Guild Wars 2

Hey all,

I am writing this on behalf of my wife, who recently just picked up a Guardian. and I was hoping somebody could give some advice on how she should build whilst leveling up?

The first thing you should know about her is that survivability is the most important thing for her, she HATES dying it frustrates her lol, so the build should be kinda tanky.

The second thing you should know is that she’s not exactly a pro player, her movement leaves a lot to be desired lmao, so this cuts out classes like Elementalist etc that require lots of dodges and strafing.

Basically, she needs a build that can literally just facetank stuff, high survivability and low mobility. Damage is less important to her but it would be nice if she could kill stuff faster than a snail’s pace.

What weapons, traits and utilities would you recommend to achieve this? My main is a Thief and I admit my knowledge on Guard is really limited. I have got her starting out with sword and shield.

Thanks in advance to anybody who can help!

I don’t generally make builds for others, but I’ll see what I can do.

• First of all, take 15 points in Radiance. This adds a blind to Virtue of Justice and refreshes it after killing an enemy. This is a pretty good trait if you don’t like dodging.
• The rest of the points should go to either Honor or Valor, depending on your playstyle and preferred utilities.
• Weapons: I’d take Sword/Focus in one slot, giving you quite some defense (two blinds and three blocks), while still being able to attack quickly. The other could be Greatsword, Hammer or something with a Mace.
• Utilities: Can’t really go wrong here. Maybe make sure to pick at least one that removes conditions.

Pretty much what Ynna said, after 15 Radiance I like 5 Virtues simply because you can keep a decent amount of Might up as you’re burning/blinding. I personally like GS for my pew pew. Since you’d be 15 in Radiance you would probably be best to pick up the signet duration trait and use Signet of Resolve, although Shelter can save you many times. Judge’s Intervention is awesome, and I like using “Retreat!” and “Hold the Line.” Renewed Focus is great because it’s low cooldown, synergizes greatly with 5 Virtues, and can also be a lifesaver. In any case, do what Ynna said and augment your burning/blinding with survival trait lines.

• i second third 15 in radiance 5 in virtues as well, just because it adds more utility to the guardian’s virtures (f1 – f3). probs 5 in virtures first, then the rest in 15 for starters. then you can start to invest in…

• like Ynna said, points into valor or honor help her be more “survivable”. check the traits to see which may suit her play style more

• as for weapons, i really enjoyed sword / focus or torch in the beginning. hammer is REALLY fun and gives good damage, while also giving yourself protection (end of autoattack chain, #1 skill chain). at the same time, requires a LITTLE bit of mobility to use well and some feel it to be quite slow. so the Greatsword could be a good alternative! the staff is also good for traveling (swiftness), as well as healing. if you/she feels she needs even more survivability, mace and shield or mace and focus is very defensive.

• if you decide to go down the honor trait line, you can spec for symbols to be pretty powerful – larger symbols, lasting longer symbols, symbols that heal.. and GS#4, end of hammer chain #1, mace #2 and staff #3 all give drop symbols to name a few – which buff and if traited for healing, can add more survivability as well

• i personally am really Shout heavy – hold the line, retreat and save yourselves are my staples. stand your ground can be good against CC when you reach the higher levels.

hopefully this and good luck, have fun : ))) don’t ever hesitate to ever come back here if you need more help. hope she picks it up fast and dare i say it, out perform you! ; )))

Hi there, I agree pretty much with the above posters with a couple of minor differences. I think she would be much happier with a greatsword as her main weapon with Septor (ranged) as her switch for the Dynamic Event boss fights (thats when she would be unhappy with melee fighting). Concentrating on one weapon and learning it is the best strategy for someone relatively new to gaming. IMHO the best weapons are greatsword and hammer but I think greatsword is a bit easier to play.

Traits I echo the 15 in radiance to reset Virtue upon the death of a mob. Choose 20% reduction in signets along the way. I would then suggest the 5 in Virtues to apply the boon to VOJ. Then I would go all the way down the Valor line to get Altruistic Healing which is pretty much the most suggested way of keeping health up. If you chose this route don’t spec for better symbols.

Alternate way is to go all the way in Zeal and pick up Zealous Blade – which was better when the GS symbol build was strong. It’s still ok and easier to play so it may be an option especially if the Zeal line is adjusted in a few days. This line is good to beef up the symbols.

I wouldn’t worry too much about gear till 80, just get greens every 5 levels or so, power /precision is fine for leveling. For leveling I’d just stick with signets for a while – switching shouts/meditations whatever when grouping becomes more important.

At 80 highly recommend going bezerker only in your jewelry, for main gear I have a mixture of Knights (power, precision, toughness) and the Karma (power, vitality, toughness) you can get in Orr (you may as well use the Karma you have earned).

I used the Dolyak runes which add Vitality, Toughness and regen. This will get her the more sturdy Guardian she wants. So in summary, I suggest she master Greatsword fighting which should not be too difficult and spend time learning how mobs agro, and working on dodging well .

