Guild Wars 2

Every player i see is a GS user and every guardian i see uses GS over everything else even mesmers and rangers i see using GS alot. Is it that great of a weapon (no pun intended) or am i just imagining things?

GS is not super great. I cant say this with a hundred percent certainty because i don’t follow the builds for warrior anymore, but you really need to swap between gs and axe/m to get the best dps. But gs is pretty good on warrior but not good enough to camp (unless things have changed). GS on guard is similar in that you have to swap to other weps and its actually not that great to have with larger hit box targets where scepter outdps everything.

On mesmers and rangers gs is not the best weapon of choice. If u have a mesmer or a ranger dont use gs unless u have to. normally its the weapon to swap to for ranging for mesmer. On ranger you can use it if you need to cleave and its a better swap to than LB. Otherwise these two classes should stick to swords (mesmers best set is s/f s/something without any gs in there)

Honestly gs is an all around useful weapon for the classes u mentioned to have but its not the end all be all and its def a boring weapon to use imo. If ur on warrior or guardian u kinda have to use it to get best dps, mebe hammer on guard. But if ur on mesmer or ranger just stick to sword. Or better yet go with a cool class like ele, engie, or thief! XD

It is very versatile. Why greatsword was chosen by anet is up to speculation.

GS (and swords) are just well balanced weapons with some mobility, some cc and absurd damage.

In the end you use it because it offers the most damage without any disadvantage (at least in pve)

Mesmer use GS because its a damage focused weapon rather than the more support focused staff or the condi heavy sceptre.

For Guardian GS is best agains groups that don’t die in 1-2 hits (Elites), Staff for groups of trashmobs, and Scepter for single enemies.

It follows the recurring theme that as a melee weapon (ranger, warrior, guardian) it offers great mobility and strong (cleaving) burst. Mobility is king in GW2.

For Mesmer it’s used as a long-range weapon. The only pure damage long-range weapon.

GS is meta on war and GS is meta on guardian. Now GS is alright on ranger. It offers burst DPS and mobility but sword offers better damage and about the same amount of mobility, it’s just harder to use. For Mesmer GS is your best Ranged weapon (you could use pistol but thats only offhand so meh) however, in terms of being really good dps, it’s not. This is all for pve mind you pvp is a bit different. Oh, and lets not forget that GS has some of the best looking legendaries.

champ.7021:

On mesmers and rangers gs is not the best weapon of choice. If u have a mesmer or a ranger dont use gs unless u have to. normally its the weapon to swap to for ranging for mesmer. On ranger you can use it if you need to cleave and its a better swap to than LB. Otherwise these two classes should stick to swords (mesmers best set is s/f s/something without any gs in there)

Honestly gs is an all around useful weapon for the classes u mentioned to have but its not the end all be all and its def a boring weapon to use imo. If ur on warrior or guardian u kinda have to use it to get best dps, mebe hammer on guard. But if ur on mesmer or ranger just stick to sword. Or better yet go with a cool class like ele, engie, or thief! XD

Well i don’t know but i always do more raw damage with GS on my ranger than with sword. Sword might be a bit more suited to condition builds too, so it all depends on builds.
But GS usually gives a little mobility and CC and nice damage on every class, so i’d say it’s kinda versatile.
Still, i think many players choose it because they think it looks awesome.

I use a GS on my Warrior.. it’s pretty decent.. good skills etc
My Ranger mains a Longbow.. Guardian Mains Staff/Mace+Shield.. Mesmer Duel Swords..

tbh im not that much a fan of the Greatsword

MegumiAzusa.2918:

For Guardian GS is best agains groups that don’t die in 1-2 hits (Elites), Staff for groups of trashmobs, and Scepter for single enemies.

Your list curiously leaves out Sword….

unfortunately, GS is the best dps weapon for every single class that can use it.

You’ll likely see necros also rocking greatswords when HoT comes out (when not in DS of course), because it’s bound to blow all other weapons out of the water in terms of dps.

I almost never use it on my warriors and only sporadically on my guardian. It just doesn’t “feel” right when I swing it and the skills don’t really suit my play.

