Guild Wars 2

He’s running endurance regen on kill food. Dunno about the other. Maybe Main. Oil?

It’s a 10 second, almost guaranteed kill skill (if used properly.) I don’t see what the issue is here.

To be perfectly honest, guardian > tanky mesmer any day. Couple a well played shatter mesmer with a bunker guard with AoE condi removal, high dodge heals and boon share, and you’ve got yourself a pretty sick duo. The only alternative to that, I would say would be thief with the guardian instead of the mesmer, however a well played shatter mesmer is far superior to a well played thief.

Blimm.5028:

What are you saying? Prediction? Keen sense?
I´m using this build for 3 months now and its easymode as hell. just chain up the stuns/dazes and take care of no stabillity icon popping up.
Inbetween spawn phantasms and thats it.

I’m sorry, I was only trying to help you, is all. And by all means, go and chain them stuns instead of using them smart, and rupting important skills. Phantasm builds are easy mode, this used correctly is not. You wanted a stunning build with all the traits that go together. This is as close as you’ll get, even since GW1, mesmer’s rupting ability has been purely a team utility. Never has it been something that you just roll with and clutch RA 4v1. It’s that same mentality that has been carried over to here, otherwise mesmer CC would become over powered.

Nevhie.6079:

Hi. I want to ask about the 2nd effect of Magic Bullet since u are using Pistol.

Magic Bullet 2nd effect = Daze 2sec.
Confounding Suggestions = 50% chance to cause a 1-second stun whenever you daze a target.

So the Confounding SUggestions will change the 2sec daze into 1sec stun or 2sec stun? If only 1sec would using Dual Swords better? Not to mention Sword #4 has quick CD.

When using a sword 4, everything hit in a line has a 50% chance of daze, so it’s kind of good, however I use pistol with condi duration food for long lasting bleeds (stacks up to 8, with staff field 8 stacks of confu too) so it’s all about pressure. In regards to Magic Bullet, the initial shot will stun the first person (2seconds) , and then the second person hit will be daze (50% chance of being stunned.) Overall, I’d recommend using pistol with this build, due to the increased pressure from iDuelist. However that being said, you can run offhand sword if you want

To be honest, OP has a point. While we’re at it, lets remove mesmers ability to use phantasms, because it’s so broken that you have to rely on them doing your work, and shatter. We should reduce the damage of shatter in half, because only thieves are allowed to burst. We should also get rid of Mesmer invis, and please Anet. GIVE US LONGBOWS!

Hey! Thankfully for you, I’ve spent the time (and gold) making an amazing Stun Build.

Personally, I think you just have to think of it from a different perspective. You don’t want all your damage coming from interrupts, so all those other damage on interrupt, etc, is kinda useless. However, what you do want to be able to do, is control the enemy.

Basically, the way I saw it, was that if I could have my clones pump out significant damage, while isolating the target, and keeping them locked in place, there’s nothing they can really do right? I also took into account that I usually run in duos (Not saying this build can’t be ran solo, just interrupt builds in general are more successful in group play.)

The power of daze → stun, is truly amazing. With enough practice, you can basically lock people in place for up to 10 seconds. Now situationally, this can be amazing. With 2-3 Mesmers, timing with this literally keeps people perma-stunned (so much fun in WvW when you don’t do damage and let them just Alt + F4, cause they can’t do anything.)

I kinda hope that this clears things up for you, gives you inspiration etc. etc. and helps you work out a stun build of your liking

Kazhiel.8194:

So how did that Pyro and Corey fight go?

I’ll be on tomorrow night.

Pyroatheist.9031:

the phantasm build has a very high skill cap

lol. I look forward to you “ripping me apart”. “Very high skill cap” ahahah oh my. Sorry. But popping an iDefender, couple iDuelists and then not dying is NOT very hard at all

Gaidax.7835:

drongas.4189:

i guess u never get blind, if u blinded, enough just press #1 one time with sword without target, and it remove blind, u can try self if u dont trust me. and if i remember, when shatter mesmer use f1, clone do miss? or i wrong?

This is actually correct, I guess our little Phantasm basher was not aware of this fact

Blind will be removed by the next attack even if you just intentionally attack a thin air to begin with. You can do it without removing stealth either too.

I really don’t understand why on earth that dude thinks that blind is some sort of counter to Phantasm Mesmer, it’s a laughable waste of time really since you can instantly removed anytime by pressing 1.

