User:Masel/DPSBuildGuideLines

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Introduction[edit]

Guild Wars 2 offers two main playstyles to deal damage; Strike damage and Condition damage. There are some builds that make use of equal shares of both, but most builds focus on one of them. This holds true for both full dps builds and Boon dps builds.

Boon dps builds are a mix between a support role and a full dps build, since they sacrifice some of their damage to be able to provide one of two essential boons: Quickness.png Quickness or Alacrity.png Alacrity. On top of that, they're there to supply additional boons that a healer might not be able to provide. The great thing is that every Profession has at least one Power.png Power-DPS, one Condition Damage.png Condition Damage-DPS, one Alacrity.png Alacrity-DPS and one Quickness.png Quickness-DPS build that are viable for instanced content (keep in mind that viable is not equal to competitive). So regardless of the Profession you chose, you will be able to fulfil all damage-focused roles!

Before we start, I want to point you to trustworthy sources for builds (aside from mine of course!):

  • Snowcrows - This is the go-to hub for fully optimized rotations, also called benchmarks. I simplify the rotations to make them more digestible, at the cost of a few % of damage. Which source is better for you depends on the time you want to put in to learn a rotation and your skill level in general.
  • Metabattle - The folks from metabattle work hard to supply builds for all game modes, including open world PvE. Their builds are awesome and they often have builds I don't have (and vice-versa :P) . They share the same build philosophy as I do, so make sure to check them out!

The following sections are meant to prepare you for your journey in Group PvE in Guild Wars 2 by covering the following topics:

  1. Build Basics & Damage Calculation
  2. Getting Cheap Starter Gear off the Trading Post
  3. Special Forces Training Area Preparation

Power.png Power Build Basics & Damage Calculation[edit]

If you want to dive into instanced content, it's important that you know how your build works. Power.png Power builds focus on Strike damage, which usally entails higher burst damage, as it is inflicted directly. That makes Power.png Power builds very suitable for burst-friendly encounters with smaller mobs and shorter phase times.That doesn't mean that the sustained damage of power builds is low; it just means that they can inflict more damage over shorter timeframes. Then, they often wait for their cooldowns to come back to repeat the burst cycle. That playstyle gives Power.png Power builds a typical wave-shaped damage graph, moreso than Condition Damage.png Condition Damage builds.

Interaction of Power.png Power, Precision.png Precision and Ferocity.png Ferocity[edit]

Another part of understanding the choices for gear, traits and skills lies in the stat power they provide. Power builds mainly utilize three stats: Power.png Power, Precision.png Precision and Ferocity.png Ferocity:

  • Power.png Power has a base value of 1000 and increases the base damage of your skills. How large the impact of Power.png Power on your damage is depends on the scaling coefficients of the skills you use.
  • Precision.png Precision adds 1% to your Critical chance for every 21 points you have of it. Critical chance has a base value of 1000 and starts at 5%. Aside from Precision.png Precision, there are flat %-modifiers: a prominent example would be the Boon Fury.png Fury.
  • Ferocity.png Ferocity adds 1% to your Critical damage for every 15 points you have of it. Critical damage has a base value of 150%. Akin to Precision.png Precision, there are %-modifiers to Critical damage. These are multiplicative to your Critical damage.
  • There are additional %-damage done & taken modifiers that affect all Power.png Power damage. Damage done multipliers can be additive or multiplicative, damage taken multipliers are all multiplicative (as one could easily reduce damage to 0 otherwise). The damage done modifiers are on the player (e.g. Relic of the Thief.pngRelic of the Thief), the damage taken modifiers are applied to the target ((e.g. Vulnerability.png Vulnerability). A full list of all damage modifiers can be found on the Damage Page.


A simplified formula to calculate your average damage would look like this:

Average Strike Damage Formula

Damage Component Formula
Base Damage Power.png Power * Average Weapon Strength * Scaling Coefficient / Target's Armor
* General Modifiers * (1 + Sum of Add. % Damage Done Modifiers)
* (1 + Mult. % Damage Done Modifier 1)
* (1 + Mult. % Damage Done Modifier 2)
* ...
* Total Target Damage Taken Modifier
* (1 + Critical Chance * (Critical Damage - 1)) * (1 + Min (5% + (Precision.png Precision - 1000) / 2100 + Sum of % Critical Chance Modifiers , 100%)
* ((150% + Ferocity.png Ferocity / 1500)
* (1 + Mult. % Critical damage Modifier 1)
* (1 + Mult. % Critical damage Modifier 2)
* ... ) - 1)

Maximizing your average damage thus means maximizing this formula within the constraints given by the game. This might seem complicated, but the implications drawn are quite simple:

  1. the impact of Power.png Power on your damage is linear and neither depends on Precision.png Precision nor on Ferocity.png Ferocity,
  2. damage gains from Precision.png Precision and Ferocity.png Ferocity are mutually dependent. The more Critical damage you have, the more beneficial an increase in Critical chance will become and vice-versa.
  3. Power.png Power builds usually have a lot of Ferocity.png Ferocity built in, which makes Precision.png Precision the number 1 priority for power builds. For obvious reasons, it is capped at 100% (Critical chance is a probability, and probabilities cannot exceed 100%).
DPS Build Tenet 1
 Precision.png Precision first. Make sure to reach 100% Critical chance on Power.png Power builds! 

After reaching 100% Critical chance, the break-even point between Power.png Power and Ferocity.png Ferocity varies per build and the calculation of the breakpoints is quite cumbersome. The difference is minor and often not statistically significant in actual gameplay, so don't worry about that for now.

Weapon Strength[edit]

If you paid attention to the formula for damage, you recognized that Weapon Strength is a part of it and linearly increases your damage just like Power.png Power does. It is also responsible for the variance in Power.png Power damage, as the damage for each hit is randomly taken from a fixed range that varies for each weapon. Most importantly, the item quality increases your weapon strength, so that having Ascended weapons is priority number 1 on Power.png Power builds over the other gear pieces. As we will see later, it does not affect Condition Damage.png Condition Damage at all, making it (almost) negligible on Condition Damage.png Condition Damage builds.

Here's an example using a greatsword on various qualities (Legendary is equal to Ascended stat-wise):

Weapon Quality Minimum Midpoint Maximum % Increase of Midpoint
Rare 882 929 975
Exotic 995 1048 1100 12.8%
Ascended 1045 1100 1155 5.0%

So on average, replacing your Exotic weapon with an Ascended one will increase your damage by up to 5%, simply via the increased Weapon Strength. The "up to 5%" is important there, as non-weapon skill sets use their own weapon strengths, some of which are shared with weapons while others are unique. This includes Kits, Bundles, Conjures, Healing Skills, Utility Skills, Trait skills, Elite skills et cetera. So the actual increase will be lower than 5%, but still noticeable.

DPS Build Tenet 2
 Weapons First on Power.png Power builds. Getting Ascended Weapons will increase your damage noticeably just via the increase in Weapon Strength!

Condition Damage.png Condition Damage Build Basics & Damage Calculation[edit]

The second DPS build type you can go for are Condition Damage.png Condition Damage builds. These apply damaging Conditions in larger amounts, dealing damage over time. In turn, they have a tendency for a slower damage ramp-up compared to Power.png Power builds, but more consistent damage per second. Nonetheless, they can still accumulate high damage quickly with the right build and always retain a smaller share of Power.png Power damage. Condition Damage.png Condition Damage builds excel at encounters where you have dps downtimes, as the conditions will keep ticking their damage once per second for a while even when dealing with mechanics, roleplaying as a Choya or using the Bobblehead Laboratory.That also makes them excellent picks for solo gameplay in open world; more details on that in the other write-up.

Condition Damage.png Condition Damage builds mainly utilize two stats: Condition Damage.png Condition Damage (duh) and Condition Duration.png Expertise.

  • Condition Damage.png Condition Damage increases the damage per tick of conditions and
  • Condition Duration.png Expertise adds 1% to Condition duration for every 15 points you have. This caps out at 100%, doubling the duration.
  • Just like for Power.png Power damage, there are additional %-damage done modifiers that affect Condition Damage.png Condition Damage. In this case, any modifier that affects one particular condition is multiplicative with general Condition Damage.png Condition Damage done modifiers. A full list of all damage modifiers can be found on the Damage Page.
  • On top of the damage modifiers, there are also condition-specific duration modifiers. Duration modifiers are all additive, but there are modifiers that increase the base duration of particular skills, such as Chemical Rounds Chemical Rounds or Lingering Curse Lingering Curse. These are then affected by duration increases normally.
  • Most condition builds also benefit from a decent amount of Critical chance (and thus Precision.png Precision), as they include traits or sigils that trigger on Critical hits:
Sharpened Edges Sharpened Edges on Ranger icon small.png Ranger - Bleeding.png Bleeding (33% Chance)
Burning Precision Burning Precision on Elementalist icon small.png Elementalist - Burning.png Burning (33% Chance)
Arcane Precision Arcane Precision on Elementalist icon small.png Elementalist - Burning.png Burning or Bleeding.png Bleeding (33% Chance)
Sharper Images Sharper Images on Mesmer icon small.png Mesmer - Bleeding.png Bleeding (100% Chance for Illusions)
Jagged Mind Jagged Mind on Virtuoso icon small.png Virtuoso - Bleeding.png Bleeding (100% Chance on Blades)
Bloodlust Bloodlust on Warrior icon small.png Warrior - Bleeding.png Bleeding (33% Chance)
Furious Furious on Warrior icon small.png Warrior - 15 Condition Damage.png Condition Damage (Max. 25 Stacks)
King of Fires King of Fires on Berserker icon small.png Berserker - Burning.png Burning (on Fire Aura detonation)
Sharpshooter Sharpshooter on Engineer icon small.png Engineer - Bleeding.png Bleeding (33% Chance)
Incendiary Powder Incendiary Powder on Engineer icon small.png Engineer - Burning.png Burning (33% Chance)
Barbed Precision Barbed Precision on Necromancer icon small.png Necromancer - Bleeding.png Bleeding (33% Chance)
Superior Sigil of Earth.pngSuperior Sigil of Earth Bleeding.png Bleeding (100% Chance)
Superior Sigil of Torment.pngSuperior Sigil of Torment Torment.png Torment (100% Chance)

