Hello, all. Around two weeks ago, I came up with a Guardian Paladin WoW-style build. Some viewed it as a glass cannon. “Can’t possibly live,” some said. Well, they were proven wrong. But I was not satisfied with that build at all. It didn’t have enough sustained healing for my liking, and not quite enough defenses.
So, enter Guardian Paladin 2.0 version. In this version you have more defenses, sustained healing, higher burst crits, and the ability to cancel 8 attacks in a row with skills. Does that sound fun and extremely good to you? Well, let me start with the build. Keep reading to see the stat breakdowns, explanations, examples of it in action, and more!
Primary Stats
- 1,601 Power.
- 1,401 Precision.
- 1,276 Toughness.
- 1,501 Vitality.
- 2,701 Attack.
- 41% Critical Chance.
- 2,127 Armor.
- 16,655 Health.
Secondary Stats
- +1,211 Defense.
- +50 Condition Damage.
- +55 Critical Damage.
- +300 Healing.
- +5% Boon Duration.
- +5% Virtue Recharge Rate.
- +5% Of toughness is given as a bonus to precision.
- +12% Critical Damage.
- 30% Chance on Critical: Cause a Lightning Strike (from equipment).
- When activating Virtue of Justice, nearby foes are blinded.
- Gain Aegis when your health reaches 50%.
- Virtue of Courage is recharged when you Rally.
- Gain might when you block attacks.
- Gain 1 second of Vigor when you critically hit.
- The end of your dodge roll heals nearby allies.
- Deal more damage at low endurance.
- Virtues now also apply the following boons: Justice/Might, Resolve/Regeneration, Courage/Protection
- Meditations recharge 20% faster.
- Applying a boon to allies heals you.
- Symbols are larger.
- Two-handed weapon skills recharge 20% faster.
- All symbols heal allies.
Gear
I went mainly with Berserker Gear that consists of Power, Precision, and crit damage. You follow that up with Runes of Divinity. What I have learned in this game is that critical hits can only take a player so far while playing offensively. What I mean by that is the absence of power traits. After a certain percentage of critical chance, crit becomes more and more useless, which is often the case in other games as well. It seems that in Guild Wars 2, that happens around 45-50%.
Traits
The basic build is: 5 Radiance, 30 Valor, 30 Honor, and 5 Virtue. I believe this is one of the best balances of power you can get. The purpose of the build is to be a DPS monster but also heal at the same time. This is hard to do without getting a nerf bat swung down hard on you. Without all but 5 points in Radiance, I managed to get up to 41% crit.
That is more than enough for what the goal of the build is. The Zeal line outside of power seems a bit useless to me. I don’t need a ton of crit due to the gear already having enough. That eliminates 2 trait lines you don’t really need. Now, granted with Zeal you will hit harder, but you will also lose something else– survivability.
Mindset
Remember, the goal here is a glass cannon that can heal itself and survive encounters. I wanted a tough build that can dish out damage as well as tank a bit and toss out random heals. The build succeeds in all that nicely, and through everything, I learned a slight lesson in both PvE and PvP. I was at the point where I noticed people dying long before I finished a combo.
I realized that I didn’t need all of the points in Radiance. So, I scaled back and ran more tests. I found out that I wasn’t the only person who figured this out. Normally, going all the way into a damage trait would seem like common sense– more DPS all around. When stat caps come into play, however, the rules change. Guardians do well with balanced builds. Thus, the complete revamp of 1.0 to 2.0 entirely. I love the ending result.
Below is the video walkthrough. I even give several examples of combos and tactics. Enjoy! Feel free to discuss the build and video below.
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