For those who don’t have time/interest to follow the link, the Original Poster (NSFK name withheld) attempted to break apart the building blocks of solo mesmer for PvE and determine which choices are important and which are not.
The OP’s tl;dr
TL;DR Solo power mesmer/chronomancer DPS is complicated. Wear Assassin everything, Strength runes and sigils. Use your best judgment when choosing weapons, but try to work in some way to summon Sword phantasms. Melee is of course the best DPS, but not by so much that ranged is unplayable.
And the OP’s break down of the main-hand options:
It is difficult to draw general conclusions from this data, especially due to the nature of the content in which the builds are played, and the variance of each build and utility skill choice. Each test’s DPS has the potential to vary by hundreds, which skews the result when comparing builds.
…here are some guidelines that are useful when preparing a build:
Sword/Sword pairs well with Greatsword, allowing the mesmer to retreat to range when necessary, but return to melee when it is safe. Even without Imagined Burden, Greatsword sustains greater Might than Sword, helping to eliminate some of the DPS loss of the autoattack while supporting the Sword phantasms.
Sword/Sword would pair better with Scepter if an encounter needs range sometimes and phantasms are killed very often.
Sometimes, camping Scepter/Sword with Sword phantasms is better than camping Greatsword with Greatsword phantasms. This means Greatsword pairs well with Scepter/Sword, both for the initial summons, and later when phantasms are being replaced. Malicious Sorcery is important for this build.
Greatsword has by far the highest burst damage for random trash mobs. The mesmer walks into near-melee range, summons Illusionary Berserker, throws Mirror Blade, and casts Mind Wrack after the bouncing is complete.
As long as the mesmer can maintain three Sword phantasms, Greatsword is a better ranged weapon than Scepter.
Scepter 2 and Sword 4 are blocks, but they also spawn clones, which would replace a phantasm if the caster has three out.
Taking Chronomancer and not using wells is probably a DPS loss in most cases. However, it does allow the mesmer to begin a fight with three of any one type of phantasm.
Finally, it is important to state that playing solo mesmer is not all about its DPS. Mesmer is a class with access to a great number of defensive skills, which are important when taking on challenges meant for groups. Ultimately, the goal is to secure completion – not with speed, but with safety. The DPS difference between ranged and melee under normal circumstances is small enough that melee mesmer is best suited for only the least punishing content.
PS: I am not the OP; just cross-posting what I think is an interesting bit of research.
PPS: NSFK = not suitable for kittenizer
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”
Well, his personal build is using the same weapon setup, mostly similar trait setup as the Lazy Chrono Kai Build, as well as the same heal and blink. Sin gear instead of berserker and mass invisibility for whatever reason.
Render me not very impressed.
Looks way too familiar…
Also he is taking chronophantasma, even though he doesn’t shatter.
In open world you want to shatter for the burst. Things die too quickly. That’s why compounding power is a bad choice unless you only solo champions. Persistance of Memory wins by a mile in open world. Shattering gives you alacrity, he totally misses out on that too.
Fooling around on a golem does not reflect any open world content sorry.