Guild Wars 2

Why would anyone take offhand sword over shield?

Do you guys feel that having blocks on both weapons with shield being the better block makes offhand sword somewhat redundant?
Do you think that #5 on Sword is justified to take it over shield?

In my opinion I feel offhand sword should be more offensive and aggressive.

You can choose – lower CD, duration and mobility or longer CD, duration, heal and no mobility.

Grasp will be pretty kitten decent after they fix it’s connection and pathing issues. Decaps, grabbing bunkers/rezzers out of position for burst, separating. And then there’s second part of Sword #4 which is frontal Immobilize.

Because the shield requires glint and which you might not always want to take.

Why won’t you just go s/s + s/sh :P

nr 5 lets you get out of aoes and hits like a truck. It’s also good to single out enemies, interrupt them, move them out of aoes.

OH Sword also has higher uptime on block and mobility.

You can choose – lower CD, duration and mobility or longer CD, duration, heal and no mobility.

Grasp will be pretty kitten decent after they fix it’s connection and pathing issues. Decaps, grabbing bunkers/rezzers out of position for burst, separating. And then there’s second part of Sword #4 which is frontal Immobilize.

And damage. Skill 5 does hit really kitten sword.

language filter is so annoying grrrrrrrrrr.

Not to derail the discussion, but honestly, when i think of offhand, axe comes to mind more than sword. But yah, i’d go for sword if i’m really into the dual-sword theme thing or needs sword 5 for a particular reason, otherwise axe/shield probly top choices.

Killyox.3950:

And damage. Skill 5 does hit really kitten sword.
language filter is so annoying grrrrrrrrrr.

Sword #2 deals more dmg, scales better with power, chills, has a higher range, costs less and it’s CD is a third of Sw#5. The only thing you lose is a pull + self-pull

Axe #4 allows for better dmg, another gap closer and whatnot.
I will probably never use Sw OH because Axe or Shield just fit better… Axe for mobility+dmg, Shield for defense

I was using Sword with Mace in Condition build and S/S+Hammer. Trapping people inside Fire field or for Hammer #2 with Immobilize can be brutal.

I think it’s Sword OH is very good pick (it just needs a tad lower cost on immobilize). Sure, OH Axe has gapcloser and more damage. But do you really need that gapcloser if you run Shiro? And I found out that immobilizing for some time and AA-ing couple times puts much more pressure.

Tarkan.5609:

Killyox.3950:

And damage. Skill 5 does hit really kitten sword.
language filter is so annoying grrrrrrrrrr.

Sword #2 deals more dmg, scales better with power, chills, has a higher range, costs less and it’s CD is a third of Sw#5. The only thing you lose is a pull + self-pull

Axe #4 allows for better dmg, another gap closer and whatnot.
I will probably never use Sw OH because Axe or Shield just fit better… Axe for mobility+dmg, Shield for defense

And Axe has no block and immobilize as well as no pull/interrupt with huge dmg. We could on like this forever you know. Sword is nice mix between shield (having block) and axe (having dmg and retreat).

When playing Shiro gap closing is not especially hard so I will live without an axe.

OH sword has CC and mobility, which are two things that shield is distinctly lacking.

They’ll both see use in various builds, I’m sure.

Killyox.3950:

Tarkan.5609:

Killyox.3950:

And damage. Skill 5 does hit really kitten sword.
language filter is so annoying grrrrrrrrrr.

Sword #2 deals more dmg, scales better with power, chills, has a higher range, costs less and it’s CD is a third of Sw#5. The only thing you lose is a pull + self-pull

Axe #4 allows for better dmg, another gap closer and whatnot.
I will probably never use Sw OH because Axe or Shield just fit better… Axe for mobility+dmg, Shield for defense

And Axe has no block and immobilize as well as no pull/interrupt with huge dmg. We could on like this forever you know. Sword is nice mix between shield (having block) and axe (having dmg and retreat).

When playing Shiro gap closing is not especially hard so I will live without an axe.

You’re underestimating the amount of damage the Off-hand axe does, the gap closer does a pretty high amount of damage, enough to warrant it being used on cooldown, even if you don’t need to close the gap.

OH Sword’s block can be used while moving and has a lower recharge and chains into an aoe immob. Grasping Shadow is useful with Unrelenting Assault and generally for singling out a target. Shield has a lot more sustain both for you and your group, but it’s a much slower weapon and doesn’t provide any damaging skills.

When it comes to block abilities, sword 4 does it job better. Sure, it doesnt heal, it last 1 sec shorter. But it has higher block uptime allowing rev to block more often and in the end mitigate far more damage than shield. Its also, unlike shield mobile and doesnt require herald line.

The “pull” grasping shadow is awful tho. Hard to land for little effect. If it was at least unblockable..

Treetoptrickster.4205:

OH Sword’s block can be used while moving and has a lower recharge and chains into an aoe immob.

I got two problems with Sword OH:

• #4 costs 20 Energy in order to get the immobilize off, which is quite a bit
• #5 is really hard to land and is actually way worse than #2 on Sword

Tarkan.5609:

Treetoptrickster.4205:

OH Sword’s block can be used while moving and has a lower recharge and chains into an aoe immob.

I got two problems with Sword OH:

• #4 costs 20 Energy in order to get the immobilize off, which is quite a bit
• #5 is really hard to land and is actually way worse than #2 on Sword

Sword 5 is hard CC, unlike sword 2. You won’t be interrupting any stomps with chill.

Sword OH is pretty good on solos, kinda like Warrior OH sword. The shield is nice but the lack of mobility can be a problem in certain scenarios (stuff like Energy Fields on Mai, or running from a fight). Both weapons have their uses, in this sense.

That said, I have to admit it would be nice to make Grasping Shadow unblockable. As it is the skill has a very small range, so it would be a nice buff.

JoshuaRAWR.4653:

Killyox.3950:

Tarkan.5609:

Killyox.3950:

And damage. Skill 5 does hit really kitten sword.
language filter is so annoying grrrrrrrrrr.

Sword #2 deals more dmg, scales better with power, chills, has a higher range, costs less and it’s CD is a third of Sw#5. The only thing you lose is a pull + self-pull

Axe #4 allows for better dmg, another gap closer and whatnot.
I will probably never use Sw OH because Axe or Shield just fit better… Axe for mobility+dmg, Shield for defense

And Axe has no block and immobilize as well as no pull/interrupt with huge dmg. We could on like this forever you know. Sword is nice mix between shield (having block) and axe (having dmg and retreat).

When playing Shiro gap closing is not especially hard so I will live without an axe.

You’re underestimating the amount of damage the Off-hand axe does, the gap closer does a pretty high amount of damage, enough to warrant it being used on cooldown, even if you don’t need to close the gap.

have to agree wit this, OH axe is great