Guild Wars 2

I mean… Every Armor group got a DPS, support, and control/tankish elite spec.
We got Tempest and Reaper, so we’re definitely the control spec. Traits, wells, and shield skills confirm this. I mean come on, we got a shield. The thing is, we didn’t really get much in the way of tankiness through traits. DH got some on block traits, one of which has to do with condi removal and damage reduction, an on CC trait, and the augment for Shield of Courage. Scrapper has loads of defense through hammer and a ton of stability and survivability related traits. Chronomancers have the slow line, so there’s some control traits right there. Nothing else really screams a defensive spec. I mean, I love chronomancer, but what do you think? Should they give the line a bit more of a tanky edge?

Maybe something on one of the slow traits that reduces the damage you take from Slowed foes? Gain alacrity on block? Stability or bonus toughness while under the effects of Quickness or Alacrity?

It’s a cool idea, but Chronomancer’s already too good for them to add more functionality to. Meh.

So defensive:

• shield, though before they changed it to a channeled block, it wasn’t such a great defensive weapon
• wells: a few good defensive wells + support wells necessarily mean more “static” hence tanky. Finally, the old well trait used to clean conditions
• slow: slow is probably as bad as weakness (if not worse) to reduce the damage output of enemies. And there is a full slow line, but it depends a lot on crits.

So my idea is that chronomancer was not meant to be a bunker, but a team fighter. Someone that thrives on a point with other allies, very supportive, but still more offensive than defensive. It just happens that bunkering seem to work well too. I don’t think the meta chronomancer will end up being a bunker but an offensive team fighter.

Chrono is hella tanky actually!

Shield+Sword + Staff, Chaos/Chrono/Insp and Well of Precog + Well of Eternity, and either elite Well or TW…if that’s not tanky, then I don’t know what is. :-) Put a tanky amulet on that in sPvP and you’re a beast.

You probably can’t hurt a fly, but you’re almost immune to 2-3 attackers, and can dish out some solid team-support as well. :-)

Here you go

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Build-Full-Bunker-Chrono/first#

From what I saw, bunker Chrono was doing just fine.

here’s my current Mesmer tank

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAsdWlknhK1YRawKNwsGLrG05RSyzNLx06Z5GKeAA-TRiDgANnSB89H6V+9q+DgJICzPg6bgUCe9kCAA-e

here’s my chronomancer tank

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAsdWlknhK1YRawKNwsGL9G15IUCrmZA8KZU9ouqvKA-TRiDgANnSB89H6V+9q+DgJICzPg6bgUCe9kCAA-e

I feel like there are a few different types of tanking in this game.
Chrono and mesmer seem pretty strong for PvE tanking. We’ve got a lot of access to Vigor, blocks, and protection paired with strong mobility and distractions via illusions. Phantasmal Defender is a unique, powerful skill.

Front-line WvW tanking… bleh. We lack significant stability there. Our mobility is backwards (staff) or requires a clone on a target (Sword leap). Since so much of our defense comes from illusions, and they’re so fragile in AoE situations, we really don’t do as well as we could in that situation. Chrono doesn’t do much to improve that area either as the slows are single targets, the buffs aren’t protective, and so many of the traits require illusions to actually be alive.

I think we’ll see some great PvE mesmer tanks. I think we’ll need another elite spec or two to see any WvW front-line mesmers.

Chronomancer is first and foremost a control spec. Inflicts Slow better than any other class, wells inflict a variety of cc effects, interrupt traits, etc.

I wouldn’t really consider Chrono a “control” spec, given it doesn’t really compare to Domination when it comes to control. Tides of Time and Gravity Well are solid control skills but that’s about it, the rest is at most soft CC.

Overall the Chronomancer feels like it augments everything the Mesmer does, so while it does augment control it also augments everything else. Whether this is the nature of the spec (it is, but…) or more an artifact of how flawed the base Mesmer is is up for discussion.

Reason I want to dispute this is because I’d like to see a proper control elite spec in the future.

Embolism.8106:

I wouldn’t really consider Chrono a “control” spec, given it doesn’t really compare to Domination when it comes to control. Tides of Time and Gravity Well are solid control skills but that’s about it, the rest is at most soft CC.

Overall the Chronomancer feels like it augments everything the Mesmer does, so while it does augment control it also augments everything else. Whether this is the nature of the spec (it is, but…) or more an artifact of how flawed the base Mesmer is is up for discussion.

Reason I want to dispute this is because I’d like to see a proper control elite spec in the future.

I’d support that. It’s hard to tell if ANet is going for “theme” or “purpose” with its specs. Chronomancer feels like it’s centered around a “theme”, but doesn’t have a specific focus. It complements a lot of builds, but doesn’t stand out as being the best for a specific play style. Druid, on the other hand, has a very particular focus: support. Whether it’s supporting through pure healing numbers or through damage reductions or stun-breaks: you are supporting.

I’d love to see each line get this kind of focus. I’d love to take Domination, knowing that each and every trait there is somehow bolstering my ability to control. Or have Inspiration be our support line, replacing the selfish phantasm-only traits with group-oriented support.

Kelthien.8593:

I’d support that. It’s hard to tell if ANet is going for “theme” or “purpose” with its specs. Chronomancer feels like it’s centered around a “theme”, but doesn’t have a specific focus. It complements a lot of builds, but doesn’t stand out as being the best for a specific play style. Druid, on the other hand, has a very particular focus: support. Whether it’s supporting through pure healing numbers or through damage reductions or stun-breaks: you are supporting.

I think it’s important to note that chronomancer was a full class concept, and because of that, has a naturally broader focus. Druid on the other hand is a an extreme case, being too focused in my opinion… Most other specs tried to have a clear damage/support/defense etc… mix in the new trait line. The thing is that slow/alacrity/quickness are effects that are very general and apply to any playstyle because they just enhance whatever you are doing.

I’d love to see each line get this kind of focus. I’d love to take Domination, knowing that each and every trait there is somehow bolstering my ability to control. Or have Inspiration be our support line, replacing the selfish phantasm-only traits with group-oriented support.

I doubt we will see much of that in the future. If they release a spec every 2-3 years, they cannot go too focused on one very specific playstyle, at the risk of disappointing a bit part of the community (if you look at druid, there are very strong opinions on both sides about the concept itself, more than any other specs).