Guild Wars 2

want to have some AoE to fall back on when i need it.
is a Great Sword as my secondary weapon the best option?

Mesmer seems kind of light in the AoE department.
am i missing something obvious?

edit: to fix using the wrong word, cant fix title though >.<

Greatsword takes both hands to wield…

What is your other weapon? Staff?

Not wielding greatswords in one hand? LOL do you even lift

woops, i meant my other weapon set (offset?? what do you call it?)

Sword is the only weapon with decent aoe on short cd (auto attack, blurred frenzy, riposte).

Sword has a decent AoE, but being up close and personal can be hazardous to your health – And is especially icky if you’re looking to be solo kiting lots of mobs, or running from one zerg of mobs to another in DEs.

Staff’s auto/Staff5 are okay AoEs if you’re not rushing damage for tags. If you are… Well, Mesmer has issues with tagging.

GS2-5 are good. Particularly GS4, the iZerker. It’s a high-damage dealing buzzsaw that also cripples (and can stack bleed), making it pretty much our best AoE option. Another option is to just rock Mind Wrack and clone spam for an AoE.

One thing I like to do with AoEs is drop Chaos Storm (Staff5), then switch and iZerker (GS4), and Mirror Images (utility for 2 clones). Soon as my iZerker saws through things, Mindwrack all three of them into the crowd inside Chaos Storm.

What weapons you use would obviously affect how this plays out, though. You may prefer using Sword/Focus and GS, or Sword/Focus and Staff for iWarden+Blurred Frenzy+auto-attack+Chaos Storm or iWarden+blurred frenzy+auto-attack+iZerker+Mirror Blade.

Over all though, I think GS is your most versatile and safe choice for AoEs, because it keeps you out of the fray and gives you some delay/escape options.