Guild Wars 2

I tried glass, condi, power, tank, and all were fun but all had flaws. Until I finally created a mesmer build that is strong against ALL opponents whether 1v1 or 1vX whether fighting a cannon, bunker, or condi build.

Utilities can be swapped based on situation but here is the link
edit: updated link

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8al4zSpXUTsGb9IhpHB33A/UBoT6hqT9qB-jkCBofCyEEwkIBK1sIasVOht0JaVQBRZDT9iIq2auIa1SBo1yI-w

30/0/30/10/0

This build gives +90% MIGHT DURATION I tested the runes, yes they do stack for a total of +60% might duration on top of my base 30% boon duration. GS #2 skill with sigils of battle and bountiful interruption gets me up to 25 stacks of might very quickly and it LASTS a long time.

I reach almost 5k attack in battle and over 1k condition damage. Since clone deaths is really the only damaging conditions I put on though besides cry of frustation so I often swap pistol for torch to add more burning and confusion plus survivability for a more attritious battle such as 1v2+

I’m sure staff would be a viable 2nd weapon as well. Greatsword for high damage and might stacking with #2 and interrupt with #5 and when might is up swap to staff for Condi damage. But I haven’t felt the need to try it yet because it’s working so well as-is already.

I’ve mostly tested it in PvP and just starting to test in WvW but in my current match I either run into a couple uplevels or an entire zerg so not having a lot of luck finding a true test of it’s prowess yet, but I can’t really see a weakness. Tons of on-demand condi removal, plenty of stun breaks, lots of invis and boons, 3k armor, almost 5k damage and over 1k condi damage.

Only downside? Runs a little slow.

Stealth and PU are strong in any build, especially a phantasm-focused one.

Looks pretty powerful, but do you really need the Signet? That’s the only thing about the build that seems like it could be replaced with something better, perhaps another Mantra since you grabbed Harmonious Mantras, or Feedback for some projectile shutdown. The only thing the build seems to lack is any kind of team utility beyond Veil. I could see Portal, Blink, Mantra of Concentration/Distraction, and a couple others being some good choices there.

It looks like something I want to try haha. Imo, it’s not like a super new concept, but i like the numbers and effects. I want to see it in action. Imagine if you stacked up bloodlust stacks in WvW mobs before going to fight people too lol I’m going to try something like this. It has some insane survivability for sure. I’ve been trying to abandon clone dodges, but it’s been tough, because it’s such a big habit and feels so much slower without it. This looks like it can maintain pressure and survive while being a bit slower. Also agreed with Chaos, perhaps it can be switched out for something, possibly more situational

Check out blackdevil’s thread, it’s a better version of this.
Moving 20 points from Domination to Dueling gets you Deceptive Evasion, Phantasmal Fury, and both minor traits (Critical Infusion and Sharper Images) in that line are super valuable too.
Harmonious Mantras isn’t getting you much and GS training can be lived without pretty easily.

Also, full soldier’s is wayyy too tanky given how much stealth and protection you have. I would go Cavalier/Knight/Berserker mix if you want to stay power-focused, or mix in some Rabid if you want more condition damage at the cost of power.

I don’t think i’ve seen a build this tanky since Pyro’s Immortal Mesmer. And with 3600-3900 base attack…seems powerful indeed. I’d love to see the build in action in WvW or even PvP.

Valarauka.2719:

Check out blackdevil’s thread, it’s a better version of this.
Moving 20 points from Domination to Dueling gets you Deceptive Evasion, Phantasmal Fury, and both minor traits (Critical Infusion and Sharper Images) in that line are super valuable too.
Harmonious Mantras isn’t getting you much and GS training can be lived without pretty easily.

Also, full soldier’s is wayyy too tanky given how much stealth and protection you have. I would go Cavalier/Knight/Berserker mix if you want to stay power-focused, or mix in some Rabid if you want more condition damage at the cost of power.

I run a similar build but pure power ( that i made before reading his thread ) lol, it’s nice, but I’m trying to get away from deceptive evasion. it feels like a crutch that we all use, and it might open up other possibilities not using it. I agree that it’s bit too tanky, but you can tweak it to have even more damage. But I think the tankiness helps when there’s no deceptive evasion.

This seems like it could work in WvW with the various boosts available. I’d like to see the PvP version, though, because I don’t see how you’re going to get massive might stacking there.

I’d have a very hard time giving up Sharper Images, though your build has very low crit chance. I suppose it’s just a straight power build, which again, is hard to do in PvP.

