DPS
"The main feature of the DPS player is its ability to do big damage to the enemy. DPS players rely on their teamates to divert the incoming damage and boost their own outgoing damage"
Minimum Requirements:
(​Melee range)
DEFENSE
​(In WvW):
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Armor: 2,200
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Health: 20,000
(In PvE):
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Armor: 2,000
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Health: 16,000
(In PvP):
The requirement is waived by performing correctly the role and having the utilities listed.
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OFFENSE
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Condi damage:
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Condition power: 1,500
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Power damage:
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Power: 2,500
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Critical hit chance: 65%
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Critical hit damage: 220%
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Hybrid:
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Condition power: 1300
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Power: 2200
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Critical hit chance: 50%
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Critical hit damage: 200%
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UTILITY
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A gap-closer and a safe disengage:
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Teleports, blocks, invulnerabilities, leaps, evades
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A burst skill chain​
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A pressure skill chain
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Cleave damage (for wvw)
DEFENSE
The requirement is waived by positioning away from danger.
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OFFENSE
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Condi damage:
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Condition power: 1,500
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Power damage:
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Power: 2,500
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Critical hit chance: 65%
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Critical hit damage: 220%
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Hybrid:
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Condition power: 1300
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Power: 2200
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Critical hit chance: 50%
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Critical hit damage: 200%
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UTILITY
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A burst skill chain​
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A pressure skill chain
Job Description
Melee Range
When using melee range the DPS player has to be careful about the amount of time it spends inside the enemy damage. Going towards the enemy and the danger is called an "engage" and moving away from the enemy and danger is called a "disengage". Knowing when to engage and disengage is the most important thing the melee dps player needs to learn.
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PvE - Melee range
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The Melee DPS player is the main source of damage against the enemy, its skills, equipment and traits shall be oriented to increasing that damage
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In PVE the Melee DPS player will not worry about providing utility-support to the team, this will be covered by the Support and Solo players of the team
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Exceptions may apply depending on the team composition​
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The DPS player should not take aggro and should not try to revive allies, except in critical situations.
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The Melee DPS player should have at least one way to safely engage and disengage. It shall disengage the target when the damage is too heavy (if health goes below 30%) and position itself close to the Support and Solo players of the team to get heals or revives.
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PvP-WvW Melee DPs
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When doing a Melee DPS role, it is required that the player wait on a safe position until is time to attack and when it does attack it will engage the target that is low on life, or has the least defense, or is in cooldowns, or is cc'ed.
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A Melee DPS player shall engage using a "bomb" which is its max peak dps skills, as fast as possible. In PvP the Melee DPS player should include boosting skills in their bomb skill chain, since it is common to be low on boons in a PvP situation, and you want to be able to effectively deal damage.
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The essence of the DPS player is to end the fight fast, not have an eternal fight.
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After "dropping the bomb" the Melee DPS player should disengage to a safe position, in order to prevent receiving too much damage. As general tip, the disengage should start as the Melee DPS player's health decreases to its half. For Melee DPS players with very few health, disengage may occur earlier.
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Positioning for the Melee DPS player should be slightly behind the front line, this will allow fast engage on the enemy, but still a safer zone than the front line where the main damage is going to be.
MELEE DPS ENGAGE & DISENGAGE EXAMPLE:
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This is a PvE situation but since I am alone with no heavy support against an enemy that inflicts strong damage, this situation shows a lot of similarities to a pvp or wvw scenario.
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Notice i engage when i have my burst skills available, and i disengage when i dont have more skills or when i see incoming damage. I do not stay forever near the target because thats where the damage is. By performing like this i can maximize my attack stats knowing i dont need as much sustain since im not going to receive much direct damage.
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Notice at 0:39 i do not go to revive my ally, because i know i am squishy and i will likely die while trying to revive him.
