Guild Wars 2

Can the board experts discuss their current thoughts on Altruistic healing? I recently started trying a hammer/staff AH build based on the guide previously published.

I understand post the patch there were some changes to AH that may now make it out of favor? My question is in relation to WvW, not PvE if that makes any difference.

I played it all weekend and found it adequate but I’m not sure it’s putting out the expected so some tips as to how it would be better played and optimal group composition would be helpful as well.

We normally don’t hang with the zerg, rather have a 5 man that ninjas towers and takes camps.

I am a new player looking for a supporty type build – I have played with a glass cannon Staff Crit build and am going to try the Healway build as well – any advice appreciated.

This post deviated from AH so if people feel like it maybe it could be an advice thread for Guardian WvW if people are so inclined.

I’m currently playing a hammer/staff AH build (0/5/30/30/5) in WvW.

I’d suggest you to try out Judge’s Intervention as one of your utility skills. It combos just perfect with most of the hammer skills (anyone who ever used Banish+JI to instakick someone off a cliff, keep or tower knows what i mean ^^).

I’m usually doing okay in most 1on1s and some 1on2s. I’m also using these weapons in group raids (other traits though) and feel mainly responsible for providing CC and Area Control. Nothing compares to just place a line/ring of warding in front of the enemy spawn and watch them faceplant while trying to flee inside ^^

The only real problem with hammer/staff is it’s mobility which is…not really existant. Sure i can buff myself with swiftness using shouts + the staff symbol and try to put my line in front of the fleeing enemy but the combo lacks skills like the 1h-sword teleport or leap of faith. Took my about 10 tries until i finally catched this d/d ele the other day <.<

But like you i’m also going to try the Healway build. Already got clerics weapons, armor and the runes + sigils. Some trinkets and i can start training. I really seem to be unable to fight with a GS after all this hammering time…oh and i would like to change the order of my skills ^^ Having #2 as big hit and #3 as mobility skill on GS and #2 as mobility and #3 as big hit on 1H-sword takes a bit of practice for me.

Thanks – I really like hammer – I guess i will try the JI/banish and JI/ROW thing some more – i hate that people can dodge over wards.

Here’s a 32 sec cooldown ability that anyone who doesn;t suck can 100 percent negate.

If you’re using a hammer then the AH nerf doesn’t really concern you. It was mostly sword/torch builds that really abuses it that gets affected.

Though as a hammer guardian, I think it is actually better for you to go aggressive instead of support. If your group is static, and has an ele, it’s easier for an ele of almost any configuration to keep swiftness, regen, protection and at least a few stacks of might perpetually on the group. Use your blast finisher on their combo fields, and immobilize foes and keep up the pressure on targets. As an AH guardian you should have no problem over extending to get the kill even if you are under fire. It’s the best way a guardian can contribute to general skirmish warfare.

If you still want to consider doing support. The best support a guardian can offer is through blocking. Mace/shield gives you a couple blocking options, sword/focus gives you a couple blinding options, then try to fit as many blind and aegis procs as possible through utilities, traits, profession mechanics, runes and elites. It is a rather skill intensive build though as you have to time everything just right. Another notable skill is sanctuary, which can be used as a quicker casting ward you can use on the go (if traited), a knockback, an almost guaranteed rez, a thief initiative waster (if they’re stupid), and the list goes on. I think most WvW guardians would fall in love with sanctuary.

Heinel.6548:

If you’re using a hammer then the AH nerf doesn’t really concern you. It was mostly sword/torch builds that really abuses it that gets affected.

Though as a hammer guardian, I think it is actually better for you to go aggressive instead of support. If your group is static, and has an ele, it’s easier for an ele of almost any configuration to keep swiftness, regen, protection and at least a few stacks of might perpetually on the group. Use your blast finisher on their combo fields, and immobilize foes and keep up the pressure on targets. As an AH guardian you should have no problem over extending to get the kill even if you are under fire. It’s the best way a guardian can contribute to general skirmish warfare.

