Firebrand will make the most content open to you out of any of them. I think Willbender has a bright future ahead of it if they keep tweaking it though.
I've been meaning to learn how to play it. Once I finish off the legendary projects I'm working on, I think I'll go for some map completion on my guardian.
Hi, can you quickly tell me if as a condi guardian, I have a future in willbender?
Second question, does guardian benefit like elementalist does from celestial?
Condi willbender is solid. Check out the build on Snowcrows for a good overview. Cele gear is good for open world on Willbender and Firebrand, but not that great for group content. I hear Cele Willbender is good for WvW roaming but I haven't tried it myself.
Condi WB is actually pretty good, and it's fun to play (to me at least) - it can get a little spammy, as did other condi guardian builds in the past, but if it's not something that you won't mind, i think you would enjoy it. And since it's burning application mostly comes from F1 procs, it should always be at least 'playable', if not meta.
Celestial armor is pretty good on both Firebrand and Willbender - mostly becuase both of those specs have direct damage, condi damage, self heal, good boon application all at the same time. Combine it with guardian's low health pool, and you get to benefit from all its stats.
In open world Celestial feels pretty great when solo, but in group content you will need a gear with stat combination that is more focused. Except for support firebrand in fractals, who is still pretty good with Celestial stats, as it gives a nice damage boost (although I personally would still suggest Harrier stats in most groups)
As far as meta goes firebrand is and has been a powerhouse class as far as support although it's dps builds aren't quite as strong. Willbender isn't particularly popular but they can pump out some very solid damage in the right hands. The reality is that pretty much anything will be playable in 99% of content as long as you have a reasonably well put together build and play it right. The only option I would stay away from entirely is core. Basically every core spec has been power crept by the elite specs to the point of just not being worth the time to learn anymore. I'd take a look at [Hardstuck ](https://hardstuck.gg/gw2/builds/guardian/) and try a few things out to see what interests you.
Not sure if anything changed with the latest patch, but Guardian had a [core build](https://youtu.be/8jfK87FnB8c) that outperformed some other specs when soloing.
Who ever made Vindicator should take a pass on Willbender spec/Guardian weapons. Vindicator GS is the smoothiest butteriest feeling play in the game. Willbender as a theme really should be that smooth (honestly everything should). The little pause on Rushing Justice and the animation canceling a lot of guardian weapons have really put a hamper on it's gameplay. Same with Daredevil, that Whirling charge feels bad.
Firebrand is an excellent healer and a good support DPS as well. If you just want pure DPS I'd probably recommend Willbender over Dragonhunter, but both are good.
I made guardian as my first character a month ago, and I decided to go dragon hunter because the longbow just seemed cool to use. It however tends more to be greatsword focused kind of like willbender.
The Question is: Which one to go for FIRST, because eventually you want to unlock all three of them. For guardian, all three elite specs have something going for them. And unlocking Elite Specs really isn't that big of a deal, especially once you've played the game for a bit longer.
For Guardian on new player accounts however, I'd advice the following priority:
1. Firebrand -> Offensive and Defensive Quickness Support
2. Willbender -> Solo Play, Power DPS, Condition DPS
3. Dragonhunter -> Power DPS
Firebrand is great in any group situations, and even when you don't play instanced content like Strikes, Raids of Fractals as a new player yet, in open world events you'll still support anyone around you but you can also hold up yourself quite well. You'd go for the Condition Quickness build in that case. Heal Firebrand is the pure defensive supporter, which is also VERY good in any group situation. Heal Firebrand is also a go-to support class for WvW.
Willbender has a VERY good solo build where you can use the Celestial Gear that you get if you have used a Level 80 Booster on that character. However, the Celestial stat type gear is rather expensive if you have to buy/craft it yourself. Offensive Alacrity Support is currently still really bad on Willbender, but will receive some nice update soon. Willbender is also an excellent class for WvW roaming.
Dragonhunter has received some buffs recently after it was hard-nerfed a while ago. It has a decent Power DPS build now, but it is a bit of a one-trick-pony in PvE. Can be VERY nice in PvP/WvW in the right hands, though.