Notice at 1:03 all the players that didnt disengage are dead, and since i did disengage im able to keep doing damage. It is very important to note this because it is a common mistake for dps players to think they have to keep attacking until they die and think it is the job of the other members of the team to revive them or sustain their lives. In this game damage is higher than heals, specially considering that the DPS equipment/build is low on sustain.
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If you as DPS player keep dying you will affect the rest of the team because they will stop doing support or damage just to go and save you.
It doesnt matter if your DPS is the highest of the team, if you easily die or get downed, you are a worse issue for the team than if you have a slightly lower dps but you are alive.
Job Description
Long Range
When using long range the DPS player is able to position itself away from the enemy damage and provide a constant damage output.
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PvE - Long range DPS
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It is not very usual to have Long range DPS players in pve, because often the boss will have AoE damage all over the field, so the advantage of being away from the danger can be lost. Nonetheless there are several bosses that punish players that stack together, and this is when the Long range DPS shines because it will be able to provide constant damage while reducing pressure on the rest of the team.
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Since damage output is quite dependant on boon support, the Long range DPS player shall learn to move constantly towards its boon supporter and back into position.
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The Long range DPS player is constantly moving to avoid damage and to find support.
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The Long range DPS player needs to have a few ways to self boon-support in order to be able to maintain damage even when it is away from the team support players.
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The DPS player should not take aggro and should not try to revive allies, except in critical situations.
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PvP-WvW Long range DPS
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The Long range DPS player's job is to deal constant damage.
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Long range DPS requires the player to position itself at the maximum range possible from the enemy players, the Long range DPS player should use the terrain to keep distance between him and the enemy, the Long range DPS player should also use his melee teamates as an obstacle for the enemy to get close.
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The Long range DPS player should not stop moving because there are many enemies with teleport skills, or with long range skills as well, which can be very dangerous. So the Long range DPS player should never give an easy target to the enemy.
Testing your DPS
When doing DPS role It is very important to have high damage, it is quite common to see players with equipment set for damage but with skills or traits that do not have high damage. Look at our guide about how to select your build and equipment. Once you feel like you have selected a good build/equipment, you can perform an easy test to give you an idea of wether you are actually doing a good dps.
Either by yourself, or with the Guild Master, you can evaluate the minimum requirements. In this guild we have standardized the process by measuring DPS (damage per second) or sustain at the Special Forces Training Area, a place where you can fight an NPC, or receive damage in a controlled environment.
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It is located south of the Lion's Arch map. You will need to have heart of thorns expansion in order to access it.
For a Melee DPS role your average damage per second should be near or above 8k.
For a Long Range DPS role your average damage per second should be near or above 5k.
And for Long Range DPS you shall be able to sustain it for long periods of time.
After you do these tests, with or without the Guild Master, you should approach him and ask for a review. The Guild Master will take you to the Guild Hall arena where you will test your build and role against him.
Melee DPS PvP Pointers
DO'S AND DONT'S FOR PVP
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Do have a lot of mobility, go from side to side of the map searching for the place where dropping your bomb is going to be useful. For example a base where a tanky ally is already fighting.
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Dont go alone to drop your bomb to an enemy controlled base where you see several enemies camping. (they will kill you before you get near them)
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Do go to capture bases if you have someone available to protect you (either by distracting the enemy or giving you support)
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Dont stay to defend bases (you will be killed fast and will lose the base either way)
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DONT DUEL this role has high damage and low sustain, for duels you need high sustain, so dont do it, except if you know your individual ability is higher than the enemy ability.
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DONT CHASE when you chase you go away from your teamates whom are protecting you, as soon as you are out of their reach you are glass ready to break
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DONT STAY IN STUCK FIGHTS even though you are a dps player there will be situations in which the enemy team just has too much support, in this scenario you are most likely going to be more useful elsewhere in the map. Remember you can run away from a fight, and still give value to your team.
PEAK DAMAGE - BURST - BOMB
Look at the essence of the DPS bomb. A huge peak of damage that finishes enemies within seconds.
