Guild Wars 2

Ok folks, I finally got off my butt and put together my first video on my build.

I’m my worse critic, always looking for the “best” pieces of video to make my first video awesome. And started to realize I would never get it done, if I kept waiting for what I thought was the “best”. Then a Windows update crashed my computer losing all the video footage I had collected.

So I guess its better to do something, as opposed to NOT doing something. So here it is, my first video. I apologize for the rookie editing and such.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6Fmz9rMqDQ&feature=youtu.be

Build: http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQNAsaRlknpMt1oxINUrNipxY6biJHSFQpDZ8FA-TZBFwAFOEAd2fYxTAoaZAAnAAA

I’ve been running variations on this 2-6-6-0-0 build for a long time. I will sometimes drop GS for staff when the opposing team has 1 or more thieves. Staff adds a “little help” against them. Staff also gives more opportunities for Mantra recharge. But it doesn’t have the burst damage of the GS.

Or I might drop DE for Duelist Discipline for the extra range/cd on pistol. Or sometimes, I’ll even drop CI and put the extra points into domination for Shattered Concentration.(4-6-4) But I always go back to the posted 2-6-6 build.

The real turning point in this build was dropping “Runes of Travelers” for “Runes of Air”. Not because of the lightening strike process, but the additional crit damage it provides. That really made the build more effective. Travelers gave me the kiting capability, but I would run out of charges before downing the enemy. Then while resetting the mantras, it gave time to the opponent to reset. I am now able to do more damage between Mantra charges, then previously. And more damage when the enemy is “locked downed”.

The video isn’t a “tutorial” in any sense, but I tried to show how I play with 2 mantras. With good combat awareness, you need to be a selective on when to recharge. I’ve never been “interrupted” while charging a Mantra, but I’ve done it to myself lots of time(dodging when charging).

I’d also like to make a comment about Time Warp. In sPvP, Time Warp is THE BEST elite in the game. It is a game winner! sPvP is about the team and no other elite comes close to what Time Warp adds to your team. I don’t know why more Mesmer’s don’t run it.

Time Warp just rocks with Mantra’s as well. See an enemy rez’g a teammate, drop Time Warp, start the stomp, Power Lock the rez. Stomp completed. Teammate down, drop Time Warp, start healing, hit Distortion, use Power Cleanse to remove all the AOE conditions they’re throwing at you. Teammate up. I had some sweet footage of all this, but lost it when Windows crashed.

Anyway, here it is. Comments?

Trying out a new video editor, thought I’d add some more gameplay of my build.

This was more to get used to the editor and learning all the features in it. The video is kind of short, but I love the music and I did my best to match it to the battles.

Also, at the end, is an example of why TimeWarp is THE best Elite.

Looks nice on paper. I’ll be sure to check out the video and make some comments at a later date!

As always, just tweaking my build again. Had some really good matches last night afterward the changes. Also, got some new armor and want to show it off.
I’m uploading one of the matches right now. Here’s a link to the build.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQNAsaWlknpMt1oxINUrNyqxY6WO5FSVQpvI7AA-TZBFABfs/wCPAgqKDo8hAAgzAAA

Changes this time around:
1. Been playing more with staff instead of GS. So I equip the Sigil of Torment on the staff. My thinking is that it brings an additional unique condition to the staff that iWarlock would take advantage.

2. I dropped Halting Strike for Mental Torment… WHAT!!. Sounds pretty crazy. A lockdown build without Halting Strike!!!

Well, I remembered reading the recent interview with Supcutie on why he takes Halting Strike on his shatter build. And he basically, said that it’s good to NOT have “all your eggs in one basket”. So with HS, BI and CI, I pretty much had all those eggs in one basket. With DE, I can quickly setup a 3 illusion MW when landing interrupt/immobolize/stun.

(I’ve also played it with Duelist Discipline for the extra distance and its holds it own.)

3. I switched out the Runes of Air for Runes of the Centaur. Still get the quickness for the escapes and map travel, but my damage is more consistent. Air Runes has the “potential” lightening strike, but Centaur runes just is flat out more damage. That lightening strike is “on-hit” and with staff, I shouldn’t be getting hit! So Centaur it is.

