the TRUTH about solo pve builds

[@LordHizen]

Hey nike i like the idea you want to deliver to make people run support dps to clear meta events faster, and thats a good point and i dont think anyone can argue about that and i totally respect it, but i just want clarify the part you mentioned at 1:25 that solo builds that most likely the ones i provided isn't only meant to solo bounty bosses or strike mission, the goal of the builds i made for open world is to do : - story - farm collection that require clearing lot of events. - clear mini dungeons. - Daily champion HP kill loots. - etc etc whatever what people wish to do in open world. those stuff are basically contents you don't usually get people around to help, so providing builds that are able to self buff your damage, passive sustain and decent cleaves also condition remove and stun breaks to make it easier and less punishing to new players when making mistakes while exploring open world contents outside meta events because they arent the only content in open world, they can be used to tag mobs during meta events but again they are NOT the best DPS builds to clear meta fast, they are meant for general use for other contents in open world like i mentioned above. important info : the idea of showcase soloing bosses is to show the peak performance how far you can go.

[@NikeDnT]

Thanks for the comment. My response... As you say, maybe people do some solo stuff for collections or clear mini dungeons etc. Those things *might* be hard if youre new to the game and playing a raid dps glass cannon, and I agree with that. Especially since the level 80 boost set gives you full cele, everyone's first build should be a cele build. The issue I have is, how many of these "casual solo" contents that you cited are too hard for raid quick-brand or quick scrapper or quick herald or staff alac mirage or alac specter? These builds are incredibly good even in open world. They dont have the sustain to solo the truly hard stuff, but they can do anything on your list with ease. So not only are the qualified for players to handle 99% of solo pve, they are also the right build to play in group events and raids. I have a very hard time recommending a new Guardian player work on his first ascended build as anything other than quickbrand because its just so versatile for everything, for one example.

[@SuperFUNNYKILLER]

​@@NikeDnT I would love to see ur average gw 2 player take on priest of Balthazar HP or Mushroom Queen as a full glass canon quick brand 😂😂 playing one of your mentioned builds is like roleplaying like this game is Dark souls where u will one shot a mob but a mob will easily one shot you. i know people that exclusively run only raid builds for everything and watching them screen share to me is literal Pain, i forgot the name of the icebrood saga WvW style charr map since i haven't played in a year or so. But whenever he roamed there with his full berserk weaver, he was basically living from rally to rally and it is not like he was beginner either, he could probably match a lot of SC members in legendary insights. So no.. what u say is straight up wrong and unless u do t spend 99% of ur GW 2 playtime in raid/strike/fractal instances having 1 solo or even semi solo build goes a loooong way.

[@zir1010011010]

@@NikeDnT hey, so I've started recently, not a good player by any means. I leveled normally, just doing story and exploring, so I didn't have the cele gear, so my first idea as I got lvl 80 was to go to snowcrows/hardstuck and based on that get full berserker raid-ready build. At that point what I needed to do was to progress story, get hero points, get "Return to..." achievments, and occasionaly jump into pug dungeon when a lfg popped up. I got absolutely blasted by HoT HPs of course, the story was by no means smooth sailing, and there were often very few people that would do bounties for the achievment. Big thanks to Lord Hizen and GuildJen, as thanks to their builds I was able to actually progress very smoothly, don't stress too much over some fights and just learn the game mechanics without dying left and right. I'm better now, doing fractal cms, strikes and getting into raids, but still jump on a "solo open world build" whenever I'm tired after work and just want to play for fun, without sweating about dodging everything

[@NikeDnT]

@@SuperFUNNYKILLER Nobody said not to have a solo build for soloing things that are hard. I suggested that people's main build for the main content they do, which is group content, should be a DPS support hybrid build. also I have no idea why you and some others are so hung up on the Balthazar hero point. Who gives a shit? Its a very out of the way hero point that there is almost no reason to ever do a second time unless you're extremely bored. You guys make it sound like the game is filled with content like this and balthazar champion bosses are lurking around every corner. The fact is there are 4 things like this, and they are all things you only have to do once, are intended for group play, and a person would only ever repeat if they wanted the challenge of doing it. Your "average gw2 player" isnt going to go out of his way to solo the same hero points multiple times per week, but they will do Octovine, Chak Gerent, DBS, EoD metas, etc. Its hilarious to emphasize the most extreme corner case examples and act like they are common but denigrate the things that actually are common. And lastly its sad to suggest that number of Legendary Insights is what makes someone comparable to Snow Crows.

[@zir1010011010]

@@NikeDnT Don't know what to tell you, i was playing the game normally, on my first character and there's like 30 hero points in HoT alone that the game told me to go and get; sometimes there were other people, most often not. I believe you would do them in a raid build, but i was learning the game and didn't have the skill. I'm now doing map completion and specialization collections in HoT, way more than metas. It is much simpler and more enjoyable for me to just play strong solo build. I have a separate build for group content like fractals and strikes

[@felmlyd]

There is something in-between though. All my open world builds are modified versions of raid builds that can self buff a little bit at least and have a tiny bit more sustain. Im not trying to solo Arah, but i'd like to be able to take the occasional champ, or succeed in an event where only 1-3 people show up.

[@NikeonaBike]

There isnt any events in the entire game that 1-3 people cant beat in raid builds even if they are extremely average players

[@felmlyd]

@@NikeonaBike IDK I just refuse to run any build in open world settings where I can't reliably generate the basic boons that make the build function properly. Just feels like shit playing a build that is designed to crit cap but can't generate fury, or is designed around cooldowns with Alac but cant generate alac etc.

[@havz0r]

@@felmlyd you are right. Nike is just delusional here.

[@TheREALTRS3607]

Maybe I missed it, but it seemed like you left out maybe the most important role of an open world/meta train build: AoE tagging. Dps doesn't actually matter much, but the ability to quickly tag as many mobs as possible for the xp/loot is what makes power mirage/cata, bow thief, FB etc. shine as "solo" builds.

[@kesamek8537]

Solo builds are fantastic for collection objectives outside peak hours when you're mostly on your own to get things done.

[@NikeonaBike]

there is no collection objective I can think of that requires a "solo build" to accomplish

[@thatotherdan9984]

This guy: "here I come to shit on your day!" It's a game. I'll play it the way I want and you play it the way you want.

[@NikeonaBike]

Plenty of people ask my advice on what to do and what build to play. I'm helping answer them. The difference is no one gives a shit about what you think.

[@attinger117]

I feel there are much better ways to portray the message you are trying to send. This video should be about the benefits of running support dps specs or hybrid supports in open world, and then specific examples given for a number of classes. Show some dps parses of these builds in open world group settings, show videos of these builds easily beating some non trivial open world content solo. All you have to do in order to get people on your side is have a point, be right about it, and prove it. But your video title and some of the things you say are just unnecessarily confrontational and I think you lost a lot of people.

[@NikeonaBike]

good, glad i lost them

[@PraiseChika]

Actual good PvE builds, eg. the ones that don't involve a group filling in all your survivability and boons for you like instanced content & the massive metas, look like WvW/PvP builds. If you're playing the game normally and you get wiped because your raid build didn't tell you to run a stun break or condi cleanse, you should feel like a clown when you have to waypoint and go all the way back. It is not possible for players to know every enemy's every attack when playing the game normally. They will get hit and have to adjust the build to account for more than just DPS as a result. It can be easy for players in the instanced content bubble to cite good clear times and high dps numbers on their content to overstep their expertise and give their advice where it is not relevant. To anyone reading this, I simply ask that you use a little logic. Just as there are clear players to listen to regarding PvP builds and strategies, strongly think about who you should listen to regarding solo PvE builds and who actually has the relevant knowledge and accomplishments in this regard.

[@NikeonaBike]

lmao you're in a cult

[@h3rpad3rpacifilis]

I think this is where this man is missing the entire point of "Solo open world". The reason I even started looking into it isn't just because I wanted to ego clear dungeons or HoT HPs. I was getting smashed by mobs as a new player because guides kept saying "Berserker", not realising raid builds are just really bad for independent play. No condi clears, no stun breaks, no self boons. It was just a horrible experience. Having a build that covered your boons as well as sustain while managing DPS synergies felt a lot better than just having optimal DPS. Not everyone is speedrunning or pulling up a DPS meter for every minute content in GW2, some people just want a more palatable experience.

[@dallassukerkin6878]

An interesting perspective for certain - there is always the alternate view, mind you, that not everyone is a caffeinated teenager in the gaming world. Slow old guys like me have an absolute need for self-sustain and damage mitigation in PVE because otherwise, if there are more than a couple of opponents, then Downstate is part of my rotation ... even if I am not playing an Ele :D. Trust me, young bucks, arthritis is a stone cold beach and playing with it is no picnic.

[@Nephale]

The raid quick fb build has 31k hp and extremely high sustain if you take litany of wrath.

[@SponTen]

Even without arthritis, without kids, without all those extra difficulties that can negatively affect a person's ability to play well... sometimes a player is just tired, lazy, or feels like playing a different build. I think telling anyone "you should/n't be playing X" is pretty invalidating. Yes, in group content, players would ideally be playing builds that are more optimised for that content, and I would still recommend that to people asking about it. But it's really tricky to argue that some players should have less fun (play a different build) so that other players can have more fun (higher chance of success). Some players would prefer to lose but enjoy playing their build more than the other way around.

