Raid Team Composition
Contents
Introduction
Squad compositions in Guild Wars 2's raids are typically made up of a selection of DPS classes, classes that provide offensive support/buffs and anywhere from 1-3 healers in a 10 man group. This guide will explain commonly used options in each category, as well as providing some frequently-seen compositions and explaining what makes them work. Different encounters may also have mechanics that make certain classes or builds stronger in that specific encounter, including tanking mechanics and breakbars- these will also be touched on in this guide.
Roles
The builds listed are not the only options - for the sake of keeping this guide to a manageable length it only includes commonly seen builds in the current meta and so many builds more than capable of participating in a raid boss kill have not been included. For a more complete list of builds for each role and class see the full list of raid builds and a compilation of beginner-friendly builds.
DPS
The role with the largest variety of options, and also the most variability between encounters due to different mechanics or quirks of each encounter. While typically a player in the DPS role should be focused on dealing the most possible damage to the boss, many encounters will have mechanics that are often taken care of by a DPS role.
Class | Elite Specialization | Link | Description | Notes |
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Weaver - Power DPS Staff | Ranged power DPS |
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Weaver - Power DPS Fresh Air Sword | Melee power DPS |
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Daredevil - Condi DPS | Melee condition DPS |
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Daredevil - Power DPS | Melee power DPS |
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Deadeye - Power DPS D/D | Melee power DPS |
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Berserker - Condi DPS | Ranged/Melee condition DPS |
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None | Engineer - Condi DPS | Ranged/Melee condition DPS |
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Holosmith - Power DPS | Melee power DPS |
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Holosmith - Condi DPS | Condi DPS |
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Scourge - Utility Condi DPS | Ranged condition DPS |
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Chronomancer - Power DPS | Melee power DPS |
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Mirage - Condi DPS Illusions | Melee condition DPS |
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Renegade - Condi DPS | Melee condition DPS |
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Soulbeast - Condi DPS | Melee condition DPS |
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Soulbeast - Power DPS | Melee Power DPS |
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Dragonhunter - Power DPS | Melee power DPS |
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Firebrand - Condi DPS | Melee condition DPS |
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Offensive Support
Builds in this category have significant overlap with Healers and Tanks - it is common for builds to be fulfill both roles. Others builds are simply similar to DPS builds that have swapped traits, skills or gear in order to provide buffs. Typically only a selection of these are used in a squad at once - you can only have so many buffs!
Class | Elite Specialization | Link | Description |
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Chronomancer - Utility Boon Support | Provides large amounts of ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Chronomancer - Minstrels Tank | Tankier version of Chronomancer - Utility Boon Support | ||
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Druid - Boon Support Healer | Might} and ![]() ![]() |
Druid - Boon Support Condi DPS | Capable of providing a similar range of boons and the same unique damage buffs and stat aura as Druid - Boon Support Healer while doing significantly higher damage (but less healing) | ||
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None | Warrior - Power Bannerslave | Provides unique damage buffs through banners - and and a passive stat aura - in addition to a large amount of CC. |
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Berserker - Condi Bannerslave | Provides unique damage buffs through banners - and and a passive stat aura - | |
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Renegade - Boon Support Power DPS | Provides large amounts of ![]() ![]() |
Renegade - Boon Support Healer | Provides large amounts of ![]() ![]() | ||
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Firebrand - Quickness Support Condi DPS | Provides large amounts of ![]() ![]() |
Firebrand - Quickness Support Power DPS | Provides large amounts of ![]() ![]() |
Healers
As you will notice, almost all of the healing builds also provide some degree of offensive support leading to a lot of overlap in the two categories. Many groups use 2 healers for all encounters, with more experienced groups opting to run fewer healers. Less experienced groups may choose to take an additional healer for encounters with high incoming damage pressure.
