Guild Wars 2

Hey guys,
Just back after a long layoff. im only lvl 16 guard but seems i am having trouble lvling, i can take one mob a level above me easy, but seems 2-3 mobs beat me down really fast, is it me? If so does anyone have a build to use as a leveling guardian.

Maybe im not using my right skills at right times? Are we just not able to fight 2-3 mobs. currently using a hammer to level, have my health regen up all the time. Any help or feedback would be great and any trait reccomendation would be great also.
Thanks for helping a n00b!

Are you dodging enough? Because that’s an important factor, especially when fighting multiple opponents.

Apart from that, you could try for a more active defense on your second set, so you can swap from your Hammer when needed. I’d advice Sword or Mace together with a Focus. This way you can use the defenses while your Virtue of Resolve ticks when needed.

I’d also advice you to spend your first trait-points on Justice is Blind, in Radiance, giving you an on-demand Blind.

But most importantly: How are you actually playing?

Are you updating your armor? I would recommend getting new pieces off the trading post every 10 levels except for the chest, legs and weapons which I personally update every 5 levels (this might be excessive if you don’t have enough money, but 10 levels is the max I’d stretch a piece of armor). Also starting at level 10 you can start buying trinkets off the trading post, buy rings, necklace and earrings every 10 levels. I bought just the power ones and cut through mobs my level like butter. I went greatsword with a staff offhand and never had any issues leveling. Hope this helps.

edit: another tip is the buy the sigil of bloodlust and put it on the main weapon you will use. It is only 2.5ish silver and will give you +5 power for every mob you kill up to 25 stacks. So with 25 stacks you’ll have +125 power as long as you don’t die.

Going with power & precision gear, and then using lifesteal on crit food (eg, Strawberry Cake) goes a long way to helping you stay up. Plus, the plethora of crits result in everything dying faster!

I would suggest a Scepter/Torch combo for leveling, so you can get the hang of kiting. Trust me, it’s fairly important in most encounters where you’re outmatched to keep moving, and the range of the Scepter keeps that easy to do. The torch’s #4 and #5 are for when they get close enough, but be sure you dodge if you see any windup attacks from the enemy. Traits, I suggest putting points in the Honor line to start off with, for the extra vitality to help you stay up longer. And at 5 points, you gain the ability to gain vigor whenever you score a critical hit, so you’ll be able to dodge more often.

For updating your gear while levelling, plan ahead and put in purchase orders (don’t instant buy) from the trading post for blues a few coppers above vendor sell price. You’ll get people selling to you and then you can vendor those pieces when you outlevel them – meaning the net cost of upgrading was just a few coppers per piece.

I usually fill all my purchase orders doing this within a couple hours (so if you plan far enough ahead you’ll have gear waiting for you always as you level).

Your going to feel weak until you get your hands on lvl 20 gear. Spend some silver and buy a full lvl 20 blue set, fill the sockets, and you’ll start mowing through mobs.

On my Mesmer at lvl 35 I bought a full rare set and I was walking around with 60% crit chance and mowing down mobs.

On my Thief I use to mob up 5-10 mobs at a time and AOE them down with the Shortbow at that lvl. It was fun.

Feeling strong a low levels has a lot to do with your gear. You need updated gear with +power to do good damage. Get a green greatsword. Put +power minor runes on all your armor. Get a minor sigil of bloodlust on your weapon. Watch things die.

I found leveling to be incredibly easy by maintaining decent armor, as mentioned above and with weapon selection. Guardian has an incredible amount of active defenses. I ran with Sword/Torch and Mace/Focus with 5-15 points in Radiance. Flashing Blade to blind the enemy or enemies first attacks. Zealot’s Flame will get them all burning while you run through an auto combo and Zealot’s Defense. If there are multiple enemies or once you have 15 points in Radiance you can then activate Virtue of Justice for another AoE blind and some burn damage. If the enemies are still up you can swap into Mace/Focus and rotate through your 4 blocks and bouncing blind all while being healed up. Keep Shelter as your heal and time your use of it to get several blocks.

I found that rotating these active defenses could keep me alive through almost anything. Slip your dodges in there when the target isn’t blinded or when they drop a locational spell.

I found leveling my Guardian to be redicolously easy. I just looked at the possible trait lines and figured where to begin to bring some utility for my self and teammates. Getting blind and weakness on virtue of justice is great for attacking stronger mobs

While leveling I run with a Hammer and Mace/Focus. Remember to use your combo fields!! Check the wiki for a quick explanation. I find my self having all weapons available in my bag, because some encounters require different approaches

For mace and focus I use the symbol with focus #5 skill for retaliation and blocking the next four attacks. VoJ to blind the next attack. Mace skill #3 for blocking and damaging. Focus skill #4 for blinding the next attack. The combination is priceless! You heal all the time and are making the mobs miss the next attack while you are damaging them.

Hammer is great for AoE. Run the #1 chain and use skill #2 for AoE retaliation and hard hitting damage. You can also knock the enemies away if it gets hot or capture them or stun them.

Else I would say that you must update your gear and try to get some health or armor and power or precision, dodge what you can’t block or blind and just play around with your traits and gear.