I generally gravitate towards blunt weapons on my melee toons. I think it might be the satisfying “thwack” they make! That’s more fun than any meta to me

rapthorne.7345:

unfortunately, GS is the best dps weapon for every single class that can use it.

You’ll likely see necros also rocking greatswords when HoT comes out (when not in DS of course), because it’s bound to blow all other weapons out of the water in terms of dps.

Not true. GS is outdone by sword on mesmer, GS is just your go to range weapon. GS on guard of course is great as is war, but then Ranger it’s the defensive melee option.

On my warrior I always prefer axe mace

Guardian I found gs boring I think my sword focus works much better in pve at least

Mesmer don’t play

Ranger rarely use gs sometimes just in wvw.

Gs is extremely over rated I think.

Sylent.3165:

On my warrior I always prefer axe mace

Guardian I found gs boring I think my sword focus works much better in pve at least

Mesmer don’t play

Ranger rarely use gs sometimes just in wvw.

Gs is extremely over rated I think.

For guard you’re basically giving up a 40% damage increase if you camp sword/focus and don’t rotate GS to land your rotation. That’s a nice chunk of damage left on the table. Also and extra blind/leap, and an AE pull. Really can’t have that be overrated. Now it’s not the only option, there are different situations calling for different things, but yeah… those are simply the facts.

- Mesmer GS has their best ranged auto-attack damage
- Ranger it falls a little behind other weapons, but its easier to use.

Maybe people just like how it looks? Personally i haven’t used transmutation charges on staves, scepters or blunt weapons because I just don’t care what they look like.

rapthorne.7345:

unfortunately, GS is the best dps weapon for every single class that can use it.

You’ll likely see necros also rocking greatswords when HoT comes out (when not in DS of course), because it’s bound to blow all other weapons out of the water in terms of dps.

Lol, no its not…

Oshelotae.4176:

Every player i see is a GS user and every guardian i see uses GS over everything else even mesmers and rangers i see using GS alot. Is it that great of a weapon (no pun intended) or am i just imagining things?

My thought on this (I have no clue or care about numbers) GS is pretty. It’s large, and a lost of them are flashy. So people hang out with them equipped.

Sube Dai.8496:

rapthorne.7345:

unfortunately, GS is the best dps weapon for every single class that can use it.

You’ll likely see necros also rocking greatswords when HoT comes out (when not in DS of course), because it’s bound to blow all other weapons out of the water in terms of dps.

Lol, no its not…

Notice it was “best” and not “most effective”.

Being best isn’t just about DPS. It’s about ease of use, flexibility, and sometimes even theme and appearance.

… which, of course, makes it largely a matter of opinion. Still, you can’t tell me that Ranger Sword is better to use than Ranger GS when fighting in the middle of a jumping puzzle. :P

Off course it’s a great weapon. It says it right in the name.

It’s all about role.

For warrs, it’s got good mobility skills, and hundred blades of course. Aoe dmg wise, it’s basically the best among the warr’s options.
Axe/Mace is one of my favourite combos, with the Dual Wield Agility trait, I feel that it has a higher DPS output than GS, ignoring the trait that allows the GS to stack might on crits. A/M can stack a lot of vulnerability in a hurry against multiple targets and the ranged knock down is a beauty.

For rangers, it’s the only cleaving weapon they have access to and for general PVE this is a must. Sword/focus has very high single target DPS but the target lock makes it somewhat difficult to manage for some people. Common rotation is rapid fire to 10 stacks of vuln, proc signet of the hunt then switch to GS and hit maul. The wide variety of skills available on ranger GS makes it incredibly versatile. Cleave, vuln stacks, closer, block, stun. It’s the most versatile of all the greatswords.

I hope Revenant doesn’t get greatsword at all.

To me it’s already shocking that along with necro, 5 out of the 9 classes will have a greatsword…

Similarly, the staff. It seems like Revenant will be getting a staff along with Ranger, so this means that 6 classes have access to this weapon. (And if ele gets the sword, then the story repeats itself here too).

It’s nice to see a variety of weapons be used- it also means there will be a greater variety of aesthetic among players. I guess the benefit of having classes use the same weapons is that if you craft a legendary greatsword or staff for example, a lot of you characters will have a reasonable application for it.

