Guild Wars 2

hmm, i assume they’ll eventually add Knight’s (and other gear like Cleric’s) to ascended in the future. at least i hope so. currently running exotics now and don’t feel the need to get ascended yet…

PowPreTough is definitely one of the best sets of gear for a staple AH build. hopefully we’ll see some soon.

@Immolator – i am a huge crit fan, but this build virtually has no crit chance at all, so i completely gave that up and tried to focus more on power in order to do dmg. and vigor is good when you get it but again due to low crit chance, that’s why energy sigils are almost a must for this build. you can also look into endurance regen food.

i had a mix of soldier’s (PVT), magi and cleric’s and now slowly moving towards strictly cleric’s. the added vitality was nice from magi’s but the precision wasn’t enough to make a notable difference so just ended up being a “wasted stat”.

vitality vs toughness. i feel toughness should be held slightly higher in regards to this build. toughness might not deal with condition dmg etc but with high healing, you’re ideally able to outheal the dmg you’re taking, so like you entioned, a small health pool is not that bad in this case. though i’d try to balance it a bit. i’m sticking with one piece of soldier’s gear at the moment for the little health buff. and power and toughness is always welcome, without giving up too much healing power. in essence, the high toughness allows you to take more direct dmg, which as a Guard, i feel i take a lot as well. so add that with high healing, and a smaller healthpool, you’re more able to play effectively.

i want to say the latter is correct. as it highly depends on how you want to play and spec out your Guardian. : )) what sort of build have you been playing so far?

a lot of Guards will spec deep into Valor and Honor. most specifically Valor (300 toughness AND 30% crit dmg to boot). and either grandmaster trait allows for high survivability.

in general Guardians last long, and deliver strong sustained dmg over time. though, of course you can build to be “bursty”, note, as a Guard. and i’ve seen some do it VERY well.

so also depends on what content you’re going to play. general PvE? dungeons? WvW? PvP?

i personally think Knight’s is a great starting point. a lot of Guards (or players in general) like Soldier’s as well (Power/Toughness/Vitality). a few threads i urge you to check out:

Brutaly’s Hammer and Altruistic Healing Guide:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/Guide-Hammer-and-Altruistic-Healing-gameplay/first

Chris’ Healway Guardian:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/WvW-PvE-The-Healway-Guardian/first

A few threads of Guardians i LOVE watching (strictly WvW but awesome and variety of builds):
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/MOVIES-Hammer-Guardian-in-Roaming-WvW/first

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/PVP-Videos-GS-Hammer-in-group-WvW-with-no-AH/first#post1303162

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/New-1-23-Videos-WvW-DPS-builds/first#post1282315

i personally love both weapons. they offer different utilities so you use them in different situations if you can predict what you’re going to be up against. i am an avid hammer user and i feel it’s the best weapon for ME as a Guardian. iw ouldn’t give it up for anything. though there have been times that i wish i had a greatsword, or a scepter even. sometimes it does depend on the situation.

i don’t see the point in arguing numbers. yes WW can hit for a lot. so can MB. i choose hammer because it’s what i feel best with. it’s easily one of the most versatile weapons in the game from my PoV.

the thing is, i am sure many of the Guards speaking in here don’t strictly stick to one set of utilities either. they’ll change their sets and skills depending on the situation. the game allows us to do so, so why not? i’m sure most of the “good” Guardians even switch weapons sets and traits within ONE dungeon run. hard to believe, eh? sure, not all Guardians run “support” only. but by staying alive, they’re doing DPS as well. so might i ask, what you would do if you went into a group without a Guardian? so you quit and leave because you don’t get regen and protection? i like to think i play “offensively”. and mark my words, if i can, i will heal you, give you boons, throw an aegis on you, remove your conditions in any way that i can, but that is not ALL i am going to do.

renewed focus is GREAT. i can area blind, area heal, area block, and then after a few seconds, i can do all of that again. how is that not “support”? and like Bash mentioned, more added utility. if specced right Absolute Resolution removes 3 conditions. THREE upon activation, while with battle presence, the passive effect of regen still works on allies. so how is renewed focus not a strong skill?

just saying. it’s not the utility or skill that depicts what a Guardian does. but the player themselves.

and PUG = / = bad players.