In order to understand the choices made for gear, skills and traits on particular builds, let's have a look a the calculation for total damage dealt by conditions. This formula is the same in structure for all damaging conditions, just with varying inputs per condition for base damage, scaling coefficient and modifiers for damage and duration:

Total Condition Damage Formula

Damage Component Formula
Condition Damage per Second Condition Damage.png Condition Damage * Scaling Coefficient + Base Damage
* General Modifiers * (1 + Condition-Specific % Damage Done Modifier)
* (1 + Sum of General % Condition Damage Done Modifiers)
* Total Target Damage Taken Modifier
* Duration in Seconds * Base Duration in Seconds * (1 + Min (Condition Duration.png Expertise / 1500 + Sum of % Condition Duration Modifiers , 100%))

If you want to maximize your damage, maximize this formula. For condition builds, things become a bit more complex, as they usually include a mix of several conditions. In turn, you have multiple instances of the formula running simultaneously. Luckily, the main implications drawn from this are quite simple:

  1. Both Condition Damage.png Condition Damage and Condition Duration.png Expertise linearly increase the total damage dealt by a condition.
  2. The breakpoint between Condition Damage.png Condition Damage and Condition Duration.png Expertise depends on the scaling coefficent, base damage and the condition duration modifiers for the respective condition. For a detailed calculation of the breakpoints, see here.
  3. Condition builds care less about Weapon Strength, as it only affects the small share of Power.png Power damage they deal. Since some Condition Damage.png Condition Damage builds have larger shares of Power.png Power damage (up to 25%), it still matters, just way less. Using Exotic Weapons is thus not a big deal on them.

Here's a list of the the base damage, scaling coefficients and breakpoints for each condition:

Condition Formula Inflicted Condition Damage.png Condition Damage /
Condition Duration.png Expertise Breakpoint
Bleeding.png Bleeding 0.06 * Condition Damage + 22 per second 1133
Burning.png Burning 0.155 * Condition Damage + 131 per second 655
Poisoned.png Poisoned 0.06 * Condition Damage + 33.5 per second 942
Torment.png Torment 0.06 * Condition Damage + 22 per second (moving foe) 1133
Torment.png Torment 0.09 * Condition Damage + 31.8 per second (stationary foe) 1146
Confusion.png Confusion 0.035 * Condition Damage + 10 per second 1135
Confusion.png Confusion 0.0625 * Condition Damage + 49.5 per foe skill use 997

The breakpoints for most conditions are quite low, meaning that most builds will bypass them easily (25 stacks of Might.png Might alone provide 750 Condition Damage.png Condition Damage). For that reason, you will usually prioritze reaching 100% condition duration on the important conditions. After that, any additional condition duration modifiers or point of Condition Duration.png Expertise is wasted.

; DPS Build Tenet 3
: Condition Duration First! Prior to maximizing Condition Damage.png Condition Damage, it is usually ideal to go for Condition duration modifiers (like Condition Duration.png Expertise).

But which conditions should your build prioritize? A good indicator are the amplifications for Condition Damage.png Condition Damage and Condition Duration.png Condition Duration per Profession. These typically conincide with Weapon, Trait and Skill options that apply the boosted conditions.

; DPS Build Tenet 4
: When a Profession or Elite Specialization includes damage or duration modifiers for particular conditions, there usually are Endgame DPS builds making use of them.

Here's a table with the modifiers per Profession and general modifiers embedded in Sigils:

Condition-Specific Damage (Condition Damage.png) and Duration (Condition Duration.png) Modifiers

Profession Bleeding.png Bleeding Burning.png Burning Confusion.png Confusion Poisoned.png Poisoned Torment.png Torment General
Elementalist icon small.png Elementalist Condition Duration.png Serrated Stones Serrated Stones - 20% Condition Duration.png Burning Precision Burning Precision - 20% Condition Damage.png Weaver's Prowess Weaver's Prowess - 5%
Condition Duration.png Weaver's Prowess Weaver's Prowess - 20%
Mesmer icon small.png Mesmer Condition Damage.png Bloodsong Bloodsong - 25% Condition Duration.png Malicious Sorcery Malicious Sorcery - 25% Condition Damage.png Compounding Power Compounding Power - 10%
Necromancer icon small.png Necromancer Condition Duration.png Barbed Precision Barbed Precision - 20% Condition Damage.png Fell Beacon Fell Beacon - 10% Condition Damage.png Putrid Defense Putrid Defense - 15% Condition Damage.png Demonic Lore Demonic Lore - 33%
Engineer icon small.png Engineer Condition Duration.png Serrated Steel Serrated Steel - 33% Condition Duration.png Incendiary Powder Incendiary Powder - 33%
Ranger icon small.png Ranger Condition Damage.png Hidden Barbs Hidden Barbs - 33% Condition Damage.png Poison Master Poison Master - 25% Condition Duration.png Light on your Feet Light on your Feet - 10%
Condition Duration.png Oppressive Superiority Oppressive Superiority - 10%
Thief icon small.png Thief Condition Damage.png Deadly Ambush Deadly Ambush - 25% Condition Damage.png Potent Poison Potent Poison - 33%
Condition Duration.png Potent Poison Potent Poison - 33%
Condition Damage.png Strength of Shadows Strength of Shadows - 20%
Guardian icon small.png Guardian Condition Damage.png Radiant Fire Radiant Fire - 10%
Condition Duration.png Amplified Wrath Amplified Wrath - 20%
Revenant icon small.png Revenant Condition Damage.png Heartpiercer Heartpiercer - 25%
Condition Duration.png Blood Fury Blood Fury - 25%
Condition Damage.png Acolyte of Torment Acolyte of Torment - 10% Condition Duration.png Pact of Pain Pact of Pain - 15%
Condition Duration.png Yearning Empowerment Yearning Empowerment - 10%
Warrior icon small.png Warrior Condition Duration.png Bloodlust Bloodlust - 33% Condition Duration.png King of Fires King of Fires - 33%
Sigils Condition Duration.png Superior Sigil of Agony.pngAgony - 20% Condition Duration.png Superior Sigil of Smoldering.pngSmoldering - 20% Condition Duration.png Superior Sigil of Venom.pngVenom - 20% Condition Duration.png Superior Sigil of Demons.pngDemons - 20% Condition Damage.png Superior Sigil of Bursting.pngBursting - 5%
Condition Duration.png Superior Sigil of Malice.pngMalice - 10%

Getting Starter Gear[edit]

If you're looking to gear up a new character for instanced PvE, the first hurdle to take is to get gear that is somewhat useful there, but doesn't cost you a fortune. Getting Ascended gear always takes a bit of time AND/OR lots of money to acquire, so you won't be able to get it right away after reaching level 80. Fortunately, the difference in stats between Exotic and Ascended is not that large:

Asdended vs. Exotic.png

Note 1: This image is as of June 2023, but the general tendency doesn't change!

You'll notice that Condition Damage.png Condition Damage builds lose less damage compared to Power.png Power builds here, which is the logical consequence of the impact of Weapon Strength. The gap becomes smaller once you use Ascended weapons on the Power.png Power builds.

DPS Build Tenet 5
 Using Exotic gear is fine for all content aside from High-Tier Fractals (and that only doesn't work because of Agony Resistance).

In the following sections, I'd like to show you good enough gearing options that are very cheap and purchaseable from the Trading Post, so you don't have to wait to get it. I'll guide you through this for both Power.png Power and Condition Damage.png Condition Damage builds seperately, as gearing them is fundamentally different. In any case, using starter gear is completely fine for all instanced content aside from higher-tier Fractals of the Mists or Challenge Mote Raids/Strike Missions.

My recommendation is to...

  1. get Starter Gear as listed below,
  2. unlock your Elite of choice with it and
  3. start farming Ascended gear with that, in various content types (Open World, Fractals of the Mists, Strike Missions and/or Raids). For more details on the easy options for that, take a look at Tanetris' Extensive Gearing Guide.

Along the way, make use of any useful gear piece you acquire to improve your Build!

If you're playing a Boon DPS Build, you often include some Boon Duration.png Concentration to maintain either Quickness.png Quickness or Alacrity.png Alacrity reliably. The budget gear for Condition Damage.png Condition Damage builds includes Boon Duration.png Concentration by default through the Ritualist's Prefix.


