I haven’t seen any really valid reasons of why sword is already a good pvp weapon to use primarily and doesn’t need any buffs.
Sword is a great pvp weapon and has always had a place in most top-tier mesmer builds. I’ve only tried builds without sword a handful of times, and the one legendary I have crafted is Bolt for my mesmer. Sword is not used exclusively, but in the context of competitive play no weapon is used exclusively (apart from professions that have no swap), so it would be false to judge it on those grounds. The reason why it’s great is because leap and blurred frenzy can be used together to set up a great damage combo, or blurred frenzy can be used alone for cleave and damage avoidance, while leap can also be used alone for juking. The AA chain packs a real punch and can help keep up pressure on opponents following a burst. That’s just 3 skills. The indirect benefit of sword is the flexibility of mesmer’s offhand choices, which add lots of utility and/or power to the weapon set, depending on what you need. It also complements the other weapon sets quite well, since you can use it for damage or defense.
Everyone wants to prove that they know more than me, or in some way to dismantle my argument by saying that I don’t know about mesmer.
If your knowledge base gets called into question, it’s because when you are incorrect about something you are liable to advance arguments on false premises. Most people here have put together helpful and considerate posts, and it’s sad that you don’t see that because you’ve fallen so deeply into this persecution complex. Go chill, then come back and read this thread without the assumption that everyone is out to get you, but instead just have different perspectives and insights of their own to share.
One question this thread has raised in my head concerns clone death – I am unsure about where their health stands now and if it’s relatively diminished because of overall power creep. That said, I think the ability to kill clones is an important part of counterplay. I also wonder how much the devs actually intended to raise the skill floor on leap with that bug fix.
One question this thread has raised in my head concerns clone death – I am unsure about where their health stands now and if it’s relatively diminished because of overall power creep. That said, I think the ability to kill clones is an important part of counterplay. I also wonder how much the devs actually intended to raise the skill floor on leap with that bug fix.
Clones live easily long enough to swap immediately in any situation that isn’t the middle of a WvW zerg. If you’re in a big zergfight mess the clone will die essentially instantly, but any other situation gives you enough time to swap with no problems.
And getting CA off the iSwordsman is extremely reliable and much faster to execute then the iLeap. You don’t even need Staff and can still take advantage of the Staff trait using OH Sword in Etheral fields (WoC) to get a fairly decent amount of CA. (Add TW or NF and you can use both Sword #3 and #5 to generate CA.)
That said, Staff is a very strong choice for a melee-range Mesmer, as it is very defensive, brings a lot of CA (and thus Protection) and even does better damage up close then at range. (Though it’s still pretty bad, but you can build up a lot of Protection and head back over to Sword for melee.)
I don’t really see what else you’d use to go with S/S or S/Sh. GS is too squishy but nice damage, just a complete lack of defense. That leaves Scepter, which is not exactly optimal in both damage and defense, though I guess still better then a build with 2x MH Sword. (but untraited Scepter is simply too slow to be viable IMO.)
Maybe a MH Axe will shake things up a bit and allow for a competitive melee-oriented Power damage Mesmer build with: MH Sword, OH Shield/Sword/Torch, and MH Axe, OH Shield/Sword/Torch
MH Axe would IMO need to provide both more sustained damage from AA, and burst damage from #2/#3, at the cost of defense and/or mobility.
One can dream….
I’m gonna try to see if I can make better use of chaos armor, and see how things go.
Maybe a MH Axe will shake things up a bit and allow for a competitive melee-oriented Power damage Mesmer build with: MH Sword, OH Shield/Sword/Torch, and MH Axe, OH Shield/Sword/Torch
Do you know that either you’d run axe or shield, but not both? New weapons are tided to elite specializations, and you can only have one of them activated at the same time.
Eh, I’m still standing by my original point.
Eh, I’m still standing by my original point.
Surprise surprise.
Meh, he has the right to his opinion and everyone has had a chance to respond by now. I just thought he should answer for the claims or demands he was making.
I disagree with the method… Perhaps making sharper images do something interesting depending on the clone might be more suitable and give more utility to the dueling line and keep with balance if adjusted right.
But I’d also like a viable S/S-X power mes/chrono that is comparable to other builds that can fight on point.
Condi is to good to bother with anything else that isn’t a specific niche.
