Guild Wars 2

I allways sticked to cheap and good ruby orbs, but I guess those times are finally over! So after the rune rework, what runes do you prefer? What are the best runes to go in general?

I am mainly talking about PvE however, I would also like to hear WvW and PvP stuff. Just write what section you are talking about.

Personally (PvE) I would go for the Rune of the Strength, since they simple seem to outclass everything else. I play with sigil of battle, so it will grant me due the huge might dura increase 9 instead of 6 stacks permamight. I’d really like that. Also 7% more damage, permanently, seems superior and far better than scholar.

But how about precision, ferocity and reflection?

greez

Yeah, strength runes are OP atm. There are decent alternatives though: pack runes for fury and swiftness + swiftness duration, something that mesmers normally lack ; traveller runes are also nice for +boon duration and movement speed bonus.

Traveler’s, good all around set and the move speed bonus is pretty much a necessity for the class.

Strength is nice with battle, I must admit.

Scholar still is probably going to be useful.

I think strength and scholar are on the same level now

Well I have to say traveler seems not that useful anymore. You can simply carry a focus around and use any rune with speed dura for a perma speed. Pack, Centaur, they both seem more useful to me.

So i’ll probably go for strength.

Xyonon.3987:

Well I have to say traveler seems not that useful anymore. You can simply carry a focus around and use any rune with speed dura for a perma speed. Pack, Centaur, they both seem more useful to me.

So i’ll probably go for strength.

… how? Traveler runes barely changed with the update.

If you can stay most of the time above 90% health, then scholar is still the best, but yeah Strength became a bit more interesting with this patch, especially for situations like soloing (and maybe pugging), but regarding the phantasm, Scholar is better than Strength if they are not affected by the damage bonus

Depends on the build.

PvP, if you are phtantasms get divinity, mesmer runes for lockdown, not sure about the other specs.

Any power based build you want strength runes, the new hotness.

Also in parties without an ele, having a mes in strength runes + sigils and battle sigil could potentially add a lot of dps to the group by transferring it via inspiration signet, shouldn’t be too hard to rack up 13 stacks to give everyone max.

medohgeuh.4650:

Traveler’s, good all around set and the move speed bonus is pretty much a necessity for the class.

I only see this really useful if you are zerg surfing WvWvW, mesmer in combat mobility is amazing… its just getting to the combat that sucks lol.

medohgeuh.4650:

Xyonon.3987:

Well I have to say traveler seems not that useful anymore. You can simply carry a focus around and use any rune with speed dura for a perma speed. Pack, Centaur, they both seem more useful to me.

So i’ll probably go for strength.

… how? Traveler runes barely changed with the update.

Yes, but all others got buffed.

Jeremlloyd.6837:

If you can stay most of the time above 90% health, then scholar is still the best, but yeah Strength became a bit more interesting with this patch, especially for situations like soloing (and maybe pugging), but regarding the phantasm, Scholar is better than Strength if they are not affected by the damage bonus

Scholar

• +175 power
• 100 Ferocity (6.7% crit dmg)
• +10% damage while health is above 90%.

Strength

• +175 Power
• +45% Might Duration
• 25% chance when struck to gain might for 10s. (Cooldown: 5s)
• +7%% damage while under the effects of might.

And … your REALLY prefer scholar!?

Well in an organized group, it’s still better. Tbh I rarely go under 90% health in a guild group. And I suppose the Might Duration is from the might you provide, not the might provided by others, and since you have no way to provide might (except with sigil of battle / strength), it’s pretty pointless.

But for pugging or for beginner, I agree Strength is better than Scholar

I always wanted Travelers for my PvP build but I actually really like the improvement they made to the Centaur Runes (-50% Cripple duration). So I’d probably stick with them. Besides that, Runes of Strengths appear to be extremly powerful when combined with Sigils which also grant Might (either on swap or on crit). I also liked the changes to some of the runes which apply Fury. It could be a cheaper alternative to Runes of Strengths.

In PvE, though… Probably still Scholar if you’re min-maxing.

After playing with both yesterday, I will go with Strength with Sigil of battle on both weapons, you have almost perma Might up staking up to 12 I saw yesterday. With Scholar, as good as it is, you cannot guaranty to be at over 90%hp, and once you are below that, you lose a lot of dps.

I ran with something like this (see below) and the damage was just stupid once the might stack was up, moving from mobs to mobs.

