Showing Posts For Ardent Heretic.8216:
Thanks for the feedback! I will continue to refine and see what I can come up with.
@Xaylin: Thanks for the tip on Masterful Reflections! I’ll edit that in later. And, yes, other people will add to your uptime, but I think of it less as other people being needed for your kills and more as listing those as kills you would normally never get credit for anyway. Your main sources of damage are from clones and weapon skills.
@Seras: I agree 100%. Distortion stacking would be terribly overpowered. I based this on my previous experiences with Glamours in zerg fights. Most of the time, I would be getting bags of loot at least every three seconds throughout any fight. Distortion does not stack, but I believe it overlaps or over-writes. Thanks for the response!
Hello all!
I wanted to post a speculative WvW build based on the upcoming April 15 balance changes and new grandmaster traits. Let me know what you think!
Please note: This build is speculative. I have not been able to test it fully at this point because the primary mechanics do not yet exist in-game. Also, I do not take full credit for this build; many of the vital features are taken from existing builds founded by other theory-crafters.
Let’s get started:
Core Build:
4/6/0/0/0 or 0/6/0/0/4
The essence of this build lies in the new Dueling grandmaster trait Triumphant Distortion and the fact that it has no internal cooldown. Triumphant Distortion grants 3 seconds of distortion (invuln) every time you get a kill, which makes maintaining near-100% distortion uptime in large-scale fights possible due to the lack of internal cooldown.
This naturally couples well with the Mesmer’s greatest source of AoE damage: Confusion procs from Glamour skills. The more you tag, the more you kill, the more you stay alive. This comes from two possible sources: 1.) 4 points in Illusions for the combination of Dazzling Glamours and Blinding Befuddlement, 2.) 4 points in Domination for Confusing Enchantments
The Illusions line has the benefit of proccing Confusion from more sources than just the Glamours, but it is limited to affecting only 5 players at a time with the actual Glamours. The Domination line allows the Confusion proc on an unlimited number of enemies with only one major trait, but it does not benefit from the blind and limits your use of Confusion when your Glamours are on cooldown. Both lines are viable, but I find I have more valuable trait options left over if I choose the Domination line.
Sample Build – Triumphant Dissipation (link)
4(v,viii)/6(i,x,xiii)/2(v)/0/2(iv) Sw/F-Sc/T
or 4(v,viii)/6(i,x,xiii)/2(v)/2(ii)/0
Rabid/Dire mix, Rune of the Traveler or Perplexity
This variant utilizes a combination of Glamour Confusion for big groups as well as clone on-death traits to focus-fire single players and smaller groups. The Glamours will serve to assist in controlling your enemies’ movements and tag each member of the opposing team with at least one hit of Confusion, and each clone death will result in an AoE burst inflicting 3-4 seconds of Cripple, 3-4 seconds of Confusion, and randomly either Bleeding, Vulnerability, or Weakness.
This build suffers from a lack of reliable condi removal when Null Field is on cd, but it has otherwise been quite survivable in tests even without the keystone trait. Damage is not as great as a pure shatter build, but a well-timed spike of Scepter 2 or 3 followed by a dodge roll and a shatter can knock down a scout class from full. Shift around the gear to have higher damage or toughness until you find the right balance for yourself.
Points can be placed in either Inspiration or Illusions depending on group size. In a large group, you will likely be getting a large number of tag kills over the course of the fight and will benefit greatly from Masterful Reflection giving you near-permanent reflect uptime. In a small group, you will likely benefit more from the reduced cooldown on your Glamour skills that the Inspiration line can offer.
I will continue refining and try to post some video once the new traits are published. I am not claiming for this to be the optimal build for Mesmers in WvW, but I am hoping someone will benefit from this guide and maybe even have a little fun while they’re at it.
Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think or if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions!
EDIT: Masterful Reflection has no synergy with Triumphant Distortion. Thanks to Xaylin for the correction!
(edited by Ardent Heretic.8216)
You can make either staff or greatsword viable. Greatsword is not optimal with a condi build, but it shines with a power build. The major downside I have noticed in WvW is that people tend to target you more if you bust out a GS.
Staff is much more survivable all-around, but it is meant for a condi build and does not benefit as much from power as the GS.
Sword/Pistol is a great combo that tends toward a power build more, but it can be viable in a condi build if you use the sword defensively and the pistol to apply confusion through ethereal fields.
I might suggest hashing out a rough trait allotment before deciding how to allocate your equipment stats.
I find they stack quite well with a Prismatic Understanding build. It’s much easier to pull off that cast time when you are stealthed.
There has been a lot of argument about sub-classes, and perhaps this suggestion could help please both parties:
What if, instead of adding full sub-classes, we instead had aesthetic or stylized changes (mostly visual) from your trait selection?
Allow me to give an EXAMPLE. I will use Mesmer since I know it best:
EX. 1: A Mesmer who has put 20 points into Domination has red particle effects instead of purple. This could also just unlock the choice to have either red or purple effects, toggled in the Hero menu.
