Dragonhunter - Power Dragonhunter

The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great

Designed for: Open World and Open World General

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Normal

This build was last updated on July 25, 2023 and is up to date for the October 8, 2024 patch.

Overview

Power Dragonhunter (pDH) is a standard power DPS build that features excellent CC, good mobility, and very high burst damage. It has a versatile kit with many strong offensive and defensive utility and weapon options alongside plenty of AOE DPS to help cleave trash in Open World. Thanks to some of its traits and profession mechanics, Power Dragonhunter is a relatively defensive option even in glass gear. It has a small learning curve; for most people this build is easy to pick up but possesses a relatively high skill ceiling.

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Skill Bar

Greatsword

Longbow

Utility

Variants

In addition to the above skill bar, some utilities or weapons may prove useful in various situations. You should always seek to adapt your build to the right situation. When deciding on which options to use, note that Litany of Wrath is the strongest heal in Guardian's kit by far and should not be replaced. Additionally, Sword of Justice and Procession of Blades are incredibly powerful when solo; only replace them as a last resort. If replacing Procession of Blades, consider running Sword/Focus instead of Greatsword.

Bane Signet can be replaced easily by any options below.

Event Farming

When Event Farming, consider running "Stand Your Ground!", Sword of Justice, and "Advance!" alongside the Event Farm Equipment listed below.

Weapons

Sword/Focus can be run when extra Fury is beneficial or when using the block from Shield of Wrath. This set can replace Greatsword or Longbow. When replacing Greatsword, consider that you lose AOE damage from Whirling Wrath. When replacing Longbow, you are trading out your ranged option.
Staff can be run as an alternative tagging weapon. While it's generally inferior to Longbow, some people prefer it due to its large and fast AOE's from Symbol of Swiftness and Holy Strike.
When up against strong solo enemies with predictable skill patterns, such as the Avatar of Balthazar, Sword/Focus + Mace/Shield can be used to chain blocks and Aegis. This loadout has much lower DPS than others but can trivialize some solo fights.
Scepter/Focus is an alternative ranged option. If a fight dramatically benefits from ranged DPS, Scepter/Focus + Longbow can be used for reliable damage at 900 range.

Skill Variants

Heal Skills

Litany of Wrath is an incredibly powerful heal but has a bit of a learning curve. When using this skill, it is imperative that you continue to DPS; treat this ability like an invulnerability window. You can chain Litany with Shield of Courage to cover your entire opening rotation, allowing you to DPS freely without having to worry about (most) incoming damage. This is an important skill to learn for new Guardian players.
If you absolutely must change your heal, Signet of Resolve and Shelter are viable options.
Shelter in particular has some interesting applications in fights where long-duration blocks can cover major mechanics, similar to Renewed Focus.

Utility Skills

When choosing from the utilities below, it's often best to replace Bane Signet over other options. Keep in mind that for CC, simply activating Bane Signet is often your best choice as it provides 300 defiance damage on a 20s cooldown.

Test of Faith - can replace Bane Signet for significantly higher burst and a bit of Protection.
"Stand Your Ground!" - this is an incredibly powerful stunbreak that generates Stability and Resolution in zergs. This can be a strong defensive tool for allies and also covers Resolution if running the Radiance variant below.
Hallowed Ground - provides AOE Stability and Resolution.
Smite Condition - condi cleanse
Wall of Reflection - if you need to reflect projectiles.
"Advance!" - long-lasting swiftness while running, also gives aegis
Judge's Intervention - teleport with a moderate cooldown

Elite Skills

Renewed Focus - This ability can be chained with Shelter and Shield of Courage, alongside tools such as "Advance!", for an extremely long-duration series of blocks and invulnerability. In some situations this can cover powerful boss mechanics that would otherwise be extremely punishing.
"Feel My Wrath!" - DPS / party support; this is superior to Dragon's Maw if your party needs help with Quickness uptime.

