Guild Wars 2

Explain please, down to every details if you want, pros and cons.

I’m trying to find a main class right now, and i had these in mind: Warrior, thief, mesmer, guardian.
Afterall i’ve been thinking a lot about the guardian, but how do you like it? Do you feel strong after those nerfs if any? And the minor buffs to thieves )Larcenous strike+the unblockable strike from warrior)

Lmk if you think i should reroll a guardian :P

Guardian is the class to be if you like the feeling of ‘I can survive anything’. The major con is lack of build variety. But if you like supporting your teammates and being able to withstand most (if not all) pve can throw at you, I’d go with Guard.

There is build variety, if you’re willing to not get trapped into an AH build. Yeah, they’re good, but they’re not the only option.

Judging by your interest in the thief/warrior buffs, I’m guessing you’re interested in WvW. Guardian has an extremely strong role in WvW, both in zergs and roaming. In zergs, reflection, bubbles, might-stacking, boon distribution, and healing provided by the guardian make it incredibly strong. If roaming, it can be built to be nearly immune to conditions and CC, with very high mobility, significant sustained damage output, and very powerful offensive CC.

There’s even options out there for such chicanery as a zerg-breaking build, whose intent is to wade into the middle of a zerg, eat up hundreds of damaging skills, half-kill everyone in the zerg with retaliation, throw some enemies around and/or wall them off with CC, and in general make such an unholy nuisance of itself as to allow even an inferior allied force to walk all over the distracted opponents.

What you’ll notice that I did not mention, however, is ranged combat. Guardians stink at it. Horribly. The staff is an alright weapon for zerging, especially with its heals, swiftness symbol, and might-stacking, plus line of warding for chokepoints, but the scepter as it stands is fit for one thing: destroying stationary siege weaponry from 1200 range. It doesn’t function well in multi-target environments due to all of its skills being single-target, and it doesn’t function well in single-target environments due to an aware opponent that sidesteps slightly now and then being able to avoid nearly every single projectile thrown. Essentially, if you have to engage in ranged combat, you’re better off stopping what you’re doing, going to a siege vendor, buying a siege weapon, running back, placing it, building it (with any necessary trips to gather supply), and manning it than you are attempting to use your feeble ranged damage options.

Basically, if ranged damage combat is your thing, you don’t want a guardian. If, however, you want an unrivaled master of melee combat, personal/group support, and survivability, guardian is your class.

It really depends on what aspect of the game you are focusing. I got an 80 warrior, 80 thief and 80 Guardian. In pve, Warrior out damages all and brings a certain degree of versatility and support to parties. In SPvp you need to be way above average to do good as a warrior, if you are not or simply want to keep a fair fight go with anything else. In Tpvp ignore him and wvw you get hella lot of kills, good cc and good one vs one if you are skilled enough.

Thiefs are damage power house and annoying as hell if played correctly. Now on to the guardian.

I play a rather tanky build, I balanced my stats to have enough power to pack a punch and enough vit/tough to outlast almost everyone except pure bunker builds. I got great access to CC, healing and condition management, you get to pull enemies to you, protect your allies and keep em alive as you go fight through the mobs and enemies in WvW. >_> Oh and dropping people down cliffs when you are downed and they’re trying to stomp you is priceless…

Spvp wise, I can do 10 matches a day and usually the enemy is lucky if they down me more than once, usually I can go through matches without dying at all. This is due to the heavy survivalbility and hidden complexity of the guardian class. Overall I say the guardian is a very solid class, I don’t pve as guardian so no real opinion there lol.

Well guard was my first toon, have over 1400 hours on it. Also have two Warriors, Necro, and Mesmer 80s ofc.

Guard is still my fav by far. It’s the only class I feel like I can take on the world with.

Biggest con I have is mobility is lacking, other then that I love it.

It think guardians are the most rounded, best balanced class in the game. I think they are easy to pick up, but offer rewards for the player willing to learn their intricacies.

They can be tailored to many differnt builds, from dps, to support, and many other hybrid roles.

We have limitations, lack fo ranged, mobility and so on. But I think these are fair (if they just made scepter less kitten frustrating), given our strengths.

other classes are fun, in their own way, but lack the variation in builds guardians have.

I love mesmer in small groups and roaming for instance, but feel hindered in a zerg. Maybe thats just me, but I feel other classes lack the versatility of the guardian, though I am enjoying levelling an engineer, the variety of kits is really fun.

- I dont really get the lack of build variety comments above. I cant think of another profession that has as many really viable builds as guardian.

I would like it better if I had a build that was pretty close to an old school tank; if any one has a link for me that would be pretty awesome.

I love my guardian. Much more so than my warrior. More survivable and able to mitigate damage in a way that the warrior cannot. The burst advantage the warrior has IMO is nullified by this fact.

