Player Guide: Class Changes Summary: Guardian

[Smartbean]

(Picture courtesy of Schinderhannes)



Quick Links:
Skills and Skill Changes
In Depth - The Defender of the Free Tree
In Depth - The Keen Blade Tree
In Depth - The Fighter of Shadow Tree
Legacy Changes and Legacy lists (by Schinderhannes)



Mechanical Changes

Threat Changes
Threat/aggro management is being changed/simplified and is now mainly being generated through DPS.
For the Guardian this means threat/aggro is only manageable through a increased passive threat level opposed to other classes and though force taunts.

Find out what skills are affected through these threat changes in: Skills and Skill Changes


Bleed Mechanics
Especially in The Keen blade bleeds are of the essence.
A lot of skills add bleeds and get removed by using Overwhelm, whilst doing more damage in return.

Find out what skills are affected through these bleed mechanics in: In Depth - The Keen Blade Tree

Tree Summaries

The Defender of the Free
A Guardian that specializes in The Defender of the Free tree will primarily focus on protection and survival, will use Mitigations and Defense to protect allies and AoE and single target taunts to manage threat/aggro.
Role: Tank
Buff that activates upon choosing specialization: Shield skills have a 25% chance to apply a fortification buff which boosts your mitigations by 1%. This buff can be stacked up to 5 times.

Link to More information: In Depth - The Defender of the Free Tree


The Keen Blade
A Guardian that specializes in The Keen Blade tree will focus on dealing damage through high(er) base damage, bleeds and finishing skills.
Role: DPS
Buff that activates upon choosing specialization: Landing a critical hit will apply a bleed to the target(s). These bleeds can stack up to 5 times.

Link to More information: In Depth - The Keen Blade Tree


The Fighter of Shadow
A Guardian that specializes in The Fighter of Shadow tree focuses on debuffing targets, whilst gaining survivability in the process. They use Light Damage and can tank using a 2 handed weapon.
Role: DPS-Tank
Buff that activates upon choosing specialization: Attacks against marked targets provide a 5% chance to restore 10% max morale.

Link to More information: In Depth - The Fighter of Shadow Tree

[Smartbean]

General Skills

• Sting - auto granted at lvl 1
• Guardian's Ward - auto granted at lvl 1
• Shield-swipe - auto granted at lvl 2
• Retaliation - auto granted at lvl 2
• Sweeping Cut - auto granted at lvl 4
• Whirling Retaliation - auto granted at lvl 6
• Let fly - granted via class trainer as of lvl 8
• Vexing Blow - granted via class trainer as of lvl 10
• Charge - granted via class trainer as of lvl 14
• Challenge - granted via class trainer as of lvl 16
• Ignore the Pain - granted via class trainer as of lvl 18
• Turn the Tables - granted via class trainer as of lvl 20
• Bash - granted via class trainer as of lvl 22
• Fray the Edge - granted via class trainer as of lvl 24
• Stagger - granted via class trainer as of lvl 26
• Catch a Breath - granted via class trainer as of lvl 28
• Shield-blow - granted via class trainer as of lvl 30
• Warrior's Heart - granted via class trainer as of lvl 32
• Stamp - granted via class trainer as of lvl 34
• Guardian's Promise - granted via class trainer as of lvl 36
• Engage - granted via class trainer as of lvl 38
• Sting (with Corruption Removal component) - granted via class trainer as of lvl 50

Removed Skills

• Summon Tinker
• Deep Breath
• Salt the Wound
• Guardian's Threat
• Guardian's Defense - This stance is removed as a toggle skill and is incorporated as a passive buff when specialized in The Defender of the Free tree.
• Overpower - This stance is removed as a toggle skill and is incorporated as a passive buff when specialized in The Keen Blade tree.
• Challenge the Darkness - This skill is removed, but applies a passive buff to "Challenge" when specialized in The Defender of the Free tree.

