Guild Wars 2

So i have been thinking i need a little bit more attack damage and that got me to thinking. Greatsword COULD be a similar weapon to the Scepter i know that it doesnt have the offhand option which means i would likely take x x x / Torch for the offhand slot but Mirror Blade, when you take the trait is a 6.5second cool down which though not as fast as Ether Bolt combo is 1 skill rather then 3. It also inflicts Vul and gives Might.

So what would you guys think of a build that involves the Greatsword and likely Scepter/Torch combo for the Stealth Torch gives as well as Scepter Clones and IC which are all pretty decent.

I think going with 2 x Sigil of Battle (1 on GS, 1 on S/T) would mean pretty solid up keep on Might swapping to either weapon combo would give 3 stacks of might and using Mirror Blade would give another 3 stacks think if in the right Trait set up work out quite well, this would mean playing more in range to get the Might/Vul stacks up. Wouldnt be to sure on the 3rd Sigil – could go Blood, Earth, Corruption so i think it would require a bit of testing and play time to see just what works

Thinking at a start taking Sharper Images, Crippling Dissipation. Looking at Confusing Combatants as well. Would likely go 30 in Chaos for the Stealth boons and Likely taking ID for the extra damage reduction. So that would leave 15 points up in the air. Which makes me think going into GS trait as well as DE. Or going without the GS trait and going 25 in dueling for Confusing Combatants

Think the stats would need a decent amount of Toughness and Vit due to pretty much no range maker, we have a few options for stealth so i think i would take my normal Mirror Images, Decoy and Feedback (replaceable based on situation)

So this goes out to the Condition masters, think this could work? Decent/good conditions and more damage. The problem being the defense/escape options

The GS auto-attack hits multiple times so Sharper Images could stack a lot of bleeds with GS clones.

Would need some testing of course.

Testing in low level PvE while i get the playstyle sorted seems okay. I was able to solo “Assault on Svanir’s Dome” with ease and without all of the traits being sorted.

I dont think that my gear (Rabid) is best suited for the playstayle and such. Toughness yes, Condition yes to a degree think it needs more power though. Currently thinking about:

Domination(20) : V, X
Dueling(20) : II, X
Chaos(30) IV, V, XII
Inspiration(0)
Illusions(0)

I can get the Bleed damage to stack quite high as well, hitting like 6-7stacks while fighting little trash mobs, i agree though that it needs to be tested a bit more. Though i think it shows promise

Rabid is okay i think. You could try to mix some Rampager gear with this to gain some Power and more Precision (for Sharper Images).

meh i ran it since day one and would take GS for a condi build over scepter any day for pvp or pve BUT its still a condi build… not worth running.

Yeah thinking about keeping some, just moving out other bits. In WvW without food or anything, sitting at like 15.5kish which isnt that great so could consider gear that has vit instead of toughness or condition

Still giving it a few fights in PvE, going to head into higher level content next to see whakittens like before braving WvW lol

Nuka Cola.8520:

meh i ran it since day one and would take GS for a condi build over scepter any day for pvp or pve BUT its still a condi build… not worth running.

It wont be a FULL condition build, Condition will be important but aiming for it not to be the only damage it can do

Why would you HAVE to take the torch as an offhand? If you really want a gs condition build, I would actually go 0/15/20/0/25 with 10 points to spare. More specifically, 25 in illusions instead of 20 domination that you were contemplating.

The gs phantasms has a cripple already and I don’t think you need clones to cripple even more. 50 power and 20% cd on gs 3 & 5 aren not that great compared to cd on all illusions for your build.

Illusionary elasticity would give you an extra bounce (more might) on gs 2 (and staff 1. Does this work with torch 5 now?). The double CD traited staff 2 would give you that “range maker” that you were lacking on a 6 second cd. Shattered strength(3 might)/ 6 stacks of confusion on F2 would also give a bit of a finishing spike.

As for the last 10 traits, you mentioned Decoy but I don’t think that is enough to merit PU, especially if you don’t bring a traited torch (you weren’t going to trait that anyways?) 10 more in dueling is still an option, or 10 in Domination if you really want more cripples.

If you insist on the torch, I would actually use the torch 4 as a blast finisher in ethereal fields rather than a disengage stealth. Giving 3 clones chaos armor means aoe cleaves will have 4 × 33% chance to be blinded or confused or crippled =) so you need less defense because there is a very good chance of not getting hit a lot and spiking even more confusion.

I would go with GS/Staff or GS/Scepter+Pistol as weapon sets. First set got more defense while the scepter phantasm is able to stack a huge amount of bleeds and confusion when taking the trait (would need Null Field as a utility skill).

I just realized I was a bit dumb with those 10 spare points in my advice. They can also go 5 dueling (DE) 5 chaos (more condi dmg) or 5 illusions (IP). Keep in mind that 25 illusions also gives you 20% CD on torment if you keep the scepter.

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

Why would you HAVE to take the torch as an offhand? If you really want a gs condition build, I would actually go 0/15/20/0/25 with 10 points to spare. More specifically, 25 in illusions instead of 20 domination that you were contemplating.

I like the Torch, the stealth is good, plus the Blind, Burning and combo field is pretty decent. The problem with Illusions is the fact that the 5 and 15 point traits are wasted for the kind of build i am wanting, i hate Shattering and only shatter for Distortion. Though i do like IC

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

The gs phantasms has a cripple already and I don’t think you need clones to cripple even more. 50 power and 20% cd on gs 3 & 5 aren not that great compared to cd on all illusions for your build.

Yes it does but Domination adds Condition duration, that little bit extra power and even more power when using the Greatsword plus without it Mirror Blade is 8seconds cool down, sure the 1.5seconds doesnt seem like a lot but every little helps and the trait reduces the cool down for all the skills which means faster iZerker as well.

