My 2nd video in a series showing 5v5 tournament play with my guild Maven.
This video is the version with my narrated commentary. For the match gameplay with the Vent audio, watch the previous video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=820NbdAk04s&list=PL69AEEF06799051EB
As I discussed in the video, you have to be careful when running a glass cannon spec in 5v5 – especially if you have limited emergency defensive tools – because competent opponents will realize you’re squishy and focus-fire you like mad.
In the video I am spec’d with my “Run and Gun” Warrior build, which has been fully updated to account for changes in BWE3.
Please post your comments and feedback!
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Taugrim's MMO Blog 
Howdy all, I’m Shinjii the Guardian in the tower, and as per request here is the build I used during the final BWE:
http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.3.5.7.19.0.0.0.0.0.54.61.71.56.78.1.3.0.0.0.0.167.0.0.185.189.0.198.200.202.214.0.0.0.10.20.30.10
Runes: Earth x2 | Water x2 | Monk x2
Sigils: Don’t Remember
Enjoy
Hey man,
Did you find lack of sustained condition removal to be an issue?
You have the trait for 1 removed every 10s, and the passive from the signet. The issue with the signet passive is it goes away when you heal.
Well I did run into some issues with Rangers who could stack and re-stack conditions constantly, however unless they spec’d into a full condition damage glass cannon I could use the 100% up-time of regeneration to survive the encounter quite easily. This issue is something that I take into account with my latest build. (Sorry not going to post it until its fully tested at launch)
I had a hard time passing up on condition removal. The spec I ran last Beta, I had these sources:
1. signet passive
2. trait for signet to remove another condition
3. smite condition utility (16s cooldown traited)
4. Focus 4 ability
I like having multiple condition removal options, so I can prevent conditions from locking me down at a bad time. Of course, everything costs with a tradeoff cost.
Your spec provides much more good sustained and AOE healing, whereas what I ran was more of a selfish healer with solid damage.
If there is another Beta event, I’d want to test a few changes to what I had used in the last Stress Test.
So upon further inspection I noticed that I lacked something very important in my build, Something that I changed half way through the weekend which was taking points out of Honor and grabbing IX from 20 points in Radiance which gave me “Using a Signet removes a condition from yourself”. this was slightly (but not always) useless with Signet of Resolve, However While in combat I almost always burn Signet of Judgement on cooldown (Bar those nasty ranger specs, I used it to burn off large stacks of bleed). So silly mistake on my part, that should somewhat clear up the condition issue.
As for selfish healer / damage dealer, I’ve played a tank for over 8 years, so this whole everyone is dps is a bit hard to mesh into. This build is centered around being able to self sustain nearly anyone and any build while sacrificing damage for group support and the pure ability to take up 3 targets at once buying teams valuable time to gain or regain objectives on the battlefield.
The updated build: http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.3.5.7.19.0.0.0.0.0.54.61.71.56.78.1.3.0.0.0.0.167.174.0.185.189.0.198.202.0.214.0.0.0.20.20.20.10
Runes: Earth x2 | Water x2 | Monk x2
Sigils: Still unknown
I was the Ranger in the group, Ryndar, who was on the opposite side of the map from Taug about 99% of the time. Pretty sure my build at the time was something around these lines.
http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.6.4.12.21.0.21.21.1.0.133.134.142.144.151.4.4.1.377.0.0.392.0.0.410.417.414.0.0.0.436.0.0.10.15.30.0.15
I’m pretty sure I was using 5 Krait (15% bleed duration + condition damage) and 1 of something else for the runes but I don’t remember what I settled on.
how viable is healing spring? only good for defending a point?
Don’t forget it provides condition removal too.
right but only in an area where you lay it down so as a mobile tool it is not as effective as running signet of removal
Bringing Signet of removal gives you condition removal every 10 seconds but I noticed I could apply a full 25 stacks of bleed consistently. Most of the bleeds range from 5 seconds to 10 seconds, so if you get lucky you may remove the stack of bleed before its done its damage but as there is no control over the 10 second timer, you may only clear 1 bleed and get 25 more in the next 5 seconds. In that time most will run out (probably get refreshed) before the next time your signet triggers.
