Guild Wars 2

So while trying to come up with a build that would work I ended up tinkering with both Natsu Dragneel’s “Blackwater” PU build and the hybrid designed by Blackdevil. I wasn’t sure which would suit me best and I wanted to experiment with both to learn how they worked. Realizing they weren’t all that different I came up with this “convertible” build.

All the credit goes to Natsu and Blackdevil for actually developing the builds. This is just my way of combining them. I didn’t want to derail their threads.

The defensive build is the basic Blackwater: 20/20/30/0/0. I use rabid armor, weapons and trinkets (though my rings are currently carrion as rabid rings are pricey for a newbie.) I use Signet of Domination for the extra condition damage and the handy stun.

I plan to use this for more defensive situations such as scouting in WvW or moving overland through dangerous open areas in PvE. In WvW I sometimes swap Bountiful Interruption for Descent into Madness, a handy trait there..

To “put the top down”:

- I swap the rapid torch, scepter and staff for berserker GS, pistol and sword.
- I swap out the rabid/carrion trinkets for berserker versions.
- I change Cleansing Conflagration to either Empowered Illusions or Greatsword Training.
- I change Chaotic Dampening to Bountiful Interruption.
- I swap Signet of Domination for Mantra of Resolve.

This setup should be better for straight PvE and for zerg-running in WvW.

I also have a similar setup for PvP, which is even easier to swap around. I have mostly used it in duels so far and it’s fun to change it on the fly. Especially in rematches. Yesterday I fought one warrior with the offensive build and he finished me quickly; with the defensive version we couldn’t kill each other. (I have yet to find any mesmer build I can actually reliably kill good warriors with at my current low skill level.)

Anyway, I don’t have a great deal of experience so far but they seem promising. I’m looking forward to giving each of these setups a solid workout. Comments from you more experienced folks are of course most welcomed.

Reply from Blackdevil’s thread…

Bunda.2691:

I’ve settled on a 20/20/30 Greatsword & Sword/Torch hybrid and love it. Zerker armor, Rabid trinkets w Zerker (Ruby) jewls. Zerker GS and Rabid Sword/Torch. It uses the standard Blackwater build but adds a ton of CC and power damage (and retains decent condition/bleed pressure). I find too that people are unused to it and unprepared for the damage spike of iZerker + blurred frenzy + mind wrack. Plus the GS gives good might stacking and chasing.

Also, use the 20 in Domination on the Torch, not the Greatsword. Condi clearing plus more invis is invaluable.

That looks interesting indeed. My setup makes it pretty easy to “mix and match” in this way. I’ll have to try that out, especially when condition pressure is heavy.