Yes.
This latest feature pack is not really about Scepter, but more about Mesmer condi builds in general. Prior to all these upcoming changes, I’m already stacking 5 Stacks of Torment, 10+ stacks of bleed, and perma burn on the opponent with a 0/4/6/0/4 Scepter/Torch + Staff IE build. This upcoming patch basically buffed all aspects of the Condi Mesmer, except confusion (they seem to want to keep confusion where it is).
Given the buff to MtD alone (assuming no change to the Scepter auto), the Mesmer can now potentially keep 8 stacks of perma Torment (5 from Illusionary Counter and 3 from Shatters – on a 4/4/0/0/6 build). The Scepter auto chain, given how slow it is, will add another ~6 stacks of consistent Torment (3 from the first 2 hits, and another 3 from 3 clones attacking once every 2 sec) if clones are left alive.
Taking MtD and the Scepter auto change, that’s potentially 14 stacks of consistent/perma torment! Yes, on a quick glance on paper, this may seem overpowered, but only under ideal dueling situations in which your clones are not destroyed and you land Illusionary Counter – and only if you camp Scepter. Why?
Both Illusionary Counter and the Scepter autoattack are single-target based Torment. In a team setting, you will hardly be using Illusionary Counter on just a single person – much less the person your team is targeting to kill. In addition, under a team setting, your Scepter clones from the auto are much more likely to be killed before they do much damage to said target.
Furthermore, given how slow Scepter auto is, you are still very vulnerable to being targeted and bursted yourself. So without MtD, that torment quickly diminishes in potential in group settings, esp. against AoE classes like Eles or Engis, or classes with strong cleaves (i.e. thieves, warriors, guardians) that will kill your clones before they even attack. To put in perspective, a condition nade Engi can stack up AoE bleed, vuln, poison, chill, and blind on anyone in seconds – the combination of the aforementioned being many times more powerful than just confusion + torment.
On a 1 vs. 1 situation on point, Scepter is still super weak if the Mesmer is to stay on point (except mid at Legacy of the Foefire). Why? Because if the opponent stays on point, there’s nowhere for the Mesmer to run, and all the clones will still summon at melee range and be killed right away by any cleaves/AoEs. The only difference the Scepter auto change will bring compared to now (not counting MtD) is a mere average of 3 additional stacks of torment from the first 2 hits of the auto – given how easily Illusionary Counter can be dodged.
The Mesmer fighting off-point is a different story. But hey, if using a berserker Shatter build against multiple targets while being off-point is a thing, why can’t using a PU condi build against a single target be a thing too?
So is the Scepter auto buff really as OP as people say? I don’t think so.
On the other hand, Illusionary Elasticity is the much bigger push for PU Condi builds. Prior to the IE buff, spamming Staff autoattack + 3 Staff clones let you keep perma burning and a good amount (7-10 on a single target in group situations, 10-17 on a single target solo/duel – no Krait Runes) of bleed stacks.
This is pretty strong, but still weak when compared to the AoE conditions that Necros and Engis can output in a group setting. With the buff, I’m looking at a potential 10-13 stacks of bleed on a single target in a group situation, and 13-20 stacks of bleed in a dueling situation (no Krait Runes).
This may seem extremely strong, but given Anet’s philosophy on Mesmer design (very strong against a single target, weak on AoEs and against multiple-targets), the changes on both Scepter and IE suddenly seem to make sense.
The way I see it, if you’re dumb enough to chase a thief between two points, you deserve to lose the match. If you’re dumb enough to duel a Mesmer off-point, you deserve to die.
