The Most Important Relics in Guild Wars 2

[@2Btoobee]

I miss my rock dog...

[@connorconcarne]

They will be missed :(

[@WardenDios]

Also, It should be noted for the Fireworks Relic: Skills inside of Death Shroud or Reaper Shroud or Harbinger Shroud count as weapon skills for the purpose of activating the Fireworks Relic. So Necromancer has a really really easy time making use of it.

[@akhsdenlew1861]

Relic of antitoxin is overgloryfied. it has 5 sec cooldown ( i think the rune didn't have a cooldown), which means u have no control over it. i think it's worse than it seems.

[@kotzebrecher]

I think relic of speed should be moved from honorable mentions to WvW. On classes that have easy high passive uptime of swiftness it is insanely good. Positioning is so important, and that helps with it on so many levels. It will allow you to survive many situations you might otherwise have died in and allow you to run down fleeing enemies many times they would otherwise have escaped. It simply is the best overall in my opinion, because it is always useful.

[@connorconcarne]

Good point about Relic of Speed. It's one of the Relics that is basically always good to slot. Especially in WvW for all the reasons you mentioned.

[@haydenkittler]

Relic of speed is terrible

[@kotzebrecher]

@@haydenkittler no, it is terribly average. But what if provides, is better than almost everything else that is average or below average. Do you have wvw experience? Do you know how important positioning is as soon as you have more than 5 players on both sides fighting some asymetric or blob vs blob warfare at a tower or keep? Being 25% faster in combat as a baseline means a lot when positioning and fast repositioning is important. 100% swiftness uptime is much more realistic than 100% superspeed uptime.

[@kevinluu7024]

Anet : here's 40 new relic! Also anet: only 5 is viable 😅

[@mandodelorian4668]

Balance Team: "nailed it!"

[@mismismism]

Lol and then some of those 5 are buggy. Imagine my disappointment using fireworks on Chrono shatters, swap to Virtuoso and they just said "B***h, you thought".

[@kevinluu7024]

@@mismismism shatter ain't weapon skill tho

[@mismismism]

@@kevinluu7024 But shatters work on the other Mesmer specs even on Chrono with alac, and it works on 1 of the Virtuoso shatters, just not on the others like the other specs. That's why the builds on sites like Snow Crows use fireworks and sword off hand instead of say pistol where both attacks can trigger it because you can just use your shatters.

[@2bstiff584]

this destroyed 2 of my builds because there is no Relic with the 6th state I need

[@connorconcarne]

What builds did you need relics for? I do hope they expand on the relic system and give us some more fun options to play with.

[@alcatraz-nc2814]

I am hoping Anet adds more interesting relic in the future because right now we lost a lot of good runes effect (some being more niche or fun than other) just to get about 8-10 relics worth using but with kinda unremarkable effect. Sure things like relic of the firework and thief for power are pretty solid and consistent due to their requirement but these are outliner compared to the vast majority of relic requiring you to use your elite skill for instance. Relic of speed is just busted on class that has easy access to swiftness like Daredevil and while it's not much for PvE, in WvW it's just insane. I get that relic shouldnt be as strong as the 6th rune slot for obvious reason, but if you're going to force me into picking one, them at least bring back some fun effect like the rune of golemancer or rework some old effect like rune of strenght.

[@connorconcarne]

I agree, I'd love to see some new, more interesting relic options in the future. I believe they said they would be adding new relics in the patches following the expansion so will need to see what they have in store.

[@heyitsme1618]

Fireworks and thief are currently too buggy to be used and do not activate on many skills that should trigger them, like engineer shield 4/5. Arenanet “quality”.

[@foldimarcell]

"never been a better time to be a gw2 player" Except between 2017, and 2019.

[@Tiberius3991]

Thx for the video, very helpful 😊 Fireworks feels pretty nice on Scrapper, the Function Gyro triggers it, too! Btw I need to know what kind of armor that is in the first few seconds 😮

[@connorconcarne]

So glad you enjoyed the video :) Glad to hear the Fireworks Relic has been treating you and your Scrapper well. That would be the Logan's Pact Marshall Outfit I got from this round of drops.

[@Tiberius3991]

@@connorconcarne Thanks for the fast answer! Keep on rocking :)

[@Blaylock2]

so if i havent played since Heart of thorns and I dont even know where to start now lol

[@connorconcarne]

Welcome back :) If you're stuck on what to do I'd recommend working your way through the story. You'll get mastery points, access to the new maps and you can slowly learn about everything that's changed.

[@ianashmore9910]

My relic experience went from worry to excitement to disappointment

[@Maebbie]

they should have moved that 25% movement speed passive to a relic, why is that the only thing that runes still have as a 6th bonus

[@connorconcarne]

It's interesting that they left that bonus on some runes. It does mean you get to stack the movement speed bonus though which is pretty neat.

[@Maebbie]

@@connorconcarne i guess, but like out of combat you cap out at around 40%, so noit much to stack and the relic of speed already bumps you to the same speed in combat. I always use the 25% passive for the convinience in open world, at least its still in the game somewhere.