You also have the option to activate Signet of Renewal to move all your conditions to your pet (that’s fine as you can swap to cleanse your pet), but then you lose to passive effect for a full minute.
Healing Spring on the other hand cleanses right when it goes down and in pulses (not sure what the pulse time is). With the 30 second cooldown and 15 second duration your getting multiple cleanses in 15 seconds and then 15 seconds of downtime where your not getting cleansed. So for 5 extra seconds of a gap in cleansing, assuming you can fight inside the spring, your getting multiple cleanses in addition to the regeneration and healing.
The other healing skills are the real debate for competing against Healing Spring. Heal as One has a shorter cooldown but it has a cast time where Healing Spring iirc was shorter if not instant. Troll Unguent felt like it had to long of a cooldown (33% longer then Healing Spring and double the cooldown of Heal as One) and the healing was spread out over a duration. Great if you use it early, bad if you use it too late. The catch for me is, when I saw a Ranger use Troll Unguent and they were near full health and the was another target, I would swap targets and come back after the Unguent wore off. Assuming other players act accordingly then your stuck with using it too late and risk death before getting the full heal, or you use it early and waste it.
The other and imo best selling point for Healing Spring is that it affects your allies as well. If multiple of you are fighting at a location, they can walk through your spring and get Regeneration and the condition removal.
I noticed you said people people commented that they would rather hear your narration as opposed to vent. I personally like how you presented this video. Once with the vent chatter and once with your comments. I think a lot can be learned from both the chatter between team mates, and the insight of a skilled gamer. I can understand you not doing it this way if it is a ton of work, but I would like to see more of your videos presented this way, or if there was some way to blend the two.
Anyway, keep up the great work. I can’t wait for the Mesmer video. I am having withdrawals since the last beta weekend.
This is Reosir the other warrior in the group. I was the floater and ran around the middle between the three capture points. The build I used was something like this.
http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.2.8.3.0.14.1.1.0.24.29.35.48.32.50.4.4.42.77.80.83.93.95.97.0.0.0.0.0.0.138.0.0.30.30.0.0.10
Not sure if that was the armor rune I used at the time as that was something I kept messing around with between the different tournaments.
I had no idea you were running such a heavy bleed spec.
Do you know whether the Weapon Specialization trait boosts the damage for both weapons in a dual-wield set or just the offhand’s 4 and 5 abilities?
Not really sure, could be something worth testing.
Tested this during the stress test and the 5% damage bonus goes for both the weapons, main and off hand.
Sweet, good to know.
So the traits for dual-wielding sets work the same as the sigils, any bonuses or procs apply to both weapons.
Really good video from really good players, it’s a pleasure watching you play and it’s instructive too :) I hope you’ll do more guardian videos when the game it’s released and maybe some WWW video too…
Btw i recommend you this builder, which i consider the best: http://www.gw2skills.net/editor/en/
Lightweight, playing the mesmer. I was primarily artillery support throughout.
http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.8.3.12.20.0.34.34.8.0.180.184.196.199.205.4.4.29.0.0.0.542.546.0.559.0.0.575.0.0.588.595.0.0.20.15.15.20
As with Reosir, I didn’t realize you were running such a Condition-heavy spec.
You have a very high crit chance (44%), so you might see better results from Sigil of Superior Earth (60% chance to bleed on crit) instead of the Sigil of Superior Battle (3xMight on weapon swap) for the Sword/Pistol, especially given the high # of attacks with the Sword for the 1 and 2 abilities.
I have played with both sigils extensively, andyou are already starting with a low amount of Power, so your direct damage is going to be low, even if you kept 9+ stacks of Might running consistently. So you may want to go all-in on condition damage by adding bleeds, and this would mask your other conditions as well, e.g. confusion.
