Sooooo Is Willbender Good now?

[KeoLegend.5132]

3 hours ago, Nezekan.2671 said:

I consider Willbender S tier in WvW roaming. There are 2 builds that are trending right now, one is power and one is burn.

Do you have a source pls?

[Nezekan.2671]

6 minutes ago, KeoLegend.5132 said:

Do you have a source pls?

Me? I played it. I especially enjoy the power variant with dragon gear. You have a lot of precision sources that work well with precision being low on the gear, so it actually reaches 90%+- depending on what you take, but you have way more ferocity. So it's basically a better Marauder for Willbender. You can always do shenanigans with celestial burn build as well, the build will have lots of sustain/mobility. Less sustain than celestial firebrand, but way more mobility.

This build is similar to what I use, so maybe you can take look at that:

 

[KeoLegend.5132]

1 hour ago, Nezekan.2671 said:

Me? I played it. I especially enjoy the power variant with dragon gear. You have a lot of precision sources that work well with precision being low on the gear, so it actually reaches 90%+- depending on what you take, but you have way more ferocity. So it's basically a better Marauder for Willbender. You can always do shenanigans with celestial burn build as well, the build will have lots of sustain/mobility. Less sustain than celestial firebrand, but way more mobility.

This build is similar to what I use, so maybe you can take look at that:

 

I checked it out. Do you have a condi one? im more interested on it ty

[De Bourgogne.9642]

On 4/1/2022 at 12:26 PM, myun.6395 said:

Well you can't quote top players. They basically make work any build even if it's weak or off meta.

They kite, do good rotations and everything, so this doesn't apply.

Yeah man don't listen to best players what is good listen to gold players on forums they know so much 

 

Edited June 26, 2022 by McPero.3287

[Nezekan.2671]

1 hour ago, KeoLegend.5132 said:

I checked it out. Do you have a condi one? im more interested on it ty

I haven't meddled with that build too much, but it is very similar to old burn DH but you use celestial gear.

[Legend of Rogue.5394]

6 hours ago, Nezekan.2671 said:

I consider Willbender S tier in WvW roaming. There are 2 builds that are trending right now, one is power and one is burn.

Can you link me please

[Nezekan.2671]

30 minutes ago, Legend of Rogue.5394 said:

Can you link me please

I linked the power one, which is the one I played. I only know about the burn one and have not played it myself, so I am not the person to ask about that one.

Check the video I posted a few posts above.

[Gwaihir.1745]

10 hours ago, myun.6395 said:

Well you can't quote top players. They basically make work any build even if it's weak or off meta.

They kite, do good rotations and everything, so this doesn't apply.

 

9 hours ago, Saiyan.1704 said:

First off they dont make any build "just work". Naru (and others) played with beta WB then stopped due to beta WB being too trashy. If they're maintaining top 25 on a current build that's supposedly "trash and worse than Core and DH" then clearly the spec has potential. Listing top players, including what AT teams are running, is very valid.

WB has a higher skill cap than DH and Core so it's natural for a lot of Guardian players to have difficulty with the spec.

 

 

I mean watch the clip, Naru got his reversal denied multiple times every match. From enemys calling it, to ccing it, to some random effect canceling it, to reversal proccing but still taking all effects of the incoming attack anyways. 

[KeoLegend.5132]

I will try out Celestial Willbender on WvW

Ppl were telling me since day 1 that Celesbender is kitten, but guess what, i did a Celestial DH and it worked better than a marauder/zerker one.

 

just not sure what to take for weapons and traits... i mean, valor sounds good, but Bender uses almost all virtues... and could Sword/Sword, Scepter/Torch work aswell?

