Guild Wars 2

Cerby.1069:

Vanilla axe/shield gs dodge spamming build. With axe out dps’ing greatsword and giving might on f1, its even more viable. Feels rly weird going back to vanilla from berserker after so long though, the huge adrenaline bar seems really daunting to fill…and it kinda is regardless of how many adrenaline strike increases you stack.

Discipline, Strength, defense.

Would you share your full build please?

Could they have rallied?

gishalicious.3510:

I worked hard to earn the shards of glory

That made my day! Thanks for that.

Acrisor.8097:

KrHome.1920:

Acrisor.8097:

The more PvP you do, the more PvE you need. Awesome game.

For sPvP you don’t need any ascended gear.

It should not be possible at all to get it in that game mode.

Ascended gear should only be accessible in PvE and WvW.

You live in the past my friend. This was in the past, long ago. PvP rewards were about skins, not about items and ascended and legendary. Now rewards for PvP are ingredients useful in PvE, whether it’s crafting, salvageable content or essence of luck. This is why I stated “the more pvp you do, the more pve you need” because I guess you would want to do something with PvP rewards, and actually use them at something. We all know PvP players love PvP, but PvE rewards are shoved down our throats whether we like it or not. We might as well use them and increase our crafting levels and do dungeons and fractals as ArenaNet wants us to. Who knows, one day we may as well forget about PvP so they can freely erase all PvP from the game.

You feel forced to do PvE to get something out of your rewards. That sounds like you don’t enjoy PvE at all. In that case you don’t need ascended armour anyway. You might complain about giving ascended gear as pvp rewards, but not about being forced to PvE for getting them.

Can anyone please post a solo PvE build for HoT maps (meta events) and the new Living World S3 zones? The metabattle PvE builds seem to focus on group support, I guess there are some changes when soloing?

If profession MMR is used for matchmaking, will we have profession ranks as well? Like your Engi is in Platinum, your Warrior in Gold and your Necro in Silver?

And if Yes wins, will switching to a different character of the same profession still be allowed? Many players use multiple toons per class to make changing builds easier. If changing amulets, runes, sigils and traits is allowed in warm-up, then switching to character of the same profession should also be allowed.

Didn’t know about that, thanks for sharing! Probably not intended but if for example Mesmer can use staff 2 to reach upper level locations then we should be allowed to use these skilljumps, too.

I guess macros would be more useful in PvE where you have standard rotations and don’t need to react to unknown moves your enemy does. I remember a revenant max dps guide here in the forum where the player explained he programmed a button to instantly activate all facets upon legend swap.

But one thing came to my mind while reading the posts here that could give an unfair advantage. What about using macros to totally get rid of aftercasts? Don’t know if it would be possible, but if you set up macros for every skill that has an aftercast so that your button would perform Skill → Delay → Stow Weapon, wouldn’t that mean you never have to care about it and make sure you cancel all aftercasts automatically that can be cancelled?

I almost always encounter the exact opposite in Gold. Mesmer runs to close without being asked to do so, caps it, comes to mid. Close gets decapped and mesmer just keeps fighting in mid, no portal is opened.

This happened so many times that I usually ask now before the match if the mesmer plays with portal. The answer is typically yes but the outcome still the same most of the time.

Great tournament, really fun to watch and to learn from. When Helseth came up with the idea on his stream I didn’t believe it would be possible to organize a tournament in such a short time. Obviously it was, very well done by everyone involved!

You cast was both enjoyable and informative. I especially liked your comments on what was a good or bad rotation and why. Btw., Sindrener looked much more comfortable with his role than at the world championship.

Hi Helseth and thanks for supporting the PvP community!

I play Drazeh’s power warrior build. Had good success so far from bronze T3 to gold T2 by pushing far at start. If there is a good matchup for me I’ll take it, else I head to mid and join the teamfight. My question is: on Forest if I meet an enemy at beach on my way to far, what do I do?
- fight him at beach?
- continue pushing towards far?
- pull him back to close?
- head towards mid?