Specializations

Standard Traits

Zeal is the core of any good guardian build due to its high Vulnerability application and considerable number of flat % strike mods such as Symbolic Avenger and Symbolic Exposure. Especially when Solo, Zeal should always be taken over other options due to its extraordinarily high DPS increase.

As this is a Dragonhunter build, we obviously take Dragonhunter. We're opting for Heavy Light over Big Game Hunter here as it allows us a more flexible rotation at very minimal DPS loss.

Honor is taken as our third specialization. While it may be unintuitive and many view Honor as exclusively a defensive traitline, Honor provides us with a significant increase in damage over both Radiance and Zeal due to the synergy of Writ of Persistence and Zeal. Longer symbol duration provides us with more consistent Vulnerability and Symbolic Avenger uptime and the wider radius drastically helps in cleave situations. Honor also provides some Might through Empowering Might and an extra symbol when we use our heal. With Honor also providing some passive endurance regen, it's clearly the best option for open world play.

If someone else is providing you Might or you are capped from other sources, use Fiery Wrath in Zeal.

Virtues

Virtues is a popular option for DPS Dragonhunter builds due to its high number of flat modifiers, similar to Zeal. While it can be somewhat reliant on Aegis uptime to achieve the best results, even with no uptime it is competitive with Radiance. Virtues also isn't reliant on Resolution, though it is heavily reliant on boons in general thanks to Inspired Virtue. It is additionally reliant on Alacrity due to Inspired Virtue and its modifiers are conditional on essentially not being hit. Because of this, Virtues is a poor choice for solo play but can be extremely powerful in groups.

Battle Presence or Indomitable Courage can provide ally support at a very minimal DPS loss.

Radiance

Many Guardian builds use Radiance in instanced PVE due to its high increase to Crit Chance (35%). When solo, Radiance also offers significant Might generation, enabling us to take Fiery Wrath in Zeal. The primary weakness of Radiance is its reliance on Resolution, and if we choose to use it in solo open world we may find ourselves being forced to use "Stand Your Ground!" over Bane Signet to maintain our buffs. This isn't ideal, and Radiance is not recommended... However, for some players this playstyle is preferred, and so it is listed here as a variant. Note that the Standard Equipment gear below is actually optimized to be played with Radiance, since it is the default for raids.

If someone else is providing you Resolution, use Right-Hand Strength.

Equipment

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

Standard Equipment

This set uses gear that is very similar to Build:Dragonhunter_-_Power_DPS, making it excellent for general PVE. This gear is not min-maxed to the Honor/Virtues variant, since Radiance is the default PDH raid build in the current meta, however it will work perfectly fine with Honor/Virtues in open world.

Head
Berserker

Shoulders
Berserker

Chest
Berserker

Hands
Berserker

Legs
Berserker

Feet
Berserker

Backpiece
Berserker

Accessory
Berserker

Amulet
Berserker

Ring
Berserker

Greatsword
Berserker

Sigil

Longbow
Berserker

Sigil

Rune
x6

Virtues/Honor Equipment

This equipment is often used with instanced PVE builds that utilize Virtues over Radiance. This requires a higher investment in to Precision / Crit Chance due to the missing 35% from Radiance. This equipment is higher DPS for non-Radiance Dragonhunter builds, including the Honor build we're using above. However, this equipment is not compatible with Radiance, making it less versatile.

Head
Assassin

Shoulders
Assassin

Chest
Berserker

Hands
Assassin

Legs
Berserker

Feet
Assassin

Backpiece
Berserker

Accessory
Berserker

Amulet
Berserker

Ring
Berserker

Greatsword
Berserker

Sigil

Longbow
Berserker

Sigil

Rune
x6

Marauder Equipment

This set uses Marauder and Dragon stats gear to achieve over 20k HP with a Tier 10 Jade Bot Core. This does sacrifice a significant portion of our DPS, however: Roughly 15%. Additionally this gear is not usable in instanced content, which limits it exclusively to open world. This set is optimized for use with the Honor or Virtues variant above. If using Radiance, trade the majority of your Marauder equipment for Dragon instead.

