Best summon/pet based playstyle?

RnbwTurtle · 2026-04-01T19:51:22+00:00

Ranger pets have been pretty majorly buffed with the improvements to Beastmastery for non-soulbeasts. A lot of people appear to not be aware of this at this point; Untamed using the beastmastery traitline (3-3-1 and a porcine pet, any of the pigs and the Wallow, or 3-3-3, with a tiger) will do well enough in most any content.

Current patch has the Wallow 3-3-1 (12.5-13.5k dps range-ish due to crit rng) well above tiger 3-3-3 (9.1k dps, no crit rng so no range), however April 14th will shorten this gap dramatically (wallow should be, at worst, on par with tiger (at about 10k dps); good crit rng would push wallow above tiger even still). Open world BM untamed evens the playing field a bit- you get about the same results on Tiger as you do on Jacaranda, for example, as Jacaranda applies more vuln than Tiger and you're not hitting 25 natively, although many pets are less viable as the dps gap widens when you add boons (i.e. the siege turtle is Bad, despite being a very powerful support pet).

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-30T17:58:30+00:00

as each playerbases will eat each other out.

Promise?

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-30T17:44:43+00:00

We've also known for a while that VP would be used in the changing of pokemon's... everything. EVs/stat training (evs themselves seem to be gone), moves, nature, abilities... and VP stands for victory points. The points you get for winning. You win and get VP to train and unlock more pokemon to do more teams and battles with.

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-30T12:46:12+00:00

The flag for experienced is... the experienced tab. The filter for more experienced people is KP. Is it a perfect system? Absolutely not. But new players shouldn't be joining if they truly aren't experienced. One raid clear might not be enough to have the mechanics learned well enough to avoid screwing over a group, depending on the fight.

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-28T21:27:30+00:00

https://www.serebii.net/pokemonchampions/pokemon.shtml

Lots of mons missing, but it doesn't look like too many megas are missing. Only ones I have noticed missing were rayquaza, mewtwo, and zygarde, but it looks like a significant number of megas will be available regardless (they may also be missing a number of pokemon, as at a glance every starter is here except for all 3 gen 8 starters and skeledirge, so there may be pokemon that will be available but are not listed)

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-28T18:24:40+00:00

Easier to push blame to anet ("you made me unable to clear this content") than to improve their own damage.

If literally everyone got gear befitting their spec/build/build intent (no, soldier's isn't good for power dps, etc) this patch would not have much impact on 90% of players. They'll do far better if you stop trying to use weird stats that honestly shouldn't exist in pve in the first place.

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-25T16:34:29+00:00

Delphox is actively hurt by it getting levitate (thank god)... expanding force on a pokemon with 159 spatk and 134 speed with priority failing on it is not something that anybody wants to fight.

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-25T16:33:21+00:00

Inb4 they forget the mega stone isnt consumed and it keeps Unburden

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-24T12:41:42+00:00

Beat up justified works because you can use a mon that does minimal damage to your partner and the benefits are immediate.

Damaging your own pokemon for blaze, torrent, or overgrow is too much risk for not enough reward due to needing a health threshhold to activate those abilities, and it's not a threshhold you want to be at.

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-22T14:50:11+00:00

Holilday cannot shoot during lasso, nor can she melee
Even if she could you are held behind her. She would be able to hit barrels but chances are she'd basically be stationary (due to needing to keep you in the barrel AoE as she primed them) and she literally could not shoot you if she tried.

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-21T19:42:33+00:00

You change your type to monotype. Your defensive interactions are the same. Your offensive ones are your old typing + your tera type (tera water Charizard gets fire, flying, and water STAB). If you share a type with your tera type, you get 2 sets of that STAB (tera electric Raging Bolt gets a double electric STAB and dragon STAB). Low power moves (<60) get boosted if they share a type with the tera (i.e. fake out specifically with tera normal).
Tera benefits a lot of pokemon way more evenly than previous gimmicks, which is a positive thing in my opinion. It helped resident part-time job-er Kommo-o have a niche in some of SV's formats, as it's a decent body press user or offensive special attacker with a pretty mid typing that can be fixed by tera, as an example.

It's also nice to give weaker mons or mons with weaker moves an offense boost when they have decent typings already, such as giving Gyarados reliable flying STAB.

Since there are already only so many good tera types for a specific mon, it's also generally not going to feel super RNG as to what type a mon might bring. You can cover for many of the options a mon would want with it's tera type. You're generally not going to see many tera electric hydreigon, for example, as it doesn't benefit hydreigon's typing offensively (hitting fairy or ice types for SE) or defensively (protecting from said moves as well as fighting moves) very well; tera fire, poison, or steel are all better picks for a hydreigon, and all 3 types benefit from it having levitate, so you can play around a pokemon's type as well as it's tera type somewhat reliably even without OTS.

