Guild Wars 2

Purist.3175:

I think we should be rewarded for the ranks we obtained previously. Possibly have a bonus chest come up during the daily reset (mildly resembling what they do for WvW ranks).

I like your idea of retroactively implementing it through dailies and possibly monthlies.

So I need 150k rank points to get a single chest…uh-huh

At least in WvW it was retroactive when it came to wxp/chest. Why not take the same route here?

I understand what Anet is trying to do, however the way they are implementing it is really flawed. You don’t just take something away without adding something of equal or greater value.

It would be like them saying, we got this new great ranking system. So we’ll be removing the old one first, and adding the new one sometime in the future. Then you don’t give any type of dates or detail. All we get is soon.

Well on the bright side, the weapons do look decent.

http://dulfy.net/2014/03/18/gw2-mistforged-hero-weapon-skins-gallery/

lol this thread made me think of this

I wasn’t expecting much with it being a maintenance patch and all, but seriously…

Uh-huh pretty much does sums it all up.

Cesip.1962:

When the 2 Sigil per 2Hand weapon change comes in. What would you run?

Hammer has Fire now. Staff Energy.
Thought about adding Force to Hammer and another Fire to Staff.

And my Stack weapons will get Fire and Energy on top of them.

That’s hard to say since we don’t know all the details, Anet stated they are fixing the functionality of some sigils. So we can only speculate. However these are some combo I’d be interested to see how they play out.

Strength and Battle
Ice and Hydromancy
Generosity and Purity
Blood and Leeching
Water and Renewal

mrauls.6519:

Harbinger, do you think you could comment on using movement speed runes and not using them? I’ve been using traveler runes for about two months now, and while it does give me a speed advantage most of the time, I feel like I’d rather use other runes now. One of the reasons I made the switch to traveler was because I felt like it was hard connecting with my opponents

That’s an excellent question.

When come to large scale fights, I wouldn’t recommend using traveler or speed. There are a lot of better runes for that type of environment. Small group stuff they have more of a merit, however you’ll be coordinating your CCs, stuns, and soft CCs with your group. So you shouldn’t really have a problem with sticking to targets. Solo roaming is where they shine the most, allowing you to escape from unfavorable fights. Also helping out with the lack of soft CCs which guards suffer from.

I personally been using Traveler on my main set for quite awhile now. It gives me everything I want in a single package. They are nice, however they’re not mandatory. There are other ways to help stick to targets through other runes, sigils, and food.

Well I’m glad people are enjoying the guide and finding it helpful!

oZii.2864:

Harbinger you mind giving your personal thoughts on weapon choices for the different roles.

This is something I plan to discuss when I also go over utilities.

Valinor.9647:

In large group fights if your not running tomb of courage your doing it wrong. even in small groups, the only reason not to run it is if your running solo.

That’s debatable, and depends on the build and group comp. If you’re using Absolute Resolution, Indomitable Courage, or Shielded Mind. Using Renewed Focus will let you have condition removers, healing, and a plethora of boons to include stability. Even a group stun breaker. I agree if you’re not invested into Virtues, then Tome of Courage would be probably be the smarter choice for group comp. However Tome of Courage suffers from a long CD, and it can easily be interrupted if you don’t have stability.

I agree Tome of Courage is an excellent support tool, however saying you must run it in group situations is imprecise.

Steinpilz.5078:

But you would not need offensive pressure when they kill themselves.

That’s does not work against a skilled player. Against an unskilled or average player it would fair better. Relying on retaliation and burning for your sole damage output isn’t a great idea. If the person is somewhat competent, they’re not going to kill themselves.

Steinpilz.5078:

I wonder: Is something like this possible with a guardian?
I ask because guardians get a lot of retaliation too…

Yes, and no. Guardian can easily get close to 100% retaliation, regeneration, and protection uptime. However Mesmer has a number of tools that make that build work better. The main thing is conditions. Mesmer have access to a wide variety of conditions unlike Guardian. So this allows them still to do decent damage if they run bunker like that.

So yes you can make an Immortal Guardian, however you give up any type of offensive pressure.

