Guild Wars 2

I’m curious if there is anyone out there that has tested to any extent a heavy confusion focused build since we have a lot of abilities for confusion application and ways to increase it’s duration 33%.. “all shatter skills inflict confusion” via trait getting doubling the amount on F2, confusion via ethereal combo fields, via scepter 3, confusing combatants trait (aoe confusion on clone death, also triggered if you simply create another clone if you’re at max 3 all ready) and traited glamour fields causing confusion as well.

I know in some situations relying on staff conditions isn’t good enough due to stacking limitations but given confusion is rarely at max and gets consumed it seems speccing specifically for it along with a staff/condition build may help bridge the gap damage wise in some of those situations given that confusion scales with condition dmg.

Anyone experiment with this kind of setup much in both pve & wvw?

I was thinking something like 20/20/0/0/30 Trait Build Link

Again the goal would be maximizing confusion application. Staff would be primary weapon, scepter/torch(iMage applies confusion) for secondary and using clones to assist in condition applications as well as abusing them for the shatters for additional confusion applications.

I run a condition spec that doesn’t shy away from Confusion.

0/25/25/0/20 is my trait line-up.
Standard traits for clone-death, confusion duration, and bounces.

I most often run with Scepter+Pistol/Staff in PvE and swap Focus for Pistol in WvW.

Numerically it’s not too bad. Confusion is about 300 damage on hit and Bleed is about 100 damage on hit in my current gear.

It can be a bit unpredictable as a condition. Slow-hitting mobs are terrible but fast-hitting ones make you feel overpowered. Players count as “fast hitting” and there’s no end to the enjoyment I get from seeing a player rip himself apart.

After playing with it for a few weeks, I’d say it’s do-able. It’s strong in WvW and will get you by in PvE. I would say it’s not as strong as some other builds for pure damage or pure support. In all calculations I’ve done, shatter and phantasm builds still feel numerically stronger, though not by an embarrassing amount.

If it’s a playstyle you enjoy, it’s worth a shot. But I probably wouldn’t drop all your money on a set of exotic condition gear without confirming that it’s a good match for you.

Well the nice thing about this build with a proper mix of gear is the shatters still hit very hard, it lacks the additional crit bonuses that berserker would provide but with power+precision+condition damage gear(rampagers) it still hurts especially if i swap out the +15% dmg from clones for +20% on mind wrack. I occasionally see my confusions hit for 1k + and my gear is garbage still and i’m not even 80 on my mesmer and my bleed is around what yours is right now with veggie pizza buff.

My mesmer is a confusion+blind spec with 20/0/0/20/30, Scepter+touch(main)/staff or scepter/focus. Here is my build Link

I would say, it is playable in both PvE and WvW but the playstyles are slightly different.
But it starts with shatter, and then, shoot the scepter laser, after that keep enemies blinded with your scepter and touch skills, and glamours.

It seems not to be the most effective build in PvE because mobs attack so slowly, but actually with blind, dodge, and the clones, they wouldn’t be able to hurt you at all, while you are constantly stacking confusion on them. In WvW, I just try to stack confusion as fast as possible, it’s enjoying when you see other players hit themselves to death.

Running a confusion/shatter build.
Out of the top of my head it’s 10/20/0/10/30.
Important traits are vigor on shatter, illusionary persona, confusion on shatter, 33% more confusion, mind wrack dmg and clone on dodge.
24% more condition duration from runes, 40% from food, I could probably drop the runes for more cnd damage without significantly reducing my confusion duration.
Power = vitality < condition damage gear, mind wrack is a nice supplement to the build even though it lacks crit and crit dmg.
Weapons: staff with scepter/sword (for survivability), haven’t settled on the sword as a definite offhand, torch would be nice if they make it work, focus is decent, pistol is bad if you don’t trait into critical images and crit %.
For some fights it’s good, for others it’s not impressive. You can stack 11-13 stacks of confusion for 10 sec and some bleeds/burns.

Edit: iMage is bad, the #4 is also bad although you could use chaos torm + its blast finisher. I’ll try and make it work since I haven’t use the #4 on the sword as often.

Verone.1063:

Edit: iMage is bad, the #4 is also bad although you could use chaos torm + its blast finisher. I’ll try and make it work since I haven’t use the #4 on the sword as often.

iMage damage was doubled this patch still may be lacking. Torch #4 is handy for the blast finisher but it makes a handy tool for dropping agro in bad situations but I’ll consider switching to something else. What you’re doing sounds a lot like what I’m aiming for though confusion/shatter with decent condition damage. Seems to still do well in dungeons aoe with shatteres and extra bounce isn’t to bad either.

Sadly the burns seem to be the strongest damage condition wise it scales so well.

I run a confusion build, www.youtube.com/kyliad has multiple video’s of its viability in WvW along with a couple of videos that break down the build, equipment, etc.

Currently Still tweaking my Confusion/Condition Spec.. its proved to be strong enough for 3v1’s in WvW

Currently Running 20/0/0/20/30

Staff, Scepter Focus, Power Vit Cond gear with runes of the Nightmare(Switching out 2 Nightmare for Lyssa soon)

I’ve made People destroy themselves popping 3k+ per action in rapid succession

The reason I use Focus is because the Swiftness buff is also a pull/interrupt and iWarden Works wonders with all my ethereal fields sending out more confusion.

