Guild Wars 2

I’ll start by saying I’m currently level 76 and therefore cannot yet test my proposed setup. As I am leveling my mesmer as my first character I feel I have a firm grasp on the abilities of the class, but not necessarily the restrictions I will face when my traits may be spread too thin. From my play thus far in WvW I have absolutely fallen in love with the staff, and I like the idea of using Sw/Sw with it for the offense of that pairing. I would like to focus on phantasms and survival in this particular setup and would like to know if going 10/20/10/25/5 would be viable, or if that gets too spread out. The trait choices are (Link below): Empowered Illusions (Dom III), Phantasmal Fury and Blade Training (Duel II, IV), Illusionary Defense (Chaos IV), and Glamour Mastery and Mender’s Purity (Insp II, IV). Also, in this case I’d like to use knights gear with centaur runes. I appreciate any feedback or criticisms and hope for suggestions for how to change drawbacks in my proposed setup.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAscWl0zqqHTTqGbdJhpC9+MDmDd0CIVQ1lUgbeD-TYAiZUz4mxMjcG7MA

Do you usually roam alone/with a small group or do you follow a zerg?

In roaming I play a lot with a Phantasm build very similar to this one. The only difference is I take 10 points out of Inspiration and put them into Chaos for the extra survivability via toughness, phantasm regen, and staff cooldown reduction.

On the other hand, if you play mostly in zergs, phantasms are very underwhelming, since they die easily and their damage is mostly single target.

Overall looks very solid though.

Typically I try to play in zergs for now. However, this build is setup under the idea that I would be alone or with no more than a couple of people. I plan to follow the Chaos Maestro guide for zerg play, this is just for a change of pace when I feel like embracing a more offensive role.

Definitely looks good.. but runes are so valuable to a build that it seems like a waste to take Centaur runes specifically for the swiftness. (At the same time, it’s understandable)

Chaos Archangel.5071:

Definitely looks good.. but runes are so valuable to a build that it seems like a waste to take Centaur runes specifically for the swiftness. (At the same time, it’s understandable)

That’s a good point, I only could justify it if there was a reason other than swiftness. For example, I don’t mind Runes of Air for shatter builds because they also add to your damage. Centaur is nice for zergs though I suppose.

I used to get mad because I felt so slow, but I started swapping in a focus when out of combat (if I’m not running one anyway) and I’ve gotten so used to it that I don’t even notice anymore.

Personally, for phantasm builds I prefer either Runes of Melandru or Hoelbrak, but it’s really up to your personal preference, there are a lot of options.

I think if I were to move 10 from inspiration and into chaos for the protection and staff CDs I would be more likely to take defensive runes. I feel like those points and the rune trade off makes the distinction between an offensive and defensive version of the base setup idea. However, I will keep those runes in mind since defensive runes with the higher phantasm damage would hit a middle ground. Thanks for the input.