Guild Wars 2

Glint’s baby could possibly serve as our tiny little pet magic sponge.

Another bump

Also Claud did not lie about the Skritt Harassment.

Praise the Guardians and Dragonhunters!

Every profession will get extensive patch notes.
Guardian will get a:

Guardian

• Guardian is in a good place right now and as such we’ve decided not to touch any of the skills or traits.

Haha I love this cynical turn the Guardian sub-forum is taking.

“At least we can see our off-hand while using Spear of Justice.”

will be the first thing I’ll always think with Guardian Patch notes from now on.

All legendary are only worth it if you truly adore the skin (major motivator) or the stat-swapping possibility. (minor motivator).

In all other situations an Ascended weapon (such as the Fix-r-Upper) has the exact same stats as the Legendary Juggernaut. (meaning the Juggernaut also has 2 upgrade slots.)

This question is nearly impossible to answer for someone else.
Ask yourself: Do you consider the Juggernaut’s skin to be worth it spending a LOT of money on?

if not, stick to the Fix-r-Upper. the stats are the same you just can’t change the specific stats as easily as with the legendary.

(you’ll likely only use the Berserker’s stat anyway.) ^^

Have we become cynical enough that this even amazes us as Guardians anymore?

Eventhough this is no big Seasonal Patch, a single patch note along this trend comes of as kicking someone who’s down.

Guardian

• Spear of Justice: This skill no longer hides the off-hand weapon when cast.

Mesmer Greatsword 1 is quite annoying due to the range bonus + it not being a projectile. The only option to stop that damage is to get in close.

On my Guardian if I meet a Greatsword Mesmer I know I must stick close to it.
Close range → destroy phantasms → down the mesmer.

A slow Guardian versus a fast mesmer in a long-ranged fight is a lost battle.

Don’t get me wrong, the Sword obviously needs a rework for at least the projectiles to make it a consistent weapon and adding some extra benefits to the currently “bland” skills wouldn’t hurt either.

Some boon application would be nice.
The Projectiles consistently hitting is a necessary update.
Blinding Flash could even get a longer range just to add some more usefulness to it.
Zealot’s Defense is also horribly broken with the Rooting, destruction of projectiles in a narrow path, damage that IS higher than the AA but hard to pull off.

The concept of Zealot’s Defense is great it’s just not befitting of a game with as much movement as GW2.
I feel this goes for just about everything guardian-related though.

Mace AA feels slow because of the 3rd hit in the AA-chain.
For the “proper” use of the mace (to make it’s PvE dps higher compared to a sword) you should attack twice with the mace and cancel the slow third attack.
so:

1 >> 1 >> Esc >> “Any other skill with an activation.” >> 1 >> 1 >> Esc >> Repeat.

If you’re not going to cancel the mace you could choose to use it for the symbol or for the block or just for the self-sustain WITH the 3rd hit in the AA-chain.

Sword is fun, it’s fast. but as others have stated it has issues because the projectiles either don’t hit or get reflected often.

Even if everything hits with the Sword its DPS is still a bit lower than the skill-cancelling on mace.

It’s all about the optimization. ^^

However, and here’s the most important part:

If you desire to play with a sword, do so.
It isn’t as awful as you’d think it is, judging from all these comments.

I certainly love using blinding flash in an offensive, defensive and utilistic way.

• Gap closer
• Blind-spam
• Movement increase.

The Skill 3 on sword Zealot’s Defense is also a DPS boost over the AA-chain if you can get all projectiles to hit.

TL;DR:
The Prioritized Mace over Sword is an optimization and utility issue.
The Sword is however not as trashy as everyone would make it out to be.
Optimized gameplay isn’t everything and fun should go first.

agreed. An invitation cooldown for parties and squads would be welcome.
Sometimes I don’t want to join a squad simply because the commander persists on sending invites.

full support.

Ragnarox.9601:

We are giving you some quality updates :

Decreased cd of Save yourselves to 38 sec.
Decreased cd of Bane signet to 22 sec.
Decreased cd of Signet of mercy to 100 sec.
Decreased cd of Sanctuary to 75 sec.

Enjoy.

