Guild Wars 2

Silven, I have been messing around with Merciful Intervention as well, in an attempt to make a bunker with a different playstyle. While it is definitely map specific (I was teleported all the way out of the clocktower) it has always been an interesting skill and with the improvements I find myself hoping it may be useful now. I began testing this build last night with mixed results:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNAW5elUgSDXHyNEf4ESmiVCBxUwRf01DIKiaIA-TsAgzCoIKSVkrITRyisFN+Y9xuBA
It seems strong to condi burst, and sustained direct dps. It’s also a lot of fun to play. On the flip side, it feels weaker to sustained condi dps, and lacks boons (especially stability). Right now I feel it is weaker than a 0/0/10/30/30 but I hold out hope we may soon have a new way to play a bunker!

akamon.2769:

hey Silven, do you reckon there’d be a need for a specific spec for the new Skyhammer map? thuogh really, as long as you maximize your stability uptime, use CC and stunbreaks accordingly, you should be alright. was thinking maybe having traited hallowed ground would be good for fights at the laser playform.

also, one neat trick with the GS: while capping either of the side points, a Guard from the opposite team came around the corner, and used binding blade with the disappearing platforms between the point and himself, then just as the platform disappears, he pulls 3 of us down. and then i assume he capped the point. :///

i started doing it to others and works really well. same can be done across the map. although, i guess getting the timing off is the hard bit. haven’t played the map enuogh yet – are they just timed? i know theyy seem to spaz out a bit before they disappear.

http://tinyurl.com/ll2jlaz
The 5 in Rad is purely for this map.

Still running control with shield, Hammer and shield can both knock people completely off the mid point and side points too. Merciful intervention I’ve been trying to use due to the 6k heal glitch atm and it helps when people try and hit you off the side.
The platforms fall away after you stand on them, and very amazing suggestion with the Greatsword, doesn’t have any play in bunkering but in dps it would be a good idea. You can try play hallowed but something like Judges to get you back on the point when you run away from the cannon (or off to get out of the cannon effect) until it’s changed to be dodgable at least >>.

mrook.4163:

Silven, I have been messing around with Merciful Intervention as well, in an attempt to make a bunker with a different playstyle. While it is definitely map specific (I was teleported all the way out of the clocktower) it has always been an interesting skill and with the improvements I find myself hoping it may be useful now. I began testing this build last night with mixed results:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNAW5elUgSDXHyNEf4ESmiVCBxUwRf01DIKiaIA-TsAgzCoIKSVkrITRyisFN+Y9xuBA
It seems strong to condi burst, and sustained direct dps. It’s also a lot of fun to play. On the flip side, it feels weaker to sustained condi dps, and lacks boons (especially stability). Right now I feel it is weaker than a 0/0/10/30/30 but I hold out hope we may soon have a new way to play a bunker!

At the moment MI is bugged and heals for 3x as much as it should, so it could be a decent idea. Remember Guardian bunkers are more about support than bunkering so you need to focus on supporting your allies to a much greater extent than just holding ground, that’s why meditation bunkers weren’t played to begin with. You could try it out for a side point holder though.

I also made a ton of mistakes in the DPS builds, ALL of the links were wrong =(((
They’re are now fixed!!! Sorry guys!!!!
Also a few changes to bunkers soon!

thanks, Silven. very nice. yea i can see how the 5 in Radiance can make a difference.
ha, i have yet try this MI glitch. but i assume an ally HAS to be nearby? or will the effects trigger even without the port?

ah, gotcha. so i guess what happened was the Guard came around the corner, stepped onto the pad, binding blades while he backed off, and then pulled when the pad disappeared.

and… laser isn’t dodgeable atm? O_____o i read somewhere that it was. but i haven’t been able to successfully dodge the damage, when i couldn’t get out in time. so.. it’s not me? lol

Yeah the laser isn’t dodgable, pretty big joke haha.
I haven’t tested since the tiny update so they could’ve hotfixed but MI heals 6k when you port and 4k if you don’t.

