127 replies to this topic

[notum]

Ultra first of all thanks for compiling all this info. I too just discovered the wonders of the staff (long ago written off haha). Also i share your love of scepter for pvp where most use staff/GS. I agree with all your points, however I stuck with knight's armor and full divinity set.

I'm using full beryl jewelry with 1 emerald earring with a beryl jewel. As I calculated, the difference in stats are:

berserker's 3/3 set: +115 power, +60 precision, +4% critD.

knights' & 6 divinity: +291 tough

(my math may be off, it's been a long day hehe). anyway I prefer the additional tankiness, though I think it's mostly a matter of play style / could be placebo effect hah.


Anyway, you are showing a additional +100 hp, however, which i'm curious about after replacing 3 divinity runes. did you add something else?

[SoliasSerene]

I just wanted to drop a line and say: WOW!

This build looks amazing!  The thought and testing that has gone into it simply blows me away!  Thank you for taking the time to help those like me who have been trying for 70 levels to figure out how to get the most out their Guardians.

Also, I would like to thank the community!   This has been - without a doubt - the best thread I have ever read on Guru!  Almost everyone here seems to actually want to help and that is a VERY RARE thing on this forum.  Bravo to all involved!

Has anyone used this build - with the most recent updates - in a PvE leveling, Orr event hopping, or dungeon in a YouTUBE vid that shows it action?  I'd really be interested in seeing that.

Being a Great Sword/Scepter user myself, I'm also very interested in the outcome of the primary weapon swap.  I've never really enjoyed all the kiting involved with non-melee weapons, but I can dance well enough if I have to. (I have an Elementalist alt that spent 60 levels with a staff before I switched to dual daggers.)

[indure]

Ultramatum, on 13 October 2012 - 09:09 PM, said:

I find Renewed Focus is a pretty underwhelming Elite skill and never use it.  It offers no real utility to your allies, and it roots you while you use it.  Not my cup o' tea.

Most importantly, Renewed Focus no longer roots you.

I completely agree that Renewed Focus has no place in your build, but in most builds Renewed Focus is actually quite powerful and synergizes strongly with multiple traits and especially with the Virtues line.

Although you have to trait for it, it offers a ton of utility to your allies. With only 5 points in Virtues, Renew Focus allows guardians to quickly overlap Virtues to give 6 stacks of might + two fire damage attacks, 2 x 2k heals + 10 secs of regen, 2 Aegis + 10 seconds of Protection. And with further traiting it can remove 6 conditions and give 6 secs of stability to your entire party.

[jpg1]

SoliasSerene, on 29 October 2012 - 02:14 AM, said:

I just wanted to drop a line and say: WOW!

This build looks amazing!  The thought and testing that has gone into it simply blows me away!  Thank you for taking the time to help those like me who have been trying for 70 levels to figure out how to get the most out their Guardians.

Also, I would like to thank the community!   This has been - without a doubt - the best thread I have ever read on Guru!  Almost everyone here seems to actually want to help and that is a VERY RARE thing on this forum.  Bravo to all involved!

Has anyone used this build - with the most recent updates - in a PvE leveling, Orr event hopping, or dungeon in a YouTUBE vid that shows it action?  I'd really be interested in seeing that.

Being a Great Sword/Scepter user myself, I'm also very interested in the outcome of the primary weapon swap.  I've never really enjoyed all the kiting involved with non-melee weapons, but I can dance well enough if I have to. (I have an Elementalist alt that spent 60 levels with a staff before I switched to dual daggers.)

I use the build's Trait distribution, and I have had no problems so far. That speaks volumes in itself as I don't have the gear specified here. Without the proper gears, I do less damage but the build still sticks to what it intends to do: provide damage and support at the same time.

• The basic principle of wanting more Vitality and just enough Toughness is true. There just some point of adjustment if you're used to having so much Toughness before.
  
• Staff is a kick-ass weapon. You don't fuss about targeting so much as you just hit 5 targets in front of you. And you have all the utility to set-up the battle. I'd have to disagree with Line of Warding though. I've used it quite often and it actually is pretty helpful.

[phani_kaushik]

After lot of WvW'ing with this build, I must say, this is one damn impressive build, thanks again Ultra!

