Pls stop with hammer guard..it's useless AF

Who even started this fantasy?I get all these hammer guards but they all end up being nothing more than free kills...the build is high skill and should advertised as such...not something anyone can run with impunity, there is currently an invasion of hammer radiance ( I know how to run one myself ) and the majority are simple free kills, they explode on sight and spend 3/4 of the time in downstate, respawning, running back, dieing and do it all over again....

@Arheundel.6451 said:Who even started this fantasy?I get all these hammer guards but they all end up being nothing more than free kills...the build is high skill and should advertised as such...not something anyone can run with impunity, there is currently an invasion of hammer radiance ( I know how to run one myself ) and the majority are simple free kills, they explode on sight and spend 3/4 of the time in downstate, respawning, running back, dieing and do it all over again....

That's probably because they see me murdering people with it mid-gold. :lol: I get Top Kills every game and they get jealous. It's every time I play something else that my rating starts dropping.. and I still do it.

@Arheundel.6451 said:Who even started this fantasy?I get all these hammer guards but they all end up being nothing more than free kills...the build is high skill and should advertised as such...

Yeah no it's not. It's medium skill at best. It does however have outstanding performance if mastered.

I personally prefer GS over hammer and I do not think core guardian is a great build either, but it is far from useless. It is a B tier build with decent sustainability and solid pressure. It’s primary 2 issues is lack of mobility and lack of any disengage capacity.

I think if core guardian virtues are buffed a bit, it will be able to go head to head with SB, holo and reaper (which kinda fulfill the same objective). My suggestions:

VoJ CD to be reduced from 20 secs to 16 secs.VoR CD to be reduced from 30 secs to 25 secs.VoC inaddition to what it does, it increases toughness by 1,000 for 5 secs.

Again, I think the mediation line should provide 25% movement speed as part of one of its minor traits. This will free guardian from being stuck using lynx or traveler runes. Neither is good for gurdian, but must use cuz unless you use ToJ or staff (which you won’t as core guardian or DH), you have no access to swiftness.

Also, it will be really nice if core guardian has access any sPvP functional utilities beside mediations. Every build is running litany of wraith, smite, Renwed focus and either contemplation of purity, judgment intervention or both. Talk about zero diversity.

lol hammer guard is high skill?

its probably the easiest plat build to play outside of prenerfed scourge.

@Arheundel.6451 said:Who even started this fantasy?I get all these hammer guards but they all end up being nothing more than free kills...the build is high skill and should advertised as such...not something anyone can run with impunity, there is currently an invasion of hammer radiance ( I know how to run one myself ) and the majority are simple free kills, they explode on sight and spend 3/4 of the time in downstate, respawning, running back, dieing and do it all over again....

Hammer guard can get you to at least 1600.

@Huskyboy.1053 said:

@Arheundel.6451 said:Who even started this fantasy?I get all these hammer guards but they all end up being nothing more than free kills...the build is high skill and should advertised as such...not something anyone can run with impunity, there is currently an invasion of hammer radiance ( I know how to run one myself ) and the majority are simple free kills, they explode on sight and spend 3/4 of the time in downstate, respawning, running back, dieing and do it all over again....

Not really, since you can't duo queue at top 250.The build works best when you have at least one competent (and coordinating) teammate. It isn't a build that can 1v9 and win you the game.The problem with the core build is that it's a jack of all trades build. The bruiser slot is better filled by Holosmiths, Druids, and Spellbreakers, while Revs, Mesmers, Thieves, and Soulbeasts fill the +1 slot better. Not to mention the lack of mobility hinders your ability to contest far. If you swap to GS, your burst is slower and less reliable for the slight mobility trade off.

I'm also quite surprised with how many Radiance guards there are (probably due to Firebrand support nerfs and Necro nerfs). There are better solo carry builds.

@nativity.3057 said:

@Huskyboy.1053 said:

@Arheundel.6451 said:Who even started this fantasy?I get all these hammer guards but they all end up being nothing more than free kills...the build is high skill and should advertised as such...not something anyone can run with impunity, there is currently an invasion of hammer radiance ( I know how to run one myself ) and the majority are simple free kills, they explode on sight and spend 3/4 of the time in downstate, respawning, running back, dieing and do it all over again....

I think one of the builds strengths its ability to carry bad teams. You can be a great Mesmer but you cannot carry. With core guardian you can aoe the crap out of everything. Just stability, litany of wrath and go to town. Condi enemies? No problem. Lots of CC, multiple CC breaks and stability.

The issue is as enemies get better, what I described above becomes science fiction. Core guardian lacks combat disengagement to avoid focus fire or invenrability. Most of its damage is super easy to kite. Litany of wrath is a great heal.. against non-moving targets. It is a bad side noder due to lack of mobility and the above.

If opponents are skilled and understand what you are doing there is little you can do to counter and little you offer for a your team. Ironically I found zeal/radiance/meditation with gs to be the most effective in difficult game. Assuming you have allies performing most of the tanking, you go in, burst and get out. But holo is better here in terms of consistency and rev in damage.

@Arheundel.6451 said:Who even started this fantasy?I get all these hammer guards but they all end up being nothing more than free kills...the build is high skill and should advertised as such...not something anyone can run with impunity, there is currently an invasion of hammer radiance ( I know how to run one myself ) and the majority are simple free kills, they explode on sight and spend 3/4 of the time in downstate, respawning, running back, dieing and do it all over again....

