Guild Wars 2

Stormbolt.7293:

Reaper and Herald. The Reaper can provide a strong frontline like you said, and we can keep the enemy locked down at mid-close range pretty thoroughly. The Herald can sit back and pulse boons and provide some additional CC with hammer, or maybe even some staff support.

What Stormbolt said! Reapers are fantastic front-liners. That goes for condition or power damage. Meanwhile, Chronomancers and Heralds can work at the mid-Range. I also think that a Glint/Ventari Herald can bring some interesting healing and CC options. One thing the trio may be lacking is really reliable condition cleanse.

Ross Biddle.2367:

So I’m doing alright then. Good to know.

Arrogance is another sign of a good Mesmer apparently…

Chaos Archangel.5071:

• Cannot land a shatter burst without sword (I’m somewhat guilty of this. xD)

There is no greater satisfaction than seeing someone walk into a shatter burst. Like… some people just walk into your clones.

I can start playing somewhat regularly again after this weekend. I cannot promise reliable internet or skilled play, for that matter.

Here’s what I’ve been running.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQJARWlsnha0YtawMNwsGLnGk5OGyNIDwCCa5Iae4A-TpBGABB8AA8uMACHBA32fAgLAwBHCAA

And like I said above, if there’s a thief/mesmer I swap staff for Sword-Torch and Moa for Mass Invisibility.

Of course, you can always just run boonshare.

I haven’t been on in roughly a month but my standard is GS/Staff CI, with Dom/Dueling/Chaos. Mirror, MoD, Portal, Blink, Moa. Power Block over Mental Anguish. When I notice another Mesmer or thief on the opposite team, I swap the staff for a Sword-Torch to evade bursts more easily.

I’ll run Rabid or Rampager PU condi, sometimes with Ineptitude, sometimes with Malicious Sorcery. Sword-Torch/Scepter-Pistol there.

I play a thief quite rarely, but the draw to me was always PP, and I liked coming up with ways to use it in SPvP, but that mostly relied on the trait that granted initiative on critical hits for real sustain. With that gone, the burst is much harder to plan, but I think there are creative ways to get around this, especially in WvW.

In PvE, at least in open world events and farming, Ricochet was king, especially when combined with the Signet traits for might stacking. Hopefully the bounces and whatnot will come back. I didn’t get to play over the beta weekend, but the staff seems like a strong, stealthless weapon with evades; there must be a way ANET can rework PP. It’s a great mainhand for condi, and a great offhand for power. The key is melding the two.

For WvW—Hybrid Clockdown.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhUQNAseWncfC1ohlqBmpBEgiFcjyMDitKoMAWtXr+Vr1cF-TFiQAB6oWxlKx+RTQKKB1Q5Bl7PAgqK7oHgUAjtzC-w

With might stacks from CI, this can lead to some nice confusion bursts (as well as other pressure from staff clones). But with 2k power and almost 200% crit damage, the mindwracks are going to hurt as well. If I want to keep up the direct damage pressure, I’m wondering if I could forsake staff and go with Scepter-Pistol/Focus. Another possibility is to pick up domination instead of chaos and lose out on might stacking.

Dueling must stay, as it allows for either mistrust or DE. I’m also torn between gaining an illusion on shattering, or picking up the increased crit chance v. slowed enemies and going for some beefier gear.

Fay.2357:

Chaos Archangel.5071:

(OMG AND DAT THIEF SPECIALIZATION /hypetrainnn)

Meh. Remember when the meta thief build was s/d on both sets? When they did literally nothing but steal, dodge, and mash 3? I remember, and it sucked. Not particularly pleased they’re bringing that feel back.

And pistol/pistol will never get any love.

Blades of Sabatine.5639:

I also run with the same set up. It not as tricky as you might think. But I do understand what you mean.

If used to GS and staff build 2h weapon setup having to run with 4 1h weapons can be very donting.

It’s more so having to deal with the losses of AoE capability when you lose the Greatsword and/or Staff. With the exception of Blurred Frenzy and Mindwrack, the sword-torch/scepter-pistol setup is pretty single-target oriented. It’s really adaptable in terms of how you approach an enemy, but it lacks AoE pressure. The key to holding your ground in two or three versus one is to manage your stealths and soft CCs really well while pressuring the target you’re trying to kill. Note: do not try to kill necromancers first as a hybrid…

Get creative with weaponsets too. I run a sword-torch/scepter-pistol hybrid all of the time. It’s difficult to use, but it’s a very slippery set. The ranged pressure is fantastic, too. Especially now that iDuelists can be summoned from 1200 range and deal damage while stacking bleeds. Plus, with duelist’s discipline, interrupts make it way more punishing.

