Guild Wars 2

Bunda.2691:

Qaelyn.7612:

I’m still working on my “Blackdevil/Blackwater hybrid” so to speak, but it looks somewhat interesting so far. The basic configuration is Blackdevil’s build but 20/20/30/0/0, adding the GS boost and dropping Mender’s Purity, then dealing with conditions using sigils, food and possibly the mantra if need be.

I’ve settled on a 20/20/30 Greatsword & Sword/Torch hybrid and love it. Zerker armor, Rabid trinkets w Zerker (Ruby) jewls. Zerker GS and Rabid Sword/Torch. It uses the standard Blackwater build but adds a ton of CC and power damage (and retains decent condition/bleed pressure). I find too that people are unused to it and unprepared for the damage spike of iZerker + blurred frenzy + mind wrack. Plus the GS gives good might stacking and chasing.

Also, use the 20 in Domination on the Torch, not the Greatsword. Condi clearing plus more invis is invaluable.

AHAHA, that’s amazing! I wasn’t sure if I should post what I have been running since it’s starting to differ from BlackDevil build (although it all started by reading this 3d) and didn’t want to mess up the thread. And then I read Bunda… it’s a carbon copy (almost) of what I am using and I can say I can finally settle down. I use knight armor plus centaur, everything else zerker but the torch which is rabid, but I will probably change that to knight. I am not too concerned with bleeds and I just go for Crit and power and it’s just amazing the damage and survivability I get. I just love it

yeah i was planning on using my badges to gear it up, but really wanted to know about the karma gear, i know the trinkets and are well worth it

this is my current build and armor

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8flwzipXUzgGb9IipHBnvBckUYavWJF82FC-j0DBYfAYLQINwkFA0HwJQFRjtmpIasaGYKXCxaXQKYoGzoWzCRmzweEYRBhRA-w

Utilities. I used to use sigil of domination but I dropped it to try other ones. however I keep going back to it because I love it. 3 seconds of stun @ 1200 range is enormous either for running and chasing. I do not really care about the condi damage boost. I often use it as an opener which allow me to start the fight with the upper hand and put pressure.

I am planning to switch torch for knight and back for zerker. The only thing I am doubtful is the food. There are so many good ones… which one do you think is the most appropriate?

Runes. Currently using centaur. What do you think about runes of air? Is traveler worth it? These are the option I am considering. Thanks

trooper.2650:

Bunda.2691:

Qaelyn.7612:

I’m still working on my “Blackdevil/Blackwater hybrid” so to speak, but it looks somewhat interesting so far. The basic configuration is Blackdevil’s build but 20/20/30/0/0, adding the GS boost and dropping Mender’s Purity, then dealing with conditions using sigils, food and possibly the mantra if need be.

I’ve settled on a 20/20/30 Greatsword & Sword/Torch hybrid and love it. Zerker armor, Rabid trinkets w Zerker (Ruby) jewls. Zerker GS and Rabid Sword/Torch. It uses the standard Blackwater build but adds a ton of CC and power damage (and retains decent condition/bleed pressure). I find too that people are unused to it and unprepared for the damage spike of iZerker + blurred frenzy + mind wrack. Plus the GS gives good might stacking and chasing.

Also, use the 20 in Domination on the Torch, not the Greatsword. Condi clearing plus more invis is invaluable.

AHAHA, that’s amazing! I wasn’t sure if I should post what I have been running since it’s starting to differ from BlackDevil build (although it all started by reading this 3d) and didn’t want to mess up the thread. And then I read Bunda… it’s a carbon copy (almost) of what I am using and I can say I can finally settle down. I use knight armor plus centaur, everything else zerker but the torch which is rabid, but I will probably change that to knight. I am not too concerned with bleeds and I just go for Crit and power and it’s just amazing the damage and survivability I get. I just love it

Eww.. I can’t imagine this build without pistol… Torch is just giving you 1 stealth with a little bit damage.
Pistol gives amazing damage and suits perfect in combo’s for your phantasm to actually hit their full attack.

BlackDevil.9268:

Eww.. I can’t imagine this build without pistol… Torch is just giving you 1 stealth with a little bit damage.
Pistol gives amazing damage and suits perfect in combo’s for your phantasm to actually hit their full attack.

