LAST UPDATED: 06/03/2018

THE GW2 HAPPY RAIDER’S KIT

a guide to starting raids

Wri en by Tevatron.8217
Edi ng and revision by Swi wynd.1685 and Avan.9871
Special thanks to Chip, Kif, Monkey and Pink
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INTRODUCTION

Hello and welcome! This guide focuses on preparing players to understand and
par cipate in raid encounters, which are the challenging end game content of Guild
1
Wars 2 , requiring prepara on and precise execu on of 10 players to succeed.
Whether you are brand new to raids or an experienced raider from another
game, this guide aims to provide a comprehensive overview of this content, helping
you prepare for GW2’s unique style of raiding. Here you’ll be introduced to raid
concepts, terms and the general idea behind the current popular prac ces and how to
best approach them.

1
In order to par cipate in the first 4 Raid Wings you’ll need Heart of Thorns expansion, and to
par cipate in the 5th Wing you’ll need Path of Fire expansion.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

OVERVIEW 4
HOW TO ACCESS RAID WINGS 5
DAMAGE PER SECOND (DPS) 7
ROTATION 7
BUFFS 8
DPS METERS 9
SPECIAL FORCES TRAINING AREA 10
CROWD CONTROL (CC) AND DEFIANCE BARS 11
THE META 14
META BUILDS 14
META GROUP COMPOSITIONS 15
META STRATEGIES 18
HOW TO GET STARTED 20
FOOD & UTILITY 22
RAID REWARDS 23
GLOSSARY 24
LINKS 26

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OVERVIEW

Raids are difficult boss or event encounters intended for 10 players at level 80,
although they can be completed with fewer players for an increased challenge. They
are located in instanced zones called Raid Wings. Each Wing tradi onally contains a
combina on of three to four Raid Bosses or Raid Events, and successfully comple ng
an event yields special rewards that reset every week for each individual encounter.
Lore is also present in raids, and they tell more about the Expansions and Living
World’s story.
The main difference between raids and other types of content is the player’s
inability to be resurrected or respawn if they die during encounters.
Just like in fractals, during raids you’ll be able to use the special commands /gg,
/ff, /qq, /surrender, /resign or /concede at any me to immediately die without
damaging your armor.
Almost every boss encounter has an Enrage Timer, a mechanic that ac vates
a er the mer has expired, making the encounter extremely difficult to complete, or in
some cases, causing instant failure, which is commonly referred by the community as
wiping. To succeed, players must work as a team to op mize their ability to deal
sufficient damage to complete the encounter before the enrage.
Raids were designed to be the most challenging PvE (Player versus
Environment) content of Guild Wars 2. As such, par cipa ng in a raid encounter
requires a larger commitment of time, effort, and resources than any other content.
Raid encounters o en require several a empts before a group of players fully
understands and learns how to implement the encounter’s mechanics. Addi onally,
builds and playstyles that work well in other contents will need significant adjustments
to func on in a raid se ng.

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HOW TO ACCESS RAID WINGS

2
To enter a raid wing, players must first gather in the Aerodrome , which is
located south of Fort Marriner in Lion’s Arch, forming a squad. Raid Squads are groups
with a 10-player limit led by Commanders (players who have purchased the
Commander Tag); while it is possible to make a squad without a tag, it’s highly
convenient and advisable to have one. Commanders designate their Squad as a Raid
Squad by selec ng the "raid mode" checkbox inside the squad UI.

A er the commander has formed a squad, any player may a empt to go

through one of currently 5 portals that lead to specific Raid Wings. With that said, it is
important to listen to instruc ons from your Commander before entering a Wing, as
weekly boss kill progress is ‘saved’ for each individual player, and the first player to
successfully load into the Wing will set its boss kill progress. For example, if a player
has already completed all encounters of that Wing earlier in the week and loads in first,
the Wing instance will be empty. Alterna vely, some mes a commander may wish to
skip the first boss and a empt the second or third bosses.

2
Even though the Aerodrome is the popular choice due its convenience, there are raid entrances in open
world maps (top right corner in Verdant Brink, for example).

