Guild Wars 2

PvP and WvW builds are updated and current

You want to be a thorn to your opponents? Try some AoE CC lockdown using chaotic interruption (CI) and imbued diversion (ID) together. Chaotic Interruption applies chill, cripple and blind randomly on interrupt. The best part is you also apply a 2 second base immobilize. You inflict these hard CC’s via the following:

• Chaos Storm (CI, Chill) – can proc chill twice! one on interrupt, one on chaos storm
• Chaotic Interruption (CI)
• Diversion (CI)
• Ice rune #4 (Chill)
• Sigil of Hydromancy or Ice (Chill)

Staff/GS BUILD
If Imbued Diversion procs a few opponents (hint: clogged points, zergs), they are immobilized for a couple seconds while you and your team have your way. This can turn the tide of a battle very quickly. Here are some tips to best proc the AoE interrupts:

• Mirror Blade/Phase Retreat Shatter: Launch mirror blade. When you see the clone created on impact, immediately F3 shatter. Try to save this for when more than one opponent is near your target. Keep in mind this works on AI, not just reals! The same can be done with phase retreat the opposite way if you’re in the thick of it.
• Chaos Storm: Just throw it over a group and watch the interrupts.
• Illusionary Wave: Get in close enough for the AoE knock back. You will almost certainly proc at least one interrupt on a group.

Condition removal is handled with mantra of resolve or null field.

Most of this build’s effectiveness is derived from random AoE interrupts. I find that using these interrupts proc plenty enough to be more than useful.

The build can be used in PvP or WvW. In WvW, it can be a temporary zerg stopper. Team utility is nice with AoE chills and cripples constantly proc’ing. In PvP, you play similar to a ranged shatter. Look for opportunities to lauch your mirror blade or phase retreat diversion bomb, then hop to a ledge with your large might stacks and deal damage out of harm’s way. Use GS knockback wisely when foes are balled up. Throw chaos storm on points.

TRAITS/SKILLS
2/x/6/x/6. Halting Strike is strongly recommended and in fact one of the build’s primary damage sources. With frequent 25 might stacks, I commonly see 3-3.5k crits, even in the more tanky spec’d WvW build listed. You can go more or less zerker to your liking. Mantra of Distraction is a must since the AoE buff to power lock. Before the buff I was running signet of inspiration to share the mass quantities of might I always maintained in large fights. This typically isn’t necessary in organized GvG’s due to fire field blasting, but if you’re in a small havoc squad without any guards/eles (like why, right xD), this can be a solid option.

Required

• 6 Chaos: VII (Bountiful Interruption) and XII (Chaotic Interruption)
• 6 Illusions: VII (Illusionary Elasticity) and XII (Imbued Diversion)
  NOTE: Bountiful Interruption arguably provides the best might stacking we have as mesmer. You can get 25 quickly with frequent AoE interrupts. In a team comp, slot signet of inspiration for some nice might sharing support.

Optional

• Chaos adept – Master of Manipulation: I’ve been using this more and more in WvW due to increased movement and the because debilitating dissipation is more or less ineffective in zerg fights with my lower clone generation output.
• Illusions adept – Compounding Power isn’t the greatest due to frequent illusion death but it’s one of the best options here.
• Don’t venture away from the 2 in domination, as without halting strike, your overall damage is reduced considerably.

WvW zerg: http://tinyurl.com/lo4p8gg
PvP: http://tinyurl.com/p847yp8

ARMOR
PvP: Bersker’s amulet.
WvW: Knights/Berserker’s/Cavalier’s.

RUNES/SIGILS
I used to use Ice or Lyssa, and they’re still decent, but I found my damage suffers. I’ve switched to Runes of the Pack.

PvP: Pack runes deal better damage overall with the nice stats + nice fury and swiftness uptime. Sigils – I now use improved sigils of ice due to the enhanced on-hit nature of them. They proc very often. I couple those with battle.
WvW: Pack runes fit very nicely with the build. Sigils – I use battle and fire for more AoE damage/tags.

NOURISHMENTS
Whatever your liking honestly. Some options include:

• Koi Cake: If you want to focus the build more on extending conditions as a whole.
• Bowl of Curry Pumpkin Soup: If you want more precision/vitality. The extra condition duration from Koi Cakes can at times be lost in zerg fights. This is what I currently run.
• Ghost Pepper Popper: An interesting choice to spread more chill at night and stack might during the day.
• Lemongrass Poultry Soup: Solid in WvW to help better manage conditions.

