Guild Wars 2

I have to hand it to Anet, they’ve really managed to surprise me with some of the changes in the last patch. Out of playing around with my recent Condie Shatter build, I’ve kinda stumbled over this power shatter build. This is unlike any shatter build I’ve ever seen or played, but it’s quite possibly the most powerful build I’ve played in sPvP. (Certainly in terms of DPS output on a single target.)

I derived the name of this build from one simple little change in the last patch; The Sigil of Intelligence. (And this build doesn’t just wrack minds, it wrecks them!) Thanks to this Sigil, you now get 3 attacks with 100% chance to crit, every time you swap weapons in combat. This is actually quite amazing! It opens up many new build possibilities by allowing a reduced focus on Precision in your build without sacrificing spike damage potential, and perhaps no build or even profession stands to gain more then Mesmers!

You might also say the title has a double meaning to it, because this is an “Intelligent Shatter” build. That is, you can’t just mindlessly MW whenever the CD is up and illusions are out, but you have to time your spikes with your weapon swaps and use those crits wisely. This allows you a guaranteed 3x max damage shatter, without running full zerker GC and praying for a tripple crit!

It’s downright harkitten

he rest of this build is centered around getting max power & damage boni, so that when you MW it hits like a Mac truck. (And so do your Phantasms btw!) People will think you’re a GC shatter Mesmer, but you have 1550 Toughness, 3×2790 heal with 6 Condie removals, and still retain both Blink and Decoy if you want. (Or make it hit even harder with another 1-2 Mantras up to get 4/8% more damage bonus, but at the cost of survival skills.)

Sure you’re no tank, but you’re also not nearly as squishy as a typical GC shatter Mesmer and you can often even out-spike them!

Oh and you think Power Spike sucks, do you? With those 3x guaranteed crits, in this build, it averages ~2k a pop and often hits Thieves for 2.5k. That’s 6-7.5k damage in ~2 seconds after a weapon swap. (Or for real fun, set up a 3x Diversion shatter, swap weapons, and Pew-Pew-Pew! )

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQNAR8cl0npEtNqxMNcrNiqxcqmI9BBERp7Y7BA-TJBHwAMLDA4iAY4JA0Z/BA

There are lots of possibilities for tailoring this to your likes, and you can even get significantly more damage at the cost of survivability, such as the aforementioned added Mantras, or swapping the Inspiration points for Compounding Power for another 9%. I chose to make a viable all-rounder instead, with condie removal and escape options.

There are definitely some hard counter profession/build combos to this build (Bunker Condie Engy is tough to beat), and it’s much more single-target oriented then a classic Shatter build, so I wouldn’t really call it OPd…but I do feel kinda like a Thief. ;-)

Finally! A power shatter build that has both enough spike and enough sustain to be fun to play in sPvP. I bet someone can make a real nice WvW version out of this concept too.

I’ve been playing this for a couple of days and it’s a lot of fun, and I hope you’ll enjoy it too. Play around with it a little to get a feel for the best combos, and turn off auto-attack to prevent wasting SoI crits!

Just from glancing at this, I can see a lot of potential for spike damage. It’s almost scary!!

Seems interesting, but how do you want to land your shatter?

Without IP & Mirror Images, you can’t just make sth like a “blink-shatter”.
The savest way to land a shatter so is by iLeap, which isn’t prety reliable and a lot of good players can dodge it.
I haven’t experimented much mit Sigil of intelligence, yet, but do you lose some “stacks” when you use iLeap?

Using Mantra of Distraction and and Confounding suggestions instead of Empowering Mantras might also work, as you have a chance to stun or enemy and thus increase the chance of landing a shatter.

In addition, I think that Sigil of Intelligence seems a little bit OP and might actually get nerfed sonner or later.

I tried this for a couple of soloQ games. It does have some pretty heavy burst, but that burst is less frequent than normal shatter. Not entirely sold but I did get a bunch of kills with it

Sure, there are lots of trade-offs you can make, but the results will surprise you on how quickly the spike damage drops when you exclude say Emp Mantras for something else, or using something aside STR runes dropping that 7% bonus, etc.

