Guild Wars 2

I know some people use power builds, but I got out of the practice a while ago. I tend to favor hybrid builds just because condi doesn’t have to contend with a vet/champ/etc’s toughness, so my damage tends to be more consistent. I’m sure others on here can give advice for power builds.

The quickdraw is used with bonfire. I will sometimes run this with a warhorn to use Call of the Wild for more boons, and if switched to right after using Bonfire, the blast finisher gives me an additional 3 might. CA #4 with GotL trait adds to dps, or you can use Ancient Seeds with anything that procs it for more Condi. If you feel too squishy I recommend Celestial trinkets (especially if you haven’t done the achievements to unlock the Sinister ascended trinkets) and that will boost your heals too. Heal skill is interchangeable depending on situation, and if your target is stationary, Sun Spirit is probably a better choice over Spike trap.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vNIQJA3fnMqoUhKW1sY5KSWwZFzKQ1irFLGCGTAY01Agzqj10aTHIY1CSRKI79XA-TxSAQBJU9n8pBJAHUhes/A2U6BgHUQ00JANTQsQDx0UCGSlBBAQAYiTciTciBA-e

Try something along those lines. I run something similar and I never have issues running around solo in HoT maps.

Urejt.5648:

thief is best dps in game boy. Just no support. But there are so many players in raid there is no need for everybody to be support. Somebody has to do real dmg.

And the venom share build does help everyone else do more damage, CC (with basilisk) and even heal if you use skelk.

Fat Disgrace.4275:

I really can not see any point in running 2 trait lines that give out so much endurance. Dd alone with bountiful theft is more then enough endurance, now include signet of agility into the build and you should have no problems. Acro is also a huge dmg loss too, would be much better going cs or da.

Not if your dodges do considerable damage. It wasn’t the original point of the thread, but with Lotus Training, some venom skills, and other stuff, you can crank out a lot of dps without using a single drop of initiative. It’s dps, healing, boons, initiative, condi clear all off of a single dodge. And you haven’t even touched your #1-5 skills or your steal. With that much endurance and vigor, it’s a limitless source for all the things I listed.

Edit: check out the convo in https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/thief/Does-Lotus-Training-Stack/first#post6226199.

I am not gonna assume that you are max level on engi yet, so I’ll leave out scrapper in my assessment of the class. Engi is strong at all ranges (even out to 1500 with mortar kit). You can use turrets to boost survivability and dps for hero points and other things you want to solo. With the toolbelt and the kits you have the most variety of skills at your disposal in the game. You also have widest combination of combos in the game, whether for buffing or conditioning or auras.

That said, unless you use turrets which sometimes draw aggro, you are solo, and the swapping of kits/just remembering all your skills can be a bit daunting when the pressure is on. But it is a great profession.

If you are looking for a class that is easy to solo the open world and map complete with, necro and ranger are top of the list, for the sole reason that they have pets that tend to draw enemies to them and away from you. Mesmer is the most challenging for that (unless you’re really, really good at managing the illusions, since they die with the target).

I know, and it bugs me with those classes too. You make a build, go underwater, and half your 6-10 skills are useless. I understand why people hate underwater combat lol.

Jack Skywalker.5674:

bearshaman.3421:

Jack Skywalker.5674:

bearshaman.3421:

Jack Skywalker.5674:

You can go with this if you have cooking and buck toons of gold to spare on food and gear.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQJATWnsAB9Ch97AekittendilEiS+5j+sHbDeuy8aZDgLA-TlSDQBi7QAoRlGOZ/hXpEUCPAA5oL4BXBALp+DAMBFFlZBAOA88zP/8zP3yLv8yLnUARM0C-w

The only downside to this is build is that it’s centered around the Force of Will to get maximum benefit from the food and other related traits. But you can totaly ditch Dragon Hunter for Virtues.

I have two questions, sorta related:

Why do you have such a high ferocity, and next to no precision? Wouldn’t the ferocity just sit unused without the crits to proc the extra damage?

And why did you select traits that only proc on crits when your precision is so low?

Insta crit runes on weapon swap is my answer to the first question and secondly,no clue this is sort of a joke build I edited for a guy who wanted high hp, high power and no precision because of the insta crit runes on weapon swap.

Here is the link for the original post and build….you can find alternate rune/gear options to keep those high numbers

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/Staffow-Build-WvW-roam-s-scale/first#post6190209

…if Scepter wasn’t absolute kitten I would never have considered Dragon Hunter for a ranged Support/Healing build

As seen in post theme is pretty annoying considering Guardian is a front line based class with little backrow options… the build is focused on having big numbers with burst limited by weapon swap mechanic. This build would probably deal double damage if the guy was using 2 Longbows instead of a Longbow and a Staff (assuming weapon swap works if you are swaping to the same weapon).

