Guild Wars 2

I had a question with regards to the F1, 2, 3 skills. Every now and again I’ll use VoJ (I have 10 into the second trait line, so VoJ also applies blind and vulnarability), but outside of that I never pop the 2 or 3 skills. Never found it necessary when solo-ing, and even in a group setting, given its long cool down, I’m not even sure I’ll remember to pop them in the heat of a battle every time its off cooldown.

I know there are certain traits that increases the utility of these skills esp VoJ, but in general when is the best time to use these skills? Also, what is the range of all these boons to allies, how close do they have to be to me to get them?

Aegis is the most intuitive, obv you want to pop that when a huge attack is coming in an emergency and ur allies will have to tank it, but since they get a passive aegis every 40 something seconds is it even worth it to pop it, given its cool down? I feel the same for the F2 skill

if you have 5 into Virtues, F1 gives extra might, F2 gives regen and F3 gives protection on activation. i like you, use F1 more than anything, especially with AoE blinds attached as well, great for dmg mitigation. F2 i use the least, letting the passive tick, until i need all the heals i can get then i’ll pop it. F3, usually like you said, when i feel i need aegis. or, if you’re running Altruistic Healing, and you need more heals and you have a bunch of peeps around you, popping all three can heal you a decent amount. then pair that up with renewed focus, 2-3 sec invuln and you get all your virtues refreshed (note, you can also pop any unused virtues while channeling the Rewned Focus elite.

in addition to that.. if you go 30 deep into Virtues, there are two great traits that i love – Absolute Resolution for F2 and Indomitable Courage for F3. or if you go 20 deep into virtues, you can pick one or the other as well, depending no what you feel the situation calls for – more condition removal? or more stability?

and with that, you get a slight reduction in virtue CDs as well. though again, like said, i don’t always use ‘em unless i know i’m gonna need ’em. aoe aegis i find very helpful actually, especially in boss fights or against enemies in PvP when you know a big hit is coming. even F2 is nice to help heal someone back up if you know they might go down soon.

unsure of the exact range, though am sure someone else can help you with that. i just make sure i’m close enough if i want to ensure someone gets the boons.

There have been times where popping Resolve has bought just enough seconds for others to get their heals off, especially in combination with popping Shield of Absorption. Virtue of Resolve with Absolute Resolution is a bit of a monster, really. Although I’m not currently using it.
Sometimes I’ll even pop the virtue to get the corresponding boon from the Inspired Virtues trait and if you’re really going for boon stacks, Virtue of Retribution (15 Virtues) works a treat with the Renewed Focus elite skill. Inspired Virtues (5 Virtues) is just too good to pass up if you ask me.

As for best times to use these skills, I use Justice whenever there’s at least 2 or more people around and the enemy isn’t going to die in a couple of seconds (I don’t have Renewed Justice), I’ll try to use Resolve when I know there’s a few people around that need just a bit more health and for a few more seconds of regeneration. I’ll pop Courage when I know we need to block a big hit and/or when we need a bit more of the protection boon. Works well with Shield of Judgement.

I know the cooldowns are quite long but I haven’t really found that to be too prohibitive, really. I’d say, I’d rather have popped the virtue and helped everyone out in an average to ok way than not pop the virtue because I was waiting for “just the right moment”. It seems a bit odd to have a profession mechanic that doesn’t see much use outside the passives. Many other professions rely heavily on theirs.

I hope that gives some insight into how I like to use the Virtues and I hope there won’t be too much confusion with our names

I generally use virtues as a mean of popping boons to feed my Altruistic Healing in a group setting, as I have 5 points in he Virtue trait line (the best 5 points to invest in a trait, IMO) .

Virtue of Justice is also something I pop quite often as the cool-down is relatively short and help with that little bit more DPS.

Virtue of Resolve and Courage, together with the elite skill Renewed Focus, is my “Oh-kitten!” button. This has save my Charr butt countless times.