Guild Wars 2

Hello everyone. My small guild and I are just getting ready to start running AC story mode for the first time. I am currently a level 40 Charr guardian. What are some good setups to help pus be successful? I will be running with kitten warrior, and some 35 ele’s. What are must have utilites? Which weapon sets are most useful? What should my main focus be, dps, boons, heals,..??? I appreciate any feedback I may get. Thanks in advance:)

hey there! hope this isn’t too late. hmm, i’ll also be writing this from the perspective that it’s your first time donig a dungeon. so it’s been a while since i’ve done dungeons and do note i didn’t start dungeons until I was 80, but let’s try to put sth together for your lvl 40 here. so iirc, you’ll have 30 trait points to spend?

i want to say maybe something like:
10/15/0/0/5 or 0/15/0/10/5

so before i go into details.. or try to explain, i focused more on a mix of DPS/supprot type hybrid when i go into dungeons. i assume this is your frist time? know that dungeons can be extremely unforgiving so you can try to play a bit more defensively to start with.. however, if you’re cmofortable with using your dodges, blocks, etc, then by all means go a little more DPS focused. since in PvE, the golden rule is, the faster the mobs die, the less chance of you dying.

i want to add that for a Guard, even if you spec for DPS, a lot of our innate abilities giev out boons or support in one way or another as well. : ))

so you can see the basic setup is 15 in Radiance and 5 in Virtues. i would then take Blind Exposure as well for your adept major trait in Radiance (VI).

If you go Zeal, you can think about Fiery Wrath (II) for extra 10% dmg against burning foes. and i’m sure you know, we Guardians burn a lot, whether we like it or not

If you go honor, you can go Superior Aria (II) for shorter CD on shouts, or even Resolute Healer (V) for Shield of Absorption (a la shield #5) that pushes back foes whenever you res, which can be quite crucial when you have allies in a pinch. though, note the CD (60s) and most likely won’t work on bosses. so take note of stability or defiant, etc etc on mobs.

so with the x/15/x/x/5 setup, each time you hit Virtue of Justice (F1), apart from causing your allies’ affected by it next attack to burn the target, you’ll also do an AoE blind (Rad 5), as well as might (Vir 5), AND picking up Rad VI, you’ll add vuln each time you blind a foe. with Rad 15, each time a foe dies as long as you contributed enough for you to get kill credit, your F1 will reset. so if you guys kill decently fast enuogh, you’ll be hitting F1 quite awesome. which mitigates dmg, through the blinds, as well as adds to DPS through vulns, burns, and might.

in terms of weapons.. i heavily preferred having the hammer in AC or dungeons in general, unless if the situation called for something different. the #1 chain drops a symbol which gives protection so if your party is melee centric (warrior for e.g.), they’ll benefit from that as well and it helps. then use hammer #2 which is a hard hitter, on a low CD, and also gives AoE retal with the symbol of protetion (though its not of much use to mobs so much..). banish (#4) is good to knockback or interupt foes, or if you have an ally who is down with mobs attacking them, you can knock them away. remember not to knock mobs away from your allies big attacks though! andthen Ring of Warding #5 is useful for keeping mobs at choke points so you guys can keep dps-ing.

then comes secondary weapon. staff i found quite useful! though it doesn’t do a WHOLE lot of damamge. staff #4 gives 12 stacks of might as well as a mini heal. line of warding (staff #5) is useful to block enemies off and then you and your party can DPS them down more when they’re hindered. many people like using GS for the pull ability to group mobs (#5), leap of faith (#3) is good for the blind and then WW (#2) does pretty darn good damage. though, all weapons are good and you can experiment. if you feel you really need some distance between mobs and yourself, you can even try scepter, very high single target DPS actually. pair up with shield for more group utility (again, don’t use shield 5 to knockback and spread out grouped mobsi f your team is trying to DPS them down), focus adds some more blinds, regen, condition cleansing as well as more blocks (or even AoE burst!), torch is fun too but i didn’t use it much in dungeons.

