Guild Wars 2

Just weighing in to say that this is the most successful roaming build I’ve come across, for me personally (tried Osicat’s shattercat and the PU condition mesmer). I have a few questions on build specifics:

1) Condition duration food. The only condition being applied is bleed and I feel like that gets cleansed fairly regularly. Would it be more beneficial to go for condition damage food instead? i.e. bigger tick for shorter time?

2) Is it worth running condition duration reduction food? Or is the defensive boost a poor trade-off for the damage foregone?

3) Burst thieves – how to deal with them (the D/D variety)? They tend to just stealth off my clones/phantasms until I am out of stealth, and then steal -> CnD -> backstab -> 2222.

Number 3 is my biggest headache now, actually. Insights greatly appreciated.

Edit: given the new healing skills, Necro signet of vampirism heals for about 300 per attack with ICD of 1sec. Clones do no damage but they still “hit”, so essentially this build will give necros a 300hp/sec regen. It essentially negates all the bleed damage. Wat do?

Yams.6082:

Edit: given the new healing skills, Necro signet of vampirism heals for about 300 per attack with ICD of 1sec. Clones do no damage but they still “hit”, so essentially this build will give necros a 300hp/sec regen. It essentially negates all the bleed damage. Wat do?

Since the new necro heal is, quite literally, the worst healing skill in the game, I don’t think you’d expect many necro’s to be using it. Necro’s using that skill should be about the easiest class to beat in the game.

Oh, and for thieves. Just use your BF a lot between stealth cooldowns.

So with new patch this build got some nice stuff (if it even needed it!). Mender’s Purity buffed to 2 conditions removed which is very nice. Also can choose to take the new heal for a big boost to phantasm burst.

Only problem is the new heal and the Mender’s buff are directly counter to each other. You’ll never take both of them, just one or the other.

Thieves can be fought by timing your own stealths, dodges, and blurred frenzy to avoid their backstabs. Also, if you have phantasm cooldowns available, feel free to shatter the existing ones so they don’t have easy CnD targets.

Another thing I do is run Debilitating + Crippling Dissipation, which makes them pay every time they stealth off a clone.

Of course, the definitive anti-thief measure is to trade the GS for a Scepter/Sword, which gives you two blocks that will make them hurt themselves more than you every time they try to backstab. >:D

Agree with Val. I’m trying to decide whether to take Menders or the new heal. I’ll probably take the new heal just to test for a few days. Then, I’ll have to decide what to do w/the extra 10 points.

Hm I don’t really like the new healing. The cooldown is too long and you’re basicly making yourself only worse against what your weakness already is, conditions.

Yams.6082:

Just weighing in to say that this is the most successful roaming build I’ve come across, for me personally (tried Osicat’s shattercat and the PU condition mesmer). I have a few questions on build specifics:

1) Condition duration food. The only condition being applied is bleed and I feel like that gets cleansed fairly regularly. Would it be more beneficial to go for condition damage food instead? i.e. bigger tick for shorter time?

2) Is it worth running condition duration reduction food? Or is the defensive boost a poor trade-off for the damage foregone?

3) Burst thieves – how to deal with them (the D/D variety)? They tend to just stealth off my clones/phantasms until I am out of stealth, and then steal -> CnD -> backstab -> 2222.

Number 3 is my biggest headache now, actually. Insights greatly appreciated.

Edit: given the new healing skills, Necro signet of vampirism heals for about 300 per attack with ICD of 1sec. Clones do no damage but they still “hit”, so essentially this build will give necros a 300hp/sec regen. It essentially negates all the bleed damage. Wat do?

1) Nonono, you better start reading my posts about the review of the weapons we got in this thread! Hehe, nah, illusionary leap the cripple and the immobilize gets affected by it. The izerker cripple also gets affected by it.

2) Hm well, less damage = longer fights = longer to suvive = more codition sustain needed. So in some way you can say both synergyze pretty good, though its harder to make combo’s with your phantasm if you don’t have the extra duration on your immobilize.

3) Well if its for d/d then
1. interrupt/avoid CnD
2. Don’t stop moving
3. Stealth when he stealths
4. Save Illusionary wave for shadow refuge
5. Shatter when he constantly tries to cnd on your clones

Does the Runes of the Centaur +15% bleed duration work on bleeds applied by Sharper Images?

