Guild Wars 2

Hey there, I just wanted to make a thread where we could compile a list of abilities that would be useful for escape as a guardian. I’ll start with what I’ve used and what I’ve seen used pretty effectively.

Pure of voice trait — Shouts remove conditions. Soldier runes help as well, these are great for breaking snares. Stand your ground is a must for stability.

Aegis — When I’m trying to escape, I pop my f3 if I don’t already have aegis. The reason is, if you block an attack, it does NOT put you in combat slow. It doesn’t put the guy who tagged you in combat slow either, but at least the rest of his buddies wont have 300 speed while you’re stuck with 180. In the same way, retreat and shield of wrath is useful. And of course, shelter as well.

Greatsword 3 — Be sure to clear target before using this to escape or like the confused Elementalist you may charged back into what you were trying to escape from. If you have autotargeting enabled, wait till there’s no enemies on your screen before using it. If there are enemies on the screen, try to find a critter to target so you leap in that direction.

Sword 2, Judge’s intervention — Unlike GS3, both of these need a target for you to be effective. Their ranges are 600 and 1200 respectively.

Judge’s intervention can also be used to survive falling damage that would otherwise kill you…if you have a target :P. It can also be used with channeled skills without interrupting teh channeling. (breaks stun as well)

Staff 5 — Now that you can use it while moving, lay down a staff 5 in front of enemies that are chasing you. Be sure to be using look back button, instead of actually turning around to do it. Immediately after this I use staff 3 for swiftness. MAKE SURE TO NOT HIT AN ENEMY WITH STAFF THREE. The reason for this, again, is combat slow is annoying as a @$(&)(&)(*&.

Sanctuary — Works like staff 5, can be channeled while moving. dropping one behind you will not just knock down but knock BACK the enemies, giving you a lot of extra breathing room.

Shield 5 — Works like Sanctuary, except it will root you, so be sure to cancel the channel ASAP otherwise it could do more harm than good. You will knock back enemies chasing you a long way however.

Wall of reflection — If you have conditions on you and are being hit with projectiles, pop a WoR. The projectile + light field combo will remove conditions and the other guys wont be able to tag you from long range. Careful, however, as if they actually fire into the wall and get their projectiles reflected you will be put in combat slow.

In general, swiftness is one of the most important things you can have while escaping.

And of course…

DODGING. At the right time! Be sure to use your look behind you button so you know when to dodge. Absolutely under no circumstances waste dodging when you are running just for a little extra distance. DODGE ATTACKS. With luck they wont even put you in combat slow! (oh, and renewed focus I guess as well)

You can also trait virtue of courage to be a stun-break. Also renewed focus elite skill renders you invulnerable to three seconds and can be channeled while moving. It also recharges your virtues, so that’s another aegis plus stun break you can have.

Retreat shout is also good for the swiftness. And don’t forget if you find a random critter in the distance in the direction you’re fleeing, target it and hit judge’s intervention for a 1200 distance teleport away from enemy players.

Too bad any class (including other Guardians, ironically) will catch up easily and finish you unless you’re near some other players/guards/towers that prevent enemy from chasing.
The only guaranteed escapes Guardians have:
- lucky critter on the path you escape to and JI/FB ready to use
- lucky LoW in a tight spot to lock enemy there for 5s, only works if he has no teleports and no stability

Should we have the staying power to make up for this flaw it would be fine but we don’t.
Because while any class can tank 10 noobs, it only takes one half-decent player to know how to abuse your lack of escapes and cripples at his advantage.

[Quote]Arenanet said,
“They [deliberately] don’t have shadowsteps that will take them away from a fight, in particular”

“Once they get in, they are expected to stay in and to … keep going” (No, not “die” as everybody in the audience was doubtless expecting).[/quote]

Quoted from this video, March 2013 State of the Game.

The only thing that really works is the shout retreat, and idk if it would be worth a slot on your bar.

