Guild Wars 2

I’m going to try my hand at commanding on occasion when my guild needs it. I’m not new to WvW, but am new to commanding. If anyone has a good guardian commander build to share I’d appreciate it. I’m also looking for any general advice from seasoned guardian commanders.

go as bunky as you can, as a commander, the 1st thing you need to do is to survive, you should be the last one standing on the ground.

Like CR said, bunker. If you can squeeze some healing in there to aid your front line, do so. Also, what guild on BG?

Helios.3598:

I’m going to try my hand at commanding on occasion when my guild needs it. I’m not new to WvW, but am new to commanding. If anyone has a good guardian commander build to share I’d appreciate it. I’m also looking for any general advice from seasoned guardian commanders.

AH build with full knights or clerics.

Full knight is definitely not a good choice. As a commander you should focus on T+V but not P. Solder/Sentinel combined with cleric is recommended. Overall, you should have at least 3k armor + 20k HP plus some decent healing power.

DeathPanel.8362:

Helios.3598:

I’m going to try my hand at commanding on occasion when my guild needs it. I’m not new to WvW, but am new to commanding. If anyone has a good guardian commander build to share I’d appreciate it. I’m also looking for any general advice from seasoned guardian commanders.

AH build with full knights or clerics.

CRrabbit.1284:

Full knight is definitely not a good choice. As a commander you should focus on T+V but not P. Solder/Sentinel combined with cleric is recommended. Overall, you should have at least 3k armor + 20k HP plus some decent healing power.

The point is to max out mitigation since you are the commander and need to survive. Vitality is mostly a useless stat since it makes heals less efficient and get’s shaved off like nothing against burst builds if your defense isn’t very high.

If you just want to be the moving blue tank dot and never want to kill anything or even support I guess soldiers/sentinel would work.

Personally I’d go for clerics or knights so at least I can support or kill on occasion.

…
Vitality is mostly a useless stat since it makes heals less efficient and get’s shaved off like nothing against burst builds if your defense isn’t very high.
…[/quote]

How does it make your heals less effective? If you heal for 250 it doesn’t matter if you have 1000 health or 10000 its still 250 more health they have to get through to kill you… Larger health pool actually allows you to get MORE passive heal ticks in from your guardian because it’ll be harder to hit full health.

I don’t recommend a Guardian running in large group WvW ever completely ditching PVT gear, their base health is far to low to manage without an extra buffer against large groups.

Hmm…I want to make certain I add this proviso before you read further. I am not a commander nor have I commanded in GW2. It’s a “read at your own risk” but this is what I’ve seen the better Commanders (seem to) run when they were guardians.

That said: Hammer/Staff warrior or even a Sword/Shield (maybe even mace but I like the teleports; seems to keep the action moving more swiftly in the scrub) with Staff AH using PoV. You want to be tanky, the folks following you will carry more than enough run buff (or they should) to give you perma uptime on the runbuff.

Whatever you run, DON’T ask others to roll tank. I’ll explain why.

You’re the tank of any group, because once the other side knows you’re the commander, they will be on your face. One thing you need to get into the habit of is team tactical build construction; something I’ve seen little of in this and other forums (if anyone knows a place to check such setups, please post). I’ve actually seen commanders endorse multi AH tanks for other group guardians. I consider this in error on their part. They understand the ability of their build, but not how several in conjunction can actually prove less than beneficial to team play. I’d suggest that you don’t turn your commander tag on without a group backing you up. Ever.

Build your team based on strengths and weaknesses. Off the top of my head: Ask other guardians you trust to spec ret builds so they can keep that on you and your other frontlines all the time, ask eles to run water spammer so they can keep the gate constantly healthy when capping an area. Necro well spamming is FTW. I have seen Fear Me warriors do some nasty things, especially near an overhang

Rangers have proven effective really annoying wall defenders and crippling the occasional poor soul who gets near your team before a zerg merges onto you. Engis…I’m a fan of Bomb builds with turret support but others who have more extensive use of engis in WvW play should tell you more. I can’t think of any other reason for a thief to be in your team save to spike stragglers solo and mesmer GS builds are…well, I still like them. But the mesmer’s greatest asset would be timewarp and portals for golems.

Thats why you’re building your build according to your team. The zerg is a fickle thing. I’d say the most important thing to take away would be to never command without a group you trust as your core. You’re commanding them. The zerg is following a jewel over your head. That may sound jaded but it is proven, by and large, to be accurate.

