Whats the draw to guardian?

Hello,

So I noticed on gw2efficiency guardian is top in slot for most number and most hours played. Curious what is the draw of this profession? The self sustaining? Most paladin-like profession? Or is it just that strong?

It has always been relevant across all game modes, PvE/WvW/PvP since release with access to both DPS and support-oriented builds that are all either the best or at least very effective. Every other profession has (or currently are) spent time at the very bottom as literally gutter trash in at least one mode and given Anet's 6 month+ balance cycles, you can imagine how that's impacted the player base of those classes especially those who had suffered for years.

Is the archetype always sought out for -- paladin-like? Interesting. But to your question, I am not sure how superior it really is against other professions when it comes to solo-sustain or even group support, as specializations have broaden the range of each and every one of them. But I guess, it was really introduced in that way from the start. The Guardian's core, and its namesake has always been to be a role that serves others and it has been effective in that whether to pick up on damage, be the main healer, or support through boon sharing. And these roles have been taken and dominated by other classes mind you, but somehow, for some strange reason Guardians make it more seamless.

So maybe yeah I guess that its theme really has something to it. I hope it makes sense. :#

Flexibility, skill cap, thematics. I really enjoy many of guardian's combat mechanics, weapon sets, plus the 'active' portion of their traits compared to passive ones of most classes. Mastering the class is extremely rewarding as it allows you to play virtually (ha!) any role to a strong effect.

Blue's always kinda been my color, so that's an added plus.

When I first started my Guardian, I thought it was going to be garbage..but of course they start you off with a mace, so it's easy to make that mistake.

What I love about my Guardian is that it offers minor support and utility to the group without having to shift focus away from DPS. This is the reason why to this day I still play Core Guardian, so I can run Zeal / Radiance / Virtues and still bring damage comparable to DH.

Group might (F1), group regen + condition cleanse (F2), Group stunbreak + Aegis + protection + stability (F3) alone are a fantastic part of the kit. Add easy light fields, great utilities like Stand Your Ground, Retreat and Hold the Line, Feel My Wrath for Quickness or Signet of Courage for pulsing AoE healing, and none of them require me to move towards "support" but instead remain focused on damage.

And the burst on GS is so amazingly fun:GS 5 -> GS 4 -> GS 2 = 5 regular targets melted + condition cleanse (whirl finisher in a light field.)

That isn't to say the profession is perfect in all areas, but as a damage dealer in a group, it's my go to choice.

@"Turkeyspit.3965" said:When I first started my Guardian, I thought it was going to be garbage..but of course they start you off with a mace, so it's easy to make that mistake.

What I love about my Guardian is that it offers minor support and utility to the group without having to shift focus away from DPS. This is the reason why to this day I still play Core Guardian, so I can run Zeal / Radiance / Virtues and still bring damage comparable to DH.

Group might (F1), group regen + condition cleanse (F2), Group stunbreak + Aegis + protection + stability (F3) alone are a fantastic part of the kit. Add easy light fields, great utilities like Stand Your Ground, Retreat and Hold the Line, Feel My Wrath for Quickness or Signet of Courage for pulsing AoE healing, and none of them require me to move towards "support" but instead remain focused on damage.

And the burst on GS is so amazingly fun:GS 5 -> GS 4 -> GS 2 = 5 regular targets melted + condition cleanse (whirl finisher in a light field.)

That isn't to say the profession is perfect in all areas, but as a damage dealer in a group, it's my go to choice.

This -- exactly this. The class does keep to its namesake that it is supportive by default without having to get "supportive" stats. It's ingrained well to the class that the Specializations just work on top of such a good base.

BUT yes there are little flaws here and there -- it isn't by default the meatiest of the classes, other classes just blow it out of the water by sheer amount of health alone. Some light and medium classes might have easier times assuming the role of a Tank compared to it even if its a Heavy armor class.

