Guild Wars 2

Some time ago I made the choice to play Mesmer in WvW, and have been using only her since. She’s level 80 now though, and I need to decide on a build.

I typically join zergs in WvW, although I do roam a bit as well. It’s my opinion that in zergs the most important thing is spike damage since that’s how kills are scored: see someone overextended, and spike him. Because of that the best weapon in my opinion is Greatsword. The GS Phantasm applies Cripple to, making it harder for the overextended person to retreat, and to top it off the autoattack is instant. Other weapons like Staff may output more AoE damage or be stronger in a 1v1, but trying to kill with a staff in a zerg is an awfully painful experience. The damage just doesn’t get to its targets fast enough.

I’m aware that Greatsword isn’t one of the better weapons for duelling and as a result I’ll usually lose 1v1s. That’s fine – I actually feel that many of the videos posted of Mesmers winning 1v1s or 1v2s are largely irrelevant because they take so long to score kills. A 5-minute duel for example is more than enough time for help to arrive for either side, when it doesn’t matter what build either is running. Even a 2-minute duel is too long. I’d rather move around the map and achieve something tangible. I wrote earlier that I roam a bit, and that’s true, but even when roaming I will avoid 1v1s and move instead for camps / dolyaks / sentries / bloodlust.

While I don’t prioritize 1v1s, I do think it’s important to be able to escape a 1v1. If another player wants to fight and I obviously cannot win, I want to be able to run away. On the same note I preferably don’t want to die to Thieves, who are in my opinion an extremely annoying class and for obvious reasons quite common as roamers. I don’t need to be able to kill them. I just need to be able to not die to them, at least for long enough that I can reach the nearest ally.

I have no qualms doing things like changing equipment while out of combat, so if I do use Focus in one of the two weaponsets it’s for Swiftness within combat and the projectile reflects (while out of combat I’ll always equip the Focus for Swiftness, then change back – I haven’t been caught with only the offhand equipped yet). Same applies to Runes of the Traveler or Runes of the Air, etc. If I use them it’s for their effects within combat, not outside of it. Also price isn’t an issue; I don’t mind saving for equipment.

Finally I use my Mesmer for WvW only and never use her for dungeons / PvE / Fractals etc. Any build I use need not translate well also into PvE.

So considering my requirements, how should I build my Mesmer? The only certainties I’m seeing are that GS will be one of the two weapons, and Blink is necessary as one of the utilities. I’m not sure about traits, although I presume GS training will be important. I find I barely ever use the Shatters; the illusions I spawn are just too valuable. I’ve not tried the Mantra playstyle yet, although for the spike damage Mantra of Pain might be good (is it?).

Suggestions?

In teamplay/ Zerging CC is really important. Not damage, Def, Burst but CC. Well this is my Guild thought and i completely agree with it.

There are 2 CC for me. Soft and Hard
Soft CC = Enemy can still control the Char but performance become really bad. Example = Chilling, Criple, Daze, Weakness? Confuse?
Hard CC = Enemy completely lost control of the Char.
Example = Stun, Pull, Launch, Knock back

GS has 2 CC, 1 Soft and 1hard while Staff only have 1CC and it’s random. GS Really good for zerging/ Team play if u want to become Hitter Role.

As for second weapon set well i dunno what to say coz i haven’t find best weapon for zerging. Dual Swords for zerging is too lame. Probably Staff + GS is good but u will spend most of the time in backline. Well i have habit to run with frontline sometimes esp when using Sword. Bravery at its finest. Well i;m thinking Focus off hand thou for pull and keeping Sword Main Hand.

As for roaming part it’s natural. Coz GS is Sniping Weapon. In Every MMORPG when a Ranged class got melee ed = Ur chance of losing increased. But GW2 has weapon swap feature… So u can choose ur 2nd Weapon option wisely esp when “Oh here come the melee” Situation comes. As for me i use Dual Swords coz it turns me into “Pure Melee Combatant”

U can try for Rune of traveler. Expensive but the movement speed is so good. The Condi Dura also can raise ur Criple duration from iBerserker. At 40% it will become 1,5s / hit.

If you just want to run around with a zerg and nuke stuff, go with 30/30/0/0/10: very squishy but super-fun. Zerker can hit for 8k+ aoe unbuffed; autoattack for 3k+ per chain from 1200 range (numbers are fuzzy, it’s been a long time since I did this last). Get some might from the zerg and watch the number soar.