Notice that to be able to do this, i had to wait until I had an ally to distract and do numerical advantage, this allowed me to get close unharmed.
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Also notice I self boost myself before using my damaging skills, this grants me really big damage
Again here, look how I waited for a second to have my boost skills and then i get the kill in seconds.
Also notice again i use my ally as distraction which allows me to take my time and do my bursts safely and effectively.
CHOOSING YOUR FIGHTS
In this clip you can see our guild member MoonBootz doing a great example of the melee dps role. First notice at 0:18, when she enters the fight, she enters with her strongest skill (aka bomb) hitting a target that has been CC'd by the ally dragonhunter. She is able to save skills due to the teamwork, and as you can see she finishes the fight quickly which is the essence of the dps bomb.
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Then at 0:42 look how she notices that she is at disadvantage, and instead of dying there, she performs a crossing maneuver and goes for an easy decap.
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As a DPS player you dont need to fight all the time, choose your fights and do what is going to give you more score points.
Again notice she chooses the fight, at 0:13 she has captured the base and an enemy appears, she knows well her job is not to duel, so instead she goes to +1 another fight.
See at 0:21 the essence of the DPS player as she gets the enemy kill within seconds.
Then back to the base this time with numbers advantage at 0:48 and she does an excelent engage boosting her damage with a lightining field and brutal bolts combo, while ripping the enemy's boons. Once more the essence of the dps player getting a kill within a couple seconds.
Bottom line here: she was able to get 10 points from 2 kills and earn control of the center of the map, because she chose not to fight at the begining of the clip.
Again, here you see I saw 2 enemies coming at me and i decided to navigate away from them, thanks to this decision im able to +1 a fight where the enemy is already tired, an ideal situation to get full value of my dps bomb, with it i get 2 kills in a couple seconds, then with numbers advantage i get the third kill.
Notice at 0:23 i boost myself as i engage the fight. And at 0:46 again to end the kill fast. Which is as i said the essence of the dps player.
THE WHOLE THING: CHOOSING FIGHTS, ENGAGE, DISENGAGE, BOMB
This is the perfect example of how a Melee DPS player should play, by MoonBootz.
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She starts by positioning in a safe place, from where she does a constant pressure.
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She doesnt go into a fight where she doesnt know the characteristics of the enemy
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When the enemy is low on health she rushes with a fast engage and a dps bomb
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At 0:28 when the enemy rallies and bursts her, she disengages with dodge and defensive skills
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At 0:36 the enemy chases her and she holds for a bit with defensive sequence, and then disengages again with a teleport
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This teleport disengage serves also as a gap closer to engage the downed enemy, which she does with her dps bomb
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And with her team she is able to get all 3 kills, and strong momentum in the match.
Melee DPS WvW Pointers
DO'S AND DONT'S FOR WVW
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Stay close to your Melee dps lieutenant
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If you are the Melee dps lieutenant or if he is dead, remember positioning is slightly behind the tanks group (always keep in mind for any game mode that as melee dps you need something to defend you from direct enemy damage)
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Dont place yourself directly behind the tanks group, because the enemy zerg will try to cross the tank group and you will be in their trayectory. Instead place yourself slightly diagonal
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DONT CHASE when you chase you go away from your teamates whom are protecting you, as soon as you are out of their reach you are glass ready to break
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If you are pulled, or pushed, or stuck, or get lost, or any other that makes you separate from your team, try to go back to them BUT only when it is not too dangerous. Do not go across the damage zone just to join the team, because you will die.
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Follow the commander's or lieutenant instruction to bomb the enemy at the same time
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DONT revive fainted allies, you dont have sustain and you will die trying to revive.
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Remember to disengage. Usually there will not be an instruction to disengage, you have to decide for yourself.
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Dont waste your bomb on NPC's or downed enemies, unless your commander or LT asks for it.
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Begin your bombing sequence with a defensive skill chain, if you just jump inside the damage zone with your damage skills you will probably die before you can actually touch someone.