[@MunitionsDudTester]

That's one of the many things I love about Gw2, there is a ton of variety of builds to accommodate people!

[@Poki3]

I think one thing you might be missing is cleve. As a "Thief main" I'd gladly run my alac build, but the lack of clieve when I'm just walking out and about without people around is terrible.

[@thephobos1810]

It's quite a shame to see how poorly Nike is treating anyone in these comments that disagrees with him.

[@NikeonaBike]

Its not about disagreement its the nature of their disagreement. When people respond by bringing up something already addressed in the video its clear tehy didn't watch it but wish to comment anyway, which is insulting and ignorant. Not patience for that. Not to mention several people put forth dishonest arguments or use blatant misrepresentations and they deserve censure

[@velotti2109]

tl:dr solo builds are good for soloing but not so great in groups. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that's why they're called solo builds.

[@AtsAreStupid]

I know people are upset that events like Dragon's End are failing a lot more than they should, but I think you're severely misunderstanding the average playerbase. It doesn't even have to be about what content people play, a lot of people struggle playing this game to any level of competency, even with raid/fractal builds -- perhaps even more so with the raid builds recommended by places like snow crows, because they just do not understand how those builds are played or that a lot of those builds are made to work with other builds in mind, will fumble their DPS, and would overall have an easier time playing most any non-meta, but competent self-sufficient build using most if not all defensive condi stat sets. This effect is seen through out a lot of instanced PvE, and it can make you seem quite privileged considering you're a generally higher player caliber, playing with organized groups that know what they're doing more often than the average playerbase is. It's really easy for you to say "oh, but these builds are decent enough to do X piece of content people do irregularly", but in reality lots of people struggle with those pretty substantially. A lot of open world content isn't particularly easy for a lot of people, especially newer players, and a lot of that content often IS being done by newer players since they're 'catching up' so to speak. Keep in mind that before a lot of people are even thinking of going and doing raids, they'll likely be playing through quite a bit of content, content that they might want to solo; content they might not BE able to solo. It generates a lot of frustration. Another factor is that while a lot of content might be "one and done" for you, for others, it might be regularly scheduled fun-times. Alting is a particularly fun activity in this game, and that'll mean you'll definitely be running through a lot of the content -- I myself have 14 alts, so I've been there and done that. Some people also just really enjoy doing HP runs daily; it might not be profitable to do so, but why not if they enjoy it, and want to make sure they can get through it smoothly when they might not otherwise, were they to change their builds around to follow a meta? Though I think my biggest issue with the video isn't even that, I don't even think you're necessarily wrong that people should, effectively, at one point, both build and learn how to play at least meta-adjacent stuff (though surely lots of people would argue on what that is, and I've seen you pointing out Celestial Hardstuck builds which I'm sure are very good, which is definitely closer to what I'd personally think about recommending people, especially newer players); I think the biggest issue is that you're effectively saying that people need to completely replace their comfortable, often very workable-in-all-scenarios playstyles for their average every day use, rather than focusing on the point of how GW2 is a very dynamic game and people should be spending more time learning their classes and how to adapt their builds to the type of content they're going into, and how it is generally not difficult to do so in the game with even a little bit of brainpower. The way you've put things has generally created a sense of elitism, though I'm sure you're not coming into it from that point, and I think that ultimately hurts your point, overall. With all that said, I still think apathy is the bigger issue, and I don't think any build changes will necessarily help that behavioral issue we see throughout the entire game.

[@xezzee]

1) Boon priority in Guild Wars 2 is the closest which is bad which makes playing Supports in open world feel bad. -It should be who needs it the most with current Sub-group > Squad > Player > NPC priority -You might give 20s Alacrity someone with 29s Alacrity and literally waste 19s Alacrity on them! -You might heal people with 99% HP while you want to heal the person with 1% HP and they end up going downstate -At best you are giving 100% effectiveness by sharing boons and keeping people alive and if you are in 5 man group/sub-group you know you get 100% value. -At worst your contribution is fully wasted overcapping boons and you do 10 times less damage than on open world dps builds -All this just drives support to in 5 man Group / Sub-Group so they get full value but now people who don't join squad don't get any boons 🙃 2) Open world builds focus mainly on Cleave Damage and Self Sustain. -Unlike Solo builds the builds are usually designed to hit multiple targets with most cleave possible to clear trash easily in open world -Just like Solo builds the builds are also designed to be more sturdier and self sustaining on Boons -Problem with Raid Builds is that you HAVE to run in 5 man group to get 100% value from them, both dps and support -Only viable healing builds in open world are those focused on reviving people if you don't join squads 3) What if boon and healing priority was who needs it the most? -Playing support build in open world would fell better knowing you are actually making a difference. -Raids would run 2 healers and 8 dps because some Alac/Quick builds can pump over 200% Alac/Quick to 5 targets meaning it would be over 100% on 10 targets. -Open World would become easier because even Noobs would get boons in events and it is said the damage can triple if you have all boons 3k becomes 9k -World vs World people would get more boons easier and you would not need Squads to run effectively -The game probably can't handle checking 50 people who needs the healing most, who needs the Aegis most, who needs the Protection most and who needs the Magnetic Aura most every second from all the 50 players 😂 -Who priority would Condition Cleansing take? Most stacks? Most different conditions? The one who will take most damage? This would have most impact in WvW if enemies throw conditions at you do you cleanse the one that hits the most first or will it be the one who is closest or most unique conditions? in PvE it would be minor thing. -I would play Full Heal Alac Tempest in open world if I knew my boons and healing was going towards them who need it and not those who already self sustain all boons 🙃 I want to help noobs who refuse to join Squads and Groups 😭 but the game probably can't handle the system. You would have to share so much information between 50 players. Perhaps server cap is 150 so that would be even worse! -Heal Herald is giving ton of boons with 600 range but Tempest is also giving ton of boons 600 range. Magnetic Aura, Frost aura, Fire aura on Tempest give Vigor, Regen, Fury and Swiftness but because it comes from secondary effect the 5 closest players would always get them unless you give fire aura twice or similar. Perhaps Heal Herald would be better giving 100% Quickness to 10 people. Bladesworn can easily slash three times in 20s giving 100% Alacrity on 15 peopole. Harbinger could also stack 99% quickness on 10 people. PvP would not be effected. Edit: rewrote half of it.

[@NikeonaBike]

Point 1 is incorrect. Giving 100% quickness to 5 people ends up being the same as 50% quickness to 10 people when you are talking about overall squad DPS.

[@xezzee]

​@@NikeonaBike How come it is incorrect? If you add 100% Boon Duration you give 200% quickness to 5 people ends up being the same as 100% quickness to 10 people? Nuilds like Bladesworn, Berserker, Herald, Deadeye, Chronomnacer and Harbinger can upkeep 100% Alac/Quick on Sub-group without any Boon Duration. Mean while builds like Mechanist, Scourge, Tempest, Druid, Catalyst, Scrapper, Untamed and Renegade need Boon Duration to upkeep 100% Alac/Quick on Sub-group. So what is the problem? You could run 2 healers or 1 healer with 1 boon dps as long they can upkeep perma Alac/Quick without boon duration by stacking 100% boon duration on them. Arena Net's solution to the problem of "closest people get boons and healing" was to make the Boons and Healing prioritize Sub-Group first, Squad second, Players third and NPC fourth. Here are few problems with "needs the most" 1) Open World can easily have 50 players within range and anytime you heal or boon the game has to check who gets it 😱 The amount of processing needed to brute force something like 5 people in range with lowest %hp to be healed by the ability you used. 2) Help god when your skill gives multiple boons while healing. Tempest Aftershock! 600 range Aegis, Protection, Magnetic Aura and Blast Finisher for 3 stacks of might in fire field. 50 players go one by one 🙃 3) Some skills act after you buff someone? Herald gives Might with boon they give. Aftershock! Magnetic aura is short duration but gives anywhere from 0 to 4 boons at once. Air Water Tempest giving Aura is also giving Regen, Vigor, Fury and Swiftness 😁 4) Some builds can give 100% Alac/Quick with 0% Boon Duration. This would bring imbalance and Meta would sift to only using those who can 100% Alac/Quick with 0% boon duration. 5) Raids would drop Boon DPS builds and only run two boon healing builds that can give Alac/Quick 100% for 10 people with 8 DPS builds. Benefit would be that more people would have better boons and support builds would feel stronger in open world. Your healing would matter more because it is always hitting low HP targets. Your boons would be more important giving it to them who don't have them instead of giving them to those who already had every single boon 😂

[@NikeonaBike]

@@xezzee if you expect me to address your comment you cant write a 2000 word essay

[@xezzee]

​@@NikeonaBike Some builds like Bladesworn can upkeep 100% Alacrity on 5 players with 0% Boon duration. Healing builds have 100% Boon duration, Heal Alac Bladesworn can upkeep 100% Alacrity on 10 players. So why is the Point 1 is incorrect?

[@NikeonaBike]

@@xezzee its not important to be in a specific subgroup because the boons you make never go to waste is all I'm saying, which is contrary to your claim. I'm not saying anything about boon duration, because your point 1 didnt mention anything about boon duration.

