Guild Wars 2

Hi, my name is stunningstyles. I took this short clip from my Road to 100 win stream to show that dps guard is soo strong right now. I also give a break down of what happened during the clip just in case people needed help on how to play the dps guard way :P Check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvKXjyI5ODY

Don’t forget to mention that you hang out in manvil rock and everyone communicates via teamspeak against the enemy team. Immediate resses isn’t something that takes skill, also there is no way you could have cleansed poison on that corspe; during the time of the video you’ve already spammed condition cleansing.

It makes no sense to use virtue of resolve and then use save yourselves, you essentially wasted a cooldown.

just a guide…use or don’t :P

I have recently moved to D.P.S guardian about a month ago. I am currently suffering PvP burnout and taking a break from it in favour to collecting dungeons armours I’ve been meaning to get round to collecting.

Interesting vid. You cleanse, buff team might, cut off enemies and support vulnerable allies. I don’t really see the D.P.S in this, but I do see a tonne of team support. A D.P.S focused rune set/armour/weapons played in a supportive way is still support.

I take it you mean the traditional ‘support’ rune sets/armour/weapons are too vanilla and can actually be swapped to more damaging sets? Or you’ve assigned more traits in damage focused lines over support lines? and used more team focused utilities?

yea you don’t see the dps necessarily in this clip but the build pumps out a lot of damage..as u can see my health dropped pretty fast

I use a DPS guardian and I can kill half of the class of that game in 1vs1 (except for the very very very good players).
I play TsPvP and always protect the base, never go in middle or play in team (if there’s no need).
I play Berserker whit a build 10-30-30-0-0 (meditation build), weapon: GS and Sword+Focus.
Now I’ve chose to change in a build a lot lesser DPS, but still powerfull. 0-30-30-10-0, to obtain perma vigor and obtain 7 sec retalation when aegis fall off.

I’ve 2 condition remover, shelter to heal and block enemy attacks, 3 meditation to heal me, GS, sword and meditation skill to move to the enemy and deal damage, very high burst damage and 15k hp.

I can kill thief, mesmer, ele, guardian and war, then sometimes I can kill engi and necro. Ranger only if they use a dps build or I take them close to me. If the ranger play too much ranged I’ve difficult to hit XD

I lose against high condition damage dealer. That’s because they can mix up easy very high damage and high defence. An’d I’m a little weak to conditions (only 14-15k of hp).

I’ve 2 cleanse skills and don’t use boons. That’s a choice, because whit no boons mesmers and necros can’t change it into conditions or steal it from me.

It’s na very good DPS build. I’ve not a program to register videos, but I can try to download one and make a little video to put on youtube and post there.

stunningstyles.7054:

just a guide…use or don’t :P

I have nothing against you, but if you’re going to make a guide make sure to review what you’re doing.

Everyone already knows you are one of the best dps guardians in the world, might as well spend time to edit your video more accurately.

The base I’ve been using in mostly spvp (I try not to use tpvp for testing purposes.)

power/precision/crit armour
Scholar runes or ogre
20 ……….signet heal
25…………signet to increase power
0……………signet to decrease damage
20………….save yourselves
5…………….renewed focus
GS -scept/focus

The build relies heavily on knowing when you’re gonna get conditioned to death and when your not. Using blinds predicatively to avoid set up combinations and using dodge to negate higher tier damage.

When traited to cause vulnerability on blind and immobilise it is not uncommon to stack 19 vulnerability quickly.
Rotation;
Focus 5 to block on closing
focus 4 to blind+vulnerability
focus 3 to immob+vuln
focus 2 to smite
weap swap
leap of faith to blind-focus 5 shield detonates
signet knockdown
binding blade while knocked down for near 100% catch
signet to reduce vigor on them to prevent too much dodging
pull
virtue for more blind and vuln
ward (cancel animation by going straight into…)
Whirling wrath

On medium armour/tougness targets whirling wrath alone will chop out 7K damage. On tanks it will deliver 5K. Most enemies don’t survive the full rotation. When the stars align perfectly it is a difficult rotation to escape for most builds. However this is also spvp so on newer players it will work better, on more veteran you may miss a few steps by them countering you. However what is usually the case is that most people aren’t expecting a guardian to deliver 17-20K+ in under 8ish seconds. Any use of retaliation only furthers its damage output.