New Skills

• Smashing Stab - This skill is usable after by the use of either Shield-swipe (after a block response) or Retaliation (after a parry response). When Smashing Stab follows after Shield-swipe the skill will damage and stun the target. When Smashing Stab follows after Retaliation the skill will damage and bleed the target. When using Shield-swipe and Retaliation prior to using Smashing Stab the skill will damage the target and provide a fellowship manoeuvre. The cd of this skill is 30s.
• Juggernaut - This skill sets block chance to 100% for 15s and will damage the target on any harmful skill that is launched against the GRD or when the GRD blocks or partial blocks for the duration of the skill. The buff will expire if you're out of combat for more than 9s. The cd of this skill is 3m.
• Hammer Down - This skill damages the target and provide additional damage when the target is below 25% of it's health. When you defeat the target with this skill it provides a +5% melee damage for 15s and this buff can stack up to 3 times. The buff will expire if you're out of combat for more than 9s. When you land a critical hit with this skill it also restores 2% of your max morale. The cd of this skill is 1m.
• War-chant - This taunt will hit up to 3 targets, it will do a bit of (Light) damage to the targets and debuffs them with -5% damage. This debuff expires when you're out of combat for more than 9s. When you land a critical hit with this skill it also restores 2% of your max morale. The cd of this skill is 10s.
• Redirect - This skill will damage the target and will provide a buff to negate 10% of the damage received and reflect 10% of the damage for 10s. When you land a critical hit with this skill it also restores 2% of your max morale. The cd of this skill is 30s.
• Cataclysmic Shout - This taunt will hit up to 5 targets, it damages the targets with Light damage, but your selected target receives more damage than the surrounding targets and will be stunned. All non-damaging debuffs that are on the selected target will be taken away from the selected target and redistributed among the other targets. The cd on this skill is 2m.

Skill Changes

• Shield-blow - This skill has now a 10s cd (was 3.5s), added function: restores 2% of max morale on critical hit
• Vexing Blow - This skill has now a 4s cd (was 6.5s), has it's threat component removed, and hits up to 3 targets by default
• Stamp - This skill has now a 20s cd (was 1m untraited and without legacy)
• To the King - added function: restores 2% of max morale on critical hit
• Overwhelm - This skill now has a 10s cd (was 5s), no longer applies the b/p/e debuff on the target for 10s, added functions: restores 2% of max morale on critical hit and removes all bleeds that are active on the target in order to deal more damage (ie. the more bleeds that were on the target, the more damage this skill does).
• Thrust - added function: restores 2% of max morale on critical hit
• Whirling Retaliation - Threat component removed, added function: restores 2% of max morale on critical hit
• Retaliation - This skill now has a 10s cd (was 5s), added function: restores 2% of max morale on critical hit
• Catch a Breath - When triggered by a block response it heals morale, when triggered by a parry response it heals power. When you have both a block and a parry response it will heals both morale and power. Added function: using Catch a Breath has a chance to trigger a block response, once it does it takes 2 minutes to have this chance again
• Warrior's Heart - This skill now has a 2m cd and it changes it's behavior according to the active specialisation (further explained at the Warrior's Fortitude traits). Apart from that the heal provided is now equivalent of 10% of your max morale and you also get a 10% increase to your max morale for 20s (was fixed amount and 1m duration before). The duration can be increased for a further 10s with the Warrior's Heart LI Legacy.
• Thrill of Danger - This skill has now a 1m cd (was 5m) and has its threat component removed.
• Turn the Tables - This skill now has a 1m 30s cd (was 5m without legacy or armour set bonus)
• Shield-smash - added function(s): sets b/p/e chance for the target to 0% for 2s and restores 2.5% of max morale on critical hit
• Bash - added function: restores 2.5% of max morale on critical hit
• Shield-taunt - added function(s): sets b/p/e chance for the target to 0% for 2s and restores 2.5% of max morale on critical hit
• Litany of Defiance - This skill has now a 1m 30s cd (was 20s). The target gets +20% Attack Duration for 15s. GRD will receive a buff of +2% Physical Mitigation and +2% Tactical Mitigation for 15s. It also removes any fortification effects of the GRD, in order to absorb 10% of the fellowship's damage for each stack (of fortification effects) removed
• Shield-swipe - Added function: restores 2.5% of max morale on critical hit
• Guardian's Pledge - This skill now has a 3m cd (was 5m)
• Ignore the Pain - This skill removes 1 disease, wound, fear, poison effect and has now a default cd of 5s (was 5m).
• Engage - This skill has now a 30s cd (was 1m) and is now a force taunt skill that is active for 10s, it also slows the targets' movement speed by 25% for 10s
• Fray the Edge - This is now a force Taunt skill that is active for 10s
• Challenge - The force taunt component has a duration of 10s, no longer snares the target if targets' attention isn't kept to the GRD, but it does provide an additional function: using Challenge has a chance to debuff the targets melee offence, once this debuff applies it takes 1m 30s for it has a chance to appear again.
• Force Opening - This skill now has a 10s cd (was 21s untraited, 15s traited)
• Take to Heart - No longer restores power. This skill is now a toggle skill (like the Captains' Revealing/Noble Mark used to work) which adds 5% miss chance to the target. When this mark is active on the target the GRD will do burst damage to the target which also restores morale
• Charge - This skill now has a 1m 30s cd (was 2m)

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[Smartbean]

The Defender of the Free

General Notes of Importance

When you chose to specialize in this tree you should know that you have no possibility (at all) to access the skills: Overwhelm, Force Opening, Take to Heart, Protection and Protection by the Sword.

