Guild Wars 2

Ikaros.5730:

Xyonon.3987:

Ikaros.5730:

Problem is that this game is balanced around WvW and PvP.

Bullsh|t… This game’s PvP and WvW is as important as the PvE part. And there are plenty of changes just to buff PvE, like mainly Mantras or Illusion HP, or pet HP in general. Little PvE haters like you make me sick.

Excuses me! Im a dungeon runner so dont assume anything about me, i rarely WvW/PvP. With that said all the balance issues iv seen so far have rarely come from a PvE issue most nerfs happen because of a PvP issue.

And while i agree there are some changes that need to happen to PvE it wont happen till there is a split in the system between PvE and PvP/WvW, but Anet has already said a few time that there not gonna implement separate systems for PvP/WvW/PvE, even tho they should.

…they already have. Multiple times on multiple classes…

Arikyali.5804:

20 domination – applying vulnerability and great sword boosts
30 dueling – Deceptive Evasion, Confusing Combatants, Phantasmal Fury/Sharper Images, (Blade Training if I get sword)
10 chaos – fall damage reduction
10 illusion – Master of Misdirection/Illusionary Retribution

Not a concrete one-direction build, but a damage-based build that can run for WvW and PvE. It’s just the play style I’m comfortable with, especially since I’m always switching my offhand weapon – it’s usually pistol, but I use all of them for whatever the situation calls for.

Well, the issue is that your build doesn’t really seem designed to do anything at all. You’ve got deceptive evasion for shattering, and I guess rending shatter, but mind wrack won’t really hurt much without mental torment or IP.

Confusing combatants is useless in this build for sure, that means nothing. Phantasmal fury and sharper images work well together certainly, but you again have no condition damage, and without either of the phantasm damage boosts, your phantasms will leave something to be desired in the damage department.

10 points in chaos for fall damage reduction is a massive waste of 10 points. Same thing for 10 in illusions for master of misdirection or illusionary retribution.

You need to figure out what this build is doing, then tweak it to do that, because right now it’s doing a lot of not very much.

I have to ask, what exactly are you intending on doing with those traits?

mikeew.8607:

I have actually tested this now in dungeons and in general pve exploration and must say that Natsu no offense but you are incorrect. Things take a matter of seconds to die. Also I walk away from vet mobs with almost full health so the survivability plus the dps is such a nice mix. I have run 4 Ac’s p1 and p3 twice each and no group has complained and I have in some cases been the only one not to go down.

Although in instances such as ac is concerned where I can see that ice bow usage is affected as this build with rabid gear has no real power to speak of direct damage wise thus I do not see the full effects of usage of such things as if someone in full berserkers. I however enjoy a game where everyone is not pigeon holed in to using 1 class of armor and 1 weapon sheerly because it is easier and the so called preferred method.

Natsu is absolutely correct. This build will kill things quite easily, and you will walk away at quite high hp. However, you will do several times less damage than with a zerker phantasm build, and that’s simply a fact.

Fearless Wretch.6839:

Can anyone tell me if this trait is bugged? I am mainly pve and while out trying some new things I noticed that the recharge for Nullfield and Feedback where recharging at the base 32 seconds instead of the 20% reduction rate. I tested this in several combat situations and get the same results. Thank you for any information you can supply.

32 seconds is not base. 40 is.

Alissah.9281:

Helios.3598:

Alissah.9281:

For 1v1 in the duelling custom arena I go with shatter… because phantasm, lockdown, and prismatic understanding are banned >__<’

wait… wut?

Just as I said, they’re banned.

• Both phantasm damage traits are banned… You cant make a phantasm build without them.
• Chaotic interruption and comfounding suggestions are banned.
• prismatic undertanding is banned.
• Rabid amulet is banned for Mesmers.
• mass invis is banned.
• torch is banned.
• you cant have both decoy and blink.
• mirror images is banned.
• all elites with higher cd than 90. So basically, Mesmer cant use elites at all.
• and more stuff I cant remember.

The owner just hates Mesmers, and he wants to have an easy win vs them, so he bans everything except the ‘easiest to kill’ build, which apparrently is shatter.

The sad thing is, that out of all custom arenas, that one is the most popular because people hate Mesmers :/. The other arenas have maybe 5 people in them… If youre lucky x.x

I’ve never encountered this. Could you perhaps clarify where you’ve had this happen?

