Guild Wars 2

Fixing page bug.

Another thing is I’m starting to prefer Null Field in pvp if the enemy team is heavy on condtion classes, but Calamity well is working better for me if there are more glass cannons.

@Curunen Cheers for fixing the page bug! Wasn’t sure how to fix the bug!
Yeah Null Field can be a solid addition to the build, an another Ethernal field to make more Chaos armor on is allways great! Protection Up time is yummy!

I wish Well of Calamity did more damage though – it seems really weak and extremely easy for an enemy to avoid.

Curunen.8729:

I wish Well of Calamity did more damage though – it seems really weak and extremely easy for an enemy to avoid.

I can kinda follow you, but then again, mine is steady critting 5k on the final hit and that is just so sweet when a 2-3 guys end up standing in it :P

Hmm, I need to keep a closer eye on that – not seen those kind of numbers yet but I’ll try and pay more attention.

Anyway I’m a convert – been looking for something since the MtD nerf that I can enjoy again, not enjoying condition builds in the current state of the game – this build incorporates most of the things I love about mesmer – traited mirror, sword/staff, stability on shatter, etc.

Sometimes I miss Domination on a power build, but giving up either Inspiration or Chaos is such a big loss in utility and sustain that I can’t do it!

@Curunen I’m glad to hear I have a convert haha But talking about condition builds, I have actually been looking to see if I could make a “Hybrid” version of this work! It’ all purely theory, since I have none of the gear! But what I have been looking at is either this::
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAW7ensnBlphtfCeoBUrhFij6cDugOzMASgFqOT70QF-TVyCQBHU9HA8AAcmyh7pbId7PMhLCQiUCKhjAQWUyFAABYmzMZWmBLX5KX5KX5MzZOzZOzZWKAYWWB-w

Which is as close to the orignal Idea as I can get it… But if it lacks to much dmg maybe swapping out Chaos for Illusions (and get reduced clone/phanatams CD aswell) and have it look like this:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAW7ensnBlphtfCWoBUrhlnj6sACgDreQP0FFdxynGA-TVyCQBHU9HA8AAcmyh7pbId7PMhLCQiUCKhjAQWUyFAABYmzMZWmBLX5KX5KX5MzZOzZOzZWKAYWWB-w

I honestly have no idea about it could work, but the tought is fun to play around with!

But yeah I’m really loving both Chaos and Inspiration a lot, so it’s very very hard for me to swap one of the two out, since they play such a key role in my build!

Funnily enough I’ve also been thinking about hybrid, but instead swapping Inspiration for Illusions – because I love traited mirror and stability shatter too much.

Trouble is losing all that condition removal and the iDefender, and the complex mess of stats.

Curunen.8729:

Funnily enough I’ve also been thinking about hybrid, but instead swapping Inspiration for Illusions – because I love traited mirror and stability shatter too much.

Trouble is losing all that condition removal and the iDefender, and the complex mess of stats.

My problem with giving up Inspiration is the sudden mass loss of condition removal and healing from my shatters! XD

You’re right, it’s better to give up Chaos than Inspiration.

I’d stick with Sword/Shield + Staff though, I think you can get away with Sword if hybrid damage (and I find it more fun than Scepter).

Trying something like this in pvp:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAW8ensnBlph1fCOqBcrhlnj6sACgDreQP0FFdCynGA-TZRHABDcBA8uMQ77PAwBBQgnAAA

And once I’ve tested that a bit and am able to craft the gear I might aim for something like this in wvw:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAW8ensnBlph1fCOqBcrhlnj6sACgDreQP0FFdCynGA-TlSHAB1r+zAXoAeVWVuuhL0w47+D3pEEgDCwRKVE4JAEAABYmzMZWmBDdoDdoDdo9dhO0hO0hWGgi5A-w

Having the sustained condition pressure should help to make up for the weaker direct burst, although not sure how the loss of protection/regen/stability from Chaos will be.

Edit: trouble now is being full glass with little protection other than the iDefender can be painful.

You might be right with sword being just fine for the build! I just really like Scepter haha
But you are right for sure, the defence takes a massive drop from loosing it’s Stability/regen/Protection uptime! I hope that Rune of the Defender + a few Dire items can make up for it and still make it work! Ofc. I have no idea about that, since I haven’t tested it and it’s purely speculation!
I just wish we could make condi builds without the Illusion line! =_=

I would give up Chrono, but that’s impossible sadly because Chronophantasma and Shield are so crucial when not using DE/Duelling.

