Guild Wars 2

Senjar.3269:

Thank you for your fast response. I will be glad to give some feedback as soon as I try it out.

Take your time. Right now, with SAB and ascended weapon crafting, I’m a bit low on funds to upgrade some of my trinkets. Any feedback and input to help improve the build and/or its other variants is much appreciated! ^^

Senjar.3269:

I’m very interested in trying your critical build. However the link you have provided does not work. I will be very grateful if you can provide working link for the crit build.

Whoops! I must had accidentally unpublished the build on the build website. It should work now.

Also, have you also checked out the OMFG tester’s test thread? I’ve posted a revamped version of the Flowing Images build that uses full condition:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/OMFG-The-Testers-Testing-Thread/first#post2744763

There’s 3 variants – condition shatter, hybrid shatter (original), and non-shatter – and I have posted all 4, including Critical, on the build website. (I believe you can click on my name in any of the build guides to bring up the list of builds that I have and you should see all 4 Flowing Images build)

Thanks so much for taking interest! I’d love to have some feedback and input on your experience. I’m continuing testing these builds and trying out the new stats/runes that are available after today’s update.

I’m very sorry about what happened, Chaos. Take all the time you need and like what others said, real life first, then gaming. We’ll always have open arms to welcome you when you return.

Thank you Chaos and great guidelines, Skcamow!

Also, after much input and suggestions, the two builds that I’m working on (Smoke ’n Mirrors/Rings on My Fingers) have some big and small changes.

Due to plenty of builds revolving around stealth/illusions, I decided to no longer test my Smoke ‘n Mirrors. HOWEVER, in its place, I am revamping and retesting my Flowing Images build, mashing the two versions – Critical and Shatter, and making it a full condition build. Here’s a quick break down:

Flowing Images (Revamped):
- Scepter/Pistol + Staff
- Trait spec: 0 – 30 (I, IX, X) – 0 – 10 (II) – 30 (V, VII, XI) or 10 (VI) – 20 (II, X) – 10 (V) – 0 – 30 (V, VII, XI) or 0 – 30 (II, IX, X) – 10 (V) – 20 (II, VII) – 10 (V) (Non-shatter version)
- Utility skills: Feedback, Phantasmal Disenchanter (or Null Field), Blink
- Rabid armor & weapons (may have some Dire once it goes live)
- Trinkets are mix of Rabid and other stat from laurel vendor (may also change)
- Runes of Perplexity or Nightmare (may change to Scavenging or Noble once changed)
- Sigil of Ice/Sigil of Accuracy + Sigil of Accuracy (or Doom)
- Nourishments are Master Tuning Crystal and Orrian Truffle Soup or Rare Veggie Pizza

I’ve tested a similar setup of this with a previous version of Flowing Images before but it was hybrid power/condition and traits setup was a bit different. A couple benefits of this build is the ability to stack bleed and confusion quickly via iDuelist , Duelist’s Discipline, and ethereal fields (I’m aware that the trait giving 100% projectile finisher is a bug, but why not use it?) and in addition, make constant illusions to shatter (mainly using Cry of Frustration, Diversion, and Distortion).
_____________________

Now, with “Rings on My Fingers”, I’ve decided to also make it a full condition build and is renamed to Ringbearer, but have 2 variants of it – one with torch and one without it.

Ringbearer – Variant 1:
- Scepter/Torch + Staff
- Trait spec: 20 (VI, IX) – 30 (V, VIII, X) – 20 (IV, V) – 0 – 0
- Utility skills: Signet of Midnight, Signet of Inspiration, Signet of Domination
- Armor, weapon, trinkets, runes, sigils, and nourishments are same as Flowing Images

Ringbearer – Variant 2:
- Scepter/Sword + Staff
- Trait spec: 10 (VI) – 30 (V, VIII, X) – 30 (IV, V, IX) – 0 – 0
- Utility skills: Same as variant 1
- Armor, weapon, trinkets, and runes are same as above
- Sigil of Generosity (or Purity)/Sigil of Hydromancy + Sigil Doom
- Food nourishment is Truffle Risotto while utility is same as above

All builds are meant for PvE open world and dungeons at the moment. I will test them currently and after Sept. 3rd update with some Dire and new runes.