From the perspective of a Mesmer at least, this trait doesn’t worry me in the least. Any build I can think of has plenty of options to take out 2k up from an ele while building for 100% condition damage. Sure, you’ll have to burn a couple cooldowns to achieve it, but time things properly and the ele will melt to condies afterwards.

Requiem.8769:

Pyroatheist.9031:

With zerker gear, you can do any build utilizing power. That’s shatters, phantasms, mantra nukers, some lockdown builds, etc. etc. Try out different builds to see what you prefer.

With carrion gear you can do…nothing. Salvage it and get rabid if you want to use conditions.

Could you give an example of a mantra nuker? I am interested. If PvP/WvW viable, that is.

It’s not really PvP viable. It’s sorta WvW viable, but you’ll be somewhat fragile, so you have to be careful.

The basis of it is just 30 points in dueling to get empowering mantras, and then fill your bar with mantras and go to town. Bonus points for compounding power and a few dodge clones. With 3 clones and 4 mantras, you end up at a static +25% damage, then you can tack on stuff like sigil of force, sigil of night, or other boosts to get that even higher. Greatsword autos will hit very hard at maximum range, and even your shatters will pack quite a punch.

The downsides are that you’ve got a bar full of mantras. You don’t really have a ton of utility or defensive options that way, and in order to maximize your damage with this, you need zerker gear, and so you end up being very fragile.

tyrone.5974:

What are your thoughts on Full knights for WvW? Gear and trinkets

Crit damage is very low. I prefer knights gear and cavaliers trinkets to accomplish that high toughness but keeping some good damage.

eldenbri.1059:

I know it’s a bit off topic for thread, but would people who choose Sigil of Energy also choose it for power (phantasm) builds?

I really like the sigils of battle. The damage bonus helps a lot and lasts 14.5 seconds when you have PU and wear Travelers. So it’s pretty easy to have 6 stacks that transfer their power to your phantasms.

I’ve never tried the sigils of energy, so I’m just wondering if it’s specific to clone-creating / condition builds.

Absolutely. Nothing gives more of a boost. In a phantasm build in particular, the only thing you need to worry about is staying alive, your combat ability is quite handily taken care of with your phantasms, and energy sigils do that better than anything else.

Me Games Ma.8426:

Tested it with my greatswordclone and sharper images:

domination 0:
5s bleed (displayed as 4)

domination 30:
6,5s bleed (displayed as 6)

It does affect our clones

Edit: Or better: It affects us what makes it affecting our clones

I think skcamow was referring to staff clones exclusively.

Josh Davis.6015:

Well, this seems like a great place to ask!

• What runes/sigils would you like to see added to PvP?

• And for any adventurous readers, what different stat combinations on amulets?

How about all of them?

Except perplexity. Those runes are bad and whoever designed them should feel bad.

Me Games Ma.8426:

Pyro, you’re wrong too

Conditiondamage, Conditionduration and Boonduration also doesn’t transfere. it’s not needed because the source of the boons/conditions is still YOU not your phantasm/clone.

Nope. They do apply. It used to be that clone conditions did not benefit from your condition duration, but now they do, it was fixed. They most likely fixed it by simply transferring the condition duration to clones (phantasms too).

Edit: The conditions did do the right damage even then though. It’s honestly not possible to really know how they decided to code it.

So, both of you are rather wrong.

All illusions inherit the following stats in full:

• Power
• Precision
• Toughness
• Critical Power
• Healing Power
• Condition Damage
• Condition Duration
• Boon Duration

Vitality does not transfer to illusions. Critical chance does not transfer to illusions. % damage modifiers do not transfer to illusions.

Something like bloodlust stacks or might, since they increase YOUR stats, get transferred to your illusions. Might on an illusion will have no effect because illusions do not have their own primary stats. Conversly, fury on yourself will have no affect because illusions only inherit primary stats, not secondary, but fury on illusions will increase their critical chance.

Health is a constant. Clones have a set amount of health dependent on level. Phantasms also have a set amount of health dependent on level, with the iDisenchanter having slightly more than all other phantasms, and the iDefender having very significantly more. Traits/utilities that modify phantasm or illusion hp will increase this value, and traits that increase illusion/phantasm damage will increase their output.

One more note on sigils. Clones/phantasms absolutely do NOT inherit the on-crit bonuses of sigils. That is 100% completely false information.