I made the build with a bit of balance between damage and surivivability, and it works out real well in sPvP. It’s not godly by any means, but the single target damage is second to none IMHO.

Landing the shatters is no issue at all, as I can hold off until I feel it’s a good moment to MW, then swap-weapon and BANG! With DE I have plenty of clones if any get killed, as you don’t need them quite as much as in a regular shatter build. (This is really more of a MW/Phantasm hybrid build then a Shatter build.)

Phantasms do not use up SoI charges with their attacks, but I believe the iLeap combo did, that’s why I stopped using it.

Did some math:

standard Shatter Damage = a (incl. 20% MW bonus)

Shatter with 3 clones = 3a
Shatter with 3 clones critting with 200% Crit DMG = 6a
^ with empowering Mantras = 6a * 1,08 = 6,48

Shatter with 3 clones + IP = 4a
^ ~50% krit chance @190% crit dmg = 4a +2a*0,9 = ~5,8a (expected value)
^ + compounding power = 5,8a * 1,09 = 6,32 (How is this about IP?)

So, the “intelligent Wreck” (IW) actually has a little bit more Damage on MW.
Not in the calculation is, that IW also features 100 Strength more than standard shatter, but therefore Standard Shatter has a better acces to might and is able to shatter more often.

In the end, there are several more differences (Boon removal, phant dmg, vigor uptime, etc).
But both seem interesing.

That calculation is not acurate. The more clones you get the lower average damage per clone it will hit (talking about mind wrack)
Also you gotta keep in mind that 30 in illusions is giving you 30% faster shatter recharge. If you would want to make this a shatter build then the spike you will do is on a much longer cooldown.

Sure the damage is a bit higher, but is it worth it? You also sacrifice 20% faster recharge on your clone-spawn skills. That’s some massive dps drop since that will affect almost all burst skills.

BlackDevil.9268:

That calculation is not acurate. The more clones you get the lower average damage per clone it will hit (talking about mind wrack)

Ok, good to know, thx.

No arguments on what BD said, but this isn’t a shatter build. It’s really a MW + Phantasm build, both of which have high damage, and your own damage is also pretty solid. It’s far more survivable then a GC Shatter build, but sure that comes at a cost of slower bursts and far less AE damage.

This kinda build just wasn’t really viable until the latest changes to the SoI. This is no tournament meta or holy grail of Mesmer builds, but it’s a very solid single-target burst damage build that is fun to play.

It’s a bit of a selfish fun build, so great for hot join sPvP…but any way you slice it, getting 5-9k MWs on people every 15s never gets old and is devastating to opponents.

There are some fun combos you can do, such as MB=>Swap=>IR=>MW. That’s combo can easily deal 10k damage on a glassy opponent.

I have been struggling to find any build that i can be somewhat viable on my mesmer with… i believe i have found it, i win lots of 1v1s and I dont get insta killed like i have been on my mes…

i logged in to say thank you for this build

so thanks bud

This is the same trait spread I use, But I would highly recommend picking up halting strike in place of empowered illusions and getting rid of something to bring in the daze manta, and you REALLLLLLLLY need that boon strip on shatter too, so get rid of that mind wrack trait :P, taking out even just protection or stability is way more huge than the extra damage every 11 seconds IF it hits (+33% damage for ALL attacks from all sources for the duration it would of been up >>>>> 20% damage for just wrack).

The only reason mesmer is even considered for teamfighting roles in SPvP is those on demand interrupts for resses, sick vuln stacking, boon stripping, and really nice ultimates.

You dont need valk amulet either, it going to passively let you survive maybe 1-2 seconds longer at the cost of DPS which is your role, mesmer has plenty of active mitigation methods from distortion/blink/decoy that gimping yourself like that isn’t needed.