I guess it a case of will you go with instant dps against build up/rolling dps.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vgEQRAsa8NAA-zAhAkYgICQqAuyLiGLA-e

Never use ruby orbs. 2% crit dmg turned into 2 ferocity

After crunching a few numbers on the new stuff, Runes of Strength + Sigil of battle/strength are looking awesome if you don’t have a group that can stack might. If your group can stack moderate might, rune of strength + sigil of battle still seems worth it. If you’re in an amazing group then rune of scholar is the obvious choice.

For stacking sigils, put one on your underwater weapon. Even if you remove the land weapon, you still keep the stacks cause the underwater saves it. I’ve always picked sigil of perception before because of reflects not being affected by mesmer power. However, it’s a tougher decision now since crit damage has been nerfed a lot. Since the warden seems to be getting buggier, I’m actually really tempted to swap to bloodlust since most of our damage is going to come from the mesmer. Sigil of accuracy > force unless you’re in a group with perma fury/spotter/banner of D.

I’m going to try a 6/6/0/0/2 build when I get in game. Since the warden is bugged to not reflect, no use traiting it. Triple charges on mantras will help with upkeep on 4% more damage and give a bit more group utility. Will lose a lot of reflect damage but personal numbers will be nice. A lot more vulnerability potential as well. I was really kittened off last night when I saw all the bugs but after thinking for a bit, this build might keep me playing my mesmer on occasion instead of swapping to full time ele/engineer.

Smirgel.9460:

Yeah, strength runes are OP atm. There are decent alternatives though: pack runes for fury and swiftness + swiftness duration, something that mesmers normally lack ; traveller runes are also nice for +boon duration and movement speed bonus.

Centaur + Mantra of Recovery is nearly 100% up-time on swiftness for 1/100th of the cost of Traveler Runes.

Pack can be fun esp. if you are running in groups a lot.

Sigil of Speed seems to be 100% uptime on swiftness for the price of one sigil on your primary weapon set.

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

Since the warden is bugged to not reflect, no use traiting it.

Tested, reflects, your argument is invalid.

Esplen.3940:

Sigil of Speed seems to be 100% uptime on swiftness for the price of one sigil on your primary weapon set.

Sigil of Speed actually has a ton of potential. Not only should ti be mandatory for leveling (on any character, but especially mesmers), but I’m seriously debating using this sigil and swapping out my travelers sets for something like Hoelbrak, Strength, or something else offensive.

Alternatively, you can use the sigil on an other weapon to stack 2min of swiftness and then swap, but that’s of course annoying.

Xyonon.3987:

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

Since the warden is bugged to not reflect, no use traiting it.

Tested, reflects, your argument is invalid.

Was not the best of my sentences.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Phantasmal-Warden-Is-Even-More-Bugged/first#post3909008

What I meant is that it’s buggier than before. If it doesn’t consistently reflect, then it’s less consistent damage. Why trait for less consistent damage when I can trait for a guarantee? Crit damage has also been nerfed so reflects make up less of our total dps. So this patch is hitting the warden trait 2 fold. There are a few places I will retrait but I plan on swapping to a build that doesn’t rely on a skill not bugging out. The warden will still protect the party assuming it attacks though. So I won’t drop the focus, just not trait it.

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

Never use ruby orbs. 2% crit dmg turned into 2 ferocity

Ruby orbs are:
+20 Power
+14 Ferocity
+14 Precision

boredinbc.2786:

Smirgel.9460:

Yeah, strength runes are OP atm. There are decent alternatives though: pack runes for fury and swiftness + swiftness duration, something that mesmers normally lack ; traveller runes are also nice for +boon duration and movement speed bonus.

Centaur + Mantra of Recovery is nearly 100% up-time on swiftness for 1/100th of the cost of Traveler Runes.

Pack can be fun esp. if you are running in groups a lot.

You can also use an exotic endless Cold Potion along with Centaur runes to get 100% swiftness.

Xavi.6591:

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

Never use ruby orbs. 2% crit dmg turned into 2 ferocity

Ruby orbs are:
+20 Power
+14 Ferocity
+14 Precision

The wiki’s been fixed now. I’m at school so I’m at the mercy of it with theory crafting. Even then, the runes of strength to ruby orbs is still a 2-9% loss in damage for phantasms/reflects/stabbing. If you use sigil of strength it falls behind even more (15-25% less). So I would still go with don’t use ruby orbs.

Plaing with Strength now and I’m very happy with my desicion. However, since I’ve got now “only” 50% crit chance, maybe some kitten rings would be better? What do you mean?

edit: just noticed that “assassination” means “kittenination” in forum language …

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

Sigil of accuracy > force unless you’re in a group with perma fury/spotter/banner of D.

Any math for this?

on 6/6/0/0/2 and 6/4/0/0/4 builds between force and accuracy which one is better?

