Guild Wars 2

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/Guide-DPS-Guardian-for-PVE/first

The thread of all Guardian Guide threads. Read it and love it.

Also guardians are loved in fractals, and are more than welcomed in dungeons. You won’t have prejudice directed toward you, unless you run a crappy staff/scepter build. So follow that post I linked and be happy with your new guardian!

Charak.9761:

WvW Solo roam / PvE

Once I saw this line here, I knew to not even bother reading this. Anyone who uses a build for WvW and PvE does not know what they are talking about.

Props if you are a troll(I hope you are).

foofad.5162:

Fortunately, Shelter’s healing scales with the amount of damage you block. Proactive healing versus retroactive. Shelter is one of the best heals in the game.

Agreed. I often use it to prevent losing health. Examples are in Lupicus if I find myself in a crap situation with no energy, I can block most of his attacks outright with shelter, or shelter than one dodge. In PvP, I often use it if I’m pinned and know a big burst is coming.

Shelter is very powerful.

Ariete.6509:

Quick question about GS specifically concerning WW usage since my math is limited: should i be using it against single target even though i skip a beat from gaining one more stack of Might with its 3rd attack chain?

If not, how many mobs justify using WW over auto-attack chain?

There isn’t an exact answer for this one. If you are running with an organized group you generally have might taken care of, so this isn’t really an issue. I personally break GS chain without skipping a beat, though if you stayed on the chain to finish it will only take an extra 1.5 seconds or so. No really a deal breaker.

And when you say single target, I think you mean like a boss? Example, Mage Crusher Arah P3. That is a perfect boss to do good rotations on.(except when you must deploy your wall and Shield of Avenger). But overall, yes WW on single target is the best in general. The trick is you must turn melee assist off, so you can get inside the enemy and ensure all the projectiles hit.

When I roam with 1-3 people I bring a 10/25/30/5/0 hammer/Scepter+focus meditation burst build. I run with a condi warrior who brings the DOT’s, then a hammer warrior who brings massive CC. So my job, is to snipe the squishy person in another group, and get them out of the battle quick. I have enough sustain through meditations and 3k armor to last, but enough burst to pull of 12k damage in 1-2 seconds.

I hate the retaliation builds personally, unless I am in a group of 5-10, in which case I am supper support/rezer. I can post some videos of me from my buddies perspective in his stream if that helps.

Use a tool to create a build. And push numbers around. Best way to figure it out IMO.

For zergs watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0fxuoJGdGs

For roaming, it all comes down to playing to your builds strengths. It sounds to me you are going for an AH, tanky build, reliant on boons for sustain and POV for condi removal?

I play looking for the wounded calf, that has lagged off the back of a large zerg. Oh yeah >:O

Only video you need to watch about being a guardian in a zerg.

Ravenmoon.5318:

The thing is that most sellers exploit and glitch the dungeons.

I have sold a lot of arah paths. It is generally done when we can only find 4 people willing to play. So instead of gouging my eyes out with a pug who doesn’t listen, we just 4 man the arah paths and make extra 20 gold combined after doing p1-3. We also post the stream in the LFG, so people can watch if we are “exploiting” the dungeon.

tl;dr: Not everyone exploits dungeons. So stop being mad at things you can’t control.

Staff OP. It single-handedly beat Lupicus. I smell a new meta.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/dungeons/Lupi-Staff-Guardian-Solo/first#post3300991

Since people seem to be complaining about not knowing when the enemy will dodge. Doesn’t that mean we should see all their cooldowns too, because you never know when they will do a quick weapon swap dodge. That will be the samething as not knowing the enemies stamina.

This might actually make you miss more burst skills, since we can now lure you into a burst, then switch weapons and dodge. You guys need to be careful what you ask for. I am personally fine without seeing stamina.

Are you losing to bomb kit style engies that rely on putting crap on the floor hoping you run over it? If so, you need to choose the battle location. Areas where you have wide movement will be greatly beneficial, since you won’t be bottlenecked. I find engineers in PvP more annoying since bunkering on a point means you have a very small area to run around in.

Emanuel.9781:

This happens so many times. A few days ago, we 4 manned a path until lupicus, then spun the pug roulette. “Berserker gear, melee everything, no ranging. Ranging = kick”

A guardian joins and asks why we’d threaten to kick him if he ranges. Then we all explain things and ask him to melee about 2-3 times on lupicus. He comes into melee…

…with staff/scepter! We laughed, finished the fight and carried him through for the rest of the run. At least he listened and the rest of the path went alright. That was my good gw2 deed of the day.

Becoming more mellow are ya Emanuel? Don’t tell me the holiday season has made your posting and arah runs soft!?

Please Read this post here to get all your armor and new guardian questions answered.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/Guide-DPS-Guardian-for-PVE/first

It’s the stickied post, by a guardian who knows how to do PVE.