Valarauka.2719:

Check out blackdevil’s thread, it’s a better version of this.
Moving 20 points from Domination to Dueling gets you Deceptive Evasion, Phantasmal Fury, and both minor traits (Critical Infusion and Sharper Images) in that line are super valuable too.
Harmonious Mantras isn’t getting you much and GS training can be lived without pretty easily.

Also, full soldier’s is wayyy too tanky given how much stealth and protection you have. I would go Cavalier/Knight/Berserker mix if you want to stay power-focused, or mix in some Rabid if you want more condition damage at the cost of power.

The thing is, this build is very different from BlackDevil’s build, and could potentially be as effective depending on how it’s played. The GS training is crucial for the Might stacking and Harmonious Mantras may not be so bad (though could be replaceable) if utilized properly. I don’t think the OP should just fold this build and convert to BlackDevil’s because this one has the potential to form it’s own identity and still be good. It really depends on how effective the might stacking is.

I do agree that this build is unspeakably tanky, maybe unnecessarily so. If you have an overabundance of defense then start weaving in some more damage.

I forgot to update the build when I changed the signet out for mantra of concentration. There are other viable choices as well but I definitely like having more than 1 stun break. Blink also works for more mobility and another escape

I will update the OP, thanks!

So what kind of damage does this bring? People always posts builds, but no concrete examples to compare with (ie videos, numbers vs players or Orr mobs)…

In my experience going all power turned out to be pretty weak compared to a more “balanced” 2K/2K/50%+ approach. Might stacking is nice but unpredictable – at least I never got it work properly and never reached anywhere near 25 stacks, but maybe my playstyle was completely wrong.

Yeah, I run something similar myself, pure power-focused (with the aforementioned zerk/cav/knight setup, and traveler runes). DE is just too amazing though. I run with Crippling + Debilitating Dissipation, and neither of those will be that useful without the amount of clone generation you get from DE.

If any build doesn’t need DE, it would be a stealth-phantasm setup like this, but in that case I’d want to swap Debilitating Dissipation for iDefense and add at least one more mantra to make better use of HM.

Also, the damage looks good on paper with 3600+ attack, but 4% crit chance and no cdmg bonus means it’ll actually kinda suck in practice.

Qaelyn.7612:

This seems like it could work in WvW with the various boosts available. I’d like to see the PvP version, though, because I don’t see how you’re going to get massive might stacking there.

I’d have a very hard time giving up Sharper Images, though your build has very low crit chance. I suppose it’s just a straight power build, which again, is hard to do in PvP.

actually this was created in PvP the runes are all available there as are the sigils and bountiful interruption of course so the ONLy difference in might stacking is WvW i get an extra bonus stack on heal skill (which I also use the might on dodge +40% endurance food sometimes as well) but that’s only 1 stack at a time. The only major difference I see is WvW its a lot easier to trigger bountiful interruption with GS 5 on a group of enemies than in PvP.

Dawdler.8521:

So what kind of damage does this bring? People always posts builds, but no concrete examples to compare with (ie videos, numbers vs players or Orr mobs)…

In my experience going all power turned out to be pretty weak compared to a more “balanced” 2K/2K/50%+ approach. Might stacking is nice but unpredictable – at least I never got it work properly and never reached anywhere near 25 stacks, but maybe my playstyle was completely wrong.

One GS#2, GS#5 or pistol 5 interrupt, and a weapon swap and I’m usually at 12-14 stacks of might for 38 seconds duration within the first few seconds of a fight. In a team fight I use signet of inspiration and when might gets to 20+ stacks I copy it to my allies. When might is stacked in PvP the GS autoattacks are hitting for 1-3k depending on range and enemy armor. Blurred frenzy by itself takes away most of a glassy enemy’s health bar. I need to find a way to record videos but feel free to spec it in the PvP arena for yourself. The might duration is so ridiculous that it is extremely easy to stack.

It’s an interesting concept, worth exploring. I agree this is not like Blackdevil’s build very much at all.

What trinket do you use in PvP?

I’m still skeptical of a pure power build though. I also don’t really see that PU is bringing much to the table in this build, and it seems to me 15 points in Dueling would do a world of good.

The other thing about this build is that it’s going to be really slow. I’m pretty much permanently settled on centaur runes in PvP as it doesn’t matter how good I am if I’m in the wrong place, and the slow mesmer trudging just gets hard to handle.

Not sure what role this would play in PvP. It seems like a striker-type build, but then that’s where the slow speed becomes an issue.