Videos

This section is reserved for gameplay videos. I’ll upload a wide variety of videos, from large group to solo roaming. A majority of the videos will be small group because that’s what I enjoy the most. As for the video quality, I’ll try to stay away from “ownage” content. While it’s fun to feel unstoppable, I want to post videos of good fights. Not ganking lowbies and killing unskilled players. I’ll also try not to edit out bad moments and mistakes; I want people to see it all. So you can learn from my mistakes, and improve.

Gone Camping- This is the first video in the line of many. Just three of us and a camp, Teamspeak was not used in this video. So our coordination isn’t the best. The build I running provides maximum amount of support, however it also does a fairly decent amount of damage. Since there are only three of us, sometimes less. I still need to have good dps output.

6vX- This is actually gameplay from another Guardian in my guild. I’m in the fight/video, just a different party. This just shows the power of support Guardian if played right. Group comp consisted of two guards, thief, warrior, ele, and engie.

The Rock- Doing some small group comp on Anvil Rock BL. In the video I’m playing support type of guard, however I still bring CC and decent damage.

Initial Burst Rotation- This is just a short video showing the initial burst rotation for a triple meds gs and s/f build. First thing is to precast Shield of Wrath. After that switch to GS, and do Leap of Faith. While in Leap of Faith, Judge’s Intervention to target. Once you’re on target you want to activate Smite Condition and Virtue of Justice. Symbol of Wrath, followed by Binding Blade. If the target trys to run or move then you use the pull. If not, you let it tick. Lastly you follow with a Whirling Wrath. Keep in mind you have to adapt to the situation, so the rotation isn’t always going to be the same. This just gives you a basic idea.

[List] Roaming- Roaming with my guild on reset night. We typical run 5-8 players.

Fun on Reset- Another short small group video.

New Ego Roaming- Small group comp gameplay.

Elite Focus- A somewhat useful trait. If you’re using either tomes this will increase the duration from 20 seconds to 30, making it a viable choice. However if you’re using Renewed Focus then it’s not worth it, since it only increases it from two seconds to three. This trait now grants stability to tomes in ten seconds intervals, making it a must have if you plan on using tomes. (Good)

Supreme Justice- This trait will increase your damage output, but at a cost. Generally you are constantly going to be activating Justice to get might stacks and blind/vulnerability. However this trait is really for the passive. So it forces you not to use your active as much. (Mediocre)

Absolute Resolution- One of the best traits we have. Not only does it increase your passive healing, it gives you group wide condition removers. (Good)

Indomitable Courage- Another good trait. Stability is easily the most important boon in a WvW/PvP environment. (Good)

Permeating Wrath- This is an ok trait, pretty much you just get more access to AoE burning. I personally would take Supreme Justice over this. (Mediocre)

Shielded Mind- This is a good trait, however it’s overshadowed by Indomitable Courage. The reason why is if you have stability, then you don’t need a stunbreaker. However it does have some advantages. Indomitable Courage is a more proactive approach, while Shielded Mind is a reactive skill. Never underestimate the power of a group wide stunbreaker. (Good)

Newly added traits

Amplified Wrath- This trait increases your burning damage by 33%, which can be a noticeable difference, if you’re running a hybrid or condition build, I would definitely recommend taking this over Kindled Zeal; however it’s still fairly weak for a grandmaster trait. (Mediocre)

Radiant Retaliation- This trait is terrible for a grandmaster. In order to benefit from it, you need to have condition damage of 924 or higher to out scale a power build. I do not recommend this at all. (Bad)

Communal Defenses- This is a somewhat interesting trait, it synergize very well with traits such as; Pure of Heart and Shattered Aegis. Also the number of targets it affects is unlimited, as long as they are in the 360 radius. However, this trait does not affect the Guardian in anyway, so it’s a purely supportive trait. I would recommend this trait; however it suffers from a fairly long CD, and also has to compete with traits such as Altruistic Healing and Monk Focus. (Mediocre)

Force of Will- This is a simple and straightforward trait. At level 80, it’ll give you 300 more vitality (3000 hp). So it’s a decent trait if you feel like your build is lacking hp. (Good)

Purity of Body- Another underwhelming grandmaster trait. 15% endurance regeneration increase is very insignificant. This is due to Vigor and Energy sigils. However, if you’re also running Battle Presence, it’ll affect your allies as well. Nevertheless it’s a subpar trait, and I wouldn’t recommend it. (Bad)

