Guild Wars 2

I really don’t like GS. I’ve tried Hammer for a while and I’ve also tried axe and mace. But, in the end nothing comes close to the amount of damage and mobility GS provides.

Sad. I guess I’m stuck with GS for now until they make some sort of changes to make other weapons viable.

Each weapon should be equally attractive and not for niche situations. I also hope they bring other weapons up to the level of GS.
Or bring GS down a bit and the rest up a bit, meet in the middle. Keeps everyone happy.

Sorry to say but you need to spend more time with other trait builds then.

I leveled to 80 using the Hammer, I pvp with Hammer + Maces and I run explorables+WvWvW using Double-Axe + Rifle. I used to use Greatswords, but grew tired of standing still for that long in melee range for 1 high number that I can easily get elsewhere faster.

Each of them feel perfectly viable to me. You’re not having to build your crit up by purely running a signet build are you? Please say no.

All weapons and viable and once you hit 80 dual wielding will leave greatswords in the dust. Personally I’m using a sword/axe build atm and it does far more damage with far more mobility and survives a lot longer than any great sword build out there.

I played a dual swords condition build for a bit and a 25 stack of bleeds which was pretty easy to get would do ~2500 damage/second, and being a condition it ignored armour/toughness.

I now play mace/hammer, control is just far superior to straight damage. I can lock someone down for 6-8 seconds before they can do a thing to me.

nothing comes close to the CC of a hammer. nothing comes close to the mitigation of mace/shield.

boo hoo.

You’re only stuck with GS if you stick yourself with GS.

Use your imagination, find a weapon you enjoy more, and make it work.

lol, sword + horn trumps GS any day of the week

The fallacy comes with how many people blindly argue against GS with subtle statements that are meant for WvWvW or sPvP or their own bias.

I’m partial to Sword/Sword or Sword/Axe but I enjoy GS as well. For pure farming and typical PvE, nothing comes close to what the GS does in its skillset. People can argue around in circles all day long about it, but actually using all the weapons and not thinking of wild theorycraftable situations puts GS pretty high up there. The areas I find GS not the best choice would be in high movement Dynamic Events, like the Orr events where the boss is moving a lot or whoever has aggro is kiting all around the area. 100Blades will only land a few of those hits before the target moves. I tend to use Axe/Axe + Longbow for the Fire Field, unlimited mob tagging, and all around strong AoE during Dynamic Events of that nature.

In the end it’s very situational and although I’d much rather dual wield 1HD swords, I still find myself feeling that I’m taking myself down a notch by not using the GS for general PvE play. Especially from a condition standpoint during long event bosses due to the 25 stack limit. If you’re not worried about the Min/Max of your farm time, kill time, and overall mobility, then any weapon combination will work. Go with what you like.

But people are delusional if they think GS doesn’t hold the King’s position for all around PvE play. I run high Berserker’s exotic gear: armor/jewelry/GS so high crit, high power, high crit damage% and the numbers 100B puts out every 6.5 seconds trumps every thing out there for the vast majority of PvE. I do well with my dodges and timings and I don’t feel survival is much of an issue at all. Even in 3man/4man story/exploratory dungeons.

Plus the entire GS skillset flows well together. Blade Trail>Rush>Hundred Blades>Whirlwind Attack or a variation of it depending on how you’d like to start the fight or leave the fight. It feels good to string the skills together. Can’t really say the same for many of the Warrior’s other weapon choices.

Liberate yourself from simple GS builds.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/warrior/Defektive-s-Axe-Mace-build-No-GS-No-problem/first#post216548

There are plenty of viable builds out there.

I suggest thinking outside the box a little, and not following trends.

you don’t have to play GS. I played GS for maybe 2 levels and got bored out of my mind. There are a lot of other option. You should try and experiment with all the weaps/traits/skills until you find something that you enjoy and that works for you. All builds have positives and negatives. There is no “perfect” build… Just “different” builds.

Axe Axe out damages GS

sword+shield/hammer

Personally I go with a gs/axe-axe set up for lots of damage or a gs/hammer set up for damage and control.

My trait build is 20/30/0/10/10 with a focus on greatswords, but also on crit and condition damage. The gear I went for was power/precision/condition damage with Sup Runes of Lyssa (165 Precision total, 10% increase in condition duration and heal/elite utility) with power/vit/crit damage trinkets (accessories/amulet/rings) and I do have to say I am very pleased with the results in PvE, both solo and in dungeons.