Class | Elite Specialization | Link | Description |
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Druid - Boon Support Healer | Provides a wide range of boons and unique offensive buffs and strong healing while in . Healing output drops significantly while not in . Can bring large amounts of CC to help with breakbars. |
Druid - Boon Support Condi DPS | Provides similar range of boons to Druid - Boon Support Healer, capable of strong general DPS and moderate heals while in but has only very minor heals outside of . Can bring large amounts of CC to help with breakbars. | ||
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Renegade - Boon Support Healer | Unparalleled burst healing abilities, can also provide frequent condition cleanse and good offensive support. Offers large amounts of CC to help with breakbars. |
Renegade - Boon Support Power DPS | Sacrifices a large amount of the healing of Renegade - Boon Support Healer for significantly increased DPS potential. | ||
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Tempest - Support Healer | Unparalleled sustained healing with very little effort required, strong defensive boon generation and condition cleansing. Amazing revival capabilities thanks to but almost no DPS or CC capabilities. |
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Scourge - Support Healer | Strong barrier generation and AoE revives with the and combo makes this build another good option for groups that are having issues with downstates. Can also be adapted to provide 25 might to the party. |
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Firebrand - Support Healer | High healing and frequent access to defensive boons like ![]() ![]() |
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Scrapper - Support Healer | Possesses extremely high healing, condition cleanse, and CC capabilities, albeit little in the way of boon support. |
Tanking
Due to the need to run toughness on their gear in order to gain access to boon duration as well as the very high amount of blocks, evades and invulnerability available to them, chronomancers are almost always designated as the tank in encounters with a tank mechanic.
Class | Elite Specialization | Link | Notes |
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Chronomancer - Utility Boon Support | Default tanking setup. Make sure to replace berserker gear with knights until you have sufficient toughness to maintain aggro. |
Chronomancer - Minstrels Tank | Provides significantly increased sustain at the cost of almost all of your potential DPS, should only be used in encounters where you are struggling to stay alive as the tank due to significant incoming damage pressure. |
Goals of designing a raid team
Before beginning to think about how these builds come together, it is important to understand the basics that should be present in a raid squad:
- Boons and Buffs
A well-built raid squad should be able to maintain the following buffs on all 10 members:
As laid out earlier in the guide, these all have multiple sources, so there isn't a set in stone method of how they can be provided to your squad. You will also often maintain other miscellaneous (but often important) boons such as Swiftness,
Vigor and
Regeneration as a side-product of having classes that provide the primary offensive buffs, so you shouldn't need to specifically find a source for them.
It is also highly recommended that you include at least one Warrior (typically a Berserker - Condi Bannerslave) and one Ranger of some variety (typically a Druid - Boon Support Healer) in your squad so that they can provide the following unique and powerful group DPS buffs:
Finally, there are several stat auras available that are a nice bonus to have but are not essential buffs, and depending on whether your DPS classes are primarily Condition or Power based some may have little effect:
- - Found in Warrior's Tactics specialization
- - Found in Ranger's Skirmishing specialization
- - Found in Revenant's Devastation specialization
If at least one of these classes is in your squad they should generally be expected to provide the buff, however be sure not to double-up on them in the same subsquad, since multiple sources of the same buff do not stack! Try to organise your subgroups so that everyone is able to gain the maximum benefit from the buffs - power DPS classes should be paired with , and if possible.
- Healing
All encounters can be completed with only one dedicated healer, but generally groups will take two healers in order to provide a safety net, as a single healer will struggle to heal a 10-man squad through any failed mechanics. Any of the Healer builds listed earlier in the guide can provide ample group healing.
- CC
A lot of Raid mechanics revolve around breaking Bosses breakbars. Try to not use too many CC skills as to not cripple your DPS but make sure the bar still gets broken fast enough. The CC readily available to each build is generally listed on its build page, and a detailed explanation of all CC options can be found on the official wiki. The amount needed varies from encounter to encounter,
- Vulnerability
Maintaining 25 stacks of Vulnerability is important for a raid team, as it provides a very large damage boost for everyone in the squad. Many compositions will be able to maintain 25 vulnerability naturally, especially if you're running Power Holosmiths, Dragonhunters, Renegades, or Soulbeasts. However, if you find your squad isn't able to maintain 25 vulnerability on the boss during encounters a Druid should equip - no further changes are necessary as Storm Spirit by itself is enough to maintain 25 vulnerability as long as everyone is in range of the spirit and hitting the boss
Common Compositions
These are some commonly used compositions that are able to generate ample offensive support, healing and CC when played well. DPS slots can generally be filled with any DPS class, encounter specific suggestions for DPS roles will be discussed in the next section.
Double Druid, Double Chronomancer
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DPS | DPS |
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DPS | DPS | DPS |
One of the most common compositions in less organised groups, or in groups that want a safe clear with the utility of two druids. With this setup it is less important for the druids to have boon duration on their gear, as they are able to alternate usage to maintain might. Try to put any power DPS players you may have into the same subsquad as the warrior so they can benefit from . If the healing from the second druid is unnecessary they can swap to Druid - Boon Support Condi DPS. Be sure to coordinate tanking responsibilities between the two chronomancers.
