Guild Wars 2

Having watched the video, kitten …

…that’s scary. Almost non existant cooldowns, super fast energy regen, powerful skills…

I reckon it will be overpowered for the first 6months/1year after release in order to sell the expansion, and then promptly be nerfed into the ground. :p

On the other hand, I love the stability changes – might make it more fun for our interrupt builds.

Azure The Heartless.3261:

Don’t worry about the people that havent figured out that a good attitude is equally as important as skill.

Yep. Either be nice or be silent – can’t stand rude chat.

And that’s what “right click → block” is for. My list is getting bigger every day. xD

Apart from the ItV cooldown, it’s not so much focus that is the issue but rather MH sword when used together with focus. It is now only “decent” rather than “godlike”, for the obvious reasons – ie blurred frenzy changes, ileap, light aura, mind spike…

MiniEquine.6014:

Rangers really think we’re easy? They’re my favorite class to fight because I just throw my reflect over them and they kill themselves.

Rangers totally depend on the terrain – ranging from ludicrously easy to downright impossible, especially if they position themselves perfectly and get the jump on you.

That’s pew pew builds of course – condition or melee rangers are a kitten nightmare and very difficult to fight good ones.

I don’t mind tbh – it gives me a reason to finally play another class seriously.

Two things I always be careful with are range/positioning and watching out for boons like retal or blocks/stability/invuln.

kitten hard fight with most guardian builds (assuming good players) – either in avoiding being facerolled by the “spin-to-win” or other surprisingly high damage skills, or trying to break down a regenerating mountain.

Ragnar the Rock.3174:

Having played all the classes it frankly seems to me like the rev is an combination of the guardian, necro & engineer.

It will do conditions & has many things similar to necro skills.
It will likely be able to do support & has access to an anti projectile wall (one that moved with them) which makes them kinda like a guardian.
It does not have a secondary weapon & instead swaps between legends.

Yeah, apart from RANGED HAMMER ~ ranged greatsword.

I cannot wait to play with that – going to be unlocking hammer skins in preparation.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

• What if they change Chaotic Interruption to apply Slow rather than Immobilize? ( Slow & Either Chill/Blind)

As in the other thread – the suggestion was to replace the rng cripple with slow, not to replace the immobilise.

I think in that case it would be awesome as cripple is pretty useless on CI.

Still deciding but I’m pretty sure it will be a male asura so it will be suitable themed.

I wasn’t interested in this class until reading about the ranged 2H hammer – sounds awesome.

It goes without saying that Time Warp should get slow in addition to quickness.

I like the ideas for Null Field and iMage.

Heh, there would be some major whining about Feedback with that.

CI – hell yes, put slow on there in place of the cripple, that would be great.

OMG, RANGED HAMMER!?!?!

Kitten yeah! This is like the heavy sibling of the Mesmer. Now I will definitely be making one.

jportell.2197:

How to beat a team with multiple turrets.
1. Roll mesmer centered on reflects 0/4/0/4/6.
2. Slot feedback, (traited) focus
3. Bring Mirror heal.
4. …?
5. Profit.

Oh this also works against pew pew rangers too

At the expense of losing reflection on distortion, 0/4/6/4/0 also works wonders – and then you also have the choice of CI/BI for more interrupt madness.

PvP glorious track gives you plenty of dragonite/empyreal/bloodstone – providing you enjoy unranked enough to “farm” it.

Carighan.6758:

jportell.2197:

It still will. If you think about it Anet is going to have to redesign every single mesmer weapon for the chronomancer to not use illusions. That is a massive undertaking.

“While Chronomancers create clones, they don’t actually try to attack a target, instead they perform the same animations as the Chronomancer wherever they were created.”

(… actually, please make that a change to Mesmers as a whole, I could actually fool people with my clones then)

Wait, where did that quote come from? I must have missed it.

adeimantus.5028:

Pls pls pls!! Give mesmer main hand focus. Only profession to dual wield foci. Would be excellent.

Yes, in another expansion before GW3 I would love MH focus – dual Anomalies… drool.

