Guild Wars 2

@Ordibble, Im still at my ipad in my bed and havent tested the mecanics yet but jesus crist this dont buff the spec a little. It if this do what mytheorycraftong is correct give the core of this spec a huge dmg and survival boost.

The vigour change will give reliable 100% upptime, its a 5x upptime buff and its impact on shattercat is huge.

The might stac, cant say with words how big this buff is, 10 sec upptime on might, 3 insted of 1 stack… our dmg as a burst spec will se new dimentions.

I duelist buffed, good.

Staff clones can now stand on high ground and shoot down. Portals and this give room for so many trolling and harassing options.

As said,im still in chock, never expect to se my build buffed so fundamental.

@ Dinara, lol <3

@All, se latest movie, Its one of my most important guides in a long time and fun watch.

/ A super happy osicat

So with the new might buff, do you think your first shatter would be cry of frustration, then roll and mirror for a big buffed up mindwrack?

@Errtan, tbh this is often what I do already, especialy if its a fast attack where I try catch a target and dont have time to do a roll or phantasm summon. I on this cases do a 2 clone cry folowed by a shatter nr 3 then a dodge, mirror and 3 clone mindwrack.

With shatter reset 50 % hp and 10 sec uptime on might we also will se alot of overlappng, 9 stacks of might gained then take a hit that reset shatters and another 6 stacks etc.

/Osicat

Hi Osi,

Will putting Sigil of Energy on sword, Sigil of Fire on Pistol, and Sigil of Earth on Staff work?

Will the sigil of fire and sigil of earth share the same cooldown even on different weapon sets? Pistol (Fire) and Staff (Earth).

I wanna be able utilize bleeding more just for those people with speed boosts.

Also, what do you mean by our staff clones can now stand on high ground and shoot down? Does this apply to GS clones as well?

Thank you once again for your support in the Mesmer comunity.

Love your vids! Keep it up!

osicat!

is there any possible hybrid build you can see this https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Guild-Wars-2-Mesmer-Countless-Suicide-Spec/first#post1003612 and yours?

@Pump, I dont see any problem with use earth and fire sigils exept that one is condition dmg and other crit/direct dmg. Still with the buff to might we will se better bleed dmg of shatter mesmers so Its worth a experement.

Staff clones had abug before so they could not shoot of platforms to platform etc as the balls crawled on the ground. now we can position 3 clones on a plattform and a let them bombard ppl below.

@yvesbeaumunt, hi mate, what a name you got there. The spec you link is a condition dmg dealing spec and based on not shatter, still it could be possible to get a condition staff bounce shatter build to be mexed in as vigour now make this clone factory build more effective. I pesonaly experement with a condition shattercat build in sPvP but only have 50 h on it and not tested in wvwvw so I do t want to present it yet. Mabye that could be used as hybrid plattform.

@All, a theorycrafting brainstorm here, a alternative build of shattercat with condition dmg gear. This with the close to constant might upptime, would sigil of (apply might on swap) + sigil of 5% dmg, combined with rune of strength (5% dmg under effect of might, 20% might duration and might chance on taken hit) be a valid combo. Mabye, it would provide alot of extra condition dmg and power dmg, gear hybrid crit chanse, condition dmg and crit chance would with the 10% dmg buff of this combo and vulenbility stacks on enemy from clones give a huge % dmg buff for both condition and base dmg.

Just a thought I had. Still rune of air is a core of the normal shatter cat and I dont feel I can be without the air proc, had a 6k the other day and dont think the bonus of any other gear can make up for that.

We also get speed and 10 % crit dmg of the runes Im convinced its the absolute best rune for shatter cat build.

/love osicat

ps,still cant beleve how buffed we shatter cats got.

@all, cheers 203 subscribers, glad to break the 200 line. My next project will on side of the lvling guide and other side project be to evaluate the changes in the patch and see if we can find some combos to get most out of the buffs. Mabye as some already discussed to change the burst combo sequence. I keep it uppdated.