Lastly: http://mos.millenium.org/na or something similar for your second monitor and a keyboard with macros that auto-type commands to the zerg (don’t trust them to get onto teamspeak. It’s not fair for you to demand such, and is the reason I suggested a team in the first place.. the page I link remains well updated for the match up in choice. Click livemap to view it. A quick glance during play and those macro commands mentions can give you the quick decision making and relay capability that I’ve found makes me more willing to follow a commander for more than one tower.

Again, this is what I have found more appealing in Guardian commanders I’ve run with, either in team or zerg play. As someone who would enjoy commander status one day, I’m also quite interested in what other experienced Commanders would have to say about this issue and specifically about my reply. Without derailing Helios’s thread, of course

Hope this helped

Mel

Yamirashi.6430:

How does it make your heals less effective? If you heal for 250 it doesn’t matter if you have 1000 health or 10000 its still 250 more health they have to get through to kill you… Larger health pool actually allows you to get MORE passive heal ticks in from your guardian because it’ll be harder to hit full health.

I don’t recommend a Guardian running in large group WvW ever completely ditching PVT gear, their base health is far to low to manage without an extra buffer against large groups.

It makes your heals less effective if you have less armor because of it since you take more damage per hit in that case and it would take more healing to regain lost health.

The only danger in having less health pool is from condition bursts and that can be dealt with by various cleanses guards have.

Do you even command in WvW? Scratch that, do you even play a guardian?

Not only have you said that players who melee bosses at Fractal 48 need to learn to play, but now you’ve told someone to use full knights as a commander.

Now I’m probably wrong, so any guards who are more familiar with the class (shelved mine months ago) feel free to correct me, but wouldn’t it make sense to just go full soldier/sentinel since you just need to maximise your survivability while letting your zerg output proper damage?

colesy.8490:

Do you even command in WvW? Scratch that, do you even play a guardian?

Not only have you said that players who melee bosses at Fractal 48 need to learn to play, but now you’ve told someone to use full knights as a commander.

Now I’m probably wrong, so any guards who are more familiar with the class (shelved mine months ago) feel free to correct me, but wouldn’t it make sense to just go full soldier/sentinel since you just need to maximise your survivability while letting your zerg output proper damage?

Nice trolling.

I have 2 80 guards.

One of my guards is a commander and she happens to be in full knights during wvw sessions. My other guard is a full zerk meditation dps guard.

You see unlike you I actually play the content I comment on and know what I’m talking about.

Edit: Apparently you also didn’t bother to read my post since I already stated it’s possible to be a tanky dot bot with soldier/sentinel but you’ll be stuck not supporting or killing anything and be bored.

Reading is hard apparently.

And for the record, I never said to not melee in FOTM 48. My statement was regarding specific boss fights in FOTM 40+. Not every team can be 4 dps warriors and 1 guard. Nice try twisting my words. Insert coins to play again.

The good old 0/0/30/30/10 build – AH is nice for commanding. Or 0/0/20/30/20 – so you can get that extra condition removal on the last line trait. 0/15/20/30/5 is fine as well if you want to have quick f1 to cast per things you tag.

Mix knights with cleric, and celestial (trinkets). But what is most important, for me as a commander is. Sigil of energy on your weapons (staff/mace and focus).

Just be that guy who’s eternal, but can’t kill anything – well your staff will tag everything; which counts.

What matters is the little less time you spend multitascing or worrying about your life, the better. And staff allows you to perma skill 1 and tag everyone else. And the mace and focus will ensure your longivity. Hands free to type or press your push to talk and shout your commands.

:3

Sovereign.1093:

The good old 0/0/30/30/10 build – AH is nice for commanding. Or 0/0/20/30/20 – so you can get that extra condition removal on the last line trait. 0/15/20/30/5 is fine as well if you want to have quick f1 to cast per things you tag.

Mix knights with cleric, and celestial (trinkets). But what is most important, for me as a commander is. Sigil of energy on your weapons (staff/mace and focus).

Just be that guy who’s eternal, but can’t kill anything – well your staff will tag everything; which counts.

What matters is the little less time you spend multitascing or worrying about your life, the better. And staff allows you to perma skill 1 and tag everyone else. And the mace and focus will ensure your longivity. Hands free to type or press your push to talk and shout your commands.

:3

Agreed.

Thanks for all the replies so far.

Sovereign.1093:

The good old 0/0/30/30/10 build – AH is nice for commanding. Or 0/0/20/30/20 – so you can get that extra condition removal on the last line trait. 0/15/20/30/5 is fine as well if you want to have quick f1 to cast per things you tag.

Mix knights with cleric, and celestial (trinkets). But what is most important, for me as a commander is. Sigil of energy on your weapons (staff/mace and focus).

