Guild Wars 2

I’ve heard many complaints about Anet not knowing what they do, not doing their job and so forth but always dismissed them as baby cries.

But now, the idea of asking us what to do is just… embarassing. Really, it may sound as a good idea at first, but after 1 second they should realize what bad impression they are giving to theit paying customers.

I hope they will take the outcome of the poll and cross-filter it with their internal data else the game won’t last long imho :|

Not really a buff needed but some serious Fix
1. Mesmer (any other class with a not working weapon? i.e. focus)

Buff
1. Elementalist
2. Ranger
3. Mesmer

Tone down
1. Warrior
2. Thief
3. Engineer

Absolutely Chaos. Proccing CI, dropping chaos storm on top of it (4 conditions guaranteed) and casting iWarlock (+10% damage x unique condition) you easily get 4k damage.

Aside from that I know what it means running not this buils, but any builds without DE. In fact, the only way for me to make it viable is to have some form of constant speed.
In pvp I use rune of speed and travelers in wvw. It’s the only way not to make builds without DE feel sluggish like hell or slow like a drag.

But I guess the build can still work as a 20/20/30 (as yourself already pointed out somewhere) without so much focus on mantras. I started using disenchanter after reading your feedback and I like it a lot. The only down side is that it requires a target in range and if you have to run away covered by conditions disenchanter will not guarantee you will come out alive.

Fox.3562:

Hey thanks =)

I don’t use focus anymore since iWarden is bugged. Before, he was a nice reliable “safe zone” I could hide from projectiles near, but he’s not that useful anymore since he doesn’t always spin when he’s summoned, and he chases targets. Until they make him stay put and not chase targets, I don’t see myself switching back to focus.

If you did want to try using sword/focus, I’d run 20/20/0/30/0. Remove condition on shatter is an excellent trait considering how common conditions are today.

Thanks for the feedback. It is a pity though. I really like curtain. It fits very well with the lockdown flavour I have been fiddling in the past month. I guess I will just wait for the devs to fix the mess.

Anyway, I see you have many good friends in this forum. Everyone in fond with you?

Marsares.2053:

trooper.2650:

@Marsares. I, like yourself, learnet to play without DE and I bless it. It gives room for more tweaking and experimenting and that’s how I came up with 30/10/30/0/0. I have been advertising it in all lockdown 3Ds Chaos opened recently, I apologise for that but couldn’t prevent myself in spreading this great build
Just kidding ofc but I really like it and it does wonders for me

Which traits do you run with 30/10/30?

This
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQJARWl4zCpnRTmGb9IhpHE33Cn0DTz6VXqAuB-jEDBYfAYLQkIBK5pIaslhFRjVxAT5KIaXQaYp2aWo2cOReDYSBsouK-w

@Marsares. I, like yourself, learnet to play without DE and I bless it. It gives room for more tweaking and experimenting and that’s how I came up with 30/10/30/0/0. I have been advertising it in all lockdown 3Ds Chaos opened recently, I apologise for that but couldn’t prevent myself in spreading this great build
Just kidding ofc but I really like it and it does wonders for me

Do you guys know a player called Potato Plant.
I was watching one of his videos http://youtu.be/WqcDx4Tu0_U and found it amazing.
Ok, many uplevel and noob enemies but still some really good fights.
He is using a 20/30/0/20/0 GS+sw/f all berserker and it’s unbelievable the amount of damage he can dishes out. Considering his squishiness I think he does a great job.

I am curious to know from some heavy focus users like Potato (or anyone else tbh) what the feedback is at the moment.
I am aware of the iWarden not working properly. Should I bother trying to fit it in my build or just forget about it until a fix come?

FYI I am happy using a 30/10/30/0/0 GS+Staff+Mantra lockdown. However staves, although good defensively and offensively lack of “on will” interrupts and thus I am considering swapping it in favour of focus. For example this:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAsdRl4zyoHUTmGbNJhpHE33C/kCovcyHMdZBA-jkDBYfBCbRZkiAkEJQUBJL5pIaslhFRjVxAT5KIaXQaYp2aWIycO1eDYSBsouK-w

What’d you say?

