Guild Wars 2

So the recipe is 10 x t2 through t5 Snowflakes (40 snowflakes each pop?) for 5 gifts and the chance at something else?

Ross Biddle.2367:

LiebnirGWAccount.5698:

Ross Biddle.2367:

I can cream most opponents with it, or keep them on their toes. Only had trouble with one bunker ranger (of all things). I run a 0, 4, 4, 0, 6 build, scepter/pistol + staff, running condi cleanse mantra, blink, and MoD.

• In almost all 1v1’s it’ll lead to a win.
• I don’t suffer thieves the way I would with a power shatter build.
• I can take on multiple opponents with it leading to downs.
• It’s most strongest in a group fight where, while the enemy is tied up with so much going on, landing an AoE condi shatter will catch them out and down them en’mass.

It’s strong. It has it’s weak moments vs select encounters, but I can’t deny it’s strength so much of the time.

(I even got PM’s asking me after the build).

I’d love to nab that build!

messiah.1908:

hi guys
i love to test builds and can say i tested the mtd long before the patch and harder after it came
i can say my life now is much easier and even can fill a part in a group (even zerg – average aoe condi dmg 1k dps to 3-5 enemies and control the periphery better than before)

If I could grab your 0/6/0/2/6 and 0/4/4/0/6 builds that’d be great! =D

This
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQNAraWlknpItlpxGNcrNCuBZyJECU/jocySGgfB-TJRHwAw2fIZZABnCAAPBAA

But this could be a fun albeit powerful alternative
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQNAraWlknpItlpxGNcrNCuBZyJ0AU/jocySGgfB-TJRHwAC3fIZZABnCAAPBAA

I’ll be sure to test these out, thank you very much!

What sort of armour/weapons go with these? (For WvW!)

Ross Biddle.2367:

I can cream most opponents with it, or keep them on their toes. Only had trouble with one bunker ranger (of all things). I run a 0, 4, 4, 0, 6 build, scepter/pistol + staff, running condi cleanse mantra, blink, and MoD.

• In almost all 1v1’s it’ll lead to a win.
• I don’t suffer thieves the way I would with a power shatter build.
• I can take on multiple opponents with it leading to downs.
• It’s most strongest in a group fight where, while the enemy is tied up with so much going on, landing an AoE condi shatter will catch them out and down them en’mass.

It’s strong. It has it’s weak moments vs select encounters, but I can’t deny it’s strength so much of the time.

(I even got PM’s asking me after the build).

I’d love to nab that build!

messiah.1908:

hi guys
i love to test builds and can say i tested the mtd long before the patch and harder after it came
i can say my life now is much easier and even can fill a part in a group (even zerg – average aoe condi dmg 1k dps to 3-5 enemies and control the periphery better than before)

If I could grab your 0/6/0/2/6 and 0/4/4/0/6 builds that’d be great! =D

Chaos Archangel.5071:

@Flufferz: I ran a 30/10/0/0/30 6/2/0/0/6 build a while ago, and it worked really well despite bring rather difficult to play.

It’s pretty demanding, and I’m so out of practice I can’t even play it effectively anymore, but it should still be in good shape. =/

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/PvP-WvW-Lockdown-Shatter-Shatterlock/first

Demanding is not an issue, given Mesmer is the sole class I play, improving myself won’t hurt at all. =o

A bit, I really like IP but more for the distort ability. Feel free to offer me suggestions or questions here. I’m just…I’m bored. Not of mesmer, just sticking to the traditional 4/4/0/0/6 is all, but I do love IP.

Show us all you’ve got, it can be for any game-type! ^^

Builds with staves encouraged!

Anyone got any word on this?

Ravenhunt.2735:

Hm… i think this wiggling is not like intended.
Its moving to strong and… waterlike in the new Videos.
Not like such a vine would move, or not?

Have you Animations in graphic settings on high or low?