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

Illusionary elasticity would give you an extra bounce (more might) on gs 2 (and staff 1. Does this work with torch 5 now?). The double CD traited staff 2 would give you that “range maker” that you were lacking on a 6 second cd. Shattered strength(3 might)/ 6 stacks of confusion on F2 would also give a bit of a finishing spike.

Yeah this is interesting, i have been playing around with the GS/Staff combo, so i think this will be a consideration for the future. Though again i rarely like to Shatter

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

As for the last 10 traits, you mentioned Decoy but I don’t think that is enough to merit PU, especially if you don’t bring a traited torch (you weren’t going to trait that anyways?) 10 more in dueling is still an option, or 10 in Domination if you really want more cripples.

Currently i have Decoy and Mass Invis as my stealths, Torch stealth as well if i take that.

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

If you insist on the torch, I would actually use the torch 4 as a blast finisher in ethereal fields rather than a disengage stealth. Giving 3 clones chaos armor means aoe cleaves will have 4 × 33% chance to be blinded or confused or crippled =) so you need less defense because there is a very good chance of not getting hit a lot and spiking even more confusion.

Yeah i prefer Decoy as the “escape” option, with Mass Invis if it gets really bad, I some times use Torch 4 more offensive rather then defensive anyway, he conditions are pretty decent and as you state a nice blast finisher as well

imo gs performs very badly in a condition heavy build. you have quite ZERO damage. only damage sources are your clones stacking bleed and conditions when they die and your shatters (lol).
for conditions on death traits, staff or sword is way better because of clone crowd with staff and melee range with sword clones.

gs condition build would be interesting at best IF clones generated by DE focus the current target, imo.

Iavra.8510:

I would go with GS/Staff or GS/Scepter+Pistol as weapon sets. First set got more defense while the scepter phantasm is able to stack a huge amount of bleeds and confusion when taking the trait (would need Null Field as a utility skill).

An interesting idea, i have really given the Scepter+Pistol combo a try and think that the Pistol Phantom should get some nice bleeds going

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

I just realized I was a bit dumb with those 10 spare points in my advice. They can also go 5 dueling (DE) 5 chaos (more condi dmg) or 5 illusions (IP). Keep in mind that 25 illusions also gives you 20% CD on torment if you keep the scepter.

Currently Illusionary Counter has a 12second cool down and a 9 1/2second duration if it procs i think that is solid enough to not need to take the trait. Sure it would be better with the trait but i think more time would be spent in GS then it would Scepter/? or ?/Torch. Though i think it is likely i will go Scepter/Pistol

grimmson.9154:

imo gs performs very badly in a condition heavy build. you have quite ZERO damage. only damage sources are your clones stacking bleed and conditions when they die and your shatters (lol).
for conditions on death traits, staff or sword is way better because of clone crowd with staff and melee range with sword clones.

gs condition build would be interesting at best IF clones generated by DE focus the current target, imo.

I have been doing well in PvE with it, while trying to get the “playstyle” sorted. It works quite well the damage isnt “Zero” despite the fact that i dont have ANY power stats on my gear so mixing the gear up a little would improve that, the Sigils would help as well as i think Might could be kept up quite well.

As for the DE clones, i will test this out to check though having a clone out every 6.5 seconds on Greatsword isnt to bad, taking Mirror Images would likely be a sort of skill you use at the start of the fight as well.

I will be giving WvW a whirl(lol) when my interest decides that it has had enough of disconnecting me every 2minutes -.-

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

Yes it does but Domination adds Condition duration, that little bit extra power and even more power when using the Greatsword plus without it Mirror Blade is 8seconds cool down, sure the 1.5seconds doesnt seem like a lot but every little helps and the trait reduces the cool down for all the skills which means faster iZerker as well.
…
Yeah this is interesting, i have been playing around with the GS/Staff combo, so i think this will be a consideration for the future. Though again i rarely like to Shatter

If you insist on not shattering, that is ok. Do the minor traits in domination help you at all though? Not if you dont shatter, bring a pistol etc..

So its 250 condition dmg + 20% cd on scepter 2, GS2/4, torch 5 and decoy. Also, another bounce.
OR 200 (250 w/ gs)power and 20% CD on gs 2-5 and 20% condition duration +5 traits.

What about 0/15/30/0/25? GS and Scepter/Torch. You can keep the PU invis spam.
OR 20/15/0/0/25 +10? Same weapons but even shorter GS CDs. NO PU invis spam but you can go more defensive on the equipment.

There was a post many months ago talking about using GS for a condition build. It showed that around a certain crit % (around 50-60% if I remember correctly) GS is able to stack bleeds more effectively than staff. A mix of rampager’s and rabid gear would definitely be best, since you’ll need the extra precision to help with GS bleeds and the power will be very useful for buffing the GS as well. For other weapons I’d probably use scepter/pistol or sword/pistol. The iDuelist is great for both stacking bleeds and doing direct damage. If you’re going to go with rampager’s gear, I honestly think that there is no better compliment than a pistol. Finally, I think DuckDuckBOOM’s recommendation of 0/15/20/0/25 is quite good. I definitely think you’ll want 25 in Illusions for IC; between Mirror Blade, iZerker, and whatever you use as your other weapons, this build benefits from the decreased cooldown far more than other condition builds. Also, you could probably take 10 pts from Chaos and put those and the remaining 10 pts into Domination to get both condition duration and power (both of which benefit this build) as well as picking up the ever-useful Crippling Dissipation and the decreased CD on GS.

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

If you insist on not shattering, that is ok. Do the minor traits in domination help you at all though? Not if you dont shatter, bring a pistol etc..

Yes i think they do, have interupt on both the Greatsword and the Scepter/Pistol combo. 3 stacks of Vul on Interrupt isnt huge but it helps and dazing applies 5 stacks of vul.

