Butch
Forum Regular
Posts: 71
|
Post by Butch on Oct 14, 2012 10:23:57 GMT -5
gw2skills.net/editor/?fUEQNAseSlYgqC33RLEfIFRuALFCEg4Hw41jESRGC;T4AZWCnkOpeS5EVWmsEZZzyllMrlIDPmCASometimes I don't have good luck with these builds copying correctly so I'll narrate to help explain. This is a build and armor set up I am working towards, so it's still a work in progress but it's my plan. The basic idea behind this bulid is to cause crit damage and cause burning as long as possible. I like the sword because I can teleport instantly and cause blind. I am partial to the shield right now because I can give protection to myself and allys and when things get a little thick or I need some space, I can put up a dome that pushes back and has a field that eliminates conditions. I chose the heal skill because of it's massive healing ability and passive condition removal. I chose shouts because they provide every single boon possible and I can dispatch them to everybody while not interrupting my weapon damage. I chose Renewed Focus to recharge virtues to protect myself and allys while burning foes. I love the hammer because it does massive damage. While the auto attack chain may take a while, it's worth it. Also, what I found out is that skill #5 creates the same effect that the #3 chain of the auto attack does. So what I do, is 5-->2-->4-->3-->1-->2. I have found that doing that I am able to provide ret for a decent time and then I switch back to the sword. On traits, I didn't put a whole lot into precision so that I could put it into toughness to survive, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about my thinking. I figured that with the 5% bonus to precision from tough, I am able to bonus 65.5 points which takes my precision to 1592. I figured higher precision to help with the crit rate and damage. I won't explain my thinking behind all the traits because most of them are self explanitory. I do like the altruistic healing because of the constant boon provision gives me a constant healing pool. Weapons and armor are pretty self explanitory. Anyway, sorry for the long post but I wanted to explain my thinking behind the set up. Feel free to critique because I welcome any advice to make things better. 
|
|
|
|
Post by Vecuu on Oct 14, 2012 16:04:35 GMT -5
Weapons and armor are definitely not self-explanatory: if we don't know how you're set up armor-wise, we can't really give you direct feedback. For instance, this build will play exceptionally differently if you were in Berserker's, Knight's, or Cleric's gear, and my feedback will vary accordingly. Also, I want to say that this is a build for basic PvE, in which case that's fine, but in explorables, I highly recommend a ranged weapon, either the Scepter of the Staff. Hammer/Scepter+Shield will give you a very similar feel, but also let you back out of a fight when your health gets low. Your 5-10 skills are very similar to mine (in fact, at the moment, the only difference is our heal). Is there a particular reason you're using the Signet heal over Shelter? With Might of the Protector you will gain might for each and every attack you block while Sheltering. Could be really cool.  Finally, as a side note, knowing your Power/Precision/Toughness/Vitality is cool, but Attack/Defense/Critical Chance/Critical Damage/Health is much more useful. If I told you that I had 1400 Toughness, you would be like, "oh that's cool", but if I told you I had 3,000 Armor, you would realize exactly how much defense that is. Anyway, the build looks okay, but, like I said, gotta have those specifics in order to help out more |
|
Butch
Forum Regular
Posts: 71
|
Post by Butch on Oct 14, 2012 17:03:34 GMT -5
The armor I would be using would be Orrian with full Superior Rune of the Soldier and 4 berserkers jewels and 1 celestial jewel. On the sword I would have Superior Strength and on the shield I would have Superior Smoldering. Hammer would have Superior Battle.
I have used a scepter before and I like it, but the orbs seem to be pretty easily dodgeable. I haven't used staff too much because I have been focusing on the hammer.
Reasoning behind the signet for heal was because of the passive condition removal and the higher healing when activated. Never thought about the Might of the Protector, will def have to check into that.
My armor would be 2500, attack would be around 2700, crit chance is 33%, crit damage 55%, health 1600, healing power 195. Also I'm not sure if I mention this or not, but I am only lvl 40 atm so that is why I am trying to get as much info as I can while I am still progressing through the game. Thanks for the help.
|
|
|
|
Post by Vecuu on Oct 14, 2012 17:13:09 GMT -5
We're getting there. Orrian armor would be the style, but I care about the stats  Orrian, aka, Arah armor, comes in three types: Berserker Knights and the bad Precision/Toughness/Condition damage one I assume, based on your accessories, that you're going full Berserker armor? |
|
Butch
Forum Regular
Posts: 71
|
Post by Butch on Oct 14, 2012 17:16:00 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Vecuu on Oct 14, 2012 18:05:12 GMT -5
That's a pretty big change in weapons. I wouldn't typically recommend the Mace with a damage oriented armor.
I think, for the time being, it would be best to focus on figuring out which weapons you like the best, and then matching traits appropriately. It's always going to be harder to make two decisions simultaneously than separate.
For instance, you said you like the Hammer. I think we can do some cool things with the Hammer, trait-wise. For instance, the #1 third chain is a symbol of protection. You can tweak your traits to increase symbol size, duration, or even have symbols heal. The Mace on the other hand, focuses on what I would consider to be more defensive oriented skills. The #1 third chain is a splash heal, the #2 is a symbol of regeneration, and the #3 is a block. I'd say that a Mace would typically benefit from defensive gear, such as Clerics or Power/Toughness/Vitality (commonly referred to by me as PTV gear).
