Guild Wars 2

There’s nothing that really indicates any reason why Flashing Blade shouldn’t at least be a leap finisher.

The reason I stopped playing my Guard unless I need it for some fracts is every skillbar is boring.
Sword/Shield with RStrength is my fav setup but possibly the most boring due to long CDs.
Hammer/Mace, cast time on melee autoattacks is terrible design, makes the class clunky especially in endgame where mobility is essential.
GS is dull.
Scept/Staff are ok, tough more of a secondary set.

I believe Powerful Blades should remove 25% CDs on sword, at least we’ll be doing something else than autoattacking.

Even though FB was nerfed in beta, I wouldn’t use that as grounds to claim that it will never be re-buffed. For example, Ranger Spirits also got nerfed (badly) in beta, and Anet has acknowledged that they need to be fixed. Just because a nerf was warranted doesn’t mean the size of the nerf was.

About the 1h Sword, I feel like it only really needs a couple, very small buffs to help increase its PvE appeal, since it’s already a solid option in PvP. I would say:

Flashing Blade: Leap Finisher
Zealot’s Defense: Better accuracy at range, piercing projectiles, 20% projectile finisher (maybe)
Powerful Blades: 20% CD reduction on Sword/Spear in addition to the 5% damage

I disagree with the idea of letting Guardians use FB without a target. Low mobility is one of a Sword Guardian’s inherent weaknesses, and one of the main things keeping the spec in a good state of balance. A DPS Guardian is a terrifying offensive and defensive juggernaut, capable of easily 1v1’ing most classes. By restricting its mobility outside of combat, however, you balance that kind of power. The offensive Guardian could turn into the next Ele if you give it superior offense and defense with good mobility, and that’s not something I’d like to see happen. For similar reasons, I oppose the idea of adding anything more than a short, occasional cripple onto its skills – being able to kite an offensive Guardian is one of the best defenses against it, and if you lose that ability, the Sword’s high sustained damage will shred you in no time.

I don’t really mind FB not being a damage skill, if only because the Sword already brings a lot of single-target damage to the table, but a Leap finisher would be nice to improve a Sword Guardian’s interactions with its team (as would adding a 20% projectile finisher to ZD). If they were to add damage to FB, I don’t think it should be any greater than that of a basic sword autoattack.

I think the most important changes are improving ZD’s ranged accuracy and allowing its projectiles to pierce. If we were to compare ZD to Hundred Blades and Blurred Frenzy, two other rooting “burst” skills, ZD’s primary advantage is its ranged component, but as we all know, trying to actually hit something at range with ZD is an exercise in futility. ZD’s damage is similar to Blurred Frenzy’s, but rather than perfect invulnerability, it only absorbs projectiles. It falls far short of 100B in the damage department, it’s the only one of the three that’s incapable of hitting multiple targets, and it also has the highest cooldown amongst them (and, furthermore, is the only one that can’t be traited with CD reduction). ZD could have been a skill that fit into a “happy medium” between the 100B and BF, but right now, the skill’s functionality is too limited for that to happen.

Giving ZD piercing projectiles will be a positive step for the sword in PvE by providing AoE damage, and it’ll bring ZD into line with other existing skills. Improving its accuracy at range is simply necessary – it’s absurd that I can’t consistently hit a stationary target with the skill at 400-600 range, let alone one that’s moving. Finally, adding a 20% CD reduction to Powerful Blades brings it into line with many other weapon traits while making the sword a more dynamic weapon, since there will be more chances to use skills other than the autoattack.

I love the 1h Sword, and I’ve been running it in PvP since BWE1. I can’t bring myself to advocate significant buffs for it because, in spite of its flaws, I still see myself and others having a lot of success with it, and I can only imagine how overpowered it would be if its natural weaknesses were addressed. Fix ZD, give FB a tiny buff – nothing else should be changed.

Having leveled almost exclusively with Sword and Scepter, I’m a big advocate of having a symbol on every weapon (and hopefully a finisher of some form to use). Now, while a few teleport skills do have leap finishers (and that’s a perfectly fine tune for Flashing Blade), I think a more interesting change would be adding a symbol to the end of the teleport.

All symbols add boons, and the ones not used yet are Aegis, Fury, Might, Stability, and Vigor. Considering these, I think vigor would work nice assuming you haven’t traited 5 in Honor for vigor on crit, but even then, you could apply it to allies. Stability could work, if you got about 1s or less per pulse, and the symbol lasted only a few seconds. Similar with Fury, as longer symbol and boon durations could push those durations far beyond the acceptable ranges. Aegis would be hard to implement, though I think it could be done, as a very short symbol that the enemy would either try and power through the aegis, or decide to wait until the end to pop it once (as aegis stacks only in duration). Might could also be easily worked, providing one 10s stack per pulse on a ~4sec symbol.

