Guild Wars 2

Hey

So wondering about the damage on cleansing flame. It feels great on multiple enemies but single target im a bit unsure.

In a single target situation is it better to continue using sword 1 or use cleansing flame?

Depends on the situation. If the enemy is out of range of your sword, but you can still hit with cleansing flame then use it. Also against mesmers and thieves it can be better to help hit them while they are in stealth, and also to wipe clones faster. However you are correct in feeling unsure as it does do less damage than a sword auto attack chain, but it does give alot more in an AoE cone, and an allied condition removal.

Just remember that the number you see on your screen isn’t what you should base it off of. You have to look at DPS.

For example, assume your 1h chain deals 1200+1200+2000 damage in 2s. That’s 4400 damage in about 2s, meaning about 2200 DPS. Assume your torch does 3000 damage over 4s. That’s 750 DPS.

The torch looks like it hits hard, but just auto spamming you deal WAY more damage. The only time you should use Torch 5 is if you’re out of melee range, if you have 5 targets you know you’ll hit, if you’re fighting a stealthy target, or if you want to remove conditions.

That’s not the exact math, but the proportions between the damage should be familiar to you.