Guild Wars 2

renewed focus is good if its traited right but come on…. stack that up against thieves guild, moa or time warp.
if i use renewed focus in a 1v1 or 2v2 nobody really noticed the difference… it helps, and at times helps a lot but nobody would REALLY notice, its not swinging the balance. the other 3 i named IMMEDIATLY do.
lets compare renewed focus to the bottom 3-4 elite skills….
supply crate (get the right drop and its awesome)
battle standard … still better than renewed focus.
Tornado.. about the same only whirlpool is better underwater.
mass invisibility… still better then RF
Mortar…. ok lets be honest this is horrid
our best elite is still worse than most of the bottom 4

The more you understand the context of when these elites are used and why rather than comparing them hand to hand, the better player you will become. Unlike most the other elite skills, Renewed Focus has the most chaining effects and if you compile them together, it is a very powerful elite skill.

It’s already been noted that it becomes better when traited but most people overlook how good it actually becomes.

The 3 Virtues do the following when traited

- A 5 second burn on the trot that does a few thousand damage.
- Might to you and all your allies
- A small burst heal for you and your allies
- Regeneration for you and your allies
- On the click block
- Protection for you and your allies
- Each virtue activation grants retaliation
- Courage also grants stability/breaks stuns
- Resolve removes 3 conditions

In addition to the other traits which are effected by these virtues depending on which ones you pick

- Block grants might
- Block burns enemies
- Do 10% damage against burning enemies
- activating justice blinds enemies

Thats a hell lot of things going on from just 3 virtues. Imagine activating all of them, then being able to go invulnerable then using them again. I think the main gripe people have is that it isn’t a flashy skill that causes mass chaos or doesn’t turn someone into a blueberry pancake for 10 seconds. The skill is purely reactive and can easily change the course of a fight through boons and cc control.

My Knight in shining armour.

I love the way norn’s effortlessly pull their swords up when they inspect it.

They’re not very spectacular but the skills are very effective in the right context of things.

Reliability improved but only slightly. I have found myself leaping right over of through the target but for some reason the attack still hits. The problem now is repositioning my guardian the right away.

There are some objects which can make you go bald just trying to hit it. The cannons in Orr that are shooting down your choppers and houses in particular.

Making teleporting cheaper would ultimately remove the consequences which breaks the spirit of an adventure game. This is not Portal and reaching areas should not be instantaneous without some kind of cost imo. Think before you mindless teleport and evaluate what you must do to keep your gold up.

There is another thread already about this animation change. I personally think it is for the better and makes the female Norn look like she has more confidence holding a GS. The old animation looked like she was dragging it on the ground a tad too much.

Impossible to hold with such ease hunk of metal that weighs like you. Also, now the animation is almost the same, as with all the other weapons. Became a little boring.

If we go by lore, female Norns should have no problem lifting such swords. I don’t really understand your point with the animations looking the same. Each weapon animation looks vastly different especially the Hammer and Staff.

The amount of whine is incredible. To those people, please do reroll.

I actually really like it! Looks like she holds it with more strength and less like she’s dragging it on the ground.

A little question: how do you make greatsword work with the last SoW nerf?

The GS is still more than viable after the SoW nerf so treating it like it is a smashed recorded is pure false. Symbol builds still work and can still deal massive amount of damage(still the most in many cases).

Wolfie, this is getting beyond kitten You’ve twisted their words beyond belief. Perhaps they shouldn’t even bother explaining themselves because this thread is bloody stupid.

You’re all a miserable bunch. :P

You guys fail at guardian if you think renewed focus is not awesome.

Agreed. You do not deserve to be a guardian if you do not appreciate how good this actually is.

I personally don’t mind this nerf for Spvp. 10 seconds of boons combined with CoP made this very powerful in small encounters. I mainly use this for pve and apparently the changes do not count in WvsWvsW. I’m happy with the RF changes and the 10% buff to SoW is welcome as well.