[@Leuk0s]

I can get where you're coming from but over the last year I noticed that my friends who were new to the game got hard-stuck on parts of Season 2 and especially Heart of Thorns. One even complained that unless I was online to solo the dungeon for him, there were no groups for dungeons either and they just wanted to see the story. The same goes for completing collections and bounties for specific achievements - they just don't get done if I'm not around on my Heal Alac Mech or Heal Scourge to carry their squishy Berserker Soulbeast or their Rampager Virtuoso. With this in mind, I feel like you're largely discounting the impact that having Celestial (like you're probably using in the video), some source of incoming healing/barrier, and the ability to self-buff 20 stacks of Might can do for a new player who is genuinely struggling in the Story content. It's why I always just recommend to all newbies to work towards a Celestial + Pack/Traveler runes set and to focus on using traits and weapons that have boons and healing because at 20+ stacks of Might and Fury the damage disparity between that "solo" build and a raid Berserker/Viper build is typically weighted towards the player that is roided up on boons. Secondly, I can certainly empathize with the fear and the resistance you and many others might have towards solo builds in that a lot of players will just buy one set of gear and use it in Story content, Strikes, WvW, and Meta Events rather than having one set of gear for solo content and using their (free!) secondary equipment and build tabs to be dedicated towards group play. Wouldn't it make *more* sense to just encourage players to make use of that second tab for a VERY accessible and affordable named exotic Berserker set for group play? Wouldn't it also make some sense to have that Celestial solo set as a tool to help you acquire resources, masteries and story content in order to get new stat affix recipes such as Diviner, Ritualist, Harrier and Viper? All of that said, I do think that you're right in stating that there is value in pushing some of these players towards Group Boon oriented elite specs like Mirage, Scrapper/Mech, Herald, etc. rather than coming up with the best solo Weaver or Dragonhunter build so that if they find their way in a Meta Event or a t1 fractal or even the fast 5 IBS strikes, they'll have enough boon duration gear and the knowledge of how to apply those boons in a group setting that they won't be a total drag on the rest of the party.

[@NikeDnT]

You misunderstand me if you think I'm telling people to use berserkers and nothing else. I've said always that since theyve updated the level 80 boost that everyone's first build should be a celestial build, and hardstuck.gg has a section for builds especially for new players using that gear. Even once you graduate beyond that, its worth keeping it for situations where solo'ing something might be needed. But that said, your first ascended set should 100% be based on whatever meta fractal/raid build is the playstyle you enjoy. And again, as I've said in many replies here, there is almost no content that requires one of the omega solo builds that hizen and I put up. The meta raid quickness firebrand build, for example, is more than sufficient to solo 99% of solo content that any normal player will encounter. And the same goes for basically any support/dps raid hybrid build. Incidentally, the solution to your friend not being able to find dungeon groups isn't to have him set up a build that can laboriously solo dungeons, its to teach this fellow how to use the LFG and how to *create* a group. I'm very sure that any story dungeon group you create will fill rather quickly, but it takes the first person usually to step up and create the group. Teaching someone to be a leader in that regard is the most valuable skill you can impart.

[@havz0r]

@@NikeDnT "But that said, your first ascended set should 100% be based on whatever meta fractal/raid build is the playstyle you enjoy. " Correct. That is why the first ascended weapon I ever dropped (wupwup) was immediately changed to diviner's. Celestial ascended is at best a total luxury item or at worst simply suboptimal use of stats.

[@bolt6572]

As a new player who is asked to do so many legendary bounties/group events and what not for vision/griffin/ascended weapon collections and skyscale solo builds are necessary. Because the maps in POF are super dead or people are not really interested in doing things they've already done. Coming from FFXIV which rewards veterans for helping newbies; this game does not. So, I've been soloing everything and that's how I got my skyscale last week. There's no way I would unlock it if I kept asking for help because these events are so random that you need to chase for hours just to make them spawn. and no one replies to help on map chats in older maps

[@NikeonaBike]

The lfg exists

[@bolt6572]

@@NikeonaBike did you read what I said? Good luck LFging for an hour when the random dynamic event disappears that you literally hung around for hours to spawn in the first place. ever done sandswept isle north meta of elementals solo? I have

[@NikeonaBike]

@@bolt6572 bro what "random dynamic event" is so hard you can't complete it with a normal build?

[@bolt6572]

@@NikeonaBike Yes, you can't because it's a [Group Event]. It's a meta event that you're 'soloing'because there's no group in sandswept isles dead map to do it. And some comms are just doing random bounties ignoring the meta. Because, if you read what I said you'll know that the game doesn't really reward them enough to help someone who needs that event to get achievements. Half of the things in this game are hidden behind achievements if you've been paying attention. They're not 'nice to haves'. They are necessary just to be able to do regular stuff like fly your mount faster.

[@NikeonaBike]

@@bolt6572 name some of these so tough "random events"

[@derrideantea8985]

I'm a new player and a casual player. I have limited time to play and I'm still trying out the game. I have 7 characters at 80 and finally figured out which profession I want to play. I haven't joined a group or guild because I simply can't dedicate my time and be consistent or reliable at this time. So, if I took your advice I would have quit a long time ago dying way too often in berserkers or viper raid gear. However, luckily I found Lord Hizens builds and have continued playing. Now, I don't have to worry or wait for others to get a simple HP done when I am available to do it.

[@NikeonaBike]

you have 7 characters at 80 wtf are you doing with hero points? and at what point do you plan to learn the game and stop being a scrub?

[@rbardy]

In one of the WoodenPotatoes recent live stream, he mentioned exactly that, support DPS builds are the best open world builds to run.

[@crazyants_de]

I stopped playing during season 4 and wanted to play through the story, but it is quite hard for me, not many players are in the PoF zones, especially getting hero points is challenging. The question is for that purpose aren't solo builds optimal? Why should I play a raid build if I am solo almost all the time?

[@NikeonaBike]

In PoF zones the hero points are veterans and quite easy, so yes raid builds are optimal. The idea that you'd gear out a special build just to unlock hero points is silly, thats like having a "leveling build."

[@crazyants_de]

@@NikeonaBike I had a problem with one where 3 veterans spawned at the same time, or maybe I am just too bad (used to other mmorpgs ;) )

[@AzureWiler]

When you are in need of a solo build is because YOU ARE NOT running a meta events . You miss the point of solo builds, solo builds are meant to save your ass from having to wait hours/days/weeks to farm content NOBODY else is doing because you need to do so to finish some niche collection or you want to help a new friend get heropoints from maps ppl forgot they exist because they are all farming the new maps. >inb4 you can always find ppl Thats a lie, the game population at least in the american server sucks because the developers and writers are stupid and decided to antagonized their player base when end of dragons came out (we havent see a peak of population since icebrood saga)

[@NikeonaBike]

99.9% of the game can be solo'ed with an instanced/group event build. The handful of encounters you need a solo build for can be counted on one hand. Thus, a dedicated solo build is a mostly frivolous luxury.

[@AzureWiler]

@@NikeonaBike shut up cyclist

[@faker_abc]

Exactly, so can you make an open world quickness warrior build?

[@NikeDnT]

full cele condi banner berserker is your best bet for that.

[@faker_abc]

@@NikeDnT Not a fan of condi. Currently on strength, disc and spb with gs/ham. The DPS is quite good, often ending up top 10 dps. Im just not sure which power quick is the best bet

[@kajhall3581]

When I first started playing at the launch of the game, all the way up to a couple months into HoT when i tried fractals and raids for the firs time, I was just playing "anything goes". Ofc back then there weren't really meta builds to start with even. Today, 10+ years and thousands of hours into the game, I will carefully select which builds I play in open world that absolutely offer something to the other players around me during meta events. Even something as simple as taking inspiration in mesmer to heal allies around me when I play virtuoso is enough to make it worth while. I'm very aware of which boons I provide myself and avoid giving myself too many because I know that my dps potential will only skyrocket when I enter group content as other players will likely be providing these boons for me. The moment a build I've made becomes too selfish in group settings, I store it a template and switch to a different class or build XD

[@lordgrey5223]

I think this is a distinction between the wide net open world means. And think it means something totally different to a veteran player doing meta event trains, and a new player doing exploration and soloing most everything else. These 2 builds are totally seperate (and should be) because they tackle 2 completely different areas of the game. From personal experience in my early play of the game and helping new players, i will always recommend a "solo build" first because they will enjoy the game as they figure out its systems. As they get more experienced, you can slap the raid build in open world on as they want to optimize thier usefulness.

[@havz0r]

exactly right, well put

[@derrideantea8985]

This. I am still relatively new and trying stuff out and haven't figured out the Guild stuff yet. Once I settle in with the game and what I enjoy, I'll do more group content. But in the meantime, I need something that can handle the content in doing without others. Otherwise, I would quit. It's not fun frequently dying.

[@NikeonaBike]

Recommending a new player spend their limited resources on a build that has limited use case first is stupid. Thanks for spreading bad advice.

[@lordgrey5223]

@@NikeonaBike You are an experienced player. Which is why it's dissappointing hearing your take when you know that new players arent jumping right into endgame content. Instead, they very well may barely know what thier buttons do. If you are looking up a solo build there are 2 possible reasons. You read a build guide that recommends zerker/viper with scholar runes, and fall over to most things in HoT, and wonder what you did wrong. I had a player in VB map chat raging the other day because he was trying pchrono and constantly dying. These players dont know the options because of YOUR misinformation, and often quit because of it. The second reason is they ARE experienced, and want a build that they can solo achievement hunt on. Tagged up, in LFG, but theres just nobody on when you are trying to finish Aroura? NO PROBLEM. Swap to a solo build and solo Ignis. Got a Bounty you need but nobody is responding? Good thing I can take care of it myself. The Balthazar hero point everyone was bringing up, was because this is the most common spot this happens for most players, picking up an alt they dont fully understand yet. But there's plenty of other spots that happens as well. Think that player doesnt already have "Raid Gear," or at the very least cant get it? Lastly, what lowers my dps in the open world most, is rezzing 20 ppl every boss mechanic. To the point I often take the asshole route and just dont anymore. Maybe you are just burnt out on the other comments, and I DO agree that boons are important. My contention is saying Solo builds are bad. If you want to ammend that we probably agree. But you dont play boonstrip zerg scourge in open world either. Doesn't mean it's a bad build. Just not where its used.

