Guild Wars 2 Guide to Willbender

With the End of Dragon update, Guild Wars 2 brought Elite Specializations to every class. For the Guardian, we have here Willbender Specialization that is pretty adventurous to play with. The only issue is that there isn’t much out there to help you make the best out of this Specialization. For this specific reason, we have here a Guild Wars 2 Guide to Willbender. So, without any further ado, let’s hop into the details of this guide.

Willbender in Guild Wars 2

Willbender is the Elite Specialization of Guardian Class and is more on the Agile side. The major change in contrast to Guardian Class is that you get to wield another Sword in your Off-hand. You accompany various techniques and mechanisms in the game to burn the enemies. 

While making a comparison to the other Specializations for Guardian Class, which are mostly focused on Support and Survivability, you get to enjoy being a damage dealer with Willbender. 

Abilities

For the most part, the Willbenders revolve around Courage, Justice, and Resolve Virtues. Mostly like the other Guardian Specializations, the Willbenders take advantage of the buffs and then utilize abilities like Shadow step, Dash, and Evade abilities.

There is only one Willbender Flame at a time, as the one you will use overwrites the previous one. 

Willbender Skills

There are quite a lot of Skills with this specialization. Below, we have nearly all of them explained to you in detail.

Professional Skills

Rushing Justice: This is a Virtue Skill that allows the Willbender to lock onto the target and rush towards him. During this, the Willbender Flames appear and you gain Justice. Willbender Flames are converted to DPS skill that deals damage to enemies.

Flowing Resolve: This is also a Virtue Skill that allows the Willbender to remove the de-buffs and have the Flowing Resolve. In your wake, you will start to evade the attack, rushing towards the enemies and your steps have Willbender Flames left behind. Willbender Flames appear in the footsteps dealing damage to the enemies.

Crashing Courage: This is a Virtue Skill that gives you buffs and does the Willbender Flames at the time of shadow stepping a short distance. You also gain Courage during this Skill. Willbender Flames appear in a ring that does damage to the foes.

Slot Skills

The reverse of Fortune: This is a Physical Skill that is associated with defense. Upon usage, a light will appear to guard you, nullifying completely the strikes from enemies and then also healing you. It doesn’t matter if the enemy strike is lethal or not. In case the enemy attack has no effects to neglect, nor any lethal damage from that enemy, then the healing is lowest.

Flash Combo: A Physical Skill that allows you to use shadow steps to reach the target and after that you strike the target many times. If the attack succeeds, you will gain Repose.

Repose: A Physical Skill that shadow steps you to the combo starting point (flash combo)

Whirling Light: A Physical Skill that lunges you to the target forward and then does a whirlwind kill, doing the burning damage and also imposing weakness.

Heel Crack: A Physical Skill that does a stomp strike with your heel and in return the character will get stunned.

Roiling Light: A Physical Skill that makes your character dodge backward after breaking the stun. You will have Swiftness in return, along with blindness to the enemies. Further, you also have Quick Retribution.

Quick Retribution: A Physical Skill that deals a disorienting strike after lunging a bit to the target forward. In return, the enemy gets dazed.

Heaven’s Palm: Finally, it is also a Physical Skill that allows you to use shadow steps and afterward, slam on the ground. It is a type of AoE that knocks the enemies down.

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Weapon Skills

Executioner’s Calling: With this skill, the Willbender uses rending force to strike foes. You further use the dual strike to deal exceptional damage to the enemies that were hit with the first strike

Advancing Strike: This skill dashes you to the target and then the Willbender will use the shadow steps to attack them, immobilizing and slow to the enemies.

Build for Willbender in Guild Wars 2

Best Specializations

The minor traits for Willbender will give you the enhancements for speed, making them mobile, and able to move in the field. Furthermore, you get the Lethal Temp which is a buff for damage and stacks up. Whenever the Virtue activates for 5 stacks, you will get the buff refreshed.

This is where the play style of Willbenders comes into consideration, as you will have to keep the Lethal Temp going and stack them together to get the best out of your Build.

Coming to the Major Traits, the best one is no doubt Searing Pact which enhances your flame effect and damage. Another one is Tyrant’s Momentum, which enhances your Lethal Temp damage bonus along with the reduction of duration. In this way, you can do more in less time.

Radiant Specialization

This specialization goes incredibly well with Willbender's overall design. On the side of Minor Traits, you have defensive properties like Rushing Justice. It will reduce the cooldown by refreshing on kills and adds up to the critical chance, giving you Ferocity. 