Xyonon.3987:

And the sword is traited with 20 points

10

I always always use 2x sigils of energy. The extra dodge every 10s on weapon swap is simply unmatchable for its affect by any other sigil in the game. Nothing even comes close.

It provides more defense from dodges, more offense from clones, more defense from clones, shatter fodder, etc. It’s simply too good to pass up.

StickerHappy.8052:

anything close for the torch?

Don’t think so. All the misty weapons are ones that phantasms use, and no phantasm uses a torch unfortunately. I personally really like the TA torch with the purple glow, but that’s just me.

Sunshine.5014:

Pyroatheist.9031:

google.3709:

Pyroatheist.9031:

Sunshine.5014:

redslion.9675:

Sunshine.5014:

DanyK.3842:

L2dodge? By the looks of that combat log you weren’t having too much fun that game :P

Of course we lost in a landslide, but I don’t think any of us was unhappy. Btw, how do you dodge a skill that has no visual clue, and when the opponent is hiding?
Big damage + no visual clue = power?

When someone is using killshot, he stands still and points his rifle at you for over one second. Pretty hard to tell, huh?

You talk just like they will stand on a point casting that over 1.5 seconds for you to see.
This build is a sniper build. You hide in a corner shooting it.

So after the first time the warrior does that, you should have the presence of mind to actually look around and find him. He’s a warrior, not a thief. Use your eyes.

excuse me? i’m half thief OKAY??

besides, no matter how much people wanna shame others for getting killshoted, its really hard to predict, specially on team fights

The first time it’s fine. However, after the first time someone on your team reports getting a 20k kill shot rammed up where no kill shots should be rammed, if every one of you isn’t keeping a lookout for that warrior trying to pull a snipe, you deserve to be 1shot.

Just so you know, this elitist attitude doesn’t earn you any respect in the community.

That’s not elitist, that’s common sense and self preservation. If you know a warrior is doing the whole sniping thing, you know that he will die if you sneeze on him, so go hunt him down. It’s just…smart play.

A PU condie mesmer is already an incredibly strong build. If all of those changes you mentioned were introduced, I could probably win a 3v1 against competent players without breaking a sweat.

Also, if you think the ramp-up on condie mesmer is too long, you’re doing it wrong. If you’re facing an aggressive opponent, the ramp up from 0 to 6+ bleed, 5 torment, burn, cripple, vuln, weakness, 5 confusion is roughly 5-7 seconds.

google.3709:

Pyroatheist.9031:

Sunshine.5014:

redslion.9675:

Sunshine.5014:

DanyK.3842:

L2dodge? By the looks of that combat log you weren’t having too much fun that game :P

Of course we lost in a landslide, but I don’t think any of us was unhappy. Btw, how do you dodge a skill that has no visual clue, and when the opponent is hiding?
Big damage + no visual clue = power?

When someone is using killshot, he stands still and points his rifle at you for over one second. Pretty hard to tell, huh?

You talk just like they will stand on a point casting that over 1.5 seconds for you to see.
This build is a sniper build. You hide in a corner shooting it.

So after the first time the warrior does that, you should have the presence of mind to actually look around and find him. He’s a warrior, not a thief. Use your eyes.

excuse me? i’m half thief OKAY??

besides, no matter how much people wanna shame others for getting killshoted, its really hard to predict, specially on team fights

The first time it’s fine. However, after the first time someone on your team reports getting a 20k kill shot rammed up where no kill shots should be rammed, if every one of you isn’t keeping a lookout for that warrior trying to pull a snipe, you deserve to be 1shot.

Sunshine.5014:

redslion.9675:

Sunshine.5014:

DanyK.3842:

L2dodge? By the looks of that combat log you weren’t having too much fun that game :P

Of course we lost in a landslide, but I don’t think any of us was unhappy. Btw, how do you dodge a skill that has no visual clue, and when the opponent is hiding?
Big damage + no visual clue = power?

When someone is using killshot, he stands still and points his rifle at you for over one second. Pretty hard to tell, huh?

You talk just like they will stand on a point casting that over 1.5 seconds for you to see.
This build is a sniper build. You hide in a corner shooting it.

