Guild Wars 2

I posted this in the Players helping players section before I got down here. I think I might get better help here, so here is my question:

I am rapidly approaching level 80 on my mesmer, and I am starting to plan on what armor and jewelry stats I want to work towards.

I am a semi-causal player with limited play time (job, family, etc) and while I would like to do some experimenting, I just don’t have the time. I know some of my question is somewhat subjective, and based on play style, but I am asking if anyone has played much with different options to see how it works out.

I see it as there are pretty much 3 general ways you can spec yourself out:
1) Glass Cannon (high-damage, low armor/health/healing)
2) Tanky (higher armor/health/healing, less damage)
3) Combination (mid damage, mid armor/health/healing)

My main question what, if any, works well, and how much of a difference is there?
Right now, I am lvl 62 and seem to be doing well, I don’t die super often maybe once-twice per few hours of play (if I over extend or accidently grab aggro I didn’t see, usually) I never stand still and I dodge all the things(that I can). At the moment I am specced with everything into Precision and Condition Damage, with a smidge in power. My plan at the moment is to lean towards more survivability, as I would rather live longer and kill slower once I start getting into harder/longer fights and dungeons. But I don’t know how much the stat changes really affect that.

If I am specced with Healing/Vit/Toughness only, will I be doing 20% less damage? 50% less? 80% less? And can shrug off a few hits? From what I understand in dungeons things hit so hard if you miss a dodge you are dead no matter what, so if specced this way and I still die in one hit, why sacrifice my damage?

Another thought I had was possibly trying to spread my armor/jewelry stats around so there it is roughly the same in to all, and then just adjusting trait points only if I want to go with a crit build, or condition build, etc.

If anyone could shed some light on this and give me some pointers I would greatly appreciate it.

TL;DR
What stats would be good for diverse builds for someone who only wants to have 1-2 max armor sets.

My main question what, if any, works well, and how much of a difference is there?

A somewhat significant difference.

If I am specced with Healing/Vit/Toughness only, will I be doing 20% less damage? 50% less? 80% less?

An extreme Heal/Vit/Tough gearing will drop your damage output by about 30-40%. 20% in raw damage (power for example), and an additional 10-20% from multipliers and scalers (crit%, crit damage).

Note though that a lot of a build’s “survivability” comes from the traits and weapon/utility selection.

If I were to make a single gear set that is generally effective for most builds, I would simply copy the sPvP Celestial amulet (even in all stats), or gear yourself with a balance of Carrion (Power, Vit, COND) and Rampager (CRIT, power, vit, cond). Carrion + Rampager is probably better. In other words, an even mix of Power, Precision, Vitality, and Condition damage.

EasymodeX.4062:

If I were to make a single gear set that is generally effective for most builds, I would simply copy the sPvP Celestial amulet (even in all stats), or gear yourself with a balance of Carrion (Power, Vit, COND) and Rampager (CRIT, power, vit, cond). Carrion + Rampager is probably better. In other words, an even mix of Power, Precision, Vitality, and Condition damage.

So going this route, I could spec all my Traits into Vitality, Toughness, Healing lines for extra survivability and still have some damage from the armor stats, or spec only into Power, Precision, and Condition damage if I was feeling more “glass cannony”?

Well, your traits kind of define your build. You should build your traits based on the actual traits you get, and not the stats accrued for the most part. What I meant is that your trait build can include things like “your phantasm gives you regen” and “regen gives you protection”. This makes you more durable, regardless of your actual stats.

The only key stats you get from traits are the percentage ones — crit damage, condition duration, boon duration, and shatter cooldown reduction. These are harder to get from gear. General stats like power, vit … gear contributes roughly 3x the stats that any trait line will give you.

So build your traits, then decide on “how tanky” or “how glassy” you want to be with your gear.

As I said, I would generally get gear with an even split of power, condition damage, precision, and vitality. This measure of vitality is the only “tankiness” I would include.

Thanks for the advice. Do you feel that the Vitality > Toughness/Healing Power?

In the abstract, yes.

Vitality counters burst damage and delays death.

Toughness reduces direct damage (not conditions) and synergizes with heals to counter sustained direct damage.

Toughness isn’t bad, but in most general cases you want Vitality. If you’re limited on gear sets, Toughness is the last stat I would allocate a gear set for.