Guild Wars 2

Hopefully this thread can demystify questions that a lot of us Guardians have. We can make this a compendium of our knowledge as a whole, but for this to work, we need questions to be asked and answers to be given.

If you have a quick question, please post it here and refrain from making a new thread. I am sure many of the Guardian veterans out there will be more than willing to answer them.

EDIT: A word from Brutaly.

“Guys, this thread is a nice initiative but if people will ask questions in it thats more about opinions and personal taste then the thread will lose its value.
There are a million answers to gear/builds/targeting and stuff so there is no quick answer.
May i suggest that the thread just handles mechanic- and factbased questions.”

That being said, I’ll start us off with a question.

Suppose that I have 1 condition applied to me and some allies. I traited for Pure of Voice and I’m using a full set of Superior Runes of the Soldier. What will happen to that 1 condition if I use a shout?

Nice initiative

Pure of voice is triggered before the runes.

So the condition is transformed into a boon by pure of voice.

If you have two conditions on you one condition is transformed into a boon by PoV and one is removed from you by rune of the soldier.

Disclaimer, Pure of voice is bugged and aint working properly with all shouts. Think it works with SYG and Retreat but im not certain.

is there a standard trait build for pve? maintaining high damage while still having enough tough/vit to take on a few enemies at a time? oh i should also mention im a gs/staff user.. and level 72 atm.

I dig that. Brutaly’s the first to drop some knowledge on us

I’m now confident enough to go on with my build thanks!

@Phantasy

There is no standard trait build as we all have unique playstyles. I myself use 30 points into Honor & Valor. I don’t mind the long killing time but I definitely appreciate the fact I can take on loads of mobs at once without downing.

However to satisfy your question I’ll recommend a build. Definitely use 30 points into Valor making sure you trait Altruistic Healing in Tier 3. Have at least 5 trait points into Virtues to get those extra boons and the rest of the 35 points are subjective. You can put them into Zeal or Radiance and hit like a truck.

I also recommend that you pick up a Hammer :O

To be honest as a Gaurdian you should use nearly all the weapons. I have all of them on me at all times. Each weapon (2h) and set weapoms (single handers and off sets) offers a lot of utility and options in both PvE and PvP. I also modify my Skills (6-0) depending on what I am going for.

You will always have a favourite, but by far the biggest strength for a Gaurdian is the ability to manage the weapons to each situation. I have won a fair few fights I shouldn’t have because I picked the right weapons and skills. Plus got lucky on picking up the enemy patterns and so on.

Personally I have at lvl 65:

20 in Zeal (Fiery Wrath – Increases damage by 10% against burning foes. , Greatsword Power – Greatsword damage is increased by 5%. )
0 in Radiance
20 in Valor (Strength in Numbers – Nearby allies gain +30 toughness., Honorable Shield – Shield skills recharge 20% faster. )
15 in Honor (Superior Aria – Shouts recharge 20% faster. )
0 in Virtues

Note: I only pick the shield recharge as it makes the buff and bubble really useful. As opposed to rarely used.

This build offers a lot of tankyness, but also a lot of team support and a nice amount of damage. I have yet to have issues with any thing but really hard Champions or Elite mobs. In PvP I have a nice mix of damage resistance and over all ability to CC and kill someone. The real kicker is skills (6-0) and weapons I pick for the purpose.

To all Guardians and Ashara.5046

Each time i try out (make) a new build i always start with 5 points in Virtues. I feel that this so so good that no place is those 5 points bether spendt.

I see that Ashara.5046 decided to not go for that, what do you guys think. Do you see your self useing a build without 5 points in Virtues?

@MysticoN

It’s not needed but it absolutely does wonders for yourself and your allies. I always make sure I have it.

5 points on Inspired Virtue also bolsters your Elite – Renewed Focus.
I just can’t see not having it. Its a free Might / Regeneration / Protection boon on activation.

And its EVEN bether if you put 15 points in Radiance.

Inspired Virtues is a drug that’s very, very hard to wean off. It’s possible, for sure. But you’ll be hearing its seductive whisper in your ear each time you activate a Virtue, calling you back… back into its sweet, sweet embrace…

Disclaimer, rune of the soldier is bugged and aint working properly with all shouts. Think it works with SYG and HTL but im not certain.

I was pretty sure the one that’s bugged was Pure of Voice. I have both and Soldier always works for me, while Stand Your Ground occasionally does not trigger Pure of Voice.

