Guild Wars 2

getting this one back up there for people to see. everyone like the Peacekeeper video!!! lol. i wanna know Chris’ updated build. ; ))

again, needless to say, loved it. i kind of really enjoyed the new style of cutting in and out. the fight in the dark was intense. loved the countdown and GO! as well picking up with the stomp. in this video i really got to see the agility of this build (GS + sword combo specifically) and how you’re able to stay really tight on your targets. almost tempting me to switch out my weapons to try this out ; ))

p.s. just a small aesthetic suggestion as i almost saw it happen. would be kind of cool if you’re into cutting in and out of videos is to cut in and out of your channeling moves. i.e. end of one clip, you’re using WW, and then fade in and out and beginning of new clip you’re WW-ing as well. same as with ZD on sword. would be kind of a cool effect methinks.)

hmm you could argue for every person they are dueling against, that’s also one less invader, well, invading your world.

one thing to keep in mind regarding boon duration is how many seconds does it actually add to your boons? of course, certain boons are there and you get the full effect for the full duration, e.g. retal, stability, etc.. however many boons go off by ticks and if a certain percentage increase doesn’t give you an increase of up to over another full second, if i understand the game correctly, it won’t be rounded up. so you can do some quick math based on the boons and skills that you use most, how long is there initial duration for and the pro forma duration from adding 30%, or less, or more and go from there.

if you feel you’re in a good place thoug, stick with it and perfect the rest of it through rpactice and skill. : )))

whole heartedly agree with Amins. i’ve started to min/max stats and getting them where i want to be.. but trying to not get hung up on them. once you step on the field, stats will only do so much for you. if you can find a way to use certain rune bonus effects or utilities / combos effectively, focus on that instead.

regardless though, great stuff and always, thanks for the share. interested to see your new setup after switching to Lyssa runes. ; ))

retaliation can definitely be very strong and learning when to use it. i am still learning when to myself. if an opponent uses a single hit heavy hitter, for e.g. if you went against a high crit chance hammer Guard, your retal wouldn’t do you as much good vs multiplt hitting foes.

personal opinion, i wouldn’t build an entire spec around it, but i myself love incorporating retaliation into my builds. it’s a great passive effect and you can use it actively.. but i feel it’s just as if not more important to have a good build that can do without retal, and retal just further enhances it that much more.

if you worry about sacrificing too much power from the zeal line, you can always invest in a bloodlust item, get stacks and then switch to your regular weapon. as long as you can maintain not getting downed too often. which seems you’re able to do ; )) and thus you can build for more survivability. or hit harder. thus either way, dealing more dmg to your opponents.

i think all the writ traits have their place and time. larger is good if you’re running with a melee centric group. persistence is great if the enemies you’re fighting seem to be stationary for whatever reason (PvE may be better, PvP, people WILL move). though i think it’s useful for the extra ticks, dmg as well as you’re able to keep combo-ing for more. healing can also be very useful if you’re running a strong healing build and feel you need the extra heals.

hammer is so. much. fun. mroe WvW related, and well-known combo, but i love using Ring of Warding (#5) wait for about half cast and then use Judge’s Intervention on a foe so you trap them immediately. espcially useful if they’re running already because they’ll just run into the ring and fall over. use Mighty Blow (#2) to trigger a AoE retal and a heavy hit, and then use #4 to knock ’em into the wall of the Ring and watch them flop around again. then play down the #1 chain and keep MB-ing them. or switch to another weapon and deal more dmg.

another thing is learn to get used to the timing with the #1 attack chain. when the symbol drops and how you can place it. learn to swich targets before the 3rd hit + symbol connects to place them in more “strategic locatiosn”. for e.g. if you have 3 enemies on one mob, and you got your first two hits on another mob slightly further away. you can reposition yourself, even using a dodge, between the 2nd and 3rd hit to switch targets, hit the mob with your allies around, so they all benefit from the symbol, the AoE retal combo if you would, etc etc.

zealot’s embrace (#3) can be useful too and know that it can hit multiple foes in a straight lien though. so get practicing to lining yourself up before the chains fly out.

