GW2 The Almighty Gyoin Build.

http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#MMom0zmMoRvhmMRvhoGpp9McRMamR

This is what I have been running with for a long time now, and I can't imagine what else to use. I have given up my longbow and perma equipped my shortbow. I am absolutely loving condition builds, and I have a hard time seeing a better one than this. This is what I use when I am solo'ing, WvW, SPvP, and Dungeons (as long as I am one of only 2 bleed builds). I also occasionally swap out Signet of the Hunt for my Shrapnel Mine Racial for some AoE Control. I also may swap out the axe/WH for Greatsword when I know it will be a melee heavy fight, as it gets AMAZING cleaves and still applies bleeds on crits and sharpening stones, while just obliterates anything while zephyr is up. Also, I can reach a peak of 25 bleeds while using a short bow, flanking, sharp stones and quick zephyr in about.... 3 seconds tops. If I use my 4 ability, I get bleed stacks for my next 3 attacks. Sharpening stones, next 5 attacks. Flanking, all 1 attacks. Chance on crit to stack bleeds. Quickening Zephyr, I attack about 3-4 times a second with my 1 ability. This, stacked with PIERCING ARROWS, can stack bleeds on multiple opponents at a time, so positioning is a must. That's where the elite comes in. Say you have 10+ mobs on you in Orr. I round them up, get them all clumped together, and BAM, everything is rooted AND gaining bleeds. 4, Sharp Stones, Zephyr, 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1, DEAD. If they aren't dead yet, pierce through them with my 5, get a few more 1's off while kiting, and watch the massive bleeds finish them off.

Now, the beauty of the spec also allows for some changes on the fly. Say I need to swap out for a pure damage build since there are just too many bleed condition builds in a party....

http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#MMoc0M0MoTvhMMRvhoGpp9MzRVzmR

Change out for a Longbow / Greatsword combo. Your pet does some more damage, you do some more raw damage with your LB, and with the new spirit and elite you're increasing raw damage by a decent amount. Also, all the allocated stats (except for the condition damage) from spec is still viable.

Pets. I still tend to swap in and out a lot of pets. I use birds for bleeds more some more sustained bleeds. Stalker for might stacks. Bears for survive tanking and condition removal for the party. Wolves for a fear. You can really use any pets you feel you want. Sometimes I use an owl for a chilling slash. Sometimes a pig for shits and giggles. At this point, it's really a "fill in the gaps" for what you want!

Vigor. The bonus I have in endurance regen is amazing. When using the healing springs and gaining off the combo field, I still gain vigor for the time period. It counts as using a heal ability, thus giving me more survivability and the use of more dodge rolls. I also gains protection for a couple seconds for me and my pet when dodge rolling, so more uptime on protection, thus a high sustained survivability. The points in toughness also give a helping hand in staying alive, and I also have condition removal 1/2 of the time if I use my healing spring on every CD.




So. Thoughts? I imagine most people are using a similar build nowadays.

 

Looking at your spec just makes me want to play another alt, but I must resist and keep making gold until I can buy more bags ect. ...must resist urge.

 

It's a "Do everything and do everything well" build IMO. You're not adding a ton of support, but the condition removal and regen from the healing springs is amazing for any group composition. Also, Warhorn buffing and possible pet buffing (looking at you jungle stalker!) adds some buffs for your teammates!

 

I think you missed the part where I was trying to resist the urge, telling more about the benefits of your build isn't helping. :-p

Edit: Spelling

 

*urge ;)

I like it. #3 shortbow drives me mad though, I always misuse it after running longbow for so long (thus I'm constantly accidentally evading back instead of applying vuln). I'll have to give it another go. I admittedly started getting a little tired of my ranger, and now that I think of it, it's likely because I never swapped weapons around much outside of LB/GS-WH.

Do you swap out Steady Focus in sPvP for something more useful? I understand the synergy with Vigorous Renewal, but it seems that Wilderness Knowledge would benefit the build more since you're running two survival utilities.

+1 cookie for you for giving me ideas and wanting to play my ranger more now. Who knows, I might even hit 80 some day then!

 

Something to remember with the 3 on the shortbow. Say you are attacking something and you realize you are going to lose. You start to run away in a straight line. You can use 3 with your BACK TO YOUR OPPONENT, and you jump FORWARD. Thus giving you a little movement/dodge mechanic, a swiftness buff, and you're back on your way. It's called an "evasive retreat" for good reason!

Steady Focus I only use in a group scenario where I'm at max range and most likely not needing to move very often. Like, say, a dragon event. We all know conditions on these events get kinda nullified and you don't need to dodge often, so the flat 10% is handy on pure damage.

The flip note is, I don't really need Wilderness Knowledge when using the pure damage because I take off sharpening stones as well, so I'm only left with my quickness buff that would benefit from the 20% reduction, which would result in a 48 second cooldown vs. 60. Not worth it IMO. You can still dodge, can faster regen on energy, resulting in more stable 10% damage increase, which, again, is high hitting power.

