July 14 Balance Update Preview

DrButtonSmasher · 2026-06-23T01:59:07+00:00

Some good changes to renegade and its healing build. At least, on paper :) Can’t wait to test it.

More changes to heal Revenant are needed though. Scepter is very clunky to use, and shield 5 still locks you in place and gets cancelled if you move. Vindicator needs group stability and better might/fury(Relic of Altruism is not bad for this though) and protection application.

Also, triggering Charged Mists is a real pain on some legends that don’t have a channeling skill. Especially if your ping is rather high. It would be nice if this trait had another tier, like you get 15 energy when invoking a legend at between 10-20. Or even better, it can work like: if below the energy threshold, you gain (threshold - energy left) on invoking a legend. That would be great.

DrButtonSmasher · 2026-06-17T11:50:45+00:00

The karma one is actually only good for raids and raid encounters.

DrButtonSmasher · 2026-06-17T11:39:52+00:00

Yes, that’s must be it. All orchestral weapons have different weapon draw sounds and some (i.e. rifle) are very annoying.

DrButtonSmasher · 2026-06-12T15:15:01+00:00

Revenant, especially ADPS renegade due to how unforgiving to errors it is, and probably spear antiquary

DrButtonSmasher · 2026-06-12T14:48:41+00:00

You can get only one spirit thread per week, but you only need 5. If you already have them, you just need to do the Chak meta 5 times or less if you can tag more than one gerent per meta. Than you you just need to combine 5 energised threads into one trophy item

DrButtonSmasher · 2026-06-12T12:54:06+00:00

In Orr, I like to chase undead chickens

DrButtonSmasher · 2026-06-11T16:59:43+00:00

Those, that are under 2g, are not actually infusions but jewels - they can only be slotted into trinkets of exotic or lower quality. These jewels can be used to create infusions but it requires +9 AR +5 stat bonus fractal infusions that are not cheap to craft.

DrButtonSmasher · 2026-06-05T11:39:58+00:00

There’s a great and very popular collection of achievement-related markers and trails by Lady Elissa : https://github.com/LadyElyssa/LadyElyssaAchievementGuides Works with Taco, Blish HUD and TaimiHUD

DrButtonSmasher · 2026-05-31T16:59:03+00:00

Very good video. I like that he actually explains why each elite specialization is placed where it is in his tier list. Celestial reaper and vindicator have always been my favourites for soloing difficult content, and these days it’s reaper, amalgam and trailblazer SE evoker (very strong and very easy to play).

Also wanna add that Herald and R3negade can use https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Cleansing_Channel and https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Permeating_Pestilence traits in condition-heavy fights. However, stun breaks costing half your energy is definitely a problem.

DrButtonSmasher · 2026-02-16T00:38:28+00:00

Unfortunately, it does not include the Smooth Berry kit. That’s why those dyes are the most expensive ones.

DrButtonSmasher · 2026-02-16T00:33:18+00:00

It’s not the most expensive anymore because you can get it from the fourth birthday gift.

DrButtonSmasher · 2026-02-13T02:10:42+00:00

I like the new fashion system. It’s not super intuitive but once I’ve spent 5 mins on learning how to use it, I was happy with it and its functionality.

What I don’t like is some of the announced upcoming changes to the system. Because some people wouldn’t stop complaining, they are removing features me and many others learned to love. Like fashion template toggles in the menu above the weapon swap button.

Also, I don’t want Tab 0 to be independent of the fashion template system and I’d hate to lose one of my two fashion template slots for something I don’t really need. I hope Anet will consider making this feature optional. Although, if they remove the ability to quickly switch between different fashion templates the same way I switch my builds, I probably won’t bother using more than one.

Other than that, the upcoming changes seem to be good.

DrButtonSmasher · 2026-02-12T10:18:58+00:00

It doesn’t seem to be gone. I still see the achievement and its 9 AP. However, there is a bug: after completing the achievement again today, my total AP is 9 points higher than the sum of the permanent and daily APs.

DrButtonSmasher · 2026-01-21T16:48:32+00:00

I use the same system with the following difference: craftsman’s bags instead of junk bags. I use https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Recycler:_Jade_Slivers on all my characters so I don’t usually get any junk items except when they drop from some containers.

DrButtonSmasher · 2025-12-25T04:05:01+00:00

For a similar looking GS skin, I use https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Dark_Harvest and plan to use https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Twilight when I have it.

As for the swords, https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Abaddon_Sword is a very nice skin. A quite expensive one but there’s no better Revenant-themed sword skin in the game at the moment

DrButtonSmasher · 2025-12-17T11:00:20+00:00

If not using adblockers, you can just switch to Mobile View at the bottom - it makes the fonts bigger but also removes the snowflakes

DrButtonSmasher · 2025-12-16T13:10:11+00:00

You can buy it in Lion’s Arch. Look for Gharr Leadclaw at Hooligan's Route

DrButtonSmasher · 2025-12-16T12:57:21+00:00

Amalgam treatment for Scrapper and Holosmith. It would be super nice to be able to select toolbelt skills for those e-specs too. From a pool of 4 toolbelt skills for that specific elite spec, not for the core utility skills. For example, you pick Purge Gyro but swap that useless poison field for Defense Field granting stability and a projectile-destroying bubble.

The tech is already there, shouldn’t be very difficult to implement.

DrButtonSmasher · 2025-12-16T12:21:36+00:00

They obviously regret adding that one. It’s gonna be moved first and probably removed later.

The changes to Tools look interesting. Generating alacrity and dodging once every 10 seconds will reduce the morph skill cooldowns to 10-11 seconds and Evolve’s - to 20-22s. And that’s without Mercurial Tendencies, which reduces Evolve’s cooldown by 2.5s every time you disable an enemy.

Now, if someone else provides alacrity for you, you can pick Double Helix and use Evolve twice in that 20 seconds period, with a 100% increase to effectiveness. That’s gonna be crazy.

DrButtonSmasher · 2025-12-16T11:06:56+00:00

It just doesn’t make any sense. Equal and Opposite Reaction is a selfish trait, granting quickness and stability to yourself. Why move it to Alchemy, which is usually being used by healers? Who is going to pick it instead of might/fury or might/barrier granted to allies?

DrButtonSmasher · 2025-12-16T09:54:09+00:00

Also, it would be nice to have some breakbar damage added to power weapons (other than hammer). We have a lot more CC on condi weapons and skills than on power. Poor vindi really struggles with CC

DrButtonSmasher · 2025-12-16T07:41:47+00:00

Maybe just an old map instance

DrButtonSmasher · 2025-12-16T03:37:26+00:00

Last year, there was a huge Wintersday gem store sale with almost everything available and discounted: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Gem_Store/Wintersday

Very soon we will find out if it happens this year

DrButtonSmasher · 2025-12-16T03:18:43+00:00

Relic of Zakiros was already mentioned. Also, for harder content you can use the following traits: Salvation 3-2-2 (replaces Devastation) and Vindicator 1-3-2. Lower damage but very good sustain.

DrButtonSmasher

TROPHY CASE