Guild Wars 2

So here’s the thing, I love everything about the ranger 1 handed sword, except for the fact that the auto attack sticks you to your target like glue. This not only keeps you from strafing away from mobs while attacking them, as you can with every other melee class, but it also stops you from dodging while the auto attack animation is playing.

Thus when attacking an ettin, I find my self banging on the dodge key to no avail. I find myself taking a massive club to the face because I was too busy spin kicking him in the knee…

Given how important dodging and moving around in melee combat is in GW2, this effectively makes the sword a useless weapon, which is bad since it has such good skills.

And before anyone says, “just turn off auto attack on the first skill”…. no. There is no reason rangers using a sword should have to take a large hit to DPS compared to every other melee class and weapon out there. That’s not a fix, it’s purposefully gimping yourself.

So please Anet, please make it so sword rangers can move while using the sword chain skill. It looks awesome and has nice effects, but at the moment it makes it far to difficult to play as a melee ranger.

EDIT:

So, since there seems to be some confusion about this topic, let me rephrase the question.

Why shouldn’t the ranger sword auto chain be as fluid with precise control like all other weapons in the game? This would allow effective positioning and dodging, without having to manually spam the attack chain key all the time without taking a loss to dps.

Again, why shouldn’t the ranger sword have this?

In my opinion the ranger’s one handed sword needs to lose the root and target-sticking making it much more feasible for regular use, and is necessary to be an enjoyable weapon.

turn off the autocast and press 1 manually . It takes a bit more effort , but the reward is great

Do not target the mob and enjoy jumping all around.
Of course you will have to press 1 manually to do so.

sword is good but only in sPVP in www sucks because you just jumping around target and if target moves you miss most of the time and dmg is awfull

Chokolata.1870:

turn off the autocast and press 1 manually . It takes a bit more effort , but the reward is great

Its takes SOME effort and the reward is great. (WHY? Because now you have full control over your skills etc which was previously unavailable when you had auto-attack on, allowing the 1h sword to reach its intended potential.)
Although this method does solve the problem, I find it hard to believe that anyone would want to press 1 at all times just so that they can use their weapon the way it was intended. (auto-attack exists for a reason) The auto-attack is indeed broken and does need fixing.
Please do not sugar coat things and delude newer players from the truth.

Yeah…. again…. turning off autocast isn’t a solution. Why should a weapon be forced to take a substantial DPS hit just to use viably? No other weapons require that kind of sacrifice.

This is an issue that needs to be addressed by Anet, they effectively have a broken weapon floating around out there. Locking a player to a mob doesn’t work with the type of combat present in GW2.

Dina Van Heyr.3018:

sword is good but only in sPVP in www sucks because you just jumping around target and if target moves you miss most of the time and dmg is awfull

So, target just stand there in sPvP do they?

IMO this is a good pick up. The dodge command should supersede any action you are currently performing.

Actually it sticks you to your opponent like glue , furthermore it buffs your pet and cripples the opponent . Attack 2 is great for leap finishers or escaping , press 2 press 180 degree turn press 2 again . No 3 is a free evade and flanking tool .

But if you insist on not turning off auto-cast u can always stop the chain by using hornet sting , the no 2 attack .

The sword is quite amazing

Dina Van Heyr.3018:

sword is good but only in sPVP in www sucks because you just jumping around target and if target moves you miss most of the time and dmg is awfull

First person without a clue posted.

I’ve un-bound the auto attack on the sword and after varios fractal and dungeon runs, I just can’t work with it.
The rooting on the auto attack isn’t even the worst bit, its when you drop target or your traget dies and you do a huge leap to death, danger or just far away.
If it acted like the Thief’s sword, or like the Gs’s auto attack’s I would use it because it does so much damage, but kitten that root makes it a no-no for me

I’m sorry but if you honestly think 1hs isn’t one of(if not the)best weapons we have in wvw, you have no idea how to play this class in melee combat.

It comes with 2 evades, a poison, and an easy escape button.

I can understand preferring the GS for certain situations, but if you ignore 1hs you are ignoring great weapon set.

Too many pew pew power rangers out there, it would be nice to see other players using this class in close quarters.

I think the more you use it the easier it gets to time dodges I use it mainly for pvp but sometimes in dungeons or elsewhere too and I feel it’s a matter of getting used to it to some extent and I don’t turn off auto attack or auto target either, sometimes it’s not the best option of weapon of course but in pve it’s easy to swap to a diffrent and in pvp it’s always good imo.

