Guild Wars 2

Grimms.9016:

update – [05/11/13]

One vs. Many, gladiator style.

Awesome video mate, made me interested in the scepter again. Didn’t think that was possible. :P

Your build seems more tanky than what you usually run. Do you miss using the sword and larger amounts of critical damage compared to your current build?

Hey thanks Asuka

Yeah I’m at 3.1k armour and an 87% crit damage. I’ll have to check exactly as I’m not in game, but it’s still bringing people down, and more importantly, keeping me up.

Based on the cooldown of your phantasmal warlock and phantasmal swordsman, the clone on roll, and the 57 sec cooldown of your distortion, you must have at least 20 in the duelist tree, 20 in chaos, and must have 5 in illusions.
The amount of points in inspiration confused me, as your regen tick is 157. With 15 points you get 149 ticks, with 20 points you get 150 ticks, and with 25 points you get 161 ticks.
Care to help me out here please?

He’s probably running 0 30 20 15 5, and he has at least one of those trinkets with all stats including healing power, explaining the regen.

I’m loving the look of this “Gladiator” build, and I’ve been trying to recreate it in an online Build Editor, with only minor success. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

http://tinyurl.com/c4s7lvo

The key points:

1. Grimms has stated that the Gear and Traits are the same as his “Pistol Power” build – just slightly retraited for “Blade Training”
2. He also says he’s at 3.1k armor and 87% crit damage
3. The video shows him at a base 20,257 hit points

My problem: Whilst I can just about get the HP to 20k+ (by using the “Plates of Lemongrass Poultry” to get 6% VIT from Toughness) I can’t seem to do that AND get 3.1k armor and 87% crit damage at the same time.

Can anyone take a look (or, failing that, if Grimms could actually give us a real peek at his gear and Nourishment choices… Please? There’s pie!) and tell me what I’m missing?

The build as I’ve constructed it so far is obviously fine for its purposes, but I’m one of those perfectionists who gets a nagging sense of discontent when I know I’m not being the best I can be.

Help me be perfect! There’s pie!

Almost positive he has some celestial trinkets.

edit – And your health is different than what your Health Stat is. My Health Stat is 18422, but my health on screen is 19159. So the stat you see in the calculator is different than what would be in game.

@Grimms:

Your video on how to defeat a D/D Ele is outstanding! I play a D/D Ele as my main after I got bored with my Mesmer but this makes me reconsider how I was playing. My Ele is very defensive which makes me wonder what build/gear she was using.

Anyways, I was wondering how well you do in a dual against those pesky D/D or D/P Thieves. They remain the largest pain in my back (no pun intended).

If you have 15 in inspiration, why wouldn’t you take the +15% more phantasm damage trait (plus a free-pick) for 10 points? Why did you opt instead to put them in duelling?

0/20/20/0/15/5 is an awesome starting block imo.
Staff is an incredible defensive option, and you get 9% dmg reduction, 250 toughness, and 20% cooldown reduction from 20 points in chaos? Sold!
Perma retal/regen from inspiration is insane. You’ll see in all his vids that retal ticking away for a really decent amount every time someone clips the phantasms.
Duelling offers good stats and the first choices – if your other weaponset is sw/sw you could pick the blademaster trait, or you could pick the pistol set if you prefer that. Phantasmal fury is a solid pick. I’m not a huge fan of clone on dodge when your phants have <11 sec cooldowns and phase leap is on a ~5 sec cooldown. (I prefer phantasmal fury/blademaster).

With regards to his latest vids and the adaptation of the pistol power build..
I’m not sure why Grimms chose to put the extra 10 points into duelling when they could have gone into domination for a similar personal damage boost plus an additional 15% phantasm damage – or even better an additional 15% phantasm damage, 2k hp and your pick of an inspiration trait. Perhaps he could comment for me.

Something I’d like to see you try though Grimms is to take those 20 in chaos and put them in domination/inspiration for a 10/30/0/25/5 build. Take your usual scepter/pistol sword/sword and watch those phantasm numbers fly. The damage is insane.

Awesome vid as always, but that last fight confuses the heck out of me. I see this in Mesmer 1 v Many vids all the time, but how do you find players that are THAT bad??

I understand the the point of our playstyle is to confuse people with clones, and you do a very good job of constantly moving about unexpectedly to confuse them, but at least 80% of the fight not a single person out of the 4-5 players was attacking you…and you were the only one there!