Also, due to the limit of 60-65 trait points available in combination with the off-spec penalty it's unlikely (but possible) that you will have access to Thrust and War Chant.

Access to Brutal Assault, To the King, Thrill of Danger, Redirect, Hammer Down and Cataclysmic Shout is currently not possible as they are too far down the other trees to reach with the points available. If you were to get those skills, then you might want to consider specializing in The Keen Blade or Fighter of Shadow tree rather than The Defender of the Free.



(Passive) Set Bonuses

Tier 1 - Guardian's Defense (unlocked after spending 5 Ranks in the trait trees) - This passive buff applies the same buffs that the toggle skill Guardian's Defense used to give. Though, the +5% Block Chance is excluded from this passive buff.

Tier 2 - Adaptability (unlocked after spending 10 Ranks in the trait trees) - This passive buff will increase the GRD's block and parry ratings with every hit they receive. This effect can stack up to 3 times and will last up to 10s and will expire after or it expires when the GRD uses a block or parry response skill.

Tier 3 - Shield-wall (unlocked after spending 15 Ranks in the trait trees) - This will grant you the Shield-wall skill.

Tier 4 - Challenge the Darkness (unlocked after spending 20 Ranks in the trait trees) - This passive buff will add 5 additional targets to the already available Challenge skill and when Challenge is used it allows the buff effects of the Guardian's Ward skill to apply to the GRD.

Tier 5 - Strengthen the Bulwark (unlocked after spending 25 Ranks in the trait trees) - This passive buff allows fortification buffs to provide increased damage mitigation per stack and critical hits with shield skills automatically apply a stack of fortification.

Tier 6 - Bolstering Blocks (unlocked after spending 30 Ranks in the trait trees) - You will restore a small amount of morale when you block an attack.

Tier 7 - Shield the People (unlocked after spending 35 Ranks in the trait trees) - This passive buff increases the chance of shield skills providing a fortification buff. When you have stacked 5 fortification buffs onto a target the GRD provides a fellowship wide mitigation buff.



Trait Nodes

Tier 1 - You always have access to this tier.

• Relentless Assault - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank provides an increase to the chance that Sting can trigger a block and parry response. The chance increase goes up to +25%.
• Tireless Defender - This trait has 3 Ranks and each rank provides a reduction of skill power cost for all skills as long as the Guardian's Ward buff is active. The reduction of skill power cost can be reduced up to 30%.
• Block increase - This trait has 5 Rank and each rank provides an increase to you block chance. The increase goes up to 5%.

Tier 2 - You need to have spend 5 Ranks within The Defender of the Free tree to unlock access to this tier.

• Guardian's Pledge - This trait has 1 Rank and unlocks the Guardian's Pledge skill.
• Guardian's Ward: Tactics - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank increases you tactical mitigation rating. The tactical mitigation rating can be increased with max 1531.

Tier 3 - You need to have spend 10 Ranks within The Defender of the Free tree to unlock access to this tier.

• Shield-smash - This trait has 1 Rank and unlocks the Shield-smash skill.
• Reversal - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank reduces the cd of Turn the Tables and increases the duration you will be immune to combat states after using Turn the Tables. The cd can be reduced up to 30s and the combat state immunity duration can be increased up to 16s
• Bellow - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank increases the range of Challenge and Fray the Edge skills. The range of Challenge and Fray the Edge can be increased up to 25 meters.

Tier 4 - You need to have spend 15 Ranks within The Defender of the Free tree to unlock access to this tier.

• Follow Through - This trait has 3 Ranks and each rank increases the amount of targets Shield-smash would hit. The amount of targets Shield-smash can hit can be increased to 4 targets. Note: You can only rank this trait up if you unlocked Shield-smash in the previous tier.
• Smashing Stab - This trait has 1 rank and unlocks the Smashing Stab skill.

Tier 5 - You need to have spend 20 Ranks within The Defender of the Free tree to unlock access to this tier.

• Improved Shield Spikes - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank increases the crit chance of Shield Spikes and increases the duration of Shield Spikes. The crit chance can be increased up to 5% and the duration of the Shield Spikes can be increased up to 600s (that's 10m btw).
• Disorientation - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank increases the chance of the GRD's shield skills being able to debuff the target so they can't b/p/e any incoming attacks. The chance to debuff the target can be increased up to 100%.

Tier 6 - You need to have spend 25 Ranks within The Defender of the Free tree to unlock access to this tier.

• Warrior's Fortitude - This trait has 1 Rank and it allows the Warrior's Heart skill to provide additional Physical Mitigation, Incoming Healing Rating, Block and Partial Block Chance.
• Stoic - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank increases the chance of Warrior's Heart providing a damage bubble on use. The chance to add to the bubble to Warrior's Heart can increase up to 100%.