The thing about it is I don’t rely totally on HB to deal out my sustained damage (nor do I run around with frenzy in Dungeons), because HB is not sustained damage it is a “burst” skill (honestly it should be switched to that and we should be given something else in place of it on the normal bar). The damage is very persistent and in the current meta condition damage is a very deadly thing to deal out with any class.

In PvP this does remain true to a point, I’ve actually been handling mesmers/guardians a lot better with a sustained condition on them along with my ability to throw down a lot of damage with Eviscerate seeing as it is a legitimate burst skill unlike Arcing Slash which is just useless since I get the fury from SoR (and with my Sup Runes of Lyssa the duration gets stacked twice immediately) and it is hardly a “burst” skill.

Point is, find something that works for you and maybe it will work great. I did some experimentation with builds before the game even came out, and even afterwards. I didn’t come up with my current build until I was half decked in exotics from dungeons at 80.

You think GS does more damage then dual axe?
Can I have the axes then?
Heh, fool.

I used to play GS, and then I tried dual axes both of which are great DPS. Now I play a hybrid Sword/Mace build. I love Savage Leap, and the KD that come with Mace in the OH. I stack Power/Prec/Cond and spec into the power and prec lines in the trait trees. Does it do as much strait up damage as the first two, no, but more than once I have killed a target and rallied while downed because of bleeds. A bit less DPS, but more control and utility.

EpicFace.8096:

You think GS does more damage then dual axe?
Can I have the axes then?
Heh, fool.

Yes, it’s not even a contest. Unless you’re traited awkwardly, the GS traits, plus the high crit + the crit dmg % easily surpasses Dual Axe.

It’s pretty simple unless you have some strange bias towards Axe over GS. The Auto attack damage of an Axe is higher than the autoattack of the GS. Traited GS gains 10% damage through Slashing Power, 20% lower CDs from Forceful Greatsword and Might on Crit. The time it takes for that Axe auto attack to finish putting out its dmg, 100Bs would be done, followed up by a Whirlwind. 6.5 seconds later you’re ready for another 100Bs, while it’s on CD, I like to swap to something else, like Axe for the auto attack or mainly a longbow to use the Adrenaline on something worthwhile. Combustive Shot>Arcing Arrow>(filler if needed) then switch back to GS (making use of Fast Hands -5sec weapon swap CD) and repeat the process. The terrible burst of the GS is halfway a boon depending on your traits. I run Berserker’s Power and Heightened focus for an additional 12% more dmg and 9% crit as long as Adrenline is at stage 3 which it always is if I never swap to my offhand due to how unappealing GS’s burst skill is.

I like GS, I like 1HD swords more because it fits my personal idea of what I’d like my Warrior to do, but I’m also not regurgitating the strange self loathing Warriors have of other GS Warriors because it’s “cookie cutter”. Even stat wise the GS is comparable to a dual wield Axe of the same Prefix. Pearl Berserker’s GS is 179 power, 129 Precision and 9% crit vs 2X Berserker Pearl Axes at 180 Power, 128 Precision and 10% crit.

At 400/400 Armorsmith/Weaponsmith I have my Swords, GS, Axes as exotic. I’ve tried them all under very many different situations and none of the weapon loadouts cover every goal of gameplay perfectly, but for overall PvE general gameplay/farming the GS beats the Axe in kill time.

Seraph.2746:

EpicFace.8096:

You think GS does more damage then dual axe?
Can I have the axes then?
Heh, fool.

Yes, it’s not even a contest. Unless you’re traited awkwardly, the GS traits, plus the high crit + the crit dmg % easily surpasses Dual Axe.

It’s pretty simple unless you have some strange bias towards Axe over GS. The Auto attack damage of an Axe is higher than the autoattack of the GS. Traited GS gains 10% damage through Slashing Power, 20% lower CDs from Forceful Greatsword and Might on Crit. The time it takes for that Axe auto attack to finish putting out its dmg, 100Bs would be done, followed up by a Whirlwind. 6.5 seconds later you’re ready for another 100Bs, while it’s on CD, I like to swap to something else, like Axe for the auto attack or mainly a longbow to use the Adrenaline on something worthwhile. Combustive Shot>Arcing Arrow>(filler if needed) then switch back to GS (making use of Fast Hands -5sec weapon swap CD) and repeat the process. The terrible burst of the GS is halfway a boon depending on your traits. I run Berserker’s Power and Heightened focus for an additional 12% more dmg and 9% crit as long as Adrenline is at stage 3 which it always is if I never swap to my offhand due to how unappealing GS’s burst skill is.