However its defense as stated, is largely based round dodging on purpose as opposed to the hell of it and knowing when you’re gonna get condi burst and avoiding those opponents 1 vs 1.

In PvE arah dungeon, with someone else to take vuln to 25 stacks and helping buff up might and specific food buffs this will hit for 15-17.5k on bosses on the greatsword half of the rotation alone.

Its a good build for those who have played Ah/bunker builds for sometime and are now comfortable pushing their profession limits a little further and do some roaming. It can also work well with hammer and before bigger boss fights like lupi you can change traits for more scepter focused damage if you want some distance.

Nice vid. I get what you mean about DPS guards’. Ever since the condi meta I just had more trouble than I wanted running a bunker in spite of how important the role is, so I switched to running Silven’s Mace medi spike. 3k auto hits on light armour and AoE fire proc’s are just delicious!

Really like the idea of running high virtues for the Resolve buff and condi cleanse with a hybrid DPS build.

@ Silv:

If you’re having some trouble against really heavy condi-spam, you can make another armour set with Lyssa runes. At match start, you can switch sets if you’re sure the other side is going to be heavy condi spam. It’s pretty strong against them.

The damage loss isn’t really that big a deal going from Scholars/Ogre since damage stat variance isn’t as extreme in Tpvp. I personally prefer Ogre these days though. Too much attrition damage normally drops you off the benefit of rune 6, and I just prefer base damage increases over crit damage in general.

I’d play any dps guard that doesn’t require a staff. Staff is boring :S

Chase.8415:

stunningstyles.7054:

just a guide…use or don’t :P

I have nothing against you, but if you’re going to make a guide make sure to review what you’re doing.

Everyone already knows you are one of the best dps guardians in the world, might as well spend time to edit your video more accurately.

Don’t inflate Stunning’s ego, we already have 9 rank notifications on every video he puts out as it is, isn’t that right stun :P

~Aynkou

@Entioch LOL lies!!….. has anyone made use of vulnerability stacking with symbols and scepter? I still haven’t made a build that could make use of it

stunningstyles.7054:

@Entioch LOL lies!!….. has anyone made use of vulnerability stacking with symbols and scepter? I still haven’t made a build that could make use of it

I Have and it doesn’t make much use because eveveryone lies on conditions and there’s no effective way for guardians to apply vulenarbility other than blinds which has a large cooldown compared to the amount of condition cleanse.

Entioch.6594:

Chase.8415:

stunningstyles.7054:

just a guide…use or don’t :P

I have nothing against you, but if you’re going to make a guide make sure to review what you’re doing.

Everyone already knows you are one of the best dps guardians in the world, might as well spend time to edit your video more accurately.

Don’t inflate Stunning’s ego, we already have 9 rank notifications on every video he puts out as it is, isn’t that right stun :P

~Aynkou

I know this, hense why I pointed it out. He spent more time shouting out to everyone that he is rank 9 and every match he joins he spams twitch than making an effective guide or "what I did’

Because it seems to me “what you did” was just spam cooldowns.

It adds overall to the guardian community, regardless of whether or not you like the attitude. It is, in the end, a good example of what i think should be a fundamental of any game. You don’t need to learn all professions to be good, you just need to learn the one who enjoy playing the most.

Teams: Bunker > DPS
Yoloq (aka carry all the badE’s): DPS > Bunker

It’s extremely difficult to carry on a bunker, unless you’re playing with good players, otherwise nobody will utilize your buffs or snares or anything but their tunnel vision. I’m sure everybody knew this anyway, as they’ve all been privy to the average ‘teammate’ in soloq.

