Guild Wars 2

It seems that a lot of mesmer are playing some form of PU or another these days. I however have only just started playing mesmer again after trying out some other classes (mainly ele, ranger and thief). My mesmer is at level 62 right now and I want to seriously try on different builds.

So far, for me, shatter seems quite fun. A kittenaotic and fast-pace sometimes but still I enjoy. I am thinking of carrying on with a shatter build. I am interested to know what is the general opinion of a shatter mesmer these days? I do mostly PvE and occassionally WWW.

Also, how many different types of shatter builds are available?

Many thanks!

x/20/x/x/30 for shatterbuilds, u can put 20 points wherever u want, if u want a bursty shatter : 20/20/0/0/30 , use the dazing shatter, then mindwrack, the daze applies vulnerability if u took 15 pts on top line

pu mes is just gonna run out of fight if he wants to

shatter is way more fun tho,as pu u cant run into zergs kill in 1 sec then go away with (u wont be able to kill in most cases), kittenter u leap in, use shatters , get 1 or more downed ppl, stomp the one u would succeed most(warrior,engi, etc.. but not ele or mes due to them beeing able to ignore a stomp for sure) use the fourth shatter for invulnerability during stomp, then blink away, if u got staff equipped u can also spam phace retreat if ppl chasing u , if u dont know how to do that some ppl may be able to help out

edit : shatterer as (reverse the words) on second line where it put kittenter, dat forum ..

I dont even know what the PU build is, I come up with all my own builds instead of looking on the forums. I use the build i’ve used since launch, and it still works fine too with is rare for any class.

I can run ok in zergs but not at my full potential. Great for solo or group play though.

pu build is every build that has the grandmaster trait in chaos traitline : prismatic understanding

I use PU. The way I do it I still find it very aggressive/fast pace. I ran shatter in the past.

Shatter is still super fun, but yes less effective in this day and age. I use either 20/20/0/0/30, 10/30/0/0/30 or 10/20/0/10/30 with Greatsword + sword/torch and it’s crazy fun for the most part and that burst still catches many people off guard. Just don’t get too disheartened when you’re rolled by another Mesmer using a build that is inherently much stronger than shatter.

Stealth shatter is my preference (10/30/0/0/30, sw/t + staff).

Folks would get confused with defensive staff play and stealth (assuming some sort of PU build), and then suddenly hitting for high burst – in either weapon set.
Con = weaker enemy control and still a little squishy plus direct damage being less effective when against ridiculously tanky players, but high mobility and burst kind of make up for that in a way.

Of course with upcoming changes I’ll have to change something.

Mind you, I haven’t touched the game since a month, so brain is out of gear and don’t know if there’s some new trend.

I’ve been playing a variation of Hidden Cat (Power based PU) and am enjoying it. Competition is pretty tough in WvW at the moment so I’ve been running with the blob instead of roaming – that and Mesmers are incredibly vital to successful Zerg fights.

Check out Osicat.weebly.com for the core build. My changes are:

-Utilities are Decoy, Veil, and Null Field. The latter two are must haves for the commander train.

-I usually run a Focus instead of a Torch, using the pull for yanking people off keep walls/cliffs, swiftness when I need it, or just as a mass interrupt for Chaotic Interruption. I switch back to the Torch if I’m solo roaming or hiding in a keep.

-Since I’m not using Torch in team fights, I swap it out for Confusing Enchantments. Yes, I have no condition damage, but in already using Veil and Null Field anyhow, so letting them also provide tagging for me is extremely nice. Also, those people who do notice the Confusion icon are sometimes prone to stop attacking. Even I stutter even one person’s attacks it’s more than worth the trait… But the bag spam in keep fights is quite glorious :P.

-I also replace the Manipulations trait with the trait to go invis and summon a decoy at low health.

-Illusions don’t stay up in these fights, so I use Mirror due to stray projectiles.

Anyhow, since we start most engagements with veil and spectral wall I end up starting the fight with some really good defensive buffs. The innately high Power and Crit rate in the build give me decent dmg, but I’m also plenty capable of wading in with my sword (and find I get more tags that way).

For either roaming or blobbing it’s a hard build to beat, though I am looking forward to trying out a condition shatter build with the Illusions trait.

In pve, shatters have a hard time, because they mainly do burst, while in pve what you need is sustained damage. So to be efficient you have to continuously do the shatter rotations.
Phantasm builds bring more dps, and you don’t need to press buttons all the time.

In wvw, you’ll have a lot of fun, both roaming and zerguing. In both situations they become high-skilled, but also high-funny.
About zerguing, after 15th April, frontline 10/30/0/0/30 with new Dueling GM trait will be the way to go, if not major unknown changes are implemented.
And for roaming, there’s a lot of possibilities. I’ve been testing 0/10/0/30/30 this last days and is not that bad as people think. You don’t have the burst other shatter builds do, but in exchange you have more survivability and you rely more on sustained damage.