[@VADERR7]

This is a very informative video. Thank you.

[@connorconcarne]

Thanks so much! Glad you found it useful.

[@Ryan-cf7bf]

I thought about relic of the defender with herald. It would basically make your shield skill a third full heal

[@connorconcarne]

I do like using Relic of the Defender especially when I'm hand-kiting on Deimos. Unfortunately it only heals you which means it doesn't get much use when you need to heal your team. Great for self-sustain though.

[@Ryan-cf7bf]

@@connorconcarne I mostly do open world and spvp. So a lot of time spent getting hit and needing to worry about myself.

[@MyLittleDev.]

Just 2 relics u misisng, Relic of the Defender who heals you everytime you block an attack for warrior, scrappers, virtuosos, in pvp wich builds r made in that way to block attacks. And Relic of the Brawler are good for Guardians class with dps builds can often get protection or resolution and get 10% more dmg

[@connorconcarne]

Those are some really nice relics as well. I sometimes use the Defender Relic when I'm hand-kiting on Deimos and want some extra sustain. I'll need to give Relic of the Brawler a test as well :-)

[@datboi04]

It's a shame only a few of them are actually worth using lol Relic of Cerus has a cap of five hits in WvW according to the wiki. It hits five times then disappears. Might still be decent for some classes, but not as OP as it sounds.

[@connorconcarne]

Yeah the 5 hit cap does stop it from being insanely overpowered. It's especially nasty if a few people are running it though.

[@Raffzyy]

For the Antitoxin relic im honestly kind of confused with the "an ally" because traditionally, the game never counted yourself as "ally". Although im assuming its 5s cd for every cleanse...

[@eporcheetahka5086]

Will the fireworks Relic trigger if the weapon cooldown is shortened by less than 20 sec because of alac?

[@mismismism]

Yes and no, it's supposed to trigger on any skill with a base cooldown of 20+ secs but it's bugged with some skills so not all that are supposed to trigger it do. Like Mesmer, Chrono can trigger it with all shatters but F1 but on Virtuoso not all the 20+ shatters trigger it properly.

[@scullyy]

I wish they had taken the opportunity to get rid of the %damage bonuses.

[@DJBot7]

My greatest disappointment is them removing golems, rock dogs, parrots, etc.

[@enorenwtf]

I find relic of the warrior very useful on some healers, for example on heal herald you can swap faster between staff and mace/shield, meaning more boon, more cleanses and more heals overall, plus more chance of being able to use staff 5 when needed even if you're not saving/camping staff. Sadly it doesn't work on legend swap or attunement swap like most weapon swapping sigils do. Not sure if it's intended or an oversight.

[@sarlanvili9688]

this effect never worked on class mechanics and it honestly never should. i also think that esp on heal rev other options are better. even myhr can be a stronger pick and actually enable support core rev in smallscale. 75% dmg reduction for your party while you yourself are tanky af and buff stab, heal, cleanse and cc a decent amount is maybe even better than running support vindi in smallscale.

[@critical-thinker666]

That's prob worst relic for healer. You never heal on CD,you burst healing when needed. Herald is braindead afk class anyway.

[@leftrom9738]

Any advice for Alacren? He's my main build used for fractals (and open world sometimes) and the relic of the Herald seems to be the most beneficial.

[@connorconcarne]

Relic of the Herald can work if you really need the extra boon duration. However, if you get enough BD from your gear then you can just use Relic of the Thief (similar to Quickness Herald).

[@Neon1928]

I've been finding Herald with the Relic of Speed excellent for PvE. Combine it with the adept trait Rising Momentum and you've got permanent superspeed.

[@connorconcarne]

Glad you've been enjoying Relic of Speed as well. Being able to zip around effectively with superspeed is super nice.

[@ashleyanne2056]

3:26 - condition damage timestamp since it is not available by content creator

[@connorconcarne]

Thanks for catching that ☺️ the timestamps are updated now.

[@gepasconfiance]

j'utilise la relique de karakosa excellente je suis jurelame et joue en pve

[@Estearius]

I think Relic of Speed is overestimated. Please remember that your base movement speed is 294, with normal swiftness (+33%) it is 391. With Relic of Speed (+99%) you would expect 585, BUT game is capped at 400, so you will end up 400. The difference is 391 without Relic vs 400 with Relic which is negligible to matter in "doing achievements" that you have shown in video. Having said so, Relic of Speed is still useful in fights, as it allows you to cap 400 in or out of combat effectively ignoring combat movement speed restriction. However, it is not too useful since all the movement conditions are -50% and lower meaning if you have any movement condition on you, you still move slower with Relic of Speed vs normal speed or normal combat speed. Even with or without this relic you still need to match the movement boons/conditions your enemy has as you would normally do without this relic. There is no "I can ignore chilled because I have Relic of Speed" which is a shame.

[@chomas8784]

I have akeem on my Specter but I have to say for pure fun the Relic of chronomancer is hard to beat. With Ritualist armor and that relic I can give myself 100% uptime on both quickness and alacrity. It's a fun playstyle for sure..

