Guild Wars 2

Cryptic.
I’ll agree, sceptor is a good weapon for confusing the hell out of players. Especially when paired with stealth and dualing X clone on dodge. Spitting out clones from stealth is just gravy. A confused player is your advantage ie, control. Scepter 2 now tossing a decent dot on a player is just frosting, especially when built for condition damage. Just knowing that all ya have to do is walk into player aoe or line of fire with block… Yeah, I like sceptor but only with a correct build.

djtool.8372:

So if you struggle to land scep 3 why not save your shatters to use after they’ve expended their dodges. Or use it after their dodges. I guess I just disagree with torch being tied to scepter. In a vacuum i’d rather use pistol.

Considering the op’s loadout and intentions i would think you need that torch explosion to land its burning damage I prefer closing in with torch, sword3 into 2 myself. Sounds like a solid way to open the fight as you’ll last long enough to get to use torch 4 again.

It works perfect for what my build is. I merely answered a question to why sc/t would be grouped. For op, I’m sorry but I think sceptor, unless built to use for a specific porpose, is just awful. Paired with torch in your build, that has no cd bonus’s isn’t a good idea. I am also of the mindset of hybrids being, meh, at most everything. In tpvp or spvp, as I’m sure you know, you need to be able to take or hold points. Hybrid just can’t do it. Mesmer condition builds are not outstanding in there current state so gearing for them needs to be a priority, ie: rabid gear.
I know its a lot of critiquing and not much return here, so please take it all with a grain of salt. If you like your build and it works for you. Use it.
As I haven’t tried the build though I’ll give it a shot later this week.

I’m using scepter/torch in a 20/20/30/0/0 and to answer the question of why they’re grouped together it is this. It’s the only way to get scepter 3 to hit anyone. The wind up is so long on it, unless you fire it from stealth, everyone knows to dodge. So the short cd from torch lets ya use scepter 3 and land it more often. On top of that, if done right, they’ll have burn, blind, confusion and bleed on them. Follow that up with scepter block and now they have torment. That’s enough for them to blow a cleanse. Rinse and repeat. It’s a fun setup that keeps you very active.

Killer podcast. Lots of good info. It’s nice to see the support Mesmers getting some attention. I’ve been out of the game for a few month due to being out of country and coming back to see things like this is just awesome. Great job again fellas.

Wait…, now its time to get out of combat swiftness? It’s been said since early beta. This is something we’ll likely never see. Just sayin…

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNArfWlwzKqHWTmGb9IipH9WwBckUoavWJF42FC-ToAAzENpay1kpJZT2mGLsIZKC

I used this build to test out how Torment would work with a few well timed confusion bombs. Full rabid set with 2 few ascended solder rings. All weapon are rabid stats. Tuning crystals and rare pizza. I’m not looking at the stats as I’m at work right now but iirc it’s @ 18k hp, 2500ish armor, 2300ap, 40ish crit, 1300condition damage.
Just dance in and out of stealth using a skirmish range mindset. I was taking on up to 4 people at a time with no close calls in dieing. The build is astonishing for conditions.
Comin out of stealth with sceptor 3 then blocking with 2. Dodge dodge pop clones. Lots of condition and torment on the other guy. Swap to staff for a bit, chaos armor up. dance around while waiting for some cd’s on stealth. Reset combat positioning in stealth and then drag out the phantasms for the remainder of the fight. Staying close to the other player allows for clone death on dodge roll to hit the guy. I can’t get over how funny it is to screw with players who simply can’t find you or figure out how they’re melting so fast.
Thanks op for the build. It’s quite versatile.

Try out the s/s and GS build using 20/20/0/0/30. It take some getting used to and ya have to time your blocks but working it into a power build is amazing. The Iswordsman is my favorite phantasm. Fast attacks and hits hard. Block can hit back for a ton on sword4. Blur for sword3 is just amazing. The cd is a bummer but they really tuned it up. It just flows better in combat more now. I use ether, decoy, blink, signet of illusions and mass invis. You’ll have to get used to not having the staff for defense but that’s what the stealth is for. Stealth>reposition>summon phantasm. Block when someone gets close, sword3/blur. Dodge back, swap GS knock back, summon Iberzerker for cripple.
I’m starting to ramble on. Anyway, if you want to try something different just do it. Thats how new builds are discovered. Enjoy killing peeps with your new awesomeness.

Just walking into this kitten storm of an update. So tooltip is wrong on bountiful interruption? I’m asking as I haven’t had a chance to look at it.

10/10/0/30/20 support phantasm build
20/20/0/0/30 dps phantasm build
Both use the GS&Staff. The dps build can double as a shatter build with a few trait swaps and changing weapons.
Check the Sticky list of builds that Fay organized for us all at the top of the Mesmer forums. You’ll find something that should fit what your looking for.

