Guild Wars 2

I have 4 80’s and a few alts, but I really want a heavy, Guardian or Warrior. So far, they’ve both bored me. So I need some help figuring out which class is more exciting, more dynamic, more explosive, more variable, more fun to play.

And then, how to make them that much more fun. I don’t want to level 1-80 with a GS spamming 100 blades with a 5 signet build. I want to dodge and swap weapons and pop utilities and have the freedom to try new builds.

From what I’ve gathered, it seems Warrior has more build variety but has a less dynamic playstyle. I like that Warrior has viable ranged options, but dislike all the passive boons like signets and banners. Then again, Guardian has signets and shouts which are just boon stackers too.

Recommendations?? Which class and how to make it exciting?

- Exciting : Warrior will get you exited by their big damage numbers.
- Dynamic : Guardian is way more Dynamic in his gameplay. You attack, you give boons at the rigth time, you manage your block/invulnerable/aegis, you can put some reflects, etc. You have more different things that you can do with the Guardian during a fight.
- Explosive : Not sure what you mean by that, but the big numbers are with the Warriors so.
- Variable : In gameplay its the guardian. For the builds??? It depend, Warrior can change drastically his gameplay with a different build, more than the Guardian. But the Guardian is better at most of these role while the Warrior is king of the DPS. So in the end you will have more option with the Guardian because you will want your Warrior to focus on DPS, this is what it’s the best at.
- Fun to play : Nobody can’t really give a hard answer on that. But I have way more fun with my guardian, and i say way more post on how the Warrior is boring to play. Warrior rely on stats and raw power with 1 goal DPS, while the guardian can do a lot of little things that support the team : CC, Boons, Reflects, etc.

Sounds like you want to play an offensive guardian. You have to pop your cooldowns at the right time (blocks, blinds maybe even aegis) to migrate damage because of your low health pool, you’ll have (if traited correctly) perm. vigor which gives you lots of dodges. It is pretty fun to play, imo.

An offensive guardian almost seems almost entirely trait based, since most of the utilities are defensive (blocks, cleanses, protection, etc). In essence I’d trait for damage and play defensively? Letting my traits augment my attacks for maximum damage while I simply monitor my defenses?

Are heavy control, condition warriors a thing in WvW? I was theorizing a sword/sword + hammer conditioner with Distracting Strikes and some physical utilities for interrupts.

What about a warrior’s role in dungeons? Aside from high damage, are the responsibilities for boon spreading active or just drop a banner and FGJ on cooldown?

This is certainly opinion and preference but the Warrior has more effective build variety than the Guardian. Warriors range from bunker shout, hybrid hammers, speed sword, ranged bow, banner support, condition immobilizers, stun lock mace, vuln axe and sniper rifle just to name a few. All of these builds are not only viable but highly effective.

In addition they have the greatest variety of weapons. They are one of the top classes for most useful trait lines (none of them are under performing). Even a nice variety of offensive and defensive utilities. Nothing is wasted on a warrior and few parts of it feel underwhelming whether at range or up in critter’s grills.

The first thing most guardians get locked into is Travelers Runes or Boon Duration because almost nobody likes to move that slow.

For context I have all classes except engi at level 80.

Thanks Straegen. This is basically the conclusion I came to as well, just with less detail. I had no idea there were that many strong warrior builds.

I just hit 20 and right now I’m having fun griefing-the-computer with a hammer and Bull’s Charge, Stomp, & Kick. Just keep knocking things down and beating on em. It’s funny and I plan on adapting it for PvP/WvW at some point. I think with hybrid stats and Distracting Strikes it could be very annoying.

I think that with all the weapon combinations and useful traits on warrior, I’ll avoid boredom as long as I change builds often and keep things fresh.

A guardian built for DPS will be more dynamic as you must learn to manage your blinds, blocks and other active defenses to compensate for your low health (10805 base, same as thief and ele). If you are transitioning from playing an ele or mesmer a guardian may fit you more comfortably since they also possess vigor on crit, allowing you to dodge as much as you normally would with the aforementioned classes.

Now, shouts are the common mechanic that warriors and guardians share, but the difference is that guardian shouts are defensive in nature. Unlike most warrior shouts which can be spammed to maximise their use, guardian shouts must be used at the right time, that is, to anticipate something and use a shout to mitigate the effect. You could potentially save a life simply by using “Retreat” right before an attack lands.

Now, for consecrations. Just as a warrior uses banners to offer ongoing team support, a guardian employs consecrations for more defensive support. Using them is the same as using shouts – unlike warriors, guardians must use their consecrations in anticipation or reaction. The famous Wall of Reflection can be used if you know the encounter will be projectile-rich, or if you need to remove conditions urgently, hit Purging Flames to strip 3 conditions and generate a fire field that pulses -33% incoming condition duration. Effective guardians will always run with the Master of Consecrations trait in the Virtues line because it extends consecration durations by 2 seconds while reducing cooldown by 20%, achieving greatly increased frequency of use (if not uptime).

Now, of course you don’t have to follow these notions rigidly, that a warrior must focus on damage and a guardian must, well, guard allies, because both classes are able to support the team in their own ways. Rather than trying to be what you cannot be, you should use what you are given to assist your allies in the best possible way. It all comes down to skill, situational awareness and a good sense of judgment.

I hope this helps.

PS: I don’t play warrior, so I’ll leave it to someone else to draw a more detailed comparison between both classes.

TL;DR: Uh, guardian is more prone to dying unless you know how to dodge. Or block. Or blind. Yeah.

EDIT: Before I forget, don’t be afraid to use your virtues, fact is the active effects are much better and are subject to your control. They’re just like signets, except the active effects are heavily trait reliant (the Virtues line almost completely focuses on buffing your virtue actives) and probably more powerful than any other non-healing slot signet.

well I have 5 characters at 80 but I lacked a Heavy class- because basically they are boring.
So I made a spell castor guardian- fun so far