Differences between Warrior and Guardian?

[Deleted]

Disclaimer: this is not a "halp me, I don't know what to play, please decide for me"-thread, but rather a "would someone be kind enough to explain how Warriors and Guardians differ in playstyle so I can decide myself"-thread.
I recently ditched my Elementalist as it was too squishy - now I'm looking to play a Heavy Armor-class.

From what I understand, Warrior has a much more aggresive playstyle than the Guardian; deals more damage, takes more damage. And the Guardian is a defensive support-class with little damage output.

How true is this?
Can Guardians do any damage outside of Greatsword (hell, even with Greatsword)?
Are they more heal-y and defensive than Warriors, and if so, by how much?
Is it viable for a Warrior to run Longbow/Greatsword (or just ranged/melee in general)?
Both in PvE and PvP, how do their playstyles generally differ (defensive/offensive, DoT/direct damage, kiting, pulling multiple mobs)?
Can a Guardian hold it's own in a 1v1 situation in PvP?
How about PvE - how is questing as both of these classes? Multipulling, AoE, mobility, etc..
Is it true that Weapons have so many more builds to choose from, wheras Guardians are forced to go Greatsword if they wish to deal damage (etc.)?

I would like something defensive yet offensive, capable of taking on multiple mobs/enemies at the same time, while being able to go kiting-mode if things get overwhelming (Guardian's Scepter and Staff seem more focused on support/healing, which concerns me). I would also like some build diversity - being able to move traits and stuff around to accomodate certain Weapon-builds etc. What class would suit me the most then?
There was two things I was missing in the Elementalist - the ability to stand still and nuke (at least for a bit before starting to kite) and general defense.
How about Necromancer? Is that more "heavy" than the Elementalist (life drain etc.?), capable of standing still and DPSing (with pets potentially tanking)?

Thanks in advance.

[papajohn4]

Warrior has offensive mobility and CC tools (gap closers, KB, cripple, immob, antislows), while lacking escape tools.
Guardians has little in the form of CC and mobility, but a lot in regards of negating CC and mobility impairments.

Guardian is a lot better at removing conditions to self and team, and team-wide damage prevention (Prot/Aegis) and generally a ton of skill that heal team, protect team, negate damage, avoid damage.
Warrior has no real forms of healing outside the heal skill and traited shake it off (which heals 2k only and 19s cd), but gets 5s immortality twice; one by skill, one when health gets to 25% (traited).

Warrior can boosts team's offense. Fury, might, swiftness.
Guardian can boost team's survivability. Aegis, regen, protection, vigor, healing, shields.
Both can remove conditions but Guardian does it much better.

Also warriors have very good Range DPS with Rifle and Longbow while Guardian range dps is limited to scepter is not nearly as good as warriors. Warriors generally do much more damage than Guardian, but the difference is not terrible..

[Ynna]

[1]Can Guardians do any damage outside of Greatsword (hell, even with Greatsword)?
[2]Are they more heal-y and defensive than Warriors, and if so, by how much?
[3]Is it viable for a Warrior to run Longbow/Greatsword (or just ranged/melee in general)?
[4]Both in PvE and PvP, how do their playstyles generally differ (defensive/offensive, DoT/direct damage, kiting, pulling multiple mobs)?
[5]Can a Guardian hold it's own in a 1v1 situation in PvP?
[6]How about PvE - how is questing as both of these classes? Multipulling, AoE, mobility, etc..
[7]Is it true that [Warriors] have so many more builds to choose from, Wheras Guardians are forced to go Greatsword if they wish to deal damage (etc.)?

Note: I haven't played a Warrior yet (well a little), so I'm only knowledgeable about Guardians.

1. Guardians do great damage. The Greatsword is indeed the first option that comes to mind, but Sword, Hammer, Scepter and even Mace do okay to great damage. They don't do as much burst as others are capable of, but their sustained damage is more than respectable.

2.They can be more heal-y and defensive than a Warrior, but I might be selling the Warrior short. Guardians always have support-component, even when fully geared, traited and skilled for damage. Most of their abilities are dual-purpose, which makes them helpful to the team, even when focusing on killing the opponent. Warriors seem to have a similar thing going on, but leaning more towards control.

