Guild Wars 2

Staff does not need fixing. It is a balanced weapon, you just want to remove everything about it that is limited. Standing still while having to cast the line and empower is a balancing issue. Also don’t forget that empower doesn’t have to be fully cast to be effective. Every pulse gives out 3 stacks. A single pulse of 3 stacks to 5 people in a fight can be very effective.
If you aim the number 2 right you can hit a lot of people for a lot of damage ( and still blow it up if you don’t care about the longer CD).
The auto-attack on staff might not be very strong but it is almost impossible to miss with it.
The symbol is good for swiftness (not great but good) especially in teamplay, which is what guardians are about. If you want more out of the staff (for either support or dps) try traiting for the symbol. It can do a fair amount of damage and adds vulnerability, it can also be an efficient heal for your allies if you want it to be.
I’d love for my staff to be a lot stronger, I’d love for it to cast heatseeking nuclear bombs that one-shot an enemy and destroys every alt he has. But that wouldn’t be balanced.

Caliban.3176:

Staff does not need fixing. It is a balanced weapon, you just want to remove everything about it that is limited.

Some people do, but others don’t. The Staff as a concept simply doesn’t work, even if the individual abilities work.

So far the only defense I’ve seen for the staff is it’s good at defending a keep (a single limited instance), or it’s a nice buff stick because AH + buffs = heals. I don’t think the staff sucks – there’s a reason I always carry one – but outside of a WvW defense, can’t think of a reason to use on in a fight over pretty much any other weapon, which I think is a bit of a problem. It’s not about removing limitations, as I think they should remain… it’s about opening it’s purpose up a bit so it is a viable option as an actual weapon (not just used to empower + symbol drop then switching to a real weapon) outside of a WvW keep.

Ynna.8769:

Caliban.3176:

Staff does not need fixing. It is a balanced weapon, you just want to remove everything about it that is limited.

Some people do, but others don’t. The Staff as a concept simply doesn’t work, even if the individual abilities work.

Then why does it work for me? Maybe staff is not the weapon for you, your build or your playstyle. I wouldn’t mind my staff being stronger but I have no need for it, it wouldn’t be fair were my staff stronger.

Staff for support is pretty good. Staff for solo play or in-combat situations where you are fighting people who clearly want you dead is not so good. Standing still for 3 seconds for a 2K heal (if you are alone and without AH) while in the heat of battle can leave you open to one hell of a kicking. It’s all about the circumstances you use it in and how you use it. However it could use a couple of tweaks here and there but so could a lot of things so lets see how updates in future pan out.

Caliban.3176:

Ynna.8769:

Caliban.3176:

Staff does not need fixing. It is a balanced weapon, you just want to remove everything about it that is limited.

Some people do, but others don’t. The Staff as a concept simply doesn’t work, even if the individual abilities work.

Then why does it work for me? Maybe staff is not the weapon for you, your build or your playstyle. I wouldn’t mind my staff being stronger but I have no need for it, it wouldn’t be fair were my staff stronger.

Change does not equal buff. Your response highlighted the problem with staff. It suits a certain build or playstyle, but it’s not versatile like the rest of the weapons in GW2.

I think a simple change to the staff that would make it far more enjoyable would be to change its horribly misplaced #1 skill. There are really so many better things they could have put in its place: A 1200 range AoE damage/heal, the trident’s #1 skill, a longer-ranged but narrower version of it’s current ability, and so on. I cannot fathom why ANet thought a 600-range Wave of Wrath would suit a support-centric weapon with literally all of its other abilities being 1200-range.

Fashion Mage.3712:

the trident’s #1 skill,

This would be great so great as skill one on the staff and then make skill 2 a 1200 ranged aoe, that would have great synergies with SoS.

And then change empower to an aoe as well so it could be placed over and area, ofc still channeled and while channeling might on the team, it also burns the area.

Then we would have a proper ranged alterantive in WvW and they just need to speed up 1 on scepter and the ranged options would be more then enough.

