PVE Build Diversity - How Often Do You Change PVE Builds?

For general PvE I make minor adjustments to by basic SF bar, if I really need to I will change element or run a completely different build. In PvP I usually don't play ele, I play ranger.. and I change builds quite often.

What's the point of running anything other than DS "SY!" spam as a warrior?

Because it's bland, overused, and boring after like the 1000th time. There's absolutely no reason to run the same builds over and over and over after you've mastered a certain area. For a first encounter or something I would use a DS + SY spammer just to be on the safe side but after that it's really pointless. I mean an experienced player shouldn't have difficulty with the game with or without SY spamming right? I mean who cares really? It's PvE.

And that's the truth. My ranger has an array of builds, sometimes dependent on the area (holy damage barrage, or Ebon Dust, or condition + epidemic, and more). But most of the time, I just get tired of the same builds, and change up to keep my play fresh.
My favorite two... Splinter/Barrage, or, apply poison/burning arrow/screaming shot/d-shot/savage shot/body shot, with a 2ndary prof to cause cracked armor.

My rit gets less changing...his skills are often dependent on the party needs. Four or five basic builds--resto spot heals (2 spirits, 3-4 heals, 1-2 weapon spells, maybe item spell and rezz), weapons (mostly weapon spells), channeling, or spirit spammer. I do love the rit's abilities...I'm just not sure I've figured out exactly how capable they really are.

I always change my PvE build, my hero's build, combo to match with monsters in the area I'm going to go.

My set up for heroes will be like these
NM = 2 Ele+1 MM+henchies
HM = 1 Ele+1 SS+1 MM+henchies
running = 1 Ele+1 Para(Charge+Fall Back)+1 MM+henchies

I change my build in pve according to area......

My ranger has something like 15 builds that I regularly swap between, depending on the area, and every time I load one up I give a glance at one or two slots that I'm always rotating around with some utility skills.

So...if not changed, I at least consider changing my build for every area...but most of the time, something does change.

PvE is pretty much dead for me. All people want now is Ursan and HB monks. Hell... the Ursan peeps only really need a res, pain inverter, and ursan. It was somewhat boring before this... now it's terribly boring.

But, on those occassions when I do want to go smash something, I run myself, Pyre, Jin, and Margrid as bunny thumpers, just for the hilarity factor. I tried subbing out Pyre for a MM, but then Mehnlo and whoever spaz out trying to heal 3 pets, 8 people, and about 10 minions. The AI does surprisingly well with using beastial mauling and the different stances.

I played PvE this evening for the first time in a long time and switched it up quite often experimenting with hero builds. Then, almost inevitably, after playing with Ursan terribads the thought of how awesome and fun 7 hero PvE builds would be crossed my mind.

Pretty much never. I tweak it depending on the area, but don't make any major changes.

6 skills on my bar are fixed and the other two get changed. Same goes for my heroes. Oh, and I have a slightly different hero setups for playing with henches or with a another human and his heroes.

The only places for which I made major changes to the build are bosses (abaddon, shiro, varesh, etc) and vanqushing Mamnoon Lagoon. Packs of 6 lvl 28 migraine mesmers forced me to give my bar to a hero and bring divert, convert, and bond half the party with veil -.-

I guess I have a different setup for NM, but I can't remember the last time I did something on normal.

My main is a Mesmer, and considering that the majority of Mesmer skills are either stupidly overpowered or utterly useless depending on what you cast them on and when, I've found that changing my build is a normal part of almost every mission plan. I have hundreds of different build templates for different areas and different party compositions so that I can always do something useful in the party no matter where I am or who I'm playing with.

I've found that this game is more fun if I'm continually having to shake my build up. I like to use my brain a lot

For my sin, i have mobious death blossom, with crit agility and crit defences, the lead and offhand change depending on my needs, usualy tween, golden fox>golden fang, and black mantis>exausting, and sometimes wild strike.. the other 2 slots is what ever i feel like, for vanquishing i put in SY and PI.

monk has a core build that gets changed for the area and ranger usualy runs r/p in pve and a bow or r/d in pvp, so she has lots of builds.

basicly, i change things depending on the area, what i feel like and just whatever.

I change only on my Mesmer or Monk.

Mesmer - depends if I want anti-melee, anti-caster, mob control or lolwtf damage.

Monk - farmer, 600, 16/16 smiter, D-Slash, ZB/HB or WoH/LoD.

Most of my professions have one or few "signature" builds that I run more than other builds. Same with my heroes. But this has nothing to do with me creating builds.

I have all 10 professions and currently have over 600 builds. So yeah, I come up with builds quite often. Averaging more than one build a day since builds were introduced (don't remember when it was introduced, so I could be off). It has nothing to do with the game's difficulty. I come up with builds because it's fun to come up with creative builds. If I only come up with builds to handle the game's (lack) of difficulty... I'd have maybe 2 builds per profession.

Despite having signature builds, I constantly switch builds. Aside from my signature builds which I may run for a couple of runs in a row, I constantly switch builds, heroes, and create/edit/delete builds.

QFT. Although I do like to try and use different skills an builds, I do find I am coming back to ones that I use constantly if I just need to get a job done

I change mine quite a bit for various different reasons.

For the most part I find PvE to be more focused on teamwork and positioning/tactics - as long as you understand those two things there is little difference from a "great" and an "OK" build. As such, as someone else said above I change to keep things from getting bored. All the classes have a myriad of builds that will blow through PvE if you have teamwork and know the skills you are using (This is true with H/H, even more so with other humans).

Even then, when farming multiple areas it is nice to have area specific builds (especially with heroes as you can get some nice four man groups). You know exactly what you are up against and you can counter most enemies in the area and blow through it quickly. However, some classes will have a build that is so good that it is almost universally in this class (say the Imbagon) but even then I've found with effort I can usually tie it so that I can have *some* build variety.

I will also use any builds that I find interesting, ones from here, PvXwiki, or even ones I make myself. I don't see anything especially good or bad about any of them.

Since I also play almost entirely hench/hero I consider my "build" to include them - one of the things that has kept me here for so long is this (I had just about quit before the release of Nightfall). So, above and beyond what I said above (for those paragraphs I assumed an individual build) I find that even using the same individual build in a totally different *team* build can play as different - and in some case even *more* different - than the standard ones. Even with humans this isn't to be discounted, though most will not like to experiment and play here.

I don't change my builds much for my paragon, warrior, dervish or ritualist. They basically have a couple of builds that I switch between which depends on what I feel like playing

My elementalist and necromancer on the hand is always the test subject for new builds I think of, especially since necros are the most versatile profession while elementalists and the new ether renewal PvE buff opened up many doors

Currently I pretty much only play with my mesmer and ritualist guys.
And these two guys are not only running a build that is quite set in stone but are also running a build that shares 4/8 skills!
[skill]"Finish Him!"[/skill], [skill]"You Move Like A Dwarf!"[/skill], [skill]Ebon Vanguard Assassin Support[/skill] [skill]Assassin's Promise[/skill]
My mesmer then gets some domination nukes, and my ritualist gets some channeling nukes.
Pre-PvE-skills I'd change my builds all the time - now PvE skills are so insanely overpowered that I build around them. Luckily the skills I use aren't only insanely overpowered but also fun! (I have an interrupt and I have a summon! Two insanely fun concepts - and they work insanely well! What more could I ask for?)

all depends on the area for me, i may play a bha epidemic ranger, or if i know the mobs will be tight packed, splinter barrage, or maybe a spike build using glass arrows with a conjure....

All depends on mood, area and team set up

echoing others, when i get bored i make a change.