Edit: the reason why I call this a joke build is because I have problems accepting Guardians and Revenants as being competent for the role of backrow support due to their lack of variety in Ranged Weapons and the lack of utility from Virtues (the guy wanted 2 competent ranged weapons on his guardian)

oh dear god… this explains so much… I was wondering about the weapon choices… Guardian can do a decent healing and buff role if specced correctly, but this isn’t quite it.

Edit: I’m going with hammer and mace/shield. As you pointed out, ranged isn’t an option here. I’m thinking Honor/Valor/Virtues. Seems to make the most sense.

Greatsword is better than Hammer for PvE content and Hammer is better for PvP content. Also Honor/Valor and Virtues is my go to for support specs on Guardian. Also to keep the same number values from my build you could go with either nomad or minstrel.

I also have a guild mate who is a pretty strong advocate of GS and Staff for tank/healer game play so you could probably find some inspiration for that combo.

I would have to get over my raging hatred of the staff. the AA is about the most obnoxious AA ever imo.

Regon Phoenix.8215:

bearshaman.3421:

you are cranking out these elite spec suggestions…

What does that mean?

Just that I’ve seen several of these by you. Hard at work.
It’s cool, that’s all.

I was gonna suggest picking up where you left off on personal story. The specializations and traits have changed radically since you played last, and this will give you time to adjust to the new trait system. Also a lot of skills have been changed in that time, so you find playing some of your characters to have changed quite a bit. Personal story will give you a easy path to follow, and the time to adapt to the changes in the classes. Complete Season 2 and HoT with at least one character.

As far as a guild is concerned, there are always guilds advertising, but I suggest doing a google search for one of the sites that has lists of active guilds and what they do. This way you can find one that does the stuff you are interested in.

Dungeons have changed in terms of rewards but not much else. Fractals have been rescaled, and rewards there got adjusted too. World bosses have mostly stayed the same, with the notable exception of The Shatterer, which has a completely new mechanic to the fight and it’s own set of achievements. The HoT zones have map wide meta events, which reap pretty good rewards (similar to Silverwastes). Also HoT introduced Adventures (solo challenges scattered about the map with ranking systems on how well you completed it compared to other players) and Raids (think dungeon except all bosses, requires more people, and a lot less forgiving).

These are all things you can try out and see if you like, but I’d recommend relearning your professions first.

One of the most upsetting things about this class, and GW2 in general. Skills not working underwater… sigh…

Molch.2078:

For raids, if this is about raids, your tank should be able to move when he must and to stand when he doesn’t. If you have to dodge around to avoid damage, the boss will follow you every step and your raid party will go nuts. That’s why Chrono is so popular: He blocks.

I did tank Vale Guardian on a thief. The trick is to take a dps build, use as little toughness as possible to hold aggro and to equip Invigoratin Precision. You dodge blues with Staff 5 or dodge against a wall and facetank everything else.

Everything can tank Gorseval, except maybe the dps tempest. No tank for Sabetha or Wing 2. Everything can tank KC. For Xera, beeing able to migate damage without moving is even more important. So no dodging, and no idea if IP’s self heal works good enough against the confusion.

I was kinda wondering about the movement thing, that’s why I went with Lotus, I think it involves the least movement? But yeah, I know there will be others that will be preferred for tanking, I’m just theorycrafting this because it was rattling around in my head and I wanted to see what the larger thief community thought of it. And to stop the rattling.

you are cranking out these elite spec suggestions…

DeceiverX.8361:

Literally, there have been people who have fought and won using this build while playing with their faces to make fun of the people who think it’s a serious way to play.

XD

If there is a youtube vid of this I want to see it. That would brighten my day to see something so ridiculous as someone ACTUALLY playing GW2 WITH THEIR FACE!

Jack Skywalker.5674:

bearshaman.3421:

Jack Skywalker.5674:

You can go with this if you have cooking and buck toons of gold to spare on food and gear.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQJATWnsAB9Ch97AekittendilEiS+5j+sHbDeuy8aZDgLA-TlSDQBi7QAoRlGOZ/hXpEUCPAA5oL4BXBALp+DAMBFFlZBAOA88zP/8zP3yLv8yLnUARM0C-w

The only downside to this is build is that it’s centered around the Force of Will to get maximum benefit from the food and other related traits. But you can totaly ditch Dragon Hunter for Virtues.

