Guild Wars 2

First off i don’t claim to be any part of a good player, i’m terrible. I am bad at rotations and play from a couch so i’m not in the most attention focused position i could be in.

I feel after numerous pvp games on guardian (373 ranked 422 unranked) that i have either fell out of guardian or have just been going at it the wrong way. Playing guardian be it bunker, medi or what ever, i just get beaten by most players now days. Sure i can get into the zone and hit all my buttons correctly and get a few kills, but in most 1v1 match ups against most builds these days i feel lackluster.

Shoutbow, d/d ele, engis even a shatter mesmer or d/p thief. They can all usually beat me unless i get my burst in earlier than they expect or they don’t see it coming. All thesé classes have a way of mitigating my damage of getting out of it the same as i can but with better survival and situational skills.

They either kite me, CC me, outright overpower me or go invis/leave. From playing most classes i get the feeling that you really need to press your 1 key as a guardian now days and stay on targets. If i don’’t do this i’m basically screwed as i am applying no pressure which helps all these classes.

Is it the meta taking over or i have just not adapted to how people are playing these builds? It makes me want to even change to say a ranger or necro to try something that has different mechanics and not two singular paths, shouts or medis.
And i have played guardian from release.

Do i just need to get into these 1v1 servers again and get muscle memory back on how to take on each class and build? Or is it more of an attitude thing where i just predict they will beat me with their cele build?

You wont beat a good d/d cele ele unless you go condi. The same goes for anyone who knows how to kite and dodge a Zerker Guardian. That’s not to say Zerk guards are bad, they can just get easily outplayed in 1v1. Zerk Guardians excel greatly in blob fights where Condi Guards will fall slightly fall behind depending on the scenario.
You’ll just have to choose your poison carefully.

Burn Guards are still one of the better 1v1 classes around, out performing Zerk Medi on many levels. Yet ironically enough, Medi Zerk can outplay a Burn Guardian due to their excessive condi cleanses. Same with other classes with high condi cleanses, a Burn Guard can be easily beaten if you’re not careful.

It’s Build Wars 2. I suggest having multiple Guardian builds depending on your team composition

There’s no reason to drop guard as your main. I have ~3k ranked games played on guard and ~5k on guard overall, and I still play it to this day.

You just have to know your limitations and what you can and cannot do. For example, d/d ele and engi (depending on the build), you probably won’t win unless you significantly outplay them or they make mistakes. Generally any other profession (builds) you can beat in a 1v1 if played right. However, pvp is more than 1v1, why people get so obsessed with it, I’ll never know. It just comes down to knowing your role and what you can and cannot do. There are just some situations you cannot do or it’s a bad matchup, you have to except that and play to your strengths.

I too, think about switching my main. Not so much because of matchups but more because of our lack of depth. We’re super slow so roaming always feels so inefficent and many of our skills are somewhat wasted in a 1 vs 1 battle. I just feel like I could do something more useful. And there actually is. Being efficent means running with the team and guardian is supposed to be about teamplay. But I always need to hope that my team is managing the other stuff or we’ll loose. And that’s no fun.

I can’t even apply pressure to a point and maybe hold two people there to create a 2 vs 1 fight somewhere else, because applying pressure means committing 100%, because playing guard means running in. Always. All the time. In the end you either die (Medi) or you waste your time because you deal no damage and your support skills affect no one (shout bunker).

It’s just the lack of depth that makes me hate this profession. Another thing is the feeling of actually supporting. Playing support doesn’t feel like you do something meaningful. It has something to do with gamefeel/gamedesign. But I’m too lazy to open this big barrel.

Oh, and just to put the anger-cherry on our rage-cake, the lack of proper build diversity is embarrassing.

Sorry for my bad english

Bunker guardian is not about winning 1v1 ever. It is about supporting your team and holding and fighting on points. And even with Bunker guardian being out of fashion because of op aspects of elementalist and engineer it still is what Guardian’s do best in spvp. So if you want to continue to play Guardian in spvp I would suggest bunker and change your definition of what success means to you. Your victories as a bunker guardian are team victories not 1v1 conquests.

I’m sad to say that i mained a guard since i started playing but also felt really weak in PvP. I prefered WvW and even then not the meta Staff/Hammer. I hate the fact that we have to use traveler runes if we want to roam and not feel like snails.

In the end it bugged me enough to switch to Warrior and now i dont have any of those complaints. I freely admit im a casual pvp’er (dont consider myself an expert in any way) yet i win way more 1v1 as a war than i ever did as a guard.

brannigan.9831:

Bunker guardian is not about winning 1v1 ever. It is about supporting your team and holding and fighting on points. And even with Bunker guardian being out of fashion because of op aspects of elementalist and engineer it still is what Guardian’s do best in spvp. So if you want to continue to play Guardian in spvp I would suggest bunker and change your definition of what success means to you. Your victories as a bunker guardian are team victories not 1v1 conquests.