Regarding your build: Due to you using a GS you won’t be able to take out a bunker 1v1 and you won’t be able to control a point if required. You’re relying on players not paying attention to animations or Judge’s.
Lyssa’s runes are far less effective at dealing with conditions than trip shout + soldier’s is. Unless they can only put one stack of conds down and are done for the fight.

@the guy who was talking about vuln stacking
Guards can stack 25 vuln with blind and immob Easily and can easily maintain 12-15+ throughout a fight, it also takes no skill to do, thus it is easily achieved by sitting on your keyboard. The ramification for this are: you may damage your keyboard, you may damage your bottom and that you lack a lot of sustain due to the spec you’re playing and end up dying and nobody will miss you =(

Also it’s not achieved through symbols because the Zeal tree is literally the vampire tree, it sucks the life out of your other traits, and as a result, out of your build.

Anyway this is the first stable internet connection I’ve found at this stupid hospital and I only wish I were here to receive peck implants.

DPS Guardian isn’t the best for a team play situation.
The best for fight in team is the Bunker whit shouts.
But DPS Guardian can be useful to hold a point or to do isolated action like steal the enemy camp, all things that a bunker guardian can’t do very well.
The reason is one: a dps guardian can kill, a bunker guardian can’t.
To defend a point like the base you need only one player. When I play tounaments I play Guardian Berserker and I hold the base. That’s becouse you frequently fight in 1vs1. If you’re a dps you can kill the enemy. If you’re a bunker you only survive a little longer, but you die and give the point to the enemy. you’re already in 5, why spent 2 player to hold a point that a single dps guardian can hold?
Dps guardian isn’t the classic version of the guardian and your enemy when see you think that you’re a bunker and play like you’re a bunker. That make you in advantage because they don’t pay attention to defend and you can attack them whit your high damage easy. Before the enemy see that you’re a dps he’s at 50% hp. or, in case of class like mesmer or thief or ele, at 1/3 or downed.

But yes, if you want to fight in team you need to be a bunker, because the low hp and defence of the dps build can make you die fast in fight of 3vs3 or 4vs4 if the enemy focus on you thinking you’re the tank.

DPS anD BUNKER make 2 different role, expecially in TsPvP.

But if you see there’s even more new DPS Guardians. That’s because a good dps guardian can really kill a large number of different classes in 1vs1. And it’s GS AoE (skill 2) can be very good in fight of 4vs4 to decrease the hp of more than 1 enemy by 5-7k in lesser than one second.

Two build, two game play. That’s all.

Cool vid (I won’t nitpick it), but I don’t really see the relevance to the title of the thread. :P AH DPS has its moments, for sure, but I can’t see making any claims of it being better than bunker overall, they fill totally different roles.

ArcTheFallen.7682:

I’d play any dps guard that doesn’t require a staff. Staff is boring :S

Come on, Staff is genius. Swiftness, “you shall not pass”, and 12 stacks of Might. TWELVE. FOR EVERYONE.

Plus it’s pretty useful against Phantasm Mesmers or Thieves with summons.

Lyssa runes on their own are obviously not as good as Shouts+Soldier Runes with potentially Pure of Voice. The point is that a triple med build with 2 cleanses is still not enough condi cleanse these days. Lyssa runes give up some damage for an extra condi-cleanse and buffs to help you stay in the fight. Of course if you get corrupted… Yeah, but I definitely fair better against spam Necro’s with Lyssa.

Staff is cool for team fights, but on mobile maps, you’re a lot weaker without people next to you. It’s a lot easier to control a staff guardian off a point than if he wielded a hammer…. Still, that’s a bunker perspective.

From a DPS PoV it’s pretty good, although I reckon the scepter/XXX combo is just so good. DPS or Bunker, It’s very hard to give up and you can’t really rely on range weapons to DPS/burst. As to GS, it’s very telegraphed and you can easily kill yourself against retaliate with WW, especially at a mid-fight hitting multiple targets. Pushing far points can also be a pain if you run into a control bunker. Mace/Sword or hammer (sceptre/focus alt) are just better than GS in a fight like that imo.