Thanks for the fantastic responses. I really think Guardian will be the class for her. She got a Sylvari Necromancer up to level 65 with relatively few problems and although Necro has some fantastic survivability it doesn’t seem as…sturdy…as a Guardian.

Well, the last few weeks I’ve got her completely using the mouse for movement instead of using the direction keys, but she still clicks on her spells and doesn’t move in combat, she got a long way to go. I got a 12 button razer naga mouse but she says she can’t use it because her nails are too long -.o go figure.

Anyways, thanks for the brilliant replies guys, it’s good to have some direction and I’ve instructed her on where to put her traits.

She is finding the Greatsword to be a great weapon luckily. I was thinking about giving her a scepter for her second wep so she can shoot bosses from afar but she also likes mace and shield so idk.

As for utilities, I wanted to just stick her with signets because they are easier, the one that reduces damage passive seems good for her too, but she wanted a spirit sword because ’it’s so pretty’ and it does help with some damage so I allowed it haha.

Eventually I think I’ll stick her with Sanctuary and that Intervention heal because seriously, she just gets so demoralised when she dies, the more heals she has the better as far as I am concerned.

Again, thanks for the advice with traits as that was where we were most stuck!

If anybody else has anything to add that’d be great, I want to learn as much about the class as possible.

Romeo4378

I was thinking about giving her a scepter for her second wep so she can shoot bosses from afar but she also likes mace and shield so idk.

It’s never a bad idea to keep a Scepter in your inventory, just “in case” you run into a long range boss you cannot reach. It doesn’t do too bad when paired with a shield, either. So in case of lazy, you wouldn’t even have to swap the shield out as well.

I’m not too big a fan of Sanctuary because of the cooldown, but I guess if someone really hates dying, it’s a thing to use. Perhaps it’s wise to invest in Wall of Reflection. It tosses back all sorts of ranged attacks tossed at you. It doesn’t just protect you, it also deals damage back to enemies. A dead enemy is a good enemy, right?
It also allows for the Greatsword’s whirl combo to cleanse conditions, I think. If it’s not that, it’s healing bolts. One of the two, I am sure.

To compliment defensive traits, as someone already mentioned, Knight armour isn’t half bad. It’s got precision, vitality and toughness, but lacks power. The precision often makes up for it though. Add to that a sturdy good Greatsword with perhaps some critical damage, and the Guardian will still hit some decent numbers.

Oh, and come to think of it. I think pouring just 10 trait points into Virtues gives you an option that makes Spirit Weapons last 50% longer. Pretty and useful? Yes please!

I’m currently leveling a Guardian and have actually been doing the things the above players have mentioned: 15 Radiance, 5 Virtues to start. My main weapon set is sword/torch because I love the fast attack speed and constant burns. Weapons & traits for attack, gear & utilities for defense. So I’m spreading blind, vulnerability, and burning and then staying alive by gearing with +vit and using shouts & signets to protect & regen. Been working like a dream. And mace/focus is a great bunker set, letting me block, blind, & regen like crazy if things go bad.

Romeo.4378:

Well, the last few weeks I’ve got her completely using the mouse for movement instead of using the direction keys, but she still clicks on her spells and doesn’t move in combat, she got a long way to go. I got a 12 button razer naga mouse but she says she can’t use it because her nails are too long

Yeah, clicking your skills isn’t really a good idea in this game. Did you teach her how to play? Because if you did, why did you even explain the idea of clicking your spells?
Anyway, a multi-button mouse isn’t really needed. I play perfectly fine with my regular old three-button mouse.

She is finding the Greatsword to be a great weapon luckily. I was thinking about giving her a Scepter for her second weapon so she can shoot bosses from afar but she also likes Mace and Shield so I don’t know.

Having a Scepter in your inventory is always a good idea, but don’t force it on her. Mace/Shield is a good combination when you want to play it defensively and is a good foil to the more aggressive Greatsword.

Romeo.4378:

As for utilities, I wanted to just stick her with signets because they are easier, the one that reduces damage passive seems good for her too, but she wanted a spirit sword because ’it’s so pretty’ and it does help with some damage so I allowed it haha.

Eventually I think I’ll stick her with Sanctuary and that Intervention heal because seriously, she just gets so demoralized when she dies, the more heals she has the better as far as I am concerned.

I’m not a big fan of Signets (but they are pretty good). For more survivability Shouts might be a better avenue, instead of Signets. Signets are actually pretty hard to use effectively (because you constantly have to consider if it’s worth activating them). Shouts are hard to use wrongly.

Is is just the Spirit Sword she likes? Because if she also thinks the Spirit Hammer is worth using, that might be a bit better, defensively, with an extra stun.

Don’t use Merciful Intervention. It’s probably the most useless of our utilities. If healing is the concern, just use “Hold the Line!”. Better would probably be learning how to make do with just your heal (Shelter or Signet of Resolve) and dodging, blocking and blinding.

Sanctuary is a good skill, but the long cooldown makes it hard to rely on it.