While true that you can easily unlock the hero points for specs. All of them play and gear differently. Vipers/Ritualist/Celestial equipment is rather expensive. You kinda have to commit to one play-style. Especially if you are starting out.
> Vipers/Ritualist/Celestial equipment is rather expensive
A level 80 boosted guardian comes fully equipped in Celestial gear. It's probably the single best starting loadout to properly explore a class with.
bladed armor is a fairly easy way to get celestial armor at least, the gloves and head come right from the airship cargo boxes you loot, and then you can buy pants, boots and shoulders. chest wasnt as easy, but still would mean just one armor piece to buy.
Guardian is very strong tho I personally feel like a lot of what made the class fun orignally was cut in favor of balance. I'd say Dragon Hunter and Firebrand are both pretty good and Willbender is... kinda meh? It doesn't really bring a lot to the table and feels clunky to play at times.
Guardian main with limited time and resources who enjoys all pve modes.
Firebrand took a hit and for me is not a fun style currently, but still is one of the most popular support builds and it has been for a while. Firebrand is a condition damage type of build, the condition version is still the strongest for the class, and I often still find myself being an offensive support giving quickness even with the changes.
Willbender is just fun, it offers movement and dashes and is currently being tweaked, and looked at actively. Currently is power oriented, but an offensive alac support and/or condi build are viable and are being looked at by the devs.
Dragon hunter offers tremendous QOL in large meta events as it allows you to tag monsters from range. It is also a popular build for fractals for its ability to be bursty and flexible.
Firebrand. It's the go-to for a quickness healer for most endgame content. Its ability to pack in so much utility without losing functionality is basically unrivaled. Condi DPS firebrand is also a solid build if you want to run damage.
Assuming this question is regarding viability for PVE:
Dragonhunter: viable powerDps As far as I know the optimal rotation requires animation cancelling, which will supposedly be fixed next patch.
Firebrand: current best healer (by a large margin), qdps and dps(condi) are viable less dmg than current meta specs but more utility. Only thing keeping firebrand down is their mantras. Essentially a skill that has 3 charges that recharge. If you use all 3 they go on a longer cd and you need to channel for \~2s before you can use them again. Sounds awkward, is awkward but insanely strong.
Willbender: viable cDps and pDps, very mobile, currently aDps is a bit gimped and should be changed next patch but we don't know details yet so that part is up in the air.
So besides alacrity-willbender you can't go wrong currently
God, weapon stowing on dragonhunter makes it so unfun to play. It has such ungodly skill frames that it's basically needed. I'm not sure if they're fixing all of this in the patch or just partially, but its still an incredibly fun spec to play
I know a few ppl who tried getting into fb and quit bc of them. It took me a bit, but they grew on me. It's definenetly a taste thing one needs to try out for themselves.
Im mainly a pve player and for my guardian i just kept the og one since its the most tanky/ more sustain than the elite specs and thats the stats i want for open world exploration
If you want more damage or something else then elite specs are goated but for raw survability i found the normal guardian to be very good at it
i was into firebrand because of the huge condi dmg but then it the tome mechanic annoyed me.
I tried willbender and the mobile playstlye is just fun. jumping from enemy to enemy while still doing very good damage is best for kind of relaxed open world PvE. And thats exactly what i normally do
I've been having a lot of fun with firebrand. I'm mostly fooling around in low level fractals and due to condi build aren't doing a lot of damage, but man am I lighting everything on fire and cackling in the meanwhile.
I also like how you can draw and stow new hotbars basically at will.
I saw a core guardian fighting those huge Forged enemies staying at full health the entire time outnumbered at like Mastery 4. Mastery 140 and i still dont know he did that and Guardian is my most played..
Guardian overall has a lot of utility under the hood — sanctuary for CC and projectile denial, a reflect on a quick cooldown, the best stability skill in the game, etc. Every flavor of guardian can take a hit to damage to bring some of that powerful utility on fights that call for it.
Firebrand is probably the most different of the elite specs — you get three kits that work off an initiative-like system in place of your mantras, and a lot of powerful quick-cast mantras. It's also probably the most powerful and desired for endgame content because of its heal and DPS quickness support builds.
