Guild Wars 2 Builds & Customization

kaiser3282

I decided to make this after having to post certain info spread across various threads regarding things like the variety of builds and how much customization comes into the game at higher levels when people get the wrong impression afte rplaying a few levels that there is no progression and nothing to gain by continuing to play.

For starters, you won't unlock your 1st Trait point until level 11. You will gain 1 point per level, with a total of 70 points at level 80. In order to unlock the 3 different tiers in the Trait lines you will need to go talk to the trainer for your class and purchase the appropriate book for unlocking that tier (this includes being able to spend your 1st point when you reach 11).

You can reset your trait points by speaking with the trainer and choosing the option to reset your Traits. DO NOT purchase an additional book. I know the description on the book says it can be used to reset your Traits, but it is incorrect. Just talk to the trainer and he will do it for you.

There is a handy Skill Calculator available here: http://www.gw2db.com/skills/calc

This tool lets you add/subtract points in whichever Traits you wish and will add the stats to your character on the left hand side as provide a "Trait Summary" ont he left which lists all of the added effects you have from your build by gaining the static bonuses at 5, 15, 25 and the selectable bonuses at 10,20,30 points.

Just above the Traits portion you can also select the type of weapon you want to use, which will list all of the weapon skills for that type. Where it lists the weapon skills you can also select your Healing, Utility, and Elite skills. Playing with these options will also light up the Boons and Conditions panel to the left, allowing you to quickly see what types of Boons and Conditions you will be able to apply with that current weapon / skill set.

Also just above the Trait lines there are 2 tabs, Traits and Equipment. Clicking on Equipment lets you try out various runes and accessories that exist in the game to see what types of stat boosts and added effects you can get from those as well.

In addition to this skill calculator, the gw2db has a lot of other useful tools you can access at the top of the page, including a list of builds already created by other people. These can be found under the option for Skill Calc > class > builds

 

 

In game build testing:

Along with the site, there are also features in game that let you test your builds. For those who arent aware, you can go to the Heart of the Mists at any point by pressing H, clicking the "PvP" tab on the left side, and selecting "Go to Heart of the Mists"

In this area you are boosted to 80, have all skill (heal, utility, elite) unlocked, and have your 70 points to spend in the Traits. At first it will start you with Traits filled out already, but at the top of the Traits screen there is a button you can click to reset them. Try playing around with the Traits here to find a build which you like and you can plan how to spend your points along the way as you level.

 

Steady Weapons:

Another feature of this area that many dont realize, or understand, is the ability to purchase "Steady weapons". These weapons were added by Arenanet specifically for the purpose of build testing. What makes them unique, and gives them their name, is that they all have a steady damage value. This means both the low end and top end damage are exactly the same, instead of a gap between them. This causes all of the attacks done by this weapon to hit for steady damage instead of varying highs and lows. Equip one of these, setup your Traits, and go test it out to see how vaious builds effect your damage capabilities.

The Steady Weapons can be found in th Heart of The Mists at the "PVP Item (Weaponsmith) NPC.

Farstryder

The trait tree is cool I do like it. That being said I  among others may find the  problems more lies in the fact that  you use the same skills over,and over. It is awesome the first 2k times.  I do wish they would flesh out  with more weapon skills where you could exchange them like support skills ,and such.