Just throwing this out there since lately I’ve been looking for ways to minmax solo damage against open world mobs and event vets/elites, etc. and that led to doing calculations on stuff outside the usual dungeon meta. This isn’t a PHIW thread btw, we’re still talking optimization. If you’re posting to go “lol i dont care whats optimal i just do whatever i want and i get by fine kittening elitists ruining the game for me” etc. then I can’t stop you but I sure can ignore you. Best to just not bother.
Warrior:
Sword: Best weapon for Celestial-stat beginner builds (better DPS than axe or GS in full Celestial gear)
Pros:
- Reduces DPS tradeoff when running a “training wheels” build
- High attack speed gives lots of condition and boon procs
- Savage Leap is excellent for mobility
- Does not require investment in Strength line, allowing more flexibility in traiting (i.e. can spec stuff like 0/6/04/4)
Cons:
- Extremely poor burst
- Condition damage component has high ramp-up time
Mesmer:
Greatsword: Fastest-recharging clone generation for open-world clearing shatter builds
Pros:
- Fast opening burst (Mirror Blade > Berserker) with decent might/vuln stacking and respectable damage
- Fast recharging clone generation skills allow multiple shatters in rapid succession
- Berserker hits AOE
- Berserker summon range is long and hits AOE, making it good for AFKing world bosses and still getting respectable damage
Cons:
- Line cleave is crap for clearing packs
- Sustained DPS output is bad outside of initial shatter burst
Staff: Best weapon for AFKing world events
Pros:
- Generates burst of clones extremely quickly for a very fast shatter
- Chaos Storm is a decent-szied AOE burst, albeit not amazing damage
- Has the fastest recharging and hardest-hitting phantasm with a long summon range, making it good for world bosses (just like GS)
Cons:
- Very low sustained damage
- Requires investment in bad trait line overall
Engineer:
Flamethrower: Generally better effective DPS than grenades for short open-world roaming due to passive buff stacking and high burst (compared to grenades’ high vuln stacking and bleed component which is generally negated by quick mob deaths)
Pros:
- Stacks might extremely easily thanks to Juggernaut and flexibility in traiting (if traiting Deadly Mixtures, HGH only requires an additional 10 points)
- Mandatory investment in Alchemy rather than Explosives makes maintaining swiftness and fury easier
- Flame Blast provides strong initial burst
- Procs Strength and Frailty sigils quickly for quick damage ramp-up
- Burn damage does not require substantial ramp-up time compared to bleed
Cons:
- Overall damage is still weaker than grenades once both reach optimal damage after ramp-up
- Shorter range and worse AOE than grenades or bombs
- Burn component can be difficult to juggle when running between weak mobs due to long cooldown on burn-inflicting skills
Bombs: Higher direct damage component than grenades but less vuln stacking
Pros:
- Higher direct damage component means less conflict with other players in dungeons and group events
- Larger AOE makes it easier to clear packs
- Stacks more might since it comes with its own blast finisher and frees up a utility slot
- Does not require 6 points in Explosives, giving slightly more flexibility in traiting
- Can be made to autocast
Cons:
- Weaker overall damage than grenades
- Melee range only
- Long delay on bomb explosions makes it cumbersome for quickly clearing trash mobs
- Huge loss in vuln stacking capabilities means that grenades will almost always deal better direct damage in practice
And that’s it for now. Will update as I think of other stuff.
