Guild Wars 2

Hi folks,

Learning curve is going great. i was wondering if i could get feed back on “Traditional weapon usage”.

I currently use GS for moderate aoe point damage and mace /focus for pure defense if i need too.

What is the traditional use of the other weapons? Hammer for dps or control? Sword/torch dps? Never used a staff for my build, what is the primary purpose other than aoe? Scepter focus or scepter torch, is this combo for ranged offense only?

Any tips and explanations would help.

Currently using a heal/support traitline and armor/weps, no crit to speak of but great defense and survivability.

GS is raw DPS. It’s the most powerful weapon the guardian has, damage-wise. Similarly, the scepter is ranged DPS. I think it’s the most powerful ranged weapon in the game, period. Mace is raw defense, with focus being self-protection and shield being group protection. Staff is similar but with more of a focus on support, with a massive might stack and a swiftness symbol. Beyond that your sword is your mobility weapon. The damage it deals is average at best but you get a teleport and can use an offhand. Hammer is raw control, it deals relatively poor damage but has a ton of CC skills.

Torch is just kinda, well, there. It’s okay with scepter since Cleansing Flames makes an okay gap filler while Smite is recharging, but that’s about it.

Thank you Guanglai.

Guardian Staff > Twilight Arbor

I agree with Guanglai. As you level up and try out different weapons. Unfortunately (or fortunately! depending on how you look at it) you’ll probably consider GS/Scepter with shield/focus combo.

1. GS has better control than hammer due to our binding blade move—this helps set up aoes which make a big deal in dungeons (which is pretty much endgame gw2)
2. Damage is equal to or better than hammer (never used a hammer myself, but I’ve read some threads on their high dps), but given that and control—GS wins imo
3. Scepter has a huge range. It’s #1 does a great deal of damage and can be ground targetted so you have a lot of control over its accuracy which is nice and also #2 binds an enemy in place for 2 seconds—which pretty much helps in any situation (aka land your #1 or gtfo if you are near a melee strong enemy)
4. I prefer shield due to shield absorption knockback + range blocking but focus sounds good too.

Now…finding a scepter skin that looks good for guards…that’s a diff story

IMHO

GSword is great AOE damage, I view GS as our default ‘go-to’ weapon. Does well in most all situations. #4 is a combo field and #2,3 and 5 are finishers which makes it even better.

Hammer is good damage but has more control than GS. Check out the Altruistic Healing Hammer guide stickied up top. I love this for WvW zergs. I consider Hammer my 2h ‘tanking’ weapon with the AH spec. Lost a bit after the last patch but its still viable with a few melee around ya.

Sword is my choice for single target and small group DPS, I feel it is better DPS than GS in some situations and with the right traits/gear/consumables it gets real mean.

Mace is your ‘tanking’ weapon with heals and protection. I’ll throw this on when I know I’ll need more survivability.

Staff gives Swiftness, has a decent frontal AOE and is good group support, always my 2nd choice for WvW and is great with Altruistic Healing also.

Scepter is our ranged weapon. Damage is very good in PvE where targets don’t evade much and are more stationary. PvP this thing doesn’t do as well but we’re limited on ranged options. (#2 is a targeted AoE, #3 is the root) The Citidel of Flames Scepter looks pretty decent.

Off-hands
Shield is good defense, usually has Defense stats on it IIRC. Good choice for taking some hits. The knockback of #5 is fun in WvW

Focus is a strong off hand, has a shield that absorbs 3 hits and an ability that can remove some conditions of your party.

Torch, this one has gotten a lot of flack but it’s our offhand dps. Helps keep burning on the target if needed and Cleansing Flame is decent frontal AoE damage on a relatively short cooldown.

I feel that each weapon has its strength and uses. Try um all n see what works best for you. Play around with different trait builds and some of the ‘lesser’ weapons can shine.

My favorites currently are Sword/Torch with Scepter/Focus. GSword and Hammer//Staff is a great loadout also. All depends on what you want.

Again, IMHO

Blood~

Bloodgruve.6038:

IMHO

GS is great AOE damage, I view GS as our default ‘go-to’ weapon. Does well in most all situations.

