Guild Wars 2

Xenon.4537:

Filaha.1678:

Xenon.4537:

As for you… Have you ever taken advice in your entire life? For anything? Did you stop to think maybe someone was just trying to help when they suggested you use a certain weapon? Your attitude reflects the social decay of today’s society (at least here in the U.S.) and it’s depressing. Someone opens their mouth to give free advice during a cooperative activity, and he receives a mountain of vitriol for his effort. As if advice has become an insult.

Your soapbox would be a lot sturdier if it wasn’t for the fact that people literally kick you out of dungeon groups if you’re not playing your character the way they want you to.

There’s a difference between “Hey, did you know that this does more damage than this?” and “Hey, you kitten noob, why are you kitten using a kitten greatsword? gtko my group kick”

I’ve literally never seen that happen so I guess I’ll just have take your word for it that everyone in GW2 acts like such a child. In that case, fine, don’t listen to those jerks. However don’t jump down my throat just because you’ve had a bad experience. Sometimes you do, in fact, need to use the correct weapon or skill to kill the boss. That’s just how games work.

By the way, this IS a cooperative multiplayer game last time I checked. Why do people get so uppity about their build and instead “play how I want” in a multiplayer game where success is measured in group effectiveness? It’s not even that hard to switch your build. Your staff will still be there in your bag when you finish the dungeon. I promise your staff won’t get jealous you were using the sword for 20 minutes.

I never said everyone acted like that.

There was also no need for you to jump down CMM’s throat.

Don’t complain about someone getting on your case when you’re pleased as punch to dole it out.

And the reason people like to play the way they want is because that was a huge selling point for this game. If everyone’s just going to be demanded to play a specific role the way the group wants them to, might as well just play an MMO that has defined roles for their classes.

You heard it OP, everyone can play the way they want. I’m sorry your thread got hijacked by the mesmer greatsword fanboys who want to be extremely defensive about their playstyle.

In any case, greatsword is a lot of fun on guardian imo, both in any type of PvE and sPvP. Warrior greatsword is very powerful in PvE as well and has some nice mobility. For mesmer on the other hand, the greatsword is a ranged weapon. Now I’m not all that much of a fan of the GS on mesmer. The damage is meh and generally ranging isn’t so interesting to me. As for whether it’s a good or a bad weapon… I keep it for those rare occasions where range is necessary, but all in all if I wanna spend my time tagging mobs in open world (apparently this is a whopping 99% of the pve content) I wouldn’t even choose for the mesmer since it’s one of the least effective classes for it.

Ranger… I don’t really have an opinion. Just leveled it to 80 and never touched it again.

spoj.9672:

Thats why i said niche situations. No need to take offense and go on the defensive.

And no i wasnt talking about dungeons. If you want aoe just go sword focus? Its better dps, got a sustainable aoe auto attack and more utility. Only downside is its not 1200 range. :P

You guys need to leave my swords alone!

…but seriously, Focus is horrid for most unscripted PvE. It’s too kitten slow. If you’re soloing and you’re controlling where/when mobs move? Sure. But if there’s like 5+ other guys killing stuff in the same event, things die too fast leaving Warden swinging at nothing before it disappears after having maybe hit 2 or 3 times.

GS is great in general PvE because it doesn’t die quite as easily, it’s attack is fast (although the cooldown is hefty) and it’s a wide AoE. Did I mention it was fast attacking? That’s extremely important especially if your phantasms are fragile. The other stuff being AoE helps as well…

…but then I’m that crazy sylvari that will use GS and S/F at the same time. Actually, I prefer S/S and don’t give a kitten what you people say. Phantom Swordsman is efficient and effective, not to be mistaken with optimal, but when someone needs reliable damage on a target now, waiting for berserker or warden is a flippin’ pain.

What classes use Great Sword? 4 of the 8

What class is good with a great sword? 4 of the 8

what game mode are you in?

General PvE? 4 of the 4 are good.
Dungeons and Fractals.? 2 of the 4 are good.
WvW? 4 of the 4 are good.
sPvP? 4 of the 4 are good.

that answer your question?

