Guild Wars 2

I am about to craft my second set of Ascended armor. My first was Zerker for PvE. My second set is gonna be for WvW. I have usually up until this point ran With a full Clerics set, and I am strongly leaning that way now. Now the debate as to which set of armor would be the most help. Is Sentinels worth it on a guardian, I have heard mixed feelings about this.

I have been theory crafting for a while, and its making my head hurt. Any thoughts on which of these would be the most beneficial in the long run for havoc and Zerg War.

Oh, and I do tend to change my build alot to suit my mood. So this isn’t so much a build question as a over all stat discussion.

I personally don’t think Sentinel gear has a lot of value on a guardian unless you are a commander. All it does is add vit, and you shouldn’t be having an issue with conditions if you are on a guardian.

If I were going to build an ascended set it would be Clerics or Soldiers.

I use Sentinel armor on my current exotic armor set and ascended weapon set. IMO If you prioritize tankiness over DPS, it’s worth it. We have low base HP pool so Vit becomes more valuable. I personally like it.

However, I’m planning to get Soldier instead for my ascended armor (still in working progress). The reason is because with Applied Fortitude buff, I feel my vitality is more than enough. Too much tankiness is rather useless, since there is no such a thing as too much DPS.

I’m not a fan of full cleric set, so I can’t talk about it.

Healing Power is generally better than Vitality on Guardian, in some specs it’s even better if you are alone by yourself.
But that’s not a reason to get no vitality at all and be stuck with 13-15 k HP – it’s obvious that you still need some vitality then to survive the “impact”.
Well, that means full Sentinel’s is a bad idea. But so is full Cleric’s?

timidobserver.7925:

you shouldn’t be having an issue with conditions if you are on a guardian.

Vs a zerg, you ALWAYS have issues with conditions, regardless of class!

i craft some sentinel because its the only access to some extra health, around 3-4 parts, rest gear and amulets can be anything from berserker to clerics.
but you can do fine without sentinel too, its just my personal preference to have some extra health , around 18-19 k ill be satisfied.

Evalia.7103:

Well, that means full Sentinel’s is a bad idea. But so is full Cleric’s?

IMO, “Full {{ insert item nomenclature here }}” is a bad idea for WvW guardian.

I just decided to go Clerics. I don’t command and even in exotic cleric’s gear I am usually the last one in my havoc/zerg to fall. But in my experience that is usually the case with Guardians. Set number three will be soldiers, though, I am certain on that.

Applied Fortitude is generally giving me enough extra hp to stand tall as I bash my way though the enemy zerg.

I’m going half Cleric and half sentinel. Well, partially because there’s no such thing as Sentinel ascended accessories, but you need both the health and the heal as a support type spec. And partially because this is a commander spec.

Soldiers Helm, Chest, Legs, and rings, and clerics rest. Swap out rings and Helm to cleric once you get Applied Fortitude.

I always found Sentinel to be somewhat lacking. There’s a reason why Guardians are in the lowest hp pool, stacking an enormous amount of vit isn’t going to do anything unless you have decent healing power to keep it. As stated above you’re better off going Soldier then Sentinel. Soldier still gives you a lot of vit, and your not losing power like in Sentinel.

What do you need power for?

Harbinger.8637:

I always found Sentinel to be somewhat lacking. There’s a reason why Guardians are in the lowest hp pool, stacking an enormous amount of vit isn’t going to do anything unless you have decent healing power to keep it. As stated above you’re better off going Soldier then Sentinel. Soldier still gives you a lot of vit, and your not losing power like in Sentinel.

I tend to agree although I’ve not found the proper balance yet . Since the OP’s question is focused on WvW it probably doesn’t matter at the end of the day anyway. Players are getting getting smarter and focus fire wins the day.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people just blow past my CC and mow down the primary and secondary damage dealers I’m supposed to be protecting. So I swap over to a more friendly showering of green numbers to my mates and that falls like water off a ducks back No wonder why players want to go to a more DPS oriented build. If you can’t beat them, join them. Sometimes I think the biggest fault of this game is not having a healing meta. This wonky hybrid pseudo handing out golden bombs of light and health just doesn’t cut it in this format of play.

Just my opinion. So I just try and find a good balance. It does no good for me to be the last man standing I always say.

The problem is that you want zerg AND havoc. There isn’t a best choice for both of those.

For zergs, you are not there for DPS. You are there to provide support, both boons and healing. You need to help disrupt your opponent. I personally prefer sentinel armor because as others have mentioned, there are no ascended trinket versions of that. You can get the heal power from trinkets and your weapon.

bllius.9027:

What do you need power for?

GW2 is all about offense rather then defense, it’s just the way the game was designed. So you can never have too much power, doesn’t matter if you’re running bunker or dps. The more power the better.

it depends on your build/play style.
You think about cleric, so I assume that you were planning to play a heal+support role.
If that’s the case, Cleric>>>Sentinels. Only advantage of Sentinels is to provide you a bigger buffer pool against the initial burst, but once you know how to time your dodge/block well, it’s not a problem. Don’t forget selfless daring/tome of courage skills are highly coefficient with healing power, with cleric gears it make significant difference to your group.

While i agee that no set will be perfect for both havoc and zerging until i get enough time to craft a third set of ascended i will be using my ascended or using an exotic set when I need soldiers.

Im running full cleric, 16k Health, 0/0/20/30/20, works great on front lines, of course, if it wasn’t for the lag, it would work even better.
I love being a support/healer/tank.