I hear you, and it’s really just personal preference. Given that I’m running nearly full glass, I just find the extra stealth and condi removal of traited torch to be incredibly useful. Yeah, I sacrifice some offence, but I’m hooked on the survivability.

BlackDevil.9268:

trooper.2650:

Bunda.2691:

Qaelyn.7612:

I’m still working on my “Blackdevil/Blackwater hybrid” so to speak, but it looks somewhat interesting so far. The basic configuration is Blackdevil’s build but 20/20/30/0/0, adding the GS boost and dropping Mender’s Purity, then dealing with conditions using sigils, food and possibly the mantra if need be.

I’ve settled on a 20/20/30 Greatsword & Sword/Torch hybrid and love it. Zerker armor, Rabid trinkets w Zerker (Ruby) jewls. Zerker GS and Rabid Sword/Torch. It uses the standard Blackwater build but adds a ton of CC and power damage (and retains decent condition/bleed pressure). I find too that people are unused to it and unprepared for the damage spike of iZerker + blurred frenzy + mind wrack. Plus the GS gives good might stacking and chasing.

Also, use the 20 in Domination on the Torch, not the Greatsword. Condi clearing plus more invis is invaluable.

AHAHA, that’s amazing! I wasn’t sure if I should post what I have been running since it’s starting to differ from BlackDevil build (although it all started by reading this 3d) and didn’t want to mess up the thread. And then I read Bunda… it’s a carbon copy (almost) of what I am using and I can say I can finally settle down. I use knight armor plus centaur, everything else zerker but the torch which is rabid, but I will probably change that to knight. I am not too concerned with bleeds and I just go for Crit and power and it’s just amazing the damage and survivability I get. I just love it

Eww.. I can’t imagine this build without pistol… Torch is just giving you 1 stealth with a little bit damage.
Pistol gives amazing damage and suits perfect in combo’s for your phantasm to actually hit their full attack.

You are 110% right and I’d love to swap torch for pistol… it’s my favourite off hand. I do not use torch for damage but as a defensive tool (blind, stealth and condi removal all in one) However, without torch good thieves will kill you. Full stop. You may win few duels, but that’s it. I can already hear ppl saying that my experience is not everyone’s but although I am not the best I am experienced, played Mesmer a lot and watched tons of videos. Torch is more user friendly and helps making up mistakes. Also when doing 1vsX the survivability torch gives you is unmatched and let crappy players like myself win. I even manage to survive to zergs running over me with people scattered everywhere to try to find me or catch up with me. In some ways I find it op if traited and paired up with PU and this is why I think the iMage will never get boosted.
Pistol is great and can help you win 1vs1-2 and even 3 if you are good but experienced players (and especially good thieves) will stomp you more often than not. I do not think anyone can deny that.

In short 1 experienced player vs 2 experienced players = you loose
Torch can let you make a run at least ;-)

Hm, wouldn’t say 2 experienced players always win against 1.

Without torch I can also still escape ^^

Alright, let me give you guys my point of view on this. I have dueled against this build quite a bit, with WitchKing as my duel opponent(he is very skilled btw), using my Apex Predator build. Anyways, I was able to beat BlackDevil’s build quite a bunch of times, and same him with my build around 50% chance of win/lose ratio between him and my build when I fought…After I equipped Sig. of Illusions, I was able to win more often. This just shows you the capabilities of BlackDevil’s AoE pumpout with Berserker. So after analysis, i came to conclusion that BlackDevil’s build would not have beaten me had he used torch. Why? sure it gives a bit more stealth, but the pistol bleeds is unmatched. Plus the stun on pistol is devastating too. Also, if you try to fight a tankier opponent with sword/torch, I am sure it would take 3 times the normal time it would take with the pistol to beat him. All in all, what I am saying is both GS sword/Pistol and GS sword/torch are good at 1 vs X, but when it comes to 1 vs 1, GS and Sword/Pistol triumphs, which means GS and Sword/Pistol is much more advantageous. This is just my opinion.

BlackDevil.9268:

Hm, wouldn’t say 2 experienced players always win against 1.

