Guild Wars 2

I use staff more than any other weapon except, maybe, the sword. I use it in shatter builds, condition builds, lockdown builds, mantra builds… I use it in PvE, PvP, and WvW and that’s not likely to change, but the one thing I hear consistently from veteran Mesmer is that cringe-worthy line:

“Staff is a crutch. Use a greatsword.”

What is a crutch? I’m led to believe that the term in this case is used to mean “something used as an unnecessary compensation.” In this case, referring to the fact that you don’t actually need the staff for the defense it gives and the greatsword pretty much outperforms it.

I disagree!

Now when people say this I believe they really mean “staff is a crutch in power builds” since it obviously shines in condition builds, so I’m going to look at the staff from a power build perspective:

I argue that Staff isn’t a crutch, but a tradeoff. Greatsword allows you to “snipe,” and is the best weapon for dealing obscene damage at max range (however, falling short in dungeons because most boss encounters are best performed in melee range). Greatsword has strong AoE capabilities, with 4 of it’s 5 attacks hitting multiple targets but lacks any sort of real defensive-oriented ability.
Staff is the opposite. Staff works best the closer you are to the opponent, and the majority of it’s abilities (Phase Retreat, Chaos Armor, Chaos Storm) have strong defensive capabilities. It lacks AoE beyond Chaos Storm and is generally not so great at doing power damage.

Both weapons have different purposes and perform differently in different builds (and really well when paired together). I wouldn’t use a staff for the same purposes as a greatsword or vice-versa. You can argue that you don’t need all that defense of the staff, which is why it’s a crutch, but then lets look at the builds that use it:

• Shatter mesmer are the one who tend to denounce the staff as a crutch the most. (/cough Supcutie /cough Kaamau). In a shatter build, where burst damage is the main focus and defense tends to come through Decoy/Blink/Blurred Frenzy the Staff does tend to hold back a Mesmer’s damage potential and isn’t exactly needed for defense when good positioning and map awareness can compensate.

• Condition mesmer generally live by the staff, and greatsword would actually be less effective than staff in most condition builds.

• Lockdown mesmer are a mixed bag. Some feel the staff is a crutch (/cough Warlord of Chaos) but others, like myself, use the staff for far more than defense. Chaos Storm can provide excellent area suppression and the staff in general is good for fighting on brawling point. My playstyle is heavily melee-focused, which is why I prefer using the staff over the greatsword as it allows me to keep chasing down my enemy.

Also.. because of this!

That was no accident and was not luck… mostly. I frequently interrupt-into-iWarlock in 1v1 encounters and is an example of how Chaotic Interruption synergizes beautifully with the staff. Even in a power build, a good interrupt Mesmer with a staff can load enemies up with debilitating conditions with a couple interrupts. Combined with Bountiful Interruption’s boon granting, and the staff’s natural ability to load boons/conditions, and you’ve got a beautiful marriage that would not work nearly as well with a Greatsword.

TL:DR – Staff is not a crutch, because Greatsword does not outperform it. Both weapons have different purposes and work differently in different build. Staff may be a crutch in shatter builds, which rely on heavy hitting bursts and strong positioning/awareness, but can arguably be superior to GS in certain lockdown/condition builds.

What say you? Crutch or no crutch?

I can’t 1+ this enough.

No crutch. Scepter would be one ;d.

I always used staff as a power weapon. I don’t like the slow killing condi with staff. Slap Air+Flame, IE, Runes of Rage… You get an annoying mid range teleporting mind game weapon.

I’m more relaxed when I play staff, period.

Then the person get sniped by Mage Strike. I actually get ‘’ WTF MAGE STRIKE ? ’’ often. Yah, well, in an encounter, you can get iLock for a while so it can adds up the damage to over 10k-15k damage.

I use Staff over GS in PvP and GS over Staff in PvE.

Not a crutch. Rather, it’s a defense/utility weapon. Those aspects are the same aspects that sync well with condi builds (generally high on Toughness) and the BI/CI combination, since those are less based around “more damage” and more focused towards a utility/control role.

Ironically, that methodology of how Staff works can be argued to be the reason it syncs rather well with Greatsword. GS for pinpoint nuking/some area control, then Staff for when you need more defense options.