well done again, Obal! a lot to be learned from this vid (and your others). very patient and steady gameplay. way to stay composed throughout the fight.

true it may not be as fast as a war, but depending how you see it, it’s an even greater feat. just goes to highlight some of the strengths and weaknesses of the two classes, if one wants to compare. Guardians, by now, sort of, are known for their ability to stay alive and standing, while doing sustained dmg over time.

i’d want to say strike a balance – and have certain aspects lean towards your personal play style. toughness may not be needed AS much in PvPs, but it still helps a lot. though you get more room to tinker with other stats.

i see the uses for PVT, but it’s never going to be a major part of my gear make-up. then again, i enjoy my crits so PVT might be the set for you. what i did was find a build that i enjoyed, runes included, then work my gear around it to balance things out, highlight the strengths of cover up the weaknesses.

Ganzo.5079:

Hicci.8761:

staff, “retreat” and “save yourself”. Also if u get boon duration runes and trait into virtues there’s your perma-swiftness.

Then use the other weapon and the last utility you have to avoid a certain death.

heh, one of the builds i run is an AH build with hammer and staff. i have those 2 shouts slotted normally and when i am running around, if these are both on CD, or even just one, and i run into someone, it sucks starting a fight off with over half your utilities on hold already. XPPP

@OP – you could look into Runes of Speed. i’ve heard they’re quite nice if you want to have swiftness. personally not worth giving up all the other stat combos you can get with runes though.

perhaps this is the psychology major in me speaking out loud now. some interesting observations i’ve made.. including my own sentiments.

so i’m on SoR. the wifey and i chose Sanctum of Rall during early headstart. only cause we thought it sounded cool. then later finding out what the name represented. then we met a bunch of great friends and guildies now. i WvW as much as i can.. and while i have had moments of triumph as well as defeat, i never /laugh or /dance while in WvW, and definitely not at opponents. not saying to do so is wrong, but it can be taken the wrong way, depending on the individual who was at the “receiving end” of such emotes. so when people acuse SoR of being “that server”, a little bit of the big ol’ Norn that i am dies inside. and i want to refute saying, “but that’s not the actions of the server! don’t hate us!” holding on to the commonplace argument that “an individual’s (or several or small group’s) actions does not represent the server / world at large”

while at the same time, call SoR my home. and i do hold the notion that i am proud. in a sense, i am embracing all that SoR is.. and does this include what everyone on SoR does? does this include the perception from other worlds? perhaps. i don’t know. because i’m honestly not putting THAT much thought into this. but interesting nonetheless. server pride. homeworld pride. standing up for your own server. but must it be done by putting others down? on the other hand, we’ve seen individuals within servers argue their stance as well. or put others who are out of line in place as well.

so nowhere is where i’m going with this. just wanted to type it out. one more hour until off work!

Kerithlan.1659:

akamon.2769:

so when’s the parade going on again? or any more picnics?

Sent you a guild invite to Team Dolyak [DOLY].

:OOO thank you!
though, am GMT+8. will see if i can catch you folk!

Brutaly for President! Emperor! King!

silliness aside. great review, great write-up, great discussion.

just keepinng this short – LOVE the suggestions you have regarding aegis and retaliation.

aegis while it’s gone after blocking one attack, it doesn’t make sense to stack in duration. in some cases perhaps, but i’m not going to apply it in antipation for an attack that may or may not come in 20s. not am i going to apply it twice if i know “both” will be gone in one hit. stacking in intensity only makes sense.

retaliation as viable as it sitll is and i love it as it’s saved my butt and won me battles in WvW before, i will agree it’s sort of passive. sure i have ways to apply it, and i do keep an eye on it and react accordingly at times, but it seems almost TOO passive and lazy if you will. the changes you mention could add a lot to gameplay.

the only thing i felt was a LITTLE too aggressive were the dmg increase traits or CD reductiosn that applied to all 2h, 1h or offhand weps. as much as i’d love that, could it be a little too much? although would open up a WHOLE lot more doors and viable builds for the Guard and not being stuck in 30/30.

looking forward to more, and hopefully this takes off on good grounding and that ANet can take what they will from these discussions that as as end-users conduct. : ))

love the Guardian community. keep the fight up!

woah, the passive stays on even after activation? does this only apply to allies? even then, that brings BP to another level for me. i do love playing a supportive character as best as i can. often roaming in small groups more than not recently and can be useful. will have to try it out.

am looking fwd to the ascended gear being further fleshed out. but until then.

nice hydromancy is a sigil i’ve always been a fan of and building something around it. heh.

speed is a good one. i’ll have to look into that.