Xyonon.3987:

Wyrden.4713:

if i manage a proper 6+ clone summon.

if i manage that, i dont even care about dieing anymore

http://youtu.be/VqW9fvp8ztY

Watched it, expected something awesome, IT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME … until they all shatter and miss the target …

Haha, totally! xD

Coulter.2315:

The best one is pushing Distortion and seeing 2 Immunes with Swift, Fury Might appearing on the Thief who just ported to you.

Ooh, this is also incredibly satisfying.

I’ll add swap target → Diversion while stomping an enemy being rezzed by another enemy.
Or blink → Diversion to interrupt a stomp.

@Absconditus

I can certainly respect that you don’t like stealth. Personally however I find there are way more cheesy things in this game than stealth – such as the ridiculous sustain/cc/tankiness/boon spam/faceroll spread across all the classes from engineers to guardians (including warriors, rangers, eles and necros).

I believe in order to have a balanced chance of winning against such stuff that exists in the game and especially good players using that stuff, stealth is necessary on a mesmer – sure it can be done without, but then you’re at a serious disadvantage when faced with other “cheese” builds.

Stealth in comparison while a strong mechanic is still much easier for me to fight against than one or more opponents with the “crutches” mentioned above, because enemies are not immune to damage in stealth and there’s only so much variance in unpredictability when using stealth so most of the time it becomes straightforward to predict what an enemy is going to do.

There are only two stealth builds in the game I hate to face in a 1v1 – one of them is of course PU condition mesmer and the other is P/D condition thief. The former can be avoided most of the time (in wvw) can be outplayed in conquest. The latter is kittenous crutch but at least it is completely useless in conquest.

Otherwise I love fighting stealthing thieves and stealthing shatter mesmers – some of the most fun fights in the game.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

I run 4/4/6 with Blink, Portal, and MoDistraction. I’ve run 6/4/4 with something similar.. In fact, I don’t think I really run Decoy in any build I use in PvP. I’ll run it in duels against an opponent that forces me to take it to that level, but in organized team play I find it unnecessary, hell I’d even go with 1200r Blink over Decoy.

That is just how I play, though. I’ve learned to use Portal defensively, or Null Field’s Chaos Armor or Stability Mantra. I do feel like glass builds should have two forms of utility defense, but I don’t think decoy is required if you have Blink (and uh.. A staff =P).

I’ve found your real reason – the almighty Phase Retreat. :p

Absconditus.6804:

PS: Never, ever, use Illusionary Leap right after swapping to your Sword. Any decent player knows that is the first thing you will likely do. Throw them off by using it randomly or expect it to be dodged in most cases.

Using ileap is fine anytime – it’s what’s done before/afterwards that counts.
If it forces a dodge, great; if it was preceded by a forced dodge through mirror blade or izerker, great; if the clone is likely to survive a few seconds then get it out and let them make their move. I agree with what you’re saying that sword can be highly predictable if used in a certain way.

Sometimes it can be used as a misdirection for the purpose of escape/repositioning – for example if stealthing to run away, throwing an ileap back at the opponent(s) can make it look as if you are about to jump back in whereas you go on your merry way in another direction. Sounds silly but I’m surprised at how useful something small like that can be.

The only problem that requires careful monitoring is that the clone dying (if breathed on) breaks swap – I still hate this change because it limits the amount of mind games you can play with it.

jportell.2197:

MandJ.8965:

For me, it’s:

Sword 3 – GS 2 – F1 + Mind Stab

When I picked my mesmer back up I tried doing sword. It just doesn’t have as good of combos as staff imo. Not to mention iLeap STILL misses all the kitten time even in range.

While sword is weaker than before, with ileap as it is now you can pull off some sick surprise jumps on people on the various ledges as well as tricky evasive manoeuvres.

Most of the time ileap works fine for me when in range – of course the swap nerfs are annoying and also things like an enemy jumping into range (ie guardians) facetanking with retal while you’re trying to use BF defensively at range to say avoid a Rapid Fire… I wish BF would at least get a minor damage buff.

