Dragonhunter - Power Farmer

This is a rough draft. Once adequately written, it will progress to the testing stage, where it can be rated by the community. You can help by proposing changes with a comment.

Focused on: Strike damage

Designed for: Open World, Open World General and [[|]]

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Easy

This build was last updated on July 22, 2023.

Overview

This build is a Farm Build which should be used for farming in open world meta events such as Silverwastes, Drizzlewood, Dragonstand, LS4 trains, and EOD Map Metas. This build features multiple options for specializations including Core Guardian, Dragonhunter, Firebrand, and Willbender. These builds all focus on farming with Power-oriented builds. For Condition-Oriented builds, see Build:Firebrand_-_Condition_Farmer.

This build is a farm build and focuses less on high DPS and more on comfortable game play. If you are looking specifically for DPS builds, see Build:Dragonhunter_-_Power_Dragonhunter and Build:Willbender_-_Power_Willbender.

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Skill Bar

Greatsword

Longbow

Utility

Variants

The default build uses the Dragonhunter specialization but doesn't actually use any Utilities unique to Dragonhunter. We primarily take Dragonhunter for access to Longbow, which is Guardian's best ranged weapon by far. Other specializations should be using Staff in Longbow's place, as the alternatives are quite poor for ranged applications.

Generic Options

The following options are specialization-agnostic and can be used regardless of the specialization chosen. Most of the Utility skills listed above can be changed out on preference, but Litany of Wrath is by far Guardian's strongest heal and should not be swapped for anything else.

• Greatsword can be swapped for Sword/Focus or Scepter/Focus. Mace and Shield should generally not be taken, as they provide little to no benefit over other options.
• Hammer of Justice - CC
• Purging Flames - condi clear, additional tagging capability.
• Judge's Intervention / Merciful Intervention - teleport with a long cooldown
• Hallowed Ground - AOE Stability, especially good at some bosses.
• Wall of Reflection - reliable projectile hate
• Bane Signet - passive damage
• Smite Conditions - selfish condi clear
• Renewed Focus - strong invuln that resets cooldowns, especially strong for chaining into Sheild of Courage

Dragonhunter

• While Dragonhunter traps can be taken, they are often worse than taking Purging Flames and Bane Signet due to the mobile nature of zergs. For very high boss burst, take Procession of Blades and Test of Faith alongside Sword of Justice.

Firebrand

• Replace Longbow with Staff
• The default build above is recommended, however other utility skills may be notable.
• Mantra of Potence can be used to provide Quickness to allies, especially if using gear with boon duration on it.
• Mantra of Liberation is extremely powerful in a zerg and is highly recommended.

Willbender

• Replace Longbow with Staff
• The default build above is recommended, however other utility skills may be notable.
• Flash Combo provides a low cooldown, reliable teleport.
• Heaven's Palm is one of the strongest CC options in Guardian's kit and comes highly recommended, as CC is often lacking in Open World.

Core Guardian

• Replace Longbow with Staff

Note Regarding SOTO Weaponmaster Release

With the release of Secrets of the Obscure, Guild Wars 2's next expansion, a mastery called Weaponmster is being added to the game. Once it is unlocked, this will allow the use of Longbow across all Guardian specializations. Once this takes place, Longbow will become the default ranged recommendation for all guardian specializations.

Specializations

Build Keystones

The core of this build is Zeal, as this provides us with a strong base for our damage with Symbolic Avenger and Zealous Blade. This also helps ensure we will always have good Vulnerability and Might uptime, regardless of having allies or not.

Honor provides us with extra defense through endurance regeneration, a bit of Might for us and our allies, an extra symbol for Protection and Vulnerability uptime, and extends our symbol durations with Writ of Persistence while making them larger. Notably, the increased Symbol radius is fantastic for tagging.

Dragonhunter

Dragonhunter is currently the best specialization for this build due to its access to Longbow, which is by far Guardian's best ranged option. Longbow has high DPS, fast projectiles, good CC, and easy tagging. While Staff is a decent option, Longbow heavily outclasses it. Dragonhunter also gives us access to Wings of Resolve, an excellent mobility tool, and Shield of Courage, a very powerful defensive cooldown.

Firebrand

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• Editor's Note: Heal Firebrand can also make an incredibly powerful farming build. See Build:Firebrand_-_Group_Support

While Firebrand lacks the mobility of Dragonhunter and has no access to Longbow, it can be an incredible option due to its very powerful Mantras, particularly Mantra of Liberation. Firebrand also gains access to incredible utility from its tomes and brings powerful skills such as Chapter 3: Heated Rebuke, Epilogue: Eternal Oasis, and practically everything in Tome of Courage.

• Quickfire is taken to assist with tagging. If you find yourself wanting more pages, take Loremaster.

Willbender

Build Code

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Willbender is by far the most mobile Guardian specialization and brings with it a host of powerful utility traits. Restorative Virtues makes Staff a bit more competitive with Longbow. Some of Willbender's mobility, namely Rushing Justice, can feel a bit offputting when zerging and will take some getting used to.