First, drop the debate and just go GS/Staff

Second, I would question how truly veteran one is if they say staff is a crutch (I know Supcutie mostly uses staff/GS in any serious team matches).

I can’t justify not taking staff in just about any power or condition build I would seriously consider playing extensively due to the defenses and mobility it provides. This more so in PvP where you can retreat to ledges. And I would resoundingly disagree with anyone who doesn’t think phase retreating forward isn’t decent mobility in any format of the game (especially PvP), especially with a class that lacks so much of it.

If you’re not using staff to stay alive you’re probably using lots of stealth instead. These people who call staff a crutch probably don’t realize that’s what they’re doing most of the time, hence the popularity of GS / Sw + T shatter and PU power builds.

I don’t know where you read it being referred to as a crutch, but the last time I called it a crutch was I think at least 6 months ago.

And the same the year before that – for the simple reason that it was my crutch – I could not pvp successfully without using the staff. Anytime I used to use a different weapon in place of it, I used to find it much more difficult.

I’m also confused if we’re using the same definition of crutch – just to clarify from my point of view, I used to call it a crutch because I was unable to play successfully without it – so essentially if you take the crutch away (give me a greatsword) I would fall over.

Edit: Now, as Clownmug said, I use the stealth crutch for shatter. :p

Edit 2: I think my definition of crutch is different to your definition in the OP, unless I’m reading it wrong.

Clownmug.8357:

If you’re not using staff to stay alive you’re probably using lots of stealth instead. These people who call staff a crutch probably don’t realize that’s what they’re doing most of the time, hence the popularity of GS / Sw + T shatter and PU power builds.

I see why many of you like staff regarding your pvp setting (small maps, on-point fights, plenty of phase retreat spots…), but from my wvw perspective it´s a horrible weapon for power builds. No range, no cleave, no damage. Yes, CI+iWarlock gave me some instant thief kills but the majority of builds I encounter is not that glassy. IMHO the defense S+T provides for shatter is superior as well, while maintaining the ability to chase via GS. I´d rather call staff a burden than a crutch since a crutch should actually be helpful, and for me, its definitly not.

/hide in stealth
/charge MoD to interrupt harsh critique ;P

The Mesmers who tended to call staff a “crutch” no longer play any more. I wonder why?

When you have the capability to at least start to defend yourself from porters and melee aggressors you are taking a lot of stress away from your team in needing to peel for you. Greatsword is almost completely monodimensional (although you can use some of the defensive shatters from range) whereas staff can be defense and offensive, can be used to reposition, can grant heal denial, can serve in 1v1 and 2v2s up to 5v5s without any fall-off.

Staff is an incredibly versatile weapon and far more resilient than greatsword (which can be countered on the whole pretty easily bar things like stealth opener cheese). If I could only have one Mesmer weapon and no weapon swap it’d be staff, no question.

Schattenlied.4873:

I see why many of you like staff regarding your pvp setting (small maps, on-point fights, plenty of phase retreat spots…), but from my wvw perspective it´s a horrible weapon for power builds. No range, no cleave, no damage. Yes, CI+iWarlock gave me some instant thief kills but the majority of builds I encounter is not that glassy. IMHO the defense S+T provides for shatter is superior as well, while maintaining the ability to chase via GS. I´d rather call staff a burden than a crutch since a crutch should actually be helpful, and for me, its definitly not.

/hide in stealth
/charge MoD to interrupt harsh critique ;P

I have played staff for a long long time and in WvW I never had any issue without greatsword, and I regularly held my own or outclassed other greatsword Mesmers. From a shatter perspective if you are relying on your weapon skills to serve as the brunt of your burst you’re playing it very suboptimally, in my opinion.

To call something a “crutch” is to imply that you’re using something because without it, you’d be much less effective otherwise. However, there’s usually the second implication that people who use these “crutches” aren’t actually handicapped to begin with.

For example, in order to be an effective Shatter Mesmer, you need Deceptive Evasion. However, there are several builds that don’t need this trait yet most Mesmers trait into it, because in general, Deceptive Evasion is a crutch.

shimmerlessEU.6841:

The Mesmers who tended to call staff a “crutch” no longer play any more. I wonder why?

