jaif.3518 Posted October 22, 2017 Share Posted October 22, 2017 Hi, I've been playing with mesmer in recent days, mostly WvW (and story/open-world just to learn the buttons). I've read a bunch of builds, and I've noticed that almost none of them use off-hand sword. Any reason? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draksis.2648 Posted October 22, 2017 Share Posted October 22, 2017 It does not provide the same amount of utility compared with other off-hand weapons that we have. Focus provides a swiftness boost coupled with reflect on Phantasm and a pull; torch is useful for a condi/stealth combos in PvP and WvW; shield is bar-none the best in that it provides an extended block that can be repeated with Continuum Split plus destruction of projectiles, damage and stun on Tides of Time. It's just great. Don't get me wrong, for open-world I'm rarely using something else other than Sword/Sword for the flavour, and admittedly the stellar damage on the Illusionary Swordsman, but the block is not that great and the daze on it is very circumstantial. So yes - other off-hands win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocast.2657 Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 Yes sword fall behind by most of other offhands. However, i mostly use it and find usefull in power-condi hybrid mirage interrupt builds in pair with scpeter. My setup is scepter-OH sword and MH sword-pistol. If i use scepter 2, i have block with nice damage and torment if im hit, or confusion and blind if i press it again. CD of 4.75s just so low that you can chain it in between dodges, leaps, jaunts. In off hand i have powerfull phantasm on oh sword 5, which do nice damage wherever it hit or crit. If i block with oh sword 4 - i do a lot of damage, and i can daze on demand if needed with second press of a button. And remind you OH sword - block is on 7.25 second CD. Other weapon set is sword MH, for mobility and ambush daze, blurred frenzy which while channeled allow you to jaunt on top of enemy so they won't run out. And pistol in offhand for powerfull phantasm and stun on demand. This setup allow me, with adventurer runes and false oasis, to chain blocks with dodges (you may include disortion and blur in here too). In my build each interrupt is direct damage from sigil of draining and confusion + blind from ineptitude and with help of power lock, sword ambush, counter blade, magic bullet and diversion you can interrupt up to 7 abilities in a row (if all chained it would be ~7k direct damage and heal from sigil alone + ~14 stacks of confusion from ineptitude). TL; DR, it might be not a best OH, but it can do give you a lot of situational help if used right. Don't be afraid to experiment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curunen.8729 Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 The single block is really not good enough in the current state of the game. If it was a 2s channeled block with flip over skill activating riposte after first block then it would be really cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InsaneQR.7412 Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 It would be pretty nice if they would merge the stun with the Illusion you summon on riposte. The skill should be a channel and you could summon the illusion on demand regardless of block. Similar to rev offhand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bart.3687 Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 These 1 instance block skills (scepter & sword) could be changed so that you can choose to either block all incoming attacks for the full duration or stop blocking early in order to deal damage, inflict torment (scepter) or daze (sword) and summon a clone. This way you would be able to use them as a real defensive tool or sacrifice the block for more offense. The CDs would have to be made longer though. It would also help these skills in PvE because triggering the effects on mobs' attacks is pretty annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawdler.8521 Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 If it was full counter, maybe offhand sword would have been good. But as it is, the torch is much better to slip away with. A mesmer has zero chance in a facetank situation when it comes to dueling and the swordsman is useless everywhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llethander.3972 Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 Off-hand sword is ultimately a PvE weapon as it has the highest damaging phantasm outside of iWarlock vs. an enemy rocking one of every unique condition. In PvP it lacks a lot of utility that other off-hands have, such as the stealth on Torch, the swiftness, pull, and reflect on the Focus, or double-block and slow, quickness, daze (?) of Shield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pelto.9364 Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 I run scepter/sword as main set in wvw. Both power (assas/zerk) and condi (dire) versions are fine to play. I have had multiple fights in which squishy power version has hold against thieves. When deadeye appears, I have to focus on it, unfortunately. Traits for power build are: dueling 2 1 3 % desperate decoy / blinding dissipation / deceptive evasion inspiration 3 2 1 % persisting images / restorative illusions / mental defense illusions 1 1 3 % compounding power / shattered strength / malicious sorcery Traits for condi build are: dueling 2 1 3 % desperate decoy / blinding dissipation / deceptive evasion inspiration 3 2 1 % persisting images / restorative illusions / mental defense illusions 3 3 3 % the pledge / maim the disillusioned / malicious sorcery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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