Guild Wars 2

Pyroatheist.9031:

Ok, I just tested out the retaliation. There are no noticeable differences from the patch. It applies exactly the same. It deals damage exactly the same. Having defender and other phantasms up still results in multiple hits of retaliation. Application duration is still the same, and I successfully stacked it up to a visible 28 seconds of duration from the leap combo and an immediate cry of frustration. This patch will have absolutely 0 impact on this build.

There was speculation in a WvW post regarding the stacks of retaliation that I think makes sense of it.

When attacking the number of proc’s of retaliation is capped at 5 for any one attack. (maybe in the same way that confusion only proc’s at the start of a channel versus for each tick of the channel). Duration isn’t changed, just the number of times people or bosses are punished for any one attack.

You’d have to test this against a channeled attack aka your friendly FT engi.

DaisyRogers.6837:

Pyroatheist.9031:

Ok, I just tested out the retaliation. There are no noticeable differences from the patch. It applies exactly the same. It deals damage exactly the same. Having defender and other phantasms up still results in multiple hits of retaliation. Application duration is still the same, and I successfully stacked it up to a visible 28 seconds of duration from the leap combo and an immediate cry of frustration. This patch will have absolutely 0 impact on this build.

There was speculation in a WvW post regarding the stacks of retaliation that I think makes sense of it.

When attacking the number of proc’s of retaliation is capped at 5 for any one attack. (maybe in the same way that confusion only proc’s at the start of a channel versus for each tick of the channel). Duration isn’t changed, just the number of times people or bosses are punished for any one attack.

You’d have to test this against a channeled attack aka your friendly FT engi.

FT engies take so many hits of retaliation anyway, this won’t change a thing other than they die in 20 seconds as opposed to 5 seconds, heheh. However, I will try to test that out when I can.

Do siege still take retaliation damage or did they remove that? Back a month or so ago I recall that stacking + ret was the best way to take out trebs.

EasymodeX.4062:

Do siege still take retaliation damage or did they remove that? Back a month or so ago I recall that stacking + ret was the best way to take out trebs.

I don’t know for sure, but I think not, from the number of acs I’ve danced around in, I don’t remember any numbers.

Siege hasn’t taken retaliation damage for a while

Yeah didn’t think so. Trying to figure out a read on the Ret change in terms of where the hell it would apply with uncapped AOEs being abused with massive Ret damage. Perhaps some world PvE encounters.

As I understand it’s in relation to things in pve or camp supervisors in wvw, when they hit more than five people who have retaliation they will only take retaliation damage from five people rather than 25 which it was previously. I’m thinking there must be certain aoe effects that still hit more than five people (some of the world bosses for instance, jormag etc) so this is bringing more areas of the game under the five people limit. The only thing I can figure this doing is making some pve monsters take way longer to kill. It shouldn’t affect any pvp builds, like the immortal Mesmer, in any way.

Thing is, I’m pretty sure the camp supervisors have 5-capped AOEs (I vaguely recall general random/common instances of not getting decked for 10k or whatever while standing in melee with a ton of other people). So I’m also thinking Jormag and such, but that seems pretty fringe.

I kinda thought so too but I’m not sure. It was under discussion in the wvw forum and that was what they were saying it applied to, there was apparently some technique with enough retaliation on a group of people to kill a buffed supervisor faster tho I’d never really heard of that myself. We’d always just stacked vulnerability on it.

Hehe. It’s pretty funny to consider how ANet can’t make invulnerable supervisors invulnerable for a set duration.

Seems shoddy.

EasymodeX.4062:

Hehe. It’s pretty funny to consider how ANet can’t make invulnerable supervisors invulnerable for a set duration.

Seems shoddy.

It does. If I were in charge of the coding (which I’m not) I would just set a flag to the buff they have that every type of damage in the game checks against. Simply if flag is 1, then damage is null, it’s not really a tough thing to code usually. The fact that they have so much trouble doing so either means they have the worst coders on the planet (possible) or they just complicated it way more than necessary (more likely).