Although miniscule I’ve reached the point where my expectations are so low I would honestly rejoice to see even these minor reductions in CD on a few skills again.

• No, it doesn’t “fix” the Guardian.
• No, it doesn’t make the skills in question meta.
• Yes, I’d totally be happy to see at least a positive note for Guardians.

P.S. I still fear a total nerf to DH in all game modes by making the traps NOT trigger if enemies are on them already.
Illustration:

1. You fight an enemy in melee range.
2. You use a trap.
3. Nothing happens and your enemy leaves the trap.
4. Enemy returns to you in melee range, stepping back onto the trap.
5. The trap triggers.

This would demolish any bursting capabilities on the DH and give players a good 10 seconds to scan the battlefield for the following checklist:

• Am I in combat? [Y/N]
• Is there a Dragonhunter to be seen anywhere? [Y/N]
• Are there obviously spotted blue glowing Dragonhunter traps placed anywhere? [Y/N]
• Can I resist the urge to step on them? [Y/N]

After this nerf there’d be more complaints and we’d get another damage nerf + radius decrease + extra activation time (making Dragonhunters easily interrupted during the casting time as a fun throwback to GW1) and to finish it off they’d double the recharges to make the traps more like a “trump card”.

Omega Zoa.3859:

-NPCs who are underwear actually start wearing waterbreathing masks..This is small but it really breaks my immersion..how do they breath? i mean really.

• “NPCs who are underwear” made me lol. But I do agree, this would be nice.

Omega Zoa.3859:

-Gliding in the Ley Line Hub, i mean i have ley line gliding..why can’t i glide on it..?

• In Tangled Depths you can glide on the ley-lines, do you mean the Dry Top one?

Omega Zoa.3859:

-Now..this is a major one and is not quality of life but the variety of destroyers like in gw1..the ones in gw2 are….lazy..i am sure we will see variety return in the expac that involves them but still..

• I hope the variety of destroyers will be expanded upon just like the variety of branded monsters has already been tinkered with a bit. Just like you however I hope for Destroyers alike those in GW1 with an entirely new model. This is a lot of work though.

Omega Zoa.3859:

-Possibly allow us to knock off generic mobs off ledges etc and make them suffer fall damage, this does not include event mobs or champions/elites/vets, would be funny to knock off a enemy off a high cliff and just see them die.

• Soon after the release of GW2 this question was brought up and a dev has answered that it would be horrible due to pathing, exploits and AI iirc. Some bits come to mind such as: “Having an important npc getting stuck in remote locations blocking progress.”

Omega Zoa.3859:

-Allow us the players to have a /talk emote..i mean npcs have them, why not us?

• I’d love to see this in game.

Many Guards/DH’s tend to avoid the entire Valor line due to it being rather selfish.

For support many go with Honor.

• Pure of Voice is some nice shout-support/condi removal
• Writ of Persistence makes using a Hammer completely viable for sustained damage and amazing support.

For beefing up the damage Zeal + Virtues + Dragonhunter are used together. <— More or less the meta as well because it fits the “As much damage as possible, as little utility as needed.” rule.

Radiance is mostly used for scepter or burning builds but a Condition set-up on a Guardian isn’t really that viable anymore. The Golden Age of burning for Guards has ended and most run power with:

• Greatsword + Longbow
• Greatsword + Mace/Torch + Scepter/Torch

I personally like using Valor, eventhough it’s selfish, due to me always being the “tank” in my guild runs. My guildies stick behind me as I keep enemies behind wards and shields, the selfish sustain from meditations is more than welcome to assist in being the sole-frontliner in a party.

Just wait until the Tour Guide’s grief becomes too much and she’ll single-handedly destroy it.

You’ve made my Magritte-senses tingle.

I believe it used to be balanced because:

• Mining Pick → 3 hits on a regular node.
• Axe → 3 hits on a regular node.
• sickle → 1 hit on 1 node.

I agree with you that it’s a bit strange though.

Only for pull/push or any form of CC?
Hard CC, soft CC or both?