Hammer is good damage but has a lot more control than GS. Check out the Altruistic Healing Hammer guide stickied up top. I love this for WvW zergs.

Sword is great single target damage, I feel it is better DPS than GS in some situations and with the right traits/gear/consumables it gets real mean.

Mace is your ‘tanking’ weapon with heals and protection.

Staff gives Swiftness, has a decent frontal AOE and is good group support, always my 2nd choice for WvW and is great with Altruistic Healing also.

Scepter is our ranged weapon. Damage is very good in PvE where targets don’t evade much and are more stationary. PvP this thing doesn’t do as well but we’re limited on ranged options. (#2 is a targeted AoE, #3 is the root) The Citidel of Flames Scepter looks pretty decent.

Off-hands
Shield is good defense, usually has Toughness on it IIRC. Good choice for taking some hits. The knockback of #5 is fun in WvW

Focus is a strong off hand, has a shield that absorbs 3 hits and an ability that can remove some conditions of your party.

Torch, this one has gotten a lot of flack but it’s our offhand dps. Helps keep burning on the target if needed and Cleansing Flame is decent frontal AoE damage on a relatively short cooldown.

My favorites currently are Sword/Torch with Scepter/Focus. GSword and Hammer//Staff is a great loadout also. All depends on what you want.

Again, IMHO

Blood~

Hm…I agree with most things but it really depends on your definition of ‘control’. If by control you mean, area of denial, then yes, hammer does very well. But GS binding blade allows me to grab 5 enemies, interrupt them, and put them in a cluttered desirable aoe space anywhere I want—-which imo, is better control. I value control more in being able to guide where enemies go; not where they can’t go.

Hammer #1 chain is the default damage with #2 being a heavy hitting leap that combo’s off #1’s third strike. #3 is a root which is nice because we lack mobility of other classes and allows us to get to our target. #4 launches your target, wvw you stop a stomp and pve you can launch an unruly caster into melee. #5 creates a wall around you which either traps targets or keeps them away, blocks choke points. As you admitted earlier you haven’t done a lot with Hammer, give it a try and you’ll see that it has more control.

GSword 5 is very nice and a perfect fit for the weapon, not denying that, but its a single ability with a 30 sec cooldown. Also, the chains go out in random directions not always hitting 5 targets.

Nothing more satisfying than JI to your target with Ring of Warding Q’d up, then launch um against the ring. It’s pretty disorienting in WvW and I’ve taken out more than a few with this

Blood~

Bloodgruve.6038:

Hammer #1 chain is the default damage with #2 being a heavy hitting leap that combo’s off #1’s third strike. #3 is a root which is nice because we lack mobility of other classes and allows us to get to our target. #4 launches your target, wvw you stop a stomp and pve you can launch an unruly caster into melee. #5 creates a wall around you which either traps targets or keeps them away, blocks choke points. As you admitted earlier you haven’t done a lot with Hammer, give it a try and you’ll see that it has more control.

GSword 5 is very nice and a perfect fit for the weapon, not denying that, but its a single ability with a 30 sec cooldown. Also, the chains go out in random directions not always hitting 5 targets.

Nothing more satisfying than JI to your target with Ring of Warding Q’d up, then launch um against the ring. It’s pretty disorienting in WvW and I’ve taken out more than a few with this

Blood~

Haha yeah, I’ve read those stories and posts—it seems interesting but still too slow for me imo :P. Also for most mobs 1 pull is enough given the 30 second cooldown (you can reduce it with a trait which most ppl do which results in 24s—better than 30~). This scenario comes up time to time for me, but if I have 3-4 enemies hitting me and they are spread out very well; I find it annoying having to kill them 1 by 1 or even 2 by 2. Pulling them all together and performing an aoe is much more efficient and preferred. In a group of 5+ mobs it’s still ok since your #2 is a spin2win move and is mobile. Also binding blade (gs#5) does not shoot out randomly, unless the enemies aren’t within range. Otherwise it’ll grab the closest enemies up to 5.

Edit: This is from a PvE bias. I dont WvW much so I don’t know it’s value in that area as much.

