Difference between revisions of "Druid - Staff/GS Duelist Druid"
Line 40: Line 40:
 
{{Specialization|Marksmanship|bot|bot|mid}}
 
{{Specialization|Marksmanship|bot|bot|mid}}
 
{{Specialization|Beastmastery|bot|mid|mid}}
 
{{Specialization|Beastmastery|bot|mid|mid}}
−
{{Specialization|Druid|top|top|bot}}
+
{{Specialization|Druid|bot|top|bot}}
 
'''Variants'''
 
'''Variants'''
−
* {{Trait|Primal Echoes}} is also a strong option if you don't need the extra cleansing.
+
* {{Trait|Druidic Clarity}} offers more cleansing in case you'd need it.
  
  
Line 64: Line 64:
  
 
==Usage==
 
==Usage==
−
To be added
+
'''Elite specialization basics'''
−
<!--'''General'''
+
* Rangers with the {{Tooltip|Druid}} specialization gain access to {{Skill|Celestial Avatar}} (CA) and Astral Force (AF). You build AF mostly through healing, {{Tooltip|Regeneratio}} from '''Command''' skills helps a lot there. Once the bar is full you may enter Celestial Avatar, flipping your weapon skills over to 5 new ones.
  
−
*Your role is simple: look for 1v1s, keep knocking people off the capture point and root them while outside, then repeat. Win the cap over time without having to kill your opponent. Focus on knockbacks and survival.
+
* Both entering and leaving CA counts as a weapon swap and could even proc {{Trait|Primal Echoes}} while on Staff.
  
−
*{{Trait|Quick Draw}} is a very versatile trait beyond just reducing the CD of your knockbacks:
 
−
** This trait procs even when swapping into {{Skill|Celestial Avatar}} and can be used to get some extra healing out of the build, mostly via {{Skill|Lunar Impact}}.
 
−
** With {{Skill|Swoop}} you can squeeze out some extra mobility from Greatsword while leaving a fight.
 
  
−
*Set your '''pet''' to avoid combat and manage it manually! This is especially important for '''Jacaranda''', because the first attack it does is an AoE lightning strike that does damage in set intervals. You want the pet to begin attacking once the target is immobilized from one of your skills to get maximum value out of this skill.  
+
'''General'''
 +
* Your primary role is to win 1v1s and smaller skirmishes, but you also have the ability to support your team a bit, especially on {{Amulet|Avatar}} amulet.
  
 +
* Staff is more of a defensive set while GS is where most of the damage comes from.
  
−
'''Decap'''
+
* CC is a central part of the build.
  
−
*As a decap build, there are plenty of knockback skills in your arsenal to help push enemies off the point and slowly capture it:
+
* Interrupting a foe grants {{Trait|Moment of Clarity}} and {{Tooltip|Fury}} from {{Trait|Two-Handed Training}}, which synergizes with {{Trait|Remorseless}} for even more damage on your next hit. The best followup when you have these damage boosts is {{Skill|Maul}} on GS.
−
** {{Skill|Point Blank Shot}} on Longbow.
 
−
** {{Skill|Counterattack}} on Greatsword (chain sequence of skill #4).
 
−
** {{Skill|Glyph of the Tides}} which is a utility skill. '''Note:''' normally this skill pushes foes away (which is what we want), but when used in {{Skill|Celestial Avatar}} it'll instead pull them in. Don't use this skill in Celestial Avatar unless you either desperately need to interrupt something or you're not standing on the point.
 
−
** The aforementioned skills should often be used right after swapping weapons in order to reduce their CD via {{Trait|Quick Draw}}.
 
  
−
*Once the target is outside the capture point you should use your many sources of {{Tooltip|Immobilize}} to keep them out as long as possible:
+
* Striking a CC'd enemy {{Tooltip|Immobilize}}s them via {{Trait|Ancient Seeds}}. This can only happen once every 20 seconds. It doesn't have to be you who delivers the strike, the trait will proc even if it's your pet that hits them.
−
** {{Trait|Ancient Seeds}} which is a trait proc. The target is rooted when it's hit by either '''you or your pet''' while CC'd. Try landing hits after a knockback as soon as possible.
 
−
** {{Skill|Entangle}}, your elite skill.
 
−
** Jacaranda's Embrace, the Jacaranda pet's F2 ability.
 
  
 +
* While {{Skill|Glyph of Equality}} is a valuable stun break, it's also a great skill for setting up burst damage - the {{Tooltip|Daze}} is an instant trigger for {{Trait|Ancient Seeds}} and the damage modifier procs from Marksmanship. It's also instant, so could be used even in the middle of casting {{Skill|Maul}} (your pet can still proc the Immob from Ancient Seeds before it lands).
  
