Buran.3796

I love Lord Hizen's stuff because most of it is based of how well he plays (this and other games) and how well reads the mechanics. I usually run either a power Herald or a condi Herald build based on the one He plays in fractals/bounties in every game mode (including PvP and sometimes roaming), for simple reasons: I don't like Kalla nor the short bow. Kalla uses summons and I don't like pet builds (never used spiritual weapons with my Guardian) and the short bow is a good example of how to not design a weapon capable in PvP )no mobility, no block, no evades, problems with targeting across the terrain... ). The nerfs in damage made Renegade variants temporally viable in PvP, but doesn't change that for me the Kalla + short bow feels atrocious in terms of gameplay. Now, in open world Renegade can be strong and powerful; best build I saw about is probably this one: ...But still, even recognizing that against the A.I. the short bow works currently very well, I don't like this gameplay in the same way as I enjoy running a burn DH/FB or a torment based Herald buid. Hopefully next spec will use some interesting skills as signets or meditations or physical or stances instead of convoluted things as summons or mantras.

That covers some Dragon Hunter builds. Maybe 10% to 15% of the whole spectrum of builds that a Guardian can use, counting core and specs, and exactly a 0% of what is available to both core Guardian and Firebrand. Guardiand had to deal with two weakness for ever: low base HP which forces to discard berserker and viper/griever stats in competitive modes and reduced base mobility which oftenly forces to discard the strongest runes in terms of stats in pursuit of not moving at 80% of the pace that most of other classes are capable by design. I agree with Mes since most of the time I play Guardian I run either traveller or fireworks runes due base speed is just annoying.

Burn DH has a lot of sustain and releases a impressive amount of damage. Lacks cc, tho.

Playing currently both (burn) condi FB and DH. The FB has more utility/support and cc but way less damage, so results are mixed in public games. The DH is a beast, oftenly dealing from 400k to 900k damage while tanking enemy necros at control points. But I can only speak about gold tiers...

Yep, healer thief is along support thief my favourite streamlined class. So popular.

Why to grind ascended viper instead of just crafting the cheapest ascended pieces and then changing the specs in the mystic foge for some gold coins with the exotic insignia?

Herald with s+s and Glint/Shiro has the ability to use sword #5 to chase and sword #3 as a mix of evade/short chase/disengage, so that spec is better built to deal with stealth classes which poke at range (albeit not as well as before the nerfs in the blinds and reveals from the Revenant, or the introduction of the Deadeye, which can conceal himself after being revealed, making that ability useless). Shot bow's range (900 units) itself isn't a big deal in a world in which Ranger's longbow and Deadeye's rifle do reach 1.500 units, with other classes as Mesmers reaching up to 1.200 also. All of those have plenty access to stealth and can easily interrupt actions from Renegade at range. Mobility in Jalis is no existent; it works great in small skirmishes with other party members covering our deficiences , but roaming alone every time you swap to Jalis you will become a static punching bag to those foes, while dealing also 0 damage to them. Is not like power Herald is a counter to them, but played well can endure the figth and pray for a mistake which opens the door to a burst (oftenly not enough due usually roamers build their characters to have great sustain and being "unkillable", but still a chance exist). Renegade chances are way worse, specially once you ditch the concept of the control points in PvP of the equation which is WvW: the enemy doesn't need to remain in a particular zone to apply pressure to you.

Nah, PvP currently projects a false image due the brutal nerfs in damage across the roster made mediocre builds viable, but as soon as the new specs arrives and the power creep burst again those builds will fall apart. How would you run a build in which the main source of damage (short bow) lacks defense and when you swap your dps falls to 0? It works because currently you can't be one shooted, but if the incoming specializations don't push the damage up again the sales will be terrible. Also, I can be wrong but imo in WvW stealth classes melt Renegade: you have no target to aim against and you can't prevent burst wile wielding the short bow.

Why? Still will remain useless. Hammer just need to be replaced.

