Consecration Build - In the thick of it - Advice wanted
Honor is really for utilizing shouts more than anything, so if you’re not using Shouts and have 30 pts in honor, you’re kinda kittening yourself. I’d re-think your playstyle to incorporate shouts to get the most out of the Honor line, because the traits you picked there aren’t very good. Aegis heals on removal is bad, especially since when it’s first removed, you’re at full health. And gaining retaliation when Aegis ends is a waste too because Aegis isn’t up enough to make it worth while. And Virtue of Resolves passive affect isn’t a good trait to have in PvP because battle happens so quick, it doesn’t have much of an effect on your allies.
Consecrations are great in WvW, but not worth it in PvP in my opinion. Wall of Reflection would be the only exception, since it’s a great utility skill to defend against ranged and it can cure conditions for your allies, which is a big deal in PvP.
Smite Condition is a great PvP skill. If you like to use it, I’d trait for 10 into Valor like you said for the increased Meditation recharge, which means you’ll be able to use Smite Condition every 16 seconds instead of 20, so it’ll almost always be available for good AOE damage and condition removal.
Permeating Wrath in the Virtues line is a waste in my opinion. It doesn’t work when you activate Virtue of Justice, it only works on VoJ’s passive affect, which means it works every 5 hits, and it’s not guaranteed that it’s gonna hit your targets, and it doesn’t last very long. So it’s an extremely weak trait IMHO. I wouldn’t use it. You’d probably get more use out of extended Spirit Weapon Duration and using your spirit sword or hammer in your build.
Purging Flames is a good skill, but I can’t see it being very useful in PvP. Something like Judges Intervention is a better option for AOE burning, especially since it’s a gap closer. Plus, it’s a stun breaker, which is always useful in PvP.
Thanks for that, especially clarifying where I had misconceptions. As a side note, I was using PvP mostly as a testing ground. Once levelled I will probably spend more time in WvW, but it will be good to have a PvP build down as well.
Back to the drawing board it seems. I’m having trouble finding a plan I like with these trait lines.
How would 30/0/30/0/10 work? Keep Wall of Reflection and Smite Condition, throw in the spirit sword (fully traited) for damage and constant up time.
Soldier’s Amulet and Dolyak runes to keep the survivability up.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQRAse7flYg6CnGSFEf4ERWBRW9YfyLfXPgYEbIA;TcAA1U2YsRYj1GnNSbA
As always, further help is much appreciated!
Right now I find very little use in the Zeal line, so putting 30 points into that isn’t worth it in my opinion.
Here is the build I use for WvW:
Consecrations are ridiculously good in WvW, especially with ground targeting enabled. I also run a 0/0/10/30/30 build that’s full out support and I use almost nothing but consecrations when I do.
Yeah, Zeal isn’t great by any stretch. But a crit build with balanced offense and defense is always tougher to pull off than a power one. The only reason I would go zeal is in heading for more of a spirit weapon build.
I really have trouble with how the guardian trait lines really lead right into a crit build. This is something I am going to have to embrace and get back to the drawing board one more time.
The honor line isn’t only for Shouts, it’s one of the best Trait Lines we Guardians have, utility and versatility wise.
Shouts only have Major Traits at Honor 10 and 30, so if you ever decide to use them, you can freely switch.
If not, there’s plenty of great Majors there:
Resolute Healer for sPvP revivals
Pure of Heart for a more 1v1 based build (also heals allies iirc with Retreat and VoC)
Writ of Exaltion if you ever go Symbols
Empowering Might a free boon for each crit you do, helps YOU and allies, and has great synergy with any other Boon Trait (boon durations, boon heals, etc)
Two Handed Mastery because everyone uses 2 Handers at some point…
Battle Presence is kinda bugged at the moment, but it’s still a nice AoE healing without effort
The minors are also the best of all lines in my opinion: Vigor when you crit (more dodges!), Healing when you dodge (400ish each), and +10% damage when your endurance is not full.
I would recommend against 30 in Virtues in whatever build you choose. I don’t think it’s worth unless you run a “Elementalist wannabe” build with ranged Consecrations, and even still you’d need only 20 there for that.
Don’t underestimate the points you get from the Trait Lines, they are a huge bonus!
As an example, a level 80 Exotic Armor will have the following attributes:
+315 to a Major Attribute
+224 to one or two Minor Attribute or +16% to a Percent Attribute
So if you can get +300 of a particular attribute you like is a great thing, isn’t?
Also, try to keep in mind the equip you’ll have when designing your builds. Sure, a build like the first one you posted that relies heavily on Condition Damage but has no points in Radiance might seem weak, but there’s gear for that!
You can get a gear that focuses heavy on Condition Damage (major bonus), Power and Vitality (minor bonuses).
Even if you’re not 80 now, you’ll start learning the names of the gears and their bonuses (Carrion, Valkyrie, Berserker, etc) at 40 or so, so you can start planning (and using said gear) there.
If you want to do heavy AoE damage, pretty much any weapon can do it, since all their attacks aren’t limited to one enemy only, so it’s a matter of positioning.
If you mean PvP, then the Greatsword if probably your best bet. If you don’t want to use it, don’t use all your utility skills to make up for a “weakness” in your weapon of choice – you’ll be losing some really important stuff just to make up for it.
No matter what build you choose, I’d suggest picking at least 20 points in Honor. That’s for more dodges and heals (meaning more survivability) while boosting your Virtue of Resolve, and you can choose any Major that suits you.
There’s no other line that grants as much survivability with only 20 points invested.