Guild Wars 2

Title kinda’ says it all. I really like the Sword with Ranger, and I usually use Sword/Horn but I love the look of having a Sword and Dagger, makes me feel almost like a Thief but with a pet and Longbow. My question is would the dagger be viable with a power/crit build, since it’s #4 does pretty much 95% condition damage

I also like the sword and the dagger. In my opinion sword and dagger are more viable with condition damage and BM build. The reason is because it deals high amounts of poison and some bleeding stacks, and also gives power to your pet.

However, I may be wrong and you should give it a try.

Sword benefits most from a power build, not a condition build.

In fact, the dagger is actually quite a terrible off-hand for main-hand sword. You’re far better off with a warhorn or hell, even an axe.

I prefer the horn for my offhand but the dagger #5 does have a good duration for it’s cripple. This helps when a target is just out of range for you to keep a target snared with sword or your pet is down or out of position. Helps you keep dps up more often on target. That’s the key benefit when running a power/crit build. You basically ignore any of the condition damage aspects as power/crit builds work better when you don’t try to hybrid them, at least for ranger anyways.

Alright, thanks the responses :P I’ll stick with my Warhorn

Sword/Warhorn for Power Based Builds

Sword/Dagger for Condition Based Builds

I’d take the torch over the dagger for condition based builds any day of the week.

Dagger is just so unimpressive. It’s no wonder I am yet to run into someone who actually uses it.

Xsorus.2507:

Sword/Warhorn for Power Based Builds

Sword/Dagger for Condition Based Builds

Sword/Torch much better for condi builds.

Nuka Cola.8520:

Xsorus.2507:

Sword/Warhorn for Power Based Builds

Sword/Dagger for Condition Based Builds

Sword/Torch much better for condi builds.

I use Axe/Torch in my other weaponset

you can use Sword/Torch though if you prefer Shortbow.

recently bough a dagger from HoTW with vit/toughness and well is very good, i like the combo and i am currently power, prec, crit build with some vit and toughness but not much. The warhorn seems kinda better but having one more evasion with the dagger might be good depending on the situation.

In my opinion Horn > dagger.

Dagger 4 is kinda waste since we already have 2 EV from sword 2+3.
Dagger 5 is the main reason to choose, and mainly for the cripple.

However, horn+sigil of ice will give you same result(hunter call = 16 atk, as long as your critical chance not too bad, it will land chill for sure) with an acceptable cool down.
Horn 5 is just too good not to have.

So overall, horn wins.

GUFF.5692:

I prefer the horn for my offhand but the dagger #5 does have a good duration for it’s cripple. This helps when a target is just out of range for you to keep a target snared with sword or your pet is down or out of position. Helps you keep dps up more often on target. That’s the key benefit when running a power/crit build. You basically ignore any of the condition damage aspects as power/crit builds work better when you don’t try to hybrid them, at least for ranger anyways.

He explained the reason for using dagger pretty well. The great cripple. Also the poison is always useful as an anit-heal. Warhorn might be a better choice in a sword crit build because of fury and big damage with birds, as well as swiftness which could substitute cripple. If running sword I would try to get plenty of slows and stops though.

Nuka Cola.8520:

Xsorus.2507:

Sword/Warhorn for Power Based Builds

Sword/Dagger for Condition Based Builds

Sword/Torch much better for condi builds.

It depends if you can get a sufficiently high uptime on your burning overkilling the burn will not add sufficiently to your damage. Where this is the case adding 3 bleeds (usually 10s) is all damage. Plus the addition of another poison/dodge is useful. However with the sword CD trait it is possible with torch to have about 5/6th of the time in some kind of aura with the proper rotation.

For a sustained power/BM build I prefer dagger, but a higher self-based damage power/crit would benefit more from warhorn.

If you’re running atleast 15 points in Nature, Warhorn is vital.

I’m not sure how good dagger is for power/crit build, for all I know it could actually do a lot of base damage.

I know its Conditions are excellent though.

Dagger for a condition build is great!

Dagger for a power build is for utility and should be swapped in and out based on the needs of the encounter.

One forum poster gave me a great response: carry multiple weapons and plan accordingly.

Xsorus.2507:

If you’re running atleast 15 points in Nature, Warhorn is vital.

I’m not sure how good dagger is for power/crit build, for all I know it could actually do a lot of base damage.

I know its Conditions are excellent though.

The dagger is good for snaring/heal control. With S/D you can keep poison on your target constantly while you harass them with sword spikes and rather frequent cripples from sword 2 and dagger 5. A lot of rangers running power spec high into wilderness survival, giving your heal control an ok damage boost.

The dagger is an on demand evade. In addition to your dodge rolls (and in many ways, much more reliable than dodge rolls) as well as the sword’s Serpent Strike evade, this gives you another way to respond to powerful boss attacks without letting up too much pressure in a dungeon. Going toe-to-toe in melee on a ranger can be a lot harder than doing it on a warrior or guardian, that extra evade from the dagger becomes invaluable if you use it at the right time.