Guild Wars 2

Hello there.

Newb Guardian. Just made one fresh tonight.

Okay first off to give you an idea of how i’ve played before:

I main a thief (have since release, regardless of OP qq. it’s my favorite class in any game) so I’m use to glass cannon builds with stealth as survivability. I don’t get hit a whole lot, and I’m constantly on the move. (I.E No ’HS Spam’)

How different is Guardian going to be? Can I (forgive my poor wording) ’tank’? Like.. handle 3+ monsters at once with ease?

How viable are they in pvp?

Okay, the second part of my ponderings...

I want a greatsword and to use a single handed sword+shield.

Are these weapon sets viable in any form? I just like the look of them. *shrugs* Seems classic and fun to play like this. Anyone have experience with these sets? Are they viable solo or in group play?

Any tips you can give me?

Appreciate any responses!

If you want to be tanky with greatsword + sword/shield combo warrior does better job

I play juggernaut guardian with hammer/staff combo traits 0/5/30/30/5

I play mainly wvw in the front line push I support warriors with aegis/protection warriors buff me with might/fury

I suggest to try both and see which play style suits u better but if you wanna use sword+shield then warrior is the best option

Sin, greatsword is far and away one of the best weapons for the class, so you won’t go wrong there. One-handed sword is good as well with nice damage, a blind/blink attack, and projectile blocking, but shield is less popular. Its best uses are more situational, while something like a focus tends to be more useful for defense in most of the general pve you will encounter. If you prefer wielding a shield, by all means go for it though.

Guardian general play will be different from your thief. You won’t even blink an eye at being able to kill 4-6 regular mobs once you know what you are doing with the class, how to use blinds, shouts, protection skills, virtues, and traiting properly. You have high toughness, and can take a hit, but what makes a guardian tanky is that it has ways of not having to take the hit at all, or lessening the blow and countering with healing. This is also why guardians have the lowest health pool, yet are still generally considered more durable than a warrior.

Guardians do well in most all aspects of pve and pvp, but less so in WvW. It isn’t that you can’t perform there, but you have no real reliable ranged weapons, something important to WvW, so while you will certainly help the group you are with with buffs and protection, it will be harder for you to kill a lot of kill credit and badges when compared to some other classes.

For my general pve build I use a 0/15/30/20/5 build with gear focused on power/precision/toughness (and a handful of pieces with some vitality in accessories). I generally use a greatsword/sword+focus, though I sometimes use a hammer for groups.

For more specific advice, I recommend the Guardian 101 text by Eveningstar posted at the top of this forum.

I have a thief as secondary.

Thief = Hit & Run.

Guardian = Hit. But maybe not as hard. Also run sometimes, but not nearly as much.

Also, we actually have a lot of dirty tricks, but they have noble-sounding names instead of sneaky-sounding ones like with thieves.

I have also specced my Guardian at some times to be able to pull about 3 mobs and then AFK for a bit. Couldn’t ever do that with my thief, at least so far.