I am indeed looking forward to a x/30/x/x/30 build with the new Dueling GM. BUT I am not sure where else to put the rest of the 10 points.

I am debating whether it is good to get Vigorous Revelation from the Inspiration line, which could give me more Endurance to dodge around. On the other hand, using Illusion of Vulnerability and Rending Shatter to cause vulnerability are too useful to overlook. Debilitating Dissipation from the Chaos line is also decent but somehow harder to make the most of.

In terms of balancing between burst and sustained damage, I suppose if I can burst frequent enough, it becomes sustained some how. So what sort of set up gives the most illusions constantly for shattering? I am using Septer/nothing specific and Staff for the time being, with Decoy and Mirror Image most of the time.

Any suggestion?

And what stat/gear should I equip myself with?

Many thanks once again.

Oh My God.8423:

I am indeed looking forward to a x/30/x/x/30 build with the new Dueling GM. BUT I am not sure where else to put the rest of the 10 points.

I am debating whether it is good to get Vigorous Revelation from the Inspiration line, which could give me more Endurance to dodge around. On the other hand, using Illusion of Vulnerability and Rending Shatter to cause vulnerability are too useful to overlook. Debilitating Dissipation from the Chaos line is also decent but somehow harder to make the most of.

In terms of balancing between burst and sustained damage, I suppose if I can burst frequent enough, it becomes sustained some how. So what sort of set up gives the most illusions constantly for shattering? I am using Septer/nothing specific and Staff for the time being, with Decoy and Mirror Image most of the time.

Any suggestion?

And what stat/gear should I equip myself with?

Many thanks once again.

The 10 in domi is almost a must for Mind Wrack dmg boost (Mental Torment). You have enough endurance if you run double energy sigils.

Looks like you’re going for power build due to favor for fast pace, in that case scepter may not be a viable choice in WvW/PvP. Its ok in PvE because AI monster don’t dodge, but players will dodge when illusions running towards them. Hence lots of WvW shatter mesmers use sword and usually shatter burst after immobilize foe with ileap. Plus blurred frenzy is one of your main burst damage source. With the incoming patch though, scepter and staff will be useful in condition shatter (torment). It may not be as fast paced as you wish but can be a good sustain.

Mind wrack is our main power burst, so you need to think of a way to sustain damage during the 11.5s cd. Often that can be summoning a phantasm from your second weapon set and keep it there, or use scepter 3. Or just use auto-attack….though both scepter and staff auto does a horrible job in power builds.

NICENIKESHOE.7128:

Looks like you’re going for power build due to favor for fast pace, in that case scepter may not be a viable choice in WvW/PvP. Its ok in PvE because AI monster don’t dodge, but players will dodge when illusions running towards them. Hence lots of WvW shatter mesmers use sword and usually shatter burst after immobilize foe with ileap. Plus blurred frenzy is one of your main burst damage source. With the incoming patch though, scepter and staff will be useful in condition shatter (torment). It may not be as fast paced as you wish but can be a good sustain.

Mind wrack is our main power burst, so you need to think of a way to sustain damage during the 11.5s cd. Often that can be summoning a phantasm from your second weapon set and keep it there, or use scepter 3. Or just use auto-attack….though both scepter and staff auto does a horrible job in power builds.

I understand now.

So I should be building a power mesmer that alters between shatter and phantasm summoning. Some sort of hybrid build perhaps.

As to weapons, I suppose sword/x with GS?

Or you can go sword/torch + scepter/pistol, sword/pistol + staff, sword/torch + GS, sword/pistol + GS etc. We have lots of ways to summon illusions and whichever weapon suits your style is good. You can also swap weapon before you burst, so lots of variety in generating shatter folders while keeping a phantasm around for sustain afterward. For example if I play sword/pistol + GS, I can start the fight with GS 4 and 2. Swap to sword and ileap (3 illusions now), shatter F1. Mirror images and shatter F2 (optional), dodge roll away and use pistol 4 for duelist continuous attacks. Then close in for sword auto. Also with iPersona you don’t have to restrict yourself to 3 illusion shatter, sometimes 2 from a single weapon set would suffice.

It isn’t really a phantasm hybrid since you don’t have to trait towards phantasms. Sometimes in a typical 20/20/0/0/30 WvW build you trait for far-reaching manipulation (1200 range blink) instead of phantasmal fury (fury on phantasm), just to add escape factors. Or sometimes mental torment (20% mind wrack damage) and shattering concentration (shatter removes boon) are too valuable to swap with empowered illusion (15% illusion damage).