Guild Wars 2

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

I can think of quite a few other recent buffs/fixes.

- Empowering Mantras was previously bugged to be 2% per active instead of 4%. Now it’s properly 4%, i.e. twice the buff.
- Mantra of Concentration and Resolve are now AOE applications..
- Phantasmal Haste now works for Swordsmen.
- Phantasmal Wardens now follow the target properly.
- Illusionist’s Celerity is now a master trait rather than a grandmaster.
- The Prestige is now an actual stealth application rather than a crappy channel.
- Mind Spike now deals extra damage against boon-less targets.
- Signet of the Ether is one of the best heal skills in the game.

I’m sure there’s a bunch more but that’s what I’ve got off the top of my head. So yeah, nothing but nerfs, bad class.

Every class has received buffs and nerfs. The problem is how much they’ve received. Mesmer still has tons of bugs, and even some skills have numerous bugs.
By repeating a fool hundreds of times doesn’t make it more truth.

BTW, half of points you said have never existed or they’re wrong.

If you play peripherally, why do you call it frontline? From what you said about the numbers your guild play, it seems more a big group roaming than a guild zerguing.

But even when roaming, shatter build have way more damage and spike to chase light classes, this is just a worse version. You sacrifice what, 40% 50%…, of damage of a typical shatter build and a lot of reliability for not having IP, in exchange for boons your mates should give you, and the feeling you survive more, cause that 6 points in Chaos and Rege.

Would like to know how much burst do you have with that build and, as Wyrden said, some footage would be welcome to see if that build really works.

First, you say it plays like a shatter, but how you expect to shatter if IP is not traited and clones die in less than a second?

Then, if boons from BD were AoE, it could have some potential. But in a zerg people should be sharing boons, so I don’t see how wasting shatters for some boons anybody can share is such big thing…

Don’t put much hopes in a build if it “works” in a pugzerg. Any conservative build will shine there. In those situations, numbers prevail much more than group or individual skill, or build efficiency. In fact, bad builds tend to seem better, and more refined builds lose their potential.

pyro, know when it’ll be upload?? Couldn’t saw it, cause that 1am EU xd

Have you ever killed anyone who’s not a lowie or afk with that build?

For the last 2 weeks, I have switched between GS/Staff shatter and Power PU.
Power PU with GS/Staff is actually pretty good. You still have all the burst from GS, but also you can play more hybrid and defensively with the staff.

About Condi/Power PU, I think it all comes down to your playstyle. If you’re more an aggressive player and want to base the kills in bursts, you’ll find condi PU awkward.

Personally, I find Power PU more useful when roaming. Much faster to solo camps, quicker to travel, and much better when you join small groups.

I main mesmer, and have also played engi.

Both professions are not meant to have huge control over conditions, but they have enough ways to manage them pretty well. Of course in both you have to build for it, but that’s the reason they suffer from conditions. It was said in the balance live stream both classes official design is to have trouble against overload of conditions.

Speaking about engi, if you take Healing turret, Elixir C, Cleaning Formula 409 and Lemongrass you shouldn’t have any problems even against condi necros. It’s true you’ve to give up quite a lot of things, but the same happens to mesmer.

PD: It’s quite stupid to say engis have the lowest amount of condi cleansings of the game. thiefs are the ones that have the hardest time to control condis. And even mesmers have more difficulties than engis, as they’re a trait and utility class, and all condi cleansing they have are from there.

Kirito.9207:

Phantasms die when they’re touched and don’t attack when they’re looked at (iWarden..)

iWarden got bullied so much, now is a coward.

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

“All these long-cooldown/situational skills deal more damage than the auto-attack that I can use while stacking phantasms that also hit mobs constantly for massive damage.”

Oh, you mean with the mesmer you have to take care of you and 3 AI, plus all the time spent summoning them, while with other professions is just 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1. Or a simply rotation: A-2-3-4-B-3-2-5…

PD: Oh, and you know phantasms die… when they’re touched.