 

In case of anyone wondering, my Celestial DH uses sword/torch and Bow. You throw F1 but don't pull so they keep burning, then you trap if they come close or jump with sword and torch if they try to run and burn them down

[Buran.3796]

  Didn't enjoy too much WB in the first two betas and was sceptical running it in the first weeks of EoD, but after seeing the videos from Hizen and Roul builds and changing a bit my build and gear and after the lastest patch and the buffs (looking Naru streaming) I'm starting to feel more confident about the spec and finding a better flow in the gameplay.

    So far: Hizen's build is a full celestial set with Balthazar runes and sigils of wrath and concentration; Radiance 3,2,3, Virtues 3,2,1 and Willbender 1,1,1. Offers a pure hybrid build with ~1600 condi damage, near 20K HP, near 2900 armor, 35% base crit chance, 200% crit damage, max cap burn duration and over 52% boon duration. Is a very solid build with both great physical and condition damage.

   Roul has a pure condition damage build with half trailblazer and half plaguedoctor stats, sigils of bursting and battle, same Blathazar runes, with Radiance  2,2,1,  Virtues 3,2,1 and Willbender 1,2,2 (there's a more offensive variant with Zeal instead of Virtues but sacrifices a lot of sustain for not much more damage) . It has 2K condition damage, nera 3K armor, over 22K HP, cap burning duration and ~17% boon duration. The physical crit chance and crit damage are weak, but doesn't matter since kills faster than Hizen's one.

   My approach to those two builds has been taking what I like of then and making some changes to my preferences. The result is this:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PWzAw+tlVwUZdMMGJW0WbxUA-zxQY1oDzDrMKtC6IBc4AEuO4tMpnG-e

   Dire armor + Balthazar runes and full celestial everything else. Bursting sigil plus Battle (albeit Rage is under scrutiny), Litany, Whirling, Purging Flames , Stand Your Ground!  and Feel My Wrath!, albeit those two last can be replaced by Contemplation of Purity and/or Renewed Focus if needed. 1800 condition damage + 3K armor, almost 22K HP, cap burn duration and ~29% boon duration, ~30% crit chance with almost 190% crit damage. Radiance 2,2,1, Virtues 3,2,1,  Willbender 1,2,2.

   I'm testing which one of the first Radiance traits is better; also testing if Willbender 1,1,1 performs the best. With the current build as long as I'm hitting things I'm proccing burns and therefore might; I'm getting burst with over 26 burn procs and 25 might stacks are easy to get but the average in combat is ~15 burns all the time. As long as you have stability or blind your foes, is amongst the fastest crowd killing machine I ever run. But have to test the sustain vs hard foes befores reaching a conclusion.

   Meanwhile Naru is running in PvP a Marauder + Divinity rune physical damage build, with sigils of Energy and Cleansing, Radiance 3,3,3, Virtues 1,1,3 and Willbender 2,3,2. So far seems solid albeit not beta.

   I'll keep testing those in PvE, WvW and PvP; so far looks promising compared to what we had in the betas and first release. The pace is very diffrenet to what playing a Guardian usually feels, maybe closer to a fighting game or so.  But yes, I would say that now WB is fairly decent, in most of game modes.

 

[otto.5684]

12 hours ago, McPero.3287 said:

Yeah man don't listen to best players what is good listen to gold players on forums they know so much more about the game. 

 

Generally speaking, that is not how anything is measured. You need a large sample and compare with a large sample with other builds/classes. 

[De Bourgogne.9642]

2 hours ago, otto.5684 said:

Generally speaking, that is not how anything is measured. You need a large sample and compare with a large sample with other builds/classes. 

No that is actually not how it is done. Strength of build is defined by the strongest players vs strongest players. 

[otto.5684]

59 minutes ago, McPero.3287 said:

No that is actually not how it is done. Strength of build is defined by the strongest players vs strongest players. 

Maybe if it has constant presentation in AT. Does it? And “strongest players” is not 2-3. Typically that will be dozens if not hundreds.

[Saiyan.1704]

18 hours ago, otto.5684 said:

Maybe if it has constant presentation in AT. Does it? And “strongest players” is not 2-3. Typically that will be dozens if not hundreds.