On a 0/20/20/0/30 build made for WvW. I use I-defender, blink and swap out null or decoy for utilities. It’s made for my 3 man blitz group of 2 Mesmers/ necro all tanky builds, so if it sounds odd its the sum of the parts that this is built for. Sigil of Generosity on my main weapon, the staff.
Hardest oponant, in a solo situation, is a full condition Necro wearing solders gear.
Easiest oponant is a thief. Predictable every single time. Warrior isn’t much harder though. I feel bad for warriors. They’re just so cornered in viable builds.

Funny thing is out of all the busted traits and abilities you brought up, when played well, a Mesmer will kill pretty much everything. That’s in our “broken state”.
Nuff said. Close thread.

I wish I could say I have only 2 sets. Damage and heals but the truth is my a.d.d. forces me into 4 sets that utilize over 7 builds. You’re bored? Make a new set and respec to something totally different. If you still only want to use your knights set with GS and Staff. The only other spec I can think of, that revolves around GS& Staf,f is a phantasm build. I’ll offer you some advise: Diversify.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/List-Find-your-Mesmer-Build-Guides/first
Don’t limit yourself, don’t stay static, keep changing, keep learning.

I can’t remember if there were life steal build in here but as an update: Omnomberry pie has an internal cd now. Is less effective as a whole and as such so is the full offensive build.

It’d be cool to have a “show/don’t show off hand weapon”. May be to much though. I like to know what I’m getting into before flying off into combat.
In all honesty an offhand sword would take the most benefit from power. So at least a 20/20/0/0/30 or 20/30/0/0/20 something. Zerker gear, knights or knights/valk mix. I did it while running in a smaller group that have all the swiftness I needed. S+S and GS. I ran it in a life steal build (busted now that the food has an internal cd).

Known bugs. Already in all appropriate forums. Illusionary leap is new. Haven’t checked since last night but it was working as intended last night.

More accurately it seems as though the hit box has moved from in front of the character to above it.

Multiple Mesmer weapon sets will have clones and phantasms not wielding a weapon. Known to me are Spear and Great sword.

Blast finishers in combo fields are gone from torch on entry and exit. AoE Blind and burn still apply. Have not tested 2Feb13 however.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/List-Find-your-Mesmer-Build-Guides/first

You answered your own question. Chaos Armor is probably the best armor buff in game. To stack duration on an already easy to apply skill would be overkill to say the least.

Well man, right now you are a mix of direct damage and condition damage. Some of your trait choices are defensive but they aren’t enhanced by other defensive choices to complete a certain style of build. First off before finding a build you want, how do you want to do your damage? Slower, over time while being tankish or faster, bigger numbers as a glass cannon?
Torch in PVE pretty much sucks just so ya know. Focus will help you waaaayyy more.

It truly feels like a berserker play style. But trust me man. The GS with blood sigil on it having the 3 pulses has 3 chances per GS attack to steal life from both food and sigil. Blurred frenzy has gotten me over 2k healing on an immobilized target. As long as you have a high crit chance focus would still work for ya and keep you mobile more. I know how you feel about the defensive traits in chaos and inspiration. I urge you to try it if not just for the holy kitten factor.
Play this build extremely aggressively and shines with multiple enemies.

Cheers.

You’ll have fun with this setup.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgQQNAsdRlwzKqHQTmGb9ICqHgX29dkK0alewbXItB;TsAqYMxIixGjLGZMLMGYcK5VyUEA
Eat Omnomberry pie for food buff and use maintenance oil.
You can go full glass cannon in zerker gear, I run 4 piece knights gear zerker chest and valk legs. Accessories are a mix of the above to get the power, crit and extra hp I want.
I use an extra sword in my inventory with a superior sigil of accuracy on it to stack up the buff before swapping to the weapons in the build page. I use a sword off hand for the huge reposte damage but I don’t see a focus being an issue.
The amount of healing between the food and sigils is jaw dropping. The build and weapons are built around life stealing, as its the best defense in a full offensive setup like this.

Regardless, it’s still a good trait even for a shatter build. In my mind the damage would end up being nearly the same plus the added “oh kitten confusion” factor. It all just comes down to how we play our Mesmers. I was just asking in any case. Good build.

Looks interesting. Why the 10% on mind wrack from illusions and not 33% longer confusion? IMO confusion acts as a defensive and offensive ability. A smart player will be forced to cleans, wait until its over or blast through the damage. A bad player will continue to damage themselves through the entire stack. In a shatter build CoF is just gravy on the biscuits. Free damage.

wads.5730:

Samiell.1259:

Like they said above. You’ll also notice time warp acts like a glamor field but gets no cd reduction. Just the way the class is put together. Oh well.

you mean ethereal field.

glamours are a classification of a set of utility skills, nothing more

Yeah, that’s what I meant. End of a long day results in inaccurate posts.