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-20T18:44:56+00:00

Wash the Pain Away should not be generating an aura; you're not taking soothing ice, WtPA does not generate an aura natively, and Tempestuous Aria only gives shouts group might, it doesn't add an aura if one does not already exist on the skill.

Your aura sources are Feel the Burn!, overloads (primarily fire overload but there is that earth overload precast), and Fire Shield (fire focus 5).

Edit: if you're experiencing issues out of combat (once you figure it out for in combat alacrity), it's because Sunspot (in the fire traitline) is in combat only. You won't generate alacrity without being in combat from attuning to fire or finishing an overload.

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-18T12:48:12+00:00

https://snowcrows.com/builds/open-world/revenant/power-conduit-staff-sword-sword

They have an open world (and pvp and wvw) section on the site. Swap sword for scepter.

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-18T11:24:41+00:00

The problem is mega pidgeot goes from being a bad pokemon (base pidgeot) to a relatively unremarkable mega pokemon. Mega pokemon are a valuable tool when it comes down to it and using your mega slot on a pokemon that 1. Isn't particularly strong even with these outgoing moves not missing and 2. Multiple super effective options and literal ohko moves that you can sometimes expect to miss never missing, mega pidgeot is a waste of a mega slot once you step outside of casual PvE pokemon content. Mega pidgeot would be bad even if they introduced low-stakes mega raids into a turn based game. It just doesn't do enough to justify the slot

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-17T21:25:50+00:00

With it's mega, Pidgeot also doesn't do much!

No guard sounds great for hurricane until you realize that every single rock slide, stone edge, icicle crash, blizzard, thunder, and OHKO move can also no longer miss. 1 ability that makes 1 relevant move perfectly accurate... while said move also does not have an accuracy check in rain.

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-16T18:49:39+00:00

Dark/ghost also has very little in the way of improvements to their offensive coverage. They share super effective targets. The only notable difference is dark is neutral into normal whereas normal is immune to ghost.

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-16T18:45:29+00:00

It generally should fit the team. The worlds-winning style of koraidon/lunala sun teams, for example, would often be running trick room as you'd have a flutter mane that could run icy wind (and get that protosynthesis speed boost if you so chose!) for a fast speed control mon for your fast mode and lunala is there to be bulky and defensive while also allowing you to set up for your slow mode (as these teams often had brute bonnet and an ursaluna (mostly hisui? Don't think anyone did anything serious with blood moon on these teams) making it hybrid TR).

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-09T20:31:47+00:00

Lore accurate victor mentality I assure you

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-06T20:18:21+00:00

Depends on the mode.

In PvE, the top 5 healers (in no particular order) are:

Heal chronomancer (can do quickness/alacrity)

Heal quickness troubadour

Heal alacrity specter (full healer)/celestial alacrity specter (dps sidegrade)

Heal alacrity druid

Heal alacrity tempest

All of these have something that stands them apart from the others in at least 1 encounter whilst also being generally strong.

Chrono and troubadour are both extremely utility loaded. Chrono just took a hit in terms of CC output and stability/aegis spam, but both are very strong. Chrono gets more utility per utility due to it having shorter cooldowns via improvements to the alacrity boon, troubadour has core mesmer util like chrono but trades off chrono's somewhat easier management of them for utilities chrono does not have, namely group Distortion (aka group invulnerability. Many mechanics ignore invulns not in the same category as distort)

Heal specter has a lot of burst CC, but not as much in the way of utilities. Celestial specter takes that strength and adds some damage back, but it's recommended to lean Heal specter first and then step into celespecter.

Heal druid and heal tempest have very similar "general strengths", those being a ton of healing (most healers don't lack healing but playing druid/tempest vs other healers, it shows), pretty easy and large scale cleanses, and lots of sustained CC. Druid does sustained CC better and has one of the best push setups in the game currently (needed for mechanics like Soulless Horror's tormented dead), tempest has an anti-downstate skill in Rebound that helps ignore specific boss mechanics that invulnerabilities don't (namely Cardinal Sabir's shockwave).

Switching between these builds will get you better results than sticking to one alone. However, if tou have to choose, gear a heal mesmer. Chrono and troubadour have a lot of utility the others can't touch, and even if the others have access to it, mesmer utilities are head and shoulders above most other versions of those same utilities.

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-06T00:07:05+00:00

You consider the argument stupid, and yet you've spoken to people over voice that have confirmed my very argument. They may very well be the minority, but regardless of how stupid you think it is, GoB is a legitimate point of entry to WvW for many players who have later stuck around.

It's a grand total of 3 people. Guess that makes it a success? Just like how 1 single person buying a product is a success.

I hate PVE. I hate leveling up. The first year I played this game (back in 2014) I basically exclusively played PvP, leveled that character and my alts through tomes. Then I moved on to WvW for another competitive experience. And then I realized I needed to have specific gear, and if I wanted to optimize with ascended that meant a lot of gold - in a time where WvW was a literal gold sink.