That's not the case. A couple of examples: in Surge of the Mist not only the damage was nerfed, but also a 1 second pause before the start of the attack was implemented, which changes entirely the chances of landing the hit on a foe.; staff #1, # and #3 changed a lot how they work, also. Coalescence of Ruin went from being an AoE which engaged targets and could be cast on movement to an AoE which constantly failed to engage targets and FINALLY to a ground castted skill with less than a 40º forward window which cancels itself if you're strafing OR EVEN MOVING FORWARD. Is a utter useless stationary attack in a weapon which for more than a year have been entirely useless at every game mode. Also, both hammer #3, #4 and #5 can be casted at 360º while moving, whereas the new Coalescence seems to have been tailored using a specially dumb version the short bow blueprints, because can't track crap or be casted beyond those ~40ª. No, we aren't talking here just about nerfs in numbers, is a lot more than that. Over the years they replaced in this class a lot of things which had an use and worked to some extent for... just nothing. And by the way, the class is coded like garbage: the game keeps resetting the order in the legend skills while jumping from game modes because instead of programming the utilities as every other class (you should chose the skill for each slot, even if is only one option available). Instead the game treats those utilities as a block and overwrites the player preferences each time. Forget about balancing or making weapons viable: they just aren't able to fix the basics, the embarrassing bugs and stuff which couldn't be beliable 4 years after the release of the class.

I disagree. I was using Writ in my burn FB and burn DH because they were fun (I main Rev but Guardian was my main before and do play meme builds if I found them enjoyable), but lately I removed Honor in the FB due the heals werse so bad... I moved to Valor and changed most of my utilities to meditations and the gains in sustain and fun were isntantly evident. That was before this change: now Honor is entirely useless and in my DH I also removed it, currently testing either running Valor for the versatility or Radiand for the added damage. Anyway, summarizing: I now run a Firebrand which uses 0 mantras, and the spec moved from being a mandatory milestone in "serious" PvP to being "ok" to then being subpar in both sustain and damage, to the point you had to devote the entire build to be a healer/support to even andure in the battles. Now Writ of Persistence, which was the best symbol trait (and which ironically was placed outisde Zeal, the symbol-centered trailine which had 4 of the 6 symbol related traits) is just bland in a traitline filled with mediocricy. I won't miss Writ due I don't need it to make my burn DH and FB to work, but is sad how hollow of significance the Firebrand is in PvP: weak, useless mantras with poor sustain, nerfed tomes which also require mender amulet just to stay alive, etc. And I don't think that symbols were boring or cancerous: you can figth for minutes on top of them using a Tempest, a Scrapper or a bunker Jalis Revenant, because they weren't able to kill but the most glass cannon builds in the game. But yeah, ok, let's the symbols sink in the mud, along with the hammer; let's keep bleeding players in all the game modes because the game is unable to make anything interesting with their classes nor the gameplay, aside from chopping things away...

Oh, for sure they are out of touch. Things like Ventari with no stunbreaks, or Kalla with the stunbreak initially in the healing skill. Or the release of the 5 slot weapons with 0 defenses or mobility as the shortbow, which makes almost useless for PvP (it gained some use lately due with the overall nerfs to global damage is easier to last longer with weak defenses), but on the other they release the trident with perma weakness in Jalis legend, perma vulnerability in Shiro and permanent proc of torment in Mallyx and burns in Glint... If Cantha really has a notable amount of underwater content I can see how they will nerf the weapon very soon. I'm at a point in just I no longer care.

Not true.ANet nerfed Phase Traversal making it not work when the target was beyond 1.200 units. They had to revert the change due the uproar caused by the comparative grievieance: tons of classes still had available beyond max range teleports as Judge's Intervention from Guardian. Oftenly ANets reverts changes when is caught batlantly incurring in contradictions or when using double standards. Also I'm not asking for a return for the hammer to its previous form, since a lot of the pace was already lost years before when quickness was erased from Impossible Odds, the very day the hammer started to fade. What I'm asking is a complete redo of the weapon, prefereable as mele, and even better if is turned in a bunker weapon to support Jalis at tanking.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PmABkex7lhQKsIyiJRXMICjBSiMBqgDrSZrD-zZoOkelCBMCiYBIwB Glint/Mallyx with Corruption/Retribution/Herald. 2,1,1, 1,1,2, 1,3,1. Mace, Embrace the Darkness and the legend swap do most of the damage. The sword & shield are to gain time between swaps; is a very tanky build, with a fair access to resistance, protection and weakness, plus A LOT of cc. My fav condi build playing with pugs.

