Berserker or Marauder?

[ehgz.4306]

So I have a new 80 guardian. I plan on doing wvw as power dragon slayer build and on metabattle they say to use marauders.

 

I also want to do open world and marauders would be good for that.

 

But I want to to do raid and fractrals. It says I'll need berserkers for that. Again the power dragon slayer guardian build.

 

I'm gathering exotic armor from the verdant banks vendor. the one where you gather airplane parts. I think it's called "blade" armor. Then I'm hoping season 3 of living world comes out so I can get some ascended trinkets.

 

My question is: what to go for first? Would it be better to get berserkers and do raids and fractals to get ascended gear? Or get marauders and get ascended gear through wvw?

 

 

[Pacificterror.7805]

My question to you would be which content do you enjoy more? Sure, you could grind whichever is going to get you the Ascended gear faster, but if it's an activity you're not having fun with, that would be horrible....especially since you're leaving your gear drops up to RNG.

[ehgz.4306]

I picked the guard to do zergs eventually. I'm not even sure if I can join a zerg with exotic armor.

 

I'm not sure how far I can get in fractals with exotic armor, or raids for that matter.

 

But the goal is to get ascended armor from one of these play modes.

 

If I got marauder gear would my dps take a huge hit compared to a berserker set?

[Caitir.6947]

The one to go for first... I'd make it Berserker's. That way you get used to surviving on your 11k base HP for raids and fractals where people typically expect you to be in Berserker's for the highest damage you can put out there. Also because, unfortunately, yes, your dps would take a reasonably large hit from using Marauder over Berserker in that setting. You'll have a lot more HP, but do a lot less damage. 

Now, the things you want Marauder for, that does not have to be ascended. In fact, outside of fractals you don't need ascended for anything. Plenty of people raid in full exotics of the relevant prefix for their build before they can get their hands on ascended.

For open world the extra stats from ascended don't mean much; in WvW blobs you also don't need ascended as much as you hope you have a vocal comm and supports to keep you up so you can do your job. The open-world stuff and zergs is where you'll want your exotic Marauder's.

If you have to pick 1 exotic set now... go for berserker's. Why? Because you can buy a set of exotic on the TP for incredibly cheap (for you, look up "Devona's" on the TP). Use stat select on Marauder's if you're so inclined, but exotic berserker's is very cheap, no reason to have to only choose one since you're already working on getting stat select Bladed armor and ascended stat select trinkets. Berserker stats are very easy to come by. So get the cheap exotic Berserker's now since it's so easy to get so you already have it, then use stat select on Marauder's as you get them.

Edited June 23, 2021 by Caitir.6947

[fixit.7189]

i'd go marauder: zerker gear makes you super squishy, you have to be god skilled to not get downed alot. marauders will give you breathing room to make a mistake or two while still putting out decent dps. 

Edited June 23, 2021 by fixit.7189

[Ayrilana.1396]

I’d go with berserkers if doing a lot of PvE. Marauders doesn’t give you all that much survivability to make up for the damage loss. Besides, the majority of the game requires very little skill level so it shouldn’t be necessary to go with additional survivability. If you do play the areas of the game that require players to play at a certain skill level, it’d be expected for you to use berserkers anyway. 

Edited June 23, 2021 by Ayrilana.1396

[Infusion.7149]

Completely save yourself the headache and go condi firebrand instead of power DH in PVE. You can use condi firebrand in more areas especially when you run firebrand runes. Power DH only fills in a DPS slot.

Power DH in fractals generally is berserker's : https://discretize.eu/builds/guardian/power-dragonhunter

You mention raids, exotics are fine there and far more people ask for condi quickbrand than power DH. T3 fractals are doable with exotic armor, but you need trinkets + weapon ascended to hit 108 agony resistance with a reasonable agony infusion.

If you play power DH then you probably want berserker's armor for PVE especially if it's for fractals, while in WvW nobody really runs berserker on DH.

I think the best way to deal with the health issue is to run marauder trinkets (especially if you use trinkets from living story that only cost map currency) or weapon. That way as you get better then you can swap them out for berserker's/assassin's. Swapping armor generally is more expensive.

The drop rate of ascended in WvW is essentially non-existent so you would be relying on the skirmish tickets + memories of battle vendor. It won't be free.

Power DH in WvW is full marauder: https://gw2mists.com/builds/guardian/power-dragonhunter

 

Edited June 23, 2021 by Infusion.7149

[Ashantara.8731]

4 hours ago, nope.6073 said:

So I have a new 80 guardian. I plan on doing wvw as power dragon slayer build and on metabattle they say to use marauders.

 

I also want to do open world and marauders would be good for that.

 

But I want to to do raid and fractrals. It says I'll need berserkers for that. Again the power dragon slayer guardian build.

 

I'm gathering exotic armor from the verdant banks vendor. the one where you gather airplane parts. I think it's called "blade" armor. Then I'm hoping season 3 of living world comes out so I can get some ascended trinkets.

 

My question is: what to go for first? Would it be better to get berserkers and do raids and fractals to get ascended gear? Or get marauders and get ascended gear through wvw?