Also what food will you use after patch? power/ferocity, precison/ferocity or power/precision?

Thx

You want scholar runes on mesmer. Berserker’s fine for groups, you want assassin’s for solo or for pugs if you think they’re not capable of giving the appropriate crit chance buffs (disc banner, fury, spotter).

Strength runes are a waste of time on mes, plus they’re stuuuuuuuuuuuupidely overpriced and scholar is a lot cheaper.

Solo warrior on the other hand …. I have a 5:26 Lupicus solo where I basically stuck at 20+ might basically the entire fight because of that ungodly might duration. Strength runes is just for classes who are responsible for stacking might – so eles – and if a warrior is using longbow fire field, you’ll get 29s might blasts in to it if they’re using strength runes. Engis are pretty legit might stackers too, so strength is good for them. I’m guessing it has a lot of WvW application too because the might duration is absolutely insane.

But for mesmer … I’d honestly say if you wanted a set you never had to change, assassin’s + scholar would be fine. It means in groups you could just stack bloodlust to make up for the power loss if the group was good at giving you buffs since in berserker + scholar you’d just stack perception so you basically get the same results – plus the assassin’s you can use in pugs just fine.

Also what food will you use after patch? power/ferocity, precison/ferocity or power/precision?

Orrian truffle (100 power/70 prec), the 100 precision butternut, or (if you can afford it) – seaweed salad. Seaweed salad is busted.

hendo.1940:

Seaweed salad is busted.

Does this work over blurred frenzy that stick you on place during channeling?

Moreover i’m full ascendent zerk on good stacking might and fury\banner party (no ranger no spotter xD) but after patch i cant really chose between sigil of accuracy (now it’s 7%) and force.

I can’t use both cause i’m sigil of energy addicted :P

I stack bloodlust.

For Sigil, if you run Assassin on weapon and armor, you will need Sigil of Force, and if you run full Zerk, you will need Sigil of Accuracy. I’m doing some maths atm to decide which armor set to use and so far it seems like Full Assassin on weapons and armor seems to be the way to go. But I need some more testing before deciding to completely change my ascended zerker armor.

The changes are:
Full zerk with sigil of accuracy have the same crit chance as Full Assassin on weapon + armor.
So Full zerk + Sigil of Accuracy = 148 more power and Full Assassin is 148 less power but have Sigil of Force so 5% damage modifier

Jeremlloyd.6837:

For Sigil, if you run Assassin on weapon and armor, you will need Sigil of Force, and if you run full Zerk, you will need Sigil of Accuracy. I’m doing some maths atm to decide which armor set to use and so far it seems like Full Assassin on weapons and armor seems to be the way to go. But I need some more testing before deciding to completely change my ascended zerker armor.

The changes are:
Full zerk with sigil of accuracy have the same crit chance as Full Assassin on weapon + armor.
So Full zerk + Sigil of Accuracy = 148 more power and Full Assassin is 148 less power but have Sigil of Force so 5% damage modifier

Thx!

I want to point out just a thing: if you plan to do a zerk\assassin gear mix and you have already full asc zerk armor i suggest to take assassin pieces on back, ring, neck, accessory and weapons cause patch has normalized items stat effort and armor is the more expensive to change.

Also which food will you take in consideration in your calculation?

Well I didn’t see any Assassin’s Ascended Ring/Back/Neck and Accessory.

Concerning the food, I took into account the 10% vs foe for potions and I tryed the following food: 100 Prec / 70 Ferocity – 100 Power / 70 Ferocity – 100 Power / 70 Precision. But since we might be using the 10% more damage while moving food now, I tried without food as well. I can’t say what’s the best now since I didn’t finish all my testing but I think the 100 Power + 70 Ferocity or 10% dmg while moving will be the way to go for Assassin’s weapon and armor

Jeremlloyd.6837:

Well I didn’t see any Assassin’s Ascended Ring/Back/Neck and Accessory.

Concerning the food, I took into account the 10% vs foe for potions and I tryed the following food: 100 Prec / 70 Ferocity – 100 Power / 70 Ferocity – 100 Power / 70 Precision. But since we might be using the 10% more damage while moving food now, I tried without food as well. I can’t say what’s the best now since I didn’t finish all my testing but I think the 100 Power + 70 Ferocity or 10% dmg while moving will be the way to go for Assassin’s weapon and armor

Ah sorry, didnt noticed assassin jewelry isnt aviable :/

Anyway if the difference between full zerk and assassin’s weapons+armor is that assasin got 148 precision and the best food on that setup is 100 power 70 ferocity then isnt better going for just assassin weapon (54 prec compare to full zerk) and then take 100 prec 70 ferocity food?

hendo.1940:

Strength runes are a waste of time on mes, plus they’re stuuuuuuuuuuuupidely overpriced and scholar is a lot cheaper.