So i think they help more then the minor traits in Illusions considering that i dont shatter very often.

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

So its 250 condition dmg + 20% cd on scepter 2, GS2/4, torch 5 and decoy. Also, another bounce.
OR 200 (250 w/ gs)power and 20% CD on gs 2-5 and 20% condition duration +5 traits.

Yeah this is the big decision i think. Decoy affected by the illusion cool down?
I am now considering Scepter/Pistol and Greatsword so the bounce trait wouldnt be taken though.

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

What about 0/15/30/0/25? GS and Scepter/Torch. You can keep the PU invis spam.
OR 20/15/0/0/25 +10? Same weapons but even shorter GS CDs. NO PU invis spam but you can go more defensive on the equipment.

The problem without taking PU we dont really have that much access to boons via weapons (excluding the staff) Though as i am thinking about taking Pistol over Torch i think i would replace PU due to only having 2 skills that use it, so those extra 5 points could be spent elsewhere

Palu.3405:

There was a post many months ago talking about using GS for a condition build. It showed that around a certain crit % (around 50-60% if I remember correctly) GS is able to stack bleeds more effectively than staff.

Though only PvE, i managed to get 19stacks of Bleeding up in like 5-10seconds. Though of course due to being higher level then the content i think might have made the results a bit bias, though i do feel that the Greatsword does Bleeding alot better then Staff

Palu.3405:

A mix of rampager’s and rabid gear would definitely be best, since you’ll need the extra precision to help with GS bleeds and the power will be very useful for buffing the GS as well. For other weapons I’d probably use scepter/pistol or sword/pistol. The iDuelist is great for both stacking bleeds and doing direct damage.

Yeah i was looking at the Rampager gear stats. I would lose Toughness but the the added power will be nice.

Palu.3405:

If you’re going to go with rampager’s gear, I honestly think that there is no better compliment than a pistol. Finally, I think DuckDuckBOOM’s recommendation of 0/15/20/0/25 is quite good. I definitely think you’ll want 25 in Illusions for IC; between Mirror Blade, iZerker, and whatever you use as your other weapons, this build benefits from the decreased cooldown far more than other condition builds.

Yeah i have just been playing with the Pistol and think that it suits the build well, the iDuelist rocks like the good old days of when i used to run Sword/Pistol. The question would be where do i drop the points from?

Currently its
Domination: V, X
Dueling: II, X
Chaos: IV, V, XII

I know i could drop the points from Chaos to 25points. but where would i be able to get the other 20. I think i would be losing to many traits to get 2 minor traits that would be useless, 1 that would be good and would take X and III in Illusions if i managed to get the points for it.

Palu.3405:

Also, you could probably take 10 pts from Chaos and put those and the remaining 10 pts into Domination to get both condition duration and power (both of which benefit this build) as well as picking up the ever-useful Crippling Dissipation and the decreased CD on GS.

I like 25 in Chaos for the added Condition damage, Though i think it could be worth putting into Domination longer duration but a bit lower damage wouldnt be the worst trade off.

Current set up: 20/20/0/0/30 with zerker gear and koi cake (super cheap 40% condition duration). My 3 gs clones (57% crit chance) can stack up to 18 bleeds on a vet giant. I did not attack/add any extra bleeds. Average seems to be about 14. With a mix of sigil of earth, rampagers gear (higher crit chance) and rabid and runes of + duration, you can probably get to 25 stacks of bleeds with 3 clones.

I don’t think the pistol is a good choice of offhand if 3 gs clones can do that. Diversifying your conditions would be better. If you don’t have much power/crit dmg, the clones might be a better bet. 8 attack volley then 5 second cd vs 3 attacks about every 3 seconds. The duelist is clearly better than a clone but I don’t know that it is good enough to not bring a torch instead for more burning/blasts.

Played some WvW, despite not 100% on traits, gear or runes it works very wel, i think its more of a group build rather then a solo build, tested it groups and its been very solid. Have yet to have any 1 Vs 1

So far so good, i think it has potential

As for Pistol, i think it is a solid choice the iDuelist is ranged so solid for quick attack from range as well. Not many of the off-hands are that great, might give Focus a look at and see

Had ALOT of fun with the build last night, i was using:

Domination: V, X
Dueling: II, X
Chaos: IV, V, XII

Rabid gear, other then the Greatsword which was just a grey sword purchased by the vender in WvW. The Dodge clones attack who you have targeted at the time which is nice. I tend to get clones out attacking different people.

I am currently debating if i could move points out of Chaos, i know i would lose the stealth buffs and the condition damage but i think they could be better spent in Domination or somewhere else. I like having ALOT of cripple on people lol

The Dodge clones attack who you have targeted at the time which is nice.

Might be you just had been lucky…for me they always tend to attack what’s next to them.

Iavra.8510:

The Dodge clones attack who you have targeted at the time which is nice.

Might be you just had been lucky…for me they always tend to attack what’s next to them.

Mmmmmm, i will give it some more testing. It has been working when i have been looking. i will test more in PvE and see what happens

I play 20/20/0/0/30 with full rabid gear and undead runes. And I run sigil of earth on the GS. With 3 clones up the bleed stacking is pretty kitten good.

The build is not optimal but I use it because it doubles up as a semi confusion build at the switch of some traits and the cond dmg helps a lot. Mostly for WvW but surprisingly effective in dungeons too, though I’d switch to a staff there.

Iavra.8510:

The Dodge clones attack who you have targeted at the time which is nice.

Might be you just had been lucky…for me they always tend to attack what’s next to them.

It seems bugged, one fight it did target my target, other times it just went for the nearest target. Still trying to decide on Sigils

Ramiel.4931:

I play 20/20/0/0/30 with full rabid gear and undead runes. And I run sigil of earth on the GS. With 3 clones up the bleed stacking is pretty kitten good.