If you still want to consider doing support. The best support a guardian can offer is through blocking. Mace/shield gives you a couple blocking options, sword/focus gives you a couple blinding options, then try to fit as many blind and aegis procs as possible through utilities, traits, profession mechanics, runes and elites. It is a rather skill intensive build though as you have to time everything just right. Another notable skill is sanctuary, which can be used as a quicker casting ward you can use on the go (if traited), a knockback, an almost guaranteed rez, a thief initiative waster (if they’re stupid), and the list goes on. I think most WvW guardians would fall in love with sanctuary.

I agree with your first two points, but in your last I think there are some issues.

First, a block heavy Guardian isn’t the best kind of support. The most blocking you can give to allies (support) comes from VoC activation on a long cooldown, an Aegis from a Rune, ‘Retreat’ on a moderate cooldown (but you’ll probably use it when you want Swiftness rather than when you want a free block for allies) and Sanctuary on another long cooldown. You also have Shield of Absorption and Wall of Reflection for projectile blocking, but that hardly changes the case that “blocking” for allies is infrequent and situational. Yeah it’s great for your own survival, but your options for blocking attacks at allies are far fewer in number.

Regarding Sanctuary: It’s a good skill, the only problem is your opportunity cost. Unless traited it’s a 120 second cooldown ability that lasts 6s, and traited it’s 96 second cooldown that lasts 8s. By comparison, that’s potentially sacrificing 3-4 uses of Stand Your Ground which gives 5s Stability and Retaliation to you and 4 allies. It’s potentially sacrificing 2-3 uses of Wall of Reflection, which can be 25-30% uptime of Projectile reflection versus the 6s every 96-120s on Sanctuary. Etc.

In addition, it will not stop any reasonably competent person from stomping a downed ally. The radius of Sanctuary is not large enough to prevent someone from walking up next to the bubble and stomping an ally in the bubble. There’s also the issue of AoEs destroying any allies in the bubble, which normally would be ran out of or dodged. Against some enemies it actually won’t do anything, like a Greatsword Mesmer whose attacks almost all go through Sanctuary (the exception being ‘2’, but the Mesmer can still spam ‘1’ at a 1200 range while moving while you are stationary).

I highly reccomend switching to Monk’s Focus. It works just as well… better for pug situations as you have stronger healing running away. I like it better because of its better condition removal through contemplation of purity and stronger burst healing. It is a lot more fun buildwise as you don’t need Empowering Might or any of the Honor tree if you don’t want it. I run 0/15/30/20/5 and it works great. Major Drawback is you offer little group support.

I also use 0/15/30/20/5 — it can be configured for AH with Hammer/Staff, or changed up to Meditations with GS/Staff.

For PvE I use AH, for WvW I use meditations. Same armor and runes for both. I like to roam solo or in pairs in WvW so AH doesn’t shine as well (due to fewer peeps to receive my awesome shout/symbol/crit boons).

Alarox.4590:

First, a block heavy Guardian isn’t the best kind of support.

Regarding Sanctuary: …

In addition, it will not stop any reasonably competent person from stomping a downed ally.

1. It’s not the best kind of support, but it’s a Guardian’s best bet at support. Everything else is better done as an ele or engineer. Things are on long cooldown, but what guardian skills are not long cooldown? You’re still supposed to be DPS’ing, there’s no full support in this game.

2. I wouldn’t replace stand your ground with sanctuary, but even if you bring both JI and SYG you still have one free slot. It’s not like there’re many viable choices to begin with. It does stop stompers, unless you’re running head first into an organized guild zerg, the people who will be fighting you are beginner PvPers or skill-less gank thieves. None of them know how to position themselves at the edge of sanctuary, many of them probably don’t even know what it is.

3. About the Mesmer GS beam. Well, if you’re not a thief, ele or mesmer, you are already a second rate citizen in WvW. Though if you are JI specced, you should be able kill the mesmer first… unless it’s some sort of culling abusing invis build. In those cases there’s really no one skill that can save you. It’s no magic “I win” button, but it does the job most of the time.

Here’s my take on AH.

With Knights Gear w/ Precision Runes + Beryl Earings & Zerker Weapons….

With Omnom Food & Oils…

x/x/30/20/5 base…

with Sigil of Blood on GS

with Sigil of Fire on Hammer

survivability is good, if not great. You should have at least 45% crit and 66% crit dmg. you’re doing a considerable amount of damage and healing at the same time.

