Guild Wars 2

I’ve only just started playing so I’m quite the noob but having a fairly good time. I say fairly because I made an Asura guardian and I really don’t care too much for the other classes other than human but alas after rolling a few different characters as human I decided on Asura for a change of pace.

My current play style (I guess?) has been using the great sword along with the mace + shield on my switch. I usually use the jump in (3 key) with the GS (trying to use acronyms like a pro) drop a AoE #2 then use retaliation on the number 4 before switching to my mace/shield as my health dips to use the number 2 for the regen plus the few blocks and bubbles. Am I doin this right? I’ve been trying to pay attention and dodge as hands swing (using the same mentality from Dark Souls parrying) but endurance runs out kind of fast so I’m left to blocks which I get from the mace/shield.

I’m only around level 18 but so far I enjoy the class. Its been tough to get into the game though… I’ve had bad luck with guilds. It sounds as if the game is slow or “tough” till you get to around level 40 when you start to flesh out your traits. As of the moment it feels like quite the chore to level. I’m outside of the first area and players have quickly tampered off. I do enjoy that it seems I am able to solo mobs vs playing a mesmer at low levels. However, I did like that I could use the field and finishers as mesmer. It helped some and was a nice effect/change knowing that I had a really helpful combo.

Does the guardian have access to something like this at my level? I would really enjoy a field with a combo that gave everyone I encountered some sort of buff. It makes me feel better knowing I’m contributing to a random passer by during an event rather than just pressing 1, 2, and 3.

Thats probably why I’m drawn to the guardian. I’ve always like paladin types with a sacrificial nature. So, Am I playing the class as designed? Or is my view of it wacked? Am I reading too far into it? What advise and tips do you have for a new Guardian? Thanks guys!

First off, glad you’re enjoying the Guardian class so much! it’s my main, and always will be.

there is no right or wrong way to play. could one way be more effective than the other? sure. but realize there is no one set way to play one set build with two weapon sets. you can have a general rotation. at the same time, you have CDs, you face different enemies in different situations. while you’re leveling, one thing i WILL say tough, is to experiment with all weapons. don’t just unlock the skills and switch. stick wtih them for a while. try pairing up each mainhand with all the offhands. pair up 1hand sets with 2h sets. mix and match. get a feel of how certain weapon sets work with another. and how certain weapon sets work with your utilities and traits.

it’s great you’re learning to dodge so early on. i didn’t even actively start doing it until say 60, 80 lol. wish i’d started earlier. i think early on we don’t have a lot of access to endurance regen yet. you can invest 5 points into the Honor line if you feel necessary, which gives you Vigor each time you crit. though at low-levels, i don’t think it’s necessary. so rather, learn which attacks to dodge from enemies. you don’t need to dodge every autoattack by them. but if you see a big windup, or a red circle under you? you’ll probably want to dodge those. you’ve already familiarizing yourself with the Guardian’s blocks. there’s also aegis, a ton of blinds that you can use to your advantage as well.

the Guardian doesn’t have a whole lot of access to different fields – mainly Light and Fire. and not a TON of finishers but more than enough. read the tolltips or wiki to see which skills are what type of finishers and which fields are light or fire. for e.g. purging flames or hallowed ground (Consecration skills) can offer a lot of utility in a group. if you are coming up in a fight with lots of conditions, you can use purging flames (know that a condition is removed each time you enter or leaev the field. just staying in it only removes one. and you have blast finishers on the hammer and focus. the hammer 2 is a super short CD blast finisher and hits hard. you can easily stack might. the GS, which you like to use, has a leap and 2 whirl finishers so you can get a fire shield or shoot fiery projectiles.

in PvE, light field combo with leap and blast finishers give retaliation, though argubly not as useful as in WvW/PvP. for e.g. your GS 4 symbol gives retaliation per tick. so you can drop that, then leap with gs3 to get extra retaliation.

or if you whirl finish (GS2, 5) in a light field, it’s condition removal if your allies get hit by the bolts.

so depending on the situation, you don’t always have to jump in with 3 first. though it’s undeniably a good opening since you blind as well and a agap closer. but experiment. : ))

sure, the class is designed to be strong at certain things – easily coming to mind support, though, do note that this doesn’t mean that Guardians can ONLY do support. they can do so so so so much more. they are en extremely versatile class. where certain builds gameplay can be extremely reactive and pretty darn fun in that sense.

OP, you go play the way you want to play. and have fun!

check out some of the sticky guides as well for some basic info and good reading : )) the general one might be a bit outdated though but still decent info!

