Guild Wars 2

I’ve been away for a couple of years.
My old guardian build had 900 to 1200 healing depending on my gear, but it seemed a big expense for very little return on dungeons and WvW.

Have they since changed the game so a healing “class” is now viable and wanted?

Works nicely in PvP (with competent allies), wouldn’t do it in PvE (or at least use Zealot’s gear). Alternatively, you could just use Healing Breeze instead of something like Shelter in PvE.

mostly no, healing scales quite poorly with healing power in nearly all cases. but usu in pve u can do whatever u want in open world w/o anyone qq. but dungeons and things, its prob more of a hindrance to the team than a help

Thanks for the feedback.
But it sounds like it’s unfortunate they have tons of gear and traits for healing and yet it’s still just so-so.

DoOver.1643:

Thanks for the feedback.
But it sounds like it’s unfortunate they have tons of gear and traits for healing and yet it’s still just so-so.

Well, Anet DOES want to increase build diversity in terms of full support builds but so far they failed.

I use a healing build in WvW. I’m sure people could spend hours lecturing me on why it’s poorly optimized and inferior to your garden-variety zerg build, but it’s effective at what it does. I’ve been happy with it’s performance and see no need to change it.

I haven’t tried a healing/tanky build in PvP… I much prefer to go medi burst or spirit weapons because I find them funner. I do encounter people using them though.

For PvE, there’s just really no point in using a healing build. Better to just keep your party’s stability up when needed, use any necessary projectile reflects/bubbles and then put the rest of the build into killing things.

In PvP, I use this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQNAW7dl8ApXotDxeI0ENBEBl9JWR8xODT4CXFAA-T5xDABKcACo4ABU8FAAryAPt/AEPBAAOIAAA

Not really the best at tanking/bunkering, but my allies rarely die as long as I haven’t. Glassy support I guess you could call it, and it has certainly worked for me so far.

What traits relative to group healing are usable by guardian?

Healing & support are much more viable in Spvp & small scale WvW roaming.

In PvE it’s just not worth it because competent players can avoid the vast majority of damage & self heal what they cannot.

I could be wrong but this could be changing somewhat in HOT however.
They said many of the encounters would be harder then those in game now, they also hired a team some months back who had previous experience designing instanced raid content (they specifically asked for raid designers in the hiring memo).

So while a full on healer will never be needed in PvE, providing support to allies (while doing damage) could end up being something more people want from a group member.

oxtred.7658:

What traits relative to group healing are usable by guardian?

Selfless daring, battle presence, & writ of the merciful are the main ones.

Other then that it’s mainly utility skills & weapon skills.

Ragnar the Rock.3174:

oxtred.7658:

What traits relative to group healing are usable by guardian?

Selfless daring, battle presence, & writ of the merciful are the main ones.

Two-handed mastery could also be included if one is using a staff, I guess.

Selfless daring being the only one remotely usable, and you have to use a dodge (hint: dodging a 7K attack instead of outhealing it with 3 dodges is better). Writ of the merciful has no place in pve and little/niche use in pvp as well. It also requires you/people to stand in that circle and hopefully die in the process. Battle presence is just bad.

DoOver.1643:

Thanks for the feedback.
But it sounds like it’s unfortunate they have tons of gear and traits for healing and yet it’s still just so-so.

On the contrary it’s fortunate. The game is based around active defense not healing and tanking. Better not getting hit than healing yourself afterward.

That’s just two kind of gameplay. Personally, this system give me a more active and interesting gameplay. Anyway, its not like there is not much MMO where you can play a healer, that’s like all of them.

Yeah, I don’t disagree Thaddeus, just seems like such a waste to build out gear and “classes” with healing traits but in the end it does little for gameplay.

Just like they removed the magic chance (I think that was it) from gear and put it somewhere else in game for all players, seems like Healing needs to be removed from traits and gear, since it does little good in the grand scheme of things.

DoOver.1643:

Just like they removed the magic chance (I think that was it) from gear and put it somewhere else in game for all players, seems like Healing needs to be removed from traits and gear, since it does little good in the grand scheme of things.