Greyalis.2309:

Updated Might Witch support build
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fgUQJAWRnUEFQbMNG1wWbkw0DijcfTShqTdJF2G3A-jkDBYfBiEJQZmFRjtCKIVXht8Ka6aYKXKyqXB1aG1cGzeG2gOQW0ISBUlwI-w
this build sacrifices GS training for menders purity to help with condition removal. since this is more of a group support build I think the cd removal is more important than doing more power with gs, plus with all the might you can get you can make up for power damage

the linked build is still a 20/20/30. Not showing menders purity

It’s a great talent, one of the best. I have been using it in my 30/10/30/0/0 Mantra/lockdown build with GS and Staff for over a month and I love it. As Ross says it looses its luster in zergs, however it helps a lot vs thieves and necros and it’s one of the reasons I find myself in love with.

Right now I am trying to take the most out of it by picking all “interrupt” traits plus a might stacking concept (Bountifull Interruption and double sigil of battle). However, this setup relies heavily on food for extra long buffs (I use Chocolate omomberry cream 20% boons and traveler runes) but I do not like it much because the food 2nd buff (magic find) feels like a waste. So, I am tempted to go for 100% condi duration with veggi pizza & giver weapons for a 4sec immobilize/chill. That is jummy :P but it doesn’t solve the problem when running with zergs or vs stability.

Overall a great and fun talent for roaming or small scale fights

Name: Mushin Sandeep
Server: Aurora Glade (EU)
Playstyle: easygoing PvP & WvW
Playtime: Gmt +1. From 10pm till late night and w/e early afternoon till 4pm.
Role: I could do some testing but mostly interested in roaming with fellow Mesmers, doing s/t/pvp and have fun

Chaos Archangel.5071:

@trooper: Was hoping for the results to be posted in this thread, that way anyone reading can also learn from it. I haven’t tried your build yet but it definitely looks solid, the lack of ability to boonstrip worries me though… Warriors/Guardians and some Engineers would have a fieldday.

I thought of it.
Since I like having more than one condi removal, option would be

1. picking mender’s purity and switching MoR for AT (but falling low on crit isn’t great)
2. just dropping GS domination trait for shatter boon removal and/or switching MoR for AT with related manipulation traits in both chaos and duelling lines (but relying on quick weapons swap for might stacking and not having any weapon cd reduction traits bugs me)

So I often just wait for stability to wear off

dunno how Chaos want to organize this… whether everything should be kept in the thread or via pm. To me is the same really… I just would like to thank you for evaluating my build

Wyrden.4713:

ur * shall not move* build?

well, it is certainly centered around CI but weapons and sigils are so different (and some traits). I focus on might stacking, Green focuses on condi duration hence the name (very fitting btw )

Nice idea, I would like to partecipate but because of my very limited play time I don’t think I will be able to fully test other’s build.
Nevertheless I’d like someone to try mine and get feedback, if possible.

The build is the one I have been enjoying the most in the past few months. It’s a lockdown, mantra, might stacking build 30/10/30/0/0 a little different from others seen in the forum. Here it is:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQJARWl4zCpnRzoGb9IhpHB33Cn0DTn6VXqAuB-jEDBYfAYLQkIBKzsIaslhFRjVxAT5SIW7CSDD1aWI2cOqeDYSBYiuK-w

I run the same in pvp with only exception of runes of speed instead of travelers and berserker amulet.

It would be nice to hearing what people says

Chaos Archangel.5071:

Pop quiz! What builds are these?

20/20/0/0/30
20/20/30/0/0
30/20/20/0/0

If you said DPS-shatter, PU, and lockdown then you missed the ungodly obvious trick question.

Those traits could’ve been for any number of builds. ( such as 20/20/0/0/30 lockdown, 20/20/30/0/0 boon support, 30/20/20/0/0 Mantra) but a lot of people are too quick to judge a build by its cover rather than its contents.

