Guild Wars 2

get obsi shards with karma. i’d keep the bauble bubbles for now until it returns. the obsi shards won’t go anywhere if you don’t like what they come up with in the future : )) we don’t know what weapons will get skins yet, or how much they’ll cost (still to be determiend, according to Josh).. but if you like a skin, and have no more bubbles, then you’ll be sadbear. : (( it’s taking up one slot in your bank anywyas right now : ))

(and yes i know the Balth event can be rough, btu it feels so good when you get it done!)

i think they look decent with Asura cultural, or CoE if you really wanna match. but personally i love the way they look with any armor set : ))

i do use give out boons at times that are appropriate to help relieve the pressure some of my allies are receiving at times. though, that’s not to say, that’s the only thing we have going. we have plenty more. and each and every player on ehre is able to find their own niche of how they want to play their Guard and go about it. and they have fun with it. some go pure DPS. believe me, i’ve seen or gone against Guards who can drop you faster than a backstab thief can. on the other end of the spectrum i’ve seen Guards be taking on 4x 5x their numbers and hold out until their allies arrive. more often than not, these Guards health barely seems to drop. it doesn’t matter they have low health, because they took the time to understand and learn how to play the class. the same will go for any class in this game.

sure, we all have a definition of what a Guardian might be or is supposed to be like. can i not see the class as a Guardian of Tyria, a Guardian against all that is evil? so, he vanquishes all that stands in his way. in my mind, that is my Guardian. and yes, i will heal my allies when i can, give them protection when i can, but first and foremost, i will kill anything that is harming them or myself, and thus, guarding the kitten out of this world – whether is be WvW, PvP, PvE…

this brings a tear to me eyes already. : (((

am sure people will come out with their boxes of fun, and mini’s and weapons to celebrate in remembrance… until next time!

i’ve heard many that used a continue coin, whether from inventory or purchasing it would not yield the achievement.

took me a while to get as well. i followed dulfy’s guide, it’s quite accurate as well. and then what was more helpful was one of the comments below on her site that lists out the total number of baubles you should be getting for that run. 199 iirc, and like Josh mentioned, start wth zero, don’t pick up any baubles from digging or creatures/kills to get a better count.

i did it in infantile mode as well.. helps a little. it should then pop when you beat king toad.

finally got time to sit down (sadly not on a couch) to watch it! great stuff! loved hearing from both Danto and Professor Beard. it offered views on the class in general and all aspects of the game – PvP, WvW, open world PvE, dungeons, fractals, etc.

looking forward to seeing future casts and also what else you have in store for the Guardian community. loved how excited they both got lol and i share the sentiments. it was hard picking out my favorite weapon, trait, etc..

@Flintbrow – you are far too kind. and thank you. : )) i enjoy the class immensely, nothing more, and nothing less.

hmm just food for thought, i DON’T think unblockable will have an effect on Invuln., i.e. Renewed Focus. it will affect aegis and Shelter though. unless if i missed soemthign somewhere saynig invuln will be affected as well.

i guess, we’ll ahve to conserve our dodges more? it’s easy to spot when someone pops a signet as well so we could technically just dodge that?

re: boons. i don’t see a HUGE probelm yet… or rather, i’m waiting to see what happens exactly. what baffles me is we’re a class designed around boons and that is our core mechanic to a certain degree. as stated by ANet. then they come out with a mechanic that was created solely to target our COER mechanic. that, to me, doesn’t make sense at all. i can maybe be fine with thief stealing it or taking it away. as per boon strips of converts in the game right now, but a mechanci to punish for having more boons? hmm. well, we do get traits that give us more dmg per boon as have as well. who knows where ANet is goign with this……

i’ll have to hear more about what they have in store for the Guardian.

i used to fight til the death. then the more PvP i played the more i felt my “style” changing to match the bigger picture of my team and how the game is structured.

but it still depends on the situation. mind you, i’ll still do what i can to not die or WIN first and foremost, but if i have 3 on me, while i was tryign to cap their point, i’ll run to avoid point loss / our team being a man down. though if i am on a point that is ticking in our favor, even if i am going to die, i’ll try to hold out as long as possible. even if there are 3 on me, i’ll then let my team know, how many are there, and go cap other points, etc etc…

it all depends on the situation. fight or flight. call it strategic. call it without honor. as long as you can live with it.

