Guild Wars 2

Good day Guardians!
I would like to know if a Scepter/X build would be a Wise choice for running Dungeons. If the answer is Yes:
- What kind of numbers should I aim for?
- Zerk gear?
- Build if possible, since I never played Guardian.

If the answer is No:
- Why?

Thank you for your time, have a nice day.

Scepter is meh for pve.

Its better then it is in PVP because in PVE mobs will generally stand still and eat hits where as in PvP people are constantly moving causing the very slow moving orbs to miss.

So it can be done however you will have almost no true AOE (smite is a multi hit attack that hits whatever it can 16X not true AOE)

That ^ will mean that while you have decent single target your ability to do AOE damage will suffer.

As for gear, zerker is the way to go.

I would suggest a build that uses at least 2/5/x/x/x as those are your primary areas to focus if you want damage.
As for what to do with your traits there are plenty of threads to check out that showcase builds that will work with little variation.

Thx Ragnar.
What I meant was PvE single target – dungeon bosses mainly. Is the Scepter dps output enough (yes I will help the party with wise support, but I don’t want to hit for crap anyway)?
For trash I will use GS or whatever else aoe cleave thingy (not fully documented on the Guardian tools yet).

Scepter is the highest damaging weapon for the Guardian. Problem is, it doesn’t offer the same levels of utility that other weapons can provide. It works best on large, lumbering targets with large hitboxes. You can find plenty of those in PvE, but not every mob is like that.

If you take a scepter, you should focus on damage. Berserker armor would be best for that. Trait-wise, you should probably go at least 4/5/x/x/x. With Scepter Power, Fiery Wrath, and Radiant Power, that’s three +10% damage modifiers. That also leaves you with 5 points to put where you want.

If you’re going for a scepter in particular, it might be best to focus on a one-handed build. I personally run a 2/6/6/0/0 build with right hand strength and monks focus with meditations. I wouldn’t go 4 in zeal for scepter power, because it would mean giving up one of two superior grand master traits (monks focus/right hand strength). Also, the 10% damage bonus from radiant power minor trait makes up for the 10% damage you would have gotten from scepter power anyway (it’s actually superior because it benefits all weapons, not just scepter). You can use a scepter/torch, with sword/focus alt and benefit from being adept at both ranged and melee combat.

Here’s an example of the build:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQRArf8dnkIS1Q2NEuDB/QmIeQs+TrNVF46fBzB-TVhSwAAWEQiyvoq/MT/QIlgAA-w

(NOTE: I didn’t choose any runes or sigils, because that’s subjective to tastes and play style, you can pop in whatever you like and see how it affects the build. Also right hand strength doesn’t reflect in the crit chance shown, so always add 15% to the crit chance to get a more accurate view).

I think it’s a really versatile build because you’ll have a very high crit chance and damage, especially with the 15% crit chance bonus from right hand strength. You’ll also have good access to blocks and blinds, which makes stacking much easier, and you’ll be able to switch from melee to ranged as the situation calls for it, while still doing good damage. You can go full zerker if you want, but because of the 15% crit bonus from right hand strength and fury from meditations, you can give up some zerker gear for valkyrie gear if you want more life (You could also go for some celestial or soldiers while still easily maintaining over 50% crit chance).

One thing I have noticed is that fury from meditations does, in fact, apply to nearby allies as well, so there is some measure of support in the build. If you want more support you can take points from zeal and add them to virtues for inspired virtues. Also, thanks to justice is blind and renewed justice traits and the blind on sword and focus, you can blind enemies quite regularly in stacking situations which can prevent a lot of damage to your group in both dungeons and fractals (you also apply vulnerability with blinds so you increase group dps as well).

I think this kind of build would make the most of the damage of the scepter, while still giving you good melee options.

If you do use scepter, you should still be in your party range. That said, 4/6/2/0/2 is the maximum scepter dps build, with scepter/focus scepter/torch or greatsword. When bosses won’t take all smite hits, the dps goes down rapidly, so swap to the usual build instead. The above build doesn’t use master of consecrations and absolute resolution, but most bosses with huge hitboxes doesn’t require those.