5% is quite small. hmmm, and if not 10%, a 5% increase with some sort of added effect would be nice, let it be reduction of cooldowns or what not. hopefully the mace can get a bit more love as it is a very solid weapon. mixes very well with both shield or focus, depending on if you wanna go more group or solo oriented play.

quick ques – what do mace users slot in for the sigil? and usualyl with what offhand / sigil combination?

i’ve grown to be quite a fan and when i am sporting the mace, i do plan to switch to this trait perhaps. and the mace CAN hit hard when specced for it. it’s great fun as well.

nice. quick follow-up question re: BP. so essentially, nearby allies more or less “have” VoR and all added effects as well? i.e. can only assume, if i activate it, then they lose the passive as well?

and i was waiting to see if they’d add healing power to ascended trinkets. but i guess no luck for now. : /// i’ve never really bothered with ascended yet so far either. gonna take a further wait and see approach.

slightly related, wanted to add i finally switched to pretty much almost full clerics and the difference IS rather noticeable. not saying it won’t work without full cleric’s, but it does make a difference. will slowly be working to max out the set now.

@DamagePlan – glad you found the guide so useful! i did as well so i try to contribute as much as possible. and always up for sharing with other Guardians.

i know what you mean about the gear choices. then throw in builds, traits, sigils, runes… i have about 3, 4 variations of an AH build. and more outside of it lol and i still am not super set on one. i keep changing and have so many sets of armour now. but that’s one of the beauties of this game i feel.

that being said, if you want to use karma, like Brutaly said, go for PVT (Soldier’s) gear and Soldier’s runes are always a good start for an AH build.

i’d suggest taking Retributive Armor as well in Valor (precision from toughness) to add more crit chance since you’re sporting PowVitTough gear.

i personally went with all knight’s gear, knight’s jewels and a mix of berserker or knight’s weapons. i then went and got a PVT set and felt it didn’t work as well for me. though everyone’s different : )) then i slowly started mixing in berserker’s jewelry / gear the more i got used to the build. also changed my runes to be more “offensive” as well.

i also loved running hammer with staff using AH. staff #4 was always a good mini-massive heal dependig on how many allies are around you and adds a ton of dmg. switch back to hammer and you hit hard.

[added: oops! forgot to mention. regarding 2h mastery.. i personally love it. but i choose depending what weapons i plan to use and in what situation. for e.g. if it’s an easier dungeon, i’ll go with empowering might (i never felt not running with this drastically affected the heals i was getting either). if i’m in WvW, i might stick with PoV since there’s a higher chance of being inflicted with conditions, if i’m running hammer and a MH/OH set, i most likely won’t run with 2hmastery. though i will if i am sporting both hammer and GS or staff, etc etc… i think writ of exaltation or writ of the merciful can be extremely strong as well, in both group and solo situations, namely in PvE. so mess around with all of the traits. i think when you max out Honor it’s a very strong line to play with. especially with the hammer or anything symbol heavy. hope this helps!]

i have about.. 5 builds in my head now. 3 that i actively play, 2 that are being tested out. some variations of AH or MF. at the same time, some have minimal involvement or barely any in the valor line at all. sure you may feel you HAVE TO INVEST in that line, but if you can find something else that works, why not go for it?

is it me or do the threads on here reshuffle themselves every so often? anyhoo.

so the little one has proved to be a formidable foe. lol. now i’m back at work, i will try to take some time out of the weekend to play. hopefully ic an make it before that though!

so when’s the parade going on again? or any more picnics?

heh, as been said… i’m a Guardian. if i see a bow, i will pick it up most likely regardless lol

others, not so much but it kinda feels cool holding “volcanus” or “mjolnir” at times ; ))

notebene, it’ll be around where you “evaded” or above your character. similar to healing text (green) or dmg text you do to enemies or blocks.

i’ve read that the young karkas projectile attack can yield easy dodges. trick is to dodge towards them when they attack and you should get a good 3+ evades that way.