Just be that guy who’s eternal, but can’t kill anything – well your staff will tag everything; which counts.

What matters is the little less time you spend multitascing or worrying about your life, the better. And staff allows you to perma skill 1 and tag everyone else. And the mace and focus will ensure your longivity. Hands free to type or press your push to talk and shout your commands.

:3

I keep seeing these gear type mixes. Why not just go full PVT?

The survival playstyle with focus on things other than the game makes sense to me. That is why I opted to not go for a necro commander. Necro has too many ground targeting skills. I like the sigil of energy idea. I’ve seen it on several builds and I wasn’t sure at first.

I think I may hit spvp 8v8 and give some of these build themes a whirl before dropping coin.

Helios.3598:

Thanks for all the replies so far.

Sovereign.1093:

The good old 0/0/30/30/10 build – AH is nice for commanding. Or 0/0/20/30/20 – so you can get that extra condition removal on the last line trait. 0/15/20/30/5 is fine as well if you want to have quick f1 to cast per things you tag.

Mix knights with cleric, and celestial (trinkets). But what is most important, for me as a commander is. Sigil of energy on your weapons (staff/mace and focus).

Just be that guy who’s eternal, but can’t kill anything – well your staff will tag everything; which counts.

What matters is the little less time you spend multitascing or worrying about your life, the better. And staff allows you to perma skill 1 and tag everyone else. And the mace and focus will ensure your longivity. Hands free to type or press your push to talk and shout your commands.

:3

I keep seeing these gear type mixes. Why not just go full PVT?

The survival playstyle with focus on things other than the game makes sense to me. That is why I opted to not go for a necro commander. Necro has too many ground targeting skills. I like the sigil of energy idea. I’ve seen it on several builds and I wasn’t sure at first.

I think I may hit spvp 8v8 and give some of these build themes a whirl before dropping coin.

Full pvt is okay. You can’t go wrong with pure pvt for wvw.

Reason why I mixed was because I used to run cleric pvt. I just wanted to minimize and maximize some stats to get the same number of healing as before but with added bonus to toughness, and some crit chance (empowering might).

In wvw, your survival counts in this order. Toughness>vitality>power. But as a commander, it’s tougness/vitality/healing (since you don’t do damage, your team does).

Also in the past celestial had this cool magic find stat. :/ Hehe

Sigil of energy is your bestfriend. You can always rely on it

—
A note on pvp. It doesn’t always translates well to wvw. What works in spvp is pretty much something that might work in a 3v3 in wvw. Anything more doesn’t count because of food, bloodlust buff, the wxp leach and killer.

But it’s always fun to pawn spvp players at hot join.

Helios.3598:

Thanks for all the replies so far.

Sovereign.1093:

The good old 0/0/30/30/10 build – AH is nice for commanding. Or 0/0/20/30/20 – so you can get that extra condition removal on the last line trait. 0/15/20/30/5 is fine as well if you want to have quick f1 to cast per things you tag.

Mix knights with cleric, and celestial (trinkets). But what is most important, for me as a commander is. Sigil of energy on your weapons (staff/mace and focus).

Just be that guy who’s eternal, but can’t kill anything – well your staff will tag everything; which counts.

What matters is the little less time you spend multitascing or worrying about your life, the better. And staff allows you to perma skill 1 and tag everyone else. And the mace and focus will ensure your longivity. Hands free to type or press your push to talk and shout your commands.

:3

I keep seeing these gear type mixes. Why not just go full PVT?

The survival playstyle with focus on things other than the game makes sense to me. That is why I opted to not go for a necro commander. Necro has too many ground targeting skills. I like the sigil of energy idea. I’ve seen it on several builds and I wasn’t sure at first.

I think I may hit spvp 8v8 and give some of these build themes a whirl before dropping coin.

It all depends on play style.

The bottom line is whatever gear choice that allows you to stay alive yet still tag some kills or support your team in a meaningful way will work.

Maybe something like this;
http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/guardian/?3.0|6.1a.h1j.0.0.0|1.1a.h1j.0.0.0|1c.71g.1c.71g.1c.71h.1c.71h.1c.71m.1c.71m|21l.0.21l.0.31l.0.21l.0.31l.0.2u.0|0.0.u64b.u28b.a3|0.0|0.0.0.0.0|e

or this for a more support rolish kind of thingie;
http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/guardian/?3.0|6.1a.h1j.0.0.0|1.1a.h1j.0.0.0|1c.71g.1c.71g.1n.71h.1c.71h.1c.71m.1c.71m|21l.0.21l.0.31l.0.21l.0.31l.0.2u.0|0.0.a4.u28b.u39c|0.0|0.0.0.0.0|e

gl

Youtube the commando build. Copy that. Easy.

