Guild Wars 2

I wouldnt bother with traits until you are level 40 that way you get plenty of points to spend. How do you currently play? How do you want to play? Shatter? Phantom? Condition?

Have you thought about going into the Mists? you get boosted to level 80, all utilities unlock, all weapon skills unlocked and all Trait points to spend. That way you can see what kind of options you have

i have a Level 80 Mesmer and have ALL the Utility skills as well as the 3 Mesmer Elites and i was wondering are the Racial Elites worth getting? I heard the Druid Spirit was very bugged, didnt give regen, slow attack and such – has this been fixed?

What about the Hound? The Elite i use the most is Mass Invis currently, used to be Time Warp and have never used Moa (i hate it!)

Palu.3405:

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

No i mean of course you wouldnt be able to get BOTH the battle ones to proc if you had 2 ogf the same sigil (such as Battle in your example)but if you had Battle and say Doom they BOTH should proc

Yes, I realize that. I’m trying to emphasize the point that two sigils would be very unbalanced. Dual Air/Fire sigils would also be a prime example of this. Combining Geomancy and Doom would also be pretty potent. The same case could be made for a large range of sigils. Making all sigils have unique cooldowns would make dual-wielding the default and would leave 2H weapons in the dust.

Unless they added 2 sigil slots to 2handed weapons. I think this would lead to a great variety in both weapons and sigils – The only rule i could see that would need to be introduced, not having 2 of the same sigil on it – IE no double Doom, or double Battle

Palu.3405:

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

Palu.3405:

You can’t have two on-swap weapon sigils on the same set. The way you currently have it set up, you should have a 50% chance for Doom to proc and a 50% chance for Battle to proc when you switch to Scepter/Pistol. You need to pick on or the other; using both is wasting a sigil slot because both cannot activate at once.

Good old Anet, only they would do something so stupid. Its the reason why i am having to change my sigils to begin with because they think that having Earth proc should put ALL Sigils that have an effect on cool down…

I agree that if you have Earth on each set then it should be on its 3second cool down (i think) Sigils of different kinds should NOT put another on cool down. Same goes wit h2 on switch Sigils on the same set, BOTH should proc then BOTH go onto cool down.

I believe a lot of this sigil business has to do with them trying to balance 1H weapons vs. 2H weapons. The fact that all weapons get one and only one sigil means that 1H weapons are at an advantage because you can use two sigils by wielding two 1H weapons. Imagine if both sigils procced when you switched weapons. Let’s look at a hypothetical scenario below:

Let’s say you have four 1H weapons. Let’s say it’s scepter/pistol and sword/focus just for fun. Now let’s say you have a sigil of battle. Every 9s you can put six stacks of might on yourself which would last at least 20s each depending on boon duration. That means that it would be reasonable that you could maintain 12 stacks of might at all times if you’re regularly swapping weapons. A difference of six might would be very large and would steer people away from using staff and greatsword. Also, consider someone using both Air and Fire sigils on their weapons? Getting double procs of burst like that would be huge and would make dual wielding much more favorable for combat.

Ultimately, I agree that the way sigils work isn’t very well explained and there could probably be a better way of doing it (like maybe giving 2H weapons to sigil slots) but I do understand why things are in their current state.

No i mean of course you wouldnt be able to get BOTH the battle ones to proc if you had 2 ogf the same sigil (such as Battle in your example)but if you had Battle and say Doom they BOTH should proc

Palu.3405:

You can’t have two on-swap weapon sigils on the same set. The way you currently have it set up, you should have a 50% chance for Doom to proc and a 50% chance for Battle to proc when you switch to Scepter/Pistol. You need to pick on or the other; using both is wasting a sigil slot because both cannot activate at once.