How about when you queue in, there are options to check which would be your primary role. With secondary roles you could switch too if the queue can’t find you a postion with your primary role chosen.

1.) Bunker
2.) Roamer
3.) etc..

Boon’s guide to his WvW burst build:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybKAe2w0qWY

Obal’s written guide to PVE guardian(Great guide from a great guardian):
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/Guide-DPS-Guardian-for-PVE/first

I’m not trying to convince you to stay on guardian, but make sure you do all your homework and fully understand what we are capable of before trying to compare. Once you get all the facts down, then decide if it is right for you. I personally love being able to save teammates while doing nice damage.

Also if you need help with being a guardian or how to do certain dungeons as a guardian. Feel free to post and ask. Also the dungeon forum has a great group of knowledgeable people who will help those seeking it in a none ragey way.

omnimister.4219:

but will it hit that 90k damage a warrior will in pve, or will it hit that 16k a thief will in pvp and wvw.

Dat burst tho?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSTe9PxId3s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjBWVeCRebI

And hitting 49k WW is better dps than the time Hundred blades take to hit 90k. You are still new. Those big hundred blade numbers are deceiving you. Someday you shall learn.

omnimister.4219:

thank you cat that is what I was trying to say. so then everyone would agree that warrior is one of the better dps options? id like to be able to do high dps with fun dps as well. like necros look like they have a good amount but im not sure…? and im not jumping ship lol I will always be a guardian at heart

Warrior are good because they are able to generate more dps alone. Meaning they apply stacks of vulnerability and have good offensive buffs like banners and omm. BUT, in a good dungeon group, if you are a guardian with warriors, you aren’t a second class citizen when it comes to putting damage down. You are receiving those buffs, so it doesn’t matter who is generating them.

For solo dps, yeah warriors are better. But I’m pretty sure you are talking about dungeons. Anyhow, in case you can’t tell I’m a die hard guardian. I have more hours doing arah then you have on your guard. I can tell you just losing interest in your guard. I personally love being my team’s guard and being able to do things like save them with a perfectly time aegis, or Wall of Reflecting lupicus to skip Phase 2.

tl;dr Warrior much better solo DPS. Guard is comparable in fully buffed groups. I <3 Guardian.

omnimister.4219:

I have about 90hrs on my guardian so far. and I don’t think anyone is seeing my point to this which is simply, I just don’t want to dps with my guardian like that…

I guess your point is, that you just don’t like guardian gameplay then. That’s cool. The thing I got from your OP, was that guards can’t do enough dps so you looking to jump ship. Guess I was wrong.

Go try a warrior. They fun in WvW and PVE. Can’t go wrong there. Aside from that, I have no recommendations.

PraetorMortis.8610:

I am using the 15/25/0/20/10 build with hammer. My gear is almost entirely berserker (just a little Valkyrie for the HP) and full ascended.

I just tested out the hammer change. Still feels like I hit a little light compared to a 10/30/x/x/x s/f + gs build. I’ve seen Zealot’s Defense and WW numbers in the 8-10K range. Never seen hammer tag like that ever. In a dungeon group with boons up (fury 8-15 might average) I see crits in the 2k-2.5k range. Mighty blow 4.5k-5.2k. Pretty sure my symbol is ticking around 1k a pulse.

I guess my point is, hammer is neat and the perma prot support is really good in fractals but I don’t see how hammer is a top dps setup. Can someone better at math elaborate for me? I’d love to see some figures. Thanks!

Hammer isn’t top. That goes to sword/GS rotations. If the hammer didn’t give perma prot, it wouldn’t be used. It does good enough damage while giving great support.

And with warriors, vuln isn’t even needed to come from us.

Damage modifiers. Key thing is damage modifiers. 10% from radiance along with the all important crit chance. Then get the extra percent per boon damage modifier from virtues, which is normally around 4%, then against bosses like mage crusher or lupicus you can swap in unscathed contender and get 20% extra damage with aegis up since you don’t need the condi removal. Scholar runes on top of that is 10% more damage. And you are looking at potentially 34%-40% more damage, and add 10% more if you aren’t using scholar runes(which I hope you are).

My whole point of this, is running Zerk guardian isn’t all that glassy once you get good at it. If you want to switch that is fine. But don’t get confused in thinking guardians are wet noodles. They are loved in fractals and usually see one in dungeon runs.

How many hours do you have on your guardian?

Before people start giving suggestions.

1.) What type of WvW? Zerg only?
2.) What type of WvW?

omnimister.4219:

and I go 10/0/30/30/0 still get decent dps. and I mean boons and other stuff is great but what class doesn’t focus so much on boons and conditions to be a beast it can have them but just doesn’t have as much of a focus on them bc its gotten to the point to where I don’t want to care about who has what boons anymore and when to do what. im fine with stun breaking and going in.

