Guild Wars 2

0/0/30/20/20 GS AH+Shouts build.
Gear: Power+Toughness+Precision (Knight) Exotic.

I have been using a GS since before level 10 and never used anything else other than the odd Hammer or Scepter just to try them out.

Today I decided to get a Sword and Focus and go test it out against the Krakas of all kind -normal and vets- what I discovered blew me away, not only does the sword kill just about as fast, I take less damage -if that was even possible lol

As a GS I’ll admit its faceroll, really takes little skill to play this build due to the OP self healing, but add a Sword+Focus and its the same damage, same healing but much more mitigation!

greatsword healing?

Altruistic Healing. Greatsword autoattack #3 gives might, which heals. Criticals give vigor, which heals.

(You can also get Zealous Blade with 30 points in Zeal, although the OP and most AH builds don’t go that way.)

Zealous Blade’s probably one of our worst major traits.

I must be missing how the sword/focus is better than the GS for AH. I can see how it would be better for mitigation, but not for AH procs.

Ray of Judgement can bounce to you/allies and give regen, and also procing AH. Shield of Wrath blocks 3 hits, each gives might which also procs AH. Vigor in crits which are more likely since the final attack in the chain is 3 seperate hits so better chance of rapid crits..

At least that’s what I can figure.

Ahh, thanks for that. Sword/something was the weapon I had initially looked at, now I’ll have to give this a shot and see how it works.

drnuncheon.8029:

Altruistic Healing. Greatsword autoattack #3 gives might, which heals. Criticals give vigor, which heals.

(You can also get Zealous Blade with 30 points in Zeal, although the OP and most AH builds don’t go that way.)

ah, i see, thanks.

Sword/Focus + Greatsword was what I ran around with when initially leveling my Guardian.

I don’t use the 1h sword anymore in PvE. However, it’s still an excellent weapon to combo any off-hand with in tPvP. Current favorite is Sword/Torch with Scepter/Shield offset.

It’s true that Zealot’s Defense is awesome against Karka. Have you considered that added damage might have been from reflected projectiles?

ESKan.6782:

It’s true that Zealot’s Defense is awesome against Karka. Have you considered that added damage might have been from reflected projectiles?

ZD just blocks projectiles, rather than reflecting them, so any extra damage you notice will just be from the sword itself. The 1h sword’s autoattack is one of the strongest in the game, so it wouldn’t be surprising if you see somewhat higher numbers.

Soryuju.8164:

ZD just blocks projectiles, rather than reflecting them

I’m being nit picky, but to be more precise it doesn’t even block projectiles like the tool tip states. It just absorbs them, so the traits that activate on block don’t even trigger.

Sword doesn’t proc AH as much vs. multiple targets, but it’s good for single targets if your crit is decent. It attacks faster, and the third strike in the chain hits the same target 3 times.

I think mace actually provides more raw healing, but the damage is worse and you don’t have as many chances to crit.

Both sword and greatsword are good, but in different ways. Damage against a single target is about the same. Sword gives you more defensive options to help you against stronger mobs, especially ranged attacks. Greatsword has much better AoE damage and if you aren’t spamming away, has condition removal.

Cempa.3645:

0/0/30/20/20 GS AH+Shouts build.
Gear: Power+Toughness+Precision (Knight) Exotic.

I have been using a GS since before level 10 and never used anything else other than the odd Hammer or Scepter just to try them out.

Today I decided to get a Sword and Focus and go test it out against the Krakas of all kind -normal and vets- what I discovered blew me away, not only does the sword kill just about as fast, I take less damage -if that was even possible lol

As a GS I’ll admit its faceroll, really takes little skill to play this build due to the OP self healing, but add a Sword+Focus and its the same damage, same healing but much more mitigation!

Btw, what are you taking with 20 Virtues? Just curious.

dizzyd.5213:

Cempa.3645:

0/0/30/20/20 GS AH+Shouts build.
Gear: Power+Toughness+Precision (Knight) Exotic.

