Guild Wars 2

Is the greatsword usable in any way when it comes down to pve? Or should I just lie down and accept sword as my overlord? Really like the greatsword skills so it’d be a bummer if I were to miss out on them.

Every weapon, skill and build is viable.

Ranger PvE GS is just not optimal.

runeblade.7514:

Every weapon, skill and build is viable.

Ranger PvE GS is just not optimal.

So I won’t be shunned for using a Greatsword in dungeons?

Oh and I just found a trait that gives attacks with a greatsword a chance to trigger fury (and it happens quite frequently) and that increases the damage of greatswords by… 5% I believe. So maybe that would make greatsword a bit more viable?

really depends on you… I mix up my secondary weapons alot….
sometimes I use sword/axe, or sword/warhorn…
especially p1 of CoF at the gate portion use quickening zephyr ..
sometimes I use GS when defending in P1 in CoE…

In my experience, the only weapon that gets you shunned in a PUG is the shortbow.

GS – S/A remorseless is perfectly viable for pve.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAR8XjUqQJL2qCWsAXLG2Dq92DgEgH4AeE+44Ie6MW6kZSA-TRRBABXt/o8jgLCAAPBAKV/xMlgAA-e

Can obviously run Predator’s Onslaught, ranger runes etc. instead. The Remorseless build is just a fun build to play around with if you like using greatsword.

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

In my experience, the only weapon that gets you shunned in a PUG is the shortbow.

I’m not a big fan of pve but I recently started hopping in dungeons to help out guildies and make some gold. Yesterday we had a shortbow ranger that kept screwing up every fight by jumping out of the stack to get behind the mobs so he could stack bleeds….

Something like that goes beyond not being effective, he was hindering the group.

Lazze.9870:

GS – S/A remorseless is perfectly viable for pve.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAR8XjUqQJL2qCWsAXLG2Dq92DgEgH4AeE+44Ie6MW6kZSA-TRRBABXt/o8jgLCAAPBAKV/xMlgAA-e

Can obviously run Predator’s Onslaught, ranger runes etc. instead. The Remorseless build is just a fun build to play around with if you like using greatsword.

Greatsword works with predator’s onslaught as well, with a stun/daze and a cripple.

Besides that, most pugs will spam some sort of impairing condition on enemies anyway.

SharpenedBlade.6803:

Is the greatsword usable in any way when it comes down to pve? Or should I just lie down and accept sword as my overlord? Really like the greatsword skills so it’d be a bummer if I were to miss out on them.

It’s viable.
Not for every single environment, but it’s viable. Perfectly fitting some parts of the roof of efficiency.

Greatsword is less DPS than 1h sword. It’s not up for debate.

What’s of concern here is whether you can pull 1h sword off, or if you start dying with it you’d be better off with Greatsword. There are some fights, like Archdiviner/Molten Duo/Mossman/some of Arah where you want the reliability of Greatsword if you’re not familiar with the fight.

Either way you’re there for Spotter and Spirits. If you want an even more forgiving spec, look at condi ranger from DnT.

Zenith.7301:

Greatsword is less DPS than 1h sword. It’s not up for debate.

What’s of concern here is whether you can pull 1h sword off, or if you start dying with it you’d be better off with Greatsword. There are some fights, like Archdiviner/Molten Duo/Mossman/some of Arah where you want the reliability of Greatsword if you’re not familiar with the fight.

Either way you’re there for Spotter and Spirits. If you want an even more forgiving spec, look at condi ranger from DnT.

The more I look at that condi ranger build, the more boring it looks. At first, I avoided switching because I didn’t want to craft a set of sinister armor/weapons only to find out I hated the playstyle. I’m glad I didn’t TBH.

And honestly, if I’m pugging high level fractals, LB/GS all the way.

Quarktastic.1027:

Lazze.9870:

GS – S/A remorseless is perfectly viable for pve.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAR8XjUqQJL2qCWsAXLG2Dq92DgEgH4AeE+44Ie6MW6kZSA-TRRBABXt/o8jgLCAAPBAKV/xMlgAA-e

Can obviously run Predator’s Onslaught, ranger runes etc. instead. The Remorseless build is just a fun build to play around with if you like using greatsword.

