Guild Wars 2

(Why’s it called Mind Crush? Yu-Gi-Oh.)

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MIND CRUSH

- The Build
- Playstyle Breakdown
- Tips and Tricks
- Combos & Rotations
- Making People Hate You

What is a Blackout Build?

Blackout is a reference to a Guild Wars 1 Mesmer playstyle that involved keeping opponents shutdown and unable to fight for long periods of time. Builds such as this one and theCORECOLAK’s StunWayimitate that lockdown-oriented playstyle in various ways.

- Why Mind Crush?

Mind Crush is a control-heavy lockdown build that emphasizes counter play. The build uses a hyper aggressive control-style to keep opponents locked out of a fight while pressuring them with heavy damage.

- High Burst Potential
- Stunlock
- AoE Boon Removal
- Vulnerability Stacking
- Chill/Weakness/Bleed Pressure

Though you’re wearing Berzerker gear, you have good survivability in the staff and your dazes, and utilize all conditions to your advantage.

- But… You can’t create a build centered around interrupts. Isn’t it too inconsistent to be viable?

It is true that it can be hard to rely on interrupts, and it’s a good thing that this is not an interrupt-centered build. Interrupts are the icing, but this is first and foremost a lockdown build that gets rewarded for interrupts. Mind Crush does very good damage via Shatters and Phantasms, has good lockdown/control via chain-dazes, Weakness/Vuln on clone deaths, and Chaos Storm, can rapidly strip enemy boons and stack vulnerability, and has AoE condition removal. These traits alone make it a strong build, but the rewards for nailing interrupts (5x Might / 3x Vuln / Instant 2k+ damage on interrupt) makes it that much better.

- Is it difficult?

No and yes. It’s easy to learn how to chain dazes, and while you have the enemy locked down your iSwordsman should be picking them apart. However, this build greatly benefits from the more knowledge you have both of your opponent and the surrounding battlefield. It takes time and practice to learn how to micromanage your dazes/stuns/condition-control and lockdown key targets in a group fight.

PROS
- AoE Crowd Control
Shatters remove boons, clones debilitate on death, and dazes/stuns for everyone.
- Burst and Pressure
Everything from clones, phantasms, shatters, and conditions contribute to your damage.
- Survivability.
The mobility and defensive skills offered by the staff, Null Field, and Decoy keep us alive even in Zerker armor.
- Versatile trait selection.
Several traits can be swapped while still maintaining effectiveness. Choose the amount of RNG you want in the build.

CONS
- Difficult to fight on point.
The importance of constant mobility makes it difficult to fight on point.
- Requires constant vigilance.
You have to always keep an eye out for key targets to lock down in addition to your own opponent.
- Has trouble with tankier specs.
Classes that have a lot of passive effects (especially heals) are a headache.

THE BUILD
Gear, Traits & Skills

Sword / Sword* – Staff*
Ether Feast / Decoy / Null Field /Mantra of Distraction / Mass Invisibility*
30/20/20/0/0
or 30/30/10/0/0 (what I’m currently running)

Domination: II, VII, XII Dueling: IV, X Chaos: V, VIII
Berserker Gear – Runes of the Mesmer
Superior Sigil Paralysis/Fire (Sword) – Superior Sigil of Hydromancy/Energy/Doom (Staff)

DOMINATION
Not only does this tree extend the duration of your conditions, but it also enables you to heavily build up on vulnerability. Confounding Suggestions and Shattered Concentration should not be changed. Having your shatters remove boons (in an Aoe) is very important for enemy bunkers and Necros. You want to wipe/steal Stability, Fury and Protection as often as possible.

/Halting Strike – You’ll be interrupting very often, having an extra 1k+ damage per interrupt really starts to add up. While Mental Torment is more reliable, Halting Strike has the potential to build more damage.

/Mental Torment – An extra 20% Mindwrack damage is a more reliable alternative if you don’t like the unpredictable nature of interrupts.

/Empowered Illusions – After you’re through shattering your clones, you should have Phantasms available to continue your damage. Empowered Illusions is especially valuable if you’re running GS rather than Staff.

/Rending Shatter– Adds a significant boost to our Vulnerability uptime. If you take this along with Crippling Dissipation you’ll always have your enemies more vulnerable to damage.

DUELING
Deceptive Evasion’s clone production is one of the core mechanics of this build. Do not change it. However…

/Phantasmal Fury – Can compete with Blade Training for the minor slot as it makes our phantasms crit almost constantly. If you take up a Greatsword, this trait becomes even more important.

/Far-Reaching Manipulations – Ups your trolling to over 9000 by making Blink an instant “Get-Out-of-Jail-Free” card and boosting how far away you can steal boons with Arcane Thievery.

/Furious Interruption - Works brilliantly with Sword, Scepter, Mantras, and Greatsword. It’s also good for reviving and stomping quicker as you can still interrupt a downed opponent.

