I’m not sure I understand your point, Star Ace. I’m not berating the OP for choosing a suboptimal build. I’m reminding him that the build he’s asking for doesn’t exist. There’s no such thing as a Support Guardian, not in the stereotypical sense of an MMORPG Healer. If you try to build like one, you’re severely limiting your potential.
GW2 is built in a way that severely discourages focusing entirely on boons and heals. You are expected to go toe to toe with your enemy and deal damage, so it’s always a good idea—regardless of your build—to have some good offensive stats (power/crit/condition).
If you don’t want to do that, that’s fine. It’s your playstyle. And you can probably clear most PVE encounters regardless of your build. I’m just assuming that since the OP asked for advice, he wants a good build. And every decent build that emphasizes support skills carries a good deal of damage too.
Yes, I do come across a bit of a jerk, so thank you to Eveningstar for putting it in much nicer terms across his last two posts.
Tank. Support. Healing. These are all adjectives than can be used to describe different aspects of a build, but they’re not “roles”. GW2 system, in my opinion, strongly discourages you from taking a group “role”. If you do, you’re automatically shoe-horning yourself into a less effective overall build simply by your mindset. That’s my bottom line, and I will not stray from it.
Most threads I see that start with “100% support” really mean, “Gosh darn, I love healing and want to be a healer”. They’re dishonest in that way, simply because there is no way to be a focused healer as a Guardian in GW2. The system simply does not reward that kind of play. In fact, it punishes it.
In other MMOs, specializing in a particular role is done because the Trinity system rewards specialization. It’s much more effective for one person to specialize in heals, one person to specialize in tanking and three people to specialize in DPS. But that’s simply not the case in GW2, because these roles DO NOT EXIST.
You have to change your mindset as to how you approach a build. My beef with the Support build above is the logic for why it should exist is inherently flawed.
The flawed logic is “I should build to be support, because that will make my group more effective.” That’s wrong. You will make your group LESS effective.
The correct logic is “My build has good levels of Damage and Survivability. Now how can I improve my value to the group by adding more support to my build.”
This thread is a great example of the first flawed logic.
Brutality’s AH Hammer thread (to use only one example) is a great thread showcasing the second logic. Eveningstar’s thread on general build concepts as an introduction to the Guardian is another. There’s a reason why we don’t have a support/healer Guardian build stickied, or even very active.
If your build concept is based around the first, flawed logic, you’ll simply come out with a less than optimal build that makes groups less effective. If you want to play that way, simply because you love the staff, you love seeing green numbers (regardless of their usefulness), then that’s fine. That’s how you play…but don’t try to pass it off as being an effective way to contribute to a group.
Ooops…went back to being mean again. Sorry!