The build is not optimal bit I use it because it doubles up as a semi confusion build at the switch of some traits and the cond dmg helps a lot. Mostly for WvW but surprisingly effective in dungeons too, though I’d switch to a staff there.

Yeah planning on Earth for the Greatsword, Tempted to go Power/Corruption on one of the others but then not sure about the 3rd

I tested a similiar build myself and it works. But there were some differences. Instead of the torch i used the pistol. Torch #4 is great, good dmg + the stealth but the phantasm is really weak. The pistol phantasm hits like a truck in condition builds, usually you get 5 stacks of bleeding from a full attack. pistol#5 is insanely strong and low cd. Another benefit when using pistol is, that you can focus on bleeding duration as torch #4 is burning. So after all you will deal a lot more damage with the pistol. When going 30 chaos I would encourage to test chaotic interruption + halting strike. Its really powerful in this type of build as you get a lot of opportunities to interrupt the enemy. Its didn’t read very strong but in reallity it really makes a huge difference and adds up alot to your dps and survivability.

GS is a surprisingly good condition weapon. clones usually apply 2 stacks of 5s bleeding, berserker usually 2-3 stacks of bleeding + the cripple which is really helpful. Knockback also really powerful in this build. And remember, in a conditionbuild range makes no difference with the gs. Even in melee range you deal something like 600 dmg which is ok for a conditionweapon + you do 3 hits(use sigil of earth)

im running two flavours of that build one with gs and one with staff, they are both great cant decide which is better

gorma.3725:

I tested a similiar build myself and it works. But there were some differences. Instead of the torch i used the pistol. Torch #4 is great, good dmg + the stealth but the phantasm is really weak.

Yeah, i replaced the Torch with the Pistol, though the Stealth is nice, its got a wasted skill so taking the Pistol with 2 useful skills was much better.

gorma.3725:

The pistol phantasm hits like a truck in condition builds, usually you get 5 stacks of bleeding from a full attack. pistol#5 is insanely strong and low cd. Another benefit when using pistol is, that you can focus on bleeding duration as torch #4 is burning. So after all you will deal a lot more damage with the pistol.

Yeah i have Earth sigil on my Scepter, will that mean Pistol skills cause it as well? as they are both out at the same time. Yeah i have managed to get it up to like 19 stacks of Bleeding – This i think will be my main condition, with GreatSword #2 and some stacks of Might my conditions do 113 damage, which with like 19stacks is ALOT of damage

gorma.3725:

When going 30 chaos I would encourage to test chaotic interruption + halting strike. Its really powerful in this type of build as you get a lot of opportunities to interrupt the enemy. Its didn’t read very strong but in reallity it really makes a huge difference and adds up alot to your dps and survivability.

I dont like traits that work only on interupts. I am moving alot so its hard to get interrupts, easy on PvE content but i mostly WvW so i personally think that it is a bit wasted.

I am debating the 30 in Chaos, i am thinking about dropping it down to 20 and see where i could spend the other 10points.

gorma.3725:

GS is a surprisingly good condition weapon. clones usually apply 2 stacks of 5s bleeding, berserker usually 2-3 stacks of bleeding + the cripple which is really helpful. Knockback also really powerful in this build. And remember, in a conditionbuild range makes no difference with the gs. Even in melee range you deal something like 600 dmg which is ok for a conditionweapon + you do 3 hits(use sigil of earth)

Yeah i play the Greatsword more as melee/mid range weapon for the Might stacks of Mirror Blade. I use Superior Sigil of Earth on the Greatsword, adding even more chances for Bleeding. Mixing it up with iDuelist and iZerker gives insane bleeding lol

gorma.3725:

im running two flavours of that build one with gs and one with staff, they are both great cant decide which is better

The problem with Staff is that it isnt that damaging damage wise, the conditions are nice, i moved from a Scepter/Torch + Staff combo due to the lack of “burst” damage of course its not as high as full burst classes but its solid enough to make them think.

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

The problem with Staff is that it isnt that damaging damage wise, the conditions are nice, i moved from a Scepter/Torch + Staff combo due to the lack of “burst” damage of course its not as high as full burst classes but its solid enough to make them think.

The problem on the staff is its slow #1 projectiles. Most people use the staff for defensive gameplay for a reason. So playing defensivly mid-range or full range will result in great survivability but weak dmg because of how #1 works(we are talking condition builds not shatter). You need to get used to a more offensive approach on the staff. Going melee all the time, 2 times chaosarmor, you can stack up huge amounts of conditions. This is the point where chaotic interruption and halting strike come very handy as they allow you to go full melee doing tons of damage while spreading blind from the chaosarmor, chaosstorm and chaotic interruption. You can control the fight in melee, alot of immobilize which is good to kite at 300 range + makes life for you iDuellist easier. Even though your concerns about wvw regarding interruption traits may be valid(i play mostly spvp) i encourage you to just try it out, its really powerful.