I am guessing you havent even tested the hammer yourself or even play much gaurdian and only see others doing it, maybe next time test it yourself first or look into it more? Just a suggestion.

@otto.5684 said:

@nativity.3057 said:

@Huskyboy.1053 said:

@"Arheundel.6451" said:Who even started this fantasy?I get all these hammer guards but they all end up being nothing more than free kills...the build is high skill and should advertised as such...not something anyone can run with impunity, there is currently an invasion of hammer radiance ( I know how to run one myself ) and the majority are simple free kills, they explode on sight and spend 3/4 of the time in downstate, respawning, running back, dieing and do it all over again....

You're absolutely right. Core and DH are good pub stompers while having a lower skill floor than other classes. So if you're in the lower ratings playing "mechanical" classes like holo, mirage, or weaver (lol) and you want to climb, you're probably better off learning guardian.

@Ryou.2398 said:

@Arheundel.6451 said:Who even started this fantasy?I get all these hammer guards but they all end up being nothing more than free kills...the build is high skill and should advertised as such...not something anyone can run with impunity, there is currently an invasion of hammer radiance ( I know how to run one myself ) and the majority are simple free kills, they explode on sight and spend 3/4 of the time in downstate, respawning, running back, dieing and do it all over again....

I do like to play radiance hammer ...but only if the team allows it, it's not a build I can play when the game asks me to literally hold 2-3 people to have a chance of victory, it's great to play the build especially vs mesmers ..while I just can't kill a good war and anyway as other have realized , GS set is better overall because people are used to hammer burst now even if you land the circle under their feet by teleporting mid animation.

You need at least one decent teammate who can tank for few secs and grab enemy attention and with this MMR..gl with that

The build is easy, if you're half competent, to get to reasonable ratings by repeatedly spiking players who don't know how to deal with it. But it tends to fall off pretty damn hard against players who can and do appropriately deal with it.

Overall I find harrier FB a better meme build. It's also gimmicky, but feels stronger all around.

LMAO hammer guard high skill nice joke

@Best.3479 said:LMAO hammer guard high skill nice joke

There is zero correlation between build difficulty and it’s effectivness. And all classes and builds in the game, by design, are around the same difficulty.

There things that works and things that do not. However, this concept of this build require more skill and thus should be stronger, is a myth.

@otto.5684 said:

@Best.3479 said:LMAO hammer guard high skill nice joke

That's definitely not true. For someone who has never played any of the classes, there are some classes that are inherently more difficult to pick up or master than others. Guard in general is closer to the easier end of the spectrum (above warrior and necro). It's true though that build effectiveness is definitely not correlated with build difficulty.

I honestly can't tell if this is just a "My build can beat up your build" thing or not......... or "My build is skillful, because I use it". Only one person can claim to have the best build, knows how to use it. Outside of that, is it even worth arguing about? :p

@otto.5684 said:

@Best.3479 said:LMAO hammer guard high skill nice joke

That's Moobs, I'm pretty sure he knows basic stuff about sPvP and Guard. Also he didn't say anything about its effectiveness, so to what are you responding again?

And all classes and builds in the game, by design, are around the same difficulty.

Not even close to true. To give an extreme example, Condi Chrono pre-PoF required quite a lot more brainpower than Spellbreaker. D/P thief requires more brainpower than any Scourge build.

hammer guard is a free kill to my firebrand.

@"Ragnarox.9601" said:hammer guard is a free kill to my firebrand.

Pretty much this. I've 1v2's a Hamguard and an Ele (granted Ele was Gold 3 level at best) with Firebrand Harrier build. You can easily out sustain a Hammer Guard to the point of uselessness, even if the person gets a dps boost from a Gold player.

The build may be "OK" in seasons and far from useless but it shouldn't be taken over Firebrand if you want to be on a competitive, serious team. (Does this game still have that?).

I am not sure how core guardian will be a free kill for FB. FB damage is close to non-existent in most builds. You sure can sit there on the point for a while, but dealing enough damage to push through core guardian sustainability is far stretched.

Again, I do not think core guardian is solid build. But it does deal much damage, especially against opponents that cannot easily evade.

Harrier FB can only ever force people off a point in a 1v1 at best. It's not really capable of pursuing or getting kills against a competent opponent.

In wvw my weaver just kill guardians or DH like it's a Hayday. Hammer means I kill you faster and you have less mobilty to run away. Yes 99% of you will run away rather than die at my hands. But if you have a high level scourge with you or semi burst cc theif or mirage or even a soulbeast cc burst. I'm so dead.

I use it because (to me) it's the only remaining affordable build (in terms of difficulty) in a world full of difficult ones.

@Waisenpai.6028 said:In wvw my weaver just kill guardians or DH like it's a Hayday. Hammer means I kill you faster and you have less mobilty to run away. Yes 99% of you will run away rather than die at my hands. But if you have a high level scourge with you or semi burst cc theif or mirage or even a soulbeast cc burst. I'm so dead.

I know it was not clearly stated, but this discussion is regarding sPvP. I don’t wvw, but weaver is a terrible solo class in sPvP.

One dimensional gimmick builds should have no place in this game. Its not fun for the noobs who get one shot and its not fun for the hammer guards who play against competent opponents. This build literally exists just to wreck unattentive people in ranked. Give us back DH already