and we are still talking about a video game here ; ))

the main problem i see is that Anet said Guardian play will be mainly focused around boons. and that is the CORE mechanic. and they are introducing a mechanic sole;y targetd against a CORE mechanic of a certain profession. albeit only a couple classes get boon hate mechanics now.

but tbh, not that worried. will wait to see how it plays out. if it’s that bad, ANet will fix it again eventually.

what profession do you play most or enjoy most? then, which weapon set do you enjoy most?

i am not the biggest fan of the GS actually. like you both have said, volcanus (albeit long and costly to obtain) and other many a good looking GS are around.

i personally love the focus. so i picked that up. : )) and subsequently, using the focus a lot more and learnign to love it more and more (on my Guard).

i main a Guard, and have little experience with the warrior.. but i feel both have a great arsenal of control. though i will say, playing as the Guardian with the hammer, greatsword, staff, scepter shield combo, and utilities, you have a TON of control and it’s pretty fun.

if you have DPS classes running with you, or in WvW / PvP, it can mean a difference of 1k dmg or 10k dmg if you can keep someone in place, or prevent them from running.

why did you feel the Warrior is more flexible than the Guard? if you want, you can spec the Guardian to be a BIT more “glass”, but not completely “glass cannon”. so you can hit pretty darn hard, i won’t compare DPS to other classes though, while retaining the unique utilities that the Guardian can provide, but you’ll have to be more on your toes a lot more. which is fun and might help you fill in that challenging need. you’ll have to learn when best to use your heals and your dodges are way more precious. : ))

to be fair, he said he bursted for 18k, and then showed the break down of whirling wrath, zealot’s defense and timing shield of wrath (focus 5, i never remember the name) : ))

and on that note.. i want to then propose, can we meet at a 10/30/30/0/0 build? which is great offense, with both huge boosts to crit chance AND damage in terms of trait lines. also high toughness. either or of our two best grandmaster traits for healing (other than our actual heal)… and you can still spec for even more crit chance, crit dmg if you’d like. OR opt for more toughness off a decent base, or add some vit (valkyrie gear is a decent choice here) just to add a little buffer.

and extremely fun build imo : )) so for the OP, if you’re eve so inclined.. you can give this a shot as well. though you do have to be more mindful of everything a lot more, since less room for error in term sof taking big hits.

such a tease, Teamkiller! XDDD

about to go off to a meeting, so i only got the chance to take a quick look at your draft builds, OP and i’ll try to answer some of these questions from my point of view and experience with the Guardian : ))

to start off with, here are the backbone standard stats or thresholds i have for starting a build.. then of course, i’ll tweak them according to the traits, and playstyle i’m going for

Attack: 3k
Armor: 3k
Crit chance: ~35%-40%
Crit dmg: varies depending on crit chance, but if 40%, then at least 50-60% crit dmg
Health: 15-16k

again, these all change depending on build.

1. How much healing power is enough in comparison to Health and Toughness = EHP

it’ll be hard to answer according to EHP as i don’t have hard math for that, but for healing power, i feel it’s not worth particularly speccing towards it unless if you’re near the 1k mark at least. if not, i feel you give up too much of other stats while not getting the most effective healing. though i have seen Guards run around 700+ and they felt it made a difference. though fo course, if you get up to the 1k mark, depending on your traits / weapons, you can sacrifice a little HP i feel, and then tuoghness if you must.

2. How much survivability is good until is hinders your ability to output damage which then lowers your survivability (this will range based on your target but I want a good medium)

i feel even with 3k armor and 16k health, i’ve run a few builds around these stats and still manage to hit very hard. and i feel very comfortable at these levels, no matter dueling or in a large group situation. though of course, the more you play, the more one realizes that survivability doesn’t come from stats alone but rather active playing where you mitigate damage, dodge the big hits, dont stant in circles at all costs, etc. and like you said, sometimes pressuring your enemy is the biggest defense. there were times when i’d be fighting someone, and i was losign the edge, defensive skills / heals on CD, so i was left with no choice but to play more aggressive.. and the other player ended up trying to kite moer than anything, thus, not doing as much significant damage to me, which can turn the tide in battle.