Good old Anet, only they would do something so stupid. Its the reason why i am having to change my sigils to begin with because they think that having Earth proc should put ALL Sigils that have an effect on cool down…

I agree that if you have Earth on each set then it should be on its 3second cool down (i think) Sigils of different kinds should NOT put another on cool down. Same goes wit h2 on switch Sigils on the same set, BOTH should proc then BOTH go onto cool down.

what kind of spec are you running?
Hows your gear? (though not as important)

What weapons are you using? I think Greatsword is the best for leveling, its easy to use, powerful and the iZerker and crush multiple targets.

I think iWarden would have been better if it was a ground target-able skill because as it is, its VERY hard to get any use from it, if it was Ground target-able you would be able to use it more easily both offensively and defensively

Its not in my opinion that great in small groups, In zergs its great though
However, i would chain together some Stuns to really make it affective, any player will move out of it so the best you got is to stun them, Sig Of Dom and the Mantra of Distraction when combined is like 4 seconds of stun/daze

Still in my opinion, thats having to use 2 Utilities to make it worthwhile, which it just isnt. It wouldnt be so bacd if it followed the target reasonably but it seem they have to go out of like 1200 for them to chase them down, despite Warden range is like 300 or something silly

Mmmm, it seens you have to wait 15second before swapping weapons for it to proc again. After 10 seconds it didnt proc, will try for 11, 12, 13 and 14seconds and see where the perfect timing is

But as the weapons have a 10second cool down, they shouldnt affect each other right?

zexion.5842:

Q: Can I change the sigils?

A: The sigil on staff no. The sigil on scepter/X yes. I pick perception because you only get 49% crit chance in Best in slot gear. However if you have BiS gear you can drop sigil of perception for bloodlust or corruption.

zexion.5842:

Q: Why stop at 1000 condition damage?

A: Conditions stop scaling well after a certain area. That area is between 900-1000 condition damage. If you look at the damage difference between 1000 and 1400 condition damage it is extremely minimal and not worth it at all (bleed only gains about 20ish damage which isn’t good for the amount of condition damage needed). That 400 stat is better spent in power since mesmers rely on both and there will be times where you can’t use conditions.

Surely these 2 are contradictory?
If 1,000 condition damage is enough and any more is minimal increase in damage why would you take corruption? As this would add like 15(or so) damage do conditions, wouldnt Power be better for the overall attack? or even go for something like Battle or Doom?

Or, as its a PvE build does it not really matter that much?

I was wondering what guys think of having Doom on the main weapon and the offset weapon?

Currently i am running with a Greatsword(Earth), Scepter(Corruption) and Pistol/Focus(Doom) but seeing as how the procs from Earth can interfere with Doom proccing i was thinking about going this route:

Scepter: Battle
Pistol/Focus: Doom
Greatsword: Doom

I was thinking about having Battle on the Greatsword, combined with Mirror Blade i could hit 15stacks of Might if played right but as soon as i would swap to off hand set those would soon die off before i could switch again so thinking that having them on the offhand and timing it just right i might be able to keep them long enough before i can return to Greatsword with a Mirror Blade.

Having Doom on both sets could mean having Poison on target for 5seconds, every 10seconds (or or take the situation) – i would likely go into combat with my offset weapon (Scepter+Pistol/Focus) instantly switch after combat triggered to get the 5 seconds, then burst the illusions and Mirror Blade ready for when i can switch back to offhand and another 5seconds of Poison + Might

What do you guys think?

Very interesting, some have gone for some VERY un-mesmer like weapons and armor skins.

I am far from full condition, Using the Greatsword adds that extra damage, combined with iZerker and the bleed on crits, the trait for reduced cool down and Mirror Blade means quick clone and Phantom spawns as well, the added Might and Interrupt is very nice as well.

I have 2,100 Attack, 1,399 Condition damage, 42% Crit Chance and 2,684 Armor (1,869 Toughness) i run full Undead runes as well

zexion.5842:

http://gw2.hazno.net/

condition damage calculator

I will test sigil of earth and battle

The difference between 1000 and 1400 is 23 damage per bleed tick. Which isn’t amazing (for the amount of condition damage you have to invest) and is better off set by the amount of power or crit you can get. It’s also better for times where you can’t do conditions and all you have is your phantasms and scepter or sword. And if you have might it’s even more worth it to have lower condition damage as again the more you have the less you get in return after a certain point.