Guardian does not escape from a batle he wins or looses…. simple as that.

Aeolus.3615:

Guardian does not escape from a batle he wins or looses…. simple as that.

Pretty much this. Guardian is very strong in PvP, but their biggest weakness is their lack of of disengage and mobility. Either you kill your opponent, or they kill you or run.

Incarmine.1953:

You can also trait virtue of courage to be a stun-break

I don’t believe that is true. You can trait virtue of courage to give you 3 seconds of stability, but it is not a stun break.

Andy.9137:

Incarmine.1953:

You can also trait virtue of courage to be a stun-break

I don’t believe that is true. You can trait virtue of courage to give you 3 seconds of stability, but it is not a stun break.

With the Shielded Mind trait, activating Virtue of of Courage will break a stun.

phokus.8934:

Andy.9137:

Incarmine.1953:

You can also trait virtue of courage to be a stun-break

I don’t believe that is true. You can trait virtue of courage to give you 3 seconds of stability, but it is not a stun break.

With the Shielded Mind trait, activating Virtue of of Courage will break a stun.

Didn’t even know that existed

awesome tips. and who cares what arenanet says about a class. we play the game more than they do, i guarantee that.

Just to add to the list:

Guardians have a couple of immobilizes that weren’t mentioned as well as the Hammer’s ring. Don’t forget the power of cleanses as well … disengaging on a guardian is hard enough, but I guarantee you can’t with a cripple on you.

A minor point if you are already out of battle is that a blocked attack does not put you in combat, so Aegis and Focus’ Shield of Wrath can be helpful for maintaining your speed.

lol, Guardian’s charge into fights, not run away from them.

If you want to be good at running away, play a Thief.

If you’re using a hammer getting a good hit on Zealot’s Embrace (hammer #3), as well as using ring of warding (hammer #5) are good ways of getting some of the pressure off you while you’re trying to back out.

With skills like “Save Yourselves”, “Hold the Line”, Stand Your Ground" and “Retreat” I’d venture to believe that Guardians were designed to be first in, last out. If you’ve distracted the enemy long enough for 1 or 2 of your allies to get away then you have done your job right.

Escape? What is this mythical thing you speak of? Lol

IamDuddits.1692:

With skills like “Save Yourselves”, “Hold the Line”, Stand Your Ground" and “Retreat” I’d venture to believe that Guardians were designed to be first in, last out. If you’ve distracted the enemy long enough for 1 or 2 of your allies to get away then you have done your job right.

I’ve come across several people that have thought this way… but I totally disagree…all of the roots/knockbacks/warding/teleports plus the many damage mitigation skills makes it hard to down before the guard is able to get to somewhere safer… it just depends on what you want your guard to be able to do and what role you want it to play.

Aberrant.6749:

IamDuddits.1692:

With skills like “Save Yourselves”, “Hold the Line”, Stand Your Ground" and “Retreat” I’d venture to believe that Guardians were designed to be first in, last out. If you’ve distracted the enemy long enough for 1 or 2 of your allies to get away then you have done your job right.

I’ve come across several people that have thought this way… but I totally disagree…all of the roots/knockbacks/warding/teleports plus the many damage mitigation skills makes it hard to down before the guard is able to get to somewhere safer… it just depends on what you want your guard to be able to do and what role you want it to play.

Most of their teleports are “to nearest enemy”. The two exceptions that come to mind are Hammer 2 and GS 3 and the range on Hammer 2 is very laughable. Shield 5, Staff 5 and Hammer 5 all are good if you place them properly, but anything running stability and you are pretty much out of luck.

I’m just saying that you are more likely going to cause your enemy to back off than you are to actually run away from them. Unless I’m running staff at the time in WvW, I usually just try to last as long as possible if I’m caught out and hope some reinforcements arrive to clean up.

