Guild Wars 2

I’m looking for some general observations on GS vs. Staff as the ranged choice in a power build. Mostly for WvW solo/small group roaming, maybe some hotjoin pvp.

I’ve been running 4/4/6/0/0 for a while with sword/x and GS. Basic Power PU build, mostly zerk gear with some knight pieces. Usually one or two interrupt traits, flipping between focus, sword and pistol for offhand as the situation demands.

The GS is very nice, stacks might and has good power damage. #3 is hard to pull off, but it comes in handy against classes that are not too heavy on the boonspam.
My main beef with the GS is that #5 is not a very reliable interrupt. I find that if the angle is a little off or the target strafes a bit to the side, it often fails to hit.
What’s worse, knocking people away from you is often not what you want to do, but it’s the only way to interrupt with the GS.

So I’m getting tempted by the Staff, mostly because all the skills offer something nice and the interrupt is both AoE, easier to land and a combo field. Chaos Armor also seems incredibly useful for when you want to get in deep with the sword.
My biggest worry is the iWarlock, its attack is kind of easy to dodge/obstruct and has a long recharge, and I can’t keep up more than 3-4 conditions at best when I’m not using the staff.
How much of a damage drop am I looking at compared to iZerker and how can I make up for it?
Should I make a zerker staff (to give iWarlock better stats) or just use the rabid staff I already have for slightly more condition pressure?
Is it worth taking the Staff trait over Bountiful Interruptions in a power build?

I would say great sword for a power build and staff for a Condition build. What I do with the fifth great sword skill is blink near my enemy THEN use it. That way it always hits. But I personally think that you should go with whichever one you prefer

I would say the interrupt on staff is harder to land in small groups since it’s random. I really like the GS5 to get people off downed allies and thieves out of SR. It’s also much easier to chase with the GS. If you want to use staff in a power build I feel that you really need IE to double the staffs auto damage so I wouldn’t swap.

I’d go with GS.

As much as I love the staff, it just can’t output the same raw damage that the GS is capable of.

iWarlock is easily dodged compared to izerker, and the auto attack is useless without elasticity. That’s it – #2, #4 and #5 are primarily support/survivability tools.

However, if your second set is say sword/pistol, then you could get away with the staff as the defensive/pressuring tool.

One thing staff does have going for it in a power build is interrupts causing vulnerability stacks.

Most of the time, I prefer GS over staff in a power build… for obvious the obvious reason: more power damage. However, staff has a couple of upsides, particularly when you want to play defensively. I carry both, although I rarely use the staff.

Three things to keep in mind with staff:

1. Staff phantasm does power damage, and it hits like a truck. It does more damage, the more conditions are on your opponent… so, stack a couple of different conditions on them before you summon it (if you can).

2. You can fit the Staff Recharge trait easily in 20/20/30 build. Another plus.

3. Unless they’ve changed it recently, bounces on your staff AA will pull you out of stealth. So if you’re PU, sheath the staff before you use a stealth skill. This is a signficant minus if you’re not up to micromanaging your play.

Have fun.

From a tpvp perspective I would Say GS/Staff is the most viable for shatter mesmer. I also use Staff/GS when I roam in wvw. GS is an offensive weapon, while staff is defensive.

if you are looking for interrupts I would def take both of those.

GS vs Staff (both power builds with same second weapons). So GS look likes better

PhDusk.2590:

From a tpvp perspective I would Say GS/Staff is the most viable for shatter mesmer. I also use Staff/GS when I roam in wvw. GS is an offensive weapon, while staff is defensive.

if you are looking for interrupts I would def take both of those.

I mostly go for raw damage from sword/GS and phantasms, usually shattering only for daze/vuln stacks or MW to finish someone off. That’s why I’d lke to have a reliable interrupt on both my weapon sets so I can avoid shattering phantasms as much as possible.
Sword and pistol are both good, but I like to have both ranged and melee options. And the Chaos armor/Chaos field on the staff seems to be a reasonable alternative to the might stacks on the GS because Chaos Armor will allow me to go toe-to-toe with hard hitters a bit longer than usual. I could toss a battle and strength sigil on my staff and still have good might stacks with it, though obviously nowhere near as much as the GS.