Utilities, gear, runes, and sigils are just as important in determining a build’s playstyle, and as a result builds with different runes and utilities can play vastly different even if they share many similar traits.

There are some builds posted that get overlooked for seeming too similar to another build and end up lost in the post graveyard before they ever have a chance to shine, so lets not be too quick to dismiss without giving builds a fair chance.

Also, I been thinking of inserting something like “If you like this build (MindCrush for example) you may also like theCOREYCOLAK’s StunWay” in my builds to help prlmote other similar builds for people who may like the build to a degree but it doesnt fully click with them. I think this’d help not only further unite the community, but offer more build diversity aswell.

Holy words

Update. The build is a lot of fun. I’ve been running 30/10/30/0/0 and I do not have major complaints.

The only thing is that when going along with zergs, I find that enemy front soldiers have almost perma stability difficult or nearly impossible to strip. It’s one of the many boons thay have and as you know we cannot choose which boons to strip so the lockdown build cannot be played at its full potentialities.

What do you suggest doing in this case? Is switching daze/interrupt skills/traits/weapons valid options or should I just forget and focus on enemies which are not meant to be front line? (however, those players are usually at the back of the zerg and difficult to reach if the the blobs are clashing head to head).

To tell the truth I managed to stack might quite effectively so I still dish out pretty solid damage but the feeling of not being able to interrupt like I would in other circumstances is awfull and make me wish I could swap mantra of distraction on the fly as needed, but ofc… I cannot

Carighan.6758:

I actually think the base runspeed is quite ok. I feel Swiftness is way too universally available, tbh.

That is the problem and if you do not have access to some sort of speed you start with a disadvantage.

I don’t understand why Anet decided not to give mesmers what almost every other profession has. Ok, our mobility during combat is one of the best but other professions are on pair with us (thinking of thieves and warriors for instance). So, why this difference? Has Anet ever offcially answered to this in any threads?

Whatever. To answer to the op no, I cannot play without some sort of speed buff, at least in wvw. Speed buff Imo is a must when 85% of people out there have it.

I see CS or CI as the cornerstone of any lockdown build so it wouldn’t make sense dropping them. If you do you can still pull interruptions but not so effective. Those two traits are not just the icing but strengthen the concept of interruptions and if you go without them interrupts would be even worst than normal skills without their associated traits (for example a heavy stealth dependant build with no PU wouldn’t make much sense). My 2 cents

I used to use MoR+ mender’s purity and MoR utility together and they were absolutely fantastic so I know what you mean

Just because is the only thread I read

FYI I opened it because I am thinking of binding it and wanted to know what others are using

Just curious to know how many of you are actually double tapping to dodge and a how many have it binded to a key.

I double tap

As for myself I use speed in pvp and centaur in WvW but will soon switch to traveler. I just cannot do without it: it helps positioning during fights, escaping, running after people…

It’s so unfair that some professions can have access to it so easily.

I too was running MoR with mender’s purity before delving in to lockdown builds. Now I cannot do without distraction and I think like you: three mantras are too many. So I preferred the utility condi removal over the condi removal on heal. I prefer resolve (6 conditions removed with three charges) over arcane thievery because of its shorter cd and reliability

High stacks of Might really help and the condi duration I’ve got I feel it’s enough to put pressure without aiming at 100% duration (although that would be my target if I decide one day to drop the might stacking concept)

Nice one. Looks very simlar to mine

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8clwzCpXUTjGb9IhpHB33Cn0DTn6VXqAvB-jUDBYfBCbBmiAiEJwJPFRjtMsIas6FYKXCxaXQaYoWzC1mzJypATKAT0VB-w

I focused on sword cd reduction thought. Moreover, I wanted a focus on might stacking so double sigil of battle and for food I switch between 100% might on dodge and 40% vigor refil rate and chocolate omnomberry cream for the 20% boon duration which allow me to get an average if 15 stacks. I’ m debated on which of the two is better though

Thanks Chaos. I used Manipulation cd trait for a shoter blink. It is in fact the only disengaging utility and needed to be accessible as much as possible. Next round I will try decoy instead and in that case debilitating dissipations will be there, for sure.