Starter Gear for Power.png Power Builds[edit]

Possible Prefixes for Power Builds

Prefix Stats
(Relative to a Major 3-stat Attribute)
Total Power.png Power Stats
(Sum of Percentages)
Total Offensive Stats
(Sum of Percentages)
Total Stats
(Sum of Percentages)
Berserker's 100 % Power.png Power
71.31 % Precision.png Precision
71.31 % Ferocity.png Ferocity
242.63 % 242.63 % 242.63 %
Assassin's 71.31 % Power.png Power
100 % Precision.png Precision
71.31 % Ferocity.png Ferocity
242.63 % 242.63 % 242.63 %
Dragon's 85.66 % Power.png Power
47.01 % Precision.png Precision
85.66 % Ferocity.png Ferocity
47.01 % Vitality.png Vitality
218.33 % 218.33 % 265.34 %
Diviner's 85.66 % Power.png Power
47.01 % Precision.png Precision
47.01 % Ferocity.png Ferocity
85.66 % Boon Duration.png Concentration
179.68 % 179.68 % 265.34 %
Marauder's 85.66 % Power.png Power
85.66 % Precision.png Precision
47.01 % Ferocity.png Ferocity
47.01 % Vitality.png Vitality
218.33 % 218.33 % 265.34 %
Grieving 85.66 % Power.png Power
47.01 % Precision.png Precision
47.01 % Ferocity.png Ferocity
85.66 % Condition Damage.png Condition Damage
179.68 % 265.34 % 265.34 %
Celestial 47.01 % Power.png Power
47.01 % Precision.png Precision
47.01 % Ferocity.png Ferocity
47.01 % Condition Damage.png Condition Damage
47.01 % Condition Duration.png Expertise
47.01 % Boon Duration.png Concentration
47.01 % Healing Power.png Healing Power
47.01 % Vitality.png Vitality
47.01 % Toughness.png Toughness
141.04 % 235.06% 423.11 %

The largest stat density for Power.png Power builds comes from using Berserker's or Assassin's, as they are a 3-stat Prefixes that do not trade a share of one of the three stats for a fourth stat. Assassin's is used on builds that do not reach the Critical chance-cap to trade Power.png Power for Ferocity.png Ferocity 1-to-1. Since Grieving is a Prefix that's mainly used on Condition-based damage builds, we're not going to discuss it further here. Marauder's and Celestial are a dps loss compared to other options and fairly expensive, so I would not recommend using them on Power.png Power builds. Dragon's and Diviner's have fairly clear purposes in PvE:

Power.png Power Armor, Trinkets and Weapons[edit]

When you want to replicate a PvE build, you can simply replace the Ascended pieces it uses 1-to-1 with Exotic. That usually leads to a loss in stats, as described above. Since Precision.png Precision is a) the mathematically superior stat and b) [[Critical chance] below 100% can have mechanical downsides, making up for the difference (usually around 3%) is usually the first priority. The following table shows prices for Exotic gear for the Prefixes listed above aside from Celestial. There are a few main takeaways:

  1. The Trinkets for Power.png Power builds all cost roughly the same and are reasonably cheap. Since it is also the most stat-efficient option, Diviner trinkets are a great way to obtain additional Boon Duration.png Concentration
  2. Assassin's trinkets and weapons can be used to obtain additional Precision.png Precision.
  3. Any Power.png Power prefix for armor except for Berserker's is quite expensive. You should therefore prioritize other options if you want to change Prefixes.
  4. The Backpack in Exotic is very expensive given its low stat density, so I don't recommend buying it. Instead, take a look at Crafter's backpacks, which are very cheap, allow you to select Berserker's stats and put a Ruby Orb on them. Leveling Chef to 400 costs less than one purchaseable backpack ( See this link for a quick guide on it.

Prices for Power Gear

Slot Berserker's
Power.png Power
Precision.png Precision
Ferocity.png Ferocity
Assassin's
Power.png Power
Precision.png Precision
Ferocity.png Ferocity
Dragon's
Power.png Power
Precision.png Precision
Vitality.png Vitality
Ferocity.png Ferocity
Marauder's
Power.png Power
Precision.png Precision
Vitality.png Vitality
Ferocity.png Ferocity
Diviner
Power.png Power
Precision.png Precision
Boon Duration.png Concentration
Ferocity.png Ferocity
Illustrious Masque.png Head Scallywag Helm.pngDevona's Helm
Sneakthief Mask.pngNika's Mask
Seer Mask.pngZhed's Mask


Ice Golem's Maw Box.pngSelectable Assassin's Ice Golem's Maw Box.pngSelectable Dragon's Ice Golem's Maw Box.pngSelectable Marauder's Ice Golem's Maw Box.pngSelectable Diviner's
Illustrious Epaulets.png Shoulders Scallywag Pauldrons.pngDevona's Pauldrons
Sneakthief Shoulderguards.pngNika's Pauldrons
Seer Mantle.pngZhed's Mantle


Shoulders of the Ebon Vanguard Choice Chest.pngSelectable Assassin's Shoulders of the Ebon Vanguard Choice Chest.pngSelectable Dragon's Shoulders of the Ebon Vanguard Choice Chest.pngSelectable Marauder's Shoulders of the Ebon Vanguard Choice Chest.pngSelectable Diviner's
Illustrious Doublet.png Chest Scallywag Chest.pngDevona's Chestguard
Sneakthief Coat.pngNika's Coat
Seer Coat.pngZhed's Coat


Draconic Coat.pngAssassin's Draconic Coat
Emblazoned Coat.pngAssassin's Emblazoned Coat
Exalted Coat.pngAssassin's Exalted Coat


Jade Tech Cuirass.pngDragon's Jade Tech Cuirass
Jade Tech Coat.pngDragon's Jade Tech Coat
Jade Tech Vest.pngDragon's Jade Tech Vest


Draconic Coat.pngMarauder Draconic Coat
Emblazoned Coat.pngMarauder Emblazoned Coat
Exalted Coat.pngMarauder Exalted Coat


Draconic Coat.pngDiviner's Draconic Coat
Emblazoned Coat.pngDiviner's Emblazoned Coat
Exalted Coat.pngDiviner's Exalted Coat


Illustrious Wristguards.png Gloves Scallywag Gauntlets.pngDevona's Gauntlets
Sneakthief Gloves.pngNika's Gloves
Seer Gloves.pngZhed's Gloves


Draconic Gauntlets.pngAssassin's Draconic Gauntlets
Emblazoned Gloves.pngAssassin's Emblazoned Gloves
Exalted Gloves.pngAssassin's Exalted Gloves


Jade Tech Gauntlets.pngDragon's Jade Tech Gauntlets
Jade Tech Medium Gloves.pngDragon's Jade Tech Medium Gloves
Jade Tech Light Gloves.pngDragon's Jade Tech Light Gloves


Draconic Gauntlets.pngMarauder Draconic Gauntlets
Emblazoned Gloves.pngMarauder Emblazoned Gloves
Exalted Gloves.pngMarauder Exalted Gloves


Draconic Gauntlets.pngDiviner's Draconic Gauntlets
Emblazoned Gloves.pngDiviner's Emblazoned Gloves
Exalted Gloves.pngDiviner's Exalted Gloves


Illustrious Breeches.png Legs Scallywag Legs.pngDevona's Legplates
Sneakthief Leggings.pngNika's Leggings
Seer Pants.pngZhed's Leggings


Draconic Legs.pngAssassin's Draconic Legs
Emblazoned Pants.pngAssassin's Emblazoned Pants
Exalted Pants.pngAssassin's Exalted Pants


Jade Tech Heavy Leggings.pngDragon's Jade Tech Heavy Leggings
Jade Tech Medium Leggings.pngDragon's Jade Tech Medium Leggings
Jade Tech Skirt.pngDragon's Jade Tech Skirt


Draconic Legs.pngMarauder Draconic Legs
Emblazoned Pants.pngMarauder Emblazoned Pants
Exalted Pants.pngMarauder Exalted Pants


Draconic Legs.pngDiviner's Draconic Legs
Emblazoned Pants.pngDiviner's Emblazoned Pants
Exalted Pants.pngDiviner's Exalted Pants


Illustrious Footwear.png Boots Scallywag Greaves.pngDevona's Greaves
Sneakthief Sandals.pngNika's Boots
Seer Boots.pngZhed's Boots


Draconic Legs.pngAssassin's Draconic Legs
Emblazoned Pants.pngAssassin's Emblazoned Pants
Exalted Pants.pngAssassin's Exalted Pants


Jade Tech Heavy Leggings.pngDragon's Jade Tech Heavy Leggings
Jade Tech Medium Leggings.pngDragon's Jade Tech Medium Leggings
Jade Tech Skirt.pngDragon's Jade Tech Skirt


Draconic Boots.pngMarauder Draconic Boots
Emblazoned Boots.pngMarauder Emblazoned Boots
Exalted Boots.pngMarauder Exalted Boots


Draconic Boots.pngDiviner's Draconic Boots
Emblazoned Boots.pngDiviner's Emblazoned Boots
Exalted Boots.pngDiviner's Exalted Boots


Vial of Salt.png Amulet Ruby Orichalcum Amulet.pngRuby Amulet Opal Orichalcum Amulet.pngOpal Amulet Jade Orichalcum Amulet.pngJade Amulet Ebony Orichalcum Amulet.pngJade Amulet Burl Orichalcum Amulet.pngSerpentite Amulet
Gift of Prescience.png Ring 1 Ruby Orichalcum Ring.pngRuby Ring Opal Orichalcum Ring.pngOpal Ring Jade Orichalcum Ring.pngJade Ring Ebony Orichalcum Ring.pngJade Ring Burl Orichalcum Ring.pngSerpentite Ring
Armbrace of Truth.png Ring 2 Ruby Orichalcum Ring.pngRuby Ring Opal Orichalcum Ring.pngOpal Ring Jade Orichalcum Ring.pngJade Ring Ebony Orichalcum Ring.pngJade Ring Burl Orichalcum Ring.pngSerpentite Ring
Black Ice Earring.png Accessory 1 Ruby Orichalcum Earring.pngRuby Earring Opal Orichalcum Earring.pngOpal Earring Jade Orichalcum Earring.pngJade Earring Ebony Orichalcum Earring.pngJade Earring Burl Orichalcum Earring.pngSerpentite Earring
Vision.png Accessory 2 Ruby Orichalcum Earring.pngRuby Earring Opal Orichalcum Earring.pngOpal Earring Jade Orichalcum Earring.pngJade Earring Ebony Orichalcum Earring.pngJade Earring Burl Orichalcum Earring.pngSerpentite Earring
Ad Infinitum.png Backpack Lucky Great Ox Lantern.pngLucky Great Ox Lantern Lucky Great Ox Lantern.pngLucky Great Ox Lantern Lucky Great Ox Lantern.pngLucky Great Ox Lantern Lucky Great Ox Lantern.pngLucky Great Ox Lantern Lucky Great Ox Lantern.pngLucky Great Ox Lantern
Frostfang.png Axe Maw of the Damned.pngMaw of the Damned
Shattered Axe.pngBerserker's Shattered Axe

