Guild Wars 2

Which are your favorites? For general use? For impressive situational use? I’m in the process of examining the way utilities work in this game, and I’m approaching the conclusion that while most utilities are remarkably low-balled (i.e, they grant relatively little value for their high recharge and require precise timing), a few can truly change the tide of a fight.

Here are mine:

I. Wall of Reflection

The beautiful thing about wall of reflection is that it’s visible. The tactical consequences of deploying a wall are readily visible. Time it right and gleefully enjoy the sight of a barrage of your enemies’ projectiles hurtling back to their owners. Time it improperly and it just sort of sits there glittering uselessly. I’ve seen a lot of success with one Wall of Reflection, for example, in Caudecus’s Manor Explorable, which features far too many long-ranged bandits firing down corridors at you, to say nothing of stationary turrets and a final Centaur boss (Butler path) that likes to toss out fireballs.

II. Stand Your Ground!

Stand Your Ground potentially trivializes content. This one ability makes Lieutenant Kohler in AC Explorable ludicrously easy. For anyone who doesn’t know, Kohler likes to launch out an AoE Scorpion Wire that drags you in front of him from about a range of 600-900. The moment he has you beside him, he’ll execute a spin attack and slice you to ribbons instantly. It’s horribly irritating for inexperienced players, and the best way to get around it is to dodge Line of Sight or just…dodge.

Stand Your Ground, however, makes all players within range immune to the Pull of Scorpion Wire via Stability. The recharge of Stand Your Ground is almost exactly the same as Kohler’s Pull. A single Guardian who’s on the ball can make her entire party totally immune to the pull in every single instance, trivializing the (admittedly already pretty simple) fight.

III. Purging Flames

I can’t get enough of Purging Flames. Perhaps it’s the pure novelty of just having a reliable Fire combo field (which produces Flame Shields and sweet, sweet Area Might), but on top of that, it’s a strong, area-based, high-damage Burning effect with a Condition removal attached to it. Even in non-Consecrations builds, I find myself hard pressed to do without this ubiquitous utility.

IV. Spirit Weapons: Sword of Justice and Hammer of Wisdom

Spirit Weapons don’t get talked about much on these forums, and I don’t know why. Maybe we’re all too hesitant to devote two of our utility slots to these weapons and shy away from the 50-trait price tag, but I ran a Spirit Weapons build for the longest time, and honesty, it’s massively fun. Decked out in traits, your Weapons do a good amount of damage when you take the added Burn effect into consideration (which can be traited as a boon remover!) and come with two very strong Commands. HoW’s Command, by the way, is probably the single strongest attack available to the Guardian, comes with a hard knockdown, and I’ve used it to knock dungeon bosses flat on their backs.

V. Signet of Judgement

Made weaker after the patch, which saddens me, but this was always an underrated ability. Many of us ran with Signet Recharge Reduction for Signet of Resolve, anyway, so this would’ve been a relatively speedy 16s recharge. The Passive 10% damage reduction is nothing to sneeze at provided it stacks with Protection (which I believe it does, but I’d like confirmation), and having an on-demand Weakness can and does save lives. Every 16 seconds, I can give an enemy Weakness for 5 seconds. More with any investment in Zeal. A 50% chance for Glancing Blows is remarkably underrated mitigation.

Wall of Reflection

It’s simply… beatiful. Pure bad !@$ness in the form of a transparent wall.

Sanctuary

Bad !$ shield that is just bad !$, because it’s ineffective as hell. But it’s bad !@#.

Judge’s Intervention

Looks bad !@$ when you click it right after getting stomped or knocked down.

Smite Condition

Bad !@$ AoE damage plus condition removal.

Those are the top in my opinion, in rank of bad !@$-ness.

There are others that aren’t as bad !$@ but are pretty useful, like Shouts, but they fail because I don’t want to be seen yelling “Retreat” during a tough fight.
Or even “Save Yourselves”, which basically means “This fight is lost, run, and leave me to die”. “Stand Your Ground” seems like “We’re getting our !@$ kicked but hang on!” and is pretty similar to “Hold the Line”.

