Guild Wars 2

Intro
There can be several viable Burn Guardian build types depending on personal playstyle. I’m going to go over the popular treeline options for newer players. I’ll then list several competitive TPvP builds that I feel performs exceptionally well. Lets get started!

Tree and Trait Information for Beginners

Burn Builds – Contents
1. Burn Burst – GS Focus/Torch
2. Bunker Burn Builds
3. Dragonhunter Burn Atrition

Carrion vs Celestials vs Rampage

You don’t gain the benefits of every single stat like other classes do with Celestials. The sustains you do get from Cele is negligible. Reason being? Guardian lacks additional self sustains via mobility, making us dependent entirely on utility, non mobile and high CD skills to survive. Once we use these skills, we lose our sustains. If that aspect changes then maybe Cele would be a thing for us.

Rampage is a glassy build that’s not going to out damage a regular power build like Berserkers. I don’t recommend any burn builds that’s more glass than Carrion.

Geomancy on both weapon sets is recommended. It can offer F1 procs as well as increased condi pressure in group play.

Fire is recommended for its moderate AoE damage and potential F1 procs. Choose if in Radiance

Air is the same as Fire Sigils with the exception it effects a single target but offers moderately more damage. Effects F1 procs as well, but it’s not as recommended considering you’ll never make due with the 3s icd. 5s is more realistic considering your low crit rate. Choose if in Radiance

Doom is still an option in spite a damage nerf. Its 33% reduced healing effect means a persons will rally-heal slower, enabling you to cleave longer. Though, Smoldering sigils is more popular now.

Smoldering performance effects more on your cleaves and F1 procs rather than your PF or JI utilities. If you personally don’t prefer Geomancy or Crit sigils, this sigil is a nice addition for GS and Torch weapon variants.

Rune of Balthazar is the most popular rune for Burn Guards

Rune of the Guardian – This Burn on Block effect no longer has a CD. This makes your Shelter and DH #3 a lot more powerful; giving you more burn applications in area’s where you’re likely going to get hit numerous times.

Flame Legion & Fire Runes are tied for third.

The Duelist – Burst Burning

Runes/sigils to consider
Fire runes instead of Balthazar – Adds potentially more Burn + Might procs
Energy + Smoldering – Adds overall sustains and damages

Notable Rotations and Techniques with GS + Scepter/Torch
The build can engage with the Scepter, keeping a distance and using Torch #4 and #5 when in range. Depending on how I feel the other team engages (if you’re not going to be the focus target) I would use Judge’s Intervention + weapon switch for the bleeds, then spin to win with GS.

Casting Scepter #3 right after Zealot’s Flame / Purging Flames / Judge’s Intervention can offer excellent Condition Coverage. Same applies for weapon switching bleed procs.

Purging Flames is a Fire Field. That means who ever enters it or leaves it, will receive 3 stacks of burns. I can’t stress how useful and damaging this utility can be. You can easily pull people with GS #5 inside (i’ve pulled 3 before) or simply kite around the Fire Field’s edges.

Each hit of Whirling Wrath in a Fire Field will apply an additional burn proc. GS #3 in the Fire Field will give you a Fire Shield

You can save PF for team/self condi cleanses, or use it to burst the person your team is on. It’s usually a win/win all around but there are still some deciding factors to consider. I personally think every burn guardian should trade Purging Flames for Smite Condition as I think the utility cleanse and burst effect is too good to pass up.

Torch #5 can be a big team cleansing utility as well as a damaging one. Always try to prioritize your allies if possible. Me mindful of ally conditions at all times in case PF is needed.

Use Scepter at a distance. There’s nothing wrong with spamming Smite, Auto attacks and Torch #4 if it means you’re surviving. If they’ve exhausted all their condi cleansing utilities in that engagement, it means they won’t have enough to counter your burst utilities with Greatsword.

Pros
Whirling Wrath’s cleaving abilities can dish out massive amounts of damage in group scenarios. An average of 7 burn stacks and as high as 17 burst burn stacks are common, applying between 2k to 7k burn ticks per second depending on the number of cleaved targets. This build will never stomp unless absolutely necessary. Offers higher condi pressure, even against self sustaining and cleansing classes.