GS/Sw-F BUILD
This build makes full use of the push/pull interrupts which are ideal for use with Chaotic Interruption (CI). It also provides valuable projectile reflection with focus skills. You lose the AoE on Diversion but gain quite a bit with these push/pulls. Use them for zerg trolling or clearing opponents off points. Watch the interrupt procs and your foes standing there, immobilized from CI. You get the added benefit of using BI with CI which can stack a lot of might.

Traits/Skills
Trait selection is 20/0/30/20/0.

Gear
Mainly zerker and cavalier. Check build link below.

Playstyle
This build does very well in WvW and PvP. For CI, I’ve found the best way to interrupt is a raw push or pull, in the case of a mesmer especially because they are AoE. We can save AoE daze (GS2 > shatter and chaos storm) for the original Chillruption build. This one does it a bit different and adds a load of utility to it.

Here’s an attack chain to try out.

• Cast Null Field on a group to rip stability, or target one to steal it with arcane thievery.
• Launch the iBerserker for a mass cripple.
• Swap to Sw/F. Throw out your temporal curtain in front of them, allow it to reflect for a couple seconds.
• Launch the iWarden, just as the skill is about to finish the one second channel, destroy the curtain (this takes practice), likely interrupting many opponents right into your iWarden, where the fun continues because they are immobilized from CI while eating the iWarden attack. (Oh, and anyone trying to shoot through the iWarden is getting some nasty reflection).
• The ultimate, do the Sw/F combo above, blink or dodge into them, swap to GS (proc’ing a nice hydromancy spike and long chill). Quickly GS5 to push them back and likely proc AoE interrupts and more CI procs. Mass Invis or blink to escape or throw up feedback for a little more protection. You’ve just completely disabled this poor group for a good 5-10 seconds.

If you can pull all that off you win a troll award.

With glamours traited you are very flexible. You can slot feedback/null field, and yes even Veil and no worries about the Veil bot stigma, you’re still having a blast. You can also take signet of inspiration and share all that might you’re bound to get with your team. Going more of a supportive route, you can trait signet CD’s instead of halting strike and medic’s feedback if you need to.

WvW: http://tinyurl.com/mfxg2aj
PvP: http://tinyurl.com/kooeftq

What a … cool build! (Nyuk nyukk)

I like the concept, will def give it a try. What do you think of Furious Interruption compared to the Daze = 50% stun trait? And how useful do you think the quickness interrupt is?

Hella late edit: Totally meant Chaotic Interruption

Looks very interesting, I like it! And it’s totally unique, which is also neat.

A few thoughts I have while looking through it:

• Have you found that having two utilities dedicated to condi removal to be overkill? On the face it looks like you could replace one of them and still be in pretty good shape. Signet of Dom comes to mind for the extra stun, or maybe MI/Decoy for more Diversion shatter fodder

• Have you tried Bountiful Interruptions? Losing 20% CD on staff hurts, but with all your AoE interrupts, you could get tons of might to help both the power and condi damage you’re throwing out

• I’d also look into either Compounding Power or Illusionary Invigoration. Although, Invigoration would probably be a better fit (more AoE daze!)

Is most of your damage coming from phantasms or shatters?

Those are my thoughts, but overall it’s a very well thought out build, nice work!

Chaos Archangel.5071:

What a … cool build! (Nyuk nyukk)

I like the concept, will def give it a try.

Haha, cool let me know how it works for you, and if you have any ideas on improving the traits or the gear. I can see this build (keeping Chaotic Interruption) with many variations, some Staff – Sw/Sw, maybe Staff – Sw/P even. Also maybe going 30 into domination (versus illusions), taking GS training, etc may be worth playing with, but you have to actually daze for that 50% trait to proc, versus an interrupt which is easier to proc and more plentiful (you have push/pull interrupts – no dazes – then daze itself can of course cause interrupts). It’d also be difficult to give up that AoE diversion and illusions decreased cool downs due to 30 in illusions.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

What do you think of Furious Interruption compared to the Daze = 50% stun trait? And how useful do you think the quickness interrupt is?

You know, I’ve contemplated those other two traits which require 30 points spent. I wasn’t impressed with the furious interruption change, but tbh I have not played with it. I just can’t see that as being nearly as useful as the newly improved Chaotic Interruption, Imbued Diversion or even 50% stun on daze. I posted a thread shortly after the 6/25 patch asking about that trait and a couple ppl responded that they were using it. I see specific situations where it can be useful, but for 30 points? It’s really one of those traits which depends on you knowing when you’re going to interrupt an opponent so as to take advantage of the quickness you’re about to acquire. So in that way I’d say it’d be best reserved for on demand interrupt builds using daze mantra and pistol for example, played by highly skilled players who know every tell on every skill from every profession whilst in frenetic battle. High skill floor there – but it could be beautiful watching someone that skilled using that trait, planning the next move around the quickness, etc.