I’d suggest something like this as a template – 12% damage boost from mantras, 9% possible from images (though they probably won’t stay alive long), maxed power/prec/crit, all weapons traited, extra spike damage from both your mantras (daze should interrupt and proc Halting Strike pretty often). One utility slot left open for whatever you like.

Of course, if you get caught alone you’re going to be very squishy, but you may still be able to surprise 1v1 with how much damage you can put out. 1v2+ you’re dead meat. Then again, that’s what makes it fun!

However, Berzerker builds in zergs can be detrimental to your side because it makes it much easier for the enemy to rally off you.

as Xavi said, zerker gear doesn’t mesh well with wuvwuv. As Nevhie said, go with GS as your main. I’d also suggest going Power over Condi due to the amount of cleansing and due to all the structures you can attack.

I use http://intothemists.com/guides/381-gs_prismatic with Null Field or Veil in place of Signet of Midnight. I also have a Sigil of Energy on the GS and the Sigil of Perception on the Sword now.

Well clearly I’ll be using the Greatsword most / all of the time when I’m in a zerg, so the second weaponset should patch up the weak points of the Greatsword: mainly the 1v1 part.

I actually have no problems with running full Berserker in a zerg because I don’t usually get sniped out (part of the result of levelling my Mesmer from level 2 to level 80, I guess). If I die in a zerg vs. zerg, usually it means all my teammates are dying also. However I’m still cautious about going full glass cannon because I still want to be able to escape from 1v1s that I can’t win. As I wrote, I don’t have to win, I just have to not die. I can’t give up on “not die” however, because it was extremely annoying when I was levelling to be sniped out before I can get to the zerg. Practically anything kills a level 10 Mesmer in WvW.

Interesting build choices Helios. Thanks. I’ll try it out.

I agree with you, “don’t die” is the critical design part of WvWvW.
Just a counter point to the build from above, I’ve never found the torch’s return worth it’s investment. 1 condition per use isn’t enough, phantasm not effective, even with Prismatic Understanding 4sec doesn’t always get you out of trouble.
On the other hand, blink with the extended range absolutely gets you out of trouble. And I don’t know how anyone isn’t running the Traveler Runes, worth every penny.

Your weapon set swap from GS, if it has sword mainhand, is an effective finisher tool.
Although there’s plenty of whining about the iLeap/swap not landing, it works for me to pin somebody, then a Blurred Frenzy and you’re usually done. Off hand focus is useful in so many ways.

But to stay alive, the staff can’t be touched.

I’ve been meaning to try GS/Staff, and according to the forum the winning team from the recent MLG tourny had a GS/Staff mesmer- so something must be usable there…

Regards

http://intothemists.com/guides/1276-raid_shatter

This is my shatter build for in raids. Maybe go a bit more tanky if you feel you’re too squishy. The build also works quite good to still have a chance in 1v1 + you can outrun your enemies long enough if use your focus pull correctly.

i wouldnt go zerker in a zergfight ever. my friend who has a mesmer was pure glass cannon p/crit build which is ok for roaming but no toughness or vitality. i gave her a couple of builds with toughness and she loves it. i gave her glam hybrid with perplexity, blackwater mesmer, triforce and the anti warrior build and she loves them all.

if u fight in a zerg make sure to bring cleansers and stunbreakers with u due to the current meta. also if uare squishy try to kit the zerg from the backline or middle line so u dont get caught in the heavy spike cc area win which a mesmer melt very very quickly.
i hope though anet gives us more caster like aoe stuff as we are a light armor class after all. and light armor needs cc, aoe and have access to conditions and stuns to keep the heavy and medium classes off your back. scepter 2 has been a live safer vs thieves many times btw. i run scepter/focus and staff in zergs and scepter/torch mh sword/pistol as a roamer

Zerker is fine in zergs, just make sure you’re aware of what’s around you so that you know when to dodge/blink/blurred frenzy to mitigate damage.

You’re going to be in the backline so you’ll see the melee train coming from a mile away so it’ll be easy to avoid, and if some enemy ranged focuses you, you can try running near the commander for safety and boons or just fighting them off.

colesy.8490:

Zerker is fine in zergs, just make sure you’re aware of what’s around you so that you know when to dodge/blink/blurred frenzy to mitigate damage.

You’re going to be in the backline so you’ll see the melee train coming from a mile away so it’ll be easy to avoid, and if some enemy ranged focuses you, you can try running near the commander for safety and boons or just fighting them off.

yeah if u are glassy, stay out of the cc area. and kite around the zergs. im a glam hybrid and trifoce so i can stay in the middle field, but if i was a zerker i’d stay far in the back.