Cons

• Survivability in heavy focus target situations.
• Mobility – don’t expect to out run anyone.

Almost always save a stunbreaks, such as CoP or Judge’s Intervention, in conjunction with Shelter or Renewed Focus.

You should almost never get bursted down if you use your utility stunbreaks correctly. Use Judge’s Intervention on the furthest enemy to get yourself away from the heat of battle. You can be just as resilient as any Cele class with the exception that you can’t out sustain anyone if you’ve exhausted all medi skills. However, you can out damage everyone right before that happens.

If you prefer 1-handed weapons, please see the post below.

Continued

1 – Handed weapons over GS weapon variant

Sword / Torch
Scepter / Focus

Shield can also be used with the Sword
Main Reasons: Knocking people in and out of Purging Flames – Cast Purging Flames for an instant 3 burns then knock people out of PF for another 3 burn stacks. Surprisingly very effective.
Additional Shield usages*
Kyhlo map: Teleport with Sword + Shield #5 to knock people off Middle point.

Playstyle and Strategies

You can use Torch on Scepter or on Sword; there’s no wrong way about it really. I personally prefer to use Sword/Torch as you can #2 with #4 to get the first initial burn proc from Zealot’s Fire. A lot of guards prefer Scepter/Torch as Torch#5 replaces Scepter’s autoattack and Sword/Focus syncronizes well overall. Which ever you prefer.

The build will stay in Torch longer for Radiant Fire to proc. Choosing the target for Zealot’s Flame is crucial as it can still be cleansed off easily. I recommend not focus targeting Eles as they have numerous self cleansing abilities. Engineers and Rangers on the other hand have fewer condi cleanses. Work around Water Attunement and Healing Turret, and any other cleansing ability that classes have.

If you’re being kited and they have a pet, you can use Focus #3 on that pet to cleanse any conditions you may have. Also, Sword #3 or Judge’s Intervention into a Weapon switch to guarantee the Geomancy bleed procs.

It’s better to save Focus #4 and #5 for defensive purposes only. I wouldn’t break Focus #5 for its AoE damage unless you know you’ll wont be missing 3 blocks and 3 burns.

If you’re not getting focused targeted and wanting to use a burst, Judge’s Intervention + Sword #3 will offer 5 burn stacks (8 with supreme justice) to the target. Torch #4 + Judge’s Intervention is also a popular burn burst but also risks cleanses. Cont dodges appropriately.

Pros
You’ll gain a bit more sustain from using Focus.

You will gain a bit more mobility with Sword #2. If you’re not accustomed to its uses, it allows you to glue yourself easier to classes who teleports on cliffs and other out of reach areas.

Cons
Losing GS means you’ll deal alot less AoE burst burn damage and lose GS #5 utility effect.

Burn Guardian’s Probable Counters

• -D/D Fire/Arcana/Water Elementalists is your biggest counter. If they go Earth and use Diamond Skin, it just means they’re making fun of you and everything you represent. An experienced player can beat an experienced D/D Marauder Eles but likely never win against experienced Celestials Eles.
• -Engineer’s CC abilities, their Healing Turret cleansing 3 conditions, and the rng condi cleansing trait of theirs can counterplay you if you’re not careful. Their mobility in general is your Achilles heel and you’ll likely never beat a good Engineer player 1v1.
• -Absolute Resolution Power Medi Guards. Your only choice is to kite them the best you can, work around their cleanses (if you can) and Shelter/Elite/Dodge all their spin-to-win attacks. You should eventually out sustain them.
• -Perma stealthing Mesmers. Mainly the fact they can kite you all day while their clones removes all your blocks. I would avoid them in 1v1 stand offs.
• -Perma stealthing Thieves. The fact they can reset battle with stealth alone means they’ll eventually outplay and out-sustain you.
• -Necro Condition transfers. If you’re not careful, you’ll likely kill yourself with your own burns. Don’t burst them all at once and dodge pass their triggering AoE ground effects. If you use Judge’s Intervention, try to immediately peel off of him. Same goes for WW on Greatsword. Prepare to cleanse!
• -Hamwarriors can outplay you with Rampage and their CC effects. Save stunbreakers on hammer’s knockback and dodge appropriately.

