Guild Wars 2

debating whether i should get knights full set or a mix of knights and zerker for this set up my build is the standard 20/20/0/0/30 i mainly like the GS more than S/S or S/P i just feel more comfortable with it than close combat because im so used to long range combat

if anyone can give me an opinion on what to do with this.

I run a GS/staff setup primarily myself – since they fixed the zerker, it works pretty well, especially in Wv3. As far as armor goes, I’ve been running with prec/toughness/condition gear along with the earth sigil on the GS (for the bleed). With the shattered strength buff, I felt it was time to move past straight burst, since if I didn’t down someone with the burst, I wasn’t able to do much. Now, with the condi dmg, the staff swap isn’t just a time filler, it seems to be pretty potent on its own.

Granted, the burst is more limited now (although still quite potent), but confusions/bleeds/burns hit much harder, helping with those pesky thieves and bunker builds. Just seems more well-rounded to me.

Just my .02.

@Lordryux:
Just depends on how defensive you want to be. Personally, I find offensive (zerker) specs better on mesmer power builds while condition mrsmets can afford to be more tanky, because conditions tick even while you evade. But with a power mesmer, you have to cycle your damage around your defensive maneuvers, so it’s more critical to burst them down fast and hard so they can’t recover. However, this leaves little room for error, so you may be more comfortable with more D and less burst, and then the Knights will work for you. I suffer you try both in the mists before deciding and see what feels right.

BTW, the difference between a good power mesmer and a great one is the ability to keep pressure in even while put on the run. Osicat’s visa have great examples how to do this.

@Dhampyr:
Why are you using the GS in a rabid build? Even with SI, the staff clone will be better and you’d get more utility out of sword/pistol/focus/torch. Is it mostly for kiting?

yea i know but he osi doesnt use GS only S/S and S/P so its a verry different set up i just feel like toughness will help a bit since im running full zerker accessorys with the weapons i should have enough crit chance and damage while running 6 sigil of airs just in spvp i cant really test because the amulets are verry different in terms of stats but im more worried about getting jumped in WvW and dieying in seconds.

@Dhampyr

yea man you dont need rabids primarily from shattered strength is enough condition damage trust me if i can make confusion tick for 900 or more damage in spvp im sure it ticks way more in WvW that much i know for sure untill it gets nerfed or bug fixed ima enjoy it while i can lol

Gaiawolf.8261:

@Dhampyr:
Why are you using the GS in a rabid build? Even with SI, the staff clone will be better and you’d get more utility out of sword/pistol/focus/torch. Is it mostly for kiting?

Kiting, indeed. Chasing down runners, mostly (since we all know how blazingly fast our beloved mesmers run). And the spec I run is still a shatter spec – I just find the extra conditions (bleeds/burns/confusion) hitting harder makes opponents go down faster than the extra meh% crit dmg that I’d get from ’zerker gear.

I agree that the staff clone would be better if I was focused on condition dmg, but I’m not. The staff itself is a good weapon, but the GS deals dmg much faster. I’m not a big fan of fights where I’m running around for 10min to get the win – I’m more of an in-and-out, leave-the-bodies-behind player.

Also, should add that everything I stated is for WvW rather than PvE. Although melee is more than viable (S/P or S/S or S/F or whatever), I simply prefer ranged. And for ranged combat, you just can’t beat the GS imo.

Lordryux.9785:

yea man you dont need rabids primarily from shattered strength is enough condition damage trust me if i can make confusion tick for 900 or more damage in spvp im sure it ticks way more in WvW that much i know for sure untill it gets nerfed or bug fixed ima enjoy it while i can lol

Agreed that you don’t NEED condition dmg – I think we all know that all of the whining about mesmers being unplayable, yadda yadda yadda is just that – whining. A full on burst shatter spec is plenty viable, as is a full on condition build. As I stated in my original reply, though, I find that when my initial burst doesn’t down someone (like a bunker or something like that), I feel that harder hitting conditions work much better. It feels like my play is much more well-rounded now. Need burst? Yeah, I can do that. Need to slowly burn someone to the ground with conditions? Yep, I can do that too.

Dhampyr.2104:

I agree that the staff clone would be better if I was focused on condition dmg, but I’m not. The staff itself is a good weapon, but the GS deals dmg much faster. I’m not a big fan of fights where I’m running around for 10min to get the win – I’m more of an in-and-out, leave-the-bodies-behind player.

I must be missing something here. How are you not focused on condition damage with prec/tough/cond gear? That is a full condition damage spec. Even with 30 in Dom, without any power gear your direct attacks pale to the potential condition damage you can put out, especially in wvwvw.

Gaiawolf.8261:

I must be missing something here. How are you not focused on condition damage with prec/tough/cond gear? That is a full condition damage spec. Even with 30 in Dom, without any power gear your direct attacks pale to the potential condition damage you can put out, especially in wvwvw.

My opener:

GS4 zerker, GS2 clone and 2 might stacks, dodge into opponent for clone, Frustration shatter with retaliation (8 stack confusion, 12 might stacks), mirror img,.dodge into them again, mind wrack for another 12 stacks of might and 4 confusion. With 25+ might stacks, that whole combo does a ton of burst even without power on gear. Plus, bleeds/confusion, and now I’m swapping to staff to wait on CDs to come up again.

If you run a WvW shatter spec, I would recommend you try it. Works quite well, for me anyway. I like being able to do good dmg regardless of whether I’m at range or in melee.

I run full Knight Armor GS/S/F, and used to be full Knight Orbed as well. I swapped to zerker orbs and orns because the damage wasn’t a good enough trade off for the minimal survivability gained. My build 30/30/0/10/0. Used primarily for Wuv Wuvs.