The downside is… you have to be attacking, and more importantly, the more you’re hitting the better the build becomes.

Throw into the mix might stacking on blocking… you can easly get 3800 attk pwr.

Amins.3710:

Here’s my take on AH.

With Knights Gear w/ Precision Runes + Beryl Earings & Zerker Weapons….

With Omnom Food & Oils…

x/x/30/20/5 base…

with Sigil of Blood on GS

with Sigil of Fire on Hammer

survivability is good, if not great. You should have at least 45% crit and 66% crit dmg. you’re doing a considerable amount of damage and healing at the same time.

The downside is… you have to be attacking, and more importantly, the more you’re hitting the better the build becomes.

Throw into the mix might stacking on blocking… you can easly get 3800 attk pwr.

I think this works great if you have a bunch of melers working with you. I used it quite a bit.

The downside…

If you’re getting kitted… you’re HOSED. lol

ooh the woes of being kited while playing such builds. heh. good times.
i want to say AH builds definitely work better in groups, so like you running in a 5 man group is actually not bad. just have to mindful of your positioning to your allies, so as to be able to place boons on them.

so like others have mentioned, AH is by no means weak or not viable anymore, especially if you use a hammer. i still lov eit. though been messing with many other builds now.. healing / boon duration / meditations healing and trying to come up with more for fun. heh

i’ve just tapped into the healway recently after plaing a full knight’s AH hammer build and it’s been a lot of fun. still experimenting with weapon sets that suit my own play style and still benefit from the build. so far i’m goign with hammer and mace + shield. and love the control i get actually, even with shield #5 being on a long cooldown. when it works, it works wonders. i don’t even mind so much regarding the lack of mobility. though with this build, i feel more “safe” pushing enemy lines further back, but in turn, i need to be even more mindful of where i am in relation to my allies and the enemy. sometimes trying to escape a mob can get pretty intense with less mobility lol

Heinel.6548:

About the Mesmer GS beam. Well, if you’re not a thief, ele or mesmer, you are already a second rate citizen in WvW. Though if you are JI specced, you should be able kill the mesmer first… unless it’s some sort of culling abusing invis build. In those cases there’s really no one skill that can save you. It’s no magic “I win” button, but it does the job most of the time.

This made me lol. Guards are top tier in WvW. Not sure what problem you’re having specifically.

Mesmers have been nerfed into the ground. If you understood what they’ve done to them you wouldn’t be complaining.

Here… I’ll teach you how to kill any mesmer. Dodge/block/blind at the time of their illusion summon. No illusion will appear. This is huge. They are the only class where multi-hitting/aoe attacks just don’t occur due to a single dodge/block/blind.

Use mighty blow to kill any clones that pop up near the mesmer from their dodge roll. MB should pop them with the area damage, no need to target them specifically

Now their f-skills have no fuel. If you mess up a bunch and they try to shatter on you, just run. The clones will self destruct after a set distance and do no damage to you.

Grats you can kill any mesmer now and just laugh.

Btw… they also just nerfed them again… there is a .25s cooldown on their shatters now. Might not seem like much but it hurts them even more.

Thieves/Eles shouldn’t kill you. You can counter the thief burst. Ele conditions arn’t that hard to deal with if you have smite condition (+ monks focus ftw). You probably won’t be able to kill them either if they have any skill though.

Aberrant.6749:

Heinel.6548:

About the Mesmer GS beam. Well, if you’re not a thief, ele or mesmer, you are already a second rate citizen in WvW. Though if you are JI specced, you should be able kill the mesmer first… unless it’s some sort of culling abusing invis build. In those cases there’s really no one skill that can save you. It’s no magic “I win” button, but it does the job most of the time.

This made me lol. Guards are top tier in WvW. Not sure what problem you’re having specifically.

Mesmers have been nerfed into the ground. If you understood what they’ve done to them you wouldn’t be complaining.

Here… I’ll teach you how to kill any mesmer. Dodge/block/blind at the time of their illusion summon. No illusion will appear. This is huge. They are the only class where multi-hitting/aoe attacks just don’t occur due to a single dodge/block/blind.