You need to have 20k+ health and 3200+ armor. If you can build some healing power would be great. Forget about anything else (you need to stay alive, only that). Focus on that.

AH is GREAT for frontline. Even without healing power, AH scale bad with HP but scale great with regen, dodge rolls and healing skills, if you can build healing power good, if not dont worry too much, with AH build you have at least 300.

Some players talk about “low/mid health pool” and “healing power” and stacking only armor, there is a post about it explaining this, and is true but situational, 16k health in frontline is a suicide dont matter how much armor you have.

PVT. you need PVT or sentinel equipment. I am not commander but i have almost 20k hp, 3200 armor and 900 healing power with AH build and i am one of the last alive with the commander. And every good guardian commander i know is almost full PVT.

urieldhynne.2743:

You need to have 20k+ health and 3200+ armor. If you can build some healing power would be great. Forget about anything else (you need to stay alive, only that). Focus on that.

AH is GREAT for frontline. Even without healing power, AH scale bad with HP but scale great with regen, dodge rolls and healing skills, if you can build healing power good, if not dont worry too much, with AH build you have at least 300.

Some players talk about “low/mid health pool” and “healing power” and stacking only armor, there is a post about it explaining this, and is true but situational, 16k health in frontline is a suicide dont matter how much armor you have.

PVT. you need PVT or sentinel equipment. I am not commander but i have almost 20k hp, 3200 armor and 900 healing power with AH build and i am one of the last alive with the commander. And every good guardian commander i know is almost full PVT.

I agree with some points here but not all.

First. As a commander you won’t be at front line.

Second. 16k HP with 3.5k armor is not too different than 20k HP with 3.2k armor in terms of survivability if at all.

The extra health is offset by the lower armor. The only benefit would be to survive condition bursts better assuming you don’t have any cleanse off cd. And as you’ve mentioned already larger hp pool doesn’t scale well with AH.

I’ve tried pvt gear on my guard in wvw before and honestly I don’t see any real difference except in crit chance and how well AH scales. That is the reason why I decided to go with knights.

PVT gear works far better on a warrior commander IMO.

You don’t command at the front line? Well that explains a lot.

I’m a commander who’s always at the front lines (chasers do get ahead of me)
And I use Knight’s and PvT
Why? Because Empowering Might.
You don’t need to be a complete tank if you know your tactics.

Oh, and Wall of Reflection, and Staff.
Essential.

colesy.8490:

You don’t command at the front line? Well that explains a lot.

The fact that the only thing you know how to do is troll every post you visit explains a lot.

Arthos Ravron.3796:

I’m a commander who’s always at the front lines (chasers do get ahead of me)
And I use Knight’s and PvT
Why? Because Empowering Might.
You don’t need to be a complete tank if you know your tactics.

Oh, and Wall of Reflection, and Staff.
Essential.

That’s pretty much identical to my setup except I run all knights. In the old days I used to be mixed of pvt and knights.

DeathPanel.8362:

colesy.8490:

You don’t command at the front line? Well that explains a lot.

The fact that the only thing you know how to do is troll every post you visit explains a lot.

I don’t understand why you don’t command at the front. People follow that dorito to the end of the world so if you command up front you can perform manoeuvres like veil, flanking right and then bombing the other zerg’s backline. If you chill out in the back … you can’t do that, or you can’t do it efficiently unless leading a guild group (and raid commanders fight at the front anyway).

You don’t need to command at the front when zerg hits zerg so the instinct to fight takes over the instinct to chase the doritos.

colesy.8490:

DeathPanel.8362:

colesy.8490:

You don’t command at the front line? Well that explains a lot.

The fact that the only thing you know how to do is troll every post you visit explains a lot.

I don’t understand why you don’t command at the front. People follow that dorito to the end of the world so if you command up front you can perform manoeuvres like veil, flanking right and then bombing the other zerg’s backline. If you chill out in the back … you can’t do that, or you can’t do it efficiently unless leading a guild group (and raid commanders fight at the front anyway).

If you define “commanding from the front” as in running with the zerg and attacking together with it then I do.

If you define “commanding from the front” as in taking point in a spearhead charge and getting focused down in the first 2 seconds by 20 different people then I don’t.

What, don’t you have a dodge key?

I have no problem even dodging through guild groups, literally the only thing that will get you killed is lack of stability/stun breaker if you get caught in static.

On SFR our commanders are always at the front and are always the first to jump in and they only really die when the zerg wipes.

colesy.8490:

What, don’t you have a dodge key?