Kerithlan.1659:

akamon.2769:

:DDD thanks so much!! super ecstatic here. thinking of starting a character based off of him and show him 18 years down the road lol

Not sure how I’d feel about that if I was you, as people would be killing my kid. A digital proxy sure, but I mean, that seems a little bit like something I’d not want to happen.

:OOO
i’ll just have to not die then, eh? ; ))

okay, you’ve changed my mind. XDD

has anyone here tried out Battle Presence since the fix? going down 30 deep the virtues line, AR is almost a must have for me and can really add utility in a group setting if you so desire using this build. depending on how much healing power you have, you could keep your allies (600 range?) health up decently. plus 3 conditions removed to boot when activated for you and allies nearby (according to wiki).

though that would leave a little less choice for condi removal (as bugged as PoV is). thoughts?

the reset will be quite interesting i must say. definitely was not expecting that. the top tiers at least seemed to be setting in place. but like many have said, there will be fierce battles to be had in the coming times.

i guess only time will tell and hope this works out best for gw2 as a whole. WvW really is the most fun i’ve had with any game for a looong time to come. i’m not a PvP fan but i’m excited to jump into WvW. hope this really plays out to be something even greater.

Jayne.9251:

Akamon! Congratulations on your new baby! Getting any sleep? hehe.

You must be over the moon

:DDD thanks so much!! super ecstatic here. thinking of starting a character based off of him and show him 18 years down the road lol

“this is what i thought of you son”. will let you folk know if little Zac ever graces the battlground or borderlands ; ))

what is sleep? ha, kidding aside, he’s quite well-behaved. only thing, he seems to have inherited his Dad’s night-owl-ness

this update just seemed so strange. perhaps, they are planning for something bigger. one of the things that attracted me towards the Guardian in the very beginning was the fact that they had spirit weapons and seemingly more interesting utilities (chose Guard over War as i’m “melee” and heavy class at heart) and tested them. were meh. was hoping for ANet to fix them one day or have them more viable.. but i guess even that seems lost for now.

that being said… battle presence fix is neat! so is empower. can’t wait to test these out. on a similar note, when will PoV be fixed?

i quite enjoy and look forward to class patch notes. donno why.. but this one for the Guardian has been slightly, underwhelming, if you will.

regardless of everything going on, just wanted to say every fight i’ve been in i’ve had good fights to be had – to both TC and SBI! regardless of if it was a 1v1 when we caught one another solo-roaming, small scale skirmishes or when i wsa part of a zerg knocking on your door, or if i got caught in one of your trains.

there were more than a handful of skilled and fun players i’ve encountered with the little time i’ve had to log on. just had our first son and he is so frigging precious. ; ))) so my time is more dedicated to the little one for now. though i still am blessed enough to get back into the game when i can and always look forward to fighting you lot.

to all TC-ers, i can’t apologize on people’s behalfs (spelling?), but hope you know that things that are said on here are not out of malice. at least, that is not meant by the server at large. what i do love and can appreciate is that we all have server pride (those who jump around is another story, but again, in life, everyone has their own story, so who are we to judge?), and it shows. it can be a beautiful thing! but let’s not let it get in the way of one thing that we all have in common, regardless of tier, of server, of timezone – the love and passion to game, to live in a made up world that can be so real, to be competitive and have fun.

overall, i don’t know anyone personally from TC, but i frigging love the vibe of you guys. i hope to visit with the new guesting feature if and when i can. you lot never give up (it’s truuueeeee!!!) and you keep improving and implementaing new tactics. so keep your heads up and in your heart of hearts hold on to what keeps you guys going. though i’m sure none of you needed me to tell you that.

to SBI – to those that are still fighting the good fight. keep it up! i will say, i’ve run into more SBI than TC in this match-up, so most of the fights i’ve had were against you guys. and a ton of fun. been learning a lot throughout. ton of 1v1’s, 2v2’s and other small scale battles against you all as well. wherever you may end up, good luck! get your grounding again and hopefully we’ll be able to match up again soon enough. you guys are a strong server and looking forward to seeing a bigger, better SBI in the near future.