I have two questions, sorta related:

Why do you have such a high ferocity, and next to no precision? Wouldn’t the ferocity just sit unused without the crits to proc the extra damage?

And why did you select traits that only proc on crits when your precision is so low?

Insta crit runes on weapon swap is my answer to the first question and secondly,no clue this is sort of a joke build I edited for a guy who wanted high hp, high power and no precision because of the insta crit runes on weapon swap.

Here is the link for the original post and build….you can find alternate rune/gear options to keep those high numbers

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/Staffow-Build-WvW-roam-s-scale/first#post6190209

…if Scepter wasn’t absolute kitten I would never have considered Dragon Hunter for a ranged Support/Healing build

As seen in post theme is pretty annoying considering Guardian is a front line based class with little backrow options… the build is focused on having big numbers with burst limited by weapon swap mechanic. This build would probably deal double damage if the guy was using 2 Longbows instead of a Longbow and a Staff (assuming weapon swap works if you are swaping to the same weapon).

Edit: the reason why I call this a joke build is because I have problems accepting Guardians and Revenants as being competent for the role of backrow support due to their lack of variety in Ranged Weapons and the lack of utility from Virtues (the guy wanted 2 competent ranged weapons on his guardian)

oh dear god… this explains so much… I was wondering about the weapon choices… Guardian can do a decent healing and buff role if specced correctly, but this isn’t quite it.

Edit: I’m going with hammer and mace/shield. As you pointed out, ranged isn’t an option here. I’m thinking Honor/Valor/Virtues. Seems to make the most sense.

There are two good builds for thief for raids on metabattle.com, and the venom share one is really good. I’ve not tinkered with the raid dps one. There are also some really good tanking options for thief that allow it to stack up conditions really well (even off of our potentially infinite dodges). I’m not sure what the issue is…

AnariiUK.7409:

To directly answer your question, Magi’s/Clerics is the best gear in the game for pure healing, but I’d argue that it’s very wasteful.

Overall I agree with Justine, percentage modifiers are far more important than stacking healing power.

For the sake of argument we can compare Zealot’s with Magi’s with normal % modifiers in place:

Monk runes = 10%
Transference sigil = 10%
Rice balls = 10%
Natural Mender = 20%

Zealots = 439 Power, 315 Precision, 315 Healing power + 175 Healing power from runes.
Magis = 315 Vitality, 315 Precision, 439 Healing power + 175 Healing power from runes.

Under these conditions, one pulse of your main healing skill (Rejuvenating tides) will heal allies for:

Zealots = (810 + (0.35 * 490)) * 1.1 * 1.1 * 1.1 * 1.2 = 1568 HP
Magis = (810 + (0.35 * 614)) * 1.1 * 1.1 * 1.1 * 1.2 = 1637 HP

A difference of only ~4%

So the question is, are you willing to give up 439 power for such a minor increase in healing? The vitality is also a factor to consider as it can be useful while learning the bosses.

Please correct me if my math is wrong! It’s a topic I’m really interested in discussing.

I too have been told that Magi/Cleric is the proper “pure healing” stats, partly because of the increase to vitality and toughness (can’t heal if you’re downed) while still having some power and precision. However, you make a good point that with Zealot you can get more power without losing that much healing. The question is does that hold for other healing skills, since the multiplier varies from skill to skill? I’ve heard that the healing from staff and CA are less dependent on the HP stat than other heals are, so it may be consistent, I don’t know.

Nicknobreak.7543:

I call upon the noblest of Rangers to post their builds! I’ve been trying to settle on a good, versatile open world PvE build for a while now. I’d prefer a power build mostly, but I think it is highly important to be able to support fellow players during events any way I can. Lately I’ve been running Marks/NM/Dr with stun glyph, heal glyph, and empower glyph. I also run frost spirit and elite spirit. Also have been using LB/Staff. Too tired to think of actual skill names today…

Spirits are nice when the battle doesn’t move. I would consider Sun Spirit in place of the stun glyph as an overall dps increase for group stuff. Also I’m a fan of GS over staff unless you plan on sitting back and just healing alot.

Mitch.4781:

“I don’t get why you choose carrion stats for a condi build”

um, maybe because it is the META condi stat in pvp?

Except it’s not a pvp build. He’s using runes. clear indication that it’s a pve build.

Not that I have a problem with carrion stats. I do think necro benefits more from rapid stats, since plague sending procs off of crits.

