Willbender - Support Alacbender

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Focused on: Condition cleanse, Boon support, Healing and Crowd control

Designed for: WvW Zerg

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Hard

Overview

A support Willbender build for WvW. Provides a large amount of Alacrity as well as cleansing, healing and boon support. Sustained healing is lower than other secondary supports, but it can provide significant offensive boons ( Alacrity, Might) for a subgroup.

Skill Bar

Weapon 1: Spear

Weapon 2:

Weapon 3: Mace

Weapon 4: Torch

Healing skill: "Receive the Light!"

Utility skill 1: "Stand Your Ground!"

Utility skill 2: Hallowed Ground

Utility skill 3: Purging Flames

Elite skill: "Feel My Wrath!"

Variants

Weapons

• Axe for CC
• Scepter makes Alacrity upkeep much easier
• Shield provides projectile hate, crowd control and protection uptime.

Utilities

• Signet of Mercy
• Sanctuary

Template Code

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Specializations

Honor: Mid, Top, Bot

Variants

• Pure of Heart if running shield can improve healing

Virtues: Bot, Mid, Mid

Willbender: Bot, Mid, Top

Equipment

Rune: 6 Superior Rune of the Water

Infusion 1: 16 Concentration WvW Infusion

Infusion 2: 2 Healing WvW Infusion

Relic: Relic of Antitoxin

Weapon 1: Spear

Weapon 2:

Sigil 1: Superior Sigil of Transference

Sigil 2: Superior Sigil of Energy

Weapon 3: Scepter

Weapon 4: Torch

Sigil 3: Superior Sigil of Bounty

Sigil 4: Superior Sigil of Transference

Main stats: Minstrel

Consumables

• Bowl of Fruit Salad with Mint Garnish
  • Delicious Rice Ball personal food option
• Magnanimous Maintenance Oil

Usage

General

• Focus on using your skills to cleanse allies
• Make sure to have the active effect from Flowing Resolve as often as possible
• Use your burst heal to help during high pressure moments

Overall Priorities

High

• Stability
• Condition Removal
• Alacrity

Moderate

• Other Boon application Might Aegis Regeneration Protection

Low

• Healing

Surviving

• This build has high passive defense
• This build has high mobility skill access
  • Make sure to drop target when using Rushing Justice for mobility
• This build has high active defense
  • While your active defenses are strong, they are ideally saved for your group and not used selfishly

Active defense priority

• Flowing Resolve - for Immobilize
• Dodge
• Crashing Courage - 600 range shadowstep + personal stability and aegis
• Rushing Justice
• Flowing Resolve - 3 Conditions cleansed + 3/4s Evade
• "Advance!" - Aegis + 2 Conditions cleansed
• "Receive the Light!"

Detailed Explanations

Stability

• Apply Stability before allies get caught by enemy CC
• When using "Stand Your Ground!" cover the application by applying other boons immediately after the cast
• Avoid overlapping multiple Stability sources on your party, both your own and other players
• Enemy CC is most likely to land when they spike your group, your group is moving through theirs, or your group is moving away from theirs.
• Prioritize "Stand Your Ground!" over Hallowed Ground since it has a shorter CD

Condition Removal

• Use Flowing Resolve to cleanse allies with Absolute Resolve
  • Be careful not to double tap the skill if not intended
• Use Purging Flames to cleanse in static situation (stairs / choke point) or against enemy well bombs
• Use Cleansing Flame against pulsing condition application
  • Cleansing Flame is a great tool to help allies cross wells/Winds of Disenchantment
• Make sure you're Illuminated before using Solar Storm

Condition Removal priority

• Cleansing Flame/Solar Storm
• Purging Flames
• Flowing Resolve - Absolute Resolve

Alacrity

• Use Flowing Resolve before casting your Symbol skills Symbol of Faith/Symbol of Luminance on enemies
  • Alacrity is shared because Battle Presence interacts with Phoenix Protocol
  • You need to hit targets to gain Alacrity while Flowing Resolve is active
• Daybreaking Slash is an excellent way to apply many hits for Flowing Resolve

Boon Application

• Defensive boons like Protection or Aegis should be prioritized when your group is on the defensive
  • Apply Aegis for enemy ranged spikes
• Offensive boons like Might should be prioritized when your group is on the offensive

Boon sources

• Resistance
  • Symbol of Luminance

• Might
  • Holy Reckoning gives might when virtues are triggered
  • Gleaming Disc
  • Rushing Justice with Inspired Virtue

• Fury
  • Gleaming Disc - when Illuminated

• Aegis
  • Protector's Strike

• Protection
  • Protector's Strike
  • Crashing Courage with Inspired Virtue

• Regeneration
  • Flowing Resolve with Inspired Virtue

Healing

• Selfless Daring is a powerful heal but can easily leave you out of position if misused
• Use Daybreaking Slash whenever you have downtime for healing

Healing priority

• Dodge (Selfless Daring)
• "Receive the Light!" (Can almost full heal someone if aimed correctly)
• Solar Storm
• Daybreaking Slash

Settings

• Under General Options / User Interface check Always show squad health bars and Always show party health bars. These will make it much easier to keep track of who needs your support.
• Also under General Options / User Interface turn on Thick party health bars
  • Thick squad health bars can be used too as a matter of personal preference, but is not recommended for large numbers
• Under Squad Options uncheck View as a grid. This will allow you to keep track of your allies' boons, conditions and health, enabling a better decision-making and skill management.

Tips & Tricks

• Rushing Justice and Crashing Courage
  • They are mobility skills you can use them to go support someone really fast to save them with "Receive the Light!" (or to come back to squad)
    • F1 will follow a targeted enemy or go straight in the direction your character is facing while F2 and F3 will follow your cursor
• Mesmer with Seize the Moment works well in a alacbender party.