[@NikeonaBike]

@@lordgrey5223 you vastly overestimate how hard the golden path of the game is. Its coloring your analysis of the situation and warping your conclusions. New players need a path to end game, not be thrown down a fork in the road in the wrong direction like you and your cult suggest.

[@AntonMochalin]

I'm actually not sure about metas being the prevalent open world activity, in my experience people are at least as often literally solo open world maps - exploring, doing the story, doing the achievements, simply seeing the sights etc. The best part of GW2 is its moment to moment gameplay which can be easily enjoyed solo. Metas are just some spice on top of that dish or a way to farm gold and any farming feels a bit like a job. If you're farming gold you're doing it for gold, not for gameplay, and good gameplay in that case is just a pleasant bonus. But anyway a good solo build is expected to be optimised around relying solely on yourself and being able to ignore other players' actions. I understand that some people in the game would prefer everyone in the game to be team players but solo build is solo build, it should allow your class to do as much as it's possible for that class solo.

[@towelcat]

This is why I've been advocating for cele FB w/ leadership runes ever since they added conc/exp to celestial. Self-sufficient enough in the places where you don't have anyone with you, and a monster when it comes to group support (heals, boons, utility). Quickbrand is still great, but I think there's enormous value in a build that has access to high boon duration and the ability to heal others.

[@NikeonaBike]

People dont seem to realize that group buffing builds also self-buff for some reason. Brains got broken by the cult.

[@figa5567]

If you're playing cele FB and telling yourself "I'm doing decent damage for a quick firebrand", you're delusional my friend. You could be doing so much more as a regular quickDPS FB. And either way, firebrand's pages system makes it so you can EITHER provide utility OR damage, you don't have enough pages for both. It's just a bad decision. Absolutely no upside. The only real value in going celestial firebrand is if you plan on playing HFB. Heal firebrand usually goes harrier's or minstrel's, but to be quite honest, no content in the game requires that level of healing / sustain. So you might as well go celestial and increase your personal damage a little bit while still taking the regular HFB build. Same thing with HAM.

[@towelcat]

@@figa5567 The entire point of playing Cele is that it turns you into an extremely durable boon monster, while still able to do a nonzero amount of dps and heal other players. Yes, QFB does more damage (it's always been strong, and is hilariously broken w/ current balance), but it provides nowhere near as much prot/regen/might/fury/swiftness/etc. If I can trust the players around me and know that we don't need those extra boons or healing, I'll play QFB. Otherwise cele is the default.

[@figa5567]

@@towelcat Ok I misread / misinterpreted your original message. You're referring to cele firebrand as a full support build which I'd call the HFB variant. That's fine. I just personally wouldn't take the traits for QFB and then play celestial and focus on healing. The traits need to match the gear :)

[@towelcat]

@@figa5567 Oh, yeah, running rad/virt/fb w/ cele is a total meme. Cele w/o running Honor is a huge troll.

[@manictiger]

Laughs in Vindicator Pure DPS. No flexibility, but fun as heck. There's no way to make a Vindi "support", except for Rune of the Pack, which I do like very much.

[@juanpunch2793]

Just play jalis and use stability road

[@manictiger]

@@juanpunch2793 I suppose I can try to get that into my rotations. I usually just leave Shiro on and focus on pouring as much DPS as I can. The way it's set up doesn't really give room for Jalis. I usually just roll out of knockbacks and mist my butt back into the fight with any number of abilities.

[@Manpag]

It seems a stretch to say there’s no way to make it support, given that the Kurzick skills are all focused on group healing, condi cleanse, and buffs. It has no way to give quickness or alacrity, but Vassals of the Empire can be supportive by extending people’s existing boons. Less useful against bosses, but against big groups of enemies Sigil of Stamina can let you continually top up boons around you.

[@manictiger]

@@Manpag Shortly after I posted this, I figured out a way to make it support. Toggle to Herald, lol.

[@Buran01]

Ok, my take as a near 10k hours veteran in the game which has his 18 characters almost entirely equiped in legendary gear: 1) I don’t do instanced content. 35% of my earnings come from PvP, the other 65% from OW PvE. I play solo 100% of the time since the WvW guild in which served for 4 years faded out a few months after the Path of Fire release. I’ve find out that most of the raid builds are terribad for solo content, from gathering and harvesting to doing HPs, achievements, bounties or even meta events. Those builds usually have low mobility and very little margin for errors. When solo, some of the harder content can kill you in unaceptable %, and even in groups, things as shared stability are so limited to a couple of professions that most of the time in groups you can’t take it for granted. 2) “Solo hard encounters are niche and most of the time you don’t need those builds” is easy to reverse: 99% GW2 doesn’t have any dps checks. The dps is so high that most of fractal and strike missions mechanics are entirely skipped, the same as in old dungeons people stacked the foes against a wall to chew them in seconds. And all for what? To finish early? That’s now the definition off un, rushing content and skipping cinematics? Solo builds have plenty dps to complete 99.99% of the game content. 3) “Most of the time people play in groups so they better run raid builds” Nope: vastly majority of players doesn’t play raids, strikes or fractals, otherwise you won’t see so many content creators begging players to join to instanced content, to try and even command in those game modes. Strikes arrived as result of people don’t caring about raids. ANet killed dungeons nerfing the rewards, some of us (with reluctancy) never moved to other instanced contents; the lack of support killed PvP in EoD and WvW is going the same way in 2023. At the end, this is mostly a casual frendly game massively played as a Open World content. 4) “Limited resources”: I would never advise to a new player to craft an ascended celestial set… Because my tip would be: go directly for the legendary armor. Exotics are more than enough until you get your legendary armor. An ascended armor set costs ~300 gold coins, for x5 that amount you would get the legendary set, infinitely more convenient. Get it from PvP,WvW or PvE, or a mix of al lof them, but focus on itt and don’t waste resources in expensive ascended gear which ends being obsolete in a single patch and will made your build “no longer meta”. Summarizing: my advice for players would be play what you enjoy, because it won’t affect me. Solo builds are more forgiving, and is what I run in PvE; don’t worry because you won’t find me doing instanced content. Focus on get your first legendary armor set ASAP due the qol provided will be orders of magnitude about every other goal you made.

[@Nephale]

WvW legendary armor is extremely timegated. It takes a year to get it. You have mounts for mobility. You can get ascended sets directly from strikes, raids and fractals too. via currency and as a drop.

[@visceras7979]

While I don't generally agree with your argument, I believe you're totally right when you say new players should focus on getting a raid build as opposed to a "specialized open world build" for their first gear sets. Open world builds are often more expansive and not usable in group play, while raid builds can still be used in open world and are easily adaptable to fractals. Moreover, raid gear with a few trait tweaks can act as a very decent open world build, in some professions anyway. However, I believe you're partially wrong in your statement when you say most players play group content in open world. While it is true many players are not looking to solo bosses or bounties, most players still perform a lot of solo activities in the open world + story. For example, collections and achievements are pretty much done solo, and while most open world content is easy, there is a clear difference between a raid build and an open world build. Simple things like access to stun breaks, cleanses and offensive boons make all the difference in your enjoyment of general solo open world play, I believe.

[@NikeDnT]

If i grant that most players still do some genuinely solo stuff, if they were playing the raid qHerald or qFirebrand, or alac mirage etc I suspect that theyd have no trouble handling those easy tasks.

[@duncanrobertson6472]

I have to question your recommendation of alac specter. It's so sluggish and underwhelming outside of single target bosses, using it for map completion or aoe centric events is like swimming through glue. I'm sure there's people out there looking for a truly lethargic combat experience, but personally I value fast aoe damage very highly. I think this highlights the issue of specificity with builds. Each player has their own list of "wants," and there a lot to consider when tracking down the build or collection of builds that fits them best. It's important to inform people about a build's unique strengths and weaknesses, along with what alternatives exist. Paired with a power DE build, specter doesn't suck nearly as bad, although I still resent the amount of build and trait swapping I have felt compelled to do while taking my thief through open world.

[@biyaostorm]

Well I do like builds that aren't an any%speedrun for carpal tunnel syndrome.

[@duncanrobertson6472]

​@@biyaostorm I enjoy low apm builds too. It's just for open world I prefer something that still has fast damage, like power mech, bladesworn, reaper, etc. Again though, it's all dependant on your wants and the content you gravitate toward.

[@jkmaas94]

Quick scrapper is so nice in pve. Very decent damage and survivability when solo and in groups you have relatively high dps for a boon build, and its very easy to play.

[@GamblingDedicated]

Me running Staff Mirage for everything and anything.

