Aîsta & Çriselli 80 engies, Zeira Blackstar 80 Grd Meloryn 80 Ran, Vexri Crisellista 80 War
Server: Kaineng
I recently leveled a second mesmer with the pure intention of almost exclusively using skills my first mesmer ignored. I’ve been using mantras, signets, along with the staff, scepter/sword combinations. The ride to 80 was easy as ever. I’m finding illusions to be mostly ineffective in the upper content as a form of dps (as opposed to shatter fodder). Which leads to the point of this post: Mesmer vs FotM.
+Mantra group healing is significant with a full suit of apothecary gear.
-Phantasms w/ traits + signet still die extremely easy.
So instead of using the standard 20/20/0/0/30 glass cannon gs meltface build my other mesmer favors I’ve been using 10/10/20/25/5 and it’s good, but not optimal and it feels considerably less effective in terms of raw damage despite Warlocks hitting for 3-4k on the high end.
More clearly stated: Why go this route when the other route is: easier, faster, and just as squishy. I’m looking for input from mesmers who have championed this type of setup for the majority of their playstyle and what you find works. Build as follows:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQJArcl4zSqHRzhGadJhJFBH5nZEdnjWApCquUBcD;TEAg2A
Additional Questions:
Mimic – Can this absorb the agony axe of the Mossman. And if yes, can we throw it back at him for agony damage on him. (Hope this is yes!)
Is it typical for phantasms/clones to change target and attack the wolves when summoned on the Mossman. This seems like errant behavior.
Sorry if this was tl;dr
Thank you for your time,
-Vexor
I think the issue here is a matter of perspective. If you’re simply trying to max out your damage, then you’re not going to match up to the 20/20/0/0/30 GS glass cannon.
Damage isn’t the only way to be useful in a group, and since you’re specced for condition damage, toughness, and healing power and climb the inspiration tree, your setup is ideal for a support build. I’d recommend reconsidering all of the focus you have on beefing up your phantasms since you aren’t really geared in any way for Power/Precision anyway, and the %15 damage bonuses won’t do you much good when your illusions are paper thin anyways.
You’d be better off taking the 5 from Inspiration and dropping it into Domination for the “5 vulnerability on Daze” minor trait. That way when you shatter your CLONES the enemy takes a universal 15-20% extra damage from all sources, including allies and your phantasms.
If you’d like to see some successful Inspiration builds that effectively use Phantasms, Buffs, and Mantras, check out this thread..
Mimic doesn’t quite “absorb” the first shot. It’ll store it AFTER you take the hit. So, yes, you can take the Agony Axe of the Mossman… if you time it, survive it, and don’t go down before throwing it back.
So the axe once absorbed and echo’d would inflict agony on the mossman? I know it doesn’t “absorb” but it seemed the best fitting word to describe the effect. Copy..clone..replicate..facsimile etc.
My original mesmer occasionally runs a pretty hefty daze/stun build that becomes surprisingly effective in most pve situations even boss fights since you’re chaining daze so often the resistance stacks melt off.
Thank you for the replies.
It will inflict agony, except, it’ll stay on him like a tenth of a second. Not enough to tick.
@OP
- Why Domination 10, when you said Phantasms are bad. And I agree that they less and less often even hit once in higher FotM levels. Like the warden getting killed by ambient damage without appearing on the screen. I’d prefer Domination V (cripple on kill) here.
- Then again, why giving phantasms fury when you have meager 9% crit by yourself and they don’t even cause bleedings with crits?
- Sword offhand but scepter mainhand ? Use Focus for pull, speed and iWarden. iWarden is also a projectile absorber.
- Signet of illusions ? I hope you know how it works.
- Chaos 10 when you don’t even wear a staff …
@Agony
You can reflect several agony causing skills, but – as Elidath said – bosses are resistant to it.
@My build
My build is quite different to yours, while it could still be considered a support build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8dl4zio3UTmGaNJiZBneAdO3zhWQpH22FebA;T0Ag1CqUVpoi6GzNibs34uRezCjBG7IA (you need to copy/paste)
- GS for damage, cloning, crippling and bleeding
- Staff in inventory for bosses which require [Retreat]
- Sword for AoE and 2s invul. Scepter for range + focus or clone factory
- Focus for iWarden, speed and pull. The later two are so important, that the focus will never leave my second offhand. iWarden can be very useful in asuran fragment but also is an allrounder aoe damage/ bleeder.
- My traits are focussed on crit-bleed, support heal, survivability and mantras
- Lower CD on healing mantra + additional heal from cast + double condition removal + regeneration from runes + the option of using MoP for heal
- Super high crit (70%+) for lots of bleedings; especially with GS clones or iWarden
- Clones on dodge for shatter, bleeds and survivability
- If needed, Dueling 10 and Inspiration 30 can be changed according to bosses or personal preference
- My skills are usually fixed; only the middle utility will be changed on situations between [Mirror Images] (Maw), [iDisenchanter] (condition or boon bosses) or [iDefender]
Chaos X because I do use a staff. As for the phantasm fury my crit chance is not 9% it’s more like 30% even higher if I have fury or sigil stacks built up. The gear page wasn’t fleshed out. I keep weapon of every type in my bag and traits/utilities change on the fly.
My post was more aimed at "Why are phantasms subjected to immediate beatdowns in higher tier fractals 30+. The mesmer using the above build isn’t at that point, however my original glass cannon mesmer is. And even then it’s difficult to get zerker to live long enough to spin through and run back to shatter. And I’ve had to rely on clone death to inflict most of my conditions.
Maybe I’ve just been unlucky with pugs.
Chaos X because I do use a staff. As for the phantasm fury my crit chance is not 9% it’s more like 30% even higher if I have fury or sigil stacks built up. The gear page wasn’t fleshed out. I keep weapon of every type in my bag and traits/utilities change on the fly.
My post was more aimed at "Why are phantasms subjected to immediate beatdowns in higher tier fractals 30+. The mesmer using the above build isn’t at that point, however my original glass cannon mesmer is. And even then it’s difficult to get zerker to live long enough to spin through and run back to shatter. And I’ve had to rely on clone death to inflict most of my conditions.
Maybe I’ve just been unlucky with pugs.
If you wanted to make a signet build then try a staff signet build
Invest heavily in signet traits because distortion and reflection on distortion is useful
Right now, I use a 0/20/0/20/30 build <- please note i change traits often to mess around. This is a pretty fexible build that give your on demand distortion and you can trait focus when necessory ex. harpy
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