And remember too portal is another reason mesmers are good, so theres another utility slot lost on a lot of maps.

And this is why you wont see hardly any mesmers in high level play like ToL, you pretty much have to go balls deep full glass mode to be comparable to crap like hambow, which is probably putting out the same damage, just not as bursty with 10x the survive, and less utility.

Mesmer needs some kind of buff to free up a utility slot (I don’t know how people even function without menders purity mantra heal), as it stands now you will find yourself having to run daze + portal + decoy/blink , leaving no room for anything else, even tho another mantra or possibly a signet or anything even would be so huge. They could rework one of those craptastic GM traits we got lost patch.

Thanks Kachowcow for the nice feedback, it’s good to see someone else is enjoying the build/concept.

The usual shatter mesmer is still better than this.
1.30% charge rate and the trait which recharge the shatter skills at certain health,outdmg the increase in power and crit dmg.
2.IP is the best survival trait in both of the builds,as in it is extra distortion,gurantee daze and have more dmg spike.
3.Good mesmers know how to fake leap-using ileap and do 11111111 on them let them spam dodges and then shatter + frenzy.(I for once use ileap and switch to gs and Iwave them and use beserker which is mostly gurantee hit,than swtich back use ileap again and frenzy

Apples & Oranges!

Did you even give it a try?

That’s like saying “PU is better then Shatter!” because given the same level of skill, you’re unlikely to beat a PU Mesmer as a Shatter Mesmer. So what? That doesn’t mean PU is universally better. It’s all situational, and the two are just a totally different builds and associated play-styles.

In hot-join sPvP you don’t see many pure shatter Mesmers left, and that’s a combination of the style of play that is forced on you (point fighting), and the extreme squishieness of the build. Playing a Shatter Mesmer in sPvP feels very much like a “One Trick Pony” with glaring weaknesses to being locked down, focused, or simply outlasted on a point.

A very skilled player can make the GC Shatter build work, even in sPvP, but the vast majority of Mesmers opt out of it due to the above issues. It sounds like you’re one of those highly skilled Shatter Mesmers, and that’s awesome! Respect!

I can make GC/Shatter work “OK” in sPvP, and occasionally it’s really fun due to the high AE damage, but it’s overall difficult and frustrating to play. Often the damage seems lackluster against tanky professions/builds who turn right around and damage-spike you down with ease despite having better defense, mobility, condie-clears, etc.

This build makes you much tougher to kill with both DD and Condie damage, but you can still do massive MW spikes on single targets that rival and often even surpass those of a pure Shatter Mesmer.

1. is irrelevant because you’re not primarily concerned with Shatters in this build .
2. is very debatable but also irrelevant here, because with IP you’re absolutely pigeonholed into a pure Shatter role. IP is an amazing GM trait, no doubt, but only for one style of play -one build basically- and that is pure GC Shatter.
3. Is no argument for or against this build. I can use the same trick(s) to land my MWs too.

Power Spike is another totally underrated aspect of this build. With the ability to chain 3 PSs and have them all crit 100% of the time, it just totally changes the game for this otherwise weak attack. (I average ~2k a pop on PSs.) A significant portion of my overall damage output comes from PS! (Whenever MW is down but that SoI buff is up, I’m popping PS.)

This is the first new build I’ve tried since coming back to the game as of the April 15th update. I’ve totally fallen in love with it! I made a few changes overall to create a suit my play style, however.

I switched out the greatsword for a staff. Staff is so much easier to excel with in 1v1 confrontations and has added benefit of being able to use a second blink to charge your mantras. I also switched out the offhand sword for a pistol, the ranged phantasms are sweet and do loads of damage by themselves. I also dropped the valkyrie amulet for a cavalier set. Overall made the build more durable at the cost of quite some power. That’s just my 2c; I prefer the more defensive nature of my choices because I’m still new to pvp in general.

Windwalker.7421:

Apples & Oranges!

Did you even give it a try?