Other than somehow putting a symbol on every weapon, I second Soryuju.8164’s sword changes.

Silver.8023:

There’s nothing that really indicates any reason why Flashing Blade shouldn’t at least be a leap finisher.

It is because it is a shadow step mechanic, and thus ignores the laws of immobilize, unlike leep attacks. I dont believe any of the thief teleport abilities count as leep finishers either, which is why it is left without. I think it would honestly be more befitting to be a blast finisher due to its aoe blind mechanic.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Phase_Retreat
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Illusionary_Leap
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Feigned_Surge

Despite only Mesmers having this gift, each of those are a leap finisher, which also fall under the teleport category, as does Flashing Blade.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Teleport

So at least according to that, its fully possible to have a leap finisher. Blast I’d guess is workable too.

A Blast finisher on FB would definitely be cool, and it would have the benefit of giving the Sword some supportive elements that it’s currently missing. I’m always going to lean conservative when it comes to Sword buffs, though, and the variety of powerful effects Blast finishers provide make me a little skeptical about whether the change would be healthy for balance. I’d personally put it on my wish list, along with more damage for FB and a 20% projectile finisher on ZD, but it’s not something I’d ever expect to see implemented.

1h Sword doesn’t need love, it needs the player to learn how to play ir right!

yLoon.5289:

1h Sword doesn’t need love, it needs the player to learn how to play ir right!

There isn’t a lot to “learn” from 3 attacks really.
First is DPS, second is AoE blind/gap closer, third is anti-projectile+worse-than-autoattack’s-DPS.

The problem is they are on too long CDs considering how weak they are.

Teleport with 10 secs cool down is OP in pvp

yLoon.5289:

Teleport with 10 secs cool down is OP in pvp

This isn’t really true. The only kind of Guardian that runs with a Sword in TPvP is the DPS Guardian, barring certain bunker specs on Khylo, and while the DPS Guard is a very strong dueling build, it has definite weaknesses, and it’s usually passed over in favor of bunker Guardians and different tanky DPS classes (such as its arch-nemesis, the Ranger).

Flashing Blade is certainly an excellent skill, particularly when combined with the various other blocks and blinds a Sword/Focus Guardian can bring to the table, but if you’re suggesting the teleport makes it OP, I’m not quite sure why. Most times you’ll be fighting in close quarters anyways, since the DPS Guard is most effective on points, and the teleport won’t be doing that much once you close the initial distance. It can help with kiting a little bit, but without a snare, it’s a temporary solution at best, and classes with any sort of mobility will have no trouble opening the gap up again (10 seconds is a really long time when you’re fighting something like a Trap Ranger). The Blind is certainly good for making critical skills miss, but that’s not an ability unique to Guardians, and not something I’d describe as “OP.”

As I said in my initial post, I think the Sword is a very good PvP weapon and doesn’t need much added to it, but the DPS Guard faces stiff competition for a spot on a team, since its primary utility comes from its 1v1 capabilities. It can’t take the place of its bunker cousin, since while it is tanky, it won’t be able to anchor a point indefinitely against multiple players. It doesn’t jump into team fights as easily as something like an Ele, Shatter Mesmer, or Trap Ranger does, and each of these can 1v1 just as effectively as the DPS Guard. Referring again to my initial post, I think ZD is the main thing in need of attention, but shaving 2 seconds off of FB’s cooldown or adding a Leap finisher to it isn’t going to suddenly make DPS Guardians broken.

I would like to see zealots defence last longer.

I think it’s fine.

I think ZD should actually “block” projectiles instead of just absorbing them, but other than that it’s not bad and it succeeds at what it does.

Flashing blade is on a VERY low cooldown, it doesn’t need 900-1200 range (that would be overpowered). And on top of that it applies area blind. Our other utility teleport, judge’s intervention, is on a 40 second cooldown (5 times more), just to put it in perspective.

Sword autoattack is pretty high dps as well, jus sayin.