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From the right: wings 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 portals inside the Aerodrome.

Refer to the tables below for specific wing informa on:

WING NUMBER WING 1 WING 2 WING 3

WING NAME SPIRIT VALE SALVATION PASS STRONGHOLD OF THE FAITHFUL
CURRENCY Magne te Shards
1ST BOSS Vale Guardian Slothasor Siege the Stronghold
2ND BOSS Gorseval Bandit Trio Keep Construct
3RD BOSS Sabetha Ma hias Xera
OTHER EVENTS 2 1 1

WING NUMBER WING 4 WING 5

WING NAME BASTION OF THE PENITENT HALL OF CHAINS
CURRENCY Magne te Shards Gae ng Crystals
1ST BOSS Cairn Soulless Horror
2ND BOSS Mursaat Overseer River of Souls
3RD BOSS Samarog Statues of Grenth
4TH BOSS Deimos Dhuum
3
OTHER EVENTS - -

Note: Bandit Trio, Siege the Stronghold, River of Souls and Statues of Grenth are
not regular boss encounters where you fight a main foe. They consist in special events
that may have one or more boss fights within them (these are considered easier than
regular bosses).

3
Wing 4 doesn’t have a proper event outside bosses, but instead, has two mechanics to be done in order
to access the next boss room. They are easy and fast to do.

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DAMAGE PER SECOND (DPS)

As said in the Special Forces Training Area, a deadly raid squad is a happy raid
squad. But in order to be deadly, a raid squad needs a lot of DPS.
Group DPS is the single most important thing in raids - it affects everything,
and the more you have the be er. Higher DPS allows your group to skip en re
mechanics, making the encounters shorter, effec vely changing the whole strategy
used by the squad. Lower DPS will stretch a fight longer than expected, requiring
players to deal with more mechanics, making room for mistakes.
Every single player inside a raid squad has to contribute with DPS, some more
than others, but even the support classes should contribute, and their DPS can be the
difference between winning or losing. Condi on and Power DPS classes will have
advantages on different encounters, so it’s a good idea to have both if you can afford it.
All raid encounters have a "DPS check" aspect, meaning you’ll need a minimum
amount of DPS to beat that encounter before things get out of control. The higher that
minimum is, the higher the DPS check. When players say that certain boss’ DPS check is
not high, that means you won’t need too much DPS to kill it.
Big DPS numbers comes from a combina on of three elements: Build, Buffs and
Rotation. There is no DPS without one of these elements.

ROTATION

Of all these aspects, the Rota on is certainly the most important. A rota on is
the usage of skills in a specific order to op mize DPS output. Using the right skills in the
right order allows you to reach astronomical numbers, which in turn will grant you
faster kills. Some professions have extremely difficult rota ons, while others have
simpler ones, and while it can happen, a hard rota on does not mean that certain
professions have be er DPS than others.
In order to perform a good rota on there is no other way besides prac cing
many mes. At first, doing a rota on in the middle of an encounter will look

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impossible, but with me and experience you’ll get used to it, becoming able to do
even the hardest rota ons during difficult moments.
To find out a good rota on for your class, this guide suggests that you check
these websites: Snow Crows, Metaba le. Other sources can and should be looked into
as well, like GW2’s Subreddit and the Official Forums.

BUFFS

Buffs or Boons are temporary effects that increase a character’s abili es. In
raids, buffs have an important role, being pivotal to the group’s DPS.
The GW2 raid community considers a certain set of boons to be realistic inside
raid encounters, which means that an average group should be able to maintain them
4
for the majority of the encounter’s dura on without difficulty . The main reason for the
5
current meta mirror composi on is exactly because of these boons . Currently, the
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realis c buffs are :

● 25 stacks of Might;
● Fury;
● Swi ness;
● Regenera on;
● Quickness;
● Alacrity.

On top of these, there are special effects that do not count as boons, but s ll
boost character’s a ributes or provide temporary posi ve effects for your group. Most
of these special effects are ed to specific professions. Some of these effects are
considered standard for meta composi ons, here they are:

4
Due to the nature of some encounters this can be impossible or extremely hard, specially during split
phases.
5
See The Meta.
6
With the rising popularity of Chaos Chronomancers this may change in the near future, since these can
output a greater number of boons.

