Is metabattle useful or a meme website

Ok so last night I was in the mists and upon the usual wait for que to hit I decided to read the map chat. And the discussion was so interesting that I didn’t que up and just observed.The topic was metabattle and meta builds and meta in general, but more so metabattle.Going to use colors for names:So red said that metabattle is where he found his build, blue said it’s a meme build and that metabattle is bad for the game. Red said it’s a goods source of information, while yellow entered and said its whats causing noobs to out skill pro players because of the information that’s out there and that noobs with no skill can get to legendary. Purple then said that metabattle is a pro site where pros post meme builds to mess around with the meta for low elo players.What in the kitten box of kittens are these kittens kittening about

• TL:DR metabattle useful or just a meme

Btw im low silver and never used metabattle I just read the skills and made a build that I thought worked, fresh out of placements I don’t play pvp much.

meta battle is a usefull tool for build crafting as long as it's not the only tool you use.

i'm gonna add to this:the problem with metabattle is that alot of players that use it just copy/paste the build without looking at how the build works. they know their skills and that's it. they don't know how squishy they are and quickly die. i've seen ppl running support builds playing as if they were playing dps. they don't know the importance of capture points or what a secondary objective is. they're there to death match and afterwards complain that they've lost while they shouldn't because they're using a metabattle build.tl;dr: metabattle isn't bad the ppl that use it are

It's both.

It can be a good foundation for starting builds but your personal preferences, playstyle and the like should take precedence, because people -do- use that site to mess with the meta and influence the opinions of others who don't want to do the legwork for their own builds.

It's a good site for information but having the word "meta" as its site name is somewhat of a misnomer for its Conquest section. That section often leave outdated or meme/suboptimal builds listed and the scores are often times retarded (eg. some DH build getting 97 while chronobunker also getting 97; core FA ele somehow having same score as weaver builds; variants of GS shatter mesmers having 100's)

It is a good start BUTfor some modes you need to individual your own build by your own playstyle.I see power herald build there but i modified it for more instant spike dps attacks. so I changed several traits and changed my playstyle as well...I would recommend this for everyone!

@"LazySummer.2568" said:It's a good site for information but having the word "meta" as its site name is somewhat of a misnomer for its Conquest section. That section often leave outdated or meme/suboptimal builds listed and the scores are often times kitten (eg. some DH build getting 97 while chronobunker also getting 97; core FA ele somehow having same score as weaver builds; variants of GS shatter mesmers having 100's)

This is what I was going to say. The Conquest builds don't seem to change fast enough after balance patches and are often out of date by the time they seem updated. But most builds are "close enough" ... just don't take anything for gospel.

Ahhh...the joys of HoTM mapchat.But in all honesty, metabattle is pretty decent site if you are starting out in pvp. Just keep in mind that meta-builds arent set in stone and there are variations of those builds that can do equally good, if not better if the scenario allows it.

Some people - especially in the lower ranks - simply dislike the idea of "meta-specs" in general, because they feel like they get an opinion pushed onto them. And while that isn't entirely false, they often disregard what the meaning of "meta" actually is.Some classes - inherently - simply have better tools than others to perform a specific role....which is why they are considered the "gold-standard" for said roles.Like sure, you can play your malyx rev as a condi teamfighter....but a well built scourge will still outperform you in the vast majority of those role-aspects simply because it has the better kit.

@"LazySummer.2568" said:It's a good site for information but having the word "meta" as its site name is somewhat of a misnomer for its Conquest section. That section often leave outdated or meme/suboptimal builds listed and the scores are often times kitten (eg. some DH build getting 97 while chronobunker also getting 97; core FA ele somehow having same score as weaver builds; variants of GS shatter mesmers having 100's)

the metabattle open community votes on the builds its why some are 97, in fact there is a group of people that voted down all necro builds simply because of the scourge outbreak...

Metabattle is only good if you're a lazy person. It's only used by people that can't be bothered to test builds and make one of their own. The worst part about metabattle is that it's for the most part based of one persons' opinion. For example, if you know Phantaram, he made a build for core elementalist and because of his build, it managed to get on metabattle. Now I'm not saying the build Phantaram made isn't good, in fact it's quite good especially for players that play core instead of elite.

