Guild Wars 2

Ok, so I know all the negatives for making a build around “interrupts” in the game:
How most skills are too fast and impossible to interrupt.
The “randomness” to it, because of the delivery mechanism. Daze can be dodged, blocked and the boon “stability” makes you immune.
How the interrupt traits are all kind of deep, so there’s not a lot of room/options for an interrupt build.
And just generally how less efficient an interrupt build is compared to the Mesmer’s other offerings.

Be that as it may, it was my favorite thing to do in GW1, and have been working the last 3-4 months on something to capture that old feeling. (Or at least come close.)

I started with some of Fay’s Mantra builds and have been twisting and tweaking since. With the changes to all the interrupt traits this last patch, I’m pretty happy with what I’ve come up with and I wanted to corner the term: “The Eccho-rupt build”

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAraRl4zKqnRzmGb9IipHEHFKcnKAdkeYap2qB-TsAA2CnIKSVkrITRyisFNKZRxEBA

Traits are distributed 30/0/30/10/0 and centers around Mantra of Distraction as the main skill to build upon. The core of the build revolves around:
- Mantra of Distraction
- Harmonious Mantra’s (3 Power Locks before next charge.)
- Halting Strike
- Chaotic Interruption (30 into Chaos to capitalize on those interrupts. )

I run Scepter/Pistol & GS. I know, I know.. I’m running an interrupt build AND using scepter. You might as well just stop reading and go to the next thread.

Now for those that are still reading. Interrupting your enemy is not enough to take him down and grab that point. You need to damage and you need to survive for when you don’t land that interrupt.

With Harmonious Mantra’s, my mantra’s have 3 charges. So by putting 10 points into Inspiration for Mender’s Purity and running with Mantra of Recovery, I remove a condition each charge. Also, Superior Runes of Lyssa gives me random boon each heal. (10 sec cooldown).

Next, Arcane Thievery has become my 2nd favorite utility skill. This skill is not just for survival. It can be used offensively and I use it offensively 80% of the time. As I mentioned above, Stability makes you immune to all control effects. So if my enemy is boon happy, just steal those boons and if your lucky get stability and get ready to Power Lock when he tries to re-apply those boons.

Arcane Thievery is a Manipulation skill, so grabbing “Masters of Manipulation” for a reduced cooldown is a must. If you want you can run “Blink” instead of Decoy, since Blink is also a Manipulation skill. But since you have 2 Mantra’s, going into stealth during mid-fight to charge one up, really helps. I’ve run both Ether Feast and Mirror with Blink, (only 1 mantra) but Decoy works too well for re-charging MoD when in a pinch.

To finish out the Chaos line, I will either run “Bountiful Interruptions” for the might stacks or “Mirror of Anguish” for the reflect. It depends on what I feel like that day or what the other team’s composition is made up of. Lots of potential stuns/knockbacks then Mirror of Anguish, otherwise Bountiful Interruptions.

Mass Invisibility for the elite: 1. With Runes of Lyssa, get all the boons on a 80 second timer. 2. It’s provides a great escape when out numbered or out played. Decoy – Mass Invisibility – runaway. 3. Stealth stomping/rezzing.

NOTE: this build is not going to make you king of tPvP, and you will not be successful over night. You need to play and recognize the weaknesses/strengths. It offers something different that is all. 1v1 is very good against some players, and not so good against others. (Just like all builds should be.) But it is really great running with a teammate in 2v2 or 2v3.

Things that to help land an interrupt:
1. Wait for the dodge/block to finish, players will usually follow up dodge/block roll with a big skill you can daze. (or shortly their after, pay attention.)
2. Animations that have the character’s “raising” their hands, usually are a long cast and can be interrupted.
3. Mentioned earlier, heavy boon guardian/engineer, steal those first and then get ready.
4. Change your thinking. Don’t sit back and wait for an opportunity to interrupt. Pressure them!!! Force them out of their rotation!!
5. If the enemy is stomping or rezzing, don’t necessarily interrupt right away. Start your own rez/stomp first and then Power Lock his. You will keep rezzing/stomping, but stop his.

Thanks for your time.

Oh good, for a moment based off your title I thought you were making a build based on mimic/echo. If that were the case I would’ve had to insult you. But as that is not the case I like the build! Many people who try making mantra builds try running full mantra utilities, which never works but you avoided that so good. I would switch scepter for sword for the added mobility, which is what seems to be one of the build’s weaknesses.

How does sword add to your mobility am I missing something here?

