Guild Wars 2

Introduction:
Hi all. With the august update we got 2 new symbols on sword and scepter. I immediatly revived one of my old builds and adjusted it around these changes. With everyone playing DH I wanted to play something different.
Now that I made it to Diamond soloqueing all the way I’m confident enough to post the build and maybe inspire some more non DH play.

Build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQRAse7dlsAhyhY1QwbIwPEHxDldDu3UoGAPQ9e33YIHA-TJBFAByt/g4lBA4JAQwJBAA
It’s an ‘iron’ cannon burst build focused on ‘trapping’ (immobilizing) people in your symbols (Symbol of Punishment & Symbol of Blades) to burst them down. At first I didn’t think it would work in sPvP with all the moving around but it actualy does a pretty good job. It makes a good skirmisher but stands its ground in team fights as well.

This build offers:
- 100% crit chance.
- St focused burst with good cleave.
- Decent mobility (for a guard :P)
- Good survivability with blinds, blocks and meditations.

This build doesn’t offer:
- Alot of team support. (Some condi cleanse, a little heal and some protection that’s it.)

Reasoning behind the traits:
Zeal:
- Fiery Wrath: no brainer, increases dmg.
- Binding Jeopardy: stacking vulnerability with Symbolic Exposure and Wrath of Justice. Seems to do more dps then Kindled Zeal.
- Symbolic Avenger: it’s a symbol build. Enough said.

Radiance:
- Right-hand Strenght: More crit on both weapons. Together with Radiant Power and Fury you have 100% crit chance.
- Wrath of Justice: Immobilize people in your symbols with your Virtue of Justice then burst with Zealot’s Defence. Gives 6 stacks of vulnerability with Binding Jeopardy since Virtue of Justice now blinds as well as immobilizes. (I get as much as 20stacks of vulnerability when I get my combos off good.)
- Perfect Inscriptions: To lower the cooldown on Wrath of Justice trait.

Valor:
Pretty self explanatory and the same as all medi builds. Take Stalwarth Defender over Strength in Numbers when teamed with another guard with Strenght in Numbers as they don’t stack.

Runes, Sigils & Amulet:
I prefer Runes of the Traveler for the movement speed since guards are slow. Runes of the Pack are another viable option but offer less Ferocity (important stat with 100% crit chance) and will put you over the 100% crit chance cap which is a loss.

For sigils all the ones that trigger on crit are good with our high crit chance. I prefer Air and Blood for the low cd’s and the sustain. Fire and Rage are also viable.

Amulet of the Marauder cause we need the HP.

Usage:
- Symbol of Blades is a versatile skill. Main usage is to burst peole with Zealots Defence while getting the dmg increase from the vulnerability and Symbolic Avenger. But it’s also a teleport which can help with movement. Thirdly it’s also an AoE blind that can help rez/stomp, or avoid dmg.
- Don’t use Virtue of Justice to secure your stomps. Yes it will recharge with the Renewed Justice trait but you don’t want to waste your Wrath of Justice (24sec cd) on a downed enemy.
- If you get the timing right you can chain immobilize enemies. Start on scepter and immo with Chains of Light. Drop a Symbol of Punishment and close the distance. Swap to sword and use Symbol of Blades + Virtue of Justice. Burst with Zealot’s Defence. Fill with Shield of Judgement and AA and swap to scepter again. Chains of Light should (almost) be off cd so you can immo them for a third time. Be prepared to be accused of hacking when you get it right
- Shield of Judgement gives protection, but don’t underestimate it’s dmg.
- Shield of Absorption can be used to secure a rez/stomp as well as to give your team a heal or push someone of a point.
- Ray of Judgement can be used to try and bait a dodge so your Chains of Light have a higher chance of hitting. If not it still offers regen.

Be sure to test it out. Hope you enjoy the build as much as I do.

My main concern is Stability. It’s 100% the reason why Core builds are unviable in a high mmr game. Anyone and everyone can cc you to 100-0 if they know how to focus target.

Dragonhunter treeline with the F2 heals and F3 block and Stability when cc’d is all sustains. That and it offers Test of Faith, it’s just hard to not take.

Heavy criticism aside, I would swap Radiance with Honor considering you have Zeal’s increased symbol damages so you definitely want symbols to hit as often as possible. I just feel Writ of Persistence is much better than the 15% increased crit chance. At 70% hit rate, you’ll barely notice a difference :p

Yes, stability is an issue. But you can play arround it to some extend: Positioning, LoS, awareness, your F1 blind and F3 block and Shield of Wrath. Notice too that I have both Judge’s Intervention and Contemplation of Purity as a stun breaker. That being said, it’s still an issue but not so much once you learn how to play arround it.

As for Honor over Radiance I disagree. You need Radiance for the Wrath of Justice trait imo. The whole build is centered arround it. I’ve tried it, but didn’t feel as I needed the larger symbols. Most cap circles are pretty small anyway and I rather have the extra cc to make sure my burst lands.

It’s refreshing to see a Guardian that requires skill to play. I’ve been hit by this build in PvP and it hurts when played right. A friend of mine says it turns a Guardian into a reverent because the teleport burst with the sword.

Thank you, I like guardian, just not Dh.