Guild Wars 2

I think GS with Mantra of Pain is possible some of the best tagging we can do. Especially if you’re running with the focus because it spawns right at the target and immediately begins its AoE.

Let’s also be jealous of every thief who isn’t stupid enough to run without a Shortbow. I swear, that is the most frigging useful weapon in the game. It’s super tactical and the blast/projectile finishers (plus a great poison field for mobs that heal — like the menders, etc.) make it clutch for group play.

Super jealous we don’t get a weapon like that.

I’m starting to get jealous of all the peeps who say they’ve downed Rylock. I barely get Aeo down…

This is a great video. You take on thieves with a TON of patience. Watching videos like this show how (aside from skill) IP offers really great utility over lockdown builds — for now.

Come HoT, when shatter/lockdown is together, I bet you’ll pull off some really cool moves.

Looking forward to the next vid!

Ross. We will never give up on our terrible toons. Especially ones that play builds that no one else does. Though, to be honest, you can slap a shortbow on any thief and they will be effective.

Also, I feel like the movement of the skill wouldn’t allow you to also catch their ToT. It would require you to be like 50 units in front of your Mesmer buddy the whole time. And I think that would make many of us pretty mad who were trying to set up some kind of play.

I don’t think that our mainhand weapons are SO terrible. But things are kind of stale with them. From an SPvP/WvW perspective, I use the sword mainly for defensive purposes. The scepter has its uses, but it is clunky.

That being said, they’re not useless/a joke. I’ve put together a few hybrid builds that use Sword/Torch-Scepter/Pistol quite well. They’re not as straight-forward as our two-handers, but there is utility depending on how you build.

Now, keeping “hybrid” in mind, I can imagine some really interesting ways to work with Sword/Shield-Scepter/Pistol and mixing the Chronomancy line with any of our updated trees. Though, to be honest, I’ve become a diehard fan of the greatsword, so maybe I’ll just stick with the Sword/Shield :P

I really need to start playing my mesmer again…

I’ve been playing my thief a bit more since I think dual pistols is fun. I’m running 26006 for Invigorating Precision with Ricochet and Hastened Replenishment.

Given the speculation that thieves may get a Rifle for their elite specialization, why can’t we consider that these traits may move to that line?

Wow. Time Marches On….

Every WvW Mesmer will be a chronomancer…

These traits look awesome. I’m liking the idea of 600066 now….

Really good points. I’ve been swapping back and forth between playing shatter and playing lockdown, and I’m excited that the two will be getting blended.

66006 is what I am most looking forward to, as it will be amazing for both power and hybrid builds, also depending on weapons. I feel like 66600 and 66006 could provide some really fast-paced combat. At the same time, I think Chronomancy will bring in a lot more control.

Regardless of the buffs that everyone is getting, I think it will mostly be a factor of making sure stability isn’t so prevalent. That makes me worried about revenants. As I recall, it looked like that had a stability on dodge trait.

Hey Chaos, how happy are you that with IP being baseline and just investing in Domination alone, Shatterlock is pretty much a bread-and-butter aspect of lockdown builds now?

I was there when this happened.

Things I am curious about:

— Confusing Combatants. How noticeable is the confusion application and damage from this?

— How much does having IP baseline affect how you play your Mesmer (as an overall quality-of-life change). Do you still think you need DE? Will you still feel like playing the pure shatter damage build you do in PvE?

Why don’t you tell us about HoT in general!? What’s the content like? Is it fun? Do you think Mesmers will have a huge role in content progession, etc.

Totally worth noting that with 6 points in Domination, and a Sigil of Paralyzation, your Signet of Domination is a deadly, dangerous, meaty stun.

When I run CS, I do it mostly for the stun control. I use the Staff and Sword-Pistol. Otherwise, it’s classic Mindcrush traits. Halting Strike, Shattered Concentration, Confounding Suggestions in Domination. Far-reaching Manipulations and Deceptive Evasion in Dueling. Master of Manipulation and Bountiful Interruption in Chaos.

The goal is to be a mid-range stun demon with phantasms that hit like trucks. When the stun has procced enough for me, it’s been capable of downing someone 100-0, without them laying a finger on me.

It’s a very annoying build. And with the staff and sword swaps, you can be very slippery.

Fay.2357:

Tealots.6095:

I think that with the amount of chronomancers that we will have (and all that kittening alacrity), there will be a ton of “inactive” clustered enemies. Two team raid members running GS shatter can make excellent use of the Mirror Blade + Blink + Mindwrack combo (I can only imagine this with mental torment). From there, they can sword-swap to immobilize, torch4 out of the hotzone and wait a few seconds until they can do it all again.

