Guild Wars 2

It locks you from using dodge and it is frustrating. I know there are two skills you can use to evade with the sword but I want to dodge in the direction I choose.

Agreed. I know they changed some of these skills in beta (for example, Cyclone Axe on a warrior used to lock you in place, but now you can use it on the run).

Ranger sword/dagger has too many skills that control your movement for you. Serpent strike bothers me especially.

But Serpent Strike just looks so cool!

I like some of the inherent dodge mechanics in the sword abilities, like Serpent Strike. Its an evade+damage and it does a pretty good job of keeping you centered on the mob you’re fighting with very little extra management.

Now the evade abilities that send you straight backwards, those are not my favorite. I want to use all of my abilities as often as possible when I’m just grinding levels so I’m not just auto-attacking when I could be using cooldowns, but its annoying to use an ability, evade backwards when you don’t really need to, then have to run back into melee range. I understand abilities of that nature have very situational moments when they perform really well, but overall, I like the evade in a circle type motion of Serpent Strike much more.

The main reason I do not use 1-handed swords is the fact that the #1 skill is not able to be canceled and locks you in. Otherwise it would be a completely viable option.

I actually like the sword design. Its definitely unique compared to other weapon skills. I pair it with the short bow and use the 2 skill to combo into weapon switch. The 3 skill isnt much of problem once you get a feel for where its gonna put you, and it is a nice dodge. The 1 skill does does kind of bring down the energy when you get smacked by a knockdown you saw a mile away and you really cant strafe attack (which is kind of key to survival), but i liked the acrobatic “i’m a ninja” feel of it too. Not sure if they can fix this or not without ruining agile feel they were clearly going for :/

Sometimes, it rubberbands you back if you try to manually move.

Sometimes…and this is really bad…the jumping attack screws up badly and shoots you off in a random direction. When this happens, occasionally, your character does two jumping attacks in a row, which puts you far away from your target and can easily aggro more mobs.

The frustrating thing is that 1h sword is one of our highest dps weapons. And since it’s a sword, it does melee AoE damage. So I like using it for random quest/mob grinding, but for more difficult content, sword is not a good idea.

For a game that encourages and rewards manuevability in combat the sword skill#1 lockdown is a step back in design principle. Somewhere during coding, Anet must have become so infatuated with animating a cool little acrobatic routine for the default attack chain that they forgot that one simple detail that could have determined a lifesaving dodge or a downed (and certain defeat) spike by a veteran/champion boss. I am disapointed that I’ll never be able to trust a sword with my ranger (especially on a survivor) even though I take pride in mastering all weapons for all professions I play. I only ask that a cancel action key be implemented (not the Esc. key since that brings up the menu). That would solve alot of problems. I have faith Anet will indulge my suggestion if only to make a better game for everyone.

Actually, the 1hand sword perfectly underlines the concept of the game. It allows for great mobility and flexibility across the entire battlefield.
I enjoy 1handed sword as my primary weapon, I love the two leaps in there and use them in abundance, enjoy the increased survivability this weapon gives me, especially when using a dagger as well.
Disable Autattack, trust me. Become aware of your enemy and know when you can hit what button. You can weave in dodges with the autoattack this way. 1,1 dodge 1. Or 1,dodge,1,dodge,1. And then you use the other skills that are giving you automatic evades, like 2, 3 and 4 with a dagger. I happen to never fall short of dodging an attack when I am out of endurance … because I always have one of the other attacks up. Offensive evading

Like any other weapon, it needs time to get used to, just in this case, it is more time. It is only NATURAL that you cannot dodge while you are POUNCING at the enemy, the same way as you cannot interrupt a charge with a dodge.
So to anyone dying due to #1 on sword: You really should look into the mechanic of it again and rather tailor your playstyle to the sword, than hoping to enforce a change that would water the weapon down in uniqueness and power. Trust me, it is extremely worth it.
Basically… if you do not want to use the sword… then don’t use it. There are other weapons you will find to your disposal and enjoyment, or you can roll a different profession. But that is not something i say, but that COULD be said by others.

ya people are right i even worked steady focus into my build since if figured well dodging is dead when my sword is out so might as well get compensated for it.

Apakal.5718:

But Serpent Strike just looks so cool!

I like some of the inherent dodge mechanics in the sword abilities, like Serpent Strike. Its an evade+damage and it does a pretty good job of keeping you centered on the mob you’re fighting with very little extra management.

Now the evade abilities that send you straight backwards, those are not my favorite. I want to use all of my abilities as often as possible when I’m just grinding levels so I’m not just auto-attacking when I could be using cooldowns, but its annoying to use an ability, evade backwards when you don’t really need to, then have to run back into melee range. I understand abilities of that nature have very situational moments when they perform really well, but overall, I like the evade in a circle type motion of Serpent Strike much more.

You probably know this, but just in case:

After you leap back with #2, the button changes and if you press it again you leap back toward the enemy. So you don’t need to run back at them.