Guild Wars 2

Hey guys, I’m pretty new to the game but I really like the play style of the guardian. Able to tank and dish out dps at the same time. For some reason I decided to role a ranger for my main and I’ve gotten really bored of it. So I’ve decided to do what my heart tells me and to roll a Guardian. I’ve also read on the forums that hammers have been improved for the Guardian and I enjoy heavy weapons so it was a no brainer. I really like to do dps but still have enough tanking ability to take on mobs without worrying about my health all that much. So I was wondering does anyone have a good dps yet tanky build for the Guardian? I would like to use Hammer as my main weapon too.. so what should I use as my secondary? Thanks for the feedback!

Guardian is a bit tricky to build because there’s so many different ways to build them. You sound as though you want to be a dps power house so hammer is ok, it’s not the best as of right now until they do the change to it. Greatsword is awesome since it has the blind on your opening move (4), an aoe damaging ability that pulls 5 targets in to you (5), then your (2) which is another aoe that grants you retaliation followed by your massive aoe (3). There’s also a good build that revolves around condition damage and uses the 1 hand sword and torch. Put points in your power and toughness tree to help maximize your two hand skills.

If that is your playstyle, sorry to say but what you actually want is warrior.

Playing a guardian, you HAVE TO worry about your health. Your health pool is that of a thief or an elementalist, the only difference is you have heavy armor so you have more leeway.
With that in mind you have to rely on using your damage mitigation skills at the correct timings because of their long cooldown, they arent things you can just keep up 100% of the time.

okay! thanks for your answers guys!

i play a similiar style to what you’re after, whilst not as powerful as say a straight out dps warrior , i can hold my own in orr pretty well, did a test last weekend? or the one before , i can’t remember but i can came out ontop against a group of 7 mobs in cursed shore.
weapons wise i went greatsword with mace and focus as secondary.

thing with the guardian is that you have to play with the mindset that a good defense is a great offense and not the other way around (which is feasible, just other classes are best suited for a more pure dps playstyle as dmg output is higher).

dronzer.8392:

i play a similiar style to what you’re after, whilst not as powerful as say a straight out dps warrior , i can hold my own in orr pretty well, did a test last weekend? or the one before , i can’t remember but i can came out ontop against a group of 7 mobs in cursed shore.
weapons wise i went greatsword with mace and focus as secondary.

thing with the guardian is that you have to play with the mindset that a good defense is a great offense and not the other way around (which is feasible, just other classes are best suited for a more pure dps playstyle as dmg output is higher).

Oh cool, do you mind sharing your build dronzer?

@dronzer – i was gonna say, would love to see your build as well if you don’t mind sharing.

@OP – the Guardian is in fact very fun! i did start off going the route of more DPS and was hoping to be able to “survive” that way. it might work in lower levels but now as i’m slowly leveling up, i’m starting to learn to use the mitigation and support skills more effectively and it can truly make the difference in a battle! those around you may not notice it as much.. but you know it would make a difference. haha, i like to think of it as being the nameless hero. : PPPP but maybe that’s just self comfort lol

joking aside though, you can pull off a lot of combos on your own too that have AoE effects so you and your teammates are constantly under boons which help a lot.

i love the hammer and run with it as my main. i used to pair it with a sword/torch combo but recently been running with greatsword and hammer. and love it! i keep switching it up just to keep things interesting and to hammer when i need a little more CC and support. while GS provides more mobility. (both useful for surviving) both dish out great dmg.

remember to move around and dodge a lot! and have fun. the Guardian is AWESOME. will level up my alts when i get bored of the Guardian (which probs won’t happen anytime soon)

I’m using offensive meditation build. The point of it is to stay alive as long as possible while doing the best damage you can do. It’s also pretty versatile and can use any weapons (well, won’t recommend trying to dps with a mace). However, the build won’t shine til you hit 80 and get all the traits. I run greatsword mostly and use hammer for dungeon. On switch weapon can be any combination.

i do agree that man build actually or classes in general don’t truly shine until you hit the high levels! the more levels i gain, the mor ei love my character actually (thatbeing said, might have to give my warrior a shot when i make it past level 15 lol).

ahh, wish we could somehow view other people’s builds via the forum : PPP would be great for discussion purposes if done right.

anywasys, i can’t wait to level up more and truly work on a build that will last and something that works for me.