Guild Wars 2

Hey guys,

Been experimenting with hot join PvP lately, as WvW isn’t always crazy busy on my server’s tier. I had originally been running a Power PU build, and the survivability was great… but I found I had a really hard time killing some tankier specs. Which I didn’t like. So out with PU, in with some damage.

Thought I’d give a straight Phantasm, Never-Shatter build a try. Something like this:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQNAR8clknpRtlpxUNcrRSqhc2nRR3XSOIQp2A-TZBBwAAuIAI3fYzRAocZAIPAAA

Anyone running anything similar? Is it effective? Survivability still good enough?

Seems like your iZerker and iSwordsman would rip people apart while you just kite and spam Mirror Blade for Vulnerability/Might stacks. Shatters could be used as finishers, but I think you’d be better off just continuing to kite and letting your Phantasms destroy. Maybe if everything was off CD you could Mind Wrack + re-summon both Phantasms for instant attacks again. Or even F3 and re-summon for huge vulnerability hits from Phantasms.

Let me know what you think!

I played another build very similar to this in SPvP for a long time, it’s really easy to play and surprisingly tanky considering you have very little toughness. The only issue is, I foundthat when I’m up against good players they eventually learn that you can easily become close to useless if they just kite your Phantasms by climbing objects for example.

I think that’s the case with any build for a Mesmer though, with your concern. Shatter faces the same problem. Just a matter of predicting their moves I think.

I’m more worried about doing enough damage when they DO hit, than if they’ll hit at all. I’m getting pretty good at the iLeap/iWave and then Phantasm combo so that they’re crippled/knocked down when it first attacks at least.

I have used a similar build in WvW and sPvP, however I took the 10 points of of domination and put it into dueling and found better success.

Dueling gives you the option to get fury on phantasms, which really ups your DPS alot. You also get illusions inflict bleeding on crits, which may not be so optimal for your weapon setup, but it still isn’t bad for the iZerker. I just feel like the Greatsword CD doesn’t really make a huge difference at all.

You could also get rid of far-reaching manipulations if you wanted and get the sword CD. While it would only reduce the CD of blurred Frenzy, I feel like that extra 2 and a half seconds makes a pretty noticeable difference. It also allows you to use illusionary leap knowing that you will most likely have blurred Frenzy off of CD, and since they will have the same CD.

However, I have since switched to a Pistol because it takes great advantage of illusions cause bleeding on crits and is more reliable on DPS. Plus I love magic bullet. Now I run with the Pistol Range/CD because Magic bullet is just awesome.

killahmayne.9518:

While it would only reduce the CD of blurred Frenzy

Actually, weapon cooldown traits and Illusionist’s Celerity stack. The tooltips just don’t show the cooldown durations correctly. Try it out with Blade Training, for example: your iSwordsman will say 16 seconds but the actual cooldown when you active it is 12.

ah ok, my mistake then

Appreciate the reply, but I think the Greatsword cooldown difference would make the same difference as the… Sword Training cooldown? But for a different weapon?

The iSwordsman is typically my opener, and then I either swap to GS right away if I have the jump, or I’ll try a block, then iLeap+Frenzy before swapping to GS. GS is, by far, my main weapon over sword/sword, so the 4.75 second Mirror Blade for basically perma vulnerability/might stacking is glorious.

Also having an iZerker on a 12s cooldown in a Phantasm build is no joke.

This is really just a bit of a modification on my standard glassy phantasm build: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Guide-Overpowered-PvP-Phantasm-Build

Hey Pyro~

Hmm hadn’t seen that build, must be a non-bumped post. I guess they’re pretty similar, minus the weapon choices, which affects the traits difference as well.

I hadn’t thought of taking the 50% HP Illusions Signet… that’s a really good idea. If I replace Null Field (To keep decoy/blink) with the Signet for super strong Phantasm HP, should I stick to Ether Feast as my heal/condi clear, or swap for Mantra so I have 2 condi clears?

I really would love to take the Signet of Ether heal and just have perma good regen… but it’s so underwhelming…

Eucalyptus.9784:

Hey Pyro~

Hmm hadn’t seen that build, must be a non-bumped post. I guess they’re pretty similar, minus the weapon choices, which affects the traits difference as well.

I hadn’t thought of taking the 50% HP Illusions Signet… that’s a really good idea. If I replace Null Field (To keep decoy/blink) with the Signet for super strong Phantasm HP, should I stick to Ether Feast as my heal/condi clear, or swap for Mantra so I have 2 condi clears?