Boo though for shaming the Mace a little though. ;)

The draw... I'd say that there is quite a few:

• Thematic: Yes the righteous paladin in it's shinning armor have it's charm.
• The ease to play at low level: Honnestly the guardian is one of the easiest profession to use in the vanilla game where new player tend to enjoy a "tanky" leveling experience. In case of the guardian, just take a hammer and buldoze through the game (If you happen to trait for marks you won't even feel mobs around you).
• PvE farming: I'd bet that a large part of the hours is due to how easy it used to be to farm with a staff guardian. It used to be the very best farming weapon in game with it's auto attack.
• WvW: Likewise, the guardian remained at the top of the WvW GWEN meta for a long time in the early hours of the game. Granted that WvW had probably more players at this time, you can understand the numbers of hours.
• PvP: Guardian used to and probably are still good point holders which always made them popular there. Beside it got the image of someone who "guard" firmly ingraved into the popular belief so players that want to play like this are easily drawn to these kind of builds. Few profession have an image that match their abilities, fortunately the guardian benefit from it.

The draw? Deep down, we know that the Wammo survived and is now called "Guardian." We are drawn to playing Wammo like moths to a candle.

Sustain is definitely nice. Every time I try to play another profession, I hate how they have to play to survive

Blind>Blind>Block>Blind>Block>FIRE>BURN.>Block>AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

We're the prettiest and the most popularWhat's not to like?

Greatsword is the most popular weapon I'd imagine. A.net made THREE legendary greatswords on release. Guardians have the best greatsword skills. Also: guardian is easy mode in open world. Yes, most open world is faceroll, but those rare situations where another class may struggle a bit or even go down and have to waypoint, a guardian just spins on through with ease.

I am a sucker for the magic knight trope so Guardian is a no-brainer for me

For me it is the warrior monk feel that the profession has. Now with the release of Holosmith and Cutting Edge and Holosmiths sword I can get my Jedi Knight/Master on.

Just my personal opinion: I couldn't get into Guardian for 5 years then Firebrand happened and I'm in love with it. My "draw" to FB is the amount of skills. I'm coming from Engi and Ele mains, I enjoy having 30+ versatile skills that do different things (dmg, heals, boons, etc) and Firebrand is extremely good at this. My FB feels like my old semi-support kit Engi but on steroids.

@"Etterwyn.5263" said:The draw? Deep down, we know that the Wammo survived and is now called "Guardian." We are drawn to playing Wammo like moths to a candle.

Long live W/Mo

And the Imbagon!

Is blue. Blue is always the best color

It has light and fire. The era of ppl prefering Dark things are long gone, so Burning light is always nice

If you are a norn, thats 85% chance you'll choose guardian because... because yes

We have Dragonhunter, one of the coolest specs in the game (even tho its not that strong, but new players have no clue about it)

We have Firebrands

Im not biased hahahaha

For core guardian, flexibility and...simplicity. A lot of other classes/specs have your skills changing how they function in various modes (reaper, engie, revenant, firebrand, ele, etc.). Core guardian skills don't change unless you swap weapons, so there's a lot less to sort out.

For me it's the versitality. You have at least one build in every game mode wich is welcome even to pugs. Also i like the build variety. The minor support things you can do when you're playing dps is also pretty nice to me. Also there a few non meta builds like hammer/mace builds wich i enjoy much in ow content. Firebrand is really nice too. For me ANet nailed the Guard/DH/FB class fantasy really well too. After playing for years as necro main (6k hours on the char) quitting for a while and give the game a last try, the guard revitalized my fun to do things in tyria. Atm i can't even imagine to log on my necro. Already build 3 leggys for my charrdian because it's so much fun to play my sparkling, blue fire bringing cat.

Warrior mixed with mage,flashy skills/effects,viable in all modes,easy to learn,both elites usefull/different and fun. Oh and everything shiny blue, not a lot not to like lol

It's the backbone to every WvW group (Stand your ground , Virtue of Courage, + Aegis).

Now we have Firebrands which extend the utility of virtues further, with a trait to keep the passive when activated.

The draw of Guardian?

• Paladin-ish RP. Though Guardian magic isn't necessarily tied to gods or spirituality unless you choose to RP that way.
• Unlike Paladin types in most games, Guardians can have incredible offensive burst. Some of the most powerful in the game, in fact.
• Combine that with great levels of self-sustain and group support, even in DPS builds.
• Firebrand support is meta if you choose to go that way. Always nice to know that you're objectively one of the most powerful and desired specs in the game.
• Core Guardian is still viable and fun despite the elite specs. Few classes can truly say that. So you don't have to change the play style you enjoyed leveling up with just because you hit 80 and started into end game group content.