Without torch I can also still escape ^^

If the game you are playing is balanced, yes

Torch instead of pistol gets you more stealth but you give up a TON of damage pressure, which is what you need to secure kills. Losing my Duelist or Swordsman (I run less condi damage, so offhand sword works just as well for me) for the silly iMage would hurt, a lot.

Sure, torch helps a lot in staying alive (although I never have trouble until 3+ show up even without it), but with only one damage phantasm I won’t be killing much either. I find torch a lot more useful for a shatter build — the stealth makes your burst much harder to predict, and the torch explosion adds some nice damage to it as well. Shatter is squishier too, so the extra survivability is definitely useful.

Totally agree. You give up a ton of damage potential by going torch instead of pistol. Maybe I’m just not as good, but feel like using pistol is fully committing to fights, while torch gives you a little more leeway in picking or choosing battles.

Where torch really does shine, however, and why I’ll continue to take it over pistol, is that it frees up that last slot on the utility bar that you would otherwise use for condi removal. Now, in addition to the standard blink and decoy, I can take Mantra of Distraction for similar daze/might to pistol. Or Signet of domination for daze/condi damage. Or any of our other awesome skills.

When I run pistol (which is great too, and I’m no way saying it’s less superior), I find I always have to dedicate that third slot to condition removal. I know BlackDevil’s (really good) build tries to get around that by going 10 in Inspiration, but I still find that one condi removal tied to heal to be a bit limiting, for my personal taste. Sure, you can go mantra, but ether feast is just so good.

Anyway, both are great. And these builds are all so similar that it really just comes down to personal preference and skill.

What Bunda says is absolutely true and I quote it. He couldn’t answer any better.

I’ve already stated that pistol is my personal choice. However, my concern is vs rogues and those hairy moments where you wish you were elsewhere (1vsXXX)
In those situations torch is just superior. And since you all know how wvw is, you know that there are plenty of those moments. But it’s down to personal preferences.

I should also add that I am a roamer and don’t love to join zergs. If I was in a small organized group or zergs I would defenitely swap torch for pistol any day (although that would force me to drop signet of dom. for a condi removal utility like Bunda says)

@ themenace
It is difficult to say which is better. My experience is that stealth is OP. Enemies cannot kill you if they do not see you. However, you can harm them while stealthed. More stealths you have and more advantage you gain. It’s a simple fact and one of the reasons why rogues can be deadly if played correctly.

I don’t think anyone is really questioning the usefulness of the Torch. However— using the Torch really doesn’t belong in this type/particular build and I’m sure there are several other variations that aren’t really hybrid power/cond.

I’d say that giving away Rampager gear for Soldier or Knight would get the same effectiveness overall. Most of the damage still comes from the Phantasms, and you trade that 15% Phantasm damage increase in Inspiration for the godly survivability provided by PU.
Good build, overall. I’d say Traveler Runes would work even better than Centaur Runes, since even with Centaur you would have only 75% swiftness uptime IF you use your heal everytime it’s off CD, whereas Traveler’s speed boost is constant and can’t be stripped.

Great build, but was wondering why you use the soldier backpack when the rest of your trinkets are berserker. Is this just cause you can’t be bothered to get another ascended backpack or is it because of the stats?

Dedalus.3065:

Great build, but was wondering why you use the soldier backpack when the rest of your trinkets are berserker. Is this just cause you can’t be bothered to get another ascended backpack or is it because of the stats?

I got it waaay back for my raid in RG. So yeah, I’m too lazy to get another one and it’s not really bad in the build so I don’t mind ^^.

BlackDevil.9268:

I got it waaay back for my raid in RG. So yeah, I’m too lazy to get another one and it’s not really bad in the build so I don’t mind ^^.

Alright, cool. But if you didn’t have to worry about buying the thing, which stats would you go for? I’m guessing berserker, or do you think the build becomes too glassy then?

-Coming from Blackwater staff scepter/torch and perplexity runes —--it’s very glassy.

You said you don’t run this build in groups. What do you run in groups?

EnderzShadow.2506:

-Coming from Blackwater staff scepter/torch and perplexity runes —--it’s very glassy.

You said you don’t run this build in groups. What do you run in groups?

I’ve posted my raid build and my gvg build on my twitch channel.