I like GS, I like 1HD swords more because it fits my personal idea of what I’d like my Warrior to do, but I’m also not regurgitating the strange self loathing Warriors have of other GS Warriors because it’s “cookie cutter”. Even stat wise the GS is comparable to a dual wield Axe of the same Prefix. Pearl Berserker’s GS is 179 power, 129 Precision and 9% crit vs 2X Berserker Pearl Axes at 180 Power, 128 Precision and 10% crit.

At 400/400 Armorsmith/Weaponsmith I have my Swords, GS, Axes as exotic. I’ve tried them all under very many different situations and none of the weapon loadouts cover every goal of gameplay perfectly, but for overall PvE general gameplay/farming the GS beats the Axe in kill time.

Yeah thats nice and all, but GS’s have to hit to gain “Might”…

I’ve pretty much mastered exactly what GS Animations ALL look like, easy to avoid 100b and your stuck there for almost 3 seconds EVEN if you try and move.

FOR AN AXE, Did you know you can still move while using ALL axe abilitys, even the spin, YOU CAN even dodge during it.

Be careful what you mean by damage and DPS

DPS does not mean damage.

Greatsword has a higher damage output than Dual Axe’s

Dual Axe’s has a better sustained DPS than greatsword doing more damage over time.

But people forget that with a high crit build on a greatsword you can maintain a 20 stack of might, when built correctly… which would probably bring the fight close.

Besides Greatsword warriors do not use their burst skill, where as Dual Axe’s do – they have Whirling Blades and Eviscerate.

The only reason GS appears better is because it people see the total damage of Hundred Blades and think that 1 attack did about 9k damage, when really it was a series of several attacks.

Dual Axes would only be truly better if it could get 20 stacks of might independently from the player alone, which it can’t – where as Greatsword can.

Dual Axes can get 20 stacks of might too, probably easier since you hit 3x faster then a GS.

Daecollo.9578:

Dual Axes can get 20 stacks of might too, probably easier since you hit 3x faster then a GS.

lol? the might on crit trait is only for GS crits. nothing else will stack it reliably, and any other warrior skill can be used with the GS too. when i was a GS build i had fury and 20 stacks of might up the entirety of combat.

GS is also stacking Vulnerability on its own from the auto attack which amounts to 2% from the first two auto attack hits, add in a 33% on Crit chance for Vulnerability and it starts to stack up quickly. (Axe could do it too, due to the trait but it trails behind the Hundred Blades hits all applying Might/Vunerability)

With my build and gear, Hundred Blades consistently hits for 13-15k in Orr. In group events it’s pretty easy to land 24k+ 100Bs when the mobs have bleed on them (additional 10% dmg on targets suffering bleed) and 25 stacks of might/vulnerability.

In the end, the outputs are relative to the scenario, and I’m purely talking PvE, as PvP the mileage varies tremendously based on player skill vs opponent class/skill/build, etc. I see some people are continuously bring up PvP, when effectiveness would change wildly based on the team composition, solo queuing, what your strategy is and how your teammates play, etc.

“Mastering” how the animations are wouldn’t make a GS any less effective than an Axe. If you’re that skilled to pick out animations during fire fights then Axe would fall along the same lines as well as every other weapon/skill. The skill and animations are certainly faster for Axe but landing an auto attack is not hard for either weapon. 100Bs requires setup with Bull’s charge or Bola shot or some teammate applying the CCing or popping Frenzy at an opportune time. I’ve also had plenty of opportunities to enter an ongoing fight and land 100Bs on people trying to Finish off an opponent. It’s not impossible to land and if you’re coming up with specific 1 v 1 scenarios then we’re all just speaking into the wind.

For pure PvE damage, GS is hard to beat. For PvP? I’ve found effectiveness in all of the weapons and the countless builds for PvP littering the Warrior forum can attest to that. The OP said nothing comes close to the amount of damage and mobility the GS provides and he’s right. Even if you thought the Axe did more damage or comparable dmg, it still lacks the Mobility of the GS.

The GS is an all around excellent weapon for the Warrior, especially for PvE. For PvP, that’s a different topic all together.

Sorry to misguide you guys. I meant this discussion to be about sPvP, not PvE or WvW.

Also, don’t get me wrong. I’ve played Hammer+Mace/shield for a long time and I agree that it has the best CC out of anything in the game, damage is okay too, but nothing can match the damage output of GS.

