For The Druid Players - It's Still Viable In PvP - Still Strong With Cele In WvW - Guide Inside

[Trevor Boyer.6524]

I've been recently playing a lot of Druid again in spvp for the lulz.

Did placements the other day running only a Rabid Druid setup and came out 1559 after first 10 games on NA, which was r34 on that day.

It's surprisingly viable in pvp right now. People are just trying to run the wrong setups on Druid.

Here you go -> GW2 - Druid - My Methods - Twitch Last half of video shows a Cele Druid in WvW.

Recent broadcasts will have footage of these two builds in application. The guide only gives a rundown of the build structures.

 

Edited June 19, 2022 by Trevor Boyer.6524

[Lysico.4906]

Druid in ranked pvp is trash.   I kill them all day with my harbinger, soulbeast or virtuoso 

 

I won’t speak of wvw as I don’t play that often

[Trevor Boyer.6524]

46 minutes ago, Lysico.4906 said:

Druid in ranked pvp is trash.   I kill them all day with my harbinger, soulbeast or virtuoso 

 

I won’t speak of wvw as I don’t play that often

Yeah that was why I made the post.

To point out that people are widely playing the wrong builds on Druid.

The video link will show a build that can win 1v1 against anything except Ele, and that is also an excellent team fight.

[Arheundel.6451]

14 hours ago, Lysico.4906 said:

Druid in ranked pvp is trash.   I kill them all day with my harbinger, soulbeast or virtuoso 

 

I won’t speak of wvw as I don’t play that often

Killed all 3 of them on druid, one of my best duelling specs is druid and that's why I am scared shitless of the June patch: staff is my 3rd favourite weapon on ranger with mobility/heal and projectile block.....and druid provides some of the best defensive traits on ranger ....that's why I always wished those pvers crying about druid would simply change class, I am sure this quickness BS gonna ruin best traits on druid because ..."now druid provides quickness"

[anduriell.6280]

So you got carried in NA good to know. 

[Duglaive.5236]

6 hours ago, Arheundel.6451 said:

Killed all 3 of them on druid, one of my best duelling specs is druid and that's why I am scared shitless of the June patch: staff is my 3rd favourite weapon on ranger with mobility/heal and projectile block.....and druid provides some of the best defensive traits on ranger ....that's why I always wished those pvers crying about druid would simply change class, I am sure this quickness BS gonna ruin best traits on druid because ..."now druid provides quickness"

Just for accuracy's sake, Druid(Ranger) will provide alacrity; Warriors will be the new quickness providers.

[Lysico.4906]

So you faced off and lousy players on your Druid 

[Trevor Boyer.6524]

7 hours ago, anduriell.6280 said:

So you got carried in NA good to know. 

 

1 hour ago, Lysico.4906 said:

So you faced off and lousy players on your Druid 

Enough with the assward agenda to downvote anything & everything that isn't Arenanet partnered. My small non-commercial stream isn't challenging anyone, so relax & give it a break.

Judging from the fact that I don't recall either of you making any posts in our competitive subforums, whereas almost all 3900+ of mine have been posted almost explicitly only to the competitive subforums, it leads me to believe both of you more than likely lack even a basic fundamental understanding of this game's current competitive meta, and that if both of you ran into me 2v1 roaming, the result would not be unlike the footage that I posted here in this thread.

From where you believe you have a leg to stand on to comment on my content, is beyond me.

 

[Box of Ants.5609]

I've been running a similar build for the last couple months and have found that it performs reasonably. "Surprisingly viable" is the perfect description. Admittedly, I don't think it's amazing, and I don't think it is as effective as the other Ranger elite specs or Core, but it's also not as hopeless as some make it out to be, either. I also think it is a lot better than the Decap Druid build that I still see every once in a while.