Greatsword works with predator’s onslaught as well, with a stun/daze and a cripple.

Besides that, most pugs will spam some sort of impairing condition on enemies anyway.

I literally said he could run PO aswell?

Zenith.7301:

Greatsword is less DPS than 1h sword. It’s not up for debate.

What’s of concern here is whether you can pull 1h sword off, or if you start dying with it you’d be better off with Greatsword. There are some fights, like Archdiviner/Molten Duo/Mossman/some of Arah where you want the reliability of Greatsword if you’re not familiar with the fight.

Either way you’re there for Spotter and Spirits. If you want an even more forgiving spec, look at condi ranger from DnT.

I agree with this. Myself, for example, I can’t get the 1h sword to work for me. I have tried withe auto attack on and off. Either way, I frequently die or nearly die. The GS just works so much better for me.

Yes, the 1h sword does do more damage. I just can’t handle it well enough to do it efficiently. I usually have to run from the fight, heal up, then go back, while my pet keeps the enemy engaged.

redcomyn.4651:

Zenith.7301:

Greatsword is less DPS than 1h sword. It’s not up for debate.

What’s of concern here is whether you can pull 1h sword off, or if you start dying with it you’d be better off with Greatsword. There are some fights, like Archdiviner/Molten Duo/Mossman/some of Arah where you want the reliability of Greatsword if you’re not familiar with the fight.

Either way you’re there for Spotter and Spirits. If you want an even more forgiving spec, look at condi ranger from DnT.

I agree with this. Myself, for example, I can’t get the 1h sword to work for me. I have tried withe auto attack on and off. Either way, I frequently die or nearly die. The GS just works so much better for me.

Yes, the 1h sword does do more damage. I just can’t handle it well enough to do it efficiently. I usually have to run from the fight, heal up, then go back, while my pet keeps the enemy engaged.

You may supplement it with signet of stone. It makes getting your opening burst out much less troublesome. It’s very useful in Molten Duo for example when you’re confident that the guardian is incompetent and won’t use aegis/wall in time or the ele doesn’t freeze the boss with ice bow off the start.

I just wish signet of stone had a 30-45 sec cd.

Change Monarch’s leap so the evade is instant upon button press instead of having a cast time.

Increase the damage of Serpent Strike and lower the cd to 12 seconds. For such a large wind up animation, it should hit hard when it lands.

That plus fixing so you could dodge with 1h sword reliably would make it a more interesting weapon than just something you autoattack with.

Similarly path of scars should get a cooldown reduction and whirling defense should be doubled in damage output.

You can do whatever you want, your dps will be much more less with gs. In team you have 100% fury uptime.
You can go with anything but you will lose 20-50% dps

McWolfy.5924:

You can do whatever you want, your dps will be much more less with gs. In team you have 100% fury uptime.
You can go with anything but you will lose 20-50% dps

I am solo only, so I won’t get that 100% fury.

redcomyn.4651:

McWolfy.5924:

You can do whatever you want, your dps will be much more less with gs. In team you have 100% fury uptime.
You can go with anything but you will lose 20-50% dps

I am solo only, so I won’t get that 100% fury.

In a solo scenario you are better off with GS, for living story specifically because mobs hit much harder than usual and have obvious tells that you need to reliably dodge and the greatsword doesn’t delay your dodge timings.

The built in evade+ block>>>>> a 15 sec cd serpent strike or a delayed dodge of monarch leap. The 1h sword dodges disrupt your DPS whereas your GS defensive features have far less effect on it.

McWolfy.5924:

You can do whatever you want, your dps will be much more less with gs. In team you have 100% fury uptime.
You can go with anything but you will lose 20-50% dps

20-50% less eh? That’s a pretty huge gap. Where have you gotten these numbers?

Petrol.9086:

McWolfy.5924:

You can do whatever you want, your dps will be much more less with gs. In team you have 100% fury uptime.
You can go with anything but you will lose 20-50% dps

20-50% less eh? That’s a pretty huge gap. Where have you gotten these numbers?

