Guild Wars 2

4/6/0/0/4

Dom: III, X – Duel: II, X, XI – Illus: III, X
Zerker Amulet – Lyssa Runes
Ether Feast – Decoy – MoPain – Signet of Illusions

So the above build is incomplete and in its testing phase and more than likely going to change, but I was screwing around with it yesterday out of curiosity as to how useful Mantra of Pain could be and holy jeez.. dat DAMAGE!

PROS

• Insane damage from 1200 range
• Quick Phantasms and all illusions cooled down
• Lots of AoE damage

CONS

• Slow
• Super Glassy (Thief food)
• No Condi Removal Beyond Lyssa Runes

I’m pretty much trying to think of ways to mitigate the cons while still keeping the pros. I’m not certain about Signet of Illusions just yet, and I feel really squirmy-uncomfortable about taking Harmonious Mantras with only one mantra, but when I removed the trait the build felt significantly weaker without that third power spike. Also, it’s been a while since I’ve been this glassy. Seeing as how I’m not playing Shatter, I feel like my defenses are really lacking.

… But dat damage tho. Omg.

So to all you testers and theorycrafters out there, anyone feel like seeing how good we can make this build? I’d love to see your suggestions.

At a quick glance, I’d think about ditching signet of illusions for the defender. That way you have more protection for yourself and your illusions. It probably won’t last very long once it’s out, but would be something to experiment with (it would also keep you out of many dueling servers unfortunately).

Also, why DE in a phantasm build? It’s not needed and might even work against you. As a replacement, I don’t particularly like protected mantras but if you stick with 2 mantras, that might be something to consider in this build.

I’d consider getting Sw/P or even Sc/P instead of Staff and trait the Pistol to get more out of Phantasmal Fury. I do love Staff but it doesn’t appear to be the right weapon for your set up.

Magic Bullet is awesome for shutting down your enemies to charge a Mantra.

I was playing around with it before work and I’m going to have to agree that staff isn’t the best option here, I know I know you’ve gotten that kitten thing to hit 7k on me numerous times , but I much prefer sword pistol like Xaylin said

Much appreciated! Its good to know I wasn’t the only one feeling uneasy about the staff here.

I’m actually thinking sw/torch is the way to go. The theme of this build is AoE damage, moreso than ranged damage, and the prestige hits for a decent amount of power damage while allowing me an escape when needed (and I can trait the torch for condition removal).

I took DE for one reason: shatters. With a 20% cool down on my shatters and striving for as much AoE as I can get, I intend to shatter clones before summoning phants.

That, and there’s little in Dueling I see giving a bigger benefit.

I’d encourage you to try scepter/pistol instead of staff if you’re looking for ranged burst. Also explore getting 25 inspiration for your missing condi cleanse while boosting phantasm damage. I’ve found pHaste to be the weakest of the phantasm damage traits overall.

Scepter 3 actually does more power damage than blurred frenzy. Also scepter is in general a great weapon vs thieves.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQNAraRl0npMt1oxENcrNyqxc2leCdbV6NyOAA-TJBHwAp2fAwpAYwTAoZZAA

adelaide.6213:

Scepter 3 actually does more power damage than blurred frenzy.

Can you please elaborate on how you reached this conclusion? I can’t see this from skill info. Is this more anecdotal experience or do you have test data to show this?

Ah, so this is more like a shantasm? You didn’t really indicate that in the OP – definitely sounded like more of a phantasm focused build. If you intend to shatter though, ofc you’d take DE and yeah I’d go in a different direction on the weapons – sw/t sounds nice with GS. The stealth and quicker torch CD’s would indeed be helpful for mantra charging.

I personally don’t quite get the melding of these two styles. In order to trait for phantasm you take away potential shatter damage, and vice versa. Can you elaborate more on the play style you’re thinking? So, no phants until your first shatter etc?

I’m with skcamow on the point that the build needs to be focused either towards Phantasm or Shatter style.

From my experience, MoP can be used in both specs.

For example, for a shatter build, you can go with something like this 44006 (this is something modified from Vashury’s shatter build). Basically with this spec, the blink-shatter combo becomes stronger with the added dmg from MoP (I usually perform Mind Wrack + Power Spike simultaneously for the oomph effect)
I dont take HM because you don’t need the extra charge, 2 proper shatter bursts with added dmg from 2 MoP charges will down even the bunkiest.
I only take HM if I want to make use of the MoR + Mender’s synergy.

As for a phantasm build, I think the playstyle would be a little more sustained and less bursty so you can go with something like this 26060 for great sustained dmg pressure and healing.

Anyway, Chaos, I’m happy to join you with the experimenting, so hit me up in-game when you’re free.

I’ll be on this weekend too (though Aussie timezone) and have played similar builds for a while but more inspiration – 26060, 06053 and even 62060 long ago. Inspiration obviously addresses all 3 cons with focus/menders purity/restorative mantras but tends to extend cooldowns.

