OldSomalia.
For ranged combat it depends highly on the specific combat. For single target fights where you need to have a lot of mobility you are right, but for multiple targets in a more confined space staff is better.
Blasphemy! As if I would ever range combat, but assuming I would, I would still use Scepter rather than a staff for the following reasons:
1. The symbol is low-cooldown burst which (somewhat of a secondary/point on it’s own) also benefits from traiting RHS which is a fairly staple trait for many DPS trait allocations (10/30/0/x/x); exemption from this is a more highly DPS-oriented build (10/25/0/x/x), but these people wouldn’t range either, so I digress.
2. Let’s use your example, of being stuck in a confined space. Multiple elite mobs? You can chain blinds all day and there really is no issue or threat; scratch elite mobs. For a boss? Consider that Immobilize is a soft-CC meaning that it’s function is not hindered by Defiant, unlike Line Of Warding. Why does this matter? Well if it’s a confined space and I’m using my imaginary ranged weapon, to ensure maximum boss-get-away-from-me-pls time, you can use Immob to find some breathing room whereas with Line Of Warding you cannot, because LoW is a hard-CC.
3. It benefits from the utility of being able to wield off-hand focus for addition blind (and vulnerability) and blocks (which translates into a blast field). Champion or elite, I feel like this is a much more valuable defensive cushion than anything staff can offer. Added relevancy to this is the fact that versus a boss (which are mostly singular, very few duo-boss fights in the game), staff auto-attack’s only advantage of striking up-to 5 foes is nullified. So as it is for me, I have no reason to use a staff versus Elite-level trash, and versus singular Champions or Legendary foes, scepter has more practical and adaptable application simply due to being a one-handed weapon.
Fire field only grants 3 stacks of might. So thats 11.5% more damage during 20 seconds. Empower offers 15 stacks, so that 57% more damage for 10 seconds.
No, no, no.
Do you begin channeling Empower, but stop after the first tick of Might? Absolutely not. So why only blast a fire field one time? As a guardian, your two immediate blasts are Focus 5 and Hammer 2 (start rotating your weapons, don’t be lazy). Have a warrior in your party? Fantastic, because they can contribute with Longbow 3, Warhorn 5, Banner, Banner 5, and even “For Great Justice!” (not a blast, but relevant due to long-lasting Might stacks; somewhat in place of Stomp because it’s not practical to slot this utility). Just between those two, which should be somewhat staple for many coordinated efforts, you are stacking 21 stacks of might.
Now, as I see it, you’re perhaps arguing on the behalf of what might work in pugs or for the uncoordinated; even if I don’t play in coordinated groups (I pug all day, myself), I still debate on the behalf of what is optimum within the setting. To me, it is okay to stack might with Staff but only within a very specific context.
People aren’t blasting any fire fields? Okay, you can do it yourself. Blast your 6 might stacks first (because they last longer), THEN begin channeling Empower, THEN while channeling, (rather than just doing a regular weapon-swap) hard-swap Staff out for a more useful combat weapon (weapon swap breaks the channel, hard-swap maintains the channel even though you’re at that point wielding GS, Hammer, whatever).
Or do whatever you do, I don’t actually care. This is just for the purpose of debate. I play how I want