I just am trying to find a mix of utilities to get rid of all those stacked conditions put on you when facing multiple enemies. Renewed focus although does make me invulnerable for sometime and helps me heal with full regeneration of Virtue of Resolve, I'm not sure if it can remove conditions

I find staff to be excellent choice, and been a long time since I used GS after this build. Melee isn't really recommended for someone like me in WvW. Whenever defending a gate, I stand right behind it, hitting anyone with full strength and the rams go down pretty faster. Kohler was easy to take down too in AC exp mode and Mad King dungeon was a breeze while soloing by just hiding in one of those structures and hit him through walls.

If you could suggest which utility I can swap for better condition removal it'd be great. I see wall of reflection removes conditions from allies probably due to the combo "Light" when someone shoots through it, but the problem is I see myself on 5-6 conditions at the same time (can see enemies specifically targeting me first as I seem to be a bigger threat running with this beasty build).

[Corvin]

I really want to try out this build, but I'm more of a melee kind of guy personally. Would this build be just as effective with a GS or hammer? Maybe even a sword and shield? I'm not really that interested in WvW so this would be purely for PvE.

Edited by Corvin, 30 October 2012 - 04:38 AM.

[rd1102]

jpg1, on 30 October 2012 - 01:00 AM, said:

The basic principle of wanting more Vitality and just enough Toughness is true. There just some point of adjustment if you're used to having so much Toughness before.

How much armor or toughness for the guardian are we looking at , to hit the point of enough toughness ?

Right now , 15-16k health is around the sweet spot for me as far as being a guardian goes.

if there's a sweet spot for toughness as well , i might be looking to push those extra stats(from vit/tough) into dishing out more dps(pre/pow).

Edited by rd1102, 30 October 2012 - 07:08 AM.

[dhupp]

Hi guys! Been reading through this topic and i'd like to commit to this build but where I'm at in the game would require me to blow all my wealth.

Would you suggest using a staff while farming Orr in a full MF set? or should I stick to something like gs?

[Mister Stygian]

The only good thing about Divinity runes is that people are willing to pay so much for them.  They have the same problem as putting 10 points in every trait-diversity in this game loses out to specilization. You should salvage them off and pick something that actually works with your build.

[jpg1]

dhupp, on 30 October 2012 - 06:21 PM, said:

Hi guys! Been reading through this topic and i'd like to commit to this build but where I'm at in the game would require me to blow all my wealth.

Would you suggest using a staff while farming Orr in a full MF set? or should I stick to something like gs?

Staff is pretty fun for farming as Mobs move in one direction. You can easily trap them with Line of Warding and Drop Symbol and melt them with #1 and #2.

rd1102, on 30 October 2012 - 07:06 AM, said:

How much armor or toughness for the guardian are we looking at , to hit the point of enough toughness ?

Right now , 15-16k health is around the sweet spot for me as far as being a guardian goes.

if there's a sweet spot for toughness as well , i might be looking to push those extra stats(from vit/tough) into dishing out more dps(pre/pow).

This build suggests that 2.3 - 2.5 is enough. There are people who go up as much as 3.4. I've done my fair share of 2.7 - 2.9 before reading this build. The thing about working on Toughness is you trade off for either damage output and/or Vitality. It's a matter of preference to tell you the truth. Personally I think more than 2.9 is overkill already.

Corvin, on 30 October 2012 - 04:37 AM, said:

I really want to try out this build, but I'm more of a melee kind of guy personally. Would this build be just as effective with a GS or hammer? Maybe even a sword and shield? I'm not really that interested in WvW so this would be purely for PvE.

Sure you can. Be mindful though that staying in Melee with a lower level of armor can be a bit risky. I've done this build with a GS and it will work fine. You could use Sword + Off-hand too since it will benefit from Right-Hand Strength (Mastery) I don't know, however, how it will affect your speed in terms of dishing out hits compared to the Five-Target Slap of the Staff.

Edited by jpg1, 31 October 2012 - 04:59 AM.

[Alric Gustafssen]

This build really rocks!

My Lvl 41 Guardian is now using this build, and what a powerhouse she has become!  In her first fight with her new capabilities I put her against three Lvl 45 mobs in a 3v1 fight, even though I don't yet know how to use all of her capabilites.  She absolutely slaughtered them, and did so without breaking a sweat.  Wahooo!  What made me laugh like a maniac while this was happening were the facts that 1) I only used her most-basic skills to do win this fight, and 2) she hardly lost any Health Points during the fight.

