Guild Wars 2

My experiences come mostly from wvw zerging and havoc groups, as well as some open world pve.

These are the weapons that i least encountered over my gw2 career:
Warrior: mace mh and oh, rifle, shield, axe mh and oh.
Mesmer: scepter, torch, and sword oh.
Engineer: shield, elixir gun, tool kit.
Elementalist: scepter.
Necromancer: axe.
Guardian: shield, mace.

I would like to see more uses for these weapons outside niche builds without gimping oneself.

My ele runs dungeons (and up to lvl 49 fractals) almost exlusively with S/D. I’d say D/D is the least common pve weapon for the ele endgame (though meta in spvp). It makes me sad however eles receive only 1H swords with HoT though :-( Was saving my Twilight for it…

Plus I hope maces will get some more love with HoT…there are some really fancy looking ones, but noone ever played with a mace that I know lol

I always fiddled with mace but it’s too restricting for a mobile style of play.
Sword 2 offers a great escape and mobility tool, axe offers solid damage, mace mh offers a punt 1 second daze and a single attack block, while oh mace 5 suffers the same as ele staff air 3, which is missing all day long.

I’m a bit surprised at some of these. I occasionally run EotM but e.g. mesmers with scepter and especially torch are not a rare sight. Engineers with shield are really good roamers as far as i know, i’ve seen quite a few roaming videos too with pistol/shield engis. Elixir gun is also supposed to be good because of its utility.
Scepter for ele is more of a PvE weapon, that’s true, so that is kinda rare in WvW zergs… staff does the job perfectly there.
I don’t know about guardians cuz most of them usually have staff out, but i know i’ve been doing some zerging with mace (traited for more healing), apart from that it does seem like a rare choice.

Mh Axe is a common roamer, smal scale warri weapon. Shield as well. What i never see is sword and axe oh

shinreigari.7318:

I’m a bit surprised at some of these. I occasionally run EotM but e.g. mesmers with scepter and especially torch are not a rare sight. Engineers with shield are really good roamers as far as i know, i’ve seen quite a few roaming videos too with pistol/shield engis. Elixir gun is also supposed to be good because of its utility.
Scepter for ele is more of a PvE weapon, that’s true, so that is kinda rare in WvW zergs… staff does the job perfectly there.
I don’t know about guardians cuz most of them usually have staff out, but i know i’ve been doing some zerging with mace (traited for more healing), apart from that it does seem like a rare choice.

i hope you know that EOTM isn’t actually wvw, it has become a PVE train so you are more likely to find PVE builds rather than wvw builds in there

Im a destroyer warrior in a raid, and I use always axe-shield

From my perspective (mainly from spvp), naming one from each class:
Warrior – Rifle: the ability to 2hit someone is great but the weapon provides no escape/defenses
Guardian – Shield: Could say the same for mace. Bunker guardian just fallen off.
Engineer – Offhand Pistol: I’ve never encountered a dual pistol engi before. All pistol/shield.
Thief – Mainhand Pistol: Condi Thief is niche as power builds could have gotten the same results faster.
Ranger – Torch: I’ve only seen two players use it…ever.
Mesmer – Offhand Sword: It has one of the best dps phantasms yet it is under utilized.
Elementalist – Focus: Another niche, often only used with Fresh Air builds, which is rare in itself.
Necromancer – Axe: Imo less favourable than the dagger.

RapidSausage.4620:

My experiences come mostly from wvw zerging and havoc groups, as well as some open world pve.

These are the weapons that i least encountered over my gw2 career:
Warrior: mace mh and oh, rifle, shield, axe mh and oh.
Mesmer: scepter, torch, and sword oh.
Engineer: shield, elixir gun, tool kit.
Elementalist: scepter.
Necromancer: axe.
Guardian: shield, mace.

I would like to see more uses for these weapons outside niche builds without gimping oneself.

From all your examples I also do not use guardian shield and mace(useless) and no elixir gun on Engi.
The rest are all very good weapons on that char imo.

I use shield on guardian during certain fractal encounters. FoTM40+ harpy for example. Get my reflect wall, SoA, stand your ground, and shield #5 (just in case). If that isn’t enough to protect us from knockbacks, then I dunno what is. Shield #5 is also useful against the boss on that fractal as well.

Draknar.5748:

I use shield on guardian during certain fractal encounters. FoTM40+ harpy for example. Get my reflect wall, SoA, stand your ground, and shield #5 (just in case). If that isn’t enough to protect us from knockbacks, then I dunno what is. Shield #5 is also useful against the boss on that fractal as well.

But that would be what the OP said as niches builds, just for that fractal?

I am strongly against meta that currently plagues pvp, infecting players and killing of diversity , sick and tired of seeing the same old same old from people it’s like fighting tedious and boring clones.

Personally I make my own builds and use rarely used weapons in order to take people by surprise.

