Guild Wars 2

Note:

This build is one that I have been using for a good portion of my play in scenario based PvP and in World vs World. In order for it to be successful, it requires a certain kind of play style. Positioning with this build is absolutely key. The build is more or less a glass cannon style of play, however, by using spatial surge to its fullest extent, many weaknesses in the build can be greatly abated.

The Build:
http://www.gw2build.com/builds/simulator.php#1.8.12.3.0.20.17.17.0.0.182.187.188.190.203.5.5.9.526.535.536.544.550.551.0.0.0.0.0.0.588.0.0.30.30.0.0.10

Weapons
Primary – Greatsword
Secondary – up to you. I fluctuate between these two currently (1 handed sword) (pistol/torch)

Sigils
It is best to obtain two greatswords; one that you use to initially build up precision stacks and then another once you have hit the 25th stack.

(Primary)
First Greatsword -> Sigil of Minor Accuracy
Second Greatsword -> Sigil of Superior Accuracy or Sigil of Superior Air

(Secondary)
Sword -> Sigil of Superior Air

Traits
Domination -> 30 points
Mental Torment (I), Greatsword Training (X), Harmonious Mantras (XI)

Dueling -> 30 points
Blade Training (IV), Deceptive Evasion (X), Empowering Mantras (XI)

Illusions -> 10 points
Compounding Power (III)

Utilities
(1) Mantra of Pain

(2) Mantra of Distraction

(3) Mantra of Concentration

Each mantra will give a passive 4% damage buff while readied. A 12% damage increase is nothing to shy away from. Mantra of distraction works well when followed by mantra of pain due to the Wastrel’s punishment trait that grants 5% more damage to targets that are inactive (dazed, stunned). In addition the Mantra of Pain/Distraction can be used to finish a target off interrupting a heal or a revive. Fantastic utility skills. Mantra of Concentration can be activated to see a finisher through or to recover from a knockdown. All these utility skills can be activated without interrupting a revive or a finisher.

Heal
Mantra of Recovery

A decent heal when used with Harmonious Mantra’s for the extra charge, but can be hard to get used to at first. Ether Feast may be a better option in the beginning, until you feel you can remove the training wheels. Mantra of Recovery is not picked over other heals solely because it grants 4% more to damage, but also because it can out perform ether feast in different instances. The heal is great when you find yourself stunned and susceptible to a beating, since it can be used while stunned. It is also great to use while reviving or finishing a downed player. Additionally it has a considerably shorter cooldown.

Rune
Superior Rune of the Eagle 6/6

Still Toying with other runes but as of the now I think it is the best choice for this build as maximizing critical hit chance and its usefulness is vital. Divinity is a close runner up but you lose too much precision.

Amulet and Jewel
Rampagers

The rampager’s stat combination is best for this build since it brings to the table the most precision that you can possibly acquire. It also has condition damage which has great synergy with the Greastsword. The power is not represented as well as the berserker’s set but I think the trade off is still more favorable. The additional condition damage will mean more than the extra critical damage provided with the berserker’s stat combination.

Gameplay

This build takes time to understand and to do well with. Maximizing your range is the prime concern while playing, due to how spatial surge works and how squishy you are. Maintaining the furthest range that you can while still doing damage will make you able to burn through health pools real easily. The dodge roll clone spawn mechanic will enable you to keep the 9% extra damage from three illusions up pretty constantly. Critting frequently with this build ensures long vigor up times to spam dodge and to build large stacks of bleeding on targets. Because the Greatsword hits three times in its channeled duration with spatial surge, it can proc all kinds of benefits better than any other weapon. Your clones that wield a Greatsword will also hit three times during an attack and will subsequently unload lots of bleeding stacks with the high critical chance that they inherit from you. This makes your clones much more powerful, dealing more damage than they really ought to be able to do. With the 25% increase to damage (16% from mantras) and (9% from illusions) you can hit very high numbers with just auto attacks.

Positioning —-——————-

In order to position yourself in spots capable of reaping these rewards it is best to find locations on maps that are hard to get to or not easily visible. Perching yourself up in the clock tower on Khylo, can be a very strong point to hold with this build. Shooting from the windows, or from the destroyed walls (after the trebs have demolished them). Another place to be is on the cliff tops in Legacy of the Foefire. From there you can maximize range very easily while being very hard to kill. There are lots of other places still, but I will leave that for you to find out. In WvW this build works really well in large mobs as you can shoot purple lasers out from the crowd and being doing loads of damage, without getting too close.

When on these high ledges, your illusionary wave becomes invaluable as you can then knock your enemies clean off these elevated areas.

Weapon Skills —-———————-

Using the first skill is really all you will be doing, but when you need to chase an enemy down or to kite, the berserker fills this role nicely. He can be cast through walls to targets that you do not have line of sight of and does an incredible amount of aoe damage. Mirror blade is good to get out another illusion and to grant might when you are close to a foe, which should happen rarely. Should a thief jump you, be sure to save moa just for him. Mind Stab and mirror blade are good for close range as they do not suffer from the range penalty that affects spatial surge. The sword swap offset is useful for when you need to finish someone off or use the invulnerability.

Make sure to use your mantras. Do not be afraid of using them.

Best write-up I’ve seen of the standard glass-cannon mantra build. The problem running this in sPvP/WvW is that it sacrifices survivability and mobility for raw damage. It’s fun pubstomping as a turret but it doesn’t necessarily win games. Thus 2 suggestions:

1. Drop a mantra for Blink (mobility), Decoy (survival) or Mirror Images (more raw power for Shatters). If using Blink, the 10 pt Dueling talent Far Reaching Manipulations gives 1200 range that’ll help with moving/survivability.
2. Drop Moa and pick up either Mass Invisibility for survival or Time Warp to kitten those kittens down as you kitten their kittens. Either you’re skirmishing where Mass Invisibility allows a disengagement to reapply mantras or you’re turreting with a zerg where Time Warp becomes godly.
3. (Personal Preference) I run Sword/Sword with my Mantra cannon right now- it seems to fill the defensive gap versus melee fairly well, needs a bit more testing still.

I’ve always wanted to burst someone down from the top of a tower keep. <3

Thanks! I agree SPvP can at times, with certain maps, not be the best place to use this play style. Still, it can be very good when the attention is drawn towards another player and you are free to laser away. Whenever I have had success with this in SPvP it has always been by a lot. Only when players on the other team are smart enough to focus me, do I have a hard time glassing people. A large portion of the build though depends greatly upon how the player uses it. You can either do extremely well or be shutdown most of the time.

The changes that you suggest can provide other forms of utility, but I think that if its played right, you do not need to use these abilities. Mantras are very powerful when used properly.

Tried this out in WvW last night and had a lot of fun, it’s great just chewing through health bars from max range with impunity. I switched out Concentration for Blink and I was in Berserker gear not Rampager’s but it still works like a charm. Especially hilarious against dagger storming thieves who think they’re invincible.