Wow!  I really love this build.  I can't wait to find a PvE situation where I can pop Wall of Reflection, Empower, and all that other good stuff.

After reading this post and all of the comments I was convinced that this was just what I'd been searching for.  I have changed everything, abandoning her PvE Leveling Build (30/5/0/20/15) without any buyer's remorse.  The Scepter/Focus was pretty cool - it's long-ranged attack was impressive, but I switched to my favorite, the Greatsword, when the melee began.  That was where this thing really grabbed my attention!  My Guardian's HP meter hardly flickered while she was killing those Lvl 45 mobs crazy-fast.

My Lvl 41 Guardian significantly increased her Health Points, going to 5945 HP from about 3200 HP.  Nice!  Nice!  Nice!

And, of course, her Crit rating has really gone up because her Precision is way higher than before.  I was speccing for Power / Vitality / Critical Damage before I discovered this "Ultra" Build.  Now I'm a Power / Precision / Critical Damage kinda guy.  Crit Power, baby!

What Lvl 40 gear and jewels to equip took a little puzzling-out.  Here is what I did:

• Equiped Level 40 Power / Precision or Precision / Crit Damage gear, going with Power whenever I had a choice.

• Added a level-appropriate Carnelian Jewel to each trinket.

• Put four Major Rune of the Pack on gear to max out the synergy-of-four that these things offer.

• Put Major Rune of Divinity on the other two pieces of gear.

• Added a level-appropriate Sigil of Accuracy to both the Staff and the Greatsword.

• Added a level-appropriate Sigil of Energy to the Focus.

Man-oh-man, am I happy.  Thank you Ultramatum!

Edited by Alric Gustafssen, 03 November 2012 - 04:08 AM.

[indure]

phani_kaushik, on 30 October 2012 - 03:03 AM, said:

If you could suggest which utility I can swap for better condition removal it'd be great. I see wall of reflection removes conditions from allies probably due to the combo "Light" when someone shoots through it, but the problem is I see myself on 5-6 conditions at the same time (can see enemies specifically targeting me first as I seem to be a bigger threat running with this beasty build).

With Ultra's build you can get 2 condition removals from using your signets. You can get 1 more if you switch to Pure of Voice over Writ of the Merciful. You could consider changing runes from 6 divinity to 6 soldier to get condition removal from shouts. You could also switch a utility for Bow of Truth, Smite Condition, Purging Flames, or Contemplation of Purity depending on your personal preferences and your situation.

Edited by indure, 01 November 2012 - 07:22 PM.

[gw2boy]

This is a very very very attractive build.

I fully agree with you on more HP > more toughness.

Everything seems so good.

And u presented ur build succintly with a good flow.

I think i will give this build a try  on my new char.

[phani_kaushik]

indure, on 01 November 2012 - 07:22 PM, said:

With Ultra's build you can get 2 condition removals from using your signets. You can get 1 more if you switch to Pure of Voice over Writ of the Merciful. You could consider changing runes from 6 divinity to 6 soldier to get condition removal from shouts. You could also switch a utility for Bow of Truth, Smite Condition, Purging Flames, or Contemplation of Purity depending on your personal preferences and your situation.

Thanks a lot, gotta try it. It's really helpful!

[Rhoellan Alts]

So does his original post reflect all the changes he has made throughout this thread?  I want to start building this and don't want to invest in the incorrect stuff!

Awesome thread, awesome post and thanks for giving us another solution!

[Mister Stygian]

Rhoellan Alts, on 02 November 2012 - 05:37 PM, said:

So does his original post reflect all the changes he has made throughout this thread?  I want to start building this and don't want to invest in the incorrect stuff!

Awesome thread, awesome post and thanks for giving us another solution!

If you want to emulate the equipment he is using, you will get the same effect with just rares in armor and masterwork in jewelry at a fraction of the cost.  I would never even consider equiping a divinity rune over selling it, much less buy one.

I just started my guardian, and like xx/torch + staff right now, but I plan on taking tougness line along with condition damage and maybe using Undead Runes.

Edited by Mister Stygian, 02 November 2012 - 09:36 PM.