Edit: Added the original Flowing Images – Shatter and a non-shatter version to the Flowing Images to test along with the new one. Not sure if this is okay to add these after 5 in the morning. .

Advent.6193:

I wish they freaking would … and change the Mental Torment Trait to … iunno … apply Torment?

If it can apply Torment, I’m gonna be using it in all my builds! Seriously, I love torment on the scepter, except it requires a block, whereas warriors and thieves can easily apply 5 or more stacks directly or venom.

Condition mesmers need more than just mainly confusion and sadly, engie has an easier access to apply confusion more and faster than we can.

I wanted to give an update that I’ve changed Rings on My Fingers build and made two variants of it and giving it new names:

Ringbearer – without Torch

Ringbearer – with Torch

As for Smoke ‘n Mirrors, I *haven’t adjusted or changed anything yet*. For now I’m just focusing on the Ringbearer builds.

I’m not sure if I can pose this, but I do also want to see if I can improve my Flowing Images builds. I’ve made a thread about it so I’m just gonna put the link to that thread here:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Builds-Flowing-Images-Aug-12th-update/first#post1821367

Bear in mind that since it was my first build post, it has gone through several revisions due to updates and feedbacks. The latest revisions haven’t gotten much feedback. Since both builds are posted on Fay’s list of builds, I wanted to see about improving them, or just one of them even. It’ll help me decide if they’re worth keeping in the list of mesmer builds or not.

Thank you all in advance for reading my posts and helping me to become a better mesmer.

Edit: Bah! Stupid typo of url link.

Edit2: With the new Dire stats (Condition damage, Toughness, and Vitality) coming on Sept. 3rd, I may do half Rabid and half Dire for the Ringbearer builds and retest the builds. Will be continuing testing more in PvE and dungeons. I may try roaming in WvW with them. Also, restated my Smoke ’n Mirrors statement and will try it once I have tested Ringbearers more.

I agree with Nearlight that condition builds is not as popular in PvE, but in WvW/PvP, it’s very useful.

I’ve worked on many hybrid builds and only a few that are successful to have power/condition, usually involves some or mostly shattering. The trait setup that Nearlight said works, and pretty much x/20/x/x/30. I use scepter/pistol with greatsword for my Flowing Images – Shatter or Critical builds for a mix of power and condition damage to help out in pve/dungeons.

I’m currently working on a full condition signet build that is a bit supportive and somewhat tanky with 10/30/30/0/0 or 20/30/20/0/0 (with torch). It’s been working fine with toggling 2-4 mobs at once in open world. Hopefully, it could be one of the first viable signet builds (since signet builds have a bad rep).

I’m working on a condition signet build with either 10/30/30/0/0 (without torch) or 20/30/20/0/0 (with torch) and having that vitality would help out. I’m also deciding on rune of perplexity or tormenting (since I use scepter) instead of centaur.

My Flowing Images – Shatter build would also benefit with Dire too, so I’m gonna be giving this a try as well.

Let me make sure I understand this…

Explorer’s give Magic Find, Power, and Precision and it’ll be Assassin’s which is Precision Power, and Crit Damage.

Traveler’s give Magic Find, Power, and Condition Damage, but it’ll be change to Dire which is Condition Damage, Toughness, and Vitality.

Wayfarer’s give Magic Find, Toughness, and Vitality currently, yet no change to this.

If the new Assassin’s was based from Explorer’s, why is Dire not based from Wayfarer’s? And if it was suppose to be Wayfarer’s, then what’s Traveler’s going to be change to?

While there are very few condition builds available to us (unless Anet adds more later), I wonder what any of you think about this new stat set (Condition Damage, Toughness, and Vitality).

I personally am glad that there is another condition-based stat set besides Rabid. I may end up using a couple or perhaps half of my gear with Dire along with Rabid for my condition builds.

I look forward to this community project guide! Not only does it gives new mesmers some tips and guides, but also gives all of us some insight and different point of views of things that we may only looked on one side.

Here’s my input of the weapons and their skills:

MH Sword – 4/5
Great power-based, one-handed weapon, but is melee-oriented (so range mesmers may not like this.