To put things in perspective: Using around the same build (same stats but different traits):

GS’s Whirlwind Attack which is on a 10 second cooldown + rarely ever misses + gives you some mobility does about the same damage as Eviscerate at max adrenaline.

About 3/4ths of the Hundred Blades channel (8 second cooldown) does about the same damage as max adrenaline Eviscerate.

Eviscerate inexplicably misses like 50% of the time even if you are directly next to the target.

hammer is way better for sPVP, oh wait you’re probably still stuck on putting up big numbers rather than controlling the match.

the primary point people seem to missis that whirlwind can do upwards of 8k damage. the highest hit I’ve seen in pve is around 23k for a single whirlwind, in PvP about 13k. in PvP I primarily use hb to force a dodge, and in pve I can use it basically on cooldown and not die. the most hectic boss fights become trivialiZed when you learn the animations. I farm all three paths in crucible, daily, and am now at the point where I rarely ever even get downed throughot the entire place.

in PvP, if you use the generic stun/hb bs, you’ll fail. the damage output comes from gs mobility, we short cd, and sword throw. throw plus ww plus a few autoattacks is usually enough to kill any non heavy armor player.

I have two exotic axes, and tried them for a while, and while it does seem comparable for a while, the raw output of gs is far superior when you learn how to chain your abilities. I have yet to ever lose to an axe warrior in any remotely fair fight. an important point to keep in mind is that whirlwind is an evasion ability as well as a high damage nuke.

personally getting a bit tired of all the people claiming axes are better. wrong. a good player using a gs is better than a good player using axes in almost every situation, unless you deliberately kitten yourself via build or playstyle.

You saying a good GS player is better than a good Axe player is the same as them saying a good Axe player is better than a good GS player. The fact that you haven’t lost to an Axe warrior means literally nothing to me, and probably 99% of the other people on this forum.

All I’ve seen so far is that certain weapons cater to different playstyles, and those who fit the playstyle say things like “Clearly this weapon is better, lol @ other arguments”. No one is listening to anyone, and it’s mostly a waste of time.

Good thing I popped this popcorn in advance.

Cogbyrn.7283:

You saying a good GS player is better than a good Axe player is the same as them saying a good Axe player is better than a good GS player. The fact that you haven’t lost to an Axe warrior means literally nothing to me, and probably 99% of the other people on this forum.

All I’ve seen so far is that certain weapons cater to different playstyles, and those who fit the playstyle say things like “Clearly this weapon is better, lol @ other arguments”. No one is listening to anyone, and it’s mostly a waste of time.

Good thing I popped this popcorn in advance.

not really. gs has significantly more mobility than axes. in melee fights, mobility is key (in PvP in general). I do love how I tried to actually compare things, and your whole post is basically ‘lol no.’

must be fun pretending you have a point.

As an axe warrior myself i find the predictability of greatsword warriors extremely ‘easy’ to beat in general… There is far too many greatsword ‘noobs’ who follow fotm builds because they have no idea how to experiment themselves and they tend to suck

… Now that said greatsword is actually a good weapon, its overall DPS is arguably as high as axe with differences being that its damage is applied in spikes and wanes, where axe is fairly consistent. (for sPvP purposes the greatsword is more favourable if your planning to burst with frenzy, but on the other hand the axe has no real ‘burst’ to easily avoid by smart players)

The main advantage of the axe is the pressure it provides and the ability to take an offhand of choice with it. Plus, eviscerate just ends lives if used properly. The great sword is a good toolbox weapon. You have a solid auto attack for pressure, you have a gap closer, a snare, something to move you through a crowd, and a way to punish stationary targets.

OP you got that right, ignore these other fanboys who’re prolly rank 5 or something

gs is 1 of the very few actually good and useful builds on warrior so we’re forced to go for it.

You COULD try a glass cannon rifle build (it works if played well, im doin it last days for fun in random games not in tours, mace+Shield/rifle) i had some 17k killshots in spvp, but youre glass and you rely on stuns for survability, meaning if you get ganked or fight anyone w/ stability(everyone in tournaments) you die

Let me analyze GS a bit more thoroughly so that you guys understand where I’m coming from.

Autoattack- Only Warrior Auto-attack that stacks vulnerability. The vulnerability stacks have a significant duration too.

Hundred Blades- It is a channeled ability and it is situational, therefore the large damage makes sense, somewhat. Certain CC’s make atleast half the channel hit (assuming no frenzy), unless your opponent uses a stunbreak. The half channel is still a significant amount of damage.