[Maarius]

just a small question/idea/suggestion:

Quote

I've also experimented with swapping out Right Hand Strength with Perfect Inscriptions, which doubles the effectiveness of signets, and swapped out Signet of Judgement with Bane Signet for a +200 boost to attack.  I was taking on groups of mobs in Cursed Shore and just melting them with my staff attacks.  Of course, losing the +15% to scepter's crit chance is a bit tragic, however, 56% crit chance isn't that bad and I tend to use the staff more.

when you use "perfect inscriptions", wouldn't you keep your signet's passives always going...? +200 power seems too good for me to lose it for 36sek (signet mastery). My idea: scrap the shorter CD on signets, because you keep the passives running. Try "Blind Exposure" to apply vulnerability to all blinded enemies (to burn through them even faster). Enemies will get blinded everytime you use Virtue of Justice because of "Justice is Blind" (5 Radiance). Trait 15 refreshes the Virtue every time you kill a foe, so this would rock in PvE, in WvW it could be pretty good too, what do you think? + I'd scrap the condition removal from signet use (because I want those 200 power... at all times) and take "Searing Flames" instead, to remove boons from burning foes every 20sek. Good for removing Aegis or protection for example.

great guide!

Edited by Maarius, 04 November 2012 - 10:49 AM.

[Soul_slayer]

First of Ultra, amazing guide, I have been a fan of the staff/GS combo since I started but foolishly went down the zeal path and now find my self filled with more holes than my enemies and I am yet to even start exploring dungeons.

One thing I noticed that hasn't been covered in your guide, if you switch to perfect inscriptions as a grand master trait this also increases the amount of conditions cured from signet of resolves passive from 1 per 10 to 2. I have found this extremely useful in WvW as with the ability to cure acondition by using a signet as well as mainting the passive on signet or removal it is pretty difficult to get conditions to stick except for example short bow rangers with cross-fire etc.

One last thing do you think there is room in the build for Writ of Exhaltaion instead of Writ of the merciful? I am thinking more along the lines of Events where the aim of the game is tag as many things as you can? Also where are you getting your information about Perfect Inscriptions? The wiki states it is a flat 20% increase on the signets, and Bane Signet is 90 power, meaning that you would only get 18 more points of power for a Grand master trait? Unless someone can point me to some solid evidence suggesting otherwise I don't think you get 200 power from perfect inscriptions

Edited by Soul_slayer, 05 November 2012 - 07:37 AM.

[Bignose1974]

How about this iteration of the OP's build for dungeons?  It is 20/30/0/20/0 build aiming for 5% dmg increase and 15% crit increase to scepter, with the sacrifice of minimum health.

http://gw2skills.net...qxWjrGZNLCGEs/A

This build utilizes scepter and focus as main weapons.  I tried using staff as my main weapon with OP's build, but what I hated about it was I needed to be too close to the enemy and had trouble dodging /paying attention to ground spells.  I found myself dying too much.  Perhaps I am too used to the scepter and its range - I tried it in the early levels and never let it go.  

With the build I offer I love the fact that I can be relatively far away from enemies and have sufficient time to roll away from their ranged attacks.  I can kite decently.  In addition Focus offers good survivability skills.  I don't know how it is damage-wise compared to staff in single-target situations.  In non-static AOE it is obviously sub-par.  What do you guys think?  Is this build viable?  Or am I kidding myself I can use scepter as a main end-game weapon?

Thanks.

[FeralTiger]

Ultra,

I know this is asking a lot, but due to the large number of changes and modifications and different opinions, could you throw up a crude version of a redone build? its kind of hard to follow the original build and make sure all the changes are corrected. Currently I am only level 48 but this build seems like the most fun to play, and if i have to use red falcons until max level I will, but overall I think I want to use this build.

Thanks.

[Deaths]

Ty for the guide.

I am new to WvW and was looking for a build. I came across to this guide nad found out that i am running a similar build. The only missing thing was that i havent used a staff. Now i need a a good staff and i can rock in WvW.

I dont want to show my entire build just add a few words.

Instead buying or crafting the armor set. U can use the Cof Set which gives Power Precision Crit dmg.
They come with the Baelfire runes and are very good in terms of dmg. Just try it out.

For the Wepons it goes the same. 2h Staff of Cof is Power Precison Crit like the Berserk named one. The only thing u have to change is the sigil.

Why CoF Set. If u dont hafe the coins. U can buy with Tokens and additional gain a little extra coin. Do Path 1 and Path2. Eachh run shouldnt take longer then 30 min. Path 3 is still very hard just skip it. If u do it on daily base u will gain fast ur set.