I imagine it could get terribly annoying even with a cooldown of 30 seconds.
A Warrior would launch his foes away roughly every 30 seconds of a fight.
A Necromancer would apply fear which wouldn’t be beneficial for his own AoE’s.

And Revenants would simply gain a terribly powerful anti-projectile field.

I’d rather stick to nostalgia and retain the name Lion’s Arch.

New York didn’t change its name to “Not so new anymore York” either. (<— Joke ^^)

Also there still is at least 1 giant Lion Statue in plain sight.
And although lions themselves aren’t native to Central Tyria, they are to other continents such as Elona which has seen a lot of trade with Central Tyria through the port of LA.
Lions are often used in names, emblems or other heraldry because:
" It traditionally symbolises bravery, nobility, royalty, strength, stateliness, and valour, because historically it has been regarded as the king of beasts." – Wikipedia.

However if anything it should be renamed to “Lagbourough”.

http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/2982/Whats-in-a-Name.html

I agree, this would be nice,

As a Guild Leader it’s ofen hard to convince your members to participate in Guild Missions for reasons other than supporting the Guild, getting the commendations and for plain fun. More rewards lead to more motivation.

My issue however:
Mystic Coins are a wanted currency and could increase the desire to complete Guild Missions. This indirectly lowers the price on the Trading Post due to an increased supply. Eventually the Mystic Coins may once again end up the same as the Resonating Slivers did (being close to worthless).

Personally I do not mind this for selfish reasons.
If the rate of acquiring Coins is balanced to drop the price for a single Coin down to about 10/11S I’d be more than satisfied.

One could argue that not everyone is in a guild and thus able to participate in Guild Missions for Mystic Coins. For these players it’s beneficial to have the price on the Trading Post drop.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Harbinger_of_Mordremoth_Outfit

Enjoy.

Did you really just suggest the removal of Writ of persistence?
This trait makes hammer worthwhile as a supportive weapon with sustained damage.
This trait increases the effectiveness of all symbols (which guardian has a lot of.)

I’m sorry but I oppose your proposition for changing writ of persistence into this.

1. The current trait is fine as it is.
2. Turning the Honorable staff trait into a staff-only Writ of Persistence isn’t justified.
Yes a staff is used to support but a tick of 120 health on a symbol mainly used for stacking swiftness feels lackluster at best.
3. The Honor line is based on supportive teamplay. A selfish trait such as the perma 25% increase in movement is more at home in a line such as Valor which is mostly used for the selfish meditations or Virtues for the Unscathed Contender-synergy.

All in all I do not consider a 25% movement increase trait worthy of demolishing the most useful role a Guardian can currently play.

If you want the increased movement so badly, suggest it to be merged with the Unscathed Contender trait. Maintain Aegis for both an increase in DPS and movement speed.
For my part put the trait higher into the Virtues-hierarchy to compensate for this buff.
But don’t unnecessarily modify the Honor-Specialization for something as selfish and mostly redundant as increased movement speed.

What honour is there to find in running faster while shielded by aegis?
Your suggestion is a glorified permanent retreat which you don’t have to slot.

Ahai Ateahri,

I personally hope A-net will not add any more classes.
We have 3 for each weight class and I hope it remains as such.
This is to ease balance and play.
Many who now main a Revenant had to restart the game and exploration solely to be able to enjoy a new style of gameplay.
Instead I’d like to see the Elite Specializations expanded upon.

A Paragon-like Elite Specialization could work great with either Guardian or Warrior for example.

Seeing as you appear to be interested in Elona, its culture and environment:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/The-Thread-For-Elona/

Is a thread intended to contain all suggestions, requests, speculation and hype regarding the beautiful land of the golden sun.

May you never fight alone,

-Nero.

With all due respect:

1. There are other threads on this topic.
2. My guardian certainly has no perma-swiftness. A guardian’s current best options are changing the entire rune set, retreat + save yourselves spam in combination with the shout recharge reduction trait and using the staff’s symbol to apply swiftness (the symbol in question also attacking enemy mobs and as such putting you in combat which then again reduces your movement speed.)

Just quickly tested:
Activating multiple weapons worked but queued a recharge on the weapon disabling the ability to activate all weapons from 1 skill slot before the duration of the spirit weapons ran out.

