Yet another build advice topic.

Yet another build advice topic.

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Posted by: Wolfgang Hype.8970

Wolfgang Hype.8970

Alright, so I have a somewhat weak grip on what I’m doing in this game, so it seems the best option is to ask for advice. My current plan with my guardian is to go for burn boosted damage (Fiery Wrath, Radiant Power, Flame Legion Runes) for some extra constant damage and boosted straight damage.

So automatically that fills up 35 trait points (10- Zeal, 25- Radiance). Currently I have my other 35 going all the way into Honor to get me Battle Presence (I know it’s bugged, but from what I understand it still works half the time, which seems good.) and the rest into Virtues for the bonuses on activates.

Currently my weapons look like Sword-Torch/Greatsword for plenty of mobility/blinds, extra burn from the torch, and plenty of rapid-hitting attacks. Using sigils of Smoldering, Battle, and something else (maybe another Smoldering on the greatsword).

So all I have left to figure out is what gear type is the best choice. Precision seems like a good choice, especially if I take Empowering Might. Power seems like a good choice as well, since I’m not currently spec’d far into Zeal and the more base damage I’m dealing, the bigger the bonus damage. I’m guessing Toughness would be the third stat I would need, since I get plenty of Vitality and Healing Power from maxing out Honor and nearly as much Condition Damage from Radiance.

Like I said, I don’t really have a strong grasp on how functional builds are yet. This is mostly just theorycrafting. Anyway, thoughts? Comments?

Tarnished Coast – Association of Classy Tyrians [ACT]
Shyamal- Asuran Necromancer | Varg Houtman- Norn Ranger
Nemo Randolf- Human Guardian

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Posted by: Korav.8462

Korav.8462

Maybe I am biased, but Guardians only have one source of conditions… Burning. Because burning stacks in DURATION and not INTENSITY, I feel that this is one of the weakest condition damages. So to go for a burning build you need to dedicate so much of your build to it in order to improve it and there is no other consistent outlet for all of the condition damage stacking.

Also consider because burning stacks in duration, do we actually know if the highest burn value gets applied, I would hope so, but I haven’t seen confirmation of that. Because if you have another class apply burning at a lower rate, when you increase the duration does your value apply… or if you have burning applied and someone comes along to extend it does your high damage burn or their low damage burn take priority? Because of these questions which I haven’t been able to answer due to lack of better tools/logs to monitor it, I personally feel that burning builds may only be effective in solo situations, but maybe I am off and someone more knowledgeable can correct me.

Guardian
-Ehmry Bay-
Call of Fate [CoF]

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Posted by: Fabsm.5897

Fabsm.5897

Fabsm
Guardian of Moonlight Shadow [MLS]

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Posted by: lcc.9374

lcc.9374

i would personally take valor over honor because it increases crit damage,
which to me is a requirement for high damage

there are builds for most classes which can give u enough precision to push your crit up to 80-90% for at least a while under the effects of fury

and when youve got that high crit chance, any extra crit damage is a flat out % based damage increase

speccing 30 points into valor is a flat out close to 30% increase in damage if your crit is high enough, it also increases toughness and opens up your way to either altruistic healing or monk’s focus. Which will increase your survivability, assuming thats what you were going for speccing in honor

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Posted by: Gulbrandr.9047

Gulbrandr.9047

Agreed that stacking condition damage is inefficient. If anyone else in your group is doing Burning, you’ll be competing with them to do damage. I prefer to use Burning for supplemental damage and to add bonuses from traits like Fiery Wrath. Most Condition Damage builds will have at least two sources (Bleeding + either Burning or Poison, or Confusion + Bleeding), but Guardians only have one, and that means that Condition Damage is overall far more limited in its usefulness. You’re way better off relying on straight damage and boosting Power, Precision, and Crit Damage if your goal is to kill quickly.

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Posted by: Ahrounmoon.9148

Ahrounmoon.9148

Well, I just hit 80 last night and have roughly 65% map completion so there are others out there who will have better ideas of what they’re doing, but my final build when hitting 80 looked something like the OP’s. 10/15/20/20/5. It worked pretty well for clearing maps, which is the bulk of what I’ve been doing, and wearing a full set of Explorer’s gear, while perhaps a little slow, has been adequate for what I’m doing with it. It also feels like a sort of baseline gear because it’s not really specialized to do much other than add a little extra loot. So far I seem to see the biggest boost when I swap into a set of gear that’s a mixture of Knight’s and Valkyrie’s gear and get primarily toughness and a little more vit. Then I can afford to do things that would have otherwise been reckless.

I would not rely on condition damage from burning. It’s somewhat of a nice to have, but not worth really focusing on. When I line everything up just right, including use of Hounds of Balthazar (I’m human) I can get a constant coverage from burning. Comparing this to my ranger’s constant 5-9 stacks of bleeding and poison, with the option of adding in burning on top of it, it still seems weak even with 100% uptime.

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Posted by: Wolfgang Hype.8970

Wolfgang Hype.8970

Okay, a clarification needs to be made. My intent is not a build with Condition Damage as the main damage focus. This is intended as a build with a direct damage focus boosted by burning damage. As I said, I plan on using Fiery Wrath (10% bonus against burning opponents) and Radiant Power (10% against foes with conditions) along with Runes of Flame Legion (5% bonus against burning foes). This should give me a 25% damage bonus against such targets, and the Condition Damage from keeping the burn up is just a nice little bonus.

As far as Valor and Altruistic Healing goes… my main weapon set doesn’t provide a lot of boons for allies. So I’m not sure how beneficial it would be, unless it also applies whenever I give myself boons. My utilities and virtues might make up for it, but I’m skeptical. Plus I’m more interested in Battle Presence. Not exactly helpful for me, but I like helping keep my friends alive. Might just be me being stubborn.

Tarnished Coast – Association of Classy Tyrians [ACT]
Shyamal- Asuran Necromancer | Varg Houtman- Norn Ranger
Nemo Randolf- Human Guardian

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Posted by: Ahrounmoon.9148

Ahrounmoon.9148

I think you should try reading Eveningstar’s guide in the stickies. It’s possible you’re just trying to cram too many things into one build. If you like your weapons and like the aggressive playstyle that a greatsword, sword and torch setup gives, build around that. You’re probably going to want to put damage as your main priority, personal survivability as your second, and then let support happen as it will rather than going out of your way to make it happen.

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Posted by: Kita.7819

Kita.7819

A large consensus agrees on one thing. Zeal sucks. Zeal really, really sucks. There’s nothing good in it unless you’re going for spirit weapons, and even then spirit weapons suck outside of the sword for pve and hammer for pvp. So there’s only really three ways for a guardian to go. Build tanky, build critical or build bunker.

There’s a popular build floating around called the “Meditation Build”. Its 10/30/30/0/0 with all meditations cept merciful. Its mostly meant for pvp, but can work well in pve.

Kita – Guardian
Server: Darkhaven. The Besthaven.