So I am kinda new to Mesmer, my main is Reaper. I am playing Gw2 since 2013, and my second char was mesmer but I didnt liked it.
After HoT came out I thought I will try out Chronomancer, and I am starting to like it, I am playing the Meta Dungeon Build Bers/Assassin. In pve I am with Staff/Sword-Focus(shield/sword).
So The Question is, How to play the staff on berseker? or isnt it recommended at all. Cause I got the feeling that Damage is really week 300 damage on autoattack, while on sword 600-800. Even the 5th skill has only 320. And it Feels kinda underpowered for me, but maybe I am playing it wrong, and I am using wrong combos or smth like that, cause I cant even master the Shatters.
I hope you can help me to learn how to play effectively the Staff on Berseker Gear.
Despite the fact that the staff is not met, it is indeed a great weapon, but hard to use properly.
For raids you want it only for chaos storm and iWarlock and you mustn’t do any auto attacks with it. To not use any aa’s while swapping to staff is achieved by using CS during that swap time and use all your skills so you can swap back before having to aa.
It’s a great way of dealing good power damage, but normally more alacrity does the same job, just passive by buffing allies more. If you have high boon duration you could go for Sword / Shield + Staff and sustain alacrity with WoC and 1 avenger. Then use 2 warlocks for max dps.
For solo and open world simply replace the aa with mantra of pain and you’ll have a powerful weapon overall.
Greez!
- Madame Le Blanc
Ziggs Ironeye – Engineer | Madame Le Blanc – Mesmer | Mentor (PvE) | EU
“Mentoring engineers / mesmers and showing you what you can do with your fantastic class!
Just pm me for my advice! Always eager to help!”
Staff on Berserker/Assassin is a defensive weapon.
The only offensive highlight is the iWarlock, which is the highest-dps phantasm if your target has…6 condis? That’s pretty hard to maintain on your own, and its hit rate is atrocious, so mobile targets aren’t so good for it.
Staff’s only strong offensive use outside of stacking iWarlocks is for clone-condi builds.
Yup, for solos it’s a defensive weapon, for raids it’s the best phant <3 and yes 6 condis+
Ziggs Ironeye – Engineer | Madame Le Blanc – Mesmer | Mentor (PvE) | EU
“Mentoring engineers / mesmers and showing you what you can do with your fantastic class!
Just pm me for my advice! Always eager to help!”
It’s has a really boring weapon with only like 2 active skills
That’s kind of a problem actually. Even in PvP. It’s a weapon you don’t really want to AA with, but at the same time, you don’t get much else. Basically, it’s good to proc chaos armor and phase retreat can be fun in some places (especially PvP maps).
It’s has a really boring weapon with only like 2 active skills
That’s kind of a problem actually. Even in PvP. It’s a weapon you don’t really want to AA with, but at the same time, you don’t get much else. Basically, it’s good to proc chaos armor and phase retreat can be fun in some places (especially PvP maps).
Yep. Dropping the phantasm is super boring the AA is boring chaos armor is soooo boring. Choas storm is cool but they nerfed the visual. So it’s now boring. Phase retreat is awesome
Auto attack damage and condis are weak.
iWarlock attack is too easy to avoid (and not that great damage in pure condi builds)
Chaos armour sucks hardcore and Staff #4 is so bad on a huge cooldown.
The only reasons I would currently take staff are Phase Retreat which is pretty much the only saving grace of this weapon, and Chaos Storm mainly for the Daze procs to either prevent enemy rezzing or whatever.
Otherwise Staff is in dire need of a significant damage buff in all areas, and Staff #4 needs to be deleted/replaced.
It’s not awful, it’s just that you never want to use all skills of it. The whole setup is strange. Auto is pure condi, and even that part is rather bad, staff 2 is awesome for everyone, I’d just like it to not create a clone when we have 3 phants out already … 3 is only good for power builds, 4 is pretty much always garbage, slightly ok for pvp but the cd is ridiculous and CS feels like you throw rotten eggs at someone – not dangerious at all but annoying, yet still better than doing nothing (if you hate that person)…
However I use the staff in raids from time to time too, but only if I go max dps for fun. Maybe it’s even a good idea to do so in some situations, I will try at sabby for instance, once I’ve got a good dps meter that is legal.
Ziggs Ironeye – Engineer | Madame Le Blanc – Mesmer | Mentor (PvE) | EU
“Mentoring engineers / mesmers and showing you what you can do with your fantastic class!
Just pm me for my advice! Always eager to help!”
It’s not awful, it’s just that you never want to use all skills of it. The whole setup is strange. Auto is pure condi, and even that part is rather bad, staff 2 is awesome for everyone, I’d just like it to not create a clone when we have 3 phants out already … 3 is only good for power builds, 4 is pretty much always garbage, slightly ok for pvp but the cd is ridiculous and CS feels like you throw rotten eggs at someone – not dangerious at all but annoying, yet still better than doing nothing (if you hate that person)…
However I use the staff in raids from time to time too, but only if I go max dps for fun. Maybe it’s even a good idea to do so in some situations, I will try at sabby for instance, once I’ve got a good dps meter that is legal.
Someone is a dev in disguise.
Staff is an all around boring weapon all of the skills minus AA and phase retreat are super utility and should go on that side of the bar
Staff has been left behind with the power creep across the game.
With chaos armour blind being removed it even has kitten defence apart from phase retreat kiting.
And it’s offence sucks compared to sword/greatsword/scepter.
The phantasm is single target with a horrifically slow and easily avoided projectile.
