Guild Wars 2

I do not expect every single of these changes to be enacted. In fact many of them are conditional on whether or not other changes occur.

This post will be dealing only with the weapon sets. I welcome any discussion about nerfs if any of the proposed changes sound like they would make guardian overpowered.

Note These are not all base line changes, these are simply suggestions to improve how each weapon feels. They are mainly oriented towards dps as bunker does not really need much help. Condi is up in the air depending how Anet deals with burning.

Note Some core functionality addition changes (i.e. Shield 4 applies aegis) can be incorporated into traits

Greatsword #2
Problem: Warrior GS #3 can hit just as hard and hit multiple targets much faster. It is nearly impossible to get the full skill off and the damage on it does not warrant such a handicap. When we have to resort to traits like wrath of justice (which does not even work properly with AoE skills) then this skill is too weak for what it does.
Solution: Either increase damage or decrease the cast time so the damage is more reliable.

Greatsword #3
Problem: The animation takes too long to the point where it is faster to gain the distance by weapon swapping to cancel the animation than wait for the end bit.
Solution: Increase damage to reflect end animation as enemies can get away while the end part gets cast or make the animation faster.

Greatsword #5
Problem: Has 2 cast times when it is already difficult enough to get the binding blades to land. Blind, evade, block and then they run out of range breaking the tether.
Solution: Remove cast time on the pull. Creates greater synergy with GS#2 and will not require the GS#2 buffs mentioned earlier.

Scepter #1
Problem: Strafe-able projectiles makes the weapon feel very unresponsive
Solution: Increase projectile speed

Sword #3
Problem: Roots self during cast, is intended (I assume) to help counter range but self rooting only gives more time for ranged enemies to re-position and the projectiles you send out are not only very inaccurate the further they go, they also do not travel remotely close the distance all ranged weapons can deal damage to you.
Partial Solution: Make it cast-able while moving

Hammer #1-5
Problem: Animations are dreadfully slow
Solution: Would PREFER slightly quicker cast times but Hammer’s main problem is inability to access the CDR trait Glacial Heart.

Shield #4
Problem: Low damage, High cd, low protection uptime
Solution: Increase damage, Make it apply 1/2 second daze, make it apply aegis.

Shield #5
Problem: Does not last 4 seconds, limited usefulness
Solution: Cast-able while moving (dome does not move with you), Make knock back slightly larger, Blast finisher on detonating dome, make it last full duration other wise.

Torch #4
Problem: Travels along ground but is still obstructed sometimes even in seemingly flat terrain.
Solution: Either bug fix it so that it consistently travels along the ground or make it an actual projectile.

Torch#5
Problem: Retal food, the duration is far too long and the damage is too weak. In 4 1/4 seconds many classes can get off their entire round of burst while we are barely trying to get off this weak skill.
Solution: Either decrease duration or make it useful to use for ourselves. If we are going to be locked in for 4 1/4 seconds it should clear condis from us as well.

Good stuff here imo!

I especially agree with you about Sword.

I love sword but in pvp (wvw) I hate getting rooted. I would rather it not block and be able to move than have a block that the attack attached to is is easily missable by going slightly out of range.

sword AA 3
needs to become unblockable or be changed into a 3 hit melee slash like warrior axe AA 3. Projectiles are detrimental instead of useful because they get reflected or become obstructed.
Sword 2
needs comparable damage to LoF.

Vizardlorde.8243:

sword AA 3
needs to become unblockable or be changed into a 3 hit melee slash like warrior axe AA 3. Projectiles are detrimental instead of useful because they get reflected or become obstructed.
Sword 2
needs comparable damage to LoF.

Sword two is fine as it is, primarily because if you are traited for sword the CD is only 8s. It adds much needed mobility that way. (And if it has comparable damage to LoF at that CD it would be very broken)

Manimarco Devil.1790:

Hammer #1-5
Problem: Animations are dreadfully slow
Solution: Would PREFER slightly quicker cast times but Hammer’s main problem is inability to access the CDR trait Glacial Heart.

“Animations are slow, but forget about that. The real problem is Hammer guards can’t use Glacial Heart”
Literally wat?

