Guild Wars 2

Any thoughts on this? (PvE-wise)

Thanks.

chronophantasma is only ever used in phantasm builds atm, seize the moment works for both but a must for shatter builds with a sceptre

Telekinesis.8312:

chronophantasma is only ever used in phantasm builds atm, seize the moment works for both but a must for shatter builds with a sceptre

Chronophantasma is also used in extreme shatter builds as a secondary illusion source.
Condi shatter, for example, is better off using Chronophantasma to fuel Illusionary Reversion than in getting the quickness from StM.

IMO, StM is mostly worth it in PvP/WvW for rezzing and stomping. If I wanted to play a “medic” build for WvW, I might combine Sieze the Moment with Medic’s Feedback and Malicious Sorcery. Pop 3 clone Distortion before rezzing while under fire.

I leave it as an exercise for the reader to work out whether such a thing is actually useful to have. (But not before noting that Chrono/Insp/Illu gives a pretty good shatter cadence and an ok group condi cleanse, while still pumping out a lot of group Alacrity via Wells.)

I had chronophantasma before i switched to stm.. i thought the same :-)

untill.. i found the dps output with stm is just better in the long fight than chronophantasma.

Example with stm – start in staff, retreat—warlock—dodge towards the target- split -chaosstorm--(swap)—duelist —gravity well/timewarp--well of recall—dodge—cry of frustration- split end -(this is where stm comes into play bigtime.. producing clones very very quickly with quickness @ every shatter)

Example with chronophantasma – start in staff, retreat—warlock—dodge towards the target- split -chaosstorm--(swap)—dodge—cry of frustration—duelist —gravity well/timewarp--well of recall- split end -(this is the spot where shatters start getting slower cause of slower illusion count after the duelist chronophantasma dies)

the effect isn’t seen immediately.. but after a bit into the fight.. your out of weapon swaps and illusion cd’s, not to mention stm also increases dps cause of faster auto attacks on both weapons especially scepter which is what you’ll be in for the most part.

Telekinesis.8312:

I had chronophantasma before i switched to stm.. i thought the same :-)

untill.. i found the dps output with stm is just better in the long fight than chronophantasma.

Example with stm – start in staff, retreat—warlock—dodge towards the target- split -chaosstorm--(swap)—duelist —gravity well/timewarp--well of recall—dodge—cry of frustration- split end -(this is where stm comes into play bigtime.. producing clones very very quickly with quickness @ every shatter)

Example with chronophantasma – start in staff, retreat—warlock—dodge towards the target- split -chaosstorm--(swap)—dodge—cry of frustration—duelist —gravity well/timewarp--well of recall- split end -(this is the spot where shatters start getting slower cause of slower illusion count after the duelist chronophantasma dies)

the effect isn’t seen immediately.. but after a bit into the fight.. your out of weapon swaps and illusion cd’s, not to mention stm also increases dps cause of faster auto attacks on both weapons especially scepter which is what you’ll be in for the most part.

Sword mainhand isn’t meta for Chrono?

Bah >_<

there isn’t a meta atm imo, but chrono is good for sword mainhand and since you go power builds with sword.. seize the moment is pretty useless since you dont shatter a lot and chronophantasma is a better choice if you can time your shatter properly

Yobculture.5786:

Sword mainhand isn’t meta for Chrono?

Bah >_<

Both main hands synergise pretty well with Shield, TBH. Power builds obviously favour Sword, while Condi Shatter builds like Scepter.

Sword also has a strong defensive advantage. If you find yourself playing around with tanking things, Alacrity+Blurred Frenzy+Shield+Well of Precog+Distortion = amazing damage mitigation uptime.
It’s not as big a deal in PvE, but I could see there being uses for it.

Chronophantasm makes for an incredible DPS machine with high dps phants. You can iZerker, iDuelist, F1 shatter setup, then kite while phants do a second loadout.

It also allows for cShift setups. iDuelist, iZerker, cShift, phants resummon, you burst including elites etc.

AlphatheWhite.9351:

Sword also has a strong defensive advantage. If you find yourself playing around with tanking things, Alacrity+Blurred Frenzy+Shield+Well of Precog+Distortion = amazing damage mitigation uptime.
It’s not as big a deal in PvE, but I could see there being uses for it.

Is there a significant difference in playstyle between power and condi PvE chrono builds?

tobascodagama.2961:

Both main hands synergise pretty well with Shield, TBH. Power builds obviously favour Sword, while Condi Shatter builds like Scepter.