Writ of Persistence- This is best used in conjunction with Writ of Exaltation, if you don’t trait Exaltation I wouldn’t recommend taking it. When it comes to WvW/PvP larger is better than longer, PvE is just the opposite. (Mediocre)

Empowering Might- Decent trait if you have the crit chance for it. I recommend at least 30% CC to keep a steady supply of might on you and allies. (Good)

Two Handed Mastery- If you are using two, two handed weapons then this is a solid choice. However if you’re only using one, then you’re better off traiting something different. (Good)

Writ of the Merciful- A very niche trait, to get the full benefit you need to be running all symbol traits, and also have decent healing power. For this reason I can’t really recommend using it. Even with 1000 healing power and traited symbols, symbols are only going to heal for around 728-1092. (Mediocre)

Pure of Voice- Good trait, if you’re using shouts. However I recommend you have other condition removers. Do not solely rely on this for cleanses. (Good)

Battle Presence- Lackluster for a Grandmaster trait, I wouldn’t go grandmaster for this trait nor would I give up Pure of Voice for it. If you are using it in conjunction with Absolute Resolution, then it becomes a little better. However I still wouldn’t recommend it. (Mediocre)

Virtues

Virtues is a utility line that increases boon duration and Virtue recharge rate. Minor traits benefit virtues and boons. Major traits favor the use of consecrations, retaliation, spirit weapons, and elite skills as well as the specialization of virtues.

Unscathed Contender- A very gimmicky trait, however it can be extremely strong. Generally you’ll have Aegis for your initial burst, after that it drops off. Then sporadically in the fight you’ll get these strong burst again. You can also time your Aegis to take advantage of it. This is a trait where you have to play wisely, and know when to take advantage of a situation. (Mediocre)

Vengeful- Retaliation is one of the Guardian’s primary boons, so anything that increases the duration is never a bad thing. (Good)

Consecrated Ground- This is an ok trait, generally you can just go to where you want to put your Consecration at. However there are times were it can come in handy. For example, you see a teammate about to get pinned; you realize you can’t make it there in time. However thanks to this trait you can create a Sanctuary around them from a distance until you get there. (Mediocre)

Retaliatory Subconscious- A very underwhelming trait. Every profession as access to a trait like this, but Guardians is the worst. The CD time is too long, and all you get is a few seconds of retaliation. (Bad)

Improved Spirit Weapon Duration- Like I mentioned before, spirit weapons are a mixed bag. If you are running them, you should take this trait. (Mediocre)

Master of Consecrations- Must have if you are running any type of Consecration. Not only does it reduce the CD time, but it also improves the duration. (Good)

Traits: The good, the bad, and the ugly (continued)

Mace of Justice- Great trait if you plan on using mace. A solid damage boost, plus a significant amount of healing power. (Good)

Glacial Heart- This trait is actually somewhat decent now, this is due to the added damage and also being unblockable, if you’re using hammer is definitely a viable trait. (Good)

Honorable Shield- Decent trait if you plan on using the shield. Nice boost in toughness, also it helps with the shield’s painfully long CD times. (Good)

Focused Mind- If you’re running a dps build with meds this is a must have, since Guardians have very few access to Fury this is a great help. (Good)

Altruistic Healing- Very strong Grandmaster trait. However to get the maximum benefit you need to be running in a group of at least five people. If you are solo roaming I wouldn’t recommend using it. (Good)

Monk Focus- Another great trait. This allows dps Guardians to gain the much needed sustain in order to be competitive. This is useful in any situation, unlike AH which is just good for group play. Only catch is you have to use meds to get the benefit. (Good)

Honor

Honor is a supportive line that increases vitality and healing power. Minor traits benefit dodging and endurance. While major traits favor the use of two-handed weapons, shouts, reviving, and symbols as well as providing benefits to nearby allies.