Keep in mind that only mind wrack itself actually benefits from the lockdown in terms of damage though. I definitely agree that we should have a couple of people specced with mental torment for burst damage, but I’m not sure how much GS itself will actually add to that burst, since mirror blade is essentially a single target skill.

But it’s still quite the snipe. And probably also the safest option if whoever is our burst wants to hang behind the Chronomacer army looking for their opportunities.

Fay.2357:

Tealots.6095:

Now I understand. My main theory is that when you have a group of people all playing the same build on the same class, whatever the weakness is of that group will become VERY apparent. Diversity is usually the remedy (even if a little bit).

Normally I agree quite wholeheartedly with this statement. In this case though, I’ve been drawing a blank on what exactly the weakness is. The main weakness I’ve identified is if the group ends up getting steamrolled by a stability-laden hammertrain, and the solution to that would be more cc/boonstrip.

Tealots.6095:

Even if one or two, the AoE from Mental Torment, Master of Fragmentation and the fact that everyone has IP now could probably down some people very quickly.

You’re right about this though. When the majority of an enemy group is in the high-amped realm of the mental torment trait, shatter spike will be very potent. It may well be worth having a couple people running a more shatter focused traitset, even if they still bring staff for it.

I think that with the amount of chronomancers that we will have (and all that kittening alacrity), there will be a ton of “inactive” clustered enemies. Two team raid members running GS shatter can make excellent use of the Mirror Blade + Blink + Mindwrack combo (I can only imagine this with mental torment). From there, they can sword-swap to immobilize, torch4 out of the hotzone and wait a few seconds until they can do it all again.

I think lockdown mesmers cause the most havoc when a team is trying to stomp or rez. So we’re going to want to blow up some squishies to get those dominoes falling.

Now I understand. My main theory is that when you have a group of people all playing the same build on the same class, whatever the weakness is of that group will become VERY apparent. Diversity is usually the remedy (even if a little bit).

Especially with certain Dom/Illusions traits, we may want some GS-Shatter spike people. Even if one or two, the AoE from Mental Torment, Master of Fragmentation and the fact that everyone has IP now could probably down some people very quickly. Hell, if some are able to live without DE, our PU people could be our spikers with something like 6/0/6/0/6, and still hold onto their GS/Sword-Torch.

Can I ask why everyone should be running Chrono/Chaos? And those weapons specifically? Obviously the shield comes with the Chrono line, but you don’t think you may want two or three people to be dedication to spike damage? Downing outliers and the like?

I am so down for this. WvW is something I really want to get into because of how much you can customize. While I think it’s a taaadd early to be nailing down hard strategies, it couldn’t hurt to maybe do some smaller (5- or 10-man) group runs to get into some WvW basics, right?

I’m on FA, so count me in.

I think if they keep up with the pattern of shatter cooldowns that we have now, we can expect the f5 shatter to be at least 75 seconds. And we still don’t know what the benefit will be for having more clones out.

Several of you know that I was really sad/disappointed that we were getting a shield, and that I was indifferent to the Chronomancer speculation. That being said, I think these changes are going to offer a ton of amazing party options for the Mesmer in group PvP (WvW, Arena, and Stronghold). These announcements have made me really enthusiastic about what Mesmers are going to be like. And I’m happy I made a Charr toon, since they’re supposed to be great clockmakers. :P

-T

I’ll give an actual response :P

It does look like some support options are showing up. Like summoning a phantasm right after you’ve interrupted a ton of people, and you just laid out some massive heals/condi cleanses.

That being said, pvp-focused — as you are, Chaos, for the most part I think Mesmers will be contributing to group play in a really selfish way. AoE interrupts/lockdowns/sheer damage will be our main contribution, and I think it’s still looking like we will be controlling, sniper-type players in a group.

Then again, we’ll find out what our specialization is all about. Mages in WoW had an alter time ability where, after 6 seconds you’d return to where you were when you first cast the spell, with the same buffs, health, mana and cooldowns ready. I imagine we could be receiving some pretty neat things like that. If we are chronomancers…

I can’t wait for the domination traits to kick in and to see how fast Rylock is going to global people down with one interrupt.

StickerHappy.8052:

I main a mesmer myself but all I see is crying everywhere.

I’m sorry, Stickers. But you lost me when you said you main your Mesmer, you dirty ranger you!

