Guild Wars 2

Hi , don’t know if it’s just me or it’s just a bad match up but i run around with a greatsword and sword / pistol and staff mesmers always seem to wear me down and give me the most trouble . Is there any way to beat them with the weapons im using and whats the best utility skills to use when coming up against them ?

Hi, it is glad to see a gs mesmer. I am a gs, sword/x shatter mesmer who beats staff mesmer easily(maybe i did not see a decent one). Here are my tips:
Know the advantage of gs and disadvantage of staff. GS is great at ranged while staff is great at melee. Summon zerker ASAP when u see that mesmer and kite him. Do not try to get close to him and use sword shatter combo since he is more willing to get closed to u. When he gets closed to u, change weapon to sword. Try to use sword 3-2-shatter combo to burst him. But I do not think any decent mesmer will be hit by this combo. If he uses sword 3, dodge it. If he succeeds, use sword 2 or distortion to avoid. Then find appropriate time to shatter or sword 3-2-shatter. After shattering, change to gs and summon zerker while run away. Keep ranged and kite. Watch out the chaos storm. Never go into it.

Over all, gs mesmer outputs more damage than staff one. But staff is good at melee and defense. Land a good shatter burst on a staff mesmer in melee is hard. Use ranged shatter and kite him is another choice. Remember, the play style of gs mesmer is keeping ranged and do sustaining damage. Change to sword whenever u can give a burst or u are in danger. Then change back to gs and do sustaining damage

The staff is a very defensive weapon. If they get chaos armor up, and you hit them, then they start getting regen and protection while you get confusion and blind, which is bad. Using sword 2 and iDuelist activates these effects even more.

I usually run Sw/F and Staff. I don’t really like GS because it’s pretty much purely offensive with no defensive utilities.

But if you MUST have a GS (I will admit, they look cool), then either switch out your pistol for a focus so you can pull them around a bit, or simply switch to a staff, so that you can be just as defensive as them.

Generally, as a mesmer you need to stay as mobile as possible, so I would recommend taking Decoy and Blink for stun breaks/getaways. For even more mobility, you can go with Portal. Just put if off to the side before you head into a fight, and put the other one down when you are about to die to escape. I usually do Mirror Images instead though ‘cuz I shatter a lot, but It’s whatever you like.

kaikalii.4198:

The staff is a very defensive weapon. If they get chaos armor up, and you hit them, then they start getting regen and protection while you get confusion and blind, which is bad. Using sword 2 and iDuelist activates these effects even more.

I usually run Sw/F and Staff. I don’t really like GS because it’s pretty much purely offensive with no defensive utilities.

But if you MUST have a GS (I will admit, they look cool), then either switch out your pistol for a focus so you can pull them around a bit, or simply switch to a staff, so that you can be just as defensive as them.

Generally, as a mesmer you need to stay as mobile as possible, so I would recommend taking Decoy and Blink for stun breaks/getaways. For even more mobility, you can go with Portal. Just put if off to the side before you head into a fight, and put the other one down when you are about to die to escape. I usually do Mirror Images instead though ‘cuz I shatter a lot, but It’s whatever you like.

yeah i agree with u. Position and mobility is important to a mesmer. The reason why i prefer gs is that i hate the slowness of staff. After landing a great burst by sword and change to staff, the sustaining damage by staff is awful… And if u run sword/ focus, gs, it is hilarious to watch thief out of shadow refuge and die.

I love the greatsword, the Staff is just to defense for my liking lol. The Auto attack is to slow for my liking, doesnt do alot of damage. Phase Retreat is nice but again defensive, Chaos Armor i have always thought was lacking. The iLock is nice but requires a condition build to make the most of it but Chaos Storm does rock

I believe it was already shown that GS and Staff have similar DPS provided you use them properly (GS at range, staff in close). iWarlock is more power-based than condition keeping in mind that it will also do more damage if your target has more conditions on it.

Xavi.6591:

I believe it was already shown that GS and Staff have similar DPS provided you use them properly (GS at range, staff in close). iWarlock is more power-based than condition keeping in mind that it will also do more damage if your target has more conditions on it.

Under perfect conditions maybe. I think Staff damage is easier to manage than GS. GS is very immediate, hard to avoid, and isn’t anchored. Staff is slow, is more dependent on projectiles, and Chaos Storm and Armor are quite avoidable. That all said, Staff is superior in a 1v1 whereas I feel GS is far better in group combat. That, and if you’re holding a GS and a stun warrior sees you then you may as well fall on your sword…

I juts hope noone take offence but I always dance a little jigg before start killing if im in a spvp game and find a GS mesmer, same in wvwvw when romaing. Im kinda sure BS thefs do the same but stand back and wating for the right moment.

