Elemental sword doesn't count as physical?

Why doesn't an elemental sword count as a physical hit?

A good example of this barbs. A dummy is hexed with barbs, I strike it with two different swords while the dummy is hexed, one elemental and the other sundering. Sundering triggers barbs but not elemental.

Elemental mod such icy, shocking, fiery, ebon? Those mods make you deal elemental damage (best against warriors).

elemental dmg is not physical dmg.

http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Damage_type

the wiki is your friend...

Your sundering sword won't trigger spinal shivers while the icy one will though. Likewise burning from Mark of Rodgort is triggered by a fiery sword.

Note that applying an icy, fiery, etc prefix onto a weapon does not change the appearance of the weapon (ie, a "fiery sword of fortitude" does not have flames coming off of it) but does change the damage type.

this would seem to be pretty self-evident.......if the weapon says 'cold/fire/lightning/earth', it's elemental damage......if it says 'slashing/blunt/piercing', it's physical. Now combine those with skills that feed off of those, like spinal shivers or barbs, and you gain the benefit.

I think he is talking about the "elemental sword" - which like a "crystalline sword" or a "fellblade".

They are WAY too expensive for me and never had one drop (and heck, if I did it would have been on Guru's auction and gone by now), only seen pictures, but their damage type is listed as "slashing" which is physical.

My guess would be that they do some type of elemental damage instead of the listed "slashing". That would be consistent with how Anet has done other weapons with similar names in the past. If you will give me one I'll test