Do you like/ hate your weapon sets?
Love:
Staff: Jack-of-all trades weapon. The auto does the same damage as scepter while never missing and is AoE. Support from both Empower and Line of Warding as amazing, The Orb of Light(don’t detonate!) does significant burst damage.
Hammer: Excellent burst weapon. Long cast-times are a bit meh but the damage/CC make up for it.
Love/Hate:
Torch: the #4 is neat for aoe burning but the #5 is a terrible skill overall. The damage is sub par and the cone to remove conditions from your allies is too small(not to mention it doesn’t remove it from yourself).
Hate:
Scepter: The auto is unreliable at best, easily strafe-dodged. Smite is very inconsistent with its dmg.
Great Sword: Even slower than Hammer in terms of pulling off burst damage without the significant CC. Both Whirling Wrath and Symbol of Wrath are only useful against downed-bodies due to how easily dodgeable they are. This is supposed to be a more Damage-focused weapon and yet the dmg is actually lower than Hammer.
Sword: Auto #3 misses alot and has VERY little cleave. Zealot’s Defense makes no sense for a weapon that’s supposed to stick to its target not to mention the projectiles miss most of the time.
Shield: Someone else can explain this one far better than I can
Mace: The auto is too slow and the 3rd hit doesn’t cleave. Not to mention the healing gained from the #3 auto is so insignificant you’ll never notice it. Symbol of Faith is just like Symbol of Wrath, only useful on downed bodies since it’s so easy to avoid and the benefit gained from it is a pittance.
Shield: Someone else can explain this one far better than I can
This don’t need to be explained, the weapon speaks by itself. I REALLY hope they buff this weapon. I don’t think its functionality must be changed, only buffed. (remove the root and/or channel from #5, add new effect on #4, etc.
They should also put a descent secondary effect on the trait, maybe shield skills remove conditions, apply regen, aegis, or something else.
Sorry for my english.
Love:
Hammer – My top fav weapon. only wish that the last 3 skills were a bit more applicable in PvE. but it’s simply too fun to smash with (guardian smash!)
Mace – I enjoy how this weapon works. In PvP the range of the circle is limited, But in PvE it works quite well. And with the news of the impending buffs, this is getting even better.
Torch – similar to Mace, I just enjoy the playstyle. #5 could use a bit of a buff, but overall I enjoy the weapon.
Hate:
GS – while I enjoy the leap (Guardians need all the gap closers we can get), the weapon overall isn’t something I enjoy. it’s further compounded by the fact that it is “meta” makes it something I prefer to avoid. I’m looking forward to seeing other weapons catch up to it in HoT
Sword – hate the animations, hate the fact that the only beneficial aspect to it is it’s auto-attack (the blinds aren’t to bad either).
Scepter – I just dont’ get this weapon. people say its high DPS on large hitboxes. great. feels like im making skitteny with a long stick. feels silly actually. not a huge fan of the skill setup or animations either. I’m REALLY looking forward to getting a different ranged option in HoT (too bad its a “specialization”….I’d love if i could just switch to the weapon in combat).
Medicore:
Shield – this is one of those weapons I really wish had more to it. I love the classic 1h/shield look, and it’s really disappointing to me to see just about every other option out there surpass the shields capabilities in huge ways. This is one of those “should have been” weapons. If they buffed it’s abilites to make them more viable and flexible, This would shoot up to my favorite list fast.
Focus – meh. it’s in the middle…I don’t hate it, don’t like it. good defensive options…I pretty much pull it out for group/world bosses, thats about it. only reason i pull it out on those is i need SOMETHING to combine with my Scepter of stupidness.
Staff – This just fits here because It’s not one of my favorites. I don’t hate it, but I usually just end up using something else. It too fits into my world boss set…great support weapon with flexible ranged damage and buffs. Versatile group tool, but i tend to solo allot, So I just don’t use it that often.
(edited by funkyfuzz.9142)
I’m up there with you funkyfuzz. I totally agree with you on a lot of the weapons. In particular, my favourite weapon, the one hand sword along with the shield are pretty lack lustre and I feel are in need of some quality of life changes.
I’m thinking of starting a thread to give my opinion and gauge others on what they think of guardians one hand sword and how its kind of fallen out of use seeing the rise of GS, specially in PVP.
The GS and Hammer I feel are two of the best weapons (design and efficiency wise) the guard has. They both have unique dynamic skills and overall good synergy between said skills. This makes them great for both PVP and PVE.
I’m not a fan of how meta the GS is especially seeing as everyone and their mother who plays guard in PVP plays medi GS. Pretty much every guard I see also runs GS in PVE, with good reason. The weapon is obviously going to be a favourite for people because…well its a giant sword so yeah, but the skills themselves like the Hammer are so dam dynamic and fun as well as being efficient in dealing damage and granting some utility.
Like some people have said already, HoT seems set to give other builds and other weapons a better chance of use. I myself will be doing a LB / Sw & Shield build with my DH using traps. I’m hoping to make a similar build for PVP as well.
