Curse

dr love · Dec 11, 2006, 03:51 AM // 03:51

hi,

I'm a bit of a GvG noob but i've been watching some of the good matches in my spare time. By watching players i can see what skills they use, but i have no idea what kind of equipment they have on. I'm sure there are some general rules of thumb and i was just wondering what they are?

i hear major/superior runes are a nono

do casters generally use a
+5^50, 20% HSR wand and a 20% HSR +30hp offhand
+5, 20% enchant wep (usually sword, why not spear?)
and a shield +30hp +10vs slashing/piercing/fire etc, just bring a bunch

EDIT: and a extra energy set +15e -1 wep and offhand
as well as a low energy set

i wonder is it wise to use any +45hp while enchanted or is that too risky?

and warriors usually bring the whole set?
sundering wep
zealous wep
vamp wep
elemental dmg weps

and then on inscriptions, is +armor, health or energy usually sought after?

anything else you can think of regarding equipment in GvG be very appreciated

thanks,

crucifix · Dec 11, 2006, 05:53 AM // 05:53

there are a few wep sets:

casters that dont deal primarily with enchants usually use wither a 5ene/+30hp axe/sword/spear or a 5ene/+5armor sword/axe/spear. Of course, if you are going to use a character that relies heavily on enchants, then an enchat duration weapon is a good idea.

ok, now for offhands. you have a few sets here.

the "oh shit" set: 2 15/-1 items
the "regular" set: your caster wep (not a wand) and either a sheild or focus.
the"oh dammit they have a surge mes/ i gotta use purge sig/ i hate wither/ i hate malaise" set: a caster wep without the 5 ene mod and a sheild with as much negative energy as possible.

as far as casters go, i generally bring + ene armor. this is largely because i cant armor swap any more (DAMMIT ANET) between HP/ene/ +armor armors. On a monk, its a great idea to not run sups and run HP armor. This way, when you die (its inevitable, you most likely will) the DP doesnt sting quite as much. monking is a bit different. It comes down to playstyle a bit there. If you feel more comfortable being able to work with higher amounts of energy or if you want to be less spikeable with high hp or +AP armor.

conditional buffs (45 while enchant/ hexed/ blah blah blah) are really used on gankers moreso than anything else. with a gank build, you need to have different gear setups for what kind of different conditions you can face.

big point: conditional armor mods and the such on weapons and foci are a bad idea.

dr love · Dec 11, 2006, 06:03 AM // 06:03

sweet. good tips!
i sometimes see some high level guilds that still use staves as opposed to 2 weps. i suppose this is an alright idea in some cases?

Thom Bangalter · Dec 11, 2006, 07:04 AM // 07:04

Here is what I run when I flag, or play ele in general...

+5 energy sword of enchanting/halves skill recharge 20% (attribute) Health +30
+5 energy sword of enchanting/Shield with +30 hp and either reduce cripple (for flagging) or +10 armor vs the following things: fire, blunt, slashing, piercing. I'm also planning on getting a while hexed shield, but am Kind of lazy. I also don't use a pvp character, as then I could just make one. This is my low(ish) energy set for prodigy, as well as my high armor set.
+15/-1 halves skill recharge/15/-1 health +30, for those emergency heal parties.
and then a staff, for wanding stuff (hale of enchanting).

On warrior you want (probably) a variety of shields for tons of situations (pretty much what I named), and then an ebon/vamp/zealous/sundering set up, plus a wand for building adrenaline. You will rarely use the sundering mod. Warriors are pretty easy to figure out.

Hopefully Tommy will see this post and put up all his monking stuff, but it's pretty much the same as my ele set up, except I think he uses a +5 armor mod instead of a halves skill recharge mod. I don't monk, so this is mostly second hand from various things I've read. OH! and the low energy set. Also, Halves casting time mods are popular with some monks. It becomes increasing useful to have that setup when playing with a heavy healing magic bar because most of the cast times are unbearable.

Casters should always use a +armor setup on their armor if they plan on being at the stand. Warriors run glads if they're using shock or hammers, and if not the best bet it either sentinels (if meeting the req) or another +armor set.

For non ele weapon sets, I'm fond of a Hale staff of fortitude with 5^50 halves skill recharge setup if running something energy intensive, as mesmers and necros are wont to do. They should also have shields. everone should have shields. I don't like halves casting time mods as I'm often trying to time things and the other mod there is pretty moot if at the stand, so the extra energy is kind of nice.

So for caster weapon sets 1-4, I'd go the aforementioned staff. If on mesmer, don't be surprised if you get energy denied, so go with a -5 sword of fortitude and a shield (the same shields I mentioned earlier are nice to have) to swap down too. I find a high energy set pretty pointless on Midline casters, so you don't have to worry about that as much. However, they're useful enough that they're worth adding to bars, especially if you're low on energy but if you can get that shatter off on time. Mesmers everywhere should probably have a dual halves skill recharge mod (domination magic) so as to make those skills more bearable to use.

If not playing a build that uses enchantments, go +fortitude on your axe/sword. The only characters that really justify the enchanting mod are tainted necros and elementalists. Monks have Shield of Absorbtion, prot spirit, and spirit bond, which all benefit from the setup.

A rule of thumb: stay in your low energy set until you need the energy, so that you get the extra armor. when you get low swap up.

crucifix · Dec 13, 2006, 08:17 PM // 20:17

about the +30hp vs +5 armor:

the secondary mods are conditional to what you are playing against. i usually have both.

for instance: the higher hp you have, the less spikeable you are vs armor ignoring damage, i.e bspike, ob flame.

the higher armor you have, the less spikeable you are from an armor including spike. i.e. adren spike, searing flames.

just a lttle food for thought.

