IMPORTANT!
I am talking STRICTLY PvE, not WvW or s/tPvP
Now that is done with, hello.
I’m looking for an effective playstyle that primarily uses 1h sword, be it with a focus, a shield or a torch, I do not mind.
As my goal is a legendary weapon, I want to get one I actually like the appearance of. Bolt is certainly my favourite.
I’m currently running an AH/EM build with GS/Staff, so I focus on support play while not neglecting damage due to use of GS. This means I am a firm believer that Guardians should not take a “pure dps” role. We should leave this to Warriors/Thieves.
If your build somehow means your DPS is on part with Warriors/Thieves, feel free to post it, but please bring evidence.
1h Sword lacks support, as it does not provide any boons to friendly players, and loses in terms of DPS to a GS. Where do they fit in?
(edited by Flissy.4093)
Burst damage and ranged absorbs through Zealot’s Defense. Mobility and defensive blinds through Flashing Blade. A higher-than-average range multi-hit auto attack. It’s a fairly balanced weapons and is one of my favorites. I use it in conjunction with a focus.
1h sword paired with GS allows for some great mobility and really aggressive play as well – 2 gap closers and blinds, gives you high single target dmg as well as decent PBAoE. so you can look into that weapon swapping setup. or even hammer + 1hsword/combo.
i’ve heard many pair it the sword with torches for even more DPS. while focus is a popular and choice that seems extremely effective as well (you can offer some support through focus #4 and you have great defenseive capabilities with focus #5). and shield, not so much. but am sure it still has it’s uses. (purely aesthetics, just saw a post of a guard with bolt and flameseeker prophecies and looks pretty darn good).
Here’s my latest "DPS/Support build":http://goo.gl/3sN0j.
Dressed in Knight’s armour, Knight’s trinkets with Beryl jewels and Valkyrie weapons, you’ll approach 55+% of Crit Chance with 1-H Sword.
The build is designed around stacking Might on allies. Hence, I picked up +60% Might duration, another +20% from Virtues and topping off with Chocolate Omnomberry Cream (+20% Boon duration, +40% Magic Find while under effect of a Boon). That means Empower generates 3x Might for 16s per pulse, Virtue of Justice activation gives another 3x Might for 10s, Empowering Might gives 1 for 10s, and last but not least, another 10s 3x Might with Shield of Wrath + Purging Flames combo.
This means you’ll be switching weapons often enough to warrant an on-swap Sigil. I went with Superior Sigil of Battle for the extra 3x Might because... Might. Dayum.
After trying out EM on the target dummies, even maxing out crit all the way, I could never get more than 3-4 stacks (even when AEing vs. 3 dummies) which makes me think that it’s really not all that great.
That build in the post above looks interesting. You give up AH but gain significant damage and utility.
you were testing it on golems right? you cannot critically hit the target dummies in LA which means EM will never proc.
you were testing it on golems right? you cannot critically hit the target dummies in LA which means EM will never proc.
I tested in the Mists.
The Might buffs only last for 5s. You’d have to crit an average of one time per second maintain 5 stacks of Might, which seems very unrealistic especially for a hammer build that has only 35% crit or so. The odd thing is that I see a lot of people put this in their non-crit based builds but ignore Empower Allies which is a permanent 2 stacks of Might.
(edited by Yaki.9563)
Empower Allies is a warrior trait in the Tactics line, our version is Strength in Numbers in the Valor tree, it gives Toughness.
also whilst in the mists your gear is not only nerfed but you cannot consume food buffs like the Omnomberry Cream.
sadly this game lacks any real damage testing area for such theorycrafting.
Empower Allies is a warrior trait in the Tactics line, our version is Strength in Numbers in the Valor tree, it gives Toughness.
also whilst in the mists your gear is not only nerfed but you cannot consume food buffs like the Omnomberry Cream.
sadly this game lacks any real damage testing area for such theorycrafting.
Food buffs don’t really have much effect on your crit rate and therefore Empowered Might.
Funny that I got confused between Warrior and Guardian traits. Still, I’m surprised people take Retributive Armor so readily over Strength in Numbers. One gives less than 100 precision while the other gives 350 toughness split among your group.