I’ve actually started looking at worrying less about duration, and looking for other boosts to the damage, to make condi more bursty rather than sustained. I didn’t think about it till recently that some of the duration is pointless if the enemy dies before its run its course. What do others think about this?

Why does the DPS build use Invigorating Bulwark (i think I got the name right, but I’m referring to the mace trait), when you don’t have a mace equipped on that build?

Otherwise very interesting build. I have a thread running that is looking at a similar build.

Jack Skywalker.5674:

You can go with this if you have cooking and buck toons of gold to spare on food and gear.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQJATWnsAB9Ch97AekittendilEiS+5j+sHbDeuy8aZDgLA-TlSDQBi7QAoRlGOZ/hXpEUCPAA5oL4BXBALp+DAMBFFlZBAOA88zP/8zP3yLv8yLnUARM0C-w

The only downside to this is build is that it’s centered around the Force of Will to get maximum benefit from the food and other related traits. But you can totaly ditch Dragon Hunter for Virtues.

I have two questions, sorta related:

Why do you have such a high ferocity, and next to no precision? Wouldn’t the ferocity just sit unused without the crits to proc the extra damage?

And why did you select traits that only proc on crits when your precision is so low?

Calliope.8675:

There’s HoT alternate for Dire, much like Vipers, but with the base Dire stats instead.

…

Trailblazer’s is the name, but it requires the Maguuma Lily which is one of the more expensive “gems” now from the new maps.

Condi and Toughness high, Vitality and Expertise Low. Great for Condi Tanks.

I won’t bother replying cuz wall of text. I never said that what I posted is what I think as regards pvp. Exactly the opposite. I posted saying this is what other people have shared on the forums. I made a report, not stated an opinion. I know there are things in pvp that I don’t understand, nor do I claim to. I was just contributing to that aspect of the conversation with what I did know, and that was what others have said about it.

As far as being shoved into a healbot mode, I have never used druid as a healbot, nor felt pressured to do so. I imagine that might be the case for raids, but raids are about as intense as pve ever gets. Even in high level fractals there isn’t one build to rule them all. My stat set doesn’t have healing power in it. So, imho, unless you are doing raids, I don’t get this “we are only healbots” mentality. Maybe it’s a pvp thing, I don’t know.

Oh, and to clear this up, I have never done pvp. I am not a competitive gamer. Coop sure. But competitive isn’t my thing. Kudos to people who like it. More power to ya. I’ll be over here doing everything else.

Wow… umm thanks guys! I never considered that condi could get this effective on a thief… wow I need to finish leveling my thief now…

saerni.2584:

Well, since you picked a couple of condition specific traits…

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vZMQNAW6Yn8lCFmidmCGNB8PhFqiaO77+w37C+gBoLCCgDA-TxRAQBA4iA8PdDoS9nSq8zDPBges/QNVCGAABYmzMZWmBH9oH9oH9oNzZe0Ze0ZWKgFVWB-e

Huh, cool. Interesting choice on the stat set. Hadn’t considered going pure condi instead of hybrid, but it makes sense for a tank. I kinda assumed the endless dodges would suffice.

Also I should have updated: I switched vigorous recovery for pain response. Someone elsewhere pointed out that I had way more than 100% vigor uptime.

Thanks for the response though! I will bookmark your build for reference.

Phyrak.7260:

bearshaman.3421:

I think this would be an interesting possibility at least thematically. especially if this came with a crossbow skin for the rifle. I like the idea of gadgets for this, though I’m confused by what you mean with the top/middle/bottom/passive part.

Crossbow sounds rad

Top/middle/bottom are refering to the trait tree
Passive are the ones that are given automatically when you select teirs of the tree

Ah ok. Yeah, this could definitely work.

I like the idea of a fallen guardian elite spec. This is the first idea I’ve liked other than the tomes idea.

I also want to see a spirit weapon rework. Arcadeus is 100% right that an elite spec doesn’t have to ability to fix core guardian issues. There just needs to be a major patch for those.

Xyonon.3987:

Chazz.6709:

Maybe xyonon gonna analyse my problem

YOU SUMMONED ME! – Wahoo and hey!

I am renaming you Beetlejuice lol.

anduriell.6280:

bearshaman.3421:

snip…. I don’t play pvp, …snip… The thing is this: This is the first elite spec, but not the last. ..snip

First thing before drop that kind of absurd statements i would suggest you to play PvP.

I don’t play pvp. NOT: I haven’t played pvp. I said: I DON’T play. Also, if you read that entire sentence, not the parts you snipped out, I made it clear that I was going off of the observations made by multiple other people across all 9 profession forums, and sharing that observation. I personally have no particular stake in it, because I DON’T PLAY PVP!