3. What’s the threshold for precision to be effective compared to a PVT set up? (I’ve read the chart on wiki)

again, this will depend on your build. do you rely heavily on crit effects? i.e. traits or sigils? is it for damage or survivability? these are all thigns to take into account as well. i want to say even at 30%, you’ll see crits a LOT. while at 70%, awesome as it is, are you able to survive having given up, i assume, more defensive stats? so 40% is a good spot for me personally. if you’re going after crits. and obviously, if you’re low crit chanced, there’s no “dire need” to spec for crit dmg. so in that case, going for more power / might would help your damage.

4. Boon food or Energy + Might on Dodge food?

i think both are great. i’ve played the healway build a bit, while very durable, it wasn’t entirely my playstyle either. i’ve experimented with both these foods and i personally prefer the energy + might on dodge food. and this is assuming that you really incorproate active dodging in your gameplay and not jsut spamming dodges. : )))

like healign power, or other secondary stats, i personally don’t like going for a bit of them. so with boon duration, if i’m only adding 10 – 20%, i’d rather focus on other stats. but if you’re going full boon duration, then maybe the boon duration might be a better choice. another thing to look at for boon duration is which boons do you use most, and if each 10% you tack on actually makes a sizeable difference compared to the other foods you coul be using.

ahhh, got a bit carried away with these, and i knwo they’re all very vague lol.. but hope it helps! i guess bottom line is.. stats are good as a thresholds, but don’t get hung up on hitting numbers. though i WILL admit, it’s sometimes really fun to min/max : )))

i enjoy mace + focus a lot as well. depending on how you’re specced, i’ve had my mace auto hit for 2k+ consistently and symbols crit for 1k+ (hmm.. in WvW) it may not be as fast or hard hitting as the sword/scepter but it is by no means a weapon that kills slow. plus your defensive capabilities add to DPS as well if you use them at the right time.

mace + shield definitely very defensive and a great combo, but more useful in WvW i’d say. so in terms of high level fractals though, perhaps mace wouldn’t be the IDEAL choice. but iw ouldn’t say it’s not viable.

i want to say Valor IS a very strong line. and i often come back to if time and again when comnig up with new builds. but i have done with builds that didn’t go even 1 point into Valor and did very well also. of course, like mentioned, gear up to make up for toughness or crit dmg if it is what you’re missing. though i won’t go as far as saying you’re going down certain lines, ONLY for the traits. there’s a fine balance between the stats and there are some stats that you won’t be able to achieve with just gear. so it entirely depends on what stats you’re comfortable with.. and ultimately, it’s how those stats translate into direct performance on the field.

i will agree though that the valor traits aren’t the best out of all the trait lines. but the 30% crit dmg is not bad if you’re going for a crit build.

at OP, if you do decide to stick with 30 in Valor, it’s easy to switch between MF and AH and consequently your shouts and meditations depending on if you’re running in a small group or in a zerg. though with full meditations, i feel even that has worked in a zerg. sure, my allies might not be getting as many boons, but you’re still there in the fight making a difference. GS / Sword + Focus is a decent combo for a meditation build imo. you can have up to 2 teleports, 1 leap, 1 pull.. i don’t always feel i’m being kited THAT much. sometimes if i happen to come across a 1v1 and it’s a ranger going pewpew from afar. i’ll pretend to retreat, then they chase, time your shield of wrath on the focus, switch to GS and JI back into them, they’ll be caught off surprise and then do you combo and burst them down. can be pretty fun : ))

i will say though, i run a similar build sometimes in WvW and depending on how your gear is set up, you can still hit like a truck, even with the hammer. a bunch of control, i.e. many ways to make sure your big hits land, ton of access to retaliation through greatsword and hammer. two of our biggest hitters and one one an extremely short CD… though if you’re running solo, the lack of options for swiftness can be a downer at times.

Amins.3710:

I wanted to reply, but then decided it wasn’t worth my time, then changed my mind and decide I should write a post about how I wanted to reply but wasn’t worth my time…..

way to put me in my place mann haha cause i felt the same and lost control. incomnig wallotextttt

Amins for president!

if you are indeed searching for the Kodan weapons:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Kodan_weapons

iirc, the recipe should be Paid Tourney + Sliver : )) though might be a chance to get either Orrian, Arcing and mayeb sth else as well..

though, not in-game so can’t check, i have a feeling you’re talking about the PvE Corrupted equivalents:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Corrupted_weapons
then i remember reading in another thread that they’re rank 70 or 80 weapons. : ///
so may be a while..

hope somebody can confirm!

