Need help with core Guard Traits / Utility skills

Still somewhat of a new player, and one of the aspects of GW2 I struggle with the most is finding synergy between specs, weapons and skills. I'm sure after I've played the class for many months, it will all seem so simple, but for right now, I think I'm just guessing.

My Guard is 52 atm, and I'm still going through story completion, and while I know that open world PvE "doesn't matter", I've still found myself dead at times because either I was overextending myself or my build isn't setting me up for success. Trying to solo a Champion is clearly the former, but at times I've been roflstomped by a group of 3 mobs, and I don't think it was unreasonable for me to jump into the middle of them with a primal battle cry!

My weapon of choice is GS, with Scepter / Shield as secondary. I only swap to Scepter / SH during group events where I find I die too quickly because of poor dodging ability, or because my build sucks. Either way, I love the GS so that is what I focus on.

With that in mind, can anyone recommend spec lines and utility skills that would provide the optimal DPS while also beefing up survivability, either through blocking or self-healing?

I find I spend too much time on my butt from getting knocked down by mobs, and am unsure if again this is poor dodging skills, or should I have picked different traits to offset this. I've also gotten into the habit of socketing Vit / Tough Gems on ever piece of gear because I find I drop to 50% health very rapidly, and while most of my gear has Berserker stats, I went with Marauder on my boots.

I know my L2Play bar still has a long way to go, but I think I'm experienced enough that I shouldn't be dying so often. That said, my first LV80 was a Ranger using LB, so I rarely had to facetank anything.

All suggestions are appreciated :)

A simple GS build is to use the Valor trait line with Smiter's Boon and Monks Focus. This turns all meditation skills into a heal. Use Litany Of Wrath for a heal, and also slot Smite Condition, and you've got two intant cast condi-cleanse + dps boost + heal with a short cooldown. Add in other meditation skills as needed, or use signets (bane and judgement are both great signets for almost any build).

When you get a second traitline open up either use Zeal for the GS boost, or Radiance for the Retaliation buffs.

Def recommend Valor traitline with Meditations, just about everything in one package. (heal, condi cleanse, damage, fury, mobility, invuln with elite). It also pairs up with just about anything else.

You probably want Zeal for second traitline, for the greatsword trait mentioned above. Though if you struggle with survivability, you can also grab Virtues which is a very strong traitline all over, and gives you some of the all over strongest abilities guardian got (upgrade on the F2 and F3 virtues).

Notable mention of Radiance, which has a couple of traits that can give you a huge boost in criticla change (+50%) while you got retaliation, you probably need a few other things to make it work though.

If you struggle with surviving, Use Shelter for heal (even with Valor for meditations, you can still get the extra burn conditions on top), for the 2 second block, it's really good.

Weapons are good for leveling, though don't shy away from trying other weapons while leveling (it's cheapest and easiest to try out weapon while leveling). And there is no shame in stating some more defense while learning the class, so you don't need to feel married to zerk gear. Learn the class first, so you can survive in Zerk/Marauder when you hit 80 and start gearing exo.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNAR7enkICtChVBBGCBEEBj7hymBtbhWPgAIdB-e

Let me introduce you to one of the most broken healing skills available in the game, Litany of Wrath. If you ever find your health getting low, just pop this thing and continue your rampage of damage (it especially helps if you've got a symbol on the ground to pulse in case you get CC'd).

The traits selected are for the purposes of pumping up your direct damage as much as possible in a solo situation, so you should be able to simply mow down any smaller groups of mobs with a symbol GS4 + GS2. Use GS3 to engage if they're stacked tightly, otherwise pull them together with GS5 (and then followup with the 3 to blind). When fighting something tougher than you can handle taking hits from, just kite it forever with your scepter.

Stand Your Ground is used mainly for the retal buff, though the stability/stun break is nice to have. Save Yourselves achieves a very similar goal. Sword of Justice is an excellent source of AoE damage and, more importantly, vuln stacking. Bane Signet is a solid CC ability for breakbars, though you generally just leave it on for the passive power buff. Your elite can either be Feel My Wrath or Renewed Focus, with the former being great for a quick burst of damage (useful when you're just clearing out some trash), and the latter being a solid "oh shіt get me out of here" invuln button.

@"cat.8975" said:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNAR7enkICtChVBBGCBEEBj7hymBtbhWPgAIdB-e

Let me introduce you to one of the most broken healing skills available in the game, Litany of Wrath. If you ever find your health getting low, just pop this thing and continue your rampage of damage (it especially helps if you've got a symbol on the ground to pulse in case you get CC'd).

The traits selected are for the purposes of pumping up your direct damage as much as possible in a solo situation, so you should be able to simply mow down any smaller groups of mobs with a symbol GS4 + GS2. Use GS3 to engage if they're stacked tightly, otherwise pull them together with GS5 (and then followup with the 3 to blind). When fighting something tougher than you can handle taking hits from, just kite it forever with your scepter.

Stand Your Ground is used mainly for the retal buff, though the stability/stun break is nice to have. Save Yourselves achieves a very similar goal. Sword of Justice is an excellent source of AoE damage and, more importantly, vuln stacking. Bane Signet is a solid CC ability for breakbars, though you generally just leave it on for the passive power buff. Your elite can either be Feel My Wrath or Renewed Focus, with the former being great for a quick burst of damage (useful when you're just clearing out some trash), and the latter being a solid "oh shіt get me out of here" invuln button.

And for the 3rd trait line, pick up Virtues. The reason is to grab Permeating Wrath so that it combined with Zealous Scepter is instant 25 might and AoE burns which are buffed up by the might. Everything dies (maybe a little too quick).

@"cat.8975" said:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNAR7enkICtChVBBGCBEEBj7hymBtbhWPgAIdB-e

Let me introduce you to one of the most broken healing skills available in the game, Litany of Wrath. If you ever find your health getting low, just pop this thing and continue your rampage of damage (it especially helps if you've got a symbol on the ground to pulse in case you get CC'd).

The traits selected are for the purposes of pumping up your direct damage as much as possible in a solo situation, so you should be able to simply mow down any smaller groups of mobs with a symbol GS4 + GS2. Use GS3 to engage if they're stacked tightly, otherwise pull them together with GS5 (and then followup with the 3 to blind). When fighting something tougher than you can handle taking hits from, just kite it forever with your scepter.

Stand Your Ground is used mainly for the retal buff, though the stability/stun break is nice to have. Save Yourselves achieves a very similar goal. Sword of Justice is an excellent source of AoE damage and, more importantly, vuln stacking. Bane Signet is a solid CC ability for breakbars, though you generally just leave it on for the passive power buff. Your elite can either be Feel My Wrath or Renewed Focus, with the former being great for a quick burst of damage (useful when you're just clearing out some trash), and the latter being a solid "oh shіt get me out of here" invuln button.

Excellent. Thank you for the build and just as importantly, the explanation for how to use each skill. Not sure if I have enough HP to get those all unlocked yet but now I have a road map!