The One Open World Build to Rule Them All

[Pirogen.9561]

Its not a "build". Its "you". The best build is the one that you master.

 

I have alts, I tried many builds. Some from some meta web page, some from that page, this suggestions ... all good and also all bad. OK, not bad. It has a lot to do with pushing buttons at the right time in the right order. Builds don't push buttons, you do it.

 

Pick one and learn how to use it.

[Diak Atoli.2085]

> @"Providence.7185" said:

> > @"Inculpatus cedo.9234" said:

> > Aren't you the new player that wanted quick ways to L80 and Elite Specializations to play in Core Tyria?

> >

> > I'd suggest the best Open World build would be the 'take-your-time-and-learn-the-game-don't-rush-everything' build. It's worked wonders for most of us. (I use a mostly whatever has dropped for me equipment-build Ranger with axe/torch, and I don't have issue with Stories or Open World; with very few exceptions [Heart and Minds]).

> >

> > Welcome to Tyria, and good luck.

>

> Yes, that was me.

>

> You might note that with all but one exception (possibly Warrior) that all the answers to my query are elite specs. No surprise there as the elite specs are generally stronger than core. What is surprising is why anyone would question that a player might want to play the stronger specs ASAP instead of having to learn them at or much closer to end game.

>

> That the elite specs are normally only available late is the result of a business decision by the Devs. My goal is to obtain those specs and then play the game through normally.

>

> Thanks for the welcome.

 

Core Ranger, core Thief (using Invigorating Precision), core Guardian (using Monk's Focus), and core Necromancer are not elite specs. B)

[Dante.1508]

Firebrande, Pet Necros of various specs, thats about it imo... The rest imo are really weak and poor, melee is atrocious on every class these days due to conditions destroying the game..

 

Honestly after Season 2 and HoT enemies stacking conditions just made everything unfun to play.. And whats up with every boss immune to everything.. What the hell is the point of CC if everything is immune to it.

 

Druid and Chronomancer are just utter garbage in open world. There i said it.

[Koen.1327]

Condi mirage with rune of tormenting

[ugrakarma.9416]

pickup the Radiant Greatsword guardian, using the Marauder/Valkyrie Variant. is very melee and Marauder/Valkyrie near immortial.

https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Guardian_-_Radiant_Greatsword

[ugrakarma.9416]

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> Dragonhunter :+1:

>

> https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Dragonhunter_-_Radiant_Greatsword

>

> Easiest to learn and pretty much unbeatable in the type of content you mentioned. Does insane burst damage.

 

also if use the Marauder/Valkyrie variant its end any worries about being killed.

[Ashantara.8731]

> @"ugrakarma.9416" said:

> > @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > Dragonhunter :+1:

> >

> > https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Dragonhunter_-_Radiant_Greatsword

> >

> > Easiest to learn and pretty much unbeatable in the type of content you mentioned. Does insane burst damage.

>

> also if use the Marauder/Valkyrie variant its end any worries about being killed.

 

Yes, I highly recommend a few Marauder trinkets for this. :+1:

[Diak Atoli.2085]

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > @"ugrakarma.9416" said:

> > > @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > > Dragonhunter :+1:

> > >

> > > https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Dragonhunter_-_Radiant_Greatsword

> > >

> > > Easiest to learn and pretty much unbeatable in the type of content you mentioned. Does insane burst damage.

> >

> > also if use the Marauder/Valkyrie variant its end any worries about being killed.

>

> Yes, I highly recommend a few Marauder trinkets for this. :+1:

 

Berserker's/Soldier's would be a very good set, too. Probably limit Soldier's to just armor.

[kharmin.7683]

> @"Dante.1508" said:

> Druid and Chronomancer are just utter garbage in open world. There i said it.

 

Agreed. I only play my druid for the utilities and almost never use the avatar. I find it practically useless in OWPvE.

 

I think that, with the release of raids with HoT, the elite specs that came out then were more geared toward raiding content. Just look at how the HoT specs played more prominent roles in raid builds (pre-PoF) than core for the way that their skills, utilities and elites were geared more toward group content than solo content. Just my opinion.

[Ashantara.8731]

> @"Diak Atoli.2085" said:

> > @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > Yes, I highly recommend a few Marauder trinkets for this. :+1:

> Berserker's/Soldier's would be a very good set, too.

 

I wouldn't recommend Soldier's. It would reduce the damage significantly.

 

> @"Dante.1508" said:

> Druid and Chronomancer are just utter garbage in open world. There i said it.