I completely understand the “too tanky” comments and depending on the purpose you are trying to achieve that is either right or wrong. When I play WvW I very often will sneak into a tower or keep that is being taken and try to survive long enough to portal in allies. When I get spotted, this often ends up in facing 5-6 enemies that stayed back to ‘sweep’ and without a lot of mobility, a 1vX fight gets ugly real fast if I don’t have the toughness and vitality from soldier stats.

So while you are correct for some situations, this is my main reasoning for the extra padding.

Oh, and for being able to run into/through enemy zergs to drop exit portals. Tried that with less armor…. didn’t work lol

While an interesting concept, I do doubt the actual damage potential of it.

The problem is you have no crit chance and no crit damage. Due to the way damage works in this game, you have to put in far more effort to get the same numbers from pure power as from crit chance + damage.

Say you have 2000 power. To double your damage you now need 4000 power. Alternatively, you need 50% crit chance and 100% crit power.

Another big vulnerability is boon stripping of course, since this is pretty much a Mesmer version of HGH building. If anyone tags you with an arcane thievery, larcenous strike, disenchanter, etc, suddenly your damage will be minimal again.

Overall, an interesting concept. I just have a hard time believing you’ll really be able to put out reasonable damage.

Qaelyn.7612:

It’s an interesting concept, worth exploring. I agree this is not like Blackdevil’s build very much at all.

What trinket do you use in PvP?

I’m still skeptical of a pure power build though. I also don’t really see that PU is bringing much to the table in this build, and it seems to me 15 points in Dueling would do a world of good.

The other thing about this build is that it’s going to be really slow. I’m pretty much permanently settled on centaur runes in PvP as it doesn’t matter how good I am if I’m in the wrong place, and the slow mesmer trudging just gets hard to handle.

Not sure what role this would play in PvP. It seems like a striker-type build, but then that’s where the slow speed becomes an issue.

in pvp its mostly a might-sharing control build with signet of inspiration. if the enemy team is very tanky I’ll usually swap veil out for portal.

yes the speed is the primary downside of this build though.

if my opponent’s classes aren’t typically condition heavy I will prep the fight by swapping mender’s purity for compounding celerity, debilitating dissipation for master of manipulation with blink instead of mantra of concentration, and harmonious mantras for mental torment or another trait (swapping heal skill back to ether feast)

i faced 3 guardians, a ranger, and an engi yesterday and was glad I made these changes prior to the fight.

I tried something similar to this, pvt build with might and boons from PU.
The lack of dodging and run speed made it feel like a slug though.
I basically felt like a punching bag
You might want to switch marjory’s chili for orrian truffle and meat stew for extra endurance and some might.
Marjory’s chili is gonna get quite expensive soon when pristine spores will go up in price due to low supply.

Also for the runes, instead of putting all eggs into the might basket you could get 3 +15% boon runes to boost your PU boons.
Or 4x altruism and 2x water for +30% boons and might on heal.

Pyroatheist.9031:

While an interesting concept, I do doubt the actual damage potential of it.

The problem is you have no crit chance and no crit damage. Due to the way damage works in this game, you have to put in far more effort to get the same numbers from pure power as from crit chance + damage.

Say you have 2000 power. To double your damage you now need 4000 power. Alternatively, you need 50% crit chance and 100% crit power.

Another big vulnerability is boon stripping of course, since this is pretty much a Mesmer version of HGH building. If anyone tags you with an arcane thievery, larcenous strike, disenchanter, etc, suddenly your damage will be minimal again.

Overall, an interesting concept. I just have a hard time believing you’ll really be able to put out reasonable damage.

I suppose it depends on what you’re used to as far as damage goes. It’s definitely not a high burst dmg spec nor intended to be one. It’s strength is damage over time, doing more damage than receiving.

I’ve had my might stripped a few times but i was back to 12+ stacks in just a few seconds so I’m not too worried about it except when it’s a mesmer stealing 25 stacks for himself, but he doesn’t have the +90% duration I have so his will wear off quickly and mine will stack right back up. If its a disenchanter I like to just kill those to get them out of the way.

The biggest flaw I see is reaching over 1k condi damage and not applying conditions. It really feels like a waste so I am strongly considering trying staff as the 2nd weapon or maybe even scepter/torch or scepter/pistol.

Later today I think I will experiment with ways to take advantage of the condi damage.

My first thought of course would be sharper images but building enough precision to make that worthwhile would drastically change the entire setup and I’d sacrifice a lot of vitality for it. It would be better for 1v1 fights but not for WvW which is what I primarily play.