Heres my settings, I also made a thread in the Game Bugs section to see if I could get an answer. =o

Over the past few days, between myself and my friend, we’ve spotted that the animation for Mawdrey/Cultivated seed seems to be off. We were wondering if this was a bug or something that was going to be later implemented much like the bugs with Sclerite Backpiece and Chaos of Lyssa!

http://gfycat.com/MelodicFrayedDowitcher

http://gfycat.com/LeadingDistantCapybara

http://gyazo.com/4306441885f13d69db830d14c023b88b

Heres some more from both our perspectives!:

http://gyazo.com/4306441885f13d69db830d14c023b88b

http://gfycat.com/MelodicFrayedDowitcher

Ravenhunt.2735:

Right, thats the video.
It would be interesting to know, is this wiggling the real animation?
Or its a bug? Or not?
And only YOU see this and your friend not? Hm.

I’ve since got a video from their perspective of mine wiggling!

http://gfycat.com/LeadingDistantCapybara

It happens on and off a lot of the time, just gotta be lucky to catch it, i’ve since upgraded to Mawdrey too.

Ravenhunt.2735:

Ok, this animation is normal.
One have postet it with a real wiggling vine.
I mean… strong animation.
Like a worm or something x_x

I wonder about this.
Maybe Mawdrey animation is bugged? Like the Chaos of lyssas faces in the beginning?
o_o

http://gfycat.com/AdmirableNeighboringIndianelephant Heres my video of it, I put it up a couple of days ago, apologies about the quality.

We got any other suggestions lurking?

Gaile Gray.6029:

timelord.6089:

Hi Gail,
i got my account back, also with no compensation, but thats ok for me.
More important is, what happens if i continue to farm wood @Malchors?
Will i get banned again?

I explained the mistaken belief that some were getting “compensation” just above. It’s sort of a bug, not a feature or a gift.

And you are welcome to farm wood, and you should not fear any repercussions whatsoever! Good luck with that lumber harvesting!

So we’re all safe to continue chopping like mad-men and women of the night? Even if we’ve not been barred yet? <3

ASP.8093:

LiebnirGWAccount.5698:

I wouldn’t mind getting into a Scepter/Pistol + Sword/Torch style of play, if thats gonna win me at least some of my duels, i’ve tried to keep away from Prismatic Understanding simply to avoid being called “Cheap” but more and more, i’ve seen it’s honestly not THAT hard a skill to counter if people know how to play correctly, so i’m open to idea’s there.

In my experience, people cry about PU if they see you use stealth even without having the PU trait equipped (Decoy is still pretty great in non-PU builds, and Mass Invis tends to be my default elite).

Actually, in my experience, people will cry about PU even if you never pop stealth during the whole fight. Because PU is just the magic code for “This mesmer beat me.”

So don’t sweat the crying, really. Haters gonna hate, scrubs gonna scrub, whiners gonna whine, newbs gonna newb, &c.

I don’t see why one trait would get so much flak compared to others like Hambow Warrior or Turret Engineer. When I come to a came, I want to have fun is all!

Curunen.8729:

The next patch could be the one we’re looking for…

…maybe.

I have no expectations.

You reminded me of this.

- Eagerly awaits to see what scepter changes/phantasmal mage changes there may be -

Sometimes, I set up my phantasms on a world/dungeon boss and walk away to get a drink without telling anyone.

abysterical.3792:

I normally run solo or in small groups in WvW. I started running this build about a week ago, and have had alot of fun with it; Mostly a power build, with enough condition dmg to make the conditions viable. I try to get enough interrupts off in the beginning of a fight to build my might stacks (getting between 10-20 stacks of might is common).

I’m still working on timing my interrupts, but so far it’s been alot of fun.

The build:
http://bit.ly/1ph4uhT

Note: I’ve actually switched to using Bowl of Cactus Fruit Salad instead of Koi Cakes; for some reason I can’t find them though for a food option on gw2skills.net.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Bowl_of_Cactus_Fruit_Salad

And, anyone with suggestions on improvement, would be happy to hear those as well!

I’ll have a go at this after i’ve tried the Torment build Fay spoke of!

Fay.2357:

So you want a build that’s fun to play, and you’re not unduly worried about how effective it is?

I’d actually recommend trying out a torment shatter build. I’ve said this many times, but I’ll say it again: builds made with that trait are rather lacking in effectiveness because the trait itself is horridly lacking. However, I enjoy the play style and wish that it was more effective, because it’s truly quite fun to play.

I’ve done a couple different variations, though I generally stick with 20/20/0/0/30. I think my favorite one is scepter/pistol+sword/torch, with rending shatter for cover conditions, and swapping between shattered concentration and cleansing conflagration depending on the fight.