Head
Marauder

Shoulders
Marauder

Chest
Marauder

Hands
Marauder

Legs
Marauder

Feet
Marauder

Backpiece
Marauder

Accessory
Dragon

Accessory
Marauder

Amulet
Dragon

Ring
Dragon

Ring
Marauder

Greatsword
Marauder

Sigil

Longbow
Marauder

Sigil

Rune
x6

If full exotic, use a Marauder ring.

Event Farming

This set is specifically designed for comfortable event farming in open world. This makes it a luxury set that is not usable in instanced PVE. Use this Equipment with the Event Farming variant above, namely running "Advance!" and "Stand Your Ground!".

Head
Berserker

Shoulders
Berserker

Chest
Berserker

Hands
Berserker

Legs
Berserker

Feet
Berserker

Backpiece
Berserker

Accessory
Berserker

Amulet
Berserker

Ring
Berserker

Greatsword
Berserker

Sigil

Longbow
Berserker

Sigil

Rune
x6

Other Equipment Options

Guild Wars 2's Open World allows us to be versatile with our gear selection, within reason. While the default equipment listed above is the most generally-useful set due to being usable in virtually all areas of PVE, it is also acceptable to run equipment exclusively for open world, provided you understand that you cannot take it into instanced content. The equipment options below provide extra defense, alternative playstyles, and extra versatility.

Budget

Some of the gear above can be relatively expensive, particularly Rune of Superior Rune of the Scholar and Sigil of Superior Sigil of Impact. Anything that costs less than 2g on the Trading Post is not particularly pricey and you should just suck it up and buy it. Do your dailies, thanks.

As a note for this build, full exotics work perfectly fine. Ruby Orichalcum Trinkets and Devona's armor on the trading post will run you just over 10 gold. Backpieces can be a pain to get: If you have 400 in a given crafting profession, you should craft that profession's level 78 backpack. If not, feel free to use a Rare (Yellow) backpiece from the Trading Post.
Rune of Superior Rune of the Scholar can be replaced with Rune of Superior Rune of Infiltration. If using non-radiance variants, Rune of Superior Rune of Strength is also an excellent option.
Sigil of Superior Sigil of Impact can be replace with Sigil of Superior Sigil of Accuracy in the Standard Equipment, or Sigil of Superior Sigil of Air in other variants. In some cases, Sigil of Superior Sigil of Strength can be a good pick and allows you to swap Zealous Scepter to Fiery Wrath.

Defense

Many players often look for defensive options in open world, especially when they're new to the class. The following options can be used for extra defense, but should not be taken into raids, fractals, or other instanced PVE.

Knight or Soldier trinkets can provide a significant boost to defense. Using anything more than trinkets is not recommended.
Rune of Superior Rune of Vampirism is a very cheap and effective rune for power builds in open world and comes highly recommended.
Alternatively, Sigil of Superior Sigil of Energy is a fantastic defensive option that can replace Sigil of Superior Sigil of Impact / Sigil of Superior Sigil of Accuracy. It's cheap, effective, and promotes learning the game's intended mitigation mechanic: Dodging and i-frames. We play Budget Dark Souls here.

A note on other alternatives

Open World is a flexible game mode that allows us to use what we find comfortable. While it can be important for us to learn the game's intended systems (Dodging, Rotations, Boon Application), it's perfectly acceptable to adjust a build how you see fit, provided it is used in Open World rather than Instanced PVE. Just remember this game rewards skill expression and proper DPS much more than passive defense, but don't be afraid to find a sweet spot of Comfort vs Effectiveness for yourself.

Consumables

Consumables are a major part of Guild Wars 2 and Food/Utilities are much more useful in this game than in other MMOs. You should definitely consider using these when roaming around in open world or farming map metas.

Ascended Food

Ascended food, in this case Steak, is always superior to other food options. Use it when it's available. The one exception to this is when utilizing or its alternatives to achieve more dodges.

DPS

When solo, DPS consumables can give us a rather drastic increase to damage due to their flat bonuses (this can sometimes be as high as an extra +15%). In open world, it is absolutely acceptable to use budget food.