NPC’s can’t be knocked off edges, cliffs, but in WvW / PvP, again, cue Banish #4, and then use Judge’s Intervention and surprise knock someone off a cliffD fun times.

can’t wait to check out the new video Chris! i played a variation of the Healway build against a shatter mesmer the other day and the first few fights, i felt was doing alright.. but a couple more duels and was getting rocked. :/// i then realized i still have SO MUCH more to learn. just wanted to say your videos do help a lot and inspire.

/signed

other than having 15 characters.. i do agree with this and could add a lot more to customizability in terms of players stats and builds, showing diversity.

pretty interesting idea and would allow end-users to really learn their class, stats and the game.

iirc, this is a bug due to the system somehow taking into account the runes on your sPvP gear. thus why it’s showing 7/6, etc etc. if you slot it, visually it might actually say 7/6 but you should only have 1 and should receive all rune benefits.

you can easily cross check with your stats when you apply them. though i don’t remember if there’s a way to remedy this. hope this helps.

ah, okay, hope i was able to answer our question then. discovery yields the most exp in terms of leveling up your crafting. and remember if you wanna make the same item again, look under the crafting tab. in the beginning, i thought it was bugged for the longest time, cause i couldn’t “discover” it again. which… makes sense. lol

it’s not too bad! i enjoy crafting too. and you get 10 actual levels for every 1 – 400 craft. and i like being able to make stuff for myself : ))

grats on hitting 80! ; ))

0/0/30/20/20 can be seen as a “defensive” build. but with the right traits / gear, you can still hit hard. it’s not a bad trait setup and i have one build that runs exactly that.

i remember when i hit 80, the armor choices were daunting and i wasn’t sure what to do at all. so don’t worry and don’t rush. take your time and rule number 1: never forget how to enjoy the game!

that being said, i went from a mix of greens and blues to slowly getting a full set of rare armor, piece by piece. i also invested as soon as i could in exotic weapons, because at that point, going to an exotic weapon wa a shuge DPS increase – kill faster = more money, less dmg against you, etc etc. then i started to work towards full exotic sets.

i went for all Knight’s armor to start with. high toughness (which will help you with your armor), some power and precision. many Guards sort of set the armor benchmark to be around 3k, which is around 1.8k toughness. then you can tweak up and down depending on your play style.

if you feel you’re dying a lot, you can try to go for Soldiers / Power Toughness Vitality armor – which you can get from the AC, SE and HotW dungeons, as well as using karma (42k a pop) at the various Temple karma vanders after clearing the temples in Orr (lvl 80 zones).

then once you find a play style you enjoy, you can start to experiment with more combinations. as a starting point, full knight’s with soldier chest and pants is quite survivable.

but even more important than gear, learn to dodge from the big hits! the more dungeons you do, the more you’ll be able to tell which hits are going to hurt the most and you can completely avoid those. positioning can be important too, don’t stand in the middle of 5 – 6 dungeon mobs, hoping to survive without actively and mitigating dmg proactively. we have a ton of blinds, blocks, stability to help us survive. also, using Line of Sight can help a lot as well so be aware of your surroundings and use them to youer advantage!

this was kind of all over the place, but hope it helps. there are a variety of Builds posted on this sub-forum by many vet and knowledgeable Guards that you can take a look at.

• Brutaly’s AH and Crithammer guide (see stickied)
• Silentstorm’s Paladin
• Blasino’s Allpa (which is geared towards fresh 80’s so you can check that out)
• Harbinger’s Paragon

which i feel are all very “hybrid”, low learning curve, highly effective builds. keep looking as there are a lot more guides out there and Guards and you can take a look at as you keep getting ebtter and better at the Guardian ; )))

it’s a sturdy class, but takes some learning and effort to play effectively!

it’s good that you understand the builds. i’d start from choosing a build that you enjoy and want to focus on, then to start building your gear around that.

typically, other than having a focus on healing power or any other non-primary stats… a mix of Knight’s Valkyrie Berserker and Soldier would be good. since you’re not going all out zerker, you can slot in crit damage in the spots where you give up the least amount of stat points per 1% added crit damage, starting with trinket upgrade slots.

then take into account what runes or upgrades you want as well. if you’re into raw numbers, orbs would probs be best. i have two builds, and just switching the runes to a mix of emerald orbs and ruby orbs, i can increase both dmg and armor by a little. though i am stubborn, lol, and want to keep the runes for “concept” or background reasons for my character.

then lastly, sigils and food can also make a huge difference to your build and there are a lot to choose from there to tweak.

haha, Brutaly, i am trying to hard to hit those stats! i can only get close though. ; ))
though i have to say, i’ve started experimenting (on a spreadsheet) with a mix of emerald and ruby orbs as armor ugprades and the results seem extremely promising. while using knight’s, valkyrie, some berserker and soldier for actualy gear pieces, you can come up with a LOT of stat combinations as long as you’re not hung up on certain rune bonus or special effects.