Scepter – 2/5
I primarily use scepter and honestly, I feel that it’s clunky and unfinished. Anet is slowly turning it into a condition-based weapon, but it’s still having some power-based damage. I love the torment condition and I hope autoattack can inflict conditions (chill, torment, confusion, poison) and increase its attack speed. CI needs to be faster. Rating may change in the future, assuming Anet’s fixing this weapon that needs lots of love.

Staff – 4/5
Great defensive weapon that seems more condition-based, but surprisingly has power. Only issues are thakittens autoattack is slow and Phase Retreat can teleport you inside an object or behind a wall. Love Chaos Storm!

Greatsword – 3/5
Unexpected, brutal weapon to use on a caster and is our fastest autoattacker that is power-based and ranged. Mirror Blade grants might to nearby allies while the autoattack gives highest damage the farther away from target you are, making it rather ironic (at least iBerserker can get it). Mind Stab is fast, but has a small AoE and strips 1 boon; this is probably the worst skill of the greatsword and would be better if it has bigger AoE and/or not ground targeted (instead target and nearby foes). Phantasm is an AoE beast, now that it’s fixed and Illusionary Wave is a nice AoE push and interrupt, giving the mesmer a breather to move or knock a stealthed thief out of Shadow Refuge (mwehehehe).

OH Sword – 4/5
Gives nice defense and offense regardless of mainhand choice. Block and creating a clone and deal damage is nice. iSwordsman is a beastly spiker to a target.

Pistol – 4/5
I like using this weapon with both mainhands. iDuelist is also an excellent spike phantasm and can easily stack bleeds via Sharper Images trait. Magic Bullet is a nice CC, but can tag extra mobs that you may not want; and if it’s only 1 target, it only gets the stun and not the others. Both skills are only 900 (unless traited) where as most others are 1200.

Focus – 4/5
My least used off-hand but can also with either mainhands. It does require a bit of careful placing for Temporal Curtain/Into the Void. iWarden is a good AoE phantasm dps with one problem – it’s stationary. Its weapon trait makes the focus extremely useful.

Torch – 3/5
I’m starting to like using this weapon with scepter and MH sword, but it could use some buffs. It seems more condition oriented. Nice stealth and has our only combo blast finisher. iMage needs lots of love; perhaps inflicting another condition and boon and reducing its cooldown and/or raise its attack speed would make it more appealing. The weapon trait with removing condition helps free a utility slot.

Thanks for the suggestions and feedback! I know I’ve talked to you ingame about why there’s power in the build, but I’ll explain here in case anyone else is reading. I originally was using scepter/pistol + greatsword and since iDuelist and GS go well in power, I had Carrion weapons, a few trinkets, and food to boost some power so that I have at least 2500 while still having over 1100 condition damage. With OH sword, it still uses power, but with staff it is more condition oriented.

I wanted to make a hybrid build, but I can understand that I may be spreading out too much. With the scepter getting torment, I hope Anet would do something about its autoattack (maybe give back confusion or even apply chill/poison or certain random condition with each hit).

I’m gonna try your suggestion and use 10/30/30/0/0 with full rabid gear (unless the magic find gears changes to something like ‘condition/precision/vitality’, ‘precision/vitality/toughness’, ‘condition/vitality/toughness’, or similar along the line) and go more condition/tanky to see how that goes. I’ll let you and everyone else know how it goes!

Edit: I’m gonna also try using Torch since it’s more condition oriented. With Deceptive Evasion, iMage can be a bit useful with giving retaliation to me and illusions and giving confusion to foes (wish it was back to 5 seconds or even grant burn condition). Since I have the Meteorlogicus, I’m stuck with Soldier’s for that until Sept. 3rd, but thankfully, it’s not too far away.

Exploring the open world with both builds were fine although different.

The Smoke n’ Mirrors does require a lot of moving around while making sure I am nearby the target to trigger Illusionary Persona but also be within range of iMage’kitten. However, it does allow me to tag more mobs in a zerg. I’ll admit that this build need some tweaking since this is my first using the torch (and I’ve been so used to scepter + pistol or OH sword).

