Guild Wars 2

Good day everyone,

I don’t mean to intrude… i have come here from the necromancer forums.
While my main and specialty is still the necromancer, i have made a mesmer build that i wish to share with the mesmer community.

I have been asked many times for other class build guides, so i thought i would branch out starting with mesmer. Only when the build was about 90% complete did i check the mesmer forums to see if there is anything similar… and to my surprise, there are so many good mesmer builds around, i wonder why i rarely find a good mesmer in PvE…

Anyway, i have made it… so without further ado…. here it is…
Guild Wars 2 – the ultimate mesmer damage hybrid (tutorial)

This video includes “what does a hybrid mean”, building up the hybrid – weapons, stats, items, skills, utilities, traits and last but not least… how do you use the hybrid after all is well and done, the damage rotation is also the most beautiful part of the build.
I have also provided an answer to the everlasting question that seems to be around for a while now… “To shatter… or not to shatter ?…”.

FINAL STATS:

~ 2967 Attack
65% Critical strike chance
93% Critical strike damage (with critical damage food)
1066 Condition damage
93% Condition duration (with condition duration food)
~ 2129 Armor
~ 17,569 Health
——
+ an insane damage rotation
+ 10% increase critical strike chance with mind wrack
+ 20% increase damage with mind wrack

If i missed anything or if you have any questions feel free to comment here, on in the comment section on youtube.

I hope you enjoy.

can u write build in build editor?

i understand u done a great job, but 1h video to much for me

watched the vid on yt. pretty nicely done. works pretty well. thx so far

So basically the standard shatter build with some altered trait choices which severely harm your usefulness?

Neither of the 15 percent phant dmg traits, phant fury taken despite this. 25 points in illusions but not illusionary persona or compounding power? Traiting for confusion duration in pve?

Condition damage gear in pve to round it off? I’m not a fan, sorry. I think you’ve missed the main strengths of a mesmer. There are far better builds for difficult pve content.

Nice to see you dressed in pink

There are several mistakes and missunderstandings of the class on your commentarys but anyway great job. Clearly this is a PvP build (at the moment as you said) and I like it a lot. But mate, go for 20/20/0/0/30 and pick illusinoary persona.

shimmerless.4560:

I rather like it, though I think if anything it’s a stronger PvP build.

For now yes… it’s not as viable in PvE, since PvE doesn’t use the confusion mechanic that much. I have still made it since i was aiming at making a hybrid, “the hybrid” if possible, with the thought in mind that confusion will be fixed for PvE soon… especially since i have suggestions coming up.

drongas.4189:

can u write build in build editor?

i understand u done a great job, but 1h video to much for me

I’ll make it in a build editor soon, just have my hands full for now… Just do 1-2 clicks in the first 20 minutes and you’ll see my trait window opened…

The gear will be in the description starting tomorrow, with links and everything…

fadeaway.2807:

So basically the standard shatter build with some altered trait choices which severely harm your usefulness?

Neither of the 15 percent phant dmg traits, phant fury taken despite this. 25 points in illusions but not illusionary persona or compounding power? Traiting for confusion duration in pve?

Condition damage gear in pve to round it off? I’m not a fan, sorry. I think you’ve missed the main strengths of a mesmer. There are far better builds for difficult pve content.

It is your opinion that i missed the main strengths of the mesmer since the build i have made, while having insane stats is only half viable in PvE. I agree… but i was not bashing at this fact in the video, merely remind it… i have confidence confusion will get fixed for PvE, or rather PvE will be fixed for confusion… and i have a very long suggestion that will cover a lot of PvE stuff.

For now it still remains the best “hybrid” i can come up with… more or less the perfect balance between condition damage and power damage with the main idea revolving around stacking them on top of each other… not doing them in sequence.
If you do condition damage and after that burst damage… you basically are 60% of bursting and after that you are 60% of condition… but if you overlap them… something magic happens.

Ryn.6459:

Nice to see you dressed in pink

There are several mistakes and missunderstandings of the class on your commentarys but anyway great job. Clearly this is a PvP build (at the moment as you said) and I like it a lot. But mate, go for 20/20/0/0/30 and pick illusinoary persona.

Could you tell me to what you are referring to ? I may have overlooked something, i may have gotten something wrong… i may have gotten it right, but said it wrong because i struggle with english… or i may have forgotten something.