That’s like saying “PU is better then Shatter!” because given the same level of skill, you’re unlikely to beat a PU Mesmer as a Shatter Mesmer. So what? That doesn’t mean PU is universally better. It’s all situational, and the two are just a totally different builds and associated play-styles.

In hot-join sPvP you don’t see many pure shatter Mesmers left, and that’s a combination of the style of play that is forced on you (point fighting), and the extreme squishieness of the build. Playing a Shatter Mesmer in sPvP feels very much like a “One Trick Pony” with glaring weaknesses to being locked down, focused, or simply outlasted on a point.

A very skilled player can make the GC Shatter build work, even in sPvP, but the vast majority of Mesmers opt out of it due to the above issues. It sounds like you’re one of those highly skilled Shatter Mesmers, and that’s awesome! Respect!

I can make GC/Shatter work “OK” in sPvP, and occasionally it’s really fun due to the high AE damage, but it’s overall difficult and frustrating to play. Often the damage seems lackluster against tanky professions/builds who turn right around and damage-spike you down with ease despite having better defense, mobility, condie-clears, etc.

This build makes you much tougher to kill with both DD and Condie damage, but you can still do massive MW spikes on single targets that rival and often even surpass those of a pure Shatter Mesmer.

1. is irrelevant because you’re not primarily concerned with Shatters in this build .
2. is very debatable but also irrelevant here, because with IP you’re absolutely pigeonholed into a pure Shatter role. IP is an amazing GM trait, no doubt, but only for one style of play -one build basically- and that is pure GC Shatter.
3. Is no argument for or against this build. I can use the same trick(s) to land my MWs too.

Power Spike is another totally underrated aspect of this build. With the ability to chain 3 PSs and have them all crit 100% of the time, it just totally changes the game for this otherwise weak attack. (I average ~2k a pop on PSs.) A significant portion of my overall damage output comes from PS! (Whenever MW is down but that SoI buff is up, I’m popping PS.)

I admit that I never did try that build.Forgive me,cause I thought you comparing that build to the pure shattter though you mentioned it in your post couple of times.
You dont see so many shatter mesmer on hotjoin cause there is nothing new about that build and ppl who are new to mesmer wont start with that build(unless they want to get pwned).I used to run full shatter but now im running full mantra build with zerk amulet and str runes and I use PS.The core of the shatter build is not only to be burst-bot,it is to be a highly pressure player which is highly mobile-dmg tool.I used gs-staff in tpvps and sword-pistol – gs on solo arenas.Have you tried that build in tpvp? the sustain dmg is not that great against burst dmg in terms of team fights.Yes you MW but you dont have any cond dmg,and you can MW once in a fight? while shatt mesmer can MW in a fight 3 times!
Bottom line is,your build is fine,never said it dosnt,but in overall IP full glass mesmer still better dmg wise.Tho I had enough of it and am using similar build like you though more mantra heavy.

cardsharp.7218:

This is the first new build I’ve tried since coming back to the game as of the April 15th update. I’ve totally fallen in love with it! I made a few changes overall to create a suit my play style, however.

I switched out the greatsword for a staff. Staff is so much easier to excel with in 1v1 confrontations and has added benefit of being able to use a second blink to charge your mantras. I also switched out the offhand sword for a pistol, the ranged phantasms are sweet and do loads of damage by themselves. I also dropped the valkyrie amulet for a cavalier set. Overall made the build more durable at the cost of quite some power. That’s just my 2c; I prefer the more defensive nature of my choices because I’m still new to pvp in general.

Glad to hear you’re enjoying the build. What I enjoy most about this build, aside from the occasional huge MW or PS (hit a Necro for a 3k PS last night! ;-) ) is that you really confuse your opponents, by taking them “out of book”. Even good players assume you’re a GC Shatter, and then wonder why you’re not melting when burst upon.

I’ve been experimenting a lot with it too. Initially I did the same as you did, replacing Valk with Cavalier amulet for more Toughness but almost 300 less Power. This works very nicely to trade more survivability, but you do notice that loss of Power.

