What are some of the advantages of using a Sword?
Right Hand
I've been seeing a lot of Sword warriors in PvP lately. Can someone enlighten me as to what advantages they have over a Hammer or Axe warrior that warrants them in a GvG or HoH setup?
Stormlord Alex
I really don't know, but until someone who does know comes in and tells ya, I'd hazard a guess that if the Warriors co-ordinate Final Thrust on something below 50% health, then whatever it is would probably die. If it's a squishy, that is.
monk54321
Thats absolutely why, Final Thrust is pretty much the only reason people use swords.
leeky baby
hammer warriors are genrally 2 slow but they are gd because kd espically with aftershock. The problem with a sword is its elite 'hundrad blades' is quite bad compared to evsicate.
dont feel no pain
yeah agreeed hundred blades needs buff , orignaly it wasn't even a elite i dont think , they just made it one because of mes/w doing IW with it. so it needs some form off buff like emm it causing bleeding or mabye it should have the same extra dmg like 5-15 extra dmg on each one , it needs more than just 2 swipes to foe and adjacent. because realy it is a cyclone axe that just hits twice and has twice the recharge and not to mention it has no bonus dmg 
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TheBanishedOne
poison bleed combo is quite deadly, also riposite, with gladiator's defense is a good combo...
Murder In China
One Sword warrior can bring "Charge!" while the other ones can use hundred blades to build up adrenaline for the spike.
Katari
Unlike Axes or hammers, Swords do not depend on thier elite as much. But besides that, for PvP, the only real advantage is Final Thrust.
Riposte, Deadly Riposte, while nice for PvE, are not the sort of skills that you'd want on a PvP warrior.
Riposte, Deadly Riposte, while nice for PvE, are not the sort of skills that you'd want on a PvP warrior.
Zodiak
Yeah
Since sword dmg doesnt have a huge wide gap as axes do, its preatty much constant high.
I admit that I use 100 blades as an elite skill with final thrust alot of the time combined with berserker stance and a few others
But getting ennemies to line up in front of you isnt always easy.
100 blades needs something new to it. Its something people use to build adrenaline but Cyclone Axe should work better.
Cyclone Axe is a preatty damn nice skill along with other nice axe ones. But I've just never tried one much, though I should. so I'm not used to how the skills can work together for one
Since sword dmg doesnt have a huge wide gap as axes do, its preatty much constant high.
I admit that I use 100 blades as an elite skill with final thrust alot of the time combined with berserker stance and a few others
But getting ennemies to line up in front of you isnt always easy.
100 blades needs something new to it. Its something people use to build adrenaline but Cyclone Axe should work better.
Cyclone Axe is a preatty damn nice skill along with other nice axe ones. But I've just never tried one much, though I should. so I'm not used to how the skills can work together for one
AxeMe
As you can tell from my name here and my IGN (Just Axe Me) I spend most of my time with an axe.
But since I had the Victo Blade I wanted to use it in random PvP just for fun. I was actually impressed with the health degen from bleeding and then hitting hundred blades and final thrust to finish the job in PvP.
I had a pretty stereotypical attitude about swords. But (and, unlike the rest of you my experience with swords is very limited so maybe my brief peek wasn't accurate and I would sure trust your impressions more than mine) I came away impressed with how quick I could kill in PvP. Then, just for fun, I did my usual solo hydra run with the sword (and it isn't customized since I doubt that I'll keep it) and that went fine too. I would have figured that - without cyclone - I would have trouble. But while hundred blades doesn't hold up as well with more than three hydras at a time, the sword skills were good enough to let me finish the entire run without dying and it didn't even take that much longer.
But since I had the Victo Blade I wanted to use it in random PvP just for fun. I was actually impressed with the health degen from bleeding and then hitting hundred blades and final thrust to finish the job in PvP.
I had a pretty stereotypical attitude about swords. But (and, unlike the rest of you my experience with swords is very limited so maybe my brief peek wasn't accurate and I would sure trust your impressions more than mine) I came away impressed with how quick I could kill in PvP. Then, just for fun, I did my usual solo hydra run with the sword (and it isn't customized since I doubt that I'll keep it) and that went fine too. I would have figured that - without cyclone - I would have trouble. But while hundred blades doesn't hold up as well with more than three hydras at a time, the sword skills were good enough to let me finish the entire run without dying and it didn't even take that much longer.
Criminally Sane
Hamstorm ftw!111eleventyone. Can't hamstorm with an axe.
Seef II
You could rakestorm.
Murder In China
Rakestorm requires dismemberstorm, The only advantage I see with a Sword warrior in Pvp is that they can use "Charge!" to boost the whole party to run 25% faster or boost the flag runner.
