Guild Wars 2

Scepter Mesmers are a very rare breed, but I know they’re out there. I was wondering what kinda strategies/builds people create with the scepter in mind. I can’t see much use for it beyond Scepter 3.

The counter blocks a hit, but the rest of it’s animations leave you dangerously open and it’s autoattack doesn’t seem to spawn clones quick enough to be very useful, but I admit to being very ignorant of the scepter fighting style.

I sometimes use it in PvE when I want to have Focus equipped and stay in ranged.

Double-tapping the number 2 skill tosses out a blinding bolt, which is awesome. I wish the first skill would keep channeling after you block an attack.

The number 3 skill is VERY powerful in WvW for a nice burst of Confusion on a single target, along with some solid damage.

You’re right that the first skill is pretty clunky. It feels slow, does low damage, and doesn’t produce clones fast enough for me to feel it’s “worth it”. I pretty much blow my other cooldowns then swap back to my main weapon.

Scepter 3 is nice for stacking confusion on a fast attacking target especially in WvW/PvP. Counterspell has some situational uses as a ghetto aoe blind if the mobs/people are tight together. While kiting someone in pvp/wvw it can be nice for setting up shatters as the #1 attack clones do spawn right on the target when you want to keep a safe distance.

Other than those uses you’re actually hurting yourself using other things as a main weapon in PvE as it results in lower dmg, lower utility and thus less overall contribution. A lot of people like it “only” because of a aesthetic hangup and stick with it as a result.

It use to be the “condition” weapon before launch even it’s trait gives bonus condition(malice) damage. Thats not the case anymore since the auto-attack had conditions/confusion removed from auto-attack. It needs to be revised imho.

Scepter.. 5? I thought only Scepter 3 could confuse.

Scepter.. 5? I thought only Scepter 3 could confuse.And with the confusion nerfed in sPvP is it viable there?

Chaos Archangel.5071:

Scepter.. 5? I thought only Scepter 3 could confuse.

Scepter.. 5? I thought only Scepter 3 could confuse.And with the confusion nerfed in sPvP is it viable there?

Sorry when I said 5 i was thinking on combination with torch off hand phantasm for some quick stacks of confusion. In sPvP it can still do some good damage on fast attacking targets melee warriors/rogues(d/d & s/p rogues melt in seconds). It’s strongest in wvw and pve though as it does twice the amount of damage there.

With all shatters causing confusion, clone on dodge, and confusion on blind heres what I do. Start with auto attack. Always keep the auto attack going and keep an eye on the clone spawn. Get the clone up as you come into range and add iMage. Dodge roll then start sceptre 3. Mind rack at melee range (if you’re traited to shatter too). That stacks 12 confusion easy. At any time use #2 and fire the blind. Auto attack fires amidst your cd’s, it’ll just pop off as you go about your business, so before you know it you’ll have another clone. Dodge roll to hearts content for more clones and with torch use prestige for confuse on blind. Shatter as you blast your flame aoe. Shatters, and crits will give energy btw so keep the pressure on. Add mirror images at any time for 3x clone creation, its good to save for stuns, or if you’ve got them on the back foot. Rinse/repeat or swap to staff for additional aoe/clones etc as the need arises. There’s no real set order you need to do things, just adjust to the situation. The entire time I keep 5-10 stacks of confusion on. Can go as high as 17 if I wanted to, but 12 is an easy burst. Stats give strong CD (duration is also a must), good power, around 50% crit, and 2300 armor. That way you can stay in the thick of it and still deal damage apart from confusion/conditions. Sceptre clones also bleed on crit, and of course staff clones can be used if you feel like wearing someone down.

Oh yes, and signit of midnight, aoe blind which turns into an aoe confusion.

The way i play with scepter is essentially the second i get to 3 clones i try to shatter them asap, i ensure there’s large amounts of confusion everywhere, and all that good stuff!! That being said, the staff is more my thing because of all the RNG and chaos it causes, but scepter is -really- fun…

I use it in spvp for a couple of builds:

Its a great power/crit weapon as the totals of your counter-attack and scepter 3 can get upwards of 8k (not including confusion damage). Its biggest problem is the blocking mechanism and how it doesn’t really protect you if you are looking for the counter-attack. In fact you block one and take 1-3 attacks while waiting for it to go off.

I’ve also used it in a all-out retaliation build that is pretty raw and requires tweaking before I can say it isn’t strong enough. The main issue is that max retaliation is scepter/sword + staff loadout which by default means power/cond build (I.e. carrion amulet) since you need power for retaliation. The extra vitality helps but for it to work more armor might be needed.

I keep the scepter around for it’s 3 mostly. As I run a cond dmg build, having a cry of frustration+s3 sometimes decimates warriors and thieves that keep attacking. And the blind is cool too even if it’s basically worthless, but hey, -1 source of dmg is better than nothing.

I’ve seen some pretty good suggestions for improving it around here but it’s pretty sad that ANet are keeping radio silence on the matter.

How I use the Scepter (WvW, PvE applies as well)
-Spam 1 as you come to your target, this gets rid of the first two balls, hit your target with the 3rd = quick clone
-For the block, if you are running away use it, if your are fighting (preferably up close) press again for the blind (easy to miss so make sure to have good LoS)
-3 skill, make sure to be in range to get full damage/confusion
-Closer you are to your target the faster the balls are and produce clones (I like to run circles around my opponent)

I miss the days when Scepter/Pistol + Glamour field could hit 25 confusion stacks all day. Oh those silly bosses hitting themselves for 8k+ per attack.

Scepter – focus are pretty good at sneaking damage in at narrow choke points. Target a cluster of folks there and loose an i-Warden with crit buffs. As soon as the blokes start pulling away to kill the warden, drop a feedback on them (on top of warden’s feedback) and lol. May result in sudden haul of badges.

While retreating from an attacker, stack illusions and shatter confusion on him.

Rare? whaaa??

Sceptor is pretty strong. Well, in wvw anyway.

My mesmer is a glamour/phantasm mesmer.
Still trying to lock down best gearing options..

But lots and lots of confuse.
Feedback/null, timewarp.
Confuse on entering/eaving feeback/null.
shatters confuse.
sceptor 3 confuse.
Whirl finisher on focus offhand/zerker.
Temporal curtain reflect/pull. Warden reflect. feedback reflect.

Where does scepter stand?
Well first, something needs to go with focus offhand. sceptor/sword are the two options.
Sword has a leap combo. and the evade. High melee aoe damage. Good for soloing of course. But forcing yourself into melee in wvw. yeah.. Better have built tank, and which point your damage is now terrible, defeating the purpose in the first place.
Sceptor. ranged. block, and confuse. It also spams illusions, for scream. And more confuse.

I play mostly WvW, and I use Scepter/Focus for chasing. Focus 4 is unspeakably good for chasing, and Scepter 3, as a condition build, can cause a low health runner to down themselves if they try to use mobility/escape skills. It is mostly just a backup set to my Staff conditions. Sometimes I use the 3 skill as a feint to make them burn their dodges, making it easy to follow-up with a traited CoF for 8 stacks confuse.

I strongly suggest the Emberglow scepter for maximum fun. Pretty much all of the previous posts in this thread sum up my use of the scepter.

I sometimes use the scepter as well… and one use that I have for it that I didn’t see skimming this thread is for farming events in orr. The clones appear right next to the mobs which gives me quick aoe shatters for tagging without the clones needing to run in first.

Edit: I meant to say that I use it for many of the same uses I’ve seen in this thread… and one additional as well. When I am farming in orr my typical loadout is scepter/focus and staff… in dungeons I run scepter/torch and staff (sometimes, depends on which dungeon)