My current WvW build:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNArfWlwzKqHVTmGb9IipHBHyBckUUavWJF62FC-jQCBYhERj0CKjkIBKHqIaslhFRjVJTIVzATHLyeEYSBAx0I-e

For zergs, I like to run in, Torch 4 for invisible & blinds, switch to staff and drop chaos storm at my feet, then when you come out of stealth, you blast that chaos storm (ethereal field) which gives 5 allies chaos armour, which a lot of zergs want now. Also you give 5 enemies burn.

When I run with zergs now, I generally use a phantasm build that has a strong focus on toughness. The traits are 20/20/0/30/0, armor is full knights, and trinkets are full cavaliers. This lands me with a massive amount of toughness, which gets transferred to my phantasms, allowing them to stay alive longer, as well as having pretty high crit damage from the cavaliers.

The weapons I use are sword/focus + greatsword, traiting illusion damage, gs cooldowns, phantasmal fury, focus cooldowns, 20% phantasm hp. The last 2 traits can be messed with.

A lot of the effectiveness of this type of build relies on proper placement of your phantasms. If you drop your phantasms in the middle of the melee pain train, you’ll probably not even get a single uninterrupted attack from them. However, since both summons have 1200 range (and iZerker actually has slightly more than 1200, from my experience), you can drop the phantasms on the weaker back line instead. The warden spinning allows it to do additional damage and is protected from any projectile attacks that may hit it, and in the back line, the additional toughness is what lets the iZerker survive for much longer.

On top of all this, you can still use the gs cleaving auto to target the back line, along with swapping to sword for some extra defense (probably don’t want to get into melee range).

I’ll almost always take signet of illusions, and then the other 2 utilities are free to choose. I’ll often take feedback, and drop it on top of where I summon the iZerker for additional protection, and veil is always a good choice as well. Taking those 2, you’ll probably want to trait glamour cooldowns with your free inspiration trait, but you can change up those choices as you like.

Now, once you start leaving the zerg and go for roaming, you’re going to want to change things a little. You’ll drop your glamours for blink and decoy first. Feedback can actually be nice for clearing camps, but that’s something you’ll change on the spot. Focus and greatsword are also nice for clearing camps, but not good for taking out people quickly. I’ll recommend that you transit into a more dueling style phantasm build for roaming, using sword/pistol and scepter/sword. That will allow you to rapidly dismantle pretty much any build or class that you encounter in a 1v1 situation.

Bumping this old thread. My Mesmer may have been level 80 for a long time, but she still doesn’t have max equipment and I want to get some opinions before I commit to getting that equipment since it’s expensive and I don’t have that much free $ available.

I notice that when I’m alone, I can generally not die simply by remaining alert and equipping Blink, Decoy, Mass Invisibility and Veil, so that shouldn’t be much of a problem. On the other hand when zerging I change to Blink, Null Field, Feedback and Time Warp. Veil’s still good and I swap it in every now and then when the situation demands (replacing Feedback). Blink on the other hand is absolutely essential to staying alive and I cannot give it up. That resolves the utilities – seems quite straightfoward to me and every Mesmer will be running some variant of this, barring some specialized builds. For weapons I simply camp the Greatsword and never swap. Even if I can see the fight coming and switch the second weaponset to Staff, I still never swap. The Greatsword is just too good.

I notice that since Warriors + Guardians are extremely common yet resist direct damage, that perhaps condition damage is the way to go. Furthermore, since I will usually have two Glamour fields and since Mesmers have confusion traits that go well with it, that might be the best option (apparently confusion is great in 1v1s too).

Intended idea:

Perplexity runes x6
CPT gear: condition damage, precision, toughness. Getting toughness over vitality since from my limited trials so far it’s been the more useful stat (thanks Pyroatheist for the suggestion).
Greatsword + Scepter / Focus. GS is necessary since in my opinion it’s the only effective weapon in a zerg. Focus is good even in a zerg since it provides the swiftness necessary if we’re dying and I need to run, or if they’re dying and we’re chasing. Scepter feels better than Sword since I’ll almost never be in melee range anyway. I might swap to Sword if I’m PvDooring, I suppose.

Traits -
Domination 20: Empowered Illusions (+15% illusion damage) and Confusing Enchantments (confusion on exiting a glamour field)
Dueling 15: Far Reaching Manipulations (enhanced range on Blink).
Inspiration 10: Glamour Mastery (reduced cooldown on Glamour fields)
Illusions 15: Master of Misdirection (confusion lasts longer). Illusionists Celerity compensates not having GS training.