I personal always liked hybrid>dps>bunker.

Bunker is great if you have a team with certain roles or competent teammates. If you don’t it’s pretty much useless.

DPS is also great, but there are some classes and builds that will just roll you in a second. Plus it’s less effective in team fights.

Hybrid has always been my favorite. You do everything well, not great, but well. So you are useful in any situation. Doesn’t matter if your teammates are stars or terrible, either way you help.

Overall the moral of the story is play what you like and excel at. For me that’s hybrid.

Clear lack of understanding of guardian mechanics here.

-Absolute Resolution – Activating Virtue of Resolve removes three conditions. Virtue of Resolve’s passive effect is stronger.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Virtue_of_Resolve

Skip to 2:55 on the video and watch as he shows that you remove 3 condis from your team with virtue of resolve active. Oh wait it didn’t, yes he condi cleansed by that using save yourself and contemplation of purity. The team condi cleanse had absolutely nothing to do with him activating virtue of resolve.

You knows, virtue of resolve also adds health to allies, maybe he did that because his allies health were so low that they could have died if he only focused on taking away conditions.

Sovereign.1093:

You knows, virtue of resolve also adds health to allies, maybe he did that because his allies health were so low that they could have died if he only focused on taking away conditions.

Adam.6047:

Sovereign.1093:

You knows, virtue of resolve also adds health to allies, maybe he did that because his allies health were so low that they could have died if he only focused on taking away conditions.

Yes, he did use it to remove conditions, but it also heals them since their hp is so low <3

The way gw2 game mechanics work and guardian traits (aka dodges, blinds, aegis) I have plenty of bunker by being mechanically sound and dodging CC and damage. That why I feel having more dps is better. People feel u needa bunker in 5v5 comp but if your good enough to avoid damage in high congestion fights its fine to be dps guard.

True, but that’s like saying…

“If your team plays the perfect game, you all don’t need to heal”.

Also true. Also unrealistic… Especially in an environment with retaliation and AoE on points. Unless fighting off-point is a ’thing ’ now.

I’ve noticed something on these forums. It’s similar to LoL, when a diamond/plat hell even mid+ gold player says something you always have wood league players trying to correct them. Why? If I start talking about the mechanics of this, or that, and you are barely able to break 5 cs/minute(exception support of course, love you guys you do the crap job so the rest of us can have fun) then the conversation is irrelevant to you because you aren’t skilled enough to even worry about mechanics.

Adam.6047:

Clear lack of understanding of guardian mechanics here.

-Absolute Resolution – Activating Virtue of Resolve removes three conditions. Virtue of Resolve’s passive effect is stronger.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Virtue_of_Resolve

Skip to 2:55 on the video and watch as he shows that you remove 3 condis from your team with virtue of resolve active. Oh wait it didn’t, yes he condi cleansed by that using save yourself and contemplation of purity. The team condi cleanse had absolutely nothing to do with him activating virtue of resolve.

Maybe you’re just trolling, but I’ll bite I suppose.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Absolute_Resolution

“The active effect removes three conditions from you and allies in the area.”

And did you really have to name your picture “stunningscrub.png” when you didn’t even take the time to click the link on the page you linked? If you played bunker Guard, or just any Guard build using that trait, you’d already know it removes condis AoE.

stunningstyles.7054:

The way gw2 game mechanics work and guardian traits (aka dodges, blinds, aegis) I have plenty of bunker by being mechanically sound and dodging CC and damage. That why I feel having more dps is better. People feel u needa bunker in 5v5 comp but if your good enough to avoid damage in high congestion fights its fine to be dps guard.

Well, first of all, I think you use Soldier/Zerk ammy if I’m not mistaken, and I believe Energy sigils (sorry if I’m mistaken here, I’m going from memory of when I looked at your video a while ago) so you’re a bit more of a bunker than a dps in that your damage is ok but you’re more about tanky and less about bursty, as far as your equipment goes (as well as your trait point allocation). So yeah, you’re sort of a bunker already except that you wield a Greatsword and equip Zerk jewel; calling yourself a “DPS Guard” isn’t quite 100% accurate if that’s how you’re built, since you do some damage but much lower than a zerked out player.