In short, GS do good dmg sure, but how god dmg do you do lying on the ground spectating.

/Osicat

The point is, with the fact we have 2 weapon sets we can have an offensive and defensive set. With Sword+Focus it can do BOTH and i love the ITV interrupt followed by the IW interrupt, works great against Thieves wanting to stealth and IW works great when they go into that AoE stealth thing as well.

We have plenty of defensive options (TOO many imo) in Utilities and Elite so why would you take them on the weapon as well?

The ONLY skills i miss are CS and leap(when it works) the Lock i just dont like, Chaos Armor is pretty rubbish the clones are good and so is the Auto attack if in close/mid range but at range its to slow and the booms are pointless as you wont get them.

For WvW solo roaming i can kill things so much faster with greatsword than with staff, which is essential if there is a zerg about to smash you at any moment.

Staff can take out more people at the same time, but i have found those fights are prolonged and can get interrupted by adds so easy.

Going by experience i would say that i win about 90% of the time against staff mesmers, and even higher against BS thieves, why go for a defensive weapons when i can just trait for stealth for a great defense and be able to melt most things i come across in seconds, and for tanky builds a little bit longer.

GS mesmers are free kills.

Staff is a defensive crutch, a good one, but ultimately it offers no threat.

I play Gs/Staff shatter build with halting interuptions and remove boons on shatter.

Just take the best of both worlds and watch your opponents melt.

Ross Biddle.2367:

GS mesmers are free kills.

Staff is a defensive crutch, a good one, but ultimately it offers no threat.

No threat? It can be a powerful tool if used or traited right. If you pick up the extra bounce trait and high condition damage, it’ll rock house with very high sustained condition damage. if you go power, warlock will kitten face. Along with its defensive capabilities. It is a very powerful tools. I find GS is actually used wrong for the most part. Its very good for large group battles since the lazer will damage every one it goes through. So target some one in the back and go to town.

Osicat.4139:

I juts hope noone take offence but I always dance a little jigg before start killing if im in a spvp game and find a GS mesmer, same in wvwvw when romaing. Im kinda sure BS thefs do the same but stand back and wating for the right moment.

In short, GS do good dmg sure, but how god dmg do you do lying on the ground spectating.

/Osicat

yeah, when I see staff mesmers in WvW they are freaking awesome and unkillable, oh wait…

And enough with start your opinion with “I take no offense…” and try to be a fake polite poster and follow with a " but how god dmg do you do lying on the ground spectating" to end youor opinion. If you want to be a smart kitten , just stick to the script, dont try to sound nice and then still talk like an kitten later.

I have beaten staff mesmers while using greatsword – and I’ve lost as well.

To me, the key thing is to stay targeted on the Mesmer. They will phase retreat a lot, and you need to pick them up again quickly. That plus plenty of stealth for me seems to work okay.

Im going to assume both are using shatter builds.

The staff mesmer will try to hug you very closely to reduce greatsword damage, but when theyre using shatter, thy wont get much damage from the staff. Simply dodge the illusionary leap shatter combo, and there wont be muh other damage coming from him (relative to your gs damage).

Surviving with a GS is harder with a staff, so you have to learn when to use blinks and decoys, also pan your camera and turn around and run and stuff.

The staff mesmer has more room to use their utilities offensively, because they have defense with the staff, but they do less ranged damage.
The greatsword does more damage, basically.

Ive been experimenting with a GS recently in hotjoin pvp, but i have ro disengage and pan the camera alot. Sometimes when i dont turn around and kite i just simply die :p. I recommend a staff if you want to survive better actually.

rchu.8945:

And enough with start your opinion with “I take no offense…” and try to be a fake polite poster and follow with a " but how god dmg do you do lying on the ground spectating" to end youor opinion. If you want to be a smart kitten , just stick to the script, dont try to sound nice and then still talk like an kitten later.

Wow, did a Mesmer just kill you repeatedly or what brought on that attitude?

The greatsword is for sniping and you simply don’t snipe much in duels. To compound the problem, the staff is designed to take a few hits and it’s true attack power comes from bounces and all illusions, not just phantasms. Traited properly and the clones will be the biggest threat.