/Osicat

Darminiam.9348:

UnknownFreak.2805:

@Osicat, yes, but I changed the blood steal to another superior of air, also seem to work, and gl finding a good name for that new combo, well I have a youtube acc, but never made any vids :P

Edit: also have tried a more high crit chance and Im up at 65%, may be too high but the crit is adding up for the lack of damage (power), also giving a higher chance to cast those lightning and flame AoE

How did you get such a high crit chance? Is it just being in all exotics? I’m currently in exotic gear, but not accessories (blues and greens still).

That is not WvW stats, it’s pvp, I use the one that gives +756 or what it is in precision

Thanks for the answer Osi. I might try that theory craft you’re talking about. Will let you know how it pans out.

Just found out that you can snipe enemy cata’s, ballistas, etc. And even do tons of damage, using portal is a smart choice, so if something goes wrong you can portal back and allies can portal to siege, also our server must have it’s first major “phew”, after defending stonemist for around 10 min with enemy in castle lord room, would have been a pain in the kitten if they would have taken it (castle fully upgraded), also was SO close dying to a backstabbing thief, almost instantly killed me, got me downed -> thought I would die, was lucky and was able to revive 100%, start a new fight with him and pwn him, this was inside stonemist.

Also noticed that two people can add so much confusion by taking same route as the enemy, backstab them (they have no Idea what just happen), the rest of your team kills them cause now they will FOCUS you down, and they leave their weakness unprotected, this case AoE, where they where almost instantly killed

Also the mesmer buffs are nice, and also portal nerf is not a problem for me (portal nerf is only 20 usages)

@UnknownFreak, glad you having fun in the build, sound like you doing great.

@All, ok finaly I got to la the new patch myself, had a 5 h session in group wvwvw roaming last night with the guild. and this is my rewev of the changes I got.

Portal: I se this as a change who favour strategy thinking and smal groups roaming. The 50 man huge zerg cant come crash down n ou but a smal guild can move in behin enemy while the bigger team hammer em from the front.

Vitality buff: Its just as good as I suspected, my clone generation in combat is at new hights, feel like I before did on rare occatins with constant fury of a warrior and guardian. It also make survival alot better.

Might stack buf: Ok the pure dmg bonus is nice, had for first time in my current gear a full 16 k mind wrack on some poort glas cannon. But this is not the biggest change. Burst we always had kittenter cats, thats the whole Idea with the spec. No biggest change is that from 300 condition dmg we often have 7-950 condition dmg. his is a 200% buff to our condition dmg and I feel like a condition burst hybrid.

Guardians is alot easier now, and thievs…. The first two I downed last night I dint understand what just happened. With 18 stacks of might apperently a cry of frustration totaly destroy a thief, 8 stacks of confusion was al it took vs glas cannons attacking you. Big change for us.

So question for ppl do this patch give any playstyle/gear/trait changes for us? Well yes, in group fights you have so many clones thay a shatter 3 when enerhy is high is best start often, this give 9 stacks of might, then get a cry 3 clone and you now at 18 stacks. Blink mirror dodge and 3 mindwrack + illusionary persona will now do a aoe of 18 stacked mindwrack, bump you to 25 stacks, you do a sword 2 aoe and drop portal at same time, when immunity wear of use portal. Found this combo strong to the bring of sillyness, 7 k blurred, 12k + noramly from the mw and huge confusion ticks.

Also the retaliation trait nstead of 3% dmg / clone is usefull as your power is higher and you with might still have dmg enought to burst ppl down. And retaliation, buffed confusion dmg + rune of air will make thiefs stop and run when they se a shatter mesmer in wvwvw. Feels god to be the hunter and not the hunted now.

/Osicat

Osicat, you should stream if you can.

@Ketharius, been thinking of streem the guild runs from time to time but deccided not to as we have it as our “fun time” of the day and just want to be able to be private and enjoy the run on side of normal tactic and gameplay.

I will thu keep do the skill and gameplay guides and might add more group play guides later on. Now with critsmas incomming I not sure if guild will do more “beer and fun” runs and a little less “serius face pew pew” runs.