Not 50%. We used to have a theorycrafter around whose name I forgot, I don’t think it was Dojo but maybe.

It’s closer to a 20-30% difference just from the weapon damage, no traits calculated in but GS is still a good gap behind 1h sword. GS also has no utility whatsoever for your group unlike the new whirling defense and even path of scars can prove useful for interrupts/pulling, or you can use warhorn for more combo blasts.

redcomyn.4651:

McWolfy.5924:

You can do whatever you want, your dps will be much more less with gs. In team you have 100% fury uptime.
You can go with anything but you will lose 20-50% dps

I am solo only, so I won’t get that 100% fury.

You can easily get near perma fury with clarion bond and a red moa with the traited f2.

It’s probably not worth the effort in most overworld situations to be honest as almost everything outside of silverwastes will die with a single path of scars and a couple sword hits anyway.

Substance E.4852:

redcomyn.4651:

McWolfy.5924:

You can do whatever you want, your dps will be much more less with gs. In team you have 100% fury uptime.
You can go with anything but you will lose 20-50% dps

I am solo only, so I won’t get that 100% fury.

You can easily get near perma fury with clarion bond and a red moa with the traited f2.

It’s probably not worth the effort in most overworld situations to be honest as almost everything outside of silverwastes will die with a single path of scars and a couple sword hits anyway.

Using a moa detracts from any fury uptime he gets. Moa dps is horrendous, only better than bear dps.

He’s better off using clarion bond and warhorn and just put warhorn in the offhand slot of his secondary weaponset and the main sword hand on the primary weaponset so whenever he switches weapons he always has sword/warhorn and can just spam weaponswap on cooldown to get the fury and swiftness from the skirmishing minor.

Otherwise he can have sword/warhorn and axe in the 2ndary offhand and still switch on cooldown and time his call of the wild appropriately.

Using any pet besides jaguar/drake is an absolute drop in dps. bears and moas do less damage on their autoattacks than a condi spec’s single burning tick. It’s that bad.

Zenith.7301:

Substance E.4852:

redcomyn.4651:

McWolfy.5924:

You can do whatever you want, your dps will be much more less with gs. In team you have 100% fury uptime.
You can go with anything but you will lose 20-50% dps

I am solo only, so I won’t get that 100% fury.

You can easily get near perma fury with clarion bond and a red moa with the traited f2.

It’s probably not worth the effort in most overworld situations to be honest as almost everything outside of silverwastes will die with a single path of scars and a couple sword hits anyway.

Using a moa detracts from any fury uptime he gets. Moa dps is horrendous, only better than bear dps.

He’s better off using clarion bond and warhorn and just put warhorn in the offhand slot of his secondary weaponset and the main sword hand on the primary weaponset so whenever he switches weapons he always has sword/warhorn and can just spam weaponswap on cooldown to get the fury and swiftness from the skirmishing minor.

Otherwise he can have sword/warhorn and axe in the 2ndary offhand and still switch on cooldown and time his call of the wild appropriately.

Using any pet besides jaguar/drake is an absolute drop in dps. bears and moas do less damage on their autoattacks than a condi spec’s single burning tick. It’s that bad.

Would you disable the autoattack of the sword?

redcomyn.4651:

Zenith.7301:

Substance E.4852:

redcomyn.4651:

McWolfy.5924:

You can do whatever you want, your dps will be much more less with gs. In team you have 100% fury uptime.
You can go with anything but you will lose 20-50% dps

I am solo only, so I won’t get that 100% fury.

You can easily get near perma fury with clarion bond and a red moa with the traited f2.

It’s probably not worth the effort in most overworld situations to be honest as almost everything outside of silverwastes will die with a single path of scars and a couple sword hits anyway.

Using a moa detracts from any fury uptime he gets. Moa dps is horrendous, only better than bear dps.

He’s better off using clarion bond and warhorn and just put warhorn in the offhand slot of his secondary weaponset and the main sword hand on the primary weaponset so whenever he switches weapons he always has sword/warhorn and can just spam weaponswap on cooldown to get the fury and swiftness from the skirmishing minor.

