Guild Wars 2

Hey all,

I played Chris Dawnheart’s Healway build for a bit and while I was pretty hard to be killed, it seemed just as difficult to kill anything in the same instance. It was a game of who can make the most mistakes sometimes. Works great but not my playstyle.

What I wanted to make was a more offensive variation of Chris’s build but having some trouble doing just that. I wanted to get everyone’s opinion:

1. How much healing power is enough in comparison to Health and Toughness = EHP
2. How much survivability is good until is hinders your ability to output damage which then lowers your survivability (this will range based on your target but I want a good medium)
3. What’s the threshold for precision to be effective compared to a PVT set up? (I’ve read the chart on wiki)
4. Boon food or Energy + Might on Dodge food?

I currently run the Brutaly’s AH Hammer build and I do great in WvW in groups but I believe I can bring more support to my group/zerg by pushing higher boon duration without hindering my performance by too much.

Focus: 5+ man group WvW. Bring support and enough dps to make a difference and not hold the group back. Utilize dodge for heals to group and myself as well as avoid damage. Possibly swap out Vengeful for Consecrations for Wall of Reflect based on situation.

Rough drafts:

1. Balance – http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/guardian/?3.0|2.1g.h1j|1.1g.h1j|1c.71g.1g.71g.1c.71h.1g.71h.1c.b1h.1g.b1h|1c.67.1c.67.1c.67.1k.67.1k.67.8c.67|0.0.a6.u28b.u29b|1.7|v.18.19.16.1i|e

2. Offensive Precision – http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/guardian/?3.0|2.1g.h1j|1.1g.h1j|1c.7h.1g.7h.1c.7h.1g.7h.1c.7h.1g.7i|1n.67.1n.67.1n.67.1n.67.1n.67.8c.67|0.0.a6.u28b.u29b|1.7|v.18.19.16.1i|e

3. Offensive PVT – http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/guardian/?3.0|2.1c.h1j|1.1c.h1j|1c.71g.1g.71g.1c.71h.1g.71h.1c.b1h.1g.b1h|1c.68.1c.68.1c.68.1c.68.1c.68.8c.68|0.0.a2.u28b.u29b|1.1|w.18.19.16.1i|e

Thanks for your input! I appreciate constructive criticism (and numbers/math).

I run Healway as well (off from Chris Dawnheart’s build), and the one thing that I did is change the rings from Cleric to Soldier’s. This gave me a little more HP, and a quite a bit more Power. Also I run the Superior Sharpening Stone, and stack the 25 stacks of Power as well. This gives me just enough power to where I feel like I’m not just swinging air, but actually able to do damage and I still have enough Healing Power to be awesome.

Another thing that I’ve learned is that the Healway build (at least for me) is definitely not a solo-run type of build. You have your power mostly when you have at least one other friend running with you.

NerdyMike.2695:

I run Healway as well (off from Chris Dawnheart’s build), and the one thing that I did is change the rings from Cleric to Soldier’s. This gave me a little more HP, and a quite a bit more Power. Also I run the Superior Sharpening Stone, and stack the 25 stacks of Power as well. This gives me just enough power to where I feel like I’m not just swinging air, but actually able to do damage and I still have enough Healing Power to be awesome.

Another thing that I’ve learned is that the Healway build (at least for me) is definitely not a solo-run type of build. You have your power mostly when you have at least one other friend running with you.

Well the one thing I noticed was that I brought extra healing, boons, and medium damage to the table. If I ran with 1 other person they would need to do most of the damage just due to the nature of the build. It’s a support build for sure.

NerdyMike.2695:

I run Healway as well (off from Chris Dawnheart’s build), and the one thing that I did is change the rings from Cleric to Soldier’s. This gave me a little more HP, and a quite a bit more Power. Also I run the Superior Sharpening Stone, and stack the 25 stacks of Power as well. This gives me just enough power to where I feel like I’m not just swinging air, but actually able to do damage and I still have enough Healing Power to be awesome.

Another thing that I’ve learned is that the Healway build (at least for me) is definitely not a solo-run type of build. You have your power mostly when you have at least one other friend running with you.

not a solo type build? have you even used it? its one of the best builds to do 1v1-4

@cleadus – Oh yeah I do run it. A lot. And personally a 1v1-4 you can definitely survive and even down / kill them, though it just takes time and (now talking from my personal experience) they either run from not wanting to deal with a “slightly longer” fight (IE – I’m not an easy kill) or I just fall from having 10+ people finally down me after giving them a chase. XD

I think what I was trying to say is that, it’s not a build that will let you down your opponents within 10 seconds of engagement (exaggeration of the time, but the point is there).

Coming from someone who does have limited time to game, I bring a different spec into WvWvW depending on what I’m wanting to accomplish. For a good party / roaming / zerg, I LOVE my Guardian! If I’m just in there solo, wanting to just mess around, I take something else in. Personal preference.