So after the first time the warrior does that, you should have the presence of mind to actually look around and find him. He’s a warrior, not a thief. Use your eyes.

colesy.8490:

Xyonon.3987:

In general a Phantasm build is the best for PvE, especially fotm.
Viable builds are everthing that’s based on X/20/X/20/X. Those are the must have traits for fotm. Sure it may work otherwise too, but this is the most important for you.

So you really can go:
0/30/0/30/10
0/30/0/20/20
0/20/0/25/25
10/30/0/30/0
10/30/0/20/10
10/20/0/30/10
20/20/0/30/0
20/30/0/20/0
20/20/0/20/10

In general don’t go over 20 in dominon, don’t go over 20 in illusions and don’t go over 0 in chaos Yes there are exceptions

20 in domination serves no purpose.

It can actually be sorta nice for the signet recharge if you’re able to run inspiration throughout a full run, and your party has a guardian for empower of something.

Yeah, I’ll usually try to disengage with the 5, depending on the situation. If they’re just moaing you in a defensive effort, you might be fine pressing the attack, but if they just dropped phantasms and are moaing as a lockdown, you’re going to need to haul kitten out of there.

Bunda.2691:

How much might might a mesmer ignite in a quite tight daylight fight?

A Mesmer might ignite not much might in a fight, but he borrows his opponents might

There aren’t any. I thought that was clear. Issues with the autoattack were acknowledged, but nobody ever said or implied it would be addressed in the December patch.

Valentin.2073:

what about necros? i think they are fair contenders.

Necros can be strong if and only if they are highly skilled and running minion master.

law.9410:

You’re on a bus speeding along at 60 miles per hour that will explode if your speed drops below 50 miles per hour. What do you do? What do you do? (keanu reeves voice)

I’ve got Bruce Willis on speed-dial, I figure he can fix it.

korelg.7862:

why none mentions Rampager? it synergizes perfectly with sharper images so you get solid direct damage and strong bleeds

Because it does less damage than either berserker or rabid.

Edit: Well, not less than rabid in a normal PvE build, but FAR less than berserker.

• 1
  • Blink up to the platform so that you can take a breather and watch them as they unstealth.
  • Spider apples of course, the only type in GW2. Orchards always = spiders
• 2
  • Hope that the tuna runs like the moa when you press 5
    • Also, try and get onto land and see if I morph onto a moa
  • Depends on if you count dorsal, lateral, and tail, or just one or two of those
  • I’ve got a good recipe for yellow fin
• 3
  • Inspiration:45 Illusions:90 Midnight: 36 Domination: 45 (probably closeish)
  • It’s for a sassy finger waggling of course! Those thieves have to be reprimanded now and then…

Edit: Can confirm, have been stumped by Fay

With zerker gear, you can do any build utilizing power. That’s shatters, phantasms, mantra nukers, some lockdown builds, etc. etc. Try out different builds to see what you prefer.

With carrion gear you can do…nothing. Salvage it and get rabid if you want to use conditions.

Yeah, black devil pretty much covered it. In order to look like a clone you must

• Not move when using a ranged weapon
• Manually autoattack slower than normal
• Use no signets or mantras or boons
• Only attack while not moving when using a melee weapon
• No dodging or strafing
• No using any skills other than autoattack
• When shattering, stop everything else and charge your target
  • How you got clones to shatter while doing the above is not clear

Doing anything other than what I said will result in any competent player immediately recognizing the real Mesmer.

Anierna.6918:

That armor! Gahd! I neeeeeeeeed it!!!!!!

@ Pyro: can you link the threads where people complained about not having it? I’d pay double for that set, and it looks like they’ve already implemented it in-game for that vid, so I don’t get why they can’t just sell it to us.

I wouldn’t be able to find them now, but a longish time ago, people would find that armor set and ask where to find it. I believe it was featured in some sort of concept art as well, but it’s not been actually released into the game.

Alissah.9281:

And whats the armor at 1:45 called? Dont think it’s in game, and it looks amazing :/

It’s not ingame. That’s been complained about quite a decent amount.

Allow me to summarize the forthcoming thread before it begins.

L2P

Every complaint here is a L2P issue. Go make a mesmer, learn the class, learn how to counter it. Stop whining.

Just a heads up Alissah, phantasm summons don’t check facing, so you can have your character facing however you want and summon them.

Ryn.6459:

exotic weapon? Even if you have an ascended one?

Even if you have an ascended one. Even if you have a green one or a blue one or even if you unequip your weapon.