Bunker guardian has fallen out of the meta. 0/1/6/1/6 hammer medi is the new meta.

Thanks guys, all valid points.

I think it comes down to my mentality at the time of the fight and who im versing. I agree that 1v1 isnt the main focus of GW2 pvp but if i simply cannot muster the strength to 1v1 most classes or at least hold out, then i am nearly useless to my team if they can all do it.
It may be a team game but to work as a team that you just met, you need to rely on the other players in your group to be able to do their role and successfully win what they are applying themselves to.

This can often mean a 1v1 at far or home. Whether i’’m a bunker or medi variant, i should still be able to hold them for long enough to make them lose points or beat them to gain the upper hand.

I did play around last night with switching to soldiers amulet and felt alot more comfortable with a larger health pool that didnt get bursted down straight away ie. an eviserate that hits for 6k doesnt completely mess up my rotations and i can stay clam.

honestly nothing wrong with guardian. the hammer build is as easy to play as cele engi/ele, and the greatsword spec is still very usable. I’m not sure why you guys think its weak (or why you think condi is better than power, you stilllose to ele and zerker can win every match you can, except also beat ranger)

Drennon.7190:

brannigan.9831:

Bunker guardian is not about winning 1v1 ever. It is about supporting your team and holding and fighting on points. And even with Bunker guardian being out of fashion because of op aspects of elementalist and engineer it still is what Guardian’s do best in spvp. So if you want to continue to play Guardian in spvp I would suggest bunker and change your definition of what success means to you. Your victories as a bunker guardian are team victories not 1v1 conquests.

Bunker guardian has fallen out of the meta. 0/1/6/1/6 hammer medi is the new meta.

Anybody besides kitten playing that on high level?

YuiRS.8129:

Drennon.7190:

brannigan.9831:

Bunker guardian is not about winning 1v1 ever. It is about supporting your team and holding and fighting on points. And even with Bunker guardian being out of fashion because of op aspects of elementalist and engineer it still is what Guardian’s do best in spvp. So if you want to continue to play Guardian in spvp I would suggest bunker and change your definition of what success means to you. Your victories as a bunker guardian are team victories not 1v1 conquests.

Bunker guardian has fallen out of the meta. 0/1/6/1/6 hammer medi is the new meta.

Anybody besides kitten playing that on high level?

its used more often in EU

Panites.6798:

First off i don’t claim to be any part of a good player, i’m terrible. I am bad at rotations and play from a couch so i’m not in the most attention focused position i could be in.

I feel after numerous pvp games on guardian (373 ranked 422 unranked) that i have either fell out of guardian or have just been going at it the wrong way. Playing guardian be it bunker, medi or what ever, i just get beaten by most players now days. Sure i can get into the zone and hit all my buttons correctly and get a few kills, but in most 1v1 match ups against most builds these days i feel lackluster.

Shoutbow, d/d ele, engis even a shatter mesmer or d/p thief. They can all usually beat me unless i get my burst in earlier than they expect or they don’t see it coming. All thesé classes have a way of mitigating my damage of getting out of it the same as i can but with better survival and situational skills.

They either kite me, CC me, outright overpower me or go invis/leave. From playing most classes i get the feeling that you really need to press your 1 key as a guardian now days and stay on targets. If i don’’t do this i’m basically screwed as i am applying no pressure which helps all these classes.

Is it the meta taking over or i have just not adapted to how people are playing these builds? It makes me want to even change to say a ranger or necro to try something that has different mechanics and not two singular paths, shouts or medis.
And i have played guardian from release.

Do i just need to get into these 1v1 servers again and get muscle memory back on how to take on each class and build? Or is it more of an attitude thing where i just predict they will beat me with their cele build?

Wow, this is exactly how I have been feeling on my Guardian lately. I feel like a couple of months ago (before the might nerf and when I used strength sigils), I used to destroy thiefs and rangers, and hold my own against warriors. Now it’s a struggle beating them 1v1 for me. And of course I always got owned by mesmers and engineers.

I find myself spending most of my play time fiddling with builds because I can’t seem to figure out what’s wrong. Either I’m too glassy or I don’t put out enough damage. Someone mentioned we’ll have trouble with d/d eles, condi engis, etc. But I feel like that’s all I face. Ugh….so frustrating.

Guardian is weak right now. Not because of nerfs, but rather because of the lack of buffs to compensate for buffs given to other classes. It’s been beaten into our heads that the guardian is supposed to be a “support” class meant to “stay in the fight”. What this translates to is crippling limitations (no pun intended) to the class that render it unable to keep up with the demands of the shifting meta.

I’ve mostly lost interest in my guardians by now, and am hoping that by the time HoT comes out we’ll finally get the TLC we deserve. Until then, I’ll stick to my other characters.