And I tried the GS pull a few minutes ago and got 4 people down with one pull hahaha ^^

haha the laser is pretty OP then. oh, another neat trick where binding blade shines on this map! what i like to do is when in the thick of battle, and the laser is coming down from my team and people start to flee? you know what to do lol.

just watch them eat the laser. then you can easily finish them off.

XDDD 4 people! very nice! i have a sudden urge to just camp the side points now. hahaha BB is op on skyhammer. >.>

akamon.2769:

haha the laser is pretty OP then. oh, another neat trick where binding blade shines on this map! what i like to do is when in the thick of battle, and the laser is coming down from my team and people start to flee? you know what to do lol.

just watch them eat the laser. then you can easily finish them off.

XDDD 4 people! very nice! i have a sudden urge to just camp the side points now. hahaha BB is op on skyhammer. >.>

You can dodge when they’re using the pull on Binding Blade and it severely reduces the pull (to where you barely move at all) that’s why I quite often eat Binding, they think they’ll force a stab or get free damage on me when I won’t be getting either and it’ll put them out of position.

Shameless bump, had people inquiring if I deleted my thread.

Not shameless at all. Been asking moderators on several occasions to sticky this one.

Personally i wouldnt write a single line about tpvp since its competitive and i find it very decent of you to do so so other can get some help.

Hopefully Anet sticky this on in all its modesty.

Great job mods and slightly over due.

Congrats Jax and well deserved.

I sent them a quick message about an hour ago and it looks like they responded quickly – thanks mods! ( the donut’s are in a brown paper bag in the alley, behind the dumpster )

Haha, thanks!
I kinda feel bad about being so cynical but the truth is if this game was actually that bad we would’ve all left a long time ago.
Thanks for the support guys!

grats, Silven!

multiple rich orichalcum nodes worth of dicussions in here re: Guardian gameplay.

STICKY!

Awesome!

I’ve started dabbling in pvp and up to rank 10, so nothing very exciting.

I’d been running with a staff/hammer build with a 0/0/30/30/10 just off my own ideas and it was pretty decent. I looked around and tried a few 1h builds but just couldn’t get to grips with it, probably due to my AH staff/gs/hammer playstyle in pve.

I looked at your sticky (very nice by the way, easy to understand) and tried the Spirit Watch build and it’s great! Before I had retreat on my bars a lot due to me being a typical capper rather than killer (I think that was drummed into me from WoW days “Fight near the cap for gods sake!”) but with the extra boon duration and swapping in 2h mastery, swiftness is just as good and I can put Sanctuary on my bars, a move i’ve barely used before to be honest, but so good for taking off some pressure when trying to cap and helping out allies.

A couple of points/changes i’ve made and you may agree or disagree with, i’m the noob after all.

Valor 10pts. I’ve gone for Strength in Numbers over Purity. It strikes me as we have so much removal with the shouts and the virtue, do we need that as well?

Virtues 10pts. I’ve gone for Master of Conc over Consecrated Ground. Maybe I just don’t understand CG but shorter cd and longer sanc seems better to me?

Sigil of Energy on hammer. This may be the way I play but a lot of times I found that I didn’t switch from staff to hammer with energy missing. Perhaps it’ll just take some time to get used to, but for now i’ve gone for Sigil of Hydromancy (I haven’t tested this one so it may be pants).

If anyone thinks i’ve chosen weaker options please say, i’m happy to learn!

P.s. is there a more enjoyable thing than hammering someone off Skyhammer?

Storm.3952:

I’ve started dabbling in pvp and up to rank 10, so nothing very exciting.

I’d been running with a staff/hammer build with a 0/0/30/30/10 just off my own ideas and it was pretty decent. I looked around and tried a few 1h builds but just couldn’t get to grips with it, probably due to my AH staff/gs/hammer playstyle in pve.

I looked at your sticky (very nice by the way, easy to understand) and tried the Spirit Watch build and it’s great! Before I had retreat on my bars a lot due to me being a typical capper rather than killer (I think that was drummed into me from WoW days “Fight near the cap for gods sake!”) but with the extra boon duration and swapping in 2h mastery, swiftness is just as good and I can put Sanctuary on my bars, a move i’ve barely used before to be honest, but so good for taking off some pressure when trying to cap and helping out allies.

