Guild Wars 2

Ross Biddle.2367:

Verock.8234:

You need portal and blink to stay viable, running null field and mirror images will work in solo Q, but not stand a chance in competitive play.

I wasn’t able to find a build link, but if you take the Inspiration trait line, you shouldn’t have to take null field.

You don’t understand the build, or more importantly the roll of it. There’s no need for portal because the build will be holding/supporting a point, primarily. Rotations will be minimal, leaving that up to the more mobile classes.

Inspiration serves for personal cleanse and additional healing. Null field takes things a step further and adds boon strip, which has been lacking with the return of warriors into the meta. Resistance, and stability to a lesser degree hold many opponents up, and stripping those for a counter offensive are a huge advantage, particularly in a team fight. Having null field to cleanse your own conditions (or the teams for that matter) is just a bonus.

Of course the build still needs to be tried and tested in the coming meta, but the theory is there, and it’s not idiotic. It’s served in the past, albeit under different circumstances.

If you leave rotations up to the mobile classes, the enemy team will flip the map and rotate around you. It’s the same rotational match-ups we used against elementalists. Rotate into fights where they aren’t there for a quick win. Then backcap, when they leave to support.

You can counter this with portal. If you drop mirror images for portal, you open up your game play, allowing you to keep outnumbered fight around the map. It’s the same positioning that chrono bunker did. Leave portal at home or far, support mid, then portal back to stop the decap (or send a winning fight).

In regards to holding a node, I’d need to see it keep a cap node against a warrior, ranger, or engineer, since those are going to be the match-ups that will rotate into you. You could hold it decapped for a good while, but I doubt hold a smaller node without invulning or kiting.

Where I do see the role shining is in a 2v2 to 3v3 match-up, with the added boon support for your DPS classes. But, if you come into a match-up against a necromancer, your boons will be toast – null field won’t be able to supply the necessary condition cleanse alone.

@Messiah – keep up with the build testing. Super cool to see more and more theory crafting, content creators drive creativity

@ross – don’t kill shot me

Ross Biddle.2367:

How will it fare vs Killshot Mesmer?

Real question, Ross, who can fare vs your killshot mes?

You need portal and blink to stay viable, running null field and mirror images will work in solo Q, but not stand a chance in competitive play.

I wasn’t able to find a build link, but if you take the Inspiration trait line, you shouldn’t have to take null field.

As someone that exclusively plays one class, for sure learn more than one. The meta is consistently and you don’t want to pigeon hold yourself into a class that gets pushed out.

@Kratos practicing the new unranked meta of forum warrior.

Thanks for the feedback!

Added in ResJudicator.7916 and skcamow.3527 contributions.

Hey all, my name is Caspian.

I’m a Mesmer on NA sPvP, about 4k sPvP games over the course of the last two years, quite a few amateur tournament matches, and a challenger cup appearance.

I’m by no means the most skilled or knowledgeable Mesmer on this forum, but I’ve recognized that there are no official ‘portal play guides’, so I thought I’d take my best stab at it.

So, if you see anything that’s missing or incorrect, throw it in the comments and I’ll update it accordingly.

This has not be screened for grammar mistakes, grammarists beware.

Reminder: this is a sPvP guide (conquest only), not WvW or PvE. If you’d like more information on WvW videos, check Osicat’s videos here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxpydARmmDQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svvbTHeDcOE

This guide will consist of a few different categories:
1) What is portal and what should you consider before bringing it?
2) Uses of portal
3) Current sPvP maps
4) Final Thoughts

What is portal and what should you consider before bringing it?

Portal has been an integral part to Mesmer’s play style throughout sPvP. It’s possibilities are endless, but it comes at a cost.

