Guild Wars 2

Does it upset anyone else that this skill isn’t on the shield?

I know I’d much prefer to be blocking attacks with my shield. I wish this were the #4 for shield and swapped Shield of Judgement to focus.

You and about 90% of all sane guardians.

As it stands right now, Shield, although not truly underwheling, it is the msot anti-thematic and underwhelming weapon of guardians, despite being their “iconic” thing.

A true shame.

I would give anything to be able to run a sword/shield build that isnt gimping me or my team in anyway.

Lol ya it does suck.

Personally I would love to see guardian shield changed to be more like the following.

#4: make it an AOE centered on the guardian.

#5: Scrap it then Make it an AOE centered on the guardian that knocks back enemies & applies a 10 second AEGIS to allies within a 240 radius. Then drop the Cd slightly to say 30-35 seconds. (this would make the shield work great with traits that focus on AEGIS)

The cooldowns on the shield are FAR too long (even traited) and the effects FAR too unimpactful. Why they don’t change it, they must know that 99.9% of guardians run around with the focus instead of shield or torch.

Not this discussion again. (I swear to god, this forum just repeats its discussions every two weeks. Has done since beta.)

I like the Shield. It does what it does okay, but the cooldowns are way too long.

Unlike most Guardians, I think the skills on the Shield are a decent thematic fit.

Ynna.8769:

Not this discussion again. (I swear to god, this forum just repeats its discussions every two weeks. Has done since beta.)

I guess the community developers are partly to blame for that one, having never bothered to implement/fix the most basic of forum features: The Search.

Thank god most external search engines let you specify a search path …

Ynna.8769:

I like the Shield. It does what it does okay, but the cooldowns are way too long.

Unlike most Guardians, I think the skills on the Shield are a decent thematic fit.

Agreed, and SoW is more thematic with the focus as an offensive offhand ( since it’s one of our deadliest burst skills ).

I’m a rare dps guard that likes to roam with a shield because I appreciate the on-demand interrupt and protection on a glassy build more than the well telegraphed burst of the focus.

Shaving 25%-30% off the current cooldowns would be about right

Ynna.8769:

Not this discussion again. (I swear to god, this forum just repeats its discussions every two weeks. Has done since beta.)

I like the Shield. It does what it does okay, but the cooldowns are way too long.

Unlike most Guardians, I think the skills on the Shield are a decent thematic fit.

This exactly is my opinion on the matter. Though i might say the shield5 should last a little longer too.

Shield 5 is awesome and fits the theme. The cd is a bit long, but then again I don’t think they ever intended guardian to be a decapper. Also focus is about magic so magical shields surrounding you fits fairly well. Also shield 5 lasting longer seems pointless to me, but I only ever use it for the knockback. If you want to block ranged attacks there is always sanc, tho that is also a long cd.

Well I don’t know where other people are coming from here, but in sPvP, shield is pretty good. You can prevent A LOT of damage with shield 5. I typically use shield 4 when a teammate is trying to push a squishy target and to clear blind. Timing is definitely key on shield though.

I’ve said this in another thread, but i wish the more “offensive” weapons had better peeling capability. I feel the guardian should be king at peeling for other people and I’d like to see more reliable ways to do that on their more offensively geared weapons like sword (the blind is really nice), hammer (immob plus launch plus ring of warding), and greatsword (greatsword 5 for the pull).

The shield doesn’t even block.. >.>

Sunshine.4680:

The shield doesn’t even block.. >.>

Mimimimimimimimi…

It blocks projectiles and offers Protection (which is actually more like how an actual shield protects you than straight up blocks). Apart from the longish cooldowns, it’s perfectly functional weapon and widely more defensive than any of our other offhands.

The Guardian is a magical fighter, it makes sense that he uses his defensive weapons to provide *magic*based defenses.

Shield makes no sense since it has less defense than my boots or gloves. It defeats the concept of the shield because it offers limited protection and doesn’t block melee

Can we please leave the focus alone guys? Just because the shield is terrible doesn’t mean we have to screw over the one off hand in a good place.

What the shield needs is NOT a 3 hit block, but a 3 second duration block. At the very least, a knockdown on shield 4 to justify it’s long cooldown.

kasoki.5180:

Shield makes no sense since it has less defense than my boots or gloves. It defeats the concept of the shield because it offers limited protection and doesn’t block melee

The Shield is a defensive weapon. The Guardian is a magical fighter. The Shield offers magical defense. The concept shouldn’t be that hard to grasp.

And sure, the Shield isn’t a great weapon for us, but it seems a lot of people can’t get past the tangible detail of “waaah the shield doesn’t even block” that they can think further and see how the Shield can fit our class and still be improved within the parameters that already exist.

People seem to forget the inherit defense that the shield posesses. An ascended shield gives you an extra 64 defense. This is compareable to light armor helmets or shoulders, or about half of the defense heavy armor helms or shoulders give you. You can also get an additional 90 toughness from traits when wearing shield, in addition to decreased CD of shield skills.

I also think the guardian’s shield skills could use a boost, but remember that a shield is not only it’s weapon skills, it also brings inherit defense.

Shield is a good off-hand. Has a protection buff for party and skill 5 absorbs projectiles. I just hate sometimes when skill 5 pushbacks enemies.

I think the pushback effect should be added with a major trait, and cooldown a bit reduced.

zefaistos.2601:

Shield is a good off-hand. Has a protection buff for party and skill 5 absorbs projectiles. I just hate sometimes when skill 5 pushbacks enemies.

I think the pushback effect should be added with a major trait, and cooldown a bit reduced.

Surely you’re joking? The pushback is currently what makes the Shield worth using.

If you moved shield of wrath over to shield, then I would just complain that focus sucks, lol.

In all seriousness, Shield of Wrath is there on the focus and what’s done is done. What it needs to do is NOT waste aegis when it blocks a hit, because that is just stupid.

ArchonWing.9480:

What it needs to do is NOT waste aegis when it blocks a hit, because that is just stupid.

Amen

Ynna.8769:

kasoki.5180:

Shield makes no sense since it has less defense than my boots or gloves. It defeats the concept of the shield because it offers limited protection and doesn’t block melee

The Shield is a defensive weapon. The Guardian is a magical fighter. The Shield offers magical defense. The concept shouldn’t be that hard to grasp.

Guardian is not the only proff that uses shield. You didn’t really defend the notion how its normal that a shield has lower protective abilities than gloves or boots or even light armour helms that casters use. Seriously you shouldnt event try to defend it. For kittens sake, its a pachment of silk and it has higher defense than a shield. Its not simply a game mechanics issue, it is a gameplay concept issue.

Second, guardian is not just a magical fighter, he is a fighter and protector who uses magic. Both, not just one of those. Also, comapred to focus, shield isn’t the one that adds magical defense

Aeromu.9134:

I’d much prefer to be blocking attacks with my shield.

Try using it offensively.
It does block… But you missed the point of the thing