I was under the impression it does not. Since we don’t apply many bleeds without SI, I’d recommend using Traveler Runes.

I just tried this build in spvp and so far it works nice.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAsaRlwzKqHTTsGbNJhpHE33A/UBoTqgqLpA35G-TsAg1CnImRNjbGzMyZszM+YJyMCA

I tried to get the stats almost as similar as your build for wvw

knackyknave.7469:

Does the Runes of the Centaur +15% bleed duration work on bleeds applied by Sharper Images?

I was under the impression it does not. Since we don’t apply many bleeds without SI, I’d recommend using Traveler Runes.

It does work

Hi, BlackDevil, i love your build and runing it.

I have a question so far, will it get better with some celestial gears(maybe not all of them)?

hybrid mesmers could enjoy every stats with celestial(power, precision, crit dmg, condi dmg, toughness, vit).

While not being targeted for the question, let me just state that for me it works out just fine.
However, I wouldn’t claim it makes that much of a difference to a non-celestial mix really.
Best return of investment is iirc helmet, chest and legs, might wanna double check that though.
Generally, I wouldn’t go full, which would lack a little in power, precision, toughness for my taste. Given that we have quite some thoughness from the spec here, I’ve primarily pushed power and precision up to my comfort zone and have condi dmg delivered solely from the celestial items – so there’s some tendency towards a power build stat wise, but I’m cool with that.

Tested this build in spvp and enjoyed it. Will give it a try in WvW.

What would you change if you can’t use Tonics to get swiftness? Assuming that it should get fixed at some point?

hints.8036:

Tested this build in spvp and enjoyed it. Will give it a try in WvW.

What would you change if you can’t use Tonics to get swiftness? Assuming that it should get fixed at some point?

I use Traveler’s, which works really well for this build..

Are these stats good enough for 1vX situation?
Will I have enough damage?
How much power damage / crit chance do I need for this build?

Moth.5682:

Are these stats good enough for 1vX situation?
Will I have enough damage?
How much power damage / crit chance do I need for this build?

Way too much emphasis on toughness for a PU build, IMHO.

alanis.6094:

Moth.5682:

Are these stats good enough for 1vX situation?
Will I have enough damage?
How much power damage / crit chance do I need for this build?

Way too much emphasis on toughness for a PU build, IMHO.

Could you please give me some advice about stats?
I’m new to this build

Moth.5682:

Could you please give me some advice about stats?
I’m new to this build

Read Doiid’s opening post. He explains the basics and intricacies of his build. ._.

here is a variation of hybrid state i am using in wvw
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAsaWlwzKqHWzgGb9IipHBnvBckKUalewbXYuB-j0xAYfBRKCIJKQ5vioxWBLiGr2GTFTEVLFAMrBA-w

put 15 stack of might very easy with 2 weapon swap and 1-2 interruptions and you’ll get 1.3k condition dmg and 3.3k attack

messiah.1908:

here is a variation of hybrid state i am using in wvw
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAsaWlwzKqHWzgGb9IipHBnvBckKUalewbXYuB-j0xAYfBRKCIJKQ5vioxWBLiGr2GTFTEVLFAMrBA-w

put 15 stack of might very easy with 2 weapon swap and 1-2 interruptions and you’ll get 1.3k condition dmg and 3.3k attack

Zero condi removal, phantasms don’t have fury (ie. less crits) also no +15% dmg, without greatsword you’re not stacking as many bleeds with your dodge clones, no +bleed duration and perma-swiftness. :\

Hi, so is the build in the OP still the best one for roaming? Since 4 pages of the thread I just want to be sure. Thanks!

