Guild Wars 2

i know this discussion has been talked to death, but for a fractal mesmer/ wvw mesmer, whats the best option? i play shatter in both situations

hmm on shatter i usually like to use gs especially in pve. i only use staff in pvp/wvw. in wvw staff is not bad if u are condi based if u are powerbased is use gs…im still testing out staff with the new gm trait.

thank you for your input, i got staff and immediately regretted it

If you’re running fractals, you should be using neither staff nor greatsword. For any PvE content that isn’t open world, you need to be using a full damage build sword/focus sword/sword.

Also shatter is a horrible choice for PvE. Do not use it.

Pyroathiest.4168:

If you’re running fractals, you should be using neither staff nor greatsword. For any PvE content that isn’t open world, you need to be using a full damage build sword/focus sword/sword.

Also shatter is a horrible choice for PvE. Do not use it.

yea thats what i read on the forum so far, but im not sure about 2 sets of swords? they share the same cd and im missing the flexibility of a ranged weapon. staff gives ethereal field with boons and 2 emergency buttons so i thought it might be of better uses?

Regenerator.7326:

Pyroathiest.4168:

If you’re running fractals, you should be using neither staff nor greatsword. For any PvE content that isn’t open world, you need to be using a full damage build sword/focus sword/sword.

Also shatter is a horrible choice for PvE. Do not use it.

yea thats what i read on the forum so far, but im not sure about 2 sets of swords? they share the same cd and im missing the flexibility of a ranged weapon. staff gives ethereal field with boons and 2 emergency buttons so i thought it might be of better uses?

The reason you use 2 swords is that sword is our only power melee weapon.

In a dungeon group, you want to stay in melee range because that’s where all of the boons are. You’ll be getting might, vigor, regen, protection, aegis, etc, to protect yourself and your party from attacks. If you go ranged, you’ll lose all of this, so you’ll end up dying easier and doing less damage.

The problem with staff is that its autoattack does absolutely no damage. It actually has a very powerful phantasm, but this fact is outweighed by its horrible autoattack (for power builds).

Lastly, shatter builds actually do really poor dps. They have very strong burst, but their overall sustained dps is quite low, which is why they aren’t good in PvE.

Jackums.3496:

For PvE in any situation, the greatsword is superior to the staff.

Just want to nitpick a bit here.

At world bosses, iWarlocks will hilariously outdamage anything else in the game except fgs.

I love everything about staff mes. I can’t wait for the day they make condi viable in PvE so I can finally roll staff/GS and not bring down a party. Until then, staff/sword-sword or sword-focus/sword-sword all the way. My poor sunrise… so under utilized in PvE.

Personally I find the crit damage/ferocity conversion (nerf) has forced me to pick up GS full time for shatter, because the GS attacks can supplement lower shatter damage, whereas with the staff you’ve got sod all – even with ielasticity…

I personally run sword/focus+greatsword in PvE, simply because I enjoy the ranged capabilities, and going full melee isn’t as effective with a PUG group in dungeons.

Haven’t bothered to upload my Alphard and Lupicus solos yet – but as you can see, I don’t need to range even if I’m solo – and if you pug, always assume you need to be self sufficient.

I love everything about staff mes. I can’t wait for the day they make condi viable in PvE so I can finally roll staff/GS and not bring down a party. Until then, staff/sword-sword or sword-focus/sword-sword all the way. My poor sunrise… so under utilized in PvE.

Don’t worry, I bought a cheap greatsword, transmuted my sunrise over it and use it as a nice afk weapon while in divinity’s reach.