o wow i wrote a lot. ://// oops lol sorry if you know most of this already!!!

now, utilities! an easy starting ground would be shouts. all shotus are AoE based and hitting up to 5 targets, yoruself included.. but your allies do have to be in range. hold the line is good for more regen and protection (this is one boon our guards are good at giving out!). to note, with 5 in virtues, our VoR (F2) now also gives regen, and VoC (F3) now also gives protection when activated! Stand your gruond is a stnu break, which can be useful and saves you in a pinch and then also stability so you don’t get knocked down. then retreat is not bad for swiftness, though maybe not the MOST useful in dungeons, still good to have. as well as another block for big attacks. save yourselves is decent toO! it’s more of a life saver almost.. but be careful when you use it, if your allies are stacked with conditions, and while you can pull them all off them, you might bring yourself down depending on the situation. hence the name of the shout though ; )))

later on you can experiment with consecrations as well. sanctuary is good for reviving as well as area denial. wall of reflection is awesome! though i don’t think in AC there’s TOO big a need for it. hope someone corrects me if i am wrong.

keep experimenting with the other utilities as well! meditations are really fun but don’t really serve a place in dungeons i feel. signets are not too bad but shouts are probably better. and then spirit weapons sadly have lost it’s place in most PvE content. except for maybe shield of the avenger! a lot of Guards love it. though i personally don’t have too much experience with it yet so i won’t ocmment there.

lastly, just wanted to echo my points about dungeons being rather tough. even though AC is the first dungeon out there.. it’s certainly not the easiest. haha, in regards for dungeon specific tips, to be honest, i don’t remember AC story that much. did it once and never went back lol.. all i remember is USE BOULDERS for the Lovers fight! go look up some video guides or written guides to help you out a bit to get you started. when in the dungeon, don’t rush into things, try to plan and take your time. try to dodge attacks with big windups, stay always on the move, don’t stand in red circles, etc etc.. if you’re getting burnt down fast, focus on surviving! as once one party member goes down, it makes it twice as hard for remaining party members and then wipes can easily happen. take your time and be patient! learnthe strategies for each buit.. and most importantly, HAVE FUN! : )))

hope this wasn’t too messy for you to follow.. and ask any questions! i’ll be sure to come back to check and try to help in any way i can.

Thanks for replying! You are awesome! I was beginning to lose hope That all sounds like some very good information. I have played all of the dungeons story modes before and a few fractals, but with my thief. I am very new to Guardian play and don’t quite understand it yet, and the little I do understand is just from solo Guardian play. I have yet to do much group support. A lot of posts I have ready really say AH builds are great for groups, but I am assuming that those types of builds don’t really help much until you can complete them with all 70 trait points? I am definitely going to trait your recommendations and try it out. Thanks again, and if you think of any more great advice, send it my way.

lol, never lose hope!! feelf ree to ask me questions if you ever need. in-game or on here and i’ll do my best to answer and help out.

there you go! as long as you’ve done most dungeons, you’ll already won half the battle. now, next step, like you said, it just to keep practicing, learning how the class works, and there’s really nothing to lose. : ))

AH is a great trait and lot of builds focus on it. though it’s not the end all be all. it’s not so much for groups specifically, but rather, it performs its best in groups! but through the nature of the way the trait works, you’ll be giving a lot of boons, which in some sense, is support for the group. and you’re staying alive. which is even better. but yes, for an effective AH build, i wanna say being lvl 80 would be more suited.

so for now, focus on the general direction i put you and see hwo that works for you. if it doesn’t work, try out new things. : ))) do know though, i felt pretty squishy with my Guardian when i first started until i hit about lvl 60. one, sur ei didn’t know the game as well back then, but also just because you have more access to traits that help out and make a big difference.

but i think the refresh on kills VoJ is extremely useful! AoE blinds can really be life savers. in the end, jsut keep trying all weapon sets, utilities and figure out what you enjoy the most : ))) good luck!