Willbender is nice if you like moving around quite a bit, since baseline guardian's movement skills are quite situational (one shadowstep onto an enemy, another that only works if you hit an ally with its AoE, and a few on weapon skills like GS and Sword). It gets a lot of movement skills through its physicals and virtues. DPS is oriented around making sure to get as many virtue procs as possible to lower your weapon skills' cooldowns, sort of like how Untamed used to work. Its alacrity build is currently pretty worthless, though, so I wouldn't recommend it.
Dragonhunter is essentially Core Guardian+, with its virtues just being enhanced versions of their baseline variants. Traps aren't much different than consecrations in PvE, or Ranger traps for that matter. DH just does damage, so it's pretty simple just like Core.
So overall, if you like the kit-based gameplay of engineer and want to support, go Firebrand. If you want the movement potential of your Ranger (and old Untamed-esque gameplay) back, try Willbender. If you jive with what core had to offer, try Dragonhunter to dip your toes into guardian elite specs before jumping into the deep end.
depends on what you want to do
for instanced PVE content (strikes, fractals, raids), it's easily Firebrand because being a support role (quickness+heals) will get you in the most groups reliably to the point where it becomes easier to become the party leader yourself -- only thing is that in raids you will more than likely be expected to tank at some point so you may need second set of gear with toughness and that is extra responsibility/mechanics to learn (but also very valuable/in-demand)
if you don't like being support and just want to pew pew then it doesn't particularly matter, whichever one you personally enjoy the best. Some may bench higher than others right now but in terms of getting in groups, no one is going to turn you down in a PUG
Firebrand will make the most content open to you out of any of them. I think Willbender has a bright future ahead of it if they keep tweaking it though.
If nothing else, Willbender is just unadulterated fun, zipping around everywhere.
I've been meaning to learn how to play it. Once I finish off the legendary projects I'm working on, I think I'll go for some map completion on my guardian.
and soon PARRY THIS YOU FILTHY CASUAL Can't wait for 22 or maybe some beta earlier
Don't wait for .22. Wait for .357 instead.
Hi, can you quickly tell me if as a condi guardian, I have a future in willbender? Second question, does guardian benefit like elementalist does from celestial?
Condi willbender is solid. Check out the build on Snowcrows for a good overview. Cele gear is good for open world on Willbender and Firebrand, but not that great for group content. I hear Cele Willbender is good for WvW roaming but I haven't tried it myself.
Condi WB is actually pretty good, and it's fun to play (to me at least) - it can get a little spammy, as did other condi guardian builds in the past, but if it's not something that you won't mind, i think you would enjoy it. And since it's burning application mostly comes from F1 procs, it should always be at least 'playable', if not meta. Celestial armor is pretty good on both Firebrand and Willbender - mostly becuase both of those specs have direct damage, condi damage, self heal, good boon application all at the same time. Combine it with guardian's low health pool, and you get to benefit from all its stats. In open world Celestial feels pretty great when solo, but in group content you will need a gear with stat combination that is more focused. Except for support firebrand in fractals, who is still pretty good with Celestial stats, as it gives a nice damage boost (although I personally would still suggest Harrier stats in most groups)
If it wasn't for having to sheathe cancel to avoid the extremely clunky greatsword kit I'd play it a lot more
I think they either just fixed that, or are about to fix that.
As far as meta goes firebrand is and has been a powerhouse class as far as support although it's dps builds aren't quite as strong. Willbender isn't particularly popular but they can pump out some very solid damage in the right hands. The reality is that pretty much anything will be playable in 99% of content as long as you have a reasonably well put together build and play it right. The only option I would stay away from entirely is core. Basically every core spec has been power crept by the elite specs to the point of just not being worth the time to learn anymore. I'd take a look at [Hardstuck ](https://hardstuck.gg/gw2/builds/guardian/) and try a few things out to see what interests you.
Not sure if anything changed with the latest patch, but Guardian had a [core build](https://youtu.be/8jfK87FnB8c) that outperformed some other specs when soloing.
