is Guardian Stance any good?

[Drachenwulf]

I am wondering if I should give that to eder... so is the 2m radius +10 Deflection for other party members good or not?

[Teioh_White]

Generally, no, It's pretty terrible. Maybe with some sort of Deflection stacking plan, it could be useful. But for the overwhelming amount of situations, it's a bad call.

[Braven]

No, it is generally considered a bad talent, along with Defender. Most people take knock down, barrage, or confident aim for level 1 and 3 and skip both modal abilities. I think it is kind of natural instinct to dislike abilities that actually harm the character taking them that is partly to blame.

 

Like all abilities, there are some legitimate reasons to take it, which depends on your play style. A DPS fighter who uses a pike or ranged weapon and doesn't expect to be attacked often could use it to help his allies. Or, if you also had a melee rogue fight near you, you could help protect him, even though it harms the fighter.

 

One thing people often overlook with modals is that you don't have to turn it on when it does not benefit you. For example, you could turn on guardian only when an ally is being attacked near the fighter. If the fighter is being attacked instead, turn it off. This can be done a hundred times during the battle if you want.... But that is a lot of micro management most people don't want to bother with.

 

If there was some kind of side-step shield block animation to go along with it, that would be much cooler. But because it just fiddles a little bit with the behind the scenes math, it is quite boring. Though I guess the same could be said for most fighter abilities. Why can't they all be like "knock down"?

Edited March 3, 2016 by Braven

[Ymarsakar]

Against large enemies like ogres or lurkers or trolls, it might be useful if you have two melee people who you use to flank enemies. Then if someone refuses to attack your fighter, your fighter can still hold the flank up, and give deflection to the other tank. Assuming the range can even reach the other side. Also it depends on how many of these deflection bonuses can stack with each other. For people with two fighters or non standard fighter builds, who like to micro flanking tank tactics, it might be interesting.

 

I usually take disciplined barrage now a days, plus the cone damage skills. That "take the hit" skill is a much better team talent, but only at higher levels.

 

Some people like to click on the modals to adapt to the tactical situation. 

Edited March 3, 2016 by Ymarsakar