Guanglai Kangyi.4318:

I like how mesmer gets loads of buffs/fixes on a regular basis (Mind Spike being infinity damage, PHaste working on the best phantasm, insanely good heal skill when most classes got kitten, etc.) and people immediately start crying about a minor, obvious fix to a skill that no one ever used in the first place.

Mind Spike with no boons Coeff = 1.1
Backtab from back = 2.4
Heartseeker below 25% = 2
Eviscerate with 3 adrenaline = 3
Fire Grub vs Burning = 2.8

Such infinity damage…

PH, a bug that affected the core of mesmers and has been fixed after 1,5 years of knowledge of it. And, instead of becoming better over the time, as patchs were introducd, more phantasms had the bug.

Good heal… when warrior has even better passive healing without doing nothing, eles, guards and engis that can heal through other skills…

And no, noone used the teleport on iLeap. It was a mindblowing discover from two days ago, cmoon…

I wish you all the luck, the mesmer community has been lucky to have people like you, people you listed and many more.
If we all think what is has been done in this community, is pretty big. Thousands of guides and ways to use this amazing class.

Don’t know what devs have in mind with the mesmer, but really is not a profitable, enjoyable and useful class in the game.

I had some hopes from the last Balance Twitch since they were talking about mesmer issues, but, at least for me, issues are problems, things to improve. Not making things worst and narrowing the options for a profession.

kitten DEVS, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN YOUR HEADS!!!

AND STUPID CORRECTOR FROM THIS FORUM, I CANNOT EVEN SHOW MY RAGE, kitten.

So now we can only go condi PU, and GS/staff combinations.

This or wait for the devs to start fixing things and making changes to bring new things to mesmers…

The most irritating thing is I have just done Rodgort, but now Sword/X is starting to suck in a level even in raids I’m thinking to use GS/Staff…

Aitadis.8269:

Fay.2357:

LeoWolfish.8917:

So no duel swords for WvW then? I never got around to using the bug or WvW in general yet so I don’t know what it entailed anyway. I am still going to try and work around this I think.

Ok, here’s the deal. You used to be able to use ‘swap’ even after the clone died. It would move you to the clone’s last position and do the cleaving immobilize. This is the only thing that lets it be used in many situations.

In pve, the clone often gets instakilled by aoes, and this used to let you sorta plan a safe route to leap to and/or get through a nasty area. Now you can’t.

In pvp, the clone will often be cleaved down. You used to be able to use this to your advantage, sending the clone through a place you wanted to go to put a tether to go back to. Now you can’t.

In large group WvW, the clone dies almost instantly. The only reason this skill worked at all was this now removed functionality.

To expand on wvw and mainhand sword. Blurred frenzy will kill you on retaliation. The autoattack is not particularly high damage. Now the third skill is completely useless. I honestly can’t see a reason to use mainhand sword in wvw now. In fact, I only see reasons to actively avoid it.

Yep this nerf makes sword almost useless in WvW now and just makes PU condi builds more popular, what a joke.

There’s GS/Staff shatter build, it’s still pretty good, but only when roaming. In zergs it lose quite a lot of its potential, since GS suffers a lot from Reta and Staff support and survivability really don’t make a difference…

Clownmug.8357:

Berserker Mesmer is also sub-optimal compared to other classes in PvE. If that group didn’t know you were using condition gear could they really tell the difference?

A s/s s/f 6/4/0/4/0 build with reflections has pretty good DPS, if you can keep phantasms up.

kitten , that nerf is really strong.

Now sword only matters to autoattack DPS in pve…

This not only applies to mesmer, neither to most professions. This applies to ALL professions.

Even in necros, where condi builds are way more powerful, a zerker necro will outperform a condi nero in PvE.

Zerker meta in pve has been here for a long time, and there is no sign that is going to change in the future.

PD: So you have 3 options:
- Keep taking a condi emsmer in meta parties, make others be mad with you and make them kick you from the party.
- Adapt to meta and play with zerker mesmer.
- Try to only find parties that don’t care about what you bring.

But, but… but we’re just veilbots TT, we cannot even tag enemies TT

Amazing stuff Doiid just 2 things:
- Instead of sigil of energy, I run sigil of force. I find it more suitable for mesmer style, with such low weapon swap.
- I haven’t used sword trait, is that useful those 2,5s less of BF instead of blink with more range?