In all the builds i’ve made so far… i did this one mistake, i said once in the conditionmancer video, i said… +36% increase condition duration food… and then i bought and red the -36% condition duration food.
It doesn’t matter that it was 2am when i finished the recording and i was really tired… i’ve made a mistake and it followed me ever since…

I got like hundreds of whispers saying “dude… are you sure that is right… is it a bug or did you made a mistake ?”.
So please do tell…

As for the illusionary persona… it’s… mmm… i lose quite a bit of stats, and i do like my 75% crit chance, i also like the fact that since you are invisible so much, players often try to slice an illusion. Not that it happens often… the build is a shatter build since you do power damage and condition damage at the same time while shattering, so it’s obvious why you shatter instead of keep…
For the same reason i only use clones that more or less melee… therefor when i want to shatter, it shatters… clones don’t walk towards the target, they just explode instantly therefor allowing me to continue the rotation…

Anyway… what did i got wrong ?

At work now mate so cant see the whole vid, neather can I give a good oppinion without go deeper. I can thu give two smal insights.

First, the stats with mix of condition and direct dmg, interesting se new approach, worth a try for wvwvw especialy with might stacking sigils and trait.

Second, by go 25 points in dueling and invest 25 points in illusion and not take illusionary persona you give up the single best trait there is in game for a minor rather worthless trait and a few stats. My oppion here is thakittens a major misstake for a shatter build and only run it on half power.

Illusionary persona for shatter spec is not only a major dmg increase, its alos a instant interupt/controll on demand, its a free pass from death in many situation and our best defensive trait.

This is the “dude is this a bugg or did you realy want 25 in dueling and25 in illusion and not 20 dueling and 30 illusion” part

/Osicat

imo. ilusion persona just overestimation. ofc its good sometimes, but lose 10 or 20 point only for 1sec desortion to much. some mesmers minor trait better than some grandmaster traits

Simply put, unlike nec (which is where is see you’ve taken the “Dmg Hybrid” idea), the condition dmg potential of Mesmer is plain awful.

Staff has Vuln procs, and we’re talking about autoattack proccing 2 possible different conditions, which means not be able to stack decently neither of them.
The only semi-reliable way of applying stacks of bleeding is Sharper images, which realies on illusion being cluncky at best, narrowing you in focus/pistol/GS for multi-hitting illusion attacks, and still it’s depending on AI randomness and survivability.
Lastly, confusion (the only condition you can apply decently as mesmer) is worthless in pve – and butchered in pvp/wvw.

So, IMO, for the mesmer a Power/Condition Dmg “Hybrid” isn’t nearly as effective as it’s Necro counterpart, because its Condition “branch” is just bad.

Right now, for a Mesmer dmg build, just go full zerk either with Shatter or Phantasm spec (or a mix of the 2, but careful when traiting for it), and ignore altoghether the conditions.

/imo.

Dunno, it just seems like this build wouldnt work in a real life scenario vs a good player. I mean ill give it a shot, and i appreciate you putting together new build for us to try out.

If you want tomorrow i can see again the video, and comment the points. No big deal, just refearing to things like mesmers are not mobile, how you see the focus ( its damage is insane), picking 25 in dueling when you will shatter, not picking ilu persona…

I don’t recall now. can check tomorrow.

But don’t get me wrong, i’m a huge fan of yours. actually made a necro just for tou hybrid build. Asked once if you can use pyro’s immortal build to improve your abbomination build. just love you work. But I also think that you need to spenda little more of playtime with the mesmer.
Nothing wrong with it. sorry if your ancient mistake is still following you. you will see that mesmer forum is a frendly and helpful one.

Ryn.6459:

If you want tomorrow i can see again the video, and comment the points. No big deal, just refearing to things like mesmers are not mobile, how you see the focus ( its damage is insane)

The focus phantasm is one of the weakest unless your opponent is akitten.

Errr first talking about pve, second it is harder to land yes but this is it.

And again i like the build i like it a lot. actually i will get the gear for it. Just minors. points to comments. thats it.

Ryn.6459:

Errr first talking about pve, second it is harder to land yes but this is it.

Ah yea, in pve it’s damage is nice, but it still tends to get destroyed very easily due to it’s melee range. I don’t know, it just feels so clumsy.

Master of Timespace.2548:

Ryn.6459:

Errr first talking about pve, second it is harder to land yes but this is it.

Ah yea, in pve it’s damage is nice, but it still tends to get destroyed very easily due to it’s melee range. I don’t know, it just feels so clumsy.