(edited by Daishi.6027)
I disagree with the method… Perhaps making sharper images do something interesting depending on the clone might be more suitable and give more utility to the dueling line and keep with balance if adjusted right.
But I’d also like a viable S/S-X power mes/chrono that is comparable to other builds that can fight on point.
Condi is to good to bother with anything else that isn’t a specific niche.
I have two builds I like to run. It’s not great compared to other classes/builds. But I fight on points, as long as it’s not a dragon hunter on the point. I can share with you if you’re interested. It’s lacking, but it can be fun.
I have now twice confirm that your preexisting sword clones will temporarily switch target to your IL target, perform the leap, then return to their original targets.
Which means if you 3 sword clones out, every time you use IL that person will get 3 stacks of cripple. Up to 6 seconds.
The bug that we don’t want may solve your problem.
I have now twice confirm that your preexisting sword clones will temporarily switch target to your IL target, perform the leap, then return to their original targets.
Which means if you 3 sword clones out, every time you use IL that person will get 3 stacks of cripple. Up to 6 seconds.
The bug that we don’t want may solve your problem.
Not sure why you’re spending so much time confirming that, that’s a known behavior that’s been in the game since launch. It’s only pre-existing sword clones created by IL though, ones you made from decoy/mirror images/DE won’t do it.
I meant to bring this up a while back but forgot. Just was reminded of this post yesterday.
But I’m not getting chaos armor when iswordsmen gets it.
Tested in the mists on a dummy. Had swordsmen proc chaos armor on himself by attacking thru Well of Calamity. He got chaos armor. I didn’t.
Don’t remember who said. Might have been Fay or one of his lackeys, but this could be a bug. Someone else test and tell me what your result. Thanks
I see the issue.
Iswordsman and ileap don’t act like leaps. They act more like blasts.
So chaos armor proc is about my position and not the clones. I thought i could be out of the field. The clone leaps into a field alone, procs it, and I automatically get it cause the clone got it. The clones position doesn’t matter at all. Calling it a leap is confusing. Cause it doesn’t happen upon leap. it’s more like a blast. Casting ileap or iswordsmen while in a field blasts the field giving me chaos armor. So I cast iswordsman while I am in the field, and it procs chaos armor on me at the moment of cast, before the swordsman has even leaped. And any subsequent attacks after that of the clone leaping into any fields does nothing. iLeap clone leaping into any fields also does nothing. On skill cast, the field is blasted only if I am standing on it, nothing to do with the clones leaping animations at all. I think I’ll make a post about this cause this is silly.
Leaps by iswordswmen and ileap clone into any fields should proc an aura on itself and on me. and All subsequent attacks should continue to do so if it is indeed a leap and not a blast.
Anyways, no need to respond to this, I’ll make a new post since this is a different topic. But makes it more silly that this was a defense against having more access to cripple. if the duration of chaos armor was longer, it would be valid. But the duration is too short.
And if you’re wondering why I’m bringing this up now after 3 weeks. I was busy trying to get into raiding and wasn’t thinking about pvp until I started to pvp again yesterday.
(edited by Hot Boy.7138)
Not quite. You get the leap finisher when you summon the illusion. Of course, if you are not in a field when you cast the summon, you will not get the combo effect. All leaps performed by the illusion count as a finisher for the illusion only.
It’s right here in the manual: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Phantasmal_Swordsman
The leap finisher is applied to the mesmer upon summoning the phantasm. The phantasm itself also gets a leap finisher with each attack.
Try testing it with a different kind of field (e.g. light field from healing well) and you will see that it is always the leap finisher effect, not the blast effect.
Not quite. You get the leap finisher when you summon the illusion. Of course, if you are not in a field when you cast the summon, you will not get the combo effect. All leaps performed by the illusion count as a finisher for the illusion only.
It’s right here in the manual: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Phantasmal_Swordsman
The leap finisher is applied to the mesmer upon summoning the phantasm. The phantasm itself also gets a leap finisher with each attack.
Try testing it with a different kind of field (e.g. light field from healing well) and you will see that it is always the leap finisher effect, not the blast effect.
Yeah, I understand now. But I thought that whenever the phantasm or clone gets an aura, I would automatically get it too. I only get it on cast which makes it more like a blast. I don’t care if my clones have auras.
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