Very disappointed in the new Guardian Slash

[Marak]

I was pretty excited to give tanking another go as a Guard, due to the new guardian slash AoE potential, but then I actually used it...

 

It takes like 20 seconds of setup to get the 5 stacks of sunder up, at which point most everything that would be considered AoE is already dead.

 

So we still pretty much just have our two old AoE abilities to rely on and the extremely situational use of Guardian slash.

 

And with that.. back to Vanguard tanking.

[JediMasterSarynn]

What about Purifying Sweep which at 2/2 adds 4 stacks of armor reduction to up to 5 enemies? I just used it and it's pretty awesome. Force Leap in, then Purifying Sweep, then Sundering Strike, then Guardian Slash. Win.

[KiranK]

Ditch Guardian slash and go hybrid spec. Full defense is dead.

[Shinaa]

What about Purifying Sweep which at 2/2 adds 4 stacks of armor reduction to up to 5 enemies? I just used it and it's pretty awesome. Force Leap in, then Purifying Sweep, then Sundering Strike, then Guardian Slash. Win.

 

This is the only way it is remotely usefull.

However, I would like to know how much range "two nearby enemies" actually is, since we won't be raiding till monday. Can't imagine it is much and since alot of trash is mostly ranged mobs, it has a very limited use.

[peterjohndevries]

This is the only way it is remotely usefull.

However, I would like to know how much range "two nearby enemies" actually is, since we won't be raiding till monday. Can't imagine it is much and since alot of trash is mostly ranged mobs, it has a very limited use.

 

Ya, this is my problem with this. I rarely have that many Mobs around me since the Ranged mobs will NOT be in range to be affected by this.

Honestly. If they were that close anyway, they are being AoE'd to death by my ranged DPS team mates....and very rarely would I be instructing anyone to stun/hold a mob that close to where I am jumping in anyway versus someone on the fringes.

 

I don't see how this really provides much tanking value to 'avoid' mobs that would break on damage

 

I would rather get the damage bonuses to cyclone and sweep by putting my points in the other trees than guardian

[WilhelmScream]

After reviewing my logs, I lost about 150 DPS. Not all of that was Guardian Slash, there were extra armor debuffs to consider. The change keeps Guardians at the lowest DPS of all the tanks, which is not the change that I was hoping for in 1.3.

 

It is more threat. It has more AE tanking capabilities. Of course mobs have to cooperate and squish in to a tight 4m range, that simply will not happen unless they are melee mobs.

 

So, to summarize, we are amazing at tanking small groups of melee mobs now. Our single target tanking DPS is so terrible it pains me. I happen to do the puzzle in HM EC, I get to take longer killing the mobs in the tower now. If only there were 4 of them with the same total health as the single one, I might kill them in a reasonable amount of time.

[thebigdoubleu]

I do not like the new Guardian Slash. AoE pulls should be resolved very quickly with any competent group, and the new SSM change to Force Sweep threat is enough to hold the initial aggro. In other words, the new AoE changes to Guardian Slash are more or less irrelevant, esp. on boss fights.

[MimicUnleashed]

It's a leveling change and I dare say a really REALLY good one. However when it can only smack 1 target it should do more damage. Simple fix. When it can't spread the "love" it should hit pretty hard. I'd go so far as to say as hard as the last tick of Master Strike. On a 15 second CD it'll balance out as not being too DPS-ish. Now if it's hitting multiple targets? Initial Damage of Plasma Brand, maybe? Plasma Brand hits for peanuts. Vigilance wouldn't even use it except for the dot and the chance to reset Master Strike. Not when you could get a much better ability by skipping it.

 

I say these changes will affect BW's outlook on tanking a lot. They already know some things are not adding up. Like how Shadow/Assassin tanks aren't better at tanking some bosses because of self-heal, but that they can resist non shieldable damage exceptionally well. The fact they can get 50% shield chance/absorb after Hard Mode KP/EV doesn't hurt either. But their damage output is pretty good for a tank. I know our Vanguard was angry with the stock strike change until he fired off High Impact bolt and saw it did a LOT of damage now. I'd dare say Guardians as a whole need 1 more baseline strike in our skills just to even things out. It certainly can't break Guardians to be better than Sentinels if they're DPS, right?

[Malissant]

This is the only way it is remotely usefull.

However, I would like to know how much range "two nearby enemies" actually is, since we won't be raiding till monday. Can't imagine it is much and since alot of trash is mostly ranged mobs, it has a very limited use.

 

From what I could tell it's basically melee range. 4m or so. Same kind of Area as sweep covers.

[Varaben]

The range is dreadfully small. In my opinion it should be as longish as sweep, maybe a bit shorter. It's very difficult to use it effectively. I didn't play Defense before so I can't compare. I am having fun soloing and grouping with this.

[KiranK]

If they want to fix Guardian Slash and leave this stupid AoE mechanic in, reduce the Focus cost by 1, reduce the CD to 9 seconds. Fixed. DO NOT TOUCH IT'S DAMAGE EVER AGAIN. If you do I will neuter you, EABioware. Let the Guardian do some DPS. We'll STILL be the lowest DPS tank out there.