Does anyone build for condition damage? I have this sneaking suspicion that it might be actually, you know, good, largely because we have a fair number of builds that work by maximizing passive VoJ triggers.

I just haven’t been able to prove it yet.

@Ojimaru
oooops, really sloppy typo, thx for pointing it out. Rune of the soldier works like a charm. Cant edit, its random edit/quote for me on these forums, but will do that as soon as i can.

Eveningstar

Does anyone build for condition damage? I have this sneaking suspicion that it might be actually, you know, good, largely because we have a fair number of builds that work by maximizing passive VoJ triggers.
I just haven’t been able to prove it yet.

In “single player” PVE and PvP, you can pull off some scary damage with the Carrion set (Power/Cond Dmg/Vit) alone, maybe more if you mix in some Rampager (Power/Precision/Cond Dmg) gear. It’s harder to gauge in groups: if you have the highest Cond Dmg, then you won’t see any significant change to your DPS, maybe some convenience as your group helps you maintain the Burn Condition; however, if you aren’t the one with the highest Cond Dmg, then your group’s damage will drop.

Then again, the same can be said about all Cond Dmg builds of any class.

i love having 5 points in virtues. early on i just put points in Radiance (i’m a sucker for crits), and then after i started to really study the Guardian’s traits and skills i was like wow, this is awesome. and i always run with that now. like many have pointed out, it really bolsters our class skills, and i often run with renewed focus, further augmenting that.

@MysticoN – i agree, 15 in radiance works WONDERS. especially in PvE. you can pretty much spam F1 – blind, burn, might, vulnerability.. : ))

p.s. cool thread and appreciate the initiative! a small suggestion, maybe those posing new questions can post in a certain format? just so they don’t get missed when this thing takes off. for e.g.

Q – Do all your Guardians out there have multiple armor sets? if so, what are they? rarity type, stat sets, runes and for what purposes?

akamon.2769:

i love having 5 points in virtues. early on i just put points in Radiance (i’m a sucker for crits), and then after i started to really study the Guardian’s traits and skills i was like wow, this is awesome. and i always run with that now. like many have pointed out, it really bolsters our class skills, and i often run with renewed focus, further augmenting that.

@MysticoN – i agree, 15 in radiance works WONDERS. especially in PvE. you can pretty much spam F1 – blind, burn, might, vulnerability.. : ))

p.s. cool thread and appreciate the initiative! a small suggestion, maybe those posing new questions can post in a certain format? just so they don’t get missed when this thing takes off. for e.g.

Q – Do all your Guardians out there have multiple armor sets? if so, what are they? rarity type, stat sets, runes and for what purposes?

I have 2 sets both exotic. One is my main set which is a Precision/Vitality/Healing Power set of armor with Soldier Runes. My second set is a MF set that currently has no runes because im lazy. The first set is because i play a hybrid type shout guardian and personally it works best for me. Others will argue that the healing power is a waist but for my self i find it really adds to my survivability even at only 500 healing power its made the difference between surviving a fight and group wipe. As for the second set its fairly obvious what that set is for.

akamon.2769:

Q – Do all your Guardians out there have multiple armor sets? if so, what are they? rarity type, stat sets, runes and for what purposes?

I cannot speak for others, but I personally have 4 exotic armor sets (berserker, knight, magi, and soldier) and three exotic jewelry sets (berserker, knight, and cleric). I just like having them to balance out my stats depending on builds. All the armors are socketed with 2 runes of fire, 2 of runes of the monk, and 2 runes of water.

@akamon
I only have one, it’s a Soldier set. The only other set I’d use is Valkyrie, but I think 224 Toughness is far better than 16% Critical Damage.
For trinkets I use Valkyrie only because there isn’t an exotic Soldier trinket, but if it did, I’d balance Crit Damage and toughness.

I do keep multiple weapons though (Berserker, Soldier, Cleric) ankittenep switching Sigils/Runes more than I’d like. I try to balance my stats around these only.

Though my only objective in the game is having fun in WvW, so I don’t care about having a glass cannon gear for dungeons and PvE.

how do guards keep up with their targets in small scale WvW roaming ?

thinking of packing 20pts into zeal just for the 2×3s knockdown on demand from the spirit hammer.

Guys, this thread is a nice initiative but if people will ask questions in it thats more about opinions and personal taste then the thread will lose its value.

There are a million answers to gear/builds/targeting and stuff so there is no quick answer.

