Aether Hunter has the same defiance damage as Electric Wyvern and Rock Gazelle but as a 1200 range teleport. On paper that makes it the best CC pet overall. Is there a reason that I don't see any guides that say to use that one?
That is a good point, they all essentially do the same breakbar damage on their F2 active, the main difference is the Pet AI abilities that they just use on their own, the gazelle has lunge which does CC (232 defiance damage same as the F2) and the wyvern has Wing Buffet which does 232 as well. It isn't as controlled as the F2, but it is something to note. I personally have just used what was available since HOT because it was there, aether hunter just got added, so I don't think many people looked into it since its F2 does the same BB Damage. If you like using it, I say go for it.
@@SilhouetteGaming1 one question tho. Why do you take 2-2-3 instead of 2-3-3 for nature magic? Every build site recommends the later for group content and I can understand that if you have a boon DPS giving might too. I think you'd be overcaping on might quite often. But then again you might be overcaping on regeneration with the first one too so idk.
@@a2rex834 Realistically the difference between major traits on nature magic are meh. if you find yourself in a subgroup that has a ton of might generation you can take the warhorn trait especially if you swap to axe/wh. i take this trait as a standard so that way when i go to longbow the build only needs a "lead the wind" adjustment, its the same reason i run marksmanship over skirmishing. And in general, you provide a ton of healing and regen already through the use of your heal skill with the trait "Wellspring" and "Rejuvenation" not to mention if you brought "Healing Spring" instead of glyph of rejuv. i just think its better to have the extra might and fury but if you find yourself needing extra regen and you dont need the might then swap the trait but in pugs there is no guarantee youll have capped might.
Thanks for making a build about my absolute favorite spec in the game! Alac Heal Druid gets in your blood, it's so much fun. I really like that it's easy to learn but takes time to master, the skill ceiling is very high.
Question, how would you rank current Raid Healers in GW2? Firebrand? Herald? Druid? Specter? Mechanist? Scrapper? Scourge? Tempest? Chrono? Some other? Off-topic: I have the unpopular opinion that PAM is best pusher in Soulless Horror / Desmina. "Druid is better role compression" Only if Druid is Tanking and Pushing, else it is one to one. "It is time waste!" Fight takes like 9 seconds longer? Worth the risk to do the boss again? (calculation done using speedrun and swapping best dps to pam push, basically triple alac) "Yes but it will be slower if people die!" The risk of someone dying by accident is higher when Druid is pushing. "PAM sucks! Especially Rifle PAM!" Yes and that is why Soulless Horror is only boss I use Rifle PAM and else I user either Scourge or Hammer PAM if Power is needed. "There is no difference" PAM is pushing the TD on the side allowing the whole squad to ignore the TD. The fight for 9 people is SH without TD. PAM = Hammer Power Alacrity Mechanist PAM Push = Rifle Power Alacrity Mechanist SH = Soulless Horror TD = Tormented Dead (enemy in SH that needs to be pushed) Static and Speedrun uses DPS Tank with Solo Heal Push Tank Druid Low KP PUGs use Two Heal Tanks and Druid Push. (slowest) Some PUG Uses Two Heal Tanks one or both being Push I use in Static and PUG a Rifle PAM as Push with two Tank Heals The reason why PAM specifically is that it is role compression Alac DPS who can also Push and Kill the TD. Drawback is that it teaches you to ignore the TD so when you try Desmina with Druid you keep killing the TD 😂 Benefit is that the fight basically becomes 9v1 without TD mechanics.
Interested take on SH. I know I misspoke when recording, I have always called the TD "the golem" when raiding. As far as strategy I typically use druid as a third healer opting for a 3 healer party which makes things pretty trivial if people know the fight, I typically opt for safety over speed in most fights because the 15 or 20 second difference on a single pull is significantly faster than a wipe. As far as healer preference and ranking goes I honestly believe that the content type or encounter has a lot to do with where the healer can be good or subpar. Like you said it's about role compression. Maybe I'll do a video exploring that topic, thanks for writing your thoughts on SH, I found them interesting (not sure if it's that unpopular though.)
