Guild Wars 2

With the recent changes made to the Guardian, I think Guards still have the power to overcome some challenges; but, now require more skill to actually use the class.

Although the casting time on Purification is a significant blow to speed and quick 1v1s, having the Meditation Trait line may still be able to balance this, if we can time this right. After doing some calculation and some quick tests, I was still able to heal a wopping sum of >10k heal (with Smite Condition bonus up).

Overall, I still think the healing is still there, but it is distributed elsewhere, and not solely on Purification. Perhaps we may have to heavily rely on other runes like Exuberance? I’ve been using Exuberance lately and it still wins in a lot of 1v1/2v1 fights. Drop some suggestions below if you have any ideas.

As for Shield of Courage, I anticipated this since the previous patch. 1 second reduction time is a heavy toll in matters of reviving allies and finishing off enemies so we won’t be interrupted; but I’m starting to see Merciful Intervention as an option for Support Builds (but to be honest, I just use Judgement’s Intervention on an enemy trying to finish off an ally so I can just knock them back with the Revive Bubble – if they don’t have their stability or blocks up).

I was sort of disappointed with how Shards of Faith was implemented; not because of the number of Aegis drops that was reduced; but because of ridiculous amount of time increased for recharging it. Admit it, that trait has saved our butts more than a few times. Kind of heartbreaking; but there is a way to fix a broken heart… Step 1: Grab some Duct Tape. Step 2: Lie Down. Step 3: Cry.

Kidding aside, I’ve anticipated this change as well. I’ve been testing some builds that require added stability and defensive counters; though, this may nullify the use of Test of Faith. Though Test of Faith has been great at dealing with imbeciles, I prefer using the Fragments of Faith for smarter opponents. In several tries since the recent patch, I found this to be a better option since we have extra symbol damage. You may have the option to use either Longbow or Scepter/Focus as a ranged burst damage; but the question between either weapons have always been about enemy and ally composition.

In addition, having Sword as a main melee DPS weapons is still hands down, the best toy a guard could have ( ?° ?? ?°). But we may also have to be open the option of going torch now instead of solely relying on shield as an off-hand weapon.

Overall, the changes have increased the amount of skill required to play the class. The only thing they nerfed is probably the amount of salt I have to deal with when people go “Oh please, ANET. Nerf Guardian. Guardian OP. Please nerf it any not my class”

I’m curious as to how Signets will now affect the playing field. Please leave some comments if you have any ideas regarding that.

Nerfs: The purification heal nerf wasn’t that bad at all. You go from healing an instantaneous 10.5k to an instantaneous 9.9k. The nerf to Shield of Courage was inevitable; I mean we still have a trait to bring it back up to its former glory (and that trait is now relatively worth more). 4s is still enough time to stomp and get in some good damage. I’m just glad they didn’t nerf it down to 3s which would have made it borderline useless (1/2s is spent casting….). Hunter’s Determination was a fair nerf. It brings the auto-stunbreak in-line with other similar traits other classes have.

Taken together, the nerfs to DH’s f3 and Hunter’s Determination trait will mean that power-based DH builds will have to play much more carefully in pvp and wvw.

Buffs: Wasn’t too impressed with the buffs. They were a step in the right direction but honestly don’t seem very impactful. The changes to Zealot’s Embrace is very nice; been asking for that c hange for a long time now. Torch changes are meh; we still need torch 5 to cleanse condis on self (even if its just 1 or 2 over the entire duration). Team-only abilities aren’t that much fun to use which brings us to Merciful Intervention. I really like the change here. It’s quite a generous change, however it still won’t see any play outside of some support builds. The skill still feels like its lacking something.

As for signets: Signet of Courage still has too long of a cast time. Anything over 1.75s is GOING to get interrupted by just about any interrupt that any class has, no matter how slow. Also, we should retain the ability to move around while casting it. Overall, the signet buffs weren’t very impactful. The thing that glues signet builds together is the trait, and our signet trait doesn’t make signets any more impactful than they already are.

Bulwark > Hunter’s Determination which means = now everyone will play meditrapper with a 6 seconds Shield of Courage instead of 5. Enjoy.

Arcaedus.7290:

Nerfs: The purification heal nerf wasn’t that bad at all.

You kidding? The Purification cast time increase was a huge nerf to the heal. It means it’s tougher to pull it off in skirmish mid fights, or any other fights where we’re getting focus targeted for that matter. The nerf really hurt us and we got 0 compensation from it..