Guild Wars 2

Hello,

I recently started a Guardian and I’ve been reading a lots of topics on how to play the Guardian and such, but I see lots of different opinions on the leveling matter.

My main question is what are the must-have traits and utility skills to use during leveling? Which ones provide good combos, synergy?

I’m not really looking for a leveling guide, but I’ll be glad if I know some good parts in the Guardian life ^^

hey Cerbeius! how are you liking the Guardian so far? mine’s my main and have no desire to play anything else for now. in terms of leveling, i’ll talk a bit about some traits below, but one ting i would have done differently, is to really experiment more with all weapon sets. i’m rediscovering various combos as of late and having so much fun. that being said, experiment a lot, use all utility skills as well!

Traits i felt really started to making a difference in my gameplay and sort of makes leveling “easier” is to invest 5 in virtues as early as you can, and then next work on getting 15 into radiance.

so the Guardian’s profession skills are the virtues, F1-3 by default keybinding. with 5 in virtues, when you activate virtues, you get might for F1, regen for F2 and protection for F3 in addition to their default actions. so added utility. and with 15 in radian, your F1 will be refreshed everytime a mob is killed (you don’t need ot land the killing blow, but “tag” the mob enough so that you get credit for that kill). and in PvE, while leveling, this pretty much means you can spam F1 in many situations. and looking at the minor adept trait in radiance, 5 pts gets your blind nearby foes when you acvitate F1.

so with this set up, each time you use F1, you blind foes, have yourself and allies next attack set them ablaze, and you get might. so you mitigate dmg, while dealing more. i used this pretty much everytime it was up!

after that, you can experiment with other traits. lot of Guardians play Altrustic Healing – grandmaster trait down the valor line. where each time you place a boon on someone (self-included) you heal a little. though many others recently i’ve seen are doing different things. which is nice as well. when built right, it can be very strong. you can take a look at the stickied Hammer + AH thread here for a starting point (long read!)

if you enjoy two hand weapons, and in particular the hammer, the honor line provides a lot of synergy.

if you enjoy your virtues and like using boons, you can experiment down the virtues line.

to be honest, i never really invested in the zeal (power) line, but there might be something there for you as well. : ))

again, all in all, learn the class well, experiment, know the power of your virtues and recognize all the dmg mitigation skills you have, boons at your disposal and how you can outheal / outlast many attacks. : ))

I’m only lvl22, but I’ve been experimenting a lot with all the available weapons and combo’s. I started this topic to see what kind of synergy moves people use, so I can take out the most of the Guardian and learn a lot more about it.

But anyways, thanks a lot for your response, it gave me a lote more insight on the matter ^^

With respect to weapons: I find it fun to keep 1 of every weapon type on hand while leveling. They’re all very viable and useful in certain situations.

Sword does an amazing job 1v1, giving you fast attacks for lotsa VoJ procs.
GS is your go-to for aoe in groups and during DEs.
I find hammer more fun than useful in PvE, it’s more a PvP weapon with all its control and protection. But smacking a guy back 30 feet sure is fun.
Your mace is your defensive weapon. It doesn’t deal the greatest damage, but the constant heals and low CD symbol will keep your regen rolling. Pair is with a focus and you’re nigh-unkillable.
There’s a lot of debate over which is a better defensive offhand, shield or focus. I prefer focus for leveling because it has a blind and lower CDs.
Torch is pure offense and if you trait/gear for +cond damage use this until you find yourself lacking in defense. I used it until about 40, at which point I found myself in need of at least some defense and swapped it for a focus.

Guardians have some of the best utilities in the game imo. 90% of them are quite useful, so telling you which to take it subjective. I used sword/torch till 40 which is very offensive, so I used defensive utilities to counter that. Your shouts are mad strong and will help not only you but any allies around too. I like “Hold The Line!” & “Save Yourselves!”. Signet of Judgement has a nice low CD so it can be used often, granting you reduced damage and ret&weak to quickly burn down attackers.

I noticed you didn’t mention Scepter in there. I think it’s important not to leave that out as the damage output can be pretty good, and it’s a great pulling tool.

I’m personally running this build: http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mccz0mz9MMnLwcMnLwc0fxGVoozqos

Taken from the Paladin 2.5 thread in this forum.

I find myself pretty unstoppable, and can routinely take on 3-4 mobs of +3-4 levels.

In the end, as I’m sure everyone will agree, it comes down to playstyle, and what you’re comfortable with. I know some players who are always hesitant to use their skills, and so end up not doing so because “what if I need it in a bit??”. Others pop them every time they’re up.

Also, think about the following; this game is meant to allow a wide variety of play styles, and so really, there are tons of different and fairly viable ways to play. In the end, it’s a game, so maybe your starting point should be… “How do I envision my Guardian reaping through his enemies?”

Is he a “Ajax” from Troy type person who just mows people down with a giant hammer?

Is he a classic Sword and Board / Mace and Shield?

Is he a Conan with honor

Is he a new-age alternative fighter (using Focus, Torch, Scepter)?

However you envision your hero, you’ll be able to find a playstyle that’s viable

Balerathon.2184:

I noticed you didn’t mention Scepter in there. I think it’s important not to leave that out as the damage output can be pretty good, and it’s a great pulling tool.

Good point.
The Staff is another weapon that I find situational but very good. The might stacking/heal is outstanding in group play, despite being a channeled skill. The #1 skill is a great tool to tag mobs in DEs.

Balerathon.2184:

I know some players who are always hesitant to use their skills, and so end up not doing so because “what if I need it in a bit??”. Others pop them every time they’re up.

Back in my early WoW days I used to have this mentality of saving my best skills for when I really needed them. Eventually, I realized I just wasn’t ever using them. Now I use every skill, regardless of CD duration whenever I want them. Forget saving something that’s really fun to use. Even Elites. Use them.

Seras.5702:

Balerathon.2184:

I noticed you didn’t mention Scepter in there. I think it’s important not to leave that out as the damage output can be pretty good, and it’s a great pulling tool.

Good point.
The Staff is another weapon that I find situational but very good. The might stacking/heal is outstanding in group play, despite being a channeled skill. The #1 skill is a great tool to tag mobs in DEs.

Balerathon.2184:

I know some players who are always hesitant to use their skills, and so end up not doing so because “what if I need it in a bit??”. Others pop them every time they’re up.

Back in my early WoW days I used to have this mentality of saving my best skills for when I really needed them. Eventually, I realized I just wasn’t ever using them. Now I use every skill, regardless of CD duration whenever I want them. Forget saving something that’s really fun to use. Even Elites. Use them.

Unless it’s Flesh Golem for Necromancer, the poor spud can’t even be controlled like a Ranger pet and made passive if needed. Guardian Elites seem to have their place and the two transformation ones serve differing roles and the other is a nice reset on virtue CDs I think, so Guardians get better elites than most.

Speaking of those transformation elites, I suppose Wolf is the best bet because it’s normal attack stacks bleeding? What are your thoughts on this?

Also, I’ve been playing more and more with Scepter, and I have to say, I’m Loving it! The DPS is fantastic, the AoE is solid and has a super fast CD, the root is meh, but still ok, and the defensive options that Focus gives is pretty sweet. Plus, it’s so much easier to evade and avoid attacks with Scepter because you can circle kite in a wider diameter.

I almost forget to switch back to GS most fights