I previously ran a bleeding build (condition build is staff, bleeding build is sharper images). I ran it before condi duration made a difference or IC got moved, but what I learned was

• Direct damage is superior. Especially on buildings you’re more than useless.
• Precision is more important than malice. Malice just scales badly. With 100% rampager (and the new prec/pow/tough trinkets) you reach about 70% crit, even without sigil of accuracy, stacks or food. 66% crit means 2 bleeds from a GS clone’s attack cycle.
• Condition duration is better than malice. While it’s still not known how fractions are calculated with tick-based effects, try to get 20%, 40%, 60% … of condition duration. Like 20 pts in domination (20%), giver’s GS + Sigil of Agony (10% + 10%) and koi cake/ pizza (+40%). But remember than condi duration is limited at + 100%.
• Deceptive Evasion is a must. Condi builds always ramp, but as mesmer you need to start the ramp asap. GS#2, GS#4, dodge. And Dodge as soon as a clone dies or you shatter.
• Try to not shatter. When GS#2 and GS#4 are recharged, shatter and instantly summon three illusions again. Mirror Images help alot.
• Secondary set “should” be sword/focus. cSword has the same hit frequency as cGS, but they’re melee range, focus has the highest hig frequency of all phants. 12 hits * 70% crit = 8.4 bleeds.
• While you’re not a zerker, you have as much toughness and vitality (that’s why I like the new trinkets)
• IC and GS traits are not necessary, you have Vigor and DE.
• In a party with other condition players, you’re useless
• On Dredge fractal’s endboss, you’re useless
• You have to fight single targets only (fate of Mesmer, but especially on bleeding one)
• Condition removing or transferring mobs are difficult.

Nretep.2564:

I previously ran a bleeding build (condition build is staff, bleeding build is sharper images). I ran it before condi duration made a difference or IC got moved, but what I learned was

• Direct damage is superior. Especially on buildings you’re more than useless.
• Precision is more important than malice. Malice just scales badly. With 100% rampager (and the new prec/pow/tough trinkets) you reach about 70% crit, even without sigil of accuracy, stacks or food. 66% crit means 2 bleeds from a GS clone’s attack cycle.
• Condition duration is better than malice. While it’s still not known how fractions are calculated with tick-based effects, try to get 20%, 40%, 60% … of condition duration. Like 20 pts in domination (20%), giver’s GS + Sigil of Agony (10% + 10%) and koi cake/ pizza (+40%). But remember than condi duration is limited at + 100%.
• Deceptive Evasion is a must. Condi builds always ramp, but as mesmer you need to start the ramp asap. GS#2, GS#4, dodge. And Dodge as soon as a clone dies or you shatter.
• Try to not shatter. When GS#2 and GS#4 are recharged, shatter and instantly summon three illusions again. Mirror Images help alot.
• Secondary set “should” be sword/focus. cSword has the same hit frequency as cGS, but they’re melee range, focus has the highest hig frequency of all phants. 12 hits * 70% crit = 8.4 bleeds.
• While you’re not a zerker, you have as much toughness and vitality (that’s why I like the new trinkets)
• IC and GS traits are not necessary, you have Vigor and DE.
• In a party with other condition players, you’re useless
• On Dredge fractal’s endboss, you’re useless
• You have to fight single targets only (fate of Mesmer, but especially on bleeding one)
• Condition removing or transferring mobs are difficult.

It might be a “condition” build but it still does decent/good actual damage i am not sorted on gear yet as i will be swapping out some of my Rabid gear to Rampager’s

Stats currently sit at (unbuffed by food or anything)

Power: 1,279 !!! Attack: 2,254
Precision: 1,764 !!! Critical Chance: 44%
Toughness: 1,756 !!! Armor: 2,571
Vit: 916 !!! Health: 15,082
Condition Damage: 1,163 !!! Condition Duration: 20%
Boon Duration: 30% !!! Healing Power: 0%
Critical Damage: 20% !!! Mesmer: 0%

These are when in Lions Arch so they get buffed when going into WvW

Malice is Condition damage right? I am currently thinking about moving points out of Chas with the likely target to get Confusing Combatants and Vengeful Images – this would give clones and Phantoms(iirc) the confusion to targets – so it would be Confusion, Cripple and a random condition it would also give the Phantasm Retal for that little bit extra damage.

I have the Coi food with is a 40% buff to duration sp that would take it to 60%, I think that is solid enough, remember i am not planning this to be a fully blown condition build and though conditions will play a big part its more used to make the target(s) panic.

DE is great and can be very useful. That is why i have taken it. I also rarely shatter, for this kind of build its going to be worse, the damage wont be that great and you will be wasting them Distortion is really the only shatter i use.

I am not a fan of either the Sword or Focus, i like range and space. The Scepter #2 is a VERY good and VERY strong ability sure it has its chance to fail but when it hits – it hurts. I find the iLeap and Blade Frenzy combo to not be that great without taking the Staff for an easy get out plan. The Pistol is great for my build the iDuelist can give ALOT of bleeds. Normally start at range with the Scepter/Pitsol combo, use Pistol#5 and then summon iDuelist as far away as possible, switch to GS and use he clone and iZerker right away

I take the Greatsword trait for the added power (not amazing but decent) as well as the cool down, that makes Mirror Blade a 6.5second cool down which is great both for clones but as well as for solid Might buffs if in range.

Again, this isnt a PURE Condition build, You can still do plenty of damage. Sure not as much as a Zerker but still enough to feel like you are worth having there.

Disagree with this, I can fight several, This isnt a roaming build though it could work, i havent really been able to test it solo yet. In groups and Zergs it is great! Ever thought about using clones/phantoms on 1 target and then switching targets? i do it alot in WvW and it works great again i would have my doubts about a 1Vs X situation but against i havent really tested it enough.

They are meant to be hard, we arent Necros with Epidemic. That is why you use iZerker rightand find the best way to make it go through as many people as possible

I just had no trouble with a 1 Vs 1 against a Ranger and then a 1 Vs 2 against a Ranger and Engineer. So i think its got potential for a roaming build. I dont see this sort of build being amazing at a 1 Vs like 3 or something though.