All it takes to master the sword is a bit of restraint. It’s easy to ‘Rock N’ Roll’ with autoattack, but the sword is a calculating weapon. If you want to be able to successfully dodge, you need to avoid auto-attack spamming and time your dodges right. The reason your autoattack ‘sticks you to your target like glue’ is because one of the functions is jumping at them. At point blank, you have nowhere to jump, and are stuck in a leap. If you time it right, you can add it to your other abilities and dance around your bewildered target without even taking damage.

i used to use sword+axe/horn…. stopped because of the annoying root; you cant melee kite mobs, you can position yourself to strategically hit the most targets possible and dodging becomes stupidly annoying (despite having two evades), so i switched to GS for PvE, its just much much better at cleaving mobs

(though leaping about without a target is insanely fun… if not very effective)

Frosty and Frosty Law Firm.4981:

All it takes to master the sword is a bit of restraint. It’s easy to ‘Rock N’ Roll’ with autoattack, but the sword is a calculating weapon. If you want to be able to successfully dodge, you need to avoid auto-attack spamming and time your dodges right. The reason your autoattack ‘sticks you to your target like glue’ is because one of the functions is jumping at them. At point blank, you have nowhere to jump, and are stuck in a leap. If you time it right, you can add it to your other abilities and dance around your bewildered target without even taking damage.

But, If i spend so much time restraining myself from rooting myself, the damage from the sword will be much lower than the damage of say, the Greatsword which can attack constantly as I move.
I don’t think its worth it to unbind the auto attack because then I wouldn’t have the extra damage from the sword – so why use it?

Don’t spam #3 and actually use it to evade ettin’s attack?

With the1-handed sword in pve I tend to use it as a hit and run. Go in, pop qz or petswap for quickness and dps as much as possible remembering to use your #3 to help you stay longer. Once you get focused and your hp starts to drop, hit #2, jump out and switch back to ranged. You can use an offhand dagger to stay in a bit longer with the extra evade or use the horn or torch to add extra dmg/combo fields/buffs whilst you dive in.

One thing you just cant do with the 1-handed sword in pve is stay in the thick of it for too long. If you want to wade through mobs then greatsword is a much better bet.

Sword is annoying.
And, yeah, can’t really blame a person for not liking an annoying thing.

Sword becoming less annoying and Longbow + Marksmenship successfully satisfying my sniper itch are my two biggest weapon wishes for this class.

I just wish they made it possible to cancel out the leap phase when you hit the dodge button, instead of being locked into position.

If you don’t want to turn off your auto attack turn off Melee Collision or w/e that is so you can leap THROUGH your target(s) to avoid stuff, that’s what my friend does when he’s feeling lazy anyway.

That or just learn to use your 2 evades/when to dodge.

Those who say the weapon shouldn’t be designed aroun having auto attack off are just silly, auto attack is NEVER better than no auto attack because of the existence of retaliation and confusion.

Chokolata.1870:

Actually it sticks you to your opponent like glue , furthermore it buffs your pet and cripples the opponent . Attack 2 is great for leap finishers or escaping , press 2 press 180 degree turn press 2 again . No 3 is a free evade and flanking tool .

But if you insist on not turning off auto-cast u can always stop the chain by using hornet sting , the no 2 attack .

The sword is quite amazing

This reminds me why I never noticed that the evade didn’t function right with the sword. I always timed the sword skills to evade with so I never needed to use endurance.

I’m still leveling my ranger and I can’t wait till I buy my next armor/weapon set (golds are still quite cheap to buy). I decided to go with axe/torch for taking out multiple enemies at once but with a sword I can potentially hit more than three enemy in one swing and those evades plus poison along with two ways to burn enemies (one of which is aoe).

Turning auto attack off to have more control over a skill does not invalidate a weapon. Auto attack is an option. It is not a requirement.

If you don’t like spamming 1 then re assign your key binds to something you prefer. You could even get a gaming mouse.

Also, if you haven’t already watched this video about the ranger 1 hand sword I recommend it. This guys shows off a lot of the dmg and utility options the sword gives a ranger.

While the auto attack option is an option for personal preference. Being able to turn it off does not dismiss the point that somebody shouldn’t have to in order to get their evade to work properly.

It doesn’t dismiss that the evade command should supersede any current action your character is making at the time.

