Guild Wars 2

Can you think of any reason why these two 1-h weapons do not have access to one of the unique abilities of guardians? It seems to just limit the types of builds available. I’m not suggesting a buff, but simply more options – any skills that get reclassified as symbols can get balanced to compensate for the newly available synergy with symbol-related traits. At the moment it seems swords and scepters are pretty isolated, not to be considered if you are planning to use the many symbol-related traits, or even boon-related traits like Altruistic Healing. Any thoughts on the rationale behind this?

BTW, putting the only scepter trait in a trait line that has 2 minor (i.e. mandatory) traits buffing only symbols is another indication of how isolated these 1-h weapons are. The options seem to be:
1. don’t buff your scepter skills;
2. mostly/partly waste 2 other traits in order to buff your scepter skills;
3. don’t use scepters.

Edit:
I don’t really understand a lot of the objection below. Let me clarify that I’m talking about mostly a reclassification rather than a change of functionality. This would be analogous to the recent update that assigned types to healing and utility skills which previously had had no types.

Someone suggested making scepter 3 a symbol. Instead of the current 2s immobility and 3 stacks of 6s vulnerability, that may mean 2s immobility to the primary target and 3 times area pulse of 1 stack of 6s vulnerability. (If the area pulse is considered a buff, we can cut down the duration of the vulnerability, but you get my idea.) This would make it an offense-only symbol, and there is no need for the player to enter or stay in the symbol.

Similarly, sword 3 currently deals magic missile damage and blocks ranged attack for 3 seconds. Reclassification would mean spreading out the same amount of damage and blocking over 3 pulses. The objection about sword being a very mobile weapon and the player not wanting to have to stay inside a symbol doesn’t apply here either, because currently any movement interrupts the channeling of sword 3 anyway.

I hope these explicit details help move the discussion forward. Please let me know what you think.

Sword and scepter are more offensive weapons, usually used to chase enemies. You can’t expect them to stay in your symbol. You can say that there is immobilize on scepter’s #3, but it’s mostly used to close the gap between you and enemy.

Sword’s animations and mechanics just don’t allow any of them to be a symbol.
The only one skill they could be a symbol is scepter #2. But even then people would just say, that sword is the only weapon without a symbol.

I guess this will never change. Just like shield’s skills mechanic. Players complain about it since GW2 launched and nothing have changed. At least now cooldowns are lower.

I still don’t know why they havent made smite into a symbol yet in all honesty. it has the actuall animation for it on the ground minus the outside ring, and would FINALLY make it make sense in the trait line. Also it would allow for better use as ranged AoE ability, and also would still work at applying burning due to the new symbol can cause burning trait, Instead they refuse to do this, and just put the symbol on bow, which would basicly do the same freaking thing.

It’s because right now Smite deals dmg at random places in its radius (min: 0 hits, max: 16 hits). If it was a symbol it would pulse and deal dmg per each pulse. That wouldn’t be random anymore, because each pulse would have 100% chance to hit every enemy. So I think that right now it’s good enough.

Sword 2, teleport and drop a symbol. E kittening Z. I just solved Anets problem in 3 seconds.

Chodey.3796:

Sword 2, teleport and drop a symbol. E kittening Z. I just solved Anets problem in 3 seconds.

This or get rid of the number 3 and make it drop a symbol.

Same with scepter 2.

@Chodey
Didn’t realize it was a problem worth solving

The only skill where I see symbol utilized is Scepter #2.. but then there goes all of my F1 burn procs. Now that burn guardian is becoming a thing, many will start to complain.
For the record burn guard won today’s AspectGG tournament Woo!!!

I prefer not having ANY symbols on my 1v1 1-hander weapons. It’s a play style I like to keep but hey, that’s just me.

They don’t have a symbol for the same reason shield, torch, and focus don’t have symbols: not every weapon needs a symbol. If every weapon did have a symbol, then more guardians would be choosing from the FOUR traits that buff symbols.

Like I said above.
Your pretty much have to use a mace or hammer with zeal, not every guardian wants to do that though, in fact many do not like mace or hammer.

However every guardian regardless of build has access to burning & AEGIS.
Why not make those traits minors then buff the crap out of symbol traits and make them majors/merge them with existing majors.

Minors should be about things that are universal to the class no matter the build.
Majors can be where you specialize in a given thing.

yeah, for example if i want to use the following setup : http://goo.gl/eayAfQ

i receive no benefit from the Zeal minor traits, because my weapons don’t has skill associated to them.

Scepter 2:Symbol of Smiting, lasts 3s, hits 3 times per second, gives 1 might for 1 second per pulse.

Sword 3: Symbol of Absorption, lasts 2s, absorbs projectiles in the area.

Keeps a lot of the functionality the skills originally had. I’ve always been a proponent of every weapon having a symbol, and I liken then a lot to mesmer illusions. Every weapon set for mesmer has one clone generator and one phantasm generator. Having every weapon set for guardian have a symbol generator (off hand symbols unnecessary) would be great.