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● Banner of Discipline;
● Banner of Strength;
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● Empower Allies ;
● Spo er;
● Sun Spirit;
● Frost Spirit;
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● Pinpoint Distribu on ;
9
● Assassin’s Presence .

These boons and effects combined increase the group’s DPS drama cally, and
they are so important, that some professions cannot perform their rota ons properly
without some of them (not all classes are affected equally).

DPS METERS

DPS meters are a very sensi ve topic inside GW2’s raid community, because a
lot of players don’t approve of those who use them. Despite that, this guide considers
them an important tool to measure one’s own progress, and it would be dishonest to
pretend they don’t exist.
As the name suggests, DPS meters are third-party programs that you can install
and use together with the GW2 client. They show how much DPS each member of your
group (including yourself) is dealing at any given moment. Arenanet approves the
usage of meters as long as they are compliant to the game’s ToS and the direc ves that
the game’s Security Leader set for them.
Currently the most popular DPS meter in the game is Arc DPS.
Using a meter is a great way to see what you are doing wrong on your rota on,
and you can see when you improve.

7
Affects only 5 players. Due to how the current meta is set, squads bring a single warrior class, which
means that only 5 character will benefit from this effect.
8
Only If the group has an engineer character with them and some condi on damage classes.
9
Only If the group has a revenant character with them. A handkiter revenant will likely not bring this
buff.

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This guide encourages a healthy usage of the meters, which means players
should completely avoid using them to bully other players. Use it for yourself alone.
Another excellent reason to use a DPS meter is that they can generate fight logs
for you, which later can be uploaded to specific websites, like DPS Report or GW2
Raidar, for you to see the whole encounter technical informa on like boon up me,
how long your group took on the split phase, DPS graphics and other useful
informa on.
These tools can be extremely helpful for personal growth, because you can
locate problems and solve them much faster.

SPECIAL FORCES TRAINING AREA

The Training Area consists of a small zone that you can enter through the
Aerodrome. It’s located near the bank NPC, on the opposite side of the raid entrances.
Inside this loca on, players can summon golems, add or remove boons,
condi ons and effects, and check their own DPS. Also, players inside this instance
receive a special ac on skill called Mushroom King’s Blessing, which allows them to
reset their own cooldowns every 30 seconds.
To enter this place you’ll have to create a raid squad (you can be alone in the
squad), and it’s possible to do it without a commander tag.
Prac cing your rota ons and ge ng familiar with your profession skills and
damage is an excellent way to improve your skills.

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CROWD CONTROL (CC) AND DEFIANCE BARS

According to GW2’s wiki, CC “are a set of effects that temporarily prevent

ac ons or movement and disable all skills for the effect’s dura on”. In raids, CC has a
greater role because it is commonly ed to Defiance Bars (a.k.a. Break Bars or CC Bars).
The Defiance Bar is a special mechanic that makes certain enemies immune to
CC effects, and in order to interrupt them or to have nega ve effect on these foes,
players will have to break their defiance bar whenever possible.
Some enemies can be immune to CC despite not having a Break Bar - that is
common inside raids. The defiance bar is located right beneath an enemy’s health bar,
and it has three dis nc ve ways to show itself. In the pictures below you can learn
more about each state of the break bars:

● Locked: while in this state you cannot damage the defiance bar and the
enemy will be immune to all CC effects.

● Unlocked: while in this state it is possible to damage the break bar by using
skills that cause CC effects.

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● Broken: this state means the bar was recently broken and it is currently
recharging. While it recharges the enemy is also immune to CC effects.

CC effects can be divided into two types: hard and soft CC.

● Hard CC are abili es or condi ons that cause flat damage to the defiance bar,
disabling the foe completely. They are: daze, float, knockback, launch, pull,
sink, stun, fear and taunt10. Think of them as physical damage against the
defiance bar.
● Soft CC are abili es or condi ons that cause damage-over- me (DoT) to the
defiance bar, affec ng the enemy with less impac ul effects. They are: blind,
chill, cripple, immobilize, slow and weakness. Think of these effects as
condi on damage to the bar.