Zumi.6384:

Looks very interesting, I like it! And it’s totally unique, which is also neat.

A few thoughts I have while looking through it:

• Have you found that having two utilities dedicated to condi removal to be overkill? On the face it looks like you could replace one of them and still be in pretty good shape. Signet of Dom comes to mind for the extra stun, or maybe MI/Decoy for more Diversion shatter fodder

As I’m fairly new to PvP, I’ve found the extra condi removal is helpful but I think for more experienced players it wouldn’t be necessary. I’ve thought how great it would be to throw on a decoy or MI. Remember though the iDisenchanter, with decreased cool down, helps with shatters. I say that because he would be the one I would likely replace with Decoy or MI.

Zumi.6384:

Have you tried Bountiful Interruptions? Losing 20% CD on staff hurts, but with all your AoE interrupts, you could get tons of might to help both the power and condi damage you’re throwing out

I have tried it and it’s like watching paint dry waiting for those staff cool downs. Not saying it can’t be done, but it’s just more difficult and hurts shatter fodder since phase retreat is probably the best way to create clones in this setup. I’m still stacking some decent might via mirror blade and all shatters. With 30% built-in boon duration, it’s good.

Zumi.6384:

I’d also look into either Compounding Power or Illusionary Invigoration. Although, Invigoration would probably be a better fit (more AoE daze!)

Is most of your damage coming from phantasms or shatters?

To your point, the adept illusion trait is one of the big options in this build. I rarely find myself waiting for enough clones/phantasms to shatter, but due to the inability to produce on demand clones, I’m not sure if Illusionary Invigoration would be too helpful. I will play with it though and see. Damage is from phantasms, shatters, and is decent from weapon attacks/skills (Illusionary Elasticity helps with this, too). I try to use diversion when I get one clone out. I’ll also try to get spacing with the clones and phantasms to try to proc 3 pulses of AoE daze in clogged points, which is the big payoff with the build. So with the phantasms, I try to keep them up as long as possible, but in practice they get at least one hit in, then I need to shatter to keep pressure applied. Once Diversion is off cool down, you only need one cheap clone to proc that AoE daze/interrupt/immobilize/chill. It almost seems overpowered that you can do that much with just one clone shattered.

One thing I’m looking for feedback on is gearing a little different to increase the power focus. I tested one with low armor, high power/decent precision and was doing nice damage but was going down too quickly so I arrived at the gear in the build link (speaking PvP here). In the PvE/WvW build there is plenty of power – even without the interrupts you will be doing nice damage there.

Zumi.6384:

Those are my thoughts, but overall it’s a very well thought out build, nice work!

Thanks, I hope others have as much fun as I have been with it.

Thanks for posting this skcamow, this build looks very interesting. I’ve noticed resistance on this forum to new styles of play other than the shatter and phantasm/tank. It seems some people always need some kind of proof of viability, or have the mindset that there are only 2 or 3 viable builds per class (??).

Since the changes I’ve been trying a few builds around interrupt and will give this one a try for sure.

:)

nice build and concept. There’s some nice synergy between the chills and interrupts…interrupts may prevent condition cleanses, while chills lower cooldowns on skills in general. All in all seems like a fun playstyle.

chophouse.8056:

Thanks for posting this skcamow, this build looks very interesting. I’ve noticed resistance on this forum to new styles of play other than the shatter and phantasm/tank. It seems some people always need some kind of proof of viability, or have the mindset that there are only 2 or 3 viable builds per class (??).

Since the changes I’ve been trying a few builds around interrupt and will give this one a try for sure.

:)

Yeah there are the popular builds for sure and I play them as much as anyone, but I’m always trying to theorycraft new builds to find good synergy in the traits and utilities. I’d be curious to hear your experience with the build if you do try it out.

bobross.5034:

nice build and concept. There’s some nice synergy between the chills and interrupts…interrupts may prevent condition cleanses, while chills lower cooldowns on skills in general. All in all seems like a fun playstyle.

Yeah it’s extremely disruptive and very fun to play. The interrupts are just the beginning and the trigger into all the madness that ensues. You get the interrupt benefit, preventing whatever they were doing, but then you inflict an automatic immobilize and vulnerability, and if you don’t RNG chill, you inflict cripple or blind. That’s two debilitating conditions inflicted immediately (I don’t count vuln as debilitating), and you can bet they blow at least one, but likely two cleanses if they have them. With the three interrupt sources being AoE, it can get comical.

hey skcamow what server are you on?

Tek.4083:

hey skcamow what server are you on?

