Welcome Home, Sword

[Mic.1897]

I have missed you

[kharmin.7683]

Missed what, exactly, about it?  For me, it's less fun to use than it had been.

[Duglaive.5236]

Enjoy the buffed damage while it lasts, as it likely will not.

As for the mechanics, sword has always had, and continues to have, its pros and cons.

[psizone.8437]

New sword is just straight up boring to play for me and completely removed the defensive aspect that made it fun to use in WvW. I honestly don't get why they made the change, if they needed a damaging power weapon for PvE, they had greatsword right there.

Peak sword is OG sword - the auto-attack chain would help track stealthy thieves and using it felt like a dance, it was janky but fun. New sword feels like a bored lurch to work on a Tuesday, it does the job but its soul is gone.

 

Edited July 6, 2023 by psizone.8437

[Matoro.9708]

I hate the new sword. When I asked for core changes, I didn't expect they'd go back and exclusively overhaul the things I liked.

[captrowdy.9561]

The new sword is great. I don’t know anyone who used the old sword in wvw/pvp. It was. A joke 

[kharmin.7683]

And therein lies the problem.  They can't create/design a weapon that suits all play style across all formats.  The way that I see it, not many were using MH sword in competitive play (as you mentioned) so Anet decided to radically change it to encourage its use, probably to shake up whatever Ranger meta there was.  The unfortunate (for me) side effect is that the MH sword is no longer enjoyable for me in OW.

[Mauti.3520]

I actually really like it - in particular on the Let Loose Untamed build. Welcome back, Sword.

BUT I can also understand why some dislike it.

[Loboling.5293]

I think the new sword is better than the last iteration. I was enjoying playing it, whereas I avoided the old sword for most things except PvP and wvw. And even then, it was rare. The new sword is better in most situations. 

 

But I do miss the old sword from launch. The one with target tracking. You could activate the auto attack and your character would stick to the target. Was good fun, very unique and powerful in some circumstances, weak in others. Much more personality than what they did with it. But after the first transformation of sword, I'm glad they finished it finally. It finally feels like a decent weapon again. 

 

Maybe just a small update to skill 2 to also be a short evade. And the sword will feel better than ever.

[captrowdy.9561]

Rangers could already zoom around maps. With the new sword i  leap into a Zerg send some poor guy back to spawn and then swooop away.  Nice to have something other then lb/gs to play.  

[kharmin.7683]

46 minutes ago, captrowdy.9561 said:

Rangers could already zoom around maps. With the new sword i  leap into a Zerg send some poor guy back to spawn and then swooop away.  Nice to have something other then lb/gs to play.  

What are you using to swoop away now?

[Arheundel.6451]

I am expecting sword to be shipped with lower numbers come August...you can do good dmg without going completely glass...and that's something Anet hates to see on a class like ranger

[captrowdy.9561]

1 hour ago, kharmin.7683 said:

What are you using to swoop away now?

Bird beast skill

[kharmin.7683]

7 hours ago, captrowdy.9561 said:

Bird beast skill

Ah, gotcha.  So unless you're a Soulbeast build, then you don't have this option.  Which you did have with the previous sword incarnation.

[captrowdy.9561]

2 hours ago, kharmin.7683 said:

Ah, gotcha.  So unless you're a Soulbeast build, then you don't have this option.  Which you did have with the previous sword incarnation.

You could easily use #3 on gs and then use sword to get away. Still doesn’t change the fact that the new sword has added more mobility. 

[Matoro.9708]

On 7/7/2023 at 9:59 AM, kharmin.7683 said:

And therein lies the problem.  They can't create/design a weapon that suits all play style across all formats.  The way that I see it, not many were using MH sword in competitive play (as you mentioned) so Anet decided to radically change it to encourage its use, probably to shake up whatever Ranger meta there was.  The unfortunate (for me) side effect is that the MH sword is no longer enjoyable for me in OW.

Precisely. Never gut the soul of something and replace it with a number fetish.

Also, it's hilarious they replaced the backward evade which recharched monarch's leap with just another forward leap. It's less synergy, more unga bunga. 

Edited July 10, 2023 by Matoro.9708

[kharmin.7683]

11 hours ago, Matoro.9708 said:

Precisely. Never gut the soul of something and replace it with a number fetish.

Also, it's hilarious they replaced the backward evade which recharched monarch's leap with just another forward leap. It's less synergy, more unga bunga. 

It's not hilarious.  It's sad.  😞

[kharmin.7683]

11 hours ago, captrowdy.9561 said:

You could easily use #3 on gs and then use sword to get away. Still doesn’t change the fact that the new sword has added more mobility. 

Which requires a weapon swap which wasn't necessary with the previous way that sword worked.  With Sword 2 and 3, there was a lot more mobility IMO with dancing in, out and around the target, especially when complimented with OH dagger 4

[AkantorCZ.8952]

The current iteration of the sword is kind of boring.

I liked how the serpent's strike moved you around. I believe the intention was for Ranger to move to the side or behind the target. Also animation looked much cooler. It's true that sometimes you would fall e.g. from the cliff when used in inapropriate moment but it was no issue when you learnt how to position yourself. Current version is probably more powerful but it doesn't look and feel that great honestly. There was just something about the snake like movement. Now we've got just another leap.

I'm also missing jump away move. It worked so well with the horn. Especially against enemies that casts all kinds of "there is a lava around me" effects. It was slow to cast but still better than boring vigor boon that suppose to replace it?

Now pouce is a skill I actually really like. Animation imo looks better than monarch leap and conditional damage increase makes you think a little bit when to use it. It's just shame there is no spirit animal animation copying your attack because that's something I absolutely love about ranger melee weapon skills. We haven't seen such a skill since the game release (if I'm not counting stances) and now we've lost the bees!

Last thing I want to appreciate are lower cooldowns that are not dependant on a single trait.

So these are my impressions.

Edited July 12, 2023 by AkantorCZ.8952

[kharmin.7683]

14 hours ago, AkantorCZ.8952 said:

The current iteration of the sword is kind of boring.

I liked how the serpent's strike moved you around. I believe the intention was for Ranger to move to the side or behind the target. Also animation looked much cooler. It's true that sometimes you would fall e.g. from the cliff when used in inapropriate moment but it was no issue when you learnt how to position yourself. Current version is probably more powerful but it doesn't look and feel that great honestly. There was just something about the snake like movement. Now we've got just another leap.

 

I agree!  For me, the new iteration cancels out a lot of the Skirmishing line that I had been using specifically for the evades and movement around the target.

[Matoro.9708]

Yeah, the new sword is awful and doesn't synergize with core ranger nearly as much as it used to. Sword/dagger and shortbow are the skirmishing line weapons. Well, that used to be the case. 

If I worked at Anet I would revert those changes, and since people are already getting mace main hand, maybe put some ammo leaps on that if they really prefer that playstyle. It's obvious that unless GW2 dies in the next few years, every profession's weapon choices will fill up to max, so just use the new slots, don't kill old stuff for mediocre 'buffs'. Depressing.