−
'''Sustain'''
+
* {{Skill|Hilt Bash}} is the perfect setup for {{Skill|Maul}} and even recharges Maul if it was already on CD.
  
−
*Aside from major cooldowns, condition cleansing in this build is limited mostly to staying inside {{Skill|Healing Spring}}.
 
−
** Being a Water Field, you can combo Healing Spring with skills like {{Skill|Swoop}} or {{Skill|Lunar Impact}} for more healing.
 
  
−
*On the other hand there are plenty of passive ways of mitigating condition pressure: {{Rune|Melandru}}, {{Trait|Empathic Bond}} and {{Trait|Natural Stride}}.
+
'''Pets'''
 +
* Setting your pets to avoid combat and managing them manually would be optimal in order to gain greater control over when they use their opening ability.
  
−
*Out of the 2 stun breaks in the build, use {{Skill|"Protect Me!"}} first unless conditions are killing you. Try to keep {{Skill|Signet of Renewal}}'s passive bonus going as long as possible. This signet provides both passive healing and (by extension) Astral Force building while not on CD.
+
* The first strike Jacaranda does once you swap to it is a heavy AoE with a longer duration, you should always try to land it while the target is Immobilized. Jacaranda itself has its own Immob on F2: {{Skill|Jacaranda's Embrace}}.
  
−
*Usually survival is a bigger priority than holding a point - you can come back and neutralize it in seconds anyway. While {{Tooltip|Stealth}} does prevent capture point contribution, it can save your life in emergency situations.
+
* Smokescale's first action is to do a Smoke Assault. This skill does good damage and the pet stays glue to the target, which is especially great if they are trying to kite you. The pet will then follow it up with a knockdown.
−
** {{Skill|Hunter's Shot}} is the most straightforward way of getting Stealth.
 
−
** {{Skill|Smoke Cloud}} is a combo field created by Smokescale's F2 that you could utilize even in Celestial Avatar while healing yourself by making the pet drop it under you. With {{Skill|Lunar Impact}} you could even stack AoE {{Tooltip|Stealth}} for allies
 
  
−
*Dodge rolling applies {{Tooltip|Protection}}, and Protection regenerates health via {{Trait|Rugged Growth}}.
+
* Swapping pets procs 2 traits: {{Trait|Clarion Bond}} and {{Trait|Zephyr's Speed}}, making pet swapping itself an extremely powerful part of your kit!
 +
** This gives you an instant trigger for {{Tooltip|Fury}} which (through Marksmanship synergy) makes your next attack deal more damage and be a guaranteed critical strike. Swapping pets as you're about to land a {{Skill|Maul}} is a significant damage boost.
 +
** The {{Tooltip|Quickness}} has many uses from boosting your damage to making it easier to get your heals off in {{Skill|Celestial Avatar}}.
 +
** {{Tooltip|Superspeed}} is great for creating some breathing room while being chased.
 +
** The lesser Call of the Wild proc could instantly blast combo fields for '''healing''', '''stealth''' or '''cleansing''' while the AoE {{Tooltip|Weakness}} is yet another source of damage mitigation.
 +
 
 +
* Smokescale's F2 ability is {{Skill|Smoke Cloud}} which could be used to combo {{Tooltip|Stealth}} for you and your team. Both weapon sets and Celestial Avatar have combo tools for blasting this field.
 +
** It's even possible to stealth yourself when downed or sitting in a CC! All you have to do is make Smokescale drop a Smoke Clud and then swap to Jacaranda to proc {{Trait|Clarion Bond}} which is a '''Blast''' finisher. While downed this could prevent you from getting stomped, and makes it harder to focus you while in a CC.
  
  
 
'''Celestial Avatar'''
 
'''Celestial Avatar'''
  
−
*Becomes available once you fill your Astral Force bar, which can be done mostly through healing, and to a lesser extent damage dealing.
+
* Exiting {{Skill|Celestial Avatar}} procs {{Trait|Celestial Shadow}} for AoE {{Tooltip|Stealth}} and {{Tooltip|Superspeed}}. Oftentimes this could provide more valuable sustain than CA itself - when you're under heavy pressure you may not always get the chance to channel healing skills, but quickly dropping in and out of CA for the Stealth and Superspeed (followed by a mobility skill if possible) should be enough to leave your enemies behind and resustain in safety.
−
 
+
** Keep in mind that this proc is '''AoE''', you could even use it to help allies escape or prevent downed players from getting stomped.
−
*Entering {{Skill|Celestial Avatar}} removes all conditions via {{Trait|Druidic Clarity}}. Even if you're not going to spend much time in thsi form, just entering for a brief moment is already a powerful sustain tool.
 
