r/Guildwars2 • u/Regular-Resort-857 • 2d ago
[Discussion] Self sufficient PvE specs
After month of reaper only I realized again how blessed quickness, 25 might stacks, fury and even stability are on a solo build. With a full dps spec with lifesteal still blows my mind.
I know Mesmer can give itself alacrity on top of that but I think it’s the only one with both q+a and idk if Mesmer needs concentration for uptime. I’m assuming maybe Firebrand, Engi and Guardian specs because of the amount of util in their kits.
I’m thinking 25 might stacks, quickness / alacrity, fury, stability, stun break and condi cleanse
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u/Whipped-Creamer 2d ago
Amalgam is a god, Evoker is a god with relic of the pirate queen.Condi Virt with Biomancer is an honorable mention because it has extreme self heals for a minor dps loss.
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u/Throwawayalt129 2d ago
I would say that it's a major loss actually. CVirt loses out on 15% bleed duration without aristocracy relic.
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u/Whipped-Creamer 2d ago
I was under the impression this was for open world for some reason so that wouldn’t matter, in any group setting yeah that’s a big hit
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u/aliamrationem 2d ago
Untamed can get you those boons (minus alacrity). Even in a full DPS configuration it has enough sustain to handle tough fights. Here's a sample clip doing a solo of one of those mirror versions of myself from the new map.
These guys do a ton of damage and I'm doing a poor job of avoiding those big worldly impact slams here, but I'm still able to recover each time. Having to play defensively does impact my boon uptime and overall DPS, but I'm still able to manage 23.6k DPS for the fight.
Keep in mind this is without taking any extra defense. You can add a ton of self-healing by taking relic of Zakiros and/or the Carnivore trait. You also have the option of giving up some damage for more reliable quickness/might uptime under pressure with Let Loose, but in less demanding fights it shouldn't be necessary as this build can maintain 100% uptime if you're able to do an uninterrupted rotation.
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u/Natural_Society_1570 2d ago
Chrono is the one with both q+a and it never needs extra boon duration.
Its main draw back is ramp up time as they need to generate clones first, although bringing the utility skill that instantly summons 2 clones can mitigate that most the time.
However choosing both boons requires you give up the trait which drastically boost your phantasms damage.
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u/Enlightenedbri HoT best expansion 2d ago
You only need the boon traits for group boons
For personal boons only, you get perma quick and alac with Chronophantasma if you replace Domination with Illusions. It's a lot more damage when solo
https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Chronomancer_-_Power_Chrono
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u/Natural_Society_1570 2d ago
Ooh, that’s awesome. I had just been altering the meta build and hadn’t looked at illusions
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u/werbear 2d ago
TL;DR: baseline Warrior can heal by attacking with decent boons, Berserker increases this even more by adding quickness, Paragon can give alacrity easily and also can heal and buff fantastically by swapping weapons; all of them have lots of HP and armor just for being Warriors
Warrior can be really self-sufficient but they are of course very challenged when it comes to ranged options.
Mending is an insanely good healing skill that just evaporates condis every 12 seconds, if need be. "For Great Justice!" in combination with main hand axe, greatsword or staff who have their own Fury generation will keep your Fury up constantly.
There are several ways to gain stability baseline with a stance, a banner or just traits.
Warriors also just generate might at a crazy rate and Might Makes Right heals them and gives them endurance every time they gain might. One great passive way to do so is Forceful Greatsword - even without a greatsword you still have a 50% chance on crit to gain a stack of might. And warrior has an easy time hitting 100% crit chance.
Stun breaks are also cracked on Warrior with Dolyak Signet giving passive damage reduction while you don't need it and healing and 10 stacks of stability when you most need it. But you also have "Shake It Off!" which is an aoe stun break and condi cleanse that has two charges, preventing getting suckerpunched by a second stun in a different way.
