Core Hammer Guardian: Do 30k DPS with JUST your auto attack! | Guild Wars 2

[@emidotexe]

Had a lot of comments on the Reddit thread here, so I wanted to answer some frequently asked questions if you're curious about the discussion! Reddit thread: www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/1ddi7zn/core_hammer_guardian_a_low_intensity_build_that/ *Budget options for runes if DH runes are expensive?* Did some very basic golem room testing, so take with a grain of salt! - Ogre (2g each, ~29.5k golem DPS), is power-favored and last stat is vitality instead of ferocity - Deadeye (2g each, ~29k golem DPS), shares all of the same stats except the 6th bonus, which is precision instead of ferocity - Eagle (10s each, ~28.5k golem DPS), honestly this is the one I'd probably recommend the most since it's the cheapest and you can make use of both precision and ferocity (assuming you don't have 100% resolution uptime in fights/open world, the crit chance from precision isnt completely wasted) *Can you solo open world Champions with this?* I just tried it out in open world with the champion mushroom in Auric Basin, and yep I was able to do it without much trouble! Only thing to keep in mind is that you are fully melee, so you can't really kite anything. I was using Stand Your Ground and Save Yourselves stability/stunbreaks (so not just full unga bunga). Then whenever I got low, used Litany of Wrath to full heal back up. Also was running Honor variant, I mentioned it super briefly in the video but it gives you a lot of extra dodges! *Is there a Dragonhunter version with traps?* Here it is, given to me by a friend! gw2skills.net/editor/?PWQAIlVwyYYsJGJO0TvtVA-D2QYhogebcHCKuxISCUpAk+DIIhRvGKMDAA-w Main things to note: It takes a few Assassins pieces + Accuracy sigil to crit cap without the Radiance traitline, and at least this build doesn't seem to run traps? Maybe someone can play around with it and see what the differences are between running them/not running them.

[@Demogarose]

Accessibility Wars (a build site focused on Low Intensity builds) has a DH version of this up that uses Test of Faith + Smite Condition "Symbolic Avenger" is the name of the build there

[@mattumattu81]

Thanks so much for the reply, sorry I didn't know

[@needingmorepatience]

Literally years spent trying to find a guardian I didn't have to play piano keys to keep alive. Thank you for sharing this, I can finally have my pretty blue sparkly guardian! I really hope Anet doesn't nerf this T.T

[@wuzzle5261]

The best player in our static ran this build a few months ago and was alternating between anger and laughter because of how easy and consistent it is. I honestly thought they nerfed it cause I never saw anyone else running it. I hope they don't nerf it, it's the results of a lot of cool synergies playing well together, and that's always neat.

[@luca7675]

I mean in the end its still just 30k dps. There is really no reason to nerf sth like this.

[@procerator]

@@luca7675 call it a skill issue but I`ve never seen anyone benching higher then 30k in a real world strikes.

[@luca7675]

@@procerator thats because most fights arnt benchable because of forced dps downtimes. But it still matters because builds with higher benchmarks have much higher burst dps. With a 30k auto attack build you are not going to outdps any competent dps because they are going to do 30k+ dps per burst window. Sometimes even 40k+.

[@luca7675]

@@procerator also this build will never bench 30k on any strike.

[@procerator]

@@luca7675 just tried it. A scuffed exotic half-berserker/half-assassin Dragonhunter version. 25k bench. Did all the IBS strikes. In one of the strikes I was #3 DPS - which means I outDPSed 3 other DPS players. This build also pumps out respectable healing and has a decent cleave for something like Dragonstorm.

[@chaoticneutral1090]

Wait why do I try to play weaver if I can just do this..

[@chester1882]

Ele mains need to get an agent on the inside of Anet

[@bosqueperenne]

cuz its fun. weaver is the only reason I play this game

[@ChubbyChonker]

Cuz I like to weave in downed state skills in my rotation too 😂

[@Kage0No0Tenshi]

@@chester1882 weaver is fun, playing piano is fun too, I love ele and my main, does higher damage than many class out there but its nerfed so deamn hard in past Poweroverwhalming got nerfed how much power ele gets and Swift revange got nerf too and Elements of rage got condi damage but nerfed as power so I went for hybrid at nerf patch back then and then snowcrows steal my idea xD then ele hybrid went for meta, I still play hybrid and its so deamn easy to top dps if you do not use snowcrows builds when they are outdated and lacking of dps. using relic of the aristocaracy for my hybrid but relic of weaver can be used if primodalial stance is equiped. just started to work around if there is any posobility to make the class even more fun ;D

[@PipGW2]