SoR – what can i say. firstborn to the Sanctum and will never leave. you’ve all come such a looong way and thanks for always having me felt welcome and along for the ride, regardless of how many times i’ve logged o before, regardless of how skilled i was. know that i’ll do my darned best each time i hit “B” and travel to the Mists to fight along you all, regardless of the circumstances. i’m still learning every day, so much apprecaited to those that accommodate me and bear with me. a tip of my stag helm to you all. and yes, this darn thing is heavy, but i’ll tip my helm to each and every one of you.

i know it’s not easy times for many. but how good do we have it already here? appreciate the big and small things. don’t focus on the bad. not saying forget ‘em, but learn to deal with ’em and bring the light forward. friggin’ a people, i love you guys, and let’s bring the good fight back onto the pitch.

i guess they’re takingn this out for now. i’ve read from reddit that combos that actually deal dmg work best. for e.g. fire field plus projectile finisher.

regardless, i think it was a nice direction to help people understand and try out combos more. cause they can make ALL the difference in any given battle. hopeuflly they’ll be able to polish this daily off cause i think the combo system is pretty neat in this game.

@Bash – oops, late reply! been busy with RL. ; ))

interestingly, i’ve just picked up generosity as well for my GS to test it out. haven’t tested it in WvW yet but it’s not bad in PvE (higher level zones). but of course, that’s a completely different story. so you feel those condi removals you have are enough?

also, seeing your post on another thread i think, did you switch your build to 20/30/20/0/0? i ask because i’m curious as to different builds that don’t go max down valor, though it’s a great line since it adds both def and off (toughness and crit dmg) even if you don’t go for AH, etc.

i frigging love the hammer. i love the GS too. but i frigging love the hammer. i have a build that i run with both the hammer and GS. and swapping out for whatever situations call for.

like someone mentioned, which i think is sound advice, try both out and see which you like better. do get used to all of your weapon sets though and pick and choose what works and doesn’t work. ; )) they all can be really fun. though i’ll admit i haven’t touched the torch in a while : //

just to add, hammer #5 also acts as a light field. so it doubles up as a combo field as well. fun stuff.

agreed with Brutaly regarding GS in small groups and hammer for zergs. though, again, both work in both situations. i have a build that i run with both GS and hammer since i can benefit from the DPS and control that both offer.

again, this can never be stated enough, i carry all weapons on me and i switch my weapons and sets quite often while i WvW. sure some weapons work “better” with AH, but it’s not to say the others don’t work at all.. and changing traits where it’s applicable for different situations. of course, sometimes you’ll be stuck with a certain weapon set when forced into combat when you least expect it.

@Relentliss – i’ve debated using those as well. but so many other runes out there that entice me way more so i’d rather deal with what we have. ; )) one of these days though, if i can afford to, i’ll give it a shot.

a tangent, but wish we had ways of “extracting” runes from armour and slotting in new ones, instead of the existing replace. haha

@incomingray – love the new video! commented on your youtube as well and missed the link to your build. i’ve set up a new build as well and it’s practically the same as yours, minus a few trait choices depending on setup. triple meditation is great fun and takes some getting used to, but can’t wait to try it out more extensively in WvW. it’s a nice break from playing shouts only, which i love as well. JI in WvW is godsend, and i’m using CoP and SC, both of which are pretty fun and makes me mor eon my toes and paying beter attention to my conditions, positioning, and CDs. great stuff! was rooting for you the entire time when you faced run away man again. bah!

@Ryo – i am in a similar boat. through watching many Guardian videos (i have a list of faves lol), and not just in dungeons, even in WvW and what not, many save up their virtues and really save them for when they’re needed. something i am sitll learning to do better. : )) dodging is one thing i’ve gotten used to using better as well.

you’ll slowly rack them up. ; )) i love the staff as a Guard, but using this build, i tend to favor other weapon choices a lot more – namely hammer, mace/shield for me. Chris’ original choices are of course great as well. mace / focus is a good set as well.

the staff i prefer when i have higher crit chance. ; )) but either way, find something that works for you! this really is a fun build.

have done a couple runs with Obal here (turns out we’d done other dungeons before, heh). again, can’t be highlighted enough – extremely patient and knowledgeable. such fun runs and Arah is nothing what people make it out to be. albeit can be challenging at parts, still very fun. Obal and his i assume more static group members are actually all very great dungeon runners. people took their time, never complained and offered suggestions if things didn’t go as well. and no one rushed, had fun and took the time to chat a bit after the runs.