I used to call staff a crutch.

Anyway to Chaos, and this thread in general. To label staff a crutch is to general and comes with misgivings. When the phrase is uttered it’s actually being quite specific. It’s stating that the Mesmer class, or perhaps many of its builds requires a staff for some reason, which in the case of staff is its defensive capabilities. Under the right definition staff is a crutch, but only in so far as it serves that purpose of upholding a weakness. Greatsword becomes a crutch to under this thinking. It provides a means of direct damage burst we can’t obtain without its presence in our builds geared for that sort of thing. If there are foes that requires that sort of burst, Greatsword surely is a crutch to hold Mesmer up for that task.

The true problem of a crutch is not that it serves to prop up some weakness, as that’s actually a good thing broadly speaking. It’s only when the crutch becomes a feature the class can’t do without that you’re staring at a genuine problem “crutch”. In this sense staff isnt a crutch for Mesmers because we can build with survival in mind without it.

Once upon a time, when I was calling Staff a crutch for the class it was with the second sense in mind. Though at the time I was reflecting on my own dissatisfaction personally and the reliance I’d put on the staff. That was what drove me to discover what I could build that allowed me to compete, while maintaining survival without staff. I achieved that. In so doing staff, by the feat of logic, can’t be considered a crutch in the dire sense but only in the lesser, mundane. In which case there’s nothing wrong with it at all. To look at it another way, you don’t laugh at a cripple for propping himself up with a stick if that’s what makes him mobile, if that’s what makes him ‘viable’.

MailMail.6534:

To call something a “crutch” is to imply that you’re using something because without it, you’d be much less effective otherwise. However, there’s usually the second implication that people who use these “crutches” aren’t actually handicapped to begin with.

For example, in order to be an effective Shatter Mesmer, you need Deceptive Evasion. However, there are several builds that don’t need this trait yet most Mesmers trait into it, because in general, Deceptive Evasion is a crutch.

Yeah…I have to disagree with you pretty much entirely.

A crutch is generally used to describe something that is necessary to reach a certain level. Look at the real life item. A cripple needs a crutch in order to move around like a normal person. In a game sense, a bad gamer needs a crutch in order to play at a level that a good gamer would without it.

However, this analogy breaks down incredibly rapidly if you think about it a little. If a non-cripple uses a crutch…they don’t really get any benefit out of it. However, a video game crutch is generally a technique/strategy/mechanic that is highly effective, even optimal for play. This goes back to the whole scrub gaming definition (summons Ross Biddle).

Ultimately though, a truly good gamer uses whatever optimal strategies they find because that’s simply the most effective way to play. In many builds, DE is required. In many other builds, it’s not required…but is simply the most effective way to run that build.

Some people like to acquire a false sense of superiority and say:

Oh, I don’t use that mechanic. I’m so good that I don’t need it to play well, and anyone who uses it is just a bad.

However, actually good players say:

This mechanic is very strong, and so I use it. By using this mechanic, I’m now playing at a more powerful level than I would be without it.

Tl;dr: A crutch isn’t a term that has any cogent meaning in a video game. There are simply strong mechanics and weak mechanics, and good players will find, use, and abuse the strong ones.

Oh I understand what you mean there, but people I have played with tend to use my definition of the term more often I guess?

Like I said before, when people in game tell me something is a crutch, it usually is in a somewhat derogatory way that you mentioned. However, I don’t see many people running dps Shatter Mesmer and saying they don’t use DE because it’s a crutch that they don’t need. lol

MailMail.6534:

Oh I understand what you mean there, but people I have played with tend to use my definition of the term more often I guess?

Like I said before, when people in game tell me something is a crutch, it usually is in a somewhat derogatory way that you mentioned. However, I don’t see many people running dps Shatter Mesmer and saying they don’t use DE because it’s a crutch that they don’t need. lol

Sure, people tend to use the term in that more derogatory way. I’m just saying that those people are idiots.

Fay.2357:

MailMail.6534:

To call something a “crutch” is to imply that you’re using something because without it, you’d be much less effective otherwise. However, there’s usually the second implication that people who use these “crutches” aren’t actually handicapped to begin with.

