I Tried DPS DRUID in Guild Wars 2 - Thoughts

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The Build:

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Editing done by Noxxi:

Outro Music:

[Ape_Hawk]

Something of note about why your dps was lower than others on HT: the boss is technically a structure, thus takes more strike damage than condi damage. It's why people prefer running power over condi for that strike.

[TheRetifox]

I did not say it before, which I should. I really appreciate the series, I have almost 1k in GW2 and am almost exclusively a PVE Open World player, I have not done fractals, strikes, or raids. It's nice to see a showcase and backgrounds of current meta builds, and how all of it functions, even just for curiosity to see how things are. Thanks! :D

[Chimera]

Some extra information / correction regarding condi alac druid:
-The main reason it's not considered good isn't because we don't take Eclipse. With the current alac duration, even with full ritualist gear (42% bd), we need to use ca2+ca3+ca4+ca5 in low pressure situations because we cannot enter CA off cooldown. With ca4 being a non-damaging-move and having a rather long channel time, we lose quite a lot of time doing no damage at all. This doesn't change with Eclipse since ca4 will only apply extra chill.
-The build currently sits at ~35k with dmg field (skip ca4) and ~32k without (use ca4) making it not much worse than current meta builds
-Another problem the build however has is that it has a comparably long ramp-up. With the current power creep we have, a lot of slow ramp-up condi builds fall out of favor on a lot of fights.
-Also with celestial being a really good stat, it it often just better to run celestial druid (or seraph, they're pretty close), coming in at ~20-25k with a lot more utility and more than enough healing for your group (especially in double heal squads)

[Nyavsa]

Love the series Muk! Also really happy to see you covering my favourite build in the game. Ever since Anet allowed druids to play dps I just keep coming back to this setup because of how good it feels to play. Also since Entangle and Celestial Avatar skills have pretty big AoEs it's really nice to play in open world!

[Sturmjaeger]

Today I heard the term "Druid Fluid" for the first time and I wish I hadn't.

[enkeny]

Some addition:
entering avatar form will interrupt your weapon skills, but not your utility skills. So entering and exiting CA you can use entangle, trap, heal for save time.
Also it is a weapon swap so it can trigger Sigil of geomancy a secound time.
Pet skills that apply immobilize will not trigger Blood moon. Jacaranda do it because it makes a root, and the root will trigger it.
And Ca5 should be finisged. The last tick do more burning and make black holes, that also pulse immobilize -> bleeding.

[StationOfbarny]

I'm stealing "Druid Fluid."

[BioZook]

Good gods, that buff bar at the start is the best advertisement for a rework ive seen in a while

[michealfutch]

I used to enjoy being a spirit ranger, with little spirits following me everywhere. After that got rekt, none of the utility really appeal to me.

[RealSaltygrease]

I started playing gw2 recently, using this build for open world at first. I find that the damage is HEAVILY reliant on the relic choice, to the point that power soulbeast blew my previous damage out of the water (celestial stats, and the same relics/runes)

[majked]

Pretty cool build I replaced my condi SB by druid condi (using shortbow and axe dagger, more fun), so it's easier to switch between condi dps and alac dps, just change 1 trait and stats and similar gameplay 😁

[Jackie-mi]

I love this build and as one of the 10 (best) players of this build in the game, wing man leader boards don't lie, I am certainly not biased at all

[emewyn]

Ive mained dps druid with shortbow axe/torch since it came out, i really like how versatile it feels. I use it in fractals and open world even though it's condi. I like to think it makes up for that because i can do good damage and cc on multiple targets at once.

[houligan]

00:35 technically boon chrono and dps chrono compete for the same trait column as well.

[gryphawoo]

the biggest thing i hate about ranger is it feels like every pve build requires jacaranda which completely removes the fun of having all those different pets to choose between, plus the things just ugly XD

[mishking]

If ya stick to being a pure bleed/poison druid, you COULD opt to use the alacrity trait and be a condi dps/alacrity support build, i dont how much this tanks your dps though

[lyokhamishukov]

How much bleeding does Entangle do?

"One, Two, Three, Four, Five, plus Five!"

[spencers]

I ran condi druid years ago in open world, ancient seeds was so op.

[kaltaron]

Does anyone have a tip on how to target enemies instead of the vines from the immobilizes? Sometimes left click just wants to only hit them and tab-targetting can be... useless sometimes.

[didoma]

the long channeling times of CA skills and CA5 rooting you in place are the main reasons why I don't play druid