Guild Wars 2

Hello fellow Guardians. I’ve been sitting on my level 80 Guardian while leveling my other characters. I’ve been spending what little gold I scrounge up slowly upgrading all of my characters’ bags to 18-slotters, so I’ve been content to sit on my combination of rare and masterwork equipment. But as I near that goal (I’ve a ways to go still, but I’m inching closer) I’ve been eying exotic equipment trying to get an idea of what equipment I want and how best to go about obtaining it.

As with all of my characters, my Guardian is built for PvE (primarily of the open world variety), and I run solo as often as I do with friends. I run a mace and shield for most situations, switching to a staff when tagging mobs during busy Dynamic Events. My traits are 30/0/0/20/20, and my utilities are Hammer of Wisdom for extra dps, Sanctuary for “oh crap!” moments, and the Signet of Judgment.

Now for the nitty gritty…the equipment. I’m looking to land somewhere in that sweet spot of “never dying, but things take way too long to kill” and “destroying enemies, unless they bring a friend or two”. Basically I’m looking for a nice mix of being able to kill things in PvE efficiently while maintaining the ability to stay on my feet in even when the numbers are stacked against me.

My armor is going to be a full set of Soldier’s armor (Power, Toughness, Vitality). I’ve picked up the helmet from Ascalon Catacombs, and I’ll probably snag the rest using Karma. My mace will be Berserker’s (Power, Precision, Critical Damage). I’m not yet sure what I’ll grab for my shield.

I had originally planned to run Vitality/Power/Healing Power trinkets, but unfortunately that particular grouping of attributes is only available via Crests. So that’s a no go. Now I’m considering Emerald (Toughness/Power/Precision), Chrysocola (Condition Damage/Power/Vitality), or Sapphire (Healing Power/Power/Toughness). I’m also considering Beryl (Power/Vitality/Critical Damage), but with a low Precision I’m not sure I’ll get much mileage out of the extra Critical Damage.

As for Runes, I’m thinking of running a full set of Superior Runes of Soldier (though with no shout skills, I’d not run a sixth of this type), Warrior, or Dolyak. There are a few other sets I’m looking at, but they don’t look to be as effective as any of the above. I’ve not yet narrowed down the list of possible Sigils I’ll run.

Now before nailing down exactly what attributes I want to stack, there are a few things I’ve got to bear in mind. First, I’ve got to prioritize the attributes that will best get my build to where I’m wanting to be. Primary attributes are obvious: Power, Toughness, Vitality. Complimentary attributes could be any mix of the following: Precision, Healing Power, Condition Damage.

The second thing I’ve got to keep in mind is the diminishing effects. There’s a fine line between loading up on an attribute and overkill. Unfortunately, I’ve no idea where this line lies in regards to any of the attributes I’ve listed above. 3,000 Attack and Armor with about 20,000 Health as targets, with whatever is left over going toward Precision, Healing Power, Condition Damage, or some combination of the three, are the targets I’ve set myself. I don’t even know if achieving all of the numbers on one build is even possible, so I may very well have to adjust my goals if the numbers don’t bear out.

So there it is. If you’ve stuck with this post to this point, I’m assuming it’s because you’re interested in giving me feedback. So any and all advice you want to throw my way would be most appreciated. Thanks.

Anyone?

[must be 15 characters long]

Sorry I got lost in all the conditions you have and things you wanted to do with your build. I did notice your non-conventional choices for traits which leaves me with little to suggest. I’m simply not familiar enough on how such a build would play out. Typically, it seems the consensus is that 30 in Zeal is lackluster so there isn’t a lot of information or collective experience about builds that use it.

I’ve focused much effort into my Guardian PvE experience (farming and events mostly). I have arrived at what I believe is a good balance between offense and defense in PVE. It’s a hammer-focused build with all berserker’s armor (ranger runes) and ruby gems running 0/15/30/20/5. Whatever defensive stats I lack from gear, I make up for symbol of protection, the traits and lots of heal access from Monk’s Focus and meditations. It works well for jumping into events with the zerg (allows you to tag many mobs for loot rights)

Obtena.7952:

Typically, it seems the consensus is that 30 in Zeal is lackluster so there isn’t a lot of information or collective experience about builds that use it.

Yeah, I’ve yet to see anyone, outside the occasional Spirit Weapon advocate, recommend Zeal. I run it for the extra Power and the extra damage from Symbol of Faith, which is traited to last longer. This squeezes a bit more offense out of what is essentially a defensive ability. I’m sure Radiance, with VoJ spam, would put out better numbers, but I’m committed to Zeal (for better or worse).

If you are looking for secondary stats the first thing you should look at is your primary stat….I know that sounds stupid. With Soldier’s armor and Zeal traits you will have very high power from the get go.