So last night was a good night. Had about 4-5 pretty close matches and won all of them. The following was a close the whole way and really didn’t sway our way till the last 3-4 minutes. Some good Timewarp usage in there as well.

Sorry I never commented again. I’m currently watching Survivor (yes, it’s still on after 15 years) and will be looking at your build after it’s over!

First off, great video! That was some pretty good gameplay on your end. Observations and tips from your video:

• Pay close attention to enemies with stability. There were a few times where you obviously shouldn’t have used MoD but wasted it on someone with stability. You did this with your first engagement with the ele and with the necro when you eventually got 2v1ed. It’s a lot to keep track of, but this is a challenge of interrupt builds regardless.
• Don’t waste Chaos Storm on downed enemies (like the thief) unless you are in a team fight. Simply spawning several Staff clones should do enough to bleed a thief without having to stomp.
• Great job using Time Warp on that rez! OMG that was a close one!! haha Also, those two TW stomps were delicious to watch.
• When engaging Necros, stay ranged when on Staff and only go melee range when you can ensure a blurred frenzy. Afterwards, get back out of melee. Otherwise, you’ll get condi bombed. Nice use of kiting from the ledge at home! If you need more examples of phase-retreat spots, take a look at a video found here: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/PvP-Guide-with-Phase-Retreat-Spots/first#post4828757 There’s even more blink spots to be found on every map. You can actually blink up top of the ledge at mid if you know the spot.
• This is probably the most important observation, but your new armour looked amazing!!! Keep making the Mesmer community proud!! <3

Advice on your build:

• I like the mental torment and your rationale behind taking it over Halting Strike. I don’t think there’s an denying that you get more overall dmg out of Halting Strike if you connect most of your interrupts though.
• I think both GS and Staff are optimal choices for CI builds, but I do prefer the more conservative approach to using Staff. It definitely provides more utility and survivability.
• There are better reasons to use other sigils besides Torment. I get the rationale here as well, but with you shattering often, there’s not a high chance of you getting many attacks out with pWarlock. That being said, the dmg increase you’ll get from him utilizing the extra condi spot pales in comparison to the overall dmg you’ll get from fire sigil procs. This also helps to make up a tiny bit of dmg for having taken Staff instead of GS.
• I get that you want the speed boost from your rune, but you have good enough mobility with the increased distance on blink. Also it requires use of a heal skill which you get every 20 seconds. In my opinion, you should just go with Pack Runes, which will give you swiftness as often as you get it with the other rune. Additionally, when procced, you and nearby clones will have 75% crit chance with fury, which makes up for lack of Phantasmal Fury. Lastly, the extra 6% crit chance means more sigil procs and more dmg.

VERY solid build. Thanks for your contribution!

Hey Slim, just a couple suggestions. I’m a bit late to the party.

On your first video – when fighting necromancers pay attention to when they use spectral armor. Whenever they take damage from you while that’s up, you renew their life force. I noticed a couple fights (temple/khylo) where this happened. You won both fights, but it’s typically best to wait out spectral armor unless you know you can down them before death shroud comes back.

For the elementalist fight on forest, I noticed you attacked through arcane shield which is never a good idea. Just look for the big yellow-ish bubble or the icon on their bar. Sometimes it’s difficult to notice or cancel attacks when they pop it in the middle of a combo, but eating that damage can really hurt.

On the second video, valiant effort on the fight with the 2 necromancers, you (accidentally?) targeted the new one when you almost had the original down. You may have been able to pull that one out if you stuck on the original. Good recovery duel after that.

Oh, the time warp plays in both vids! Very nice.

In this build, I think halting strike is a much better choice than mental torment. The difficult decision on whether to take mental torment vs halting strike is more for when you run a typical shatter build. When you don’t shatter nearly as often (like in yours), halting strike is definitely going to win out.

Regarding the gear, I don’t think centaur is the best choice. I do think a power based rune is what you need, but something like hoelbrak or pack as cho suggested might be a better fit for the build. If mobility is ultimately that important, your options are unfortunately limited.

Thanks guys for the feedback. Really do appreciate it.

