Guild Wars 2

Hey guys,

I thought about the new 3k HP trait in the honor tree and tried incorporating it into the classic 0/0/30/30/10 “Altruistic Healing” guardian build, but with a lot more dps than before.

It’s basically the same trait setup, the only differences are that we swap out “Pure of voice” for “Force of will”.

- Armor is ascended cavalier
- Trinkets and weapons are berserker
- Utilities are traited purging flames and traited SYG and HTL.
- Sigils are Hydromancy and Energy in each weapon for the extra CC and the extra dodge rolls

So with the WvW buffs, stacks and food(!) you will have.

Pro:

- A whopping 20k HP (Please note that the additional 300 vitality is not added yet!)
- 42 % Crit chance without fury
- 101 % Crit damage aka 1045 ferocity
- around 3.4k attack
- around 3.15k armor with “Strength in numbers”
- 300 Healingpower
- Quite hard to kill due to AH, while maintaining high dps
- 65% reduction of conditions(!) and 25% stun reduction
- Nice CrowdControl with GS and Staff

Contra:

- Not the best condition removal (If you have enough shout warriors and shout guardians with you then you’ll be fine.)
- You lose some condition removal with pure of voice

What role does this build fulfill?

- Melee Frontline DPS with decent support

All in all I think this build could work really well in large and small group play due to the resilience you will have against power/condition damage and still dish out a lot of damage.

I just want to hear your opinion if this could work in organized group play or not.
For me personally, this build looks very balanced and the stats are insane.

Here is the build:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vUAQJARWlsApZotCxWI8DNRkVQkYPwYGBw1jESRGC-zECBYfBigAg+AiAJZ5oFRjtMqIas6aYKXER1BAOA+93893ALv8yLv8y97v/+7v/WKAmEGB-w

EDIT 1 fixed some typo’s and the ferocity value
EDIT 2 will upload some gameplay footage when the feature patch hits

I see what you’re trying to go making conditions virtually do peanuts worth of damage against your health and minus condition duration.
Seems like a pretty nice idea.
And 1515 would be your bonus critical damage as the base is 150% (i.e. 251% critdmg). I seriously doubt being able to reach that high with the ferocity change, though.

Youll only have 17k health with that trait. And if youre going AH use a hammer with longer and bigger symbols

Carpboy.7145:

Youll only have 17k health with that trait. And if youre going AH use a hammer with longer and bigger symbols

I agree with your hammer choice, it is indeed better. I just prefer GS over it because of the mobility and swap to hammer if I need to use judges intervention.

With the food it would be at 17.5k, which is an okay-ish amount of HP imo. Add guard leech to that it becomes the above-mentioned 20k. If you have ‘dem stacks then you’re ready to rock.

I’d play something like this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vUAQJARWlsApZotCxWI8DNhkpQkQQMFYUGd9whoIGC-zECBoiBi+IQEIJL1sIaslRFRjVhET7aR1aYABAQAu5Nzm3MwRP6RP6RXO7cnHdnHdnlBYZCA-w

I always base my builds around cheaper food.

Absolute Resolution as a 3 AoE condi cleanse is just too good to let it go. You don’t lose that much damage with the coming ferocity changes either.

Khenzy.9348:

I’d play something like this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vUAQJARWlsApZotCxWI8DNhkpQkQQMFYUGd9whoIGC-zECBoiBi+IQEIJL1sIaslRFRjVhET7aR1aYABAQAu5Nzm3MwRP6RP6RXO7cnHdnHdnlBYZCA-w

I always base my builds around cheaper food.

Absolute Resolution as a 3 AoE condi cleanse is just too good to let it go. You don’t lose that much damage with the coming ferocity changes either.

That’s a solid build, I am running the same trait’s like you but different gear. (Will swap to the new one once the patch arrives.)

The reason I made this post though is to show that you can build tanky and with very good dps more than ever before, due to the new “Force of will” grandmaster trait that gives you 3000 more vitality. You will indeed sometimes rely on others for condition removal but if you have a good group or an organized zerg with ya then it shouldn’t be a problem.

Thanks for your feedback!

blakdoxa.7520:

I see what you’re trying to go making conditions virtually do peanuts worth of damage against your health and minus condition duration.
Seems like a pretty nice idea.
And 1515 would be your bonus critical damage as the base is 150% (i.e. 251% critdmg). I seriously doubt being able to reach that high with the ferocity change, though.

The new ferocitiy stat will be 0 base.

We’ll see how it turns out.

Think about using Runes of Exuberance? With the new increase in vitality, it could be useful.

airick.9850:

Think about using Runes of Exuberance? With the new increase in vitality, it could be useful.

