Guild Wars 2

INTRODUCTION:
Sometime ago i’ve changed my build from a standard Phantasms build to this one. It works extremely well in 1-1 and 1-2 situations even against thiefs in WvW due to the fact the generally kill themselves. I soon after saw the potential of this build and tried it in sPvP and it worked extremelly well!

THE BUILD
The link the build follows (updated as of 15/10/2013):
Thorns of the Rose Build

HOW THE BUILD WORKS
This build relies on the opponent attacks to actually kill him. With a combination of stealth (Decoy, Mass invisibility) and Daze (Chaos Storm, Diversion & Counter Blade) we maximize the amount of Boons, including Aegis (Block) which grants Retaliation! The Block is also done by Scepter(2) and Sword(4) skills.

It is intended to battle as near as possible to the opponent, to make the block mechanic effective with the Scepter – Block/Torment and with the Sword – Block/Spike Damage. Activating the Chaos Storm while being near, grants a lot of buffs, making the Mesmer a deadly trap without the opponent knowing (retaliation, might, etc…).

Finally the Mass invisibility (small cd) with the Lyssa Runes(6), gives a GTFO there if the battlefield is becoming to heavy, giving Mesmer all the boons, and stealth (which grants him even more buffs). This also, makes all the clones and Phantasms stealthed for a Stealthed Shatter!

The build keywords are: Block, Retaliation, Aegis, Stun, Stealth!

FIELDS OF APPLICATION
This build is made particularly for all player vs player interaction (both sPvP and WvW). Although the Mesmer lacks the speed in the WvW counterpart, which grants the opponents a window of opportunity to flee!
This Build works poorly in PvE due to the Enemies slow attack speed works badly with the block mechanic!

TO SUM UP:
Pros:
– Very Strong against heavy burst damage.
– Average Spike Damage;
– Very Good in Duels;
– Very Good in Teamfights;
– Teamsupport (Chaos Storm – Buffs/Might);
– Safe Stomps;

Cons:
– Weak against heavy condition builds.
– Slow Speed;

VARIATIONS
The absolute mandatory utility skill is Decoy. The others may vary depending on the situation. More C.Removal, More boons, More defense, etc… Try it as it suits you better

Test it out, and tell me out it goes.

/cheers

EDIT: 15/10/2013 – Small trait and Sigils modification due to past updates!

I love Melee-ranged builds. I’ll be trying this out with sword-sword / staff, probably with 10/30/30/0/0 for Furious Interruption.

For moar ret you might take Mimic and Confusing Cry (rather than 10 in Inspiration).

Chaos Archangel.5071:

I love Melee-ranged builds. I’ll be trying this out with sword-sword / staff, probably with 10/30/30/0/0 for Furious Interruption.

Using a Sword-Sword Combo is neglecting 2 of the biggest assets of this build:
- Illusionary Counter → Apply Torment;
- Confusing Images!

Furious interruptions although a great trait, it wouldn’t benefit this particular build. This build is a counter attack build, so while we wait for an attack, the quickness has passed.

Helios.3598:

For moar ret you might take Mimic and Confusing Cry (rather than 10 in Inspiration).

Those 10 points in inspiration are the ones i’ve been changing. To be fair, i’ve already done that on my ingame trait scheme, but i’ve changed it, as this build is not a condition based, although it may seem

Thanks both for reading. Try it out

/Cheers

Build Updated with minor changes (traits and sigils)

Ooh, this is interesting. I’ve been playing a 20/20/30 GS/sword+sword interrupt build in sPvP for a few days and it’s a lot of fun, but I’ll definitely give this a shot. I’ll probably go with Mimic+Blink+Thievery for even more blocking, with Manip cd instead of DiM and keeping CI over PU since there’s not much stealth left, but playing block+retal heavy sounds like a lot of fun!

Keeping the 10 in Illusions makes sense to me though as the 5 for Retal on phantasms is useful, and 5 more points anywhere else don’t make too much sense except 15 Dom for vuln spiking – I feel a condi cleanse is worth more than that these days.

And more good news for this: scepter skills 2 and 3 get their cd reduced tomorrow!

I left the Mimic out of the equation, because i literally trow myself into melee range, facing melee weapons preferable.

DiM is a quick WvW getaway off cliffs. Can be replaced thou.

Prismatic Understanding is really one of key aspects of this builds! It’s combo with M.I. and Decoy are outstanding to the survival in melee range! Also M.I due to it’s small cooldown works very well with rune6 effect!

Mimic is awesome in melee range! You can even catch your own staff attack to turn it on and then you have four seconds of free blocking. And yeah, PU is great, but if I use Moa and Mimic instead of the stealth skills it won’t be much use to me.

I’d run it your way in WvW where escapes and disengages are much more valuable; in sPvP, fighting over a point, stealth can actually be counterproductive.

This build looks very interesting, indeed. However, would you happen to be able to upload a video or two of it in action?

Thank you in advanced.

~Connor.1849

You don’t really have any chase tools, so you’re not going to be killing anyone who’s smart enough to back off once they start taking too much damage. Seems decent for holding a point, but only against one or two opponents…

Also, heavy condition builds are everywhere at the moment, so that’s not really a good thing to be weak against.