The weapons did remain as followers when I left the water although they also disappeared after the timer ran out.

Most light armours already cover the arms resulting in this effect.
(As seen with the trick that used to be done with Radiant Gauntlets to copy the Chaos Gloves look.)

The entire point of the mesmer chaos gloves showing only the “hands” covered by the chaos was to avoid clipping with the old mesmer armours.
Since this won’t happen in GW2 you get the regular chaos gloves skin.
If you want it to cover only the hands, simply wear a top with sleeves!

2 weeks later, time for another bump!

You heard correctly Ryou but in the current PvP meta there is simply too much damage a Guardian can’t protect himself against.
Shelter, the usual staple heal that blocked + provided a minor hp boost is in a lot of situations useless due to the amount of unblockable damage and conditions flying around. it is a lot safer to use a high-healing skill now.

Aside from the high-healing skill you should look at the passive healing alike the Resolve Virtues for sustain.
Even with this passive regeneration you still require more sustain from traited sources to be able to survive in a PvP match. Which is why many builds use the simple selfish healing of meditations for sustain. (which don’t negate damage but do heal up nicely!)

CC is your best way to negate damage these days. knockbacks, blinds, immobilization and especially wards are the only area where a Guardian is still greatly efficient!
And then you get a lot of people who are mad because Guardians get efficient wards. (Hunter’s Ward)

I like using it.
Especially with a meditation build.
Litany of Wrath + Monk’s focus is great.
If I play selfish builds in solo pve or when I play PvP I like using Litany of Wrath + Monk’s Focus + that skill that causes Smite Condition to trigger when using a healing skill. you’re up to 100% hp + get some more health from your damage + remove condi’s + deal damage… it’s just a fun combi really.

DeWolfe.2174:

So basically, no WvW tonight for every Rev in game…
GJ Dev’s….

You’d rather have had 80% revenants in WvW because their lifesteal damage was terribly broken?

Hey,
also the leader of a guild here. o/

Tiger Ashante.1792:

Imo, the only thing repping does right now, is it gives the guild leaders annoying big headache to try and keep their guild together. Members not repping the guild, never bother to interact with the guild members who ARE repping and they’re there just as a reminder they don’t really care for ur guild or anyone in it.

To me, this issue seems to be with your target audience.
I have members who represent and members who don’t. They are completly fine with their interactions and as such your presumption is simply false. :/
Your members may act like this, other leaders’ members may act like this, but not all members act like this.

Tiger Ashante.1792:

I hate that little oval greyed out green symbol against their name and when u hover over it, the bracketed message that says (not representing). So please get rid of it we don’t need it any more.

“I” hate it.
“We” don’t need it anymore.

Please refrain from speaking for others.

Tiger Ashante.1792:

I guess what i personally don’t like, is that members in multi guilds can chat in ur guild even when not representing it, you have no idea if they actually are watching ur chat or not. Even worse, they can listen in and espy what is going on in ur guild, but you have no idea what they’re up to if they don’t bother to tell u. In order words, guild leaders have been brought down, lost control, while members have been enervated with this new chat system as well as this notion ‘why even bother repping anymore.’ I’m starting to wonder, why even bother having guilds any more eh?

It seems your issue is associated more with size and lack of trust than with representation in itself.

• “…, you have no idea if they actually are watching ur chat or not. Even worse, they can listen in and espy what is going on in ur guild, …”
  You’re a guild. Not a sovereign nation at war during the Cold War. You appear slightly suspicious and perhaps even paranoid with a statement such as this. If you fear people who don’t represent to be something as extreme as “spies” I honestly begin to wonder if you’re cut-out to be a leader, pardon my rudeness.

• “guild leaders have been brought down, lost control, …”
  Why must you be in control? It is of my opinion that as a Guild Leader you provide a service, you’re not doing your members a favor and they don’t owe you. Nor do you own your members. The only control a Guild Leader has and should have are the Guild-Mechanics/authorities and the ability to keep your members content with what you provide.

