Guild Wars 2

Hello, fellow players, I have a Guardian Norn and I’m building my character to look something like this (don’t mind the equipment tab, I didn’t give much thought building it ankitten ot that worked up over it yet): http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUMQNAreWlcgqCnFyOE/9ESOjCskwUURE4NDKSiA-jwBBofgMcJMnrIasV1FRjVVjIqWZDzmrIa1A-e

How I decided to make my character this way: First I tried mace + 2h sword, but I found that they didn’t connect with each other, it was all cool to have a sword for dps time and mace for safety time, but it didn’t blend well. Then I decided to try the combination of scepter + shield (I still consider using focus since I don’t like focus’ 4th skill and shield’s 5th is kinda complex and situational each have a skill I don’t like very much) and staff and the reasoning behind this was: as I played and messed a little with this skillset I realized that scepter was an overall offensive single target weapon since it’s auto-attack can be blocked by an enemy in the way of the ball. It’s vulnerability and immobilize is perfect for strong mobs and bosses while the shield takes care of situations with snipers, fast area healing and low cooldown protection, the staff is more like a weapon for dire situation where you need to attack multiple enemies while secure a position and it’s 4th skill combined with virtue of justice is just crazy kitten dmg. for the utility skillbar I chose the AoE healing for the sake of helping the party + NPCs, stand for the fact it has low cd and retaliation (since I had no skill that gave it), hold and intervention for the healing and support, the elite I chose for moments I needed high damage on a short period of time.

The trait tab is the greatest of the mysteries, I chose one that I thought suited my needs but I’m not sure, I could really use some help here.

Sorry for the wall of text, but it was necessary so you could know the reasoning behind my build and so that you know where

PS: I intend to do both PvE and WvW

As someone who is getting into Guardian again, I use the same weapons XD. Staff is a great asset, from the speed boost to the might/healing. Scepter is good for range if you need it, in fact the longest reaching wep a guard has. Shield is my default offhand as well. However, I’d suggest trying torch offhand (didn’t see you mention it here) as it offers a lot of burning damage to offset the staff’s more supportive role. Mace was my main weapon for a long time as well, I should really get one again so I can see if I still like it. Sword is alright, has a blind and a little block. GS and hammer are also great weapons for DPS if you’re willing to go all 2 handed weapons, and there’s even a trait that decreases the recharge of 2 handed skills.
As for the other 5 slots, I personally use the signet heal, which passively removes conditions. I run a cleric guardian, so my main setup is being a supporter/healer with the staff, and tanking some damage. Shouts are pretty good, and there’re some supportive traits for them. My utilities I use the signet that reduces damage, Purging flames, and usually Wall of Reflection. Purging flames and Smite condition are great condi removing skills, and can be cast more often with a trait that reduces consecration recharge. Wall of reflection is mainly on my bar for dungeons, where it’s helpful to gather enemies and then reflect their attacks. Elite-wise, they’re not that great imo. I use Tome of Wrath mainly for the 5 or so seconds of quickness that it can grant, but the other tome has a party wide full heal, so it depends on how you want to play. My friend uses Renewed Focus since he gives up his virtues all the time.
But yeah, just some of my thoughts, wasn’t sure what you wanted to know exactly since you kind of just told your build XD

In PvE, I run a Greatsword/Scepter+Shield. A friend of mine uses Greatsword with either Hammer or Staff with great results.

In sPvP the typical guardian builds use a Hammer with a variety of other weapons.

In WvW it depends on whether you want to run as a part of a group, or a more solo-oriented build. A group build is again typically a meditation build with a Greatsword/Hammer/Scepter+Shield. A solo build involves consecrations with a scepter+torch and a one-handed sword, perfect for chasing down a single enemy.

As odd as it sounds, one of the greatest strengths of a Guardian is its lack of reliable condition damage from its main-hand weapons. This means that most builds rely on direct damage and hence allow the Guardian’s arsenal to be extremely versatile, with each weapon being a contribution in a myriad of different scenarios. Hence, I always advise Guardians to work towards getting a one of each weapon to carry in their inventory.

