Guild Wars 2

Hello fellow mesmers,

I’m looking at tweaking my chronomancer build. I am happy with the dueling and chronomancer trait lines but am having a little trouble deciding between domination and inspiration.

Inspiration offers alot of survivability and in general, healing whilst domination offers a little more damage and greatsword cooldown.

I have linked the two builds below

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAR8encfClphFpBufCUrhlVj68ISiorcDGhAo+Yj2pF-TRCFABAcRAKU9HkUWlkSF+UCmmuH43fYgDowCPpAA-e

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAR8encfClphFpBufCUrhlUjicAugAo8DOhCoeZr2rF-TRCFABAcRAKU9HkUWlkSF+UCmmuH43fYgDowCPpAA-e

I’d love to hear what your opinions are!

I don’t post very often but I always read your posts & they have helped me shape my mesmer to where she is now

Kind regards,

Cloud

If you need reflects, toss on inspiration and focus. If you don’t, stick with domination and sword. You’ll want to change on the fly depending on the situation.

Thanks for the reply Fay

For quite some time I have been running with domination and I really like the traited greatsword!

I’ve been exploring the new Heart of Thorns maps with a friend who plays a reaper necromancer. Watching her, I think it made me realise how tanky necro’s can be! That’s not to say that mesmer’s don’t have ways to mitigate damage, but perhaps I need to work a little harder and pay more attention!

I think I will stick with domination and hopefully, improve.

Whilst you’re here…could I ask for your opinions on runes and sigils?

I really like the superior sigil of energy but for a while now I have been debating on swapping out superior sigil of air for something else…

With regards to runes, I am currently using Chronomancer runes (I use 2 wells)

If you wish to add me in game, my name is – Cloud Snowfall

Regards,

Cloud

Right now, I’m using eagle runes because they’re cheap. Even though I have 4 wells on my bar almost 100% of the time, chrono runes aren’t worth it because quickness just doesn’t benefit me all that much, and if I want to do my full buff combo, I’ve got close to perma-quickness anyway.

I use energy sigils on every weaponset I have because I use them all in WvW, which means energy sigils. They’re not optimal for PvE damage though, so that is something to consider. The other sigil is a bit variable. Some of my weapons have bloodlust, some air, some something else I think. If you want to be optimal, you’ll want to get force sigils (pricey). If not, get what you feel works best.

My ign is not displayed here, pm me if you want it.

As much as I wanted to make use of Chronomancer runes, they unfortunately felt subpar. The runes would have been more worthwhile if the quickness applied to the group. That being said, the stat combination on that rune is really good though Precision seems to be less needed since we have Danger Time, and Rangers/Druids (with Spotter) are appearing more frequently in groups now. Thus, Scholar still seems to be one of the best runes to use.

As far as traits are concerned Dom and Chrono are slotted practically full time. The remaining slot is filled based on the situation:

Illusions: Go-to for extra damage as well as shorter Shatter CD’s
Inspirations: Uptime on reflects as well as party support (group Distortion!)
Chaos: Stealth skips/shenanigans
Dueling: Rarely used now that Mantras are overshadowed by wells (personal opinion).

Drop Dueling and go with Illusions instead. Persistence of Memory, Shattered Strength, and the recharge reductions on illusions and shatters is all amazing with Chronophantasma and/or Illusionary Reversion. You can Mind Wrack on recharge and still have illusions out constantly.

Dueling has nothing going for it anymore. With Alacrity you don’t need the recharge reduction on Sword, Mantras are outclassed by other utilities once again, and DE is not a good enough reason to take a whole traitline now that we have Chrono’s superior Illusion-retention traits.

Arshay Duskbrow.1306:

Drop Dueling and go with Illusions instead.
…

Dueling has nothing going for it anymore.

Dueling:
- about 50% vigor uptime
- 20% sword reduction = more dps = more active evades (even with aclarity)
- phantasm bleeds on crit
- Fencers Finesse
- perma fury at 75% or below

Illusions:
- 3% multiplier for each illusion
- 20% phantasm reduction
- Phantasmal Haste (bugged for avenger)

IMO you’ll gain more by going Dueling than Illusions.

frifox.5283:

Arshay Duskbrow.1306:

Drop Dueling and go with Illusions instead.
…

Dueling has nothing going for it anymore.

Dueling:
- about 50% vigor uptime
- 20% sword reduction = more dps = more active evades (even with aclarity)
- phantasm bleeds on crit
- Fencers Finesse
- perma fury at 75% or below

Illusions:
- 3% multiplier for each illusion
- 20% phantasm reduction
- Phantasmal Haste (bugged for avenger)

IMO you’ll gain more by going Dueling than Illusions.

Not that Blurred Frenzy really does much more dps than AAs…
Also, you left the synergy between Persistence of Memory and Chronophantasma off your Illusions list. For shame!

Thanks for all your replies!

Dropping dueling for illusions is an interesting suggestion, especially considering the phantasm cooldown reduction effects the shield block. I do however, really like the ability to use mantra of resolve 3 times and the ferocity stacking bonus from traiting the sword.