Sigil of battle/strength+runes of strength has kept me at around 15-20 might in fights. For groups that are terrible at stacking might, this is much better for phantasms which do about 25% more damage. My sword attacks are doing a bit more with the bonus power than 2 × 1.1 sigils+scholars. Signet of inspiration can then also buff your group a ton. The 1 problem is that might doesn’t affect reflects but those are situational. Warden reflects aren’t affected by sigil modifiers anyways.

For groups with average might stacking, sigil of battle/runes of strength and 1 × 1.1 sigil is still looking pretty good. If it isn’t nighttime/you don’t have a slaying sigil, the runes of strength+battle are still better than scholars for auto attacks and phantasms.

For organized/ideal groups scholars is of course better. If you’re going for max reflects then strength+battle is also not the way to go. That’s why I have 6 swords and a few sets of armor.

In the above stuff I assumed that scholars is always active so rune of strength is potentially more potent than what I stated. Personally, I would prefer a pug mesmer of uncertain skill with runes of strength. Again, it’s not ideal in ideal conditions but it’s the next best thing that is ideal in pug conditions.

On a side note, has anyone found steady weapons or were those removed? I want to test stuff =(.

Since we’re talking about sigils, here’s a question: given the changes to sigil of air, at what point does it surpass sigil of battle for single-target dps (let’s assume battle is giving 6 stacks of perma-might)?

Actually sigil of air and fire are both worthless now since they don’t crit anymore. I was in orr tonight, testing tons of sigils and their stats and I was so negative surprised by air and fire that I just salvaged my weapons to sell them! o.O

• Sigil of Fire hits every ~6-7 sec (5sec cd but lets be realistic) for 600 uncritable damage. It hits 5 targets still.
• Sigil of Air hits every ~4-5 sec for 800 uncritable damage. It hits ONE target only.
• Sigil of Battle grants 6 stacks perma might, wich results into 210 power wich is about 7.5%-10% more damage for YOU AND YOUR PHANTS (depending on solo or party ofc). One sword swing that crits for 1500 unbuffed wich hits for 10% more is 150 dmg. One rotation of the sword outdamages those sigils already and if you cleave even ONE SWING will be enough.
• Sigil of Frailty grants every 2-3 sec (it’s on hit, not on crit like air n’ fire) 10 sec 1 stack vulnerability. If you solo it’s not very much but even in a bad party the dps is bout 30’000 and over 10 sec 1% more dmg results into a 10 sec “DoT” that hits for 3000 damage. Soloing your sword dps will be like 2k, wich is over 10 sec 20k where 1% is 200. Much theory but even vulnerbility stacking is much better than air or fire in a party.

In the end I’ve chosen the Rune of Strength wich grants me 9 stack permamight with Sigil of Battle wich results in 315 power. ANY other sigil is a joke compared to this.

Air and Fire? Completly overrated and total trash in my opinion. TP hype keeping them high but they are worthless.

Well you’re talking about pugs I guess, then I agree strength rune + battle sigil is good, but to be fair I don’t pug so it’s worthless for me

I’m going to toss in Superior Rune of the Pack as a budget alternative.

(1): +25 Power
(2): +10% Swiftness Duration
(3): +50 Power
(4): 25% chance when struck to grant nearby allies Might, Fury and Swiftness for 10s. (Cooldown: 20s)
(5): +100 Power
(6): +20% Swiftness Duration; +125 Precision

We all know that Mesmers really appreciate a little extra Swiftness and the bonus Might and Fury are easy to procc in most encounters. It also counts for the entire party, possibly even for your Phantasms. The 125 Precision is nice too and applies to them as well.

Runes: Traveler or hoelbrak/melandru, depending on situation.

Sigils: Energy on everything. Second I’m torn between generosity, fire or battle…

Dee Jay.2460:

I’m going to toss in Superior Rune of the Pack as a budget alternative.

(1): +25 Power
(2): +10% Swiftness Duration
(3): +50 Power
(4): 25% chance when struck to grant nearby allies Might, Fury and Swiftness for 10s. (Cooldown: 20s)
(5): +100 Power
(6): +20% Swiftness Duration; +125 Precision

We all know that Mesmers really appreciate a little extra Swiftness and the bonus Might and Fury are easy to procc in most encounters. It also counts for the entire party, possibly even for your Phantasms. The 125 Precision is nice too and applies to them as well.