A couple of points/changes i’ve made and you may agree or disagree with, i’m the noob after all.

Valor 10pts. I’ve gone for Strength in Numbers over Purity. It strikes me as we have so much removal with the shouts and the virtue, do we need that as well?

Virtues 10pts. I’ve gone for Master of Conc over Consecrated Ground. Maybe I just don’t understand CG but shorter cd and longer sanc seems better to me?

Sigil of Energy on hammer. This may be the way I play but a lot of times I found that I didn’t switch from staff to hammer with energy missing. Perhaps it’ll just take some time to get used to, but for now i’ve gone for Sigil of Hydromancy (I haven’t tested this one so it may be pants).

If anyone thinks i’ve chosen weaker options please say, i’m happy to learn!

P.s. is there a more enjoyable thing than hammering someone off Skyhammer?

Thanks. To respond to your questions:

• Most people feel that they need way more condition removal in this meta, while I don’t agree with them completely, we definitely do need this minor trait. There have been countless times fear would have screwed me over and this trait has saved me, that’s reason enough to bring it.
• Consecrated Ground means you can cast Sanctuary anywhere, this means if your ally was going down somewhere else (which happens most of the time) you can still deny the stomp and secure the res. You’ll rarely ever get normal Sanctuary to deny the stomp.
• Dual Energy sigils are extremely important on this build as they let you live against numerous enemies for long periods of time. It’s also important to note that dodge rolls make up most of your healing and missing out on that energy sigil means a lot of health/damage mitigation you’re missing out on.
  That being said there are times where I only need 1 energy sigil to survive, but that’s in extremely specific situations where I make no mistakes and it’s usually to counter other players with Doom/Hydromancy, etc. (not something you’re really thinking about in hotjoin).

Just as a quick side note:
The game has always been a condition based meta (since beta), it’s just condition builds are becoming more common place in hotjoin and lower rank comps. That’s why the builds don’t change that much when there’s a new ‘fotm’ because it isn’t that different to what’s already being run in tpvp.

Jax.5261:

Thanks. To respond to your questions:

• Most people feel that they need way more condition removal in this meta, while I don’t agree with them completely, we definitely do need this minor trait. There have been countless times fear would have screwed me over and this trait has saved me, that’s reason enough to bring it.
• Consecrated Ground means you can cast Sanctuary anywhere, this means if your ally was going down somewhere else (which happens most of the time) you can still deny the stomp and secure the res. You’ll rarely ever get normal Sanctuary to deny the stomp.
• Dual Energy sigils are extremely important on this build as they let you live against numerous enemies for long periods of time. It’s also important to note that dodge rolls make up most of your healing and missing out on that energy sigil means a lot of health/damage mitigation you’re missing out on.
  That being said there are times where I only need 1 energy sigil to survive, but that’s in extremely specific situations where I make no mistakes and it’s usually to counter other players with Doom/Hydromancy, etc. (not something you’re really thinking about in hotjoin).

Thanks for your reply. I’ll keep these changes and see how I get on then, I understand what you mean about CG so i’ll be trying that out!

One last thought. I mentioned about condition removal (maybe too much?) and if I swap in Purity, what are your thoughts on using Dolyak runes instead of Soldier? Or is an extra removal on shout for me and allies nearby too good to negate?

Storm.3952:

Jax.5261:

Thanks. To respond to your questions:

• Most people feel that they need way more condition removal in this meta, while I don’t agree with them completely, we definitely do need this minor trait. There have been countless times fear would have screwed me over and this trait has saved me, that’s reason enough to bring it.
• Consecrated Ground means you can cast Sanctuary anywhere, this means if your ally was going down somewhere else (which happens most of the time) you can still deny the stomp and secure the res. You’ll rarely ever get normal Sanctuary to deny the stomp.
• Dual Energy sigils are extremely important on this build as they let you live against numerous enemies for long periods of time. It’s also important to note that dodge rolls make up most of your healing and missing out on that energy sigil means a lot of health/damage mitigation you’re missing out on.
  That being said there are times where I only need 1 energy sigil to survive, but that’s in extremely specific situations where I make no mistakes and it’s usually to counter other players with Doom/Hydromancy, etc. (not something you’re really thinking about in hotjoin).