If I were to duel with a greatsword as my primary, I would go full glass cannon with a hybrid of interrupt and shatter traits and then I would try to burst my target down in 2 to 5 seconds. After that, whether I succeeded or not, I would run. Another way would be to use the staff as my secondary, go for a rampager build and focus on phantasms and clone abilities. Then I would open with a greatsword burst and then duel with the staff. In either case, I would avidly avoid prolonged dueling with the greatsword.

As much as I love the look, the idea and the affects, the greatsword just isn’t made for dueling.

GS has nice damage. Great in group fights, strong phantasm, good auto attack.

Staff on the other hand is a must if you want to fight 1vX against semi competent enemies. If you have any melee class (most common being thief lol) on you and you just switched to the greatsword (thus a 9sec cd before you switch back), its GG. Its also very easy to tell which mesmer is real when you’re using the GS auto attack.

So i’d suggest staff for solo roaming, gs for when you’re in a group! Both are nice weapons.

staff mesmers are hard to beat if you have low hp and are lousy at cleansing conditions

GS mesmers are weak and easy to kill when they’re packing a beserkers, even knights sometimes.

I just love OP for being a mesmer who didn’t say he “hardly ever loses 1v1” (not being sarcastic). Post your build OP then we can break it down for ya. Also let us know if you want to shatter or hold on to your phantasms.

Jackums.3496:

If you’re running a phantasm build, the GS is hands-down the single best dueling weapon, matched only by the pistol. Since Berserker was fixed, it hits like a truck (7.8k in PvP), and its cripple is extremely useful for slowing your opponent, whether they’re fleeing or trying to close the distance between you. That and its multiple hits, just like Duelist’s, benefit from Sharper Images. Then you have the range on the GS, which allows you to summon your phantasms, then sit back at a distance and shave away at your enemy’s health with a pretty hard-hitting auto-attack. Finally, you have the great CC in iWave.

I would like to find one of these 7.8k critting GS’s. Maybe you’re speaking of WvW

Also want to find opponents with no range or gap closers, that sounds sweet.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I disagree with this one. Best “dueling” weapon setup for phantasms is likely sword or pistol in the off-hand, although it mostly just comes down to the player.

Ruine.3519:

Staff on the other hand is a must if you want to fight 1vX against semi competent enemies.

I believe the amulet plays a larger role. The torch’s invis power will save your kitten more than the staff’s chaos armor and ’port. trying using focus and torch in your off-hands with soldiers amulet or clerics.

djtool.8372:

Jackums.3496:

If you’re running a phantasm build, the GS is hands-down the single best dueling weapon, matched only by the pistol. Since Berserker was fixed, it hits like a truck (7.8k in PvP), and its cripple is extremely useful for slowing your opponent, whether they’re fleeing or trying to close the distance between you. That and its multiple hits, just like Duelist’s, benefit from Sharper Images. Then you have the range on the GS, which allows you to summon your phantasms, then sit back at a distance and shave away at your enemy’s health with a pretty hard-hitting auto-attack. Finally, you have the great CC in iWave.

I would like to find one of these 7.8k critting GS’s. Maybe you’re speaking of WvW

Also want to find opponents with no range or gap closers, that sounds sweet.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I disagree with this one. Best “dueling” weapon setup for phantasms is likely sword or pistol in the off-hand, although it mostly just comes down to the player.

I have seen full Zerker GS users hitting for ALOT. I have seen them hitting for 6k+ so it all depends on the opponent build. I have even seen iZerker hit for 9k! on an ele

i dont really have trouble (GS mesmer) with staff mesmers, however i do tend to burst them down fast, if i let the fight drag out it gets harder harder but id just reset if possible, then re-initiate with a larger combo burst.

Then perhaps it is wvw. I cant imagine the phrase “full zerker” being used to describe just taking the amulet.

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

djtool.8372:

Jackums.3496:

If you’re running a phantasm build, the GS is hands-down the single best dueling weapon, matched only by the pistol. Since Berserker was fixed, it hits like a truck (7.8k in PvP), and its cripple is extremely useful for slowing your opponent, whether they’re fleeing or trying to close the distance between you. That and its multiple hits, just like Duelist’s, benefit from Sharper Images. Then you have the range on the GS, which allows you to summon your phantasms, then sit back at a distance and shave away at your enemy’s health with a pretty hard-hitting auto-attack. Finally, you have the great CC in iWave.