Note: do not use this in pve. Ever.

In my own opinion, I believe any build, so long as it’s not made badly (EG; Traits that make no sense, ect) can be good, without enough practice and actually learning how to play them. I’ll have a fiddle with this though, thank you!

EDIT; Also, did you have any thoughts on this; http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQRArc8dlknpRtlpxNNcrNipxYyeihkBkQpLplxB-T1yCABAcgCcU9nFOJARpcQMlgpoh4KlcX8EAGRDiP7PIn+hAAHA8dgUAwMBA-w (Credits to Ross Biddle for showing it before!*) with swapping Focus for Torch, and what of the Runes? Would a set of Hoelbrak/Strength runes help here?

maxinion.8396:

Please don’t use scepter in PvE

(there are a few, small situations where it is useful, but in general… no)

I’ll use Scepter in PvE if I want to, it’s there, I’m going to use it. It’s REALLY not as horrible as everyone tends to make it out to be. Sure, it’s not the most effective weapon, but as a mid-range weapon, I’d say it’s not bad! Telling someone to not play a way they want to is kind of harsh, and I’m a little peeved by people who do it. Not everyone has to run 100% efficient builds, at the core of things, a game is meant to be FUN. Now I respect other peoples decisions about these things, definitely, and if I want to join a 7 minutes hardcore speedrun of COF, I’ll obviously keep scepter out. But if I want to use a scepter, I’m going to use a scepter.

EDIT; Sorry if i’m coming off rude, I just find it kinda mean when someone tells you to play a certain way, not because it’s better, but because they find the weapon iffy. ;_;

Anyone else got anything?

Fay.2357:

Just as a point of clarification, are you trying to use this build in PvE, PvP, and WvW?

If the answer to that question is ‘yes’, I highly advise that you change that answer. It’s not viable to do that if you want to be even remotely effective.

Mainly WvW would , PvE wise I think everything seems to be steamrolled so long as you have a sword so i’m not too bothered there. I got a build for 49 fractals as well, incorporating the scepter there a lot of the time.

I’ve learnt that you can’t do everything on a single build, simply because, people aren’t mobs, and vice versa.

So, at the moment, a WvW build would be what i’m looking for most of all! I’ve been getting into PvP a bit more recently, but most WvW builds I try out tend to translate quite well to PvP.

So, as the title suggests, I want to find a fun build, note; This doesn’t have to be the most effective build humanly possible, I just want some good fun, i’ve been settled into a full Zerker shatter (4/4/0/0/6) for the best part of a year now, and as lovely as IP tends to be, i’m beginning to see our build choices dwindle down.

Firstly; My favourite weapon happens to be Scepter/Pistol, unfortunately, the first of the two isn’t the most effective thing in PvE (Some fractals i’ve found to be useful!) and i’ve been getting into WvW a lot recently, so I was looking for some possible help with a power based build that used Scepter in it. I was thinking something that was a might-stacking build, but to be honest, it’s been a while since I kept up with any builds. I wouldn’t mind getting into a Scepter/Pistol + Sword/Torch style of play, if thats gonna win me at least some of my duels, i’ve tried to keep away from Prismatic Understanding simply to avoid being called “Cheap” but more and more, i’ve seen it’s honestly not THAT hard a skill to counter if people know how to play correctly, so i’m open to idea’s there.

Overall, my style of play is “Be annoying as possible” and I can hold my own in PvP against Turret Engineer’s from my guild, (I lose most of these fights, but I consider staying alive more then 20 seconds to be an achievement in itself)

Money is no object to me ingame, so if you do happen to have an effective build incorporating those weapons/power, do fire away, it’d be most appreciated!

Is this a proper fix or simply a bug? If so, meteorlogicus main hand + Bolt OH is seeming a lot more enticing now!

steelwolf.9864:

Skins will unlock by either, equipping, salvaging, destroying, or right clicking and selecting learn skin. Basically there’s no way to -not- unlock a skin.

Have you got a source for that? Just wondering! Because i’d be wary about destroying the mad memoires stuck to a deleted character that’re in my bank!

