Guild Wars 2

I’m looking for a PU based Phantasm build that is geared more toward keeping phatasms up and attacking while i focus on the PU side before i transition into PU Shatter build.

Obviously 6 into Chaos is required but i want to maximise the damage/hp of my phatasms while having a good amount of stealth available to me. I would also like this build to centre around Signet of Ether if possible as i’ll be keeping phatasms up instead of constantly generating and shattering.

Any help or links to solid builds i can adapt would be greatly appreciated.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQJAWRnsISZa2oGmqB3aGR1YM9J90CJDogS2x2A-T1SBABWq+TzPAgA3fILlINqE8KlBdcJAwSpRZKhwTXAAHBAA-w
The current build I run now

This is what I use and sounds close to what you want.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fhQQNAR7ansISZa2oGupB3aGJ1IM996LJHCK5XIA-T1yHABnt/AQKpE7CAEo6DIqCTPKT8RpwAPEAv0NAwRA4OlgBAQAYlPX4CX46sMAVLA-w

I shatter pretty rarely with this build. The only times I shatter are when I want to interrupt (the might from bountiful interruption plus stopping a heal can be more valuable than the next cycle of phantasm damage), mind wrack when a target is nearly dead, or distortion for stomping.

My skills are very average, but you can see how it tends to play in the videos I publish here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqzNWP8L3BAAQXDbDdXF02Q

One important point – signet of ether can be used aggressively at the beginning of a fight to get 3 phantasms up quickly, but it can also be used later against opponents who focus on killing your phantasms. You just want to make sure you manage the fight so that you can summon, heal and then summon again quickly.

eldenbri.1059:

This is what I use and sounds close to what you want.

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fhQQNAR7ansISZa2oGupB3aGJ1IM996LJHCK5XIA-T1yHABnt/AQKpE7CAEo6DIqCTPKT8RpwAPEAv0NAwRA4OlgBAQAYlPX4CX46sMAVLA-w

I shatter pretty rarely with this build. The only times I shatter are when I want to interrupt (the might from bountiful interruption plus stopping a heal can be more valuable than the next cycle of phantasm damage), mind wrack when a target is nearly dead, or distortion for stomping.

My skills are very average, but you can see how it tends to play in the videos I publish here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqzNWP8L3BAAQXDbDdXF02Q

We have almost the same build XD

Yup – some very similar concepts.

I don’t think your sigils of bursting or force apply to your phantasms, so you might swap those at some point.

In the situation where you get three phantasms up, you’ll want to avoid dodging so you don’t overwrite a phantasm with a clone via deceptive evasion. That’s one of the reasons I don’t use that trait (even though it’s an awesome trait).

In any case, I think these kinds of phantasm builds are very fun and I keep coming back to them. Hopefully the OP likes one as well

I use those sigils to apply pressure, while my phantasm are up.

Thanks for the reply guys, slightly different takes on essentially the same concept. Glad to see two builds with GS Staff and GS S/P. I preffer Sword/Pistol but i know how much damage the staff phantasm does and it hits likea truck.

Look forward to trying both out when romaing.

ADDITION: I’ve tested “Empowered Illusions” in the Domination trait line and it adds no extra damage to Phantasms attacks (I think it just buffs shatter damage) so i changed it to “Signet Mastery” instead to reduce “Signet of Ether” cooldown from 35 seconds to 28 seconds which seems a bit more in line with the Phantasm builds.

GROMIT.7829:

ADDITION: I’ve tested “Empowered Illusions” in the Domination trait line and it adds no extra damage to Phantasms attacks (I think it just buffs shatter damage) so i changed it to “Signet Mastery” instead to reduce “Signet of Ether” cooldown from 35 seconds to 28 seconds which seems a bit more in line with the Phantasm builds.

Empowered illusions absolutely works on phantasms. You may want to test again.

Jackums.3496:

I’ll also say, before it’s brought up, that yes you should be taking Deceptive Evasion despite being a phantasm build. This trait is your defensive crutch, and generally you’ll do fine having two phantasms up constantly, and usually even without DE, you wouldn’t maintain a constant three anyway as they’d be destroyed by cleave or AoE. Players that tell you you don’t require DE in a phantasm build simply have not been fighting good players.

Yeah, this is all blatantly false. What on earth is DE doing for you in a phantasm build? Clones don’t provide any inherent defense unless you’re fighting people bad enough to go for them instead of you. The only thing DE does is create filler illusions for the signet…but the signet is a really bad heal and you should never use it in PvP, not even in a phantasm build. Ether feast is a far stronger heal and only lacks the incredibly situational active of the signet.

eldenbri.1059:

In the situation where you get three phantasms up, you’ll want to avoid dodging so you don’t overwrite a phantasm with a clone via deceptive evasion. That’s one of the reasons I don’t use that trait (even though it’s an awesome trait).

Clones replace Clones first. It’s very rare to have more than 2 Phantasms up also. So either you dodge and create a clone or you replace the 3rd Phantasm. Again, a very rare occurrence. That is if you do decide to take DE in a phantasm build. Certainly not enough reason to deter you from dodging.

Jackums.3496:

You’ll be food for any competent Thief with a decent build if you lack the clone generation of DE for defensive purposes, for one, which is reason enough to take DE considering majority of WvW roamers are Thieves.

Arrange some duels with high ranked PvP players and run a phantasm build without DE. Do the same in WvW. Record it. If you don’t find DE more useful than not, I’m going to assume you haven’t been playing with very good players.

I’m not saying that DE is bad in a phantasm build, and I don’t claim to be “pro” (I actually have a real job so this would be embarrassing to me anyway), but could you elaborate a little more on why you think DE makes a difference in a phantasm build?

What you say about body blocking doesn’t really seem realistically like it happens often enough to outweigh taking a traited pistol, say. I’ve run a couple phantasmish builds without DE (running one currently) and I don’t find it an issue. Now would it hurt me to take it, probably not too much, but I definitely do not feel kitten. Mobility and timing seem to be what counters thieves with a phant build, not an extra clone on dodge. Thinking of times I get jacked by thieves, I’m certain DE would not have made the difference.

Again not pro, so I suppose you can just tell me to go L2P or whatever, but on the off chance you’d like to share some insight, please tell me more.