Talk:Vanguard Initiate

Effect visible while a Vanguard Annihilation quest is active... 84.101.140.84 01:36, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

amount?

is there a certain amount or what?AurenXneruA 07:04, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

I would guess that it scales according to the same formula as all other creatures' base armor rating. Level*3+profession-bonus. --Tloch14 07:54, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

about 15 armor for today Charr quest on lvl 14 nec 78.35.179.114 01:51, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

Profession specific insignias?

This wiki page says that Armor-boosting insignias are uneffective under it. But also says that Profession specific armor bonuses, such as the Warrior's +20 armor vs. physical damage count! So what about the warrior's Dreadnought insignias? Do they provide the armor bonus or not under Vanguard Initiate?

You answered your own question. Is an armor boosting insignia so no it shouldn't have any effect. Professions passive armor bonuses are not insignias. Just because an insignia requires a specific profession does not change the fact it is still an insignia. Also be sure to sure your edits. 174.194.21.104 21:37, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

Thank you for your reply. Of course I did not answer my own question, since it is clearly written on this wiki page that based on the fact that it is an insignia, it should NOT work BUT ALSO it is a profession specific armor bonus, so it should work ("Profession specific armor bonuses ... are automatically applied by the buff"), and a Dreadnought insignia is BOTH insignia AND provide "profession specific armor bonus". I think the wiki page should be rephrased to be precise.

yeah this is correct. I tested with ele Pyro one and it made no difference on foes affected by the vanguard buff. The buff more or less replaces your armor's armor rating with a static amount which ANet made include profession armor bonuses like +30 AR vs elemental for rangers and +20 physical for warriors. It only applies to foes level 6 or higher though, foes under that calculate your damage based on your equipped armor and inaignias. Justice (talk) 05:12, 4 March 2020 (UTC)

Thank you for your reply, much appreciated. Have you tested it by accident with a "defense" weapon mod? I mean an unconditional one, since the conditional ones are cleary work, as this wiki page says. But an unconditional one would be totaly same like a shield from game logic point of view, so maybe (just maybe) it does not work under Vanguard Initiate. Thank you.

So I did tested some other stuff at the time too. For example, those 5ar 3e offhands the crafter in town can make, those will add 5ar to the vanguard buff. It seems the vanguard buff only overwrites armor/insignias/base shield ar but everything else is good. Of note, the rinblade armor bonus doesn't work at all, not with or without vanguard buff. Justice (talk) 19:54, 5 March 2020 (UTC)

Does it affect your armour all the time?

If I go across the wall for a charr hunt and I have this active, does that mean I have increased armour for a general charr hunt even though I don't have quest stuff to do in that area? 58.111.85.122 08:58, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

This armor boost works specifically only against the new special mobs that spawn for the quests, but not for anything else (if it works at all). Confirmed. --Yawg 11:17, 5 March 2011 (UTC)

Then it's bugged, since it does affect your armor against charr. I used Jaw Smokeskin's Flare as a reference. As a lvl 19 Ele I had 35 armor and a friend of mine had 15 as a lvl 11 Ele. A lvl 16 Warrior told me the damage he got (it was 30) which results in 55 armor. Thats quite a lot, so either Warriors (and probably Rangers) get more, or I missed something.

However, insignias and the base armor of a shield do not add to this value, a mod with '+x vs. charr' does. I can say nothing about the bonuses warriors and rangers get by default (vs. physical resp. elemental) though.

I guess the armor-boost is split into four three levels, like the levels of the quest enemies are, depending on the level of your character. – 03:09, 6 March 2011 (UTC)

Environment effect?

