Have you heard of the pet ranger build? How about the steal thief? No? What about the attunement ele? Deathshroud necro?
And yet, here we are with the “shatter” Mesmer.
PHANTASM BUILDS – EXTINCT?
Anet’s recent patch pushed Mesmer to shatter, attempting to blur what it means to have a “shatter” build by having every Mesmer build make use of shatters (the way they were supposed to in the first place). Yet it seems in that shift removed the ability to make a viable phantasm build, which historically often rejected the use of shattering at all. The thing is, Phantasm traits have always been spread through different traitlines and resulted in the ability to make phantasm builds that varied from one another.
But in this meta.. Can Phantasm still survive?
That’s what I wanted to find out with this newest venture. I’m very satisfied with the boonshare Mesmer’s turnout and that is my main build, but I’ve had this itch to tackle phantasms for the longest and see if we can’t come up with something that works. Here’s what I asked myself:
- What weapons would suit a phantasm build best?
- How could a phantasm build distinguish itself from shatter?
- What role would a phantasm Mesmer play on a team and can it be competitive?
And as I attempt to find satisfactory answers to these questions I intend on posting my results here.
PHANTASM GAMEPLAY
Phantasm gameplay in general is interesting post-patch. There is no getting around it. No matter what build you play, you have to learn to shatter. Our class mechanic is more integral than ever for any successful build, and phantasm builds are no different. Learning to shatter in a phantasm build is odd at first, but becomes natural.
PROTOTYPE BUILD #1: LYSSA’S BRIGADE
DUELING/ILLUSIONS/INSPIRATION
- Phantasmal fury, Fencers Finesse, Deceptive Evasion
- Persistence of Memory, Phantasmal Haste, Ineptitude
- Persisting Images, Restorative Illusions, Mental Defense
– Sword / Sword + Greatsword, Marauder Amulet
Man.. Naming these things is half the fun. This build is centered on quantity over quality and features four different phantasms. While I do so loathe the greatsword, I cannot deny that it is the most effective for high AoE damage. So I paired it with the Swordsman for strong single-target damage along with 2 utility phantasms.
PROS
- Persistence of Memory works well with four phantasms.
- Phantasmal Disenchanter wrecks stability elites.. but is hard to use.
- Can micromanage damage/boonstrip on multiple opponents.
CONS
- Damage is high but doesn’t match shatter bursts.
- Phantasmal Defender ended up shattered more often than not. (Though that could be badness on my part)
- Phantasms require excellent positioning.
- Difficult build; hard to balance shattering and phantasms
This was my first test on Phantasm builds and while the build is fun, it takes a lot to learn and manage. Positioning and team awareness are always important, but in a phantasm build they are crucial to being successful and effective. I always enjoy trying new builds because they encourage a form of play I’m not used to. Lockdown builds taught me to pay attention to animations and cast times, boonshare taught me to keep my positioning near allies and watch health/status bars, now phantasm is teaching me proper positioning and paying attention to multiple opponents at once.
While this build is enjoyable, it’s still lacking a certain “oomph” (and lawd I just can not rock out with a greatsword) so I made some tweaks to come up with…
PROTOTYPE BUILD #2: PHANTASMAL CHAOS
(DOM/DUELING/ILLUSIONS)
Phantasmal Strength / Furious Interruption / Power Block
Duelists Discipline / Fencers Finesse / Deceptive Evasion
Persistence of Memory / Phantasmal Haste / Malicious Sorcery
Sword/Sword + Scepter/Pistol
Oh my lawd this build is so fun. I just wanted to get that out there before anything else, before talks of viability or effectiveness or roles… Scepter/Pistol with Furious Interruption & Duelistst’s Discipline is madly fun. Summon iSwordsman, Summon iDuelist, Magic Bullet interrupts! Quickness Confuse Ray! Trololol. It’s great.. Really, and even if you never run such a build, you should try that combination at least once in your Mesmery life.
PROS
- Ranged burst is hella strong
- Phantasms can easily take down an opponent without needing to shatter
- … But you can still shatter anyway!
- Scepter is strong with quickness + Malicious Sorcery
CONS
- Hard to defend yourself outside of Blink/Decoy
- Single target focused beyond shatters
- Very difficult build to use
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(edited by Chaos Archangel.5071)