Use mighty blow to kill any clones that pop up near the mesmer from their dodge roll. MB should pop them with the area damage, no need to target them specifically

Now their f-skills have no fuel. If you mess up a bunch and they try to shatter on you, just run. The clones will self destruct after a set distance and do no damage to you.

Grats you can kill any mesmer now and just laugh.

Btw… they also just nerfed them again… there is a .25s cooldown on their shatters now. Might not seem like much but it hurts them even more.

Thieves/Eles shouldn’t kill you. You can counter the thief burst. Ele conditions arn’t that hard to deal with if you have smite condition (+ monks focus ftw). You probably won’t be able to kill them either if they have any skill though.

When did I say I die to those classes?

Maybe you should learn what actually matters in WvW?

Heinel.6548:

Aberrant.6749:

Heinel.6548:

About the Mesmer GS beam. Well, if you’re not a thief, ele or mesmer, you are already a second rate citizen in WvW. Though if you are JI specced, you should be able kill the mesmer first… unless it’s some sort of culling abusing invis build. In those cases there’s really no one skill that can save you. It’s no magic “I win” button, but it does the job most of the time.

This made me lol. Guards are top tier in WvW. Not sure what problem you’re having specifically.

Mesmers have been nerfed into the ground. If you understood what they’ve done to them you wouldn’t be complaining.

Here… I’ll teach you how to kill any mesmer. Dodge/block/blind at the time of their illusion summon. No illusion will appear. This is huge. They are the only class where multi-hitting/aoe attacks just don’t occur due to a single dodge/block/blind.

Use mighty blow to kill any clones that pop up near the mesmer from their dodge roll. MB should pop them with the area damage, no need to target them specifically

Now their f-skills have no fuel. If you mess up a bunch and they try to shatter on you, just run. The clones will self destruct after a set distance and do no damage to you.

Grats you can kill any mesmer now and just laugh.

Btw… they also just nerfed them again… there is a .25s cooldown on their shatters now. Might not seem like much but it hurts them even more.

Thieves/Eles shouldn’t kill you. You can counter the thief burst. Ele conditions arn’t that hard to deal with if you have smite condition (+ monks focus ftw). You probably won’t be able to kill them either if they have any skill though.

When did I say I die to those classes?

Maybe you should learn what actually matters in WvW?

Ok so tell me what a thief can do to help oh so much in WvW?

All that mes can do is portal and time warp… (your guard can produce haste as well btw…)

Portals aren’t useful to help people inside anymore as everyone sweeps for mesmers.

I guess they are nice for the jumping puzzle though(?)

Btw… killing does matter in WvW. It’s just not the only thing that matters.

Ok so tell me what a thief can do to help oh so much in WvW? It’s widly known & accepted that they don’t play much of a role other than killing stragglers/noobs…

1. Dagger Storm
2. Unlimited blast finishers with SB, if build for it.
3. SB #3 to weaken enemy healing.
4. Kill dolyaks no matter how many people are guarding it.
5. Sneak into open towers and solo them after your enemy think it’s save (you can stay invisible infinitely while using CnD on the gate or any NPC).
6. Stealth your group for sneak actions.

All that mes can do is portal and time warp… those are only really useful with golems. That’s pretty niche use. I guess they are nice for the jumping puzzle though(?)

1. Help getting supply in attacked towers/keeps.
2. AoE confusion destroys zergs.
3. Feedback.
4. Pull enemies away from siege or off walls.
5. AoE regeneration for your team, if traited.
6. Veil!

AH got a hit for Two-handed melee Guardians, but its still pretty broken when it comes to the Mace and Staff.

Iavra.8510:

Ok so tell me what a thief can do to help oh so much in WvW? It’s widly known & accepted that they don’t play much of a role other than killing stragglers/noobs…

1. Dagger Storm

Just mele stomp them

2. Unlimited blast finishers with SB, if build for it.

Now compare this to Mighty blow… which has an all of 4s cd

3. SB #3 to weaken enemy healing.

A pois field isn’t game breaking to say the least

4. Kill dolyaks no matter how many people are guarding it.

Blatantly false

5. Sneak into open towers and solo them after your enemy think it’s save (you can stay invisible infinitely while using CnD on the gate or any NPC).

