Guild Wars 2

Was thinking about the old mimic+rune of the guard effect during the beta and dueled a friend with shield+rune of the guard in pvp. Dead stop shield coming up from halloween made me think about burning shields again but this time I got on a wvw thought process with the food/stat choice that could make this a bit more viable.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhUQNAreWncfC1ohVoB2fCEgiFcjycBitKoMAWtXruVv1eF-ThiAABnfEAIULA0PAgE1FAwJAwq9HG5QAcq6PSqEUMlfkCAmlVA-e

Shield+Rune of Guard = spammable burn that isn’t easily removed
AOE Interrupts+Mistrust+CI = aoe confusion+cover conditions
It’s wvw = as little reliance on illusions as possible.

Staff is there for emergency condi cleanse/get out of jail but I’m not married to it at all. Not super set on utilities as I can’t decide how many wells/condi clears to toss in there vs signet of midnight and MoD for more confusion. Chrono GMs also seem off. Quickness will decrease block channel time but other two don’t really fit either.

Thoughts?

I played with Runes of Guardian in a Chrono Condie build during the last BW. I wouldn’t exactly call an off-block 1s Burn “spammable” but it worked OKish. Problem is of course that a single stack of Burn isn’t that much damage, it’s when you get 5+ stacks going that it really hurts, but unfortunately we don’t have many ways of doing this. (RoG even with a lot of Burning/Condie duration didn’t do much in the way of stacking due to the 1s base.)

I’ve also tried Runes of Balthazar in combination with 20% Burn duration Sigils and of course Torch (TP & iMage) for pretty much maximum Burn we can get, but even there it was rare to see more than 3 stacks of Burning on an enemy. I’d venture to say though that this was more effective Condition damage output than RoGuardian.

In the end, we really need both The Prestige and the iMage to apply at least 2-3 stacks of Burning each. Torch is now pretty nerfed. It was not only hugely nerfed in Condition damage output as compared to before the Condition damage updates, but now also PU was nerfed by 50% and this indirectly affects Torch’s ability to compete as a viable OH. Adding insult to injury, with HoT the Torch now also finally has very strong competition in the OH slot from Shields. This was a triple whammy nerf really, and although we all know how powerful Stealth is, I don’t know if TP is going to continue carrying Torch all on it’s own as it has for many years.

A bit OT sorry, but to get back on track I don’t think that either RoGuardian nor Mistrust are going to work out as optimal choices for you.

GL! The wait is almost over! Woohoo!

Perhaps I should have been a bit more clear about the purpose of the build. This is meant to be a mesmer in the thick of large zerg fights. Especially since it’s in a large zerg fight where illusions die before they act, I would not grab torch phantasm for single target burning regardless of how many stacks it added. If this build breaks off from a zerg then sure.

Shield 4 was changed to a channel instead of a single block and dejavu =~5 second of channeled blocking when zergs clash = lots of burning that spikes higher than 1 stack at a time. This is especially good at tagging since it doesn’t have a target limit. Food+giver shield+ traits+ sigil = 70-80% burn duration so it’ll turn into a few stacks of burn per person attacking you.

Each interrupt = 2 confusion aoe. There is no ICD on mistrust. If it interrupts 1 person =2 confusion in an aoe for 5 targets. MoD interrupting 5 ppl = 10 aoe confusion. Gravity well getting 3 procs off = 30 aoe confusion. Shield 5 has no target limit and can interrupt twice = $$$. Then factor in CI for immob and extra conditions tossed in there. F5 would be hard to do much with but you could at least double up on one of these interrupts.

Sure, there will be stability and those numbers above are ideal circumstance but it’s kind of a return to form for the old mimic+RoG and glamour bomb.

Offhands that would work better here: GS#5? focus 4? sword 4.2? Pistol 5+ DD even? Chaos storm and staff for some extra mobility? I was wondering what people mostly thought of utility choice given the build concept.

Keeping Staff is fine. It’s a pretty defensive weapon that can proc multiple interrupts. You could take Chronophantasma since you’re giving Phantasms Fury, but I think Desperate Decoy in Dueling would be better. Quickness helps in everything else you do, so you’ll just need to balance your blocking vs shattering.

Runes of the Guardian would’ve been neat if this was pre-23/6. Unfortunately like Mesmer’s Burning they didn’t change it for the conditions overhaul, so it’s now quite weak.

Wouldn’t use unless they buff it. You’d be better off with any of the other condition-focused rune sets.

I’m also fairly certain Shield 4’s Block duration will be nerfed at launch. We shall know soon enough.

Regarding Blocking in WvW, maybe it’s just me but I find Unblockable attacks (mainly from Necros) get thrown around like candy in WvW. One moment you’re tanking everyone like a boss, the next you’ve imploded because a Reaper’s Mark blossomed under you.

Sorry DDB, I did actually realize what you were saying/doing in the OP. I was kinda just rambling about the concept of the new channeled block + RoG as a whole.

It’s OK I guess, maybe neat in WvW for tagging, just don’t expect too much from it.

As with my old build, this will be great for tagging…and that’s about it. Especially since the nerfs to instant damage of confusion and burning per stack, you’re not doing enough to impact the fight in any significant way. You’re tagging a lot though, and that’s at least good for you xD.