Per a Bleed, how much damage would that be dealing over the course of a 1minute fight. Having 10stacks on at all times (which is VERY easy)? It all adds up. Though i think i will be looking into other gear with stats that dont include Condi damage, as i want to keep Sig of Dom for the CC think i will also replace my Corruption sigil as well

Thanks for the info, yeah i had a feeling that they shared a cooldown. Just need to decide what would be the better replacement. Thinking about Scepter = Might, Offhand = Doom and Greatsword Doom

Pyroatheist.9031:

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

Levitas.1953:

The problem is not to land it but to burst down the moa, iirc it counters lich and plague form while i read somewhere it does not work on DS, but I didnt test it.

Then that changes things, i swear it used to not work on transformed characters, didnt work on ele Tornado either – maybe even Warrior Rampage and the Engi Elixir as well.

No-one really uses rampage, tornado, or the elixir.

Moa is used to counter lich form, plague form, and it used to burst down a bunker guardian.

I LOVE Tornado on my Air Ele ^^
Rampage i still see being used by some warriors, the Elixir i agree i dont see anyone with it due to it being rubbish

zexion.5842:

Sigil of battle should not share an ICD with sigil of earth (weapon swaps and crit chance sigils shouldn’t share an ICD) if it does I will swap it for flat 5% damage.

I put everything on max for the best optimized. People can obviously downgrade if they want.

It’s not too much at one time. Yea it’s kinda a micro mangaging spec but it’s not taking more then it can chew. Phantasms are only used for fillers when you can’t make a clone or when you can’t apply conditions. Shattering is only when you have your clone summoning back up or you need to remove boons or interrupt. Illusions will be doing most of your work.

Mesmers conditions have also been a hybrid sort benefiting from both condition damage and power at the same time and since condition damage stops scaling well after a certain point its best to invest the rest in power.

I am pretty sure they do, i have seen from my doom sigil and earth sigil that if i weapon swap right after it has procc-ed (hard to actually tell) that the Doom sigil wont actually proc is is VERY annoying.

Yeah i run a Condition build myself, even ditched my Necro for it as its just so much more fun.

zexion.5842:

Q: Why stop at 1000 condition damage?

A: Conditions stop scaling well after a certain area. That area is between 900-1000 condition damage. If you look at the damage difference between 1000 and 1400 condition damage it is extremely minimal and not worth it at all (bleed only gains about 9 damage). That 400 stat is better spent in power since mesmers rely on both.

You have any proof on this? Makes me wonder if its worth running with Corruption Sigil and Sig of Dom. Without it i have 1,175 Condition Damage i do 101Condition damage and with Sig of Dom i have 1,343 Condition damage and that does around 111 Condition damage.

Though that doesnt seem like a lot, when i have like 10+ stacks (had it up to the 20s) that sort of damage adds up over the course of a fight.

I run Full Rabid gear.

Levitas.1953:

The problem is not to land it but to burst down the moa, iirc it counters lich and plague form while i read somewhere it does not work on DS, but I didnt test it.

Then that changes things, i swear it used to not work on transformed characters, didnt work on ele Tornado either – maybe even Warrior Rampage and the Engi Elixir as well.

Not bad, i have a question. Does your Earth sigil ever stop Battle from proccing? I had Superior Earth on my GS and it seemed to nearly always put my off hand Doom sigil on cool down when i switched.

I have been thinking about swapping it out for either another Doom or Battle as GS #2 is great for Might if positioned right.

I personally would remove the armor from it as not everyone will have them, same with all the accessories and just leave it as the lowest form as currently people with less gear with have less stats then what you are proposing.

The way the build is set up it just seems you are trying to do to much, with wanting it to be s Shatter, Condition and power build – guessing the phantoms are important as well.