You can see and hear the npc’s being hit and occasionally attacking something, this should be a huge giveaway

6. Stealth your group for sneak actions.

Short duration, if you have a scout this isn’t an issue at all, just back up to counter as you would when you’re fighting them 1v1

All that mes can do is portal and time warp… those are only really useful with golems. That’s pretty niche use. I guess they are nice for the jumping puzzle though(?)

1. Help getting supply in attacked towers/keeps.

Not sure what server you’re on where people just freely let you run back and forth with supplies near a zerg… unless they are letting you get a steady flow of it from supply camps (again, idk who would let you do this)… 10 supplies here and there isn’t going to matter

2. AoE confusion destroys zergs.

Only if they are really really dumb and pick to start spamming attacks when the confusion was just applied. It’s all of 3 seconds and is a small aoe.

3. Feedback.

Just walk out of the bubble

4. Pull enemies away from siege or off walls.

Killing the siege is far better, will only pull people off of walls if they are dumb… don’t stand on ledges

5. AoE regeneration for your team, if traited.

The phantasms that give off the regen die in 1-2 hits. They won’t live through any aoe.

6. Veil!

Oh look, a small area where people are going towards and going invis… binding blade and then whomp them

Hopefully this helps you with your issues.

Aberrant.6749:

Hopefully this helps you with your issues.

No it doesn’t.

If you haven’t seen survivalist thieves sniping yaks no matter how many people is guarding it it’s because you haven’t played long enough or your opponents are unworthy. It’s actually not that difficult, you just need healing gears, and keep stealthing to heal. The yaks cannot fight back, so even if your damage is puny, as long as you can put out enough damage than the people can heal it (really really not difficult as a thief), it will die before it reach stone mist.

If you haven’t seen golem rushes traveling across the map in 5 minutes, and taking reinforced doors in 30s each, you have not seen an organized mesmer team executing those rushes. Well timed portals on a pre-scouted, pre-planned route is deadly enough. Constant time warps to double the golem’s DPS cuts the most time consuming part of the execution of the raid by half. No other classes can down objectives more efficiently than this.

I guess you didn’t deny the part about eles, but they are the ones that are blocking your siege, and nuking your siege whether there’s line of sight or not. Actually of all the advanced tactics in WvW, siege blocking is the only one that guardians can do with sanctuary. It’s just our bubble has a lot more downtime, and it doesn’t quite cover the span of one treb.

Heinel.6548:

Aberrant.6749:

Hopefully this helps you with your issues.

No it doesn’t.

If you haven’t seen survivalist thieves sniping yaks no matter how many people is guarding it it’s because you haven’t played long enough or your opponents are unworthy. It’s actually not that difficult, you just need healing gears, and keep stealthing to heal. The yaks cannot fight back, so even if your damage is puny, as long as you can put out enough damage than the people can heal it (really really not difficult as a thief), it will die before it reach stone mist.

If you haven’t seen golem rushes traveling across the map in 5 minutes, and taking reinforced doors in 30s each, you have not seen an organized mesmer team executing those rushes. Well timed portals on a pre-scouted, pre-planned route is deadly enough. Constant time warps to double the golem’s DPS cuts the most time consuming part of the execution of the raid by half. No other classes can down objectives more efficiently than this.

I guess you didn’t deny the part about eles, but they are the ones that are blocking your siege, and nuking your siege whether there’s line of sight or not. Actually of all the advanced tactics in WvW, siege blocking is the only one that guardians can do with sanctuary. It’s just our bubble has a lot more downtime, and it doesn’t quite cover the span of one treb.

Nope, never had problems with thieves killing yaks. TC is in tier 2… we guard our yaks and have no problems vs thieves trying to kill them… so I think that’s just a l2p issue with whatever server you’re on. I don’t have issues vs stealth spamming… but it sound like you do… you might want to look up some videos on how to deal with stealthed players and how to burst as a guardian… then put A and B together.

Yes I’ve seen golems get portal-ed, not a big deal. Use your scouts they should easily be able to see this coming. Look for the big pink circles on the ground. Even if it’s successful, it’s pretty rare that golems will last much past the first tower. It’s been ages since I’ve even seen a golem attack get through 2 gates.