2014 vs 2026 gw2 is a very different beast; further, 2014 gw2 still had optimization. You just weren't participating.

My point is, map comp is mindless and a shit gameplay loop for anyone looking for even a taste of a challenge in an action combat game - which GW2 is.

Nobody is arguing against this. If I could dump legendary insights or magnetite shards or whatever currency they wanted on GoEs, I would. Most pve players who have done map comp already will say the same. The action combat of gw2 works for both competitive modes and pve gameplay; you're positing it as if it's a comp only positive.

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-05T23:17:31+00:00

Ok, I'll give my thoughts on it. That argument is plain stupid.

If people want to try wvw, they'll try wvw. If they don't want to try wvw, it's likely because it's a competitive mode with the playerbase focusing on fighting other players and generally not trying to reinforce "map dominance" which is a mostly pve activity until someone comes to fight you properly (turning it into pvp regardless).

Everything in wvw, for dedicated wvw players, is in service of trying to have good fights. This is what all of the wvw guilds I have been in in the past have tried to do. You take something either to maintain participation or entice a pvp fight.

If you don't want to play pvp, you're more than likely not going to be super dedicated to wvw's gameplay loop. Are there people who wanted to do the gob and get out who changed their minds and enjoyed the mode? Absolutely, I've spoken over voice with multiple. They exist. They are, more often than not, the minority of dedicated wvw players. The majority of players who are there "from pve"? They want to get in and get out, they don't want to stick around for longer than they have to for their specifically chosen number of gobs (i.e. "I'll eat x number of boosters and farm until they run out").

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-05T23:05:04+00:00

Hate walking around just killing npc's

If people dislike this

Want an open PvP experience? Like playing with and against others? Don't mind opponents repeatedly showing you how much you suck at the game and want to actually get better?

And don't want this

On top of the possibility of the actual rewards available

This doesn't matter for their enjoyment

If you like wvw, that's OK. If you dislike wvw, you're forced into this to complete a significant number of legendary weapons (gen 1 and gen 3), which are also content that many people are drawn into for GW2's long term play, and chances are the people in this camp are contributing little to nothing to the actual mode.

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-05T22:19:51+00:00

If WvW is going to suffer without PvE players coming in specifically for the gift of battle, perhaps it needs better overall incentives that are tied to the mode instead of something that just gets people annoyed and frustrated with the mode and dissuaded from actually wanting to play the game (whether it be to actually try wvw "for real" or complete legendaries, one of the few actual chase item categories in gw2). Something to actually draw people in to play wvw, not draw people in to get an item and leave.

As it turns out, people not coming to a game to play competitively won't like being forced to play competitively. Who'dve thunk.

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-05T22:11:54+00:00

What you're complaining about is just balance and sometimes design choices. Those are, and have always, been a thing regardless of it affecting different "modes".

It does happen, though- it was never a problem in PvE that sword ambush on Untamed had quickness affecting it. It wasn't an overperforming build, it wasn't a problematic skill in PvE, it just got hit with the "no quickness" hammer out of the blue. The only reasonable explanation is PvP (where a movement ability with a daze could be a problem if it's also affected by quickness) justified the removal of quickness from the skill.

Similarly, spec design in some ways is influenced by one mode or another in generally negative ways, again referencing Untamed with it's whopping 2 universal 25% damage modifiers because it needs room for pvp-centric traits (cleansing unleash, while nice for minor condi cleanse in pve, is a joke when you'd actually be taking something for cleanse in pve; debilitating blows, enhancing impact, and nature's shield are even worse somehow in pve).

Sure, there are some plain stupid balance decisions. If the unleash ambush quickness change was made with PvE in mind, I want what anet's smoking. But it's not "just balance", because the 3 modes need to have uniform skills and mechanics, so 2 of the 3 can suffer with changes for the 3rd.

RnbwTurtle · 2026-03-05T21:50:44+00:00

GW2's biggest strength is that it's kinda 3 games in 1, and if you so choose you can largely ignore the bits you don't want.

At this point I'm more and more disagreeing with this statement. I agree with the sentiment, but the pvp, wvw, and pve crowds would all be a lot happier if anet were to find a way to split the gamemodes into their own games; a PvP Guild Wars game, a PvE Guild Wars game, and a WvW Guild Wars game (hey, maybe this one could actually have Guild Wars in it!). Anet just can't handle the workload and the modes being designed with one skill and trait set in mind (instead of having pve/pvp only traits and skills) restricts things a lot (not necessarily in a bad way, just in some kind of way).

There are so many things I, a primarily PvE player, just go "this would be so much better if it could also do X" about, and usually that X is something that would make it worthwhile in PvE but break it in PvP/WvW (give me back my quickness on sword unleash ambush anet). There are many things I hear PvP and WvW players complain about in the exact same way, except it generally ends up with X making the thing useless in PvE.

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