This build is based on recent gametesting, experience with certain monsters and the usefullness of
some abilities in demanding situations.
I played HG:L during the very first beta and until the servers shutdown.
And during that time, the Gundian was my main class and easily the most fun out of them all,
but very demanding on a very specific item to make it strong.
This build will not go into items at all, because everyone will have different items... it will however suggest some.
So this is the build i've polished
http://blccdy.ekl-systems.de/hellgate/skilltree4/skilltree.html?class=guardian&preset=A04000000045000380100A0050000001&lang=enAnd here are some reasons to the choices of some ablities and why i choose to opt out of others.
First off... you have to understand that the way the Gundian works is that your goal is to kill anything
that moves before it gets too you, and the Gundian does that very very well.
So based on that, we already know that any type of aura that is based on how many monsters
are close to you, is nearly useless, because you want as few monsters around you as possible.
Hence the following "maybe" Auras aren't of any use for MY build by MY logic.
Aura of RenewalAura of SalvationAura of DefenseThose 3 are Auras that could be of great use, on any other build.. just not this one.
Aura of Deflection however is a hidden and very very overlooked gem !.
This aura works at 100% constantly, doens't matter if you have 1 or 10 enemies around you,
and it works very vell by having a 75% chance to destroy any incoming projectile.
This aura increases the survivability of the Gundian BY ALOT..
There has been times where i faced of against 3 Goliath's and very few of their projectiles
actually hit me.
So AoD is a must have on a Gundian imo.
Grand Aura is an option.. but with the few amount of abilities that would actually affect
the effectiveness of the Gundian, this aura helps by simply removing more projectiles if i understand it's
mechanic corrently.
(all auras renews themselves with a check every 3rd second, which means a new check on each projectile will be made)
Spiritual Strength isn't maxed because... most of the gear will require high Accu/Willpower,
strength is used by Thorn Bolters and the armor you are aiming for are high req on Stamina...
That's all about the passive abilities, now over to the fun stuff.
Anchor ... the bread & butter of any Gundian build. Short CD, low cost and 150% more damage.. what's not to like.
Prayer of Healing is a good supportskill but very limited by its 25% healcap, and maxing it
for that 4.3sec CD isn't an option because if you're shocked, that's alot of skillpoints wasted.. i keep it at 3/10 just to gain access to the next.
Prayer of Retribution is one of those abilities i'm not 100% sure on.
Back in retail there was alot of talk about this abilty and its usefullness in mid and endgame
because even when maxed out, it would fail to phase anything but the weakest enemies.
So if this ability isn't really attended to, consider removing points from it if needed,
but try to keep a few atleast.
Great Defender is a strong "ultimate" that puts you in "demi god mode" for 10 seconds,
but learning when to use it is a matter of life OR death lesson. Because it's not an instant activation abiltiy,
it has a cast-timer of around 3-4 seconds and if you pop it while you're getting hammered,
you're most likely going to end up respawning or .... HC-Dead... R.I.P. Don't pop it when you're in deep, pop it before you get in deep...
(It also makes you stationary for the cast-time)
And now we come to the new joy of my Gundian...
Shield of Faith !!.
This ability is another VERY surprising ability and should, if possible, get maxed out
at the cost of any questionable ability.
Shield of Faith has a semi low CD of 40sec when maxed out, and it's duration is 22sec,
this means that if you pop it whenever you can, you'll be running around with literally
more then TWICE as much health as any other class, and the best thing,
it doesn't require a shield !!..
And in mid/endgame when this is combined with a shieldbooster 500+, you're looking at a whooping +2255shield for its duration,
NOT something you look away from.
Now.. that's all about the abilities, now onto the gear and tactics.
1slot: Aim for 7slot Vorpal slashers with pref on-hit mods, but good on-kill mods works as well.
This is basically what the Gundian is all about... press the trigger and don't let go until everything stops moving.
2nd slot: In here i put the heavy artillery. Surgecasters.. preferably strong fire+phase, this makes mincemeat out of most high HP/Shield enemies. Kite and lay down the artillery.
Can with great effectiveness be used in combination with
Anchor to increase their damage by 150%
and nuke Goliats and other monsters you'd prefer to kill at long distance - to smoking smolders.
(maxes out at about 35meters but you can reach 40meters by jump+fire).
3rd Slot: This is the disco-slot of the Gundian, and most likely the most underrated, missunderstood and questioned weapon of all..
The
Nova Gun.. 4-9second chargeup.. then BOOOM.. Prefered a Phase (9sec CD) combined with
a fire or physical (both 4sec CD).
Fire will 90% of the time put Ignite on anything that survives, while Physical will stun anything that didn't die.
My tactic with Nova's is if i see alot of enemies bunched up, i switch to my Nova's
and wait for them to be ready to fire,
then i check so all my other CD's are ready, like Heal, Anchor and PoR. Then i run in close, Anchor>PoR>Phase Nova shortly followed by Fire/Phys nova.
The reason why i use Phase-nova first should be obvious.
This tactic usually means that anything that was in range of the nova's is dead,
anything that doesn't have cracy shield or health.
If i use the Phys nova, anything that survived is now stunned for a few seconds,
then i switch to the Vorpals and clean up the rest.
- - - - - - -
Now the armor...
Because the status-system is kinda screwed up in this game, having resists on armor
is a secondary priority, what you want is +All attribs and health/stamina.
All armors that has +All attribes requires alot of Stamina themselves,
and since we'll be spending alot of points into it to survive,
having enough to be able to wear the gear won't be a problem.
If you can get legendary armorpieces with +all attribs +resists +health - that's a keeper !.
And you should also know that a piece of gear with +6 attribs with resists,
is better then an item with +12 attribs no resists.
It's all a matter of personal choice in the end. But know this, you can have 5000 Phase defense
and Riftcoils will still phase you with ONE hit every time...
endgame resists doesn't matter much, from my retail experience.
A special mention:
Boots should always have movementspeed prioritized !.
Gundians lives by their movementspeed. A slow Gundian is a soon-to-be-dead Gundian.
- - - - - - - - - -
Now, there's my short guide to a strong Gundian - now it's up to the crowd to judge, but this is how i'm playing mine.