• “…as well as this notion ‘why even bother repping anymore.’ I’m starting to wonder, why even bother having guilds any more eh?”
  Representation does nothing but add a tiny “[TAG]” behind your name and turn that dim bright square into a brighter one in the Guild Roster of the guild you represent. If this, largely meaningless, activity decides something as important as a members’ interest in the guild, you might want to look at what your guild is providing.

• Are your members content with the services or content your guild provides?
• Do your members have reasons to represent or not to represent?
• Is being a Guild Leader more of a job to you than actual game-content?
• Do you feel the desire to control your members or to serve them?
• Is your guild perhaps too big for you to manage?

I know some of my remarks may seem very rude but I have no intention of insulting you.

Required representation is a relic of the past. Some guild leaders use it as you happen to be doing, an indication of interest in & loyalty to your guild. It is, however in my experience, no accurate depiction of either interest or loyalty and as such should be used less.

A personal advice: attempt to keep your guild small and don’t fear members using the multi-guild system.
A small guild will allow you to get to know your members well and to trust them. Being closer to your members will show that them not representing your guild isn’t something scary or dangerous.

Good luck and I hope I haven’t bothered you with my opinions. ^^

-Nero,
Guild leader since 2005,
Current leader of the Seraphim Order [Ankh], a small, trustworthy bunch of casuals who play as they want, when they want.

On a more serious note.

Spirit Weapons:

• Too little DPS, in most situations simply not worth taking.
• Active effects are often underpowered resulting in other skills being able to do the job better. (Knockdown → Bane Signet, Reflect → Wall of Reflection, Condi cleanse → Purging Flames, Sword → not even worth mentioning.)
• The Spirit Weapons “die” far too easily and then the impact of the long recharge truly shows.

*Current uses for spirit weapons? *

• Condi guardians that require more hits to cause more burning.
• Reflects that may be needed on some occasions.
• Looking cool.

Ryou.2398:

Sorry im new to guardians myself but wasnt the main complaint that dragonhunter out specced everything else guardian had to offer? Doesnt this help the guardians build diversity?

The problem is that, although Dragonhunter did out-spec everything else that was the Guardian, Dragonhunter is most if not all that would be presumed worth to take in PvP.

Dragonhunters could burst and after that they’d be sitting ducks.
Ranked PvP’ers realize that the Dragonhunter was nothing but a one-trick pony in most occasions and as such it didn’t become top tier.

Instead of improving the diversity of other skills (Spirit Weapons, Signets, consecrations, shouts (5 seconds less on CD isn’t a real help in the long run.)) A-net decided to simply tone down the last ray of sunshine that shown upon our Guardians.

I have been playing a Guardian since the Beta and perhaps most of my comments are biased towards my love for Guardians but right now this feels like kicking us Guardians in the groin while we’re already down on the floor.

For those who miss Cantha & Elona, here are their respective Meta-Threads.

• https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/The-Cantha-Thread-Merged
• https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/The-Thread-For-Elona/

Sadly you found the famed picture of lies.
That armour doesn’t exist in game.
Nor are spirit weapons as awesome as that.

Necro’ing this thread to justify the posting of something that wouldn’t be worth its own thread. :P

I consider it a missed opportunity that the Mordrem Spitfires do not have the chance to drop a Totem Axe in Heart of Thorns.

or even a Mordrem-touched Totem Axe.

It was an iconic skin for many GW1 players and this would’ve been one of the best possible way to implement it! ^^

https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Totem_Axe

I’m not really into roleplay so I can’t help you a lot but…
What motivates them?
One of the best thing to look at here is their virtues.
Virtue of Justice, a strong feeling and opinion on what is just drives a Guardian towards protection of their allies and the smiting of their opponents.
Virtue of Resolve, Guardians make a decision and stick to their beliefs. Their resolve makes them sturdy, trustworthy characters.
Virtue of Courage, Guardians are Courageous, they don’t hide behind their allies, they stand in front of them, facing dangers as an impenetrable wall to shield their allies.

Dragonhunters are said to be based on Witchhunters and have a strong resolve to eradicate all dragons and their minions.