[@Psoewish]

This is why I love my quick herald, I just run a heal trait setup and swap out my gearset depending on what I'm doing, which is literally just 2 clicks away. Quick power when solo, quick heal when in group. Sure I sacrifice a lot of dps doing this but the whole not dying thing is pretty cool, and it also really helps out the casual players who maybe don't know their rotation that well etc by keeping them going, and it just makes me feel good. Literally everyone wins when I run quick heal xD

[@NikeDnT]

I wish more people in these replies were like you.

[@vetlie-kt8lo]

I also like to run two different builds that are easy to swap between, one for casual solo and one that have some group utility and/or better dps. I think this is the way to go. I was wondering if you would mind sharing the builds? Playing on Steam deck rev is one of the more enjoyable professions across builds 😊

[@Psoewish]

@@vetlie-kt8lo Sure! For my pure support setup I go full harrier with monk runes, sword/sword and staff both with concentration and transference sigils, and then for traits I have retribution 3-2-1, salvation 1-1-1 and herald 1-1-2. Then for quickness I just swap the gear pieces for a mix of berserker and diviner. Th diviner isn't needed if you're just gonna be running the the same weapons as the heal variant though, but I do also do instanced content on rev so it's what I have, you can probably get away with full berserker or even full diviner if you're lazy about your boon application. Also while not really part of what you asked about, in the cases where I do end up doing organized group content like fractals and whatnot, quick heal is exactly the same, and power quick dps uses a trait setup of invocation 2-1-3, devastation 2-2-2 and herald 2-1-2. I don't know if these builds are "optimal", but they work for me. If you're looking for the absolute best builds you're probably gonna be better served looking at something like metabattle or snowcrows.

[@GlacierRain]

bah I live in full legendary loadout I take out any build whenever I want life be good

[@3Tomatoess]

so much this. i always run my full dps core necromancer build with rabid gear in most if not all content. big dps and big boons, that's how you win, folks.

[@freedoms9961]

Speaking for myself of course, I play a solo build that's also a group build. I'm not even close to a "great" player at GW2 but I would like to make a point that alot of fractal /raid builds are solo builds. I play DPS /support scrapper with 50% boon duration. I still do roughly 20-24k DPS solo without support from others with great survivability. Lord hizan fromy experience show cases the average play to the extreme on what you can do if you master the class. There is no perfect or easiest class when it comes to solo but what you can learn and do with your favorite one. You make great points too don't get me wrong but I think in the context of "solo builds" there are selfless and or selfish styles of play.

[@felipedroppelmann1565]

I had tested a few build in differents events/metas. And depending how metas progress i swap them. I agree solo builds are not for metas, they are very sub par in dps. But they are good resource to do more casual content. Yes, you can do al that with a raid build, but sometimes you dont want to use it. Even chaning a bit the stats but mainting the build can help some players. For example swap berserker to marauder if you a extra vit, or when in somes cases you dont have enough condi removal, etc. Also people forgets, meta bosses are specially usefull to practice raid dps rotations or heal rotations.

[@feniu10]

If it doesn't matter what you play in meta events, why bother with this video? Wouldn't it be more beneficial for a player to run a strong generalist build that can hold its own in group events AND doing story, obscure events, collections, hero points by itself? Ideally you'd want a raid build on one build template, and a solo build on the other, so nothing can stop your character from progressing AND you can go for top dps during meta events too... but the latter is much less important than the former. There's a reason why celestial is now the go-to booster gear set. it's the most broken stat in the game and it's a shame to not use it.

[@NikeDnT]

"If it doesn't matter what you play in meta events, why bother with this video?" its hilarious that you ask this question after I ask the same question rhetorically in the video and then proceed to answer it. Tell me you didnt listen without telling me you didnt listen.

[@feniu10]

@@NikeDnT You've given the example of Dragon's End. The only meta event requiring a proper dps build. Which it doesn't, as it's proven any fucking build can clear dragon's end as long the run is coordinated. And then your main argument is 'fun'. Which is your own personal way of enjoying the game, while other people may prefer to facetank mechanics and self buff. how is this the "TRUTH about solo builds"? How exactly? It's hilarious how you make a case, then acknowledge an obvious counter argument and fail to defeat it yourself. Watch your own video twice.

[@NikeDnT]

@@feniu10 Again, I have to wonder if you watched the video. I suggested that people should run "dps support hybrids" and not "proper dps builds." Maybe there is a language barrier? Or maybe you have a comprehension issue? Maybe you didn't watch the video? I don't know, but if you strawman me again I'm going to politely ask you to leave.

[@feniu10]

@@NikeDnT Okay so you just gonna nitpick that irrelevant bit and ignore everything else? okay, then. Politely deflecting works for you well it seems.

[@NikeDnT]

@@feniu10 If I simply accept your strawman premise then I'm forced to defend a position I don't hold. The fact is your criticism began by asking a question I ask and then I answer in the very video. When I pointed that out, you ought to have stopped there as I sufficiently addressed you.

[@DreamerTrain]

My only disagreement with "people should try to bring raid builds to metas" is that raid builds often assume your team composition will bring stability, healing and condi cleanse for you, you dont have that guaranteed in OW and a lot of the times I see people die because of this. Plus it brings over this sort of status quo where say Build A (which uses X/X weapon) is the only favored because snowcrows benched it and it deals the most DPS, but Build B, which uses Y/X weapon and does only 2-3k DPS less at the golem than Build A, is entirely disregarded despite it still getting the job done, because it has no visibility in the site you guys tell people you should get your raids builds from. 99.9% of players are not speed clearing so a lot of people may be perfectly happy with Build B if it fits their playstyle better and still gets the job done just as well. If you want a more tangible example, I very much prefer to take Scepter Tempest over Dagger Tempest, but most people think Scepter may be unviable because Dagger is what is played (I hate the repositioning on Fire and Earth 3 with it). I think most players in OW would have more success with Scepter too vs Dagger A lot of people may also sleep on Aristocracy runes on condi Thief because the benchers don't need to worry about who gives them might, so they'll bring Krait or Nightmare instead

[@JMGaming1288]

Hey there, returning player after 5ish years away. I am a warrior main and mostly have looked through the exact builds you're talking about not running. Could you please help me figure out if I should be running spell breaker or bladesworn? And should I be running power/precision/ferocity across the board? It would be much appreciated. If it matters, I mostly like to do world bosses, fractals, and "solo" PvE content.

[@NikeDnT]

If you're going to do fractals you should probably be playing Hammer spellbreaker using the standard meta build (video on my channel) but for solo stuff you can experiment quite a bit. I have good solo builds here too should you like that.

[@JMGaming1288]

@@NikeDnT Thank you for responding. I will go with that.

[@ycl260779]

I'll be blunt and say the reason I run "solo builds" in open world is because I play open world half asleep and I'm lazy af. Cele lets me run around without really paying any attention. I just save group builds/equipment on an extra template when I actually do group content. Unlike what some people claim here, I don't bother soloing strikes, hero points raids, fractals, or any of that shit - and I very rarely do dragon's end nowadays. The only open world meta I do with any frequency currently is drakkar and the matriarch during VB night, and I parked quick dps alts at those. I also run minstrels when fishing for the lulz.

[@procerator]

Let people play what they want. Raid builds often require always using food. For most of open world PvE players it is an inconvenience

[@rawrkamenakis1303]

Food, sometimes no stunbreak, utility aswell. I have my solo build (thanks hizen) i have pure dps and 2 raid builds. I wont speak for EU but NA OW is not the same in population or mindset as it was in PoF or HoT, people arent required to come do what im doing, ill take my solo build to metas, nobody cares but nike, but we are used to his hot takes by now. GW2s design literraly supports the “if you can make it work, you get rewards” idea. And alot of players need to recognize this tbh, games biggest literal flaw is - if you dont do it when its new, you may end up waiting for enough to come around - because hey the vets telling you to be raid built for open world are certainly still living in istan and stuff for the trinkets. So yea let people run what they want and works for them- keep the elitism to raids and strike cms

[@Khaos-Thanathan]

Have to agree. I really enjoy playing QHerald as of late - it's really amazing.

[@Erik1495]

Tldr do solo builds when not going on group... Still wondering why this needs to be pointed out

[@attinger117]

I run solo builds in open world because the extra sustain is convenient to have and there aren’t always other players around. I do keep a set of gear in my bags to play a quickness dps spec if I know I’m going to be part of a meta train for certain. But even then, I prefer celestial because running with zero toughness/healing power even in large groups means that I’m in the down state more frequently and then the extra dps isn’t worth it. Also, the only situation where a berserker build would out dps a solo build is if you do have a full set of support boons and optimal conditions which just doesn’t happen enough in the open world. At the end of the day, solo builds deal enough damage to complete all open world content, and they have much better survival than support dps builds. Whenever you have to stop to res someone, that’s lost dps as well.

[@Fenie]

Full berserk build can output 30-40k dps, and these solo OW builds do like half of it or not even that. And about full set of support boons, thats the point Nike is trying to make. For ex. you have 1 heal quickness, 1 alac dps and 3 pure dps, lets say pure dps does around 35k dps, alac dps does around 30k (condi mirage), and healer does nothing, thats 135k dps per group. While your solo OW builds would do like 75k at max.

