When You Need Great Burst Damage For Kills
When it comes to laying down the beatdown, nothing beats being able to create a massive damage strike in a short time. This sort of “burst damage” can be extremely useful in both PvE and PvP in any game -- and this still remains true in Guild Wars 2.
There’s no feeling better than topping damage charts or rolling right over an opponent in PvP with a combo that leaves them on the ground, bleeding out.
There are a lot of classes in GW2 now with two expansions under its belt, both classic classes and specializations. Let’s explore the top five classes capable of massive burst damage output.
5. Weaver Elementalist
The firey Elementalist Weaver.
The Elementalist Weaver specialization came out with Path of Fire and introduced a new way to play Elementalist by adding the ability to attune to two elements at once. It also opened up opportunities to provide significant burst damage when needed.
Burst damage with a Weaver can be built up quickly by stacking Burning. As a condition, Burning stacks fast and causes massive damage in a short duration. Weavers also have access to a lot of traits, weapon skills, and utility skills that throw out rapid stacks of conditions. Therefore, traiting for and using runes that increase condition damage and duration means exceptional burst damage (with superior sustained damage).
Traiting for Fire and Arcane can be used to add extra stacks of Burning (on critical) and extra duration as well as enhancing critical hits. And the Weaver will probably spend a lot of time in Fire attunement because that has the highest raw damage output – but will rotate into Air for extra critical and Earth for high-damage mixed strikes.
Generally, openers will use “Glyph of Elemental Power” to add condition damage (in this case Burning) and “Primordial Stance” adds even more damage.
Watch a fire Weaver Elementalist in action with this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHAUtKyLdwc
For a good Weaver Elementalist burst damage build see: https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Weaver_-_Fire_Weaver
4. Mirage Mesmer
The nimble Mirage Mesmer
The Mirage specialization for Mesmer came out with Path of Fire and added the ability to create more dangerous clones at a faster rate – this class comes with a great deal of potential burst damage when shattering those clones and applying direct damage as well as conditions.
To get the most out of Shatter, it is sometimes necessary to use a lot of Power in a build and create a way to apply Vulnerability to targets (or strip defensive boons). The addition of the Ambush capability also greatly increases the potential for outgoing damage for Mirages. This means that they build up very fast combos.
Much of this build is focused around preparing an enemy for Mind Wrack, a clone shatter ability that detonates them for massive spike damage. This means using weapons that generate clones quickly like a greatsword. It also uses traits to generate clones on dodge. So, both while attacking offensively and dodging defensively, clones are appearing in the field – which are then used to create spike damage.
To see a Power Shatter Mirage in action, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nDE8Ln9peo
For a good Mirage Mesmer burst damage build see: https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Mirage_-_Power_Shatter
3. Deadeye Thief
The Deadeye Thief specialization was added to GW2 and gave thieves access to rifles that have a great deal of outgoing burst damage at a distance.
Much of the Deadeye’s ability set places Vulnerability on targets and builds up a profession energy type called Malice. The more hits that a Deadeye lands on a target, the higher their Malice goes; the higher the Deadeye’s Malice the more of a damage multiplier outgoing attacks receive. As a result, at extremely high Malice, an already high-damage output ability becomes a colossal burst damage skill.
With a rifle, Deadeyes get extreme range and access to sniper abilities that hit really hard. To start a Deadeye will use “Kneel” to get access to the high-damage abilities (at the expense of mobility) and then set up bursts with “Deadeye’s Mark” then “Three Round Burst,” and this should build up enough Malice to do significant injury after stealthing to get access to the massive-damage “Death’s Judgement.”
To maximize damage, Deadeye players will want to spec into Marauder or Berserker in order to increase Power and Precision (both of which greatly affect burst damage).
To see a Deadeye sniper in action, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxGQr3RCufs
For a good Deadeye Thief burst damage build see: https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Deadeye_-_Marauder_Rifle
2. Holosmith Engineer
The Holosmith brought photonic capabilities to the Engineer with Path of Fire and, although it’s a class focused more around continual beat-down, has quite a few burst damage opportunities to pull from. Especially using its “Overcharge Beam” ability.
This class has access to something called a Photon Forge that provides “Holo Mode,” this is a kit that swaps out regular weapon abilities for hard-light skills. This mechanic also added a profession energy type called “Heat” that increases damage as it rises (but it can also cripple the Holosmith if it overheats). At very high heat, or in overheat, it is possible to greatly increase already high-damage burst skills.
Holosmith burst damage comes from combos that switch between weapons and Holo Mode. For example, it's possible to use “Corona Burst” to start building up heat, then “Overcharged Shot” to blow foes backwards and cripple them, followed by “Particle Accelerator” for more damage and cripple, then “Jump Shot” to apply Vulnerability and finally “Blunderbuss” for massive damage and bleeding.
To watch a Holosmith in action blasting down opponents, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSyClA9lyH8
For a good Holosmith Engineer burst damage build see: https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Holosmith_-_Power_DPS
1. Berserker Warrior
The Berserker specialization for Warrior came with the Heart of Thorns expansion for GW2 and it’s still an extremely capable burst damage contender that works brilliantly still today.
With the release of this specialization, it is possible to gain Adrenaline faster than ever (the Warrior energy mechanic) and activate “Berserk,” which wreathes the Warrior in fire and gives them access to massive-damage burst skills. Although Berserkers are more fragile than most other classes, they can also rapid-fire burst skills and gain Adrenaline at a massive rate when in the middle of a skirmish.
The build below depends heavily on the Berserk mechanic and the greatsword to constantly activate a skill called “Arc Divider,” which is a massive AoE burst skill. And the Axe/Axe weapon set will be used to rapidly regain adrenaline after burning it down using the greatsword “Arc Divider” skill. A Warrior player can couple this tactic with skills and traits that apply Vulnerability and stuns to targets to keep them under better control and keep them within range for when “Arc Divider” becomes available again.
To see a Berserker Warrior build discussion and see it action, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1fQFFFqRT4
For a good Berserker Warrior burst damage build see: https://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Berserker_-_Burstzerker
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