Guild Wars 2

Day after day I see a lack of PvE builds. Mesmers in PvE lack some diversity and are recently outclassed by guardians but I’ve come up with a fun build for PvE. There are 2 variants in the works too (one for PvP and another weapon alternative)

I give you mesmers with… auras!

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAW7cl0nhC0YpawVNQtGL9GkZAuQGPHRJCB6Ni9KA-TRBYABNu/AOKBDS9HS09AgyPSBE4ML-e

Unknown to most people Chaos armor is actually an aura. Thus getting the bonus of rune of the radiance which increases chaos armor duration by 33% which is 1 sec for both leap finishers and blast. Which gives an extra “pulse” for chaotic dampening trait, the boon portion and condition portion of the armor.

The weapons are Staff with Scepter/offhand sword. With this you have 2 leap finishers! Yes 2. Again Iswordsman is a leap finisher itself. When summoned it will also give you chaos armor.

The goal is to rotate between Glamours and your leap finishers. If done correctly you should have almost near 100% up time on chaos armor. Yup 100% thanks to the trait Chaotic dampening. Now this was nerfed and I discovered why. Because the CDR was insane when stacking with glamours but even with the nerf you can still get a high up time on Chaos armor. In addition because of the high up time on chaos armor you will get 10-12 sec CD on chaos storm.

The opening is pretty simple and then from there you use your judgement on what to use next.

Chaos storm – leap – filler – Chaos armor (on experation) – Leap – swap – Iswordsman at the same time use Feedback and make sure you are standing in it – filler – filler – swap – Chaos storm (or glamour) – leap and you take it from there. Between 3 glamours, chaotic dampening and your leap finishers you should have almost 100% up time on chaos armor. Runes of radiance further increase the duration by 1 sec (which will give you an extra pulse) and add a light aura to the mix for yourself.

This is a hybrid build. It’s more heavily focused on support rather than pure damage. For sigils it’s a toss up between the might sigils and healing sigils. Personally I take both healing sigils (heal on hit and swap) because in a group setting you won’t personally need to bring more than 10 stacks of might before hitting the cap from everyone elses might.

What you bring:

Glamours
Resistance boon
Super speed
Quickness
Slow
10-12 sec CDs on chaos storm
Near perma Chaos armor
9-12 stacks of might (more depending on your sigils)
Boon sharing (access to every boon in the game)
Stability
Group healing
22k health
INSANE condition crushing (from resistance, null field and menders purity trait)
AoE distortion

Even though it’s support it still dishes some decent damage. With the condition changes and boss crit changes you should have no problems in the damage department.

Here is a MH sword/focus variant. It’s less safe with less might boons but brings reflect from focus and a shorter CD leap.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAW8dl0nhC0YpawVNQtGL4Gk5CCxIPbxJWRZASwvA-TRBYABNu/AOKBDS9HS0xAgyPSBE4ML-e

This is an MH sword/pistol variant. This loses the reflect but you gain additional single target damage with the bleeds and a stun.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAW8al0nhC0YpawVNQtGL5GkZC+QIPXRLSRZAOQvA-TRBYABNu/AOKBDS9HS0xAgyPSBE4ML-e

Here is a PvP variant which drops crit for increased condition output with torment and drops inspiration for portal which can be used as a pseudo stun break (which is also a glamour and will give resistance and super speed to everyone near)

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAW7clknha1YpawVNQtGL9GkZAuQGP3QJCB6r74KA-TpwVAAw+DeZAA

When those runes were released, I did a test with ele on-aura traits to see if chaos armor procced them when they blasted/leaped through a field. It didn’t. Have you actually gotten the runes and tested this theory?

Fay.2357:

When those runes were released, I did a test with ele on-aura traits to see if chaos armor procced them when they blasted/leaped through a field. It didn’t. Have you actually gotten the runes and tested this theory?

They seemed to work unless I’m reading tool tips wrong. Wiki says they also effect chaos armor. I also used this build without the runes. The runes don’t make or break the build, chaotic dampening does

zexion.5842:

Fay.2357:

When those runes were released, I did a test with ele on-aura traits to see if chaos armor procced them when they blasted/leaped through a field. It didn’t. Have you actually gotten the runes and tested this theory?

They seemed to work unless I’m reading tool tips wrong. Wiki says they also effect chaos armor

Seemed to work? If you have the runes, this is a very simple test: Apply chaos armor —> did you receive swiftness?

Fay.2357:

zexion.5842:

Fay.2357:

When those runes were released, I did a test with ele on-aura traits to see if chaos armor procced them when they blasted/leaped through a field. It didn’t. Have you actually gotten the runes and tested this theory?

They seemed to work unless I’m reading tool tips wrong. Wiki says they also effect chaos armor

Seemed to work? If you have the runes, this is a very simple test: Apply chaos armor —> did you receive swiftness?

Well I have inspiration on so I never payed attention but yes and

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Superior_Rune_of_Radiance

The bonuses from this rune also apply to Chaos Armor.