Wrathful Spirit- This is a somewhat useless trait, guardians have a plethora of ways to gain retaliation. You can easily have permanent retaliation without using this trait. (Bad)

Superior Aria- If you are running multiple shouts then this is a must have. (Good)

Writ of Exaltation- If you plan on using a symbol build or using difference weapons with symbols. Then this is a solid choice. Having larger symbols means you have a better chance of getting more ticks on enemies and allies. (Good)

Protective Reviver- Another interesting trait, however it’s a very specific trait. +10 seconds of Aegis, protection, and regeneration for you and the person you revive is very strong. However due to its niche nature I can’t really recommend it. (Mediocre)

Resolute Healer- Great trait, AoE knockback and stops projectiles while you are reviving. (Good)

Pure of Heart- Another decent trait, if you have the healing power for it. Generally in a fight you can apply Aegis five times. So that can easily be a +5000 healing over the course of a fight, maybe even more depending on the length of the fight, and also if any of your allies apply Aegis to you. (Good)

It’s just direct damage, not condition. Judgment is one of the better signets. 10% is quite a significant amount. It also functions as a stunbreaker. The active is ok too, it helps further reduce damage.

DPS guardian counters thief for the most part. However there are a couple of thief builds were you can still easily lose if you don’t play right. It depends on number of factors.

Against an unskilled or average thief, then its pretty much a one sided fight. However when I play people like Toker, Caed, or someone of the caliber not so much. Guard isn’t an instant “I win button”, you can easily lose depending on the builds or if you make any mistakes.

We had a discussion on this a little while back. This should be useful.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/Toughness-effectiveness

layzoe.6035:

Hey.. thanks for this guide

How would you trait a sceptor/torch guard? That’s what I have been using when I solo or in a small group. I mean which skills should I trait in the build you suggested.

If you’re talking about the 0/30/30/5/5 build, this is what scepter/torch works best with. The only traits that are a must are the Mediation traits in Valor, and also the Grandmaster trait Right-Hand Strength. The adept and master traits can vary, and depend on the player.

Inner Fire- Great if you want even more fury up time.

Blind Exposure- Another great trait, just make sure you have the right weapons to get the max benefit from blinds. (gs, sword, focus)

Radiant Fire- Works well if you’re using torch, and it also helps with burning up time.

Powerful Blades- Must have if you’re are also running sword.

Nick.6972:

So why can’t healway guard be a frontliner?

They can however it depends on a number of different factors. One of the most important of those is a large hp pool. Most healway builds sit around the 14k-17k margins, while frontline builds typically are +18k. This is due to healway relying more on healing power then straight up vitality. In my view, healway is more effective in small groups. One of the biggest weakness of healway is it’s rather vulnerable to burst damage, and has a hard time recovering from them. This is what going to happen in larger zerg fights, you’re going to take a lot of damage in a short period of time. If you’re on CD chances are you’re going to have a very hard time surviving. The other builds have large hp pools and AH to help mitigate that damage better.

So yes, you can use healway as a frontline build, however I feel it excels the best as small group, which is why I put it in that category.

Bash.7291:

Quick question, is the food for your second solo roaming build correct? I know taking camps with it will obviously help, but when fighting someone out in the open it will be a waste.

Nice catch, that food is more for small group play. It becomes extremely power, due to the kills you can string together. Solo roaming, it can be somewhat effective for camps and 1vX situations. However for the most part you are better off choosing something else. I’ll update that build accordingly.

Farzo.8410:

Harbinger.8637:

He also said Vigorous Precision is useless. Vigor equals more dodging. More dodging equals damage mitigation and Selfless Daring.

Why would he go for Vigorous Precision when he will probably not be able to crit and keep it up.

That just proves the problem with his gear choice. I really don’t have a problem with the build. 0/0/10/30/30 isn’t bad, it’s actually probably the best support you can go. What I have a problem with is his gear choice. He just goes full cleric with some pvt.

You can easily sacrifice some healing power in order to gain some other stats like precision and power, Zealot gear is an example of this. Healing power scales bad in this game, only a few things really benefit from having insanely high healing power.

People are taking a break until the "huge’ pvp patch or balance patch. Some simply just quit. This is due to PvP being in a stale state for months now.