I’m not even talking about the fact that by equipping torch you basically shoot yourself in a foot by giving up phantasm damage and cc options you could get from other offhands for a brief stealth that won’t change anything.

None the less, my initial response still stands. If they have to cancel the channel on you, while you break target and go into stealth to avoid using a cooldown then by all means it’s not a wasted utility. It adds pressure increased pressure. Yes I was unaware of the fact that blind was removable by just hitting 1, however, you would have to have pretty fast reflexes to cancel this mid 1 1/4 second cast time. I bash phantasm mesmers simply because it’s a selfish 1v1 build. You guys can deny it as much as you want, by Phantasm Mesmer spec offers a low skill-cap, high return on rewards when it comes to 1v1’s. This is pretty much a “Build Wars” issue. Where in most cases when someone with the higher skill level should’ve won, they’re losing to an autopilot build with next to no risks.

If you still truly believe that phantasm mesmers don’t lose to anything, and that blind does nothing, feel free to message me in game so that I can show you in a free sPvP room

drongas.4189:

yes and it work against newbie mesmer very well. but i know my enemy, its simple counter blind just dont summoning phantom in first second of batle. and when i blinded i just press autoatack 1 time, and it remove blind and when u miss without target

It will only go away if you land a hit, or a summon. And even if it prevents someone from summoning a phantasm at the beginning of the fight, then a shatter will always win. For a phantasm mesmer to be successful against a shatter mesmer, you need to have that pressure from the get-go.

drongas.4189:

u all speak now about many vs many, when op ask about 1v1. and in that moment no1 cant beat phantasm mesmer.
but couple (mb more) month ago, phantasm mesmer been overpowered in siege batlle. blind dont interupt summon, u can drop izerk on wall to kill treb or ac if u tagget it. phantasm fallow half of map. mb somewhen in future phantom back in large battle or be neerfed in 1v1, mb then shatter build be beter

and in group figh, no1 care life mesmer or not, liedown veil and timewarp u can die, its not like eles field or warrior/guard balst. so it doesnt matter witch build u use in group

Blind causes a phantasm summon to miss, unlike an interrupt the skill goes on full cool down and nothing is summoned. That’s why Torch shatters, and d/p thieves can bear phantasm mesmers.

Pyroatheist.9031:

Archituethis.8274:

Lets give them a chance to prove themselves, please post a phantasm build that will be more effective in group play than a shatter build.

Phantasm builds are not effective in group play because the phantasms themselves die. This is well known and established.

The issue is that this guy proceeds to then claim that in addition phantasm builds offer no utility and less survivability, and that’s where people are taking issue. In general, phantasm builds are more survivable and have more options utility purely because of the style of play.

Let me rephrase that “Less utility.”

Gaiawolf.8261:

Take your own advice. Don’t assume everyone plays the same cookie cutter phantasm builds.

But you see, that’s my whole point. Any phantasm build is bad in group play.

Pyroatheist.9031:

You’re simply not correct. The single reason phantasm builds aren’t viable in group pvp is because the phantasms themselves are not viable in group pvp.

Case and point. I’m not going to bother arguing this any further when you yourself want to admit this. Shatter builds are not limited to 20/20/0/0/30. I myself, run reflection shatter in group play, with traited glamour fields and portals. Much more survivability, utility, and in combat mobility than a phantasm mesmer. Don’t assume that everyone the same cookie cutter shatter builds

And mantra heals… lol please, if I wanted to go group heals, I’d roll guardian for overpowered 2k dodge heals + AoE condi removal, boons, etc. (my roaming partner does this.) Why? Because it’s simply the optimal way to run it. Just because you CAN heal, doesn’t mean it’s the most optimal way to do it.

But by all means, keep playing autopilot phantasm builds if you really want.

Gaidax.7835:

I think you are getting a bit too much agitated with your Phantasm hate here.

I’m not agitated at all, I commented on a post asking advice on how to beat a phantasm user in a 1v1 situation. I gave my reasoning, and steps behind my thought process when versing a phantasm user.

The reason phantasm users aren’t viable in group PvP situations is not because the phantasms die ridiculously fast, it’s the fact that Phantasm spec users offer next to no utility, little to no survivability (if you do slot trade off for more survivability, then you lose out on damage) and the overall play style of a phantasm spec is more situational, and conditional when compared to that of a shatter mesmer.

This has really gone off topic, OP asked for advice on how to kill a phantasm mesmer. He didn’t ask for an argument and justification for phantasm mesmers.

