I play on a T3 server, so the enemy zerg is often full of brainless longbow rangers. A well placed reflect can wipe the enemy frontline, and many of the projectiles you reflect also become finishers applying confusion/burning/poison. Enemy zergs are also usually not organized enough to keep adequate stability up, so I can get a large amount of mistrust procs in a short amount of time.
I’m not saying its an awesome build, just saying its the closest thing I’ve played on Mesmer that resembles what they’re looking for.
Thanks I appreciate your help! I’m in tier 2 where there is bigger melee balls with stability for days. May not be the most effective for me but your build is def along the lines of what I was looking for. I’ll probably give it a try roaming as most of the heavies there don’t run stab so effectiveness would be more optimal.
Tl;Dr: There is no Mesmer condie bomb build for group play. It simply does not and cannot exist. If someone says otherwise, they’re either in a tier where ‘group play’ means <10 people or they simply don’t realize how bad their build is.
Explanation
Mesmer has fairly limited ways to apply conditions, so this will be pretty quick. First lets look at weapons.
Staff
Slow auto with weak conditions and awkward bounce mechanic
Chaos armor (heh)
Chaos storm applying mostly non-damaging conditions or cc to a low number of targets in a small area on a long cooldown
Scepter
Slow and completely single target auto that applies weak conditions
Block/counter applying a strong stack of torment, but purely single target
Beam aoe applying 6 confusion
Torch
PbAoe burning explosion, long cooldown
Sword
Nope
Greatsword
Nope
Focus
Nope
Pistol
Nope
Shield
Nope
Well that’s depressing. We have literally 3 skills capable of applying aoe conditions. 1 doesn’t apply anything worth mentioning (chaos storm), 1 is pbaoe and on a long cooldown (the prestige), and one is an incredibly clunky beam aoe (confusing images). Not much in the way of group play here.
Well, how about utilities? Do we have utilities that apply conditions?
Nope.
Ok, that was pretty quick. How about traits and shatters? Surely we can get good aoe conditions from those!
Sorta. The problem is that shatters are inherently linked to having illusions. You can do a powerful condition bomb by setting up your shatters properly, but that only works if you have illusions to do it with. In WvW group play, the average lifespan of your illusions is about .25 seconds. Any shattering you do is absolutely limited to the personal shatter effect to produce; extremely underwhelming.
So there you have it. Mesmer is literally incapable of producing anything even remotely capable of being called a ‘condie bomb’ for group play in WvW.
Edit: I suppose I should probably mention distrust. Distrust is a trait that applies aoe stacks of confusion on interrupt. What you can do is take that trait and a bunch of cc and randomly throw it into groups. Once in a blue moon you’ll get some interrupts and cause a bit of a ‘condie bomb’. 99% of the time you’ll just see a bunch of blocks and immune floaters.
Thank you so much for the explanation. Might I ask what you would recommend running in group WvW? Especially now that boon share is nerfed. Thank you for your help!
Just throw on a focus. Tada! 98% uptime combined with the signet.
While I agree with you, I still think it’s a poor design solution to be forced into taking up a utility AND off-hand weapon just for movement speed. And I agree that you should not be forced into taking the Chrono trait line. In fractals and raids, the chrono line is a no brainer. However in open world events and WvW all bets are off. Anet often brings up “build diversity” yet still have certain classes hands tied due to movement speed.
Got teamspeak and website looking all fancy! Had a blast with members this weekend. Looking for more great people. Some of this weeks activities include trivia night, dungeon/fractals for beginners, guild missions. That’s just the start. Come check us out you might just like us.
I’m looking for help with a condi bomb build for group play in WvW. I was told this was a thing in EU. However I haven’t seen anything about the build. Does anyone have an idea what the build is? I greatly appreciate any assistance!!!
Heads up raiders! Rise is looking to form a static raid team from the ground up and begin regularly running PvE raids. If your experienced and want to help, let us know. If you want to learn with us, join on up and have some fun as we tackle this challenging content.
Still lots of fun activities and events for all around fun. Come check us out today!
Great things are a cooking up in Rise! Getting ready to start forming up and training to participate in raids to work towards dat legendary armor!!!! And as always still lots of fun and antics so come on out and give us a try!
Had an exciting weekend full of fun activities with all members having a blast. Come on out and give us a try. It doesn’t cost anything and you may make a new friend or two.
The Unsung Legends [Rise] is a PvX guild that values quality over quantity in regards to membership. We are a small guild which allows us to be more friendly and interactive with all members. We are currently a level 21 guild with Gilded Hallow for our guild hall. Veteran leadership and officers are available to help you along your journeys.
We welcome new and veteran players alike regardless of experience or skill. Activities range from map completion, dungeon runs, fractals, open world events, guild missions, sPvP and even WvW roaming (we are on Kaineng who is paired with TC for WvW purposes).