Also, I’ve mentioned it elsewhere, but you can be sneaky with portal on maps with water/puddles. If you place it in the middle of a puddle, like the roads near Mine/Henge on Forest, the entrance is nearly invisible. My computer graphics aren’t the best, so I may be inaccurate and it could be completely invisible. Regardless, great kiting.

Also, try to place it near points, but out of LoS so that an enemy can’t start assaulting you right away when you’re porting to engage.

bhagwad.4281:

I’d like some particular use cases for portal. For example, if I cap close, leave a portal, go far and cap it, portal has already run out by then and so it’s useless.

Today I tried portal again, but went the whole game without being able to find a use for it.

Can you give some specific strategies – like where and when do you drop it and what conditions do you wait for to use it?

For the record, be extra careful when porting from close to far. The range is often too long, specifically on maps like Temple and Legacy. Should be safe enough on Forest.

The general rule of thumb is to port from close to mid or from far to mid.

It’s also not only a point-holding tool. Use it to get an ally out of a bind, or a safe distance for rezzing. Use it for sheer movement and kiting. It’s a really fun and unique tool. The fact that you can go back and forth a few times really adds some mind games to it.

Portal is absolutely fantastic for solo play, if you learn to use it the right way. It’s spectacular for kiting and distracting obviously, if you wanted to apply “WvW” tactics to your SPvP play.

But everyone has pretty much said why it’s so fantastic here already. It’s really fast map travel. (And if you end up not using it, you need only wait 12 seconds to set it up again.) Plus it’s the perfect +1ing tool if you’re not using stealth. But props if you stealth, portal, blow something up that didn’t see it coming, and move on with your life.

It’s become one of my most-used skills. Typically I run MoD, Portal, Blink. Especially with Moa Morph, you can pull off some match-deciding plays.

I know that Ross Biddle carries teams. But sometimes, I carry Ross Biddle!

Dueling, Dueling, Domination, Domination, Chaos. Sounds about right…

Cav/Valk with some Berserker gear will probably be really nice if you are running dueling for the “permanent” fury. The Vitality is a nice buffer for condition damage, and the toughness always helps.

Curunen.8729:

I’m still going to maintain that Cry of Frustration should have one torment stack per illusion, base, since the change to MtD.

It seems natural that it was changed with the illusion generation capabilities of Chrono in mind, together with IP – although depending on the end result of IR, it could mean that all three of DE, IR and Cp will become mandatory for shatter heavy condition play.

Makes sense since not being able to move or use any ability for fear of taking extra damage is, you know, frustrating…

Sylvari male, Tealot, my main.
Charr male, Tolaet, occasional SPvP alt for the lulz. Usually condi…
Asura Male, Bad Editor, my EU spvp toon.

Fay.2357:

Tealots.6095:

Would those be Chrono-condi mesmers? I imagine the Chrono-lockdown bunkers would be running something between control and boonshare. I’m still of the opinion that there will be need for some non-Chrono builds. I still run Dueling/Chaos/Illusions in SPvP pretty often and I imagine it will always be useful and troublesome.

Yeah, they’d be chrono. The non-chrono build I’d want in that comp would the roaming burst shatter mes. Chrono just offers a lot of supportive utility that allow everyone to do their job better. If everyone has more slow and more interrupts and more quickness, everyone performs more effectively.

By “shatter mes” you mean Dom/Duel/Chaos, not Dom/Duel or Chaos/Illusions, right?

Silverkey, regarding Eles I will say this: you pester them with conditions from weapon skills and evade until they blow their cooldowns and swap out of water form. Try faking them out with a mindwrack “burst.” Once they’ve swapped from water form, feel free to do a huge f2 condi dump on them, f3 when they’ve lost their dodges. Especially if you’re fighting them 2v1 if they don’t die, they better run off point.

The value of condition damage on a team is that even if you’re not killing someone, you’re making the other team spend their cleanses, which really helps your power-based teammates who rely on immobilizes, cripples, and vulnerability.

Fay.2357:

Generally speaking, bunker-based comps are much more effective on a risk/reward baseline analysis. You can do a more offensive comp, but that’s very difficult to do effectively with the current meta. With that in mind, let’s take a look.

2 chrono lockdown bunkers. Probably running insp, chaos, chrono. They have lots of sustain, lots of support, and lots of control. CI and chrono slows and such let them set up picks for everyone else.