Meanwhile, pistols, maces and the bows have very little availability across the classes.

ANet is making up for past oversights. There were no greatswords in GW.

Crimson Clouds.4853:

I hope Revenant doesn’t get greatsword at all.

To me it’s already shocking that along with necro, 5 out of the 9 classes will have a greatsword…

Similarly, the staff. It seems like Revenant will be getting a staff along with Ranger, so this means that 6 classes have access to this weapon. (And if ele gets the sword, then the story repeats itself here too).

It’s nice to see a variety of weapons be used- it also means there will be a greater variety of aesthetic among players. I guess the benefit of having classes use the same weapons is that if you craft a legendary greatsword or staff for example, a lot of you characters will have a reasonable application for it.

Meanwhile, pistols, maces and the bows have very little availability across the classes.

Maybe this is the reason the legendary Mace, pistol, bows are very niche design and doesn’t look serious enough as a legendary.

The legendary gs doesn’t look serious enough as a legendary as well.

Lifestealer.4910:

The legendary gs doesn’t look serious enough as a legendary as well.

I…wait…what? thats the first time ive ever ever head that. How do they not look serious enough???? They look serious to me, at least they dont look like the Crystal Guardian, or the Krait, or beaded greatswords.
the Pistol and mace i can understand. The bows i will argue about, at least the longbow, yes Kudzu shoots flowers, but it reminds me so much of Dantes weapon from DMC 4 that i really dont mind it, and it looks like a living longbow, something ive always thought would be cool since playing DnD and having talking swords and things. the pony bow i want for hilarity in pve.
In the end though, All legendarys appearance and the effects are down to player opinion.

Palador.2170:

Sube Dai.8496:

rapthorne.7345:

unfortunately, GS is the best dps weapon for every single class that can use it.

You’ll likely see necros also rocking greatswords when HoT comes out (when not in DS of course), because it’s bound to blow all other weapons out of the water in terms of dps.

Lol, no its not…

Notice it was “best” and not “most effective”.

Being best isn’t just about DPS. It’s about ease of use, flexibility, and sometimes even theme and appearance.

… which, of course, makes it largely a matter of opinion. Still, you can’t tell me that Ranger Sword is better to use than Ranger GS when fighting in the middle of a jumping puzzle. :P

Notice how it says “best dps weapon” yeah… it’s not.

Not saying they are bad by any means they all have great uses. But best dps… no, they are not for mes/ranger.

Jerus.4350:

Palador.2170:

Sube Dai.8496:

rapthorne.7345:

unfortunately, GS is the best dps weapon for every single class that can use it.

You’ll likely see necros also rocking greatswords when HoT comes out (when not in DS of course), because it’s bound to blow all other weapons out of the water in terms of dps.

Lol, no its not…

Notice it was “best” and not “most effective”.

Being best isn’t just about DPS. It’s about ease of use, flexibility, and sometimes even theme and appearance.

… which, of course, makes it largely a matter of opinion. Still, you can’t tell me that Ranger Sword is better to use than Ranger GS when fighting in the middle of a jumping puzzle. :P

Notice how it says “best dps weapon” yeah… it’s not.

Not saying they are bad by any means they all have great uses. But best dps… no, they are not for mes/ranger.

Agree. They are not the best dps weapon. i guess “dps” should swap with “effective”

GS are not the best dps but gameplay wise they are the most overall effective weapon. Good mix of dps, mobility and utility.

Crossaber.8934:

Jerus.4350:

Palador.2170:

Sube Dai.8496:

rapthorne.7345:

unfortunately, GS is the best dps weapon for every single class that can use it.

You’ll likely see necros also rocking greatswords when HoT comes out (when not in DS of course), because it’s bound to blow all other weapons out of the water in terms of dps.

Lol, no its not…

Notice it was “best” and not “most effective”.

Being best isn’t just about DPS. It’s about ease of use, flexibility, and sometimes even theme and appearance.

… which, of course, makes it largely a matter of opinion. Still, you can’t tell me that Ranger Sword is better to use than Ranger GS when fighting in the middle of a jumping puzzle. :P

Notice how it says “best dps weapon” yeah… it’s not.

