PvXwiki:Editing Builds

This page is an official policy on PvXwiki. It has wide acceptance among editors and is considered a standard that all users should follow.

Wikis are based on the theory that the product of the collaboration of a group of individuals will produce a better article than that of a single individual. This is a tried-and-true method, but one which may at first seem poorly suited to a dynamic rating system such as Real Vetting. Given the ability of users other than the the author to manipulate a build, thus effecting its ranking, it is important to distinguish when a build should be edited, by whom it can be edited, and what should be edited, in order to allow for the dynamic nature both of a Wiki and of the rating system.

Creating New Builds

In order to create a new build, user should follow the rules outlined in the Style Guidelines, particularly the style and formatting guide.

Naming Your Build

In order to keep PvXwiki organized, builds shall be named in a consistent and organized fashion. Depending on whether a page covers an individual or a team build and whether it's designed for PvE or PvP the structure of a page title varies slightly:

Individual Builds: PvE
Title Element	Explanation
1. Namespace	All featured builds will be in the build namespace; builds which are no longer favoured by the PvX community get moved to the archive namespace. Thus, the beginning of the page title must be "Build:" to show that it features a current build. Correct: Build: Incorrect:   Build build: Build : Build -
2. Professions	Primary/Secondary After the namespace the abbreviations of the primary and secondary professions will be listed, with a slash ( / ) between them, similar to how they are seen in game. Use the in-game abbreviations: W = Warrior R = Ranger Mo = Monk N = Necromancer Me = Mesmer E = Elementalist A = Assassin Rt = Ritualist P = Paragon D = Dervish If the secondary profession is variable or unused, substitute it with a lower case "any". If the build allows any primary profession use "Any" (capital "A"). Correct: Mo/Me R/any Any/Rt Incorrect: M/Mes Mo/me R R/ R/Any any/Rt
3. Name	If a build is well-known in the community under a certain name the page should be titled accordingly: Build:P/W Imbagon An exception are names which are to be considered offensive. If no commonly known name exists for a build it is recommended to name it after the elite skill – unless doing so would create an overly ambiguous page name. In that case you should instead briefly describe the build and/or its purpose. Distinct: Build:A/N Oola's Lab Runner Build:A/W Droknar's Forge Runner Ambiguous: Build:A/N Shadow Form Build:A/W Shadow Form You can use the prefix "PvE" to avoid mix-ups with PvP builds using the same elite skill or a similar name. In most cases the PvE prefix can be omitted. Correct: Signet of Spirits Warrior's Endurance Axe Elemental Attunement Fire Magic Half-Range Caster Incorrect: Ghost Caboodle Chop Chop Chop Fire Spammer Silent Whisperer
4. Role	If the build is for a hero, simply use the suffix "Hero". Other builds can be tagged with a role. This is meant to be done only when it helps to improve otherwise ambiguous page names: Build:A/E Shadow Form Tank Build:A/any Shadow Form Runner Build:A/Me Shadow Form Farmer Only add specific roles instead of such as damage dealer or elementalist. If a page title is sufficiently informative without a role, don't add one in the first place – a well-picked descriptive name can circumvent the necessity of adding a role to the title. Correct: Hero Runner Prot Incorrect: Hero/Player DD Elementalist Ele pwnz0r
Examples of correct page titles
Build:D/any Vow of Strength Build:Any/N Augury Rock HM Build:N/any Minion Bomber Hero Note: Since the main bar elite skill sees use in other builds aswell and there are common elite skill variants the build is best described by the function it's well-known by ingame: Minion Bomber. No hero tag because the page covers both player and hero builds. Build:N/Rt Blood is Power Healer Hero Note: As there are other somewhat common ways to use the secondary profession of a Blood is Power hero the page title received both a role attribution and the hero tag for clarity.