Thanks for your reply. I’ll keep these changes and see how I get on then, I understand what you mean about CG so i’ll be trying that out!

One last thought. I mentioned about condition removal (maybe too much?) and if I swap in Purity, what are your thoughts on using Dolyak runes instead of Soldier? Or is an extra removal on shout for me and allies nearby too good to negate?

Dolyak runes are awful tbh, they serve no use, the healing is really, really weak. The extra removal on shouts is way too good to give up for any runes at this time.

Hi Silven, many thanks for this post. Helped me keep interest in Guardian with the Meditation builds especially.
A quick question about the mace focus / staff setup for bunkers… What is the builds focus and would it need a specific team comp to run well. It seemed to be specced completely for teamfights.

Ralkuth.1456:

Hi Silven, many thanks for this post. Helped me keep interest in Guardian with the Meditation builds especially.
A quick question about the mace focus / staff setup for bunkers… What is the builds focus and would it need a specific team comp to run well. It seemed to be specced completely for teamfights.

Sorry for the late reply, I’ve been in hospital.
I think you’re referring to the DPS build? I don’t use a Mace on a bunker, other people do due to Valor VII giving the bonus 250 heal power (which translates to 125 bonus dodge roll heals and the extra heals in regen) but I really don’t recommend it due to you missing out on snares completely by avoiding the Scepter.
If you were referring to the DPS build it’s designed to have much more sustain in team fights and 1v1’s but it doesn’t put out as much damage. It is very well spec’d for team fights.

Jax.5261:

Sorry for the late reply, I’ve been in hospital.
I think you’re referring to the DPS build? I don’t use a Mace on a bunker, other people do due to Valor VII giving the bonus 250 heal power (which translates to 125 bonus dodge roll heals and the extra heals in regen) but I really don’t recommend it due to you missing out on snares completely by avoiding the Scepter.
If you were referring to the DPS build it’s designed to have much more sustain in team fights and 1v1’s but it doesn’t put out as much damage. It is very well spec’d for team fights.

Wishing you all the best in your recovery.

I do suppose what I’ve seen was the DPS build. I was assuming there would be use for a symbol build in bunkering, but I’m much more comfortable in the classic control bunker setup (I wonder if it would ever change… for the better, or if it even needs any change) and I don’t know what I was thinking… there was no way symbol passive healing could override the effectiveness of the standard loadout. Plus, I lose out on too much control (Resolute Healer, as well) to get the trait anyway.

Ralkuth.1456:

Jax.5261:

Sorry for the late reply, I’ve been in hospital.
I think you’re referring to the DPS build? I don’t use a Mace on a bunker, other people do due to Valor VII giving the bonus 250 heal power (which translates to 125 bonus dodge roll heals and the extra heals in regen) but I really don’t recommend it due to you missing out on snares completely by avoiding the Scepter.
If you were referring to the DPS build it’s designed to have much more sustain in team fights and 1v1’s but it doesn’t put out as much damage. It is very well spec’d for team fights.

Wishing you all the best in your recovery.

I do suppose what I’ve seen was the DPS build. I was assuming there would be use for a symbol build in bunkering, but I’m much more comfortable in the classic control bunker setup (I wonder if it would ever change… for the better, or if it even needs any change) and I don’t know what I was thinking… there was no way symbol passive healing could override the effectiveness of the standard loadout. Plus, I lose out on too much control (Resolute Healer, as well) to get the trait anyway.

Unfortunately, taking the variety of builds into account, the current bunker build is unlikely to change very much. Other builds just won’t bring enough toughness to the table to actually force a stomp or not enough utility, etc.
The only variation I’m thinking of at the moment is dropping one energy sigil, if you don’t miss any of your dodges you only need the one (except khylo). Having two will allow you to survive in futile situations a little longer but if your team does everything they should, it really won’t make a difference.
So something like a doom sigil (to use on the enemy bunker’s heal) or something like that may be the future for the bunker.