10 points left – not sure if +2s duration on the Glamour fields is worth it since people tend to run out of it quite fast. If it isn’t, then I’d put it into -20% cooldown on Blink, since Blink is just that good.

Problems and questions:

1) This is the big one. I’m not sure either if the entire idea is even worth it. After all Healing Rain / Shake it Off / Save Yourselves etc just flat out removes conditions in an AoE. I have little experience with the typical zerg builds as well and don’t know if they pack enough condition removal to make this idea pointless. I know when I’m zerging I typically don’t have trouble with conditions, but that’s probably more a consequence of me not joining the melee train than anything else. Anyone know?
2) Assuming the idea is worth pursuing I’m actually not sure if this is a condition or a power build. It feels more like a condition build, but all that condition damage does nothing if I’m just autoattacking with the Greatsword (well, a bit of bleed stacks). If it is the latter Power / Precision / Toughness gear would make more sense.
3) Not having Deceptive Evasion really sucks but what to do?
4) Goes without question that one of the two sigils in the Scepter / Focus set would be a Sigil of Energy (50% endurance on swap). For the remaining two slots though, Sigil of Malice (condition damage) or Sigil of Bursting (+condition duration), or something else?
5) 30 into Illusions with Dazzling Glamour (blind on Glamour) and Blinding Befuddlement (confusion on blind) might be worth it. Is it? Illusions 30 without Illusionary Persona would be weird, but the only use for Persona I can see is to get off a free Distortion, which I find I generally don’t need (Blink suffices to keep me alive).

Thanks in advance for comments!

Generally, I’m having a tricky time finding a broad build for wvw.
Shatter/melee doesn’t stack well with my play style- I’m not the best at wading into the thick of battle and picking off stragglers feels somewhat limiting.

I’ve had the most success recently with a phantasm/glamour hybrid.
Something along the lines of
20/10/0/25/15
It lets me go full-phantasm when roaming or swap to glamour-support when I need to.

My most reliable sources of damage in WvW are my GS phantasmal berserker and the reflects from Feedback/focus. This build emphasizes those without crippling my survival or control too much.

My 2 cents:
1) & 2) The build seems confused between power and condi damage you need to decide on that yourself. If you decide to go power then there’s little point in putting 20 into domination as the confusion won’t be worth anything in terms of damage. If you want to run conditions then you need a way of constantly reapplying them to beat the cleanses. 10 into chaos with debilitating dissipation is a good way to go.
3) I’ve never noticed the lack of it personally
4) I almost always run Sigil of Stamina. For my Scepter I have Sigil of Corruption which I switch out for one with Sigil of Torment when I reach 25 stacks (torment hits hard if you are running condi dmg)
5) You can get Dazzling Glamour and Blinding Befuddlement with just 20 into Illusions.

If you are looking at condition damage you may need to look at other options than the GS. The staff is a superb support weapon in the zerg.

I have heard that people have had a lot of success using a hybrid phantasm/glamour build similar to what Kelthien mentioned. Personally I’m full condi damage and I either run a full glamour build (20/0/10/20/20) or a front line clone generation/mantra build (0/30/20/20/0)

Edit:
If you are going into condition dmg then the extra 2s on glamours works well with confusing enchantments as the zergs tend to either circle around one another or move through each other in roughly the same spot, and you will be reapplying confusion each time a person moves through the field. Having the fields up for longer is also good to allow more blast finishers for the wonderful purple bubble.

Just going to throw this build out there. Its about boon removal… And I’m on a tier 3 WvW server so the zergs aren’t super huge (haven’t had a queue in forever). Quite a bit of fun… supportive while removing boons, stacking vulnerability, aoe daze. Usually switch out iDisenchanter for different situations. And run a mix of bers/cav/valk gear.
Build: anti-Boon

Jorjeis.2169:

I have heard that people have had a lot of success using a hybrid phantasm/glamour build similar to what Kelthien mentioned. Personally I’m full condi damage and I either run a full glamour build (20/0/10/20/20) or a front line clone generation/mantra build (0/30/20/20/0)

I definitely dig the phantasm/glamour build for large-scale wvw. On my server, I’m typically running with 20-30 people fighting groups of a similar size. Melee-train builds are often just asking for death (though blurred frenzy is great, it locks you in place). Condition builds seem strong, but only affect a small number of people and there’s ample condition cleansing going on. Shatter builds are thematically some of my favorites, but landing a full shatter is a rare experience.