Like they said above. You’ll also notice time warp acts like a glamor field but gets no cd reduction. Just the way the class is put together. Oh well.

Sounds to me like one of 2 builds. Both condition damaged based one used sceptor or a sword with torch off hand and staff as a defensive weapon. This build will blind with every field layer down and can stack up to 15 stacks of confusion if you let the Mesmer cast the purple beam from sceptor. This build will have quite high hp as it takes a while to whidle people down. The counter to this build is range, dodge roll into clones that are running at you (that is a shatter command from the Mesmer) and stealth.
The second possibility is condition damage as well but using the staff as the main weapon. Sceptor would be a bad choice for this particular build but that’s neither here nor there. Rarely shatters and if this build does it will only be to apply confusion. Mass amounts of bleeds a steady stack of 15. Most of the clones will be casting from staff and will look identacle to the Mesmer. There are 2 options for hp here. mid hp (18k ish) mid toughness or low hp (16k ish) max toughness. Defense for you here is lots of vit and tough with same strat as above for avoiding damage.
To tell you the truth here, if its the second build, it’s designed to outlast burst classes. I really can’t remember the last time I was killed by a single player while rolling the second build Mesmer. I honestly hope your in my WvW bracket. I’d love to dual.

The build sounds familiar but without more info, I can’t give you a correct answer.
Question 1: how high did confusion stacks get?
2: Were you blinded when you entered the fields the Mesmer casted?
3: Did the Mesmer shatter often or wait for clones to be killed?
4: Did you have bleed on you constantly?
5: Did the Mesmer use the torch to gain distance away from you or to apply a burn&blind?

Very nicely written man. Hats off. I used a quite similar build for a few months. Ditched it cause I got sick of people blaming the support guy for their failings. The build is really incredible though. Quite a thorough guide and explanations. I’d advise this build for anyone getting bored with the general builds that are out there. It’s a breath of fresh air.

Alchemist.3692:

I suggest doing the dungeons first for a few days until you see what it is you’re really lacking and then decide.

Let us know how it goes =)

^ This. Until you decide what will benefit you more, I’d suggest using orbs till then. They’re cheep and can add a various grouping of base stats. I ran all ruby orbs until was satisfied from trial and error in the HoTM.

Saulius.8430:

Moddo.7105:

I would put first 5 points into Illusions to get minor trait Illusionists Celerity"Illusion-summoning skills recharge 20% faster"

bad advice. it works only on summoning skills in utility slots. don’t affect summoning skills on weapon skills.

about gs/staff as ranged option.

in general gs is no good if you alone, as mobs will run close enough and you will have reduced damage. there are exceptions like slow moving ones – veteran oaks.

staff is no good for single targets (because its waste of aoe and overkill), and i really don’t consider ir ranged weapon, as its most effective when you and victim both stand in chaos storm.. which makes you in melee range.

tl;dr imo ranged mesmer is bad idea, atleast gs/staff one.

I’m going to have to disagree here. GS/Staff is very powerful and can decimate groups of mobs. It’s a power build weapon set with an emphasis on phantasms. Not as popular due to how fast illusions get killed but it still has its place.
The staff is, IMO, the best single target weapon in game. No damage reduction for shorter range, bouncing attack between you, allies and target. The bouncing attack can be traited for 4 bounces. Each attack buffs you and puts dots on your target. This means while standing right next to your opponent you can have chaos armor up from staff 4, chaos field with blink gives you more chaos armor, any glamor field and phased retreat from in it for even more chaos armor. Chaos armor is arguably the best defensive armor in game.
The more I play Mesmer the less I see it as a ranged class. The only true ranged weapon is the GS. Staff is just better at close quarters. To play how you want, all ranged would be GS for almost all your attacks switching to staff only to use it as a defensive weapon and to summon the iwarlock. So in the end…. I agree that a full ranged Mesmer is a gimped Mesmer.

Vague question. What do you want out of your WvW? Ranged, support, heals, burst, condition? My advise is use whatever you’re using for general pve and that you enjoy playing. Other than that there are dozens of builds in the first 3 pages of the Mesmer forums. Give em a look through, you’ll probably find something interesting.

Kasama.8941:

I use Signet of Inspiration and the focus with a Sigil of Speed on it. Both Signet of Inspiration and Sigil of Speed stacks, and Sigil of Speed doesn’t have any recharge, so I can ramp up quite a lot of swiftness during a fight.

I don’t recommend using runes to get swiftness, as you miss out on quite a lot of damage (Rune of the Undead) or utility (Rune of Lyssa).