With a fight that long, and with that many players, you’d think at least one of them could figure out which one was you. At least they always do when I’m fighting against those numbers.

/Sigh

Either way, awesome stuff!

These builds look great but sadly I probably won’t be trying anything else with my mesmer. I just don’t have time between work/school/gym/life. Everytime Anet decides to nerfbat/change a build’s viability we’re forced to grind PvE again for another full set of exotics, just in time to enjoy it for a couple months before it’s hit again. It’s getting ridiculous man.

Hell, a 25% confusion would’ve been ok. But no.

Oh actually I posted a suggestion about possibly implementing a gear-token swap system. If you think that would be cool, hit up the suggestions forum!

I’m running 10(III)/20(II,X)/20(IV,X)/15(V)/5 and liking it. Scepter/sword and Staff. I swap scepter for sword sometimes but end up going back to keep a distance buffer in there because I’m not as good as Seven. I ran the 10/30/0/25/5 build for a while and missed the staff survivability and extra toughness because I like to play really stupid.

So hot that I cried a little.

Dude, saw your videos a while back and thought they were top notch. I’m on DH and today I dueled this bad kitten mesmer on the the bridge between Mendons and the SF keep and got completely destroyed… turned out to be you. HAHAH! Seeing the effectiveness of you build in person is impressive. Much respect!

I got a few guys on DH that want a run at that build. Lets set something up.

Fadeaway,

Yeah man thats a great block and I get what you’re saying. I went 30 into dueling to increase my overall crit chance, pick up the 10% crit damage, and keep a phantasm on a 12 second cooldown instead of 16 with the weapon mastery trait, as well as having an extra 20% chance for phantasms to crit, being able to summon them faster is important for overall dps. I’ll give the other trait line you mentioned a run too, i love switching things around.

Finalpatriot,

Yeah man i hear you, thanks for the kind words.

Kearne,

I’ll reveal all! Soon! Kpoc is a good detective

Sinaya,

u so hot.

Omega,

Yeah man great fight!) I’m always up for duels whisper me in game.

update – [05/18/13]

me talking… try to stay awake. :/ zzZZZ

Regarding Seven’s health and healing, won’t that depend on the day of the week due to WvW bonuses? These will always leave a little room for variation, which can’t be factored in due to now knowing what day the video was taken.

Seven, question. Without stacks, what do you try to set your critical chance at? I presume you are using oil and the phantasm fury trait, so is around 30-35% ok? It’s hard to do the math to figure it out with our combat log not showing any phantasm damage…

Also, do you find the weapon swap/accuracy sigils better than say running air/fire?

Edit; that new video may be the best mesmer video I have ever seen. Thanks Seven, really awesome.

Asuka,

I shoot for a 30% crit chance, it seems to work out good for me. Couple that with fury, a 5% increase with accuracy sigil, and of course a 20% phantasmal fury trait, and we are in pretty good shape. I can get my crit damage up to 95% with food and still maintain 3.1k armour with a 19-20k base health. The ascended gear is needed for this, with upgraded infusion slots (all tough).

You know I found that the 3stacks of might on swap for 20s (keeping up 6 stacks of might constantly during battle) to be more beneficial. Not only is it giving me just as much power as 25 stacks of bloodlust, but it’s also boosting my condition damage at the same time.

Glad you liked that video man, I appreciate ya.

Great videos but one question, what builds are you using in these videos?? Scepter/Sword + Staff but what traits?
[05/18/13] Mesmer Combat with commentary
[05/11/13] 1vX Galdiator
[05/04/13] You shall not pass

Great stuff dude, loved the commentary. Thanks for slowing it down at crucial points as well, helped a lot.

Dunno how you can stand not having swiftness though, would drive me crazy.

Awesome video, love the commentary.

Very inspirational videos and thank you for all the nice détails for the builds. You are truly talented!

Seven,

Been running your latest build (at least as teased out here in the forums) and I was really missing my portal stomps. I did a WTK?! when I saw you do one in your last vid and you weren’t running portal. Phase-retreat with a blink back for the pin is on my to-be-practiced-until-perfected list now. Thanks!

Here’s as (surprisingly) close as I could get to your build numbers without ascended items for those just getting into it.

