I'm terribly excited about the sword changes. I've used a sword as much as possible since the first day I picked one up from Shaxx in D1 and I've even been playing my Titan more so I can use Stronghold just to have that extra edge. So my question is this- what is the function of guard types? The guard types are: Heavy Guard- high efficiency/ high defense Burst Guard- low efficiency/ high defense Swordmasters Guard- low efficiency/low defense Infinite Guard- very high efficiency/ balanced defense Balanced Guard- balanced efficiency/ balanced defense Enduring Guard- high efficiency/ low defense Knowing these perks, what is the function of guard types other than to make some swords terrible? They don't add or detract from any other stat or functionality of the sword, so really if it's not heavy guard or infinite guard, it's defense capability is trash. And that should matter. The stat deviation on swords is almost negligible when it comes to perk configurations. Much like mag and barrel and scope perks, we should have more variety in swords by making hilt and guard perks matter by providing differences in benefits. Let's take Burst Guard as an example. How could you make it competitive without nerfing heavy guard into the ground? It's a 'burst'. Maybe timing the block with a projectile creates a small AOE? The low efficiency would mean that you couldn't maintain the guard for long at all, so it's already a little balanced. It takes skill and positioning to be effective, but heavy guard still has its uses. What about Swordmasters Guard? Low efficiency and low defense doesn't really scream "MASTERY" to me. But what if it's the highest skill gap? Low efficiency and low defense for longer holds, yeah, not effective. But in the hands of someone who knows how to use it, maybe have a perfectly timed block that negates attack damage with a cooldown. Balanced Guard. Balance feels good. It's the sweet spot. Decent defense paired with a decent efficiency. Can't stand up indefinitely like heavy guard, can't negate all damage like swordmasters. But what it could do, is do what it does very well. And fast. An immediate uptime for blocking. The shortest animation for all guard types as a tradeoff for an imperfect defense. Blocking should be important. When you get your Dust Rock Blues godroll, you're not just looking at the last two perks. You want it all. You want the accurized rounds. You want the full choke. You want the whole damn package. With a range masterwork. So why do swords lack in that area? They have the potential to be one of the most adaptive and creative weapons in the game. Now that you mentioned masterworks... Why don't swords have masterworks? You have impact. And impact. And impact. That's plain lazy. I want the potential to increase the defense on a sword that's maybe a little short on it. Increase the reach of a swing for Gold Tusk. Or increase the sword energy cap or swing speed on my Deaths Razor. The potential I see nearly physically hurts me. And the best part of this all? It would create viable variety and add spice to gameplay in both PvE and PvP without touching the meta at all. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.