If only BF didn’t had the nerf…

I’ll only speak about mesmer:
- Our builds are not differentiated by general key words, like DPS, stealth… That doesn’t say anything about how the build is. We have our own vocabulary: Shatter, condi PU, power PU, lockdown, phantasm…
- It’d be interesting if you had tested the most popular and successful mesmer builds. Condi PU with Staff-Scepter/Torch, Hybrid PU with Sword/Torch-Scepter/Pistol, or the typical shatter with Sword/Torch-GS.

The rest, If this helps to you to chose the best build, then good for you.

BlackDevil.9268:

Nice video! Finally other mesmers using shatter in raid (:
If I got time after my exams I’ll upload (nearly) full zerker mesmer in raid. 1100 toughness, 1150 vit. 10-30-0-0-30 op.

Ty for the words, being using shatters for half a year.

There’s hardcore mode, god mode, and then Doiid mode with such deffensive stats xd

@adelaide Lately i’ve been trying 2/6/0/0/6 with triumphant Distortion to have more survivability. It’s true that Shattered Concentration lose its power as more are the enemies.
Anyway, there aren’t much other viable ways. GS is a secondary weapon set for me, so GS trait wouldn’t make much difference. Mender Purity really is pointless in zergs, where condi cleansing comes from eles, warriors and guards. And Glamour Mastery would be good if Glamours weren’t such situational skills, I don’t really feel the need to have shorter CD on glamours.

@Kaamau, yep Reta is kinda of a problem for mesmers. There’s a thread about Blurred Frenzy and how the nerfs affect us. I don’t drop everything at the same time cause of this problem. If BF could be like before when we had invulnerability…

Well, finally got my third compilation of my actuations in raid. Most of them are from second Tournament.

Been focusing on reaching high spike with mesmer, and some numbers are pretty high. Build is typical shatter boon-ripping.

PD: Doubleposted before, but it seems it doesn’t work

Well, finally got my third compilation of my actuations in raid. Most of them are from second Tournament.

Been focusing on reaching high spike with mesmer, and some numbers are pretty high. Build is typical shatter boon-ripping.

I don’t think when they’re talking about bumping AoE damage they’re thinking of Glamour Confusion. It’s been over a year since the nerfs, no changes have been made, and for what I understood I don’t see it being powerful again.

If they want to buff Confusion Glamours, or they bump them a lot (which doesn’t go with the filosophy compared to eles) or it won’t be worth, cause nowadays Shatter S/T bring way morew DPS than Glamour confusion.
Even if you make it more powerful, but with a limit of 5 targets, it won’t be worth. Would need a completely revision of how all glamour skills and traits work. Cause having 32s of CD for putting 3-4 stacks of confusion to 5 enemies, is worthless.

About the rest, mesmer isn’t in such a bad place nowadays. If some skills are bumped, like Blurred Frenzy, Mind Stab, Portal or scepter autoattack; and well known bugs are fixed, like IE and staff clones, iWarden or iLeap; and shatters receive some adjusts to make them more reliable, we would be in a pretty good spot.

PD: If you desire to tag, bring a shatter build and play melee. Tagging is pretty good, although it’s not like eles, necros or guards.

For Mind Wrack calculation, this may help you:

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/User:Relyk/sandbox/coefficient

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Does-compounding-power-affect-shatter/first#post3981088

Kjeldoran.3849:

Hello,
i just restarted playing gw2 after a break (some patches ago) and i’m having truble using my mesmer in pvp (… i have problems also with guardian… but, what strange, no problems with warrior and thief…).

1) illusionary leap -> fails almost every time also if the targe is in front of me but the is a small ground difference (like a tile slightly higher)
2) blink -> 50% of times teleport me back to my starting position after using it…
3) the prestige -> if i use it and fastly press over another skill it is interrupted and also the new skill is interrupted.
4) decoy -> 25% of times i dont get invisibility. I don’t know if it is a graphic bug but i feel like enemies can see me… and actually attack me also if i have the “invisibility” bonus in the boon bar)
5) phantasmal berserker -> if the target moves (or do something i don’t know) the close start running at enemy… instead of attack him and wait for whirling cd like it was used

So, how did you get rid of all those problem? I dont remember i had so many problems last time… thank you.