Basics
- Portal has a 72s cool down, with a 60s timer to use it. You can find this timer on your skill bar after you place the initial entre.
- In sPvP, this doesn’t matter too much, but you can have a max of 20 uses with this portal.
- Once you connect a portal, it will remain open for 10 seconds. You have a hidden debuff placed on you once you go on it, which will prevent you from using the portal immediately again. So, in those 10 seconds, you can go through it about ~5 times if you’re spamming your interact keybind.
- Your enemies will know if you have a portal down somewhere on the map, due to a buff placed on you.
- The range of portal is 6,000. Which in a video game can be hard to measure. This will take some getting used to, but I will include maps of potential locations below.
- skcamow.3527: Always try and dodge, sword 2, F4, shield 4, or some other Mesmer CD when entering ports, this will protect you from what’s on the otherside

Considerations:
1) It has a long cool down
2) Potential to misplay it
3) Cost of bringing it over other skills.
4) Hard to effectively use without voice comms

1) It has a long cooldown
Portal has an interesting cool down mechanic. When you first lay down your portal entre, the skill is put on a hidden cool down. If you fail to lay a portal exit in 60 seconds, the cool down will be around ~12 seconds. Since it has a natural cool down of 72 seconds, it will be recharging in the background.

However, if you lay a port, you will have the full cool down of 72 seconds. This means that you only get to use port about ~8 times in any 10 minute PvP match (even less for shorter matches).

2) Potential to misplay it
Portal, while powerful, has plenty of opportunity for misplay which can put it on timer and make you look ridiculous (it happens everyone at one point or another, just ask my teammates).
- You can do a two foot portal, where you accidentally hit portal exit right next to portal entre.
- You can forget where you put your portal entre, causing you to be placed right in the middle of a team fight.
- You can go for a medic portal or lord rush, but have the 60s expire before you’re able to lay it down. Effectively leaving you stranded.
- You can set-up a lord push and place the portal, only to realize that it’s out of range.

The opportunities for misplay are as vast as the opportunities to effectively use it. So be careful.

3) Cost of bringing it over other skills
We all know that there are only three spots on the utility bar, for a Mesmer, each one is incredibly valuable. If you bring portal, you’re sacrificing a well, a signet, a mantra, or a manipulation skill. All of which could be used effectively in sPvP.

If you’re new to starting Mesmer, and don’t know how to use portal, don’t bring it because someone tells you to. Bring a skill that will help increase your survivability. Once you have that down, slowly integrate it into your skill bar.

4) Hard to effectively use without voice comms
If you’re using portal in solo que, it is going to be hard to get your teammates to actually follow the plays that you’re trying to do.

In TS or Discord, you can say, “take portal, take portal, take portal”, but in solo que you have to literally spell it out. So, try jumping on the portal, or pre-type it out prior to the match and have it copy/paste able when you’re in that situation.

As you can see, there are plenty of opportunities for the negatives to shine. Despite these cons, it is still widely considered the best and most used utility next to blink, so practice makes perfect in avoiding these errors!

Uses of Portal?
Portal has hundreds of uses, but I have narrowed it down to three broad categories. If you think I’m missing one of the usages, please tell me, I’ll add it in!:
1) Team plays
2) Solo plays
3) Misc.

1) Team plays
Outlined below are a few of many potential team plays with portal:

Medic ports:
If you recognize that your teammate(s) is low in a team fight, set the portal up on another node or safe space, drop it and allow him/her to go through it. While it has burned your CD, it is better than having him/her to go on timer.

Opportunistic match-ups:
Situation: Say your necromancer is fighting an engineer on a neutral point at home, while there is a 4v4 team fight happening at mid point. You want your necromancer in the team fight, not you.

Portal play: Set the portal at mid, move to home, open the portal and have your necromancer move through it. This allows you, as the condition Mesmer and better duelist, to keep the point neutral while your team fighter is in the correct spot at mid.

Situation: A 3v3 has developed on your home node, while a 2v2 is occurring at mid. Your 3v3 has a revenant, engineer, and necromancer. While your 2v2 has your ele and Mesmer. You need to place your ele in the larger home node to support your necromancer.