Kaldrys.1978:

Only in GW2 would a weapon set be judged on its ability to tag mobs over its actual contribution to a fight.

Quoted for truth.

Personally, I use greatsword fairly often on guardian and warrior, rarely on my mesmer and ranger. I mostly prefer onehand swords for those two classes in PvE. I’m not really into zerg events though, so tagging stuff mostly isn’t what my gameplay is about, and going through endgame areas solo I feel more comfortable with my swords on mesmer and sword/bow combo on ranger.

spoj.9672:

You guys are still getting hung up on it. Tagging is a niche.

In a game with no gear treadmill where endgame is cool skins and you need tons of high-tier mats for those and where those drop in both old and newly added maps, of course tagging is more niche than one-per-day dungeons. /sarcasm

Kaiyanwan.8521:

Tagging stuff in PvE is hard enough for mesmers, but tagging with S/F – why would anyone do that? Because you want to avoid any loot at all?

Probably. I guess they’ve never been to Orr temple events where mobs die faster than your Warden can say “whirl”.

drowze.3709:

Doing my harvesting runs also doesn’t require GS tagging, even when I’m in Orr and killing a group of mobs here and there for the extra drops.

And then people come here and tell us that the game isn’t rewarding. I once believed that a staff Carrion mesmer was cool in lvl 80 maps, but then thought a bit and started facerolling mobs with Berserker’s and GS before they even come close to me. You might notice a positive change in your game if you step out of your beliefs, too.

Kaldrys.1978:

Only in GW2 would a weapon set be judged on its ability to tag mobs over its actual contribution to a fight.

“Only in a game with independent per-player loot would a weapon set be judged on its ability to tag mobs over its actual contribution to a fight.” FTFY

Iris Ng.9845:

For those who enjoy Silverwaste like me, iDuelist is pretty sick with its safe-ish unloading range, iSwordman has a dodge and both weapons provide solid block/CC skills. They are particularly good against Mordrem Wolves who come in pack and constantly jump on you.

“I see a group of enemies coming, so I use two single-target skills which lose their effect once one of the targets die.” Logic? Tip: you don’t need any CC and blocks if a group of mobs have been mowed down by iZerker and Mind Stab before they even reach you, and if you do, you group them with Curtain pull, immobilize with iLeap and Blurred Frenzy to finish off.

Iris Ng.9845:

Astralporing.1957:

spoj.9672:

Thats why i said niche situations. No need to take offense and go on the defensive.

So suddenly 80% of the content is niche? Interesting.

Sorry, I didn’t realize that 80% of players’ prime time is spent running around in zergs and tagging either.

I wasn’t speaking about tagging, nor were i speaking about some players “prime time”. I was talking about the game content – and in PvE most of the content is open world, not dungeons. And for that, gs is actually really good.
The fact, that some players’ “prime time” is devoted only to niche content doesn’t change that.

greatsword on mesmer is really bad dps, you should use sword instead

I’ve tried Mesmer Sword, and it does do more damage if you’re within like 300 range or so of the target, but anything beyond that the damage plummets when compared to the GS. Just not worth the trade-off.

To answer the OP’s question with a question though, Can your class equip a Greatsword?
N: Your class is not good at Greatsword.
Y: Your class is good at Greatsword.

If you want to maximize your GS, the guardian does it best. All the other classes have uses for the GS, but the guardian can use it in every single game mode (general PVE, dungeons, WvW zerg or roaming, sPVP).

The others have some game modes where the GS might not be as valuable (warrior for instance, will be better off using hammer/sword-WH in WvW, mesmer with sword/X, etc.).

What a nice read!
10/10

I play mostly guardian with GS .. my rangers have also one in the second slot.
Played warrior the first 6 months or so with GS, but at some point i just got
sick of it and preferrerd axes.

spoj.9672:

It has nothing to do with dungeons but ok.

Its all about dungeons .. nobody in the open world cares about your playstyle
beside yourself, and if you prefer a weapon that kills a little slower for visuals
or for feel more secure or whatever .. its simply your decision.

