Guild Wars 2

Hey guys
Do you think a support/“tank” build with Mace/Shield combination is possible for zerg combat in WvW?

After quick thinking I’ve come up with this:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNApeWlYgyCXFSPEm4ERWBRi9AjfsjXPS4DlIA-jEyAoNBRqBI9JQZxioxWZLiGryGT9KIrhTqMALbB-w

And for commanding? I already have a build for commanding has I asked in another topic but I’m allways looking for new styles that I can try ater so I don’t get bored with the class (I’m currently lvling a Warrior and being able to use so many spec is what motivates me to lvlup, every time I get new gear I try something different)
For commanding, as we need more Survivability maybe this is a better setup:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNApeWlYgyCXFSPEf4ERWBRi9AjZsjXPSoEZIA-jEyAoLBRqBI9JQZxioxWZLiGryGT9KIrhTqMALbB-w

Please give opinions.

So…………………………………. no? Not possible?

I mostly roam, but I’ll throw in my thoughts for what little they may be worth.

The mace is a very stationary weapon – zerg combat is anything but stationary. Faithful Strike is one-target and has a 1 sec activation by which time god knows where your target is, or your allies for that matter. Short range, small radius. Staff is a great support weapon, but none of your weapons or skills include a gap closer. Frankly I’d use Hammer, or if you like the Shield, maybe Sword/Shield.

I just don’t see “support” oozing out of this one so much as survival. As much as I would love to see a build like this be more useful, in zergs your support is more useful, I think, when delivered in the form of pre-emptive boons and condi cleanse, which you can distribute through shouts and virtues. IMO forgoing Valor entirely and going 30 into Virtues & replacing ToC with Ren. Focus (which you can spam twice as often as ToC) will enable you to support your brethren better. Nothing that you give up in Valor is going to decrease your support capability. Virtues will considerably enhance it.

But this is the opinion of one lowly rank-and-file Guardian. You appear to be a commander so your needs may vary quite a bit.

I love mace/shield + hammer with maxed out healing power. Others may think you an idiot with such low vitality, but no, they are the fools. They do not know the maths: healing power = vitality after the fact it has taken effect. When you have maxed out healing power, superior sigil of stamina, and 2200 selfless daring, you will be a god. If only people knew the truth…

msalakka.4653:

I mostly roam, but I’ll throw in my thoughts for what little they may be worth.

The mace is a very stationary weapon – zerg combat is anything but stationary. Faithful Strike is one-target and has a 1 sec activation by which time god knows where your target is, or your allies for that matter. Short range, small radius. Staff is a great support weapon, but none of your weapons or skills include a gap closer. Frankly I’d use Hammer, or if you like the Shield, maybe Sword/Shield.

I just don’t see “support” oozing out of this one so much as survival. As much as I would love to see a build like this be more useful, in zergs your support is more useful, I think, when delivered in the form of pre-emptive boons and condi cleanse, which you can distribute through shouts and virtues. IMO forgoing Valor entirely and going 30 into Virtues & replacing ToC with Ren. Focus (which you can spam twice as often as ToC) will enable you to support your brethren better. Nothing that you give up in Valor is going to decrease your support capability. Virtues will considerably enhance it.

But this is the opinion of one lowly rank-and-file Guardian. You appear to be a commander so your needs may vary quite a bit.

Faithful strike (as well as the rest of the chain) is not one target. It hits multiple targets.

With that said, mace/shield is viable to help your people (as well as yourself, if you have altruistic healing particularly) survive, and the projectile block can be very useful as well.

I wouldn’t call it ideal. Definitely better than sword/shield for “real” (mass) WvW without a doubt, imo, though.

I’m a commander but a new one, and I’m having a really rough start. I don’t even know if I will continue. But I’m not allways commanding

I’ll try something and see if it is viable. Thanks for the feedback

Ezekiel.1985:

Faithful strike (as well as the rest of the chain) is not one target. It hits multiple targets.

The first two in the chain hit multiple foes, but Faithful only does damage to one.

Zerging with mace/shield and staff is possible against pug groups. Against organized guild groups you will be moving around all the time (at least you should be) and thats why I would pick a hammer/staff or Greatsword/staff combo instead. Mace/shield is too stationary in that case.

For small skirmishes mace/shield and staff works too but I won’t use it anymore unless they buff the shield. (It kittening sucks)

mace+ shield compared with other weapons skills on WvW is mostly useless, Shield to KB is easilly avoided with 100% stability uptime and buble duration doesnt help since 90% of range damage is the massive AC spam.

Not funny when game mechanics put every player using same build depending on class…..

