Note: I don't have beta access yet.

Note2: Sorry for my bad English, it's not my native language.

- - -

So, I've been reading the posts in this forum and read stuff like switching weapons makes combat easier / faster. I'd like to know if it's a MUST to switch weapons in this game to play effectively? I might be too oldschool but I prefer sticking with 1 weapon type. I want my Ranger to be 100% ranged, with a bow. I'm not fond of melee playstyle, I don't want to switch to dagger or other melee weapon at close range, I'd rather kite my butt off, lol. I want my Elementalist to be 100% ranged, with a staff. Same with Necro and Mesmer. :s Am I screwed?

I might try to switch weapons during combat but I dunno... I've played games where weapon switching was useful but I always forgot about it and/or ended up using one main weapon because it was more comfortable that way. : / How easy is it to switch weapons and get used to the weapon skill changes during combat? Isn't it confusing?

All opinions are appreciated and thanks in advance.

I'd say it's pretty much essential for a number of reasons (CDs on your skills, melee doing more dmg than range as a general rule, accessing different evasive and cc skills based on the situation). 

If it's any comfort I was very iffy about both twitchy action combat (which I generally just don't like in mmo like games) and switching weapons (which I felt would be sort of silly looking or awkward). In reality, I just fell into doing it after a few hours playing and never looked back. Switching really does open a whole set of different options, feels fluid, and still allows you to only have a "few" active skills to worry about which leads to paying more attention to what's happening around you - something you need to be doing or you'll be using your downed skills a lot.

I guess my suggestion is to give it a try and "practice" on mobs when you get a chance. There are a couple of professions that don't switch weapons per se but they have other mechanics which are similar, so you really can't get "around" it.  Elementalist for example cannot switch weapons in combat but can shift through all four of their attunements, and again, you need to be doing this to be truly effective. 

Well you can always use ranged/ranged combinations for example:

Ranger with Long and Shortbow. You don't have to use melee at all

if that is your desire.

Switching weapon is easy stuff, you learn that 10 skills and you are

good to go - it's not difficult at all at least from my experience. :]

Originally posted by STDB

Note: I don't have beta access yet.

Note2: Sorry for my bad English, it's not my native language.

- - -

So, I've been reading the posts in this forum and read stuff like switching weapons makes combat easier / faster. I'd like to know if it's a MUST to switch weapons in this game to play effectively? I might be too oldschool but I prefer sticking with 1 weapon type. I want my Ranger to be 100% ranged, with a bow. I'm not fond of melee playstyle, I don't want to switch to dagger or other melee weapon at close range, I'd rather kite my butt off, lol. I want my Elementalist to be 100% ranged, with a staff. Same with Necro and Mesmer. :s Am I screwed?

I might try to switch weapons during combat but I dunno... I've played games where weapon switching was useful but I always forgot about it and/or ended up using one main weapon because it was more comfortable that way. : / How easy is it to switch weapons and get used to the weapon skill changes during combat? Isn't it confusing?

All opinions are appreciated and thanks in advance.

You can stick to mostly one weapon set. It is recommended that you use at least two but if you're going to choose a ranged weapon, you should be mostly alright, at least in PvE. Especially with the caster classes. Even some of their melee abilities have a longer range than those of standard melee classes. Elementalists currently can't swap weapons anyway, they swap attunements (fire, water, earth, air) instead.

Melee does more damage that ranged and it is desirable is certain situations but ranged has better survival due to the ability to kite. So it's a fair trade off.

My suggestion is to pick a weapon set that works for you but having a different weapon set can come in handy also. And if you're going to play as a ranger, definitely try the greatsword. I hear that rangers are absolutely overpowered with it.

Just to elaborate a bit more, you can use two ranged weapon sets. I played a thief for the most part, so I'll use my experience with him to give you an example. A thief has access to 2 ranged weapon types--pistols and short bows. Pistols are great single target DPS, while the short bow is more about AoE, control and movement. So potentially you can use two ranged sets as a rogue and switch between single target or AoE depending on the situation.

Originally posted by STDB

Note: I don't have beta access yet.

Note2: Sorry for my bad English, it's not my native language.

- - -

So, I've been reading the posts in this forum and read stuff like switching weapons makes combat easier / faster. I'd like to know if it's a MUST to switch weapons in this game to play effectively? I might be too oldschool but I prefer sticking with 1 weapon type. I want my Ranger to be 100% ranged, with a bow. I'm not fond of melee playstyle, I don't want to switch to dagger or other melee weapon at close range, I'd rather kite my butt off, lol. I want my Elementalist to be 100% ranged, with a staff. Same with Necro and Mesmer. :s Am I screwed?

I might try to switch weapons during combat but I dunno... I've played games where weapon switching was useful but I always forgot about it and/or ended up using one main weapon because it was more comfortable that way. : / How easy is it to switch weapons and get used to the weapon skill changes during combat? Isn't it confusing?

All opinions are appreciated and thanks in advance.

Weapon swaping opens up variety for you, Each weapons have a new set of different abilitys However you can pick to weapons for your class that fits your play style. For example with your ranger there are 3 sets of ranged weapons Long bow, short bow and 1h axes (either one or 2 of them) yes ranger throw there axes.