Iv tried all other off-hands and Focus has saved my life countless times.

I’ve made cond builds before that stack up to 10 stacks of confusion. That’s decent damage, but the confusion stacks fall off too quickly.

Main problem with confusion in pve is that most stacks are 3 sec ones. iMage one even ignores cond duration bonuses.

Due to short duration of confusion you end up being way worse than other classes’ CD specs.

Consider this: with a single skill (Impale) a CD spec warrior can deal 10560 bleed damage (BEFORE any condition duration buffs from food or traits, BEFORE any CD buffs from food or might stacks – which warrior can easily have 5 from elite signet), which compared to confusion is also unconditional (works on people running away, slow swinging monsters). Hell Deep Cuts trait alone add 50% to bleed duration which makes it 15k+ bleed damage from one skill alone.

Can CD spec mesmer match that? No. But most people here will tell you that confusion is awesome damage, because they are clueless and anet did a psychological trick. They made all the confusion stacks sum up and hit with one big number, while bleeds output tons of 110 dmg numbers, which makes it look like confusion is big damage, when in reality it’s paltry compared to any serious bleed build.

Vajra.3157:

My mesmer is a confusion+blind spec with 20/0/0/20/30, Scepter+touch(main)/staff or scepter/focus. Here is my build Link

Lack of blink/clone makes this very vulnerable to various immobilize+hundred blades combos. While you’re maximizing your confusion generation you shouldn’t forget about survivability.

Another question… what use is Shatters add Vulnerability trait? Vulnerability doesn’t improve cond damage (or does it???).

ManCaptain.3154:

Another question… what use is Shatters add Vulnerability trait? Vulnerability doesn’t improve cond damage (or does it???).

Very good question, never tested this after the game went live. I know in beta it didn’t improve condition damage at all. Has anyone tested this recently?

Thanks for all the replies great to know this is extremely effective in wvw/pvp. Sounds like I may end up being forced into a power build in pve for competitive damage though all be it I love cond spec and keeping 3x staff clones alive for the extra cond. from an aesthetic POV. I’m hitting about 15 bleeds in these situations alone so if I’m grouped with any other condition specs we hit the 25 stack wall to easily.

What stats are generally used for WvW Confusion builds other than Condition? Is it Power or Precision?

I am slowly gathering Condition gear and was going to use full Khilborn’s set (Precision/Toughness/Condition) but I am wondering if I should add Power to that? Maybe some Vitality?

Xavi.6591:

What stats are generally used for WvW Confusion builds other than Condition? Is it Power or Precision?

There are a couple variations I’ve see on the WvW confusion builds ones that take the blind traits on glamours and those that don’t. I’d go Cond+Toughness+Vitality if you don’t take the blind traits really. Cond+Power+Vitality gear if you do since they’ll be missing more w/the glamour blinds. IMHO someone more experienced with it may want to chime in.

Im currenty Working on a 50/50 gear wise. All Carrion accessories with, Precision=Toughness<Condition armor/weapons. My hp will Drop to about 20k But ill gain like Nearly 1400 toughness. which will boost my cond damage via Master Tuning Crystals. and should also Increase my survivability against burst.

I run 0/20/20/0/30, Rabid armor, Carrion Weapons. Staff / Scepter + Focus for W3. HP ~ 17k or so, in the process of obtaining Rabid weapons, so my HP would drop to probably ~16k, accessories will probably stay Carrion. Runes are Undead.

Been in W3 since level 20 or so, staff almost the entire time. Between staff/toughness/F4, I don’t have a problem versus burst. A quick Chaos Storm into Phase Retreat is great if you’re not stunned, and if you are…. that’s what Decoy/Blink are for. I will go into 1v2 without hesitation. 1v3+ takes a bit of thought, but that’s all part of the fun anyway.

PvE is where confusion kind of is lackluster, as mobs are a bit unpredictable for confusion, but between Illusionary Elasticity, Chaos Storm, and F1/F2, nothing stays up long. I’ll pull 3-4 mobs at once comfortably.

If we had a better speed boost, I’d run torch. However, Focus 4 is great for the interrupt and displacement. Focus 5 is good, not great, simply because I have no reliable root but can get confusion bolts.

The best confusion spec is trident

Zid.4196:

The best confusion spec is trident

Number one rule about trident is we don’t talk about trident.

just wanna say Personally I use a full rabid spec staff and scepter/pistol
0/20/25/0/25 with runes of afflicted( i think its the one with 5% toughness into condi)
gotta say 1 on 1 i rarely go down with the extra toughness and bleeds just ticking so hard.
But sticking confusion on the enemy has been a challenge to say the least.. most roll out of scepter, and iMage is a joke. once and a while against the more unskilled players ill get the 10+ confusion for like 2k a skill, but thats like for the briefest of times.
I find myself just stacking a few staff clones to wreck face and let them work. Only time I manage to keep confusion doing its job is with the veggie pizza and its 40% duration for condi.