The only “mobility” skill sword gives you is iLeap that gets you closer to the enemy.
With GS it is better to keep your distance to squeeze more damage out of it.
And unlike scepter #2, sword #2 kills your mobility, you cannot move while “evading”.

Some options to this build that I’ve been using lately is taking advantage of the stealth and switched “Chaotic Interruptions” for “Prismatic Understanding” and adding in “Bountiful Interruptions” in place of “Mirror of Anguish”.

Prismatic Understanding is an all around better GM trait and the fact that it triggers on both Decoy and Mass Invisibility its trigger is more reliable than what “Chaotic Interruptions” provides.

You can also go with Torch in off hand and you pretty much become a real nuissance to the other team.

UPDATE:

Just thought I would update this post with what I’ve been running with lately.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAsaWl0zipnRzmGa9IhpHE33Cn0DTX6VXqgtB-TsAA2CqIkSJlTKjUSpsSN+YByEBA

I’ve dropped the scepter and GS and now using sword/pistol – staff. I do prefer the scepter. But in PvP, scepter just doesn’t bring the pain that MH sword does. And staff gives me more options to recharge Mantra of Distraction. The AOE dazes from Chaos Storm is a nice plus. And dazes is what this build is about.

Because I want to focus on daze/interrupting, I’ve been using Runs of the Mesmer for the extend daze duration and I do seem to land a bit more interrupts than without. It could be that the “meta” in sPvP is changing. Either way, more interrupts mean more Halting Strike, BI and CI processes.

I also took out 10 pts from Inspiration and put them in Dueling for Far-Reaching Manipulations. Blink is tons better with this, not that it wasn’t good before. But its a huge upgrade.

Now if your new to running Mantra and charging them, you could use decoy instead of blink and then drop Far-Reaching Manipulations for Blade Training. Decoy gives you plenty of time to recharge MoDist while stealthed. I go back and forth depending on the opposing teams makeup. If its heavy on warriors, I want blink to kite. If there’s multiple thief’s, then decoy might be the way to go.

I’ve tried it with sword-sword & Blade Training and its pretty good. However, Magic Bullet’s stun is too good for chasing down runners, an aid in escape and also provides another in combat opportunity for Mantra recharge.

Downsides to this build is the weakness to condition heavy builds. You really have to take the fight to them. Daze, stun, daze, stun, don’t give them a chance to get anything off. Unfortunately, condition builds are somewhat hearty, so you most likely will have to withdraw and recharge MoDist in those drawn out battles. This gives them time to heal/reset or have a buddy come help out. That is the downside to mantras. And why running more than 1 mantra in sPvP just makes your job much much harder.

The goal for this build is to give the GW2 Mesmer a little of the original Mesmer’s “lockdown/interrupt” play style. This is a heavy “daze/interrupt-centric” build. Some nights I find my self slamming my head against the keyboard because I can’t seem to do anything right and others everything clicks.

I would like to make some videos of this build in use. But I play on a 3yr old laptop, don’t own any video recording/editing software (do have Bandicam free version though), and my job has me on the road a ton. So I’m usually at the mercy of the hotel’s wifi. But I’m going to at least try.

This is a similar setup to what I use in Mind Crush (30/20/20/0/0, same runes, sword+sword/Staff) I’ve been really tempted to go for Harmonious Mantras but I can’t give up Confounding Suggestions (surprisingly good for chasing runners)

It all looks put together really well but, for a daze-centric build don’t you feel like you’re missing out without Shattered Concentration? I find I have a hard time handling Warriors/Guardians without it with all the Stability they can reapply.

As I mentioned I like to switch traits around depending on what team comp and even the current map. For instance, on Battle of Kyhlo I may take focus for iWarden to take out the trebs. So then I will switch to Confounding Suggestions, so that I can use iWarden with the stun to pin the player down. In general though, I seem to have bad luck on RNG’s and it seems I don’t get that stun when I need it.

As far kittentered Concentration goes , its an option as well and really depends on what you want to do. Arcane Thievery seems to do a very good job of stealing the really important boons. Doesn’t matter how many boons the warrior has up, Arcane Thievery seems to always grab stability. Crippling Dissapations just gives me another form of control.

Since I’m deep in both Domination & Chaos, I struggle with my jewel/gem selection some nights. Should I go all Power/precision or more balanced power/prev/condition?

I go full zerk with my lockdown, but I know what you mean. Condition damage does seem to be a noticeable factor, so maybe Rampagers would be a better bet. I havent tried it yet, but sharper images and debilitating dissipation definitely take a toll. Speaking of which why not invest in Debilitating? I can guarintee you the weakness/vuln procs from it will do you more justice than Illusionary Defense.

