Guild Wars 2

I would like to do a mes with scepter and either focus or torch. Mainly pve, and at 80, i’d probably do some wvw, but still mainly pve (a few dungeons but not a lot).

Is scepter even worth bothering with, or are swords and staves just so much better that’s all that is worth using?

+1 for correct pluralization of staff.

What is your second set?

I don’t know much about pve beyond open world, but afaik anything works, so you could go Sw/Sw + Sc/F for example.

Not sure about second set. Maybe a weapon that gives a run speed boost.

For dungeons, if you want to play with optimized groups, the current meta is full zerk melee. Meaning sword/sword and sword/pistol or sword/focus.

Torch is generally useless for PvE, the only use for it would be The Prestige to skip mobs easier. iMage is probably the most useless phantasm we have PvE.

Focus is great for utility, especially when traited, as the iWarden would then reflect projectiles (when he isn’t bugged out). Temporal curtain would reflect projectiles when traited too, but it has a really low reach and so most projectiles generally fly right over it.

If you MUST have a ranged weapon, some people use scepter/pistol due to the access to a good phantasm. Greatswords are generally scoffed at by elitists. Staves are decent enough, as although the auto attack won’t really hit very hard, with enough conditions on the target, iWarlock can hit like a truck. The bad thing about using a scepter/pistol setup is if you have 3 iDuelists out, you’ll have to cancel your auto attacks as your third auto attack of the chain would spawn a clone, killing an iDuelist.

In terms of WvW, unless you want to be a veil/time warp bot, I wouldn’t follow a zerg as a Mesmer. Mesmer was my first class in both GW1 and 2, and I love it to death, but I absolutely loathe zerging as a Mesmer. To each his own, I suppose. Roaming on a Mesmer can be really fun though.

Now in terms of wanting to use a scepter for WvW, scepter is generally seen as a condition weapon. A current popular condition build would be Natsu Dragneel’s Blackwater build. (Basically PU condition). It uses a Staff and Scepter/Torch.

Ninja edit: In open world PvE, anything goes. If you like how scepter plays (not many do), go for it. I generally use sword/focus and greatsword in open world PvE.