Guild Wars 2

Shatter? Mantras? Phantasms? Something Else?

Weapon Sets?

Specific traits?

Berserker? Knights? Soldiers? Valkyrie?

Does anyone run say conditions or PU?

I’m just curious as to what mesmer mains run these days in dungeons and open world farming and map completion

I do open world PvE.

I run assassin’s and precision everything, traveller runes, phantasm DPS with harmonious mantras, sword/sword and sword/pistol.

I often swap in a greatsword for sword/sword in big zergs on world bosses. They can one shot me, but I can’t see them to time my “active defences”.

30/20/0/0/20

30/20/0/20/0

30/30/0/0/10

10/20/0/20/20

full assassin, scholar runes
sword/sword + sword/focus
undead slaying/accuracy

switch utilities dependent on situation, stack mantras on the first 3 builds if theres no utilities worth taking so you can get a 4% damage modifier per mantra

I do mostly Open World PvE. 0/2/5/3/4, condition non-shatter, Staff and Sword/Sword, sometimes I swap S/S for GS when I want to.

Just recently I bought the starter exotics at temple of balthazar. I tried different builds but this one suits me the most, because I prefer the higher survivability, especially when soloing champs, which I did quite long time with blue/green items only. Except for a few champs it just takes time, nothing else, no danger for life and limb. The higher item class now certainly improves survivability and dmg, but it’s more about optimizing than making it viable, at least I have this impression.

Most of the time when I’m alone I use Signet of Ether, Mantra of Resolve, Signet of Domination, Signet of Inspiration and the Charr racial Warband Support (because the two summoned charr do the same thing my illusions are supposed to). In party or zerg I swap to Time Warp, Null Field, Feedback and Ether Feast and keep the Mantra.

One of the most useful traits for open pve imho is the second minor inspiration trait (although nowadays new mesmers have to play at least 60 levels without it, which is not so funny), because illusions also count as allies, so two iSwordsman at one target heal each other constantly and three iWarlocks in Y-position around a mob constantly heal me while circling faster in combat (Inspiration VI). I could swap it for V and use Signet of Illusions to make the phants even more durable, but I never felt the necessity for it so far.

I’ve been really lazy lately. I normally run PTV gear with Speed runes. Normally equip Sword/Focus & GS, I’ll switch out weapons as necessary. 4/4/0/4/2. I’ll change everything, depending on the situation.

I always carry around a set of Zerker armor, Pistol, Staff, and an extra Sword.

Domzz.1260:

Shatter? Mantras? Phantasms? Something Else?

Weapon Sets?

Specific traits?

Berserker? Knights? Soldiers? Valkyrie?

Does anyone run say conditions or PU?

I’m just curious as to what mesmer mains run these days in dungeons and open world farming and map completion

In general, mesmer uses mantra/phantasm builds in PvE, with bersker or assassins gear. Pick one of these:

maha.7902:

30/20/0/0/20

30/20/0/20/0

30/30/0/0/10

10/20/0/20/20

full assassin, scholar runes
sword/sword + sword/focus

switch utilities dependent on situation, stack mantras on the first 3 builds if theres no utilities worth taking so you can get a 4% damage modifier per mantra

I removed the undead slaying sigils from this post since those are particular to arah. Scholar runes are also very expensive, you can use runes of the pack or runes of the ranger as low-cost replacements.

Never run conditions in PvE under any circumstances. They are not suited for PvE in any way.

unless you’re playing warrior, engi, necro or ranger and soloing content

Cool thanks very much guys.

I’m considering investing in runes of the Traveler. Think that would be a waste on a mesmer?

I’ve got to learn how to use Sword MH better in PvE — most of the time i just find myself switching to this set to kid myself that I can DPS with it, get off a blurred frenzy, then wait for my other weapon set to recharge.

Many players don’t realize that sword’s uninterrupted auto-attack does comparable damage to blurred frenzy in the same amount of time. Obviously you are more in the face of your opponents, but that also allows you to observe their attack animations and dodge, then using blurred frenzy not just offensively, but as an evade when you miss a dodge or don’t have enough endurance for one.