 

Nevertheless, I'd still really like to see some buffs to Druid in PvP (and in general), so that this or a similar build could actually be good or even great. (Maybe a trait that adds conditions to some staff attacks - like burning on staff 1 or bleeding/poison on staff 4 - hey, a guy can dream, right?)

[aymnad.9023]

I was ready to tell you how I do not care about a duelist / sidenoder / bunker condi but you seem to take it to more teamfight which is cool. Tempest is still not that common in ranked allowing you to play projectile based builds.

I could be wrong but you do seem to underestimate condi soulbeast. I played something similar on condi soulbeast with carrion around 8 months ago (so before eod, I have not played it since) and found it good in teamfights (and vs core support guard) just like you do with druid.

Druid is probably the better option in a team, it is tanky, has the, hum, strong ancient seeds. But in solo queue soulbeast has higher damage, some strong cc options with pigs, mobility and bursts with birds.

I might give it a try in unranked but I do not see myself playing a full druid season anytime soon. I felt pretty much alone trying to play it as a support, never liked the how people were full bunker and how the support aspect kept dying / being gated more and more every patch. 

[Trevor Boyer.6524]

6 minutes ago, Box of Ants.5609 said:

I've been running a similar build for the last couple months and have found that it performs reasonably. "Surprisingly viable" is the perfect description. Admittedly, I don't think it's amazing, and I don't think it is as effective as the other Ranger elite specs or Core, but it's also not as hopeless as some make it out to be, either. I also think it is a lot better than the Decap Druid build that I still see every once in a while.

Exactly

6 minutes ago, Box of Ants.5609 said:

Nevertheless, I'd still really like to see some buffs to Druid in PvP (and in general), so that this or a similar build could actually be good or even great. (Maybe a trait that adds conditions to some staff attacks - like burning on staff 1 or bleeding/poison on staff 4 - hey, a guy can dream, right?)

All they need to do is revert two key changes they wrongfully made in the past.

1. Give Ancestral Grace its evade frame back.
2. Put the CA Kit back down to 10s CD in spvp, same as it is in WvW and PvE.

Additionally, I'd like to see Staff #2 Wisp gain some other effect such as an AoE slow proc or perhaps burn, and then Staff #4 Vine should make bleeding.

I understand why they don't want CA Kit to be a powerhouse selfish sustain side node mechanism in pvp, I get it. I wouldn't expect any buffs to CA Kit due to this, but if they would just revert those two aforementioned skills to previous versions and grant Druid a bit more DPS, it would see a lot more representation again.

[Lysico.4906]

Wait. So because we don’t stream we are not qualified to speak about the game air classes.    Talk about elitist behavior from the op.    That is comical to say because you stream you are in a better position to speak.    Pound sand buddy.  Lol

[JunkJunk.8971]

Lol@ op on that post.  So he or she streams and that makes their word carry more power.    That is a freaking joke.  

[Shaogin.2679]

21 minutes ago, Lysico.4906 said:

Wait. So because we don’t stream we are not qualified to speak about the game air classes.    Talk about elitist behavior from the op.    That is comical to say because you stream you are in a better position to speak.    Pound sand buddy.  Lol

 

17 minutes ago, JunkJunk.8971 said:

Lol@ op on that post.  So he or she streams and that makes their word carry more power.    That is a freaking joke.  

This can clearly only be settled with a duel. Would be interesting to see.

[Trevor Boyer.6524]

43 minutes ago, Lysico.4906 said:

Wait. So because we don’t stream we are not qualified to speak about the game air classes.    Talk about elitist behavior from the op.    That is comical to say because you stream you are in a better position to speak.    Pound sand buddy.  Lol

 

39 minutes ago, JunkJunk.8971 said:

Lol@ op on that post.  So he or she streams and that makes their word carry more power.    That is a freaking joke.  

Nice strawman/ad hominem attempts, but that's nothing like what I said.