There is a way to make use of the symbols in bunkering but you do have to go 0530305 and you miss out on a lot of condition removal and control. I haven’t tested it with the new Shout bug which could mean it’s viable currently.

Jax.5261:

Unfortunately, taking the variety of builds into account, the current bunker build is unlikely to change very much. Other builds just won’t bring enough toughness to the table to actually force a stomp or not enough utility, etc.
The only variation I’m thinking of at the moment is dropping one energy sigil, if you don’t miss any of your dodges you only need the one (except khylo). Having two will allow you to survive in futile situations a little longer but if your team does everything they should, it really won’t make a difference.
So something like a doom sigil (to use on the enemy bunker’s heal) or something like that may be the future for the bunker.

There is a way to make use of the symbols in bunkering but you do have to go 0530305 and you miss out on a lot of condition removal and control. I haven’t tested it with the new Shout bug which could mean it’s viable currently.

Soon after posting here, I looked around and found the 0/5/30/30/5 that you also mentioned. It is based on AH and Symbols and people seem to have been running around with it in PAX. A few choices for Valour 20 but other than that it’s really locked in. The build seemed to emphasize more on toughness and teamfight sustain but I’m not sure I want to run around with no AR/IC… there are a lot less failsafes and you rely on your team a lot more.

Until the PoV bug is patched I will be using this on Khylo:

http://tinyurl.com/kuhh938

Lets hope it doesn’t get patched, because it’s barely enough to clear conditions as it is

any advice for in your face engi’s when I’m running a bunker build, hm/x/sh

conditions to the moon, and they have tons of cc to keep me from dodge/healing

Merril.7620:

any advice for in your face engi’s when I’m running a bunker build, hm/x/sh

conditions to the moon, and they have tons of cc to keep me from dodge/healing

• Don’t take damage from confusion
• Evade the shield knockback / bombkit knockback
• Don’t heal when poisoned, avoid poison
• Call for a roamer or your nec/engi to come and assist you

There aren’t many 1v1’s you can win as a Bunker, your job is to dominate team fights and hold points until your allies can get to you. A lot of the problems I see people have are due to just their team being in the wrong spots and rotating/roaming really badly. Obviously I can’t tell you if this is your issue but you should probably just think of whether you should be on that point in the first place or the side point bunker or whether one of your allies should have gotten to you faster / already been there in the first place.

Sorry for the late reply.

Yeah, I really don’t like playing bunker when I can’t communicate effectively with most of the team. Usually, if I have at least a couple of guildies on my team, we can move around well and I can get support rather quickly. Sadly though, hot joins and even most solo queues are frustrating as a bunker because the support/movement just isn’t reliable.

And then you have the ragers in solo q who * because I died and gave up a point while facing a 3v1. Sad… and then I’m left wondering why we haven’t capped any other points while I am single-handedly dodge dancing my way around 3 enemies.

Silven,
For reasons of an odd team comp my team has been going back to the idea of a guardian homepoint defender. I have been experimenting with symbol and meditation builds, with more success coming from your GS/S+F meditation build. It is strong in most 1v1s and mobile enough to help mid or put pressure on far. However with the overwhelming amount of H/LB warriors I was having some trouble. I have made some adjustments and think I have something closer to the old meditation homepoint defender that works quite well right now. However I am not just asking for feedback on these changes, but also for any ideas you may have for homepoint guardian or suggestions for fighting these warriors.

Here is the build based on your current meditation builds and my memory of your old homepoint one that is adapted to deal with these warriors:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNAR7dlYgSDXFSOEfIFRuArHB0g+DXw1DIGxGC-TsAA1CnIKSVkrITRyisFNsYZxGCA

Lexiculus.5296:

Yeah, I really don’t like playing bunker when I can’t communicate effectively with most of the team. Usually, if I have at least a couple of guildies on my team, we can move around well and I can get support rather quickly. Sadly though, hot joins and even most solo queues are frustrating as a bunker because the support/movement just isn’t reliable.

And then you have the ragers in solo q who * because I died and gave up a point while facing a 3v1. Sad… and then I’m left wondering why we haven’t capped any other points while I am single-handedly dodge dancing my way around 3 enemies.