Meh, this is getting boring. I don’t get your argument at all. May i also whine about staff eh?
Yeah, staff is barring certain DPS guardian build! Omg, change them, change staff! Change it into Polearm perhaps! Super range attack ultimate! L O L

Ranger arch enemy? L O L, they are my fresh meat even if im bunker. Pop out wall when he thinks his finishing me. A tip for you, change ur utilities when u saw 4 ranger in their team. Again i emphasize, this is just a “learn to play” issue. You do not expect a set of weapon and skill to win all of the classes, being able to adapt is the key in GW2, not whining about change this change that, or not why the NPC always shout"Last minute to nail down your strategy"?

Im getting extremely tired seeing post like this. Just misleading the new players. Sigh….

Tell me, which class enable you to teleport with 10 secs cool down?

yLoon.5289:

Meh, this is getting boring. I don’t get your argument at all. May i also whine about staff eh?
Yeah, staff is barring certain DPS guardian build! Omg, change them, change staff! Change it into Polearm perhaps! Super range attack ultimate! L O L

Ranger arch enemy? L O L, they are my fresh meat even if im bunker. Pop out wall when he thinks his finishing me. A tip for you, change ur utilities when u saw 4 ranger in their team. Again i emphasize, this is just a “learn to play” issue. You do not expect a set of weapon and skill to win all of the classes, being able to adapt is the key in GW2, not whining about change this change that, or not why the NPC always shout"Last minute to nail down your strategy"?

Im getting extremely tired seeing post like this. Just misleading the new players. Sigh….

Tell me, which class enable you to teleport with 10 secs cool down?

Your comments about the staff are completely irrelevant to my post, and make me think that you really didn’t read it. I really have no comment here, because I have no idea what you’re trying to say.

About the Ranger, yes, I might switch utilities if I see 4 Rangers in a team, but that’s an example blown hilariously out of proportion (unless you’re talking hotjoin games, but that’s a different beast entirely). Most teams run 1 Ranger, with some comps bringing 2, and most of the time, that’s not going to be enough to justify using a utility slot on WoR in PvP. Guardians are very dependent upon their utilities, and taking that slot to deal with a class I shouldn’t be trying to fight in the first place is going to be detrimental to my team. As you yourself say, you can’t “expect a set of weapon and skill to win all of the classes,” and if you’re talking about the standard Meditation Sword build or Bunker build, they’re going to lose in a 1v1 against an equally-skilled Ranger. The Ranger is known as an “anti-bunker” class, so if you’re able to beat them without breaking a sweat, you’re playing bad Rangers (i.e. the ones who would fall for something like Wall of Reflection).

The point of my original argument, which you seem to have completely missed, is that DPS Guardians are a solid dueling spec balanced out by their poor out-of-combat mobility, but that they aren’t currently popular choices when compared to 1v1 classes like the Ele or Ranger, since these classes can duel well, have better mobility, and also contribute more to team fights. Making ZD more accurate and giving it piercing projectiles gives PvE players what they want while also giving TPvP teams some extra reasons to invest in a DPS Guard in their compositions (more AoE = better team fighting). Is the sword going to be hopelessly broken if these changes don’t happen? Hardly. But implementing these changes would help make the DPS Guardian more more thakittenth-man choice on team comps, and would diversify the bunker meta tournament Guardians have been stuck in since release.

Lastly, I already acknowledged that Flashing Blade is an excellent skill, but no, I don’t think a 10-second, 600 range, targeted teleport is especially overpowered. What other class can bring that, you ask?

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Infiltrator%27s_Arrow

900 Range. AoE Blind. Doesn’t require a target. No cooldown.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Phase_Retreat

Can be traited down to a 6.4-second cooldown. Can close gaps if you about-face before casting. Instant cast. Doesn’t require a target. Creates a clone if you have a target. Leap Finisher.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Illusionary_Leap

When traited, 9.6-second targeted teleport. Cripple and Immobilize built in. Instant cast Swap that currently acts as a stun breaker. 600 Range. Leap Finisher.

So to answer your question, Thief and Mesmer allow you to teleport with a cooldown lower than 10 seconds, and two of the three skills I mentioned work for mobility out of combat.

Indeed, all other weapons have a symbol and sword does not. Really now a sword should have a symbol of retribution. (returns damage done to you and your allies that are inside the symbol back to their respective attackers).

Sword symbol should give fury if anything. Sword is a pretty offensive weapon.

You fell for it, you just checkmate yourself, i can rest my case now.

Out of total EIGHT classes, only Guardian, Mesmer and Thief have Teleport skill with short cool down, stop whining about Sword, learn to play.

Guardian got about the 2nd lowest mobility of all classes in exchange, so your argument is invalid

yLoon.5289:

1h Sword doesn’t need love, it needs the player to learn how to play ir right!

