Yep! I've read that one (one of the results from the uber guardian search)! Nice job on that btw. I felt like sharing things from more of a guardian's perspective though.
... wait confused... you're breaker right?
no that doesn't make sense because you asked a question and breaker answered it....
halp.
No, I'm me. I wrote that post. Not that whole thread. And that post is just about guardian.
I'm not too keen on a lot of these tactics. People severely underestimate the other guardian bonuses besides health and a shield and this guide pretty much proves that mindset is still the case.
A guardian is probably one of the better matchups vs. bombers because of their passive +2 resistance to every status type that bombs can currently deal. Let's also not forget that with proper shield usage, an enemy haze bomb can actually be your best friend, since it will essentially lock you into an invinci-frame of sorts for every tick the haze bomb makes against your shield - a.k.a. you're much harder to hit for solid damage. Pairing that with any sort of status resistance your armor comes with (Ironmight comes with Stun, Snarbolax comes with Freeze/Poison, Grey Feather comes with several, Divine even moreso), then you can abuse the frames and punish more aggressive strikers without having to read much of anything, and also maintain status immunity which will do one of the following:
-A: force the opposing bomber to switch strategies
-B: force the opposing bomber to switch to a less stellar bomb to still try and maintain a support role of their own
From there, chances are it'll be a bomb that won't impede your teammates as much (AoA just does chip damage, Shivermist sees usage against heavy chaos teams, leaving Venom, Stagger and Voltaic being the biggest "threats" to prepare for in most cases). You can usually get away with just one counter-bomber set, since most bombers will end up giving up if they see two of their bombs being resisted by someone who's not just going to sit back all game. I can go into more specifics as to what you should aim for with specific armor sets, but you need a cumulative +7 to resist bomb statuses currently. Simple math dictates that with a guardian module, you only need a +5 from your armor and helm combined to get the same resistances.
You also overemphasize the usage of swords and trying to "counter" offensive playstyles without mentioning anything about how to lend yourself to more than a supporting role as a guardian. You also neglect to mention anything about carrying a gun of some kind, which even as a guardian can prove more useful than having nothing but swords - sure, the damage is minimal but a well-placed bullet forces more boost to be used by your opponent than they would use just strafing around you over and over. If you're precise with your gunplay, you can actually wear a striker down faster than they can do to you just because you're catching them with something they're not going to expect. You don't need to have a hybrid set of any kind to make a gun something to be feared.
Klipik already mentioned in his post that the hammer can tear through armor defenses, whether you have it heavily invested in elemental defense or not, so really you shouldn't need more than one or two swords at most. At that point, you can invest in other options, such as bombs, guns, whatever. Sure, most people whine about the hammer, but realistically a guardian can get away with using just a hammer and a gun and live up to being the iron wall the class lends itself towards, while also having the ability to effectively bring down multiple people in one life.
Those are just my critiques at a glance. I haven't dabbled with my guardian set too much in a while, but I'd imagine the same rules that applied a few months ago still apply today. You can afford to extend yourself farther as a guardian than strikers can, so take advantage of that. Having a good defense is great, but being able to switch from defense to offense will throw more people off than just letting them be the ones to make the first move.
Hammer
Flourish
Sentenza
Haze Bomb
Welcome to the guardian club.
It'd be more simple, and wouldn't waste 10 mins of my life.
@Retequizzle
Your effectiveness versus bombers depends on how much you value yourself to the team. If a guardian walks into a haze bomb while the bomber is capping a point then you've essentially locked down the point and both the guardian and bomber. The bomber has to keep laying bombs or you'll kill him. You have to keep your shield up or you'll get statused. As long as no one else comes around then it's a complete standstill.
I did note at the top that I wasn't going to talk about gun/bomb hybrids because I don't have any experience (or the gear). I have no doubt that going hybrid is beneficial, but I can't personally give any tips on that area.(Hybrid means swords mixed with guns or bombs. I don't mean gear). I do find that carrying a voltedge for it's charge attack is pretty handy, but I guess use whatever works for you.
Good point about the +2 status resist. I forgot about that.
@Jawny
I'm curious as to why you'd use a sentenza over a valiance or storm driver.
@Gianor
Ouch >.<
Sentenza has six shots, Valiance as three. If you're lacking in damage, make up for it with interrupt and range. It has the fastest bullet velocity of any gun viable in LD, so you don't have to lead your shots as much. Only time you'd want to use Valiance as a Guardian is if you're using BKC or something that enhance gun damage. Some people consider the Polaris, but those are usually the people who have no *(%#ing idea what they're doing as a Guardian to begin with, so we're simply going to skip that being an option.
Also, my set's in no way a Guardian hybrid - full Snarbolax, single penta, quick strike mod, Sentenza and Hammer. Pretty much it. The only time the Sentenza comes out is if I'm forcing a Polaris user to make a move or if I'm forcing someone to burn their boost when they're not close enough to hit with a hammer.
In regards to your bit vs. bombers, it's actually about how diverse you want your gear to be if you're not invested in UVs. You can mix and match a lot of gear and manage to snag a 3 UV resistance with nothing more than a Medium UV and two Low UVs. That's not a lot of investment into gear to get the same bonuses that most Striker-based players drop 10k CE on easily.
My contribution to every LD guardian sword guide