@Theldrin – glad to hear! i’ve just started a necro as well and it’s been super fun (after playing my Guardian exclusively for who knows how long).

to answer your question, are you talking about runes? or actual insignias (what you can craft from the crafting stations)?

remember general rule of thumb, most gear will have level requirements, including what runes or upgrades you can slot into your gear. for e.g. if the gear you have is lvl 20 and the rune or upgrade you want to use has a level reuirement of 40, you won’t be able to use it.

and insignias are used to craft items with specific stats. and you can do so in the discovery panel (top left tab of crafting panel) if you’ve never created that specific item before. then after you have, you cann always find it in the crafting tab (2nd tab on left iirc). so if you wanted to craft say a pair of gloves with stats a, b, and c. you’d craft the necessary components needed to craft a glove, craft the insignia with stats a, b, and c, then go to the discovery panel and you can put all three together.

hope this makes sense. and was just trying to cover all ground.

pretty nifty! that is a huge difference in terms of the extra damage you’ll be doing. :OO but like you said, there’s a tradeoff between DPS and staying alive. i did some quick calcs on the damage dealt over time and 1hs will win out by ~25 in terms of raw DPS. and i havne’t took into account trait dmg mods for this.

the 15% crit chance is tempting, plus another 10% dmg. i personally can’t give up the utility from having both hammer ad the GS though :PPP you had sword/focus as both weapon sets in the build, but glad you mentioned GS + S/F combo. that gives you multiple blinds which help your survivability. plus another blind everytime someone dies. so timing your blinds right you can majorly disrupt a zerg quite a bit as long as you have backup with you.

though you’ve pointed out yourself, in T2, you’ll be seeing big groups just as much as small groups, so i feel the 2h-ed build wins. but as long as you don’t mind respeccing every so often (which i do myself) you can always start with 1hs and if map gets populated, bring out the 2h heavy hitter.

ahh that’s a tough call. i’ll take a look at the calc later as well, but does it take into account the dmg modifiers we get through traits? fiery wrath, radiant power, elusive power, etc?

RHS seems to add a lot and i’ve been messing around with some stats on paper. of course, in practice it may be a different story.. though i feel a special affinity twds 2hers. do you feel you’ll miss out on some survivability though? and would you swap to AH instead of MF since you have a much higher crit rate, thus, more chances for on-crit procs = healing, other benefits, etc

will ahve to look for that vid of Chris’ then. ; )) i’m known for dodging off places as wel. :PP need to fix that.

hey Blasino! just checked this out. you did point out it’s not “optimized”, so i’m not too hung up by the disparity between crit chance and damage. and this is a good use of sigil of intelligence. bearing in mind that this is a setup for those who are fresh hitting 80 or close, it’s a good build. survivable from the looks of it and hits decently through high base power and some built in modifiers.

i took a quick look at sigil of force for greatsword instead, but of course, if you can maintain the stacks, bloodlust will be more effective.

woot! grats, Bash. and nice stats! ; ))) glad i was able to help a bit in the little ways that i could. the beryl amulet does work in favor for your build setup.

which skins are you planning to go for?D i love weapon skinssss lol.

let’s see some videos now!

i have a build that i have hammer main weapon set and mace / shield as my off set. offers a LOT of control and great for yak duties and most people can’t even come close and just leave.

i use this weapon combo when i’m feeling “tanky”, if you will.

though comparing the two, hammer is good for overall damage obviously, and #3, 4, 5 offer great control and in a sense, support. #1 protection symbol plus blast finish AoE retal is very useful in a small group as well or in a melee-centric group. mace is very nice with the heals. again, benefits most to a melee centric group. symbol is also nice with heals. pretty decent if you trait for symbols as well (either longer lasting, larger, healing or a mix or any of them). 3 is a nice block as well for in the thick of things. shield #5 is just an awesome skill. if i can afford to , i’d take the shield trait when wielding a shield.

