How to deal with Spellbreaker?

[Sovari.7246]

I feel like I'm in fights against Spellbreaker tanking way too much on a point and dealing pretty heavy damage on the team with what it seems little effort just wondering how do you effectively deal with them or what class build counters them or any tips on effectively stopping them?

[Mutaatti.2789]

You don't. That's the whole idea. They are ultimate dueling class and you shouldn't 1v1 them with any other class.

Enjoy!

[Loboling.5293]

Quite a few classes have builds that can 1v1 spellbreaker, but it requires that you avoid hitting their counters. If an ally shows up, it actually gets harder ,cause they get more healing when they land their full counters. 1v1 is all about controlling the flow of the fight and starving them of adrenaline and making sure their bursts and counters miss.

I've pulled this off with druid, soulbeast, herald, renegade, DH and firebrand. I don't think all builds cna 1v1 them, but every class should have something that can handle them. They lose a lot of their momentum if you kite and avoid triggering full counters.

[Jeknar.6184]

You turn around and go fight in another point

[Arheundel.6451]

You attack when the spellbreaker has no fullcounter up...you kite otherwise, majority of spellbreakers will just use FC off CD so it's easy to predict them. Again majority of spellbreakers use the meditaton rip boon utility+berseker stanc and endure pain or balance stance...very rarily they will use the resistance stunbreak/utility and full condi clear heal- condi burst when full counter is down the kite to avoid the condi burst to be sent back to you, anyway you see the drill : burst and kite, same strategy used against wars since ever

[Malafaia.8903]

At first i've learned not to trigger full counter, then i tried to deal some damage and realized that when they aren't blocking, they are evading or invulnerable. Now i just run away and look for another fight HAHAHAHAHA

[choovanski.5462]

bait, stow and just be better than they are dude

outskill is the only way you're gonna win

[cursE.1794]

Send the spellbreaker of your own team to deal with the opponent spellbreaker. And don't help him because you're just gonna screw with the fight by triggering full counter.

[Zoltreez.6435]

pull your pants downbend overAnd hope for the best

[Aza.2105]

@choovanski.5462 said:bait, stow and just be better than they are dude

outskill is the only way you're gonna win

Stop feeding players false hope, you know its not true. Lack of skill isn't the issue. SB is busted like most of the pof specs.

[Chorazin.4107]

hmmm so if he doesnt have full counter up, or shield block, or defy pain, or endure pain im good to fight!

[Faux Play.6104]

@Chorazin.4107 said:hmmm so if he doesnt have full counter up, or shield block, or defy pain, or endure pain im good to fight!

Don't forget resistance if you are a condi spec.

[silentnight warrior.2714]

@Faux Play.6104 said:

@Chorazin.4107 said:hmmm so if he doesnt have full counter up, or shield block, or defy pain, or endure pain im good to fight!

Don't forget resistance if you are a condi spec.

If you play condi specs, shield block, defy pain or endure pain dont do nothing. If someone is bombing warriors with shield block up without interrupt it first i dont know what to say...

[jalmari.3906]

1v1 is actually sort of easier. Just boon remove and avoid triggering full counter. Movement impairing condis work miracles while kiting (after you remove resistance). Also try not to waste your moves on shield block. At group fights they sometimes manage to land some nasty full counters because well.. it's difficult not to land any AoE dmg and so on. At least scourge is similar kind of kitten you need to keep the point but you can't coz it's full of red circles.

[Daffan.8924]

This game is a joke now with unkillable bunker guards with ss/s support trolling with their Sb d/gs buddies that dish out top dmg/offense every game.

[Burnfall.9573]

@Daffan.8924 said:This game is a joke now with unkillable bunker guards with ss/s support trolling with their Sb d/gs buddies that dish out top dmg/offense every game.

It's the never ending cycle of "balance"

Power>Condi>Bunker-------->Bunker>Power>Condi---------->Rinse+Repeat<--------------

Spellbreaker isn't the problem, it's Anet not learning is.

"Mistakes Are Not A ProblemNot Learning From Them Is"

until than, Nothing will change

[Yamazuki.6073]

It depends on whether you're the type to use everything on a blocking Warrior or not. It was always funny watching others use their combo on a Warrior that had shield up, followed by attacking through Full Counter and then saying they lost the fight because SB is op, at that point any class with blocks/evades (i.e Guardian) would've done the same. I personally prefer dealing with SB than some of the other stuff, the standard SB build is too straightforward/predictable and results in it losing too much when the opponent knows what it actually does.

[Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582]

@silentnight warrior.2714 said:...defy pain or endure pain dont do nothing...If they don't do nothing, they must do something.

[Impact.2780]

If you hit them while they block, they gain health and endurance, so, don't do that.Full counter is a big clear animation; try to avoid hitting it. This means, learn to stow weapon to stop a cast when they activate it and to prevent yourself from auto attacking, and avoid using skills which pulse direct damage such as lotus swarm and burning speed when the war will soon have full counter ready. Similarly, don't leave things like traps or marks to be triggered by the war after he activates full counter - when you use them, place them so they are triggered straight away.If you do hit full counter, there is a delay before it strikes, so you have plenty of time to dodge, use an evasive skill, block, or use an instant teleport away. Triggering it a couple of times is not going to cost you the fight if you can avoid the hit.Full counter has a low CD so once you see them use it you can estimate when they will use it again.

Then of course there are the tips vs. warrior which still apply. They are dependent on the class and build you use, but it's basic stuff like waiting out berserker stance if you rely on condition damage, condition pressure, or blinds, and waiting out resistance for the same reasons unless you can remove it, and planning ahead for their passives, such as deliberately triggering balanced stance so that you can land an important cc after it has ended.

Beating warrior has never been just about winning "trades," because they are so passive heavy on their healing and defenses, and more recently built for a ridiculous amount of dodges. You need to win trades but also maintain that pressure, because they will recover faster than you.

[crewthief.8649]

A well played Scourge can melt an SB as well, through kiting while applying condis. Of course, a Scourge can melt just about anything at this point.

[Loboling.5293]

I find uninstalling helps, but I've yet to find a solution in-game, other than fighting them 1v1. In groups, they are just pure cancer to fight.

[Derps.7421]

Don't hit into full counter which isn't the hardest thing to do as someone said earlier trade well. Spellbreakers play for the long game they want to do dagger auto and dagger 3 for the stun then full counter. Then repeat. Comboing them after full counter is used is a good way to put them on the backfoot and eventually win.

They are very tanky and dagger/shield gs SB build is very strong but it doesnt put on to much pressure dps like mirage s/d thief and scourge so you can outlast and trade well against it for the win

[Zietlogik.6208]

@Chorazin.4107 said:hmmm so if he doesnt have full counter up, or shield block, or defy pain, or endure pain im good to fight!

oh and be sure to avoid their gap closers, boon rips, and multiple interupts

[Unholy Pillager.3791]

@Derps.7421 said:Don't hit into full counter which isn't the hardest thing to do as someone said earlier trade well. Spellbreakers play for the long game they want to do dagger auto and dagger 3 for the stun then full counter. Then repeat. Comboing them after full counter is used is a good way to put them on the backfoot and eventually win.

They are very tanky and dagger/shield gs SB build is very strong but it doesnt put on to much pressure dps like mirage s/d thief and scourge so you can outlast and trade well against it for the win

I'm getting really, really sick of this argument. Mesmers, rangers and professions/builds which rely on AoE damage or channeled skills cannot avoid triggering it no matter how skilled they are (unless the ranger in question is a soulbeast who camps beast form). Even if you are skilled and have the right profession/build, it very frequently (as in, 50% of the games I play against a spellbreaker) has an animation bug in which the spellbreaker animation is always on. In those cases, it becomes impossible to tell when the skill is actually active.

[Jarettellis.7813]

What I have noticed is most Spell breakers will spam FC (in unranked and WvW). Never saving it for highly telegraphed attacks that are a guaranteed FC.

But back to topic: Unblockables go through Full Counter. If you are unable to not attack a Spellbreaker cause he/she is in your face (I.e. kiting their FC) you can use an unblockable attack followed directly by a HARD CC. (Like just as unblockable attack hits) This triggers FC, rips off the stab, stuns/dazes them and stops FC in its tracks.I've been messing with that strategy on my power revenant.FC up: Phase traversal into Surge of the Mists. Hits them hard, hard CCs them, and can usually than lay into them.With runes of Surging I can usually bait out their last stand trait before hand to unleash full power of the PT+SotM combo. Switching to S/A, Axe 5->S2-> autos usually finishes them or gets them low enough to make them retreat.

-From perspective of a Power Rev Main(Sorry about wall of text)