Decent builds for supporting returning friends?

[Vordrax.5243]

Hey all. My buddies and I played this game back in 2012. It was kinda rough on us, I was really into what the game was offering, they were not. So they dropped it. I've played it on and off since. Recently they expressed some interest in giving it another try. They both bought HoT at one point, but didn't play it, so they have access to those elite specs. They won't have mounts of course. I have access to everything, I have a max level of every profession and almost all elites unlocked, though the only class I have a decent playtime on is my Engineer.

 

I am looking for a decent support build that I can use to keep them alive and learning the game. I don't want to just mow everything down myself, I'd also prefer not to be so weak that everything drags on if they're struggling. So I'm guessing something with Celestial gear? Would love some recommendations!

[ASP.8093]

Okay, this suggestion is a little goofy — it's trying to do a lot all at once, so there are gonna be certain situations where you'll want to switch a skill or trait for greater efficiency.

 

Mecha Heal Tank for open world &c.:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PegAoqlNw6YuMPWKWqTvRVA-zxIY1ohvMSIBKtAceAA-e

You're providing Alacrity, a bunch of Might, and tolerable tanking/DPS potential yourself.

Personal DPS is maybe like 8k-10k, mostly from Burning. Try to use Blowtorch and whatever feels good in Flamethrower.

There's a lot of Kits here but you don't have to use all the skills. Spam Medkit stuff to keep people alive, Mortar and Elixir Gun 5 are both extra heals and you can just ignore the other skills most of the time. Note that your heal output isn't going to be *amazing,* but I think the goal is to help your allies sustain rather than overheal so hard you end up completely hard-carrying them through basic PvE. You'll do fine even if you don't know what half your skills do.

 

The build above is slotting Sanctuary Rune so you can swap to the full tank version with just a skills+traits template change (same gear template):

Immortal Mecha Tank

• Medkit, Elixir Gun, Mortar Kit -> Mechanist Signets

• Firearms 113 -> Firearms 121

• Alchemy 332 -> 233

• Mecha 222 -> Mecha 223

• Gear stays the same

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PegAoqlxy6YuMYWMWySuRdA-zxIY1ohvMSIBKtAceAA-e

Now you're turning on the full Sanctuary Runes feedback loop, so you're got very high self-Alacrity, self-Stab, and self-Might, as well as tons of passive self-healing. Your mech is constantly getting healed and buffed as well. You can mostly stay on Flamethrower for Stability and just switch out every once in a while to spew out Blowtorch if it's ready (or any other Pistol skills you like). About 10k personal DPS, can solo pretty much all the HoT bosses and such. Easy-mode "rotation."

Use your Signet to heal the mech or yourself whenever you want (its passive won't stop ticking); save your elite to res your mech if you mess something up.

This is a pretty established solo build (I think Lord Hizen first posted it) that can also tank for the group but doesn't do very much support.

[Vordrax.5243]

Oh very cool, thank you for sharing it! I haven't really messed with support Mech much. How bad does it hurt me if I don't have Sanctuary runes? I noticed they're bought using dungeon currency, which I basically have none of (just a few from doing the story paths.) I have a Celestial set right now that uses Runes of the Traveler.

Edited October 13, 2022 by Vordrax.5243

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

I have recently created a build to help new players finding their way in the game without being too oppressive. Tested it in dungeons (story & explorable) so far and the results are imo amazing. The damage output is low enough to only have a small impact, but high enough to save the day in emergencies. It empowers players with a wide access of boons, which allows them to focus on mechanics and their environment, rather than their rotations.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PKAFc8UaYZCMM2HjjRiDt0/6C-zRRYBJDsiDE9NGRqqKpq6VR4AA-e

Just spam the horn-skills and banners in utility slots off cooldown. Everything else is situational. You supply a lot of boons with longer duration than neccessary, so your friends can make more mistakes and find their way slowly. You can quickly self-revive yourself, have access to mass-resurrection (elite), as well as group stunbreak and group cleanses.

When you switch to mace+warhorn, you have good CC options to assist breaking the breakbar. You generate a ton of group-might in no time, can spam the heal-skill if you feel you cannot maintain enough. As well as permanent Quickness, Fury. Also permanent Swiftness. The only thing the build lacks is group-healing, but I did not run into a situation where this was necessary. The boon-spam is high enough to cover most of the problems. You can take a step back and spend more time with instructions and hints about when to dodge. In addition, due to the limited range of the banners, you passively train them the importance of sticking together.