Ironvos.9014:

I tried something similar to this, pvt build with might and boons from PU.
The lack of dodging and run speed made it feel like a slug though.
I basically felt like a punching bag
You might want to switch marjory’s chili for orrian truffle and meat stew for extra endurance and some might.
Marjory’s chili is gonna get quite expensive soon when pristine spores will go up in price due to low supply.

Good point yes I often use the orrian stew instead.

My 2 cents (and this is with WvW in mind):

• Use boon stacking runes versus just might stacking. This ensures all your boons are long lasting (including might of course), instead of just might.
• Go with chocolate omnomberry cream for food. It seems you’re not having an issue stacking might anyway and you get that much more boon duration. With the food change you’re at 95% boon duration.
• Torch seems to be the best fit for this build, versus pistol. Reason is for the extra PU ammo and your primary source of retaliation, which this build begs for (ala Immortal Build). 95% boon duration will help keep moderate retal uptime from the iMage.
• Going with Torch opens up a couple things. 1) You can swap Torch/GS cool down traits as necessary. 2) You can potentially swap decoy for the iDefender which will improve your tankiness even more. 3) You can try your best to utilize the light field blast finisher with prestige/veil (and ofc combo finisher with iLeap/Veil). These are two other decent retaliation sources, albeit on a long CD.
• Going with Torch means you have one major source remaining to proc bountiful interruption in illusionary wave (not counting diversion). Given that fact, maybe you think about going Staff instead of GS as it seems you’ve already considered. This would secure your torch CD trait. Then, I’d consider swapping bountiful interruption with chaotic dampening. You get more access to retal sources there, plus that much more defense. Just something to think about, but adding staff would make you harder to kill than having a GS equipped. Plus it would at least give you some mobility.

Not including the staff idea, this is my suggestion taking the boon duration runes into account:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8fl4zSpXUTsGb9IhpHB33A/UBoT6hqT9qB-jUCBofCykIQpmFRjtMMsVXRr8KIKbYqXER1WzFRrWKATUGB-w

Again, my 2 cents, have fun with it and if you have a way to capture video of this, I’d love to see it.

Solstice.1097

…I need to find a way to record videos…

I’ve been using MSI Afterburner and it has been working well for me. Also, I heard Nvidia’s ShadowPlay is really good too if you have an Nvidia graphics card.

I’ll clarify something:

With PU you can probably go full berserker and have a big damage boost with the same might-stacking potential. For purely roaming and 1v1s this is probably a better option.

Call me old-fashioned but I play WvW and the PPT game so my game involves a lot of zerg fights, portal bombs, and hiding in towers/keeps, and commanding as well, but I also want to be able to roam camps as well. That’s why I prefer soldiers gear.

For 1v1’s in Obsidian Sanctum you can bet I will be wearing berserker armor stats with maybe some cavalier or knights trinkets mixed in.

But I am making soldier stats ascended armor right now because that’s what I do

PandaBear.7510:

Solstice.1097

…I need to find a way to record videos…

I’ve been using MSI Afterburner and it has been working well for me. Also, I heard Nvidia’s ShadowPlay is really good too if you have an Nvidia graphics card.

i have sapphire radeon HD 7870

i know overwolf has a screen capture option but I have not personally used it. has anyone had any experience to recommend it or not?

also most videos I see the first 1 minute or so is blurry until the resolution finally clears up. Does anyone know why that happens and/or how to prevent it?

Solstice.1097:

PandaBear.7510:

Solstice.1097

…I need to find a way to record videos…

I’ve been using MSI Afterburner and it has been working well for me. Also, I heard Nvidia’s ShadowPlay is really good too if you have an Nvidia graphics card.

i have sapphire radeon HD 7870

i know overwolf has a screen capture option but I have not personally used it. has anyone had any experience to recommend it or not?

also most videos I see the first 1 minute or so is blurry until the resolution finally clears up. Does anyone know why that happens and/or how to prevent it?