Regarding HB all of the above is fine imo, but the thing that makes it not-fine imo is the 8 second cooldown. The short cooldown nullifies the situational-ness of the skill. It’s not really a cooldown that you need to save. If you know that that your target will take 1/4th of the channel you can still use it.

Bladetrail- Comparable to Throw Axe, Warrior’s only other ranged cripple. It has a 15sec cooldown, higher than Throw Axe, but it hits x1000 more reliably due to the width of the projectile and the double pass.

Rush- One of only 2 weapon skill gap closers available to Warriors that does not require adrenaline. Earthshaker can also be considered a gap closer, assuming adreneline presence. Eviscerate is not a gap closer in my eyes because of the short distance and lack of reliability.

Whirlwind Attack- Saved the best for last. This skill provides reliable burst (unlike HB which needs CC). This skill hits incredibly hard and rarely ever misses. The damage of this skill might be bugged.

All these skills together make GS not only very bursty, but also highly mobile. No other weapon set comes close in competition.

When you guys run axe/axe, sword/axe, which stats are desired? Testing these out in WvW/PvE is really expensive so I’d like to know ><

I had a post written out, went to reply, and somehow I’d been logged out.

Suffice it to say, if you’re looking for the weapon that provides you flashy mobile burst damage, Greatsword will be your go-to. Each weapon has its own role, and just because your criteria pigeonholes you into one weapon doesn’t mean the other weapons are less effective at doing their jobs.

I honestly don’t mind what they do to Greatsword, because I’ll be using one regardless. I love the aesthetic. I have a Scottish claymore hanging on my bedroom wall. I’ll incorporate whatever it has into my style. I also love seeing other Greatsword warriors, because a large majority of the ones I’ve fought are wildly predictable. You can tell what they’re going to do, when they’re going to do it, and who they’re going to do it on. With that information, you can counter the everloving kitten out of it. I also keep anti-burst as part of my utilities as standard PvP protocol, so after my first day or two of PvP, Greatsword warriors have been a welcome sight.

I replaced my GS with Axe/Sheild. Never been happier. Different play style but it feels more comfortable for me.

Plus i always felt predictable with GS. Now when a GS warrior attacks me (Bulls rush into Frenzy into Hundred blades) I just pop Ignore pain and just like that the gs warrior is useless.

I like GS only for PVE faming… frenzy+HB.

For WvWvW you will spend most of your time trying to get people away from the zerg and then when you do get them, you will get swamped :P

I really like yojacks build for WvWvW (sword/horn), you actually do help people and you arent too toothless when you get hit.

I have yet to try “every” combination though… and im using valkyrie gear :p

I used to use a Greatsword for the really high damage. Now I use a Hammer. The Hammer damage is awesome, and with a Mace/Axe secondary set, I got tons of stunning power which I use in dungeons to hold off one foe by myself while the group handles the others. It’s not about RAWR DPS all the time, it’s the strategy behind it

I play a support/shout warrior. What is this “deeps” you speak of?

I play sword/mace + rifle in pvp as you have a closer, a slow, a stun, vunerability. Shove frenzy on if you get lock them down and use F1 and they will have like 15 -20 bleed stacks.

Sword/Axe + longbow is my choice for pve.

Greatsword seemed alright but it lacks in utility, 100b is hit and miss in pvp as well.

GS does not do more damage when you consider you have to stand still to hit your target…. Who’s going to sit still for that in PVP? No one. GS is also really awkward gameplay it has zero flow… There are only two useful attacks … One that roots you (fail) and one that requires to clicks and sends you flying in one direction(fail) … The other is a charge that a baby could move away from (fail).

Double axes is so so much better it’s gameplay is fluid and there is a great finishing move. Couple that with bulls rush the utility that roots people in place and it’s GG. I’ve gotten 12k eviscerate crits before.

Seraph.2746:

EpicFace.8096:

You think GS does more damage then dual axe?
Can I have the axes then?
Heh, fool.

Yes, it’s not even a contest. Unless you’re traited awkwardly, the GS traits, plus the high crit + the crit dmg % easily surpasses Dual Axe.