Single Druid, Double Chronomancer
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DPS | DPS | DPS |
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DPS | DPS | DPS |
A variation of the first team composition that has a higher team DPS but lower healing, commonly used in groups with a high level of coordination and familiarity with the encounters. It is important for the druid to have a close to 100% boon duration as possible in order to be able to maintain might across the squad. If additional healing is required, particularly for high pressure fights, a DPS player should swap to Druid - Boon Support Condi DPS to provide additional healing.
Renegade/Firebrand/Chrono Hybrid
A squad composition that replaces the role of a chronomancer with a firebrand to provide quickness and a renegade to provide alacrity in one subgroup. On encounters with low damage pressure the druid can swap to Druid - Boon Support Condi DPS's traveller rune variant to provide higher damage while maintaining a similar might output.
Firebrand/Renegade Offensive Support
A squad composition that forgoes a Chronomancer entirely in favour of two Firebrands and one Renegade, in which the Firebrands are able to provide quickness to their subgroup, the Renegade alacrity to the whole squad with , and the Druid providing Might and spirits.
- Who should go in which subgroup?
While you want to share buffs to as many players in the squad as possible, it should be noted that not all builds benefit equally from certain buffs. , for example, is not very useful to builds such as Dragonhunter - Power DPS or Holosmith - Power DPS, which both easily reach 100% critical chance without Spotter. In this case, if you are running solo druid, you should put them in the subgroup without it as other classes will benefit more from it, such as Weaver - Power DPS Fresh Air Sword or Daredevil - Power DPS.
In general condi DPS will not benefit from , , or , so depending on the boss they can either drop them, or make sure to put them in the subgroup with DPS that will benefit the most from each of them. In such cases where you have little to no power DPS at all in the squad, Berserker - Condi Bannerslave can drop Tactics for Discipline, providing a much bigger DPS boost than would to Condi DPS, and Renegade - Condi DPS can drop Devastation for Invocation, again providing a much bigger DPS boost than .
Encounter-Specific Suggestions
Each raid encounter has a range of mechanics and quirks that favor certain builds over others, particularly when it comes to the DPS classes you bring in your squad. Typically the core of the squad's offensive support, healers and tanks will remain the same between each encounter, while DPS classes may change build (or in some cases even role). It is important to note that this section is not a strict guide, and you can clear all encounters with only a single DPS build available to you.
Spirit Vale
Vale Guardian
- Some portion of your DPS builds should be capable of doing most (or ideally all) of their rotation at range due to the green circle mechanic.
- Alternatively, your healers should be capable of burst healing if your group is doing the no greens strategy.
- Vale Guardian's very low armour rating means that in general power builds will deal higher DPS than condition builds, however it is still important to have at least one condition-based DPS build in your squad due to the Red Guardian's extremely high toughness.
Gorseval
- If you plan on intentionally not breaking the breakbar you may want to avoid DPS rotations that involve a large number of individual hits in rapid succession due to the
Retaliation Gorseval gains while it is up.
- AoE immobilizes such as may be useful during the split phases.
- If your group is doing no updrafts, burstier DPS builds will probably have an easier time achieving it.
Sabetha the Saboteur
- DPS builds with long ramp up (such as Mirage - Condi DPS Chaos) or force movement in their rotation (such as Daredevil - Condi DPS should not be assigned to do cannons since they'll take a very long time or have a high risk of falling off the platform and dying.
Salvation Pass
Slothasor
- Condition-based DPS builds are weakened by the frequent condition clears Slothasor will do to itself throughout the fight, especially following the changes in the 12/12/17 patch that increased the DPS ramp up of condition builds.
- An AoE condition cleanse or stunbreak is essential to mitigate the fear attack that occurs following each breakbar.
- Projectile mitigation such as or may be useful if the Slubling adds are not being pulled on to the boss to be cleaved.
Bandit Trio
- DPS builds with low amounts of AoE damage are very weak on this fight due to the large number of trash mobs that need to be dealt with.
- If your group is struggling to deal with all the trash mobs you may find a Scourge - Utility Condi DPS with useful.
Matthias Gabrel
- DPS builds that rely on the boss standing in pulsing damage fields for a large amount of their DPS output such as Weaver - Power DPS are weak in this encounter due to the unpredictable movements that Matthias will have throughout the fight.
- Due to the large amount of incoming damage pressure it may be useful to swap a DPS build for a 2nd (or 3rd) healer - Tempest - Support Healer is especially useful here due to the large amount of pulsing healing it provides.
