The most off-meta Zerg build

[Grand Marshal.4098]

I was bored and I thought about my own off-meta build which I run for fun in semi-organized fights/zergs around SM (as frankly it doesn't work in open field).

 

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PKwEkEWosAGGrjxxIxjb6dZD-zVRYBR3WMsTQgDA-w It's this Core warrior with banners/shouts meant to do burst cleansing and empowering allies with a massive +200 Power, +100 Precision, +100 Ferocity and restoring their endurance, as well as generating some might on bursts. Plus rez on Elite.

 

Post-patch I simply drop banners, leave them for around 20 secs, pick them up and drop again to make use of the light field and still maintain the stats on my allies.

 

What about you? Any fun build you've tried that's off-meta but was actually doing something unique for your squad? 

[XenesisII.1540]

Been fooling around with a dragonhunter consecration interrupt build with line of warding, deflecting shot, sanctuary, wall of reflection, sometimes hammer of wisdom or shield/lesser shield of absorption. Get as much interrupts possible to proc sigil of absorption or draining or at least eat away at stability.

 

Was also thinking about a tank chrono or warrior with as many blocks as possible but unfortunately a lot of things don't line up for that.

 

Same reasons, very bored of classes and metas to try something new/quirky, next expansion with new specs is so long overdue...

[Junkpile.7439]

Core necromancer life blast build

[Grand Marshal.4098]

17 minutes ago, XenesisII.1540 said:

Been fooling around with a dragonhunter consecration interrupt build with line of warding, deflecting shot, sanctuary, wall of reflection, sometimes hammer of wisdom or shield/lesser shield of absorption. Get as much interrupts possible to proc sigil of absorption or draining or at least eat away at stability.

 

Was also thinking about a tank chrono or warrior with as many blocks as possible but unfortunately a lot of things don't line up for that.

 

Same reasons, very bored of classes and metas to try something new/quirky, next expansion with new specs is so long overdue...

Just because of how unique it sounds and how it takes on a specific role, it also seems very fun! Like imagine that, spirit weapons outside SoJ? Hammer on Guard? Sanctuary? Obviously these skills may not be as amazing as picking mantras or traps, but it sounds very interesting! 

 

I tried a Core Healer/Cleanser Guard once and I was surprised on how well it could actually heal and provide boons without spec-ing Firebrand. Consecrations + couple of shouts, mainly inspired by the Core Support Guard used in PvP.

 

17 minutes ago, Junkpile.7439 said:

Core necromancer life blast build

I'd assume that's a power build? Core necro sounds like an interesting choice for the current power meta. Would love to know how that operates/functions! 

[XenesisII.1540]

31 minutes ago, Grand Marshal.4098 said:

Just because of how unique it sounds and how it takes on a specific role, it also seems very fun! Like imagine that, spirit weapons outside SoJ? Hammer on Guard? Sanctuary? Obviously these skills may not be as amazing as picking mantras or traps, but it sounds very interesting! 

 

I tried a Core Healer/Cleanser Guard once and I was surprised on how well it could actually heal and provide boons without spec-ing Firebrand. Consecrations + couple of shouts, mainly inspired by the Core Support Guard used in PvP.

 

 

Didn't guards run clerics back in the day for heals? along with the ele water fields for healing.

 

One day I was looking for builds to do strip or interrupts other than the usual mesmer or necro builds, both of which I already run. I enjoy those builds more than being the usual dps or support cog in zergs. Was looking at doing more cc/strips on warrior other than the bubble, and experimented a little with a tempest tornado interrupt build which would probably work well on desert bl lol, worked on a become the bear from norn racial skill since the damage nerf seems to have been missed in the big update last year.

 

Then I saw consecrations cooldowns were getting buffed last patch so ended up with the interrupt shielding builds instead. Can even run hammer for ring of warding if you want more melee instead of two long range weapons, dps or heal gear. Just kinda fun running something different for a change. Even that glyph of unity complaint thread posted the other day sounded kinda interesting lol.