The only class above that can consistently “counter” your burns is the Ele and Mesmer but that’s usually in a 1v1 standoff. The second biggest counter is the Necro’s condition transfers and another Guardian both however, can be beaten. Everyone else is easier in comparison.

Bunker Burn #1 – The Less Tank but More Damage Version.

Bunker Burn #2 – The Less Damage but More Tanky and Team Support Version

Both builds are the Settlers versions of the traditional Cleric Bunker Meta build. I’ll quickly outline the major drawbacks between build #1 and #2 and compared them to the Clerics Bunker version. I’ll then talk about the build’s highlights and strategies.

Build #1

• Lack of Absolute Resolution
• Lack of Indomitable Courage
  Gains:
• 2-3k more AoE dps in groups compared to Clerics
• Additional CC with GS #5
• Not as dull to play.

Compared to Clerics Bunker build, you’re losing Protection up-time, Focus blocks, and an F3 Stability utility but you’re also gaining High damages through burn effects that’s unexpected for a Bunker Guardian.

Weaknesses: Not strong in 1v2 or 1v3 stunlock + high damage scenarios – notoriously Mesmer and Thief comps. You will not hold a point better than Build #2
Strengths Still sustains well in group scenarios while offering surprisingly well amounts of AoE burn damages.

Build #2

• Less AoE damages but offers more team support with Absolute Resolution and Indomitable Courage. The build is generally less risky.
• It’s tank integrity, ability to sustain itself in 1v2+ scenarios is equivalent to your traditional Clerics bunker builds.
  Gains
• The build has higher AoE damage potential with Purging Flames compared to Clerics Power damages with Intelligent sigs on Mace/Staff.

The build, otherwise, performs the same in general compared to its Cleric version
The build uses Balthazar or Soldiers – See below for more team support options.

Build Sigils
I highly recommend Energy Sigils on both weapon sets. It’s your personal preference as to what you’d like for your other sigils. I recommend Geomancy or Leech sigils.

More Team Support Options
Use Soldier runes over Balthazar runes to be more team supportive and gain slightly more sustains through extra condi cleanses.

“FMW” over Renewed Focus
Extra Condi Cleanses + Quickness on activation – you lose sustains from burst attacks and lose an extra F2 and F3 activation.

“Received the Light” over Shelter
Extra Condi Cleanses and Extra Team Heals – you lose sustains during burst attacks.

I recommend keeping either Shelter or Renewed Focus to save yourself from that clutch 1v2 or 1v3 burst scenarios. After all, bunker guardians are meant to survive.

Notable Strategies
As always, Purging Flame’s uses are circumstantial but very apparent. It can be used defensively by kiting around its edges, or offensively by using WW inside the Fire Field to proc additional burns (build #1 only). Cast it in front of a Warrior or Ele’s “Whirlwind Attack” and watch them receive 9 burn stacks.

Build Predictions

Valor will be replaced by the Dragonhunter tree

Reasons: DH will have 5x more self condi cleanses via Hunter’s Fortification (every block offers 1 cleanse) That leaves a loss of 8k heals and fury uptime. I can definitely replace DH for that because the Bow will enable me to stay out of melee combat longer, not needing the extra health from all that Skirmish AoE damages.

Why not replace Radiance?
F3 can now Block. It’ll basically be a Shelter without the heal effect. F3 will definitely offer more burn applications to the DH (it needed it). Add Rune of the Guardian and Shelter+F3+Focus#5 became a very, very, strong 1v1 builds

Bow vs GS
This will have to be personal preference. GS will still have incredible amounts of AoE burns in a group but without Valor sustains, you’re going to want to stay out of melee range as long as possible. That’s not to say you can’t dominate with GS, just know you will practically have 8k less health than usual.

Purging Flames / Judge’s Intervention / Sword Blender

The build will have (hopefully…) plenty of self condi cleanses with Hunter’s Fortification to leave Contemplation of Purity behind.