3. It should be, yeah. Guardians are less flexible in this.

4. This would take way too long to explain.

5. Yes. Easily. 1v2 as well. Even 1v3 if you're really skilled (but not for long).

6. Questing is easy-sauce on a Guardian. You should be able to survive multiple opponents at the same time if you take a more defensive route. This does lead you with less mobility, but you could take Mace/Focus+Greatsword and be mobile and AoE pull. Guardians are also ideal for Dynamic Events, because of their supportive nature.

7. I don't think this is true. Most of the Guardian's weapons are viable in multiple builds. Greatsword is the premier choice for damage, but as mentioned above, other weapons can fill this niche as well, just with different accents.

[Delias]

I just skimmed the post, but my basic thoughts on the differences between the two is that while both can do damage, support and control quite well and viably, the warrior tends to lean more towards damage while guardians lean more towards support. However, do NOT brush aside a warrior's support while using banners/shout spam (some of the best support in the game. o.o) and do NOT discount a guardian's DPS.

[Deleted]

Warrior is a warrior, Guardian is a paladin.

[theredviola]

The only downside to playing a Guardian, when compared to a Warrior, is that Guardians don't have as good offensive ranged abilities. You can say "what about scepter and the staff" but their damage out put is rather bad. When playing a Guardian at ranged, you'll end up being 2/3's support and healing -- and saying 1/3 damage at range is generous.

[Ynna]

The only downside to playing a Guardian, when compared to a Warrior, is that Guardians don't have as good offensive ranged abilities. You can say "what about Scepter and the Staff" but their damage out put is rather bad. When playing a Guardian at ranged, you'll end up being 2/3's support and healing -- and saying 1/3 damage at range is generous.

I don't really agree. Scepter is boring, but that's its major flaw. It does respectable damage.

[Imnick]

I loved scepter on Beta, admittedly I have not yet played it on live

[Deleted]

The only downside to playing a Guardian, when compared to a Warrior, is that Guardians don't have as good offensive ranged abilities. You can say "what about scepter and the staff" but their damage out put is rather bad. When playing a Guardian at ranged, you'll end up being 2/3's support and healing -- and saying 1/3 damage at range is generous.

I stacked condition damage, precision and power, using staff, burn utilities and playing a midrange support... I did far more damage than I expected, sure vs 1 or 2 mobs it drops abit short, but once there is a decent pack it just eats them upp with the staff. Scepter might be abit on the slow side, but combined with a focus and proper movement it works just fine, tho I really wish orb of wrath moved quicker :P

[theredviola]

I don't really agree. Scepter is boring, but that's its major flaw. It does respectable damage.

Yeah, you are right. It does do damage, but it is very boring.

What Guardians still lack though is a long-range, AE damage option.

[Ynna]

Yeah, you are right. It does do damage, but it is very boring.

What Guardians still lack though is a long-range, AE damage option.

Only in sPvP and WvWvW. In PvE the Scepter works okay. In WvWvW it can also function as an okay ranged options. In sPvP it's a mid-range weapon at best.

[Grenzstein]

I would like something defensive yet offensive, capable of taking on multiple mobs/enemies at the same time, while being able to go kiting-mode if things get overwhelming (Guardian's Scepter and Staff seem more focused on support/healing, which concerns me). I would also like some build diversity - being able to move traits and stuff around to accomodate certain Weapon-builds etc. What class would suit me the most then?
There was two things I was missing in the Elementalist - the ability to stand still and nuke (at least for a bit before starting to kite) and general defense.

So you want something that is capable of: Dealing damage, great AoE, kiting, good defense, giving support and having "build diversity" ?

Sorry. You won't find this in GW2.

[Deleted]

So you want something that is capable of: Dealing damage, great AoE, kiting, good defense, giving support and having "build diversity" ?

Sorry. You won't find this in GW2.

"Great" AoE? Where did I say that? Taking on multiple mobs at the same time is more a question of defense or cleaving than it is a question of "great AoE". I don't believe I mentioned support either. Frankly, I don't give a shit about support.

Thanks though.

[Korgoth]

Id suggest just playing both of them, all you have to do is level past the tutorial at the start, then go into the PvP Mists, and you can try out all the abilities and talents.

[Fencers]

I would suggest you look into our Community Guides & Discussion Index thread stickied at the top.

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...scussion-Index

Specifically, the Guardian and Warrior discussion threads.

-- Fencers