What I said was more along the lines of "I don't know who you are in general". Which holds a reasonable amount of clout coming from someone who purchased the game on day 1 release who has over 23,000 games played in spvp. When someone like myself doesn't recognize you within the spvp community in-game or even in-forum, it means that you are either 1) Not actively participating in the game's competitive scene and probably never did to begin with, or 2) You have some kind of agenda to troll me from alt accounts, which very likely could be the case.

Either way, neither of you two have provided any form of actual discussion showing any level of experience on the topic. All I am seeing are insults and derailment tactics.

Stay classy or stay assy boys, it's your own choice.

 

Edited June 19, 2022 by Trevor Boyer.6524

[Lysico.4906]

27 minutes ago, Trevor Boyer.6524 said:

 

Nice strawman/ad hominem attempts, but that's nothing like what I said.

What I said was more along the lines of "I don't know who you are in general". Which holds a reasonable amount of clout coming from someone who purchased the game on day 1 release who has over 23,000 games played in spvp. When someone like myself doesn't recognize you within the spvp community in-game or even in-forum, it means that you are either 1) Not actively participating in the game's competitive scene and probably never did to begin with, or 2) You have some kind of agenda to troll me from alt accounts, which very likely could be the case.

Either way, neither of you two have provided any form of actual discussion showing any level of experience on the topic. All I am seeing are insults and derailment tactics.

Stay classy or stay assy boys, it's your own choice.

 

I have played 23,001 PvP games and beta account.   Clearly that means my opinion has more weight then your op.     So guess you are wrong.  Druid is not top ranger tier for wvw or PvP.  Soulbeast is a better performer 

[Downstate.4697]

kitten you all salty for someone posting a non meta build. Trevor i respect you simply because you arent afraid to think outside of the box. Maybe if you all had half a mind you would have constructive conversations.

Now for the build, I think it works partly because a lot of people are dropping condi removal in this meta. 

[RainbowTurtle.3542]

14 hours ago, FrownyClown.8402 said:

kitten you all salty for someone posting a non meta build. Trevor i respect you simply because you arent afraid to think outside of the box. Maybe if you all had half a mind you would have constructive conversations.

Now for the build, I think it works partly because a lot of people are dropping condi removal in this meta. 

It's BARELY viable. I played condi druid for a while when I played pvp- you're strictly better off with soulbeast. Most times in pvp you don't get CA filled unless you're babysitting a good player, and even then not always. It works some of the time, but most of the time it's not worth the extra effort you'd need to use when playing druid.

[Donut.6914]

On 6/19/2022 at 2:35 AM, anduriell.6280 said:

So you got carried in NA good to know. 

you have a billion posts and all of them are rude or negative

[Trevor Boyer.6524]

18 hours ago, RainbowTurtle.3542 said:

It's BARELY viable. I played condi druid for a while when I played pvp- you're strictly better off with soulbeast. Most times in pvp you don't get CA filled unless you're babysitting a good player, and even then not always. It works some of the time, but most of the time it's not worth the extra effort you'd need to use when playing druid.

That's not true at all.

Just use Dolyak Rune.

And Druid is by far the best condi ranger variant, if you're looking to run condi.

[Hotride.2187]

Cele druid in wvw works only because cele and condi as a combination is broken. To have your build carried by the combo and be OK and not OP... is bad news. Other actually OP cele builds will roll over you.

From my POV fighting it, its more annoying than its dangerous.

But if you go from the "its workable" perspective, yeah its workable. There is like 1 cele druid regular on my world, I've also ran into a couple over the last year. Player numbers on a build IMO tell the whole story. If it was good, more would play it. But if you REALLY want to play druid, I guess.

For conquest dunno, I've not seen a druid in ranked or at least don't remember seeing one.

Edited June 22, 2022 by Hotride.2187

[Lazze.9870]

On 6/19/2022 at 10:48 AM, Arheundel.6451 said:

that's why I always wished those pvers crying about druid would simply change class, I am sure this quickness BS gonna ruin best traits on druid because ..."now druid provides quickness"

There is no kittening way they can butcher druid even further just because they replace unique spirits buff with alac. On paper that's a net nerf in terms of being "optimal in a pve team setup".