The bleed stacks were insane. In the 1 Vs 1 against the Ranger i had it up to 17 stacks

Wanna some bleedings? Try this then
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQRAra8flwzKqHVzgGb9IiZGBHFimx15dlUgbXIA-T4AAzCpImRBjDGzMSfs+MCYVx+jTAzKeBA

Unfortunately it’s very single target oriented Other than that it’s amazing

trooper.2650:

Wanna some bleedings? Try this then
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQRAra8flwzKqHVzgGb9IiZGBHFimx15dlUgbXIA-T4AAzCpImRBjDGzMSfs+MCYVx+jTAzKeBA

Unfortunately it’s very single target oriented Other than that it’s amazing

Not to bad, though getting that extra Bleed duration comes at a cost elsewhere. I think the 25 in Illusions would be better spent elsewhere – Domination would be a good choice for even longer duration on ALL conditions, then you could remove some of those runes and put them to better use.

1 Bleed would last more then 11seconds(with 20 in dom) currently. reduce a bit by taking other runes , take up the Greatsword and see the bleeds ^^

I have had quite a few 1 Vs 1 and 1 Vs 2, even some 1 Vs 3 fights in WvW…

Warrior 1 Vs 1 = Beat
Engineer 1 Vs 1 = Beat
Ranger 1 Vs 1 = Beat
Ele 1 Vs 1 = Beat

Ranger + Engineer 2 Vs 1 = Beat
Warrior + Elemental 2 Vs 1 = Beat
Thief + Warrior 2 Vs 1 = Warrior Killed, Thief Ran

Thief + Ranger + Warrior = Downed and killed warrior, Ranger nearly down but had to run due cool downs all used.

I can see anything that has a Thief in it would be a bit to strong for me the Warrior Thief combo it work for them because he entered the fight when the Warrior was already nearly down, he stayed a bit while the Warrior was down but ran when he saw that the warrior was dead.

Really liking this build. I still am considering taking Chaos from 30 to either 25 or 20, not sure how the 5% toughness into Condition damage would affect the build

Its no use naming a class and then saying you beat it, name the other guys build then we have something to talk about,,,,

Cempa.5619:

Its no use naming a class and then saying you beat it, name the other guys build then we have something to talk about,,,,

Hard to do that based on WvW, One of the ele was a Staff using Ele. The Engi not to sure, think it was a sort of Flamethrower/Condition build. The Ranger Again not to sure and the warrior have no clue coz all he pretty much did when fighting is run :/

The Ele 1 Vs 1 was a Aura build i think, D/D and ALOT of auras.

I think it would be better if you could click on them and whisper them, coz i was curious about the builds as well. I would say to the Warrior, rethink your strategy as i killed him like 4 times in the space of 5mins.

It was more of a post to say it can 1v1 as at first i wasnt to sure how well it would do. So far i havent lost a 1Vs1 or a 2 Vs 1 as in died, i have fled a couple though, mostly due to being ambushed after a fight and having skills on cooldown.

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

1 Bleed would last more then 11seconds(with 20 in dom) currently. reduce a bit by taking other runes , take up the Greatsword and see the bleeds ^^

11 seconds? Sharper images is a 5 second bleed and the highest that it is going is 10 seconds.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Condition_Duration
“The max cap is +100% duration.
Duration of conditions is rounded to nearest quarter of a second in skill tooltip’s list of effects (0s, ¼, ½, ¾ and 1s)”
I personally like 2 mad king/lyssa or 4 TA Runes/2 lyssa. Koi cakes and 20 domination to hit 80% for a 9 second bleed. 90% or 95% does nothing for our bleed dmg (although it can help counter melandru etc.) To get 100% bleed/conditions, you need some combo of 10 more in domination and/or 1 or 2 giver’s (1handed weapon) of agony. I don’t think giver’s two handed weapons are worth the loss of other stats.
For torment, confusion and burning, the “check points” can also be calculated:
Torment 8 second base:
I started at base of 40%(koi cake) but basically, 40,50,70,80,90,100% all give 1 second more. 60% doesn’t.
Burning/confusion with a base of 3: 40,70,100% let you hit 4,5,6 seconds.

did i say that was from Sharper Images??? No

The problem with going with much higher durations means you lose out elsewhere, I have theen thinking about going another 10 in Precision and getting 10% duration from Runes. That would give me 40% condition duration increase

Along with the Coi food that is another 40% increase, so would that be 40% + 40% or 40% + 15%(roughly) as its a 40% increase on that duration we already have?

This is a GS bleed build thread? with a scepter/pistol? What other bleeds are you pulling off that are your main source of dmg? Geomancy sigil would mean you aren’t using the battle sigil you planned on and would not be a major source of dmg. I am not familier with the secret technique of GS, 1-handed Staff w/ Pistol. Debilitating Dissipation is also 5 seconds.

RE: numbers. It isn’t a problem. I simply listed the check points of condition duration that have a significant pay off for various conditions. I never stated what is ideal. IF you use the scepter/torch, 60% would be a bad choice since you benefit much more from 70 or 50%.
Go for 40, 60, 80 or 100% with the GS. Anything in between is usually a waste. The choice is yours but there are definitely optimal choices and less optimal choices.

Personally, I have armor and weapons from TA exp and koi cakes. Then 2 rabids from lyssa and also giver’s weapons. So I mix and match to reach the check points based off of traits/weapon choice. This will also be different for the two weapon sets that I am using. So GS might be 60 while the swap is 70 or 80.

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

This is a GS bleed build thread? with a scepter/pistol? What other bleeds are you pulling off that are your main source of dmg? Geomancy sigil would mean you aren’t using the battle sigil you planned on and would not be a major source of dmg. I am not familier with the secret technique of GS, 1-handed Staff w/ Pistol. Debilitating Dissipation is also 5 seconds.

I am neither using Geomancy or Battle currently. I have Earth on the Greatsword and Scepter and Hobbling on Pistol. I find Earth better then Geomancy due to the fact i prefer to be at range for as much of the fight as possible.

The hobbling was part of the weapon when i got it, i may or may not change it in the future, likely targets would be either Power or Condition. Could go with the 7% Bleed duration though would that become inactive when in the other weapon set?

