I've been playing GW2 for quite a while, mostly casually. A lot of my knowledge of playing MMOs has come from WoW, GW1, and GW2. In WoW and GW1, I feel that the roles are quite structured and I know what I'm doing when it comes to support, be it healing or tanking. I understand that GW2 doesn't have these traditional paradigms, but it still does have the concept of a support role.
It may sound stupid to ask, but how do I support in this game (and specifically for fractals)? I know there are support builds on metabattle with instructions on how to play them, but how do I know when to splash out aegis or protection? How can I use the UI to track how well I'm doing in terms of providing support? What cues or triggers does the game offer to let me know I should use a particular skill. A basic example would be if someone's health is low, then heal. I'm struggling at the moment because I don't know when I should be applying boons to allies, and also, I don't know if I'm truly being useful by not attacking and instead focussing on support. In other words, is the loss of my personal DPS made up by the increase in DPS/utility I bring to the party?
I play both a guardian and mesmer. My favourite role in team based games is to provide support. What's the best way I can do this in fractals? Are there any good guides online?
Thanks in advance!