or unknowing ; )) )

i’m down to run more fractals as well. i’m always putting it off lol. i need me some rings!

i’ll add ya when i get home. thanks, Sarah.

and @Allisa – glad you’re giving fractals a serious shot again!

lol. i have.. 4 levels unlocked now!

but you really will get there faster than you think. plus, if you have massive laurels chilling, you can always “cheat” lol.

and of course, if you guys do karma trains before resets.. birthday booster + WXP booster gives massive WXP.

just to bring it back on topic, staff 1 in a zerg as well. :PP

3) mesmers – well, really depends on the spec for this class. some can be REALLY annoying for me.
2) + 4) maybe engineers and necro? – more necro than engi, but again depends on the build.
7) good warriors. sepecially if condi regen spec.

i guess namely condi tanks i don’t like dancing with.

also, depends what build you’re running your Guardian on. i never stick to any given build so it’s tough to choose as well ://

ah, i was going to ask actually. i run Traveler for WvW right now. very nice on my symbol build i sometimes use in there as well when roaming. so they aren’t in sPvP huh. o well. : ))

i went with the vitality runes to give myself a little buffer, especially with all the conditions flying around. but i’ll have to give speed a shot too.

ahh, i do what you do as well when i am dying a lot, lol. i’ll leave one sigil equipped as well and if it fills, it fills. then i switch it out for.. force usually if it works (assuming it’s OH).

i usually do the raptors on left camp. but yes, camps help too, and of course, for AF/GL stacks as well.

i know a lot of people call them OP.. but it’s been nice to have especially with the Guardian’s low HP base. it’s slightly opened up a few doors. maybe windows.

if you’ve a bitter taste of fractals as they stand right now.. wipe that slate clean! and start fresh with this new update to fractals. : )) try to see it in a different light maybe. if you go in with the same mentality, it’ll be hard to enjoy it.

and seems to me, this new patch is bringnig in content to STAY! so you won’t feel as pressed for time.

1) if i understood correctly, bonus boss won’t be only at even levels.. but every level now. so just see it as part of every fractal run. 4 separate fractals, with the final boss being a “shorter” instance compared so some of the full length ones?

2) try out the fractals when they come out. a LOT of people will be doing them i assume. play during the regular times you play. make NEW friends. : )) if you’ve had a good run, add them, remember them.. see ‘em online next time you want to frac? send them a tell! or even go as far as to set up daily fractal runing groups with people you’ve met and know you can play well and have fun with!

3) i don’t think this is necessary for fractals. i’m not sure of higher levels.. but as long as people understand the fights in general you can do without voice chat. of course that being said, it can definitely make the run go smoother. so it’s more of a nice to have kind of thing. : ))

4) i can relate to this to a certain extent. especially if you PUG since you don’t know how any given run is going to end up. so again, go back to (2) and garner yourself a group of people you can “depend” on and keep running it with them. : ))

it won’t be that bad! at all! good luck lol

less time on forums, more in-game time playing!

sure but steady is the pace to go for with gw2. i agree maybe they could have announced this a bit earlier so people can “prep” for it.. call me ignorant, non-perceptive, but i still don’t see the main issue here.

i do the same thing! everytime there’s a new release, i have the wallpaper up in anticipation for the event.

: ((( now i sad. lol

i think this release could have had a lot of nice artwork done for it as well!

@Fjandi – that looks really fun actually. the 20% CD on focus skills may not seem much, but i’ve used it before with something similar and it’s nice to ahev the shorter CDs.

hmm scratch the build i posted above. i might give the 20/0/30/20/0 build and see how that goes.

you can spec for full support and still die a lot too. : )))

i mean, at the end of the day, it all depends on the situation. and your personal skill vs the personal skill of the players you’re playing against.

but.. but I love you gaiz!

i keep forgetting to do this. thanks again for this, ANet. : ))

hmm. i think most of it is working as intended. the ONE thing i don’t understand is sometimes you get back a “skin”, and sometimes you get back a green item.

just know that when you use the splitter you get back:
- item that you chose the skin from
- item that you chose the stats from
- any and all upgrades (infusions, sigils, etc)

so i don’t think you can get back some that you transmute over and over again with one splitter. haven’t tested if you can use a splitter on something that you’ve transmuted several times over so i don’t know regarding that. but the way to do it now is to transmute, and if you want to put a new skin on or new stats, split, then transmute again – that is if you want to be able to go back to the two most original items at any given time.

hmmm lol hope that makes sense. and yes it’s a giant gem (gold/RL moola) sink.

i think going full signet, you lose too much utility from other choices you could make.

at most i sometimes run with two signets (heal and bane usually) so that’s two extra aegis which can definitely be quite nice.

but we shall have to wait and see : ))

i LOVE all the heavy armor renditions of the gasmask. can’t wait to get mine and mess around with it.

