Guild Wars 2

So wondering between the two builds/styles, both 20/20/30/0/0 with varying traits. The condi one with sceptor/torch and staff, and the power version with sword/torch and greatsword. Which tends to be more viable overall in wvw or pvp small scale battles? What are the main pros and cons of either? Cheers.

Condi one is more defensive. But players can sit there no attacking you and you won’t be able to kill them.

Power one is much more offensive, not really any cons

With power you can also deal decent damage to structures – one of the main reasons I don’t like condition builds anymore.

But don’t most people stack quite a bit of toughness nowadays? Also with condition version you are able to do decent dmg (via conditions) while being in stealth no? Whereas with power most of your dmg must be dealt from out of stealth only and the niche of the PU build is being annoying and going in and out of stealth constantly is it not?

For the power build do people prefer torch offhand and 20/20/30/0/0 or pistol offhand with 10/20/30/10/0?

@XeRauS, just as ppl stack toughness they also stack condition removals and -uptime on condis.

PU power do some serious dmg and if you manage u timings you often can star the attack in stealth, remeber, main benefit with PU is not the 1 sec extra stealth, its the boons you gain from PU.

2 examples of my PU power game play:

and vs warriors/tanky players:

/Osicat

Hmm ok cool. Just a question or two with power PU.

Is knights armor and a combo of valk and zerk trinkets ok? Also are centaur runes ok due to lack of general mobility. I play many classes and don’t have a main so traveler not an option.

XeRauS.1073:

Hmm ok cool. Just a question or two with power PU.

Is knights armor and a combo of valk and zerk trinkets ok? Also are centaur runes ok due to lack of general mobility. I play many classes and don’t have a main so traveler not an option.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Guide-WvWvW-Pve-Shatter-Cat-2014-01-08

Use centaur of speed. But travelers really are the best for this build. With the rune and sigil update they could also greatly diminish in price.

XeRauS.1073:

Hmm ok cool. Just a question or two with power PU.

Is knights armor and a combo of valk and zerk trinkets ok? Also are centaur runes ok due to lack of general mobility. I play many classes and don’t have a main so traveler not an option.

You dont generally need HP if you want an offensive PU build. Just knights and zerk is probably enough.

Centaur runes work best if you use the mantra heal, but then you need either 30 in the power tree (for 3 mantras) or restorative mantras for the actual heal to be good. Taking 20 points away and putting in the HP tree is hard for a real PU build (0/20/30/20/0 is good and I often run it in zergs, but its not true PU), so using 30/10/30 would be the only option, loosing DE. Decent if you’re playing it phantasm style, not so much if you’re a shatterer.

Carpboy.7145:

Power one is much more offensive, not really any cons

Of course there are cons: it’s less *de*fensive. There are always tradeoffs.

Holy Hell build uses both
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Build-The-Holy-Hell-Build-s-solo-zerg/first#post3344899

When running full power (the cav trinkets and zerker armor) I stick with the scepter/focus anyway (and sword/torch). Still hits hard and with might, the condi damage stacks up too.

Dawdler.8521:

Centaur runes work best if you use the mantra heal, but then you need either 30 in the power tree (for 3 mantras) or restorative mantras for the actual heal to be good.

You can use centaur runes with the Mirror-heal as well, and will have perma- or almost perma-swiftness.

One of the things I like about the PU builds is that there’s actually quite a variety amongst all these. They tend to be 20/20/30, but the condi ones, pretty much always take cleansing conflagration, deceptive evasion and debilitating dissipation to create clones and benefit from their destruction (I think). The power ones pretty much always take empowered illusions and phantasmal fury. I think the condi ones almost always work in the scepter to get the torment on block. Beyond that, I see quite a few variations.

This is the power build I use:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgQQNAR7anUEFWbRNC1wWbkw0je7bgTShqTdJF4O3A-jUDBYfCyEEQkIBOBdIa5phtMsIas6aYKXBR7CS/K1GcLr2mDyUGQIgRLAA-w

Saturn.6591:

Dawdler.8521:

Centaur runes work best if you use the mantra heal, but then you need either 30 in the power tree (for 3 mantras) or restorative mantras for the actual heal to be good.

You can use centaur runes with the Mirror-heal as well, and will have perma- or almost perma-swiftness.

Problem being that if you happen to pop it before combat, you’re out of healing for 15 seconds. If you’re suddenly out of swiftness in the middle of combat, but at 100% HP you’ll “waste” the only heal you got. Mantra healing with centaur runes even that out but provided more but lower per click healing. Its better at maintaining swiftness, plain and simple.

But its not impossible to use mirror or ether feast of course, whatever floats your boat. The only thing it sucks with is obviously the signet.

Dawdler.8521:

Saturn.6591:

Dawdler.8521:

Centaur runes work best if you use the mantra heal, but then you need either 30 in the power tree (for 3 mantras) or restorative mantras for the actual heal to be good.

You can use centaur runes with the Mirror-heal as well, and will have perma- or almost perma-swiftness.

Problem being that if you happen to pop it before combat, you’re out of healing for 15 seconds. If you’re suddenly out of swiftness in the middle of combat, but at 100% HP you’ll “waste” the only heal you got. Mantra healing with centaur runes even that out but provided more but lower per click healing. Its better at maintaining swiftness, plain and simple.

1. You simply do not pop it before combat, since you will usually see opponents at least 5-10 seconds before combat begins. Also, with the Mantra (taking the scenario you’ve described) you would often be left with one or zero charges when getting into a fight.

2. If you’re at 100% HP in the middle of combat, you’ll most likely not need that swiftness urgently either. Also, if you would use the Mantra-heal “just for swiftness at 100% health while in combat”, you could end up with having to re-charge the Mantra before you can actually heal when you need it.

3. I would never use the Mantra for swiftness. I really wouldn’t. You can theoretically maintain perma-swiftness out of combat without that second or so downtime, but other than that, it’s worse in every aspect. I’ve explained why at points 1 and 2. The downsides that you see with using Mirror would actually be a lot bigger if you would use the Mantra instead.

About PU, no condi build can have Burst like a Power PU setup.

Insane Burst PU Vid:

/Osicat