If it's overall damage and power you want, I would probably recommend using the Greatsword combined with Scepter/Focus with Berserker's gear. They have high damage and high utility. That being said, you'll find yourself a little squishy if you want to run Explorable dungeons. For Explorables I would probably recommend Knights gear with those weapons, sacrificing critical damage for Toughness.
|
|
Butch
Forum Regular
Posts: 71
|
Post by Butch on Oct 14, 2012 19:32:08 GMT -5
I was looking at the Arah armor and what comes on each piece of armor. It doesn't really matter which one you get (Armageddon, Arcon, Rubicon, etc) because we just put on our own runes, right? Or are there some other inherent stats ingrained in each set?
|
|
|
|
Post by Vecuu on Oct 14, 2012 19:43:12 GMT -5
If you scroll down at the vendor you'll notice that it sells three different stat-distribution armor types. The runes are easily replaced, the stats, however, are set in stone unless you want to transmute, which is expensive on level 80 gear.
|
|
Butch
Forum Regular
Posts: 71
|
Post by Butch on Oct 17, 2012 11:20:25 GMT -5
After doing a few dungeons and planning on doing a lot more of them, I started thinking about a different way to help the team instead of trying to be the one that does mostly damage. I tried to create this build to help heal, cure conditions, and cause conditions mainly fire. gw2skills.net/editor/?fUEQRApd7elUgCDXGSLEfYFRWBRafAg1CwUwxPepIhUE;T8AZXCrkcp6SZF1WmtEbZ3ytlcrlADL2NMFBFor armor I was thinking either carrion or clerics. I chose the mace because of the ability with the traits to massive heal, having the symbols heal and #3 on the chain heal as well. My thinking with the offhands set up the way they are is with the shield paired with the scepter I would be either right next to or a little behind the group so the SoJ would hit the max amount of people. With the focus being with the mace, it would be close enough for RoJ to hit melee and blind enemies while having SoW to blast in the combo field. *Note: I edited the traits a bit. I took off the 5 points in Zeal and put them in Valor. |
|
|
|
Post by Epicenter on Oct 17, 2012 13:50:12 GMT -5
Healing with symbols is hard to do, because how scattered the party is and people always moving to dodge attacks. I would at least get the symbols is larger trait to help cover more ground. I would also swap between Hollowed ground, Stand your ground or the Bow of Truth depending on what your fighting and don't forget to switch the trait to boost each one. I also noticed the same thing with my build and looked at a more group friendly skill set the other day.
|
|
|
|
Post by Vecuu on Oct 17, 2012 16:47:53 GMT -5
I think Mace+Focus/Scepter+Shield would be great with Clerics gear. Naturally, your burns won't be the most damaging, but, as you've realized, it's not necessarily all about damage. I know Zooey is in full Exotic Clerics gear and she's awesome in dungeons.
When she gets back from her vacation I highly recommend talking to her if that's the sort of build you're looking at.
|
|
Butch
Forum Regular
Posts: 71
|
Post by Butch on Oct 21, 2012 9:14:09 GMT -5
Thanks for the input Sabre. I realized how right you are after doing more dungeon runs. I like using shouts because I can use them when needed w/o interrupting the weapon sequence, but I also like the idea of consecrations. So I will def have to try it your way a few times to get a feel for it.
Thanks for the input Vec, I'll have to give Zooey a shout out.
|
|
|
|
Post by Zooey on Oct 23, 2012 9:35:07 GMT -5
V is right. Mace/Focus or Scepter/Shield is great with Clerics gear. I'm more comfortable using scepter/shield in PvP rather than PvE because shield doesn't seem to benefit the group as much in PvE, imo. Especially in dungeon runs because we tend to dodge/kite more often than not. My primary goal in dungeon runs is to support/protect the group, I use mace/focus and occasionally swap to staff if ranged is necessary. What I enjoy about Mace/Focus is that I'm able to lay down a symbol that not only causes damage but also provides healing as well as begins a combo. Me likes combos! Plus, I don't have to be in combat to use my symbol so I can place it on a player who needs the healing and finish my combo. I run around a lot The nice thing about scepter/shield in pvp is the ability to immobilize/interrupt. If I were to use scepter in PvE it would be for the ranged ability but then there is the staff available for us. Before I left on vacation, my plan was and still is to find my comfort level with the staff. I'm just not comfortable with it yet for ranged situations. In regards to armor. I do love my clerics gear in our dungeon runs. The runes on my clerics gear are Superior Rune of Dwayna to provide even more healing and my accessories are exotic beryl/chyrsacola to fill the gaps in my stats. I'm working on crafting another set of armor that I'll use when I'm not in a supportive role and want to do more damage. I'm leaning towards carrion and a burning build. My accessories/weapons will then fill in the gaps of any weak spots, if necessary. And traits. Honor Trait, Writ of Exaltation, makes your symbols larger to cover more ground. That change would be my only advice atm. Because you are still leveling up and getting a feel for things, your traits will probably change a LOT! Mine definitely did as I leveled up I do love shouts! I can't comment much on consecrations as I haven't used many of them routinely yet, just purging flames. I will play around with others and see how they feel. The great thing about this game is that it's all up to you. You get to find what suits your play style and tweak it to be you-nique  |
|
Butch
Forum Regular
Posts: 71
|
Post by Butch on Oct 23, 2012 10:19:12 GMT -5
Thanks for the help Zooey. I will def try your suggestions. I love the mace for the same reasons. I have noticed the same thing about the traits, almost constantly changing to find that sweet spot but it's harder right now because of leveling up and having things change. That's why I want to try to find a niche I like so I can just trait towards it and prepare for the end result. Thanks again for the advice.
|
|
Butch
Forum Regular
Posts: 71
|
Post by Butch on Oct 23, 2012 15:25:52 GMT -5
I did some more build editing (I love that it can be done on the internet. Gives me something to do at work). I figured I would get Clerics armor, have full dwayna runes and all clerics trinkets. With my stats at 5/15/25/20/5, my attack is 3149, armor 3321, vit 18495 and healing at 990. Still planning on using the mace/focus set up and switched out scepter with a staff and enlarged symbols and gave them healing abilities. Need to finish leveling to test it out.
|
|
