Guild Wars 2

My 80 warrior is spec’d in Arms, Defense, and Tactics. I tried to set up a strong bleeding build for PvE.

I’m running gear that gives me precision, toughness and condition dmg. I’m running upgrades that give me a longer duration of condition, and condition dmg. Long story short, I’ve maximized the amount of damage I can do with bleeds.

Now, I can apply MAX stacks of bleeding 25 on an enemy for a short duration, and 15 all day long. I’ve got my spec into +10% dmg against bleeding foes as well. Here’s the best part…

I can attack an enemy at the exact same time my friend attacks the exact same type of enemy right next to me.. Him wielding a Greatsword, me, Dual Wielding swords for bleeding. Also please note that we both are Warriors, and we both have the EXACT same traits and we both have lvl 80 weapons and gear. I get my enemy to half health, and he’s already done with his and has moved on to my enemy.. Tell me where the balance is in this?? He literally used his throw, hundred blades, burst, and spun out for a kill. . . . I’ve mashed my keys, applied 25 stacks of bleeding to my enemy, threw a knife into their chest and ripped it out, and cycled through another set of cooldowns, and my enemy is at 50%.

Wordy Version
Why did ArenaNet even bother with any other type of weapon for melee?? Is the game broken or was it intended to be like this? Am I missing something here or doing something wrong? Why even bother using any other type of weapon for PvE when you know you’re not doing the damage you could be?

If you get into an argument talking about “oh the greatsword is a face to face weapon, and you have to sit and beat on ur foe for it to die, where the sword u can run around and kite while it bleeds”. . dumb. The amount of dmg you take while kiting negates the amount of dmg you take while beating someone to death with a greatsword because you’re fighting for less time. I personally think that this is very unbalanced. I know people do fine playing with swords and shields.. but we all know we could be doing better with a greatsword.

Ya know what?? Screw it.. This can all be fixed BY LETTING US CHANGE OUR D-AMN WEAPON SKILLS!

In a nut shell… game’s broke. Single weapon of practicality for PvE. 25 stacks of bleeding and 2 sets of weapon skill cooldowns can’t do the same dmg a greatsword can.. I literally tested this down to the accessories you wear.. It’s rediculous. Best I got an enemy down to was 20% remaining HP while the greatsword would have the enemy dead. Averaging 30-40%

1) Condition damage does more damage than direct damage does, but it’s spread out over time.

2) You’re not going to beat a Greatsword in burst. Ever.

3) Especially as a condition damage spec.

4) Stop judging weapons based on one role when they’re not designed to fulfill that role.

1) Then my point stands as firmly as it was made excluding dungeons and champions. Because A GS will always be a better choice for 90% of PvE. With the Greatsword cooldown skill perk a warrior has, you get to burst virtually the entire time. So… How does a greatsword spec get out damaged by condition then? oh wait. . .

2) No kitty

3) Learn to read, as I said it was done in the same gear.

4) Really? Thanks. I had no idea.

@ Illushia

1. That’s true and false, basically it depends on the setup. Condition damage only does more damage when direct damage when the direct damage doesn’t crit. That is the huge problem with condition damage; it doesn’t gain any damage from power, crit %, crit damage, vulnerability, or even damage % increase. The only thing that impacts condition damage is condition damage, condition duration, and a few traits.

As soon as direct damage starts critting and that crit damage increased, condition damage falls way behind. Not to mention that condition damage can be completely nullified with via the condition cap in PvE or condition removal in PvP.

2. GS warriors aren’t burst, they are sustained damage, in fact the longer the fight goes the more damage a warrior can do. Using the GS crit grants might trait you can get up to 12+ stacks on yourself.

3. Condition damage is supposed to be the sustained damage, but it isn’t. Thus the OP’s topic.

4. He wasn’t judging the weapons based on one role, he was judging both weapons based on their seperate rolls. His point being that swords which are used for bleeds are no where near as good at their role as a greatsword is at it’s roll(burst). In fact what’s worse is that I’d almost say using greatsword+critbleed sigil+critbleed trait is better at conditions than swords :P

not to mention that greatsword is viable in a group play – with condition damege you play solo or you suck – with bleed caps there is no place for 2 condition builds coz one uses up the limit and makes all other redundant

Thing with conditions is that they ignore armor. On a lightly armored target the greatsword is going to win. But on something heavily armored you might see something different. Why not try your experiment on those golems in the mists using steady weapons?

Ranger here…
we face the same problem too

1. our sword and dagger or axe does not go anywhere near short bow and longbow….

2. we can kite enemy with range while the melee does not even go any where near close dps then the range for ranger……

3. Condition damage DoT vs pure damage…. well in a short fight the pure damage will win no question ask but in a long fight PvE the Condition wins unless the pure damage keeps crit and all that….

4. this game need more balanceing….

Also one slight disadvantage GS have is that versus a mobile mob it will be slightly less effective. It does not force your character to autoface the target, and It also roots the warrior in place. Also it is a channeled attack, so if it is interrupted that is lost dps.

In PVE that might not be a big deal, because you can work around boss mobility and if you know their attack patterns you can keep yourself from getting interrupted while casting 100 blades. But in PVP people may use those things to their advantage. So a warrior would need to have a root/stun or a friend that can root and stun so that their 100 blades is more effective.

When comparing things, try to look at them from different angles. Protective spells that shield or make you invulnerable will render the GS utterly useless until it is recharged, but afaik, bleeding will tick through any protective buffs. GS can be blocked, interrupted, missed, damage reduced, make you take confusion damage, but once bleeding is stacked, nothing will stop it short of a heal or a condition removal.

@ Grumwulf

Tried it on a heavier enemy with armor like you said. Guildy and I both had the exact same armor and same runes.. The only thing that was different between the two of us was the accessories and of course our weapons.

Same traits
Same MAIN armor lvl 80 trash armor with power/condition dmg/vitality
Different accessories (as we didn’t purchase them just to test this)
Different weapons (obviously)
His GS was power/precision/Vitality
My dual swords were toughness/precision/Condition damage

Greatsword still has first kill by about 25%. Aside from literally getting the same accessories, I have to agree with everyone else.. This game definitely needs some balancing done.. I don’t believe that greatswords are over powered.. I believe that condition dmg needs to be buffed with other weapons. Such as maces hammers, etc.

I’m not at all saying GS’s are OP.. But everything else is UP..

There shouldn’t be a dominate weapon, but a playstyle that fits your needs that works as well as others!

So basically the greatsword is op and its going to get nerfed?

Ok.

Also if you think condition damage is bad check out necro’s.

@Esham I literally just said they’re not OP.

if you took the time to read this thread, you would see points that other people brought up. especially what Galdar had said.