EnderzShadow.2506:

-Coming from Blackwater staff scepter/torch and perplexity runes —--it’s very glassy.

PU conditions is very tanky, but this build is pretty far from glassy, IMHO.

alanis.6094:

EnderzShadow.2506:

-Coming from Blackwater staff scepter/torch and perplexity runes —--it’s very glassy.

PU conditions is very tanky, but this build is pretty far from glassy, IMHO.

Well…taking a camp solo, while not impossible, it is ridiculous.

My guild like to take on the zerg in a sneaky way. With only one condi removal, it can get dicey quick. Today though, when we were in outnumbered situations, just switched to staff scepter/torch. That helped tremendously.

EnderzShadow.2506:

alanis.6094:

EnderzShadow.2506:

-Coming from Blackwater staff scepter/torch and perplexity runes —--it’s very glassy.

PU conditions is very tanky, but this build is pretty far from glassy, IMHO.

Well…taking a camp solo, while not impossible, it is ridiculous.

My guild like to take on the zerg in a sneaky way. With only one condi removal, it can get dicey quick. Today though, when we were in outnumbered situations, just switched to staff scepter/torch. That helped tremendously.

Actually I find myself soloing camps rather fast. Lure the mobs to 1 spot around a corner or w/e, replace veil with feedback and start off with greatsword. Izeker deals a lot damage, especially with all the interrupts you can get from #5 gs.

Well it’s a roaming build, not really raid. I don’t know how many people you guys run during a raid, but with every raid build I rely on condition removal from my allies rather than from myself so I can spec into more damage. Seems to work fine so far.

Dunno, i run a 20/20/0/30/0 GS, S/S build. With the option to throw a specced focus on at will.

I ran this build before and there are a few problems

1. A good necro will kitten on you.
2. A good thief will just c/d of pistol clones all day. Eventualy they are gonna catch yer phantasm cast with a blind, then go after you.
3. This build has alot of physical mitigation. The meta is condy.

trooper.2650:

this is my current build and armor

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8flwzipXUzgGb9IipHBnvBckUYavWJF82FC-j0DBYfAYLQINwkFA0HwJQFRjtmpIasaGYKXCxaXQKYoGzoWzCRmzweEYRBhRA-w

Utilities. I used to use sigil of domination but I dropped it to try other ones. however I keep going back to it because I love it. 3 seconds of stun @ 1200 range is enormous either for running and chasing. I do not really care about the condi damage boost. I often use it as an opener which allow me to start the fight with the upper hand and put pressure.

I am planning to switch torch for knight and back for zerker. The only thing I am doubtful is the food. There are so many good ones… which one do you think is the most appropriate?

Runes. Currently using centaur. What do you think about runes of air? Is traveler worth it? These are the option I am considering. Thanks

I have seen your build. I just want to ask you than when u use the gears mixed by knight and zerk then can you still win the fight of 1v2 or 1v3 ? As you completly abandon the condition damage , whats you feeling about it ?

Maxhzalot.2301:

trooper.2650:

this is my current build and armor

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8flwzipXUzgGb9IipHBnvBckUYavWJF82FC-j0DBYfAYLQINwkFA0HwJQFRjtmpIasaGYKXCxaXQKYoGzoWzCRmzweEYRBhRA-w

Utilities. I used to use sigil of domination but I dropped it to try other ones. however I keep going back to it because I love it. 3 seconds of stun @ 1200 range is enormous either for running and chasing. I do not really care about the condi damage boost. I often use it as an opener which allow me to start the fight with the upper hand and put pressure.

I am planning to switch torch for knight and back for zerker. The only thing I am doubtful is the food. There are so many good ones… which one do you think is the most appropriate?

Runes. Currently using centaur. What do you think about runes of air? Is traveler worth it? These are the option I am considering. Thanks

I have seen your build. I just want to ask you than when u use the gears mixed by knight and zerk then can you still win the fight of 1v2 or 1v3 ? As you completly abandon the condition damage , whats you feeling about it ?

Feeling is very good and you can still win 1v2/3. However, from what I see on most of youtube videos (and my experience too), this happen when people are bad pIayers.

