Finally enjoying my Guardian

When I first made my Guardian, I visualized him as a GS/LB DH. Needless to say, that didn't work out as planned. LB turned out to be underwhelming, and I had a difficult time with the combination of low health and (IMHO) crappy self-healing skills. Bottom line, I loved the GS burst, but it just wasn't fun to play. So I shelved him for a while and worked on developing my main toons. Then while digging around on Metabattle and GW2Skills, I got an idea, and this is what I've been rocking through the PoF open world and story.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVUQNAR7dl0AhqgYrQwQIQQEHxDVOFfxYsGANQ9aLh8NSB-jxRBQB5T3TCV/hRKBVy+DiU5HAeSBP4iKAA-e

It's a tanky variation of the standard open world core Radiance GS build. Marauder weapons and armor + Valkyrie accessories + Wurm runes = over 21K HP. And the Wurm runes turn a chunk of all that Vitality into extra Ferocity, so I still have plenty of critical burst. Second weapons are scepter/focus for range. I'm using the healing signet because it gives both a large shot of instant healing and casual condition clearance, but I really wish we had a skill like the Ranger's Heal as One, or Warrior's Mending. Anyway, this build pairs much better durability with the GS burst that we all love.

I have found that adding more durability to my other toons has made them more enjoyable as well. Maybe it's just because I'm an old school MMO player who has never fully adapted to this "active defense" thing, but it's so nice to not be instantly downed just because a champ mob looked at me.

Oh, and just a side comment about LB DH: when you design an elite spec and 80% of the people who play that spec don't use the weapon associated with it, that indicates bad design and a need for rework. Just saying.

Sometime im so into scepter that i actually forgot DH can use LB until i saw random person use it, its a cruel reality. After last balance patch i'am finally able to enjoy LB a little bit more but it really meh overall.

Anyway i love your build, i run a very same build but using FB instead of virtue and having almost 90% retaliation uptime, it's fun and off-meta but i work beautifully in open world/story.

I'm glad OP can enjoy his guard \o/ even if it took a while

I run something similar (a little less vitality, more precision) with DH instead of virtues, and it's very fun. Try Litany of Wrath and use it right before your GS burst..it will completely refill your health with that much ferocity and as long as you have retal...or better yet retal and fury! It's fun trying to time it just right to get, basicaly, an invulnerability on heal.

@Jimbru.6014 said:Oh, and just a side comment about LB DH: when you design an elite spec and 80% of the people who play that spec don't use the weapon associated with it, that indicates bad design and a need for rework. Just saying.

yep, they butchered DH cause of sPvP...control over points with traps and huge pressure from range with longbow was to strong...but now with PoF and Scourges, Mirages, Speebreakers, Holos, etc even pre-nerf DH wouldnt be a problem, not sure why they dont undo the nerfs, DH is really weak right now, need to outplay your opponents hardcore to get a win.

I had similar feelings about DH. When I finally unlocked the elite, it didn't take long before I disliked both the trap mechanics, and the changes to virtues (although F2 is somewhat cool). Add in that the elite 'weapon' sucked compared to Scepter or even Staff, and I went right back to Core retaliation build. Soon after I discovered the extra utility you bring by being able to run both Virtues and Radiance trait lines, and at least on a golem, your DPS is comparable if not better than DH.

To date I have yet to run across another core Guard running T4 fractals (90% DH / 10% FB).

If I could offer the OP 2 pieces of advice:1: Change your runes to Scholar. Running Marauder / Valks gear you just plain do not need the vitality boost from the runes, and instead would benefit more from the +Power and the 10% damage about 90% health. OR if you have a hard time keeping your health about 90%, run either Superior Runes of Strength or of the Flame Legion.2: Drop Signet of Resolve for Litany of Wrath. Just do it. I know, I stuck with Resolve for so very long, but it's trash, pure and simple - the only exception is if you're in a situation where you need to heal but can't attack anything (though arguably Shelter might still be a better choice).

The heal amount is nice, but the cast time will get you killed. If you need condition cleanse and don't want to use F2, just drop a symbol with either GS 4 or Scepter 2 which creates a light field, and then while inside it use either your GS 2 or GS 5 which is a whirl finisher, or your Focus 5 which is a blast finisher - both will remove a condition from you.

Litany of Wrath needs to be used more proactively to keep your health up, but it works off any damage you do even if it's with a spirit weapon. After switching to it I'll never go back to Resolve.

BONUS ADVICE: Feel My Wrath is a nice elite, but if you're in a group with Chrono or Firebrand you will have all the quickness you need, and you don't benefit from the extra crit chance since you'll be crit capped with retaliation up. My advice then is to run Signet of Courage which helps top up your health pool (to keep you above 90%) and can also keep you up, as even though it's a very small heal, it procs almost constantly. Also something I would use if I was running around in open world, as you don't need big elite cooldowns to fight anything that isn't a champion.

Longbow #2 needs to have its root removed, do higher damage, and have a 4 sec CD everywhere. LB 3 should KB by default. LB 5 should have a shorter cast time OR do more damage than it currently does. Make LB #1 faster or make it make it have a chance to give you swiftness on crit!

@Turkeyspit.3965 said:BONUS ADVICE: Feel My Wrath is a nice elite, but if you're in a group with Chrono or Firebrand you will have all the quickness you need, and you don't benefit from the extra crit chance since you'll be crit capped with retaliation up. My advice then is to run Signet of Courage which helps top up your health pool (to keep you above 90%) and can also keep you up, as even though it's a very small heal, it procs almost constantly. Also something I would use if I was running around in open world, as you don't need big elite cooldowns to fight anything that isn't a champion.

This is solid advice now that Signet of Courage actually somewhat works. I've been running it in Open World, and it actually feels good to use.I didn't even know there is a ring of healing visual effect on it, and Guardian is my main.

@Eros.6801 said:Sometime im so into scepter that i actually forgot DH can use LB until i saw random person use it, its a cruel reality. After last balance patch i'am finally able to enjoy LB a little bit more but it really meh overall.

Anyway i love your build, i run a very same build but using FB instead of virtue and having almost 90% retaliation uptime, it's fun and off-meta but i work beautifully in open world/story.

Hi what's the firebrand build you're running? And can I use it in T3-4 fractals and raids?