For raid purposes, CC is needed against some bosses, while others don’t have
any CC mechanic. For those who do require CC, it must happen as fast as possible, and
failing to do so will jeopardize the group. Some bosses have less dangerous results in
case of CC failure.

10
Despite being classified as Hard CC, both Fear and Taunt cause damage-over- me, and work similarly
to So CC. They s ll disable the enemy completely though.

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Like DPS, every squad member that has CC skills available should help with it,
and it’s a good idea to coordinate with your teammates the usage of such skills.

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THE META

Due to the nature of raid encounters and a er a lot of tes ng, GW2’s
Community concluded what works well for bosses and events, crea ng what is called
Meta a.k.a. Metagame, which consists in a series of strategies, practices and
procedures to be observed in each and every encounter, op mizing the ways to deal
with said content, making it faster and easier.
Fully explaining the meta would require a lot of me, instead, this guide will
deliver a summarized version with the important aspects, dividing this sec on into
Builds, Composi on and Strategy.

META BUILDS

A build is the inten onal combina on of gear, traits and skills a player has
equipped. The meta build focuses on being effec ve during raids. Each and every
profession has known effec ve and non-effec ve builds for each raid encounter.
There is no perfect build that works for everything, and you’ll need
adjustments for some encounters. Most of them require minor changes, like swapping
u lity skills, traits or a few pieces of gear. Some encounters have special roles that
require you to run unique builds.
For specific informa on on builds for each profession, visit the Snow Crows
website or Metaba le. Currently these are the most popular websites that keep
updated informa on related to GW2 raid builds. Keep in mind that these builds change
regularly to keep up with balance patches.
To avoid poor performance, it is advisable that you understand the reasoning
behind a build, since blindly following them can harm your raid experience.

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META GROUP COMPOSITIONS

In order to op mize and facilitate raid encounters, a standard squad

composi on was created by the community.
This may change in the future, but for now the current meta composi on is the
following:

SQUAD – STANDARD META “MIRROR” COMPOSITION (5/5)

SUBGROUP 1 Chronotank Healer Druid Banner Slave DPS Class DPS Class
SUBGROUP 2 Off-Chrono Healer Druid DPS Class DPS Class DPS Class

There have been many changes on this subject over me, and the one above is
considered very effec ve, which means it should deliver you fast kills.
The first reason for this mirror composi on is that some classes can only output
boons for five other players; the second reason is that the skills and boons you use will
always priori ze your own subgroup, as long as they are within range, meaning that
this 5/5 setup will grant your group an even boon distribu on to all members.

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The posi oning of damage classes inside the subgroups is also important,
especially if you have classes that bring special boons, like Engineers and Revenants. In
this case you may want to leave them in the same subgroup, with specific classes for
op mal performance.
Some classes have 10-man boons, like the Banner Slave’s banners, and that’s
why only one of those is used.
Groups with more experience o en change their composi ons in order to get
more damage, resul ng in different setups. These more advanced composi ons usually
require considerable skill, which puts players under more pressure.
On the other hand, some groups may struggle with certain encounters, and may
need to adjust their composi on for something safer, as shown below.

SQUAD – 3 HEALERS SAFE COMPOSITION (5/4/1)

SUBGROUP 1 Chronotank Healer Druid Bannerslave DPS Class DPS Class
SUBGROUP 2 Off-Chrono Healer Druid DPS Class DPS Class
SUBGROUP 3 Healer Class

On this example, three dedicated healers are used, crea ng a much safer
composi on, but with lower damage.
Some mes you’ll struggle to find the necessary classes for a mirror
composi on, and will need to improvise. Here are some possible setups for such
situa ons:

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SQUAD – SINGLE CHRONO SETUP (5/4/1)

SUBGROUP 1 Healer Druid Bannerslave DPS Class DPS Class DPS Class
SUBGROUP 2 Healer Druid DPS Class DPS Class DPS Class
SUBGROUP 3 Chronotank

SQUAD – SINGLE CHRONO AND HEALER SETUP (8/1/1)

Bannerslave DPS Class DPS Class DPS Class DPS Class
SUBGROUP 1
DPS Class DPS Class DPS Class
SUBGROUP 2 Chronotank
SUBGROUP 3 Healer Druid

Below you can find short explana ons for each role in the Meta Mirror
Composi on, since it’s the most used.