Cynz.9437:

Saiyan.1704:

Sooloo.1364:

The arguments you guys are making are ludicrous. If he belongs in silver as you state then he shouldn’t be losing games, he should be matched with players who lose just as much as he does. But you say he should be carrying, so he’s meant to be doing the bulk of the heavy lifting and the game expects him to. And the other 4 people on his team are just dead weight, they count for nothing. Thing is, unless you experience what he is experiencing you have no valid argument here. And please stop comparing pro gamers with common players, that’s just stupid.

I’ve made it, and stayed in, Legendary with the exception of S5 being Low Plat because gw2 (disregarding the broken placement system) finally got the leaderboards right. So that’s S2 through S4 Legendary status all soloq, and Plat in S5.

A few of us here HAVE experienced what the OP has gone through. Even Helseth… except us certain players got out of it because it’s not meant to be a permanent thing.

And yes, certain classes do carry easier than others. I’ve realized backcapping classes like Thief & Mesmer can solo-carry & snowball the map a lot easier than, say, a DH or Necro. But every other class who’s worth their salt have nade it to Diamond/Plat/Legendary without deranking themselved.

Wrong. I placed in low plat, got to 1900, then whole week i had never ending loss streak (i would log in, lose few matches, log off every day), so bad that i landed in gold 2. I am back in plat again, but that week of permanent losing happend and it shouldn’t have. Surely, you could say i belong in gold but i did get back to plat and maintain my poistion. I also got in plat on my alt account that doesn’t even have HoT (so played core thief) so here is that. The whole system is wonky and buggy (i don’t even want to start on games with stacked top 5 on one team and gold players + 1,2 plats on other team because for MM 1700/1500 equals 2200 somehow).

The system has a flaw in matchmaking, it was already confirmed by Anet. That bug creates matches that are uneven, but it cannot explain losing streaks in lower tiers, because you will have the same chance to be placed on the higher or lower average MMR team. How would the system decide you will always be placed in the lower MMR team?

Supreme.3164:

ulchanar.4309:

Sure, a player not as good as Helseth will need more matches to climb, but still it’s possible. And there’s no need to do 80% of the team work, if you outperform 9 other players you will win more matches than you lose.

If you are constantly losing matches, you might ask yoursefl, what is the constant in all these losses? it’s you! Frustration is a huge factor in losing matches. Don’t underestimate it. Frustrated players make wrong decisions and that causes even more losses. If you lost two or three matches in a row and feel bad about it, stop playing, take a break, give yourself a chance to become positive again.

“If you are constantly losing matches, you might ask yoursefl, what is the constant in all these losses? it’s you!”

How many times I will see this sentence plotted all around?

If you say I don’t need to do 80% of my team then my whole team shouldn’t need my 20% to win. If you would lose all your matches then you would be bronze ofc …but here we’re talking about silver and above.

If my team lose because of me..then the system was expecting my team to carry me as obviously I am worst than them…either way somebody is expected to carry somebody below its actual skill level and the question is why?

Always this stuff : “it’s you the constant”…..I frequently see ROM raging on stream when he gets uncarriable players on his team…when even holding 3 people on a point doesn’t guarantee you victory, your team will manage to wipe 4vs2.

The difference between ROM & Co and the rest…is that ROM will land in these “bad” team just 1 time every 10 matches or so..but for us it’s like 9 times out of 10..

The idea itself that victory can depends entirely on your shoulders is the most stupid thing that I ever heard in my life; if that’s the case then Helseth shouldn’t lose any match unless he does that on purpose..but he does lose and that means that the match is lost even with him trying to “carry” everybody on his shoulders.

Everyone gets uncarraible teams. That’s not the point. The question is, do you really get uncarriable teams 9 out of ten times and why. I highly doubt that there is a secret algorithm in matchmaking that decides something like “Ok, this player has had it’s fun, now let’s give him a huge losing streak-” I’ve also had my moments of “my teams suck so hard” this season when I lost 4 or 5 in a row – but that was in the first two weeks. At that point I decided to take a short break whenever I lose 2 in a row and haven’t had any losing streaks at all.