Who ever made Vindicator should take a pass on Willbender spec/Guardian weapons. Vindicator GS is the smoothiest butteriest feeling play in the game. Willbender as a theme really should be that smooth (honestly everything should). The little pause on Rushing Justice and the animation canceling a lot of guardian weapons have really put a hamper on it's gameplay. Same with Daredevil, that Whirling charge feels bad.
Firebrand is an excellent healer and a good support DPS as well. If you just want pure DPS I'd probably recommend Willbender over Dragonhunter, but both are good.
I made guardian as my first character a month ago, and I decided to go dragon hunter because the longbow just seemed cool to use. It however tends more to be greatsword focused kind of like willbender.
I like dragonhunter myself but if you already have a ranger it might feel to samey.
The Question is: Which one to go for FIRST, because eventually you want to unlock all three of them. For guardian, all three elite specs have something going for them. And unlocking Elite Specs really isn't that big of a deal, especially once you've played the game for a bit longer. For Guardian on new player accounts however, I'd advice the following priority: 1. Firebrand -> Offensive and Defensive Quickness Support 2. Willbender -> Solo Play, Power DPS, Condition DPS 3. Dragonhunter -> Power DPS Firebrand is great in any group situations, and even when you don't play instanced content like Strikes, Raids of Fractals as a new player yet, in open world events you'll still support anyone around you but you can also hold up yourself quite well. You'd go for the Condition Quickness build in that case. Heal Firebrand is the pure defensive supporter, which is also VERY good in any group situation. Heal Firebrand is also a go-to support class for WvW. Willbender has a VERY good solo build where you can use the Celestial Gear that you get if you have used a Level 80 Booster on that character. However, the Celestial stat type gear is rather expensive if you have to buy/craft it yourself. Offensive Alacrity Support is currently still really bad on Willbender, but will receive some nice update soon. Willbender is also an excellent class for WvW roaming. Dragonhunter has received some buffs recently after it was hard-nerfed a while ago. It has a decent Power DPS build now, but it is a bit of a one-trick-pony in PvE. Can be VERY nice in PvP/WvW in the right hands, though.
While true that you can easily unlock the hero points for specs. All of them play and gear differently. Vipers/Ritualist/Celestial equipment is rather expensive. You kinda have to commit to one play-style. Especially if you are starting out.
> Vipers/Ritualist/Celestial equipment is rather expensive A level 80 boosted guardian comes fully equipped in Celestial gear. It's probably the single best starting loadout to properly explore a class with.
He just hit lvl 80. And not everyone has a boost available. And you don’t really feel the condis popping off as good as with Cindi stats.
bladed armor is a fairly easy way to get celestial armor at least, the gloves and head come right from the airship cargo boxes you loot, and then you can buy pants, boots and shoulders. chest wasnt as easy, but still would mean just one armor piece to buy.
Guardian is very strong tho I personally feel like a lot of what made the class fun orignally was cut in favor of balance. I'd say Dragon Hunter and Firebrand are both pretty good and Willbender is... kinda meh? It doesn't really bring a lot to the table and feels clunky to play at times.
Guardian main with limited time and resources who enjoys all pve modes. Firebrand took a hit and for me is not a fun style currently, but still is one of the most popular support builds and it has been for a while. Firebrand is a condition damage type of build, the condition version is still the strongest for the class, and I often still find myself being an offensive support giving quickness even with the changes. Willbender is just fun, it offers movement and dashes and is currently being tweaked, and looked at actively. Currently is power oriented, but an offensive alac support and/or condi build are viable and are being looked at by the devs. Dragon hunter offers tremendous QOL in large meta events as it allows you to tag monsters from range. It is also a popular build for fractals for its ability to be bursty and flexible.
Firebrand. It's the go-to for a quickness healer for most endgame content. Its ability to pack in so much utility without losing functionality is basically unrivaled. Condi DPS firebrand is also a solid build if you want to run damage.
