POWER MECH VS THE WORLD - Are Guild Wars 2's "Bad Builds" REALLY That Bad?

A type of discourse which often makes me quietly grumble is that of PvE's "bad builds". Far too often, a perfectly viable PvE build in Guild Wars 2 will be written off just because it places a little lower on the benchmarks when compared to the most optimal meta builds - but I think that execution matters far more than straight numbers. Today, I take this idea to its logical extreme - can I beat the average DPS of the strongest builds in the game whilst running POWER MECH?
Support the channel!
► BUY Guild Wars 2 : Secrets of The Obscure: bit.ly/TpotGW2
► PLAY Guild Wars 2 for FREE!! bit.ly/TeapotGW2ForFree
► Support the channel and get stupendous perks : / mightyteapot
► Donations : streamelements.com/mightyteap...
Stay Connected:
► Twitch : / mightyteapot
► Twitter : / mightyteapot
► Discord : / discord
Join the Hardstuck community!
► Hardstuck Website: hardstuck.gg
► Hardstuck Merch: shop.hardstuck.gg/
► Hardstuck Discord: / discord
► Hardstuck Twitter: / hardstuckguild
This channel is supported by ArenaNet!
#GuildWars2 #GW2

[@Wellshem]

For 90% of the playerbase (including myself), I'd say it's better have a stable and reliant self sufficient 20k+, then a hard to pull off 40k that demands everyone around to play well too

[@Bacatorious]

I hate metas, I enjoy the game so much more when you take the 20k dps build you made yourself

[@biomagic8959]

now do the opposite. play the absolute best build for every encounter on pugs. so we can see how much a bad group pulls your dps down.

[@NicholasKimble]

Yes pls

[@n3lix]

Ah that would be good

[@WaterYaDune]

Nah, raid encounters can be hit or miss, we need consistent terrible pugs. That’s right, T3 fractals babyyyyyyy

[@Jonaleth]

I main the same build power mech that you played and I enjoy is. Its a peaceful life. I can eat while meatevents, spam autoattack and people doesnt find out because mech does the work. I also dont find weapon swap and apm builds fun, just tiresome.

[@nestormartinez1593]

"PEOPLE KILLING YOU" Is the right reaction when people kill you with orange circles in KO

[@omegasrevenge]

I love your youtube content, I wish you would do more of it :P Watching a stream is boring for me because theres a lot of filler, on a youtube video its all highlights all action all the time with no filler, which is amazing and i prefer it.

[@rgentry9]

The key here is that you're pressing all of your abilities off cooldown. A lot of the people who play power mech just auto attack and run all signets, not even throw mine, also being unaware of mechanical genius. We fear seeing a power mech in our group not because it's bad, but because it tends to attract bad and low effort players.

[@mayam.3240]

I personally prefer to see low effort player on a mech than on some meta build which they play miserably. It better to have them on a mech doing a lower pug dps than having them to compete with the healers for lowest dps in group. 😂

[@SealFormulaMaster]

Not all of us are low effort players by choice. I use low intensity builds because I simply don't have the ability to play Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit anymore. If you're looking for someone who has an average of 500 to 600 APM, I got bad news for you. Fatal1ty and Bugha aren't likely to be playing this game. Guild Wars 2 is 12 years old now, meaning most people who play this game likely have a family, a 9 to 5, and hand issues caused by said 9 to 5. Not saying it should be acceptable to sandbag mind you, just that if you see someone using a low intensity build, don't be afraid to ask them if they're using the build because it's popular or because they can't use something more optimal. As for "bad" players, something my guild did in other games was to host a teaching weekend every now and then. We'd take new players who might've never done Crota's End, Kyou Omen Kusa, Halls of Fabrication, and such and teach them basic mechanics in a casual run. Sometimes we'd teach one or two encounters, sometimes an entire raid. Might take an entire session to finish an encounter, but it'd at least get that person into raiding and maybe come back to finish the raid at some point. Don't know if Guild Wars has anything or anyone doing this, but it's something to consider if you got a guild that doesn't mind teaching others.

[@NightmareCourtPictures]

Just wanted to point something out: that there are a decent variety of builds, where autoattacking is a large part of their DPS (like 60% - 90%) The reason is because quickness, drastically favors builds that capitalize on low cooldown skill. the lowest cooldown are obviously skills like autoattacks. So the theorycraft behind such builds is to load as many mechanics onto your auto-attacks, and the collective effectiveness of of those is magnified by said quickness. You'd also be surprised that clicking on skills (especially ones where the build favors autoattacking) can REDUCE your DPS. There are calculations you can make, but to put it simply, skills that you press have to AT LEAST be equal to the amount of damage that the autoattack does, in order to justify pressing it over the autoattack...and the surprise is that there's quiete a few skills that can't do this. Thus using skill X over Y can reduce your damage output if the output of Y < X in that same time period.

