Guild Wars 2

I’ve been only playing power shatter before, and decided to try out condi just to refresh things up a little. So far I’m loving the build, but compared to my S/T LB burn/bleed warrior (which is my only other condi build), this seems… underpowered. Applying conditions is a lot more difficult, the rotation is harder to pull off, and I just generally seem to be making less damage in fights than with my warr. And I’m talking about WvW, haven’t tried this in PvP yet but will at some point.

The build in question is this: http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Chronomancer_-_Condi_Roamer

I did change Inspiration to Dueling for a little while and it seemed to buff up my damage a bit, but I simply lost too much sustain with it. The theoretical damage is very good against PvE targets and camp guards, who don’t block, evade, heal or cleanse, but against other players it’s much harder to be effective.

Since it’s a new build for me, I don’t always get the rotations right, mind you. I could be wrong about the build being underpowered; maybe I’m just not good enough with it yet. It just FEELS underpowered for now.

So my initial question in a nutshell is: is condi chrono actually underpowered or is it just difficult to learn? I don’t mind the difficulty, but I would like to know how viable it actually is. Also, if you have any tips for me, or recommendations on the build, I’d appreciate it Thanks in advance.

It’s the more powerful the less opponents you are fighting. One of the strongest 1v1 specs, and useless in zerg fights.

Ah, so I’ll just git gud then. That’s all I wanted to know, thanks!

I only play condi chrono and in WvW roaming. I don’t play the standard build. I use this build with mainhand scepter and sword/torch offhands.
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?vhQQRAre7fn0nBFqhNqBmpBEgiFnjquQT0GFtx2nE4MAGgED-TFyCQBF8EAq/MhHCQ90PkFlKA4IAkIlgnY/hKqsKAACwMLzysMDO6RP6RP6RbmzcmzcmzsQALWDA-w

I think it’s extremely strong 1v1. The disenchanter is undervalued in a lot of builds in my opinion. I have to have the boon strip from it to beat berserkers with their endless resistance. I think this build is quite capable in more than 1v1 fights. The first fight on the video below is a 1v3. Granted, the thief dies to AoE trying to rez the first ranger and the second ranger probably could have done more to pressure me down. But it can work in multi-person fights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ude6CGAFcsE

In zerg fights, I try to loop around the edges because the illusions just don’t last long enough in the middle.

For this build, I think the ideal starting rotation for me works something like this:
- Scepter block/shield block until you have 3 illusions
- F5,F4,F3
- Tides of time
- Gravity well
- Weapon swap
- Prestige
- iMage

If you do it fast enough, you come out of continuum shift with both prestige and image available again and this is a big part of what wins the first fight (along with Balthazar runes)

Honestly that MetaBattle build isn’t very good unless you come up against builds that have absolutely no cleanse. Almost all of your condition pressure comes from shatters…..that will do minuscule direct damage because you are full dire. I see Chronos sometimes running this build and it’s just so easy to ignore them. If you go hybrid stats with this build you will have much more success in actually putting pressure on people. Dragonhunters and Thieves will still shut you down with ease though.

However, if you want to remain dire and actually have some noticeable pressure (outside of 1v1s) take sceptre instead of sword and then perhaps take torch over shield for reliable burn application. However, shield is a solid choice no matter what you’re playing and Tides of Time is just immense with Mistrust. If you’re taking duelling instead of Inspiration, just slot cleaning sigils and take Null Field or Mantra of Resolve.

Simonoly.4352:

Honestly that MetaBattle build isn’t very good unless you come up against builds that have absolutely no cleanse. Almost all of your condition pressure comes from shatters…..that will do minuscule direct damage because you are full dire. I see Chronos sometimes running this build and it’s just so easy to ignore them. If you go hybrid stats with this build you will have much more success in actually putting pressure on people. Dragonhunters and Thieves will still shut you down with ease though.

However, if you want to remain dire and actually have some noticeable pressure (outside of 1v1s) take sceptre instead of sword and then perhaps take torch over shield for reliable burn application. However, shield is a solid choice no matter what you’re playing and Tides of Time is just immense with Mistrust. If you’re taking duelling instead of Inspiration, just slot cleaning sigils and take Null Field or Mantra of Resolve.

What kind of hybrid would you recommend then? Carrion/Sinister over Dire? Or mixing in some zerker with dire? I like shield too much to replace it, but will try out scepter in stead of sword. Thanks for the tip.

Hevoskuuri.3891:

Simonoly.4352:

Honestly that MetaBattle build isn’t very good unless you come up against builds that have absolutely no cleanse. Almost all of your condition pressure comes from shatters…..that will do minuscule direct damage because you are full dire. I see Chronos sometimes running this build and it’s just so easy to ignore them. If you go hybrid stats with this build you will have much more success in actually putting pressure on people. Dragonhunters and Thieves will still shut you down with ease though.