Manimarco Devil.1790:

Shield #4
Problem: Low damage, High cd, low protection uptime
Solution: Increase damage, Make it apply 1/2 second daze, make it apply aegis

“Low damage, High cd, low protection uptime”
1.0 power coefficient. +1 power is +1 damage on 2.6k armor.
16-20s cd. On the lower end of cooldowns.
25-31% protection uptime, which is on the higher end of protection giving skills. In spvp it’s 15-18%. I’ll agree SoJ should be unsplit from spvp and pve/wvw.

its i good idea to list this OoL changes although i do not agree with all of them. so here is my list

Greatsword 2:
dmg is fine, its a hard to land skill with much payoff (downedcleave for example) should stay that way

Greatsword 3:
fine aswell

Greatsword 5:
woudl be nice if pull(2nd attack) is instant. although GS seems in a nice spot

Scepter 1:
i agree its clunky. but the dmg is high. if we increase the projectile speed it might be op. we get Longbow in the expansion to get a good hitting ranged weapon

Sword 3:
attacks should hit mutilitle targets not just one(for cleave) and also should hit moving people und not just people standing still

Hammer 1-5:
it does nice dmg, cc and prot. cast time shouldnt be reduced. its fine currently. It maybe would be nice to get a increase in hammer2 range. but not really needed. I agree that Glacial Heart is in a crap spot tho. should be moved back to Valor Master

Shield 4-5:
cds are really low right now and its nearly viable. adding aegis to both skills (like they said in the ready up) would make it viable for bunker guards for sure (synergy with pure of heart). also fix shield 5 duration bug pls

Other stuff:

sword2:
the blind is a bit slow, making it hard to actually blind something. i would like it to blind as soon as you are at the target to make it able to blind stuff like mirror blade activly

torch 4:
make it less klunky. its often obstructed
torch5:
make it cleanse condis on yourself aswell. that would prolly make torch a viable option for guards in pvp

Trait courages return:
pls bugfix when F3 is traited with stab und stunbreak

Trait strenght of the fallen:
make it back to purity and delete the downstate stuff. it actually is a bad thing bc enemys can let you bleed out

As for weapon changes I’d like to see:

Sword

• QoL changes
  Sword Wave (3rd chain aa):
  Each sword becomes an overlapping wave attack instead of a projectile.

• Wishlist
  Zealot’s Defense (Sword 3):
  Becomes Symbol of Defense. Lasts 2 seconds, destroys all projectiles crossing it’s location.

Mace

• QoL
  Faithful Strike (3rd chain aa):
  Hits 3 enemies, but only the one healing effect (as seen on Thief and Necro Dagger).
  Protector’s Strike:
  Continues blocking non-melee attacks
  Toggle skill to get the Protection early

Scepter

• QoL
  Chains of Light:
  1200 Range

• Wishlist
  Orb of Wrath:
  Maybe a smidgen faster, or a few degrees of target tracking
  Smite:
  Symbol of Smiting, lasts 3 seconds, 4 attacks per second. Grants 1 stack of might for 1 second per attack.

Shield

• QoL
  Shield of Absorption:
  Move while casting, leaving the bubble where it was cast.
  Lasts full 4 seconds

• Wishlist
  Shield of Judgement:
  If it actually needs anything, perhaps kitten weakness or a 1/4s daze might be alright. Just enough to solidify it’s spot as a party support or cc weapon.
  Shield of Absorption:
  Increase healing power scaling of popped bubble
  Blast Finisher on popping bubble

Hammer

• QoL
  Ring of Warding:
  Castable while moving. Ring creation at beginning or end of cast, doesn’t matter.
• Wishlist
  Banish:
  Target limit of 3 or 5

Staff

• Wishlist
  Orb of Light:
  Maybe only 2x recharge on orb detonate instead of 4×.

My wishlist:

Sword:
remove projectiles from 3rd autattack, just make it a tripple hit (like warrior axe auto)
Sword #3 should be castable while moving OR should lay down a new symbol.

Scepter:
Increase projectile speed of the autoattack.
make #2 a symbol and reduce the # of hits to 12 (down from 16, the symbol should have 3 pulses, 5 if traited)

Torch:
let #5 remove conditions from the guardian aswell (1 at the start of the cast, 1 at the end)

Shield:
let #4 apply 5 seconds of weakness to foes (+aegis to allies if traited)
#5 should be a water field and castable while moving and last 4 seconds (behaves like sanctuary, maybe add +5 seconds of recharge)

Hammer:
decrease the casttime of the 3rd autoattack to 1 second (down from 1 1/4)
let #5 be cast while moving (like warrior hammer #5)

Mace:
Make #3 a “toggle” (let me either choose to block or double tap the skill for the aoe protection)

Staff:
let #4 be castable while moving? <3

Skills/Traits (I wont go trough everything, just some things I think would really help the guardian with build diversity)

Consecrations:
Sanctuary:
Decrease cooldown to 90 seconds (down from 120), duration increased to 10 seconds (traited 12), radius increase to 180 and make it a water field.

Hallowed Ground:
Also applies weakness to foes for 2 seconds every pulse.

