Guild Wars 2

Just as the title says I took a long hiatus. I want to try to learn to play at closer range and need suggestions. I’m at lvl 80 and was able to clear the map before I left, but I basically sucked. I was using a GS and staff as my only weapons and I was thinking to switch to sceptor/pistol to ease into a transition of being closer in pve/dungeons. Thoughts?

Remember now I suck, and want to get better.

I played around with sword/focus, but was going down way too fast, so not sure I can handle that as of yet in pve. I know I will go down prob 100% with that in dungeons.

So is it silly of me to switch to sceptor/pistol + GS (getting rid of my staff for most situations) then later move to sword/focus and keep the sceptor pistol as 2nd set?

Just trying to figure out what can transition me to a better player, but not expect me to melee all the time from the get go.

Mind you all of these ideas are for pve/dungeons only as I really do not like pvp or wvw at all.

One of the things that has helped me survive in close quarters are the block skills the scepter and sword (offhand) offer. Both skills are great ways to foil most Veteran and Champion charge-up attacks (not to mention other player’s, if you want to check out PvP at some point), and they also both create illusions once you block.

On it’s own, scepter is more of a range-y weapon that can lay down some good condition damage (via Confusion) and every third auto-attack creates an illusion. I really like it, but then again I focus more on the condition/evasion side of combat and not so much close quarters (when using a scepter, anyways).

Pistol’s Phantasmal Duelist can do some serious damage, and Magic Bullet can often save your bacon by shutting down up to three mobs/people at a time. It’s a great off-hand weapon in my opinion, but seems to be a bit more on the ranged side of combat. Magic Bullet could give you a couple seconds of evasion while up close though.

I really like Sword/Sword and Sword/Torch for close combat. Both off-hand weapons offer evasions, but torch’s The Prestige might be one of the best evasion skills in the game. It cloaks you for that extra second you need to get out of harm’s way while simultaneously blinding people in it’s AoE when you use the skill, and then when you de-cloak you burn people in an AoE. Lots of utility. Phantasmal Mage (torch’s second skill) also grants you and your allies Retaliation which helps out a lot in close combat.

I would try Greatsword + Sword/Torch (or Scepter/Sword) and Staff + Sword/Torch (or Scepter/Sword) and see if either of those combinations work for you!

(Alternatively Scepter+Torch does a ton of Confusion damage, if you want to see what that’s like).

Another thing to do is go out into the lowbie area’s and practice your CQ combat there. The mobs there are much less punishing and give you more room for error when learning.

I did the same thing as you in regards to leveling and beginning 80 play, I was GS/Staff for the longest time and it took me a while to get used fighting up close and personal. Learning how to time dodges, blocks, and blurred frenzy is the key to survival and took me some time to do effectively after switching to a melee style of play. Start in some easy areas and work your way up as you become comfortable with each area. You’ll be good to go in no time.

thanks, I am going to go try some of your suggestions and see how it goes. I want to eventually feel like I can let go of my GS and use different closer range weapons, and only use range like GS/Staff when necessary, but still need that security blanket to move far away right now when I get low on health lol

Razamatazz.9628:

Another thing to do is go out into the lowbie area’s and practice your CQ combat there. The mobs there are much less punishing and give you more room for error when learning.

I did the same thing as you in regards to leveling and beginning 80 play, I was GS/Staff for the longest time and it took me a while to get used fighting up close and personal. Learning how to time dodges, blocks, and blurred frenzy is the key to survival and took me some time to do effectively after switching to a melee style of play. Start in some easy areas and work your way up as you become comfortable with each area. You’ll be good to go in no time.

yep, I am not used to close range fighting at all. Good idea to go to low lvl areas to try this out. I should probably start with lower lvl weapons as well to get a real feel of how I should be playing close.

I also was at a disadvantage before I came back and was on very low internet and using a mac I now have much better internet and a pc so that should also help a bit.

Sc/P is a nice combo if you want ranged in pve without GS. Got the block on there and Sc#3 does decent direct damage. Wouldn’t feel bad about playing it.

I’d take Sw/x as the other set then (offhand sword, or focus, or if you really want it just for fun in pve then the torch, although not the ideal pick).

I would actually go sword/sword and scepter/focus. The focus brings excellent group utility and anti-range. So if you feel the need for ranged, you are still benefitting your group and also protecting yourself from projectiles. Sword/sword will give you two defensive skills if you want to hop into melee for a bit. Since the focus is so good, you could alternatively go sword/scepter main hand and only focus offhand until you get better with the CDs.

Even though the scepter has 900 range, the auto attack is faster the closer you are to an enemy so it still promotes melee range.

Start with something like knights gear and slowly swap to zerker as you get better. I believe zerker jewelry/weapons and knights armor is the “ideal” mix to start with when it comes to balancing crit damage and toughness.

but if your not 100% dps your not doing it right… gotta be straight up glass cannon or your a liability to your group.. at least thats how most groups see it… good luck getting a group with scepter or staff… people hate condition damage in pve with a passion.. and for good reason… it sucks..

Adrianna.3092:

but if your not 100% dps your not doing it right… gotta be straight up glass cannon or your a liability to your group.. at least thats how most groups see it… good luck getting a group with scepter or staff… people hate condition damage in pve with a passion.. and for good reason… it sucks..

What is more a liability are those that constantly get down when they miss a F4 or dodge when the wind blows in their direction. There’s nothing more annoying than to see a player get down constantly and others will then 1) stop their attacks and 2) need to run in to rez risking a domino effect. Not everyone will be able to run zerker gear because 1) they may not have the greatest reaction in the world 2) they may not have 10ms ping time to the server. There is no point insisting the OP run a zerker spec if its not suitable for him. The OP should try a wide range of builds to maximize his dps output while being able to minimize his down time. It’s being the last man standing and getting the job done within a reasonable amount of time that counts.

Condition dmg builds has a place in pve just as power builds. I dare say some people just don’t know how to play one. On my way to fractals 50 I was the only Mesmer with a scepter. Everyone else was running GS + x. Its just really sad to see when condition dmg does just fine.