Do you use combos?

[moony.5780]

Just wondering if combos are still a thing

[Fuchslein.8639]

I used to have an Ele that was completely designed for fire combo fields. I regularly killed vets and even champs with it in Core and HOT.

But since I started running raids and high fractals, I just used meta builds to onehit mobs as well, but without having to make sure I positioned myself correctly.

That's why I haven't used combo fields for years now. It was rather to avoid these more and more because some things overlapped strangely. Idk how that works nowadays.

[Veprovina.4876]

I only said "in every fight" because on my revenant, mace 2 + mace 3 = area might. So i make a point of giving myself might and do 2, 3 in succession.

On my mesmer, staff 5 + staff 2 = chaos armor which comes in handy so i use that too.

 

Other than that, i mostly randomly combo with other people's fields, but since they're not really that evident upon a glance, you can't really prepare for them unless you're playing with a friend and communicating through voice.

 

But in general, yeah i find combos very useful!

[Tzarakiel.7490]

I use them when there are enough of fields and finishers available in my builds. To be honest many classes just don't have enough of them to make combos a large part of gameplay.

[Jski.6180]

Only self these days there just no point in working as a team with them out side of highly consecrated stealth blasting which has a blast cap. Combos for the most part are a dead tool for gw2.

[Zephire.8049]

The only combo I do nowadays is fire ones (either putting the field down or using one) or combos I can do myself. There's just way too many effects to see what all is there now and people drop multiple fields in the same spot so you don't know if you'll end up giving everyone might, cleansing people, or blinding the mob when it comes to doing things in groups.

 

It doesn't make a huge difference with or without them (minus AoE might from fire fields) so I'm not going to reduce my own DPS or healing for a chance at one (1) good combo. (This being non-raid PvE—combos can be very useful in other content and coordinated groups.)

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

Combos may not be as powerful as they used to be, but they still offer a huge variety of additional options for every class. These are the ones I use most frequently:

- Waterfield combos (Leap & Blast) help with HP recovery in dangerous situations.

- Smoke Field combos can be used for stealth-stacking (Leap & Blast) and blinding opponents (Whirl & Projectile), which allows you to survive much longer.

- Lightfield combo (Blast) is great for cleansing conditions, helpful when you do not run any cleanses in your builds or they are on cooldown at the moment.

- Icefield (5) + Leap (2) on the Reaper is extremely useful, as it generates Frost Aura, which cuts incoming damage by 10 %. Less damage to the shroud = longer shroud-duration = more damage. When I am on Reaper, I always do this combo. Another great use is chaining the Icefield (5) and the Soul Spiral (4) of the Reaper's Shroud, spamming the opponent with chill stacks, pulling down a break-bar.

- Darkfield combo (Projectile & Whirl) for some additional damage and healing. Reaper GS field (4) + whirl (2). If the whirl-skill touches any NPC < 50 % health, it has no cooldown. That means it can be spammed. This can be very useful when surrounded by a lot of enemies or a boss with adds, as you can use this to heal up.

 

Combos always have been something special in GW2. You can play the game well without knowing about combos. But once you start using them, it is hard to let go of such a useful bonus ability.

[Fueki.4753]

It's not like they can be avoided most of the time when playing normally.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Sure, can't help but use them when there are many players around. Either from the fields I put down, or the finishers that other skills initiate.

[KillingTimeZ.5289]

So i said in hard fights because when it is more pressing to defeat an enemy and I have used all my skills and ( I play Necromancer in this situation) I have no life force left I might need an extra boost/bump so I will whip out my axe and start hitting the enemy with that for until the weapon swap cools down and I can switch back to my two hand sword again. Only then can I say I would bother to do a combo!

[Danikat.8537]

I usually don't go out of my way to trigger them, but it would be even more trouble to avoid them and they are useful when they come up.

 

It's a shame they're so hard to set up properly unless you're playing solo or in a small and well coordinated group. As far as I know there's no way to tell different fields apart or to select which one you trigger, so getting a combo is a bit of a pot-luck bonus. Nice to have but not something you can rely on. I'm not sure how that could be fixed but it would be nice if Anet could do something about it, and maybe once that's done make the effects a bit more meaningful. (I wouldn't want them to do that without making them easier to plan, because it would be annoying if they were useful boosts worth going out of your way to get but there was no way to make sure you got the right one.)

[Eloc Freidon.5692]

Combos heighten the gameplay experience. Since I started playing Scrapper so much, it is even more important.

[Nurgle.6597]

Over 5k hours in the game, regularly doing T4 fractals and "What are combos?"