2015…foooooooooo

Inner Fire- One of the most underrated traits. Every profession besides thief has access to burning. Against other Guardians, Engineers, and Elementalist. You’ll have close to permanent fury when fighting them. It also works extremely well against longbow Warriors. (Good)

Searing Flames- A somewhat useful trait to help with boon removal. The most effective way to use this is with the Sigil of Nullification. This allows you to remove two boons every ten seconds. (Good)

Blind Exposure- One of the best traits we have to not only increase your damage, but that of the players around you. (Good)

Radiant Fire- Good trait if you like running torch. Torch already has the lowest CD times, and this just helps strengthens that. Also it helps increasing uptime on burning. (Good)

A Fire inside- As I said previously, spirit weapons can work. However they’re not extremely viable. (Mediocre)

Inscribed Removal- This trait is fundamentally flawed. The reason behind signets is to give you a passive buff; this trait forces you to use them. Not a bad trait if you’re running multiple signets and need some condition removers. (Mediocre)

Powerful Blades- Must have if you’re running sword, huge damage increase. (Good)

Right Hand Strength- One of the best grandmaster traits, 15% crit chance is a significant damage increase. However there are two things you must remember. One, it only effects one handed weapons. Second thing is it only effects the main hand weapon. Not your off hand. (Good)

Perfect Inscriptions- If you’re running three or more signets, this is a very solid choice. However signet Guardians are generally outclassed by other specs. Signet guardian is viable; however it’s not the top choice. (Mediocre)

Valor

Valor is a defensive line that increases toughness and critical damage. Minor traits benefit Virtue of Courage and blocking. The major traits favor the use of maces, hammers, shields, meditations, and toughness.

Meditation Mastery- A must have if you plan on running a med build or using more than one med. (Good)

Defender’s Flame- This trait gets overshadowed, however it’s quite good. Guardians have a plethora of blocks, so this allows for even more burning up time. It works especially well with Shelter. (Good)

Strength of the Fallen- Useless trait for the most part. It doesn’t prevent more damage in the downstate. You just lose health slower. (Bad)

Strength in Numbers- Excellent trait, 150 toughness for you and five nearby allies. However it doesn’t stack. So if another Guardian is running it, this frees up a trait spot for you. (Good)

Purity- You can never have too many condition removers in WvW, so a ten second passive remover is always helpful. (Good)

Retributive Armor- Decent traits if you feel like you need a bit more precision. Generally it adds around another 5% CC; however it depends on your toughness. (Good)

Closing thoughts

The Guardian is perhaps one of the best professions for WvW. Every major group has Guardians in some form. They excel at bringing support and damage all in one package. While not as strong as other professions in 1vX scenario, they are still a force to be reckoned with. Guardians are the backbone of WvW, and every world needs good players to fill these important roles.

I’ll continue to update this guide in the future with more builds and also with videos. I’ll also try to go more in-depth on certain builds and roles. This guide so far is just an overview to help you get started on your journey as a Guardian in WvW. Feel free to leave comments, questions, and concerns.

Traits: The good, the bad, and the ugly

I’ve seen this many of times. Someone has this great build, prefect stats and great utilities. However their traits are all over the place, and some become less useful than others. So in this section, I’ll break down the traits, and list the ones that actually have some merit in WvW, and also the ones to avoid.

Zeal

Zeal is an offensive line that increases power and condition duration. Minor traits benefit symbols, and major traits favor greatsword, scepter, focus, and spirit weapons.

Binding Jeopardy- This is a very weapon specific trait, it requires you to run hammer and scepter to get the maximum benefit from it. The nice part about this trait is vulnerability is a group wide dps buff, unlike traits like Fiery Wrath, which is just for you. Decent trait to run if you’re using hammer and scepter. (Good)

Fiery Wrath-Not much to say here. It’s one of the best dps multipliers we have; also almost every dps build runs this. (Good)

Protector’s Impact- Generally not used in combat, this isn’t something you keep all the time. You just switch to it when you are coming to a large fall. (Mediocre)

Revenge of the Fallen-This trait is beyond any useable merit, never worth traiting. (Bad)

Shattered Aegis- The damage from this isn’t that significant to warrant its use. If you’re going for some type of max AoE build then maybe. However for the most part, just stay away from it. (Mediocre)

Zealous Blade- If you’re running GS this isn’t a bad trait to take, and also the bit of healing is useful with the right amount of healing power. (Good)

Focused Mastery- Not a bad trait, however it doesn’t do anything to set it apart from other master traits. For this reason I can’t really recommend it. (Mediocre)

Scepter Power- Decent trait if you like running scepter as your main weapon. (Good)

Spirit Weapon Mastery/Eternal Spirit/Wrathful Spirits- Spirit weapons builds generally don’t work. In large scale combat they melt in seconds. Small group and solo they fair better. Spirit weapons are usable so it has some merit. (Mediocre)

Kindled Zeal- Arguably the worst Guardian grandmaster trait. Condition builds are subpar on Guardian, and this doesn’t do anything to change that. (Bad)

Radiance

Radiance is an offensive line that increases precision and condition damage. Minor traits benefit Virtue of Justice and conditions. While major traits favor the use of one handed weapons, swords, spears, torches, signets, and burning.

