Guild Wars 2

I am interested in this full meditation build with the new heal (is there a name for it yet? Maybe “Mad Meditating Monk”?)
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQRAsd7fnQEFHaaIuhwHiiIXg1DAeQ/hL46BEjYDB-TsAg0EKpUypkRJpSWlGUssYLykDA

I would like others to try out this build in pvp, pve, and wvw. Easier to try this in pvp so focus on that first.

Pro’s:
Four meditations benefit from reduced recharge time, fury, and healing
High crit rate means vigorous precision is up nearly constantly
3 blinds on the sword/focus and virtue of justice, which benefit from Blind exposure
Scepter can immobilize to ensure more hits land
Teleport in for initial burst or chasing down
Can cleanse conditions decently
Opponents surprise of burst coming from guardian

Con’s:
Low Health
Condition removal reliant on skills
only one CC
unorthodox play-style
No swiftness

Main questions:
Is Right Hand Strength a better option than Unscathed Contender?
(assuming the rotation with Unscathed Contender uses shield of wrath before teleporting in rather than choosing Right Hand Strength and starting with throwing zealots flame then teleporting in)

Is Rune of Rage the best choice? What other rune options did you try out?

Are the sigils optimal for this build? What other sigil options did you try out?

Should the weapons be switched(sword/torch & scepter/focus)? How did you change your rotation?

Any other concerns or interesting facts learned?

I know this is a lot but I appreciate those who actually help!

First impressions are that this build isn’t too shabby, could use a few improvements though.

First, the Radiance VI trait should be changed to, IMO, the V trait. The boon removal, even on the 10 second ICD, is a really good thing to have when you’re applying so much burning, and I don’t really think that the vulnerability is going to be useful enough for you to justify not taking the V trait.

So, um, you’re missing the jewel for your amulet on this build :P I would make it Soldier’s, that extra health and toughness should be very useful for you.

Consider swapping out the runes for Wurm Runes. I’m not a huge fan of them, but I really think that your build needs that extra vitality , and you’re still getting a good damage bonus along with some critical damage. The Rage runes are nice but you really do need some more vitality IMO, and the final bonus for the Rage runes probably won’t mean much more (assuming it does do more, which it might not) damage than the 3% damage buff on the Wurm runes.

Definitely try Force Sigils in place of Battle and Intelligence. Force sigils tend to be highly underrated, and they’ll boost up your damage a ton. Furthermore, intelligence sigil probably won’t be as good simply because of the amount of precision/fury that your build has anyways.

Finally, I might suggest staff over scepter. Scepter is honestly somewhat of a poor weapon, and staff has a lot of really good options for this build that I feel like you might be missing out on… Your choice though. If you did then you’d have to swap the focus for the torch to keep that condi removal.

To address your other concerns/questions:
- Swiftness shouldn’t be too big a deal in sPvP, and unorthodox playing styles are good
- Wouldn’t be too concerned about having only one CC lol (not sure what you’re referring to though)
- RHS is definitely better

EDIT: I haven’t really tried out the new guard heal, it’s very possible that it’s not optimal. Not sure with Monk’s Focus though.

Thanks for the input Arganthium.5638, would you mind giving your version of the build a few rounds in pvp and report back your results(if time also try the original version as well for something to compare it to).

Unorthodox meaning people will have to adjust to teleporting, bursting, and timing blinds which sounds more like a theif!

CC is crowd control which is the chain of lights on the scepter, both initiating burst and chasing down opponents depends on that ability.

People have been running this build for quite some time so dont expect people to be surprised about burst from a guard. This is the best version

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQRAsd7flUgiDnGyNEfIFRuArHA8g+DXw1DIGxGC-TwAg0CnIYSxkjJDTSmsMNoYZxugZBA

Shelter is still a lot better than the meditation heal, you need to do A LOT of dmg in that 4sec to be worth it, not to mention you can be CCed/slowed so you don’t get anything. The 2 sec block from shelter is just too strong, especially with a glassy build like this. (Not all that glassy with aegis, protection, teleports, lots of heals, and tons of blinds)

In WvW of course youll hit harder and have more survivability thanks to higher stats.

Carpboy.7145 the new heal has been out for about 10 days so perhaps we should give it time to settle, especially comparing it to something that is tried and true for over a year like shelter.
The entire purpose of of this build is a lot of damage so lets actually test it out empirically, not just theorycraft.