I tested it in the editor and compared it with the melandru rune.

If you use the exuberance rune, you gain:

- 160 vitality
- 2% crit chance
- ~ 45 power
- ~ 45 healing power

If you use the exuberance rune, you lose:

- 180 toughness
- minus 25% condition duration reduction
- minus 25% stun duration reduction

I strongly believe that melandru is still a much better choice because those reductions paired with the lemon grass poultry soup will save your life more than you think.

Yeah I guess the (very small) boost to attack isn’t worth the good defense.

BUT besides the point. I Like this build. Definitely going to give it a try.

Kraljevo.2801:

101 % Crit damage aka 1515 ferocity?

You just multiplied the pre-patch build editor Crit Dmg by 15, but that’s not how Ferocity is going to work. Ferocity will be an indirect stat that is converted into crit damage, similar to how Precision is converted to crit chance already. You will recieve an amount of Ferocity equal to the appropriate secondary stat characteristic of each source. IE the Amulet will provide 85 Ferocity, 30 Valor will provide 300 Ferocity, etc. This amount of Ferocity converts to a much lower critical damage than is attainable today.

So if you are preparing for the past-patch world, this build will have 85+68+68+60+60+35+300+25+25+25+34+76+50+134 = 1045 Ferocity, which is good for 1045/15 = 69.67 Crit Damage.

Facet.5914:

Kraljevo.2801:

101 % Crit damage aka 1515 ferocity?

You just multiplied the pre-patch build editor Crit Dmg by 15, but that’s not how Ferocity is going to work. Ferocity will be an indirect stat that is converted into crit damage, similar to how Precision is converted to crit chance already. You will recieve an amount of Ferocity equal to the appropriate secondary stat characteristic of each source. IE the Amulet will provide 85 Ferocity, 30 Valor will provide 300 Ferocity, etc. This amount of Ferocity converts to a much lower critical damage than is attainable today.

So if you are preparing for the past-patch world, this build will have 85+68+68+60+60+35+300+25+25+25+34+76+50+134 = 1045 Ferocity, which is good for 1045/15 = 69.67 Crit Damage.

If your calculation is true, then this patch will be a big nerf to meditation and AH guardians in WvW since all builds go deep into the valor line…

Not that I doubt your competence, but I really hope it is not true.

10%? Yeah, right, arenanet….

EDIT

We will see how it turns out, dps guardian builds will still be viable after all since most of the classes are affected by this change. Fingers crossed.

Kraljevo.2801:

Facet.5914:

Kraljevo.2801:

101 % Crit damage aka 1515 ferocity?

You just multiplied the pre-patch build editor Crit Dmg by 15, but that’s not how Ferocity is going to work. Ferocity will be an indirect stat that is converted into crit damage, similar to how Precision is converted to crit chance already. You will recieve an amount of Ferocity equal to the appropriate secondary stat characteristic of each source. IE the Amulet will provide 85 Ferocity, 30 Valor will provide 300 Ferocity, etc. This amount of Ferocity converts to a much lower critical damage than is attainable today.

So if you are preparing for the past-patch world, this build will have 85+68+68+60+60+35+300+25+25+25+34+76+50+134 = 1045 Ferocity, which is good for 1045/15 = 69.67 Crit Damage.

If your calculation is true, then this patch will be a big nerf to meditation and AH guardians in WvW since all builds go deep into the valor line…

Not that I doubt your competence, but I really hope it is not true.

10%? Yeah, right, arenanet….

EDIT

We will see how it turns out, dps guardian builds will still be viable after all since most of the classes are affected by this change. Fingers crossed.

Well, the “10%” comment from Anet was in reference to the difference in the total dps output of something specced for “full zerk.” If you check the effective power calculation for builds like yours that are gathering ferocity from nearly every possible source, it does come out to about 10% less after the patch. But keep in mind you will be able to recover some of the lost dps with the 2nd sigil coming to 2H weapons (if you choose to).

As you said, every power build is getting hit the same way. As long as conditions remain ineffective against cleanse share and guards remain the ~only source of party stability, I highly doubt that hybrid guards such as this will become obsolete.

Facet.5914:

Kraljevo.2801:

Facet.5914:

Kraljevo.2801:

101 % Crit damage aka 1515 ferocity?

You just multiplied the pre-patch build editor Crit Dmg by 15, but that’s not how Ferocity is going to work. Ferocity will be an indirect stat that is converted into crit damage, similar to how Precision is converted to crit chance already. You will recieve an amount of Ferocity equal to the appropriate secondary stat characteristic of each source. IE the Amulet will provide 85 Ferocity, 30 Valor will provide 300 Ferocity, etc. This amount of Ferocity converts to a much lower critical damage than is attainable today.