It’s pretty simple unless you have some strange bias towards Axe over GS. The Auto attack damage of an Axe is higher than the autoattack of the GS. Traited GS gains 10% damage through Slashing Power, 20% lower CDs from Forceful Greatsword and Might on Crit. The time it takes for that Axe auto attack to finish putting out its dmg, 100Bs would be done, followed up by a Whirlwind. 6.5 seconds later you’re ready for another 100Bs, while it’s on CD, I like to swap to something else, like Axe for the auto attack or mainly a longbow to use the Adrenaline on something worthwhile. Combustive Shot>Arcing Arrow>(filler if needed) then switch back to GS (making use of Fast Hands -5sec weapon swap CD) and repeat the process. The terrible burst of the GS is halfway a boon depending on your traits. I run Berserker’s Power and Heightened focus for an additional 12% more dmg and 9% crit as long as Adrenline is at stage 3 which it always is if I never swap to my offhand due to how unappealing GS’s burst skill is.

I like GS, I like 1HD swords more because it fits my personal idea of what I’d like my Warrior to do, but I’m also not regurgitating the strange self loathing Warriors have of other GS Warriors because it’s “cookie cutter”. Even stat wise the GS is comparable to a dual wield Axe of the same Prefix. Pearl Berserker’s GS is 179 power, 129 Precision and 9% crit vs 2X Berserker Pearl Axes at 180 Power, 128 Precision and 10% crit.

At 400/400 Armorsmith/Weaponsmith I have my Swords, GS, Axes as exotic. I’ve tried them all under very many different situations and none of the weapon loadouts cover every goal of gameplay perfectly, but for overall PvE general gameplay/farming the GS beats the Axe in kill time.

Really the only thing I would change about GS is to make HB the burst skill, which would mean it requires forethought and “ramp up” time to use strategically, and put the current burst skill as our #2 attack, but with a different buff/condi tied to it. Really? More crit %? GS builds naturally already have crit to spare. But still, that’s the only change I’d make to it.

Conversely I love running hammer and the only change I would make to THAT is to remove the self-roots from hammer 3 and 4. Why? Why are they there when hammer already has the slowest swing time in the game? Why make it so clumsy to use the hamstring when we need it or the knockback which is only situationally used to save a teammate from a stomp or whatnot. Why ANet, why?

Axes are wonderful, no changes needed.

Maces too.

Shields are poo, swords need the cripple tied to their #2 attack and something in the #3 slot (condi bleed warriors are the most easily countered condi class in the game, sorry fans of it but it’s true). The shield 4 is great but the shield 5 is so…. dull. And isn’t a very interactive use of the shield. Really the mace/sword block mechanics are much better in general, throw it up for a specific attack which then provides a counterattack (or adrenaline if they cancel their attack) It’s reactive, twitchy and strategic. The shield block should be more like that and on a much shorter cooldown.

Longbow needs love and the rifle attack needs to be slightly faster.

Shout heals are poo, banners should act like engi kits (rather than disappearing after a while on a cd) and….

Sorry, gone off on a tangent. All just my opinions of course.

I’d just like to point out that hammer and rifle also have ranged cripples, with the hammer’s arguably being one of the best in the game due to its ability to cripple everyone in a cone in front of the warrior.
Just throwing that out there

Geff.1930:

Let me analyze GS a bit more thoroughly so that you guys understand where I’m coming from.

…

Whirlwind Attack- Saved the best for last. This skill provides reliable burst (unlike HB which needs CC). This skill hits incredibly hard and rarely ever misses. The damage of this skill might be bugged.

All these skills together make GS not only very bursty, but also highly mobile. No other weapon set comes close in competition.

You saved the best for last but forgot the best part.

Whirlwind is also a reliable Evade.

I am no super player and i am not concerned about not using the “perfetc combo build”.
I personally never liked GS.
I don’t like the way it looks. Seems ridiculous to me to drag a weapon or even look like you can’t hold up you blade.
In terms of traits GS is the favoured weapon. I use double axe/Hammer + rifle 90% of the time and need some deep traiting to get anything from traits like piercing shot or hammer cooldown (still too slow or is it bugged?)

Also i dont like the positioning of trail skill in 3rd. I like my targets bunched and then hitting 1-2-3 keys all the time on hammer or even on axes. After being used to that when using a GS i find myself stuck in the middle of fights by either not doing any damage as skill waiting for direction confirmation or it went through and I find myself in the middle of nowhere.

I do think that when it comes to trait lines, weapon type specifics traits should be balanced or broaden because everyone should be able to play any weapon they want without feeling like one is being forced to use something else otherwise.

Cheers

Hammer, Sword, and Mace are so friggen slow. I want to tear my eyes out everytime I see their abilities dodged because their so flippin obvious.