Guild Wars 2

Hi guys, I’m leveling a guardian right now and had a question with weapon combos.
(I’ve mostly ever played Ele so keep in mind im kinda lost on playing guardian)

Looking thru forums, it seems the most viable ranged weapon combo is Scepter/torch, but I was trying it out and I seem to like Scepter/shield a bit more, is there a reason people don’t do scepter/sheild cause I have honestly not come across anyone else who seems to use it. as my 2nd I use GS and am loving that dps is amazing!

Also I had a question on which traits to go for, I wanna be a dps guard with good survivability so Im confused on which traits and skills to get that would go along with that

i have a feeling it’s because people might feel the shield is extremely situational? i love having it with me in dungeons. there’s a similar thread asking about the shield. it’s good for when you’re against a lot of ranged enemies to absorb projectiles. useful for knockback / interrupting enemies. also for holding a chokepoint if you have multiple guards using shields and or also using line of warding.

if you’re looking for a ranged option, the scepter is pretty much the only ranged option! ahha but smite is extremely powerful and having an insta snare is good too. as mentioned, i personally use scepter shield in dungeons : )) or sometimes scepter focus if it calls for it.

the Guardians are very good at surviving innately, what with the mitigation skills we have, as well as healing. a lot of Guards trait for valor and honor as those lines are quite strong and offer pretty good synergy – the Altruistic Healing (AH) – a valor grandmaster trait and crithammer build for one has been receiving quite a bit of attention recently and that’s the build i play myself. you can check it out on the main page of the Guard forums as well.

depending on your level and if you’re doing mainly PvE right now, i would recommend get 5 in virtues for starters for all the added benefits to your virtues, as well as 15 into radiance. then you get spammable virtue of justice, which blinds, burns, as well as gives might. and even vulnerability on mobs if you traited for it.

what other weapons ets or skills do you like using? once we know mor einfo then more can help offer what traits would be beneficial for you : ))

I havent had much time to switch skills and see which ones i like, ive just been using the signets because of the passives they give you, but like i said i havent given much thought to which skills would be the best. I think im gonna stick with GS for my main weapon and kinda switch with scepter/torch and scepter/shield.

The only problem ive run into so far is that neither weapon sets have any sort of heal as the staff or the mace does and its given me some trouble dealing with multiple foes, cause i use my cone for healing and once thats been used im basically heal-less which makes it hard to pve solo (in my opinion)

I use the scepter+shield combo for point holding in sPvP. It gives a good range of control with chains of light as well as the knockback from shield. It also allows a steady stream of dmg via Smite. Add to the fact that it is our only means of range dmg

As mentioned, it isnt the most popular combo of weps amongst guards, but for my specific build and gamestyle, I find this combination pretty awesome.

Do try out the rest before sticking to it tho

I don’t think you can actually have “bad” weapon combinations, unless you go out of your way to trait in a very inefficient way.
The reason Scepter/Shield isn’t used as often is probably because A) a lot of people think the Shield is bad and because it’s the lowest damage option.
But of control you can’t really do much better. Despite all the hate the Scepter (deservedly) gets, Chains of Light is a really good skill.

Like Ynna has already noted, there really isn’t a bad weapon combination unless you purposely placed your traits in areas that offer no synergy with your gear and weapon setup. I usually pull out the scepter/shield when I find myself having to solo a champion boss who hits too hard to be in melee range for more than 5 seconds. Simply kiting around it takes a while but gets the job done. You could use a focus but I prefer a shield since champions are resilient to blind and I’m more comfortable with the extra defence/protection compared to block.

All weapon combinations are viable, not all are optimal for every situation. I prefer scepter/focus for ranged. To each his own.

All but Sword/Torch.

I don’t think there are any “bad” combinations really, it all totally depends on your playstyle, on how you like to play. The build system is incredibly flexible that way. Any combination of weapons can be supported by some combination of Utilities and Traits, or you can build the other way round (building your weapon choices around your choice of Utilities and Traits).

There are some combos that are more optimal min-max wise (in terms of the raw numbers) in certain areas, but no combination is absolutely useless, and what one person considers useless might be optimal for another, if they can’t play, or don’t enjoy playing, in the style that the optimal combination requires.

I tried Scepter+Shield for a while, and enjoyed it, but found that ultimately Scepter+Torch is more fun for me, while Mace+Shield work better together. But that’s just me, YMMV, and if you enjoy Scepter+Shield, go for it – build around it, choose your Utilities and Traits to enhance that combo!

Kita.7819:

All but Sword/Torch.

Are you saying that this combination doesn’t work?

Thanks for all the quick responses everyone much appreciated!!!

I run with Great sword + Scepter Shield. Whenever things get too rough, I switch to Scepter/Shield. The Immobilize and AoE knockback is great for keeping monsters at a distance or interrupting a very hard hitting skill.

Generally I try to use blinds and dodges to avoid taking damage, using my shield to interrupt is kind of a last resort

Also I use the Aoe knockback whenever someone went down, to give them a little space.

Another thin you may want to keep in mind is that wearing a shield increases the chance of mobs attacking you. So if you’d rather have you soak up damage than your teammates, you might want to consider it.

Skaryon.1942:

Another thin’ you may want to keep in mind is that wearing a Shield increases the chance of mobs attacking you.

Really? I didn’t know.

The wiki says so in the aggro article and I can confirm it seems to be true from experience.

Ynna.8769:

Kita.7819:

All but Sword/Torch.

Are you saying that this combination doesn’t work?

He’s probably saying that the torch hardly does anything to complement the sword; for instance that sword 1 >= torch 5. Torch can complement an inferior damage weapon than sword with its burst, though. Best thing with sword for most purposes? Focus focus focus.