So the weapon beta has been up for a bit and I experimented with my main class, Mesmer. Results are meh.
Problem: only off-hand we have is shield, and shield really doesn’t do much. It’s probably going to find use in tanky builds, but that’s it. Biggest problem: blocks are channels, so you can’t do anything for several seconds on ends.
Everything else: too much tailored towards their specialisations.
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Axe stays melee condition, sword stays melee power. Won’t change anything up.
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Dagger has slight applications in ranged power.
That’s it. Dagger maybe for ranged power, under certain circumstances.
Axe Virtuoso? Dagger Mirage? Both meh. Shield with anything? Double-meh with a sigh on the side. Chrono with dagger as DPS? Can’t compete with anything.
I’d hope that smarter people than me will find some applications, but I’m afraid that all that’s being checked for is meta DPS, so there’s probably nothing to be expected from on that front.
Dagger Ambush Spam kind of worked almost somewhat, DPS-wise. Riveting.
First impression: this is more minor than I thought it would be. Mostly because these weapons were originally made with a specific specialisation in mind.
It’s fun to have more weapons though and I appreciate the increase in available build variety. Some professions will see greater use than others depending on how elite-tailored their weapons are, or if their weapons are good in general.
I believe we’ll see a bigger impact with the expansion release due to the addition of new weapon options for some professions.
I haven’t had a chance to test almost at all sadly, but I think the biggest gain would be for revenant condi builds. Having shortbow on all specs is really a big improvement since the only core condi set was mace/axe
I’ve also heard people liking scepter daredevil but I haven’t tried it yet
Axe Chrono was fun imo
However, my main is Ranger so i tried this class mostly :D
Druid with mainhand dagger and Hammer is fun, Untamed with staff and dagger is pretty fun too.
Soulbeast with hammer and staff is kinda… meh, but probably because i rarely play soulbeast.
Seems like Rev, ranger, ele, and engie make the most out of this. Some because they don’t have many fun weapons (Rev, engie). Others because the weapons are versatile enough to work with whatever class.
I had fun with staff untamed and sword tempest
I am very happy they’re doing this since it allows for more build diversity.
That being said, nothing really stood out as a big change to me (probably because I suck at theorycrafting). I feel like the specializations, weapons, and skills are tied so close together to really get good synergy. For example sword really only works on holosmith since you need that specialization to get the bonus effects on the sword. I’m sure some niche builds will come out of it, but I feel like they need tweak some skills and core traits to really open up the build possibilities.
Engi: Healscrapper can use mace now, hammer instead of mace/shield for power alac mech. Sword gives zero heat bonuses so it is sad, 2 shoots 1 projectile so… useless