IamDuddits.1692:

Aberrant.6749:

IamDuddits.1692:

With skills like “Save Yourselves”, “Hold the Line”, Stand Your Ground" and “Retreat” I’d venture to believe that Guardians were designed to be first in, last out. If you’ve distracted the enemy long enough for 1 or 2 of your allies to get away then you have done your job right.

I’ve come across several people that have thought this way… but I totally disagree…all of the roots/knockbacks/warding/teleports plus the many damage mitigation skills makes it hard to down before the guard is able to get to somewhere safer… it just depends on what you want your guard to be able to do and what role you want it to play.

Most of their teleports are “to nearest enemy”. The two exceptions that come to mind are Hammer 2 and GS 3 and the range on Hammer 2 is very laughable. Shield 5, Staff 5 and Hammer 5 all are good if you place them properly, but anything running stability and you are pretty much out of luck.

I’m just saying that you are more likely going to cause your enemy to back off than you are to actually run away from them. Unless I’m running staff at the time in WvW, I usually just try to last as long as possible if I’m caught out and hope some reinforcements arrive to clean up.

In tPvP you don’t need to run as far… in WvW there are plenty of random mobs to teleport to. I have often able to run up to a group, kill some one, then use teleports to get away in WvW… it does suck if you can’t seem find any random bunnies to save your life though (litterally) xD

I do find that rune of the pack can help with escaping as well… it’ll almost certainly proc when you’re getting attacked while running, thus granting you swiftness. I understand it’s not great with some builds though.

Guard does have solid escape options, but guard does not excel in escape (nor should it imo). If you SHOULD try to escape or cause them to back off is very dependant on the situation.

Svarty.8019:

[Quote]Arenanet said,

“Once they get in, they are expected to stay in and to … keep going” (No, not “die” as everybody in the audience was doubtless expecting)….. Oh except when you’re facing more than 3 opponents. Then you’re SOL.

Fixed for what he should have said.

Aberrant.6749:

(..)

Guard does have solid escape options, but guard does not excel in escape (nor should it imo). If you SHOULD try to escape or cause them to back off is very dependant on the situation.

Funny how other classes excell at “hit n run” or able to restart combat, guardian is just to slow for the small health pool and same armor as warrior.
Well boons are just meh, they help when in a stack now with 1vs1 i cant seem to notice i got boons.

Aeolus.3615:

Aberrant.6749:

(..)

Guard does have solid escape options, but guard does not excel in escape (nor should it imo). If you SHOULD try to escape or cause them to back off is very dependant on the situation.

Funny how other classes excell at “hit n run” or able to restart combat, guardian is just to slow for the small health pool and same armor as warrior.
Well boons are just meh, they help when in a stack now with 1vs1 i cant seem to notice i got boons.

War and Guard are different classes. War generally just sucks everything up with higher hp Vs. Guard is given other ways to deal with the pressure (boons among other things).

Despite having a lower health pool, guardian has a high effective health pool due to all of the ways they can regain health.

Boons are amazing imo… it just requires the proper timing of when to use these boons.

Boons (when used properly) are strong enough to where the dev’s are now looking into finding a way to have a more solid counter to them for other specific classes.

Pure of voice > shout to cleanse immob or cripple > 10s of swiftness

Aberrant.6749:

Aeolus.3615:

Aberrant.6749:

(..)

Guard does have solid escape options, but guard does not excel in escape (nor should it imo). If you SHOULD try to escape or cause them to back off is very dependant on the situation.

Funny how other classes excell at “hit n run” or able to restart combat, guardian is just to slow for the small health pool and same armor as warrior.
Well boons are just meh, they help when in a stack now with 1vs1 i cant seem to notice i got boons.

War and Guard are different classes. War generally just sucks everything up with higher hp Vs. Guard is given other ways to deal with the pressure (boons among other things).

Despite having a lower health pool, guardian has a high effective health pool due to all of the ways they can regain health.

Boons are amazing imo… it just requires the proper timing of when to use these boons.