Healer’s Retribution- This trait is not worth using, all Guardian healing skills are on a fairly long CD. So a few seconds of retaliation every +20 seconds isn’t going to help. Also Guardian has plenty of other ways to gain retaliation. (Bad)

Signet Mastery- This trait is worth using if you’re running more than one signet. It greatly reduces the CD on Resolve, making it a competitive choice with Shelter. (Good)

Shimmering Defense- An interesting trait. Seven seconds of AoE burning is quite significant. However it suffers from a long CD of 60 seconds, and also needing to be at 25% hp. (Mediocre)

Builds/Gear

Now I will discuss the various builds/gear for each role. Like I mentioned in the introduction not every build can’t and will not be mentioned, this is due to the infinite combinations and play styles. So I’ll just start off mentioning three popular for each category. I plan to update these in the future with more builds.

Frontline and Commander

1-Extremely resilient to damage. This allows them to spearhead the assaults and command effectively. They generally use a mix of PVT with knight and or zerker to allow them to do decent damage. Prefer weapon of choice is the hammer and staff. The hammer brings great damage along with many CCs options, plus a blast finisher on short CD. The staff is there for the much needed support.

2-Very similar to the previous build, however this focuses more on DPS and self-preservation. Weapons of choice again are the hammer, for the reasons mentioned above. Secondary weapon depends on the player. Greatsword is a popular choice due to the amount of cleaves damage it brings to the table; however you have to be very cautious with it due to retaliation. GS attacks are all AoE, and fast hitting. So retaliation is a huge weakness, when running it in large scale fights.

Small Group (Aka Havoc Squad)

As I mentioned before this depends on group composition, so there are many builds I could list. So I’ll just list three. DPS, hybrid, and support.

1-This is full blown DPS, your role is just to pump out as much damage as possible. Popular weapon choice is Greatsword with sword/focus. This gives you a high amount of mobility and damage. Also with blinds and blocks to help with survivability.

2-Again we come back to this build. This in my view is the best all-round build, so it makes it an excellent choice for a hybrid build. It brings everything to the table. Sustain, damage, and support. Once again hammer is an excellent choice; so is greatsword.

3-Also known as the Healway build made famous by Chris. This build brings unrivaled amount of support and sustain.

Solo Roamer

1-This is a build that hits hard and also has a bit of sustain to go with it. However if you use this build it has to be with one-handed weapons to take advantage of Right-Hand Strength. Sword/focus and scepter/torch is a great combination. The only drawback is that it somewhat lacks AoE damage.

2-This is the most balanced of the two I mentioned. Still great damage, and sustain. However it gives you some extra condition cleaning and retaliation. Once again greatsword and sword/focus is a great combination.

I understand where you guys are coming from, but AH is needed if you’re not running a pure bunker build. Guards have three choices when it comes to sustain. AH, MF, or going deep into Honor and Virtues. The x/x/x/30/30 builds are mainly reserved for bunker because the stat choices are too limited in pvp. So that leaves MF and AH. MF requires you to take meds, so that leaves us with AH if you don’t want to run meds or a bunker.

Guards are pigeonholed into using it.

AlbertoUlkesh.4517:

Rickster.8752:

Really no. Guardian with AH is utterly brain dead.

Can you share this braindead AH-build? I’d like to see for myself.

If AH is braindead he might as well throw Monk Focus into that category as well. AH is an extremely situational trait that relies on boons and others. The more people around you the more effective it will be, on the other hand if you are alone or just with another person it’s not going to be nearly as good. AH also requires you to give up other much needed support traits.

This is honestly the first time I’ve seen anyone complain about AH.