Yak’s Bend

I just tried doing this with 10/30/30/0/0, chill sigils and grenth runes, with a celestial amulet in pvp with my guildies. Sort of a hybrid condition/power build using staff and sword/pistol. Seemed to work well. One of the guildies, a d/d ele was complaining a lot about it…so I think it was pretty solid. All the immobilizes make the iDuelist much stronger, and I think the fact that this version stacks on lots of moderate damage conditions, while still hitting fairly hard is confusing to opponents.

bobross.5034:

I just tried doing this with 10/30/30/0/0, chill sigils and grenth runes, with a celestial amulet in pvp with my guildies. Sort of a hybrid condition/power build using staff and sword/pistol. Seemed to work well. One of the guildies, a d/d ele was complaining a lot about it…so I think it was pretty solid. All the immobilizes make the iDuelist much stronger, and I think the fact that this version stacks on lots of moderate damage conditions, while still hitting fairly hard is confusing to opponents.

Nice, I assume you were using Furious Interruption? Curious how that worked for you – if you felt like it was wasted or able to take advantage of it. I was wondering if someone was going to try this out with a condition damage focus – mentioned that in my OP, but personally never have – staying power based which has worked well. You still have the nice pistol stun/daze which both can proc CI. I’ve also been thinking of maybe trying a 0/10/30/0/30 with Sw/Sw – Staff for a variant.

@OP: Thanks for the build. Very interesting take on chill.
@bobross: I’m also curious about Furious Interruption, is it worth the grandmaster trait slot?
I’m trying something with similar traits, although my build is a condition rather than power-based.
Here’s the link: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgEQNAraWl0zKqHWzgGb9IipHBHyJckKUalegbXItB-jUyA4MioRaCIdZIa5wioxW/KiGrmBTluoadMgHhRrWKAIWDA-w

sorry, been a few days…I believe I was using just the pistol/sword/clone generating traits in dueling. Didn’t seem like furious interruption would be worth it, since the dazes are on sort of long cooldowns, but I didn’t actually try it…so someone up for the challenge? Feels a bit too conditional/short to be worth it IMO.

Incidentally, I think a build like the one I outlined would work really well with 100% condi-duration food/gear in wvw, in small battles, with maybe some modifications (staff/gsword) for zergs.

edit: @Keenlam – I think that was more or less the build, but I believe I used blade training or duelist’s discipline rather than furious interruption. Not sure if I took phantasmal fury or the other weapon trait, but it’s a good call in any case.
Because of the chills and stuns/immobilizes/cripples, crippling dissipation is less important, and can be swapped out for halting strikes in a hybrid build.

As I mentioned, that build does good power and condition damage simultaneously, so it is in a great position to benefit from celestial gear, which has me excited for the possibilities in wvw.

I was inspired, so I decided to try the 10/30/30 build in WvW with my rabid/condi-duration/celestial trinket gear and bought a giver’s pistol and some hydromancer sigils. Soloed a few camps no problem, and went up against a phantasm sword/pistol mesmer while doing a camp. I managed to bring him down to 20% while remaining at full/near full health several times, but he ran back into the camp…despite the immobilizes, us mesmers can be slippery with all those teleports! I got bored of chasing him and started working on the veteran scouts…so he wp’d out. Still, feeling good about the build.

In WvW you need serious condi mitigation, so either runes+lemon grass or near permanent regeneration, so …

The way i see it: Chill synergizes well with Condition build (Grenth runes, Condi food), whereas Interrupt goes well with Power like Halting Strike.
As for a hybrid build, I have no idea how to make one. My previous attempts always made my mesmer a jack of all trades = useless.
Anyone have any suggestion for me to make a hybrid build? Like minimum stat requirements (2700 power, 50% crit chance, etc. for example) so I can balance them out. Thanks in advance.

A very interesting build. I’ve been wondering about the benefits of Chaotic Interruption and off-hand focus. Pulling with Focus #4 while casting Focus #5 to result in pulling the target and immobilizing him on top of the warden.

I may have to try this build out just to see what that will do.

keenlam.4753:

The way i see it: Chill synergizes well with Condition build (Grenth runes, Condi food), whereas Interrupt goes well with Power like Halting Strike.
As for a hybrid build, I have no idea how to make one. My previous attempts always made my mesmer a jack of all trades = useless.
Anyone have any suggestion for me to make a hybrid build? Like minimum stat requirements (2700 power, 50% crit chance, etc. for example) so I can balance them out. Thanks in advance.

