Guild Wars 2

Harmonious Mantras + Mender’s Purity + Mantra of Recovery = Awesome. Possibly best healing and condi removal of any class.

I’ve been playing with this for the past two nights, and had more success than with anything else in a long while. Best build I’ve found so far is as follows, but looking for something better.

using 30/30/0/10/0, but I’m sure others exist using 30/x/x/10/x

This is a 100% crit chance build (80% + phantasmal fury) that relies on phantasms and clone-death traits. Stacks massive bleeds (20 stacks are easily obtainable in seconds) and phantasms hit super hard. But others probably work as well.

Armor: Rampagers, with a tiny bit of knights/rabid. Runes either Traveler or Centaur
Weapons: GS, Sword/Pistol (all rampager). You can swap GS for staff if you prefer, though it limits your chasing. Sigils of perception until you get stacks, then swap for battle and accuracy

Anyway, sorry for posting another build, but I’ve had more fun running this the past few nights than any other non-PU build.

As always, comments are more than appreciated.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8al4zKqnUTmGb9IypCQHpHqWptalegb52FC-jkCBIgCyUEQkIAEBw5PDZNHKilhFRjVVDQZDTBbR1SBAzwK-w

Edit: build is pretty flexible gear wise. You can go knights/cav for awesome sustainability, or even zerker for super had hitting phantasms. I’m also playing around with protective mantras as well to see if they have a place.

nice build
i also tried to run hybrid and its very fun and powerful to use

i run this build so to compare
2.8k armor
4 condition cleans in 20 seconds cd
with 10 stacks of might which is easy to achieve during fight and even 20 stacks you can have
3.3k attack and 1.6k condition dmg
40% condition duration or 50% depend on your food
4 stun/daze/interrupts skills (why its easy to get 20-25 stacks of might)
73% critical dmg with 40% (60%) crit chance – you can take perception sigil if you like more crit change 52% (72%) instead of condition dmg
more bleeding ticks with DD trait
more ideulist and iberserker with signet of the ether and also shorter cd on illusions skills
slower movement even with centaur but you can change to hoelbrak for -20% condition duration
with miror heal skill you almost perma swiftness 29% more speed

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAraRnUEVQbRNi0wWbEx0jgz3AOUKuusrkCc7CB-jEyAYLIkWApFgkoAl/KiGbNrIasabMVMRUtUAwMBA-w

Nice as well. I think hybrids are the way to go these days.

Seems interesting any chance of a video of this is action?

Mantra + Mender’s by itself is amazing without any mantra traits. Throw in Harmonious or Restorative or Mastery and it just gets better and better. I’ve been using it a lot in wvw lately and I really love it now.

I keep trying to make a build that works with mantras.. trying again now.

I’m a bit confused though as to why this is set up as a hybrid build. There’s not much that does condition damage here, just bleeds on crits. Is that significant enough to justify the condition damage gear?

I might try a variation of this in PvP, though the problem there is much harder choices to be made about what stats to bump up. Probably have to go rabid (which I run on my current hybrid) but that’s going to leave power a bit low.

I run a version of it to mess with on occasion:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAscRl4zCpHUzoGbNJipCB3pCQHpHlWqtalUwbXIA-jUCBYLERjUgg0HDRL/pIaslhFRjVXDTbiIq2aGzhgIqWKAYGWB-w

Faster weapon use, even more stupid amounts of condition removal when dealing with zergs, and of course more conditions.

@qaelyn: Bleeds. Tons and tons of bleeds (plus a touch of cunfusion, but thats incidental). Also, I’ll switch GS for staff half the time in larger fights, in which case you have some burning and more confusion.

This is definitely harder to pull off in PvP without food (orrian truffle stew or rare veggie pizza) and without optimal stat distribution.

@xovian: yeah, similar idea, and looks great, but if going Rampagers you probably want the pistol so the phantasm can stack up to 8 bleeds. I’d actually rather be using your stat allocation for the chaos V, but I just couldn’t pull it off without dropping phantasmal fury, DE, and either sword or pistol cooldown (or even blink range for escapes). Plus, the extra precision and crit damage is more valuable than a tad more toughness and boon duration.

Just tried it. Not bad so far. It’s obviously much less defensive than my PU hybrid but it hits like a ton of bricks. I like it better than the more conventional phantasm builds I’ve tried before. And I like getting the 3 charges thing more than the heal-on-charge thing.