Smite should be a symbol though I suspect it would be a little OP as then it would also potentially have heals, increased size, increased dmg and burning application, vuln application and extra 10% dmg (once the trait comes back) when traited..not to mention unlike other offensive symols, you can place smite almost anywhere, as well as it having a 6 second cooldown.

I think smite is good where it is at the moment.

why? because it’s Anet.

Make sword #2 a target that you can choose where to place. Where you place it you will teleport and drop a symbol that does whatever each tick. I guess blind condition each tick would be too OP or something.

And perhaps Shield skill 4 would create symbol that lasts 1-2 seconds (boosted to 3-4 seconds with the trait) and apply aegis with each/every second pulse, with AoE limitation of 5 targets.

But I dunno how much that could break the game tho.

We don’t need more symbols.
I would rather loose sword from our a_rsenal than giving another weapon a symbol, especially sword.

Just.. it’s ok. Please don’t.

Sword could use a symbol. It’s not ok to lose a perfectly good weapon because traits were changed. I find it hard to believe that the goal was to replace Sword with Mace as the DPS weapon of choice. Thief sword also lost DPS to the power creep. Maybe Anet if nerfing swords?

If adding a symbol doesnt work for Anet, at least give us some better synergy in the Zeal trait line.

Smite would be awful as a symbol. Currently, smite hits up to 16 times in a 200 radius which makes it phenomenal to use against bosses or constructs with large hit boxes. Turning it into a symbol would take away that advantage and only hit targets within its radius one time per pulse.

Beyond the Powerful Blades trait, sword doesn’t feel like it was supposed to be a DPS weapon to begin with. The auto-attack is pretty odd to use with it projectiles finisher, the 2 is a blinking blind, and the 3 is a small/short projectile finisher. Mace, on the other hand (main hand?), has always been a damaging weapon, and even though the final attack in the chain only hits one target it is far more reliable to hit than Sword Wave. The reason is didn’t make the cut was because it had a slightly less DPS output than ideal sword situations.

If anything I would say move Binding Jeopardy back into Radiance.

Because they’d have to convey another boon and all boons that aren’t already given by other symbols would be far too powerful to have as an AoE weapon skill.

Also, because that’s why you choose either Sw/Sc or the Mace. I like it this way, makes weapons feel different

Given just how many traits are based entirely around symbols, I do indeed wonder why the devs don’t have an “Every Guardian weapon set must have a symbol” rule like they do with Mesmer and Phantasms. Maybe its just different main developers working on the professions or something, and I suppose on some level you could argue that phantasms are a little more important to Mesmers than symbols are to Guardians given that phantasms are tied to their profession mechanic, but still… So many traits that are just outright completely unfunctional when using 2 of our 3 mainhand weapons seems off to me.

And as someone who plays a hybrid symbol build, it makes me feel like I’m pigeonholed into specific weapons. Even some of the weapons that have symbols don’t utilize them nearly as well as others. Hammer is obviously godly for symbols, and Mace is really good, then Staff and GS not so much… but at least they HAVE symbols. And as someone who also loves variety, that makes me sad.

Sure, most builds are always going to have weapons that are better than others to use. But most aren’t quite as bad as a symbol build, where slotting a Sword or Scepter instantly turns off a chunk of your traits.

Also want to add that many people don’t like symbols for the sheer counter intuitive fact that.. people won’t stay in them. It’s one of those AoE effects that simply don’t perform as well as Necro Wells or Ele’s bursty fire circle thingy. That’s not to say it’s completely worthless, people just rather not.

I prefer to not have symbols on Sword and Scepter. These two weapon’s position are apparent – made to burst or control single targets.

Saiyan.1704:

Also want to add that many people don’t like symbols for the sheer counter intuitive fact that.. people won’t stay in them. It’s one of those AoE effects that simply don’t perform as well as Necro Wells or Ele’s bursty fire circle thingy. That’s not to say it’s completely worthless, people just rather not.

I prefer to not have symbols on Sword and Scepter. These two weapon’s position are apparent – made to burst or control single targets.

As others have said there are plenty of ways sword and scepter could be made to have symbols without losing their role or becoming OP.

Frankly though I think the best solution is to take the minor traits that effect symbols and swap or merge them with majors then adjust the power of those former minors accordingly.

This would mean that yes zeal would have allot of options for symbol traits but said traits would be a choice instead of something that had to come with the line thus making hammer/mace mandatory for use with the trait line.

Why people insist in making us even more static or symbol dependent? If let’s say we were to get symbols for Sword and Scepter then people would complain that they are forced to take Zeal for every freaking build.

Sword is fine how it is now and it’s our most versatile weapon set. It only lacks a real GM in Radiance (They CAN do better than FREAKING “Perfect Inscriptions” and “Radiant Retaliation”)

As for Zeal I would be up for a the minors to be changed into something else that are more of a benefit to our class mechanic than specific to our symbols.

Tweaking the Zeal line with better options for non symbol builds would probably work better. And cause less work for the devs.

Or maybe we are just suppose to take the Dragonhunter line, when its ready.