2 heavy condie shatters. Depending on viability, this could be cele (hybrid) shatter instead. The idea is that these are more mobile and offensive builds than the lockdowns, but still provide decent lockdown pressure alongside the more significant offense.

1 PU pure glass roamer. This is your +1. They come in, delete someone, and move on.

This basically mimics the abjured team comp, Mesmer style. We will of course have a lot of optional utility to play with. We can take portals, wells, play around with a bit of boon sharing or just cycle quickness wells and such in a fight. There’s a lot of possibilities, but I’d stay away from specifics until we know more about what the final form of chrono will be.

Would those be Chrono-condi mesmers? I imagine the Chrono-lockdown bunkers would be running something between control and boonshare. I’m still of the opinion that there will be need for some non-Chrono builds. I still run Dueling/Chaos/Illusions in SPvP pretty often and I imagine it will always be useful and troublesome.

The worst thing about fighting thieves are the Runes of Vampirism…

I’m sure there’s a way. However, the sustainability of the build that I used came from a trait that replenished one initiative on a critical hit. Also, ricochet was removed, not that I used it in PvP because it competed with traits in Trickery.

I haven’t done much digging, but there is a theory that those traits, or traits like them, might be reinstated with the thief’s elite spec — which is also assuming that their elite weapon will be a rifle.

Ross Biddle.2367:

apharma.3741:

The killshot warrior is the most fun thing in the whole lot.

Especially that ele kill that caused the ele to RQ.

Killshot War takes me to a special place

That’s what PP thief did for me. RIP. U will b mist.

Chronomancers can trait for PU.

Chaos, you also experimented with Wells removing conditions, no? Was it noticeably better than we thought it was going to be?

Treetoptrickster.4205:

Shouldn’t you call the build… clockdown? I’m sorry.

OH MY GOD! Treetoptrickster wins the forums today.

Shhhh, it’ll all be over soon…

I will say that I never really noticed it at any time that I was fighting a chronomancer over the weekend, but that may stem from the fact that a lot of power mesmer damage is instant (interrupts and mindwracks).

For the record: Tolaet (go ahead, you can call him Toilet) is normally the toon I play for Condi. Just on that duel vid I ran standard power CI with GS/Sword Torch where I abuse the hell out of stealth and blink.

I played condi in the actual match. And I think Chaos has a few duels where I fought him as condi as well.

It’s great on a Guardian!

Lavra posted it pretty much, as far as the build to go with. I know that myself, I run this weaponset in PvP with Dom/Duel/Chaos. Double Ranged CI, blink, portal, MoD. Keep to the fringes of the fights and you should avoid conditions just fine.

HINT: Save your f3 for when an enemy is finally on top of you. Interrupt them, drop a chaos storm, summon an iWarlock, profit. Seriously. Staff burst, with interrupts, is a thing.

I could log on if you want some Chronomancer versus Mesmer duels.

I think with so much condition clear, and the fact that you’re taking BD over PU now, I’d consider trading the torch for a pistol. Celestial amulet still has some nice ferocity, so the pistols “punch” could be useful, as can the stun.

Blargh. I won’t be around this weekend, and I haven’t purchased HoT yet for the beta events. I’m excited to see what everyone makes of it.

You’re not an iWarden fan here?

The Mantras recharging in the background was a huge QoL improvement. I was under the impression that was a change made on purpose, but apparently not. I don’t think Anet realizes how vulnerable Mesmers are recharging a mantra in the middle of a fight. It’s like you’re screaming to get interrupted/focused.

That’s the most disappointing change. I’m eager to try out the scepter now. Wish Duelist’s Discipline was properly fixed.

I think a duel between a Mesmer and a Thief of equal skill is a much more even match than some people are willing to admit. In fact, whether DP or SD, I’ve come across a lot of fantastic thieves post patch who have adapted to the new mesmer already.

I also will say the Tempest. If anything, that new elite of theirs (coupled with Alacrity) will grant Time Warp a nice shorter cooldown for some excellent area denial.

Also stomping. When my shatters are down, and I have no blinds/invulns, there is nothing more satisfactory than a portal stomp. I got my first one this weekend.

I’ve been playing with portal more and more in SPvP matches. Even in Yolo Q. The ability to rotate quickly between points is so crucial. Especially now that people just want to slug it out on the roads. Lately I’ve been winning 500-450 matches, and I think it’s because I’ve been holding the two points for our teams.

