Guild Wars 2

Maybe I’m the only one, but the Staff and Trident animations seem really strange and disappointing to me. The animations themselves don’t look “bad” or anything, its not like they’re jerky or stiff or poor quality, but why do the majority of staff attacks not even use the weapon for the attacks? I can think of only 2 Staff attacks between 3 different professions (Elementalist, Mesmer, Guardian) that actually have the staff used for the attack animation, Elementalist Air 2, and Guardian’s auto attack. Haven’t played a Necro, so can’t say about that one.

Every other Staff attack animation is just arm waving with the free hand while holding the staff uselessly in the other. Projectiles are launched from the hand, waving the hand creates AoE fields, everything. Why am I carrying around this staff if I’m attacking by waving my hand around and not actually using the weapon to fight? Just for show?

It doesn’t need to be every attack or anything. A bit of hand waving here and there would be fine, but I think the staff should at least be used as often as hand gestures.

Would also allow for a bit more general variety among the staff / trident animations, since right there doesn’t seem to be too much variety, a lot of the animations are shared between all professions which use a Staff or Trident. Necro could have wide horizontal swings (fitting of the scythe effect), Guardian could have animations in which the staff is swung while pointing downward for stuff like Glyph of Swiftness or the wall, Elementalist could have animations where the butt end of the staff is slammed into the ground for Earth specials (Eruption and Unsteady Ground) or raised into the air for Fire / Air fields, ect.