Games are often decided by 1 or 2 key plays. That one disengage at the right time that results in a two-cap instead of being dead with only one cap. Or that one close 1v1 that you win because you’re confident and focused. Add frustration and you will likely lose what could have been a win.

Sure, a player not as good as Helseth will need more matches to climb, but still it’s possible. And there’s no need to do 80% of the team work, if you outperform 9 other players you will win more matches than you lose.

If you are constantly losing matches, you might ask yoursefl, what is the constant in all these losses? it’s you! Frustration is a huge factor in losing matches. Don’t underestimate it. Frustrated players make wrong decisions and that causes even more losses. If you lost two or three matches in a row and feel bad about it, stop playing, take a break, give yourself a chance to become positive again.

Spartacus.3192:

ulchanar.4309:

When I first saw Drazeh on his stream running Mace in a full power build with Berserker amulet I was wondering why he is not using axe instead. But it makes sense of course, you need the extra block and CC that mace brings if you run Berserker amulet. And on top of that, Skull Grinder is the better primal burst, even in a power build. It just has so much utility while being as easy to land as Decapitate (unlike Skull Crack where you needed to worry about timing and positioning).

For team fights in mid I would still run Axe but for 1v1s Mace is clearly better.

Ive been running GS/Mace/Shield on power warrior build with Marauder amulet this season. I like it a lot. Berserker amulet has more dps but IMO the loss of survivability is not worth it for me. But then again im average skill level at best. I would think top level players would be just fine with berserker amulet.

With 2 blocks, 2 EPs, 2 sources of resistance, all that CC and the mobility of GS you don’t really need the extra life of Marauder. If you keep in mind that you can always leave/reset a fight and don’t make that decision too late you can hardly be killed even with Berserker.

When I first saw Drazeh on his stream running Mace in a full power build with Berserker amulet I was wondering why he is not using axe instead. But it makes sense of course, you need the extra block and CC that mace brings if you run Berserker amulet. And on top of that, Skull Grinder is the better primal burst, even in a power build. It just has so much utility while being as easy to land as Decapitate (unlike Skull Crack where you needed to worry about timing and positioning).

For team fights in mid I would still run Axe but for 1v1s Mace is clearly better.

Ascended back, rings, accessoires and amulet can be bought in the three new zones with selectable stats including Viper’s. No need to wait for laurels, just doing dailies there and gathering nodes will let you buy trinkets in very short time.

I can’t confirm the problem you are having with headbutt and probably the other players who didn’t understand your problem also didn’t because they never experienced it. Many times when players report a bug on a profession I play as well it’s like “Oh yes I know, it’s exactly what happens to me all the time.” But getting stuck in headbutt animation and flying towards a moved target is something I’ve yet to witness. Maybe it’s a lag/bad ping issue?

Vove, it’s just not true that you get only useless team members while the enemy team has competency all over the place. It happens, sure, but it also happens the other way around. If you are more competent than the players in your division you will win more than you lose, period.

You just proved my point. MMR is a long term calculation, that’s why at the very start of this new system it cannot put everyone where they should be. Fluctuations will be huge at the start and become lower the longer the system is running.

Farmers, AFKers and DCs happen on both sides, so again over a longer period of time these will not affect your ranking.

Berserker GS-A/Sh or GS-M/Sh work very well. Mobility and quick kills carry better in low divisions than trying to support a team that won’t play as a team anyway.

It’s the first season with the new rating system, so some people may get placed where they don’t belong initially. See it like this: you are climbing easily, it’s only been a week and you’re already in gold. The system is working. And next season initial placement will probably be better.

Another ugliness: Juggernaut’s liquid metal effect and stealth don’t work together. Casting stealth gyro (= drawing weapon) applies both and gives the character a dull dark look. Stealth should be prioritized.

