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Accessible Power Dragonhunter

Trap and topple mighty foes with our Guild Wars 2 Accessible Power Dragonhunter build.
Published Jun 4, 2024 Updated Jun 29, 2024
AccessiBuilds - February 2025 Balance
Quack meta team
Hand Kite Enthusiast
Accessible Power Dragonhunter
Skills Gearset Build Template
Guardian Builds
This and all AccessiBuilds are currently in preview. We'd love your feedback on this build or any thoughts you have on the overall initiative over on our Discord.
Gear
Item Stat

Dragon'sHelm

Dragon'sShoulders

Dragon'sCoat

Dragon'sGloves

Dragon'sLeggings

Dragon'sBoots
Item Stat

Dragon'sBackpiece

Dragon'sAccessory

Dragon'sAccessory

Dragon'sAmulet

Dragon'sRing

Dragon'sRing

Relic
Primary Weapon Set

Berserker's HammerMain Hand
Secondary Weapon Set

Berserker's LongbowMain Hand
Other Items

Food

Utility

Jade Bot Core
Traits & Skills
Skills
Heal Skills

There are two alternate options for a heal skill worth considering.

  • will provide a short Block along with a larger up front Heal.
  • provides Condition Removal to you every few seconds. It is a good choice on fights with high condition pressure.
Group Utility

Nearly all of your skill slots are open to fill the needs of your party. Mitigating mechanics will allow you to keep swinging, so take what will best help each encounter. Some noteworthy skills to know about:

  • provides a lot of Stability and a little Resolution to your subroup, allowing you to ignore many mechanics. As a Shout, it is instant-cast and will not interrupt other skills.
  • provides more Resolution and pulsing Stability to your subgroup with a longer Cooldown and 1 second cast time. Bring this over to help maintain your Resolution uptime if you are not getting enough from your supports.
  • provides Aegis to your party with 2 Ammunition. This will not only Block powerful attacks, but will also trigger .
  • provides protection from ranged attacks, but more importantly a massive amount of Defiance Break over 5 seconds.
  • provides pulsing Condition Removal to your allies while applying Burning to enemies in the Fire Field.
Gearing Notes

If you do not have access to Dragon's gear you have two options depending on your needs:

First, you could swap to a mix of Berserker's and Marauder's gear. There is no "right" mix of the two, so experiment and use as much Berserker's as you are comfortable with.

  • Berserker's to maximize Damage
  • Marauder's for some survivability via extra Vitality

Alternatively, if you want to squeeze out a little extra Damage while you swing your Hammer, swap to a mix of Assassin's and Berserker's gear:

  • Berserker's Gear: Headgear and one Ring
  • Assassin's Gear: all other gear inlcuding weapons
  • Swap the Radiance Trait Line to the Honor Trait Line. Make sure to use and whatever other traits fit your needs. doubles the duration of your Hammer's , so your Damage increase relies on your target standing still. If the boss gets the zoomies your damage will suffer no matter which build you use, but more so with Honor.
Rotation & Extras

Basic Gameplay Guide

Behold, the mighty Hammer! The advantage of this Dragonhunter build is that it reduces the Actions Per Minute at the cost of a slightly lower Damage ceiling. Your Auto Attacks will automatically maintain both and , so step up to your target and start swinging!

Seriously, that's it. Just keep swinging.

If you are feeling preasured, there are multiple defensive options you can use:

  • 6 provides psuedo Invulnerability by Healing you for a percentage of damage done for 6 seconds as well as Resolution from . This allows you to stay on the offensive and should not be held back. Use it whenever you need.
  • 0 will provide 3 seconds of Invulnerability and will resfresh your Virtues. This makes for a good "panic button" if needed.
  • F3 provides Aegis to your subgroup allows you to Block attacks in front of you for a few seconds.
  • will provide enough Stability for you are your sub group to ignore any relavent mechanic as well as provide some Resolution.
Resolution Uptime

This build relies heavily on Resolution to maintain high Damage. Without full uptime, you will lose the benefits of and more importantly . This could be a 25%+ Damage drop! If your healer is not providing enough Resolution you can either focus on generating your own or remove your reliance on Resolution.