/Cheers Osicat

[qoute]@UnknownFreak, glad you having fun in the build, sound like you doing great.[/qoute]
Im having my times when I play good, and those other when I play crappy so no wants to play with me :P, well the thing is that I have problems vs someone when zerging with a group etc. and due to render bug, they kill me and everyone else:/

But only have played mesmer for 312 hours so this is not bad, I think 100 with your shatter build, and only 602* deaths , with around 1300 kills in WvW.

*deaths count for both PvE and WvW so I have no Idea what WvW death ratio is

Hey Osi! It’s been a while since I’ve started running the shattered cat build and just knew that I had to come see your reaction to the buffs the shatter cat build just got. I knew you had to be happy as I was ecstatic about it on team chat cheering happy mesmer buff day on the 14th.

Now what I’m wondering is now we have a bit more power, can we swap say another piece or two of berserker for Knights or valk? Same damage output as before with our new might stacks but more survivability?

@UnknownFreak, Yeah, big group rendering is sudden death sometimes. Personaly I prefere play in 10~ man teams nowdays, it can do alot of change for fights and for shorter time even hold back or slow down a zerg. Last night Judge 10 man team fought a 30+ man arbon zerg for a longer time in Ogrie camp Npc area by hold the doorwayys and chokepoints for a time and with portal and abacktracking mesmer move to next doorway when we about to be owerrun. This way we could slow down alot bigger force untill a commander with a friendly zerg could join. 10 man is also enought to hit and ninja a unguarded tower behind enemy lines if ppl not pay attention.

@Monztor, the buff is a base dmg buff for both condition and direct dmg. As our vitality is not as depnding on crit al time now we can drop a little crit, so if you before had 5% crit chance on sword or pistol change that for 5% dmg now. This as the dmg also buff condition dmg. I also will try change a valkyre neclese and get a invader, still zerker jewel thu. This will cost me a little crit dmg but get my toughtness over 1200 and my dmg still is alot better than pre patch. I tell you how the change turned out. Vitality is not as problematic now in wvwvw as before as we now got server buff working. With server buff up my hp is 17-18 k.

/Osicat

Osicat.4139:

@UnknownFreak, Yeah, big group rendering is sudden death sometimes. Personaly I prefere play in 10~ man teams nowdays, it can do alot of change for fights and for shorter time even hold back or slow down a zerg. Last night Judge 10 man team fought a 30+ man arbon zerg for a longer time in Ogrie camp Npc area by hold the doorwayys and chokepoints for a time and with portal and abacktracking mesmer move to next doorway when we about to be owerrun. This way we could slow down alot bigger force untill a commander with a friendly zerg could join. 10 man is also enought to hit and ninja a unguarded tower behind enemy lines if ppl not pay attention.

@Monztor, the buff is a base dmg buff for both condition and direct dmg. As our vitality is not as depnding on crit al time now we can drop a little crit, so if you before had 5% crit chance on sword or pistol change that for 5% dmg now. This as the dmg also buff condition dmg. I also will try change a valkyre neclese and get a invader, still zerker jewel thu. This will cost me a little crit dmg but get my toughtness over 1200 and my dmg still is alot better than pre patch. I tell you how the change turned out. Vitality is not as problematic now in wvwvw as before as we now got server buff working. With server buff up my hp is 17-18 k.

/Osicat

Noticed more and more, people zerg alot these days. seems you have to either play in a zerg or have a small sniping team, to confuse and also to distract enemies. Also the mesmer buffs in latest patch, seems very good, you can defend a supply camp from 3 other with no problem x), the amount of raw burst damage is huge, and can easily down one of them, and then you just need to hold out keeping them from rejoining(downed), then the easy part comes, crush the rest

My playstyle is often staff when zerging, or joining the commander to assault enemy keep, sometimes when I see someone that is trying to escape, I switch to sword/pistol, and stun them and insta down them. Then switch back to staff if I see a group trying to res their downed player, and it does not go well for them.

Also I like to play in a five group party in the morning when the zergs are sleeping, you can easy gain a K/D up to 30 persons. Hopefully this will happen soon cause I will have days off from school in the week’s end. But I believe I will sleep til 12.00 xD, lazy…. always lazy.