Best part is that invulnerability already exists in the game and seems to work quite reliably (e.g. the blue icon invuln buff for logging in or event scripted mobs, or even copying a kitten Distortion or Evade or Dodge from players).

Ohwell.

EasymodeX.4062:

Best part is that invulnerability already exists in the game and seems to work quite reliably (e.g. the blue icon invuln buff for logging in or event scripted mobs, or even copying a kitten Distortion or Evade or Dodge from players).

Ohwell.

Oh yeah, I didn’t even think of the determined buff, or distortion/blur. Determined is the obvious solution, since distortion and blur are a bit mesmer specific, but any of those would work quite fine, since distortion and blur prevent even retaliation damage.

what sigils do u use on your weapons? And thx for the build just started it last night but had a blast in wvw.

Oddithekeen.6084:

what sigils do u use on your weapons? And thx for the build just started it last night but had a blast in wvw.

I use energy on my staff, bloodlust on my sword, and hydromancy on my focus.

This build (2 ppl me and pyro) a guardian and a ranger wiped I think 5-6 people fairly quick in WvW.. it was quite hilarious… how many mesmers here are on DB?

Pyroatheist.9031:

Oddithekeen.6084:

what sigils do u use on your weapons? And thx for the build just started it last night but had a blast in wvw.

I use energy on my staff, bloodlust on my sword, and hydromancy on my focus.

thanks

I have a new video up, detailing the method for efficiently soloing a fully upgraded supply camp.

Have you considered using Mimic for 4s Block/Reflect on 25s CD? It seems to me it would be perfect in your build.

Embolism.8106:

Have you considered using Mimic for 4s Block/Reflect on 25s CD? It seems to me it would be perfect in your build.

The problem is that it would replace something else that is more important. Mimic is a 4s block/reflect, but only under certain conditions. If the first attack it takes is a cc, then you lose the whole thing. If they don’t shoot you, then it becomes useless. In very specific situations, it can be really great, but in almost every single one of those situations, the exact same thing would be accomplished by simply dropping temporal curtain and letting them attack into that.

Additionally, if you take it for the retaliation stacking on blocks, not only do you have to put 10 traits into a useless line, but it is even less necessary, since the build already gets over 100% uptime on retaliation.

Pyroatheist.9031:

Embolism.8106:

Have you considered using Mimic for 4s Block/Reflect on 25s CD? It seems to me it would be perfect in your build.

The problem is that it would replace something else that is more important. Mimic is a 4s block/reflect, but only under certain conditions. If the first attack it takes is a cc, then you lose the whole thing. If they don’t shoot you, then it becomes useless. In very specific situations, it can be really great, but in almost every single one of those situations, the exact same thing would be accomplished by simply dropping temporal curtain and letting them attack into that.

Additionally, if you take it for the retaliation stacking on blocks, not only do you have to put 10 traits into a useless line, but it is even less necessary, since the build already gets over 100% uptime on retaliation.

Did you know that Mimic can absorb friendly projectiles? By using Winds of Chaos or just having Staff Clones out bouncing Winds of Chaos at you, Mimic is a guaranteed Block/Reflect.

And Retaliatory Shield is actually not very good with Mimic because it will only trigger off non-reflectable attacks.

Embolism.8106:

Pyroatheist.9031:

Embolism.8106:

Have you considered using Mimic for 4s Block/Reflect on 25s CD? It seems to me it would be perfect in your build.

The problem is that it would replace something else that is more important. Mimic is a 4s block/reflect, but only under certain conditions. If the first attack it takes is a cc, then you lose the whole thing. If they don’t shoot you, then it becomes useless. In very specific situations, it can be really great, but in almost every single one of those situations, the exact same thing would be accomplished by simply dropping temporal curtain and letting them attack into that.

Additionally, if you take it for the retaliation stacking on blocks, not only do you have to put 10 traits into a useless line, but it is even less necessary, since the build already gets over 100% uptime on retaliation.