To provide yourself Resolution, you can use as any of the following to help hit full uptime:

  • Your Heal skill thanks to . With , that is about 50% uptime.
  • is about 25% uptime.
  • Swap in is about 50% uptime. Warning, it is Ground-Targeted
  • Swap to at a small Damage loss. If your healer is pumping out Aegis or you are using , even better!

Alternatively, you can swap out your gear for Assassin's with a touch of Berserker's and switch the Radiance Trait Line to the Honor Trait Line. If you make this swap, you will lose about 20% of your maximum Hit Points so make sure to avoid getting hit. Going Down is a bigger DPS loss than spotty Resolution uptime. For full details, see the Gearing Notes section above.
Use the options below to expand your combat utility with additional weapon skills. It is recommended that you work your way through them in order.
Hammer

Relative to other weapons, Hammer's 2 - 5 do not add significant damage, so learn how to use them for their utility:

  • 2 provides a small Leap, but more importantly a Blast Finisher. Using this in your Light Field will provide Condition Removal.
  • 3 provides some Barriers to you along with a short Immobilize.
  • 4 provides decent Defiance Break with the added benefit of refreshing the Cooldown of , allowing for the simple combo 2 4 2. This combo is useful for extra Condition Removal.
  • 5 provides decent Defiance Break and applies Knockback to any enemy that tries to cross it.
Longbow

If a fight requires a ranged option for a phase, Weapon Swap to Longbow, making sure to return to Hammer as soon as you can. Skill priority on Longbow should be the following:

  • 4 is needed to upkeep your and bonuses. It is Ground-Targeted.
  • 5 is needed to upkeep your bonus. It is Ground-Targeted.
  • 2 is a damage increase over Auto Attack.
  • 3 will provide some range Defiance Break from Knockback.
Greatsword

If you are looking for an option that will allow you to transition into the Full Raid build, swap your Hammer to Greatsword. This will obviously increase the complexity as any APM is bigger than zero is an increase. To begin with, use the simple rotaiton:

  1. 4
  2. 2
  3. Fill with Auto Attacks

Both of these skills combinded do a lot of work for the build. Some notes about both skills:

  • 4 creates a Symbol which provides a lot for the build:
    • It upkeeps full stacks of .
    • It generates Resolution for your party which will help upkeep and .
    • It triggers to provide a 4 second burst window.
  • 2 does massive damage if you are standing in the hitbox of your target. You can move slowly while channeling the skill, so track your target and do not activate another skill until it finishes casting. This skill is also provides multiple Whirl Finishers which when used in your Symbol provide Condition Removal.

Once you are comfortable with this, try swapping to in the Dragonhunter Trait Line. This is a great option if know the encounter and can maximize the extra damage multiplier. Add to the beginning of your rotation:

  1. F1 if available
  2. 4
  3. 2
  4. Fill with Auto Attacks

When active, provides a large damage buff thanks to as well as a Light Aura from . Make sure to not use the flip skill . Using will provide both Cripple and Burning which will reliable trigger the traits and .

Your final two skills on Greatsword will provide a higher damage ceiling over Auto Attack. Use them after 2 in your basic rotation when available.

  • 3 is a Leap Finisher that provides a small Heal. If used in your Symbol it will provide a Light Aura granting you more Resolution.
  • 5 is a Whirl Finisher that provides some damage over time. The flip skill, 5 will allow you to Pull targets towards you which will be very useful for some encounters.
Advancing Further

Check out the Beginner Power Dragonhunter for some guidance on how to push this build even further! Beginner builds provide step-by-step instructions for reaching the full raid build, but are fully functional at each step. As it mirrors the full raid build, you will need to regear as well as adjust your trait lines, however you can mix and match both builds if desired.
Solo Play

With some minor adjustments, this build can easily be adapted for playing outside of a structured group. Make the following changes, each of which will help maintain personal boons:

  • Swap your Elite skill to and use it frequently.
  • In the Zeal Trait Line swap to
  • In the Radiance Trait Line swap to

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