Levitas.1953:

You quoted when i was refining the post. Argh one day ill learn this language or just use the preview feature.

Note that i agree about MI > moa but i dont when you describe the skill. In my opinion it can also be used to kill a good/better opponent but of course you need to have an average knowledge about it.
With this in mind, moa could be useful if the op wanted to duel a necro but in a spvp scenario MI wins.

Moa doesnt work if the Necro is in Lich or Plague form does it? Not sure if it works if they are in DS either. I agree it CAN be a good skill but i find it to be VERY situational and totally useless against some players that know the animation and are able to interrupt/dodge it

Levitas.1953:

Its the second time i cant understand your logic.
In your opinion its used by noobs to kill noobs but how can someone dodge it if he’s a noob? And how can someone cast it to kill a noob if he’s also a noob? All those “noobs” hurts me a bit.

There are many ways to counter it, there are many ways to land it. Im not saying its our best skill but if you fail to land it you deserve a 360 seconds cd and the effect on you.

By that, i mean that only noobs wont be able to dodge it, good players will be able to dodge or interrupt it. It can be used well from Stealth it still has to high of a cool down and in my opinion isnt worth its Elite status.

Sure in a Noob Vs Noob situation who knows which would win, but unless used from Stealth its to easy to dodge or interrupt it.

I remember at release EVERY mesmer was running Moa, now i rarely see anyone in S/TPvP that runs it. Might not be so bad in SOME situations 1 Vs 1, 1 Vs 2 to down one of them but i just think the group stealth on a shorter cool down is a better option

Levitas.1953:

@ArmageddonAsh: how can a skill be useful for noob killing? Also, the thread IS about 1vs1.

Because pretty much EVERYONE can tell the Moa animation, with its long cast time can be easily interrupted or dodged. The skill is also used by noobs as an “easy” kill button

My advice would be – Make a necro, go into the mists and check them out. You will be able to tell what kind of attacks they are likely to perform based on the weapon, which normally gives an insight into the sort of build they are likely running as well.

Try the different weapons out in SPvP and see what they are like, could also spectate but the problem with that is its SPvP and you get ALOT of morons that run random builds that dont really showcase the class very well so if you do this make sure you spectate 5+ matches with Necros so you get more of a feel for them.

Yeah i have tried with all my different stealths and Blink, wasnt removed the buff, though the graphical part was bugged, so safe just ANOTHER bug….

I wouldnt be shocked if this was a bug, it is Anet after all….

Osicat.4139:

About your spec, sorry to say so but you need to rework some things on it. answer this questions first and I can try help.

1: you want condition, power or hybrid to be your dmg?
2: You want phntasm, clone spammer or shatter spec?
3: You want to do wvwvw,spvp or pve with your spec?
4: You play stealth,mobility, group or passive defense to survive?

I help you but need to know this first mate. Atm your spec need alot of fixing to make sens.

/Osicat

PS If you rather PM me to get help than make a official post send me a FORUM PM. I have a moment every morning when I answer PM,s mails and q/a etc.

THIS. Once you know HOW you want to play it makes making the build easier, you can go for all of them but you will be average at all, master at none. I personally run a mix of Condition/Phantasm build myself with a nice little bit of stealth and toughness

Osicat.4139:

Hi.

Confusion atm in not a core dmg stat like it was in shatter condi bursts or glamour times. Sens the nerf its more a bonus dmg like sugger on the cake. The current core condi dmg specs with a staff I would say do ~60% dmg from bleed and burning, 20% from power and 20% crom other sources (torment, poison, confusion etc)

PS This is my opinon and personal experience, sure some ppl have other thoughts and calculations, I can only answer for what I personaly think/experience.

