Guild Wars 2

Recently tried lockdown and its pretty fun, but what do you think I should use as the better offhand? Pistol or focus?

What are you using for your other weapon set? I like to use Staff + Sword/Pistol in pvp and Focus in wvw. I like the mobility and defense of staff, which means I am sacrificing greatsword, which has the knockback. I bring this up primarily because of thieves and shadow refuge. In pvp I worry about that less, but in wvw it seems every thief in every group has SR and they will drop it. It’s situational.

I prefer pistol myself, I leveled up using this weapon and it has the potential to be more useful. The warden has to track the target and then roots when it uses its attack, which you can easily step out of. However, you could also use the warden as a shield. The bubble does eat projectiles, if you’re worried about those.

Calliope.8675:

What are you using for your other weapon set? I like to use Staff + Sword/Pistol in pvp and Focus in wvw. I like the mobility and defense of staff, which means I am sacrificing greatsword, which has the knockback. I bring this up primarily because of thieves and shadow refuge. In pvp I worry about that less, but in wvw it seems every thief in every group has SR and they will drop it. It’s situational.

I prefer pistol myself, I leveled up using this weapon and it has the potential to be more useful. The warden has to track the target and then roots when it uses its attack, which you can easily step out of. However, you could also use the warden as a shield. The bubble does eat projectiles, if you’re worried about those.

Currently I use GS with sword/focus as thats what I saw on this one thread here

There is nothing wrong with that set up. I like to use pistol because the phantom is ranged, so there is less chance of it being cleaved down without being drawn in by LoS. Its attack is slightly harder to evade, just because it is at range and they will be forced to dodge or block to avoid the damage. Magic Bullet also has a quicker reaction time. I find I cannot always pull as quickly as I would like with Temporal Curtain.

What format are you playing?

I prefer Focus in pvp situations because of it’s AOE effect proccing Bountiful Interruption as well. It’s nice for decapping points, and gives you swiftness as well (GREAT with Pack runes). It’s also nice for setting up great combos utilizing CI:

Curtain—>iWarden—>Pull—>iLeap—>Frenzy—>Shatter

Toss in some Mantra dazes and you’ve got a dead enemy.

MailMail.6534:

What format are you playing?

I prefer Focus in pvp situations because of it’s AOE effect proccing Bountiful Interruption as well. It’s nice for decapping points, and gives you swiftness as well (GREAT with Pack runes). It’s also nice for setting up great combos utilizing CI:

Curtain—>iWarden—>Pull—>iLeap—>Frenzy—>Shatter

Toss in some Mantra dazes and you’ve got a dead enemy.

Im currently using runes of lyssa, I guess I just need help utilizing this build some lol. I’ve been doing better than what I thought, but zerker mesmers such as double ranged shatter tend to kill me very easily lol

Again, are you roaming in wvw or contesting points in pvp? You might want to visit one of the lockdown threads on the first two pages of this forum. It’s a wealth of knowledge on the playstyle and full of tips on how to succeed.

“Ideally”, lockdown should beat shatter. All it takes is a few decently time interrupts. That being said, all it takes is one good shatter burst to knock you out as well. Both are high risk high reward builds.

I’m happy you’re willing to explore the lockdown playstyle. It’s really fun!

Hm, I prefer focus for lockdown, but it’s a matter of play style and opinion. Focus gives a little more certainty with interrupting something and being semi-on-demand, while Pistol can have better range, has a better Phantasm[ranged and fast attacked] and on-demand 2 second stun.

If you’re looking to keep a single target locked down for a while, then I think pistol is better with its chain-stunning if you use it with CS.

MailMail.6534:

Again, are you roaming in wvw or contesting points in pvp? You might want to visit one of the lockdown threads on the first two pages of this forum. It’s a wealth of knowledge on the playstyle and full of tips on how to succeed.

“Ideally”, lockdown should beat shatter. All it takes is a few decently time interrupts. That being said, all it takes is one good shatter burst to knock you out as well. Both are high risk high reward builds.

I’m happy you’re willing to explore the lockdown playstyle. It’s really fun!