CHAOS
Bountiful Interruption adds as a significant reward for nailing interrupts with 5 stacks of might and some nice additional boons, and Debilitating Dissipation is the best control-based trait in the Chaos minor tree, but you can also consider:

/Chaotic Dampening for more frequent Chaos Storms, Phase Retreats and overall better defense.

TIPS & TRICKS

Control

• Remember that the opponent only has 5 skills they can use and each needs to be at a certain range. Examine their weapons, predict what they’ll use at what range and counter it. Use skills preemptively to force them.

• Don’t spam dodges for the sake of making clones. You either want your dodge-clones to get hit in melee or you want them for boon-removing shatter.

• Save Mantra of Distraction for A) When you see an opponent trying to heals. B) When you need an extra defense C) When a target is at around 35% life and you can burst them down ( Enemies @ 40% HP is when your chain dazing should start)

• Most opponents have 1-3 stunbreaks. Bait them out with your minor stuns and dazes.

• Plan Arcane Thievery for Warriors, Guardians, Engineers, or Necros. Use it either defensively to remove conditions or to steal Stability/Fury/Protection.

• Pick a bursty allies’s target and daze the hell out of them.

• Always stack vulnerability on your target.

• Send clones at different targets before your daze shatter, unless you’re trying to stack vuln on a single priority target.

• Smother a projectile user with sword clones to body-block their projectiles. This takes positioning practice and is only sometimes useful mainly for 1v1s.

Combat

• Mobility is key to survival. Don’t stay in melee range for more than a moment, always keep moving.

• For 1v1s, start with the sword and close the distance only when you’re ready to swap to staff (iLeap [Immobilize]/Swap [Chill]/ Phase Retreat [F3 Shatter]. For bigger battles, use staff.

• Count their dodges. If someone dodges twice within 10 seconds, then they’re vulnerable to attack if they don’t have Vigor or a stunbreak.

• Your staff can pressure. Thanks to vuln stacking, Retaliation, interrupt damage, and debilitating dissipation, you can actually output impressive damage while defending with staff.

• Every Shatter has an important purpose: Mind Wrack for damage / Cry of Frustration to remove boons / Diversion to control, stack vulnerability, and damage through interrupt / Distortion to save yer kitten .

• Use Mind Wrack after…: Either the immobilize from iLeap OR when they’re inside of Chaos Storm. The Chill, Daze, Weakness & Poison from Chaos Storm makes it very hard for opponents to deal with a good Mind Wrack. Lure them into fighting you inside the AoE.

• Read Their Mind: – Enemies will not cross Temporal Curtain if they can help it, they’ll avoid Chaos Storm if they can, they can’t tell which is the real you for a moment after you stealth. Think about how you would react to your own attacks to get a picture of what’s going on in your enemy’s head when you’re fighting them.

Mind Crush is Strong Against (Detailed explanations coming soon)
These classes are either easy to interrupt or incredibly squishy. For the lower defense classes (Thieves/Elementalists) a couple interrupts and Phantasm summons should clean them up. Soldiers (Warriors/Guardians) require you to strip their boons with shatters and Null Field before taking them down. Necros are only dangerous with their wells and staff, Deathshroud and other weapons are rather interruptable.

Warriors
Thieves
Elementalists
Necros
Guardians

Mind Crush Has Some trouble with
Mesmer are a mixed bag, and really depends on the build. Mesmer with multiple stealths can be difficult to defeat, but keeping Phantasms on them and never dropping your advantage can pull you through. Rangers, like Mesmer, can be difficult but this isn’t always the rule. Engineers are frickin’ hell.

Mesmer
Engineer
Rangers

- VIDEOS (w/ playstyle breakdown) -

( Alissah running 30/20/20/0/0 ? with Decoy, Blink, and DazeMantra/Signet of Domination. More ideal for WvW Roaming and Duels. Note that it’s always recommended to take some form of condition removal. )

• Mantra Chargnig: 0:47 – Charge Mantras before the fight

• Doing Damage: 1:46 – Both Phantasms AND Shatters contribute to damage.

• Safely Landing iCounter: 2:13 – When you know you’re going to counter an attack, use Daze Mantra as the counter animation starts to keep yourself safe (and stun the enemy if you’re lucky). Note: Alissah did not do this here, but she should’ve. She would’ve both nailed an interrupt (Halting Strike) and heavy damage from the counter. =P

• Mind Crush at it’s Best!: 3:04 – Example of perfect use of Mind Crush’s abilities to dominate an opponent. She gains combat advantage with stealth, counts his dodges, hits him with heavy damage with a smooth combination of shatters and Phantasms, and interrupts his heal attempt. (Note: Halting Strike hits the Thief for a beastly 3297 damage when Alissah interrupts his heal thanks to the high Vulnerability stacks from dazes)

• Stealth for Initiative: 3:53 – Gain advantage by starting a fight summoning a phantasm and dazing the opponent (Mantra) at the same time.