Just redo the hammer and turn it into a viable close ranged combat. Currently has no use in the game at those are 5 dead skill slots in a class with low amount of weapons. As weak as current staff is, still can be used in PvE as a decent defiant bar breaker and in PvP/ roaming as a defensive tool gaining seconds for us for a while.

...I known that isn't the cup for everyone but if you learn to like (or endure) PvP the last chest of the Glorious Reward Track provides 1 exotic armor piece of ANY stats, and in the current seasons you get another 3 exotic armor pieces of any stats with the last 3 chest in the form of Warlord's Armor Boxes. Also, for PvE only I would say trailblazer beats everyting.

Both Ele and Holo have currently better builds at PvP than anything that Guardian provides. And don't play strawman arguments with me: what I said is that symbols provide more damage with hybrid and conditions builds that with ones based in physical damage, and is true. In fact, I spent yesterday/today some hours testing it in PvP, I recorded it and made some fancy charts, those are the results: TEST: Collect data of damage from symbols using a core guardian with a condition damage oriented build and a physical damage oriented build. with a variety of PvP amulets. Involves the use of a single mace attack (Symbol of Faith) against the heavy armored golem dummy in the PvP hub. Condition damage oriented build: Radiance 2,2,1Virtues 1,2,1Honor 1,3,2Physical damage oriented build: Zeal 2,1,3 Virtues 1,2,1 Honor 1,3,2 In Zeal Fiery Wrath is selected over Wrathful Spirit due the later won't provide any advantage in this passive test. The test measures the time the symbols take to kill the golem, the amount of HP % it erodes from the target after the exposition to the complete duration of a single symbol, the largest base tick damage and crit damage from physical pulses from the symbol, the larger damage figures stacked by burns procced by the Virtue of Justice passive effect, the max amount of stacks of burns and vulnerability those build/amulet combos provide and how many mace #2 attacks in a row we need to kill our friendly golem. Notice that the Zeal build gradually increases the initial physical damage once some stacks of vulnerability are applied (I only put the largest numbers). Notice also that this doesn't take in consideration extra damage sources as physical burst damage from skills as sword #3, greatsword #2, etc. ...Which are irrelevant to the subject of this test. So, the main question: Is damage from symbols in condition and hybrid builds competitive vs the damage from symbols in builds specced to physical damage? The answer is a simple: YES. Some points: Mender is by far the weakest damage dealer, which isn't a surprise since their users do focuse in support and supervivence, not dps. The condition builds using Radiance do more damage and kill faster with symbols than even pure dps builds focused around Zeal using berserker and destroyer amulets. Vulnerability stacks really doesn't compare vs burn stacks and burn proccing. Notice that I didn't use Balthazar runes in the test (just Traveller every time) and neither Smoldering sigil. An yes, conditions can be cleansed (and even transfered), but with Amplified Wrath I frankly don't care about how much cleanses the enemy team has: after them I still have more burn procs to share... Carrion beats even berserker and destroyer, with have 0 vitality and are virtually suicidal/yolo to wield in PvP. I guess that destroyer and griever with the Radiant build will be even stronger than carrion, but sadly a symbol Guardian can't play with those and 12K HP. Carrion offers a good value in terms of dps + sustain, only ballasted by the weak healings that currently all the Guardian (core, DH, Firebrand) has available. With Zeal (lacking Amplified Wrath) carrion's burn damage is halved and the physical damage is enhanced ~50% but overall doesn't worth the change. But things are way worse for Mender, which drops the burn damage to barely 1/3 while gaining the same ~50% physical damage. https://imgur.com/DYz60GW

By "meta specs" you maybe referring to the PvE "optimal builds" which people are running in raids and fractals? Those ones with Guardians with 12K HP playing against punching bag NPCs with dismal A.I. and entirely predictable patterns? Those builds don't work in PvP. Symbolbran uses mender: low crit chance with 0 ferocity: mediocre dps. It's role is mainly support/tank (and they aren't even the best at that, currently), with most of the traits and skills devoted to make the healings from aegis and pulses to work (which barely do after all the nerfs). On the other hand, if you run Honor 1,3,2, and Virtues 1,2,1 replacing Zeal and wielding carrion you get better burst than physical based symbol Guardians: despite the lower physical damage you'll proc burns like crazy, and cleans doesn't matter that much since you're constantly re-aplying the burns. Works better with core and DH, of course: Firebrand braces too many things for his own good.

