Guild Wars 2

I was wondering what good weapon combinations are?

I’m 43, and have only played this class in PvE thus far (though have done a lot of WvW with my Elementalist as a stubborn staff user, though occasional wand/focus for protecting walls from siege or equipment). Dabbled with my Ranger.

I see some folks running around with staffs. I have favored 2H Sword and Mace/Shield in PvE, though have a nice staff on me and a sceptor to go with the shield if need be?

the asset i prefer to use for WvW is

hammer + scepter\focus →taking points \ casual pvp
hammer + staff →roaming around
Staff + Scepter\focus (or scepter torch for more damage) → siege (attack)
Staff + Scepter\Shield →siege (defense)

Thanks. I don’t have a hammer, but suppose I could round one up. I need to get my hands on a focus as well. I’ll try some of that out.

I prefer greatsword and staff for WvW. Greatsword is solid for damage dealing, has our only leap move which is vital for WvW mobility and the pull is very useful, especially for killing stealthed thieves.

Staff is our only weapon-based source of swiftness and it can do solid damage in zerg fights at mid range and procs effects like mad. Also nice source of healing with altruistic healing. The ability of staff to attack at 600 range in a wide arc through objects and not being a projectile-based attack is very useful. It is an underrated weapon.

I would not recommend any of the 1hand weapons for large WvW battles in the field. Scepter is mostly for single target damage, so it is best used solo in small groups or during sieges. Sword is basically a dueling weapon, I wouldn’t carry it around unless you are roaming solo or maybe in a small group. I’ve never liked mace because the attack chain is very cumbersome and the mobile nature of WvW makes it hard to get full benefit of symbols.

As for offhands, shield is solid for grouping, focus good for solo and torch is… torch.

Hammer is a solid alternative to Greatsword that offers more control and less mobility. Damage on hammer can beat GS if you get lucky with crits and landing hits but GS is more consistent as hammer is fairly cumbersome. Since guardians already have very poor mobility, I prefer GS. A 600 range leap might not seem like much but it can save your life.

Hammer too slow for me, I do GS and Scepter for range. I wouldnt use scepter if there was another option for long range but oh well lol

Weapons I’ve tried and had success with in WvW:

Hammer – good for defense (holding bridges, wall fights, stairs, and gates). Mighty blow hits HARD and often. The immobilize helps you secure kills. Banish is great for stopping stomps/rez, knocking off ledges, and just plain fun. Ring of Warding is great for area denial and trapping players (for a second at least…)

Greatsword – offense. It allows you to leap into a zerg, pull, and quickly deal massive damage. IMO Greatsword > Hammer for lifesteal builds since you hit more often.

Staff – defense/support. Again you can block gates, bridges, stairs, and walls with Line of Warding which is MAJOR in a battle.

Scepter – your best ranged option because it has an immobilize. Smite works wonders for lifesteal builds also. Don’t underestimate Scepter, easily a 1.4k auto-attack crit.

Shield – group support. Protection is nice to have for your team, but Shield of Absorption is where it’s at. Knock enemies off walls, block an enemy’s burst, heal allies, interrupt heals, and prevent stomps (this is major in a zerg fight!)

Focus – defense. Eh, mainly self-defense weapon. Allows you to stay in a fight a lot longer. Shield of Wrath is great against CnD thieves… they usually waste all their initiative on your shield, then you can impose your will on them.

The general combo I use is Greatsword + Scepter/Shield. For defense I use Hammer/Staff, but it depends on your build I suppose.

As fishergrip noted earlier, the GS leap will save you. It allows you to immediately place yourself in the fight. Rushing with a hammer doesn’t work most of the times… about half of your health is already gone by the time you start fighting. The same reason is why I always carry a ranged weapon – Guardians are tough, but you can’t stay in melee range forever. You need a way to retreat and recover while still assisting your team.

buki.3108:

As fishergrip noted earlier, the GS leap will save you. It allows you to immediately place yourself in the fight. Rushing with a hammer doesn’t work most of the times… about half of your health is already gone by the time you start fighting. The same reason is why I always carry a ranged weapon – Guardians are tough, but you can’t stay in melee range forever. You need a way to retreat and recover while still assisting your team.

Usually a hammer user on WvW have JI, that is a must have. (at least for me)and this can cover the GS leap loss.
When you are on fight, Mighty blow is better then Leap of faith, on a range time of 15 seconds, with leap of faith you jump for 600, with mighty blow you jump for 900.

but this is really matter of taste here, Gs can do mayhem on groups for some seconds. The hammer have a god avarage damage, and can also control the enemies.

NEVER EVER go Staff / specter + X
YES, this combination might be the best for siege or zerg fight, but you will get yourself killed much oftener than use any other weapon.
WHY? the perma-immobilization bug. When I use staff/specter+ X , 90% of my death is becoz I am perma immobilized by myself, guardian has too many stationary cast skills, once you dodge roll before casting ends = you died.
Anet Please fix this, I got perma-immobilized at least 5+ time every day while playing my guardian.

I’m not sure if this is the permanent immobilize I hit on my other classes or not, but I have found when stuck on them any skill that moves the char will break it. A leap/ teleport, heck manning a siege breaks it. But if the guardian version is different sorry

Also in combat none of that may matter since you may already be dead.

Yes, leap will free you out, that’s why you can’t go staff/specter since you have no leap in case your JI not on the bar or on CD (pretty long). This perma-immobilization happened too often to me but I just can’t get rid of the habit of high frequency of dodge roll.

I’m not sure if this is the permanent immobilize I hit on my other classes or not, but I have found when stuck on them any skill that moves the char will break it. A leap/ teleport, heck manning a siege breaks it. But if the guardian version is different sorry

Also in combat none of that may matter since you may already be dead.

If you get stuck, /dance.

buki.3108:

If you get stuck, /dance.

Is this a joke or does it actually unstuck you?

dance sometime works, but not always.

I am currently in love with my teleporting build in WvW as I can port into the middle of a zerg and hit 5 people for 4-5K damage and cause 3K burning damage which in a zerg with people already as low HP from aoe this can be 5 instant kills. This is a little suicidal but once you know what you’re doing you can get in and out without any problem.