Pyroatheist.9031:

Actually, you’re completely wrong. There’s a very good reason that I prefer a phantasm build for pve. Phantasm builds go heavily into inspiration, which is our support trait line. Additionally, while phantasms are doing damage, you can worry about supporting your party.

We’re not talking about PvE here. We’re talking about PvP.

Gaidax.7835:

Phantasm does not die against Shatter EVER unless he fails… honestly… to what are you dying? To shatters? It takes as much as one Blurred Frenzy to totally negate it, even if you pull out a root and disable dodging into clones.

The best chance here is to stealth and pull out double shatter from melee range, but really any half decent Mesmer player who tried shatter builds himself will see that coming from a mile ahead.

The issue with Shatter vs Phantasm is indeed that Shatter is much more complicated to pull out properly AND that it’s sustain is crap too – it comes in with it’s big bursts, but as long as you avoid it at the right time, that’s all there is then and Mesmers have some awesome active defenses, especially Phantasm ones since you basically only need to defend. So what I am trying to say is that not only Shatter has to work hard, but Phantasm simply can concentrate on avoiding kitten and with Mesmer toolset and mechanics knowledge it is not hard at all.

My grief with Phantasm is that it’s a selfish build. You offer nothing to the team, you’re a single targeted autopilot mesmer, and generally speaking, yes, I’m only dying to other shatter builds.

Gaidax.7835:

Defender could be good IF it did not take utility slot OR would not count against the 3 illusions limit.

It is problematic because you can’t have it and 2 phantasms together really, unless you totally want to ditch using leap, decoy or mirror blade.

I have no doubt that it can be powerful, but in my opinion it is not flexible enough.

Okay, if you’re not taking defender you’re going to die to a shatter mesmer… Enough said. And yes, I’m sorry, but phantasm mesmer is an autopilot. It’s easy to press a summon button, and then kite and spam invis. Shatter > Phantasm, when it comes to skill cap.

Pyroatheist.9031:

Any fight on my phantasm build that isn’t another Mesmer is varying degrees of easy, with no exceptions.

Against other mesmers, things get harder, particularly other phantasm mesmers. Shatter mesmers aren’t very difficult though. If you’re using torch offhand and you burn a blink and the prestige to open a fight…and I just so happen to not be where you blinked, or I stop my cast, or I actually was invulnerable, you’ve just burnt a stunbreaker and a strong defense for nothing. Quite honestly, torch is just a horrible idea in general, for reasons I won’t get into here.

Generally speaking I was referring to situations regarding 1v1’s, where you start off fairly close. I’m a firm believer in getting the upper hand on an opponent, sure you’ve just melted a stun breaker, and your torch invis, however you’ve still got a mass invis and decoy left, with roughly 20 seconds on your other devices. If you’re relying on utilities, as opposed to positioning and damage mitigation ( wether that be through sword 2, dodge rolls or overall situation when fighting) then you’re doing it wrong.

In response to your notion of torch offhand and it being a horrible idea in general… Well… You’ve really got to experience it first hand in group play. My roaming partner and I frequently get ourselves into 2v6+ situations, being the bunker guard he is, tanking that many people is no problem for him, however dealing unforgiving AoE bursts is where I come in. No point in having all that burst power if I’m just going to get focused right? That’s why the torch + decoy allows me to stealth every 10-15 seconds for 3 seconds.

Gaidax.7835:

theCOREYCOLAK.5698:

Gaidax.7835:

You can’t blind something you can’t see…

Blink ontop, and pop torch invis. That’s an AoE blind… Enough said.

…

I just love it how everyone assumes that you somehow have to be in 900 range to decoy…

Want a good start of a fight as Phantasm Mesmer? Decoy just a bit outside 1200 range. Works every time. By the time a target realizes what happened you will already have at least one phantasm out, if they don’t stealth – you will have 2 phantasms guaranteed this way, 3 seconds initial stealth is enough.

Also, in case people here do not realize – you can start casting phantasm from above 1200 range, it will appear anyway as long as by the end of the cast you are in range.

Everyone knows you can use decoy whenever, but a good phantasm mesmer will channel that Defender immediately at the start of the fight, running forward, a stealth or decoy won’t stop this being summoned so even if you do go invis and start off with 1-2 phantasms (which like I said, is such an easy, skill-less autopilot build) they’ve already got a defender out. And for someone who’s playing shatter, that’s game over. A blink intop of their body, and a blind will ensure that defender doesn’t spawn. I run shatter, so that’s 24 seconds I can damage the phantasm mesmer at full, without the the -50%.