The shield knockback doesnt always work in pvp with a lot of profs getting stability now. It does feel weird that the shield doesnt have the block on it since a shield is about blocking. If they changed the shield and focus number 5 abilities and reworked them both slightly like 5 focus would knockback and give the damage reduction for your team that gets hit by the pulse. While number 5 blocks the 3 attacks and can give like regen or something instead of the damage reduction.

Stability like any other boon will not have 100% uptime. It is up to the player when they think the timing is right to use a knockdown. Whether the shield should give protection or block differs for each player.

I agree Bruno, they need to get rid of repair costs in WvW. It’s PvP just like sPvP is, and in PvP people tend to die a lot. The entire point is to kill off the enemy team and take over their territories, same as in sPvP just on a much larger scale. There is no reason why we should be paying repair costs for that.

In a situation where our walls have been breached and all my teammates are being ravaged by the enemy inside, if I do find myself in a hopeless situation I usually find the highest point of the castle and jump off to my death escaping to the repair fee.

I guess I disagree on current shield skills being useful at all.
For the protection boon, hammer does it better and longer.
For the aoe reflect, in dungeons it ruins aoe dps and in Wvw it doesn’t help against gtaoe.
Also if you really wanted to reflect stuff, shield spirit weapon is much better, or even traited wall of reflection. All in all, what the shield currently does sucks compared to other options.

The Shield sucks if you look at it from that angle but is arguably the best off-hand for PvP and saving other players in PvE. As it stands, the shield was tailored for Spvp and Tpvp and I do think the skills are currently fine as they are.

Wall Of Reflection and Shield Of Absorption should not be compared to one another as they were meant for 2 different purposes. WoR does what the description says and reflects projectiles. SoA is an AoE knockback used to defend nodes/players and disrupt combos. The absorption is only the bonus. It also has a detonation which can be used to heal.

4 is a cone and is instant so it is essentially a free boon for you and your allies at the start of a fight. The built in Symbol for Hammer #1 takes time and when things get busy, how often you’ll get the 3rd swing off depends on the situation.

In saying this, I do find the shield in a similar situation as the Hammer where #4 and especially #5 are used less frequently in solo pve if compared to torch/focus but are irreplaceable in Spvp. I not agree the shield sucks or needs an ability switch with the focus. The shield also gives bonus defence and damage just like any weapon but whether A.Net intended it to be this way, I’m not too sure.

The reason Monk’s focus is favored in Spvp/Tpvp is because of the burst heal it offers compared to AH. AH is excellent in zergs and constant partying but doesn’t match up against MF in a 1vs1 situation which happens constantly in Tpvp/Spvp. (playing as a bunker)

Trenchcoats for all! I hope you love leather.

The creativity of these bots are amazing. I’ve never seen such a thing.

The problem with searching for the “definitive” bunker build is that results will always come up with something different or slightly different. I’ll point you in the general direction to get you started but playing a bunker in Tpvp isn’t about being unkillable in a 1vs2 or 1vs3 fight. Its about buying time for your teammates so they can take the objectives. You will still lose a 1vs2 or 1vs3 unless you are very good but in that situation it is about how long you can last while you call for aid from your teammates. And yes in a 1vs1 fight, you should win most of the time but that depends entirely on the player you are facing.

- Bunker traits usually follow in the lines of 0/0/30/20/20 or a variation of this. 30 points are usually placed in valor to get Monk’s focus. This trait heals you for quite a significant amount of health every time you use a meditation. Meditation mastery is also very popular and the last major is up to the player. You may pick altruistic healing if you plan to run as a group bunker but the healing is abysmal solo.

- You can alter your points between virtues and honor as you wish. The points in virtues are important as they heavily improve your virtues skills, making them well worth activating. Also Retaliation is a staple to a bunker build. Points that activate retaliation or improve duration are very popular. In doing this, your elite skill will be renewed focus.

- Utilities usually go in the direction of 2 meditations and one shout or 3 meditations. The small health pool of the guardian means conditions will hurt you. Smite Condition and CoP are very popular as they both dispel conditions and heal you. The shout is entirely up to you. Stability is important so Stand Your Ground is always a good option but it depends on who you are fighting.

