Guild Wars 2

This is my favorite new build that is a lot of fun to play, and -ho!- we finally have a Celestial build for Mesmers that works!

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQNAR8fl0npGtNqxANcrNyqxY6WOZlTtUp3I7AA-TJRHwAW2fQwFBAwTA4YZAA

This is a hybrid build and you will use everything; shatters, phantasms, and condie-damage to down your foes. You have sick survivability from both PU and MoD, and can also obtain large Might stacks quickly due to all the AoE interrupts you have access to. You do have a ramp-up time in 1v1 like most Celestial builds generally do, but in group fights you will very quickly get to 15-25 stacks of Might and ready to get down to business.

It is also quite group friendly for a PU build in that you have AoE interrupts, and can share your boons, while also being pretty survivable even without going into stealth. You have Centaurs for speed, solid condie removal, solid heals, and enough interrupts to shake a stick at.

This build is also much more fun then the old relatively passive PU/Condie build. I’ve been using it for a few days and I’m hooked, I think this will be my build for a while. (I have a often pretty laggy connection and GC builds just simply don’t work for me, so if you’re having a similar issue you might try this and QQ a little less about all those other classes with their Celestial builds! )

Lastly, you can swap SoI for SoD for more selfish play, and gain yet another interrupt and more condie damage. Works very well. I’ve also used Travelers instead of Centaurs for perma speed and that works well too, but overall you get a bit bigger bang out of Centaurs since this build does lean a little more Power then Condie. Speaking of, you can change that too, of course, by using a Scepter and the aforementioned SoD. This will make you much more Condie oriented then the above given build, but personally I still perfer Sword over Scepter.

I don’t really see the point of celestial. Your only real source of conditions is debil dissipation, but that’s hardly enough to generate any pressure whatsoever on its own. You end up just being weaker both in defense and in your primary damage type (power) by taking celestial in this build.

Pyro is the eternal buzzkill on hybrid builds, but usually he’s right :-/

Swap out GS for scepter/pistol and then you’ll have a more legit PU hybrid. I have played almost exactly that and it is tons of fun, very effective. 0/6/6/2 is super solid, you can run it pure power too and it works great, and if you want to go “hard mode” swap out PU for CI.

Heh whut? On top of DD bleeds, I get AoE burns from Torch, lots of bleeds from illusion crits, and Confusion from Clone deaths, iMage and the occasional F2.

As I said, this is the more Power leaning variant, but it’s much more survivable then a straight power PU build that relies heavily on Stealth/PU to survive. With that 448 extra Toughness (and +1k HPs) you can take a lot more of a beating without being in stealth all the time.

Also with pure Power or Condie builds you always end up with the same problems; some professions are very hard to beat with either power or condie damage alone. This is what ends up driving you to try out a hybrid build, and Celestial is so popular with other classes for just that reason.

As I said in the OP, go with the more balanced hybrid approach if you want more out of your Condies, it works very well too! However, it’s IMO a little more 1v1 focused and also less reliable. Although the Scepter has gotten better, it’s still generally weaker and less reliable then Sword IMHO.

The iDuelist is always very tempting for a build like this, I agree, but I find I have to have Torch + Decoy to really make a decent PU build. While the iDuelist puts out a lot of pain both in bleeds and direct damage, and Magic Bullet is also quite useful so this build for more interrupts, the Torch just works better…for me at least.

Windwalker.7421:

Heh whut? On top of DD bleeds, I get AoE burns from Torch, lots of bleeds from illusion crits, and Confusion from Clone deaths, iMage and the occasional F2.

As I said, this is the more Power leaning variant, but it’s much more survivable then a straight power PU build that relies heavily on Stealth/PU to survive. With that 448 extra Toughness (and +1k HPs) you can take a lot more of a beating without being in stealth all the time.

Also with pure Power or Condie builds you always end up with the same problems; some professions are very hard to beat with either power or condie damage alone. This is what ends up driving you to try out a hybrid build, and Celestial is so popular with other classes for just that reason.

As I said in the OP, go with the more balanced hybrid approach if you want more out of your Condies, it works very well too! However, it’s IMO a little more 1v1 focused and also less reliable. Although the Scepter has gotten better, it’s still generally weaker and less reliable then Sword IMHO.

The iDuelist is always very tempting for a build like this, I agree, but I find I have to have Torch + Decoy to really make a decent PU build. While the iDuelist puts out a lot of pain both in bleeds and direct damage, and Magic Bullet is also quite useful so this build for more interrupts, the Torch just works better…for me at least.

No I mean ditch GS for scepter/pistol, keep sword torch. Why do you prefer GS over sc/pistol?

In a build that is based on the concept of Might stacking, I can’t imagine giving up GS for Sc/P. You have both #2 to get 6 stacks, and an AoE interrupt for more. Then you have an awesome damage/control Phantasm, and the lovely new Ming Stab. You also have a strong AA and quite decent Clones with their 3x attacks for getting bleeds out.

GS is a key reason I often get 20+ stacks of Might, and the iZerker just packs a huge punch that is harder to dodge then the iDuelist. (Not to mention the cripple)

For Power-based damage, control, and interrupts the GS is just an amazing package IMO.

Mix of power and condition gears is usually better than celestial and much cheaper.

BlackDevil.9268:

Mix of power and condition gears is usually better than celestial and much cheaper.

He’s talking about sPVP.

Ah right, then it would be next to useless anyway lol. 0 Damage, poor survivability, poor mobility with somewhat decent group support. But yeah… 3 dazes and a boon share isn’t gonna make you win a 4v4.