/Osicat

I run with a Greatsword and Scepter+Pistol/Focus in my Condition build and my main condition is bleed as well. Staff is nice, its just to defensive for me i like all guns blazing ^^

As for the condition, yeah Confusion seems quite poor at the moment and i wouldnt advise building a spec around it, in its current state its more of a bonus condition one that you like but one that you can also live without

I personally find Moa only useful for noob killing, you will find Mass Invis far superior in nearly every situation other then a 1 Vs 1.

Is that your normal build or just when fighting a necro?
Personally i would replace Chaos III with IV and replace IX with V

Is this a S/TPvP build or WvW build?

personally i find confusion to be very meh especially since all the nerfs it has gotten.

whats your helm?

I loved the Final Rest skin but that is more suited to necromancers

I find GS a better range damage wise weapon. You will want to stay as far away as possible, especially if they got Plague form. I have several stealth options to try and confuse people, it works depending on the skill of the player and i have seen Necros bursting conditions into clones only to see them killed.

What Utilities and Elite do you run with?
I personally run wit the scepter over the sword, as i like to be as far away as possible and the auto chain summons clones on them, Torment rocks as well and can be triggered when in there AoE as well from my experience which is great

What are you guys using as weapon skins, i am having a hard time finding skins that look “right” for my character. The “Illusion” weapons such as The Anomaly look really good but they are to expensive and would be like 400-500g :/

Been thinking about the Asura T3 but i am not to keen on the greatsword it just feels too “big” width wise though i like effects they have.

Expansive.3716:

While the thead title and the video is a bit exaggerated, I will say that Anet has gutted the Mesmer.

Yes the Mesmer is still capable of being competitive, but it is becoming more and more of an easy kill. And for goodness sake, please giving the kittening Mesmer out of combat speed. Speed signet or something

It’s getting ridiculous what the Mesmer is being subjected to

Its only going to get worse. I see more nerfs on the horizon.

The problem i have with the sword – its range. We aren’t the most durable class and sure it has Blurred Frenzy but i just prefer to be at range as much as possible.

Plenty of classes have issues with them Chain-fearing, it makes it harder for us with so little condition removal and the fact that they can just reply them.

I personally would get the Greatsword, the iZerker helps alot. I have started taking Sig of Dom and the stun Mantra to help.

Anet needs to decide on what the Scepter should be, to me they seem a little confused as to its role.

Auto Attack – This chain needs to to be faster, its to long and to slow. speed up the Clone spawn, add a condition to the chain, i would prefer Torment over Confusion myself but anything would Get.

Skill 2 – Change it to an Aura, instant cast Aura. Make it so that EVERYONE that attacks during its short duration gets Torment. This would allow us to continue using skills rather then having to channel it.

Skill 3 – Replace it. I find it to easy to be dodged unless used from stealth with the target busy attacking clones. Make it so thakittens instant.

This is my mesmer, i LOVE the new look, the dye suits so well as the Phantoms and the spell colors are very similar as well.

If i had the Gold or Mats i would make the Illusion weapons – i want the Greatsword, Scepter, Pistol and Anomaly but that would set be back like 600g

TheDevice.2751:

If 30% of their playerbase plays a mesmer on a consistent basis they will do everything they can not to upset them. If they nerf too hard they risk players crying and leaving cuz their favorite class is not the strongest anymore.

I am pretty sure that Guardian, Elementalist and i think Engineer are the 3 top played classes, I rarely see any Mesmers in S/TPvP. I played for like 4 hours the other night and i saw ONE.

Mesmer isnt as high played as you seem to think. Have you thought that maybe, just maybe they are played because they are FUN? They are strong yes, they are not Overpowered.

The problem wit this game, to many rubbish players lose to a class and because they lost they scream about how overpowered that class is. Rather then just accepting that they got beat by a better player.

I am thinking about going with Poison on My greatsword, So it would be:

Scepter = Corruption
Offland (Pistol/Focus) = Doom
Greatsword = Doom

Looking for an on Swap one or something, not a crit chance one as it seemed to not like playing very well with doom

That’s okay, if you feel that you dont do enough attack damage, you can always swap out a few items for Rampager’s.