- Just remember, not to blow all your boons at once potentially wasting all your protection/might and retaliation. And lastly, having your stat priority in Power/Tough/Vitality is recommended. Healing power scales poorly in general and a larger health pool gives you more a buffer from being jumped with your pants down.

Goodluck.

He had a bad experience. All you guys are doing by acting the way you are is giving him another bad experience. Why don’t you actual give helpful advice instead?

Replies often reflect on the manor of the OP’s post. He simply stated his experience. Didn’t want help or advice, basically threw his toys out the pram. I admit, my first dungeon story experience was quite crazy and it also happened to be AC Story. I probably died about 3 times with quite a few downed states simply because we weren’t sure how punishing the mechanics were or how they worked.

If you want to improve your dungeon experience, you have to play accordingly to the situation which is totally different from the open world or most dynamic events. Switching utilities, using the appropriate weapon and making sure your gear isn’t too heavily focused on being a glass cannon can do wonders for your own well being. Dungeons become much more pleasant once you do this.

Assuming you are the correct level and your gear hasn’t fallen too behind, many dynamic events are solo able but require more skill/patience to complete. There are the odd few that may take longer than others because of veterans spawning but with the right traits/weapon/utilities, most can be done without losing to many braincells…. Unless it is a champion then there maybe problems.

While it is unfortunate that you play at such a time, but there are many alternatives to advancing through the game. Some areas are more popular than others so migrating to a different area may help. Join a large guild that is known to have alot of active players may also improve your experience. GW2 lets you join multiple guilds for a reason.

This is not FUN…. this is not what a game should be based upon… We shouldn’t be farming a spot for days & months just to rack up Karma, we shouldn’t throw away all our gold on a RNG magical fountain… But this is what everyone is doing as it IS one of the quickest way to achieve the desired output…

I don’t wan’t to get into this argument but your post is no better or less fanboyish than the ones before you. Not knowing when to separate opinion from fact can be lethal on mmo forums and you just did that with your entire post.

All mmos have some kind of grind to get rewards. GW2 just happens to be mostly cosmetic. Which has come under the spotlight recently. I’m fine with this design model though personally I’m not a big fan of the visual choices of most of the armour. You can always dungeon farm to get rewards, you’re not forced to farm ore or throw your yellows in the mystic forge. They’re just options.

Whips and Flails sound like a decent idea.

Whips for the mesmers/eles and flails for Warriors/Guardians.

Tell him to go back to Pandaland. The Guardian’s heals/boons/condition removals are only there to keep pressure down and shouldn’t be overly relied on for player mistakes.

Haven’t had this problem yet. 1h weapons look ok to me so far.

In very short fights like these, swords and GS often get the job done the quickest. The Hammer takes time to build the damage which is why the first 2 are so popular for zerg groups.

The current skill set of the shield feels awkward mainly because it has limited solo pve use and provides no block. Once you look beyond that, the shield is arguably the most powerful offhand to use in pvp. Imo the protection boon is more balanced that block as it mitigates all damage for that duration. Blocking can range from being amazing to an absolute waste depending on what gets blocked.

1. 5 remains a staple to bunker guardians in pvp and can quickly turn the tide of the fight if enemies are without stability. I agree this has less uses in pve but the shield if far from terrible. It is much more effective in long drawn fights which is why more guardians use it as an offhand, as opposed to a torch or focus.

I absolutely adore the Hammer in PvP. That feeling of satisfaction when you land a mighty blow on someone stuck inside your symbol and taking a huge chunk of their heath off. #3 has grown onto me and more fun to use once I got better predicting player movement.

The only real boring weapon is the scepter but its got more to do with it’s auto attack than anything else. The other weapons look fine.

“Oh hey guys lets give them another GIANT TRENCH COAT, they’ve been wearing them for the past 70 levels BUT I KNOW THEY’RE JUST GONNA LOVE THIS ONE!”

Haha! I love you!!

