Guild Wars 2

Been doing sPvP for a while now and I’m sick of only seeing zerker mesmers, so I have assembled a new build I’ve been working on. A lot of the things I’m still testing out (amulet, runes, even one or two trait options) but I’d like to see what the mesmer world thinks about it… Here’s a link to the build

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNArcWlwzKqHTzgGbNJiJF9GydSB0JdoKcdlUwbXIA-TsAA1CpImSNlbKzUypsNN+Y9xsAA

I’m open to suggestions, tips, whatever. Thank you fellow illusionists!

How are you doing damage? You shatter recast is long because of only ten points into Illusions. Your condition damage is low so that won’t make the enemy run in fear. You have average vit and other then Mender’s purity no way to remove conditions so that is a major weakness. I assume you took Scepter/Sword for the two blocks and yes that will let you live longer but I just don’t see how you kill anyone with this. If you are going with iWarlock damage then you are missing out on the Inspiration minor trait that gives 15% damage and the Domination Adept Major trait that gives 15% damage.

I think you tried to go too middle of the road and left yourself with a build that might delay the enemy for a bit but other than that will not accomplish much.

If you are looking for a tanky build, which is also what I happen to love play, try out my Retaliatory Phantasm Build.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Guide-Retaliatory-Phantasm/first#post2077169

If you want tanky but not phantasm based you can try Pyro’s Immortal Build which is more based on your damage.

yeah thats what I’ve found; its too in the middle. I’m gonna stack more cond damage with my next run and try the trait that gives 5% of my toughness to cond damage. I’m not too worried about cond removal though.

Updated build, seems to have pretty much the same HP/toughness with a LOT more condition damage. still working with traits, and i need to test to see if confusion really is entirely useless. If it is, it will need some reworking. But I’m going for a build with good survivability and sustained damage. Here’s a link…

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNArcWlwzKqHTzgGbNJhZGBH5nZAdpjqw1LVg3A-TsAgyCrIMSZkzIjRSjsGNAZ9x8DA

Please tell me what you think! I’m wracking my mind (mesmer pun intended) trying to perfect this build

Don’t run Melandru runes if you’re going to run Mender’s Purity. You’re playing too defensively with that.

Don’t run Phantasmal Strength (25 in Inspiration) if you’re not going to focus on dealing damage through Phantasms (since you’re condmg).

Don’t trait into every weapon you’re running just because you can.

And don’t run 2 weapon swap sigils on the same weapon set. (They don’t stack… and so your offhand will never proc.)

There are a few more things wrong with this build such as running Signet of Dom for the condmg boost.

And lastly… Confusion is terrible in sPvP. See: This

i didnt mean to put two energy in the same set. and which weapons do you think deserve a trait? i like signet of dom for both passive and the active stun though.

really i’ve been trying to make a viable scepter build for spvp, thats what this build is sortof revolving around. am I wasting my time? I just retraited with 0/20(IV, X)/25(V, X)/5/20(II, X)

TheKidHenry.5732:

i didnt mean to put two energy in the same set. and which weapons do you think deserve a trait? i like signet of dom for both passive and the active stun though.

You don’t have two energy in the same set. You have hydromancy (chill on swap) and energy (endurance on swap). They don’t stack, so the mainhand will proc (hydromancy), your Sigil cooldown will go off, then offhand will not go off since it’s on cooldown.

Signet of Dom for the active is fine, but your build looks like it’ll only end up being useful for hotjoin, if that’s your sPvP thing.

Which weapons you should get a trait for depends on how you play. You’re not really a phantasm mesmer, so you don’t NEED the sword trait, but if you rely on the block nearly every time it’s up (so it’s rarely up), then keep it, otherwise drop it, since you’re not going to worry about the phantasm, too much.

Staff is fine if you utilize the staff as a defensive tool, in fact as a condmg build, staff trait is fine.

Scepter trait is also fine as condmg.

I would consider swapping to an offhand Pistol or Torch for the condition damage gained by either of them (with Pistol, you’ll need some Precision and the dueling 5 point trait (minor, 5 points in the line, not the duelingV trait).) and with Torch, you can plop down the Phantasm and (with the newfound 10 points off of the sword trait) drop it into Illusions to get Illusionary Haste, reduces recharge of phantasms, aka makes them shoot faster. You can get this trait for both the pistol or the torch, but if you do it with the pistol, you’ll need to drop 5 points elsewhere, which I’ll suggest from the inspiration line.

Thanks! I’ll try both of those out and see what works best. I’m starting to find that scepter is a much more difficult weapon to use WELL. I’m trying to find that perfect condamg build with it, without giving up too much of my survivability (I’m used to playing something very similar to the retal build posted above). I shall update you after a few rounds!