[@darkblood1192]

@@Fenie It would do 30k-40k if there is a whole prepared party that buffs it, and good luck finding that in open world. Not every commander is going to organise 50 players for faster clear in chak meta for example. Also lets assume we follow his example and prepare support dps builds for 'meta', you will just get support buffing support instead of actual DPS, or stacking alac and quickness. It's really useless. So yeah, go ahead with full berserk and do 5k dps because no one is buffing you instead of a solo build :)

[@Fenie]

​@@darkblood1192 You know that support dps (ex quick firebrand, alac mirage) also provide other boons, not only quickness and alac? And these build are capable of doing 30kdps. In GW2 supports not only heal, there are also dps supports, so it wont be support buffing support, also full berserker without boons is capable of doing much more than your solo build, because they are created with damage in mind, and not survivability which is most of the time useless in meta events, because there is not that much dmg to take

[@darkblood1192]

@@Fenie They're created with damage in mind, yes if they had the boons they needed. Solo builds are made while providing self boons for yourself and it easily outdps and even does twice the damage of a berserker without boons. Also survivability which is a huge extra, meta events aren't the only thing you're gonna do in GW2 open worlds ^^

[@Fenie]

But we are talking about group content XD, so intsead 10ppl with solo builds we would have few support dps, that provide these boons, and the overall group dps would be higher, and i just checked my old power vindicator which without boons and my lack of skill to play him deals 17kdps without boons, please show me solo OW build that doubles that :)

[@R7AWSUM]

Respectfully, I call BS. You are a fantastic GW2 player and you are right that mechanically, support builds would work better. But I think your lens has been tinted by having access to the community for so long. Group events at 3am on dead maps, guilds with an average of 4 players on at maximum, not having the piano skills or $400 peripherals to play your class' "raid build". Bigtime players tend to marginalize solo play, but for some, group play isn't realistically an option. And I'm willing to bet it's a larger population than you're accounting for.

[@NikeonaBike]

You don't need piano skills to play viper firebrand in open world. You're creating fake problems that you need a special solution for.

[@R7AWSUM]

@Nike on a Bike I think you're missing the point. The "how" is just as, if not more, important than the end result. People need to be able to play, to a large degree, what they are comfortable with. I don't expect the game to cater to each and every individual, but I'm also not going to expect players to have to switch professions because theirs can't easily bring some major boon to a bunch of strangers. If the answer to those 'fake' problems is "well, don't play that way," then why play at all? It's just a bad mindset to get into. I do think people need to have a group spec ready to go; just also have a selfish build for when you more than likely aren't going to get help.

[@NikeonaBike]

@@R7AWSUM Yes, its a fake problem. 99.9% of open world / story is easy enough to beat at any time with any reasonable build without even being an average player. The idea that someone should make a special build for 0.1% of content that is useless at actual endgame is insanity and the result of cult thinking.

[@R7AWSUM]

@Nike on a Bike 'Easy enough' is SUCH a subjective standard. Maybe it's easy for you, but some people aren't ready to run full raid rotations that drop massively in dps if you fat finger a key or miss a button press. AND that drop in dps or boon uptime can mean becoming very dead, very quickly since those builds are fine tuned to rely on it. Meanwhile, there's probably a build for their class that is nigh immortal, can facetank mechanics, and does plenty of damage to contribute in fights. And you want them to ignore it because it requires extra gearing? Which isn't even true because most low APM builds intentionally use berserker or other fairly universal sets to make it easier to respecc. I dont disagree that it would be better for their growth and for the metas if they did bring raid builds. But I know too well the feeling of having a group event or champion pummel me several times to say we shouldn't have solo builds.

[@NikeonaBike]

@@R7AWSUM No, its easy for anyone to beat 99.9% of open world and story simple auto attacking with no other input. You just don't get it, there are players in this game who have severe physical handicaps, and they are top raiders. Any person with a functioning brain can beat 99.9% of open world with literally any build. Again, the idea you need a special build for 0.1% of content is brain rot you've gotten, and I have a good idea where and why.

[@JayKay1337]

There are many similarities between solo builds and boon/hybrid raid support. At the end get a complete functioning build and pick op traits and you can solo most stuff in OW.

[@Yurioki]

I agree with your sentiment, the only problem I have is a me problem. I come from other MMOs and I love tanking. Ive never cared about DPS, I think its why when I was reading traits and made my ocharacter I did a Dagger/Warhorn Celestial Reaper. (Runes of Durability, Soul Reaping 1/2/1, Death Magic 1/2/2, Reaper 3/3/3). I've wanted to try a Boon Support class since those seem to be what group content uses as a tank but it seems like its less about them being tanks and them just having a little more toughness to have agro

[@Saint_Cuthbert]

Agree. Just started running Quick Scrapper and it's really fun

[@Ramontique]

All of my nine characters have a solo build and at least one group support build. Everything else is filled with dps specs and builds for other game modes.

[@bazookaward3859]

Great points. I love doing solo content and hate not being able to do survive in the open world. This video has convinced me however to look up some raid builds and give my characters a other options. I shouldn't have to much stress since i have Medium Legendary Armor but my other characters such as my Guardian, Warrior and Elementalist will has to stick with the Solo builds I gave them for now. I tend to take my solo builds to all other content lol. Time to make a change.

[@NikeDnT]

lemme know how you like it.

[@biyaostorm]

I'll stick to Ritualist cAlac Specter. The current accessibility patch for EoD stats was great to fill up exo variants of missing Ritualist gear.

[@larewt]

I heard you talk about this a bit with Teapot and decided to check the video out. Honestly, I see both sides. 100% your first ascended set should be something related to group content and often a dps support hybrid gear set will get you the best bang for your buck as far as invites and usefulness goes. However, not only do most players prefer dps roles but often new players aren’t focused on group content. They are roaming around doing story and map completion. I often hear how hard a lot of parts in the PoF story are for newer players. Not to mention some support dps builds just don’t work for the class you want to play. I’m a thief main and specter to me doesn’t hit that thief itch like Daredevil or Deadeye does. Tbf this is a rare example these days. I think a lot of complaints about content being difficult and players dying is often coming from story or solo content. Nothings worse than wanting to continue the story but feeling gated because you die too easily. While the fights may be longer in cele gear it gives better supportive options and gives them a chance to see the fights without getting 1 tapped. I personally had 500 hours in the game prior to ever doing a fractal, strike or raid. Sure I did tons of meta events but that was only when I ran into them (since I didn’t realize there was a timer) but the chances of me fully dying was slim regardless of the gear and at the end of the day I didn’t care if I did die because I got rewards. This isn’t the case for solo content. I realize now how much harder I made things for myself trying to always do big damage on my thief but 1 mistake would have me restarting. What should be emphasized is build importance. Coming from WoW gear was everything. Your talents (build) could honestly be blank and nothing in the open would could kill you if you have gear. Gw2 is as close to opposite as you can get. Adjusting a raid build to have more sustain or support was the eye opener for me and something I tell new players about often.

[@yukimizuno4046]

idk but i solo most the stuff cus it more me thing only time i do group stuff is world bosses thats it

[@NikeonaBike]

What do you mean "most things" and couldn't you solo them on basically any build?

[@yukimizuno4046]

@@NikeonaBike not all builds no ther some builds lack sustain like deadeye or squishy builds it works but need out more work into it alos solo champions and bountys and hp bosses etc and even some group event bosses just depends on ur build

[@NikeonaBike]

@@yukimizuno4046 soloing bounties is niche and not something you're supposed meant to do. And besides hero points what champions do people need or want to solo? These are niche activities this is not general game play nor are you intended to do "group events" solo. This is like me saying "people don't need a race car for their daily driver" and you respond with "but what if I need to drive home from the ice cream shop at 240mph so my ice cream doesn't melt?"

[@MyN0N4M3]

Gw2 doesnt work like most other games. In other MMOs "buffs" are ususally class specific, meaning you can only buff yourself with like 1-2 of your own class buffs. In GW2 the most important buffs are non class specific. So you can just buff yourself to a point where you have almost every single buff. And if you are now also able to do mediocre dmg, that gets buffed to crazy numbers for any content that isn't geared towards high end players. If you are running around in non self buffing builds, you hit like a wet noodle, even if you are full glass cannon with a meta dps build and even if you know what you are doing. Buffs are just way too powerful to not have them at all times. Also, most ppl want to be heroes. The idea of a hero is not that they rely on 5 -10 other heroes to make them strong, the idea is that you can do sh*t yourself. It's just not fun to always have rely on others, which is probably why solo PvE builds are so popular.

[@NikeonaBike]

if your conception of what a hero is doesn't involve making the people around you better, or having friends, your idea of what makes a hero is hopelessly childish and absurd.

[@joshuahng1]

Lord hizen makes best content with those builds hahaha keep them coming me lord.

[@NikeDnT]

I love his content too, but perhaps you are simping more than respectable person should do.

[@jpperformance86]

So what if i main druid . Playing harrier while solo would do really poor dmg wouldnt it ?

[@poosheck95]

Is a typical druid build a offensive support? Nope. If you want ranger - alac untamed. If you insist on druid - take core of the alac untamed, mix with druid, go condi.

[@Caitmonster]

I prefer using Hizen builds because I do play alone a lot and I don't ever count on others being boon providers, especially if I'm in a quiet map where there aren't many players or I'm doing an achieve or a collection or a difficult champ event for something. Then again I also have the luxury of legendary everything so I can swap between something meta and something offmeta on a whim. For a fresh player it's obviously not feasible though. I'm not a fan of running raid builds openworld because very many of the 'dps' builds are created with the assumption you will always have dedicated healers, tanks, and support boon providers in your sub. They're also often made out of paper and can't take much more than a stiff breeze before falling over, and I honestly found that far more frustrating than anything. Any support I *do* enjoy playing, nobody wants or needs in openworld (druid, healing tempest, healing scourge), so for me it just works out better if I stick to those hyper optimized solo builds for my fun.