Another way to look at damage is consistent pressure vs burst. Conditions tend to be a combination of pressure and utility, so they work in a pressure build, but they tend to have difficulty with bursts. Power builds can also be pressure (i.e. phantasms), but they usually also have some burst (like iLeap combos). A good hybrid build just uses a combination of pressure from power in addition to pressure from conditions. So it winds up having diverse pressure, while neither alone is particularly impressive, the combination is difficult to deal with. It also has some burst, which gives it a slight edge over pure condition builds. Condition cleanses can reduce the effectiveness of a pure condition build, but if that build is also doing direct damage, then that is not enough. Armor can reduce the effectiveness of power damage, but with solid condition pressure, that is not enough. So the defensive counter to a hybrid build needs to be a defensively balanced build that includes condition cleanses and solid amounts of toughness. The other advantage of hybrids is that the conditions can serve as a distraction from the power damage. The player probably sees a ton of conditions and sees health ticking down, but may not be doing the math. As a result they may focus their mental energy on avoiding/removing conditions, while they ignore the power damage that is coming in.

We now have access to a new armor-set (celestial) that gives more stat points total than other sets. Unfortunately they’re scattered all around. So it is possible to get a superior balance of offensive/defensive stats with celestial gear. The problem is that you need to be able to use all the stats for it to actually feel superior. Mesmers actually have a lot of damage coming from both condition and power sources, so they are in a prime position to create hybrid builds (simply add sharper images to any phantasm build, and it’s a hybrid). These builds will wind up with more total stat points, which means a superior combination of pressure/survivability than achievable with other gear…though it won’t be more impressive in any specific area.

Chill is purely a utility condition, so it doesn’t need to go with a build that emphasizes condition damage. If you want to maximize chill, though, then you can go with improving its duration, and if you do that in a generic (all condition duration gear) way, rather than a specific way (chill duration gear), then it potentially synergizes well with other conditions, making it more impressive in a condition build. That doesn’t mean it’s useless in a power build though.

Thanks bobross for your very comprehensive reply.
Could you please have a look and comment on this build I’m gearing for (got my first celestial armor piece yesterday): http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAraWl0zKqHVzgGb9IipHBHyJckUYaAQJF42FC-j0yAINBR6SgIDgJ/ioxWzKiGrmBTbGZVaS1xA+jI7RUWlCAi1AA-w
Thanks a lot.

@skcamow: I tried Furious Interruption out recently. I’m not quite impressed with it, due to the fact it has a 15-sec ICD. More often you interrupt then to find out the thing is on CD, even if you’re good with interrupts, it’s still very hard to use it more than once in a single fight. Quickness only lasts for 3 seconds. If there were not an ICD, the trait would be very good given you have plenty of ways to interrupt, Interrupt more often = more quickness uptime.

Edited: reuploaded the correct link.

Nice Keenlam – I like the centaur runes in there, the combo of bleed durtion and swiftness on demand (which you need when you drop focus) are great. A few comments:
I’m assuming prismatic understanding is a typo, and you meant to put in chaotic interruption.

I think, as you mentioned, furious interruption isn’t as amazing as we’d all like, so you may be better off using duelist’s discipline for extra range on that awesome phantasm, as well as your interrupts, and better cooldowns.

I’m torn on this myself, but I think bountiful interruption may go with this build as well or better than chaotic dampening…I’ve been using dampening myself, but again, I’m torn. I think if you find yourself in sword/pistol more than staff, it may be worth exploring.

I think the whole point of this thread was marveling over the amazingness of sigils of hydromancy. But I saw you don’t go with them. I get that this build lacks condi-removal, so having it on crits makes some sense. then again, you only get poor condition removal for it (1 condi every 10 seconds, and you have to keep attacking). And you lose some utility. I’d rather just accept that I can’t handle too many conditions, and try to retreat/keep up stuns/cc if I know they’re coming) – or alternately carry around -condi duration food and eat it mid-fight if needed.

I’m not a fan of on-crit sigils as a whole (personal preference), especially when they’re on longer (10s) cooldowns. I think the issue here is you know you’ll get the proc some time in 10-15 seconds, but not necessarily when you want/need it. So I really think the hydromancy sigils offer more to a build like this, as you can get the chill on demand. It also gives you access to some great combos like – while in sword, iLeap/swap – immobilize, blurred frenzy, Magic Bullet – stun, Duelist, swap weapons (chill), chaos storm. That combo leaves the opponent immobilized/stunned for a long time during a burst and then drops a chill on them so they can hobble out of the chaos storm (assuming they don’t get dazed). Meanwhile, your sword clone is chasing them ready to dissipate, as you phase retreat/dodge, leaving them crippled, just in time to start taking bleeding/burning damage. If you’re playing against a good player, they will blow a cooldown or two and be far away/out of dodges by the end of it. If it’s a poor player, gg.

That combo is also why I like using all the + condi-duration stuff, including giver’s weapons and runes (Lyssa/Mad King)..but you give up something for that, and I think the centaur runes also make sense.