I think power builds still have their own place in the game. Right now I am very hard to kill thanks to torch which is an incredible escaping tool. At the same time I can dish out a lot of damage and have a decent control thanks to GS#5, sword #2&3 and Signet.
Runes. In wvw I go with centaur. Easy, straight forward, and they do the job. In spvp I use runes of Air.
Right now I do not know whether I should increase power, crit or health by food. That’s the only doubt I’ve got

EnderzShadow.2506:

-Coming from Blackwater staff scepter/torch and perplexity runes —--it’s very glassy.

It’s not very glassy at all. You probably just got used to being able to facetank multiple people.

trooper.2650:

this is my current build and armor

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8flwzipXUzgGb9IipHBnvBckUYavWJF82FC-j0DBYfAYLQINwkFA0HwJQFRjtmpIasaGYKXCxaXQKYoGzoWzCRmzweEYRBhRA-w

I kind of question two traits, well one really. Why Domination II instead of III? The CD for GS 5, Diversion and signet seem a bit long for HS. And have you considered Chaos III or VII (with upcoming change) instead of VIII? Just curious on the chaos trait.

Finally im close to 80 (75) and been running the build from the start, have got some trinkets ready to go from laurels. Now is this build gonna be any good after the big patch? I have to say really enjoying it.

Loco.2830:

Finally im close to 80 (75) and been running the build from the start, have got some trinkets ready to go from laurels. Now is this build gonna be any good after the big patch? I have to say really enjoying it.

As it seems now, it will only get buffed

Is there any other rune you would use? I find my self not really needing the swiftness in fights.

Loco.2830:

Is there any other rune you would use? I find my self not really needing the swiftness in fights.

I suppose you’re using the build in rather small and easy to escape area’s then? I guess you want more damage instead then?
Rune of the eagle
Rune of the ogre
Rune of divinity
Rune of the scholar, im not sure if that also helps your phantasm damage, but I guess you can use that rune if you want your opening combo to deal max damage.

How about thiefs rune? Im slowly finding the centaur s rune more atractive. I m really gonna have to get lvl 80 and try them out since they are all reasonable cheap. Thank you for your patience.

Loco.2830:

How about thiefs rune? Im slowly finding the centaur s rune more atractive. I m really gonna have to get lvl 80 and try them out since they are all reasonable cheap. Thank you for your patience.

How do you not need the speed? That completely baffles me. Sure it may not directly help in the fight, well unless your chasing someone down or running away from zergs or larger groups.

It’s great for solo, duo and small groups as it gives everyone else a run buff too.

Can’t help but think maybe you just don’t have that much WvW experience.
Maybe you play a very low pop server?

You know, there’s actually no kind of mention at all about hybrid builds in the Mesmer Guide…

Hey BlackDevil, I’d like to use this build as the example for Hybrid builds if you wouldn’t mind.. And could you address a few questions?

• What, in your opinion, is the ideal condition damage/power damage stat numbers for a hybrid build? Should one focus more on power or condition damage?
• Why did you choose to go this route rather than a pure power or pure condition?
• What do you think are the best weapons for hybrid Mesmer and why?

I suppose I dont ’’need’’ it because I never had it so I dont miss it. I will try it with centaurs rune if you guys are right then it will make my life easir. I play in piken square, only play wvw, I have thief, warrior for roaming and the guardian to command. I just love love the 1vx or 2vx scene. Im not saying im an expert! But I know basics.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

You know, there’s actually no kind of mention at all about hybrid builds in the Mesmer Guide…

Hey BlackDevil, I’d like to use this build as the example for Hybrid builds if you wouldn’t mind.. And could you address a few questions?

• What, in your opinion, is the ideal condition damage/power damage stat numbers for a hybrid build? Should one focus more on power or condition damage?
• Why did you choose to go this route rather than a pure power or pure condition?
• What do you think are the best weapons for hybrid Mesmer and why?

That would be amazing! I’m glad to hear that (: I rotate the questions a bit so it’s a fitting story.

1. What do you think are the best weapons for hybrid Mesmer and why?

To know this you first gotta know the concept of hybrids and how it can be created with the mesmer profession. There are 2 ways: 1 provides conditions mostly from yourself, whereas: scepter, staff and torch make a big part in that. The other one is gained from your clones.

