Guild Wars 2

so i read a good build from a different site. now i was thinking if it still works these days?
mainly for pve. dungeons etc.

here is the build if you guys are not familiar with it

http://intothemists.com/guides/121-ahem_anchor_guard_strifes_build

lemme know what you think.
thanks in advance.

Ya, it works but there is absolutely no reason you should need that much self healing in PvE.

Few things to note.

1: Altruistic healing will heal for 72 per boon applied per person its applied on at lvl 80.
2: Empowering might has a 1 second internal CD & 5 second base duration. (this means that while you can keep up 3-4 stacks of might with 50% crit chance there are more often then not better options)

Mainly this is a combination one would consider using in PvP or WvW where the extra healing is needed.
In PvE, the extra healing is not needed and you would likely be better off using something like http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQBgi4BJHb/oqAY/MKA which provides much better damage. (you can grab pure of voice or empowering might depending on the situation.)

I actually wrote up that guide on intothemists based on Strife’s guide (which was falling out of meta at that time).

The build is solid but it’s no longer considered optimal for dungeons. For the current meta guide for guards look for the sticky by Obal at the top of the guard forums.

Ragnar the Rock.3174:

Ya, it works but there is absolutely no reason you should need that much self healing in PvE.

Few things to note.

1: Altruistic healing will heal for 72 per boon applied per person its applied on at lvl 80.
2: Empowering might has a 1 second internal CD & 5 second base duration. (this means that while you can keep up 3-4 stacks of might with 50% crit chance there are more often then not better options)

Mainly this is a combination one would consider using in PvP or WvW where the extra healing is needed.
In PvE, the extra healing is not needed and you would likely be better off using something like http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQBgi4BJHb/oqAY/MKA which provides much better damage. (you can grab pure of voice or empowering might depending on the situation.)

sorry but the link seems to be broken. it doesnt show any build after i click it ^^

Kyle.3856:

I actually wrote up that guide on intothemists based on Strife’s guide (which was falling out of meta at that time).

The build is solid but it’s no longer considered optimal for dungeons. For the current meta guide for guards look for the sticky by Obal at the top of the guard forums.

i kinda wanted to shift to this build actually. but i wanted to ask first whether the ah/em is a viable option these days but it seems it is already obsolete

i feel so squishy buy using the build by Obal, idk why. im trying it now and i died a couple of times in paths. i dunno if bad party or i just dont know how to use the new build lol

Ah is selfish, you have plenty of ways to survive as a berserker guardian ( mainly aegis, blinds, focus 5, shelter and renewed focus for personal survivability). To put it shortly, ah was a thing at the start of the game where we didn’t know the dungeons as much as now,but since the encouters were all done thousand times, roling a support build will yield better results. Don’t give it with berserker 4/5/0/0/5, maybe take vigor if you struggle ( 4/5/0/1/4). Running with like minded people boosts your survivability.

well would a guard with full soldier armor then scholar rune with a dps trait a viable option these days? i mean, running in full serker makes me so so squishy with less than 10k health. and i dont want that
any help is appreciated.
sorry for stupid question

ayaname.2578:

well would a guard with full soldier armor then scholar rune with a dps trait a viable option these days? i mean, running in full serker makes me so so squishy with less than 10k health. and i dont want that
any help is appreciated.
sorry for stupid question

Hey dude here is my AH build for pug dungeons and fractals. I usually put in wall + hallowed ground + master of consecrations (ofc) for some runs. Also you can find better builds for organized runs but I usually run with pugs… and I find it really fine. I hope to be of help

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQJARWlsApWotCxfH8DNRCBlV+x+DPPFXHgLcAA-ThCBABVqqyZKBxS5HAPAAPOEAWqWRR7PknuAGOCABcBAAA-e

Just few notes:

Empower Might = you will end up spamming might every 1 sec (with 50% chance it means that if you hit more than 2 mobs it is a 99% proc rate) which heals you for 360hp/sec so it is perfect as self heal

Strength in Numbers + Retributive Armor = give you a boost to your defense and crit rate which well sinergise with the almost full berserker gear and the 209% crit damage.

UC = boosts your damage by a good 20% but you need to know where you can use it and where not… you can’t expect to have it up 100% of time but for some bosses like searing effigy of cof 1 and others you should keep it up 100% of the time!

Kjeldoran.3849:

ayaname.2578:

well would a guard with full soldier armor then scholar rune with a dps trait a viable option these days? i mean, running in full serker makes me so so squishy with less than 10k health. and i dont want that
any help is appreciated.
sorry for stupid question

Hey dude here is my AH build for pug dungeons and fractals. I usually put in wall + hallowed ground + master of consecrations (ofc) for some runs. Also you can find better builds for organized runs but I usually run with pugs… and I find it really fine. I hope to be of help

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQJARWlsApWotCxfH8DNRCBlV+x+DPPFXHgLcAA-ThCBABVqqyZKBxS5HAPAAPOEAWqWRR7PknuAGOCABcBAAA-e

Just few notes:

Empower Might = you will end up spamming might every 1 sec (with 50% chance it means that if you hit more than 2 mobs it is a 99% proc rate) which heals you for 360hp/sec so it is perfect as self heal

Strength in Numbers + Retributive Armor = give you a boost to your defense and crit rate which well sinergise with the almost full berserker gear and the 209% crit damage.