[added: so apparently, the frozen shortbow is a maybe r10 item (i.e. deer), to add to what Roc said… but the other weapons are higher ranked for some reason]

can’t wait to see the videos! thanks so much for putting this together, Bas.
and aww, me Guardians! hopefully i’ll be able to participate next time as well : )))

Jedbacca.6297:

If running a zerg is effective, I will run a zerg, like a mega monster kittenerg. Because the other team allows me to do so. If running multiple teams is effective against said teams, then running multiple teams will do your job. Because the other team allows me to do so. It is your job as team leads to utilize different strategies to become effective at what you are playing against. For the rest, there is Kleenex. Think outside of the box (Badump ting).

quoting this again so people will read it. thanks for the insight, mann.

i’ve put this out there before, but seems most of us in here don’t lean towards reason very much. ; )) each and every one of us have our very own perspective. so first, this is under the assumption that all posts on here are the absolute truth, but only truth in terms of what people think they saw on the field, even then, it could easily differ.

for those of you calling out numbers of the enemy, i daresay that if you’re facing a group of over 10, you won’t be able to give me an exact number of how many were actually there, fighting you. how many fled the fight, how many joined halfway through. and you probably wouldn’t notice the allies that joined on your end as well throughout, even though you may have only started with 10.

and the human mind, when presented with a scenario with unclear facts, we will fabricate what we beleived to make most sense for the ideal situation. afterall, i didn’t count with my fingers one by one and write it down, well, mainly due to because i was trygig to stay alive and trying to kill this guy at the same time, but… “i’m pretttty sure they had 80. and oh yea, i remember we only had 10 people. snap! we didn’t do too shabby! woot!”

does running in a zerg make you a lesser person? does running solo make you the god of the battlefields? am sure many of us on here think that, but for those who stopped a moment to read through this, i thank you, now what does it really translate to?

this made me have to double check which thread i wanted to click. lol

from my experience and hearing from others, for stacking sigils at least, you don’t have to have actively killed the foes to get a stack, you just need to be using that weapon, in OP’s case, his Greatsword equipped / active, when the mobs and foes die.

so he could do the needed damage to get “credit” for the kill on his other weapon set. switch to GS before they die, and when they die, he’ll get the stack for Bloodlust, i.e. the weapon that was active or wielded at that moment.

and i assume the opposite would work as well. as you did enough dmg on your great sword, you dodge, you swap to sword set, foe dies, you should get your endurance bar filled for Stamina.

and just to add.. iirc, you can’t have two on-kill sigils equipped in a mainhand and offhand set. only the mainhand effect will trigger in that case. and you can’t stack different sigils. so if you stacked bloodlust, got one stack, and then switch to other weaposn with for e.g. perception or life, those won’t stack at all until you get rid of your bloodlust stack.

i have buddies who use it (Generosity) in WvW and they absolutely adore it. since you will have conditions galore when you are in combat most of the time, if it triggers, all the more power to you. i have a set where i have generosity on both weapons as well but haven’t actively played that set in a while..

the only thing i’d be weary of is what sigils you plan to use with it. i never mix on-crit sigils with on-swap sigils for e.g. for on-swap, i have ‘em and want to make sure when i switch my weapons, i’ll have the desired effect. and on-crit sigils may interfere with this.. unless if you actively count when you had sigil effects trigger. which i’ll admit, i’ll probably never be there in terms of gameplay lol XDDD

and what better to throw conditions your foes meant to use against you, back unto themselves. i feel as long as this isn’t your ONLY method of condition removal, it’s not a bad investment.

ah, i see you went back to Smite Condition. i atually really liked sanctuary on that build : )) so might stick with that for a bit. though i do lose one more active condition removal. i do like the energy sigil changes though.

how do you find runes of mercy? is the reviving really significant? i was actually putting together a build for WvW that uses them.. but i think in PvP, they’d actually come in way more handy.

looking forward to hearing moer about this symbol DPS build! so using hammer and staff?