Create an elite Consecration? <3

Traits:
Battle Presence: merge with strength in numbers and absolute resolution, f2 on allies wont be removed when you activate your virtue (only you will lose the passive).

Unscathed Contender:
add +25% movementspeed while under the effects of aegis.

Ghotistyx.6942:

Manimarco Devil.1790:

Hammer #1-5
Problem: Animations are dreadfully slow
Solution: Would PREFER slightly quicker cast times but Hammer’s main problem is inability to access the CDR trait Glacial Heart.

“Animations are slow, but forget about that. The real problem is Hammer guards can’t use Glacial Heart”
Literally wat?
.

I probably worded it awkwardly but the point was that I feel the animations are a bit too slow but in general they don’t need to be changed as the bigger issue is that we cannot access glacial heart and hammer cdr which makes the weapon feel worse.

Ghotistyx.6942:

Manimarco Devil.1790:

Shield #4
Problem: Low damage, High cd, low protection uptime
Solution: Increase damage, Make it apply 1/2 second daze, make it apply aegis

“Low damage, High cd, low protection uptime”
1.0 power coefficient. +1 power is +1 damage on 2.6k armor.
16-20s cd. On the lower end of cooldowns.
25-31% protection uptime, which is on the higher end of protection giving skills. In spvp it’s 15-18%. I’ll agree SoJ should be unsplit from spvp and pve/wvw.

All of the changes are with spvp in mind. The damage on it is complete garbage compared to other offhand skills. You cannot look at anything in a vacuum, you have to look at what these skills are up against. Shield 4 does very weak damage and the protection uptime (3s for every 20s untraited) is insanely small for the cooldown. To make it viable the damage needs to be increased to be able to atleast compete with torch 4 or focus 5 or the utility needs to be worth it like focus 4.

Anti.9156:

Greatsword 2:
dmg is fine, its a hard to land skill with much payoff (downedcleave for example) should stay that way

Greatsword 3:
fine aswell

Greatsword 5:
woudl be nice if pull(2nd attack) is instant. although GS seems in a nice spot

Scepter 1:
i agree its clunky. but the dmg is high. if we increase the projectile speed it might be op. we get Longbow in the expansion to get a good hitting ranged weapon

I do not understand this weird Stockholm syndrome that has developed. Objectively comparing Guardian GS skills to Warrior GS and guardian does not even come close to being good. While you have fun spinning around for “down cleave” (which is not even a justifiable reason to keep something weak), hammer #2 and Warrior gs #3 can do the same if not more damage in a shorter amount of time that is also AoE. There is reason the last meta had a HAMMER medi guard build but GS was still considered trash. The damage is far too unreliable, when your “utility” weapon can deal damage than the damage-oriented weapon there is a problem.

Your scepter reasoning also seems questionable to me because it is a usability issue not a power or damage dealing one. The obvious response is IF the damage magically becomes too strong then simply tone it down. It feels incredibly unrewarding to shoot your projectiles into thin air, the weapon will feel much more responsive if more of the projectiles actually hit even if it is for less damage.

i agree with the scepter one. they could obviously tone down the dmg if they make it faster. or make it follow the target a bit.

To Greatsword:
Greatsword dmg right now is really good. the zeal/valor/virtue medi guard build makes tons of dmg. Hammer was viable before bc of the cc. it was just a tiny bit better than GS bc of utility. gs wasnt trash back then. And as always comparing Weapon skills from one class to another doesnt really work.
I just feel we should list the thinks that really are an issue (like torch, shield, sword3, scepter aa, traits (bugs and glacial heart)) and not just cry for buffs everywhere.
Hammer, GS, Staff, mace and focus all seem pretty fine to me

We agree to disagree then, hammer can output more damage than GS even though GS is supposed to be a damage oriented weapon. You can either spin for 1 second and maybe deal 5k damage if you get the full skill off or just roll hammer and hit 5k crit with just #2. Hammer #2 is also half the cool down so it provides more dps as well. The only advantage of GS is the pseudo mobility you get every 15 seconds (lol).

Comparing two classes is not entirely accurate I agree, but in this case the difference in effectiveness is too large to ignore. It is the closest similar skill in the game but accomplishes the same if not greater damage that is more consistent and providing some mobility.

Weapons:

Great Sword:

#2: I completely agree with this change. I always compare it to Whirlwind(Warrior 3) that does similar damage quicker and acts as both an evade and mobility.

#4: Symbols in general are lackluster overall so i’d love to see either this replaced or the damage/benefits front-loaded.

Sword:

#1: The auto on the 3rd attack needs to change. Agree with this one as well

#3: Biggest weakness to the Guardian is mobility. Why use a skill to help your enemy gain even more distance on you?

