GW2 Accessibility: Classes and Settings for Players with Disabilities

Players with disabilities, particularly mobility issues, often wonder which GW2 class will best suit their needs. We’ve put together a list of class and build recommendations, plus an assortment of other suggestions for settings that can improve accessibility.

If you have more suggestions, please leave a comment!

Metabattle LI Builds

Metabattle has added LI builds to their site. LI builds are “for players that have disabilities that may prevent them from playing higher intensity builds, though they are here for any player who wishes to play them.” Check out the full list of Open World LI Builds here.

Bearbow Ranger

Our best recommendation for players with mobility or accessibility issues is the classic Bearbow Ranger. This build has been a go-to since the game’s earliest days, and for good reason.

The Bearbow Ranger build relies on the longbow as a primary weapon. This weapon requires you to stay as far away from your target as possible. The farther you are from your target, the more damage the longbow deals out. Using a longbow lets you cause massive damage to foes from a distance, which helps keep you out of the fray.

This build uses the Brown Bear as a tank. This pet is a true damage sponge, and can also cleanse conditions from you. Frankly, the Brown Bear can take care of most enemies on its own.

Ranger also has access to a lot of passive traits which can be helpful. Although most Bearbow Ranger builds will have you take skills like “Sic Em” and “Protect Me,” you may find that signets are a better trade-off for your play style. We recommend the following signets for players with accessibility issues:

• Signet of Renewal: You and your pet recover health.
• Signet of Stone: Improves toughness for you and your pet.
• Signet of the Wild: 25% increased movement speed for you and your pet.

Minion Master Necro

Minion Necro is our other recommendation for Guild Wars 2 players with accessibility issues. Minion builds surround you with so many minions, you barely have to do anything yourself. Also, the minions are gross and fun, which is always entertaining.

Minions aren’t currently considered “meta,” so it’s a little difficult to find current builds for them. We recommend this archived Metabattle Minion Master Necromancer build as a good starting point.

GW2 Accessiblity Settings

The following accessibility settings and recommendations can be helpful for players with accessibility issues.

Autoloot

The Advanced Logistics mastery on the Central Tyria: Pact Commander Mastery Track lets you pick up loot in your area automatically. No more running around clicking F!

To turn on this mastery, go to Hero Panel > Masteries tab > tick both “Autoloot” boxes.

Auto-Attack

To enable auto-attack for a weapon skill, ctrl+right click that skill. You can only have one skill set for auto-attack at a time.

Options > General Options

Turn on:

• AOE Loot on Interact
• Autotargeting
• Snap Ground Target to Current Target

GW2 Seizure Triggers

A warning for players who have photosensitive seizures or migraines (like me). Like many games, Guild Wars 2 carries a seizure warning. But since when did I ever let that stop me?

One major exception is Glint’s Lair. This instanced story location shows up three times:

• Path of Fire story (during Crystalline Memories)
• Living World Season 2 (during Hidden Arcana)
• Living World Season 4 (during Scion & Champion)

Glint’s Lair has a shifting crystalline aesthetic accompanied by flashing lightning strikes which trigger migraines for me. Other players have reported the same problem.

If you have photosensitive seizures or migraines, I recommend caution with this location. The two best options for handling it are:

• Many players will be happy to help you out if you explain your situation. If you party up for the story instance they can carry you through the instance, doing all the fighting while you keep the game minimized. In the past, I have asked guild members to help me out here. You can also create an LFG to ask for help.
• You can skip those chapters entirely. It’s unsatisfying, but at least it’s safe.

Of course, every person is different. Some players have reported other triggers in the game, including the Herald’s flashing ground-targeted skill, the spinning location in the Bitter Harvest story step, some of the cosmetic skins, and more.

If you have photosensitive migraine or seizures, you may find it helpful to turn off post-processing effects and change all your graphics settings to “Best Performance.” This can help somewhat with the various glittering effects.

Photo by Becca on Unsplash