Guild Wars 2

I have been away from the game for a while, but with the recent patch I am going to collect some different armor-sets and play around with some specs. In that regard I am wondering what type of runes are preferable to the different sets/specs?
I am mostly doing PvE and some WvW.

Crafting comes to mind. Expensive though and you don`t really get to learn anything.

Excellent thread. Voted for sticky.

Obals PvE-guide might do the trick. A lot of goodiness in there:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/guardian/Guide-DPS-Guardian-for-PVE/first

Personally, I love my Guardian. Sure, damage on my mesmer is better, but the playstyle of my AH-specced Guardian suits me way better. My survivability-rate is much better in both PvE and WvW when I play my Guardian. I have always preferred support-roles in MMOs and for me the Guardian is superior to the Mesmer, mostly because of the playstyle. Solo-content is also easier compared to the Mesmer. My guess is that I like my Guardian better because I am getting older, slower and lazier

Ah, too bad then. So, if I don`t want Shatter, Phantasm-build is the way to go and focusing on Power/Prec/Crit?

Hello. I am thinking of getting back to GW2 after a looong break. I am just wondering if there are any significant changes to Condition Mesmer in PvE? Is it viable? Thinking back, Shatter-specs weren`t the thing for me and I found Condition fun, but lackluster at the time. Ended up leveling a Guardian instead. But if Condition is a viable option now as Mesmer (no, I won`t roll a Necro ^^), which build and gear to use?

How is this Rune in PvE?

Solkard.5136:

As I understand it, a Mesmer’s offense and defense is based around using their copies to draw agro and to deal damage. In the low levels, none of my illusions draw agro and only 1/5 of them do any damage. It’s not even a question of if they do good damage, it’s just 0’s popping up.

At what level do the illusions start doing damage? Currently it feels like the fastest way to kill something is to let it put you into a downed state, stack it full of confusion, and let it kill itself.

I had not imagined a class could be this painful to try and play. I seriously want to slap Anet’s whole QA dept. upside the head for passing this.

There is a difference between Clones and Phantasms. Roughly speaking you can look at the Phantasms as the damage-dealers and the Clones as fodder. This is a REALLY rough scenario though. It all depends on the spec and playstyle. As said before: all is better after 40 (leveling-wise) when Deceptive Evasion is available and Shatter gets much easier.

Edit: messed up the names. Fixed now.

Made my only lvl.80 character (mesmer) human because I believed armor and weapons looked best on human (still think so). Now I regret not making my mesmer an Asura, mainly because I find humans boring.

Overlord.7394:

One more problem, I find roaming very VERY difficult with lack of swiftness but I guess that just comes with being mezzy

I have the same issue. I am switching a bit between two builds . One uses Sw/Focus + GS (Phantasm), the other Sc/Pistol + Staff (Condi) and I REALLY miss the swiftness when I use spec 2. On another note I REALLY like the playstyle from a condi-spec. It`s just a matter of adjustment really. Haven`t decided what to go for yet

I have a human mesmer with a condition-build and mainly Rabid-gear.
I am pretty satisfied with him, but I really, REALLY regret not making him an Asura. There is just something about Asura mesmers. I feel they are the true mesmers, maybe because they way they look and act. Sneaky kittens

Well, I went all out and swapped all my gear and weapons and respecced. Fortunately I am a member of The Order of Whispers, so I got my hand on some gear right away. I also had quite a lot of karma and bought some rings and accessories from the karma-vendor at the Cathedral of Zephyrs. All in all it is quite fun. It`s a slow starter and little to none burst (as expected), but it is satisfying seeing all those small numbers add up. I am not used to the scepter yet, but is see the point of using it in this build, even though it is a weak weapon in itself. Stats are roughly 2100k attack, 1800 toughness, 1250 Condition Damage and 16000 HP. It`s just a start, but I think this is a build I can like.
Thanks to OP for a terrific guide

Interesting. But what about the scepter-trait? Not worth going 20 points into for +200 condition dmg while wielding scepter?

Hello. I really like the idea of this build, but I have a few questions. As a PvE-player and freshly dinged 80 (some WvW, but not a lot), how does this build perform in PvE? I have tried quite a few specs, but I haven`t found the one for me yet. I don`t like pure Shatter-builds much, so the idea of clones messing up foes no matter how they die is really appealing to me. What adjustments do I have to do to the build to make it work in PvE (if any)? I am also wearing mostly Berserker-gear atm and I guess I have to make some adjustments (Rabid in PvE?). I often find myself missing the type of gameplay I had on my shadowpriest from that other game. Slow in the beginning, but when you got the DoTs stacking………

I am old(ish). I am slow. I play Phantasm. Yeah, I said it.

I just made a Charr Guardian. I usually never play a heavy armor class or the big, bulky races, but somehow a Charr Guardian was just right for me.

Hi. I know there are a million builds out there, but I am having a real difficult time thinking of a one for me. My focus is mainly PvE, but maybe with some WvW from time to time. I have used Staff and Sword/Focus most of the time, but was also using Greatsword while leveling. I like Staff/Sword+Focus, but last night in CoF I started thinking about maybe combining Staff/Greatsword. A build which could justify the combination of all three would be nice, but I am not sure if that means I can use all of the weapons-specific traits. I am using my Phantasms most of the time now, which means I am not shattering all that much. Maybe not the wisest choice? Does anyone have a suggestion for a build.?

Also, what gear should I focus on?

Have done some more testing of the Asura and the animations are cool, but you are right. The weapons…….
Also tried a Charr for a bit actually. Not sure what I think of it yet.
Story-wise I don`t know who has the best.
Sylvari and Norn are still a no-go. No interest in them whatsoever.

I am going to create a Thief of some sort and I am struggling to choose between Human and Asura. I have a lvl. 65 Human Mesmer which I regret (like REALLY regret) not making an Asura, but I like the way medium armor look on humans. The animations on Asura is cool, but the weapons look better on humans.
I know this is a subjective matter, but what did you guys choose and why?

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