So how is anything I said absurd? Picking and choosing what you respond to from my post, even from one sentence of my post, now that’s absurd.

Edit: Equally absurd is to build classes balanced around one gamemode (pvp), when there are 3. The only credible fix for this is splitting the skills. Whether or not Anet is likely to do this, that’s the only real fix for that problem. Suggesting changes to the skills, while some can possibly be balanced across all game modes, won’t fix a class for ALL gamemodes.

Original post was complaining about where ranger is going. Ranger isn’t going anywhere. The elite specs changed the balance of the game, because they are ELITE specs, and supposed to be more powerful than the base profession. Until we have more options for elite specs, the place of druid being healing/dps support isn’t going to change because that’s what druid is. If you don’t like it, stick to base ranger. No one is forcing anyone to play druid. And druid has a place in condi and power builds as well. You don’t have to use staff, and between Ancient Seeds and GotL you have two really good GM traits that are only DPS increasers. But whatever. Play what you want.

I think this would be an interesting possibility at least thematically. especially if this came with a crossbow skin for the rifle. I like the idea of gadgets for this, though I’m confused by what you mean with the top/middle/bottom/passive part.

Ghotistyx.6942:

Elite specs also bring in new ideas for how a class will act. This was expressly talked about during the Profession CDI that happened so long ago, far before Elite Specs, or even HoT was revealed.

For example, Reaper was inspired by Horror movie villians. They’re often slow, but powerful and menacing to instill dread. Reaper reflects that in their slow activating, but very dangerous melee abilities. Berserker was inspired by various fighting games (Smash Brawler’s trait icon is almost identical to Ridely, a trophy featured in Super Smash Brothers: Brawl, other aspects are inspired by other fighting games). Rangers were never known for their ally healing, though they had fantastic personal sustain if built for it. Druid used both GW1 lore and traditional healing concepts to expand on Ranger’s ability to heal allies, pushing them in a new direction (Celestial Avatar form correlates well to Necro’s Death Shroud mechanically, if anyone likes to make inter-professional comparisons. More on that later).

Interesting. I honestly thought Reaper was a rip-off of death knight from WoW (not complaining, I made a toon specifically to be a GS wielding engine of destruction). While I have a druid, the main skills I have used to heal my team have been healing spring and spirit of nature (I use CA mainly to proc Grace of the Land with the #4 skill). So I didn’t really see the heal thing as something new.

Berserker: Smash Brothers? wow….

For Guardian, thematically Dragon Hunter expands on the sense of Justice espoused by base Guardian. Sometimes you defend the weak from oppression, but other times you might go out and smite the oppression before it has a chance to oppress. It very much speaks to the Cleave and Smite aspect of “holy warriors”. In modern Tyria, the largest force of oppression are the Elder Dragons. They’re forces of destruction. They’re Monsters that must be Hunted to extinction. Dragon Hunter, incidentally, is very likely (though never explicitly stated) to be inspired by the Monster Hunter series. In Monster Hunter you’ll use a Longbow (or a Hammer, Greatsword, Sword, etc) to hunt things much larger than you, and much more powerful “on paper”. You’ll use traps to capture and damage enemies (Test of Faith, Dragon’s Maw, Procession of Blades) and to support your allies (Purification, Light’s Judgement, Fragments of Faith). Mechanically, Dragon Hunter expands on the Guardian’s ability to control space, or Area Denial. Symbols and Wards were already a good source of this, but weren’t quite enough. Traps expand and improve on that capability, so that with all three (something that DH with LB and Traps has), The Guardian can declare ownership of an area and defend it well. This was/is actually reflected well by a defending DH in pvp matches; where they claim a point, and other classes will have to play around the expectation that there are traps waiting to annihilate them if they misplay. The Symbols and Wards expand that territory and containment. DH fits very well with Longbow and Traps in this regard. There’s nothing about a concept of a Holy Warrior that precludes it from acting as it does (even if that was the case, this could just be seen as an expansion of the idea of Holy Warrior)

Ok when explained that way, I have a lot less of an issue with DH. It’s still not my favorite elite spec, but I can accept it more with that explanation.

