Guild Wars 2

I really like the staff, but it seems to me like its damage is very much based on bleeds and burning, making it fit better in a condition damage build than in a power (zerker) build. My main interest lies with group and solo PvE, so I want to build my mesmer for dungeons, fractals and world bosses.

Now the problem is, I am aware that cond. dmg builds are considered subpar by most endgame PvE’ers because conditions overwrite each other once you go over 25 stacks. I’m also aware that some of the strongest PvE damage builds for the mesmer are shatter builds using greatswords and zerker gear.

I like the staff because it allows you to kite so incredibly easily, which is very nice in any group without a tank. Since I’m in fairly crappy groups for the time being, I will often be playing without a tank. Moreover, I tend to be online a lot and tend to prefer running with guildies and friends over running PuGs, which means I spend a lot of time solo, doing events and such. All this makes me prefer the staff over the greatsword, while I still like the greatsword a lot.

Now my questions…

1) Should I go with a power build or with a condition damage build? (Considering I prefer the staff over the GS)?
2) Is it possible to make a power build that uses the staff or will I be severely gimping myself (I know the base damage of staff is very low)?
3) Is it perhaps a good idea to go for a power GS build and simply use the staff as secondary weapon?

First of all i would wait and see what will happen after tommorow when the patch changes are here (something makes me think that my beloved condition mesmer is going to be nerfed even more despite of the new condition that is coming, but well we shall see tommorow)

To answer your fist question, if you like the staff then i can tell you that it’s doing well when used in power based builds BUT if you are doing mostly events and solo open pve i would recommend to use GS insteed becouse of its Izerker that can do AoE dmg to mobs ( in most events you wont be able to hit most mobs with staff couse they die too fast).

Second question: Yes it is possbile as i mentioned above but again its more viable in places like WvW or spvp since you wont need as much surviv in PvE (staff is a weapon that gives the best defensive capabilities that mesmer has access to via weapons). But again for world bosses it might work out since the Iwarlock scales really nice with power and bosses always have all possible conditions on them which makes the dmg of iwarlock even bigger.

I cant really answer to the last question becouse i never used such combination ( i never really liked GS) but ive seen some mesmers with both these weapons so it might be doable. And for the end ill add that for me condition based mesmers maybe dont have as much dmg as power based ones but they really can bring some joy. They are both rewarding and enjoyable after you get used to them but they seem underpowered when it comes to dungeons (when youre not traited for support only via boons and regen).

Hope i helped a bit

Think of it like this, staff becomes your defensive weapon that also has a phantasm that benefits from power. The damage for iLock is based on number of unique conditions on the target plus your power and crit chance/critdmg. I tend to run Sword/x primarily focus, but switch to sword or pistol OH and then either GS or Staff as the situation warrants. I know it seems counter intuitive to run with a melee main hand weapon like sword when you are wearing light armor, but really it is something you should get used to. Typically I won’t stay in melee long, just long enough for a blurred frenzy (which is an amazing offensive and defensive skill). Granted I run a shatter build 90% of the time unless I need to trait for reflects for specific dungeons with a lot of ranged mobs so the being in melee range and having the quick shatters and iPersona (since the illusions don’t have to run to the target) is sorta required, your mileage may vary on a phantasm build. Condition builds outside of pvp just leave a lot to be desired in my opinion, of course I think the smartest thing to do right now is wait until the actual balance changes happen tomorrow. With the introduction of torment, and if they fix the bounce logic on staff condition damage builds could become more viable in pve depending on how torment is implemented, but condition damage builds will still suffer from the same problems as always in large events and dungeon runs with having your conditions overwritten. Having said all of this, ultimately it should be about what you like to play and if you want to play a condition based mesmer then by all means you should, just be prepared to be less effective in certain scenarios than others.

I think Anet answered your question this morning.

You can go Power Crit with a 20/20/0/0/30 or 0/20/20/0/30 or 10/30/0/0/30

There you go, those are your options. Luckily though your zerker gear will work with all 3 since they’re all basically the same spec.

Godmoney.2048:

I think Anet answered your question this morning.

You can go Power Crit with a 20/20/0/0/30 or 0/20/20/0/30 or 10/30/0/0/30

There you go, those are your options. Luckily though your zerker gear will work with all 3 since they’re all basically the same spec.

While the changes that are on gw2hub look concerning, they are also listed as just a preview and not official. I realize that if the changes are true it has some pretty terrible implications for build diversity but as of yet they are not confirmed or implemented. The sky may or may not be falling but there is not much use in the speculation until tomorrow.