Guild Wars 2

I’m a pve player focusing on dungeons and WvW. I’ve been playing the guardian for a while now, and I’m having trouble finding a build I really like. So far, I’ve tried hammer, greatsword, sword/focus, and even sword/torch without much enjoyment. I love the guardian for what it can do, but find it limiting in how each build I’ve tried makes a portion of my other abilities lack-luster.

Here’s an example. Another build I tried involved stacking retaliation and healing through placing traits in Virtue, Radiance, and Honor. The problem is that I become more of a burn build, and without the crucial traits from Zeal, the build falls apart, and I’m unable to contribute enough damage to kill something. On top of that, Guardian burn builds are horrid for dungeons and fractals, so even though I love the sword/torch, that specific strategy is meant for pvp.

Sorry, I need to bring the topic back to focus. The reason why I don’t like the above build is that it focuses one virtue over the others. I love the virtues Justice, Resolve, and Courage because of their potential in combat, but whenever I run a specific build, the usefulness of one skyrockets while the other two take a back line. Like with the above build, Justice is the dominant virtue, while the others support it…kinda. But if you trait for the other virtues, Justice becomes useless in its entirety.

I am still new to level 80 content with the Guardian, so I’ll be honest, I’m an absolute scrub and would appreciate any information you guys have.

So, without further ado, is there a viable build out there that involves incorporating all virtues into a build rather than making one a priority over the others?

Edit: Sorry again. Viable pve build that incorporates all virtues. Another thing to note, I’m comfortable with all weapons, and this build will be for dungeons and fractals. Thanks, in advance.

4/5/0/0/5, perhaps?

Well you do use all virtues in pve, and usually at least 2 of them are traited, but you won’t go 30 in the virtues traitline that much. Quickly put, the guardian meta resolves ( ahah resolve) around consecrations and virtues for either blinds (f1) condi removal (traited f2, purging flames), stability (traited f3, hallowed ground) and other things. Just getting 15 points into radiance and 20 into virtues will make your build really “virtue oriented”. In organized WwW, boonway x/x/x/6/6 are traiting both absolute resolution and indomitable courage. That’s a quick post since I don’t know if you’re interested in those builds, as they trait only partially for virtues, but if you do need more, I’d be glad to add a few things.

I would appreciate that, immensely. My goal is to find a build that makes use of the virtues not just in group and WwW play, but in solo play as well. I feel that specializing into one tactic or weapon strategy decreases the potential that the virtues possess. I know I can apply blinds through Justice, but I still want the other two to be relevant, even in solo play when the aegis boon only comes up every 40 seconds.

If I haven’t described fully what I’m looking for, let me know. I see the versatile potential a guardian has, and I want to make it work.

Again, thank you for your guys’ help.

In pve, even non traited virtue of courage is a great thing. A well timed aegis can save you and your teammates from a one shot attack ( lupi kick, spider queen bite, ascalonian warriors rush, etc). So even untraited, you’ll end up using it in pve. That leaves you with virtue of resolve and justice. As you pointed out, traiting 15 into radiance turns it in again another damage mitigation for your whole party, at least for trash mobs. It’s also a vulnerability spammer. That leaves you with F2, wich is better used for condi removal traited with absolute resolution. The usual meta build for dungeons is 4/5/0/0/5, so you end up with both Justice and Resolve traited. F3 is just good enough on its own, but if you don’t need the condi removal, you can adapt the meta build for a short stability buff on f3. In solo settings, if pushing for record times, you probably won’t trait absolute resolution, leaving you with only 2 “good” virtues", but the 4/5/0/0/5 build is fine for casual soloing/ duoing. You probably want to avoid hammer specs as they require 4 points in honor, and that leaves you short on trait points to grab AR. Hope this helps!