Guild Wars 2

Power Medi feels really lackluster right now compared to the other things flying around PvP. What builds are people trying?

I’ve tried:

Gs-Sc/F using Valor, Virtues, Zeal (decent damage / super squishy)
Gs-Sw/F using Valor, Virtues, Radiance (good in 1v1 / meh in teamfights)
Ham- Mc/F using Valor, Virtues, Honor (oddly successful / lightfields for days.. )

What else have people came up with?

As of now, I feel like my only options are Bunker or Gimmick burn.

UPDATE: I’ve been using the following build and loving!
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNAsdRlsAhqhY3QwcIwPEH+DVOCrwL0GAdbdeD3L4DA-TZBFABPcIAE4MAIeZA52fAgHAAA

The idea is to activate your Virtue of Justice before you JI in. This immob has help me land many successful “1 shots.” I use GS mainly for burst, but most of your auto attack dmg will come from sword. The decrease sword cooldowns also help you keep targets in reach. Travelers is a preference of mine for when I solo queue. In a group I use pack

Enjoy!

Medi guard with Marauder-Amulett was never the best option to fight and win any teamfights. If your focus on teamfights with premades, go for cele/cleric/soldier amulet.

Otherwise you can try following setup for 1on1 and teamfight (in soloQ) – avoid to camp “mid”. Better run & fight to close or outer:
Amulett: marauder
Weapons: GS (Condi Remove on Crit / Hydromancy) | Staff (5% damage / Hydromancy) —> hydromancy is really strong when you hit someone! 5% boost your Staff-autoattack enough (and far better with class skill #1)
Traits: Radiance (2-1-1), Valor (2-2-2), Virtues (1-2-3)

SaXiar.2198:

Medi guard with Marauder-Amulett was never the best option to fight and win any teamfights. If your focus on teamfights with premades, go for cele/cleric/soldier amulet.

Otherwise you can try following setup for 1on1 and teamfight (in soloQ) – avoid to camp “mid”. Better run & fight to close or outer:
Amulett: marauder
Weapons: GS (Condi Remove on Crit / Hydromancy) | Staff (5% damage / Hydromancy) —> hydromancy is really strong when you hit someone! 5% boost your Staff-autoattack enough (and far better with class skill #1)
Traits: Radiance (2-1-1), Valor (2-2-2), Virtues (1-2-3)

Wut..? Zerk Medi was a staple of the previous meta. Hammer medi could shift the team fight with a well played JI/Ring. Why would anyone run cele/cleric/soldiers on a medi guard? I have doubts about staff too. Giving up focus didn’t feel right. Staying alive in a team fight isn’t all that difficult with proper positioning, but I still feel lackluster compared to my other zerker counter parts. Maybe I’m just jealous of all the gimmicks that other classes have going for them right now.

I’m not trying to attack you for giving advice/opinions, but you seem ill informed.

Drennon.7190:

Wut..? Zerk Medi was a staple of the previous meta.

That was before condi got buffed and the trait changes. You’ll never run full Zerk now or you wish instantly to die against condi bombs?
I spoke about after the big changes, not before. Maybe my mistake that i didn’t make it clear.

Drennon.7190:

Hammer medi over shifting the team fight with a well played JI/Ring.

I didn’t talk about hammer guard in my previous post.

Drennon.7190:

I have doubts about staff too. Giving up focus didn’t feel right.

You are too dependent on the Focus, too much. Be more flexible and try something new. My staff-play works fine. I can stack 12 might, heal my mates, give swiftness and the wall can shine if placed rightly. Staff can be more useful than sc/fc in teamfights.

Drennon.7190:

Maybe I’m just jealous of all the gimmicks that other classes have going for them right now.

Guardian is far more than crazy DPS-kitten

Read your first sentence again. That discredited you right off the get go. “Marauder (aka previous Zerk stats) was never the best option to fight and win team fights.” That alone shows how ill informed you are. Instantly die to Condi bombs? If trained we have a max of 5 condi cleanses. Learn to use them. Too dependent on focus? Staff is trash in a marauder build. leave the offheals to the celes. We give blinds/aegis/aoe condi clear.