For the future, I wouldn’t be surprised of Tomes were the focus, according to the dialogue from devs. Tomes could be implemented a variety of ways (like Revenant’s Legends, or Engineer’s Kits, or others). As far as what aspect of Guardian gets expanded on, or what new aspect gets added, I have no clue. Condition based builds still have an opportunity even though I think Burning can do most of the heavy lifting. Some people want to expand defensive capabilities, and others want to expand healing/support capabilities. All three of those things could even be touched on purely by logical options for Tome design. As far as weapons go, I’m not sure if there’s anything the Guardian needs in its toolkit. Some might say conditions, but I think that would be addressed in a “weapon agnostic” way. Another ranged/midrange option would be nice, but again, not imperative. I think the weapon will largely be the gravy of the new Espec while the overall theme will be the real meat and potatoes. More like Mesmer’s Shield rather than Necro’s Greatword.

Agreed here too. I would love to see Tomes as Kits, but that’s just me. Legends would complicate build design as the class is already set up with a more traditional "a la carte: 6-10 skill set. As for a weapon, someone mentioned a MH focus (with a skin that looks like a tome or book). I agree on this too: the weapon could be whatever, the Tomes are the clear focus for this possible spec. I really, really hope they go with this one.

Zenith.7301:

Jim Hunter.6821:

LadyHawk.5319:

The only problem with buffing ranger dps in any fashion would be its effect on pvp. Since pvp determines the skills for pve, as Anet has lumped them both together now, the pvp community would not stand for rangers getting a dps increase imo. Condi warrior was kicking butt – gutted. Revenant hammer – neutered. The list goes on. So for now, I shall enjoy my Pew Pew in Open World content where no one cares what you are running.

You could make this argument about mesmers who have crappy sustained dps in PvE but high burst damage in PvP. However, rangers have kitten dps in both game modes and are much easier to shut down.

High burst in PvP eclipsed by thieves and revenants, who are also more mobile and survivable in their zerker specs.

Power shatter mesmers are pretty much extinct, and in WvW it’s mostly condi aids which by definition is not burst.

Mesmers are in the same DPS hole rangers are in.

And it’s because they’re pet classes and PvP people hate losing to pets, so the classes suffer.

That’s why I’d rather they buff ranger autoattacks and weaponskills rather than the pet, because if people get hit for 3k by a pet they’ll flood the forums in tears even though a daredevil just crit them before for 9k with a dodge.

Lol I was just working on a dodge damage build…

But yeah, even the mesmer burst is easy to avoid, and the condi is generally garbage. I don’t play pvp, but I have seen more people have problems with ranger than mesmer. just my observation of posts in all 9 profession threads. shrug

Edit: but this is way off topic. The thing is this: This is the first elite spec, but not the last. Wait and see what other elite specs Anet comes up with. Once we have 3 to play around with, it will be a different ball game. Patience people.

Etterwyn.5263:

bearshaman.3421:

Ghotistyx.6942:

Sure, but what I had initially quoted was in regards to Dragonhunter. That’s not going to be changed at this point. Longbow and traps aren’t up for consideration.

Instead, we should be making suggestions for the future, as is the intention of the thread.

Agreed. The OP shouldn’t have used the word “replace” in the title and the initial post. Kinda sidetracked the conversation from what was intended (assuming that was what was intended).

Well it does replace it in a sense because only one elite spec will be equipped at a time. My initial thoughts were which weapon could fill the Guardian’s weak points enough to be favorable over the longbow? Basically if the new elite (weapons, skills, and traits) isn’t at least on par, it won’t get used much or at all.

Anyway it has been a good discussion to read.

Well that assumes guardian has a weak point. But that’s a complete different conversation.

I see elite specs as not trying to fix base class issues (which is a position I don’t get at all), but more taking some small aspect of the class, and expanding on it. I won’t use DH as an example because it doesn’t do that at all, but druid for example expands on the idea of nature magic and healing in the ranger. Berserker takes the adrenaline mechanic and takes it even further. Reaper builds on the chill and vulnerability conditions that were already prevalent in necro heavily. You get the idea.

Staff is long range, dagger is melee range. Up to you which you prefer.

If you feel you aren’t doing well, I’d use earth and water traitlines, until you feel more comfortable with the class. They have more protective and healing stuff.

Not my best class either, but that’s my initial suggestions.

Ghotistyx.6942:

Sure, but what I had initially quoted was in regards to Dragonhunter. That’s not going to be changed at this point. Longbow and traps aren’t up for consideration.

Instead, we should be making suggestions for the future, as is the intention of the thread.

Agreed. The OP shouldn’t have used the word “replace” in the title and the initial post. Kinda sidetracked the conversation from what was intended (assuming that was what was intended).