Pros
DH will offer Huge amounts of Cripple through F1 procs.
DH will have more CC utilities with Bow than GS or Hammer.
DH will be a better 1v1 build as oppose to your usual condi guardian meta build

Cons
The only cons I can think of is the Bow. It’s still going to be terrible against instant melee professions like the Thief or Guardian. If they attack you whille you’re on the bow, then you’re not going to have a whole lot of defensive utilities other than JI and F3 blocks. Lacking Stability and an extra stun breaker, I could still get CC’d and bursted down but if played correctly, you should last longer than the usual burn meta build.

when i said Balthazar runes are much better than Mad King in your previous post about condi guard and you laughed … first thing on my mind was, where this guys is doing pvp, on golem dummies ? because they dont move … and aplying 6 set bonus on them is easy

and about those Geomancy sigils … i dont like them, in fact, i dont like all condition aply sigils, because they dont scale with cond dmg stat, i dont know if it is working as intended or bug, but check your combat log, even with 1500+ cond dmg, they do close to 0 dmg i use +6% cond dmg flat sigil, dont know the name

I never laughed o_o

In fact, I think I even posted that

“If Bal runes are indeed better, I’ll be the first one to say so”

I did just that. I posted in the same thread like, 30m later, saying it was better!

Geomancy isn’t bugged. According to the damage ticks, it does 98 damage in Zerkers and 300 damage in Carrion gear.

Correct me if I’m wrong (I have had a broken computer since May), but the trait Radiant Fire should proc only Zealot’s Flame (single stack, longer duration). If you happen to wield a Torch, you could then throw your Flame with Zealot’s Fire (3 stack, shorter duration). The way it’s currently worded didn’t reflect that functionality, which is what I understood from all the patch notes and trait previews.

Somewhat unrelated, I’m so glad hybrid guardians received these changes. It makes them so exciting to watch. I’m personally a fan of GS/Sc+T with Flame Legion (what I ran pre-patch(, but things could change once I’m able to mess around myself.

That’s correct. The Flame part will proc on you, regardless if you’re using the Torch or not. The catch is, the only way to throw the flame is if you’re using the Torch. I always thought that was strange, I prefer to have a F5 QoL addition instead.

Added The Duelist build variant.

Am I the only one that feels that Guardian seriously sucks now at PvP? Good effort anyway but gotta tell you, I made a simple Hambow build (no metabattle or forum build) on my Warrior and it’s way smoother to play, more damage, more sustain and doesn’t melt when slightly focused.

Maybe it was my extremely low expectations and overall incredible sucess in spvp/tpvp since the patch. A lot of Guardians feel they aren’t that great in tpvp compared to other classes but i’m absolutely loving my performance as a burn burst dps guard.

I was absolutely frustrated with “hybrid” guardian prepatch (surprised that I stuck with it) but am now loving the performance gains and the build’s overall playstyle. I mean, i’m no longer a hit or miss. I don’t feel like I have to completely change builds due to being completely inadequate against heavy condi cleansing teams.

“Notable Counters
•-D/D Fire/Arcana/Water Elementalists is your biggest counter. If they go Earth and use Diamond Skin, it just means they’re making fun of you and everything you represent. Just ignore them at all costs in a 1v1 stand off.
•-Engineer’s CC abilities, their Healing Turret cleansing 3 conditions, and the rng condi cleansing trait of theirs can counterplay you if you’re not careful. Their mobility in general is your Achilles heel and you’ll likely never beat a good Engineer player 1v1.
•-Absolute Resolution Medi Guards. Your only choice is to kite them the best you can, work around their cleanses (if you can) and not eat all their spin-to-win attacks to the face.
•-Perma stealthing Mesmers. Mainly the fact they can kite you all day while their clones removes all your blocks. I would avoid them in 1v1 stand offs.
•-Perma stealthing Thieves. The fact they can reset battle with stealth alone means they’ll out sustain you, eventually.
•*-Necro’s Condition transfers. If you’re not careful, you’ll likely kill yourself with your own burns.”

Thank you for the guide….however my problem is the “notable counters,” i.e. most of the players I come across are these notable counters., especially the mesmers.

the only thing that hard counters a burn guard is Diamon Skin eles, all the other ones you can play around, ele is just a “build order loss” to put it in starcraft terms.

on the plus side, the rampage warriors that roflstomps you in power medi build can now be facerolled in burn guard setup.

Darknicrofia.2604:

the only thing that hard counters a burn guard is Diamon Skin eles, all the other ones you can play around, ele is just a “build order loss” to put it in starcraft terms.

