Guild Wars 2

Hi all,I’m running a Mesmer with 20/20/0/0/30(dunno wat build it is),with a gs n s/f.
Armor with pow/pre/cri n centaur runes,same for my weapons with air signils.

However I heard staff is better than gs for Mesmer,is it true?

I suppose I’m considered as running a glass cannon or shatter build?

May I know any way to improve my Mesmer?

My current traits r mind wreck n gs training for domination,phantom fury n deceptive evasion for duelist and precise wreck,phantom haste n ip for illusions.

Skills r ether feast,sigil of inspiration,mirror image n feedback n gw for elite.

Staff is a lot easier tbh (personal opinion).

GS is more fun/satisfying.

each has its uses.

GS is focused on pure damage against single targets with not much defensive utilities.
Staff is focused on sustained damage via conditions against multiple targets, and has more defensive utilities.

I switch depending on the situation. GS is a lot of fun in a wvw zerg. Staff can make a full glass build feel tanky. Phase retreat is amazing.

Neither is “better”. So much depends on your own playstyle.

I have run both at various times (mostly in wpvp) and there are pros and cons for each weapon. Which I think is great.

For the most part, I lean towards the GS. As a whole I find it a tad easier for wpvp to get faster kills with how I play. Again, both are great and I did fine with staff, but I just enjoy the more power/crit build that GS offers.

I rather get in and out of fights faster and avoid being run over by the zerg. But man the staff does add defense!

GS is our main AoE weapon. GS 3, 4 and 5 are all AoE. And GS 2 bounces between targets.

For the most part, you have to stay at max range with the GS due to the auto attack weakening at close range. This makes it much easier for an enemy to counter. It works well coupled with the staff due to the staff 2 skill allowing easy and reliable retreat options.

However, I prefer sword/focus or sword/pistol when playing with staff for most situations. Primarily because the focus and pistol offer more utility and the sword’s melee req and gap closer synergy well with the staff’s defensive abilities.

Many thanks to u all for the kind replies.
I will try to practice with a staff for flexibilities for wvw in future(which I haven play before).

Btw,I’m gg for pure dmg and criticals with ref to my first post.
Am I doing it the right way?
Is there any aspects where I can improve,like traits and utility skills?

Generally speaking GS is the more offence-based weapon, Staff the more defence-focused one. Both work amazingly well, plenty people simply gun both (which is a sometimes overlooked choice).

The entire weapon lineup for the Mesmer seems to be both awesome and situational. I’ve found GS/Staff to be my default pair for, “I don’t know what is about to happen.” I have been gathering up the stat/skins I want with the rest of the weapons as I learn when they are best applied.

well gs not only for max range. with gs2 vulne and might compensates it. and i prefer gs in wvw becouse it simple way counter thiefs shadow refuge and enemy who try stomp my alies

p.s. sry bad eng

Three things I don’t like about the gs:
- Mind Stab is inferior
- Spatial Surge keeps you at distance while Mirror Blade has a limited bounce range on single targets, that’s pretty counterintuitive
- Illusionary Wave doesn’t work when it’s really needed, i.e. when the enemy already is close up

I personally like both.

Staff is great defensive wise. Only downfall is its horrendously slow attack speed and its damage isn’t that impressive — my Thief can do way more AOE damage.

Greatsword does good damage and it has 1200 range. It’s great for sitting in the back of the zergs and picking people off. Also, you can punt people off cliffs and stuff, but it’s really gimped defensive wise.

Scepter is probably the best trolling weapon if you Shatter confusions and beam people at the same time. You can get 10 stacks of Confusion easy and watch people kitten themselves. o_o

Hendry.9386:

Hi all,I’m running a Mesmer with 20/20/0/0/30(dunno wat build it is),with a gs n s/f.
Armor with pow/pre/cri n centaur runes,same for my weapons with air signils.

However I heard staff is better than gs for Mesmer,is it true?

I suppose I’m considered as running a glass cannon or shatter build?

May I know any way to improve my Mesmer?

My current traits r mind wreck n gs training for domination,phantom fury n deceptive evasion for duelist and precise wreck,phantom haste n ip for illusions.