I would like to find one of these 7.8k critting GS’s. Maybe you’re speaking of WvW

Also want to find opponents with no range or gap closers, that sounds sweet.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I disagree with this one. Best “dueling” weapon setup for phantasms is likely sword or pistol in the off-hand, although it mostly just comes down to the player.

I have seen full Zerker GS users hitting for ALOT. I have seen them hitting for 6k+ so it all depends on the opponent build. I have even seen iZerker hit for 9k! on an ele

djtool.8372:

Then perhaps it is wvw. I cant imagine the phrase “full zerker” being used to describe just taking the amulet.

Yeah, what Mesmer actually plays S/TPvP, i gave it a try yesterday it was a total mess full of Spirit Rangers, Necros and condition upon condition…

I see many more GS mesmers running around than anything else. Is it the preferred build / meta build these days?

Since I have been playing my mesmer, I’ve been going Mr. Promethius style of staff/ sword focus. I like it, but I might be in for a change. I dont want to respec to greatsword if it is the run of the mill mesmer now.

Edit: For PvE

For open world PVE, run whatever you want. For dungeons, sword/focus + sword/pistol are the best weapon combination to run (plus in your second weapon set can just use a pistol and you’ll get the sword abilities anyway, not requiring you to buy a second sword) with greatsword in your inventory for the very rare cases that range is required.

colesy.8490:

For open world PVE, run whatever you want. For dungeons, sword/focus + sword/pistol are the best weapon combination to run (plus in your second weapon set can just use a pistol and you’ll get the sword abilities anyway, not requiring you to buy a second sword) with greatsword in your inventory for the very rare cases that range is required.

Seeing as the cool downs would be shared between the swords why would you want to take 2? I would have thought that taking the Scepter would be a better option, even if you are not in it for that long

Running sword mainhand in both weapon sets gives you full melee uptime (you’re not required to shift between melee and 900+ range like you would when going gs and sword/x, plus IIRC mainhand sword is our highest DPS weapon) plus blurred frenzy is available immediately on cooldown.

colesy.8490:

Running sword mainhand in both weapon sets gives you full melee uptime (you’re not required to shift between melee and 900+ range like you would when going gs and sword/x, plus IIRC mainhand sword is our highest DPS weapon) plus blurred frenzy is available immediately on cooldown.

But if you went with Scepter MH on one set you wouldnt need to go to range and you have Torment as well on block as well as Confusion. By the time BF is back off cool down you could have used iCounter and Confusing Images and then back to Sword/focus in time for BF to come off cool down

The only condition that you really want to be applying in PVE is vulnerability, everything else is just icing (as in, if your abilities just happen to apply them, that’s nice but dont use certain skills just to apply certain conditions), and confusion is bad in PVE since veterans and bosses have such gigantic hp pools and slow attacks that it basically has zero effect.

I’ve never used iCounter before (swapped my scepter out asap, I was like level 2 when I picked up gs, sword, focus and pistol) but if it’s basically iRiposte then it means you’re dealing no damage for two seconds if an enemy doesn’t attack you. If the enemy was about to attack you and it’s a heavy hitting boss then you’re better off using blurred frenzy at that point so that you can just ignore their attack. If you don’t have frenzy then evading is fine.

Scepter autoattack chain also creates clones when in a dungeon you’d want 3 phantasms out (provided the boss doesn’t die beforehand) and does less damage than sword auto and also doesn’t apply vulnerability like sword auto.

tl;dr, sword is best dps

I like the clone on auto attack – Confusing Combatants, Debilitating Dissipation, Crippling Dissipation work very well in condition builds (and count for the auto attack)

Sure it could be better, sped up added a condition or 2 but its pretty decent Confusion, Cripple and a random condition isnt to bad. Yeah iCounter is a bit iffy, but once you learn WHEN to use it it can be very strong as It is like its like 1,800 damage plus another 1,800 if they stay moving with only 393Condition damage

Confusing Images can be pretty decent and still hit quite hard (just like Sceper Auto) with solid power and it shouldnt hit as hard as Sword auto as it isnt a full melee weapon – Auto attack on Scepter has 900range

I have actually been playing around with Condition/Confusion build that uses CoF with the retal trait

Are greatsword/ power&crit builds much better than staff / condition builds?

cesmode.4257:

Are greatsword/ power&crit builds much better than staff / condition builds?

depends how you define “better”
+ I would say you could kill people faster
- Not as much defense

+ More damage
- Less Mobility

Being the key differences

I like the clone on auto attack – Confusing Combatants, Debilitating Dissipation, Crippling Dissipation work very well in condition builds (and count for the auto attack)

The clones will override your phantasms.