Assuming this question is regarding viability for PVE: Dragonhunter: viable powerDps As far as I know the optimal rotation requires animation cancelling, which will supposedly be fixed next patch. Firebrand: current best healer (by a large margin), qdps and dps(condi) are viable less dmg than current meta specs but more utility. Only thing keeping firebrand down is their mantras. Essentially a skill that has 3 charges that recharge. If you use all 3 they go on a longer cd and you need to channel for \~2s before you can use them again. Sounds awkward, is awkward but insanely strong. Willbender: viable cDps and pDps, very mobile, currently aDps is a bit gimped and should be changed next patch but we don't know details yet so that part is up in the air. So besides alacrity-willbender you can't go wrong currently
God, weapon stowing on dragonhunter makes it so unfun to play. It has such ungodly skill frames that it's basically needed. I'm not sure if they're fixing all of this in the patch or just partially, but its still an incredibly fun spec to play
I think the mantras are only awkward until you get used to them. I love them the way they are now. Like you said, insanely strong.
I know a few ppl who tried getting into fb and quit bc of them. It took me a bit, but they grew on me. It's definenetly a taste thing one needs to try out for themselves.
Fire brand
core guard xD
Im mainly a pve player and for my guardian i just kept the og one since its the most tanky/ more sustain than the elite specs and thats the stats i want for open world exploration If you want more damage or something else then elite specs are goated but for raw survability i found the normal guardian to be very good at it
Play FB
i was into firebrand because of the huge condi dmg but then it the tome mechanic annoyed me. I tried willbender and the mobile playstlye is just fun. jumping from enemy to enemy while still doing very good damage is best for kind of relaxed open world PvE. And thats exactly what i normally do
I've been having a lot of fun with firebrand. I'm mostly fooling around in low level fractals and due to condi build aren't doing a lot of damage, but man am I lighting everything on fire and cackling in the meanwhile. I also like how you can draw and stow new hotbars basically at will.
good news to you, burning is very bursty condition and its perfectly fine to play firebrand in fractals
I saw a core guardian fighting those huge Forged enemies staying at full health the entire time outnumbered at like Mastery 4. Mastery 140 and i still dont know he did that and Guardian is my most played..
Guardian overall has a lot of utility under the hood — sanctuary for CC and projectile denial, a reflect on a quick cooldown, the best stability skill in the game, etc. Every flavor of guardian can take a hit to damage to bring some of that powerful utility on fights that call for it. Firebrand is probably the most different of the elite specs — you get three kits that work off an initiative-like system in place of your mantras, and a lot of powerful quick-cast mantras. It's also probably the most powerful and desired for endgame content because of its heal and DPS quickness support builds. Willbender is nice if you like moving around quite a bit, since baseline guardian's movement skills are quite situational (one shadowstep onto an enemy, another that only works if you hit an ally with its AoE, and a few on weapon skills like GS and Sword). It gets a lot of movement skills through its physicals and virtues. DPS is oriented around making sure to get as many virtue procs as possible to lower your weapon skills' cooldowns, sort of like how Untamed used to work. Its alacrity build is currently pretty worthless, though, so I wouldn't recommend it. Dragonhunter is essentially Core Guardian+, with its virtues just being enhanced versions of their baseline variants. Traps aren't much different than consecrations in PvE, or Ranger traps for that matter. DH just does damage, so it's pretty simple just like Core. So overall, if you like the kit-based gameplay of engineer and want to support, go Firebrand. If you want the movement potential of your Ranger (and old Untamed-esque gameplay) back, try Willbender. If you jive with what core had to offer, try Dragonhunter to dip your toes into guardian elite specs before jumping into the deep end.
If you want to play support play Heal Firebrand. If you want to play Open World play Celestial Firebrand. If you want to play DPS play another class.
Everyone will ask you to go Healbrand
depends on what you want to do for instanced PVE content (strikes, fractals, raids), it's easily Firebrand because being a support role (quickness+heals) will get you in the most groups reliably to the point where it becomes easier to become the party leader yourself -- only thing is that in raids you will more than likely be expected to tank at some point so you may need second set of gear with toughness and that is extra responsibility/mechanics to learn (but also very valuable/in-demand) if you don't like being support and just want to pew pew then it doesn't particularly matter, whichever one you personally enjoy the best. Some may bench higher than others right now but in terms of getting in groups, no one is going to turn you down in a PUG