Guild Wars 2

Hellooo , so I’m reviewing my choices of utility skills these past two days and I realize that my common selections are very limited, there are only very few i am comfortable with and use often. But the other ones, I haven’t used extensively to know their effectiveness. I play PvX, and kinda exhausted game content i’ve wanted to in the game. just killing things/doing things for fun now XD

I basically have one slot right now that is really free to experiment with, like I feel there isn’t too much that I absolutely need in that slot specifically. I have a WvW condi build and did shatter before but mainly just run a phantasm ish build nowadays, kind of want to boost my damage or condi removal and be versatile, I am not really concerned with survivability or lots of utility because I am well versed in mesmer survival and if I run my WvW/PvX build it has plenty enough. But discussion isn’t limited to any specific situations or usage, i just want to see the vibe of what people feel about certain skills

I have a few questions on your personal opinion:

- Do you use it and if so, how often? What is your build?
- How do you use it? For what situation / purpose do you use it the most?
- How effective/consistent is its effect/boost in your build/situations overall as opposed to when you don’t slot it in?

Specific Skills I’m wondering about (feel free to suggest others):

- Mantra of Pain (free damage, 1 sec cd, 1200 range, it sounds kinda extra fun)
- Mirror Images (used this alot while levelling without DE, used it for a time while doing shatter, but now im rethinking if i should or how i would incorporate it, clone death? etc)
- iDisenchanter (heard from a lot of players that it’s good, haven’t tried it enough, worried it’s inconsistent with terrain, varying amounts of players and death of targets)
- Arcane Thievery (ran it for a bit in WvW, but I didn’t enjoy the CD)
- Signet of Domination (stun, but condi damage on power build? though there’s bleeds)

- Which (generalizing), might be the biggest overall versatile increase to performance of a phantasm? shatter? condi?

Thoughts on those? Answer what you want!

I’ll note on your specific skills you listed first, if you have any other skills you want to ask about I’ll comment on them as well.

Mantra of Pain: It’s useful as a quick burst of damage that you can use anytime (when stunned, when shattering, when attacking, when dodging, etc etc.) I’ve used this sometimes in my power set up just to keep pressure up when I’m healing or evading damage myself. Fast recharge makes it useful, just be careful not to charge it while under too much pressure yourself.

Mirror Images: Obviously with DE this doesn’t seem awe inspiring. I’ve used this in both my power shatter and condi shatter set ups, it allows for quick bursts of multiple shatters and is a stun break. Nice in pvp at time if a warrior or thief stuns you and you can instantly retaliate with a mind wrack with the quick 2 clones.

iDisenchanter: I’ve used this in a phantasm build before. Just having one of him makes conditions a lot easier to deal with. In a shatter set up maybe not the best as your illusions tend to not stick around too long.

Arcane Thievery: Always a nice option if you want condi removal (which in this condi spam state of the game is very usefull). I prefer mantra of resolve, as it’s on a short cooldown and easier to use (Arcane Thievery ‘acts’ as a projectile and thus can be dodged, blocked, etc which makes it unreliable at times.)

Signet of Domination: Personally I’ve never used this in a power set up, but I have in a condi set up for the free stats and in an interrupt build for both the active and stats. Could be useful in a power set up if you really wanted the stun but there are usually better options in that situation.

Mantra of Pain

Overall underwhelming by itself. However, it’s a mantra on no cooldown, and that means it synergizes incredibly well with traits such as protected mantras and restorative mantras.

Mirror Images

This is a shatter burst skill. Equip it accordingly. You could also use it for clone death burst, but it’ll have a much lesser effect.

Arcane Thievery

I personally really don’t like this skill. If I wanted condition removal, I’d take either the mantra or the iDisenchanter. However, some people make good use of it. I guess it comes down to personal preference.