What are the limits to their abilities?
Guardians are very powerful.
Take Logan for example, he’s able to shield his allies from enemy attacks for a long period of time although this takes a lot of effort/concentration.
Logan is however likely an exceptionally gifted Guardian.
I’d focus on not being too powerful. If your Guardian shields his/her allies make the shield have a duration that isn’t too long.

Guardians still have amazingly strong shields, walls, wards and heals. (100% health in a single cast that takes a while to cast!)

Specializing in Guardian magic types normal?
I believe you should answer this question yourself, regarding the characteristics of your Guardian. Here I’d suggest your Guardian to focus on a certain type of magic.
Either defensive or offensive, perhaps even utility-magic in the shape of immobilizing or warding off enemies. This doesn’t mean your guardian is locked out of other types of magic, but you could say he/she is less confident in magic that isn’t their specialty

In my opinion it depends on every guardian if they choose to stick to a certain type of magic/combat or not.

Reactions to other classes?
I believe the Guardian defines others rather for their character than for their profession. Necromancers aren’t inherently evil, nor are Berserker-warriors inherently brutes. It once again depends a lot on the specific characters and thus I can’t give you a straight answer.

Red and Purple SAB-weapons were shown in the wardrobe at some point in-game.

Poster:

Entirely white with an obscure draconic emblem.

Guild Wars 2, in movie theaters soon!™

Edit: TM superscript ends up as REALLY tiny on forums

Enjoy your week everyone!

ooh nice find. :p
Although I suspect the beta one just used Swimsuit Faren from the The Lost Shores content before they got around to make a “Swordmaster Faren of the Jungle” version.

Professions that come to mind are:
Necromancer:

• Can be played with both conditions and power and is powerful in both.
• Doesn’t require a lot of micro-management although you do have to pay attention.
• Support is possible with wells, projectile defenses and some offensive support.

Mesmer

• Can be played with conditions and raw power yet shines (imho) as a support class.
• Requires more micro-management due to the clones/phantasms and watchful eye over the battlefield.
• A very fast, mobile and versatile class with lots of fun utilities.
• Support comes in the shape of Projectile defense, condi cleanse, heals, recharge reduction, skill activation speed increase and many many other things.

Guardian

• Often considered braindead easy but to play one well (and do more than just 100% damage) you’ll have to keep enemy and player movement in mind.
• Supportive class with lots of condi cleanse, crowd control, projectile defenses, blocks, boons and more.
• Doesn’t use a lot of conditions though…

Engineer

• Very strong with both power and conditions yet requires a moderate to high amount of skill.
• Has a tool for everything in every situation.
• Lots of micro-management.
• Can support in lesser amounts than the classes given above.
• Is a very mobile class.

Revenant

• Can go condi and works, although Power is stronger right now.
• Very mobile
• Not that versatile
• Glint’s stance is a very supportive boon-sharing machine.
• Tendency to not be a unique class due to the profession’s mechanics.

Ranger

• Amazing in solo-play, can survive almost everything due to the pets among others.
• Support is passive unless you become a Druid. (Elite Specialization from HoT.)
• Most damage comes from power although condition is certainly possible.
• Isn’t braindead easy although it certainly can be.

Disclaimer:
These aren’t all objective points.
These are my opinions and as such able to change over time.

Good luck!

I hope you all have a pleasant Sunday,
please excuse this bump and feel free to PM me in-game if you’d ever like to know anything.

Brekknar.3567:

Nero.8047:

I have for nearly my entire play-time as a Guardian chosen the Hammer over the Greatsword for damage. Not because I knew the damage of the hammer in the long run would be better than the Greatsword’s burst, but because I liked the utility the hammer had to offer despite its slow attack speed.

I’m right there with you. I created my own build for the Guardian revolving around staying alive as long as possible, as well as making sure that anyone within my range (standing next to me is best) get buffs as well that can help them sustain damage longer.

Have been using it ever since as my go to build/weapon for any challenging content. Sure, it’s not full Zerker, and I don’t play with Meta groups. But it suits my preference and has gotten the job done more times than not.