1) Leap skills have lots of bugs, it’s not only a mesmer problem. Illusionary Leap will hardly ever been fixed. It requires to redo how leap skills and ground work.
2) Seems to me more a connection issue than a Blink bug. Transportation skills also have a complex mechanic, but here I haven’t seen a pattern for a bug.
3) To me it seems more a ghosting problem than a game issue. May I ask which keyboard do you have? Just tested and I can use Prestige and Blink at the same time. Also used Prestige + Null Field and I don’t see what problems do you have.
4) Decoy works differently from stealth, it’s a different buff. You can have both stealth and Decoy activated, but durations don’t stack. Also, it can be used while revealed. About channeled skills, Jurica explained it well. If the enemy started an attack while having you tagged, Stealth doesn’t prevent you from taking damage.
5) One thing is skill range and another is phantasm attack range. Every phantasm has an internal range, so if the enemy is in it, it’ll attack, but if he doesn’t find anyone in range, he will move.
Haven’t seen internal range issues with iZerker.

Wyrden.4713:

guys , highest dmg possible in 1 sec :

eotm map, someones gonna use skill 5 of weap skills, u moa him, he uses moa 5 down the cliff

all ur arguments r invalid

You know you do 0 damage with that way? Falling damage doesn’t count as yours…

Apart from being the only invalid argument, yours is also stupid.

Just a worse version of the typical PU condi mesmer. Lack of clone generation, bad sigil/rune choices and too much dire gear = less crits = less vigor. Signet of Domination really doesn’t fit in this build.

It would work, but it’d be an average build. You’d do a much better job with the standard PU 20/20/30.

It’s not a lost of 7%, just 3% from 1st Mirror Blade to Mind Wrack.

But yes, better change Mantra of Concentration to Mirror Images and do:

Time Warp, Power Lock, Dodge, Mirror Images, Diversion, The Prestige, Power Lock, iZerker, Mirror Blade (Start doing damage, counting Mirror Blade, iZerker, Power Spike), Power Spike, Blurred Frenzy, Mind Wrack, Power Spike.

Build would be http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhQQNAsfRl0npGtdqxENUrNiqxgquI9BBERp7Y7BA-T1RBABXt/o8DP9BLcEAy7UAAwDAgS1fMTJYAAEAn38m38m38czbezbezbWKgHGWB-w

And all attacks are done with 25 stacks of vulnerability.

I know how it works. With the other build, I used all 2 stacks of Power Lock, so I was losing 4%. With an extra stack, I win it.

Also it’s a 4% more damage than your build, since you have 3 mantras and I have 4.

RNG doesn’t count, so all hits crit. That means is a flat 13% boost damage. Also, you need to count mantras have an extra stack, so it would be another 4% more damage from power lock.

So, I lose 100 power from shatter might, 7% of damage for half of hits, 4% of damage for the other half, 1 mirror blade and 1 shatter (which means MW hits 25% less). And I gain 17% boost damage and 3/4 of BF.

In terms of coefficients, I gain 1,8 with BF and lose 1,74 with Mind Wrack, Mirror Blade and Cry of frustration.

wads.5730:

pretty sure 10% damage is better than 200 power.

also with your rotation you’re losing out of 3% damage from using power lock twice.

i put mirror blade before all other damage because it gives you might stacks as well as vuln on target. i’m also pretty sure you can’t get blurred frenzy in there, there isnt enough time.

That food you use is not that good as you think. +200 power when you have 2800 is roughly a buff of 7% for damage.
Also, you forgot about the ferocity, which is nearly an extra 5% more damage.

And you waste time casting skills. With my combination, Mirror Blade, Power Spike and iZerker hits at the same time. You need to count the 0,75s of delay from phantasms.
And yes, with just 1s you won’t finish BF, but in an ideal situation, there’s enough time to do 6/8 hits. You start using BF just a fraction after the initial spike.

