Guild Wars 2

Just wondering if anyone has ever tried this combination for an extensive amount of time.

I’ve been running it all week on my alt and have had rather great results.

I’ve used a traditional AH build (0/15/30/20/5) and took “Mace of Justice”. My stat sheet with a Hammer is ~2700 ATK. With a Mace / Torch it’s at ~2500, but the Support is much better and it’s definitely more tanky & survivable. The power of the Torch is impressive, as well as the heals and protection that the Mace gives. I’ve also crit for over 2000 on my Mace AA…which is crazy. I also get 5% more crit chance, because I can stack 2 Accuracy Sigils.

My Armor is all Exotic Knights except for the Chest & Gloves (Berserker) w/ Soldier Runes, and my Weapons are Exotic Berserker with Accuracy Sigils. My accessories & jewelry are garbage right now though…

Anyone else have any thoughts on this? Or am I just missing the gap that opens with the Hammer as you gear better? Anyone who HAS tried this and committed to it, what is your overall opinion & suggestion?

EDIT: I recently ran a 10/30/0/30/0 build and it was even better in terms of damage (I switched out the Accuracy Sigils for Force Sigils), and the loss of AH is overshadowed by the Soldier Runes & Pure of Voice.

I used to run something very similar. I kind of gave it up though. I think that the 4 skill on torch (the throw) was stealth nerfed to reduce the damage. Not sure though. However I did notice a drop in the damage output of the weapon. Also the 5 skill ticks and doesn’t burn. This isn’t such a problem in PVE but in WvW anyone who is half awake will dodge out of it. With those things in mind there was really no reason for me not to run Mace focus…

One thing though is that mace is indeed a hard hitting weapon ( I’ve seen glassy 6K crits) but for pure DPS I think its slower AA makes it less attractive then great sword for DPS. I don’t run great sword so much as to be an expert on it. Maybe someone could confirm?

Mace Torch can be in a burst spec with Scepter Focus as other set. You usually run triple meditation/double with SYG!. You also want to spec mostly glass. Right-hand strength (15% crit) should mean you can get more defensive stats.

Torch 5 channel is not reliable but can work on Stealth house/downed bodies. You can also force dodges…

Your basic rotation is to focus block (count the 4 secs) → swap set → throw torch → VoJ + Protector’s Strike + JI + Smite Condition (with Meditation instant trait). They should pretty much all land at the same time. On a squishy this should be 12k+.

The strong point of the set is that mace burst comes with a block, is fairly hard to see/avoid and is fully AoE (3 big hits).

If what you have in mind is not burst, you can spec symbols for mace. Symbols are larger and heal both synergize very well with the weapon. Mace Focus/Shield with Staff/GS, just any weapon with on-demand symbols. Torch is really good for full glass specs but less so for tanky ones. There have been people running around with burn builds but I haven’t explored in detail.

Just FYI: Mace autoattack is slower than sword, so even though the total damage is just about as good if not a bit higher than a sword autoattack chain, the overall DPS is worse. It also doesn’t cleave on the last hit. You can sort of make up for this with extremely careful use of Protector’s Strike. As long as you block a hit within a second of casting it you’re generally looking at a net DPS increase, but if you don’t, you’re boned.

Also, Torch 5 is abysmally bad in terms of damage. It only cleaves 3 targets and it does extremely poor damage for its cast duration.

foofad.5162:

Just FYI: Mace autoattack is slower than sword, so even though the total damage is just about as good if not a bit higher than a sword autoattack chain, the overall DPS is worse. It also doesn’t cleave on the last hit. You can sort of make up for this with extremely careful use of Protector’s Strike. As long as you block a hit within a second of casting it you’re generally looking at a net DPS increase, but if you don’t, you’re boned.

Also, Torch 5 is abysmally bad in terms of damage. It only cleaves 3 targets and it does extremely poor damage for its cast duration.

You almost never get off the 3rd hit on mace as well in a PvP situation. It’s too slow.
Yeah… torch 5 is lackluster… it does have a good number of procs so i guess it has a place in burn builds? From my impression if it fully hits it does 4k damage on relatively squishy targets…

I always just assumed that the purpose of Torch5 was only to clear conditions on allies, and look like a bad kitten while getting you Ambient Killer daily… as yes, the cast time and damage is terrible.

Surbrus.6942:

I always just assumed that the purpose of Torch5 was only to clear conditions on allies, and look like a bad kitten while getting you Ambient Killer daily… as yes, the cast time and damage is terrible.

Good point on the cleanse, though if you are glass enough to run Torch you probably don’t want to hang around to breathe highly visible blue flame…

It’s so incredibly awkward to use torch 5 for cleansing, I’d advocate PoV/Shouts or Purging Flames or something like that before torch any day.

i run mace/torch for PvP for burst as well. if i’m playing symbols using mace, i personally feel focus or even shield is a greater contestant.

torch is great and fun but i’m mainly using 4 whenever it’s up. 5 is neat looking, and that’s, sadly, about it. good for PvE and killing squishy targets, or finishing off a small group (to get weapon master as well lol). high proc rates though. i never use it for cleansing though. rather inefficient. if you do like using it though, make sure to click on yoru targets to ensure the flames go where you want it. too often have i seen my Guardian running forward, with his head turned 90 degrees, blowing flames on the wrong guy that i intended haha.