Guardian. The paladin, the antihero. How it feels? Charr vs human.

[Kreslin.6832]

Hi guys! I've been playing this game since the early access but now I play it very, very rarely due to real life and other smaller online games like Hearthstone and Artifact coming soon.Because of that I haven't buy expansions yet, playing core game. I want to pay though, only don't know when it will happen.

I have main warrior, leveled it up in the very beginning of the game's existence and it is the only 80 character I have. :D Guardians I love more, but I have a very, very big issue with race for this profession. I've tried norn, leveled it up to 80, but deleted cause it doesn't feel good for guardian. Norns look too mighty for such a "battle-mage" profession. Yup, I find Guardians some kind of a "battle-mage".I am trying charr guardian and human male guardian and I like them both in this role. But...

Human:Well... typical paladin-like character, except he doesn't have holy magic. It's different. He can also looks like "dark paladin" with intimidate looking armor and abys dye, Twillight greatsword. When you play human guardian you feel like you are playing something like... well... paladin from other games. :D At least that is what I feel. This character feels good as a magician with warrior staff, or warrior with magic. Like paladins form other games. :D

Charr:This guy feels like... I don't know, very different, and exciting. Especially if you are aware of lore. As far as I remember, charr doesn't like guardians in their ranks. They treat them like... like an outcast or something like that. Correct me if I'm wrong. So when I play charr guardian I feel like I'm playing an outcast.
When I look at charr guardian, I also see an antihero.Of course human guardian might look an antihero as well, with twilight greatsword and intimidate looking dark armor. But charr fits better in that role. Just look at him! You know what I'm talking about. :D

The only issue with charr is... he is like a norn - too mighty and intimidating, and warrior profession looks better. But still, I want to give him a chance (as I said human perfectly fits, so I don't talk about him). Yes, he looks mighty like a norn, but as a cat he also looks more agile. Which makes him at the same time furious and graceful character. At least when I'm playing my warrior, who is a charr by the way.

But is it feels with guardia charr as well? Furious and graceful? Or it is not the case? I'm talking mostly about new two specializations: "Dragon Hunter", and "Firebrand". Do these specializations make you feel that you playing furious and graceful charr, or it fits more paladin-like human?

How is it feel? Can you help me?

[RabbitUp.8294]

Dragonhunter doesn't feel that paladin-like to me. Jumping into the air with your wings, attacking your enemies with your bow, while placing traps which spawn blades and swords to impale your enemies, it all feels closer to the antihero archetype.

Then, firebrand takes the battlemage theme and runs with it. Even your axe, which is otherwise a melee "warrior-y" weapon, creates a second ghostly blade when you attack, which makes it more magical. The symbol resembles those magic rune circles you see in other games. You use spellbooks to cast spells, and channel mantras. You are very much a heavy-armoured spellcaster.

Between human and charr, I don't know which you'll enjoy best. I struggled myself choosing a race for my guardian. With asura, especially with their cultural armor, which look like power suits, the paladin guardian becomes almost like a holosmith. All those glowing blue blades and shields could easily be holograms, and the glowing power suit armor adds to that feeling. But I ended up going with a sylvari instead. As a sylvari, you have a lot of the same qualities you listed for human, and sylvari themselves are a noble race, which fit with guardian's altruism. But at the same time, after the story of Heart of Thorns, it made sense for my sylvari to be more aggressive, more of an antihero, when Mordremoth threated their entire race.

My suggestion would be to take both your human and your charr to the pvp lobby and see how each feel at level 80 (unless you've already leveled them up of course). Try different skills and see the difference the animations make. Then, go to a bank or crafting station and go to the wardrobe tab and check all the different arnour skins in the game. See what looks good to you, and which race best translates to what you have in mind for your guardian.

[Aeolus.3615]

Double post..... red card!!!! ._. i pressed edit button... wonder why this created a double post.

[Aeolus.3615]

DH winged stuff feels more like a seraph than anything else, the thing is ... we have traps... and a "utility" bow for CC.... and it no longer feesl like an elite specialization.Now Firebrand is more guardian feel than guard core itself(core guard is pure DPS rather than anythign else...), FB is basicly a overhyped core guardian.

[Aridon.8362]

Firebrand is what guardian should have initially been, I'll toast to that observation.

To the OP idk dude the essence of what makes a guardian a guardian is magic, not holy power. All classes use a form of magic including warrior, despite using mostly physical skills, and this extended from when the gods first arrived to Tyria. With that said, I would add that norns are the biggest users of magic next to asurans, so you can most definitely justify a norn to fit the class no question.

Though, I have to agree to some extent as I have 3 guardians, it is really hard to choose indefinitely what race to go with. I feel the best way is to paint yourself like a guardian, you know use colors like celestial sapphire golden lion enameled sky Robin, silver and step out from shadow color schemes.