You guys are all far to pro and advanced. His wife is lvling allthis thory craft on utilities dont help hehe..its really EASY to lvl

I have two other 80’s and am lvling a guard atm..1-69 in about 4 days so doing ok and I NEVER die unless Im doing an event 10 lvls over me even then rarely with staff out

GS as main hand weapon, it has the nice leap and hits hard. Put the % of life steal on crit ( blood sigil ) That procs quite a bit and works great with the regen we get as a class, Then add on top of that the food that gives you health per second. Thats THREE regens right there and they add up

I use staff as my 2nd weapon with bloodlust sigil to lvl, we do many dynamic events when lvling and that weapon tags everything for kills so you get 25 stacks of power very quickly so your GS hits harder AND it has our run buff on it

Traits – Spec 15 pts into radiance 1st.. Then 5 pts into the tree below that for the AEGIS at 50% HP. Love that. IMO Aegis is this class defining ability… and you immediately feel its effect coming from other classes. Then I did put the 5 into the vit tree for the vigor buff on crit. Its quite nice to dodge constantly..after that I like going 10 in the first tree to get fiery wrath and more power..

Gear – all power precision to lvl. regular mobs dont hit hard and you’ll have alot of crit to pop off your lifesteal sigil and mobs die faster, i even toss on cheap strength and ogre runes after 30 for more power

Utilites arent really that important for lvling Im using the power signet atm, with the 3 sec 33% less dmge and REGEN utility, I use the damage reduction signet too. 15% or so less dmge..adds up…others including the elite can be whatever. Elites are cumbersome and seldom used to me, I leave Renewed Focus up mostly so If I get major aggro I can run and pop it off

This all changes at 80 for me when I will be moving to the much vaunted crithammer AH build for dungeons to farm tokens to get my end game WvW gear =) anyway thats the plan. GL

Jonathan.1580:

You guys are all far too pro and advanced. His wife is leveling all this theory craft on utilities doesn’t help. It’s really easy to level.

How is “don’t use Merciful Intervention” too complicated?
We offered advice. The person who asked found it useful.

I believe it’s already been said, but, if your wifes wants to be able to stand there and take a beating, Mace, Shield and Shouts work wonders. The ability to fire off a shout whilst not breaking your attack rhythm is very, very handy. Shouts also work well for those of us who live across the other side of the world (hence the horrid latency making it hard to always dodge/react in time) or who are otherwise not the quickest reactors. The more toughness the better (for the above reason too).

For, mace, shield and shouts I’d work with the trait lines of 0/0/30/30/10, but of course it’s all very personal-opinion based.

For leveling and feeling tanky: Greatsword + Mace / Focus with a Shout Utility Build.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNAR5NlUgqCnFyvjiIXQ9h4h9AjfsjXKUIFB

Tarn.1374:

For, mace, shield and shouts I’d work with the trait lines of 0/0/30/30/10, but of course it’s all very personal-opinion based.

Not a bad build. I’ve used 0/5/30/30/5 a bit, because I don’t feel the last 5 points in Virtues are all that meaningful.

If you want an easy time levelling, get 30 in zeal for zeallous blade. Its great for levelling, but once you hit 80 you shouldn’t have any more than 10 in zeal

Greetings all,

Just wanted to clarify something quickly…and maybe I have missed something. Everyone talks about going 15 into Rad 1st then 5 into Virtures. However, as I understand it, you cannot go past 10 in any given trait line until after level 40….or am I missing something?

Sorry for the rather dumb question, it just seems to be the common advice I am seeing and I was under the impression it isn’t really possible till level 40 at the earliest?

buy trainer books.

Off Topic: Romeo, please tell me your wife’s username is Juliet.

I highly reccomened mace/focus as your second weapon set. Basically, these two weapons make you very tanky and are very easy to play.

I would use gs as my primary. Get off the leap/symbol/spin then switch weapons to mace/focus and fire off what pleases you, the combo of 4, 2, 3 and the 1 chain, hit in no particular order works really well.

Grab 15 radiance and 5 virtues. Then 20 honor. Then rest in valor. Basically the 0/15/30/20/5 version of crithammer.

I’d run Wall of Reflection to block projectiles, the -10% damage signet, and Hold the Line for regen.

She doesn’t have to dodge much with this build. Just dump in a bunch of damage with the gs then faceroll mace/focus till mobs are done. Rinse and repeat.

If this thread is still relevant, put a staff on the guardian and run Fiery Wrath (10 Zeal) and Renewed Justice (15 Radiance) as they become unlocked. In the meantime, start battles with Staff 4 and just run around using Staff 1 on as many people as possible.

This is for when you do events that have a lot of close knit mobs and also for tagging in every level 80 boosted area. You don’t really have to dodge with this build, but you do have to move around so you can hit as many guys as possible.

Greatsword 5 then 2 is good for practically everything else. Every piece of armor should have some vitality and/or toughness on it to aid survivability, since this one requires you to take some hits.

Generally, every single utility skill should not be used unless you’re in trouble, which doesn’t change at level 80, so that’s good practice. Just keep with the bread and butter weapon combos and trait for healing and supportive utility skills.

Also, run in parties if possible. Renewed Justice is much better when you don’t have to do a lot of damage to tag, and running in parties is just plain better for everything.