Guild Wars 2

Hi, So lately i’ve been thinking back to the days when I ran a Mace/Shield guardian and longing for it again. I’ve been using my Commander build like 99% of the time and commanding with it with much success but when im simply running with the zerg or jumping camps/towers with like 4-7 guildies i’m not enjoying it so much.

Well, I started to think that Mace/shield would be fun to run again for some heavy support and half decent damage (nothing close to zerkers but that build just isnt my cup of tea). After much debate I came up with this…

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQNApeWlsApVo1CxZI0ENRCBl5M+P2joFr4yA0AA-TlxFABuo+jR7PQjyvmn/AgSwP0HQIABjBA-w

The build seems solid in my eyes but I’ve never gone this deep into support so im looking for some insight into the matter. I’ll explain how i’ll use the build. With mace I can drop 1k heals for allies on auto attack, #2 Mace will give good regen, decent heals, decent dmg and will be bigger cause WvW is a bit more mobile than avg combat but even if you dont get full effect it will still be nice, #3 mace is decent dmg or protection, Shield #4 is good just after opening for the long Protection boon and Shield #5 has its uses for clutch KB in choke points or even ranged cover on your zergs while they water bomb heal and decent for retreating heal and KB. The staff would be for Might stack/heal, Swiftness stack for moving faster, Waving it for loot tags cause mace is kinda Single based more or less and LoW is OP in zergs.

Im kinda concerned in the Non-existant Crit chance but thats prob cause I’ve never gone this way before. Any insight into this build would be nice cause im thinking about investing the gold into it. Also Sigils? i was thinking Life/Energy and Renewal/Energy but im unsure and im kinda up in air on the food aswell. Thanks in advance guys. Also side note of doesn’t guardian look amazing wielding mace/shield.

Side note of Could do Cleric/Sentinel Gear and Solider Accessories to up my HP into the 18.5k range. Also do you think 64% boon duration is suitable? Also I was thinking about Merciful intervention, is that a bad thing to think about lol?

Writ of Exaltation is just a wasted spot for better traits. Take Superior Aria.
I realize why you take Writ of the Merciful, but I would say that’s a waste too, because you already do enough heal and moreover that 205 healing is too small to be useful in zergish situations. Also, your light fields could be a problem for water/fire fields. Pure of Voice is definitely better for more condition cleanse.
For food you must use Lemongrass Poulty Soup. As sigils, consider Life/stamina on staff and…. dunno, maybe water/restoration.

Anyway, I don’t really know how much a pure heal build is useful on WvW, since most of the heal comes from water field blast. Since you are a commander, I think it’s better to run full soldier with a 0/0/2/6/6 build (or or 0/0/6/6/2 if you are more selfish) with staff/hammer. You can try it and decide yourself what is better

Thanks for the feed back. I should probably clarify that im not using this build to command. I have a 0/0/6/6/2 build with Pvt gear using GS/Staff for that but I was gonna use this build for tagging along in zergs to heal and MOSTLY for running support with 4-7 guilds taking camps/towers. Although what you said about light fields messing with the fire/water fields is very troublesome… and with Writ of Merciful it would be even more ridiculous to control.

So with your advice and some tweaking here is a new shot at the support build and im basing it around mostly playing with guild members now, If i was zerging (not commanding) id swap Merciful intervention with Hold the line or Hallowed ground.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQNApeWlsApVotDxZI8DNRCBl5M+P2foFl4yA0AA-TlCDABPcCA+R5H2zfA4QAIwDAIH1fia/hAOCALoEUFtBkBgZMA-w

The idea here is to give passive heals with Absolute resolution complimenting Battle presence. For condi removal I have Purging flames to remove 3 condi for group every 28 secs and virtue of resolve if I have to pop it gives 3 more condi removal on a 50 sec CD. Keep in mind the reduced time on condi’s cause of lemongrass and the fact that ill be passively healing 600ish every 3 sec. OH and idea around meriful intervention is to get out of a situation fast or save a member of the group very fast with MI to Shield 5. Do you think I should still go towards PoV instead?

Animosity.5968:

Thanks for the feed back. I should probably clarify that im not using this build to command. I have a 0/0/6/6/2 build with Pvt gear using GS/Staff for that but I was gonna use this build for tagging along in zergs to heal and MOSTLY for running support with 4-7 guilds taking camps/towers. Although what you said about light fields messing with the fire/water fields is very troublesome… and with Writ of Merciful it would be even more ridiculous to control.