Sigils wise, i run with Poison and Corruption on Scepter/Pistol and been switching around the Greatsword on, thinking about going with a on Swap one as earth which i was using can proc and stop Doom procing if you switch weapons at the wrong time.

I am thinking maybe another Doom Sigil, other then that Battle would be nice if it wasnt so expensive lol

The good thing about this sort of build is that by changing the Traits and utilities around you can find the perfect gameplay style without doing to much damage to the actual spec.

I am currently running full Rabid, i will be swapping some out for Rampager’s most likely. The damage is good for a condition build but think a few changes and it could be better.

I have Corruption on my Scepter. Condition Duration is 20% though i have food that adds another 40%

My condition/Phantom build is:

20/20/30/0/0

Dom: V, X
Dueling: II, X
Chaos: IV, V, XII

Weapons: Scepter+Pistol/Focus and Greatsword
Utilities: Sig of Dom, Decoy, Feedback(during zergs), Mantra of Distraction(solo/small groups) Mass Invis as the Elite

Condition Hybrid would be better with a mix of Rampagers and Rabid. I personally run with Undead runes due to the high toughness added into Condition damage

Ramiel.4931:

Elite skill that temporarily increases the clone count to 8 and summons max clones. Activate the skill again to take the place of a random clone and cause a random condition at the departure and arrival point. Oh and the clones are summoned in the area, spread out.

Ultimate mindkitten.

Ultimate QQ skill as well, That would be nerfed within days, first cool down would be doubled, the QQ to continue, then the number of clones reduced, still QQ, will be reduced even more and still the QQ.

It will end up with 1 clone summoned that wont have any weapons or any skills that when it dies it deals 100,000damage to the Mesmer with a 120,000 range just in case they run they will be auto killed if they WP, go into the Mists or go into WvW

I personally thin the Scepter is a better weapon for a Condition build, sure the Auto attack clone chain is to long but Torment owns and it works well with pretty much any offhand.

Sword might be better based on Gameplay, if you like to be up close in your face but Scepter is better if you prefer a ranged approach.

Palu.3405:

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

I didnt know 2 different types of Sigils could put the other type on cool down :/
That is a stupid idea, so if Earth procs and i switch to Scepter/Pistol i wont get the Doom proc?

Right. If you swap during the 2s window when the sigil is on cooldown, the Doom effect won’t appear. I tested this quite a bit today with my staff. At 45% crit, the vast majority of the time Doom wouldn’t appear when I swapped to my sword. I image that with a GS attacking much faster, the failure rate is only going to be worse. It seemed that I had to stop attacking for a second or two before swapping weapons to reliably get Doom to appear, which is rather impractical for any type of combat scenario.

Yeah that seems something so stupid, only Anet would do it :/
I wonder what i could swap to?

I am really liking Doom and corruption on the offhand, worried though that the Bleed procs from Earth is putting Doom in cool down when i swap…

I didnt know 2 different types of Sigils could put the other type on cool down :/
That is a stupid idea, so if Earth procs and i switch to Scepter/Pistol i wont get the Doom proc?

Palu.3405:

ArmageddonAsh.6430:

I wouldsnt say that i swap set every 10seconds but i do swap sets during most combat so the Poison is still a good option. If you have a weapon MH and OF and put a on attack (such as doom) sigil on one of the weapons, will it ONLY proc from that weapon?

When swapped to in combat, the weapon with the Doom sigil will give you a buff called Doom. It appears as a little yellow circle alongside your other boons/buffs. When you have that buff, the next direct-damage dealing attack you do will inflict poison, regardless of the weapon that said attack comes from. In fact, because Doom persists indefinitely until its effect is consumed, you can switch to your weapon with Doom at the very end of combat and you will have a charge waiting for the next time you enter combat.

Yeah i noticed that buff today, though it seems bugged. Some times it will appear and others it doesnt unless it has a delay of appearing as when i change spec i normally use a attack as soon as its ready