Sure it could be better, sped up added a condition or 2 but its pretty decent Confusion, Cripple and a random condition isnt to bad.

Confusion is bad, cripple is irrelevant since the mob(s) isn’t moving and conditions besides vulnerability are bad 25%+ damage off of 25 vulnerability stacks not only improves your own dps, but your team mates as well.

Yeah iCounter is a bit iffy, but once you learn WHEN to use it it can be very strong as It is like its like 1,800 damage plus another 1,800 if they stay moving with only 393Condition damage

Or you could be autoattacking, and judging from the tooltip, get 4 attacks done within the 2 seconds you have iCounter up. Even if you got hit in say, a second that’s still two hits you could get in with sword auto.

Confusing Images can be pretty decent and still hit quite hard (just like Sceper Auto) with solid power and it shouldnt hit as hard as Sword auto as it isnt a full melee weapon – Auto attack on Scepter has 900range

Right, and I said sword is best because it gives you full melee uptime and maximum DPS, so why even mention scepter? Again, confusing images is a channeled abilty and you can do more damage off the sword autoattack, plus like I said above, confusion is bad in PvE.

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Are greatsword/ power&crit builds much better than staff / condition builds?

Power/crit builds are always, unconditionally superior in PvE. Like I said though, in open world use whatever you want. In dungeons, conditions don’t do enough (excluding vulnerability) because of hp sponge bosses and hitting the condition cap.

The clones will override your phantasms.

After the Initial attack Phantoms are wasted. You have have several you can have out and i have NEVER seen a clone over write a Phantom. So that is a moot point.

Confusion is bad, cripple is irrelevant since the mob(s) isn’t moving and conditions besides vulnerability are bad 25%+ damage off of 25 vulnerability stacks not only improves your own dps, but your team mates as well.

Confusion is good, all damage helps. Cripple is great for kiting, not everything stands still. you dont need 25stacks of Vul to kill anything, all the PvE mobs are easy enough to kill without a single stack of Vul. So again, thats not really anything that great and if you are hitting 25 stacks it means others in the group are doing it as well, unless all you do is auto attack.

Or you could be autoattacking, and judging from the tooltip, get 4 attacks done within the 2 seconds you have iCounter up. Even if you got hit in say, a second that’s still two hits you could get in with sword auto.

Or You could use iCounter, hit it with Torment and do 1800+ damage even more if you have a even just a semi condition built and then continue attacking. You can also gain Retal from it which is even more damage with trait.

Right, and I said sword is best because it gives you full melee uptime and maximum DPS, so why even mention scepter? Again, confusing images is a channeled abilty and you can do more damage off the sword autoattack, plus like I said above, confusion is bad in PvE.

full melee uptime means nothing if you are using 2 weapons that share a cool down and changing the sword to a Scepter doesnt mean you have to change range you can still melee using the Scepter and have access to other skills as well.

I have seen (and done) like 5k+ using Confusing Images, plus the confusion stacks you can do more then that in 5seconds using Sword Auto? Confusing Images Confusion is nearly 500 damage per a skill used for 5 seconds and thats with my crappy condition damage.

The scepter isnt only a Condition damage and can still be very strong in power builds as well.

Staff has been kinda underwhelming since the confusion nerf imo. Sure it’s good defensively, but good luck killing anything (especially if they decide to kite you).

kazi.6438:

Staff has been kinda underwhelming since the confusion nerf imo. Sure it’s good defensively, but good luck killing anything (especially if they decide to kite you).

hmm i wouldnt be so sure about that, im a full zerk mesmer and sometimes i can switch my GS to a staff and be so much more mobile it does sacrafice some dps but it makes fighting classes like warriors and guards easier.

colesy.8490:

Yeah iCounter is a bit iffy, but once you learn WHEN to use it it can be very strong as It is like its like 1,800 damage plus another 1,800 if they stay moving with only 393Condition damage

Or you could be autoattacking, and judging from the tooltip, get 4 attacks done within the 2 seconds you have iCounter up. Even if you got hit in say, a second that’s still two hits you could get in with sword auto.

When you dodge, do you dodge away from the AOE circles like a noob or do you perfect time your dodges? The riposte skills reward those perfect dodges.