Spartacus.3192:

ulchanar.4309:

What? Was the vote really about having solo/duo queue only? I voted yes but wouldn’t have done so in that case.

Yes, apparently a lot of people simply do not read instructions even when it is clearly spelled out.

Is the original text of the poll still available? Of course it can be my fault, but I read it as “Do you want a solo/duo only queue?” instead of “Do you want a solo/duo queue only?” Could also be a bad translation as I voted over here in Germany.

What? Was the vote really about having solo/duo queue only? I voted yes but wouldn’t have done so in that case.

I currently run it on the usual Axe/Shield-GS berserker build. With Eternal Champion I don’t find Balanced Stance or Dolyak Signet to be that important so that is what I switched out for it. The passive is nice to keep the pressure up and the active definitely helps in crucial moments when you need to make sure your Arcing Slice/Decapitate lands to get adrenal health going again or your headbutt doesn’t get blocked. In casual play opponents usually feel safe for their block’s duration so you can get free kills or cause them to panic by hitting them hard when they don’t expect it. High rank play might be another story though.

If that’s the major weakness, wouldn’t it make sense to run Enhanced Bulwark then over Elder’s Force?

PadreNike.1803:

ulchanar.4309:

PadreNike.1803:

I love condi rev for WvW/PVP, I personally feel it’s amazingly strong due to the condi-fest meta, to add to that I find that lots of people don’t know how to handle condi rev as it’s not as common as power rev.

As Spartacus mentioned, I exclusively played condi rev to legend last season in solo q and it was a blast (except the last 2 tiers in diamond which I teamed up).

PVE: It’s great in open world PVE but not as great in group content if the enemies aren’t moving enough to proc that extra torment damage.

It is worth noting however that the build is very viable even in PVE group content and was actually used in [KING]’s 5 man Matthias:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/4u1zsa/king_vs_matthias_5man_956/?

Would you share your build and give some advice on how to use it (for PvP)?

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vlAQRAse5nn3geNSuQvJRboHlsP0kS4I6SJ4EtrklTlJNgEeQNjOKxe93nH-TpBHABBcQAI4IAUwJAAgHAA+lBKf/BA

…

Sorry if this was long, I hope it helps

One more question here: I see you don’t run Diabolic Inferno as in the Metabattle build. How or when do you use Embrace the Darkness?

PadreNike.1803:

Sorry if this was long, I hope it helps

Thanks a lot, always better to have detailed explanations!

PadreNike.1803:

I love condi rev for WvW/PVP, I personally feel it’s amazingly strong due to the condi-fest meta, to add to that I find that lots of people don’t know how to handle condi rev as it’s not as common as power rev.

As Spartacus mentioned, I exclusively played condi rev to legend last season in solo q and it was a blast (except the last 2 tiers in diamond which I teamed up).

PVE: It’s great in open world PVE but not as great in group content if the enemies aren’t moving enough to proc that extra torment damage.

It is worth noting however that the build is very viable even in PVE group content and was actually used in [KING]’s 5 man Matthias:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/4u1zsa/king_vs_matthias_5man_956/?

Would you share your build and give some advice on how to use it (for PvP)?

A lot of builds are fun in offseason but whether they’re viable or not will be found out later in ranked. Also shortly after patches new builds may shine because opponents don’t expect you to play them or try out new builds as well, but some days later you realize it’s not working so well anymore.

How do you deal with CC when you don’t run Eternal Champion or Dolyak Signet/Balanced Stance?

Exciton.8942:

Zuko.7132:

The tier system is meant to put u where u belong, if ur having close matches and win about 50% of the time thus staying where u are it seems like u reached ur appropriate place

That is not true this season.

Now you are always matched up with players with simliar MMR so except for a few outliers you will always have close to 50% winrate in theory. Does not matter which division you are on.

The only tier system that puts where you belong should be a tier system that directly correlates your position to your MMR. Current system is a test of luck and raw number of games played. e.g. wwwlllw > wlwlwlw

You are teamed up with players with similar MMR and then you fight a team in the same division range. Your opponents team MMR may be much higher or lower than your team’s MMR.

