Guild Wars 2

I really like hammer and GS, but I see people say that you NEED focus? Why is this?
For my GS/hammer build i was planning to go 2/1/6/1/4 but when I tried it with two handed mastery it all just went a lot smoother…. So is 2/1/6/4/1 ok?

To make up for the loss of the absolute trait (3 condi removed on f2) [forgot the names, I’m pretty new to guard] I put sigil of generosity on GS….

Any thought on that build? I tried it out yesterday and i wrecked face in hotjoint (also probably because of 700+ hours on GW2 and on my necro but still….

Also, why is mighty blow so awesome? 1500 base damage on 5 second cooldown blast finisher 0-0

Thanks for any input

-Hollts

Focus is just ridicolously good. Both skills can get used for offensive and defense. Focus 4 is alright damage, two blinds and two condi cleanses. Focus 5 is more damage on top of your burst or 3 instant blocks when you’re cc’d or out of dodges or smth. So it basicly has everything dps guard is about. Blinds, blocks and burst.

With hammer/gs you take two pretty slow melee weapons with only 2 gapclosers on not all that short cooldowns. You will have a harder time with connecting damage than if you would take sword or scepter/focus and on top of that you will also have less defense. It’s probably enough to kill backpedaling, keybordturning people in hotjoin but you won’t kill decent players with this.

So your saying GS/hammer is not a very viable option? I’ve been looking around on YT and found some guard videos of hmmer/GS in a team which worked pretty well…

And I know that in top 300 anything it probably won’t do too good but it’s just for some casual solo Q.

But I’m not really asking on the weapon setup because I know that I’m not changing it (:3). Just asking if it’s worth it to take 2handedmastery.

Holl, as someone who frequents Necromancer, you should know how good your main class is at kiting – now imagine if your anti-kiting capabilities are limited, and you got no ranged weapon to make up :P

This is the reason why most people run Sc/F + Hammer or Greatsword, rather than Sw/F + 2H, or 2H + 2H

Also, Focus blocks and blinds, both good enough to sometimes secure stomps, or for just going for the extra mile to safe someone… Scepter has a non-projectile immobilize which can easily be used in conjuction by landing a quick burst with either JI+Banish/Mighty Blow (H), LoF+SoW+Wirling Wrath (GS)… All and all, just more reliable – especially against opponents who like to kite (Necro, Mesmer, Thief, Ranger and Engineer)

Two Handed Mastery is a good pick regardless, though when I glance over what you run now, I think, you will have severe issues against conditions, and funny enough, Necromancers… I usually go 4 into virtues to secure the extra cleanse with Absolute Resolution – from what I see you are going full on damage, and while it is not bad, you will encounter major issues especially in solo play if you do not spec for enough defense…

If I were you, I’d put back those points in virtues and go with something like 0/0/6/4/4 – but be careful, you will lose out on the blind on Virtue of Justice (used for safe-stomping)

Granted, I am nowhere near a professional DPS guard, as you might’ve noticed from our duels :P
Though Keksmuffin (Bullet) on the other hand is a very reliable source and a solid player from the EU side…

Holl – That will work – just take Lyssa Runes and Energy Sigils.

Don’t forget… alot of the info you’re getting here is a bit skewed as well, as most non-competitive people seem to negate the light field condi removal…

W/ all the recent moves to pew pew… that’s a ton of condi clears: You’ll learn to love SB Thieves, LB Rangers & Staff Necro’s =‘] for their projectile combo’s.

You can have alot of fun w/ that: build link

Is it meta – no – is it fun, yes.

PS – I’m assuming you’re talking pvp – not wvw.

PSS – Banish JI Stomping… most fun ever.

I run Hammer/GS almost exclusively on my guardian (Persyx) and it’s pretty good, and really fun

Here’s my build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQJARSlsApaolDxbI8DRRDBljNY/hjnhrPQCCAA-TJxHABD8EAOb/BjLDAwlAAA

The only class I really have problems with in conquest is turret engineer, due to the lack of stab and no range.

Good players seldom fall for focus5, it just takes 3 hits to remove the shield. I usually just auto attack into the shield or gs2 if i’m out of time. The main reason why guardian should use a focus is so that they can use mace. The mace autoattack gives amazing sustain and is just a great weapon overall.

Hammer4 with JI is quite fun to use too. Just make sure to hide behind a pillar when you start casting so they can’t see your tell.

Lyssa runes? Knight amulet? Meh… you gonna end up with pretty bad damage like that.

If I would be forced to run gs/hammer for some reason I would play smth like this:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQJARSlsApcoVDxbI8DNRDRlZ8dfY+BZw1HwFGAA-TpBFwACuAAMOEAIOCA12foaZAAPAAA

If you want to be useful you should still just use scepter/focus but oh well.

Keksmuffin.1450:

Lyssa runes? Knight amulet? Meh… you gonna end up with pretty bad damage like that.

If I would be forced to run gs/hammer for some reason I would play smth like this:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQJARSlsApcoVDxbI8DNRDRlZ8dfY+BZw1HwFGAA-TpBFwACuAAMOEAIOCA12foaZAAPAAA

If you want to be useful you should still just use scepter/focus but oh well.

I love how +150 power and less condi removal (survivability) equates to “useless” and “pretty bad damage”… lol

Keksmuffin.1450:

Lyssa runes? Knight amulet? Meh… you gonna end up with pretty bad damage like that.

If I would be forced to run gs/hammer for some reason I would play smth like this:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQJARSlsApcoVDxbI8DNRDRlZ8dfY+BZw1HwFGAA-TpBFwACuAAMOEAIOCA12foaZAAPAAA

If you want to be useful you should still just use scepter/focus but oh well.

Knight Amulet gives amazing sustain, which is what guardians are good at. This build looks fine, except for Glacial Heart. Should probably swap that for Focused Mind since Glacial Heart is pretty lousy even with the buff.

Glacial heart is like 1,5-2k damage, why wouldn’t you use it with hammer especially since you get fury from pack runes anyways.

The damage difference between lyssa and pack runes is actually pretty big, especially on autoattacks it’s like a 10%ish damage loss and that’s not even considering the fury and the swiftness which definetly helps with 2 melee weapons. Also making really good elite like renewed focus to a lyssa-trigger-button never was a good idea, not even back then when lyssa was ridicolous.