I have been using a GS since before level 10 and never used anything else other than the odd Hammer or Scepter just to try them out.

Today I decided to get a Sword and Focus and go test it out against the Krakas of all kind -normal and vets- what I discovered blew me away, not only does the sword kill just about as fast, I take less damage -if that was even possible lol

As a GS I’ll admit its faceroll, really takes little skill to play this build due to the OP self healing, but add a Sword+Focus and its the same damage, same healing but much more mitigation!

Btw, what are you taking with 20 Virtues? Just curious.

Same here. I could understand it in PvP but not that much in PvE.

Exedore.6320:

Both sword and greatsword are good, but in different ways. Damage against a single target is about the same. Sword gives you more defensive options to help you against stronger mobs, especially ranged attacks. Greatsword has much better AoE damage and if you aren’t spamming away, has condition removal.

Greatsword is actually the highest DPS weapon the guardian has, period. Doesn’t matter whether it’s single or multi-target, it’s the highest for all of them.

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

Greatsword is actually the highest DPS weapon the guardian has, period. Doesn’t matter whether it’s single or multi-target, it’s the highest for all of them.

I’ve seen various comparisons. Some put greatsword ahead in raw damage by a little bit, but because sword attacks faster, it applies burning more often from the passive virtue. Sword also benefits ever so slightly from the second sigil in the off-hand item.

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

Greatsword is actually the highest DPS weapon the guardian has, period. Doesn’t matter whether it’s single or multi-target, it’s the highest for all of them.

This actually isn’t true. It’s about 3rd best. Almost all Guardian weapons except staff have nearly identical DPS, though. The differences are more in the side effects.

BTW, the reason the OP was likely not taking as much damage could have been the focus/4 (blind) or focus/5 (block), but it could also have been the sword itself: sword/2 blind or sword/3 (block ranged). Sword has a lot of built-in defense regardless of the off-hand you use with it.

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

Greatsword is actually the highest DPS weapon the guardian has, period. Doesn’t matter whether it’s single or multi-target, it’s the highest for all of them.

Have to disagree. It all depends on the spec. I honestly think a right hand strength build will put one hand sword over the amount of damage a greatsword can do in single target regardless of what gs build you use. In groups no doubt the greatsword shines. But single target i have to rate the sword better just because of the fast auto attacks and the damage you can do with them.

Bash.7291:

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

Greatsword is actually the highest DPS weapon the guardian has, period. Doesn’t matter whether it’s single or multi-target, it’s the highest for all of them.

Have to disagree. It all depends on the spec. I honestly think a right hand strength build will put one hand sword over the amount of damage a greatsword can do in single target regardless of what gs build you use. In groups no doubt the greatsword shines. But single target i have to rate the sword better just because of the fast auto attacks and the damage you can do with them.

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/70080-guardian-effective-dps-tests/

Without RH Strength, the auto-attack for sword is almost exactly equal to GS. With, it goes slightly higher, but not enough to offset the huge damage advantage GS gets with its damage-dealing skills. All things equal, the GS is pretty much always going to be better than 1HS.

That post shows nothing regarding the other skills other than basic auto attack for sword. It also doesnt factor in offhand skills or having 2 sigils compared to one. Personally i find symbol of wrath useless as damage unless it is pve as 95% of people will not stand on it ad binding blades is the same situation as it is normally used for a pull instead of straight damage. Now if you are talking pve then yes greatsword will outdamage due to mobs standing still. But any other situation I see RHS with sword doing more damage.

I believe Hammer, when built correctly (Crithammer, AH build), gives GS a serious run for its money. Hammer hits extremely hard, and also happens to come with the best burst skill of any Guardian weapon. Hammer paired off with Sword + Focus/Shield, is extremely effective.