Hello, I too am a big enjoyer of this build too! Important to note is that Honor is actually the strongest traitline, since the majority of your damage comes from symbol of protection the increased duration is worth more than radiance or virtues. This means as a 3rd option for core its then best to take the virtues line and press f1-3 for the free damage. Since you dont have radiance you then need mostly assassins with accuracy, which is actually identical to the full raid build on Snow Crows in terms of gear aside from weapons. You can even swap radiance to dragonhunter and take X22 giving you access to DH skills and virtues which can be useful for blocks/pulls/movement/CC. (btw im 100% down to join for anything you plan for this class)

[@emidotexe]

omg hi pip big fan I actually didn't know that about Honor! I knew the two second increase to the symbol was massive, but I didn't have enough numbers to say exactly how much it contributed. I had someone mention they played virtues on core guard (though they were playing a non-hammer variant) so when I was playing around with the numbers and traits, they seemed roughly the same and I didn't think about it more, lol. I'll add this note to my FAQ later. A bunch of people did ask about a DH variant so I have a version for that in the FAQ already. I got it from a friend and I took that at face value though, so I'll have to double check if it matches what's on Snowcrows! Lastly, apparently Noro's group is getting tempted to try 10 guard or majority guard ToF CM 👀 They plan to play on NA during SEA hours though, so I'm not even sure if I can join, I unfortunately have to wake up for work by 8 AM on weekdays ;~;

[@MR_Guamo]

This build inspired me and I'm crazy enough that I played a few personal story chapters using this build and a Xbox controller

[@munduschungus]

Just tried the game out, thanks for the fun build guide. This will save me a ton of time getting used to the mechanics.

[@gailbrookhart1777]

First time discovering one of your videos. I really like your manner and how you presented the material on screen. I've already subscribed and now I need to see what you've already shared that I have missed. And, obviously, to trot out a guardian for some hammer time.

[@emidotexe]

Thank you!! My video editing skills are very basic, so no fancy transitions or layering, but I try to make sure all the important info is clearly laid out :D

[@VirtuesOfSin]

I remember from Ye'olden days, you could run Virtue 1/3/2, Honor 3/3/2, and Zeal 2/2/3. With the increased Symbol duration from Honor, you're able to squeeze in a Glacial Blow between auto attack chains to perform a leap finisher and heal allies whenever it's off cooldown. You'd also have Symbol of Courage and Virtue of Resolve to pulse out passive healing. I hadn't played it in a long time, but I remember using this to run through my first time on Guardian. lol

[@michaelburke4048]

Muk sent me here. I subscribed. :)

[@dergderg1471]

if it makes you feel any better, people have posted 30k dps auto attack guardian builds MONTHS ago and anet loves guardians so it probably wont get nerfed, especially since spear is also getting another new symbol

[@lilahtristan2139]

10 core guard ToF CM when?

[@cjttruelife]

emi is too good - 👍 1 thing i like about hammer is the trait n the healing , melee 4 the win.

[@VamanaGW2]

Dragonhunter variant does similar damage and brings enough utility that I would genuinely not be mad to have it on melee high level fights like 97/96 CM and like Gorseval.

[@emidotexe]

Yes! I had a friend send me the build for it, and I included it in the FAQ. I like the Core memes though, because people join and are like "WTF" when you're pumping dps and keeping up (or even winning...)

[@activegrass9435]

ive been playing from SEA since 2 years ago and lately the ping is unbearable for me. Figured this build might help with the latency issue lol. Thanks for the guide!

[@TheEightDomain]

if u play in NA server the ping is high, in EU u get around 140-180 only

[@activegrass9435]

@@TheEightDomain i did play on EU and the ping can still reach 1k+ nowadays. Apparently theres war happening somewhere in middle east and the underwater cables got damaged because of that (not sure if its legit but thats what people are saying)

[@munduschungus]

@@activegrass9435 Fellow SEA player here, I get consistent 270-300 ping on NA. It's way better than ESO or WoW's ping. Maybe an Ethernet cable can help?

[@marc-antoinefrechettelapla4500]

funny, last weekend I was trying a simple alac willbender build with the goal of being very low apn and I ended up making it hammer auto attack with ~24k dps. These hammer build feels strangely satisfying with all the passive boons they bring! Also, since no weapon swap is needed for these builds, swapping when ranged dps is needed is still better than 0 dps and doesn't have to be high apn to not be horrible ;)

[@dewilton7712]

You can have lb as a secondary weapon just in case you can't melee and I sometimes play it as Dragonhunter. There is a similar P/P Deadeye build with 3 set to auto but it does not have near the same sustain.