Mostly because that 70 toughness Per person isnt going to change much of anything. Where as it is about 20 perc per crit % so it adds about another 5% crit or so if you are running 2k tougness. Which isnt that hard in full knights armor.
In PvE, as long as it feels like you’re contributing, and not dying more then you should, then it’s viable.
Still, I’m surprised people take Retributive Armor so readily over Strength in Numbers.
More crit chance = More Empowering might
That synergy compensates for the preceived difference you see between RA and SiN
In PvE, as long as it feels like you’re contributing, and not dying more then you should, then it’s viable.
Still, I’m surprised people take Retributive Armor so readily over Strength in Numbers.
More crit chance = More Empowering might
That synergy compensates for the preceived difference you see between RA and SiN
Retributive Armor = +3-4% crit chance, depending on whether you’re wearing Toughness gear.
Strength in Numbers = +2.5% damage reduction.
Choice is obvious, statistically.
Mostly because that 70 toughness Per person isnt going to change much of anything. Where as it is about 20 perc per crit % so it adds about another 5% crit or so if you are running 2k tougness. Which isnt that hard in full knights armor.
And that’s not really going to change anything.
Basically you’re saying toughness is worthless as a stat.
In PvE, as long as it feels like you’re contributing, and not dying more then you should, then it’s viable.
Still, I’m surprised people take Retributive Armor so readily over Strength in Numbers.
More crit chance = More Empowering might
That synergy compensates for the preceived difference you see between RA and SiN
Retributive Armor = +3-4% crit chance, depending on whether you’re wearing Toughness gear.
Strength in Numbers = +2.5% damage reduction.
Choice is obvious, statistically.
2.5% damage reduction to every person in your group. Yes, the choice is obvious, statistically, and it’s not RA.
In PvE, as long as it feels like you’re contributing, and not dying more then you should, then it’s viable.
Still, I’m surprised people take Retributive Armor so readily over Strength in Numbers.
More crit chance = More Empowering might
That synergy compensates for the preceived difference you see between RA and SiN
Actually it doesn’t. You greatly overestimate how many times EM procs, and the value of 1 Might.
Actually it doesn’t. You greatly overestimate how many times EM procs, and the value of 1 Might.
It’s potentially 5 mights because whole party might get it.
Mostly because that 70 toughness Per person isnt going to change much of anything. Where as it is about 20 perc per crit % so it adds about another 5% crit or so if you are running 2k tougness. Which isnt that hard in full knights armor.
And that’s not really going to change anything.
Basically you’re saying toughness is worthless as a stat.
Where did i say toughness is a worthless stat? Im just saying that I personally find perc as more worthwhile. Even more so if you are running empowered might. Or any on crit sigils or food. Yes, 2.5% damage reduction is decent, but the synergy crit has with other traits i believe is more important. I mean mathwise even if you took something like a 20k hit you are still only blocking 500 of that health. Where as the crit you gain could mean the difference of might proc, an omnom berry pie health steal, or maybe even a might stack or flame burst aoe from sigils. It also increases our overall damage as well, and things that die faster dont do as much damage. First rule of damage dealing.
I recently respecced from an AH/Shout built to a Sword-focused meditation/blind build in PVE and it’s been a lot of fun. http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQRAsd7elYgiDnGSKEf4Eh1DAeQ/VVIeXPgIFbIA;TQALLGWsjYSA. (Alternate-set MH weapon varies between Scepter and Mace).
Lots of damage, great survivability with all the blinds and blocks, and it’s just plain fun to teleport all over the place setting kitten on fire. Seems to be working fine up to fractal 10, haven’t tried it any further than that.
I run a 1h spec on my guardian, dps focused. I use 1h+shield and scepter+torch.
The blind from sword along with the blind from your virtue (which resets on every kill, not just killing blows) is an amazing combo. If you run with a good group that deals nice aoe damage you will have blind ready to cast non-stop. Your group will take little damage in return.
The single target dps on sword is good.