Spirit Weapons are sorta bad !@$, walking around with all those ghostly looking weapons following you, but their utility isn’t really that great compared to other stuff we can bring.

Signets I don’t really use them except for Resolve, even though I can be a juggernaut of massive damage, protection and healing, it shows how egoistical I am. Plus their Active animation is my character turning to the side and pointing to the enemy like “Aha, I see you!” and that is so not bad !@$.

Purging Ground is nice but it looks sluggish, and doesn’t have that feeling of impact like Smite Condition. It also only removes 1 condition and after using it alot with a Greatsword, I found the need of Combo Field: Fire to be overrated.

So in short, anything Consecration or Meditation adds to your bad !$@ meter as a Guardian, Spirit Weapons are next in rank, Shouts are just so wimpy, and Signets describe you as individualist, not bad !$@ Guardian.

Eveningstar.6940:

IV. Spirit Weapons: Sword of Justice and Hammer of Wisdom

Spirit Weapons don’t get talked about much on these forums, and I don’t know why.

Well speaking of spirit weapons – I favour the defensive ones. ( which get talked about even less! )

I. Spirit Weapons: Shield of the Avenger
The damage mitigations of ranged attacks offered by this is insane, and with +duration traits it last practically forever. Giving Caudecus’s Manor again as an example, you can park this in a corridor to block any arrows flying down it’s length, or better yet in open areas if there are group of rangers nearby you can use greatsword skill #5 to pull them all inside your bubble, and nothing they throw will make it to any of your teammates. You can park a bubble around the gates in WvW to help protect your team while they man the battering rams.

II. Spirit Weapons: Bow of Truth
Less useful for condition removal, but when geared for healing power can offer a nice on demand area heal that’s good to counteract condition damage situations. ( getting it to fire in the right location is a challenge however ).

III. Judges Intervention
A fairly obvious one, but I like how you can pre-cast hammer skill Banish and then teleport it right into someone’s face. I like it more for the fact you can reach opposing players that are on higher ground easily ( when they think they are momentarily safe ).

IV. Save Yourselves combined with Contemplation of Purity
Very situational, but: Draw every nearby condition onto yourself + give a shed load of boons, and then convert all those remaining conditions into boons as well. Can be a great counter to mass fear etc.

Fully agreed on Stand Your Ground, Signet of Judgement (especially in Altruistic Healing builds) and especially Purging Flames. Purging Flames was the first Skill that became a mainstay of my loadout and it just stuck around even as my Traits evolved.

Beyond that, I still use…

Sanctuary

Even if Dungeon Bosses walkittenerally all over it, they still take Interrupts. For weaker foes, I never tire of sitting in my Sanctuary and using Binding Blade’s Pull as a ghetto CC by pulling enemies against the dome. Breathing room for embattled allies, area denial, a barrier to drop against ranged attacks. It’s not necessarily all powerful but another extremely flexible Skill.

Hallowed Ground

Not as flashy or offensive as its little brother, Purging Flames, but for one it’s the other Fire Combo Field we have, secondly it lasts a good bit longer than Purging Flames and thirdly it’s another source of Stability. It’s like having the best of both Purging Flames and Stand Your Ground rolled into one. Same as above (and all the Consecrations). Not all powerful but really flexible.

I mostly play WvW now, so that’s my context.

1. WoR: love it – and if it’s from the other team – hate it. Nevermind people gleefully shooting themselves in the face, but just having it there can make a huge difference. People will either back up, stop shooting, or try to run around the wall. All of them are good outcomes for your team. Being a light combo field also keeps your shooters squeaky clean of conditions. If they made a plushy WoR, I’d buy it and sleep with it.

2. Stand your ground – CC is a big deal in WvW. Group stability is wonderful to make sure your line stays in tact. Retaliation is quite nice too.

