Guild Wars 2

I am just wondering which class can use sword most efficiently and/or needs the most as their primary weapon.

I don’t think any of them need sword more than any other weapon. I use it regularly on warrior, ranger and mesmer and fairly often on thief.

In what game mode? WvW, sPvP, PvE or just overall?

Thief-In all game modes, it is the main weapon. Maybe in large scale wvw, shortbow is more important. Other then that, you can use sword as a main weapon.
Guardian-PvE mainly, in sPvP less so, in WvW only in roaming, large scale specs use 2-handed weapons
Warrior-Only “worker” warriors in large scale wvw, or condi specs in roaming.
Ranger-In all game modes, sword is pretty good. It is the main weapon for PvE, for WvW mostly taken for mobility, and it’s decent in sPvP.
Mesmer-PvE main weapon, WvW also important. sPvP currently uses more staff/gs but sword can be ok too.

It’s very situation specific.

Warrior – main hand sword is generally more PVP oriented mainly because it is condition damage specific. Off hand sword is very useful in single target combat, such as fractal bosses, like Legendary Archdiviner and Mossman, or even in encounters against single high HP targets. I’ve even used it against harpies in Fractals because the block/counter is not triggered by their rapid fire.

Thief – General PVE and even some PVP. Thief isn’t quite my specialty but I do love using the sword on thieves because of the animation. Swords are the only weapon that cleave for thieves so it’s a PVE staple.

Ranger – Highest single target DPS weapon that you can get for Rangers. Has issues if you keep auto target on though because of the attack chain.

Ranger and Mesmer make the primary use of Sword. Thief does but just for groups of trash mobs or where more AoE is needed. Warrior only makes good use of it in the Off-Hand unless you’re using the dungeon solo condition spec. It’s Guardian’s highest DPS weapon as well

Edit: Sword does cleave for Ranger, it’s not single target

If you want to be taken seriously as a ranger or mesmer in PvE you need a MH sword. PvE ranger is typically sword/(warhorn, axe, dagger depending onwhat you need for the content but usually warhorn) and GS in the offset for an optimal DPS rotation and for max melee range fights, and be sure to take traited frost spirit and spotter to not be kicked from speedrun groups instantly

For mesmer, sword/sword/pistol/focus is used depending on the content, as the GS is essential a psuedo bearbow weapon.

Thieves need sword for trash mobs in PvE (D/D for bosses) and many popular PvP and gank builds use it. Warrior it seems mostly for support/immob/mobility in WvW and condition builds, while its a PvE mainly weapon for guardian (but idk guard that much so idk what their meditation builds use per se).

I find Warrior makes the best use of sword. Im just not fond of it on Guardian. Ranger is a suicide tactic, the amount of times its bugged out and flung me a few extra feet off the edge of a cliff is ridiculous. and on Mesmer, its outright terrible, if there was any other one-handed power weapon, I would use it.

Argon.1563:

and on Mesmer, its outright terrible, if there was any other one-handed power weapon, I would use it.

o.O

The 1H sword is arguably one of the best weapons for the mesmer…. to each their own I suppose…

Argon.1563:

and on Mesmer, its outright terrible, if there was any other one-handed power weapon, I would use it.

Proof one should take all advice on these forums with a grain of salt….what you said is 180 of the actual truth….Sword is hands down the best MH weapon a Mesmer has.

Sword on a non-condition damage Warrior is a horrible choice.

Brother Grimm.5176:

Sword on a non-condition damage Warrior is a horrible choice.

If talking PvE, its usually not the best choice but for Arah or TA i would make an exception (only offhand I mean). though mainhand also is useful for some skips..

Sean.8274:

o.O

The 1H sword is arguably one of the best weapons for the mesmer…. to each their own I suppose…

Brother Grimm.5176:

Proof one should take all advice on these forums with a grain of salt….what you said is 180 of the actual truth….Sword is hands down the best MH weapon a Mesmer has.