I think your right on dropping Sigil of Torment. Its 5 sec cd, doesn’t really make it work like I wanted. And your correct, I do shatter pretty often so the Warlock doesn’t really get a chance to take advantage of the additional condition. Better to go with some more damage based. Usually, with staff, I will run Sigil of Air and SIgil of Hyromancy. With the in/out gameplay of a Sword/Staff build, getting in close with sword and then swapping to staff gets that chill applied. Another form of lockdown, just wish it was longer than 2 seconds.

And yeah, I do tend to waste some Power Locks on stability targets. Sometimes in the heat of battle I just react and don’t notice the icon. Especially against Ele’s, they’re constantly surround by swirling animations, can barely make out the character underneath. (I’ll keep an eye out for the Arcane Shield and Spectral Armor, thanks for the tips)

With HM, I can waste a charge here or there, but its something that I should improve on.

I’m still working out the whole “Halting Strike” vs “Mental Torment” trait selection. I’ve only been trying the Mental Torment side for the last couple of days. My MindWrecks are hitting harder, but that might also be contributed to dropping a ferocity rune for power based rune. I think it comes down to playstyle.

When running staff, I’m generating clones faster than with GS. I’m closer to the target and with the kiting the staff brings, those clones are more scattered around my target. So shatters are more efficient.

Halting Strike hits harder IF I get the interrupt. HS has become a great finisher. You wear down your opponent and when he goes to heal, bang HS and he’s down. You really notice those HS process then. I could probably make a whole highlight reel of just HS downs.

But if your not interrupting, then HS isn’t doing anything. You will always be shattering. And having “all your eggs’ in one basket” thingy still stands. If its good for a shatter build to have HS, its probably good for a lockdown build to have MT?? I’m not sure, still feeling it out.

Runes choices.. Again I real like the comments. Its good to get different opinions.

When I drop pistol for focus, I jump on Pack runes. But without a reliable source of quickness, pack runes are kind of wasted. (IMHO)

Hoelbrak is good, but with 3 charges of Mantra of Resolve, conditions aren’t too big an issue for this build. It’s kind of hard to show what MoResolve brings to this build. There’s is a LOT of immobilize/condition clearing going on. Unless you focus on my skillbar, you don’t see all those Power Cleanses that are happening. It has saved my bacon over and over.

I’d really like to run Rune of Mesmer for the longer stun/dazes, but its hard to not have that swiftness to get around. (No Portal) And Travel runes, just don’t “hit” hard enough.

With Centaur runes, I’m careful to only “waste:” it when going from point to point. A good portion of the cd is over when I get to my destination. And when I’m outnumbered or find myself over my head, that quickness helps in the get away. (No Decoy/stealth, or MI to aid in the escape.)

I’m trying to create a build like my GW1 Mesmer. The “You think you have me” playstyle that I miss from the original.

When I drop pistol for focus, I jump on Pack runes. But without a reliable source of quickness, pack runes are kind of wasted.

I’d disagree here. Where as you get cripple duration decreased with centaur runes, you get fury/might/swiftness not just to you, but to surrounding teammates/clones. I don’t know the max AOE target, but I usually see all nearby allies getting the boons. You also get 125+ precision which gives you overall more damage than with centaur.

If your sole focus is on the swiftness and how to reliably apply it, then Centaur is a good choice. Even then, I think Travelor’s runes are the best for increased speed (if you aren’t running focus+pack runes like you mentioned) but you give up some dps with this choice. I just think Centaur runes are overall weak choice for your build in general. The decreased cripple is so… not useful. haha

Give us more videos when you can!!

I see what your saying, and to be thorough I’ll give the pack runes a try.

I just can’t get around the “25% chance when struck” part. (I don’t want to “BE struck.”) The wiki also calls out a 20sec ICD on it. (Ether feast has a 20 sec cooldown) So without focus, I still won’t obtain swiftness any quicker over the Centaur runes.

The +125 precision is nice, but that only pumps my crit chance from 49% to 55%. Not a noticeable change.

Since I don’t have any stealth, that quickness on heal from Centaur’s comes in handy when I need to get out of dodge. But I’ll give a try and see how it feels.

I’ve gone back to Halting Strike and those HS crit’s are just too fun not to have around.

