Guild Wars 2

Just as a disclaimer before you read this, There is no dps meter in the game so all of the calculations are done completely off time of kill and that I only did 10 tests per weapon.

I ran several tests in pvp today on heavy target dummies and found that the range in time to kill a heavy golem using the sword is almost exactly the same as the mace. During these tests i used the same amulet (berserker’s), the same rune set (strength), and the same sigil on my main hand weapon (superior sigil of force). The only thing that I changed was the build. (Note that none of these changes effected any of the gs trats)

I did ten test using sword/focus and ten tests using mace/focus and timed how long it took to kill the golem. The dps rotation I used for sword was simply auto attack since in the dps guide written by obal that is sticked on the forums says that the sword 2 skill is a dps loss and that the 3 skill has almost identical dps to the sword auto attack. The build I used for testing sword dps was 4/6/2/0/2. The range in time for the kills was between 10 and 9.5 seconds.

The dps rotation is used for mace is starting out with the 2 skill and then using auto attack. The build that I used for testing Mace damage was 5/5/2/0/2. The range in time for golem kills with the mace were between 11 and 9.5 seconds. Keep in mind that these dps tests did not take into account the heavy hitting mace skill protectors strike which hits for about 6k damage on crit. The reason i didn’t include this in the test is simply that the golems dont attack and the skill can not be triggered.

If my tests were in fact accurate this could mean that mace could be a more viable weapon for pve given the fact that the 2 skill provides regeneration for the group to keep the scholar rune bonus up and it also pulses vulnerability on the foe.( the vulnerability is very short lived though). The skill protectors strike is also another block which improves your suitability with out a loss to your dps.

So what do you guys think, could mace be used viably in pve?

You can’t really count 2 for pve dps since the only combo field you want down is fire. So for mace you really only got auto and 3. Otherwise I would use hammer over both.

Hammer does the same thing as mace 2, even more often. Plus, you’d want to stay might before you even get in combat, and if you really care this much about dps, then I would expect your fights to last shorter than 20+ sec, so in combat might stacking should also be moot.

They are pretty similar. The point of the weapon though is to work it into rotations. The symbol won’t be up at swap for a second use and you will have to camp it longer to get another off so it loses out a bit more. I find the option of a blind and projectile destruction while wall/shield is on cd are more worthwhile. It still doesn’t do as much damage as sword and has worse support than hammer, but you can swap it in for sword and not lose out a whole lot if you do rotations. There are also cases where scepter will be better than sword for rotations as well. If your camping it then it isn’t really a viable option. Below is why.

Assuming buffs but no stacks/spotter/uc

5/5/0/4/0 GS+Hammer – 10331
4/6/2/0/2 GS+Sword/Focus – 10302
5/5/0/4/0 Hammer Camping – 10013
4/5/0/0/5 GS+Sword/Focus – 9849
3/5/0/4/2 GS+Hammer – 9493
5/5/2/0/2 GS Camping – 9417
4/6/2/0/2 Sword/Focus Camping – 7349
3/5/0/6/0 Staff Camping – 6909

It’s nearly the same compared to staff camping without the OP cleave…

I use mace/fc instead of sword/fc with GS on swap for my operative belka solo :P in arah p2, the healing help dealing with the constant fire, and since belka reflect 50% of the time, it’s hard to use sword (and you’re stuck on it for 9 second if you swap) It’s the only way I found to solo her without having to hide and heal back up lol.

Nonetheless, AOE blind is still > Regen Symbol

yLoon.5289:

Nonetheless, AOE blind is still > Regen Symbol

Only for dungeons. I’d take mace+communal defense over any sword build any day for teq and three headed wurm.

Aza.2105:

yLoon.5289:

Nonetheless, AOE blind is still > Regen Symbol

Only for dungeons. I’d take mace+communal defense over any sword build any day for teq and three headed wurm.

I wouldn’t take a sword for Teq or Wurm. But i wouldn’t take a mace either. For Teq, the hammer would be the best I think for protection. Hammer is also the highest guardian DPS if you don’t swap weapons.

For Wurm, you can’t take either Mace or Hammer because you gonna kitten up fire field during burn phase. So I camp Greastword, since the sword 3rd AA can screw up a bit against the Wurm (a bit like against object), and just make sure not to use attack 4.

Thaddeus.4891:

Aza.2105:

yLoon.5289:

Nonetheless, AOE blind is still > Regen Symbol

Only for dungeons. I’d take mace+communal defense over any sword build any day for teq and three headed wurm.

I wouldn’t take a sword for Teq or Wurm. But i wouldn’t take a mace either. For Teq, the hammer would be the best I think for protection. Hammer is also the highest guardian DPS if you don’t swap weapons.

For Wurm, you can’t take either Mace or Hammer because you gonna kitten up fire field during burn phase. So I camp Greastword, since the sword 3rd AA can screw up a bit against the Wurm (a bit like against object), and just make sure not to use attack 4.

No one wants you to use hammer at teq or wurm because of light fields. So unless you are just using blast finishers, hammer is a total waste. GS does nothing for the group. Mace however with communal defense provides extraordinary defense and offense. A no target limit aegis to everyone around you. With shattered aegis this provides a extreme amount of burst damage. So if shattered aegis hits for around 400 dmg you multiply that by the amount of people around you who can potentially get hit. That can be 400 × 50 plus it can crit.

With pure of voice its added support. Really mace with communal defense is unrivaled in large group settings like teq or wurm. Dungeon runs are one thing, these type of events are a entirely different ball game.