But my main point is, let’s say you were zerked out and playing a true DPS Guard setup. You say you can mitigate a bunch of damage by dodging and otherwise not playing bad, and of course that’s true, but the same could be said of a bunker build. The big difference is the amount of pressure you can handle, amount of time you can hold out 1vX, and the amount of team support you’re able to give. A bunker can stand on point for long periods of time 1vX or in a team fight, and that’s a big deal because if you have to give up the neut while you’re fighting, that’s a lot of points lost, and this is Conquest mode after all. The more your team is able to hold a capture while fighting, the more points your team gets in the end, especially when you consider how a lot of teams have between 2 and 4 team res utilities, making fights go super long. Imagine a team fight lasting 60 seconds, that’s 30 points you would have lost if the point is neutral that whole time. Another big thing is stomps and resses. All the dodge rolls and other damage avoidance measures in the world don’t enable you to facetank cleave damage while you get off that all-important stomp or res that wins or loses the fight, and sometimes being able to provide more damage is less important than being able to just win the fight with a stability-covered stomp/res. Speaking of stability, that’s another thing you’re losing out on compared to a bunker, since the typical build runs Indomitable Courage (X in Virtues). That’s two more aoe stabs per teamfight that you don’t have, and sometimes those are really key.

So yeah, what I’m trying to say is that the build offers one set of tools, and Bunker Guard offers another. I won’t say one is better than the other, they just have pros and cons, that’s all. The way I think about it, you’re a lot like a Warrior. You just have more boon and cleanse support, more AoE damage but much less single target damage, and you have the same weakness in that you have to be in melee range to do most of your damage, so you can be kited with cripple/chill/immob once your cleanses are burned. Other than that, the two are pretty similar if you think about it, and you’d never say Warrior > Bunker Guard because they’re two totally different roles.

cymerdown.4103:

Adam.6047:

Clear lack of understanding of guardian mechanics here.

-Absolute Resolution – Activating Virtue of Resolve removes three conditions. Virtue of Resolve’s passive effect is stronger.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Virtue_of_Resolve

Skip to 2:55 on the video and watch as he shows that you remove 3 condis from your team with virtue of resolve active. Oh wait it didn’t, yes he condi cleansed by that using save yourself and contemplation of purity. The team condi cleanse had absolutely nothing to do with him activating virtue of resolve.

Maybe you’re just trolling, but I’ll bite I suppose.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Absolute_Resolution

“The active effect removes three conditions from you and allies in the area.”

And did you really have to name your picture “stunningscrub.png” when you didn’t even take the time to click the link on the page you linked? If you played bunker Guard, or just any Guard build using that trait, you’d already know it removes condis AoE.

stunningstyles.7054:

The way gw2 game mechanics work and guardian traits (aka dodges, blinds, aegis) I have plenty of bunker by being mechanically sound and dodging CC and damage. That why I feel having more dps is better. People feel u needa bunker in 5v5 comp but if your good enough to avoid damage in high congestion fights its fine to be dps guard.

Well, first of all, I think you use Soldier/Zerk ammy if I’m not mistaken, and I believe Energy sigils (sorry if I’m mistaken here, I’m going from memory of when I looked at your video a while ago) so you’re a bit more of a bunker than a dps in that your damage is ok but you’re more about tanky and less about bursty, so as far as your equipment goes (as well as your trait point allocation). So yeah, you’re sort of a bunker already except that you wield a Greatsword and equip Zerk jewel; calling yourself a “DPS Guard” isn’t quite 100% accurate if that’s how you’re built, since you do some damage but much lower than a zerked out player.