Boons (when used properly) are strong enough to where the dev’s are now looking into finding a way to have a more solid counter to them for other specific classes.

In WvW when zergs clashes the amount on boon hater builds is already enought.
Btw stability(5s) is a boon easily removed, and your charactrer look like a rag doll with the massive KD’s warrior/ranger/mesmer push back skils with better racharge, and sometimes die in the midle of this pushblender, and now you say they are trying a way to …….

but i guess why, it seems there way too much guardians lol, and its one of the most easy profession to counter.

Aberrant.6749:

Boons (when used properly) are strong enough to where the dev’s are now looking into finding a way to have a more solid counter to them for other specific classes.

Actually, you can blame bunker eles for that, not guardians. The devs are too stup… err I mean…. devs are too busy to actually play guardians and realize that this boon hate system that youre alluding to is actually gonna hit several other classes.

Even still, they aren’t strong enough for the class design to warrant such an extreme. If they are going to introduce such crap, they need to compensate for it else where. Remember: guardians are supposed to feel powerful with boons and weak without them….. Whatever. So much for class design and direction. Makes me wonder if the devs actually went to school and understood the concept of main idea and sticking to it.

Don’t get me wrong though. I’m in favor of not having escapes. I used to at first, but I agree that it’s against class design. However, they need to give us the tools to “stay” in the fight though. Sure we have workarounds, but there shouldn’t be just workarounds. Again, that’s not class design. That’s a flaw in it that they failed.

There is no escape…….

Logan was the only Guardian who could escape from a fight and look how he turned out.

Aeolus.3615:

In WvW when zergs clashes the amount on boon hater builds is already enought.
Btw stability(5s) is a boon easily removed, and your charactrer look like a rag doll with the massive KD’s warrior/ranger/mesmer push back skils with better racharge, and sometimes die in the midle of this pushblender, and now you say they are trying a way to …….

Not really, in zerg vs zerg situation, nobody is gonna single out your Guardian so they can Corrupt Boon him, unless you are the biggest guy in a shiny armor in the front of said zerg and the Necro just happens to notice you (assuming he has Corrupt Boon as one of his utilities in the first place).

Most single target boon removal skills are used on people that somehow stand out (of the rest of the zerg – for example, by low health/bad positioning/etc.)

Well of Corruption needs specific trait(which you need to take at the cost of other usefull traits), to be usable at all, is subject to the AoE limit of affecting max 5 targets and “corrupts” in pulses (meaning one can pass through it “inbetween” pulses and not have any boons “corrupted”).

Most AoE boon removal skills have the AoE limit and usually an another drawback (removing in pulses/specific traits/etc.).

You are more likely to get your boons removed in small scale engagements, when you are a more obvious target (or by an AoE, but then they are probably not targeting you specificaly).

What about things like Sigil of Hydromancy that freezes people around you for three seconds? my weapon choices are one set for damage(S/T) and the other for survivability(M/F). On the M/F I have hydromancy and energy for extra dodge. They aren’t abilities, but they are easily available to us.

BoomSeal.4058:

What about things like Sigil of Hydromancy that freezes people around you for three seconds? my weapon choices are one set for damage(S/T) and the other for survivability(M/F). On the M/F I have hydromancy and energy for extra dodge. They aren’t abilities, but they are easily available to us.

I’m using that combo on one of my sets right now, but I’m never actually getting the energy proc. Only switched to the sigil after the last patch so not sure if it’s a new problem or not.

Lonewolf Kai.3682:

The devs are too stup… err I mean…. devs are too busy to actually play guardians and realize that this boon hate system that youre alluding to is actually gonna hit several other classes.

The devs seem fixated on elementalists being everything (DPS, control, healing, tanking (tanking as in avoiding, repairing and mitigating damage)). That’s who boon hate is aimed at. I think they are neglecting the fact that Boon Hate will have any effect on what they’ve repeatedly referred to as the boon-centric melee class (supposedly guardians).