I think the choice of rabid trinkets is fine, as this build is flexible in terms of emphasis on condition/power damage. My WvW build uses rabid armor, currently with celestial trinkets, so it’s basically the same thing as far as stats. I find it survivable and dangerous in small-group fights. The stuns and immobilizes are great to finish off runners.

As far as utilities, I find I can’t live without blink, personally, so I usually swap between signet of dom/mirror images. And I leave decoy and blink up all the time. Unless I’m in a zerg, then I’ll run null-field/veil/portal as needed in that spot.

So in summary – I like the build! It’s very similar to what I’ve been playing around with, with a few choices (like the centaur runes) that are a bit different from mine, but choices that I have been torn about.

@Keenlam – yeah I’m wondering who is effectively using Furious Interruption with on-demand interrupts in order to take advantage of the quickness. That’s really where I see it able to reach it’s full potential, but requires a rather high skill floor. I’m sure it has some very specific uses but it seems not many are using it, even builds utilizing interrupts. Are you still playing with it or have you moved onto something else?

To further some of the points bobross was making – first, Chaotic Interruption is really the focus of the build/thread, but the hydromancy sigils do play a big role. They are very important to the build. Sure you can get away with using something else but you do lose out in melee range. Also, I’m unsure why you took decoy and MI, as I don’t see that much shattering in your build and even more since you don’t have IC to lower those cool downs. You could maybe swap one of those for either arcane thievery, the iDisenchanter or Mantra of Resolve for condition removal.

Regarding power versus condi damage, hybrid builds are definitely do-able, and the celestial gear makes those much stronger now, but you have to be careful to build in accordance with the traits. In the case of this build, it can successfully go power focused, condition focused, or in a power/condition hybrid. Power works very well and granted I’ve only tried it in sPvP. If you look at the WvW build in the OP though, it’s very power focused and should have no problem bringing down opponents there.

On the other hand, Chaotic Interruption works great in a condition focused build, especially since the conditions it inflicts can take advantage of the typical condition duration buffs. Then you can utilize other runes of your choice (melandru might be good in this case) besides those that extend chill duration specifically.

That said, chill should also not be pigeon-holed for just condition damage builds for the simple reason that it’s a control effect. Sure it’s a condition and is affected by condi-duration buffs, but like immobilize and daze, chill shines beautifully in a power build. Take your common shatter build for example where you are likely iLeap/immobilizing with regularity. Chill in a power build just adds to that concept. Not only does it slow their movement immensely, it increases their skill cool downs while applied and the hydromancy sigil causes damage (can crit as well). This, coupled with the immobilize provided by CI can be extremely disruptive and, well … Chaotic, ha.

It’s great seeing the success others have reported in a condi-damage build but am curious to see others using it in a pure power focus. I haven’t taken the build into WvW yet, but I hope to soon (been on vacation this week), and will hopefully post some videos.

skcamow.3527:

Also, I’m unsure why you took decoy and MI, as I don’t see that much shattering in your build and even more since you don’t have IC to lower those cool downs.

It’s because of debilitating dissipation / crippling dissipation / confusing combattants. This sort of build doesn’t shatter much, but it does take advantage of clone death to dish out conditions. Each clone killed (by damage or overwriting) = cripple, confusion, and (3)bleeding/(3)vulnerability/weakness. in a build like this, dodging and then hitting decoy+MI is a condition burst with some control thrown in. Sword is nice since the clones will chase the target (which is why I like sword over scepter despite the fact that it’s a condition build). I think the reason he left out hydromancy is because with all the cripples, you don’t need the chill for slowing as much…still I find it useful. Alternately, you could use sigils of energy, to get extra dodges/clones. Which I think works well in this sort of setup as well.

One minor difference between playing this build as a hybrid vs a pure condition build comes from those clone deaths. In a pure condition build you want the clones to die as a main source of damage/control. So you put the phantasms out, but you don’t really want them to stay. So once you get to 2 or 3 phantasms, you usually shatter. In a hybrid build, the phantasms are still applying lots of pressure (beyond bleeds), so there’s not as much of a need to shatter them, though it’s probably still a good idea to max out at 2 phantasms.

and I agree…I’d like to see more about the power builds…sorry we sort of hijacked the thread.

@bobross, right – wondering if DE plus one utility provides enough benefit for the clone on death traits to free up a utility slot for condition management.

And on hijacking the thread, no apology necessary. In fact, I’m glad for the discussion, as I noted in my OP that I could see this build in a viable condition damage focus. I have an idea or two on that myself and may play around with it and the other ideas posted here, but I wanted to personally go the power route first.