The issue I take with metabattle is when the person writing the build(s) on metabattle is lazy. If you want to know what I'm talking about, look no further than the "best" core engineer build for PvP. That build is so poorly written that it barely explains how to use it, doesn't explain what the benefits of the build are and overall it was clearly rushed to be posted on the site due to laziness (it hasn't been updated at all, that's how much the person posting the build cares about core engineer). The build was inspired by Chaith, an engineer player and I'm just gonna be honest, that build is trash. Because I'm not a lazy person and have been playing the profession since 2013, I made a build that I've been using since then and it's in my opinion way better than the one on metabattle. No offence to Chaith, it's just that the build is primarily focused on dealing damage and it loses much needed utility.

So, please don't be a lazy person. Test out builds and see what suits you the best. Whether it's for PvE or PvP just spend a few minutes testing out builds. Don't be a sheep that just follows what other people say what sorts of builds you should use. Be creative, not lazy.

@"Hoodie.1045" said:Metabattle is only good if you're a lazy person. It's only used by people that can't be bothered to test builds and make one of their own. The worst part about metabattle is that it's for the most part based of one persons' opinion. For example, if you know Phantaram, he made a build for core elementalist and because of his build, it managed to get on metabattle. Now I'm not saying the build Phantaram made isn't good, in fact it's quite good especially for players that play core instead of elite.

The issue I take with metabattle is when the person writing the build(s) on metabattle is lazy. If you want to know what I'm talking about, look no further than the "best" core engineer build for PvP. That build is so poorly written that it barely explains how to use it, doesn't explain what the benefits of the build are and overall it was clearly rushed to be posted on the site due to laziness (it hasn't been updated at all, that's how much the person posting the build cares about core engineer). The build was inspired by Chaith, an engineer player and I'm just gonna be honest, that build is trash. Because I'm not a lazy person and have been playing the profession since 2013, I made a build that I've been using since then and it's in my opinion way better than the one on metabattle. No offence to Chaith, it's just that the build is primarily focused on dealing damage and it loses much needed utility.

So, please don't be a lazy person. Test out builds and see what suits you the best. Whether it's for PvE or PvP just spend a few minutes testing out builds. Don't be a sheep and just follow what other people say. Be creative, not lazy.

and don't forget to actually read what things do, not enough people read then are like "how did you do that much damage when i hit this i get less"

It would be more useful without the "curators".

This game has cookie cutter trait choices. There is very few exceptions that you will pick a "weaker" trait over a "stronger one" or a "weaker" "trait line" over a "stronger" "trait line." The rest of the traits and traitlines are just there to confuse newby players into thinking there are "actual builds" in this game and "build diversity"

At one time we spent traits individually and not 5 at at time and were not locked into 3 traitlines. Then there may have been actual build diversity when u could go like 4-5 traitlines and spend as little as 5 points in 1.

Game isn't hard. Metabattle is a meme, Gw2 builds are a meme. Obvious trait choices, obvious trait lines, obvious states based on weapon choices. if your build isn't cookie cutter it's probably bad in most cases maybe not all but most.

At least metabattle isn´t on the same lvl like some buildpages for lol. It´s a good start and if you know the issues, you can gain even more then a page for mainly played builds.

1. the side don´t spread the builds on best builds or best builds if your good enouth to play them. Eg. if we say a metacomb from team a is the strongest comb, but it´s really hard to play and that´s why team b win, the builds of team b will be rated higher, or if [here a name of good player] use a strong and hard to play build, but he can use that, it doesnt mean every other player can play them well enouth, so another class with similarie rolles can be a bether choice.
2. there is a middle good basic explain for: maprotation, teamsynergies or fightrotations against each other class, mainrole/ secondary roles or at least why this build do bether/ worser then a similar build
3. sometimes builds are just copyed cause good players use them, so its posible that if a player like helseth plays a fun-build, it gets in.

Ofc, that are just small points. Cause like some others allready said: if you want to get bether you need to do your homeworks by yourself!And Having a side where you can see the main used builds, helps you also to create yourself counter, understanding some builds bether or maybe you know how to build something more efficiency. As a beginner, you have a easyer start and get a lidle deeper in the material. From that point each player can deside himself how deep he wants to get in and it´s not elemental to do more, for being at midground.At all it has some explains and a link to good players that use that builds. If your smart, you woud use the videos to learn more about the class.

So at all i woud say if we won´t have a side like metabattle, we woud have less players on a midground lvl or about.

It is good to provide insights for classes you know and build layouts for classes you do not know.

It seems to be outdated since a lot of builds were nerfed but it's not terrible. I wouldn't expect an easy ride to legendary just by picking a build off metabattle though.