Strangely enough, until now I’ve not even considered swapping in illusions!

Might I ask what you guys do about condition removal? Personally I have almost always used mantra of resolve and in general, I really like the skill.

What are your opinions on swapping domination for illusions? Both are offensive trait lines that offer different utilities.

Kind regards,

Cloud

AlphatheWhite.9351:

Also, you left the synergy between Persistence of Memory and Chronophantasma off your Illusions list. For shame!

I intentionally left it out since that trait competes with Compounding Power, which is a very good dps trait especially where you can now actually keep your illusions out pretty well. And, I haven’t explored that synergy enough to judge whether it’s worth giving up CP.

In pve I ignore conditions.
This has almost always been the right call.

Edit: that said, Well of Eternity is an easily-available option for cleanses.

Depends on why you need condi removal. Well of Eternity is generally enough for your average encounter, and it’ll remove up to 5 conditions if you’re traited Inspirations. If I need condi removal at different times for things such as puzzles in Thaumanova and Aether Fractals, I generally stick to Mantra of Recovery (Inspirations traited).

For encounters where you’re getting bombarded with conditions Mantra of Resolve can also be slotted if needed, but at that point you may need to grab dueling again for the extra activation. Though, if you’re in a group setting you may already have someone that will be on condi removal duty that can do it with less effort so consider that as well.

I personally haven’t used Null Field specifically for Condi removal due to my new options since it’ll difficult to maximise the use of both removing 5-7 conditions while simultaneously removing 5-7 boons as well.

Restorative Illusions work too in situations where you need to support skills of Inspirations but don’t need Warden’s Feedback (can’t think of a specific situation atm though).

Prompt replies

I’d be genuinely interest to hear/see your builds! Up until now, I have considered the illusions trait line to be the “PvP shatter” trait line with almost no relevance in PVE.

My personal opinion is that duelling offers more “useful” options than domination – not to say that domination is bad!

Might I ask how you guys trait your builds?

Many thanks

frifox.5283:

- about 50% vigor uptime
- 20% sword reduction = more dps = more active evades (even with aclarity)
- phantasm bleeds on crit
- Fencers Finesse
- perma fury at 75% or below

-Unnecessary with the blocks we now have, plus Well of Precognition, plus Blurred Inscriptions for distort on signet use, optionally.
-Blurred Frenzy is a DPS loss over sword AA since it got buffed. As for evades, see previous point.
-Useless in a power build. I don’t even notice it’s gone.
-A tiny bonus easily made up in other ways.
-Unnecessary.

frifox.5283:

I intentionally left it out since that trait competes with Compounding Power, which is a very good dps trait especially where you can now actually keep your illusions out pretty well. And, I haven’t explored that synergy enough to judge whether it’s worth giving up CP.

Compounding Power is a bad trait because a Mesmer’s personal damage is terrible compared to the damage phantasms do, which is not affected. With Chronophantasma, Persistence of Memory can constantly pump out new phantasms – which will feed your shatters, so you’ll be doing more personal damage than you would’ve been anyway, especially with Shattered Strength.

It’s time to move on from Dueling. We were dependent on it for so long because we had nothing better. Now we do. Let go of your dependence on it and learn the power of pure phantasm-shatter.

Arshay Duskbrow.1306:

-Blurred Frenzy is a DPS loss over sword AA since it got buffed. As for evades, see previous point.

No, BF still is a DPS gain.

Arshay Duskbrow.1306:

Compounding Power is a bad trait because a Mesmer’s personal damage is terrible compared to the damage phantasms do, which is not affected

Once you go chrono you’ll be pumping avengers for perma party aclarity, which are nowhere near close to the usual swordsman/duelist dps. Your personal DPS will be the bigger chunk of the dps.

Arshay Duskbrow.1306:

It’s time to move on from Dueling

I’ll move on when it’s justified. Atm I don’t see that being the case.

Arshay Duskbrow.1306:

Let go of your dependence on it and learn the power of pure phantasm-shatter.

I don’t have math on this yet but judging form my experience so far you’re too overestimating Chronoplasma.

frifox.5283:

Once you go chrono you’ll be pumping avengers for perma party aclarity, which are nowhere near close to the usual swordsman/duelist dps. Your personal DPS will be the bigger chunk of the dps.

Yes, and Persistence of Memory will help you get those Avengers out faster and more consistently. Also, in a group environment you shouldn’t be worried about maximizing DPS as a Mesmer anyway, so your point is null.

I’ll move on when it’s justified. Atm I don’t see that being the case.

Your mistake, but that’s fine.

Cloudus.8042:

Prompt replies

I’d be genuinely interest to hear/see your builds! Up until now, I have considered the illusions trait line to be the “PvP shatter” trait line with almost no relevance in PVE.

My personal opinion is that duelling offers more “useful” options than domination – not to say that domination is bad!

Might I ask how you guys trait your builds?