Willbender can be paired with a Virtues variant for much higher boss DPS at the cost of AOE.

• Indomitable Courage can be taken for AOE Stability

Core Guardian

Build Code

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Core Guardian lacks the mobility of Dragonhunter or Willbender and the utility of Firebrand but remains a very strong option for farming in zergs due to Guardian's very strong base traits. Virtues is our strongest default option here, but if using the Dragon Gear variant below, Zeal/Radiance/Virtues becomes an incredibly powerful option.

Equipment

Ascended gear and stat infusions are not required; you can use exotic gear with the same stats.

Standard Equipment

Use this set for excellent damage while still maintaining a comfortable playstyle.

Head
Berserker

Shoulders
Berserker

Chest
Berserker

Hands
Berserker

Legs
Berserker

Feet
Berserker

Backpiece
Berserker

Accessory
Berserker

Accessory
Berserker

Amulet
Berserker

Ring
Berserker

Ring
Berserker

Greatsword
Berserker

Sigil

Sigil

Longbow
Berserker

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

• Defensive runes such as Rune of Superior Rune of Vampirism are acceptable. For higher DPS, use Rune of Superior Rune of the Scholar. If replacing Rune of Superior Rune of Speed, swap Sigil of Superior Sigil of Speed to Sigil of Superior Sigil of Frenzy, or any other sigil of your choice.
• Use full Knight trinkets for additional defense. Further pieces of Knight can add more defense, but this has some diminishing returns; it isn't advised to go beyond full trinkets. Other defensive sets, such as Marauder or 24px Dragon can be used; consult the Dragon variant below.

Dragon Equipment

Dragon gear can be utilized to provide a boost to our health at virtually no cost to our damage, but requires the Radiance specialization above to be taken. This works best on Core Guardian, where Radiance and Virtues can be combos for permanent Resolution, though this option works for any of the Specializations above.

Head
Dragon

Shoulders
Dragon

Chest
Marauder

Hands
Dragon

Legs
Marauder

Feet
Dragon

Backpiece
Dragon

Accessory
Dragon

Accessory
Dragon

Amulet
Dragon

Ring
Dragon

Ring
Dragon

Greatsword
Dragon

Sigil

Sigil

Longbow
Dragon

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

• This set reaches 99.38% crit chance without food, which ensures we crit cap while freeing up our food slot for farming food.

Consumables

• Any ascended food is superior to any other food you could use. Steak for power, flatbread for conditions. Budget versions of these foods exist and are acceptable.
• - farming'
• (and variants) - farming

Other options, such as Birthday Cake, Campfire Treats, Spicy Pumpkin Cookie, or other similar food is fine to use. The general goal is to prioritize the following:

1. Flat % Experience, like we see on Ascended Food
2. % Karma Gain
3. % Magic Find
4. Experience from kills
5. % Gold find

This assumes you are converting Karma and Spirit Shards to gold correctly. If you are not converting Karma or Spirit Shards, prioritize Magic Find.

Usage

Tagging

• While mobile with this build, it is best to avoid using True Shot and instead focus on auto-attacks, Symbol of Energy, and Deflecting Shot.
• Use Sword of Justice to tag enemies or to open your Greatsword rotation. This ability provides significant Vulnerability and does quite a bit of damage.
• Use Wings of Resolve to keep up with the zerg, dodge AOE's, or heal yourself and allies.

Damage

• On static packs or bosses, swap to Greatsword and use Symbol of Resolution and Whirling Wrath. Fill the time between these with auto-attacks, Leap of Faith, Sword of Justice, or Binding Blade. It is worth looking at proper raid rotations to learn how the Guardian Greatsword loop works.
• Shield of Courage and Litany of Resolve can be treated like pseudo-invulnerability in most cases and can be chained together for the entirety of the greatsword loop to ensure your rotation is not interrupted.

Defense

• Litany of Wrath is one of the strongest heal skills in the game, but requires a bit of focus to use. After use, you will lifesteal HP based on the damage you deal, so focus on dealing lots of DPS. If you find yourself strongly disliking Litany, Signet of Resolve is an acceptable substitute.
• "Advance!" and "Stand Your Ground!" are some of the best abilities in the game to help counter CC-spam from enemies. This is their primary purpose.
• Wings of Resolve is a decent heal

Firebrand

Firebrand features a massive number of new defensive skills, some of which are incredibly powerful.

• Chapter 3: Valiant Bulwark - projectile hate
• Chapter 4: Stalwart Defense - area stunbreak and resistance
• Epilogue: Unbroken Lines - massive defensive boost to allies
• Mantra of Liberation - more stunbreaks
• Epilogue: Eternal Oasis - powerful healing boost

CC

Keystones

• Deflecting Shot
• Hunter's Ward
• Spear of Justice ⇒ Hunter's Verdict
• Binding Blade

Optional

• Staff's Line of Warding only affects defiance bars if an enemy physically crosses it.
• Bane Signet
• Hammer of Justice
• Dragon's Maw (Dragonhunter)
• Heaven's Palm (Willbender)
• Chapter 3: Heated Rebuke (Firebrand)