(Pre-SotO) Low Intensity Herald Guide: Easy DPS & Boons

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[@MuklukYoutube]

Tested after SotO Release: - Assassin's Presence no longer gives a unique buff (just fury now) - Heralds can now provide quickness in SotO by taking different traits and playing differently than in this video. While this build does still work, I don't currently recommend it, because most groups you join would expect a dps support herald to be providing quickness.

[@BF3Elroy1990]

I loved guild wars 2 up to 2019. That year i lost a lot of my ability to play complex builds due to a rare form of brain cancer that impacted my abiltity to do complex things. Now i returned to guild wars 2 after surviving that and now thanks to builds like this i can finally play gw2 again. Maybe not with the same ammount of dps and complexity but i can play again!

[@eyrthren]

welcome back!

[@NaoyaYami]

You can still do almost all content in game with those builds. Also give the beginner builds at Snowcrows a look as well - they have multi-step rotation tutorials for builds that are decent enough for raids (so you can focus on learning encounters instead). There will always be elitists (I see comms asking for 250Li/KP just for Icebrood Saga Strikes way more often that I should). Just ignore those groups because it's easy to get even pugs that are chill and just want to clear stuff in friendly atmosphere (or just join casual or semi-casual guild for content you want to do).

Congratulations on survival and welcome back ❤️. Have fun!

[@ChloeHartzog]

Welcome back ! Hope you have fun again in GW2

[@Beldraen]

So glad you made it through. It is really surprising just how wide the DPS difference is. If you use a low intensity build, you're going to be doing better than many of the players out there. That said, it's a game. Enjoy what works for you. Anyone who says differently is just a jerk. Welcome back!

Can I just say how absolutely fantastic it is that you give a run-down of weapons, sigils, runes and stats on one screen right at the beginning. When I come back to the video again after to apply the information, It is so useful to have a one-stop shop and not have to click through the whole video to cobble together the gear. Thank you Mukluk!

[@DreamerTrain]

The hardest part of this build is that everyone will pester you to switch to Renegade

[@meh_so_what8943]

hardly see people use herald.

[@xezzee]

Would you be so kind and explain why people would pester you to swap to Renegade? -CC is not acceptable answer because Herald can use staff 5 too and there are other good options like Mesmer who has +1000 defiance bar dmg, tough it is 120second cooldown on elite signet. -Alacrity is not acceptable answer ass Mechanist, Specter, Willbender, Mirage and even Chronomancer can also provide Alacrity for you. Or are you saying that if you play DragonHunter people will demand you play Firebrand -> well now you play Firebrand so you will be our Quickness -> You are already doing Quickness so why not just play HealBrand? -> Good so you are our HealBrand so you will do mechanics. This actually happend to one of our guildmates in PUG and he was soooo pissed off for hours afterwards xD He did not want to do mechanics.

[@westcoastwarriorsarchive7929]

@@xezzee alacrity is probably the reason people will pester you to swap to renegade. But now that a ton of classes can give alacrity its probably less of a problem.

[@xezzee]

@@westcoastwarriorsarchive7929 you see 7 mechalists to pop up in PUG when you ask alac 😆

[@ГлебШинкаренко-в7к]

@@xezzee I would like to point out that renegade has Darkrazor's Daring which is a 6 hit daze in aoe, which results in 600 breakbar damage

[@wolfinthedepths]

rev main here, very nice build! especially considering sometimes people tend to think Rev is complicated because of the 2 swaps and energy management, but if you do give it some time it has one of the most smooth and nice feeling rotations in-game, especially condi Renegade

[@dangahzone]

just wanted to pop in and say you're doing something amazing for the community. Ty I've gotta friends to hop on and play with me after showing them the low input builds.

[@RecklessFables]

The best part is that someone learning the mechanics can probably do better in DPS with this build than somebody who is trying to learn a 14 step rotation.

