Guild Wars 2 Ultimate Beginner's Guide Episode 2: Combat!

This is an important one: learn how to fight stuff, you'll be doing a lot of it!
Timestamps below and in comments!

00:00 - Introduction
00:24 - Cleaving
00:45 - Ranged attacks
00:59 - Obstruction
01:26 - Underwater combat
02:16 - Direct damage
02:26 - Condition damage
03:06 - Conditions
03:38 - Boons
05:04 - Unique effects
05:52 - Movement
07:15 - Using abilities
08:22 - Autoattacks
09:25 - Animations
10:15 - Dodge rolling
11:52 - Kiting
12:31 - Positioning
13:21 - Jumping
14:21 - Dodge jumping
15:03 - Control effects
16:53 - Skill cancelling
18:03 - Breakbars
19:07 - Combos
22:42 - The downed state
24:34 - Conclusion

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[MightyTeapot]

Timestamps

00:00 - Introduction
00:24 - Cleaving
00:45 - Ranged attacks
00:59 - Obstruction
01:26 - Underwater combat
02:16 - Direct damage
02:26 - Condition damage
03:06 - Conditions
03:38 - Boons
05:04 - Unique effects
05:52 - Movement
07:15 - Using abilities
08:22 - Autoattacks
09:25 - Animations
10:15 - Dodge rolling
11:52 - Kiting
12:31 - Positioning
13:21 - Jumping
14:21 - Dodge jumping
15:03 - Control effects
16:53 - Skill cancelling
18:03 - Breakbars
19:07 - Combos
22:42 - The downed state
24:34 - Conclusion

[Vallun]

I didnt even know you moved slower going up slopes until mounts came out lol. This guide is probably the best combat introduction ive ever seen to gw2, might even be too good

[Matsuuuuuuu]

This guide is amazingly clear, can't imagine of a better thing to help new players

[next_lvl_]

You know, I really hope Anet just links this in their Brand New Tutorial thing they spoke about. No matter how hard they try, they can't top this quality \o/

[arturthebear]

This should be part of the game tutorial, is that much well explained!
Thank you.

[Tine_of_Nice_Dreams]

GW2 is such an amazing game but really suffers for lack of in game tutorials for its many varied and deep mechanics. Not just in combat either. It's a lot of work to create supplementary material for new players but I hope this guide provides a lot of newbies with the help they need to get deep into the game and enjoy its fast, fun, and flexible combat system.
Thanks for taking the time to put it together, and good luck to any learning players!

[alpine_chr]

3k hours played, did not know that you rally with 25% health, and only revives give you 50%... what can I say.
Thanks a lot for this incredible guide, Teapot.

[kaziayon]

Arena net needs to pay this guy. He is basically carrying this game for free.

[SubiqT]

This is a great guide and I know it will be a huge help for many new players. I see the vast majority of comments here are in support too but I'd like to point out a couple minor aspects of combat that I feel could have also fit in a video of this kind, although many are niche and perhaps not relevant in a beginners guide.

In the random order they popped into my head:
- Projectile reflections and absorption, new players can be confused by the difference and might get frustrated if they're killing themselves without understanding why.
- Evade, block, and invuln priority. For example if I have aegis and I dodge an attack the block will not be triggered.
- Avoiding attacks while immobilised, while like you mentioned you cannot use your normal dodge, some skills have their own evade frames or blocks and can still be cast even if they also normally cause movement like burning speed.
- Missing abilities because of blinds, it can catch people off guard because the condition is short and lost after one attack, it can be hard to hover over it while in combat. Also I think out of range melee attacks can trigger the miss text as well which confuses things further.
- Teleport abilities, since you covered other aspects of movement while in combat.
- Using skills to revive allies such as signets (or stomp with skills like impact strike).
- Weapon swap, I know this is something explained fairly well ingame but you can also use it to interrupt skills similarly to stow weapon, except this also works for movement skills allowing you to go further with the maintained momentum.
- Aftercast cancelling, probably outside the scope of a beginner guide but aftercast cancelling can be beneficial on certain skills like symbol of faith.
- Swapping weapons (from inventory) while outside of combat, not useful in pvp or raids, but in open world, fractals or dungeons this is a skill that's well worth practising.
- Bundles, either ones found in open world, dug up by pigs to conjured by elementalist friends to give you a new set of skills
- Max melee range, your character has a rectangular attack range rather than a circular one, this means the corners have slightly further reach and this can be abused when kiting enemies with the correct movement.
- Rallying from enemies only works if they grant the player experience.

- Racial skills?? can be situationally useful but are often forgotten (idk about this one)
- Instant casts don't cause interrupts (in addition to the lack of global cooldown)
- Linecasting, considered a pretty old school trick these days so probably outside the scope of this video too

[frigginmanatees]

I'm not a beginner anymore but I can really appreciate how effective this guide is. If ever had to recommend a single video for someone to learn the game from this is it.

[cma-joqx]

I have been playing Guild Wars for over a decade but I still enjoy these videos. Its like the old times. Reading a book guide on the toilet.

[ceridwenaeradwr]

Me: Oh, I've been playing this game for eight years. I already know everything here-

"You can bind a key to about face to make your character immediately turn around"

Me: :O

[SilenceGW]

Teapot raising the bar. Very very well made video! Everyone playing should check it out. Gj mate 👌🏽👍🏽

[kaelinvictus]

The editing and production quality is just staggering. Amazing In depth presentation of the combat system.

[TheBearMask]

Highly recommended for summit to watch.

[notWaterBowser]

Hands down the best combat tutorial I have ever seen. Showing this to veterans and newcomers alike

[Torresgamingchannel]

Another fantastic ASMR guide from the man singlehandedly carrying one of the best games of the last 10 years.

[interpretor]

Thank God you made this. Summit streaming gonna bring in a lot of new players.

[Footballar]

Trying to ge track into GW2 are making my first character 10 years ago, thank you so much for this amazing guide. I had not idea combos existed that is so freaking cool.

[asdasdasdasda]

I have waited for years for someone to help me play the game properly. Thank you God Teapot. I know that you are always there even when Anet has abandoned us.