Guild Wars 2

Hey guys
So I a bit tired of getting to choose a main since all the 3 current classes I have aren’t the one after all. So right now I want to have a surprise. I want the strongest class that uses !h Swords and that can main that weapon in PvE and WvW Roaming. I don’t care which one is it I just want to use that weapon as a main weapon set. This request might sound odd but right now I’m up for anything really.

And about GS? That one is the Warrior right? (i mean melee, I don’t want to have a GS to shoot lasers)

Sword professions are Guard, War (in offhand as well), Ranger, Thief, and Mesmer. GS is for Guard, War, Ranger, and mesmer, although you dislike the laser beam so that nixes Mesmer. Imo, main hand sword is best on guard, war, or ranger. Thief is very niche based, and so is mesmer (both deal with boon ripping). Ranger sword deals with crippling and poison, war sword is cripple and spike damage, and guard sword is mainly just damage dealing.

Well I already have a Guardian, I like both sword there, but I know the class can be drtonger with other Weapon set’s
I think this leaves to Ranger and Warrior then

Lot of people complain about the ranger sword as it roots you in the autoattack at the third stage, which means you can’t dodge right then.

The warrior sword is nice. Has a leap to target.

Astral Projections.7320:

Lot of people complain about the ranger sword as it roots you in the autoattack at the third stage, which means you can’t dodge right then.

The warrior sword is nice. Has a leap to target.

Final Thrust is pretty nice too. Against things with less than 50% health it hits as hard as Eviscerate.

Yeah, Ranger sword takes a bit of getting used to. I also forgot to mention ranger greatsword, but (from what I’ve gathered) it’s not a great weapon. Has a block, some vulnerability, I think bleeding, and a leap.
So in all, I’d say Warrior, although main hand (and off hand) are VERY 1v1 specific.

The part I like about the ranger sword is that it has a “follow”. The third stage, the kick, moves you to the target. So if the target moves away from you, you automatically follow it. You don’t have as many misses where the target has moved away from you and you hit empty air. I don’t PvP and I suspect the rooting at the kick stage is a problem there. It’s not nearly as much as a problem in PvE, but some people dislike the loss of character control.

Mainhand sword is the mesmer’s best weapon, so that’ll give you an excuse to actually use the weapon rather than be kicked from dungeon groups for running with crap gear. Also, mesmers are the only class that can use dual swords and actually have a legitimate reason for it (dual sword is garbage on warrior) so there is also that. Ranger sword is similar insofar as it’s their best weapon but the root can be annoying for a lot of people, myself included.

It’s not bad for the guardian, either, but it’s not their best weapon either.

I main a sword/dagger setup on my ranger for a lot of PvE content.

The sword provides a lot of mobility, both in ‘sticking’ to your target with the auto-attack chain, and evades with sword #2 and #3. With off-hand dagger, you get another evade. and a ranged attack as well, both delivering more condition damage.

The ranger sword is generally considered the highest DPS weapon for the class, and this comes mainly from the sword #1 auto-attack chain. The other 2 skills are mainly condition damage and are more useful for evading and positioning. Traiting for things like damage bonus while flanking helps a lot.

The downside of the ranger sword is leaning how to use it without accidentally flinging yourself off cliffs or positioning yourself behind obstructions.

As for the rooting, this can be avoided somewhat by disengaging the auto-attack function on sword #1 and triggering this skill manually. This way you can try to interrupt the chain before the last part begins.

Thief using Sword / Pistol & Sword / Dagger offers a LOT of options (possibly too many to trait for maximum effect). Been running this combo lately and it’s a blast.

Not sure what the obsession with 1 handed sword is here as I think I’d shoot myself if I couldn’t swap around weapons on a regular basis. Whatever floats your boat.

Ranger sword = One of ranger’s best weapons. Roots you in place and can mess with your dodge, but has very good dodge/evades on the weapon, especially when combined with dagger.

Mesmer sword = One of mesmer’s best weapons. It does the most damage out of the other mesmer weapons. You won’t hit very hard, but it has a long evade (I miss the invuln) and a leap/immob that’s rather buggy. Sword/Sword on a mesmer is very good, and used by a lot mesmers. It also looks pretty kitten.

Warrior sword: Not the best weapon on the warrior, but not the worst. It’s good for pairing with warhorn if you want to move around quickly. It can deal a lot of bleeding, so if you wanted to run a condition warrior (?) it would be good for that.

Thief sword: Has an immobilize when used in stealth. It’s great for moving in and out of combat, and can be paired for a very dodgy/evading thief build.

I have little experience with the guard sword, but from what I hear it does very good damage.

IMO mesmer is the best. I’m biased as my main is a mesmer. But you pretty much have to use sword/offhand & sword/offhand if you want high damage in PvE.

I use sword/pistol as my main combo on thief. Dat headshot <3 plus it deals decent damage. The best attack (#3) does root you however.

Thief probably does more damage than the Ranger. Especially if you’re going to throw the pet out of the equation. Thief Sword is also much more engaging whereas the Ranger weapon is a far more reactive weapon. Ranger sword, as mentioned several times, is also very aggrivating to use.

I don’t know how close you are to actually wanting to make these characters, but we’re coming up on some changes soon. Thief sword is being nerfed. We already know they feel the initiative use on the evade+boonhate is too low. This is targeted nerf at the evade spam though. ANet hasn’t said what they’re doing with Rangers, only that weapon changes are in our future. I would wager Sword auto attack is on the table. Although it can be dealt with and some players like it, it’s very aggrivating for new players.

If you can at least wait until next Tuesday you may see some changes. I think the Thief nerf is scheduled for next week? The Ranger adjustments hopefully the week after.

If you want to start now, I’d say play the Ranger some in sPvP and see if you think you’ll enjoy the leaping mechanic of the sword. If not, Thief is an amazing class and you’ll probably enjoy it.

Warrior is also a good class, but the sword is a bleed weapon so it may nto be what you’re looking for.

GuzziHero.2467:

……The best attack (#3) does root you however.

I always use ESC to cancel these long animation attacks if necessary….thought everyone else did too. Sure the skill is partially lost, but you can at least attempt to avoid a heavy incoming hit.

…..Warrior is also a good class, but the sword is a bleed weapon so it may nto be what you’re looking for.

Been playing a Sword/Warhorn & Axe/Sword combo lately on my Warrior and I very much enjoy it. The sword main hand is more about the #2 closer and the Burst (that can stack bleeds like crazy), While the ranged Torment of the sword off-hand is a very nice opener or something to toss at a 2nd target before dealing with a more dangerous foe. In PvE, a well timed Final Thrust can certainly end a fight much quicker.

Now that I’m thinking about it, might give Sword / Sword a try but Axe main hand can generate some serious sustained DPS and Eviscerate is just an Awesome Burst and a great spike compliment to Final Thrust.

Atherakhia.4086:

If you can at least wait until next Tuesday you may see some changes. I think the Thief nerf is scheduled for next week? The Ranger adjustments hopefully the week after.

Off by two weeks. The big balance change is coming on the 15th not the 1st.

The flanking strike change would mostly affect the WvW side of the question. Not many PvE situation where boon stripping matters unless you are planning to farm CoE or Veteran Karkas. Even then it depends on whether the Initiative cost stays the same.