For example, in order to be an effective Shatter Mesmer, you need Deceptive Evasion. However, there are several builds that don’t need this trait yet most Mesmers trait into it, because in general, Deceptive Evasion is a crutch.

Yeah…I have to disagree with you pretty much entirely.

A crutch is generally used to describe something that is necessary to reach a certain level. Look at the real life item. A cripple needs a crutch in order to move around like a normal person. In a game sense, a bad gamer needs a crutch in order to play at a level that a good gamer would without it.

However, this analogy breaks down incredibly rapidly if you think about it a little. If a non-cripple uses a crutch…they don’t really get any benefit out of it. However, a video game crutch is generally a technique/strategy/mechanic that is highly effective, even optimal for play. This goes back to the whole scrub gaming definition (summons Ross Biddle).

http://www.sirlin.net/ptw-book/introducingthe-scrub

If you’ve never reads Sirlin’s “Playing to Win”, which this article comes from (of the same website), read it if you’re interested in improving. And if you’re not, read it anyway because you need it more.

I support use of staff in shatter builds. It really just depends on how you play. I like staff more than GS because the GS leaves you incredibly vulnerable to thieves and warriors, and the other classes that rely on closing the gap and getting closer to the target.

Glass cannon shatter builds with the staff are a tad easier to get an enemy to walk into a shatter, because they need to chase you as you kite them around with Phase retreat.

Also, how about them 6.5k crits with Iwarlock? such yummy dps.

I still roam in WvW with illusionary elasticity Sword/pistol and Staff, and while each individual strike from a Winds of Chaos does not hit hard, 300-1k damage depending on might stacks, the cumulative effect of the boons that they apply make a big difference in small scale roaming. A careless enemy will focus exclusively on the mesmer, while they accumulate bleeds and vulnerability and the mesmer has perma-might and fury. When you finally land your burst, I’ve seen them edge up to 16k with 3.9k damage on mind wrack.

It’s just different. It’s so much easier to counter a GS mesmer IMO. Just stay on, or behind them and they’re basically fudged.

I am of the same opinion that it’s a trade off.

However I do find it harder to pressure and hold momentum with a staff vs anything that isn’t squishy enough that winds of chaos are eating away at their already squishy health bar, Then at that point it doesn’t make a difference which wep I use lol.

I think the misconception of it being a “Crutch” is that you can lean on a staff easier if your leg hurts lol jk. But I do thing that it’s easier to use thus being beginner friendly.

I love staff esp before the changes, original staff was my main I think I only started to change to GS around the time Phase retreat was changed. But going back to it from GS I find Chaos Armor to be so lack luster it’s aggravating, and I’ve never felt Chaos Storm’s 35 sec c/d was justified (let alone chaos armor being the same c/d)

in dungeons I know it’s not optimal to use GS and any group for speed runs I will never hold a group back by intentionally using GS. But for casual daily runs I’ll use GS and it’s not really a problem, most of the time in melee I end up going staby staby with my infinite lights anyways <3

I’ve always considered a crutch, in gaming, to be something that does the playing for you.
I know the analogy it doesn’t directly translate to a crutch doing the walking for you, but the way I’ve seen it is bad players need a the crutch to play. Or they let the crutch do the playing for them.
The way I see it means Staff is definitely not a crutch, more of just a solid weapon. Bad players will still be bad with a Staff, good players can make some serious plays with it.

i just wish i could take my sword mh, staff, and gs

anet pls.!

just imagine the possibilitys of 3 weapsets!

(ye unbalanced , idc, i wanna abuse everything out of this!)

hmm… It is a very good defensive weapon and can actually do really good damage considering its defensive abilities. How I like to describe balance is with math, staff has a 4 in offense and a 6 in defense 6 + 4 =10. GS has a 6 in offense and a 2 in defense 6 + 2 = 8. At least in my mind that is how it works and if those numbers don’t match something isn’t quite right, which they don’t. Keep in mind I have probably played staff just as much as I have played GS, but I like GS more because make much better use of its offensive abilities because I’m a offensive style player. But I know staff is the better weapon I just don’t make proper use of it.

But also in my mind players should be active with their defense and staff inherently makes it more passive. Combining that with what I previously explained, that is why I refer to it as a crutch.