EDIT: also don’t like to play alot in zerg vs zerg, causes lag :/

Hi Osicat, I have been dueling many classes lately with your build but this phantasm mesmer was giving me a LOT of trouble! he used sword + sword / staff. The phantasms were doing a lot of damage but I ignored them and focused on the mesmer who also shattered quite frequently, I couldnt do much to the mesmer as he seemed to know when to dodge my shatters and he healed like crazy. I could not beat that mesmer once!

Have you fought good phantasm mesmers? Any tips?

@Aaron, before I answer I must ask, was it in sPvP server or in wvwvw situation? This build is mostly a wvwvw and pve build but also regulary used on the side of 20-20-0-0-30 build in s/tPvP as a roaming burst build.

In sPvP pre patches when Phantasm mesmers could keep close to constant protection up on side of renegation and phantsams dmg the phantsams 10-10-15-25-10 or simmilar was mabye the strongest duel spec in the game.

For shatter memsers it was extremly hard in sPvP to burst them donw as they could keep the portection up so long and our burst and acctive cd,s was not enought. In wvwvw where our burst is/was stronger thu you often could jump a phantasm mesmer and burst him down using terrain, plus the phantasm spec is less effective in the wvwvw enviorment for roaming.

Now alot happened, first the patch who made our deversion stopp summons and los stop summons, this still was not a flip of a coin as a good phantasm mesmer still worked out how to summon etc. But now after 14/12 patch we got big changes in this matchup, i have not tested it out but I know for sure the protection who stopped our burst now only work for 2 sec every 15 sec not 100% upptime, also we shatter mesmers got a big dmg buff in terms of might stacking and vigour upptime 100% in combat.

We do now have the dmg to burst a phantasm mesmer who dont avoid the burst, and phantasm mesmers dont have the constant protection. When I try burst a class who know how to avoid my bursts I try mix and mess with my rotation. Open with a daze shatter instead of MW, get defenses up, nibble little and get shatter 2 up, then fast get nr 1. Use nr 4 to avoid summons and dmg. Heal frequent. low on hp? portal out, wait some and get cd,s back and heal, pop clones form LOS if he closing in etc.

I say the fight is fair and even in duels now, but as said sPvP is not my area and im just theorycraft.

So my question is, is it spvp, and is it after the 14/12 patch? If its tPvP/sPvP specific help you need I have a good tPvP high ranked mesmers who promiced to help ppl with problems unless my answer covered what you asked.

/Osicat

PS: For tPvP shatter mesmer questions Nero helping as I dont do alot of this gametype.

Again thanks to this great guy, we need more helpfull players like him in this forum.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Streaming-high-level-Mes-tPvP/first#post984507

Osicat.4139:

Keybindings used by me:

WASD with A for strafe left D strafe right, I turn run with mouse.

V turn camera 180 degrees for time portals and blink behind enemy chasers

attack 12345 is
1:q
2:e
3:r
4:mouse4
5:shift+mouse4 (mouse 4 is on side of my mouse)

Utility heal 1 2 3 elite is:
heal:shift + space
u1:shift+q
u2:shift+e
u3:shift+r
elite:shift+f

Shatters is on 1 , 2, 3 and 4

This help me do most movment and camera with mouse, al actions is shortkeys.

Why don’t you just buy Razer Naga or Logitech g600? Either of them helps to avoid such complicated bindings (Though I recommend g600 as a Naga user).

Kewa.1649:

Osicat.4139:

Keybindings used by me:

WASD with A for strafe left D strafe right, I turn run with mouse.

V turn camera 180 degrees for time portals and blink behind enemy chasers

attack 12345 is
1:q
2:e
3:r
4:mouse4
5:shift+mouse4 (mouse 4 is on side of my mouse)

Utility heal 1 2 3 elite is:
heal:shift + space
u1:shift+q
u2:shift+e
u3:shift+r
elite:shift+f

Shatters is on 1 , 2, 3 and 4

This help me do most movment and camera with mouse, al actions is shortkeys.