[@NaoyaYami]

It's not "probably". I've seen it multiple times myself - I use beginner build from snowcrows and I was even topping DPS charts in strike pugs once in a while.

[@nesurame]

More buttons is more things that can go wrong. Dropping quickness for example can completely change timings and bonuses; Tempest for exmple relies on quickness to be able to overload air into attune fire, cast 2 skills, then attune air and cast skills with the overload buff and the fresh air buff. My dps looks super bad whenever the boons fall off; whereas bombkit mechanist has 1 button and still hits like 16k without quickness

[@kaltaron1284]

Well, they may be able to do that top dps rotation on the golem. But doing something even close to it on a real raid boss is another story entirely. So I encourage people to find a build they are comfortable with and concentrate on the boss instead of their rotation. And 14 steps is pretty low. Some rotations have like 40 steps. Or like 20 per weapon set. Or several per weapon set.

[@NaoyaYami]

tl;dr: like Kal Taron said, play builds that you find very easy to play (even if it's a very simple build that's far from top benchmark dps) and focus on encounters first, so that you learn when you can fit more skills for more dps. Rotation length isn't difficulty, just a barrier of entry (if people can learn different rotations for multiple builds they play, they can learn one long one as well). Knowing the encounter (and just very basic rotation/priority list of your top skills) is way more important. Usually just auto attack alone will have you deal over 10k dps so now you just need to know when to jump/dodge/etc. Once you get familiar with mechanics you will know when you can safely start throwing other skills as well (especially important for skills like Guardian GS4 or Sword 3 which have you stand in place for the duration). On my first Deimos attempt I got carried the last 30% of the fight. Just yesterday (2 weeks later) I got my 2nd kill - this time I not only survived, but didn't mess up a single mechanic and was 3rd best dps in my training group. I use beginner build and rotation from snowcrows that's like 65% of what my class and role is actually capable of. The only difference between two clears was that I did a couple strikes and a single W1 training in-between those W4 runs.

[@kaltaron1284]

@@NaoyaYami Congrats on Deimos. He's not exactly easy. And yeah it's better to do sub-optimal damage but contribute than try-hard to do max damage and keep others occupied/distracted because they have to pick you up. Most raid bosses can be killed with quite low dps. Sure you might have to play mechanics that most groups can ignore but it's still possible and to be honest I even like to do that from time to time.

[@chester1882]

I’m digging these min effort builds. Makes me consider making some other toons.

[@Woekkie]

Great series man, the various players with extra difficulties is why mesmers started portalling at jp's

[@kaltaron1284]

I'd say that was more because of laziness but it helps others too so why not.

[@chrishammmond3281]

I am such a bot. I clicked the chest expecting something to happen. I am going to try this build out for my revenant to get introduced to the class. Thanks for the LI builds because they are great for introductions to learn from.

[@ElderNewt]

Really LOVE the editing of this video. Soo very nicely done.

[@willowg7131]

These build videos are fantastic. I'm eagerly watching and hoping for an ele or necro one soon! My uncle started playing a few months ago, and he's very very new to this kind of thing. I could see how something simple yet effective like this might help grow his understanding of the game and make it more fun with less overwhelm! Might have to try the builds myself, too, since I've been recovering from some carpal tunnel-y stuff and don't want it to come back. Less frantic button mashing sounds real great on the front.

[@MuklukYoutube]

I have a reaper necro one in my editors inbox, should get tackled next week sometime. I'll get to ele (and everyone) over time.

[@willowg7131]

@@MuklukKZbin ohhhh sweet, dude! Thanks so much!!!

[@noelic6744]

I wanna see you someday complete a raid wing with a party full of players using all these low intensity builds. Would be really cool.

[@faselfasel2864]

That would be a huge boon for raid accessibility. If there would be a proof of concept that you can kill dhuum like this, that would be great.

