Best Swordsman

This is not a typical "what class should I play" or "which class is best" poll. I'm wondering what class thematically strikes you as the most authentic swordsman, whether it be by arcane means or by raw physical talent.

what kind of swords man? swashbuclker? master at arms? hits thing until its dead?

Warrior for obvious reasons. Don’t have to resort to “cheap tricks” (like enhancing the blade with magic).

Just raw, unbridled swordsmanship.

Swordsmen. Not really sure who’s best. Warrior is indeed the best...in theory. But is guardian really worse? Is Templar’s sword skill under than a veteran soldier? Thief, revenant, mesmer, reaper, weaver, they are masters swordmen in their own way. I only choose Mesmer because I like their sword style.

Ranger. So nimble.

Swordmaster Faren. Duh.

Revenant because unrelenting assault animation is epic. Rest of the kit is cool too.

Swords were used more frequently as a side arm. Since armored combat the soldiers would prefer a weapon that could crack armor, like a mace or warhammer. So to put it simply, a sword would be more commonly used with unarmored people. Although there are Sword techniques that can be used against armored foes, such as half swording or the murder stroke. But for its expressed purpose of cutting and stabbing the class I feel would fit that tight quarters city fighting would be mesmer. Misdirection and controlling the field in order to prevent death against an Armored foe. At least Mesmer would be my opinion.

@"Lily.1935" said:Swords were used more frequently as a side arm. Since armored combat the soldiers would prefer a weapon that could crack armor, like a mace or warhammer. So to put it simply, a sword would be more commonly used with unarmored people. Although there are Sword techniques that can be used against armored foes, such as half swording or the murder stroke. But for its expressed purpose of cutting and stabbing the class I feel would fit that tight quarters city fighting would be mesmer. Misdirection and controlling the field in order to prevent death against an Armored foe. At least Mesmer would be my opinion.

That would depend heavily on the time period but yeah, that would be almost accurate if we're thinking of the classic mid to late medieval period. In the early medieval period(11th to 13th century approximately) swords were one of the main weapons along with spears, shields and axes.

"Cracking" armor is not a thing. At best you could hope to dent or puncture it with the mentioned weapons among others. Blunt force goes through armor, so even if you only dent the armor, you can still do heavy internal damage to the person under the armor. Plate armor is not made of hard cast iron which breaks like your average door handle would, it's made of hardened spring steel that has some flexibility to it for the very reason mentioned, cracking or breaking. Extreme hardness is an unwanted quality in armor because hardness is relative to brittleness. Extreme example of hardness is glass, and cast iron has many of the same properties as glass.

Mace and warhammer were mainly cavalry weapons btw, your average infantryman would probably rather have a pike, a billhook or a halberd as a primary weapon, and indeed a sword as a sidearm, which mostly came down to how easy it is to carry. Heavily armored infantry or dismounted knights in full plate would also probably use a halberd or a poleaxe primarily but mace, warhammer, battleaxe or even a falchion paired with a shield were certainly options depending on what type of armor/weaponry you are facing. Mail armor/coat-of-arms were still fairly prevalent even in that period.

On the topic, a big factor to consider was the classes that can wield 2 swords simultaneously, because if you've ever tried dualwielding you know it's bloody hard. So it came down to warrior, mesmer or revenant. I just think Revenant has the coolest sword skills, hence why I chose it.

@Yannir.4132 said:

@"Lily.1935" said:Swords were used more frequently as a side arm. Since armored combat the soldiers would prefer a weapon that could crack armor, like a mace or warhammer. So to put it simply, a sword would be more commonly used with unarmored people. Although there are Sword techniques that can be used against armored foes, such as half swording or the murder stroke. But for its expressed purpose of cutting and stabbing the class I feel would fit that tight quarters city fighting would be mesmer. Misdirection and controlling the field in order to prevent death against an Armored foe. At least Mesmer would be my opinion.

funny enough that the revs big hitting skills arent touching the opponent with the actual swords, those only hit with his mistpowers

@Yannir.4132 said:

@"Lily.1935" said:Swords were used more frequently as a side arm. Since armored combat the soldiers would prefer a weapon that could crack armor, like a mace or warhammer. So to put it simply, a sword would be more commonly used with unarmored people. Although there are Sword techniques that can be used against armored foes, such as half swording or the murder stroke. But for its expressed purpose of cutting and stabbing the class I feel would fit that tight quarters city fighting would be mesmer. Misdirection and controlling the field in order to prevent death against an Armored foe. At least Mesmer would be my opinion.