[@DemethVLK]

I hope they balance them more and more

[@connorconcarne]

I hope so too. They have built a good system where they can easily add more and tweak existing relics though.

[@Ninebreaker56]

Mate. For a solo PvE build. Relic of Defense is where it's at.

[@Insig385]

burn tempest, is aristocracy the only thing I can use? the 2 best condi relics you have to apply torment or bleed, earth does give bleed but im not sure if it'll be enough bleed stacks. anyone tried yet to know?

[@connorconcarne]

Aristocracy would be a great relic if you can't get much value out of the other options. It's a nice go-to choice for condi builds.

[@Notsram77]

I dont see it mentioned anywhere, but Relic of the Chronomancer lets me get Quickness from Well abilities, opening up my build in other ways. Maybe not the ideal, but its nice running other builds sometimes for a change of feel.

[@connorconcarne]

I love running Relic of the Chronomancer on Condi Specter with a ton of wells. Then you can have perma alacrity and quickness which is super sweet.

[@gailbrookhart1777]

I've been wondering about Relic of the Warrior for Necromancer to speed up shroud swap times. Haven't tested it yet so eager to hear from others who have. I know that there are times when I'm ready to go back into Shroud but shroud isn't ready for me yet.

[@chrisgoal]

I'm pretty sure relic of the warrior doesn't apply to class mechanics like shroud (specter/necro) and elementalist attunements At least in my testings, there was no affect.

[@gailbrookhart1777]

@@chrisgoalI was afraid that might be the case and so I was reluctant to try it. Thanks for the input.

[@dyrinn45]

Also if you do WvW as a support tempest you need to take Relic of the Trooper. No other relic works for support temp in WvW

[@caedis1]

Actually, Relic of Antitoxin is better than Relic of Trooper on Tempest. Shout skills have a longer cooldown, compared to the 5 seconds cd of Antitoxin. Also, a lot of times you use shout skills consecutively, instead of staggered.

[@dyrinn45]

@@caedis1 This is just not true at all. You can go look at the meta builds from WvW people and see you are incorrect. Why trooper is superior for suppor tempest is using a shout removes a condition. But also using a shout grants an aura, which cures an additional condition and then transmuting them grants an addition condi cleanse. That means if you are running 3 shout utilities and the elite shout you gain tons of additional condi cleanse. Compared to the normal water/air transmutes you can cure almost twice as many condis. There are times when you need to blow your shouts right in a row to remove 6-8 condies but you can water 4, transmute and flashfreeze and transmut at that is 6 condies gone. You are just factually incorrect in your assessment and its why EVERY single support tempest runs shouts in the first place.

[@dyrinn45]

@@caedis1 I would say you are correct if you run only map queues as you have enough bodies to soak tons of damage and condies but against doubling your condi cleanse plus using Temp Master Traid 3 instead of 2 gives you tons of healing. Not double the healing but every shout grants an aura so it cures 3 condis and heals for like 3k.

[@JRZTT]

@@dyrinn45 Really? That's the 1st time someone tell me trooper is better than tempest. I heard trooper is better then tempest only in situation where you need to cleanse burst on demand, but once all shout on cd, you lost that burst. When you lost that burst it was then anti toxin run supreme, it gave more consistent to condi removal in longer fight which happen all the time in zerg. And using shout/transmute aura also activate anti toxin, it just have internal cd.

[@dyrinn45]

@@JRZTT Hey! Its only better for WvW if you are running support tempest. This usually happens in parties or squads. If you are running in a fight group, meaning you intend to take objectives and fight other guilds/squads, not having burst condi cleanse is not an option. Its not just damaging conditions you need to worry about. Chills, blinds, poisons (which damage but more importantly hurt healing/rezzing)...etc. Now if you are running duo with another person and you are hybrid, the antitoxin is great but not running shouts means you lose at least 2 but often 3 condi cleanses per shout, plus the additional 2-3k healing per aura from each of the 4 shouts you run. I run with some of the largest fight guilds regularly and I sit at number 1 or number 2 in cleanses in every single fight. There is no contest against my build from antitoxin and the amount of condi cleanses is a direct reflection of the amount of healing.

[@Faayde]

Relics are really weak right now.

[@gailbrookhart1777]

Forgot to mention one thing that I'll post separately but another comment here touches on it as well. Tooltips on these relics are highly variable. Relic of Akeem's tooltip is well described. Relic of the Reaper, for example, is skimpy. "Chill nearby enemies after using a shout" How many enemies? How big an area? For how long? What's the cooldown on procc? It's made me a little gun shy for fear that I might waste my selections because several relic choices feel more like a guess than a decision. Thankfully, a few of the wiki entries are sketching in a few details.

[@eutha6]

so buy the expansion or deal with substandard relics?

[@aidenmartin6674]

No. They are with all level 80 chars. Expansions don’t matter (I’m not positive that chars that reach level 80 after the expansion get that box of relics. They may have to buy or craft)

[@connorconcarne]

If you're a power class you're good to go for now. The Aristocracy Relic is still a decent shout if you want to stick to core relics.