Signet of Domination

This is a signet that you either take to not use, or take only to use. In a build that utilizes one of those 2 situations, it does pretty well though.

iDisenchanter

This is probably one of the strongest skills in the game. Summon a phantasm that attacks every ~3.5 seconds. Each attack is a bouncing projectile that hits 5 (total) targets, removing 2 boons from enemies and 2 conditions from allies. 20 second cooldown. Insert into builds for instant condition immunity/boonstripping/team utility

I think Mantra of Pain is a underrated. It doesn’t see much use outside of proccing Mantra heals but it does pretty good damage. In a power-focused build each hit hits for over 1k damage, so with Harmonious Mantras that can get pretty beastly. Of course, the fact that you have to charge it so constantly is a major drawback if you’re not running any form of stealth or MoConcentration.

Mirror Images is great for clone deaths and shatters but rather straightforward. It’s a great burst of extra damage for shatter builds though since it’s instant and can be used in the middle of Blurred Frenzy. DE doesn’t compete with it, simply enhances shatter builds along with it.

iDisenchanter is really great. I used to hate it, and even when I started running it I hated it and almost dropped it several times, but it’s actually an incredible phantasm. It attacks very quickly, does a slight amount of damage, and the projectile bounces 5 times, and each hit removes 2 boons/conditions. In 1v1s this thing is a monster, completely nullifying condition builds and builds that rely on boons. The key is summoning it early and as often as you can.

- Arcane Thievery in my experience is a mixed bag. I like using it offensively rather than as condition removal… or even using the condition removal offensively (throwing necro/warrior conditions back on them) since it uses the opponent’s own condition damage stat against them. However it’s also good for stealing enemy boons and sharing them with Signet of Inspiration(situational in my experience)

- Signet of Domination is great in a lockdown build (daze mantra + signet), pretty good in a condition build, and actually rather useful for a shatte/phantasm build. A 3-second stun makes it easy to set up shatters and for phantasms to make short work of your opponent especially if you’re not wielding sword for it’s immobilize.

Of those, the most versatile performance increase? Without thinking too hard, I’d say Signet since it works for nearly any build. (got censored for “thinking too hard // on it”)

In the context WvW

Blink + Decoy is very necessary (if you play enough… there is really not much to explain)
Then it leaves you with the last utility, and here’s where it gets interesting.
Think the last utility is an always changing utility,

The best utility the one that you are always adjusting depending on what you are doing.

Now… details:

Null Field: Might become your best friend If your build lack condi removal.
e.g. You do not have 3 of the following: (Lyssa rune, Mender’s purity, Cleansing Conflagration, Generosity Sigil) … When fights gets serious … you might want to consider. Works extremely well with staff and sword because of free chaos shield.

Signet of domination: If you are running a Bountiful Interruption/ lockdown build.. could work well but don’t rely on it. Swap to this when you and maybe a friend you are roaming with is trying to deal with an annoying thief … (works great with pistol off hand and sword main hand for chaining disables ) My thought is that: Alot of times you are forced to use signet of dom, pistol 5 because you had to stop ppl from running, when ppl are running away… large chance they’re not casting , thus… don’t rely on the fact that everytime you use it, it’s going to trigger an interrupt (even assuming you are very good with interrupting ppl )

Mirrored images: A third break stun, works good with a shatter based build with sword especially. Not recommended in big zerg fights since … your illusions really don’t get their chance to shatter …

Arcane thievery: Dominates in small fights, win spell for 1v1, especially worth it with “Master of manipulation” , “far reaching manipulation” trait. However, in group zerg, combo field (null field) works better.

Feedback: If condition is not a problem, very useful in zerg fight, works as a combo field just like nullfield as well.

Veil: Unless you wanna end up with defensive overkill on some PU build… mostly not that usefully unless meeting tactical zerg fight demands (portal probably does a better job)

Portal: Creativeness is unlimited. Scales EXTREMELY well with high skilled teammates…
I can write a page on this one.. but i’ll leave it to your imagination. Once you started to use portal whenever you see scenarios fit offensively…defensively… or just to troll the enemy , you and your friends that you play wvw with will be enjoying gw2 more than ever.

iDisenchanter: dies too quick in zerg fights… not a combo field, used to be an alternative of null field in spvp until the “Illusionists Celerity” nerf outta tier 1 trait.

Mantras: Even with the buff comming up in Dec 10th, I still don’t see them as a very good wvw utility