The Rings on My Fingers was definitely new. With higher toughness and extra defense with each illusion, I can take a hit or two without problem. In addition to what you said, Chaos, about Signet of Midnight, it is also my quickest condition removal/shortest signet cooldown and it boosts my boon duration up to 40% (which helps extend the swiftness on heal when I travel); in battle, I activated that signet the most while Signet of Domination is kept passive majority of the time unless I really need another interrupt somewhere.

I’ve tested both builds during Scarlet’s invasions and the aetherblade fights were the most intense of the waves (in my opinion). With the signet build, I survived more (and not get downed actually) when facing them, but I won’t be able to tag many mobs as frequent. The signets were proven very useful to me with that distortion to get out if things get dicey and getting rid of that huge stack of vulnerability/confusion that I sometimes get. I also was able to be a bit supportive thanks to Signet of Inspiration and can use my dodge more freely.

As for the illusion/stealth build, it was more reckless to be honest. I find myself dodging and making clones left and right and shattering nearby mobs which makes it easy to get loot, but also gives mobs a chance to target me. I’ll admit that I’ve been downed several times and a couple defeats due to inappropriate dodge timing and landing on an enemy AoE. The Prestige did help me maneuver around and removing condition; same with iMage except I sometimes won’t get the retaliation (which is no big deal).

I haven’t give these builds a try in a dungeon, but I feel more confident with the signet build than the stealth/illusion one, but I’ll let you know how both went.

Edit: I gave the signet build more testing and I’ve updated the guide for it. Please check the revision.

For the past week and a half, I’ve been buildcrafting. I wanted to see if I can have a build that can 1) focusing on shattering with some stealth and 2) using signets. I couldn’t combine them, but instead made 2 different builds yet use same weapons and gears. I’ve tried using both builds while exploring various areas in open world, including using them during meta Scarlet’s invasions, to see how they fare. Surprisingly, I’m having a lot of fun with these builds and possibly more fun than my Flowing Images builds that I’ve posted awhile back. What my concern is if there is something that missing or doesn’t sync within these builds.

These are the builds:

Smoke n’ Mirrors

Rings on My Fingers

Both have more in-depth guides of the builds as well as some alternatives that I’ve tried out so far. Now, I haven’t tested them in dungeons yet, but it seems like they can work. If I can get some constructive feedbacks on how to improve these builds, that would be wonderful.

Ooooo, I’d be interested!

In-game name: Phloww
Home Server: Tarnished Coast
Mode: PvE

I like to join as a scholar for now (I may want to be a tester in the future since I tend to try out various builds and make new ones).

Edit: I’ll try to pop in and represent the guild from time to time. Work and such may keep me occupied as well. ^^;

@rfdarko and Septimus – I am not insulting. I just post a couple images showing that there were purple/violet already with the weapon and also wonder and speculate what Anet had in mind about the Meteorlogicus. I never said that you should just “deal with it” or that your color scheme is horrible, no. That is why I also said that perhaps Anet could make the purple more dark blue/black to match with the nighttime style.

I apologize if my images and speculations were offending of any way. I thought I could share some things and opinion but it seems that’s insulting to others….

Septimus.2714:

What part of “incoming nighttime style incompatibility” don’t you understand asura?

You mean the moon and the stars are not part of the nighttime style? Or are you referring to the purple not matching with the rest? If it’s the latter, then maybe Anet could make it dark blue/black instead. If it’s the former, well, I never heard of the sun (which is what the Meteorlogicus currently has) being part of “night time”.

Or, perhaps instead of purple, make it dark blue/black the match with the moon and stars, which is also nice too.

That would help solve the purple issue.

Hamartia.3421:

Of course a Mesmer who is already running around in purple gear is going to be okay with this change.

Yes, but it still shows that the Meteorlogicus already had some purple implemented.

Edit: And the majority dye color I have on is royal blue, then some morning glory (the purple) and then little bit of winter ice.

I took a screenshot of the Meteorlogicus while running and I notice that there are two trail colors – blue and purple.

http://imageshack.us/a/img703/882/o0pn.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img13/892/ayr7.jpg

With the new screenshot showing the night-version, it makes sense of why there is purple already implemented. Perhaps the night/moon version has the trail colors being switched (meaning that the purple will leave a longer trail than the blue).