Lishtenbird.2814:

Kaiyanwan.8521:

Tagging stuff in PvE is hard enough for mesmers, but tagging with S/F – why would anyone do that? Because you want to avoid any loot at all?

Probably. I guess they’ve never been to Orr temple events where mobs die faster than your Warden can say “whirl”.

This is quite amusing because ive never had a problem with tagging with just sword auto and focus. And also since necro got 2 target cleave on dagger ive also not had a problem with tagging just with that. Most people are slow to tag and kill. It really doesnt take much to tag and get loot.

Its always fun seeing how defensive people get when someone merely suggests that their weapon of choice might not be the best in the world.

spoj.9672:

Lishtenbird.2814:

Kaiyanwan.8521:

Tagging stuff in PvE is hard enough for mesmers, but tagging with S/F – why would anyone do that? Because you want to avoid any loot at all?

Probably. I guess they’ve never been to Orr temple events where mobs die faster than your Warden can say “whirl”.

This is quite amusing because ive never had a problem with tagging with just sword auto and focus. And also since necro got 2 target cleave on dagger ive also not had a problem with tagging just with that. Most people are slow to tag and kill. It really doesnt take much to tag and get loot.

Its always fun seeing how defensive people get when someone merely suggests that their weapon of choice might not be the best in the world.

Look, most mobs will be dead until you are in melee range. Warden has a terribly long cooldown as only sort of ranged attack with a 1h sword.

There is no way you can tag in events as good with 1h sword/whatever than with a GS. In fact, 1h sword fails in crowded events, as normally mobs are not close together (auto attack therefore will most of the time only hit one target), the phantsam dies as fast as its target and has a long cooldown and while you are trying to get in range to that one target over there, everyone else AoE bombs the kitten out of all other things which you will get no loot for.

Go play as you like, everything is ok in open world was the argument of the dungeoneers anyway. But just don’t spread misinformation. 1h/x is just not as efficient in tagging and therefore in open world as GS.

And on the necro thing, with a D/W and Staff DS build with targeted 100% crit wells, you can tag anything all the time, just because you have tons of ranged AoE options. You won’t have those with a 1h sword using mesmer ever…

Yeah Spoj, l2p necro..

OP:
So if you’re looking to get a SWEET GS skin, but you want to play a class that will actually use it in PvE. I’d say Guardian or Warrior. Even then, you’d be in nasty competition with the hammer.

Ranger: The evasions, freedom of movement and spike damage make this great for PvP. It’s not bad in PvE, but the longer you play the class, the more you will use the 1h sword instead.

Mesmer: Mesmers don’t really swing their greatswords, they just kind of twirl them around. It’s pretty neat, but very underwhelming if you get a legendary and AFAIK can’t really experience the streaks. Also with Mesmer as the last 80 I leveled, the 1h sword was the only weapon I could get used to.

Guardian: I think more people are switching to hammer these days, but don’t quote me on that. Otherwise the GS has great dps and great AoE along with that neat pull ability. This would be the only class where I’ve seen min/maxing builds utilize the GS as a primary in the past.

Warrior: The class has taken some heavy nerfs, but when I played it GS was only used as a swap for Hundred Blades. After that it was back to axes.

Kaiyanwan.8521:

Go play as you like, everything is ok in open world was the argument of the dungeoneers anyway. But just don’t spread misinformation. 1h/x is just not as efficient in tagging and therefore in open world as GS.

This. I would even go as far as saying that using non-GS builds in open world events like Orr temples is counter-productive. While other players spam lower-damage, wide area attacks, but you focus a single mob for higher numbers, you’re a liability because you simply waste your DPS.

If 10 people spam 1k hit AoEs on 5 mobs with 10k hp each, then in one second these mobs will die and everyone will get loot. If 9 people spam AoEs and someone spammed a 5k phantasm on a single target, then in one second 4 mobs are still alive, one mob is dead but was overDPSed for -4k, and one smart person got loot from only 1 mob.

GrimmR.3541:

Yeah Spoj, l2p necro..