Long bow does more dmg the longer the range and with traits can be 1500 range (1200 without traits) (Long bows was mostly dmg skill and AoE and a knockback which was more effective the closer the enemy

Short bows did more dmg when shooting the enemy in the back or side, they also get a cripple and a daze or stun if your hitting them in the back, it also gets a cone shape poisen shot that reduces healing (Daze stops them using abilities) short bows get 1200 range

With axes you get  three options realy you can duwl weild axes or us 1 axe+a horn or a axe and a torch

axe have 900 range axes in the main hand gets a bounce attack, a cone shape attack and a slow (which also make your pet do vunerability when it hits next)

Axes in offhand gives you a boomerang throw and a whirlwind that i beleive he throws axes out at enemy in range and block all ranegd attacks (i didnt play around with axes 2 much in beta but they were quite nice)

A warhand in the off hand can provide you with a 900 range attack where you call hawk down that attack the enemy and a aoe buff that hit urself that gives might fury and swiftness (run speed for kiting)

Torch provides you witha  900 range attack the burns the enemy and a ground based fire spell that does dmg or you can use in ontop of you and throw flaming axes or switch to bow and shoot flaming arrows through it.

All i nall it is benefitial to use the weapon swap if your a class that has it however you are more than able to go a fully ranged ranger

As for elementalist they dont have weapon swap ability so thats not an issue to much dagger are short range, scepter is midium range and staff is long range, Elementalist switch into one of 4 attunments instead of swapping weapons.

You can build almsot all classes to you play style some classes ahve more options though. If you wanna play range you can do so just be warned melee does quite a bit more dmg than range but if you can stay out of melee it will be more than effective going to range weapons for example you could use a ranger with a long bow and short bow, use the long bow at long range and you can switch to short bow if your chasing somone since it has the slow stuns and stacking bleeds if you hit them in the back or side.

Here a link to a skill build page also have traits in there that you can play around with just note its not 100% accurate cause beta subjected to change and all that.

http://gw2.luna-atra.fr/skills_tool/?lang=en&code=34a7g078h6m33qia7000000

yes you can totally go on with two range weapons and succeed through pve content, but maybe not on hard dungeons because you might need an offhand axe for whirling defence for ur team. But to a competitive extend for pvp bing able to use all weapons will be a must.

I think you would love axe as mid ranger and melee weapons as well, they are so cool :)

Originally posted by STDB
What?! WOAH! Ele can switch attunements anytime? AWESOME! I was looking at this character generator or whatever it's called, I was like "I wish I could use water and fire at the same time". So it's possible, lol! I think Ele will be my main and I don't even have to worry about weapon switching. xD And maybe if I get used to attunement change, the weapon change on other classes will be easy and fun!

That might be a good learning curve for you, yes! 

I usually play ranged casters and I mostly played Mesmer this weekend, must say I fell in love with darting in and out of combat and dancing swords with more "traditional" melee types once up close. 

Yes.

You'll lose alot of combat effectiveness if you don't swap.

There is hotkey (bindable) for swapping ofc.

Its definetly not needed. But it gives you wider range of skills.

Example:

My mesmer offensive was Staff.

But using Scepter+Torch gives great skills to quickly escape combat.

So I use it on swap when things go bad.

But than again, i can just use utility skill instead.

And opt to put Greatsword or Pistol on swap - for higher DPS.

So as you see.

No need foe swapping. But it gives you 5 more skills on the fly.

First of all, your english is great!  I envy anyone who can speak a second language that well. 

As for your question, GW2 felt much more difficult than the standard MMO.  You can die early, and you can die often.  It typically requires optimal use of your entire skill set to succeed.  If you stick with only one weapon, you reduce your potential by a whopping 40-50%.  Even for casual players, I'd imagine the goal is to play the best you can, right?  So i'd definitely suggest you try to adapt.  

That said, you have several options.  Every class has multipe ranged sets, so if you want to be purely ranged, you may easily do so by choosing two ranged weapons.  Building in this way will almost always be perfectly viable.  As far as elementalists go, they can only equip one weapon.  So grab your staff and have at it.  Instead of swapping weapons to change their 1-5 abilities, they swap attunements.  It essentially has the same exact effect as switching weapons, except they get 4 attunements to switch to instead of 2 weapon sets.  

I think you have to begin to look at the weapon swap button as an ability or spell in itself.  If you've played WoW, it's like shapeshifting as a druid or stance dancing as a warrior.  It's simply a button that gives you access to a new set of abilities.  Only the context behind it differs.  

Can it be difficult?  Yes.  To be really effective, you have a lot of quick button combinations you will need to pull off--all while straffing or dodinge out of the way.  You can typically combo off of your self, which dramatically increased your power, but you can't usually do this from the same action bar.  You have to use an ability, swap, then use another one.  Factor in specific class mechanics you need to worry about and various CC abilities and utility spells you need to time properly, and it can feel like you have a lot on your plate compared to some games.  

It dependas a lot on the profession and weapon set in question. Becoming skilled at swaps will always benefit any player and may become even more important at higher levels. However, I did find some professions has certain weapons you could stick with almost all the time and at least be viable.

With only ten skills on the hot bar, most people will probably want to swap for variety, once they have mastered playing their prefered weapon. I think most people will adjust to this mechanic given time and practice.

Originally posted by fenistil

Yes.

 

You'll lose alot of combat effectiveness if you don't swap.

 

There is hotkey (bindable) for swapping ofc.

yea but unfortunately middle mouse did not work as binding :P