I was mainly Sword before the last patch. I know how to play it right. We’re not all PvP though so yes it does need just a little something for us PvE guys IMO.

Not sure if Fury would be best on a symbol, if you’re running sword you’re prolly in RHS already and running good crit. Although I guess it could open up some build options. I’d be happy with a ZD change also.

I would use the sword if Zealot’s Defense could actually hit something that was moving. As is… it’s more of a liability to be rooted while doing that animation than anything else.

If they got it working properly… I could deal with the drawback of the non-penetrating attacks from this weapon. But no penetration PLUS can’t hit… no thanks.

Iavra.8510:

Guardian got about the 2nd lowest mobility of all classes in exchange, so your argument is invalid

That’s too general a statement to mean anything. Being mobile isn’t only about how fast you run. In a combat situation, we have a number of tools that make us very mobile. No, they aren’t your traditional ability to run 25% faster. They are condition removal, teleports and gap closers.

I happen to agree that sword doesn’t need much if any attention. Swords three attacks are very comparable in effect and scale to the first three attacks of any other weapon we possess. ZD could be less odd and more appropriate but it’s not useless by any means.

I would personally dump the whole projectile concept from ZD and replace it with something very simple that incorporates more of the Guardian toolset, like a symbol.

I think the 1hand sword could use a damage boost myself. My thoughts:

Sword #1 – no issues, be nice if there was a 20% chance of a finisher on one of the chain attacks

Flashing Blade – hate that it requires a target, think it would be awesome to have it as a finisher of some kind

Zealot’s Defense – I think this ability just needs to have its cone of attack widened, just to narrow atm for trying to hit something at 600 range.

Combo fields and finishers are what makes combat in GW2 interesting and complex, the fact that guardians have so many weapons with limited/no combo fields and no finishers is annoying.

I think is just fine.

Sword 1: Good the way it is, it does AoE sometimes so I can’t complain. Anyway, if u wanna AoE just switch weapons. This is a 1v1 weapon.

Sword2: I think it’s awesome. The damage is just a bit toooo crappy haha but I think I like it anyway since the AA is good enough and procs VoJ every combo.

Sword3: I agree it does suck and the damage is lacking by a lot. I do wish it was either penetrating or that it allowed you to move (Prefer the latter) as the absorbing projectiles is awesome and if it let you move, you could laugh at rangers shooting stuff at you while you walk towards them

But yeah, as already mentioned, this Weapon is not for killing big mobs, actually it is surprising that it actually has a little AoE on the AA. If u wanna AoE with a 1H use a Mace xD and if u wanna do AoE in General and still use Sword, just swap to GS or Hammer and problem solved.

Read this and offer your view.

I felt compelled to reset my password and post a reply purely to this thread.
Firstly lets see where we stand with the sword and why many of us feel it needs to be upped.

Its auto attack is quick and procs justice regularly
Flashing blade has a nice cooldown and is a useful gap closer
Zealots is a hard hitting attack with a projectile block.

In my opinion the auto attack does not need to be changed in any form.

however….

As versatile as the sword is in combination with a offhand many feel it lacks extra utility that could be provided without making the sword op.

Firstly I feel the sword deserves a combo finisher. When compared to a greatsword that has 3 combo finishers and a combo field the sword has nothing to boast of that works in sync with a teams abilities.

Now in fairness the teleport isnt a leap, as much sense as that makes, its a light that blows outwards to blind and as of such in my mind makes more sense to be a blast finisher.

giving the skills increased damage, having a aoe drop upon hit etc etc just adds a unfair advantage onto what in my mind is already close to being a balanced weapon.

my main gripe is with Zealots. It sends out projectiles which can be bounced back and absorbed yet it doesnt count as a projectile finisher. Whilst were on the subject the guardians scepter auto attack doesnt count as one either which is pathetic.

The shield it creates from projectiles do not count as blocks even though it specifies it blocks projectiles. Therefore the traits that gives might and burn upon blocking should apply to this skill yet it doesnt.

-Fix the blocking on Zealots (Im aware the wiki says it absorbs and not blocks. change the tooltip.)
-Give us 1 combo finisher (with our offhands we only have 1 combo field with the shield and 1 combo finisher with the focus both on 40+ cooldowns)
-And as the Zealots blades move slow anyway would you please remove our inability to move during the skill.

Anyone have views on this?

Iavra.8510:

Sword symbol should give fury if anything. Sword is a pretty offensive weapon.

That’s a pretty good idea.