I was and still am considering the Battle Sigil, though that may change when writing the thread my expected gameplay style was more stay in range – have Battle on GS, use the Mirror Blade and iZerker before switching to Scepter/Pistol and using the Scepter/Pistol until the GS was off cool down and repeating.

This pretty much changed as i got into a bit of combat and found it better to stay in GS for longer, thus making Battle a bit weak. I am still thinking that i could even swap out the Scepter/Pistol though i would lose the Torment (saved me quite a few times) but the movement and conditions from Staff could work a bit better.

The scepter is pretty much taken for Torment, when timed right can be a Match winner. The Pistol is because Pistol #5 is a solid skill and can be VERY useful in various situations and the iDuelist is excellent for pumping out the bleeds.

The damage comes from several sources – Bleeding and Phantasms mostly iZerker and iDuelist, even my damage is pretty solid. I defiently feel like i am doing more damage now then when i was with my old Condition build.

Bleeding stacks quite well i have seen it go into the 20s against some players, the iZerker still does some very nice damage as well. Taking Phantasmal Fury helps alot with this as they can stack nice amounts of bleeds on someone and against Zergs.

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

RE: numbers. It isn’t a problem. I simply listed the check points of condition duration that have a significant pay off for various conditions. I never stated what is ideal. IF you use the scepter/torch, 60% would be a bad choice since you benefit much more from 70 or 50%.

Go for 40, 60, 80 or 100% with the GS. Anything in between is usually a waste. The choice is yours but there are definitely optimal choices and less optimal choices.

Yeah stat wise i am not 100% yet, i still have some tinkering to do with the 10points in Chaos as not sure if they would be better elsewhere and planning on adjusting my gear to get some more Rampager’s gear into the mix which currently is FULL Rabid.

Though even without the changes i take some food and i would be around 60% Condition Duration.

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

Personally, I have armor and weapons from TA exp and koi cakes. Then 2 rabids from lyssa and also giver’s weapons. So I mix and match to reach the check points based off of traits/weapon choice. This will also be different for the two weapon sets that I am using. So GS might be 60 while the swap is 70 or 80.

I will have a look at the TA Armor, mine isnt even the best armor its the Whispers armor set which is just rare in Stats so i plan on slowly upgrading them when i can.

Whether or not a build is good 1v1 is moot in this game. Yes a gs bleed build will win 1v1 quite often. Such can be said about many mesmer builds. The majority of the time you will not create enough bleed pressure to be a real factor in a spvp environment (tpvp especially). Unlike other bleed builds yours do not come from you, it comes from entities that’s break under aoe.

And if you stand off alone you’re glass-spec bait.

djtool.8372:

Whether or not a build is good 1v1 is moot in this game. Yes a gs bleed build will win 1v1 quite often. Such can be said about many mesmer builds. The majority of the time you will not create enough bleed pressure to be a real factor in a spvp environment (tpvp especially). Unlike other bleed builds yours do not come from you, it comes from entities that’s break under aoe.

And if you stand off alone you’re glass-spec bait.

S/TPvP doesnt interest me, got boring after a while i play PvE (a bit, mostly events) and WvW. I used to play my Burst build in S/TPvP. I havent touched it in months.

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

trooper.2650:

Wanna some bleedings? Try this then
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQRAra8flwzKqHVzgGb9IiZGBHFimx15dlUgbXIA-T4AAzCpImRBjDGzMSfs+MCYVx+jTAzKeBA

Unfortunately it’s very single target oriented Other than that it’s amazing

Not to bad, though getting that extra Bleed duration comes at a cost elsewhere. I think the 25 in Illusions would be better spent elsewhere – Domination would be a good choice for even longer duration on ALL conditions, then you could remove some of those runes and put them to better use.

1 Bleed would last more then 11seconds(with 20 in dom) currently. reduce a bit by taking other runes , take up the Greatsword and see the bleeds ^^

25 points in Illusions gives stronger bleeds. For the duration those runes will take care of it. With that set up I can get 1500 cond. damage. Can you?
Other conditions? Confusion is sorted with 30% from talent. Not using staff everything else I am not too concerned about since I am not really in control of them (cannot apply them reliably)

Of course I would like a better runes setup (full centaur for example) but cannot afford it if I want stronger bleeds. Can you come up with longer bleeds 20/30 points in Domination and still dish out cond damage close to 1500?

trooper.2650:

25 points in Illusions gives stronger bleeds. For the duration those runes will take care of it. With that set up I can get 1500 cond. damage. Can you?
Other conditions? Confusion is sorted with 30% from talent. Not using staff everything else I am not too concerned about since I am not really in control of them (cannot apply them reliably)

Of course I would like a better runes setup (full centaur for example) but cannot afford it if I want stronger bleeds. Can you come up with longer bleeds 20/30 points in Domination and still dish out cond damage close to 1500?

Thast maybe be the case, but that still requires several wasted (imo) traits. Unless the build uses Shatters often then its points, 33% increase to a below par condition isnt that great either.

The only 2 traits that are nice is the 20point one and the 25point one, the others are Meh. I would take higher stacks then longer duration. Plus my build isnt built just on conditions, the Phantoms (and me) do quite good damage as well.

Not to sure on your Sword/Torch combo either, i guess the Blurred Frenzy combo is nice but i guess thats down to a personal preference i am more of a Ranged player myself.

The point of my build ISNT just condition damage, its player damage, its Phantom damage as well. My older condition build had ALOT of condition damage as well but it just didnt feel like it could burst that well.

Have you thought about the Greatsword? the iZerker does some very nice damage and gets like 2-5 stacks of Bleeding in 1 attack and can get the damage going against zerg groups.

