Let's talk weapons

[Raye]

I noticed I don't pull things anymore but rather jump into the mob with the leap. At first I was pulling too. Then I realized it was a waste of time :3

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus.

[Alaris]

I pull to get several spread-out foes to me. I rarely pull to fight 1vs1. 1vs1 is boring compared to 1vsMany. I'd rather pull out injured, then play too safe. With dodge, running, self-heal, and all that... I can actually pull out in time to survive if I tackle a mob I shouldn't have.

I regret putting points into the trait that triggers a bubble when I revive people, the effect is far too short-lived compared to how long it takes to solo revive someone. It's fine to help someone get back on their feet though (if downed and not already dead). OMG I am such a noob, I just realized I can just go and reassign the trait. I should have done that long ago... I'll go with the trait that gives regen & prot when I revive people instead.

[Fluffball]

I revive people so rarely... it doesn't seem worth it to invest in those. Not that I ignore downed players, I just don't find them that often. Plus they'll insta-rez if you kill whatever downed them.

I've been using survival traits and the one that makes 2 handed weapon skills recharge 20% faster. Being slightly tanky seems to actually increase killing speed because I run through a mass of enemies until I have way too many, then pull as many as skill 5 will grab. Very efficient.

I recognize the power of the virtue traits, I just don't have the competency to pull them off yet. I think I need to bite the bullet and dive in to those rather than relying on passive effects. It seems like the sort of "this is the hardest to do but it has a big reward" sort of end game for a guardian.

[Alaris]

I changed the trait, I like the new one better. Everytime I rez, I get a boost in regen prot etc, and the rezzed player too. That means instead of 50% health they get more, and a prot to boost.

[satenia]

During regular PvE play, I almost exclusively play with greatsword and scepter/focus for range and some CC. Also the later is incredibly handy as soon as an activity turns into a zerg-fest and it's completely impossible to get kills in melee.

Spent some time in the AC dungeon as well, there I replaced the greatsword for the staff.

[Buddah]

Great Sword by far.

The ability to leap in, blind most opponents is huge. Follow it with the AoE attack and tear them up. Toss in a trait that increases dmg by 10% when under Aegis and you quickly score an extra 100+ before they land the first hit. Large melees you might go under Aegis for quite some time and really reap the benefits.

[satenia]

Against hard enemies, do all of the above, but start off with scepter/focus first - 3 - 2 - 4 - 5 - weapon swap and THEN leap in

[nkuvu]

Greatsword. Single most favorite weapon, easily.

It also helps that an Asura with a greatsword is hilarious. She seems to have so much trouble carrying the thing (so heavy!), and then uses it to whomp the living daylights out of everything around her.

[Fluffball]

Kind of weird that every response in a 3 page thread has praised the GS. I wonder if they will be adjusting balance soon.

The other melee weapons feel so unresponsive to me, but maybe that's just my bias. Using mace skills in particular seem to take forever. This weekend I plan on using the scepter/X and hammer a lot to try to learn to love them.

I'll be doing some of the lower level zones in prep for the level 60 zones which are a little too tough for me at the moment, so it's a good time to backtrack on weapon familiarity.

[Alaris]

Greatsword was meant for AoE melee damage, which is what you need most of the time against PvE. Which is why it's so great.
Sword is the one-hand alternative to greatsword that lets you pick the skills 4-5.

I like to use mace as being more defensive self/heal, I can tank better with it. Same with hammer. But I don't need to tank. They are good weapons, and I would use them if I needed to tank.

Ranged damage is less, and as guardian, you can survive up close quite well. I switch to scepter to fight large foes with hard-hitting attacks, or when I need to move a lot more e.g. under catapult fire. Staff is also good for healing if you're into that, not so good for ranged... although it has a pretty solid short-range AoE cone attack, one could use that instead of greatsword.

I have not explored offhand weapons enough to be able to give judgment.