Comparing them for this specific build:
Litany of wrath
1 sec cast time
24 second recharge
4.2 seconds of fury
additional 1980 heal for initial heal total of 3633
heal for 20% of damage for 6 seconds

Shelter
1.25 cast time
30 second recharge
heal 4590
2 second block(benefits from might on block)

Looking at them it doesn’t seem that Shelter is the automatic winner in my limited testing they stack up well depending on play style, especially if you factor in the additional 5 percent from the runes of rage and how much damage you are able to do in those 6 seconds.

Guys do me a favor and play with this exact build(then your own version) in pvp using the damage rotations then we will have something objective to go from.

I tested littany for a few days in spvp and pve and found it to under perform compared to to shelter.
on paper the numbers look good especially in a MF build, but the 1 second cast on littany is the problem.
it telegraphs the skills use and allows players to counter it very easily negating and damage healing that could have been done. it will get u killed against decent players a lot.
pve its fine unless mobs knockback then u might have some problems because it is only 4 seconds then by the time you’re back to target its down again.

shelter is still better simply because the 2 seconds of blocking can be a life saver in most situations, as most people already know.

imo, until litany is instant then it will always be a subpar heal.

joffmonk.1285:

imo, until litany is instant then it will always be a subpar heal.

QFT

King Kai.4516:

Guys do me a favor and play with this exact build(then your own version) in pvp using the damage rotations then we will have something objective to go from.

Or you know, YOU play with youre own build and let everyone else run what they’ve already tried and tested to be true.

Carpboy.7145:

King Kai.4516:

Guys do me a favor and play with this exact build(then your own version) in pvp using the damage rotations then we will have something objective to go from.

Or you know, YOU play with youre own build and let everyone else run what they’ve already tried and tested to be true.

Look I know you guys get snarky on the boards but there is a few problems with this attitude.

1. You clicked on and replied to a topic that starts out “Help me field test this build”, so if you don’t want to do that specific action then you are off topic.

2.You set up a false dilemma, this isn’t a or situation. I already said I tried this build out when I said" in my limited testing they stack up well depending on play style" the point of posting on a public forum with other guardians is to increase my sample size beyond just myself and get less personal bias.

3.The heal just came out 10 days ago so once again comparing it to whats “been tested” for almost a year is useless unless it gets tested itself in various different circumstances over time…which is what I am asking for in a specific build.

I still have hope that someone will actually help me get some empirical data by actually attempting what I am asking. I understand a lot of you already dismiss the heal, if you don’t want to go beyond that then just ignore this thread. If anyone actually wants to answer the questions then a simple trial run of pvp games(the more the better) with this build along with a separate trail run with your own permutations (using shelter for example) would be appreciated.

well I’m already running a variation MF build and was running 4 medi’s when I was testing littany.
I prolly should have said that at the start man sorry.
but my experience with it still stands. if it was instant the you could pop it and burst and no one would see it comming and it would be sick. at the mo it can work really well but it does have thr major flaw of cast time telegraphing its use.
I use traveller runes in my build so no dire need for swiftness, if that helps.

joffmonk.1285:

well I’m already running a variation MF build and was running 4 medi’s when I was testing littany.
I prolly should have said that at the start man sorry.
but my experience with it still stands. if it was instant the you could pop it and burst and no one would see it comming and it would be sick. at the mo it can work really well but it does have thr major flaw of cast time telegraphing its use.
I use traveller runes in my build so no dire need for swiftness, if that helps.

Is this for pvp or wvw mainly? I have been trying to use focus #5 to cover my use of litany(that or distance and the blinds) the issue is that it is hard to pay attention to the average amount healed in the middle of battle and the combat log doesn’t track it. Do you know if litany heals with condition damage as well?

King Kai.4516:

joffmonk.1285:

well I’m already running a variation MF build and was running 4 medi’s when I was testing littany.
I prolly should have said that at the start man sorry.
but my experience with it still stands. if it was instant the you could pop it and burst and no one would see it comming and it would be sick. at the mo it can work really well but it does have thr major flaw of cast time telegraphing its use.
I use traveller runes in my build so no dire need for swiftness, if that helps.

Is this for pvp or wvw mainly? I have been trying to use focus #5 to cover my use of litany(that or distance and the blinds) the issue is that it is hard to pay attention to the average amount healed in the middle of battle and the combat log doesn’t track it. Do you know if litany heals with condition damage as well?

Yes, all damage applies to Litany of Wrath. Condition, retaliation, etc.