I use GS in every aspect of the game, WVW, SPvP and PvE. I now only use my 1hsword in SPvP with a torch off hand. I do like the 1hs with a focus but, I focus on damage output not not so much condition or even crit. All around I feel the gs is better. I use scepter/torch for WvW and PvE.

Traited right, 1h sword crits way more often than GS (which will proc vigor, which will proc AH), can spread aoe burning every 4th attack (which is super fast compared to GS).
Plus, sword has built in defense with a blind & projectile absorb. Couple that with focus and you’re nigh-unkillable.

Sword shines fighting a single enemy, especially a strong enemy in PvE. Once you throw in multiple mobs or go into a WvW situation, it is much less useful. Sword has no control abilities, so you can’t stop someone from running away and its not great against 2+ enemies because the arc and range on the auto attack is not great, the third attack can only hit one target and both the other attacks are also single target.

Actually no, the 1h sword actually has a longer hit range than any other melee weapon (at 180 i believe might need to look it up) also it does have an arc that hits multiple people, the cone however is more narrow that a GS. The third attack is kinda blah though just because it does max out at 3 hits and they do less damage individually compared to the regular auto attacks. The other skills i will give you are way more single target orriented but the auto attack actually does pretty decent against groups.

Maybe I was thinking about the ranger swords ranges. Either way guardian sword has pretty has poor multi target damage. I used 1h sword/focus for leveling along with with staff because you do a lot of single mob fights in PvE, but I dropped it for GS when I started doing WvW where 1v1 fights are not a priority.

The greatsword does much better than the sword when you’re fighting a group of enemies. The AoE on the greatsword is just so much better. For single targets, though, I’ll admit sword is just as good, if not a little bit better.

timecookie.8570:

dizzyd.5213:

Cempa.3645:

0/0/30/20/20 GS AH+Shouts build.
Gear: Power+Toughness+Precision (Knight) Exotic.

I have been using a GS since before level 10 and never used anything else other than the odd Hammer or Scepter just to try them out.

Today I decided to get a Sword and Focus and go test it out against the Krakas of all kind -normal and vets- what I discovered blew me away, not only does the sword kill just about as fast, I take less damage -if that was even possible lol

As a GS I’ll admit its faceroll, really takes little skill to play this build due to the OP self healing, but add a Sword+Focus and its the same damage, same healing but much more mitigation!

Btw, what are you taking with 20 Virtues? Just curious.

Same here. I could understand it in PvP but not that much in PvE.

My guess: Supreme Justice

Vitu.3580:

The greatsword does much better than the sword when you’re fighting a group of enemies. The AoE on the greatsword is just so much better. For single targets, though, I’ll admit sword is just as good, if not a little bit better.

“A little bit” being literally 6 damage more per second at level 80. Also note that while you do get a bonus to crit rate, you lose the ability to take Empowering Might, which can be anywhere from a 5-10% boost in damage depending on your overall stats and boon duration. After you factor that in, the sword auto-attack only deals about 8% more than the greatsword’s. Note that’s just the auto-attack, greatswords get other skills that do damage while the sword doesn’t.

I just rolled a guardian alt for the first time today and haven’t really thought about it, but just looking at the skills on gw2skills it seems like hammer would be competitive with gs in an aoe situation, but also generate similar AH healing (number 3 of chain does 3x protection if I’m reading that right) and give you pretty much constant protection, vastly lowering the damage you take. Is there something I’m missing?

Yukishiro.8792:

I just rolled a guardian alt for the first time today and haven’t really thought about it, but just looking at the skills on gw2skills it seems like hammer would be competitive with gs in an aoe situation, but also generate similar AH healing (number 3 of chain does 3x protection if I’m reading that right) and give you pretty much constant protection, vastly lowering the damage you take. Is there something I’m missing?

It straight-up deals less damage. Like, way less. You also hit very slowly so any additional procs you get from the Symbol is offset by the loss of healing from the crits.

Hammer > Everything.

My logic: Banish.

Your rebuttal: Banished.