GS is simply better at deal damage. Outside of GS, Mesmers does not have a way to deal real damage with auto attack. This is why I like GS because it brings max reward for good position and I like doing damage myself rather than rely on clones.

As defensive set It’s hard to beat sword/torch for invis and distortion . If staff had a invis then it would win hands down as best defensive set but it does not.

Kaamau.5341:

But also in my mind players should be active with their defense and staff inherently makes it more passive.

wat

Staff is not a crutch especially if you use it in high skilled situations (like backwards Phase Retreat or using it to blink to higher/lower elevation)

I use it every now and then to break the monotony of Sword + x / Greatsword shatter

Kaamau.5341:

But also in my mind players should be active with their defense and staff inherently makes it more passive. Combining that with what I previously explained, that is why I refer to it as a crutch.

Translated: Staff is strong and I don’t like using it, so people who use it need a crutch obviously.

The more time I roam and do pvp, the more I see the value of staff over sword/x.

Even in power builds, staff is quite strong, and the condi pressure is really helpful (with new IE and some might stacks the condi damage dealt is not that small). And all the defense and support staff brings is priceless. You can build and play more offensively, as you have that support ready to show.

The only two places where I see staff is less valuable are pve and zergs. In those places the randomness and condition orientation of staff pretty kills its usability.

Fay.2357:

Kaamau.5341:

But also in my mind players should be active with their defense and staff inherently makes it more passive. Combining that with what I previously explained, that is why I refer to it as a crutch.

Translated: Staff is strong and I don’t like using it, so people who use it need a crutch obviously.

<3 you too pyro. But you reached a different meaning then was intended. If you can take care of your own defense using timing and dodge rolls, GS is your better option, if you cant, you can reduce your offensive for staff. Though there are some builds its better for and I understand that, how ever it certainly does not have the pure offensive capabilities of GS, so I question why some people take it in certain power builds if for any other fact that they cant survive without it.

Your getting predictable though pyro, try mixing it up a bit

Kaamau.5341:

Fay.2357:

Kaamau.5341:

But also in my mind players should be active with their defense and staff inherently makes it more passive. Combining that with what I previously explained, that is why I refer to it as a crutch.

Translated: Staff is strong and I don’t like using it, so people who use it need a crutch obviously.

<3 you too pyro. But you reached a different meaning then was intended. If you can take care of your own defense using timing and dodge rolls, GS is your better option, if you cant, you can reduce your offensive for staff.

The problem is that this 100% false.

If you can take care of your own defense using timing and dodge…then great, maybe you can use greatsword in some situations. But now you take that same situation, you add the staff, and your defensive capability becomes massively enhanced PAST that which is possible without staff.

Greatsword becomes the ‘better’ option if you absolutely require that long range damage pressure. Staff is the absolutely better option in every other situation, regardless of skill.

-sigh-.. fine. i was avoiding commenting on here but i’ll weigh in anyway. too many people thinking inside of a box for my tastes..

Is staff a crutch?

Yes, so much in the matter that one of your Legs could be considered a crutch. or One of your arms.

Staff is not so much an individual item that should be broken down and viewed as weak or pathetic to use anymore than being left or right handed should fall under intense dislike or scrutiny.

What the Staff is, is a full working part of the Mesmer class as a whole, and all be it a wobbly, bugged and over nerfed Appendage, its still the best working one Mesmer has.

Much in the same way that IP and DE can be considered wobbly and crutch like, they’re just the only legs our class really has to stand on when things come down to a fine point and the Min/Max/Win/Lose line.

Mesmer is be no means a well fleshed out class and our options for balanced and fully functional things are slim pickings. If staff happens to offer Strong Defense and Strong Offense and it WORKS CORRECTLY over 70% of the time then I’d say it’s pretty kitten solid. Refusing to open up and use or even try a staff for a build is in a sense hobbling yourself, like a Gladiator who finds a greater victory by cutting off one of his arms or legs before a battle. Fighting opponents that are twice his size that have twice the kitten nal of weapons to choose from and now, twice the arms to use them.