Dark Jericho.8609:

I’d just wait it out until the patch goes live. After re-reading and re-watching the dev blog and video it seems like as long as the item is bound to your account in some way (even if it’s a deleted character) it will most likely pop up in your wardrobe vault.

Thanks for the optimism! Let’s hope for the best! <3

Dark Jericho.8609:

All back skins go into the wardrobe if I understand correctly, though I am still uncertain if ones you have equipped already automatically go in or if you have to double click them once for it to happen. Once the patch goes live and it doesn’t let you do anything with it you could always contact support to try and help you.

Already tried support, since I don’t have a good date of when I deleted the character, it couldn’t be restored. I didn’t bother messaging for a while because I was scared i’d lose a rollback if my account was ever hacked or lost.

This may’ve been answered somewhere else, but if this was able to be unlocked in the wardrobe, I’d be ecstatic! They’ve kind of been stuck in my bank since I deleted the character they were soulbound to without realising I hadn’t soulbinded them to another backpack!

I’ve noticed a real lacking of any information, videos, or images relating to GW2 in Eyefinity mode, so I thought i’d share my hand in it!

I am currently running an i5 4670k at 4.0GHZ with CF 6970 HD’s for the monitors which are 23i HP Pavilion IPS 1080 displays. And honestly, it’s great!

http://gyazo.com/a8940cec51dff0326fd872c34b5c7ced.png
(Settings I used whilst in Queensdale)

http://imgur.com/a/nXShh
(Link to Album of 4 images from Eyefinity. [Queensdale, Aetherblade Fractal, and a couple others!])

To view the screenshots at full size from IMGUR, just right click and open it in a new tab!

If anyone wants to ask questions about it, I’ll do my best to reply and help!

If anyone wants to see Quip ingame on mesmer I have it along with Rodgort, Sunrise, and Minstrel!

IGN: Trixxie Virtuoso

If you’d like to see Rodgort/Minstrel/Quip on a mesmer i’ll show you mine ingame (Tarnished Coast NA) Ingame is Trixxie Virtuoso.

Mind you, with Rodgort that you’re after it’s not really affected by any skills, it’s just…there.

Osicat.4139:

@Los Re, As Saturn say, I dont use AT due to the unreliability factor. My build already have the dmg do take ppl down and when I want to clense conditions its a I need em away NOW situation, cant hope to land a AT as it might cost my life if I fail to land it.

And yes, latest Hidden Cat mightstacking is insane, was reaching 25 stacks 3 times in my latest WvWvW roaming solo run, that is almost 900 extra power and condition dmg!

/Osicat

Hey-hey! With your SPvP Hotjoin variant with the Sword/Pistol Scepter/Torch, do you think it’d be viable for WvW/PvE if a few alterations were made?

blutstein.2468:

look at my signature (like I told you ingame!)

I did and I’ve been asking you ingame for some advice with something everytime I see you on but ya never reply mister! ~

Void.4239:

LiebnirGWAccount.5698:

Anybody able to help? =o

i would take travelers runes , so you could drop focus.

Then go for scepter torch for wvw . ( Sw/ pistol & Sc/torch )
And greatsword for pve ( Sw/pistol & greatsword )

I would also suggest going 30/30/10/0/0 so you can get reduced recharge on torch or greatsword depending what you are doing.

( PU is is to defensief , best defense is still a better offence )

Not tryin’a be a pain but PU is kinda one of the core traits for me!

And I said specifically in the post i’d like to myself to be able to keep 4 weapons up, so adding in GS is a bit eh for me.

As much as a good offence is good, being able to poof and return with upwards of 40% + damage reduction is also a nice defence. X’D

Anybody able to help? =o

Been fiddling about today wondering what’d be a nice medium to make spamming out clones a worthwhile experience without giving direct damage too much of a hit. I also wanted to incorporate 4 weapons, EG; Scepter/Pistol and Sword/Focus, debating swapping the OH’s to have Sc/F and S/P, unsure which’d be a good option

The idea of the build, as the title suggests, it’s spamming out clones at an annoying pace to lay on Conditions. Whilst this is going on, the idea is to lay down some phantasms and allow them to get some nice damage on the enemy, this could be achieved with the remaining power in the build!

I’ve left in a good chunk of power using Rampager/Carrion Armour, Celestial and Berserker Trinkets, and Rampager weapons!