We currently utilize teamspeak for voice communication for event coordination and social activities.
If you want to be in a helpful, friendly and respectful community this is the place for you. There is no special rules or requirements except for a zero tolerance policy on drama. A good sense of humor is highly recommended. While we don’t have a formal representation policy we try to keep the guild roster active so we ask that you rep us some of the time so we keep space for active members. We are most active in the NA evenings around 8pm – until. However, there are several members on throughout the day. For more information or for an invite, please contact any of the below contacts.
Wondering if boon share would be effective in 3-8 man havoc groups or if I should be running something else for small group havoc ops? I thought boon share would be beneficial but it’s listed that it really only shines on large scale on metabattle.
I’m looking at running my druid in WvW with my guild’s small 3-8 man group runs. LB and Staff for weapons. I would like some sustain but still need decent damage due to being a smaller group. Was thinking Maurader’s armor with durability runes but not sure. I’m also not 100% sure what traits would be optimal for this setup.
If anyone could point me in the right direction it would be much appreciated.
I’m wondering which weapon set is best for map completion and open world events? I’ve seen staff, scepter/x, dagger/x. But I’m wondering which is more efficient. Staff gets kinda boring if you don’t need large aoe’s.
Air/Arcane/Tempest turned out to be surprisingly good. I took a few liberties with your build (mainly taking Ferocious Winds instead of Zephyr’s Boon, and using Bountiful Power instead of Elemental Surge in raids). I love the flexibility of the build – I can swap to Earth after every overload air to give out protection like candy (due to a combination of Elemental Attunement and Sand Squall), or swap to Fire and burning speed once every 3 overloads for more damage. As Ring of Earth is on a 6 second cooldown, it’s up every swap (just like Burning Speed used to be), so you don’t have an awkward pause in your rotation.
Example rotation:
Overload Air > Swap to Earth > Sand Squall > Swap to Air > Do stuff
Overload Air > Swap to Fire > Burning Speed > Swap to Air > Do stuff
Overload Air > Swap to Earth > Ring of Earth > Swap to Air > Do stuff
Repeat. (Second overload can be a swap to Earth instead if you want to give out more protection)
I’ve tried the build out in VG and in fractals, and am really impressed by the survivability it adds. It’s definitely a DPS loss from the original FA build, but since thieves outclass us for damage on small targets anyway, the utility this build has could allow us to fill a different niche in a raid.
Swapping to bountiful power causes even greater dps loss since your loosing out on the +150 ferocity which will equate to higher crit dmg than a 2% per boon flat increase.
I’ve primarily mained mesmer for quite some time. I also play all the caster classes fairly proficiently. But I’ve gotten to the point where I’d like to become proficient at a melee class. I have decided on Guardian as I like it’s supportive abilities while having decent DPS. I realize it may not be the “optimal” choice but it’s something I can live with.
I’m hoping some of you guardian mains can help me in regards to build & gearing. Let me say up front I’m used to range and also have a disability which causes some reduced motor skills. I’m not like crazy slow but I have to factor in that I’m going to take a hit or two. So the metabattle full zerk/assassin gearing method is out because I’ll do zero dps on the ground. I need advice for starter gear. Just not full on tank. I was thinking about maurauders but wasn’t sure how that might affect traits and such.
If one of you guardian mains could point me in the right direction, I’d greatly appreciate it.
It would be used for open world, dungeons & possibly fractals 1-50 max.
Warrior has always stomped any build of ele because eles have garbage stun breaks on long cd’s and low base health which means warriors with stuns as low cd as 10-15 seconds can land 8-10k 100b and 7-9k eviscerates on the ele pretty often.
With healing signet and OP adrenal health plus two endure pain procs for 12 effective seconds of invulnerability it means the fight is pretty lopsided in the warrior’s favor.
In general berzerker warriors are stupidly OP roamers at the moment.
They have some advantages over ele true. But with so many unskilled people playing them since everyone says they are OP and thus become the flavor of the month, they are pretty easy to counter if you don’t rush and wait for their cool downs to expire. Any skilled ele in cele gear can pretty much wipe the floor with them.
Also we’ll see what possible nerfs they do to warrior this upcoming Tue. With all the QQ in sPvP about it I can’t imagine warrior getting untouched.
I’ve been running a full viper build in PvE and love it. I’d like to adapt it for WvW roaming/small group but I’m thinking all viper is pretty squishy.
I was thinking the trait lines would be arms, discipline & berserker but I’m open to suggestion. I can also re-gear if there is something more survivable.
Anyone running a good condi build or have some ideas? I appreciate the feedback.
Once again this is for solo roaming/small party roaming (max 5 people).