Renny.6571:

messiah.1908:

here is a variation of hybrid state i am using in wvw
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAsaWlwzKqHWzgGb9IipHBnvBckKUalewbXYuB-j0xAYfBRKCIJKQ5vioxWBLiGr2GTFTEVLFAMrBA-w

put 15 stack of might very easy with 2 weapon swap and 1-2 interruptions and you’ll get 1.3k condition dmg and 3.3k attack

Zero condi removal, phantasms don’t have fury (ie. less crits) also no +15% dmg, without greatsword you’re not stacking as many bleeds with your dodge clones, no +bleed duration and perma-swiftness. :\

lets compre:
attack +3k v 2.9k
armor 2.7k v 2.4k
crit chance 54% v 52%
crit dmg 84% v 66%
health 15k v 16.4k
condition dmg 800 v 550
1 more stun skill with signet so more 5 might
shorter cd on pistol and longer range
if you take with my build gs just change the traits as you said and you have fury and +15% dmg
and take mantra of resolve for conditions cleans (roaming you dont always need condition cleans and you adapt the situation). also you got more % might time and -20% condition duration. but if you like centaur change to it.
and yes no swiftness outside the battle (inside battle you dont abuse healing skills just to gain perma swiftness)

so better state and abilities just no swiftness (which can be changed)

Well first of all, you’re using ascended weapons and earrings, whereas mine are exotic. So that’s only already quite a bit statt boosts.

Your build is stronger, if the enemy doesn’t run away. So yeah, once the enemy runs you gonna have a tough time keeping up with him without swiftness, blink and cripple.

Staff is way too defensive. Iwarlock is really unreliable and I can’t imagine you stacking more bleeds with that build than mine, so the dps drops a bit there.

I also really can’t imagine you winning from cond specs with this. Most of your gameplay you will be close range since you can’t really move out range of condition specs, whereas with GS you can easily do that. But then again if you take GS, there’s no way you gonna escape without blink, swiftness or phase retreat.

Your build is basicly buffing the part where you are already good enough in, while you take away the part that reduces your weakness.

true points,
i have hard time to run after warrior of thief but even with swiftness its boring so i call it a win
ascended give me some edge but the main difference is with condition, toughness and crit dmg. and with few tweaks stated above with runes of centaur and GS its possible
i just say its my variation of hybrid build. didnt say its better. just wrote there are better states.
also the build depends on your game play which yours high
i am still practicing with GS

i am testing new build with even more higher state for wvw solo and group play (not yet 1vX). i will post it soon so you can comment on it

I LOVE this build.. thank you BlackDevil for posting it! I’m still not entirely clear on the perma swiftness stacking thing so I’ve been using Mirror healing which, while not as great as ether, you can at least use more often (more frequent condition removal) and as a reflect if you’re dealing with ranged attacks.

On the comments about Travelers Runes… it’s just not enough. First thing I purchased at 80 was travelers and, coming from a Ele with perma swiftness, I was spoiled and missing the swiftness. The switch to Centaurs has been a very nice quality of life improvement for me… and that’s just using the mirror heal and not whatever this swiftness stacking thing is.

:)

To the comments on Travelers runes… there’s a noticable difference between Swiftness and Travelers – I say this as someone who played Ele as a main for the last 1.5 years who is tried to switch “down” to using travelers on my new Mesmer main… it’s a tough downgrade when you’re use to having 33% all the time.

I compromised by going focus off hand for the few couple of weeks until I stumbled upon this spec with the Centaurs… definitely loving it much more.

Also, I’m sure you use Blink A LOT to help with survival or to disorient the enemy on your location, but have you ever considered trading Chaos 3 for Chaos 5 (to gain conditions when clones are destroyed)?

Ye i switched III for V a week ago. Too lazy to update build.
If you watch my stream i’ll explain how the whole swiftness trick works.

One last trick Im trying, which I think you mention in your guide, is switching to 10/30/30 with the Dueling IX for Pistol range and range increase. The trade off is dropping the 10 in Inspiration, which comes at the choice of giving up either battle or energy so I can take purity for condition removal…. I went with dropping energy

That would mean you trade timeable cond removal, 1 second dodge every +/- 10 seconds, which improves your surviveability and your dps. (Dodge = clone created + clone death when more than 3, so both ways it’s most likely gonna increase your dps), 100 vit + 100 healing power (More surviveability against conditions mostly) for:
A non timeable cond removal, +100 prec (Which you don’t really need because atm you can already gain 25 stacks bleeding) , +10% crit dmg and death of clone causing confusion.

Basicly you make yourself stronger in damage and weaken your weakness (conditions). Just like with 20-20-30.

The idea that I someone would rely on Sigil of Purity for its condition removal is boggling to me.

alanis.6094:

The idea that I someone would rely on Sigil of Purity for its condition removal is boggling to me.

