Guild Wars 2

Give us a grandmaster trait in Zeal or Radiance.

Make Retaliation applied by the Guardian do the inverse of what it normally does: add damage to every hit landed on an enemy.

Balance it by making it proc so many times per second. Stacks in duration.

This could add much needed offensive support. Have it scale off of either the guard’s power or the individual.

Thoughts or other ideas?

Shanks.2907:

Really depends how much protection we lose swapping the symbol. Should the symbol then last 5 seconds to make it to the next MB?

If the third strike was reduced to 1/2 second it’d be a fair tradeoff to lose a second or two of protection. Could trait out the symbol to make it perma. If the third strike was 1/2 second we would get an extra AA chain to every MB.

A change like this and removing the light field would go a long way to making the hammer a much more viable choice. I never end up using the hammer in dungeons unless I’m pugging with a group that will die without it. It covers valuable seconds of fire fields and wastes blast finishers. It’s a last ditch choice for me.

The idea is making AA more fluid for pvp, and having MB apply SoP you could have it on demand. 2 or 3 seconds should be a decent duration for the symbol given the after cast and 5 second CD for MB, so you could still keep good protection uptime, just less arbitrary to landing that darn AA

Also I wish that there was a GM Virtue trait that turned all light fields into fire fields. Call it “Wrath of the Protector” or something

The end of the hammer AA didn’t give a symbol, but instead a small radius weakness. We can then move the SoP to the end of MB.

This could impact PvP/WvW without running the validity of hammer in PvE/Fractals. Faster AA’s PvP wise can give it more support through weakness application (because the hammer should hurt when it lands) while making on demand protection better than landing a slow AA.

Now inb4 “this will ruin blast finishing fields”… it won’t. The oldest field is what gets finishers and, if executed correctly, you’ll be adding protection on top of might stacking and/or water blasting (imagine ZvZ encounters where you protect your allies while simultaneously blasting a heal).

I think this could make hammer more user friendly across all parts of the game.

I run a settlers amulet bunker build that focuses a lot on setting up kills as well as fighting conditions for the party

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fcAQJAqelIqicX3SfF17IxoCdO0jCbfBL6xj1vjB-ToAg2CrIMSZkzIjRSjsGNaY+B

Stay alive, use elixir gun to blast healing turret and disengage, toolkit for blocks and magnet/pry bar to help setup kills, elixir S to free stomp w/ throw S just incase. I run this with team ques and always get compliments

The day engineers get hammers I’m putting my juggernaut on him. Just because.

Here’s a look I always favored

Figured I’d post my Sunrise on here! Go Norn Guardians!

Kindled Zeal: Your passive Virtue of Justice deals direct damage instead of condition damage. Does not apply to the active effect.

I’d much rather block a large hit than a soft/hard CC followed by a large hit…

Instead of stacking aegis on VoC, it should have it’s own effect that blocks the next attack that deals a certain percentage of your max health. There’s already a warrior trait that activates when hit with something hard. Why not make VoC block the next attack that does at least 10% or 15% of your max health?

Because you’re not using S/F and don’t have many on demand blocks/Blinds, I highly recommend at least 15 in Radiance for constant blind spamming. Maybe 20 there instead of Zeal for signet CD and condi removal since you use SoJ and SoR. If you want to get more health back then 15 Rad/5 Virtues will work nicely with AH.

I propose the following change to the 4th skill (the #5 is just fine where it is):

Shield of Judgement
Block all attacks for 2 seconds. Castable while moving. Activate again to use Templar’s Verdict.

Templar’s Verdict
Grant protection for 4 seconds to allies in front of you while reflecting projectiles hit.

A small cooldown increase would be needed. It would make it incredibly useful in WvW and PvE, as only the projectiles in mid air when it’s cast will be redirected

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQJARSlYgyC3FyKEf4ESmCRCBxUgRw31DHiiYIA-jQCBYfAYgQYLJjiAhIIQJPFRjt4qIasqaER1qkYSBExYA-e

Here’s a versatile build that works well if you can get the celestial trinkets.

Yeah and hammer does more damage overall, so an extra WW is not worth the damage from Hammer auto/SoP (hammer 3rd crits for 6k alone plus 2.3k ticks off SoP).

And you’re doing higher damage per second DURING a burst w/ GS. Yeah its 5 more seconds to do it, but you’re missing 5s of Hammer dps that I’d take over that 5 extra seconds in GS. Use both weapons to their fullest and not just GS man.