Pistol. My PoW is more like Skcamow… stun from pistol will kind of “waste” CI. The second bounce is a nice addition and would benefit from the trait. But it’s the second bounce…
The other reasons I will stick with sword for now is that 1) I never really used this weapon as off hand and it feels “fresh” so it keeps the game interesting even if I only use my mesmer 2) cd for daze is shorter 3) I am planning to go 30/10/30 for harmonious mantras, so no bleeds. If this turns out to be unworkable than I’ll go back to 20/20/30 and check the pistol and bleeds.

edit for typo mistakes

the “news” in that build is that I wanted a lock down style (enche either CI or CS) and a reliable might stacking option and I think it accomplishes it nicely. It provides a huge boost to damage that can be shared if played with signet of inspiration.

@nubu. I will defenetly try the toxic oil which I overlooked.
@skcamow. Getting everything is not possible. But I will try boosting the condi duration of CI by using toxic oil and going 30/10/30 sacrificing DE but gaining Harmonious mantras (slurp :P )
@carighan. CI is one of the cornestone of the build. I cannot do without it. I can do without DE but it will take time and practice :|

Nubu.6148:

Im running a very similar build , here is mine :

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgQQNAR8cnUEFTbNNC1wWbEx0Diz3EOSKMNVrkCe7CB-jECBYfAoiwojQJPFRjtMsIasqaKyqkYKXBVKgR1VB-w

Yes, after all a 20/20/30 is very common. However utilities, sigils and food choice are very different.
Anyway, how do you feel with signet in the healing slot?

I would like to put to your attention my shot at lockdown.
I do not know if it’s been posted yet. For sure it’s a mixture of old and new concepts.

I tried lockdown builds I found in the forum, mindcrush too. I like them, but in each one of them there is something that doesn’t suit my play style. So, the other day I was messing around with a build that focused on might stacking and thought, let see if I can put these together… and here it is:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8clwzCpHTTjGb9IipHEnvJckUYapWJF82FC-jUDBYfBCbBmiAiEJwJPFRjtMsIasKGYKXCxaXQaYoWzC1mzJydATKgqEGB-w

It worked incredibly well and I used it since then. What gives me is essentially three things:
1) less squishiness compared to a 30 domination lockdown build (for me it was an issue…)
2) much longer boons (needed for stacking boons/mainly might)
3) more reliable way to lock down instead of relying on a 50% stun chance.

So, lets see… less squishy. While this aspect can be balanced in wvw due to the higher flexibility, in pvp it becomes more difficult without a compromise on damage. However, now you can feel safer when picking berserker amulet since you get 300 point in toughness from chaos tree. Damage will not suffer and actually will be boosted!

Much longer boons. Full chaos tree plus travellers will greatly help might stacking. It will be constantly applied through the two sigils, GS #2, food and bountiful interruption and it will easily stack up to an average of 20 making power and conditions skyrocket (my attack is on average little less than 4k).

Reliability. What I do not like about confounding suggestions is the RNG factor. Chaotic interruption fix that by always giving an immobilize and a random condition from chill (the best), blind and cripple. So far, my experience is that it’s enough to freak out people even without the stun. And it last longer.

Utilities. For conditions I go with Mantra of Resolve, then Distraction and either blink or decoy. If you choose blink I’d put cd reduction trait in chaos. If you go for decoy I’d go with Debilitating Dissipation instead. Ether feast and Mass inv the other two.