is it general consensus that most people are going for the utility slotted gear for this?

back on topic, i’d go with either karmic or gilded based on what you enjoy doing more. and also, ir karmic does indeed stack with other boosts. though even if it didn’t, it’d be nice to have since you do so many events if you do PvE / WvW a lot.

mobs in open world do drop coins, but not as often or reliably as dungeon mobs do.

it’s been a while since i’ve been abel to log on. :PPP
scores aside, hope to get in some good fights before the week ends. if not, i’m keeping the weekend as open as possible!

i love shelter. we also have more than a handful of traits that benefit us on blocks. if used right, you can actually mitigate dmg, heal and deal dmg to your foes when under a barrage of attacks.

of course, vs unblockable attacks it doesn’t work well. but then again, wouldn’t the signet heal be interrupted as well?

and i practice to not only use it when i’m about to down. use it earlier on, so you can withstand more, stay a live longer, and by the time you need it again you gave it that much more time to be off CD again.

i love using it in tandem with renewed focus when i need to get in a tower or keep heavily under attack.

i think it can be a bit tricky with Save Yourselves, unless if you’ve been able to exclusively test it with no allies around since you’re drawing conditions to yourself when you activate this shout.

also, since SY gives so many boons as well, sicne this trait isn’t seemingly working as intended, we don’t know if the conversion boon would stack with any existing boons on us already.

i still use it sometimes, even though it might be buggy, but waiting for the day ANet fixes it or explainsi n more detail how it’s supposed to work.

@Xavi – it’s meant to be that way, if i understand you correctly. : ))

Brutaly essentially laid out the trait points distribution that serve this build well, but is not saying you must use specific traits for the builds to work. which is great – because (1) it allows each player to mix and match their own preferred play style, and (2) it in a sense makes us learn the class better by thinking and experimenting and hopefully be able to further improve upon this build or the class in general.

there are probably more points lol

i believe Amins was talkign about Sigil of Blood – gives chance to lifesteal on crits, which i’ve heard stacks with the chance from the food as well (Omnom pies or ghosts)

Bloodlust is good too though, but usually you’d have another weapon to switch abck to after you’ve built up your stacks.

/sign

the only use i’ve had with it so far is when i get stuck in the environment, other options don’t work, i don’t wanna WP (usually in dungeon), no mobs around, so i tell my buddies to come close and i MI out (even that’s not full proof, due to the randomness as mentioned)

i think have them in mind, know what you can give up on certain stats to make up with using certain foods. or, know how a certain build can be made even better with food, but i don’t go out of my way to build gear and traits around food.

i see food more as a supplment. that, like many have said, cann really make or break a build. here’s the order i usually try to build:

concept —> traits —> gear / runes —> sigils / food

but definitely always run with food (and don’t forget oils / stones, etc!), no matter what content i’m doing (apart from harvesting stuff lol)

sweet, thanks, Amins! will check it out soon. ; )))

and yes, go back to the old system until we find a better one!

Dristig.9678:

I have some Karma banked. Is there a Karma vendor that sells Power/Toughness gear? I feel like the 300 toughness I’m missing is a big part of the problem.

if you’re looking for Soldier’s gear (pow/Tough/Vit) gear, you can definitely pick some up with Karma. The Temple’s in Orr when non-cotested will have a karma vendor and you can get PVT gear from them for 42k a pop.

this link should have all the info you need:
http://dulfy.net/2012/09/08/gw2-templegod-karma-armor-sets/

hope this helps!

: (((
a BSOD while WvW-ing is what can almost consistently, inevitably send me to sleep and not get back on.

can’t SS right now, and based on my own calculations (though should be pretty accurate ><) i have about 5 working builds.. lol and here are 3 of them for now.

Assume Hammer as main weapon set in all cases. stats all buffed with nourishment/traits, not sigils.

