This is my Agents of Chaos build; http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAW8dnsICNqhdqBuqBUrhFWDiMBBI4lPY4XDNL/cKA-TpBBABHcQAA4CAExDAQw9HC5IAIWZAA
I’ve been using this build on my Mesmer since I created it. I tried the sw/sw approach, I tried s/f, s/t, s/p, sw/p; I never really liked any of them. Before the condition changes in the June 23rd feature patch, I had been using my staff as my main weapon for a couple of reasons:
*It’s rotation is fluid as kitten.
*Staff clones don’t do damage, but they’re bouncing conditions do.
*It offers excellent utility and defensive capabilities, and unsurpassed group management. I can facetank a champ with this no problem, and never even get downed, but I can just easily tank 3 veterans and all their little friends and achieve the same results.
*Chaos. Chaos for days.See, I originally started it as a pve build. I found that I was dying a lot in the early levels using most other weapons; exception being sw/sw, but I just didn’t like the play style. I did like GS, but it just doesn’t do the job for what I wanted. So, I picked up the staff. Suddenly, I had 3 clones up at all times, they were all attacking and applying random condi’s and boons, and I watched my condition damage stack on and exponentiate faster than I thought possible.
Running around with a guildmate of mine, she took note of how I played my mesmer, and told me I should try it in PvP. So I did. It wrecks face there, too.
Here’s the strategy:
Draw the enemy into your Chaos Storm, and 2 out, casting a free chaos armor on yourself and generating your first clone. Immediately cast mirror images, or cast decoy and dodge roll away. Suddenly you have 3 clones bouncing bolts off your enemies.
Now. The kicker.
Ignore that shatter button. Ignore it completely. You don’t need it yet. There are fights where you’ll never need it.
Never.
This seems kind of wrong, right? It’s not. Those clones of yours stack conditions and boons like crazy, and once fully traited, the damage is admirable. The closer your clones are to the enemy, the better; less travel time on the conditions. Watch as 2, 3, 4, 9, the number doesn’t really matter, fall to your chaotic onslaught. As long as you keep Chaos Storm down on the highest concentration of enemies/idiots, and keep your clone train rolling, you’re virtually unstoppable.
Now, the awesome thing is, you have those 4 lovely shatter buttons waiting to be pressed. You CAN press them. I’ll blow up my first 3 with F2 for confusion on higher level enemies, and then blow up my next 3 with Wrack for burst if I am in a hurry. Otherwise, I pretty much let them sit there and bounce stack conditions. That shatter button is tempting, but it’s only for situational usage. Or confusing the kitten out of an enemy player…
Anyways. I’ve been trying to find someone with more experience than I who runs a build similar to mine, with the same sort of play style as mine. Most are overly focused on shattering, and don’t make full use of the beauty that is Winds of Chaos.
This build is actually amazing.