Hi all. New player and I’m really interested in eventually getting into the raid scene when I hit max level. I’m interested in playing Guardian, but I want to be viable in raids and I’ve read that they are pretty mediocre and people don’t really want them and would prefer Warriors. Is this still true? Would you recommend that I roll a Warrior instead of a Guardian? Thanks!
Groups won’t instantly kick you for wanting to play a Guardian DPS. I’ve been able to get into raiding with my guard. However, groups will prefer other dps classes (especially ele). So it can be difficult to find a raiding group if that’s your only class.
Their DPS is actually really good, but most people who play them don’t play them well. But the only viable build they can play right now is Dragon Hunter power, so they’re limited that way. Hopefully that’ll change with the expansion, but we don’t know enough yet to say.
I started playing a condition PS warrior (their job in raids is to stack might, but they also do good dps). I think they’re very fun, and the current meta requires two per group, so it’s easy to find groups to join.
Groups won’t instantly kick you for wanting to play a Guardian DPS. I’ve been able to get into raiding with my guard. However, groups will prefer other dps classes (especially ele). So it can be difficult to find a raiding group if that’s your only class.
Their DPS is actually really good, but most people who play them don’t play them well. But the only viable build they can play right now is Dragon Hunter power, so they’re limited that way. Hopefully that’ll change with the expansion, but we don’t know enough yet to say.
I started playing a condition PS warrior (their job in raids is to stack might, but they also do good dps). I think they’re very fun, and the current meta requires two per group, so it’s easy to find groups to join.
Basically, if you aren’t running with pugs attempting to tryhard cause they think qT builds are the endall (Don’t ever join a full pug raid asking for four eles, it won’t end well) and can nail a very simple rotation consistently – you’ll do fine on guard in raids. Shoot, hammer guardian is still viable.
You only need a minimum amount of dps to complete raid content and I’m pretty sure you can frequently reach that minimum even if you have a hammer guard. That’s viability.
Maybe in theory, but when you can use Stone Spirit for perma-protection, why take a hammer guardian?
It’s called having fun.
Raids are not solo content. Unless you have 9 other friends, have fun getting kicked.
A) I generally run Condi Ranger and, on KC, standard staff Ele. I run guardian only in pugs or when raid leader allows it in our static (depends on how they’re feeling usually)
B) I have a static who couldn’t give a kitten less about what I run because I make it work (not being a bad player really helps).
C) I highly doubt I’d get kicked from a pug raid because all the other DPS classes never really know what they’re doing; specially if they’re running ele. On a good day I can press 15-20k (In raid, not on the test golem) on Guardian with off meta loltier builds that I run for kittensngiggles. I do it on wing 1 bosses, Sloth, other easy ones. Cause it’s fun and refreshing.
If people would chill out and stop running the qT meta BS constantly (WHICH IS ONLY OPTIMAL IF PEOPLE ARE NAILING THEIR ROTATIONS) raids would be a lot more awesome. With the introduction of legendary armor outside raids you’re going to see a massive drop in people attending because of that ‘lol u gunna git kicked’ attitude that you, and others, have. I’d much rather have put 1000 hours into WvW for my legendary armor than the time I did for raids(But too late there, already have it >.<). It’s more engaging, it’s far from frustrating and no one can judge your build or tell you what to do.
The meaning of viability has already been commented on and Ghotistyx nailed it. In the end, Syktek is right – the GW2 community takes meta builds and all that stuff far too seriously for the actual raid difficulty. More realism, especially with regard to player capability, wouldn’t be a bad thing. It’s something I miss from Wildstar – people hardly cared about dumb golem benchmarks but we had wildstarlogs, which provided nice data on what actually happened out there in the raids.
Warning! This post may contain traces of irony, sarcasm and peanuts.
If you can find people to carry you, good for you. But if you are not even willing to put the minimum amount of effort, don’t blame it on the community’s mentality.
I can actually agree that the community’s obsession with the meta is absurd, probably to the point that it ironically actually hinders the meta in some cases.
How about @all these fanboys, we don’t victim blame the community for trying to play the decent classes and actually demand good balance instead? Outrageous, I know, xd.
At the end of the day an Ele does 15% more damage than a Guard. Multiply that by 4 for the 4 dps slots and you have 20k more damage in total. And now blame the guys for playing only “meta” (in other words trying to adjust to terrible balance) and not Anet for not fixing this mess over a whole expansion. Classic.
Not even taking into account the superior utility Ele provides with range cleave and mobility.
If you calculate the difference for hammer Guard (I did for max dps Guard instead) it’s even more extreme.
fanboy | A passionate fan of elements of geek culture, letting his passion override social graces
and common sense.