Tier 7 - You need to have spend 30 Ranks within The Defender of the Free tree to unlock access to this tier.

• Juggernaut - This trait has 1 Rank and unlocks the Juggernaut skill.

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[Smartbean]

The Keen Blade

General Notes of Importance

When you chose to specialize in this tree you should know that you have no possibility (at all) to access the skills: Take to Heart, Shield-taunt, Litany of Defiance, Shield-wall and Protection.

Also, due to the limit of 60-65 trait points available in combination with the off-spec penalty it's unlikely (but possible) that you will have access to Guardian's Pledge and War Chant.

Access to Shield-smash, Smashing Stab, Thrill of Danger, Redirect, Juggernaut and Cataclysmic Shout is currently not possible as they are too far down the other trees to reach with the points available. If you were to get those skills, then you might want to consider specializing in The Defender of the Free or Fighter of Shadow tree rather than The Keen Blade.



(Passive) Set Bonuses

Tier 1 - Overpower (unlocked after spending 5 Ranks in the trait trees) - This passive buff applies the same buffs that the toggle skill Overpower used to give. Though, the +5% Parry Chance is excluded from this passive buff.

Tier 2 - Reactive Parry (unlocked after spending 10 Ranks in the trait trees) - This passive buff will apply a small amount of damage to the target whenever the GRD Parries an attack.

Tier 3 - Protection by the Sword (unlocked after spending 15 Ranks in the trait trees) - This will grant you the Protection by the Sword skill.

Tier 4 - Bleed Them Dry (unlocked after spending 20 Ranks in the trait trees) - This passive buff allows to stack up to 10 bleeds (applied by a GRD) on a target.

Tier 5 - Brutal Charge (unlocked after spending 25 Ranks in the trait trees) - This passive buff will alter the way the Charge skill works. Where the Charge skill adds +50% Run Speed for 7s, this passive buff changes Charge to Brutal Charge and adds 5s to the duration) and provides a +10% Melee Damage buff for 17s and will stun/knock down the first target the GRD will hit.

Tier 6 - Heavy Blows (unlocked after spending 30 Ranks in the trait trees) - This passive buff will grant an additional (passive) +10% Melee Damage and +10% Critical Multiplier buff to the GRD and when the GRD lands a critical hit, an additional bleed will be added to the target.

Tier 7 - Prey on the Weak (unlocked after spending 35 Ranks in the trait trees) - This passive buff allows the GRD to deal more damage to the target. This is not a percentage or rating increase, but it depends on how much bleeds are active on the target. The more bleeds (applied by a GRD) are on the target, the more damage the GRD does. In addition the GRD will have a chance to restore some morale, depending on how much bleeds are stacked on the target. Again, the more bleeds that are active on the target, the greater the chance of restoring morale.



Trait Nodes

Tier 1 - You always have access to this tier.

• Thrill of Battle - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank increases a percentage of max morale to be restored after a critical hit with an AoE block and/or parry response skill. The percentage of max morale restored can be increased to a max of 2.5%.
• Parry Increase - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank increases the GRD's parry chance. The parry chance can be increased to max 5%.
• Heavy Weapons Training - This trait has 5 Rank and each rank provides an increase to the damage of (all) your skills. This skill damage can be increased up to 10%.

Tier 2 - You need to have spend 5 Ranks within The Keen Blade tree to unlock access to this tier.

• Broad Strokes - This trait has 2 Ranks and each rank increases the max targets that can be hit with Sweeping Cut and increases the chance of applying a bleed when Sweeping Cut is used. The max targets for Sweeping Cut can be increased up to 2 and the chance of applying a bleed with Sweeping Cut can be increased up to 100%.
• Thrust - This trait has 1 Rank and unlocks the Thrust skill.

Tier 3 - You need to have spend 10 Ranks within The Keen Blade tree to unlock access to this tier.

• Brutal Assault - This trait has 1 Rank and unlocks the Brutal Assault skill.
• Tireless Blows - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank increases the chance that the use of parry response skills can reset the cd of Brutal Assault. The chance increase can be increased up to 50%. To rank up this trait it is required that you have the Brutal Assault trait ranked up.
• Invigourating Parry - This trait has 4 Ranks and each rank increases the percentage of power restored after landing a critical hit with a parry response skill. The percentage of power restored can be increased up to 4%.

Tier 4 - You need to have spend 15 Ranks within The Keen Blade tree to unlock access to this tier.

