How to get max damage output with Swords ...

To get maximum damage output with swords, assuming all other factors are equal, should I use:
(1) Furious (adrenaline) sword with adrenalin attacks and skills
OR
(2) Zealous (energy) sword with energy attacks and skills?
OR
Is there a better option than these?
Thank you.

Well... the mods you choose should be chosen based on the build you have created. Do you want some example builds or do you want a generic answer on weapon mods?

To get the maximum damage from a sword, build aside, Vampiric is king.
Maybe switching to furious to land Dragon Slash, I guess...

Vamp all they way.

My Warrior/Monk Nightfall ton just turned level 20, so I don't have elite skills yet.
I do have Zealous, Barbed, and Furious sword upgrades in the bank.
>> I am looking for the highest 'damage per minute' sword build against fleshy foes I can make, using the healing signet as my only defense.
>> also, do different 'bleeding' attacks stack during a fight?

if you use an attack that causes bleeding on a bleeding foe, the bleeding condition will be re-applied, meaning it'll most likely last longer than it would originally last (the timer is "reset" and set to the duration the skill mentioned). A foe won't "bleed more" if that's what you mean with stacking. Bleeding is a condition, you can't bleed more than just bleed :P

[card]enraging charge[/card] [card]flail[/card] [card]sever artery[/card] [card]gash[/card] [card]final thrust[/card] [card]rage of the ntouka[/card] [card]healing signet[/card] [card]rebirth[/card]

RoTN is a pretty easy cap... and you should be pretty close if you are in NF and you're level 20

Well met!

Quote:

Wow I too thought I was the only one who loves Rage of the Ntouka ....
My W/N build is quite similar

Barbarous Slice
Gash
Final Thrust
Rage of Ntouka
Distracting Blow
Lion's Comfort
Plague Touch
Sunspear Rebirth Signet

I agree with Claw, in the fact that mods depend on builds. However, why does the GW populous only talk of Dragon Slash when you refer to sword builds?

[skill=card]Conjure Lightning[/skill][skill=card]Sever Artery[/skill][skill=card]Gash[/skill][skill=card]Hundred Blades[/skill][skill=card]Flail[/skill][skill=card]Enraging Charge[/skill][skill=card]Healing Signet[/skill][skill=card]Deadly Riposte[/skill]

AB Shocking Swordsman build. the damage output of this build is rather awesome. I don't quote DPS numbers,I go by results, and this gets results.

If you need to make a derivative of this build, you can swap HB for [skill=card]Crippling Slash[/skill] since it bleeds and cripples now. That build would look like this;

[skill=card]Conjure Lightning[/skill][skill=card]Crippling Slash[/skill][skill=card]Gash[/skill][skill=card]Sun and Moon Slash[/skill][skill=card]Flail[/skill][skill=card]Enraging Charge[/skill][skill=card]Healing Signet[/skill][skill=card]Deadly Riposte[/skill]

With atts being as follows: Swordsmanship 15, Strength 10, tactice 9, and shock 6+, that can surely be considered getting the most damage out of a sword build.

As for mods, I am partial to Furious for adrenaline builds and Shock swords for the above mentioned type builds. Zealous swords are good for farming or energy intense builds. Vamp is a PvP thing, but I personally think they don't really change the end result of a solid build since on swords theratio on a vamp is 3:1.