Now look at the secondary stats you already have covered. You have vitality from your Solder’s armor and 20 points in Honor. You also have toughness on your armor.

Your weapon choices are very defensive and have lower damage output.

All things considered you have your defenses covered and an abundance of power. If I were you I would go for Ruby Orbs because they will have the largest multiplicative effect on your high power. If you would like more fire damage you can trait Supreme Justice and run Rabid Crests or Coral gemstones.

As it stands now:
– Attack – 2653
– Defense – 2502
– Health – 17,885

- Critical Chance – 10%
– Critical Damage – 4%
– Condition Damage – 319
– Healing – 328

Bearing in mind I mostly play open world PvE (usually solo or duo) with occasional dungeon runs, on what attribute(s) would you guys recommend I focus my attention? I’ve already got a full set of Soldier’s exotic armor, so that leaves my weapons, trinkets, and runes for possible means of upgrading. Again, thanks to everyone for your counsel.

Cayl Bourne.8073:

If you are looking for secondary stats the first thing you should look at is your primary stat….I know that sounds stupid. With Soldier’s armor and Zeal traits you will have very high power from the get go.

Now look at the secondary stats you already have covered. You have vitality from your Solder’s armor and 20 points in Honor. You also have toughness on your armor.

Your weapon choices are very defensive and have lower damage output.

All things considered you have your defenses covered and an abundance of power. If I were you I would go for Ruby Orbs because they will have the largest multiplicative effect on your high power. If you would like more fire damage you can trait Supreme Justice and run Rabid Crests or Coral gemstones.

Thanks for your reply.

I’ve got Absolute Resolution filling that slot at the moment, but I’ve considered swapping to Supreme Justice. The hangup is the mace’s slow attack speed, which doesn’t make the most of Virtue of Justice’s passive. I usually just leave Justice on passive against trash mobs (which die quick enough) and pop it against veterans or higher to gain a bit of a damage burst.

Obviously my Critical Hits are paltry when they do proc (which isn’t often), so I was considering beefing my Precision a bit. Are you recommending Ruby over Emerald or Coral? And should I abandon any notion of Sapphire?

darkace.8925:

As it stands now:
– Attack – 2653
– Defense – 2502
– Health – 17,885

- Critical Chance – 10%
– Critical Damage – 4%
– Condition Damage – 319
– Healing – 328

Bearing in mind I mostly play open world PvE (usually solo or duo) with occasional dungeon runs, on what attribute(s) would you guys recommend I focus my attention? I’ve already got a full set of Soldier’s exotic armor, so that leaves my weapons, trinkets, and runes for possible means of upgrading. Again, thanks to everyone for your counsel.

Cayl Bourne.8073:

If you are looking for secondary stats the first thing you should look at is your primary stat….I know that sounds stupid. With Soldier’s armor and Zeal traits you will have very high power from the get go.

Now look at the secondary stats you already have covered. You have vitality from your Solder’s armor and 20 points in Honor. You also have toughness on your armor.

Your weapon choices are very defensive and have lower damage output.

All things considered you have your defenses covered and an abundance of power. If I were you I would go for Ruby Orbs because they will have the largest multiplicative effect on your high power. If you would like more fire damage you can trait Supreme Justice and run Rabid Crests or Coral gemstones.

Thanks for your reply.

I’ve got Absolute Resolution filling that slot at the moment, but I’ve considered swapping to Supreme Justice. The hangup is the mace’s slow attack speed, which doesn’t make the most of Virtue of Justice’s passive. I usually just leave Justice on passive against trash mobs (which die quick enough) and pop it against veterans or higher to gain a bit of a damage burst.

Obviously my Critical Hits are paltry when they do proc (which isn’t often), so I was considering beefing my Precision a bit. Are you recommending Ruby over Emerald or Coral? And should I abandon any notion of Sapphire?

Rubies would be the largest damage increase you could get.

Sapphire would an another defensive/supportive (aoe heals) choice for you so I would shy away from them unless you are looking to group alot.

Emeralds would give you more precision than Rubies allowing a higher crit rate but without the crit damage to back it up. A good choice.

Coral is a good choice if you augment your fire application a little bit. They offer alot of crit to boost your high power and the condition damage is a nice bit of consistent damage. If you were to use a Torch or a utility that causes burning you could get some good aoe punch out of Coral.

As you said mace attacks are quite slow but since you have 30% condition duration, if you run another source of burning (as mentioned above) you can stack a decent duration. Mace 2 also hits 5 times since you run Writ of Persistence.

Gleaning what I can from your posts you seem to have good patience and prefer consistency and stability to speed and flash. Burning damage is about as consistent as it gets. Sword and Torch are great for maintaining a decent burn on the target.