  
−
*{{Skill|Seed of Life}} should usually be used on cooldown. There's a bit of a delay between placing the seed and the cleanse going off, be sure to stand in it when it blossoms.  
+
*{{Skill|Seed of Life}} should usually be used on cooldown. This skill is insanty and has a very short delay before going off, it could be used even while channeling other skills. In fact always try to line it up with {{Skill|Lunar Impact}} for the Blast finisher which cleanses yet another condition (drop Seed of Life ''while'' casting Lunar Impact).
  
−
*{{Skill|Lunar Impact}} is a quick and huge heal which also CCs enemies. As a Blast Finisher this has many other applications, for example blasting Seed of Life's ''Light Field'' results in AoE cleansing 1 condition.
+
*{{Skill|Lunar Impact}} is a quick and huge heal which also CCs enemies. As a Blast Finisher always try to use it in a combo field. This is usually the '''first skill''' druids use upon entering CA because ideally you'd get 2 casts off before dropping out of this form and the CC could buy you time to channel other skill uninterrupted.
  
 
*{{Skill|Rejuvenating Tides}} is very straightforward, just use it to heal yourself and allies if you're not taking too much damage during the channeling.
 
*{{Skill|Rejuvenating Tides}} is very straightforward, just use it to heal yourself and allies if you're not taking too much damage during the channeling.
  
−
*{{Skill|Natural Convergence}} is excellent for cleaving downed enemies. '''Note''': this skill can be used defensively just for the {{Tooltip|Stability}} alone. The channeling can be interrupted by moving or weapon stowing, but the {{Tooltip|Stability}} will still remain - you can use that to safely cast another skill if need be.-->
+
*{{Skill|Natural Convergence}} is excellent for cleaving enemies. '''Note''': this skill can be used defensively just for the {{Tooltip|Stability}} alone. The channeling can be interrupted by moving or weapon stowing, but the {{Tooltip|Stability}} will still remain - you can use that to safely cast another skill like {{Skill|Rejuvenating Tides}} if need be.
  
  

Revision as of 09:31, 23 October 2022

This is a test build. You may comment and rate it.

Focused on: Direct damage, Mobility and Sustain

Designed for: PvP Conquest

Difficulty:
TBD


Overview

A PvP Druid build made to win smaller skirmishes and provide some support for teammates on the side.


Skill Bar

Jacaranda
Smokescale
Staff
Greatsword
Utility


Template Code

[&DQQILyArBTV5AAAAqwEAAOYSAAC7AAAAtBIAADkuAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA=]
Copy Template Code


Specializations

Variants

  • Druidic Clarity offers more cleansing in case you'd need it.


Equipment

Staff
Sigil
Sigil
Greatsword
Sigil
Sigil
Rune
Amulet


Amulet

  • - more sustain and support, lower damage.


Usage

Elite specialization basics

  • Rangers with the Druid Druid specialization gain access to Celestial Avatar (CA) and Astral Force (AF). You build AF mostly through healing, 24px Regeneratio from Command skills helps a lot there. Once the bar is full you may enter Celestial Avatar, flipping your weapon skills over to 5 new ones.
  • Both entering and leaving CA counts as a weapon swap and could even proc Primal Echoes while on Staff.


General

  • Your primary role is to win 1v1s and smaller skirmishes, but you also have the ability to support your team a bit, especially on amulet.
  • Staff is more of a defensive set while GS is where most of the damage comes from.
  • CC is a central part of the build.
  • Interrupting a foe grants Moment of Clarity and Fury Fury from Two-Handed Training, which synergizes with Remorseless for even more damage on your next hit. The best followup when you have these damage boosts is Maul on GS.
  • Striking a CC'd enemy Immobilize Immobilizes them via Ancient Seeds. This can only happen once every 20 seconds. It doesn't have to be you who delivers the strike, the trait will proc even if it's your pet that hits them.
  • While Glyph of Equality is a valuable stun break, it's also a great skill for setting up burst damage - the Daze Daze is an instant trigger for Ancient Seeds and the damage modifier procs from Marksmanship. It's also instant, so could be used even in the middle of casting Maul (your pet can still proc the Immob from Ancient Seeds before it lands).
  • Hilt Bash is the perfect setup for Maul and even recharges Maul if it was already on CD.