 

Not true! :) This build kicks ass: http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?Pi1AEx3lVw2YdMGWJO0WatdA-zRZYBR9IGMcYlTURQbhQfFQhJQEBaFBlaXkw4PA-e

 

I got it from one of WoodenPotatoes' profession videos. It is **so good**, I swear. <3 I've rarely played through content _this_ smoothly. The damage output is _excellent_, and not just compared to other Mesmer builds. Let alone the CC.

 

I should mention that up until I tried that build I totally loathed playing Mesmer, because there was no decent open world build out there and I don't find Mirage very compelling, because of its pseudo-dodge and other aspects. It's better than any Mirage build, too, by the way.

[thehipone.6812]

Pick any raid dps build. Sprinkle in a little more sustain. Learn how to play it. Bam, done.

Don't rely on crutches like Soldier's or other defensive gear - you're just making your life harder because you will kill much slower. Only time to consider dropping full dps gear for something like valkyrie is if you overcap precision due to trait(s) giving you significant crit chance.

My vote for a brainless, "I don't even have to dodge while destroying everything" build is reaper with wells running spite/blood/reaper traitlines with berserker gear/scholar runes.

[Teratus.2859]

Too bad you rule out Necro, Necro is by far the king when it comes to making a come at me bro! one man army that can facetank most things in the PvE game.

 

As many have said it's quite well known now that Reaper Minion builds are exceptionally good at this playstyle, and as someone who not only has been using such a build for several years, I could argue I practically started it's popularity as mine goes back to Vanilla Necro when very, very few people were running defined minion builds, pre HoT and I also had a short but dominating stint in PvP using it before elite specs came into the game and evened the field for a pvp scrub like me lol

 

Long, long time fan of the playstyle despite many balance patches and refinements made (such as adding reaper)

Still use the build today and it's still one of the most tanky/sustainy builds in the game imo, and one of the few cases where I would say the Soldier stat set actually excells.. as most people write that stat set off as a noob set or something to be replaced.

On a MM Reaper.. it can make you almost unstoppable in PvE, without totally gimping your damage and since Minions do not benefit from your stats (aisde from condis I think) there's no need to run glass stats unless you want a dps MM, you can play tank with soldiers and work with the minions to burn things down at a respectable speed, your damage, your lifesteal, each minions damage and each minions lifesteal.. it all adds up to a decent amount.. nothing close to a pure DPS build sure but no other tank build in the game is capable of this level of tank/sustain while outputting the same kind of damage.. so I guess you could say Necro is the strongest tank in the game in terms of the damage a tank is capable of doing.

[Rasimir.6239]

> @"Providence.7185" said:

> > @"ArchonWing.9480" said:

> > ? Open World and such as trivial by default, especially after the introduction of mounts.

> I disagree with your premise that OW in GW2 is trivial. The Devs obviously wanted a game that is not face-roll. And more than a few players prefer that as well.

>

> If you compare this game to its 3 siblings - WOW, FFXIV and ESO - you find that the landscape here is much, much more challenging - at least generally speaking. To me the World events in gw2 are a blast so my goal is to find a very strong open world build. Thanks for your response.

That's the thing though: once you learn how this game works and get a feel for the classes, open world **is** trivial on pretty much any half-decent build, no matter if core or elite.

 

I'm certainly not the best player, and it took me a lot of practice to learn how to properly dodge, when and how to use condi cleanses, active defenses and similar stuff, but these days I can take any half-traited, half-equipped character and play through all of the open world maps comfortably.

 

The challenge isn't per default greater than in the other games you mentioned, it's simply different. ESO for example is one game I have played on and off since beta, and it's much more challenging to me to stay alive over there, simply because I haven't learned their combat skills and mob mechanics the way I have this game. Once you learn how this game "ticks" you'll realize that elite or not doesn't make that much of a difference.

[Antycypator.9874]

Some classes have enough survivability and skills to not use super-tanky eq.

**Mesmer**

All you need is (it's condi mirage) superior runes of tormeting. Axe as a mainhand weapon. These runes have interesting bonus: _recover a small amount of health after inflicting a foe with torment_. So — 9 stacks of torment for every dodge (if you have 3 clones present) * +/- 171 (base) healing = 1539 heal. It has no CD. How good is it? You can easily solo dungeons, champs, bounties (tested by me).

**Necromancer**

Power reaper is tanky enough, but the best thing for necro is that little heal, which comes from Soul Eater trait or whole Blood Power traitline.

For Condi Scourge there is _Parasitic Contagion_. Lord Hized had a build for ultimate scourge: Trailblazer's Gear + this trait.

**Elementalist**

First thing: more vitality. You can play Auramancer Tempest, it has a lot of stability and auras.

But one of the best build is Trailblazer Fire Sword Weaver. Trailblazer's Gear + 4 pieces of Apothecary (for healing power).