Yeah they literally nerf'd Core necro just because it did better in Solo Ranked as opposed to AT. So Anet does look at the bottom and top.

[De Bourgogne.9642]

10 hours ago, Saiyan.1704 said:

Yeah they literally nerf'd Core necro just because it did better in Solo Ranked as opposed to AT. So Anet does look at the bottom and top.

Core necro did well in ranked and AT not sure what ATs you have been watching. 

 

On 4/2/2022 at 8:00 AM, otto.5684 said:

Maybe if it has constant presentation in AT. Does it? And “strongest players” is not 2-3. Typically that will be dozens if not hundreds.

There isn't 100 good players playing this game. Let alone a specific build. 

[Makion.3457]

I play it in fractals T4 and pve content, its fun with scholar runes and marauder gear.  

[Math.5123]

On 4/2/2022 at 6:58 AM, McPero.3287 said:

No that is actually not how it is done. Strength of build is defined by the strongest players vs strongest players. 

And willbender will fall over vs players of the same caliber running something like spectre, herald, daredevil, holo or even the condi mirage build. 

So while you can farm ranked with it currently, just like you can with dh does not make it a strong build. 

[Dralor.3701]

Have tested enough now not feeling OH sword over focus, only better if you have to run away. 😂

[The Boz.2038]

I can't for the life of me find a role for OH sword.

[Zhob.9027]

1 hour ago, The Boz.2038 said:

I can't for the life of me find a role for OH sword.

Triple immob meme build (Scepter 3, Sword 5 & Wrath of Justice master trait) into Glacial Blow or Whirling Wrath.

[The Boz.2038]

Ah, so PvP side-noding or roaming exclusively? F.

[Sonork.2916]

10 hours ago, The Boz.2038 said:

I can't for the life of me find a role for OH sword.

I think OH sword is just for mobility, cause the dmg of executioners strike is rly rly... rly. bad.  Not to mention even trying to land executioner's strike full animation on a moving target is a crap shoot at best.   It definitely needs more,  maybe something that buffs the WB or weakens the target hit, or simply a small shadow step on the follow up attacks if the 1st hit lands.

Also, it would be nice if there was a trait that added a 2/s cripple to your WB flames or something other than a few short immobs to help keep people from just running off. 

[Supes.7831]

It's better just not there(spvp speaking)

 

-Still have mostly bad physical skills outside of Whirling Light(which is still bugged not to hit behind you)

-Executioner's Calling is still REALLY hard to land

-Sustain is still an issue given how many hits needed to trigger virtue's is still too high

-Lack of sticking power.  You can port to a player but sticking is near-impossible due to a lack of soft/hard-cc, superspeed and quickness

[De Bourgogne.9642]

On 4/4/2022 at 8:22 AM, Math.5123 said:

And willbender will fall over vs players of the same caliber running something like spectre, herald, daredevil, holo or even the condi mirage build. 

So while you can farm ranked with it currently, just like you can with dh does not make it a strong build. 

Specter and Daredevil are literally S+ tier builds and being worse than them doesn't mean build isn't strong. 

Herald is comparable to Willbender but probably still better slightly due to better burst. 

Condi mirage (assuming mantra, domi build) actually loses to Willbender because it has such good cleanse (according to Naru). 

Holo im guessing ur comparing it to nades im not sure how good it still is.

You can easily play WB it in AT and do fine. And for like actual tournaments you don't really play them and not strong enough of a player to do so. Not sure why you care. 

I'm guessing for guard onetricks having one build be meta for 9 months just doesn't do it. 

Edited April 7, 2022 by McPero.3287

[Ezrael.6859]

I'm enjoying Power Willbender since the small quality of life changes on the 29th March. It's not on the same level as some other roaming specs yet, but it feels more competitive.

It's the most fun I've had as a Power Guardian for a long time since the HoT & PoF power creep started.