Ah I’ve been toying around just now in some hotjoins with Chaos/Illusions/Chrono and Inpsiration/Illusions/Chrono both with Viper amulet and revenant runes, and either way it’s a huge tradeoff.
On one hand condition removal sucks and you have to take Mantra of Resolve or something, on the other hand you lose most of your protection, regen, other boons and traited mirror/blink.

Inspiration variant is my favourite because I can take well of precognition, but the problem is a soon as the iDefender dies/is shattered twice, you’re full glass and can be wiped in an instant – reason why sword/shield, well of precognition are lifesavers.

I dunno, maybe it’s best to stay direct damage only.

This is the most fun I’ve had experimenting/playing for a long long time, so I’m happy about that anyway.

I see you guys ended up going down the same route I did and finded out not worth it.

Every time I play a tanky power build I always think how nice it would be if I could twist it in to a hybrid one. But then it all fall apart because of the trade off

My experience is that the well doesn’t do enough damage. Pvp is different from wvw and my feedback is purely from pvp perspective.

The build works well but either you roam in wvw or have a coordinated group in pvp. As a solo pvp player I decided I want to be the master of myself. No matter how tanky you are, a team focus firing you will bring you down if not supported by competent players so I went back and dusted off a phant shatter build.

If you manage to come up with this build optimized for solo pvp then please give me a shout

Yeah, I think that’s the only conclusion possible – there’s too much tradeoff for a hybrid build and you lose half of what makes this build fun/work.

I’m sticking with full power, although am finding Gravity Well more useful for pvp – although I don’t think it’s an efficient pvp build compared to going full Domination or full bunker, or even full condi. Lack of boon strip is a bit of a pain sometimes.

It seems that it requires the extra damage in wvw to function properly (as well as the runes).

Well of Calamity is a bit… meh… in pvp so I tend to take null field sometimes.

I’ve been playing this build, mostly solo roaming, since you first posted it. I think it took about a week before I lost a 1v1 and I won plenty of 2v1s and a couple of 3v1s (all scrubs of course :p )

Nothing much to add, but thanks for the build ^^

“Your build gave me an aneurysm” -guyidueled

Amadeus.5687:

@Tankvieh, it seems like I never recorded the longer tower fight I had! :/ So you will have t make do with this shorter fight I also had, here I tho messed up early on and the zergling lost interest on me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYParmlkUSs&feature=youtu.be
Anyway it still shows the idea of you don’t have to kill people to support the zerg, I remove several enemies from the fight, by luring them away from what they actually should be doing And the build can do this sort of stuff quite well! It Also seems the build Calculator is still down for me!

thank you very much for the video, you have indeed a very nice sustain.

the only problems i had with this build was when i suddenly get multiple 5-9k crits out of nowhere. active migation cant do much in these moments and you have no chaos armor active usually as you are saving it for infight.

the people you fought in the video hit a lot but i did not see a lot of big numbers flying around.

same when i suddendly have 6+ condis dropped on me, its hard to remove them as you are usually interrupted when you try.

one must i always take in the build though is WoP
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Well_of_Precognition

just such a great teamsupport and defensive skill

@Electric Puha Glad to hear you are having succes with the build! What did you loose the 1vs1 one to? and were it mostly a matter about being outplayed or did you feel you just couldn’t win it? But I feel bad for the guy you dueled!

@Tankvieh you are certainly right, that when a Thief burst suddenly comes out of nowhere with it’s big numbers, it can really mess up your HP-pool and often make a fast end to a outnumbered fight! But there really ain’t much to do in those situations, unless you are having a solid protection uptime going for you! But that said, it’s only a problem for me in an outnumbered situation, in a 1vs1 5-9k burst can easy be sustained! Condi bombs can be a danger as you point out, but that often requires several attacks to hit you and have only been an annoyance when a necromancer corrupt all my boons
Well of Precognition is a solid replacement to the Signet for sure! But I’m glad you enjoying the build

@Curnen and Trooper, I think I will slowly start work towards some hyrbid armor sets for WvW and see if I can make it work, just for the fun of it! :P I wil llet you know how it goes haha! My gaming time these days are sadly in the lower end, IRL keeps me busy!

