Guardian PvE | Fun Mace/Focus, Staff | Support The Mighty Virtuous Protector Guardian
Table of Contents
Summary
Click, Click, Boon! The Mighty Virtuous Protector Guardian 20/0/25/0/25
First, I welcome feedback and suggestions related to this build based on how and what I play. I haven't looked at lots of other builds. This build may have been around for a long time and it just took a while for me to arrive at it. I am not claiming first, revolutionary or best. It is what I have come to enjoy playing after much experimentation. If your play style is similar, you may enjoy it as well.
I run open world solo, with friends, with Guild (very casual) and with Pick-Up-Groups (PUGs). I just can't get into or stay into World Vs. World consistently and I have never played an sPvP match. I play a pretty regular rotation of Guild Missions, Living Story, World and Temple events, low level Fractal of the Mists, Champion farming, Orr plundering and Dungeons. I have never joined a group advertised as speed runners, experienced only or gear/achievement check required. I have never timed a dungeon run or attempted to solo dungeons. I enjoy any and all profession group combinations including five Guardians. I don't mind killing trash or going after optional objectives. But if the group wants to skip, I am fine with that too. Approaching group content casually doesn't mean I enjoy wiping. It also doesn't mean that I am selfish and/or lazy with equipment, traits, tactics or knowledge of encounters.
I love Virtues, it is my favorite profession mechanic. Virtues are both passive and active and they can be activated immediately any time I am not downed or dead including while I am casting another skill. While I am not great at timing Virtue of Courage, it feels fantastic when I do time it and the entire party gets to block something nasty. I also like to strafe and move while using skills. I don't want Guardian pets (Spirit Weapons) and rarely find a need for Meditations. That leaves Consecrations and Shouts as my primary and preferred utility types.
Almost all of my skills have an affect that benefits the group besides the damage they do. My damage feels sluggish in the beginning of fights, picking up and plateauing only against strong veteran or higher level enemies. In holy trinity (Tank, Heal, DPS) MMOs I generally preferred to play tanks (that doesn't mean I prefer holy trinity). With my Guardian and this build, I get some of that charge into the thick of the battle excitement. He is tough. The build rewards active play, weapon swapping and churning through skills.
I. Weapons and Skills
- Weapon Strength: 940-1059
- Power: 56
- Precision: 56
- Toughness: 56
- Vitality: 56
- Condition Damage: 56
- Healing Power: 56
- Ferocity: 56
- Weapon Strength: 832-883
- Power: 120
- Precision: 85
- Ferocity: 85
- Weapon Strength: 985-1111
- Power: 239
- Precision: 171
- Ferocity: 171
- Weapon Strength: -
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- Pure Strike½Bash your foe.Range: 130Damage: 336
- Faithful Strike1Hit your foe with a final strike and heal nearby allies.Damage: 470Healing: 463Range: 130
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- 0Protection: 4 s
- 0Protection: 4 s
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- 0Protection: 4 s
- 0Protection: 4 s
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- 0Protection: 4 s
- 0Protection: 4 s
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- 0Protection: 4 s
- 0Protection: 4 s
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- 0Protection: 4 s
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- 0Protection: 4 s
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- 0Protection: 4 s
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- 0Protection: 4 s
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- 0Protection: 4 s
Weapon and Skill Details
Mace is my favorite weapon for my Guardian. I love its aesthetic (Norn male). Faithful Strike (the 3rd part of the auto attack chain) reminds me of Mike Tyson's Uppercut in Punch Out. Its pace is natural and the animations are easy for me to see. The first two parts of its auto attack chain cleave (hits up to 3 targets in front of me) and the third attack has higher single target damage and a small heal. Symbol of Faith (Mace 2) does respectable area damage over time, has a short cooldown, is a Light Combo Field and provides a Regeneration Boon to myself and allies. It also puts Vulnerability on any enemy standing in it each time it pulses in this build. Protector's Strike (Mace 3) is a three second channel (moving does not interrupt) that blocks the next incoming melee attack against me or nearby allies and counterattacks with cleave. If an attack is not blocked, allies get a Protection boon and a Whirl combo finisher is triggered. Mace has synergy with the Valor trait line and since it is a 1 handed weapon I have some flexibility with different off-hands.