3. Sanctuary – this has specialized usage, but can be incredibly powerful if deployed correctly. Pop out of a tower/keep under siege, make a bubble and run into it, go crazy for 6-9 seconds. If you trait it, it’s also a ground-targeted knockdown, handy for knocking unsuspecting people off cliffs from a distance. You can use it as area denial for keep someone from escaping. Cast it next to enemy siege weapons and triple the effectiveness of your suicide siege hunting missions. Of course, if you are tired of doing all that, you can also use it to save a downed teammate.

*. Hallowed ground
Hallowed ground is even more specialized than Sanctuary, but arguably more powerful. The fire field part is nice, but even traited, the cooldown is still way to long to be used reliably as a combo field. However, it gives stability for 10 seconds. TO EVERYONE STANDING IN IT. Other than the warrior, no other class has a real sustainable source of stability, and here you are Mr. glueshoes, giving stability to everybody inside for 10 seconds. No more knockback from trebs and catapults, no more annoying pulls, no more necros scattering your team around. The problem? When would you ever want a bunch of people on your team standing on a point for 10 seconds? WvW is all about movement. So it’s only really useful for those instances where you want to make sure to be where you want to be (like smacking some siege weapons, for example, or staying nice and close to the gates). When you find a situation where you need it, however, it’s got superkitten powers.

Telegraph.7509

Sanctuary – this has specialized usage, but can be incredibly powerful if deployed correctly. Pop out of a tower/keep under siege, make a bubble and run into it, go crazy for 6-9 seconds.

I’ve done that. Also the reverse. There’s inevitably that situation where a couple people try to run into a Tower that’s under siege. Giving them a Sanctuary, Wall of Reflection or just Line of Warding can be immensely gratifying. (Especially if it was Wall of Reflection and suddenly you see XP popping all over your screen. People will always go for the easy target, which is not the one on the wall.)

Ditto on Wall of Reflection. Definitely the best utility skill the Guardian has. It’s amazing in WvW. I use it constantly and love it.

Purging Flames is also great. It can be used offensively and defensively.

I love love love Retreat. I usually have it on my bar constantly. The movement speed buff is really nice, but the Aegis it grants to 5 allies can be a big bonus in a hectic fight. Plus, for getting a party around large maps, it’s fantastic.

Save Yourselves is great for dramatically increasing your DPS. Plus it purges you and your allies of conditions and gives you tons of boons. Also a stun breaker. Love that shout.

Purging Flames can be good, though it’s only really helpful if you’re a melee class. But it’s condition removal + quick recharge time can make it very good.

Signet of Judgement is good, as is Bane Signet.

Haven’t ever used Shield of the Avenger. Might have to try that out.

My very favorite utility is Judge’s Intervention, but I don’t often play builds that can make good use of it.

Wall of Reflection FTW.

I really cannot tell you the number of KILLS i did with this simple spell. People keeps shooting them to near death, sometimes for stupidity because they’re mashing their “rotation”, and sometimes because lag kills them before they can change target.
Oh, and the mobs are stupid as hell. They keep shooting and shooting till they kill themselves. I traited 10 virtues only for this spell

Retreat!

I wonder why nobody has mentioned this utility. Swiftness is useful off combat, but in combat you will love the Aegis, and your friend too! Try shouting before of a big boss ability… your allies will love the “Block!” flashing on their screen

Contemplation of Purity

Another all-purpose utility, has saved me so many times that i lost count. This is most useful in PvE, because in PvP your purging won’t save you, Stand your Ground is much better.

These three are my “jack of all trades” utilities, but i use them all, based on circumstances.

I will try using the shield, you’ve picked my curiosity.

I love sanctuary a lot. However I hate how when it’s up, some people
can still damage you…

All shouts depending on situation

Wall of reflection

Signet of judegement.

And ofc our “fourth” utility slot, inspired virtue, one of the strongest traits in the game and since it has the same control and more value then a shout i think it should be in this thread.

The above are my bread and butter.

The ones i fiddle around with are:

Purging flames and hallowed ground, but for offense, great for mightstacking and setting up huge bursts.