[@Icestorm575]

@@faselfasel2864 kzbin.info/www/bejne/rnW2d4erh7Ngj9k Something like that has been done, iirc they all used only autos, dodge and weapon swap

[@nataku313]

Muck your doing the gods work with these videos. The biggest complaint in the community is how snow crow videos are alll hammer. To learn a rotation it put the video to .5 and get to the golem and maybe Wright the rotation down if you need to. Everyone has been asking for “I want an in depth guide a rotation?!?! Why Am I doing things?!?! How do I adapt it?!???

[@consorts6233]

button mashers like me love your "low intensity" guides. besides the herald:elder.respite alternative you suggested, for those trying to repeat quickness.boon as often as possible for your party, you may wanna consider Devastation:Brutality as an alternative build line. that way besides using Facet swaps to boon quickness, you can add weapon swaps to the rotation, and since each has about a avg 15s timeout, you should be able to quickness boon 3s*8/min without worrying about running low on % energy. being able to keep quickess going nearly half the time should qualify you as a q-dps when some strike mission commander demands to know what roll you will be playing despite your relaxed dps skill rotation being less than your profession may be capable.

[@yasinachekzai2567]

Tried it out and it works like a charm! Thanks for another great LI build! ^.^

[@taylorgarrett793]

one thing to add bout interrupts. the dwarf chain skill is a taunt. which also interrupts and does break bar damage :) ( its a soft cc but does break bar damage at 75 per sec. ) also if ya in a " oh shit " moment, using the dwarf elite and the swinging hammers skill gives u 70% damage reduction for a few secs ( then goes back to 20% from the hammers)

[@FrostKaos]

Forced engagement on dwarf is a good cc as well on bosses because it applies taunt

[@joeyvpoisonfree]

Really hope you keep doing these, thanks!

[@ValkoinenShiro]

I've played something very similar with full diviner's and you can keep nature up and just spam all your other facets for permanent boons (except maybe the might stacks). It's pretty fun in a mindless way and solo-wise it does survive a lot. When there's smaller groups in open world the boons are fairly nice too. It just doesn't have the big boy boons.

[@CadeAid1]

I always liked the idea of playing a Glint-only build since she technically doesn't have energy costs on her utilities and having Jalis available in a pinch for stability and extra CC makes it feel better than just "im swapping to dwarf for energy"

[@MuklukYoutube]

And that would be a better way to play it. I'm attempting to condense these builds as much as I possibly can for the people who need it, but if you can handle adding more onto your plate you will be a more powerful asset.

[@Hurric4ne_]

Option #1b after hitting every breakbar skill you have: while waiting for your stance cooldown to come back, complain about your group members inability to also hit their breakbar skills. Preferably without being rude.

[@plaguetree6920]

As a reaper main I understand this.... CC solidarity!! #bluebarbad

[@kaltaron1284]

A group I was running with for a time did something called the "Samarog CC olympics". He usually lasted like a second or less. It was actually difficult to get CC in. The winners were usually necros or warriors.

[@agaaga7748]

amazing! Love the forward effect :)

[@majked]

Cool guide, need one for ranger CDPS , and it's your main!

[@zhamirdiaz3196]

Can't wait for the mechanist one!!! 😁

[@MuklukYoutube]

Already done! kzbin.info/www/bejne/qIPEdn5qq5p3apo&ab_channel=MuklukKZbin

[@nesurame]

Really interested to see if there's one for elementalist; ele really feels like the profession where you put in the most effort and It'd be cool to see that turned on its head.

[@MuklukYoutube]

I got one for ele that is 20k with 3 buttons, I'm doing it last to see if I can do better.

[@nesurame]

Is it condi tempest? Thats the only thing I can think of thatd be consistent dps with just 3 buttons

[@JuniperoHendricks]

i saw MrMystic did a vid inspired by your series. it'd be nice too see when these builds aren't presented as meme builds or comments like raiders will hate you.

[@ionnghost6097]

this build is great but one thing to note is that if you die you hae to reapply your facets when you get up

[@whyisthisathingnow...]

