Orion
Lead Designer
Hello all, it has been a while. As we start the drive toward Update 37, we wanted to give you a new peek behind the curtain as we start the Guardian Refresh.
Some of you may have noticed, before the new forums, a flurry of activity in the Guardian sub-forum that spilled over at least in a memoriam-style to the new forums. Well, the time has come and work began, in earnest on the beefy Guardian and I wanted to pull the curtain back and give you an idea of how things are going.
First, the biggest change, The Fighter of Shadow is no longer going to be a tree into which you can specialize. Instead, The Fighter of Shadow tree becomes a utility tree with augments to enhance damage, threat, and survivability and a couple of nifty new tricks for the Guardian to use while protecting the Free People.
The second largest change is to The Keen Blade. The DPS line for the Guardian should move them up in parity and while still focusing on bleeds focuses more on creating consistent critical events for itself as it works toward outlasting opponents. This new focus on dealing that damage comes at sacrificing some of their survivability in the form of healing. It sounds harsh, but the incoming healing that a Keen Blade Guardian receives from their skills is reduced by 50% but, the damage output is much higher.
The changes to The Defender of the Free are minor, but nonetheless transformative. So let’s take a look at how this is all coming together; with a focus on The Defender of the Free.
Role: The true Tanking build, using both AoE and single-target taunts. The primary focus in protection and survival.
Innate Bonus: Your shield skills have a 25% chance to apply a fortification effect that increases your mitigations by 1%. This effect may stack up to five times.
As you can see, the changes here make sense from the standpoint of what the Guardian is supposed to do for this role.
The removal of Defensive Expertise from the tree in the first tier of the specialization does not mean it is gone or forgotten, it is relocated into The Fighter of Shadow and combined with Skilled Deflection from The Keen Blade.
Adaptability no longer increases your ability to parry and block, instead it confers a flat damage reduction effect for specializing in The Defender of the Free.
Shield wall get ousted from the Trait set bonus slot into a trainable trait and is replaced by Protection by the Shield. Otherwise, Shield Wall is unchanged.
Protection by the Shield becomes an aura effect applied by the Guardian reducing incoming damage to raid members within 30m!
Shield of Light is a new addition, enhancing the effect of Protection by the Shield by adding more incoming damage reduction and increase in the amount of threat generated by shield skills.
Shield Spikes sees a modest uptick in Critical Chance and duration, doubling both qualities.
High-spirited moves from the first tier of The Fighter of Shadow and finds itself tucked neatly into a much deeper portion of The Defender of the Free.
Disorientation swaps out the ability to reduce Parry, Block, and Evade for a Critical Defence Reduction on the target.
Warrior’s Fortitude no longer modifies Warrior’s Heart, instead it becomes a passive standalone trait always in effect once it is chosen. More potent and valuable, we believe. Maybe too valuable, testing will hash that out.
Everything else remains much the same, except for some potential rewording or clean-up on presentation.
I hope to put up an outline of the changes coming to The Keen Blade and The Fighter of Shadow for tomorrow.
Feel free to response with any questions, comments, or concerns right here
Some of you may have noticed, before the new forums, a flurry of activity in the Guardian sub-forum that spilled over at least in a memoriam-style to the new forums. Well, the time has come and work began, in earnest on the beefy Guardian and I wanted to pull the curtain back and give you an idea of how things are going.
First, the biggest change, The Fighter of Shadow is no longer going to be a tree into which you can specialize. Instead, The Fighter of Shadow tree becomes a utility tree with augments to enhance damage, threat, and survivability and a couple of nifty new tricks for the Guardian to use while protecting the Free People.
The second largest change is to The Keen Blade. The DPS line for the Guardian should move them up in parity and while still focusing on bleeds focuses more on creating consistent critical events for itself as it works toward outlasting opponents. This new focus on dealing that damage comes at sacrificing some of their survivability in the form of healing. It sounds harsh, but the incoming healing that a Keen Blade Guardian receives from their skills is reduced by 50% but, the damage output is much higher.
The changes to The Defender of the Free are minor, but nonetheless transformative. So let’s take a look at how this is all coming together; with a focus on The Defender of the Free.