-

If this build is too expensive, I have als created a 100 % core GW2 compatible version. No expansions or LW needed, just basic access to TP or a friend with this. It utilizes Platin Doubloons which grant extra boon-duration and requires no ascended gear pieces only. Assassin stats weapons are slightly cheaper than Berserker's, Exotic Armor is very cheap if you look for "Devona" set. Even the Rune of the Pack is rather cheap. 

As the whole build is focused on melee-damage, the mobs are almost dead by the time I reach them. Even if the new players are geared in green/blue/whatever stuff with odd stat-combos and no rune. 

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PKAFc8UaYZCMM2HjjRiDt0/6C-zxQUhwvjpMSPVV7JqKzSgXAA-e

If you still feel too powerful/squishy, you can replace some armor pieces with Soldier's stats. During the runs, I only received positive feedback so far. From both newbies and experienced players, so I think it is mostly balanced.

Note: I only run into problems when some smart-pants on their power Rifle Mech decide to join and just mow through everything like it is made of cardboard. With this builds boon-supply, they can solo the entire thing in record time. There are sadly a lot of these geniuses in story Dungeons at the moment (EU), which is not much fun. If you intend to run instanced combat and want to teach the mechanics properly, it might be the best to avoid LFG :S. There are a lot of cool players out there with tons of experience who are very nice to new players. But if you have one of these jerks in your group, you can screw the run. LFG messages like "chill run", "watching cutscenes", "teaching newbies" do not work (my personal experience). 

[ASP.8093]

2 hours ago, Vordrax.5243 said:

Oh very cool, thank you for sharing it! I haven't really messed with support Mech much. How bad does it hurt me if I don't have Sanctuary runes? I noticed they're bought using dungeon currency, which I basically have none of (just a few from doing the story paths.) I have a Celestial set right now that uses Runes of the Traveler.

The runes are mostly for the tank gimmick, they give you perma-(self)-Alacrity without taking the group Alac trait, and basically double your passive healing due to how the traits triggers. For the group-healer build it really doesn't matter that much.

There's a very similar build on Metabattle (still in the "need more testing" category) using Runes of the Traveler, by the way — https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Mechanist_-_Util_Alac_Mech

[Vordrax.5243]

1 hour ago, HnRkLnXqZ.1870 said:

I have recently created a build to help new players finding their way in the game without being too oppressive. Tested it in dungeons (story & explorable) so far and the results are imo amazing. The damage output is low enough to only have a small impact, but high enough to save the day in emergencies. It empowers players with a wide access of boons, which allows them to focus on mechanics and their environment, rather than their rotations.

 

Yo this is pretty legit, thank you for sharing. I actually just recently got all of my Warrior elites unlocked. I did not know that the elite Banner rezzed allies, that is actually very cool. I am a bit worried about the inability to heal them. Back in 2012 they played Elementalist and Thief, aka notoriously squishy, and so their formative memories of this game are just dying constantly. Do you think this is throwing out enough defense to keep them alive while they get their bearings? I mean, if I had my way, I'd much rather keep them from getting in the downed state as much as possible, so if this accomplishes that, then that is certainly fine.

 

16 minutes ago, ASP.8093 said:

The runes are mostly for the tank gimmick, they give you perma-(self)-Alacrity without taking the group Alac trait, and basically double your passive healing due to how the traits triggers. For the group-healer build it really doesn't matter that much.

 

Ah ok, now I can see how that works - I'm constantly doing trickle healing and getting tiny amounts of barrier which all cause Alacrity. That feedback loop is pretty cool. I might try to farm them up myself, I actually toyed around with your healer build a bit in a couple of events, it's very strong. It does way more damage than it has any right to. I need to practice with the med kit and elixir gun more, but it seems very powerful. I've been hesitant to use Mech because my experience has mainly been with Power Rifle Mech (my Engineer was created on launch day, I promise I'm not a FotM) which just destroys everything instantly, and I wasn't sure how that would play out. The build you provided is a lot more selfless, and the damage is still good but isn't "kill everything in 2 seconds" good, and I can camp a kit if I want to lower my output even more. This is also the first time I've used main hand pistol since Scrapper came out, it's crazy to go back to it. Engineer Pistol 3 used to be my favorite weapon skill in the game.

 

Have you tried this with a mace at all?