Hey, I said TRYING… that’s why I leave it up to the big brains to think up these builds. :P

I went back to 10 Inspiration for the points BlackDevil pointed out..

hi i watched your archived stream videos and i see the potion for swiftness but i dont understand how it works. can you please shed some light?

WOOP WOOP new video up! Watch, like, subscribe w/e you wanna do
<3

Nice work as usual, always enjoy the videos. Keep them coming.

I run a similar build in wvw and it is great fun. Main difference is focus for added cc but i might try with a gun too

Very fun build, BlackDevil. Ran a condition heavy build until everyone started running condition removal. Video is great in helping to adjust the play-styles. Thanks.

I’m new to GW2, have PVP:ed some as a Hambow Warrior and starting now as a Mesmer. I tried this specc and the original Blackwater specc against the “training proffesion npcs” in the Mists. I seemed to take ALOT more damage in this specc compared to the other one.

So my question is: Is this specc really better than the original Blackwater specc in SPVP? I heard I can’t play WvW to the fullest before I’m 80 because I don’t get all skills, that’s why I’m wondering about SPVP.

This is a build intended for WvW roaming. Both WvW and PvP are player-player combat, and PvP is a great way to try out builds and get used to classes because you can swap gear for free, but there are important differences between them.

This is a much more offense-oriented build than Blackwater. You might be interested in my sPvP hybrid, which is sort of between this and Blackwater and I think decent for PvP. I’ll post it up tomorrow.

How important do you deem the Sigil of Battle on your GS?

I have major problems stacking up the precision and in the way you use them sigils, their bloody useless to me.
So I thought about getting another Precision rune for my GS, that should make it relatively easy to get the stacks.

What do you think about that?
Alternatively, if there’s a better alternative to stacking, I’m always open to suggestions.

i wanted to resurrect this post, i m still using it, i spent alot of gold the other day to try out the PU mesmer build that all are using, to start with i thought it was great( probably just luck) but then it all went down hill, so i came back to this build and was thinking if any one still rocking this build out there? i have to say i love it you have the numbers and the cond dmg and its fairly good at surviving, the only thing i was thinking about was to change the sigil that gives you stacks for something else like refill endurance when ya swoop ye weapon or i dont know.

i have been running this trait setup but in full zerker. Everytime I go to run this hybrid I just can’t justify the condition damage over raw damage. Seeing the bleed stacks tick and then wiped immediately feels like there just isn’t enough condition pressure to justify taking raw damage.

This trait spread however I love it is versatile for every weapon set you want to run. Or if you want to go full power or full conditions you can.

Mender’s purity=cleansing conflagration of it is more in Mender’s purity favor just judging the cleanses. Since it’s 2 every 20 seconds and torch phantasm is terrible.

Anyway i recently dusted my mesmer off as I main elementalist now but this was the build that I ended up liking the most.

Is this still a strong build? I know the patch just came out but I believe a decent amount of people are running this. Did the patch really negate the burst damage of this build?

This build loses 29% crit damage if my maths isn’t completely retahded. I’d still think it’ll be pretty powerful since you’re still stacking insane bleeds.

I understand the condition damage would still make it a good build but if so much is lost in burst damage wouldn’t it just be more sufficient to go full condition?

It’s all personal preference. Some players prefer getting their hands a little dirty with big numbers instead of letting the npcs do everything. :P

I been running this build ever since I got to lvl 80. Let me say it kicks assand I love it. Now with the patch it still kicks butt, but I would like to know if or what changes would you do….. I was also wondering if I could go full power with this build.

I’ve been running this with nearly full zerker before patch and that worked out pretty good.
I’m running that in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GlTwPP9d1U

You can also check my stream http://www.twitch.tv/doiidrg/profile/pastBroadcasts for more roaming/fights.

i went full knights armor and zerker trinkets but it didnt really help alot, must try the full zerker 0_0

BlackDevil, could you link an updated version of your build?

(Not sure if the roaming build linked on your stream page is just missing 2nd sigil on the 2-hander, or if you did other changes other post-patch?)

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQNAR8alknpRtlpxYNcrRiqxY6XSplT1EpCokdsNA-T1CFwAy3fIlaEKVihVJIgHAggLAASlHoUdxxRAItuhFHEASBAzEA-w
there you go o/