BigTru
Always found it kinda strange that guilds like Last Pride have more than one sword warrior, but I think bleeding and deep wound is the answer. It can be spammed quite often. Sure, the monks could try to remove it, but they'd only be wasting their energy as it will shortly be reapplied.
Though I would like to hear what iQ thinks of them, as they usually know-whats-what on the actual numbers involved and the efficiency of a skill.
Though I would like to hear what iQ thinks of them, as they usually know-whats-what on the actual numbers involved and the efficiency of a skill.
Murder In China
I haven't seen iQ Gvg lately, they must be conducting a new GvG build using Sword warriors now. I'm interested in seeing how well they can go with it.
Siliconwafer
I believe the differences between axe and sword DPS were worked out to be negligible. However, the axe chain (Pene+Evisc+Exe) is generally easier and less conditional than an equivalent sword chain. Like others have said, you get to put "Charge!" on a sword warrior, which is very, very useful.
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Originally Posted by BigTru
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Always found it kinda strange that guilds like Last Pride have more than one sword warrior, but I think bleeding and deep wound is the answer. It can be spammed quite often. Sure, the monks could try to remove it, but they'd only be wasting their energy as it will shortly be reapplied.
That's probably a good point, because Evil run their build with a pressure focus, and probably don't need the big axe combo as much. And of course, if you split, that's one charge per team, which makes things a lot easier, and makes your team a lot more mobile.
Oh yes, and you can't pass up Hamstorm.
Oh yes, and you can't pass up Hamstorm.
Yolanda Kai
I would generally agree that Sword is probably better suited for PvE... I don't do much PvP but I definitely want an axe for access to some really nasty skills.
BigTru
Alright, here are more observations I've made:
Much of the Eviscerate-Executioner's spike damage comes from Deep Wound. The main spike combo with Sword Warrior's is Galrath-Final Thrust. Think about it, with Sever Artery-Gash, shouldn't the target already have Deep Wound on it by the time you're ready to do a Galrath-Final Thrust spike? Another thing to note is that if your opponent is below 50%, it usually means their energy has been taxed a bit. I think sword warriors are idea for pressure builds. They won't ever be prefered by the mass majority imo because Final Thrust is situational, but they can crank out a lot of damage too, even if overshadowed slightly by axes.
However... after trying sword seriously, I now prefer it. Besides, I think generic axe warriors who have 90% of the same skills as the next is getting boring, anywho =p
Much of the Eviscerate-Executioner's spike damage comes from Deep Wound. The main spike combo with Sword Warrior's is Galrath-Final Thrust. Think about it, with Sever Artery-Gash, shouldn't the target already have Deep Wound on it by the time you're ready to do a Galrath-Final Thrust spike? Another thing to note is that if your opponent is below 50%, it usually means their energy has been taxed a bit. I think sword warriors are idea for pressure builds. They won't ever be prefered by the mass majority imo because Final Thrust is situational, but they can crank out a lot of damage too, even if overshadowed slightly by axes.
However... after trying sword seriously, I now prefer it. Besides, I think generic axe warriors who have 90% of the same skills as the next is getting boring, anywho =p
Battle Torn
I use both swords and axes, but prefer swords 
Hundred blades, sever artery, Hundred blades, garlath and final thrust is a good combo to pull off (may take a few hits in between if you dont use a furious wepon). Hundred blades is good for adrenalin if your striking a few at a time and essential is you ask me for garlath and final thrust. Berserker stance is useful too but only for short bursts against 1 or 2 enemies and if used correctly you can pull off x2 garlath and x2 Final thrusts very quickly against a single foe especially with a furious weapon not to mention a few Hundred blades thrown in, however not many people like this skill because of the cool-off, but it enables you to kill quickly for short periods of time, its just up to you to use it when you need it. I use a zealous and furious sword and switch between em when necessary and couldnt do without both of em. I have a simple rule that if Im enchanted I switch to zealous and if Im not then I switch to furious. Frenzy is also good to use but only if you bring another stance (like berserker) to cancel it when you need to.