Why don’t you just buy Razer Naga or Logitech g600? Either of them helps to avoid such complicated bindings (Though I recommend g600 as a Naga user).

whats complicated to you, is second nature to others

@Kewa, you well I worked this keybinding out over time, Im a keyboard action button user, guess its cause I started my gaming when the mouse only had 2 buttons and no scroll weel Still I uppgraded and using a Razer atm with 5 buttons, I still feel that for me the stup I use is best and give fastest responce time. Opinions that all, I also like pizza with banana on and ofc Cats.

/Osicat

Could someone go into more detail on using Staff #2 as the additional “blink” forward. Currently I hit about face > #2 > about face. But when I watch the videos it is no where near as fluid. I don’t know if it is my timing or using the wrong method entirely. I have noticed that about face does not work when you have your right mouse button held down which is unfortunate.

If someone could clarify I would appreciate it.

Glutton.5016:

Could someone go into more detail on using Staff #2 as the additional “blink” forward. Currently I hit about face > #2 > about face. But when I watch the videos it is no where near as fluid. I don’t know if it is my timing or using the wrong method entirely. I have noticed that about face does not work when you have your right mouse button held down which is unfortunate.

If someone could clarify I would appreciate it.

2 Patches ago, the way phase retreat works was changed. Previously, it would always teleport you backwards, regardless of where your target was located or your position in relation to him. Now, it will teleport you AWAY from your target, so if your target is behind you, you will teleport forward.

What Osi is doing is, while chasing someone, targeting a random mob inbetween him and the opponent, blinking past it, then using phase retreat to teleport forward again (since the mob was behind you, you move forward).

@Westibone, cheers.

@Glutton, like Westbone say, see this vid again, stop at the explanation for the movment combo I call “Cat leap” 1-5 bullets.

/Osicat

** Uppdate **

Added “Cat leap” to the text guide as its a central part of this guide and the main reason together with portal and 30 in dueling for pistol range that this build can compete with al the fast moving classes in wvwvw without a 1200y nr 1 attack.

Ps, noticed more and more latley ppl help eacother out in the forum and in this tread, this is great. Respect to al exerienced players whotake time to help new ppl in a spec/class/game.

/Osicat

I’ve been playing with some other skills, like mimic and feedback. love them, cause you can reflect enemy projectiles with mimic and then shoot again for extra damage, insane vs glassthief, he would kill himself xD

I often switch to Feedback when fighting a zerg or during a siege/being sieged. I can often push an entire zerg back myself by dropping Chaos Storm and Feedback on an enemy zerg and I laugh every time when I see numerous targets quickly down themselves.

Osicat.4139:

So my question is, is it spvp, and is it after the 14/12 patch? If its tPvP/sPvP specific help you need I have a good tPvP high ranked mesmers who promiced to help ppl with problems unless my answer covered what you asked.

/Osicat
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Streaming-high-level-Mes-tPvP/first#post984507

It was wvwvw, but not at the same time.. i am in a multi-realm guild were we all go to a location in a borderlands and organize 1v1 and 2v2 duels.
Your daze tip sounds like a good plan, I will put it into action next time I see it. (the duels were post-patch)

Would someone mind explaining how the 4 clone shatter is possible?

I’m still fairly new to the game so I’m not sure if it’s a skill I’ve overlooked or if it comes down to timing on particular skills.

Fourth shatter is yourself with Illusionary Persona

I wonder if GS is interesting again. Given all the might stackage after a standard burst rotation, the auto attack is going to hit very hard. Thoughts?

@ Zilm:

Thank you very much.

@Volatility, Gs is a a viable weapon, it had its place as a long distance wep, my personal oppinion thu on GS is that it lack to much in defense to be a perfect roaming wep. Alot of players will have problems fight you and your GS until suddenly you run into a good thief, a “shatter cat” mesmer, skilled warrior or something else that go inside your defenses, stick to your face and dont let go.

Gs work well as its a specialiced wep, its range and good at range. Alot of ppl will die by your GS and een feel defenseless as they feel they take to much dmg at range and cant get you in close due to shatters, puchback and stealth. It thu is not as flexible, it lack defence and dmg at short range, a good player who read you, get close start melt face and immune bursts and your puchback will be wery hard to win vs.