Part of the reason I keep going back to the hybrid build is how flexible it is in such large battles. Phantasmal zerker is nearly-instant AoE and GS’s other skills are nothing to laugh at either, even the auto-attack frequently hits for 1-2k on 3-5 people. Second, reflects are great in large groups- no target cap is a godsend with all those projectiles whizzing about. Finally, utility/CC in the form of GS’s knockback, Focus’s cripple/pull, and Null Field’s quicker cooldown are just icing on the death cake.

That said, it’s an awful build for roaming and small groups. Even in little 3v3 encounters, going with the default can get you killed much of the time. Fortunately, with the right trait swap and nabbing Sword/Pistol over Scepter/Focus, I become a phantasm power-house with a much better chance.

Overall, if you’re only running in groups ranging more like 5-10 rather than 20-40… I’d say condi builds, shatter builds, and melee builds are probably going to feel a little more effective. If that’s not the case, I’d recommend trying it out.

I find that Mesmers contribute three things to raids, pick your poison:

Glamour support
The obvious choice. We got some really strong utilities in Inspiration, we can supply CD-reduced Feedback, Null Field, Veil and Portal. Each of those is a powerhouse in zerg warfare. We also provide reflecting Focus attacks, which again can be a game-changer at the right moment. We also get Feedback-on-rezz, which is really good.
On top of that we supply Time Warp, which is always handy.

Straggler hunter
If thinning the tail is your game, team with someone dishing out swiftness or go +25% runes, and go for a lockdown or max-zerk build. They won’t know what hit’em, and between Blink, Decoy and MI or Moa you can easily escape if the rest of the tail realizes that they’re supposed to help.

Distraction
One of the most powerful uses we have is semi-flanking a zerg (coming from a 45° or so angle, alone) and the moment you notice this crucial switch as the enemy realizes there’s an easy lone target, blow through Feedback and Mimic and Mirror. Focus reflects if you got them.
If your zerg leader realizes that they just switch to an “easy” target, they will now probably run straight through the slightly weakened and most importantly distracted group. This usually helps a lot more than people give it credit at first. It’s amazing how many players fall for the “There, a lone person who’s an easy kill!”-trap. All you need to do is survive 5-6 seconds and you won your group some major advantage.

Wow I didn’t even notice the Confusion nerf in WvW. This is not encouraging … according to my calculations I can expect to max out at roughly 2000 condition damage, which in turn means:

Confusion does 215 damage per skill use per stack
Bleeding does 142.5 damage per second per stack
Burning does 828 damage per second

A full-out glamour build would apply one stack of confusion on glamour cast (thanks to Blinding Befuddlement + Dazzling Glamours), and it would apply another stack of confusion on exiting the glamour field, and that’s it. There may be a bit more confusion coming out of the Scepter, but it won’t be in AoE. This amount of confusion damage after going all-in on condition damage is absolutely depressing. I have little else to gain from condition damage – I realize the staff is a great support weapon, and it is based off condition damage as well, but I simply never swap to it since tagging targets with a Staff in zergs is a frustrating experience. All those resources going into condition damage for so little actual damage. Meh.

I think at this point it’s probably better to go into Power-based builds instead while still having the glamour fields … Glamour Mastery (-20% cooldown on glamours) and possibly Temporal Enchanter (+2s duration on glamours) would probably be enough; those fields don’t get more powerful with higher condition damage after all.

I’ll have another think about it … thanks for comments!

Don’t completely discount the confusion from glamours in a condition build. 20 into Dom isn’t AoE capped, and with 215 dmg per stack across a large group when they’re probably spamming their auto attack it adds up to a reasonable amount of condition pressure. That said if you want to go condition damage I see 10 Chaos (Debilitating Dissipation) as a prerequisite. The block on scepter 2 is also going to completely ruin someone’s day if you’re condition damage. Another thing you might like to consider is Sigil of Torment on GS.

Kelthien.8593:

Shatter builds are thematically some of my favorites, but landing a full shatter is a rare experience.

In tier1 landing a shatter in a zerg fight is all but impossible sadly.

Jorjeis.2169:

Kelthien.8593:

Shatter builds are thematically some of my favorites, but landing a full shatter is a rare experience.

In tier1 landing a shatter in a zerg fight is all but impossible sadly.

