Guild Wars 2

I’m currently working on trying to find the right build that I will be primarily be using with my Fractals group (I’m rerolling from Thief since we already have a Thief, but no Guard). Below are some of the main things I want to get from the build:

- Strong personal DPS (I don’t want to run some AH pseudo-tank build)
– Hammer as primary weapon
– Ability to help stack might
– Ability to provide strong support with reflects/stability/cleansing/protection/etc.

Here’s what I’m currently considering:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNAS7+kYgCDXGSRkVQkWPIIALYVh4hpQjeE
Gear will be primarily berserker, although I may use some Knights pieces as well to start out.

My fractals group currently consists of an Ele (not 100% sure of build, but it’s not a Lightning Hammer build. Seems primarily to use fire spells), a Thief (primarily Pistol/Pistol ranged atm, but may switch to daggers later), an Engi (runs grenade kit with elixirs), and a Ranger (using bows primarily).

tl;dr for that: My group is using a lot of ranged builds and brings some might, but we’re never really fully stacked.

Anyways, with those considerations, I’m wondering the following questions:

- Would it be more worthwhile to put additional points into Virtues to extend boon durations? A lot of the talents in that tree seem rather lackluster.

- For the second tier of Honor, is Writ of Persistence, Two-Handed Mastery, or Empowering Might better?

- Would Ruby Jewels/Scholar Runes be better for a build like this or would picking up the boon duration runes (2x sup monk, 2x sup water, and 2x major sanctuary) be better?

- Is there a better way overall to rearrange traits to fit a good hammer build without sacrificing tons of damage (i.e. keeping 10 in Zeal and 25 in Radiance)?

Get them to stop being useless and use melee sets.

Dahkeus.8243:

Anyways, with those considerations, I’m wondering the following questions:

- Would it be more worthwhile to put additional points into Virtues to extend boon durations? A lot of the talents in that tree seem rather lackluster.

- For the second tier of Honor, is Writ of Persistence, Two-Handed Mastery, or Empowering Might better?

- Would Ruby Jewels/Scholar Runes be better for a build like this or would picking up the boon duration runes (2x sup monk, 2x sup water, and 2x major sanctuary) be better?

- Is there a better way overall to rearrange traits to fit a good hammer build without sacrificing tons of damage (i.e. keeping 10 in Zeal and 25 in Radiance)?

I run 15/15/0/20/20. It’s a balance of things that I think are important to me for PVE using a hammer. I tend to run writ.

I never run 2H mastery with hammer. It gives little benefit to increasing damage.

I use Ruby cause it’s cheap but there are scenarios (I don’t know the exact details) where scholar are better. I think the damage difference is very small.

Obtena.7952:

Dahkeus.8243:

Anyways, with those considerations, I’m wondering the following questions:

- Would it be more worthwhile to put additional points into Virtues to extend boon durations? A lot of the talents in that tree seem rather lackluster.

- For the second tier of Honor, is Writ of Persistence, Two-Handed Mastery, or Empowering Might better?

- Would Ruby Jewels/Scholar Runes be better for a build like this or would picking up the boon duration runes (2x sup monk, 2x sup water, and 2x major sanctuary) be better?

- Is there a better way overall to rearrange traits to fit a good hammer build without sacrificing tons of damage (i.e. keeping 10 in Zeal and 25 in Radiance)?

I run 15/15/0/20/20. It’s a balance of things that I think are important to me for PVE using a hammer. I tend to run writ.

I never run 2H mastery with hammer. It gives little benefit to increasing damage.

I use Ruby cause it’s cheap but there are scenarios (I don’t know the exact details) where scholar are better. I think the damage difference is very small.

Well, the benefit of 2 Mastery isn’t for damage, but for additional blast finishers to provide more might.

If they are ranged, then blasting might isnt going to help them much because area might has a range(not sure what it is though). And writ of persistence is much better for personal dps.
Not sure why u are taking perfect inscription because i generally dun use signets in fractals. U might as well go 15 in Zeal for the vulnerability symbol trait which works great for hammer unless u take RHS if u need some range and i think RHS>Perfect inscription.
Scholar runes>boon duration runes I think guardian isnt really that good for stacking might. U got a blast finisher every 5s and u need a fire field as well(purging ground n hallowed grounds) and sometimes ur symbol might hinder the fire field..causing u to hit area retaliation instead.
Scholar runes> ruby orbs for dps unless u have trouble maintaining ur hp above 90% more than 24% of the time.
Just as a tip, a engineer can stack 9~12 stacks of might just by himself so u could probably ask the engineer to use his might rotation if possible. The method is Big Ol bomb, fire bomb, throw mine(explode)and shield #4. That’s 9 stacks of might already. He could throw in healing turret detonation or the elite supply skill for another 3 stacks.

Well, the Perfect Inscriptions was more of something just to have while wielding a hammer that would be switched for RHS on ranged fights, but I’ll go ahead and switch it for the 14 in Zeal.

Also, good tip for the might stacking on the engi. I’ll pass that on.

Hi there,

This is my current hammer DPS setup, because of the group i play in i chose condi cleanse instead of consecration because my buddy plays a consecration guard.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQJASRlYg67mFyKEf4EhNDCCw6DxD7BG9YHB-jgyAYfAsFERAiKAk8IiWTfgF3ioxqrx0uER127hoBA-e

for might stacking you can change sword for staff
I hope this might help you

Blazin Blunt.6908:

Hi there,

This is my current hammer DPS setup, because of the group i play in i chose condi cleanse instead of consecration because my buddy plays a consecration guard.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQJASRlYg67mFyKEf4EhNDCCw6DxD7BG9YHB-jgyAYfAsFERAiKAk8IiWTfgF3ioxqrx0uER127hoBA-e

for might stacking you can change sword for staff
I hope this might help you

I will not recommend Blazin’s built if u are the only guardian in your party.

Consecrations>condition removal in fractals for me

This is because i normally use at least 1~2 consecrations (wall of reflection/hallowed ground/purging flames) with maybe shield of avenger or retreat. Retreat is the only shout i really use frequently nowadays because an additional aegis is really very good.

The other shouts SYS/HTL/SYG are only marginally useful unless u stack boon durations. HTL is pretty useless for a hammer user since u should already have close to perm protection from hammer auto attack. SYG isnt really useful for most fights in fractals as well ( Snow and dredge are the only fractals i can rmb where its useful)

For might stacking purpose, I will not recommend using staff for it.
Staff is only good for stacking might before the fight.
Once u start the fight, I feel that u lower your dps too much by swapping to staff. You lose dps because u have to stay in staff for at least 10s so you are stuck with a crappy autoattack for at least 6s, no dps for 2s while empowering as well.

25/25/0/20/0 is the highest DPS Hammer build I’ve been able to get in testing, adjusted slightly. Haven’t mathed it out yet but I think interrupting your hammer chain for MB is a loss. It lacks some optimization of utility but I’ve run it in FotM n Arah without much problem.

I like this build I found over at the guru; http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/83935-dps-hammer-synergy-with-lightning-hammer-elementalist/

The talents in Honor I fiddle with sometimes, but I really like how it has some support & takes advantage of Virtue of Justice recharge on kill for extra might. Plus I just like to use virtues, so it’s worked out for my guardian. I use Greatsword secondary for the leap/pull (mobility), unless I just really need staff for prebuffs/tags or scepter for range.

Thanks for the advice. Ultimately, I think I’ll be running with this:
10/25/0/20/10
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNAS7elYgCDXGyLEfIFRWBRazggAs+Q8wUoRPC-jQyAY/IjtAILBiKAn8GyaCMithioxqrxUuER1A-e