The build work pretty well.

I just changed the signet for well of precognition in teamfight, to help allies.
Even if i lose some condi remove, but i’ve duelling a condi reaper and from 5% health i heal myself to 50% from a full condi burst and then i down him, for me, i think it’s good enought.

And last night, i start a 1v4 (2 DH, 1 druid, 1 condi necro) , the necro was down, the druid low health that he run away to regen. Then a friendly ranger and warrior came, but the ranger just spam pewpewpew, so we lost with the war :s (but that was kinda awesome how you can pressure while being pressured :p)

Wow great build and video! I just posted a video in this forum and I’m feeling outplayed already lol! Can’t wait to get home and try something similar in pvp.

I’ve lost to DHs a couple of times and the aneurysm guy actually beat me with a interrupt daredevil build. It took like 5 min and people were saying we should wrap it up and I ate a bunch of damage trying to finish it. I’ve shut down DHs way more than I’ve lost to them. There aren’t any builds I feel I can’t beat except some bunkers, as some people have said above, but you can just leave.

I think the main weakness, excepting maybe a slight lack of burst, is that you start feeling invincible and then you get sloppy and some 9k trueshot or something slips through at a bad time. Even then you can often recover.

@Reborn D Well of Precognition is certainly another great option for the third utility! Most of the well honestly are! More Chaos armor fields! =D And yes it’s not really that big of a loss to remove the signet, it’s really just a personal preference for me!
But glad to hear your having fun and that it’s awesome! To be able to fight in outnumbered fights are great!

@Decimus haha thanks a lot! But don’t feel outplayed, WvW is never as balanced as sPvP and the skill level of some people in WvW can be really bad! To fight 3-4 alone in sPvP and come out winning, ain’t gonna happen

@Electric Puha I can see how a DH sometimes can get one by suprise, by miss stepping into a trap or as you say, not dodge/block/reflect a 9k Trueshot! On the other hand, most ranged enemies can be hillarious fun to fight against, and reflect their stuff back in their face! In special kill shot warriors just makes my day!
But the interrupt Daredevil, what loadout does one run with? I haven’t faced one, but have fought some interttupt mesmer and in between my active defence and stability from shatters, they just couldn’t deliver many interupts!
But cheers for the feedback! It’s nice to hear about what other people have problems with, and I love how overconfidence is becoming a weakness with the build!

But that’s sorta also what I like with it: If you manage and time your skills well, you can aboid insane amounts of dmg and you can also recover a lot of lost life, really fast! But if you start to play bad, and don’t avoid the important stuff, your gonna drop quickly as the glass cannon you actually are

This might sound weird, but I’m not really digging Defender runes.

Maybe because of my playstyle, or maybe because I got used to having that resistance on heal from the Revenant runes, but something doesn’t do it for me – almost like I’m trying to get hit as much as possible when using shield 4, and trying to get hit after using mirror in order to proc the regen. And then I feel bad if I don’t get hit like 10 times while blocking, or nothing hits me after using mirror.

I think I’m going to either go back to melandru+saffron bread (so cripple/chill/immobilise is nonexistant), or hopefully use Revenant runes if they are ever available to buy for wvw – they seem impossible to get or craft at the moment outside of pvp.

I’m probably going to craft 3 armour sets each with a different rune and just swap between them to see what I prefer.

Some other general thoughts on the build – while survival may be easy, dealing coordinated damage is not, and that I feel is an acceptable tradeoff (so there should be no nerf calls). Unlike say if taking Domination and Greatsword – dealing burst damage and killing players is extremely easy, but surviving requires more effort; with this build you have put in a lot of effort to kill someone, but as a reward surviving is much easier.

There are a lot of skills that are hitting for small amounts of direct damage, and the challenge is coordinating them into one burst if an enemy is exposed, or using them in a sustained manner to maintain pressure. Compared to GS/Domination where you can mirror blade/F1/mind stab and destroy a huge amount of health with little effort.

@Curunen I think it’s totally legit to not like the runes, they are sort of special! I on the other hand, just can’t live without them haha They are the best thing to ever come around! But I do think it’s very nice to see people test out other runes, more options i allways a good thing!