Further options
1. I started to like mantras so much that I am going to try 30/10/30/0/0 and pick Harmonius Mantras. Mantras are so powerful that I got addicted. I need to see how well I can do with no DE.
2. I found that sometimes 1 condi removal is not enough. If this is the case for you too a 15/15/30/10/0 could be an option (or a 20/10/30/10 – 10/20/30/10)
3. An alternative set up would be switching sw/sw for staff which provides even more might (together all other boons ofc). This will however make you drop one of the two sigils from sw/sw which are “crit rate on kill” and battle.
4. while I opted for travellers in wvw, in pvp I use runes of speed for movement. If you can cope with slow running around you can use 2xfire 2xhoelbrak 2xstrength or 2xmonk 2xwater 2xstrength for a 18-19 seconds might making 25 stacks possible.
5. removing a blink/decoy or cond removal in large fights for boon sharing signet would do a lot of good

Please, let me know what you think

Valinor.9647:

I just jumped into runes of speed for my GS -S/F power build… they didnt break the bank and padded the HP.

that’s what I have been using lately in spvp. I thought.. let me give it a try. Now I just cannot play without it anymore. It does indeed add a good chunk of survivability and they are good. I would use the travelers in wvw if I only could make up my mind on which set to put them. having them on more than one would be just too much for my budget

I like the might stacking boon concept. However I do not see in your build any condition removal. How do you cope with conditions?

I tried fiddling with the build. Fist in pvp, where I will try this out: runes of monk and water give a 10% boon rather than the 15% you get in wvw. So, if the difference is intended and not a bug than I will switch them and get strength, hoelbrak and fire focusing more on a much longer might rather than having more boons lasting a little longer.

Second. In the chaos tree I will pick Chaotic interruption and Bountiful Interruption. Because I want a more focused approach to interruptions I choose mantra of distraction over the signet.

Third, conditions removal: two options. Picking mender’s purity is one and it would lead to a 10/20/30/10/0, 20/10/30/10 or 15/15/30/10. Which one you prefer is up to you but if you pick this option I would suggest mantra of recovery as healing skill since it can remove 4 condi before the need to be recharged.

Second option is slotting in a utility removal: my pick would be between arcane thievery (with longer range and cd reduction on) or Mantra of resolve.

In my experience recovery and resolve together are very strong. Blink or decoy is your choice and so my build would look like this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQJARWl4zyoXUTkGbNJhpHB33C/UBoT+gpLfA3A-ToAg0CnIyRFkLITOSds6MEZJC

I am aware that in this way the build heavily leans on mantras but I think they are worth it once you get used to their system. Feel free to remove one if you prefer.

I opted to keep the master minor traits in domination and dueling for vulnerability stacking when dazing/interrupting which sinergizes well with chaos tree and bleeds from sharper images since might will significantly increase condi damage too.
Also I would eventually consider rampager over berserker and possibly replace one of the two might on swap sigils with one “on kill” sigil for increasing crit or further enhanching power, but I do not know how this would impact the might stacking concept.

Last, in wvw I probably would swap runes for travelers for better movement.
I can’t wait to try it out for I am now all excited about it

A quick question. Would Chaotic Interruption be redundant if used with CS in a, for example, 30/x/30/x/x ?

To explain my doubts with utilities and problems with thieves I need to start from the very beginning. Sorry for the wall of text. I hope someone can make it to the end

A 20/20/30 PU build stealth-centric is something I used right after the PU buff for a long time. At the time I didn’t realize the OPness of it and thought I finally mastered the class (how wrong :P ). I was almost “immortal” (sorry Pyro for stealing the name ) and there was no class I couldn’t beat and managed quite few 1vX in wvw too. But I soon realized that the pattern behind this play style was the secret of its greatness but it was also making the game boring as hell and so I started changing builds and so on, till now.

All this just to say that there is little that you can do when you cannot see the enemy. At that time I was able to counter thieves by going in to stealth every time they did so. Between torch, decoy, veil, MI and PU I was able to hide (and let the phantasms do the job) more often than a thief could. Add the blink and they were screwed more often than not. Even without using all that stealth, it wasn’t hard to play the cat and the mouse game.