Edit: Added a 2nd screenshot to show when drawn out.

I took a screenshot of the Meteorlogicus while running and I notice that there are two trail colors – blue and purple.

http://imageshack.us/a/img703/882/o0pn.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img13/892/ayr7.jpg

With the new screenshot showing the night-version, it makes sense of why there is purple already implemented. Perhaps the night/moon version has the trail colors being switched (meaning that the purple will leave a longer trail than the blue).

Edit: Added a 2nd screenshot to show when drawn out

Ah, that would explain the small blue/purple trail that it currently leaves whenever I run or swing the Meteorlogicus around. To be honest, I like the additional aesthetic effects so far from the screenshot, but I hope there is a footstep/aura/longer trail added.

It seems like there will be floating stars swirling around too, so maybe the day version (if it does have a day-night version) there will be a light blue or “sunny” aura?

Either way, I’m looking forward to it!

The staff, scepter, sword, shield, dagger, greatsword, focus, and “warhorn” are the good looking ones.

Staff & scepter – In GW1 (and I have them both), their heads look distorted/twisted and it was hard to make out what they were suppose to be. In GW2, it made more sense as to why they were made like that (horns/ears with a middle, flow-up ribbon headband).

Sword & shield – Closest replicas of GW1, minus the blue colorations.

Dagger – Cute way of adding the rat and somewhat similar to its GW1 design.

Greatsword – New design since GW1 never had one. I like the double-snake look.

Focus – Again, new design and I think it’s cute and creative how the monkey and the gems were positioned.

Warhorn – This one gets mentioned because it is the funniest and I can’t help laughing just thinking about blowing your….“rooster”. XD

I’m contemplating on the staff, greatsword, or focus for my mesmer.

HOORAAY!!!!!!! Now I can have a shiny/flashy off-hand and confuse my opponents more and make them try to guess which is the real me! :-D

But seriously, I am very happy for this update! ^^

I have the Zodiac scepter and staff in GW1 and, quite honestly, I think they look odd. I don’t know what the head parts were suppose to be; both were distorted with little stickouts and just have a few gemstones on them. In GW2, it made more sense as to why they were shaped like that (scepter – bunny and staff – goat/ram and their positions of ears/horns).

I like 7 of the GW2 Zodiac skins – greatsword, shield, sword, scepter (cause it’s a bunny), staff, dagger, and focus; the others look clunky and not as appealing to me (they could be redesigned). I always wondered why were they called Zodiac weapons in GW1 as I would assume it was referring to Chinese zodiac signs, but none of them weren’t shown as such. I think Anet was trying to make them more accurate to be animal zodiac weapons in GW2.

Hi Fay!

First off, thank you for continue making and maintaining this list of amazing builds for us! I wanted to let you know that I’ve modified my builds and have only two versions of them. I’ve been playing with them since late July and I believe they’ve gotten improved and still apply to the theme I have:

Flowing Images – Critical 10/30/0/10/20 and Flowing Images – Shatter 10/20/10/0/30

Edit: Critical build uses Scepter/Pistol + Greatsword while Shatter build uses Scepter/Pistol + Staff (but I’ve added alternative weapon choices as options in both guides).

Another update with revisions of the builds. I’ve actually been playing with these 2 builds since late July and I think they’re better than the previous versions.

I was originally going for the Quip, but a good close friend of mine (whom I’ve duoed with often in game) got me a big present – 100 charged lodestones and various T6 materials – and he thinks I look better with the Meteorlogicus.

Since mesmers only got 2 main-hand weapons (sword and scepter), I rather have them utilizing both power and condition damage. The sword’s more power oriented, yes, but it can still do in condition builds and the scepter’s more condition oriented, but can work in power builds.

I think Anet should give the autoattack scepter some sort of condition similar to how the MH sword gets vulnerability. Perhaps weakness, chilled, crippled, or even confusion (like what they did back in beta 1). Confusing Images could have a speed up animation.

If only Scepter AA and #3 animation were faster, even 50% more, would be great. The past week, I’ve been playing with Furious Interruption with scepter/x and I’m liking it. With the new Counter Blade, I’m gonna give scepter/sword combo + Furious Interruption a try. OH sword may make an alternative to the pistol that I’ve been using. We’ll see!