Now, regarding your build.

Unfortunately, for Guild Wars 2, PVE and WvW each has their “sub-genres” which has their own “optimal” builds. To start off, PVE can be split into open-world PVE – one that focuses on dynamic events or general running about – and dungeons (including Fractals; although some professions have further different builds for Fractals). Frankly, any build works in open-world PVE, although you will find that your build farming relatively slower to other more aggressive builds (e.g. full Berserkers). As for Dungeons, your DPS (damage-per-second) is also lacking; tankiness isn’t a high priority in most Explorable Dungeons and Fractals. If you like a fair deal of Toughness and Vitality, consider switching your armour to Soldier stats instead (i.e. major in Power, minor in Toughness and Vitality). Furthermore, Celestial isn’t ideal for Guardians since Condition Damage isn’t an optimal stat for Guardians, considering the profession only has access to Burning as a reliable form of Condition Damage. Due to the multitude of Aegis, Protection and other healing capabilities of the profession, most find the Guardian perfectly survivable in full Berserkers.

Next, we consider WvW, which is also split between roaming solo or in small groups, and being part of a zerg/blob/block/mob/guild/organised bag farm/whathaveyou. For the former, again, you lack damage. Sure, maybe you can bunker down on a point, but that doesn’t stop the opponent from ignoring you – and maybe calling more of his/her friends to help. On the other hand, as part of a zerg (etcetcetc), Sentinels just sacrifices too much damage. While survivability is valued, being a front-liner without significant damage pressure isn’t necessarily good either. As above, consider using Soldier equipment instead.

Hope you find this useful.

Starfish, I’ve thought about using torch, but never actually tried, didn’t seem like a good option, tbh. And sword felt really nice, but the lack of some substantial supportive or teamplay based skills made me rethink the choice and I always carry a gs in my bag for when I need high dps, I really like how huge it’s dmg output + cleansing can be when you combo your skills. Is the healing signet really good? 10s for a condition cure seems too long and when I use signets I always feel like I’m losing a skill slot. As for shouts, you’re right, I just removed my retaliation on aegis removal and took the cd reduction for shouts, didn’t think of it before. I never gave much thought on the consecration skills, never liked them much (I actually have them all and used them all and didn’t like them). As for elite I liked bear form, it looked so kittening cool and strong I never even cared to look at other elite skills (just remembering an AC boss getting hard knocked by me and one other bear…), not to mention the might it gives

Anti, why hammer for sPVP? ’cause of the knockback?

Ojimaru, thank you for your advice, soldier stats seems nice. I also considered berserker for the critical, but since it gives no defensive stat, I thought I’d need a focus equip (with that blocking 5th skill) and that signet that reduces dmg, but dunno. Just doesn’t sound right.

After thinking for a while, I changed it all a bit and ended up with a build like this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUMQNAreWlcgqCnFyOE/9ESOjCskwUURY0NDKSiA-jwBBYfERj0GERjJQFRjtquIasqZER1KbY2cFRrGA-e

Despite Ojimaru not mentioning knight armor set, I thought: although the power it gives is low, the precision plus toughtness (that with the trait, also increases precision) is good which will give me some sort of tanky and dmging capability. For weapons I chose beserker and water because of the healing and dmg output it gives which is great, though I don’t know the mathmatic behind this… having 3 sigils of 30% chance will give me 90% of chance, 30% + 30% + 30% (giving me the ability of healing 3 times on the same crit) or 30% and 30% and 30% (so if the 1st 30% fail, I have 2 other chances)? Anyway, sounded alright…

xusa.4021:

Anti, why hammer for sPVP? ’cause of the knockback?

Yes, and that ring thingy. Seeing how most of sPvP involves keeping the enemy out of a control point, those qualities are very useful.

I see, but I don’t really know if I’ll do PvP non-WvW