Wolfborn
Tanky hybrid
0/0/30/30/10

Attack: 3,015
Crit Chance: 44%
Crit Damage: 58%
Armor: 3,163
Health: 17,135
Healing Power: 350

Go to build for solid WvW and PvE / Dungeons. Haven’t played this in a while since have been messing around with other builds. titled Wolfborn, running with Rune of the Pack, mainly Norn T3 wolfborn weps, and a off-black and white dye scheme to fit all lol so could probs tinker more with the stats but i love the theme.

Redemption
Healer, boon duration
(i) 0/0/10/30/30 or (ii) 0/15/0/25/30
Following stats based on (ii)

Attack: 2,886
Crit Chance: 12% negligible
Crit Damage: iirc, 3% lol negligible
Armor: 2,810
Health: 14,165
Healing Power: 14,165
Boon duration: 60%

Low armor and health countered by high healing / regen and long lasting boons. Also, (i) stats are better, but i like playing with the extra blinds when facing zergs. : ))

Fiery Affliction
Angry “DPS” build
20/0/30/20/0/0

Attack: 3,409
Crit Chance: 33%
Crit Damage: 77%
Armor: 2,918
Health: 16,055
Healing Power: 200

Conditions are a pain sometimes. Still testing survivability of this build though having a lot of fun so constantly looking to improve it. Defs strong roaming or in small coordinated groups.

glad to hear, Bash. any chance to get to see this build in action? ; )) agree on the hammer. the builds i come up with almost always has to have a spot for the hammer.

hmm, agree regarding crit chance % vs power and crit dmg. i guess it depends on what effects your build can get from critting more frequently as well. but for dmg purposes, power and crit dmg is the way to go.

using the gear choices Blasino provided as a base, the following should be able to up your crit dmg a bit.

Helm – Knight
Shoulders – Valkyrie
Chest – Knight
Gloves – Valkyrie
Pants – Knight
Boots – Valkyrie

Back – Rare Soldier + Beryl jewel
Amulet – Beryl + Beryl jewel
Earrings – Ruby + Ruby jewels
Rings – Emerald + Beryl jewels

Weapons – Valkyrie

Retributive Armor, Sharpening Stones, and same food / runes.

if my math is correct, you should have:

2,277 Power / 3,300+ Attack (assuming you’re using GS and Hammer)
~30% Crit chance
~74% Crit dmg
2,955 Armor
14,905 HP

let me know and i can help you craft some valk armor ; )) put my smith to good use lol

very interesting build! and i love the names of the builds that you have. : )) nice to see that you’re tying in personal culture as well as seems most fitting for the Guardian profession.

at first gance the HP seemed a bit low for my taste, although when taken into account decent high healing power and your regen numbers (as well as various mitigation usage), it’s at a good spot.

love that you added “options” for those who may want to try things a little differently to suit their own playing styles.

staff 1 behind gate vs rams = easymode.

never thought of that or compared though. staff is AoE as well!

conditions being a non-issue is definitely more than welcome in WvW. will have to check it out.

@Amins, Bash and any other “power” / DPS Guards – so even with a crit chance of around 30% is alright? and Amins you mentioend a sweet spot of 3.2k pow and 75% crit dmg, though do you need a higher crit chance for the crit dmg to be most effective? my “DPS” build has a simialr set up so i know for a fact that it hits hard, but i guess i’m just digging through numbers and seeing if there’s a similar sweet spot for crit chance and crit dmg.

again, very nice, Bash! love how your builds keep evolving. i like the use of the signet in this case and taking MF over AH, since you’re keen on using JI and also Smite for another condi removal and AoE dmg.

i’m sitll tinkering with a “power” build of mine and may also have to steal a a few ideas from you here and there. ; )) seems more Guards are using melandru and lemongrass poultry. does it realyl make a huge difference? if so, might have to spend some karma. :OO

can’t wait to check this out. just started leveling my Necro and no doubt will be going the power route. since there seem to be more than a few Necro-vets in there, any guidance as to how i should level up? or just play the necro as is and then worrya bout gearing up when i hit hit 80+? currently still unlocking all skills and trying to use them.

in terms of stats, going for power as main stat, and then toughness and vit when i can.

heh, leveling my Necro now and this seems fun. i’ve almost exclusively played my Guardian since and as it stands, the Necro is the only other class that interests me. so far having a ton of fun. always looking to do PvE but mainly looking for WvW for this.

will send you guys a message when i’m there!

p.s. the chosen names are to die for! or.. un-die for…. hmmm.