Skills r ether feast,sigil of inspiration,mirror image n feedback n gw for elite.

Staff ain’t better then GS for mesmer nor the other way around. You can’t compare both in my eyes as they fullfil a completly different role. Staff is defensive condition damage based and GS is burst damage based.

I like your build and think it’s viable. However I find your choice for phantasmal haste a bit weird cause you didn’t take the 15% dam for clones in domination nor the + 15% dam for phantasms in inspiration. I would then personally take elasticity instead to improve your staff with an extra bounce.

I run a 20/20/0/25/5 build with GS and staff. Almost full berserker gear and some pieces knights for some more toughness. This makes me able to switch fast between offensive and defensive. I make sure I get atleast 2 phantasms up. Then I start casting mantra of pain which gives me an AOE heal for around 2500 every 4 sec. With inspiration trait X. Can’t come up with the name. While my phantasm deal damage.

BartBacardi.5371:

Hendry.9386:

Hi all,I’m running a Mesmer with 20/20/0/0/30(dunno wat build it is),with a gs n s/f.
Armor with pow/pre/cri n centaur runes,same for my weapons with air signils.

However I heard staff is better than gs for Mesmer,is it true?

I suppose I’m considered as running a glass cannon or shatter build?

May I know any way to improve my Mesmer?

My current traits r mind wreck n gs training for domination,phantom fury n deceptive evasion for duelist and precise wreck,phantom haste n ip for illusions.

Skills r ether feast,sigil of inspiration,mirror image n feedback n gw for elite.

Staff ain’t better then GS for mesmer nor the other way around. You can’t compare both in my eyes as they fullfil a completly different role. Staff is defensive condition damage based and GS is burst damage based.

I like your build and think it’s viable. However I find your choice for phantasmal haste a bit weird cause you didn’t take the 15% dam for clones in domination nor the + 15% dam for phantasms in inspiration. I would then personally take elasticity instead to improve your staff with an extra bounce.

I run a 20/20/0/25/5 build with GS and staff. Almost full berserker gear and some pieces knights for some more toughness. This makes me able to switch fast between offensive and defensive. I make sure I get atleast 2 phantasms up. Then I start casting mantra of pain which gives me an AOE heal for around 2500 every 4 sec. With inspiration trait X. Can’t come up with the name. While my phantasm deal damage.

I see.i didn’t trait in elastic cos I dun use a staff.its gs n s/f for me.i still thinking whether to swap mental torment for empowered illusions.i traits 30 in illusions becos I’m not a fan of mantras.staff seems so slow n low dmg to me.i wanted to do a full dps build but not sure whether I’m on the right track..

Elasticity serves to buff greatsword as well, since Mirror Blade is the thing you’ll use most often in greatsword after the autoattack. In those situations where the blade has one other target to bounce off, it means hitting your primary target a third time and an additional three instances of Vulnerability – this is quite worthwhile. Conking someone three times with Mirror Blade is one of the nastier direct damage attacks the mesmer has, especially when MB is an illusion generating skill and thus shortened in recharge with associated traits.

Personally, I agree with LegatusLeaf with regarding GS/Staff as my default. Certain specific circumstances – needing lots of reflection, cramped confines or fast enemies where melee can’t be avoided, and so on – will lead to bringing out a different combination, but GS/Staff is the default.

For GS/Staff Illusionary Elasticity is the trait, yes.

I find it very unusual for a Mesmer to use both Staff and Greatsword at the same time, as their styles are so different. When I run GS, I want to go high power, DPS focused build. When I use a staff, I want to run more condition based, defensively oriented build.
Not being opposed to hybrid builds, I’m sure there is a happy median here – the first thing that comes to mind is a phantasm build with gear that tips more toward power and precision – but for those of you who do run GS/Staff, if there is a build you are in love with pls share!

@Decimus:
The strategy behind bringing both a staff and GS is that you typically stay in GS when all is cool for the DPS, and switch to staff when you need go on the defensive. After you shed the heat, or your opponents blow their CDs, you go back to GS to put more pressure on them. And many staff players also run shatter builds so they can mainatin some burst DPS with MW even while in staff mode.