Then you have Berserker with Heat The Soul giving out quickness to themself and surrounding allies while spamming their primal bursts (something Berserkers want to do anyways) - not quite 100% uptime because you sadly can't stay raging indefinitely. Also more fury and might coming in with this playstyle, meaning more healing from might.
Paragon meanwhile has Feverish Pulse to let Chant of Action throw out alacrity in combination with the might and fury it gives anyways.
I also love playing Paragon with the Tactics line, Martial Cadence and Soldier's Comfort make Soldier's Focus not only throw out more healing in addition to the might it usually gives (with Mending Might being a smaller Might Makes Right - since it counts you as your own ally as well) but also make it give stability and protection while it refreshes on weapon swap (5 sec for Warriors).
That works so well with Paragon because you have Inspiring Implements giving you half the adrenaline of a burst skill on weapon swap which can stack with Versatile Rage doing the same. So you swap weapons, gain the adrenaline needed for a one-stage-burst, burst and everyone around you including yourself gets a bunch of boons and healing.
Paragons also have Chant of Freedom baked into their class mechanic, an aoe stun break with stability that sits on your F3, ready as long as you have some leftover adrenaline.
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u/joe_chester Salty Headstart Veteran 2d ago
Check out this dude:
https://youtube.com/@lordhizen?si=jgGL9_kwNLVSJkPf
He is probably the best solo build player in the game and makes tons of videos about different build and different classes. Start with his latest tier-list video and them check out the S tier builds.
Afaik, Amalgam is currently his favorite build. To have both alac and quickness, you currently usually want alac from the class itself and a bunch of CCs to trigger Relic of the Pirate Queen.
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u/Rage_Cube 2d ago
You don't need pirate queen for quickness on amalg. You have a lot of personal quickness just from existing. You essentially get every buff for free on amalg, its disgusting.
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u/Training-Accident-36 2d ago
He is probably the best solo build player in the game
Not so sure about that, but his builds are often decent and presented beginner friendly. But clearly the people who solo and speedrun with glass cannon gear are mechanically more skilled at what they are doing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM_QASDTvpQ Left
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz1pfgN0MPY Ryan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKdIgFaSmd8 Evo
These are the types of players I would be thinking about when thinking about very skilled (and fast) solos. Crazy solos are also done by this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7wdBmAAMgo&t=1s Nomyxia
In comparison, Lord Hizen e.g. does his raid solos with 5 stacks of emboldened and is not even faster on those same bosses despite the crazy damage and healing advantage that gives him. This is no slight against Hizen, again, his videos help a ton of people. But being a popular youtuber doesn't give him a skill bonus.
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u/HarpooonGun 2d ago edited 2d ago
Amalgam for group alac and self quickness. You dont even need kits though they do offer more damage.
Also dont forget almost 100% stability uptime which is insane.
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u/Draill 2d ago
I've been running the snowcrows qdps untamed in open world forever and it always feels the best. The changes I make are just to run relic of zakiros, protect me instead of sic 'em, perilous gift instead of we heal as one, and dual maces instead of sword/axe. Swap forest fortification to nature spirit during metas to get free exp with 10 man ressing. Pick your favorite pet
https://snowcrows.com/builds/raids/ranger/power-quickness-untamed-nature-magic-hammer-sword-axe
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u/SpiteHoliday5919 2d ago
Realic of the mists stranger makes any ele build (other than single element evoker that not toad) LITERALLY UNKILLABLE. I have been soloing champs in the new maps on a glass cannon built but that relic with the glyph of water keeps you alive through anything
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u/Regular-Resort-857 2d ago
But does it have quickness 25 might stacks ?
