Lets talk about the combat in Guild Wars 2

I just started on Guild Wars 2, and I find the game quite fun.

I started when the game was released, but played for like three months before I left. The reason? I had a hard time getting used to the forced abilities by using a weapon, and after I started I can feel that it's starting to get up on me again.

I get that it is probably for making the perfect balance, but it's a little annoying, that I might not enjoy ALL of the sword skills on my Warrior, and enjoy the mace skills more. However, I enjoy watching my character with a sword instead of a mace, which creates the dilemma for me.

Have you known anyone with the same kind of issue, and know how to overcome it? The game is great and lots of fun otherwise, but the locked weapon abilities makes the combat a little hard to enjoy for me.

Plat with the cards you've been dealt

@derd.6413 said:Plat with the cards you've been dealt

What do you mean? Accept the skills you get?

@Mike JezZ.4261 said:

@derd.6413 said:Plat with the cards you've been dealt

Yes

Allright. So it is possible to just "accept" this.

Will it be viable to only use 2 of the three skills etc for the weapon?

well the skills have different effects. there are dmg only skills hard and soft cc so ofcourse u can decide not to use some of em but it is possible that in specific situations u would Need those.

Really that's more a matter of skill selection than combat, and I've wished for a choice of weapon skills since launch. I wasn't that fond of GW1's combat but proper weapon skill selection is one of two places I feel it was far better than GW2. The other is hex spells.

@"Mike JezZ.4261" said:Allright. So it is possible to just "accept" this.

Will it be viable to only use 2 of the three skills etc for the weapon?

Im just wondering, which skills do you dislike ? Every skill ussualy has its own uses/benefits.

Depends on the weapon/skills/traits.

@Glider.5792 said:

@"Mike JezZ.4261" said:Allright. So it is possible to just "accept" this.

Will it be viable to only use 2 of the three skills etc for the weapon?

Dislike might be a very strong word, I just hate that the game defines my playstyle, and not myself. I hated the abilities the two handed sword had on my guardian, and hated I couldnt change them myself, other than changing weapon.

I would like to have the tank abilities of mace with a one handed sword, but that is not possible.

@Mike JezZ.4261 said:

@Glider.5792 said:

@Mike JezZ.4261 said:Allright. So it is possible to just "accept" this.

Will it be viable to only use 2 of the three skills etc for the weapon?

I understand your feeling. I don't think there is a "solution" as such: this is how GW2 works, and that is where it will stay.

If that doesn't work for you, understand this: that is just fine. You don't have to like it. There is nothing wrong with that. Sometimes a little thing makes all the difference; there are several games I tried that were great except for one tiny little pain point that turned out to be enough that I ended up just walking away.

Anyway, what you will likely find is that one-handed weapons work a little better for you, as you can mix and match the off-hand to adjust the skills. Many classes have a variety of different styles there, such as a "utility", "damage", and "defensive", choice for offhand, with the same main weapon. Not complete freedom, but some.

I'd also caution you that GW2 really doesn't do the whole "tank" or "healer" thing anything even close to the way other MMOs do, and that the classes are not the same thing that basically every other MMO does. Just because you like Paladin in every other MMO, where they are all essentially the same, doesn't mean you will like GW2 guardian in the slightest.

You probably knew that, and were not really expecting to be a classical "stand tall and eat the damage" tank, but just in case, let us avoid that surprise too. :)

Every weapon has a "theme" to give it more flavour. On Warrior, for example, Axe is a pure damage weapon. Mace is a CC heavy weapon. Greatsword is a mobility weapon. Hammer, like Mace, is CC heavy.

I see your issue is to do with style. You straight up prefer swords to maces, for example. However, if you want to perform optimally, you have to simply make your peace with it. I started the game thinking I'd only use Greatsword, and now, I use almost every weapon on my Warrior, over multiple builds.

Maybe it's the animations that are bothering you; you say you like 'watching' this more than that. You could try a different race, as all have different animations.

Regardless of the issue, welcome return and good luck.

The game allows you to swap your weapon's set with one button during combat, or change all your weapons, armor, and even your build and stats with just a few clicks between combats. You can choose what weapons, skills and armor to use for each confrontation, change strategies on the fly or simply test new ideas whenever you like.

You are NOT limited to just one weapon: you are supposed to play with all the weapons your profession can use and choose the one you need or like the most IN EVERY OCCASION.

The game offer a bunch of alternatives. The one "forcing" you is yourself.