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgUQRAsd7al4zipXUzpGb9IipHBnvBckKoalewb52FC-jwCBIgDiGbJZEEBiEJ05PKrpQCiFXFRjVVbR16aYKXA2bFRrGA-e

Weapons: Rampager – Sigils in MH’s = Bloodlust(10 Power on Kill), Sigils in OH’s = Battle (Might on Swap)
Armour: HelmChest+Pants = Carrion, Shoulders+Gloves+Boots = Rampager. Runes = Scholar OR Traveller
Jewelry: Berzerker Amulet and Backpiece, Celestial Rings and Earrings.

Traits: (10/30/30)
Domination Line: Empowered Illusions (+15% Damage from Illusions)
Dueling Line: Blade Training, Duelists Discipline and Deceptive Evasion
Chaos Line: Debilitating Dissipation, Bountiful Interruption and Prismatic Understanding

Skills: Ether Feast or Mantra of Recovery, Blink, Decoy, Mirrored Images or Mantra of Resolve, Mass Invisibility.

I realise having Prismatic in PVE is a bit defense overkill but I quite like it and think it works well when runnin’ about solo. Questions I have about this build are;

What runes would be better, Scholar/Traveller/Pack?

Should the Bloodlust Sigils be changed for something else?

What other minor changes could I do to improve the build?

Thanks very much for having a look and I hope to speak soon! <3

jazzllanna.1278:

I use it in pve. I use the buffs to share with my signet. I also use the buff to rez if needed since it usually gives aegis and gives me a few extra seconds to take damage to get them back up.

It’s always just been a nice mechanic for me, useful!

Pyroatheist.9031:

LiebnirGWAccount.5698:

Pyroatheist.9031:

So feel free to post your build ideas over here in the OMFG Tester’s Testing Thread

Off the top of my head though, I’d say PU is generally going to be defensive overkill for PvE though.

I didn’t want anyone to spend any gold for my own inquisitions! Between us, simply, If we whipped the 30 in chaos down to 20, where do you think it’d be better spent?

Well, a lot of people may have the gear already, or close to it :p

However, could toss it into dueling or illusions for more damage or compounding power, or you could go for inspiration if you wanted glam cooldowns.

I could do. I’m desperate to find a build to stick to that involves Sword+Pistol/Focus (Maybe throw scepter in) at the moment, with University and such, I don’t get much time to play and that time is spent grumbling over being unable to find a build that fits me. I LOVE mesmer, no other class has the same appeal to me as it does. What’d your suggestions, if you have any, be to do? I’m looking to get into more WvW soon as PvE seems to slowing down a little now for me.

Thank you for putting up with me as well, I tend to be pretty annoying. e///e

Pyroatheist.9031:

So feel free to post your build ideas over here in the OMFG Tester’s Testing Thread

Off the top of my head though, I’d say PU is generally going to be defensive overkill for PvE though.

I didn’t want anyone to spend any gold for my own inquisitions! Between us, simply, If we whipped the 30 in chaos down to 20, where do you think it’d be better spent?

Been debating returning to it, I only used it for a short time and I made the build I was using so i’ve no idea how effective it was for the most part.

I used to run this build when I ran PU for PvE, I’m pretty sure it was probably a pretty bad build but I thought it ran “alright” for the most part.

I could never quite get the hang of conditions so I opted for a power based PU build, but now I use Pistol more often than I do Torch. It’s a much more rewarding experience to pop out and use a single bullet to annoy someone!

(Old Build)

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/mesmer/?4.1|c.5g.h4.f.5g.h1h.d19.0.d19|c.5g.h4.d.5g.h1h.d19.0.d19|1g.73.1g.73.1g.73.1g.73.1g.73.1g.73|2s.0.211.0.311.0.311.0.211.0.2s.0|k35.k4a.u45c.0.0|0.0|31.3d.34.3j.3o|e

I thought i’d have a jiggle about and made a list of things that could potentially change;

Weapons: Sword + Pistol/Focus (Bloodlust+Battle/Battle)
Runes: 6/6 Scholar, Centaur, or Pack.
Trinkets: All Celestial or Berserkers, or a mix of the two. (Celestial Rings/Earrings, Berserker Amulet and Backpiece)
Traits; 20/20/30/0/0 (Swap Debilitating Dissipation for Bountiful Interruption, Interrupts stemming from Pistol 5 and Focus 4.)