unscathed contender paired up with our other 10%+ or 5%+ damage skills / traits would be pretty awesome. if you don’t mind the scepter, that could be a good option to have that 20% kicker active for as long as possible, as opposed to being in melee range. : ))

and if i am corect, the symbol gives swiftness based off of ticks. so if you’re running, cast it a little ahead of you or your allies. that usually works for me. and make sure peopel don’t dodge through it lol cause i THINK, you can actually dodge the tick. just as enemies could dodge the tick of damage that the symbol would do. haevn’t done extensive testing, just what i think.

hmmm ways to get across the map quicker, in addition to what you mentioned.. GS #3, Judge’s Intervention, even Sword #2 (but you need sth targeted for the last two) are great.. but like you said, in WvW, what happens if you burn all you CDs and then a fight comes to you right at that moment? so you’ll have to decide for urself. i usually switch between GS and staff actively, while keeping my second weapon set stagnant. and if you’re running with a large enough group, you should be able to have swiftness on you at all times regardless due to everyone else’s skills, etc

thanks for putting perspective on this matter, Halcyon! i’m gonna assume the same now. :PPP

doode, just go play something else then if you’re not even willing to try to learn how the class can work or play. cause that’s what it sounds like.

again, you mention these things:
“When i play a protective class. I want to have active play style.
Hard to kill, while Harrassing the enemy in the front line.
Knockbacks, Interupts, Slows, AoE weakness, Stuns”

Guardians can be hard as hell to kill. we can definitely harass the enemy while doing so. we have knockbacks, interupts, and then albeit slightly different.. we CAN have access to slows, stuns and we have AoE vuln and AoE blinds – which are even better. add in wardings and area denial.

and the “active playstyle” that you’re looking for is just not what YOU want it to be. doesn’t mean it isn’t there. and i definitely agree that the class isn’t perfect, being there are a TON of things that the devs could work on. just not to the extent that you envisioned them to be. and i have fun with the Guardian in guild wars 2 and look forward to the further changes they will make to the class.

you need to let go of what you want the Guardian class to be and try to enjoy it for what it is – which is really fun and dynamic. why play new games or try things out if they frustrate you so, and if these old games have what is in your mind, “perfection”? given that you did venture out, if things aren’t what you expected them to be, perhaps this game or this class just isn’t for you then. there’s something for everyone out there. and a ton happen to enjoy this class, in this game, and they’ve all found their own ways to play it.

eldain – how was i being a politician? i’m just not one to be rude. don’t see the need for it. perhaps i coulda chosen other words in case it wasn’t straight enough, but i told you exactly what i was thinknig and that it was you didn’t seem to even want to give the Guardian a chance. and thus, wanted to hear what you thought about the other classes in comparison to your terrible attitude towards this heavy-armored class.

i will agree that the shield could use a lot of working. i don’t know about the traits specifically you mentioned, though seem like a good idea. the 2 shield skills we have definitely don’t feel like we’re able to as actively protect and Guard our comrades out there. the protection and knockback / absorbing projectiles help a little, but it’s not, like you said, active usage to actually protect those around us.

though i believe that to be in part of ANet’s philosophy of not having a holy trinity. now this is actually my first MMO so i don’t have first hand experience in how other games played in the genre but it seems this game isn’t designed for any player to be able to specifically target other players and support or direct heal. they want each class and everyone to be able to hold their own, while being able to support each other when in a group setting. that being said, the Guardians IS one of the best classes to be able to do so. though perhaps not in the way you had envisioned it or seen in other games.. i can count more cases than not where when i did choose to deliberately active certain shouts or my virtues, where i was able to prevent my allies from getting downed (in dungeons, PvP, WvW). and that in a sense is “support”. and by Guarding by not allowing others to die in front of you.

see an ally about to be stomped in PvP? you can easily use shield to knock the enemy back (well, provided they don’t have stability) and res your teammate. so it’s maybe more using what you have at your disposal to help your allies.

and i beg to differ about symbols. yes, i agree stationary skills aren’t the best in active gameplay. sure, most good players WILL be smart enough to move out of your symbols.. but you have a bunch of control skills to ensure they stay on your symbols. also, if you communicate to your party members “hey my symbols will buff you and heal you” they will do what they can in their power to benefit from that if the situation allows them to. i actually like how the symbols play for the Guardian.

