Author:TheUnnamed
Published under authorization of TheUnnamed.
Under construction:
-Feat breakdown of other trees
-Leveling methods
-Tanking Guide
-PvP tactics
-More everything!
Introduction
No introduction I need all the characters I can get for these posts.
F.A.Q
What level do I gain the ability to use 'x'?
See Guardian Abilities
Should I use Polearm or Sword and Shield?
This is going to be a long debated topic and it's not likely that my short answer here is going to stop people from asking or debating the merits of both. Polearm and Sword and Shield both offer good benefits and drawbacks. If you want to be a main tank then stop reading now, go sword and shield, and continue on your way. While polearm has great survivability and you can off tank, tank trash or tank low level mobs as polearm sword and shield just offers much better threat production (counter attacks, bleeds) and more defense (the shield).
For everyone else it's a tough choice. Both have good offerings and it's really not as clearly cut about damage as you'd think.
Shield/Sword:
-Offers more reliable Defense, polearms need guard up to boost their survivability.
-Offers a multitude of bleeds and counter attacks that are great for taking on higher level monsters
-Offers more group utility
-Good spike damage with overreach and bloody vengeance
-Relies on group to build vengeance counter to deal high damage
-Offers more cc abilities
Polearm:
-Larger range makes positioning easier and is a great advantage in PvP versus other melee classes.
-Good damage right out of the gate with white hits and flashing arc
-Good burst damage from skewer and impale
-Can stand behind other melee and still hit target
-Good sruvivability while guard is up + bonuses to evasion from feats
-Less downsides to high damaging combos. Flashing arc is spammable and polearm guardians don't rely as much on vengeance or can build it themselves
-Broken combos limit versatility (disable and riposte).
Honestly, if tanking isn't a concern for you, the choice should come down to which feats you want not what weapon you want to wield. Both specs when specced right can have good survivability and/or good damage. So it really comes down to what you want to be able to do. The only major concern is do you want the extra range or extra survivability of a shield.
What is vengeance?
Vengeance is a stacking buff that has a chance to be generated when your teammates are hit. It stacks up to 10 times and provides movement and damage bonuses. Vengeance also affects the damage and cooldown of the bloody vengeance feat. Additionally at the higher stacks of vengeance the guardian gains a small (3m) aura that reduces the damage of nearby enemies.
What is wrath?
Wrath is a stacking buff that has a chance to be generated when you are hit in combat. Each stack provides a 1% damage increase.
Why doesn't Slam knock back monsters?
Slam is intended as a starting ability for low levels and does not scale up. Without scaling the level of knockback from the slam ability is quickly outpaced and the effect is rendered useless. You have to make do with shield slam and stagger for your knockback purposes.
What choice should I make from the destiny quests?
When you do your level 30, level 50 and beyond destiny quests you are given 3 options. One is for attack, one for hitpoints, and one for hp regen. Each choice gives you a very minor boost in the area you want and which option to take is open for debate. Try not to fret too much about your choice however as you can always overcome the small differences in choices through gear.
Health Option Gives ~40-60 additional hp.
Attack Option Gives +1 attack rating.
Health Regen Gives an unknown amount of health regen believed to work both in and out of combat.
Do stunning charge, impale, and charge share a cooldown?
Yes, sort of. When you use Impale or Charge you will receive the normal cooldown on all other charges. When you use Stunning Charge you will only receive a 30 second coolown on charge/impale.
Does Storm blade affect all weapons or just polearms and what does it do?
Storm blade affects all weapons. When you melee with a weapon you won't deal additional damage on each hit but you'll occasionally proc a secondary 'storm blade' hit. If you setup a combat chat log you can see the effect. The attack is generally about 75% of the main hit you'd do with a decent sword at the same level. It appears to proc around 20-30% of the time when maxed.
What do Defense Rating and Heroic Defense rating do?
It's not fully known but the following is believed. Defense Rating is compared to the attacker's Attack rating to determine how much damage a melee swing does. When there is a level difference this calculation is skewed in favor of the higher level. Heroic Defense rating comes into play here. It is believe that heroic defense will help a player's defense rating against higher level monsters. There was also talk a while ago about heroic defense rating possibly increasing the defense rating cap.
How much of an effect do the improvements to frenzy stance make
Maxed out Improved Frenzy stance will increase the damage of the frenzy stance by 10%. Guarded Frenzy will reduce the immunity penalty by 10% for each point. Maxed out frenzy stance provides a guardian +60% damage -70% immunities.
How much regeneration does Lifesaver, Toughness, Recovery Give at level 80?
Recovery gives around 173 regen at 80 (need confirmation but it should be accurate). Lifesaver and toughness seem to give about 1/3rd of the regen that recovery does for any given level.
How much damage does counterstrike and anticipation do at level 80?
A very small amount that scales with level. I don't have any hard numbers but 13/6 respectively at level 45 is what I've heard. So I'd expect these talents to do about 5-20% damage of a normal melee swing for any level.
Where should I spend my skill points?
See guardian abilities for descriptions of all skill types
This depends on your focus and server type. Regardless of setup you will at some point need climbing to reach otherwise inaccessible points so plan ahead for that. Other than climbing, if you are on a PvP server, having enough in hiding to hide in broad daylight (about 300-400 points) is a great investment. Endurance and Run speed also provide small, but noticeable, boosts and are a potential area to place points for both faster traveling and PvP effectiveness. Keep in mind that the Run speed does not work in combat however. The resting skills (bandaging, recovery, fast recovery, etc.) are also very important. In addition to providing much less downtime, these skills can be useful for PvP when you can duck out of combat and recovery a few big ticks of health and stamina before jumping back in.
Then there's threat. This one to me is an all or nothing. If you are going heavy PvE then max it out. The more threat you generate the better. If you aren't then leave it at 0. If you're doing a 'hybrid' PvP/PvE build or spec I'd still recommend getting this as high as you can. Take this over endurance, run speed or, if you really have to, hiding. It can be tough to hold aggro in PvE so every little bit really helps.
Does plexus strike restore a flat amount of stamina or does it depend on the number of things I hit with it?
Plexus strike will give you additional stamina per target hit by the combo.
Guardian Abilities
Item usage Requirements
Never Dual Wielding two weapons, Cloth Armor, 2 handed edged or blunt weapons
Level 1 Light Armor, 1 Hand Edged, 1 Hand Blunt, Polearm, Thrown Weapons.
Level 10 Medium Armor
Level 30 Heavy Armor
Level 50 Crossbows
Level 60 Full Plate
Class skills
Bandaging Level 1
Improves out of combat hp regeneration when using the rest skill. Rumored to also increase in combat regeneration
Hiding Level 18
Allows you hide, the stamina drain for moving while hidden is immense. More points makes it harder for mobs or people with perception to spot you. Around 300 points is required to hide in all types of lighting/locations.
Recovery
Improves out of combat stamina regeneration when using the rest skill
Fast Recovery
When resting gives a chance per tick to recovery double the normal amount of stamina (gives a potential for a very fast resting recovery rate).
Perception
Provides the ability to spot players while hidden. Extra effective when using the search ability.
Run speed
Boosts your out of combat run speed. It's a small but noticeable amount.
Endurance
Reduces the stamina drain on running. Again a small but noticeable amount.
The Self Buffs
The guardian gets several types of exclusive buffs: Stances, Maneuvers, Stratagems, and Tactics. You can only have 1 effect from each type active at a time. These buffs last as long as you leave them active, though they may fade when you die or zone (such as the stances).
Level gained
Level 15 Stances
Level 20 Maneuvers
Level 40 Stratagems
Level 60 Tactics
|