Did you know that Mimic can absorb friendly projectiles? By using Winds of Chaos or just having Staff Clones out bouncing Winds of Chaos at you, Mimic is a guaranteed Block/Reflect.

And Retaliatory Shield is actually not very good with Mimic because it will only trigger off non-reflectable attacks.

I do know that, but it still ends up being less useful than other utilities.

Phantasmal defender is one of the things that this build is built around, it effectively doubles my damage output from retaliation, and can not be removed in a small fight. In a zerg battle, it becomes useless, but the spot is taken by blink, which is arguably even more important.

Mirror images is vital to my clone production. Since this build has really low normal clone generation, in order to have any reasonable way of bursting confusion or having a fast distortion, mirror images is really important. Additionally, it is a stunbreaker.

Decoy is similar to mirror images. It produces a clone, it is a stunbreaker, but it is also a target drop for stealth. This is extremely important.

Mimic will block/reflect for 4 seconds. The reflection is unnecessary, as I have a traited focus that does that job. The blocking is situationally useful, but since I can’t control how fast my clones are attacking, or whether I will have staff clones out when I really need those blocks, it goes from situational tool to ineffective in almost all cases. I simply can’t rely on always having a WoC to absorb exactly when I need to produce those blocks.

If you feel Clones are unreliable (understandable if you’re not running a condition build), you could always fire off a WoC of your own before starting Mimic. If there are no allies nearby (WoC does not bounce to Illusions) that should quickly proc your Mimic.

In any case though I do understand that the utilities you have chosen are quite important. Decoy is possibly the only one that is non-essential, but it’s just so useful generally every Mesmer uses it.

As an aside, I find it slightly amusing that you say Decoy is extremely important (which it is) while brushing The Prestige off as merely “very good”. But that’s not relevant to this build.

Embolism.8106:

If you feel Clones are unreliable (understandable if you’re not running a condition build), you could always fire off a WoC of your own before starting Mimic. If there are no allies nearby (WoC does not bounce to Illusions) that should quickly proc your Mimic.

In any case though I do understand that the utilities you have chosen are quite important. Decoy is possibly the only one that is non-essential, but it’s just so useful generally every Mesmer uses it.

As an aside, I find it slightly amusing that you say Decoy is extremely important (which it is) while brushing The Prestige off as merely “very good”. But that’s not relevant to this build.

Well, decoy is extremely important in this build because of the stunbreaking, and the clone generation. This build really lacks reliable clone generation, and so that alone qualifies for extremely important. The Prestige has no stunbreak, and creates no clone, while only being on a cooldown 2 seconds shorter than decoy.

Yeah that is actually one of the few criticisms of this build, but also makes it the nearly perfectly synergizing build that it is (for what it is), is that there is little to no flexibility with the utilities. All 3 are needed and still you often will find yourself needing more clones.

I did some dueling with this spec out in the borderlands in an area where people get together to hang out and do that kind of thing. I was able to beat the super healing-bunker ranger spec due to the focus reflects, I stalemated with the extreme guardian bunker build, just too much healing, but I couldn’t be taken down either.

Sadly, the other mesmer there totally owned me most of the time. He used multiple stealths and just let his zerker and duelist whittle me down. There was really nothing I could do.

On another note, I have become more of a fan of the full rabid confusion bomb build. If you run sword focus as the off-set to staff, you can still do the retaliation combo, and at 3.7k ticks of confusion, no matter how good you are, you’re going to take a little punishment. Lately, I have had the best roaming results with that.

Thanks for sharing this build Pyroatheist.

I did some testing this morning and updated the formulae for Restorative Illusions. As you can see, when combined with Illusionary Persona you can get some pretty good heals. If you blow 3 illusions and all your shatters in quick succession, you can get over 5k heal in under 3 secs. Of course, that’s just an example.