Hammer:

#1: I’d like to see this buffed to be slightly faster.

Mace:

#1: The auto on the 3rd attack needs to cleave.

#2: Same argument for symbols being lackluster, see change on GS above.

#3: Change to work only when struck in melee range like other blocks.

Scepter:

#1: Fix this god-awfully slowly projectile to actually hit.

Torch:

#5: I’d like to see this help remove conditions from the Guardian as well. Not sure how many but as it stands, it’s better to not even use this and just auto.

Guess I’ll throw in my 2$ here aswell…

Greatsword:
Mostly fine IMO, except for this.

• - Skill 5, Chain Skill (5B):
  Reduce casting time from 3/4 to 1/4, (or even instant) so we can reliable use it as in interrupt. Landing the blade originally took enough time.

Sword:
With Mace buff this really lacks a proper role, plus it’s skills are buggy and cumbersome, so quite a few changes here.

• - Skill 1, Final Chain skill (1C)
  Make it a cleaving attack like 1A and 1B, instead of a projectile piercing attack. It’s silly it can be projectile reflected despite being a stab, and it’s awkward mechanic makes it miss inanimate objects (but the chain doesn’t reset, so your one skill constantly misses after 1A and 1B land), making it difficult to kill stuff like the devourer burrows in CoF p2 with it currently.

• - Skill 2
  Make Right-Hand Strength also increase the range of the teleport by 300. This will solidfy Sword as a mobility-based weapon and give it a much stronger place alongside the other heavier DPS melee weapons.

• - Skill 3
  Fix the arc on the projectiles, and let us use it while moving rather than it rooting us.

Mace:
Mostly fine.

• - Skill 3, Chain Skill (3B)
  Let us manually trigger the chain skill earlier, granting the protection on demand at the cost of losing the party-block. This is more consistant with how other channeled blocks work.
• - If Mace final auto (1C) doesn’t cleave as someone said, then yeah, it probably should for consistancies sake.

Shield:
There’s alot we could do here, but I talked about my ideas for this in the specific shield thread, so just gonna simplify stuff here.

• - Skill 4
  Make it grant Aegis in addition to it’s current effect. Remove the PvP split.
  Alternatively, make both this skill and skill 5 grant Aegis if you take the Shield trait in Valor.
• - Skill 5
  Bug fix this, basically. Give it the full listed duration for projectile blocking; Make the projectile absorbs actually register as blocks to trigger associated traits. If you want, make it’s chain skill a blast finisher too.

Torch:
It’s a worthwhile weapon now, however, it’s skill 5 could do with some usability improvements.

• - Skill 5
  Make it also cleanse conditions from the user instead of just allies. Perhaps reduce the channeling time without reducing the overall damage. Alternatively, let it remove Boons from enemy targets it hits, as we lost our “Searing Flames” trait that used to let us do that with the Specialization overhaul. Thematically, it would fit with the weapon.

Hammer:
This is in a good spot; I concur with other people, the biggest problem with it is in the Trait positioning. Easy fix.

• - Move Glacial Heart into the Honour Line, under Master, in the place of Empowering Might. Likewise, move Empowering Might into the Virtues Line, remaining a Master, in the place of Glacial Heart. More on Empowering Might down below.

Sceptre:
Is fine TBH, it does what it needs to do. Projectile speed is supposed to be slow, thats why it hits so hard for a ranged weapon. It already got a velocity buff once, it’s okay now. Longbow is coming for faster ranged strike options.

Staff:
Also fine. It’s a support weapon that does what it’s supposed to.

Focus:
Perfect as is. Already one of the strongest off-hand weapons in the game.

Traits:

• 1 – RHS – See Sword above

• 2 – Glacial Heart – See Hammer above

• 3 – Stalward Defender – See Shield above

• 4 – Unscathed Contender – In addition to +20% damage while under the effects of Aegis, also grant +25% movement speed while under the effects of Aegis. Thanks.

• 5 – Protector’s Impact – Needs more general use beyond just jumping off cliffs for giggles in WvW. Perhaps add something like this:
  Cast Symbol of Judgment when your HP reaches the threshold (50%). 60sec CD.
  This will add some more reliable synergy to other builds that use symbols, both DPS and heal-support based, aswell as the following.

• 6 – Strength of the Fallen:
  Leave as is, however, make it so the Health Degeneration decrease is always a positive thing by also having it also cause the following:
  Your Symbol of Judgement (that’s the symbol you get from downed state skill 3) removes Bleed, Poison, Torment, Confusion and Burn with each pulse.