“Learning to play” kinda means finding the most efficient ways of reaching your goal in different scenarios, not sticking to a single scenario and finding the ultimate build for it. And killing mobs for loot in large groups is also a very important goal for many, many players.

Your assuming that i dont change things for open world. I do. But using gs on mesmer isnt one of the changes I make except in very niche situations.

This is pretty ironic being told whats what by open world elitists.

Astralporing.1957:

spoj.9672:

Thats why i said niche situations. No need to take offense and go on the defensive.

So suddenly 80% of the content is niche? Interesting.

So it’s more important to tag all mobs and let them get killed by someone else instead of killing them by yourself?
Yeah…
The only argument for Mesmer GS is laziness. For everything else there are other weapon choices which are more effective, even at tagging.

HHR LostProphet.4801:

The only argument for Mesmer GS is laziness. For everything else there are other weapon choices which are more effective, even at tagging.

Please record a non-GS mesmer video of “more effective, even at tagging” from Melandru 2nd beacon, Grenth final phase, Arah defence (unfortunately Arah pre farm has been bug-nerfed).

HHR LostProphet.4801:

So it’s more important to tag all mobs and let them get killed by someone else instead of killing them by yourself?
Yeah…

Indeed, killing mobs which die under 1 second due to massive AoEs should be a higher priority. Oh, wait…

Esmee.1067:

Yargesh.4965:

I use it all the time in pve. One of the benefits of mesmer is that all the weapons are effective. I personally enjoy greatsword.

This goes for every single class in the game if you don’t give a kitten about being as effective as you can be, so how is this “one of the benefits of mesmer” exactly?

Compare and contrast mesmer greatsword to other less viable options for PvE (across all classes). Mesmer greatsword is really quite good in that regard, still allows for zerker stats, traits, etc. You won’t get the same out of other less viable options as you will with mesmer greatsword. It’s one of those “in-between” weapons, IMO. You’re still rolling with some damage and utilities good for PvE but you’re not just making the most of your weapon set.

It’s all about that context and comparison though. People keep trying way too hard to pretend that comparison doesn’t matter.

What’s funny is that if this thread was about Staff instead of Greatsword the resultant posts would have been almost identical, with maybe a few professions changed here or there.

hybrid.5027:

What’s funny is that if this thread was above Staff instead of Greatsword the resultant posts would have been almost identical, with maybe a few professions changed here or there.

Guardian staff 1, fastest tagging in the game?

Yep.

Xenon.4537:

spoj.9672:

You guys are still getting hung up on it. Tagging is a niche. I didnt say mesmer gs is bad full stop so please chill out. Maybe get back on topic instead of getting into another mesmer gs debate.

Lol okay well “tagging” may be technically a niche but it’s a niche about as wide as the grand canyon when it comes to pve. GS wins in the open world for tagging, and it remains competitive and more reliable for DPS in the open world IMO. So tagging and DPS. I don’t know how many other niches there are in pve.

You know something is seriously wrong with this game when “tagging” mobs for loot (and not actually doing any real damage to that mob) is what is important in most open world content.

calyx.9086:

Xenon.4537:

spoj.9672:

You guys are still getting hung up on it. Tagging is a niche. I didnt say mesmer gs is bad full stop so please chill out. Maybe get back on topic instead of getting into another mesmer gs debate.

Lol okay well “tagging” may be technically a niche but it’s a niche about as wide as the grand canyon when it comes to pve. GS wins in the open world for tagging, and it remains competitive and more reliable for DPS in the open world IMO. So tagging and DPS. I don’t know how many other niches there are in pve.

You know something is seriously wrong with this game when “tagging” mobs for loot (and not actually doing any real damage to that mob) is what is important in most open world content.

Lishtenbird.2814:

HHR LostProphet.4801:

The only argument for Mesmer GS is laziness. For everything else there are other weapon choices which are more effective, even at tagging.

Please record a non-GS mesmer video of “more effective, even at tagging” from Melandru 2nd beacon, Grenth final phase, Arah defence (unfortunately Arah pre farm has been bug-nerfed).

