Guild Wars 2

THE BUILD (Updated for 12/10/2013 patch)
Staff-Sc/P: http://tinyurl.com/kkjdoln
Video: coming soon

Traits/Skills/Gear
Trait selection is 0/30/20/0/20. See build link for details. If you’re comfortable playing without chaotic dampening, take bountiful interruption for large might stacking potential. If taking BI, run with doom sigils. If not taking BI, take battle sigils to maintain a minimum of 3 stacks permanently. I typically find myself maintaining around 5 with the constant WoC procs.

Runes: Perplexity is back! Since Anet finally introduced some cool downs, I think the runes are more balanced and a viable option. Other options include: undead for the most condition damage, grenth for more control, tormenting for AoE pressure on heal, nightmare for another potential interrupt source + condition duration.

General Info
You will frequently be applying the following damaging conditions: burning, confusion, bleeding, torment, and poison from various sources.

• Burning: WoC
• Confusion: confusing images, chaos armor, confusing combatants, perplexity runes, duelist+chaos storm combo field and F2.
• Bleeding: WoC, duelist, debilitating dissipation
• Poison: Chaos Storm (and doom sigil if taken)
• Torment: scepter block

The build used to use chaotic interruption, but with the pistol #5 stun taking one solid CI proc source away, I thought there wasn’t enough to effectively utilize the trait. So, I’m taking illusionary elasticity instead. This works great for the extra WoC and magic bullet bounce, both adding more condition pressure. Going 30 into dueling allows me to take both deceptive evasion and duelist’s discipline. The DE add alone has made a huge difference with the build, but the ability to pop iDuelists 12 seconds apart is very nice.

Playstyle
Try to roll with one duelist and two staff clones. As clones get destroyed by you/opponents, the enemy will get and bleeding, vuln or weakness (debilitating dissipation). All illusions will cause confusion when destroyed via confusing combatants. Try to get two duelists up for maximum bleed pressure, especially in 1vMany – assign different targets per duelist.

Reserved for future

hmm, the play style really isn’t for me, I feel naked without DE and I have never been much good at getting off the interrupts.

It works, but its just not for me ^^

Natsu Dragneel.1625:

hmm, the play style really isn’t for me, I feel naked without DE and I have never been much good at getting off the interrupts.

It works, but its just not for me ^^

Coming from Blackwater it’s going to be a bit of a jolt for sure.
Playstyle is totally different and I can see how you would feel that way. On the other hand, for those who don’t currently play stealth heavy builds, this one will likely come easier.

Tip: Aside from the common magic bullet stun/duelist combo, don’t focus too much on the interrupts; just be aware when they occur and what can proc them so you can react. It takes some getting used to for sure.

Thanks for trying it out – good to know that it works!

Hey all, while this build has worked well, I am exploring methods to make this even more of a lockdown build. I’ve made some changes and would appreciate help in refining it from the great minds on the forum! I’ve bolded sections I have specific questions on.

Updated build 0/20/30/0/20: http://tinyurl.com/lmp7l4x

Changes from original:

• Swap illusionist’s celerity for duelist’s discipline.
  Pros: 1) Increased range helps prevent opponents from escaping. 2) 5 sec CD reduction on magic bullet. 3) Illusionary counter CD is unchanged due to recent scepter buff.
  Cons: 1) Lose CD’s on phase retreat and disenchanter, therefore drop disenchanter for arcane thievery. 2) Duelist 16 sec CD is unchanged, but remains a concern.

• Swap debilitating dissipation for manipulation CD’s.
  Pros: 1) Prevent contention between F3 and on death condition procs. 2) Additional CD reduction on blink helps for mobility.
  Cons: 1) Lose the limited on death procs. 2) Though arcane thievery is inferior to disenchanter for condition management, extra CD’s certainly help.

• Swap decoy for daze mantra.
  Pros: Instant cast CC/disengage.
  Cons: Lose valuable stealth disengage.
  Quesion – can an instant cast daze effectively function as a backup stun break, especially considering the effects of chaotic interruption?

• Original build ran phantasmal haste for the duelist and disenchanter. With the latter gone, I’m wondering if IE would work better. In 1vMany the extra bounce on magic bullet is nice, not to mention WoC bounces.
  Question – would you run Phantasmal Haste or Illusionary Elasticity? Further, would you ditch the illusion line completely for other options?

• Gear changes. Of note, 1) sigils of generosity/purity to further manage conditions. 2) Rampager/Dire gear to help get precision/vitality where I want. 3) Nightmare runes for extra condition duration and fear proc.

I’m thinking about running perception sigils to stack precision then swap to main weapons. A full stack will net ~50% crit chance. At that point I would think about swapping phantasmal fury for far reaching manipulations to primarily help with mobility, or mantra toughness depending on the situation.
Question – Is precision still too low to give up phantasmal fury?

I’ve been pondering counterplay possibilities. The idea is to use the cc conditions to keep opponents immobile while more easily applying the damaging conditions from duelist, WoC, confusing images, illusionary counter, etc.
Question – Any more ideas on how to maximize this play style?

