June 2024

Boonstrip Scourge

Scourge can play an important role in any World vs World battle. In large scale fights you provide pressure breaking up the enemy squad through area damage, boon removal/corruption, single target bursts and finally supporting allies by giving barrier, condition removal might and a new addition alacrity. Unlike other necromancer specializations, you have no additional health bar or shroud form with skills that replace your weapons.  Instead you have access to sand shades with skills that can be used if you have enough life force except for Manifest Sand Shade.  Life force can be gained via nearby deaths, traits or using certain weapon skills such as Ghastly Claws , Soul Grasp Some shade skills have powerful effects and can strike enemies near you and where you place Manifest Sand Shade, for example Sandstorm Shroud.  Each shade skill has a purpose…

Power Weaver

The Weaver elite specialization allows for a versatile mobile source of damage, crowd control, and utility in a WvW zerg. Due to the high number of ranged skills available, you will be the main source of damage from a distance, and often the highest source of damage overall in the squad. Weavers also perform well in melee range, thanks to frequent evades and access to Conjure Fiery Greatsword. This is perhaps the most challenging DPS spec to play in WvW, however, once mastered you can be sure you will relish its capabilities. As with other damage classes, you’ll have the best overall damage output by casting your skills as close together as possible, and synchronizing your damage with boon removal and CC from the rest of your squad. The order of skill priority is Meteor Shower then Lava Font and…

Side Mirage

Side Mirage is a duelist build based on to burst your opponents. Side mirage is a duelist build. It has decent impact in a teamfight however it has much more value on a sidenode. Most of your damage comes from under the form of a burst, as well as your staff clones casting Winds of Chaos. Below is the perfect burst, a few abilities can be skipped but Cry of Frustration is mandatory: Phantasmal Warlock precast Chaos Vortex (use the following skills at the end of the cast) Jaunt Mirror Images Cry of Frustration Chaos Armor Note that you can also use Magic Bullet to ensure you hit all of your burst. Between bursts you can use every other cooldown to survive and slightly pressure the enemy. Illusionary Counter should be used as soon as you can as it blocks…

Power Daredevil

The thief has the most access to out of any of the classes. This paired with strong burst damage and access to low cooldown mobility skills makes it an amazing roamer. Use your mobility from Infiltrator's Arrow and Shadowstep to rotate quickly around the map and provide value for your team. You can join a 1v1 fight and assist your sidenoder in defeating the enemy’s one, which is known as the “plus one” or quickly “decap” an enemy node (turn it neutral). Keep in mind that going for a full cap is usually pointless as you will struggle to defend the node vs an enemy sidenoder. Your main damage comes from Backstab. You gain access to this when you auto-attack someone while in . That’s why you should to always stealth yourself when joining the fight. You can blast the…

Power Soulbeast

Hammer Power DPS Soulbeast offers strong burst damage while also mantaining good sustained DPS making it a good pick for any kind of fight! Stay merged with your Pet Beastmode and use Crowd Control skills to upkeep Twice as Vicious. Use your damaging skills right after and during "Sic 'Em!" to maximize DPS during this burst window. Be careful to not get stuck channeling skills such as Brutal Charge or Whirling Defense in the wrong places! When using Path of Scars, try to cast the first one behind and away from the boss, and the second one (right before swapping to Hammer again) close behind it as this will lead to a higher uptime on Twice as Vicious. Try to be at maximum health during your Burst Rotation to benefit from Loud Whistle and possibly Writ of Masterful Strength. Therefore it…

Heal Alacrity Druid

Heal Alacrity Druid is a strong, flexible defensive support that provides permanent , , , , , , and 25 stacks of to a subgroup. This build also brings abundant condition cleanses and high amounts of Crowd Control. Alternate between Mace/Warhorn to provide boons and Staff for healing and . Use Celestial Avatar as soon as it is available for healing, , and application through Grace of the Land. Feel free to stay in Celestial Avatar for longer if you need to provide extra heals. It’s important to keep on your group with a combination of Oaken Cudgel, Stone Spirit, your pet’s F2 abilities through Invigorating Bond, and Glyphs via Verdant Etching. Don’t hesitate to use these abilities if you won’t need them for mechanics. Use Sun Spirit off-cooldown for . While you may be using Stone Spirit regularly for protection…

Trapper Dragonhunter

Mobile, very bursty build. This build thrives on exploiting mistakes from your opponent and bursting them down very quickly. Our goal is to mostly be present in teamfights and focus squishy targets. This build enjoys really high range damage from longbow and traps. Coupled with tons of damage increases, try to tether them with Spear of Justice and kill them quickly. we have sufficient mobility and plenty of damage to roam a bit and outnumber duels, ending them quickly. Knock enemies in and out of Test of Faith. Try to maintain to keep up your high critical chance from Righteous Instincts Use from your many sources to keep off the pressure and save Shield of Courage for when you really need it. Do not use Renewed Focus before you used Shield of Courage, unless you have no choice. Avoid missing…

Power Dragonhunter

Power Dragonhunter is a powerful DPS build with high burst damage, access to , and multiple options to mitigate incoming damage. Learning encounter mechanics helps players use burst windows properly to reach the build’s maximum potential. While the Virtues variant deals more damage, it requires permanent uptime which may or may not be realistic depending on the encounter and your group. Keep this in mind when choosing between Radiance and Virtues. Use damaging skills on both weapon sets in conjunction with Spear of Justice to increase your burst damage via Big Game Hunter. High uptime is crucial to get a 25% critical chance from Righteous Instincts. Having multiple Power Dragonhunters in the same party is ideal as they will benefit from from Symbol of Resolution. If you don’t have other DHs in your group, make sure you are in the…