There are some things that can change, QoL-wise with portal. The fact that the CD was reduced to 72 seconds is superb though. Makes it way more “viable” for solo play. (and great for kiting 3 people around.)

My basic rule of thumb is that portal works at the range of two adjacent nodes. Mine to Keep, or Henge to Keep. Mansion to Clocktower. Bear to Raven. A to B. Temple to Gate.

Some other tips I’ve noticed the past few days: Place the opening portal JUST out of 1200 range of a point. This way, if you noticed it’s being assaulted and you port, you won’t be under fire right away. I’ve also noticed that you can place the portal entrance in puddles (like around chieftan) and it’s not visible. On Legacy, placing it on the ledges above the graveyard (the ones on the same ‘plane’ as Quarry/Waterfall) is a great move too. Especially if it’s behind the rock walls. You get to avoid range dps from LoS.

848 hours. Apparently, I suck.

You’re right about the combo being fun! Very powerful and long-lasting.

You actually raise an interesting question: Will Alacrity reduce the ICD of traits/abilities. That is, will the “Signet of Inspiration” proc from Illusionary Inspiration have a faster background cooldown? If so, that will be a VERY powerful boonshare support bruiser.

I love, love, LOVE Ineptitude. I don’t think it’s overlooked, but I do think it’s misunderstood.

A lot of mesmers are only thinking of this as a way of stacking more confusion. However, it’s the survivability it provides that is key. Successfully dodging, evading or blocking an attack causes blind. 10-second ICD for each individual enemy. It’s just so great.

Temporal Enchanter is another stellar trait that I haven’t seen to a whole lot of love. Some. But not too much.

It’s not undermining. It’s really just another way to ensure that a person is locked down. That is: not all stunbreaks are condition clears. Sure, someone can break the stun, but they are still held in place and at the mercy of your phantasms.

I think you can achieve something that you’re suggesting by slapping on Mesmer runes, choosing Chaotic Interruption, and instead of CS, pick empowered illusions for a zerker, warlock or duelist that will devastate your enemy.

You can totally portal and boonshare!

@ Messiah, Boonshare mesmer is on pretty even footing with PB mesmers. Keep in mind that with Bountiful Disillusionment, we can pretty much get stability when we need it. I dueled Chaos a little bit while he was boonshare and I was playing GS/Staff CI. I think it was more or less even (generally, he always has the edge on me), but it’s very hard to weave in the interrupt burst. This was also on EU and he didn’t know that it was me at first LOLOLOLOL.

If they are running PU and PB with a greatsword, then you really need to be on your toes. Also, you can just keep your staff equipped and have them waste their dazes until you switch to GS for your own burst. It’s interesting how people don’t expect you to be able to burst as boonshare.

There’s no doubt the Mantra Heals are awesome, it’s just a mechanic that I don’t like (recharging in the middle of battle).

I’ve run nothing but mirror since 6/23 because, traited, you get 4 seconds of reflect every 10 seconds. I know mirror isn’t instant cast, but 12 second intervals for a 500 group heal and two condi cleanses isn’t bad, all while protecting myself from interrupts/damage from rangers, engineers, liches, warriors, some thieves, pistol/staff mesmers, certainly has its perks.

I’m sure if I gave the Mantra way some true game play, I’d get into the play style.

I think Boonshare + PU shatter would work nicely. With PU, you miss out on the might-stacking from CI. The Boonshare Mes provides sustain, the PU Mes provides the pain. A condition spec would work wonderfully with boonshare as well. People sometimes forget how greatly might affects conditions.

skcamow.3527:

The long and short of it is that it’s become very easy for new mesmers to be very effective. In essence, this patch lowered the skill floor for mesmer in general, which is unfortunate.

Now what veteran mesmers need to do is learn to adapt to this new influx and find ways to counter. It’s only been a month after all and already I’m seeing people learn to counter it. I know this can be easier said than done, but it isn’t just in play style; it’s analyzing different tactics and most of all, choosing a build that helps you perform the best.

QFT. The FotM mesmers stick out like sore thumbs. Veteran mesmers stab like jagged knives (and thus replace thieves).

The FotMers are coming in two forms, I’m noticing. PU with MoD and GS, or Ross’s Dom, Dueling, Inspiration Mantra build. As a Mesmer, there are definite strategies to dealing with both. Just last night I came across one of those Mantra Mesmers and a CI Mesmer. I was toying with PU/Powerblock and I had plenty of counterplay without relying on stealth for defense. The key is to get them to burn their cooldowns, then show them how to burst.

Or you go PU condi and puke confusion all over them.