Guild Wars 2

Hi

New to guardian, been trying out with the sword/torch, seem to be kittening up in most areas but looking for some sort of solid levelling build. Ive always had a vision of a guardian sporting a classic sword/shield combo and if anyone runs with this and would like to share some tips in regards to effectiveness and possibly post up a quick build, that would be great!

adam

I like it, but from what I’ve read, it’s not that common.

Build-wise, you’re probably going to want to put 15 points in Radiance no matter what, after that, probably continue there or take Honor or Valor.

There isn’t much to the Sword/Shield playstyle. It’s a pretty straightforward affair, using your Sword as a gap-closer and main damage source. Use Shield of Judgment when things are going though or if you need some quick mid-range attack (and if you’re fighting with allies, try to capture them in the area). I use Shield of Absorption when I need a breather, knocking back enemies and than instantly detonating it for some extra healing.

Also, be sure to pick a secondary weapon-set that complements Sword/Shield, either filling holes or helping your overall strategy.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQJAselUgiD33RNEf4Eh1DAeQ/VVIeXPgYEbIA

Use copy and paste on the link.

Something like this should work for you I suppose. Knight’s Gear might be best.

I leveled as and continue to play sword/shield on my guardian.

I’ve used a few different builds. One was a condition damage/boon duration build. It worked fine, although it really only found its strength 60+ with grandmaster traits. In retrospect another build may have been better leveling, but I honestly can’t say for sure.

I’ve toyed around with several other builds and they all were fine. The key part is the sword/shield playstyle:

Sword #1 will do the vast majority of your damage.
Sword #2 is a great opener and blind mid-fight.
Sword #3 should be saved for a ranged attack while immobilized or to block projectiles.
Shield #4 is to give protection to yourself and allies.
Shield #5 is a knockback, projectile absorber, and heal—use it for one or all, as necessary.

This is not a playstyle that lends itself to people that obsessively put all their skills on cooldown; you need to wait for the right moment. Autoattack is fine as long as there is no reason to use the other skills.

A lot of people prefer a focus offhand to a shield because it does more for your personal survivability; the lack of an interrupt is the dealbreaker for me, but you may want to consider it.

I keep a scepter on weapon swap. It is a very underappreciated weapon in our arsenal, but a lot of the underappreciation stems from what it used to be and what people what it to be, not what it is.

Sword’s autoattack cycle takes 2.5s and consists of 5 attacks, making it proc burn faster than any other weapon—so it makes better use of condition damage than other builds.

thanks guys, ill take a look at the build and get started

Fildydarie.1496:

I leveled as and continue to play sword/shield on my guardian.

I’ve used a few different builds. One was a condition damage/boon duration build. It worked fine, although it really only found its strength 60+ with grandmaster traits. In retrospect another build may have been better leveling, but I honestly can’t say for sure.

I’ve toyed around with several other builds and they all were fine. The key part is the sword/shield playstyle:

Sword #1 will do the vast majority of your damage.
Sword #2 is a great opener and blind mid-fight.
Sword #3 should be saved for a ranged attack while immobilized or to block projectiles.
Shield #4 is to give protection to yourself and allies.
Shield #5 is a knockback, projectile absorber, and heal—use it for one or all, as necessary.

This is not a playstyle that lends itself to people that obsessively put all their skills on cooldown; you need to wait for the right moment. Autoattack is fine as long as there is no reason to use the other skills.

A lot of people prefer a focus offhand to a shield because it does more for your personal survivability; the lack of an interrupt is the dealbreaker for me, but you may want to consider it.

I keep a scepter on weapon swap. It is a very underappreciated weapon in our arsenal, but a lot of the underappreciation stems from what it used to be and what people what it to be, not what it is.

Sword’s autoattack cycle takes 2.5s and consists of 5 attacks, making it proc burn faster than any other weapon—so it makes better use of condition damage than other builds.

