Guild Wars 2

Hey fellow Guardians,

I am currently playing a strange hybrid Hammer/Mace+Shield Guardian in PvP. I have found this build to be extremely successful in team play, providing great support, good surviability while still being able to deal some nice damage. I tried various specs and weapons before settling on this build and although it seems rarely used I found it works very well in team play.

Here is my current build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNApeSlUgyCHFyKEfYFRuAbBVFiH2DMmxOepgiPE-TsAA2CtIySllLLTWyssZNsYZxEEA

Now, although this build works very well in team play as I said, I seem to have extreme difficulty 1v1’ing pretty much anyone. Range builds kite me extremely well (even if I ZE & RoW), melees simply outdps/outheal me and etc. Obviously I don’t lose all my 1v1’s but I’d say vs a similarly skilled opponent I will lose 80% of the time. I understand my build is perhaps more oriented towards team play but I was wondering if there is anything I can do to improve the 1v1 capacities of this build – aside from, obviously, playing better. I am definitely improving my understanding of the strengths & weaknesses of this build as I’ve just been playing it for a few days but I’d be curious to have input by other, perhaps more experienced Guardians.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks !

Sure, I recommend some small changes to your build to shore up your 1v1 matchups:

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNApeSlUgyCHFyKEfYFRuAbBVFiH2DMmxOepgiPE-TsAA2CtIySllLLTWyssZNsYZxEEA

Here’s some highlights from my recommendations:

1. Use Focus instead of Shield. Reason being: Shield is more of a support-oriented option, which is fine for a bunker build, but if you want to win 1v1s, you need the extra clears and blocks that Focus can give you. Also, Shield of Wrath gives you some extra DPS if it isn’t used up, and it can be used as “pseudo-Stability” for an extra way to stomp/res.
2. Take the 10 points out of Zeal and get Altruistic Healing. Gaining that trait will give you some extra sustain, especially in teamfighting but also for 1v1s.
3. Change 2 traits, picking up Defender’s Flame and Writ of the Merciful. Again, you’re looking for a bit of extra sustain and damage to win your 1v1 matchups. Defender’s Flame goes nicely with Mace, Focus, Shelter, “Retreat!”, and Renewed Focus.
4. Change your amulet. Barb amulet isn’t generally a good mix of stats for PvP, since Precision is a weaker stat than Power. Berserker’s works better with the amount of Critical Damage you already have, and the rest of your build gives you some sustain to go with your offensive power.
5. Sigils of Fire are ok, but I find the biggest problem with this type of build is sticking to a target that’s trying to kite you. I think Sigils of Hydromancy will help you out in that regard.

Staff instead of Hammer is another option for this build, if you want to increase your support and get more synergy with Altruistic Healing. If you make that switch, lose “Retreat!” and pick up “Save Yourselves!”. Another option is Greatsword. I’ve played a build like this in the past, and it wasn’t bad. Good luck!

Thoth Divine.8642:

Hey fellow Guardians,

I am currently playing a strange hybrid Hammer/Mace+Shield Guardian in PvP. I have found this build to be extremely successful in team play, providing great support, good surviability while still being able to deal some nice damage. I tried various specs and weapons before settling on this build and although it seems rarely used I found it works very well in team play.

Here is my current build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNApeSlUgyCHFyKEfYFRuAbBVFiH2DMmxOepgiPE-TsAA2CtIySllLLTWyssZNsYZxEEA

Now, although this build works very well in team play as I said, I seem to have extreme difficulty 1v1’ing pretty much anyone. Range builds kite me extremely well (even if I ZE & RoW), melees simply outdps/outheal me and etc. Obviously I don’t lose all my 1v1’s but I’d say vs a similarly skilled opponent I will lose 80% of the time. I understand my build is perhaps more oriented towards team play but I was wondering if there is anything I can do to improve the 1v1 capacities of this build – aside from, obviously, playing better. I am definitely improving my understanding of the strengths & weaknesses of this build as I’ve just been playing it for a few days but I’d be curious to have input by other, perhaps more experienced Guardians.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks !

To be good 1v1 it would mean that you would be a roamer or perhaps a skirmisher (?). These type of roles guardian does no excel well in. They are mainly bunkers in tpvp who provide support for their team mates. A bunkers job isn’t to win 1v1s but to hold the point long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

If you are supporting your team adequately and able to effectively hold down a point, I’d say you are doing a fairly good job in your matches.

Generally if you want to do 1v1, you’re going to have to run meds. AH dps can work, however it’s not really optimal. The thing is they both have there drawbacks. If you go meds, you’re going to be less effective in team fights. And vice versa if you go AH or some type of bunker build.

If you still want to run shouts, and do decent at 1v1 try something like this:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNAR8dlUgyC33xKEfIFRuAbBYPwI8741DHmQGC-TsAg0CnIoSRljKDVSqsUNsYVwGCA

At one point in 1 vs 1 you will hit a wall, some classes like Spirit Ranger and Mesmer will be able to successfully kite you will dealing considerable damage you. It’s not a Learn to play problem but more of a class advantage. I’m talking about same skill level from both player. While this is true, you will have advantage over Warrior and thief.

Again this is talking about same skill level player in a 1 vs 1.

Well many thanks guys! I definitely want to keep my more bunkerish/support build, with shouts, but I hadn’t thought of going deep enough for Altruistic Healing. Very good idea which I will definitely try, maybe it will give me some extra health which will help me outlast the opponent. I am definitely not trying to get a high DPS build here – I have my Necro for that – but if I could make a build which does enough dmg to actually down someone, even if that means my basic strat is to simply outlive my enemy, that’s fine too. I think I’ll also give Scepter/Focus instead of Mace/Shield, just to see how it works. We’ll see if the trade-off for surviability/support is worth it!

Again many thanks and if anyone has any other suggestions/ideas please feel free to add !

Well, I played a bunch of games tonight and although they didn’t all go quite gloriously (stupid teammates, haha) I seemed to have a lot more success in being self-reliable. The two specs that worked best were basically the same build (0/5/30/30/5) with AH (great tool, really), but I just switched between Clerics Amulet for full bunker and Berserker’s Amulet for some more DPS. With Zerk I still had around 2.5k armor, 20k hp, with like 45% crit and 45% crit dmg (& 550 heal with mace). So it allowed me to be extremely versatile and with the crazy amount of dodges I can do, I had great success. And with just a switch of amulet I can have a 100% bunker build, which was extremely fun as well, outhealing 2-3 attackers hehe

Anyway, thanks for the help guys, definitely appreciated. Will try again some more tomorrow.

Cheers!