Focus is my preferred off-hand weapon. At first glance, both skills seem suited to attacking from range but they both work extremely well in melee. Ray of Judgement (Focus 4) is a great smorgasbord skill. It is a 5 target (including me) bounce that damages and blinds enemies and removes a condition and grants a Protection boon to allies. Shield of Wrath (Focus 5) blocks 3 attacks (each block grants Might in this build), explodes for damage if it doesn't block and is a rare Blast combo finisher for Guardian.
I usually start encounters with my Staff and then switch to Mace. Symbol of Swiftness (Staff 3) does respectable area damage and grants the Swiftness boon to any allies within its area. Since it is a Symbol, it also applies Vulnerability to enemies inside it for this build. Empower (Staff 4) grants allies 12 stacks of the Might boon and a small heal. Wave of Wrath (Staff 1) is good for hitting multiple enemies but isn't highly damaging and doesn't provide any other utility. Orb of Light (Staff 2) is a fantastic ranged skill if enemies are grouped tightly or in a line. Finally, Line of Warding (Staff 5) is infrequently used for control.
I carry and equip Scepter, Greatsword, Sword and Shield as needed. Scepter/Focus is a great switch with Staff for encounters that need to be ranged. It is easy to get lazy with weapons and not switch them. Lastly, no self respecting Guardian should be without a Torch. With so many other sources applying the Burning condition, the Torch is a tough choice to equip for combat. Blue flame fire breathing, however, is the greatest party trick in the game.
Utility/Elite Skills My default loadout is Shelter, Hallowed Ground, Purging Flames, Save Yourselves and Renewed Focus. I always swap to Hallowed Ground and Stand Your Ground if knockdowns are expected. Wall of Reflection is frequently used, Sanctuary (bombing the door in dredge fractal) less so. Hold the Line can help against a weak but numerous group of enemies. Retreat and Stand Your Ground are great for skipping through trash in dungeons. Just like weapons, I am getting more familiar and adept at switching utilities when it makes sense.
II. Traits
Zeal
Radiance
Valor
Honor
Virtues
Trait Details
The keystone traits are the Valor and Virtues Grand Master minor traits. 20/0/25/0/25
Zeal (20) I am not crazy about traits that trigger at low health or downed but that is how Zealot's Speed (Adept minor) works. Thankfully it results in a Symbol of Wrath at 50% health which is pretty useful. The Master minor adds Vulnerability to Symbols. I am not going to push Vulnerability stack caps (25) by myself, but Symbols are heavily used and I like making heavily used skills even more useful. Guardians set enemies on fire, a lot, and mostly without even trying. So, Fiery Wrath (II) is almost 10% guaranteed bonus to damage. The exception is that many. if not all fire based enemies are immune to fire. Focused Mastery (VIII) reduces the cooldowns on Focus (preferred off-hand) skills. If I know the encounter is going to be spread out ranged and my Scepter will be used I can swap to Scepter Power (IX) for an extra 10% Scepter damage.
Radiance (0)
Valor (25) Might of the Protector (Grandmaster Minor) grants the Might boon every time an attack is blocked. The other minor traits grant Aegis at 50% health and recharge Virtue of Courage when I rally. Mace of Justice (VII)(+5% damage while wielding a Mace and up to 250 Healing Power) benefits the weapon I use most. Defender's Flame (II) rounds out Valor and adds fire damage to my blocks.
Honor (0)
Virtues (25) Power of the Virtuous (Grandmaster Minor) is 1% extra damage for every boon. The Adept and Master minor traits provide boons when Virtues are activated. The trait line bonuses are Boon Duration and Virtues cooldown. I rarely switch out of the major Master of Consecrations (VI)(-20% cooldown/longer duration). I use Unscathed Contender (I)(+20% damage while under Aegis) as my other major.