[@rgentry9]

​@@NightmareCourtPictures Sure that all makes sense. Not every skill is worth using, but there are plenty of skills that *are* worth using.

[@rgentry9]

@@SealFormulaMaster I don't assume all people who use low intensity builds are bad players who use them by choice, but some of them are. But even for people who are looking for a low intensity build, there are better options than power mech. Condi mech isn't much different but does more damage just as easily.

[@anders8461]

I hated the mechanical genius' short radius. I can actually do top dps on a pug just because other dps do below 20k lmao. What I love about PMECH is the mobility especially if you are learning strike/raid mechanics. The only annoying thing about PMECH is positioning the mechto actually hug the boss

[@KastanaDrakon]

A Friend of mine started to play condi mech and i started to play power dps just for fun its a nice and easy duo team^^

[@Drakeskullnl]

Ah, I see you met the most magnificent case study in GW2 Raids history. This dude has been on the LFG at least four weeks in a row, every day, always on W4. I wouldn't be surprised if we continue to see him haunting the LFG like a mad ghost for weeks and weeks to come.

[@MightyTeapot]

That's massive

[@jkerkhoven]

You should be happy that I'm helping keep raids alive!

[@relzyn5545]

The reality is that in nm raids, and many cm raids, it doesn't take much damage at all to be viable. I did 111111 raids with a group and we still managed to skip worldeater some pulls (if we adjusted the comp and managed orbs better, we could probably do it consistently) If you always be casting (this includes autoattack) and execute mechanics prioerly, you'll win. If you have trouble pressing buttons at benchmark speeds, don't sweat it. Just press buttons as much as you're able to. Don't even stress a rotation*. Just learn which buttons do the most damage. *following the rotation when you are limited to how fast you can press buttons is not optimal, as you will waste time casting lower impact skills while your best skills are off cooldown.

[@SteveWray]

This. The purpose of playing video games is to have fun. It isn't a job and most of us don't get paid for it. I've watched a lot of videos of raid encounters and you can see the DPS meters. Even on good groups, it varies a lot from encounter to encounter and doesn't have to be that high to beat the encounter. There aren't many (any?) encounters in GW2 that are like Patchwerk in Wrath-era Naxxramas, which are a solid DPS check. People worry too much and, IMO, boast too much and mock too much, about DPS output. Sure, for some people minimaxing and practicing rotations until they can get benchmark numbers, thats fun for them. I get it. But other people, not so much. Old saying; you can't beat someone who's having fun.

[@moonhaewon6689]

Barelly over 30k and meanwhile me on a good build doing barelly between 20 to 30k LOL

[@theamazinghaole2384]

Thank you for this video. Yeah, Mech is hands down the best MID-TIER class. Its not top, not bottom but its reliable. It runs like an AK-47, easy to learn and does the job every time.

[@bn.liberte2370]

on boneskiner person was top dps only because fill zerk. In normal group some dps take half parts with celestial/maraduder/ or others stats to increase survive. But they say "I am dps", and this is normal common pattern

[@NitroGW2]

is there any other dps build that has a lower bench than boondps? I don't think so.. mech is in a poor state which is a shame because its extremely enjoyable spec to play. both the rifle power build and mace condi build where very addictively fun to play when realeased. And in a world where condi virtuoso exists I cant see why we cant have them too. Obviously it would be better if the other dps builds where brought back down to earth but that ship has sailed, hopefully not without mech left at the docks :)

[@Nephale]

Enjoyable spec to play? You press all the buttons. no weapon swap. That is afk autocombat mode.

[@Realblack_m0nster]

​@@Nephale why its enjoyable. i have a friend whose a total noob and this is the perfect build for such a person

[@relzyn5545]

Look up no apm hammer guard, its the video with two marios in the thumbnail

[@NitroGW2]

@@Nephale its fun because its mechanics have cool effects that enable good players, not because it has an easy button mash for noobs. there was many situational things mech could do to to counter mechanics in game that where fun. for example rocket jumping over shock waves or shifting through walls or AED. there was a certain group "utility" to having a player capable of using mechanist to its full potential for example saving a green on dhuum or canon on sabetha with a last minute shift or switching out grenades for throw mine for boonstrip or barrier signet for projectile destruction, rocket boots where also extremely funny. Even just knowing when to recall your mech for crash down. these weren't things button mashing players would do, but if you could then you added a lot of value to your groups success rate and that saviour of the run feeling made mechanist fun. it can still do all this and is still fun to play (minus the mechanical genius interaction which just serves to highlight ANET bad AI and cripple new/bad players) part of the issue is though is not everyone is widely recognised as teapot and therefor will not get the same treatment. I myself have been kicked out of groups for joining as dps mech even though i knew i was capable of finshing the content without holding the group back and if I joined the group as another power dps like soulbeast and did low dps the commander would completely ignore it because i was on a meta spec.