I also told a friend of mine to do that. They seem the next good cheaper version of the 60g rune of strength. 175 power and 6% crit chance alone are pretty ok. I just can tell you they are pretty ok for open world swiftness aswell general pve for a good mesmer in pugs and not elitism play.

Curunen.8729:

I’m torn between generosity, fire or battle…

Depends on your condi cleanse but I’d say:
battle > generosity > doom > water > karka slaying > no sigil at all > fire.
:o

Xyonon.3987:

• Sigil of Battle grants 6 stacks perma might, wich results into 210 power wich is about 7.5%-10% more damage for YOU AND YOUR PHANTS

How are might stacks on you (the mesmer) giving more phantasm damage? They have their own boons and only inherit base stats as far as I know.

Jackums.3496:

calavel.6249:

Xyonon.3987:

• Sigil of Battle grants 6 stacks perma might, wich results into 210 power wich is about 7.5%-10% more damage for YOU AND YOUR PHANTS

How are might stacks on you (the mesmer) giving more phantasm damage? They have their own boons and only inherit base stats as far as I know.

They inherit the Mesmer’s stats, including any additional stats gained from might, sigils, runes, etc. If the stat boost shows in your Hero panel, then they benefit from it.

Almost right. They inherit basic stats, not base stats. This means that secondary stats such as crit chance are not inherited, so fury on you doesn’t affect the phants, but might does.

Xyonon.3987:

Curunen.8729:

I’m torn between generosity, fire or battle…

Depends on your condi cleanse but I’d say:
battle > generosity > doom > water > karka slaying > no sigil at all > fire.
:o

Is fire really that bad? I never thought it crit anyway, so it just seems to have had an effective reduction in cooldown and lower damage?

I currently am using lyssa since it works very nicely with my build and I REALLY need condi cleanse.. I might use hoelbrak in the future but I am still testing it.

Curunen.8729:

Xyonon.3987:

Curunen.8729:

I’m torn between generosity, fire or battle…

Depends on your condi cleanse but I’d say:
battle > generosity > doom > water > karka slaying > no sigil at all > fire.
:o

Is fire really that bad? I never thought it crit anyway, so it just seems to have had an effective reduction in cooldown and lower damage?

Well it deals about 600-800 dmg … every 6-7 sec. I guess you know what I mean right?

Ok now I am really confused.

Phantasms benefit from power, precision, vit, tough, ferocity and might but they don’t benefit from fury on the mesmer, sigils on hit effects or +% damage from runes?

Levetty.1279:

Ok now I am really confused.

Phantasms benefit from power, precision, vit, tough, ferocity and might but they don’t benefit from fury on the mesmer, sigils on hit effects or +% damage from runes?

Illusions take your basic stats. They do not take secondary modifiers.

Fury adds % crit chance. Is that a basic stat? No. The basic stat is precision.

Illusions do not use your sigils. They do not use sigils at all, because it would be broken.

Illusions do not use your runes. They do not use runes at all, because it would be broken.

Some simple yes and no without the attitude would be nice.

How would them using sigils be broken?

Levetty.1279:

Some simple yes and no without the attitude would be nice.

How would them using sigils be broken?

A recent bug provides a good example

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Superior_Rune_of_the_Nightmare

Nightmare runes have 50% chance to proc 2s fear. CD 90s. If each clone had his own rune set (as was the case with the bug), then every second time a clone is struck he’s going to cause a 2s fear. And every newly spawned clone comes with a fresh set of nightmare runes with no CD.

As for attitude, don’t mind Pryo, he’s just caustic. Some say he’s made out of tin, and doesn’t have a heart. But so long as he’s kept well oiled he’s a pretty smooth guy.

Levetty.1279:

Some simple yes and no without the attitude would be nice.

How would them using sigils be broken?

Sigils have internal cooldowns to keep them more or less balanced. Imagine if you were able to proc a sigil like sigil of torment or air or fire multiple times rapidly. It would be incredibly overpowered, since the sigils are balanced around their cooldowns.

Illusions are separate entities. They don’t share the same ICDs as the mesmer, so if they were able to use the sigil procs, mesmers would be able to overload with on-crit and on-hit sigils.

On phants would actually be ok imo, to come up for the lack of modifier and weapon dmg transfers. Illusions however, my god no, that would be too much.

To make Pyros sentences a bit more clearly:

Illusions take your power, precision, ferocity, etc but will take their own crit chance and modifiers etc. This means might on you affects your illusions, might on illusions doesn’t affect them. Fury on you doesn’t affect illusions, fury on them does affect them.