Understanding PvP Roles In Conquest

Introduction

This guide is aimed at players who are about to set foot into GW2 PvP and want to understand the roles they can fill in the main gamemode, Conquest. Knowing your role not only makes it easier to perform well, but also helps with picking the right pvp build for your intended playstyle later on.

Roamer/+1

Role

As a roamer your role is to end fights. You're always on the move between fights that are in progress and try to tip the scales in your favor - this is called "+1ing" or "outnumbering".

You want to get the job done as quickly as possible so you can move onto the next fight, since outnumbering an enemy on 1 node means your team is outnumbered everywhere else on the map. If you take too long to get things done, leave and try elsewhere - don't overcommit.

To perform this role you need 2 things: mobility and as much burst damage as you can get.

Stats & Tools

Roamers only really care about offensive stats past the bare minimum of survivability.

Their sustain is on the lower end and while their burst damage tends to be really high, unlike teamfight specs they often lack damage outside of burst windows. This is because they plan for short fights - for a roamer it's better to do 20k damage in 2 seconds before running out of steam than doing consistent damage for extended periods of time.

Gameplay

Be opportunistic! If your teamfighter cannot deal with the enemy support, or your duelist is locked in an endless 1v1, the extra pressure a roamer brings to the table could be the key to breaking the stalemate and snowballing the map. Tactical decisions you may have to make:

• Sometimes you might want to focus on peeling for your team by shutting down the enemy +1er.

• Breaking up stalemates can be good enough even without a kill. If your bunker cannot cap a node, pressuring the enemy bunker just enough to leave the capture point can easily allow him to take the cap. If you're confident that your bunker can hold the node and not die to the enemy then your job might be done here. Don't spend too much time chasing a kill 2v1 if you don't have to, as wasting manpower over nothing is a bad idea.

• In general you don't want to commit to a fight for too long. Since you are vulnerable, burning cds in an action will probably make you an easy target.

• Depending on just how good your mobility is, you might have to be the one to decap empty nodes from time to time. If there's nothing for you to +1 or your team is wiping, it's often best to look for opportunities elsewhere. Nautralizing (decapping) an empty node is a great way of denying points from the enemy team whilst also breaking them up and drawing people away from other fights. Your mobility (especially on professions like Thief) lets you stay one step ahead of the enemy. Sometimes you could even consider going for fully capping the node, especially if you're confident in your profession and your ability to duel (or if you're expecting an ally to reinforce/take your place soon in which case stalling is enough).

Bunker/Sidenoder

Role

Most people in the community use bunker, sidenoder and duelist interchangeably when talking about the role of builds designed primarily to fight 1v1s and other smaller skirmishes.

They generally mean the same thing, but "sidenoders" could be divided into subcategories if we really wanted to nitpick:

• A bunker build's main purpose is to hold a capture point. They are extremely tanky.
• A duelist must also be able to hold a cpture point in 1v1s and briefly in 1v2s, but they're also expected to win their fights. Most duelists could therefore be considered bunker builds. Duelist builds tend to be selfish and single target focused.
• A dedicated bunker only cares about staying alive. Stalling a fight indefinitely is good enough, and they invest everything into survivability. These builds are quite rare however, as they're often the results of broken traits or skills that'll inevitably get nerfed. Full bunkers can also face some inconvenient situations, for example if your team is losing it's much harder for a build with 0 pressure to go on the offense and actually steal a capture point from the enemy team than it is for a duelist. Adding a bit of group support angle to the build could make group rotations a bit less awkward, but that's not the only way this role could be improved.. there's also the dreaded decap build.
• Decap builds are easily the most hated archetype in GW2 PvP. You're up against someone that won't die and won't even really fight back - all they do is survive and knock you off the capture point until it becomes theirs, after which you've got no choice but to leave. Luckily ArenaNet isn't fond of them either so whenever a new one pops up it usually doesn't last long before it's nerfed or redesigned.

The most important part of this role is to hold a capture point without dying, sometimes even against multiple enemies. If that's not an option then staying alive is often more important than holding a cap though, more on that below.

Stats & Tools

These builds generally seek to maximize survivability without giving up all of their kill potential. Some have enough damage to force others off the node, some max out sustain and not much else, some sacrifice damage for CC and to knock enemies off the cap. Mobility's usually on the lower end as a sidenoder's primary concern is to stay in place and survive without having to run away.

Gameplay

While holding caps is your goal, this does not necessarily mean that you need to hold until you die - usually it's better to move off the cap, resustain for a few seconds and come back once you've stabilized. If they get the decap so be it. As long as you're tying down 1 or more enemies without the enemy scoring points you're doing your job.

Should the enemy manage to cap the node though and you don't see an opportunity for a kill you should give up and move on. Fighting an endless 1v1 on an enemy cap is not something you should be doing.

When your node is not threatened move on to the next one, perferably to another smaller fight. In some cases you might want to reinforce a teamfight if there's nothing else to do, but bunkers often don't have enough damage to truly be useful there.

Rotations

Try to avoid teamfights most of the time, focus on smaller skirmishes. Once you've won a node don't just afk on it! Use the minimap, your team, and the recent kills window to determine where you should go next. If you're certain that your node is safe for the time being, move on to the next one. Another thing you could do is move to a choke point and watch enemy movements - if they are going for your node then go back and intercept them. If they're not, follow them or push one of their nodes.

Teamfighter

Role

As a teamfight spec you intend to do just that: fight with your team against the enemy team, avoiding 1v1s. Your main goal is to make sure the main fight on map will be won by overwhelming the enemy through constant pressure.

Stats & Tools

Teamfight builds have high damage and medium-to-low sustain, as they usually get to rely on a support for backup and their builds must have enough damage to try and kill the enemy support. On top of raw damage, CC and boon removal are also highly valuable.

Support

Role

As a support class you intend to keep allies alive and revive them when they got down. Peel for them with CC, remove their conditions, heal them back up and protect them from damage while also helping them deal damage uninterrupted by sharing things like Stability or Magnetic Aura.

Stats & Tools

Healing Power is your most important stat and one sigil per set will likely have to be sacrificed for Sigil of Transference. Selfsustain is medium-to-high, but supports can sometimes be more squishy than bunkers, as their goal is to keep allies alive first and foremost. If your allies are doing fine they can in turn help you survive by peeling enemies off of you. Mobility tends to be low.

Gameplay

Stay near allies and try to move where the teamfighters are, or move together with them. Use your CDs to keep them alive - any CDs, these could even include offensive skills like CCs or condition applications that mitigate damage such as Weakness or Blind. Sometimes a best defense is a good offense, make sure your teammates are able to do damage freely while the opponent is getting pressured/CCd.

Rotation

Avoid 1v1s at all costs. You should be unable to win almost any fight, and high damage specs could even solo you sometimes if they get to pressure you uninterrupted. You're not a node holder/bunker. When this happens, consider giving up node to provide support to your team elsewhere.

Ranked groups usually don't make life easier for supports. We recommend that you don't linger too long once a teamfight's done, otherwise your teammates might leave you behind to cap the node which could turn into a 1v1 if it takes long enough and an enemy comes back. Don't be the last one to leave a fight for this reason!