Just run the 2hd DPS build in soloq (Hammer/Staff) it’s much easier to carry, you can also win 2/3v1’s with it sometimes.

mrook.4163:

Silven,
For reasons of an odd team comp my team has been going back to the idea of a guardian homepoint defender. I have been experimenting with symbol and meditation builds, with more success coming from your GS/S+F meditation build. It is strong in most 1v1s and mobile enough to help mid or put pressure on far. However with the overwhelming amount of H/LB warriors I was having some trouble. I have made some adjustments and think I have something closer to the old meditation homepoint defender that works quite well right now. However I am not just asking for feedback on these changes, but also for any ideas you may have for homepoint guardian or suggestions for fighting these warriors.

Here is the build based on your current meditation builds and my memory of your old homepoint one that is adapted to deal with these warriors:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNAR7dlYgSDXFSOEfIFRuArHB0g+DXw1DIGxGC-TsAA1CnIKSVkrITRyisFNsYZxGCA

The reason I switched from meditations to the 2hd DPS build for side points is because it has much stronger sustain, mobility and does much better in team fights. The only reason to run a meditation build on side point is so that you can deal with Necros/Engis in teamfights, usually you’d have a roamer to play that role.
I always run something like this while playing home point now: http://tinyurl.com/kjhnvt5

• You have fantastic support, sustain and DPS in teamfights
• You have the mobility to be in mid teamfights and hold your side point
• You can steal bosses and defend the lord pretty well
• You can deal with most far point push builds, especially thieves, warriors and mesmers

You have one big weakness and that’s the Ranger, you have to call your roamer as soooon as you possibly can to come help you out or you will lose the point (assuming they’re not bad).

Also!
The GS / S-F was designed specifically for trying to quickly aoe burst people down in teamfights when they’re resing/stomping allies so that you can turn the tide of a teamfight or simply win it, while still having strong 1v1 capabilities. There really isn’t too much point to running a GS, it’s either a res/stomp secure weapon or “I hope they haven’t learnt how to press dodge yet!” so I’d avoid it.

If you really want to play a meditation build I’d run something like this:
http://tinyurl.com/m7k2qlm
With Contemplation of Purity unless you think they’ll have a Guardian or Warrior pushing your close point, then you’d run SYG.

Thanks for your suggestion, that looks a lot like something i tried, but may need to try again, I think you’re points on it are spot on. The meditation build you linked I’ve tried as well. My only problem was mobility to and from the team fight seemed to suffer without the greatsword. I may have not been using my teleports as efficiently as possible and will continue trying it.

Jax, your mace burst spec is alot of fun and is very well thought out. Never would thought of playing guard in that style but its awesome. Just for me it’s a bit squish for my play style so I’m trying to modify the mace burst with my own spec to fit my play style. I created a post that references your guide cause my post is kinda long. If you have time could u critque it please or see if it is even viable? Here’s my post https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/alternate-1h-guard-burst-spec/first#post2930908 . I know I wont get the same dmg and i’m ok with that. I’m having success with a modified 0/5/30/30/5 spec but I think I can do better with something else. I’m using flashing blade to teleport instead of Judge’s Intervention.

Another reason I’m looking for something different is that shouts are just better in almost every situation imo. I heard meditations are getting fury added to them on activation for the next patch so that will change the balance for sure.

Jayroc.2768:

Jax, your mace burst spec is alot of fun and is very well thought out. Never would thought of playing guard in that style but its awesome. Just for me it’s a bit squish for my play style so I’m trying to modify the mace burst with my own spec to fit my play style. I created a post that references your guide cause my post is kinda long. If you have time could u critque it please or see if it is even viable? Here’s my post https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/alternate-1h-guard-burst-spec/first#post2930908 . I know I wont get the same dmg and i’m ok with that. I’m having success with a modified 0/5/30/30/5 spec but I think I can do better with something else. I’m using flashing blade to teleport instead of Judge’s Intervention.

What are you trying to achieve with the build? For example: the mace burst build is specifically designed to deal with roamers/condi aoe classes. It’s hard to comment on the build if you don’t specify an objective.