I thought Mace / Shield set was bad too. I tried it in PvE and didn’t like it. 1500 hours WvW later I gave the set another try. It was one of the best decisions in my build crafting. And no, I don’t even run a healing power build and it’s still viable. For me, it’s the best weapon set to be paired with GS if you like to swim in an enemy zerg.

Tip:
Mace, Shield, and Hammer are the only three weapons in the game that provide Protection. If you don’t know how to use them, it doesn’t mean they suck. Maybe it’s just not suitable for your game play.

Mace #2 is the single best group healing skill in the game, besides of course water field blasting (when traited for it and healing power is high). Mace+shield allows you to build up protection without actually being in the fight unlike hammer. Shield #5 is amazing if you use it at a pivotal point in the battle (your team is retreating to a water field, train stops to bomb downed).
The conception that one has to stand in symbols for the full duration to receive the full effect is misguided. That being because the idea of a symbol is for everyone to get a little. If more then one guardian used the mace+shield combo then it would be easy to reach at least 75% symbol coverage and uptime to everyone. So in reality symbols are more mobile then people give them credit for (unlike water fields that scream bomb here).

Mace & shield is very much doable. In fact it was mandatory for HB guardians untill this summer.

Shield is very viable.

Mace/Shield is good, but you need to run Boon Duration.

Also, it really is more of a skirmishing set in WvW, not a zerging set nor a 1v1…. think 3-5vsX.

Shield 4 w/ boon duration is 9s of Protection.

Shield is great weapon to control an area along side with staff or hammer
Also with mace is great heal weapon set above 1000 heal power
I would change bit the trait for more symbol healing ticking and area instead of shout

Also agree that mace is good for zerging
I usually use JI with symbol inside the burst location which give health while damaging the enemy follow by hammer blast for retal

I ding that in guild groups it’s more hard to land full symbol duration on one location
But in Zerg where all just AA and standing its fun

Amins.3710:

Mace/Shield is good, but you need to run Boon Duration.

I only have +5% boon duration, it’s still amazing.

msalakka.4653:

Ezekiel.1985:

Faithful strike (as well as the rest of the chain) is not one target. It hits multiple targets.

The first two in the chain hit multiple foes, but Faithful only does damage to one.

I thought you were talking about the first skill – my bad. The way tooltips display is annoying.

Sorry bumping into this old topci but since the matter is the same I wanna ask about this build, what do you guys think?

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNApeWlUgyC33xKEf4ERWhVi9AjfsjXPS4DZIA-jEyAoNBR6TEpCAZxioxWZLiGreBT9SEV7PwkBgZLA-w

I can try it with out much lose since I just don’t have the weapons, but before trying it I would like some ideas. Sorry insisting but I would love to play this game with Shield and I can’t find anything good with it for what I want, so it make almst this weapon loooks useless with any class (except engi)

Mace is guardian’s signature weapon, you come with it when your guardian was born. As mentioned above, shield might not be that functional in an organized fight due to mobility issue, but mace definitely shines!
I have tried many weapon combo+builds, and at last I found the best suit for WvW Zerg battle is mace+focus/x. Trait goes to 0/0/30/20/20. If you play aggressively x=GS, defensively(easiest) then x=hammer, if you want more support plus best survival then x goes to Staff. It combines Tank+DPS+Support+Healing+survival together. During battle, when all my teammates went down/die, my HP still remained full in most of time. I normally hold at least 2-3 longer than other ppl (deadman = no DPS). We used to hold lord room with only 10 ppl (4 guardians running this build) against 30+ zerg for 10+ mins until our back-up came and wiped them all.
Mace+focus/X 0/0/30/20/20 is by far the best build which I have ever found for guardian in WvW zerg fight. And most importantly, it makes me feel like a guardian in such play style —-- always in the front, like a real tank, unstoppable.

mPascoal.4258:

Sorry bumping into this old topci but since the matter is the same I wanna ask about this build, what do you guys think?

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNApeWlUgyC33xKEf4ERWhVi9AjfsjXPS4DZIA-jEyAoNBR6TEpCAZxioxWZLiGreBT9SEV7PwkBgZLA-w

I can try it with out much lose since I just don’t have the weapons, but before trying it I would like some ideas. Sorry insisting but I would love to play this game with Shield and I can’t find anything good with it for what I want, so it make almst this weapon loooks useless with any class (except engi)

Vengeful is only worth using if you get Virtue of Retribution. If you’re going to run 0/0/30/30/10, pick up Master of Consecrations. Drop one of your shouts for Purging Flames. This will also let you drop your soldier runes, and get something better.