That is not even closet to being a decent dps build…. Please go read that thread I linked…

You essentially use a terrible build and tried to evaluate the guardian’s dps. Even without crazy buffs like in Obal’s videos, I hit 25k WW very easily. 30k+ on mage crusher when the ball is rolling.

EDIT: @ S S E S S is not a bad word Mod bot!

Lonewolf Kai.3682:

For some reason this Rune set bothers me. Aegis is the Guardians niche. Now it is not.

Rightfully so. I hate it too. Aegis was a very cool thing we had easy access too. Now they went and spoiled its beautiful name, by making Signet warriors able to…. Can’t even finish this sentence.

Why not bring the DPS and support as a guardian?

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/Guide-DPS-Guardian-for-PVE/first

http://youtu.be/U67QNskKYHs

RomaCentarii.4168:

Yup I sold all the clerics and I am thankful for all your help I purchased the zerkers armor cause I might as well learn how to work with that. My amulets and accessories are either zerkers or soldiers so I think Im good.

Woo, this warms my heart. I was reading this thread and started to cringe. You made a good decision. This game circulates around doing damage, while mitigating through active means, such as dodges and blocks. The quicker you learn to use dodge/block instead of gear to avoid dying, the quicker you will become a very good player.

Best of luck!

Syfin.6875:

Hmmm well when I said support I didn’t mean healing. Thank you for the responses. It’s a shame that this game has turned into. One trick pony >.> maybe I will try a thief I guess since melee is the end all be all…

Oh you don’t have to be a one trick pony. You can run full cleric gear with your LB as a shout warrior. But just expect to be punted so quick, you’d swear you were watching a Jaguars’ game. Either get a group of friends who don’t mind doing fractals 5 times slower, or roll ele for range!

Virtue of Resolve needs a buff in regen rate. That is all.

When you reach the show go here: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/DPS-Guardian-Guide-for-PVE-1/first#post3223755

For leveling…. I really don’t know. If you are power leveling I suppose it doesn’t really matter. Maybe go like 10 into honor just for shout reduction since they strong for leveling or 10 into Virtues for master of consecrations, Then like 15 into radiance, to start using that blind spam. Followed 10 into zeal and go for zeal II. Then 10 more into radiance for extra damage vs enemies with condi. Something like that. I really haven’t thought of guardian skill progression as leveling for a long time.

My advice isn’t terrible, its just I haven’t spent anytime thinking of builds under 80. So sorry if I have no clear point in my post.

Rigel.3092:

Cat Has Ducks.1982:

Bring the dps son.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FakjPk7JaXE

Zerg build, go more support and survivability. DPS will take care of itself within the mechanics of a zerg. Bags galore will still take place if tagging properly.

All you need to know about building a “zerg Guardian”.

Bring the dps son.

Check out Obal’s guide. He has a section for a good hammer build.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/DPS-Guardian-Guide-for-PVE-1/first#post3205721

deWord.3182:

Syn Sity.5826:

1. Stand close enough to him so that you’re almost touching his red ring but not quite pushing him.

yeh i know that, the domes are only a problem when he does his “big aoe” (whne lupi lifts up in the air) and i need to leap to him that part is allways kida dodgy for me. i eather eviterate or gs rush to him, but sometimse he domes me anyway :P, and i dont understand why.

Learn the safe distance from when he lands that it won’t knock you down. Stand right there when he is on his way down. So once he touches down you charge right in. I’m guessing you are standing at the circles edge, waiting for him to land. Then charging which may get you caught in “no man’s land”, thus causing bubbles.

So… Start moving closer while he is about to touchdown, so you can charge the last bit.

obal.3218:

DPS Rotation for extend fights – GS2 -> GS4 -> GS3 -> GS5 if no pull is needed -> GS auto until GS3 is up -> GS3 -> Swap to sword -> Focus 4 -> Focus 5 if not needed for survival -> Sword auto until 1s after swap is available -> repeat GS and sword rotation
For short fights I use GS2-4 -> Sword

Shouldn’t that read auto until GS2 is up?

It happens in WvW all the time. The stairs leading from the temple into the ruins on the east side has cost me my stacks too many times… I no longer take those stairs.

Ethics.4519:

Awesome, now we just need to actually run it. Super elitist Tiffie told me you botched on wall last time. She said she’s going to start kicking you if you don’ get your crap together, probably just invite a necro in COF gear to replace you.

Yeah, we’ll forget about that time lol. But on the serious note. I need to look into if certain attacks or skills prior to deploying my wall may cause the dang thing to not deploy. To be safe, I’ll be sure to not have any attacks going on while I deploy it.

What the heck did I just read?

