Guide:Identifying Builds In PvP

Introduction

In PvP it's very important to understand what you're up against, or who your teammates are. Indetifying the builds of your teammates in the pre-game phase is perhaps even more important, as your team's build choices could impact yours.

For instance if you're playing a support but the team already has one then it'd be wise for one of you to change builds, but if the other person is not so communicative or none of you understand that the other is playing support then you're in for an awkward match.

This is true for your enemies as well - knowing exactly what you're up against before they even pick a fight with you is an advantage. While getting 100-0'd by a shatter Mesmer in 1 second is a sure-fire way to find out that they're running a power-based burst build, perhaps a quick glance at their signets would've been smarter (and less painful). In this guide you'll learn what to pay attention to and how to read the signs.

Elementalist

Core

Eles are on the weaker side when it comes to their core builds, most Elementalists you encounter are going to be on an elite spec. Seeing a core ele is already a sign that you're about to witness something unorthodox.

Condition build: click on them, check for signets. If they have 3-4, they are playing a condi bunker spec with good sustain but lot to medium damage and poor mobility. Suitable for smaller fights such as 1v1s.

Fresh Air: Scepter, no signets, not even for the healing slot. High mobility, decent CC, big burst damage but very squishy. Plays as a roamer, wants to +1 fights and finish targets in seconds. Ranged casters.

Core support: Staff or a Dagger/Focus set (and no signets). Inspect their weapons if they are on your team. Staff is the only core Ele weapon they carry on their backs so that one is the easiest part to spot.

Tempest

Support: Tempest is the go-to support spec of Elementalists in PvP, at least 9 out of 10 are going to be playing support so even from the elite spec icon you can make an educated guess. These tend to be Dagger/Focus builds.

Power sidenoder: check out their buff bar and weapons just in case. Signet of Restoration is a major giveaway that they're not actually support, as supports would run "Wash the Pain Away!" for group healing. If there's also a Signet of Air then it's probably some sidenode 1v1 power spec.

Condition spec: same as core, if they run any condition signets like Signet of Earth then you're looking at a condi 1v1 spec.

Other: Despite being their elite spec weapon, Warhorn is not popular on Tempest, at least in PvP. The only builds that run this tend to be Air magic builds, power or hybrid like the D/Wh Shocking Aura spec. This offhand is the only way of knowing outside combat.

Weaver

Condi sidenode spec: Sword, Signet of Restoration. Fire Weavers will be looking for 1v1s and other smaller skirmishes. Good sustain, medium damage, uses Primordial Stance to burst.

Fresh Air: Scepter/Focus, usually no signet in the heal slot as they play Glyph of Elemental Harmony. Freshweaver has excellent ranged burst damage, very high combat mobility, good CC. Rather poor sustain, especially against conditions. Fresh Air buff's often active on their bar, easy to tell in combat. Roams the map, seeks to +1 fights.

Lightning Rod: Dagger/Focus, this is a melee focused CC-machine centered around the trait Lightning Rod. Much more likely to have a Signet of Restoration + Signet of Air combo than S/F Fresh Air. LR builds are easy to spot in combat as you'll see frequent lightning strikes whenever they CC someone, which also applies Weakness to the target. For them the best defense is a good offense, they don't have much sustain but their CC and Weakness spam keeps their enemies at bay. Stability is very useful to have against them.

Mesmer

One word: signets. Most Mesmer builds run at least a signet or two, with some taking as many as 5. Which ones and when? That's what you need to learn to be able to tell their builds from a simple glance at their buff bar. While we can make some guesses even from a single signet, usually it's the combination of them that gives it away.

Core

Condition duelist: Signet of the Ether + Signet of Illusions + Signet of Midnight is the cornerstone of many sidenode Mes builds, often with Signet of Humility as the elite. On rare occasions there might even be a 5th one - Signet of Inspiration when it's a bunker build with heavy focus on boons. The most popular core build here is the Inspiration Condi bunker build.

Power shatter: these run fewer signets or sometimes none at all. While they can make use of both Signet of Illusions and Signet of Midnight as utilities, most of the time they can't make room for both as Blink + a mantra will take priority, leaving only 1 slot. If you see both of those signets together that's almost certainly a condi build.

If you get to inspect them the weapons could make it obvious, with power builds running Greatsword with Sword and condi taking Staff with Scepter.

Chronomancer

Condition bunker: these run wells which means no signets (or 1 signet at most). Chronobunkers are very durable with low damage and a bit of group support.

Power shatter: look for Signet of the Ether and Signet of Illusions. Shatter Chronos are extremely dangerous but equally squishy, capable of ending fights in an instant if they go unchecked.

Mirage

Despite being one of the weaker elites in PvP, Mirage has outstanding build variety due to its design. We can use the same rules that'd apply to a core Mes - 4 or more signets equals bunker/1v1 spec, but telling which one's power and which one's condi just from their signets might be difficult.

A lone Signet of Illusions usually signals a burst build with low sustain that's meant to roam the map and +1 fights, but Mirage has both condi and power burst builds.

Virtuoso

Now this one gets a bit tricky. Virtuoso has inherent synergy with Signet of Midnight so most of their builds tend to pick up Inspiration and a bunch of signets. Both condi sidenoders and power burst builds could go for as many as 3-4 signets.

Power however is once again slightly more likely to opt for 1 utility signet instead of 2.

Guardian

In sPvP Guardian is a profession of extremes. Either a great support that's hard to kill but has no damage, or a complete glasscannon with high burst. Sometimes their elite spec already tells the whole story.

Support: only supports would run Signet of Mercy so that's all you need to look for if you need to decide if they are one.

Core power: no signet, 2 handed weapon (Hammer or GS, never both on the same build). Watch out for Mighty Blow on Hammer and Whirling Wrath on GS. They love bursting from a distance by teleporting in during these two skills with Judge's Intervention.

Dragonhunter: almost all of them run the Power Trapper build. Very squishy but plenty of active defenses, they even have Stealth access. DH is a major threat to other low sustain specs but doesn't fare too well against bunkers. Dangerous in both melee and ranged combat.

Firebrand: returning player from 2017, please be patient.

Willbender: they only have one build, highly mobile melee spec with lots of damage.

Ranger

Power with Marksmanship: click on them and look for the Opening Strike buff, it's a passive that comes with Marksmanship. They tend to have low sustain but very powerful bursts, especially on single hit attacks like Maul on Greatsword as Marksmanship is great at stacking up modifiers to make their next hit stronger.

Condition build: it's easy to spot a condi Ranger from their pets, at least one of the two is likely going to be a bird ( Eagle or Raven). Condi rangers tend to be durable 1v1ers who might be capable of doing some rather strong burst combos. They often have access to stealth and lots of Immobilize which they use to set up kills.

Warrior

Defense spec without hammer: they gain Resistance after dodging from a trait hammer specs can't really take.

Power Berserker: if they have Signet of Might and Signet of Fury they're playing an extremely high burst damage spec with 0 sustain. Top priority target if they are on the enemy team, try to peel for them if they're on yours.

Support Spellbreaker: click on them and look for the Marching Orders buff. This means they are running Tactics, any other build would run Defense or Strength. Usually have a Warhorn offhand too. Expect lots of AoE healing, barriers, some cleansing and an AoE rez.