Refusing to stand on a solid leg usually means that you will need an Actual Crutch to lean upon. Be it Abusing Stealth, Terrain Glitches, LoS errors, other class Bugs or even your team mates. By refusing to play to ones fullest or even attempt to try alternate options means that you can actually turn your fellow players into your crutch, and That is a worse offense that just using what someone else might call….

“Purple Cheese”.

TL;DR
kitten you, try again from the top.

Cheers.

Fay.2357:

Kaamau.5341:

Fay.2357:

Kaamau.5341:

But also in my mind players should be active with their defense and staff inherently makes it more passive. Combining that with what I previously explained, that is why I refer to it as a crutch.

Translated: Staff is strong and I don’t like using it, so people who use it need a crutch obviously.

<3 you too pyro. But you reached a different meaning then was intended. If you can take care of your own defense using timing and dodge rolls, GS is your better option, if you cant, you can reduce your offensive for staff.

The problem is that this 100% false.

If you can take care of your own defense using timing and dodge…then great, maybe you can use greatsword in some situations. But now you take that same situation, you add the staff, and your defensive capability becomes massively enhanced PAST that which is possible without staff.

Greatsword becomes the ‘better’ option if you absolutely require that long range damage pressure. Staff is the absolutely better option in every other situation, regardless of skill.

I disagree about, the range of situations where staff is better, I’ll switch, I love stealthing up to a point, knocking my target off point with GS 5 then immediately zerker+ blade and shatter to either kill them or force them to remain off point so that I can cap. I’ll be hard pressed to see staff do something equivalent of that without the assistance of other weapon sets.

It also has more immediate and reliable CC and chasing potential with longer range on attack and the cripple from the zerker. Zerker will also easily do more damage then the chaos storm, unless you get lucky timings + HS. Making GS a more offensive weapon that is a more immediate threat in combat, opposed to staff which will be very slow to get going due to the fact that you will need to build condis to really make warlock effective. How ever it can reach the same level of offensive in time if you rely on its easy defensive abilities. But I would much prefer to hit that point immediately and finish things fast, apposed to sitting there and waiting for my damage to kick in.

But that’s just a difference in play style.

As far as damage and fighting goes.. i would say it is mainly a crutch.. But the movement blinking up and down ledges/in and out of combat with about face/phase retreat is a hard thing to replace. It is a short range blink on a 6 second cooldown.

zaxon.6819:

As far as damage and fighting goes.. i would say it is mainly a crutch.. But the movement blinking up and down ledges/in and out of combat with about face/phase retreat is a hard thing to replace. It is a short range blink on a 6 second cooldown.

I love how you presume a duel traited setup, which is also either a shatter or certain condi setup. It’s actually 10s, or 8s, or 6s at a minimum 0, 0, 4, 0, 3 trait cost.

Why do we need this discussion? Staff is simply the most versatile weapon of mesmers and because of that useful in almost every situation while other weapons have moments where they become less effectiv. 4 out of 5 skills have more than one effect, 3 of them give boons which no other weapon can do that well.
It’s not a burst weapon but it doesn’t need to be one, we already have enough options for that job.

I like Staff because it is a defensive weapon that -works-. It is defensive yes, but it still has edges to affect the combat, esp in pvp. It also totally works in a power build for certain situations, without having to build defensive power. That is its strength to me.

But it’s always gonna be situational with weapons. Or how much you can be bothered to swap as situations demand it.

Chaos, you know that staff is literally one of my favorite pvp weapons right? I only said s/f staff is a crutch since you use it

Ross Biddle.2367:

Fay.2357:

MailMail.6534:

To call something a “crutch” is to imply that you’re using something because without it, you’d be much less effective otherwise. However, there’s usually the second implication that people who use these “crutches” aren’t actually handicapped to begin with.

For example, in order to be an effective Shatter Mesmer, you need Deceptive Evasion. However, there are several builds that don’t need this trait yet most Mesmers trait into it, because in general, Deceptive Evasion is a crutch.

Yeah…I have to disagree with you pretty much entirely.

A crutch is generally used to describe something that is necessary to reach a certain level. Look at the real life item. A cripple needs a crutch in order to move around like a normal person. In a game sense, a bad gamer needs a crutch in order to play at a level that a good gamer would without it.