But, overall, yes. I’m not the best at playing/theorycrafting, but I’m at least competent and there’s a lot of needless complaining. People need to accept (and thrive) on the changes. Our lockdown/condi traits are looking great. And for those who like straight-up $hatter builds, it looks like they are simply getting some new toys.

I’m starting to get the feeling that our team will have every lockdown trait except for Disruptor’s. The only thing I can think it would do is to allow you to grant some monstrous regens to teammates when you summon a phantasm.

oooooooh is Fay Pyro? Is that who was annihilating me in the arena the other day?

Yes! Fun to watch. I need to try out power/lockdown builds in WvW more. I just have this thing where I think hybrid makes way more sense there…

Gotcha. Also, there’s a YT vid of a Charr mesmer out there running your build in WvW. Fun to watch.

Look at Charr Tealot/Tolaet go.

@Ross: You’re actually running my preferred Phantrupt traits when I ran it a while back. My only question is what made you choose your current weaponset over Sword-Sword/Scepter-Pistol?

My favorite setup for $hatter is Staff/Sword-Pistol. I actually consider this the “training wheels” set since it forces you to look for when to iDuelist/blurred/Mindwrack Spike, and how to make the most of staff for defense. If I’m running with other Mesmers who I know are running boon removal on shatters, I run 26006 and pick up pistol mastery. That ensures that I have an iDuelist every time I’m ready to mindwrack.

Interestingly enough, this weaponset works superbly with CS (Mindcrush -64400). A chaos storm that stuns? Yes please.

It’s so hard to think about this since we don’t know what will become of the other classes. Just think: Fresh Air or Diamond Skin will be added to the DD Elementalist build.

That being said, there’s going to be some great variety for Mesmers, and I really feel like it’s going to open up some new “meta” and even gear possibilities.

If Deceptive Evasion becomes a baseline thing, I would absolutely run 60606. I’d forgo CS in Domination and go for Halting Strike, Shattered Concentration and Empowered Illusions. I’d see this is a great way to stick with GS/Staff.

However, a fun Condi variant with Staff/Scepter-Pistol could be 66006. CS in Domination, pistol traits and Harmonious Mantras in dueling, and Maim in Illusions. Yowza.

During the week I (usually) don’t log on until after 8 p.m. But I’m already thinking of some team comps and obviously necessary skills we’d need to bring. Feedback, portal, all of the elites.

Also, if there’s going to be an engineer on the enemy team, someone should run MtD. I feel like conditions are the easier way to take them down.

Ross Biddle.2367:

Tealots.6095:

Haven’t watched the vid yet, but I’m really excited to look at myself. I was running classic mindcrush traits (I think). 64400.

Staff/Sword-Pistol because I simply cannot get a handle on off-hand sword.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQNAsaWlknpGttqxMNcrNipxYyeih0B0wAlMkxB-TZRAwAHeAAAOCA42fwzpAAdZAA

Usually when I play with other Mesmers, based on the builds they’re running I can’t really feel their presence (unless they’re dropping some glamors or something). But all that power, with CS stopping people in their tracks, and the two of our iSwaps for the 2.5s imobs was just super nasty for our opponents. Oh, and so much pistol stun

Guuuuuud.

I think I was making as effective use of Feedback as I could those matches. Like predicting when those guardians were going to spin. It’s a nasty combo to let them hit themselves and land the halting strike right at the end of it.

Also, a lot of my control comes from dropping a chaos storm on someone. If I were running CI, they would only be caught in the storm if they were interrupted. With CS, the stun chance forces them to sit in it no matter what. By this point, I’ve set up clones for a chain diversion and I’m summoning an iWarlock.

I’m tempted to pick up empowered illusions, but I find shattered concentration too necessary when I’m so reliant on dazes, and halting strike is a pretty important source of damage.

I would be all too happy to do this. Most comfortable on Mesmer on any team. Second most is Ranger or Elementalist on balanced team. I can, if needed, practice my thief…

Yep. What Skcam said. I’ve been noticing way more ability with phase retreat and sword swap over blink. It actually makes aggressively guarding keep quite fun.

Haven’t watched the vid yet, but I’m really excited to look at myself. I was running classic mindcrush traits (I think). 64400.

Staff/Sword-Pistol because I simply cannot get a handle on off-hand sword.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQNAsaWlknpGttqxMNcrNipxYyeih0B0wAlMkxB-TZRAwAHeAAAOCA42fwzpAAdZAA

I’ve been meaning to get my hands on an EU account. If anyone would like to PM me how that’s done, I’d be all lovey-dovey.