Funnily enough, I still don’t have an Exotic Greatsword (nor Torch, for that matter.) The other weapons suit me just fine (though GS is a good weapon-I just don’t believe it “defines” the Guardian unless the player is in tune with its playstyle.)

Scepter: Single target DPS; our 1200 range weapon and our kiting weapon
Sword: Single target DPS; good for attacking enemies
Mace: Defensive with AoE damage; the survival weapon

Shield/Focus: Support/Survival off-hands
Torch: Offensive off-hand; best burning weapon

Hammer: AoE damage and CC
Greatsword: Our primary damage weapon: AoE and single target
Staff: Sustained AoE damage and support; mostly just a utility weapon

The Hammer does function a bit better in WvW than in PvE but it still has it’s uses if you let it. You must get lucky on the Binding Blade, on numerous occasions I’ve attempted to pull 5 mobs in but it only grabs 3, and I know the others were in range and available. I thought I saw a post somewhere confirming that it was random.

Blood~

Bloodgruve.6038:

The Hammer does function a bit better in WvW than in PvE but it still has it’s uses if you let it. You must get lucky on the Binding Blade, on numerous occasions I’ve attempted to pull 5 mobs in but it only grabs 3, and I know the others were in range and available. I thought I saw a post somewhere confirming that it was random.

Blood~

It’s not random. The blades that fly out are projectiles so they may hit the same mob multiple times if one is standing in front of another.

ArcTheFallen.7682:

Now…finding a scepter skin that looks good for guards…that’s a diff story

Princess Wand.

Works whether you’re a petite Human Female cosplaying Sailor Moon, or a massive bald ebony Norn Male cosplaying Sailor Moon. It. Just. Works.

Sword/Focus is the Guardian’s most powerful single target DPS weapon. Combined with Right Hand Strength, you will do far more consistent single target DPS than the GS.

That being said, the GS is great for PvE, but in WvW it’s sort of lacking due to how easy it is to avoid Binding Blade, which is necessary to pull off Symbol of Wrath + Whirling Wrath combo.

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

Bloodgruve.6038:

The Hammer does function a bit better in WvW than in PvE but it still has it’s uses if you let it. You must get lucky on the Binding Blade, on numerous occasions I’ve attempted to pull 5 mobs in but it only grabs 3, and I know the others were in range and available. I thought I saw a post somewhere confirming that it was random.

Blood~

It’s not random. The blades that fly out are projectiles so they may hit the same mob multiple times if one is standing in front of another.

That explains it. TYVM Guanglai.

Greatsword - Best overall weapon. High single target and AoE damage. Easy to pick up and straightforward to learn with a natural progression to advanced usage.

Hammer - Stronger attacks with longer delays and different utility than greatsword. The long delay in the chain on #1 makes this hard to use for newer players. It takes some adjustment. The main downsides is that it’s too easy to avoid some of the attacks in PvP.

Staff - Intended as a support weapon. Some builds use the #1 with high power and crit. Otherwise, it’s mostly used as a secondary support weapon.

Sword - I don’t find this weapon to be all that great. The damage is good, but only against a single target. The utility seems good, but flashing blade is a huge DPS loss if you’re using it only for the blind and zealot’s defense doesn’t do offense very well at range (misses a lot vs moving targets). Zealot’s defense damage is about the same as the #1 chain.

Mace - Good at defense, but don’t expect to do a lot of damage with it. It has next to no mobility so use it for receiving attacks.

Scepter - Great mid-range weapon. A lot of people hate it because it misses often at long range, but the long range is only there for attacking static objects at a distance. When used at mid-range, the #1 almost always hits. The immobilize is very useful and smite gives some decent area damage.

Shield - Weak overall, but strong situationally. Shield of Judgement could use a little improvement, but Shield of Absorption is very good against ranged attackers and for knocking stuff back.

Focus - Very good for self defense, but doesn’t have as much group support like the shield does. The #5 explosion when it doesn’t block also does significant damage.

Torch - Offensive off-hand. Works in niche builds for condition damage. Otherwise, it’s generally not used. Focus and Shield provide a much better balance with offense and defense to scepter and sword and if you’re going mace, you usually want to be fully defensive.