Guild Wars 2

I read somewhere that sword/pistol can be as viable as a GS in dungeons as long as you’re using it properly. Of course, I can use it regardless, but I’d rather see if it’s true or not before I level up a mesmer on the side and plan to use it in dungeons with sword/pistol.

EDIT: I mean in a Zerker power build, instead of using a GS.

Well I regularly use Sw/F in dungeons while sometimes switching to Sw/P for boss fights and it works fine. I use GS as well but most of my time is in Sw/F. GS is a safer option but if you can survive in melee I think Sw/x is more effective.

You could Sw/P for the whole thing but I think focus is better for trash, team support and getting around. You need enemies that don’t melt for pistol to really shine.
Of course that is just my opinion. I have seen other Mesmers use Sw/P predominantly and it seem to be pretty effective.

I am not a dungeons guy, so others more experienced than me will likely chime in, but my understanding was that GS was not considered optimal. It changes a bit every patch, but sword/focus with Wardens Feedbacked traited and Feedback slotted was sort of our bread and butter. With either off hand sword or pistol for swap.

Personally I love the utility of having GS to swap to, but I find its hard to keep mobs at such a long range, so I usually use it for zerker Aoe.

I sometimes use the pistol in dungeons. It can do some really nice damage with a power/crit build. But it does not have nearly as much utility as the focus. In a dungeon like CoF p1, the pistol is great, since damage is almost all that you’ll need. But in dungeons with lot of projectiles, a traited focus is superior. In my opinion al least.

Warzaw.2708:

I read somewhere that sword/pistol can be as viable as a GS in dungeons as long as you’re using it properly. Of course, I can use it regardless, but I’d rather see if it’s true or not before I level up a mesmer on the side and plan to use it in dungeons with sword/pistol.

EDIT: I mean in a Zerker power build, instead of using a GS.

I try to answer without getting sidetracked: Yes

Viable : yes. About every build you can think of will be viable.
Now, optimal? Well, it depends. The pistol is great for tough opponents, like dungeon (mid-)bosses, but not that much for hordes of wimps. So I would recommend, like Demented Sheep, to have a second weapon set and/or to switch out pistol for a focus from time to time, to adapt to the situation.

It is very effective if you have organized group with ppl knowing where to stack/melee etc. For that case using Sword/focus – main set + pistol – secondary set is quite effective. It rly goes well if you do, for example, COE where 99% of encounter is easier to be done in melee fight.

Pistol off-hand is great as a second weapon swap. You generally want focus on your primary due to curtain and warden both being very powerful. Usually you’ll either run sword or pistol off-hand on your weapon swap.

as GS no….as replacement of focus Yes.

I use mostly on stupid bosses or those that moves a lot.

for example against svanir fractal boss you can keep 3 iduelist alive for the Whole fight.
Same thing in many other situations.

I use sw/focus Sw/pistol only when i desperatly need BF as defensive tool

Yes. Give Scepter/Pistol + Sword/Focus a try, perhaps with Pistol traited, Focus traited, and Glamour CD reduction traited and take Feedback and Null Field for utility. You’ll be a bit starved for aoe and tagging though. Traited Focus can be a major asset if you are a constant dungeon runner. Unfortunately, I find Focus a bit awkward in wvw zerg fights and fairly weak in pvp so I rarely use it anymore. You have to dump 20 into Inspiration to trait Focus and that’s arguably our weakest tree.

Helios.3598:

You have to dump 20 into Inspiration to trait Focus and that’s arguably our weakest tree.

Oh man, you didn’t just say that …
There’s a whole other forum thread.

Warzaw.2708:

I read somewhere that sword/pistol can be as viable as a GS in dungeons as long as you’re using it properly. Of course, I can use it regardless, but I’d rather see if it’s true or not before I level up a mesmer on the side and plan to use it in dungeons with sword/pistol.

EDIT: I mean in a Zerker power build, instead of using a GS.

Pistol is solid in dungeons. You’re going to be in meleeing everything in dungeons so you want to be running sword on both hands. Focus gives you a solid phantasm if the dungeon requires focus pull and/or reflects, otherwise off-hand sword I think is strong too.

Take focus as offhand if you want to have sword MH. Pistol has no use in general pve/dungeons because its phantasm is single target and magic bullet does nothing worth mentioning. Focus helps you ballup mobs and iwarden kills them all at once and set tones of bleeds for those who aren’t dead. I would only switch to a pistol when fighting one target such as a boss

I’d just pop the warden then swap to the pistol simply for the extra phantasm. Why sit there doing nothing waiting for warden to recharge (if the fight lasts that long) when I can contribute more DPS even if it is single target with the pistol. Magic bullet is pretty niche but I suppose it could take the pressure off your team since it basically stops attacks from 3 mobs for the next two seconds.

You could argue that when dealing with trash that it may just be better to use greatsword since it’s AOE then swap out to sword/focus and pop your warden. Of course, if you need to focus pull that makes things awkward, but I suppose you could use GS 3 for more AOE damage and GS 2 as well. Like I said … awkward … but it’s AOE I guess.