But I agree with you on your toughts, it take a lot of cordination and awerness to set everything up for your attacks! The burst are by no means as high as a more traditonal power mesmer, it actually is more similar to condition dmg, where you deal small chunks over a longer periode… it’s more sustained! But I allways prefered that playstyle, so I gues that’s why I have so much fun!
But this is also, as you say, probaly the reason for this won’t need a nerf

Heh, I was trying to preempt any nerf calls like “this build is too hard to kill” etc…

Since as you say the damage comes in small chunks and while it can be combod/synchronised into a burst it requires a lot of setup – which means the enemy has no excuse for being unprepared and if they get killed by this build then they have been outplayed (apart from thief currently because it is a totally one sided fight nowadays).

Fortunately I have not run into any “cheese”/“nerf” nonsense while playing this build other than usual anti-mesmer stuff, so I hope that it is allowed to remain as it currently functions.

Yeah runes are a bit subjective – I’m still going to roll with defender (and mango pie) but alternate between that and melandru/saffronbread and revenant (once it is available)/some other food.

@Curunen haha it is allways good to be out early with the “this dons’t need a nerf” indeed But just like you, I haven’t really gotten much hate using this build, which is a big plus for me! Most people I have talked with afterwards actually felt it were a fun fight, and a few said it were like hitting your head against a wall hoping for it to break haha ^^
Only met a handfull of people that said the build were OP and they just couldn’t see a way to defeat it! But even then, they didn’t hate on it the same way as PU builds have gotten hate! I mean I can’t even play Condi PU for an hour without getting several spitefull whispers!

While I am trying to grind away to get the runes and H points needed for the build in WvW, I have been testing it in PvP (using Herald runes, for Prot uptime. Waaay less powerful than Defender runes but I had to use something after all)

I LOVE IT. Surviving/winning 2v1s, dominating 1v1s and just generally having a great time playing it. Im Psyched to share it with my WvW teammate who mains Mes and to see it with Defender Runes!

Thanks for the detailed post, for instruction, and the video, for inspiration

Zynac the Rouge.3829:

While I am trying to grind away to get the runes and H points needed for the build in WvW, I have been testing it in PvP (using Herald runes, for Prot uptime. Waaay less powerful than Defender runes but I had to use something after all)

I LOVE IT. Surviving/winning 2v1s, dominating 1v1s and just generally having a great time playing it. Im Psyched to share it with my WvW teammate who mains Mes and to see it with Defender Runes!

Thanks for the detailed post, for instruction, and the video, for inspiration

What amulet do you use in pvp? My experience and other’s tells me the build isn’t as effective in pvp as it is in wvw. Still a good build though.

In wvw is a different story. I have two mes toons and the one I use in wvw is in fact geared and set up with the bruiser build by Amadeus. It’s almost as broken as meditrap in pvp Just kidding… not so OP but really strong and fun to play.

trooper.2650:

What amulet do you use in pvp?

I use Zerk, cuz I’m an All or Nothing kind of guy. I’m sure Marauder’s works fine too?

@Zynac Cheers for the feedback! I’m glad to hear you are enjoying the build and having succes with it! That is truely the most important thing for me! Looking forward to hear if you have as much succes in WvW!

@Trooper I gues I sooner or later will have to move my butt into sPVP with the build and see how I can make it work haha Ofc. I think sPvP depends a lot on your rank, and if you play with a team and at what level you play! But I do think the build probaly won’t hold up in a combetitive sense at least! :/ Might still be a ton of fun for the standard sPvP player But glad to hear you still are having fun in WvW with it!

I’ve been playing a similar Chaos/Insp/Chrono build since BWE2 and I have to agree, it’s been my most fun post HoT build, but more importantly the most fun Power Shatter build I’ve played in a very long while.

You can still put out very solid damage & bursts, but you can also tank a point against 2 people pretty easily.

I tried last night using Staff, as I usually play with GS, and it has it’s lure, but certainly the trade off of literally no ranged damage. I’m undecided which I like better, the pure point-scrapper, or a bit less defense in exchange for more offense and ranged damage.

Definitely a fun build though that is also very forgiving. Kinda like a Condie Shatter was pre-HoT, but sadly this just does way more reliable damage output then any Condition build right now.

