Basics

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Guardian Guide Contents

• href="http://eq2.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=137">Chapter
  1 - Basics
• href="http://eq2.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=183">Chapter
  2 - Guardian Abilities List
• href="http://eq2.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=138">Chapter
  3 - Combat Methods
• href="http://eq2.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=139">Chapter
  4 - Quests
• href="http://eq2.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=140">Chapter
  5 - Equipment
• href="http://eq2.tentonhammer.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=5792#5792">Chapter
  6 - Where to Hunt (solo)
  

1.0 -
Guardian Basics

1.1 - The
Basics: The Least You Need To Know

First of
all, do you
want to make a start of it? Is the Guardian
class a good choice for you?

The kind of role you play as Guardian, especially in groups, is an
extremely active one. Guardians, with their high damage mitigation (which is a rough measure of how much damage gets through your armor
to lower your health), high defense, decent avoidance, and taunt-heavy
abilities seem born to be tanks. Tank is a fun anachronism of the
MMORPG world, but its entirely applicable. You want the damage to
be focused on you to allow your groupmates to do their job.



I won't speak much to soloing; the same things that make you great for
groups make you "okay" for soloing. If you're reasonable about
it, you'll seldom find a solo mob within a few levels above you that
you can't handle. The Guardian's Low DPS (Damage Per Second - a
measure of how much damage you can do quickly) makes for long, long
battles. Sometimes there are very good reasons to solo (other
than not being able to find a group in the time you have to play); high level quests
like the Shiny Brass Shield heritage quest require it. Soloing as
Guardian has the tendancy to be a bit tedious however, so be prepared!



With regards to grouped combat, let's start with a very important job
you'll most likely undertake most of the time. The main tank (MT)
is always the forwardmost unit in the more dangerous areas, like
dungeons and raid-only zones, and most of the time will be selectively
leading the attack on targets (called "pulling", because typically you
will be luring the enemy back to the group's safe area). You
absolutely have to have leadership skills to lead, pull, and tank
successfully.

• Leading - You'd better do your research and ask around before you
  take your group into unknown areas. While you may or may not be
  the group or raid leader in title (indeed sometimes its a disadvantage-
  replacing group members, reinforcing good habits, and other odious
  tasks of group leaders take up time that you should be using to pull
  and keep that experience and loot flowing), you will be the physical
  leader of the group. First to get jumped most times, and first to die
  nearly every time death rears its ugly head.
• Pulling - This task naturally falls to you, in order to keep the
  mob's hate focused on your from the get-go. Your bow and long
  range spells assist you, but good pullers know three things: 1) First
  and foremost, what's too difficult for the group to handle? It's always
  better to pull conservatively, ramping up the levels of the mobs till
  you find something that your group can comfortably handle. 2) The
  converse: which enemies present little to no challenge for the group,
  and consequently have little reward. While it's better to error
  in this direction, poor rewards make for short and unsatisfying group
  experiences much of the time. 3) How to pace the mobs to account for
  the group's power needs, especially the healer's power needs.
  Maintaining a steady stream of comfortable pulls makes for the
  ultimately group experience, whether you're wanting experience,
  clearing for group or raid mobs, whatever. The best pullers I
  know challenge the group to stay on its toes while not overburdening
  the heavy power users like priests and mages.
• Tanking - Quite simply, using ALL your available abilities to
  keep the mob's (or mobs') damage focused solely on you, and to draw the
  attention of new aggressive mobs joining the engagement (called "adds"
  or "pops", depending on whether they roam into the area or suddenly
  spawn). A Guardian should make the attraction of his enemies'
  hate his passion and his science. And yes, tanking means seeing
  your health go into the red occasionally (even in the best of groups),
  and sometimes dying too.

Are you that kind of leader? Are you willing to be the first to go in
and the last to run? Maybe Guardian is the class for you!

Does
my
choice of race matter?

Yes, but
mostly for
aesthetic reasons. Before I go farther, let’s remember that it’s a
game! I wager you’ll get much farther (by virtue of having more fun) by
crafting a character that you enjoy both playing and looking at,
because this choice is permanent. The difference between the race least
blessed with defense bonuses, agility, stamina, strength, and health
and the most is no
more than a couple lucky item-drops. If
you want to make a gnomish Guardian, by all means do! Guardians
are a very popular subclass, and if you're a good one, it might be good
to stand out on purely superficial grounds. That being said, it
can be frustrating to be a shortie at times, having to swim when others
can wade, and getting lost in the crowd during a serious melee are two
small but worthwhile reasons to choose a taller class.

Guardians,
in their defensive capacity, benefit most by upgrades to Defense
(obviously- Guardians rely more on defense than AGI and the avoidance
factor), STA (more
hitpoints, slightly higher regen during combat), AGI (more avoidance of
damage), and health (really not a factor for choosing between classes,
HP is more or less the same for each race). For offense, STR is
the key attribute for better melee damage, more power (not a serious
consideration for fighters), and increased combat ability
effectiveness. STR is a secondary concern especially in grouped
situations; more is always better, but just about every class seems to
have a STR buff to stack up.

[Kruck Slashrude, a 46th level Guardian on Blackburrow server, offers
the following insight on the Defense attribute]:

Im a 46th
level guardian,
and with the exception of Hold The Line and other aggro handling
abilities, the only skills I use are the ones that buff my defense
attribute. How important is defense? Have you ever grouped
with a lower level character, thus setting your average group level to
a value lower than your current level? When you fight a mob that
is 3 or more levels beneath you, and your defense is buffed to at least
15 points (VERY easy to do), it appears to the mob that you are six
levels higher than him. He is almost completely unable to hit
you. The easy experience in the game is to solo green double up
mobs that are completely unable to hit you due to this trick.



So why does this matter in racial selection? Ogres, Dwarves and
Barbarians get a +5 defense Racial Tradition that is a HUGE factor when
picking a good race for a tank class. It doesnt mean a tank of
any other race is disadvantaged (I'm a troll myself), but the
Min/Max'ers out there will definitely appreciate this information.

Thanks
Slashrude! So 5 points of defense is worth an entire level, good
stuff.

Bearing this in
mind, Ogre and Troll (though Troll lacks the +5 defense boost racial
tradition) seem to have the best mix of attributes (Troll:
STA 30, STR 25, AGI 18; Ogre: STA 25, STR 30, AGI 15). But take
heart, purebred Qeynos-types: Barbarian (STA 25, STR 25, AGI 20) and
Dwarf (STA 25, STR 22, AGI 16) aren't bad choices either, from a purely
stats-driven frame of mind.

Have any suggestions??? I'm always
looking for new ideas for this guide, and if I include yours, you (of
course) get the credit. Email
your thoughts to me or href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=196">post
them in the TTH Class forum, and thanks in advance!