There are two available combo fields that the guardian can put down on their own:

Light
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Light_field

Fire
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Fire_field

Our finisher moves are typically whirls, leaps, and blasts

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Whirl_Finisher
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Leap_Finisher
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Blast_Finisher

Now the boons we can apply through combos of our own are might and retaliation.

Retaliation is powerful, especially in group play, but less amazing in a majority of pve due to npc mobs having slow predictable attacks. A few npc attacks hit multiple times, but typically you want to stay out of them. Sometimes you can stay in it and tear up the enemy target with retaliation.

Might is a great boon that is more readily identified as useful by players as it is a stat increase to power and condition damage, allowing you to do more damage.

In regards to dodging. Learning the big attacks goes a long way to surviving. Save the dodges for the attacks you can’t afford to let hit you.

Also it seems that Vigorous Precision is a fairly must have trait to ensure we have readily available dodges in both PvE and PvP.

You can get this with 5 points into Honor, but you will need some precision to ensure it procs.

Somewhere around 20% crit should ensure you have enough vigor to proc every 5 seconds, at a fairly consistent rate if you are not building for damage but more defensive. That is not a magic number but a rough estimate.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Vigorous_Precision

There are tons of guides and posts about our primarily used builds on the forums, but you are still leveling so I think some experimentation while learning the class is good to understand why things work or do not work. You can worry about the end game setup when you get there…and we are getting a talent tree revamp at the end of the month so some “meta’s” may change anyway.

Thanks for the speedy replies.

I just started paying more attention the the fields that skills give and have adapted one into my current set. Conditions have always been my downfall so I will try to see if I can get something for that. I just did a few chain events where there were a lot of people and using the Wall of Reflection skill + the light field seemed like it was helping a lot. When I wouldn’t use it, killing the mobs seemed slower so I was very happy to help out and provide combos to players !!!

Personally, I dont like the move sets from the other weapons too much. Maybe its because I’m not traited? Also, the Stickied guide seems out dated to me. It is from 9 months ago, the game has changed a lot.

You both mentioned placing 5 points into honor. Does It make that much of a difference? I do want to work on my dodges more, if I remember correctly from my readings there is a trait that heals when you dodge. If so, that is something I’m very interested in. From solo’ing alone I’ve seen what a big help dodges can be, I’m surprised to hear you’ve gone till 60 without doing it much. That also makes me feel like I am over thinking the game.

I’ve got 5 in zeal for the symbol of wrath and 3 valor in aegis when my health dips. I’m not 100% sure where to go with that or if that stuff is even useful. I just had a ton of fun spanking things in the human starting area while I event quest to get a few levels to further my personal story

ya, props to CMF as well! haha i was too lazy to post the links. lol for that, i apologize, OP. XDDD

no no, you’re not overthinking at all. keep practicing it, but just don’t stress about it. i just had no idea what i was doing lol and you’re right i started to raelly enjoy and learn the class mechanics more post lvl 30 and really got things going around 60 – 80 with the traits opening up. i wish i’d started practicing good dodging earlier. really makes a big different.

like CMF mentioned, you’ll need decent crit chance % to proc crits for Vigorous Precision (Honor 5) since it helps and allows you to dodge more as your endurance fills up quicker. the dodge heal trait is Selfless Daring, which is a minor trait (Honor 15). this might be goign too far, but just bear in mind Healing Power scales 1:1 with Selfless Daring – one of the best scaling with healing. imagine AoE dodge roll heals for 1.5k go ahead and experiment with that trait as well.

i think in the beginning just try messing around with different traits and change them after every so often. never feel like you ahve to be stuck with any given trait. at lower levels, i felt power scaled the best in terms of killing stuff and mobs.

when you get to 60-ish you can start working towards an end build. but even then, you can wait until you hit 80 to do more serious thinking.

as long as you have fun!D the Guardian has a lot of condition cleansing as well so learn to use them, and in what situations. wall of refletion is defs a good skill when against ranged mobs (especially when you do dungeons, Caudecus Manor it’s a godsend. also against ranged classes if you WvW). if there are other Guardians around or Mesmers, learn to try and time the reflect skills so you don’t waste yours or have them overlap.

so much more to tell and i don’t want this post to get too messy though lol. good luck and most important thing is you’re having fun!

i dont want to fear you but you will never feel that you guard something with guardian . to help yes but guard , no way !!!

maybe the class must renamed buffer or prophet ( from lineage 2)