A Guardian will never beat a well played Elementalists even if he wasn’t spec’d for Earth. What i have noticed, however, is that the skill level is high; there are many bad Eles in the game. I’ve dueled pro Eles in Marauders and/or Cele and their utterly unbeatable.

The same goes for other classes that I listed; they’re just outplayable and not as OP. Unless you duel Good players, they’ll likely give you a run for your money on pure 1v1 grounds. An Engineer for example, will beat you 6 out of 4 times (if you’re lucky).

Have you considered running a Greatsword on the Duelist build instead of the Scepter/Focus set? I’ve found that it makes Thieves and Mesmers considerably easier to deal with, since the GS can track them in stealth and pressure them with AoE damage (especially if you’re running Supreme Justice and Permeating Wrath). I’ve mentioned before that I’m not really a fan of the Scepter for burn builds, since Smite depends on the Immobilize from Chains of Light to hit consistently, and the autoattack can’t proc VoJ quickly thanks to its single hits and slow, innacurate travel (at least in a power build, the orbs themselves hurt). I think you’ve even mentioned elsewhere that you “replace” the Scepter’s autoattack with the Torch 5, but that really just makes me wonder if the Scepter is really pulling its weight. If popular builds on 6 of the 8 professions are countering a burn Guard that’s supposed to be a duelist, I’d personally consider trying out some alternatives. That’s just my two cents.

The build you put up for the Duelist has Absolute Resolution and Indomitable Courage as the default traits – when you were writing up the list of counters, is that what you had been running? Since you lose a ton of pressure by taking those traits instead of Supreme Justice and Permeating Wrath, I could see some of the builds you listed being more problematic for the AR/IC build than for a fully-traited burning build. These traits also make enemy cleansing less problematic, which you cite as an issue with some of the counters above. They may not be enough to get you over a well-played Ele’s defenses, but I haven’t generally had issues dealing with Guardian or Engi cleansing when running SJ/PW.

I guess it’s frowned upon in high-level play to not take AR and IC, but honestly, I feel like if your team needs that extra support, you should probably be running a bunker Guardian and getting your DPS elsewhere. Team roles in this meta have been more clearly defined between DPS and bunker/support, and if a burn Guardian is sacrificing its amazing cleaving damage and condition reapplication to pack in extra support, I feel like the result isn’t going to offer most of the things that makes either a burn Guardian or a support Guardian good.

I know most burn guards are going to go with balth runes, but may I also suggest scavenger runes? The leach it adds is nice for extra survivability and since we are using carrion with vit, it does help push up the condi damage. I prefer this as with burning duration, it is completely negated by cleansing, where higher condition damage is not (in a sense that you gain more damage per tick) And even with the added duration, I really do not feel that it has made the difference of a kill or not often enough to make it worth it, since a class is either going to have enough cleanse to take it off frequently, or they aren’t and are going to get bursted down pretty quick.

@Soryuju
Solid points. GS for sure does better against Mesmers especially if you’re using Supreme Justice and Permeating Wrath. The boggle is, would you still choose Radiance or stick with Zeal? It’s why I detailed the traits in the first post, there’s quite a bit of variety one can choose depending on the situation.

This guide wasn’t meant to go into every situational detail. I’ll leave that for Metabattle

@Bash
The extra sustain doesn’t make up for the damage Balthazar runes gives. If they indeed increase the burn duration threshhold but nerf its damage in compensation (changing the dmg to duration ratio) then Balthazar’s burn duration increase may be overwhelming considering burns will be easier cleansed off. If that’s the case, I’d definitely look into higher damage, less burn duration uptime runes.

Bal runes perform the best with burns current base duration. If they nerf burns base duration, Bal would be more needed. We have to see which route Anet takes, if they change anything at all.

Remember GS #5 skill tracks stealthed players. That is worth taking it imo.

loving my burn guard Permeating Wrath makes me feel a little more useful in team fights especially when people get clumped together.

