Guild Wars 2

Guard is not worth a skill slot in itself. In fact, I think that it should be a pet command that is included in the petbar itself.

Does anyone else agree with me? I mean, c’mon, does ANYONE use Guard?

Yup.
I get some good use out of that thing.

But oddly, it’s mostly through creative uses of the Stealth, Protection, and travel that aren’t mentioned in the tooltip. About the only thing I don’t use it for is the actual act of making my pet stay somewhere while I walk away.

If only I could find this kind of depth in Sic ’Em.

Whether or not Guard is put onto the pet bar, I think that there NEEDS to be a “Go to” and a “Stay” on it. I can’t believe the game shipped without these two functions on the pet bar, especially considering that movement is larger factor in this game than most others.

Guard is really a fundamentally flawed skill.

Without investment in traits that boost the pet, it’s barely a match for a normal monster, let alone multiple foes or a PvP opponent, so ordering to stay in a location while you leave is basically just leaving it to die. And doing so obviously weakens you, since the ranger is balanced around fighting alongside their pet, not leaving it somewhere while they go off on their own.

The skill just sucks. I can’t think of any reason why I’d ever want to use it for its intended purpose.

Yes! Exactly. Guard should be in the pet skill bar, I honestly think “Search and Rescue” should be as well. Those skills just are not good enough to warrant using precious skill slots to equip them.