@@SilhouetteGaming1 I have not yet seen anyone else use Rifle PAM as Push beside me. I call the Tormented Dead as TD when I write and Golem when I talk. Rifle PAM strategy is basically 9v1 SH without TD 👍 it is different from usual strategy where other people are to cleave conditions to the TD so it dies out of the arena. Set Mech on passive, auto-cast F2 F3 and press F6 on Desmina so Mech stays in group all the time and now you can full focus staying alive and pushing the TD. Rest of the group fully ignores the TD unless SH is moved trough middle. This makes the fight so much easier as you remove one mechanic almost fully. Sometimes the puddles are still in bad position. It also opens up the comp you can run as you no longer need Scourges with Epidemics and you can actually run 6 Virtuosas, two Heal Firebrands, Scourge and Rifle PAM 🤤 that is the dream. Scourge is great with Venom you have instant 750 CC to SH with Sanctuary and even if half of the people die you will still succeed the CC 😂 Tough we run Heal Scourge with Quick Firebrand and Heal Brand with Rifle PAM in static 👍 After doing the Rifle PAM pushing for year and explored different options I came in to conclusion that the best thing is that no one helps you. When we had Epidemics or people tried to help me it usually died to middle or when I pushed them on side someone would push the TD back to middle. No Epidemics. No helping. No touch. Touch and Kick? Maybe no kick but also no touch. My TD! MINE! I do around 12k DPS on SH when pushing and total DPS is around 15k. Worst thing that can happen is TD is pulled to the group. Usually it instant dies. Also if you miss the first push to the side it might get cleaved as everyone is ignoring it and full bursting 😉 but if people are paying attention a lot of builds can have knock backs like Firebrand Shield. I also did the pushing with 150 to 3k ping once 😓 that was a miracle but it also is a proof how when you have full control when and where you kill it you don't really care about small lag. You do care just enough that you can land the first push to the side 😂
That is just the named armor for Minstrels stats, and yeah its perfect if you are also tanking. If you are just healing and not intending to tank then the toughness becomes a problem for toughness agro bosses.
Yes, however I belive HFB is better in fractals due to stability access and the ability to use tomes at the drop of a hat without having to work around CA.
@ChoperJoJo so in regular everyday fractals it works fine, however other classes do it better, notably the firebrand. Because druid needs to build up Celestial avatar to get access to their boons it makes things more challenging, where firebrand doesn't need to do that. This build shines in Raids and strikes, where it gets outshined by heal herald and heal firebrand in fractals.
Aether Hunter has the same defiance damage as Electric Wyvern and Rock Gazelle but as a 1200 range teleport. On paper that makes it the best CC pet overall. Is there a reason that I don't see any guides that say to use that one?
That is a good point, they all essentially do the same breakbar damage on their F2 active, the main difference is the Pet AI abilities that they just use on their own, the gazelle has lunge which does CC (232 defiance damage same as the F2) and the wyvern has Wing Buffet which does 232 as well. It isn't as controlled as the F2, but it is something to note. I personally have just used what was available since HOT because it was there, aether hunter just got added, so I don't think many people looked into it since its F2 does the same BB Damage. If you like using it, I say go for it.
Finally you cover one of my recent mains! Some nice new insight that I haven't seen before too :D
Nice! Yeah I am working my way through some of the builds I like to play. This one has a special place in my heart since it was such an OG build
@@SilhouetteGaming1 one question tho. Why do you take 2-2-3 instead of 2-3-3 for nature magic? Every build site recommends the later for group content and I can understand that if you have a boon DPS giving might too. I think you'd be overcaping on might quite often. But then again you might be overcaping on regeneration with the first one too so idk.
@@a2rex834 Realistically the difference between major traits on nature magic are meh. if you find yourself in a subgroup that has a ton of might generation you can take the warhorn trait especially if you swap to axe/wh. i take this trait as a standard so that way when i go to longbow the build only needs a "lead the wind" adjustment, its the same reason i run marksmanship over skirmishing. And in general, you provide a ton of healing and regen already through the use of your heal skill with the trait "Wellspring" and "Rejuvenation" not to mention if you brought "Healing Spring" instead of glyph of rejuv. i just think its better to have the extra might and fury but if you find yourself needing extra regen and you dont need the might then swap the trait but in pugs there is no guarantee youll have capped might.
Thanks for making a build about my absolute favorite spec in the game! Alac Heal Druid gets in your blood, it's so much fun. I really like that it's easy to learn but takes time to master, the skill ceiling is very high.
Definitely. A good druid makes content so trivial and playing it at those levels is really rewarding.
Question, how would you rank current Raid Healers in GW2?
Firebrand? Herald? Druid? Specter? Mechanist? Scrapper? Scourge? Tempest? Chrono? Some other?
Off-topic:
I have the unpopular opinion that PAM is best pusher in Soulless Horror / Desmina.
"Druid is better role compression" Only if Druid is Tanking and Pushing, else it is one to one.
"It is time waste!" Fight takes like 9 seconds longer? Worth the risk to do the boss again? (calculation done using speedrun and swapping best dps to pam push, basically triple alac)
"Yes but it will be slower if people die!" The risk of someone dying by accident is higher when Druid is pushing.
"PAM sucks! Especially Rifle PAM!" Yes and that is why Soulless Horror is only boss I use Rifle PAM and else I user either Scourge or Hammer PAM if Power is needed.