Gaidax.7835:

You can’t blind something you can’t see…

Blink ontop, and pop torch invis. That’s an AoE blind… Enough said.

Gaidax.7835:

Sorry to burst your bubble, but you seem to rely on enemy doing nothing. Everything you said is countered by one small Decoy at the start.

I met enough shatter Mesmers and honestly, they are not hard at all 1v1. If you dodge their pretty obvious shatter, they have nothing left really and it’s a field day on their faces then.

A decoy doesn’t stop the initial blind… Counter with your own decoy. I’m sorry to burst your bubble butttttttttttttttt. I’ve never met a phantasm mesmer I can’t beat. Shattering increases in terms of fighting rewards the higher ones skill cap is. Phantasm is but autopilot.

Pyroatheist.9031:

Stop using the staff as a gap closing weapon, because it doesn’t function that way. From what you said, you’re running a condition build, which is fine, but you still can’t gap close with the staff. You gap close with mainhand sword, and once you get there, feel free to switch back to staff.

… I frequently use staff 2 to close gaps. Its amazing.

I run a GS S/T shatter build, when I 1v1 phantasm mesmers, my first move will always been, blink ontop of them and use torch invis. This blinds them, so their first cast will be a failure. You’re now invis, and they’ve got nothing. You’re going to want to then pop a mirror images or something and get a full burst off ending with an interrupt. That’ll rupt their current cast. Few more auto attacks, follow through with like a GS knockback and then mass invis so they can’t cast anything on you. Then, you can keep your distance, and auto attack from afar. If they’re summoning use a blink to blink further back, this will cause them to fail their summon yet again. Rinse and repeat, pretty fool proof. Just don’t let them get more than one clone out, if they do, try and force a distortion so you can reset.

No, it’s not against T&C, however you’ll just come off as a kitten..

kylia.4813:

theCOREYCOLAK.5698:

Static bonus sigils don’t stack. So the double paralysation’s a waste. Also, in your video, it’s Distortion grants reflection, not retaliation. This means when you activate distortion, you reflect the projectiles that are hitting you.

Thanks for the feedback! 100% correct with the Distortion, I swear its not because the two words are similar
In regards to the static bonus sigils, with paralysis, we have done testing and did find an increase in the time, so not sure if that is a bug then..?
Either way, as all builds, they are there as a base and allow others to modify and create and thanks for taking the time to watch and check out my builds.

Ahh okay, it might’ve changed since I last tried the same thing with paralysation sigils. Did testing a couple months ago when I was making a similar stun build, even checked wiki etc. They’re not supposed to stack. But hey! I’m not complaining

Ya, I agree with Osicat here. You’re no use to your team if you’re dead, that’s why Mobility is critical in group play. Personally, I only use 3 builds when in a group. A stun build, reflect shatter (masterful reflection, feedback and wardens feedback) and a GS S/T shatter. Don’t go with phantasm builds, because in any big group play, they’ll more than likely get burnt down in AoE, and you’re pretty limited in combat mobility wise.

The way I see it, if my team needs DPS, I’ll rock GS S/T, if we have enough DPS and I’ll run a stun build to lock the targets down for DPS to wreck face, and if I’m just tagging along with other people and planning on vs’ing a bigger group, I’ll opt for reflect.

You basically just want to choose something that’ll compliment your group.

Static bonus sigils don’t stack. So the double paralysation’s a waste. Also, in your video, it’s Distortion grants reflection, not retaliation. This means when you activate distortion, you reflect the projectiles that are hitting you.

Personally, I’m going to have to disagree with you all here. GS is by far a greater support weapon in WvW than staff (range, cripples, CC, boon removal, where as staff is more self preservation). However, in PvE, staff is where all the support is at.

This thread is so silly. No, do not nerf Phantasm builds, and do not make them more viable for group play. Sure it’s an auto-pilot faceroll 1v1 build, but leave it like that. Let those mesmers who spec like that think they’re good, so that when their group comes head to head with even numbers they get absolutely destroyed.

Eventually, they’ll learn that not everything is about 1v1 and re-spec, or they’ll become bored with the class and move on. Either way, it’s a win win.

If you’re complaining because they faceroll you in 1v1’s, refuse to duel Mesmers who spec phantasm in sPvP. If it’s in WvW, just run away. Super easy, no one’s forcing you to play them.