Fire — Earth (or water for more healing) — Weaver.

**Thief**

Invigorating Precision (Critical Strikes).

**Revenant**

There's a lot of life siphon and it's enough to keep you alive.

**Engineer**

Tanky enough to run with full Berserker's Stats. Holo has great healing from Heat Teraphy, Scrapper can generate barrier.

 

But the most important thing to survive is: DODGE to avoid damage.

 

[Ashantara.8731]

> @"Teratus.2859" said:

> Too bad you rule out Necro, Necro is by far the king when it comes to making a come at me bro! one man army that can facetank most things in the PvE game.

>

> As many have said it's quite well known now that Reaper Minion builds are exceptionally good at this playstyle

 

Mesmer clones are superior to Necro minions by far. See my previous post.

[Teratus.2859]

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > @"Teratus.2859" said:

> > Too bad you rule out Necro, Necro is by far the king when it comes to making a come at me bro! one man army that can facetank most things in the PvE game.

> >

> > As many have said it's quite well known now that Reaper Minion builds are exceptionally good at this playstyle

>

> Mesmer clones are superior to Necro minions by far. See my previous post.

 

If you're running for DPS and phantasms sure, clones don't do crap though unless you sacrifice them.

 

However I'd take 11+ lifestealing minions on a tank over 3 clones any day :)

Lifesteal sustain is something greatly overlooked on Necros and often criticized as weak, to which I agree in the sense of a vampire build.

Lifesteal on Minion builds however is great due to the combined amount of sources, specially when combined with high toughness and the Dagger's skill 2.. which is my MM's main healing skill.

Bigger heal and faster CD than any default healing skill thus never a need to sacrifice the Blood Horror ergo more incoming healing/sustain.

The downside being my heal can blocked etc but in PvE that aint much of a problem anyway cause most of the AI is stupid.

 

The build you're using is a good one, I enjoy WP's content too and am considering a few of his builds for classes i'm not as familiar with.

 

[Ashantara.8731]

> @"Teratus.2859" said:

> > @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > > @"Teratus.2859" said:

> > > Too bad you rule out Necro, Necro is by far the king when it comes to making a come at me bro! one man army that can facetank most things in the PvE game.

> > >

> > > As many have said it's quite well known now that Reaper Minion builds are exceptionally good at this playstyle

> >

> > Mesmer clones are superior to Necro minions by far. See my previous post.

>

> If you're running for DPS and phantasms sure, clones don't do kitten though unless you sacrifice them.

 

Yes, I meant phantasms, sorry. And sacrificing clones does very good CC. I love it when fights don't take long. ;)

 

> However I'd take 11+ lifestealing minions on a tank over 3 clones any day :)

 

I am not a fan of minions. You can't control them, they often screw up certain mechanics and complicate things (perfect example: luring the beetles to the nodes in Dragon's Stand, or trying to lure bosses to certain spots). Also, a "summoner" Mesmer has a good enough survivability. But tastes differ, and that's okay - else the world would be pretty bleak. :)

 

> Lifesteal sustain is something greatly overlooked on Necros

 

Parasitic Contagion on my Condi Scourge ftw. ;)

 

 

[Teratus.2859]

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > @"Teratus.2859" said:

> > > @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > > > @"Teratus.2859" said:

> > > > Too bad you rule out Necro, Necro is by far the king when it comes to making a come at me bro! one man army that can facetank most things in the PvE game.

> > > >

> > > > As many have said it's quite well known now that Reaper Minion builds are exceptionally good at this playstyle

> > >

> > > Mesmer clones are superior to Necro minions by far. See my previous post.

> >

> > If you're running for DPS and phantasms sure, clones don't do kitten though unless you sacrifice them.

>

> Yes, I meant phantasms, sorry. And sacrificing clones does very good CC. I love it when fights don't take long. ;)

>

 

Yea ^^ sometimes I prefer to run more damage focused as well, but sometimes I'll get that itch to look a big, powerful group monster in the eyes and say.. I'ma kick your but solo >:D lol

 

> > However I'd take 11+ lifestealing minions on a tank over 3 clones any day :)

>

> I am not a fan of minions. You can't control them, they often screw up certain mechanics and complicate things (perfect example: luring the beetles to the nodes in Dragon's Stand, or trying to lure bosses to certain spots). Also, a "summoner" Mesmer has a good enough survivability. But tastes differ, and that's okay - else the world would be pretty bleak. :)

>

It takes a little practice and is a little annoying in some events that is true.

So long as you can aggro manage them though it's not so bad.

Whenever I want my minions to disengage I'll target something else and 1 spam to force them to change target, using a minion skill also works to do this.