I did buy the runes and do the combo as you said. It is the only way to get proper swiftness but it tends to feel too much work just to run properly In any case it is a good build, a tad bit too tanky. Thanks for your help and interest
Assuming your traited in air….the first passive trait is 25% movement speed while attuned to air. No need to waste precious cool downs blasting a lightening field when you have movement speed already. You can also swap one of your utilities to Signet of Air for 25% movement speed as well. Just be sure to swap if before fighting if you can.
What would be the alternative for the durability rune? I play marauder ( celestial trinket)dagger warhorn ele with fresh air+earth+tempest (aura). I do not have mastery for durability and wonder what other runea might work until i get them.
Ultimately durability is the best option, but you could also go for Scrapper runes which are a pretty good rune.
Scrapper runes are horrible on ele.
Use Superior Rune of the Herald until you can get durability runes. You can buy them off the trading post and the only big difference is 5% less boon duration than durability. Toughness is exactly the same.
Why do so many of you run up to groups of mobs and use your skill 5 when you don’t need to? The greatsword is a long ranged weapon for you guys with plenty of other skills capable of tagging multiple enemies.
And yes, I know it’s not just mesmers, I’ve had this problem of using knockback skills needlessly with guardians and longbow rangers as well, warriors used to do it a lot but I haven’t personally seen anyone running stomp lately. In all, from my own personal experience, mesmers seem to do it the most, and I legitimately want to know your reasons why.
Sincerely, a guy who is tired of having multiple enemies unnecessarily pushed out of his AOEs.
Dear everyone else:
We hate them too.
Sincerely, mesmers that know what they’re doing.
So do you take the time to explain to them why it’s bad? Or do you do like the majority and lament about it instead of teaching new players how to play?
Honestly though I rarely run into this. I’ve been doing HoT metas a lot lately and to be honest I see rangers using knock back 9-10 times per event. I think u guys are targeting the wrong player group. Not saying it doesn’t happen…..but compare it to how many times a ranger does it with LB.
If mesmers have to get rid of greatswords than rangers need to get rid of longbows……especially since longbow is like mesmer greatsword…..does more damage from a distance.
I’m sorry but this is some horrible pairings. You took the dead last server over the past several months and paired them with……only 1 server….in a matchup with 3 paired and 4 paired servers? What logic was involved with that?
Hello. I was reading through the thread and it seems like this guild is fairly small and close knit. I recently got back into the game and am thinking about moving servers if i can find a guild that is active. I plan on playing for a while so it would be nice to have a group to roll with on a regular basis.
Greetings Wardog!
I’ve sent you an invite in game if you would live to try us out. Feel free to ask any questions you may have.
I also do roaming with my elementalist. The build postet by josh is near classic support tempest (but WH) in celestial which makes it very powerful. FSG is one of the keys in roaming for catching or fleeing (but lately fleeing seems more difficult …).
I run an exotic build and do very well. My nemesis are perplexity mesmers but so be it. Staff is for zerg/keep battles. I have one with me and don´t care if my stats are not optimized for power damage when using it. I don´t swap my armor/trinkets for that.
I have 3 different Elementalist builds there that I play. My front line build, roaming build and staff back line build.
Ele is still a lot of fun, you just have to gear and trait right for what you want to do. Let me know if you have any questions.
With all due respect…I strongly doubt you can kill anybody competent on other professions with your build…or any other builds for ele atm.
The OP was I guess a bit too stressed in his post..but I can easily sympathize with him as I feel the same frustration.
The sustain is there I guess in your build..but eles lacks the serious dmg to finish anything that is even remotely bunkerish.
Sorry but I seriously doubt you can kill any half decent scrapper/berseker/chrono/dd/druid. Respect to ele they have dmg on top of the sustain and this without much sacrifice
Personally I gave up on ele, he’ll never be anything more than a glorified support bot with pitiful dmg where you’ll kill some lowly player after a long long long fight and that’s the reason you don’t see roaming eles anymore, the OP is right in that regard
I mean no offense when I say this, but it has to be user error. If you don’t combo well and choose your attunements wisely, you’re going to have problems and it may seem like you’re lacking in damage. You can’t just click buttons and expect to win with Elementalist like you can with the likes of a warrior or scrapper.
You’re welcome to visit my stream and look at the many 1v1s I’ve won on it. I’ve even got some 2v1s I won lol.
Me vs a friend, he is actually pretty good, just can’t beat my ele https://www.twitch.tv/asphyxiaxt/v/35998634 (I was running dagger focus before I realized how amazing warhorn was in this video. Same traits and full cele still though.)
I have to go through my stream a bit to highlight more videos of my 1v1s, there are tons buried in hours of footage, I just haven’t had time to go through it all.