• Raw Power - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank increases the damage dealt with Overwhelm whilst removing whilst decreasing the chance of the bleeds being removed from the target (see skill change of Overwhelm if it's unclear what it means). The damage dealt with Overwhelm when removing the bleeds can be increased up to 10% and the chance of the bleeds actually being removed can be decreased up to 25%.
• To The King - This trait has 1 rank and unlocks the To The King skill.

Tier 5 - You need to have spend 20 Ranks within The Keen Blade tree to unlock access to this tier.

• Haemorrhage - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank increases the chance of Brutal Assault applying a stackable bleed and simultaneously increases the bleed damage (in general). The chance of Brutal Assault providing a stackable bleed can be increased up to 50% whilst the bleed damage can be increased up to 10%. To rank up this trait it is required that you have the Brutal Assault trait ranked up.
• To The Rescue - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank increases the run speed and duration of (Brutal) Charge. The run speed can be increased up to 10% and the duration can be increased up to 5s.

Tier 6 - You need to have spend 25 Ranks within The Keen Blade tree to unlock access to this tier.

• Warrior's Fortitude - This trait has 1 Rank and it allows the Warrior's Heart skill to provide additional Physical Mastery Rating, Melee Crit Chance, Parry and Partial Parry Chance.
• Blind Rage - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank increases the chance of To The King providing a +10% Melee Damage and a -20% Attack Speed buff for 15s. The chance of To The King providing these buff can be increased up to 100%. To rank up this trait it is required that you have the To The King trait ranked up.

Tier 7 - You need to have spend 30 Ranks within The Keen Blade tree to unlock access to this tier.

• Hammer Down - This trait has 1 Rank and unlocks the Hammer Down skill.

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[Smartbean]

The Fighter of Shadow

General Notes of Importance

When you chose to specialize in this tree you should know that you have no possibility (at all) to access the skills: Overwhelm, Shield-taunt, Litany of Defiance, Shield-wall and Protection by the Sword.

Also, due to the limit of 60-65 trait points available in combination with the off-spec penalty it's unlikely (but possible) that you will have access to Guardian's Pledge and Thrust.

Access to Shield-smash, Smashing Stab, Brutal Assault, To The King, Juggernaut and Hammer Down is currently not possible as they are too far down the other trees to reach with the points available. If you were to get those skills, then you might want to consider specializing in The Defender of the Free or The Keen Blade tree rather than The Fighter of Shadow.



(Passive) Set Bonuses

Tier 1 - Light-touched (unlocked after spending 5 Ranks in the trait trees) - This passive buff will provide a (passive) +5% Melee Damage and a +5% Incoming Healing Modifier buff and allows the GRD to block whilst wielding a 2 handed weapon.

Tier 2 - Disabling Strikes (unlocked after spending 10 Ranks in the trait trees) - This passive buff will increase the potency of all non-damaging debuffs by 50%. Run speed debuffs will provide an additional -2.5% Run Speed on the target. Attack speed debuffs will provide an additional +7.5% Attack Speed on the target. Outgoing damage debuffs will provide an additional -2.5% Outgoing Damage on the target. Miss chance debuffs will provide an additional +2.5% Miss Chance on the target.

Tier 3 - Protection (unlocked after spending 15 Ranks in the trait trees) - This will grant you the Protection skill.

Tier 4 - Flash of Light (unlocked after spending 20 Ranks in the trait trees) - This passive buff will allow Light Damage to be dealt to nearby targets of the target that is marked by the GRD.

Tier 5 - Mark of Permanence (unlocked after spending 25 Ranks in the trait trees) - This passive buff will make all non-damaging debuffs on the target (which is marked by the GRD) last permanently (in other words, those debuffs won't expire).

Tier 6 - Manifested Ire (unlocked after spending 30 Ranks in the trait trees) - This passive buff will snare targets that don't continue to attack the GRD once they attacked the GRD with a damaging attack (this is what Guardian's Defense stance used to do).

Tier 7 - Incapacitation (unlocked after spending 35 Ranks in the trait trees) - This passive buff will increase the potency of all non-damaging debuffs by 100%. Run speed debuffs will provide an additional -5% Run Speed on the target. Attack speed debuffs will provide an additional +15% Attack Speed on the target. Outgoing damage debuffs will provide an additional -5% Outgoing Damage on the target. Miss chance debuffs will provide an additional +5% Miss Chance on the target.



Trait Nodes

Tier 1 - You always have access to this tier.

• Insult to Injury - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank increases the chance for (all) damaging attacks to renew the debuffs on the target. The chance for damaging attacks to renew debuffs on the target can be increased up to 50%.
• Radiate - This trait has 1 Rank and allows marks, non-damaging debuffs and bleeds on a target to copy over to nearby targets when the GRD uses a damaging AoE skill.
• Incoming Healing Increase - This trait has 5 Rank and each rank increases the Incoming Healing Modifier. The Incoming Healing Modifier can be increased up to 5%.

