Guild Wars 2

i realised perhaps berserker is bad for the guard? I mainly play in WvW. GS/Staff

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/guardian/?3.0|1.1n.0|0.0.0.0.0.0|1n.a7.1n.a7.1n.a7.1n.a7.1n.a7.1n.a7|2u.0.2u.0.3u.0.2u.0.3u.0.2v.0|0.a0.u600.p00.5|15.7|0.0.0.0.0|e

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/guardian/?3.0|1.1n.0|0.0.0.0.0.0|1n.a7.1n.a7.1n.a7.1n.a7.1n.a7.1n.a7|2s.0.2s.0.3s.0.2s.0.3s.0.2v.0|0.a0.u600.p00.5|15.7|0.0.0.0.0|e

look at these 2 builds. they are the same except one uses zerk trinkets, the other soldiers.

the soldiers has 400 primary stats more than zerk, but the zerk has 40% crit dmg more.

this means that 1% crit dmg = 10 primary stats.

now i think a 400 primary stats would be much better than 40% crit.

lets say you do 1k base dmg.

if it crits:

soldier build (50% more crit dmg) does 2k (since 150% base crit dmg + 50% more = 200% of base)

zerk build (90% more crit dmg) does 2.4k (150% + 90% = 240% of base)

is 400 more dmg worth sacrificing 400 more primary stats?

also, unless you go specifically for burst builds, most guardians do sustain dmg.

which means zerk ain’t that suited because with a low guard healthpool, you will be dodging healing mitigating etc, if you ain’t doing dmg, you ain’t putting the zerker to good use.

what do you guys think?

its up to you really. if you can use zerk gear and do well, than why not.

Soldiers is PowerVitalityToughness where do you get 50% crit dmg from? if you are using PowerPrecisionToughness then i could see a decent dps while being able to maintain strong Hp with Soldiers and Zerker ring weapons ETC,
I dont think you can talk one stat combo in PvE for any strong build a Mix is going to give the best balance results.

You are talking about apples and oranges. In PvE, zerker is the perfect set due to slow and predictable enemy attacks. If you know how to counter them properly, you don’t need any defensive stats, so any sets besides zerker are by definition subpar. WvW, on the other side, is a completely different story, especially when running in groups. Some defense will be pretty helpful in most cases there, although soldier’s still seems like useless overkill to me.

Oh and by the way, crit damage is also a stat for sustained damage. With typically 50-100 % crit chance on zerker builds, depending on fury and weapon choice, crits happen regularly enough.

If you can stay alive with zerker go for it, but its genrally to squishy outside pve

i don’t have the luxury to try as i don’t run fractals so it’s hard to get ascended

so how do you people who run without zerk in wvw fare? do you not die that easily?

i am currently knights + zerk and i don’t know if i should increase my healthpool. it’s at about 15k.

a few thieves HS me and i am half dead.

Well I have had some luck with PVT (Soldier’s) in WvW. I don’t die as often and can still hit kinda hard with my kind-of-AH build with a Staff and a GS. while staying a live most of the time and with the 30 points on Honor I get enough Healing to stay alive.

And yes, I will second the motion that going Zerk on WvW will only get you killed as a Guardian lol

You should not use zeker gear in wvw. A good balance is good. Only spot you should consider using zerker would be Exquisite Jewels.

Currently I have only 2 ascended items but I plan on making my accessories and rings Knight’s Ascended, the back item and Amulet berserker to not lose damage and I switch armor depending on situations. I currently have Cleric’s, Knight’s and Berserker’s

the 2 builds you mentioned should use diferent traits and diferent weapon sets
for an bersek build i would go for :
http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/guardian/?3.0|c.1p.h17.e.1p.h4|1.1p.h1l|1p.71j.1p.71j.1p.71j.1g.71j.1g.71j.1g.71j|31j.0.3v.0.2v.0.1g.67.1g.67.2s.0|0.k63.u56c.k16.0|39.7|w.13.18.19.0|e
with 111% critical damage , 2 stun breakers, 3 teleports 1 stability, good for 1 vs 1 or small scale fights, self heals and boons
For an more tanky build i would go for alturistic heal .
2 shouts , decent critical chance, a lot of boons, wich will provide me constant regeneration
http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/guardian/?3.0|2.1n.h1j|6.1n.h6|1n.7o.1n.7o.1c.7o.1n.7o.1n.7o.1n.7o|2u.0.21j.0.31j.0.1p.61.1p.61.2v.0|0.0.u56b.u28b.a3|55.7|w.16.y.19.0|e
You cannot use same trait line to compare builds.

i dont use zerker in pve or pvp. guardian is the class expected to stay alive and res through everything, not dps (base dps is decent already compared to most classes besides warrior). you should have a zerker set ofc, just to have it, but mainly , no.

I’ve got a zerker set and it’s … meh. I lose a little HP, about 350 armour and gain about 20% crit damage. Doesn’t really feel like it makes much of a difference though to be honest.

so, it begs another question,

soldier VS knight, which is better?

i feel that soldier is for burst tanking with more life at the frontlines, but knight is for taking physical damage, conditions will chew you.

did anyone stack armor until you get like 45% dmg reduction? about 3.3k armor?

does it make you feel godly to physical dmg?

The build with berserker trinkets is going to do 25% more damage than the soldier one. The reason being, take a look at the effective power difference between the two. That’s the important thing to think about. You’re essentially trading 10k effective health for 25% more damage. 25% more damage is a lot.

Full berserker will net you nearly twice the damage.

As a frontline zerg runner in WvW. Soldiers is how to Live. Stop as much damage i can, cc with wards and wall of reflect, take all the damage I can, and let the other guys deal the big numbers.

i used to think like that too.. i used to go very tanky builds…

but after some time, i realise that dealing dmg is acutally a form of survival too.

Kill your enemy = survive.

I’ve tried different setups and I find full zerk pretty fun in spvp or small scale wvw. In large wvw groups you really need at least some armor or vitality though. I really really do not suggest going for full pvt or even cleric. Being tanky means you don’t do so much dmg and you cannot kill the enemy. More often in (random class) 1v1 dps wins. Just dodge/evade/use protection/retaliation until you kill the dude instead of relying on hp/armor.

I did find armor over 3000 points (full knights) mostly useless, instead of that I switched for some valk/zerk gear to get 2-3k more hp and crit.