P.S. When is 4 straight AA’s “more time bursting”? Factor in a full hammer chain plus protection over another WW man. The point is to deal damage while being helpful, not stay in GS and be selfish.

You do know a couple of auto attacks right before swapping dishes out as much dmg as a WW? And keeps your CDs managable to always do the same rotation. You dont want to lose your perma protection on your full zerker party at the cost of a slight dps boost.

Hammer primary, Greatsword for burst. Dont stay in GS too long to where you’re giving less to your team in order to give slightly more burst. The least amount of GS autos the better because hammer wins over time regardless.

It’s not that its less useful improving hammer dps, but you lose dps on top of group support with 5 in virtues.

SoW lasts 6 seconds traited, which hits as hard as a WW (normally can get 2.8k crits so 6 × 2.8k = 16.8k tops) on top of vulnerability stacking, which practically means 2 WWs at once WITH 10 stacks of vulnerability from the burst, switching straight to hammer asap to keep constant symbols. Waiting around for another WW is not bad, but my symbols pump out tons of dmg over the fight, so I want to rotate for that alone.

Radiant Fire can be anything, and I prefer 2H > 1Hs. More CC/Utility

@Finnway
Wrong. #4 then VoJ/LoF combo followed by WW will yield more dmg over the burst rotation.

Also UC is 20% damage plus virtue boons. Thats better than 100 more power and 5% dmg just to GS.

I just never see anyone attempt a dps build outside of S/F and GS or GS/Staff, preferably the more hardcore ones lol.

My way of sharing basically :P

Also to note that because of the horrible downscaling of crit dmg, use Truffle Steak > Squash Soup (Also noted in the guide)

@Dempsey – GS only beats out S/F when you use the swap to it only for the burst in the rotation explained in the guide. With WoP you’re applying more consistent vulnerability while having 10 stacks minimum every time you swap to GS burst. Plus it’s easily proven that hammer deals more damage then S/F when the boss/mobs don’t move too much. 90% uptime on symbols is very strong in general

Well for pugs instead of guildmates, yes. You can swap to bring more support. The build even explains swapping bane signet to do more support. I just maximize dps and do just fine with the bare minimum of support we’re given. Breaking over 20k Whirling Wraths so far and trying to coordinate my guild’s stacking to maybe break 30k’s. I hardly ever die because I always use my virtues and mitigation appropriately

http://intothemists.com/guides/1550-jackhammer_guardian_dps_build

Here is what I use for guild runs through dungeons. Wanting some feedback incase I missed anything.

Note: It IS a full zerker build FOR PvE only. So don’t say I have no survivability/I’m squishy.

Try this instead:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUQQNAS5elcgKD33xJEf4ERWBRi9QjfcjXPS4DZIA-jQyAoNBZqBE9JwZxioxW3KiGramIqW1gZ7JiqdJYSB8twI-e

Sigil of Intelligence and Sigil of Water is a horrible combo. If you’re going to stack up on healing power, you also need condition removal and ways to abuse selfless daring. So, with my little edit, you get group wide conditional removal. Also you can swap the hammer back for staff. I like hammer more but that’s merely my opinion. Swap weapons on CD and dodge like mad!

Some footage I recorded with my guild tPvP team, consisting of 2 spirit rangers, a bunker guardian, and 2 engineers. I run a shaman amulet build, while my buddy runs 2 turrets/bomb kit with a CC setup. Enjoy!

Waiting for Daecollo to agree and show his list of ideas he stashes in his desk…

Dumbest idea ever. Period.
GS offers so much mobility and damage thakittens a great weapon in general to use.

/endthread

Just yesterday we (FA) were taking Bay (can’t remember who we were taking from) and as we were standing on the inside walls they attempted to portal bomb right on top of us… surprising to say they bombed themselves! Haha love this matchup! There was a lot of great fighting and I’m enjoying every minute of it! Be on the lookout for my fat kitten

Very happy with my norn warrior!
:)

Obviously norn wins. We’re the space marines of Guild Wars 2!

I use a Razer Naga myself.

Movement – WASD
Strafing – Q and E
Auto Run – C
Dodge – V (lets me jump dodge to reach places easier with just a thumb press)
Weapon Skills – 1 through 5
Weapon Swap – ~
Tab Targeting
Using the numpad mode of the mouse:
Utility Skills – 1, 2, 4 and 5 for 7, 8, 6 and 9 (Grid-like for quick access and heal is at a comfortable spot)
Elite Skill – 8 (knuckle of my thumb makes it convenient)
Tool Belt Skill are 3, 6, 9, and 12, and they sit in a row on the Naga. Makes it viable to use this setup on other professions.

