Guild Wars 2

hi, im debating if sword/torch would be a better wepon set for damage dealing than greatsword when it comes to single target or 2v1 fights, given it has shorter cooldowns and what seems to be higher dps skills?

any advice or sugestions?

i plan on paring this with a hammer btw..

no1 has any opinion for me?

Simply said, no.

Some builds use 1h sword for more procs of on-crit effects, everyone else uses gs for a reason. And nobody uses torch.

Sword does need right handed strength to at least break even in damage, gs has similar damage with better utility. Torch is just worthless imho, #4 does have decent spike (but no real dps) #5 is worse then autoattack damage.

Completely disagree. Sword/torch is great for 1v1 fights and possibly our highest single target damage set. Yes you do need RHS to make it work at its best but the damage is very nice without even needing zerker gear. #4 is a 1200 ranger nuke and #5 is great for flushing thieves out of shadow refuge. I will say though that focus might work better for you if you want a good mix of damage and defense. But straight damage wise sword/torch is highest single target damage when used correctly.

Also keep in mind that for 1h sword builds the best synergy for the build is off set GS. Hammer is nice but the overall mobility on the GS matches with 1h sword play much better.

could it be made to work for smaller skirmishes? like taking camps and stuff in wvw?

Indeed Torch is nice Damage 1vs1, maybe 1vs2.

But you’ll realise how you’ll better with a shield or a focus in most situation (in WvW). In small scale situation I do really better with a focus. Not saying Torch isn’t good, just saying you can match more situations with focus/shield.

High Damage is not so useful when you’re dead.

Cleansing Flame and Omnomberry pies gives you a 1-2k heal every 15 seconds. Its ranged, tracking, doesn’t keep you stationary, high damaging, and cures condition off allies that are in the flame.

I call that a win.

Sword and Torch work well. Sceptre and Torch is also another combo that works great as Torch can be used as a ranged off-hand.

I agree with Torch as offhand. #4 is an instant use and, I could be wrong here, but I think it can be used even when knocked down. #5 is just a constant stream of fire damage and heals debuffs on allies. I love combining the Scepter with that, for the range and for the fact that you can lock an enemy’s movement for a small amount of time with #3 and the #2 is downright a spammable AoE. Scepter/Torch is my suggested weapon setup if you’re going to be kiting anything as a Guardian, especially since all the weapon skills with this setup can be used while moving.

As an ele, I hate it when guardians use a shield. Please don’t knock enemies all over the place. If they stay close together, they get aoe’d to death. The protection on the shield is great, but you have a lot of other ways to get protection.

I use greatsword and scepter/torch. GS and scepter for obvious reasons, and the torch allows for that impressive #4 spike, but then the #5 is also very good. Yes, it doesn’t do as much damage against a single target and is usually worthless in 1v1, but how often are you in a 1v1 situation? That skill does amazing damage when you use it on a group, oh and it cures conditions too.

Focus always seems like a viable option to me, but only if you can recognize when your opponent is about to use a strong spike. For example, using the focus block when your opponent tries to use the torch 4 would be pretty significant.

Torch is nice just wish cleansing flame actually removed condi’s from the user as well. That one issue to me is why I don’t use it as much.

Arken.3725:

Torch is nice just wish cleansing flame actually removed condi’s from the user as well. That one issue to me is why I don’t use it as much.

Why would we even need it to clear conditions from us? We have Signet of Resolve, Purging Flames, Smite Condition, Contemplation of Purity, Bow of Truth, and Purity (Valor Trait V). Why would we need another one?

Conditions are applied faster than removed. I see no reason why we can’t have another, not everyone is going to equip/trait all of those anyway.

Edit: All but one of those removes only 1 upon activation(passive or not), it won’t help you when you’re getting smashed by 10. Sure you’ll remove them with contemplation but the rate at which they reapply pretty much speaks for itself.

My preferred build is RHS Sword/Torch and Scepter/Focus. I mainly run PvE with it but it is the highest single target damage loadout, some dispute this but I’m thinking they just haven’t pushed S/T to its full potential. On crit food is very good here.

For WvW I’ll run S/T and GS or Staff and it works quite well.

Torch can be used effectively.

Blood~

Always like the torch, sure it has less dps than sword auto, but #5 is range and has a bigger cone aoe than the sword, think I killed more people with torch than anything else on the guardian in pvp.