Guild Wars 2

So come Dec 10 in gonna try out a phantasm build for roaming WvW. Gonna be using the new heal, and one set is Sw/Sw. Now my question is, would GS or offhand pistol work better for me?

If you are definately going Sw/Sw, then don’t use pistol. That is b/c you then only get 2 more skills on a weapon-swap, as scepter is a condition weapon while Sword and pistols are power weapons.

GS works well b/c it gives you more utility. You might also consider S/P + GS, then you get all of the best phantasms. If you want Sw/Sw to get the most of blade-training, it could be viable, but pistol is SO strong, whether you take pistol CD-reduction trait or not.

I know pistol is strong, but so is offhand sword. Main reason is swordsman is safe from melee, does more DPS, and is less likely to get half of the damage evaded, unlike pistol. Plus dual swords just looks cool. Again, i know pistol is great, i just prefer sword.

I use a GS | Sword/Pistol. The Iduelist I believe is stronger than the zerker but why pick one of them when you can have both! I think that double sword is really fun to play but at the end of the day, I’m guessing you are looking for the best results and I think (unsure after patch) this is the best for a phantasm mesmer.

If you still want to role with Sword/Sword get a GS as offhand. Hope I could help!

Last time I checked, duelist does about double/tripple single target dps. So if youre choosing just for the phantasm, go for scepter/pistol.

However, GS does higher damage at range than scepter, mirror blade is awesome for damage, and the zerker gives cripple. The zerker is also better for if you want to cap camps, because you get aoe from it.

edit: I once duelled a double sword phantasm mesmer… She played nearly perfectly, bt without a weapon swap you dont have much room for mistakes, and you cant really autoqttack :P.

Somehow she managed to beat me… 5k swordsman hits O.o

Iduelist > GS, however, in your case you barely have ranged so I’d say pick GS.

Alissah.9281:

Somehow she managed to beat me… 5k swordsman hits O.o

What build were you using?

izerker – aoe – very good damage (whirl combo finisher – spawns closer to the enemy)
iduelist – single target – very good damage (projectile combo finisher – spawns close to you)

For anyone curious, here’s what im using post dec 10. I swordsman can regularly crit for 5.5k. Duelist just cant do that. Ill also be using the new heal.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAscRlwzqpXUzhGbNJxZGQP6oPgdSFUdJF8G3A-jkxAYfBRiAQyrIasFzioxqtxUxER1yAovFA-w

All in all though, this feels like one of those things where i just gotta do a couple hot joins and see what works best for me.

I run both, GS + S/P, drop the duelist, pistol stun, swap clone imobilize, blurred frenzy, weapon swap (gain might with sigil), gs vuln, gs zerk, weapon swap (gain might with sigil), repeat. Usually one rotation in and I have the enemy running for the hills. I also like opening with S/P cause then that means I usually have my GS out for the end of the fight, good for crippling runners or knocking back thieves out of SR. All in all a pretty sweet setup. I’m running a 30/30/10/0/0 build.

duelist versus zerker? just combine both! duelist will do your bleed stacks from crititcals on multi hit (8 strike) while your zerker will spam cripple and make all those guys powerless (4 strike) If you wanna stack single target damage however you better off with duelist only while for multi target spam the zerker out.

I run 10 15 0 25 20

Koltiron.6329:

Alissah.9281:

Somehow she managed to beat me… 5k swordsman hits O.o

What build were you using?

Shatter. 3/4 swordsmen hits and I’m gone xD

Jackums.3496:

Always take a greatsword in a phantasm roaming build. Without it, your chasing ability is significantly less. The greatsword has a 1,200 range auto that does upwards of 2k damage on glassy targets, and the perfect cripple-applying phantasm for chasing.

2k? I do 3k-5k on glassy targets. If you’re roaming you should always run full glass, imho.

IMO, they serve entirely different roles.

Comparing just the Phantasms:

• Duelist: Hits kitten single targets, works well against Aegis due to multi-hits, can trigger combo fields rather well. Virtually 0 multi-target potential outside of people running into the line of fire.
• Berserker: Hits ok-ish on groups of targets, especially larger ones (up to 20 hits). Triggers combo fields, but with whirl finishers, meaning you again need groups to hit with it. Cripples, which can be good against single targets.

If comparing entire weapons, a lot more goes into it. Trick Shot is an amazing ability for roaming.
OTOH, the Greatsword is really good around group fights because it gives out Might, rips boons (as does the sword but the clones need to get close, and they never do :P ) and can shove people off ledges.

So really, you’re not comparing things directly here. Carry both, and equip according to situation.

Carighan.6758:

IMO, they serve entirely different roles.

Comparing just the Phantasms:

• Duelist: Hits kitten single targets, works well against Aegis due to multi-hits, can trigger combo fields rather well. Virtually 0 multi-target potential outside of people running into the line of fire.
• Berserker: Hits ok-ish on groups of targets, especially larger ones (up to 20 hits). Triggers combo fields, but with whirl finishers, meaning you again need groups to hit with it. Cripples, which can be good against single targets.

If comparing entire weapons, a lot more goes into it. Trick Shot is an amazing ability for roaming.
OTOH, the Greatsword is really good around group fights because it gives out Might, rips boons (as does the sword but the clones need to get close, and they never do :P ) and can shove people off ledges.

So really, you’re not comparing things directly here. Carry both, and equip according to situation.

Trick shot?

Magic bullet is what he means.
Trick shot is the thief shortbow autoattack.