So,

Lately I have been craving playing a sword and board type character..
Ive tried doing this in a number of games outside Gw2 and ive found im almost always forced to the 'Tank role' if i wield a shield.

So after a quick overview of the Warrior type classes in gw2, it would seem that i would still be forced in to a defensive persona.

The guardian - has very clearly defined itself as a defensive profession, which is fine.

The warrior - Seems to have great potential to be a more traditional dps profession (don't start with the trinity bit, im just talking superficial feel here)
But looking at the skills i would get with a weapon+shieldit doesn't really scream damage. or an "aggressive force"

Core Questions:
Is it possible to play a s&b character and feel like a force to be reckoned with and not a sponge?

Recommendations and suggestions for achieving this?

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Originally posted by MMOExposed
Answer is no. Those shields are meant for defense.

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I know this thread might seem abit silly when you first read it, Because a shield by its very nature is a defensive weapon. But in rl combat it can be versatile, You could crack someones head open with a 'shield bash" ect ect.

Oh wells, Thanks for the reply.

Originally posted by Nitth

 

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Originally posted by MMOExposed
Answer is no. Those shields are meant for defense.

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I know this thread might seem abit silly when you first read it, Because a shield by its very nature is a defensive weapon. But in rl combat it can be versatile, You could crack someone head open with a 'shield bash" ect ect.

Shields have offensive uses, but they are mainly for defense. Most shield skills comes with knock backs,which are defensive in nature, but in WvW can be great for interrupting on the attack.

You can play a DPS oriented guardian with one hand + shield and focus on swap. Grab the 15% critical chance trait for one-handed weapons. 60% bleed on critical rune. 100% burning on block. Strong emphasis on Virtue of Justice traits and go heavy in condition damage with some precision.

It's a very good offensive guardian shield that can use shield with sword if you wish.

You could do the same thing with Warrior and sword + shield, where you'll mostly focus on bleeds and condition damage, with shield as added survivability.

I play a Guardian and one of the best DPS options I've seen seems to be Sword/Torch.  The best part is that blowing blue fire at something is pretty great. (Edit: I'm level 13 ATM so keep that in mind)

Sword

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Sword#Guardian

Shield

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Shield#Guardian

Gives you somewhat of a comparison it seems.  f you click the specfic abilities they will give you a damage rating which will help answer your question.  I'm going to look myself lol.

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Originally posted by Krytycal
You can play a DPS oriented guardian with one hand + shield and focus on swap. Grab the 15% critical chance trait for one-handed weapons. 60% bleed on critical rune. 100% burning on block. Strong emphasis on Virtue of Justice traits and go heavy in condition damage with some precision.

It's a very good offensive guardian shield that can use shield with sword if you wish.

You could do the same thing with Warrior and sword + shield, where you'll mostly focus on bleeds and condition damage, with shield as added survivability.

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Thanks Ill have to have a look into that, Im not very familiar with these types of melee class in gw2 so ill have to research those things you mentioned.

15% crit on 1h weapons? would that also augment the shields abilities?

Originally posted by Nitth

 

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Originally posted by Krytycal
You can play a DPS oriented guardian with one hand + shield and focus on swap. Grab the 15% critical chance trait for one-handed weapons. 60% bleed on critical rune. 100% burning on block. Strong emphasis on Virtue of Justice traits and go heavy in condition damage with some precision.

 

It's a very good offensive guardian shield that can use shield with sword if you wish.

You could do the same thing with Warrior and sword + shield, where you'll mostly focus on bleeds and condition damage, with shield as added survivability.

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Thanks Ill have to have a look into that, Im not very familiar with these types of melee class in gw2 so ill have to research those things you mentioned.

15% crit on 1h weapons? would that also augment the shields abilities?

 

Correct.

Originally posted by Nitth

 

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Originally posted by Krytycal
You can play a DPS oriented guardian with one hand + shield and focus on swap. Grab the 15% critical chance trait for one-handed weapons. 60% bleed on critical rune. 100% burning on block. Strong emphasis on Virtue of Justice traits and go heavy in condition damage with some precision.

 

It's a very good offensive guardian shield that can use shield with sword if you wish.

You could do the same thing with Warrior and sword + shield, where you'll mostly focus on bleeds and condition damage, with shield as added survivability.

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Thanks Ill have to have a look into that, Im not very familiar with these types of melee class in gw2 so ill have to research those things you mentioned.

15% crit on 1h weapons? would that also augment the shields abilities?

 

I would have to disagree. You would do more damage with a offensive offhand weapon than a shield.

I just did 10 levels on my warrior using Mace+Shield and Axe+Shield and I felt like a beast.

I'm sure I could've on occasion killed faster dual-wielding or with a 2h-weapon but when I switched to those I found myself much squishier. Being able to solo Champions+Adds+random Respawns was pretty awesome.