● Chronotank: Mesmer class equipping the Chronomancer elite specializa on.

A Chronotank is responsible for tanking the boss, using a special build with
higher toughness to take aggro. It is also the Chronotank’s job to help with
boons, especially alacrity and quickness;
● Off-Chrono: Mesmer class equipping the Chronomancer elite specializa on.
Different from the tank, the Off-Chrono will have a more aggressive build
focused on damage and boon output. It’s job is to provide boons, support
and damage;
● Healer Druid: Ranger class equipping the Druid elite specializa on. Its job, as
the name suggests, is to heal the party, keeping everyone alive while also
being the main responsible for generating might and sharing boons
(defensive and aggressive). It also brings special effects and utility, such as
spirits and CC;
● Bannerslave: Warrior class equipping the Berserker or Spellbreaker elite
specializa on. Its job is to deal damage and bring banners that provide
special boons for the group (they affect 10 players as long as they’re within
range);
● DPS Class: any class with any build that can bring a good amount of DPS
(damage per second) to the encounter. Depending on the encounter, some
will be be er than others.

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As shown above, the meta composi on heavily focuses on bringing lots of

boons to increase group DPS for op mal performance. Despite that, keep in mind that
some encounters will require you to change this setup due to special roles found on
some encounters (e.g.: Deimos’ Handkiter role). The basis of the meta composi on (2
Chronos, 2 Healers, 1 Banner Slave) will likely remain unchanged for most fights
though.
Don’t be a class nazi. Some classes can get the job done perfectly even though
in unexpected ways. Try to be friendly towards other players, and if possible give them
a chance to play whatever they like.

META STRATEGIES

Meta strategies are the answer to the ques on "how do I kill this boss
effec vely?" The meta strategy goes beyond the way you approach the boss: it’s the
sum of using effec ve builds and composi ons for each boss along with specific
approaches. There are three types of strategies:

● Speedclear Strats: these are the strategies that achieve record kill mes.
They specialize in killing the bosses so fast that the group will skip most boss
mechanics, achieving extremely fast kills. These speedclear strats are done
by advanced sta c groups that prac ce together for long hours un l they get
even the finest details done in the fastest way possible, producing
remarkable results. It also requires individual players to perform perfectly,
outpu ng the highest amounts of damage and doing li le to no mechanical
mistakes. In order to get familiar with these strategies, look for Youtube
videos of the boss you are interested in, searching for quick kills.
● PUG Strats: the term PUG comes from “pick-up group”, and GW2’s
community adapted the ini als to refer to any random unknown player that
joins a group. Pugs are the main player force doing raids. Most pugs use
adapted versions of the speedclear strategies, to compensate for the lack of
coordina on that a random group has when compared to a sta c one.

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Experient pugs can achieve awesome results with li le to no coordina on,

while others will struggle a lot, requiring further adapta on of the strategy to
achieve a kill. This guide suggests Dulfy’s website guides for general pug
strategies. Keep in mind that some guides can be older, and the strategy (or
even the fight itself) may have changed, rendering some informa on
outdated – even though the vast majority of guides remains perfectly fine.
Checking Youtube for regular kill videos also works.
● Guild Exclusive Strats: as the name suggests, these strategies vary from guild
to guild, and the only way to learn them is by talking to one of the members
or watching their videos. Not much else to say about them beyond that some
guild strats end up proving themselves more effec ve than any others.