To me It just seems like wasting to much potential in the runes and Sigils concentrating on Bleed sort of makes DD a bit wasted unless it procs a bleed when the clone dies.

if we are going by S/TPvP stats then thats different as i have been talking about my build in a WvWvW situation The same build in S/TPvP gives me just under 1,300 Condition damage. In Normal yes its less but the exchange for that:

+338 Power
+ 284 Attack
+ 20% Condition Duration
+5% Boon Duration

- 337 Condition Damage
- 54 Toughness

So all of that at the cost of Bleed Duration and Condition damage and slight toughness? I think its worth it, Sure you might have a lot longer Bleed Duration but that doesnt affect all the other conditions and i think over the space of a fight, whats going to affect the fight the most the more power and attack or the more Bleed duration and Condition damage?

Again the stats are skewed by the fact that we dont know your exat stats or anything, mine is a mix of Masterwork and Rare gear

Looking at Focus, for the first time since i last used it (before level 40) with the traits for Bleeding and Fury iWarden can get 9+ Bleeds on the targets in its area which is very good and adding to that projectile reflection seems like it could be useful, think i would have to give it a proper run out in combat against players to see whakittens like, think against Zergs and combined with iZerker it would be very nice.

Would have to see whakittens like after the attack and if the target moves before deciding on if it could become a permanent part of the build, This could lead to a change in Main weapon as well – Though not to keen on Sword but its the only option, Scepter+Focus just doesnt seem to “gel” very well

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

Looking at Focus, for the first time since i last used it (before level 40) with the traits for Bleeding and Fury iWarden can get 9+ Bleeds on the targets in its area which is very good and adding to that projectile reflection seems like it could be useful, think i would have to give it a proper run out in combat against players to see whakittens like, think against Zergs and combined with iZerker it would be very nice.

Would have to see whakittens like after the attack and if the target moves before deciding on if it could become a permanent part of the build, This could lead to a change in Main weapon as well – Though not to keen on Sword but its the only option, Scepter+Focus just doesnt seem to “gel” very well

In my opinion Focus is more of a control and utility weapon. Temporal Curtain is good for swiftness, crippling, and pulling (though good luck interrupting much now that it has a 1s delay before you can use Into the Void).

The warden is good at blocking projectiles mainly. Also, you can put a Temporal curtain on him to get cleansing bolts and cure conditions. While the warden does has fantastic damage as you mentioned, the fact that it is stationary means that any good player will not take more than a couple hits from it. Also, in a zerg it will usually die quickly to AoE since it is stationary. Focus is a great weapon, but if you want pure DPS from an offhand, I think pistol is probably the best way to go.

Palu.3405:

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

Looking at Focus, for the first time since i last used it (before level 40) with the traits for Bleeding and Fury iWarden can get 9+ Bleeds on the targets in its area which is very good and adding to that projectile reflection seems like it could be useful, think i would have to give it a proper run out in combat against players to see whakittens like, think against Zergs and combined with iZerker it would be very nice.

Would have to see whakittens like after the attack and if the target moves before deciding on if it could become a permanent part of the build, This could lead to a change in Main weapon as well – Though not to keen on Sword but its the only option, Scepter+Focus just doesnt seem to “gel” very well

In my opinion Focus is more of a control and utility weapon. Temporal Curtain is good for swiftness, crippling, and pulling (though good luck interrupting much now that it has a 1s delay before you can use Into the Void).

The warden is good at blocking projectiles mainly. Also, you can put a Temporal curtain on him to get cleansing bolts and cure conditions. While the warden does has fantastic damage as you mentioned, the fact that it is stationary means that any good player will not take more than a couple hits from it. Also, in a zerg it will usually die quickly to AoE since it is stationary. Focus is a great weapon, but if you want pure DPS from an offhand, I think pistol is probably the best way to go.

Ah, didnt know it was stationary, that kinda weakens it a bit. I guess Sword #3 combo with Warden and Blurred would be pretty solid though, if it can be timed right, i hate that it has such a long cast time, its like the longest of all of them i think :/

The fact thakittens our only 100% chance at swiftness and for a decent amount of time is good though.

You see, I did try a build called “Cripple Forever” with GS, 30 points in domination III/V/X
20 in duelist II/X and 20 in Chaos V/VII, superior hobbling on GS and it was really fun to see people hobble along for over 15-20 seconds

The thing is I think we all need an offensive and defensive set of weapon. If you use a GS and don’t want to give up on the pistol you ain’t going to have much of a defensive set even with scepter/pistol. So since pistol is for me conpulsory and atm I am in love with scepter/pistol then I need a defensive set. That could be the staff but I like torch more atm and I think it couples nicely with sword. It has a completely different feel and it pivots around survivability while letting bleeds and iduelist do the job.

I am not saying it’s the best. Maybe I will play it a bit and then change things around. It isn’t bad either. Won few 1vs1 so it’s good enough for me

I’m running a 20/20/30/0/0 clonespammer build with a hybrid setup, rampagers cavalier &berserks. The added conditions are really nice and cover mostly the important ones. Right now i’m sitting at 75% critdmg and 600 Conddmg not counting might stacks (around 10-15 stacks through sigils and GS and if i get an interrupt it racks up to 25 stacks.
in tougher fights (engaging 2+ people) I switch to traited torch.

what i love is that I can use pretty much every weapon combo and be effective.
for roaming you can slot sw/f sc/t and have an fantastic interrupt source with TC with swiftness and with careful use of the warden you can kill some people very quickly.
You can trait staff, sword (ofc sword offhand too), GS, torch. If i need more illusions power trait 15% illusion dmg and take GS and SW/P with interrupt traits. If you know the professions and their skills, its very powerful.

Some people here don’t unterstand the synergy and wanna tell me how to play, but fools are everywhere