Portal play: Have your ele sustain the brief 1v2, while you set your portal mid, and move to home. At home, open up the portal, and go through it with you and your engineer. Then have your ele take it out to home. This will give your home node the proper sustain.

Open up stagnated fights:
Situation: Your team has been placed into a position where your fighting a 4v4 or 5v4 on your neutral home node, while they have a two cap across the map. If they have their bunkers on point, it may be hard to turn the fight.

Portal play: Set the portal on your home node, then move to mid. Open the portal at home, have your teammates move through it, and light up the enemy player that is sitting at mid. Then rotate a roamer to their home node.

Situation: Your at home node, where you have a 3v1, with one enemy currently being on timer, that means there is an outnumbered fight somewhere else on the map.

Portal play: Leave portal at home, allow the other two to clean up the fight. Move toward mid, then open the portal once the fight is done at home. This will allow another team member to quickly rotate into the mid fight.

Secondary mechanics:
Situation: The score is 351 to 364 on Legacy of Foefire. Your enemy team has a side point two cap, and you’re currently fighting a 4v4 on mid with a 1v1 on your enemies far point. Your team recognizes that you need lord to win the match.

Port Play: Set-up the portal at mid, break-off from the team fight, and move to the enemy gate. 1) Break down the gate, run further into the base and lay the port and have your teammates at mid run through it. 2) Open the portal at the gate and run in together.

2) Solo plays
Outlined below are a few examples of solo plays that you can make with portal.

Self-medic ports:
If you extended too far, got jumped by an out numbered fight, utilizing port can help you escape a losing fight. Since there is a delay from port placement to actually being able to use it, make sure to shield 4, sword 2, distortion shatter, while dropping it to protect yourself.

Watching your home or far node:
This is one of the most classic examples of solo portal plays. The logic is that you can rotate into a team fight, while being able to portal back to home if the enemy team tries to decap it. It was very prevalent in the last bunker meta, as well as this current meta with condition based mesmers being more ‘tanky’ than their shatter predecessors,

Situation: You cap your home node, while your team has a 2v3 fight on mid with a 2v1 fight on far.

Portal play: Place your portal on home, then move into your team fight at mid. Once your has killed the one player at far, be ready to take your portal back to home once he/she re spawns.

Decaps and forced holds:
Situation: Your team is not turning any fights, you need to set-up a play to rotate one of the enemy players out, so you can place someone on timer at mid.

Port play: Rotate out to the enemy’s far node, a roamer will typically be chasing you, once you get there (if the enemy is on you), place port and leave. Or, get the decap / full cap and leave.

This strategy will cause the enemy team’s player to sit and wait out the 60s portal timer. Or else, they will leave and allow you to get the quick back cap. Which will either cause a 5v4 (in your favor) on the rest of the map, or allow your team to get some movement off of a stalled fight.

Be wary about this, make sure that your team can withstand that +1 on the mid node if you decide to go for the back cap.

Stealth Portal Decap:
ResJudicator.7916
You’re pushing far point and the enemy rotates someone in to contest the point. Because you’re running power shatter, you now find yourself in an unfavorable 1v1. If you portal back to mid, chances are the enemy will stay until the portal closes to make sure you don’t double back through the portal to get a free decap. So what you can do is open the portal, wait until it’s about to close, then run on top of it and enter stealth. It will look like you entered the portal, and then the portal will close while you’re still in stealth, so the enemy will think it’s safe to rotate back towards mid fight. Easy decap.

3) Misc. portal plays
Below are a few examples of portal plays that have their place, but aren’t always used.

Portal stomp:
Portal stomps are a fun and interesting way to get the kill off, but blow a huge CD.
Here is Sensotix’s guide to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I2iLruBn2o

Here are a couple reasons to port stomp:
- Avoiding counter pressure, cc, or a down state ability
- You need to use the portal anyway to catch a roamer from decapping your point
- You just feel like it.

