Guild Wars 2

I’ve been running this type of build since around level 60 strictly for PvE and I love it, but nobody else seems to get it.

In solo PvE (wandering, events, leveling, etc.) I can take on nearly anything, including most melee and even some ranged champion mobs and get out alive. The conditions are always ticking, which means the clones are doing most of the work with staff 1 while you kite around big groups and single enemies alike. I know the condition stack limit is what turns people off with condition builds, but I’ve personally never had an issue with it.
My typical combat cycle is something like this:

-Create 1-3 clones
-In big groups of enemies, kite around for a few seconds to let conditions stack, then tap cry of frustration
-Repeat

I know a lot of you would deem this boring, but I personally enjoy this playstyle. It involves a lot of jumping around and kiting with phase retreat and blink. Regardless, I want to know why nobody thinks its viable, whether boring or not.

The biggest problem I have with this build is the inability to take down any sort of structure or object whatsoever. Seriously. It takes so long to destroy anything.

What are your thoughts?

I’m really curious about condition mesmers, I’m unsure whether they’re in a good place or a bad place. Confusion/Bleed/Burning seem to be the main ways to deal damage (Scepter/Torch) & Staff for Boons/Conditions. Doing damage through a multitude of conditions is probably better in PvP than through more singular sources in PvE.

I’ve tinkered around with both Shatter & Phantasm mesmer’s these last two months. The mobility/burst of shatter Mesmer is insane, and the direct damage of phantasms can be really scary when they critically strike. For example, in Orr the other day while doing a Temple chain, I traited to a Phantasm build and watched as my phantasm critically struck for upwards of 9k damage. The choice between the builds is mobility & extreme damage.

On destroying objects; do carry a sword/focus; really all our weapons have situational usefulness. Blurred Frenzy, & iWarden do a ton of damage. If you trait into domination for some confusion traits (20/30) Master/Grandmaster nets you +200/300 power. iWarden has ridiculous scaling, but it also usually only gets around one duration off, as it’s a rather fragile phantasm.

Some interesting combinations between Staff / Sword + Focus is
Chaos Storm —> Swap weapons-→ Illusionary Leap —→ iWarden --→ Shatter (F1/F2) —→Press 3 (Swap, will still be active) --→ Sword (2), Blurred Frenzy.

As for being “Viable” – I think that it’s perfectly viable in PvE, it just has a more tough time of tagging mobs (for looting purposes) than with Shatters or Phantasms w/o the Master Trait Illusionary Elasticity.

On the other hand, it will definitely have trouble in World vs World; Staff has a lot of utility, but it’s also more of a mid-ranged utility based weapon, you’re more mobile with a great-sword (which has high ranged based damage).

I think part of playing our class is learning just how versatile it is; after 2 months I’m starting to use F3 and F4 to help get me out of risky situations, as well as interrupt/daze enemies to buy me extra time for cooldowns. You can also stack a lot of conditions now by interrupting people. (Staff/GS (5)), & F3.

I was running a similar build for a long while. You can solo almost any champion mob out there. Just use staff, do dodge rolls and phase retreat, that’s all you need.

Under water it’s almost the same, use trident (benefits from same trait as staff), create a clone and do dodge rolls for more clones.

In your specific build, I wonder why you took “Signet of Inspiration”? It’s pretty much worthless if you run solo. Take “Signet of Domination” instead, it will at least boost your condition damage.

LunarRXA.5062:

I’m really curious about condition mesmers, I’m unsure whether they’re in a good place or a bad place. Confusion/Bleed/Burning seem to be the main ways to deal damage (Scepter/Torch) & Staff for Boons/Conditions. Doing damage through a multitude of conditions is probably better in PvP than through more singular sources in PvE.

I’ve tinkered around with both Shatter & Phantasm mesmer’s these last two months. The mobility/burst of shatter Mesmer is insane, and the direct damage of phantasms can be really scary when they critically strike. For example, in Orr the other day while doing a Temple chain, I traited to a Phantasm build and watched as my phantasm critically struck for upwards of 9k damage. The choice between the builds is mobility & extreme damage.

On destroying objects; do carry a sword/focus; really all our weapons have situational usefulness. Blurred Frenzy, & iWarden do a ton of damage. If you trait into domination for some confusion traits (20/30) Master/Grandmaster nets you +200/300 power. iWarden has ridiculous scaling, but it also usually only gets around one duration off, as it’s a rather fragile phantasm.

Some interesting combinations between Staff / Sword + Focus is
Chaos Storm —> Swap weapons--> Illusionary Leap —-> iWarden —-> Shatter (F1/F2) —->Press 3 (Swap, will still be active) —-> Sword (2), Blurred Frenzy.

As for being “Viable” – I think that it’s perfectly viable in PvE, it just has a more tough time of tagging mobs (for looting purposes) than with Shatters or Phantasms w/o the Master Trait Illusionary Elasticity.

On the other hand, it will definitely have trouble in World vs World; Staff has a lot of utility, but it’s also more of a mid-ranged utility based weapon, you’re more mobile with a great-sword (which has high ranged based damage).

I think part of playing our class is learning just how versatile it is; after 2 months I’m starting to use F3 and F4 to help get me out of risky situations, as well as interrupt/daze enemies to buy me extra time for cooldowns. You can also stack a lot of conditions now by interrupting people. (Staff/GS (5)), & F3.

Interesting
Lately I have been kind of wanting to try out a power based or shatter build, but another thing that really does it for me with this build is the sheer tankiness. The fighting style really focuses around kiting and staying alive, but for those times when you’re gonna take a hit no matter what, you’re really beefed up with the vit and toughness from this gear/trinkets, on top of pretty regular protection and aegis you’re getting from chaos storm and/or chaos armor.
As for tagging for loot in groups, you’re spot on. That’s another thing I find pretty difficult since the damage is never instant unless I pop chaos storm, which makes tagging very hard.