Those defensive traits are partially why druid was gutted to begin with.

[RainbowTurtle.3542]

3 hours ago, Trevor Boyer.6524 said:

That's not true at all.

Just use Dolyak Rune.

And Druid is by far the best condi ranger variant, if you're looking to run condi.

Druid is far from the best condi ranger variant. Everything druid has access to, soulbeast can get asides from one trait, Ancient Seeds. If that one trait was powerful enough to justify not having access to things like bear stance, dolyak stance, oppressive superiority, pet merges (meaning more damaging or defensive utility skills), sic em merges for hybrid variants, and one wolf pack sharing (if playing with others), then sure, druid would be better.

 

As a druid main, it's not better. It can function as a condi damager, but it's not going to outperform a condi soulbeast.

 

 

If I'm forced to use one specific rune set to make my SPEC MECHANIC WORK FOR ME INSTEAD OF AGAINST ME, why should I bother playing that spec??? Soulbeast can at least diversify- vampirism for lifesteal, durability for a bit of toughness and boon duration (which actually makes a pew pew SoTP build decently viable, SoTP and then LB 5 at a group for 25 might to shred people with), ranger or pack for just raw damage. And that's just the few I have looked into.

[Trevor Boyer.6524]

50 minutes ago, RainbowTurtle.3542 said:

Druid is far from the best condi ranger variant. Everything druid has access to, soulbeast can get asides from one trait, Ancient Seeds. If that one trait was powerful enough to justify not having access to things like bear stance, dolyak stance, oppressive superiority, pet merges (meaning more damaging or defensive utility skills), sic em merges for hybrid variants, and one wolf pack sharing (if playing with others), then sure, druid would be better.

1. Druid gains access to a 10s CD super speed stealth full condi cleanse my dude. It's not just ancient seeds. And that's not even to mention the CA Kit skills. Druid is a tank in wvw that also burst heals its allies.
2. Ancient Seeds actually is that powerful. That single trait delivering the extra root is the actual exact reason why Druid makes the best condi variant.
3. You don't need Bear Stance or Dolyak Stance or any of those Soulbeast skills when you have the Druid trait line. All you need are Wilderness Survival skills for +2 cleanse per skill and +4 cleanse on Troll. Those cleanses mixed with the full condi cleanse per 10s is more than enough and you don't need Antitoxin runes to be invulnerable vs conditions.

1 hour ago, RainbowTurtle.3542 said:

As a druid main, it's not better. It can function as a condi damager, but it's not going to outperform a condi soulbeast.

This is entirely incorrect ^

Condi Druid setups definitely outperform Condi Soulbeast setups.

I mean, you can just hang around spvp or wvw for a day and see that this much is true. Or click the link in my signature.

1 hour ago, RainbowTurtle.3542 said:

If I'm forced to use one specific rune set to make my SPEC MECHANIC WORK FOR ME INSTEAD OF AGAINST ME, why should I bother playing that spec??? Soulbeast can at least diversify- vampirism for lifesteal, durability for a bit of toughness and boon duration (which actually makes a pew pew SoTP build decently viable, SoTP and then LB 5 at a group for 25 might to shred people with), ranger or pack for just raw damage. And that's just the few I have looked into.

I never said you had to play anything.

The thread was to show Druid enthusiasts what is working in this meta for Druid.

[Gotejjeken.1267]

On 6/19/2022 at 5:10 PM, Shaogin.2679 said:

 

This can clearly only be settled with a duel. Would be interesting to see.

 

No...we don't need any more duels involving the OP 😂.  IYKYK...

But since I only know WvW, I can confirm Druid outperforms condi soulbeast by a country mile with the utility and such you can build into it.  I don't particularly like cele, but can build a condi bunker easy enough atm.