Stronghold of the Faithful
Escort
- DPS builds with low amounts of AoE damage are very weak on this fight due to the large number of trash mobs that need to be dealt with.
- If your group is struggling to deal with all the trash mobs you may find a Scourge - Condi DPS with useful.
- It is useful to have sources of
Immobilize to prevent the Warg Bloodhounds from reaching (and subsequently one-shotting) Glenna. You may want to assign a DPS build with easy access to
Immobilize to be responsible for solo-killing the Warg Bloodhounds that spawn near the starting location of the encounter.
Keep Construct
- Condition-based DPS builds are very weak in this encounter due to the mechanics of the fight dictating that most of the damage to Keep Construct will be dealt during the short phases while it has the Compromised debuff. Especially following the changes in the 12/12/17 patch condition builds are unable to adequately ramp up their DPS during these phases, which drastically increases the difficulty of the fight.
- provides a considerable increase to power-based DPS builds in this encounter because it increases your damage to Keep Construct while it has the Compromised debuff.
Xera
- DPS builds with strong AoE damage are very useful in this encounter to clear Bloodstone Shards and the dangerous trash mobs that spawn.
- Condition-based DPS builds are less desirable in this encounter due to the Bloodstone Shards converting all the conditions on Xera into boons when she steps into them, providing her with deadly buffs and forcing them to re-start their ramp up.
Bastion of the Penitent
Cairn the Indomitable
- You may want to bring an additional healer in the place of a DPS build to take the Shared Agony mechanic away from the group while being able to sustain itself.
- Another option is having 3 Scourge - Condi DPS using standing at range to receive Shared Agony while your healer(s) remain on the main group. An advantage of using this option is the Scourges can rotate their use of to completely neutralize Cairn's projectile attack.
Mursaat Overseer
- This encounter has no mechanics that favor certain compositions, but if your group is struggling to deal with the Jade Soldiers you may find a Scourge - Condi DPS with useful.
Samarog
- DPS Builds with strong AoE damage may be useful to clear any Spears placed near the group.
- Knockback skills or Create a wall of energy that grants swiftness to allies who cross it and cripples foes who touch it. Allies may cross the wall more than once but receive less swiftness after the first crossing.and sources of
Immobilize are useful to ensure Rigom is positioned correctly during the applicable phases.
Deimos
- A DPS role should swap to a specialized hand-kiting build such as Herald - Hand Kiter to safely place the Soul Feast fields away from the main group.
- A build capable of a channeled block skill such as or can be used to spawn the Rapid Decay fields in a safe location even during Deimos' Mind Crush attack.
Hall of Chains
Soulless Horror
- Knockback skills, immobilize and ranged DPS are useful for ensuring the Tormented Dead that spawn regularly die in a safe position away from the group
- A common option is to replace a DPS slot with a druid wielding Longbow and using to knockback using and then immobilize the Tormented Dead. In combination with this one or two Scourge - Condi DPS with are able to use epidemic to rapidly kill the Tormented Dead once they are in an appropriate position.
Dhuum
- Similar to Deimos, a DPS role should swap to a specialized build such as Tempest - Support Healer to kite the Dhuum's Messengers that spawn throughout the fight.
- You may want to bring sources of boon removal or corruption such as or to remove the boons that are stolen by Dhuum during the fight.
Mythwright Gambit
Conjured Amalgamate
- DPS with low amounts of AoE are weak on this fight due to the spawning of the Conjured Greatswords and Conjured Shields after every slam of the arms.
- Condition-based DPS builds are very weak in this encounter due to the mechanics of the fight dictating that most of the damage to Conjured Amalgamate will be dealt during the short phases while it has Fractured debuff.
- At least two people should be assigned to collect swords, and two people assigned to collect shields.
Twin Largos
- Power DPS builds are generally weak here due to the high damage and frequent movement of both Largos.
- Due to the nature of the boss, a mirror composition is generally desired - one Chronomancer, one Druid, and two Condi DPS + 1 Condi BS or 3 Condi DPS.
Qadim
- One DPS is required to kite Qadim during the creature phases, preferably solo, if not, then they will need a 'Heal Kiter' to keep them alive.
- Another DPS is required to go into the lamp during the creature phases, preferably solo for the first two forays into the lamp. For the third lamp, take as much as your group needs to feel comfortable with it. Safe, survivable power DPS builds like Reaper - Power DPS work very well for the lamp.
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