Teamfights/securing stomps/good mobility. Did some more testing in last couple days and i do not think the build i posted will work. Main goal is that I would like to play a spec with mace and sword with descent dmg using shouts to help survive alittle more than using medi utilities, if that is even possible trait wise. I have a rotation that i feel very comfortable with using those weapons. Thanks for your time.

Jayroc.2768:

Teamfights/securing stomps/good mobility. Did some more testing in last couple days and i do not think the build i posted will work. Main goal is that I would like to play a spec with mace and sword with descent dmg using shouts to help survive alittle more than using medi utilities, if that is even possible trait wise. I have a rotation that i feel very comfortable with using those weapons. Thanks for your time.

Okay, Ideally you’d want to run a DPS build (meaning symbol DPS) and not what you’re trying for now. But I did have decent success today trying out this for you:
http://tinyurl.com/lpdyus2

The shield with mace is for the interrupt on their heal because I start sword → mace in the burst combo. This will allow you to stomp/res and deal decent damage in team fights. But being less squishy means way less damage and a couple of classes you can’t deal with anymore (engineer mainly). It has less sustain than a DPS build too but it fits what you want to do, so if you feel you’d be better with the setup you asked for then run this otherwise run DPS.

Important things to note (I played about 15 teamq matches on my smurf with this)

• Keep up your dps, if you stop auto-attacking you’re back to square one
• Interrupt important skills with your shield
• Use dodgerolls correctly and often or you’ll die regardless
• Use shouts to support your team as well as yourself
• “Juke-Roll”, I’m not sure what to call it but when I dodge roll through enemies backwards it takes a second to follow me as a target (even against top players) thus making LoS skills harder to land for them. In hotjoin/low ranked q you can sometimes completely confuse them ending up in stealing bosses and living, juking entire teams, etc.

Hope this helped.

Awesome thanks, this is exactly what i was looking for. Cant wait to try it out tonight. Thanks for your time.

New builds coming this week, all will be updated from the patch!

Really looking forward to it Jax!

Aight the builds are all completely updated for the recent patch.
I put a NEW sign next to them if there’s more than 1 or 2 changes.

Please tell me if there’s anything wrong or if you think there are any better builds to look into, thanks!! =)

Once again, you rock for putting in the time to do this.

On the full Zerker Mace Burst I think there is a way to make it better.

Blind Exposure is objectively superior to Inner Fire, because you will get a Fury proc on Meditation use already and the burst comes out so quick that the added duration is of little consequence. If you time your port in correctly with RoJ and activate Justice you can land 9 stacks of Vuln as your burst sequence hits (timing is critical, but it always has been on this burst anyway). It gets a little button-mashy to execute, but there is slightly more damage to be had from the burst.

Also, if my math is correct Superior accuracy is a bigger boost to damage than superior force in this set up. It is splitting hairs, but notable.

As a variant you can run with Ogre Runes instead of Scholar. It is slightly less damage under ideal conditions, but higher sustained damage, particularly if you are in a longer team fight scenario, because you lose the 10% when >90% pretty fast to AoE and cleave with such low health. The Meditation healing helps mitigate this, but you can lose 10% of your health to a stiff breeze in this set up.

Jax, what would you say is the best Guardian dueling build ATM (or top 3 or w/e)?

Myrmidian Eudoros.4671:

Once again, you rock for putting in the time to do this.

On the full Zerker Mace Burst I think there is a way to make it better.

Blind Exposure is objectively superior to Inner Fire, because you will get a Fury proc on Meditation use already and the burst comes out so quick that the added duration is of little consequence. If you time your port in correctly with RoJ and activate Justice you can land 9 stacks of Vuln as your burst sequence hits (timing is critical, but it always has been on this burst anyway). It gets a little button-mashy to execute, but there is slightly more damage to be had from the burst.

Also, if my math is correct Superior accuracy is a bigger boost to damage than superior force in this set up. It is splitting hairs, but notable.

As a variant you can run with Ogre Runes instead of Scholar. It is slightly less damage under ideal conditions, but higher sustained damage, particularly if you are in a longer team fight scenario, because you lose the 10% when >90% pretty fast to AoE and cleave with such low health. The Meditation healing helps mitigate this, but you can lose 10% of your health to a stiff breeze in this set up.