I really can’t say many positive things about staff at the moment other than phase retreat (I am coming purely from pvp/wvw perspective). Double Scepter or Scepter/x Sword/x is better for condi builds and greatsword or Sword/x better for power builds.
Thank you everybody for your information. It helped me a lot to figure out how to play the mesmer with staff better – Tried today to play a power build in pvp, was a bit underpowered but was fun
Overall how I see it, is that Staff has to be remaked/rebuild.
I think many of you have awesome ideas how Staff could be more balanced and played how it has to be, so I m gonna make a thread were we can share our thoughts how to make it better, and maybe A-net Developers will hear us out.
Kitten the meta. Play the equipment/build you find fun and an effective, and learn to use those to their best ability. Playing the build/equipment that others say I should because it’s the best or meta is not fun… and in my experience, I’m more effective with something that gells with my playstyle, than with any “meta.”
To the OP: When it comes to the staff, it’s about what it brings to the table that other things don’t. Imo for the auto-attack this is homing and bouncing. People have already touched on the merits/usefulness of Phase Retreat and Chaos Storm so I won’t go much into that. Chaos Armor is for giving you some breathing room when you get surrounded… you get some combination of Protection/Regen/Swiftness, while your opponents get some combination of Weakness/Confusion/Crippled. It’s obviously designed to help extract yourself from heavy-hitting melee opponents. So, the staff gives you 2 skills that help keep you ranged (chaos armor and phase retreat), one skill for when you can’t extract (chaos storm), all the while you dish out both difficult to avoid normal and condi damage because they bounce and are homing.
As far as stats go, I personally I feel it’s about raising both pow and cond dam in order to be deadly with the staff. It does require the combination of the two to let you melt your opponent effectively.
I rather enjoy using the staff, myself. I think it is fun. I have played only a little of HoT so far, I don’t particular like it, but I survive much better using the staff than using any other weapons. I did use sword/pistol as my second weapon set, but I was usually using the staff. I am also using 2 illusion type utilities. My goal is to keep 3 illusions out as close to 100% of the time as possible. While using staff, the illusions are also using staff and they do cause good condi damage, even if only lousy direct damage.
Well if iwarlock’s attack is easy to avoid then I must have fought bad players for my entire time in this game. I love staff, whenever I’m condi I put on a sigil of agony and I get some bleeds on.
keyword being some.
Been using staff for a while and I don’t find it that bad. In fact, I prefer it over GS when roaming.
AA is still good in power builds. You have a bit of condi pressure enemies don’t pay attention, and you can stack some might iWarlock or an income bursts will love.
Phase retreat + MW. Sweet unpredictable burst.
Phantasm hits really hard. As the animation is the same as AA, people tend to not evade it, it’s not like izerker.
Chaos armor and chaos storm bring you a lot of boons. CD’s are high, but with alacrity and staff trait they become much more smaller.
Yea, Phase Retreat is awesome no question. It’s either a great survivablity weapon for WvW, PvP and solo PvE, or it’s the potential max dps weapon for raids. Still – it could make use of some buffs / QoL changes. Except for skill 2 and 3 (IF it doesn’t miss …) the other skills are pretty much garbage or underpowered.
Ziggs Ironeye – Engineer | Madame Le Blanc – Mesmer | Mentor (PvE) | EU
“Mentoring engineers / mesmers and showing you what you can do with your fantastic class!
Just pm me for my advice! Always eager to help!”
I rather enjoy using the staff, myself. I think it is fun. I have played only a little of HoT so far, I don’t particular like it, but I survive much better using the staff than using any other weapons. I did use sword/pistol as my second weapon set, but I was usually using the staff. I am also using 2 illusion type utilities. My goal is to keep 3 illusions out as close to 100% of the time as possible. While using staff, the illusions are also using staff and they do cause good condi damage, even if only lousy direct damage.
I agree that in HoT maps, staff seem to be against Pocket Raptors and other fast moving objects like Mushrooms. Better then GS I would say as GS can’t handle many foes at once (like Mushrooms or PR). You can get out of danger fast and with Wells on your utility bar you will also have more or less permanent access to Chaos Armor (Swords leap and Staffs Phase Retreat are leap finisher).
Using Chaotic Interruption with Staff (Chaos Storm) will also improve damage as you get 5 Might= 150 Power and 150 Condi Damage which is a lot and AA can proc more interrupt, so it this weapon have potential depending on how one use traits. Combine that with quickness from Chronomancer (Size the Moment) and Deceptive Evasion from Dueling (to create illusions fast) you will have pretty good chance on doing damage from Staff. Superspeed on shatter of illusions (Times Catches Up) and Illusionaty Reversion make make it easier to keep up shattering (which trigger quickness and alacrity). With blind from Dueling on shatter you avoid a lot of incoming damage/condi application and Inspiration improved healing from more illusion help to stay alive and at the same time keep condition at low impact (as each use of healing skill remove condition).
Greatsword does not have that intervening between traits which help to stay alive in HoT maps. I have not had the same success to push back a group of attackers (to trigger interrupt) with Illusionary Wave as with Chaos Storm (and AA). Specialization in Domination like Empowered Illusions and Mental Anguish make GS very strong, but the way HoT maps work make it a too much of a work to keep yourself alive. WP in HoT maps can very fast get contested, so a weapon with “high reward” is in my opinion a weapon that let you kill what needs to be killed and move on to next point on map.
Well if iwarlock’s attack is easy to avoid then I must have fought bad players for my entire time in this game. I love staff, whenever I’m condi I put on a sigil of agony and I get some bleeds on.
keyword being some.
By sidestepping you will easily avoid warlock 99% of the time.
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