I don’t recommend portal stomping often unless you have a reason, since getting a 72s cd is not worth one stomp.

Revenant misplacement:
A revenant’s sword 3 will cause them to follow you through a port.

So, if you’ve rotated onto an enemy node, against a revenant, wait for him/her to pop his/her sword 3, use your port and place them away from you. This will allow you to get a decap.

This take’s decent timing, so be careful using it. Also, be careful using port when you’re low, you can bring in a rev by accident.

Pre-casting skills:
Skills like moa have a very noticeable skill animation and long cast time, making these skills very dodge able. If you have someone targeted on a node, you can take your portal away from port, pre-cast moa, and take it back.

Again, be careful of that hidden debuff that causes you to not be able to take a portal right away. If you’re not aware of it, it may cause you to blow a moa.

Current sPvP maps
Below are potential port locations (there are a countless number of options) for each map, the numbers are rough locations on where you can place them.

Excuse my horrible attempt at MS Paint, it’s really bad.

Legacy of the Foefire
1: Home node to mid node
2: Far node to mid node
3: Far node to lord push
4: Mid node to lord push

Forest of Niflhel
1: Home node to mid node
2: Mid node to far node
3: Elevated area for potential medic ports on mid

Battle of Kyhlo
1: Home node to mid node
2: Mid node to far node
3: Treb repair kit to treb

Temple of the Silent Storm
1: Home node to mid node
2: Mid node to far node
3: Home node to far node
4: Tranq to home node
5: Tranq to far node

Final Thoughts
I’ve only listed a few possibilities of what are endless plays with portal. Everyone makes mistakes with portal, and you will too. Always remember to communicate your portals and practice makes perfect.

- Caspian

+1, my client is crashing consistently now. It was fine before HoT. Also OOM issue.

Please address this. It crashes frequently in Verdant Brink and every so often in Heart of the Mists.

Looking for:

D/D Cele Ele
Cele Rifle Engi
Shoutbow
D/P Thief
(other classes as well! shoot me a pm)

Hey all,

I started Clockwork Black, only a few days ago, with the intention of creating a close knit guild/team that is focused on working together and performing well in both unranked and ranked sPvP (dabbling in PvE of course). Trying to do all of this while managing an intensive or time consuming real life – which means we focus on a game and real life balance.

If you’re interested in joining the team and starting something from the ground up, shoot me a PM. The only ‘application process’ is a quick couple duels.

Verock.8234.

Xyonon.3987:

Hm, I’m using staff and gs and if I want to hit a thief – well he dodges. Always, even when he attacks, it feels impossible to attack him. They often win 100:0 HP against me. I don’t have such problems with any other class. I tried to outplay them with some really good flashes and ports and it worked but I can’t rely on a good battleground all the time and even then the hitting shatters are lucky strikes.

Dueling a thief is a guessing game, especially S/D and their countless evades.

Vashury made a good video about fighting thieves.

Fay.2357:

JesseBensen.4817:

if you want to be “that guy” try running either 2/0/6/0/6 as hybrid shatter mesmer or 0/0/6/2/6 as full condition shatter. Both work amazingly well as a solo roaming build with scepter/torch staff, and require very little skill to play. At the end of the day though, its cheese in its ultimate form. -Priest of Lyssa

Actually, both of those builds are pretty awful. Running shatter builds without DE is a great way to get stomped by anyone competent.

Agreed, you need the extra clones.

In my experience with PvP (not WvW), the problem with condi mesmer is the burst. In a 1v1 fight, you may win. However, this can take upwards of 40-50 seconds. The condis continue to stack on, but there is nothing to close the gap. By the time you have your opponent downed, they’ll have another teammate on you for the 2v1.

The great part about power shatter is the heavy burst and disengage. You can provide that extra damage to down an opponent and move on. You can roam well. You can’t do this with a condi build.