As for the runes, for open world PvE I would suggest against traveler due to their extreme expense. If all you’re after is speed and you don’t want to use the focus, you can take cheap centaur runes with mirror or mantra heal. If you’re ultimately wanting to get into dungeons, you’ll want scholar or ranger runes.

Please see my sig for a full guide on what you should be running in dungeons. Basically what maha said.

For the love of kitten, do not run Traveller’s. If you need a secondary set for speed, just buy a second set of armor with Centaur runes and spam Mantra of Recovery— you’ll be even faster than Traveller’s. For actual fights, Scholar or Ranger is best— and Ranger is so cheap that there’s no reason not to use it.

Mantra/Interrupt Build

Knights/Cavalier’s with Runes of Vampirism

6/4/0/4/0 (Empowering/Protective/Restorative Mantras, Rending Shatter, Shattered Concentration, Retaliatory Shield, Mendor’s Purity)

Scepter/Sword and Staff(Yes, power build with mostly condition weapons lol, think outside the box)

Mantra of Recovery/Pain/Distraction, Phantasmal Defender and Summon D-Series Golem

Dracatis.1908:

Mantra/Interrupt Build

Knights/Cavalier’s with Runes of Vampirism

6/4/0/4/0 (Empowering/Protective/Restorative Mantras, Rending Shatter, Shattered Concentration, Retaliatory Shield, Mendor’s Purity)

Scepter/Sword and Staff(Yes, power build with mostly condition weapons lol, think outside the box)

Mantra of Recovery/Pain/Distraction, Phantasmal Defender and Summon D-Series Golem

You shouldn’t do this. That’s a horrid build to run in PvE. Shatter builds are just bad, they do far lower dps than phantasm builds. Retaliatory shield is 100% useless in PvE as well, and so is protected mantras.

Fay.2357:

Dracatis.1908:

Mantra/Interrupt Build

Knights/Cavalier’s with Runes of Vampirism

6/4/0/4/0 (Empowering/Protective/Restorative Mantras, Rending Shatter, Shattered Concentration, Retaliatory Shield, Mendor’s Purity)

Scepter/Sword and Staff(Yes, power build with mostly condition weapons lol, think outside the box)

Mantra of Recovery/Pain/Distraction, Phantasmal Defender and Summon D-Series Golem

You shouldn’t do this. That’s a horrid build to run in PvE. Shatter builds are just bad, they do far lower dps than phantasm builds. Retaliatory shield is 100% useless in PvE as well, and so is protected mantras.

but pyro, you’re not thinking outside the box!!11!!!

Greatsword with Strength and Earth sigils
Sword/Focus with Strength and Torment sigils

Knights Gear with Strength Runes (I playfully call it my Might-Knight build)

4/4/0/0/6 with Empowered Illusions, Greatsword Training, Blade Training, Deceptive
Evasion, Compounding Power, Illusionary Elasticity and Illusionary Persona

Ether Feast, Blink, Feedback, Nullfield and Timewarp

I suppose you could call it a Phantasm/Shatter build but the idea is to be well-rounded offensively and defensively. I chose Knights over Berzerkers because I don’t find it fun to go “all-in” on every engage, have a tendency to try crazy things that should kill me and I’m a bit of a hipster. Strength runes are ridiculously expensive but, with Mirror Blade and Illusionary Elasticity, allow me to stack might faster and more consistently than an ele when soloing. The Strength sigils are obvious but Earth is a holdover from my last build and Torment was to prop up my aoe damage a little. I’m debating switch Earth with Air and Torment with Fire. As for Illusionsary Persona, it’s just to make sure that I’m always able to shatter. I use Mind Wrack to end fights or when I know my phantasms are about to be cleaved down. I have used Diversion on bosses when I noticed defiance is down and could use some breathing room. It also helps with the interrupt daily. Every now and then I use Distortion to literally avoid all kinds of problems.

maxinion.8396:

Fay.2357:

Dracatis.1908:

Mantra/Interrupt Build

Knights/Cavalier’s with Runes of Vampirism

6/4/0/4/0 (Empowering/Protective/Restorative Mantras, Rending Shatter, Shattered Concentration, Retaliatory Shield, Mendor’s Purity)

Scepter/Sword and Staff(Yes, power build with mostly condition weapons lol, think outside the box)

Mantra of Recovery/Pain/Distraction, Phantasmal Defender and Summon D-Series Golem

You shouldn’t do this. That’s a horrid build to run in PvE. Shatter builds are just bad, they do far lower dps than phantasm builds. Retaliatory shield is 100% useless in PvE as well, and so is protected mantras.

but pyro, you’re not thinking outside the box!!11!!!

