Archive for the Guardian Category

The Guardian: First Impression
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I had a chance to play the guardian during the recent Guild Wars 2 beta event. It was my first taste of Guild Wars 2, so not only I had to learn about the profession, but also the game itself.
I played the guardian up to level 15 in PvE and WvW, so my impressions are of the early game. I also unlocked all of the weapons and off-hand skills (except aquatic skills) so I could try them out.

Some of you who’ve played with me in Guild Wars probably wonder why I chose to play a guardian, since I usually prefer a caster or some other ranged profession. I admit initially I was sceptical about the guardian, but after playing it for a while, I enjoyed it enough to include it on my list of characters to create with my first five character slots.

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Head to Head: Warrior vs Guardian
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If you’re thinking about playing melee, there are a few good options. If you plan, however, to stay in the frontlines, you are probably debating between the warrior or the guardian. Both feature many melee weapons, good survival value, and the highest armor in the game. Here, we compare and contrast the two on damage, control, and support.
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Guardians of Tyria | Tirzah Bauer talks about the guardian
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Varyn over at Guardians of Tyria had the opportunity to talk to Tirzah Bauer, environment artist for ArenaNet and part of the team that designed the Battle of Kyhlo PvP map. Tirzah was part of ArenaNet’s PvP team at gamescom and PAX Prime, where she played a female asura guardian. In the interview she shares some insights about the guardian profession, specifically in PvP. Which is nice, since we don’t usually hear a lot about how the guardian plays.

My guardian was a hybrid of offense and defense. I wanted to make sure that I could survive a fight as well as hit hard enough to scare off any attacker, especially if it was a single player in a 1v1 situation.  Sword/scepter main-hand weapons are pretty offensive and my off-hand weapons were used for defense.  If I wanted to go purely defense, I would have gone with mace/shield and hammer weapon sets.  This weapon combination makes you irritatingly hard to kill, but it’s also very difficult to be a threat, so the enemy team will eventually beat you down. With the hybrid build, I can do a little of both depending on the situation.

Tagged As: , , , | Categories: ArenaNet, Guardian, Guild Wars 2, Interviews, PvP | Comments Off

Guild Wars 2: A closer look at the weapon bar
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Weapon bar for the Guardian

Weapon bar for the Guardian

I’ve been looking at the Guardian skills… And I’ve been seeing some patterns in the weapon skills. A quick look at the Elementalist supports these patterns, and I suspect the same patterns are also present in the other professions.

These patterns help understand not only how the gameplay will be like, but also what kind of design decisions went behind these decisions and why.

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Tagged As: | Categories: Character Builds, Guardian, Guild Wars 2, Items, Skills | 4 Comments

What
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In the latest ArenaNet blog update, ArenaNet’s John Peters talks about combat, specifically addressing the questions that have arisen since the announcement of the Guardian, If you’re still confused by how this is all gong to slot into place then this is a must-read to find out about the removal of the Holy Trinity, and profession roles.

I said something to Isaiah Cartwright the other day that has stuck in my mind since then. I think it explains how no trinity is possible more than anything else, so I?Euroll relay it here ?Euro?Our professions aren?Eurot dedicated healers, DPS, or tanks because frankly, we built a combat system that just doesn?Eurot allow it.?Euro?

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What’s Your Style? Jon Peters Talks About Combat
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In the latest ArenaNet blog update, ArenaNet’s John Peters talks about combat, specifically addressing the questions that have arisen since the announcement of the Guardian, If you’re still confused by how this is all gong to slot into place then this is a must-read to find out about the removal of the Holy Trinity, and profession roles.

I said something to Isaiah Cartwright the other day that has stuck in my mind since then. I think it explains how no trinity is possible more than anything else, so I

Tagged As: | Categories: Guardian, Guild Wars 2 | Comments Off

The Guardian (actually) Revealed
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Following the teaser that the guardian would be revealed this week, now we have the full reveal here.

The guardian is a difficult profession to classify… She (the blue mace lady) does not have the large choice of weapons that a warrior has (3 main, 3 focus, 3 2H for guardian, vs 3 main, 5 focus, 4 2H for warrior). The guardian cannot use bows or rifles, and cannot dual-wield. However, she can use staves and scepters. She definitely has more magic abilities, in-tune with protective monk-like abilities that work mainly nearby or at the location of the guardian. Therefore, she’s a physical/magical, melee protective, summoner?!? Better look at the web page and decide for yourself, but it certainly sounds like it’ll be a fun profession to play…

Some highlights

Virtues are passive benefits that can be activated (with cooldown) to pass the benefits to allies but lose it on yourself.

Spirit weapons are weapon summons that stay for a given time and that foes can’t target.

Symbols and wards are skills that target a location and leave a temporary effect, either protective or damaging.

I’m personally looking forward to playing this profession (though not my first choice) mainly for the spirit weapons and the team protection aspects. It promises a very interesting melee gameplay.

Enjoy!