i wish we had more stuns and slows.. but we do have a lot of knockback. we can do AoE weakening, we can do AoE blinds, we can most definitely minor support healign passively and actively.. add in the tome or courage. i don’t use it myself that much, but i’ve seen videos of Guards use it super clutch. there’s protection. and ah, there you go, you can AoE daze foes too. the #5 skill on this tome is the closest it comes to massive healing. if you’re able to pull it off, those around you get a full heal – 1 to 20k HP is possible. but yuo need to learn the class, learn other classes, the machanics that tie it all together, and you and will be very able to do those things that you listed.

and if people are asking you of those things you listed, then perhaps they have to learn and adapt to the way Gw2 plays. don’t let them tell you how to play anyways. if you wanna go straight meditations and play selfishly, so be it.

i would realy go recommend checking out Amins’ youtube channel if you haven’t yet. : ))) it’s so fun to watch. not as easy to replciate though am sure with practice, it’ll come to me lol

and a lot of great points by Guang. especially the point about more damage over time for Guardians. one thing i love is the high, sustained damage. we might not get the higest crit numbers. but we do have the capability to get close-enough-high numbers frequent enough that you could easily drop any given mob / player as fast as anything else out there.

what the two above me said!

also, just to cover all bases, if you’re so inclined, some like to mix in Magi’s gear as well (Healing/Vit/Precision) to mix and match as well if you wanna focus on healing power.

@Perplexing – the links should be fine. if you mean the major traits aren’t picked, it’s because they’re mean to be that way. : )) the builds are mainly to display the trait point distribution. the details of the build specifics and synergies are for you to wokr out on your own and tweak to your liking or situation. hope ths helps answer your question!

@Guanglai – i beg to differ saying that the hammer is less than useless in zerg fights in WvW. in fact, i find it quite the opposite. the symbol may take time to drop, but if you’re saying that EVERY single person has their eyes on YOU and you only and will dodge the hammer strikes, i am calling major bluff. the symbol is way more than easy to drop because there are so many people and the PBAoE on the hammer is quite large actually. sure people will move out of the symbol, if they actually notice its there. or aren’t being CC-ed to oblivion by the hammer itself OR your allies. it’s easy to set up using the hammer to keep people on your symbols. that aside, mighty blow is extremely useful in zerg fights. setting up combos or just doing massive dmg and pressuring enemies. no one is telling you to just run into the middle of the zerg head on spamming #1. i don’t think there is any weapon / skill . build that would allow you to do that. nor would that be very fun. you can easily pick off stragglers that break off too far from the main zerg or even separate easy targets for your allies to chomp down on. it’s not bad for chasing runaways too if you know what you’re doing.

on the other hand, i do agree that staff is excellent in zerg vs zerg fights. and the sword is extremely effective in PvP (s or tPvP).

ahh, gotcha! that’s a good idea actually. i’ll let the experts at it then ; ))

been following Amins’ channel for a while, so will be looking forward to hearing from him!

if you’re open to advice, i’d say a lot of great Guardians on here, new and old, can offer a lot to help. this may be just me, and forgive me, but it seems you’ve already set your mind that Guardians are terrible..

in the beginning, i felt my Guardian couldn’t hit hard, and i was dying a lot. so what are Guardians exactly good at? i then spent a lot of time “studying” the class if you will.. learning the traits, what each utility does, how weapon skills work and can pair up with one another.. took some time to put together armor and gear choices to get the stats that i want to suit my playstyle, and i want to say, i am faring a lot better now.

a good mixture of toughness + vitality of course can help you survive more so than pure berserkers gear ever could. at the same time though, you can’t expect to just stand still, not using utilities and just take hits.