Gaiawolf.8261:

@Decimus:
The strategy behind bringing both a staff and GS is that you typically stay in GS when all is cool for the DPS, and switch to staff when you need go on the defensive. After you shed the heat, or your opponents blow their CDs, you go back to GS to put more pressure on them. And many staff players also run shatter builds so they can mainatin some burst DPS with MW even while in staff mode.

That’s exactly it, GS is offense and if someone’s closing in on me and I can’t get away it’s “Switch to staff, 5, 4, 2” and now they’re sitting in a chaos storm field staring at a clone while I’ve got chaos armor and ooh now my clones shattered and you’re dead.

Carighan.6758:

For GS/Staff Illusionary Elasticity is the trait, yes.

I’ve been using it with my GS power build, but since it doesn’t affect clones casting winds of chaos it’s not that important if the staff is your main weapon I guess.

If you are talking about pvp, then this question is a toss up. Both condition mesmer and gs mesmers are strong

However, Staff is better at PvE, because the gs is pretty bad at PvE. All other mesmer weapons except gs have a active ability to avoid or migrate damage. GS is one of the lowest survivability weapons at an mesmer arsenal.

loseridoit.2756:

If you are talking about pvp, then this question is a toss up. Both condition mesmer and gs mesmers are strong

However, Staff is better at PvE, because the gs is pretty bad at PvE. All other mesmer weapons except gs have a active ability to avoid or migrate damage. GS is one of the lowest survivability weapons at an mesmer arsenal.

I wouldn’t say that the GS is bad at PvE, but survivability is SOOOO useful that Staff is much… more pleasant to use. Can you tank Lupicus without taking any damage by using a GS? Can you get a 5second Blink without running Blink on your bar?

When you master Phase Retreat, you’ll find it nice to have that extra utility slot instead of Blink, although it’s fun to run Blink anyways.

Esplen.3940:

loseridoit.2756:

If you are talking about pvp, then this question is a toss up. Both condition mesmer and gs mesmers are strong

However, Staff is better at PvE, because the gs is pretty bad at PvE. All other mesmer weapons except gs have a active ability to avoid or migrate damage. GS is one of the lowest survivability weapons at an mesmer arsenal.

I wouldn’t say that the GS is bad at PvE, but survivability is SOOOO useful that Staff is much… more pleasant to use. Can you tank Lupicus without taking any damage by using a GS? Can you get a 5second Blink without running Blink on your bar?

When you master Phase Retreat, you’ll find it nice to have that extra utility slot instead of Blink, although it’s fun to run Blink anyways.

Exactly

Survivability is the most important thing in PvE.

You’re talking about dungeons. In open world PvE, GS is superior again, especially for farming because everything’s easily killable and harmless there. It’s just quicker and on low CDs.

Iruwen.3164:

You’re talking about dungeons. In open world PvE, GS is superior again, especially for farming because everything’s easily killable and harmless there. It’s just quicker and on low CDs.

Note: You said farming

Anet have a pretty broken system in which damage and mf find determines loot.

Most pve content

staff is better than gs.

In Wvw, GS phantasamal is a lot better than that clumsy warlock who never hits anything. Other than that, it’s a super boring, monotonic spam weapon. Any bunker ele will just run through you, but the phantasmal is good against thieves.
95% of mesmers run GS though, because they don’t really know how to deal damage via shatters.

I run a 10/30/0/0/30 build with gs and sword/sword (I play pve) and find no faults with it plenty of direct dmg and if a foe gets close it’s switch to sword 2,4 dodge back and shatter and everything has died. Discussed viability of staff today with guildie and it reallly is based on how you want to play

Wow,thanks guys for the comments and advices.perhaps i shld try a staff,as i using jus gs 90% of the time.i use s/f mainly for spd buff,other than tat v limited usage unless the situation permits me to get melee..

I’m still using a GS in dungeons instead of a staff, combined with a sword (instead of a scepter) and a focus. I’m glamour specced and equipped for condition damage/precision/toughness, still dealing enough damage through direct damage and bleeds and the CC works out fine too. Only when it comes to longer boss fights where several people stack up conditions, the dps drop significantly, which turns it into a completely flawed game mechanic ANet really has to fix.