With the high Fury up time, with the proc on burning, Bloodlust is better than Accuracy. I’ve tested it in game and on my calculator. It’s also important that your burst hits as high as practically possible, even if you reduce the chance a bit. Especially dealing with Warriors in the current meta.

You Can’t use the RoJ with the Mace burst or you delay Zealot’s Flame or Protector’s Strike (to the point you’re much less likely to hit) but Justice + Chains of Light will give you 6% so you can choose to use that

The rock dog is good for downed fights but isn’t worth it in the long run (especially since you’re not sustain). Most of your damage is going to be over 90% though, you’re burst and counter most roam builds without taking much damage (especially thieves).

The choices are up to you though, your play style may different and I suggest playing with what you’re comfortable with.

Arius.7031:

Jax, what would you say is the best Guardian dueling build ATM (or top 3 or w/e)?

Depends on what you’re playing against.
http://tinyurl.com/lw4x74x
Good against most builds unless they’re centred around kiting and snaring you (even then you can do well). Defender’s Flame gives that extra damage to negate passive heals. You can run with Spirit Hammer if you need more control.

http://tinyurl.com/p9jab6g
Land your burst, one shot them. If you mess up or they negate your burst you can lose though, counters a lot of squishy builds and most of the kitten meta builds.

Hope that helped, if you have something specific I can give you something specific.

Thank you both for your response and your epic work in the original post. My question is geared towards WvW roaming. Basically, I want to be able to beat people 1v1 primarily with a secondary focus on being good when outnumbered. On my Mesmer, for example, it’s child’s play to kill 2 people at once (unless they’re both exceptional). They’re kind of OP in that regard though, so I don’t expect a build that’s quite that good, but something around that good would be very cool. I don’t know if that changes your recommendations though. I’m really interested in that 1st build as I love hammer.

Jax, have you worked on a might build? I thought I read earlier that you were experimenting on one that included 2 runes of hoelbrak, fire, and strength (+60 might duration) and then include 2 sigils of battle, the staff, at least one consecration (for +might fire field blasts), and empowering might. It should keep some decent stacks of might up for a long time.

Arius.7031:

Thank you both for your response and your epic work in the original post. My question is geared towards WvW roaming. Basically, I want to be able to beat people 1v1 primarily with a secondary focus on being good when outnumbered. On my Mesmer, for example, it’s child’s play to kill 2 people at once (unless they’re both exceptional). They’re kind of OP in that regard though, so I don’t expect a build that’s quite that good, but something around that good would be very cool. I don’t know if that changes your recommendations though. I’m really interested in that 1st build as I love hammer.

It’s impossible to tell you what to run in WvW, the enemies have infinite builds to choose from, in tpvp they’re severely restricted and you can see their class beforehand. The Hammer/Staff build is really strong against everything while being able to deal with 1vX’s well. Guards are best off with a teammate, I know I only play wvw with friends (or I’d be in tpvp) and Scepter-Focus / Hammer is amazing, you can win against many more players. I remember a 2v~10 we won outright, without either of us going down.

Just forget about the summon hammer, that’s only for when your enemy’s positioning is controlled (unlike wvw).

Lexiculus.5296:

Jax, have you worked on a might build? I thought I read earlier that you were experimenting on one that included 2 runes of hoelbrak, fire, and strength (+60 might duration) and then include 2 sigils of battle, the staff, at least one consecration (for +might fire field blasts), and empowering might. It should keep some decent stacks of might up for a long time.

Although I did experiment a lot with might based builds, they don’t have any advantage over current builds. There’s no aspect of them where you can say “ah this beats X while the regular DPS can’t”.
So they do exist but you’re gimping yourself by running them. There used to be one on the list as it dealt with necromancers well but when PoV got bugfixed back to removing 1 condition it was impossible to keep using it.

Thanks for the info. It looked like a good idea on paper. =)

Some days ago, i learned that right handet strenght only works for your mainhand :-(. Wouldnet it be better do drop those 5 last points in radiance and additonaly 5 points in virtues, to be able to pick up Fiery Wrath.