I will have to try the Staff out some more! I tried it in combo with the GS before, which was also pretty cool since the iWarlock can crit really hard with this build too, but there is something I just love about BF. ;-) It’s such a satisfying cleaver. (And I just can’t give up GC for the control, and the Mirror Blades, IMO another staple of this build. Stacking Might is one part, and the double-hit often jives nicely with SoI too, delivering a solid 2.5k average damage.

In my current variant I really wanted speed back, so I’m now running Travelers instead of STR runes, and thus I went back to Valk Amulet to avoid losing too much Power. You do notice the difference in damage for sure, but having the perma-speed is just so nice for both offensive and defensive play, and sPvP in general.

I’m going to try out this variation.

Lose:
Blink (or decoy)
Condi cleanse from Mantra of Purity
Retaliation for phants

Gain:
9% damage (with 3 illusions up)
confuse on all shatters
4% damage (extra mantra)
condi cleanse from Mantra of Resolve

I’ve tried exactly that variant while coming up with the one in the OP, but —to me at least-- the added damage didn’t make up for the loss in utility & survivability.

It is a bit more group friendly of course, but also requires more active button pushing just to cleanse. Also at double the CD, you end up with a lot less personal cleansing.

The extra damage is nice and noticeable, but the confuse on shatter is fairly meaningless ofc. ;-)

You do lose that one extra escape that Blink provides, leaving you with pretty much only Decoy to get a breather to load Mantras. (Excluding the Elite, because it’s pretty easy to interrupt.)

I am going to try out a GS/Staff variant again, changing Blink for MoDistraction, and Mental Torment for Halting Strike. With 2x AE Interrupts and 3x single target, I think Halting Strike could be really nasty for this build too.

With Staff being pretty defensive, I think I might be able to live without Blink. (And the iWarlock can really pack a punch sometimes.) You can also charge mantras inside Chaos Storm, while teleporting, or by insta-Dazing your foe in 1v1.

Halting strike seems like a great idea for this high-power-low-critchance-build, since (from what I know) the trait was changed, so that it cant crit anymore, right?

Im reluctant to try this, because I got so used to dealing aa dmg while evaluating the fight and making decisions. Im afraid to loose dmg by not spamming aa-buttons enough, esp. with the sword. Do you have this problem?

derbaer.1284:

Halting strike seems like a great idea for this high-power-low-critchance-build, since (from what I know) the trait was changed, so that it cant crit anymore, right?

Im reluctant to try this, because I got so used to dealing aa dmg while evaluating the fight and making decisions. Im afraid to loose dmg by not spamming aa-buttons enough, esp. with the sword. Do you have this problem?

I haven’t played with HS since before the big patch, but AFAIK it crits. It would be a really hard nerf if it didn’t. Maybe someone else can say that more definitively?

Yes, you will miss some AAs and that does lower your sustained damage output a bit, but IMHO what kills people is spike/burst damage. Especially in 1v1, sustained damage output lets your opponent judge when to use his/her defensive counters, while spike damage either kills them before they react, or sends them in a frantic panic of trying to heal/stealth/etc. This makes them very predictable, and puts you in control of the fight. (Another good reason for MoDistraction + HS, because after you land a big MW spike, you can pretty much rest assured they’re reaching for their heal button. BAM heal denied, and 1.5-2.5k damage. OUCH!)

You’ll definitely want a good key-bind for your AA though, so that you can get in the habit of using it more and more, as you grow comfortable with the build. It’s generally more important that you use your AA at the right moments, rather then just mindlessly letting it blast away. The latter rarely gets you kills anyway since our AAs are not very strong, but certainly you will often get kills from especially the GS AA as someone runs away and you have nothing else to hit them with.

Would this work as a roaming build in WvW?

Wrong guy to ask, but I imagine if you changed to Travelers you could make this work in roaming WvW as well.