I have no problem even dodging through guild groups, literally the only thing that will get you killed is lack of stability/stun breaker if you get caught in static.

On SFR our commanders are always at the front and are always the first to jump in and they only really die when the zerg wipes.

Lol you really are new aren’t you?

You seriously think dodge is going to save you when you’re being focused by 10+ people?

The main point of the commander is to consolidate players into zergs and guide them to places, you can’t do that when you’re dead. That’s why everyone in this post have their own ideas of focusing on survivability, because the main job of the commander is to SURVIVE to guide the zerg.

Jumping in first is stupid because in the case of a losing battle you want an ordered retreat and not a complete wipe. And you can’t have an ordered retreat if your commander’s dead.

Maybe in your little world it’s either win a zerg fight or be completely wiped out because you don’t know any better.

Seriously, please learn the game before making these embarrassing comments.

Dodge makes you evade all attacks during its frames, so yes dodging will save you. If your side is pushing with you then it means they can’t sit there and focus you down either since they’re watching their own life totals, plus zerg combat is fluid anyway.

If you had any common sense you’d have static placed in front so that you’d catch their zerg inside and then you’d roll over them with your melee train.

Even the guild I’m in, Circle of Nine our commander is the first to jump in and yet he’s almost always the last to drop if we wipe. Normally what happens is he’ll jump in and then we just roll over pugs with melee train, and if not it’s just a case of regrouping, rebuffing might and then finishing off the remainder, and that doesn’t take a guild group, even PUGs can buff in regroups.

And ordered retreat … well you’re not going to get one. If you see you’re outnumbered you just don’t engage. If you try to disengage and you’re outnumbered, most likely you’ll just get wiped. If you drop, then just tell everyone over teamspeak to regroup at the waypoint, tower or whatever.

What server are you even on?

Commander should be the last man standing, directing to the second last man and being the beacon for people to return to the action if he’s lucky enough to live that long. A dodge won’t be sufficient to ‘save you’ from whatever you will encounter hitting the front line for long enough to be in the Commander position.

colesy.8490:

Dodge makes you evade all attacks during its frames, so yes dodging will save you. If your side is pushing with you then it means they can’t sit there and focus you down either since they’re watching their own life totals, plus zerg combat is fluid anyway.

If you had any common sense you’d have static placed in front so that you’d catch their zerg inside and then you’d roll over them with your melee train.

Even the guild I’m in, Circle of Nine our commander is the first to jump in and yet he’s almost always the last to drop if we wipe. Normally what happens is he’ll jump in and then we just roll over pugs with melee train, and if not it’s just a case of regrouping, rebuffing might and then finishing off the remainder, and that doesn’t take a guild group, even PUGs can buff in regroups.

And ordered retreat … well you’re not going to get one. If you see you’re outnumbered you just don’t engage. If you try to disengage and you’re outnumbered, most likely you’ll just get wiped. If you drop, then just tell everyone over teamspeak to regroup at the waypoint, tower or whatever.

What server are you even on?

Sorry but discussing this topic with you is like a scientist discussing physics with a chimp. You obviously have no experience in zerg vs zerg fights or you wouldn’t be making such ridiculous comments.

I’ll direct you to Obtena’s post above since it explains things in a simple and concise way which hopefully you’ll understand.

Did you just say that someone in T1 doesn’t have experience in ZvZ? It’s basically the only thing that happens whether you’re on borderlands or eternal. A few days ago we wiped Second Law too which is one of the top WvW guilds, and I had no problem evading through their melee train when we fought them in Garrison.

So what server are you on?

I don’t believe in glorious beacons. I am only a commander because of the people around me. Besides, I find it better to rally and choke the opposing zerg in a next fight.

colesy.8490:

Dodge makes you evade all attacks during its frames, so yes dodging will save you. If your side is pushing with you then it means they can’t sit there and focus you down either since they’re watching their own life totals, plus zerg combat is fluid anyway.

If you had any common sense you’d have static placed in front so that you’d catch their zerg inside and then you’d roll over them with your melee train.

Even the guild I’m in, Circle of Nine our commander is the first to jump in and yet he’s almost always the last to drop if we wipe. Normally what happens is he’ll jump in and then we just roll over pugs with melee train, and if not it’s just a case of regrouping, rebuffing might and then finishing off the remainder, and that doesn’t take a guild group, even PUGs can buff in regroups.

And ordered retreat … well you’re not going to get one. If you see you’re outnumbered you just don’t engage. If you try to disengage and you’re outnumbered, most likely you’ll just get wiped. If you drop, then just tell everyone over teamspeak to regroup at the waypoint, tower or whatever.

What server are you even on?