Spindrift Axe.pngSpindrift Axe Saltspray Axe.pngSaltspray Axe Pearl Reaver.pngMarauder Pearl Reaver Storm's Eye Dagger.pngStorm's Eye Dagger
Aurene's Bite.png Dagger Usoku's Needle.pngUsoku's Needle
Shattered Dagger.pngBerserker's Shattered Dagger

Spindrift Dagger.pngSpindrift Dagger Saltspray Dagger.pngSaltspray Dagger Pearl Carver.pngMarauder Pearl Carver Storm's Eye Dagger.pngStorm's Eye Dagger
The Minstrel.png Focus Adam.pngAdam Spindrift Focus.pngSpindrift Focus Saltspray Focus.pngSaltspray Focus Pearl Conch.pngMarauder Pearl Conch Storm's Eye Focus.pngStorm's Eye Focus
Eternity.png Greatsword Ebonblade.pngEbonblade Spindrift Greatsword.pngSpindrift Greatsword Saltspray Greatsword.pngSaltspray Greatsword Pearl Broadsword.pngMarauder Pearl Broadsword Storm's Eye Greatsword.pngStorm's Eye Greatsword
Aurene's Weight.png Hammer Bronze Hammer.pngIronfist Spindrift Hammer.pngSpindrift Hammer Saltspray Hammer.pngSaltspray Hammer Pearl Crusher.pngMarauder Pearl Crusher Storm's Eye Hammer.pngStorm's Eye Hammer
Kudzu.png Longbow Eir's Longbow.pngEir's Longbow Spindrift Longbow.pngSpindrift Longbow Saltspray Longbow.pngSaltspray Longbow Pearl Stinger.pngMarauder Pearl Stinger Storm's Eye Longbow.pngStorm's Eye Longbow
The Moot.png Mace Ceremonial Morning Star.pngSerpentstone
Shattered Mace.pngBerserker's Shattered Mace

Spindrift Mace.pngSpindrift Mace Saltspray Mace.pngSaltspray Mace Pearl Bludgeoner.pngMarauder Pearl Bludgeoner Storm's Eye Mace.pngStorm's Eye Mace
Quip.png Pistol Ceremonial Pistol.pngVenomstriker
Shattered Pistol.pngBerserker's Shattered Pistol

Spindrift Pistol.pngSpindrift Pistol Saltspray Pistol.pngSaltspray Pistol Pearl Handcannon.pngMarauder Pearl Handcannon Storm's Eye Pistol.pngStorm's Eye Pistol
The Predator.png Rifle Charrzooka.pngCharrzooka Spindrift Rifle.pngSpindrift Rifle Saltspray Rifle.pngSaltspray Rifle Pearl Blunderbuss.pngMarauder Pearl Blunderbuss Storm's Eye Rifle.pngStorm's Eye Rifle
Xiuquatl.png Scepter Anura.pngAnura Spindrift Scepter.pngSpindrift Scepter Saltspray Scepter.pngSaltspray Scepter Pearl Rod.pngMarauder Pearl Rod Storm's Eye Scepter.pngStorm's Eye Scepter
Shooshadoo.png Shield Kryta's Embrace.pngKryta's Embrace Spindrift Shield.pngSpindrift Shield Saltspray Shield.pngSaltspray Shield Pearl Shell.pngMarauder Pearl Shell Storm's Eye Shield.pngStorm's Eye Shield
Aurene's Wing.png Short Bow Eir's Short Bow.pngEir's Short Bow Spindrift Short Bow.pngSpindrift Short Bow Saltspray Short Bow.pngSaltspray Short Bow Pearl Needler.pngMarauder Pearl Needler Storm's Eye Short Bow.pngStorm's Eye Short Bow
Nevermore.png Staff Deathwish.pngDeathwish Spindrift Staff.pngSpindrift Staff Saltspray Staff.pngSaltspray Staff Pearl Quarterstaff.pngMarauder Pearl Quarterstaff Storm's Eye Staff.pngStorm's Eye Staff
Bolt.png Sword Twin Sisters.pngTwin Sisters
Bonetti's Rapier.pngBonetti's Rapier

Spindrift Sword.pngSpindrift Sword Saltspray Sword.pngSaltspray Sword Pearl Sabre.pngMarauder Pearl Sabre Storm's Eye Sword.pngStorm's Eye Sword
Rodgort.png Torch Combustion.pngCombustion Spindrift Torch.pngSpindrift Torch Saltspray Torch.pngSaltspray Torch Pearl Brazier.pngMarauder Pearl Brazier Storm's Eye Torch.pngStorm's Eye Torch
Verdarach.png Warhorn Kodanroar.pngKodanroar Spindrift Warhorn.pngSpindrift Warhorn Saltspray Warhorn.pngSaltspray Warhorn Pearl Siren.pngMarauder Pearl Siren Storm's Eye Warhorn.pngStorm's Eye Warhorn

Power.png Power Runes & Sigils[edit]

In terms of upgrades, Runes make up for a significant portion of your damage stats. The maximum amount of stats you gain from them on Power.png Power builds is 400, which is roughly equal to what an Ascended Amulet gives you! The following table shows the useful upgrade options for Power.png Power builds. The main takeaways are:

  1. Given that most builds reach 100% Critical chance without additional Precision.png Precision from runes, the two main runes for damage grant Power.png Power and Ferocity.png Ferocity. These rune are, unfortunately, very expensive to get.
  2. If you dont want to spend that much gold for your Exotic gear set, Superior Rune of Rage.pngSuperior Rune of Rage is 100 stats below those options, which isn't too big of a damage loss (between 2-3%).
  3. For builds that need additional Precision.png Precision, Superior Rune of the Eagle.pngSuperior Rune of the Eagle is the cheapest option you can go for. Since you can calibrate any build to reach 100% Critical chance with any of the runes that include Precision.png Precision, simply go for the one that is cheapest to obtain. They are close to identical in terms of damage output (we're speaking of a fraction of 1%).
  4. For the poorest of the poor, Chunk of Pure Jade gives around 3% Critical chance and ~150 lower stats comapred to runes, which is around what you need to compensate the difference between Ascended and Exotic.

Prices for Power Upgrade Components

Rune Price for 6 Pieces Power.png Power Precision.png Precision Ferocity.png Ferocity Vitality.png Vitality Effective Damage Stats Notes
Superior Rune of the Scholar.pngSuperior Rune of the Scholar 175 0 225 0 400 Ideal damage rune for builds with high innate Ferocity.png Ferocity relative to Power.png Power. Examples: Weaver icon small.png, Berserker icon small.png, Spellbreaker icon small.png, Soulbeast icon small.png, Untamed icon small.png. Difference in damage between this and Superior Rune of the Dragonhunter.pngSuperior Rune of the Dragonhunter is marginal.
Superior Rune of the Dragonhunter.pngSuperior Rune of the Dragonhunter 100 0 300 0 400 Ideal damage rune for builds with high innate Power.png Power relative to Ferocity.png Ferocity. Examples: Catalyst icon small.png, Daredevil icon small.png, Scrapper icon small.png, Reaper icon small.png, Vindicator icon small.png. Difference in damage between this and Superior Rune of the Scholar.pngSuperior Rune of the Scholar is marginal.
Superior Rune of Infiltration.pngSuperior Rune of Infiltration 175 225 0 0 400 Damage runes for some builds with low innate Precision.png Precision. Examples: Bladesworn icon small.png, Chronomancer icon small.png. Can all be used interchangeably together with Food, pieces of Assassin's gear and a Superior Sigil of Accuracy.pngSuperior Sigil of Accuracy to calibrate a build to reach 100% Critical chance.
Superior Rune of the Ranger.pngSuperior Rune of the Ranger 0 300 100 0 400
Superior Rune of the Deadeye.pngSuperior Rune of the Deadeye 175 125 100 0 400
Superior Rune of the Eagle.pngSuperior Rune of the Eagle 0 175 225 0 400
Superior Rune of Rage.pngSuperior Rune of Rage 0 0 300 0 300 Budget rune for builds that don't need additional Precision.png Precision.
Chunk of Pure Jade.pngChunk of Pure Jade 102 54 102 54 258 Budget upgrade that compensates the loss in Precision.png Precision when replacing a full set of Ascended armor with Exotic very well.
Ruby Orb.pngRuby Orb 120 84 84 0 284 Budget upgrade for builds that need additional Precision.png Precision, but not as much as Superior Rune of the Eagle.pngSuperior Rune of the Eagle grants.

Sigils on Power.png Power builds are fairly straightforward, as you only have a few options that are relevant for PvE. I will not consider any sigils with niche uses (such as Superior Sigil of Frailty.pngSuperior Sigil of Frailty or Superior Sigil of the Night.pngSuperior Sigil of the Night) here, as they don't matter for overall gameplay. The following table includes the relevant sigils for Power.png Power builds.