May i suggest that the thread just handles mechanic- and factbased questions.

@paperplay
I find it difficult for someone to actually escape me when I’m set up for roaming fights.
I use Sword & Shield / Greatsword for this, Wall of Reflection, Judge’s Intervention and Smite Condition.
Sometimes I swap WoR for Contemplation of Purity, it depends on the mood.

You have a 36 sec CD (I have at least 10 points in Valor) 1200 range gap closer, and two 600 range Teleport/Jump. It’s pretty hard for someone to get away like this.
If you use Hammers or Scepters you also have two immobilizes and 1 Ring of Warding / Blowout for control, so no one should be able to escape you easily.

If you’re still having trouble, try using a Sigil of Hydromancy on your second weapon to Chill your target when you’re nearby… it gives you another tool to not let them escape.

If you check some other professions’ forums, or even the Guardians, some people complain/ask how why they can’t escape from Guardians at all.

Brutaly.6257:

Guys, this thread is a nice initiative but if people will ask questions in it thats more about opinions and personal taste then the thread will lose its value.

There are a million answers to gear/builds/targeting and stuff so there is no quick answer.

May i suggest that the thread just handles mechanic- and factbased questions.

I will edit this into the OP.

Brutaly.6257:

Disclaimer, Pure of voice is bugged and aint working properly with all shouts. Think it works with SYG and Retreat but im not certain.

Can anyone confirm shouts which do and do not work with Pure of Voice?

Does anyone know how much more damage Elusive Power makes you do? Better yet, is it just based on having <100% endurance or something else. I’ve seen ramblings before, but nothing from anyone who didn’t seem like they were making things up just to rant/brag. Has anyone tested this?

Also I heard there may be an internal cooldown on Vigorous Precision, is this true?

(I was pondering the alternative benefits of dodge rolling a lot)

This lvl 41 guardian thanks you for your answers.

@andybmcc, all shouts that affect allies work with pure of voice. Allies affected by shouts convert one condition into a boon.

@Dead Water: The damage buff scales inversely with your endurance. At 0% endurance, it grants 10% more damage. This leads to interesting theories with dodge-skip synergy. Vigorous Precision has no (afaik) internal cooldown. Empowering Might does, at 1 second.

As a corollary, the Empowering Might internal CD ends up flattening Might uptime between slower and faster weapons, so that Hammer with a high crit gives you more consistent Might uptime than you might expect, and Greatsword with a high crit gives you slightly less consistent Might uptime than you might expect (but only slightly, seeing how Greatsword’s auto-attack grants Might.)

Of course, Might as an individual boon is more or less a drop in the numerical bucket and has very little tangible effect on the outcome of a fight. It’s multiple stacks of Might that make the difference, or a constant uptime of Might.

If you ninja skip the hammer chain animation after attack 2, do you still get the full duration of the dodge roll invulnerability?

Adding to andybmcc: and the heal? (This seems to be pretty important, although I just got the trait and started using it)

I don’t know about the full duration of a dodge roll, but I’m 90% certain you’ll get the heal.

Yes, you absolutely get the heal.

I remember testing a long time ago about the Elusive Power and I’m pretty sure it granted 10% extra damage as long as your endurance is not full.

Which is one of the reasons I started picking 30 Honor in every build I tried, 10% is comparable to Zeal/Radiance best damage traits.

I’m going to test it again though…

Edit: Just tested it again and it is still the same. If you’re anything below 100% Endurance, you get 10% extra damage.

andybmcc.8751:

If you ninja skip the hammer chain animation after attack 2, do you still get the full duration of the dodge roll invulnerability?

I’m going to go ahead and answer my own question as a “no”. I noticed that you get the heal when you break the dodge with your third attack. The trait states “end of dodge” and I’ve had it confirmed by others.

Edit: Just tested it again and it is still the same. If you’re anything below 100% Endurance, you get 10% extra damag

Excellent. Thanks for clarifying.

Danicco.3568:

I remember testing a long time ago about the Elusive Power and I’m pretty sure it granted 10% extra damage as long as your endurance is not full.

Which is one of the reasons I started picking 30 Honor in every build I tried, 10% is comparable to Zeal/Radiance best damage traits.

I’m going to test it again though…

Edit: Just tested it again and it is still the same. If you’re anything below 100% Endurance, you get 10% extra damage.

Thanks!

In what ways does the trait “Perfect Inscriptions” improve the passive effects of Signet of Resolve and Signet of Judgement?

