Guild Wars 2

Hey guys, I was wondering if there were some really good builds out there for the Guardian that focus specifically on the scepter & focus.

I believe the number 2 skill has huge potential to deal mass damage (with the +10% scepter damage trait in zeal and a superior sigil of force for +5% more damage & the larger symbols trait for bigger AOE), but I’m struggling to find a really good build as most of them suggest spirit weapons along with them – and, to be honest, I don’t really like running with those.

I’m thinking of going for mainly power/precision/crit gear, but maybe also some power/vitality/crit gear for a bit more health to stay longer on the battle field, whilst still keeping a nice amount of damage.

Many thanks in advance!

from the sounds of how you’re gearing.. can i assume this is primarily for WvW?

or a bit of everything?

Smite isn’t a symbol, doesn’t benefit from symbol traits.

Its wack, but yeah.

Yes sorry forgot to mention, for WvW

oops, completely missed that. Linnael is correct.

the only traits that affect the Scepter are Zeal IX (Scepter Power) and Radiance XI (Right-hand strength). which, when combined, and with the right gear, do do a lot of damage. : ))

It’s quite weird how smite isn’t considered a symbol o_O maybe it’s a bug because it sure looks like a symbol to me XD

Hmmm I’ll definitely factor in the trait which also gives +15% crit chance – that’s just too good to pass up.

I suppose the other trait points should then be allocated for just personal preference since there aren’t many scepter-specific traits :-/ thanks for the help guys!

if it was general PvE (not dungeons), i’d recommend a 20/30/x/x/x build. but for WvW, you’ll ideally want SOME sort of sustain.

you can always try a 20/0/30/20/0 build and bring up your crit chance through gear, runes, etc.

last week, i ran a 10/30/30/0/0 build with mace/torch + scepter/focus as meditations DPS burst Guard and it’s the most fun for me, if you can find decent small fights : ))) scepter autos hit for 2k on average of course. depending on the target but usually pretty darn high.

smite is awesome. the damage ticks fast and racks up quite a bit. scepter 3 to keep ‘em standing in it. though if more than one foe is standing in it, the total damage gets divided up amongst the number of targets, iirc. it’s good for VoJ passiev procs. dangerous against retaliation.

a lot of people have been asking for it to become a symbol too, but i personally feel that’d change the skill too much itself and you won’t get as much damage against a single target vs if it were a symbol, which ticks per second and even with immob, they can get out reasonably fast.. but we’ll see. : ))

Yeah one thing I noticed was so many people completely avoiding my number 3 scepter skill. In fact most of the time it felt as though it never immobilized the enemy. I reckon it should be unblockable :-P and perhaps have a trait which increases the range of the scepter from 600 I think it is, to 900 or so.

Ty for all the advice. I think I’ll put 20 points in zeal for sure.

weird you say that. the most dodged skill on one of my nights in WvW was scepter 3. :// and it’s insta. no big tell. haha i think it was bad luck on my part. check boons on your oppoents as best as you can. if there’s aegis, use an auto to take that off first.

the scepter is best played close-mid ranged though, tbh. since it.. i forget the term, but it estimates where your opponent is gonna be and fires in that direction. so if you ever end up against a scepter guard (or ranger or any bow users for that matter). if you strafe left and right, you won’t get hit at all. lol.

you can try the 20/x/30/x/x build. 30 in valor mainly for sustain and i would recommend meditations to go with scepter. good luck! when played well, scepter can do a lot of damage. and gives us the little edge (as a WvW Guard) in taking down fleeing foes when our mobility skills are on CD.