• Stealth beats stealth: 4:20 – Counter stealth with, uh.. stealth.

• Stack Vuln .. Like a BOSS: 5:18 – Perfect example of how quickly and easily you can stack 20+ Vulnerability on a target.

• Staff Contributing to Damage: 6:12 – Using interrupts properly, even the Staff can contribute significant damage via Chaos Storm and iWarlock.

• What not to Do: 7:30 – Errors and mistakes using the build

8:58 – Mind Crush vs Shatter Heavy

10:45 – Mind Crush vs Shatter Heavy – Epic Round 2.

COMBOS / ROTATIONS

• SWORD

- Illusionary Riposte -> DazeMantra ( Est. 4- 6k damage depending on interrupt)- A quick an easy two-piece to ensure that your counter hits and stacks 5-8 Vulnerability.

- Illusionary Leap -> Diversion [F3] -> Swap -> Blurred Frenzy OR Auto-attack -> iSwordsman -> Chaos Storm -> Phase Retreat -> Cross-Up Dodge -> Mind Wrack [F1]* (Est. 6-15k depending on interrupts.) Cast iLeap and shatter BEFORE you swap, sort of like shooting your clone like a daze-projectile. If you’re using Furious Interruption, your autoattack will be fast enough to land all three hits, hit almost as hard as Blurred Frenzy, AND strip a boon. A Cross-Up dodge is when you dodge past the opponent.. and I totally just made that term up.

- iSwordsman & Daze Mantra -> Counter Blade (Sword 4 alt) -> iLeap/Swap -> Blurred Frenzy -> Chaos Storm -> iWarlock -> Staff-Auto ( Est. 10k+ damage depending on interrupts and Chaos Storm.) This combo does high damage by keeping enemies locked down while your phantasms tear them up.

• STAFF

- Chaos Storm -> iWarlock -> Phase Retreat -> iLeap -> Diversion [F3] -> Swap -> Blurred Frenzy -> iSwordsman ( Est: 9 – 15k+ damage) A safe, defensive sequence that can be started from range and has little risk. When starting with staff it’s easier to space out your clones so that each clone daze-shatters at different intervals.

- Phase Retreat -> Dodge -> Chaos Storm -> Diversion/Mind Wrack -> iWarlock -> iSwordsman -> Blurred Frenzy (Est: 4-15k+ damage) If you can space your clones out enough before dropping Chaos Storm then shatter for Diversion, if not then Mind Wrack. Note that Phase Retreat does not initiate combat, so you may want to start with an autoattack.

- More coming soon. -

(Taken from the guide: Making People Hate You )
HOW TO MAKE OTHER CLASSES HATE YOU

• Guardians and Warriors hate… Boon removal & Clone deaths.
  Guardians and Warriors thrive on boons such as Protection, Stability, and Fury for both doing damage and survival. A Warrior without Stability, or a Guardian without Protection can end up being a hilariously easy kill. Many of these soldiers also are at their best while in melee. Clone-death traits makes it difficult for them to attack you in melee without risking being crippled/weakness, effectively making them.. well, suck.

• Rangers and Engineers hate… Reflection & Arcane Thievery.
  Pretty self-explainatory, but not always a constant rule. Reflection shuts down a huge majority of what Rangers and Engineers can do for damage and throws it right back in their faces. Feedback and traited Focus together can really shut these classes out of a fight for a bit. Arcane Thievery works well against a few boon-stacking specs, such as the HGH Might-stacking Engineer and Vigor/Regen-stacking Rangers.

• Thieves and Elementalists hate… Halting Strike & Chaotic Interruption.
  Thieves and Elementalists both have very low base HP, and thus are classes that must maintain their mobility in order to be effective. Elementalists are very succeptable to interrupts, and Halting Strike hits them very hard due to their low armor. Chaotic Interruption deserves mention here because all of the conditions it applies can really ruin these squishy opponents’ day. Mantra of Distraction with Halting Strike hurts Eles particularly hard since their heals are rather easy to interrupt and Halting Strike can very easily finish them off. In my experience, certain Thief-specs are very interruptable as well, but I don’t play Thief well enough to be able to explain how/why.

• Necromancer hate… Mantra of Distraction & Boon Removal.
  Have you ever seen a Necromancer go Lich/Plague form only to have their long-lasting Stability get ripped off them by a crafty Mesmer? It’s hilarious. Suddenly that giant lich is getting yanked left & right, dazed and stunned, and is nothing but a big green target for everyone else. Serves them right for flaunting those incredible glowing 6-pack abs liches have for.. whatever reason. When they’re not using wells or Staff, Necromancer are actually rather easy to interrupt.