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Disengage using your disengage sequence, with skills and dodges. DONT disengage walking.
In this clip you see a practice session in which our member Arknog shows the melee dps engage and disengage.
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In this clip we only have 2 DPS players in the front line but in the next clip you will see how it should look with a bit more players.
Here you can see how it looks with more players. Notice there is a player marked with a Star, he is the Lieutenant for the Melee Dps group, and he is the one that commands the movement of his team.
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See they hit fast then go away fast. As this was an early practice session, there are still several things to fix, but this will give you the general idea.
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At the end of the clip you see how would be the movement of the melee dps team, which is behind the support tanks and slightly diagonal to prevent being hit by an anemy that crosses the tanks.
In this clip you can see again how Arknog does his engage and disengage constantly and as a result he is able to survive the whole fight and do great damage which ends up giving us the victory.
Long range DPS PvP Pointers
DO'S AND DONT'S FOR PVP
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Do have a lot of mobility go from side to side of the map searching for the place where you can drop steady damage. For example a base where a tanky ally is already fighting.
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Dont go alone to fights, if your stats are correctly distributed you are most likely very squishy, so the enemy is going to kill you if you dont have a distraction.
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Dont stay to defend bases, you are ranged so you need something between you and the enemy, if you stay in the base you are an easy target.
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DONT DUEL this role has constant damage and low sustain, for duels you need high sustain, so dont do it, except if you know your individual ability is higher than the enemy ability.
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Try to place targets on the enemies you are hitting so other players can hit them as well
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Try to finish downed enemies, and use them to your advantage, since their teamates will try to revive them, thats a good place to drop all your damage
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Try to down escaping enemies and those low in life. But be careful not to lose your position. Also prioritize the most dangerous enemies first (dps players, or skillfull players)
Notice throught the match i try to stay at max range from the enemy, constantly moving to prevent them form coming at me easily. I also use terrain to further distance the enemy from me.
Also notice i call target everytime i focus an enemy, this helps my teamates know who to attack first.
Finally, see that even though im dps, im not always thinking on getting kills, i go to the places where i think im gonna get more score from, that includes capturing empty bases at times or stopping squishy enemies that are away from their team.
Long Range DPS WvW Pointers
DO'S AND DONT'S FOR WVW
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Stay close to your Long Range DPS lieutenant
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If you are the Long Range DPS lieutenant or if he is dead, remember positioning is at 900-1200 range depending on your teamates range. And it should be behind the tanks group (always keep in mind for any game mode that as ranged dps you need something to defend you from direct enemy damage)
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Dont place yourself directly behind the tanks group, because the enemy zerg will try to cross the tank group and you will be in their trayectory. Instead place yourself slightly diagonal
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Dont spread farther than you can regroup with your LT or your long-range-team's support.
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If you are pulled, or pushed, or stuck, or get lost, or any other that makes you separate from your team, try to go back to them BUT only when it is not too dangerous. Do not go across the damage zone just to join the team, because you will die.
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ALWAYS DROP YOUR DAMAGE ON TOP OF THE MELEE TEAM. Damage is essential for a good defensive scheme, if there is no damage on the Tank's position the enemy will notice and will be more agressive. Also if there is no constant damage on the tank's position, when the melee team drops the bomb they wont kill any enemies if they all have their full health and cleanses.
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DONT revive fainted allies, your job is to provide constant damage.
In this clip you see how important is good positioning of the Long range DPS players. In the first fight at 0:28 you see we are surprised by the enemy, but thanks to the excelent positioning of the Long Range players, we are able to do significant constant damage to the enemy until they run out of support and perish.
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The second and third fight you see the same thing, the Long Range team safely dealing big constant damage to the enemy, in both fights using terrain to stay away from the enemy damage.
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Notice all the time the Long range team is directing their damage to the position where the melee team is, that is what allows the melee team to do their job effectively.
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