Pros:
-Healing is very good. Scales much better than my warrior.
-Protection is hella powerful
-Condition removal is amongst the best in the game
-Symbols, shouts, consecrations mean very good team support. The more team mates around the more the guardian shines
-Some of the minor traits are some of the best in the game
-Good synergy in valor, honor and virtue lines

Cons
-Elite skills can be…meh
-Not great at 1v1
-The zeal and radiance trait lines could use some rework
-No real condition builds (which doesnt bother me too much to be honest)

Let’s just say that I’m considering renaming my guardian to “Mc Donald”

how do i like my guardian?

i like it well done, thanks.

I love my guardian. It is by far my favorite profession currently. I also play an 80 mesmer (2nd fav), 80 d/d ele, and 80 thief.

The one thing about this profession that I think does better then any other profession is being able to support your team while being able to do ample damage and provide ample control.

Most professions have to give up more of the other two aspects to be able to sufficiently provide the same level of support a guardian can.

Ressurecting this thread here. I’m interested in playing a guardian as well. I’ve been tinkering with the guardian in spvp and it has some amazing skills for group play, and can make some key moves eg line of warding or sancutary in a chokepoint.

I’m mainly interested in wvw and am trying to decide between guardian and engineer. Both are very fun, but unfortunately I only have time to level and outfit one. Can a guardian handle himself in solo roaming? Or does he need a team at all times. I mean say you get jumped by a thief as you are trying to join your group… can you do something about it or just a sitting duck?

No offense, I’m just really trying to understand guardians and see what they can reach. I hope they’re not just boon-whores, pardon my language. I’m not looking for amazing damage nor amazing mobility, I know that these can be found in other classes. But I don’t want to feel like a sitting duck running around in wvw, because enough enemies will join in eventually and the damage mitigation will be overcome. Can guardians do enough damage to down others in small group fights?

I have close to 1K hours on my Guardian. It is my first class, and the only class I can stand leveling to 80. I love it to death. For my playstyle, the ONLY thing I wish is that it’s ranged options were more reliable. I love being the tank in MMO’s. Tera I main Lancer, WoW it’s Paladin, if it’s considered the “main tank” in a game, that’s me. So of course, GW2 doesn’t really have that, but Guardians and Warriors are the closest to that role. If you like playing tanky dps classes, then go with Warrior or Guardian. If you want to be naturally more offensive, have a wider range of weapons, but me more restricted in build options, go Warrior. More defensive, less range of weapons, more versatile build while still remaining viable, that’s more of the Guardian. Plus we get magic. Can’t really beat magic, dude.

My guardian is my favorite character, by far. I, too, have always played tanks in MMO’s, and guardians come closest to tanks in this game. They have eavy armor, lots of defensive skills, great survivability, cool weapons (except for ranged), can dish it out as well as take it, etc. It’s a great profession.

As has been mentioned, we really need help with ranged, though. Scepter is just not a great option (read this thread for elucidation on this point: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/Fix-most-broken-autoattack-in-game/first ). I love the staff, but it’s only so-so as a “ranged” weapon; it shines in other ways, though.

My bigger beef with guardian really has little to do with the profession, and more to do with the game itself, though: Tanks are not really needed in this game, save for some situations in WvW. And I love to tank. So, to get my tanking fix, I play other (trinity) games, and use my GW2 guardian as a “supportive” melee dps character. It’s fun, but it just ain’t really a tank.

Guardians are great in WvW, if you’re into that kind of thing. I wish I were, but I’m not. I find WvW realy boring and dull, so I don’t do it much. As always, YMMV.

The only reason I have for NOT playing my Guardian is if i want to try some long range strategies for certain content. Otherwise, Guardian has it all.

Yes guards are insanely good solo roaming. Thieves are literally a joke unless they instagib you (not many can and aegis gives you a heads up) or engage you while you’re already fighting.

ATourist.8359:

Can a guardian handle himself in solo roaming?

Guardians are are behind Thieves, Elementalists and Mesmers for roaming in my opinion, and on par/above the rest.
You can hold on your own pretty great, Guardians are the sort of guy that no one wants to face head-on, since they have high offense (melee) and defense. This also means they are prone to get harassed to death.

ATourist.8359:

Or does he need a team at all times. I mean say you get jumped by a thief as you are trying to join your group… can you do something about it or just a sitting duck?

The Thief will either avoid you in the first place, or he will just try to harass you. This means he’ll stealth infinitely with combo fields and blinds, and will slowly kill you.
And there’s little to nothing you can do to prevent that, unless the Thief is bad, but I’m talking about average > above average skilled players.

You do have plenty of time though until he kills you to either find a teammate to help lockdown the Thief, at which point he’ll just run away from you, or to get into a Tower or something.

ATourist.8359:

I hope they’re not just boon-whores, pardon my language.

Guardians are second or third in boon-stacking, losing to Elementalists and maybe Engineers (not counting self-stacking Warriors).
Our boons aren’t that special except for our on-demand Stability, which is a HUGE thing.