Thom Bangalter · Dec 14, 2006, 03:00 AM // 03:00

Except mesmers and the +dmg on warrior skills ignore armor, and you should already have 70 armor regardless.

crucifix · Dec 14, 2006, 10:32 PM // 22:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thom Bangalter

Except mesmers and the +dmg on warrior skills ignore armor, and you should already have 70 armor regardless.

yeah but if you know you are facing an adrenal spike, its better to have the extra +10 (focus and wep) global than having the extra +60hp.

bluechestdude · Dec 15, 2006, 03:01 AM // 03:01

why would it be? it would be good to have that extra +60 so u havce that +60 health that ur other monk can catch and heal from that...theres a very good article about monking here and it talks all about weapon sets. If u r switching between health and armour sets be carful about ur health u might end up killing urself (dunno if u can do that by having 60 health left on a +60 health set then switching to an energy set and losing ur health that would kill ur right..or bring u to 1?)

crucifix · Dec 15, 2006, 08:29 AM // 08:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluechestdude

why would it be? it would be good to have that extra +60 so u havce that +60 health that ur other monk can catch and heal from that...theres a very good article about monking here and it talks all about weapon sets. If u r switching between health and armour sets be carful about ur health u might end up killing urself (dunno if u can do that by having 60 health left on a +60 health set then switching to an energy set and losing ur health that would kill ur right..or bring u to 1?)

because at somewhere around 360 armor including damage, your +armor out protects your +60 hp.

edit: who the hell would switch to a negative life set with that low hp? and you cant switch between armor any more. the + global armor is from weapon and focus/ shield mods, not from armor swapping. i usually take them both, because its a gvg and you never know what to expect.

Thom Bangalter · Dec 15, 2006, 08:59 AM // 08:59

Here's my two cents (post count +1!)

When playing, particularly at the stand, you should go for +10 armor vs physical (elemental is kind of desirable with searing flames being everywhere though), and then you stay in your low energy set. You have 78 armor, and close to 600 health, because no one uses superior runes anymore. Lowering your health becomes sort of a moot point, because you hit a nice balance between health and armor. I wear +10 vs physical on all my characters, particularly anyone that is at the stand, though I primarily flag run and wearing +health armor has had a higher payoff, though again, +armor is still very good. I miss armor swapping though.

bluechestdude · Dec 15, 2006, 11:48 AM // 11:48

Quote:

because at somewhere around 360 armor including damage, your +armor out protects your +60 hp.

ahh thats what happens thx for that...and ppl could press the wrong button i mean when some monks get into the game and are under pressure they make some mistakes and press the wrong buttons.

Blomman · Dec 16, 2006, 03:24 PM // 15:24

Just a small question about warriors... Major or Superior Weapon rune? some say superior some say major dont know what to use so cunfused lol...

Worf · Dec 16, 2006, 03:47 PM // 15:47

Minor please.

Seltack · Dec 16, 2006, 05:52 PM // 17:52

Minor the majority of the time.

You may feel that your build allows you to get away with less HP and/or requires a few more damage per hit, though this is largely unlikely. I would happily run a superior a lot of the time to just warrior at the stand but if you face any spike you need that Hp, if you want to solo/gank then you need that HP, if you want to back up run you need that HP etc.

Thom Bangalter · Dec 16, 2006, 06:16 PM // 18:16

Run minors unless you need to hit the breakpoint on something and have no way of hitting it other than using a minor. Rangers, usually, will wear a minor to hit 15 expertise on crip shot.

deadmonkey4u · Dec 18, 2006, 06:20 PM // 18:20

Always minors. Occassionally to hit certain breakpoints the rule can be broken tho :P.

Weapon sets and Armor often is based on class.

For warrior i usually go elemental, vampiric, and zealous (rarely furious)

+15/-1's pretty much always as a critical set
shield +30hp (alot of different +10AL vs xx sets)+ a -5energy as a negative nrgy set

the other ones are based on what role/build im playing.

Armor wise: I generally go for health or energy depending on my AL.
Health: monk, mezmer, elementalist, necro
energy: ranger, paragon, warrior, sin(assuming mainly a ganker), dervish

Health is especially nice at VoD over taking +10AL sets. +10AL sets are also usually conditional and dont give me a bonus all the time such as +10 v physical etc...

Thomas.knbk · Dec 18, 2006, 08:56 PM // 20:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thom Bangalter

Rangers, usually, will wear a minor to hit 15 expertise on crip shot.

I Assume you mean major here.

Bloodied Blade · Dec 19, 2006, 11:21 PM // 23:21

I've only started GvG-ing recently, but I've found that carrying a regular staff and a sword + shield (usually "of fort" unless I'm running a flashbot) help me conserve my energy... It's not really that you'll have more energy, just that fighting with the sword + shield you'll start to conserve your energy more.

Jane Loves You · Dec 23, 2006, 03:20 PM // 15:20

I wouldn't use sup runes on any of my chars. Especially if you are a melee based prof like Dervish, Warrior or Assassin, with the extra +75 or +35 life, you can afford to over extend a little.

auch · Jan 01, 2007, 03:27 PM // 15:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blomman

Just a small question about warriors... Major or Superior Weapon rune? some say superior some say major dont know what to use so cunfused lol...

most warriors in top 100 guilds use sup runes i did when i was in a r8 guild 1,622 rating