The Defender of the Free
Descriptor: Uses mitigations and defence to protect allies.Role: The true Tanking build, using both AoE and single-target taunts. The primary focus in protection and survival.
Innate Bonus: Your shield skills have a 25% chance to apply a fortification effect that increases your mitigations by 1%. This effect may stack up to five times.
The Defender of the Free |
|---|
|
| Relentless Assault 5 Ranks 5%/tier for the skill Sting to apply a Finesse | Tireless Defender 3 Ranks Guardian’s Ward reduces power costs by 10%/tier while active | Guardian’s Ward: Tactics 5 Ranks Tactical Mitigation Bonus per tier | ||
| Guardian’s Defence +10% Armour +10 Critical Defence +2.5% Block/Partial Block -25% Shield Wear when Blocking | Guardian’s Pledge Grants skill Guardian’s Pledge | Bellow 5 ranks +20% Challenge and Fray the Edge Range and -5s | ||
| Adaptability -1% Incoming Damage from all Sources | Shield-smash Grants the skill Shield-smash | Reversal 5 ranks -6s Turn the Tables Cooldown/rank +4s Combat State Immunity | Smashing Stab Earns the Skill Smashing-stab | |
| Protection by the Shield Grants the Skill Protection by the Shield | Follow Through 3 ranks Requires Shield-smash Increase targets 3,5,7 | Shield Wall Grants the Skill Shield Wall | Shield of Light 5 ranks Ranks 1-4 .5%/incoming damage reduction to Protection by the Shield/rank +3% perceived threat/rank Rank 5 1 Max target on Shield Taunt 2% incoming damage red 15% Perceived threat | |
| Challenge the Darkness +3 Challenge targets | Shield Spikes 5 ranks +2% Crit Chat with Shields +240s Duration to Shield Spikes | High-spirited 5 ranks +1 incoming healing mod/rank | Disorientation 5 ranks 5% chance/rank to apply a crit defence debuff of 5% | |
| Strengthen the Bulwark Fortification Enhancement | Warrior’s Fortitude 1 Rank +1% Physical Mit +1 Incoming Healing +1% Block Chance +1.25% Partial Block | Stoic 6 ranks +20% chance to apply damage bubble/rank Rank 6 Increases Bubble potency | ||
| Bolstering Blocks Block restore morale | Juggernaut Grants Skill: Juggernaut | Break Ranks Shield-taunt cashes out Forts for 30% group damage buff for 15s | ||
| Shield the People +25% that Shields apply Fortification Buffs |
As you can see, the changes here make sense from the standpoint of what the Guardian is supposed to do for this role.
The removal of Defensive Expertise from the tree in the first tier of the specialization does not mean it is gone or forgotten, it is relocated into The Fighter of Shadow and combined with Skilled Deflection from The Keen Blade.
Adaptability no longer increases your ability to parry and block, instead it confers a flat damage reduction effect for specializing in The Defender of the Free.
Shield wall get ousted from the Trait set bonus slot into a trainable trait and is replaced by Protection by the Shield. Otherwise, Shield Wall is unchanged.
Protection by the Shield becomes an aura effect applied by the Guardian reducing incoming damage to raid members within 30m!
Shield of Light is a new addition, enhancing the effect of Protection by the Shield by adding more incoming damage reduction and increase in the amount of threat generated by shield skills.
Shield Spikes sees a modest uptick in Critical Chance and duration, doubling both qualities.
High-spirited moves from the first tier of The Fighter of Shadow and finds itself tucked neatly into a much deeper portion of The Defender of the Free.
Disorientation swaps out the ability to reduce Parry, Block, and Evade for a Critical Defence Reduction on the target.
Warrior’s Fortitude no longer modifies Warrior’s Heart, instead it becomes a passive standalone trait always in effect once it is chosen. More potent and valuable, we believe. Maybe too valuable, testing will hash that out.
Everything else remains much the same, except for some potential rewording or clean-up on presentation.
I hope to put up an outline of the changes coming to The Keen Blade and The Fighter of Shadow for tomorrow.
Feel free to response with any questions, comments, or concerns right here
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