Guardian

From Guild Wars 2 Wiki

“

I'll guard you. Let them come through ME first!

— GuildWars2.com Guardian

Guardians specialize in protective and defensive magic. A deep sense of loyalty to their allies fuels their passion and power. As a soldier profession, guardians wear heavy armor.

Contents 1 Abilities 1.1 Skills 1.2 Special skill types 1.3 Traits 2 Equipment 2.1 Armor 2.2 Weapons 2.3 Crafting 3 Personal story 4 Background 5 Gallery 6 Trivia 7 External links 8 References

[edit] Abilities

The guardian's special ability is the use of three virtues. Each virtue provides a passive on-going benefit to the guardian; Virtue of Courage periodically provides Aegis to block against an attack, Virtue of Justice periodically allows an attack to cause burning, and Virtue of Resolve gives health regeneration. The virtues may also be activated by the guardian to bestow a temporary benefit to all nearby allies (including themselves), at the cost of being disabled for a long period, similar to how signet skills are used.^[1] Virtues help to balance the guardian; for example, they have a lower base health than the warrior profession but compensate for this with their higher health regeneration granted by Virtue of Resolve.^[2]

[edit] Skills

See list of guardian skills.

[edit] Special skill types

• Chains — three skills that share a single skill slot, which are executed in sequence on a single target.
• Shouts — these instantly buff allies or de-buff enemies when used.
• Spirit Weapons — summon ephemeral weapons to fight alongside the guardian. Spirit weapons cannot be attacked by enemies and can be commanded to inflict a powerful attack before disappearing.
• Symbols — these ground-targetted skills inflict damage to enemies or deliver a benefit to allies. Symbols persist for a few seconds and then dissipate.
• Wards — a marked area on the ground that stops enemies from passing through while allowing allies to move freely.

[edit] Traits

The guardian has five general trait lines: Zeal, Radiance, Valor, Honor and Virtues.

See list of guardian traits.

[edit] Equipment

[edit] Armor

The guardian is a soldier profession and thus wears heavy armor.

[edit] Weapons

• Two-handed
  • Hammer — Provides powerful close range AoE attacks and abilities.
  • Greatsword — Imbue allies with retaliation and control foes with leaping attacks and blinds.
  • Staff — Controls enemies with wards and AoE damage and supports allies with defensive spells.

• Main-hand
  • Mace — Gives access to a chain of mace attacks, as well as support abilities.
  • Scepter — Offensive spellcasting weapon to bind and smite single enemy.
  • Sword — A melee weapon with a good balance of offense and defense.

• Off-hand
  • Focus — Provides supportive spells for both offense and defense.
  • Shield — A protective off-hand shield for local area of effect shielding.
  • Torch — Scorches enemies while cleansing allies of conditions.

• Aquatic
  • Spear — Used for rapid, close range damage.
  • Trident — Magical, long range support.

There are twelve possible weapon sets for this profession and two weapon sets while underwater. The guardian can equip and alternate between two weapon sets during combat.

[edit] Crafting

The following crafting disciplines can create items that are useful to the guardian:

• Weaponsmith — Greatswords, hammers, maces, shields, spears, swords.
• Huntsman — Torches.
• Artificer — Foci, scepters, staves, tridents.
• Armorsmith — Heavy armor.
• Jeweler — Jewelry.
• Chef — Food.

[edit] Personal story

In the biography step of character creation, guardians must decide which article of clothing they wear to show their dedication. This item can be the Conqueror's Pauldrons, the Fanatic's Pauldrons, or the Visionary's Helm.

[edit] Background

“

With the turmoil in Elona and the spread of the Order of Whispers into other lands, more Paragon teaching showed elsewhere in Tyria. These teachings melded with other traditions, and over time, the guardians and their abilities can be found throughout the world and among all the races. They are not tied to a particular race, philosophy, or group of gods but rather to a larger concept of proactive defense, of taking the fight to a foe and protecting those you fight alongside while appealing equally to humanity's defensive nature and the charr's desire to rule the battlefield.^[3]

— Jeff Grubb

[edit] Gallery

[edit] Trivia

• The guardian was previewed under this image until its unveiling on the 27th January 2011.

• The guardian was widely known among fans as "Blue Mace Lady" (or simply "BML") prior to being revealed, due to this concept art.
• The guardian was the first profession unveiled that is not present in the original Guild Wars.
  • It borrows themes from a couple of the Guild Wars professions. Some of their skills share names with those used by the monk profession in Guild Wars, the Protection Prayers and Smiting Prayers skills specifically. The paragon was a heavily armored profession which also focused on party-wide buffs.
• During early development the guardian had less magical ability and was called a "knight". As the other professions became more defined, the guardian received more magical type abilities, pulling in aspects of the Guild Wars monk and paragon professions.^[3]

[edit] External links

• Guardian on the official website.

[edit] References

1. ^ Exklusives Interview mit Guild Wars 2 Lead Designer, OnlineWelten
2. ^ Forum post, Martin Kerstein, Guild Wars 2 Guru
3. ^ ^{a b} Massively's interview with Jeff Grubb and Eric Flannum, Massively

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Professions
Soldiers	Guardian • Warrior
Adventurers	Engineer • Ranger • Thief
Scholars	Elementalist • Mesmer • Necromancer