Guild Wars 2

This is Jacquette Erinyes from the Gates of Madness server. Thought I’d share my build that I’ve been using in WvW. I won’t profess to be the most knowledgeable Mesmer around but this has been tried and true for a few weeks now and I wanted to share. This build is also quite valid in PvE dungeons and brings a good amount of utility and damage to any group.

This is a hybrid Condition Damage/Shatter build. Gear is almost exclusively Carrion (Power/Vit/Cond) with a couple Karma pieces (Precision/Tough/Cond) thrown in to get my crit rate up to make Sharper Images worth it. I have over 20k health before any orb bonuses and around 1100 condition damage before food and Sigil of Corruption stacks. With 25 stacks on the sigil and the lovely, lovely Eggplant Fritters I am over 1400 condition damage, ~20% crit rate w/o fury and 1600 power.

Build:

http://gw2.luna-atra.fr/skills_tool/?lang=en&code=3g1000kkl2l5l4l9b4aka0ubrc4cjd1kulhli

If clicking doesn’t work, try copy and pasting it into the browser, the Forums do something weird with the redirect. If anyone knows a better way of directly linking builds, let me know.

Damage in this build comes from clones and phantasm w/ Sharper Images and lots of confusion from shattering. Confusion may seem weak but in large battles and lots of shattering, the 300/stack damage add up. And any confusion applied by Feedback uses your condition damage stat. Lay down a well placed Feedback and you’ll do an insane amount of damage to the zerg.

Key traits are Illusionary Persona, Sharper Images, and Deceptive Evasion. You can swap out Debilitating Dissipation for Crippling Dissipation and 20 points in power if you want. Or you can take the points out of power and put 20 in Chaos and pick up the 20% staff cooldown reduction. Recently I’ve been finding the 20% extra Mind Wrack damage burst too much to pass up.

Warning: Do NOT take Illusionary Persona. Once you do, you will be forever stuck with 30 points in the Illusions tree. It’s just too good. Instant 1s Distortion, instant melee range daze (yes I’m looking at you Heartseeker spammers) and just general utility makes it one of the most defining talents for this build, even more than sharper images. Four illusion mind wrack shatters followed by a daze is devastating, and remember that shatters are not on a global cooldown. You can spam Mind Wrack, Cry of Frustration for two stacks of confusion, Diversion and Distortion as fast as you can push the buttons with this trait. Don’t take it. I beg you. Other trait lines will get lonely.

All your shatters are on low cooldowns, inflict confusion and give you might which boost your bleeds, confusions and shatter damage. You want to be shattering constantly. Even though it’s hard for clones to get in range and shatter properly in WvW, minion bombing is still quite effective because you took Debilitating Dissipation or Crippling Dissipation. If you manage to target an enemy foolishly standing still, the shatters become much more effective.

Weapon Choices:

Staff – I love the staff. While some of the cooldowns are long, the flexibility of Phase Retreat has saved me from countless thieves. Also dropping Chaos storm on top of downed players trying to be revived is an extra annoying trick. iWarlock is good solid damage with all the conditions you are throwing around and stands at range so is not instantly blown up (usually). The extra power in the build makes him hit hard enough to be a threat.

Focus – I used to hate the focus. It’s true, I’m ashamed to admit it. Moment of clarity came when I accidentally dragged 4 people into the iWarden when retreating. Since then it never leaves my offhand slot. Dragging people from keep edges, cliffs and into the iWarden makes it THE most flexible and useful weapon we have in WvW. iWarden is ridiculous damage, procs Sharper Images like nobodies business AND blocks projectiles. If it did 2 of the 3 it would still be great. Positioning is tricky, but nothing is more beautiful then getting her to spawn on the top of a keep wall and watching her shred some rangers.

Sword – I used to run Sceptre/Focus but was getting frustrated because I’d use Into the Void to drag people into iWarden’s AoE and they’d just run out. A second root/immobilize was needed. Granted, Illusionary Leap is NOT the most stellar immobilize ever invented but it makes the difference. Also helps when you drag someone off a keep if you quickly hit Leap and Swap you can get them immobilized before they can dodge and then watch as the zerg turns them into gooey paste. #2 can pretty good as a defensive and offensive combo but you have to be careful not to be too aggressive. The fact #2 roots in place can and will get you killed.

Scepter – A valid alternative to the Sword. I miss the block on #2 the most. Despite being a condition heavy build I found #3 too lackluster in PvP to outweigh the sheer utility of Sword #2 and 3. Clone generation is not a problem with this build. The low cooldowns on Sword #3 and Staff #2 along with Deceptive Evasion and Vigor on Crits means I can spawn 3 clones in seconds for shatters.

WvW Tactics:
My main goal in open WvW encounters to land to following combination:

iWarden followed by Temporal Curtail->Into the Void to drag victims into range. Pick a target, dodge roll in to spawn a clone and get in range for Illusionary Leap->Swap to root them in the iWarden AoE. Then if needed Blurred Frenzy and a 4 clone Mind Wrack. This wrecks people if they get caught for the full duration. If they’re still alive, pop Diversion to stop heals, swap to staff, iWarlock and Phase Retreat (you can cast Phase Retreat while casting other spells, it’s amazing) followed by Chaos storm. Dodge to spawn the third clone and Mind Wrack/Cry of Frustration. Rinse, repeat.

Utilities:

Ether Feast – You spawn clones so fast there is not reason not to take this as your heal.

Decoy – Escape/Panic Button. Try and avoid using it just for an additional clone. You have enough clone generation. Save it to save your squishy hide.

Feedback – Our most damaging ability in WvW. Period. Devastating in keep defense, pretty good in open field if properly placed. Proper placement of this separates the Good Mesmers from the Amazing. Remember it doesn’t have to be put on top of people to reflect. You can use it when reviving someone, or just put it right smack in the middle of lines of fire. Tunnels are also a great place.

Null Field – Huge Condition removal. Also good used offensively to mess with Guardians. Long cooldown but absolutely required if you get caught in a bad situation. Null Field+Phase Retreat+Decoy will get you out of pretty much anything.

Time Warp – I don’t use this as well as I should. It’s absolutely devastating in the right circumstances. 10s of quickness for rangers and elementalists means a dead zerg. Ironically this build doesn’t benefit as much from quickness as other builds and professions do. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take it. It can be game changing. Also, quickened stomps are hilarious.

Still working on what Runes I’m running with. Currently using Superior Runes of the Pirate for the Magic Find but will probably swap to the Rune of the Thief for more precision and condition damage at some point as my crit rate may still be a bit too low.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome, this build is changing daily but I wanted to share as I’ve found it both effective and a blast to play. If you see a crazy Mesmer in a pirate hat/mask running around with the [GotZ] tag be sure to wave, but don’t be standing near a cliff or keep ledge, I may have to drag you off on principle. Now go melt some faces.

TL;DR – Power/Condition Damage + Shatter good. Illusionary Persona bad. Feedback+Confusion owns zergs.