I know they have beneficial effects but I don't know what combo does what or how to trigger them, and honestly at this point they clearly aren't that important

[Westenev.5289]

The only relevant combos are water (healing) and light (condi cleanse), and they're pretty spammable because they are set to important skills you're gonna use anyway (ie. Guardian symbols). Thief smoke fields have a niche use, but powercreep has gotten so bad it's faster to go through mobs than to skip them. Thief poison fields have good utility too, but only because the shortbow has a daze effect.

 

All in all, combos are a very weak bonus I don't put any effort into maintaining. Anet could delete combos and I'm sure many would be none the wiser.

[mikansei.5742]

I only intentionally use the combos a class can give itself, i.e. Guardian GS 4, 2 and 3; Scrapper hammer 5, 2 and 3; Thief SB 4 and 2 if you detonate it early; exploding an Engi heal turret in its own water field, etc. etc. I've never done organized group content serious enough to need to blast fire fields for prestacking might or anything like that.

[Yggranya.5201]

It might happen, but i don't plan for it or around it. Besides, in a massive zerg fest, how could you possible put any of it to good use? In a faceless pile, none of it can be used on purpose. Unless there is some prioritization i don't know about?

[Grand Marshal.4098]

I cant roam or zerg with a group without knowing how to make the most out of my or my team's moves. The moment I see a water field, I blast it, if a fire field is down, ill use it for might and burn dmg, light field cleanses are a basic thing to do. Stealthing is essential for fights. Being unable to perform basic combos is a ticket out of competetive gameplay (wvw at least) in my eyes. How do you expect to play any class and not know that when you drop water fields you blast them, or cleanse burning underneath oils with light fields? Granted mass swiftness or mass aura combos dont see much use, but they are always better than no combo.

[Teratus.2859]

Situational but yes I do use them quite often.

 

Not in group content though because of all the effect spam.. getting your desired effect when the field you want is covered in fields you don't is a royal pain in the donkey.

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

This is an aspect of gameplay that I want to see Anet beef up with the new Especs. Combos are seriously under utilized as a mechanic.

[Joe Schmoe.6981]

Sure do! It's one of the biggest reasons engineer is my main (especially his Elite Mortar Kit, not to mention that all of its abilities have to be manually aimed. I hate tab-targeting :angry: ). Although like others have said, it seems that not everything that glitters is gold (I mostly use water and light fields, with an occasional ice field. I hardly even touch the poison and fire ones). The combo system could definitely use some improvement. ;)

[The Fear.3865]

**Pvp / WvW** : You can't play without combos, the less we are in a group, the more combos are useful. Water fields for sustain, light field for cleanse, fire fields for auras or might and smoke field for stealth, these give powerful effects that can turn a duel or xv1 on your favor.

 

**PvE** : Combos used to be useful, not anymore. Meta is too much focus on aoe, and with 10 peeps squad we can't know which field is on. Combos are triggered randomly and boons mostly came from skill weapons and utilities. It can still be a thing on solo content like open world or story mode.

[Luthan.5236]

Actually I know what they are. And I do think they must be strong. No option to vote for this - when still not using them. I do not want to design a build to use combos by myself. (Might be troublesome and you might to have to use slots that could be used for other traits/skills you'd need more.)

 

In PvE I mainly played open world/story (possible without combos) and only recently (since fractal rush) the fractals up to tier 2. I know it might be needed in higher tiers and could work well with groups that work together. (If some use skils for other reaons already ... that might bring a combofield ... then a group using this together for synergies.)

 

But then I'd actually need to learn all the skill animations and how to see which field actually is used by the other player. :D For PvP I just don't care. Only for achievements and fun. Not for raisign ranks. (Staying on low skill-tier it still is fun if the matches get balancecd by matching you against other sof the same low skill-level.)

[Iskander.6309]

I think most people are aware of combo's. I think there is a small problem with overlaying fields that in group content you arent sure you will use your own field.

 

If I look at Boneskinner strike first off I can barely see the ground. And you dont know what the other 9 people in your team have put on the ground. Chances of you using what someone else dropped instead of your own, are quite big.

 

When I am alone I count on them, when in groups, I dont. (except prebuffing for might)

[erthebear.8109]

Probably by accident in zergs. Character would say a certain voiceline like "Lethal combination! I like it!". Still remember when there was a daily quest to get X number of combos and being in a starting area party with a leader coordinating the effort.

[XenoSpyro.1780]

Might, Cleanse, Heal, Swiftness blasts. The holy quadrinity.