You remind me of a guy I was guildies with. He would go on and on about “guardians using zerker are fools.” He was a WvW hero and thought that meant something. So I finally dueled him one day. He lost 4 duels off the bat and rage quit. His excuse? “You only win because you dodge/blind my big attacks…”

soldiers might work with 1hander radiance/valor/virtues build but yeah guardian has enough active defenses to go with a dps amulet.

I am currently enjoying a power medi build centered around symbols. Zeal valor honor with gs,m/f air/fire sigil and pirate runes for bird proc to help stack my shattered aegis. Endless aoe pressure. Good in groups but beware kiters, as always it seems for guards.

Guardian power builds got a bit of a nerf, sadly. We lost several damage modifiers and were hit with a few silly nerfs like the ICD on Might of the Protector. The only hefty damage boosting trait we DID receive (Symbolic Avenger) got cut in half before we even got a chance to test it, and even still is hardly effective outside of PvE.

Once Anet inevitably deems burning too powerful and reduces its damage, Guardian will probably lose its competitive edge. Maybe then they’ll finally see how much of a “good place” we’re in.

This last patch just seems to be pushing us away from sustained damage builds and really only benefits our burst. Look at all the skill changes we got and categorize them between defence/support (almost nothing new, mostly a bad signet) sustained damage (significantly reduced modifiers, less might) and burst damage (all the new instant extra damage traits, more crit access, changes to fire mechanics etc…)

Seems like everyone is having about the same luck. I feel like everything I do on DPS guard, I can do better on my thief/Mesmer/warrior

Drennon.7190:

Seems like everyone is having about the same luck. I feel like everything I do on DPS guard, I can do better on my thief/Mesmer/warrior

I agree, yet you will still have players come here and say that we are fine. This mentality of “we are in a good spot” is why we are subpar.

The way Zeal and Radiance work at the moment almost makes NOT putting some condition damage on a loss of capability.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNAR7dlsAhqhY5QwbIwPEH8DVuCzwNEHAzwfeL3NYEA-T5AEQAmDCA8JAAuAAAA

standard i guess, but im new to guardian.. shelved my 3 x lvl 80 warriors since patch. stats are 3k armor, 50% crit.. rest into power / ferocity. i dont see alternatives in the traits for this setup.

id like to hear feedback, tipps and tricks for medi guard (would love a link or two) or even questions if you want to ask a newbie guardian with a ton of experience on warrior wvw xD

seems to me this is some sick combo build (which i cant pull off still)… focus 5 -> sceptre 3 -> sceptre 2 -> judge intervention -> switch weapon hydromancy -> GS2 and smite condition. And press some virtue first for the fury.

Steelo.4597:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNAR7dlsAhqhY5QwbIwPEH8DVuCzwNEHAzwfeL3NYEA-T5AEQAmDCA8JAAuAAAA

standard i guess, but im new to guardian.. shelved my 3 x lvl 80 warriors since patch. stats are 3k armor, 50% crit.. rest into power / ferocity. i dont see alternatives in the traits for this setup.

id like to hear feedback, tipps and tricks for medi guard (would love a link or two) or even questions if you want to ask a newbie guardian with a ton of experience on warrior wvw xD

seems to me this is some sick combo build (which i cant pull off still)… focus 5 -> sceptre 3 -> sceptre 2 -> judge intervention -> switch weapon hydromancy -> GS2 and smite condition. And press some virtue first for the fury.

You would be correct that this is a massive opening burst (also pairing it with “Feel my Wrath is nice”). Although you have to remember you burn a lot of your cd’s relying on the fact that you catch someone off guard and they don’t know how to dodge. Since you blew focus #5 u lose a great defensive skill and you have already switched out of your ranged weapon. Since most classes have far greater mobility than guard most of the time I see people blink/jump away or blind/cc you, then the next thing you know they are 900 unites away from you and you’re stuck with a melee weapon. Most of the time the only option you have is to try and disengage and re-position, catch them with a nice gs#5 or continue to follow them with gs leap #2 and hope your in auto range.

well they cant dodge when they are immobilized :P generally i try to use the shield to explode and not to block because the damage is huge. but you are right, its a pretty big investment and if someone pulls an invulnerabiliiy or blocks im kinda caught with pants down.. on the other hand guardian still has so many thing to burn through defensively.. not a big problem. but yes catching people who want to take off can be a bit hard with medi guard, only scepter 3, no cripple. O_O

Using this now

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNAsdRlsAhqhY3QwcIwPEH+DVOCrwL0GAdbdeD3L4DA-TZBFABPcIAE4MAIeZA52fAgHAAA

Terrible build, to be expected though.

