How do you construct your builds?

thinkerseven

thinkerseven

New Member
I have been playing GW for about 6+ months now and I still do not understand how people make their own builds (I usually use some people have already made). I was playing with my friend the other day and expressing my frusteration at the fact that most builds center around one elite skill (most of my characters are not 20 yet or close) and it is very hard to find a build to use which isn't a bunch of random skills before then. Maybe I am not looking at the right places. Anyways, my friend told me to try and make my own build so I would be happy... I try looking at all the skills and get overwhelmed. I don't even know where to start. :eek: So my question is how exactly does anyone out there go about making their own build?
 
Unlocking skills is a huge part of being able to make your own build.

However, for a PvP build, I try to think of what the popular builds are out there, figure out why they work, and figure out ways to take their strengths and use them against themselves. For example:
http://www.cgalliance.org/forums/showthread.php?t=16223

For PvE, usually our builds are a variation, if not a straight copy, of the ones that are very popular and posted all over the internet. There is no shame in copying/modifying a build-- I mean, I sure didn't come up with the 55 monk, or the touch ranger, or the minion master, but I exploit the snot out of them.
 
ive actually for my ele never used elites....... i just figuire out what works and what doesnt for whatever job i do.
 
Builders who Build the Buildiest Builds.....

I'm not really a guru at this sort of thing, but I think my Ranger excells at being more than mediocre...

I think the secret is to first think of what weaknesses your primary profession has, and what you need to coutner that, and base your decision on a secondary on that. After you choose that, considering the way you want to play and what your goals are will help you to select what attributes to put emphasis on, and then from that picking the best skills you have access to (by capturing or by purchasing) will naturally evolve into something more effective.

In short, just play with things until you stop dying.... and stick with that. :D
 
my ranger is the easiest to modify a great custom build on. the warrior though... i don't even want to touch him ever again. basically a warrior has nothing but any attack skills you can get in, and if you sneak in combos, that helps (i.e. sever artery+gash=bleeding+deep wound) and always bring something to restore your health with...

healing skills: W=healing signet R=troll unguent Rt=weapon of warding, spirit light, etc. A=shadow refuge Mo=anything basically (duh.) Me=ether feast N=blood magic & E=aura of restoration

wow i can't believe i thought of all those off memory alone i must play this too much... anyway

i think rangers have the most versatile range (hah pun) of builds available... i make degens, B/P, B/I, touch, trap, interrupt, and there's this one i use for warriors that's really fun to do 1 on 1 i call warrior=bane

so now that ive rambled on (sorry i like to explain a lot) ill get to the point of customizing. rounding out your skills (like bringing interruptions and health degens) can help you when things get dangerous, but focusing them on one thing (minion masters do this especially) can cause more problems to the enemy...

personally, i find rounding easy by just getting skills for anything they could do. i think to myself "what do i do if this happens?" and find a skill to counter it, so (example) i get poisoned, i use plague touch to give it back generously, if i need to run away i use dodge, escape, or storm chaser. thanks for reading this really long message (if you did).:)
 
well, im not an expert at any profession, except ranger and im still not great, but i use builds that

A. deal damage

B. heal in emergencies (i use mending with my r/mo, quick and dont have to deal with it)

C. deals damage continually (ie. posion, bleeding hexs...)

D. my number 1 rule in GW ALWAYS CARRY A RES!! i know that there are exceptions but... thats just me. i cant tell you how many times noobs die and im the only one that has res.

E. if i think any more i'll put them here.

And everything that people have said before me if true too. dont be afraid to copy people, and my ascened ranger doesnt have an elite it only has 10k in the back. (thats like the lotto to me :p)

hope it helps, good luck. :)
 
Also pay attention to skills that compliment each other. A skill that cause the opponent to miss, and a skill that does damge to an opponent every time they miss, for example.

My first combo I learned was because every time I cast FireStorm, everything would run.I would get annoyed. So on harder enemies I would cast Meteor shower first, knocking them down, then Firestorm. A knocked down enemy can't run...can it? Thus it takes Major damage from both spells.

Also be cautious of Skills that cause exhaustion. They are usually good skills, but if you use them too much, or too many, you will have no energy left.

I felt the same way you did. I went to different places and just kept tweaking one day and found out what worked.

PS...I am by no means an expert...that was just how I started out.