HHR LostProphet.4801:

So it’s more important to tag all mobs and let them get killed by someone else instead of killing them by yourself?
Yeah…

Indeed, killing mobs which die under 1 second due to massive AoEs should be a higher priority. Oh, wait…

Also, if you’re not doing good damage with a greatsword in open world as a Mesmer, there’s something wrong with you, not the game.

Edit: In case it’s not clear, I quoted Lishtenbird as a response to calyx, I’m not responding to Lishtenbird.

I don’t get how group events with lots of mobs you need to tag are suddenly most of the content? Even most world bosses are single target lmao. Not to mention mobs don’t even drop loot in silverwastes. That just leaves a few maps and events where GS would actually be superior.

GS necro is best GS.
ps: thread is now @ staff guard.
Condi Guardian/10 – “This thread delivers” – IGN
On topic: make a warrior. GS not only is good damage but also give mobility.
actually warrior is solution to everything.

munkiman.3068:

hybrid.5027:

What’s funny is that if this thread was above Staff instead of Greatsword the resultant posts would have been almost identical, with maybe a few professions changed here or there.

Guardian staff 1, fastest tagging in the game?

Oh gosh, please don’t touch it. That would be like threatening the bread and butter of many, many players who participate in 80% of the game content.

Let’s come back to Greatsword, guys

I hate GS on warrior.

I like it on guard as a mainstay.

Mesmer and ranger, I keep one handy just for a change, I like other setups with those roles though.

HHR LostProphet.4801:

So it’s more important to tag all mobs and let them get killed by someone else instead of killing them by yourself?
Yeah…
The only argument for Mesmer GS is laziness. For everything else there are other weapon choices which are more effective, even at tagging.

Heh, you and your buddy really are confrontational, especially with your closing comments. You’re trying to get a rise out of people so they argue with you? Or do you just like sounding snarky.

GS on Mesmer isn’t laziness. And to speak that far, for a weapon that has potentially the best AoE range of any mesmer weapon, in a situation where you might find a use for such a think, it an obvious troll attempt. GS is good because what it offers comes in limited amounts on Mesmer.

That all being said, have people forgot they can just use GS + something else? Why try to defend your style as the ‘right way’? Do you just want to be recognized as a player that sets the example for all the other lesser players? Is that really necessary?

Just a tip if you didnt know. If you are completely polite when giving an arguement most people will take no notice and ignore your comments. Being snarky makes people notice and ensures a reply. It can escalate so you just have to be careful with it. Forum tactics 101.

Im not going to continue argueing about this mesmer gs thing. I simply said it has its niche uses but is not good for everything and everyone took offense and started a stupid defensive based on tagging. My first comment was in response to someone asking why another poster said “dont use greatsword on mesmer”. I was merely pointing out the most likely reason for his comment. People dont like it when others mention disadvantages of a weapon that they use on a regular basis.

If the only time I play mesmer is open world, then it is a bit crazy to hear “don’t use gs”.

Every one of my characters that can use gs, does use gs. Damage on ranger is bad, but is made up for in utility (interrupts and mobility). On warrior you have good damage and mobility. Guard gs has everything. So yeah of all classes that can use gs mesmer is the worst (no mobility and not great damage)… but that doesn’t seem to be the point people are trying to make. It’s not like mesmer has any better weapons to fill that second slot. Using sword twice and just changing the offhand might max dps in certain niche situations (lol) but recommending it for anything other than organized dungeon running is silly and you’d just be crippling yourself. The lack of range is the big problem.

Of all classes I have at 80, mesmer is my least favorite. The “best” weapon, mainhand sword, is like you took thief mainhand sword and added cooldowns, removed the interrupts, and bugged out the teleport. I can’t help comparing the two when I play mesmer and there are no tradeoffs like in the gs comparisons above, thief sword is just better in every way. I want to like mesmer but compared to other classes I just don’t find it fun or effective.

I don’t get why you people seem to tag better with a GS than with a sword. For me it’s easier to run in melee range and spam 1 than to tab through the whole mob horde. But if tagging is that important, why would anyone play Mesmer instead of staff guard anyway?