Yes I am, good to see more mantra users.
It does not seem to be overly popular but you hit the nail on the head with a healing bonus.
Also using “cleric” titled gear.
My most mutable build so far is 0/20/30/20/0.
Lots of traits I can switch around in that.
The right side hotbar is 3 mantras, decoy and group stealth.
All the talks about null field/portals/moa/time warp are always foreign to me though reading the forums you would think all mesmers trait them, don’t use them here. I’ve tried them but I just like mantras better and stealth.
When I stealth people, it’s usually front line so that they know it’s time to pull back some, they usually get the hint. During that time I turn and instantly start refreshing mantras, in turn, healing all of us.
I probably rely on decoy too much tho because I find myself using it as a way out to push someone to death in enemy lines that keeps back peddling, almost dead. At some point I just swig my courage juice (pepsi), then chase them until I’m half dead relying on decoy to let me clean up conditions and recharge while moving back to my side or they are dead. Really depends on if the zerg will focus fire whether I need to duck and move or can stay on their side.
Sometimes I like to just use power spike (mantra of pain) until it needs recharging, then heal while going left and right in the group randomly healing people to keep our line solid and pushing forward. Doing that repeatedly you can watch the line slowly keep progressing toward the enemy. I’m essentially doing a 2k+ heal every 7 seconds while buffing my toughness by about 200, not shabby for the front line.
Fiddled around with the damage % buff with mantras in queue but I didn’t think I was doing enough damage to warrant it’s usage when I wanted maximum toughness because I’m not built for damage but defensive standing power. All my gear is green except for an orange scepter I got this week so it isn’t just gear taking over. I can solo near anyone, it’s only the rare players that eat me up with well timed interrupts and lucky crits. More of my solo matches end in standoffs so I’m not as weak at roaming solo as a pure dps would be. With stealth I can outrun some small groups although the zerg usually catches up with me, been thinking about those centaur runes but they are too expensive for me right now.
Once I’ve gone mantra, I can’t use anything else, it all feels so weak and lacking utility in comparison. I tried mantra because people talked down on them and I was convinced that on paper they showed potential. Since I played a healer most often in other games, healing my team taking trickle dmg fits my playstyle too. Forever an underdog cheerleader I suppose to try mantras though people downplay them.
Since I don’t rely on my pets as much for my playstyle, I don’t get as wound up about phantasm nerfs as others might. My pets are more fodder than the individuals leading this team or defining my output because I will blow them up in a second if I want an evade buff. I do think there is room for all playstyles tho, if someone wants to be super glass cannon, fine for me, they can do my damage while I take the stomp on the target.