Here’s one of my recent matches in Solo Queue. I think it was a Warrior daily, so that might be why I had so much fun with these 2 warriors. I pretty much spent 60% of the match kiting these two at mid. I think they were getting a little upset. And of course, Time Warp seals the deal AGAIN!!

I’m posting this one because there were a lot of Mantra charging/recharging during combat. I want to show that Mantra’s can be viable.(IMHO) And once you get used to them, the recharge becomes pretty automatic.

Also, keep an eye on Mantra of Resolve use(3rd utility). There’s a whole lot of “immoblized” being cleansed from those warriors. If I get better at video editing, I’ll try and “highlight” my mantra uses better.

Cool video, but one thing I noticed was A LOT of unnecessary dodging happening.

Thanks for the comments and yeah there probably is a LOT of unnecessary dodging.

Here’s another gameplay montage. I figured out in the video editor how to “blow up” my skillbar, so its easier to see the mantra use.

Start off with an engineer at mid point. Nothing too fancy, Power Cleanse kept the immobilize and condi’s off during combat. I had a well placed blink early on to avoid those grenades.

Next up is a SD thief. I’ve looked over the footage several times and I’m pretty convinced that I did not win this fight. The thief lost it. I had some incredibly lucky dodges and I’m pretty sure that Confusing Combatants and Debilitating Dissipation did most of the work for me. He only stays in Shadow Refuge for a couple of seconds, I get lucky with a dodge and Mind Wreck at the end.

Then another Time Warp stomp. It’s becoming my video signature.

Somehow I surprise a Mesmer on my home pt. He portals away just as an Ele enters the fray. The Mesmer comes back throws up a bezerker then leaves?? So its just the Ele and me. Got him with several PowerLock/HS/CI hits, some Magic Bullet’s and some Blurred Frenzy. All the while, PowerCleanse kept the burning off me.

Another Mesmer, not really sure what his build was? I think it was a CI Lockdown with Nightmare Runes??? Right at the start, I’m feared and immobolized at the same time? He did run TimeWarp, so props to him. I put down Chaos Storm, just as he Time Warped.. I then threw MY TimeWarp down right on top of his and I don’t think he saw the Chaos Storm under the two large purple bubbles.

The reason I show this fight is because I land that elusive iLeap/Blurred Frenzy > Magic Bullet/Stun/HS/CI > Mind Wreck Shatter > Powerlock/interrupt/HS/CI combo. Or what I like to call the: “THE ECHORUPTION!” ( copyright pending)

In the last fight, I had just gotten beat at home against a Mesmer and Ranger. They capped home and were attacking my base as I respawned. While Blurred Frenzy is hitting the Ranger & his pet, I Powerlock/interrupt the Mesmer. (And that’s why I have mantra’s!)

Ok, so after the 6-23 patch, I’ve been tweaking my build around the new trait changes. I’ve been trying different variations to come up with something that has the same “trickster feel” as previous iterations.

So based on that requirement, “Echorupt” still is a Staff-Sword/Pistol build with the GM traits: Harmonious Mantras and Chaotic Interruptions.

Now that we can max out 3 lines, adding “Master of Fragmentation” gives the build cool little tools to make it more of an “improvisational” style of play.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAsaWlknhy0YNawINQtGLrGk5M2xLQne1veZHKeAA-TZBCABAcCAcvMAGHCgV2fghnAAA

I’m working on some videos. But like before when I remember to record a match its usually a blowout and doesn’t really show off the build. Then after a really good match occurs, I realize I forgot to start the recorder. So hopefully I’ll get something soon.

How can you have an EchoRupt build without mimic in there somehow now?? =P

Looking forward to the vid

Ok,

The latest update to OBS has been crashing on me. So I finally just picked a match to post. Although this match doesn’t really “showcase” my build as I would like, but its one of those rare PUG matches where your lucky enough to get a team that just “clicks”.

So instead of showcasing a few good 1v1 matches, I thought a “good team effort” match would be a nice change. However, I will take credit for some “sweeeet” TimeWarp execution.

So if you like to see a lot of stealth, instant stuns or “100 – 0 one-shotting”, then I’d suggest look elsewhere.

EchoRupt – Good Team