Guild Wars 2

Hello, everyone. How are you doing?

I used to play with a GS/Hammer Guardian and in PvE I have really nothing to complain about it: great damage, great sustain, great regen, etc.

But when it comes to sPvP, it’s a true mess!
I got kitted very, I mean, very easily by all the other professions. I can’t seem to stand next to another player for enought time to deal a good amount of damage.

So here is the question: What do you guys do to stand most of the time right next to your opponent and if you use any special utility skills for that, what is it?

(Judge’s Intervention doesn’t seem to be a good way out.)

Thank you very much, folks.

Well, first off, if you’re playing sPvP and you’re not very mobile, trying to contain the fight to the node is a good idea. If your opponent is focused on kiting you, they are more likely to leave the vicinity of the node, and thus you can decap enemy nodes or defend your own.

As for actually hitting people, greatsword is a common choice for binding blade. If you hit someone with that, you can wait until they dodge, and then use the pull ability to drag them to you, setting them up for a whirling wrath. Leap of faith also works as a gap closer.

The sword is also a common tool to catch people, particularly with the focus. Flashing blade teleports you to the foe, and can blink up certain ledges (though not most of them). The auto-attacks on the sword also have an extended range, so they can hit people that are standing a bit further away than melee range, which can be useful for attacking kiters.

With hammer, a common thing to do is activate, ring of warding, but then immediately use judge’s intervention. This causes you to teleport to your enemy during the cast time, and the ring of warding will drop right around your target. It might take a bit of practice to get it down (you can also do the same technique with the greatsword’s binding blade to help it land). Since they’re now in the ring, they won’t be able to get away from you for awhile. You also have the nice ranged immobilize on the hammer, though smarter players might try and anticipate it/react to it. Using it on them just before the ring of warding ends can be a decent way to ensure it lands.

The staff is another decent tool, as its auto attacks have a wide spread, meaning it’s much more difficult to kite them. You also have a swiftness symbol to help you move around, and orb of light can be used to shoot at individual people.

Then the scepter is another option, as you have a ranged immobilze, some ranged AoE, and a ranged auto attack. However, the auto attack is a bit slow traveling, so it may be a bit hard to hit them depending on how far away they are.

The signets can be good for locking down an opponent too. Bane signet and signet of wrath give you a ranged knockdown and immobilize, respectively, although they can be hard to incorporate into a build.

Shouts can also help you out, as save yourselves and retreat both grant swiftness.

There’s also the glacial heart trait for hammers which will chill opponents and slow them down, or you can try using things like sigil of hydromancy.

There’s also the spirit hammer that knocks down, but I don’t have a lot of experience with that thing.

The sentiment these days by a lot of PvPers is that Greatsword isn’t a terribly amazing weapon, despite the leap+pull.

The only reliable anti-kiting strategy that I’m aware of is Hammer+Scepter and JI. Two immobs, Ring, and the teleport. But getting kited to kingdom come is a reality of the Guardian class.

Another thing is using Runes of Speed. Useful for roaming in general to speed up movement, and to have an easier time with kiters.