Hey, retreating works if the tower is close by. :P

All the commanders I know run x/x/30/30/x and pvt. Something very similar to the commando build

Retreat works well as it can be used to strip conditions off you and your team and provide both speed and an aegis. On Zerg Day it might be an option to equip Signet of Jdgement instead, but retreat works fine. I also know a few blokes who run Save Yourselves with Contemplation of Purity.

colesy.8490:

Did you just say that someone in T1 doesn’t have experience in ZvZ? It’s basically the only thing that happens whether you’re on borderlands or eternal. A few days ago we wiped Second Law too which is one of the top WvW guilds, and I had no problem evading through their melee train when we fought them in Garrison.

So what server are you on?

Lol what a lame argument.

That’s like saying if I lived in the same state as Bill Gates I’m obviously just as smart and rich.

Being within virtual geographical proximity of someone who knows what they are doing does not confer upon you the ability to know what you are doing genius.

I made no statement regarding T1 servers, I only made statements regarding YOU specifically based on what YOU said.

Moral of the story, don’t say ridiculous things and you won’t be embarrassed.

Just to go over things again.

I’m on a tier 1 server, in a strong WvW guild and was able to wipe another strong WvW guild. Our raid commander jumps right in the thick of combat and survives. Our PUG commanders in eternal drop right in the thick of combat and survive (they don’t even try hiding it, Wemil uses sword 2 on his warrior to leap in, Rida in our raids uses greatsword 3 on his guard to leap in). This is my experience.

You’re saying that you don’t command at the front because you’ll just die, and I’ve explained that even in the blobbiest tier that you can do it and survive perfectly fine.

If you think you’ll die being at the front, then it’s because you’re not using enough defensive gear and you aren’t playing properly, because I rarely ever see commanders die and I’ve only ever seen commanders leading from the front, and yes there are plenty of guardian commanders.

You know, it wouldn’t bother me how obnoxious you were being if you were actually right about … well, anything. But you’re not, so save the arrogance for when you actually have the vaguest idea of what you’re talking about and don’t come out with embarrassing things like telling somebody who runs Fractal 79 to learn to play.

Being a commander is a matter of gold, not knowledge …

The most benefit a Commander gives is when they are not putting themselves in significant risk of death. From that it follows that they should not be in the front line for the same reason that people in this thread advocate that they stack PVT, use Signet of Judgement and Retreat … so they are last man standing, doing their job. Those things make you harder to kill, but they don’t make you immortal.

Please note: The historical evolution of military leaders and how they are involved in warfare follows this progression. It’s not just some nonsense we made up.

colesy.8490:

Just to go over things again.

I’m on a tier 1 server, in a strong WvW guild and was able to wipe another strong WvW guild. Our raid commander jumps right in the thick of combat and survives. Our PUG commanders in eternal drop right in the thick of combat and survive (they don’t even try hiding it, Wemil uses sword 2 on his warrior to leap in, Rida in our raids uses greatsword 3 on his guard to leap in). This is my experience.

You’re saying that you don’t command at the front because you’ll just die, and I’ve explained that even in the blobbiest tier that you can do it and survive perfectly fine.

If you think you’ll die being at the front, then it’s because you’re not using enough defensive gear and you aren’t playing properly, because I rarely ever see commanders die and I’ve only ever seen commanders leading from the front, and yes there are plenty of guardian commanders.

You know, it wouldn’t bother me how obnoxious you were being if you were actually right about … well, anything. But you’re not, so save the arrogance for when you actually have the vaguest idea of what you’re talking about and don’t come out with embarrassing things like telling somebody who runs Fractal 79 to learn to play.

Sorry but nothing you’ve stated conforms with the facts. Myself and others on this thread already pointed out exactly why you are wrong. If you are in fact in a strong tier 1 wvw guild then all you’ve done so far is embarrass them.

Obtena.7952:

Being a commander is a matter of gold, not knowledge …

The most benefit a Commander gives is when they are not putting themselves in significant risk of death. From that it follows that they should not be in the front line for the same reason that people in this thread advocate that they stack PVT, use Signet of Judgement and Retreat … so they are last man standing, doing their job. Those things make you harder to kill, but they don’t make you immortal.

Please note: The historical evolution of military leaders and how they are involved in warfare follows this progression. It’s not just some nonsense we made up.

Commanders benefit the most when they’re in the thick of it and are performing actual combat manoeuvres like bombing backlines, pressuring regroups and briefly withdrawing to a sort-of safe spot to restack might and/or heal up. The difference is light and day, if you compare random PUG commander on SFR to Rida commanding, he’s far more proactive, always in the thick of it and moving unpredictably in fights to throw enemies off, and obviously all of us in the melee train are following him, forcing the range to disperse from us and making the other side’s melee barely do anything because they missed hitting any dense concentrations and have to shift their trajectory to try and hit us again.

