Guild Wars 2

Whirlwind Attack hits 4 times.

HB hits 9 times.

WA’s hits deal about as much damage as a normal HB hit.

HB’s 9th hit deals about double its other hits.

HB hits about 10 times.

WA hits about 4 times.

HB takes ~3.5 seconds.

WA takes ~0.8 seconds.

10/3.5 = 2.9

4/0.8 = 5

WA has almost twice the DPS of HB when used appropriately.

WA hits all 4 hits on a melee target (although you will end up moving slightly out of range by the end of the spin).

WA is the bomb kitten for finishing opponents, or for comboing back with a Bull’s Rush, Bladetrail, or in the direction they move to eliminate the displacement.

WA is a whirl finisher.

Why do people talk about HB?

Spin 2 win.

Discuss.

I’ll let other people point out the whole “it isn’t about dps” thing. I don’t feel like it.

Instead I’ll point out that you get both skills together. You don’t have to choose one or the other, so comparing them as if you did have to is useless.

Except when people discuss GS’s DPS, WA is as relevant as HB.

For the most part, most players seem to ignore it.

The best way to go about this is 100b>WA>switch to axes as the animation finishes and use the axe burst skill to get back into range, axe rotation>switch to gsword and repeat.

If you ignore WW as a GS warrior you’re doing it wrong.

Its about the most useful skill on the bar considering HB roots you and Rush tends to miss more often than not.

Most people will use cc to HB and WW directly after. That’s a killer combo but the hard part is getting HB to work without requiring Frenzy.