[@Laszlo.91]

There's a lot of more enjoyable specs to play that are easy to play and deal more damage than power mech.

[@liamwood6339]

I just noticed it was outlife he is so toxic in WvW. Gimme more of this content :D

[@Jmvars]

I was the Weaver in that IBS5 + DS group. Found out you were racing people and I stepped my game up. Bear in mind I was playing with dagger off-hand and some pieces on Dragon's stats. **huffs copium**

[@DfaGolden]

I just started playing a month ago (160 hours in) and this is the build I use almost exactly. I didn't realize this was considered bad, I've been able to do everything I want without any problems, but I haven't raided so maybe that's why. I feel like this build is just fun to play and simplistic. I still am spamming button and making decisions, but I like the range I can stand from the boss and the ability to dodge easily. Genuine question, will people not let me join once I start trying raiding and harder instanced content? I like the ranged dps playstyle and I don't know if theres something better I could switch to that has the same kind of playstyle on engineer.

[@theamazinghaole2384]

I run power mech when I am High. Rarely do people give you shit but it happen. People who give you shit are in raid and CMs. Any other content no one will say anything. If you master power mech you will be close to top of not just being top on most pugs even raids and CMs. I have been top in many groups because the build is so easy and very forgiving. On other classes, you miss your rotation or burst to soon your dps can Tank but not really with mech. Just smash all the buttons and watch the floor and you good. Also, run dragon hunter runes and dragons on trinkets (zerk on back and one earring) to get your crit to 45% because with your bonuses you can over cap crit in group. I also run punchy mech for extra might generation and throw mine cause swapping to grenades is so annoying. Oh, and always stack on group for boons and healing. Only go off group for mechanics.

[@voidvector]

Sounds like we need a 10-engi faceroll full clear attempt

[@saruwatarikooji]

I've seen it in lfg before. Not really that hard and it's more than viable since engi can cover all roles easy enough. I've also seen full ele clears and full necro clears succeed. Saw a full thief one but I didn't join since I didn't have my thief at all ready. These were on both raids and strikes as well.

[@jennettetalea9077]

When ppl say "This build is trash". By ppl, it means Snow Crows.

[@n3lix]

That is the kinda content im here for

[@bn.liberte2370]

at start on Carin was normal group. And it more middle + then middle -

[@tobiasbollig6394]

Started the GW2 life wit ha friend 2 weeks ago. meeting so many nice people. and i m HOOKED i started with a revenant because it looked fun but was not my kind of cup of tea. so i switched to engineer, and once hitting 80 i decided for scrapper (don t have eod yet) i. ADORE. it! Engineer is soooooooooooooo much fun. Is it any usable in fractals or other endgame stuff? in dungeons at least i seem to be a viable member.

[@Haydenh127]

I too play scuffed builds in pugs sometimes. I'm also the guy who plays boondps and gets annoyed if a DPS player beats me tho

[@xezzee]

Do remember the dps only goes up with Sword/Pistol 😂 Sword/Pistol > Sword/Shiel > Hammer > Rifle Pistol/Pistol is Condi and Li variant is actually really strong.

[@nielsjensen4185]

There's nothing in the Rifle kit that would trigger Relic of Fireworks.

[@limpingllama57]

nade kit 4 and 5 do, which he was running initially and I believe tool belt skills also trigger it, although that might not translate to mech skills idk.

[@user-ii7kb2bc4g]

I love playin rifle mech eng! its the only class I play!

[@cliffyk3380]

It's my boy OutLife hes a law unto himself btw

[@user-lc9se4td8d]

bring back the third shot on the auto chain mech sucks.

[@256shadesofgrey]

Remove MG range limit first. That's what makes the mech not just bad numbers wise, but also extremely annoying to play.

[@anders8461]

@@256shadesofgrey agree or just increse the radius to 900 - 1200

[@wyldlibrarian3549]

try this in underwater fractal ! and esp try being adps in underwater !

[@yvindvego9404]

power mech dps looks fun. is rifle turrent a decent alternative to throw mine? edit: just tried out rifle power mech in eod pug strikes. its pretty good. my main problem is that i have to constantly reposition the mech and and basically have to sit on top of it when using mech abilities.