Individual Builds: PvP
Title Element	Explanation
1. Namespace	All featured builds will be in the build namespace; builds which are no longer favoured by the PvX community get moved to the archive namespace. Thus, the beginning of the page title must be "Build:" to show that it features a current build. Correct: Build: Incorrect:   Build build: Build : Build -
2. Professions	Primary/Secondary After the namespace the abbreviations of the primary and secondary professions will be listed, with a slash ( / ) between them, similar to how they are seen in game. Use the in-game abbreviations: W = Warrior R = Ranger Mo = Monk N = Necromancer Me = Mesmer E = Elementalist A = Assassin Rt = Ritualist P = Paragon D = Dervish If the secondary profession is variable or unused, substitute it with a lower case "any". If the build allows any primary profession use "Any" (capital "A"). Correct: Mo/Me R/any Any/Rt Incorrect: M/Mes Mo/me R R/ R/Any any/Rt
3. Game mode	For general PvP builds use "PvP". PvP builds which are designed exclusively for one PvP mode bear the appropriate abbreviation. Correct: RA = Random Arenas HA = Heroes' Ascent GvG = Guild Battles JQ = Jade Quarry FA = Fort Aspenwood AB = Alliance Battles Incorrect:   Arenas Henchmen's Ascent Guild Battles JQ and FA ab
4. Flux	PvP builds are affected by the flux effect which changes monthly. Some PvP builds are designed for a specific flux, which should be reflected by the page title. As the flux names are usually longer than the month names the design for a specific flux has to be indicated with the month name. If a build works by design with multiple flux effects but not without them, use "Flux". Correct: April November Flux Incorrect: There Can Be Only One All In June and July January     no flux effect April Flux If a build is not viable during a specific flux, mention it in the flux templates of the build page instead of the page title.
5. Name	If a build is well-known in the community under a certain name the page should be titled accordingly: Build:D/any GvG Zurrie Dervish An exception are names which are to be considered offensive. If no commonly known name exists for a build it is recommended to name it after the elite skill – unless doing so would create an overly ambiguous page name. In that case you should instead briefly describe the build and/or its purpose. Distinct: Build:Me/any GvG Hex Spread Build:Me/Mo GvG Scourge Ambiguous: Build:Me/any GvG Keystone Signet Build:Me/Mo GvG Keystone Signet Correct: Signet of Suffering Shock Axe Half-Range Caster Incorrect: Degeneration Powerhouse Chop Chop Chop Silent Whisperer
6. Role	Tagging a build with a role is especially useful when it helps to improve otherwise ambiguous page names. Only add specific roles instead of such as damage dealer or elementalist. If a page title is sufficiently informative without a role, don't add one in the first place. Correct: Runner Prot Incorrect: Backline DD Elementalist Ele pwnz0r
Examples of correct page titles
Build:E/A PvP November Mind Burn Build:Me/Mo GvG Scourge Note: Avoids page title ambiguity with Build:Me/any GvG Hex Spread, which is based on the same keystone signet energy management. Note: Not tagged with Flux because despite working especially well with certain flux effects it already works without a flux effect. Build:P/W RA Soldier's Stance

Team Builds: PvE
Title Element	Explanation
1. Namespace	All featured builds will be in the build namespace; builds which are no longer favoured by the PvX community get moved to the archive namespace. Thus, the beginning of the page title must be "Build:" to show that it features a current build. Correct: Build: Incorrect:   Build build: Build : Build -
2. Team tag	Team builds receive the tag "Team - " to distinguish them at a glance from individual builds. Please note the spacing around the hyphen. Correct: Team - <Name> Incorrect:   Team -<Name> Team-<Name> team - Team: Team
3. Hero counter	The team tag is followed by the hero counter "<number> Hero" which informs about the number of heroes in the team. Omit if the team doesn't feature heroes. Correct: 7 Hero 5 Hero 3 Hero Incorrect: 7 Heroes 7 hero 7H Seven Hero Hero
4. Area	Omit the area in case of general PvE builds. Builds which are specifically designed for a single area should indicate this with the build title. That's is especially useful if there are multiple variants of a build specifically adjusted for a single area. Correct: The Deep Deep Fissure of Woe FoW Incorrect: Elite Area General Vanquish
5. Name	If a build is well-known in the community under a certain name the page should be titled accordingly: Archive:Team - 7 Hero Z-Way Build:Team - FoW Manly Spike An exception are names which are to be considered offensive. If no commonly known name exists for a build it is recommended to briefly describe the build and/or its purpose. Correct: Z-Way     common name Offensive Mesmerway     build description Beginner Team     build purpose Incorrect: Abaddonway Mesmers GW Made Easy Bestway
Examples of correct page titles
Build:Team - FoW Manly Spike Build:Team - 7 Hero Offensive Mesmerway Build:Team - 7 Hero Beginner Team