ATourist.8359:

I’m not looking for amazing damage nor amazing mobility, I know that these can be found in other classes.

We have average mobility, and amazing damage.

ATourist.8359:

But I don’t want to feel like a sitting duck running around in wvw, because enough enemies will join in eventually and the damage mitigation will be overcome.

I don’t think you’ll feel like a sitting duck, you’ll feel more like a juggernaut that everyone will avoid facing head on.
They will retreat and come back with 2+ to kill you in a minute or so, or they’ll be playing bunker builds and will drag the fight forever by running from you and constantly healing.

And from my experience, only Thieves (the annoying stealth ones) get to do enough to damage to push me back while “bunkering”.

ATourist.8359:

Can guardians do enough damage to down others in small group fights?

Think like this: Guardians have AWESOME melee damage, and AWESOME defense. But they’re slow, and they don’t have any “tricks” to pull on fights.
We’re strong in the basics of combat, dealing damage and reducing damage taken.

But we lack control to combo/burst someone like a Thief, Mesmer or Elementalist does. Our utilities are mostly defensive and protective, and we don’t have a good ranged option like all other professions. Our only “real” ranged (1200) is strong so it works for PvE, but it’s easily avoidable so it’s crappy for long-ranged fights (the closer you are the easier to hit), one of the most common battles in WvW.

As for potentials, we have decent condition cleansing, average/decent healing, crappy condition damage, awesome melee damage, awesome damage reduction, average/decent pressure, average/below average control, average/below average mobility, below average ranged, below average escapes.

If you like the playstyle of something listed as average/crappy in the list above, try something else than a Guardian.

Guardian is definitely the top. most demanding class in high difficulty dungeons(unlike warrior the 2nd in demand, it has close to no actual support to the team only if specced to it and still not as good as guardians, even if you can take care of yourself as a warrior but your whole team got wiped it won’t change anything. also guardian is good in PvP, unlike warrior.

@above don’t tell me that teleports, aoe burn, aoe blind, stunbreaks arent tricks or slow in fights…in tpvp, some times even thief have difficulties to run away from me

guardians are only slow when ooc, when you need to run caputure points….

I love guardian and I hear no complaints about their viability or OPness lately

Guardians are great. Almost everything you do automatically helps nearby allies as well.

All builds work more or less in PvE. So I can’t seem to find other great builds than AH. Many complain about the lack of ranged options.

I think heavy armor and a few weapon skins that are available to the guardian could be better.

ATourist.8359:

I’m mainly interested in wvw and am trying to decide between guardian and engineer. Both are very fun, but unfortunately I only have time to level and outfit one. Can a guardian handle himself in solo roaming? Or does he need a team at all times. I mean say you get jumped by a thief as you are trying to join your group… can you do something about it or just a sitting duck?

No offense, I’m just really trying to understand guardians and see what they can reach. I hope they’re not just boon-whores, pardon my language. I’m not looking for amazing damage nor amazing mobility, I know that these can be found in other classes. But I don’t want to feel like a sitting duck running around in wvw, because enough enemies will join in eventually and the damage mitigation will be overcome. Can guardians do enough damage to down others in small group fights?

Guardians are decent in solo roaming. Mobility is above average if you build for it and they are strong in 1v1, which is key for a roamer. They probably aren’t quite as good as say a thief or ranger, but they are better than low mobility classes like necro or engie.

Guardians destroy the typical direct damage heartseeker spam thieves. Annoying condi damage, kiting or boon stealing builds are more of a problem.

Guardians can be built to do very strong damage and most of their damage is from cleaving melee attacks, which means it only gets better in fights with more than one enemy around. You can really punish enemies who cluster together. They are probably the best small grouping class in the game in WvW because they offer great boons and group condi removal combined with the ability to dish and soak damage.

I like guardian because this video (jump to minute 4:23):

Hey thanks for all the input guys. There’s no better info I can get than experienced guardian players. It sounds like the class definitely is worth a try and not the boring playstyle I originally had in mind. I was afraid that they were only good in teams and useless 1v1 but apparently that is not the case.

I love my guardian. I have an ele, a ranger, thief and guardian. Of them all, the guardian seems the most balanced. Ele’s are one trick ponies (d/d bunker, anyone?), rangers are in the same boat (bm bunker, so the pet AI doesn’t handicap too much), stealth is stupidly OP, making thieves just broken.

Guardians seem to be the sweet spot the other classes should aim for. I can deal decent (not insane, but respectable) damage, heal my allies, heal myself, and back off and use staff for support/range when I have to. The only place I have difficulty is roaming, but I accept this is an issue with my build, and not the profession overall.

EDIT: should note the roaming deal is because I roll AH, and am set to be in the frontlines of a zerg or dungeon group. I could swap my build to be more 1v1 and roaming friendly, but frankly, I’m too lazy.

1100 hours, I like my Guardian. I have 3 other 80s (Warrior, Thief, Mes) but my Guardian is my favorite by a landslide.