I kept the scepter in my build because I figure this is supposed to be hybrid and, well, I’m a scepter guy. Even the scepter #3 hits pretty hard with the 30/30 up top. Also swapped cripple for greatsword training.

And I’m trying my auto-mantra-of-pain thing again too because I am determined to find a way to make that work.

Going to try rampager amulet next but that probably won’t end well as it will leave me rather glassy.

Isn’t phantasmal fury still bugged?

Qaelyn.7612:

Just tried it. Not bad so far. It’s obviously much less defensive than my PU hybrid but it hits like a ton of bricks. I like it better than the more conventional phantasm builds I’ve tried before. And I like getting the 3 charges thing more than the heal-on-charge thing.

I kept the scepter in my build because I figure this is supposed to be hybrid and, well, I’m a scepter guy. Even the scepter #3 hits pretty hard with the 30/30 up top. Also swapped cripple for greatsword training.

And I’m trying my auto-mantra-of-pain thing again too because I am determined to find a way to make that work.

Going to try rampager amulet next but that probably won’t end well as it will leave me rather glassy.

Yeah, the third utility slot is complely switchable, but makes mantras even more viable. Let me know what kind of damage you are getting with the three manta of pain hits.

Well I don’t like rampager’s in the PvP version, just too glassy.

And even with 6 condition cleanses in 15 seconds I had no chance against a condi-spammer necro. I think that’s one place where PU is flatly better — it doesn’t have as much condition clearing but it has more avoidance tricks. Still though, just a mesmer weakness overall I guess.

Qaelyn.7612:

Well I don’t like rampager’s in the PvP version, just too glassy.

And even with 6 condition cleanses in 15 seconds I had no chance against a condi-spammer necro. I think that’s one place where PU is flatly better — it doesn’t have as much condition clearing but it has more avoidance tricks. Still though, just a mesmer weakness overall I guess.

I’ll try it later with Mantra of Resolve. Also, try it with staff instead of GS for PvP.

Well, it’s a good build but I’m not sure it’s for me. I just miss my defenses and find I die too easily. Might be better in WvW where it’s easier to get the right stat mix.

And I still can’t make peace with the mantra charging thing. On paper it looks like 3 heals and 8 condition clears every 15 seconds or so. In practice, I constantly get interrupted, often at the worst possible time, and the time you have to wait after being interrupted is ridiculous. Again, I think this probably is less of an issue in WvW.

I still think mantras need a change in their charging mechanism to be viable. They’re just too much work and hassle for most players right now. But your build seems as close as any I’ve seen to really being viable.

Yeah, mantras just kind of suck, as much as I really want them to work. Maybe a small decrease in charge time would change everything

Regardign the build, I think it’s only viable in WvW. For solo roaming, with mix of Knights and Rabid, you’re able to get you toughness up to around 1700, which in my experience is enough to survive bursts. And with full sigil of perceptions stacks + oil, you can get your crit chance to around 80%. Your power suffers a little, but with sigils of battle, might-on-dodge food, and GS2, you can ratchet up your power quickly. But it really shines in groups when you can go glass have others provide support.

Edit: I should have said that mantra recharge is brutal, especially without access to stealth. Otherwise, mantras are quite useful. There are just very few other skills in the game with such a large penalty for using them in combat.

Qaelyn.7612:

And I still can’t make peace with the mantra charging thing. On paper it looks like 3 heals and 8 condition clears every 15 seconds or so. In practice, I constantly get interrupted, often at the worst possible time, and the time you have to wait after being interrupted is ridiculous.

Stability mantra ftw. I choose it over blink even with only 2 charges. Cant even begin to count the times it has saved me, allowed me to stomp uninterrupted and let me charge the heal. Only become better with healing mantras. Combine with another skills such as decoy, torch, blink, stuns, distortion or mass invisibility and you can counter interrupts and give time to charge the stability mantra as well.

Having healing mantra without the stability mantra (and preferably cleansing mantra, though that can be avoid with menders if you dont want uber cleansing) is gimping yourself and I can understand why people cant get it to work.

I run it in my power PU build, and just charge in stealth when I can. Aegis and invisibility helps block any potential interruptions.

Bunda.2691:

Yeah, mantras just kind of suck, as much as I really want them to work.