Not saying they are bad by any means they all have great uses. But best dps… no, they are not for mes/ranger.

Agree. They are not the best dps weapon. i guess “dps” should swap with “effective”

GS are not the best dps but gameplay wise they are the most overall effective weapon. Good mix of dps, mobility and utility.

Again that all depends.

For ranger and mes you’ll lose the utility of an offhand. Ranger warhorn for a blast, axe for a reflect. mes focus for reflect stuff and offhand pistol with it’s interrupts as well as Torch for stealth.

Everything has it’s place.

Even on War/Guard it’s not a must to run GS, but they are the top DPS options. Hammer Guard can be quite effective in many places, sometimes you’ll mix that with GS bursts other times you use that second weapon set for more utility. Warrior GS is pretty much the go to in PVE but for PVP you’ll rarely see one.

Again, everything has it’s place… well except guard shield… that’s crap (ok it has some uses but really it needs some work IMO)

Greatswords tend to be burst weapons – you bring it out, pop 2-3 of its skills, then switch it back for a weapon with a better autoattack.

Warrior: Purely a burst weapon, and rather famous for its effectiveness. Most DPS builds will run one.
Guard: Burst weapon with some utility. Definitely strong on a DPS build, but faces competition from other high damage, more supportive weapons like the hammer.
Ranger: Decent burst, but a poor overall DPS weapon compared to the sword. Definitely a defensive melee option due to spammable evades and a block.
Mesmer: Pretty much functions like the Ranger’s longbow – good ranged damage, but ineffective in dungeons due to the emphasis on melee and stacking. The 3rd skill is decent burst, but you can’t really camp it.

GS mesmer has Ebola DPS. It’s so bad. I cry when I see pug mesmers using it in dungeons/fractals.

Maximum Potato.5923:

Greatswords tend to be burst weapons – you bring it out, pop 2-3 of its skills, then switch it back for a weapon with a better autoattack.

Warrior: Purely a burst weapon, and rather famous for its effectiveness. Most DPS builds will run one.
Guard: Burst weapon with some utility. Definitely strong on a DPS build, but faces competition from other high damage, more supportive weapons like the hammer.
Ranger: Decent burst, but a poor overall DPS weapon compared to the sword. Definitely a defensive melee option due to spammable evades and a block.
Mesmer: Pretty much functions like the Ranger’s longbow – good ranged damage, but ineffective in dungeons due to the emphasis on melee and stacking. The 3rd skill is decent burst, but you can’t really camp it.

I currently run a hammer guardian with a greatsword secondary. If i could i would prefer to run Sword/Shield or Sword/Focus or Mace/Shield /Mace/focus Problem is if i do that i sacrifice way too much as a guardian by not having GS and shield just seems to be completely useless no matter how hard i want to like it. I could run Sword/Focus but then i feel like im sacrificing huge AOE dps for some slightly better single target DPS.

rapthorne.7345:

unfortunately, GS is the best dps weapon for every single class that can use it.

You’ll likely see necros also rocking greatswords when HoT comes out (when not in DS of course), because it’s bound to blow all other weapons out of the water in terms of dps.

What a load of rubbish
Best dps wep for warrior is axe
For ranger it is sword by a margin of 15% or more due to sword auto giving might to pet.
On ranger, even longbow challenges the GS for sheer dps when using predators onslaught. Rapidfire has a few sec longer CD then maul but does close to twice the damage on average.
LB auto coeff at min range isnt great, only 0.5 while gs is 0.55 0.55 0.66, gs does use approx 2.5 sec to complete its auto animation chain, while longbow fires once every 0.9 sec. So auto vs auto, they are close, rapidfire + barrage closes the gap due to predators onslaught

In all classes that uses GS, it is a good weapon and very easy to use, not the highest DPS in any of those classes, but the relation DPS/easy to use is high, you can also sum the good looking skins, and above all that there are 4 classes (soon 5) that can wield it, making it a very popular weapon.

I thought GS was used for a makeshift thief reset ability.

Can’t handle the fight? Time to jump away! gg

IndigoSundown.5419:

ANet is making up for past oversights. There were no greatswords in GW.