T,L,D,R
I feel we are in a good spot aside from Sword and especially Shield, who don’t need any real number changes but some quality of life ones that will hopefully get people to use them more often. Specially considering the rise in GS use.
I’m coming from a dungeon/fractals perspective, PvP/WvW is way different.
Love:
Greatsword: Good burst, blind (plus vuln with traits), and pulls. Can do a less reliable group condi clear with symbol+whirling wrath.
Focus: Blast, all important blocks, and blinds (+vuln again). Just watch out for friendly fire Skale Venom procs off the 4 skill.
Hammer: On fights where it’s useful, it’s awesome. Blasts, protection, vuln (off the symbol trait), a nice but slow root, and a long cooldown Defiance stack remover. The ward is also useful in some niche areas. Probably the most satisfying weapon to use.
Average:
Sword: Nice damage on the autoattack, but be very careful around mobs that reflect. Projectile blocks also “lock” it into trying to use the third skill in the auto-chain for far too long. Blind+Teleport, though it requires a target and the recent teleport changes reduced the number of fun tricks it could do. Skill 3 is terrible, a very glitchy projectile block and most of the bolts end up traveling underground, and don’t hit an enemy.
Mace: I personally dislike it, but it is quite useful for areas with lots of little packets of damage that are too much to dodge or avoid (keep the group’s scholar bonus), or when you absolutely need an extra block. Can be very good DPS but requires perfect block/counter timing. Also symbol vuln when needed.
Scepter: Slow projectiles, can even miss PvE mobs so it’s not just a PvP issue. Smite isn’t a symbol, so it’s unreliable outside of huge hitbox mobs or objects. The root can be nice, but it’s 900 as opposed to 1200 range like the other two skills which can be rather annoying.
Spear: Great burst when needed, but the lack of a cleaving auto really weakens it.
Ugh:
Shield: I wish it were good out of some very rare niche uses.
Torch: I know it’s supposed to be better than focus for some fights, but I just can’t bear to use it anywhere except for Shoggath.
Trident: The only thing good is the sink, and maybe the tricky to use blast.
Staff: I love this for running around the open world for swiftness. I hate its use in dungeons. Blocking out useful 20s Might stacks for weaker 8s ones, low damage even with the 5 target as opposed to 3 for other autos. The line can be useful in some niche areas.
Lille of the Valley [WHIP]
Love:
Greatsword – it’s the weapon that attracted me the guardian profession. I love whirling wrath’s animation! I’m glad it gets a changed effect while using a legendary
Mes (Guardian)
I make PvP & WvW videos
I make PvP & WvW videos
Love:
Greatsword: cause of Sunrise and ww
Hammer: cause of The Juggernaut and banish
Focus: cause of block
Hate:
Scepter: shooting blue drunk balls
Torch: vomit blue flame is not my thing
Mace: cause of The Moot (ugliest legendary 4ever)
Staff: cause of the Bifrost (not even frosty)
Shield: cause all other classes have block on it, guardians get kittened
Sword: cause of #3 root state attack
Staff: I enjoy the weapon a lot, although I do believe it requires changes. The change I believe it should get the most is receiving a different auto-attack. The weapon is clearly a support weapon, but instead of having a supportive auto-attack that heals, buffs, or helps allies in some way, it gets a farming tool that usually isn’t even worth using in proper combat scenarios. Something like the trident’s auto-attack would be great (with proper base and scaling values).
Having an increased range on Empower would be nice, although perhaps not entirely necessary. Orb of Light could also use some cooldown buffs on its detonation cooldown.
Torch: Torch #5 needs buffs. I’d prefer it to keep its selfless supportive nature, but in order to keep it that way it requires a decrease in channel time, an increase in target limit, and an increase in range. Alternatively it could be made more selfish, even though the guardian already has a lot of selfish options. Torch #4 is perfectly fine.
Shield: The protection nerf should be reverted in PvP. The shield heal could also probably be changed to not be pathetic, and the barrier should stick around rather than having to be channeled.
Scepter: I enjoy that it offers a ranged option for guardians, but besides Chains of Light, the weapon is pretty boring. So I think it could use some changed to make it more interesting to use outside of Chains of Light.
Focus: It’s fine in my opinion. Relatively fun to use. Maybe it could use some slight changes.
Don’t care much about the other weapons, but they mostly seem in a good condition. Perhaps maces and swords could use some changes.
(edited by Fashion Mage.3712)
A rank:
Hammer- high damage, high utility. Very satisfying.
B rank:
Staff- great utility, low damage but not crippling, great for tagging/chipping
Mace- deceptive damage, good utility. Mace 3 needs a toggle to end early and needs to survive ranged attacks. Mace auto 3 needs to cleave damage, but not healing (thief and necro dagger tech)
C rank:
Greatsword- good burst and leap. Overall feels clunky with after cast lag. GS5 has great mechanic with binding blade dot
Sword- good sustained damage and movement options, but feels lacking. Sword auto 3 should be 3 quick succession waves to keep hit count the same, but reduce obstruction. Sword 3 should become a symbol with same functionality.