They really don’t, though. I’d barely consider them underpowered ‘cept for the pitiful AoE range of Resolve and Concentration. There’s plenty ways to get around the mantra charging issue if the build can support it. Staff, Stealth, and Furious Interruption are some examples.

Dawdler.8521:

Stability mantra ftw. I choose it over blink even with only 2 charges. Cant even begin to count the times it has saved me, allowed me to stomp uninterrupted and let me charge the heal. Only become better with healing mantras. Combine with another skills such as decoy, torch, blink, stuns, distortion or mass invisibility and you can counter interrupts and give time to charge the stability mantra as well.

Interesting idea, but basically means I have to expend a utility slot just to make the stuff in the other slots viable? I’m sure it works, but I don’t know if I want to gear a whole character around making mantras work. I just haven’t found it effective, at least at my current skill level.

Qaelyn.7612:

Dawdler.8521:

Stability mantra ftw. I choose it over blink even with only 2 charges. Cant even begin to count the times it has saved me, allowed me to stomp uninterrupted and let me charge the heal. Only become better with healing mantras. Combine with another skills such as decoy, torch, blink, stuns, distortion or mass invisibility and you can counter interrupts and give time to charge the stability mantra as well.

Interesting idea, but basically means I have to expend a utility slot just to make the stuff in the other slots viable? I’m sure it works, but I don’t know if I want to gear a whole character around making mantras work. I just haven’t found it effective, at least at my current skill level.

Having stability is hardly a sacrifice, especially not if you wish to zerg.
But hey you dont have to use it. Mantras arent for everyone. I am used to it as I’ve used variations of mantra builds for like 8 months now (ran around with ether feast like a noob before).

This is my first serious attempt to using mantra and I went in spvp with this little variation

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8al4zipXUzgGb9IypCQHpHqmptalewbXYuB-TsAg0CnIiRFjLGTMyYsxMsYFxGBA

After the initial mess caused by the clunky mantra charge I was really surprised how well it all went. I wanted a power base build rather than the hybrid rampager advertised here and it was great fun. Tons of damage and an aggressive play style with three interrupts can put high pressure to anyone. I tried recharging mantra during decoy or mass inv and it worked. Got interrupted twice when doing it outside stealth but fortunately didn’t die for it. I’m still inexperienced with mantras and forgot few times to check the number of charges left before to start fighting. I am very positive about the build and will keep using it and see how it goes.

For WvW I prefer a bit more defense and will use knight armor/centaur runes + everything else berserker. Will post feedback shortly. Great build Bunda, good job

I just happened to try it first with Rampager’s gear (as its been sitting unused in my bank forever). I think youre totally right that zerker might just have more bang, evwn without the bleeds.

Last night I ran Protective Mantras when running this build with my guild (no need for duelists discipline in large fights) and found it really effective. I tried both my knights/zerk and dire sets and it worked with both, taking mantras of recovery, concentration, and resolve, or sometimes glamors for the confusion on glamor if traited. I basically never got downed while charging a mantra (though, to be fair, the guardians in my party may have had something to do with that), as your armor goes through the roof, and you have so many stun breaks and condi clears. I’m sure my damage is subpar, but my numbers seemed ok and I still got a good number of bags.

Tl;dr. For roaming protective mantras is probably not as useful, but it seemed to work in large chaotic fights.

Glad I saw this.. been training a mesmer hoping to play some sort of phantasm build.. was thinking about going PU but this actually looks like it suits me much better. Will definately be tryng this when I get to 80

Thanks!

Used this last night for a little solo roaming. Same 30/30/0/10/0, but used pretty much all knights gear for some added toughness. Also ran halting strike and Mantra of Distraction for 5+ interrupts (with weapon skills), of which I’d generally land two or three in 1v1. But this is still a phantasm dominant build, and I forget that high bleed stacks still do some damage when you can stack might. Anyway, this is what I used, switching GS for staff whenever I felt like it, as both work well.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8al4zKqnRTmGb9IypCQHpHqmptalegb52FC-jkDBYLCyUEAkIQEBwJQFRjtMsIasqaA6FYqTI6To6XQqYweDY+DJVGgqFA-w

Worked pretty well except when ambushed by necros and didn’t have time to switch in mantra of resolve.

And totally unrelated, what is that ranged underwater necro skill that drops you in like two seconds? I went from full health to downed in moments, and I think the necro knew it was a bit OP because he just stood aside and let me heal up.