Guild Wars 2

Im still leveling my ranger so im curious, what do you find do the best dps/damage for you, using Greatsword or Sword & X?

I believe Sword/X has the highest dps of the Rangers weapons.

Pimp that cat pet with beastmastery traits and it will do enough damage to never worry about what weapon you are carrying in your hands.

I’d recomend either Sword/Horn or Greatsword, just for faster traveling.

Greatsword has the most damaging single attack (Maul) but the sword auto attack is the best dps of any weapon that Rangers can use.

Im running Sword/Torch right now and it seems like a good combo i just dont like how the swords attacks work :o

I use both. Way back when I started on my Thief I found it helped to not think of one weapon set, but your combo, and the ability to change out of combat, since situations change. You can trait for your main preference, of course, but the Ranger plays well in that your Sword and Greatsword CD reduction trait is across the board for both.

That said, I use Greatsword for most PvE fights – it has a built in evade, awesome cleave, the block is useful (blocks ranged indefinitely and counters the melee attacks with a knockback/down), Maul does great damage (and was buffed) with a bleed stack, and the Daze from Hilt Bash is awesome. Also Swoop is great for all those combo fields that occur (and you can set yourself up with a Flame or Frost trap – those Auras are niiiice).

In a PvE sense you can control a group and go to town with your sword and pet.

I prefer the Sword/Dagger to compliment it because that set nets you two evades, two poisons, a ranged cripple, and once you learn how to use the sword auto chain (take it off of auto and tap 1 manually), it’s really mobile. I do dislike Hornet’s Sting/Monarch’s Leap, but I’ve learned to use them. It’s not an evade, but you can still GTFO and reorient yourself. It also pairs well with GS Swoop or just getting into range if you pack a bow or axe.

That said, I love Axe/Torch in situations because of the ricochet and pack handling, and the Axe 3 is undervalued – it throws Chill and Weakness up (once your pet hits). It’s great.

Longbow is handy with a GS or Sword/OH because you can drop Vulnerability, get your pet to the target, and then swap and bring the pain with your melee set. Shortbow also has it’s uses and pairs well with GS – you can bring a second Daze, Poison, and Cripple, so it’s a worthy alternative to the Sword/Dagger.

I find these same tactics apply in PvP, but there are more extensive builds and gearing points once you get into that. Hope this helps you with the basics of leveling and learning, though.

Khenzy.9348:

Pimp that cat pet with beastmastery traits and it will do enough damage to never worry about what weapon you are carrying in your hands.

I’d recomend either Sword/Horn or Greatsword, just for faster traveling.

GS5 boosts your pet attack damage even if you cast it into thin air, so it makes a big difference to beastmasters.

Sword auto-attack is one of the most annoying mechanics ever. You can’t dodge while in the middle of the second or third attacks. You can’t strafe. You can’t really control your character. You MUST take it off auto-attack if you want to be able to use it efficiently, and even then it’s stupidly quirky. I have no idea why Anet decided to make the combo that kitten That being said, sword 1 combo hits harder than any other weapons AA. Greatsword is much easier to work with. Smooth attacks. Awesome gap closer than can be used without a target. Hard hitting #2 attack, and a daze.

The highest damage a ranger can do is through Sword/ Torch, so if all you want is damage that’s your best bet.

At first you’ll want 0-20-0-0-0 for the pets heal on crits and the 30% bigger pet crit skills.

later on you’ll want the 0-0-0-0-30 for the pet regen (it affects the ranger too, broken tooltip) So with your signet and food, you can get 3 sources of regen, and if you want to melee you’ll need it.

eventually you’ll want to be 0-20-0-0-30 and then you can spend the last 20 however you want.

The most important thing to have when leveling/soloing is a strong pet. What weapon you use is up to you. Personally, I like the greatsword since the last patch.

