Guild Wars 2

Shukay.3728:

i think the traits set up will work better in this way..
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUUQNAR8elYgqC33RKEg4ESmiCMBrUEP3D2DMCA6IA-e

also you could change more and use a dps set up
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUUQNAR8elYgqC33RKEgIFSWhC0SBAdQVFiHsHYEA0RA-e

I recommend one of these variations; but I tweaked them a little because I would never recommend “Unscathed Contender” to a new Guardian (or even necessarily to an experienced Guardian).

The problem with your original build, Sandhound, is that it does a little bit of everything. And builds that do a little of everything usually do nothing well.

Sword and Hammer are pretty good in solo PvE if you have 15 in Radiance and 10 in Virtues because Spirit weapons deal burn damage from VoJ.

That said, in dungeons they suffer from the pet-problem and short up-times, and I don’t think they will ever be viable in PvP. The only way I can see to make them better is if every spirit weapon provided support and damage.

Well, Guardians already have access to the retaliation boon in a lot of different ways. The Valor trait line has a lot of ways to do “defensive damage” in PvP.

In PvE Guardians already have a great “defensive damage” build. Go 20 into Honor and get (VII) Writ of Persistence (symbols last longer) and (III) Writ of Exaltation (symbols are larger) with a hammer. The hammer’s auto-attack chain drops a symbol of protection, so with these traits you will have permanent protection, high damage, and AoE.

Also, the reason Warriors are valued for their damage in PvE is because of their banners. In a party where everyone benefits from banners other classes can do higher DPS then warriors. But if you didn’t have any banners at all the DPS of the entire group would lower. Hence, bringing Warriors is optimal.

Deathmond.7328:

So what do you want to change in your profession?

• Make roaming Guardian more viable in PvP.
• Gives other classes better support options.
• Makes pets/minions more viable in dungeons.

Guardians are awesome the way they are. It’s the other classes that need help.

Here are some Guardian DPS builds. Maybe you can use them for ideas.
Hammer
Sword/Focus
Greatsword

A couple tips:

• These builds are designed for dungeons. Since you’re using them for leveling you can take 15 points from virtues and put them in a different trait line.

• Berserker gear (power, precision, critical-damage) might leave you vulnerable while leveling. You can try using Knights (power, precision, toughness) or Valkyrie (power, vitality, critical-damage) instead for more survivability.

• Traits that reduce the cooldown of weapon skills by 20% are strong while leveling.

• Upgrade your gear every five levels.

Sutcliffe.5491:

To me, ah built can mean 2 builts.

Either crappy dps with good support or good dps with bad support. A ah built can’t simply have both good dps and support due to trait point limitations.

I think that’s why ah built are frowned upon becAuse it’s good survivability must come at the expense of either dps or support

Support in my opinion is decent timely group condition removal and traited master of consecration that is useful in most dungeons.

Pretty much. ^^
You are spending 30 points on a grandmaster trait that doesn’t help your team. That only leaves 40 points to spend on traits that contribute.

Writ of Persistence (VII in Honor) is the best trait for a Hammer because it increases your DPS by 20-30% and gives your party permanent protection. 15 in Zeal is good too, because it maintains vulnerability on enemies.

Two-Handed Mastery is useless because the Hammer’s DPS comes from the auto-attack, and 20 in Virtues has better condition removal than shouts.

15/0/0/30/25. Because you have 30 points in Honor, improved passive health regen, and permanent protection you will have high survivability, even in squishy gear, while sustaining DPS.

Xhean.3452:

unscathed defender should be easy to keep on at full range.

This is something I have thought of too.

btw, Torch is not good in PvE. In fact, it’s not that great in any game mode…

Deathmond.7328:

shield is most horrible offhand for guardian or warrior in this game. Guardian can`t block with shield…it`s like a stupid joke lol…

Stice.5204:

I think it really is bizarre that we can block with a focus but not with a shield.

Celtus.8456:

Really would be nice to actually ‘block’ with the shield (not counting the few projectiles we can absorb currently).

What you guys are missing is the Guardian already has a block it can use with any weapon.

Wolfheart.1938:

I think shield is perfectly fine as it is for anything PvP-related.

I Agree. Not every weapon/skill/trait has to be played in every game mode.

12) Give the Living Story Structure
I’m convinced that Arena Net has a great story they are itching to tell us, and that the game’s original story is really just a sort of prologue. The problem is we can’t see where the Living Story is going, and for a while it didn’t seem like it was going anywhere at all.

All stories (novels, TV series, video games, etc) have structure to help the audience comprehend when one part of the story ends and the next begins. I really think the living story needs to be sorted into “Acts” or “Chapters” or something to help us feel like it’s actually going somewhere exciting.