As staff/s-p you WANT to be in their face, you have several option to get there and ways to do dmg if they stay away. Its immpossible to kite you but you can kite most other classes in combat. So when you run into somone who want to be in mele range they doing you a favour. Ofc there are some classes we have probem with, its a flexible build and cover many areas good, its not a specialiced build thu and a bunker/duel build are harder 1 vs 1 even if we now with might stacks do this better. The hardest fights I have nowdays is vs bunker eles and deep condition thiefs.

I hope this not sound like I trakittenalking the GS, it is a strong wep, I just dont favour it.

/Osicat

Osicat.4139:

@Volatility, Gs is a a viable weapon, it had its place as a long distance wep, my personal oppinion thu on GS is that it lack to much in defense to be a perfect roaming wep. Alot of players will have problems fight you and your GS until suddenly you run into a good thief, a “shatter cat” mesmer, skilled warrior or something else that go inside your defenses, stick to your face and dont let go.

Gs work well as its a specialiced wep, its range and good at range. Alot of ppl will die by your GS and een feel defenseless as they feel they take to much dmg at range and cant get you in close due to shatters, puchback and stealth. It thu is not as flexible, it lack defence and dmg at short range, a good player who read you, get close start melt face and immune bursts and your puchback will be wery hard to win vs.

As staff/s-p you WANT to be in their face, you have several option to get there and ways to do dmg if they stay away. Its immpossible to kite you but you can kite most other classes in combat. So when you run into somone who want to be in mele range they doing you a favour. Ofc there are some classes we have probem with, its a flexible build and cover many areas good, its not a specialiced build thu and a bunker/duel build are harder 1 vs 1 even if we now with might stacks do this better. The hardest fights I have nowdays is vs bunker eles and deep condition thiefs.

I hope this not sound like I trakittenalking the GS, it is a strong wep, I just dont favour it.

/Osicat

As you say GS is viable but only at long range, think I will have one in my bag in case someone is goleming a keep or the castle, cause to their slow mobility and you can also apply cripple using phantasm. Which makes them even more slow.

I have some experience using GS, it’s good, but once you switches to another weapon set like s/p and staff, you focus more 1v1, or close combat AoE, which makes you vulnerable to golems high hp, you can always experiment with different builds, and keep some other weapon in case you may need if for some random reason.

Every weapon have it’s own strength and weakness the sword is short range but deals massive damage, and GS is good at long range and pretty useless at close. Staff somewhere between, mid damage and long range. But still not that powerful, but still is powerful enough in most common battles, due to clones and chaos field. only these weapons iv’e used, and pistol for stunning and dealing damage with illusionary duellist.

Also as Osicat say GS is strong, yes very, but once you learnt to use s/p and staff, you can crush anything as well, just it’s takes longer to learn s/p, Staff – shatter build, but you can kill anyone almost instantly, and adds some more challenging to the game, as you now need to be in CC all the time, bursting down enemy. Literary you have no space for mistakes, almost, it will result in you insta dead instead

What are the stats in your armor Osi, I know what runes to take but not the stats on the armor.

Moogster.6207:

What are the stats in your armor Osi, I know what runes to take but not the stats on the armor.

yeah, I would also like to know about stats on armor/jewelery

He lists it on page 5, about halfway down.

Osicat.4139:

@Wtbingbongbadbeer, First, who ever did make up your name mate, for a semi dyslective person like me its torture to type lol <3. The stats in my build link is the sPvP stats, the defensive recomended stats in the guide is the minimum defensive stats before you start work hard on your dps. Reason I been so hard give my exact gear etc in recomendation is cause its due to change quite often. The guide and spec is under constant develop and I experement ALOT.

What I type in the guide thu is things that after hard and long testing I found as accurate best possible setup with the spec and gamestyle.

