jaded.boards.net/index.cgi?action=display&board=builds&thread=129&page=1Third build discussed "melody heals"
Zooey's 30/30/10 build is very formidable and you will see many variants of 30/30/10s in forums outside of here--well, no you won't; most are just that. 30/30/10--but (100% personal opinion statement incoming) I felt lacked damage over time.
The extra ret hit i get in Sig of Judgment both heals and adds a little damage utility and while the pop is only 1 boon, its every 16 seconds (total 2 boon pops for a potiential proc of 10 every 32 seconds with Alt Healing) as opposed to, say, retreat, where you get 2 boons (10 procs total to alt heal) every 48. Save Yourselves looks like it puts that to shame but doesn't hit your team so instead of a potential 5 procs on Altruistic healing every 16 seconds (sigil) or a total 10 from Retreat you get 7 and only 7 every 48 seconds.
And thats where it starts getting fuzzy. people want to pop these skills as a fast heal. they shouldn't. Guardian tanks use a high HoT (heal over time) mentality that requires regular use of the skills to make them effective in a scrim. As such, I found SoJ to be the better for tanking for its improved damage reduction or improved HoT dependent on the situation.
Sig of resolve is either bound for a nerf or the other heal skills are due for a buff. Its that good, I'd use it even without Sig mastery.
Saying all of this, there is a question about the loss of heal over time because I don't have 30 in Honor. I haven't done the math on that
IMO (100% personal opinion incoming AGAIN) use zooey's 30/30/10 build for a while to get the feel of a tanky guardian, then start making your own adjustments based on where you want your playstyle to go. You'll find the class quite survivable even if its not built for facetanking.
en.gw2codex.com/build/22543-coreThe above link is what I consider a "core" for guardians. It allows you to have all the most important features of the guardian baked into any build you design.
Breakdown: 15 in Rad is most important to pop Justice every time you kill something. That skill should always be on recharge during a fight. The burning it deals when you--and your team--use it is much better than the burn you deal if you just let it sit. Same can oft be said for the other 2 virtues, but much more situational. Point is, get used to using virtues and this gets you in that mindset. The passive effects are okay, the active affects can prevent a team from wiping.
An Aegis @50% is a no brainer. So many builds rely on boons that 5 points for an extra Aegis is peanuts.
While the 10 points in Honor appears to be for shouts, any build will be able to make use of it because you can just as easily respec for symbol buffs. Increasing healing and vitality on this character is, imo, a no brainer. We have the lowest health in the game.
last: 10 points in virtues is more debatable for many guardian buids that don't use Consecrations or spirit weps, But you can still spec in retaliation buffs for when you don't have either. If you don't want 10, I'm not married to it, but at least put in 5. I've found that is a MUST as it makes your virtues much more effective when used...and you NEED TO USE DEM
If you've got the extra coppers to respec, give that core a try. To be clear, this is not Mel saying "this is how guardians should be played" (well, other than the virtues statments--USE THEM!). This is me saying "this is how I play a guardian".
My view on the tanky tank builds is simple, but I held off on saying it so I could address your requests. But I feel it neds saying anyway so: Edit: You can't hold agro in this game. Even if you drag the mobs to you from half a room away (GS pull--very funny, nice for nuke teams), you can't HOLD the agro. All the survivability in the game means nothing if you don't have the damage to back it up and help your team kill stuff. Any guardian build can spam boons. Every guardian build can theoretically spam boons. Altrusitic healing is, ultimately, a selfish trait on a build and character that is designed to help your team.
When I realized that, I stopped using it.
Hope this helps.
Unless someone has a question or more to add/debunk.