Waiting for the low intensity ele build😛 I think I'm getting rsi after playing catalyst daily😅

[@letourl4409]

Condi tempest with dagger main is pretty low intensity. You can stay on earth and press 1 to apply bleed. You have good regen with the signet and overload earth for cc and extra damage. You can also presummodamage

[@whyisthisathingnow...]

@@letourl4409 i guess I should say for cata rather than ele in general. Not a huge tempest fan😅 But thanks still!

[@duncanrobertson6472]

@@whyisthisathingnow... I'm guessing "low intensity catalyst" is probably similar to a "low intensity 5 kit engi" - a bit of on oxymoron XD. I hear heal catalyst is surprisingly good though, and maybe a little less intense, have you tried it?

[@xezzee]

What is your opinion about Heal Tempest? The pure healer using Staff and Auramancer? -Simple staff heal auto-attack and off-cooldown 5 7 8 9 0 -The simple Auramacer Overload Fire and Earth followed with Horn 4 after overloading while spamming 7 8 9 0 -The proper minmax Auramancer rotation is to use Dagger/Horn F1, 3, 2, F1, 4, 5, F2, 3, F4, 3, 4, 5, 2, F4, F3, 3, 2, 4, 5, F2, 2, F1, .... While spamming 7 8 9 0 and if needing to heal more starting with 6 followed with water attunement F2, 4, 5, 2 and ending with water overload F2. in both cases panic heals are 6 and water overload.

[@HelgeM1407]

@frikai sadly might isn't needed most of the time since hfb and heal mech provide 25 might easily.. Killing some of the healer variety.

[@hilding2063]

Nice guide, thank you.

[@rkbkirin5975]

Very interesting low-intensity build!

[@noobamsteuer4002]

this might do more damage with either Air or Frailty sigils instead of impact, u might wanna try those out ;)

[@FinalShieldnobi]

I'm surprised that condi herald isnt the LI build being shown as condi herald is pretty easy.

[@Vallun]

hammer guardian might be a good idea too

[@Ralesk]

I wonder with such low DPS output if it's worth it (as in, compared to the other low intensity builds already shown) - maybe the boon output makes up for it? or does it sustain itself well?

[@HelgeM1407]

This would be more like an open world build tbh. In structured instanced content you have most boons this build provides already covered by the healer of the group (hfb got 100% uptime on fury, 25 might, good protection uptime, 100% quickness, very good heals, 100% regeneration on demand, stability and aegis on demand). Same applies for heal mech but with alacrity instead of quickness.

[@Ralesk]

@@HelgeM1407 Yeah, that's part of why I wonder about the feasibility of this one. Or maybe it's that "this is the best you can do with a revenant chill build at this time, so if you want to use/progress/whatever with your revenant, you can try to use this"?

[@HelgeM1407]

@@Ralesk yea not sure. All I know is there is a 30k herald build, mostly auto attacking with shiro (double attack utility) and the dwarf legend (hammer swing utility).

[@CryptoCodeZone]

I missed the relic don't see it in the video

[@misterbreakfast]

You can get better DPS version if you take Jallis and Shiro and use their upkeep skills Vegeful Hammers and Impossible Odds, also keep Facet of Nature active for that bonus lifesteal in Shiro and damage reduction in Jallis (for 10 targets!!). The rotation is (precast Facet of Nature) auto attacks and sword 2 off cooldown, don't interupt you auto chain if you can help it (iirc its 3 auto loops per sword 2), stay in Shiro as long as you can and swap back to Shiro as soon as possible, as thats where you do the most damage. Activate your upkeep skill right after you swap legends, keeping both upkeep skills on the same button will make it super-duper easy, and try not to run out of energy completely to keep Facet of Nature active, if you do run out, no biggie, out just pop the Facet back on when available. The build is almost exactly the same but take Spirit Boon over Rapid Flow in Invocation as you are swapping legends regularly, and if your subgroup already has Assasins Presence (or if they are condition damage) you can take Notoriety in Devastation.