I couldn’t get past the first ele video……your rotation is all wrong, do zero might stacking….and fighting a pure glass mesmer when you have cele gear to carry you. Hardly a challenge.
The title is Elementalist Role in WvW…if you share me builds wich i know that at the moment are weak for ROAMING , i dont understand if evryone think that elementalist is good in that or is just the start of the wave and probally i will need to wait another time when WATER probally will be nerfed to. Is Elementalist designed in your opinion to became a healer and only that or you still think elementalist can roam?
,,and yes now i will dedicate time to find all the elementalist that i know to fight against this other profesione builds make a video and share in such a way for you to try it since you like builds to share,,
I don’t think the builds are the issue here.
I have lost ONE 1v1 on my Elementalist with my roaming build, and it was to a friend who plays Revenant and is VERY good at it. I’ve done literally hundreds of 1v1s with my Ele and have only lost one since I started running my build. So I’ll happily 1v1 you to prove to you that Elementalist for roaming is good IF you know how to play. The build can only carry you so much, its user error if you can’t compete roaming on an Elementalist.
Dude you troll everyone with your horrible builds.
You use scrapper runes way too often and is an abysmal choice on a full cele elementalist. Hoelbrak is far superior. If you learn how to effectively play classes and rotations you will realize you don’t need extra toughness from your runes.
As others on this thread have mentioned….show us some video proof of your wonderful talents and diverse builds in action.
Sigil of cleansing on both weapon sets will help you with condi.
If memory servers….isn’t the trait “Swift Termination” still disabled until anet fixes?
I like rune of the scrapper but a bad choice for revenant that constantly pulses might and fury. Hoelbrak runes, strength runes, durability runes are all better choices.
I appreciate the creative thinking……but as others have mentioned we already have several low pop servers open. Adding additional worlds wouldn’t really solve anything in my mind.
A celestial build not using incendiary powder is not poperly using his condition damage stats (imo). You should try to theorycraft some beter build, its fun. At what im seeing currently i would not even recommend an armor containing the condition damage stat(other then celestial).
BTW the build you have in your signature isn’t very optimized either imo. No one uses traveler runes any more when there are traits available to get swiftness easily. Why would I take 25% movement speed when I can get 33%?
I chose traveler runes so i can still switch between damage (long fused powder pack (though unreliable)) and utility (lock on) and dont have to kitswap all the time to be mobile plus the +25% movementspeed can’t be boonstripped. Hidden flask also gives it almost 50% swiftness uptime during fights. Being 6.4/8.7% faster is hardly gonna mather on a build with good range pressure, reliable far reach (1200) and lots of cc. the stats combined with the +10% condition duration and 15% boon duration also makes it a pretty good rune damage/survivability wise compared to other rune sets (on this hybrid build).
Also for the + stats, leadership runes would be far superior
They have the same stats. the difference is:+25% speed + 10% condi duration + 15% boon duration vs +30% boon duration + 2 condi conversions on elite use.
and greatly increase boon duration at the same time.
What is so great about 150% boon duration compared to 135%?
On 11 or 12 mai I removed the following suggestion from the mettabatle build page "If you decide to use other runes then the Superior runes of the traveler then “Lock on” has to be replaced by “Streamlined kits” to keep the build mobile. " You can check the history from the page. There are lots of good rune choices but if i were to add them all the wiki page would get too crowdy. It might be a good idea re-add the tip and make people aware that many runes would work reasonably well with the build.
I stand by my comment, while you dont have (much?) celestial gear yet and gonna use scrapper, tools and alchemy traitlines (with the weapons currently slotted), i would use power gear instead of hybrid gear.
Then I calculated effective power. I factored in all available might stacks. Your average is 2652 effective power. You have zero condi duration in your build so any condi dmg will tickle at 675 condi dmg with 0 duration. So please explain to me how you categorize this as a “hybrid build”. Because it looks like pretty much “carry me” gear and a medi dragon hunter would eat you for breakfast because of such low effective power.
I asked for suggestions for gear. Not a build critique. I never asked you to run my build. But make sure if you suggest one…..that it’s superior.
With that said I will not be running cele gear because I feel it would inhibit my skill growth as a player and I actually like killing stuff.
A celestial build not using incendiary powder is not poperly using his condition damage stats (imo). You should try to theorycraft some beter build, its fun. At what im seeing currently i would not even recommend an armor containing the condition damage stat(other then celestial).
BTW the build you have in your signature isn’t very optimized either imo. No one uses traveler runes any more when there are traits available to get swiftness easily. Why would I take 25% movement speed when I can get 33%? Also for the + stats, leadership runes would be far superior and greatly increase boon duration at the same time.
In any case it is a good build, a tad bit too tanky. Thanks for your help and interest