I'll guard you. Let them come through ME first! - Guardian discussion thread.

[DrakeWurrum]

When that happened I'm knocked down and out the fight almost every time.

Not if you dodge.

That boss has EXTREMELY noticeable tells for both of his dangerous abilities. All you have to do is dodge when he's rearing up on his hind legs. Obviously the timing is a bit more precise than that, but it's extremely obvious to know when he's about to use that ability.

I soloed this guy with a Greatsword/Mace+Shield Guardian at the end of BWE3, when everybody was distracted by the beta's ending event. It's not that hard, just takes quick reflexes.

[Ynna]

What Drake says. Most of the really big hits can be dodged.
Also, getting knocked down, or even getting in the downed state shouldn't result in a Bronze contribution. I'm guessing something else went wrong.

[DrakeWurrum]

What Drake says. Most of the really big hits can be dodged.
Also, getting knocked down, or even getting in the downed state shouldn't result in a Bronze contribution. I'm guessing something else went wrong.

Far as I can tell, your medal participation has everything to do with how much you "contributed" to the progress bar of the event.

With boss mobs, this typically results in how much damage you dealt, because the progress bar that shows is the boss HP. I used a Staff on it once, and got Bronze because of it. :<

[technothrakon]

Not if you dodge.

That boss has EXTREMELY noticeable tells for both of his dangerous abilities. All you have to do is dodge when he's rearing up on his hind legs. Obviously the timing is a bit more precise than that, but it's extremely obvious to know when he's about to use that ability.

I soloed this guy with a Greatsword/Mace+Shield Guardian at the end of BWE3, when everybody was distracted by the beta's ending event. It's not that hard, just takes quick reflexes.

Thanks for the reply. I did think that was the tell, but maybe I was lagging or something because the events were absolutely soaked with players. Sometimes the knockdown seemed to have no correlation with anything the boss was doing. So first I will check my framerate to make sure the game is keeping up even in the big mosh-pit that seems to dominate these encounters.

My mission in later encounters were to try and mitigate that effect for everyone else, thus looking to give out Aegis or execute well-timed "Stand Your Ground" to keep everyone on their feet. Am I right in assuming that should do the trick if I can time it right?

[DrakeWurrum]

When I did it on my Guardian on live, I did have a hard time avoiding the knock-down, purely because there was so much lag that I couldn't make out the tell in time to dodge. I still survived and got gold participation, however.

I've noticed that the game has been lagging less for me over time, though, so maybe I should double-check. They may have actually reduced how quickly that animation is done.

[technothrakon]

What Drake says. Most of the really big hits can be dodged.
Also, getting knocked down, or even getting in the downed state shouldn't result in a Bronze contribution. I'm guessing something else went wrong.

Gotcha, thanks. Well what might have gone wrong is I spent time lying on the ground trying to revive myself and wait for someone to help speed that along, instead of putting hits on the boss.

[Ynna]

With boss mobs, this typically results in how much damage you dealt, because the progress bar that shows is the boss HP. I used a Staff on it once, and got Bronze because of it. :<

Yeah, focusing hard on Support results in lower rewards

Gotcha, thanks. Well what might have gone wrong is I spent time lying on the ground trying to revive myself and wait for someone to help speed that along, instead of putting hits on the boss.

When you get downed, use your first ability until you can use the 4th. Just try to get on your feed as soon as you can. If you die close to a boss that AoEs you're probably out of luck.

[technothrakon]

When I did it on my Guardian on live, I did have a hard time avoiding the knock-down, purely because there was so much lag that I couldn't make out the tell in time to dodge. I still survived and got gold participation, however.

I've noticed that the game has been lagging less for me over time, though, so maybe I should double-check. They may have actually reduced how quickly that animation is done.

I will give my Guardian another go today and come at that encounter with a fresh perspective and maybe just worry more about myself at first until I have the timing down. I love the versatility and support-based nature of the profession otherwise and heritage armor looks absolutely badass as well. Thank you for the replies; now to read some of the other 1500 posts in this thread, lol

---------- Post added 2012-09-02 at 11:45 AM ----------

Yeah, focusing hard on Support results in lower rewards

When you get downed, use your first ability until you can use the 4th. Just try to get on your feed as soon as you can. If you die close to a boss that AoEs you're probably out of luck.

That's a shame because it's a lot of fun sometimes playing support, wish the game rewarded participation differently to account for that.

[Deleted]

Is greatsword damage broken, or designed to be so high? I just switched from hammer and the damage, particularly the whirl, is at least twice as high, is that by intent?

[Deleted]

Is greatsword damage broken, or designed to be so high? I just switched from hammer and the damage, particularly the whirl, is at least twice as high, is that by intent?

GS has higher burst damage but for sustained damage, I doubt it's twice as much. In fact, I'm willing put money on hammer having equal if not more damage than GS due to lower cooldown and symbol high up time (especially if you use the 27% more damage trait). GS is just better overall since your cooldown should always be up when you move to the next mob. I prefer GS/Hammer combination since you can always switch to hammer every time your GS symbol/whirl on cooldown for better killing power.