• Mesmer hate… Condition Damage.
  I’ll be honest.. There’s no one particular way to keep a Mesmer locked down. Too many teleports and stealths for that pathetic nonsense that those other inferior classes can’t hand-…er, Mesmer fanboyism leaking in. Apologies. Anyways, while Mesmer are resiliant to hard CC (stuns, dazes, ect.) conditions tend to screw us over sideways with no lubricant. Most Mesmer carry only one form of condition removal, and that tends to be either on a long cooldown (Null Field) or tied to some silly stipulation (Arcane Thievery needs a target / iDisenchanter can be destroyed/shattered ). Condition damage and condition debilitations are the best way to take down a slippery Mesmer.

The runes and sigils don’t stack btw.

And the sigils work for Daze too.

Knote.2904:

The runes and sigils don’t stack btw.

And the sigils work for Daze too.

The Paralyzation sigils definitely stack

Hi Chaos,
I’m a big fan of counterplay builds such as this one.

Back then when the ‘interrupt’ patch just came in, I did come up with a build, a very specialized build that focuses entirely on negate enemy bursts with blind/daze/stun. However, I didn’t have enough time or interest in sPvP to extensively test it out.

But now that I’m inspired by you guys, I figure I post the build here, hopefully you can get something out of it and we can discuss how it will fare in reality.
Link: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNArcWl0zaqHVzqGa9IxpCMH1DwbduT6hph9pB-TsAA1CtIMSZkzIjRSjsGNQYByEBA

I describe the build in theory (because as I said, I haven’t tested it out extensively yet).
The build relies on passive defense from gear and runes. Dps might be sub-optimal.
But where the build shines is its superb AoE crowd control and multi-purpose utilities traited for lowered CDs.

It’s also flexible in that, you can shift the focus from AoE to single -target simply by switching out Rending Shatter for Signet Mastery, equip Signet of Domination, and use OH Pistol instead of OH Sword.

The issue with this build, however, is the ability to produce clones quick enough to use shatters in a timely manner (that’s why you chose MI as stunbreak).

Let me know what you think about the build. Also, hit me up in-game when i’m online, i really want to join the Blackout build team

The thing is, were just trying to make a new Mesmer build viable or at least usable in tpvp. Even if this build doesn’t work, we may find a new idea from this. From this build, I learned that confounding suggestions can be very very deadly, and I was actually surprised because this trait was overlooked. Also if you had energy problems, you could replace one sigil of paralyze with energy and maybe the staff as well. That’s what I did and I could give up longer stun/daze duration for energy. Finally, you really had trouble with stability? I can see guards but for warriors usually I would get rid of it quickly.

Oh yea forgot 1 more thing. Another way you can build is the GS version is 30 20 20 0 0 and replace the staff cd with bountiful interruption. I can get so much might it gets really funny. Of course, you are a lot more vulnerable but do a ton of damage and cc. Depending on the comp, you can prob switch between the staff and gs.

I’m trying to pull up the build link but it hangs – I’ve had this problem more than once with intothemists.com. Anyone else having issues w/it? I can see the trait build out in the OP and that’s fine but I’d like to see how you are gearing up.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

Knote.2904:

The runes and sigils don’t stack btw.

And the sigils work for Daze too.

The Paralyzation sigils definitely stack

Yes but not with the runes.

oh my god this build is awesome.

Im going to make a dueling montage, im really going to do it :O!

edit: I just spent 20 minutes dueling an S/D thief, no succes :’(. Really, every time i see one it makes me wonder how they do it. When i try S/D thief myself i do like 0 damage and have 0 defense D;.

Build link is not working for me? Anyone else?

(From phone) Hey guys, quick note.

The build in its current form is still incomplete and going over tweaking. I posted it specically to see if anyone more tpvp-experienced could give input (Thx sensotix/Warlord) and will be updating weekly. Right now it is a mesh of good concepts that can priduce decent results, but with nothing (besides the lockdown) to push it over the top. I feel really strongly that theres a lot of unexplored potential with interrupts/stuns and vulnerability stacking and intend to try and discover it.

@Sensotix: You’re right, Decoy and Nullfield are a better fit. IDK if ya made the vid, but if ya do lemme know bro. And any more advice would be much appreciated.

Heya everyone. I would like to say chaos and I are still testing the spec and seeing where it can go. Currently we are testing pistol instead of sword offhand, as well as gs vs staff. A couple of ideas are starting to form now so this build could get really neat. Anyone have any suggestions or improvements they think could improve the build?

Just messing around in hotjoin with this build, and I went with S+S/Staff as you suggested. I can definitely see pistol being just as good (if not better), though once in a while I’d get lucky and Counter Blade would get multiple interrupts and getting to disregard body-blocking is nice. I seldom found myself wanting the block over the daze as well.