"There is no difference" PAM is pushing the TD on the side allowing the whole squad to ignore the TD. The fight for 9 people is SH without TD.
PAM = Hammer Power Alacrity Mechanist
PAM Push = Rifle Power Alacrity Mechanist
SH = Soulless Horror
TD = Tormented Dead (enemy in SH that needs to be pushed)
Static and Speedrun uses DPS Tank with Solo Heal Push Tank Druid
Low KP PUGs use Two Heal Tanks and Druid Push. (slowest)
Some PUG Uses Two Heal Tanks one or both being Push
I use in Static and PUG a Rifle PAM as Push with two Tank Heals
The reason why PAM specifically is that it is role compression Alac DPS who can also Push and Kill the TD.
Drawback is that it teaches you to ignore the TD so when you try Desmina with Druid you keep killing the TD 😂
Benefit is that the fight basically becomes 9v1 without TD mechanics.
Interested take on SH. I know I misspoke when recording, I have always called the TD "the golem" when raiding. As far as strategy I typically use druid as a third healer opting for a 3 healer party which makes things pretty trivial if people know the fight, I typically opt for safety over speed in most fights because the 15 or 20 second difference on a single pull is significantly faster than a wipe. As far as healer preference and ranking goes I honestly believe that the content type or encounter has a lot to do with where the healer can be good or subpar. Like you said it's about role compression.
Maybe I'll do a video exploring that topic, thanks for writing your thoughts on SH, I found them interesting (not sure if it's that unpopular though.)
@@SilhouetteGaming1 I have not yet seen anyone else use Rifle PAM as Push beside me. I call the Tormented Dead as TD when I write and Golem when I talk.
Rifle PAM strategy is basically 9v1 SH without TD 👍 it is different from usual strategy where other people are to cleave conditions to the TD so it dies out of the arena. Set Mech on passive, auto-cast F2 F3 and press F6 on Desmina so Mech stays in group all the time and now you can full focus staying alive and pushing the TD. Rest of the group fully ignores the TD unless SH is moved trough middle.
This makes the fight so much easier as you remove one mechanic almost fully. Sometimes the puddles are still in bad position. It also opens up the comp you can run as you no longer need Scourges with Epidemics and you can actually run 6 Virtuosas, two Heal Firebrands, Scourge and Rifle PAM 🤤 that is the dream. Scourge is great with Venom you have instant 750 CC to SH with Sanctuary and even if half of the people die you will still succeed the CC 😂 Tough we run Heal Scourge with Quick Firebrand and Heal Brand with Rifle PAM in static 👍
After doing the Rifle PAM pushing for year and explored different options I came in to conclusion that the best thing is that no one helps you. When we had Epidemics or people tried to help me it usually died to middle or when I pushed them on side someone would push the TD back to middle. No Epidemics. No helping. No touch. Touch and Kick? Maybe no kick but also no touch. My TD! MINE! I do around 12k DPS on SH when pushing and total DPS is around 15k. Worst thing that can happen is TD is pulled to the group. Usually it instant dies. Also if you miss the first push to the side it might get cleaved as everyone is ignoring it and full bursting 😉 but if people are paying attention a lot of builds can have knock backs like Firebrand Shield.
I also did the pushing with 150 to 3k ping once 😓 that was a miracle but it also is a proof how when you have full control when and where you kill it you don't really care about small lag. You do care just enough that you can land the first push to the side 😂
I just got my ranger to 80, now to hopefully find a HP train so I can unlock Druid, I want to try this build lol
You can also unlock HP at the heroics notary in WVW for wvw currency.
Just joined two days ago. What about the signet training?
Signet training ? Like core ranger skills?
can you level in open world with this?
It would be very slow, and you can't unlock druid until level 80 anyways. Just focus on power ranger until you are 80 :)
Is it valid to use maklain instead of harrier? Basically it's a healing/tanking gear
That is just the named armor for Minstrels stats, and yeah its perfect if you are also tanking. If you are just healing and not intending to tank then the toughness becomes a problem for toughness agro bosses.
Replace the heal glyph with healing spring. Reason is that healing spring creates a water combo field for even more healing.
I only take spring during condi heavy fights.
does it works in fractals?
Yes, however I belive HFB is better in fractals due to stability access and the ability to use tomes at the drop of a hat without having to work around CA.
im kinda lost there lol. Can you explain what that means? @@SilhouetteGaming1
@ChoperJoJo so in regular everyday fractals it works fine, however other classes do it better, notably the firebrand. Because druid needs to build up Celestial avatar to get access to their boons it makes things more challenging, where firebrand doesn't need to do that. This build shines in Raids and strikes, where it gets outshined by heal herald and heal firebrand in fractals.