The last part is what I’m making use of. Sharper Images (#15 minor trait dueling) provides bleeding on a crit of your illusion. I’ll get back later on this part.

This means you need to find illusions that riably hit the most times per second. As I’m rather a trial error person than someone who calculates everything first before doing it, I came to the conclusion that the clones of greatsword hit the most often and so the pistol and GS phantasm also hit the most often / second. Not only they do that, but also deal a good amount of damage providing the power part of the hybrid concept. Sword clones can also hit quite a lot as they repeat their chain pretty quickly, though I mostly use my sword for defense and to pull off offensive/defensive combo’s with illusionary leap.

So to answer your question: Sword-Pistol + Greatsword.

2. What, in your opinion, is the ideal condition damage/power damage stat numbers for a hybrid build? Should one focus more on power or condition damage?

This is completely person based. One likes bleeding ticks of 120+, another one doesn’t really mind the damage and just goes with 55. IMO having the condition damage that gives around 70 bleed damage () is about the perfect number for me. It’s not too much so you have to rely on it, but it’s also not something you shouldn’t rely on. What I mean with this will be discussed in the next question.

Coming back from Q1, talking about the bleeds of the 15 sharper images, it’s just amazing. This bleeding lasts for 5 seconds base, which is already pretty high. With runes of the centaur (15% duration), 10 points in Domination (10% duration) and food (40% duration) it brings up a bleeding duration of 8.25 seconds and an immobilize (#3 sword) duration of 3 seconds instead of 2. That means with the base damage of 70 per tick, you can easily get up to 90, if not 100, per tick with the might you gain from GS #2 and the 5 stacks every interrupt you do at an enemy.

As for crit chance, I’d say having around 55% seems good. Trying to get more than that is gonna make you give up a lot other things you don’t want to lose such as power or condition damage. Also, with the duration as it is now, in a perfect situation you should be able to get around 22 stacks bleeding. Adding any more crit % would end up getting stacks higher than 25, which isn’t possible.

3. Why did you choose to go this route rather than a pure power or pure condition?

Well, I use this build for roaming. That means you will come across every single build you can possibly think of in the game. If you spec around 1 thing to get that maxed, you will have problems against certain specs, whereas other specs would be really easy to beat. My goal is to beat as many people as possible in a solo environment. This means you gotta have more than just 1 thing you need to be good at. You need to be able to be offensive as well as defensive. Of course trying to make builds like these is pretty much impossible and usually don’t work. You will find yourself balancing one or the other to make things work and find out you’ll only end worse, so you still have to give up something to gain a weakness.
My weakness is conditions. I don’t think many mesmers will be surprised by this since mesmers never been great at removing conditions unless you actually build for it.
So hell, I thought why would I try to spec good for something that already is already a primary weakness of your own profession you’re playing?

Coming back to your question, why hybrid?
Conditions can be rather hard to spot. It’s not like plain damage hitting like a truck that makes you wanna run like some stressed donkey. I hate people running from me, that’s why I gave up a bit plain damage to make them run less fast and when they do, they most likely die to my conditions.
Oh another quick thing, immobilize is just really powerful, i couldn’t imagine playing with only 2 seconds (instead of 3). That’s what people usually underestimate, the power of illusionary leap.

I hope you get through this wall of text

Just wanted to say thanks for the foundation of this build. I really like what this build can do. I’ve been up against a lot of class/builds and I’m very impress what you can do in each fight. Like most people already stated, condition Necro is my only really threat (due to the lack of condition removal), but I can still beat them most of the time by keeping my distance and knowing when to be defensive or offensive.

I’d swapped out Rune of the Centaur to Travelers and Master of Manipulation to Debilitating Dissipation to dish out additional condition damage.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

• Why did you choose to go this route rather than a pure power or pure condition?

As far as “why” goes, this is a really interesting article by Sean “Day[⁹]” Plott who some may know from the Starcraft world.

I’d highly recommend reading it entirely, but the main thrust is that the most successful strategies (or builds) aren’t those that maximize their advantage in one area, but rather eke out victories in every possible situation. Applied to gw2, one could say a hybrid build trades some strength in places it’s already effective, in order to shore up capabilities against opponents the “pure” build would be weak to.