GL all

Edited by Deaths, 10 November 2012 - 03:46 PM.

[Verxon]

Here's a few things that came to mind when I read your guide:

First off, in it's basic concept it's a very nicely designed build. The focus on DPS and Consecrations, while considering Condition Removal at the same time properly is well thought of - and is in my opinion the best way to play Guardian in WvW.

However, since I'm a big fan of critique, here's my negative thoughts.

a) Perfect Inscriptions.

I'm really not sure where your +200 power comes from, because the character sheet and the skill description reflect that the base amount is only 90 Power. Perfect inscription increases that amount by 20%.

So 916 Base Attack become 1,006 with Bane Signet, and 1,024 with Perfect Inscripted Bane Signet. With your actual stats that you presented, the difference becomes unnoticeable (~1960> 2050 > 2068). Since Power increases direct damage linearly, we can easily deduce that Bane Signet itself only increases your damage by 4.6%, and by 5.5% with Perfect Inscriptions. Since critical damage works linearly as well, the percentages work.

To me an increase of 1.1% of damage is not worth a Grandmasters trait. And 4.6% or 5.5% damage increase  is not worth a utility slot at all to justify that Signet in there, especially since it's going to be on cooldown some times for just condition removals sake, and Bane's active is just too situational and high cooldown to be of any use by itself.

As for the change in Signet of Judgement, nobody as of yet has been able to verify any actual numbers on this. Guesses have been made at 15%, but the trouble identifying this number strengthens a general assumption, that it just improves the 10% by 20%, to a total of 12%, like it improves all others by 20%, with the exception of Signet of Resolve, though apparently nobody has confirmed whether it actually cures 2 conditions every 10 seconds - guess nobody even considers it worth for just that effect, since the other effects are just too small to trait 30 points into that line and spend a grandmasters trait for just the heal.

That being said, I would pull out 10 points overall from either just Radiance, or 5 out of Radiance and 5 out of Honor, and put them into Virtues. The slight decrease in precision, and possibly bit bigger decrease and damage if you pull 10 out of Radiance can easily be compensated by adjusting your gear accordingly (skew it slightly more towards Berserker for example).


Two very nice traits come to mind, one more support oriented, and one consecration oriented one.
Absolute Resolution: 25% increased regeneration (not bad), and 3 conditions removal from yourself and nearby allies - Condition Removal is king in WvW, especially when defending and sieging, since unlike Rangers, you have to get into areas where you will get hit by loads of conditions. The more skills you have that do this, the more often you can hop back onto the wall to land a few more hits or whatnot.

Master of Consecration: 20% reduced recharge, and 25% increased duration - Wall of Reflection and Sanctuary will love you.

I'd just pop in Master of Consecration, and if you're about to siege/defend - de-aggro, switch to Absolute Resolution, and get back into action.


Too much emphasis on Precision

Traits give 2 bonuses per point spend. And all professions usually have one line, where these two bonuses can actually serve on a single build. In addition, unlike Power/Precision/Condition Damage, the ones with percentages in them scale linearly, especially noteworthy here is critical damage.

In your build, Valor would give you that package. 2-in-1 bonuses, that improve your tankiness while giving you a quite tremendous boost to your critical damage. Since we have a lot of on-demand condition removal (in fact, we're about to get another potential one), condition damage becomes more of a secondary issue. The reasons people die a lot in WvW is not because of conditions, but the massive burst damage they suffered. Sure, a bleed might finish them off, but that's usually only because they took 16k in direct damage from 3 Clusterbombs from 3 Thieves, while the bleed will finish them off.

It's the nasty cripple/chill conditions that severely impact your performance, by removing the main damage mitigation in the entire game: mobility. But since we already have a passive condition removal, 2 on-demand condition removals (signet of resolve and signet of judgement), it is not that much of an issue anymore. And by the time you have the zerg on you putting a gazillion conditions on you in a second, you will die regardless. It's an unfortunate truth.