Fixed

Sword #1 will do the vast majority of your damage if you can get your crit up.
Sword #2 is a chase skill and good for blinding on big windup hits.
Sword #3 Is your BURST! (this skill hits mega hard and while is does have ranged you mainly want to use this point blank to unload heavy damage. Useing this at range is really wasteing the damage potential of this skill and more often then not misses.)
Shield #4 is to give protection to yourself and allies.
Shield #5 is a knockback, projectile absorber, and heal—use it for one or all, as necessary.

generaly grab Judge’s inqusition for a gap closer (or whatever the fire teleport is) its much more reliable and deals good burning. save sword #2 for when they run or if you need to blind to avoid an attack.

Aven, cheers mate, i still havent got around to playing it yet ill start it up tonight…. Anyone got a linked build they KNOW works, with where i should be putting my traits and what gear i should be using once i hit 80.

well it depends if you want more offensive or defensive, but unfortunately its kill speed is kinda slow compared to a hammer or GS, its really good for leveling cuz you can take on things alot higher level but if you want to kill quick and farm youll need a different build, as for 1h/shield builds ill show you 2 of em that i found worked.

http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mccoMmz9MmnLacmnLamaxG0aMMaqosm

thats the more offensive build and i recomend a full knight’s set for it, you want to get your crit way up and you want and On Crit sigil on one of the weapons, its all about the crit

for a more survivable build

http://www.guildhead.com/skill-calc#mccoMM9cmnvNmmnrNm0fxGVMosqMR

this one worked decent, i was a little dislikeing the slower kill speed but had way higher survivablity. and a ton of support.

good luck!

ill try out the first… i havent really levelled any chars very high and im not too sure about what knights gear is? is it all out offensive?

I’m not 100% sure what you’re looking to do, but I prefer scepter/shield in PvE. Comparable damage with the ability to range and immobilize.

I also feel scepter adds a lot of support by my being back where I can actually hit people with the shield’s prot cone, and see other players go down.

as i mentioned i envision a guardian holding a sword and shield… i just wanted to try it out and safe to say i am liking it at the moment, ive heard that the scepter auto attack is very hit and missy as its slow and you have to aim it?

Szitler.4802:

as i mentioned i envision a guardian holding a sword and shield… i just wanted to try it out and safe to say i am liking it at the moment, ive heard that the scepter auto attack is very hit and missy as its slow and you have to aim it?

In pve you need to wait for they enemy to stop moving other wise the orbs will miss. If they are running directly at you your fine. In PvP scepter can be problem since players move around alot more than npcs. This make the scepter very unpopular for PvP Guardian builds.

Knight’s armor is Power/Precision/Toughness for its 3 stats

Dunno what level you are, but you can’t put 15 points in anything before the level 40
And according to what I read, even if you prefer some weapon, always keep them all in your backpack and switch them if necessary, you’ll notice some weapon is better than another one depending on the situation.

And sometimes just for the fun you want to change weapon a bit ^^

I’ve got a 56 guardian and what hithlain said is quite true. It takes up some space in your bag, but it’s definitely beneficial to carry most if not all of the weapons.

just gotta get used to swapping, im an old school mmo player like back in gw1 prophecies days etc where you have one weapon and you stick with that. I’ve always tried sticking with one wep set on all my classes tbh…..

Im gunna follow that first offensive build posted by Aven until i think i need to change..

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUMQNAseSlYg67GHSIEf4Eh1DCeQ/hVAjXPcIFlIA;ToAqsMZJyymlLLZWLCGEsJYSA

This is the build I currently run with a Hammer as weapon swap. I also have a Scepter and Staff in bag depending on what I’m doing. Sigils can be whatever you want but I stack as much crit as possible, if I need to get real dirty or I am outnumbered I pop Save Yourselves and with food I get crit over 100%, use the vigor talent to constantly beef my endurance and dodge, and save my knockdown to use with Judges so I can open up with as much frontload as possible.

I wear Full Knights Draconic, Ruby Orichalcum Accessories (switch out with Beryl if needed for AH/Crit Hammer), and Destroyer Hammer/Sword/Shield. Still testing out different models of the Destroyers, but I really like Valkyrie on them. Could always go with Zerker if you need more crit.