Hundred blades, sever artery, Hundred blades, garlath and final thrust is a good combo to pull off (may take a few hits in between if you dont use a furious wepon). Hundred blades is good for adrenalin if your striking a few at a time and essential is you ask me for garlath and final thrust. Berserker stance is useful too but only for short bursts against 1 or 2 enemies and if used correctly you can pull off x2 garlath and x2 Final thrusts very quickly against a single foe especially with a furious weapon not to mention a few Hundred blades thrown in, however not many people like this skill because of the cool-off, but it enables you to kill quickly for short periods of time, its just up to you to use it when you need it. I use a zealous and furious sword and switch between em when necessary and couldnt do without both of em. I have a simple rule that if Im enchanted I switch to zealous and if Im not then I switch to furious. Frenzy is also good to use but only if you bring another stance (like berserker) to cancel it when you need to.
audioaxes
Quote:
Originally Posted by leeky baby
hammer warriors are genrally 2 slow but they are gd because kd espically with aftershock. The problem with a sword is its elite 'hundrad blades' is quite bad compared to evsicate.
hammers are not good for aftershock.... that skill is so overrated for a knockdown warrior its not even funny
sure frenzy W/E with a dev->crushing->irresistable->heavy->aftershock combo looks good on paper but using aftershock is too energy demanding to keep up and doesnt give "that much" of a damage increase compared to more maintainable 5 energy attacks like irresistable
what hammers are good for are doing nice high damage hits and unleashing a very dangerous knockdown "one man" spike in which the victim cant do anything except a 1/4 second skill in between irresistable->second knockdown and anything short longer than that will just get interrupted and trying to run after first knockdown will give a nice critical spike
and back of subject, most warriors have always used swords, many with just absolutely crap builds which give swords a bad rep
sure frenzy W/E with a dev->crushing->irresistable->heavy->aftershock combo looks good on paper but using aftershock is too energy demanding to keep up and doesnt give "that much" of a damage increase compared to more maintainable 5 energy attacks like irresistable
what hammers are good for are doing nice high damage hits and unleashing a very dangerous knockdown "one man" spike in which the victim cant do anything except a 1/4 second skill in between irresistable->second knockdown and anything short longer than that will just get interrupted and trying to run after first knockdown will give a nice critical spike
and back of subject, most warriors have always used swords, many with just absolutely crap builds which give swords a bad rep
LouAl
I have tried using a sword (PvE only) and found that the dmg output was consistently lower than either an axe or my (preferred) hammer. my immediate conclusion was that the conditions were the way to go, and then I decided that a healthy mix of conditions and final thrust was better...
In the end I found that stuff just died quicker when I used my hammer (of course I am much more familiar with it).
I have had no problems in CA/TA with my hammer either. Usually I end up on a winning team. I do bring some type of self heal to CA usually ether feast or heal sig, but it is rarely needed as I am never attacked first.
Also I have decided that Devastating hammer is good (4 sec KD), but Dwarven battle stance is better (12 sec shutdown).
In the end I found that stuff just died quicker when I used my hammer (of course I am much more familiar with it).
I have had no problems in CA/TA with my hammer either. Usually I end up on a winning team. I do bring some type of self heal to CA usually ether feast or heal sig, but it is rarely needed as I am never attacked first.
Also I have decided that Devastating hammer is good (4 sec KD), but Dwarven battle stance is better (12 sec shutdown).
Fabius Cunctator
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Personally I've never liked sword very much, I find I do more damage with my axe Eviscerate just rocks, while HB only really works to gain some adren for the hard hitting sword attacks (that and I haven't found a good sword to use
).
SnipiousMax
I like desrupting chop over savage slash as well.
NightOwl
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigTru
Alright, here are more observations I've made:
Much of the Eviscerate-Executioner's spike damage comes from Deep Wound. The main spike combo with Sword Warrior's is Galrath-Final Thrust. Think about it, with Sever Artery-Gash, shouldn't the target already have Deep Wound on it by the time you're ready to do a Galrath-Final Thrust spike? No, because applying the Sever/Gash combo will alert the opposing monk that a damage spike is coming in and allow them tons of reaction time. A good spike will have the adren built up on an off target, the switch for the spike. Staying on the target is a pretty good chance that the monk will already be watching that target and ready to act.
Much of the Eviscerate-Executioner's spike damage comes from Deep Wound. The main spike combo with Sword Warrior's is Galrath-Final Thrust. Think about it, with Sever Artery-Gash, shouldn't the target already have Deep Wound on it by the time you're ready to do a Galrath-Final Thrust spike? No, because applying the Sever/Gash combo will alert the opposing monk that a damage spike is coming in and allow them tons of reaction time. A good spike will have the adren built up on an off target, the switch for the spike. Staying on the target is a pretty good chance that the monk will already be watching that target and ready to act.
4runner
Axes FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yukito Kunisaki
The reason why a sword might be good is if you have a non-sword elite to back you up.
From Victory is Mine! to Virulence, there's quite a few off-set elites that a swordie can use.
Final Thrust is all the spike you'll need at 16 swordsmanship.
Problem? Getting them to 50% hp in 2 hits. Which is what Eviscerate + Exe. Strike can do.
I reset my warrior so that I could give swords a run through from the beginning of the game and now, I'm glad I changed my name... lol
At any rate, I found the sword simply NOT doing the damage I'd like due to there being about 70% of the enemies I run into NOT bleeding and I don't get Galrath/Final Thrust quickly enough at the beginning of the game to do the damage I want.
