Guild Wars 2

I played necro for a long time but recently I picked up a guardian and with my Necro I automatically could feel what weapons I really liked and how to use them. But Guardian omg I’m level 60 and still don’t grasp how the hell this class works.

My main problem is with the guardian shield to me it looks like completely useless crap compared to the warrior shield which actually blocks and gives a useful daze. Now for Guardians the only uses I can see is using skill 4 for protection as well as incorporating it into a AH build.

Yet I constantly see level 80 guardians running around with shield which I consider useless. Could some almighty guardian out there please explain why I should even bother using that slab of wood?

Edit: i’m talking from a pve context not pvp.

I’m a PVE player myself and I’ve been a guardian since day 1. The reason why I used shield is I incorporate the shield skills to a build that I’m running. The 4th slot is shield of judgement, It will give you a 5s protection buff. If you are traited as a protection guardian it will be useful. The 2nd skill which is the “Shield of Absorption” will grant you a bubble that pushes out enemies and ABSORBS PROJECTILES. very kitten useful against lupicus or bosses with imbalanced projectiles that can 1 hit you.

If you are running a toughness build, There is a trait under Valor that will enable you to get +90 toughness when using a shield.

in PvE it may be less obvious. PvP needless to say, knockbacks, cancel people’s heals / big moves, and most importantly pushing groups of enemies off cliffs XDDD

i was never a big shield user in PvE unless in dungeons usually. especially against projectile heavy situations – Caudecus Manor for one. and like bojokyut mentioned, against lupicus it’s helpful as well. i even take that trait generate shield of absorp (shield #5) when ressing. cause it’s great for ressign people when under a barrage of projectiles.

and recently, with Braham’s mace and shield skin out, i picked both up and have been playing more mace and shield in PvE lol just cause it’s cool looking. and i’ve been able to make good use of it. most of the time in PvE, you’ll want to group mobs together, and the shield actually pushes mobs away.. so i’ve been practicing usnig this to my advantage.

1) use terrain. push them back against walls or objects so they don’t go anywhere, but you still get the desired effect.

2) in the instances with Braham for e.g. group of enemies split up to fight him and i. i’d kite the enemies so they’re all in a line runnign towards me, shield knockback and push them all towards where Braham was so i could take them all together.

3) if NPC or your allies are in need of some breathing room, bam shield knockback (though won’t work on big bosses due to numoveable unshakable defiant stacks, etc etc) and you can throw on protection on them with shield 4.

also just to note, so many peopel say it’s hard to hit people with shield 4. i find it particularly easy and a great design. i can easily position myself to throw out that cone and hit allies as well as mobs.

it’s not as intuitive as straight blocking, but i feel it actually holds more utility than the warrior’s shield can. the shield is definitely more group oriented for a Guardian. 33% damage reduction for 5s (untraited) for a group or your party can make a huge difference sometimes. and the knockback, experiment with it and you’ll find plenty of uses for it. and if you don’t need the projectile protection, tap 5 twice so you pop it for the knockback, activate again for a heal, then hit Esc key so you’re not stuck in the rooted animation and feel free to do waht you will. beat up on the knock downed enemies. heal or pick up fallen allies. : ))

and most importantly. the shields looks awesome. lol

You can argue that the shield is probably best defensive option in PvP. #5 and the passive defence is the reason so many bunkers use it. The bubble pops almost instantaneous when used and is incredibly effective at defending nods and preventing finishes assuming people are not running stability. The cooldown for both abilities are long and wont be used as often in PvE but are still good for soloing content. The shield doesn’t have a block because the Guardian already has a passive Aegis, Protector’s Strike or the Focus block. A lot of people argue that the abilities should be swapped but I disagree.

agreed : )) i think the Guardian shield is fine as is. adds more gameplay elements i feel as opposed to just “blocking”. don’t forget Shelter heal or Renewed Focus as well if you want to block.

the instant pushback is really to die for at moments. even in PvE it can be immensely useful.

If playing solo(like just random leveling) you should try a focus out, healing with #4 and 3 blocks with #5.

If you happen to play in dungeons a lot, and you focus on support, you might want to try this interesting combo:

Mace skill 3, when you don’t get hit, you grant protection to yourself and allies nearby. Do it before aggroing foes. When the skill grants protection, use shield skill 4, “Hold the line!” shout and if you have at least 5 points in virtues (and you should), use the Virtue of Courage as well. That’s 20s of protection.

