Guild Wars 2

Hey,

I’m looking for a good weapons combo for my gaurdian. Thing is, I know mace is probably the best thing out there for a support gaurdian, but I hate maces. What other weapons types are suitable for the job? Currently I’m running with GS/S+Shield

Staff is the premier support weapon, so you’ll probably want that.

Most Guardian weapons (apart from the Scepter) offer some support, so you can choose which weapon suits you best.

What sort of content are you looking at?

mostly dungeons, with some WvW here and there

For pve:

where hammer is usable ( dungeons without reliance on fire fields, with high hp bosses where burst doesn’t matter, and mostly in non record runs- for instance, I use hammer at some hotw bosses) it’s the obvious support weapon with permanent protection for the whole group. If not, most guard weapons aren’t helpful for support. Shield protection uptime isn’t high enough to use it in pve. Sword does have a projectile absorbtion, mace has some regen, but that’s about it. I’d advice running sword focus/ greatsword for an all purposes build.

For WvW I use Staff and Hammer in my support build. Greatsword is also an option. I don’t like the one-handers in WvW, but they might work.

Hammer is actually a better support weapon than mace I say due to the crowd control abilities and protection. It’s also useful in either game mode.

Thanks for the advice. I’ll try rolling with game or staff and see where it gets me.

Ok, I’ve been running s+s/hammer, and it’s quite fun and more useful than GS for dungeon teams. My only strife is hit3 of 1st skill. it takes too much time. You gotta see the gaurdian struggles to lift a hammer he jumped with a second ago, and then land the hit.
It should definitly be reduced.

Next up – a staff. I’ll try experimenting with it and see what’s what.

As far as the shield goes – I know it’s not the best OH item, but a guardian without a shield??? I mean, c’mone!

BTW, which gear should I get in terms of stats? Now I have a mix-n-match between items that are soldier, some are zerk. Maybe knight/cleric would be better? Or should I go for a complete set for each task (set for suppord/defense and a set for offense?

For support, berserker or assassin ( as a hammer spec some sin should be better). For personal survivability, zealot, ptv, knight or cleric.

really? but what about vitality, toughness and healing? id thought it was they other way around: zerk for solo play, the others for group

oxtred.7658:

For support, berserker or assassin ( as a hammer spec some sin should be better). For personal survivability, zealot, ptv, knight or cleric.

Pretty trolly and misleading. Just because offensive stats should be prioritized in PvE doesn’t mean that those stats are supportive.

Not sure why people think healing power is something used for “self-survivability” in PvE. The only point to healing power is boosting supportive AoE healing since the ratios for most self-heals are pretty awful (at least for guardians). It might not be offensive support or make things die faster, but it’s still support.

more personal dps> more team dps> things die faster> you can’t run out of aegis. Healing power is the only supportive stat outside of boosting your dps, and the scaling is pretty awful, even for group healing. If you really want to invest into it, go zealot. Toughness and vitality are selfish stats only, as they only boost your own survivability. I agree, healing power is support. But it’s not worth the dps loss, just like going into honor will give more support ( healing dodge roll, on symbols effects, aegis cd reduction), but is not worth the investment over 4/5/0/0/5.

Support for a dungeon guardian is NOT healing or tanking damage, it’s preventing damage. One 10k+ AoE blocked by a group Aegis is worth 50k+ health, which just cannot be group healed that fast in this non-trinity game.

The primary means a dungeon guardian prevents damage are:
Aegis (Retreat, Virtue of Resolve, refreshing with Renewed Focus)
Protection (Hammer, when using the Fractals Hammer build)
Reflects/Projectile destruction (Wall of Reflection, Shield of the Avenger, Sanctuary)

You also support by having the two best group Stability skills, for fights where you expect a LOT of CC (by using Stand Your Ground and Hallowed Ground). Stability allows the party to continue to deal damage without wasting time on the ground.

You also can provide condition removal, fire fields and blasts, and pulls.

All of this support can be done with a high damage build and Berserker’s equipment, you are not required to use defensive equipment to provide damage prevention.

Save the tanky and healing sets for WvW group builds.

oxtred.7658:

more personal dps> more team dps> things die faster> you can’t run out of aegis. Healing power is the only supportive stat outside of boosting your dps, and the scaling is pretty awful, even for group healing. If you really want to invest into it, go zealot. Toughness and vitality are selfish stats only, as they only boost your own survivability. I agree, healing power is support. But it’s not worth the dps loss, just like going into honor will give more support ( healing dodge roll, on symbols effects, aegis cd reduction), but is not worth the investment over 4/5/0/0/5.

Unless you’re running a hammer build then writ of persistance is worthwhile and in doing so you’ll get things like dodge roll heals and faster reuse on shouts which are both nice little perks to that supportive build.

Though, hammer throws a wrench in anything your ele is doing or really anyone trying to utilize fields.

And to Sarisa, it’s Virtue of Courage for Aegis Resolve is the heal, and don’t foget blind, blind is amazing!