My war tinkered with a range only build of longbow/rifle, had insane damage and worked quite well, right now he uses sword/shield and hammer sometimes dual axes, and focuses on physical skills, works amazingly well.

My mesmer ran a confuse build, such sweet delicious tears and joy when I see confuse damage of 2k hit them every time they use a skill, it used a scepter and very enjoyable if not a bit squishy.

my necro used axe for its rapid hits and high damage, along with retaliation, it is very powerful when used right.

my current ele is little more than a glass cannon, she switches between staff and scepter…while scepter is really lacking in damage, it makes up for it with versatility and useful skills along with a focus.

People can be so boring using the same build/same weapon sets as EVERYONE else, it does make me hate pvp sometimes, I love seeing people using different/rarely seen weapons, it’s actually fun

to respond to Akikaze,
My ranger used to use torches all the time till they nerfed traps into the ground, if I am not mistaken that has been reverted now, it was insanely deadly and was my best build, traps and conditions, Entangle+Bonfire=dead enemy in a lot of cases.

That build allowed me to carry my entire team at times, even in 4v5 we won due to me holding points, in a lot of cases I ended up with double or more of the score of my entire team, it surprises me that so few use a torch when it is ridiculously effective.

As for dual engineer pistols, I use that on my turret build, the glue shot is handy to keep them in range of my turrets and seems to be the bane of thieves.

i use shield on guard full time in pvp but staff in pve cuz ya know

I main s/f on my ele playing with that combo for allmost a year now, using it for dungeons and fractals. Switch to staff only for world bosses and whisp carrying in the swamp.

Just to comment on the necro – Axe is often used as part of a deathshroud build – in fact i think it is the ‘meta’ for it. Personally I’d say that scepter or OH dagger is used least.

However you could have made this article smaller by just picking any underwater weapon… Necromancer trident is like hitting a mob with a sock soft… :P

RapidSausage.4620:

My experiences come mostly from wvw zerging and havoc groups, as well as some open world pve.

These are the weapons that i least encountered over my gw2 career:
Warrior: mace mh and oh, rifle, shield, axe mh and oh.
Mesmer: scepter, torch, and sword oh.
Engineer: shield, elixir gun, tool kit.
Elementalist: scepter.
Necromancer: axe.
Guardian: shield, mace.

I would like to see more uses for these weapons outside niche builds without gimping oneself.

Ok I was about to give you a pass since you mostly PvP and WvW you say. I was expecting to see that you put on that list PvE only weapons, but as I went through the list you left out A LOT of pvp weapon so your list is of little value if you never encounter these weapons.

Warrior Mace OH, Warrior Axe MH, Mesmer Sword OH and Ele Sceptre are all part of meta build in PvE.
Engineer Tool kit is with nade the most popular kit in PvP
Necromancer Axe is part of the WvW meta
Mesmer Sceptre/Torch, never heard of PU Mesmer ?? Just wow
Engineer Shield, never heard of double kit condi Engineer??

Those are all meta build around the most popular in either WvW, Roaming, sPvP and PvE and you know none of those? Never got melted in WvW by a Necromancer Backliner and his wells? Never chase a PU Mesmer getting invisible every 10sec? Never fight a double kit engi?

Torch. I can’t think of any build for any class that uses it.

I dual wield axes on my Warrior, swapping to Rifle if I need range.

My Necro uses an Axe.

Mesmer uses dual Swords and Sword/Focus.

My Guardian uses Mace/Shield.

I guess I am a minority?

RapidSausage.4620:

shinreigari.7318:

I’m a bit surprised at some of these. I occasionally run EotM but e.g. mesmers with scepter and especially torch are not a rare sight. Engineers with shield are really good roamers as far as i know, i’ve seen quite a few roaming videos too with pistol/shield engis. Elixir gun is also supposed to be good because of its utility.
Scepter for ele is more of a PvE weapon, that’s true, so that is kinda rare in WvW zergs… staff does the job perfectly there.
I don’t know about guardians cuz most of them usually have staff out, but i know i’ve been doing some zerging with mace (traited for more healing), apart from that it does seem like a rare choice.

i hope you know that EOTM isn’t actually wvw, it has become a PVE train so you are more likely to find PVE builds rather than wvw builds in there

Yes, i know it’s very different than “regular” WvW because it has the trains and the strong pve element, but still the world versus world element is there too.
And OP stated his experience comes from wvw and open world pve too, so i thought eotm might not be too far off the point Plus…. zerging is zerging, and i think most people who run with zergs in eotm don’t use the exact same builds as in pve.

aspirine.6852:

Draknar.5748:

I use shield on guardian during certain fractal encounters. FoTM40+ harpy for example. Get my reflect wall, SoA, stand your ground, and shield #5 (just in case). If that isn’t enough to protect us from knockbacks, then I dunno what is. Shield #5 is also useful against the boss on that fractal as well.

But that would be what the OP said as niches builds, just for that fractal?

