Guild Wars 2

Hi,

I rolled a Mesmer today to use it in tPvP (soloq/teamq specifically). What are the standard Mesmer builds in tPvP atm? Build links would be greatly appreciated, burst/power build preferred.

Thanks.

For solo Q (team has some more options) shatter is your best bet. It has the best aoe burst, enough active defense, aoe boon stripping (more important than it sounds). Its also power based.

traits:
20/20/0/0/30
Domination: mental torment, shattered concentration
Duelling: far reaching manipulations, deceptive evasion
Illusions: illusionary invigoration, illusionary elestacity (if using greatsword), illusionary persona.

Gear

• Berserkers amulet, and dont even try to change it :P
• I personally like runes of speed. The movement speed is good for getting around, and even for defense :o. It also makes my hp 20022, which is a funny number. You can use lyssa, divinity or air if you just want more damage.

Weapons
Here comes the fun part :D. Your chosen weapons are highly dependant on your style, and there is no ‘best’ set.

Sword: most shatter Mesmers use it, but its by no means a nescessity. You will very rarely get an autl atack of, its just too dangerous.

1. Blurred frenzy is a great defensive tool, that gives you 2 seconds of safety to plan your next move.
2. Illusionary leao has many uses, you can immobilize someone off a point so your team can cap/decap it. You can use it as a stunbreaker, or even just to prevent them from dodging your shatter! In time, you’ll learn to appreciate the beauty of this skill ;).

staff: a defensive weapon.

1. Winds of chaos is mostly a condition skill, dont rely on it for damage.
2. Phase retreat is amazing. Its instant and generates a clone. You can even swap to staff, and then retreat if you’re stunned :o.
3. Thr phantasmal warlock can crit 4k, but you’re a shatter build and better of shattering.
4. Chaos Armor (skill) is best used vs something that attacks fast, like a shorbowranger. never try to tank, though!
5. Chaos storm is amazing. You can put it on a downed teammate to somewhat safely revive them, or when you’re solo to become ‘untouchable’ for 6 seconds vs melee :o.

greatsword, is usefull for burst damage, and casual ranged damage in team fights.

1. spatial surge does some damage. Thats it.
2. mirror blade is devestating if used right. With illusionary elestacity you get 6 might stacks and a clone. Immediatally shattering, eith only 2 effects, is the same damage kittentering 4 with 0 might. Kind of. The point is that it requires only 2 skills on very low cooldown to be effective ;).
3. mind stab is aoe damage. Hm.
4. the berserker is great for kiting. Its best used while “running away”, to gain alot of distance.
5. Illusionary wave is great for pushing people off circles, or just for defense if needed.

focus

1. like illusionary leap, the temporal curtain has more uses than t first seems like. Yes, it all involves pulling.
   Place the curtain dosnwhile revivng or stomping, then pull away potential threats.
   Pull a thief our of a shadows refugee.
   Simple kite and place the curtain, saving the pull to interrupt when its needed. (Interrupting a warrior using earthshaker is hilarious).
   This is my favourite: put the curtain on a glass panel in skyhammer, run over it, then pull someone as it shatters. If you do it properly, and strip stability, you can camp the cannon for the whole match, and even win. 1vs3 :P. Heck, you could win 1vs5.
2. place the warden on a downed person to destroy projectiles, typically warrior and engineer who try to interrupt you or an ally. In case of nearby enemies, it will also do cleave danage to them in case they revive.

I dont really have enough time to type the other weapons, but pistol and sword should be obvious :o.

shatters
Mind wrack: Your burst damage. Its pretty awesome :p.
Cry of frustration: use it to get rid of a pesky blind, or strip boons such as high might stacks, stability, protection, signet of rage. Dont use it for damage, unless theyre extremely low health.
Diversion: interrupt things, like heals. Or use it for defense if you have nothing left.
Distortion: its invulnerability, ’nuff said.

utilities
Decoy and blink are your bread and butter for survival.
With all the con D flying around, you may also wan to pack some removal. I recommend mantra of resolve.
Your team often demands portal or illusion of life, but a usefull mesmer is an alive mesmer. Your runes of speed and traited blink will let you go to circles quickly.

A very detailed response, thank you.

OP, shatter is certainly one of the best builds one can currently run as a mesmer, but do check out the build thread sticky, as it contains many viable PvP builds.

I’be been playing the shatter build with a slight variation and a small amount of success. I’ll be sure to check out the other builds too, thank you.

I usually use blade training instead of Far Reachin MManipulation for quicker cds aand for quicker cd and the added precision is nice too.

Most of the time I’m 20/20/0/0/30 but sometimes I use the pistol for fun and do
10/30/0/0/30 with Blade training, deceptive evasion and the pistol trait.

Ps iI had a LOT of typos… Blah SwiftKey