If you’re on a server that doesn’t use scouts and/or doesn’t respond quickly… then yea… this would be a problem… again… it’s not a class X, Y, Z is OP, it’s a l2p issue.

Eles can have some strong roles in WvW. They are by far better than mesmers and thieves for sure. But just flat out OP… nah. My only thing with eles is that vapor form needs a nerf… but that’s all.

What guards can do isn’t any less important… being able to take the focus of an entire zerg and live… giving your team time to attack… is worth a lot. At the same time you can remove conditions from your entire party and convert them into boons… and be a cc/buff machine. A guard can do all of those… at the same time. I’ve even pushed back entire zergs with just LoW + WoR. A mes/thief/ele can’t do what a guard can in those areas. So instead of calling the other classes OP… take some time to explore what you can do

If you go into the other forums you’ll see mes/thief/ele players complaining about Guardians being OP. This just seems to be an overall issue with some people in this game. People want everything good from every other class or that class that has something they don’t is just labeled as OP.

If you really feel that thief/mes/ele are a better fit for you and what you want to do… then go roll one. Others can deal with them and their abilities/tactics just fine as a guardian and you can too if you put in the effort

Aberrant.6749:

Heinel.6548:

Aberrant.6749:

Hopefully this helps you with your issues.

No it doesn’t.

If you haven’t seen survivalist thieves sniping yaks no matter how many people is guarding it it’s because you haven’t played long enough or your opponents are unworthy. It’s actually not that difficult, you just need healing gears, and keep stealthing to heal. The yaks cannot fight back, so even if your damage is puny, as long as you can put out enough damage than the people can heal it (really really not difficult as a thief), it will die before it reach stone mist.

If you haven’t seen golem rushes traveling across the map in 5 minutes, and taking reinforced doors in 30s each, you have not seen an organized mesmer team executing those rushes. Well timed portals on a pre-scouted, pre-planned route is deadly enough. Constant time warps to double the golem’s DPS cuts the most time consuming part of the execution of the raid by half. No other classes can down objectives more efficiently than this.

I guess you didn’t deny the part about eles, but they are the ones that are blocking your siege, and nuking your siege whether there’s line of sight or not. Actually of all the advanced tactics in WvW, siege blocking is the only one that guardians can do with sanctuary. It’s just our bubble has a lot more downtime, and it doesn’t quite cover the span of one treb.

Nope, never had problems with thieves killing yaks. TC is in tier 2… we guard our yaks and have no problems vs thieves trying to kill them… so I think that’s just a l2p issue with whatever server you’re on. I don’t have issues vs stealth spamming… but it sound like you do… you might want to look up some videos on how to deal with stealthed players and how to burst as a guardian… then put A and B together.

Yes I’ve seen golems get portal-ed, not a big deal. Use your scouts they should easily be able to see this coming. Look for the big pink circles on the ground. Even if it’s successful, it’s pretty rare that golems will last much past the first tower. It’s been ages since I’ve even seen a golem attack get through 2 gates.

If you’re on a server that doesn’t use scouts and/or doesn’t respond quickly… then yea… this would be a problem… again… it’s not a class X, Y, Z is OP, it’s a l2p issue.

Eles can have some strong roles in WvW. They are by far better than mesmers and thieves for sure. But just flat out OP… nah. My only thing with eles is that vapor form needs a nerf… but that’s all.

What guards can do isn’t any less important… being able to take the focus of an entire zerg and live… giving your team time to attack… is worth a lot. At the same time you can remove conditions from your entire party and convert them into boons… and be a cc/buff machine. A guard can do all of those… at the same time. I’ve even pushed back entire zergs with just LoW + WoR. A mes/thief/ele can’t do what a guard can in those areas. So instead of calling the other classes OP… take some time to explore what you can do

If you go into the other forums you’ll see mes/thief/ele players complaining about Guardians being OP. This just seems to be an overall issue with some people in this game. People want everything good from every other class or that class that has something they don’t is just labeled as OP.

If you really feel that thief/mes/ele are a better fit for you and what you want to do… then go roll one. Others can deal with them and their abilities/tactics just fine as a guardian and you can too if you put in the effort

I see you have misunderstood our posts. No one said any class is OP or UP. Merely that some class can fill more roles, and hence be the preferred class. It is no coincidence that those classes are simply more commonly seen.