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HOW TO GET STARTED

It’s advisable that you choose a profession you like to play first, and then
research a li le bit about how that profession can be effec ve11 inside raids. This
means you should look for a good build and a good rota on for that class,
understanding how much DPS is expected from that profession during a raid..
Don’t be discouraged if you can’t perform well at first. That is completely fine.
Keep in mind that all experienced raiders started somewhere, and like you, they
struggled a lot - some still do.
Doing Tier 4 fractals is a great way to sharpen your own skills for a raid
environment, and if you can survive and perform well in those, it’s likely that you are
ready for raids.
When you feel confident enough, it’s me to try to find a raid run. This guide
strongly suggests you pick a certain raid Wing or specific boss to start with, working on
that specific encounter first before trying others.
For those in doubt, Vale Guardian - the first boss from Spirit Vale - is a great
star ng point because it is a wholesome boss encounter. There you’ll face mul ple
different mechanics that are punishing if not observed. The encounter also has split
phases, requires precise CC usage, and specific composi on and coordina on from the
squad. VG is challenging while not extremely hard, making it the perfect first boss for
beginners - it’s also fun.
There are easier bosses as well, but those may not be enough to prepare you
for the harder encounters.
In order of difficulty, from the easier to the hardest raids, this guide considers
the following: Wing 4 – Wing 1 – Wing 2 – Wing 3 – Wing 5.
In the beginning you should look for a Training Run. Training runs focus on
teaching new raiders how to beat the encounters, and players are usually very
respec ul and pa ent during those runs.
To find an adequate raid squad, you have some op ons:

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Some professions have mul ple working builds, giving players many choices on how to play it.

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● Look for a pug training run: by using the in-game LFG (looking for group) tool
on the “y” menu, you can search through the LFG’s raid category for squad
announcements that match what you’re looking for. If you are struggling to
find a training run, you can try whispering a commander leading an
experienced group, and explaining your situa on, asking to join them. Many
commanders are sympathe c and will take you with them. Don’t be afraid to
ask - the worst that can happen is ge ng a no.

● Join a raiding guild: by using the LFG tool, you can also look for
announcements of guilds taking new raiders. These happen o en and you
can also just ask in the Aerodrome’s map chat. A lot of players are willing to
take me to explain stuff or poin ng you in the right direc on. Again, don’t
be scared of asking for help.
● Join a raid training Discord Channel: the Guild Wars 2 community in general
is very friendly and helpful towards beginners. As such, a few Discord
channels were created with the sole purpose of teaching players how to raid.

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These channels have experienced volunteers that act as Trainers, teaching

everything you need to know and conduc ng many training runs. While in
one of those, make sure to follow the channel’s rules. This guide suggests RiT
- Raiders in Training channel for NA players, and The Crossroads Inn for EU
players. There are also other popular channels.
● Lead your own run: if you having trouble with the other op ons or simply
don’t like them, you can try to form your own squad. It’s advisable that you
purchase a Commander Tag if you intend to do that, since it’ll allow you to
have be er control over your own squad.
● Group up with friends with the same objectives: finally, you can simply get a
group of friends and work together to learn the encounters. This is obviously
a great choice, but this guide recognizes that many players don’t have that
op on.

FOOD & UTILITY

Foods and U li es are consumable items that grant limited me effects (usually
las ng 30 minutes each). These effects boost a player’s stats or give them special
effects, greatly increasing the player’s effec veness.
During raids, it’s expected that everyone make use of these bonuses, which
are basically free stats. Both food and utility can be used at the same time12.
There are many ways to get these items, but most commonly players buy them
from the Trading Post13.
Some foods/u li es are be er than others, and also more expensive. Also,
some of them will be be er depending on your class or role inside a raid encounter.
From a beginner’s perspec ve, you don’t have to buy the most expensive food
and u lity possible. While that is nice, the price may be too steep for some players;
instead, this guide advises to buy a medium-priced food (compare the cheaper op on
to the most expensive to find a middle way) that is adequate for your class and build.

12
Upon using a food and/or u lity, you'll receive it's benefits for a given dura on. Using another
food/u lity will not cause the effect to last longer or to stack, it'll simply replace the previous one.
13
Some foods and u li es cannot be bought in the Trading Post and have to be cra ed.

