Weapon

From Guild Wars Wiki

A weapon is a piece of equipment that can be equipped in a player's primary weapon or off-hand inventory slots. Weapons are visible in your character's hands when the player is outside of a town or outpost (for example in an explorable area or mission).

Although items such as shields and focus items are technically not weapons, uses of "weapon" on this wiki usually encompasses these items as well.

Contents 1 Weapon types 2 Melee weapon comparison 3 Ranged weapon comparison 4 Weapon DPS comparison 5 Linked attribute 6 See also

[edit] Weapon types

Weapon type	One-handed	Two-handed
Martial weapons
Melee	Axe Sword	Daggers Hammer Scythe
Ranged	Spear	Bow
Spellcasting weapons
Spellcasting	Wand	Staff
Off-hand items
Off-hand	Focus item Shield

[edit] Melee weapon comparison

Profession	Weapon	Two-handed	Damage range	Attack interval	Standard damage type	Other properties
Warrior	Axe	No	6-28	1.33 seconds	Slashing1
	Hammer	Yes	19-35	1.75 seconds	Blunt1
	Sword	No	15-22	1.33 seconds	Slashing2
Assassin	Daggers	Yes	7-17	1.33 seconds3	Piercing or Slashing	2% double strike chance per rank of Dagger Mastery
Dervish	Scythe	Yes	9-41	1.75 seconds	Slashing	Hits up to 2 additional targets within adjacent range

¹Some axes and hammers do Piercing damage.

²The Jitte deals Blunt damage.

³Excluding double strikes

[edit] Ranged weapon comparison

Profession	Weapon	Two-handed	Damage range1	Attack interval (seconds)	Range2	Flight time3 (seconds)	Arc size	Standard damage type	Other properties
Martial weapons
Ranger	Flatbow	Yes	15-28	2.0	1.35	0.88	High	Piercing
	Hornbow	Yes	15-28	2.7	1.20	0.56	Medium	Piercing	10% armor penetration
	Longbow	Yes	15-28	2.4	1.35	0.56	Medium	Piercing
	Recurve Bow	Yes	15-28	2.4	1.20	0.40	Low	Piercing
	Shortbow	Yes	15-28	2.0	1.00	0.56	Medium	Piercing
Paragon	Spear	No	14-27	1.5	1.00	0.60	Medium4	Piercing
Spellcasting weapons
Monk Necromancer Mesmer Elementalist Ritualist	Staff	Yes	11-22	1.75	1.20	0.56	Medium	by attribute	+5..10 energy, 10..20% HSR, Extremely low critical hit rate
	Wand	No	11-22	1.75	1.20	0.56	Medium	by attribute	Extremely low critical hit rate

¹Projectile weapons inflict more damage when fired at lower foes and less damage when fired at higher foes.

²Range is approximate, and is measured in aggro circle / danger zone radii.

³Flight time is at Shortbow range.

⁴Is slightly higher than the other Medium arcs.

[edit] Weapon DPS comparison

All values assume a level 20 attacker with an uncustomized white weapon, no IAS or damage buffs, an armor 60 target, and that axe, sword and dagger attack intervals are exactly 1 1/3 seconds. All values are rounded to the nearest hundredth, 5s are rounded up.

Weapon type	Mean non-critical DPS @r12	Mean non-critical DPS @r16	Mean critical DPS @r12	Mean critical DPS @r16
Axe	12.75	14.66	29.70	34.15
Bow, Flat or Short	10.75	12.36	19.80	22.77
Bow, Horn1	8.84	10.16	16.27	18.71
Bow, Long or Recurve	8.96	10.30	16.50	18.97
Daggers	11.34	13.87	22.72	27.79
Hammer	15.43	17.74	28.28	32.53
Scythe2	14.29	16.43	33.13	38.10
Spear	13.67	15.72	25.46	29.27
Staff / Wand3	9.43	9.43	17.78	17.78
Sword	13.88	15.96	23.33	26.83

1. Armor penetration produces better relative damage against heavily armored targets, see Hornbow for a more in-depth analysis.
2. Per target.
3. Staves and wands have an extremely low base critical hit rate, and their damage only scales with attacker level, not weapon attribute.

[edit] Linked attribute

Generally, every character can equip any weapon. However, most weapons have an attribute requirement for their damage. If the character's rank in the required attribute does not meet the requirement, the equipment will function in one of two ways:

• Collector, crafter, quest reward, or unique weapons, will deal damage equal to an equivalent starter weapon (i.e. attempting to wield a Droknar's Sword at 8 Swordsmanship will result in it dealing 2-3 damage like a Starter Sword).
• If the weapon is a dropped item, it will deal half damage. For example, a max 6-28 axe will have a base damage range of 3-14 when you do not meet the requirement.

Note that any mods on the weapon will still have their stated effect. Using a sword with a max fortitude mod will not give you any less health if the sword's requirement is not met.

Certain attributes (such as Hammer Mastery) increase the damage dealt using the appropriate weapon type as an inherent effect.

[edit] See also

• All weapons
• Upgrade component
• Weapon bonus
• Inscription
• Weaponsmith
• Weapon skins for PvP characters
• Requirement