Are the expansions vital to high level wvw play?

I haven't played gw2 in years, since way before the first expansion came out. I'm thinking of getting back into it for wvw. Is it important to buy the expansions? If so, for what reasons?

Elite specs and gear stats from expansions play huge role in both roaming and zergs. There are a few builds that work on high level even without expansions, like thief, guard and warrior in roaming and ele (maybe even guard and mesmer, but their elite specs are quite stronger) in zergs.

Having gliding and autoloot masteries (both from HoT) are a huge QoL as well.

Can you use gliding in wvw? What gear stats were introduced with the expansions? I already have a full set of ascension gear on my guardian (again, from before the expansions were introduced). Thanks!

@BroScientist.9875 said:Can you use gliding in wvw? What gear stats were introduced with the expansions? I already have a full set of ascension gear on my guardian (again, from before the expansions were introduced). Thanks!

You can in your own territory, around spawn and objectives.

@"BroScientist.9875" said:What gear stats were introduced with the expansions?plenty, best just look at this :https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Attribute_combinationsthere you can see all stat combinations, their names and if you need core/HoT/PoF. ( and ofc ignore the PvP only ones for WvW)

there have been many 4 stat sets with the expansions that do have quite a bit more overall stats than the 3 stat combinations.

metabattle.com has some non expac builds for both roaming and zerging. for zerging on some classes you do need PoF, guardian is a perfect example (unless youre the second guard and the commander is running one guard per party or something like that).

Pay up if you want to win.

@Chorazin.4107 said:Pay up if you want to win.

Funny you say that cos....some pay and still can't win......so bandwagon to flavor of the month stacked server.

with just HoT ur okay in WvW on most classes..

Not sure how useful core specs can be these days but you could try the following before committing to buying x-pacs solely for WvW if you don't end up liking the current meta:

• Guardian - pretty much stayed the same run Honor, Valor Virtues traitlines. They changed how staff works it's now 1.2k slow range auto but at least #2 is now an AoE pulse heal and finisher so combo #3 and #2 for a condi cleanse or just drop it in water fields for the blast
• Warrior - never underestimate a well timed elite banner, you could try some kind of shout cleanse heal as support role. Pretty sure warhorn if traited got buffed to 10 players.. you'll be nothing more than cleansing a couple condis, banner and tooting for swiftness. If your zerg is steamrolling definitely run zerkers and go full yolo into the enemy
• Elementalist - never played this class seriously but zerker/marauder ele might work just be careful of retal boon/reflects
• Necro - always useful, wells still relevant, recommend Blood Magic traitline for teleport downed players so you can rez them. Gear for healing power + condi? Otherwise try out a power/boon strip build with axe/focus
• Mesmer - nerfs to portal (down to 30 seconds) you can still be veil/portal bot role. still relevant power shatter roamer. can't speak for zerg setting since only ever roamed on mes but they did nerf SoI so don't think boonshare is as big a thing.. idk man this class has been places
• Engineer - they buffed medkit. never played this class in zerg setting... you could try a condi convert/condi cleanse support build? Otherwise pin sniping with shield pull utility still possible
• Ranger - roaming builds only... brings nothing to the table in a zerg environment.
• Thief - venomshare might still be a thing for zerging. roaming power S/D builds does well. With changes to objective areas tiered up applying revealed you may want to be wary of stealth-heavy builds like D/P

Again this is just theory crafting/going by some suggestions in recent meta. Hope that helps answer your question. Welcome back.

Pay to win, so yes.

For roaming, you might find some success for some class.For zerg, you will reach a technical limit.

As mentioned above you can roam on some core specs like warrior and guardian. With HOT you can zerg as a Healer Scrapper (I dont know this build well but some commanders don't mind having healing scrapper) or Hammer Herald Revenant (very in demand). The rest you probably need POF.

What do you win, when you pay?I play core necro and still win.

@gebrechen.5643 said:What do you win, when you pay?I play core necro and still win.

That's because you're carried by stronger specs and/or better player, which is quite common thing in gw2.

Generally the elite specializations are stronger than the core builds. Therefore, you probably want the appropriate expansion for your desired build.

Other than that: They are completely optional for WvW. You can do anything with just the core traits, you just might not win 1vs1 against a char of the same profession and player skill level. Unless you want to farm the most lootbags within the shortest time, I would not worry about this.

@steki.1478 said:

@gebrechen.5643 said:What do you win, when you pay?I play core necro and still win.

I solo roam.

@gebrechen.5643 said:

@steki.1478 said:

@gebrechen.5643 said:What do you win, when you pay?I play core necro and still win.

Then I doubt that you win much except NPC fights.

npc are way more dangerous than most "roamers" these days.