@Bash

I did some basic tests with Scavenger at your suggestion, but I think as things stand, I’d still have to stick with Balthazar runes. I definitely agree with your thinking, particularly about how the number of burn stacks we can apply at one time doesn’t matter as much as how well we can maintain burn stacks through enemy cleanses. I actually think that our ability to rapidly reapply burns after cleanses is the Guardian’s strongest feature as a condition build, much more so than our potential condi burst. However, I think the +45% duration from Balthazar runes is too much to ignore with our Virtue of Justice. Radiant Fire puts us at +65% burning duration, making each hit from VoJ worth over 3 seconds of burning. I don’t know of any builds that can cleanse rapidly and consistently enough to block out all of those extra burn ticks. If the opponent’s not cleansing those burns, Balthazar’s damage is going to win out.

As for other aspects of the runes, Scavenger’s lifesteal is a wonderful bonus, but it’s also competing against Balthazar’s AoE burn on heal, which is almost 5 seconds long without Smoldering sigils and can put on lots of pressure in teamfights when combined with Smiter’s Boon. I think both effects are good, but would still pick Balthazar right now for the extra damage.

@Saiyan

No doubt that there are lots of great options for burn builds, and until the meta stabilizes more, there’s no way to cover everything in just a couple forum posts.

As for your question, I’d personally stick with Radiance even if I wasn’t running Scepter. To be honest, I don’t think Zeal is a particularly great line for condition builds unless they’re using a Scepter, since the only trait a burn Guardian would really find worth taking besides Zealous Scepter is Kindled Zeal. All of Zeal’s minor traits are going to be situational at best in a condition build, since you have limited access to symbols and few ways to make sure people stay inside of them. Radiance has fantastic minors that improve your crit chance, stomp game, and general utility, so it wins straight-up here.

For Zeal’s majors, if you’re not running a Scepter, that probably leaves you with Fiery Wrath in the Adept tier. While FW is a classic Guardian trait, it’s not going to do that much in a build with middling power and low crit chance. In the GM tier, you’re probably going to be taking Shattered Aegis, which does about 450 damage to light armor NPCs with the builds you’ve posted above. Even in teamfights, that’s not too great, but your other options here are probably even worse.

Just to illustrate the comparison, Radiance is offering you blinds, renewable VoJ and Zealot’s Fire, bonus critical chance for both weapons, Sword and Torch cooldown reduction, extra burn damage/duration, and burn on block. Without a Scepter to factor in, it’s not even a competition.

Continuing on to a second post! I think I put this up in your other condi Guardian thread, but here’s the build I’ve been running:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNAsfRlsAhqhY3QwcIwPEH+DVOCnwM0GAVQdeD3L4DA-TpBFwACOBAMOCAe2fIaZgEHCAAPAAA

I’ve had a very different experience against many of the builds you’ve described as counters to the Duelist build, so I thought I’d post my version here for the sake of comparison. I’m not a “pro” player by any means, so I’m not going to comment on how the build performs against what you call “good” players in a 1v1. If you’d like to try the build out, you can decide how it stacks up for yourself. Here are some of this burn Guardian’s more notable features, though:

• 29-49% critical chance on the 1H Sword (Right-Hand Mastery, Radiant Power, Fury). I run Air and Fire sigils to further ramp up the build’s power-based damage. Besides helping to keep the build’s damage high against opponents who cleanse, these are important because they count as extra hits for VoJ. Normally, the Sword’s auto chain can maintain 2-3 stacks of burning on a target with VoJ’s passive. With A/F sigils, it can maintain 4-5 stacks.

• In this build, the Greatsword is primarily a utility weapon that complements the Sword/Torch and rounds out its weaknesses. It provides additional AoE damage/cleaving, mobility, CC, stealth tracking, and area control. Since the Sword is the build’s primary damage source, I run utility sigils here instead of things like Geomancy or Smoldering. The combination improves the GS’s cleaving even further, lets it instantly weaken heals (since Doom procs immediately on the hit from Hydromancy), and helps keep people close by and grouped up for WW/SoW and Permeating Wrath.

• You can stack instant skills and effects for a surprise AoE burst during fights. Moving in with FB or JI when your HP starts getting low, activating Smite Condition and Shelter (with Smiter’s Boon, Balthazar Runes, and MoTP/AW), and swapping to GS will stack a variety of effects that can easily reverse bad situations. I’ve killed many Thieves and ended many teamfights with this secondary burst, since it hits hard (3k crits from Smite Condition, an easy 5+ stacks of burning) and can come out of nowhere. Even a partial burst that doesn’t use all of these effects is useful, but since the longest cooldown in the burst is only 36 seconds, there are times when unloading everything will pay off.