@Kako.1930 said:It seems to be outdated since a lot of builds were nerfed but it's not terrible. I wouldn't expect an easy ride to legendary just by picking a build off metabattle though.

i usually tweak my builds depending on team comp before we begin lol

That is why they called GUIDS not Canonical Rules.

@"HadrianBlackwater.5736" said:Is this satire? You don't pvp much at all and are silver and you just throw together whatever you think will work and go do rated pvp. Let me tell you that is about the worst way to do anything. Im going to go against most of these posts and say if you are new to pvp you should be going to meta battle and using the builds there until you learn enough to tweak them on your own. Its a wisdom of the crowd site and my experience with it is the higest rated builds are in fact the meta builds and the most effective builds. By all means though just throw a bunch of random crap together and go do rated and people wonder why pvp is so "toxic". Not to pick on this guy but this kind of sentiment is out there at rating levels much higher then silver. If you don't want to play as effectively as possible stay out of rated. The real pvp people thank you in advance.

learn to read? it helps buddy, i know i dont pvp much i was just posting a convo i saw on the map and wanted to discuss it further. you attacking me is kind of funny. im not the best at pvp but i pull my weight in team fights since i main support type roles, i try to keep my team alive and when my duo is playing i go reaper because its fun and i like the cc. but guess i cant have an opinion since i don't pvp and am silver. consider yourself blocked in-game i don't need you telling me how to play a game online.

@"HadrianBlackwater.5736" said:Is this satire? You don't pvp much at all and are silver and you just throw together whatever you think will work and go do rated pvp. Let me tell you that is about the worst way to do anything. Im going to go against most of these posts and say if you are new to pvp you should be going to meta battle and using the builds there until you learn enough to tweak them on your own. Its a wisdom of the crowd site and my experience with it is the higest rated builds are in fact the meta builds and the most effective builds. By all means though just throw a bunch of random crap together and go do rated and people wonder why pvp is so "toxic". Not to pick on this guy but this kind of sentiment is out there at rating levels much higher then silver. If you don't want to play as effectively as possible stay out of rated. The real pvp people thank you in advance.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBhOD7kZTolGsmGwnGgeTsgLYQXtAwBI+K+FDjTZhmQVA-jpBHQBA4CAIujAQAfAAob/h8VGggHEAA this is the build i made by reading the skills and thinking what goes good together, sometimes i change the rune depending on if we have enough of damage or tanks bit i guess its a bad build because im silver

useful for understanding what instantly killed you..useful for getting a quick build to understand professionsuseful for new players entering pvpuseful for getting useful info..

But not useful because..

Of missing diversity between meta builds offering a limited choice for a player to preform welland a single game mode causes monotony.It makes people not think about other possibilities with builds (read traits) because it's either play this specific build .. or go home..Creativity with builds is not possible when there are builds that dominate absolutely. (also bc game mode)The meta is based on instant high damage attacks or high damage negation and the site offers the best possible builds to accommodate it. should be a plus. but..see above.

@Merlin Dyfed Avalon.5046 said:useful for understanding what instantly killed you..useful for getting a quick build to understand professionsuseful for new players entering pvpuseful for getting useful info..

But not useful because..

Of missing diversity between meta builds offering a limited choice for a player to preform welland a single game mode causes monotony.It makes people not think about other possibilities with builds (read traits) because it's either play this specific build .. or go home..Creativity with builds is not possible when there are builds that dominate absolutely. (also bc game mode)The meta is based on instant high damage attacks or high damage negation and the site offers the best possible builds to accommodate it. should be a plus. but..see above.

So basically it's useful, you just don't like how competitive games work.

@Merlin Dyfed Avalon.5046 said:useful for understanding what instantly killed you..useful for getting a quick build to understand professionsuseful for new players entering pvpuseful for getting useful info..

But not useful because..

Of missing diversity between meta builds offering a limited choice for a player to preform welland a single game mode causes monotony.It makes people not think about other possibilities with builds (read traits) because it's either play this specific build .. or go home..Creativity with builds is not possible when there are builds that dominate absolutely. (also bc game mode)The meta is based on instant high damage attacks or high damage negation and the site offers the best possible builds to accommodate it. should be a plus. but..see above.

Diversity is NOT a meta-related issue.Meta builds simply aim to make the most of a build that is tied to a specific role.Meta builds are the result of environmental circumstances.....and NOT the other way around.

Meta Battle is often out of date, but its not too bad to get some ideas, just don't take it as gospel.