Guild Wars 2

One of my alts is a warrior currently sitting in the 30s and i am considering starting a guardian. this question is for the level 80 warriors out there, that are regularly doing dungeons.

Can the warrior (with a proper build/traits) live up to the self sustain of a guardian?
I know he has quite a few tools at his disposal plus his high hitpoints pool.
I am well aware, that nobody can face tank gold mobs forever, it’s more about the sustain.

I’ve always seen the warrior as tanky with offensive support and the guardian being the group support equivalent.

Hello,

Though i’m a level 74 warrior, I’ve done quite a few dungeons to make a reliable answer to you.

To put it bluntely, a tanky warrior will sustain more damage / aggro than a regular DD warrior, even if this later invested a lot on defense traits.

The main reason being the mace / shield weapon combination is simply wonderful and all you’ll ever need for (now and for most) golden bosses: shield stance absorbs everything including stuns / pushing away. The same goes for the mace block.
Moreover, the third hit of mace applies weakness. Perfect to survive a bit longer.

Since the golden bosses have defiance stacks, I only use the burst stun of the mace when all stacks are gone, and preferably when he’s preparing some spell / super-attack / pursuing team mates. Therefore, i often keep full adrenaline for a long period, which grants me accelerated regeneration with a minor defense trait.

Adding to it “Defy pain” as a skill, and you’re good to go.

As compared to a guardian, in my opinion I see it more effective as a off-tank support character than a main tank character, though he may fit this role when needed.

I have been using this for pure utility and survival. It is low DPS but you can take hits quite a while before backing out. I reply on the other 4 people to DPS. I add some DPS to the table but it is not my focus.

This is a mod of a build I found on you tube for sPvP.

Build

It works around Tactics and the 30 point skill that heals when you shout. All my utilities are shouts, so they are simply there to use as heals. (That gives you 4 active heals including your main heal)

Additionally I have sigils of leeching on all 4 weapons that provide heals on weapon swaps, so that is 2 more heals. I put 15 points into Disc for the reduce swap time allowing for weapon swap heals on cool down.

Wearing all Vit / toughness / healing gear.

Also – you normally draw aggro in a dungeon for rezzing someone, so this helps as you will be able to actively heal while rezzing someone with your three utilities.

Thanks for the helpful replies. I will give it a go later on, especially the shout build.

Hello! I’m a lv80 warrior and do a lot of hardcore PvE dungeon farming (12hours a day) for tokens with a guild and the party has a regular guardian.

Warriors are like thieves but a lot stronger. We can bring the same amount of damage as a thief but bring double the win. We have Rez Banner which is extremely strong and can prevent party wipes and keep the party going in case of that one mistake which will happen sooner or later. We have increased survability- in case my guardian falls I can always off tank and kite for as long as it is needed. Thieves and other classes cannot do this. We also have extreme damage and that is the most important “statistic” you bring to the raid. All around statwise the warrior is extremely strong (higher HP pool and base stats compared to other classes)

Above I mentioned that we bring something “different” to the raid group but we fall out in other departments. Mainly utility- warriors are like a big blunt swords we have tons of “win buttons” like Frenzy, Endure Pain, 100B but lack synergy with self and team. Every other class will “out utility” you- and utility plays a very very big roll in this game (Why are we calling guardians and mesmers OP? Because of the amount of utility they bring to the battlefield). Another extremely important thing is that you can NEVER out tank a guardian because the aggro mechanic causes guardians to ALWAYS pull the boss away from you even after doing tons of damage to it.

To sum it up,

Advantages:
We have tons of “Win buttons” Frenzy, Endure pain, Rez banner, 100B.
Do tons of damage
Have good survability
And bring something different to the battlefield

Disadvantages:
1) While we bring something different to the fight having 2 warriors or having 1 warrior 1 thief 1 guardian in the team is too much. The composition is extremely restricted to bring other classes with stronger utility.
2) Synergy with the team is almost none-existent all you really do is say “Hey check out my crit”
3) You cannot out tank/out aggro a guardian. Do not try- Focus on doing the best you can do which is bringing a lot of pain to the enemy.

Why are you discussing “Tanking” in a game where nobody is or can be a “Tank”.
There is only guys who die in 1 hit and guys who die in 3 hits. Nothing is supposed to be face-tanked like in other MMO’s. Besides aggro is partialy proximity based so there’s absolutely no way a Guardian ALWAYS pulls ALL aggro from you.

Secondly, I play a level 80 Guardian and the only thing I can do well in Dungeons is play a half-assed support/control hybrid. Putting up walls and lines, hoping that my party is smart enough to get behind them for the duration.

A Warrior has A LOT more HP and a lot more inherent defense. The only thing a Guardian is better at than Warriors is regenerating HP and in a game where there are no “Healers”, that healing is relatively kitteny.

Thirdly, melee combat in Dungeons is laughable and the Warrior has a VASTLY superior array of ranged weapons to choose from.

No decent heals? My warrior uses 6 heals, I also have tons of HP and toughness. 3 of those heals are group heals on SHORT cool downs. Anet can tell me all day there is no tanking – but I do it all the time. I also have an AoE rez using my banner.

I can plant myself in front of lots of mobs and never move out. Bosses are the same – the only time I am backing out is when a 1 hit mechanic is being used. Obviously you need to move for some attacks.