Now I surf the net, find builds, and tweak them to my satisfaction and situations. Occassionally I work on my own unique builds though, determined to find the ultimate build that no one else has, so far to no avail.:)
 
aka Ash said:
My first combo I learned was because every time I cast FireStorm, everything would run.I would get annoyed. So on harder enemies I would cast Meteor shower first, knocking them down, then Firestorm. A knocked down enemy can't run...can it? Thus it takes Major damage from both spells.
Click to expand...
Remember the days when the mobs wouldn't run from AoE skills? Those were gloriously wonderful days for Jahar (my Fire Nuker). He would let the warrior aggro and then cast Meteor Shower, Fire Storm, and then run in and cast Phoenix. By then, the whole mob was dead. :p
 
aka Ash said:
Also pay attention to skills that compliment each other. A skill that cause the opponent to miss, and a skill that does damge to an opponent every time they miss, for example.

My first combo I learned was because every time I cast FireStorm, everything would run.I would get annoyed. So on harder enemies I would cast Meteor shower first, knocking them down, then Firestorm. A knocked down enemy can't run...can it? Thus it takes Major damage from both spells.

Also be cautious of Skills that cause exhaustion. They are usually good skills, but if you use them too much, or too many, you will have no energy left.

I felt the same way you did. I went to different places and just kept tweaking one day and found out what worked.

PS...I am by no means an expert...that was just how I started out.

Now I surf the net, find builds, and tweak them to my satisfaction and situations. Occassionally I work on my own unique builds though, determined to find the ultimate build that no one else has, so far to no avail.:)
Click to expand...

actually a better combo before they nerfed it was casting meteor shower then meteor and it would interupt them running away so they would stay in one spot. PUGS for sorrows furnace always got made at me because they didt want them scattering. does the shower + storm combo actually still work?
 
astrod00d said:
Remember the days when the mobs wouldn't run from AoE skills? Those were gloriously wonderful days for Jahar (my Fire Nuker). He would let the warrior aggro and then cast Meteor Shower, Fire Storm, and then run in and cast Phoenix. By then, the whole mob was dead. :p
Click to expand...
You mean the days when Chaos Storm worked?

My advice for creating builds?

Look at builds you like. Then look and see if you have any skills that work the same way.

Also, look at skills that work well together; if one skill causes a condition, look for a skill that exploits that condition. Or look for a good hex and a skill that causes extra problems for someone who is hexed, or benefits you if a foe is hexed.

Be sure to keep an eye on energy requirements. Ideally, you want some low energy skills mixed in with your higher energy spells. (The same goes for adrenaline for warriors.)

And don't forget about healing and energy needs!
 
One thing I don't understand is how to read the skills and see that they go together. I understand when they give me skills at the same time and explain what they do- like the warrior skill that causes bleeding and then the one that causes a deep wound if the target is bleeding. I get that, but it is the larger combos I don't understand- like the warrior build that is mostly hammer skills... I just don't get how it is supposed to work. I know guildwiki has a list of skills- would it be easier to just read through the skills or what?:confused:
 
Well, for instance you don't go crazy with stances since you can only do one at a time. If you're a ranger, you use stuff like Spirit of Symbiosis (I think) if you are using a pet so your pet has more health. If you are an elementalist, you use the attunement enchantments for better energy management.
 
I am no expert, but here is how I do it. My primary profession is mesmer, so when I am working on a build, I usually start by asking myself what task or tasks do I need to accomplish with it? Damage? Interrupting? Hex Removal? Fast Rez? Energy Denial? Once I have selected one or two areas of concentration then I usually take a look at the attributes and skills to see which ones will best accomplish the task at hand. For example, I use domination and inspiration skills for interupting and energy denial, and illusion and inspiration for damage. Then I select the Elite skill, if it is available to me, which most benefits my primary task and increasing the ranks in the linked attribute for maximum affect. I usually choose to focus on 3 attributes in a build. Its generally considered good practice to have some sort of skill which helps with energy management in a build, as well as some form of ressurection skill if you are adventuring with other people.
 
I try to look at different things skills cause, from conditions to energy denial, and see why it does it and what other skills can take advantage of it.
 
big combos... ive never used big combos, and i do just fine. i use little things like using apply poison to give them poison, then melandru's arrows to make them bleed, and vile miasma to give more health degen and just a little damage so that's a massive degeneration effect, but there are worse ones like hammers knocking you down during a skill and then bashing your face in while you're on the ground
 
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