Sure, I’m not doing as much DPS… but since I rarely run solo(even when I do with Megaserver I end up with people a lot), overall DPS isn’t as big of a concern for me.

So I inflict a lot of vulnerabilty, I keep people up with cycling Mantra of Pain when I need to and help buff/protect with Chaos Storm and Defender and dazing…

The main thing is… I almost never go down. I keep my Bloodlust stacks and can wear out most champions to death by myself if I need to. I’ve probably used Waypoints quite a lot less then most anyone with my type of time in the game(always stuff to harvest and nothing scares me).

I like you Pyro, you think and focus well on what you are accomplishing(unlike this maxinion echo-clown, or should I say clone here?), but maybe you didn’t consider how I play PvE?

Dracatis.1908:

maxinion.8396:

Fay.2357:

Dracatis.1908:

Mantra/Interrupt Build

Knights/Cavalier’s with Runes of Vampirism

6/4/0/4/0 (Empowering/Protective/Restorative Mantras, Rending Shatter, Shattered Concentration, Retaliatory Shield, Mendor’s Purity)

Scepter/Sword and Staff(Yes, power build with mostly condition weapons lol, think outside the box)

Mantra of Recovery/Pain/Distraction, Phantasmal Defender and Summon D-Series Golem

You shouldn’t do this. That’s a horrid build to run in PvE. Shatter builds are just bad, they do far lower dps than phantasm builds. Retaliatory shield is 100% useless in PvE as well, and so is protected mantras.

but pyro, you’re not thinking outside the box!!11!!!

Sure, I’m not doing as much DPS… but since I rarely run solo(even when I do with Megaserver I end up with people a lot), overall DPS isn’t as big of a concern for me.

So I inflict a lot of vulnerabilty, I keep people up with cycling Mantra of Pain when I need to and help buff/protect with Chaos Storm and Defender and dazing…

The main thing is… I almost never go down. I keep my Bloodlust stacks and can wear out most champions to death by myself if I need to. I’ve probably used Waypoints quite a lot less then most anyone with my type of time in the game(always stuff to harvest and nothing scares me).

I like you Pyro, you think and focus well on what you are accomplishing(unlike this maxinion echo-clown, or should I say clone here?), but maybe you didn’t consider how I play PvE?

It really doesn’t matter much. PvE is simply a matter of dps. If you can’t dps, you aren’t worth a spot on a team.

This is not PvE like PvE in every other mmo where you have a tank, dps, and healer. In GW2, support is accomplished while dpsing. Since classes such as mesmer and guardian have the capacity to do quite good dps while accomplishing support, there’s simply no excuse to not dps.

You don’t have any utility in that build that a normal build doesn’t have, and you have far worse dps. You can throw on restorative mantras in any phantasm build if necessary (which it shouldn’t be, people should avoid damage, not need to be rapidly healed through it). Boon stripping can be accomplished through sword autoattacks, sword clones, or pDisenchanter. You can throw in the pDefender into a normal phantasm build, and have it be more effective since you’re boosting it in a phantasm build and you’re not required to shatter for other utility and damage. Chaos storm provides a couple of buffs, but the only important one is aegis, and guardians do that far better quite honestly. It’s on a very long cooldown and the aegis is random, it’s simply not worth it.

I run a full berserker phantasm build, and I almost never go down. Never going down is absolutely not a function of the build you run, but how you play. You can run a version of my immortal tank build with full sentinel’s gear in a high level fractal, and you’ll still get 1-shot by every nasty mob there, or you can run a 18k hp full glass phantasm build and never die because you avoid the hits. If people die, it’s because they made a mistake, not because of the build they use.