Of course, you can always give up too much and end up not being very effective against anything at all, but that’s where the build-crafting gets fun!

Okay I have a challenge for you, BlackDevil. Can you adapt this build for sPVP?

I’ve tried to do this on my own but with only very limited success. I think the main problem is the much lower stat boosts and the difficulty in getting the various stats in the right proportions when you mostly have only one trinket to play with. I’ve even played with a celestial trinket, but it seems rather anemic in all respects; maybe I’m just not familiar enough with it.

Another issue is I often find I don’t have enough condition removal and defense to stand against a condi spammer or two.

What do you think? Or maybe this isn’t really intended for sPVP. I am spending much of my time there because it lets me try builds and increase my skill without spending a ton of my (meager) gold.

@BlackDevil: That was perfect! Thanks a lot man. Also, could you give a bit of a breakdown on the other weapons from a hybrid perspective?

@Valaruka: That was a great article, and something everyone should read. I’ll throw it into the guide aswell under “Other Awesome Links”

Chaos Archangel.5071:

@BlackDevil: That was perfect! Thanks a lot man. Also, could you give a bit of a breakdown on the other weapons from a hybrid perspective?

@Valaruka: That was a great article, and something everyone should read. I’ll throw it into the guide aswell under “Other Awesome Links”

Scepter, Sword, Pistol, Greatsword, Torch, Focus, Staff, Sword offhand

Scepter

Scepter in hybrid builds can work. It provides good condition damage skills whereas illusionary counter is the best one. This skill is a great counter against burst thieves which can actually be a problem with the build I’m running.
Confusion images is a fun skill. Not only does it give 5 stacks confusion when all hit, but it can also deal a fair amount of raw damage.
(This weapon with sword were actually good in power builds due the high amount of damage the block’s would do whereas #3 could hit for 2k crit each hit of the beam.)

The things I dislike about it is that it can’t be used as combo with phantasm, the #1 skill is horrible and it doesn’t give a lot defensive ability’s. Whereas sword is almost the opposite of this.

Torch
Torch in this build would need to replace pistol. Now I’m not really gonna discuss what the differences are, but with torch you gonna lack a lot damage.

Torch #5 is pretty useless imo. It only provides condition damage and your bleed stacking gonna be even worse by using this instead of a GS clone. The amount of confusion stacks it does isn’t really impressive either but ahwell.
Of course #4, the prestige, is what this weapon is all about. This skill is Amazing in this build. It deals a fair amount of raw damage, burning is a really strong condition and this one is actually pretty long lasting too and you get a great defensive boost with another stealth helping you with PU.

Now, the downside of it is that you can’t make combo’s with phantasm like you can with the stun of pistol.

But I actually thought this through another time how to make this work.
You make 20-20-30, get the torch cd reduced and you swap a few pieces of rabid gear to rampagers gear. Swap your centaur runes to rune of the traveler and tada. Your prestige will be glorious then when it hits.
Though I still think my original build will be overall better than what I’ve posted just above.

Focus
Hm, I could argue this skill got some potential at 1v3+ fights to make profit with the interrupt -> 5 stacks might trait and (if it works lol) that the Iwarden can actually bring up quite a lot bleed stacks when it hits correctly.
The good thing is that the combo of 4-5-4-3-3 with sword-focus actually works really good with this build since you first interrupt (gain might), and then deal your damage + stack high bleedings on the enemy.
Still Iduelist is something you can rely much more on and doesn’t really need difficult and easy to dodge combo’s to make it hit.

Staff
Hm… It got some ups and downs.
Staff is a very defensive weapon and that’s what makes it bad at chasing people. There’s no way you will gain a lot profit from this when people run. However, if you would be fighting, lets say, 4 guys. What you wanna do is lure them in your chaos storm, then interrupt them as much possible, spawn the iwarlock and swap to sword/p. Wait for your iwarlock to cast again and then immobilize. It will most likely deal a good amount of damage with the 20/30% damage boost from bleeds and immobilize (and cripple/poison). I’m suposing this can spike easily 5k. While this is ofc nice raw damage, it wont really be doing a lot attacks so your amounts of bleeding will be lower than with izerker.