So here’s where you’re wrong.

Phantasms use your stats, but not your weapon damage. All phantasm damages are calculated using a level 80 exotic weapon. This means that you can’t get rock solid numbers using steady weapons, unfortunately.

I’ve been meaning to go through and calculate all the phantasm coefficients, just haven’t yet.

Lol. You guys do realize that the character in the picture is under the effect of confusion, not a mesmer?

lol.

/15char

In this thread:

Whoosh.

Qaelyn.7612:

Thanks for the replies.

Pyro, is your “Overpowered PvP Phantasm Build” still current, and how do feel it fares in PvE or WvW (the latter more roaming/defense/small-group rather than zerg)?

It is still current. It will perform very well in WvW roaming, and I’ve written a small guide on roaming with it.

In PvE, the trait distribution and basic concepts are sound, but you wont want to be using scepter, as that’s a defensive choice only relevant in PvP. You’ll probably just go for a double mainhand sword setup, swapping out either the pistol or sword for a focus (and traiting the focus) when appropriate.

Wat.

/15char

Qaelyn.7612:

Pyro, if you have any suggestions on a GS/staff build I’d be grateful to see them.

“Don’t do it” is an acceptable answer.

As far as pve goes, don’t do it is a pretty solid answer

I started with a gs/staff build, but as I improved I moved more and more away from it. Ultimately in pve you take all (most) weapons and swap on what is most effective for each individual fight.

In PvP, a gs/staff build is definitely viable. It plays as a tanky phantasm build, probably going deep into inspiration and chaos.

In WvW, gs/staff is viable. It’s mostly a Zerg build that is pretty optimized for long range tagging. It’ll still be mostly phantasm based, but with a bit more of a focus on normal weapon damage to provide good tagging from chaos storm and gs 1200 range attacks.

Mogar.9216:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgEQJARWlwzKoXTzoGbNJi5DB3ZGJH0RqQrVSBudhA-jkBB5QFRjtuuIasqbYqURWHTI1HIySBAzaA-w

my build for WvW . I beat pretty much every mesmer except very few really good ones that run PU build

Just looking at that build, I have to doubt the effectiveness of it.

You’ve got deceptive evasion (shatter + clone death). You’ve got mental torment (shatter). Debilitating dissipation (clone death). Vigorous revelation (shatter). 25 Inspiration and phantasmal fury (phantasm).

You’ve got traits all over the place. None of them play nice with each other. They’re all running in different directions and you’re not going to be getting full use out of any of them.

Edit: and full rabid gear. What…?

Skilled play is the best 1v1 class.

Mesmer has a very high skill cap, allowing for high level play to be better than on, for example, a warrior.

nightshade.1950:

How would you feel if Compounding Celerity was reworked to instead provide Temporal Curtain with Improved Swiftness (50% movement speed)?

Now that’s interesting.

Guard and spirit ranger @ chaos.

Mogar.9216:

Pyroatheist.9031:

Mogar.9216:

no I mean insp 15 passive with chaos 15 passive. It’s more or less protection on demand since you stand by a phantasm all the time, which I find much better than pu protection.

It used to be that way a long time ago, but no longer. The chaos 15 minor has an internal cooldown of 15 seconds.

Yes I know. 3 sec protection every 15 secs is 25% up time if you are melee mesmer which is not bad at all. If you are ranged like me I just run toward a phantasm when I need protection or cast one beside me. i.e when I know a thief is gonna back stab me.

Except wha actually happens is you know the thief is going to backstab you, but it already procced 10 seconds ago.

Eurantien.4632:

Top 2 in solo queue leader boards are mesmers.

As much as I love mesmer and wholeheartedly support how awesome the class is, I’m forced to at least somewhat agree with the OP.

Mesmer is the sort of class where you either get it or you don’t. It’s rare to find a sorta mediocre mesmer, you’ll either get a great one or a horrible one, and horrible ones dominate the spectrum, even though a great mesmer can easily carry a team.

Ok, so.

WvW: If you intend on zerging, you’re either going to need some mix of knights/cavaliers for the toughness in a power based build, or full rabid (I use rabid/dire mix ascended accessories) for a condition based build.

If you intend on roaming, you’ll either want zerker with a bit of cavalier for sturdiness in a power based build, or rabid again for conditions.

PvE: Zerker. That’s pretty much it.