[@emidotexe]

YES the unload Deadeye build! A friend has been poking me to make a video on that next. Honestly, I'm sure there's a ton of trolly/memey builds out there, but since making videos is a lot of work, they just fly under the radar :') Maybe it's time to start exposing them all...

[@Joromonni]

Found out this build when electric soldier dropped a video on it a few months back. I use it mostly for LI stuff while on the steam deck.

[@VMSelvaggio]

I built a tankier version of this for a boosted character running the Virtues line and with full boons and food still topped 17k dps. This is busted!

[@SoroBrade]

Nvr expected that my grp’s htcm core guard meme vid would be mentioned in the description of a build vid lmao. And juz saying but we are potentially cooking a febe cm run with it LUL (no promises)

[@emidotexe]

LOL hello! Noro was the one that sent me the build/log and was like Emi pls do something with this and I was like emidotOkay. If you're doing something with Febe and need a body, feel free to poke, I'm happy to fill! Noro heard my ramblings of Condi Druid/Scourge stack for EoS before that was a thing, so he knows how unhinged my theory crafts can be.

[@SoroBrade]

Well if noro invites u into the server, that’s when u know we will rly be going for it 😂 But with such a willing volunteer, how can we not try it now kek

[@hensola]

Is there a noob beginner friendly build that shows how to progress this from level 1? Coming from Diablo 4, all vids talk about elite specialisations, and although i have fast tracked a thief to level 80, I find completing the story difficult when facing level 80 mobs. I really want to get into GW2, but finding it a slog compared with D4.

[@ActuallyNotIlmatar]

This is one of the best builds you can give to someone with severe choice paralysis. This build peaks in situations where your cat barfs on the carpet and you have to run away for a moment. This setup makes for a great background while chatting with friends.

[@Havoqq]

Hi Emi, I love that build! Bought some cheap Exotics off the TP and it's smooth sailing. What I don't get is how your HP is 14,615 on the Golem while mine is 11,645 like it says on the editor site. Where do these 3k HP come from? Edit: nvm, figured it out. I played for so long with only a single toon that I forgot about Jade Core and Reinforce Armor :D

[@evres0224]

Hey Emi what is your opinion? Do you play Virtues or Honors more than the other? I love this build so I'm curious lol.....XD Oh and do you know if this core build got a debuff yet or not??

[@JohnnyTightIips]

I'm currently a hammer core guard and there's like 1 person in every fractal or strike group who says "HaMmEr GuArD?"

[@sty0pa]

Can anyone please post the links to the buiild itself? YT redirects seem to fail on my browser. :|

[@emidotexe]

ah, the gw2 site has historically not had https certificates, and it seems like youtube changed how they did the link redirecting i updated my description with new instructions. it's the same link as before, but you will have to manually remove the "s" from the https redirect instead of copy/pasting what i had. in other words, when you click the link, you need to make sure that the first 5 letters matches exactly what i have in the description

[@sty0pa]

@@emidotexe Fantastic, thank you. It wasn't just your site, btw. I think I managed it by copying the link into Edge? Anyway, I finally found it last night because I wanted to try it right away. Thanks for your hard work!

[@xezzee]

now I want to see Hammer Guardians vs Pistol Deadeyes compete who is better afk dps

[@pooiyx]

What are the benchmarks for no Zeal and no Radiance? I'm assuming they are lower than the ~30k dps for no Honor and no Virtues?

[@emidotexe]

I've actually been talking about this with some friends and the answer is actually a bit complicated: Technically the absolute highest bench is... both Honor and Virtues! But this requires you to run a completely different set of gear/sigils/runes in order to hit crit cap without Radiance (Infiltration Runes, Assassins legs + ring/2 accessory + Accuracy Sigil). If we're talking specifically with the gear set I mentioned in the video (which is the set I'd recommend for people that don't want to invest too much into a meme build), Zeal and Radiance are massive DPS drops, around ~10-15% loss each.

[@pooiyx]

@@emidotexe So, if using the correct gear, no Radiance is higher than 30k dps, while no Zeal is less than 30k dps?

[@chaoticneutral1090]

​@emidotexe infiltration runes are much cheaper than dragonhunter, and assassins isn't that much harder to get, might all in all be even cheaper to play the minmax of this? Especially cause you can use the assa gear for power dragonhunter build

[@dissonance9922]

I know it's been some time, but has anet nerfed this? Since I have everything in this build, but still only reach 26k. Even following the tips from Pip didn't change anything

[@Galenthir]

Ah, yes. I've found the Runescape combat build.

[@DavidLopez-xj6jh]

Hey I saw you on Teapot's expansion stream, and I noticed you live in a high-rise? I've always wondered what it would be like to live all the way up. I live in Chicago btw, not sure where you're at. That is so cool though!