III. Stat Specifics & Effects
Primary Stats
- Health 12425 (+780)
- Vitality 994 (+78)
- Armor 2790 (+663)
- Toughness 1579 (+663)
- Attack 2869 (+1007)
- Power 1849 (+933)
- Critical Hit 32% (+32%)
- Precision 1590 (+674)
Secondary Stats
- Boon Duration 60% (+60%)
- Condition Damage 64 (+64)
- Condition Duration 20% (+20%)
- Critical Damage 46% (+46%)
- Damage 1020 (+8%)
- Defense 1211 (+0)
- Experience from Kills 20% (+20%)
- Ferocity 698 (+698)
- Healing Power 364 (+364)
- Virtue Recharge Rate 25% (+25%)
Boons
Conditions
Control
Fields & Finishers
IV. Food, Armor, Trinkets & Upgrade Items
Food Nourishment
+40% magic find while under the effect of a boon
Boon Duration: 20%
Experience from Kills: 10%
- (30min)
- +40% magic find while under the effect of a boon
- Boon Duration: 20%
- Experience from Kills: 10%
Utility Nourishment
Gain precision equal to 6% of your toughness
Gain precision equal to 4% of your vitality
Experience from Kills: 10%
- (30min)
- Gain precision equal to 6% of your toughness
- Gain precision equal to 4% of your vitality
- Experience from Kills: 10%
Armor & Runes
- Defense: 121
- Healing Power: 25
- Boon Duration: 5%
- Healing Power: 50
- +10% Boon Duration; 25% chance when struck to heal for a small amount. (Cooldown: 15 seconds)
- Healing Power: 100
- +10% outgoing heal effectiveness to allies.
- Defense: 121
- Healing Power: 25
- Boon Duration: 5%
- Healing Power: 50
- +10% Boon Duration; 25% chance when struck to heal for a small amount. (Cooldown: 15 seconds)
- Healing Power: 100
- +10% outgoing heal effectiveness to allies.
- Defense: 363
- Healing Power: 25
- Boon Duration: 5%
- Healing Power: 50
- 25% chance when struck to remove a condition. (Cooldown: 30 seconds)
- Healing Power: 100
- +15% Boon Duration; when you use a heal skill, you and nearby allies are healed for a small amount. (Cooldown: 10 seconds)
- Defense: 182
- Healing Power: 25
- Boon Duration: 5%
- Healing Power: 50
- 25% chance when struck to remove a condition. (Cooldown: 30 seconds)
- Healing Power: 100
- +15% Boon Duration; when you use a heal skill, you and nearby allies are healed for a small amount. (Cooldown: 10 seconds)
- Defense: 242
- +8 to All Stats
- Boon Duration: 5%
- +12 to All Stats
- +10% Boon Duration; +10% Condition Duration
- +16 to All Stats
- Movement Speed: 25%
- Defense: 182
- +8 to All Stats
- Boon Duration: 5%
- +12 to All Stats
- +10% Boon Duration; +10% Condition Duration
- +16 to All Stats
- Movement Speed: 25%
Armor Stat Totals
- Defense 1211
- Healing Power 58
- Boon Duration 15%
- Power 8
- Precision 8
- Toughness 8
- Vitality 8
- Condition Damage 8
- Ferocity 8
Rune Bonuses
Superior Rune of the Monk- Healing Power: 25
- Boon Duration: 5%
- Healing Power: 25
- Boon Duration: 5%
- +8 to All Stats
- Boon Duration: 5%
Accessories & Jewels
- Power: 20
- Toughness: 14
- Vitality: 14
- Power: 20
- Toughness: 14
- Vitality: 14
- Power: 20
- Toughness: 14
- Vitality: 14
- Power: 20
- Toughness: 14
- Vitality: 14
- Power: 20
- Toughness: 14
- Vitality: 14
Accessory Totals
- Power:549
- Toughness:349
- Ferocity:299
- Precision:390
- Vitality:14
Weapon Set Sigils
- Weapon Strength: 940-1059
- Power: 56
- Precision: 56
- Toughness: 56
- Vitality: 56
- Condition Damage: 56
- Healing Power: 56
- Ferocity: 56
- Weapon Strength: 832-883
- Power: 120
- Precision: 85
- Ferocity: 85
Weapon Set I
Sigil of Superior BattleYou gain 2 stacks of might for 20s when you swap to this weapon while in combat.