Scepter- great damage potential. High chance for a lot of damage to miss. Scepter 3 needs a slight cooldown reduction or 1200 range. Smite needs to become a symbol. Scepter aa needs projector finishers, possibly very slight homing.
Focus- overall pretty good. RoJ isn’t Jesus beam, but good condo removal and blind application. Focus 5 is strong, but landing the damage feels gimmicky, and the blocks may/may not always be best put to use. Traited focus is definitely good.
Torch- good burst and burn application. Torch 5 is great for allies but lack luster or dangerous for yourself. T5 needs supreme justice and permeating wrath to excel. T5 could also remove one condition from yourself and allis every three hits.
D rank:
Shield- missing some key parts to make it more useful. Cooldowns were addressed, but are still too long for the effects. Shield 5 needs to not root and maintain the bubble after movement. Adding projectile destruction and maybe reflection to shield 4 and 5 respectively could give it a strong anti-projectile niche. Shield skills granting aegis on use would also provide a niche for shield.
Hopefully i haven’t forgotten anything. That would be embarrassing. Longbow will probably be A or B ranked.
Fishsticks
Love:
Greatsword: cause of Sunrise and ww
Hammer: cause of The Juggernaut and banish
Focus: cause of blockHate:
Scepter: shooting blue drunk balls
Torch: vomit blue flame is not my thing
Mace: cause of The Moot (ugliest legendary 4ever)
Staff: cause of the Bifrost (not even frosty)
Shield: cause all other classes have block on it, guardians get kittened
Sword: cause of #3 root state attack
Ahh, you seem to be rich.
I hate having to rely on sword for mobile damage, because the projectile autoattack is horrendous. It should just be replaced by something that cleaves and isn’t reflected since, y’know, it’s a melee attack. Honestly, I hate how much our melee weapons are projectile-based in general. It ends up being very counterproductive.
Also our shield skills are awful. The bubble can be excused if they’d just get rid of the rooting effect, but the 4 skill should really just be scrapped in favor of something else entirely.
Other than that, I like our weapon sets and skills, but quite a few of them could definitely use some fine-tuning. Sword 3 and torch 5 in particular should be made less situational and more worth using off cooldown, and the third hit of the mace and hammer chains should be a little faster IMO. Expanding on the mace, the third hit of the autoattack should cleave, and the block should be given the properties of every other weapon block (counter that doesn’t proc from a ranged attack, can be cancelled during the channel for its secondary effect).
(edited by Black Box.9312)
Love:
GS: good damage, some mobility and really useful mechanics like pull, whirl finisher and blind
Hammer: Me-smash-u-die weapon with a crapload of utility. 5-6 blast finisher… Awesome! Slow as a glacier but hits for the same amount. Hammer auto3 should be a tiny bit faster so a running opponent gets at least one tick damage. The immob is balanced I think. Bit slow and easy to dodge but in exchange it pierces.
Love/hate:
Scepter: Smite should be a Symbol even if the CD doubles. In HoT it would make a fearsome combo with Zeal and Longbow. Auto is meh but at least it has a good damage.
Sword: Auto3… projectile… seriously? And what is the reason I cannot move while reflecting projectiles? Any time you pop this you give that pewpewranger a second and some to gain distance… Makes no sense. If I want protection against ranged enemies the last thing I want during this is standing still…
Focus: utility and defence all in one. Bit long CD on the RoJ but this is only my opinion. The shield is fine. Nice damage and blocks and a blast finisher. I doubt anybody in combat uses it for a blast but if it happens… Every little helps.
Torch: Good-good but suicide. Nice damage but close to zero utility for yourself. Unless you running a hybrid or condi. Again, ask me again after the HoT release.
Hate:
Mace: weak heal and utility but some very nice party support. Auto is faster then the Hammer’s but it has no short-range gapcloser. I feel it does a good damage I just cannot apply this to my foes. The only one-handed with a symbol so I use it in symbol-bunker builds.
Shield: it’s… just not making it. Long CD and thousand times cursed mechanics, But we will see this in HoT.
Staff: it has it’s uses but I hate this weapon because it’s not made for my playstyle. Lootstick, symbol, heal, might, ward and orb… I just hate this weapon (possible for no reason but the question was subjective anyway…) It would be much better if I could cast Empower while moving… Maybe…
My two coppers…
#I no words have"
My only salt is towards the hammer/scepter autos and how terribad SW3 is. SW3’s issue is going to be partially fixed with the trait rework, but the hammer and scepter autos really need some work.
Love/Hate:
Torch: the #4 is neat for aoe burning but the #5 is a terrible skill overall. The damage is sub par and the cone to remove conditions from your allies is too small(not to mention it doesn’t remove it from yourself).
Torch #5 + Big Game Hunter vuln on hit + multiple targets…. Sooooooooo looking forward to it…
Living Dead Girl ~ Necro
[Rev]
[Rev]