General observations:
greatsword trait is VERY valuable .
Restorative mantras pays off a lot, but more suitable for wvw. Can heal phantasms too!
Burst vs sustained is a big tradeoff
May be possible to do full melee and use the sword trait.
Pack runes are great for this.

(This is Veranaday btw, was testing 66020 mantra bursts last weekend)

MSFone.3026:

adelaide.6213:

Scepter 3 actually does more power damage than blurred frenzy.

Can you please elaborate on how you reached this conclusion? I can’t see this from skill info. Is this more anecdotal experience or do you have test data to show this?

From the wiki:

Blurred Frenzy
Damage (8x): 808 (2.400)

Confusing Images
Damage (5x): 840 (2.500)

808 (2.400) < 840 (2.500)

Based on experience in-game I don’t believe these numbers are incorrect.

adelaide.6213:

MSFone.3026:

adelaide.6213:

Scepter 3 actually does more power damage than blurred frenzy.

Can you please elaborate on how you reached this conclusion? I can’t see this from skill info. Is this more anecdotal experience or do you have test data to show this?

From the wiki:

Blurred Frenzy
Damage (8x): 808 (2.400)

Confusing Images
Damage (5x): 840 (2.500)

808 (2.400) < 840 (2.500)

Based on experience in-game I don’t believe these numbers are incorrect.

Well, this is embarrassing. I was going to try and save face talking about maybe crit chance and 5x vs 8x, but, no Images still comes out ahead.

Just brain farted on that one, thanks for the reply. I just assumed (like many I think) that BF hits harder than CI. Makes me look at scepter as a more viable power weapon.

I’ll look at this later, but my first response is that you should get rid of Signet of Illusions for the following reasons:

1. If you’re ranged, ideally you won’t get hit as often.
2. When you do get hit, no matter how much health your clones have, they will die due to being glassy.

It’s my opinion that this signet only works in tank builds using iDefender. Looks interesting though. Can’t wait to give it a deeper look!

Too lazy to read everything, but what’s the purpose of this build? Mass tagging at 1200 yards in WvW, roaming, soloq 1200 yards spam which isn’t viable at 90% of the fights or…?? You would need a team with this build cuz any profession can close 1200 yards in seconds if they want to.

use mantra of distraction. I play a range burst build in wvw. With the range we have I can burst most glass build to 1/2 before they get into a range where they can do anything. pop mantra of distraction buys time for another round of burst (shatter + GS3 or sword 3/2 combo). In my experience it is often enough to either out right kill them or get them so low that the fight is effectively over.
I would get Dom I over Dom X for more burst damage.

As hard as iWarden can hit, staff, I assume, is your defensive option. So I’m going to go crazy and suggest one change to both maintain this defensive aspect while introducing enough condition removal to atleast allow an exit from an “omg I’d be dead otherwise” situation. Drop the 2 from Illusions and put it into Domination. Take Cleansing Conflagration and swap staff for Sword/Torch.

This will

• Introduce stealth for repositioning and breaking target
• Allow a safe means to recharge mantras
• Give 3 condi cleanse over the two staff skills, assuming you catch that bounce ;D
• Give you sword 2 blurred frenzy to mitigate damage/cc etc.
• Simply allow for more instant burst in an already power based build.

I know you love staff, Chaos, but I think in this situation you’re giving up a lot to maintain it in this build. You can cover weaknesses of the build currently while still maintaining what the staff might offer.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQNAsfRl0npMt1oxDNcrNSqxgqvI9AB0Qp/o7CA-TZhFwAAOBAv2fwwhAIxTAYaZAA

Out of curiosity, since you are stating you’re not really playing Shatter with this, why Deceptive Evasion? It is of course useful to shatter in any Mesmer build, e.g., Distortion should be a go-to for any Mesmer in trouble, but is it necessary with Deceptive Evasion? Is it for clones generation to reach the 9% damage modifier out of Compounding Power? (You could get the third illusion out of Mirror Blade instead perhaps?) Can’t it be counter-productive if your goal is Phantasm+Mantra damage? You’d overwrite a Phantasm while avoiding damage, creating a “lackluster” clone.

The build you linked was also using Mantra of Distraction, not Mantra of Pain, I assume that was a error? What about Empowering Mantras? Taking out Signet of Illusions and slotting in perhaps that Mantra of Distraction? It’d be a 12% damage modifier initially. Maybe even Rune of the Scholar for that additional 10% at the start, before you take damage, whilst at long range. Or alternatively Rune of the Ranger, to keep the Critical Chance up there, while still getting an additional 7% damage modifier (and Illusions should count as a companion). 9% from two Phantasms and a Mirror Blade clone. There’s also the 5% from your target not using skills, should they not be in range and/or not spamming their various skills before they can reach you. 5% at the very least from doing one Mantra of Distraction (keep in mind that Dazzling always applies 5 Vulnerability on any daze-applying skill, even if it doesn’t daze). That’s 38-41% to the damage modifiers in your initial burst.

Just brainstorming a bit here. If focused on range and glass, perhaps something like this?