what i think dungeons were meant to be like. : ))) thanks again, Obal! hope to run a few more times with you, then be able to run on my own.

if i understand transmuting correctly, the end-product will be of the quality / status / what-have-you of the item that you took the stats for (i.e. not the skin / sigil).

and like Dempsey said, you’ve changed the item completely so I assume it wouldn’t work either. but that’s just a guess.

this is more me having some day-dreaming fun. and not sure where to share this, but just popped into my head, whilst being rather bored and nothing (pressing) to do at work atm.

setting: WvW BL, 2 roaming hammer Guardians run into an unsuspecting enemy

Guardian A and Guardian B split up and circle around enemy. Guardian A immobilizes the enemy with Zealot’s Embrace. B runs up and smacks him towards A with banish. A was already suspecting this and again, right as the enemy lands, banishes him back towards B, who had set up Ring of Warding. Enemy hits bubble and bounces onto the ground. B then uses his Zealot’s Embrace, all the while A dodge rolls to close the gap, locking the enemy into place again. Then both hammers meet enemy’s face with a Mighty Blow at the same time. Cue hammer auto attack chain and a bloodbath.

how fun would that beDD

erhm.. that being said, any Guardians out there pair up or party up with others for some serious coordinated play in WvW? (over voice chat presumably)

erhm.. that being said, any Guardians out there pair up or party up with others for some serious coordinated play in WvW? (over voice chat presumably)aaaaaaaaaand seeing how a majority of the last 10 threads here in the Guardian sub consist of posts by me, i’m going to go find sth to do now. ta ta.

the Grandmaster Minor trait from Valor – Might of the Protector? Gain might when you block attacks, lasting 15 seconds. if i understand the on-block procs correctly, this works with obviously, aegis, as well as the mace and focus block skills, along with the Shelter heal, but not on Renewed Focus. even then though, that can be a ton of blocks, and doesn’t seem to be any notable cooldown on this trait.

[edit: typo lol]

doode, really appreciate the detailed reply!!D

and while i went off to lunch, i was just thinking, “o crap! i forgot to ask him how effective sigil of generosity was!” and you answered before i could get another question in. that’s awesome and glad to hear it’s so useful. i have various builds as well and would love to be able to test this with my high crit builds and like you said, no have to worry about conditional removal as much. i’ve used builds not using soldiers but then i’d try to stick with PoV (especialyl since it’s so buggy..), vice versa, so this is good to know and a lot of fun. looking forward to testing it! always looking for new builds as well and definitely don’t mind switching out all shouts for other utilities.

that’s good you feel so comfortable with your bar and i do appreciate the comparison between “going down going all out” vs “playing it safe”. ; )) i ’ll bring that with me into WvW the next time i hit up the mists.

strangely enough, i had an idea with x/x/x/20/20 as well. both lines offer SO much for the Guardian and i feel hard to stay away from them with any given build. glad to see someone else putting the virtues line to use as well. but yes, there are a few traits with TWO effects on them that often seem to be overlooked. you raise a good point, though i don’t use consecrations as much as i did early in-game. purging flames can be very good if it lasts long enough to pull off a few combos while cleansing conditions as well. does it remove conditions on a “per tick” basis?

ahh, so sword stays in, and then two different offhands? very interesting. the GS paired up with sword combo i want to say is very fun and mobile to play with. and gives HUGE mobility – chasing down or escaping foes.

and do i love using RF, while popping any available virtues, then blind again, block again, and your heal is back up.DDD can’t argue with the satisfaction with that. heh, clutch timing and execution. the Guardian is oh so fun.

mmm i just wish ANet would fix this already so it’s working as intended. or, do a quickfix for the tool-tip so people who haven’t extensively tested this or frequent forums get confused. it’s one helluva trait and i still use it though. but it is a gandmaster trait after all and sad to see it still bugged for so long.