About my rotation, after thinking more, I forgot there’s an internal CD between shatters. Then, as all hits are crits, 30 points in Illusions only helps Mind Wrack and Mirror Blade, while putting 30 in Duels you boost all your hits.
This is how I’d change it all:

Build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhQQNAsfRl0npGtVpxENUrNiqxgquI9BBERp7Y7BA-T1RBABXt/o8DP9BLcEAy7UAAwDAgS1fMTJYAAEAn38m38m38czbezbezbWKgHGWB-w

Rotation:
Time Warp, Power Lock, Dodge, Diversion, The Prestige, Power Lock, iZerker, Mirror Blade (Start doing damage, counting Mirror Blade, iZerker, Power Spike), Power Spike, Blurred Frenzy, Mind Wrack, Power Spike.

How buffs work:
Mirror Blade_1: Might= 0, Vulnerability= 18.
iZerker: Might= 0, Vulnerability= 18.
1st Power Spike: Might= 0, Vulnerability= 18.
The Prestige: Might= 3, Vulnerability= 18.
Mind Wrack (2 illusions): Might= 3, Vulnerability= 18.
Mirror Blade_2: Might= 3, Vulnerability= 21.
Blurred Frenzy 1_2: Might= 3, Vulnerability= 21.
Blurred Frenzy 3_4: Might= 6, Vulnerability= 21.
Blurred Frenzy 5_6: Might= 6, Vulnerability= 21.
2nd Power Spike: Might= 6, Vulnerability= 21.

Just to note that the pre-damage restriction affects a lot to the mesmer burst, a big part of our damage comes from illusions, so we need time to set everything to deal our biggest burst.

Anyway, my combination would be:
Time Warp, Power Lock, The Prestige, Power Lock, Diversion, iZerker, Mirror Blade (Start doing damage, also iZerker), Power Spike, Blurred Frenzy, Mind Wrack, Miror Images, Cry of Frustration, Distortion, Power Spike.
Build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhQQNAsfRl0npGtdqxENUrNiqhg6ufXT6DBiUqSA-T1RBABXt/o8DP9BLcEAy7UAAwDAgS1fMTJYAAEAn38m38m38czbezbezbWKgHGWB-w
Tips:
- Nearly all burst is done with 24 stacks of vulnerability.
- You should count 6/8 hits of Blurred frenzy, as it fully last 1,5s with quickness (coefficient is from full 8 hits).
- You also have to count +200 power from Plate of Truffle Steak Dinner, so initial power is 3088.
- Might stack is really difficult to calculate, since shatters are done while hitting with Blurred Frenzy.

I also think shatters on ourselves should be a core mechanic. It’ll bring us a not so AI-dependent playstyle.
But putting double CD on shatters without illusions and halved damage with no IP makes it worthless for shatter builds, better spend 2 points more and take Illusionary persona, just cause double CD’s cripples your build a lot and there’s no reason to take even any GM trait for that huge DPS lost.
Also, it bumps all other builds that are not centered in shatters, putting shatterbuilds in a worse situation.
Think about any OP PU build that also can activate shatters when they have no illusions… We don’t need more forum criers whining about how OP are mesmers.

Temporal Curtain and Into the Void (pull) are far from being OP. In fact, even with no internal CD, the pull was not OP.

Only back in betas they’re OP, but just cause you could stack swiftness the times you wanted.
When the game started, the nerfed that swiftness stack in such a way the whole weapon got surpassed by other OH weapons. it only remained used in WvW, since the pull was pretty good.

When they put the 1s internal CD they completely converted the good pull in a meh skill, only useful to disturb noob and mindless people in walls.

But this was not the end of nerfs to focus. They had that amazing nobel idea to change iWarden mechanic back in 2013 December. Even with several fixes, iWarden is still quite bugged and completely useless in WvW.

Since then, the tremendous hated at first torch has taken the first place in OH useful weapons in WvW. No way an erratic and telegraphic pull that only works on noob players can surpass a skill that grants a blast finisher, brings good spike damage and also brings you a lot of survivability with stealth.