@Mike JezZ.4261 said:I just started on Guild Wars 2, and I find the game quite fun.

I started when the game was released, but played for like three months before I left. The reason? I had a hard time getting used to the forced abilities by using a weapon, and after I started I can feel that it's starting to get up on me again.

I get that it is probably for making the perfect balance, but it's a little annoying, that I might not enjoy ALL of the sword skills on my Warrior, and enjoy the mace skills more. However, I enjoy watching my character with a sword instead of a mace, which creates the dilemma for me.

Have you known anyone with the same kind of issue, and know how to overcome it? The game is great and lots of fun otherwise, but the locked weapon abilities makes the combat a little hard to enjoy for me.

At its core this is still a game, and core fantasy is, and should be, important. Some games handle this differently than others. In WoW for example, your character / spec is fairly limited in the types of weapons they can use, but you can transmogrify the one you are using to a different model. Eg. If you are stuck using a 2H Axe but really like the look of 2H mace, you can change your weapons' appearance to look like a mace.

In Gw2, most professions have a wide variety of weapons that they can use, but as they are tied to skills, your chosen build and spec determine which weapons you 'should' use, and while you can transmute your sword to look like a different sword, you can't change it to look like a mace.

In Gw2 I fell in love pretty quickly with the Greatsword, and luckily the classes I play all work very well with a GS. That said, I have a few 1-H sword skins that I think are awesome, and none of my profession / spec / damage types use a 1-H sword. /shrug.

There is nothing stopping you from picking the type of weapon you love, and then choosing a profession and spec that makes the best use of that weapon, especially for open world play, where every prof and spec are at least viable.

@Ardid.7203 said:The game allows you to swap your weapon's set with one button during combat, or change all your weapons, armor, and even your build and stats with just a few clicks between combats. You can choose what weapons, skills and armor to use for each confrontation, change strategies on the fly or simply test new ideas whenever you like.

I think either of us two misunderstood the question.

@"Mike JezZ.4261" said:I get that it is probably for making the perfect balance, but it's a little annoying, that I might not enjoy ALL of the sword skills on my Warrior, and enjoy the mace skills more. However, I enjoy watching my character with a sword instead of a mace, which creates the dilemma for me.

Have you known anyone with the same kind of issue, and know how to overcome it? The game is great and lots of fun otherwise, but the locked weapon abilities makes the combat a little hard to enjoy for me.

I think I know what you mean. For me, in games, game mechanics comes first, visuals come second, but in certain things I can do compromises just by visual looks. Here, there is a connection between your weapon skins (e.g. mace vs dagger) and the game mechanic side as different "skins" come with different skills. I have hoped, that your choice of visual weapon - or armor - or in fact, your choice of your avatar's "skin" in general, would not have a connection to game mechanics. But on the other hand, I understand the choice here. Just like light armor skins are separate from heavy armor skins, giving you quick visual feedback what you are facing, also the choices of weapons give you quick feedback what the opposite side is going to do: it is very different to encounter e.g. an ele with staff compared to D/D ele, or thief with rifle compared to thief with staff.

So my solution so far has been just try to accept the limitations in the avatar's outlook. EDIT: Note, that there are some fancy skins to certain weapons, which you might be able to use to make the outlook more appealing to you even if you choose the weapon based on its skills, e.g. Elonian Warsickle. I has been hoping to get bit similar skin for daggers, so I could make my wannabe-Lara-Croft-Thief wearing a climbing axe ;)

Ah, yeah, my mind were in PvP side, those things would probably not matter much in PvE side - except that it is quick visual feedback to understand the builds your teammates are using - but it would probably be more annoying to have different outlook in different game modes? Don't know, tbh.

It's unfortunate in a sense, but you really need to look at weapons as tools rather than aesthetic options.

I have similar opinions OP. This is why most of my alts do not see much (if any) play. The current system drastically reduces the replay value of existing content for me, and greatly contributes to fairly short play sessions and lessened spending on the game.

There are a handful of options I can see. Use the weapon you don't like the look of, and learn to appreciate the appearance. Use the weapon you don't like the powers on and learn to like the powers. Try an entirely different weapon that you can accept the powers on and the look of. Try a different class that uses the same weapon as the one you like and see if you like the powers better on that one.

I've never done the first two, but I've definitely done the other two with a fair amount of success.

Also take into mind that there are many skins for every weapon. It might be worthwhile to go through the wardrobe tab in the bank and play with appearances to see if there is a particular one you like better, of the weapon you're not fond of.