So if you’re a skilled player playing only few matches or starting the season late you will be teamed up with other skilled players and probably face opponents of lower MMR and skill. That’s why you will win most matches as long as your MMR is higher than the average MMR of players in your division range.

In theory, once you start having a 50% win rate you know that most players in your division range have a similar MMR to yours. But we’re not talking about a handful matches here, there can always be streaks of WWWW or LLLL or WLWL in between for many reasons. Players tend to overestimate what matchmaking can do and what a streak of some matches means.

I’ running this version of the standard GS/axe&shield power build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vJAQNAneRnMdAVhgNeAehAElilqA7d0mantK9gYXMApA0ACAA-TpBFQBE4EAEwyAA4BAcv9HawhAgBHBAA

I was using Signet of Might over Dolyak Signet and/or Bloody Roar over Eternal Champion in offseason but found being CCed the biggest weakness of the build.

Demo amulet, Scrapper runes and Dolyak Signet make you a very tough target for power damage while CI and the high stability uptime allow constant condition removal. Damage is still good enough.

I find this version the most “allround” of my tests so far, playing only solo Q where you need to be able to survive on your own.

I’ve had a very successful start with the LB&mace/shield build, ~90% winrate in unranked (solo queue) and pretty easy 1vs1s against most classes, but even before merc amulet was removed it somehow started to not work so well anymore. In season 3 now I find it much easier to win matches and 1vs1s with the GS&axe/shield berserker build.

Has anyone noticed this as well? Have other classes adjusted to counter the LB&mace/shield build?

In Season 2 the system searched for players within both your division and MMR range to find your teammates for a match. Your opponents were picked the same way, but when pairing the two teams, MMR was not a factor.

For example a high MMR player in early sapphire was teamed up with other high MMR players in the same division range (probably all players who started late or played few matches) and could fight a team of low MMR players in early sapphire who were stuck there although having played a lot of matches. That way you should quickly race through the divisions until you reach a division range where most players are within your MMR range.

When queuing as a group the highest player’s division range was used to find opponents. I guess for groups <5 this player’s MMR was also used to find teammates.

I’m not 100% sure but I think profession MMR was not used for macthmaking. It would not make sense as you can change your profession afterwards anyway.

In season 2 you gained 1 pip per win and 1 in addition for a win streak (starting at third win) or breaking a losing streak (for first win after three losses).

All these rules may change for season 3.

Mace with Intelligence sigil and Merc amulet was indeed very strong. 40-50% of total damage in this setup come from direct power damage and it adds a dangerous burst potential. Wanderers isn’t the same, I will try Carrion instead.

I’ve had several times when I used Rush in pvp when both me and the opponent where standing on point, only to see myself rushing away from the enemy and ending about 1000 units away from the point. Guaranteed decap. Don’t know how this happens, terrain cannot be an issue in that case.

Thx! I enjoy the build very much. Had good matches with Sword/Torch & Mace/Shield before but the Longbow version is definitely stronger.

Anastasis.7258:

ulchanar.4309:

Don’t you think the MaceShield/Bow-Build needs some more stability? It has only the 2 seconds from Shattering Blow (not enough for stomping) and 3 stun breaks, but on relatively long cooldowns.

How about changing King of Fires for Eternal Champion or Dolyak signet for Endure Pain?

Yes Eternal Champion might be better in most situation but only one, reaper. Sometimes a random corruption can mess you up during some 1v2 1v3 situation. But yes I have been switching these gm trait around and finding eternal champion might make the build overall better.

I tried running Dolyak signet instead of Endure Pain last night (keeping King of Fires) and did not really miss Endure Pain. I find the 2 blocks and high toughness (+180 from signet) enough to deal with most power bursts. That way you also don’t need to waste time in berserker mode for stomping but can just continue to lay down your Scorched Earths to stomp after berserk mode ends.