I think that Radiance (2,2,1) is better than Zeal in that build. Symbols are a bit weird in this game because albeit the main traitline seems to be Zeal, which has most of the traits related to symbols the strongest symbol trait is located on Honor (Writ of Persistence), which increases both in duration and area the effect of the symbols. Zeal also is more devoted to physical damage, whereas the strongest buff for the damage of symbols comes from having Permeating Wrath from Virtues in a build centered around the proc of burns and the use of condition damage. Both Zealot's Speed and Protector Restoration have very limited use, specially since you can drop Zealot's Speed randomly at nowhere while being poked at range. So, in the end, pure condi builds using either carrion or rabid amulet work better in PvP (trailblazers in WvW) with the concept of planting a symbol to area proc burns. Symbols buffs are also a bit tedious being so sparced amongs traitlines, specially due despite the core Guardian has theoretically the best chances to fulfill their potential, I found that playing both symbol-based Dragon Hunters and Firebrands provide better results on the ground. I do play those variants a lot but still didn't found a build which combines in the same way sustain and damage in the same way as condi Herald, albeit the burn Guardian variants are usually more bursty.

Ok, ok, ok: saw you build, then the one from Clownmug and then, the one from Snow Crows as condition (hybrid) renegade for PvE.. http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PmwAkeVlhQLsIajJRaMIKjBSjMBygjuk5TF-zRJYmR3fhEXZFZCUZEI8hIo/t8onG-e ...Your build is very similar to the one from Snow Crows: around 16K HP, ~2200 base power, ~2200 base armor, ~38% crit chance... Yours has larger crit damage (192% vs 150%) but outside torment (60%) the duration of your condis are only at 10% (vs theirs at 87% average). In terms of damage yours will underperform due the lack of expertise, but both will do fairly bad at surviving due the lack of defenses and sustain. The one from Clownmug is better: similar base power, crit chance and crit damage but lower condi damage and lower overall damage output due again it lacks expertise. In exchange it provides a much sturdier 21K HP and near 2900 armor. But I don't thing that those are the best for either PvP or WvW. The strongest PvP condi Renegade builds I fougth at PvP were combos of Jalis + Kalla with either sage, carrion or rabid amulet, so they were condition based, not hybrid, and the weapons of choice were usually shortbow with either staff or mace + shield. Going full "no blocks" with shortbow + mace& axe to a PvP/WvW party seems suicidal, specially outside a zerg. I can't be more specific about those builts due my attempts to clone their performance did poorly, but I think that for WvW trailblazer is a stronger stat for both condition Renegade and condition Herald. As I said, I'm not fan of the Renegade spec, its weapon and specially Kalla, so my experience with the spec is limited and not very grateful. Now, with condi Herald I have more experience; I swap oftenly between power Herald, Condi Herald, power DH, burn DH, burn FB and some attempts to produce tanky Revs and Guardians (for PvP, in WvW you need a "brusiser" since a pure bunker/tank has no goal and will end defeated in that game mode). Lately, the best WvW/PvP condi Herald build I've been using was this one: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PmABkex7lpQIsLSihRRMLCiJSgsCSgDrSZrD-zRRYkxHuZQHlRCJQIFg3Hig+3yjeaA-e ...Has 3K armor & 22.5K HP with 1700+ condition damage, torment duration maxed, burn duration at 82% and everything else at 62%. The 17% crit chance is anecdotal and can be easily replaced going full trailblazer by near 3500 armor and 25K HP. Sigils are flexible with room in the empty ones for classics as energy or new favourites as absortion, celerity or debility (cleansing and escape in PvP). This one worked well for me in PvP even against strong condi builds as burn Guardians, condi Beastmasters and Mesmer variants. In PvE kills bosses slower than a pure dps condi/hybrid build, but can solo things that Renegade can't. Is a near perfect bruiser which has some weakness which can be exploited for some foes in PvP/WvW, but that's fair. Is very slow to kill and easier to play than a power Herald; weaker in mobility and raw burst damage but better at teamfights.