[@rgentry9]

I don't think so. Rifle turret was good for power engis because the toolkit ability was low cooldown and had no cast time. Mech doesn't get the toolkit abilities, so I doubt that rifle turret is worth taking on mech.

[@Olike]

Ah, i feel you're just funner/funnier to see when playing gw2. it's a shame it doesn't have more hard content for you to enjoy

[@Xemozazk]

Its because gw2 is so easy he can just chill and laugh while playing.

[@Yoda7676]

He cannot even check chat when playing wow, which sucks for a streamer tbh

[@relzyn5545]

Boneskinner is a funny one because your class doesn't matter much; SAK use is the biggest contributor to damage

[@WillyWills1029]

Never thought I'd see you wear something other than a plain black shirt 😂

[@rmyoung87]

My issue isn't whether or not power mech is bad, it's that bad players tend to play it. I do CM strikes weekly and if someone is sandbagging the group, 70% of the time they're a mechanist. I'm not even complaining about their DPS--some people in snowcros builds still just autoattack--but that they always fail simple mechanics like green circles in AH, and not getting sucked into the death zone in XJJ.

[@stepheno5890]

A lot of the most OP builds in the history of this game were labeled as bad but help from one other player would make them invincible.

[@Yaeshi]

so Nemesis was right this whole time :O

[@BackwardsCombatable]

The GW2 community looks down on reliable builds because the people that tend to play them chose them because they're lazy. In the hands of a skilled player willing to put in the effort to understand the build and how to work around mechanics even power mech can compete.

[@Dothrask]

Uhm your dps on vg is not 22k its 15,6k. Quite a big difference

[@waddehaddedudedah]

oh wow thank you, he joins and doesnt understand those terms too xD

[@stevnated]

So, I guess I can't blame my build anymore, lol. It's definitely a skill issue.

[@user-ll7en4gs8q]

pMech is a good build for bad players. That's the only thing you're showing here. Also if you want actual good build wich is almost the same, just go for condiMech

[@SteveWray]

So its a good build for players that just want to have some fun, as Teapot was doing.

[@marthdaeglin]

When is it NOT a beautiful Wednesday in Guild Wars 2?

[@tonysears3838]

... You have ALL LEGENDARY... how can you have ANY bad builds?

[@ceri-potat]

what is that supposed to mean?

[@bl1tzcraft]

" barely does over 30k dps " classic elitist thinking 30k dps sucks.

[@MightyTeapot]

seeing as 40k+ is standard for a DPS, 30k does indeed suck.

[@SteveWray]

@@MightyTeapot Not if you're having fun and aren't screwing things up for the group as a whole! 40k dps might be 'standard' today because of power creep, but the encounters were designed well before the power crept to that level. What it means is that you can (probably) effectively do the encounters if peeps are just doing 20k dps and having a really chill time.

[@256shadesofgrey]

Top player on power mech barely beats the median pug and then gets completely stomped by players in his own league: the video. Give literally anyone any proper build and half an hour on the golem, and they'll be beating their own power mech numbers on every boss. That's why power mech sucks, because everyone would do better playing anything else, not because some streamer with 10 years experience in the game can beat pugs that started a month ago. Also you won't necessarily be doing better with hammer, because then you lose the big advantage that keeps your dps up during mechanics and when things go poorly: range.

[@MightyTeapot]

You missed the point big time lol

[@256shadesofgrey]

@@MightyTeapot How so? You were trying to show us that power mech doesn't suck, and then showed us basically comparing best case scenario vs. average pug. And in the end when you showed us what the performance would look like in a good group, you barely beat the supports. Power mech is a dead build in severe need of a buff and bugfixes, and this video, despite your framing, shows exactly that.

[@syrupybrandy2788]

@@256shadesofgrey What best case scenario? It's still a low intensity build. If you press all the buttons on cooldown, you don't need to be a top player. Anyone can do this.

[@FURYzjEh]

@@syrupybrandy2788 you'd be surprised how many players actually cant do this. Ask them to press buttons, they fail mechanics. Ask them to focus on mechanics, they stop pressing buttons.

[@256shadesofgrey]

@@syrupybrandy2788 Back when power mech was good, I did exactly that, and I ended up 3-5k below benchmark. Because benchmark parses usually use obscure game mechanics and bugs to get there, like animation cancelling. So if power mech benches 32-33k, realistically that's 28-30k for the average player. So knock off another 3-5k from the results that you saw in the video, and even someone who actually does press buttons ends up being worse on power mech than almost any other build.