I don ’t run Illusionary Defense, so I assume you mean in place of Master of Manipulation. Not sure thats a good idea, the current meta is very boon /condition heavy and the more often I can steal /dump the better.

I really do appreciate the comments. Its good to have another perspective on what I’m tryin to accomplish with this build. In 2v2’s, 3v3 ‘s it very viable. In 1v1’s, it up/down based on what your up against.

That’s odd. On my phone when I checked the link I saw Illusionary Defense, my bad. Do you use it only in PvP or have you tried WvW with it too?

Hey Slim, lately there have been a bunch of interrupt/lockdown builds, so I made this one and then realized that you were way ahead :P So I decided to post the build here as a variation of yours for WvW since it’s very similar. This one is mainly for roaming, though anyone can have fun making it more zerg oriented by changing armor, switching to a focus and a few traits without having to retrait.

Nice one. Looks very simlar to mine

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8clwzCpXUTjGb9IhpHB33Cn0DTn6VXqAvB-jUDBYfBCbBmiAiEJwJPFRjtMsIas6FYKXCxaXQaYoWzC1mzJypATKAT0VB-w

I focused on sword cd reduction thought. Moreover, I wanted a focus on might stacking so double sigil of battle and for food I switch between 100% might on dodge and 40% vigor refil rate and chocolate omnomberry cream for the 20% boon duration which allow me to get an average if 15 stacks. I’ m debated on which of the two is better though

That’s really cool, don’t you get a bunch of stacks from BI as well? You must have a bunch of might! Specially with the boon duration. I’m thinking the second food is better since it affects all your boons and since you went 10 on dueling you have vigor on crit and quicker dodges. I went with mender’s because it saves me a utility by letting MoH cleanse conditions. I switch the middle slot pretty often. I take arcane thievery to deal with stability, or decoy for better disengagement, or signet of inspiration for team fights. I’ve thought of doing the same as you with sword, but having three mantras to charge seems like a lot. I just don’t like it when conditions get the best of me, and AT is not enough to manage them.

I too was running MoR with mender’s purity before delving in to lockdown builds. Now I cannot do without distraction and I think like you: three mantras are too many. So I preferred the utility condi removal over the condi removal on heal. I prefer resolve (6 conditions removed with three charges) over arcane thievery because of its shorter cd and reliability

High stacks of Might really help and the condi duration I’ve got I feel it’s enough to put pressure without aiming at 100% duration (although that would be my target if I decide one day to drop the might stacking concept)

I suppose at the end is a matter of choosing a trait or a slot for Condi cleanse, and what gets you the most bang for your buck/preferred playstyle. I like cleanse on heal because, with the extra charge you heal for much more than any other heal, and the idea of cleansing and healing makes me feel safer against Condi heavy and hybrid builds. I do love the reduced cd on sword as well, specially if using OH sword, but I try to use focus to make me feel better about not using it. Also the focus is great with the immobilize, that tasty 4 second immobilize (awesome down time for charging). One mooh thing, the mantra of heal has a shorter CD than the Condi cleanse one, which is great.

I used to use MoR+ mender’s purity and MoR utility together and they were absolutely fantastic so I know what you mean

Hey guys, thanks for the bump. Enjoyed your comments and your builds. I don’t do much WvW, so its good to see some feedback on your experiences. I’ll have to try out some of your suggestions and see how it goes. And like you both have commented on, 1 mantra is fine, 2 mantras are doable, but anymore than that it just doesn’t work.

Been quite awhile since I first posted this. And of course, I’ve been trying different builds and no matter what I try they all seem to end up with Harmonious Mantra’s, Halting Strike and Bountiful Interruptions.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I did a bit more experimenting and now I’m running this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAsfWl0zipnRzmGa9IhpHE33In0DT/6VXqgtB-TsAg0CqImRNjbGzMyZszMqYBykAA

Its still the 30-10-30-0-0 build, but running with sword/torch-staff. Picking up Cleansing Conflagration to aid in the condition removal department. And dropping Chaotic Interruption for Chaotic Dampening.

I love Mantra of Distraction and Arcane Thievery really feels like an old school Mesmer skill. The problem with AT is that its cooldown is just too long for the current condition heavy meta in sPvP. So by going to torch and Cleansing Conflagration, condition removal just happens. And that leaves me to use AT more offensively. Also, torch gives me a quick stealth for charging MoD.