Black Box.9312:

Well, if you’re a good thief then it’s their loss for kicking you. Thief has some of the highest base DPS in the game, and can provide far more utility than just stealth.

In PUG land that’s like looking for a specific needle in a barrel of needles. It’s rare you find what you are looking for, and the process of even looking will cause you pain.

Holy crap batman. Tell me if you heard this one before.

A condi necro and a s/s warrior walk into a pug dungeon. I’ll tell you how it ends. Both are kicked so quick one of them had to go to the hospital for whiplash.

Ethics.4519:

Dolan.3071:

RIP in peace Mesmer.

NOOOO!! Actually, after spoj or hybrid (can’t remember) linked me the rt run, already switching from mes to thief. So…. whatever.

I got the wall working quite nicely now. Except when it decides to not deploy. But don’t worry about that. It doesn’t happen too often :p

Erebus.9276:

But yeah… If/when I do pug dungeons; thieves, necros, rangers and most engi’s are insta booted depended and how kitteny I feel. Moral of the story is… Don’t pug, don’t get kicked.

I like this guy. He has the right attitude.

Lonewolf Kai.3682:

Berner.7289:

Would like to see Knights armor included in this chart, for comparison purposes.

Without getting into a gear choice argument and semantics, Knights armor isn’t really the goto DPS gear choice. It’s more of a hybrid DPS/Bunker choice.

I think he just wants to see the common armor type compared to the other two. That chart includes Soldier vs Zerker. Though I’d be interested too, in seeing if the training wheel version of the meta is decent or not.(since we all knew soldier would be trash, even so its nice to see the number difference).

I did a CoF run with a Pistol/Pistol + Shortbow thief… I don’t know much about thiefs. But I’m pretty sure that isn’t a recommended dps setup lol.

I noticed thiefs usually slow up skips that are easily doable without SR. Whenever a pug thief joins our arah group, we are all ready to do our skips, then the dude is like “wait 20 seconds for SR”. And I usually say, “Or we can do this skip in 5 seconds”.

So you can’t even enter the boat to deaggro before the second half of the run? If so, I for see the price of this run bumping up a bit as the pugs die at it. :p

foofad.5162:

I use it in dungeons, and not in WvW. It’s pretty bad in WvW, but with high AoE builds it can be pretty awesome. Infinite burning on as many enemies as you can find. I use this guy or some variation thereof (I swap things out constantly). Between two symbols, in crowded PvE encounters you can put out an incredible volume of burning. The AoE on it is not insignificant, it has the same range as Purging Flames, 240.

It works well with any weapon that can consistently hit lots of targets many times in as short a time frame as possible. Greatsword and any weapon with a symbol are good.

I think you linked the wrong build. You have some kind of wet noodle cleric build. Where is your dungeon build?

Are we talking about a dungeon/fractal build? Or some kind of pvp/wvw burning centric build? If its the former, then the answer is quite simple. The trait is trash, and its a slap in the face that it is a grand master trait. Burning 5 targets for 1 second with pathetic damage? You only should go 25 deep into that line for condi clease/extra damage per boon.

Not really sure what else to say. The trait is just so lack luster, that I can easily find other places for those 5 points.

PVE Meta builds:

Classic meta Sword/Focus + GS DPS guard fractal/dungeon meta. It still brings all the utility you’d expect from a guard but with a nice punch.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fUEQNAsdRlUg6CHFyMEfIFSODRCBtZAQHUVh4BrAGB-jwxAYfBRiAIVIQJvioxWcLiGruGT5SEVDA-e

other variant of this build(just moves 5 kill points into radiance):
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUEQNAsdRlUg6CHFyMEfIFSmCRCBteAQHk/UVIewKgRA-jwxAYfBRiAIVIQJvioxWcLiGruGT5SEVDA-e

Classic Hammer build for high level fractals. Good for pugging, or if your group needs perma protection. My groups runs two guards in fractals and one of us runs this build.(Generally the other guard )

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUEQJARSlUg6CHFyMEfIFSmCRCBtPAQ1HiHMFYkHB-jgxAY/ARFCUyrIasF3ioxqrxUuER1A-e

Just do dungeons with an LFG of “killing all mobs, not stacking. Play how you want. All welcome”. And you will get people who are terrible. Then you will learn why we stack lol. Also not many dungeons are soloable because of many require another person or 5(cof 1). A for sure solo is Arah P2. You will have hours of fun learning that one.

Kilandros.2098:

hybrid.5027:

High reflect and prot uptime in higher fractals is just such a game changer. Warriors aren’t any good at providing those.

True. Warriors unfortunately are only good at stacking might, banners, sustain, and dps.

Oh right those are game changers too

He didn’t say not to bring warriors. You need to read better. What he is saying is that guards bring stuff warriors can’t. So your post about replacing guards with warriors is asinine. Both are needed.