I also trait sword and I don’t think I could live without the reduced cooldown on both #2 and #3 anymore – even at the expense of 1200 blink.

Same as you – MB, blink, (optional dodge) MW, MS.

Especially satisfying when you unload on several clustered opponents.

Best thread, good bump.

Alvarez Azel.4083:

This is my main character Nikki Novella, one of 8 Novella asuran sisters :p

1st: trying her best to look good for the camera… somewhat pulling it off i guess.
2nd: fooling about jumping around with eternity while being dazzled by the pretty effects.

Nice, very well made.

I know it’s unlikely, but I hope it happens either in a future expansion or GW3.

I’d love nothing more than to play as a skritt.

In any glass build? I would say it’s just too good to pass up – it’s instant, get out of jail free card when things get too hot, remove target from your head, free clone, stealth stomps/rezzing, stunbreak, stealth engage, etc…

In a bunker build sure, given you can handle the heat better.

I don’t know if I could play without decoy in any build though (unless weird things like full signets or full mantras) – it’s too kitten good.

reinforever.8902:

I want a melee Staff. With a mix of Acrobatics and some stealth possibly.

This.

It’s the only reason I would play thief again – full melee staff build with acrobatics would be awesome.

jportell.2197:

Why do people hate on the focus so much? Yes I I know it was nerfed but it is still very easily one of the best offhands for mesmers.
Things the focus is great at:
1. Pulling people out of SR when they are trying to res/stomp
2. Pulling rangers off of their perch and ruining their day.
3. Warden->temporal curtain=cleansing bolts (some of the best condi cleanse a mesmer can get and helps me win 1v1’s agianst those pesky necros)
4. Warden blocks projectiles (rapid fire what?)
5. Lets not forget just how good the focus is for a bountiful interruption build. Even more so if you are fighting an MM or a ranger.

I can understand why people love torch, I love it myself (SAB King toads torch ftw!). However in a pvp environment if you are running S/X focus feels just too good to pass up.

Oh I love focus – just not in a shatter build anymore where torch is personally a superior offhand for that purpose now (which was an assumption that this thread is about because of the weapons mentioned – when I may be mistaken and the OP is talking about any number of different builds).

In any other build, and traited, it’s still great despite lack of instant pull.

What game mode, pvp or wvw?

The shift is that sword and focus were severely neutered some time ago, iElasticity was fixed for staff clones, GS was improved with AA multihit, mind stab damage/radius increase, and iZerker fortunately working as intended. And then staff has the extra mobility from phase retreat – which is the most useful thing in any game mode.

Nevermind the sigil changes/buffs allowing for energy+on crit to be run together, making up for some of the weaknesses of GS+Staff (ie less damage avoidance).

So the fact is sword is weaker than it used to be, scepter has been forced further into condition land and so the GS+Staff has seen a rise in popularity.

Vieux P.1238:

Curunen.8729:

Yeah, we should really just bow down to the almighty Blink, Decoy, Portal and Mantra of Distraction/Resolve. Not like anything else can really compete with those five crazy good utilities…

Yeah!…& all that, & yet we still cant seem to escape thieves moderate ganking abilities.

That’s another issue altogether – our utilities aren’t the cause of that problem.

MailMail.6534:

Curunen.8729:

Yeah, we should really just bow down to the almighty Blink, Decoy, Portal and Mantra of Distraction/Resolve. Not like anything else can really compete with those five crazy good utilities…

This is totally not true if you’re playing in unranked AND not playing standard dps shatter. And honestly, I think MoR is overrated as a condition clear. We have so many at our disposal, and everyone thinks that one is our best? lol Just a matter of opinion though!

Severely underrated utilities:

• pDisenchanter
• Null Field
• S. Domination (especially in builds with pistol and sigil of paralyzation)

I find that no matter what build I’m playing, blink and decoy are always the best utilities.

And regarding condition clears – MoR is instant and can clear 4 on a 20s cooldown which isn’t too shabby in any build (unless traited for harmonious/restorative mantras and using heal mantra).

pDisenchanter only truly shines in “stationary” and small fights – the moment a fight becomes strung out over a distance or becomes more than a few people (ie in wvw) it starts to become less desirable. Add to that the horrible cast time.

