Guild Wars 2

Hi folks! I’m new to this game—really new. I’ve only been playing for about a week.

I decided to start off with a Sylvari Mesmer (I named him Bramblestiltskin…lol), and he’s at level 33 as of today. I’ve tried every weapon combination along the way. I find that I love the way dual sword makes me play: it feels like magic + swordplay for sure. For example, sometimes I’m lucky enough to catch an enemy with iReposte after Blurred Frenzy.

Now I’m trying to figure out which skills, and which traits I should gun for. Someone gave me advice in some /map convo: “You should run a distortion build.” Another person said that “a straightforward shatter build would be fine.” That’s cool. I like doing iLeap and Distortion shatter. But, the advice people have given me is pretty vague: there are so many ways I can make clones and so many ways I can play with distortion.

I was thinking I could be tricky with Decoy, Mirror Images, and Signet of Illusions. Some people say I should get comfortable with Mantra of Concentration/Power Break so that I get stability boons. Other folks say I should always be sneaky with Blink and portals.

I have no clue what to do with traits yet. I only have one trait point for the time being, but I should figure out something to try when I get another point.

TL;DR? I want to build a sneaky, dual sword wielding, distortion causing, shatter Mesmer for PvE. Any ideas about what I should keep in mind?

Since you’re leveling up and only level 33, your traits won’t make a difference. Heck, they won’t make a difference until you’re level 80, but at level 60, aim for Deceptive Evasion in Dueling (X).

Distortion is kind of a panic-button/extra evade. The builds are extremely niche and should not be ran while leveling up.

Shatter is an appropriate route, with your level in mind.

For your first trait point, I would suggest placing it in Dueling for the Vigor on Critical Hits. Not only does this give you Vigor for evades, it also gives you Critical Chance and Critical Damage. It’s a nice balance of Defense and Offense.

If you need to have more defense than that, put your first point into Chaos for the Regeneration. It will be helpful, along with the Toughness provided from the line.