Elite specs

I have two lvl 80 core guards and am preparing to slot one into DH and the other FB. Just wondering what the concensus is about what weaps go best with each and whether to emphasize power or condi. I'm aware there are sites with builds for raids and wvw etc. but I'm just talking general pve use and personal preferences, not 'the meta' necessarily. I've found so many conflicting information sources online that it's hard to arrive at any real conclusion. Basically I want to know what types of selections generally make the most sense so I don't end up equipping exactly the worst weapon for instance given a power build when I should be doing condi and a different weapon, or that sort of thing.

If you're talking about open world PvE, then it all comes down to personal preference or just using the weapons that do nothing but deal a lot of damage. Most guardian builds for PvE use the greatsword for the high cleave damage, mobility and retaliation symbol.

The second weapon set is where it comes down to personal preference. You can use either the sword or the scepter with the focus off hand. Scepter is in my opinion better especially if you're not playing Dragonhunter with the longbow and it's great for dealing damage at range and for the damaging symbol with a very short cooldown.

@Hoodie.1045 said:If you're talking about open world PvE, then it all comes down to personal preference or just using the weapons that do nothing but deal a lot of damage. Most guardian builds for PvE use the greatsword for the high cleave damage, mobility and retaliation symbol.

The second weapon set is where it comes down to personal preference. You can use either the sword or the scepter with the focus off hand. Scepter is in my opinion better especially if you're not playing Dragonhunter with the longbow and it's great for dealing damage at range and for the damaging symbol with a very short cooldown.

K thx and would these be better with a power or condi focus?

Don't thank anyone until you try it. You just got the easy "anything works in PVE" answer ... but full glass on Guardian isn't going to work so great for you when you face a group of Awakened or Branded.

@Biff.5312 said:

@Hoodie.1045 said:If you're talking about open world PvE, then it all comes down to personal preference or just using the weapons that do nothing but deal a lot of damage. Most guardian builds for PvE use the greatsword for the high cleave damage, mobility and retaliation symbol.

The second weapon set is where it comes down to personal preference. You can use either the sword or the scepter with the focus off hand. Scepter is in my opinion better especially if you're not playing Dragonhunter with the longbow and it's great for dealing damage at range and for the damaging symbol with a very short cooldown.

It's better with power damage. Get berserker gear with scholar runes to deal the highest damage possible and it's especially better for open world PvE because it allows you to kill mobs quicker. Condition damage isn't bad for guardian, but you'll only have one condition to kill mobs with and that's burning. While it is the strongest damaging condition in the game, it's outperformed by core engineer because it has more conditions to deal damage with.

In terms of DH you can only really go for a power build, since it doesn't make great use of conditions. In terms of weapons, most weapons work for general PVE. I prefer the longbow because the Guardian is very reliant on active damage mitigation and can feel unforgiving in melee if you're not use to the class. That being said Great Sword is the usual pick in general PVE for the high damage, lots of AOE, and easy usage.

To keep it simple, there are two main builds:

Power with GS and either sword or scepter (it does not matter much).

Condi or hybrid that will use off hand torch and a main hand weapons.

Radiance is a must use line in PvE (unless you do not want to deal damage). But it varies from there.

For power builds, you will primarily use GS. Radiance is necessary for damage maximization with retaliation. If you use GS you will surely use zeal. Then you either use virtues, FB or DH. DH is ideal for open world PvE and is the meta for group PvE. The other options are fully viable. You can also make builds in open world around sword, hammer and/or scepter, but stick with GS to keep it simple.

Condi is more straightforward. You will use radiance and torch as the off hand. FB and zeal work best in open world PvE with sword, axe and/or scepter. I find condi core to be disappointing and condi DH does not work well. I also prefer sword as main hand in open world PvE. Constant access to fury and fast attack speed.

If you want to really keep it simple, the power build using GS/scepter and focus with rad/zeal/DH is the easiest to build and play. You can branch out from there.

I use my radiance-virtues-firebrand WvW build in PvE and it's surprisingly effective.... especially in those mass PvE metas like DS or istan (Tome of Justice OP)gearwisely I'm in the middle of reequipping "whatever the heck that was supposed to be I had in the first place" into:armor: minstrelweapons (already swapped in and ascended): apothecarytrinkets: backpack is apothecary because I had that ascended luminates backpack but it had fairly limited choice of stats to pick, and rest are seraphs, only missing one ring if memory serves to get those done too.

Here's my hybrid my OW PVE FB. The healing is good for events, and is pretty flexible. Scepter can be used instead of axe, if desired.http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNAnfWl0AhmhY5QwbIQTEL+DWWSoCtD2vod0RqVAoCUnA-jxiAQBJVJ4M2fANK9AwZAArq/sAzA97QA4ATQQ7BAIWlBOVfApAgZNA-e

Thanks to all for your thoughts - I'll be testing out both this coming week.

@"Obtena.7952" said:Don't thank anyone until you try it. You just got the easy "anything works in PVE" answer ... but full glass on Guardian isn't going to work so great for you when you face a group of Awakened or Branded.

Full glass works just fine if you know your class. Especially Guardian. You just pick the right weapons/utilities for the job.I first played through PoF with a full glass berserker Firebrand while still using the axe. And yes, that includes all of the bosses. Eater of Souls on the third attempt. Wasn't the most fun experience at some points in the story as Fb really isn't a power based class but it's doable.

@Yannir.4132 said:

@"Obtena.7952" said:Don't thank anyone until you try it. You just got the easy "anything works in PVE" answer ... but full glass on Guardian isn't going to work so great for you when you face a group of Awakened or Branded.

yeah if ... There is a level of skill required and no one should assume everyone has that level of skill. Let's just wait until the OP comes back and reports.