Guild Wars 2

since most of the theorycrafting people seem to hang around in the dungeon forums:
What is the best Rune for a Mesmer with a build centered around reflections and phantasms in dungeons? Is it scholar? I heard the 10% bonus won’t apply to phantasms

Ruby Orbs.

Ranger.

its true the 10% doesnt apply to illusions, but as long as you keep using autoattack and reflection the scholar rune is still best. Right now Ranger is actually a little better most of the time, but that’s because its bugged, so I refrain from using it personally. As far as sigils go, I’d say battle is the better choice for a phantasm mesmer.

Agreed, ranger is probably your best bet. The extra 5% damage is nice from scholar’s but the permanent 5% from ranger runes is just so reliable and precision is more important for reflects (difference between 165 power and precision is huge) which is the main reason I use them. I’d say eagle would be a good choice if/when ranger runes get fixed.

I’d just go with scholar, due to hitting >95% without ranger runes. Dependant on stacks and warrior buffs, though. Relying on a bugged rune is also a risky investment.

Ranger probably works better in pugs who can’t stack precision to save their life, but in an organsed group … ruby orbs or scholar runes.

My mesmer is about to hit 80. I figure I’ll probably do something like colesy’s build. Would it benefit me to get an Assassin armor set for when I want huge reflects?

Also, Bloodlust or Perception? Or both for different situations?

Unless you want to focus more on your phantasms (may or may not be the best way to go, idk); go scholar and perception. With 25 perception, Banner of discipline and fury you will hit 95% crit chance (this is under the assumption that you have 30 in dueling). And +100 precision food to that, and you hit 100%.

I don’t think Colesy’s build goes that deep into dueling, so you may have a bit less. However, what I wanted to check was whether or not Ranger runes are worth it. I would vote no. Solo? idk, idc.

To be honest, while I appreciate that the precision and crit damage from ruby orbs help reflects and phantasms, considering how unreliable phantasms actually are I’m starting to wonder whether it’s worth just going cookie cutter scholar runes and stacking damage modifiers so as opposed to using a stacking sigil (and swapping out for a slaying sigil at 25) and sigil of battle like I usually do. I mean scholar runes give … is it 75 extra power? And crit damage scales pretty terribly. If I go perception sigil then it makes up for the loss in precision too, I use it on my warrior as well since the base crit chance on 30/0/0/10/30 sucks.

colesy.8490:

Ranger probably works better in pugs who can’t stack precision to save their life, but in an organsed group … ruby orbs or scholar runes.

Thats just plain wrong. Even if you’re at 100% critchance without runes, ranger runes are still better than ruby orbs by roughly 2%. Only scenarions where ruby orbs are better than ranger rune are under the assumtion you are not using gear with power/crit damage as stats. Such as rabid.