I normally run sword/focus/sword. Instead of dodging, I can tap sword 4 right before an attack to counter for around 5-7k dmg in 1/2 a second. That’s a lot more DPS than sword auto, blurred frenzy or dodging. Riposte should never last more than 3/4 a second before you go back to auto attacking.

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

full melee uptime means nothing if you are using 2 weapons that share a cool down and changing the sword to a Scepter doesnt mean you have to change range you can still melee using the Scepter and have access to other skills as well.

I advocate melee zerker scepter vs some bosses and only some bosses (or PvP) but full true melee uptime is a big deal. Even if the sword auto does a bit less burst than a zerker scepter2/3, the sword is still doing more than triple damage vs groups since it hits 3 targets and buffs your whole teams damage.

After the Initial attack Phantoms are wasted. You have have several you can have out and i have NEVER seen a clone over write a Phantom. So that is a moot point.

Say you set up three phantasms then pop a clone. You just lost a phantasm. Sure, any future clone will just replace the clone again and again and again, but phantasms will be your main burst so getting them killed is bad.

Confusion is good, all damage helps. Cripple is great for kiting, not everything stands still. you dont need 25stacks of Vul to kill anything, all the PvE mobs are easy enough to kill without a single stack of Vul. So again, thats not really anything that great and if you are hitting 25 stacks it means others in the group are doing it as well, unless all you do is auto attack.

Confusion is actually awful (the only time I ever apply it is if I have a phantasmal duelist shooting through a feedback and then I think the eight stacks do like 1k damage per skill which … is nice, but not something I will purposely set up unless there’s enough time between that encounter and the next) DPS-wise. Cripple is terrible since you will be grouping mobs together and you and your group will be AOE cleaving and bursting them down, and secondly why would you be kiting?

No, I’m not saying you will be the one stacking vuln, just that it’s the only relevant condition in PvE and sword just happens to apply it. 25 stacks is 25%+ damage so it’s a big deal when bosses are getting bursted down purely from normal damage (note – vulnerability doesn’t apply to condition damage).

Or You could use iCounter, hit it with Torment and do 1800+ damage even more if you have a even just a semi condition built and then continue attacking. You can also gain Retal from it which is even more damage with trait.

And why will you be condi-built for PvE besides out of personal preference? From a pure efficiency perspective, you should never run condition builds in PvE. If you want to since you like them that is perfectly fine, but if you want to know what contributes the greatest damage, it’s not conditions. Retaliation is also awful in PvE when you have bosses with like 500k to 1 million HP.

full melee uptime means nothing if you are using 2 weapons that share a cool down and changing the sword to a Scepter doesnt mean you have to change range you can still melee using the Scepter and have access to other skills as well.

Full melee uptime is very important because it maximises your DPS, and if your other mainhands do less damage and have useless abilities, what’s wrong with using sword in both main hands? Even then, sword’s only good ability is blurred frenzy, leap is only good if you want shatter fodder.

I have seen (and done) like 5k+ using Confusing Images, plus the confusion stacks you can do more then that in 5seconds using Sword Auto? Confusing Images Confusion is nearly 500 damage per a skill used for 5 seconds and thats with my crappy condition damage.

You will easily do more than 5k damage with sword auto in 5 seconds. You may or may not know it, but autoattack is actually the most powerful thing for classes to do most of the time. Guardians in dungeons spam their 1h sword auto, rangers spam their 1h sword auto, warriors spam their axe auto, mesmers once they have phantasms set should just be using auto unless there’s a boss mechanic you need to deal with that requires a skill that has a casting time (can’t think of any, lupicus requires feedback which is insta-cast).

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hmm i wouldnt be so sure about that, im a full zerk mesmer and sometimes i can switch my GS to a staff and be so much more mobile it does sacrafice some dps but it makes fighting classes like warriors and guards easier.

I’m full berserker and staff DPS is horrendous. I’ve always found it more of an attrition weapon good for a condi build rather than something you’d use in a power build (zerker and duelist phantasm are much better burst).

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When you dodge, do you dodge away from the AOE circles like a noob or do you perfect time your dodges? The riposte skills reward those perfect dodges.

I learn the encounters and time them so I dodge as late as possible (crucible of eternity, ice elemental from dredge fractal as examples). To be honest I haven’t used OH sword that much in PvE but I started experimenting with it today. It does actually make a lot of sense what you’re saying though, blocking at the last minute rather than evading then carrying on DPSing, so I’m going to try experimenting on that with bosses that have clear attack routines.