Guild Wars 2

Hi all,

I started playing this game two weeks ago and guardian is my first character. I will soon be lvl 80, and I focus on playing with friends(thief/engineer, ranger/guardian, elementalist) in both PVE and PVP (now more PVE, later PVP/WVW). I was thinking about being suport/DPS guardian, I want to give my teammates some buffs and heals, clear their conditions, while being able to inflict some damage (I know I wont be as effective as pure DPS build, but more damage is always welcome).

I’ve been reading guides and looking at some builds, and this is something with which i came up:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVMQNAseSl8Ah+dYpQwWIQQEHBEVOBfwawGAPwbiXhUIHA-TxREwAOViB4JAwRfQUlGrU/JxpAYpyAA-e
Things that caught my eye in those specializations: protective reviver, pure of voice(since all my utilities are shouts), almost all radiance tree (to help me get fury for increased DPS), inspired virtue, absolute resolution, battle presence.

Since my utilities are support focused, I thought gearing in berserker gear will help me increase my DPS. But I know, going pure berserk will make me really squishy, so I thought maybe switch some of my gear to something that gives vitality/toughness bonuses(like marauder/soldier/valkyrie)? Maybe weapons and shield? Or also acessories? I can’t gauge though how much of power/precision/ferocity I can sacrifice for toughness/vitality to make sense and be tougher whilist not loosing too much of DPS.

As for my main weapon I think sword and shield will be quite effective, secondary weapon in PVe I thing greatsword, PVP/WVW hammer will be better since it has more crowd control.

I’m new player and I will be very grateful for any tips, does my build make sense? Or maybe I should do some minor or major changes? Also tips on choosing gear prefixes will be very welcome

Lets start off with build/weapon suggestions. Concerning the weapons, you may want to think of using scepter with torch over using a hammer because it allows you to have some range in the build for when you need it. The hammer does have lots of CC but when it comes to PvP/WvW it is really hard to land any of the CC with it on other players because the cast times take a long time to go off and others can see it coming from a long ways off. If you do decide to go double 1-handers, consider taking right hand strength in radiance, even though it is only 15% crit instead of the 20% from fury, it stacks with the fury that you might receive from other players as well as from “Feel My Wrath.”

For utilities all shouts is a helpful build if you don’t have access to DH, and some of the best you can do without it (Burn Guard doesn’t use DH and does lots of damage but it doesn’t have much support). Of the shouts I’d use “Stand Your Ground” over using “Save Yourselves”. This is because stability is awesome and “Save Yourselves” is normally a death sentence. If you’re not finding “Stand Your Ground” to your liking than taking Purging Flames is a good substitute since it removes conditions and deals damage. Taking Writ of Persistence over Pure of Voice is a good idea if you find you have way to much condi removal or if there are no condis being thrown around.

For traits, Right Hand Strength is better than Inner Fire but the rest of Radiance looks great. In honor, Pure of Heart is a good trait for defensive support, while Empowering Might lets you give off might for offensive support. If your friends are relatively good at staying alive without needing that heal then taking Empowering will help kill stuff quicker.

In virtures, Indomitable Courage is a better trait to take than Battle Presence because it lets you break stuns off of other players (few things can do this), while giving them stability to be able to act just after you use it. If you end up taking Purging Flames (as mentioned earlier), take Master of Concentration over Unscathed in Virtues.

Most of this is from a PvE perspective. In sPvP it is better to take a damage build since Guardian doesn’t have to best support builds in PvP compared to other classes. For WvW, I sadly don’t play it.