Guild Wars 2

Hi. I don’t have HoT. Will not be able to get it. Please don’t bring it up unless you want to buy it for me <3.

I need to know what vanilla class is best with Great sword. I really want to use a great sword as a primary weapon. I mainly like to wvw, with some spvp mixed in. I can’t decide myself, they all seem to suck now. Guardian GS has really fallen behind dmg wise, as has Ranger GS. Warrior GS seems ok but everything I hear says that Warriors suck, and I imagine a warrior without HoT sucks more?

Well if none of those options work for you, there is the mesmer.

For wvw or pvp, gs on Mesmer is just fine. Vanilla Mesmer is still very strong, and has great survivability once you learn how to play it.

Warrior
Warriors’ GS is mostly usefull in PvE, and as GS wielding brute, you either are a buffer (PS/EA Warrior) or just plain DPS. Both have limited roles outside PvE for example in dungeons or RAIDS.
With swords Warriors turn into condition builds, mostly build arount bleeding. It is a build whcih has been extremely niche. but I ran it with rampagers, and later sinister for my personal delight. It is not however -meta- in any gametype..
For WvW you would be looking to a Axe/Warhorn and ? shout heal build… Which is a passed station in the meta. most people considr any class other then warrior more usefull and the onlu real use of a warriors is the Warbanner.
For PS/EA other set is Axe/Mace, for S/S offhand is Longbow, for a shout heal it’s either Hammer (obsolete in present meta) or Rifle (or longbow))

Guardian GS and S/F was a powerfull dungeon build, but has no use in WVW. Alternately for PvE there is the Sinister Burn Guard whcih is a condition build solely focussing of burning.
In WvW you want Booners/Healers if we do not consider HoT
In WvW Scepter is a good ranged solution or the lootstick (staff), Hammer used to be an important weapon, but is less viable atm.

Ranger
Ranger can use Greatsword and it is a decent replacement for the normal (slightly superior, but way more useful and versatile) Sword/axe or sword/warhorn setups in places where a sudden big movement can kill you. (think of EotM) alternate weapons is normally Longbow.

Mesmer
GS is the mesmers DPS ranged solution. Staff is a condition/utility weapon and more viable short range tbh. Normally mesmers use sword/focus as main set and GS as alternate set. DPS memser is still used, though less most meta has shifted from S/F and GS to newer sets…

Best gs class ?
PvP ? Mesmer – best dmg/utility with
PvE ? Warrior – best damage, utility thanks to Phalanx Strength trait (HoT not required), mobility
WvW ? All. Guardian thanks to mobile aoe whirling burst and pull is good frontliner, ranger thanks to block/evade/rush is good backliner (when you get ambushed and need to retreat), Mesmer can pack a punch with phantasms from range, warrior can… run into a zerg, get stunned and die.

If you like to kill fast and be useful – pick warrior. If you want to kill slow and be REALLY useful – pick guardian or mesmer.
If you are selfish kitten who cares only about himself, meaning kill fast and be a thorn in other ppl kitten s causing massive rage about yet another bearbow who cannot die and keeps coming back – go ranger

WvW Mesmer, you can have fun even without HoT and be effective =)

Hm ok I rolled a mesmer in spvp. They are really effective. I’m torn between ranger and Mesmer. I like the way ranger uses its GS, but I can’t seem to do anything with it but tickle the enemy. Meanwhile Mesmer really does tons of damage, but…eh…I was never a fan of a GS being a ranged weapon. Seems silly to me, like the whole class really. ANet has some real weirdos in its design team.

Ranger GS is primarily a Control weapon, rather than damage. It’s use comes through the ability to evade on auto, on demand projectile immunity, and capacity for chain daze. If you are looking for damage with a GS ranger, pretty much all you have is Quick Draw + Maul.