That much said, I would rather move to a slightly more balanced trait selection in the following manner (this incorporates the previously mentioned changes, and extends on them)

0/20/10/20/20

Now as a change to my previous suggestion, you would lose all your Radiance/Honor Grandmasters traits, which however are not that great to begin with. More specifically you would probably end up with:

Traits:
Radiance: [A] Signet Mastery > [M] Inscribed Removal
Valor: [A] Purity
Honor: [A] Superior Aria > [M] Two-Handed Mastery
Virtues: [A] Consecrated Ground > [M] Absolute Resolution OR [A] Master of Consecration

Changes:
-10% POTENTIAL damage from Radiant Power
-5% POTENTIAL damage from Elusive Power (Let's face it, we really have to save our endurance to actually time it, so this one is not even wasted)
-15% Critical Chance from Right-Hand Strength (The Scepter just doesn't do much damage compared to most other professions long range weaponry, and as you said yourself, the main emphasis is on the staff - and consecrations).
-100 Precision
-100 Vitality
-100 Condition Damage (just for completions sake)

Gains:
+100 Toughness (Considering your stats, this compensates for the loss of vitality twice over)
==> The loss of Precision thus can be compensated by adjusting gear accordingly, losing a bit vitality - which due to the note above is fine)
+10% Critical Damage (Works on all weapons, and not just when your target has a condition, or you spend some of that invaluable Endurance, that you really should as rarely as possible). This kind of compensates for the lack of direct crit chance, by making the crits that you do get hit harder in return.
+Massive boost on consecration. More wall duration and less recharge means you'll have it up a lot more, and more frequently - this also factors into your effective damage that you deal. Not as direct, but with a lot higher damage potential.
+10% Boon Duration (While this affects all, I'd just like to point out that "Longer might = more damage overall")
+10% Virtue Recharge Rate (Not that important, but if it means squeezing out an Aegis a few seconds faster and thus survive, why the hell not)
+Free Aegis at 50% Health (Getting that low usually means someone is focusing you, so that free Aegis might save you from a nasty Backstab, Killshot or something else)
+ You get to save 2 gold on the Grandmasters traits skillbook if you are new! I mean hey... still worth mentioning!

Overall it should make it less situational, more reliable, more survivable, additional potential (depending on trait choice) condition removal, and a lot more potential (depending on trait choice) Consecration Power, which really is what makes Guardians so king in WvW.

Edited by Verxon, 11 November 2012 - 08:03 AM.

[StKasapin]

First of all Ultra, awesome build. It works wonders in both PvP, WvW, and PvE.
I have a suggestion thou, you might try test it, it works for me very well.

As far as WvW I wouldnt change a thig, it's all the way should be skills, traits etc. However in PvE and Dungeons I've changed few things and your DPS spike quite a bit...

First of all I replaced Signet of Judgement with Bane signet and int the trates in the Virtues tree I'm using Unscathed Contender. Reason being is that you burst mobs so fast that reduce dmg wont matter a lot, and since I replaced Wall of reflcetion with Purging Flames I don't think that targeting concentrations is needed more than almost always having a boost to 10% more dmg.

Save yourself is ofcz mandatory with this setup.

With this build I hit ~3k crit with orbs (sometimes its 2.8 somethimes its 3.2) and normal staff attacks do around 1.5k crit.

Again thnx for the build, and If you have a chance try this in PVE and see how it goes! Cheers

[SpreadCheeks]

Ultra hasn't been around since Oct 25th. I think He quit or is taking a break.

Hope he comes back and gives us an update on this build.

Thanks for providing us with your build and see you soon, hopefully.

[Snarvid]

Oops oops oops.

Edited by Snarvid, 13 November 2012 - 05:32 PM.

[jpg1]

StKasapin, on 11 November 2012 - 10:13 AM, said:

First of all Ultra, awesome build. It works wonders in both PvP, WvW, and PvE.
I have a suggestion thou, you might try test it, it works for me very well.

As far as WvW I wouldnt change a thig, it's all the way should be skills, traits etc. However in PvE and Dungeons I've changed few things and your DPS spike quite a bit...

First of all I replaced Signet of Judgement with Bane signet and int the trates in the Virtues tree I'm using Unscathed Contender. Reason being is that you burst mobs so fast that reduce dmg wont matter a lot, and since I replaced Wall of reflcetion with Purging Flames I don't think that targeting concentrations is needed more than almost always having a boost to 10% more dmg.

Save yourself is ofcz mandatory with this setup.

With this build I hit ~3k crit with orbs (sometimes its 2.8 somethimes its 3.2) and normal staff attacks do around 1.5k crit.