Sorry guys, I think i posted a wrong link, that was my PU/interrupt hybrid. Sorry for the confusion.
Thanks for all the feedback.
@skcamow: don’t worry, i’m experimenting with a power build as well. With power build, I definitely go with sword and sigil of hydromancy. They work well together (I use Sigil of Ice with Scepter because I usually stay ranged in this setup).
I think with power i stick with the same traits, just swapping gear into Zerker/Knight really. My traits are: 20/20/30/0/0. with Halting Strike, Chaotic Interruption. Like bobross, I’m still deciding between Chaotic Dampening and Bountiful Interruption. But I most likely go for BI since I will be on Sword+Pistol most of the time.

In most of my condition builds, with +condition duration food, DE is usually enough to keep up the clone generation for on-death effects and the conditions last long enough. This means while I usually have Decoy and SoD, the third utility can be switched to anything to suit the combat situations, be it Null Field, Blink, or Feedback.

skcamow.3527:

@bobross, right – wondering if DE plus one utility provides enough benefit for the clone on death traits to free up a utility slot for condition management.

Fair enough, so if we consider the effects of MI (assuming it lands) in terms of damage- we have between 0-6k damage in bleeding, and 2 stacks of confusion for 6 seconds (in a 100% duration build). Lets assume 3 skill uses in this time, so add another 600 damage or so. So for one utility slot, you get between 600 and 6k damage and 6 seconds of cripple. Also weakness or vulnerability if we’re unlucky with it. Lets ignore the extra damage that iWarlock might do, since there’s so many conditions flying around anyhow. I think I agree with you here skcamow – Though it has the potential to be spectacular, it is too uncertain to be worth losing condition removal especially on its long cooldown.

So which condition removal? I’m thinking I might try arcane thievery or null-field. Both are solid choices, though null-field certainly scales better for small-large groups. For duels, I think arcane thievery might be really nice, as an extra boon stripper (aside from sword attacks/clones) when conditions are not a problem, and as extra condition pressure when they are an issue. Phantasmal disenchanter is great too, but I think it works against this build too much to have lots of phantasms out all the time.

bobross.5034:

skcamow.3527:

@bobross, right – wondering if DE plus one utility provides enough benefit for the clone on death traits to free up a utility slot for condition management.

Fair enough, so if we consider the effects of MI (assuming it lands) in terms of damage- we have between 0-6k damage in bleeding, and 2 stacks of confusion for 6 seconds (in a 100% duration build). Lets assume 3 skill uses in this time, so add another 600 damage or so. So for one utility slot, you get between 600 and 6k damage and 6 seconds of cripple. Also weakness or vulnerability if we’re unlucky with it. Lets ignore the extra damage that iWarlock might do, since there’s so many conditions flying around anyhow. I think I agree with you here skcamow – Though it has the potential to be spectacular, it is too uncertain to be worth losing condition removal especially on its long cooldown.

So which condition removal? I’m thinking I might try arcane thievery or null-field. Both are solid choices, though null-field certainly scales better for small-large groups. For duels, I think arcane thievery might be really nice, as an extra boon stripper (aside from sword attacks/clones) when conditions are not a problem, and as extra condition pressure when they are an issue. Phantasmal disenchanter is great too, but I think it works against this build too much to have lots of phantasms out all the time.

sorry noob question, but what is MI? Doesn’t seem like Mass Invi the way you described it? Am I missing something?

MI here was referring to mirror images.

Thedenofsin.7340:

A very interesting build. I’ve been wondering about the benefits of Chaotic Interruption and off-hand focus. Pulling with Focus #4 while casting Focus #5 to result in pulling the target and immobilizing him on top of the warden.

I may have to try this build out just to see what that will do.

Yes, that has great potential in this type of build. The Into the Void pull to Warden is already strong if practiced, but using it with Chaotic Interruption (assuming you interrupt) makes it even better.

Since we’ve been talking about condi or power/condi hybrids, here is a hybrid idea I had using either Scepter/Focus – Staff or Scepter/Pistol – Staff. It stays fairly close to the power build trait-wise, deviating a little to get sharper images. Condition management is generally via melandru runes, but you could squeeze in other sources if necessary. I’m thinking you’d use pistol if solo and focus while zerg’ing. No need to re-trait, just weapon swap depending on the situation. Thoughts on this one?

http://tinyurl.com/m6qkoa4

Haven’t tried it yet – still need to give the power build a whirl in WvW.