The more you play with it the more you will love it :-)

My take on the whole IP issue is that it might’ve been arguable as to the value of the Dueling minor back before the last Confusion WvW patch, but I can’t really see it being worth it now.

It’s interesting, enough to actually want to try out (since I’ve been thinking about a rampager build before I stopped playing my Mesmer), but I think it does need a bit more tweaking.

The only thing I want to point out is that your rotation isn’t as efficient as it can be. Normally you want to start out with iMage right as you enter the 1200 range and decide if you want to Prestige or Confusing Images defending on what profession the opponent is. Normally I tank the first few hits on purpose to get iMage + Confusing Images, then block, then dodge (exactly 3 illusions here)+ CoF for 14 stacks of confusion. Then Prestige, swap weapons, iSwordsman while still in Prestige, Illusionary Leap, dodge (3 illusions again), swap + Blurred Frenzy + Mind Wrack. But then again the rotation would have to be different if you want more vulnerability stacks rather than confusion stacks, since you’re traited to go for either. But then again again that’s what makes this build interesting.

Though it’s really only good in theory. On the battlefield is a completely different story. You need some better 1v1 vids and some 5-man roaming teamplay to show what it can actually do solo and as a group.

as many people figured out already, 20/20/0/0/30 would make much more sense.

the other big issue i have with this build is mobility:
people will just run away from you or kite you and there is nothing you can do about it.
maybe it would work with superior runes of the air and sword/focus so you can force your enemy to stay in the fight.

and i would add at least some toughness… sure, the confusion prevents the enemy to burst you down but if they have some condition removal, you’re an easy target.

I think this build is quite interesting, but for my taste it would be too glassy. I’ve put everything into a calculator (didn’t add food)… here:

http://tinyurl.com/hybridbynemesis

As for the question “Illusionary Persona or Confusing Combatants”, I think that mostly depends on your playstyle. If you intend to usually shatter while you’re standing next to your target, then IP should at least be considered, because it would greatly improve your damage. However, if you’re usually at range while shattering, CB is the better option imo. Also, applying confusion when the clones get killed can sometimes be really nice.

Again; the build looks quite interesting to me. To convince me, I’d need to see more quality footage of actual fights, though. In PvE as well as in WvW.

Osicat.4139:

At work now mate so cant see the whole vid, neather can I give a good oppinion without go deeper. I can thu give two smal insights.

First, the stats with mix of condition and direct dmg, interesting se new approach, worth a try for wvwvw especialy with might stacking sigils and trait.

Second, by go 25 points in dueling and invest 25 points in illusion and not take illusionary persona you give up the single best trait there is in game for a minor rather worthless trait and a few stats. My oppion here is thakittens a major misstake for a shatter build and only run it on half power.

Illusionary persona for shatter spec is not only a major dmg increase, its alos a instant interupt/controll on demand, its a free pass from death in many situation and our best defensive trait.

This is the “dude is this a bugg or did you realy want 25 in dueling and25 in illusion and not 20 dueling and 30 illusion” part

/Osicat

The reason why i didn’t take Illusionary Persona is because i already have shatter recharge rate reduced a bit more then i need. If you were to stick to the rotation, which can turn a below average mesmer with this build into a “wtf is with that mesmer, this is insane” in a WvW scenario, if you stick to the rotation you will see that you get 3 illusions back up a 1-2 seconds after your Mind Wrack is off of CD… since the CD on clone on dodge needs to be respected.

So there is no reason to rush through the rotation… you have time to hold the block and activate the ability again before the end, if block was not used… if you do all of these you will be exactly on time for the next dodge on illusion… and by that time the Mind Wrack is already off of CD.

At the same time i saw that since not many people realize what this build is… more then half the times they try to break one of my illusions thinking that… “haaa… this is him”, and it’s not… and then they get confusion on them… which not only serves as a bit of more sustained type damage, but also as a psychological factor… frustration…

AndrewSX.3794:

Simply put, unlike nec (which is where is see you’ve taken the “Dmg Hybrid” idea), the condition dmg potential of Mesmer is plain awful.

Staff has Vuln procs, and we’re talking about autoattack proccing 2 possible different conditions, which means not be able to stack decently neither of them.
The only semi-reliable way of applying stacks of bleeding is Sharper images, which realies on illusion being cluncky at best, narrowing you in focus/pistol/GS for multi-hitting illusion attacks, and still it’s depending on AI randomness and survivability.
Lastly, confusion (the only condition you can apply decently as mesmer) is worthless in pve – and butchered in pvp/wvw.