Weapons should be more versatile? How is the scepter or the mace versatile? If you don’t like the staf then don’t play with it, don’t think it needs a change. It is my favourite weapon. I can honestly say that anyone who does not love Wave of Wrath is doing something wrong.

Caliban.3176:

Weapons should be more versatile? How is the scepter or the mace versatile? If you don’t like the staf then don’t play with it, don’t think it needs a change. It is my favourite weapon. I can honestly say that anyone who does not love Wave of Wrath is doing something wrong.

How is the mace not versatile? If you didn’t use it then don’t talk about it. I can honestly say that anyone who thinks guardian mace is not versatile is doing something wrong.

Ravenmoon.5318:

Add the swiftness to catch up even faster to an enemy or god forbid closing his path with line of warding.

If someone hits a wall that took you a full second to cast (which is forever in a pursuit) and hits something he could have dodged right through and gotten clean away after you effectively gave up the pursuit by stopping to cast, then the target was a total nub who would have died anyway to a more reliable ability.

@Heinel, I’m sorry but I have played with the mace for a very long time but I would not describe it as versatile. It is very good for support and bunkering. It like the weapon a lot personally.

I’m going to leave this thread now, I think you should change how you think about the staff. Please don’t make ANet change this great weapon.

Caliban.3176:

@Heinel, I’m sorry but I have played with the Mace for a very long time but I would not describe it as versatile. It is very good for support and bunkering. It like the weapon a lot personally.

I’m going to leave this thread now, I think you should change how you think about the Staff. Please don’t make ANet change this great weapon.

Almost no weapon is really versatile, but some weapons are almost useless outside a couple of very specific situations. I have never regretted using a Mace (or even a Scepter, which is a lot more terrible than a Staff), even when I accidentally equipped it in a build that didn’t support it. The Mace is usable in a variety of situations. The Staff on the other hand, has a couple of situations where it is useful, or even extremely powerful, but outside those situations its only use is: Empower—>drop Symbol—> swap to a better weapon.

Brutaly.6257:

This would be great so great as skill one on the staff and then make skill 2 a 1200 ranged aoe, that would have great synergies with SoS.

And then change empower to an aoe as well so it could be placed over and area, ofc still channeled and while channeling might on the team, it also burns the area.

Then we would have a proper ranged alterantive in WvW and they just need to speed up 1 on scepter and the ranged options would be more then enough.

I’ve thought about staff having trident #1 a hundred times and I really think it would be better than Wave of Wrath.

Love the idea about Empower as well. I think they should make hammer immobilize the same; a ground-targeted ability (but normal AoE rather than linear) , it would still be dodgeable only a bit more reliable.

Scepter needs more than just #1 tweak, smite is pretty crap too. I think it would be a lot better if a large fist smashed targeted ground and did damage in one hit (maybe an additional effect even), rather than having the damage being spread over time and hits being very unreliable.

I found a niche the staff is useful for. in fractal of the mists on the charr fractal the warriors hit crazy high and staff is useful to block them from hitting you with line of warding. if it would only be useful somewhere where else as well that would be great.

I’m a advocate that if you want to play your class to its full potential than you should carry around 1 of every weapon.

I use the Mace + Staff as my primary set, but I also carry around a Greastword and Scepter. Depending on what’s needed on a fight I switch out weapons.

ComeAndSee.1356:

I’m an advocate that if you want to play your class to its full potential than you should carry around one of every weapon.

I somewhat agree, but I’d like to add that this tells nothing about how good a given weapon is. I carry a Staff for the rare occasions that I’d like to use it for support and for the Symbol of Swiftness, but this doesn’t mean the Staff is as good as the Hammer.

I have a problem with the number 2 ability on the staff being in a 2 second cool down with 2 handed mastery, it just feels terribly clunky to have to cast it every 2 seconds, it does ok damage, but casting an ability every 2 seconds is more of a chore than anything.