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/mesmer/?4.3|b.1n.h1h.c.1n.h1|6.0.h1m|1n.7r.1n.7r.1n.7r.1n.7r.1n.7r.1n.7r|1c.67.1c.67.1c.67.1c.67.1c.67.cg.67|0.u24a.k5a.f5.5|40.1|31.3l.3d.34.3o|e

Am i the only1 who would love to see a vid of grimms fighting osicat?? Both of them show some epic fights in vids, now i wanna see how they hadle each other

@Grimms: Gasp! You tease! Obviously I shall have to start checking this topic hourly.

@CrazyDuck: I don’t know about the others for sure, but Grimms stated in the 1vX Gladiator video comments that he was using his “Power Pistol” build, except the pistol is swapped for a sword (and the relevant Trait is swapped from pistol to sword too)

@Dess: Heck yes, I’d pay good money to see that.

I want you to know that I just went through and spent a ton of time trying to come up with a good pistol build. I finally put one together, and then I re-read this thread and the traits are an exact copy of your Power Pistol build. I no longer feel original haha

Love the latest video with the commentary

Hey Seven,

I was wondering if you could talk about your choice to use the illusion health signet. I’ve heard a lot about how it’s bugged, and it’s active doesn’t seem helpful since you seem to rarely shatter. Do you find that it increases your overall dps a significant amount? And is it worth the loss in utility you’d get using null field or veil?

Thanks and I love your videos!

Zumi,

Yeah, It is one of those things that I’m still on the fence about, sometimes it’s great, other times you want to have null field or feedback or veil, especially if you are doing projectiles through a combo field. I suppose, like everything else, different situations call for different utilities. I’m just toying with it atm. I’m sure I’ll find a new toy next week to play with… :P

Zumi.6384:

Hey Seven,

I was wondering if you could talk about your choice to use the illusion health signet. I’ve heard a lot about how it’s bugged, and it’s active doesn’t seem helpful since you seem to rarely shatter. Do you find that it increases your overall dps a significant amount? And is it worth the loss in utility you’d get using null field or veil?

Thanks and I love your videos!

As i see the signet increase his dps in two ways: Direct because the phantasms can output more damage since they dont die so fast and indirect for the retaliation, also increase Seven´s survivability since he can stay behind the phantasm and use them as a shield for more time

Seven, can u post your pc specs?

I loved these videos. It’s a crime they don’t have enough views. You helped me 2v1 today on my mesmer!

What do you think about zerging and how do you adapt your builds for getting mass amounts of bags?

Awesome videos Seven, could you post that break down of your gear in the latest videos please?

So, I made the switch to melandru runes and love that conditions and stuns just roll off me, but the lack of on demand swiftness makes it hard to catch up to players who would other wise be dead meat.

There is this Maguuma [FEAR] thief who would constantly shortbow 5 away and shadowstep/return. Lacking the ability to pin him down, means I just have to leave, or fight forever. Even sword phantasms aren’t great because he would drag them away and then shadow return to me. I wish the Faster Movement per Illusion trait made illusions move faster instead, I think that would help with the inability to chase.

Any thoughts?

Andres R,

Hey buddy, system specs are

AMD FX-8350 8 core @ 4.5 , 16g DDR3
Radeon HD 7850 2g oc’d 1050mhz core 1450mhz memory
I’ve got it all on a Win8 64-bit and use aftermarket cooling
and 800w ps.

Lowenhigh,

I think running a Greatsword + sword,focus with feedback instead of blink is the best way to rack up kills and mass amount of dropped purses, if you have anything else you use for maximum tags let me know!

kpoc,

Unfortunately, my latest build isn’t made to chase people down. It’s the only glaring weakness of using this setup. There is 0 cc. The people that stay and fight die, the people that run live. A greatsword or main hand sword or focus would all do a better job of getting the fleet of foot.

Deicide,

It is the power/pistol build and gear with a switch to blade training in the dueling traits instead of the pistol trait. I will get something together that breaks down everything.

Is superior sigil of Leeching on Staff worth it? I have always preferred sup. sigil of Might on both weapon swaps for the 6 stacks of might.

How much life does it really steal and give to you?

Grimms.9016:

Hey thanks Asuka

Yeah I’m at 3.1k armour and an 87% crit damage. I’ll have to check exactly as I’m not in game, but it’s still bringing people down, and more importantly, keeping me up.

20k vit, 87% crit damage, AND 3.1k armour?? How??? Please, tell us!