Been using this since I got the mouse. I have an alternate keyboard layout to have 2 ways of reaching any skill, so it gives me a huge upper hand in PvP

foofad.5162:

It does. Just double checked in the mists. BTW, I think you’ll find that you’ll do better without condition damage gear. You’ll still have decent burn damage while having way, way better direct damage.

I thought about what you said and ditched the carrion set. I changed a lot of my build but I think I hit a better spot than before..

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQJARWlYg6C33xKEf4ES2DRCBVQLFEkBhpAjgPA-jAzAYLAMGEBBisAkFLiGblLIV3oVeDruGTZmUlrgs3IpiAYmA-e

I figured the best way to not dip into condition damage and still have a nice amount was to do might stacking. It’s like your booninator build, but not really haha. Best way to show it is through a video I made of it. Pay attention to the might stacks I generate. If you get skeptical, notice while I rez a party member everybody’s might drops. And I know clerics armor isn’t the best choice but I love the added healing boosts. I have a set of zerker armor that I swap out when I want absolute damage, but this build has pretty awesome damage.

Please let me know what you think! I’m addicted to thinking about PW builds now!

foofad.5162:

Ditch the torch! You’ll be getting tons of burning even without it.

Only problem is I dont know if radiant fire applies to having the torch out or just a flat 20% increase. Do you know? Because I can’t test it currently.

I did some theory crafting myself, and if I can get some feedback about it I’d really appreciate it.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNAsfWlYgCC3FyIEg4ES2DRCBVQrHEEC5PVFiHA-jkzA4MIsWAJIQkAQyCQKUZNHKIW5CS1Nal3wqZw0oAq0FV7RKiWtUAQsFA-w

I thought “try to do half/half boon/condition duration” to really bring out the idea of a hybrid style guardian. I have an ascended trinket variation that adds slightly higher vitality and toughness, and I wanted to show that exotics can prove just as useful.

Basically I aimed for high damage (didn’t want to worry about crit damage) and while the power and condition damage are mediocre, the potential behind 100% burn, 60% boon, and 80% might duration increases are really something to consider. Get your stacks of bloodlust and swap out whatever consecration you’d like (purging flame > party blast finishers > might splurges), and I think this is definitely a build around burning that fits what everyone has been trying to accomplish.

Seems to me like he’s looking down a narrow funnel…

Effective Healing > Static Healing

All day, every day.

CMF.5461:

This almost makes me want to go full toughness and see what happens…combined with Lemongrass Poultry for vit from toughness, and a x/x/30/30/x shout setup you should have decent condition control and healing input……again pointless damage with that and your group might hate you for just standing there :p

Yeah thats why I like my select level of vitality and toughness. I could only imagine getting 80% damage reduction xD be a brick house that hits like a wet noodle

You’ll see meditation zerker builds using JI and MI now to do zerg busts.

Shield of wrath > JI > Smite Comd. > WW or MB > MI right back out

And do that every 50 seconds (40 when traited)?
This is going to get interesting. Especially in tPvP what with such a now amazing escape mechanic!

This is a great fix/patch. It seems the leap of faith mass aoe vulnerability might have been nerfed, but I cant prove this at the moment

MI buff! Definitely was needed.

Yeah I understand. I appreciate the reply

Side note: for those kind of fights I like to aim a good hammer #3 to score at least one crit to prep myself and let my group position itself. Pretty effective method IMHO

^^ New elite skill!

Blasino.3128:

McClueless.1974:

“Hang in There!”
…..

I dunno why I laughed so hard at this. I’m imagining us as a motivational speaker saying, “Hang in there guys! You can do it!”

WTB Morgan Freeman voice-over

@CMF dodging isn’t as important as it is keeping the group stable. I will keep my dodges ready for important attacks, but I prefer the toughness to support the protection upkeep and keep my group still to keep any pug from freaking out. I have a zerker build and a healing build but this lets me be the aforementioned “catalyst” to take groups through anything with ease.

Already explained moving zeal to radiance as an alternative… Read the thread please

You can always build it to your level of safety, but I went with what helped my style without over doing it, so to speak. I can always handle large amounts of conditions with my passive removals and AH, and everyone benefits through light fields with whirl/projectile finishers. I try to make every group I run with feel secure being near me, and in return we put out more damage and I benefit from them using my combo fields.