Otherwise he can have sword/warhorn and axe in the 2ndary offhand and still switch on cooldown and time his call of the wild appropriately.

Using any pet besides jaguar/drake is an absolute drop in dps. bears and moas do less damage on their autoattacks than a condi spec’s single burning tick. It’s that bad.

Would you disable the autoattack of the sword?

Disabling the sword autoattack will make it so much better as you can control your disengages when you need to. It’s almost a must really

You should disable autoattacks from the 1h sword. It still won’t change the fact that you delaying your autoattack chain by not attacking so you can dodge reliably is still a DPS loss.

1h just needs fixing. Dodge should override the animation and Monarch Leap needs to be instant.

Some groups would not like it. It does substantially less damage than sword. Like 17%

Sube Dai.8496:

Some groups would not like it. It does substantially less damage than sword. Like 17%

Remorseless helps to close the gap. By a few percent.
Well, it’s still lower but helps to make it viable. In my honest opinion, GS is perfectly viable, but not by itself.

It’s builds that include the weapon that should be discussed, as there is no other weapon besides Sword that is viable by itself.

Even Longbow is a part of the meta build.

The remorseless build that is using S/A+GS is a good build. It does identical damage to LB+S/A predators build. If you don’t believe me, because of things that Pernix said/calculated just install the Janx(legit) dps meter & test it yourself. (in solo testing it will do a bit more dmg, but you gotta calc in the additional vuln stacks)

(http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Ranger_-_S/A_GS_Quick_Draw)

GS is fantastic in many PvE scenarios, especially those that are difficult. 50 fractals, and aetherblade dungeon. You can pair it with sw/a, sw/t, a/t, and LB. Lovely weapon.

Unless I miss my guess, that “less damage” thing is only against a single target. The sword AA only cleaves on 2 out of the 3 hits. The Greatsword cleaves on all 3 hits, and also Maul can hit 5 targets at once.

When running around in general PvE, I always use the GS. Being able to 1-shot mobs with Maul is amazingly fun and effective while gathering mats etc and Swoop is well, awesome. Usually have S/WH in the swap but only for the mobility (practice switch leaping all the time) as Maul is just where it’s all happening for burst.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

When running around in general PvE, I always use the GS. Being able to 1-shot mobs with Maul is amazingly fun and effective while gathering mats etc and Swoop is well, awesome. Usually have S/WH in the swap but only for the mobility (practice switch leaping all the time) as Maul is just where it’s all happening for burst.

In open world stuff, I agree, GS is great. In high level fractals, I find that main hand sword doesn’t provide enough defense/mobility to reliably melee enemies, so I switch to a GS/LB build.

Dungeons is where the main hand sword shines.

Zenith.7301:

1h just needs fixing. Dodge should override the animation and Monarch Leap needs to be instant.

Agreed on Monarch Leap.

As for dodge with sword, as I’ve said before, dodging by itself won’t help. It’s very rare but you can dodge while in the sword autoattack – I’ve done it 3 times in 2+ years. After you dodge, the next autoattack fires fires. Because all three sword autoattacks leap when the previous has hit a target, you end up leaping right back into the spot you just dodged away from.

To fix sword autoattack, they’d need to make a special case in the code for it. (1) Dodge overrides the autoattack (actually the leaps). (2) Dodge with sword equipped turns off autoattack (like LB 3 stealth does).

(2) is not that farfetched since they’ve done it for LB 3. (1) potentially breaks a lot of other mechanics since right now you can’t dodge out of any leaps (nor does it make sense that you should be able to).

There is hope for (1) though. I think the dodge lockout for sword autoattack leaps is coded wrong. If you Swoop when you’re in melee range of the target, the leap lasts nowhere near as much time as when you start out at 1100 range. The dodge lockout for Swoop seems to end the moment your feet hit the ground. That is, if you Swoop in melee range, you can dodge immediately after you land, even though timing-wise it would still be within Swoop’s leap if you weren’t in melee range.

Sword autoattack leaps don’t seem to work like that. You’re locked out of dodge the entire duration of the leaps even if you’re in melee range and the leap is over almost instantly. The player-created “fixes” all rely on overcoming this lockout. If you tap a movement key or hit a skill which has a warm-up time, that will prematurely end the dodge lockout caused by the leap, and you can dodge immediately.

