Guild Wars 2

haviz.1340:

Who uses 0/15/30/20/5 for dps builds?

Simply trying to compare GSword apples to Hammer apples is all. This is a build I’m interested in testing so I checked both weapons against it.

Blood~

You should make a build with weapons in mind.

What if Shield of Judgment was a cone AoE knockdown, or applied Aegis to all allies in the AoE?

Aside from Shield of Judgment being incredibly lacklustre, there’s also the issue of the abysmal shield skill cooldowns. 30 seconds and 40 seconds? There’s elites that have lower cooldowns. Okay I lied. But it’s pretty close.

haviz.1340:

You should make a build with weapons in mind.

I play a Thief when I want to be all nimbly bimbly and my Guard when I want to go toe to toe and smash stuff. I had both weapons in mind with this build.

Meow if you have some suggestions on specific builds for GSword and Hammer I’d be interested in testing them too, please enlighten me.

Back to the OP, I’d love to see Sword buffed. It was great before the last patch but really only for the crit healing, damage output and mobility but lacking in other utility. Now Sword and Torch are just really lacking more than before. All of our other weapons are great in the right situations and it seems most every ability is useful if you let it.

Blood~

Hammer builds usually get as much in honour as possible (symbol traits) while GS build should have 15-25 in zeal and at least 10 in radiance (until they fix blind exposure). I guess you could make 15/25/0/30/0 for hybrid build for both gs/hammer.

I think the idea that certain traits should be used with certain weapons is self-imposed and limiting. It seems that the thinking behind the question of the thread stems from this philosophy of making a build. Since the premise of being ‘forced’ to play with a certain weapon is nonsense to begin with, I can’t help but think that make builds around a single weapon is somehow flawed or limiting as well. We can swap weapons on the fly to address changing situations, not builds.

greatsword is probably the guardian overall best weapon;
huge aoe.
good dmg.
combo fields/finishers
good utility; gap closer, pull.

overall, it rocks.
and gameplay is sweet.

“Forced to play with a Greatsword”

So we end up with a discussion comparing damage numbers and clear times between GS and Hammer? Are you KIDDING me?

Every weapon the Guardian has is viable in different ways. The GS is a great weapon for clearing mobs in PvE for sure, I use it all the time. I also constantly switch up my weapons for varied situations and use different synergies of weapons to freshen up the gameplay.

Focusing on a single weapon or weaponset will only make you a limited Guardian.

OP, I would suggest to just go ahead and use your sword and shield. It is definitely not a bad combo. However, I wouldn’t be relying on your sword and shield in every situation.

In fact, if you haven’t already, I would give this guide a read: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/Guide-PVE-Guardian-101-A-Beginner-s-Text/first

That guide should clear your mind towards the Guardian a bit and open you up to plenty more options available to the class.

For the time being, I would suggest trying out different weapon switches between your sword/shield and other weapons. I can guarantee after reading that guide you will find a good way to utilize your sword/shield in combat (at least outside of PvP) with specific traits and weapon synergies.

SuperHaze.4210:

Ynna.8769:

Try PvP, Sword and Board works pretty well there.
Also, you have to keep in mind that weapons in Guild Wars 2 correspond to a playstyle, and the Greatsword offers a popular playstyle. This doesn’t mean the Greatsword is a better weapon than all other weapons, just that what it offers is more popular.

So true. I run scepter/torch and sword/focus in my meditation build. The playstyle is very in your face. I have a lot of fun with it and if timed right, you can unload some serious damage. I only pvp though. The only thing missing in my build is an interrupt, but I just don’t want to swap the focus with a shield because of the burst potential from Shield of Wrath.

I run the same setup, only I use sword / shield instead of the focus. The shield skills are extremely handy in pvp for causing disruption (aoe knockback / burst heal on #5 is amazing), and the protection given to you by the #4 shield move is very nice as well. Granted the cooldowns are a bit high, but seeing as how I’ve taken on 2 people in wvw at once and killed both with more than 80% health remaining is super sexy.