Anyhow, you’d have to lose 10 points in Chaos for this. Those 10 points are pretty darn useful as they provide Protection from Regeneration, shorter CDs on Staff, and a little extra toughness.

Reckon the extra healing is worth it? I plan on giving it a go, but my play style is different to yours as I don’t fight solo very often, so it’d be good to hear your thoughts.

@Westibone: If that guy was running a full phantasm spec, I don’t really have any tips unfortunately. I don’t know how to beat that build.
However, mesmers still are your hardest matchup. All other builds are beatable, but they are very hard fights. Take a look at the profession fighting guide I wrote up.

@crmbl: It does provide a lot of healing. The problem is you lose the 20% cooldowns on staff. The question being, of course, does that healing outweigh the loss of chaos armor (protection) and chaos storm (aegis). I’m not really sure, and it could do with some testing. I’ll probably take that into sPvP to test it out.

You’re already short on illusion generation. Nerfing staff cooldowns seems counterproductive.

Hi Pyroatheist.

Just jumping into your guide/thread here to give a little feedback. I just finiched my testing for my latets build and got my vid up so I felt for do something random. Jumped sPvP today using your build with some slight modifications to suite my personal playstyle.

It was fantastic fun and work wery well idd, tbh it worked wery well. What your guide didnt tell thu is the amout of rage the playstyle/build waken in your enemy.

Got called so many names form raging players today, some of the best is the folowing:

-Noob x 5 times (why do ppl who get killed call the person killing them noob? dont that make them the person who get killed by a noob? ),

- trolling exploit class player.

And my personal favorit:

-Zerger !!! (this is even more fun as I at the moment was doing a 3 vs 1, must be my clones he ment.

So Al creed to your guide build etc , mabye should warn ppl thu it kinda make ppl kitten mad when you make them kill themself

/love Osicat

Srsly Pyro this is a great build and really good at dueling… I have people refuse to duel me because they say “I know your build… The more I hit you the more I die…. No thanks.” But I was dueling a thief yesterday that started to get wise to the iDefender and he would take it out as soon as I would pop it up.. Any suggestions on how to deal with people that forget about you and go right for your tank?

@Osicat If you use this build in PVP be prepared for all kinds of abusive name-calling. All I do is PVP now and I get the same thing all the time. One guy chastised me for “ripping off” the Immortal build even though I credit pryo and this thread. I too modify things more to my playstyle and I’ve gone through 20 of my own builds but that person didn’t seem to care. I get called OP all the time.

jportell.2197:

Srsly Pyro this is a great build and really good at dueling… I have people refuse to duel me because they say “I know your build… The more I hit you the more I die…. No thanks.” But I was dueling a thief yesterday that started to get wise to the iDefender and he would take it out as soon as I would pop it up.. Any suggestions on how to deal with people that forget about you and go right for your tank?

Honestly, that’s not a problem at all. Just make him waste his time. Before the defender dies, shatter it. The thief will have wasted precious time spent visible, precious initiative, and taken retaliation damage just to have his target shattered with no loss to you. If the thief is attacking the defender, he is doing no damage to you, and so you have plenty of time to heal up, or immobilize him for a confusion burst.

The most effective thiefs I have fought have ignored the phantasms and just tried to do single target damage to me in large chunks, i.e. backstab. This actually works pretty decently, but they just don’t end up having enough damage to take me out, especially if you are good with using dodges or blurred frenzy to make their backstabs miss.

@Osicat and Daverollen: Yeah, this build seems to inspire more hate than the usual shatter mesmer builds do for some reason, and it is always lots of fun. People just seem to not like having a mesmer that they can’t kill, and especially one that seems to hardly do any damage to them. Another thing I’ve gotten a lot is people moaning to me after they die and see 14k+ damage from retaliation in their damage logs. That’s always fun as well.

I really wish that retaliation damage showed up in the logs outside of PvP. Just in the normal combat log….

Any idea where to pick up PVT legs?

