Guild Wars 2

Hi all,

I’ve been gone for many months, and was just dusting off my Guardian. I really love the profession, but am woefully ignorant how best to play it.

I like range, and I solo PvE quest mostly.

1. Is the Scepter my best bet? If so, what off-hand do you recommend.
2. Maybe a Staff is better?
3. What primary stats should I be equipping my weapons and armor with? +Power and +Vitality?

Thanks for any tips you can offer.
Oy.

1. The Scepter is your only bet, and a bad bet at that.
2. The Staff is significantly worse and most Guardians don’t seem to even consider it a ranged weapon.
3. I’d go for Crit-chance and Toughness or Vitality, but it depends on the type of content you want to do.

Sorry to be such a downer, but a dedicated ranged Guardian is currently not viable. You can play it and you could potentially enjoy it, but it’s quite a bit worse than any other option you could play.

Edit: If you were going for a Ranged build, make it Scepter + off-hand (probably Focus, but the others work as well) + Hammer. The Hammer will help you to keep range and will be a great asset if you’re forced into melee. Utility-wise there are a couple of options you could go. Wall of Reflection will help you against other ranged opponents and Sanctuary could help there as well. Signets could be useful for keeping the enemy at range. Shouts are also an option, if you want a more backline-support type build.

Agreed. If you like tanky characters and ranged combat in PvE, consider leveling a necro

I agree that if you really want ranged PvE options Guard isn’t the best class. That being said I feel Scepter is a completely viable in PvE when supported by a melee option. My current setup is 0/30/20/20/0 using Right Hand Strength and Sword/Torch, Scepter/Focus and Mace/Shield depending on the content and needs of the group.

We can stand toe to toe with our targets potentially longer than other classes but we’ll need to back off at some point. Scepter is a pretty strong option, Smite is great if you can time it so the target is stationary for the duration. Put some ‘on crit’ food in the mix for added survivability and fun. I read somewhere that Scepter has the highest AA damage of any ranged weap but I can’t confirm that.

Scepter as a main weapon would be kinda boring for me but it’s most always a secondary loadout.

GL
Blood~

Thanks for the replies, all. It seems perhaps I shouldn’t be trying to make my Guardian ranged, heh.

I’ve been toying with Scepter/Focus and using Sword/Torch when they close in on me. It’s a pretty fun playstyle, but surely far from optimal.

Perhaps I should be looking for a straight-up DPS melee build….

Well, be sure to try out a ranged build. Maybe you enjoy it and maybe it’s better than you currently think it is.
As for your current layout, try using a Shield, instead of the Scepter. Using the knockback and than switching to the Scepter should be a pretty good mini-combo.

What kind of content do you run?
What build are you currently using?

Optimal in what sense? If you’re looking for strait DPS then Sw/T n Sc/F is optimal IMHO. It lacks in support and requires food but you can put out better numbers than other loadouts. I run this through Arah and Fractals w/o problem.

Sword is our hardest hitter but scepter is not far behind. You’re not gonna match warrior or thief but you can come close with some very good tools on your belt.

Blood~

Watch some of the things I do with staff. The number 2 skill is a boss crits high as well. Which is good considering its a utility weapon to begin with. They already said guardians will not be good at ranged just gonna learn to accept this is all we get.