Guild Wars 2

Is it me, or does nearly any combination of 4 -4 -6 make for a decent, workable Mesmer build?

This is especially the case for Domination and Dueling: 4/4/6, 4/4/0/6, and 4/4/0/0/6 can all make some strong builds, but it seems you can break that down even further: Throw 4 in dueling, and then 4 in anywhere else and 6 in another traitline.. Odds are you have the beginnings of a build that can hold it’s own.

Am I seeing things here, or is this really a Mesmer build trend?

Well it kind of makes sense that it’s better to be a Grand Master in one specialism and competent at a couple of others.

But I dunno – spreads like 2/4/3/5/0 also work well.

Curunen.8729:

Well it kind of makes sense that it’s better to be a Grand Master in one specialism and competent at a couple of others.

But I dunno – spreads like 2/4/3/5/0 also work well.

They do, but have 4, 4, and 6 somewhere seems to practically guarantee a competent build.. Atleast for Mesmers. o_O It’s not like you can throw 6, 2, 3,3,0 into a random assortment and have it work the same.

The thing is, the only tree where you would want to go 5 points and not axe 1 point from somewhere else to max it is Inspiration – because the GM major traits are all kitten.

All the other 4 trees either have good GM traits (chaos, illusions, dom) – or in the case of duelling, so many good major traits that it’s often worth trying to get three of them in a full tree.

So the only way I would really be spending five points in any tree is x/x/x/5/x, which automatically dictates a phantasm build, so taking other necessary phantasm traits (so maybe x/3/x/5/x).

On the other hand, if we don’t go above 4 in any tree, then it is possible to do things like 4/4/0/3/3 – kind of weird, but I imagine a build can work with that trait spread.

Since I’m not competent enough at the moment to come up with my own builds for PvP and/or WvW, I’m strictly following already tested builds which are 95% of the time a combination of 2 4s and 1 6 as you mentioned.

However, for PvE I’m using a build that I’ve come up with. It’s probably not the best but I feel safe while using it. It’s 5-2-0-4-3

You can blame DE for this, coupled with the fact that almost universally a Mesmer build revolves around whichever GM trait you’ve selected. In most cases the GM makes the build for Mesmer, other classes arent strictly like that.

CS build, CI build, PU build, IP build, Maim build, etc

I sometimes run 3 in Chaos because I’m lazy and the Protection helps.

Jokes aside, in case of the Mesmer I feel many GM traits can’t compensate for the loss of a Master trait. The Master traits might not necessarily be more powerful but usually they are easier to ‘match’ with your prioritized GM trait. Furthermore, most GM minors suck butterflies while the Master minors are pretty decent, overall.

And then, of course, there is DE… probably one of the main reasons for going 4-sth-sth.

P.S.: That Mesmer thread in the PvP section. Obnoxious.