Back in my day fellblades were wielded in 1 hand not 2. :p

Great sword offers a lot of utility to every class that can use it.

Why did Anet choose to make this weapon so prevalent by making it good and useful for most classes?

I believe this was done because it’s easily the most recognizable and cool fantasy weapon to have around.

The stereotypical fantasy weapon for the average stereotypical gamer is the sword. It has great connections with historical sources and is instantly recognizable in almost any typical setting. It is highly associated with the hero archetype.

Who here can name a hero who fights with a sword? Now who can name a hero that fights with a mace?
I’m willing to bet money that the majority of people will have no problem naming a hero that uses a sword – but a lot of them won’t be able to name a hero that uses a mace, or a scepter, or a staff.

The conclusion? Sword is the go-to fantasy hero’s weapon of choice that will appeal to most players.

And what’s better than a sword ? A great sword.

Why? It’s bigger and meaner and it takes too hands to swing so it must be cool.
It delivers huge swinging motions that can chop your foe in two and looks huge and really deadly.

So how is this better than the sword? For practical reasons it isn’t. In the real world great swords ( Two handed swords) don’t see as much use as one handed ones do but this is not the real world.

This is a fantasy setting where people are less concerned with what’s realistic and practical and more concerned with what’s cool and looks kitten.
If the majority of GW2’s player base were obsessed with hyper-realism or even decent realism I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t be playing GW2.

Anet is catering to a fantasy-oriented majority of players and for that average player in said majority the great sword ( a regular sword on steroids) is the coolest and most kitten weapon.

That’s why so many classes have access to it and why it’s generally a good and all around effective weapon on every class.

Edit: You’d be surprised how many people I know chose their GW2 class based on the ability to use “those cool two handed swords”.

Harper.4173:

Now who can name a hero that fights with a mace?

Hawkgirl! And Hawkman!

I agree with Harper. I <3 GS! Its like the gatling gun or mini-cannon for sci-fi games. It just imbues everything most everyone likes about being powerful. All of the major DPS or utility abilities tend to come from them in this game, and it just synergizes so well with everything we do here.

As a Gaurdian I use it because it has great synergy between skills is a fast weapon and does a lot of dps the way the way my build works. I find it the superior weapon.

Im not calling for it to be nerfed but I feel the other weapons are slow and slugish and are ment for PVP such as the hammer. And are ranged weapons are not all that great The staff has it’s uses but it has no distance but it’s supposed to be more shotgun like.

Harper.4173:

Why? It’s bigger and meaner and it takes too hands to swing so it must be cool.

There’s no metaphor here, at all, at least not in the meta.

Ominous.7583:

As a Gaurdian I use it because it has great synergy between skills is a fast weapon and does a lot of dps the way the way my build works. I find it the superior weapon.

Im not calling for it to be nerfed but I feel the other weapons are slow and slugish and are ment for PVP such as the hammer. And are ranged weapons are not all that great The staff has it’s uses but it has no distance but it’s supposed to be more shotgun like.

I would love to use sword and shield if shield wasn’t awful feeling.

Oshelotae, Mace is a great substitute for Sword, especially for a lot of AE stuff. In fact it has more burst potential in very short kill.

Your general rotation with it will be something like: Mace2 → Focus4→(focus 5) → auto chain →Mace2 → Swap weapon.

We’re literally talking a 2% loss in damage compared to sword, but a of course with that pesky light field issue that you see on hammer as well as a slow auto.

Likewise for a quick burst to kill some trash or a really mediocre boss in an organized run you can go mace2-Focus5 -swap greatsword – gs 2 -4-3 and watch things be dead.

Mace also has a decent healing effect, this is quite nice when paired with scholar runes as the little bit of damage you may take from things like conditions or quick attacks can be countered to keep you and your party above 90% maintaining your 10% damage buff.