Tier 2 - You need to have spend 5 Ranks within The Fighter of Shadow tree to unlock access to this tier.

• War-chant - This trait has 1 Rank and unlocks the War-chant skill.
• Numbed Senses - This trait has 3 Ranks and each rank increases the number of additional debuffs cured by Ignore the Pain. The number of additional debuffs cured can be increased up to 3.

Tier 3 - You need to have spend 10 Ranks within The Fighter of Shadow tree to unlock access to this tier.

• Bolster - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank increases the amount of Critical Defense Rating that will buff the GRD whenever the GRD blocks an attack. This buff will be active for as long as you are in combat and can stack up to 5 times, but will be deactivated by the use of Sting. Using Sting whilst having a stacked up 5 of these Critical Defence buffs allows Sting to stun the target for a short time.
• Thrill of Danger - This trait has 1 Rank and unlocks the Thrill of Danger skill.
• Tenderize - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank increases the amount of Critical Defense Rating that will buff the GRD whenever the GRD parries an attack. This buff will be active for as long as you are in combat and can stack up to 5 times, but will be deactivated by the use of Sting. Using Sting whilst having a stacked up 5 of these Critical Defence buffs allows Sting to apply a bleed on the target.

Tier 4 - You need to have spend 15 Ranks within The Fighter of Shadow tree to unlock access to this tier.

• Demoralizing Anthem - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank increases the range and number of targets affected by War-chant. The range of War-chant can be increased up to 1000% (not sure this is WAI) and the number of targets affected can be increased up to 5. To rank up this trait it is required that you have the War-chant trait ranked up.
• Redirect - This trait has 1 rank and unlocks the Redirect skill.

Tier 5 - You need to have spend 20 Ranks within The Fighter of Shadow tree to unlock access to this tier.

• Strong Bursts - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank increases the damage output of damaging AoE skills. The damage output can be increased up to 10%.
• Bring on The Pain - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank increases the percentage of max morale restored (each time the GRD is hit) for 10s on use of Thrill of Danger. The percentage of max morale restored can increase up to 2.5%. To rank up this trait it is required that you have the Thrill of Danger trait ranked up.

Tier 6 - You need to have spend 25 Ranks within The Fighter of Shadow tree to unlock access to this tier.

• Warrior's Fortitude - This trait has 1 Rank and it allows the Warrior's Heart skill to provide additional Physical Mastery Rating, Incoming Healing Rating, Evade and Partial Evade Chance.
• Vicious Rebuttal - This trait has 5 Ranks and each rank increases the amount of damage absorbed and reflected by Redirect and also increases the duration of Redirect. The amount of damage absorbed and reflected can be increased up to 25% (that adds up to 35% with the default 10% of Redirect). To rank up this trait it is required that you have the Redirect trait ranked up.

Tier 7 - You need to have spend 30 Ranks within The Fighter of Shadow tree to unlock access to this tier.

• Cataclysmic Shout - This trait has 1 Rank and unlocks the Cataclysmic Shout skill.

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[Smartbean]

Legacy changes and Legacy Lists
(provided by Schinderhannes)

Guardian Update for Built 5:

Replaced Legacies
Guardian's Threat Parry and Block Rating -> +1-15% Catch a Breath Power Healing
Threat Generation Up Rating -> +1-10% Guardian's Pledge Magnitude
Reactive Block Damage -> +1-5 War Chant Duration
Power Restore on Reactions -> +1-5 Force Taunt Duration


Main-hand

Major:
Bash Damage
Brutal Assault Damage
Guardian Area Effect Melee Targets
Guardian's Pledge Cooldown
Guardian's Ward Duration
Overwhelm Critical Rating
Overwhelm Damage
Sweeping Cut Damage
Vexing Blow Damage
Whirling Retaliation Damage

Minor:
Charge Duration
Guardian Bleed Damage
Guardian Bleed Pulses
Stamp Cooldown
Targeted Melee Skills Range
To the King Damage
Turn the Tables Cooldown
Warrior's Heart/Fortitude Duration (reduced to max. +10s)


Belt

Major:
Catch a Breath Cooldown
Catch a Breath Morale Heal
Challenge Targets
Cry Resist Chance
Guardian's Ward Block Rating
Guardian's Ward Damage
Guardian's Ward Parry Rating
Shield Damage
Sting Damage
+1-10% Guardian's Pledge Magnitude [NEW!]
+1-15% Catch a Breath Power Healing [NEW!]

