Guild Wars 2

I have a baby Guardian I left behind and lvl17 while I have been leveling my Mesmer. I keep thinking about coming back to it, but I am largely directionless. There is no obvious direction that I want to build along. I mostly play solo PvE, roaming maps to get 100% completion. As such, the only time I benefit from the Guardian’s support is in Events (assuming it is one people do; half the time I solo them too). I may do Dungeons/Fractals one day, or even WvWvW, but my current skill-level as a player is too low.

In terms of Guardian weapons, my favourite is the Mace. Seemingly a less popular weapon, I like the `good for me, bad for you’ feel that all the skills have. I keep switching between Shield and Focus, as I cannot decide which I prefer I have mucked around with the Hammer, which I do not mind, but the weapon does not really capture me. Greatsword or Sword seem like good complements to the Mace, but both are a little boring. I did not enjoy Sceptre at all, and Staff is probably too support-oriented for how I play.

I keep changing utilities too, as I cannot really settle on what I like. Consecrations and Shouts both seem good options, as they are useful solo and even more useful with groups. Spirit Weapons look cool and fit the aesthetic I like (I prefer them to Shouts), but they seem a little meh in practice (perhaps because of my low level?). Meditations are OK, but a little boring. I find Signets horridly boring and never use them on any class.

My Mesmer runs around as a squishy magic-swordsman, using Phantasms to boost DPS, Clones to boost survivability, and Shatters to maximise both. In other words, more magical and focusing magic outward. The basic concept I have with the Guardian is a hardy magic-swordsman who has glowy armour of `you cannot hurt me’ and a glowy weapon of `this will really hurt you’. In other words, more martial and focusing magic inward. I am sure it is do-able, but I am a bit lost at the moment on how to go about it.

What exactly do you have questions about? Can’t give advice if you don’t ask any questions.

Since it sounds like you are still low level, so it’s good to not have any direction yet. Try out all the weapons and skills and learn what you like. Direction is only really needed when you hit level 80 and want to commit to some expensive or time-gated gear.

Yer only level 17! Yer a widdle baby! Your skull hasn’t fully formed yet! No point in talking builds until you have some trait points to play with. Get to level 80, then worry about the rest of this stuff. Meantime use what feels right to level with. Try different weapons and skills out to experiment. You want to try every weapon combination and skill to see what you dig. I used mace / shield + scepter / focus a lot for added survivability in tougher zones. Good luck! See you in 63 levels.

if you solo pve try getting 30 into virtues for the voj proc on 4 instead of 5 and the voj hitting aoe instead of sinlge target.

youll wipe groups of mobs easy with hammer chain

Hi, that’s a familiar name we have here. Wanna play together? The easiest way to boost damage is to take 10 in zeal for burning wrath and it’ll happen on its own. Virtue of Justice is so expendable that you can just spam it most fights, especially in any group ones. And 100 power/cond damage is trivial at level 80 but big at low levels.

Both focus and shield are good offhands, but focus is better in close combat I feel. I prefer to use shield with scepter since the knockback isn’t too good unless you’re fighting ranged.

As for utility, I don’t think you can ever mess up with shouts.

fishergrip.4082:

What exactly do you have questions about? Can’t give advice if you don’t ask any questions.

Sorry, I am a bit lost myself. I am hoping that I can just get some general pointers on my options. My highest level character is a Mesmer, which I saw several obvious builds for (eg Shatter, Phantasm, Condition) before I even began playing. I began building with a couple of ideas in mind and, as I played more, gradually refined the build. With the Guardian, however, the only obvious builds are bunker/anchor types, which are not so useful for solo play. As such, I have no idea what to play with as I level up to work out what suits my play style.

ArchonWing.9480:

Hi, that’s a familiar name we have here. Wanna play together?

Always happy to team up again

ArchonWing.9480:

Both focus and shield are good offhands, but focus is better in close combat I feel. I prefer to use shield with scepter since the knockback isn’t too good unless you’re fighting ranged.

That makes a lot of sense. Mace/Focus or Scepter/Shield do seem the more sensible combinations in that light.

like most people have said, just go for it.D namely, learn all the weapon skills (by that i don’t mean the unlocking as you use them, but really learn to use them in different situations and get a feel for them all). a lot of the Guardian’s weapon skills i feel can be used both defensievly as well as offensively. : ))

definitely experiment with utilities as well! even at 80, depending on your content and build, you’ll be switching utilities to step up to the situations.

like mentioned, 10 in Power is always good / nice to have.

15 in Radiance helps a lot as well.

• 5pts – AoE blind when you use Virtue of Justice (VoJ)
• 10pts – if you go for Blind Exposure (VI), everytime you apply blind, you apply vulnerability as well —> more damage against your enemies not just for you, but also anyone else around hitting the same target!
• 15pts – VoJ refreshed each time you kill a foe. note, doesn’t have to be killing blow, just contribute enough damage to get cerdit for kill

then throw another 5 pts into Virtues then you get 3 stacks of might each time you hit VoJ as well now!

so what do you get? spammable VoJ which gives you might, burn, blind, vulnerability each time. if you took 10 in Zeal, and Fiery Wrath, that’s another 10% damage as well. of course, works best with a bunch of mobs. not AS effective against, say, a high health single target, but you still get added crit chance and power so that’s always useful.

since you’re only lvl 17, you can slowly work your way up there. if it sounds like something you’d enjoy. makes for decent leveling.

i personally love the mace as well make sure to use Mace 3 for damage as well! when yuo see an incoming hit from a mob, pop Mace 3, block the attack and watch AoE damage. i like hiding the little shield from Focus 5 inside the Mace 3 big shield for lots of AoE explosions. fun times.

[edit: that being said, you can look into the Honor line as well. Larger symbols (III), healing symbols (X) i always enjoy with the mace. or longer lasting symbols (VII) for PvE since most mobs stay relatively in the same spot.

or while leveling, you can always go further down the Zeal line since all the Minor traits buff symbols and mace 2 is on a relative short CD]

For solo play, I’d recommend using the GS for leveling. You can pick up traits in Honor that buff 2H weapons, which will allow you to maximize the use of staff for swiftness while you’re exploring.

The basic skeleton for a damage build for guardians is something like this:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQFAxERh77YFORYzIgAsqQ8wUgR4D-jAyAYLAqAQyTZN7JIWZLiGraBTdSEV7OKiWNA-e

You can pretty much make that work with any weapon choices you want by picking the last 15 points. Obviously you can swap in more damage gear as you’re more comfortable with the class, but that’s a decent place to start.

With that setup, you’ll have access to Aegis, numerous AoE blinds and pretty high damage while being sturdy enough to survive most situations.

Some of the traits that are really powerful and easy to pick up are:
Zealous Blade for the Greatsword
2H mastery for the Greatsword
Right Handed Strength for the 1h Weapons
Writ of Persistence for the Hammer
Pure of Voice for extra condition removal
Master of Consecrations for extra long Wall of Reflection (which is one of your most powerful skills in many situations)