This might seem like a stupid question, but I think it lies at the core of a lot of debate and can resolve a lot of questions about what should happen with the profession.
I think there are two sides to this, a thematic and a mechanical side.
Thematically Guardians are Magic Knights (leaning towards Paladins, which are a subset of Magic Knights). They combine melee combat with some sort of magic. Our magic is of the defensive kind, protection both ourselves and our allies. There is a little offensive magic available to use, but it pails in comparison to our protective options. I think this focus on defense fits our profession pretty good and shines through in most of our abilities. This is something that will probably make me disagree with people who want to play something like what D&D calls an “Avenging Paladin”. I don’t think that fits the theme of a Guardian as well as protecting your allies.
Another core theme is that of a tactician. I don’t mean actually leading a group (although that can be part of it, as evidenced by pretty much every commander in my realms’ WvWvW being a Guardian), but that we have the feel and flavor of someone who directs the flow of combat. This shines through with our area-denial skills (Line of Warding, Ring of Warding, Symbols, Consecrations…) and our Shouts, which are clearly flavored after someone giving orders and supporting a team.
Mechanically, I think there are a couple of things that define a Guardian (but aren’t necessarily exclusive to our profession):
- We should direct the flow of battle (area-denial)
- We should have less ways of escaping a fight (frontline commanders), but enough ways to enter a fight and keep our opponent there.
- We should protect and help our team.
- We should be better in the thick of combat than looking at it from afar.
- We should be able to survive a brawl to make up for our low chance of retreating quickly (This also means we are allowed to retreat slowly and inefficiently).
Looking at it in this ways, it’s easier to answer some questions that people have been discussing.
Examples:
Q: Should Shield of Judgment be swapped with Shield of Wrath?
A: Not necessarily. While Shield of Judgment has it’s issues, the Shield is mainly a defensive weapon. Guardians are magical warriors that protect their allies and this is shown in Shield of Judgment. Shield of Wrath is more offensive and fits the Focus better, as it’s main use is offensive with some “selfish” defense as a bonus.
Q: Should Merciful Intervention be ground-targeted?
A: Making Merciful Intervention ground-targeted gives the Guardian an easy way out of combat, which Guardians shouldn’t have. Merciful Intervention needs to be changed, but not in that direction.
The main benefit of taking this approach is that you stop talking about individual skills and abilities and start looking at the bigger picture. It also makes it easier to see the meta-disagreements that bog down arguments in here.
I’m not saying that this is the only way to see a Guardian. It’s how I see the profession and it influences what I expect from it and what I want to see changed. Your view of the Guardian can be different, but it can be helpful to spell it out in a disagreement to avoid being dragged down in arguing in the margin.
(Apologies for the rough post, I spend a significant amount of time finetuning this post and then something bad happened to my browser so I just typed up what I wanted to say.)