I run with meditations traited to be instant cast, heal and with reduced cd. It’s ideal to port straight into a bunch set them ablaze, blind them with virtue, wait a little and blind them with sword, dodge back pull out scepter+torch, skill 2 followed by 5 and a smite condition, usually followed by another virtue during the fire breath.
The spec has alot of instant skills that you can cast while channeling other things. I wouldnt trade it for a GS.
I’m at 50%sih crit chance (trait included) 108% crit damage 3000 Attack and 17000HP.
0/30/30/10/0
2.5% damage reduction to every person in your group. Yes, the choice is obvious, statistically, and it’s not RA.
Failure to take into account trait-synergy.
+3-4% crit chance means 3-4% chance more to proc ‘Empowering Might’ and gain additional healing from ‘Altruistic Healing’ for each might stack.
They’re both solid. Neither is better. It’s a matter of picking between defense or offense.
Learn to compare traits in context, not in a vacuum.
(edited by DreamOfACure.4382)
2.5% damage reduction to every person in your group. Yes, the choice is obvious, statistically, and it’s not RA.
Failure to take into account trait-synergy.
+3-4% crit chance means 3-4% chance more to proc ‘Empowering Might’ and gain additional healing from ‘Altruistic Healing’ for each might stack.
They’re both solid. Neither is better. It’s a matter of picking between defense or offense.
Learn to compare traits in context, not in a vacuum.
I am, and it still falls short.
Learn to compare traits by looking at the effect on your whole group, not just on you.
I am, and it still falls short.
No you haven’t.
Learn to compare traits by looking at the effect on your whole group, not just on you.
Empowering Might affects the whole group. Retributive Armor feeds into Empowering Might.
You are the one still looking at Retributive Armor as if it only affects 1 player, when trait-synergy allows it to affect the entire group.
In addition
If a boss’s damage-output has no threat of downing allies, such as the Ghost Eater in AC path 2, is Strength is Numbers a good choice?
NO. Even if you’re not using EM or AH for the trait-synergy, the offensive power of Retributive Armor is still more useful because your group does not need the additional defensive power.
Using Strength in Numbers in that situation would be a waste of a trait.
Again. Strength in Numbers is not superior and neither is Retributive Armor.
They both merely have their situational niches.
They are both useful stat-wise. It is a matter of whether you need Defense more or Offense more.
(edited by DreamOfACure.4382)
I am, and it still falls short.
No you haven’t.
Learn to compare traits by looking at the effect on your whole group, not just on you.
Empowering Might affects the whole group. Retributive Armor feeds into Empowering Might.
You are the one still looking at Retributive Armor as if it only affects 1 player, when trait-synergy allows it to affect the entire group.
In addition
If a boss’s damage-output has no threat of downing allies, such as the Ghost Eater in AC path 2, is Strength is Numbers a good choice?
NO. Even if you’re not using EM or AH for the trait-synergy, the offensive power of Retributive Armor is still more useful because your group does not need the additional defensive power.
Using Strength in Numbers in that situation would be a waste of a trait.
Again. Strength in Numbers is not superior and neither is Retributive Armor.
They both merely have their situational niches.They are both useful stat-wise. It is a matter of whether you need Defense more or Offense more.
Exactly why I said the percision was my personal choice, because i play more offensively. Also as i said before since it ties into your post so well. Dead enemies dont do damage. Sometimes the need to kill something fast is more important than how much you can negate the damage. That was one of my first lessons from other MMOs when playing any type of dps character.
I recently respecced from an AH/Shout built to a Sword-focused meditation/blind build in PVE and it’s been a lot of fun. http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQRAsd7elYgiDnGSKEf4Eh1DAeQ/VVIeXPgIFbIA;TQALLGWsjYSA. (Alternate-set MH weapon varies between Scepter and Mace).
Lots of damage, great survivability with all the blinds and blocks, and it’s just plain fun to teleport all over the place setting kitten on fire. Seems to be working fine up to fractal 10, haven’t tried it any further than that.
What type of armor and runes do you use. I am kinda bored now with my GS/Staff build and I am looking into other weapon setups just for a change.
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