Guild Wars 2

Hi there, new to the forums. I recently fell in love with my asura guard but I’m having trouble learning the advanced party tactics for dungeons and zergs, as well as builds. I’m currently running Knight’s armor with Zerk weapons and trinkets, and I’m doing a basic Shout build. Nothing flashy but it gets the job done. I also use GS and Sw/F, mostly for roaming and general use.

I mained a thief before this so it’s tough surviving since my access to evades is limited to stamina. I’m asking anyone here if there are any ways to improve my game, be it strats, weapons, gear or builds? I’m aware of the meta, and I’m currently working to afford the gear to do so.

Sorry for any errors, I’m posting this from my WiiU since my laptop fried, getting repairs.

I am not really the most experienced with Guardians, but I would suggest you to take a look at this guide : https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/Guide-DPS-Guardian-for-PVE/first
Also, you might find it useful to take a look at the Guardian forums and ask there, to receive answers from the most experienced guardians!

Dodge! :P

Besides the obvious: try not to spam your skills as you’ve got a lot of skills to avoid damage:
GS 3: Blinds
Sw 2: Blinds
Fo4: blinds
Fo5: 3 blocks
Virtue of justice (if traited): Blinds

Now for skills:
Retreat: Gives a block
Cleanse condition: Can also be used offensive to deal dmg!

Elite:
Renewed Focus: 2 secs invulnerable

Learn your enemies and learn when to use what skill.
It will save your life!

Kill red things.

Don’t die.

Where thieves use evades and stealth for survivability, guardians have blocks and blinds. Since you’re running Knights and Zerkers, recognise that your main weakness will be conditions, especially with the small health pool. Have the appropriate food buffs and runes to cover said weakness and maybe pack one condition cleanse.

Finally, you’ll soon realise that, as a roamer, Guardians are absolutely hopeless at chasing, which also means they have very little actual kill pressure.

Thank you all for the tips! I’ll try to reply to all of you…

@Silvia: The guide you provided helped a bit, but utilizing what was presented there didn’t help me much. It is still a pretty good reference, though, so I’ll keep it bookmarked.

@Guardian of Angels: I’ve been learning how to utilize my blind more effectively since you suggested the multiple skills that do so, and with a certain trait that applies vuln on blind, it makes some fights a lot easier. I’ve already been using the invuln elite during dire situations as well (and doesn’t it lower the CD on your Virtues? I forget…). The shouts I run are Retreat!, Stand Your Ground and Save Yourselves. Stability is a really big help, as well as aegis.

@Brother Grimm: Uh…okay?

@ Ojimaru: That was one of the biggest issues I ran into, yeah, was condis. I’ve learned how to cleanse properly, but without a decent healing skill my health pool seems more like a health puddle. As for food, I’m struggling to afford the food off of the TP, and leveling my cooking skill is getting harder and harder. Could you suggest some foods that are either cheap, or bought with karma?

Also, yeah, I learned that Guardians suck at chasing fairly early on. If my target ever ran I just stood my ground until they either came back, or ran away entirely.

If you are unsure of your role in dungeons, I suggest you check out gw2dungeons.net. Go to any dungeon and it’ll tell you exactly what you should be doing for each encounter.

It sounds like you’re running the meta bunker build with damage equipment.

Renewed Focus doesn’t just lower the cool downs on your virtues, it recharges them completely. So, if you end up using it, pop them all! There’s no reason not to. The recharge happens at the end of the channel, so you can pop the virtues while you’re channeling RF.

If you’re running Altruistic Healing, you should get a staff. Your 4 is basically a second heal skill (or 4th when running the bunker build) and a half a might stack.

If you’re running shouts, run cleansing shouts. Run soldiers runes if you need more condition clear. Learn what condition changes to what boon, and how much healing you get from AH and dodging.

For WvW you may want to go Staff/Hammer. Your role as bunker (which is what it seems like you’re playing) is boons, support and battlefield control(through lines and rings)

If bunker isn’t your thing you may want to switch to a damage Guardian build.

I’d suggest trying to slot either Purging Flames or Smite Conditions instead of Save Yourselves! so you can have a short cooldown condition clear (with bonus damage). SY! isn’t worth it for solo play IMO, you’ll want it more in situations where you’re clearing high condi stacks on allies.

For not-too-expensive good food, try minotaur steaks or griffon egg omelets? They last for one hour each and are power-build oriented. You can also try any of the heal-on-crit foods while learning for increased survivability.

MrWubzy.3587:

@ Ojimaru: That was one of the biggest issues I ran into, yeah, was condis. I’ve learned how to cleanse properly, but without a decent healing skill my health pool seems more like a health puddle. As for food, I’m struggling to afford the food off of the TP, and leveling my cooking skill is getting harder and harder. Could you suggest some foods that are either cheap, or bought with karma?

Also, yeah, I learned that Guardians suck at chasing fairly early on. If my target ever ran I just stood my ground until they either came back, or ran away entirely.

Unless you’re hit with Poison, the Signet heal usually heals over 75% of of total base HP. On the other hand, Shelter is used mainly to block specific attacks, e.g. Hundred Blades, Back Stab, etc., while also topping you up.

As for food in WvW, Lemongrass Poultry Soup (-40% Condition Duration, +70 Vit) is probably the gold standard, with a price to match (~40s each), making it the best candidate for the Food Primer boosters (you can get 2 from 2 very easy Collection Achievements, Brewmaster and Fine Wining). You can, of course, op for the lower tier versions, i.e. Poultry and Leek Soup (-36% Condition Duration, +60 Vit; TP 13.41s) or Chickpea and Poultry Soup (-28% Condition Duration, +50 Vit; TP 6s).