The staff clones are probably better though. Imagine them critting and applying a bleed from themselves. Then bounce to you with 30% boon duration giving might. Just seems great, but when people run, you will almost want to get out of combat mode and switch back to greatsword.

So basicly: Staff, Good: for stacking might, good for defensive/escape abilitys, can used as combo with sword
Bad: for damage (especially aoe) and chasing people

Sword offhand:
Eh.. well.. Iswordman hits like a truck, but the whole weapon as offhand got nothing to do with condition builds. I guess this can be a good replacer for pistol if you wanna look cool with 2 swords and you prefer going full power. On the hybrid part, it’s not really what you wanna pick. I would probably prefer torch over sword.

I guess that’s about all information I can come up to at 1am. If you got any more questions feel free to ask ^^

Qaelyn.7612:

Okay I have a challenge for you, BlackDevil. Can you adapt this build for sPVP?

I’ve tried to do this on my own but with only very limited success. I think the main problem is the much lower stat boosts and the difficulty in getting the various stats in the right proportions when you mostly have only one trinket to play with. I’ve even played with a celestial trinket, but it seems rather anemic in all respects; maybe I’m just not familiar enough with it.

Another issue is I often find I don’t have enough condition removal and defense to stand against a condi spammer or two.

What do you think? Or maybe this isn’t really intended for sPVP. I am spending much of my time there because it lets me try builds and increase my skill without spending a ton of my (meager) gold.

http://intothemists.com/guides/2110-hybrid_phantasm_or_we

I don’t spvp a lot, especially not on my mesmer (I got an awesome s/d ele for that), but this is my best shot on about what you want.

Hey thanks! Interesting… you put the torch in and changed the traits, so it’s a bit closer to the conventional Blackwater. I’ll give it a try.

Appreciate the response.

Watch my review on torch as hybrid weapon and chek the amulet. But yeah its bit closer to the blackwater build.

BlackDevil.9268:

http://intothemists.com/guides/2110-hybrid_phantasm_or_we

I don’t spvp a lot, especially not on my mesmer (I got an awesome s/d ele for that), but this is my best shot on about what you want.

As things stand it’s not terrible in spvp, but Helseth’s shatter build is so much stronger for mesmer in mobility and team fights.

We’ll see how balance patch and new heal affects things though.

I’m sure shatter is stronger. I’m just not really comfortable with that playstyle yet.

I tried it briefly and it was pretty effective.. though I have to admit that I really do miss the pistol. The phantasms also feel a bit gutless due to the low power. I might try it with a carrion trinket as well.

Hm I guess you could just try to run with pistol and zerker amulet + rabid jewel or so, still remains the problem against the conditions. But yeah, is such tiny spaces shatter is most likely better.

I just tried it with a carrion amulet with rampager jewel, and I swapped bountiful interruption for illusionary defense (since there’s only 1 source of interrupt in this build, right, and it’s on a long cooldown?) Not bad so far, though it’s hard to gauge when one is always getting teamed.

I had tried it with a straight berserker’s amulet but while the phantasms hit like a train that way, the bleeds are, well, anemic. In this setup with phantasmal fury the phantasms still have a 39% crit chance which is decent if unspectacular.

The torch definitely improves survivability a great deal over the pistol.

Qaelyn – interrupts come from Magic Bullet, Illusionary Wave, and Diversion. That’s generally been enough for me to keep 10+ might going in a fight, as long as you time them well.

If I were to play this in sPvP, I’d probably go with Sword/Torch and Scepter/Pistol for the additional defense – GS isn’t needed since chasing is never a concern — and use 20/20/30 instead to get the torch trait. Torch adds tons of stealth, condi-removal, and burning, and Scepter adds Torment and another block which is great against thieves. Use Battle Sigils for more damage or Doom sigils to add yet another condition (also great vs. warriors).

With plenty of extra stealth coming from the torch, I would probably replace Veil with something more useful like Arcane Thievery (more condi-defense and boon-stealing), Null Field (for team support / boon stripping) or Portal (for mobility / backpoint protection / etc.). I’d also use Debilitating Dissipation (or maybe iDefense) instead of BI since there’s less interrupt-potential.