SO true, and that’s been my problem with shatter builds. A more minor problem is that I often “waste” my dodges in creating offensive clones rather than saving my endurance bar for defensive dodging.

As for Jorjei’s point about condition damage- I agree to an extent. Confusion damage is still significant, even with the crazy nerf from a few months ago. I’ve just never found it enough to make it “worth it”. Generally, the groups I run up against have enough condition cleansing that Confusion only lasts a second or two, often 1-2 ticks at most. It’s enough to get some loot bags, but still not worth it to make me feel like I’m contributing a whole lot without building my whole char around it. I think it’s a super viable path to explore in some circumstances though.

Jorjeis.2169:

Don’t completely discount the confusion from glamours in a condition build. 20 into Dom isn’t AoE capped, and with 215 dmg per stack across a large group when they’re probably spamming their auto attack it adds up to a reasonable amount of condition pressure. That said if you want to go condition damage I see 10 Chaos (Debilitating Dissipation) as a prerequisite. The block on scepter 2 is also going to completely ruin someone’s day if you’re condition damage. Another thing you might like to consider is Sigil of Torment on GS.

Yeah, but I’m only going to get two stacks at most for 430 damage per skill use. On the average each person may autoattack maybe three times before the confusion is cleansed, which means after sinking everything possible into maximizing my glamour fields, I do a whopping 1290 damage. The GS phantasm alone would do more than that! It just doesn’t look worth it to me.

Auto attacks are often on 0.5s. If you get 10 people for 2 seconds that’s 8000 damage just from the 20 domination trait. The 20 domination trait makes your glamours work like a curtain so if they’re in the middle of a battle field there’s a good chance they’ll be running back and forth over it adding more damage. Also glamours are good in an of themselves, this is a bonus. The minor traits in Domination also work well with the staff 5.

That said it’s part of a whole. Like I said in my first post your build seems confused, if you want to build around condi dmg then the glamour on confusions is just part of it.

Yeah but once again I’d have invested into maximizing my condition damage to deal 8000 damage. If instead of maximizing condition damage I’d gone for maximizing power, then I’d have 2000 power instead of 2000 condition damage. That would something like double the damage coming out of the GS phantasm – a huge effect. I’m not saying give up on the glamour fields completely either. The glamour fields are obviously strong, but I don’t need to go all out and trait for confusion if it’s not effective. I’d still equip the glamour fields, just not trait + equip for condition damage.

So something like:

20 Domination (Empowered Illusions and GS training)
10 Dueling (Far Reaching Manipulations)
10 Chaos (Master of Manipulations)
30 Inspiration (Temporal Enchanter, Glamour Mastery, Warden’s Feedback)

With PPT gear and Mesmer runes (five of them anyway, and then any of the other runes that give +25 power). Possibly give up on Temporal Enchanter for 15 Dueling (Sharper Images), and since I’m quite confident in my ability to stay alive, I can mix in some Berserker’s gear as well. From the build editor I’m seeing something like 2200 power, 1500 toughness, and 1150 vitality, which should be enough to stay alive with.

Then when it comes to zerg vs zerg fights, instead of using glamour fields that do 8000 damage, I’d be using the GS phantasm that, if it hits 10 people, will be doing significantly more than 8000 damage and I’d still have the glamour fields. Certainly looks more appealing to me.

If you want to stick with the GS then yes, you’re going to be better off going into power.

Jeydra.4386:

. From the build editor I’m seeing something like 2200 power, 1500 toughness, and 1150 vitality, which should be enough to stay alive with.

That feels a bit squishy to me. I know earlier you have said that when you’re going down so is the rest of your group but consider this; if you hadn’t gone down then perhaps 5-10 of the enemy wouldn’t have rallied and been back in the fight which was enough to tip the battle in favour of the enemy.

It depends on who you’re following but part of the BG meta during NA/OCX is moving through the opposition and into their back line. If you’re going to be that squishy then you have to be spot on with your positioning. Also one thing worth remembering is that you can’t out play a choke. Sometimes you just have to rush them.

Well like I said I generally don’t have trouble surviving. I play on BG as well, but I generally average fewer deaths than the commander when I’m with the zerg. I’ll be fine, don’t worry

Do you think it’s worth giving up 10 in Inspiration to max out Domination? If I do that I’d probably give up Temporal Enchanter and take Harmonious Mantras, although the only Mantra I can possibly use is Mantra of Recovery. I dunno, Mantra of Recovery without Mender’s Purity feels rather strange to me.