So I should use GS if I’m no good with sword? Really don’t like getting stuck in big attacks because of the auto attack chain, think I’d be better off wielding GS and doing a little less damage but not getting killed all the time.

…Greatsword skills are much more fun anyway imo
(+I’m a huge fan of 2-H weapons myself)

Solandri.9640:

1 It’s very rare but you can dodge while in the sword autoattack – I’ve done it 3 times in 2+ years. After you dodge, the next autoattack fires fires.

You dodged before pounce activated, not during. It’s impossible to perform another action during one that moves your position without canceling the leap first, usually by swapping weapons. You could set up a macro to spam your dodge key 5,000 times during the leap of Swoop and it would never work.

SharpenedBlade.6803:

So I should use GS if I’m no good with sword? Really don’t like getting stuck in big attacks because of the auto attack chain, think I’d be better off wielding GS and doing a little less damage but not getting killed all the time.

…Greatsword skills are much more fun anyway imo
(+I’m a huge fan of 2-H weapons myself)

Try the A/T condi build instead. It’s way better DPS than GS. The 12% less dps is misleading, that number is for a GS + SA/ (or LB) rotation. Pure GS is awful.

SharpenedBlade.6803:

runeblade.7514:

Every weapon, skill and build is viable.

Ranger PvE GS is just not optimal.

So I won’t be shunned for using a Greatsword in dungeons?

You cannot affect how others will view your decisions. If you want to use greatsword, then do it. If you’re afraid of being judged them don’t. Before the specialization patch greatsword want too far off of sword, and in some aoe cases, was higher. No idea how things have panned out afterwards.

Ranger GS user here. Not playing in dungeons since 2013. So i use it for open world play
I created a build of LB/GS that heavily relies on weapon and pet swapping to generate fury.

I love the build because it is just fun for me. More active and forces me to think about my next attack. Also, I found the GS easier for me to control than the sword mechanics (the leaping I mean).

there are some min/max builds out there using GS. but i would suggest going with what you find fun and comfortable.

SharpenedBlade.6803:

So I should use GS if I’m no good with sword? Really don’t like getting stuck in big attacks because of the auto attack chain, think I’d be better off wielding GS and doing a little less damage but not getting killed all the time.

…Greatsword skills are much more fun anyway imo
(+I’m a huge fan of 2-H weapons myself)

I run GS and sword/axe. The only time I pick up a longbow these days, is when whatever I’m fighting is too dangerous to melee.

GS is perfectly viable and the dps loss is negligible at best since the last patch. it would still be a good idea to learn sword andh ow to play within the bounds of how it works. use gs in situations where the leap could kill you like harpy fractal. dagger oh evades break the leap animation so you could use that until you’re used to it. and turn off auto attack.

LB/ GS remorseless
GS/ S/A remorseless
GS/ S/A PO
LB/ S/A PO

All are fine and very close in dps. Tested on 30 sec golem fights.
I personally like GS / S/A remorseless better.

My understanding leads me to believe that GS is always the better choice unless you run with a set group of people of whom you trust. Elongated fights can and will kill your dps when you pug while using sword.

Prophet.1584:

GS is perfectly viable and the dps loss is negligible at best since the last patch. it would still be a good idea to learn sword andh ow to play within the bounds of how it works. use gs in situations where the leap could kill you like harpy fractal. dagger oh evades break the leap animation so you could use that until you’re used to it. and turn off auto attack.

The DPS difference is not negligible. Stop this myth.

It’s a convenient weapon to use over 1h sword, but it’s a notable DPS loss.

Zenith.7301:

Prophet.1584:

GS is perfectly viable and the dps loss is negligible at best since the last patch. it would still be a good idea to learn sword andh ow to play within the bounds of how it works. use gs in situations where the leap could kill you like harpy fractal. dagger oh evades break the leap animation so you could use that until you’re used to it. and turn off auto attack.

The DPS difference is not negligible. Stop this myth.

It’s a convenient weapon to use over 1h sword, but it’s a notable DPS loss.