Just because it isn’t used in PvE doesn’t mean it should be removed from all gear. Healing power is still useful elsewhere, and especially in PvP. In PvE, a full healing build isn’t really “bad”, it’s just that the content is already easy enough that it can be sped through via zerk gear and aegis/blind/etc. So ultimately a full healing build will make things more reliable but slower, and since extra reliability isn’t needed, neither is a full healing build.

I used for some time zealot with cleric, but I was only losing sustain and DPS to add nothing. On Guardian isn’t really viable, let’s wait HoT realease to see.

But on Elementalist, healing can be useful, the healing scales better on their skills. On full zealot, I heal 1k on auto atk on water with staff and also have a good dps on fire.

DoOver.1643:

Yeah, I don’t disagree Thaddeus, just seems like such a waste to build out gear and “classes” with healing traits but in the end it does little for gameplay.

Just like they removed the magic chance (I think that was it) from gear and put it somewhere else in game for all players, seems like Healing needs to be removed from traits and gear, since it does little good in the grand scheme of things.

Well I used some healing in WvW when we used to run small numbers and I know that some ppl like to run healing guild in pug zerg to keep ppl alive longer. The healing power from celestial and cleric also have a good place in sPvP. More celestial now, but clerics isn’t bad at all, especially if you don’t play competitive. I played my clerics bunker guardian for over 500 matches in spvp. There is also niche place like solo path 3 where a cleric stuff can allow you to solo the orbs. So even if healing power isn’t the best stuff in all situation, it still have a place.

Yamsandjams.3267:

I use a healing build in WvW. I’m sure people could spend hours lecturing me on why it’s poorly optimized and inferior to your garden-variety zerg build, but it’s effective at what it does. I’ve been happy with it’s performance and see no need to change it.

Same here. I run a specialized frontline WvW healing/support build. Check my signature for the build description and lots of illustrative gameplay videos that show the tactics. If you don’t like large, long-lasting healing symbols like I run, you can roll with Battle Presence and other traits but keep the same weapons and skills. I keep Healing Power to about 1,000 to 1,300 and put the rest in survival (Nomdas & Sentinel’s) and PVT gear. If I am alive, I am keeping my frontline alive while they wreck the enemy. Don’t stand in red circles with the Guardian’s pitiful health pool.

I too get lectured all the time about why I don’t copy and paste the latest meta build. Don’t listen; play how you like. Support/heals is very viable for Guardian, in WvW at least which is all I play.

DroidDreamer.2861:

I too get lectured all the time about why I don’t copy and paste the latest meta build. Don’t listen; play how you like. Support/heals is very viable for Guardian, in WvW at least which is all I play.

From my experiences it’s very viable in PvP as well, my friends actually have a tendency to get bothered whenever I play anything else. More people need to think outside of the box in terms of the meta. Just because there’s a “meta” doesn’t mean there’s only one efficient set of builds.

Fashion Mage.3712:

DroidDreamer.2861:

I too get lectured all the time about why I don’t copy and paste the latest meta build. Don’t listen; play how you like. Support/heals is very viable for Guardian, in WvW at least which is all I play.

From my experiences it’s very viable in PvP as well, my friends actually have a tendency to get bothered whenever I play anything else. More people need to think outside of the box in terms of the meta. Just because there’s a “meta” doesn’t mean there’s only one efficient set of builds.

Agreed. I take it a step further in terms of my personal game play: I don’t play the “best” builds, known as “FOTM” (Flavor Of The Month) builds in other games, and “meta” builds in this game. Just feels cheap, in my opinion only for my own personal playstyle only. On the more positive tip, I enjoy working within limited frameworks and making them successful. The guard presents such an interesting challenge with its high support abilities but low healthy pool.

Play how you like!

The amount of healing a guardian can put out is actually pretty riddicolous with the right setup. Speaking WvW mind you… it’s probably pretty kitten useless in PvE or PvP

I used to run full cleric with runes of water, staff + mace / shield with energy and renewal. Dodge heals for 2k, staff 2 for 2k (very low cd), weapon swap heals, symbol heals, f2 heal, elite book, staff 4 etc. etc.