So if you are preparing for the past-patch world, this build will have 85+68+68+60+60+35+300+25+25+25+34+76+50+134 = 1045 Ferocity, which is good for 1045/15 = 69.67 Crit Damage.

If your calculation is true, then this patch will be a big nerf to meditation and AH guardians in WvW since all builds go deep into the valor line…

Not that I doubt your competence, but I really hope it is not true.

10%? Yeah, right, arenanet….

EDIT

We will see how it turns out, dps guardian builds will still be viable after all since most of the classes are affected by this change. Fingers crossed.

Well, the “10%” comment from Anet was in reference to the difference in the total dps output of something specced for “full zerk.” If you check the effective power calculation for builds like yours that are gathering ferocity from nearly every possible source, it does come out to about 10% less after the patch. But keep in mind you will be able to recover some of the lost dps with the 2nd sigil coming to 2H weapons (if you choose to).

As you said, every power build is getting hit the same way. As long as conditions remain ineffective against cleanse share and guards remain the ~only source of party stability, I highly doubt that hybrid guards such as this will become obsolete.

Agree, I think I was just overreacting.

I wanted to try that new trait too, but I never like to use an armor that don’t have either power or condition as main stats, since they are such powerful stats (especially in WvW and even more after the crit dmg nerf). I would prefer to use Soldier Gear over Cavalier. You lose Crit Dmg and toughness but you gain power and vitality. How the two builds :

With Soldier Armor : http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/guardian/?3.2|1.5g.h2.0.0.0|6.5g.h2.0.0.0|5c.7r.5c.7r.5c.7r.5c.7r.5c.7r.5c.7r.d17.d17.d17.d17.d17.d17|2s.0.2s.0.3s.0.2s.0.3s.0.2s.0|0.0.u56b.u290.a6|15.1|w.16.19.z.0|e

With Cavalier Armor : http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/guardian/?3.2|1.5g.h2.0.0.0|6.5g.h2.0.0.0|5i.7r.5i.7r.5i.7r.5i.7r.5i.7r.5i.7r.d17.d17.d17.d17.d17.d17|2s.0.2s.0.3s.0.2s.0.3s.0.2s.0|0.0.u56b.u290.a6|15.1|w.16.19.z.0|e

Just go into Manual and add the 300 Vitality from the future trait. That will give you :
Soldier Armor = 3826 Effective Power and 31 034 Effective HP
Cavalier Armor = 3810 Effective Power and 28 327 Effective HP

Overall you keep the same DPS, but gain a lot of defense. For information, if you add the Bloodlust, Fury and 25 Stack of Might, then the Cavalier Armor option have more damage with 7047 Effective power compare to the 6878 Effective Power from the Soldier Gear option.

But then, you can keep the soldier armor and just change your Coat for a Beserker pieces and then you gonna have 7156 Effective Power and 29 061 Effective HP. Build stats distribution will have more damage and more defense than the Cavalier Armor option. But its not that big of a difference at this point.

Feel free to point out any errors in my links.

Thaddeus.4891:

I wanted to try that new trait too, but I never like to use an armor that don’t have either power or condition as main stats, since they are such powerful stats (especially in WvW and even more after the crit dmg nerf). I would prefer to use Soldier Gear over Cavalier. You lose Crit Dmg and toughness but you gain power and vitality. How the two builds :

With Soldier Armor : http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/guardian/?3.2|1.5g.h2.0.0.0|6.5g.h2.0.0.0|5c.7r.5c.7r.5c.7r.5c.7r.5c.7r.5c.7r.d17.d17.d17.d17.d17.d17|2s.0.2s.0.3s.0.2s.0.3s.0.2s.0|0.0.u56b.u290.a6|15.1|w.16.19.z.0|e

With Cavalier Armor : http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/guardian/?3.2|1.5g.h2.0.0.0|6.5g.h2.0.0.0|5i.7r.5i.7r.5i.7r.5i.7r.5i.7r.5i.7r.d17.d17.d17.d17.d17.d17|2s.0.2s.0.3s.0.2s.0.3s.0.2s.0|0.0.u56b.u290.a6|15.1|w.16.19.z.0|e

Just go into Manual and add the 300 Vitality from the future trait. That will give you :
Soldier Armor = 3826 Effective Power and 31 034 Effective HP
Cavalier Armor = 3810 Effective Power and 28 327 Effective HP

Overall you keep the same DPS, but gain a lot of defense. For information, if you add the Bloodlust, Fury and 25 Stack of Might, then the Cavalier Armor option have more damage with 7047 Effective power compare to the 6878 Effective Power from the Soldier Gear option.