 

1. Dragonhunter

2. Verdant Brink

3. Airship parts

 

I don't know how easy it will be to find a raid squad that will take beginners with only exotic gear with them. High level Fractals, too, because of your lack of Agony Resistence.

 

You can get ascended gear from playing Strike Missions, for starters: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Strike_Mission

 

Also, I do not recommend Marauder's for a Guardian open world build, either, to be honest, because you lose damage. Here is the Dragonhunter build I use for open world as well as other game modes (e.g., Fractals):

 

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?PWxAEx3lVUxmaaYhMnyWZjO0L+tcA-zRZYBR9tH8QICiB9UItFo1mCVUV2eRECBPj9wD-e

 

Hope that helps.

 

Edited June 23, 2021 by Ashantara.8731

[Head Kracker.4790]

Honestly I would Marauder since pure berserker is only good for those that have the reflexes and connection to be uber all the time. Marauder gives enough leeway that the theoretical drop in dps is offset by the amount of space you gain from not dying if the alpha is particularly strong. 

 

I personally play base Guard in Diviner armor since I care more about boon duration in my open world pve.

[mikansei.5742]

If you plan on doing WvW, DEFINITELY go Marauder. If you run pure glass cannon stats in WvW you'll die quickly and frequently, lol. Marauder is great in open world too - the vitality gives you some breathing room when you're solo and don't have an organized group with dedicated pocket heals support specs.

 

Marauder exotics are more expensive than Zerker exotics on the TP, so getting Bladed armor boxes from Verdant Brink and picking Marauder stats is a smart way to accomplish that 👍

 

I'd recommend buying a second set of Zerker exotics for starting fractals/raids, though. You'll eventually need ascended gear in fractals, but IIRC fractals below level 20 don't have agony damage, and by the time you work your way up to 20 you should have gotten at least one ascended piece just from drops. (Named exotic armor is generally cheaper than its generic crafted equivalent, so for Zerker stat heavy armor, look for Devona's on the TP.)

 

If you start aiming for a full ascended set, I'd get Zerker, unless you REALLY fall in love with WvW where ascended Marauder makes sense. By the time you get high enough in fractals/raids to need multiple ascended pieces, you'll be running with players in dedicated support specs, so you'll definitely want (and groups will probably expect) full glass cannon offensive stats.

[frareanselm.1925]

When they recommend berserker stats for fractals is thinking in a ideal world where you do fractals with a organized group of friends.

In real life you do fractals with random pugs where everybody thinks for himself and usually dont heal you or support you.

Edited June 23, 2021 by frareanselm.1925

[mikko.4013]

8 hours ago, frareanselm.1925 said:

When they recommend berserker stats for fractals is thinking in a ideal world where you do fractals with a organized group of friends.

In real life you do fractals with random pugs where everybody thinks for himself and usually dont heal you or support you.

I do PUG daily T4s, have never run without a healer, though I have heard of organized groups doing well without any healer.

If you are talking about T1-2-3, then yes, clown fiests happen, cause ppl are still learning basic mechanics.

 

IMHO, berserker (= glass cannon) is the way for PvE pDPS, so that mistakes are more punishing, and you learn faster.

You can get full exotic Berserker armor at Jonez Deadrun's, in Grenth Temple (Cathedral of Silence, Cursed Shore), for some karma (no gold required).

 

Nevertheless, if you wanna play "special niche PvE" (soloing high end content), Marauder/Svaard will be "better" than Berserker/Zojja.

[Fueki.4753]

Unless it's Warrior, Reaper or Herald, I'd always go with Marauder.

 

The additional HP is definitely worth the difference in damage, especially on 11k base HP professions that can easily be killed with single attacks.

[ASP.8093]

Use both. Why? Because it's cheap, and the Berserker gear will cover you while you work on slightly-harder-to-get Marauder gear.

 

1. Buy exotic Berserker armor off the TP. It costs almost nothing. https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Devona's_armor You can leave the Strength runes in it for the time being.

2. Get exotic Marauder armor when you can, via PvE Bladed Armor boxes or WvW Warlord boxes.

 

3. If you have laurels and guild commendations, you can get a full set of Berserker ascended trinkets immediately. (Possibly just get a Marauder or Diviner back item.)

4. Get Marauder trinkets for WvW when you can.

5. Put some Agony Resistance infusions in your Berserker trinkets (+9 in each slot is standard). Put WvW infusions in your WvW trinkets (they are rather easy to obtain).

 

6. Play your character a bit in Fractals, decide whether you want to stick with the Dragonhunter. Get Ascended armor if you do (for the AR slots).

7. You don't really need Ascended armor for WvW or Raids. It's the last bit of optimization — most expensive and least effective. (Don't skimp on weapons if you want to do Power DPS, though!)

8. One set of weapons is probably fine. I use Berserker weapons on all my Marauder-geared characters.

[Cuks.8241]

If you plan to do open world and especially WvW start with Marauder. It will also help you learn in T1 fractals. DPS won't be really missed there. Later you start filling in ascended berserker pieces. If you find yourself getting weak for WvW just go fo 2 sets.