@Windwalker It does indeed have this forgiving and sorta of similar playstyle feeling as a condi shatter can have! I never were a huge fan of Greatsword, so for me it’s an easy pick to go with the staff, but I can see for sure why some have a tough time with that! If the IWarlock just were better at hitting it would be sweet! I do get happy when he crits 4-5k in WvW on people tho!

But yeah it feels like you allmost have a sustained damage output, where you constantly sends out dmg and I perosnal feel like they can’t avoid all my dmg, compared to when I have used a Greatsword burst build and felt I were boned if they dodge mirror blade and Izerker! :/

On the note of staff vs GS, it’s also a style thing for me.

Staff provides the feeling of being more manipulative (toying with the enemy) and acrobatic/defensive whereas GS provides the feeling of being more direct and attacking with intent to finish your enemy.

I suppose it depends on the mood you’re in as to what is more enjoyable.

tell you the truth i play with scepter/shield and staff marauder amulet.
ppl really dont know how to react to that when may scpeter #3 does 6k dmg to them and #3 staff phantasm does 3-4k dmg

You know, I was wondering if it is worth crafting Marauder stat gear for wvw for this, or mix and match with zerker?

The hp buffer and increased crit chance could be nice, but not willing to craft armour/weapons, and also trinkets locked behind HoT story achievements…

messiah.1908:

tell you the truth i play with scepter/shield and staff marauder amulet.
ppl really dont know how to react to that when may scpeter #3 does 6k dmg to them and #3 staff phantasm does 3-4k dmg

I find this more funny then I probaly should haha But I could imange people be very W-T-F is going on here! With that loadout all must asume your a condi mesmer! I gotta give that a try aswell haha!

@Curunen I wouldn’t say Maruder is worth it in WvW, just toss a few Knight or Soldier into the mix if you want more defence

Amadeus.5687:

messiah.1908:

tell you the truth i play with scepter/shield and staff marauder amulet.
ppl really dont know how to react to that when may scpeter #3 does 6k dmg to them and #3 staff phantasm does 3-4k dmg

I find this more funny then I probaly should haha But I could imange people be very W-T-F is going on here! With that loadout all must asume your a condi mesmer! I gotta give that a try aswell haha!

@Curunen I wouldn’t say Maruder is worth it in WvW, just toss a few Knight or Soldier into the mix if you want more defence

The thing is I don’t rate toughness much for this build given the high uptime of protection, active defence (block/evade/invuln) and the iDefender, so not too keen on soldier/knight.

I was thinking something like this?
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAW8ensnBlphtfCOqBEgiFij6cDugOzMASgFqOT70QF-TFyHABBcRFWf/BmUC2jyPH0w4luh3V/BgnUQAAEgbezsZbG8cn7cn7cnz3duNfuNvZZAKmAA-w
(when I’m able to get hold of revenant runes because I think they’re still not available for wvw – yes, still not settled on Defender vs Revenant vs Melandru runes! xD)

Could adjust the stats more, but I need to craft this stuff to test.

@Curunen I actually rate Toughness a lot higher then Vitality when I do WvW with this build! Sustain just goes better with toughness then vitality! Vitality is only worth it if I have trouble with conditions, and I really dont with this build That said, you could for sure going with that loadout out!

I think Vit & Toughness each serve their purpose, and the power creep has made it pretty plain that it’s tough to survive on 16-17k anymore. I agree with you that Toughness scales a little better then Vit, although both are fairly bad and should be improved IMO, but it definitely helps a bunch with reaction time to have ~18k+ HPs right now. (In sPvP I’d even say 20k+)

I agree after reaching that Toughness starts to shine, but with a low health pool and high Toughness you still often get 100-0 in no time at all, before being able to react. It all depends on personal reaction times (and lag) of course, but it’s definitely gotten harder to survive on low Vit.

This is killing Condie Mesmer builds in sPvP right now IMO, because you have a hard time getting enough Vit to make high Toughness worthwhile. I can literally be just as tanky in Marauder and a Power Chrono build, then I can in a ~16k Rabid Condie Shatter build…which makes very little sense, considering the burst killing power of the former and plain weak DoT of the latter.

I’ve been using something similar with domination for the boon stripping

And in pve for the vuln, extra damage on vulnerable targets, and extra shatter damage.

Although chaos is MEGA tempting not over for staff regen but also because bountiful disillusionment is so great with all those boons

I’m torn between replacing signet for Well of Precognition, Well of Action, or Arcane Thievery for WvW roaming. Have you tried any of those?