Pets

  • Setting your pets to avoid combat and managing them manually would be optimal in order to gain greater control over when they use their opening ability.
  • The first strike Jacaranda does once you swap to it is a heavy AoE with a longer duration, you should always try to land it while the target is Immobilized. Jacaranda itself has its own Immob on F2: Jacaranda's Embrace.
  • Smokescale's first action is to do a Smoke Assault. This skill does good damage and the pet stays glue to the target, which is especially great if they are trying to kite you. The pet will then follow it up with a knockdown.
  • Swapping pets procs 2 traits: Clarion Bond and Zephyr's Speed, making pet swapping itself an extremely powerful part of your kit!
    • This gives you an instant trigger for Fury Fury which (through Marksmanship synergy) makes your next attack deal more damage and be a guaranteed critical strike. Swapping pets as you're about to land a Maul is a significant damage boost.
    • The Quickness Quickness has many uses from boosting your damage to making it easier to get your heals off in Celestial Avatar.
    • Superspeed Superspeed is great for creating some breathing room while being chased.
    • The lesser Call of the Wild proc could instantly blast combo fields for healing, stealth or cleansing while the AoE Weakness Weakness is yet another source of damage mitigation.
  • Smokescale's F2 ability is Smoke Cloud which could be used to combo Stealth Stealth for you and your team. Both weapon sets and Celestial Avatar have combo tools for blasting this field.
    • It's even possible to stealth yourself when downed or sitting in a CC! All you have to do is make Smokescale drop a Smoke Clud and then swap to Jacaranda to proc Clarion Bond which is a Blast finisher. While downed this could prevent you from getting stomped, and makes it harder to focus you while in a CC.


Celestial Avatar

  • Exiting Celestial Avatar procs Celestial Shadow for AoE Stealth Stealth and Superspeed Superspeed. Oftentimes this could provide more valuable sustain than CA itself - when you're under heavy pressure you may not always get the chance to channel healing skills, but quickly dropping in and out of CA for the Stealth and Superspeed (followed by a mobility skill if possible) should be enough to leave your enemies behind and resustain in safety.
    • Keep in mind that this proc is AoE, you could even use it to help allies escape or prevent downed players from getting stomped.
  • Seed of Life should usually be used on cooldown. This skill is insanty and has a very short delay before going off, it could be used even while channeling other skills. In fact always try to line it up with Lunar Impact for the Blast finisher which cleanses yet another condition (drop Seed of Life while casting Lunar Impact).
  • Lunar Impact is a quick and huge heal which also CCs enemies. As a Blast Finisher always try to use it in a combo field. This is usually the first skill druids use upon entering CA because ideally you'd get 2 casts off before dropping out of this form and the CC could buy you time to channel other skill uninterrupted.
  • Rejuvenating Tides is very straightforward, just use it to heal yourself and allies if you're not taking too much damage during the channeling.
  • Natural Convergence is excellent for cleaving enemies. Note: this skill can be used defensively just for the Stability Stability alone. The channeling can be interrupted by moving or weapon stowing, but the Stability Stability will still remain - you can use that to safely cast another skill like Rejuvenating Tides if need be.


Top Streamers

Retrieved from "https://metabattle.com/wiki/index.php?title=Build:Druid_-_Staff/GS_Duelist_Druid&oldid=7349"


Ratings

This build has a rating of 4 stars based on 4 votes.
Log in or register to rate this build.
4 stars
Hanz gave this build 4 stars • March 2023
It's a fun build but there are better options out there. I like the combos with the roots and the extra utility Cele Avatar brings to the usual ranger toolkit, it's not like the build is one dimensional either. Druid's simply just a bit mediocre right now in terms of power level. Satisfying gameplay tho.
3 stars
Quanxi gave this build 3 stars • December 2022
I missed druid but I still miss the return of competitive druid. This is fun to mess around with but if I expect the next game to be hard I always find myself swapping to untamed. 20s CD on cele avatar is absurd and should be brought down to 15 at least, sustain and damage are both lacking. I play it when I want to have fun, I play untamed when I want to win. Maybe one day that will change but today is not that day.
5 stars
Hxrvendile gave this build 5 stars • November 2022
Started Guild wars 2 pvp 2 months ago, i almost only played this build with zerk amulet, i managed to reach and stay plat 2 "easily" but i struggle to pass p3. A lot of counter classes but once you know them you can adapt your gameplay and rotations. Hard to play against really good players
5 stars
Mylittledev gave this build 5 stars • October 2022
This build it's a good roamer option for ranger mains, it deals amount of CC and dmg, you can also bring support and sustain to yourself.

Comments

Get MetaBattle Premium
Enjoy an ad-free experience & support the website, for less than $1 per month! Upgrade to Premium
Builds by Game Mode
Builds by Profession
Guides
Tools
General
Metabattle