These runes were also released before the rune revamp and was most likely fixed then.

Not sure about PvE but I was using a glamour based dueling build with Radiance runes pre-6/23 patch. Can confirm that the duration bonus works with chaos armor. You’ll see a lot more utility and synergy for large-scale WvW applications though.

Huh. 100% Chaos Armour uptime sounds pretty awesome, but I’m not sure where this really fits in the current PvE meta. Seems like the build would actually be more useful for WvW support. Could have a place as a defender in Stronghold PvP, too.

expandas.7051:

Not sure about PvE but I was using a glamour based dueling build with Radiance runes pre-6/23 patch. Can confirm that the duration bonus works with chaos armor. You’ll see a lot more utility and synergy for large-scale WvW applications though.

In the PvE build you’ll be bringing additional support via boon sharing and some healing as well as the support glamours do and if someone blast finishers it they will also get chaos armor. At the cost of 80% crit chance and all your crit damage but you gain condition damage to off set the loss of crit damage.

You wouldn’t use this build or any variation of it in PvE at all, ever. It would be an absolutely horrific choice.

PvP/WvW however could definitely benefit from it. It’s a very interesting build for those game types.

I don’t see why not? Because you are not running full zerker?

zexion.5842:

I don’t see why not? Because you are not running full zerker?

That’s correct. You’re running a build that’s absolutely awful at doing damage, and that’s a huge no-no for PvE. There’s simply no reason to run a low damage build when you could run a high damage build that does everything a low damage build could ever possibly do.

Fay.2357:

zexion.5842:

I don’t see why not? Because you are not running full zerker?

That’s correct. You’re running a build that’s absolutely awful at doing damage, and that’s a huge no-no for PvE. There’s simply no reason to run a low damage build when you could run a high damage build that does everything a low damage build could ever possibly do.

First off it’s not a low damage build. 60% crit chance, 1200 condition damage and around 2100 power. The only thing it lacks is Crit damage.

Second off I linked a sword focus variant which you can switch for full zerker at the cost of support. Personally for me I’d rather run a bit of support than straight damage.

Straight damage is the current META because things die faster but it’s not required. Optimal =/= Required.

Which begs the question… Why not run zerk? Seems like it could work.

Edit: and.. Ninja’d. X.x zerk would increase your damage without taking away from your support. Seems like a win/win to me.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

Which begs the question… Why not run zerk? Seems like it could work.

I actually just adressed that. You can swap it if you want. Personally I just like more support and defenses (which is why I pick the healing sigils over the might sigils)

If healing power/cond/power existed it would be replacing vitality.

Additionally, though, is another basic problem. The concept of this build is support through stacking chaos armor and such. To do this, you’re sacrificing a high dps offhand weapon set for staff, which has essentially zero dps outside of the phantasm. You’re sacrificing a significant amount of damage stats and modifiers on your runes for longer duration on your chaos armor, which ultimately adds absolutely nothing to your team. Let me just go over the ‘What you bring’ section:

zexion.5842:

Glamours
Resistance boon
Super speed
Quickness
Slow
10-12 sec CDs on chaos storm
Near perma Chaos armor
9-12 stacks of might (more depending on your sigils)
Boon sharing (access to every boon in the game)
Stability
Group healing
22k health
INSANE condition crushing (from resistance, null field and menders purity trait)
AoE distortion

Ok, this is a decent amount of stuff, so lets take a closer look/

Glamours, resistance, superspeed, quickness, slow, boon sharing, group healing, condition crushing, stability, and aoe distortion are all easily available in standard meta PvE builds. There is no need to run this sort of odd build to get those.

10-12 second CD on chaos storm (which is actually absolutely false. Your minimum cooldown with permanent chaos armor is 20.5 seconds) is more or less meaningless, since you’re sacrificing massively stronger damage from sword cleaving and an offhand phantasm to get that lower storm cooldown.

Near perma chaos armor is meaningless for PvE.

9-12 stacks of might is pointless for PvE. If you have an even halfway decent ele, or even a horrid warrior that took phalanx strength and knows how to faceroll on a greatsword, the entire party will be at 25 might permanently.

Boon sharing is nice and all, but most of what you’re sharing isn’t all that necessary. It’s nice to be able to share protection and aegis, but ultimately you can share those boons when you get them from your party, and they’ll be longer duration than what you can apply personally anyway.

And lastly, 22k hp is meaningless for PvE.

So altogether, this build brings absolutely nothing of interest to a PvE group that a normal PvE meta build couldn’t already do, but sacrifices a very significant amount of damage to do so. Don’t run this build in PvE.

WvW, as I already mentioned, could see this build having some very interesting uses, and I’d love to see it in action (and would love to see the runes added to PvP so we could use it there too).

I’ll explain my thought process a bit more since I was a bit too eager about getting the build out rather than writing a detailed post.

