Guild Wars 2 players may find themselves at a loss with Willbenders at first but here is a nice open world build that can be easily repurposed for raids, fractals and even PvP.
Willbenders are one of the most agile specs in Guild Wars 2 but they are also pretty good in more specific areas of the game once you get the hang of the mechanics. This build is here to give you that intro and get you through open-world content at the same time.
Traits
- Raidance
- Mid - Right Hand Strength
- Bot - Retribution
- Bot - Righteous Instincts
- Virtues
- Mid - Resolute Subconscious
- Top - Inspiring Virtue
- Bot / Top - Indomitable Courage / Permeating Wrath
- Willbender
- Mid - Power for Power
- Mid / Top - Holy Reckoning / Restorative Virtues
- Mid - Tyrant's Momentum
In the case of Indomitable Courage versus Permeating Wrath in Virtues, it's a personal choice. Pick Bot if you prefer to have an additional stun break or Top if you want more damage on Rushing Justice.
Choosing between Holy Reckoning and Resotrative Virtues is a pick between Might and Fury uptime versus better cooldowns. Since open world is often done solo, I prefer to spam my own boons. If you have someone doing it for you, then the cooldowns might be a better option.
Utility skills
- Litany of Wrath
- Roiling Light
- Bane Signet
- Sword of Justice
- "Feel my Wrath!"
I prefer Litany of Wrath over Reversal of Fortune because it's often more reliable. After all, I would rather rely on my damage output to heal me than an AI's ability to attack me. It also doesn't take away any time that could be used to attack the enemies.
Roiling Light is a fantastic utility. It offers an additional dodge, stun break and defiance break / daze. Opportunities for this skill to shine are countless.
Bane Signet is good for providing passive damage but also comes in handy when a defiance bar is strong enough to withstand Roling Light and the rest of your CC.
Sword of Justice is always good to have because it's AoE damage and vulnerability. No reason not to have it around.
Feel My Wrath is great for Fury on demand, in case you fluked your virtues. On top of that, it's great for quickly pushing out channeled damage, like Whirling Wrath or Zealot's Defence.
An alternative to Feel my Wrath could be Heaven's Palm for a massive defiance break and AoE CC. In this case, you might want to swap Bane Signet for Smite Condition as the build is a bit lacking in the condition removal department.
Gear
- Berserker on everything
- Set of Superior Rune of the Scholar
- Superior Rune of Strength works fine if you don't have the money for the above
- Greatsword
- Superior Sigil of Force
- Superior Sigil of Air / Superior Sigil of Cleansing
- Dual Swords
- Superior Sigil of Force
- Superior Sigil of Air / Superior Sigil of Cleansing
Use cleansing sigils if you're not using a utility skill with condition removal. Otherwise, damage-enhancing sigils are always welcome, Superior Sigil of Air was just picked because it's cheap and effective.
Usage
What you generally want to do is engage the enemies with your first Virtue (Rushing Justice). After opening with it, go for:
- Dual Sword rotation: Sword of Justice, Executioner's Calling, Zealot's Defence (when facing one or two enemies)
- Greatsword rotation: Binding Blade, Sword of Justice, Binding Blade (pull), Symbol of Resolution, Whirling Wath (when facing a group of enemies)
These two sequences are your bread and butter but everything else is situational. If an enemy is beefy enough not to be kill with one of these bursts, you will need to alternate between your weapons and keep doing the rotations.
Don't forget to use Rushing Justice virtue as much as possible. It does good damage on its own and further enhances damage done by your other abilities.
Flowing Resolve is your usual healing ability. It provides decent healing that should get you out of most of the situations but if push comes to shove, you always have Litany of Wrath. That is your "get out of jail free" card so try saving it for situations when you're close to dying.
Willbender has immense mobility but it's squishy under focused fire. In other words, you will have to dance around the battlefield by using the virtues, sword abilities and Roiling Light to avoid most of the damage but you are more than capable of bring down even the toughest (but soloable) enemies on your own.