Team Builds: PvP
Title Element	Explanation
1. Namespace	All featured builds will be in the build namespace; builds which are no longer favoured by the PvX community get moved to the archive namespace. Thus, the beginning of the page title must be "Build:" to show that it features a current build. Correct: Build: Incorrect:   Build build: Build : Build -
2. Team tag	Team builds receive the tag "Team - " to distinguish them at a glance from individual builds. Please note the spacing around the hyphen. Correct: Team - <Name> Incorrect:   Team -<Name> Team-<Name> team - Team: Team
3. Game mode	General builds are tagged with "PvP", specialized builds bear the appropriate abbreviation. Correct: PvP = General PvP HA = Heroes' Ascent GvG = Guild Battles AB = Alliance Battles Incorrect:   Henchmen's Ascent gvg
4. Flux	PvP builds are affected by the flux effect which changes monthly. Some PvP builds are designed for a specific flux, which should be reflected by the page title. As the flux names are usually longer than the month names the design for a specific flux has to be indicated with the month name. If a build works by design with multiple flux effects but not without them, use "Flux". Correct: April November Flux Incorrect: There Can Be Only One All In June and July January     no flux effect April Flux If a build is not viable during a specific flux, mention it in the flux templates of the build page instead of the page title.
5. Name	If a build is well-known in the community under a certain name the page should be titled accordingly: Build:Team - GvG LaG Spike An exception are names which are to be considered offensive. If no commonly known name exists for a build it is recommended to briefly describe the build. Correct: LaG Spike     common name Necromancer Balanced     build description Incorrect: Barcodeway Mesmers Bestway
Examples of correct page titles
Build:Team - GvG LaG Spike Build:Team - HA Invoke Spike

For ease of searching and proper functioning of the rate extension, the only symbols allowed in the name of the build are the slash ( / ), hyphen ( - ) and apostrophe ( ' ).

The most common errors in naming builds will generate a warning by the Abuse Filter extension. Submission is still allowed if the warning is believed to be a false positive, but ignoring the filter and posting incorrectly named builds anyway may result in further action by the administrators.

Builds Based on Leaked/Previewed Skill Update info

Occasionally, skill updates get leaked out to the community, or an official preview of updates will be posted. If you happen to obtain information about an upcoming skill update, please do not post builds using this information into the Build namespace. You can however create a page in your userspace, which can be moved to the Build space once the update has occurred. Any builds based on leaked/previewed skill updates will be moved into the author's userspace.

Builds for Both PvE and PvP

Due to the fundamental differences between PvE and PvP gameplay, you should not tag a build for both PvE and PvP use. Instead create separate articles for PvE and PvP, allowing specialized skill bars and descriptions of the build and its usage.

Stubs

Builds in the Stub Category may be compared in many respects to builds in the User Space. These builds are often lacking in both content and style. The purpose of the Stubs Category, however, is not to debate content but rather to make the article presentable. As such, while content may be debated on the Talk Pages of stubs, the primary concern, as far as editing done by users other than the author, is stylistic since the function of the Stubs Category is to prepare the build for the Trial and Testing stages.

Stubbing a Build

A build may originate in Stubs if placed there by the author or may simply be deemed too "stubby", and moved from either Trial or Testing into the Stub Category. While this may seem overly subjective, the difference between a complete build and a stub is apparent to most editors.

Stub Edits

• Fixing Red Links
• Fixing Wiki-Code/PvXCode
• Clarification
• Fixing Grammatical Errors (including spelling)

Trial

On GuildWiki, it was common for Build Stubs to receive little to no feedback prior to the Untested stage. This proved to be an issue at times since builds, once in Untested, could immediately be voted upon, meaning that authors commonly had their builds moved to Unfavored with little to no feedback beyond the votes themselves. The Trial Category is an attempt to address that problem. Like the Stubs Category, builds in the Trial Category are not yet ready to be voted upon. However, unlike Stubs, the decision of whether to place a build in the Trial category largely subjective and is, for the most part, left to the Author. It is in this section that the author has a chance to present his finished build to the community, prior to testing, in order to receive feedback in preparation for testing. Thus, both discussion and editing should focus primarily on content.

Moving a Build into the Trial Section

Like with Stubs, builds may originate in the Trial Section or be moved there after the Stub Phase. However, it is not vital that a build be in the Trial Phase for any length of time. As such, the Author may decide to move a build into the Trial Phase if he/she wishes for feedback or may decide to bypass the Trial Phase entirely and move straight to the Testing Phase.

Trial Edits

• Changing Skills, Attributes, Runes, etc.
• Adding or removing content
• Adding PvX:WELL deletion tags (when called for)

Voting Occurring in the Stub and Trial Phases

While the Rate tag at the top of the page appears on any page in the "Build:" namespace, builds that have not yet reached the Testing section should not be voted upon. As such, all votes placed on builds that are either in the Stub or Trial section will be summarily deleted.

Testing

The Testing Stage, similar to GuildWiki's Untested Stage, is the time when a build is tested and voted upon. By this time, major edits to content and style should already have occurred, and much of the discussion should already have taken place. As such, most of the editing should also have already taken place since the votes will usually reiterate concepts or thoughts brought up in the Trial Stage. Most of the edits should be relatively minor changes to content, done primarily by the Author himself/herself, in response to any new discussion that takes place or in response to new concepts brought up in the course of voting.