Basically, if your opponent didn’t put the effort in to stomp you before downed skill 3 was ready to cast, you’ll probably be getting up and in good time. They’d be no leaving you to bleed out then. Thematically, further con removal also fits in with what the skill currently does in addition to the bleed-out reduction (the 10sec interval con removal)

• 7 – Empowering Might:
  Move to Honour in place of Glacial Heart (trait positions are switched).
  In addition to this, remove the cooldown from it. Virtues are a support line, and might stacking for a party is a offensive support role – this would then give this trait position 3 options – personal DPS buff (Supreme Justice), defensive party support (Absolute Resolution), and offensive party support (Empowering Might). Seems like the trait fits better in Virtues than it does Honour.

If I was to complicate it and characterise it further however, I might make a few more changes to it:
Empowering Might (no CD):
Allies gain 3 stack of might when using Justice’s Active Effect (this is in addition to the bonus from Inspired Virtue – so you’d get 6 stacks when you trigger it for your party).
Whenever your passive Justice triggers, nearby allies gain a stack of Might (alternatively leave it as on-crit, but this seems more thematic and characterises and represents the tradeoff of taking this over Supreme Justice more IMO).

This would give you a few play options – it would synergise well with the Sceptre Trait for fast might-stacking in battle, and as a method to effectively keep your party’s might up in battle, especially if playing a support Staff Guardian whom could also take Honourable Staff for longer Might Stacks.

It would also work well for Guardian pre-battle Might stacking from Staff support Guardians; You could use Empowering Might for 12 stacks of Might, fire off your Virtue of Justice for another 6, then lay down a Fire Field and blast it with your other weapon-set (Hammer, Focus, or with above changes, Shield) for 21+ Might, giving you pre-battle Might stacking abilities comparable to an Elementalist (the other strong magical supporty class if it so chooses). This would give you a strong initial burst of Might and then you could start building it up again via the Traits passive effect once it recharged.

Thoughts?

Ghotistyx.6942:

As for weapon changes I’d like to see:

Sword

• QoL changes
  Sword Wave (3rd chain aa):
  Each sword becomes an overlapping wave attack instead of a projectile.

• Wishlist
  Zealot’s Defense (Sword 3):
  Becomes Symbol of Defense. Lasts 2 seconds, destroys all projectiles crossing it’s location.

Mace

• QoL
  Faithful Strike (3rd chain aa):
  Hits 3 enemies, but only the one healing effect (as seen on Thief and Necro Dagger).
  Protector’s Strike:
  Continues blocking non-melee attacks
  Toggle skill to get the Protection early

Scepter

• QoL
  Chains of Light:
  1200 Range

• Wishlist
  Orb of Wrath:
  Maybe a smidgen faster, or a few degrees of target tracking
  Smite:
  Symbol of Smiting, lasts 3 seconds, 4 attacks per second. Grants 1 stack of might for 1 second per attack.

Shield

• QoL
  Shield of Absorption:
  Move while casting, leaving the bubble where it was cast.
  Lasts full 4 seconds

• Wishlist
  Shield of Judgement:
  If it actually needs anything, perhaps kitten weakness or a 1/4s daze might be alright. Just enough to solidify it’s spot as a party support or cc weapon.
  Shield of Absorption:
  Increase healing power scaling of popped bubble
  Blast Finisher on popping bubble

Hammer

• QoL
  Ring of Warding:
  Castable while moving. Ring creation at beginning or end of cast, doesn’t matter.
• Wishlist
  Banish:
  Target limit of 3 or 5

Staff

• Wishlist
  Orb of Light:
  Maybe only 2x recharge on orb detonate instead of 4×.

I’dk if Im bugged but right after the patch I noticed protector strike not breaking on ranged attacks can someone else test it and tell me Im not going crazy?

I agree with all of the OP, except for the Whirling Wrath speed increase. The advantage Guardian GS has over Warrior GS is that our GS can inflict damage from multiple sources at once. Symbol + BB + Whirl = a LOT of damage. Our problem is just that it’s too difficult to keep people in place to take it all. So maybe instead of increasing the animation speed, just maybe allowing us to move at 100% movement speed while casting? I think that would go a long way, honestly.

Also one thing not mentioned that absolutely NEEDS to be changed is the third hit of the sword autoattack. There’s no reason at all for it to be a projectile. Please. It needs to be reworked.

Back in beta GS 5 used to auto-pull if an enemy tried to run further than 600 away, I would like to see that mechanic come back. The cast time needs to go or become 1/4 at least. Into the Void for Mesmer has no cast time to pull enemies and it also pulls 5.

yeah I’d really love a slight buff to the shield as well