  1. There are a few Berserker's weapons on the Trading Post that already include some of those sigils, which is why they are more expensive than others. Examples are Maw of the Damned.pngMaw of the Damned or Twin Sisters.pngTwin Sisters.
  2. It is completely fine to replace the expensive Superior Sigil of Impact.pngSuperior Sigil of Impact with Superior Sigil of Air.pngSuperior Sigil of Air or a Slaying Sigil of any kind. You can save the money for Ascended weapons, because remember: weapons first on Power.png Power builds!
  3. Superior Sigil of Accuracy.pngSuperior Sigil of Accuracy is a very strong sigil for builds that need additional Precision.png Precision, as no other sigil comes close in terms of the overall damage gain. Therefore, it is better than exchanging Power.png Power for Precision.png Precision 1-to-1 via Assassin's gear or Precision.png Precision Food

Prices for Power.png Power Sigils

Sigil Description Price Notes
Superior Sigil of Force.pngSuperior Sigil of Force +5% Damage Bread and butter sigil for Power.png Power builds that is universally useful.
Superior Sigil of Accuracy.pngSuperior Sigil of Accuracy +7% Critical Chance Great sigil for builds that need additional Precision.png Precision. Equivalent to 147 Precision.png Precision.
Superior Sigil of Impact.pngSuperior Sigil of Impact +7% Strike Damage vs Stunned or Knocked-Down Foes; +3% Strike Damage Usually the best sigil to pair with Superior Sigil of Force.pngSuperior Sigil of Force. Damage gain depends on the frequency of Defiance bar phases on the encounter.
Superior Sigil of Air.pngSuperior Sigil of Air Unleash a lightning strike upon critically hitting a foe. (Cooldown: 3 Seconds) Great budget sigil that is often a bit stronger in single target damage than Superior Sigil of Impact.pngSuperior Sigil of Impact, but lacks the cleave potential.
Superior Sigil of Demon Slaying.pngSuperior Sigil of Demon Slaying +7% Strike Damage vs. Demons; +3% Strike Damage Demons are en vogue in the latest expansion, and you always get the 3% damage buff. Can be replaced by any other slaying sigil.

Starter Gear for Condition Damage.png Condition Damage Builds[edit]

As mentioned above, the two stats that matter for Condition Damage.png Condition Damage builds are Condition Damage.png Condition Damage and Condition Duration.png Expertise, with additional emphasis on Precision.png Precision and Power.png Power. As outlined before, Condition Duration.png Expertise is capped at 1500 effective points per condition. For that reason, Prefixes without Condition Duration.png Expertise can be used on builds that would overcap otherwise. Let's compare the relevant prefixes:

Possible Prefixes for Condition Builds

Prefix Stats
(Relative to a Major 3-stat Attribute)
Total Condition Damage.png Condition Damage Stats
(Sum of Percentages)
Total Offensive Stats
(Sum of Percentages)
Total Stats
(Sum of Percentages)
Viper's 85.66 % Power.png Power
47.01 % Precision.png Precision
85.66 % Condition Damage.png Condition Damage
47.01 % Condition Duration.png Expertise
132.67 % 265.34 % 265.34 %
Ritualist's 85.66 % Vitality.png Vitality
47.01 % Precision.png Precision
85.66 % Condition Damage.png Condition Damage
47.01 % Condition Duration.png Expertise
132.67 % 132.67 % 265.34 %
Sinister 100 % Condition Damage.png Condition Damage
71.31 % Power.png Power
71.31 % Precision.png Precision
100 % 242.63 % 242.63 %
Grieving 85.66 % Power.png Power
47.01 % Precision.png Precision
47.01 % Ferocity.png Ferocity
85.66 % Condition Damage.png Condition Damage
85.66 % 265.34 % 265.34 %
Carrion 100 % Condition Damage.png Condition Damage
71.31 % Power.png Power
71.31 % Vitality.png Vitality
100 % 171.31 % 242.63 %
Trailblazer's 85.66 % Toughness.png Toughness
47.01 % Vitality.png Vitality
85.66 % Condition Damage.png Condition Damage
47.01 % Condition Duration.png Expertise
132.67 % 132.67 % 265.34 %
Celestial 47.01 % Power.png Power
47.01 % Precision.png Precision
47.01 % Ferocity.png Ferocity
47.01 % Condition Damage.png Condition Damage
47.01 % Condition Duration.png Expertise
47.01 % Boon Duration.png Concentration
47.01 % Healing Power.png Healing Power
47.01 % Vitality.png Vitality
47.01 % Toughness.png Toughness
94.02 % 235.06 % 423.11 %

Let's look at them in detail:

  • Viper's is the main damage prefix, as it includes all four main stats for damage purposes. It would only be superseded by a three-attribute combination with both Condition Damage.png Condition Damage and Condition Duration.png Expertise, which does not exist.
  • Ritualist's is the best replacement for Viper's because it retains the two most important stats: Condition Damage.png Condition Damage and Condition Duration.png Expertise. It further allows you to play any Boon DPS build you like with it via the Boon Duration.png Concentration it brings. With that Boon Duration.png Concentration and its large amount of Vitality.png Vitality, it is also great for open world gameplay. The main downside is that you lose the Precision.png Precision, which causes you to trigger the "on Critical hit" interactions mentioned above less. The tradeoff in damage compared to Viper's is fairly small for a starter build on anything that isn't a Mesmer. The most versatile prefix for PvE-purposes, which is why i'd recommend this alongside with Viper's
  • Sinister and Grieving are ideal for damage whenever using the two previous options would lead to overcapping condition duration. Which one is better depends on the particular build.
  • Carrion is a prefix that can replace Sinister or Grieving 1-to-1 for starters, since the other two are quite expensive. The Vitality.png Vitality can come in handy for open world gameplay too!
  • Celestial deserves an honourable mention here, because it is an insanely good prefix for solo gameplay on condition builds. There are several reasons why I don't take it into account:
  1. it is time-gated to craft and expensive to buy,
  2. gives a lot less Condition Damage.png Condition Damage than Ritualist's or Viper's and
  3. includes Toughness.png Toughness, which can cause issues with Tanking in Raids.
  • Nonetheless, if you picked up a full set from a Level-80_Boost, it is a great starting point and an be used as a 1-to-1-replacement for both Viper's and Ritualist.

Condition Damage.png Condition Damage Armor, Trinkets and Weapons[edit]

The following table shows full sets of Condition Damage.png Condition Damage gear you can get directly off the trading post for the prefixes mentioned above. The main takeaways are as follows:

  1. Ritualist's armor and trinkets are cheap and a good replacement for Viper's.
  2. Viper's has fairly cheap weapons in the form of Abomination weapons.
  3. Aside from a few weapons, both Sinister and Grieving are expensive to buy (and craft). You can replace them with Carrion 1-to-1.
  4. The Backpack in Exotic is very expensive given its low stat density, so I don't recommend buying it. Instead, take a look at Crafter's backpacks, which are very cheap, allow you to select Celestial stats and put a Chrysocola Crystal on them. Leveling Chef to 400 costs less than one purchaseable backpack (See this link for a quick guide on it.

In turn, you can get Ritualist's armor and trinkets and viper weapons for a reasonable price. This combination gets you started on all non-mesmer condition builds. Mesmer is a special case because all condition-focused mesmer builds scale heavily with Precision.png Precision. All condition mesmers use Dueling Dueling with Sharper Images Sharper Images and Virtuoso icon small.png Virtuoso has Jagged Mind Jagged Mind on top.

Prices for Condition Gear

Slot Viper's
Power.png Power
Precision.png Precision
Condition Damage.png Condition Damage
Condition Duration.png Expertise
Ritualist
Vitality.png Vitality
Boon Duration.png Concentration
Condition Damage.png Condition Damage
Condition Duration.png Expertise
Sinister
Condition Damage.png Condition Damage
Power.png Power
Precision.png Precision
Grieving
Power.png Power
Precision.png Precision
Condition Damage.png Condition Damage
Ferocity.png Ferocity
Carrion
Condition Damage.png Condition Damage
Power.png Power
Vitality.png Vitality
Illustrious Masque.png Head Ice Golem's Maw Box.pngSelectable Viper's Ancient Canthan Helm.pngRitualist's Ancient Canthan Helm
Ancient Canthan Medium Helm.pngRitualist's Medium Helm
Ancient Canthan Light Helm.pngRitualist's Light Helm


Ice Golem's Maw Box.pngSelectable Sinister's Ice Golem's Maw Box.pngSelectable Grieving Scallywag Helm.pngBrutus' Helm
Sneakthief Mask.pngShiro's Mask
Seer Mask.pngOgden's Mask


Illustrious Epaulets.png Shoulders Shoulders of the Ebon Vanguard Choice Chest.pngSelectable Viper's Ancient Canthan Spaulders.pngRitualist's Ancient Canthan Spaulders
Ancient Canthan Medium Shoulderpads.pngRitualist's Medium Shoulderpads
Ancient Canthan Light Shoulderpads.pngRitualist's Light Shoulderpads


Shoulders of the Ebon Vanguard Choice Chest.pngSelectable Sinister's Shoulders of the Ebon Vanguard Choice Chest.pngSelectable Grieving Scallywag Pauldrons.pngBrutus' Pauldrons
Sneakthief Shoulderguards.pngShiro's Pauldrons
Seer Coat.pngOgden's Coat


Illustrious Doublet.png Chest Draconic Coat.pngViper's Draconic Coat
Emblazoned Coat.pngViper's Emblazoned Coat
Exalted Coat.pngViper's Exalted Coat