But then, you can keep the soldier armor and just change your Coat for a Beserker pieces and then you gonna have 7156 Effective Power and 29 061 Effective HP. Build stats distribution will have more damage and more defense than the Cavalier Armor option. But its not that big of a difference at this point.

Feel free to point out any errors in my links.

Hmm.. Hmm.. Interesting, I will take this into consideration, although I am not very fond of soldier’s gear.

In an organized group you’ll have +20 might stacks anyway so I don’t feel the lack of power will be a problem in this build.

Thanks for your feedback!

rune changes will likely nerf melandru, so i wouldnt bank on it

I don’t think it’s worth it with this build over POV— purging flames is decent but alone as a condition group cleanse is dubious. You may be able to withstand the conditions of course but the people around you could do a bit better. As a melandru runner myself, I would say stuff like immobilized and cripple is going to ruin your day even with reduced duration without an easy access to cleanse— it’s just not the same as cleansing it on demand. You also have to remember purging flames can be interrupted and has a cast time. In addition the radius is small though I suppose it’s also persistent in condition duration reduce. Overall, I’d say if you take shouts and 30 honor then you really should take POV.

You’re also losing the aoe blind that the standard 0/5/30/30/5 build gives.

If you wish to proceed, I think a reasonable compromise is to take soldier runes which compensates for the lack of POV. Your on demand group cleanse will be more competitive.

Personally, I’d also lose the oil for a power stone. You don’t have anything to proc with crits besides vigor and for the most part power > precision. An organized group also has frequent access to fury too, and thus I think overinvesting in crit to the expense of power isn’t too great of an idea which is why soldier is quite favored and knights tends to be a compromise. I would leave cavalier to other classes/builds that can attain very high crit to take advantage such as right handed strength guards, warriors, or death perception necros. I feel most guardians have much more to gain from knight or soldier.

Im so used to having low hp that anything above16k just sounds like too much especially if combined with AH

Depend on what you do. 16K hp in zerg bursting is pretty low. Right now i have 18k hp and 2700 Armor and i really need to move my kitten and be concentrate to survive.

I prefer 0/0/30/30/10 because I run with an organized group. We stay tight together and some use Wall of Reflection, while other use Purging Flame. The Wall is really powerful in tight space and choke point, while Purging Flames work perfectly since we are all close of each other. Since some of us run POV and Soldier runes they can clean our conditions pretty well. That why, using the 300 vitality would be a good thing to have for some of use, so we can change for more beserker trinket and do more DPS.

Thaddeus.4891:

Depend on what you do. 16K hp in zerg bursting is pretty low. Right now i have 18k hp and 2700 Armor and i really need to move my kitten and be concentrate to survive.

I prefer 0/0/30/30/10 because I run with an organized group. We stay tight together and some use Wall of Reflection, while other use Purging Flame. The Wall is really powerful in tight space and choke point, while Purging Flames work perfectly since we are all close of each other. Since some of us run POV and Soldier runes they can clean our conditions pretty well. That why, using the 300 vitality would be a good thing to have for some of use, so we can change for more beserker trinket and do more DPS.

My thoughts exactly!

I mean, for example, there’s a worker warrior and destroyer warrior. The worker is cleansing and healing his teammates while the destroyer is unleashing his mad damage.

As far as the guardian is concerned he does not really have a mega dps build for the frontline unlike the destroyer warrior because he has to go for valkyrie and a mix of soldier/knight gear to survive a decent amount of time because of his low health pool…. until now.

With this trait we might finally be able to play a pretty selfish build and deal a lot of damage. (I know there are some zerker/valkyrie variations out there, but its not as strong as this.)

Having said that, a dps guard like mentioned above would still give much more support to the team than a destroyer warrior.

Let’s be honest guys, many guardians are fed up with being the fullsupport cleric guardian or full PTV and I think this trait was a right step into the right direction to make dps guards a tad more viable.

PS: Arenanet, give us soft CC please.

BandAid.9720:

Im so used to having low hp that anything above16k just sounds like too much especially if combined with AH

Positioning is king.

Guardian can be quite good at bursting down a small group of ennemy actually. With the symbol of the staff, leap, GS symbol and whirlwind you can pack a good amount of dps into a small area. 4-5 Guardian doing that at the same time that 2 warrior hammer stun, can give the commander another burst dps options to use. They complement the destroyer warrior in his job.

Kraljevo.2801:

BandAid.9720:

Im so used to having low hp that anything above16k just sounds like too much especially if combined with AH

Positioning is king.

I always say that Leap of Faith is all the survivability I need