Need a decent WvW Shout Havoc build
Guardian really just doesn’t roam as good as some of the other classes.
It has decent swiftness uptime but lacks the cripple/chill spam needed to stay on a target like many other classes do.
Combine this with the joke that is scepter vs moving targets and you end up feeling like your banging your head against a wall.
Few notes on your build.
1: Sword is good for single target but the cleave is bad. The last AA also has a tendency to miss 1 or more of its hits.
2: You have no stability, this can lead to a quick death from CC chain.
3: Unless your using a Spvp burn build torch is kinda meh compared to focus.
Knowing all this if your still wanting to try a roaming build with a mix of support/offense then I would suggest http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQFABlsApVo1ChfIKiHkcs9jqCg9zoZB-TlBFABaq+T3XAArU+lmOA/UCCwDAgQAlnAA-w as a base build.
After this there are a few ways you can go with it.
For the last utility you can grab signet of judgment, signet of wrath or bane signet purging flames, or save yourselves depending on how offensive/defensive you want to be.
For the untaken trait you can get healer’s retribution or signet mastery.
For the rune you can get traveler & combo it with the scepter. Or you can get pack and combo it with the staff. The former is good for personal offense, the later is good for support
Or if you have someone else to provide swiftness you can grab the staff & rune of strength for a near permanent +12 might stacks for you and your allies.
While these builds lack the instant gap closers of meditation builds they can provide allot of support to allies & their survivability is not linked nearly as much to utility skills.
If you decide to stay with the 1 handed sword I would suggest changing two handed mastery out (unless you run staff) for pure of heart or protective reviver.
The key to soul roaming as a guardian is to understand tempo control what is this. Tempo control is the thing that your class or build does well that allows you to set the pace of combat a.k.a. mobility and visibility sustained heavy CC these are some examples of tempo control. This being said guardians have amazing sustained and despite our limited mobility we are not completely defenseless to high mobility classes it’s a matter of timing skills and realizing that you need to make your hits count in your stats need to reflect this. This means that against the high mobility opponent your average engagement at their base is going to be seven seconds or less so you have to make your hits count. This makes critical damage become a very important stat to your low engagement time.
For running in havoc squad this build works extremely well also works for solo play key things you have to remember knowing your skills timing your gap closers and timing your blocks or blinds. This bill can be used as a great sword and a sword focus or basically any other weapons that you want to toss on a. Keep in mind with your previous build the reason why you have so much trouble staying on your opponents baseIs that you only have two gap closers and judges intervention being a wonderful skill has a long cooldown for a gap closer. If you’re running in a havoc group with Rangers or warriors they should be able to give you more than enough swiftness something else to note is that pure voice will convert a immobilize or cripple into nine seconds of swiftness.Pending the makeup of your party the sword focus may benefit your layout better than the staff but that’s certainly on a case to case basis. I never run a set weapon pairing what weapon you use directly relates to what you’re doing and what you need at that moment as everyone knows.
(edited by kagak.4230)
The key to soul roaming as a guardian is to understand tempo control what is this. Tempo control is the thing that your class or build does well that allows you to set the pace of combat a.k.a. mobility and visibility sustained heavy CC these are some examples of tempo control. This being said guardians have amazing sustained and despite our limited mobility we are not completely defenseless to high mobility classes it’s a matter of timing skills and realizing that you need to make your hits count in your stats need to reflect this. This means that against the high mobility opponent your average engagement at their base is going to be seven seconds or less so you have to make your hits count. This makes critical damage become a very important stat to your low engagement time.
For running in havoc squad this build works extremely well also works for solo play key things you have to remember knowing your skills timing your gap closers and timing your blocks or blinds. This bill can be used as a great sword and a sword focus or basically any other weapons that you want to toss on a. Keep in mind with your previous build the reason why you have so much trouble staying on your opponents baseIs that you only have two gap closers and judges intervention being a wonderful skill has a long cooldown for a gap closer. If you’re running in a havoc group with Rangers or warriors they should be able to give you more than enough swiftness something else to note is that pure voice will convert a immobilize or cripple into nine seconds of swiftness.Pending the makeup of your party the sword focus may benefit your layout better than the staff but that’s certainly on a case to case basis. I never run a set weapon pairing what weapon you use directly relates to what you’re doing and what you need at that moment as everyone knows.
Playing since launch and this answer opened my eyes to why certain builds I ran worked to a MUCH greater degree than others. The reason was higher Crit dmg multiplier on those builds and the small engagement windows you have pointed out. I’ve always tried to maximize the engagement window by taking traveler runes but tbh it was probably not the best option. I could of taken a more well rounded rune to maximize my strength and smooth out my stats. Then it would be punishing to fight me (potential lethal) but staying at range would get you no where. Obviously kiting tactics will bring down this strategy but with guardian being forgiving in nature coupled with my knowledge of the profession I’d still bet they will fatally screw up before me. in most cases =P I’m going to try to make a build close to what you have but with some celestial accessories instead of armor due to me already having those.
The build I came up with that doesnt make me create 30 days of Celestial armor…again. http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQJARWlsApVo1CxZI8DNRCRk1M2fhpXHcdA-T1SDABMqqSCHBQJ4TKRgSJUjqV0lyjV2fAOdBD8AAAwEkEXCACBYeLA-w
It’s slightly worse than the one you linked before but with without 60g worth of runes and 30 days of gear crafting. Im going to make and test it in a moment. I believe its going to be good for havoc roaming. If solo roaming then I’d drop staff for Sword/Focus and take Empowering Might instead of 2 handed mastery trait.
Looks fun May I suggest taking the sigil fire off your staff if not for any other reason than your staff is one of your lowest DPS weapons and it makes my blood boil every time I see a Guardian auto attacking with it try HydroMancy. With your high critical damage this will give you an instant 3K credit that will chill your opponent giving you time to pull off empower. Remember staff is for utility and is a great rally stick but please please after the utilities are used don’t just auto attack on this weapon if you can swap to the great sword. I’m sure you know this but it is definitely something that makes my blood boil.
Kagak I agree with you after reading your thought on fire sigil. So its out now for hydromancy. Nil I like your build. Its basically better than the build I made. You people are gonna make me make cele armor…time to try to reverse engineer those stats without cele armor.
I was a power ranger before it was cool.
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]
Guild Leader of Favorable Winds [Wind]
shadowpass.4236
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQJAWSlsApVo1CxZI8DNRCBl5M+P2fIEj4yAcBA-TlCBABmq+zWKNk4QAAwTAILlZaoEMFdBMcBA6Z/h2MBRGAmJA-w
Without even commenting on the build there is one very obvious flaw complete lack of mobility your weapons have no gap closers nor do your skills no runes giving you movement modifiers this will lead to you being very easy to avoid and just as easy to ranged kite to death. Trust me when I say swiftness on the staff is not enough you need some form of gap closer. Larger symbols is not going to provide the worthwhile utility or damage you’re looking for as your build is set up now.
you could always look up TDM’s legendary guardian 3.0 build. Its on youtube with a full explanation and all that good stuff.