[@emidotexe]

I do! I love the big glass windows and all, and fortunately my job pays well enough that I can afford a nice place... which is especially important to me because I'm a total homebody and stay home 24/7 LOL.

[@DavidLopez-xj6jh]

@@emidotexe I totally get it and when you're that close to the action you're basically in the mix all the time anyway.

[@qui11]

it's not really fun playing solo though, you don't have quickness. and using elite shout is another button to press for 15% quickness uptime max.

[@BBRandom]

Just tried to recreate this build and I think it might be finally ded. :( I'm only using exotic with Eagle runes but even then I'm only pushing 9k dps

[@ChubbyChonker]

Have you applied 25 vuln stacks to the golem and all boons to self? Am reaching ~28k-29k here

[@BBRandom]

@@ChubbyChonker NVM my wife figured it out, ty o/

[@mathjoker]

You didn't mention that it requires 100% resolution uptime, which is not a given in many groups. There is a massive drop in dps without it. There is a dragonhunter variant which doesn't rely on resolution and does about 30k as well. I prefer it because it also gives permanent cripple and 25% runspeed.

[@emidotexe]

I didn't mention it directly, but I talked in detail about the Resolution traits when discussing the virtues build, and also mentioned the two main skills that I recommend help with resolution uptime. I would also like to point out that in the first 30 seconds in the video, I mentioned that you would only hit 30k DPS in golem situations, which I have always seen as the implication of an entirely stationary target with 100% boon uptime. This is one of many builds in the game, I hope that everyone can try different flavors out and see what they like :)

[@sty0pa]

Link to that build?

[@ProblemSolver101]

Is scholar rune ok with that build?

[@emidotexe]

late response, my bad! scholar rune is fine!

[@Newman11111]

would't hybrid build work with this?

[@emidotexe]

I imagine if you had on Celestial gear, it'd still function fine for Open World, but there's not many trait synergies between Strike Damage and Condition Damage, unfortunately :(

[@TheEightDomain]

you play in EU server??

[@emidotexe]

I play on NA!

[@TheEightDomain]

@@emidotexe Oh, you are Asian right? because Asian get lower Ping on EU server that's why most Asians play there, Had to transfer because i get 230ms on NA while 160 only in EU

[@emidotexe]

@@TheEightDomain I'm based in the US, so NA ping is still fine for me :) Granted, West Coast ping is about 100 ms here, I have friends on the East Coast that only get 30 :')

[@mattumattu81]

I copied your build, but I can't figure out where all those buffs that seem to refresh automatically come from

[@emidotexe]

This is the golem room, which a lot of benchmarkers use to demonstrate the highest potential of DPS because you can configure yourself to have full boons, target with specific hit box size, and target conditions (including 25 stacks of vulnerability). It's usually called "benching" or a "bench". In other words, the boons come from the configuration, and if you play in an organized squad for strike missions, raids, or fractals, your supports will typically cover most boons. In most situations, you won't be able to have perfect boons, so the "benchmark" shows the upper ceiling of what the damage to look like.

[@mattumattu81]

@@emidotexe Thanks so much for the reply, sorry I didn't know

[@emidotexe]

@@mattumattu81 No problem! I wanted to give a detailed answer cause this is definitely knowledge that's more common in specific communities (specifically the DPS parsing communities, such as SC, HS, Wingman, etc.). You're one of today's lucky 10 thousand! xkcd.com/1053

[@TheEightDomain]

Is this nerfed?? I cant hit 32k if I use virtues, 30.8k highest I do

[@emidotexe]

@@TheEightDomain were you running dragon's gear? i mentioned it very very briefly on screen, but technically dragon's gear (i forget the exact pieces but i wrote it on screen during the gear section) is slightly more optimal and i think i was using that for the video (i don't really remember :D) but no, the build wasn't nerfed as far as i know

[@emidotexe]

also, i'm taking a look at this video again since it's been a while, it seems i'm also only averaging about 30-31k? not sure where you get the 32k number from

[@TheEightDomain]

@@emidotexe 2:15 of the vid, milady.

[@emidotexe]

@@TheEightDomain oo, ok i see! you made me curious so i did some basic testing again and here's a log of roughly 31.5k dps, that could probably be higher with better virtues timing. also obligatory i hammered (hah) this out on a 1 mil hp instead of the usual 4 mil hp golem since i didnt want to sit around for that long dps.report/Gzfn-20241010-222105_golem turns out this is indeed with the more min-maxed dragon's version, which i'll copy paste here based on discretize's gear optimizer. for the gear stuff, i usually just set it and forget it, so i wasn't sure off the top of my head when answering your question :D imgur.com/jxugPsV but yea, about 32k roughly speaking with activating virtues \o/ another possibility is that i have on +5 infusions on all of my characters, and that's probably boosting by another 2-3% or so. i don't remember if i mentioned that in the video explicitly

[@TheEightDomain]

@@emidotexe Alright dope, thanks!