TheKidHenry.5732:

Been doing sPvP for a while now and I’m sick of only seeing zerker mesmers, so I have assembled a new build I’ve been working on. A lot of the things I’m still testing out (amulet, runes, even one or two trait options) but I’d like to see what the mesmer world thinks about it… Here’s a link to the build

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNArcWlwzKqHTzgGbNJiJF9GydSB0JdoKcdlUwbXIA-TsAA1CpImSNlbKzUypsNN+Y9xsAA

I’m open to suggestions, tips, whatever. Thank you fellow illusionists!

Well you’re trying to combine direct damage and conditions which is not a bad idea at all if you’re focusing on staff. But I think your amulet choices hurt you. You can get more out of such a combination if you simply go Celestial amulet with berserker jewel.

I posted an sPvP build that works with that combo very well for me: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Celestial-Madonna-sPvP-build/first#post2079564

The bounce bug/nerf affects it negatively, but it’s still quite good.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNArcWlwzKqHTzgGbNJiZGBHydWAKFbn3VSBvdhA-TIAgyCpA

This is what I’ve been using recently, and its working better. I’m very close to finding that perfect build… more criticism would help!

I’ve also been taking a try at this “Hidden Fire” build I saw on the forums utilizing the torch. Its pretty alright, and I think if I somehow combine the build idea I have here and that one, I may figure out something pretty dope. Let me know!

I think you are wasting your trait points on the retaliation traits. You do not have the power to make retaliation damage hit hard enough to be more than a tickle. I also think your phantasmal haste is a waste as the iSwordsman doesn’t need it cause he attacks plenty fast about your iWardens are not going to be hitting hard without some help from another ally to help give unique conditions. The iWarden base damage is based on power which as I said you are lacking.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNArcWlwzKqHTzgGbNJiZGBHyhWAJFqWpVSBvdhA-TIAgyCpA

How do you feel about this trait set up? Take 15 out of illusions and the 5 out of inspiration and put 20 into domination. 3 reasons: Empowered Illusions to give your illusions a 15% damage bonus and Crippling Dissipation which because of your scepter Auto attack replacing a clone every third swing it will mesh nicely with Debilitating Dissipation. The extra power will also give your phantasms a bit more bang in their attacks.

I’ll give it a shot, and let you know. Thanks for all the help btw, I don’t know why I’m so pressed for a good scepter build, but I will find it!!

TheKidHenry.5732:

I’ll give it a shot, and let you know. Thanks for all the help btw, I don’t know why I’m so pressed for a good scepter build, but I will find it!!

I think the best bet for a scepter build with the way confusion sucks in PvP would be to go with a mass clone production build with the conditions on death traits and shatters. Leave phantasms out of the equation and only use the for a little addition here and there and don’t worry about shredding them.

Found a pretty good combination, check it out and tell me what you think:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNArfWlwzCqHTzgGbNJhZG9G5nFgSx29OJFq+1A-ToAgyCpIMSZkzIjRSjsGNKYBC

imo replace disenchanter to defender. why u need so much cond removal? and traited torch and disenchanter. why u dont wanna try traited focus? its best defensive offhand werp
and on staff energy>chill

Oh yeah I didn’t modify sigils in that build. But I use the torch because of the condition damage, as this build revolves more around that. I also don’t really like iWarden, and the invisibility+burning from torch helps me survive more and the burning is awesome. Also I do mostly s/tPvP, so except for the reflects (which I’m not traiting since I don’t need that much inspiration, the other trait choices from that tree don’t go well with this build) and the pull, temporal curtain is more of a WvW skill. The torch just works out a lot better for what I’m going for in this build. I am still tweaking my utilities, swapping between disenchanter and defender. I’m also swapping just my traits (not the point spread) to see what works best. Very slight tweaks, lol. Try the build out, and let me know if you find something that does work better though. My dream is to have a sustainable condition damage build using the scepter with survivability as close to a bunker build (Immortal mesmer, retaliation mesmer, etc) as possible.

Although when I use all my skills with sc/t, I use the prestige last. I swap to staff when I’m next to my target to slow them, so when I come out from invisible I have a better chance of burning my target. It actually works out pretty well.

I’ve been taking both disenchanter and defender with my signet of domination. I’m wondering if its worth it to have the extra phantasm (retal damage, defender obvious reasons for keeping, and disenchanter as another condition removal) over blink. I think since I’m traited for torch skills to remove conditions, I’ll switch back to blink and keep defender, but again I’m just tweaking the build slightly each time to see what is more viable.