The Major Trait by name of Inner Fire gives you Fury whenever you have Burning Stacks and strike the enemies with it. Radiant Fire Trait enhances the duration of your Willbender Burning, uses the Zealot’s Flame Torch Skill for critics on burns, and lessens the recharge time of torch skill.

To make the Justice Virtue have a longer effect and more damage on Burns, you can use the Amplified Wrath.

Zeal Specialization

If you are looking for a solid pick for your Willbender, you can go for Zeal as well. On the side of Minor Traits, you have damage enhancement along with buffs for defense. The damage is done with Vulnerability and targets hit with that weapon Skill Symbol. 

The Major Traits have Fiery Wrath that also enhances the burning damage, the Kindled Zeal gives you condition damage, converting the ten percent power from Willbender to that. Finally, the Eternal Armory gives you buff on Weapon Skills for Spirit. This will further give you a good reduction in the cooldown, the first hits cause burns and then the additional casts as well.

Best Equipment

Weapons

On the weapons side, your right-hand weapon is still your main weapon and goes perfectly well with the Willbender. It has good mobility and quickly swings attacks on enemies. 

The little bit of change you want with this build is related to the off-hand weapon and instead of having a sword, you need to put the End of Dragons expansion torch, which can enhance your burning skills for the weapon but does take a hit on your mobility as well. 

Combining that with the Zealot’s Flame and Radiant Fire’s buffs, you can effortlessly do burning damage to the enemies without having to worry about them turning off for half the time.

This was for the primary weapon set, and for the secondary, Mace is a great choice as it gives you great damage, along with abilities to heal yourself. When you are close up in combat, you need some type of healing to enhance your survivability. 

Gear

Your main focus is on Mobility and Damage, but with this build, you can also put focus on the Condition Damage, along with Power, Expertise, Precision, and Ferocity. At level 80, you need good gear to survive in combat and there is nothing better than Viper.

With this, you will have the Expertise to burn the close targets at the full cap. In terms of Armory, you need Grieving Gear that doesn’t focus on Expertise, but rather on Ferocity, changing a bit of scheme, and adding critical hit damage.

Sigils

Superior Sigil of Smoldering is your pick for both sets, giving a boost to your burning duration.

Superior Sigil of Bursting gives a condition damage bonus to the same hand weapon

Superior Sigil of Corruption is the right pick for your off-hand weapon, giving you corruption that stack well with the main hand weapon buffs.

Runes

For the Rune Armor set of Willbender, you can’t go wrong with the Superior Rune of Balthazar, giving you whooping condition damage and burning duration. At maximum, you have a hundred percent burning condition bonus. Furthermore, with this rune, you will have a health increase that makes you great for surviving tough conditions.

Best Skills

You should go for the skills that enhance the damage of Willbender, but don’t forget that survivability is also important. For that you have Litany of Wrath, giving you a healing skill that is amongst the best. Some part of the damage is then converted into health for Willbender. The damage includes Burning, as well as Willbender Flames.

Utility Skills

For utility skills, there is nothing complex here, as Purging Flames is a versatile skill providing you with a ring of burning fire for multiple enemies and stacks of Burning. It also has that cure condition effect for your teammates. Besides this, the Hammer of Wisdom and the Justice Sword take recharge from the trait of External Armory. 

Elite Skills

Coming towards the Elite Skills, you can go for various options here in this build. If you are a Human, who went for Willbender, then the Hounds of Balthazar gives you two hounds (Fiery) as summons. These pets will do burning damage. 

On the other hand, if you are not a Human, there is Mistfire Wolf Skill that calls upon only a single wolf that does the same burning damage.

Both of these skills are no doubt exceptional for single and team fights. The enemies will simply notice them and follow the hounds, while you can deal exceptional Condition damage to the enemies in return.

It is great but not best for Player vs Player, Strike Missions, and even Raids. Therefore, you can change it to Renewed Focus Skill, making you invincible for a few seconds, giving you back all the Virtues, and also assisting Lethal Tempo. 

Final Verdict

Willbenders are one of the coolest Elite Specializations to play with and they are also fairly easy to understand. They have exceptional mobility and are considered damage doers, along with the Burning Flames. There are a lot of great skills to choose from, making it a hard decision on which one to pump for a build. Willbenders do take a toll on support and survival, as you can’t have everything in a single build. To help you pave a better path as Willbender and understand the build complete, we have here a Guild Wars 2 Guide to Willbender.