The Mexican Cookie.3690:

joocheese.6314:

On Another note, last night [Choo] and [CDS] we’re attacking Sunnyhill. Some of us glitched in the tower while the gate was still up and I was very proud to see everyone who glitched in jumped back out of the tower without taking advantage of the bug; and they did it without being asked or told to do so. Just another reason why I love SoR and the wonderful people I get to fight alongside every day

I was in that tower during that attack, and the SBI that were in there with me were also very impressed and thankful that SoR reacted the way they did. Some of the SoR players looked as confused as we were when they popped in. There was of course some damage done by players glitching in, but overall the SoR players who found themselves inside our tower reacted appropriately and I thank them for that.

you all have me feeling so proud! /cry tears of joy

silliness aside, glad to see this week’s matchup being so fun and respected for all. for the few times i have been on this week, i’ve experienced queues again (albeit short-ish queues), of which i haven’t seen in a while for WvW!

bri!!! doode, it’s been so long. rarely do i ever catch you online. :// though, i’ve been getting more and more busy IRL as well. anyways, grats on the new Guardian! i play a Norn as wellD

seems like you’ve done a lot of your homework already. ; )) so you’ve a good setup and on the right track as well. one small thing i’d like to add is, again, while leveling up you can mess around with different builds, though i extremely enjoyed 0/15/x/x/5 as soon as i could. with 5 in Virtues like you have set out, you get added utility to your virtues. then with 15 in Radiance, you get an AoE blind @ 5 pts when you hit VoJ (F1), with the added might from Virtues 5, plus burning attacks. then at 15 pts, VoJ will be refreshed whenever you kill a mob (doesn’t need to be killing blow, just tagged) so this allows for quick work on any given mob in PvE. this made leveling, i won’t say overly easy, but was extremely fun and lets you level a bit faster.

i didn’t really play with Signets so i went with Blind Exposure on Radiance 10 as well, which adds vulnerability to mobs when you blind with, so another added feature for your F1 button.D plus, if you like the GS and sword, it works great too.

for PvE, i feel mace focus is great. shield has it’s uses but more situational. glad that you enjoy the hammer as well. GS works for the AH build as well, but i felt the hammer really excels with the symbol, as well as self triggering combos and AoE retaliation. know that hammer #5 also acts as a light field even though it doesn’t state so in the tool-tip.

i didn’t enjoy the staff either early on, but at lvl 80 with the exact same build you did, i really started to see it shine. and for similar reaons like Damarus listed above. the high crit rate of your build let even just staff #1 do quite a bit of dmg. and staff #4 acts as a small quick burst heal if you ever need with AH and adds a ton of might stacks to you and your allies. staff #5 is good for area denial or holding chokepoints or keeping mobs away so it has it’s place in dungeons as well. and staff #3 i liked having for running around the open world. : )))

in terms of gear, you’re on a good track as well. Knight’s is a match made in heaven for the Guard and the AH build i feel. the toughness is great. and the high crit rate just means putting AH to better use. and with a smaller health pool, your healing is more effective in a sense. i’ve tried PVT gear using this build and didn’t feel it was quite up to par when compared to full knight’s. for jewelry i had a small mix of valkyrie for some added vit, but even then i felt full knight’s armor and jewelry was more than enough. but of course, experiment on your own and find your sweet spot. ; ))

as for runes, just some other fun suggestions:

• soldier’s works really well with this build, and you get some added vitality there if you wanna keep your gear focused on crit chance % / precision
• water x2 monk x2, major sanctuary x2 for 40% boon duration, which i feel is very strong for Guardians
• a mix of fire, strength, hoelbrak if you want a bit more dmg / might, etc

good luck and let us know if you have anymore questions. hope this helps a bit, and when you’re ready to run AC, and see me on, shoot me a tell and i can tag along!

hey Nike, hah, you put this guide up fast! and sounds pretty interesting from first glance.

i’m used to a shout heavy Guardian, even with different builds so i’ve been dabbling here and there (theoretically only atm) on a build that utilizes the variety of utilities the Guard has.

are you flexible on WoR and PF? PF i love. WoR seems more situational for me and when running WvW, it’s godsend, but i wouldn’t want to have it on my bar when running small strike missions and run into another small group. especially if they’re pimarily melee. am sure you’ve thought of this already, but i am a huge fan of indominable courage (securing stomps is so nice) or absolute resolution, especially with your slightly added healing power. so i would swap that with Master of Consecrations depending on the situation. and of course, adjust your bar accordingly.

not sure if i missed this – what’s your second weapon set?

also, do you feel at all lacking in toughness/armor?