You may not have very many views, but your videos are of very good quality. Getting started on youtube or as a streamer is a pain in the kitten because there are so many others out there.

Good luck with your channel, and thanks for covering GW2.

Ildourol.2803:

The whole idea of this build is to preserve might while supporting a party and doing good damage.

Someone already came up with a build that does exactly this by spamming hammer skill #2 on fire combo-fields.

the combination of Two-Handed Mastery and Master of Consecrations allows you to do two Mighty Blows inside Purging Flames, and three inside Hallowed Ground. With boon duration runes on top of the +30% from Virtues, and using the Staff’s Empower as well, you can actually maintain an average of 25 stacks of might on your entire party.

You may want to read the thread (it’s the build titled “Support Variant”)

This build, Altruistic Healing, is the one you are asking about.

But if you want a DPS build here are some good ones. Recently, Guardians have been learning that they can still perform all their expected support roles while running full Zerker gear.

EDIT: Zerker builds are also capable of soloing group events.

I agree with this. An option to hide aegis on yourself IN PvE ONLY would be nice.

Hey,
What Sigil should I slap on a Focus or Shield when running a 10/30/ R-H Strength build in PvE? I was using “gain might when swapping this weapon in combat,” when I realized the effect doesn’t proc when switching to your other weapon set (like a GS for WW). I mostly do dungeons, thanks.

I just posted something in this in a thread. I will just quote what I posted.

…they could patch in a Tyrian historical society or something, that has a library in every major city in Tyria. When you enter one it would have paintings or artwork highlighting some of the events in previous updates (like a statue of the Karka Queen, or something).
You could talk to a member of the society and tell them:
“Tell me about Act I”
“Tell me about Act II”
“Tell me about Act III,”
etc.
Then they would summarize the events of that “act” in one of those stylized, water-color cutscenes that GW2 does so well.

If they wanted, they could even have exclusive rewards (like titles) based on the number of living world updates you participated in every year. These would reset every year and scale just like achievement chests.

I wasn’t quite as serious about the reward system, but now that I have said it it doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.

What I really like is summarizing the story in a water-color cutscenes. I think that art-style makes GW2 unique.

wookiee.4631:

The Act idea is cool too, but would side releases like SAB: Back to School count as part of an Act?

No. I think they could just take “Act” out of the title.

I also wonder if they could put “Prequel” in the title of updates that foreshadow future Acts (like Tequatl Rising or Lost Shores).

It would help the living story to put act numbers (Act I, Act II, etc.) in the title of each living world update.
This would give the living story a sense of structure; something it profoundly lacks. Players would know when one chapter of the story is complete, and when another begins that focuses on a different group of characters.

In retrospect, it is clear that some of the updates fit into acts.

• Act I is the Molten Alliance updates.
• Act II is the Secret of Southsun through Cutthroat Politics.
• The Queen’s Jubilee began Act III and I believe we are still in it.

Later they could patch in a Tyrian historical society or something, that has a library in every major city in Tyria. When you enter one it would have paintings or artwork highlighting some of the events in previous updates (like a statue of the Karka Queen, or something).
You could talk to a member of the society and tell them:
“Tell me about Act I”
“Tell me about Act II”
“Tell me about Act III,”
etc.
Then they would summarize the events of that “act” in one of those stylized, water-color cutscenes that GW2 does so well.

If they wanted, they could even have exclusive rewards (like titles) based on the number of living world updates you participated in every year. These would reset every year and scale just like achievement chests.

Fay.2735:

First a question to all of you: What would you do to improve mantras and their traits to make them viable in PvP if you could?

I would add new trait: when you recharge one mantra all mantras that are off cooldown are recharged (40 sec cooldown).

Nretep.2564:

Right now mantras are indeed precasted skills with a high (well, medium now) casttime. But their actual purpose is that you can use the charges any time, while reviving, while dodging, while attacking with other skills and even while charging other mantras. You simply don’t use mantras as you use other skills

This.
The essential design idea of mantras is that they are a precharged skill that can be cast at any time. Any change to mantras has to be true to this formula.

Personally, I think some of the mantras could benefit from shorter cooldowns. Mantra of Distraction has a 30 sec cooldown, a 2.75 sec charge time, and 5 sec cooldown between casts. That’s 2 dazes every 37.75 sec. That doesn’t seem worth an entire utility slot to me.

Shriketalon.1937:

“Mantra skills are utilities with a unique recharge mechanism. Every fifteen seconds, the mantra skill will automatically gain one charge, up to a maximum of three.” Simple and elegant utilities with extremely useful functions. The recharge mechanism allows you to store them until you need them for spiking or spacing them out, making them tactically unique among utilities.

This is an interesting idea. I agree the problem with Mantras is their recharge mechanic. Even a small change could make them much more attractive to use.