But my main point is, let’s say you were zerked out and playing a true DPS Guard setup. You say you can mitigate a bunch of damage by dodging and otherwise not playing bad, and of course that’s true, but the same could be said of a bunker build. The big difference is the amount of pressure you can handle, amount of time you can hold out 1vX, and the amount of team support you’re able to give. A bunker can stand on point for long periods of time 1vX or in a team fight, and that’s a big deal because if you have to give up the neut while you’re fighting, that’s a lot of points lost, and this is Conquest mode after all. The more your team is able to hold a capture while fighting, the more points your team gets in the end. Another big thing is stomps and resses. All the dodge rolls and other damage avoidance measures in the world don’t enable you to facetank cleave damage while you get off that all-important stomp or res that wins or loses the fight, and sometimes being able to provide more damage is less important than being able to just end the fight with a stability-covered stomp. Speaking of stability, that’s another thing you’re losing out on compared to a bunker, since the typical build runs Indomitable Courage (X in Virtues). That’s two more aoe stabs per teamfight that you don’t have, and sometimes those are really key.

So yeah, what I’m trying to say is that DPS Guard offers one set of tools, and Bunker Guard offers another. I won’t say one is better than the other, they just have pros and cons, that’s all. The way I think about it, as a DPS Guard, you’re a lot like a Warrior. You just have more boon and cleanse support, more AoE damage but much less single target damage, and you have the same weakness in that you have to be in melee range to do most of your damage, so you can be kited with cripple/chill/immob once your cleanses are burned. Other than that, the two are pretty similar if you think about it, and you’d never say Warrior > Bunker Guard because they’re two totally different roles.

^ This is what I felt like typing up but was too lazy to sit down and do it. Good on you.

It really depends on what you enjoy playing and if that’s a DPS guardian then go for it and play to the strengths of that style and the same goes for Bunkers. I’ve always said if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing then what’s the point in playing a game? Neither Bunker nor DPS are superior as each have their own benefits.

I’ve seen Bunkers square up to 5 people and hold a point for what seems to be a decade and I’ve seen DPS guardians join a losing battle and tear the enemy team into shreds in a matter of seconds.

Just a note, to people saying he wasted his VoR before he used SY!. VoR has 1200 range, SY! is 600. You’ll notice he uses VoR and after like 3 seconds he used SY! when he was sure he was in range of all the teammates. The teammates were low on HP, 3s earlier without bleed and poison is IMO a good reason to blow VoR before you get in range with SY! to remove the rest.

not mentioning what Chase pointed out (which is the 90% of “why you can kill someone”) your thread title is wrong my actual build (in zero damage: is possible) can’t simply be killed by you or anyone… now and ever

and… you damage in the vid was really low still with 12 might stacks… really was it a dps build?

Adam.6047:

Clear lack of understanding of guardian mechanics here.

-Absolute Resolution – Activating Virtue of Resolve removes three conditions. Virtue of Resolve’s passive effect is stronger.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Virtue_of_Resolve

Skip to 2:55 on the video and watch as he shows that you remove 3 condis from your team with virtue of resolve active. Oh wait it didn’t, yes he condi cleansed by that using save yourself and contemplation of purity. The team condi cleanse had absolutely nothing to do with him activating virtue of resolve.

Poorly written post by me at some obscene time in the morning. I apologise if it came across that virtue of justice didn’t team condi clear. My point was that he could quite easily have removed all of the condis without blowing the cd.

cymer…yea I understand bunker can hold longer but u also have to take in the fact of how long does gw2 4v4 3v3 fights really last…how long really do u need to survive…I think bunker guard goes over that time limit when its a high rank game…very good points tho I agree…at kjeld…the target I was fighting were med/heavy armor characters so im prob not going past 3k with ww but against squishies I easily hit 5k 6k WWs and autos for 2k so there is def dps.

Another excellent video stunning. I actually finally got into a solo q match with you the other day. I was runnign the same exact spec lol. People never want to think outside the box is my personl opinion but I agree in a lot of situations your build is better then a full bunker even in team tournaments. Dodge is so op in this game and you have plenty of dodges. If you can keep dodging over and over again and add to that superior dps what else is really better?