Wall of Reflection
Sanctuary
“Stand Your Ground!”
Smite Conditions
Purging Flames (Even better if they bugfix)

By the way…

I’m wondering something. The tooltip for Sanctuary says it
protects against projectiles. But when you face off against
the Fire Elemental in the Metrica Province, it has an ability wherein it sends fire scorching across the ground. This, I would call a projectile, yet it ripes right through sanctuary. The same goes for when it uses fire from underneath you. This makes sanctuary really unviable, since it's not a sanctuary at all !

Sanctuary doesn’t protect against AOE ground targeted damage. It’s the skill’s biggest flaw. Elementalist Meteor Storm can still hit you while you’re in it. I really think they should fix the skill so that it protects from all damage, especially since the cooldown on it is so long. Oh, and it should grant stability too.

I agree with you so much Ultramatum. A sanctuary is a place you’re completely
safe, where no harm can come to you. It’s supposed to be THE place on the battlefield
you can go, either as an ally of a Guardian or as a Guardian yourself, to find shelter
from the chaos outside.

As you said, the CD is quite long and the name suggests protection. So it should deliver on that !

Retreat
Wall of Reflection
Contemplation of Purity

in WvW

Thanks LZ. If they’re gonna keep the skill as it is, they should at least lower the cooldown. However, underwater, Sanctuary is amazing.

It is not feasible for sanctuary to negate all sources of damage – itwould be too ridiculously powerful to have a potential 9-second invulnerability for multiple players while maintaining their ability to take action.

I think it’s fine where it is right now.

I think (almost) all utility skills are good, but only in very rare circumstances.

Signet of Judgment is almost always on my bar in PvE. 10% damage reduction is always usefull even if I didn’t need the active part.

In every Dungeon I switch one skill to Shield of the Avenger sooner or later. The amount of damge it absorbs is phenomenal.

“Hold the Line!” and “Save Yourselves!” are nice too.

Wall of Reflection: No need for explanation everyone loves this
Spirit Weapon Hammer: Very good constant disrupt and its command is just really devastating even though its easily dodgeable.

All the Shouts: Its because I love altruistic healing. If you have allies around you, you just get massive heals every time you shout. Stand your ground is great because stability is great, Hold the line because protection is just a tide-turning boon, Retreat! because run speed is an important part of pvp and just makes pve flow smoother, Save yourselves is just a nice dps boost

I loooooooove Contemplation of Purity. Turning conditions into boons is magical.

I really like Signet of Judgment for the passive AND for the weakness on activate, especially if you take Signet Mastery. Five seconds of weakness every 16 seconds. Mmmmm.

And of course Judge’s Intervention. So much fun and so much utility.

nldixon.8514:

I loooooooove Contemplation of Purity. Turning conditions into boons is magical.

Sounds great but how often do you use it? Like most skills I find this so extremely situational and than a 60s cooldown.

My issue with Spirit Weapons is cast time, its just long enough to reduce my gaming experience to a point I just do not use them keeping in mind had the cast time been lower I would gladly and enjoyably dedicated the full amount of traits required.

Wall is amazing and even better traited and Shouts with AH are equally if not more amazing!

TheBlueI.3486:

nldixon.8514:

I loooooooove Contemplation of Purity. Turning conditions into boons is magical.

Sounds great but how often do you use it? Like most skills I find this so extremely situational and than a 60s cooldown.

You probably won’t find as much of a use for it in PvE/Dungeons as Pure of Voice or Absolute Resolution is usually all the removals you need. However it is invaluable in sPvP and tPvP where good condition specs can really bring the pressure.

TheBlueI.3486:

nldixon.8514:

I loooooooove Contemplation of Purity. Turning conditions into boons is magical.

Sounds great but how often do you use it? Like most skills I find this so extremely situational and than a 60s cooldown.

In W3 or sPvP I use it almost every time it’s off cool down.

In PvE I use it pretty frequently. Often enough that I keep it on my hotbar for most situations. If I’m fighting mobs that don’t apply conditions, I’ll switch it out for something else.

The stun break on it is just gravy.