• All Mantras now have a 1.5 sec charge time; that’s a 45% decrease. (This makes it easier to recharge Mantras during battle, while still leaving the Mesmer vulnerable.)
• Add a new trait: “All Mantras automatically recharge when their cooldown ends,” or “When you recharge one Mantra, all Mantras off cooldown are recharged.”
• Add charges to some Mantras (Mantra of Distraction, Mantra of Pain). Reduce the cooldown of other Mantras (Why on earth does Mantra of Distraction have a 30 sec cooldown?).

People have been discussing Guardian DPS a lot lately, so I thought I’d share this build. It’s not new, and I obviously didn’t invent it, but new Guardians are always asking for builds and this is one of the best builds for solo PvE content. Frankly, I’m surprised it’s not pinned to the forum.

This is a Guardian PvE solo/roaming build. It is a great build for map completion, leveling, and any time you aren’t playing in an organized group.

Setup
The weapons you will be using with this build are:

• Greatsword; for taking down groups of enemies quickly.
• Sword; a well rounded weapon that’s good against single-targets.
• Focus; a great support weapon for the Sword and Greatsword.

You want gear with Power, Precision, and Critical-hit damage (Berserker gear). You wont find it every level if you’re leveling, but Strong, Honed, or Penetrating gear all have similar stats.

This is a 30/30/0/0/10 build. For all you new players, that means you put 30 trait points into Zeal, 30 into Radiance, and 10 into Virtues. Here is the traits you should pick:

Zeal.

• (ii) +10% damage vs. Burning foes.
• (vii) Greatsword attacks deal 5% extra damage and heal you.
• (viii) Focus skills recharge 20% faster or (xi) +50% Spirit weapon damage

Radiance.

• (vi) Blind also applies 3 stacks of vulnerability.
• (viii) Spirit Weapons cause burning.
• (xi) +15% critical-hit chance with one-handed weapons.

Virtues

• (v) Spirit Weapons last 50% longer or (i) +20% damage while effected by aegis.

Slot skills:

• Shelter is better than Signet of Resolve because you don’t need the condition removal. The block can save your life.
• Sword of Justice lasts longer and has a shorter cooldown than other Spirit Weapons.
• Hammer of Wisdom doesn’t last as long as Sword but it knocks back foes.
• Other Spirit Weapons aren’t useful, so you can take whatever you want here. I like Retreat because of quickness and aegis. You can try Purging Flames, or Judge’s Intervention, or Bane Signet if you want.

Why This Build Works

• Every time you activate Virtue of Justice:
  * You and your Spirit weapons apply massive burning damage.
  * You and your Spirit weapons gain might.
  * All nearby foes are blinded.
  * All nearby foes receive 3 stacks of vulnerability for 10 seconds (each stack reduces opponent’s armor by 1%).

• 3 ways to remove conditions. Ray of Judgement from the Focus, and Whirling Wrath or Blinding Blade on a Symbol of Wrath from the Greatsword.

• You have 4 blinds at your disposal including Virtue of Justice, which recharges when you kill a foe. Each one of those applies 3 stacks of vulnerability, and blind is a great defensive skill.

• Spirit weapons apply burning to foes, so you will always deal 15% extra damage.

• Because you have 4 blinds and 2 blocks you have a high level of survivability.

• Opponents tend to attack Spirit Weapons if you kite them, so if you’re low on health you can attack enemies in the back while they attack your Spirit Weapons.

• The Greatsword’s Symbol of Wrath also applies vulnerability and deals extra damage.

This is a really solid build. It has high damage and high survivability if you use your blinds/blocks properly. I use this build to solo a lot of Champions in this game.

This build is weak against Dredge though, since they are immune to Blind. They still gain vulnerability, so you just lose defense.

I hope this helps anyone who is new to the Guardian class or who hasn’t found a trait spec they like yet. From what I understand, if you were to go for DPS in WvW or PvP it would be a similar build to this (…not that I am suggesting Guardians should roam in PvP). Again, I don’t claim credit for this build. It has been around a while and it’s an intuitive set-up.

What do you guys think of his other builds? I’m currently running the GS one.
Greatsword.
Hammer.

colesy.8490:

What the hell is “feeling like a guardian”?

If Brazil had a problem with whirling wrath then he should just position himself inside mobs.

I think he means they lack team support.

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

Brazil’s sword build isn’t the highest DPS. He just doesn’t like GS because whirl can be inconsistent so he trades off some DPS for consistency. It’s not a bad build, it’s just not minmax every single point of DPS.

I think the way he words it is “highest DPS that still allows the Guardian to play like a Guardian.”

I got my build from a reddit thread on this topic:

There are several viable builds right now.