Sorry, lots of info there. I’ve had fun with this build and again welcome any and all suggestions or criticisms to improve it.

Hey dude, I haven’t had as much time as I’d like to test this build (or the others.. IRL turbulence comes and goes) but I’d definitely like to comment on some of the changes.

- I was on the fence about the swap from iCelerity to Duelist, but it makes sense for the cooldown on Magic Bullet. You lose out on the Scepter counter getting cooled down, which works as a CC (Blind/Torment) damage (torment) and clone production, but since the CD for it is already rather low, not so bad.

- Hnnngg… Debilitating (& Crippling) Dissipation greatly increases your value in group fights and is one of the best forms of AoE CC we have when paired with Deceptive Evasion throwing Weakness around -if you’re lucky- like a madman really can turn the tide of battle, especially since Weakness also hinders enemy dodge-rate. I definitely understand the reasoning (Arcane Thievery) but I dunno if I agree. The iDisenchanter, when used properly, rips boons/cures conditions more reliably. Also, Debilitating syngergizes well with Chaotic Interruption for stacking conditions, which in-turn makes iWarlock do more damage.

- I’d argue that Decoy is more valuable than Blink TBH, its a better disengage when you’re surrounded, and you can still use DazeMantra without breaking stealth. But to your question.. (more from an sPvP perspective) Daze Mantra can work for disengaging small fights, and combined with Decoy or Blink should be decent enough.

- Illusionary Elasticity for sure. Since you’re running a hybrid power/condition your staff autoattack will be a strong source of damage. I’m starting to see that even in a power build staff’s DPS isn’t as bad as we like to think.

I think your precision is good enough for Phantasmal Fury, but I also think you should also consider swapping Chaotic Dampening with Bountiful Interruption. It’s not that Bountiful is leagues better than Chaotic in this build, but Bountiful will raise both Power AND Condition Damage with each interrupt, in addition to the extra boon it grants. I personally love both traits, and Chaotic is definitely a more reliable choice, but Bountiful also offers you a yet another chance of Protection/Swiftness/Fury if you’re willing to take the gamble.

I still really like this build and intend on spending a lot of time with it once everything gets sorted out IRL.

Hmm… I like the update. The old build was not nearly focused enough. Essentially, you’re going with a Duelist condition build. With 20 in Illusions your build will get a nice buff with IC at 15 in december.

I’m not so sure about the Chaotic Interruption, Mantra of Distraction, and Nightmare Runes though. If you had Perplexity runes then it might be somewhat justified. Even so… perplexity is designed for the warrior… as intended by the game designers I’m sure.

Just one note: perplexity runes are bugged. They don’t actually apply the confusion duration, making them rather underwhelming for the many Mesmer abilities that apply confusion.

This is easy to test, just tag something with confusing images and watch the duration.

@Chaos, thanks for the feedback, good stuff. Things will change with the IC buff. I had the iDisenchanter in the original build and replaced him due to losing IC. If we get IC back at 15, I’ll strongly consider reverting. One downside is that by using iDisenchanter I give up a potential iDuelist/iWarlock/Clone slot, which could be important in keeping up damage pressure.

Debilitating Dissipation – I’m painfully aware of what I’m losing by not taking it (ugh), even if I’ll commonly only have one clone out at a time. I’m trying to maximize mobility without gutting my condition output (this in WvW). The PvP build would look different, likely taking DD. Blink/Decoy is indeed a toss-up in PvP. In WvW it’s a much more difficult choice (again, dat mobility). I’ve definitely noticed my iWarlock hitting for more than anticipated due to the many discrete conditions I’m applying with CI.

I’m a Chaotic Dampening snob unfortunately. I’ve tried running without it in other builds and feel hamstrung. Interrupts proc often (especially since I added daze mantra) and I’m reminded of the massive might stacking I’m missing out on. You can’t have everything (sigh). I know some folks can run w/out CD, and more power to them.

@Helios, Chaotic Interruption is core to the build and lockdown flavor. Daze mantra is important for increased lockdown potential and backup stun breaker. I could ditch Nightmare runes, but love the extra condition duration and fear proc chance. Undead runes are likely the way to go though, especially with the buff to chaotic transference coming. Perplexity runes – in WvW I have been rolling with them but they’re so gimmicky and OP, I feel like I’m exploiting. I’ve made the decision to use them sparingly at this point.

@Pyro, was that recent? I found a condition duration bug a few weeks ago and tested extensively. My findings: Clone Condition Duration Bug. irrc, confusion duration from perplexity worked as expected on my own confusion applications. For sure it worked on iDuelist projectiles through ethereal fields.

On a side note, my primary experience with the original build was WvW. This past weekend I dueled with the updated build against a modified OP phantasm build in PvP. To my surprise, I won about 5 out of 15. Obviously that’s not great, but it was my first time dueling with it so I know there is potential to be tapped with more refinement and practice.