Though I feel sorry for the majority of medium armour wearers who do not like trench coats. Definitely feel like you’re being forced into a Trench Coats R’ Us store

If you’re running with zergs or in parties a lot then altruistic healing is the way to go. You’d rarely have to heal yourself with #6 unless it is a 1/2 shot. I still prefer monk’s focus in Spvp but it depends on your roll entirely.

My post got deleted but I’ll make my point clear.

Why make a thread if you’re just going to cover your eyes the moment someone disagrees?

I’m currently running something not to different to that but I decided to give my guardian a little bit more damage. Lets me kill stuff relatively quickly and not get gibbed when the poo hits the fan.

15/0/30/20/5

I’m very tempted to place 30 points in honer as well but the 10% damage on burning targets was too good to pass up.

If the guardian had around the same HP as a Warrior, that would be ridiculous.

To be honest, when I was looking at the skills at low level I was so excited that I get to turn into a Bear/Raven or a leopard, go on all fours and ravage my enemies. My dreams were shattered after transforming… I looked like a girl dressed in a bird costume getting ready for a halloween party.

I also get clipping issues when my norn holds a shield. Her fists are so strong that they happen to stick through the centre of the shield like a pimple. Happens to multiple skins. Some Hair styles also clip through armor but thats usually given since our hair isn’t effected by gravity. :P

Virtue Of Courage is great for those instances where you’ve exhausted your dodge and your Aegis was already eaten. I remember times when giants would roflstomp 3 times in a row.

The healing from resolve is abit flimsy but it comes together if you place points into virtues.

but you dont get any damage defense or healing from any of the meditations.
2 deal damage and 1 removes boons and turns them into buffs.
most of my deaths come from thieves bursting me down, warriors bursting me down or rangers shooting me 75 times with crossfire. conditions usually are not a HUGE problem. a problem, but not usually where most of my deaths come from.
so does meditation mastery heal for THAT much? that I can use it to bunker 2 burst people for more than 20 sec?

The Hammer and The Mace/Shield already provide you protection boons and CC

Hammer #1 has a symbol built in the last hit which gives protection. Even it if doesn’t hit the person, simply running into it gives you an advantage. You can also role between hits 2-3 and the symbol will still go off. Hammer #2 Is now almost a guaranteed hit and will give retaliation if used within the symbol.

Mace auto attack heals you on the final hit. The Symbol also heals you in addition to the short cool down. #3 is a free block or protection. Shield #4 also gives protection. Shield #5 is an AoE knock back, probably our most powerful interrupt. You can also use it to heal though I’m having a few problems with it.

Case from point, if you use your skills timely and properly, you shouldn’t get bursted down and the only time this should have happened is if everything is on cool down or you get jumped by another player mid fight. I Also suggested that you run 1 shout with a meditation build. That could be Save Yourselves, Stand Your Ground or Hold The line, so there is still the option for you to have an utility that gives protection., though I much prefer stability.

You cannot have everything. There will always be a counter, but if you dodge the arrow spam, avoid the spikes that the thief might place in a node, then the fight should be yours. Warriors are cutting you down because you’re not freeing yourself from their snares or place boons on yourself when it mattered. Which also means that you need more practice as a player as well. Meditations will remove those horrible 10 stacks of bleed, vulnerable, poison, burns. It is not uncommon for guardians to have 2 stun breakers and stability which is why warriors are often our easiest target.

The way you’ve placed your traits looks more like a group support build rather than a bunker. Alot of damage comes from conditions and bar full of shouts will do little to remove them. Being a bunker you’d find yourself alone alot of the time and when you’re in a 2vs1 or 3vs1, your job is to buy time for your teammates to either cap other points or wait for reinforcements.

1/ Bunkers often use 2 meditations and 1 shout or 3 meditations. The reason being for monk’s focus which heals the guardian for a good chunk of health for using a meditation. Picking up meditation mastery will let you heal more often and keep conditions off yourself.

