Red Guardian

Red Guardian ‘Keen Blade’ Build

By Zipfile of Arkenstone – Updated for Yondershire, U33

Essence Name	Essence	Note
Critical Rating	Critical Rating	Use these to reach near Critical Rating cap.
Physical Mastery	Physical Mastery	Use these to reach near Physical Mastery cap.
Critical Rating Trigger	Critical Trigger	Use 1 of these.
Physical Mastery Trigger	Mastery Trigger	Use 1 of these.
Tactical Mitigation	Tactical Mitigation	Use these to fill slots after above Essences are met.

Trait Trees

There are two different Trait Trees for Red Guardian, one is for when you are not expected to take damage, so you can build for slightly higher damage output, and the other tree is more Survival based and gives some extra defensive cooldowns.

1st Red Tree, more Damage based:

This Tree gives everything you need from Red Line, max damage wise and opens up a lot of utility from the Yellow Line as well.

2nd Red Tree for more Survival:

Almost similar to the previous tree, but this one opens up Guardian’s Pledge skill and Thrill of Danger skill, both quite good for survival.

35 Trait Points Build for Legendary Servers

60 Trait Points Build for Beginners

Virtues

These are the virtues I use to reach the Stat Goals. I use mostly Offensive options, but if need be, some of them can be switched to more Defensive options as well, depending on the type of fight. More explained down below.

Here are the Virtues which go along with the Stat Goals:

1. Zeal (Great for Mastery and Critical Rating)
2. Valour (Great for Mastery, Finesse and Critical Rating)
3. Confidence (Great for Critical Rating and Finesse)
4. Wit (Great for Finesse, Mastery and Critical Rating)
5. Loyalty (Great for Vitality and survival)
   • If you need extra Survivability, swap Wit with Fidelity

If you don’t have these virtues, here are some alternatives:

• Fidelity (Great for Vitality + Tactical Mit)
• Tolerance (Gives great amount of Tactical Mit, decent Physical Mit and Resistance)
• Innocence (Gives great amount of Physical Mit, decent Tactical Mit Mit and Resistance)

Legendary Items

Red Guardians need 3 LIs for DPS, which are two LI Two-Hander Weapons, one for AoE and one for Single-target, and one Belt LI.

*Note: Red Guard’s Class item is built in a way that it can be easily shared between Single-target or AoE Weapon.

2-Hander Weapon – Single Target

Type	Sockets
Heraldic Tracery	Heraldry of the Ox
Word of Power	Damage Over Time
Word of Power	Damage Over Time Criticals
Word of Mastery	Brutal Assault Damage
Word of Mastery	Overwhelm Damage & Critical Chance
Word of Mastery	Stagger Critical Chance & Duration
Word of Mastery	Stamp Cooldown & Damage
Word of Mastery	Sting Damage & Critical Chance
Word of Mastery	To The King Damage
Word of Craft	Heroic Precision
Word of Craft	Heroic Precision

2-Hander Weapon – AoE

Type	Sockets
Heraldic Tracery	Heraldry of the Ox
Word of Power	Area Effect Attack Criticals
Word of Power	Area Effect Attack Damage
Word of Mastery	Shield Damage (Increases War-Chant’s damage)
Word of Mastery	Stamp Cooldown & Damage
Word of Mastery	Sting Damage & Critical Chance
Word of Mastery	Sweeping Cut Damage & Critical Chance
Word of Mastery	Vexing Blow Damage
Word of Mastery	Whirling Retaliation Damage
Word of Craft	Heroic Precision
Word of Craft	Heroic Precision

Guardian’s Belt (Class Item)

Type	Sockets
Heraldic Tracery	Heraldry of the Ox
Word of Power	Area Effect Target Count
Word of Power	Single Target Attack Criticals
Word of Power	Single Target Attack Damage
Word of Mastery	Catch a Breath Cooldown & Heal
Word of Mastery	Guardian’s Pledge Cooldown & Magnitude
Word of Mastery	Guardian’s Ward Damage & Parry Chance
Word of Mastery	Parry Response Damage
Word of Mastery	Warrior’s Heart Duration
Word of Mastery	Warrior’s Heart Morale Heal & Maximum
Word of Craft	Heroic Alacrity
Word of Craft	Heroic Alacrity

Rotation

Here is the rotation of Red Guardian, by Zipfile:

* Use different (ST/AoE) Weapons accordingly, for boss fights use the ST Weapon, and for heavy AoE fights (such as trash fights), use the AoE Weapon.

Rotation 1 – Boss/PVE, not expected to take damage:

-> Brutal Charge -> Hammer Down -> Stamp -> Sting -> Brutal Assault -> Ignore the Pain (doubletap for instant cut if possible) -> Sweeping Cut -> Sting

* If parry response is gained from the first Sting, don’t use Sting after Sweeping Cut, use Retaliation instead and -> Whirling

Then Sting again -> Thrust -> To The King -> Stamp -> Sting
(if parry response gained from either last two used Stings, use War-chant, then Retaliation again)
Overwhelm -> Sting -> To The King.

This is the basic opener, after which you repeat Brutal Assault (animation cut with ITP or Stamp) and Sweeping Cut (ITP or Stamp again if possible).
Key notes now is that the Guardian rotation isn’t static at all and its very adaptive. You have to balance out multiple things during it:

1. Make sure all 4 bleeds are up and prioritize getting the ones that aren’t.
2. Spam Sting constantly, whenever its off-cooldown. Plan which skill you’ll use next while looking at Sting. Longer skills are sometimes better not to be cut because you can save the cuts for Overwhelm/To The King)
3. Unmentioned skills (Stagger, Vexing Blow, Forced Opening) are your filler skills. Use those when you have all 4 bleeds up to delay the rotation a bit.
4. ALWAYS INTERWEAVE STING BETWEEN SKILLS, it’s your most crucial skill in the entire rotation and one of the highest damage dealers.

Rotation 2 – Landscape/PVE, expected to take damage:

Brutal Charge -> use War-chant at the enemy pack out of combat (this gives you the crit on all enemies hit without consuming the Brutal Charge buff, giving you second used skill the 100% crit buff too) – gather mobs – Sweeping Cut – (if you didn’t get a parry response, Forced Opening) – Whirling Retaliation – cut with Stamp/ITP – War-chant – (mobs should get back up by now and you will most likely get a parry response from being hit) Whirling Retaliation – Thrust – To The King.

This is the basic AOE opener, just spam AOE skills and Sting, if you’re getting low on health, use cooldowns as needed (Catch a Breath should be the first one, Thrill of Danger, then Pledge, then Warriors Heart, by the time this is all out and if you spammed War chant, you’ll have Catch a Breath back).

Rotation Video:

Click here for the video.

Consumables

There are the consumables to use on Guardian:

Updated as of U33.

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