Munkeytoto.8763:

Frosty and Frosty Law Firm.4981:

All it takes to master the sword is a bit of restraint. It’s easy to ‘Rock N’ Roll’ with autoattack, but the sword is a calculating weapon. If you want to be able to successfully dodge, you need to avoid auto-attack spamming and time your dodges right. The reason your autoattack ‘sticks you to your target like glue’ is because one of the functions is jumping at them. At point blank, you have nowhere to jump, and are stuck in a leap. If you time it right, you can add it to your other abilities and dance around your bewildered target without even taking damage.

But, If i spend so much time restraining myself from rooting myself, the damage from the sword will be much lower than the damage of say, the Greatsword which can attack constantly as I move.
I don’t think its worth it to unbind the auto attack because then I wouldn’t have the extra damage from the sword – so why use it?

You make a good point. I, personally, use it for when my main objective is to avoid dying. The theory, I suppose, would be that your pet would be able to do damage for you during this state of caution.

But pets are… Eugh.

You should probably use Gsword as you said when you want to do high DPS whilst moving about and hitting things rather than calculating to avoid taking damage and being the tortoise versus the hare, so to speak. The sword seems to take a slower approach to dealing damage(if you mean to live for very long during a boss fight).

I absolutely agree that you should be able to cancel out of the 2nd and 3rd animations in the chain. Weapon swaps are a guaranteed method of cancelling out whatever weapon skill you are using, btw.

I don’t think that breaks this weapon. The sword currently has a really high skill floor to use. The payoff though is the rangers highest dmg auto attack as well as loads of utlity in how it interacts with, and makes our pets more useful.

Chokolata.1870:

Actually it sticks you to your opponent like glue , furthermore it buffs your pet and cripples the opponent . Attack 2 is great for leap finishers or escaping , press 2 press 180 degree turn press 2 again . No 3 is a free evade and flanking tool .

But if you insist on not turning off auto-cast u can always stop the chain by using hornet sting , the no 2 attack .

The sword is quite amazing

The sword would be far more “amazing” if you could actually move without having to sacrifice your basic attack chain. As of right now its nearly impossible to quickly get good positioning with the sword without turning off your attack chain. This = not amazing. Please refer to my other 2 posts about why turning of the attack chain simply isn’t an acceptable “fix”.

Seriously? Am I the only one who thinks that the sword attack chain should function like Every Other Weapon In The Game???

- Why should I have to sacrifice attack chain DPS when all other weapons/classes don’t, just to be able to move around effectively?

- Why can’t I easily position myself If I don’t want to turn of autocast on my attack chain?

- Why can’t I dodge out of the attack chain when I need to?

Nobody else feels these are issues? And nobody wants a more fluid, controlled weapon that we would get simply by removing the attack chain glue sticking element? I don’t see how this could possibly make any of your combat experiences with the sword worse rather than better…

FWB.1704:

Yeah…. again…. turning off autocast isn’t a solution. Why should a weapon be forced to take a substantial DPS hit just to use viably? No other weapons require that kind of sacrifice.

This is an issue that needs to be addressed by Anet, they effectively have a broken weapon floating around out there. Locking a player to a mob doesn’t work with the type of combat present in GW2.

What DPS hit? I can spam it just as much as auto, while still having the ability to disengage at will. Have fun being stuck in constant animation cycles.

every melee weapon in the game takes a dps hit when you dodge roll.

somsom.5201:

What DPS hit? I can spam it just as much as auto, while still having the ability to disengage at will. Have fun being stuck in constant animation cycles.

You don’t see a problem with constantly having to mash the 1 key than? Other classes can just press it once and let it do its thing rather than trying to give yourself early arthritis….

Why does nobody think this is a good idea, you can still keep playing the way you ppl always have, it just makes it more feasible and easier on the fingers. This would make it as fluid as the other melee classes, seriously why is this a bad thing?

This is one of the reasons why it’s so hard to play my ranger after rolling my mesmer. The mesmer auto attack stacks vulnerability and hits for solid damage. The number 2 ability does burst damage while making me invulnerable for 2 seconds (with a very short cooldown), and the 3 button works as a gap closer without me needing to already be on top of my enemy.

If it was up to me, I would fix the ranger 1h sword with a small change: Take the leap off the 1 attack and put it on the 2 ability. The leap back wards then forwards for the 2 ability would then combo after using the leap forwards. This would A) allow the auto attack to work without rooting you and give the weapon a decent gap closer.

OP is right, you need to be able to dodge during any part of the Sword #1 skill chain. Auto attack on or off.

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO DOWN SIDE

It’s bugged since launch.

It’s not a bug, there are two leaps in the chain. You can’t dodge during a leap, it’s the same with monarch’s leap, swoop, hearthseeker, leap of faith. Here the effect is more visible only because it’s an autoattack chain.