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RAID REWARDS

A er bea ng a main raid encounter you’ll receive experience and a bit of the
wing’s specific currency. In addi on to that a special chest will spawn containing:

14
● 2 gold ;
● 1 random piece of equipment of exotic rarity;
● 1 random piece of equipment of rare rarity;
● 1-5 decora on tokens related to the encounter;
15
● 1 Compendium of Knowledge ;
16
● Achievement collec on items ;
● 1 Legendary Insight;
● Small chance of dropping unique items like minis, ascended weapons
and/or armor chests, raid-exclusive weapons, armor or trinkets, and
17
other valuable exclusive rewards .

The special chest only appears once per week, after beating the encounter.
Repea ng the encounter in the same week mul ple mes will not cause the chest to
respawn, and you’ll be granted generic rewards instead, like bags of gear and utility
backpacks. Leaving a raid instance without loo ng the special chest may cause you to
lose the rewards.
Raid events that are not considered main encounters do not have special
rewards, and will only grant players a bit of silver plus bags of gear and u lity
backpacks.
Raid currencies also have a weekly cap. You can only obtain 150 Magne te
Shards per week and only 50 Gae ng Crystals.

14
If the effect Call of the Mists is ac ve for the Wing, you’ll receive double the amount of gold.
15
Compendium will not drop if the player has completed all mastery tracks.
16
Will only drop if you s ll need to complete the achievement.
17
You can drop mul ple items in a single chest.

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GLOSSARY E
Escort – Siege the Stronghold. First main
encounter of the third raid wing (it’s not a boss
A encounter).
EXP – Experienced. This term is commonly used
Adds – Extra minor enemies aside from the as a way to prevent non-adept players from
main one. entering some squads.
Aggro - Refers to who an enemy is targe ng.
Example: he has aggro, please move back.
F
B Fixate - A player that is temporarily chosen by
an enemy as it’s target (inside raids, this person
Benchmark - Collec on of DPS tests to show will usually have a purple diamond shape above
how strong a profession is. Disclaimer: don’t be them).
discouraged if you can’t reach the same
numbers of popular benchmarks. Don’t give up
and keep improving! G
BotP – Bas on of the Penitent, the fourth raid
Gors – Gorseval. Second boss of the first raid
wing.
wing.
BS – Banner Slave. See also: Banner Bro, Banner
GG - Good Game. It can be used to describe a
Bae. A warrior build, usually Berserker but
failure at some content [Example: gg this guys,
some mes Spellbreaker, that provides unique
let’s reset]; Can also be used as a compliment
U li es called Banners to improve the en re
for a good game; Special command available
raid Squad’s damage while also dealing
inside raids and fractals (/gg, /ff, or /qq). Check
respec vely good damage itself.
this sec on.
Break Bar - a.k.a. Defiance Bar or CC Bar. Refers
to the bars located underneath certain enemies
HP bars. The CC bar prevents them from being H
affected by CC effects, and this bar can be
damaged and broken. Check this sec on for HK – Handkiter. Special role required for Wing
more details. 4’s Deimos boss.
HoC – Hall of Chains, the fi h raid wing.

C
K
CC - Crowd Control. Any skills that prevent
ac on or movement. Check this sec on for KC – Keep Construct. Second boss of the third
more details. raid wing.
Chrono – A Mesmer elite specializa on that is Kick – Act of forcefully removing a player from
tradi onally taken for its ability to maintain key a squad or party (usually done by the
offensive boons of Quickness and Alacrity, Commander).
tanking the boss, or less commonly used as a Kiter – it can refer to mul ple special roles
damage dealing role. required for some raid encounters. The context
CM – An op onal “challenge mode” variant of the boss and wing will clarify which type of
available for some raid encounters that adds kiter is needed.
addi onal mechanics and provides KP – Kill Proof. It refers to any item that you can
achievement rewards upon the first link to others proving that you beated certain
comple on. encounter. Example: boss mini, decoration
CS - Con nuum Split. Specific Chronomancer tokens related to the encounter, exclusive
elite specializa on skill. weapons that drop from the encounter, etc.

