Guild Wars 2

Hello all. I’m running a balanced build for PvE (usually solo) with a mix of offense and defense. For a bit of extra dps, I’m going to include a Spirit Weapon. Sword of Justice has more uptime, but Hammer of Wisdom has more utility. SoJ trumps HoW in terms of damage, as I understand it. But HoW brings a bit of cc to the table. With all SW traits (excluding A Fire Within), do you guys prefer one over the other in PvE? If so, why? Thanks.

Hi, that depends a bit on the weapons you’re using and your play style. The 3rd attack on the hammer provides a knockback – which I think is part of that “utility” you mentioned – and it can be a hindrance to you if you pack mobs for an AoE. Let’s say you pull all mobs with GS #5 and are about to hit WW and the hammer knocks one of the mobs away from you, or you immobilize an enemy with scepter #3 and cast scepter #2 on him and the hammer knocks him out, etc. The knockdown command you can only use twice – it’s decent but nothing super-fancy in PvE.

I’d say go for the sword if you want a DPS increase and for more utility maybe consider the shield? The dome it creates will prevent ranged mobs from damaging you while you deal with melee oponents and it can be commanded to cause weakness further lowering the damage you receive.