Ramiah.5648:

Okay, I think I am starting to realize that a lot of what I am looking for is mutually exclusive on the Mesmer.
If I want staff, I won’t be good at events, and shouldn’t use Runes of the Centaur for perma-swiftness with Mirror.
If I want to do solid support/damage then I should go sword, and that’s not ranged. I am thinking that perhaps the reason I have struggled with finding a build I like for Mesmer is because there isn’t one.
theCOREYCOLAK did mention a build using Greatsword and Staff, that sounds like exactly what I am looking for. Range and damage speed of the greatsword for events, plus the support and utility of staff. I will see if I can make something like that work.

If all you’re doing is PvE, then perm swiftness with mirror is just fine!

Re-roll from Phantasm mesmer… Try a stun build out, try shatter out. Play with things, and you’ll see that Mesmers are far from lacking synergy.

HEY RAMIAH!!!

I ran into a similar problem, one that I wanted to be able to have extreme range, perma swiftness, amazing mobility all while doing damage. I also wanted to take advantage of being able to kite effectively and deal significant damage in the process.

This is what I eventually came up with. GS/Staff, perma swiftness through centaur runes and boon duration food (you can not eat the food, but there’ll be like a 2 second gap in uptime of swiftness, which annoyed me.)

It’s an AoE killing machine, while having decent survivability. I’ve got 1.4k toughness purely because I run this build in WvW too, however if you’re just in PvE and feel confidant enough with your ability to mitigate damage without the need of higher toughness then by all means go full crit.

Illusionary Elasticity is critical for this build, as it takes advantage of both GS and Staff, you’re able to deal 900 damage through a single auto attack of the staff, plus applying 2 conditions. Note that you can swap out arcane thievery for sig of Insp, however if you’re in groups Sig of Insp is a really nice thing to have.

Hope this fits what you had in mind

Arganthium.5638:

Ryuujin.8236:

I take it a certain thief ran into a class where heart-seeker spam wasn’t cutting it?

Yes, because that is exactly what I do. /sarcasm

Most of the people on this thread seem either really unamused or actually think I’m being serious. y’all are no fun.

I loved it <3

zaxon.6819:

the biggest issue is.. we are going to keep getting nerfed until the class is so bad that stupid people can beat us even when they cant figure out who the real mesmer is.

you cant buff anyone elses skill so you can only nerf our mechanic and it is the root mechanic of the class so nerfing traits wont even matter. the class itself will need to be taken apart until clones nolonger fool scrubs.

Please! What’s skilful about popping iDefender, spamming invis iDuelists and iZerkers! Nothing at all. Then you get those people that go even further, opting for even more invis spam. Couple that with high toughness and vitality, and you’re running on auto-pilot.

The way I see it, Phantasm mesmers are OP. GS S/P and you’re laughing, because just one dodge won’t save you from eating the damage. Couple this with when I see people running sig. of illusion and defender, and you’ve got a powerful, tanky mofo.

However, like people have stated, this is a gimmicky 1v1 build, dueling servers are full of these mesmer that think they’re skillful, just refuse to fight these ones. I only ever play mesmers who are running shatter, or if they’re running a phant build in duels, only verse the ones that aren’t running defender + sig of illusions. Similar to a B ven. backstab thief, bullcharge HB warrior, and other similar gimmicky builds, they drop and do nothing for the team in the long run. Chances are you won’t find a single phant build in tPvP (if there is, it’ll probs just be a shatter/phant hybrid) as they offer nothing to group play.

If do duel one however, and are shatter, make sure you roll torch offhand for the blind. If you can blind them in their initial summon (most likely defender) they’re pretty much done for.

EDIT: Phant builds have only really become popular recently because of the dueling and stuff. I assure you, this is only a Flavour of the Month thing. It’ll be gone fairly quickly

Halfway through my major assignment, got bored and interestingly enough I’ve already done something similar.

I’m just going to say it how it is, Mesmers are OP underwater.

Why only trident?
Illusionary Elasticity coupled with trident and clones underwater is near instant death to any that oppose you. Each auto attack deals between 700-800 damage and 2 stacks of bleed all while applying swiftness, vigor and might. Double energy sigils for damage mitigation and more clones, shatter, shatter, shatter!