Was a triple stab spec think traits were something like 0 0 2 6 6 … i was really impressed with the amount of healing it does. Nasty stuff.

I run this in PvP. It’s pretty much the standard version of healway guard, but with a little more CC to hinder my opponents. Key thing is to coordinate CC with your teammate so you’re not just wasting them. I know shield really needs a buff, but I’m just using it to knockback foe for my teammate’s burst.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQNAS7el0ApVo1CxUI8DNRCRldREg/H2nwHkCXFAA-TpRGABAcACU4ABs7DBwpyAAt/gBXBAA

Attached, playing around with raw healing numbers.

Not including active defense that can be brought with the same builds.

IllegalChocolate.6938:

Attached, playing around with raw healing numbers.

Not including active defense that can be brought with the same builds.

That’s nice and all, but in a game that rewards damage and active defense you are still useless. Hopefully that changes in the expansion but I don’t get my hopes up.

Kraljevo.2801:

IllegalChocolate.6938:

Attached, playing around with raw healing numbers.

Not including active defense that can be brought with the same builds.

That’s nice and all, but in a game that rewards damage and active defense you are still useless. Hopefully that changes in the expansion but I don’t get my hopes up.

Uh when the objective of the game is to.. you know.. kill the target of course damage is rewarded. All that healing builds need to do is provide a competitive efficiency opportunity to deal damage in a group environment. My point is that for people who want to try this out for the sake of, you know wanting to try this stuff out (because people healing for the sake of just wanting to heal is actually a thing), there’s things you can do to scratch that itch.

You’re obviously not gonna heal the Vinewrath to death with a fail timer on it, but for the sake of just providing your allies a really easy time to just burn targets like the thrasher while pustules explode around you, well you can do just that.

You also make it sound like healing heavy guardians don’t ever use active defense which is far from the truth, probably farther than the distance between China and the States.

What would be a good solid build and is this a bunker style build?

Kraljevo.2801:

That’s nice and all, but in a game that rewards damage and active defense you are still useless. Hopefully that changes in the expansion but I don’t get my hopes up.

Funny, I don’t feel useless. Unless you’re referring to dungeons specifically.

IllegalChocolate.6938:

You’re obviously not gonna heal the Vinewrath to death with a fail timer on it, but for the sake of just providing your allies a really easy time to just burn targets like the thrasher while pustules explode around you, well you can do just that.

Playing as a healer, I’ve played a fairly important role in a fair amount of Vinewrath battles simply by saving siege carriers by healing a huge amount on them. I’ve also single-handedly held forts in the Silverwastes by letting the warmaster facetank a bunch of mordrem via healing.

IllegalChocolate.6938:

You also make it sound like healing heavy guardians don’t ever use active defense which is far from the truth, probably farther than the distance between China and the States.

^That. Healing guardians use active defense (aegis, blind, barriers) in addition to healing in order to provide a huge amount of protection to allies.

id say that healing (in general) isnt as “useful” as pure dps+knowledge of dodging in most scenarios.

However i do find some places that requires my guardian to heal.

In WvW a healing support guard is 100% viable. I run 0/0/2/6/6 pretty much full clerics build when I’m support.

Here’s a video 1st and 3rd clips are support, 2nd and 4th are meditation.

Having a bunker healing guard (1200+ healing power) is a requirement in any serious small scale WvW comp. Most of the successful 5v5 death match comps have 2 bunker healing guards.

It’s just not as effective in zergs or in point holding, which is why you see it used less elsewhere.

mango.9267:

Having a bunker healing guard (1200+ healing power) is a requirement in any serious small scale WvW comp. Most of the successful 5v5 death match comps have 2 bunker healing guards.

It’s just not as effective in zergs or in point holding, which is why you see it used less elsewhere.

Not disagreeing but I’ve found heals/bunker guard to be equally helpful in zergs and small man in WvW. I like small man — because it’s more obvious what everyone is doing — but for the symbol build I run I can maximize ticks of heals, Regen, etc. on the zerg as a whole.