[@NikeDnT]

My thought process is that at meta events you definitely want a raid build. Even for most solo content, raid builds still get the job done, though perhaps you have to play slightly more carefully. The stuff that requires a more specialized solo build is very rare, even if the player isnt particularly good. And I ask myself what % of the day do you find yourself doing that sort of content?

[@Caitmonster]

@@NikeDnT For the sake of example full berserker power reaper isn't going to cut it against a lot of champion bosses solo, compared to maybe a celestial scourge or even hizen's cele reaper. You just don't have enough shroud gen otherwise to hide in shroud to eat damage while your dodges are unavailable. Honestly I'm wandering around doing my own thing 70-80% of the time and a lot of the solo builds serve me well, if I'm doing DE I'll throw something more optimized on for sure. I've taken a massive hiatus from endgame everything after burning myself out on raids pre-EOD lol. That being said, I am a quick scrapper enjoyer too. It just coincidentally happens to be spitting out a useful boon on the side. I honestly don't play firebrand, specter, or herald, the specs have never jived with me despite my efforts to try and enjoy them.

[@NikeDnT]

@@Caitmonster The point of the video is that very few people spend a ton of time pursuing champion boss solos. Thats a very specific activity that isn't really the "golden path" of the game. Its fun, and I like doing it too, and I like using OP solo builds when I do, but I think the typically player at end game spends almost no time doing that. As far as our hypothetical necro player goes the are very, very, very few things in the game that a viper scourge cant solo with a trait change or two, and that doesn't require an investment. And any content that *does* require something more specific than viper scourge can handle is not something that most normal players do on a regular basis.

[@Caitmonster]

@@NikeDnT I'll give you that, a lot of people don't go chasing champion bounties solo or will ask for help before trying to do it themselves. And yes, scourge slaps especially with parasitic contagion even after its nerf. But personally if I'm playing necro I like my big spoopy greatsword necro over scourge. Some people do also prefer power over condi, or melee over ranged. Like for me I personally hate kiting/ranged combat, but that's where it can be super punishing if you're not ready. Just providing my own personal insight as to why I run these solo builds myself. I'm not up to Hizen's level yet (still get clapped on cele reaper, kek), but it does push me to get better and work on my timing and positioning. That'll only benefit me later when I take a glass cannon into a raid down the line.

[@Nephale]

Jadebot buffs exist. You can burst most champions before they can hit back. The qfb build has 31k hp, thats not really made out of paper. Cata has quite a lot of sustain even.

[@emreucar3071]

I've never disagreed more than ever. Open world is meant to be an OPEN WORLD where you can explore places, events, achievements etc. Its also should be suitable for your roleplay, your gameplay style. You sometimes can't find people to help you for hard group contents or you just love to be alone around the game or maybe those raid builds are not suitable for your playstyle. Thats why those solo OW builds are essential. I can't imagine a game thats full of raid rotations everywhere. In the future, if anet takes an apporach about those raid builds in Open world events and making the solo OW builds not suitable for metas, I would quit the game.

[@NikeDnT]

What hard content do you play very often on a regular basis that you couldnt beat with raid dps/support hybrid build?

[@emreucar3071]

@@NikeDnT Viper ritualist mixed S/S mirage build. Never done a legendary bounty solo (since I usually play as an avarage) Changed my stats to celestial (opposite of raid since I have toughness) . Me happy, me enjoy to play this game. (Deep note: I love my builds when its capable of doing extreme contents solo such as legendary bounties, although I can also manage to do regular contents with builds you mentioned, I find them very boring since its rotation oriented and not every build manages to reach necessary boons and self sustain [raids are already a dissappointing for me])

[@NikeDnT]

@@emreucar3071 What hard content do you play very often on a regular basis that you couldnt beat with raid dps/support hybrid build? (asking again because your reply didn't answer.) I'm curious what things you do that a viper mirage couldnt handle.

[@darkblood1192]

​@@NikeDnT Hero Points, I kept dying a few times until I managed to kill balth HP because I'm alone even though I'm using solo build (because I'm a new player not used to GW2s). If I'm forced to use something 'worse' like raid builds in Open World, I would quit the game.

[@NikeDnT]

@@darkblood1192 I get that is a challenging hero point but do you need a specialty build for a piece of content that you do once per character per lifetime?

[@sanguin3]

Everyone just stress over their open world build, meanwhile I'm here using my Bladesworn in full Berserker gear and facetanking almost everything.

[@attinger117]

Bladesworn is one of the only power specs in the game that can run full glass and still be tanky. The spec is just cracked lol

[@sanguin3]

@@attinger117 I think Scourge, Renegade and Mechanist can also do that, the mech is just too tanky do die

[@erezfbmomy]

Thinkin about it I griefed atleast 2 players, making them getting full cele for the 1st hero point run. I guess not all players are hard headed like me ^^ Thx for the point of view! Isnt it that in otger games, u have only 1 build and u play it in every mode? Like wow or ff14?

[@NikeDnT]

Celestial is what everyone's first build should be since you get a free set in your level 80 boost. The boost builds on hardstuck.gg are extremely good for new players and exactly what they should be playing.

[@juanpunch2793]

You only have 1 build In ff14 because you have all your abilities available at once and each class has 1 role. GW2 requires more thought to be put into your character customization.

[@Emanx2318]

Who is saying that you cant swap build on a content to content basis? If you play a solo build in a raid you are just gimping your self and others. So i dont understand this videos message like at all tbh. But hey, thats just my take and my understanding of this topic 🤷‍♂

[@XDeadClockz]

I only solo PvE outside raids. With that said i will say that I have single handedly tanked a multitude of open world bosses in events. Also, the ability to hold and maintain self whilst the rest of those not self sustaining are being picked up is unparalleled. To add to this, i have had SEVERAL instances that a slew of people just walk over my dead body and could care less to pick me up off the floor in a more team oriented build. If it is as you say then and the team and group play is more dominate then why am i having to wait on serpentes ire meta? Why is my ad infinitum in hold due to lack of interest from the player base? I know these are instances things but i wanted to display the feel i get from group play. Opinions are like assholes however, we all have them and most of them stink, mine as well. This content isnt fitting for a game that allows you to play how you want to play. Sorry not sorry. Ill stick with the sustain builds i love.

[@mikeemmons1079]

Ironic: I am being told not to play a solo build by exactly the sort of person who makes me want to play solo. And he sounds vaguely salty under the smug. Thoroughly unlikable.

[@NikeonaBike]

So go play solo nobody is going to miss another scrub not dragging their group down

[@aidanfenton4377]

Is this really in debate? I dont really see anyone saying you should run solo builds all the time, its right on the tin, theyre for solo play regardless of difficulty they will perform better, my go to openworld build is specter with shadowarts but also provides 100% alac uptime as to not leech on group events were players actually show up. I think bringing difficulty into the question is a bit of a moot point since not even dragons end requires meta to clear just players not afking. I think the blame here has to fall onto Anet for monetising the build/equipment template, this nudges players towards having a one stop shop build for ALL content. A missed point as well I would probably address is do you think all people participating in a map meta have been running group content and group content exclusively or do you think players constantly swap between solo play and "oh a group even is starting", with this players would be expected to constantly be swapping between builds which realistically is not going to happen as players are always going to take the route of least resistance.

[@Babugue]

Great video and take on the solo builds and meta events, I will never understand the take on Anet on getting you out of the partner program… but ok. Understanding your class and changes you can make on the traits itself could make a real impact when trying to solo fights, as knowing the mechanics of those fights, rather than getting a very expensive build that most likely will not be fit for any other content.

[@NikeDnT]

Yeah I think the amount of times that calls for a dedicated solo build is actually quite small.

[@jancuq2585]

People really be complimenting gw2 combat system but avoids any form of skill rotation like a plague

[@wasgehtsiedasan9971]

In open world play what ever makes u happy

[@BigYuji529]

Great video, i agree with your points. I play my raid geared QHerald for meta events and switch to a second gear set if i need to solo bounties/hard events.

[@3thern]

The standard quick herald is a beast of everywhere

[@Buran01]

Disagree. No ranged damage, which means 0 dps at some fights (which also means no loot at some events in which the players will delete the mobs before you can even tag them), poor cleave (is mostly a single target build) and 0 access to stability, so if you aren't close to one of the few professions which share it, things can go very wrong (and guess what: you're one of the few classes which can -Jalis-, but you chose to run quick herald instead, so you shoot yourself in the foot...).

[@juanpunch2793]

@@Buran01 "man I wish qHerald could give stability". Replace shiro with jalis. "Man.. I really need stability..."

[@Buran01]

@@juanpunch2793 Replacing Shiro for Jalis adresses the bottom point (lack of stability access) of the reasons why I don't find qHerald "a beast for everywhere". I just prefer to run a build that doesn't have to deal with those handicaps. By the way, ANet nerfed Forced Engagement from 1200 to 600 units, not fan of running botched legends in my Revs...

