Specter - Power Sword/Dagger Roamer
The community gave this build a rating, making it second-tier: Good
Focused on: Strike damage and Mobility
Designed for: WvW Roaming
Difficulty:
Hard
This build was last updated on September 07, 2023 and is up to date for the August 20, 2024 patch.
Overview
A Specter power build for WvW roaming which ditches the Scepter for a double melee setup, opting for S/D and D/P.
Skill Bar
Sword/Dagger
Dagger/Pistol
Utility
Skill Variants
Utility
For the optional slot:
- - gap closer + stun break.
- - CC and improved condition cleansing.
- - versatile stunbreaker with condition removal, initiative regen and an evade frame.
Template Code
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Specializations
Equipment
Head
Marauder
Marauder
Shoulders
Marauder
Marauder
Chest
Marauder
Marauder
Hands
Marauder
Marauder
Legs
Marauder
Marauder
Feet
Marauder
Marauder
Backpiece
Marauder
Marauder
Accessory
Marauder
Marauder
Accessory
Marauder
Marauder
Amulet
Marauder
Marauder
Ring
Marauder
Marauder
Ring
Marauder
Marauder
Sword
Marauder
Marauder
Dagger
Marauder
Marauder
Sigil
Sigil
Dagger
Marauder
Marauder
Pistol
Marauder
Marauder
Sigil
Sigil
Rune
x6
x6
Infusion
x18
x18
Relic
Consumables
Food
- - strong defensive option which provides more frequent access to dodging.
- - good stats and passive damage mitigation.
- - same stats as the food above except with life steal instead of damage mitigation.
- - non-ascended version of the food above, without the sustain.
- - crit chance bump with armor ignoring damage procs which also heal.
Utility
- or
Usage
Elite specialization basics
- Specters gain access to their own version of called . Mechanically they are the same, replacing your skill bar while active. Damage taken while in Shroud drains Shadow Force instead of HP.
- Using (Specter's version of ) and spending Initiative builds Shadow Force.
General
- Most of your Specters skills double as support skills. While your role is to kill targets, a good Specter also keeps an eye on allies and helps them in critical moments by granting them Barrier (when roaming in a group).
- Because of Shroud you can be a bit more reckless with spending Initiative as Shroud skills are free and by the time you've rotated through Shroud CDs your Initiative should be back to full.
- Dazes them right after, allowing it to interrupt targets even through Stability. removes boons when used on enemies and
- Offhand pistol's main purpose is to combo stealth with and to provide a quick interrupt via .
- Stealth stacking rotation:
- Grasping Shadows (Shroud 2)
- Dawn's Repose (Shroud 3)
Damage
- Both of the weapon sets and even the Shroud skills can do a lot of damage. On weapons the autoattacks are very important while Shroud is all about rotating through CDs.
- On S/D you'll open with Immobilize. Sometimes all you'll be doing on this set is use these skills + the autoattack to conserve Initiative. from range to leave an escape route with . Teleporting in and out can help you avoid damage, cleanse conditions, and do a setup with
- If you can afford it for extra damage and boonrip the Immobilize from could help with landing these skills too, even when used in the middle of it: port in, hit them with Flanking Strike, port out, and then back in for a Larcenous Strike. + chain can do quite a bit of damage while being unblockable and stealing boons (and evading attacks in the process), but this chain is quite costly and very telegraphed and thus easy to avoid. Try baiting some dodges first, or use it when the enemy's blocking/channeling a skill. The
- Skills 4-5 on S/D are rarely used, although is good for some ranged poking or killing Mesmer clones with the bounces.
- On D/P once again 1-3 is where the damage comes from.
- is more of a combo tool than a damage source until you soften up the target, but against low HP opponents you can use it as a finishing move. A common beginner mistake is to spam this skill while the enemy's still on high health, try to avoid doing that.
- Tip: this skill has 2 parts. The first one is an unblockable blind/teleport while the second one is a damaging attack. It's possible to use this as a gapcloser even while stealthed without breaking stealth - simply stow your weapon right after the teleport happens. This could even allow you to close the gap for a .
always does good damage and works well as an unblockable gapcloser, but because of the hefty Initiative cost you won't be spamming this one either.
- Sometimes you might end up spamming the autoattack chain in a Stealth is applied after the damage connects so you don't have to worry about getting revealed. to avoid taking more damage than you're inflicting. Using in BP grants you stealth which opens up as a followup. If you hit someone with HS while standing in BP the
- As for Shroud, skills 2 and 4 is where the damage comes from. The second skill is a ground targeted AoE which goes off after a short delay,
- The delay of Shroud skill 2 makes it ideal for comboing with skill 4, as you can make them hit at the same time.
or a proc might make it easier to land this right after entering Shroud. Skill 4 is a channeled point-blank AoE which is much easier to land. is great at setting up these slow Shroud skills too.
- Burst combo example:
- Grasping Shadows (Shroud 2)
- Eternal Night (Shroud 4)
- Dawn's Repose (Shroud 3)
- Drop out of Shroud, x2 if they're low health
Sustain
- The main sources of condition cleansing are , , and (Sword #2's chain skill).
- is a rather laoded defensive skill, packing an evade, a heal, and even some cleansing.
- is your only stun break so hold onto it as long as you can, but if you're feeling confident and need to chase a kill this could also work as yet another gap closer. Alternatively it could be used to bail from a fight and run away.
- Stealthing grants you barrier via .
- If doesn't hit anything, it won't flip over to its chain skill. You can abuse this a little by repeatedly using the skill without a target while under pressure, evading multiple times in a row.
Ratings
Knocking it down a tier after specter nerfs. Not as good as the Cele version, and very similar Daredevil builds are much more popular. Still decent damage and sustain, just not the best thing out there.
Comments
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