Minor:
Increased Block, Parry and Evade from Protection
+1-5 War Chant Duration [NEW!]
+1-5 Force Taunt Duration [NEW!]
Shield Smash Damage
Shield Wall Range
Stagger Critical Rating
Stagger Effect Duration
Stagger Positional Damage
Warrior's Heart Morale Heal (not working)


[Sources: lotro-wiki & beta round 5]

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[Schinderhannes]

Eine überarbeitete Übersetzung von Smartbeans Zusammenfassung der Wächteränderungen gibt es nun hier!
(german Version has been moved!)

[Jeffor]

Excellent guides. Thanks for taking the time to amass this info. Props to Schinderhannes for translating as well. Sehr gut!

For all the changes I think guards got pretty good treatment. A bit strange at first but once I got going I actually forget about the trait trees lurking in the background. Overall there's a lot of good in these changes. Keen blade is pretty cool. We have new toys to play with in the Moors for sure. Tanking is different, yet the same. It's weird not having specific threat skills but they are fairly nicely folded into existing skills. Some skills are gone yet others have been increased in potency so, overall, I think it balanced fairly well in the end. I would like to have more time with Epic Battles though. That's the one area where I wished I would have got to spend more time.

[oaceen]

Excellent guides. Thanks for taking the time to amass this info. Props to Schinderhannes for translating as well. Sehr gut!

For all the changes I think guards got pretty good treatment. A bit strange at first but once I got going I actually forget about the trait trees lurking in the background. Overall there's a lot of good in these changes. Keen blade is pretty cool. We have new toys to play with in the Moors for sure. Tanking is different, yet the same. It's weird not having specific threat skills but they are fairly nicely folded into existing skills. Some skills are gone yet others have been increased in potency so, overall, I think it balanced fairly well in the end. I would like to have more time with Epic Battles though. That's the one area where I wished I would have got to spend more time.

yes, thanks guys for writing this up and for the translations.


as for the changes, i agree that they took me a while to get acclimated to the changes, but i'm completely in love with yellow-line tanking now that i've gotten to know it.

all of the keen blade changes are excellent.

blue seems very overpowered at the moment lol.


other than the concerns of a possible incoming nerf, i don't see what guards will have to complain about these changes (other than the typical 'omg trait trees boo', etc.)

[RGilthanas]

It looks like the pendulum may have swung way too far the OP direction again.

I guess it remains to be seen how it plays on live and whether they will be one man wrecking crews in pvp.

[Darkheart06]

I was very concerned with LoTRO going trait trees but I have to say the new Guardian looks really interesting. Fighter of Shadow sounds really fun and it looks like OP finally got survivability back.

[ChromiteSwiftpaw]

I was very concerned with LoTRO going trait trees but I have to say the new Guardian looks really interesting. Fighter of Shadow sounds really fun and it looks like OP finally got survivability back.

I would really recommend that you not get used to anything with any of the class changes. I have a feeling things will be changed post launch fairly quickly. We'll see how things are in beta round 6.

[Darkheart06]

I would really recommend that you not get used to anything with any of the class changes. I have a feeling things will be changed post launch fairly quickly. We'll see how things are in beta round 6.

I was speaking more from a mechanics perspective. I like Keen Blade's focus on bleeds and sustained damage, with being able to "cash out" for burst and Shadow Fighter debuff/buff mechanics. I hope those don't change too much.

[zagreb000]

Yellow line screams QQ from creeps... But we should wait for live....

The only problem for me will be choosing a spec for pvp... Reading this i like them all....

[Bubmo]

Thanks for making this! I'm looking forward to tinkering with this stuff to find my builds.

But I hope I'm missing something. I don't see any way to increase threat at all except for DPS and temporary force taunts. (no skills, passive set bonuses, trait nodes, or LI legacies)

Does this mean that a DPS traited Guardian will generate more threat than one that is traited to tank?

[Lifthil]

I have to admit that I was initially frightened by the "threat changes," but now I think I'm excited to play my main Guardian. The only problem I have now is which two trees to pick...hmmm...

It looks like all Guardian builds will need a decent amount of crit, seeing all the "does x on a critical hit" on skills, especially the self-heals. I hope we get gear with more crit and/or Fate, as it's not a stat traditionally part of tank builds. Also, I hope non-FoS builds are pretty power-efficient if we're all but losing Thrill of Danger...or else the Tireless Defender/Guardian's Ward combo will become very important (note its accessibility). I have to say I've only noticed power problems in dungeons with power-draining diseases (e.g. GB--don't recall which one), but power restoration is still quite nice to have.

One thing I don't like about the current system is switching off between sword-and-board and a two-handed weapon. It's difficult to maintain two completely different LI's (or pairs of LI's, if you count the belt) for two completely separate purposes (tanking and DPS/leveling). If the Fighter of Shadow makes it possible to tank with a two-handed weapon, will shields be cast aside in favor of great swords and great axes? Or will the FoS line be restricted to off-tanking and DotF be the only true main tanking line? Players wiser than I should answer these questions.