• Unfortunately, I don’t really have room for Purging Flames, since the Fury uptime from Smite Condition is too important for the build’s damage output, and losing the surprise burst and extra healing would also hurt performance quite a bit. Running SC does let me take the Retaliatory Subconscious trait, which gives me some extra burst resistance and extra burn/Might procs every so often. It’s not a great trait, but I do think it’s a little underrated.

Anyways, I’ve typed a lot, but hopefully some of it will be useful to you as you continue to refine your builds for your guide. I’ve attached a screenshot below that illustrates the damage potential of a single Sword auto attack chain with A/F sigils on a Heavy Golem (tested without Fury, though the crits were in my favor here regardless). Even ignoring the residual burn ticks, it’s a good chunk of damage, and it’s hard to defend against because it’s distributed between power, procs, and burn ticks.

Hi Saiyan!

I use almost the same build with carrion+FL runes. Radiance-Valor-Virtues.

The twist is: I use hammer instead of x/torch. I know it’s slow and well telegraphed and not that good at stacking burn… But if you hit somebody with basically any hammer skill while they have a few burn already is a death sentence for practically anyone.

Sure I traded some mobility/burn for a true hybrid playstyle. Pulling someone into your PF and land the JI+Mighty Blow (with Intelligence sigil) on them… Means half HP and 6-7 burn. And if you fail the initial burst you can still pack quiet a punch with the hammer and you have more utility.

p.s.: may I ask you (or any fellow guardian) to do a few rounds with the same build (maybe FL instead of Balt) but with hammer? I would like to know what other guardians think about this playstyle. Thank you in advance

@Soryuju.8164 -regarding scepter vs sword
The reason I use Scepter is the same reason as why most guardians used it prepatch: Its cc and range abilities.
Every class can literally dance around a Guardian once we lose Judge’s Intervention and/or Flashing blade. Sword indeed does incredible cleaves if you’re able to land auto attacks and if you have no issues with gluing yourself to some one :D
_________________________________________________________________

Miscalculation between Zeal and Radiance -Sorry!
So I greatly miscalculated how much damage 20% increased burn duration can do in combination with Supreme Justice + Permeating Wrath… it’s like night and day.

If you choose Zeal and used smoldering sigils to make up the 20% burn duration in Radiance, you’ll lose overall sustain damage by not picking air/fire/geomancy. In Radiance you’ll gain that immediate 20% from Radiant Fire and can add a dmg sigil to further increase burn bursts. Include the Zealot’s Flame proc from the trait and Radiance is hands down the better tree for burn guards.

Sigil Revision
Switched to Fire/Geomancy sigils
I’d pick Air if they’d proc more frequently.
Additional Smoldering sigils are nice but felt fire/air/geomancy sigs were better alternatives.

Excellent upkeep on the condition-guardian meta. Well done dude.

Aggrostemma.1703:

The twist is: I use hammer instead of x/torch. I know it’s slow and well telegraphed and not that good at stacking burn… But if you hit somebody with basically any hammer skill while they have a few burn already is a death sentence for practically anyone.

As a pvp noob who is using carrion+Balthazar and a hammer with V/V/R, I’d also be interested in hearing more thoughts on this.

Also, if you were doing unranked/low-level pvp, would you use Mad King or stick with Balthazar/FL?

torch is way too good to not use in a condi build, if you use hammer, you need to be in standard power medi setup or you’re just gimping yourself.

Replaced Zeal build with The Duelist and merged the two threads together

Will likely post some gameplay videos at a later date.

Might as well add my build in here. I use Greatsword, Litany of Wrath and Purging flames for strong AoE pressure. I often have three downed people after this combo.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNArfRnkICNDhdDBmDB8DhjAiKPEN4EaDgH4NvbbEkBA-TZhAwAUOCAw2fYcZAAnCAJPAAA

This is probably the glassiest version with very few escape options but man does it burn people down.

EDIT: I just realized this is basically the same as your revised Duelist build. I’m just using Litany for more pressure and less survivability. lol