I had forgotten to also say that Bane Signet is just a place holder for any skill you find necessary for a fight. So I am almost always taking WoR. Whether its WvW or fractals/dungeons.

And as for AoE condition removal, you must not have seen purity stacked with SoR to help not only with conditions but when you use Save Yourselves. Runes of the soldier are just overkill in my opinion and having one party condition wipe is good enough. SoP on all the time with my hammer setup more than helps with party condition removal since I typically anchor and have everyone stack on me and/or combo off of my fields.

I get what you’re saying, but Soldier Runes are overkill to me and, like I already mentioned, you can make variations to make it your own. So I hope I got my point across

“Hang in There!”
Skill Type: Shout
Description: Up to 3 nearby downed allies lose their health 33% slower (5 seconds) and are given protection (5 seconds). Applies swiftness when said allies are revived (8 seconds).
Instant cast
75 second cooldown
Obvious visual is the guardian yelling the phrase.

This would be so useful for PvE and PvP because it plays on the nature of trying to keep allies alive and getting them to safety. The CD could be increased so thakittens not abused, but I like it.

Side note – the 33% decrease in health loss is for the deteriorating nature of downed state. Not the damage they’ll take.

I’ve been playing guardian since release and up to this point I sometimes think I’ve tried every build out there (even burn builds! Wasn’t my fancy). But over time I have taken the best of what I like to do regarding how to play a guardian, and combine them together to utilize what’s best for me, with enough leverage to it to be rearranged for everybody. With that said, here’s my build with brief details.

http://tinyurl.com/m4zysta

I like to be the backbone of the group. Not through a linear strategy, but by being what everyone else can depend on to unleash themselves 100% and higher. That doesn’t mean through pure knights or soldiers, but with a good supply of damage and a proper “cap” of defensive stats (namely Toughness/Vitality and AH) to ensure that even without any particilar support from pugs or friends you can manage the best of any situation throughout its engagement and be independent and dependant at the same time. Let’s explain the choices:

- Ascended Zerker Amulet and Rings – Basically the best stat output you can manage, and it bumps our damage output
- Valkyrie/Zerker Accessories, Cavelier/Zerker Back – I wanted to get the most out of my trinkets to boost my damage but made a few variations to push the defensive aspect, especially the vitality I score out of it.
- Knight Hammer/Staff – I felt zerker stats weren’t necessary and I could use the toughness to push towards my ideal armor “cap”
- Knights/Zerker Armor Mix – Any stat junky will take a snap at me for not utilizing stat ratios to get more crit damage, but I find a slightly higher amount of toughness to be better than less armor and slightly more damage.
- Azurite Orbs – These became my new favorite orbs very quickly because they filled the final gaps in my build. 120/90/90 V/T/P gave me the proper 15k health any guardian could feel safe with, and the 1.7k Toughness, which puts me at what I believe to be the guardians’ defensive “cap”

The Defensive Cap
1.3k Vitality and 1.7k Toughness give just under 15k health and 2.9k armor. I find that it is within these numbers I can utilize so much into direct damage and not overkill my tanky-ness (any other class would obviously want more, but even in solo play AH is our “oomph” that lets us not push to be fully tank like)

Variations
I’m a huge fan of staff. Thats why I keep it secondary always. Empower is your back up heal and it’s too good to not waste. I keep a bloodlust sigil on it to get power stacked up fast. Afterwards you’re free to either keep the weapon for the supportive nature of it, or swap to any weapon of your liking. Hopefully a Scepter or Sword to add variety to the fighting.

Hammer is my spine. It does everything I want out of a weapon. I use the extra 5 points in Zeal to add a % increase to my party through the vulnerability, rather than EM which I find ok but not as glamorous as using larger and longer symbols (purely opinion! Im very respectful to other people’s beliefs on a topic). With that said I can say that GS and Mace have great potential with this build. Mace is a good symbol weapon too and more supportive. If you go the greatsword route just move towards Radiance instead of Zeal. Blinds and the VoJ’s can balance the tanky-ness of the hammer, most notably trash/large fights.

Anyone can offer variations, but what I always give people respect for when posting their own builds is that they show how they play to give others ideas. We feed off each other as a community to branch out ideas to create new builds, so I felt like sharing a build I can say im proud of.

Let me know what you think about it!
-Felix V