Guild Wars 2

Hey everyone,

Okay, so I just got the bifrost for my Mesmer which may or may not be the worst mistake I have made. I for one love the bifrost, I think it’s an elegant and gorgeous legendary, so I thought, “Why not? It’s shiny, it’s pretty and you get an awesome aura.” Anyway, in my excitement I sort of forgot how staffs pretty much suck on a Mesmer in PvE. Honestly, whenever I get mobbed by a group of monsters, my instant reaction is to spam “Staff 1” and I sit and watch my health drop while the enemy’s health is still relatively high. I summon up clones for the extra bounces but even then it seems so much more inefficient to kill these monsters whereas the Great Sword can clear enemies out so quickly.

I know that the Staff is a more defensive weapon and it takes time for the conditions to really do its work, but is anyone else feeling really vexed as to how pathetic the staff is in PvE or perhaps I just am “Mesmer-Inept”?

My current build for my Mesmer is: 20/25/0/0/25 and before that it was 20/20/30/0/0. I recently switched to 20/25/0/0/25 because on my other hand I use The Bolt and a focus, so I really want to squeeze a bit more damage out when I switch to my sword and focus. I also am using ‘dire’ armor with a few ascended pieces with “Superior Runes of the Undead” for that extra toughness/condition damage but I still find that I’m a tad squishy and the condition damage is still relatively low.

Overall, this is just frustrating. I regret getting the bifrost because staffs on Mesmer just do not seem to work as well as the Great Sword. The staff 1 is extremely slow and takes time for the conditions to stack, and if I switch over to my sword and focus I can’t make the most out of it due to my condition damage build.

Could anyone suggest a build or a way to solve this problem? Should I completely give up on the staff and just get a great sword? This is just so vexing. I feel useless in dungeons and bossing because my staff has poor range and low damage and even though it’s supposed to be ‘defensive’ I still find myself dying quite often. Perhaps I’ll just run power/condition damage on my armor and weapons? I have no idea. Any helpful tips would be greatly appreciated.

You can use it quite effectively in a Shatter build. Allows you to gain Regen and Protection with Chaos Armor, which you can summon to yourself through Phase Retreat, The Prestige (if you use a Torch in the second set) and Illusionary Leap > Swap (Sword in the second set) in the Chaos Storm and from the #4 skill itself of course. Phase Retreat makes for a quick way to create Clones to Shatter with as well. Should work pretty well with the standard 20(I)/20(X)/0/0/30(XI) build(s).

Staff is more of a support weapon… Check out the support builds from the sticky. Personally I have never liked condition builds… Get close for the staff auto fury/might bounce?? Used to run 10/10/20/30/0 build with knights and zerkers, same weapon setup you mentioned. Id recommend running with a condition engi, necro or ranger then your iWarlock hits for serious damage.

Edit: I really have a hard time believing you spent the time and energy or money for a legendary you apparently know little to nothing about…

Staff is a great weapons for shatter and phantasm build. (Also PU, but is anyone runing PU in PvE?).
I used to think that GS > Staff. But that was when I didn’t use my warlock and my chaos storm properly. Chaos Storm grant you some sweet boni like aegis. You should launch it on yourself and your ennemy while your warlock is doing his job. Besides if you are runing a phantasmal build, use iDuelist or iWarden and then switch to your staff. You will maximiz your iWar (bleed stacks of the iD/W) while benefit from the defensiv aspect of the staff.
Staff is strong in a power build or an hybrid build. But for condi build, you rely rather on scepter/pistol.

Staff is essential in anything but a pure hardcore dps burst build. Just reserve 20 points in the toughness tree and build around that.

Staff is our best weapon for pvp so you might want to try it out in wvw. In pve i found it only useful for boss fights since it has the hardest hitting phantasm of all for single target.
If you want to use conditions as your main source of damage then staff is very good at that since clones auto atack apply conditions.
Maybe try a build more like this one for more tankiness while keeping most of your damage http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQBgEx8hg78BlDlCtL7KpY2uQA

Staff is great for defense, mobility and stunbreaks. It’s a weapon of synergy to your other weapon set. I levelled in PvE exclusively with staff sword focus but i only use staff now if I’m caught in tougher situations like some crazy LS tough stuff or harder dungeons or events and champs i’m solo-ing etc. It keeps you and your illusions alive. Go in melee, drop phantasms and clones and burst, drop chaos storm all over yourselves and phase retreat out, it’s great damage when grouped with burst, But it’s really more of a pvp/wvw and survivability weapon. If you’re opting for pure damage in PvE, and you just don’t need the survivability at the moment, it’s not so much for a good choice. However, it really is a wonderful weapon. It is just great. Fun, useful and versatile.