Arken.3725:

Terrible build, to be expected though.

Lol coming from the staff/hammer Medi guard.

Edited for politeness. Don’t need more suspensions.

Drennon.7190:

Using this now

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNAsdRlsAhqhY3QwcIwPEH+DVOCrwL0GAdbdeD3L4DA-TZBFABPcIAE4MAIeZA52fAgHAAA

I use the same setup, only I pick up UC in virtues. And I switch to Radiant Fire when i’m playing with Rampager’s Amulet and torch.

Arken.3725:

Terrible build, to be expected though.

It’s basically the old 0.6.6.1.1 without vigor but with the full virtues line at your disposal. You have nice burst and great team support in the same time. I don’t know why you would call that terrible :/. Or you mean terrible as in a good way? Sorry if I didn’t picked up the sarcasm.

creepmatic.9435:

I don’t know why you would call that terrible :/. Or you mean terrible as in a good way? Sorry if I didn’t picked up the sarcasm.

He probably didn’t look/try it. His comment was made on personal beef.

After a week using both a med burning build and a med zerk build I still prefer the most the direct physical damage approach. This is the build that I’m currently using:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNArdRlsAhyhY1QwbIwPEHxDVNAag6FvE/XleTgYIHA-TpBFwAMOCA12fo9hAYxDAoaZAAnAAA

Berserk amulet with pack runes; Zeal 223, Valor 322, Honor 233, GS/scepter + focus. You can die fast if you make mistakes, but also you can kill really fast. As a rule, the only two classes that give me headaches are elementalist and mesmers, and mesmers only due stealth.

I really liked my DPS medi guard. Recently got back from a bit of a break and warrior has always been my main. Warrior is in a great place but I really can’t find the synergy between traits on my Zerk Medi guard. Conditions is never an option.

Black Box.9312:

Guardian power builds got a bit of a nerf, sadly. We lost several damage modifiers and were hit with a few silly nerfs like the ICD on Might of the Protector. The only hefty damage boosting trait we DID receive (Symbolic Avenger) got cut in half before we even got a chance to test it, and even still is hardly effective outside of PvE.

Once Anet inevitably deems burning too powerful and reduces its damage, Guardian will probably lose its competitive edge. Maybe then they’ll finally see how much of a “good place” we’re in.

This is a good assessment of the situation, really. Our lack of damage in PvE is mitigated in part by “Feel My Wrath!”- but how long before the choir of angry Non-Guards gets that nerfed as well?

But OP’s discussion was on power medi guard, and I agree that it’s become lackluster. I’ve switched gears entirely and gone bunker guardian- having the extra shout and running Trooper Runes with AH has been surprisingly effective.

The damage is terrible, but for some reason I feel like relation has become more effective and things die before I do. Perhaps its because I never gave it much attention, but as long as I have an ally nearby I can literally not name a time I’ve lost in a 2v2 no matter what the combination is.

creepmatic.9435:

Drennon.7190:

Using this now

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNAsdRlsAhqhY3QwcIwPEH+DVOCrwL0GAdbdeD3L4DA-TZBFABPcIAE4MAIeZA52fAgHAAA

I use the same setup, only I pick up UC in virtues. And I switch to Radiant Fire when i’m playing with Rampager’s Amulet and torch.

Arken.3725:

Terrible build, to be expected though.

It’s basically the old 0.6.6.1.1 without vigor but with the full virtues line at your disposal. You have nice burst and great team support in the same time. I don’t know why you would call that terrible :/. Or you mean terrible as in a good way? Sorry if I didn’t picked up the sarcasm.

Half sarcasm. Running double-melee in spvp is a death sentence. The other half is this guy loves to troll me so I figured i’d give a small dose back.