I have been playing several variants of deep Defense builds as well as hybrid ones. And while it can't be denied that there lies potential withing Defense based builds, you overestimate their usefulness. It all comes down to the composition of your team, what is required and what isn't. Defense will have it's place - no doubt. But claiming it will be the sole future of the Guardian class is just plain wrong. As for the job of defending a node, I'd prefer a KC Shadow any day. While sitting in stealth you can just wait for them to cast the tap and interrupt them when they are about to finish their cast. Using Mind Maze on loners or fighting against groups just to cast Force Cloak when you are about to die, letting them try to cap again just to be interrupted by you again out of stealth, which will give your team much more time to get there than a Guardian could possibly stall.

It's definitely not the most mandatory skill there is, although I prefer rolling with it. For the builds discussed in here Overhead Slash, Slash and Dispatch (even if it's not classified as a melee move) are affected by it. I have to admit I am not entirely sure whether or not Zealous Leap is affected as well. I would advise using it on Dispatch mostly, which is quite good in combination with Force Rush.

Human.

"The future of Guardian PvP"..? Whatever that might be, it does not lie within your build, that's for sure.

Not gonna argue here, from a pure PvE perspective deep Vigilance is the way to go. Not sure if it was the intention of the OP, but my comments in here are PvP related solely.

Yeah, I messed up with the link. It's corrected now. It's pretty much the same as yours, I just think 2/2 Victory Rush is really needed.

That's a pretty good advice given here. Just one thing: don't copy anyone else's binds, it's the wrong approach.

Yes, unless it's specifically limited to certain classes in the tooltip.

Nothing wrong with picking Shien in the build. You should be rotating your stances anyway depending on what the situation requires. Sitting in just one stance 24/7 makes you just less flexible and reduces your performance.

Never has been.

Seriously what the ****? The OP comes up with a Overhead Slash / Zealoous Leap hybrid build and all you do is linking some gehtto Plasma Brand build, which has nothing to do with what the OP was asking. Why even bother posting in here at all? On topic, these kind of builds were awesome pre 1.2. with Zephyr. While Shii-Cho took quite a hit, it's still possible to be effective with it. In fact I think they are still stronger than the deep Vigilance crap many people seem to be running around with these days. You took some strange choices there however, so some adjustments might be needed. Even if you want to play Shien mostly, there will be times when you are required to switch to Soresu. In Shien your focus generation will be great, when you are in Soresu however, you really need to have Victory Rush. Sundering Throw isn't really needed when you don't have Plasma Brand. Outside of that I just made some minor changes, leading to this build, which I have been playing a lot lately: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#500MMZfMrorhdzMZrr0Rz.1 Edit: Corrected my link.

Stasis Mastery / Overhead Slash hybrid builds are good indeed. Why you run with Guard Stance and Blade Barricade rather than Profound Resolution and maybe even Pacification is beyond me however.

Done the tutorial on Tython, got bored to oblivion and leveled to 50 by running WZs only. So it's a one for me, possibly a zero.

Don't see how a deep Vigilance Guardian could possibly beat an Annihilation Marauder / Watchman Sentinel of the same skill level in 1on1. At least not when playing/staying in Shien.

Not sure if serious. While Guadian class has some problems - just like any other class -, it's well rounded overall. If anything we are off better than most others. On topic, even if chaining Leaps might be a problem on paper, it's not really an issue in the game. Half of the time my root doesn't even go off anyway thanks to lags and the terrible net code of this game.

When I started playing a Guardian I had my doubts regarding the usefulness of Riposte. After getting used to it however, I can't imagine playing any Soresu based build without Lunge.

Care to elaborate why you think Feelin' Woozy isn't needed?

Can't possibly think of any Combat spec that would want to spend 7 points into Focus. But when is a spec viable? You yould just run 0/0/0 only spaming Strike and Slash and still drop most people.

When playing objective based I sometimes don't even get the 75k medal, when just standing in the zerg while getting heald whole match I can break 500k. Honestly damage numbers don't mean a thing as long as you are comfortable with what you are doing and feel you are providing to winning the matches.

Even if givng fancy names to builds is beyond ridiculous, I couldn't care less. My criticism is limited to the build itself only. Second WInd = waste of points for any Guardian build Insight = waste of points for Vigilance Victory Rush = mandatory for any Guardian build Solidified Force = recommended for Vigilance

Just take a look at all the other builds linked in here. Some people prefer taking Burning Blade while others don't. Some think Zen Strike is a good investment while others drop this skill. It all comes down to personal preference. So tell me how exactly does your build differ from any other of the 50 specs posted in here, which are basically all the same. What makes your build special? Only thing I can see are a few points wasted to get Second Wind while there obviously are more useful things to get.

Your build is just like any other Vigilance template flying around here outside of some useless skills you decided to get for God knows what reason.

Not sure if serious. Freezing Force is simply superior to any other snare in the game. When playing my Sentinel I'd glady trade the damn Leg Slash for Freezing Force. In fact this move is what keeps me playing a Guardian rather than a Sentinel even if I prefer Sentinel in almost every other aspect.

The single most meaningful post in this thread.

You made some stange choices here. No Stagger but full Accuracy and Sundering Throw... And if you are running Soresu 24/7 why would you not want to pick Lunge? Personally I roll this one, when playing a Soresu Def/Vig hybrid: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#500RrrdzzZfRr0rhdzM.1