For builds that don't Crit-Cap, is generally the best option, though can compete with it. Neither of these foods are particularly expensive, but or are viable budget alternatives.
For Crit-Capped Builds, like the Marauder or Radiance options above, is our highest DPS option. This food is rather expensive, however, so 24px Avocado Smoothie can be utilized as a budget alternative.
Our utility should be or . can be used as a budget option.
is the absolute best option for DPS while farming in big meta zergs. Ideally you should be running farm food, but sometimes you just want to see the numbers go up.

Defense

Certain foods can provide a massive boost to defense. These are typically only useful when solo, and usually only when attempting to solo harder enemies.

Run for a massive boost to defense and a bit of extra Might. is its budget variant, however, since this food should be used so rarely it is fine to spring for a few of the stronger options.
is a reasonable lifesteal food that gives us both damage and defense while also having good bonuses to profit/hr.

Farming

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:

Flat % Experience, like we see on Ascended Food
% Karma Gain
% Magic Find
Experience from kills
% 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

Damage

General Advice

Note that to play this build optimally you must turn off "Melee Attack Assist" in your Options menu. This is so you can stand inside of boss hitboxes.
Your main damage skills are Whirling Wrath, Symbol of Resolution, True Shot, Symbol of Energy, and Hunter's Ward.
- Never interrupt your Greatsword or Sword autoattack chains as all the damage is loaded in the last hit.
Fight enemies in your symbols to get the damage buff from Symbolic Avenger.

Generic Opener

While this opener may not apply in every situation, it is a good general-use rotation to start with. Open on Longbow.

Dragon's Maw / "Feel My Wrath!"
Procession of Blades
Sword of Justice
True Shot
Symbol of Energy
Hunter's Ward
Weapon Swap
Symbol of Resolution
Whirling Wrath
Sword of Justice
Auto-attack until Symbol of Resolution, Whirling Wrath, and Spear of Justice are back up
Sword of Justice
Symbol of Resolution
Whirling Wrath
Leap of Faith
Binding Blade
Weapon Swap
Symbol of Energy
True Shot

From there, your goal is to loop your weapon's big damage skills, True Shot and Whirling Wrath while filling the gaps with other weapon skills like Symbol of Energy and Symbol of Resolution. For Greatsword loops, you want to use Symbol of Resolution twice before weapon swapping. For Longbow loops, you want to get off at least three True Shots. For Sword/Focus loops, focus on three Zealot's Defenses (while also weaving in Symbol of Blades twice.)

Defense

Shield of Wrath is a powerful defensive skill. If you stand on top of an ally while this is active it can block attacks for them as well.
Wall of Reflection and Shield of the Avenger can be used against projectiles.
Shield of Courage is a block that also gives aegis, protection, Resolution, stability, and a stun break.
You can run Shelter for more active defense. You can also run Renewed Focus but this comes at the cost of one of your best burst damage skills.
Remember to always dodge and sidestep attacks if possible. Don't get hit by anything you can move out of.

Sustain

This build doesn't have much sustained healing unless you have Rune of Superior Rune of Vampirism, so avoiding damage is extremely important in long fights. You can run healing food, such as in these situations to relieve some pressure.
Wings of Resolve is a powerful heal and condition cleanse. You can also use Whirling Wrath in the light field from your symbols to cleanse conditions.

Zerging

When zerging, use your Puncture Shot, Deflecting Shot, and Symbol of Energy to tag mobs. Try to make sure your Sigil of Superior Sigil of Fire procs on groups so you get credit for all of them.
Against bosses or static groups of mobs (while the zerg isn't moving much), use your higher-damage weapon set such as Greatsword or Sword/Focus.

See Build:Dragonhunter_-_Power_Farmer for a much more detailed breakdown of zerg farming with guardian.

Crowd Control

Pull
Procession of Blades
Dragon's Maw
Hunter's Verdict
Hammer of Wisdom
Bane Signet (as a last resort)

Dragonhunter - Power Dragonhunter

Contents

Overview

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