Bleyd.9470:

babazhook.6805:

I suggest you drop vigorous recovery and take Pain response , which will get you added condition clears and all but permanent regen . Vigorous recovery is redundant in that you have so many dodges Vigor uptime is 100 percent.

I followed this suggestion as well and I gotta say.. I’m glad I did!

the initial build was a rough draft; took everything that procced vigor or procced off of a dodge or evade. The best offense is a good defense, especially when you make that defense do a lot of damage, heal, and boons?

So I definitely had too much vigor lol. May still have too much, not sure.

babazhook.6805:

No stacking. Just an overwrite. Buff stays at 10 percent and the time after second dodge does not increase duration it jut 4 seconds.

Ah so it just starts the 4 secs over again. Ok thanks!

Ghotistyx.6942:

Lets not pretend an unbiased opinion exists.

It really doesn’t matter how you (or I) think DH fits in with Guardain thematically. We aren’t the content creators (For the record, I do see how it fits in. I can see the concept as a whole, the inspiration from outside media, and how it was integrated into Guild Wars). But, implying that “because I don’t agree with the implementation or idea itself means its inherently a bad idea” would be poor form. It would be very safe, considering the time and other investments needed, to assume that whatever included in the game that isn’t a bug/glitch/exploit/etc is there for intentionally. Its there because the designers wanted it to be there in their game. It is, after all, their game, and they have full power to control what it includes. That doesn’t mean we have to agree with everything included by any means. If I were in charge of the Guardian, I wouldn’t necessarily design Scepter the way it has. However, I cannot also reasonably expect that because I don’t like it, it should be changed. Nor should I expect that anyone would have to agree with me. I’m not in a position of power when it comes to game content.

Aside from the unbiased opinion not existing, I can agree with all of that. What one can assume is that, if one does raise a rational issue with something in the game, it MIGHT (not will) get changed. Gaile has said as much, and some of the changes I’ve seen made were first suggested by players here in the forums. So if people want, they can suggest changes that they think are beneficial to the game, and the devs may agree or they may not. But the possibility that they won’t doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t make suggestions. If anything, we’ve seen the squeaky axle does in fact get the grease. That’s not to imply that we have power, or that we should all think our suggestions are right. Just saying, there’s nothing wrong with making them, and it might even do some good.

Oldirtbeard.9834:

So I tried this build

http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Reaper_-_Offensive_Blood_Support

Got my back side handed to me by an Old Tyria World Boss if you can believe it.

Granted I’m used to running a power build in Valk gear, so I just swapped Spite out for Death Magic, probably putting out crap damage but at least I stopped getting downed. With Blood Minion, Rise, Suffer, Locust for movement, and Flesh Golem. I guess if it anit broken don’t fix it.

I’m beginning to think Vipers is a waste of money, that was roughly 100g I put in a pile and burned.

It’s not a waste, you just have half the gear for it. There are several good condi builds for necro. It’s kinda their thing. Just not with GS.

If you dodge, and then dodge again before the 4 sec duration on the 10% condi damage buff runs out, do you have 20% buff? or does it stack duration? or does it reset the duration?

Eros.6801:

“Facesmashing” – Necro/Reaper

Power build

1/ Full Valkyrie mix with some zerker Spite/SoulReaping/Reaper – Shroud FTW
2/ Full Zerker mix with some valkyrie Death/Blood or SoulReaping/Reaper + “Rise” – Mini Army FTW

Condition build

• Full Viper or Rabid/Carrion for cheaper version Death/Curses or SoulReaping/Reaper – Enjoy your god mode

Something along these lines is the only other "facesmashy"" build you will find among the classes you listed. (other than warrior)

Ghotistyx.6942:

Stating or having an opinion doesn’t protect it from criticism

Never suggested that. I am saying that your criticism (that whole opinion vs Anet dev argument) applies to everyone, yet you only pull it out with those whom you disagree with. Your criticism is inherently weak because you presented it in a biased fashion.

Like akaCryptic said, Necro/Reaper are not that great at support. you can offer group lifesteal, transfusion or vampiric rituals GM trait, and in Plague Signet we have a way to pull conditions from our allies to ourselves. Blood Magic and Curses are definitely needed if you want to work with those, leaving your other traitline as Reaper. That’s a solid condi build with some healing.

GS is not a condi weapon, unless you are gonna use it to maximize your chill output and use Deathly Chill to apply bleeds. Even then, you would be using a weapon intended for power builds on a condi build. But that’s up to you. You can do it, but your condi damage won’t be that incredible, especially since you are only getting condi damage from your armor and one trait in the curses traitline.