I’m trying to get all the karma gear, but that is the only piece that doesn’t have a PVT option. Right now all I can find is the WvW armor. Am I just missing the karma one?

Good places to get p/v/t are dungeons… AC and HOTW both have full sets…

I just want to thank you for posting this. Amazing…!!!!!!!

Also I just wanted to add that I think the offensive capability of this build is VERY underrated in spvp.

I find the pve game very boring so I only spvp.

What do you think of this variation?

http://tinyurl.com/b7e6nse

This is a modified version of a build I used to use in sPvP, back when iWarden whirled forever with Phantasmal Haste. It was very fun(ny) to use against any projectile based enemy: just stand in iWarden and watch them shoot themselves to death.

I later used a version that used Power-Toughness-Vitality instead as Healing Power didn’t seem that helpful (at the time Phantasmal Healing only really worked on iDuelist), but now seems a good time to go for it again.

Mantra of Pain is optional, I only took it because it seemed like a waste to take two Mantra traits for Mantra of Recovery only. Use it for some emergency healing if Recovery is not available/enough, I dunno. Could probably be better replaced with Decoy.

ok i tried this build in wvw.
very hard vs 2 knocks plls, vs smart who try kill defenders/phantasm first. and vs kite style, (hit and run)
mostly all fight take long time
btw very good build

p.s. mb just i do something wrong, when 5 month play with phantasmal build

Embolism.8106:

What do you think of this variation?

http://tinyurl.com/b7e6nse

This is a modified version of a build I used to use in sPvP, back when iWarden whirled forever with Phantasmal Haste. It was very fun(ny) to use against any projectile based enemy: just stand in iWarden and watch them shoot themselves to death.

I later used a version that used Power-Toughness-Vitality instead as Healing Power didn’t seem that helpful (at the time Phantasmal Healing only really worked on iDuelist), but now seems a good time to go for it again.

Mantra of Pain is optional, I only took it because it seemed like a waste to take two Mantra traits for Mantra of Recovery only. Use it for some emergency healing if Recovery is not available/enough, I dunno. Could probably be better replaced with Decoy.

There aren’t any glaring problems with it I suppose. It just seems a little…confused.

You seem to have gone 30 into Dom purely for (let’s face it) one skill. You also have a lot of phantasm damage adds without either of the 3 optimal phantasms for general damage dealing (sword, pistol, gs). Also, you have these damage traits, but no crit chance or damage; which severely limits the amount of damage you can unload.

It just seems to be stuck between a phantasm damage build and a defensive healing bunker, but without the necessary weapons/stats to really do damage, and lacking some of the defensive capability from the other side.

I guess it’s just really unclear what you designed this build to do.

Pyroatheist.9031:

Embolism.8106:

What do you think of this variation?

http://tinyurl.com/b7e6nse

This is a modified version of a build I used to use in sPvP, back when iWarden whirled forever with Phantasmal Haste. It was very fun(ny) to use against any projectile based enemy: just stand in iWarden and watch them shoot themselves to death.

I later used a version that used Power-Toughness-Vitality instead as Healing Power didn’t seem that helpful (at the time Phantasmal Healing only really worked on iDuelist), but now seems a good time to go for it again.

Mantra of Pain is optional, I only took it because it seemed like a waste to take two Mantra traits for Mantra of Recovery only. Use it for some emergency healing if Recovery is not available/enough, I dunno. Could probably be better replaced with Decoy.

There aren’t any glaring problems with it I suppose. It just seems a little…confused.

You seem to have gone 30 into Dom purely for (let’s face it) one skill. You also have a lot of phantasm damage adds without either of the 3 optimal phantasms for general damage dealing (sword, pistol, gs). Also, you have these damage traits, but no crit chance or damage; which severely limits the amount of damage you can unload.

It just seems to be stuck between a phantasm damage build and a defensive healing bunker, but without the necessary weapons/stats to really do damage, and lacking some of the defensive capability from the other side.

I guess it’s just really unclear what you designed this build to do.

