Guild Wars 2

My primary character is a Guardian. I have read some forums about how people don’t like playing a Guardian in WvWvW because they are very limited in ranged combat (which is a big part of WvWvW). For example, when I am on a castle wall, I can’t even damage people right below me on the ground with either of my 2 ranged weapons.

In spite of this I still enjoy playing my Guardian in WvWvW, but I act as a support for the rest of the team. I typically use a staff and help my team by buffing them (might, speed, virtue buffs, etc…). In doing this, I often help my team win fights, even when we are outnumbered. I like doing this because I feel like I can really contribute to the battle through my support role.

However, there is a big down side. If you don’t directly damage an enemy by a certain amount, then you don’t get any loot from them. So when I run around WvWvW with my friends, I can be in the thick of the fight the entire time and I usually get 1/4 of the loot and badges that they get. I imagine this is a problem with anyone who plays a support role. Has anyone else noticed this as a challenge? Does anyone have any suggestions?

A thought for the developers: I would recommend that, down the road, you add support into the loot calculation. For example, if I give someone 12 stacks of might (one my favorite things to do for a ranged class in WvWvW) and they do a certain amount of extra damage to an enemy, shouldn’t I get some credit, in the form of loot, for the extra damage they did?

Any thoughts from the community or developers on this? Thanks everyone.

You know, I’ve never been able to find anything that explained how the honor token drops are figured. According to my kill/token count, I’m getting about one for every 10 kills. Then again, I don’t even know what factors go into play in determining your kill count. I’d like to know the answer to that part of the problem, too.

As far as Guardians not being “limited” in ranged combat, I know a little bit about that. It’s bull. I use a scepter/torch, and I think I need a little bit of a nerfing.

The #2 skill (don’t have names memorized) can be used every 5 seconds, I think. The #4 skill when hit twice hits for a good amount. The #3 skill locks the poor sucker into the ground so he can’t move. You have retaliation and the F1 button to add more burning and damage. That’s not limited at all!

I’m sure I haven’t found the right guy to humble me, but I haven’t lost to a ranger yet. Not from my rooftop. And in order to hit somebody beneath you from the rooftop, you gotta stand on the ledge, buddy.

My thoughts are go DPS until this is changed. Which might be never. At least mix and match support with DPS so you can do both.

Just hit downed players a few times, and make sure you pick up every single bag that drops (they spawn when you get the XP popup)

Can’t speak for other support-build classes since I lack experience with them, but as for the guardian, I agree with your overall observations… but I don’t really mind.

I play a bubble-blowing support guardian, and WvW is a money-neutral proposition for me (and money-losing if I buy too much blueprints or upgrades), but since it’s so much fun, I don’t really want to do anything else except maybe Keg Brawl, so I fund it through trade post acrobatics… It’s like a drug habit, really. That said, it’s one thing to kill somebody, but quite another to know that you’ve slowed the advance of an enemy line, or allowed your team to push them back. I have never really worried about the badges – it’s nice if I get them, but if not, oh well.

Nevertheless, there are a couple of ways to improve your headcount as a support guardian:

1. Tome of Wrath – Tome of Courage is really powerful, but doesn’t just always have to be on your bar. When you know you need to be shooting at enemies, switch in Tome of Wrath. Channel #4 to get quickness and fury, then spam conflagrate (#1) to do thousands of AOE damage in 5 seconds. Collect bags. It also works quite well when you are on the walls (1200 range), behind a door, or trying to clear defenders off walls during a siege. I just wished ANet made the reading glasses equip-able during battle so I can be in character when I open the Tome.

2. Wall of reflection – This doesn’t really need explanation since most support guardians are pretty proficient with it. To get more kills with it, play with timing and location, put it on the gate during a siege, or pop out of the gate and put it in front of the gate during a siege.

3. Spam staff behind a door during siege

4. Ground-targeted purging flame: this thing does pretty good damage, and allows you to tag a bunch of enemies from a distance. Combined with a symbol and wall, it’s usually enough for you to get credit.