Guild Wars 2

Looking for build idea’s, so as a Commander you want to be tanky because your first priority is surviving so with that said Gaurdians are a little different. Is there a minimum Healing power needed, or is full PVT/Sentinels gear the way to go. I’m not concerned about the spec, abilities, or weapon types I’m more concerned with the vital stats needed.

I’ve frontlined with full cleric gear with as little as 15k hit points depending on spec. It really comes down to maxing out toughness and having a reliable solution to conditions. I’d say anything less than 3100 toughness will be tough if you run clerics gear. If you run sentinels you can probably get away with a little less (I’d still max it out though). I try to stay above 1500 healing which means empower is a 3100+ heal and each dodge roll heals for about 1800.

As for condition removal you have your shouts, runes and food to rely on. You can always grab smite condition instead of three shouts but I find it less useful in large groups. Being able to cleanse, especially with something like Save Yourselves, makes a huge difference. Personally if I were commanding I’d run with Melandru runes in addition to lemongrass soup. Conditions won’t really bother you that much.

I also have a few guildmates who frontline with the pvt and sentinel gear with soldier runes and they have decent survivability as well. They can’t really match a well played healer in staying power but the healer can’t really smash people with a big hammer as well as they can either.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQFAWlUgyCXFyIEfIFRuAbBYPwI8741jESRGC-jkBBofCZEDCZpmFRjtyqIasKbYqXER1SBwkyI-w

Nuff said, just trololololol your way to glory (a.k.a loot), you’ll thank me when your bags are full of precursors.

But on a more “serious” note I’m more of a front-liner type of player, reason why I don’t like to tag up very often since I can’t do suicide bombs

And just a warning, don’t take my word on this following build it’s more for messing up those groups of enemies xD If you really want to suicide go with my build, otherwise the most widely and safer use is what Maladon posted (which I sometimes run, I’m not a masochist )

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNAsdRnQEFHaaImhwHqiIXg9BAWfIe4CuekwI2QA-jEyA4OioRCEIVYIaZvioxW4KiGr2GT5KIriTqUAMJMC-w

Hope that you find something that suits your play style.

A big point on commanders is staying alive long, I mean, you can’t lead your group when you’re on the ground. This is the reason why Guardians and Warriors are prefered to have commander tags on, because when built right, they can survive brutal beatings, and act as the leading edge of the group.

For a build I personally use
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQJARWlYgqCnFyLEf4ERWBRi9AjZsjXPcIFZIA-jUyAorAh7SG1AiKAk9KiGbZsIas6FMdJRUtLpIa1yAwsFA-w

For the Weapons Staff is a must, but you can pick between Greatsword or Hammer. I choose Greatsword because with the #5 (Binding blade) I pull five of their people to me, which gives my zerg/group a focus point. Also Aoe is capped at 5 people so it helps in that manner. Leap of Faith is nice for getting right into the fray when you’re pushing in initially. #4 Symbol of Wrath is nice for the Retaliation bonus, and when used for a light field with GS whirl #2 Whirling Wrath, or GS #5 Binding Blade, the whirl finish clears conditions.

However hammer too is nice too, as Hammer #3 Immobilizes one enemy, which the control is always nice. Hammer #2 is a Blast Finisher, #4 is a good knockback/interrupt. Also on your third #1 Melee strike will drop Symbol of Protection which is -33% damage reduction, and is another lightfield. Finally #5 Ring of Warding Is a an AoE cc, finally another light field.

Then I use full Power, Vitality, Toughness, on my Weapons, Armor, and Accessories, which heavily aids in my tanking ability. Runes of Melandru helps reduce stun duration, condi duration, and toughness, then I use Sigils of Force on my melee for extra power, then Sigil of life to aid in getting healing power up. Finally my Accessories use Exquisite Sapphire Jewels, putting more healing power, and such.

The utility skills, and traits should be fairly self explanatory.

I stick to shouts and boon duration. PVT trinkets with clerics weapons and armor. I don’t rely on activating virtues so much as I’m busy looking for the enemy commander and watching what he/she does. That’s why I like Guardian. I can tank without pushing too many buttons and focus on other things that matter.