Oozo.7856:

Thanks. I typically cut the parts where I go back and loot bags after clearing players. Do people really want to see that? :P

@Brogarn – see above, lol. many of us have wondered the same ; ))

@Oozo – heh, touche. it’s just there are SO MANY bags. but keep them videos coming the way they have been. they get better each time. just wanted to say, i just realized how much i learned from watching your videos just for fun! i’ve been an avid hammer user. and now adding the mace / shield for even more, what i call “tanky control”, WvW has been even more fun. i keep switching stuff around but the mace/shield is definitely a great set.

have started to run around in smaller groups more, though without a static group. hitting up supply camps, and doing what we can as a small group. and can i say, when i first started off, i dreaded running into enemy players when i was solo-roaming or in a small party.. but now? i’m hoping to run into other small groups and looking for good fights. and having these videos definitely helped me hone my own skills and boost a little confidence. lastly, always friggin fun to watch.

just echo-ing what Brutaly wrote here ^^^.
can definitely vouch for this build and the guide put together. it’s really in-depth and provides a lot of overall good info, not just for the specific build, but to the Guardian class as a whole.

for easy reference, it’s the stickied guide up top:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/Guide-Hammer-and-Altruistic-Healing-gameplay/first

Indo.8629:

Sunspots.9861:

Great fights on Sor Bl! Nothing but respect for [TW] and their prowess on the battle field.

Yeah, great fights

You guys were really working those portals and fake portals and counter portals. You made us watch the ground all over trying to guess which portal you were going to take.

baa sounds like i missed some fun!D

hey Nike, i actually have a steup in mind that doesn’t touch on the Valor line at all. slightly different from your buidl though. will keep an eye out for yours! : ))

i just happen to be passing by when i saw the dragon up at another attempt to wreck havoc. heard it was “fixed”. picked up a bazooka, and couldn’t target anything. the wall would still go down eventually, but i wasn’t able to target anything. even ran up with explosives, randomly clicked around the area, etc and nothing. :///

hey Syn!

1) you can change the rune / sigil / upgrades of any gear. you just double click the one you want to apply and it will “overwrite” the current existing slotted upgrade. this means that the original rune (Strength in the case of your example) would be desstroyed or gone. based on my experience, you can keep overwriting runes in armour pieces.

the only limiting factor should be the required level. e.g. if your armor is lvl 10, you can’t put a lvl 60 rune in it.

2) i’ve only read / heard that you can replace sigils in Legendary weapons as mentioned in (1). again, the existing sigil will be permanently gone. i guess you can always replace it again if you want to go back to that. however, i have not tried this myself, though people stated that the legendary status does not change. fwiw, i personally plan to keep my legendary as is and not make any changes to it though.

hope this helps!

i was actually thinking of that as well. heh, pretty ballsy way to play and i like it though. not saying that Guard’s aren’t good for getting away at all – am sure many of have lived through encounters and we’re here to tell ‘em. ; ))) i guess JI and sword would be your two mainstays for “getting around” but without swiftness on command, i do see your problem. hmmm, any leftover speed boosters? they only add 15% for an hour, but could still be useful? and actually, i didn’t run with a whole lot of stability in my buidls before, but i have started to use them more now (SYG, indominable courage, etc) and i have to say, it’s extremely useful.

remember wth your setup, or as a Guard, you’re more capable of doing sustained dmg overtime. i’m not THAT familair with the Warrior, but how often can you do hundred blades? you need to be rooted as well for that. an enemy knowing what HB is can easily nullify any dmg from that. that being said, the Guardian isn’t meant to match the dmg output of the warrior. at the same time, it doesn’t mean you shoudl forgo it completely. then it really depends on how you want to play. if you want to go full support, you can, but know that if you ever happen to go solo, you really won’t be able to do much. with your curent build, i daresay you’ll more than hold your own solo, and being able to excel and bring group utility when in a party.

with the right traits, you’ll be able to pull off a MB almost every #1 chain, adding a AoE retal combo trigger. to add, the protection symbol heals, protects, allowig you to DPS more and not have to back off as much.

just my take. : ))