Yeah, I was looking at the sigils this morning as I was building out the spec link, as the might sigils were one point of dissatisfaction. Since my bleeds primarily come from phantasms, the sigils of earth would allow me to assist in maintaining / extending the stack in between phantasm attacks. Good call.
I like your spec, had something similar at the start of bwe3, but changed a few thing because bugs. Phantom Haste was bug in this beta did not give the proper amount to the phantoms, it did boost Warden and warlock by more then 20% making warden attack every 4s. I like the Superior Battle in each hand as it also gives Condition dmg cant remember the actual tooltip but it did say the amount, After a few test build ended up running this : http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.8.7.2.0.20.34.34.0.21.180.196.184.199.203.4.4.29.0.0.0.542.546.0.559.565.0.576.577.0.0.0.0.0.20.25.25.0
Doy and Phantom , is where the dmg comes from in this build.
2x 5% Toughness is Condition Dmg
Clones and Phantoms add bleed
Null Field is Ethereal and so is skill 5 on staff = Chaos armor
Bit on the soft side with HP but with SoD, Decoy and Moa felt confident in any 1v1. Did not play this in 5v5 though so it was more for the zerg spvp. =)
Seeing that your build is relying quite a bit on condition damage, I would personally swap out the sword for a scepter. I feel the scepter works much better in a condition damage build for a mesmer in that:
-Every 3rd use of your 1st weapon skill you will apply confusion and summon an illusion
-You can block and blind with your 2nd weapon skill
-Your 3rd weapon skill applies confusion
-You have a longer range on your attacks with scepter vs sword (900 vs 130)
I will note that builds that people come with in Guild Wars 2 seem a good bit personal and may work better for different people. This to me is really nice, as I hope it will stop “cookie-cutter builds” that you see in other MMOs. The diversity that you can come up with this game and still be viable in a way is very, very cool.
Thanks very much for the feedback. I enjoyed scepter on my confusion-based build (prior to the build I was using in this match); there’s really nothing like making someone choose between their actions and their health, assuming they’re even paying enough attention to notice.
Two things drove the choice to use sword as the main-hand, though as you point out this may be more of a “personal” choice.
First, sword-and-pistol gave me some close-range survivability skills as a nice counterpoint to the distance of the greatsword. (To be fair, I’d swap the mental focus implicit in that statement and say that it’s the greatsword, in fact, that is used as an accessory to the sword-and-pistol combination in this build.) Sword #2 is a fantastic skill and provided me with several moments of humor in the face of hundred-blades onslaught. Sound and fury, signifying nothing, indeed.
Second, this build focuses on maintenance of phantasms, which are more expensive and in this case more valuable than simple clones. Ideally, one would wish to have all three illusion slots filled by phantasms at all times. Decoy, sword 3, greatsword 2, and the clone-on-dodge trait are all activated actions that *will* result in shifting illusions in your queue by one slot in favor of the new clone they create. For me, making a deliberate choice (or tradeoff) — say, sacrificing that phantasm because I really need that dodge — is far easier for my feeble brain to keep track of than whether or not my 1 skill just cycled through. (If I recall correctly, doesn’t the 2 skill for scepter also create a clone?) Conversely, if I’m not being forced to make those tough choices (do I dodge, do I decoy), the last thing I want is for a commonly-used skill to be getting rid of the phantasm dps I spent my expensive cooldowns generating. (Also, there are enough “clone filler” skills between sword and greatsword that I can buy time as needed if I’m at zero illusions and my phantasms are on cooldown.)
Again, thanks for the comments. I look forward to being able to test a few of these things out again come launch, and I appreciate both the politeness and reason with which you each presented your suggestions.
Ah I understand where you are coming from with keeping your phantasms up. I can’t believe I forgot that the phantasms would be overwritten by the new illusions, a big derp on my part, and yeah the second weapon skill for the scepter also makes a clone.