Seriously? 0/0/10/30/30 with full Cleric…for pve

The least he could do is max/min the gear so he does some kind of meanfuling damage, and still have plenty of support.

What makes it worse are the comments, people are really going to run this. If you are really thinking about doing this, at least mix in some Zealot gear so you do some type of damage.

He also said Vigorous Precision is useless. Vigor equals more dodging. More dodging equals damage mitigation and Selfless Daring.

IJzerkoekje.4768:

ArchonWing.9480:

Cleric gear is great for support guardian. Problem is that this kind of build is very useless in high end pve, but it works fine in wvw.

Oohh really, I do high end pve the most. What do you suggest for high end pve in type of support? Or is support rarely used there?

For PvE you want zerker. Damage is the most important thing in PvE, due to the way the content was designed. You can still run support in zerker gear.

This should be helpful:

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

Sad Tas.2509:

This is what I’m running on my guard right now: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vUAQJASWlsApZo1CxVI8DRRkLwWA2DMmxOe9IhUkhA-zkyAYLA0GU2DIByoxWZLiGreBTXKIrOTq3QZ1dIITGgltA-w

The stats are pretty decent but it seems extremely thrown together and all over the place. I am at a conundrum now because I have no idea what ascended trinkets to use in order to get close to those stats since I cannot mix and match jewels. Any ideas? Or are all DPS guards builds a mish-mash of a bunch of different gear? Any way I can spread out the armor/weapons/trinkets differently?

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vUAQJASWlsApZo1CxVI8DRRkLwWA2DMmxOe9IhUkhA-zEyAorAl9EETgKrV2ioxqsxUuAa3kqhjMZAW2CA-w

Probably looking for something like this. I tried to leave most of your gear alone, and just replace it with ascend trinkets.

K U T M.4539:

I /think/ that after the “fix” that Ransacker will be either near the end of r38 or just a bit into r39, as the PvP rank page on the wiki isn’t super clear.

Once they fix it, all the titles are attainable around x9 ranks.

bhagwad.4281:

Harbinger.8637:

This is what you’re probably thinking of. They won’t decap you in a 1v1. Great bunker build.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vUAQNApeWlsApWotCxYI8DNhk9QkQwEE7BGxRd0VhEC-TsAgzCoIySllLLTWyssZN+Y9xsBA

Yeah, that seems like something I’m looking for. I might take a focus instead of a shield though for the blind and block and also take the “Justice is blind” trait for an additional blind on the engi.

If all you care about is not being decap, then yes drop shield for focus. Also I’d switch out staff for hammer, to help cc. Last thing you could do is drop Absolute Resolution and pick up Shielded Mind, this will give you a group stun breaker. However in doing so you are giving up one of the best condition removers we have.

This is what you’re probably thinking of. They won’t decap you in a 1v1. Great bunker build.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vUAQNApeWlsApWotCxYI8DNhk9QkQwEE7BGxRd0VhEC-TsAgzCoIySllLLTWyssZN+Y9xsBA

fishball.7204:

Since when do bunker guardians run AH wat

That’s what I was trying to figure out. For one, AH is only good in a team fight, and two you have to give up a lot of other support options to run it. Sure you’re gaining some sustain, however you are giving up support to do so.

Anet already stated it will be retroactive. That’s why they are going to bundle it together whenever they release the “huge” pvp patch.

I think it would be likely before s2, so I’d say March 18th. However it’s Anet so anything is possible.

The only ones that need to be changed in my opinion are 69-80. All the other ranks are doable with a little commitment. However 450k and 750k are just too much.

Bugged. It counts your personal score instead of rank points. That’s why if you do a lot of hotjoins, you’ll get the titles faster.

Anet said they fixed it internally like two months back, however they won’t release it yet.

Guards have a lot of removers, probably more then any other class. That’s because conditions are Guard’s weakness. Low hp pool and strong against direct damage means you’re going to get ate up by conditions.

