Weapon Choice Dilemma - Guild Wars Forums

Sir Iceman · Aug 11, 2006, 12:11 PM // 12:11

I have a question about which weapon choice would be best for a build I am working on. I am in the process of switching my Offensive Sword Fighter into a proper Tank. I will now require a weapon that is more suited to this role. Currently I use Victo’s Blade & I have a 20<50 for when things are not optimal. Both are Fortitude griped swords and have served me well up till now.

I am stuck on which of these 2 options would work best within the context of my current situation. I require a weapon that will compliment/help my global setup.

15^50 or 15 Always –5 energy.

I plan to put a Defensive grip on the weapon to augment my over all armor.

The rest of my equipment is as follows:
I have FoW Gladiators armor. With all the top runes. I know there are those who would say this is not the optimal tanking armor. I’ll give you that. But at the price I paid and the entire year it took to acquire it. We’ll be trying to balance a weapon & shield that will work with these and enhance my build. I am aware that I will not be in the top 5% of the elite tanks. But I am quite confident that I can still achieve a viable build. For my guild & my personal needs in PvE, this will be suffice.

For my shield I have the Factions end game shield. 16 Armor(Str) 30 Health always and –5(20%). I do have a 16(Str) with +45 & -2 Enchanted based shield as well. But I’m not planning on being enchanted. I also have Arrahhsh's Aegis, which I took from his cold dead corpse. But, this is a stance shield and I’ve not factored it into my build.

Like I mentioned I’m aware that I won’t be building the ultimate ‘ubber’ tank. And for argument sake we’ll assume by now I understand agro. The build I am working with is not a Stance based build. But it does use Strength & Tactics based skills. With enough points left over for Sword usage. With all that said, we can return to the main question. Based on the choice of Armor etc, should I go with the Sword that has the –5 energy? Thus eliminating the need to use my below 50 sword. Or is the standard 15>50 always the best bet?

I understand there are constraints, but I believe a competent tank can still emerge from my armor/shield/skill & weapon choices. I am open to constructive comments. Which is why I have posted this. Flaming is a pointless waste of band with. I respectively ask you refrain from this behavior.

TIA
Sir Iceman.

Mournblade · Aug 11, 2006, 12:59 PM // 12:59

Look at your skill bar. If it's full of adrenal skills, go for -5 energy. If it's not full of adrenal skills, go with the 15^50.

striderkaaru · Aug 11, 2006, 01:52 PM // 13:52

you request is interesting because you're dropping your swordsmanship attribute but are worrying over your sword's damage mod. basically, you either care about your weapon damage or you don't. if you do care, keep swordsmanship at 12+.

go with mournblade's advice. if you already have a 20<50 weapon to switch to, go with 15>50. since you have full glads, you can afford the -5 energy, but it's really your call.

milias · Aug 11, 2006, 01:56 PM // 13:56

It depends on what kind of tank you are. If you're a pure warrior tank like me, then I'd wear Sentinel's set for the unconditional 100 AL. Most of my skills are adrenaline based, and I almost never run out energy, as I use a Zealous mod on my sword. But if you're a W/E or something like that, then you'd probably need more energy, so yea, Glad's may help.

Also personally, I would never use a -5 energy weapon when tanking, since you're not worried about damage in this case anyway. I used to use a Candy Cane Sword just for fun

Aug 11, 2006, 12:11 PM // 12:11	#1
Sir Iceman Academy Page Join Date: Aug 2005 Guild: Kaos Organized Sykotically Profession: W/Mo	Weapon Choice Dilemma I have a question about which weapon choice would be best for a build I am working on. I am in the process of switching my Offensive Sword Fighter into a proper Tank. I will now require a weapon that is more suited to this role. Currently I use Victo’s Blade & I have a 20<50 for when things are not optimal. Both are Fortitude griped swords and have served me well up till now. I am stuck on which of these 2 options would work best within the context of my current situation. I require a weapon that will compliment/help my global setup. 15^50 or 15 Always –5 energy. I plan to put a Defensive grip on the weapon to augment my over all armor. The rest of my equipment is as follows: I have FoW Gladiators armor. With all the top runes. I know there are those who would say this is not the optimal tanking armor. I’ll give you that. But at the price I paid and the entire year it took to acquire it. We’ll be trying to balance a weapon & shield that will work with these and enhance my build. I am aware that I will not be in the top 5% of the elite tanks. But I am quite confident that I can still achieve a viable build. For my guild & my personal needs in PvE, this will be suffice. For my shield I have the Factions end game shield. 16 Armor(Str) 30 Health always and –5(20%). I do have a 16(Str) with +45 & -2 Enchanted based shield as well. But I’m not planning on being enchanted. I also have Arrahhsh's Aegis, which I took from his cold dead corpse. But, this is a stance shield and I’ve not factored it into my build. Like I mentioned I’m aware that I won’t be building the ultimate ‘ubber’ tank. And for argument sake we’ll assume by now I understand agro. The build I am working with is not a Stance based build. But it does use Strength & Tactics based skills. With enough points left over for Sword usage. With all that said, we can return to the main question. Based on the choice of Armor etc, should I go with the Sword that has the –5 energy? Thus eliminating the need to use my below 50 sword. Or is the standard 15>50 always the best bet? I understand there are constraints, but I believe a competent tank can still emerge from my armor/shield/skill & weapon choices. I am open to constructive comments. Which is why I have posted this. Flaming is a pointless waste of band with. I respectively ask you refrain from this behavior. TIA Sir Iceman. Last edited by Sir Iceman; Aug 11, 2006 at 01:41 PM // 13:41..

Aug 11, 2006, 12:59 PM // 12:59	#2
Mournblade Furnace Stoker Join Date: May 2005 Location: Houston, Texas Guild: Dawn Treaders [DAWN] Profession: W/Mo	Look at your skill bar. If it's full of adrenal skills, go for -5 energy. If it's not full of adrenal skills, go with the 15^50. Last edited by Mournblade; Aug 11, 2006 at 03:13 PM // 15:13..

Aug 11, 2006, 01:52 PM // 13:52	#3
striderkaaru Desert Nomad Join Date: Aug 2005 Guild: Scars Meadows [SMS], Retired Officer Profession: W/	you request is interesting because you're dropping your swordsmanship attribute but are worrying over your sword's damage mod. basically, you either care about your weapon damage or you don't. if you do care, keep swordsmanship at 12+. go with mournblade's advice. if you already have a 20<50 weapon to switch to, go with 15>50. since you have full glads, you can afford the -5 energy, but it's really your call.

Aug 11, 2006, 01:56 PM // 13:56	#4
milias Grotto Attendant Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Defected back to America Profession: Me/E	It depends on what kind of tank you are. If you're a pure warrior tank like me, then I'd wear Sentinel's set for the unconditional 100 AL. Most of my skills are adrenaline based, and I almost never run out energy, as I use a Zealous mod on my sword. But if you're a W/E or something like that, then you'd probably need more energy, so yea, Glad's may help. Also personally, I would never use a -5 energy weapon when tanking, since you're not worried about damage in this case anyway. I used to use a Candy Cane Sword just for fun