Chris79 wrote on Dec 27^th, 2012 at 7:24am:

Yeah, once he's in position he stays there.  If he draws aggro and the mob runs up to punch him in the face, he stays there, takes it, and usually dies.

Try the Swordsman and watch him work against a stationary mob.  Then watch him work against a mobile mob.
They do similar damage, but the swordsman will survive longer than the Duelist because of his AI.  You can summon him from 1200.  He attacks, then leaps back to about 300.  His leap in works like Spring Attack, where he jumps in (range of about 500), attacks, then jumps back out.  If the mob moves out of his leap range, he moves to stay at the edge of that range.  During his leap in he's evading.  If the mob moves too close, he leaps back out of melee range.
He only does slightly less overall damage than the Duelist due to a higher attack rate, but survives much longer because of his AI, so on paper the Duelist is better, but in play the Swordsman will usually do more damage.
The only time I think the Duelist is better is against hard hitting mobs (bosses, Exp dungeons, etc) and even then it's a wash because you lose that second block (on a 15s cd).
Between Blurred Frenzy on a 8-10s cd, Illusionary Riposte on a 12-15s cd, and your dodges, dual sword Mes is extremely survivable in melee for a light armor profession once you get the hang of using the skills properly.

edit:
The swordsman also works better for shatter builds because he stays at a fairly consistent range of 300-500 from the target at all times, so while the duelist might have to run a marathon to shatter the swordsman never will.

Can you dual wield shields in GW2?

stainer wrote on Dec 27^th, 2012 at 12:05pm:

You know what you can wield in your off hand?

Quote:


Your nuts?

What would I be doing with my primary hand?

- we can take this to pm if it gets real racy.

stainer wrote on Dec 27^th, 2012 at 12:49pm:


please dont i was tole i need to find new fap material today... this might be suitable

Eladiun wrote on Dec 27^th, 2012 at 12:22pm:


I'm exactly as capable of dual wielding shields as I am of dual wielding swords in real life.  And I don't even have magic weapons (other than my penis).

Flint wrote on Dec 27^th, 2012 at 12:59pm:


I disagree.  Even in games realistic combat and physics are important to the overall immersion.

JDollar wrote on Dec 27^th, 2012 at 1:20pm:


I doubt it. In a combat situation two shields would be more of a liability than a useful asset.  Too susceptible to tangling on each other.

JDollar wrote on Dec 27^th, 2012 at 2:12pm:


Exactly, it was about killing your opponent quickly before you tired out.  Exhausting an opponent using two shields would be easy.  Not that it's realistic but as kids we used to sword fight with foam rubber or whiffle ball bats and trash can lids or such.  Once an opponent lost their sword, it was rather easy drop.  A shield is just a giant target to hit with no sword.  Even with two shield you will have huge issues with reach.
 
JDollar wrote on Dec 27^th, 2012 at 2:12pm:


Pole arms were generally used vs mounted opponents where the extra reach was important for survival or building a spear wall would break a charge.

JDollar wrote on Dec 27^th, 2012 at 2:39pm:



Not as a viable battlefield tactic...  you certainly can strap on to each arm and be a training dummy.  Maneuvering and Fighting with a heater shield on each arm...not really.

JDollar wrote on Dec 27^th, 2012 at 4:07pm:



The thing is you really just can't turtle. A heater shield is only 20-24" tall which leaves lots of exposed areas.  Strikes would be aimed above and below the shield as simple thrusts or swipes.  The opponent would keep flanking forcing you to turn with them while jabbing at exposed areas.  Any forward thrust to close to attack range could be side stepped or back stepped.

JDollar wrote on Dec 27^th, 2012 at 1:58pm:


That's right.  It's a special trait on my penis that I don't take any penalties on it even though it goes to 11.

(centimeters count, right?)

Quote:


Good thing, too.  If we did, then we wouldn't have any thumbs available for other requirements.

I will LARP you so hard JonnyD.