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/mesmer/?4.1|c.5g.h4.f.5g.h1h.d19.0.d19|c.5g.h4.d.5g.h1h.d19.0.d19|1g.73.1g.73.1g.73.1g.73.1g.73.1g.73|2s.0.211.0.311.0.311.0.211.0.2s.0|k35.k4a.u48c.0.0|0.0|31.3d.34.3j.3o|e

OR

Weapons: Sword + Pistol/Focus (Bloodlust+Battle/Battle)
Runes: 6/6 Scholar, Centaur, or Pack.
Trinkets: All Celestial or Berserkers, or a mix of the two. (Celestial Rings/Earrings, Berserker Amulet and Backpiece)
Traits; 0/20/30/0/20 (Move 20 points from Domination into Illusions and have Illusionary Invigoration and Illusionary Elasticity)

I’m trying to figure a build to pin myself to at the moment and it’s driving me a bit insane, i’ve tried having a break and coming back but i’m still having trouble.

Would either of these builds be a viable PvE build with some WvW viability or am I way off? If so, i’d love to hear what you can suggest without having to swap the weapon set!

colesy.8490:

I highly recommend keeping your PvE and WvW builds separate.

Fair enough, I thought it’d be a fun idea either way. =o

Thought i’d make a build around controlling my enemies movements and being generally annoying to them.

The Weapon Set is Scepter/Pistol and Sword/Focus.

http://gw2buildcraft.com/calculator/mesmer/?4.1|b.1g.h2.a.5g.h17.0.0.d19|c.1g.h2.d.5g.h1j.0.0.d19|1g.7e.1g.7e.1g.7e.1g.7e.1g.7e.1g.7e|2s.d19.2s.d19.3s.d19.2s.d19.3s.d19.2s.d19|a5.u49a.5.p68.0|0.0|31.3d.34.3j.3o|e

The idea behind this build is to capitalize on players who may not know what they are doing in WvW, and Bosses/Champs/Anything in PvE, I do this by using Crippling Dissipation: (Clones cripple nearby foes when they are killed) in conjunction with the Scepter Auto Attack that’ll allow me to keep a nice amount of damage going, along with Scholar Runes (Since the aim will be to keep away, not getting hit, thus allowing me to keep my 10% damage above 90% bonus), when they die or replaced by the spammaholic of the Scepter Auto, it’ll also activate Confusing Combatants: (Your illusions cause 3 seconds of confusion when they are killed) which’ll help nicely if I can keep a good flow of clones going.

Thats the uh, general idea, what do people think?

Daishi.6027:

I wouldn’t bother feels like a waste imo. You get two skills on 20+ base c/ds and you only actually “Shoot” it once.

Still, the aura and footsteps are fun. X3

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

I have a question as well. Do the Duelists shoot the same bullets when doing their attack? that would be AWESOME!

Unfortunately they don’t currently, at least not by what I know. D=

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Question-about-Quip-on-a-mesmer/first#post2885030

That thread, I asked that question a while ago!

blutstein.2468:

LiebnirGWAccount.5698:

By the last post, i’m guessing you believe the Inspiration path is the way to go? I’ve tried it the most out of the three, I’ve not actually tried going down the illusion path as of yet, and the PU path was goooood fun, aside from being stuck to Torch.

you aren’t stuck to torch, decoy and massinvis alone justifies PU imho.

if you trait decoy on 25% and take veill, you got 4 sources of invis, thats more than enough.

Update; What sort of PU build would you suggest?

Valarauka.2719:

I run 10/30/0/30/0 almost all the time in dungeons and fractals.

1 – never mix on-crit and on-swap sigils, they all share cooldowns so the swap won’t proc if the crit one just triggered. Energy is overkill for most PvE (you already have perma-vigor), although in WvW having more dodges always helps. Battle is great for damage if you’re swapping on cooldown, at least one Perception or Bloodlust is always great to build up stacks, and Force/Accuracy work if you have nothing more specific in mind.