Watch tage, its clearly maybe that the class isn’t for you, not your fault! but i will say to you to stick and practice more with it, medi guard can be good in 1v1 as a glass cannon buster but its not his job, you need to look for team battle spike and control with hammer and alike… if you want to play medi guard as a thief or a shatter mesmer than yeah change, cause will not work

I feel the OP pain
I loved Medi, I still like it but in the current meta the somehow chance we have to be good, is going has Tage is, Medi Hammer, which I don’t like because I don’t like Hammer, and even then your spec has to be a bit specific because it will not work with all IMO.

Thief/Mesmer/Ranger do a better job than Medi, I have more fun with Shoutbow and can be more affective. With the new Cele GS build ROM and Tarcis intruduced I can even win to Medi Guards and do better than with my Guard, thing that was not possible before. I’ll drop Guardian most likely, I just don’t know to who because other classes feel kinda meh

I really don’t know anymore I might leave the game til expansion comes …

Why people are so obsessed with 1v1s: Part of it is inexperience with pvp. Some people don’t truly realize how valuable playing with the team is, and haven’t experienced the joy of winning many matches by putting cleave pressure on the enemy team, while healing/protecting your own team as a guard. 1v1 on the other hand has a fairly black and white outcome, and feels slightly more in your own control. When you become confident enough to go hold a point, or chase down some straggler as a guardian (albeit this may not be the guardian’s most optimal role), and know that you stand an excellent chance, you become more likely to want to engage the enemy in general. For me (and I feel your pain too op), this further lead to me seeking out 2v2, 3v3, etc. type situations where I truly didn’t know what the outcome was. Besides the clearcut distinction between XvX, 1v1ing is such a satisfying, and pride-bolstering feeling lol. Like when you get that one quirky lil butt on the opposing team, you find him/her alone, and then you engage in a 1v1 and come out victor.

Advice to OP: I play on guardian a lot, and I tend to play med zerk builds, or variants thereof. Med zerk has an excellent 1v1 game, and here are some things to keep in mind:
-Save your meditations: You’re crippled/chilled, and kited all the time. Don’t start the battle with JI, or smite condition. Also, use your gap closers that have shorter cool downs (GS 3, Sw2, H2 and 3) rather than JI.
-You get CCed a lot: Med guard suffers from lack of stability. To compensate, you have 2 stun breaks, and an invuln that makes you immune to CC. Use them wisely! I have found that when I use JI to break stuns, and close distance when I have a lot of condis on me, it tends to have its greatest effect.
-Consider using Sigils of Hydromancy: I know it’s popular to use sigils of fire, or air for a med guard, but sigils of hydromancy have really done the trick for me against thieves, necros, mes, and rangers. The burst from the weapon swap does fair damage (1 to 1.2k on a zerk build), plus slows your opponent usually enough to get in an AA chain, or one good skill you wanna hit em with!
-Dodging: Med guard is a very reactive class, and part of being good with 1 is knowing when to dodge. The only thing I can say here, is experience! I find that in group encounters, using your dodges near the beginning helps the most to mitigate bursts, whereas in 1v1s, you want to have 1 dodge in reserve at almost all times in case you either see, or suspect a particular attack coming. Always be thinking of “which attack is coming next?” and think of whether or not it’s worth dodging!

Hope this helps!

Arcaedus.7290:

Thanks for the suggestions i will try them, and i completely agree with you on guardian being greater in a group fight rather than 1v1. I think it does come down to being confident in dueling and experience and picking my own fights.

Don’t get me wrong though, i enjoying winning with team work as everyone does and most of the time we guardians will participate in team fights. But in that one or two times in a match where we are the only one fighting on a point, i do want to win that fight and when i lose multiple fights it does get your moral down and makes you think if the class is for you.

Anyways guys thanks for all the input and i’m glad i’m not alone in this matter, ill keep trying at different builds and trying to conserve my medis, especially in those scary bursted down moments.

You are not going to pay attention during matches then you will probably have a hard time enjoying/playing any classes.

You just need to realise that x build will not be 100% effective against x build.

That’s just how it is, there will always be builds that counter another, guardians shine in group play more so than any other class in my opinion.

Definitely capable in 1v1 situations, but you can be outplayed by quite a few classes if the person behind the wheel knows what they’re doing, for example a medi guardians burst is insanely predictable, probably the easiest to predict burst in the game.

Yeah, the biggest thing Ive learned as a guard is get away from the meta builds in this game. Ive rebuilt my guard so many times its unreal, right now I like where he is (Im not sharing his build sorry) but I think the standard medi is too squishy and the bunker doesnt do enough damage. Ive been doing great 1v1 and even 1v5 at times (I can wreck someone before going down myself.) I just brought him in sPvP recently and hes doing pretty awesome there. It generally requires a response of 2 to 3 people from the other side to tie me up.

So, feel free to go off the beaten path with guard, there is a lot of potential there to not stay locked into a certain build.