However, if you want to remain dire and actually have some noticeable pressure (outside of 1v1s) take sceptre instead of sword and then perhaps take torch over shield for reliable burn application. However, shield is a solid choice no matter what you’re playing and Tides of Time is just immense with Mistrust. If you’re taking duelling instead of Inspiration, just slot cleaning sigils and take Null Field or Mantra of Resolve.

What kind of hybrid would you recommend then? Carrion/Sinister over Dire? Or mixing in some zerker with dire? I like shield too much to replace it, but will try out scepter in stead of sword. Thanks for the tip.

Yep Sinister is a good choice or even Viper’s if you have the time to spare to accumulate it. Mix in a bit of Trailblazer’s, Rabid, or Dire to get to a toughness/vitality level that you are comfortable with.

However, if you’re going to take on sceptre then full dire works a treat. If you want more condi pressure from Duelling, Rabid is a good choice also. I currently use full rabid but use those ascended rabid/dire mixture trinkets to give myself a bit more vitality.

Now that I have more hours with the build under my belt, and I’ve learned the rotations, it’s working wonders for me. I also made a drastic choice and picked Signets of Domination and Midnight over Signet of Illusions and Arcane Thievery (and keeping Blink as my third utility.)

This allows me to keep 100% Confusion duration with less expensive utility foods, gives even more condition output (SoM puts out confusion, cripple and vulnerability + blind with traits, and also works as a stun break), has great cc with the 3 second unblockable stun with SoD, and gives a really nice bonus to my base condi damage. I also like to run with Gravity Well more often than moa, especially when engaging in fights against multiple enemies.

I sometimes miss the F1-F4 recharge with SoI, but I feel the change was worth it. While they are on cooldown, I can still spam out illusions, use Blink to kite around, and sword to block, evade and deal a bit of damage with the autoattack chain. Also, I have my signets to spam conditions and keep my opponent CC’d until shatters recharge.

I can now see why msalakka called this one of the strongest 1v1 builds. The sustain and condi pressure is really strong, and I feel like I lash out more conditions than most opponents can cleanse. Of course DH’s and good thieves still win, but it’s a fun build to play around, having a nice learning curve to it.

Hevoskuuri.3891:

Now that I have more hours with the build under my belt, and I’ve learned the rotations, it’s working wonders for me. I also made a drastic choice and picked Signets of Domination and Midnight over Signet of Illusions and Arcane Thievery (and keeping Blink as my third utility.)

This allows me to keep 100% Confusion duration with less expensive utility foods, gives even more condition output (SoM puts out confusion, cripple and vulnerability + blind with traits, and also works as a stun break), has great cc with the 3 second unblockable stun with SoD, and gives a really nice bonus to my base condi damage. I also like to run with Gravity Well more often than moa, especially when engaging in fights against multiple enemies.

I sometimes miss the F1-F4 recharge with SoI, but I feel the change was worth it. While they are on cooldown, I can still spam out illusions, use Blink to kite around, and sword to block, evade and deal a bit of damage with the autoattack chain. Also, I have my signets to spam conditions and keep my opponent CC’d until shatters recharge.

I can now see why msalakka called this one of the strongest 1v1 builds. The sustain and condi pressure is really strong, and I feel like I lash out more conditions than most opponents can cleanse. Of course DH’s and good thieves still win, but it’s a fun build to play around, having a nice learning curve to it.

It’s worth noting that arcane thievery is utter garbage that really should never be used, so there’s that.

SoD is not an unblockable stun, not sure what gave you that idea.

Gravity well is more generally useful than moa since it’s on a lower cooldown and can affect more people. Moa is a 1off extremely powerful utility that’s great if you’re regularly only fighting 1v1s.

Fay.2357:

It’s worth noting that arcane thievery is utter garbage that really should never be used, so there’s that.

SoD is not an unblockable stun, not sure what gave you that idea.

Gravity well is more generally useful than moa since it’s on a lower cooldown and can affect more people. Moa is a 1off extremely powerful utility that’s great if you’re regularly only fighting 1v1s.

Oh kitten, sorry about that. I was really tired, remembered one of the signets was unblockable, and guessed it was SoD without bothering to confirm. In any case, signets are extremely powerful on this build and seem to be working well for me.

I too was running Disenchanter when i last played for resistance removal.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAW7el0nhy0YhawDNwtGLOH1ZAMAJGajtPJQdhmoNKA-TVyCQBA4gAQhjAAyeAAH7CA0P1fS3+DVU5HKVCWPdDkCAmxWA-w

Although id gotten really tired of condi chrono(needs nerf). Just wish they would nerf DD and Zerk down to a level of normality so power mes could shine again.