Guild Wars 2

In other words, this is me. Doesn’t matter what you pit me against. Be it mesmers with their Kage Bunshin No Jutsu (illusions), Rangers hunting Big Stupid Fighters with their longbows, theives that fillet me and serve me with some garnish with their cutlery, or other Guardians that actually know what they’re doing.

SO I’ve come to the conclusion that my “build,” which is pretty much, “Use weapons that set things on fire with runes, sigils, and traits that synergize with setting things on fire and throw in some consecrations” isn’t really working for me in the PvP environment.

For the specifics, I’ve been mostly using Scepter/Torch as my first weapon set and the second set is just whatever I feel like putting there. Recently it’s been Sword/Torch.

The traits are 6 points into both Radiance and Zeal, with two points in Virtues because I don’t know where else to put the little buggers.

Major trait slots include Scepter Power, Fiery Wrath, Amplified Wrath, Searing Flames, Right-Hand Strength, Radiant Fire, and Master of Consecrations.

Skill slots are Signet of Resolve, Wall of Reflection, Sanctuary, Purging Flames and Tome of Wrath

I’m using a Rune of Balthazar, a Sigil of Corruption on the Scepter and Sword, a Sigil of Smoldering on the Torch, and a Carrion Amulet.

My “tactics” in combat can be boiled down to, “Try and hit them with every ability I have before they do the same to me. Mash heal and dodge buttons at low health or when big red circles are beneath me. Use Purging Flames when many angry red condition symbols show up on my HUD. Use Wall of Reflection when many projectiles are flying towards me. Use Sanctuary around downed allies, objectives, and when I just need some personal space. Press F key when enemy is downed. Mash 1 while downed and hit 2 if enemy gets too close. Wait for respawn.”

So are there ways I can improve this build? If not, what are some other Guardian builds I should try? I’d be interested in just about anything.

Furthermore, some tips on what I need to be ready for when going up against other classes would be greatly appreciated.

TL:DR. I suck at PvP. My sucking might be partly due to my build and is definitely due to my tactics. What can I do differently?

The problem is you’re going 6/6/0/0/2, you’re going to get destroyed because you have no sustain at all. To be viable in pvp you pretty much have to have six in Valor for AH or MF, if you’re bunker you have a little more leeway you can do something like x/x/x/6/6. However for dps you pretty much have to put six into Valor.

Typical guard dps builds are:

x/6/6/x/x (Highest damage possible)
2/1/6/1/4 (Better sustain)
2/5/6/x/x (High damage, but don’t have to use one handed weapons)
3/x/6/4/x (Symbol build)
x/x/6/6/x (High sustain, but less burst)

The current viable burn build is 62600 or 60611 with meditations on both.

Humility on the GW2 forums? Impossible!

Here’s a resource also, although I don’t main guardian: http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Guardian_-_Meditation_DPS

Pretty much was going to say the same as Harbinger but less eloquently. Zerker builds in general have a high learning curve, but it’s really the only way to be somewhat viable on dps guardian at the moment, we just have no support conditions to back up our great burning uptime. Every celestial build I’ve tried just falls short in some fashion compared to celestial builds in other classes like ele. Soldier damage is just too slow against condition builds. So zerker it is.

I recommend not reinventing the wheel while you’re learning, just pick a meta build and learn general pvp play till you are very sound on the basics, only then should you try making your own builds work. You’ll have a much better vantage point on the game by then and can make better judgments as to what’s good and what’s just terrible traitwise. Guardian in particular has quite a few useless traits and skills that aren’t really even in consideration when it comes to pvp (sup signets) and you will discover that as you go. Keep practicing and don’t give up! Good luck.

Not to be a naysayer here, but I would also suggest you might try another profession for 1 vs 1?

Don’t get me wrong, I love the Guardian. It has been my profession since a few months after release (after I took a tour with all the professions) and they do incredibly well in PvE and as a support/bunker in PvP. However ArenaNet does not balance the game around 1vs1 (by their own admission) and this means there are going to be professions that are better at 1vs1 than others. Sadly, the Guardian is not one of those professions. They do quite well in a team environment and they can win at 1vs1 encounters, but there are professions out there who are far better for 1vs1.

It is one of the reasons I am going to have to level up another profession here after I complete some things with my Guardian in PvE. I only usually play just one character and I want one that can do well in all aspects of the game. So maybe try another profession for 1vs1?

Just a thought.

Thanks.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/Empowering-Wrath-11-Ascended-Stella-Alamarr

This is a good place to start. It really got me back into playing guardian.

You can try different combos of gear but it is the basis of a very common and solid build.

eg Celestial Ammy, Soldier Ammy + Intellgence Sigil, different runes (Pack Citadel Lyssa Ogre)

PS don’t hotjoin. Wait a couple minutes to play in SoloQ and you will find that more enjoyable.

Oh, one other thing I noticed is that you are using scepter and torch. While I can appreciate the torch’s ability to set things on fire, I never really considered it a ranged weapon. I have used it with the sword and mace, but I would recommend using the focus with the scepter unless you are building for some point control in which case use the shield.

Thanks.

I just want to take a moment to thank everyone who replied. I have a lot of new things to try now and I’m looking forward to getting back into the ring!

Though I’m not sure yet whether or not I’ll start using Solo Queue over Hot Join. The waiting times thus far have been atrocious (greater than 7 minutes). Now granted, that isn’t very long in the course of a day. However, it feels like an Ice Age compared to Hot Join which instantly gets you into the fight.

I’ve been running medi guard in pvp since patch (haven’t played it since before december) and I really enjoy the playstyle and burst. There are many mistakes in this video: http://www.twitch.tv/bjorsch/b/568468407?t=24m10s . But I think you can get the idea from it. I also apologize for the quality, still trying to work it out in obs.

Build:
0
6 VI X XI
6 I X XII
1
1
Sword – Focus / Greatsword
Fire – Rage / Fire – Air
Rune of the Traveler
Berserker Amulet

Shelter
Judge’s Intervention
Contemplation of Purity
Smite Condition
Renewed Focus

I’m fairly new to guardian as well, but I’ve been having fun with a fairly bursty meditation build: http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQJARSlsApboVDxcI8DNRDBlZ8zPmvPDXfgEEAA-TpBFwAIOEAOOCAy3fIyDAoaZAAXAAA

The build gets you a decent amount of control with both hammer and greatsword, along with damage at the same time. Only problem is survivability is really tied into the utilities and virtues, so getting comfortable with them is needed to stay in the fight longer, which the build can do most of the time. I went with stability instead of condition clear with the master trait in virtues, since I just like having a protected (team!) stomp/res and tried to make it up with the sigil on the greatsword.

Burning is just extra damage here, and not really the focus, while retaliation feels like it’s doing more work than ever especially now that leaping through symbols gets you the light aura. My combat log is basically big (guaranteed from weapon swap!) Mighty Blow crits (Hammer 2) and lots of retaliation ticks. Fight on top of your symbols and get whatever combo finishers you can out of them, blast/leap are more retaliation while whirling removes conditions. Anyway, hope you have fun with the guard out there, whatever you choose!