Guild Wars 2

About a year ago i learned how to shatter Staff/Sw-P and got relatively good at it before swapping to a condi pistoleer build that took advantage of the glitch that gave it a 100% projectile finisher.

Getting back in game 1 year later with it being fixed i decided to shatter again. I tried Staff/sw-p but most people expected the burst and i ended up having to shatter on staff more often then not to catch them offguard.

1 day into i gave Gs/Sw-t a spin and wow it worked way better for solo roaming. I am running 95% zerker gear for fun (yes i know its not optimal, but killing unsuspecting medi guardians in 2.5 seconds is so much fun). I am just having a few problems deciding traits.

So here are the ones i cant chose between.

Shattered concentration Vs Cleansing Conflagration. I prefer the former because i find ruining some of the most common elites on some professions a blast, but i know the latter will help me survive if the fight drags out or turns slightly sour.

Illusionary Invigoration Vs Illusionary Elasticity. Illusionary elasticity makes your gs 2+4+dodge+mindwrack Crazy kitten and tossing your sword into groups just becomes that much better. Invigoration on the other hand recharges all you shatters :O thats great, but still a hard choice for me when i end a decent amount of fights without being touched.

Staff/sw-p was an easy choice for traits this set has some strong options.

I would love to see some of your views on this topic, it will put the constant unrest of not knowing which one i should take to sleep.

Sorry for all the text.

Good thing is that you can swap both of those traits anytime and see what works best for you in a particular situation.

I don’t think there’s a “best” choice here – all down to personal preference.

If you feel comfortable enough to rely on mind stab, sword auto and utilities for boon strip, then torch trait is the way to go, especially as it gives added condition removal.

As for iE vs iI – I prefer iE, but that’s because I use staff and prefer the auto attack damage buff, and can get away without relying on shatter refresh through additional stealths and evades. But with GS, you might prefer the extra layer of defence that having a second shatter #4 or whatever, provides.

Swings and roundabouts.

Depends on your gear set I’d say. If you run PPC gear you might consider Invigoration for survivability/get away’s and on the other hand take Elasticity if you wear less burst gear set such as PTV or PPT.

Once again, Conflagration will suit builds with low vitality in need of condi cleanse (I don’t know if you run Null field or not, as a shatter I run Decoy/Mirror Images/Blink). Shattered Concentration is great for pure burst builds in duo roamings (where your ally can save your kitten if you get in a bad position), when with this trait you’d rather use Prestige as active offence/surprise element before entering combat (Blink => Detonate on your foe).

Zerker is totally fine! But i’d rather take a mix of 4 Saphir/ 2 Zojja for roaming. We’re prec dependant.

I prefer Shattered concentration over almost any other shatter trait. I think it’s essential for softening up a target with Diversion, not to mention the fact it rips any boons the enemy applied in anticipation of your burst.
If you can keep on a single target, you can almost shut down a guardian’s boons for a while if you do nothing but spam clones and shatter them on him. Very underrated trait IMO, at least if you prefer an aggressive playstyle.

It also has good defensive potential, just shatter whatever you have out when a warrior uses fury signet, and watch him go

Ye boon strip is definitely great for aggressive play style. It screws soo many classes . I love it when you mess up a warrior or ele or guardian who over extends thinking their boons will keep them safe.

I usually take Cleansing Conflagration and run Arcane Thievery for additional Boonstrip/Cleanse. Always remember that you only need to face your target with the camera to land AT, so you can cast it while creating space at the same time.

As for Invigoration vs Elasticity, since i’m mostly roaming i take Invigoration for the added survivability (same can be said about Conflagration). Afaik, Vash usues Elasticity (and the GS trait for Master Domination), so you can do well with any one.

Btw a great way to deal damage with this setup is to torch stealth, wait for ~2s, precast Mirror Blade, Blink onto your target (optional dodge here) and shatter. Been oneshotting so many guys that way.

Did you watch Osicat vid on Shatter GS S/T. Check it out. He has detailed gear and trait + vid. Very nice.

I keep up to date on most shatter vids, I personally like to run a lot more glass than osi.