This was the build I was running with over the past BWE and found it to be quite fun and interesting to play.
http://www.gw2build.com/builds/bewilderment-mesmer-scepter-torch-1286.html
This build was built around keeping confusion stacked on your enemy while also applying constant damage, or at least trying to.
Using the scepter and decoy abilities, I was generally able to keep at least two clones up at all time. That really helped make use of compounding power.
Another thing that I feel people are overlooking are mantras. While they have a long initial cast (~3 sec?) they can be very useful, with Harmonious Mantras.
Anyway I feel this build is pretty straight forward and pretty easy to understand. I’m really looking forward to headstart because I had another build I had been working on for several days that I did not get to test much, due to lack of time, but I am looking forward to seeing how well it does or does not work. The 25th can’t come soon enough…
The problem with Mantras, even with HM, is that they scale in the wrong direction with combat duration.
The longer the fight goes, once you’ve burned your instant-cast Mantras, the long initial casts put you in a bad position.
Mantras are probably great for short / shorter fights, but not having staying power would be a huge concern to me.
I did not really run into any major issues involving longer duration fights, but I can see where you are coming from.
I will say that people are not fully used to how classes, skills, and pvp in general work in guild wars 2 everyone has a lot to learn about the game, especially myself.
While the mantras I have chosen in that build might have worked fine in the pvp that I did get to try them out in, that could have been due to many factors.
As time progresses these may not work as well for me anymore, but so far have balanced out the build I posted well enough.
Unfortunately I did not get to try this out in any 5v5 tournament play, which is a shame.
However, like I said earlier I really like how each person can make their own build and make it feel personal. It is a true beauty of this game so far. It’s really cool how each person can take the same class and make it feel almost completely different from how someone else plays that class.
I watched this video, and it seems like things happened so fast that your explanations while they happened were TOO sped up. Meaning you had to talk real fast to get all the info in.
It would be ok if you slowed the video down, so you could explain in more detail and still be able to breathe :).
It would be a great video or feature to “break down a fight” instead of watching it as it happens. I imagine a lot of your viewers might be educated in all the ins and outs of GW2 mechanics, but for the rest of us, it would be great to see a break down.
I disagree. I thought his commentary pacing was perfectly in time with the action. I had to rewind once to see that 8k hit on the mesmer but that was it. I’m not saying you are wrong, I’m say that my experience was different so I’m just presenting my view.
Excellent. The best of your commentary videos including SWTOR. Keep ’em coming like this. Your vocal delivery is smooth and engaging.
Hey guys thanks for posting builds!
Yes, thanks Sujitsu, Ryndar, Reosir and Lightweight!
i like to roll with this: http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.3.11.5.0.19.33.33.0.27.54.67.66.61.78.1.1.41.0.0.0.167.0.0.184.189.0.197.198.204.214.0.0.0.10.20.30.10 for similar reasons
Taugrim, just curious if anyone in Maven has played or has any thoughts about the Engineer. I think I have finally settled on it as the class I am going to start with at launch. I had a blast with it today during the stress test!
http://topvp.wordpress.com/2012/07/26/guild-wars-2-build-guide-rifle-grenade-engineer-bwe3/
Good stuff. Interesting build and good game-play. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Tau, I tried out your run&gun build in the stress test the other day. Was an absolute blast. I ended up switching up the 7,8,9 skills a bit from what you listed. I noticed you switched them around between the 2 vids about the build. What did you find to be the better setup? Do you plan on running this at release?
https://taugrim.com/2012/05/30/gw2-run-and-gun-warrior-spec/#revision-history
2012/07/23: updated spec for BWE3. Changed from 0/30/25/0/15 to 0/25/30/0/15 to account for changes to traits. With the addition of Embrace the Pain, the spec now generates adrenaline much faster. Rune of Melandru was nerfed severely and replaced with Rune of the Soldier. Fear Me shout replaced Stomp for clearing opponents, and Shake It Off replaced Bolas, as the spec needed more condition removal