Guild Wars 2

This is talking about WvW builds, not sPvP.

So for a long time I was running GS / Sword+Focus (sometimes torch) with 20/20/0/0/30. I would go for the GS CD reduction trait, sword CD reduction, clone on dodge, and IP mainly. I was wearing full knights armor with zerker trinkets. Also was using centaur runes. I enjoyed this build and had a lot of success with it, but I wanted to try some other stuff and get a little more survivability.

So fast forward a little bit and I’m now still 20/20/0/0/30, but with confusing enchantments, dazzling glamour, and blinding befuddlement. Of course still with 33% confuse time and dodge clone traits which I had before. I’m using Staff / Sceptre+Focus. For armor 4 pieces rabid, 2 carrion, 2 rabid earring and rabid amulet, 2 carrion rings. Undead runes.

I’ve enjoyed this build somewhat also, the survivability is nice. I have just under 20k hp and decent armor. I can get confusion hitting pretty hard once I get a few on, but I find I don’t have much finishing power. People will just run away and there isn’t that much I can do since I don’t have much burst or ways to slow them. Of course I can go for a shatter, but it doesn’t hit as hard with this build and it’s harder to land it with the ranged clones I have out just chasing the person around.

So I’m thinking about trying something in between. I really miss my sword #3 and IP especially together with a sword #2. Nothing like leaping over locking them in place hitting a frenzy and shattering on them. So I think I want to get my sword back in the mix, but I’m not sure about the GS vs. Sceptre + offhand. I would also be putting IP back on. It would be nice to have both offhands since I have trouble choosing between them, and I’m enjoying the sceptre #3. I don’t know if it’s worth it if I drop most of my cond. dmg though. I think the #3 will still hit pretty hard with my power/prec/tough gear. The confusion just won’t do as much, but there is something to be said for just making people panic when they get confusion on. I will miss the iZerker though and #5 knock back.

So my question to the people running sword+oh/sceptre+oh, I know there must be some of you, is what do you think of the build and how are you traited? I’d definitely want IP and clone on dodge, which only leaves me with 20 other points, but let me know what you all think. If I switch all my gear back to knights I may also get some knights or valk. trinkets instead of the zerker ones I have with my knights gear set now.

You summed it up pretty nicely, I too feel like scepter just doesn’t work. You simply don’t have enough reliable sources of confusion to make that spec worthile. You can start out with scepter #3, but any viable opponent will likely dodge at least half of the tics, and then you are mostly left with shatters, which just don’t stack high and fast enough.
Your clone generation isn’t exactly awesome as well, while scepter sure is nice, you will often find your chain interrupted before the third hit because you had to dodge etc., and the clones come in relatively long and predictable intervalls, meaning they are rather easily dispatched as well.

So much for the scepter alone, and what’s worse it doesn’t really mix well with just about anything else, due to being condition based while more of your viable options are power based.

I really wanted to like confusion, because the concept sounded pretty neat, but at the moment it just isn’t worth it, maybe if scepter got back confusion on autoattack, but other then that, I don’t really see it.

I was running around wvw with Dank’s build for a bit which is more of a phantasm build with sword/torch + scepter/sword and it worked quite nicely.

I’ve been trying out a sw/sw sc/torch build recently (occasionally swapping out a sw for a focus), and it’s going pretty well. Like you, I love most of our OH weapons, but I’m not a big fan of scepter. I’m learning to use it, and it takes practice (going slow too since I haven’t had much time to play recently), but don’t worry at all about using it in a power build vs a condition build; both #2 and #3 scale wickedly with power. In fact I think it’s better as a power weapon.

The biggest thing I will suggest to you is don’t use sc/focus. Sw/focus just has too much awesome synergy to ignore especially in a power build. With curtain and iLeap you can instantly stack 12-14s of retaliation, and nothing scepter/focus has can compare to that. On top of that I found some unexpected synergy with sc/torch by using the prestige to mask the painfully long windup animation of scepter 3 or using scepter 2 right before a stealth.

I generally use the sw/sw set for harrassing and sc/torch for D, and while the D isn’t quite as good as a staff, it’s close, and turning around to go on the offense is definitely faster; almost as fast as a shatter build. Especially since BF, sword 4, scepter 2, and the Prestige can do both offense and defense simultaneously. It really throws people off.

I’m going 0/20/20/20/10 right now, so it’s not a shatter build, but you can probably work it by going 0/20/0/20/30 instead. Definitely need the 20 in dueling, and the 20 in inspiration helps a lot too. Since I play defensively, 20 in chaos works better for me than in Illusions, but hey, try that out as see how it works. I don’t like running torch in shatter builds, just cuz the CDs are too long, but DE and IP would definitely help make up for that. Confuse on blind seems like it would have some promise with both the Counterspell and Prestige too if you have some CD gear in the mix.

I like scepter/focus and sword/torch. It is an offensive support build with confusion and reflection (I do 20/0/0/20/30). I do not get illusionary persona. I take the glamour trait in dom 20, the confuse on blind, the glamours cause blind, confusion 33% longer, focus skills reflect, mender’s purity for a condition removal (I wish I could take the feedback bubble while reviving, but I need more condition removal). I use the reflect heal.

Those of you who think retaliation is worth anything on mesmer, it isn’t unless you run a defender for 2x the damage and stack power.

Confusion does the same thing and is much, much more powerful than retaliation. The key is to create chaos armors via combo fields, so you better have your bar filled with all glamour skills, including veil and time warp. Anytime someone hits you, they get confusion or blind (confusion traited) if you learn how to leap or prestige your combo fields OR whirl your combo fields with the warden. Veil is way better than decoy because it is an ethereal combo field and you can leap out of it with both you or your clone or both with chaos armor (or stealth your warden while he whirls confusion around). You can also grant aoe blast finishers with The Prestige (main use of it over damage or stealth , IMO, but it also is an aoe blind/confuse).

If you run sword with focus, you lack a lot of defense. Sword/torch is better IMO and you will always have access to confusions. I don’t think any of you are using combo fields… that’s why your confusion builds don’t work. Also, there is nothing wrong with the iMage in a condition damage build. It does similar to any other phantasm.

Of course, this build isn’t for everyone, especially if you are only capable of the attention spam of iDuelist —>magic bullet, leap-->swap, blade frenzy, diversion/mindwrack, mirror images diversion/mindwrack. People still get caught in that combo I guess…

Thanks for the replies, some good food for thought. I also tend to use the torch more offensively than defensively. I’ll generally get the target drop from stealth, and the little bit of time for my cooldowns, but stay close so I hit with the burn and then continue the attack. I’ll use the focus more for mobility and defense with the speed/cripple and pull. For utilities I generally run blink, null field, veil. Of course I switch it up sometimes, but that’s mostly what I use. I used to use timewarp, but I find myself using mass invis more these days.

Torch and scepter are both lackluster. Focus is nice, but I actually prefer the OH sword. Pistol is still king of mesmer offhands, for power or condi builds.

Scepter/sword is a good clone generation machine. I tried sword torch but I feel the focus is much better. ESPECIALLY when its traited. And the sword mainhand is like our only staple mainhand weapon but I am really starting to dig the scepter.

I do,,,,,,,, when im drunk.