UC = boosts your damage by a good 20% but you need to know where you can use it and where not… you can’t expect to have it up 100% of time but for some bosses like searing effigy of cof 1 and others you should keep it up 100% of the time!

thanks for the reply. so ur running mixed gear soldier/serker with pact runes? tanky enough for you? right now im using knight with trooper rune and it seems im missing something. how is the dps?

ayaname.2578:

Ragnar the Rock.3174:

Ya, it works but there is absolutely no reason you should need that much self healing in PvE.

Few things to note.

1: Altruistic healing will heal for 72 per boon applied per person its applied on at lvl 80.
2: Empowering might has a 1 second internal CD & 5 second base duration. (this means that while you can keep up 3-4 stacks of might with 50% crit chance there are more often then not better options)

Mainly this is a combination one would consider using in PvP or WvW where the extra healing is needed.
In PvE, the extra healing is not needed and you would likely be better off using something like http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQBgi4BJHb/oqAY/MKA which provides much better damage. (you can grab pure of voice or empowering might depending on the situation.)

sorry but the link seems to be broken. it doesnt show any build after i click it ^^

Never filled out the skills, just the traits.

For skills use shouts & either bane or judgment signet.
For gear use mostly zerker/assassin with a few valk pieces. Generally once you have around 15k or so health you should be survivable enough for exp dungeons.

For the unfilled traits you can use whatever you want, though I would suggest empowering might, battle presence or pure of voice.

ayaname.2578:

thanks for the reply. so ur running mixed gear soldier/serker with pact runes? tanky enough for you? right now im using knight with trooper rune and it seems im missing something. how is the dps?

I find it a good mix between damage and survivability BUT this ISN’T a tanky build! You can get some hit and recover fast from damage but you can’t tank bosses like a bunker… you have to dodge most of times but i think this is a obvious thing to do in this game. The almost full zerker gear + some damage based traits allows me to reach good spike damage… now i can’t tell you exact number but the highest WW was something about 16k of course with warriors banner and a pug party I usually end with a 2-3k AA spam and 5-10k WW… i suggest you to try yourself to see if it fits your way to play the game also because to build a new exotic gear isn’t that expensive, then if you are sure to like it you can go for ascended gear.

A lot of things “work” but you can do better than AH. Sustain is no good in instanced pve when enemies can 1-2 shot you anyways. Sustain is good when you must deal with a lot of incidental damage and stray shots (and thus good in wvw and such) , which is not the case for most encounters! You’re just going to have to learn to dodge and use blocks properly. Good use of Aegis will help you a lot more than some healing.

You can only become as good as the build you play. Even if you can’t execute the build, you can improve. But if the build is weak, then you are limited by it, regardless of how much you improve. So why optimize a dead end?

Obal’s hammer build is good for survival if you do feel squishy and need a leg to stand on: http://intothemists.com/guides/3793-max_utility_dps_hammer_guardian

stick with sw/fc + GS then (4/5/0/0/5)

its safer than hammer/GS

It may depend. Blind of the sw/fc combo work on mobs, which do not usually have KO attacks but attacks that they can do frequently. Now without a high dps on your group’s part, your blinds can cover the frequent wave of attacks only so much. If your group lacks the damage, you can’t use Radiance traited Virtue of Justice often and have to rely on your weapon skills in which the blind you can provide through them may not be as frequent as you like them to be. Permanent protection for your group though, mitigates %33 of the incoming damage regardless of how fast you kill or the attacker being immune to blind or not.

So if your group is not good enough, Hammer and the group protection it provides can be more beneficial and survivable.

ArchonWing.9480:

A lot of things “work” but you can do better than AH. Sustain is no good in instanced pve when enemies can 1-2 shot you anyways. Sustain is good when you must deal with a lot of incidental damage and stray shots (and thus good in wvw and such) , which is not the case for most encounters! You’re just going to have to learn to dodge and use blocks properly. Good use of Aegis will help you a lot more than some healing.

You can only become as good as the build you play. Even if you can’t execute the build, you can improve. But if the build is weak, then you are limited by it, regardless of how much you improve. So why optimize a dead end?

Obal’s hammer build is good for survival if you do feel squishy and need a leg to stand on: http://intothemists.com/guides/3793-max_utility_dps_hammer_guardian

There’s a few places in PvE where your group is under constant pressure as opposed to some huge boss going 10k+ hits on you.

A good example is the Cliffside fractal. Aegis is pretty useless there because the attacks come from multiple sources, and frequently. At the same time, DPS isn’t that important there for a large part of the fractal because killing isn’t a direct objective, so AH/EM builds are surprisingly useful.