I’m always a healer in other MMOs now what I was doing here was not looking for a healer role but a support role. Now full support is never needed, not in this current game design but a hybrid of sorts would be viable especially in chaotic situations.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAW7cl0nhC0YpawVNQtGL9GkZAuQGPHRJCB6Ni9KA-TxxGABAcRAke/h+UCm7TAwQ1fST3TRK/IFQgzsA-e

When first looking for a support style build for my main (which is mesmer) I first looked at just boon sharing in general but when experimenting with builds I felt a disconnect between traits. Eventually I ended up trying temportal enchanter and chaotic dampening a long with combo field chaos armors.

And it worked. I got near 100% chaos armor with just 2 leap finishers. After that I needed to decide what to do next. A phantasm build wouldn’t work, so I opted for shatter. Which I automatically went to chaos and illusions and everything melded together.

Malicious sorcery meant high up time on clones via scepter auto attack which activates compounding power and illusionary defense for more damage and defense. Shattering gives stability and might and with the condition changes and confusion changes I could drop crit damage for a different source of damage – conditions.

The toughest line to pick was Inspiration and ended up going more support with restorative mantras, restorative illusions and healing prism. Healing mantra has only a 10 sec CD making optimal use of menders purity (10 sec cd aoe cleanse) and a additional heal from charging it AND healing allies was a done deal, since I was going shatter restorative illusions was a done deal which also triggers healing prism which is more healing combined with sigil of water and renewal that’s even more healing. (I also debated on the might on crit and swap sigils but opted out because in a group setting most likely you will hit the cap from your other party members)

Bountiful giving stability and more boons and chaotic dampening which is the heavy icing on the cake. This trait is giving near 100% up time on chaos armor AND 12 sec CD CHAOS STORMS (by the time you switch back to staff it’s up and ready for you). Which is only because of weapon swap (I can get it lower). Chaos storm offers huge support and having that ready whenever you swap back to staff is incredible.

I think the best trait though in this build is chaotic persistence. You will have tons of boons on you (you can get every boon by yourself but only for a brief moment) which increases both boon duration and cond duration increases your damage and support. Combined with fried golden dumplings the up time on this trait is even higher.

Everything just melded together and It satisfy my support needs but you can go full berserker if you want ( just drop scepter for sword) but it’s just counter to my thought process of making the build in the first place.

zexion.5842:

This trait is giving near 100% up time on chaos armor AND 12 sec CD CHAOS STORMS.

Again, no it’s not. 12.7s chaos storm cooldown was possible with the 5% trait. Now, the absolute minimum is 20.5s. You can do the math yourself if you want…

Edit: They also nerfed healing prism into the ground. You seem to be a little behind the times with this build, several things have gotten nerfed.

Edit 2: Malicious sorcery is also broken. It doesn’t increase attack speed at all, so it’s useless for you.

Fay.2357:

zexion.5842:

This trait is giving near 100% up time on chaos armor AND 12 sec CD CHAOS STORMS.

Again, no it’s not. 12.7s chaos storm cooldown was possible with the 5% trait. Now, the absolute minimum is 20.5s. You can do the math yourself if you want…

Edit: They also nerfed healing prism into the ground. You seem to be a little behind the times with this build, several things have gotten nerfed.

Edit 2: Malicious sorcery is also broken. It doesn’t increase attack speed at all, so it’s useless for you.

I wasn’t literally referring to getting it down to 12 seconds. I meant by the time you switch to scepter the CD will be at or around 12 seconds and by the time you switch back it’s ready.

Healing prism on it’s own is terrible. Combined with other sources of healing? Fantastic. You can’t have decent healing from one source, you need several. Over time it’s great combined with sigils, regen and mantra charging.

As for sorcery I can swap it for either ineptitude for more confusion and blinds or Fragmentation for over all better shatters until it’s fixed.

Also this build just shuts down conditions in PvE which has continually been a threat or annoying lately.

zexion.5842:

Also this build just shuts down conditions in PvE which has continually been a threat or annoying lately.

I think we may be playing completely different PvE, since conditions in dungeons are the last thing you need to worry about…

zexion.5842:

I wasn’t literally referring to getting it down to 12 seconds. I meant by the time you switch to scepter the CD will be at or around 12 seconds and by the time you switch back it’s ready.

Then it’s not even remotely on a 12 second cooldown, is it now. It’s on a 20 second cooldown, and has gotten down to 12 seconds by the time you swap back to staff.

zexion.5842:

Healing prism on it’s own is terrible. Combined with other sources of healing? Fantastic.

This is the most illogical statement in the entire thread. Healing prism doesn’t magically get better with other sources of healing. That trait heals nearby allies for ~600ish every 10 seconds. To say that it’s worthless is an understatement, and having other ways of healing doesn’t change that in any way, shape, or form.

zexion.5842:

Over time it’s great combined with sigils, regen and mantra charging.

No, over time it’s still awful.

zexion.5842:

Also this build just shuts down conditions in PvE which has continually been a threat or annoying lately.

Since when have conditions ever been a threat? Answer: they haven’t, ever. Aside from that, you can just take the mantra cleanse and mender’s purity in every single normal PvE meta build and have just as much cleansing as this build does.