It’s a fun build to play, but you won’t see competitive teams running it because it doesn’t have synergy with other classes (for the reasons mentioned above).

So right now I’m r51, been shattering the whole way. I’m a good shatterer, but my question is how do I bridge the gap to a great shatterer?

I’m running:
4,4,0,0,6: classic power shatter.
Sword/Torch: Generosity/Energy
GS: Fire/Air

Utilities:
Decoy
Blink
Mantra of Resolve

I want to learn how to six-man shatter and anything else that separate a the best from the rest. Can anyone point me to a guide or give me some tips?

Thank you! And happy holidays!

Fay.2357:

Verock.8234:

Fay.2357:

The biggest problem I’m seeing here is that you have literally 0 access to condition removal. If you get hit by anything, you’re just going to wilt. An engie hits you with blind, freeze, poison, burn, and bleed and suddenly you’re absolutely crippled. Phantasm casts will miss, you can’t move, you can’t heal, and you’re losing hp fast. You absolutely need at least some access to condition removal.

Agreed, that’s what I’ve been dealing with. I’ve been thinking about switching out signet of midnight for the condi cleanse mantra.

And with that change your entire build starts to fall apart. This why signet builds are almost always horrid across the board.

Swapping out signet of midnight substitutes one problem for another. Now you have no stunbreaks, meaning that if a hammer warrior jumps onto you…you just melt. Additionally, it makes blurred inscriptions a completely useless trait. Your only remaining signets are the heal signet and the stun signet. If you use the stun signet for distortion, you just wasted a 45 second cooldown for a 1s invuln. Similar story with the healing signet. If you happen to have a situation where you need a quick heal, phantasm refresh, and invuln…then it’s worth it. Otherwise, you’re wasting functionality in a big way.

Every build has their counters. So, what you’re saying is that I need to melt them before they melt me in terms of condi-heavy builds?

Any suggestions on improving the build? I’ve been doing well against Necros, for a condi-heavy example, each time I play them. It’s pretty easy to anticipate their moves and interrupt them / distort.

Fay.2357:

The biggest problem I’m seeing here is that you have literally 0 access to condition removal. If you get hit by anything, you’re just going to wilt. An engie hits you with blind, freeze, poison, burn, and bleed and suddenly you’re absolutely crippled. Phantasm casts will miss, you can’t move, you can’t heal, and you’re losing hp fast. You absolutely need at least some access to condition removal.

Agreed, that’s what I’ve been dealing with. I’ve been thinking about switching out signet of midnight for the condi cleanse mantra.

Hey everyone, I created my first build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQNAsaRnsISDaWhG2oB3aGR1YM9LpEDpCo0ds9IA-TpRAwAHOBAAeAAbOEAUOCA92fAdZAA

It’s a rupt / phantasm build. So far it’s worked very well. It focuses on rupting and stuns to allow the phantasms to chew into them. Since there is really no stealths / defense (like with a staff), you really have to rely on activating signets for distortions and good timing.

Problems I’m running into: CD’s, longer fights, and quick bursts from guards.

Can anyone help?

Thanks!

EDIT: sorry, forgot some pieces. I use rune of the krait, because with sharper images and the rupts, I can get 15-20 stacks of bleed on a target in no time.

Thank you for all the help!!

Gear
Full Zerker Armor (Rune of the Eagle)
- Should I switch my runes out? Or is Eagle fine?

Weapons:
GS (Zerker Stats + Accuracy)
Sword / Focus (Zerker Stats + Bloodlust / Force)
Sword / Pistol (Zerker Stats + Force / Accuracy)
- When running this I’ve taken your advice and gone S/F 5, GS 4, GS 2, Auto. What should be the rotation in dungeons with the S/F and S/P combo to get the most DPS?

Build:
10/30/0/30/0 (Thanks to Xyonon!)

Utilities:
Signet of the Ether
Mantra of Concentration
Mantra of Power
Mantra of Distraction
TW
- Are these good enough? Going for that +4% stat in the dueling line.