Mikitten058:

kuora.5402:

2 more days T-T

Some people know what I’m talking about -3-

Just remember we will kill you.
We will hunt you with love Elrenia.

looking forward to it >:DD

and by no means think that hammer can’t do damage! it’s my weapon of choice. of course i play with all other weapons as well, but in the 5 – 6 builds i’ve messed around / tried, the hammer always has a place. : ))

but what Ynna said. start learning how to dodge early and the basics of combat of gw2 become second nature to you. and always be mobile. also, as you level up and gain more skills, access to traits, etc. it’s fun trying to figure out what traits work well with what stats and weapon skills, etc – all of which can be tuned to deal more overall DMG, or increase your survivability.

but that’s the beauty of WvW…. no? ; )))

you fall, get up and climb back up again, and you’re better than ever. bringing new things to the field. really looking forward to the major WvW updates and hoping they’ll really enhance the gameplay and not just embellish it with fancy stuff (not that i mind those either). really learning to love WvW.

a major tip of the stag helm to [CDS] and my fellow server mates!

to each their own. who says mace users strictly kill slowly? ; ))

shh, don’t tell. just theorycrafting while having a slow day at work. wish i could test in-game right now.

lol, compared to Christos’ build, anything is squishy XDD and right, signets take time to activate. :PP yea lately, been in some pretty condition intense fights and it’s rough not having some condition remove on command and can take out multiple at once.

i’ve done a small variation and tried running a 20/0/30/20/0 build for the added HP and reduced CD on shouts and 2hers. you lose zealous blades but the extra HP helps. still able to get pretty big hits and down people fast enough. though condition is tough again. gotta be smart with cleansing combo with the GS or add on sigils like you do.

ahh, good point SchuMidas – the long CD on rage would affect both hydromancy and ice. somehow i brushed Rage as not effecting the others because of the “lower proc rate”. not awake yet.

but yes, Sorem, i try not to mix on-swap or on-crit sigils in the same weaponsets. but as long as it works for ya. definitely agree – chill is one of my favorite “conditions” in this game thus far.

had a quick question.
say on my MH i have Chilling, on my OH i have Hydromancy.

Chilling increases duration when you inflict “chill”. technically, i’m inflicting chill when i weapon swap using Hydromancy.

can anyone confirm if Chilling would increase the duration on the chill from Hydromancy in the same MH/OH weapon set? : ))

heh recently switched one of my builds to be sth similar to this. 0/15/0/25/30 to go full into virtues to pick up both absolute resolution and indomitable courage – which i find priceless in WvW.

due to the increased boon duration, you won’t even notice a big difference in terms of survivability comparing strictly to any given AH build. least, that’s how it feels. good stuff!

@Blasino – do you mind elaborating the crit dmg list that you put together? i.e. how did you come to these conclusions. [edit: oops, misunderstood sth. so this can in a sense be seen as basically the least amount of stats you give up for crit dmg % on gear, yes? :PP]

@OP – heh, JQ i see. wonder if i’ve ever run into you. seems like a fun build! quick question though – won’t your sigils offset one another with CD’s? i guess Rage is okay since it’s on a 45s cooldown and procrate is lower. but do you feel ice and hydromancy ever clash? since ice won’t be able to trigger until after the CD on hydromancy is off. though, i tend to switch weapons a lot. :PP

For GS:
i personally quite like Strength.

not sure about blood but i have heard people use it with hammer. along with omnomberry pie / ghosts which really boosts the lifesteal capabilities.

for DPS a lot of people like using Fire and Air as well.

Scepter/Focus:
i’d throw in a sigil of accuracy in either the MH or OH here.
and i know this isn’t directly DPS related, but if you’re running mh and oh, sigil of energy is a good choice too, since you get pretty much an extra dodge on swap. which can be useful.

just to add a little, i use Rune of the Pack with similar stats compared to Harbinger’s build here. : ))) partially because my build is named “Wolfborn” with Norn cultutal and wolfborn weapons, lol, the Pack just seemed to fit. so i had to make some tweaks in gear / trinkets to hit similar stats. and i have to say i love it.

getting Fury on a Guard and having that wolf howl over my head is always more fun to boot as well. ; ))