Before progressing to the advanced version of this page, we recommend acquiring an in-depth understanding of your CC skills and when to use them efficiently. You should be able to hit consistently high DPS, which you can verify with arc-dps . And finally, you should be able to execute the basic step-by-step rotation provided below without spending too much thought on it.
The advanced page provides a more complete overview of all the utilities the Guardian has to offer. If you ever feel like you are missing information feel free to already swap to the advanced page!
Create your own build in case you already own different gear.
1. Select template
2. Select gear you already own
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Build
Traits
Radiance
Zeal
Dragonhunter
Situational Traits
Can be used when phase times are very short, as the time casting Spear of Justice can become too predominant and occasionally prevents you from casting impactful abilities in time. It’s particularly good on bosses such as MAMA. It can also be used on Arkk, Artsariiv and Ensolyss. Overall, it makes the rotation easier, however Big Game Hunter remains a stronger trait on most encounters (Skorvald, Artsariiv, Siax, Ensolyss and even Arkk although the difference is minimal).
Virtues
Virtues
If you can reliably upkeep Aegis, you can drop the Radiance trait line for Virtues for more personal damage. Please note you will need to adjust your gear to crit cap! Check the gear optimizer for more gear variants!
A 1,200 range teleport to an ally. Can be used in conjunction with Sword of Justice for skips (Aetherblade first floor, Uncategorized both floors, Nightmare altars…).
Recharges all virtue skills, grants Invulnerability for 3 seconds. It is especially useful on Artsariiv as it allows for the use of more CC.
When Stability is needed. Also useful for precasting a fire field and resolution at the mistlock.
When beginning phases after splits (e.g. Ensolyss), you likely will not have Resolution. Make sure to precast Litany of Wrath at the start of these phases so that you have Resolution during your opener. This is especially important when beginning phases on Longbow as you will not have Symbol of Resolution up until late in your burst.
It may require some attention to maintain permanent Resolution solo. Notable teammates who can aid with Resolution uptime include:
Remember to add CC skills for breakbars, and to save Binding Blade if there are multi-hit opportunities. After the opener, improvise according to phase timings.
Sword of Justice and Procession of Blades both have a wind up time before dealing all their damage. Use them at the start of your opener to maximize your burst.
Sword of Justice has 3 charges. The other charges can be used later in the rotation as filler.
Symbol of Resolution has a very long aftercast which can be cancelled to save time. This can be done by moving or stowing weapon after the symbol is placed.
Whirling Wrath fires additional damaging projectiles outwards. Try to stand inside the boss’ hitbox so that these projectiles don’t miss.
It is very much recommended to play Condi Firebrand 🡢Go to build since it provides much better DPS underwater compared to Power Dragonhunter. If you still want to play Power Dragonhunter for whatever reason follow these rough guidelines.
Try to use Binding Blade inside the boss’ hitbox when multiple adds are nearby, as it will proc for every for surrounding you within a 600 range.
Litany of Wrath can be used to cancel aftercasts as it has priority over other abilities. It is useful to cancel Binding Blade ‘s aftercast on Artsariiv P1.
Dragon's Maw cast on the edge of the boss will also periodically apply 150 Defiance-bar damage from pulling thanks to the field left in its wake. This can be used on multiple encounters.
Traps can be precasted on the edge of MAMA and Ensolyss’ locations, and will proc when they both use their signature ability: the bubble. This is because both of them reposition slightly while casting it. Said location for traps to proc is quite forgiving on MAMA, but rather difficult to find on Ensolyss and takes some getting used to: both are pretty consistent.
Additionally, traps can be cast on the edge of Arkk’s hitbox during downtime, namely Procession of Blades , to be later proced after pushing the orbs. Traps have a tendency to proc when any moving and damaging field collides with the enemy’s hitbox, such as Scrapper gyros, Mallyx elite ability and Warrior’s Torch#5. To achieve this, picture the diagonals passing through Arkk and the central tiles. Cast Procession of Blades on one of those diagonals such that the trap overlaps Arkk’s hitbox, but doesn’t cover it completely. This is useful on Arkk as Procession of Blades has a rather short cooldown, and the boss has a lot of downtime.
Trap Precasting
Before precasting boons at the Mistlock Singularity, you can precast traps on the boss or at add spawn locations for additional damage.
Right before the boss is triggered, cast multiple symbols by cycling through weapons in your inventory. These will tick on the boss for additional burst damage.
Symbol of Faith has the longest cast time and drops at your location at the end of the cast, so it is recommended to start with this while running in.
Add Shield of Wrath in towards the end of your symbols for significant extra damage. This may be difficult to do without a dedicated equipment template as equipping a 2-handed weapon will unequip your Focus.
It is important to trigger the boss right after you finish using your symbols, or you will lose damage ticks on your symbols.
Instant CC is valuable so that symbols tick into Exposed.
In fast phase times, it can be worth it to use Symbol of Resolution and/or Symbol of Energy in your precast. With slower phases, it may be better to use them in-phase so that no ticks are missed.
You may wish to add/remove symbols to your precast depending on personal speed or boon/buff timers (such as One Wolf Pack ). Do note that it is not worth casting 6 symbols as your oldest symbol will have expired by the time the boss is vulnerable.
It can be useful to create dedicated templates for symbol and trap precasting. Take care not to status reset by swapping between build templates with different traits - only different utilities are okay.
Do not precast symbols in pugs, unless you are absolutely sure no one else will trigger the boss before you, or you will have to learn the hard way and play Mace Dragonhunter.
Ideal Symbol Precasts: priority is Scepter→Sword+Focus→Staff→Longbow. Always have Scepter and Focus equipped over the weapon you would usually start the encounter with. If you prefer to have Mace as an extra weapon through this process, to get in the flow, it must always come first, and can be cast as you traverse a portal to the boss. When on Scepter, cast Symbol of Punishment . As it goes off, switch to Sword and use Symbol of Blades & Shield of Wrath . then Staff ( Symbol of Swiftness ), Longbow ( Symbol of Energy ), and finally your weapon of choice for the start of the encounter (Greatsword + Symbol of Resolution or current Longbow).
If you do not wish to use multiple templates just for symbol precasting:
In the inventory, position the weapons you need in a straight line or in a square shape at the very top of it; find something practical for you, for frequent use. Make sure you have an empty slot for the focus as well, so it always drops down in the right place every time you equip and unequip it. The use of Ascended weapons is an absolute must. Current weapon strength does matter when casting abilities. Do NOT share any ascended weapons between templates. Make sure to have unique ascended weapons for each template you might need.