[@HavocRant]

I guess it’s time to build a Herald

[@metalpaul94]

Will you do a Raid with only low intensity builds? :3

[@MuklukYoutube]

I could easily do a raid with 2 "standard" supports and 8 Low intensity dps builds. Honestly they would be double the dps of the pugs I sometimes raid with (and still get the bosses dead).

[@DratchGarou]

Why Dwarf Stance as the 2nd spirit? Obviously as a Low-Intensity build you're not gonna be swapping, so is there a particular benefit to using Jalis over, say, Ventari?

[@MuklukYoutube]

You could certainly use any stance as the secondary. I usually default to dwarf for the stability options in a pinch.

[@Marunylos]

axe 4 is also pretty good single target cc

[@TheShugoBR]

i laught when talking about the traits XD

[@jmbrady1]

... every time I try and find a build with a shield that looks promising it turns out to not use shield

[@arkanaloth2617]

love it...

[@Cipp9]

What armor is that?

[@MuklukYoutube]

Ebon shoulderpads, wizard hat, everything else is raid legendary heavy armor.

[@rmyoung87]

I'll be impressed if one can be made for elementalist.

[@MuklukYoutube]

I found a 3 button tempest that can break 20k, not as busted as the mirage video but more than viable. It will be the 9th video in this series, giving me more time to try and find a better version.

[@xezzee]

@@MuklukKZbin What a tease! I wonder if was it MightyTeapot said that Herald might get Quickness. That would be rather interesting as then you might be able to LI Quickness as Herald. I can always Daydream about that.

[@westcoastwarriorsarchive7929]

There is a video from a person named muru showing a simplified rotation for weaver you get just under 20k dps by auto attacking and swapping between fire/fire and air/air on cooldown. and 24k dps if you add in sword 3 on cooldown inbetween auto attack chains. watch?v=jehYxG4IijQ

[@gromimomi8486]

This is a pretty hard build for rev standarts, core rev can do 30k by just autohitting with impossible odds on when pressing f2 every 20 seconds

[@cornicrafted8567]

Its called „slightly less than afk „

[@SINISTERx0007]

do warrior..i need it :D

[@MuklukYoutube]

It's in the queue, will have one out soon.

[@dangerousdays2052]

I have AIDS. Is this a good build for me?

[@Benz49421]

yes and no u get role dps quick perma u need to bump all herald skill to proc quicknesto team and swap shiro or dawrf to hammer, odds spam 1 1 1 2 and loop it

[@lucaeinsle21]

These kinds of builds are okay (i guess), but please dont play this in groups, that have any kind of expectations (kp, li, ufe or w/e). You have to always remember, that you’re playing an online game, with other people. That means you should try and avoid wasting other people's time, you should always treat other people how you want to be treated by them. If the group legit doesnt care about dps and amount of time spent doing the boss, then you can pretty much play what you want. But in a situation, where people care, you are going to troll 9 other people with this kind of build. As someone who has lead a good number of raids, dealing with people, that dont care about wasting other peoples time is incredibly annoying. As long, as you play with likeminded people, its fine, but dont just go into the lfg and play this in every group, its just not okay.

[@MuklukYoutube]

As someone who frequently pugs raids, the dps of these builds is double what most of the pugs I run into do. I would be so excited to land in a group where everyone was doing 20k+ (I usually see 10k+, and we still kill the bosses it just takes longer). I truly do not believe it would be trolling if they took these builds to nearly any content in the game.

[@lucaeinsle21]

@@MuklukKZbin huh, interesting. In the pug groups i play with, these kinds of numbers would certainly be on the low end. Sure, i meet people in pug groups, that pull even lower numbers than shown in the video, but usually, i see people doing good dps. Hence why i felt the need to comment.