The other thing change is instead of running Runes of the Mesmer, I’ve been working in Runes of the Centaur with Mirror as my healing skill. Its good for escapes and also good for chasing down players with the sword autoattack. I find myself triggering Mirror in the middle of a fight just kite down a weakend opponent.

Anyway, thanks again for the bump and the comments. Look forward to hearing more on your WvW experiences.

I see CS or CI as the cornerstone of any lockdown build so it wouldn’t make sense dropping them. If you do you can still pull interruptions but not so effective. Those two traits are not just the icing but strengthen the concept of interruptions and if you go without them interrupts would be even worst than normal skills without their associated traits (for example a heavy stealth dependant build with no PU wouldn’t make much sense). My 2 cents

I agree with trooper on this one. You don’t need the two traits to have an interrupt heavy build, but it’s the best option to take at least one since your going so deep in those trees. Also it’s a shame that you only have one mantra with harmonious mantras. I would suggest using the healing one as well since it procs centaur when you charge and when you use a charge, and if you don’t want to take more than 1 mantra, then perhaps taking a different trait that would help more would be best.

Thanks for the feedback. I understand what your saying. As I’ve said, I’ve been running different versions of this build for the last 6 months.

I think your points are very valid and I think the differences are more a personal “playstyle” AND sPvP vs WvW.

With a 30-10-30 pt spread, you could grab Halting Strike, CS, BI, CI to take full advantage of those interrupts. Go sword/sword-GS with Greatsword Training and Blade Training and go to town. The thing is is that your kind of putting all your eggs in one basket. When you get that interrupt, it’s awesome. But when you don’t, you are just ok.

Let’s talk about Chaotic Interruptions. Gives a 2 sec immobilize and random blind, chill, or cripple. If the enemy is immobilized, do I really care that he might also be blinded or crippled. The chill is a good addition, but its random. So is CI a better selection than Chaotic Dampening? If I’m running staff? To me, no. I’d rather have 5 weapons skills on a reduced cooldown and doing more condition damage, more utility at that point. I still have Halting Strike and BI. My interrupts still hurt, I’m getting buffed and vulnerability is being applied due to all the Domination minor traits.

So lets talk about Confounding Suggestions, next. With the recent changes, this is really comes down to personal preference. Because its either Harmonious Mantras or CS. I just don’t like the “randomness” of CS. It’s best with staff and Chaotic Dampening. (see above ) More frequent chaos storms, lots of potential ’dazes" being applied. I can see the appeal, especially in WvW. In sPvP, its a toss up. For me, I just like having that one extra charge on MoD. MoD is our most consistent dazing skil, so more of MoD the better for an interrupt build. IMHO

As far as using MoR with the centaur runes, I am aware that it also process on the charge. And I have run with MoR. Again, I think this comes down to a sPvP vs WvW thing. As I mentioned earlier, having 1 manta is np, having 2 is doable, but any more and it’s cumbersome. It just comes down to management. Mirror is a no brainer to use it with Centaurs in sPvP. MoR is our best heal, but managing charges on both MoR & MoD in a sPvP match is just a bit more difficult. Better players than me can pull it off. Sometimes I will run it, but sometimes I just don’t want to think about it.

Again, I love the feedback and believe you both have valid points. It just sounded like I needed to explain my selections as well.

Also, I never claimed this build to be a “lockdown” build. I first posted this WAY back before the “lockdown” term began to apply and many trait changes. It really is just centered around the “interrupt” and not necessarilty “locking-down” the enemy.

Ok, I see your points. You’re right about the Spvp vs WvW differences regarding the mantras, and taking BI and reduced Staff is a treat, since it’s really hard to get both. I really like CI more for the immobilize and greatsword 5. You could potentially keep someone outside the capping area for a really long time. But yeah, I mentioned you could have an interrupt heavy build without the 2 traits because of BI the vulns and halting strike, so you definitely don’t need the 2. I would take CI if you’re not taking staff though, but you prolly do that already.

I would take CI if you’re not taking staff though, but you prolly do that already.

I took your advice. I’ve been running Chaotic Interruptions and I’m seeing the benefits. AND I’ve been running it with staff. It puts a smile on my face when your enemy gets lock-downed inside a Chaos Storm.

So for SPvP, I’ll run sword/torch-staff with Cleansing Conflagration.

And in Edge of the Mists, I’ll run sword/focus – staff/GS for all the edges in that map. Swap Cleansing Conflagration for either Crippling Dissipation or Greatsword Training. I also grab Mantra of Resolve instead of Arcane Thievery. Conditions galore in WvW so Mantra of Resolve is a better fit for that playstyle.