Pros

• I don’t know why people haven’t already opted for this, but 100% downed HP food people!!!!!!!!!! I can’t stress how important this is underwater, since no one can finish you, and Mesmer downed state auto attack is already OP you’re already going to face roll 1v1’s and almost guaranteed to come out on top of 1vX’s victoriously.
• Mantra heal for extreme frequent bursts in HP, coupled with high toughness you’ve just set yourself up to become an underwater God.
• Can swap signet of inspiration for Portal if you really want, however lets face it. If you’re needing portal to not die with this build, then chances are you’re probably facing ridic amounts of foe. Something that you probably wouldn’t survive anyway.

Cons

• Even though you can pretty much maintain perma swiftness, your in combat mobility suffers (because there’s no spears in use)

How to Play
Keep up all your clones, frequently Mindwrack and Cry for damage bursts, confusion and increased might. Get close to your foe, spam that auto attack, interrupt with Diversion when necessary(can Diversion for vuln stacks if wanted.) Pop those trident clones to get off confusion and damage bursts and shatter ASAP (you want just generic dodge clones or mirror images clones.) Keep an eye out for enemy regen, protection, vigor etc. Shatter to deny them of their beloved boons! Dodge, dodge, dodge and you’re on your way to victory. Enjoy being an underwater God.

Anyways. Have fun with whatever you’re wanting an underwater build for, it’s amusing to troll I guess (and be OP underwater.)

EDIT: Oh, forgot to mention, stack up on corruption before entering the water, Coyotes are quick and effective.

Issues.5789:

That seems to be the reoccurring defense tactic of TC. Take it when we sleep. Works every time.

The only thing I like to do when you sleep…. is watch you…

Nordic Natedog.4360:

Certainly. I love to roam and tried this out by switching out the sig for decoy. It considerably helped. I also change that slot out for feedback when capping. But I do understand you want to be as durable as possible in the above situation.

Yeah, when I want a little more survivability I swap out my sig for a blink. However lose a guaranteed almost 3 second stun… I dunno ahahahaha.

wads.5730:

now that confusion and glamours are nerfed,

aoe diversion trait + daze gives 5 stacks of vulnerability is probably one of the most effective tools in breaking up stacked up zergs on the battle field. aside from static field.

Running this with GS, S/F and feedback, you’re able to run a pretty solid shatter-like build with constant AoE vuln. It’s rather effective, keeping 20-25% more damage for your group.

Nordic Natedog.4360:

theCOREYCOLAK.5698:

Nordic Natedog.4360:

Tried out a variation on this setup today. I don’t have any PTV gear right now, so I went with my knights gear loaded with ruby orbs. This made this very powerful, although a little more glass cannon since you don’t have as much vital.

In WvW I run full PTV jewels + zerker weapons and an armour combination of clerics and rabbid (however I will be replacing the rabbid chest piece/mask and legs for PTV or the new VPT.)

I never run PTV in wvw. I’m always running either knights (for my power/crit builds) or rabid (for my cond tank). I’ve gotten use to running with 17k health so it’s no biggy to me.

yeah, that’s how I feel, however under the circumstances I’ve been running this, our group usually finds ourselves in 2-3v6-10’s a majority of the time. Since I have less invis’ as opposed to my shatter counterparts, and if we go against groups more than once, I noticed that I get targeted first, and thus need the extra 7k HP to survive, (No point in being group support and control if you’re dead right?)

Nordic Natedog.4360:

Tried out a variation on this setup today. I don’t have any PTV gear right now, so I went with my knights gear loaded with ruby orbs. This made this very powerful, although a little more glass cannon since you don’t have as much vital.

In WvW I run full PTV jewels + zerker weapons and an armour combination of clerics and rabbid (however I will be replacing the rabbid chest piece/mask and legs for PTV or the new VPT.)

kurtosis.9526:

Very cool to see people experimenting with Daze/Stun builds. Every time I look at Mesmer builds, ANet’s emphasis on Daze/Stun and expectation we play that way at least some of the time is clear:

Runes of the Mesmer 6x set bonus
One of our four main class skills, Diversion
All the Daze/Stun – related traits

It’s been on my todo-list to experiment with this some as well, but haven’t gotten past just theorycrafting builds. My biggest problem with it is you pretty much have to give up Illusionary Persona to make a Daze/Stun focused build, and I’m just too addicted to the utility + dmg IP provides.