Sigil of Superior Force+5% damage.
- Weapon Strength: 985-1111
- Power: 239
- Precision: 171
- Ferocity: 171
- Weapon Strength: -
Weapon Set II
Sigil of Superior BloodlustYou gain +10 power each time you kill a foe. (max 25 stacks and ends on down or weapon change)
Upgrade Item Details
I went all out for Boon Duration with Upgrade Components. So, my armor has 2 Superior Runes of the Monk, 2 Superior Runes of Water and 2 Superior Runes of the Traveler. That is +45% Boon Duration and +25% from Virtues trait bonus gets Boon Duration up to 70%. I put a Superior Sigil of Bloodlust on my Staff for added Power. My Mace has Superior Sigil of Battle (4 Stacks of Might on weapon swap) and the Focus has Superior Sigil of Force (5% damage).
I use a mix of Berserker, Assassin, Soldier and other stats but have been slowly creeping toward more Berserker or Assassin. Even though there isn't threat/aggro control in Guild Wars 2, I usually pull or attack first so I take the enemies' first burst. The initial attacks hit my Blocks and trigger Might. Some Toughness and Vitality help get through that initial wave. I can usually stay pretty comfortable with a mix of stats that puts me around 55% Critical Chance (with Fury) and 60% Critical Damage. With 25 stacks of Bloodlust, my Power is just under 2,200. Running right now with 1,650 Toughness and my health is just over 14,000. Without Aegis, I can maintain just about +27% bonus damage. With Aegis active that is +47%. Since my Guardian is built around Boon Duration which isn't really available (Snowflake bonus is trivial) as a stat, my traits and strategy are disconnected from my stats. With all Power (Bersker) gear, this is an ok damage build but I have a hard time surviving bursts and mistakes. Damage is directly sacrificed in the armor upgrade components and Crit Chance is sacrificed in the trait bonuses. If I am the primary group Might source (frequent Empower (Staff 4)), I am not spending all my time actively damaging enemies. The damage bonuses from "defensive" acts (blocks), boons and weapon upgrade components help offset some of these losses but take a little time to wind up.
I eat Chocolate Omnomberry Cream for another +20% Boon Duration. A total of +90% Boon Duration.
V. Basic Gameplay
The strategy is to keep as many boons (particularly Might) up for as long as possible. Both for the benefits that the boons provide and for the extra damage (+1% per boon) from Power of the Virtuous. The secondary goal is to keep as many enemies on fire as possible.
You don't see a lot of pre-pull buffing in Guild Wars 2, boons are short duration and quite a bit of buffing is done with triggered combos. Maximum Boon Duration makes pre-pull buffing a little more palatable. Empower (Staff 4) is a 2.5 second channel that puts 12 stacks of Might on the party for 19 seconds with the added Boon Duration. The cooldown is only 20 seconds. So, I have been experimenting by hitting the group with Empower (Staff 4) before we start an encounter.
Kiting. Guardian starts with passive Aegis, can get another from Virtue of Courage and another from Retreat. Three more blocks from Shield of Wrath. Permanent Swiftness, and nearly permanent Protection, Vigor and Regeneration. Bouncing Blind, lots of Stability, Stun Breaks and Condition Removers. Wall of Reflection and Line of Warding provide reflection and control. Chains of Light (Scepter 3) immobilizes. While I am not stacking Might or setting enemies on fire while kiting, I am benefiting from the extra boon duration for Stability, Protection, Regeneration and Swiftness.
