Guild Wars 2

Pretty much played a zerker sword/focus build for most of my gw2 experience (for dungeons) and but I’d like to get into WvW, mostly like to join the zerg but maybe later small groups. Basically I need help with build direction and gear though to get started.

Check the FAQ, there are plenty of help there and ofc suitable builds to explore.

But the basics are 30+30 in honor/valor or honor/virtues. At least as long you zerg.

I think healway, Jax guide and my owv contribution is a nice starting point.

It you still struggle post/pm again and i can help out with a decent setup for wvw.

It you have zerker armor pop in rune of soldier and run triple shouts and pure of voice with staff as main weapon, its a good start that no one can say any negative about. Maybe the most desired support in wvw, condition control.

For small groups i think Amins guide might help you, but an advice is to start with zergs.

Get some PTV (power toughness vitality) armor from the temple vendors such as melandru temple; you can hold out and buy more ptv with badges that you may have although that may take a while; can also fill in the slots with knight gear as well. You can use zerker gear to take camps and sentries and maybe gank unsuspecting people but you will die very fast in big situations especially if siege is involved.

The most important thing is that due to the low Guardian health pool that conditions are extremely deadly when stacked on you; thus you must find multiple ways of cleanses, typically pure of voice and shouts or absolute resolution. Soldier or Melandru runes are solid choices, and the temple can offer you a few ptv armor with melandru runes already installed. It’s also a good idea to have -condition duration food up when zerging though you don’t always have to go for the most expensive kind-- 32-36% duration reduction is fine too.

The other thing that will kill you is being hit by mass CC; and you will get repeatedly stunned and knocked around. Thus, stability is critical and Stand your ground is criitcal to any large engagement.

So just work with that and see what works. If you’re dying too much, then focus on keeping cohesion with your group and maybe try to get more defense. Proper stacking is the most important thing as you will die regardless if you get seperated and get hit by like 50 people.

I think the above is some smart advice but tbh you dont neccessarily need pvt. Sure for a commander or a frontline pusher they are nice indeed but in any other type of role you can dress for more dps, in zergs.

For instance is a mix of berserker/valkyrie with 100% uptime on protection way more durable than pvt.

pvt armor is cheap though and should also be in your inventory.

May i suggest that you check out the last chapter in my valor sticky, there you can find stats on different armor setups and with different runes and just pick the stats you are comfortable with.

Hi

Having to play a guard in WvW since early game launch, and being in every form of it, from roaming, to commander of both small havoc and large scale teams I have a few tips for you.

As the posters above stated, start off with PTV gear. I highly recommend getting karma PTV armor from Orr temples with 6x rune of Melandru for start. Having the Melandru helm with healing on it rest all PTV armor is still my favorite combo to this day.

There are many excellent builds you can choose from for a guard.

0 0 30 30 10 – max survivability, excellent for hammer / staff guards, drawback is that it does not give great group support, its a selfish build but very effective, we have at least commander and co-commander runing it.

0 0 30 20 20 – provides better support then the above via group stability on your F3 skill which is repeatable via Renewed Focus while retaining huge survivability. This is an ideal co-commander and direct commander support build. Usually running staff / hammer for extra CC or staff / GS for extra condi cleanses.

0 0 10 30 30 – Provides an absolutely excellent group support for mid and backlines. A little less on self survivability, but you get a double group stability and a double group stun-breaker via renewed focus. You dont really need AH in this build. This is essential for your mid and backline when going up against other organized groups. usually running staff / hammer or staff / mace focus.

Healway – provides OK mid and backline support while retaining some DPS etc. however has very poor survivability when goign up against other organized groups due to the fact that the entire build is completely negated via immobilizes. A healway guard does not provide anywhere near as good group support as the 3 above and often requires one of the above to cover the slack. Healways are however good to have in groups which lack eles and do not have as many water fields available.

Gear – Have at least a Staff, Hammer, GS, Mace and Focus on hand and available. Highly recommend Mace and Focus to be cleric stats, while the others to be PTV.

Rings (since ascended rings are very easy to get) – Have a set of PTV and clerics available, I also like to go celestial or knights once in a while depending on situation and our group comp adjustments as to who shows up on any given day.

Amulet, Backpiece – either PTV or Clerics.

Accessories – same as rings but harder decision since not as readily available.

Adjust your gear, some traits and utilities for any given match up and situation.

For starters, I recommend to go 0 0 30 20 20 then start adjusting from there in any directions you see fit.

I would go for 0/30/30/10 and use PoV. imo a much better option with multiple conditionremovers,

The below is pvt armor, besides head which is zerker with soldier runes and celestial weapon.
pvt back and rings, celestial amulet and pre/tough/pow accessories.
This is what i run commander with and any more defense than this shouldnt be needed, and commander is the role that requires the most defense.
First pic is unbuffed and the second is buffed with 25 stacks of power from kills (mandatory sigil in zergs imo) and guard leech, applied fortitude (takes approx 70 hours to reach) and food and minor bloodlust. 0/0/30/30/10

My point is, go more offense than this and if you play wisely you will still be the last one going down.