Guild Wars 2

Ok I know this is a very basic thing, but I don’t really understand the use of virtues. We have a set of virtues that sit over our skill bar on the left, but most of the time they show up on the right hand side also, as if they have already been activated, even when I have not activated them. Do they self activate? How do virtues work. I know they are very important to the Guardian and I’ll never be a good Guardian without first figuring out the virtues.

Next I would love some pre-traits pve build help. I say pre-traits because I am low level and I know that until level 40 or so that traits don’t really play a big role. I would just love a good build for quick, fun pve leveling.

Also, is Guardian any good a WvW pvp? I don’t want to bother leveling him up if he is just going to suck end game. I’m a little worried being as Guardian is nearly ALL melee.

Thanks for any help

They give passive effects when they’re not on cooldown.

If you click or press a virtue down, it’ll have an active effect that goes along with it.

Virtue of Justice – Passive : Every 5th Attack Burn enemy for 1 sec.
Active: Next attack burns enemy for 5sec

Virtue of Resolve – Passive: Gives health regen
Active: Heals for a certain amount instantly

Virtue of Courage – Passive: Gives Aegis every 40sec
Active: Gives Aegis instantly to you and your allies.

They’re quite good and can save your life if you know how to time their active abilities well.

Ohhh, so there are both passive AND active aspects to them. That explains a lot. Thank you very much for the very detailed explanation Wizardauz!

Also with a few traits you can enhance them a lot.

You can make it so each Virtue give retaliation on activation. You can make VoJ give might and a blind, VoR give regeneration and VoC give protection aswell as the standard active effects. You can make it so VoC also heals on it’s block and/or give more retaliation and burn.

So with a few traits you can get.
VoJ.
Burning, might, retaliation and blind your target.
VoR.
A heal, regeneration and retaliation.
VoC.
Aegis & retaliation, on it’s block – a heal, extra retaliation, protection and a burn.

My guardian is still level 18 but I would like to ask a question about this.
Does it work like signets that, once you activate it, there will be no more passive effect until the cool down is over? I am curious of how much the activated VoR would be useful because the active heal is so small (if I lose the regeneration by activating it).

Hologramx.6402:

My guardian is still level 18 but I would like to ask a question about this.
Does it work like signets that, once you activate it, there will be no more passive effect until the cool down is over? I am curious of how much the activated VoR would be useful because the active heal is so small (if I lose the regeneration by activating it).

Yes, Virtues are essentially party-support Signets. Out of the box, they’re okay, but they really shine when traited. Activating Resolve, for example, isn’t really worth it unless it helps a lot of nearby allies, in which case you get more out of it.

The idea behind Virtues is that, while passive, they help you. But when activated, they help nearby allies. Virtues express a Guardian concept of sacrificing your own good for the good of the many.

Eveningstar.6940:

Yes, Virtues are essentially party-support Signets. Out of the box, they’re okay, but they really shine when traited. Activating Resolve, for example, isn’t really worth it unless it helps a lot of nearby allies, in which case you get more out of it.

The idea behind Virtues is that, while passive, they help you. But when activated, they help nearby allies. Virtues express a Guardian concept of sacrificing your own good for the good of the many.

Thank you very much for the explanation. I’m glad that I can leave VoR alone while soloing.

can some1 explain burn?

which skill have the highest burning dmg? i assume VoJ.

does next burn refresh duration for the highest dmg or the first burning condition?

Burns dont stack in intensity. So the skill with the highest burndamage is the one that lasts the longest.

If a burn is running, the next application increases duration, not intensity. They are merged and appear as one condition even though its two applications.

@OP

Guardians do very well in WvW. We have our shortcomings in ranged combat, not as bad as people say though, and doing damage in sieging, especially when attacking imo.

This is solved by using a staff and supporting the attack with shouts, heals, damage and ofc wall of reflection.

In open world wvw we rock! End of discussion, we just do. We are superstrong in melee and a great asset to our team while having awesome semiranged tools in our staff. The optimal stortrooper imo.

Ok trying to reply to Brutaly. Why on this forum do the “Quote”, “Reply”, etc. next to someone’s post only show up sometimes, but most of the time not? Anyway, thank you Brutaly for the answer. It was my understanding that support doesn’t really get you anything in WvW. True?

Whiskyjumper.6190:

It was my understanding that support down’t really get you anything in WvW. True?

False. Guardians can put out a lot of regeneration, protection, blind, aegis, might, blind, and more blind, as well as lots of AoE heals. They can do this while remaining effective in straight up fights, and while keeping themselves healed well. The only thing better than another guardian is two guardians.

They help alot in groups, but what you might’ve read is that if you don’t deal damage to a player in WvW, you won’t be eligible for loot or exp or anything else.
Purely supporting it’s the same as not fighting said enemies, thus you get nothing (even if you helped the players who defeated them).

If you’re concerned more about the effectiveness of the Guardian’s support, rest assured, they’re awesome.
But you might want to have a Scepter or Staff to “tag” some enemies and get something out of the fights…

They’re kinda like free signets when you think about it.

…I know Guardians are kind of like Paladins, and I usually like the “holy warrior” theme..
but man, I stopped playing Guardians because my special move is called “Virtues”…
seriously, man…

Hologramx.6402:

Thank you very much for the explanation. I’m glad that I can leave VoR alone while soloing.

You can trait VoR with Absolute Resolution, allowing it to remove 3 conditions on use, which can save your life. So, I wouldn’t completely dismiss VoR. Plus that extra burst heal right before you die can help you last long enough to get another heal or dodge off.

I’m a Guardian and I show up in WvW almost every night. There was a point where I feel like I’m not really making a difference and I’m running around with other people randomly, but I’m told later on that just being there and being able to contribute what I do DOES make a difference. I’m set up for condition damage (burning) and I have 2 Spirit Weapons on me that helped me A LOT in WvW when I’m down. They actually helped me rally more than 10 times in the span of a few days by finishing my target for me when I’m down.

I’ve seen my virtues help other allies too. The burn others as well.

A guardian is like background music – when he’s good, you can’t remember that he’s there but he enhances the overall experience. When he’s bad, you will notice his failure or absence very readily.

The most powerful guardian skills other than wall of reflection really require training with guardians to recognize, and though most give you a passive buff whether you’re paying attention or not, there are some extremely powerful skills that you would do well to watch out for if you want to make the most of your guardian friends.

Everyone should at least familiarize themselves with guardians because they leak buffs whether they want to or not, and you’ll be a lot more powerful if you know how and when to take full advantage of their support.

If you are afraid of not soloing well or having nothing to do at range, take 20 zeal and 20 radiance and go spirit weapon guardian. That basically transforms you into a hard hitting ranged and PvE character, though you won’t have the classic invincibility that goes with the honor and valor traits.

15 radiance also gives you an assassin’s promise verson of virtue of justice, which basically makes you the best at fighting large mobs. If you want to go crazy fighting mobs but want to fight boss battles methodically and skillfully, guardian is for you.