I think I’ve explored more builds on my mesmer than any other class, im trying to find a new one im good at but since the september patch my mesmer kinda struggles now as my old build became obsolete with the nerf.

Both shatter and lockdown are very fun builds, though I feel like I have a harder time killing on my lockdown than I do my double ranged shatter, perhaps I need to lear more on how to use it.

You will want to practice interrupting Phantasm skills and Heals (especially heals). Smart ones use a stealth skill while healing.

I run lockdown in soloQ. I use gs + sw/f but you can also use staff + gs, it works great. 226 with decoy, blink and daze mantra. Strength/traveler/lyssa/mesmer runes, fire+air on gs, energy + doom/generosity/blood on s/f. It’s a ton of fun to play on skyhammer.

I would prefer the pistol over the focus for lockdown, because enemies will be forewarned to ready a stunbreak/dodge the pull on the focus. It’s also easier to focus one target with the pistol than focus with the, er, focus.

:D

Both can work, it really depends on your goal and preference. Focus is superior defense and AoE control while Pistol shines as single target damage and lockdown.

Pistol is really good for stunlocking at range. Hit with magic bullet, add in ileap, and one interrupt later your opponent realizes they hadn’t moved for 5 agonizing seconds. I generally prefer it when I run Confounding Suggestions and/or Signet of Domination.

Focus takes more practice and creativity but is, IMO, a more effective choice. The warden can be pretty damaging when used properly, but it shines as a form of projectile negation versus Warriors, Rangers, and Engineers (Especially for covering a stomp on a War/Engi). The Temporal Curtain pull has a lot of functions; on-demand swiftness is especially glorious with pack runes, its cripple hinders pursuit, comboing off it gives retal/cleanses, and it almost always forces enemies to blow endurance on a wasted dodge when you just leave the rift sitting there. The AoE pull is one of the strongest CCs we have, and can net a whole lotta boons/interrupt procs with CI/BI.

More things to think about -

I look at lockdown as split into two styles: 1) Stun and 2) Interrupt.

For stun focused builds, confounding suggestions is king. The stun (and to a lesser degree, the daze bounce) from pistol in that build is great synergy.

For interrupt focused builds, chaotic interruption is king and using pistol in that build is counter productive because if you interrupt with the pistol stun, you’re wasting away CI procs. In addition, by virtue of the fact you took pistol, you lose a valuable CI proc’ing source from that MH/OH weapon set, and no, I don’t count the daze bounce as that’s not an interrupt you’re skillfully executing. For the trait points spent to get CI, taking pistol can be a bit wasteful.

Why is Sw/Sw not an option?

I don’t think they want to use that weapon. I like sw/sw too. I play around with every combination.

I think Sw/Sw+Staff is the utmost best weapon choice for CS.

Sw offhand is probably good with CS. I might try that…

Why CS and not CI?

I think sword 4’s interrupt is harder to land than both pistol and focus. This drawback is offset by its extremely low cool down however. If you’re playing CI, you want as much certainty that you’re able to land an interrupt as possible.

With CS, simply dazing the opponent is enough to proc CS so there’s not as much emphasis on interrupt as with CI.

Check out my build, “Dazzling Blades”. It’s a really fun high risk high reward Lockdown phantasm build:
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQNAscRnsISNa2oGmpB3aG50YQ1Yk+gCCo0jsS4A-TZBFwACOCA12fo9DAoaZAAnCAA

MailMail.6534:

I think sword 4’s interrupt is harder to land than both pistol and focus. This drawback is offset by its extremely low cool down however. If you’re playing CI, you want as much certainty that you’re able to land an interrupt as possible.

With CS, simply dazing the opponent is enough to proc CS so there’s not as much emphasis on interrupt as with CI.

Check out my build, “Dazzling Blades”. It’s a really fun high risk high reward Lockdown phantasm build:
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQNAscRnsISNa2oGmpB3aG50YQ1Yk+gCCo0jsS4A-TZBFwACOCA12fo9DAoaZAAnCAA

I might try it,but without the signet heal.
it is very very squishy build imo.

That’s not an opinion. It’s simply fact! haha It’s a very squishy build. iSwordsman goes for the jugular though.