Guild Wars 2

Hi. I’ll make this quick.

I’ve recently started playing and I did some research. I chose a human guardian and was really digging the idea of being a sword & shield-paladin-type, with a staff for a secondary. However, I’ve heard some iffy things about the guardian shields. Is it good enough for me to play with it anyways?

Is sword & shield a viable option, for guardians, at the moment?

Well..there are these beautiful things called “Meta-Builds” available online. it describes the best armor/weapon/skills combinations with all of their advantages and disadvantages for every aspect of the game (Player vs Player (PvP), World versus World (WvW), Player versus Environment (PvE), dungeons, Fractals, etc ).

Most important is..what do YOU feel is best for your playing style ?

Playing with other players in a group demands some basic understanding and willingness to step away from your regular play style and build and change your armor/weapons/skills for the greater good of the group you are playing with. But if you like solo playing, do whatever feels right!

The problem with the Guardian shield is it has very little use in PvE or PvP. That is to say the other offhand weapons are better in almost all situations. The focus has a better block than the shield, and the torch does more DPS.

I have somewhere between 1500-2000 hours on my Guardian and I’d say all weapons are viable. I disagree with metaldude about the meta-builds and would caution you against them – a site claiming to provide such “universal, but actually common-sense” content is bound to be biased from the elitist’s point of view. Relax and improvise until you find out your own meta

Your idea about a sword-and-board paladin is good – but! consider the image of a paladin, the concept of how they move and how they fight. A mace is a good weapon as well! A sword, as a main-hand, is more suited toward a “zealot” type of character. This is just in terms of flavor.
As for utility, I do not use swords much, since their utility is not applicable as often as I’d like. Your Sword of Wrath chain may deal seemingly good damage, but the final skill is actually a triple projectile attack, so you might get stuck damaging yourself against a reflecting enemy. Flashing Blade is cool as well, for mobility, and the blind – but it’s a little gimmick only. Zealot’s Defense is a good skill to go for only when you make use of its full utility – blocking projectiles.
My advice: Try a mace. You can be very devastating with a mace – while at the same time being very helpful to your team. You also make use of Symbols, which allows you to use a bigger variety of builds.

Shields are amazing. Shields are love. Shields are life! Shields really are cool. But I rarely use them either. Among Guardian off-hand weapons, Shields are the most volatile – in other words, you’ll spend most of your time waiting for cooldowns and you will seemingly burst out their potential very quickly. The perks are, Shield of Judgement is cool, but it’s not cool enough for its cooldown. Shield of Absorption is the real spotlight here because it allows you to knockback someone instantly and heal yourself when you’re done. It’s also a good refuge if there’s 20 rangers and Lupi shooting at you, for a couple seconds and a long cooldown.
My advice: Try a torch, or a Focus. Torches are an uncommon choice and somewhat niche, but Foci are a real blast (literally). You get a blast skill (and the toughest single hit Guardians have, coupled with 3 blocks, all rolled up into one), a powerful cleanse / regeneration / blind lazor, and the benefit of not looking like you’re hiding all the time.

That’s my 50 cents. There’s a place and time for everything. The best way to play is to cope using the best tool for every scenario. Give me a poke if you want some more tips the way I do them

Seal

Seal, you are telling the same as I do, only you go in detail whereas I point the OP to those sites.. So exactly on what do you disagree ? XD
Meta’s are there for a reason..to inform players from an baseline experience. But my second paragraph (and also my opinion in this) is to choose your own path.
Reality however is that in group events, you are always requested a certain gear and skill set to have the most group efficiency; which is utterly BS, cuz player experience and skills are even if not more important…whats the use of Sword/Focus and Staff if you do not know how to use it hahaha

10/10!
-bro fist-

No, guardians dont use shield, we use branches or some flashy things on offhand to guard allies in battles. Guardians with shields…ha…made me laugh.

Seal.5964:

10/10!
-bro fist-

LOL
Tonight I am rolling a new guardian again

As a fellow human guardian, I share your desire for a viable sword and shield combo. The truth is that there is only one situation where shields are used and that is in bunker sPvP builds. In any other situation there is always an off-hand (usually focus) that out-classes them. It is a huge shame as I love the idea of using a shield but unfortunately they are just terrible. It could be argued that the Guardian shield is one of the worst weapons in-game . .

Keep in mind that If Staff + Sword/Shield would be a terrible build for PvE, Greastsword + Sword/Shield wouldn’t be that bad. Yup you will lose some dps because focuse 4 and 5 are a small dps and surviability boost, while for the shield skill 4 is ok, but not that good and you shoundn’t use shield 5 99% of the time. But that base of the meta build is to use GS for the burst and sword auto-attack.

So if you use the right trait, gear are are using GS + Sw/Shield you wouldn’t be a lot less efficient than someone with the meta build. If you like the shield, there is nothing wrong with using it if overall your build is good. Of course some ppl will scream murder just by seeing you with a shield. But that I find horribly stupid is that most of the time those same ppl won’t scream murder because nobody have food or the right potion or the right composition, etc But all of those things are a far stronger impact than taking a shield over a focus just for the look. Pugs aren’t optimized so even if its a great idea to have a decent build, you shouldn’t feel obligated to optimize it to the max.

Focus is where it’s at for PVE, torch has it’s uses, shield is /meh. BUT!!!!!!

We’re guardians, we get this little purple ethereal shield graphic from our Aegis… so in essence we usually have a shield with us

metaldude.4132:

Playing with other players in a group demands some basic understanding and willingness to step away from your regular play style and build and change your armor/weapons/skills for the greater good of the group you are playing with. But if you like solo playing, do whatever feels right!

Sorry, but what a load of bull…

He can play whatever he likes, wherever he likes with people that want to do the same!
He doesn’t have to change anything for the “greater good”.

It might take a bit longer, that’s all…

back OT, shield really isn’t good in PvE :/

EDIT:
I can say bull but not kitten ?

with people that want to do the same!

That’s a large and glaring assumption.

Guardian of Angels.9867:

metaldude.4132:

Playing with other players in a group demands some basic understanding and willingness to step away from your regular play style and build and change your armor/weapons/skills for the greater good of the group you are playing with. But if you like solo playing, do whatever feels right!

Sorry, but what a load of bull…

He can play whatever he likes, wherever he likes with people that want to do the same!
He doesn’t have to change anything for the “greater good”.

It might take a bit longer, that’s all…

Exactly true and my opinion too…but! Reality IS however that lots of parties set requirements for running dungeons/fractals…whether you agree or not

And about being bull..if you read all of my post, I stated that he, in fact SHOULD play as he likes..no need to give in on prerequisities other players demand..its a free Tyria…ish

metaldude.4132:

Exactly true and my opinion too…but! Reality IS however that lots of parties set requirements for running dungeons/fractals…whether you agree or not

And about being bull..if you read all of my post, I stated that he, in fact SHOULD play as he likes..no need to give in on prerequisities other players demand..its a free Tyria…ish

I’ve read your post as:
Play the Meta and run as how those groups expect from you, otherwise stick to solo content and don’t bother anyone…

I do agree that groups tend to go like that, but rather then giving someone the advice of running the meta I’m gonna give him the following advise:

Create your own group, and put in the LFG description: Everyone welcome!
This will get you players that play like they want to play, but often also very helpfull (meta) players who enjoy teaching dungeons to new people or helping others.