You can make the decision to play a build that is objectively worse, and that’s your choice. It is, however, factually worse. You provide very little damage and absolutely no utility that a normal phantasm build can’t provide. No matter how you choose to play, a standard meta build will do a better job.

Thanks pyro for that detailed post. Yes, I was joking earlier, but after a large number of terrible recommendations from these double threads, it’s hard to take things seriously today~~~

Well, despite the two shatter traits I run it more like a phantasm build then a shatter one. When they switched up Empowering and Harmonious Mantra they really f-ed up my build. I just tend to shatter near the end of fights to do a Pain spike damage or when they about to get killed. I’ve been toying around with those two traits and got focused on getting more vulnerability, despite not using it as much. I guess Empowered Illusions and Crippling Dissipation might be a better two to use.

I still like my Protected Mantras though 600 toughness for 2 3/4 seconds is nothing to shrug at. Hmm… though if I gave it up I could go Chaos instead and get Bountiful Interruption and Illusionary Defense. Of course that is even less DPS…

I do agree that playing better is a key to success, but when you have events like Marionette and are stuck there swearing to yourself because your the only one left alive on your platform because the glassers missed their dodges… Sometimes you need to take one for the team and be the guy that heals everyone a little more, survives to pick up people that lagged or misdodged, tanky enough to run though an area people are having trouble with to port them through… I’m not perfect and I know my limitations and I choose to have fun getting others to succeed. Sure it takes us a few more seconds to down a boss but we won right?

And the bonus is I don’t have to switch my armor/build much for WvW.

call me crazy but i run condi lololol

In open world or simply pve in general, I switch between 4/6/0/0/4 for heavy single target sustained damage or 2/4/0/5/3 for reflects and dungeons requiring utilities.

The 4/6/0/0/4 http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhEQRAsc8ansISZaWrGuqB1aGR1QQZ30kMQiS3p0HA-T1BBABYp8DgHAgg7Pkn+hAOBAVq+zZKBBA-w variant I run doesn’t probably have the maximum potential, but it offers a lot of sustained, reliable and steady damage. I can set up 3 phantasms within 3-4s and I can keep 3 up all the time and even replace them during combat in order to get an additional hit. For example, if my duelist has just finished unloading his burst, I spawn another one that will replace the former and unload another burst without the need to wait 5s for recharge (this taking into account 3 phantasms out).

I usually start with iSwordman – switch to pistol – iDuelist, use signet to recharge phantasms, iDuelist: this way I have 3 phantasms out already hitting on a target and within 4s. When iDuelist CD is over, I spawn a 3rd one that will replace the swordman, for a total of 3 duelists out. Even if some phantasm dies, I have 2 phantasms on a 12s CD and I have a signet to reset the CDs on a 28s CD.

I’m not using focus because iWarden is melee, stays in one spot (and it can happen that mobs move around, therefore negating the dps) and gets often cleaved and 1shot by hard hitting mobs/bosses. iDuelist and iSwordman are the most efficient at dealing damage because the former stays at range and the latter hits and leaps back.

I don’t really like mantras and usually avoid using the current meta mantra/phantasm build.

maha.7902:

30/20/0/0/20

30/20/0/20/0

30/30/0/0/10

10/20/0/20/20

full assassin, scholar runes
sword/sword + sword/focus
undead slaying/accuracy

switch utilities dependent on situation, stack mantras on the first 3 builds if theres no utilities worth taking so you can get a 4% damage modifier per mantra

When do you use 10/20/0/20/20 over 30/20/0/20/0? Is it solely for the times when you don’t run any mantras or are there other reasons?

petyr baelish.9675:

maha.7902:

30/20/0/0/20

30/20/0/20/0

30/30/0/0/10

10/20/0/20/20

full assassin, scholar runes
sword/sword + sword/focus
undead slaying/accuracy

switch utilities dependent on situation, stack mantras on the first 3 builds if theres no utilities worth taking so you can get a 4% damage modifier per mantra

When do you use 10/20/0/20/20 over 30/20/0/20/0? Is it solely for the times when you don’t run any mantras or are there other reasons?

