Guild Wars 2

Dear mesmers,

I am only a 2 levels before hitting the 80 mark, which will make my mesmer (my very first creation since pre-launch) my first level 80 character! With a little bit of crafting and personal story arc, I should be able to get to 80 before the weekend.

Anyway, I have been playing with a standard shatter build since level 60 and I have been enjoying it. Mind you, since 60 onwards, I have been staying in PvE. I am hoping at 80, I will be doing both PvE (story, dungeons etc) and WvW regularly. I have seen most Osicat posts, guides and video but I am hoping to get a wider view this time.

So when I get to 80, how should I gear up myself? What stat should I focus on?

In terms of my tactics: my play style seems to be rather aggressive lately. But I am still playing level 50-60 contents so my margin of error is rather wide. I have tried all combos of weapons as I levelled up. I used to like the staff/greatsword combo when I first started playing as a shatter mesmer. But the recharge of Chaos Storm was too slow for my liking. I am still hoping to use staff again so if you have some good suggestions on how to make it work, I am all ears.

Now I am using sword-sword/greatsword. Starting with greatsword Phantasmal Berserker and then Mirror Blade, then dodge roll for a third clone, I will do my first burst. Since I am mostly playing in PvE lately, a simple cripple from Phantasmal Berserker and dodge roll myself to the right position – usually behind the target – and should be sufficient enough to ensure a 4-illusion hit burst (including Illusionary Persona). Normally I would do Cry of Frustration first trying to load the target(s) up with some confusion stacks before its first round of attack. But it is just some trash mob, I will stay as far as possible using greatsword 1 to chip away some of its HP first before shattering with Mind Wrack to finish it (or them) off.

Then switch to sword 3 Illusionary Leap then either 5 Phantasmal Swordsman or 4 Illusionary Riposte depending on the situtation, then dodge roll again if I do not have 3 illusions ready. And I will do my second burst with Mind Wrack. Then there is the wait for Mind Wrack or Cry of Frustration to recharge for a third burst. Normally I would still have one dodge roll left, if not two with the benefit of Critical Infusion. And of course Mirror Images and Decoy should I need them. Within that time, I would do my best to sustain some DPS with sword 2 and 1 or trigger a Diversion for some CC. Since I have Blade Training, my Illusionary Leap should be up again. Then back to greatsword for more CC from Illusionary Wave if necessary. Then start the rotation again.

With the above rotation, I feel that I am relying on Illusionary Invigoration a lot during 1vX situations or during a fight of some hard targets. I can do 4 bursts very rapidly but I will be half dead by the end (that is why I still like staff because it is safe). I suppose that is essentially a glass-cannon. So to keep my alive, I have been experiment Signet of the Ether. It does not seem to fit well with a shatter build but during shatter down time, I would normally have clones or phantasms to keep my company and to distract the targets. I can see my HP slowly filling up but I am still not sure if using Ether Feast, or any other healing power, would be a safer and more efficient option. So, any advice would be most welcome.

So that is my shatter mesmer. Please guide me to make a good one…

Many thanks!

The story doesn’t change much from profession to profession. In general the most efficient way to take down enemies is Full Berserker gear. If that’s a bit too challenging, try knight’s chest and leggings. If that’s still a little to much, try soldier’s chest and leggings.

I’d recommend sticking to mostly Berserker pieces, because it’ll save you time vs large health pools that can feel like they draw out fights unnecessarily.

You’ll find once you hit 80 that shatter mesmer, in PvE, is sadly lacking compared to a simple Phantasm mesmer. It’s a bit of a shame since shatter is a more active, interesting playstyle, but you’ll be doing substantially worse DPS. In PvE, your best option is to basically melee with sword and keep summoning phantasms. Keep that in mind. Shatter is great in WvW and PvP because of the high burst, though, which is often enough to take out your target.

Signet of Ether doesn’t lend itself to shatter builds very well, as you observed— you’re constantly getting rid of your illusions. Ether Feast is good, and best if you can time to use it when you have lots of phantasms/clones out. I much prefer Mantra of Recovery to either of these— it’s a mantra, so it has that annoying problem, but it provides two smaller heals which are immediate and you can distribute as you need. It also doesn’t scale with number of illusions, so you can use it whenever you want without fear of inefficiency.

With gear, “as much zerker as possible” is best for PvE, as Shockwave says. In WvW, as a shatter mesmer, the same is basically true, but you’ll probably want at least a few pieces of Soldier’s no matter what to get some durability.

I have Tailoring at 400+ and I have been crafting and using Berserker and Rampage gears so far. It terms of damage, it does the job. It is the survivability and I worry about…

So what runes, etc., can help me to balance that?

As for runes I would use centaur runes. I’ve got full zerker with centaur runes and I run a shatter build. The only time I die is if I pull to many mobs or I get knocked down. I also use a staff for clone production as well. Hope that helps.

as a power shatter, 15 in domination, that will go well with your weapon set up. clones using sword will stack vul same goes with your normal attacks and with diversion you’ll stack even more. GS #2 goes well with stacking vul as well as giving you might…along with illusion trait line grandmaster minor trait you’ll stack vuln and have might when you shatter with diversionl…then just mindwrack for big damage. if surviablity if an issue get to know the F4 skill. i don’t know how many times that has saved me and that CD for it is not bad at all. PvE mobs should do no damage a shatter mes played right.

I have tried a phantasm build as well. In PvE, I think it is a bit of an overkill and unefficient. Normal mobs die too quickly and because phantasms disappear upon the death of its initial target, it does not make the most of their damage potential in 1vX situations. Also because phantasms are hopeless in position themselves, which makes them an aggro magnet in some areas. They are however good at fighting difficult and hard targets but then they are not very good at avoiding AoE (positioning again). I do however use them to fight world bosses while I am making coffee.

So after a while, I feel that I have more control over the battle with a shatter build. I still use phantasms: as in I do let them do their job before popping them kittenter fodders. So I am sort of micro-managing and timing my damage output. Actually I was looking for a shatter-phantasm build not long before. But as it turns out not to be very good.

I use Diversion or Distortion mostly when I am disabled or needing to run away. I use Diversion when my dodge, block and pushback are still recharging. I understand that it may be justify to have Distortion on its current slightly longer cooldown; but Diversion can do with a shorter cooldown.

Rune/Orb usage will be changing in less than a week, I’d hold off on getting those until we know what they all do.

Ruby orbs won’t be as good anymore, but still could potentially be one of the better cost efficient options for DPS.

Shockwave.1230:

Ruby orbs won’t be as good anymore, but still could potentially be one of the better cost efficient options for DPS.

Ruby will still be the highest power damage you can get from an orb.
I can’t see Coral or Opal orbs becoming the new thing unless something drastic happens to the crit system. In terms of stats, april 15th is a nerf to critical damage and nothing else. Power/precision will work as they always have.