Best Gear for Guardian?

Hi! I've been playing a guardian since release, but I've never fully optimized. I really like the Dragon Hunter, and I appreciate high survivability, healing, and of course dps. Right now I'm equipped with half Valkyrie and half Berserker, and some trinkets which increase healing power/condi damage sprinkled in. I'm looking to finally make some ascended armor and was wondering which type of armor people would recommend? I'm seeing Celestial or Beserker's suggested a lot. Which runes do you recommend as well? I'm not planning on going super meta, just wondering what's good.

Thanks!

there is no blanket best gear for a class. only best gear for what you want your build to do

Depends on the game mode. For PVE Dragonhunters, the two most used sets are Berserker and Valkyrie.

And that, is where things get a bit tricky. The Radiance Line makes it so the guardian can get 50% crit chance from retaliation, with 10% more against burning enemies. Combine this with fury, you'll get 84% crit chance without a single point in precision. If you have the right teammates and consumables, you can reach 100% crit chance without a single point in precision, meaning that Valkyire can do the same amount of damage as Berserker, while having 7000 more health. The tricky part is that, several things need to happen for this to occur. First, you need to have permanent retaliation on yourself. To do this, you'll need support from a 70/100% boon duration chronomancer built for it. Second, you'll need the team specific buffs from warriors and rangers. Spotter and banners. Third, you'll at least 70 precision from your food. There's a lot of food that gives this much, though.

A lot of players will have static groups they play with that have all of these things. But, a lot of players don't. If you don't, then you'll see a severe drop in damage output. If you don't have a group that can do all of that, it is better to just wear Berserker gear.

Ascended Weapons, Armor, and Trinkets/Amulet, along with Attuned/Infused Rings, with +5 stat infusions.

I hear a lot if suggestions for Marauder Armor/Weapons and Berserker Trinkets, would be pretty hard to go wrong with that combo.. but.. maybe check Meta Battle, or something.

Valkyrie. You don't gain much dps by going berzerker and lose 8k hp. Only in raids would they ask for zerker and those people to put it bluntly are special snowflakes.

What about Firebrand? Would you guys use Viper's or Griever's?Mainly for open-world solo content.

I think Valkyrie is going to work best for my build. Currently I'm speced in Honor, Virtues, and Dragonhunter. I'll look into Radiance for that etxra fury. My main weapons are the Greatsword and Longbow. Mainly do PVE, solo or events.

Another question I had was do you recommend putting runes on armor or gem upgrades? If you recommend runes, what runes are best?

If you're going with Valkyrie, then using Radiance is highly recommended. That 50% crit chance under retaliation is a necessity to make Valkyrie work. For Runes, go with Scholar runes. They output the most damage.

@Malafaia.8903 said:What about Firebrand? Would you guys use Viper's or Griever's?Mainly for open-world solo content.

In peak performance they're really similar, but personally I prefer Grievers for higher scepter damage and direct damage overall.

@Jojobean.3960 said:I think Valkyrie is going to work best for my build. Currently I'm speced in Honor, Virtues, and Dragonhunter. I'll look into Radiance for that etxra fury. My main weapons are the Greatsword and Longbow. Mainly do PVE, solo or events.

Another question I had was do you recommend putting runes on armor or gem upgrades? If you recommend runes, what runes are best?

First, I would suggest you use GW2 metabattle website and look for DH PvE guide. It willl make your life much easier.

My DH setup for open world is mostly berserker, with a bit of HP. I use radiance, zeal and DH lines. Great sword and either scepter or sword. I use flame legion runes, though in open world PvE there are many runes that would work as well. Ogre runes, strength runes. Anything with 175 power and damage bonus. Scholar runes are the best in group setup.

For utilities I use litinay of wrath for heal. Then sword of justice, precision blades and save yourselves. Elite feel my wrath.

There are multiple setups possible for DH, though do not use honor line. It is the weakest line in PvE for a power build. Valor works much better if you need better survivability. Also, gems in armor is useless. The stats and bonuses from runes are much better.

I wouldn't go full Valk, as you do still need some precision on your gear. I have a mix of Marauder, Valks and Berserker gear, but with retaliation up I have 100% crit chance.

I know I could probably optimize my gear some more, but frankly I'm not raiding, so an extra x% DPS here or there isn't going to make a difference in open world or even high end fractals.

The optimal runes for Power Guard are the Scholar, but if you don't have the gold for them, I like Runes of Strength. Guard has several abilities that provide the Might boon, so you should have 100% uptime on the 5% damage buff.

@Gwaihir.1745 said:Valkyrie. You don't gain much dps by going berzerker and lose 8k hp. Only in raids would they ask for zerker and those people to put it bluntly are special snowflakes.

Amusingly, raids are the place where you can get away with valkyrie most easily, at least if you have a competent (chaos) chrono. Everywhere else, anything beyond a oneshot trash mob will cause your damage to drop into oblivion - in exchange for 8k HP that are hardly needed for anything. For open world content, marauder is much more reliable when it comes to the trade-off of damage and survivability.

Just full zerk & scholar runes until you have a proper understanding of how the stats in this game work.

If playing WvW, run Marauder instead (with traveler runes so you aren't a snail).

Dragonhunter (Long bow and sword/shield), can play fine on WvW (roaming) with full valkyrie stats?a big difference will be with play in marauder stats?