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

31 minutes ago, Vordrax.5243 said:

Yo this is pretty legit, thank you for sharing. I actually just recently got all of my Warrior elites unlocked. I did not know that the elite Banner rezzed allies, that is actually very cool. I am a bit worried about the inability to heal them. Back in 2012 they played Elementalist and Thief, aka notoriously squishy, and so their formative memories of this game are just dying constantly. Do you think this is throwing out enough defense to keep them alive while they get their bearings? I mean, if I had my way, I'd much rather keep them from getting in the downed state as much as possible, so if this accomplishes that, then that is certainly fine.

It depends on the content you run with them. If you intend to run Heart of Thorns with them, the build I have linked will not be enough to keep them alive if they decide to face-tank things. The support Mechanist builds the others have linked above might be the better choice there. 

If you want to go double save, you can try heal-scourge which is a master in keeping people alive against all odds. The problem I see with providing massive heal is that you teach them passively to ignore their environment and defenses. Active and passive defenses are a very important topic in this game. Mastering these abilities is vital to succeed in the combat-system. Why even bother dodging out of an AoE if you get healed anyway? My build only boosts the offensive and allows quick options to counter CC and condi spam. But the players are still responsible for staying alive. If they walk into a deadly AoE, they may not do it again.

My experience with re-introducing players into GW2 is that it is necessary to hold back as a veteran player. If you spoil them too much, they lose interest due to the lack of challenge and the feeling of having little to no impact to the outcome of the encounters. But that is my opinion. 

[Vordrax.5243]

12 hours ago, HnRkLnXqZ.1870 said:

My experience with re-introducing players into GW2 is that it is necessary to hold back as a veteran player. If you spoil them too much, they lose interest due to the lack of challenge and the feeling of having little to no impact to the outcome of the encounters. But that is my opinion. 

I feel this. That's my biggest concern, and why I don't want to just mow down everything for them. I want to balance helping them learn the mechanics and get back in, but I don't want to leave them feeling like tourists. They aren't bad gamers, they're some of the best I know. We did heroic and mythic raiding together in WoW. But Guild Wars 2 requires a different kind of skill, and I want to help them learn and develop that, not just do it for them and leave them bored.

[ASP.8093]

On 10/13/2022 at 12:27 AM, Vordrax.5243 said:

They won't have mounts of course.

They changed that recently, now you get a Raptor if you own the expansion at all:

 

(From the wiki)

Quote

New accounts with an expansion unlocked will be granted permanent access to the basic raptor mount after they reach level 10 on a single character.

Characters on Play for Free accounts (as well as Core accounts without an expansions) will get a 10-hour trial of the basic raptor mount when they reach level 10. These cannot be dyed.

Raptor Masteries can still only be unlocked in the Path of Fire expansion.

All accounts with a character already over level 10 when this change was implemented on August 2nd 2022 missed this initial unlock checkpoint, but they will get the unlock on the next multiple of 10 level (so, a level 24 character will get the unlock at level 30). ArenaNet acknowledges that this is not an ideal solution and is working on additional methods to offer this unlock to players not caught by this fallback solution. ^[1]

 

[Vordrax.5243]

1 hour ago, ASP.8093 said:

They changed that recently, now you get a Raptor if you own the expansion at all:

Yoooo that is a great change. 10 hours is enough time for them to get a feel for the game and decide if they want to get PoF. Also I've been telling them that the mounts in this game feel way better to control than any other MMO, I feel like the raptor is a great introduction to that.

[mossmere.9503]

I recommend mesmer for supporting new or returning players. Gs for tagging, focus for pulls and a speed buff, sword for evasion, quickness for their buffs, ports, blinks for skips and heals on wells. You're not so overpowered that they don't learn how to play their class.  Works so well for me that one of my new (not anymore! :D) players created and uses a mesmer for helping her partner now. I use this build and switch between focus and shield as needed: Lucky Noobs [LN] - Speedclear Guild (lucky-noobs.com) Adjust build as needed. 😄

[Mell.4873]

On 10/16/2022 at 5:19 AM, mossmere.9503 said:

I recommend mesmer for supporting new or returning players. Gs for tagging, focus for pulls and a speed buff, sword for evasion, quickness for their buffs, ports, blinks for skips and heals on wells. You're not so overpowered that they don't learn how to play their class.  Works so well for me that one of my new (not anymore! :D) players created and uses a mesmer for helping her partner now. I use this build and switch between focus and shield as needed: Lucky Noobs [LN] - Speedclear Guild (lucky-noobs.com) Adjust build as needed. 😄

Yeah the boon Chronomancer build is amazing since it can cover either Quickness or Alacrity.
https://lucky-noobs.com/builds/power-chronomancer-support
I use an almost identical version for my Raid/Strike build.