Guides/Starting out
Guardian: heavy armour, thin health, three virtues
Why a guardian has less health than a warrior in the same armour class, how Virtues work, and what Dragonhunter, Firebrand, Willbender and Luminary do to them.
On this page
A guardian wears heavy armour and carries less base health than a warrior. That is deliberate. In place of a health pool it was given regeneration and defensive effects that it hands out to the whole group.
The three virtues
The class mechanic is Virtues. There are three, and each runs in two modes: passively at all times, and actively when you press it.
Virtue of Justice burns your target every few attacks. Pressed, you and your allies apply burning on the next attack.
Virtue of Resolve regenerates your health. Pressed, it heals you and nearby allies.
Virtue of Courage periodically grants Aegis, which blocks one incoming hit. Pressed, it hands Aegis to everyone around you.
The logic is simple: leave them alone and they work for you; press them and the effect goes to the group while your own passive switches off for the cooldown. Playing a guardian is that decision, over and over.
Why a newcomer gets on with it
Aegis covers mistakes. Blocking one hit is exactly what you need while you are still learning a boss.
Regeneration instead of potions. Health comes back on its own, which matters when you play alone.
No demanding rotation. You press buttons at sensible moments rather than memorising a ten-skill order.
There is a cost: the core class is melee. Longbow arrives only with Dragonhunter, which means after 80 and after buying an expansion.
What it brings to a group
The guardian is the most popular support class in the game for one reason: it distributes Aegis, Stability and Quickness better than anything else, and those are what keep a group alive in fractals and strikes.
If you ever want to play in a group and be wanted there, the guardian is the shortest route.
The elite specialisations
All four rebuild Virtues.
Dragonhunter (Heart of Thorns) turns the virtues physical: instead of an effect you throw an object. It also brings traps and the longbow. This is the ranged guardian and the easiest of the four to pick up.
Firebrand (Path of Fire) converts the virtues into tomes, each with its own set of skills, and adds mantras and the axe. The strongest support in the game and the hardest of the four: instead of three buttons you have three books of five pages.
Willbender (End of Dragons) makes the virtues mobile, leaving effects in your wake, and adds the off-hand sword. This is the version for players who would rather run than hold ground.
Luminary (Visions of Eternity) adds stances and the Radiant Forge with radiant weapons.
Advice for a newcomer
Play core to 80, then take Dragonhunter if you want to shoot, or Firebrand if you are ready to study and would like invitations.
The comparison against the other eight sits in the overview.