Hi all,
So I got in a massive zerg fight yesterday, and I must say I’m totally in love with chill + interrupts now. I reckoned i finished off around more than 10 enemies in that fight.
I had great success on how to pull an interrupt. Here’s what i did:
I watched for someone who just dodged and started running away with low health. Usually it means they’re using heal. CC fire away and they’re downed instantly with Halting Strike (I got like up to 1,5k dmg on my rabid gear). Also the chill was great to slow them down in case they got away with my CC. Obviously, running with Berserker gear would be more devastating. Will def try it out next time.
Ofc Chaos Storm on an enemy group works well too.

keenlam.4753:

Hi all,
So I got in a massive zerg fight yesterday, and I must say I’m totally in love with chill + interrupts now. I reckoned i finished off around more than 10 enemies in that fight.
I had great success on how to pull an interrupt. Here’s what i did:
I watched for someone who just dodged and started running away with low health. Usually it means they’re using heal. CC fire away and they’re downed instantly with Halting Strike (I got like up to 1,5k dmg on my rabid gear). Also the chill was great to slow them down in case they got away with my CC. Obviously, running with Berserker gear would be more devastating. Will def try it out next time.
Ofc Chaos Storm on an enemy group works well too.

Nice, were you using the condition hybrid build you linked above?

I was able to get the power build out into WvW last night. The chill aspect aside, the initial immobilize can be devastating for enemy zergs if you can get in close enough for an AoE cc. I was able to pull one off with a GS #5. Screen lit up with interrupts and everything froze for a second, though I couldn’t stay around to watch because I was high tailing it. Then they get the resulting random condition after that (chill/cripple/blind). I went 100% condi-duration instead of 60% chill duration which is a lot better. Get a few mesmers running this and I can see it potentially stopping a zerg in it’s tracks so your zerg can rain pain from range.

One thing I noticed too is that when zerg’ing, it’s likely better to go with Bountiful Interruption in master and reserve Chaotic Dampening for smaller scale solo fights. The large amounts of might really help, plus you still have IC so at least your Phase Retreat and iWarlock aren’t on full cool down.

I haven’t got into any 1vx’s yet but intend to try the next few days.

Yes i was running with same traits as posted but in full rabid gear. I agree with you Bountiful Interruption might be a better option in zerg fight since with 3 stacks? of Might, provide you an easy burst after the successful interrupt.

keenlam.4753:

Yes i was running with same traits as posted but in full rabid gear. I agree with you Bountiful Interruption might be a better option in zerg fight since with 3 stacks? of Might, provide you an easy burst after the successful interrupt.

It’s actually 5 stacks of might per interrupt with BI, good stuff. I’m still running the power build, making a few modifications here and there to get it right. I was going all in with condition duration but I was losing too much power so I’m scaling back to about 50% duration with 20% chill on top of that, with full runes of ice (like the cheapest runes out there, ha). They actually have good synergy with the power build. I’m also looking forward to trying a condition variant soon.

Anyone else been playing this build or variant? I’ve seen some folks talking about it in other threads and I’d be curious to hear experiences with it.

Im curious as to why your condition variant is still called chillruption? cause I looked at the conditions you applied and chilled wasn’t among the most applied :p

Lahel.6381:

Im curious as to why your condition variant is still called chillruption? cause I looked at the conditions you applied and chilled wasn’t among the most applied :p

I see your point – it’s really about the usage of chaotic interruption. Chill procs quite often on interrupts though and is a prominent aspect of the build for cc’s. We are also considering a staff variant which of course brings more chill into the picture with chaos storm, but we’ll see how this one continues to perform.

EDIT: I’ve removed the original condition build I posted from this thread due to another build I have in the works with a different name.

Tried this yesterday but hardly got any interrupts. Maybe five halting-strike procs (which did quite decent damage though) all evening long even though i dropped daze into massive amounts of enemies. Is this considered a valid spec with the current patch?

lagoriel.6475:

Tried this yesterday but hardly got any interrupts. Maybe five halting-strike procs (which did quite decent damage though) all evening long even though i dropped daze into massive amounts of enemies. Is this considered a valid spec with the current patch?

What game mode, and fight scale are you using it in?

WvW, for example 60vs60vs60 in SM.

If you weren’t landing many interrupts, my guess is you were running into a lot of stability. You’re unfortunately not going to be able to strip all that on your own. When stability isn’t as prevalent (or readily stripped), in my experience the interrupts aren’t too difficult to land just because of the chaos that goes on in these types of fights, meaning you’re bound to interrupt something with all the AoE options this build has.

As for the build itself, I would say it can certainly work and I’ve used it successfully in large zerg fights (albeit not organized), which seem to be what you’re describing. Are there better interrupt focused builds that could be used in that format? Probably, but then again any interrupt build is going to run into problems with stability. I’ve always thought of chillruption as maybe not the most optimal build to use for these situations but it holds it’s own and remains a very fun ranged interrupt bomber.