Just to clarify, I have an AMD card as well (radeon HD 6870) and MSI Afterburner works great. I was only referring to ShadowPlay when I said you need a Nvidia card.

skcamow.3527:

My 2 cents (and this is with WvW in mind):

• Use boon stacking runes versus just might stacking. This ensures all your boons are long lasting (including might of course), instead of just might.
• Go with chocolate omnomberry cream for food. It seems you’re not having an issue stacking might anyway and you get that much more boon duration. With the food change you’re at 95% boon duration.
• Torch seems to be the best fit for this build, versus pistol. Reason is for the extra PU ammo and your primary source of retaliation, which this build begs for (ala Immortal Build). 95% boon duration will help keep moderate retal uptime from the iMage.
• Going with Torch opens up a couple things. 1) You can swap Torch/GS cool down traits as necessary. 2) You can potentially swap decoy for the iDefender which will improve your tankiness even more. 3) You can try your best to utilize the light field blast finisher with prestige/veil (and ofc combo finisher with iLeap/Veil). These are two other decent retaliation sources, albeit on a long CD.
• Going with Torch means you have one major source remaining to proc bountiful interruption in illusionary wave (not counting diversion). Given that fact, maybe you think about going Staff instead of GS as it seems you’ve already considered. This would secure your torch CD trait. Then, I’d consider swapping bountiful interruption with chaotic dampening. You get more access to retal sources there, plus that much more defense. Just something to think about, but adding staff would make you harder to kill than having a GS equipped. Plus it would at least give you some mobility.

Not including the staff idea, this is my suggestion taking the boon duration runes into account:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8fl4zSpXUTsGb9IhpHB33A/UBoT6hqT9qB-jUCBofCykIQpmFRjtMMsVXRr8KIKbYqXER1WzFRrWKATUGB-w

Again, my 2 cents, have fun with it and if you have a way to capture video of this, I’d love to see it.

As for the weapon options torch is on my radar for sure especially for the AoE burning with 25 stacks of might being deadly, and when using mantras invisibility is so important to be able to recharge them.

What I find most interesting is your suggested runes and food to get 95% total boon duration overall. That might go really well with staff boons. Although might is really the only boon im concerned with, I’ll have to see what the actual apples to apples tradeoff is but I’ll definitely check into it.

This thread has got me thinking more about it and theoretically I like scepter/torch for 2nd weapon set. Stack might with GS 2 and 5 interrupt and weapon swap, then apply confusion and torment with scepter, retalition and confusion with torch 5, use prestige and swap back to GS and use #2giving me another 6-9 stacks of might before the prestige’s burning hits. Repeat.

I’m going to try it when I get off work.

Might stacking is much less valuable if you have no crit. Consider it like this. Say you have 3k attack with zero crit. Even if you gain 20 might stacks (700 power), each attack is doing only ~25% more damage. Now consider that 3k attack with a modest 50% crit chance and 50% crit damage. Now, every other attack is powered at 6k, for an average of 4500 (+50%). And that is with zero might.

Compare this to, say, BlackDevil’s 10/20/30/10 but using knight’s gear w/ traveler runes and zerker trinkets. Without might or stacks, you have 3.3k attack, 50% crit, 70% crit damage. And you are averaging 5.28k attack power. With full precision stacks, sigil of accuracy, and just 10 stacks of might, you’re averaging ~6.5k attack power. And then don’t forget bleeds as well (~60 damage per bleed per second with just a little might and zero condi gear).

Pretty sure my math is right, but please correct if wrong. The tl;dr is that if you’re going direct damage, you need crit.

These days I like going glass if I use PU. I’ve gotten wrecked by some staff, sword/pistol PU builds running rampagers.

to get that you need both precision and crit damage and for my playstyle I have to sacrifice a lot to get that. that’s why I am going to experiment with staff and scepter/torch as 2nd weapon set to take advantage of the might’s condi damage to gain higher and harder to counter DPS without sacrificing any stats.

but considering the math it does seem stat-effective to add some precision even if its 25% crit chance and 25% crit damage which is about 19% damage increase sacrificing around 300 armor and a few thousand HP.

Sure I could go more, all the way even, like I said I’d probably use full zerker in a straight 1v1 and still be survivable, but as a reminder the intention is to be a 1vX bunker first, and damage 2nd. I’m starting with PU, condi clears, and toughness/vital bunker and then seeing how much damage I can accomplish with it.

You do, and thus the trade off. But you shouldn’t bunker for bunker’s sake. I mean, it’s fun not to die, but I feel like mesmer should be tailored to something specific (burst, condis, etc.), because unlike say, guardian or ele, we sacrifice a lot of group utility for personal tankiness. I can maybe see this as useful in spvp to challenge a far point, but with invis you likely won’t cap it either. And in zergy fights you can provide glamours and invis. But I’m not sure you have enough burst and mobility for roaming.

Holy hell, that’s some serious tankyness. Maybe going a bit more zerkers wouldn’t hurt lol