Skipping through dungeon areas uses the same strategies as kiting only I need to time skills based on where the "slowest" member of the group is. Wall of Reflection doesn't do the group a whole lot of good if I am 10 yards ahead of the group. I start with a passive Aegis, pop Virtue of Courage for another Aegis for me and the party. Then Retreat for Swiftness and another Aegis for the party. Drop Line of Warding if bunches of melee are chasing. Swap to Scepter/Focus for a single target immobilize and bouncing blind.
Healing is best left as passive and there is technically no tanking (but there are circumstances where kiting is handy and possible). The Mace auto-attack chain ends with a small heal, Symbol of Faith (Mace 2) has Regeneration as does Virtue of Resolve and Save Yourselves. It is beneficial to my damage to keep Regeneration (each boon is 1%) up as much possible. Orb of Light (Staff 2) and Shield of Absorption (Shield 5) can be detonated for a heal. There are so many blocks and a few blinds plus dodging that dedicated healing is usually wasted or not effective. Some Toughness and Protection take direct damage right off the top. Finally, Renewed Focus grants 3 seconds of Invulnerability and recharges all Virtues. This build is only 5 trait points from Altruistic Healing (Valor (XI)) and I did run a similar version with 30 trait points in Valor for Altruistic Healing. It just seemed like the extra healing was wasted most of the time.
Condition Removal is usually an afterthought. Especially if at least one of the party members is ranged with frequent projectile combo finishers because of the many Light combo fields I drop. Many attacks that apply conditions have to "land" to apply the condition. I am blocking many of those attacks. Purging Flames is a staple of my rotation and the skill is even better now at mitigating conditions with the last balance update. Ray of Judgement (Focus 4) works great for self condition removal but not completely reliable for the group. Cleansing Flame (Torch 5) is fairly reliable for group (3 targets at a time) condition removal but has to be fire hosed at the group and doesn't remove conditions from myself.
Main Skill Rotation
The primary rotation is to Empower (Staff 4) before combat. Get stacked, hit Save Yourselves and drop Purging Flames (sets enemies on fire, 11 second Fire combo field and cures up to 3 conditions) and Symbol of Swiftness (Staff 3). Virtue of Justice for more group Might and burning, Weapon Swap (4 stacks of Might) and hit Shield of Wrath (Focus 5)(blast finisher for another 3 stacks (38 seconds) of area Might). That is the prep or buffing phase. Usually running in the high teens or low twenties for Might stacks and 7 or 8 total boons (7%-8% damage from Power of the Virtuous) and most or all enemies are burning (+10% damage). Since I have Mace/Focus equipped, another 10% bonus to damage. If I don't think I will need an emergency Virtue of Courage, I can hit Virtue of Courage for Aegis which is another 20% bump in damage while it lasts.
Then it is either Ray of Judgement (Focus 4) for some damage, blind, regeneration and condition removal. Symbol of Faith (Mace 2). If I am still the one getting pounded on, Protector's Strike (Mace 3). Otherwise another chain of Mace auto attack before swapping back to Staff to start over. Every skill except Empower can be done while moving/strafing. Depending on the situation, I will try to alternate Purging Flames and Hallowed Ground so I can always hit Shield of Wrath (Focus 5) with a fire field down. If I expect knock-downs then I don't hesitate to drop both down at the same time.
If I need to stay ranged, I swap out the Mace for Scepter. The rotation doesn't change much if the party can stay relatively stacked while on the move. If the encounter is single enemy or focused fire, I will stay in Scepter/Focus more. If multiple enemies, than I may just stay in Staff. Chains of Light (Scepter 3) and Smite (Scepter 2) is a powerful combination that immobilizes an enemy(s) in an area of damage.