You sacrifice toughness for damage. There’s a build out there that someone who’s really good at guardian dueling runs, but I can’t give away specifics any more than that

such a tease, Teamkiller! XDDD

about to go off to a meeting, so i only got the chance to take a quick look at your draft builds, OP and i’ll try to answer some of these questions from my point of view and experience with the Guardian : ))

to start off with, here are the backbone standard stats or thresholds i have for starting a build.. then of course, i’ll tweak them according to the traits, and playstyle i’m going for

Attack: 3k
Armor: 3k
Crit chance: ~35%-40%
Crit dmg: varies depending on crit chance, but if 40%, then at least 50-60% crit dmg
Health: 15-16k

again, these all change depending on build.

1. How much healing power is enough in comparison to Health and Toughness = EHP

it’ll be hard to answer according to EHP as i don’t have hard math for that, but for healing power, i feel it’s not worth particularly speccing towards it unless if you’re near the 1k mark at least. if not, i feel you give up too much of other stats while not getting the most effective healing. though i have seen Guards run around 700+ and they felt it made a difference. though fo course, if you get up to the 1k mark, depending on your traits / weapons, you can sacrifice a little HP i feel, and then tuoghness if you must.

2. How much survivability is good until is hinders your ability to output damage which then lowers your survivability (this will range based on your target but I want a good medium)

i feel even with 3k armor and 16k health, i’ve run a few builds around these stats and still manage to hit very hard. and i feel very comfortable at these levels, no matter dueling or in a large group situation. though of course, the more you play, the more one realizes that survivability doesn’t come from stats alone but rather active playing where you mitigate damage, dodge the big hits, dont stant in circles at all costs, etc. and like you said, sometimes pressuring your enemy is the biggest defense. there were times when i’d be fighting someone, and i was losign the edge, defensive skills / heals on CD, so i was left with no choice but to play more aggressive.. and the other player ended up trying to kite moer than anything, thus, not doing as much significant damage to me, which can turn the tide in battle.

3. What’s the threshold for precision to be effective compared to a PVT set up? (I’ve read the chart on wiki)

again, this will depend on your build. do you rely heavily on crit effects? i.e. traits or sigils? is it for damage or survivability? these are all thigns to take into account as well. i want to say even at 30%, you’ll see crits a LOT. while at 70%, awesome as it is, are you able to survive having given up, i assume, more defensive stats? so 40% is a good spot for me personally. if you’re going after crits. and obviously, if you’re low crit chanced, there’s no “dire need” to spec for crit dmg. so in that case, going for more power / might would help your damage.

4. Boon food or Energy + Might on Dodge food?

i think both are great. i’ve played the healway build a bit, while very durable, it wasn’t entirely my playstyle either. i’ve experimented with both these foods and i personally prefer the energy + might on dodge food. and this is assuming that you really incorproate active dodging in your gameplay and not jsut spamming dodges. : )))

like healign power, or other secondary stats, i personally don’t like going for a bit of them. so with boon duration, if i’m only adding 10 – 20%, i’d rather focus on other stats. but if you’re going full boon duration, then maybe the boon duration might be a better choice. another thing to look at for boon duration is which boons do you use most, and if each 10% you tack on actually makes a sizeable difference compared to the other foods you coul be using.

ahhh, got a bit carried away with these, and i knwo they’re all very vague lol.. but hope it helps! i guess bottom line is.. stats are good as a thresholds, but don’t get hung up on hitting numbers. though i WILL admit, it’s sometimes really fun to min/max : )))

I’ve made a variation of Chris’s Healway build thats suits my playstyle the best. Its not flawless but its by far the most fun build ive tried on any class. Currently trying to get some more 1vsX footage and ill be uploading a vid within a week I hope.

If anyone figures out a way to introduce significantly more damage to the build without giving up the tankiness needed to take on 2-4 players at a time, please share it. I spent a lot of time fiddling with numbers, but since I started commanding far more often, I’m less worried about increasing my output than staying alive while leading.

I’ve been running a pretty close variation of Chris’s healway build, with these differences.

1 ascended soldier ring
1 ascended knights ring
1 exotic knight necklace
1 exotic soldier leg
And my sw/foc are both soldier

This puts my crit around 11 percent with some additional power. I find insane capabilities in 1v1-5. I really never have a problem killing anyone (can’t really burst) and having GS+sw/foc gives amazing roaming capability. Coupled with Mango Pie and Sharpening Stones, I’m the juggernaught, kitten.

Protips: leap out of symbwrath every time (for retal, dummy), don’t always GS spin on CD (autoattacks hits hard too, and don’t miss, brah) and remember to dodge for heals and get used to weapon swapping, a lot. It’s a really fun, flexible build.
Edit: I forgot I wanted to include something important.. Target priority and switching. I’ve found that prioritizing quick attacking/squishes to be necessary to win outnumbered battles. Switching to another unsuspecting enemy who has been plinking on your retaliation can also provide you the ability for a quick kill. Remember, disengaging is also your friend. This build makes you more or less the king of attrition battles. And blink, run, and cond remove to escape! Not many can keep up…..