[oaceen]

I have to admit that I was initially frightened by the "threat changes," but now I think I'm excited to play my main Guardian. The only problem I have now is which two trees to pick...hmmm...

It looks like all Guardian builds will need a decent amount of crit, seeing all the "does x on a critical hit" on skills, especially the self-heals. I hope we get gear with more crit and/or Fate, as it's not a stat traditionally part of tank builds. Also, I hope non-FoS builds are pretty power-efficient if we're all but losing Thrill of Danger...or else the Tireless Defender/Guardian's Ward combo will become very important (note its accessibility). I have to say I've only noticed power problems in dungeons with power-draining diseases (e.g. GB--don't recall which one), but power restoration is still quite nice to have.

catch a breath now restores power after a parry and morale after a block as a baseline function of the skill. there is also a new legacy that increases the power heal (in addition to the current cooldown reduction and morale heal boost legacies)

yes, crit will be important for everything. in yellow, at least, you'll get a stacking crit buff whenever you parry and in blue line, there's a +5% crit boost from shield spikes (that also increases the duration by 10m)

One thing I don't like about the current system is switching off between sword-and-board and a two-handed weapon. It's difficult to maintain two completely different LI's (or pairs of LI's, if you count the belt) for two completely separate purposes (tanking and DPS/leveling). If the Fighter of Shadow makes it possible to tank with a two-handed weapon, will shields be cast aside in favor of great swords and great axes? Or will the FoS line be restricted to off-tanking and DotF be the only true main tanking line? Players wiser than I should answer these questions.

you can still tank with a shield in yellow line. the difference is of course the stats of the shield versus the damage and threat of a 2h as well as having access to the shield skills: shield-blow, shield-swipe, and bash. shield-taunt is blue line only, and it is possible to pick up shield-smash, but probably not worth it for yellow line as it requires a lot of offspec point investment.

[Schinderhannes]

I was speaking more from a mechanics perspective. I like Keen Blade's focus on bleeds and sustained damage, with being able to "cash out" for burst and Shadow Fighter debuff/buff mechanics. I hope those don't change too much.

I doubt that these things get changed till launch. As far as I know there aren't big changes to expect for the next build. But there are some things planned after the expansion. Like new legacies.

[Stubbins]

Of all the class changes in the new expansion, it seems like the Guardian is the only one where people are happy with it. I think it will be my new character! I wonder if I can get to lvl cap by release date...

[Arathaert]

I must say I am a bit confused here... I do like a lot of the changes, but how exactly do we tank again?

If threat is all dps-generated now, how do we hold aggro after our taunts expire? And what about multiple targets? Seems like challenge is the only thing for that...

Maybe I'm missing something.

[LeRaginAsian]

This will be the Golden Age for the guardian, folks. Enjoy it while it lasts.

[Nilsric]

I must say I am a bit confused here... I do like a lot of the changes, but how exactly do we tank again?

If threat is all dps-generated now, how do we hold aggro after our taunts expire? And what about multiple targets? Seems like challenge is the only thing for that...

Maybe I'm missing something.

My question would be - is there anything to tank anyhow? big battles do not seem to require any tanking so it's just old instances or am I missing something?

[furtim]

I must say I am a bit confused here... I do like a lot of the changes, but how exactly do we tank again?

If threat is all dps-generated now, how do we hold aggro after our taunts expire? And what about multiple targets? Seems like challenge is the only thing for that...

Maybe I'm missing something.

By choosing a tank spec, your threat from damage is multiplied by 300%. So as long as you can keep your damage output within 1/3 of the DPS, you should hold aggro purely through damage.

In case you lose aggro, you can use Forced Attack skills (I think Guards have 3, but I don't recall exactly) to execute a threat catch-up that matches the highest aggro on the target's list and then gives you an extra 20% threat on top of it. I believe Engage does something similar on Live, except that the new skills have an additional buffer added on top.

[Darkheart06]

Have negative penalties for Overpower been removed when its merged as a passive into Keen Blade?

[Schinderhannes]

I must say I am a bit confused here... I do like a lot of the changes, but how exactly do we tank again?

If threat is all dps-generated now, how do we hold aggro after our taunts expire? And what about multiple targets? Seems like challenge is the only thing for that...

Maybe I'm missing something.

In Blue and Yellow spec you will generate +300% Aggro, so you basically tank with all skills that deal damage. In addition to that, some of your force taunts will have an new mechanic that adds additional aggro, depending on the total aggro of the fellowship. It's called "threat catch up".