Spellbreaker - Defense GS/Dagger Duelist

The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great

Focused on: Strike damageBoon removal and Mobility

Designed for: PvP Conquest

Difficulty:
Easy
This build was last updated on August 29, 2023 and is up to date for the March 19, 2024 patch.


Overview

A duelist Power Spellbreaker PvP build with a healthy mix of defense and offense.


Skill Bar

Greatsword
Dagger/Shield
Utility


Slot Changes

Utility

For the optional slot:

  • - mix of defense and offense, the CC could set up burst combos while the evasion and mobility are useful for getting out of tough situations and building some distance.
  • - survivability boost that also adds a support element to the build outside 1v1s.
  • - defense against CC and strike damage.


Weapons

  • Off-hand Sword over Shield - shorter duration but more frequently availalbe block, more damage, less CC.


Template Code

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Specializations


Equipment

Greatsword
Sigil
Sigil
Dagger
Shield
Sigil
Sigil
Rune
Amulet
Relic


Equipment Variants

Relics

  • - helps a lot in condition matchups, has great synergy with .


Usage

Elite specialization basics

  • (FC) recharges your Burst skills and . Always try to use it when you can refresh their duration, except if you're under heavy pressure in which case you can use FC purely for defensive means.
  • Always try to make sure Full Counter goes off: briefly move into hostile AoE spells, tank Mesmer clones or Ranger pets, etc.
  • FC is both one of the best defensive and offensive skill in the build as it blocks, evades, grants Stability Stability, and performs an unblockable AoE CC attack when triggered.
  • Both burst skills and Full Counter cost adrenaline. If you only need a little more until you can use them then can get you there.


General

  • Settings: disable auto targeting, otherwise it'd be impossible to use skills like for disengaging. For more tips check out our settings guide.
  • Playstyle: this build is all about weaving hard hitting skills into chains of block and evade frames while tethering yourself to the target with as often as possible. The combos aren't set in stone, rather you'll need to adapt based on what CDs are available. Minimize melee contact whenever you can't outdamage your opponent, dodge/block/evade as many things as possible, and spike targets when an opening shows.
    • Example: from outside melee range dodge to your target
    • Any burst skill can proc , including .
    • , , and are your main damaging skills, everything else is basically a filler or something that's used to set up burst / survive enemy burst.
  • reduces the CD of weapon swapping to 5 seconds, which keeps gameplay rather fast paced with minimal downtime. As a result you won't be auto attacking much unless you're cleaving a downed enemy.
  • Despite its range, is best used in melee to make it harder to react to.
  • CCing a target removes a boon and deals damage/grants adrenaline via .
  • All movement skills remove the Immobilized condition - list of movement skills in the build:
    • Greatsword: and . These two skills also provide excellent mobility both in and out of combat.
    • Dagger/Shield: , , and the burst skill . The Dagger skills are also excellent gap closers.
    • Rampage: , , and .
    • Utility:
  • briefly roots enemies in place after you CC them. This turns skills like and into great setup tools for your hard hitting abilities such as or .


Conditon cleansing & general survival

  • and will be used to manage condition levels before resorting to mass cleanses.
  • cleanses 5 conditions and should be used pretty much on CD, assuming you're missing a large chunk of health or need to deal with conditions.
  • Burst skills cleanse conditions whenever they strike thanks to .
    • Getting Blind Blinded could make your Burst skill miss and thus the condition cleansing won't happen which is rather awkward. Dodging however grants Resistance Resistance via which renders Blind Blind ineffective, increasing the chance of a successful Cleansing Ire proc.
  • provides a steady stream of healing as long as you're landing those Burst skills (F1-F2).
  • (SIO) is both a stun break and a source of condition removal for you and your team.
  • Kite, a LOT. You want to run out of harm's way using mobility skills as much as possible before resorting to major defensive CDs.
  • If taken is great if you want to run away from pressure as it can build quite the gap while providing an evade frame.
  • If taken should be used as often as possible while under pressure. Even at or near max HP the barrier and Aegis Aegis can be useful. Its range is quite large so try to support nearby allies with it too. For a few seconds the banner also works as a light field for your finishers. Using for example creates a Light Aura Light Aura.
  • is the best defensive skill you could have against direct damage but it has to be used preemptively (unless you used it to break stun). Keep in mind that you're still vulnerable to condition damage, CC, and even life steal from skills such as !


Rampage

  • is what you use when you quickly want to burst/CC a target, or desperately need mobility to either chase down someone, or run away from a fight. Bonus points if you manage to attach just before using your elite.
  • CC skills barely do any damage anymore, most of the damage in this form comes from autoattacks and .
  • is a popular opener, allowing you to CC targets from range and then either follow up with for burst damage or to keep the CC chain rolling.


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Ratings

This build has a rating of 5 stars based on 4 votes.
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4 stars
Yerloq gave this build 4 stars • March 2024
Still decent but outshined now by Staff. Less survivable and less group support which makes it very weak in teamfights, but still can duel well on side nodes.
4 stars
Myror gave this build 4 stars • April 2023
A decent Sidenode build. This get outshined by Condi-Berserk right now. But is the better option to hold the Point in 1vX Situations. With its high CC uptime IT IS also a mediocre midfights build
5 stars
Goon gave this build 5 stars • February 2023
Fantastic duelist with good damage,sustain and cc. You can choose between condi cleanse or stability in defense allowing you to adapt to mutliple different matchups. The most recent nerfs have brought it down to a degree that is less overpowered but it is still the best dedicated duelist in the current meta.
5 stars
Hanz gave this build 5 stars • January 2023
The old Strength build but this time with the OP Defense spec. Not much to say about it, lots of damage, unblockable CCs, good mobility, great sustain - the usual. I think Hammer might be better overall but this one does better against Fresh Air builds that are very popular right now, because it can pick up Resilient Roll without sacrificing anything and that makes it harder to blind, while GS skills are easier to land than Hammer not to mention the weapon's harder to kite.

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