[@xoawolf]

I get where you're comin from, but honestly I don't think anyone who uses these builds cares enough to change the way they play, or they already understand the tradeoffs of these solo builds, and are already applying them in the "correct" modes. Not to mention as many people have stated before me, there is TONS of content that solo builds are just superior for. And you can't always depends on there being a group of players, a train, a zerg, whatever to be there to save the day. Sure it is nice when it does show up, but that's not a guarantee. But what IS a guarantee, is setting yourself up with a solid build that empowers yourself to do things whenever it suits you as a individual. Also that note on you having more fun with 11 boons. That's great. If you enjoy that playstyle, and more boons gives you the dopamine hit, then power to you. That said, and I'm speaking personally here, I find 11 boons to be about as much fun as seeing bigger numbers whenever a new expac hit in WoW. I just don't care, arbitrary numbers does not bring me joy. Yknow what does though? Seeing fun unique builds. True story, my friend from WoW decided to jump into a strike for the first time with me. I managed to convince him that it wasn't so hard, but this was also the FIRST week of Old LA, and there was no strat for it yet. Long story short, all but my friend and I were left standing fighting off the last 2 bosses. I was heal/tank/support, and he was using a solo build. He had some of the lowest DPS in the squad (of the damage dealers), but had the highest damage overall. Not only was it a epic moment, but it's also proof that what's meta isn't always the best option, just optimal.

[@hydragerium1]

I disagree completelely, If you wanna get into raids or high end group content. Then sure tell the people to gear accordingly and have the right setup, In Open World having Solo builds that have HUGE sustain is very powerful. Hizen already mentioned why these builds exist and what they are capable of. In meta events people will always be there to buff each other up with all the boons etc and if the player has the tools to selfbuff with most of the boons in the game then thats what i will do personally. I would much prefer to buff myself with all the boons, Be very tanky, have high sustain in one shot scenarios etc etc. There is a reason why Solo builds are very good at what they do in Open world and the compromise is the cut down of the dps by a little. Is it selfish to play like this? You might think so, I dont. Is it selfish to ask everyone to run a raid build in Open world meta? You might think no, I do Anyway i think it boils down to the core problems again, Playing Solo Vs Group play in MMORPG, Play how you want to play and build solo builds to tackle open world stuff if you choose to. If you wanna take a raid build and prove that you can solo with it as well then sure, But its good to also recognize that not many ppl care about raids or raid builds. Raids are basically dead cause well too many reasons i cant list down here. Then that is time/resources wasted on creating a raid build that is only gonna be used 5 to 10% of the playtime for most avg players. There were some good points but as always they get lost in the fixation of "endgame" group play. They are just part of the game but Open world is the majority of the gameplay loop.

[@alcatraz-nc2814]

You completely miss the point of these solo build. Solo build are made to allow someone to achieve something (collection, bounties, champion/legendary....) without the help of another person. Of course if you are going to do **organized** and I will repeat again **ORGANIZED** group content, then yes solo build are detrimental to the group and you shouldnt be running that. I used to run DE with a guild and we would use dedicated raid or fractal build but that is because this is an organized group, with a commander organizing squads and most importantly, trust among the players. You suggest people to run raid build in open word but raid build lacks way too much survivability for doing open world content when you are alone, and let's be real, as a new player if you are interested in some old open world content you will have to play during peak hour to hope finding a group doing the said content. Good for you if you live in a convenient timezone or your work allow enough flexibility to play at these hours but for people like me who have bad timezone and no flexibility, running a raid build means my success rate on OW clearing depends on other players rather than my own skill (not sure if it is the appropriate word but I'll stick to it for now). I understand what you're trying to say and I also know that most players will take the shortcut : "solo build == must run build for all content" and that is why we as experienced player should always explain what build to run for what type of content...Or at least that is what I do when recommending a build.

[@frankmills1917]

These solo pve builds exist because they cater to certain audiences. You're coming off as an elitist that tells people what's enjoyable or not. Instead limiting people to certain playstyles, why not make videos that promote build that you think would have great overall benefit for open world group content? Why not present people build choices instead of shoving one up their mouth?

[@rawrkamenakis1303]

Now you see why someone isent a partner anymore 😂 apparently trying to dictate a population into ones personal preference and style is seen as a threat to the games lifespan. Though, atleast hes free from the shackles to share his opinions.

[@Proverb.]

Based on the comment replies perhaps you should restructure the title or remake the video with the focus on support dps raid builds being able to solo content just fine and showcasing it. Seems like a lot of people think you are advocating for pure dps raid builds in solo open world, but really you are saying to play dps hybrids. I'm also not really sure which of the solo builds are not also group supporting. For example my celestial s/s Mirage is definitely perma booning Alac to the group

[@NikeDnT]

The title is part of why the video has 2k views and 70+ comments in 4 hours ;) The Celestial S/S mirage is essentially a raid build but with celestial instead of a viper/ritualist mix, its very good at group support and its a good build for group content.

[@bromgar1902]

There are some metas where max dps is relevant. Soo won, chak, maybe octovine( but you have a lot of time there). Those are the ones i switch to a proper dps spec. For everything else its not needed except for those stressed out adhd victims who think they have to clear everything as fast as possible because theyre free time ( while they play videogames ) is a speed run. If volks enjoy playing a thougher build let them as long as they switch builds where its needed. Btw its not my fault if anyones time management doesnt allow him to do a bounty in 3 minutes instead of 2 minutes. Maybe dont play videogames if you are in a hurry:-p

[@andrewamadeus3905]

My open world build is for tagging and sustaining. I see no reason to make myself weaker or tag less just to buff the group when most of them are just spamming the 1 key. We are already going to win the meta anyways.

[@szyderca4616]

Average pug mindset

[@charlieg6411]

Solo builds are for soloing content that glass cannons will get destroyed in, that's the truth! I am glad some run these solo builds in Meta events cos if the proverbial hits the fan they are nearly always left alive to res

[@NikeonaBike]

Builds that are optimal for 3 or 4 things out of the entire game are not something we should encourage people to play for general use, which is the point of the video.

[@charlieg6411]

@@NikeonaBike I understand the point of the video, just don't agree that people should be optimal for general open world content, that takes time, $$$'s and is rarely necessary

[@NikeonaBike]

@@charlieg6411 it takes money to gear out a build thats only truly useful for soloing 4 hero points people weren't supposed to solo in the first place. Seems wasteful to gear a build just for that if we are talking about value for players. A better investment would be a build that is good everywhere.

[@charlieg6411]

@@NikeonaBikeAgree totally to work towards building another spec that's geared more towards instanced content but think you will find that the reason why these solo builds are getting so popular...they work for the people who use them and lets them DPS away while not having worry about much, if anything. If they are happy just running around and jumping in, then good luck to them

[@AgeCobra]

Open world is nothing but soloing.

[@NikeonaBike]

Yeah except meta events which is 99% of open world once youre at end game. Good take. Great take, even.

[@ДимаКравченко-е6н]

I love using your builds :)

[@wussuphaterz457]

finally im on the internet

[@antonis1341]

TOTALLY disaggree

[@reidspencer]

its a solo for open world ie bounties , legendaries not for raid ...smh

[@Rinsii-y6k]

Great video and needed for alot of players to hear, I used to sit in trailblaiser gear on my necro and always greed open world, Until i changed into a more support role on my other characters and found i was missing alot of the fun doing those events.

[@NikeDnT]

Nothing wrong with playing DPS scourge in trailblazer, but playing Quick Harbinger at meta events will probably producer higher overall damage for the whole group for sure.

[@GoingMenthol]

It irks me that there's a huge list of different stat combinations for gear and yet it almost always boils down to Berserker, Viper or Harrier gear. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if we had more instances of enemies or boss fights with lower health but deal enough damage (that isn't just a one-shot attack) to justify different stat combinations that would otherwise never be used

[@NikeDnT]

The problem is most truly solo content is story, and Anet cannot add a boss fight in a story that is hard enough to force people into dedicated solo builds without nuking the community.

[@Phenomatron]

Instructions unclear, became a necro/ranger/engineer istan plant killing bot lol but yea multiplying the value of everyone around you is always so op in games makes me think of just how crazy aura supports get in poe

[@MunitionsDudTester]

Bro, YES! I used to search for the "best build" but recently switched my mindset to what you're talking about here and I feel it makes open world events go so much smoother, and people notice it and appreciate it!

[@jamalsawma]

I don’t know about this one man. There’s so many angles of perspective. I guess the title isn’t the best for what you’re trying to deliver, but i think it’s a good topic to talk about. Everyone would a love a build that gives quickness and alac in Open world but I don’t think one should be mad at others for playing Celestial or Trailblazer gear to solo stuff or just be tanks overall; as long as it’s not instance pve content(fracts,raids,strikes). Because in group instance pve content I don’t think anyone wants to play with solo or weird build that just pulls the boss away.

[@mastodonfan6220]

I almost never see anyone else in the game and solo almost everything. This video seems like click bait garbage to me.

[@NikeonaBike]

good lord

[@Raz-iw6fj]

Have to disagree. When I was new to GW2, I only played Snowcrows builds cause I thought the benchmark builds meant high dps and sustain. I struggled in nearly all content when I was alone or with one or two friends. Even in metas I would go down a lot and was often left for dead. Ever since I started using solo builds, I can handle nearly all content with relative ease. As for metas, I can easily just switch a few talents to share boons rather than sacrifice all my sustain, boons and damage to shave a few seconds off a boss.

[@Satoog]

Awesome, thanks!

[@robgrubb420]

well said.