Guild Wars 2

I just came from my warrior wanting to try the guardian out, but I have noticed that there are alot of things the warrior never had to worry about and it all seems overwhelming.
And I guess the question has to be asked is this learning curve even worth it? I have not seen many guardians in action just want to make sure that the time I put into this calss will amount to a strong class in the end.

I have an easier time with my zerker guardian than I do with my zerker warrior without sacrificing too much DPS (I have Traveler Runes instead of Strength, because I hate running like a paraplegic tortoise with boulders tied to its neck) and I’m still rolling around using an old Meditation build (which someone pointed out is the Yo-Yo build, because a Medi Guard’s health can bounce between near-dead to full several times).

I love my Guard and he will always be my main, there is just a few things to know that make life a whole lot easier…

1. Hammer is GREAT weapon if you want a bit more defense. Just let the autoattack roll kittene the other CC skills as needed but always try to get that third hit from Autoattack if you can. I run GS and Hammer 99% of the time. Hammer for hard stuff, GS for mowing the lawn.

2. Greatsword is a freaking killer weapon that does great DPS. The GS 2 skill is superb as it activates combo fields and unlike hundred blades you can move while using it. For high single target damage make sure you are standing RIGHT in the middle of your target and the entire attack will hit that single target for some great DPS. Until you are good with timing blocks, evades e.t.c Use hammer for harder fights though.

3. If you want to branch out a little into other weapons, Mace and Focus are a great choice with GS and basically serve as a panic button. If you are on your way to death, swap to MF, drop 5,4,2 then auto and this should buy you some time. Sword and shield are fantastic for projectile heavy fights

4. BLIND, DODGE AND AEGIS. This is where your survivability comes from, learn to rotate them and ration them. Never blind while you have Aegis(unless your team needs it), never Aegis when they are blind. For hard fights save your aegis for when you REALLY need it and use dodge rolls. For easy fights, use Aegis so you don’t lose DPS by rolling. Retreat is a great skill to have for general PVE

4. AH and might spamming. This works really well for large group content and requires almost no thought. AH builds are a great place to start and once you have a better handle on the Guardian class, switch to meditation build, which is better in many ways, but more to manage (It also gives you awesome Fury uptime).

Now all that being said I don’t have HOT yet so cannot comment on the DH side of things. But these little tips will get you through all the normal PVE stuff.

FlashAhAhh.4307:

I love my Guard and he will always be my main, there is just a few things to know that make life a whole lot easier…

1. Hammer is GREAT weapon if you want a bit more defense. Just let the autoattack roll kittene the other CC skills as needed but always try to get that third hit from Autoattack if you can. I run GS and Hammer 99% of the time. Hammer for hard stuff, GS for mowing the lawn.

2. Greatsword is a freaking killer weapon that does great DPS. The GS 2 skill is superb as it activates combo fields and unlike hundred blades you can move while using it. For high single target damage make sure you are standing RIGHT in the middle of your target and the entire attack will hit that single target for some great DPS. Until you are good with timing blocks, evades e.t.c Use hammer for harder fights though.

3. If you want to branch out a little into other weapons, Mace and Focus are a great choice with GS and basically serve as a panic button. If you are on your way to death, swap to MF, drop 5,4,2 then auto and this should buy you some time. Sword and shield are fantastic for projectile heavy fights

4. BLIND, DODGE AND AEGIS. This is where your survivability comes from, learn to rotate them and ration them. Never blind while you have Aegis(unless your team needs it), never Aegis when they are blind. For hard fights save your aegis for when you REALLY need it and use dodge rolls. For easy fights, use Aegis so you don’t lose DPS by rolling. Retreat is a great skill to have for general PVE

4. AH and might spamming. This works really well for large group content and requires almost no thought. AH builds are a great place to start and once you have a better handle on the Guardian class, switch to meditation build, which is better in many ways, but more to manage (It also gives you awesome Fury uptime).