(edit: Oh, right… cooldowns, especially with double-dipping with sword spec. That’d be a good reason to prefer it over pistol.)

For utilities, I ran the maybe-suboptimal set of Arcane Thievery, Mantra of Distraction & Signet of Domination, with Bountiful Interruption (after your post in the Signet thread, I think it was?)… It sounds like your staff play is just plain better than mine, so I didn’t feel the loss of staff spec as sharply as you might. I found in 1v1, you really could lock down many opponents and anyone who held their heal would pay for it dearly, particularly if they were counting on stability to help them later. I had trouble with sustaining a long kite, particularly since iLeap/Swap isn’t the most reliable snare ever and giving up Blink felt painful in those moments… disengaging with Mass Invisibility didn’t always feel like the best decision, but I suppose until I get better at dueling, it’s better that than just give people a free kill. :P

In the weekend i spent about 5 hours duelling, and sword was definitely my favourite. The phantasm got 5k crits on berserker players :o. Each duel the phantasm and sometimes riposte did the highest damage out of all.

In duels where i outmatch people, like in hotjoin, I feel like I just would do way better with a shatter build :/. You dont realy have to CC those people, just more damage :P.

I dient get much use out of deiliating dissipation, i used manipulation mastery instead, maybe im not playing it right :O.

In duels where we were both of the same skill level, this build performed just as well as a shatter build.

Some professions have too many counters to CC :/. Even if they avoid or break, it can still cause some panic though.

I like shattering, and how each shatter has a purpose here. I didnt rhink id ever find a non-shatter build that uses shatters as much as this one. Sometimes i shatter my swordsmen by accident, propably shouldnt do that :/.

TL;Dr:This build lacks damage if you cant keep swordsmen up, other than thakittens alot of fun!

I actually like this build. I’ve been trying to get into a build, other than the blackwater build, I like variation. I couldn’t really get into the shatter builds, as they seem to lack defense, however this build has blocks and stuns/dazes, and does really nice dmg!
I did switch some things to suit my cravings, such as +15% illu dmg instead of boon strip, and the reflect heal + centaur runes, as well as energy sigils and only 1 paralyzation sigil.
But I really like the build so far, it has everything I was looking for, huge dmg, control, defense when needed, what’s not to like?

Glad you are liking the build! It is a really fun spec to play and is being adjusted still to make the build as best as it can be, as this spec has a lot of untapped potential with confounding suggestions. Although I do have to say In a tpvp scenario it really helps to have the aoe boon removal from shatters. But I am thinking this could be a really strong phantasm build. I will test it later tonight.

Stumbled upon this build today and decided since I only play sPvP to play-test fun builds for WvW I mine as well try it out. I made a few adjustments to it (for example using Soldier trinket with Zerk infusion instead) and switching out blink for mantra daze. (playing without blink was scary!)

Just oh my goodness. One of the most FUN builds I have played ever. I am no pro by any means but holding off multiple people and playing on comms with one other Warrior friend of mine we could clean house! switching out to staff for that chill and knowing a hundred blades is coming next just made me giggle. Even worked while I was on my own without support.

Props to the theory for this. I may not be a pro but I know for a fact this build has some serious potential. First few minutes and I was already doing wonderful with it.

Oh I haven’t tested soldier ammy yet. How was it compared to full zerker, in your opinion? Also, it is a really fun build to play and glad you are enjoying it :D. How was staff for you compared to gs? I know chaos can’t give up his staff and I can understand why (chaos archangel, not me :P). Tbh the only reason I use gs is because the version I was testing used furious interruption, which has some absolutely crazy amounts of burst while chain ccing the opponent :D.

I…have no idea how to use a GS in pvp. It makes absolutely no sense to me. I understand it can be powerful but giving up Staff 2 for GS 5 just does not compute in my head XD It has a lot of defense that is desperately needed to be viable especially in a build like this that lacks the mobility we normally operate with. Keep in mind I am mostly a WvW roaming girl as well. sPvP is just for kicks I guess. (I say this and totally use the GS for WvW while zerging. 2-4 combo so nice for the extra DD on the back line.)

Anyway onto the real questions: I found the soldier amulet better. Way more defense and to be honest other than bursting I am not seeing a noticeable drop in damage (not enough for me to go full glass cannon with it at least). In my mind the goal is not how fast you can take them down…just that you do it. I can outlast everything but a bunker Guard with Soldier and have DD to spare anyway. I played the build as support class and it worked wonderfully in its role. I got caught alone multiple times and even the 2v1s I was doing fairly decent in like…2 hours of testing it out. You need blink for stun break and portal for a team comp but…only if you cannot lock down the other team and are fighting the 5v5. this build can lock down people right before big DD comes along…on multiple people. No need for portal when you fill the same roll with a different style. This build makes fights unfair. was designed to do so. Granted I need to learn better swap timing and using null field offensively is really weird but…

final opinion: I would love to hear your final suggestions and tweaks but the way I am running it now seems fairly accessible and is complete troll mode in the 1v1. Signet, Mantra daze, Null field and invis in the utility is just hilarious. and I STILL can burst down final HP on command. Either way. Lots of fun. Will be playing it often through the next couple of weeks. Totally revitalized my love of Mesmer.