Kiran.2705:

Sword auto-attack is one of the most annoying mechanics ever. You can’t dodge while in the middle of the second or third attacks. You can’t strafe. You can’t really control your character. You MUST take it off auto-attack if you want to be able to use it efficiently, and even then it’s stupidly quirky. I have no idea why Anet decided to make the combo that kitten That being said, sword 1 combo hits harder than any other weapons AA. Greatsword is much easier to work with. Smooth attacks. Awesome gap closer than can be used without a target. Hard hitting #2 attack, and a daze.

I have really come to like the way Sword works. I am not great with sticking to targets. Sword solves that problem. I can go head to head melee for a few rounds then disengage with sword 2. If I feel I should stay in melee and can jump back in. If not, I can pull out the SB and go back to kiting for a few rounds.

I am curious what the basis is for the assertion that the 1H Sword hits harder than the Greatsword?

According to the Wiki, the 1H Sword’s chain has coefficients of 0.6, 0.6, and 0.7 respectively. The Greatsword has 0.55, 0.55, and 0.65 respectively. However, the damage formula also uses a weapon’s strength, and the Greatsword has a higher strength rating than the 1H Sword.

So, doing the math, using the average of the weapons’ strength, multiplying it times the skill co-efficient:

Greatsword
1 & 2: 0.55 * 1047.5 = 576.125
3: 0.65 * 1047.5 = 680.875

1H Sword
1 & 2: 0.6 * 952.5 = 571.5
3: 0.7 * 952.5 = 666.75

Thus, it seems that a Greatsword will hit harder than the 1H Sword. So, one the D side of the DPS equation, the Greatsword takes the win, but barely, as far as it related to the Ranger’s output. It certainly gets more complicated when attempting to account for additional damage the pet will deal from the Might granted by the 1H Sword’s third step in the chain.

For the S side of the DPS equation, I don’t have the total time for the auto-attack chain, but the 1H Sword at the least as a slightly lower activation time on the second step. I would venture to guess though the overall time isn’t vastly different, and as such, wouldn’t expect either weapon to have a significant advantage in the overall DPS from the auto-attack chain.

So, really, my opinion would be to pick one or other based on personal preference and other elements from each weapon.

Your damage numbers above, with Wiki activation speed #’s -
Sword Attack chain = (571+571+666) / 1.5 seconds = 1205 DPS
Greatsword chain = (576+576+680) 1.75 seconds = 1046 DPS
Greatsword, avg chain+maul = ((1.5*1047.5 / .75 ) .75/6) + (10465.25/6) = 1177 DPS+Bleed

Only comparing auto-attack, 1h Sword has a margin of 15% + might, in terms of damage.

Spamming Maul on recharge, GS pulls ahead, assuming the bleed damage is significant.

What really makes 1h sword more powerful, IMO, is the off-hand skills. For GS, that’s a block & stun. Both of these are negatives if all you care about is DPS. Sword on the other hand gives you an off-hand weapon as well – particularly warhorn #5 – which tilts the DPS calculation by quite a bit. 1h Sword with Fury >> GS w/o Fury.

Just putting this out there, for the purposes of leveling – since that seems to be what the OP is doing, I find the Greatsword far easier to grind out with. The One Handed Sword is quite possibly superior to the Greatsword in terms of DPS, but as others have mentioned the auto-attack chain can really screw you when you want to time a proper retreat. It is easily disabled, however that means you will also be sitting around crushing your ‘1’ key over and over again.

It is useful to get the practice in, but while leveling and learning the class / pet control, it is probably more useful to stick with Greatsword. My favorite tactic right now is to run around with the Longbow/Greatsword, with Lynx/Jaguar as pet.

1. Swift Arrow
2. Rapid Fire
3. Weapon Swap
4. Swoop
5. Hilt Strike
6. Maul

This is usually more than enough to either wipe out a mob entirely, or shear them down enough that your pet will finish it up. Also, the use of Swoop lets you move around the field quickly and catch up to your pet to get into the melee fray. Keep in mind, no one knows what this next patch will do yet or what they are intending for the Rangers beyond some pet improvements. So this all could change in two days.