Guild Wars 2

i am thinking of rolling a guardian. i was wondering what your thoughts are on rune of the scrapper? with the 7% added to the signet that can give up to 12% dmg reduction thats a perm 19% dmg reduction . anyone think that could be turned into a good build?

I mostly do open world PVE so I usually use Superior Runes of Lesser DPS so I can have my speed boost. But Scrapper runes with the perma-prot hammer build could be pretty tanky. The 7% reduction plus the toughness boost sound pretty solid. You will be drawing all the aggro from every mob.

You’re new to Guardian so here’s what I run for hammer (not meta but fun for me):

Writ of persistence trait allows autoattack to keep the symbol up 100%. This is an aoe heal and aoe damage, and symbols can crit too.

For healing you have 3 options. Signet of resolve is important for its passive condition removal and a big burst heal for those “oh crap” moments. Or Shelter which could buy you time when you’re getting spiked down. Not a big heal but you have to weigh the utility vs the heal. Then there’s Litany of Wrath / Smite Conditions with the Monk’s Focus and Smiter’s Boon traits. There’s some sick synergy there, trust me.

With hammer I usually use Altruistic Healing because it has incredible sustain with the perma-prot from autoattack. In fact, the more allies you have around, the more invincible you become. You only enemy is knockdown. Stand Your Ground is your best friend with a hammer. You don’t want to not get your symbol down. Feel My Wrath goes well with hammer.

With all that said, if you’re using Dragonhunter, you’re better off with greatsword than hammer, and since you’ll be using a bow, Scrapper runes just won’t be that important. Plus you NEED the Honor spec for hammer to work, and Honor is useless otherwise. Zeal will always, ALWAYS be in your build, so that final spec is better served with Radiance or Virtues if you’re running DH.

Okay one more freebie since I’m bored at work.  If you have HOT and unlock Dragonhunter, you can seriously blow stuff up as if you were a walking nuke.
 
Use Virtues, Zeal, and Dragonhunter. 
 
Dodge roll (Longbow) or Leap (greatsword) into a group of enemies.  Drop your symbol (Energy for LB, Wrath for GS).  Immediately put down Procession of Blades, and Purification IF you’re low on health.  For bow, dodge roll out and fire off True Shot.  For sword, immediately execute Whirling Wrath.
 
This is what happens in the next few seconds:
 
AOE cripple and burn every 3 hits (Supreme Justice, Permeating Wrath)
10% more damage to crippled enemies (Zealot’s Aggression)
10% more damage to enemies standing in your symbols (Symbolic Avenger)
7% more damage to burning foes (Fiery Wrath)
10% more damage from symbols (Symbolic Power)
20% more damage if your aegis isn’t broken (unscathed contender)
 
Mobs simply explode before they even know what hit them.  Best part is, you can do this every 20 seconds or so.