 

Just sucks that everything has been broken down to run "one meta build" for the class with the way combat has evolved, leaving little to no room for other off the wall builds to have a place in zerg fights, all roads always lead back to boon ball now. Fortunately pugs don't have to follow the rules and can run whatever they want.

[Grand Marshal.4098]

49 minutes ago, XenesisII.1540 said:

 

Didn't guards run clerics back in the day for heals? along with the ele water fields for healing.

 

One day I was looking for builds to do strip or interrupts other than the usual mesmer or necro builds, both of which I already run. I enjoy those builds more than being the usual dps or support cog in zergs. Was looking at doing more cc/strips on warrior other than the bubble, and experimented a little with a tempest tornado interrupt build which would probably work well on desert bl lol, worked on a become the bear from norn racial skill since the damage nerf seems to have been missed in the big update last year.

 

Then I saw consecrations cooldowns were getting buffed last patch so ended up with the interrupt shielding builds instead. Can even run hammer for ring of warding if you want more melee instead of two long range weapons, dps or heal gear. Just kinda fun running something different for a change. Even that glyph of unity complaint thread posted the other day sounded kinda interesting lol.

 

Just sucks that everything has been broken down to run "one meta build" for the class with the way combat has evolved, leaving little to no room for other off the wall builds to have a place in zerg fights, all roads always lead back to boon ball now. Fortunately pugs don't have to follow the rules and can run whatever they want.

I actually spoke to a couple of people in my guild today, mainly Druid mains and asked them to elaborate on a build (support or offense) dedicated to the glyph of unity xD

 

Suprisingly, the numbers where there. It's by all means a glorified retaliation, which makes it even more impactful now that retaliation is no more. However, as far as comp goes, I suppose you can only have that many cheese builds. 

 

I'd consider that druid build even more off-meta than our proposed builds. Unless if somehow you squish the cleanse/support role into it and bring the elite glyph into the mix, which I actually regard as a rather strong skill in open zerging/clouding situations. 

 

I don't know much about druid tho, nor ranger in general, so I'm stuck Theorycrafting on warrior and other classes I use more often. 

 

Even tried the Ninja Medic core thief. Suprisingly good, but difficult to pull off. 

[Stand The Wall.6987]

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PeQAQlNw8YasNWKO+LvPfA-zVRYBKGyTUpAQhlgtziemRA-w

big boom

[Jski.6180]

Sadly you still need a core set of classes and builds to fill out that meta need to let the non meta builds to have room to play. The way wvw has been balanced out at this point is some ppl cant have fun so other can. FB is way too overloaded for needed effects in wvw so its both the most wanted class and the most "jail" class and its painful to watch ppl burn out on a game type like wvw because of this bad balancing on anet end.

[Grand Marshal.4098]

Yeah that's the sad aprt, but we can't have no meta I suppose. 

 

Here's another off-meta I've tried: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PegAw6lFwsYLMJWJeqSaPXA-zVRYBBDHNsyIzCo3EQmDQAZA-w

 

classic Protection Holosmith. Instead of Diviner;'s I run zerker and I want to change that, but so far i'd say this build is meh solo, extremely  good in smallscale and quite strong in zerg clouds. Granted turrets can be changed for exceed skills for more defense and range options, but I'm very happy with a semi-support Holosmith, just how I'm happy with more DPS oriented scrappers and support core engis. Basically playing with the roles of which spec does what 😂

[Shroud.2307]

Juggernaut

This doesn't provide much for the zerg, but the utility is there even if minimal.
It's sort of like Reaper in that it creates and cleaves out downs and has high momentum in pushes. It provides a little bit of Stability and Barrier, and is great for CC'ing with Thunderclap, Air Blast, and Elixir X, especially when you get Tornado. Usually I'll pop Elixir X when we're starting to gain some ground so I can knock everyone aside who doesn't have Stability, and they often get downed within seconds after doing so.