I will not be around Saturday, but Sunday can be some fun. It’s good to see you pop up again. I’ve only been on every now and then, but sorely lacking in pvp friends.

Ignore the division on the forums. It’s practically Congress up in here.

Looking forward to the fun.

Maim/torment is great for roaming play because, well, you’re roaming. Everyone should be moving. Generally, if I get the jump with this build, I will win. Even in the 2v1s I’ve had. The weapon set may look strange, but it allows for a lot of finesse and a lot of burst, whether from direct damage or conditions. Did someone just dodge your scepter block and confusing images? Pistol summon, stun, swap to sword immob and blurred frenzy. If you have clones out shatter and there’s some residual damage. Pistol stuns and Diversion allow for great procs of the perplexity runes.

A lot of people don’t like Rampager’s armor. It adds some power punch, but it really augments all of the damage that the pistol phantasm can do, making the most out of it with power, and sharper images.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhUQRAsf7alknpRtlqxMNcrNiqBh6t0mhSyAsgSWitB-T1iFABqpNQhHAQKq/MsSMAUCSlyjL0IA8+DnpD4gjAQCnEAA-w

When I happen to have a partner or a small group (very rare on Fort Aspenwood, with very large groups often running around), I run the following — it’s mildly tweaked from above, gear-wise:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhUQRAsd7alknpGtNqxMNcrNitxY6NiIjTWzKlMghB-TFjFABqpJQhHAQKq/MsSs10CAgSQqUechGBg3f4MdAHcEAS4kAAA-w

Frequent pistol stuns/focus pulls offer plenty of interrupts to tie people up for your team, proc confusion, and might stack to make all of the damage you’re doing way stronger. Reflects from the focus make you more defensive versatile.

Me! Dear god may I pleeeaaaaaase be invited!?!?!?!

I got a weird one. 36 and 42: Mantra of Concentration and Mass Invisibility.

I guess this one can be called Unshakable and Unseen.

Point of the build is to apply pressure in whatever form, torments, bleeds, direct damage. It’s supposed to shine way more when it comes time to stomp or rez in a hectic team fight. Three charges of stability, and a lengthy Mass Invisibility shouldn’t make that an issue. For more troll-like flavor, I added blurred inscriptions and slapped on Runes of Resistance to provide more procs of aegis to go along with PU.

Update. Tealot had a sex change operation. But her outfit now matches her Greatsword.

I’ve mentioned this a bit on other threads, but I’m going to say it here. The Mesmer class has probably the most diversity of what can work (OK maybe warriors with their 9238402394 weapon combinations).

This class is all about style. Viability really doesn’t mean anything. And it’s why I don’t really post any new builds that I try on here because there are some people who have a solid idea of what works and what doesn’t.

If you can make/find a phantasm build that suits your style of play, meaning you enjoy it and you win, it’s viable.

This is a really fun build that I’ve used some in SPvP and it’s actually amazing for WvW. If you look up IrxAllis on YouTube, his latest — or one of his most recent vids — is using this setup.

GS takes… finesse in a CI build. Honestly, so does focus and I think I’m only now, after playing CI for months starting to really learn the intricacies of the weapon/trait combination.

Point taken. This is mostly for world-event type farming, group play, slowing immobilizing mobs, solid direct and condition damage, and really nice heals augmented (even if only slightly) by the cele amulets. How about runes of the Eagle or Rage?

re: Torment Sigil, I can also see its value in adding another 2 percent damage boost via Modified ammunition.

Thanks for the feedback. Ah yes, I’m seeing now all the cripple that I’d also gain from the tool kit.

I’m wondering if Runes of the Golemancer or Rage would be a decent fit. I’d actually be losing some power, but moving up from 182% critical damage to 193%. The Runes of Rage might actually be nice since the 5% damage when under fury may make up for that loss in power. If I’m swapping to the Tool Kit, do you think it’d be worth trading in Speedy Kits for Static Discharge? Or, at least, for combat anyway.

I think I can live without the torment sigil. One application of Torment wouldn’t change too much. Coming from a Mesmer who has tinkered with Maim, at least in pvp, Torment comes best in stacks :P

Hello, Engineers! I’m a Mesmer main who decided to power-level his engineer to 80 and gear him up using tokens and whatever ascended items I had lying around.