EX. 2: A Mesmer who has traited Illusionary Persona has an ethereal glow effect around their character. (Could also possibly be toggled)
EX. 3: A Mesmer who has 30 points in Chaos has access to a special Chaos Finisher in WvW/PvP/etc.
I don’t think there should be any change in skills or balance related to this; the trait system already allows for major changes to play style based on point allocation, and sub-classes would hardly be able to do more than what this system already has in place.
This kind of change would serve many of the design philosophies already in place. You are able to see visual representations of what is happening IN the game rather than in the UI. You FEEL the benefits of your trait selection more simply by getting visual confirmation of them.
I think we have already been given much of the effect that sub-classes would have through simple build diversity and traits, and adding sub-classes would only lead to players asking for more sub-classes. Adding one or two of these aesthetic or style options to each trait line would fit this need without requiring entire sub-classes be made.
(edited by Ardent Heretic.8216)
1. You will do better pairing the Sword with Torch. Its very nice to be able to leap in order to land Prestige.
2. I don’t see the purpose of Sig of Illusions. I’d really suggest dropping that for Blink.
3. You reference Sig of Ether, but link doesn’t have it. I think you can get away with Sig of Ether, but when I use it, I run our cleansing mantra.
1. I like the sword/torch combo, as this is almost identical to the build I run, but the torch phantasm does not support the strong phantasm burst that defines this particular build.
2. Sig of Illusions is here I think in great part to add more ticks of retaliation before the phantasms are killed, in addition to the simple fact that you want them alive as long as possible for deeps.
3. Throwing in Mantra of Resolve for added condi cleanse would be completely viable. However, the choice to use reduced cd Sig of the Ether actively with triple condi cleanse is only fractionally less effective while opening up another precious utility slot.
As I said, I run a very similar build to this, but I will try this one out and see if it fits. Nice work and creativity in using the Sig active effect offensively!
Keeping in mind that I have only read the first page of this discussion and skimmed the rest, my points may have been brought up in a previous post. However, I would rather be repetitive than unheard, so here goes:
Let’s start with the obvious conflict of interests. Players who have put in the time and effort to get items that require them want the items to remain difficult to obtain so that they retain their exclusivity. Players who have not obtained these items wish for them to be easier to obtain so that they do not feel weak or left out. There is no simple solution that will please both parties.
Having played since GW1: Factions, I was drawn to the game because it was easily accessible and required almost no grind except regarding cosmetic items. This had pros and cons, however: I was happy that I never felt weaker than other players in terms of stats, but I was not compelled enough by only a cosmetic to put in the effort to grind it. I was a big fan of the skill hunting aspect of progression, though.
My favorite element of GW1, however, was the fact that the game was designed so that a player’s ability was purely dictated by his/her personal skill and quality of build rather than equipment stats.
Let’s consider some facts:
1. Grind for purely cosmetic items is in-arguably fair, although it can lack appeal.
2. Large amounts of grind being required for marginal improvements only serves to encourage farming the game rather than playing it for enjoyment and leaves the rewards only to those who spend time not playing for fun.
3. Not rewarding players who have invested time and energy is unfair.
4. Stats and items are not the only kinds of rewards.
Taking these aspects into consideration, I have a proposal that could (potentially) please many or even most people:
1. Make ascended quality armor/weapons easier to obtain. Stats should not be a reward of heavy grind. (I do like the scavenger hunt idea mentioned for legendaries, for example.) This does not mean these should not be time-gated, but that they should not be affordable only by <10% of the online population. Perhaps require a larger laurel investment and less gold. Compensate players who have already made the initial investment so that they do not feel cheated.
2. Find a suitable dump for excess of any currency in the game. Any hardcore player worth his salt is going to have stockpiles of extra currencies with nowhere to put it. This means that new content is immediately ruled by these players, and even slightly more casual players will be ruled out by them. (i.e. Money only has value to those who don’t have it. New content becomes so immediately inflated by the rich folks that the poor folks won’t have access to it for months if ever.)
3. Introduce a new system of progression not based on stats or cosmetics. For example, legendary weapons are now worthwhile because of the added function to change their stats on-the-fly. They are not statistically better than ascended weapons and present no practical advantage, but they are appealing enough to warrant more grind than a basic ascended weapon. This system works, and another could be made to work as well.
My suggestion would be to add more progression to the skill system. I am not directly saying “add more skills” or “make the current skills require more skill points,” but I am saying that it is not very difficult to exhaust your options shortly after reaching level 80 or even before.
What if some skills (new or existing) had special requirements (possibly similar to achievements)? For example, we could have a dungeon reward for AC that was a Foefire-esque elite skill. Or we could have the current signets that increase passive movement speed require you to beat an NPC in a race. Not all skill should have requirements, but what if some did (within the realm of not making players jump through hoops just to get function out of their characters)?
These are just ideas, but I feel like the skill acquisition in GW1 was a great mechanic for adding progression without making players feel inept if they didn’t have every single one.
A game should never be about getting that next set of gear. It should be about discovering fun and exciting new things among friends.