Because it has such high Boon Duration and Barrier access this build can zerg surf very easily, and with proper Condi management can sustain itself in the frontline for quite a while.

I don't often join squads so I don't really make builds with the intent to be supportive. I just tag along with pugs sometimes and at least try to have some value outside of DPS. This build is mostly a tagger and bagger, but it's not totally useless either. I often find myself leading the group and clearing the way with enough defenses not to die if I get ahead of myself, which is probably my favorite way to blob. 

Also want to note that with all Firearms buffs this build has 100% Crit Chance, 196% Ferocity, perma-x2 Stability, and typically between 2.9 and 3.1k Power during fights as it self-stacks 25 Might pretty quickly. Also lots of Vigor from outside sources and the Sigil means perma-damage modifiers and lots of speed. So the stats might look somewhat low, but in combat it trucks pretty hard. 1 full Flame Jet is usually doing between 6 and 9k, so you can imagine how fast that downs people with Quickness.

[Grand Marshal.4098]

1 hour ago, Shroud.2307 said:

Juggernaut

This doesn't provide much for the zerg, but the utility is there even if minimal.
It's sort of like Reaper in that it creates and cleaves out downs and has high momentum in pushes. It provides a little bit of Stability and Barrier, and is great for CC'ing with Thunderclap, Air Blast, and Elixir X, especially when you get Tornado. Usually I'll pop Elixir X when we're starting to gain some ground so I can knock everyone aside who doesn't have Stability, and they often get downed within seconds after doing so.

Because it has such high Boon Duration and Barrier access this build can zerg surf very easily, and with proper Condi management can sustain itself in the frontline for quite a while.

I don't often join squads so I don't really make builds with the intent to be supportive. I just tag along with pugs sometimes and at least try to have some value outside of DPS. This build is mostly a tagger and bagger, but it's not totally useless either. I often find myself leading the group and clearing the way with enough defenses not to die if I get ahead of myself, which is probably my favorite way to blob. 

Also want to note that with all Firearms buffs this build has 100% Crit Chance, 196% Ferocity, perma-x2 Stability, and typically between 2.9 and 3.1k Power during fights as it self-stacks 25 Might pretty quickly. Also lots of Vigor from outside sources and the Sigil means perma-damage modifiers and lots of speed. So the stats might look somewhat low, but in combat it trucks pretty hard. 1 full Flame Jet is usually doing between 6 and 9k, so you can imagine how fast that downs people with Quickness.

Ah  yes, the infamous Juggernaut. Have tried it only like, 2 times in smallscale. I expected it to do well in zergs, but I also felt that flamethrower vs enemy PoP scrappers may be an issue. That aside, I belive it deals more than enough dmg to outpace a couple of aegis applications.

[Voltekka.2375]

On 5/30/2021 at 12:27 AM, XenesisII.1540 said:

Been fooling around with a dragonhunter consecration interrupt build with line of warding, deflecting shot, sanctuary, wall of reflection, sometimes hammer of wisdom or shield/lesser shield of absorption. Get as much interrupts possible to proc sigil of absorption or draining or at least eat away at stability.

 

Was also thinking about a tank chrono or warrior with as many blocks as possible but unfortunately a lot of things don't line up for that.

 

Same reasons, very bored of classes and metas to try something new/quirky, next expansion with new specs is so long overdue...

Eh, absorption sig has a 10s cd. Great idea tho

[XenesisII.1540]

22 minutes ago, Voltekka.2375 said:

Eh, absorption sig has a 10s cd. Great idea tho

 

Yeah it was just something to throw in there for a little extra boons and a strip, draining is more useful in this case with no icd.

[Voltekka.2375]

13 hours ago, XenesisII.1540 said:

 

Yeah it was just something to throw in there for a little extra boons and a strip, draining is more useful in this case with no icd.

Precisely. Happy hunting!