@panzer – my male Norn Guard looks pretty close to yours lol. almost the same armor pieces and GS!

been so hectic this week IRL.. hoping to jump in Tyria and the mists tonight (SEA) so i’ll see you all then!D

heh, so for a while, i didn’t loko at stat spreads as much i used to.. ut seeing those numbers i gave it a shot and came pretty darn close to your number 6. is major bloodlust still adding 50 to all stats? or did they change it? anyways.. the numbers weren’t exact but pretty close (i was missing about 100 from condi and healign though :/// lol) it was a lot of fun too haha thanks for bringing out that number crunching stat maxing part of me again. :PP lol

and it really does seem like a BEAST. can’t wait to put something similar together and give it a shot. even without bloodlust stacks it looks very decent.

heh, i’m slowly working towards GL now! can’t wait to get it as well. but you see, so that’s the thing. not holding my breath on how ascended armor is gonna turn out so i’m just going to wait.. it does seem like you said, at least for chest legs and maybe head, celestial can be pretty darn strong. assuming we won’t be able to run around with 3, 4, 5 different full ascended armor sets.. but we’ll wait and see i guess.

ps, just out of curiosity, do you guys get your sigil stacks on invaders? or on PvE? lol since certain builds do depend on sigils to achieve the “max desired effect” or even certain stats (though if you have legendaries it’s a non-issue in this case) so i don’t like fighting invaders using my stacking sets. i actually stack 25 using mobs with 2 1hers. stack ’em fast and swap back to my desired weapon set.

you got your build, but i frigging looove symbols builds lol so i’m going to chime in lol
and yes, very strong on points.

i want to say the basis for a DPS symbol build, at least for me, is x/x/30/20/x
and Honor III and X are staples. that gives you 20 points to play with, be it more power, more crit, vuln on blinds, buffing your virtues a little bit, etc

i used to play a meditation variation and recently came up with this. haven’t sPvP-ed in a while but will probs jump back in with this and see how it goes:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNAR5dlUgaDnGSOEfIFRug6DxDThG/41DIGxGC-TsAg0CtIuSdl7KzVyrs1MAZByGCA

my version compared to valyrianhero’s is a bit more crit chance but less defensive stats obviously. though i feel with the sustain a symbol build gives you, i can usually go a little more DPS oriented. i get fury from meditation use as well which can bump my crit chance up to 50%+ which allows for a little more burst (focus 5 + mace 2 + JI, mace 3 + smite condition —> swap to gs 2).

thinking out loud now. thought of mayeb trying 15 in Zeal for the vuln on symbols and see how that goes. the first 5 in Zeal also gives you an opportunity to potentially drop 3 symbols on any given enemy. i suspect in PvP it can get hard keeping people in your symbols depending on who you’re playing against so the vuln on symbol mgiht not be the most effective.. i used to run with 5/10/30/20/5 which is very nice as well and i pick up Radiance VI for vuln on blind since you get blinds from F1, GS3 and Focus 4.

if you do try out a medi symbol build, for utilities, if you’re in a matchup where conditions aren’t much of a threat, you can switch out contemplation of purity to Merciful Intervention (which allows for nice bigger heal and or if your allies near you need some healing). if not, i’d go with Stand Your Ground (though that does mean one less mini heal but makes it easier to secure stomps). and if i feel like having a little more fun, Bane Signet

but of course, the AH version is very strong as well since you get boons from your symbols and will perform better if you run with at least one other person most of the time.

don’t really know what’s going on, and i am against “labelling” individuals or grouping them.. but i just came here to say this.

i’ve learnt so much from those that give their genuine opinions, discuss why with facts, numbers, videos or even in-game walk thrus (you know who you are! i think.. lol). even the so-called SPEED RUNNERS will stop and type out explanation and strategy for certain encounters if there’s someone who is new or doesn’t know the fight well. and they will always answer genuine questions that you have. so long YOU yourself have an open mind, willing to listen and try new things. if you don’t like it? drop it and go back to your own ways. not everything has to be made into a THING.

it’s so simple. as long as you give respect, are genuine first, peolpe will (under most circumstances) always reciprocate in a similar manner. doesn’t seem very “elitist” or “jerky” to me. see why i don’t like labels? i want to assume so many just bark back whenever they see any certain individual usernames and or certain catch phrases that their mind just shuts off and goes into defensive mode.

anyways, i digress. remember, it’s the people that make up the community. and by people i don’t mean INDIVIDUALS. but rather, the focus ought to be on how people treat one another and in the regards that we all hold one another.

o snap lol. my EU Guardian counterpart? [added: and yes, frigging love AF! it’s pretty ridiculous lol]

and yea, if ascended armor is really gonna make it in the.. near future (didn’t they say it wouldn’t make end of this year though?), probably best to hold out for a bit. really gonna take some time to plan uot what’re going to be the best pieces. we’ll have to wait and see the investments for each piece. not exactly looking forward to it.. seeing as how some of us have over 7 sets of gear.