Is it? Like do you have math to back that up? From what I remember before update it was 17% less damage, much of that attributed to PO and the cripple up time on auto. So I’m curious to see the math as I’d imagine that gap would have shrank with Remorseless.

Jerus.4350:

Zenith.7301:

Prophet.1584:

GS is perfectly viable and the dps loss is negligible at best since the last patch. it would still be a good idea to learn sword andh ow to play within the bounds of how it works. use gs in situations where the leap could kill you like harpy fractal. dagger oh evades break the leap animation so you could use that until you’re used to it. and turn off auto attack.

The DPS difference is not negligible. Stop this myth.

It’s a convenient weapon to use over 1h sword, but it’s a notable DPS loss.

Is it? Like do you have math to back that up? From what I remember before update it was 17% less damage, much of that attributed to PO and the cripple up time on auto. So I’m curious to see the math as I’d imagine that gap would have shrank with Remorseless.

The 17% figure was BEFORE the advent of PO. Search some of Dojo’s posts and about 2 years ago there was somebody else who also did the math.

Zenith.7301:

Jerus.4350:

Zenith.7301:

Prophet.1584:

GS is perfectly viable and the dps loss is negligible at best since the last patch. it would still be a good idea to learn sword andh ow to play within the bounds of how it works. use gs in situations where the leap could kill you like harpy fractal. dagger oh evades break the leap animation so you could use that until you’re used to it. and turn off auto attack.

The DPS difference is not negligible. Stop this myth.

It’s a convenient weapon to use over 1h sword, but it’s a notable DPS loss.

Is it? Like do you have math to back that up? From what I remember before update it was 17% less damage, much of that attributed to PO and the cripple up time on auto. So I’m curious to see the math as I’d imagine that gap would have shrank with Remorseless.

The 17% figure was BEFORE the advent of PO. Search some of Dojo’s posts and about 2 years ago there was somebody else who also did the math.

2 years is quite a while ago. I was going from right after PO was put in asking those DnT folks with their maths and all that jazz.

http://www.dtguilds.com/forum/m/6563292/viewthread/16060384-greatsword

Source, got one for me?

Jerus.4350:

Zenith.7301:

Jerus.4350:

Zenith.7301:

Prophet.1584:

GS is perfectly viable and the dps loss is negligible at best since the last patch. it would still be a good idea to learn sword andh ow to play within the bounds of how it works. use gs in situations where the leap could kill you like harpy fractal. dagger oh evades break the leap animation so you could use that until you’re used to it. and turn off auto attack.

The DPS difference is not negligible. Stop this myth.

It’s a convenient weapon to use over 1h sword, but it’s a notable DPS loss.

Is it? Like do you have math to back that up? From what I remember before update it was 17% less damage, much of that attributed to PO and the cripple up time on auto. So I’m curious to see the math as I’d imagine that gap would have shrank with Remorseless.

The 17% figure was BEFORE the advent of PO. Search some of Dojo’s posts and about 2 years ago there was somebody else who also did the math.

2 years is quite a while ago. I was going from right after PO was put in asking those DnT folks with their maths and all that jazz.

http://www.dtguilds.com/forum/m/6563292/viewthread/16060384-greatsword

Source, got one for me?

There is no math in that link you provided, by the way. Look up Dojo, I’m not gonna do a search for a 1+year old post of his or the other guy’s older posts on this terrible forum’s search engine.

True, but I think they’ve proven themselves credible sources. As I said, I’m honestly curious to see the math of a GS build vs Sword build. I want to say I saw a Sword/axe + GS build vs Sword/Axe + Longbow build and it was something like 13.5 vs 14.5, so 9.3% less working GS in vs Longbow. I don’t think it’ll jump over 17% or even reach that had you taken out sword/axe, now that’s just my guess, but I’d like to see some type of proof to the contrary.

You just use google to search the forum by placing site:https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu in front of whatever you are searching for, in this case “Ranger Greatsword Dojo”

That search in particular would return these results.

You just use google to search the forum by placing site:https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu in front of whatever you are searching for, in this case “Ranger Greatsword Dojo”.

That search in particular would return these results.