I feel that the Meta is simply a thing that limits us, and in order to be better players we all need to challenge the meta and create something that can match it, but is our own in design. The Meta is a rule, so break it

You’re cool, I like you and your playstyle! ^^

DGraves.3720:

I hear a lot about this Meta but I must wonder since so many people I talk to disagree with it where exactly does it come from? Who dictates the Meta if not the players themselves?

The meta is not dictated by the majority of the players in itself.
It stems mostly from a commonly agreed upon stance towards gameplay embodied by a sub-group of players.

In other words:
Guild Wars 2 players are often either lost or curious.
They encounter challenges and ask themselves the eternal question.

“How could I be more efficient in this situation?”

The general thought often becomes:
“I would like to have the same tools to my disposition as others who seem to be clearing content more efficiently.”

Websites like www.Metabattle.com provide these tools.

These tools are finely adjusted to the creed of:
“As much damage as possible, as little utility as needed.”

Keywords included in the topic of what is “Meta” for Guild Wars 2 are:

• Meta, with the meaning of a Meta-Theory which has the possibility of being unique to any subject.
• Efficiency, which differs per game-mode.

Efficiency for the PvE-Meta is the quote I cited above.
“As much damage as possible, as little utility as needed.”

Efficiency for the PvP-Meta differs due to the involvement of multiple factors such as the behaviour of the opponent and active counter-play.
This results in more aspects which are to be added to the PvE-creed.
Efficiency in the shape and form of speed is no longer the sole-purpose of PvP-meta-builds.
Survivability and other counters also become of importance.

In Short:

• The Term “Meta” does not indicate it’s a silent majority’s vote for a specific build or type of gameplay.
• The “Meta” is dictated by a minority of skilled players who are recognized for their gameplay-abilities and act as Paragons (embodiments of an ideal) to other players. These players desire to attain the same tools as the skilled players.
• In PvE it’s in itself also a comfort-zone for PUG’s in that you can be certain of what to expect in your party composition. It is easier to have a simple strategy such as: “Stack -> Aggro -> Kill” Especially when the game’s mechanics support it so well. This strategy requires no intricate cooperation or Voice-chat to work as players know what do to and expect.
• In PvP it’s either a well-balanced build containing excellent embodiments of all aspects of what can be expected in PvP. Or it’s a cheese build excelling in a certain aspect. (Bunker builds, Burst builds.) Naturally there are gradations made by player customization. Which is a reason why you experience the “Meta” being mentioned as more negatively in PvE than in PvP.
• Meta-builds are often also supported well by theory. As an Example: Numbers indicate their damage output is higher than other builds and thus their efficiency is also greater.

Disclaimer and personal note: (Don’t read if all you cared about was an objective answer. ^^)
I fully support builds that deviate from the “Meta” and do so for their originality and character. I do believe that playing a “Non-Meta” build would often result in giving yourself a handicap due to the objective advantage the Meta-builds supported by theoretic evidence have. I do however welcome this handicap as “efficiency” is a word that often sounds more toxic to me than the “Meta”.

The term “Meta” is not synonymous to “optimized efficiency” although one does crave for the other. I, once again, advise players to step out of their comfort zones.
Be it the comfort-zone created by bunker-builds or by 100% Meta Zerker-builds. Playing a seemingly optimized meta-build does not guarantee you to be an optimized player and it may even result in an inefficiency. If you can not handle the lack of armour of a 100% Berserker build, do not feel compelled to use it. Playing at your own level is not admitting defeat or inferiority compared to other players. It is being honest with yourself.

As DGraves said many people disagree with what is considered “Meta”.
If you dislike it, don’t play it. Guild Wars 2 is a game, not a job at which you must perform at peak-efficiency even if you can’t handle it.

There are many players who do not use “Meta-builds” myself included.
I lead an entire guild of this variation of players and can assure you, we exist and we have fun. If you’re reading this and you find yourself disgruntled by the Meta, simply stop feeling bothered by it. There is a large portion of the game’s community that is very vocal of their opinions be it a stance on the meta or anything else.

If you’re still feeling bothered by meta-gameplay, just PM me in-game.
If you’re an EU player I’ll gladly play with you.

Kind regards,

He who bears no ill-will towards Meta-players or Non-Meta-players and merely dislikes the tendency of other players to control another’s gameplay.