• The most popular for pure DPS is probably Brazil’s 1H Sword build. Great build but it can get boring imo, because most of your damage is AA from the sword. Hits like a truck in Dungeons. (WARNING: LINK CONTAINS FOUL LANGUAGE. Here is an alternative link if you’re sensitive that.)

• Guanglai has a variant for a GS with Boon focus.

Brazil’s sword build has the highest DPS but it’s mainly from the Sword’s auto-attack. He also has some DPS-Hammer and DPS-Greatsword builds on his youtube channel.

RukKus.4569:

Option 1 — Select in Options menu which quality of items you want to display a confirmation box for.

Option 2 — Hold shift to override confirmation box.

Both options would be equally as amazing~!

Both these ideas are great! If they go with toggles though I would like different options for rares and masterworks. I don’t loot rares so often that I’m okay with salvaging them on accident.

In Timberline Falls there is a Skritt colony named Fionnghuala Scratch. A nearby heart has you help the colony against Jottun invaders. Even though you’re helping the Skritt survive, they all attack you on sight except for the chieftain and NPC that grants you the quest. You’re clearly helping the Skritt and I think this is a bug.

Also, someone already reported this 9 months ago. I’m suprised it hasn’t been fixed yet. https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/bugs/Help-Fionnghuala-Scratch-bug-skritt-all-hostile

I want to buy a set of Exotic gear for my Mesmer when she reaches level 80. I am wondering if I should buy Berserker gear (power, precision, and critical damage) or Adventure gear (power, precision, and magic-find)?

The build I like uses Berserker gear, but it’s mainly a solo-build and I don’t know if I’ll be able to use it in dungeons. I am open to using other builds, but I don’t want to pay 45g for gear if I can’t use it for group play.

It might make more sense to buy Adventure gear. I’ll probably be working on a lot of world completion, achievements, and living story stuff (since it’s a solo build), and I might as well make more money while I’m doing it.

Is it okay to use Berserker gear on a Mesmer in group play? Is it even worth paying 45g for Adventure gear, or is it a waste of money by the time the extra magic-find actually pays off?

P.S. Here is a link to the build I’m running https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Defining-the-glass-cannon-mesmer/first

I used those same 3 videos to help me get into PvP.

btw, the 3rd video has links to builds. If you’re new to PvP you definitely want to find a recommended build and stick to it until you start to figure things out.

GW2 tried to make MMOs intuitive. PvP is very unlike the rest of the game in that regard. Someone suggested a tutorial that explains roles, and I think that would help.

PVStar.3658:

Any MOBA/RTS game is more complex than GW2 conquest, yet are incredibly successful.

I agree. Starcraft and DoTA are far more complicated than GW2, but people are willing to learn to play them. DoTA even has an unfriendly community!

Sexy Blanket.9653:

My Norn is Gigantor The Huge and he’s a fierce Warrior.

7/10. It’s a great name for a Warrior, but it’s only so so for a Norn. Maybe the first name could be more Norse-ish?

My Norn is named Regin Felagun (Reginleif is the name of a Valkyrie). She is a Mesmer :P

I power-leveled fairly quickly by only questing on level and alternating quests with events.

Once I completed the last quest in a region I did another 10 levels of my personal story (which nets a lot of XP) and then moved on to the next region. If I needed more XP later, I would go back to that region and get the 100% completion bonus chest. It works pretty well. Be sure to buy a new gear every 5 levels so you can level quickly.

By “landscape content” I mean the ordinary events that you do while leveling through a region. As an example: I’m questing through the Tarnished Coast region right now. It’s almost entirely group content but there is no-one around to play with.

I’m wondering what the best time of day would be for me to play landscape content with other players.
I’m on an American server, so I assumed it would be when the East and West coasts get off work. But someone told me that my server (Sea of Sorrows) is actually mostly populated by Oceanic players. Hence, the population spikes around 6:00AM in my time zone.
How do I find out what time of day I should play, and what servers I should guest on to play landscape content with other players?

ArenaNet (Ree Soesbee): I think it’s less that Jormag won’t corrupt a woman and more that as they are being corrupted, the Sons of Svanir will just kill any woman who is caught being given Svanir’s gift.

That’s a little disappointing.
I was hoping for something Joan of Arc or Valkyrie-esque. Something like, “They are just too tough to accept the Dragon’s corruption, so they go down fighting!” This is a race of giant warrior women after all!

I noticed a few trait bugs the other day.

• Supreme Justice: The increased burn duration when activating Virtue of Justice is not reflected in the tool tip.

• Protectors Impact: This doesn’t activate when you are launched or knocked back. It might be bugged.

• Zealot’s Speed: I tried a symbol-heavy build yesterday and this never activated.