No Idea. Used to join and play every day, lately just play from time to time (this month played more Diablo III, despite being a crappy game overall). But I hated the spec of my main in PoF (Renegade), so ended buying the cheapest version of the expansion, and played Herald 95% of the time. Even with the current meta, which favours condition bunkers, I still prefer both power Herald and condi Herald to anything Renegade related. So short answer: my future support to the game is related of how enjoyable the incoming specs to Rev and Guardian would be. Also about how long takes to arrive: there's some interesting games in the future, and my time is limited.

For open world solo PvE the best stat is trailblazer, hands down. You can go either Herald or Renegade; for the first take a look at the two videos from Lord Hizen in Youtube, for the Renegade take a look at the recently Nike! video. Power Herald can deal very well with most of the content in HoT, but soloing PoF boutins and other larger events is very hard for power users because you stop dealing damage when you evade, block, etc, whereas condi builds have both larger sustain and damage which stacks gradually with very few burst, so you can focus on defense and still wear down legendary foes. Griever works best (worked best) with the Firebrand, before they butchered the healing coeficients slaving that spec to menders or sage stats. In PvP Renegade can be tankier (Jalis + Kalla) and act as a decent bunker with both pressure and support, but I don't like the Renegade legend (neither the bow) and I find condi Herald more suitable for 1 vs 1. I still think power Herald is the stronger build there, but requires zerk amulet and a lot of skill to be played, whereas the condi builds provide more forgiveness. I don't use Renegade in WvW: in duels its AoE condi pressure can be easily avoided, and has no response to deal with either close combat thieves and holos nor ranged foes as beastmasters or mesmers. No idea about what is currently used in zergs: the hammer is currently a mess, but Herald is still probably better at teamfights than Renegade. I think that is diffrent from a Guardian, in the sense that with that class I can use a similar burn build for all the game modes, whereas with Revemant I more lean to change builds and stats based on the goal.

^ That's what happens when you make a 5 slot weapon full of redundant damage skills instead of providing utility tools as block, evades or movement (see Rev's short bow and trident). The thing is that the Rev dev team is clueless (they released the Renegade with the breakstun skill in the HEALING slot), so no matter if they make the Cantha spec with 2 one handers or a 2 hander: probably will be hot garbage again. So I'm slanting towards greatsword because at least there's some nice legendary skills there. Also: rework (redo) the hammer. Is beyond uslees, there's no hpe there.

In fact, on the contrary: PvP is one of the best ways to progress in the game, because you're rewarded with gold, knowledge tomes and other useful things no matter if you success (win) or fail /lose) at the event. Is also the cheapest way to access to a legendary armor set piece. Sure, other parts of the game can make you "rich" faster, but no other can make you progress as effortessly as PvP.

...And this definitely proves withou any shadow of doubt that you're largely ignorant about the timeline of the Revenant class, because there's hardly in the game nerfs as strong as faced by its hammer, which went from utterly dominant in the WvW battlefield to absolutely useless in every game mode (not only due damage cuts and larger cooldowns but also changes in its mechanics deeper than the lose of one evade in Mirages or the second pet in Beastmasters). It's so bad that didn't touch that weapon in the last 18+ months. Or I could talk for ours about how Shiro's skills are a cluncky shadow of what they were. Staff is also really mediocre now, so barely has any use outside power Revs in PvP. Also I'm not impressed with French Wurms and their condi Rev stacking winning the last Monthly AT. How many months in a row they were demolished by 55 Dragons (which only run power Herald)? So, you have a class with low access to cleanses with a condi build which for a few months relied in resistance (shaved since July), and you still have problems against it, in an open environment (WvW) which wasn't ever properly balanced... Sorry but I would argue that stealth is the most broken skill in the game and Rev is one of the few classes which lacks acces to it, so I would never think that a condi Rev is OP in a world in which Thieves, Mirages and Rangers do exist.