I played two matches as close defender and found that to be very effective without the mobility of a sword or greatsword. I play solo q only, so that wasn’t my choice, it was more because the other 4 didn’t care about close. What would you say is the main role of that build?

Don’t you think the MaceShield/Bow-Build needs some more stability? It has only the 2 seconds from Shattering Blow (not enough for stomping) and 3 stun breaks, but on relatively long cooldowns.

How about changing King of Fires for Eternal Champion or Dolyak signet for Endure Pain?

“The best way to fight conditions is to not get hit by them.” – that quote from metabattle.com sounds like a joke when you start with the Revenant class but it’s basically what you need to do.

As an average player in SoloQ I would not give up Retribution with all it’s passive damage mitigation and stability on dodge for a cleanse of 1 condition on legend swap. If you master the class and know how to constantly avoid condi or power bursts you can give up Retribution and pick Invocation but thats more for the damage increase than for the condi removal.

To save some money: Shadow Orange (6g) looks almost like Shadow Abyss (240g) on the metal parts of mistward armour.

The question was “use for stability”, not “use stability for”…

Unwavering Avoidence (stability on dodge) is the main source of stability in PvP. It’s only one stack with 2.75 s duration, 3.5 s with 30% increased boon duration. You can add a second stack and increase the duration to 5.75/7.5 s by running Enhanced Bulwark in the Herald Line.

I’m also new to the class and found this guide yesterday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWKeTkTBIY8

EDIT: Sorry, didn’t link the video I watched yesteray and can’t find it now, have to check my browser at home later.

EDIT2: Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsAQaBA0SeM

Ajax of Telamona.6974:

Toxic? Be 6 times near diamond (need one pin) and loose by morons (afk, leave game brain less play etc) and try not be toxic on chat.

Still no reason to be toxic. Just think about how many pips you gained because the “morons” were on the other team. Queue with friends or accept that you will lose games due to bad play, bad team comp, bad rotations. Trash talking in team or map chat will never win you any game but may make you lose some.

SPvP build with open world gear? And what is the idea behind 3/3 rune set? You get 75 Ferocity and 35 Power from Dragonhunter where 3 more Scholar would give you 65 Ferocity, 100 Power and the +10% damage bonus…

I run Power Rev (Hammer Sw/Sh) in solo q and think it works very well. Hammer from off point at initial mid fight wins it very often, Sw/Sh for on point fights and sustain.

Make sure you take the stability trait, it not only gives 2 stacks per dodge instead of one but also incresases the duration. It gives you very good stability uptime and allows you to safe stomp after dodge even when you don’t have Facet of Nature on (Impossible Odds causes stomp bug too often – at least for me – and turning off Facet of Darkness just for the blind to stomp is a waste). It is very important in solo q to have someone who can attempt stomps with good success.

Sykper.6583:

Here’s something to assist:

What you do well against:
…
- PowerShiro -> Unlike the MalShiro, your shield block literally lasts their entire UA, their shield is useless against your Signet of Might, and revs have a hard time with Stability uptime, you have about 5 different CCs and they can’t deal with a condi-bomb too well without popping Infuse Light. Go ham.
…

Revs have 2 stacks of stability for 6-9 seconds after dodge, so almost perma stability during the fight. I know many Revs pick the auto shield block trait instead but any half experienced PvP player uses the stability trait. Shiro also has Unblockable for 5s after Phase Traversal and a trait to give it after a blocked attack, too. So your shield is just as useless against them as is theirs against you.

Happened to me (Warrior main) very often after the introduction of the new trait system. First I thought it’s only quickness related but then I also experienced without quickness involved. The character stomp animation finishes, even the finisher animation is sometimes shown but the target not dead.

Didn’t have it very often anymore the last 1-2 months but encountered it again yesterday. Downed a Guardian in a 1vs2, stomped without quickness, finished the stomp (stability up) but Guradian wasn’t dead and ressed by the other enemy. Lost the point and thus the match that was close until then.