Guardians yes, while they have a lot of boons at their disposal, are able to provide a lot of condition removal, stability, AoE effects through blinds, burns, etc, have a butt ton of fun control, and more importantly, the ability to stay in a fight for pretty darn long. puttnig all that together, you have great dmg mitigation, you’re able to res peolpe as good as you are able to down people, and believe it or not, there are a bunch of builds out there that can be a lot of fun. i’ve seen Guards that don’t play on active boons at all and still wreck kitten, and of course, staying alive to do so.

moreover, i’m actually curious to hear what you have to say about other classes then. don’t mean any of this in a demeaning manner, so if it comes across that way, please forgive.

with the “offensive” Guardian, it’s more so about not taking any damage, as opposed to being able to take damage, or outheal damage.. to put it super-over-simplifiedly.

some great “DPS” focused Guardians that come to mind are Amins and Bash (both have threads on the forum). Amins has a youtube channel you can check out as well for some inspiration.

haven’t had time to sit down and check these out yet but am looking forward to it! now if i only brought my earphones to work with me >; )))

for the tutorials, is this mainly a section for good Guardian channels? if so, i’d highly recommend Incomingray’s channel as well. Incomingg Ray’s Youtube / Guardian Channel

lately been running a symbol build (namely having larger symbols and healing symbols (Honor III and X). it can be really nice but don’t rely on that as your MAIN source of healing if anything.

if you’re thinking of going more healing, my personal threshold is i don’t actively sacrifice other stats unless if i can hit 1k+ healing power. but that’s just me. if not, i feel it’s not as worth it to give up other stats you would be for the healing.

you can go with a mix of knight’s + other gear. symbols can hit pretty hard with the right setup. though i’ve also seen “healing” builds with over 1k healing, and still have 30% crit. you just have to mix and match.

for PvE and dungeons, symbols are not bad because most of the enemies won’t move out of them. : )) and even with the hammer the conditional symbol on the hammer chain is easy to get off.

will entirely depend on how you want to play and where you want to play to be honest. i feel the main gear i use for my guard – ranging from knight’s, berserker’s, cleric’s, valkyrie’s soldier’s. 3 out of 4 you can craft already. soldier’s you can get with karma (cept for the helm i think).

so through dungeons, you’re really only missing magi’s. i haven’t paid TOO much attention to condition stats yet for me guard so can’t comment on that.

a good all arounder you can always start with knight’s and mix in either berserkers, soldiers or valkyrie depending on which areas you want improved or complimented.

i see it in a different light. and closest to what Lightrayne mentioned. someone that is able to provide stability, support, remove conditions, control mobs, maybe even outheal / outlast. though again, just get bogged down by “labels” in gw2.

just find the build you find most fun and most effective, go with it. : )) and you can name it whatever you want.

hey Sansorin, before Silven can answer.. i want to say perhaps the link / build editor just hasn’t been updated yet. Focused Mind (Valor X) is usually taken for the meditation Smite Condition. which takes away the albeit short cast time and have it be instant, so i assume, you can take off harmful conditions ASAP on demand, as well as do it during other channeled abilities without disrupting the animation of whatever skill you were running.

Furthermore, Meditation skills are a subset of the Guardian utilities (like consecrations, shouts, signets, etc), which include Smite Condition, Contemplation of Purity, Judge’s Intervention and Merciful Intervention.

Empower on your staff is just another weapon skill. : ))) hope this clears things up! the build you’re referring to is extremely fun and can take practice, but hey, there’s only one way to get better ; )))

when i first started playing, i spent a LOT of time understanding the different skills / traits / utilities and the relationships between them. i mainly referred to the wiki pages for these. good luck!!

[added: in its place, i usually go with Defender’s Flame (Valor II) since you get a bunch of blocks from your aegis, focus #5 and your shelter heal. i’m quite a fan of this trait actually. maybe the 5% extra dmg to mace wouldn’t be bad either. kinda wish it had 20% CD reduction to mace skills as well.. MOAR SYMBOLS! but that’s another story]

p.s. Silven – i failed at coming up with new names for your builds lol. they do serve the purpose of letting people know what they are for. and i’ve just been terribly busy. one of these days!!

i just picked up the tower shield the other day. haven’t actively used it yet so unsure how aegis looks on it yet, but feel free to PM me if you see me in-game and i’d be glad to show you!

if you have 5 into Virtues, F1 gives extra might, F2 gives regen and F3 gives protection on activation. i like you, use F1 more than anything, especially with AoE blinds attached as well, great for dmg mitigation. F2 i use the least, letting the passive tick, until i need all the heals i can get then i’ll pop it. F3, usually like you said, when i feel i need aegis. or, if you’re running Altruistic Healing, and you need more heals and you have a bunch of peeps around you, popping all three can heal you a decent amount. then pair that up with renewed focus, 2-3 sec invuln and you get all your virtues refreshed (note, you can also pop any unused virtues while channeling the Rewned Focus elite.