Note, in most cases you can get away with having a single mainhand sword with a Battle in it, that way you don’t need to buy 2. Sword/X+Y is all you need for most dungeon encounters (where X and Y are two of sword/focus/pistol); I keep a GS on hand for range, AoE, and some fractal bosses, though scepter/pistol should work too.

2 – Definitely Empowered Illusions and Phantasmal Fury over what you have right now for PvE; I usually put Deceptive Evasion back in for WvW because clone generation can be more important there. The build is flexible, don’t be afraid to change traits around situationally.

3 – I’ve actually found Medic’s Feedback amazingly useful in dungeon runs, being able to Blink to a downed friend and rez them instantly inside the relative safety of a Feedback bubble has helped me save teammates countless times. For example, the Fractal 48 Grawl Imbued Shaman, whose second agony arrow would be a certain Defeated state for a downed player – just gets reflected, no problem. Of course, it’s less useful if you’re in a pro group where nobody ever downs, but that’s hardly the usual case for me..

I usually run Medic’s Feedback + Focus trait + Glamor Mastery, swapping for Shattered Conditions or Mender’s Purity situationally (or very rarely Restorative Mantras + Mantra of Pain when the group is seriously lacking survival power).

Shattered Conditions takes a little getting used to, but I find it pretty valuable when you know how it works – the trick is that the condition is only removed when the illusion shatters, not when you hit your F-key – so for everything but F4, you need to make sure you have an illusion already in melee range of your target, or be prepared to wait for the condi clear. Illusionary Leap and Mirror Blade are great for this, since they get a clone right on top of the target almost immediately. Of course, it wrecks your phant dps, so only bring it if you need frequent AoE condi removal and nobody else can do that for the party. Hopefully Mantra of Resolve will be a better option for this come Oct 15th.

EDIT: reading your original post again, I should clarify – this is a pure phantasm build here, it’s very hard to call something a Shatter build without going 30 into Illusions.
If you want to play Shatter, starting with the classic 20/20/0/0/30 is never a bad way to go – take Mental Torment and Shattered Concentration in Domination (or Rending Shatter in a PvE / non-boon-heavy env), and Illusionary Invigoration instead of the bounce trait in Illusions.

Wow, you went into a lot of detail! Thank you for all the input!

Xavi.6591:

LiebnirGWAccount.5698:

colesy.8490:

You don’t generally want to shatter in dungeons/fractals since it’ll hit your DPS pretty hard.

I looked at the inspiration build and I’d swap out the domination trait for empowered illusions, swap deceptive evasion for phantasmal fury and swap medic’s feedback for glamour mastery.

Fire sigils are bad so use either force, slaying, night, perception or bloodlust. Off-hand energy is fine if you find you need the extra dodge (once you become familiar with an encounter you probably won’t), but otherwse just use a battle sigil or some other sort of damage modifier (e.g. on my warrior’s axe/mace I’ll have sigil of force mainhand and then sigil of justice off-hand in CM … but I’m an efficiency fanatic).

Scholar runes over traveler runes as well, unless you do more open world so as opposed to dungeons.

I wasn’t sure as to use Force runes cause it said they didn’t affect Illusions so I left them off, also, is this a fractal focused build? To be honest I should’a been specific, it’s more of a uh… 1. PvE 2. WvW 3. Fractal, type deal. =o

Generally, you should have different gear and a slightly different spec for each of PvE, WvW, Fractals, sPvP, tPvP. Hell I have a totally different spec for Arah which is different than my dungeon spec.

I’m a very lazy person, and I came to GW2 from a game whereby you specced one way and had to follow it on for the forseeable if you wanted a good build. Got to get out of that habit and realize i’m allowed to swap and such. =)

blutstein.2468:

LiebnirGWAccount.5698:

By the last post, i’m guessing you believe the Inspiration path is the way to go? I’ve tried it the most out of the three, I’ve not actually tried going down the illusion path as of yet, and the PU path was goooood fun, aside from being stuck to Torch.

you aren’t stuck to torch, decoy and massinvis alone justifies PU imho.

if you trait decoy on 25% and take veill, you got 4 sources of invis, thats more than enough.

I suppose thats true in itself. I had a giggle with myself to up the annoying factor earlier. I’m very close to Quip now, so I could go Invis, and then Pistol #5 for a single pop of daffodils to be annoying!