[@Skydust-rf1ir]

lol this is the best build ever for guard 🤣 thanks for the guide

[@themeltedchocolate]

Is this still working?

[@AjaniGoldmaneFFXIV]

i know this was 3 months ago BUT YEAAAAAAAAAAAAA LOW INTENSITY!!!!!!

[@R4GEMUFFINS]

On Zeal if your camping Hammer, why take Zelous Blade(Top Bar where its 2-2-3 The middle says 150power while holding a GS. or is it 120 base + additional 120 for GS?

[@emidotexe]

It is base power + additional power with greatsword, yep! It's still super worth it even without running greatsword because the symbol tick damage has a big power coefficient, and symbols account for like, ~70% of your total damage.

[@Tro-zana]

Seems balanced, time to force another melee weapon on ele or nerf staff.

[@emidotexe]

If Ele Spear is melee, I'm gonna be so sad :( My first hardcore DPS build ever was Staff Arcane Ele! And it fit the class fantasy so well ;~;

[@Tro-zana]

Last time I had hopes for a long range weapon for ele was when hammer got announced. There was a slight ray of hope they'd give him long range like revenant hammer. I was a fool.

[@Nilruin]

Elementalist staff hasn't been nerfed since like, 2018. I know it's a meme that Elementalist gets nerfed whenever another class performs well, but you could always pull out an actual example. Like Catalyst post-EoD nerfs. Or the pistol changes in SotO because apparently the weapon was overperforming, even though you never see Elementalist players in end-game PvE content these days for a reason. There's a thousand actual examples of Ele nerfs. Pick one that actually exists. Also, obligatory "melee weapons on elementalist are perfectly fine and most players actually prefer them because the entire game's meta is set around being in proximity to your teammates to receive boons and healing anyway, so playing at range is really a detriment and we should all shut up about range being a factor of a weapon's viability".

[@Tro-zana]

The meme is good enough of an example for players to understand the situation. Staff has likely not been nerfed in PvE as you don't see anything working well with it for instanced content except for every now and then an appearing heal tempest who likes staff enough to take the harder route. I see no need for chosing a more recent example if the same fate ends up in every choice. Somewhat re-saying words of MightyTeapot that Ele being the most balanced and every other profession lifting off with overloaded damage. That would be less of a problem if ele was actually more playable in end-game, yet every new aspect of content gets bosses that are absolute HP sponges making it certainly harder than other professions. I agree that melee weapons will be fine for grouped content where everyone else stays in melee range to collect boons etc.. However, considering how newest cases like Cerus legendaryCM, which gets farmed by mostly virtuoso, due to long range or Eparch in lonely fractal obviously being far less friendly for melee players than ranged players, imo, gives off the opinion that melee boonstacking won't withstand forever. If ele will have to stay in melee for its roles, while threatened to have new content shift into more range, I'm worried if ele will be allowed to participate in upcoming content.

[@traxahn]

Hi, Emi! I'm not sure if this was already answered but what food and oils were you running for this build?

[@emidotexe]

Oh, you're right! I didn't say it explicitly in the video. For the bench I was using Cilantro Sous Vide Steak and Potent Superior Sharpening Stone. They're listed in the build links in the description if you want to see the exact spelling/icons

[@omegaweltall2001]

Here from Muk

[@selcukylmaz7946]

Virtues 1 trait gives 12% damage

[@tomy-artsgames6110]

nerf guardian , u sure bout that ;;DD

[@joshuaherring9674]

HAAAMMMMEEERRR!!! 😂

[@FlexAndBustGaming]

I’m not seeing a number higher than 8/9k, how is arcdps picking that up at 30k damager per second 🤔😂💀

[@emidotexe]

Are you using the standard benchmarking set up with full boons, target with 25 stacks of vuln, food/utility? This is simulating an ideal situation in a raid/strike mission team composition, not solo no-boons.

[@Rengrim]

I've used a very similar build for pvp (staff+scepter+focus), only difference is I use 'right hand strength' and 'wrathful spirit', get top dmg in 8/10 matches... it only works up to mid gold, tho. I never thought about using it for pve, very nice 'meme build', but as said, useful for begginers getting into strike missions who feel pressure at first trying to not mess up.