Honestly, I find both main hands to be quite viable in both power and condi builds. I tend to use scepter in a power build and it works fine (especially in areas where I can’t/don’t want to melee).

scepter in a power build is alright cause confusing images deals a lot of damage but sword in a condition build is not worth it

Telekinesis.8312:

scepter in a power build is alright cause confusing images deals a lot of damage but sword in a condition build is not worth it

In pve yes it’s not worth it.

In pvp no – sword is excellent in any build, condition or power, as a defensive/kiting tool.

Curunen.8729:

Telekinesis.8312:

scepter in a power build is alright cause confusing images deals a lot of damage but sword in a condition build is not worth it

In pve yes it’s not worth it.

In pvp no – sword is excellent in any build, condition or power, as a defensive/kiting tool.

^
Realistically, you’d use sword/shield to replace staff as your defensive weapon, and have scepter/pistol, scepter/torch or scepter/focus as your damage driver. Losing condi pressure from the staff is compensated by the superior defenses and cc of the sword/shield combo, but you do end up more reliant on the scepter than otherwise (which is fine, you just have to be aware of that).

Before HoT, I think Curunen was even using sword/focus instead of staff, is that right?
I could see sword/torch being decent as well, using the stealth in place of the block, with torch providing a superior cover phantasm to avenger.

AlphatheWhite.9351:

Curunen.8729:

Telekinesis.8312:

scepter in a power build is alright cause confusing images deals a lot of damage but sword in a condition build is not worth it

In pve yes it’s not worth it.

In pvp no – sword is excellent in any build, condition or power, as a defensive/kiting tool.

^
Realistically, you’d use sword/shield to replace staff as your defensive weapon, and have scepter/pistol, scepter/torch or scepter/focus as your damage driver. Losing condi pressure from the staff is compensated by the superior defenses and cc of the sword/shield combo, but you do end up more reliant on the scepter than otherwise (which is fine, you just have to be aware of that).

Before HoT, I think Curunen was even using sword/focus instead of staff, is that right?
I could see sword/torch being decent as well, using the stealth in place of the block, with torch providing a superior cover phantasm to avenger.

I used Scepter/Focus + Staff in skcamow’s Chaotic Perdition condirupt build but that was a long time before the June 23rd patch. I ceased playing that in favour of condi shatter because it had severe hardcounters (eles…) and Scepter/Focus is nowhere near as good as Sword/Torch is for defence in outnumbered situations.

I tried using Scepter/Shield + Sword/Focus (and Scepter/Focus + Sword/Shield) Domination/Inspiration/Illusions power interrupt but again Staff is just way better than x/Focus currently. In any case I enjoyed condi shatter more so also dropped that build.

It’s just a sad state that Focus is in the state it is in now. Ok the curtain height is bigger but what do we have – pull has an ICD, untraited is bugged and does not destroy projectiles, trait competes with the far superior Restorative illusions (pvp), Shield offers much better defence, tons of stability flying around in the game, pull now cannot cluster or throw people of ledges…

At least iWarden still works I guess… but no one in their right minds should use focus in pvp right now over the superior options, unless purposely wanting to handicap themselves for fun.

Sword/Torch is just a fantastic defensive/evasive/mindkittening set I’ve grown attached too after having used it for at least the last couple of years through power shatter (at the time many players were on the double ranged bandwagon which I didn’t enjoy playing) and now condi shatter. I seriously struggle to let go of it for other weapons because I love it so much. As a side note I’ve kind of gone full circle because I remember two years back trying to use Sword/Torch + Staff in power shatter and getting some severe lessons in punishment due to using two “defensive” weapon sets and having to reluctantly drop staff in favour of greatsword for a long time. But now I simply do not enjoy using greatsword or power builds following the mirror blade nerf and crazy power creep of all the classes and instead prefer the more “Zen” playstyle of staff and sword/torch. The in combat mobility and kiting you can do with those weapons is too much fun.

Anyway apologies for derailing the topic. To get back on track I suggest that Seize the Moment apply on self shatter, but the quickness duration to 0.75s per illusion (same as flow of time).
That will allow self shatter for quickness, still provide enough quickness duration on shatters but not be too much. And it might be able to compete with Chronophantasma.

Either that or make it 1 second per illusion and self shatter and slap an ICD on the trait to limit the quickness generation. But I prefer the 0.75s route.

stm ftw 1234567