A variation I do to this build at times is take the twenty from chaos into dueling… The only real similarity to the build is the COF grants retal and the 20 insp for wardens feedback (this is such a fun weapon traited). Upside is the power is still relatively good and the phantasmal fury trait is there… Then I drop staff and use scepter/sword… Its a fun build if you like to be a little harder to bring down but just can’t step away from having a bunch of shatters. Really fun IMO… But the base build is a good start and is really fun to bring down most professions/builds.

Pyroatheist.9031:

Embolism.8106:

What do you think of this variation?

http://tinyurl.com/b7e6nse

This is a modified version of a build I used to use in sPvP, back when iWarden whirled forever with Phantasmal Haste. It was very fun(ny) to use against any projectile based enemy: just stand in iWarden and watch them shoot themselves to death.

I later used a version that used Power-Toughness-Vitality instead as Healing Power didn’t seem that helpful (at the time Phantasmal Healing only really worked on iDuelist), but now seems a good time to go for it again.

Mantra of Pain is optional, I only took it because it seemed like a waste to take two Mantra traits for Mantra of Recovery only. Use it for some emergency healing if Recovery is not available/enough, I dunno. Could probably be better replaced with Decoy.

There aren’t any glaring problems with it I suppose. It just seems a little…confused.

You seem to have gone 30 into Dom purely for (let’s face it) one skill. You also have a lot of phantasm damage adds without either of the 3 optimal phantasms for general damage dealing (sword, pistol, gs). Also, you have these damage traits, but no crit chance or damage; which severely limits the amount of damage you can unload.

It just seems to be stuck between a phantasm damage build and a defensive healing bunker, but without the necessary weapons/stats to really do damage, and lacking some of the defensive capability from the other side.

I guess it’s just really unclear what you designed this build to do.

The primary purpose is of course a defensive healing bunker. Don’t get too distracted by Empowered Illusions, the reason it was taken was because there aren’t too many traits in Domination that are helpful and it will at least boost the damage of iWarlock.

Damage is certainly lacking (much like in your build), and is primarily augmented with Retaliation (again much like your build). Other aspects: 300 Power from Domination investment, Runes of Strength (increased Power and +5% damage), and Sigils of Battle (giving you permanent 6x Might by switching weapon sets often) helps to improve its damage. All things considered I’d say damage capability is likely higher than your build.

The basic idea is that it is a variation of your build that focuses on Healing Power instead of Vitality as a defensive stat. Permanent Regeneration from Phantasmal Healing heals you ~280 health every second, and Mantra of Recovery with Restorative and Harmonious Mantras means I can heal myself for 12200 health every 15 seconds, not to mention multiple condition removals from Mender’s Purity.

Overall I think the Healing Power investment gives this build higher survivability than a build that uses Vitality instead of Healing Power. There are other aspects of course, such as a weaker Mind Wrack (although that may be augmented somewhat with Mental Torment if you desire) and reduced direct damage mitigation; but then it’s a variation, not an upgrade.

Note: Bear in mind this build was constructed in sPvP. If it were in WvW with Ascended equipment and such, the numbers will be higher.

In addition to phantasm mesmers (whom I can hold off for pretty long anyway), I’ve been countered hard in sPvP by condition necros. sPvP doesn’t allow foods so I’ve been taking null field and that helps. But still – today I was hit for 22k and 26k with bleeds alone. Granted, it was a pretty good player but I’ve started longing for some solid condition removal in sPvP. The rune of melandru helps, but not enough.

Caltrop thieves are particularly irritating when holding a point since their circle covers the entire target area. If it’s a large ground I can avoid it easily but not when guarding a point. They can apply bleeds so easily it’s not even funny.

Of course, I rarely come across these builds but when I do I like to know I can counter them if I have to. I need some hard condition removal…

Thinking of the inspiration trait removing conditions on shatters. Does it remove one condition for each illusion out, or just one condition per shatter skill usage? Will have to look into mantras as well.