Again thnx for the build, and If you have a chance try this in PVE and see how it goes! Cheers

Unscathed Contender with its 10% Damage Benefit seems attractive but I question how often and how long one can  have Aegis up. While I do understand that you could have Aegis on demand with Trait Procs, Skills, and Virtues you want it more for timely defense and not for offense. Aegis does not last very long in the thick of battle, unless a Guardian is in range which is kind of downplaying the class a bit.  Once it's up for a timely block, it's gone the next second. I still think the buffs for Consecrations win a slot over it for me always.

I don't see why one can't slot in Bane Signet - it's true that this build has the damage potential of a truck, and adding some more boosts is pretty welcome. It's a risk though as the damage reduction can help you in extended fights. SoJ is one of the things in this build that augment the lower than usual armor value of a Guardian. No one for sure knows how much Armor or damage reduction is needed when it comes to taking punishment. Just remember that a lot of Guardians boast 3,000+ Armor Value. I don't really know if this is overkill but comparing it to the 2,300+ this build has, I would certainly welcome the damage reduction more than topping up my already impressive DPS potential.

[StKasapin]

jpg1 You are probably right mate, but the thing is, the changes I've suggested here are purly for PVE (to be more precise 3 end zones of Orr) where I can easily pull 5-6 or even more mobs and nuke them pretty fast without being concern about my safety.
I don't know, I might be used to this build more than I should have or maybe it's just that it works good for me and I'm used to kitting and pulling and poping aegies at the right time. However original Ultra's build is quite awesome and there's no need to change a single thing, but on the other hand if someone wants to experiment a bit (like me) it can go on a few different ways. More tanky, or more DPSy. I also dont use Divinity runes(and that's something I forgott to mention in previous post). I use 2 of Superrior Strength, Holebrak and Fire runes. Giving me increased might and might duration, witch translates that basicly when u pop you'r 4th skill on staff, Might buff will last for almost the recharge time of that skill, witch is awesome. More might, more dps.
I don't know I like the way I set up my guardian and I guess that's the most important thing Enjoying what you play.

[jpg1]

^ Well said bro. I actually made a breakthrough with what I actually want with my own Guardian. After working my ass off getting Beserker's Stat to follow this build, my heart goes back to using full Knight's armor which I've had for the longest time. I've taken some of the key points that Ultramatum has pointed out together with some points from the other members. I can actually achieve something more comfortable for me without spending so much on Divinity Runes. I have it right here.

[Dark Slalom]

Guardian was my first character at launch, but I put him aside due to boredom.  Thank you for renewing my interest.

As a master crafter over on Tarnished Coast I wanted to see what it would take to put this build together. So here is my contribution to this thread.

If I am off with any of my numbers, don't shoot!   

Required materials:

• 225 Orichalcum ingots
  
• 108 Ancient wood planks
  
• 75 Powerful Blood
  
• 105 Ectoplasm
  
• 37 Gossamer bolts
  
• 130 Gossamer thread
  
• 25 Beryl orbs
  
• 5 Emerald orbs

These are refined, not raw material counts.

Total cost on the TC Trading Post 38g 20s 80c
Buy the items ready-made 49g 80s 81c

Now I know why I am always broke; spend all my profits outfitting my 11 characters! Aarggh!

[jpg1]

Dark Slalom, on 14 November 2012 - 11:58 PM, said:

Guardian was my first character at launch, but I put him aside due to boredom.  Thank you for renewing my interest.

As a master crafter over on Tarnished Coast I wanted to see what it would take to put this build together. So here is my contribution to this thread.

If I am off with any of my numbers, don't shoot!   

Required materials:

• 225 Orichalcum ingots
  
• 108 Ancient wood planks
  
• 75 Powerful Blood
  
• 105 Ectoplasm
  
• 37 Gossamer bolts
  
• 130 Gossamer thread
  
• 25 Beryl orbs
  
• 5 Emerald orbs

These are refined, not raw material counts.

Total cost on the TC Trading Post 38g 20s 80c
Buy the items ready-made 49g 80s 81c

Now I know why I am always broke; spend all my profits outfitting my 11 characters! Aarggh!

Nice. Thanks for taking the effort. Just don't forget that there are easier ways of getting the Armor Set. Cathedral of Flames, Crucible of Eternity, and Arah have pieces that have the same stats. You can be done by 5 - 6 days if you rune 1-2 times of each path for every day.

And while you rack up those tokens, you actually have the chance to get other kinds of loot like Karma and Silvers, and gears from the boss chests.