Guild Wars 2

Hey Fubuki, Naguruk and I (Ovitser) had a bunch of fun last night with you and the wife!

Holding off that supply camp for 10-15 minutes was a blast and not something we would have seen happen on SBI.

I think you’ll be seeing more of us in the future!

Mac.1936:

It would be preferable if I didn’t overwrite duelists, and it detracts nothing from any other build. Shatter or otherwise.

Very good point.

Mac.1936:

Also, a question. I know little about shattering because I don’t do it and I’m not at home to test. But, if you are mid mind wrack and the clones are running to your target and you pop out a new clone and it replaces one… What happens? Does it attempt to shatter or you just wasted one of your shatter clones?

The moment you shatter your illusions, your effective clone count drops to 0. The system will allow for an additional clone to be created even if the 3 clones running to shatter have not dissolved yet.

Itolis.8590:

Also keep in mind that some mesmers (myself included) actually use the scepter for its intended purpose… to spam clones for shattering and fodder. To change that would affect many condition mesmers such as I play in Spvp. I would suggest a different wep probably geatsword as it doesn’t naturally generate any clones and you get an additional phant out of it.

I’m confused though. How would making Scepter 1 not override a 3 Phantasm team affect the functionality of a Shatter/Fodder build? Removing this override does not change the fundamentals of the weapon.

Also, Greatsword 2 creates a clone on hit. I have not yet tested whether it would remove one of 3 live Phantasm Berserkers.

EasymodeX.4062:

I’ll call your dare: it is viable but not superior.

It just means that Scepter is an awkward weapon for a 3x Phantasm strategy, similar to Greatsword. Of course, if you are doing the “afk Phantasm army”, it’s pretty obvious that offhand Sword (power) and Pistol (condition damage+IS+crit), or Staff (power or condition damage) are going to be your best general options. Guess that doesn’t help with the Scepter mainhand issue, except that MH Sword generally makes a better power weapon than Scepter. The blind is good though; often better than Blurred Frenzy for avoiding damage.

You could also stick with Scepter, but manage it properly: e.g. only swap to Scepter to summon the “first wave” of Phantasms, and switch to your primary (likely Staff) for most of your play.

Is there a forum for min/max discusson for Mesmers (or will this be it)? While I still feel that the perpetual upkeep of Phantasms is (or will be) the best DPS strategy on a Mesmer, that is only anecdotal and not backed by hard figures.

You say it’s not superior but I would like to start to see actual figures to back that up. Great discussion so far though.

Thedenofsin.7340:

The fundamental problem, as I see it, is that the #1 ability should be spammable and never be detrimental to your character’s damage dealing ability, regardless of your build. The scepter #1 ability can override a dps phantasm, which is not a good thing.

Thank you for clarifying my point. There is more to Mesmers than just shattering illusions.

It is viable (and dare I say superior in PvE encounters) to “sit” on your Phantasms.

Hello fellow Scepter/Pistol Mesmers,

I’m come to notice a frustrating bug with Skill 1 of the Scepter and Skill 4 of the Pistol (Phantasmal Duelist).

Every single time I have 3 Phantasmal Duelists out, the 3rd Attack of Skill 1 for the Scepter creates a clone and dissolves one of my Duelists.

I do not believe this is working as intended because it was always my assumption that clones never override Phantasms. Has anyone else experienced this? I can recreate this 100% of the time.

~Lothi, Stormbluff Isles