In fact, the pull is much better in dungeons than in WvW. There it serves to stack spread mobs, which will never be able to evade the pull.
But in WvW, the pull is just a very situational skill, that only is useful against useless enemies. Any player with a little knowleadge of WvW will see the pull and evade it.

About zergs, the fact that pulls 360º makes it not so useful. Why to use a pull skill if it spreads enemies? The purpose of any pull skill is to stack enemies so your team can do a stacked spike damage….

PD: Pulling down from the wall will only work if the enemies are in the edge of walls. Just being behind the outgoing parts of the wall will prevent you from falling. And that’s the reason why the focus pull is not OP in any way.

Askadia.4395:

Speaking from a roaming-perspective, maybe sPvP is different.

Fixed for you.

1- Blink. Not a single skill brings that much as blink. If traited, it gives you insane mobility both in combat and OOC. Best skill when zerguing, as it allows you to be everywhere you want.

2- The Prestige. Awesome skill that grants huge survivability and also has great spike damage. Also, having the only blast finisher in mesmers makes it even better.

3- Portal. One of the funniest skills of all game. Even it’s very situational, how I love being able to solve puzzles with portal tricks. If it had a range indicator and a timer…

Restorative Illusions is useless, unless you pick IP. The trait is bugged so with IP the based heal is counted twice, and healing are reasonable. But even with both IP and RI, the healing is not that awesome.

Was testing 0/2/0/6/6 S/S+GS before the critical damage nerf, and it wasn’t an ideal build. Yes, I had tons of survivability, but the damage was pretty meh, and it require lots of skill to manage to be success.
With the introduction of Ferocity, the build is no longer worth. Damage has gone, and with no other role than self-healing, it’s easily outperformed by other options.

Azo.5860:

Ansau.7326:

selan.8354:

Shadowflare.2759:

I think at this point I’ll concede and say that reducing the number of strikes is a reasonable change, however invulnerability is still not.

wat? no i dont want the numbers of stikes reduced!!!we are asking for the reverting of that nerf as in the current meta in wvw. blurred frenzy was by no means op in wvw. then revert the nerf in wvw only and not in spvp. but in wvw its needed!

It’s not a reduce of strikes, but more a commonsense with what you see and what is registered in combat. Damage would not be modified, neither mechanic of the skill, just you would take half of Retaliation as we take now.

It means make BF mechanic with Higher (ex: 2x) skill co efficient with lower hits (ex: 1/2)

Skill coefficient doesn’t need to be changed. Just what you see in the game screen and in the combat dialog will match. Instead of 8 500ish, you would see a 4 1000ish.

Do you know how BF works in combat log? Hits appears per pairs, and its impossible to get impair number of hits unless you kill the enemy with one of them, cause the next pair number hasn’t a chance to appear.

It’s a broken mechanic. A skill that slashes 4 times, but each hit counts as two in combat, and other mechanics, as block or retaliation count it twice.

Grok.6714:

Maybe you could join one of the countless Latin American guilds on Baruch…

Yes, I also don’t understand why the Spanish flag…

We all love tacos.

selan.8354:

Shadowflare.2759:

I think at this point I’ll concede and say that reducing the number of strikes is a reasonable change, however invulnerability is still not.

wat? no i dont want the numbers of stikes reduced!!!we are asking for the reverting of that nerf as in the current meta in wvw. blurred frenzy was by no means op in wvw. then revert the nerf in wvw only and not in spvp. but in wvw its needed!

It’s not a reduce of strikes, but more a commonsense with what you see and what is registered in combat. Damage would not be modified, neither mechanic of the skill, just you would take half of Retaliation as we take now.

The GS/Staff shatter build is more oriented to roaming and sPvP. In zergs it lose a lot of its potential.

You need to be in melee to make shatters 100% reliable without the need of illusions. If you’ll be spending most of the time ranged, there’s no need to fully invest into Illusions, and you just become a veilbot survival mesmer.