2/ Soldier gear is the most balanced for achieving high defence. Its up to you whether you want more base health or more effective health. I personally prefer base health just incase I get caught with my pants down

3/ Activating a virtue also grants you retaliation. I usually pick a shout that also gives retaliation for maximum up time. Also signet of resolve is usually the better choice unless you find yourself trying to heal inside a massive burst.

4/ The Mace + Shield is the most reliable option for holding points, paired with a Hammer. In your screenshot, I see you got backstabbed for 8k. It is important you break out of the stun asap and strafe around the thief. Never backpeddle and use the shield knockback if you’re being chained or overloaded with conditions.

Thats a start anyway so good luck.

Definitely one of the more annoying features of #3. It happens so often that its got to the point where you can actually tell if its gonna hit or not depending on the terrain or elevation of your hero. #2 on the Hammer seems to work very well. I’m not entirely sure if it has something to do with the small AE radius or the skill was designed to activate only when the sword strikes, which tends to happen in mid-air if you are too high up.

The great sword is arguably the best AOE weapon for guardians. The chain and pull makes grouping enemies a breeze. Torch is good as well and Mighty Blow on the Hammer has a huge radius. But the great sword can do the most damage with little to no effort.

The GS was and is still viable despite the increased cooldown of Symbol Of Wraith and the wall of drama queens which plague mmo message boards. Existing players who devoted their build to symbols were hit hardest but honestly, if you love the class and overall style of the GS then just stick with it. There are times where you will have to switch weapons in combat, especially for the guardian and warrior if you want to max out your hero’s potential.

1vs1 or 1vs2 most people would say guardian. However it all depends on traits/gear and utility setup. Both are great classes but it would be better if you tried both and see for yourself.

The biggest problem is that the hammer is so boring to use. I tried it for about an hour and just gave up because I play games for fun not boredom. Will play other professions or other games until this gets sorted out.

Be careful when addressing subjectiveness as a problem. Everyone has a different play style and some find the hammer very fun to use.

Those proportions from the screenshot had me in stitches for about 10 minutes. I’m truly sorry you have to live with those feet but it cheered me up thanks!

Immunity skills in GW2 don’t cover conditions that already have been applied. To get the max out of RF, combine it with a meditation build with points in virtues and don’t treat it as an emergency button. If you notice someone trying to burst you down by unloading everything at once, pop your virtues and use RF. Be liberal with it and don’t be afraid to use it in a middle of a fight, rather than later.

If this was the design document, they’ve got a long way to go to make it into the game.
These statements are simply not how the game plays.

Obviously there is a difference between how the classes are played and how they’re designed. Warriors inherently have more hit points than Guardians unless we start talking about extremes and gear variables. Guardians have enormous options in ways of healing and condition removals which brings both classes into line.

Discussing damage potential can be sensitive. A guardian can deal an excellent amount of damage if the player is devoted to traiting correctly and wearing the appropriate gear. The comments I made earlier are meant as an archetype of both classes and ignores these types of possibilities.

The thread was a simple pro/con for each class. If we start discussing each player’s play styles it would effect gear/trait setup, and this is something that the OP has to decide for himself, not us.

maybe, but the only reason you should have another 6-8 conditions chucked back onto you straight after you used CoP is either, you’re being bursted down by multiple players which is fair game. Or you rolled/ran into something very nasty. Meditation builds almost guarantee 1vs1 wins but kudos to players that focus fire on you in Spvp. Guardians have the most options to removing conditions, utilities, abilities, combos and passive combined. Its insane.

I’ve recently gone with a shout build but kept CoP. Shouts can help prevent you and your group from being overwhelmed by knockbacks and burst damage. Maybe give that a try.

I’ve been running Power/Vit/Toughness set with Berserker jewels. Been liking it so far.

In a nutshell

*Warriors do more burst damage
*Guardians do sustained damage

*Warriors have higher base health
*Guardians have more effective health

*Warriors have a wider range of weapons to use
*Guardians have one ranged weapon option

*Warrior abilities are mainly aggressive and have banners for support
*Guardian abilities more often benefit group play and give more boons.