Ancient Canthan Gambeson.pngRitualist's Ancient Canthan Gambeson
Ancient Canthan Jacket.pngRitualist's Ancient Canthan Jacket
Ancient Canthan Tunic.pngRitualist's Ancient Canthan Tunic


Draconic Coat.pngSinister Draconic Coat
Emblazoned Coat.pngSinister Emblazoned Coat
Exalted Coat.pngSinister Exalted Coat


N/A N/A Scallywag Chest.pngBrutus' Chestguard
Sneakthief Coat.pngShiro's Coat
Seer Coat.pngOgden's Coat


Illustrious Wristguards.png Gloves Draconic Gauntlets.pngViper's Draconic Gauntlets
Emblazoned Gloves.pngViper's Emblazoned Gloves
Exalted Gloves.pngViper's Exalted Gloves


Ancient Canthan Gauntlets.pngRitualist's Ancient Canthan Gauntlets
Ancient Canthan Medium Gloves.pngRitualist's Medium Gloves
Ancient Canthan Light Gloves.pngRitualist's Light Gloves


Draconic Gauntlets.pngSinister Draconic Gauntlets
Emblazoned Gloves.pngSinister Emblazoned Gloves
Exalted Gloves.pngSinister Exalted Gloves


N/A N/A Scallywag Gauntlets.pngSheena's Gauntlets
Sneakthief Gloves.pngShiro's Gloves
Seer Gloves.pngOgden's Gloves


Illustrious Breeches.png Legs Draconic Legs.pngViper's Draconic Legs
Emblazoned Pants.pngViper's Emblazoned Pants
Exalted Pants.pngViper's Exalted Pants


Ancient Canthan Tassets.pngRitualist's Ancient Canthan Tassets
Ancient Canthan Medium Leggings.pngRitualist's Medium Leggings
Ancient Canthan Light Leggings.pngRitualist's Light Leggings


Draconic Legs.pngSinister Draconic Legs
Emblazoned Pants.pngSinister Emblazoned Pants
Exalted Pants.pngSinister Exalted Pants


N/A N/A Scallywag Legs.pngSheena's Legplates
Sneakthief Leggings.pngShiro's Leggings
Seer Pants.pngOgden's Leggings


Illustrious Footwear.png Boots Draconic Legs.pngViper's Draconic Legs
Emblazoned Pants.pngViper's Emblazoned Pants
Exalted Pants.pngViper's Exalted Pants


Ancient Canthan Greaves.pngRitualist's Ancient Canthan Greaves
Ancient Canthan Medium Boots.pngRitualist's Medium Boots
Ancient Canthan Light Boots.pngRitualist's Light Boots


Draconic Boots.pngSinister Draconic Boots
Emblazoned Boots.pngSinister Emblazoned Boots
Exalted Boots.pngSinister Exalted Boots


N/A N/A Scallywag Greaves.pngSheena's Greaves
Sneakthief Sandals.pngShiro's Greaves
Seer Boots.pngOgden's Boots


Vial of Salt.png Amulet Black Diamond Orichalcum Amulet.pngBlack Diamond Amulet Polished-Resin Orichalcum Amulet.pngPolished-Resin Amulet Charged Ambrite Orichalcum Amulet.pngCharged Ambrite Amulet Mournstone Amulet.pngMournstone Amulet Chrysocola Orichalcum Amulet.pngCrysocola Amulet
Gift of Prescience.png Ring 1 Black Diamond Orichalcum Ring.pngBlack Diamond Ring Polished-Resin Orichalcum Ring.pngPolished-Resin Ring Charged Ambrite Orichalcum Ring.pngCharged Ambrite Ring Mournstone Ring.pngMournstone Ring Chrysocola Orichalcum Ring.pngCrysocola Ring
Armbrace of Truth.png Ring 2 Black Diamond Orichalcum Ring.pngBlack Diamond Ring Polished-Resin Orichalcum Ring.pngPolished-Resin Ring Charged Ambrite Orichalcum Ring.pngCharged Ambrite Ring Mournstone Ring.pngMournstone Ring Chrysocola Orichalcum Ring.pngCrysocola Ring
Black Ice Earring.png Accessory 1 Black Diamond Orichalcum Earring.pngBlack Diamond Earring Polished-Resin Orichalcum Earring.pngPolished-Resin Earring Charged Ambrite Orichalcum Earring.pngCharged Ambrite Earring Mournstone Earring.pngMournstone Earring Chrysocola Orichalcum Earring.pngCrysocola Earring
Vision.png Accessory 2 Black Diamond Orichalcum Earring.pngBlack Diamond Earring Polished-Resin Orichalcum Earring.pngPolished-Resin Earring Charged Ambrite Orichalcum Earring.pngCharged Ambrite Earring Mournstone Earring.pngMournstone Earring Chrysocola Orichalcum Earring.pngCrysocola Earring
Ad Infinitum.png Backpack Lucky Great Ox Lantern.pngLucky Great Ox Lantern Lucky Great Ox Lantern.pngLucky Great Ox Lantern Lucky Great Ox Lantern.pngLucky Great Ox Lantern Lucky Great Ox Lantern.pngLucky Great Ox Lantern Lucky Great Ox Lantern.pngLucky Great Ox Lantern
Frostfang.png Axe Abomination Axe.pngViper's Abomination Axe Luxon Hunter's Weapon Cache.pngLuxon Hunter's Axe Revenge.pngRevenge
Vassago.pngVassago

Consecrated Saryx Axe.pngGrieving Saryx Axe Jaws of Death.pngJaws of Death
Aurene's Bite.png Dagger Abomination Dagger.pngViper's Abomination Dagger Luxon Hunter's Weapon Cache.pngLuxon Hunter's Dagger The Cure.pngThe Cure Consecrated Saryx Dagger.pngGrieving Saryx Dagger Claws of the Desert.pngClaws of the Desert
The Minstrel.png Focus Abomination Focus.pngViper's Abomination Focus Luxon Hunter's Weapon Cache.pngLuxon Hunter's Focus Jailbroken.pngJailbroken Consecrated Saryx Focus.pngGrieving Saryx Focus Mojo.pngMojo
Eternity.png Greatsword Abomination Greatsword.pngViper's Abomination Greatsword Luxon Hunter's Weapon Cache.pngLuxon Hunter's Greatsword Pearl Broadsword.pngSinister Pearl Broadsword Consecrated Saryx Greatsword.pngGrieving Saryx Greatsword Dhuumseal.pngDhuumseal
Aurene's Weight.png Hammer Abomination Hammer.pngViper's Abomination Hammer Luxon Hunter's Weapon Cache.pngLuxon Hunter's Hammer Pearl Crusher.pngSinister Pearl Crusher Consecrated Saryx Hammer.pngGrieving Saryx Hammer Legionnaire Maul.pngCarrion Legionnaire Maul of Rage
Kudzu.png Longbow Abomination Longbow.pngViper's Abomination Longbow Luxon Hunter's Weapon Cache.pngLuxon Hunter's Longbow Pearl Stinger.pngSinister Pearl Stinger Consecrated Saryx Longbow.pngGrieving Saryx Longbow Legionnaire Longbow.pngGanadriva
The Moot.png Mace Abomination Mace.pngViper's Abomination Mace Luxon Hunter's Weapon Cache.pngLuxon Hunter's Mace Pearl Bludgeoner.pngSinister Pearl Bludgeoner Consecrated Saryx Mace.pngGrieving Saryx Mace Ettin Club (consumable).pngSpiked Club
Quip.png Pistol Abomination Pistol.pngViper's Abomination Pistol Luxon Hunter's Weapon Cache.pngLuxon Hunter's Pistol Nightwing.pngNightwing Consecrated Saryx Pistol.pngGrieving Saryx Pistol Legionnaire Sidearm.pngBrandt
The Predator.png Rifle Abomination Rifle.pngViper's Abomination Rifle Luxon Hunter's Weapon Cache.pngLuxon Hunter's Rifle Pearl Blunderbuss.pngSinister Pearl Blunderbuss Consecrated Saryx Rifle.pngGrieving Saryx Rifle Azure Railgun.pngAzure Railgun
Xiuquatl.png Scepter Abomination Scepter.pngViper's Abomination Scepter Luxon Hunter's Weapon Cache.pngLuxon Hunter's Scepter Pearl Rod.pngSinister Pearl Rod Consecrated Saryx Scepter.pngGrieving Saryx Scepter Zhaitan's Reach.pngZhaitan's Reach
Shooshadoo.png Shield Abomination Shield.pngViper's Abomination Shield Luxon Hunter's Weapon Cache.pngLuxon Hunter's Shield Pearl Shell.pngSinister Pearl Shell Consecrated Saryx Shield.pngGrieving Saryx Shield Shield of the Moon.pngShield of the Moon
Aurene's Wing.png Short Bow Abomination Short Bow.pngViper's Abomination Short Bow Luxon Hunter's Weapon Cache.pngLuxon Hunter's Short Bow Pearl Needler.pngSinister Pearl Needler Consecrated Saryx Short Bow.pngGrieving Saryx Short Bow Avirdanag.pngAvirdanag
Nevermore.png Staff Abomination Staff.pngViper's Abomination Staff Luxon Hunter's Weapon Cache.pngLuxon Hunter's Staff Pearl Quarterstaff.pngSinister Pearl Quarterstaff Consecrated Saryx Staff.pngGrieving Saryx Staff Emberspire.pngEmberspire
Bolt.png Sword Abomination Sword.pngViper's Abomination Sword Luxon Hunter's Weapon Cache.pngLuxon Hunter's Sword Soul Conductor.pngSoul Conductor Consecrated Saryx Sword.pngGrieving Saryx Sword Ak-Muhl's Jaw.pngAk-Muhl's Jaw
Rodgort.png Torch Abomination Torch.pngViper's Abomination Torch Luxon Hunter's Weapon Cache.pngLuxon Hunter's Torch Touch of Madness.pngTouch of Madness Consecrated Saryx Sword.pngGrieving Saryx Sword Legionnaire Firebrand.pngLegionnaire Firebrand
Verdarach.png Warhorn Abomination Warhorn.pngViper's Abomination Warhorn Luxon Hunter's Weapon Cache.pngLuxon Hunter's Warhorn Pearl Siren.pngSinister Pearl Siren Consecrated Saryx Warhorn.pngGrieving Saryx Warhorn Ceremonial Warhorn.pngAdder's Hiss

Condition Damage.png Condition Damage Runes and Sigils[edit]

In terms of upgrades, Runes make up for a significant portion of your damage stats. The effective stats you gain from them on Condition builds depends on the mix of Conditions you apply. In turn, you need to calibrate a build around the options you have.