Oh! One distinct advantage of sword / x-off hand combo is having 2 sigils that can proc compared to the 1 from greatsword. Something to think about! (I use 30% lifesteal chance on sword, 60% bleed chance on shield, which gives me amazing results)

Setun.4368:

SuperHaze.4210:

Ynna.8769:

Try PvP, Sword and Board works pretty well there.
Also, you have to keep in mind that weapons in Guild Wars 2 correspond to a playstyle, and the Greatsword offers a popular playstyle. This doesn’t mean the Greatsword is a better weapon than all other weapons, just that what it offers is more popular.

So true. I run scepter/torch and sword/focus in my meditation build. The playstyle is very in your face. I have a lot of fun with it and if timed right, you can unload some serious damage. I only pvp though. The only thing missing in my build is an interrupt, but I just don’t want to swap the focus with a shield because of the burst potential from Shield of Wrath.

I run the same setup, only I use sword / shield instead of the focus. The shield skills are extremely handy in pvp for causing disruption (aoe knockback / burst heal on #5 is amazing), and the protection given to you by the #4 shield move is very nice as well. Granted the cooldowns are a bit high, but seeing as how I’ve taken on 2 people in wvw at once and killed both with more than 80% health remaining is super sexy.

Oh! One distinct advantage of sword / x-off hand combo is having 2 sigils that can proc compared to the 1 from greatsword. Something to think about! (I use 30% lifesteal chance on sword, 60% bleed chance on shield, which gives me amazing results)

Just to let you know, all sigils with on crit/on swap effects share internal cooldowns, so your lifesteal and bleed procs are interfering with each other. Every time one activates, the other sigil can’t activate until the first is off cooldown (and if I recall, Sigil of Blood’s tooltip is wrong, and it actually has a 5 second cooldown). It’s the same thing if you’ve got a crit sigil on one set and a swap sigil on the second: if you change to the swap sigil set while the crit sigil is on cooldown, you miss out on your on-swap effect. Because of the way it works, it’s best to pair these sigils with passive sigils, like Superior Force or Bloodlust, so you get a bonus without interference.

I don’t think food effects interfere with sigils, though, so if you’ve gotten attached to the Sigil of Earth, you could use Omnomberry Pies to compensate for the non-functional Blood Sigil. I’d personally recommend something like Sigil of Fire instead of Earth, though, which will be better DPS overall.

@Soryuju

Thanks for the info, I really would not have figured that out so obviously. Especially the bit about the tooltip showing the wrong cooldown.

All those replies are good, but the topic driffted a bit from the orginal idea. I was not talking about damage, what is the best damage weapon. I was looking at the weapons from the FUN aspect.

So, once again.

If I would like to not just auto attack or use 1 skill, I’m basically forced to go GSword. Potentially, Staff or Mace.

But, for an idea of a Sword and Board Guardian, that is basically, auto attacking.

Pretty much is just autoattack but I think it serves a purpose really.

I prefer it because its reactive, its akin to GW1 days where my main is a mesmer. I autoattack and react with interrupts, blinds, self defense or whatever else was on my skill bar for a given situation.

Being on constant auto attack lets you be ready to react much quicker and with ease, since you wouldnt be busy setting up anything or be in the middle of an attack animation/casting.

It helps that sword+shield skills are mostly best used in a reactive manner. As I have mentioned in another thread blind and protection against huge attacks, zealots defense against projectiles, shield of absorption against projectiles or interrupt with a knockdown.

All’s left is augment it with utility skills that are best used in a reactive manner as well, like stability-granting skills.

tanshiniza.8629:

Spiderwick.1879:

So, basically, everyone goes by playing with a Gsword as it offers the most of our weapons?

If it comes down to what offers the most then I’d have to say Hammer because if you know what you’re doing it’s too awesome for words

Indeed. I play with the hammer, and it rocks. I got a GS as secondary, sometimes, or a staff.

Only time I use GS more than hammer is in lazy open world events where I can use the spin to win ability for easy tagging of mobs.

Spiderwick.1879:

All those replies are good, but the topic driffted a bit from the orginal idea. I was not talking about damage, what is the best damage weapon. I was looking at the weapons from the FUN aspect.