Stats:
Crit Chance: 62% or 67%
Crit Damage: 106%
Power: 2,061
Attack: 3,002
Precision: 2,136
Vitality: 1,234

Seriously guys, thank you for all the help! Only trying to run the most efficient dungeon build / PvE Phantasm build.

Okay guys, I need your help.

I’m currently running this build: https://dviw3bl0enbyw.cloudfront.net/uploads/forum_attachment/file/86943/BestPhantasmEver.jpg

Is it out of date?

I want to keep running a phantasm build in PvE, but I want to do as much damage as possible.

I currently am using Zerker gear that I don’t want to change. Can I the effective build with only changing the runes?

Also, I’m running S/F and GS. Is this the best idea in PvE?

Thank you!

pessimist.7294:

7/10 for the first name, because i really see alot of necromancers with the name Lilith running around even though i like it.
9/10 Thats a good one! I hope you also gave him a medieval look^^

My Mesmer twins:
Vilia and Veronique Di Genova, both human nobles.

Two very noble and mesmerish names. 9! Only because of the Di Genova, a little too noblelish for my taste, but it fits well.

My Human Mesmer: Sin Levone

My Human Thief: Cero Mesec (potential name, not for sure yet!)

I’d give a.. 9.5/10! I love the armor, the colors, but I’ve never been a fan of short hair on girl characters, that’s why I took the .5 off!

Here is my mesmer, Sin Levone!

WarriorOfAsgard.3705:

To clarify, is it next to the moon in multiple zones (ex. Brisban Wildlands and other areas), or one specific zone but seen from everywhere within said zone?

I saw this all over Queensdale last night, but I haven’t checked whether or not you can see it from multiple zones. If that answers your question.

I’m assuming the general concept is that the weapons themselves become more and more ‘flashy’ as you progress through the achievement.

I like the idea, but I don’t like the concept of having them tied to a certain dungeon or fractal.

I would approve more if they were their own separate set of weapons. This wouldn’t tie them down to anything in specific and their effects would be original.

SSalp.6423:

Dyeing the flames would be rather complicated i think. I, personally, am not a big fan of the cof armour.
And before they do that they have to add a 4th dye slot to asura t3 light :P

I don’t believe it would be as complicated as it seems. It could be solved by adding a 4th or 2nd dye spot on any given armor.

The second problem I saw occurring was dyeing the armor and then you decide you want the original ‘flame’ color back.

I have two solutions for that:

Make the ‘flame’ color something from the original dye set. (See below for a problem solution to having it be a ‘specific’ dye.)

Or adding a ‘remove dye’ option to that individual armor.

The latter of the options seems much more difficult, but it is a solutions nonetheless.

Another problem I thought of was the numerous amounts of shades of colors there are in this game and how they would crossover to being an actual ‘flame’.

To fix this I would just make the color of the flame correspond to the overarching color.

Such as Arrogance (a shade of purple) would just be.. purple. The inner of the flame is a lighter shade and as it progresses out as it gets darker.

Or, another example, Wrath (a shade of red) would return the flame to the original redish glow.

With all the new CoF armor running around, I’ll give you, ArenaNet, a chance to make a horde of people sing from the roof tops out of glee.

Are you guardians trying to look more holy-esque? Boom! Blue flames!

Necromancers feeling not so undead.. Use some nice green sparks.

Mesmers want something to really impress the crowd? Lets see that purple fire.

Thieves, are those flames giving you away when you’re sneaking through a building? Changes those suckers to a cool black glow!

Now, you may say, “but the dyes are already set up! You can’t change that!”
The gloves, however, have only one choice to dye it. If you could add a second spot it would cover the flames. Even if we could only change the flames on the gloves I’d be a happy happy camper.

The possibilities are endless. If you add the option to change the flame, it would make every player joyous and we’d have no more complaints, ever.