@Windwalker sorry I were certain I had made an reply to you, but clearly I haven’t xD
You might be right on needing a certain amunt of HP pool to avoid getting instant nuked, at least against suprise attack and stealth openeres! But I’m honestly not much of a number guy, I gotta adimt! I just pick what “feels” right for me and then use that. Which have ended up with me running allmost fully glass cannon now, cause I feel the protection uptime and the sustain is good enough! I’m only using a tiny bit of cavilar and knight for more HP atm
But Curunen might be on to something with Marauder (since it’s overal more stats) might be a good call!

@Vanderwolf if you haven’t tried it yet, I would highly recommend you try swap domination for Chaos! If nothing else, it’s really fun haha

@Stormbolt I use Well Precognition when I swap in Gravity Well instead of Time Warp and pick up CI for some interuption fun! I do that because I lose all my stability, and that works great! I have talked with a few other people also using it, and I think it’s very valid option! It’s a great “Oh kitten” button!
Well of Action I used a lot before I ended up on calamity and it works great as well honestly! I used it more for my defensive rotations instead of my offensive ones! Planting it on top of people attacking me to slow them, or to slow people trying to ress a friend/speed up my stomp in the end!
Honestly both wells are great picks for the third utility slot, and they both come with more Chaos Armor uptime, which is allways amazing! Both can help you secure stomps and give you some recovery time so go for it for sure!

I haven’t tried Arcane Thievery for this build, and probaly won’t! But that’s mostly because I feel it’s a sort of bugged utility that’s really bad at hitting it’s target! :/ That said it might work and can mess up them Heralds and Elementalists that sometimes can take ages to kill!

Just thought I’d share what I’m planning to try out when I’ve next got some time (probably this weekend), now that Revenant runes are available for wvw:

EDIT: changed a few things to better optimise the stats.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAW8ensnBlphtfCOqBEgiFij6cDugOzMASgFqOT70QF-T1yHABBcxC+XZgQKhWf/BnUC2jSlhUS4luBH0wAwTU4d1fCAgAczbmNbzghO0hO0hO0+uQH6QH6QLDg5WA-w

Going to have to play around with the stats a bit, and not sure on the food choice.

Ideally I’d like a 4 stat combo of Power/Precision/toughness/ferocity to complement the vitality in Marauder.- so Commander but swapping concentration for ferocity, but sadly this doesn’t exist.

I came here to post about how utterly awesome this build is. I spoke to Amadeus in game but I think letting everyone else know who is on the fence with trying it.

In my opinion, this is one of the most powerful builds for roaming ever. Along with the condi PU pre-HoT. It’s frickin great to have another build which is able to comfortably 1vX when roaming that doesn’t rely on stealth AT ALL. Awesome. This is all down to the sustain provided by Defender runes, Shield and Protection up time.

I’ve been recording some roaming footage recently so here is a video of it in action if any of you are interested:

https://youtu.be/eUyqJ6SLWnI

I realise some of the fights aren’t great, but I’ve tried to include more examples of how the build performs rather than just against some good opponents (which can turn out rather lengthy). I’ve been roaming a lot with this build and I do have a lot of footage very good duels against a lot of very good players. Dueling with this build is almost unfair though I think against almost every build in the game. There aren’t many weaknesses.

The biggest counters to the build in terms of opponents are very good zerk DH’s running LB and traps. The LB damage from range will out dps you and your phantasms, so you cannot stay at range, and when you go close, the traps just destroy your illusions. The match up is winnable but it will be a long one as you both do good damage and both have a lot of sustain.

The other build which is consistently troubles this one is glass S/D Daredevil/Thief. The problem with this is – they have so much evasion, stun breaks and immobilization removal. These are the things which allow you to land all your damage, but they can escape ALL the time. On top of that they have good boon steal/removal which ruins your protection up time, while bolstering their own. Again against average players, the match up still favours this build, but against very good players who know what to save their stunbreaks for, you will have trouble.