  1. Superior Rune of the Trapper.pngSuperior Rune of the Trapper is very loaded in stats, with a large amount of Condition Damage.png Condition Damage and Condition Duration.png Expertise. It is also quite expensive and has to be crafted, you'll have to decide whether you want it on a temporary starter set.
  2. Since 1% Condition duration translates to 15 Condition Duration.png Expertise, it is a more efficient than other stats (Boon duration and {{concentration behave the same way]]). For the condition-specific durations, it depends on how much of your damage comes from the respective condition.
  3. Superior Rune of the Afflicted.pngSuperior Rune of the Afflicted is a good budget starter rune for most builds. Especially good on Ranger icon small.png, Thief icon small.png and Necromancer icon small.png
  4. For Burning.png Burning-heavy builds (Guardian and Elementalist), Superior Rune of Balthazar.pngSuperior Rune of Balthazar is a very good budget option.

Prices for Condition Upgrade Components

Rune Price for 6 Pieces Condition Damage.png Condition Damage Condition Duration.png Expertise
converted from Condition duration
Other Stats Effective Damage Stats Notes
Superior Rune of the Trapper.pngSuperior Rune of the Trapper 300 225
(All Conditions)
0 525 Ideal damage rune for most condition builds due to the sheer amount of stats it grants. Crafted from Recipe: Superior Rune of the Trapper with Armorsmith, Leatherworker or Tailor on Level 400.
Superior Rune of the Krait.pngSuperior Rune of the Krait 175 750
(Bleeding.png Bleeding)
0 175 (All)
925 (Bleeding.png Bleeding)
Ideal damage rune for builds that focus on Bleeding.png Bleeding. Examples: Virtuoso icon small.png & Reaper icon small.png.
Superior Rune of Balthazar.pngSuperior Rune of Balthazar 175 750
(Burning.png Burning)
0 175 (All)
925 (Burning.png Burning)
Great budget rune for builds that focus on Burning.png Burning. Examples: Willbender icon small.png, Firebrand icon small.png, Weaver icon small.png, Tempest icon small.png.
Superior Rune of the Nightmare.pngSuperior Rune of the Nightmare 720 Tale of Dungeon Delving.pngTales of Dungeon Delving 175 300 (All Conditions)
300 (Fear.png Fear)
0 475 (All)
775 (Fear.png Fear)
Great substitute for Superior Rune of the Trapper.pngSuperior Rune of the Trapper that can be farmed fairly quickly in Dungeons by doing Explorable Paths.
Superior Rune of the Afflicted.pngSuperior Rune of the Afflicted 175 150 (All Conditions)
300 (Bleeding.png Bleeding)
150 (Poisoned.png Poisoned)
0 325 (All)
625 (Bleeding.png Bleeding)
475 (Poisoned.png Poisoned)
All of these Sigils can be used as purchaseable budget options to replace Superior Rune of the Trapper.pngSuperior Rune of the Trapper. Superior Rune of the Afflicted.pngSuperior Rune of the Afflicted is usually the best option, as it has more overall stats and Condition-specific duration modifiers on top.
Superior Rune of the Necromancer.pngSuperior Rune of the Necromancer 300 0 100 Vitality.png Vitality 300 (All)
Superior Rune of the Berserker.pngSuperior Rune of the Berserker 300 0 100 Power.png Power 300 (All)
Superior Rune of the Renegade.pngSuperior Rune of the Renegade 300 0 100 Ferocity.png Ferocity 300 (All)
Superior Rune of the Sunless.pngSuperior Rune of the Sunless 300 0 -20% Incoming Condition Duration 300 (All)

Sigils on Condition Damage.png Condition Damage builds are a bit more complex, because their effectiveness scales with condition-specific durations and damage modifiers. It is thus important to look at your build and evaluate which sigil could work for you:

Prices for Condition Damage.png Condition Damage Sigils

Sigil Description Price Notes
Superior Sigil of Bursting.pngSuperior Sigil of Bursting +5% Condition Damage Bread and butter sigil for Condition Damage.png Condition Damage builds that is universally useful.
Superior Sigil of Malice.pngSuperior Sigil of Malice +10% condition duration. Sigil that can be useful for builds that need additional Condition Duration.png Expertise, but often worse than Superior Sigil of Bursting.pngSuperior Sigil of Bursting due to the har cap on condition duration at 100%.
Superior Sigil of Earth.pngSuperior Sigil of Earth Inflict bleeding for 6 seconds upon critically hitting a foe. (Cooldown: 2 Seconds) Sigil that is very cheap and a great addition to most Condition Damage.png Condition Damage builds. Scales with your damage and duration modifiers on Bleeding.png Bleeding, obviously.
Superior Sigil of Torment.pngSuperior Sigil of Torment Inflict 2 stacks of torment for 5 seconds to enemies around your target upon landing a critical hit. (Cooldown: 5 Seconds) Expensive sigil that is a great addition to most Condition Damage.png Condition Damage builds. Scales with your damage and duration modifiers on Torment.png Torment, obviously.
Superior Sigil of Doom.pngSuperior Sigil of Doom Your next attack will inflict 3 stacks of poison for 8 seconds after swapping to this weapon while in combat. (Cooldown: 9 Seconds) Expensive sigil that is strong on builds that have Poisoned.png Poisoned modifiers.
Superior Sigil of Geomancy.pngSuperior Sigil of Geomancy Inflict bleeding on nearby foes for 8 seconds when you swap to this weapon while in combat. (Cooldown: 9 seconds) Sigil that is very cheap and a great addition to most Condition Damage.png Condition Damage builds. Requires you to weapon swap frequently, so it is only useful on builds that do so enough.
Superior Sigil of Agony.pngSuperior Sigil of Agony Increase Inflicted Bleeding Duration: 20%
Sigils for builds that can make use of the additional duration on the respective condition. Very good for a starter set if you cant afford the more expensive sigils, as they give you more wiggle room for suboptimal gear prefixes like Carrion.
Superior Sigil of Demons.pngSuperior Sigil of Demons Increase the duration of inflicted torment by 20%.
Superior Sigil of Venom.pngSuperior Sigil of Venom Increase Inflicted Poison Duration: 20%
Superior Sigil of Smoldering.pngSuperior Sigil of Smoldering Increase Inflicted Burning Duration: 20%


Getting Started with Rotation Practice[edit]

Starter Tips for Rotation Practice[edit]

  • Getting overwhelmed with damaging rotations is completely fine if you're just starting the game (or a new build)! There are a few things that can make your life easier though, and I'll try to summarize them here.
  • Take rotations on step-by-step. With the right gear and golem setup, even auto attacks will do a considerable amount of damage on their own. Start with getting a feel for them and add skills one-by-one, depending on the build you're playing. You'll be surprised how much damage you can do by focusing on few but important skills!
  • All rotations in the game that are optimized by endgame players include a lot of practice. Don't be discouraged by not getting very close to their numbers. You should be able to reach 80-85% of a benchmark just by...
  1. learning the basic concept of a rotation,
  2. wearing the right gear and
  3. setting the golem up correctly.

Setting up the Special Forces Training Area (SFTA)[edit]

This area is used to train PvE rotations and allows you to set up a Golem with Boons and Conditions of your choice. The main purpose is to simulate the circumstances in instanced PvE content to test your DPS under ideal conditions without external disturbances. I recommend using it to practice rotations a it before you dive into actual content. Getting there is described here. Over time, the folks from Snowcrows have established certain standards for the SFTA to allow for better comparison of different builds. This is because there are builds that...

  1. scale with the number of Boons on them (like Premeditation Premeditation in Deadeye Deadeye),
  2. scale with the number of Conditions on the enemy (like Modified Ammunition Modified Ammunition in Firearms Firearms,
  3. deal more damage when they have particular Boons on them (like Object in Motion Object in Motion in Scrapper Scrapper),
  4. deal more damage when there are particular Conditions on the enemy (like Radiant Power Radiant Power in Radiance Radiance) and/or
  5. have Skills that hit randomly or additional times in larger areas, favouring larger Hitboxes (like  Eternity's Requiem.png Eternity's Requiem).

Make sure to choose a Golem with 4,000,000 Health and a small Hitbox (Standard Kitty Golem). This is done to make sure that whatever you are testing has good anough sustained damage for longer fights and does not overly benefit from abilities that hit randomly in a larger radius. If you can, install ArcDPS for real-time DPS and Boon monitoring. The standard DPS chat meter is okay to use, but is much harder to improve with. Even though Add-Ons are not promoted by ArenaNet, this one is openly tolerated. The logs created by ArcDPS can be uploaded on DPS Reports and can thus be shared with other players. This also includes a detailed log of your rotation, allowing you to compare yourself to logs from Benchmarks.