So, IMO, for the mesmer a Power/Condition Dmg “Hybrid” isn’t nearly as effective as it’s Necro counterpart, because its Condition “branch” is just bad.

Right now, for a Mesmer dmg build, just go full zerk either with Shatter or Phantasm spec (or a mix of the 2, but careful when traiting for it), and ignore altoghether the conditions.

/imo.

I agree… but the build still remains a great hybrid, for hybrid’s sake… and it does do wonders in WvW. Give me a few days to finish sorting some stuff… and i’ll make a very long video in which i discuss some nice PvE changes. Maybe they get approved… one can only hope.

Ryn.6459:

Errr first talking about pve, second it is harder to land yes but this is it.

And again i like the build i like it a lot. actually i will get the gear for it. Just minors. points to comments. thats it.

Well to be honest i’m missing 1 piece from completing my version of a glass cannon, so i am using this in PvE with more success then what i am use to seeing from mesmers in general.

Lets just say that i was doing CoF p2 on my necromancer with a few mesmers in team, and we couldn’t get pass the “defend mag while he blows up the door” part. I did it in so many various party combinations… the team either had damage to complement my own, or they were tanky and got me nice opportunities to go wild with my damage…

At the same time the next day i was doing it with my mesmer for the daily, had another mesmer that was just trying out my build… and we made it without problems… so even with the current state of broken PvE as far as confusion is concerned… it’s still a better build then what most have. The “hybrid” build will not get better… the PvE will get better for it.

ExZee.8109:

It’s interesting, enough to actually want to try out (since I’ve been thinking about a rampager build before I stopped playing my Mesmer), but I think it does need a bit more tweaking.

The only thing I want to point out is that your rotation isn’t as efficient as it can be. Normally you want to start out with iMage right as you enter the 1200 range and decide if you want to Prestige or Confusing Images defending on what profession the opponent is. Normally I tank the first few hits on purpose to get iMage + Confusing Images, then block, then dodge (exactly 3 illusions here)+ CoF for 14 stacks of confusion. Then Prestige, swap weapons, iSwordsman while still in Prestige, Illusionary Leap, dodge (3 illusions again), swap + Blurred Frenzy + Mind Wrack. But then again the rotation would have to be different if you want more vulnerability stacks rather than confusion stacks, since you’re traited to go for either. But then again again that’s what makes this build interesting.

Though it’s really only good in theory. On the battlefield is a completely different story. You need some better 1v1 vids and some 5-man roaming teamplay to show what it can actually do solo and as a group.

I am attempting to balance the damage between power damage and condition damage, to match… to be worth it to switch weapons as well as the stat investment.

If it’s not more or less equivalent, it’s not worth it to even switch, cause you do more damage by not switching.

More WvW footage coming soon… i’m almost done with my necromancer’s perfect hit video… soon…

quBit.6437:

as many people figured out already, 20/20/0/0/30 would make much more sense.

the other big issue i have with this build is mobility:
people will just run away from you or kite you and there is nothing you can do about it.
maybe it would work with superior runes of the air and sword/focus so you can force your enemy to stay in the fight.

and i would add at least some toughness… sure, the confusion prevents the enemy to burst you down but if they have some condition removal, you’re an easy target.

If you take a look at the rotation part… you are not an easy target to be bursted down at all, condition removal or not, no one has enough condition removal to withstand such fast confusion stacking, and if they do then they are really vulnerable to the bursting part… which is what you do at the same time as applying your confusion…

As for the kiting part… kiting means you still must be in range, and with all the invisibilities, leap + blink… not so much.
Breaking combat… it’s an entirely other thing… there are some classes that can just leave combat when ever they feel like it, such as elementalist or thief. At the same time the only way to catch a fleeing elementalist is with another elementalist.

Mist for into blink into ride the lightning into fire ?… anyone ?…

Saturn.6591:

I think this build is quite interesting, but for my taste it would be too glassy. I’ve put everything into a calculator (didn’t add food)… here:

http://tinyurl.com/hybridbynemesis

As for the question “Illusionary Persona or Confusing Combatants”, I think that mostly depends on your playstyle. If you intend to usually shatter while you’re standing next to your target, then IP should at least be considered, because it would greatly improve your damage. However, if you’re usually at range while shattering, CB is the better option imo. Also, applying confusion when the clones get killed can sometimes be really nice.