It’s always been rather slow, unfortunately. It used to only be single target, but sometime earlier this year, Anet made it a line AoE. I hope that casting animation time would shorten in the future.

I like the Null Field buff and helps with my builds. I wonder if there are any stealth nerfs (or buffs)….

I’m the same. I don’t expect everyone to enjoy my builds (which you can see 4 different types at my sig, if you’re curious).

Since beta, I went from shatter, to condition, to power, and then phantasm specs and while I enjoy pure builds, I always keep wanting something from each one, hence why I made Flowing Images builds; that, and I am one of those few that seem to enjoy the scepter and utilizing it as a mix of power and condition damage with a phantasm build. I keep 2 phantasms up while leaving the third slot for clones (sometimes may try to include a clone-on-death trait in my builds).

Out of all the mesmer skill types, mantras are my least knowledgeable and played. Probably the closest mantra build that I’ve enjoyed playing is the first one you mentioned – Restorative Mantra trait + MoP along with phantasm dps.

When it comes to phantasm dps I like Sharper Images, especially on a GS/scepter/sword clone, and I like to have at least 1000+ condition damage so that I can have some power as well. About IC, at first I was a bit upset of it moving further down in the trait, but then I wonder if it would be contradicting to hybrid/pure phantasm dps builds since you want to keep your phantasms out as much as possible and not shatter them or get them killed. The lower cooldown would only benefit when trying to get 2-3 of the same phantasms. I’m just glad that some of our weapon traits, like Duelist’s Discipline and Warden’s Feedback, provide additional perks besides 20% faster recharge.

Anyways, I’ll give Mantra Mastery a try since, like you said, DE isn’t really that useful. Perhaps it is possible to have 1-2 mantras within a hybrid phantasm build. ^^

Sorry for double posting, but I wanted to add a 4th build version while changing the Mix build to help clarify things and not be too vague on them. ^^; I know my build theme had expanded (and hopefully this is it). With precision, each build applies 4 aspects that I want to emphasize on – power, condition damage, phantasm dps, and shatters – while having a hybrid feel to them.

This blog is making me rethink of my legendary weapon choice. Now I need to compare the different weapons currently and what possible new ones coming later this year.

I had a feeling this build was spread out too much, hence why I asked. It’s probably why I don’t play much with mantras often (except MoP + Restorative Mantras). Unlike glamours and manipulations, mantras seem to require a full/specialized build.

I’ll probably just stick to my Flowing Images builds. Despite them being pure hybrid of shatter/phantasms and power/condition, they’ve handled very well in PvE/dungeons play. I may give the Mantra Support a try. Thank you both for your suggestions and help! ^^

PS – @Nretep: Did you meant Illu20 and Insp25 in regards to Phantasm build?

Almost all my mesmer playtime I’ve been using clones, phantasms, glamours, and manipulations, but I never got fully into mantras. Reading from Fay’s and Skcamow’s mantra build guides, I wanted to see if I can make a mantra build that I would enjoy. One thing I noticed about my playstyle is that I don’t use my utility skills unless I need them and looking at the mantras, Mantra of Pain seems to require constant spamming/activation. I looked through the mantra traits and Empowered Mantras caught my attention. I came up with this build:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgQQNAraRl0zipHSTlGaNJhpCBHlCs7dSFUdpH2O3yG-jwDBoLZEnRIiqAgIYRj5QFRjtmpIasKZwqaAqbYKXQKYJ1qDwOOrWywmyJSIABrBA-e

It seems rather odd build, I know. It utilizes power/condition damage, some phantasm dps, some shattering, and keeping a couple mantras readied as much as possible for the extra damage. Mantra of Distraction is tempting to pick over Mantra of Concentration, but I’ll need to play around with it to see how it goes. I did not go with Mantra of Recovery because I like Mirror and Ether Feast more and I’m concern of how much I will use it and will keep fluctuating my extra damage from Empowered Mantras. The 10 Chaos points is debatable since I can put them into Inspiration instead.