The only mainhand/2h weapon that should never be used in general combat (it is a loot stick) is staff. Every other weapon has a purpose and a place. I often use Mace for CoF where I know we’ll be taking some passive damage. Sword of course is optimal for damage especially against single targets that live a little longer. Hammer is amazing to provide your group a safety net with protection. Scepter is actually the top DPS if the target is large enough, for instance Lupicus or Bloomhunger. GS is our burst weapon though and in rotation it’ll be our go to damager, but that doesn’t mean you camp it, if you do it’s actually quite sub par as it has weak auto attacks, so the idea is to hit your rotation and get out of it, with Whirling Wraths cooldown you usually do 2 of them then swap, though on shorter fights you may open with that then swap to sword/focus and run it’s rotation while the boss dies.

Because.. Nobody uses bows… (all ranger builds, all war builds..)
Or like, nobody uses daggers (dagger theives, power necros, dd eles)
Nobody uses staffs -_- (staple on so many builds)

-_-

I the issue is.. You just notice greatswords more than other weapons because… you want to. Some people like GS in games and other just don’t like them for some reason.

TheDevice.2751:

Because.. Nobody uses bows… (all ranger builds, all war builds..)
Or like, nobody uses daggers (dagger theives, power necros, dd eles)
Nobody uses staffs -_- (staple on so many builds)

-_-

I the issue is.. You just notice greatswords more than other weapons because… you want to. Some people like GS in games and other just don’t like them for some reason.

Well generally almost every warr in pve carriers a greatsword, generally being the keyword. Guardians too, in pve, same thing generally most wield greatswords. Last night i pugged an ac group, had 3 warriors join, and another mesmer, who swapped to a guardian halfway through because his mesmer wasnt doing enough.

Me Mesmer: Sword/Focus, Greatsword
Mesmer 2: Staff, Greatsword. Guardian swap: Greatsword, Scepter/Shield
Warr 1: Greatsword, axe/axe
Warr 2: Greatsword, Hammer
Warr 3: Greatsword, Mace/axe

and thats only a small sample, i wonder if it follows that trend overall however.

Dante.1763:

TheDevice.2751:

Because.. Nobody uses bows… (all ranger builds, all war builds..)
Or like, nobody uses daggers (dagger theives, power necros, dd eles)
Nobody uses staffs -_- (staple on so many builds)

-_-

I the issue is.. You just notice greatswords more than other weapons because… you want to. Some people like GS in games and other just don’t like them for some reason.

Well generally almost every warr in pve carriers a greatsword, generally being the keyword. Guardians too, in pve, same thing generally most wield greatswords. Last night i pugged an ac group, had 3 warriors join, and another mesmer, who swapped to a guardian halfway through because his mesmer wasnt doing enough.

Me Mesmer: Sword/Focus, Greatsword
Mesmer 2: Staff, Greatsword. Guardian swap: Greatsword, Scepter/Shield
Warr 1: Greatsword, axe/axe
Warr 2: Greatsword, Hammer
Warr 3: Greatsword, Mace/axe

and thats only a small sample, i wonder if it follows that trend overall however.

Well, I see. It’s definitely more dominant in pve vs pvp. So if you pve then yes.

AdaephonDelat.3890:

Harper.4173:

Now who can name a hero that fights with a mace?

Hawkgirl! And Hawkman!

Great!

Except I’m pretty sure they’re catering to most people – it was done as a general example.

WyldKat.4712:

Harper.4173:

Why? It’s bigger and meaner and it takes too hands to swing so it must be cool.

There’s no metaphor here, at all, at least not in the meta.

The meta is GS because Anet chose to make GS a viable weapon. They chose to make GS a viable weapon because it’s instantly recognizable because of its shape and design ( a sword) and on top of that it’s big and kitten so people can feel like they’re awesome while cleaving through foes with one.

They know GS is meta in some situations – I’m saying it’s intended.

Gs looks kitten and unlike dual wielding it doesnt have that silly aesthetic issues where you swing with your weapon in mainhand but at same time you dont do anything with offhand. Where is that dual wield concept? Its looks stupid if anything. Terrible design.

Scoobaniec.9561:

Gs looks kitten and unlike dual wielding it doesnt have that silly aesthetic issues where you swing with your weapon in mainhand but at same time you dont do anything with offhand. Where is that dual wield concept? Its looks stupid if anything. Terrible design.

This always kinda bugged me too.