However, this analogy breaks down incredibly rapidly if you think about it a little. If a non-cripple uses a crutch…they don’t really get any benefit out of it. However, a video game crutch is generally a technique/strategy/mechanic that is highly effective, even optimal for play. This goes back to the whole scrub gaming definition (summons Ross Biddle).

http://www.sirlin.net/ptw-book/introducingthe-scrub

If you’ve never reads Sirlin’s “Playing to Win”, which this article comes from (of the same website), read it if you’re interested in improving. And if you’re not, read it anyway because you need it more.

No disrespect, but I followed the link and feel compelled to respond. While from that players perspective of responding to whiners what he writes makes sense, from another perspective that was one of the dumb-est things I have ever read. I just need to point this out:

A scrub is someone who doesn’t play to win and whines about the results of that choice.

Everyone plays this game for fun, everyone. Some people have fun by winning as much as they can or “playing to win” or whatever makes them feel the most bad kitten . Other people have fun by theory crafting builds and trying them out, getting enjoyment out of what they think is creative activity. Other people have fun by focusing on a certain aspect of the game, say interrupts, even though this may be suboptimal. Other people choose to hamstring themselves by playing a really buggy class called the mesmer, because they like the feel of the class or the aesthetics (I’m being cheap on this last one, sorry…).

Calling someone a “scrub” because they play to have fun in way that doesn’t maximize wins just makes you a total loser. This is an online roleplaying game with a competitive aspect. Being good at this game makes you nothing more than good at this game. Thinking you are a bad kitten because of how good you are at this game makes you pathetic.

What makes someone a scrub is that they whine. I don’t think that was emphasized enough in the article or other places in this forum. I play for fun, and I get my kitten handed to me often. I never complain though, because I accept that I am not being optimal and so don’t expect to be.

I respect a lot of what you say, but please keep this in mind when throwing around that insulting term.

What a strange remark for someone to make. Being a ‘crutch’ is irrelevant as its all about build synergy. I’ve tried running triple sword shatter whilst roaming in WvW and the defensive options are simply not enough against any competent opponent or in a severely outmanned situation. There is far better synergy running Staff with S/S than GS with S/S. That’s just the way it is.

crutch or not.. Staff is a very bad dps weapon until you are mid range. The plan for most fights is not “im going to go in there with my staff and kill them” (unless you are an afk condi spec) Your main plan is to use your other weapon set to kill someone.. and if kitten hits the fan switch to staff and put on chaos armor and stand in your field until you are safe enough to switch back to your main dps and kill them.

i understand you can still shatter the clones you produce with staff.. and there is splash damage from the things you do in staff. But is your Oh crap button more then your attack plan. If that is how you describe a crutch then.. i guess its a crutch.. the thing you use to nurse you back to health when you get hurt.

Hmmm… one thing I can say for sure is, that I’ve (that’s in WvW) always liked Staff for two things:

1. It indeed adds a lot to your defense. Also makes it possible to kite opponents that you’d otherwise hardly be able to kite. To me, that’s quite important whenever a fight goes longer than a couple seconds. Because you know… your opponents hurt if they hit; especially if you’re built glassy. Then again… I’m by no means a “pr0” (not terribad either, though :P) and I prefer playing more defensive specs, since I’m not much of a fan of specs that get you killed as soon as you make one little mistake (like, missing your burst once, thus your opponent whacks at you like no tomorrow). I did play zerker shatter too, though. And those numbers can be awesome. But the numbers of your opponent are equally or even more awesome (and usually also much easier to apply), and they WILL get those numbers as soon as you make a little mistake. (So in a way, anything that isn’t fully glass could be considered a “crutch” haha).

2. Running away. And I’m not talking about running away from single players that you can’t beat (although it could be handy for that too of course). I’m talking about running away from 5man-groups, or even 40man-zergs that have nothing better to do than chasing you over half the map. Phase Retreat is such a beautiful, lovely and awesome skill. Blink, Decoy, Swiftness and Mass Invisibility just aren’t always enough to run away from Eles, Thieves and GS/Hammer-Warriors. But with Phase Retreat, it normally is possible to outrun them (unless you’re very unlucky and/or make some mistake).