Guild Wars 2

Hey guardians,

So I’m here to ask a simple question. What is a guardian?

The description we have from Anet is extremely basic.
Guardians have “virtues” that they can sacrifice to empower their allies or impede their foes.

Then we get to the quoted text “I’ll guard you. Let them come through ME first!”

This is what led me to the class.
In my translation: A class which could control the sway of battle, either through being a boon to their allies or being a bane to the enemy.

I consider this ‘bane’ to be a force that the enemy must be dealt with before the others, for one reason or another. (disrupts/control)
I consider this ‘boon’ to be an anchor to their allies, providing a means for their survival until dealt with.

Are we killed first? Do we guard anything?
Generally the necro is targeted first because they provide the highest threat. Generally the hammer warrior provides the most control and sway in a battle because of their high health pool and area cc.

So, are we guardians or something else?

I am playing one because my friend rolled one. He has a knack of picking a good class. Till the last 2 patches my complaints were rather small and I enjoyed it. Now I have Warrior envy.

With reflection, group-wide Aegis, group-wide Stability and group-wide condition remove Guardians are often the anchor of many groups.
That sounds to me as what you’re looking for.

Could be different in WvW and/or PvP, though.

DesertRose.2031:

Could be different in WvW

no it is not.

As a Guardian you are very versatile, you can do a good amount of damage, you can gear yourself offensively and still have plenty of defense from blocks, dodges/vigor, and blinds. We aren’t pigeon holed into healers or support so strap on your berserker gear if you like. We have excellent melee AOE with staffs, GS and hammer as well as single targets with Sword, Mace, and scepter. Range isn’t our strongest point but we can get the job done if the situation warrants.

The most important thing about Guardians is damage prevention not restoration. We have access to AOE projectile reflects and absorb, group stability, AOE condition removal options, and a couple of ways to give group blocks. These skills if applied at the right time make the difference between a party wipe and a total win.

MastaNeenja.1537:

As a Guardian you are very versatile, you can do a good amount of damage, you can gear yourself offensively and still have plenty of defense from blocks, dodges/vigor, and blinds. We aren’t pigeon holed into healers or support so strap on your berserker gear if you like. We have excellent melee AOE with staffs, GS and hammer as well as single targets with Sword, Mace, and scepter. Range isn’t our strongest point but we can get the job done if the situation warrants.

The most important thing about Guardians is damage prevention not restoration. We have access to AOE projectile reflects and absorb, group stability, AOE condition removal options, and a couple of ways to give group blocks. These skills if applied at the right time make the difference between a party wipe and a total win.

This guys has it right. We protect through our skills, not through tanky/healy/crappy armor.

If you block for your team, apply reflects, and give team stability when needed. Then you are playing as a Guardian in my eyes. Blinds and Condi removal are just icing on the cake. The beauty of all that, is you can bring those things while wearing full zerker and actually doing damage!