And about weapons:
- Staff is a slow and defensive weapon with long CD’s, so not a viable option in zergs, when defense there is primary mobility and group support. It’s also taken by beginners as it’s a very easy weapon to use, but when you start getting skilled, quickly you discover its flaws.
- GS gets better as you get more ranged, but also suffers a lot with retaliation. That makes a good option for a secondary weapon set.

About BF, I think making it x4 instead of x8 would solve the problem while not affecting its performance in other game modes. It’s quite rare, as the skills slashes only 4 times, and the number also scales 4 times, but in combat reg it appears like if you did 8 hits.

Week 15:
Friday at 15:25, Deso is 4800 points ahead Baruch. And, in the most epic and amazing afternoon I’ve ever experienced, we manage to catch Deso and finally win them for just 396 points.
From those ~4800, only 2700 were from ticks. The control of ruins was astonishing, not letting Deso to have the buff.
Don’t know why, but around 17:00 Deso forgot about ruins and they let the epicness to be real.

Don’t you think I haven’t tried to play non-meta builds in every game mode?
In zergs, I’ve tested power shatter, condition shatter, PU, clone death, mantra support, power phantasm, reflection, zergmower…
And it’s not like power shatter is better than others, but more that those others end up being just veilbots with minimal impact during the fights.
Only zergmower has a place against pug zergs, but even there, you still rely too much on RNG and sometimes it fails to do it best.

Meta builds are not playe cause they’re the fanciest, but cause they’re the most effective. Unluckily for us, this game is more a Build Wars 2 than a Skill Wars 2. There’re few top builds than melt any other form of meta, even if they’re played by really skilled players.

Good idea, but far from being optimal.

1- IP is better than MtD even for roaming, and is zergs there’s no reason to bring a shatter build if you don’t take IP. All AI die in less than a second in a ZvZ, so you need to makes shatters 100% reliable. Less than that means lowering the effectiveness of the build.

2- Without IP, don’t know why you also prefer not having DE. How will you create illusions to shatter?
Scepter autoattack is way to slow to be your main source of clones to shatter. And Staff creates even less clones.

3- In zergs, Direct damage>>>>>>>>Conditions, unless you’re a necro that can spam tons and tons of conditions and being immortal with the healing through them.

Also, people misunderstand an optimal zerg build with a build that tags a lot. Unless you go with a pug blob, where skill and personal performance doesn’t matter, a build with high DPS or high support will be way more useful than a build that just tags.

I mainly raid as a mesmer, but I also have tried the engi.

Nowadays the best you can bring is bomb healer. Tons of healing, support and still good damage.

Nades have a hard time with zergs being bigger than they used to. With zerg you’ll be normally facing +30, and with that numbers, retaliation is a true killer.

If you want to be shatter in zergs, your main weapon set should be sword/torch, and play an in&out tactic trying to coordinate prestige, BF and shatters. You can reach nice bursts and even pretty high numbers if you raid in a dedicated guild.
Also, with Shattered Concentration you’ll be one of the best boon-removals in the game.

Together with D/D ele, shatter mesmer is the most skilled build to bring in zerg fights, so be prepared xd

Doiid, I’ve seen you’re using that trait. I’m using the typical 20/20/0/0/30 boon ripping, but don’t know if Triumphant Distortion is worth over Shattered Concentration.

Look for the Zergmower, a standard shatter build, or a power PU. These are the best options.
PU being the easiest and safest, Zergmower, really fun but only suitable against pug zergs and shatter builds being the most skilled, but also the most rewardable with highest DPS and boon-ripping if you run Shattered Concentration.

Don’t bother with support or lockdown. They lose a lot of effectiveness in zergs and other professions can do it much better than us.

Carighan.6758:

mrauls.6519:

Remove AoE boons o_O whaaaat

We already do that, with Null Field.

And shatters with Shattered Concentration.

That build is from the start of the game, back 1,5 years ago. The game has changed a lot since then. Sorry but there’s no way to improve it unless you change drastically the traits, which means you’re no longer playing that build.

From watching his videos, I see he’s playing more a phantasm build. You could try with a phantasm lockdown (20/20/30/0/0).