Updated the build to what I’m currently running.

• Swapped Signet of Domination with Mantra of Distraction -The two dazes are better than the one brolic stun for the instant 5 stacks of vulnerability they add in addition to being our quickest and most efficient interrupt, and it’s on a lower cooldown to boot.)

• Swapped Chaotic Dampening with Bountiful Interruption. - Bountiful interruption adds a more significant reward for interrupting enemies. Since nearly all of our lockdown comes from dazes, we’ll be constantly stacking vulnerability on enemies in addition to gaining an easy 10+ stacks of might for the inevitable interrupts. Also makes Halting Strike progressively more deadly.

• Swapped Blink for Decoy - I’ve come to realize why I can never have a build with Blink in it… ’cuz Decoy trumps it in almost all scenarios. The stealth is a better defense and the extra clone produced is a very valuable resource.

• Swapped Arcane Thievery with Null Field - In addition to being a more reliable condition cleanse, it adds a bit of group utility to this otherwise rather selfish build. Plus having the extra Ethereal combo field means more often then not you’ll have chaos armor up on both you and your clones which means more condition constipation for the enemy.

I’ma be adding quite a bit of edits to the description of the build soon. It turns out a more aggressive semi-melee-oriented style is more effective. With the proper rotation and timing you can crush people before they break out of your lockdown trap.

One of sample rotation I’m using:

MoDistraction >> Chaos Storm >> iLeap/Swap >> BlurredFrenzy>> Daze Shatter >> iSwordsman >> counter blade

Lots of different ways to go about it but.. 4 Dazes, high chance of interrupts, atleast 4 – 7 second lockdown.. Gotta get a vid of this stuff.

Gonna respond to the above posts shortly

Just a quick mention here, for condi removal, solely for wvw solo roaming mind you, I’ve found mantra of resolve to work the best, 4 removed condis with no cast time, and only 20 second cooldown.
Nullfield, however, I agree would work best in pvp.
PS. against guardians, I find myself being beaten constantly. I can’t stun because of long lasting stability :S

Note: I’ve run this all day, and changed a few things to suit my liking. I insist on having survivability, as I don’t depend on bursting my target down before I go down. I felt I didn’t have enough survivability compared to the condi blackwater build, so what I did was, I actually use the blackwater build, just changing a few things.

All zerker gear. With runes of the air (atm, want to have traveling, but frickin expensive)
20 – II & IX
20 – IV & X
30 – V, VIII & XII
S/S (energy+para) + Sc/T (hydro+para)

Decoy, blink, Mantra of distraction, mass invis
Now this is somewhat far away from the OP build, however it suits me. It still has large interrupts, it retains might on interrupt and interrupt dmg. It looses 50% chance of stunning though, however I gain an extra second of stealth + boons in stealth. Some may not feel that this is particularly strong, however I absolutely love it, boons and stealth saves me every time.
The combined burst I can do, while still retaining the ability to long lasting stealth + boons and boon duration is awesome. It really suits my playstyle. So thanks for the build, as it gave me the starting area of where I should go from

Well that is a very interesting build. I have been experimenting with hybrid Pu specs and I will definately test that in wvw. I never thought of using BI as I usually need more condi removal but I think it will be worth giving up.

Interesting build. Granted, I feel like you could just take pistol, signet of domination, and sigil of paralyzation, slap it on just about any other build, and have nearly the same effect.

With an additional 30% stun duration you’d have a nearly 7 seconds worth of stun. Get someone to 50% health, get 10+ bleeds on them, roll those stuns, and you should win fairly easily most of the time.

That’s the thing. There are a lot of different ways to play a lockdown-style build. This one in particular has a heavier emphasis on dazes and interrupts, with stuns being more of a bonus. I like sword over Pistol because the daze can hit up to five targets and the counter hits hard alongside the hardhitting sword phantasm.(and counter + mantra daze = awesome)

The more I use the build, the more I’m convinced that there really is gold in this playstyle. Its fast, active, fun, and you feel like you have a tool for everything. (Though currently Engineers have been hella frustrating. )

@Dietzen: Yeah, Null Field and Shattered Concentraton(Dom VII) have been pretty crucial for Warriors and Guardians. You HAVE to obliterate their stability immediately.