I will thu here list my exact gear for the moment as I get alot of pm,s etc about it aswell

:Power 1912
:Prec 1992
:Tough1180
:Vit1092
Condition dmg 325
Crit chance 55% Staff 53%
Crit dmg: 98% Staff 102%
Armour 2100
Health in wvwvw 16842 (with server buff 17852)

Head : zerker + air
Shoulder: Zerker + air
Coat: Knight + air
Glowes: Zerker + air
Leggs: zerker + air
Boots:Valkyre + Air

Staff: zerker + energy (50% energy on swap)

Sword: Zerker + 5% dmg
Pistol: Knight + Fire Aoe

Back: Guild backpack lvl 60 (saving fractal stuff for back form there) lvl 60 Ruby jewel
Trinked 1 : Zerker +Ruby (3% crit 25 prec 25 power) jewel
Trinke 2: Event trinked (25 al stats 3%crit) + zerker (3% crit 25 prec 25 power) jewel
Ring 1: Invader ring + Ruby (3% crit 25 prec 25 power) jewel
Ring 2: Zerker ring + Ruby (3% crit 25 prec 25 power) jewel
Nec Valkyre nec + Ruby (3% crit 25 prec 25 power) jewel

@Volatility, tested and no nerf as I see it. Had a 4 × 3,8k MV with fury and mightstacks earlier wealding staff.

Hope this help ppl.

/ Cheers Osicat

This is his gear

Thanks guys. Completely understand the merits of staff vs. GS. I use a staff myself. Was just speculating that given something like Truffle Steaks (+200 power after a kill for 30 secs) and the +-20 stacks of might we’re going to have after MW/COF, Spatial Surge is going to hit like a truck to finish low hps/downs. Likely better suited for small team play, where I personally find the staff to be a bit lacking and you can have other players running support for you in better fashion. Of course the trade off is you lose some of the clone gen but given the Vigor buff it shouldn’t be as bad. Going to test it tonight.

@all, hi, Im at work and the roads are icy so I have loads to do, cant ppl learn to slow down sometime? Nwm, the discussion about gs is great, I can add that I always carry one in bag for special occasions aswell as a focus.

I working on a vid that might be interesting in this conversation as it will be some gs mesmers fighting beside others, the photage is al post patch and its a deep dive guide in some advanced juking tactics 1 vs x. It will thu be a guide for ppl with a bit longer experience as Mesmers and shatter build, but good for anyone new to the build aswell as its totaly valid in x vs x or 1 vs 1. It will be about movment and timing, when to do offensive retreat ( deal dmg and retreat) and when to suddenly turn the movment and counter attack to take one of the enemys down and how to pick a target out of several. I hope to have it ready in 3-4 days.

/Osicat.

GS with sword/pistol could be good imo. When you have a GS, you generally want to stay at max range but if you couple it with a sword/pistol, you do good damages at close range too and have good defense at close range with blurred frenzy or even GS #5 or distorsion/daze if needed. Of course GS is not as good for defense as a staff but ppl don’t expect you to want them to fight at close range if they see you with a GS and may even try to get close to you.
GS plus sword/pistol means vulnerability/might stacks with mirror blade, cripple with iBerserker, boon removal (ok, mind stab is not that convenient but it’s still there), stun and snare with sword/pistol and good damages at long and close range.
With the new buff to might on shatter, I guess you can get really high stacks of might with this setup meaning blurred frenzy/mind wrack/confusion are really gonna melt faces.
It’s all theory though and it comes down to playstyle too but GS + sword/pistol can be good imo. ^^

Haven’t played so much with GS + Sword/pistol, and I can’t say anything about that combo, I still prefer staff due to chaosfield, it literary melt class thief’s etc. Also it’s good for applying conditions, as I have a bit more condition damage-build, but still mostly high burst-shatter damage.

@Sabyne, yes the dmg potensial at gs is under no question, it still thu lack finess and utility enought in my opinion compared to staff. This gets most obious when you endup vs 2-3 good geared and experienced players or a skilled player playing a movment avoidance class.

Ppl thu free to play what they want and in many cases in wvwvw a gs mesmer with shatter setup is strong. In this guide thu staff is a central corner stone, not only in dmg and survival but in utility and movment. Hope i can show why in a good way in nex vid.