So with your advice and some tweaking here is a new shot at the support build and im basing it around mostly playing with guild members now, If i was zerging (not commanding) id swap Merciful intervention with Hold the line or Hallowed ground.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQNApeWlsApVotDxZI8DNRCBl5M+P2foFl4yA0AA-TlCDABPcCA+R5H2zfA4QAIwDAIH1fia/hAOCALoEUFtBkBgZMA-w

The idea here is to give passive heals with Absolute resolution complimenting Battle presence. For condi removal I have Purging flames to remove 3 condi for group every 28 secs and virtue of resolve if I have to pop it gives 3 more condi removal on a 50 sec CD. Keep in mind the reduced time on condi’s cause of lemongrass and the fact that ill be passively healing 600ish every 3 sec. OH and idea around meriful intervention is to get out of a situation fast or save a member of the group very fast with MI to Shield 5. Do you think I should still go towards PoV instead?

I run a fairly similar build on my guardian. However, I’ll often run focus instead of shield since focus itself provides condi clearing as well as a useful block. I’m not sure that purity of voice will be as worthwhile with just one shout on your bar, but it can definitely help you out if you find you condi removal isn’t enough. Battle presence also doesn’t do anything if you happen to be running around on your own, so it can be a good thing to swap out.

I’d also question whether or not merciful intervention is worth the 50 second cooldown, particularly since you can’t actually target a specific person with it. Just slotting hold the line can provide more healing overall while also granting protection, plus it also makes PoV an even better option.

But if you’re not doing this as part of an organized zerg and just pugging along with whoever is there, you’re a bit more flexible in what you want to use. I usually go a bit more unconventional and run a second consecration (usually wall of reflection or hallowed ground) as well as using the “on revive” traits. The symbol traits can be pretty nice too though. Something like contemplation of purity might also be worthwhile since you may have to ultimately look after yourself if you’re not part of the organized zerg.

I honestly agree that focus is pretty much just flat better than shield in like 70% of situations you find yourself in but I played s/f guardian for a fair amount of time and honestly i just dont like focus. It awesome in a med guardian dps build for the shield burst and condi clear but im not thrilled about using it in a support build cause i think its a bit selfish for that. Plus, I just want to use shield and thats kinda my burden to bear i guess.

As for MI, idk if i like it or not..its CD is long, very long but it can save u by just getting da faq outta dodge when you get caught in a bad spot and the direct healing (i value over regen cause if their dps is greater than ur regen then you die and regen scales bad with healing power) and synergy it has with the M/S combo is very nice (Mace 2 and MI in right before its done, heals guy in trouble and drops regen symbol, Shield 5 to KB and give heal to both of u and if the guy leaps back at you then mace 3 for block and slap to face). HTL seems good too but your right when i go 2 shouts it makes PoV look better. My problem with PoV is i really think you need Trooper runes with it cause people bury hard condi with weak condi and you may clear the week one. Also you should not be popping utility shouts cause you NEED to clear condi, you should be popping them re-actively as stuff happens (i’d want to HTL just before a big dmg hammer train hits us for 33% less dmg but i’ll feel like i gotta wait to use it for the condi clear and let everyone take 33% more dmg than they should of).

Anyways, Im still looking for more insight on the matter of this build cause i dont c what i could change at this point. I feel if I remove MI i’ll be rally bait cause i have 0 gtfo skills on bar and no leaps to get away. Only way i know how to counter this is drop mace and pick up sword for tele #2 skill. I lose out on some healing with mace auto attack then, some regen with mace 2 (almost made up by HTL) and some Protection (made up by HTL).

If you’re looking for a GTFO skill, renewed focus is also very valuable, especially since this will recharge your virtue of resovle for which you are traited. While useful, tome of courage isn’t always valuable without the team coordination, thus it might not be as ideal for pugging around with.

Contemplation of purity can go well with it to, using CoP to stun break and clean condis, and then renewed focus to go wherever the hell you want for 3 seconds. CoP also means you could manage condi clears much better without PoV, although it would only be for self condis instead of team condis.

It’s also why I like to use focus. The block can help you get out of situations, and the mace even has another block on it to help out.

One thing to be careful about with MI is that you don’t choose the target, so you might run into a situation where it actually teleports you into danger rather than helping you escape (i.e. an ally was getting stomped by a zerg and you port back into the middle of the zerg). I’ve seen some people use it for solo play since I believe it just acts as a simple stun breaker with a heal in those cases, but I’ve personally never liked to bring it around.

Animosity.5968:

Side note of Could do Cleric/Sentinel Gear and Solider Accessories to up my HP into the 18.5k range. Also do you think 64% boon duration is suitable? Also I was thinking about Merciful intervention, is that a bad thing to think about lol?

If you wanna support – better to go this http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQNApeWlsApVo1CxZI0ENRCRl5MEgY/BtQKcZA0AA-T1BDABHqEsp9H0S5Hlq/MxpAAgnAgK6DIFgTjBA-w