Guild Wars 2

guys you have to try this build once more
i know few of us used it in s2 and i abandoned it for the staff
but now after few small buff i think it can over shine in pvp in some situations

scepter
AA hit much more faster and the last is direct and not a beam
IC got to 4.75 sec cd and with alacrity its about 3 sec block and also dmg buff 50% so you will do around 1-1.4k dmg
CI – dmg buff 20% which can do around 3-4.5k direct dmg

here is the build
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQRArc8elknhy0YFawDNwsGLPHV9geoL6ZBEAHG6ilPHAA-TpRFABFcCAcf/hEOCAA8AAQ4gAgeZAA

the idea around it

rune: more 5% direct and condition dmg
sigil: cover conditions and 2-3% direct and condition dmg
amulet – sinister – more direct dmg over sustain (with mercenary)
signet of midnight – breakstun , blind, and 20% condi duration (can swap with portal )
GW over MOA as it can do nice aoe dmg on point or down enemy

now with this setup you can block much more often,
proc illusion much more often,
shatter your illusions with its full potential (3 versus 2),
you can proc defender with scepter and not only with shield,
your blocks do nice dmg 1-1.8k and put some conditions pressure

very good build versus melee classes
careful versus necro though with low hp and unblockable marks

still you can take mercenary amulet

I tried this build vs a few guildies in our Gh today. They didn’t stand a chance and it was really fun to play.

Like always nice build, I would change only one thing – signet of domination over signet of midnight. I’ve tried both and in pvp U need to hit hard with condis, duration is not so important becasue in most cases they will be cleansed anyway after 1-2 ticks. And also sod is our longest stun, it is sometimes helpful (like for stomping thiefs or eles).

Build is nice and it work in unranked but when next season start it will mostly work in low division, not many experiance players will hit U’r block.

pico.6402:

Like always nice build, I would change only one thing – signet of domination over signet of midnight. I’ve tried both and in pvp U need to hit hard with condis, duration is not so important becasue in most cases they will be cleansed anyway after 1-2 ticks. And also sod is our longest stun, it is sometimes helpful (like for stomping thiefs or eles).

Build is nice and it work in unranked but when next season start it will mostly work in low division, not many experiance players will hit U’r block.

thanks
i dueled some good players (friends of mine) while contest a point. the idea was to prolong the fight thus the block ability was insane as you said they know when i am blocking and stop hitting me or get punished if they do.
also tried 1v2 which was much harder versus the mercenary amulet
also tried unranked atm in team fight and the dmg is much higher compare mercenary amulet
i think i saw also helseth trying viper amulet and doing pretty well.
this build has some weaknesses and good thief can jump on you and take you down fast especially in team fight.
sod or som is replaceable with portal or null or whatever you like. because i am squishy i test som as it blind and stunbreak which is nice when being burst without endurance.

Ran scepter/sword sword/shield for S2. Staff was the weaker set, and unnecessary for mobility as far as I was concerned. If you were being a good little mesmer and covering home with use of portal, there was never a time you’d need to hike it and outpace an opponent, or bother reaching a tricky spot (glass mesmer needs to gtfo, but not scepter/sword sword/shield with mercenary).

Pretty much scepter/sword is your offensive set, yet heavily defensive due to those 2x low cd blocks. If the pressure gets heavy and you need a breather, you’re facing a 2-3v1, or you’re ready to swap to a lockdown/burst/moa, you swap into your defensive set and go ham.

Anyway, my results. Malicious isnt necessary. Master of fragmentation is still superior due to aoe daze, and cripple on f2 (albeit a small bonus).

Agreed. Staff is and has been rather lackluster lately, especially w/o Chaos. The mobility/tricks/juking will always be one of it’s strengths, no doubt, but aside from that the rest is pretty meh or on too long of a CD for what it does. (#4 & #5)

I played a fair bit of Sc/Sw & Sw/Sh in S2 as well, ever since the Merc amulet was available the OH Sword has been tempting to make more use of that Power.

Now with the reduced CD on the block, and especially the aftercast improvements making it easier to land the counter, it’s another small but welcome step to make the OH Sword a bit more competitive.

I personally couldn’t see me playing this with Viper though, it’s just too darn squishy. In roaming this would be awesome, as in 1v1 or maybe even 2v1 at times, I can see that all the blocks and BF are actually a significant amount of defense, but in point-based PvP you just have to get into the thick of things where especially the single blocks do virtually nothing to keep you alive (on the contrary!), and I always melt way too fast with the 16k HPs and no added Toughness. (As even BF and the channeled blocks often completely fail to keep you alive vs. all the unblockables, Retaliation, etc.)

Just my 2 cents, but I’m not half the player you are, so that’s why it probably will work better for you than me! (The damage is insane though. I could see a similar setup being very effective in WvW roaming.)

viper is used atm to test so i push myself into hard situations like 1v2 on point
yes its squishy but with good group you can do wonder versus the mercenary which put you on hold far or close point rather as roaming between points and +1

1v1 i see almost no deference versus the mercenary just be careful from necro marks on point. 1v2/3 take mercenary as you playing different role

@ross
mof seem to work better with group with aoe daze mainly as all the other stuff is almost useless .
while malicious puts your block with alacrity into 3 sec and CI hit faster to secure 6 confusion stacks.

messiah.1908:

pico.6402:

Like always nice build, I would change only one thing – signet of domination over signet of midnight. I’ve tried both and in pvp U need to hit hard with condis, duration is not so important becasue in most cases they will be cleansed anyway after 1-2 ticks. And also sod is our longest stun, it is sometimes helpful (like for stomping thiefs or eles).

Build is nice and it work in unranked but when next season start it will mostly work in low division, not many experiance players will hit U’r block.

thanks
i dueled some good players (friends of mine) while contest a point. the idea was to prolong the fight thus the block ability was insane as you said they know when i am blocking and stop hitting me or get punished if they do.
also tried 1v2 which was much harder versus the mercenary amulet
also tried unranked atm in team fight and the dmg is much higher compare mercenary amulet
i think i saw also helseth trying viper amulet and doing pretty well.
this build has some weaknesses and good thief can jump on you and take you down fast especially in team fight.
sod or som is replaceable with portal or null or whatever you like. because i am squishy i test som as it blind and stunbreak which is nice when being burst without endurance.

I forgot that U don’t use dueling in u’r builds. I don’t have hot yet so I use duelling with blind on shatter and I always have defence with me.
Also I’ve always try to shut down any thief I have in oposite (I love to destroy them and with cofusion and torment it’s a plessure) so I prefer mercenary with me.

so after testing the amulets here my results and solution

mercenary – good all around amulet with nice defense and below average offense with direct dmg as no crit chance
its good versus necro and warrior , holding points, and some 1v2 abilities with higher hp and armor

viper – best hybrid amulet with best condi dmg and good direct dmg 47% crit chance and 150% crit dmg. but low health and armor make you vulnerable in 1vx situations and also versus condi necro and warrior with 24 sec resistance ability

seems viper is more +1 roaming and group fight rather mercenary is more like holding points mainly

also versus warrior powerzerk or condizerk take Arcane thievery and wait for him to use his healing signet and block in between . try not to use it in berserker stance as it pulse every 3 sec so after he uses his healing signet he will be vulnerable for about 20 sec to your conditions . also try to CS+AT just to make sure