Again; the build looks quite interesting to me. To convince me, I’d need to see more quality footage of actual fights, though. In PvE as well as in WvW.

Going to set up a nice spartan WvW team with the people i know… some TPvP veterans, and we’ll crush through waves of players…
That’s my plan at least…

Hi you all,

Tha’ts a variant, with some swiftness and exotic gear, of Nemsis build. A couple of runs in CoF and I will tell you how it goes.

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/mesmer/?4.0|c.1g.h19.c.1g.a7|b.1b.h19.f.1b.h5|1o.71a.1o.71a.1o.71a.1o.71a.1o.71a.1o.71a|2s.0.1o.67.1o.67.1g.67.1g.67.8g.67|k19.k4a.0.0.u15b|0.0|0.0.0.0.0|e

@Nemesis: yeah, I was gladly surprised with your confusion damage on PVE. That’s what convinced me to try you build

Ryn.6459:

Hi you all,

Tha’ts a variant, with some swiftness and exotic gear, of Nemsis build. A couple of runs in CoF and I will tell you how it goes.

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/mesmer/?4.0|c.1g.h19.c.1g.a7|b.1b.h19.f.1b.h5|1o.71a.1o.71a.1o.71a.1o.71a.1o.71a.1o.71a|2s.0.1o.67.1o.67.1g.67.1g.67.8g.67|k19.k4a.0.0.u15b|0.0|0.0.0.0.0|e

@Nemesis: yeah, I was gladly surprised with your confusion damage on PVE. That’s what convinced me to try you build

So with this build you have 6s of swiftness on a 15s cooldown. take rune of the centaur for 12s of swiftness on a 15s cooldown and actually more effective power for the cost of the lightning strike from rune of air. if you REALLY dont want to take sword/focus, that would maybe be the better solution. also, sigil of accuracy is much better than ruby jewel.

However, i gave it a try as well and came up with this mix of my current (uncompleted) shatercat mist 2.0 trinkets and a set of rabid armor.
This will give permanent swiftness and a realistic amount of toughness to actually survive in wvw at all. i will maybe give it a try, once i have the gold to buy the runes.

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/mesmer/?4.0|b.1b.h16.f.1b.h5|c.1g.h17.d.1g.h1|1b.71a.1b.71a.1b.71a.1b.71a.1b.71a.1b.71a|1i.67.2t.0.2v.0.1i.67.1i.67.1i.67|k19.k4a.0.0.u56b|30.7|33.34.3d.3j.3o|e

Did i put a ruby? my mistake.
Air is not ideal but in this build is better than centaur (thinking in trying 4air and 2 rubies)
I wouldnt use focus here neither as you will mess up the rotation. And oh sword block is what let you be so glassy. have to check tho.
please comment how your variant goes. im more interested in this build after today patch

Ryn.6459:

Did i put a ruby? my mistake.
Air is not ideal but in this build is better than centaur (thinking in trying 4air and 2 rubies)
I wouldnt use focus here neither as you will mess up the rotation. And oh sword block is what let you be so glassy. have to check tho.
please comment how your variant goes. im more interested in this build after today patch

how is todays patch related to it?

K, for the sake of it, been testing a condition dmg hybrid aswell some latley for wvwvw. This is my version of condition pvp condition hybrid.

/Osicat

how is todays patch related to it?[/quote]

It is not. its my build, a clon with 6 stacks of might is what i cant stand.

@osi, glad to see that you are experimenting with rhe concept. with cell phone i cant see the video now. i will check later.

@Nemesis:

I watched your video and to be honest, it looks rather intersting considering how many escapes you have should they become necessary. Right now, I use a GS + Sword/Sword build with half zerker, half valkyrie gear. The direct target damage I can produce is freaking insane but I only have blink/decoy as real means of getting out of a bad situation. Essentially, I have very limited defensive skills and 0 condition damage. Perhaps I’ll give this a try and see how I like it.

Has anyone else tried this build yet? It looks really interesting but I just don’t have the gold to buy an entire new set of gear.

Sorry, I got the tokens and money to get the gear… but I stop playing gw2.

I can’t stand the lack of communication with Anet after the last patch (mess).

Hi Nemesis,
Can you clarify your response to osicat? You wrote,

The reason why i didn’t take Illusionary Persona is because i already have shatter recharge rate reduced a bit more then i need.

But Illusionary Persona does not reduce shatter recharge rate. It “causes the user to count as an illusion for the mesmer’s shatter mechanic. […] This means shatter skills can be used even when no illusions are up.”