Benchmarks use a full set of Stat Infusions, boosting their damage by 2-3%. If you want to simulate that in cheaper but temporary manner, you can use a Writ of Masterful Malice Writ of Masterful Malice or Writ of Masterful Strength Writ of Masterful Strength instead of the recommended Utility item, respectively.

The general standards for Boons and Conditions are as follows:

Special Forces Training Area Setup

Profession 10 Boons when using... 10 Conditions when using... Additional Restrictions
Warrior icon small.png Warrior Empowered Empowered No Stability.png Stability /w Stalwart Strength Stalwart Strength
Apply Swiftness.png Swiftness /w Warrior's Sprint Warrior's Sprint
Apply Crippled.png Crippled /w Leg Specialist Leg Specialist
Guardian icon small.png Guardian Inspired Virtue Inspired Virtue Apply Crippled.png Crippled /w Zealot's Aggression Zealot's Aggression
Apply Resolution.png Resolution /w Retribution (trait) Retribution

Apply Resolution.png Resolution /w Righteous Instincts Righteous Instincts

Revenant icon small.png Revenant Reinforced Potency Reinforced Potency Apply Resolution.png Resolution /w Vicious Reprisal Vicious Reprisal
Engineer icon small.png Engineer Modified Ammunition Modified Ammunition No Stability.png Stability /w Object in Motion Object in Motion
Ranger icon small.png Ranger Bountiful Hunter Bountiful Hunter
Thief icon small.png Thief Premeditation Premeditation Exposed Weakness Exposed Weakness Apply Weakness.png Weakness /w Weakening Strikes Weakening Strikes
Elementalist icon small.png Elementalist Bountiful Power Bountiful Power Apply Swiftness.png Swiftness /w Swift Revenge Swift Revenge
Mesmer icon small.png Mesmer no Fear.png Fear or Taunt.png Taunt /w Superiority Complex Superiority Complex
Necromancer icon small.png Necromancer Target the Weak Target the Weak Apply Chilled.png Chilled /w Cold Shoulder Cold Shoulder

Dealing with Defiance bars (aka Breakbars)[edit]

  • One of the first things you should do is learn where your CC skills are! (Almost) always use Control effects when you have them available and you see a Defiance bar pop up.

They are found on higher rank enemies frequently, looking like this:

DefianceDefiance bar teal.png

Why is that important? The answer to that is twofold:

  1. when a Breakbar is broken, the enemy is often stunned for a few seconds, during which it will take increased damage. The Stun gives your group breathing room and allows you to go mad on damage for the duration.
  2. the Breakbar sometimes has to be broken to interrupt enemies from completing certain attacks (sometimes one-shot attacks). This is particularly relevant in group events and instanced content.
It is therefore essential that you include some skills with Breakbar damage in your build, both in solo gameplay and group content. Note that you should also be using skills like  Signet of Domination.png Signet of Domination or Force Signet Force Signet that have a damage tradeoff, since it costs more group dps to have a Defiance bar up than you can gain by not using it.

The following effects apply defiance bar damage:

Breakbar damage Over Time Direct Breakbar Damage
Fear.png Fear Daze.png Daze
Taunt.png Taunt Stun.png Stun
Immobile.png Immobile Knockdown.png Knockdown
Slow.png Slow Pull.png Pull
Chilled.png Chilled Knockback.png Knockback
Blinded.png Blinded Launch.png Launch
Weakness.png Weakness Float.png Float
Crippled.png Crippled Sink.png Sink

Hard CCs apply their Breakbar damage immediately, while the listed Conditions apply their damage over time. Note that the listed Conditions cannot be stacked in intensity, just in duration. Multiple applications of Fear.png Fear will not apply more defiance bar damage per second than one instance, but will make it last for a longer duration.

Understanding and Measuring Difficulty[edit]

You can download my latest build difficulty scoring sheet here!
  • In this section, I'll define what difficulty in a build is and explain why. This is always subjective to a degree, but we'll try and reduce it to a minimum.
  • After that, we'll go and try to measure those aspects for an example build and put it into context. The basis for the measurement is always damage logs from ArcDPS, since it includes a lot of neat data.
  • Finally, we'll look at the damage resulting from a particular build. It may be that a very difficult build yields much higher damage than a simple one, so you might find it worth learning.
  • If you know what defines difficulty and how to measure it, you can assess whether a build suits your skill level.

Aspect 1: Range[edit]

Explanation:

  • The capability to deal damage from range is a determining factor of difficulty because it gives you freedom; freedom to position yourself and still deal damage from wherever you are.
  • This flexibility usually comes at a cost, since melee builds typically do more damage than fully ranged builds for the time they can be in melee range.

Measurement:

  1. Range can be measured fairly easily by looking at a share of skills in a build that have a decent range. As a rule fo thumb, anything at or above 600 range can be considered as "ranged".
  2. Builds that use only one weapon set have an advantage here, since they can always slot a ranged weapon (or kit on engineer) that one can swap to whenever range is needed.
  3. Many builds include at least one ranged weapon set or kit, so you can stay on that for the time where range is needed.

Examples (as of September 2024):

  • Condition Virtuoso is a prevalent example of a build that is almost fully ranged. There's little penalty for being at range (like Bladeturn Requiem being melee or some skills hitting with slightly lower damage), so you can move freely at all times.
  • Power Reaper is forced into melee range for most of its rotation. While you can slot Dual Swords on one weapon bar without a larger damage loss, Shroud frequently forces you back into melee range.
  • Power Scrappper is melee for most of its rotation, but using Grenade Kit and/or Mortar Kit allows it to go into range mode on demand whenit is needed. Many other skills won't hit in that case, but it can at least maintain dealing damage.

Aspect 2: Forced Movement / Animation Locks[edit]

Explanation:

  • This aspect is important, as restrictions in free mobility can be detrimental, especially if you're a beginner. For someone unfamiliar with a build, having forced movement or animation locks can cause issues in actual content (like the good ol' self-yeet).
  • Some builds have very frequent forced movement, while other don't have any at all.

Measurement:

  1. This criterion relates to the share of skills that require you to move in a particular direction (such as leap skills) or
  2. root you in place (e.g. channels like whirling defense on Ranger's Offhand Axe).

Examples (as of September 2024):

  • Daredevil is a build that requires you to dodge every 4 seconds to maintain a damage buff. This can be dangerous in situations where you have limited space, but comes with frequent evade windows.
  • Condition Scourge does not include any forced movement. You can freely cast your skills without being forced to stand still or yeet yourself into danger.

Aspect 3: Actions-per-Minute (APM)[edit]

Explanation:

  • As the name says, this represents the number of inputs required by the player per minute. Frequent player input is "higher maintenance", meaning that actually performing the desired rotation requires more attention comapred to one that includes breaks (usually filled by auto attacks).

Measurement:

  1. We can measure this directly form logs, by looking at the "casts" of all items that require player input.
  2. That means we'll have to take the total number of casts and exclude auto attacks, relics and similar things that happen automatically or as a byproduct of other actions.
  3. Careful: Entering kits on engineer is measure twice in logs, so you need to exclude the button presses on the entrance and only use the weapon swaps.

Aspect 4: Cooldowns to Track[edit]

Explanation:

  • The more different skills a build uses, the more complex it usually is. Having to organize a rotation with 30 cooldowns is more difficult than one that just uses 5 weapon skills.
  • This is related to APM, since a build with a lot of skills typically has few downtimes for auto attacks.

Measurement:

  1. We can measure this directly from logs, by looking at the number of different "casts" that require player input.
  2. That means we'll have to take the total number of different items in a log and exclude conditions, auto attacks, relics and similar things that happen automatically or as a byproduct of other actions.

Aspect 5: Bar Swaps[edit]

Explanation:

  • The more different skill sets a build uses, the more abstract and difficult to learn it usually feels. This originates in the presence of invisible cooldowns, since you cannot see all your skills at all times.
  • This is indirectly related to APM, since a build with a lot of skill sets typically has few downtimes for auto attacks. More skill sets doesn't always mean higher APM, but they often do.

Measurement:

  1. We can measure this directly from logs, by looking at the number of bar swaps. this includes weapon swaps, attunement swaps on elementalist, Tomes on Firebrand, Shroud on Necromancers and the like.
  2. This includes both entrance and exit on related items.

Aspect 6: Sustained Damage[edit]

Explanation:

  • This is pretty straightforward, as it relates to the damage a build can do when it performs its rotation indefinetely. Power.png Power builds usually start high and go down over time, while Condition Damage.png Condition Damage builds start low and go up.

Measurement:

  1. We can measure this directly from logs, by looking at the final damage number. This is a good measure for the damage you can expect in longer phases.
  2. There are builds that scale with allies around them, making a comparison of benchmarks with allies crucial, since that is what you get in group content.

Aspect 7: Burst Damage[edit]

Explanation:

  • This is pretty straightforward, as it relates to the damage a build can do when it performs its opener and a short part of its general rotation. Again, Power.png Power builds usually have higher burst than Condition Damage.png Condition Damage builds.

Measurement:

  1. We can measure this directly from logs, by looking at the first damage number from 100%-80% health. This is a good measure for the damage you can expect in shorter phases.
  2. Many burst windows are even shorter, so you'd have to consider other timeframes for a comparison when you're looking at Fractal Builds for example.
  3. There are builds that scale with allies around them, making a comparison of benchmarks with allies crucial, since that is what you get in group content.