in addition to that.. if you go 30 deep into Virtues, there are two great traits that i love – Absolute Resolution for F2 and Indomitable Courage for F3. or if you go 20 deep into virtues, you can pick one or the other as well, depending no what you feel the situation calls for – more condition removal? or more stability?

and with that, you get a slight reduction in virtue CDs as well. though again, like said, i don’t always use ‘em unless i know i’m gonna need ’em. aoe aegis i find very helpful actually, especially in boss fights or against enemies in PvP when you know a big hit is coming. even F2 is nice to help heal someone back up if you know they might go down soon.

unsure of the exact range, though am sure someone else can help you with that. i just make sure i’m close enough if i want to ensure someone gets the boons.

i’ll be frank and admit i don’t know how the ranking systems works in its entirety.. though, this might offer some explanation. there’s also a third variable in the whole ranking equation, and i am using this term loosely. so there’s you, the other team and winning or losing, which obviously can determine their rank.

then, there are the rest of us who are being ranked too. so without looking into the exact numbers (and especially since some info is hidden to us), it could also be that there were other people who’s ranking dropped way more than yours did. assuming yours stayed the same, or dropped by a teeny bit, perhaps others loss by a lot, to lower ranked or similar ranked people, thus “bumping” your ranking up.

just one thought.

like Chrisplosion (awesome name btw) said, you can keep transmuting it to other swords, thus preserving the “skin”. so you needn’t worry about losing it. : )) just be careful when you transmute and don’t accidentally pick any other skin over the super one and you’ll be able to keep it as long as you want.

and grats for the drop!

hmm what about passive skills that tick? i assume not though, since it’s “passive” and i’m under the impression that confusion hurts you when you “take action”.

downed warrior, “but i flex”

this is great thread.

i like how you have your hands on your hips and back turned towards him. i imagine you have a pout on your face as well.

that’s pretty crappy people take joy in doing this.. and seemingly nothing that can be done about it. yet. i guess with “PUGs”, you take the risk of joining up with people who just want to grief. is that considered proper usage of the term? i guess whatever floats their boat, or i like to say, sinks their ship. don’t get me wrong, i solo queue all the time as well. most i’ve dealt with in the past are ragequitting, or just ninjaquitting… unsure of what’s worse.

: ///

i think i am missing the OP. where did it go? :///

the stats look nice. will have to take a look in more detail.
for PvE/WvW builders – check out http://www.gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/guardian

: ))

all the best [EMP], [RE] and [NS]!!!
it’s been a blast fighting you guys. wishing you the best of luck!!
i know there are some great guilds / individuals on DB.D

hopefully we’ll cross paths again.

i think it’s fine as is… i play a Guardian and more often than not, i don’t have scepter or staff. and some will argue those aren’t even ranged weapons. most of the time, i’m sporting a mace too and find no problems getting a hit on those that do kite.

can’t speak for other classes.. but am sure most of a gap closer. ways to slow down your enemies. stop them in their tracks. there are other options too, like using LoS to stop any dmg, while you stay on point letting the points tick and not take dmg.

though, when there are no optiosn for that.. yes, some kiters can be annoying.

quick note, another thing to add maybe is perhaps leave the names of those who DID leave on the scoreboard, but greyed out or sth. just so people are more aware? actually. donno if that’d be a good thing. would onyl be beneficial if there were to be a reporting system.

but then again, you don’t aptly deal with those you happened to DC.

is it too sophisticated to perhaps ask for a system where it can tell if someone just DC-ed or the user actively chose to “leave”? and then the system acn put a cost on those who do choose to leave deliberately?

that’s a good question, bhagwad. i think i would definitely still play! though at the same time, i do find joy in working towards new ranks, new skins, new titles, etc. so if i had everything from the get go, i would love that and have a ton of fun. but would it be less rewarding to play? perhaps.

in the end, though, if they were to do away with leaderboards, titles, etc, i would still play a heckload i think. and the fact that everyone has “end-game” items to choose from, that’s where personality can come in then i suppose.