[Yannir.4132]

@Kreslin.6832 said:Charr:This guy feels like... I don't know, very different, and exciting. Especially if you are aware of lore. As far as I remember, charr doesn't like guardians in their ranks. They treat them like... like an outcast or something like that. Correct me if I'm wrong. So when I play charr guardian I feel like I'm playing an outcast.

When I look at charr guardian, I also see an antihero.

If you look at this in the same light as you would look at paladins in other games, as conduits of divine power, your statement might be true. As guardians are not that, they simply wield magic that manifests similarly. Why guardians are rare within charr ranks is simply because the guardians ethos is contrary to charr nature and culture. They are rare because the majority of charr just don't have the mindset for it.If you truly want the outcast feel, you need a charr elementalist. Especially fire magic is shunned in charr society because Flame Legion.

PS. No offense to OP but I find it sad that this is the most interesting thread I've seen in the guardian sub-forum in months.

[EpicName.4523]

Here is how it stands for me:

Core guardian is human, no question about that. Logan Thackeray is a prime example.If you played LWS3 , you will see Braham using a bow/arrow to pierce Jormag's tooth. I feel like Dragonhunters are themed after Braham and Norns in general.Firebrand spec is from Elona so human it is again.

Is guardian=paladin? If that is the case then Guardians are NOT anti-heroes. They are not dark and brooding, They are the boring, goody two shoes character you see in most media. Why? Because they buff, they heal, they support. They are strong on their own, but shine when working with others while the typical anti-hero relies mostly on his own personal strength.

Charrs are fighters, charrs are warriors. They respect personal strength and don't support others through buffs and healing the way guardians are supposed to. For them if you are weak, you die and you deserved it. That is why the profession does not fit them well. Again, if we assume guardian=paladin then charr makes even less sense. Charrs don't worship gods, they don't have organized faith, they don't rely on divine powers.

I agree that Norn male is also not perfect for a guardian. Looking at that giant hulking piece of muscle trying to heal and attack with a scepter from the back doesn't seem right. Also, their spirits of the wild are too primal to work as a force of "justice and order" (Sounds so nerdy when I say it).Appearance wise, Norn females are much more fitting, imho. They can work as a hybrid which uses both might and magic. The tier 2 cultural armor of female Norns reminds me of Valkyries and for me they are a pretty good choice for guardian.

Lastly, we have humans. They are the most lore-friendly choice and human female is never a bad option for any profession. My guardian is human female, but wouldn't mind if it was a female Norn either. Whatever floats your boat, as they say.

In the end OP, you just look for an excuse to make a charr. Make it and be happy.

[frareanselm.1925]

If you want a warmage play burn guardian, buy a cloth looking outfit and your character will look badass. I have a similar idea to create a warrior MONK wearing cloth armor.

[Buran.3796]

@EpicName.4523 said:

Appearance wise, Norn females are much more fitting, imho. They can work as a hybrid which uses both might and magic. The tier 2 cultural armor of female Norns reminds me of Valkyries and for me they are a pretty good choice for guardian.

Guardian class in BDO makes me think a lot in the norn female in GW2. I had a male and a female norns which both are Guardians (the male was my main for very long) but thematically norns feel more rooted to classes such Ranger/Druids (all their totems and animal-nature animism + they are shapeshifters) and Necros (due the Jormag corruption). Lore wise humans are probably are the perfect fit; charr as Guardians look impossing, but Warriors and Engineers seems to fit them better. Anyway, mines are norn and don't regret the choice.

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

Copying a post of mine from a similar thread:

There was this exceedingly eloquent post back at launch on this topic. I can in no way do justice to that bard’s prose, but it can be summarized as “I am Charr, I am a guardian. I protect my warband, for we are stronger together than alone. You fight one of us, you fight us all, and I shall be their bulwark.”

Gave me goosebumps and the choice from there was never regretted.

That is why I have a Charr Guardian.

Human Guardians have more of I shall smite thee vibe to them.

[Opopanax.1803]

I always thought that an Asura Guardian would be cool for the Poison AOE racial utility and the elite Golems for guardian, but the small size makes them feel a little off in that role...

Of course, that's how I tend to feel about Asura in general... I wish you could scale them another 10-20% bigger!

[Andrew.2604]

Charr Guardian is all about your faith and honor in your Warband, and I always saw Asura Guardians as Elitist Fanatics like the Inquest. It's crazy how EVERY profession fits every race, I find it boring to play a Human unless it's a Mesmer, because every other race has a more interesting lore perspective than boring humans. Don't even get me started on Female Human meta... just ugh... go play FF14, you'll fit in with those people perfectly.