It's also possible to have your minions ganking something while you attack something else if you get tricky with the targeting system and your positioning :D

There does need to be a command to pull them back to you like Ranger's have though, i've been asking for something like that for a long time.

But if there are other enemies around you can manage their aggro, just takes some getting used to.. and imo learning how to do that is what really seperates a Minion Master from a common Mob Ganker ^^

 

> > Lifesteal sustain is something greatly overlooked on Necros

>

> Parasitic Contagion on my Condi Scourge ftw. ;)

>

 

I admit I have not played much Scourge tbh, I like my shroud too much XD but I have heard some builds are extremely good on Scourge :D

 

 

[ugrakarma.9416]

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> I am not a fan of minions. You can't control them, they often screw up certain mechanics and complicate things (perfect example: luring the beetles to the nodes in Dragon's Stand, or trying to lure bosses to certain spots). Also, a "summoner" Mesmer has a good enough survivability. But tastes differ, and that's okay - else the world would be pretty bleak. :)

 

i was used to minions til **DragonFall**, its a hell fest of short-range mob aggro and the map rely very much on mounts, once u dismount to kill something is pain get out of combat there. After DragonFall i dont even think on minions again.

[Dante.1508]

I love how people call open world pve trivial.. yes Tyria was but season 2 onwards was far from trivial.. Go up against 5-10 mordrem or worse forged veterans and see how trivial it is being dead on the ground 24/7.. imo its harder than pvp or wvw because you are 99% on your own..

 

7 years i've been playing GW2 on and off and its still not easy..

[Ashen.2907]

I would say that its not> @"Dante.1508" said:

> I love how people call open world pve trivial.. yes Tyria was but season 2 onwards was far from trivial.. Go up against 5-10 mordrem or worse forged veterans and see how trivial it is being dead on the ground 24/7.. imo its harder than pvp or wvw because you are 99% on your own..

>

> 7 years i've been playing GW2 on and off and its still not easy..

 

Depends on build I guess, Pretty faceroll IMO.

[ugrakarma.9416]

> @"Dante.1508" said:

> I love how people call open world pve trivial.. yes Tyria was but season 2 onwards was far from trivial.. Go up against 5-10 mordrem or worse forged veterans and see how trivial it is being dead on the ground 24/7.. imo its harder than pvp or wvw because you are 99% on your own..

>

> 7 years i've been playing GW2 on and off and its still not easy..

 

to the most necro builds this is just blink of eye to kill. i remember how ppl struggled to fight the pre-nerf soul-eater, struggled unles theyre the pre-nerf Scourge, the pre-nerf Scourge can solo any champion in the game.

[Alexa Scorpionwitch.8567]

My main is a GS Power Reaper. I've soloed core and both expansions and haven't run into much that's given me any problems. As others have stated here, pair it up with a staff for when you need to back off for a quick break. I run Marauder and a few Soldier for the extra vitality and toughness. She's my absolute "go to" for story and open world.

[Providence.7185]

> @"Ashen.2907" said:

> I would say that its not> @"Dante.1508" said:

> > I love how people call open world pve trivial.. yes Tyria was but season 2 onwards was far from trivial.. Go up against 5-10 mordrem or worse forged veterans and see how trivial it is being dead on the ground 24/7.. imo its harder than pvp or wvw because you are 99% on your own..

> >

> > 7 years i've been playing GW2 on and off and its still not easy..

>

> Depends on build I guess, Pretty faceroll IMO.

 

That is the point of this thread. Even Open World here, unlike most other MMO's, is a real threat and that appears to be by design. Clearly, the way to play this game is not to take damage or rely on another mitigating strategy such as the Scourge barrier build outlined above.

 

In a game with quite varied build options, such as GW2, typically a handful of builds outperform even if the lesser builds are played well. Players then typically try to find them. The OP is designed to help discover such builds. Perhaps some find it fun, but I dislike getting beaten by trash mobs, especially in the Open World.

[Providence.7185]

> @"Alexa Scorpionwitch.8567" said:

> My main is a GS Power Reaper. I've soloed core and both expansions and haven't run into much that's given me any problems. As others have stated here, pair it up with a staff for when you need to back off for a quick break. I run Marauder and a few Soldier for the extra vitality and toughness. She's my absolute "go to" for story and open world.

 

Thank you to yourself and all others writing in the thread.

 

A number of people have suggested Power Reaper as a very strong option. As mentioned above I am not opposed to Necro (and elites) generally but simply don't care for the look of the minions. Does your build rely on minions?

 

Do you or anyone else know of a no-minion Reaper build (we have a Scourge above) that can easily handle open world and story without breaking a sweat? Or do all strong open world Reaper builds rely on the minions?