Agreed. Focus lands you with 12 seconds of swiftness, a reliable aoe pull and some crazy aoe attack combos from iwarden. Between focus, signet of inspiration and blink you should be happy enough.

I feel your pain brother but you seem to be under the impression that when given an order, you need to comply. Your abilities, your rules. Tell em to stuff it. Then lay out how YOU will be doing it. They still being a pain about it? F em, bail. The game is for your entertainment.

Just delicious isn’t it? God, I love being a Mesmer.

I have to say that this is very refreshing to read through. Players helping eachother, a build critique not being taken personally but as a chance to refine it. I just visited WvW forums for the last time ever. Just makes me sick.
Back on track here though. I’ve used this build myself but with a toughness based mindset. The talent build is devastating. Wait for an enemy TW and toss all fields on it the. Do a CoF in the middle to watch 10 players fall over dead.
Great work here guys.

I’m going to recap what I’ve read here so far in this forum page. JQ- waaaa. SOS-waaaa. SOR-waaaa. I hate everyone of you people that post the same old kitten on these pages and ruin good competition.
This is the last time I’ll ever even visit the WvW forums. All of you should be embarrassed at the way you portray yourselves.
Peace and grow the f up.

Male Asura: Lookai. My own twist on the spelling of lokì. Been my avatars name for over 12 years through all the games I’ve played. Lokì being the Norn god of mischief.

Torch phantasm really needs to have a shorter cool down. Torch 4 is beyond amazing for support, and glamor/confusion builds. The blast finishers available through it are incredible. The torch 4 skill being channeled…. Meh. Don’t like that to much but I’ll take it as is before its fixed into a broken state. Just my opinion on the 4 ability, its not meant as an escape stealth at all.

I just want to touch on the mobility for escaping combat issue for a second. The term “smarter not harder” comes to mind here. Control your battles and skirmishes. A portal exit placed up on a cliff or hill before jumping into a brawl will do wonders.
Also, I see people thinking escape from combat being linear away com your target. Instead, try mind kittening them. After all, we’re mesmers. Begin running away from them in random direction ‘A’. When they give chase, stealth and double back. Right before your stealth wears off blink.
Hiding is also a legitimate “get away” tactic. Stealth and hide. Make your escape after the frustrated player has given up, or simply way point back soon as you’re out of combat. There will always be a glitch in plans made and getting away won’t always work. We’re not thieves or a RTL ele and thank god for that. Enjoy the class for what it has.
Mesmers are slow as hell but that doesn’t make us bad at getting away. Use your mind first then take action.

My favorite duals have been to pistol/ pistol thrives. Had one catch up to me straight south of bay, and no joke, 5 minutes later we were still going at it. Had time to mass invis twice and was about to hit it again but we got steamrolled by the third server.
Was such a great fight with each of us dipping into the 10% hp area multiple times. I ran back to the same spot to find the guy again but no show. Hats off random BG thief.

I’m not going to argue with your opinion on these but as you never even mentioned the aoe blast finisher for mass chaos armor from the torch, I’ll just keep my opinion. Let it be as that.

The scepter has an advanced weapon play style with a VERY small nitch as does the torch. This in itself is why players shy away from them. I can think of 3 builds total that scepter and torch are used but they’re outstanding when used correctly. This isn’t to say both need work.

Dwayna temple. Thank god for that. Exotic back pieces also, including rabid back piece. Just a note though. The accessories from Dwayna are NOT socketed.

Looks solid if you can keep your illusions up. That’s the crutch here though. To keep your damage numbers going, you need all your illusions going all the time. Ramp up takes a few seconds and cd’s can hurt ya also. Play it by ear in dungeons with swapping the bonus damage to mind wrack.

I hope this thread gets closed. I’ve never been so embarrassed to even read through this collection of trash.

Just wanted to bring this topic back from the dead. I’ve been running it for 2 weeks now and will likely not switch back to another setup for straight dps. I’ll record some dungeon runs, fractals and some WvW to post. The healing is just astonishing.
20/20/0/0/30 3k attack, 50%base crit. Use an extra weapon to charge up the accuracy sigil then swap to blood sigil mh and air oh. GS with blood sigil on ranged off set.

True enough. I’m not sure what other people are saying for how the trait works but by the in game definition of illusionary persona, it’s the effect on the Mesmer not the action that causes the effect.. Makes sense to me. In the end though it doesn’t matter what you or I say. Anet will do what they please.
Also in regard to any other questions, the answer is 42. Cheers!

Seetoo.9316:

My point is shattering kills illus. If you really want all the effects of becoming an illu, then that should include death. Talk about double standards. “I want all the good effect of being an illu, but non of the bad.”

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusion
Illusions are an effect on the senses. Sooo, you’re saying since our illusions die (stop their effect) we should die??
Makes sense to me!! http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm