Guild Wars 2

I consistently see sword as being the best offhand for PVE DPS in guide after guide…but looking at the tooltip, Phantasmal Swordsman does less damage then either the Phantasmal Duelist or the Phantasmal Warden.

Does the Swordsman attack more frequently or something? Does it have to do with the Leap finisher? Does sword offhand have to do with something else entirely? Why’s it better?

Really? I can see people use shield, torch, focus or even pistol but sword as off hand is pretty much PvP.

Honestly, as a condi mesmer, I only use pistol so I can’t really answer your question. But I doubt these guides.

The swordsman attacks much faster than any other phantasm, so the direct power damage it does is by far the highest out of any phantasm we have. That’s basically it. If you need the utility of pulls, take focus. If you want…shield things…take shield. If you’re running a single target condie setup, take pistol. If you have no clue what you’re doing, take torch.

Edit: take a look at this wiki page for the specific numbers on attack rates: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Phantasmal_Haste

Shield is for sustain.

Focus is for pulls, and can be traited for reflects

Sword is for damage due to how fast the phantasm attacks, it also offers another block.

I prefer my focus over sword for my secondary offhand, most of my fractal groups do too. It’s pull is way too valuable to give up for some extra damage on a profession that isn’t known for DPS. Pulling everything to one point for the group to cleave into is way more fun! Can’t pry my shield out of my hands either so no sword here.

Personally don’t really care what other’s say… I’ve been running Staff & Scepter/Pistol since day one… and I’ll most likely be running that exact same combination years from now too… DPS seems perfectly fine to me… don’t really care much for Sword or GS… Focus just felt meh to me… and I see no reason to branch out of what works for me at this time…

Phantasmal Swordsman (offhand sword phantasm) is your phantasm that does the most damage on a single target, duo to its combo of damage and how frequent it attacks. So in that sense you will have the highest dps by having 3 of those up. However that’s on a single target.

On multi target/cleaving, your Phantasmal Warden (focus phantasm) will do more damage since it can cleave multiple mobs. Also the fact that you have a pull as well reflect with it if traited. This counts for both your phantasm as well as Temporal Curtain.

Warden would be good for dumb mobs that stay in the AoE, but since it can’t move while its attacking, anything that moves has the potential to dodge all or almost all of its damage. I find that especially in HoT maps where the enemies are smarter its not that great at providing damage unfortunately

OriOri.8724:

Warden would be good for dumb mobs that stay in the AoE, but since it can’t move while its attacking, anything that moves has the potential to dodge all or almost all of its damage. I find that especially in HoT maps where the enemies are smarter its not that great at providing damage unfortunately

This is why having a pull on focus is a great thing

Vitali.5039:

OriOri.8724:

Warden would be good for dumb mobs that stay in the AoE, but since it can’t move while its attacking, anything that moves has the potential to dodge all or almost all of its damage. I find that especially in HoT maps where the enemies are smarter its not that great at providing damage unfortunately

This is why having a pull on focus is a great thing

Drop TC, start Warden cast, pull mid-cast, iLeap, swap to Shield, Shield 5, blurred frenzy, shatter. That takes care of most generic mob packs, even in HoT.

I mean yea, but its kind of weird that we need to use 2 weapon skills just to get the most out of the warden in these new maps.

OriOri.8724:

I mean yea, but its kind of weird that we need to use 2 weapon skills just to get the most out of the warden in these new maps.

You could also just use MoD as you summon your phantasmal warden.

Mirror Blade + shatter alone takes care of most generic mobs. Not sure I’d be so keen on burning all my cooldowns and the weapon swap as well just to take care of trash.

I’ve been playing around with sword offhand, and it seems to have potential – mainly because the cooldowns are so short, particularly on the block.

I personally see far more shields than swords.
However if I had to guess it’s because Phantasmal Swordsman attacks so frequently. Throw in Phantasam Haste and he’s jumping every few seconds. Add in wells or Glamours and he’s one of the few phantasms that you can combo with, and the only one that can protect himself with auras.