But maybe if I start getting pwned by Daze/Stun mesmers I’ll change my mind.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my shatter builds! Soooo much! However, my small roaming group of 3 came across a problem, singling people out, and focusing them when there’s 5-6 other enemies around them became a hassle. Killing felt like a chore, so I came up with a means to prevent them from running away, whilst containing those other elements of groups (thieves and necros) from blowing off their massive spikes.

selan.8354:

noticed that too and cry of frustration doesnent give retaliation half the time.

Cry of frustration grants retaliation to the same AoE that the clones shatter. That being, if you’re not in the middle of it, you will not get retaliation.

Escthiil.3210:

theCOREYCOLAK.5698:

Gaiawolf.8261:

@Fadeaway: You forgot the Mantra, which provides more dazes than the rest of the build combined (except if MB bounces).

It’s a solid tactic in duels/small group play. In larger groups it kinda loses effectiveness, and you really need to coordinate your targets in team chat. Fairly worthless in zergs unless you can find and target the commander and bring him down.

Oh yes, it’s complete trash in zergs. However, usually I’m rolling with a bunker guardian, and another shatter mesmer/thief (depending on what class they wanna play.) Usually I run shatter, but I decided to create something that’ll compliment the team, being able to lock a target down is priceless, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Looks like your other teammate needs to make up his mind on what to play. -COUGHS-

;) Tell me about it.

loseridoit.2756:

theCOREYCOLAK.5698:

This is the main reason why I find running Masterful Reflection trait frustrating. The animation far surpasses the actual time distortion and reflection are given, so when you feel as if you’re safe, the animation is still playing and you’re able to be attacked (this only happening at the end of your distortion.) This is something I’ve been meaning to report for a while. In the mean time, I’d suggest keeping an eye at your buffs rather than watching the the on screen animation to know when and when not you are safe.

Naw, I was considering reporting it but the bug animation can actually help the mesmer giving another second of safety because the enemy is being fooled

More often then not, if the enemy isn’t ranged, they’ll just spam you. So it’s only hurting Mesmers IMO.

This is the main reason why I find running Masterful Reflection trait frustrating. The animation far surpasses the actual time distortion and reflection are given, so when you feel as if you’re safe, the animation is still playing and you’re able to be attacked (this only happening at the end of your distortion.) This is something I’ve been meaning to report for a while. In the mean time, I’d suggest keeping an eye at your buffs rather than watching the the on screen animation to know when and when not you are safe.

Benji.9203:

@theCOREYCOLAK

Gotta love that Mesmer build diversity. What classes do you find the hardest to deal with in this build and which do you find the easiest? How do you play it in small groups? Is it like a debuffer who hangs in the back ccing certain targets with assisted damage from phantasms?

…Also this is completely off topic but is your guild focused on wvw?
(I’m on FA as well and have been in search of a wvwvw guild that is not too big)

Hey! Yeah, Corp’s a very small guild (5-6) active members, and we love WvW Send myself or Holy Pickle a message in game. Also while this build is fairly CC intensive, I usually sit around mid-range (600) mark, firing off CC and clones, going in for shatters to removal any boons that may be effecting our potential damage. I sit at roughly 1.5k toughness, so it’s still very tanky, while delivering big spike damage and consistent CC, so don’t feel as if you can’t push up further and get in peoples faces. I’m trying to get some videos recorded but I’ve got a couple mid-semester exams + assignments due in the next few days so it won’t be for another couple days.

As for class difficulties, Necromancers would have to be the only real class I find difficult. Only the tanky condition damage ones. And also tanky Mesmers specing into 200% Increased Defenders.

Edit: It’s also important to note that we’re usually using voice comms while roaming, so I generally call out targets and spikes and time chain lockdown on foes who are generally below 50% HP, while DPS finishes them off. Baby sitting downed players while we continue fights is also another one of my priorities, if we don’t have the time and/or it’s unsafe to attempt a stomp, I will generally keep a stun ready for someone who attempts to revive an ally.

Gaiawolf.8261:

@Fadeaway: You forgot the Mantra, which provides more dazes than the rest of the build combined (except if MB bounces).

It’s a solid tactic in duels/small group play. In larger groups it kinda loses effectiveness, and you really need to coordinate your targets in team chat. Fairly worthless in zergs unless you can find and target the commander and bring him down.

Oh yes, it’s complete trash in zergs. However, usually I’m rolling with a bunker guardian, and another shatter mesmer/thief (depending on what class they wanna play.) Usually I run shatter, but I decided to create something that’ll compliment the team, being able to lock a target down is priceless, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.