Guild Wars 2

Warning: this is all theorycraft. I just wanted to read some thoughts on an interesting build I came up with since I haven’t seen it discussed on these forums. In full disclosure, I’m too low of a level to try it out so I don’t have a clue whether it is viable or not. But, like so many other builds I’ve toyed around with, on paper it looks fairly strong – at least in a 1v1 or 1v2 situation. Here’s the build:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAsaRl4zKq3UTjGa9IBqHbH7fn0jWn6TXqAvBT4AA1CtomxMjYG7MuZkzsQYgwBhNCPEmIA

Basically, it is 30 Domination for Confounding Suggestions and 30 Illusions with the remaining 10 to be spent wherever you like(30/?/?/?/30). Utilities are designed for clone production and extra dazes through Mantra of Distraction (yeah, I know Mantras blow – wait for the explanation).

Weapons don’t REALLY matter, except it certainly leans more toward a GS/S+? build. Also, I’m uncertain if the bonuses stack, but if the Sigils DO stack, the +15% stun duration Sigils are a must. I used Runes of the Mesmer, obviously, to increase daze duration.

The build is based around using Diversion and Mantra of Distraction to lockdown the target. As you can see, every time you Daze, you inflict 5 stacks of vulnerability (more, if you interrupt), Confusion (bleh), Gain Might, and Possibly Stun for upwards of 2 seconds (assuming the Sigils stack).

With a fair amount of ease, it seems like you can produce 3 illusions, use Diversion to put up 20+ stacks of vulnerability, and render the target harmless for a significant amount of time – with a best case scenario of a 4-6 second STUN (though I understand that neither daze nor stun stacks in duration – the idea is that the illusions you produce with the weapon set in the build will hit at different intervals, thereby overwriting the appropriate effect). Once the target breaks stun or daze, you can simply cast your prepared Mantra for additional applications of Daze and -hopefully- Stun. While the target is incapacitated (whether by stun or by daze) you simply build more clones for a Mind Wrack – or, in the case of a drawn-out fight a Cry of Frustration (NOT, mind you, for the confusion – but for the 20s retaliation given by the Tier 1 Illusion talent).

By the time the target has the opportunity to touch you, they in theory should have little life left, you have a long application of retaliation, and you still have plenty of defensive cooldowns (Illusionary Wave, iBerzerker, blurred frenzy, and Magic Bullet for another 4 second stun) to rely on while you AA and build more clones for Mind Wracks.

The obvious problem is the lack of condition removal, though that can be taken care of by grabbing Cleansing Conflagration (torch trait – if you want to use the torch) or using your free 10 points to grab Mender’s Purity. There are other tweaks as well – most notably, you may want to switch Illusionary Persona with Imbued Diversion if you KNOW you will be up against a group – it is the closest thing in this game (as far as I know) to an AOE Mez (it would be pretty neat to see 5 targets all stunned for a few seconds).

Anyway – give me your thoughts…I’ve always been a fan of lockdown builds in any game, so I’d be interested to see if this is viable.

Just to point out. The 15% Stun Duration Sigils affect both Dazes and Stuns, and do NOT stack with Runes of the Mesmer, so take one or the other, sigils usually being the best.

In that case I’d probably go with Runes of the Centaur for the Swiftness – although that is completely for convenience and not for synergy with the build (although the extra power is nice).

For synergy, I might opt for Monk and/or Water for +boon duration (for retaliation and might).

I personally would use harmonious mantras over confounding suggestions, as the chance for stun isn’t as great as an extra heal and an extra daze off of each mantra charge-up.

Furthermore, rather than blade training, grab inspiration 10 and get menders purity. This turns your instant heal into an instant heal+condition removal, that can be used thrice per charge-up. Especially as you do not have any other way of removing conditions with the clone-generating utilities.

Either that, or drop 10 from illusions and go duelist 20 for clones on dodge. This would free your utilities to be something useful, such as the condition removal mantra (which could then be used thrice, like the others). You would be sacrificing shatter cdr tho.

You certainly have the best weapons for this tho, as the knockback plus the stun from pistol can put someone out of a fight for a while. Any reason you didn’t go with MoaMorph? As lockdown, I’d consider it crucial to winning against more than one opponent.

I’m not sure Diversion will work as you plan. The three shatters don’t typically product three dazes. The first illusion to shatter will inflict the daze. The remaining illusions will not stack daze as long as daze is currently on the target. Since the target is not “re-dazed” I don’t think you’ll get the bonuses that would have been associated with a 2nd daze (like another vulnerability stack and stun).

@Juno – I was under the impression – though I’ll freely admit that I may be wrong – that though the dazes do not stack in duration, they do overwrite. In other words, assuming you only have 1 second dazes, though it would be HIGHLY improbable to have a three-second long daze, you could certainly have a 2.8 second long “daze-chain”, if you will. It would look like this:

1st clone hits and runs for .9 seconds when the 2nd clone hits and overwrites the first. The 2nd clone runs for another .9 seconds when the third clone hits. The 3rd clone runs its full duration as there are no other dazes coming (at least until you hit your Mantra). This obviously depends on clone placement, and I assume that most daze-chains would run for less time than this, but you get the idea. Also, keep in mind that the Sigils play an important role by increasing daze and stun duration by almost double.

If I am incorrect in this – then by all means this build is close to trash and I’d never use it.

@Arkk – As far as using harmonious mantras, I certainly see where you’re going – but it somewhat defeats the purpose of the build. Dazes are great, but you can still dodge, LOS, run away, etc…the idea is to maximize stun as much as possible to prevent any action – not just attacking.

Likewise, I think the 30 points in Illusions is fairly important as it increases the duration of Diversion through illusory persona – or, depending on the circumstance it can work to AoE stun a whole group of targets with imbued diversion. Think of those large scale node fights in sPvP…create three clones and their whole team is incapacitated for 2-3 seconds…delicious. The shatter cooldown reduction is a nice compliment, although it is mainly for mind wracks.

Having said that, I agree that the 10 points in Dueling are superfluous and can be put anywhere. I put them there on a whim simply to facilitate the production of sword clones and possibly hit another blurred frenzy. I do like the idea of grabbing mender’s purity instead, as I suggested in the original post.

Likewise, i’m up in the air for the elite skill. I like Moa for 1v2 or 1v3’s, and I wouldn’t argue against its use in this build. My personal preference is simply that you bring more utility to the entire team (whether sPvP, WvW, or Dungeons) by using time warp. In any event, I can see any of the three being viable no matter the format, and you can switch them out freely between fights (and cooldowns).

Thanks for your comments, guys!