Fixed the infobox (and image), but I sort-of dislike it being an environment effect. I assumed it has to be, as Journey to the North is, but should it be? --snograt 16:15, 5 March 2011 (UTC)

Lucky Aura

Did anyone notice any armor boost at all? Deathly Swarm from Undead Necromancer deals 145 damage to me with or without the boost. Is this another Lucky Aura-like joke effect again? ***EAGLEMUT*** TALK 19:41, 6 March 2011 (UTC)

What level are you? It might not start doing anything until the mobs' levels surpass those of the charr in the northlands (so, when you're level 14+). --68.55.65.212 20:00, 6 March 2011 (UTC)

Sounds about right, the first test was done on a <14 character. Now I tested it on my L17 ele and the boost was a bit more satisfying; 103 damage taken with boost and 167 without. ***EAGLEMUT*** TALK 20:39, 6 March 2011 (UTC)

Stacking?

Does this stack with the armor level of your armor, or does it just set your base AL to a specific amount? In other words, does it negate the difference in AL between starter armor and collector armor? 96.33.173.168 16:25, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

On John's talk page, he says, "It overrides the value of your armor and adjusts it to an appropriate level for the content - it's very similar to how Journey to the North works (and the quirks that come along with it.)" --Musha 22:35, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

Weapon mods DO affect armor with this effect active

I can confirm that whilst this effect is active, weapon mods that affect armor operate as normal. When I was under this effect and had a bow with +5 armor bow grip equipped, I took less damage from Flare than when I had no weapon equipped. --Combatter 17:49, 16 June 2011 (UTC)

Hi, was the foe above lvl 6? Since the Vanguard Initiate buff is applied only if the foe is at least on lvl 6. Thank you.

Testing the actual amount - help needed

My tests on ele and necro suggest that it sets your base armor to 15 AL at lvl 10-11, 25 AL at lvl 14-15. Since I'm limited to these chars, I'm asking anyone with a highlvl-char, warrior or ranger to perform these tests and report the results:

• Go to the Northlands towards Jaw Smokeskin with Vanguard Initiate active.
• Unequip any weapons/shields that provide additional armor or damage reduction. Don't use Frenzy, Shielding Hands etc.
• Get hit in the face with a Flare from Jaw Smokeskin, note the damage you took. (Make sure there are no other Firecallers nearby; their Flares do a different amount of damage.)
• Post your profession, level and the damage you took here.

Since there are three vanguard quests in the northlands, please take a few seconds to perform this test next time you're there. I'll start:

• lvl 10, took 61 damage.
• lvl 11, took 61 damage.
• lvl 14, took 51 damage.
• lvl 15, took 51 damage. Tub 21:02, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

some info from guildwiki.de maybe one of you could tune up the table for better reading and add it to the main page

• base armor of an offhand does not count, bonus from weapon or offhand however does
• class bonus of warrior (phys) and ranger (elem) will add on top
• following armor values were calculated

Charakterlevel		10–13	14–16	17–20
Armorvalue		15	25	35
		40	55	70
		25	40	55

80.137.39.197 09:38, 21 September 2011 (UTC)

sp to get this straight, you tested it and it shown that the profession armor bonuses are still applied, yet this other person making recent changes tested it, proving they dont. guess its time to begin testing this again? Shade the (talk) 02:23, 5 February 2019 (UTC)

No...I said that the profession bonuses are also attached to the vanguard buff which happens to mask ALL armor related stats on a player's equipped armor gear. That is base armor, profession bonuses and any insignias. You can remove all your armor as a ranger and under the buff still have 85ar vs ele damage. This only applies to monsters lvl 6 or higher. If foes are lvl 5 or under then any armor gear stat including base armor rating, profession bonuses and insignia are used instead. You can benefit from both +armor insignia and vanguard initiate at the same time, but never both for the same foe, it is split between lvl 6+ and lvl 5 or lower. This has been tested by me today because I noticed lvl 1 bandits were still dealing same damage with or without vanguard bonus and I tested with ele pyromancer insignia. Justice (talk) 02:37, 5 February 2019 (UTC)

Reworded it for now, so it is alot more clear. does normal armor you wear matter for foes under level 6 or only insignias armor? along with shield base armor as well Shade the (talk) 03:41, 5 February 2019 (UTC)