About thiefs yes, Unknownfreak is spot on here, it also apply for other mesmers thu See the “cat leap” vid and the figt vs 2 x gs mesmers by the champion npc how staff utility lock them down.

Look some on this vid and notice staff and confusion hardcounter thiefs, and this is before vigour buff and might.

/Happy fighting Osicat

hey osicat how does this build fair in spvp i know the damage difference and the confusion damage aswell is verry low thier compared to WvW but have u tried it out with ur rune set up and sigils ? i wanna try and get good at this spec but i feel like it wont be as good in spvp than in WvW

@Lordryux, good t know is that most classes dmg and burst is lower in s/tpvp compared to wvwvw. Its mot only grearbased, many classes skills are like our confusion toned down for pvp. So this means that even if you a bit less so do others. The spec is solid in spvp, its designed for wvwvw and in its right element in there, still for spvp especialy with might buff it absolutley capable to take down ppl.

I discussed some the other day with a high ranked NA tpvp mesmer who did run shatter build. He agreed on most of the choices for wvwvw but we both agreed that for team support and utility in tpvp 20-20-0-0-30 is probobly better. This as boon stripping together with might stacking make the spec superior for tpvp. You will in s/tpvp run into bunkers defending a cap point in a way you dont in wvwvw, to take this down you and team need to focus fire and your boon stripping will be wery important.

If you thu just want to do some spvp fir fun and giggles shatter cat in spvp is spot on I had many fun moments when I tryed learn the spec and many of my combos and moves now used in big world is first tested out in the smal structured labratory called spvp.

/Osicat

You trying the 20/20/0/0/30 build yet, Osi? I was trying S/S + GS with both 20% reduction to GS and S. The counterattack of sword 4 was hitting for nearly 6k on thieves.

@Taldren, tryed both GS-s/s and staff-s/s 20-20-0-0-30 and of those two I prefered staff as second weap. In top traits I prefered Mv dmg and boonstrip. I cant drop the feeling GS is taking flexibility off the class and by that is better for group solo nuking. It have solid dmg but lack mobility and utility plus it has a weak spot in range. I dont like its abilitys mainly is for dmg or affect the enemy, staff chaos field is affecting both, cloens both buff and dmg, staff to is both a escape or gapcloser, even chaos armour is Offensive and defensive in its nature. The more abilitys,utilitys and effect something have the more tactics and ways of abuse this effect can be developed.

The 20-20-0-0-30 spec is solid but In my opinion “Shatter cat” is more setteled for wvwvw and especialy solo or smal group roaming, while 20-20-0-0-30 might have a edge in s/tpvp. Im totaly aware some ppl prefere Gs, 20-20-0-0-30 and s/s and I respect that. Its even needed as class would not develop if we dont try other things al the time the class will stagnate.

We should not al play same spec, thats absolutley not what I try to do with this guide or thread. I pesonaly want my guild mesmers to play other spec, we got 1 support condition memser who is a battlecruser in our group, a Gs range nuker for pick off low hps at range and two shatter cats for portal attacks and burst group dps. We al have different roles in wvwvw and this is just one of them, its the role I play and even if I experementand change stuff every day, spent enormous ambount of gold on respec and regear al the time, this is the spec and gear I find most effective for my role.

I hope this explains why I set my traits and gear like I have.

/Love Osicat.

@ * * * UPPDATE * * * @

My latest movie, as promiced its something a bit extra. Its al matereal after patch and Its kinda amazing how strong we are now. Its hard to motivate play anything other than shatter spec nomatter if you go Tank, condition or burst build.

This video is part entertainment but also a bit more advanced guide. It is about how to use defensive offensive juking in battle and how to use terrain. When to attack and when to back. It show 1 vs x but its the same tactic I use in bigger groups group vs group just that we then move 5-10 ppl as a single unit kitng bigger forces and outmanouver them. Its also viable in 1 vs 1 and specialy usefull when you face a skilled opponent.

Mix normal bursts and close range shatters with ranged mv and dizzorsion shatters to controll your enemy.

Here is the vid I realy hope you enjoy it as much as I did make it.

/Merry wintersday Osicat

Love the vids Osicat.