That’s the best I can come up with within the parameters you have set.

babazhook.6805:

bearshaman.3421:

I was theorycrafting a build using both trait lines.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/external?l=http%3A%2F%2Fgw2skills.net%2Feditor%2F%3FvZMQNAW6Yn8lCdmi9OBGOB8PhFqiqLCCgDYO77%2Bw37C%2BgBA-e

Feedback welcome. Basically it makes heavy use of vigor and dodges/evades to tank and damage.

I suggest you drop vigorous recovery and take Pain response , which will get you added condition clears and all but permanent regen . Vigorous recovery is redundant in that you have so many dodges Vigor uptime is 100 percent.

The vigor off feline grace being 5 seconds is greater then the regen off off uper hand with its cooldown so there less overlap with PR selected (in addition to that cleanse of conditions).

You can also take Instant reflexes instead. The cooldown rather long when compared to PR but it IS a 2 second evade and coupled with the Daredevil line this can lead to more condi cleanse if escapists taken, the heals off driven fortitude and that very same vigor from feline which can in fact get you two hits of vigor at 5 seconds per. With upper hand you would also trigger regen if upper hand traited and gain some ini when this kicks in . Plus it a btter than another dodge every 40 seconds as far as avoiding combat damage.

I use the latter in my s/d build traited with swindlers and the added cooldown on steal is also nice. In S/d with evasive strikes/swindlers/upper hand traied along with SOH out of trickery you can do shave some serious seconds off your steal .

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vZMQNAW6an8lCdmi9OBONB8PhFqiqrnCgDw7C+gBYO77+wH-e

made adjustments. I like Pain Response over Instant Reflexes (that cooldown ugh). No idea what traits or weapons or skills even to use with this… it doesn’t scream any particular set really. Even direct damage or condi isn’t an obvious choice.

(mind you this would be for some form of pve content. I’m not a pvp player. Maybe wvw at some point.)

Marauder is fine. I’m not using it, but mainly cuz I’m lazy. I have a mix of Celestial weapons and trinkets with Berserker armor, and it’s working well so I don’t feel like changing it lol. I may if I need the trinkets on a different character.

Fashion Mage.3712:

Ghotistyx.6942:

Fashion Mage.3712:

Yes, you’re right. In the face of ANet’s absurd design decisions, common sense and consistency mean nothing.

That’s implying that your opinions are superior to the creators’, which is dripping in hubris.

I mean sure, you can have your opinions, and you might think them to be important, but that doesn’t mean they should be considered. I wouldn’t expect a consultation call any time soon.

It’s less hubris and more that many of ANet’s designers are terrible. So it would be more accurate to say that I think my “opinions” are superior because ANet is just so bad at what they do, which isn’t saying much. GW2 is a game plagued by huge amounts of power creep and bad game design decisions that most game designers wouldn’t dream of implementing.

Me neither. For the most part this isn’t a place to get the devs to consider one’s ideas, however it is a place for discussion, so what you’re saying is really quite irrelevant to this discussion. If you want to discuss how much of a hard-on you have for ANet’s sub-par devs and how you think they shouldn’t listen to anyone, then go make a topic about it in general discussion. :0

Also I stated my opinion because another player had already stated theirs about the same topic. Yet you (@Ghotistyx) jump on us about stating our opinions. No bias at all there.

I was theorycrafting a build using both trait lines.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/external?l=http%3A%2F%2Fgw2skills.net%2Feditor%2F%3FvZMQNAW6Yn8lCdmi9OBGOB8PhFqiqLCCgDYO77%2Bw37C%2BgBA-e

Feedback welcome. Basically it makes heavy use of vigor and dodges/evades to tank and damage.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vZMQNAW6Yn8lCdmi9OBGOB8PhFqiqLCCgDYO77+w37C+gBA-e

Help requested. I just had this idea looking at the traits, that it is possible to have a thief who can pretty much constantly dodge or evade, and can heal, cleanse conditions, do damage, etc while doing so. I haven’t picked a stat set; obviously needs toughness to pull aggro. Suggestions? This is a fun thought exercise for me, but if this could have practical application somewhere, please tell me.

Arcaedus.7290:

I think longbow fit guardian very well but the traps are a bit awkward I’ll admit.

To be honest, I have always felt that the DH did not fit guardian very well thematically. The only lore we have suggesting any kind of fit is Braham taking up his mother’s bow. That’s a little thin to me for guardian to take on such an offensive role. (I’ve always seen guardian as the defense to the warrior’s offense, but that’s just me,