So it gives you harder-hitting shatters, and the ability to shatter without clones. Do you still prefer Confusing Combatants? Did you try both?

I’m testing your build out in PvE, and liking it despite Confusion being subpar. I’m balking at the cost of Sigils of Generosity, but do need better condition management. The lack of swiftness is also frustrating. So things to try include:

1. Centaur or Air runes, trading damage for speed
2. Lemongrass or poultry and leek soup, trading confusion duration for condition mitigation. Possibly switch in null field?
3. Cheaper sigils, such as Might or Battle

daimonos.9831:

Hi Nemesis,
Can you clarify your response to osicat? You wrote,

The reason why i didn’t take Illusionary Persona is because i already have shatter recharge rate reduced a bit more then i need.

But Illusionary Persona does not reduce shatter recharge rate. It “causes the user to count as an illusion for the mesmer’s shatter mechanic. […] This means shatter skills can be used even when no illusions are up.”

So it gives you harder-hitting shatters, and the ability to shatter without clones. Do you still prefer Confusing Combatants? Did you try both?

I’m testing your build out in PvE, and liking it despite Confusion being subpar. I’m balking at the cost of Sigils of Generosity, but do need better condition management. The lack of swiftness is also frustrating. So things to try include:

1. Centaur or Air runes, trading damage for speed
2. Lemongrass or poultry and leek soup, trading confusion duration for condition mitigation. Possibly switch in null field?
3. Cheaper sigils, such as Might or Battle

I’m pretty sure he was referring to the fact that putting points in Illusions reduced the shatter recharge time. The fact that the trait in question was IP was irrelevant. With that said, in my mind IP provides you with a billion times more utility and bang for your buck than Confusing Combatants ever could.

> putting points in Illusions reduced the shatter recharge time.

[smacks head] yes, of course, you’re right.

Osicat.4139:

K, for the sake of it, been testing a condition dmg hybrid aswell some latley for wvwvw. This is my version of condition pvp condition hybrid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZOu01-jwVY

/Osicat

Going to WvW some more with my version so i can get a better eye on the comparison between what you do with yours and what i do with mine.
Thanks for sharing.

FinalPatriot.8034:

@Nemesis:

I watched your video and to be honest, it looks rather intersting considering how many escapes you have should they become necessary. Right now, I use a GS + Sword/Sword build with half zerker, half valkyrie gear. The direct target damage I can produce is freaking insane but I only have blink/decoy as real means of getting out of a bad situation. Essentially, I have very limited defensive skills and 0 condition damage. Perhaps I’ll give this a try and see how I like it.

Let me know of the results… keep in mind that doing the rotation as correctly as possible is what separates you, from the rest of the mesmers. If possible this rotation puts you in a spot where you are rarely vulnerable, even though you are “squishy”. Squishy but not vulnerable.

Zumi.6384:

daimonos.9831:

Hi Nemesis,
Can you clarify your response to osicat? You wrote,

The reason why i didn’t take Illusionary Persona is because i already have shatter recharge rate reduced a bit more then i need.

But Illusionary Persona does not reduce shatter recharge rate. It “causes the user to count as an illusion for the mesmer’s shatter mechanic. […] This means shatter skills can be used even when no illusions are up.”

So it gives you harder-hitting shatters, and the ability to shatter without clones. Do you still prefer Confusing Combatants? Did you try both?

I’m testing your build out in PvE, and liking it despite Confusion being subpar. I’m balking at the cost of Sigils of Generosity, but do need better condition management. The lack of swiftness is also frustrating. So things to try include:

1. Centaur or Air runes, trading damage for speed
2. Lemongrass or poultry and leek soup, trading confusion duration for condition mitigation. Possibly switch in null field?
3. Cheaper sigils, such as Might or Battle

I’m pretty sure he was referring to the fact that putting points in Illusions reduced the shatter recharge time. The fact that the trait in question was IP was irrelevant. With that said, in my mind IP provides you with a billion times more utility and bang for your buck than Confusing Combatants ever could.

Yeah… cause in the rotation you are also dependent to the clone on dodge. So it’s irrelevant how fast you can shatter…

What i do found out from practical experience, is that people are not use to double invisibility so quickly on top of double block, most times they really lose you… and tend to attack one of your clones.
It almost dies instantly… but all they achieve is add more confusion on them… which i really like. Serves not only as damage, but creates frustration and psychological pressure .