Play as you want,

Nero.

P.S. INB4 “GIT GUD NUB!”

eduardo.1436:

C) sure Braham mentions he doesnt know whether Garm was in the crash or not……but Mordremoth is able to create a blighted ILLUSION of the wolf, how? he must have seen him

Mordremoth has no need for the sighting of the physical presence of Garm to be able to create an illusion.
Don’t forget, it’s the Elder Dragon of Plant and Mind.
Garm’s visage was possibly pulled out of Braham’s, Eir’s or even the PC’s memories and thus not physically copied.

We’ve reached lvl 27! Great job all!
Next step, Guild Armorer 2! :P

For the current meta it’s:

“As much damage as possible, as little utility as needed.”

Many mistake this line however for “Bring all the DPS you can.”
This only works for a select few who have mastered the battlefield and its mechanics.

In many cases it’s worth bringing something else to either stay alive yourself, or to keep your party alive. The dead don’t deal DPS.

I have for nearly my entire play-time as a Guardian chosen the Hammer over the Greatsword for damage. Not because I knew the damage of the hammer in the long run would be better than the Greatsword’s burst, but because I liked the utility the hammer had to offer despite its slow attack speed.

A strong build for me, is a build that fits your own playstyle and fulfills its duty even if its in a lesser amount as the optimized DPS-builds.

Which is also what frustrates me about raids and their DPS-thresholds.
If you don’t deal enough damage quickly enough, you won’t be able to kill Gorseval for example.
From what I’ve heard, this threshold is thought to be so high that mostly only the “Meta” builds are considered “worthy” to bring. I haven’t had the ability to try a raid out with a minimum amount of optimized DPS-builds, but I’d surely like to know if raids are indeed for the Hardcore players who stick to the meta (-or slight deviations thereof), or if less optimized builds can still complete them.

P.S.
The Guardian-Meta has one of the most fun histories ever.
There have been times, shortly after the release of GW2, when the Guardian’s Meta was the “AH-Anchor Guardian”. A build focussed on selfish healing with Altruistic Healing to sustain.
It was a Comfort-Zone build, for those who feared death and thus became bunkers.

I remember a lot of these “utility-builds” back in the day.

• Healing Shouts Warrior, Regen-warrior!
• Sword/Pistol thief.
• Healer-Necro with 100% vit/healing power + healing from wells.
• Longbow/Bear-pet ranger, which is still used quite often.

It took a while for the GW2 players to switch to the Meta as it is today.
Dungeons weren’t completely known yet, mechanics themselves weren’t.

A “comfort-zone” was very much appreciated in builds, if you weren’t confident in your skills.

Nowadays this “comfort-zone” is seen as weakness because you’re not “meta” enough by many.
For this you ought to remember the following things:

1. Following the presumed “meta” and going 100% DPS might satisfy some LFG-messages, but a constantly downed or even defeated player is a lot more pointless than one dealing 70% of the “optimal” DPS.
2. Don’t get too comfortable in your comfort-zone, if you stay there you won’t evolve a lot as a player. Try to feel comfortable with taking risks.
3. Customize your builds, feel free to begin with a meta-build and add a bit more of yourself to it. Meta-builds aren’t sacred-templates that fail to function properly if you tinker with it a bit. Feel free to remove a +10% damage trait if in return you get a party-wide condi-cleanse or anything else you desire.
4. Play as you want, create your own LFG’s, find like-minded players, perhaps even join a guild with this mindset. There is a lot more to PvE and PvP than the exact Meta found on Metabattle.com.

Guild Wars 2: Bonus Mission Pack.
Garm’s Campaign.

In this selection of instanced missions you play as Garm.
You awaken amongst the wreckage of a Pact Airship and seek your way back to Eir’s side.
Along the way Garm encounters multiple enemies, among which Mordrem and other creatures.

Garm eventually finds himself a love interest and as time passes on protecting his new wolf-wife, he eventually decides the time has come to give up on searching for Eir.
It has been too long, the time for reuniting has passed and Garm settles down with his newfound family.

Queue credits…