Remember as well, that not all PUGs will be on teamspeak, and the ones who aren’t will probably just follow the dorito, so if you chill back you’re not going to be able to drop your full force since people will be “waiting” for you to do something.

Sticking with a commander who bombs deep in to the enemy’s line is actually probably the safest point in a fight because of the constant reapplication of boons and cleansing of conditions, so I’m not understanding where this mentality of holding back comes from when it’s perfectly safe to jump right in.

Honestly guys, just follow a good commander who jumps in, knows their way around a battlefield and how to issue commands in the heat of a fight and you’ll just faceroll everything as long as you’re not stupidly outnumbered.

DeathPanel.8362:

colesy.8490:

Just to go over things again.

I’m on a tier 1 server, in a strong WvW guild and was able to wipe another strong WvW guild. Our raid commander jumps right in the thick of combat and survives. Our PUG commanders in eternal drop right in the thick of combat and survive (they don’t even try hiding it, Wemil uses sword 2 on his warrior to leap in, Rida in our raids uses greatsword 3 on his guard to leap in). This is my experience.

You’re saying that you don’t command at the front because you’ll just die, and I’ve explained that even in the blobbiest tier that you can do it and survive perfectly fine.

If you think you’ll die being at the front, then it’s because you’re not using enough defensive gear and you aren’t playing properly, because I rarely ever see commanders die and I’ve only ever seen commanders leading from the front, and yes there are plenty of guardian commanders.

You know, it wouldn’t bother me how obnoxious you were being if you were actually right about … well, anything. But you’re not, so save the arrogance for when you actually have the vaguest idea of what you’re talking about and don’t come out with embarrassing things like telling somebody who runs Fractal 79 to learn to play.

Sorry but nothing you’ve stated conforms with the facts. Myself and others on this thread already pointed out exactly why you are wrong. If you are in fact in a strong tier 1 wvw guild then all you’ve done so far is embarrass them.

Colsey is right. Most T1 commanders lead from the front. It provides a focal point for your whole team to focus around. And they are the last one standing. For example, I’ve never seen the SAHP commander, who I don’t know, die. He is the first one in and last one out each time. When we play other servers they just melt in all their gimicky builds. Beserker FTL.

I have played with a great commander on a Necro but he was near the front and surrounder by about 10 guardians and warriors at all times.

I see energy sigil gets mentioned here and I fully agree on their usefulness. However I have been experimenting with sigil of stamina (refill energy on kill) and seems to have worked okay, anyone else tried this?

Relentliss.2170:

DeathPanel.8362:

colesy.8490:

Just to go over things again.

I’m on a tier 1 server, in a strong WvW guild and was able to wipe another strong WvW guild. Our raid commander jumps right in the thick of combat and survives. Our PUG commanders in eternal drop right in the thick of combat and survive (they don’t even try hiding it, Wemil uses sword 2 on his warrior to leap in, Rida in our raids uses greatsword 3 on his guard to leap in). This is my experience.

You’re saying that you don’t command at the front because you’ll just die, and I’ve explained that even in the blobbiest tier that you can do it and survive perfectly fine.

If you think you’ll die being at the front, then it’s because you’re not using enough defensive gear and you aren’t playing properly, because I rarely ever see commanders die and I’ve only ever seen commanders leading from the front, and yes there are plenty of guardian commanders.

You know, it wouldn’t bother me how obnoxious you were being if you were actually right about … well, anything. But you’re not, so save the arrogance for when you actually have the vaguest idea of what you’re talking about and don’t come out with embarrassing things like telling somebody who runs Fractal 79 to learn to play.

Sorry but nothing you’ve stated conforms with the facts. Myself and others on this thread already pointed out exactly why you are wrong. If you are in fact in a strong tier 1 wvw guild then all you’ve done so far is embarrass them.

Colsey is right. Most T1 commanders lead from the front. It provides a focal point for your whole team to focus around. And they are the last one standing. For example, I’ve never seen the SAHP commander, who I don’t know, die. He is the first one in and last one out each time. When we play other servers they just melt in all their gimicky builds. Beserker FTL.

I have played with a great commander on a Necro but he was near the front and surrounder by about 10 guardians and warriors at all times.

There’s a fundamental confusion here. Read my post about the distinctions of what leading from the front means.

Stacking together around the commander and stacking buffs and then charging in is a real strategy. What I was saying is you don’t have to be the first person in that charge.

