Link to the Build: [Or one Variant]
Most of the information on what to invest in can be found in the link but I’ll provide a written description as well.
Gear: Armor and Trinkets should all be givers, Cleric’s would be a second best option.
Runes: 2 Runes of Water The Traveler, and the Monk.
[If Traveler’s Runes are too expensive for you, 4 runes of Altruism and 2 of Water is my secondary recommendation]
Weapons [All Clerics]: Staff, Mace/Shield . Put a Sigil of renewal in your Staff and a Sigil of Life / Energy in your main-hand and offhand, respectively. I’ll talk about this later but you can also switch a shield out for a focus if you want to prioritize regeneration / condition removal over protection.
Traits:
There are a few different variations to this build, so let’s start with what doesn’t change.
You want 30 in Virtues and 30 in Honor, and either 10 in Valor or 5 in Valor and 5 in Radiance. So in other words, 0/10/0/30/30 or 0/5/5/30/30
In Virtues: II, X, IX, in Honor: II, [I,V,VI] XI And if you’re 10 in Valor: IV
Slot Skills: Healing Breeze, Retreat, Stand your Ground, Hold the Line, and Renewed Focus
How it Works: This build has three main components. Boons, Condition Removal, and Direct Healing. I call this build a ‘Dedicated’ Support build because it excels beautifully in supplying all 3. When you’re finished, you’ll find you’re equipped with a Guardian that can make their entire party virtually unkillable. [In Dungeon’s at least] And in roaming WvW, enemy players will have difficulty killing anyone on your team unless they outnumber you considerably.
Boons: If you’re using the Gear and Traits I assigned, you’ll notice that your character has 91% Boon Duration That’s without the addition of food. [I’m not sure if there’s some limit over 100%] Normally an optimization of this kind would be wasteful, but you’ll also notice as you play this build that virtually all of your skills involve granting boons to allies [in addition to other effects]
I’ll list each boon you’re granting and how long you’ll expect to be granting it. Also note that all boons granted via virtues can effectively be granted twice every minute and a half due to renewed focus. This build does not rely upon the passive benefits of any of the Virtues.
Protection: Hold the Line [7.75s] Virtue of Courage (with inspired Virtue) [9.5s] Shield of Protection [9.5s] Protector’s Strike [5.75] = 32.5s Total
Regeneration: Hold the Line [11.5s] Virtue of Resolve [9.5s] Symbol of Faith [1.75*5] = 21 -> 29.5s total [The upper limit is somewhat theoretical as the symbol of faith is basically melee range. Though you could Activate virtue of resolve twice in a row.
Might: Virtue of Justice [3 stacks for 9.5s] Empower [12 Stacks for 19s] Note that this renders getting reduced CD on 2h skills is irrelevant, the duration of Might is nearly as long as the cooldown.
Swiftness: Retreat [38.5s] Symbol of Swiftness [15.25s] Total 53.75
Stability: Stand your Ground [7.75s] Virtue of Courage [5.75s] Total 13.5s
Aegis: Once for Retreat, and Twice from Virtue of Courage if you use Renewed Focus.
Retaliation [Allied Only]: Stand your Ground [10.75s]
Note that if you are using Wrathful Spite [one of the 3 I recommended for the Master Major trait in Honor] Each time Aegis breaks on yourself or an Ally, they’ll gain Retaliation for a bit more than 6 seconds.
Retaliation on yourself includes everything above plus every time you activate a virtue, you will personally gain Retaliation for a bit more than 6 seconds.
Notice with the Vengeful trait our retaliation our duration is actually at 116%,
So in other words. We have the power to grant nearly permanent protection, regeneration, swiftness [when needed], near permanent retaliation [ definitely permanent for ourselves], 15 stacks of might, as well as a fair duration of stability. Superior Aria and 30 points in Virtue mean that all of the skills that grant these boons recharge as quickly as possible.
Also note that Shouts, Virtues, and Weapon skills can be used simultaneously, meaning there needn’t be any downtime between activating your boons. [I’ll discuss tactics below but I seldom recommend activating every skill at once.]
Finally, if you went 10 points into Valor, strength in numbers gives an extra 140 toughness to allies, which you can think of as an addition to the protection boon.
Note that you also gain 9s of Vigor when you critical hit, but since your Crit chance is crap, I don’t view it as something integral to this build.
The only boons your class can’t give on a regular basis is Fury and Vigor. I would leave that do your Warriors and Ele’s
Continued…