I have runes that increase the boon duration by 40%, and often have the food which gives another 20%, so I end up giving allies 25s of protection right before the battle starts.

If there is another guardian on your team, he can double the time.
If there is a mesmer, he can use Signet of inspiration, to double the doubled time.

2 Guardians and 1 mesmer can spread 1,5 minute of protection to whole party before the match even begins. And shield is quite important for this particular reason. Keep in mind, that you can keep stacking protection with shield, mace and shout as your party keeps fighting, assuming there is any fight that lasts longer than 1,5 minute.

The shield skill 5 is situational, but can help a lot to your team. If there are boss fights, you can bump the boss into the wall, so the warriors will have easier job on killing them. Guardian with shield can do the same pulls as mesmer does in CoF p1 speed runs, using the bump correctly. Additionaly, this skill heals for quite a lot, and works as projectile protection. In Fractals it’s quite important skill.

On a side note- shield 5 is good fun for knocking those Molten protectors out of the ring in the new dungeon. It’d be great if there were more dungeons with fight mechanics like this to make shield more useful. Atm I am coming up with crafty ways to run behind mobs and bump them into aoes when my GS aoe pull is on cooldown, timing it for projectile stopping between SOA and WOR and bursting it for a heal when im far enough away to not knock mobs out of aoe.

Shield #5 is all around fun no matter where you are. Just last night I followed behind another server in WvWvW who broke through a wall at a tower. Two servers are fighting just before the tower lord and I run up and use #5 It is rather amuzing watching people who don’t have a form of stability up flying off either side of the wall.

Almost has fun as Hammer 4 / Banish.

Guardian’s block skill is actually at Mace 3 slot, because magic.

lol. that’s what Guardians are! magic.

@swiftpaw – there you go! i’ve been doing the same and you CAN get pretty creative in terms of “grouping” enemies using shield 5, though at first glance it may seem counterintuitive. and all it’s other uses. again, don’t forget to hit Esc after you burst it for the heal so you don’t stay rooted. i feel it makes a big difference.. though i guess more so in PvP situations where a second could mean life and death.

So what i’m taking away from this so far is that Guardian shield has little to no use in PvE except in a few dungeons and under certain situations. But where it really shines is in PvP.

Alright well I guess that answers my question. Thank you all for the replies.

Shield has its uses, personally i use focus as an offhand as i find the 3blocks,much more useful, esp as they dont root me.

I use Shield in PvE just as much as PvP. It’s extremely useful, less for yourself and more for your team. Don’t forget that the shield is also an AOE heal. Been playing Guardian since beta.

I love my shield! In PvE I am usually sporting mace/shield, though recently I’ve been intentionally running more sword/focus, just for variety; in WvW I swap for scepter/shield so I can actually do something in a siege (scepter has its weaknesses, but Smite is awesome). It is probably the most fun in WvW. You pop #5 to keep your allies from getting finished, and if you’ve got Resolute Healer you’ve got 2 knockbacks. Perfect for a medic. What’s really fun, though, is to use it offensively when the enemy is trying to heal a downed player, or when they break and flee, to push them back into the rest of your squad. Yes, I am evil.

The shield, I feel, is a pretty niche PvE weapon:

• Skill 4 is pretty annoying as a cone skill, but you can apply protection if you expect some big hits to come. However, I wouldn’t choose it over our better choices of protection applying skills.
• Skill 5 has multiple niche uses. Its sequence skill lets you heal a bit. If you keep it up, it’s a neat anti-projectile (anti-projectiles are pretty strong in dungeons). The knockback can be used as an interrupt if you position yourself to push the target(s) into a wall, so you don’t scatter them or force a target out of your team’s AoEs. I mainly use the knockback to help stack mobs together, so the team’s AoE damage is maximized.
• The shield’s role, in my experience, is a minor control/support offhand. You’ll probably use it more against heavy projectiles (harpy fractal) or in situations where you may want to mob stack while wielding a one-handed weapon (i.e. golem bosses at the end of harpy fractal). It’s not a weapon that I would consider a “must-have”, though. If you want it for its niche uses, pick one up. Otherwise, you’re not missing much.