Originally Posted by Rahja the Thief

Albeit, I am not quite sure I understand your question, I will give a shot at my interpretation of it.

A "build" is created when the skill synergy of each skill has a certain efficiency vs use percentage. Some builds are better than others.

An excellent build is one that has both the ability to apply or mitigate pressure of multiple types, while at the same time proving powerful on multiple fronts (i.e having a hard prot to mitigate high damage potential, small energy efficient heal, powerful energy hungry heal for intensive situations, protection and damage mitigation, a backup in case of shutdown from an external source, and a way to remove a damage over time effect [condition or hex or both] in a monk build as an example)

In the case of an offensive build, it varies by class. Typically, you want some form of shutdown (be it a knockdown or hex)

No one build in Guild Wars overshadows another (at least in PvP), and that is the true beauty of the game. While some builds are weaker against others, another build can completely destroy the previous build that was affective against the original weak build. I know that sounds confusing. Builds must be based on teamwork, and full team synergy. Typically, a mesmer can provide optimal shutdown to a healing or offensive caster, either eliminating the opposing teams healing ability or their damage output on their spike. Healers is a broad term, but encompasses any class setup to provide health increases to allies. Monks and ritualists excel at this, but each with a different play type. Monks are better at damage mitigation and overall speed healing, while ritualists can provide unremovable weapon spells and more energy efficient heals if conditions are met. Each class has a weakness and a strength. The most versitile class in PvP is commonly the mesmer, as it can shutdown all other classes with a proper build. However, even this has a crux. Attribute spreading weakens a mesmers total ability, and thus they typically focus on one purpose or another. In addition, a mesmer's anti melee options are quite different from that of a necromancer's curses line, and as a result, mesmer's are typically seen as the bane of casters, while curses necromancers are seen as melee's worst nightmare. Effective countering of both classes is needed if a team hopes to have a window of damage (i.e Mesmer shutting down opposing mesmer via diversion of a key skill or an interrupt ranger to focus on longer casting mesmer skills such as [[Signet of Humility] or [[Diversion])

Originally Posted by FengShuiDove

gw.gamewikis.org is your BEST friend when creating builds. My favorite aspect of the game is piecing together eight skills and trying to find the absolute best working combination. Rahja's post is excellent, but if you want it from a different angle, this is mine:

When you're going to make a build, have a purpose set in your mind. Is this build intended to deal lots of damage to a single target -- what is commonly referred to as a "spike"? Is it supposed to gradually wear down the other team's ability to keep itself functioning -- commonly called "pressure"? Is it a healer? Caster or melee shutdown? Once you have that in mind, head over to wiki and look at "(Profession) skills quick reference." Find skills that you think will work in good combination. ALWAYS read the skill descriptions thoroughly and make sure you include fillers in your skill bar for "conditionals," things such as "while enchanted" or "if target foe is suffering from a condition."

At first, it can be a bit overwhelming having to look for the right 8 skills out of literally millions of skill combinations. But the more you play, over time you'll develop a sense of what classes do what things best and how to avoid certain situations. In my opinion, it's much better to make your own builds and having people telling you that you suck and learn the game than have people be impressed and you understand nothing.

Also, as a last remark, if you want a preview of what people think of your build or improvement you could make, on this very forum scroll down to "The Campfire" and post your build in the appropriate section. Always be ready for criticism, but try to understand the finer points of refining a build to perfection.

Good luck.