D L
DPS –Damage per Second. Describes any build LF – Looking for.
for a profession that focuses on dealing LFG – Looking for group.
damage. May also refer to one’s ability to deal LFM – Looking for member.
damage, and is tradi onally measured using LI – Legendary Insight. Specific raid item that
“DPS Meters”, such as Arc DPS. you get every me you beat a main raid

24

encounter for the first me in a week. It’s used
by pugs as proof of raid experience.
LT – Lieutenant. Player designated by the
commander of a squad with addi onal squad
managing powers.
M be er boon distribu on, healing coverage and
Markers – Colorful symbols set by the squad’s
commander in a certain area. There can be up
to 8 symbols: arrow, circle, heart, square, star,
swirl, triangle and x.
Matt – Ma hias Gabrel. Third and final boss of
the second raid wing.
Meta - A.k.a. Metagame. Set of strategies,
prac ces and procedures created by the
community and used as “standard” approach to
contents. Check this sec on for more details.
MO – Mursaat Overseer. Second boss of the
fourth raid wing.
Mobs – Generic term to refer to enemies (can
be used instead of adds).
P Tag – Can refer to the act of hi ng mul ple
Ping – Term used to ask players to link a certain
item in the chat. Example: ping kp pls. May also
refer to internet connec on ping.
PUG – Ini als for Pick-up Group. It has been
adapted to refer to any unknown player in a
group.
R by someone towards another person or group.
Res – act of resurrec ng downed allies by
pressing F on them.
RR or Rainbow Road – refers to the second
main encounter of the fi h raid wing, River of
Souls.
S W
Sab – Sabetha. Third and final boss of the first
raid wing.
Salty - Figura ve term to describe someone
that is mad about something, referring to the
salt present in tears.
Sam – Samarog. Third boss of the fourth raid
wing.
Semi-EXP – Refers to players that know the
mechanics of an encounter but s ll need to
beat it or have very few victories at it.
SH – Soulless Horror, a.k.a. Desmina. First boss
of the fi h raid wing.
Sloth – Slothasor. First boss of the second raid
wing.
Table of Contents
SotF – Stronghold of the Faithful, the third raid
wing.
SP – Salva on Pass, the second raid wing.
Stack – Popular strategy where players posi on
themselves on top of each other. It’s commonly
used in raids, dungeons and fractals. It assures
prevents players from going astray.
Statues – Statues of Grenth. Third main
encounter of the fi h raid wing.
SV – Spirit Vale, the first raid wing.
Sub-Boss – Strong addi onal foes that spawn
during key moments in specific encounters,
many of which have their own unique
mechanics and a ack pa erns.
Subgroup - division inside a squad containing
part of the squad members. A.k.a. subsquad.
Special Action - Extra skill available in certain
contents (common inside raids). To use it
players need to have it binded18.
T
enemies or, in a raid context, to the squad’s
Commander. Example: give me tag for a
second.
Tank - designated player that is responsible for
being targeted by an enemy (usually a raid
boss) deliberately.
Trio – Bandit Trio. Second boss of the second
raid wing.
Toxic - harmful and/or mean behavior shown
V
VG – Vale Guardian. First boss of the first raid
wing.
W1, W2, W3, W4, W5 – designa on of the raid
wings.
Wipe – Death of a group by failing an
encounter. Example: we wiped many times on
Dhuum.
18
To bind a key go into Esc -> Op ons -> Control
Op ons, search for the ac on you want to bind
and set your designated key.
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 Table of Contents

LINKS

Arc DPS - www.deltaconnected.com/arcdps

DPS Report - h ps://dps.report/
Dulfy - h p://dulfy.net
GW2 Official Forum - h ps://en-forum.guildwars2.com/
GW2 Raidar - h ps://www.gw2raidar.com/
GW2 Reddit - h ps://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/
GW2 Skills - h p://en.gw2skills.net/editor/
GW2 TacO - h p://www.gw2taco.com/
GW2 Wiki - h ps://wiki.guildwars2.com
Metabattle - www.metaba le.com
Snow Crows - www.snowcrows.com

TL;DR: git gud.

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