Krugan, that’s the main reason why I don’t use a 1H sword on my ranger. It opens you up too much to get countered, interrupted, or hit hard by any enemy. For that reason I consider it pretty useless.

Maybe during these leaps (this goes for every class) we should be evading for a short time.

Deamhan.9538:

Maybe during these leaps (this goes for every class) we should be evading for a short time.

That might be nice, although some would no doubt consider it OP….

I can’t believe this is still a relevant topic…

Anyhow, yes turn auto attack off. I don’t just recommend turning it off on the one handed sword, I recommend turning it off on any weapon with an auto attack chain. If you can learn to micro manage those skills, it can be extremely beneficial to you, because now you can chose when you want to use certain attacks in the chain, so you don’t waste beneficial attacks out of certain attack chains on opponents that have repositioned or blinded you, etc.

I agree, it can be a bit of a nuisance, but it does teach an extremely good habit to pick up when you take off the auto attack. Also, some people like the auto attack, and have no problem cancelling it (I would say this is done by clicking or hitting esc).

jcbroe.4329:

I can’t believe this is still a relevant topic…

Anyhow, yes turn auto attack off.

No, I shouldn’t have to lose out on the DPS and ability to dodge available to all other classes whom can effectively position themselves while continuously hitting the enemy, which is a pain in the kitten with the sword due to the rooting and the leap.

There’s a reason you hardly see any 1-handed sword rangers…. because the sword is a pain in the kitten to use. In order to use it effectively you have to basically not use the attack chain except as a gap closer, lowering it’s DPS as compared to all other weapons. Nobody wants to use a weapon that doesn’t allow you to position yourself effectively, which is why hardly anyone uses it.

FWB.1704:

jcbroe.4329:

I can’t believe this is still a relevant topic…

Anyhow, yes turn auto attack off.

No, I shouldn’t have to lose out on the DPS and ability to dodge available to all other classes whom can effectively position themselves while continuously hitting the enemy, which is a pain in the kitten with the sword due to the rooting and the leap.

There’s a reason you hardly see any 1-handed sword rangers…. because the sword is a pain in the kitten to use. In order to use it effectively you have to basically not use the attack chain except as a gap closer, lowering it’s DPS as compared to all other weapons. Nobody wants to use a weapon that doesn’t allow you to position yourself effectively, which is why hardly anyone uses it.

I’m not sure what sword you’re using, but mine doesn’t lose any DPS by turning the auto attack. I can understand its a hassle for people that might have medical conditions, but other than that, auto attack is a crutch for people that don’t like to micromanage.

Is everybody good at micromanaging? No. Some people like to use auto attack so that they can keep their damage output up with the autoattack while managing the rest of the skill bar, and yes, the mainhand sword doesn’t allow for this. But the reason it probably won’t see a fix is because of all of the evasion the weapon provides on 2 and 3. It only makes sense that the tradeoff for having one of the best weapons in the game to mitigate damage, WITH a leap attached to it, is to have to root yourself to do damage with that weapon.

From a pvp perspective, it would really be OP in power builds with the amount of kiting and evasion plus the damage output it would be capable of. The games balanced (up until this point, they are going to try to do more skill splitting this next patch) from mainly a spvp perspective, and that’s why it is unlikely there will be a change because it will honestly break the weapon in that environment.

I’m not saying you aren’t allowed to dislike it. I was just saying that at this point, the only thing to do is adapt.

And also this:

There’s a reason you hardly see any 1-handed sword rangers….

Is also not true in pvp, as most ranger builds do take a 1 hand sword for the utility it provides. People differ between it and greatsword because they both offer utility, or they run both, but mainhand sword is one of rangers preferred weapon in this game mode. I’m not saying you’re wrong, but it was a statement that doesn’t necessarily apply to every area of the game.

As all professional rangers before me said, turn auto-attack off!! Target your target, or not, but turn auto-attack off! You do not take a DPS fall. I’m testing an SB/S&D build in sPvP now (with auto-attack off and target on) and I’m kitten the newbies. Tbh I wished you had animations on all 3 attacks and not just the last 2 of the chain. Nearly all of my targets keep running away from me. It’s a lot of fun.

P.S. Thank you Sebrent for your Sword videos.

is not a bad weapon, do lot of dmg but sadly is weird to use. I been using GS recently and is easier, more fluid to use. Doesn’t hit as hard but i think is alright, worth it if you don’t want to deal with sword issues.