Guild Wars 2

A lot of the time, discussions in this forum result in people saying that a Guardian was never intended to X, or Guardians feel like Y, so I thought it would be a good idea to see how the Guardian community sees their (and other’s) Guardians.

I’d also think it would be nice if you explain your choice a bit more. So instead of going: “I think a Guardian fits the wizard archetype because I think it does,” try give examples, mention existing characters or common traits, etc.

As for myself, I think the Guardian fits the following archetypes:

• The Paladin: This one might be obvious, since Guardians share a lot of traits with traditional paladins. Some people (mostly before GW2 came out) say that Guardians’s aren’t paladins, but they’re talking more about gameplay than archetype.
• The Cleric: With clerics, I don’t just mean priests. Yes, they are priests, but they’re also schooled in combat and know their way around a battle-field, although often in supportive roles. The Guardian has a couple of traits that help flesh out this archetype and has access to Maces, which are the traditional weapon of choice.
• The Battle-mage: While I don’t think it’s a perfect fit, the Guardian uses magic to hit people in the face, so some players might be drawn to Guardians for this playstyle.
• The Leader: This somewhat overlaps with the Paladin and the Cleric, but I feel Guardians can be distinct “leaders”, where they use area-control together with shouts to lead a group.

Ynna.8769:

A lot of the time, discussions in this forum result in people saying that a Guardian was never intended to X, or Guardians feel like Y, so I thought it would be a good idea to see how the Guardian community sees their (and other’s) Guardians.

I’d also think it would be nice if you explain your choice a bit more. So instead of going: “I think a Guardian fits the wizard archetype because I think it does,” try give examples, mention existing characters or common traits, etc.

As for myself, I think the Guardian fits the following archetypes:

• The Paladin: This one might be obvious, since Guardians share a lot of traits with traditional paladins. Some people (mostly before GW2 came out) say that Guardians’s aren’t paladins, but they’re talking more about gameplay than archetype.
• The Cleric: With clerics, I don’t just mean priests. Yes, they are priests, but they’re also schooled in combat and know their way around a battle-field, although often in supportive roles. The Guardian has a couple of traits that help flesh out this archetype and has access to Maces, which are the traditional weapon of choice.
• The Battle-mage: While I don’t think it’s a perfect fit, the Guardian uses magic to hit people in the face, so some players might be drawn to Guardians for this playstyle.
• The Leader: This somewhat overlaps with the Paladin and the Cleric, but I feel Guardians can be distinct “leaders”, where they use area-control together with shouts to lead a group.

I would honestly say more of a paladin type role, as being able to be the defender, the healer, and the fighter, but a master of none. Clerics in my mind are more of healing type, even though i know that more fighter type clerics do exist. I don’t think battle mage fits them well since guardian obviously is a holy type warrior, and most battle mages are well, just regular mages that know how to fight in melee. The only pther arch-type I could think of that might fit them would be monk, but that would only be based on the ability style, like a smiting semi holy warrior, but the combat is too far off to be considered one, aka no bare handed or melee staff.

The Guardian certainly feels like a teamplayer and a leader/paladin role. Because of all the boon-giving Shouts and Virtues, a Guardian is dangerous alone but is far more powerful in a group! This definitely fits the role as a self-sacrificing individual capable of dishing out righteous judgement.

Battle Cleric/Priest. Were the class “Paladins”, they would have way more vitality, offensive options, and less in the way of party buffs and heals (yes, the heals are limited, but they are limited for all Professions, as there is no healer role.) Only that there are not that many weapon restrictions with this “cleric” of sorts (staff/scepter ranged attacks harken back to their GW1 Monk ancestry.) That’s my opinion, though-playing one like a “Paladin” is OK, as long as you don’t start complaining about why your “paladin” has so few hit points.

Understood, most priest characters have more vitality than a Guardian, but it would be more common than a Paladin with mage-like hit points.

(The many party buffs, especially the shouts, were inherited from the GW1 Paragon, not from a Paladin tradition, BTW. Indeed, a warrior specced for party support may be more Paladin-like than a Guardian, IMHO.)