Basically yes. It’s also a personal preference: 2/4 loads up on phantasm damage and 6/4 loads up on personal damage. Most people prefer personal damage because there’s less ramp up time and you’re less reliant on phantasms staying alive. The 2/4 has less Feedback damage as well, but whether you need that depends on the situation.

Another situation is when you need both Phantasmal Haste and Warden’s Feedback. This gives you 100% reflect uptime with just 2 wardens if you time it right. Without Warden’s Feedback, this just blocks projectiles instead of reflecting; without Phantasmal Haste, you have small gaps in your coverage.

petyr baelish.9675:

maha.7902:

30/20/0/0/20

30/20/0/20/0

30/30/0/0/10

10/20/0/20/20

full assassin, scholar runes
sword/sword + sword/focus
undead slaying/accuracy

switch utilities dependent on situation, stack mantras on the first 3 builds if theres no utilities worth taking so you can get a 4% damage modifier per mantra

When do you use 10/20/0/20/20 over 30/20/0/20/0? Is it solely for the times when you don’t run any mantras or are there other reasons?

Solo Alphard and practicing solo Lupi X)

What I’m running:

• The Standard Reflection All-Star: 6/4/0/4/0 (Using Greatsword instead of Sword/Sword for Tequatl)
• The Obligatory Lupi Phase-Skip build: 6/6/0/0/2 (Swap Dueling IV for II for the fight against Brie)
• Sandy’s Safe-Mode build for Beginners: 2/4/0/5/3 (Take signet of Domination if no Condition Cleanse is required)
• The Interrupting Duelist Build: 6/4/0/0/4 (mostly against Subject Alpha, Arch Diviner and Champion Abomination)
• For Arah’s Long Skip: 0/6/6/2/0
• Sandy’s Epic Short Skip (at Harpy Fractals and Cliffside) x/x/6/2/3 (Drop portal before swapping to Decoy, then swap back to portal to open it when you finish the skip)

i use 10/x/x/20/x for alphard and thats about it lol

maxinion.8396:

petyr baelish.9675:

maha.7902:

30/20/0/0/20

30/20/0/20/0

30/30/0/0/10

10/20/0/20/20

full assassin, scholar runes
sword/sword + sword/focus
undead slaying/accuracy

switch utilities dependent on situation, stack mantras on the first 3 builds if theres no utilities worth taking so you can get a 4% damage modifier per mantra

When do you use 10/20/0/20/20 over 30/20/0/20/0? Is it solely for the times when you don’t run any mantras or are there other reasons?

Basically yes. It’s also a personal preference: 2/4 loads up on phantasm damage and 6/4 loads up on personal damage. Most people prefer personal damage because there’s less ramp up time and you’re less reliant on phantasms staying alive. The 2/4 has less Feedback damage as well, but whether you need that depends on the situation.

Another situation is when you need both Phantasmal Haste and Warden’s Feedback. This gives you 100% reflect uptime with just 2 wardens if you time it right. Without Warden’s Feedback, this just blocks projectiles instead of reflecting; without Phantasmal Haste, you have small gaps in your coverage.

anyone have a video of the wardens doing complete coverage with just 2. There are gaps in their spins for me, but i’m told there is some reflect time before and after the spins… just seems like there are gaps every time I try to set it up. Normally not a fan of videos but would love to see one on this if anyone has it.

basics,
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0bCbpx_QPs

and in practice,
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXyRpmeV5XQ
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrltTcG61XQ

frifox.5283:

basics,
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0bCbpx_QPs

and in practice,
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXyRpmeV5XQ
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrltTcG61XQ

Thanks, just taught me even more than i asked too, didn’t realize you could use untraited warden to block that alpha attack… very nice.

Looks like either i just had bad positioning or I was just slightly off on timing, but from the looks of it I was close to getting it right.

Basically just start the cast the 2nd warden as soon as the animation of the first stops (maybe a bit before). You’ll get the feel of it.

the thing with the warden projectile absorption is they still do it like a second after they stop spinning – so you can take advantage of that.

maha.7902:

the thing with the warden projectile absorption is they still do it like a second after they stop spinning – so you can take advantage of that.

Yeah, you can test this yourself with a friendly shortbow ranger to get a good feel for how long the block/reflect window lasts.