Other builds which aren’t as difficult as these two, but still can trouble it – Reaper running unblockable things like traited marks and/or the shout that makes attacks unblockable. With these, just watch out for the shout and kite while its active. The condi variant is a little harder with the boon corruption they have. Although, they are both weak to CC and interrupts/immobilizes so its not too bad. The other build which against this is Rev’s running unblockable traits and high stability up time. You can’t rely on Aegis or shield to save you, Rev’s are a bit easier though due to their terrible condi removal, so a well timed interrupt/immob and they can be weak to burst.

Now, I do run it a little different to Amadeus, as you can see I run WoP, WoC and Chaotic Interruption instead. Here is my build variant:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAW8enknBtfilpB2fCEgiFhj68D2gQzsAagAouTH1SF-TVSDABjfEAO4BA8kyvz3fYH1fAR3AAmgUQJoEXEAA-w

I tried Amadeus’ original set up but this one for me just adds that bit extra ability to drop some damage. Interrupting with CI is MASSIVE. It locks them down long enough to drop wells and gives you more damage through might. You’ll see a lot in the video I like to stun/interrupt with shield 5 then immediately use ileap and burst. This is because CC and immob simultaneously is troublesome for most classes as they have to use 2 skills (usually utilities) to escape it. I run the 3 wells because fighting 1vX it’s useful to have the evasion, added chaos armour uptime and AoE capabilities. As you see, WoC has got me kills many times. A well time Calamity can just finish pretty much anyone.

Anyway…..essay over. Thanks for Amadeus for finding/posting this, best fun I’ve had in ages. I like to have prolonged fights and I love to 1vX – so this is perfect!

Oh and sorry to those in Germany. I didn’t realise those songs blocked the video. I usually try to only use songs which are available world wide. YouTube’s audio library said they were fine but there we go..

@Curunen it’s looking good what you are working on! I’m looking forward to hear about how the revenant runes are going to work for you in WvW! With that stat loadout you are gonna be a pain to kill!

@Luxontime Wohooo!! Have been looking forward to see this video! I really enjoy your take on the build! Chaotic Interruption with Gravity well is really fun times, and the immobilise duration you sometimes gets stacked on people is great to watch haha!
The poor reaper that just were stuck forever in it!

But it’s just so hard for me to give up on all my stability from BD! But I see you make up for it a lot with WoP, which see some great plays in the footage! It’s for certain a great pick for the final utility when running one these builds! Also the extra Chaos Armor is not to be little, when you use another well that extra field is gold!
Think I gotta use gravity well and CI in the next video hehe, it gives some awesome footage!

I don’t share the same trouble with Dragon Hunters as you do, but I think that mostly is because I use Mirror as my heal, and only have to watch for the unblockable attack!
The DareDevils/Thiefs with S/D on the other hand, are indeed quite a pain in the butt!! So hard to land any dmg on them ><

But great run down of the build and thanks a lot for sharing the video! It’s great to see how people use what I posted as inspiration to make their own awesome builds which they have a lot of fun with! Also lovely that the basic concept of a Bruiser Chronomancer playstyle is so versatile and you can run many different loadouts with i!

Ps. I can see I’m not the only one that need to train on using the F5 shatter! Your’s dosn’t see much play haha! It’s so hard to use it proberly!

Also a minor update: I haven’t had acces to my real gamer computer the past 2 weeks, so haven’t really been able to enjoy WvW and get new recordings! I will get it back this monday tho, so I will start work on the next video probaly around there!
Also In general cheers to everyone that’s following this thread! It’s so awesome to see the high interest in this sort of mesmer build and I’m looking forward to hear more from people taking their own twists on the build or just enjoying it in general!

Also I now got a full acsended loadout, so gonna see how big of a diffrence that will make

Yeah the stability would be pretty useful for the bigger fights for sure when there is some crazy CC’s flying around. CI allows to land the damage a bit easier in the smaller skirmishes I think. Even in prolonged fights, there will be a time where you will catch someone with a good interrupt and that will lock them down long enough to get burst off.

Mirror would be good for Hammer Rev’s and DH, that is true. I don’t usually change skills for specific fights that much (unless I see a condi heavy opponent I may switch WoP for Mantra). I find for me, getting a bigger burst heal with Ether Feast is better for my style, so I can concentrate on the active defenses more often. Bear in mind, that I am full glass too, no toughness at all cos I honestly don’t feel I need it! So good to not rely on stealth to get out of trouble for a change.