So, once again.

If I would like to not just auto attack or use 1 skill, I’m basically forced to go GSword. Potentially, Staff or Mace.

But, for an idea of a Sword and Board Guardian, that is basically, auto attacking.

Well if ‘fun’ is what you were looking for, you won’t get much help – nobody here can define what you find fun.

I actually have more fun with the hammer. I greatly enjoy the animations and the constant blast finisher.

Shimond.2478:

Spiderwick.1879:

All those replies are good, but the topic driffted a bit from the orginal idea. I was not talking about damage, what is the best damage weapon. I was looking at the weapons from the FUN aspect.

So, once again.

If I would like to not just auto attack or use 1 skill, I’m basically forced to go GSword. Potentially, Staff or Mace.

But, for an idea of a Sword and Board Guardian, that is basically, auto attacking.

Well if ‘fun’ is what you were looking for, you won’t get much help – nobody here can define what you find fun.

I actually have more fun with the hammer. I greatly enjoy the animations and the constant blast finisher.

Quoted for truth pretty much. Since fun is self defined I actually am that odd one that gets to have fun with sword and shield because I like just being on constant autoattack so I am available to react with my other skills

GSword definitely has a good ‘fun’ feel to it. The abilities all work together and when you can round up a group, drop a seal, leap and WW it just feels good. I will have to agree that our other choices don’t hold that level of synergy. What helps me is really knowing what the weapon is doing for you. Being effective is fun.

Staff has become a fun weapon for me. Damage isn’t huge but its not bad, and there are a lot of fun tools on it, more so after the latest patch. Hammer is dull in the fact that you use 1>2 for most stuff but the tools are usually available for when you need them. I find Hammer/Staff great for Arah3 end encounter for example. Mace/Shield Protection is another fun setup, you have to actively maintain your boon with weapons and shouts, like a minigame.

I’m constantly switching weapons and utilities to fit the content. This is really what makes the class and game fun for me. The only weapon I don’t switch in currently is Sword/Torch but that’s due to my current build. Try to tailor your bars to the encounter, that will open up your options quite a bit.

Blood~

Ever since they improved the staff I haven’t been able to stop playing with it. Its just too kitten good thanks A net for giving us well balanced weapons. Well except sceptre.

GS is just a lot of fun and every skill is usefull in any situation, hammer is very situational and for some a little boring (1,1,1,2,1,1,1,2) in pve. its still a good weapon! the only thing i cant get myself using is scepter – mechanics are okay but the visual effect just does not make it a fun weapon.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around that person testing builds without proper traiting based on what weapon you’re going to ideally use. For GS, something like 20/25/0/20/5 would be nearly ideal, whereas Hammer would be 10/25/0/30/5.

In terms of fun, Mace/Sword seem to be lacking while Hammer is in the middle and Greatsword rampages.

Mace is slow and doesn’t have much depth. Sword is essentially 1 spam. Hammer can be used in various ways, but the auto-attack isn’t fun to use (personally). Greatsword… I don’t know anyone who doesn’t find it fun.

Sword can be fun, but often times it seems like you don’t really have to use other skills or react as 1 spam with 2 as a gap closer is so much better than most things you can do.

I find combo finishers fun. I like using Guardian one handers. Guardian gets hardly any combo finishers on their one handers.
Really liking the new staff changes too!

I use a great sword, but that’s because it goes extremely well with my sword and torch as my finisher. Judge’s intervention combined with the majority of the greatsword’s skills are an awesome follow up after I complete my sword/torch burst.

I’ve tried a hammer and a scepter, but I either lose all of my momentum or I have difficulty closing the gap my sword/torch combo creates.

they really improved the staff in the last few patches;

quicker ball#2
quicker empower
line of warding while moving

just tweak other weapon in this fashion, to make them more fun

greatsword just works so well with the floaty and no collision gameplay of gw2!
you spin thru people, pull them, jump thru them, superb aoes.
best weapon bar none for guards, even without 2h mastery (but you still should take it).

Not all weapons will be good for all situations.