Mace+Shield is definitely slower paced and feels more "Tank-y" but Axe does some really nice damage with an AoE Flurry and a short-mid ranged Axe Throw. Haven't tried Sword+Shield yet as I'm waiting for a good one to drop.

The Shield "5" Ability is pure-Tank/Survival (but also really handy against those Champions) but the "4" is a nice Shield Slam.

Try it out and see if you like it.

Originally posted by MMOExposed

Originally posted by Nitth

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Originally posted by Krytycal
You can play a DPS oriented guardian with one hand + shield and focus on swap. Grab the 15% critical chance trait for one-handed weapons. 60% bleed on critical rune. 100% burning on block. Strong emphasis on Virtue of Justice traits and go heavy in condition damage with some precision.

 

It's a very good offensive guardian shield that can use shield with sword if you wish.

You could do the same thing with Warrior and sword + shield, where you'll mostly focus on bleeds and condition damage, with shield as added survivability.

I would have to disagree. You would do more damage with a offensive offhand weapon than a shield.

You are missing the OP's point - he isn't asking for "Max DPS" he is asking if he can do decent damage and kill things relatively quickly with Weapon & Shield and the answer to that is potentially yes depending upon how it feels to him.

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Originally posted by Stx11

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Originally posted by MMOExposed

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Originally posted by Nitth

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Originally posted by Krytycal You can play a DPS oriented guardian with one hand + shield and focus on swap. Grab the 15% critical chance trait for one-handed weapons. 60% bleed on critical rune. 100% burning on block. Strong emphasis on Virtue of Justice traits and go heavy in condition damage with some precision.   It's a very good offensive guardian shield that can use shield with sword if you wish. You could do the same thing with Warrior and sword + shield, where you'll mostly focus on bleeds and condition damage, with shield as added survivability.

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I would have to disagree. You would do more damage with a offensive offhand weapon than a shield.

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You are missing the OP's point - he isn't asking for "Max DPS" he is asking if he can do decent damage and kill things relatively quickly with Weapon & Shield and the answer to that is potentially yes depending upon how it feels to him.

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Yes sorry i should of been more clear on this.

Originally posted by MMOExposed

Originally posted by Nitth

 

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Originally posted by Krytycal
You can play a DPS oriented guardian with one hand + shield and focus on swap. Grab the 15% critical chance trait for one-handed weapons. 60% bleed on critical rune. 100% burning on block. Strong emphasis on Virtue of Justice traits and go heavy in condition damage with some precision.

 

It's a very good offensive guardian shield that can use shield with sword if you wish.

You could do the same thing with Warrior and sword + shield, where you'll mostly focus on bleeds and condition damage, with shield as added survivability.

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Thanks Ill have to have a look into that, Im not very familiar with these types of melee class in gw2 so ill have to research those things you mentioned.

15% crit on 1h weapons? would that also augment the shields abilities?

 

I would have to disagree. You would do more damage with a offensive offhand weapon than a shield.

 

You would, but the point of this thread is not what does more damage, it is whether shields can work for offense oriented builds. The answer is yes, and I gave an example of both guardian and warrior offensive builds that can work with shields.

Originally posted by Stx11

Originally posted by MMOExposed

Originally posted by Nitth

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Originally posted by Krytycal
You can play a DPS oriented guardian with one hand + shield and focus on swap. Grab the 15% critical chance trait for one-handed weapons. 60% bleed on critical rune. 100% burning on block. Strong emphasis on Virtue of Justice traits and go heavy in condition damage with some precision.

 

It's a very good offensive guardian shield that can use shield with sword if you wish.

You could do the same thing with Warrior and sword + shield, where you'll mostly focus on bleeds and condition damage, with shield as added survivability.

I would have to disagree. You would do more damage with a offensive offhand weapon than a shield.

You are missing the OP's point - he isn't asking for "Max DPS" he is asking if he can do decent damage and kill things relatively quickly with Weapon & Shield and the answer to that is potentially yes depending upon how it feels to him.

Well all main hand weapons can deal damage, which over time can kill anything. So that kind of intention for the OP's question wouldnt make much sense unless it was in another context. As stated, shield and mainland can kill. But for a offensive build itdoesn't have the offensive abilities. For an attack, it can be used for things like interrupt, but to suggest a weapon swap, I would stil say you better off using a offensive offhand weapon over shield.

If you're sticking to just ONE weaponset as a class that can swap (With the exception of thief since of the way initiative works), you're probably gimping yourself to some extent.

If you work the sword/shield into a rotation using a more offensive other weapon set, you should be fine as damage.  Shields actually add to your damage total (Try unequipping your shield and going bare handed, you'll hit weaker), the reason why they're less damaging is simply because they don't add 2 more offensive skills.  So you only have 3 weapon attacks if you stick to sword/shield.