Now all that being said I don’t have HOT yet so cannot comment on the DH side of things. But these little tips will get you through all the normal PVE stuff.

Edit: Forgot to add guards are really good speed buffers too if you carry a staff…. Don’t try to get in a fight with it whatever you do. Staff skill 4 is also really great for getting cool character screen shots. lol

I don’t get it… leveling warrior seemed always harder for me that guardian…. guardian is easy.

Flash def has a lot of the points about th class correct, except for one small thing: Staff is GREAT on my zerk build (on my main acct) in PvE type environments (especially big events). Staff 2 can do some great damage to a big boss from a far and staff one is my “loot machine” since it tags EVERYTHING at an alarming rate.

Also staff 2 recharge is really fast and almost spammable and can be used to help heal the people up on the boss in those fights too.

And I guess the question has to be asked is this learning curve even worth it?

No.

Sneydrow.7649:

Flash def has a lot of the points about th class correct, except for one small thing: Staff is GREAT on my zerk build (on my main acct) in PvE type environments (especially big events). Staff 2 can do some great damage to a big boss from a far and staff one is my “loot machine” since it tags EVERYTHING at an alarming rate.

Also staff 2 recharge is really fast and almost spammable and can be used to help heal the people up on the boss in those fights too.

Hmm all good points! If it didn’t shoot rainbows I might give it another chance! lols.

Thanks heaps for this!

To answer why you’re feeling Guardian to be more difficult than Warrior:

Warrior has mostly Passive Sustain through High Health, High Armor and Auto-Procs. They’re built to simply take punishment, and dish out more in the same timespan. Running up to a PvE enemy as a Warr means you’re basically gonna take what it gives and return it threefold.

Guardian focuses on Active Sustain. You gotta Micromanage all your Boons, Blinds, Active Defenses such as Blocks, Cleanses and Projectile Defense as well as consistently make sure to heal back up, because while Guardian has heavy armor they have the lowest base health among professions alongside Elementalists and Thieves.

As for what Guardian does best in PvE, it’s Defensive Boons. No other Profession can hope to match them in that field. AoE Aegis, Stability and Protection is their fief and due to being able to support pretty well even when geared out for Max DPS, Guardians are almost always a welcome addition to any group, although not always Optimal.

guard has been my main since release and my favorite playstyle. the fact it is so versatile keeps it relevant in many settings and situations from pvp to raids and is a core part of the fractals meta team group.

for most pve, i currently run a DH build using 2 traps and Bane sig with FmW elite. the greatsword/LB are weapons of choice but i do have a mace/torch/focus set for specific situations. high survivability and potent burst damage (good sustained dmg with hammer) make guardians formidable in many situations.

as mentioned above, Aegis, Blind and dodges are the guardian’s bread and butter and can get you out of a ton of trouble if you use them properly.

TheSwede.9512:

• Warrior has mostly Passive Sustain
• Guardian focuses on Active Sustain.

Agreed, that’s the default. You can still choose to play a more active Warrior or a more passive Guardian, with appropriate gear or builds.

For what it’s worth, Warrior has always bored me and despite my preferring squish classes, I’ve loved Guardian since I first tried it in BETA.

There’s another form of ‘sustain’ that isn’t talked about here: What classes are ‘wrist friendly?’ So far, Guardian wins hands down, but need to run a Passive Support build to make that work.

I run a shout-based DH, using one build for both modes (mostly tweaking traits and trinkets), which has seen me through all of HoT story solo. Earlier iterations (based on a combination of ‘core’ concepts from both Obal’s builds and the old Healway) got me through LS1 and most of LS2 (I’m finishing LS2 now). I can easily do 4-6 hours casually running about in PvE, or 3-4 hours in WvW. Whereas even 20 minutes trying to deal with a Thief build has me logging out with pains in my arms. :p

I hope to be able to expand that ability to other classes; currently playing a bit with Revenant (Herald) and Ranger to see if I can make them work now.