Guild Wars 2

A genuine question. Why is Throw Torch such an AWFUL skill?

It does low damage, low condition duration, single-target, misses a lot, and barely synergizes with the other skills whatsoever.

Is there a point to this skill? PLEASE, enlighten me!

Kain Francois.4328:

A genuine question. Why is Throw Torch such an AWFUL skill?

It does low damage, low condition duration, single-target, misses a lot, and barely synergizes with the other skills whatsoever.

Is there a point to this skill? PLEASE, enlighten me!

Assuming you are using this build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fNAQNAV8fjEq0xaLLmsQ1aABhaVA0uGS2u2d+eDfdBbqA-TphAwAeOCAL3fgcZAAHEgOXAgNPAAA

Then throw torch can be very strong if you can use it right. It can’t do much for you if you throw it to an enemy who is ready for an incoming attack from range, you need to save it for then you can use it right (and there will be many situations like this). The best way to learn how to use it right is against a guardian, you need to time it well so that they do not use their block skills on it. I personally always look out for people with aegis, or block or immunity on them. Also most people will have an auto-condition removal as soon as they get hit by something, so it’s best to not use it then. Just look at that almost 5K condition damage and tell me it’s not worth 1 calculated shot.

Now, it is not perfect. It’s a slow skill who anyone can dodge. I would like to see it evolve a little, if the enemy is in front of you, you should be able to smack them with the torch and burn them too, if they are ranged then you can throw it.

Pretty much I only use this skill in the Lions Arch pirate JP.

a baseline 6 second burn on a 15 second (12 traited) cool down. Why on earth would someone complain about that….

i suggested to make the attack cooler
to make it to a chain attack, the first attack gives us some stacks of might for x-duration and the second one is the normal attack

You can combo it with winter’s bite, but it is difficult to do.
Throw torch, then Winter’s bite and swap BEFORE either of them hits. Can be nice sometimes if you succeed because some people don’t expect you to be able to swap back.

Solrik: I don’t understand this! Can you explain a bit more please? What you want to achieve and why is the on-the-fly swap good?

Aggrostemma.1703:

Solrik: I don’t understand this! Can you explain a bit more please? What you want to achieve and why is the on-the-fly swap good?

That’s very simple, I suggest you do the following: go somewhere a monster is, grab your sword/torch and use ‘throw torch’ from max distance, as the torch is flying in the air swap weapons to whatever you like, it would be wise to swap to a ranged weapon. Notice how you are not in combat yet, since the torch is still in the air, so you are now using your ranged weapon to attack just before the torch lands on the enemy. That way, you leave your melee weapon ready for when the enemy gets close.

The key is here: your weapon swap is not in cooldown, so it is a good way to start a fight, given that your enemy does not block or dodge your throw torch. That is why I said earlier that you should not use throw torch on a guardian to start combat since they have aegis and the torch will be wasted.