Hi, this is Roah and I’m Lunaro Moonstruck in-game. I pretty much only play Mesmer, and am pretty dedicated to maximizing the potential of the class. Below, I have the current builds I use with some reasoning behind the them. Any feedback or questions are welcome, here or in-game!
These are all Condition Damage builds, and are not Power-based builds! I never played extensively with Power based builds (not my style), but those are also strong if used for their intended purposes (e.g. Phantasmal Berserker glass cannon build for anti-siege/walls in WvW). Another caveat, I don’t really like re-assigning traits everywhere I go, hence the single trait allocation for PvE/Dungeons/WvW (the weapons and major traits I use do change). That does not mean at all that the build is weak, and I did provide a secondary condition build for WvW for those wanting to dominate as pure support!
For these builds you want to stack Condition Damage, Precision, and Toughness. If you don’t mind the 72 less Condition Damage then you can swap Chaos for Domination or Inspiration depending on your intention and get a different Rune set, but I find the survivability and lower staff cooldowns helpful in all situations. Rampager’s gear is your friend. Here are my stats in full exotic, for those who are interested. My Condition Damage is 1339-1396 depending on what what weapon set I’m using, and I get about 220 more than that in combat due to Sigils of Battle and continual weapon swaps.
PvE/Dungeon/WvW Build – “Jack of all Trades”
Weapon Set: Staff/Sword+Focus (PvE/Dungeons), Staff/Greatsword (WvW)
The third utility slot is really up to your preference. I see the following being the “better” options:
– Signet of Domination (any content)
– Blink (any content)
– Decoy (PvP)
– Portal Entre/Exeunt (WvW)
– Veil (WvW)
In this build, you want to keep Chaos Armor up by using your 1-2 Leap Finishers through your combo fields while summoning phantasms and illusions to apply confusion finishers, bleeds on critical, and damage on your enemy. Distortion and Diversion shatters are helpful Daze/Invul utilities, and remember that if using a sword then Blurred Frenzy is also an Invul. Confusion isn’t as strong in PvE and dungeons, so stick to illusion up-time and bleeds as opposed to shatters in those cases. In WvW, Confusion is very strong, so Frustrate and Glamour Confuse away! I typically use Staff/Sword+Focus in PvE or Dungeons, and Staff/Greatsword in WvW. Focus works a lot better in PvE/Dungeons because enemies are typically much more stationary and this optimizes the Warden’s high number of hits and damage. Greatsword is great in WvW where Berserker can provide more mobile AoE damage, be summoned without line-of-sight (Warden requires LoS) so you can get it on top of castle walls and help kill siege, and still have probably the best clone for stacking bleeds on critical hits with Spatial Surge when you encounter those smaller skirmishes.
WvW Build – Pure Zerg Support
Weapon Set: Staff/Scepter+Focus
Recommended third utility: Veil (for mass Stealth and another Blind/Confuse Glamour skill)
I call this build the “Mesmer Commander”, because you typically want to stick right in the middle of the zerg, not die, and apply AoE Confusion just like the build above but on a quicker cooldown while also reflecting more often with both Feedback and Temporal Curtain (both Confusion and Reflect are very strong against players). This is a pure AoE support build, and an incredibly powerful, momentum changing one at that. (WARNING: In a ZvZ brawl, you may need to lower graphics setting due to crazy amount of damage numbers.)
PvP Build
Weapon Set: Staff/Sword+Pistol
Recommended third utility: Signet, Decoy, or Blink
This is an AoE Confusion and single target Bleed heavy build. In general, you operate the same as the first build, keeping Chaos Armor up via leap finishers, popping Duelist and other illusions to add Confusion and Bleeding through your combo fields, and shattering based on need. With Illusionary Elasticity, the Staff becomes ridiculously powerful in a 1v1 match, effectively a 100% damage increase. With Illusionary Persona, Frustration puts 8 stacks of Confusion on nearby enemies instead of 6, and Distortion provides 4 seconds of invulnerability instead of 3, for example).
Now, go play!
(edited by Roah.6520)