Here just head on over to this site:

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/

@PandaBear – Just go to first page of this thread and look at “power pistol” build. Grimms has it all written out. If you look back a few posts you’ll also find a gear setup I wrote up that gets close but doesn’t use ascended.

Lanny.6987:

@PandaBear – Just go to first page of this thread and look at “power pistol” build. Grimms has it all written out. If you look back a few posts you’ll also find a gear setup I wrote up that gets close but doesn’t use ascended.

Ah, i see now. Thanks so much!

Ever experimented with Sigil of Hydromancy for the 3 second chill on swap? Might help keep the enemy from rabbiting, as well as increasing our ability to get away.

kpoc.1324:

Ever experimented with Sigil of Hydromancy for the 3 second chill on swap? Might help keep the enemy from rabbiting, as well as increasing our ability to get away.

I used it for a while, but the hydromancy proc causes damage, hence breaking stealth. When you need to escape and switch to staff/stealth it can be easy to make a mistake and waste stealth.

Still, its really useful against some builds. Love it on my d/d ele. :P

Just wanna say I think your builds are spot-on and your commentary vid was the best Mes. vid. I’v seen yet…grats and I look forward to your next one!

update – [05/26/13]

Some group play, and solo, commentary.

I recently upgraded to an FX-8350 @ 4.0ghz (stock) with an HD7850 2gig video card (oc’d to 1050mhz core, 1450mhz memory). I installed an aftermarket cooling solution and have oc’d the FX-8350 to 4.5ghz so I should be getting an even better recording frame rate in the upcoming videos. In this video most of the action is slowed down, and even at a reduced speed the video is quite fluid on the 8350 @ 4.0

The opening encounter is at normal speed and the frame rate is very high, considering the populated area, max GW2 graphic settings (reflections off), and recording software running.

Thanks for the new video. It was very entertaining and interesting to watch.
Keep it up!

Great video Seven! I love your commentaries, I think you have a great voice and comumunicate really well.

I think I speak for the entire Mesmer Community when I say thank you very much. Keep them coming please

@Grimms

What build do you/would you run in tPvP or 1v1?

Also, on your current WvW build that has 20k vit, 3.1k armor and 87% crit damage, what is your crit chance at?

PandaBear.7510:

@Grimms

What build do you/would you run in tPvP or 1v1?

Also, on your current WvW build that has 20k vit, 3.1k armor and 87% crit damage, what is your crit chance at?

I am sure that Seven is like me. I don’t spec for a 1v1 aside from perhaps adjusting my offhand (like if i had a focus on for movement but change to a pistol, sword, or torch depending on my current spec) and/or a utility skill. I understand the weaknesses in my setup and as such I adjust my play of that setup based on what I am encountering.

Nordic Natedog.4360:

PandaBear.7510:

@Grimms

What build do you/would you run in tPvP or 1v1?

Also, on your current WvW build that has 20k vit, 3.1k armor and 87% crit damage, what is your crit chance at?

I am sure that Seven is like me. I don’t spec for a 1v1 aside from perhaps adjusting my offhand (like if i had a focus on for movement but change to a pistol, sword, or torch depending on my current spec) and/or a utility skill. I understand the weaknesses in my setup and as such I adjust my play of that setup based on what I am encountering.

Right, I understand that. And in WvW I do the same. I was mainly asking in regards to tPvP. Specially, what amulet/jewel combinations he uses (assuming he plays tPvP)

PandaBear.7510:

@Grimms

What build do you/would you run in tPvP or 1v1?

Also, on your current WvW build that has 20k vit, 3.1k armor and 87% crit damage, what is your crit chance at?

This was asked and answered already, I think:

Grimms.9016:

I shoot for a 30% crit chance, it seems to work out good for me. Couple that with fury, a 5% increase with accuracy sigil, and of course a 20% phantasmal fury trait, and we are in pretty good shape. I can get my crit damage up to 95% with food and still maintain 3.1k armour with a 19-20k base health. The ascended gear is needed for this, with upgraded infusion slots (all tough).

With the torch now working with prismatic understanding are we going to see a return to classic Seven torch build?

Grimms,

Looks like you are running Sceptre/Sword in your latest video (AMAZING btw)

I am just returning after several (5 or more) months off and picking up and dusting off my lvl 80 Mes.

Can you post your build for Sceptre/Sword-Staff? I didn’t see it on the front page.