I’ve come up with a build that has a lot of fast “little sources” of damage. It’s linked here:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fdAQJAqalUUp+qtbxELseNCbBNqxA6Osh3+5DEgkC-TByCABO8AAA4EA4syoS0DsgSwYU/5LlO+s/AA-e

Direct damage is nice, and though I’m missing out on ferocity, the Poison Volley skill has crit for almost 5k, and there are plenty of opportunities for burns and bleeds to tick quite nicely.

I’m toying around with this guy on a budget. I’m wondering if anyone has decent input as far as which runes and sigils I should use. Do pack runes synergies well enough with speedy kits? Am I aimlessly pursuing might with sigil of strength?

Thanks for any info!

This is a good idea. For one thing, I’ve always wanted a complete list of where Mesmer reflects can be used in dungeons and fractals.

I’ll help comb through some of the wording you have on the guide, too. For example, for Illusionary Invigoration, shatters are recharged when you are hit BELOW 50 percent of your health, not at 50 percent. It’s actually a bigger difference than it sounds.

Hey now, you said “no one agrees.”

I think Rylock said it above, and so did you, Chaos, but there is sort of a two-tiered caliber when it comes to lockdown mesmers. It’s one thing to learn how to land those interrupts. It’s a whole ‘nother ball game to capitalize on them. And sometimes it’s hard to differentiate because, in my case, I can land the interrupt and get by. But making the most of it is the real difficulty.

One thing I’ve been working on is conserving my phantasms, and watching clone positioning. Also, micromanaging defenses.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

zexion.5842:

Hey chaos for lockdown is Staff scepter/pistol a good set up for a power build (with a side of conditions, mainly confusion) if so which of your builds would you use. Or would scepter/sword work better?

Scepter Pistol would be more effective imo, especially if you want a Condi spice. Check out Ross Biddle’s phantasm/lockdown build. Scepter can output some nice power damage, and I’m personally a fan of mixing a sigil of rage with my scept for the quickness boost to auto attack and confuse ray. (but I like weird things like furious interruption on scepter which no one agrees with me on =P)

You’re trading off a damaging boon stripping cleaving auto attack, a very strong defense in blurred frenzy and an immobilize for ranged damage and an on-demand blind, though so your spec would be more effective at mid to far ranges rather than close so be prepared to kite a lot and use ledges to your advantage =P use the scepters ability to delay the last part of the auto attack to mix in different things (ex: auto1, auto2, counter, auto 3 gives you a nice two clones to Diversion[F3] shatter with)

Ummmm, I believe on that very Phantrupt Asskicker thread that I totally vouched for Furious Interruption. I even like scepter/pistol with CI sometimes. Sword-focus is still a mainstay.

Hello, all. I’ve been tinkering with this in unranked play for a little bit. It’s been pretty successful.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQRAsf7alknpRtlqxMNcrNSpBh6ycnmSyAUhSeiyB-TpRHwADeAAC3fIwJAQwBBAwRAwZZAA

I have a weakness that I really want Rampager’s Amulet to work well for Mesmers. It synergizes nicely with Sharpened Images, particularly with the pistol and if you trait for Phantasmal Fury. The small power investment doesn’t hurt either when you’re trying to put out a little bit of pressure. Against lighter classes and Thieves, it can still crit for the higher end of 3k, not factoring in might stacks from shattering.

I like the option of having a stun on one set and an immobilize on the second set to help you land those shatters. Even though Sword-Torch is intended to be the defensive set — offering a blur, a stealth AND condition cleanse — it also provides a great opener. Particularly with mind wrack for some nice direct damage, and beginning some stacks of torment and confusion. From there, provided your opponent starts dodging, you can maintain distance with scepter-pistol and shattering as needed.

Regardless of whether you think this build is “bad” or “good,” I think it’s fun. What I’d love is some input as far as trait flexibility. The adept traits are quite flexible. I like crippling dissipation for when a scepter or sword clone is cleaved down and I’m looking for some breathing room. Many people will disagree with the traited torch — and I know that shattered concentration is very strong, I’m just enjoying the extra defense provided by stealthing more often, and clearing a condi away right into stealth. Also, it increases the burn rate. Without might stacks, bleeds are at 99 per stack, burns are a little over 600.

With it’s current rune set and sigils, this build provides every condition in the game EXCEPT for Weakness. Part of me is debating a sacrifice in Domination and going 24206, to pick up debilitating dissipation to further reduce any damage I would take. However, this may negate the use of Rampager’s amulet because you’re losing 100 power.

Staff is an obvious choice for a MtD build, but I like using weapons unconventionally, and sword-torch does offer some very unique defensive capabilities.

Have at it. But please be nice.