Moving a Build into the Testing Phase

A build may originate in the Testing Section or be placed there after the Stub and/or Trial Phase. The decision of whether or not a build is ready for voting is left entirely to the Author (although, as previously mentioned in the Stubs Section, any user may determine that a build is too stubby for Testing).

Build Article Quality

If a build that is placed in the Testing phase is clearly lacking in quality be it through many spelling errors, bad grammar or lack of information, it can be moved back to Stub / Trial status depending on the quality of the write up (as mentioned above). Always ensure that when placing a build in the Testing phase that it is set out clearly and has as much information on it as possible (skill variants, options for optional slots, full usage/equipment sections etc).

Works (Good, Great)

If a build is deemed good enough to be placed in any of the two "Working" Categories, editing is likely to slow considerably or stop altogether. While discussion and voting may continue, major edits to the build should only result if an update to the game or metagame has an impact on the build. In these cases, it may become important to respond to the update by making a major edit or re-voting on the build altogether. However, barring an update, the build should remain fairly static – no major changes should be made to the version that was vetted.

Borderline builds, those found in Working/Good, are not quite good enough to be deemed "Great" but good enough to not be thrown out altogether. These may be an exception to this rule. Builds in this category are more likely to continue receiving votes, and thus content may need to be updated on a more frequent basis. However, like with the Trial Stage, most of this editing should be being done by the author or as a result of consensus on the build's talk page.

Moving a Build into the Working Section

After a build has received 5 votes, it should be manually moved into either one of the Working Sections or the Trash Section.

• Working (Great): Builds receiving an average score of 4.75-5.0 (95%-100%)
• Working (Good): Builds receiving an average score of 3.75-4.75 (75%-95%)
• Trash: Builds receiving an average score lower than 3.75 (75%)

It is the responsibility of the 5th voter to add the appropriate template. If additional voting affects the placement of the build, it is then the responsibility of each successive voter to move the build if necessary.

Trash

If, after receiving a minimum of 5 votes, a build is deemed not good enough to be workable, it is moved into the Trash Category. Similar to Working Builds, voting, discussion, and editing are likely to halt. However, since these builds in their current form are deemed unworkable, they will be deleted after a grace period (as per PvX:DELETE) if they remain static. As such, edits to builds in the Trash Category, if they do occur, are likely to be major re-vamps. In these cases, builds should be moved back to the Testing Section.

Moving a Build into the Trash Section

See "Moving a Build into the Working Section" above.

Archiving

Sometimes, shifts in the metagame or updates effect the viability of Working Builds. If discussion or a re-vote establishes that a Working build is no longer viable, it should be moved into the Archive namespace, and tagged as an archived build. This section is maintained solely for historical purposes. Once in this section, builds should no longer be edited.

Archives can only take place under these circumstances:

• Nerfs to skills on the bar
• Buffs to skills on other bars that have made the build inferior
• Metagame shifts
• Remakes of the build (better versions)

Use these templates if you feel an archive should occur, while discussion is on going.

• Template:Archive-Pending
• Template:Build update

Archive vs. Delete

When an update or skill nerf happens, it will affect many builds. However, some builds should archived, while others should be trashed.

• Builds in the "Good" category should first be judged whether they have been worthy enough for archival.
• Builds in the "Great" category should be automatically archived.

Archived Builds

Builds that are archived should stay in archives unless it is changed by skill updates or has been re-invented to fit a new purpose. If you feel a build is to be taken out of archival, then discuss it on the build's Talk page. Builds should not be taken out of archival unless a general agreement has been made by the community. Builds in archives should also not be edited unless to be taken out of archives.

Un-Archiving

If an update makes an archived build viable again, it can be suggested to be brought out of the archive. Discussion should take place on the talk page, until a decision is reached on what to do. If the build is brought out of the archive, do the following:

• Move the build back to the "Build" namespace.
• Replace the archive tag with an untested tag.
• Make any minor alterations needed.
• Request a vote wipe on the PvXwiki:Admin noticeboard, saying it's been brought out of the archive.

User Space

The User Space is a special exception. While builds in the User Space are often incomplete both in terms of style as well as content, the User Space is in many ways sacrosanct and editing a page in another user's User Space without their express permission or a valid, overriding reason should not occur.

Templates

The following is a list of all build categorization templates and the categories to which they correspond:

Template:Build-stub - Stub

Template:Real-Vetting - All builds in the Build: and Archive: namespaces

Note

While this can be cited as policy when necessary, this policy was developed with the understanding that it could never constitute a strict, specific guideline. Grammatical errors will persist after the Stub Phase, variants might need to be added after the Testing Phase, etc.