Best advice is just to use your removers wisely. If you only have like two stacks of bleeds and a cripple, then you really don’t need to. Try only to use them when you have to.

jihm.2315:

Harbinger.8637:

Mace is always dismissed as a defensive weapon, It’s one of the best burst weapons we have. Mace/Torch has incredible spike damage, however this is for PvP/WvW. If you’re talking about PvE, you’re just better off going with sword. For the most part if you want sustain dps go sword, if you want burst go mace. Again this is for PvP/WvW.

i like sword for wvw for its extra mobilty but i never tried mace

I also like sword for that same reason. However I recommend people try out mace/torch if you’re running a dps build. It’s a lot of fun, and people don’t expect it. Protector’s Strike immediately followed up by a Zealot’s Fire is insane damage. It’s easily over +10k worth of damage with the right gear. It also all happens in the blink of an eye.

Flytrap.8075:

OmaiGodman.2098:

PVP seems to have most of the cool armors I hope eventually they’ll also come to PvE.

What.

The fact that people believe this and have up-voted it blows my mind.

I also laughed. It’s just the opposite.

Mace is always dismissed as a defensive weapon, It’s one of the best burst weapons we have. Mace/Torch has incredible spike damage, however this is for PvP/WvW. If you’re talking about PvE, you’re just better off going with sword. For the most part if you want sustain dps go sword, if you want burst go mace. Again this is for PvP/WvW.

Arius.7031:

EFWinters.5421:

Darek.1836:

FC unofficial duelers server (I heard TC has a lot too? haven’t been there so idk)
SF unofficial gank server
DR unofficial thief server..
GoM unofficial cyah later when new PvE content comes out server
AR unofficial perplex everything server
Ebay unofficial we’re the new kaineng server

FC is the perplex everything server. They all believe they are top notch at roaming because of it too.

So true. Made me laugh cus it’s soooo spot on. I love FC, don’t get me wrong… but they spam a lot of super cheesy builds (that usually involve plex), then get it in their head that they’re better skill-wise than everyone else by a country mile.

I’m from FC and I actually have to agree with this. Yeah, we have a couple of strong players at least by my standards. However for the most part the skill level is the same when it comes to roaming. If it was like NSP talking about roaming then I’d understand.

Daxxter.8920:

DeWolfe.2174:

Daxxter.8920:

after 2 days spent on it I’m already done with it.

Better question is, how many hrs did you spend getting all the achievements? Anything over 10 hrs would be a lot of content for the average player to consume in 2 weeks.

No, the real question is how much time do I really want to put into this. After logon, it took me 35 minutes to kill Scarlet. Do I need to farm her 640 times to feel that I am getting something out of the LS, I killed her once and I’m done with the LS already I don’t care for farming or achievements.

Pretty much this. I was able to go to Scarlet thanks to the back piece. After that I did Watch Knights and Breachmaker. I have no desire to farm achievements. Overall I’m happy with the way LS ended, however this was still a very shallow patch.

Of course people are going to get bored. One game mode with a very stale meta, also throw in the fact there are no incentives to get a team together to compete.

Legionnaire.1586:

ArchonWing.9480:

Glacial Heart is a really bad trait due to the cooldown, there’s better stuff you could take in its place. Purity seems to be the default one since condition removal can be a problem and untraited CoP has a pretty long cooldown.

If you are rich, I’d say Runes of the Traveler are the way to go for the mobility as guardians have terrible mobility and a big part of small team play is that.

Use shelter instead of Signet heal. You don’t even have the cooldown for the later and it’s easily interrupted.

I would prefer 2HM over EM. EM is cute in zergs because since it’s nice sustain but in these small groups you’re going to be focused a lot more and faster recharges on either of your weapons is key to your survival.

I also think Sigil of Energy is a good idea since more dodges = more damage mitigation.

Why would i switch signet of resolve? I mean sure shelter has the block while healing but resolve’s passive effect cures a condition every 10 seconds, the same as purity trait, plus when activated heals. So technically thats a good mix with Glacial Heart no? Unless i could put even something else in its place

There are a number of reasons why Shelter is the preferred heal in WvW and PvP. First is the CD time, Shelter is lower. However the big reason is damage mitigation. Very few things can interrupt Shelter if you use it right. So you’re guaranteed to get a heal and mitigate a huge amount of damage. Shelter also synergizes very well with Might of the Protector, you can easily get double digit stacks of Might from it alone. The only time I’d ever run SoR is if I trait for signets.

When it comes down to it. Having one passive 10 second condition remover isnt going to save you. However being able to mitigate larges amounts of damage will.