Stop with the knee jerk responses now.

Heinel.6548:

Aberrant.6749:

Heinel.6548:

Aberrant.6749:

Hopefully this helps you with your issues.

No it doesn’t.

If you haven’t seen survivalist thieves sniping yaks no matter how many people is guarding it it’s because you haven’t played long enough or your opponents are unworthy. It’s actually not that difficult, you just need healing gears, and keep stealthing to heal. The yaks cannot fight back, so even if your damage is puny, as long as you can put out enough damage than the people can heal it (really really not difficult as a thief), it will die before it reach stone mist.

If you haven’t seen golem rushes traveling across the map in 5 minutes, and taking reinforced doors in 30s each, you have not seen an organized mesmer team executing those rushes. Well timed portals on a pre-scouted, pre-planned route is deadly enough. Constant time warps to double the golem’s DPS cuts the most time consuming part of the execution of the raid by half. No other classes can down objectives more efficiently than this.

I guess you didn’t deny the part about eles, but they are the ones that are blocking your siege, and nuking your siege whether there’s line of sight or not. Actually of all the advanced tactics in WvW, siege blocking is the only one that guardians can do with sanctuary. It’s just our bubble has a lot more downtime, and it doesn’t quite cover the span of one treb.

Nope, never had problems with thieves killing yaks. TC is in tier 2… we guard our yaks and have no problems vs thieves trying to kill them… so I think that’s just a l2p issue with whatever server you’re on. I don’t have issues vs stealth spamming… but it sound like you do… you might want to look up some videos on how to deal with stealthed players and how to burst as a guardian… then put A and B together.

Yes I’ve seen golems get portal-ed, not a big deal. Use your scouts they should easily be able to see this coming. Look for the big pink circles on the ground. Even if it’s successful, it’s pretty rare that golems will last much past the first tower. It’s been ages since I’ve even seen a golem attack get through 2 gates.

If you’re on a server that doesn’t use scouts and/or doesn’t respond quickly… then yea… this would be a problem… again… it’s not a class X, Y, Z is OP, it’s a l2p issue.

Eles can have some strong roles in WvW. They are by far better than mesmers and thieves for sure. But just flat out OP… nah. My only thing with eles is that vapor form needs a nerf… but that’s all.

What guards can do isn’t any less important… being able to take the focus of an entire zerg and live… giving your team time to attack… is worth a lot. At the same time you can remove conditions from your entire party and convert them into boons… and be a cc/buff machine. A guard can do all of those… at the same time. I’ve even pushed back entire zergs with just LoW + WoR. A mes/thief/ele can’t do what a guard can in those areas. So instead of calling the other classes OP… take some time to explore what you can do

If you go into the other forums you’ll see mes/thief/ele players complaining about Guardians being OP. This just seems to be an overall issue with some people in this game. People want everything good from every other class or that class that has something they don’t is just labeled as OP.

If you really feel that thief/mes/ele are a better fit for you and what you want to do… then go roll one. Others can deal with them and their abilities/tactics just fine as a guardian and you can too if you put in the effort

I see you have misunderstood our posts. No one said any class is OP or UP. Merely that some class can fill more roles, and hence be the preferred class. It is no coincidence that those classes are simply more commonly seen.

Stop with the knee jerk responses now.

Semantics.

Heinel.6548:

Well, if you’re not a thief, ele or mesmer, you are already a second rate citizen in WvW.

^ obviously you were stating that you feel that they are not balanced. Me saying that they aren’t OP was just my way of saying they aren’t any stronger/weaker. Sorry that you took that so literally and that should clear things up for you a bit.

Also about the populations of the classes in WvW… I see a very strong correlation with the number of each class being played in WvW & PvE… with the exception of thieves. I do see more thieves in WvW than anywhere else. They don’t really bother me in WvW at all though and I’m always glad they aren’t another class.

Not sure what you mean with the knee jerk reactions thing… I’m just stating my opinion and giving reasons. If you still disagree that’s fine. I just know I’m not finding any of that stuff to be true as I’ve learned to counter it and found myself playing an important role in WvW.