Didn’t catch that last line he wrote.

I’m not sure there is anyway to have every weapon equally viable across all encounters. I mean, clearly a shield is used for defensive purposes, thus it would mostly be seen in encounters where you need it only.

You certainly don’t need extra defense skills while doing any kind of train, although Wall of Reflect is amazing in EoTM when you go up against an enemy zerg.

Most people are on auto pilot and don’t even think about it lol. Wiped zergs twice our size with some strategically placed walls.

But that has nothing to do with weapon skills so…

Magnnus.5169:

Torch. I can’t think of any build for any class that uses it.

It is a great weapon for a condi ranger though.

I love axe on the Necro. I’ve used dagger, but I’m more comfortable with axe. The second skill hits hard and helps me get in deathshroud faster. I also love me some retaliation.

Engi: off-hand pistol is used a lot less than shield.

EG is always slotted on my engi. It offers condi removal, cripple, poison and acid bomb for huge damage to an area that you are simultaneously escaping from. It’s toolbelt skill is a stun break. I just love the thing. So flexible. IN sPvP if you’re squishy like me and want to kill off a downed character, you run over, drop acid bomb, and it sorta takes care of itself from there. Oh A.B. is also a blast finisher to fire into your healing turret for area heal. In PVE group play it’s saved the “stack” many times with it’s condi removal on the entire group and blast finishing of water fields/ might stacking.

shion.2084:

EG is always slotted on my engi. It offers condi removal, cripple, poison and acid bomb for huge damage to an area that you are simultaneously escaping from. It’s toolbelt skill is a stun break. I just love the thing. So flexible. IN sPvP if you’re squishy like me and want to kill off a downed character, you run over, drop acid bomb, and it sorta takes care of itself from there. Oh A.B. is also a blast finisher to fire into your healing turret for area heal. In PVE group play it’s saved the “stack” many times with it’s condi removal on the entire group and blast finishing of water fields/ might stacking.

I agree, I take my elixir gun everywhere, from PvP to fractals. It’s probably my favourite kit, and a beautiful companion to either grenades or bombs. I don’t know if it’s underused by others, I’ve never paid attention to that.

Offair.2563:

Magnnus.5169:

Torch. I can’t think of any build for any class that uses it.

It is a great weapon for a condi ranger though.

That is rare in and of itself.

Ranger: Torch, I’ve only seen used in some old PvP condi builds; or as a swap for pre-blasting Might when a group doesn’t have an ele or a guard to provide the field.

Mesmer: All weapons have uses, just some are poor in PvE, and others poor in PvP or WvW.

Guard: Torch can do decent damage, but usually the blocks, blind, and (when traited) vulnerability on Focus are far better. Shield is very, very situational; the cooldown reduction a few months ago didn’t help it enough.

Warrior: Mace MH got overnerfed in my opinion, so there is little reason to take it unless you absolutely need another block. Rifle is a lot more situational than Longbow. OH Axe is probably the weakest weapon, as it does less damage with less utility than autoattacking with nearly all MH’s. The other combinations do have some use, either in PvE, WvW roaming, or Sinister builds.

Thief and Ele: Everything sees use somewhere.

Speargun is generally weaker than Spear for the professions that use both; but do have a use.

Magnnus.5169:

Torch. I can’t think of any build for any class that uses it.

Mesmers use torch as one of their main weapons.

aspirine.6852:

Magnnus.5169:

Torch. I can’t think of any build for any class that uses it.

Mesmers use torch as one of their main weapons.

torch is offhand for mesmer too, but it sees more uses with the PU builds, mainly for the stealth, the phantasm is mostly useless.

From personal experience, rarely/never used weapons:

• Warrior: Mace, Axe
• Guardian: Mace, Torch
• Engineer: Off-hand Pistol
• Ranger: Axe, Torch, Dagger
• Thief: ???
• Mesmer: Scepter, off-hand Sword
• Elementalist: (Don’t play this profession so idk) ???
• Necromancer: (Don’t play this profession so idk much) Off-hand Focus

Really depends on the build you’re running too. I usually stick to one build for a long time because it takes a while for me to know it inside-out therefore I don’t explore other weapons.

I have a mega high dps necro who uses axe. In fact the best way to get a really OP necro is not to use minions at all, or staff, as they’re pretty passive and defensive. With scepter + dagger and axe + focus you can do massive damage incredibly easily – almost any skill sequence applies huge vulnerability + stun/interrupt to enemies then whomps them with big dps Death Shroud is still there for defense and taking out multiple mobs.

I honestly don’t know why so many necros use minions. What’s the point of defending yourself endlessly but not having enough dps to clear your way to a chest? Even the meta builds on metabattle.com use staff, consequently their meta builds are pathetic compared to what you can achieve using weapons properly.

(Btw anyone interested in this type of build should check out I Am One And I Am Legion’s youtube channel )