Hi Chaos, I’ve just started trying this build in sPvP and well…I love it I like builds that take a bit more thought, I also play extremely aggressively so this build and counterplay suits me right to the ground. I still need to work on timing my interrupts/dazes better, but you can really mess up people’s rotations if you get it right. I seem to struggle against phantasm mesmers and really good zerker thieves, but that’s the case in my normal shatter build.

It’s definitely not optimal for fighting on point, but I’m finding it a fun build for current meta and it’s nice to do give those pesky stun warriors a taste of there own medicine I encourage people to at least try this build, you may be surprised

Yea with the meta becoming wars and cc everywhere this spec counters wars nicely with so many interrupts. If they also have stability I can shatter it off and repeat counter cc. I really like interrupts spec with the way the meta is shifting. Although I believe that I will need the daze mantra for instant dazes/stuns/interrupts.

I’m fairly positive the build is in it’s final stage. I just need to rewrite the guide to reflect the changes and what I’ve learned.

It’s rather conceited to say.. but for what it’s worth, this build rocks! Lots of fun and always something new to learn. The Lockdown playstyle is definitely something Mesmer can do probably better than any other class besides Warriors.

The build has it’s weaknesses of course, (like any other build) but I think so far the people who haven’t been able to work it to some successful degree haven’t given it enough time to learn. Its very different from the usual Mes playstyle and it’s taken me over a week of playing several hours a day to really grasp just how strong it really is.

Will be rewriting everything soon as I get the chance, but thar be awesomeness here.

which runes/sigs/jewelry etc for wvw not pvp?

I actually think it doesnt differ very much from other Mesmer styles :o.

You can use decoy and blink for survivability and tricks. You have a familiar weapon set thats used in active defense builds, like shatter.

Really, survivobg isnt difficult in this build :P. You just have to figure out how to deal damage/interupt.

Im still getting 4-5k crits with swordsmen on berserkers in Spvp :P

UPDATED 9/19/13

- Fixed up some description errors from when I used Manipulations and assumed the build was better played defensively (super wrong on that front)

@Moaning Marv: You know, I’m actually not sure why/how I braindead-typed WvW into the description. It’s not tested for WvW just yet, but I’d keep everything the same (though the runes can be swapped with pretty much whatever, I prefer the daze duration. If I changed it, I’d pick a setup for more damage. For sigils, again I’d keep ’em the same but would consider Fire/Air/Hydromancy, for food Sharpening Stones and Orrian Truffle & Meat stew. )

@Alissah: The difference, to me, is more in the application. Every skill is important, every dodge, every shatter, clone & phantasm has a purpose. You want your clones to die, but you want to shatter, but you want your Phantasms to live… And yet it all comes together quite nicely.

I think this build has a nice balance. You can easily 1vs1 and at the same time the CC you provide is a nice benefit for the group. And you aren’t easy to train or pick on. Yeah .. it has a nice balance.

If you do run pistol, combo’ing it with Chaos storm is amazing. Most people don’t realize just how heavily 8-11 stacks of confusion will lock people down.

Question – why do you have 2 sigils of paralyzation with s/s when they don’t stack?

Amaterasu.6280:

Question – why do you have 2 sigils of paralyzation with s/s when they don’t stack?

They stack.

K U T M.4539:

If you do run pistol, combo’ing it with Chaos storm is amazing. Most people don’t realize just how heavily 8-11 stacks of confusion will lock people down.

The pistol (and Focus to a lesser degree) are definitely good alternatives to the offhand sword. I prefer the sword for the hard-hitting counter and the frequent AoE daze it provides on a much lower cooldown. If you’re not a fan of the staff Sword/Sword and Sword or Scepter/Pistol also works but it’s a damage increase at the cost of losing some of the AoE control you have with Chaos Storm and the excellent defense from Phase Retreat.

@All: Also, I’ve been trying to weigh Crippling Dissipation vs Halting Strike. The AoE cripple adds another powerful layer of control (Melee/Movement shutdown) and is actually a lot of fun, but the damage sacrifice from Halting Strike is pretty significant. I’ll usually nail at least two interrupts on average per rotation, around 4k damage, so its hard to justify that kind of damage loss for the sake of more team utility. Thoughts?

@Chaos: my experience with Crippling Dissipation (and I’ve been using this trait since start of my mesmer) is that you need to couple it with Confusion to get the best effects, in other words, to truly lock down opponents.

Slower base movement speed wont hurt much if your enemies can still jump around with movement skills. Thus with Confusion (preferably high stacks) added, enemies will get hurt no matter what they do.

I hope that helps with your decision to choose between Crippling Dissipation and Halting Strike.

you can put in harmonious mantras, charge your mantras and then go back to confounding suggestions, and still have the 3 uses on mantras.

@Lahel: That’s destined to get patched one day (and I have a personal-thing against exploiting bugs.) , but for now its pretty good to know. Ty!