Also keep those questions and answers coming guys. We need this to get sticky’d~

Question: Does the trait “Shattered Aegis” work with your passiv auto aegis you gain every now and then or only when “activating” Virtue to distribue Aegis?

If you additionally choose “defenders flame” does the attacker gets burning twice? Once by breaking aegis and once by get blocked?

Does “permeating Wrath” aoeburns only on activating of the virtue or trigger on the passiv attack too?

Does zealots Flame works in conjunction with inner fire?

@Monki

Shattered Aegis work with any Aegis, be it the passive, active, the Valor minor Trait effect or from skills.

I haven’t tested this, but if you have both Shattered Aegis and Defender’s Flame, you’ll apply 2 burns to the enemies which will result in a 2 second burn duration (burn stack duration).

Permeating Wrath works on the passive, I haven’t really tested on the active… the effect will change and it’s noticeable, but the area is so small that most people don’t think it’s worth it.

“Does zealots Flame works in conjunction with inner fire?”

Sadly, no.

IV Endu.8920:

In what ways does the trait “Perfect Inscriptions” improve the passive effects of Signet of Resolve and Signet of Judgement?

Signet of Resolve will remove 2 conditions every 10 seconds.
Signet of Judgement is really hard to test, but it seems to reduce damage by 12% or 15% instead of 10%.

Question:
Sigil of superior Fire – 30% chance on crit: Trigger a flame blast for AoE damage

If i have that on my torch, do the Sigil apply on my torch skill only or also scepter?

The flame blast, is that triggerd where my target is or where i stand?

MysticoN.5068:

Question:
Sigil of superior Fire – 30% chance on crit: Trigger a flame blast for AoE damage

If i have that on my torch, do the Sigil apply on my torch skill only or also scepter?

The flame blast, is that triggerd where my target is or where i stand?

As long as you have the Sigil on hand, it will apply to any hits you dish out (which include skills) and the flame blast will trigger on your target.

On hand, do you mean main hand? Torch can only be used in off hand so im whondering if sigil on off hand also can proc on attacks from main hand.

He meant, as long as you have the Sigil equipped in anything that you’re currently using (not the unequipped weapon set), the Sigil will take effect in any hit, be it weapon or skills.

I was playing around with dodge on heal and vigor on crit and got to thinking, does our dodge on heal proc any “on heal” runes? Also, does resolve proc any of these if you hit F2? Just looking at maximizing the dodge on heal. (trying to do some testing in the mists myself as well with this, but its kinda tricky lol)

Dead Water – I think all the on heal procs is only procing for skill 6.

MysticoN.5068:

Dead Water – I think all the on heal procs is only procing for skill 6.

Please excuse me while I go cry in the corner =(

So during my testing in the mists I noticed that 30 points in virtues doesn’t seem to equate to 30% reduction in virtue cooldowns. (and likewise for 20%) I am missing something stupid and simple or is there actually only a .9% cd per point or something?

Thanks

Question:

—While using the mace as a weapon and having the trait “Writ of the Merciful” (All symbols heal allies), does mace skill #2 give direct healing as well as the regen buff it normally grants?

Rainydays.5368:

Question:

—While using the mace as a weapon and having the trait “Writ of the Merciful” (All symbols heal allies), does mace skill #2 give direct healing as well as the regen buff it normally grants?

Based on my limited testing in Gendarran Fields, I’d have to say it gives you both the healing from #2 mace and the healing from Writ of the Merciful.

Throughout my testing, I had Virtue of Resolve on cooldown so our passive regen doesn’t get in the way.

1)Cleric’s Mace #2 without the trait = 69 healing

2)Cleric’s Mace #2 with trait = 63+32 healing

3) Just to see how much healing symbols give itself, I used #4 with a GS and found it was giving 30 healing.

I’m not too sure why Mace #2 with the trait is showing ticks of 63+32. If the Writ of the Merciful was indeed giving additional healing, I would have seen ticks of 69+32.

Maybe someone else can test this. I did a very, very rudimentary experiment lol.

Virtues 25: powr of the Virtous…

How much extra dmg do you see per boon?

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Power_of_the_Virtuous

It apparently isn’t a very good trait.

^^ Not too bad really… So Save Yourselves + PoV is going to give you +20% crit, Vigor and 7% Damage.

That’s pretty good. And typcially have 3 boons on at any given time in combat.

Thanks!