Null field is great of course, but let’s face it – the only parts of the skill worthwhile are the ethereal combo field and condition removal – the boon strip is minor unless immobilising someone inside the field or plonking it on a conquest point when there’s a big fight on point. It isn’t instant so if you suddenly get landed with a bunch of dangerous conditions it’s not going to remove them all just like that. MoR also has aoe aspect so it’s not like null field is head and shoulders in front when it comes to group condition removal either.
And as for the combo field – the extra chaos armour on a long cooldown is trivial at best – sure a few blinds and boon procs might help, but personally I find it unnecessary.

SoDomination – yeah I’ll give you that one. In any case, Blink and Decoy are still way better, and because of only one more slot the most useful thing unless traiting for menders/mantras/shattered conditions is another condition removal utility. And as for the stun – MoDistraction is just better. The only thing SoD has going for it is the condition damage boost.

3 and 36…

Ether bolt and Mantra of Concentration.

I dunno how a build can revolve around ether bolt unless its a torment/condition build. So, anyway…

0/6/2/6/0
Scepter/Pistol + Scepter/Focus
Hybrid condition/direct damage – make the most of phantasmal strength and iwarden/iduelist, and then also illusion deaths through confusing combatants and debilitating dissipation. No shattering unless F3 or F4 (situational F2 for directed confusion burst, but avoid if possible).
Harmonious Mantras and Restorative Mantras for Mantra of concentration, Mantra of Recovery and any two other utilities.
Traited scepter of course (miss out on focus trait. ).
Take Torment runes just for the hell of it – maximise the scepter auto…
Mender’s purity with MoRecovery for most condition removal – take additional mantra if necessary – otherwise usual blink/decoy…

Nothing more to say – load up the conditions, use the phantasms and balance the gear carefully to make the most of direct and condition damage.

Yeah, we should really just bow down to the almighty Blink, Decoy, Portal and Mantra of Distraction/Resolve. Not like anything else can really compete with those five crazy good utilities…

Yeah, Condi CI version of 0/4/6/4/0 is definitely the most fun.

But to the OP – I’m surprised you’re not taking mirror heal for the extra reflect – especially considering you will be getting a lot of regen through phantasms and boon duration through chaos line.

I have to say I prefer 0/6/2/0/6 with GS/SB after messing around a bit. Of course much more vulnerable than x/6/6/x/x, but I suppose sacrifices have to be made to get to ZS now… a shame…

GS/SB is such a fun set as it is.

lol, looks like a lot of fun – I’m going to try this out next. xD

Chaos Archangel.5071:

Warden is excellent in smaller engagements (or any situation a phantasm can survive in). The projectile absorb gives Engineers, Rangers, longbow warriors, staff Mesmer and plenty of other classes hell.

Yeah this – love it (traited of course) paired with CI when fighting against engineers and rangers in particular.

Vieux P.1238:

Indrea.7803:

Mimic.
And really I don’t understand why they changed a not very good skill in a useless one: also I loved animation and sound of it. I really want the old mimic back.

Old & new mimic is never use by anybody. Come on, your telling me if they brought back the old mimic you would use it? plzzzz. They change it bcuz nobody use it. No! i petition for a new new mimic. Lets call it the Real Mimic! Where it summons a Phantasm of your target & mimics every abilities & keystrokes of that target to himself. Now were talking OP.

I used old mimic, as I’m sure did many others.

The problem is as usual, only 3 utility slots and both blink and decoy being god tier utilities compared to everything else – and the necessity of condition removal. Otherwise old mimic was fantastic, especially paired with staff or GS and iElasticity.

New mimic… (vomit)
Mantra of Concentration (it’s good but with limited utility bar space there’s always a better option unless full mantra build which I never play)
Illusion of Life (don’t care for this)
iDefender (can’t find a good use for it right now)
Signet of the Ether (many swear by this – I vastly prefer ether feast)
Signet of Illusions (needs a good buff)
Moa (lol)
Time Warp (I don’t play enough pve to make any use of it)
Mirror Images (unnecessary)
Mantra of Pain (don’t care for this)

Me Games Ma.8426:

Carighan.6758:

If it kills the other party while minimizing risk to myself, what’s bad about it?
I call it “smart”, you call it not fighting. There’s some high level social commentary in there, I suppose.