@Keenlam: Yeah, I’m starting to think that Crippling Dissipation is the better Dom Minor choice for Condition Builds while Halting Strike is preferabel for power..

At the same time, Crippling Dissipation helps me keep enemies from running away (Cripple cuts movement skills like Warrior’s Bull Charge by 50% too) and makes life much harder for melee characters (and since this build performs much better in melee range, easier for me).

Having clones explode to cause 2 conditions at a time also has an interesting psychological effect: It makes enemies less inclined to attack when I’m/they’re surrounded by clones as well as more likely to blow condition removal thinking I’m a condition build.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

@Lahel: That’s destined to get patched one day (and I have a personal-thing against exploiting bugs.) , but for now its pretty good to know. Ty!

@Keenlam: Yeah, I’m starting to think that Crippling Dissipation is the better Dom Minor choice for Condition Builds while Halting Strike is preferabel for power..

At the same time, Crippling Dissipation helps me keep enemies from running away (Cripple cuts movement skills like Warrior’s Bull Charge by 50% too) and makes life much harder for melee characters (and since this build performs much better in melee range, easier for me).

Having clones explode to cause 2 conditions at a time also has an interesting psychological effect: It makes enemies less inclined to attack when I’m/they’re surrounded by clones as well as more likely to blow condition removal thinking I’m a condition build.

TBH the mantra thing isn’t a bug, nor is it an exploit. Ofc it’s not how Anet viewed it to be used, however it’s perfectly viable imo. And once in battle, you’ll have to recharge your mantra’s anyways, and then you only get the 2 charges.

As soon as you exit combat you can charge 3 up again tho

Lahel.6381:

As soon as you exit combat you can charge 3 up again tho

Though this would mean, you’d have to blow your remaining mantras, wait for them to go off of CD, then change traits, charge all mantras and change back the trait.
It is a lot of work but doable

True, it’s not very practical if you run more than 1 or 2 mantras :P

Dietzen.6127:

Chaos Archangel.5071:

@Lahel: That’s destined to get patched one day (and I have a personal-thing against exploiting bugs.) , but for now its pretty good to know. Ty!

@Keenlam: Yeah, I’m starting to think that Crippling Dissipation is the better Dom Minor choice for Condition Builds while Halting Strike is preferabel for power..

At the same time, Crippling Dissipation helps me keep enemies from running away (Cripple cuts movement skills like Warrior’s Bull Charge by 50% too) and makes life much harder for melee characters (and since this build performs much better in melee range, easier for me).

Having clones explode to cause 2 conditions at a time also has an interesting psychological effect: It makes enemies less inclined to attack when I’m/they’re surrounded by clones as well as more likely to blow condition removal thinking I’m a condition build.

TBH the mantra thing isn’t a bug, nor is it an exploit. Ofc it’s not how Anet viewed it to be used, however it’s perfectly viable imo. And once in battle, you’ll have to recharge your mantra’s anyways, and then you only get the 2 charges.

It’s a miiiinor exploit, but still an unintended bonus were not meant to have. Though its only once per encounter, Having 3 Daze mantra charges as potential stuns is pretty great … Oh man, I dunno if I can resist…

Currently testing 30/30/10/0/0

• Swapping out Bountiful Interruption for Phantasmal Fury and Decoy for Blink (also )

• Testing Manipulation Range & Mantra Cooldowns

• Swapped 1 sigil of paralyze (weeps) for sigil of fire.

Bountiful Interruption was a trait to increase the damage of the build. Since I’m not running Signet of Inspiration, I’m looking at where these 10 points could be better spent. I slid them into dueling for the extra 10% crit damage, higher precision, and I reaallyy wanted to trait Blink.

The thing is.. I don’t often need that much more defense [in traited Blink] unless I’m stupidly running into a fight with more than 2 people. Since build uses both shatters AND phantasms (I refuse to call it “Shantasm.” I throw up in my mouth every time I read that) Phantasmal Fury makes up for what I lose in sacrificing Bountiful Interrupt.

The switch from Decoy to Blink is more of a personal preference. One day while someone was talking my ear off on the phone (and I was pretending to listen) I was practicing all the Blink spots from supcutie’s youtube channel… it reminded me why Blink is my favorite skill in the entire game.

I think Decoy is still better for when you’re facing multiple opponents, and probably our best disengage behind 1200 range Blink, but Blink offers both defense AND mobility on a shorter cooldown. And when you trait it? It’s frickin’ gold.

So far results are looking very promising. The damage difference seems pretty significant and I’m barely feeling the loss of 100 toughness, 3s protection on regen & Bountiful Interrupt. A nice unintended bonus is that now people also get Confusion damage when they kill my clones. The more control the better.

Maybe Rampager’s might work too, hm…

OK.. Not intending to bump, but apparently at 49 posts you can’t see the thread anymore until 50?