I like to know from mantra experts (or anyone else) if I’m spreading too much around or is this something that could be seen in PvE/dungeons. I usually prefer having some dps with some support/cc, so I’m not sure if this would provide such similarity (unless taking Mantra of Distraction and 10 Inspiration points is more supportive for some group play).

I know shatter and phantasm builds are viable in PvE. I’ve made a hybrid build that can use both along with power and condition damage.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Builds-Flowing-Images-July-15th-update/first#post2415022

However, my builds do use mainly scepter/pistol, but it can use any of the other weapons as its second weapon set. If scepter or pistol isn’t your thing, no worries, you can swap out the traits to use others.

@ppaladin – Sorry for responding late. RL stuff happening with me. The best tactic of using the scepter with phantasms is to have only 2 phantasms out, leaving the 3rd open for clones. Sometimes I will swap to my other weapon set if I decide to have all 3 phantasms. There are also times where I end up having all 3 clones and just shatter. These builds are meant to provide flexibility between phantasm dps and shattering.

Also, I’ve updated the OP and builds to include ascended accessories and back piece since I finally got some time to look into them. I’m also working on getting the Quip (got 2 of 4 completed).

Edit: 2nd update to mention about food choices and shorten text due to character limit.

keenlam.4753:

-snip-

Now that is quite a detailed comparison and point of view of the sword and scepter! No wonder I seem to enjoy the trickery aspects more than intimidation! Both do help overwhelm opponents. In addition, the staff and GS could also represent the trickery and intimidating respectfully; the offhands do have a mix of both (with phantasms being the intimidation factor and the other skill is more trickery).

Anyways, very nicely done on explaining the two weapons!

Have you tried a hybrid power/condition phantasm build?

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Builds-Flowing-Images-25th-patch-update/first#post1821367

I use scepter in my Flowing Images build along with pistol mainly because I enjoy being in mid-range, though I don’t mind going melee with the sword.

Crossplay.2067:

I feel a bit differently. They were right to move Illusionist Celerity. It was too powerful for 5 points. However, it should have become a minor Master trait. For 15 points, it would be in line with most cooldown reduction traits and still viable for anyone not making a shatter build.

I also agree that it should have been minor Master trait. It would provide some flexibility for shatter and non-shatter builds.

I use scepter/pistol as my main weapon set while my off-set is either a staff or dual swords (see my signature for a couple builds). I also plan on getting the Quip as my first legendary. Most people tend to use GS, and Sword/x, and occasional staff. I find the scepter to be okay; the torment condition adds a little extra if you’re running a full or hybrid condition build. However, I do agree that the #1 skill is a bit lackluster (I like it to have its first two attacks to be AoE and perhaps a random condition of some sort).

Thank you both TGSlasher and DJRiful. I knew I should have just listen into the livestream video earlier. >_<;

DJRiful.3749:

Anet Dev is already knew about it. Hotfix on Monday/Tuesday.

Oh good, that’s a relief! Hopefully both scepter water 2 and focus fire 4 would get fixed. Was this mentioned somewhere in the forums? (I tried searching but I get no results everytime)

Just tried using Flamewall during a champion fight a few minutes ago and noticed it wasn’t working. It shows my character doing part of the casting animation, but then it gets “interrupted” and the skill goes into a 4 sec cooldown. I went and test it on one of the golem dummies and it still does the same thing. Even though majority of elementalists don’t use focus, this is still a big problem when a skill doesn’t work at all during combat.

Ooooo, with Arcane Shield being a stunbreaker, I may try a arcane build!

Hi Fay, when you get a chance, can I request my builds to be on the list? Technically, it’s 1 build and an alternate variant, but both still serve the purpose of being a hybrid power/condition. It is updated as of June 25th, but the build calculator website isn’t yet. Once it does, I’ll update the links.

Flowing Images: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Builds-Flowing-Images-25th-patch-update/first#post1821367

So far, it works great in PvE and dungeons and shows a uncommon combo of scepter/pistol + staff (or other weapons).

After this big patch, I went back to theorycrafting and thankfully not everything got changed. In fact, some things got buffed. See OP for details; I plan to update it as soon as the website is updated.

Hm, it’s only a matter of hours until we find out what is officially confirmed. Though I am taken interest in the Shatter Conditions trait the most. We’ll see soon enough and modifying our builds.