I agree on the F5! I still misuse it all the time, but it’s deffo a high skill cap skill. I’ve used it a couple of times to try and avoid incoming burst which has got me killed – as in, I predict there is burst coming, press F5, it runs out, then they burst. There are most definitely some tricky ways of using it rather than just getting loads of high cooldown abilities twice. I really want to use it to juke more often in hectic fights as a pseudo-portal but still a long way to go before mastering it!

@Amadeus – I must be plagued with bad luck today. Spent most of the time running around finding nothing, very little action other than big groups. Tried my luck against a fairly sizeable group but failed when my mirror heal got interrupted. Got bored so decided to jump into eotm – resistance on heal helped mitigate chain cc conditions and allowed me to kite enemy blob in their keep.

Anyway I’ve also decided to try again with a celestial build – not this build, something completely different although it will take me a month to craft all that kitten charged quartz… so it might be a while before I can test it out.

@luxontime Yeah I really love the stability! You can stomp all day with it and it also helps you avoid getting taken down by coordinated CC! But I can see for sure why CI is a good pick aswell! It’s a tough choice!
The Mirror heal makes most Engineer/Ranger/DragonHunter/Hammer Rev’s/P/P Theifs and so on a complete joke to fight! You active defence against these people is just silly! But I can why you prefer feast yeah!

Yeah I only manage it to cast some elites and high CD ultis now and then, and do some trollish stomps and kiting with it from time to time! But sooo much I in theory should be able to do with it, but just can’t time correctly in a fight xD

@Curunen it feels like the WvW community ain’t as active as it used to be! :/ I’m hoping for the changes there is talk about coming to WvW will help improve it! It is quite annoying running around forever to find fights! But sounds like a fun fight to kite them in their keep haha

What do you plan to build with Celestial? Illusion/chronomancer/Inspiration or?

@Amadeus, I don’t want to derail your excellent thread but this is what I’m going for (hopefully by mid January because I need the kitten laurels for a few ascended trinkets as well as all the charged quartz… ):
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAW8Olknhy0gjagbNWeOqzCIAOs6B9QXU0JoxaAA-TFyHABas/wWaYmTJYiq/MwFVYJlfupbAgnUQAAEgbezsZbGM0hO0hO0h23F6NH6NHaZAqmAA-w

2nd utility can be whatever – I’m trying iDisenchanter while testing in hotjoins, but the trouble in pvp is that the crit chance with celestial is just way too low, at 30%. With wvw stats on paper 40% is more acceptable, and staff auto attacks proc a lot of fury boosting it to 60%. In fact I’m surprised just how much combined damage staff AA does with crits and condition.

I’ve been able to get 15-20 might easily while casually testing in hotjoins (I don’t yet want to inflict a mediocre build on teammates in a proper match, and even then I don’t think this is a good pvp build anyway), and then add in orrian truffle/meat stew for even more might. Only problems are boon hate/stripping.

My reasoning for trying this:
1. Using Ether Feast so Master of Manipulation has little/zero value.
2. BD hasn’t stopped me getting chain cced by multiple enemies so far, and isn’t entirely necessary in small skirmishes.
3. Like to have some DoT to supplement the power damage to maintain pressure. Sadly can’t take MtD but the Confusion is good.

But as said I won’t be able to find out properly for at least a month, so for now it’s on paper only (pvp stats and lack of food don’t give the proper perspective).

@Curunen don’t worry, it were me that asked you haha I do find Celestial buidls very interestring, since that’s what most “Bruiser” builds go for, like Engineer og elementalists! But I have just had a hard time going with it in mesmer builds, seeing healing power just ain’t scaleing a lot with our healing skills!

What I am thinking so, is are you really going to need all the stealth? I mean you are going to be really beefy with a full celestial set, setting you at about 22k hp and a fair deal of toughness! I’m just wondering if that elite spot and utility couldn’t be used for something else :P

But yeah it does suck how timegated celestial is + the quartz now cost a lot more thanks to the new expansion ><

Well I could take Gravity Well, however in roaming I like having two stealth sources (usually Decoy and mass invis) so I always have a gtfo free card ready to use if I run into a big group. Being on Deso with our matchups this happens more often than not.

I would always use gravity well in a small skirmish though or in a duel.

I’m also returning to a Condi build inspires through your build so got 3 different things going on – not sure which way I prefer yet but it’s going to take some time and crafting before I can find out.