Well, mantra of recovery was a flop. 3 seconds is too long to charge mid fight. Kept getting interrupted and lost to a warrior (gasp!).

Also traited for the condition removal on shatter and didn’t work out. Doesn’t help when you have 4 conditions on you suddenly.

So I guess it’s just null field/arcane thievery. The latter is dicey since it can be dodged, evaded, blocked, invulnerabled etc. Or just plain buggy. Null field is more reliable. Plus at I can combo off it. And I missed the 10 points in chaos with staff cooldowns, added toughness etc.

Any other suggestions for condition removal in sPvP?

bhagwad.4281:

Well, mantra of recovery was a flop. 3 seconds is too long to charge mid fight. Kept getting interrupted and lost to a warrior (gasp!).

Also traited for the condition removal on shatter and didn’t work out. Doesn’t help when you have 4 conditions on you suddenly.

So I guess it’s just null field/arcane thievery. The latter is dicey since it can be dodged, evaded, blocked, invulnerabled etc. Or just plain buggy. Null field is more reliable. Plus at I can combo off it. And I missed the 10 points in chaos with staff cooldowns, added toughness etc.

Any other suggestions for condition removal in sPvP?

Caltrops doesn’t cover a point completely. It almost does, but not completely. Find that little spot and stay there.

With both condition necros and bleed thieves, you need to remember the whirl finisher combo. Drop warden, and then put temporal curtain on top of it. That will give you 3+ removals if you stand near it.

Bleed thieves are way easier than necros though. Just make sure you have at least 2 phantasms with defender up always. The bleed thief will die really fast. Necros just take some time, so keep using that whirl finisher.

bhagwad.4281:

Well, mantra of recovery was a flop. 3 seconds is too long to charge mid fight. Kept getting interrupted and lost to a warrior (gasp!).

Channelling Mantras should be done according to the situation: ideally you should be out of line of sight with Illusions keeping your target busy. Otherwise you should cover the channel with Decoy and other defensive skills. Remember that certain skills can be used during a channel without interrupting it.

Without traits however Mantra of Recovery isn’t worth it. It used to be… but then they nerfed it so it can work with silly traits.

With traits however Mantra of Recovery is a very powerful heal. In my variation I can achieve about 3 – 4x the healing per second of Ether Feast compared to Pyro’s build.

Pyroatheist-
Just a note-
I’ve just spent an absurd amount of time generating spreadsheets to determine my next set of armor. I ultimately worked up to estimating how long you could take damage multiplied by how much damage you could dish out in that time.

Basically a higher armor value/Lower attack stats = living longer, lower DPS
vs.
Lower armor value/Higher attack stats, = shorter life, Higher DPS

No matter how I massaged the data- (all the various armor sets- rampager, berserker, rabid, etc.)

PVT (Soldier’s) was always the most damage dealt due to staying alive longer. By a 10-30% margin.

My findings confirm your build as being “Immortal” vs other builds.

Thanks for taking your time to write your build up, I’ve certainly enjoyed it in sPVP and PvE.

Build site is offline, is there an alternate? http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/ is a good site if not as of yet.

@kittenos Vant:
Did your analysis cover enemy healing? B/c the main draw of burst/higher dps is that the enemy heals less due to dying quicker. So even if you live longer to do more damage, so does your enemy to heal more and negating some of that damage.

I’m afraid w/o that factor, your findings are sorely flawed. Not that defensive stats don’t have their place esp in bunker/survival builds and when outnumbered (and I run a defensive build myself; mostly knights/soldiers/valk gear), but but living longer and more damage over time doesn’t always mean living last.

_

About mantras in defensive builds: In my experience they are pretty bad options use take other skills to cover them as Embolism said and at least one mantra trait. I use heavy stealth and teleports in my most recent build and can usually channel my mantra(s) while invis or hiding, but stealth won’t help you hold a point. For this reason, I don’t like them for bunker builds or tank builds at all.