An interesting video. I don’t play small scale team pvp myself but it is interesting to see the over lap functionally with the builds I’ve been running in WvW for a while now. Good stuff. I agree that the more dps you can get in your build without becoming a rally bot the better your group, regardless of size, is for it.

Jax.5261:

Anyway this is the first stable internet connection I’ve found at this stupid hospital and I only wish I were here to receive peck implants.

When I first read this I actually thought you said a different sort of implants!!!!!! My apologies!

Side note – wish you well and a speeding recovery or escape!

exactly what kwll and Mr Pin said…“I agree that the more dps you can get in your build without becoming a rally bot the better your group, regardless of size, is for it.” -Best Quote for Guardians no contest

the more dps u can get while still being able to do your job as a bunker and condi clearer the better

stunningstyles.7054:

the more dps u can get while still being able to do your job as a bunker and condi clearer the better

But you don’t as a DPS, even running an optimal DPS build, with Soldier’s + PoV, you still won’t be able to secure stomps or give your team the high healing power regeneration like a Bunker.
Even running with a Hammer, which is pretty much standard in DPS atm, you have less control and less ‘set-ups’ for your allies.

If it works for you, do whatever you want, but that doesn’t mean it’s optimal or recommended.

Jax.5261:

stunningstyles.7054:

the more dps u can get while still being able to do your job as a bunker and condi clearer the better

But you don’t as a DPS, even running an optimal DPS build, with Soldier’s + PoV, you still won’t be able to secure stomps or give your team the high healing power regeneration like a Bunker.
Even running with a Hammer, which is pretty much standard in DPS atm, you have less control and less ‘set-ups’ for your allies.

If it works for you, do whatever you want, but that doesn’t mean it’s optimal or recommended.

I play a Hybrid Guardian that’s more focused towards DPS in the grand scheme of things and yes I cannot heal or buff my team as well as a Bunker but dealing damage is it’s own form of support and if you add sound mechanics into this as stunning stated then it can be superior to just running bunker.

We have some Impressive AoE DPS and hounding all the enemy team with this and making them burn cool downs and go on the defensive stops them from killing your team mates since they’re more concerned about surviving themselves.

As for stomping ‘stand your ground’ hasn’t done me wrong so far and when in doubt VoJ.

stunningstyles.7054:

the more dps u can get while still being able to do your job as a bunker and condi clearer the better

For every gain, there’s a loss. You’re gaining some dps, and losing some condi clear and some healing power and some stability and some boon duration. You don’t just get dps for free.

tanshiniza.8629:

Jax.5261:

stunningstyles.7054:

the more dps u can get while still being able to do your job as a bunker and condi clearer the better

But you don’t as a DPS, even running an optimal DPS build, with Soldier’s + PoV, you still won’t be able to secure stomps or give your team the high healing power regeneration like a Bunker.
Even running with a Hammer, which is pretty much standard in DPS atm, you have less control and less ‘set-ups’ for your allies.

If it works for you, do whatever you want, but that doesn’t mean it’s optimal or recommended.

I play a Hybrid Guardian that’s more focused towards DPS in the grand scheme of things and yes I cannot heal or buff my team as well as a Bunker but dealing damage is it’s own form of support and if you add sound mechanics into this as stunning stated then it can be superior to just running bunker.

We have some Impressive AoE DPS and hounding all the enemy team with this and making them burn cool downs and go on the defensive stops them from killing your team mates since they’re more concerned about surviving themselves.

As for stomping ‘stand your ground’ hasn’t done me wrong so far and when in doubt VoJ.

It’s not just about having Stand Your Ground, you need toughness to survive, you need condition clears to make sure you don’t die (and SY to remove poison off your downed ally), you need more than one source of stability, unless you plan on only being able to res once per half minute, you need to be able to stay on the point and support your team.
Even with the DPS build I use: http://tinyurl.com/kjhnvt5 I always play sidepoint with a bunker mid. It doesn’t matter how you build the bunker build will just always do better unless the current meta changes.