Dismember + Executioner's Strike, and later, Eviscerate + Exe. Strike are the Dmg Lords of the axe and sadly, with high axe mastery and a crit pair landing, no other weapon combo can match Axe for sheer damage.
Quite ironic it is though, since Hammer "supposed" to do more damage in the general sense anyway...
From Victory is Mine! to Virulence, there's quite a few off-set elites that a swordie can use.
Final Thrust is all the spike you'll need at 16 swordsmanship.
Problem? Getting them to 50% hp in 2 hits. Which is what Eviscerate + Exe. Strike can do.
I reset my warrior so that I could give swords a run through from the beginning of the game and now, I'm glad I changed my name... lol
At any rate, I found the sword simply NOT doing the damage I'd like due to there being about 70% of the enemies I run into NOT bleeding and I don't get Galrath/Final Thrust quickly enough at the beginning of the game to do the damage I want.
Dismember + Executioner's Strike, and later, Eviscerate + Exe. Strike are the Dmg Lords of the axe and sadly, with high axe mastery and a crit pair landing, no other weapon combo can match Axe for sheer damage.
Quite ironic it is though, since Hammer "supposed" to do more damage in the general sense anyway...
Buried_Flame
Ok well there was a lot of posts i dint read, (lol). but if u look at the weapons damage itself, and not the skill axes CAN do more damage . for example. a axe might do 8 - 16 damage, and a sword might do 10 - 14. (this is just a example cuz i have no idea how much damage dif. there is)
Masseur
Max is:
Sword 15-22
Axe 6-28
Hammer 19-35
Sword 15-22
Axe 6-28
Hammer 19-35
Revenant Reverend
I use both swords and axes. Honestly it is just different builds and tactics. I tend to prefer swords not just because of looks, but also because it allows me to throw on say Warrior's Endurance for some of my skills and still be able to do high damage.
People tend to overlook Thrill of Victory (axes can use that too I know) and Pure Strike when they use swords, prefering to run just Galrath Slash and Final Thrust. Even Savage Slash (which is better than disrutpting chop IMO simply because it can be used whenever you have energy which tends to be more than when i have the adrenaline for Chop) is useful to throw on at times. Plus (other than Final Cut which you wont be using until your target is below 50% health anyways) you can use some of the sword adrenal skills more often than the axe ones.
Of course with axes you can do some obscene damage and unless the other monk (if there even is one) is hands free to help your target you'll probably kill him faster. I know I have to just run an axe build occasionally because of how fun that is occasionally. But with swords in my experience you can do more damage over a period of time than with axes. Axes are for the quick kill and if its a drawn out fight are more easily overcome.
Course I could be just 100% noob but thats my 2 cents anyways.
People tend to overlook Thrill of Victory (axes can use that too I know) and Pure Strike when they use swords, prefering to run just Galrath Slash and Final Thrust. Even Savage Slash (which is better than disrutpting chop IMO simply because it can be used whenever you have energy which tends to be more than when i have the adrenaline for Chop) is useful to throw on at times. Plus (other than Final Cut which you wont be using until your target is below 50% health anyways) you can use some of the sword adrenal skills more often than the axe ones.
Of course with axes you can do some obscene damage and unless the other monk (if there even is one) is hands free to help your target you'll probably kill him faster. I know I have to just run an axe build occasionally because of how fun that is occasionally. But with swords in my experience you can do more damage over a period of time than with axes. Axes are for the quick kill and if its a drawn out fight are more easily overcome.
Course I could be just 100% noob but thats my 2 cents anyways.
Xasew
Galrath+Final is awesome considering it doesn't require an elite. Sword warriors don't require an elite from the sword line(almost every axer has Eviscerate and hammer guys take Devastating), so they can run with stuff like "Charge!".
le crank
Another combo is warriors cunning w/ beserker stance....(could use w/ vigurous spirit ...
audioaxes
swords are useful since artery/gash/galrath/final is not too without even including an elite while being "not that much" inferior to stuff like evis/executioners/rake/penetrating
sh4ft3d
Degen baby. And like I said in my earlier, post, conditions are the way to go.
Kurow
I've always like the idea of swords better than axes. The damage is more normal, and the techniques seem to be more techincal.
Kittuns
A sword warrior in pvp is seldom the only warrior.
The combination unload from Eviscerate + Final Thrust is better than 2 eviscerates.
That, and Charge! is really a fantastic skill to have on your team.
The combination unload from Eviscerate + Final Thrust is better than 2 eviscerates.
That, and Charge! is really a fantastic skill to have on your team.