Reminds me of the asura :P They let golems fight their battles.

Reminds me of Enter the Dragon – “the art of fighting, without fighting”.

Wow, master necro. :o

I still watch his videos from time to time, for the sheer entertainment factor.

I have to agree with Ross on this – sure it’s cheesy, but it’s within the “rules” of the game and I’d say they were playing smart. Blame the balance team if you like, for allowing use of builds like that, but I wouldn’t blame the players for making use of what is available.

It’s not a great build if they are unable to secure any kills with it, but they certainly allowed themselves to survive and prevented you from killing them.

Honourless can be applied if it was an organised duel (ie in OS), but when it comes to open world roaming, anything goes tbh.

For the record, I’m not condoning that sort of playstyle – personally I couldn’t bring myself to play in such a cheesy way – but I accept that it’s there as an option and I won’t hold it against anyone who chooses to take advantage of it.

Bumping this because I’m gravitating to a similar build with GS and shortbow.

Personally I prefer SotW, SotH and hoelbrak runes and instead of QZ, traveler and sic’em, but I’m loving the daze/stun on both the GS and SB.

I’m wondering given recent changes whether things could be tweaked a bit to be more effective – I only started playing ranger again yesterday after deleting my previous ranger ages ago, and even then I don’t know all the little nuances about this class that can be taken advantage of.

Edit: I should add – the one problem I have is with shortbow – skill number 4 is… well… kitten. At least skills 2, 3 and 5 have a clear purpose. Skill 4 just seems like an afterthought. I really hope it receives a buff/change to make it stand out a bit.

Lol that’s genius – thanks for the tip!

Just don’t die trying. :p

skcamow.3527:

Bunda.2691:

Great write-up.

I’m having success with a condition lockdown, which I think has a lower skill cap (and thus better suited to my less-than-stellar skill level) and higher cheese factor. Wondering if anyone else has been trying something like this as well?

Using staff, scepter/pistol with -/4/6/-/4 and rabid trinket w/ undead runes. It’s a little cheesy, in that I’m just interrupting to death while conditions overwhelm them. Throw in signet of domination for condi damage and another interrupt (for a total of 5 plus f3), and you can easily keep might stacks high for major condi damage. Weakness of course is no condi removal, but I’ll sometimes swap the offensiveness of signet of dom for null field if I see a necro approaching.

Anyone else tried condi lockdown?

Yep, but with a different approach than yours. I use Staff/Sc-F: Chaotic Perdition

Works well in both WvW and PvP, especially after the torment buff we got.

Did you try nightmare runes instead of torment since the buff?

I haven’t played that build in a while although I did make a point of buying a full nightmare/rabid set to test out next time I feel like playing condi CI.

Got to be a troll post.

Even being jaded over the whole game (I’ve been there, several times), there’s so many negative assumptions in the OP that don’t even make sense based on the… complete lack of info we’ve had regarding specific mechanics.

Wait until more is revealed before senselessly hating on absolutely nothing.

Zaxares.5419:

Yeah, I didn’t get a good look at the big dinosaurs in the back, but the large one that enters stage left and attacks the Raptors looks like an ankylosaur. It could be a beefed up version of a GW1 Angorodon, I suppose, but I doubt it.

Yeah, definitely reminded me of an ankylosaur. Looks amazing tbh – I never played gw1 so I didn’t know dinosaurs were such a big thing in the lore.

Betas surely should start by April sometime – just my guess, but I would be very surprised if it’s held back till the second half of the year.

Maybe it won’t be final till the end of the year.

I would ask though to please keep the 3 chain auto.

I can’t be the only one who likes “playing badminton” with it (jump smash the ether clone).

New look – playing around with different things. I love the Enameled Legacy dye.