Cymmer already mentioned it above: there’s always a trade off and in this case it’s a pretty big one. I’ve tested this a lot and against really good players too, especially res/stomps if you don’t have the correct toughness + prot + stab you really don’t stand much of a chance and DPS guardians rarely are able to secure those stomps well.

Jax.5261:

tanshiniza.8629:

Jax.5261:

stunningstyles.7054:

the more dps u can get while still being able to do your job as a bunker and condi clearer the better

But you don’t as a DPS, even running an optimal DPS build, with Soldier’s + PoV, you still won’t be able to secure stomps or give your team the high healing power regeneration like a Bunker.
Even running with a Hammer, which is pretty much standard in DPS atm, you have less control and less ‘set-ups’ for your allies.

If it works for you, do whatever you want, but that doesn’t mean it’s optimal or recommended.

I play a Hybrid Guardian that’s more focused towards DPS in the grand scheme of things and yes I cannot heal or buff my team as well as a Bunker but dealing damage is it’s own form of support and if you add sound mechanics into this as stunning stated then it can be superior to just running bunker.

We have some Impressive AoE DPS and hounding all the enemy team with this and making them burn cool downs and go on the defensive stops them from killing your team mates since they’re more concerned about surviving themselves.

As for stomping ‘stand your ground’ hasn’t done me wrong so far and when in doubt VoJ.

It’s not just about having Stand Your Ground, you need toughness to survive, you need condition clears to make sure you don’t die (and SY to remove poison off your downed ally), you need more than one source of stability, unless you plan on only being able to res once per half minute, you need to be able to stay on the point and support your team.
Even with the DPS build I use: http://tinyurl.com/kjhnvt5 I always play sidepoint with a bunker mid. It doesn’t matter how you build the bunker build will just always do better unless the current meta changes.

Cymmer already mentioned it above: there’s always a trade off and in this case it’s a pretty big one. I’ve tested this a lot and against really good players too, especially res/stomps if you don’t have the correct toughness + prot + stab you really don’t stand much of a chance and DPS guardians rarely are able to secure those stomps well.

As I said ‘It can be better’ there will always be situations where it isn’t up to scratch when comparing it to a bunker and of course there is a trade off. I said I wouldn’t be able to directly support as much as a Bunker however I don’t think it is as major a trade off as everyone thinks. I believe the DPS Guardian is strong and viable in many situations however it does take practice to make up for the squishiness.

I know and respect Guardians make exceptional Bunkers compared to other classes but as the Guild Wars 2 motto states ‘No defined classes’ and although that’s only partially true I still think it’s possible to pull it off.

When it comes to stomping I usually don’t bother the AoE damage I do will eat the downed player and the guy trying to resurrect him applying so much pressure they both end up dead or one of them dies while the other runs to save himself.

Sorry if anything comes across in the wrong way.

tanshiniza.8629:

When it comes to stomping I usually don’t bother the AoE damage I do will eat the downed player and the guy trying to resurrect him applying so much pressure they both end up dead or one of them dies while the other runs to save himself.

Sorry if anything comes across in the wrong way.

Maybe in WWW or hotjoin pvp, but not so much tpvp.

Blasino.3128:

tanshiniza.8629:

When it comes to stomping I usually don’t bother the AoE damage I do will eat the downed player and the guy trying to resurrect him applying so much pressure they both end up dead or one of them dies while the other runs to save himself.

Sorry if anything comes across in the wrong way.

Maybe in WWW or hotjoin pvp, but not so much tpvp.

Never had much of a problem in tpvp but then again it may just be because I’m not facing the right teams

One of the things in favor of Pure of Voice is that it’s currently bugged and removes two conditions per shout plus one more with soldier runes (for a total of 3). No other build can reach that level of condition removal.

Depends on what you ean with strong. Bunker guards are too tough to fold before you, with your squishyness, do.

I run soldier/berserker amulet in tpvp…stomping isn’t an issue

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