Just because its the best weapon the Mesmer has, doesn’t make it good. I use Sword myself, because im forced to. Its the best weapon a Mesmer has, but its by no means good, or effective. The #1 is too slow for my liking, the #2 is…ok…at a stretch, the Blur is nice I guess, and #3 is buggy. When im playing Mesmer, I normally just have the sword for looks. Offhand Sword is nice though. I like the Swordsman. I know plenty of people like the Mainhand Sword, but its not for me. Ill be waiting until the Mesmer gets a better power-oriented weapon.

Sword for Mesmer is the same as Sword for Thief; it’s our only cleave weapon, which is why just about every player carries it, either as their primary weapon or as a backup.

Personally I use Scepter/Pistol most of the time, but I will swap to Sword for dungeons and certain Fractals.

Argon.1563:

Sean.8274:

o.O

The 1H sword is arguably one of the best weapons for the mesmer…. to each their own I suppose…

Brother Grimm.5176:

Proof one should take all advice on these forums with a grain of salt….what you said is 180 of the actual truth….Sword is hands down the best MH weapon a Mesmer has.

Just because its the best weapon the Mesmer has, doesn’t make it good. I use Sword myself, because im forced to. Its the best weapon a Mesmer has, but its by no means good, or effective. The #1 is too slow for my liking, the #2 is…ok…at a stretch, the Blur is nice I guess, and #3 is buggy. When im playing Mesmer, I normally just have the sword for looks. Offhand Sword is nice though. I like the Swordsman. I know plenty of people like the Mainhand Sword, but its not for me. Ill be waiting until the Mesmer gets a better power-oriented weapon.

It is a good weapon. The auto alone stacks 2 vuln and removes a boon with each chain and comes with an extremely long invul attack on a short cooldown. It also has a stun breaker built in and is 1H so you can pair it with any offhand phantasm you want.

The only thing it lacks is aggregate damage but that’s just because mesmer DPS is balanced around the idea of having phantasms as well. If you gave the mesmer’s sword the DPS output of a warrior they’d be through the roof for total DPS with phantasms.

Argon.1563:

Just because its the best weapon the Mesmer has, doesn’t make it good.
……

It does for a Mesmer… Your desire to have an UBER-weapon for every class is irrelevant to what weapons are generally considered the most useful ones you CAN use. Mesmer’s should in no way be a melee powerhouse class….despite what you might “like”.

Brother Grimm.5176:

Brother Grimm.5176:

Sword on a non-condition damage Warrior is a horrible choice.

If talking PvE, its usually not the best choice but for Arah or TA i would make an exception (only offhand I mean). though mainhand also is useful for some skips..

The assumption that PvE = Dungeons is a personal perception problem that seems to abound in these forums….. Sure there are instances where the mobility a sword gives a warrior is useful, but in general (and certainly in terms of damage output), sword is terrible for anything but Condi Warrior. Off-hand might have some usefulness as a block, but it also generates damage based on CD stats.

Brother Grimm.5176:

It does for a Mesmer… Your desire to have an UBER-weapon for every class is irrelevant to what weapons are generally considered the most useful ones you CAN use. Mesmer’s should in no way be a melee powerhouse class….despite what you might “like”.

Well, again, assuming that PvE=dungeons, Mesmer is at a clear disadvantage for not being a melee power house simply because the way dungeons are designed makes melee several times better than almost every ranged weapon in terms of damage.

Fire staff ele is a big exception though.

nearlight.3064:

Brother Grimm.5176:

It does for a Mesmer… Your desire to have an UBER-weapon for every class is irrelevant to what weapons are generally considered the most useful ones you CAN use. Mesmer’s should in no way be a melee powerhouse class….despite what you might “like”.

Well, again, assuming that PvE=dungeons, Mesmer is at a clear disadvantage for not being a melee power house simply because the way dungeons are designed makes melee several times better than almost every ranged weapon in terms of damage.

Fire staff ele is a big exception though.

Stop trying to range with mesmer then.