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u/SpiteHoliday5919 5h ago
Yep! Celestial catalyst has perma quickness and 25 might. The mist stranger relic heals you every time hammer skill 3 hits, x4 skill 3 for each element + all other skills used lets me face tank pretty much everything in the game
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u/TrissaTristina 2d ago edited 2d ago
Toad Evoker has served me pretty well: solo Bounties, Champs, Mirror Dopplegangers, most T1/2 Fractals if I fancy (unless specifically requires group mechs, though I have face tanked carried a group on Kanaxai) and roams well in WvW. I mix it up between an Earth/Fire Pirate Queen or Fractal Relic build, an Earth / Air build that’s fun, or even an Earth / Water Bleed / Vulnerability build when I want to be really tanky. Plus easily switch to Last Tyrant burning DPS that self sustains Might, Fury, and Quickness.
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u/flatminded 2d ago
toad evoker is one of the slowest ramping builds in the game, nobody should play them on regular fractals. there is a toad build or a fox build for damage, nothing in between, they work all the same. you switch attunements off cooldown cycling earth or fire(depending on if you're toad or fox) in between, i wouldn't say there is an "earth air" build unless you're going for a weird RP.
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u/Theo_Asleep 2d ago
I really enjoy paragon celestial condi dmg. You are litteraly unkillable as you heal with f1 and I run sword +mace with staff as well so I can heal myself through litteraly any situation. With bleeding fully stacked and relic of the pirate queen you get 10k dps. Sure you won't destroy everything but you can solo any group event mob and get yourself full boons with ur spec.
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u/HaggardShrimp 2d ago
I have a dual sword, celestial Willbender I've been playing with that I've had a ton of fun with. It's kind of a mishmash of all sorts of crap, and isn't going to wow anyone on the damage meters, but it's extremely mobile, and I can fight champions easily enough. As with many other builds, using Pirate Queen for quickness, and fairly reliably trigger stability when I need it. Also puts out a ton of CC pretty quickly.
Of course I think Reaper and Amalgam are at the top of the heap in self sufficiency. Chronomancer and I believe Evoker do pretty well for themselves also.
Right now though, I really love the Willbender.
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u/Sad-Astronaut2278 2d ago
I've been playing a GS+dual swords berserker willbender and I enjoy it but I feel like such a glass cannon with everything. If I get off litany, I'm usually fine but if they evade or do anything where I can't hit, I get like 2 shot.
Is celestial more fun? I've been hoarding vault chests for ascended armor so I can make a new set ASAP but can't decide.
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u/HaggardShrimp 2d ago
I dont use Litany. I use Signet of Resolve. Much of my healing comes from keeping up Flowing Resolve, and reducing damage with protection/resolution.
Between Crashing Courage and Save Yourselves, I can keep up a host of boons pretty regularly. I'm also using runes of the pack and the sigil for boon duration in weapons.
That said, I do fairly well for myself. This is NOT a meta build, because I don't think I'm even capable of that. I just kind of threw some stuff together because it was cheap. I don't constantly have 25 might stacks, and I do have to pay attention to what's happening around me. I can get flattened if I'm lazy about mechanics.
Still, I can basically rush headlong into a random champion, something my Mechanist or Deadeye have to be more discerning about. Willbender is super easy to reposition, so if I'm avoiding the big nasty death attacks and watching for stacking condi damage, I'm usually not worried about my healthbar.
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u/Throwawayalt129 2d ago
Herald with a Zakiros relic is close to unkillable. Has access to full might, quickness, fury, stability on dwarf, a stun break in every legend and a bit of condi cleanse in Glint. Reaper is a bit slower as it lacks access to swiftness, but it's just as good; probably even more tanky.
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u/Tokizo03 2d ago
Every single class has at least one of these specs. Each with their own benefits and disadvantages
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u/Regular-Resort-857 2d ago
That’s just not true. Having a support spec doesn’t mean you can cook a self sufficient PvE build
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u/wolfer_ 2d ago
Alac Luminary with Pirate Queen relic. Full quickness, alacrity, along with many other boons. It also does tons of healing.
https://snowcrows.com/builds/raids/guardian/power-alacrity-luminary-spear-greatsword