Hey, if all else fails, you can just unscrew the pommel and end him rightly. :P

@Salshazar.7023 said:Hey, if all else fails, you can just unscrew the pommel and end him rightly. :P

Been watching Skallagrim, have we? :wink:

@Yannir.4132 said:

@Salshazar.7023 said:Hey, if all else fails, you can just unscrew the pommel and end him rightly. :P

Subscribed to him, actually :wink:

@Salshazar.7023 said:

@Yannir.4132 said:

@Salshazar.7023 said:Hey, if all else fails, you can just unscrew the pommel and end him rightly. :P

Same here.

Warrior. No magic tricks, just pure mastery. He's the master of arms, hence the best swordman. Got thrust, slash, parry and counter,...just the technical moves, not some fancy spell (though i really like the sword skills of the revenant, which I wold put second.)

It's nice to see comments from people who know well about weapons btw :)

MURDER STROKE!

There is also a strong emphasis on bleeding with the sword on the warrior, which is a major part of what swords in real life are about.Of course, there are different blades and different styles; some are meant to puncture, others made to cut off limbs, but they all have in common that the recipient of a well executed sword stroke will have an injury that will bleed. Hit an artery and you do not need to cut much more.

Oh wow, not many people thought it was guardian lol. I guess I was thinking of the classic knight/valiant swordsman, in which case I think guardian fits the best. Both the greatsword and one handed sword fit it really well, and it performs great with both. :)

Mesmer is just cheesy stuff. Their flurry animation comes from warrior sword burst skill animation.With Revs even if they are far from op as mesmer the skills on swords feel really good and interesting to manage and play with. Unrelenting Assault animation is badass too if you time a jump correctly with the animation.

Thief. Especially pre-HoT when S/D (2/0/0/6/5 ) ruled supreme... Watching Sizer... Pure gold.

@Scar.1793 said:Mesmer is just cheesy stuff. Their flurry animation comes from warrior sword burst skill animation.With Revs even if they are far from op as mesmer the skills on swords feel really good and interesting to manage and play with. Unrelenting Assault animation is kitten too if you time a jump correctly with the animation.

But Revenants are the ultimate cheaters. They’re the opposite of the Warrior: they don’t really rely on their own swordsmanship but channel a fancy figure from history and use them and their skills/abilities.

They’re the Ditto of GW2.

I think it all boils down to opinion. In my opinion the most swordsman thing out there is the dashing young man fighting for the lady's hand or to avenge his father. And since it was the side arm of choice even as armor fell out of favor I can't help but think of this archetype. Of others don't agree that's okay. Neither of us are wrong.

Swordsmaster Faren, obviously.He just doesn't show his skills. But that could be solved with a few changes in his skill set.I always though they should have given him all the skills that use the "swing the sword wildly" animation after training with Bongo:

• Warrior's Flurry
• Guardian's Zealot's Defense.
• Thief's Pistol Whip.
• Mesmer's Blurred Frenzy

Just imagine the glorious combat scenes we could have witnessed.

@Oglaf.1074 said:

@Scar.1793 said:Mesmer is just cheesy stuff. Their flurry animation comes from warrior sword burst skill animation.With Revs even if they are far from op as mesmer the skills on swords feel really good and interesting to manage and play with. Unrelenting Assault animation is kitten too if you time a jump correctly with the animation.

It’s called Power!

My warrior in GW2 used a sword and was awesome.

My warrior in GW2 can’t use a proper power spec with swords it has to be condi (as if we didn’t have enough classes specced condi like scourges).

Can’t say it feels like playing a real warrior. Even Mesmers are better but heavy armor and dual wielding swords? I’m sold !

I'm thoroughly enjoying reading your posts and how some/most of you use the weapon's historical context to substantiate your opinions. Keep up the great work.

I think of mesmer because it reminds me of fencing especially in movies 3 musketeers, princess bride (i see you used bonettis defense against me aye?), the count of monte cristo etc. While warriors and guardians have a more medieval style, so it's really a toss up since both had their places throughout history. Mesmer and arguably thief to a point just have a more sword duelist feel that was seen in Italy and France (later on using pistols which both professions also use).