Concerned about weapon "choices".

[nachoman007]

Arena Net makes a huge deal about how you're able to do just about anything in game the way you want to (especially questing), but it seems as I was playing the BWE and today's stress test I've noticed on multiple characters that some weapons are just far superior choices over others. Why is it that I get penalized with less damage if I want to use a bow on my Thief, or dual swords over a great sword on my Mesmer? I hope that by the end of the beta, all weapons are just about equal. I don't want to be "forced" to use a specific weapon just to help out my group mates on boss battles/dungeons or risk being deemed "less useful" if I choose to use something I have more fun with.

Anyone else feel the same way?

[Deleted]

Ranged weapons do lower damage than melee weapons overall, to balance the fact that they're much safer to use than melee weapons.
Some weapons apply a lot of conditions, so the straight damage numbers are lower, but when you account for the conditions they even out.
Some weapons are more support oriented and thus focus more on support than damage.

[Khanjin]

I played around with the engineer this stress test and I can say that from extensive testing I don't know which between regular shotgun, elixir gun, flamethrower or bomb kit are the "best to use". They are all great in different situations. I didn't like the mine kit, seemed a bit useless to be frank and it's obvious there is a "right" choice between rocket turret and the normal shooting turret (though I don't know which), if you have to choose for one slot. Between gun/shield, gun/gun and shotgun I don't know what's best either, it's really about playstyle. The shotgun has some cool stuff which I really like, but the shield is also pretty amazing. I didn't feel like I was forced to use anything.

And FYI, if you're melee and run after an engineer with his bomb kit out - you are going to blow up!

[nachoman007]

To me it just didn't seem fair that while using wand/torch on my Mesmer I was hitting max for maybe 14 per bolt at level 10, but on my great sword the skill "Mind Stab" would hit for 80+ and the basic attack would do anywhere from 16 - 24 depending on how far I was from my target.
I guess the justification would be that with the wand/torch setup I get to vanish for 3 seconds on a 30 second cooldown?

[Jibjub]

To me it just didn't seem fair that while using wand/torch on my Mesmer I was hitting max for maybe 14 per bolt at level 10, but on my great sword the skill "Mind Stab" would hit for 80+ and the basic attack would do anywhere from 16 - 24 depending on how far I was from my target.
I guess the justification would be that with the wand/torch setup I get to vanish for 3 seconds on a 30 second cooldown?

There are lots of things to consider -- first and foremost that you are playing a beta and tweaking the numbers on weapons is a relatively "late" task in the development cycle. Also, some weapon sets will sacrifice damage for, in your example, faster clone production (and therefore more shatters) ... or in many other builds support, mobility, lifesteals, boons, conditions, boon/condition removal, etc. And finally, we are all fairly new to the game ... so it will take some time optimizing our gameplay. This game is not about 1v1 ... so even if your scepter does less damage, it might help your team much better than just raw power. And it may not ... but the CHOICE is available.

[DrakeWurrum]

To me it just didn't seem fair that while using wand/torch on my Mesmer I was hitting max for maybe 14 per bolt at level 10, but on my great sword the skill "Mind Stab" would hit for 80+ and the basic attack would do anywhere from 16 - 24 depending on how far I was from my target.
I guess the justification would be that with the wand/torch setup I get to vanish for 3 seconds on a 30 second cooldown?

Consider that while doing that "minimal" amount of damage from range...

You're at range. Melee have to be right up in the face of an enemy to hit you, which means kiting sucks, and dodging happens more often thanks to aoe.

[Azsune]

I really liked going great sword on my guardian but most of the time I had to use a scepter. The great sword seemed to do way more damage which I would expect. In wvw I was actually able to burst people down quite fast compared to a scepter where it felt like it took forever. The hammer is awesome too but it doesn't do nearly the same dmg(i think its mainly because of the protection buff vs the power buff).

All in all I felt like the weapons were balanced. Only one I didn't use for guardian was a sword.

[Dosvidaniya]

I played around with the engineer this stress test and I can say that from extensive testing I don't know which between regular shotgun, elixir gun, flamethrower or bomb kit are the "best to use". They are all great in different situations. I didn't like the mine kit, seemed a bit useless to be frank and it's obvious there is a "right" choice between rocket turret and the normal shooting turret (though I don't know which), if you have to choose for one slot. Between gun/shield, gun/gun and shotgun I don't know what's best either, it's really about playstyle. The shotgun has some cool stuff which I really like, but the shield is also pretty amazing. I didn't feel like I was forced to use anything.

And FYI, if you're melee and run after an engineer with his bomb kit out - you are going to blow up!

The mine kit is a great way to do insane burst at little cost by preemptively tossing out 5 of them before engaging. If you toss them before pulling a mob, you can easily drop 50% of its health just from the mine stack. Littering up an objective in pvp is loads of fun.

From my experience, they try to keep all the weapons viable. Some just become rather niche and need to be expanded/tweaked slightly. ANet did state that they were looking into this concern (on the forums; which we can't access anymore). The topic was in regards to ranged being superior to melee. They stated that they were tweaking numbers for a number of weapons. They were also looking at boosting the overall niche of some of them. All in all, I've found the majority of them to have use. The numbers just need tweaking.

Consider that while doing that "minimal" amount of damage from range...

You're at range. Melee have to be right up in the face of an enemy to hit you, which means kiting sucks, and dodging happens more often thanks to aoe.

Both are ranged weapons for Mesmers. Greatsword is equivalent to a longbow style where it actually deals more damage at max range. My understanding in terms of greatsword balance for mesmers is that you lose mobility, survivability, and damage if people get up close. Since the sword animations root you, melee can stay on top of you more easily. The control and survival options from it aren't that great. And it does less damage to nearby opponents. The numbers may still need slight adjustment, but that is why it does more damage than scepter.