Many thanks

For general fights, something like this:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQRAsc8ensIC9ph9fCmfCUrhFVjiMAGhirOZn2qFtLSjsD-TBBXwAA2fU+5S/wS1feoEkUA6J1C-e

Where Blurred Inscriptions and Mental Anguish are changed for Furious Interruption and Power Block where Interrupts are useful.

For Reflect/Support fights, my build looks something like:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQRAsd8ensIC9ph9fCmfCUrhFVj68JGijgMAGhirOZn2qF-TBBXwAA2fU+5S/wS1feoEkUA6J1C-e

Traits being mixed around based on what you need in Inspirations (Medic’s feedback, more heals/cleanses, etc).

Illusions is key in lowering the cooldown of F5 to allow for the permanent quickness/alacrity rotation. Without it, you end up with substantial downtime when CS is still cooling down.

I played around with each trait with Chrono, even unorthodox setups for some time. I do feel that Illusion synergies well with the elite spec, especially reducing the shatter skills cds and summoning skills in general. Domination gives me more offense. Inspiration gives me more party support. Dueling gives damage mitigation. Chaos gives more defense and boons.

Out of all the various builds I’ve been playing with, I like Chrono, Illu, Dom or Insp the most. It depends on the situation whether I chose Domination or Inspiration, IMO.

Morning guys,

Having played around with illusions I can certainly see the syngery between the two trait lines now (Illusions & Chronomancer Chronophantasma)

I’ve always considered dueling to be a better trait line than domination for the phantasm fury, ferocity stack, sword cooldown and and the ability to use a mantra 3 times and gain a damage stacking bonus.

Is there something I am missing from the domination trait line that makes it a better pick over dueling?

Kind regards,

Cloud

In PvE I find you can get away with pretty much anything with Chrono. If you are doing PvE where you are getting focused go with Inspiration, otherwise domination. Personally I find Dom and inspiration together are generally good if you need condi cleansing.

Cloudus.8042:

Morning guys,

Having played around with illusions I can certainly see the syngery between the two trait lines now (Illusions & Chronomancer Chronophantasma)

I’ve always considered dueling to be a better trait line than domination for the phantasm fury, ferocity stack, sword cooldown and and the ability to use a mantra 3 times and gain a damage stacking bonus.

Is there something I am missing from the domination trait line that makes it a better pick over dueling?

Kind regards,

Cloud

Vulnerability. Lots and lots of vulnerability.
Add in a mix of extra damage per vulnerability stack, and you get…Mega Vulnerability.

If I have Rending Shatter selected, a single full-illusion f3 immediately drops a full 25 stacks on my target, even if they’ve got a breakbar up. If it breaks the breakbar, I don’t even need Rending Shatter.

Cloudus.8042:

Morning guys,

Having played around with illusions I can certainly see the syngery between the two trait lines now (Illusions & Chronomancer Chronophantasma)

I’ve always considered dueling to be a better trait line than domination for the phantasm fury, ferocity stack, sword cooldown and and the ability to use a mantra 3 times and gain a damage stacking bonus.

Is there something I am missing from the domination trait line that makes it a better pick over dueling?

Kind regards,

Cloud

In a decent group setting targets should be at 25 vulnerability so that’s a reliable12.5% boost in base damage over Dueling’s variable 15% base damage increase through Mantras and 10% Crit damage through Fencer’s Finesse.

For Phantasms you’re comparing a boost in 15% base damage from Domination vs an additional 20% crit chance from Dueling. The extra crit change may or may not be worth the mileage depending on what your base stats are and whether or not your Phantasms are catching boons since Human players are prioritized over player minions when considering boon distribution.

Domination has a lot of opportunity to apply Vulnerability, Interrupts, and Boon stripping while Dueling grants Fury and Vigor to the Mesmer. You also get reduction in Sword CD’s from Dueling which is arguably one of the best weapons for the class.

Dueling also has a few more extra traits to choose from such as Pistol traits, Reflect on evasion, blinding shatters, and Clone on dodge.

For me, Domination provides more of a constant boost to damage and I make more use of the Interrupt traits. Blurred Inscriptions is a favorite since it lets me used Signet of Ether more often, but also the trait can synergize with Inspiring Distortion for more access to group distortions.

The selling point for Dueling for me was the Mantra buffs and the Vigor application on crit. Though now that wells offer more utility (at least to my playstyle) I don’t make as much use of the traitline anymore.

Ultimately, Domination felt more worthwhile to me for most encounters. The only times I would switch to Dueling over Illusions would be in encounters where the fights are too short to make use of Phantasmal Haste, or I will take Dueling over Domination where I need the vigor for extra dodges. The differences are marginal if you’re trying to decide between Domination and Dueling assuming the other two traits are the same in both cases, and you’re using the same weapons. So I would suggest you slot what you feel most comfortable with.

Edit: Sandy’s Mesmer Guide goes into a bit more detail regarding builds if you want to check out that information.

(the link I provided drops you down to the Builds section of the guide).

That’s a lot of information!

Many thanks for all of your replies

Posting here to bookmark this.

Great information. Thanks all!!