If that commander magically survives being first person in a charge and last out then good for him. Obviously that is contrary to the experiences of most people here.

Then play better. Why is it that in T1 our commanders can run in to blobs, first in, and make it out just fine and yet you can’t from whatever server you’re from?

I see energy sigil gets mentioned here and I fully agree on their usefulness. However I have been experimenting with sigil of stamina (refill energy on kill) and seems to have worked okay, anyone else tried this?

Energy sigils are great, yeah. Not so sure about sigil of stamina, because downed states and then kills normally have a cascade effect and everyone on that side starts dropping, and then if guys on your side dropped then kills rally them so you end up killing more. In those hectic fights you want the extra dodge, most likely not too many people will be getting killed.

I know people who reccomend the Sigil of Restoration, heals on kill.

DeathPanel.8362:

Relentliss.2170:

DeathPanel.8362:

colesy.8490:

Just to go over things again.

I’m on a tier 1 server, in a strong WvW guild and was able to wipe another strong WvW guild. Our raid commander jumps right in the thick of combat and survives. Our PUG commanders in eternal drop right in the thick of combat and survive (they don’t even try hiding it, Wemil uses sword 2 on his warrior to leap in, Rida in our raids uses greatsword 3 on his guard to leap in). This is my experience.

You’re saying that you don’t command at the front because you’ll just die, and I’ve explained that even in the blobbiest tier that you can do it and survive perfectly fine.

If you think you’ll die being at the front, then it’s because you’re not using enough defensive gear and you aren’t playing properly, because I rarely ever see commanders die and I’ve only ever seen commanders leading from the front, and yes there are plenty of guardian commanders.

You know, it wouldn’t bother me how obnoxious you were being if you were actually right about … well, anything. But you’re not, so save the arrogance for when you actually have the vaguest idea of what you’re talking about and don’t come out with embarrassing things like telling somebody who runs Fractal 79 to learn to play.

Sorry but nothing you’ve stated conforms with the facts. Myself and others on this thread already pointed out exactly why you are wrong. If you are in fact in a strong tier 1 wvw guild then all you’ve done so far is embarrass them.

Colsey is right. Most T1 commanders lead from the front. It provides a focal point for your whole team to focus around. And they are the last one standing. For example, I’ve never seen the SAHP commander, who I don’t know, die. He is the first one in and last one out each time. When we play other servers they just melt in all their gimicky builds. Beserker FTL.

I have played with a great commander on a Necro but he was near the front and surrounder by about 10 guardians and warriors at all times.

There’s a fundamental confusion here. Read my post about the distinctions of what leading from the front means.

Stacking together around the commander and stacking buffs and then charging in is a real strategy. What I was saying is you don’t have to be the first person in that charge.

If that commander magically survives being first person in a charge and last out then good for him. Obviously that is contrary to the experiences of most people here.

A commander in the thick knows hoe much damage his forces are taking and can call for things. Someone standing in the back is just guessing. The pugs will follow someone better if he is in the thick of it.

Command however you want. I enjoy the bags.

Relentliss.2170:

A commander in the thick knows hoe much damage his forces are taking and can call for things. Someone standing in the back is just guessing. The pugs will follow someone better if he is in the thick of it.

Command however you want. I enjoy the bags.

You are either not understanding what I’ve been saying or purposefully misrepresenting what I said.

Since when did “moving and attacking with zerg” translate into “standing in the back”?

Relentliss.2170:

I know people who reccomend the Sigil of Restoration, heals on kill.

Omnomberry Compote? Frees up your sigil slot for something else

I mean personally I prefer Lemongrass Poultry Soup to go along with my Melandru runes, but our commanders normally put compote trays out when food buff runes out.

colesy.8490:

Relentliss.2170:

I know people who reccomend the Sigil of Restoration, heals on kill.

Omnomberry Compote? Frees up your sigil slot for something else

I mean personally I prefer Lemongrass Poultry Soup to go along with my Melandru runes, but our commanders normally put compote trays out when food buff runes out.

I believe the guys who used those sigils used the LP Soup and oddly boon duration runes. It was a guild that had excellent guardians and theorycrafters.

I am not going to argue. The guy asked for a really tanky build. He has been given a couple.

I run a build like the commando build, at times. It is very survivable. I can reccomend it. I tried a healway type build and didn’t enjoy it.

When I want to do more damage, I use same build but sacrifice soldier runes for ruby orbs, switch to beserker weapons, and a couple pieces of Beryl Jewellery to get 45% crit and 75% crit damage. Still have 19+k health, 2950 armor and 3100 power. Damage can be pretty fun.