The other solution is to actually TAKE OUT zephyr and grab Lightning Reflexes. Another dodge that doesn't use energy, AS WELL AS grants additional vigor, creating an even higher amount of energy stored / regen.

 

http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#MMom0zmMoRvcmMRvhoGpG0VcRMamo

This is a MILDLY modified version of the build, in which I replace the third passive trait in Wilderness Survival for the first passive trait in Beastmastery. Simply put, the 2 seconds of Quickness actually give you more damage output than 5% increased damage above 90% HP, and it can be trigged at will. I also swapped out the Oakheart Salve for Wilderness Knowledge because Regeneration does too little to be worth sacrificing 20% cooldown on Sharpening Stone/Quickening Zephyr.

Quickness IS the single-handedly most powerful boon in the game. Being able to call it every 20 seconds for 2 seconds, and every 48 seconds for 4 seconds is just ridiculous. You can actually chain them for OMNOMNOM burst.

As far as skills go, I think going without Quickening Zephyr and Sharpening Stone in this specific build borders on insanity. The third skill slot I think is being wasted on the signet here, considering the ease with which you can swap out to Warhorn and use Call of the Wild. Swiftness does NOT stack with the 10% movement speed, as the game only uses your highest current speed buff at any given time to be applied. I am a big fan of Lightning Reflexes for the fact that it grants you Vigor for 10 seconds every 36 seconds. On its own, that's a 28~% uptime, and you can always get another 5 seconds from your healing skill.

Muddy Terrain is a very good kiting ability, and it lends itself particularly well to a piercing shots build with bleeds that stack to no end. Have you tried it out ?

On that note, I'll slip the following comment: Engineers have a piercing shots build that works similarly, except the pistol's basic attack ALWAYS applies a bleed, and you can trait for 33% chance to burn on critical and 30% chance to bleed on critical; the pistols apply poison and burn on their own, and we also have a 5-seconds Quickness Elixir on a 48 seconds cooldown. You can get perma-vigor/perma-swiftness and a longer range to complement it all. You would love the class, I'm sure, since I get the feeling your build and mine play pretty much the same in general.

That being said, I want to roll a Ranger now.

 

I leave out the pet swapping quickness because I typically do not swap pets often. I have pets out specifically for their abilities when I want them, not as a passive bonus to grant when swapped. I keep my pets out for a long time. If pet swapping was still at a 10sec CD, I'd more heavily consider it. Also for the fact that pets may die VERY quickly, giving a 60 second CD on swap, may cause some issues.

Also, the Oakheart Salve change is nice. I like it, but I also like the way it melds in a "I can ignore that poison/burn because I just gained regen" and saves a little bit of pressure. But something to consider.

Also, I tend to kite. A lot. I am also in combat. A lot. If I'm always switching weapons for a speed boost, I feel less effective with my axe than I am with my SB. That's why I tend to use the axe/wh as a passive out of combat thing, and the signet is just handy to have for all around "bonus". I tend to replace it in dungeons and the sort, but always having a passive speed boost is too much for me to give up instead of micro'ing my weapons all the time.

I accept the premise, but deny the conclusion as personal flavor. :P

 

I'd be a complete nuts pet-swapper personally; I just love micromanaging in games, but you're right: at that point, it becomes a matter of personal flavor. I'm contemplating switching to a shield build for the sake of enjoyment at the moment, and I think I just might. I'm tired of this "pewpewpew double pistol", and I really like the idea of the pushback on the shield.

There's way too much to try out in this game, and so many ways to optimize niche builds... I'll never be done.

 

Makes sense, for some reason I thought you had Steady Focus in both builds. Derp. I also didn't know that about the #3, it might become my new fav ability.

 

It turns out I was already running something similar to your http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#MMom0zmMoRvhmMRvhoGpp9McRMamR but traited into Nature Magic instead of Wilderness Survival, and using traps a lot (and going longbow, axe/wh). Swapped over to your spec and using the shortbow instead now, and am enjoying it. Sharpening Stone + Zephyr is awesome with the shortbow once you make a habit of flanking.

What sigils/gear do you run in sPvP? I don't see anywhere on guildhead to choose that (I like their build creator most, but it's lacking the gear options )

 

I have logged off for the night, but I tend to follow a Power, Condition and Precision set, mixed with Earth sigils for more bleeds and runes that increase condition / Bleed duration. Exact names will have to come later

I tend to dodge. A LOT. And gain vigor like a mad man. A LOT. Who needs toughness or vitality when you're untouchable? :P

 

This is a rule to live by.

 

A condition build sounds fun, but I think I'm going to go with a high curst dmg, crit build, at least at first. I tended towards DoT builds in other games, and I want to try something different. I'm digging the LB right now for the bursty dmg, a I LOVE the long range and dynamic targeting.