[Deleted]

Yeah, maybe it just feels that high running from mob to mob, but it's like 1shotting everything in sight. I prefer to have sword & shield as second weapon in case things get hairy

[Ynna]

Greatsword has been the superior damage weapon since day one. It just trades damage for low defensive support and weak control. It's probably the best weapon for leveling.

[Alilei32]

Can someone hook me up with a good Greatsword build for high damage and self healing? I noticed the 30 point trait in Zeal called Zealous Blades heals on GS attacks but how much healing is it? I was thinking of going 30 into Zeal and then 20 into Honor and 20 into Valor. Would that be a viable build at level 80 for farming? Also with that build what would be a good weapon swap?

Also does the healing signet condition removal passive and the Purity trait passive that also removes a condition stack?

[Cinnamohn]

Am I the only one who prefers Scepter/Torch over a Greatsword?

[Ynna]

Am I the only one who prefers Scepter/Torch over a Greatsword?

Yes. You probably are
There's nothing really wrong with the Scepter, it's just boring as hell. It's the only weapon where I use the "auto-attack" feature.

Can someone hook me up with a good Greatsword build for high damage and self healing? I noticed the 30 point trait in Zeal called Zealous Blades heals on GS attacks but how much healing is it?
Also does the healing signet condition removal passive and the Purity trait passive that also removes a condition stack?

Apparantly (and I haven't been able to see for myself) it's not all that much, especially not compared to the health pools at level 80. It can be increased with +healing and the right traits.
And yes, they should be able to stack. Once again, no real confirmation, other than that I can see no reason for it to not stack.

[Scyth]

Am I the only one who prefers Scepter/Torch over a Greatsword?

You probably are yes lol. I find the scepter really boring sadly. I'm really struggling with ranged as Staff isn't doing it for me as well

[Ynna]

You probably are yes lol. I find the scepter really boring sadly. I'm really struggling with ranged as Staff isn't doing it for me as well

Staff isn't a proper ranged weapon. Scepter is really our only option. It's a good weapon, but the playstyle is so incredibly boring. Which is a shame, because if it was actually underpowered, it would have more chance of being changed.

[Boomcats]

I run GS/ Scepter:Shield

The scepter is boring indeed, but the CC/protection you get (PLUS ITS RANGED) makes it such a good combo with the high damage GS I have found.

I'm only level 40, haven't done an instance yet, but I am curious what you guys are running for utlity/elite skills?

Right now I'm using
7.) Signet that reduces damage (forget the name)
8.) Purging flames (I love the combo field and the condition removal)
9.) Retreat / Spectral Sword / or Smite Condition - depending on where I am or what I'm trying to do

What are you guys using?

[DrakeWurrum]

Staff isn't a proper ranged weapon. Scepter is really our only option. It's a good weapon, but the playstyle is so incredibly boring. Which is a shame, because if it was actually underpowered, it would have more chance of being changed.

Well. To be sure, most developers should care about fun first and foremost.

[WorldofWorkcraft]

I run GS/ Scepter:Shield

The scepter is boring indeed, but the CC/protection you get (PLUS ITS RANGED) makes it such a good combo with the high damage GS I have found.

I'm only level 40, haven't done an instance yet, but I am curious what you guys are running for utlity/elite skills?

Right now I'm using
7.) Signet that reduces damage (forget the name)
8.) Purging flames (I love the combo field and the condition removal)
9.) Retreat / Spectral Sword / or Smite Condition - depending on where I am or what I'm trying to do

What are you guys using?

It's very situational per fight per dungeon to be honest. I usually run with GS / Scepter+Focus as weapon sets. As I just respecced damage, GS is good for the aoe and pulling mobs off of people (Via BB). Scepter is good for the CC/AoE. Focus usually helps a lot since the 5th skill provides 3 blocks that can be used when knocked down, and the 4 skill is really useful/helpful.

As for utility/elite, really depends on how you build traits. I like to have the Shield utility on as it's really useful for blocking ranged. I really like purging flames for the same reason as you, but sometimes it's just not useful enough. Heal/Burn blink is useful for getting around. I'm fond of my D-Series golem for protection and somewhat tanking ability (yay Asura), but the offensive/defensive elites are good. I'm only ~57 or 58 but it's been a fun time. I really want to start using the other weapons more often. I tried mace as I got some nice maces but it's really only good for ST and geared toward support.

Note: A guardian has the ability to block ranged attacks for a really long time, and 2 guardians can most likely have 100% uptime blocking archers/ranged via Shield of Absorption (shield skill, ~5s?), Wall of Reflection (utility, ~10s?), Shield of the Avenger (~20s, gets maybe 3 shields out so maybe 15s uptime), and Sanctuary (~6s uptime). As an Asura, D-Series golem also throws out shields while he's up, so that's another 40s of intermediate uptime (maybe ~15s total).