Morning!
My global handle is @Thilenium and my ingame characters start with or contain 'Thile' in their name - no exception. So far I have played and equipped about 20 characters. ten of which I took through the incarnate stuff. Others I 'swiped left'.
For a long time I ignored the Guardian. I thought in more purer terms like Damage Dealers = Brutes, Scrappers and Support = Controllers, Defenders. Turns out that Guardian can perform decently in both areas and I like them better than Defenders or Corruptors. The build represents the current status of my gear and also my zillion hours of experience in improving and reviewing on character builds (tailored to my tastes - sure. and that is where we might not find common ground. but see for yourself).
all the best, Thilenium
Summary Guardian (Psionic Assault - Pain Focusing)
+ usefulness increases until it reaches its height at mid- to lategame
+ good sustained damage, single target
+ good damage, area of effect
+ good party utility
+ survivability
+ utility for situational content
- has a slow start, but not as bad as Controllers
Contents
a) The role of a Guardian
b) Pain Focusing as Secondary
c) Psionic Assault as Primary
d) Utility through Power Pools
e) Attack chains, single target and area of effect
f) Genesis Incarnate Power and helpful keybinds and macros
a) The role of a Guardian
The Guardian is neither pure damage dealer nor pure supporter but a combination of the two. Now one can argue, that if it is a combination it could combine the worst parts of each. And that is partly true - there are Primaries and Secondaries here that I simply cannot wrap my head around.
From the beginning I wanted a Sniper-Skill in my Primary because I have not found a Corruptor or Defender with a Power that I liked and that also has a Sniper-Skill. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the skill: It is a long-range, high-damage attack. So I want it. Trouble is the cooldown and the long casting time, and both can be countered by the right Secondary. With the right Secondary it becomes instant - no activation time - and who does not like to do immediate 500 damage every 6 seconds. If selected for that reason there are only two secondary powers left.
Also there is the question of area of effect skills. As none of the Primaries has a great one, a good one with some utility will tip the scales.
Guardian has become in my mind a hybrid combining some of the signature skills of each power.
b) Pain Focusing as Secondary
Great party utility and comes online around midgame. I chose for my Guardian 'Organic Reconstruction' which requires Incarnate stuff to make it even work. This is not the case with this Secondary. You have an ok heal-skill, ok-hitpoint regen for your party and with 'World of Pain' a great buff for the party with a 100% uptime (with some recharge-IOs).
Example Temporal Composition
If you can do without the heals for your party, and maybe do a little more on the debuffing side, then this one is good.
Example Fiery Composition
This one sucks, but for a single thing: It has probably the most ridiculous area of effect skill in the game. It does heavy damage and also heals teammates. Sure it also has a high cooldown, but that is just ridiculous. It is like the devs said 'man, this Secondary sucks and we only have one skill to create left. let us make up for the rest by making this skill ridiculous.' Take 'Burnout' from the 'Speed'-Power Pool and you have it twice.
Example Organic Reconstruction
Does about the same thing as 'Pain Focusing', but does not come online until after the Incarnate stuff (It is the recharge and endurance, you see). So, if you go that route, do not expect to have a lot of fun while doing low-, mid- or even lategame content. But as long as you remain in the endgame and have the cooldown reductions provided by some Incarnate powers, you are good. I will keep this still for a single reason: all the buffs are on a two minute cooldown. My only critic on Pain Focusing is the 90 seconds duration of its buff. - I like the handling simple.
c) Psionic Assault as Primary
The Guardian Primaries combine melee and ranged attacks, making it a bit trying to find out whether you are part of the frontline or hang back and stay out of trouble. As for me I like frontline and that is how I come to this Primary. The area of effect skill 'Psychic Shockwave' is decent. There is a Sniper-Skill with 'Psionic Lance'. Since I also use 'Blink Blitz' and 'Fireball' from the Epic Power Pool I have some decent engage and clear. In Party mode I usually just use the three area of effect skills with the heal to decimate the enemy and keep my team alive. Against single targets I also enter melee range.
Psionic Assault has a unique mechanic called 'Insight'. All your skills have a chance of creating the 'Insight'-buff and your 'Psionic Lance' uses it up for extra damage. Anyone here likes a skill that does immediate 500 damage every 6 seconds?
d) Utility through Power Pools
In the beginning I mentioned that there is also a lot of utility in this build.
+ 'Psychic Shockwave' has some decent controlling powers
+ a healing skill and a regeneration toggle will keep your teammates healthy
+ 'Blink Blitz' is a great area of effect and utility power for starting any fight and while fighting. This skill sometimes lands you in obstacles. with enough cooldown you can use it on a mob to get out of it again. or you can use the command /stuck.
+ This build (and 95% of my other builds) contains 'Invisibility' which helps with shortening missions. Find the target on the map, buff up right next to it and cancel the skill.
+ 'Recall' moves your teammates to your position.
e) Attack chains for single target and area of effect
I use the keyboard key '1' for single target (see macros), '2' for ranged attacks (again see macros), '3' is the Heal, and '4' is Psychic Shockwave'. '5' is a macro again for the two area of effect attacks. Invisibility on 'Strg+1', when I need to skip to the end of a mission or defeat just a single boss somewhere on the map.
f) Genesis Incarnate Power and helpful keybinds and macros
Genesis Incarnate Power:
Socket Core Flawless Genesis
Helpful macros and keybinds:
/bind f "target_enemy_near$$follow"
>> autofollow nearest enemy
/macro INC "windowtoggle Incarnate"
>> Open the Incarnate window
/macro M1 "powexec_name Mind Probe$$powexec_auto Greater Psi Blade$$powexec_auto Telekinetic Blow"
>> use the two melee attacks in succession
/macro M2 "powexec_name Psionic Lance$$powexec_auto Telekinetic Blow$$powexec_auto Mental Blast"
>> use the two ranged attacks in succession
/macro AoE "powexec_name Blink Blitz$$powexec_auto Mind Probe$$powexec_auto Fire Ball"
>> use Blink Blitz and Fireball in succession
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