I really would love to take the Signet of Ether heal and just have perma good regen… but it’s so underwhelming…

I stick with ether feast. What I often do nowadays actually is I sacrifice blink for pDisenchanter. If I’m actually running it in PvP (only on khylo) then I drop blink for portal, the signet for disenchanter. With all the might stacking these days, it’s really important to have that high-output boon strip, and the pDisenchanter also provides massive condie removal.

Hmm… life without Blink sounds dreary and non-fantastic, but in PvP it hasn’t really helped me all that much lately in truth. I don’t know the maps well enough for Portaling, but always a time to learn I guess.

I’d probably sooner drop Decoy than Blink though. Maybe I can get away with dropping Decoy for HP Signet, and Null Field for Disenchanter. Never really used Disenchanter, but conditions have been destroying me lately so might be a good time to start.

My only worry is, if I’ve got a Swordsman and Zerker already out, and I use Disenchanter, and then throw a Mirror Blade… is there a priority system for which one it’s going to replace? I guess it doesn’t really matter, it would just be nice if Disenchanter was at the top of the list to not be overwritten. I guess it’s only got a 16s cooldown traited though..

Eucalyptus.9784:

Hmm… life without Blink sounds dreary and non-fantastic, but in PvP it hasn’t really helped me all that much lately in truth. I don’t know the maps well enough for Portaling, but always a time to learn I guess.

I’d probably sooner drop Decoy than Blink though. Maybe I can get away with dropping Decoy for HP Signet, and Null Field for Disenchanter. Never really used Disenchanter, but conditions have been destroying me lately so might be a good time to start.

My only worry is, if I’ve got a Swordsman and Zerker already out, and I use Disenchanter, and then throw a Mirror Blade… is there a priority system for which one it’s going to replace? I guess it doesn’t really matter, it would just be nice if Disenchanter was at the top of the list to not be overwritten. I guess it’s only got a 16s cooldown traited though..

Pretty sure it’s the first phantasm that goes in that case, but Pyro will surely know.

maxinion.8396:

Eucalyptus.9784:

Hmm… life without Blink sounds dreary and non-fantastic, but in PvP it hasn’t really helped me all that much lately in truth. I don’t know the maps well enough for Portaling, but always a time to learn I guess.

I’d probably sooner drop Decoy than Blink though. Maybe I can get away with dropping Decoy for HP Signet, and Null Field for Disenchanter. Never really used Disenchanter, but conditions have been destroying me lately so might be a good time to start.

My only worry is, if I’ve got a Swordsman and Zerker already out, and I use Disenchanter, and then throw a Mirror Blade… is there a priority system for which one it’s going to replace? I guess it doesn’t really matter, it would just be nice if Disenchanter was at the top of the list to not be overwritten. I guess it’s only got a 16s cooldown traited though..

Pretty sure it’s the first phantasm that goes in that case, but Pyro will surely know.

More precise to say it’s the oldest phantasm that goes.

That being said, I don’t use greatsword in the build for a couple reasons. Firstly, it has no good defense, it’s a highly offensive weapon. Secondly, the iZerker simply isn’t as strong as the iSwordsman or iDuelist, and in my build I want to maximize the damage output as much as possible, without relying on weapon attacks, so that I can use the blocks and blurred frenzy for defense.

My standard build is blink, signet, and decoy. I handle conditions through avoidance and mender’s purity. However, that’s just for dueling, and phantasm builds aren’t usually very good in most tPvP situations. When I do use this in tPvP, it’s on khylo, because the treb mechanic forces 1v1 fights. Being deep into inspiration allows me to trait glamour cooldowns, so I drop blink for portal, since I don’t need that blink mobility when I’m just trebbing.

Nowadays with might stacking, good boon strip is absolutely essential. Since you really can’t live without at least 1 stunbreaker (decoy), I’ll drop the signet to take pDisenchanter, despite that weakening the phantasms rather significantly. Better to have weak phantasms than to have a 25 might warrior/ele/thief chewing on you.

I think I’ll give Signet, Blink and pDisenchanter a try for now. I’m not too hardcore in PvP, and I do a lot of WvW so the mass condi removal will hopefully keep me alive.

That’s another reason I use GS, is I do a lot of WvW stuff, and it’s really nice to have a main weapon that is Ranged.

Plus I have a pretty Sunrise.