But as I said I want to move away from easy trolling builds (although some may argue that 20/20/30 still requires skill and to which I may agree to some extent). And here come the problems with some thieves (maybe they are just better than me, but I want to find a way to beat them without abusing on stealth).

I never played a thief but I watched many videos and their pattern is the same as the one I was using when trolling with PU: hide, massive damage and hide, watch for proper dodges, damage, teleport and hide. It is not so simplistic but you get the idea.

Now, do you think that a blink, a portal and MI are enough to counter them when they do the opening on you from stealth? Granted they can re-stealth often and your skills are on a much longer cd (except from blink) and that magic bullet and illusionary wave will not 100% guarantee to save your life how would you play your cards in a straight fight? Lets say they start from stealth and backstab you ? blink away/dodge. They can hide again ? portal/dodge and so on… and in the end they will still be able to hide while you are left with only dodges.
This guy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=747zllYsMx4 I must admit is good but that’s what he is doing. Thieves counter hairy moments with stealth, that’s their nature.

All this rant just to know if you guys can successfully run a rather glassy build such as 30/30/0/10/0 on less than 2k armor without relying 100% on stealth but mainly on portal and blink. I have seen good mesmers videos but there are always two common factors beside the build they are running: deceptive evasion and stealth. As far as pvp/wvw I think mesmers can be squished down to these 2 skills and I find it a bit sad tbh. I love the class, but in the end if you strip down all the glitter there isn’t much variety.

PS: sorry again for this post. I wanted advise but ended up writing from the top of my head and derailed a bit :P. I should rename the post, shouldn’t I?

What do you say?

@mango. thank you but I play either solo arena, spvp or roaming so a more selfish setup suits me better

Wyrden.4713:

for pvp, wvw or pve?

Last. To help you advising me you may want to know that my biggest concern are (good) thieves and that I mainly roam and do spvp/tpvp.

Wyrden, I wrote it at the end.

@Sesundar. I know what you mean and this is why I move away from any 20/20/30 PU build (whether power, hybrid or coditions based). Succeeding with this build is more rewarding for my taste and this is one more reason why I want to try something different in the utility slots. For me Mantras are new and doing well in pvp with 2 is already a big achievement. I see Portal a skill step higher than decoy, blink and veil and that’s why I want to learn to use it

I believe that everyone will agree on blink and decoy being arguably the most useful utilities we have. I always run with both equipped leaving the third slot down to what seems to be more appropriate depending on the situation.

However, I lately started using Mantra of Recovery + Harmonious Mantras + Mender’s Purity and once I got used to the different play style I decided to slot in Mantra of Resolve for testing and to my surprise I feel I do not want to drop it anymore! Between the condi removal on heal and Resolve utility, conditions now make me laugh!
But now I only have two utilities left

Like I said I often used blink and decoy but if you had to choose, which of the two would you prefer and why?
To help you deciding for me I bet you want to know the build. It is a 30/30/0/10/0 phantasm build that uses GS/sw-ps with traits for weapons cd reduction, traits for phantasms, DE and the two mentioned beforehand.

Third slot. I have been using veil but I’m interested in switching for portal. I tried it for jumping puzzles but never used it in combat because I do not feel confident. Do you have tutorial videos to see how it works? Would you recommend it over veil? Should I just scrap the both and keep using blink+decoy?

Last. To help you advising me you may want to know that my biggest concern are (good) thieves and that I mainly roam and do spvp/tpvp

Thank you

This is my first serious attempt to using mantra and I went in spvp with this little variation

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8al4zipXUzgGb9IypCQHpHqmptalewbXYuB-TsAg0CnIiRFjLGTMyYsxMsYFxGBA

After the initial mess caused by the clunky mantra charge I was really surprised how well it all went. I wanted a power base build rather than the hybrid rampager advertised here and it was great fun. Tons of damage and an aggressive play style with three interrupts can put high pressure to anyone. I tried recharging mantra during decoy or mass inv and it worked. Got interrupted twice when doing it outside stealth but fortunately didn’t die for it. I’m still inexperienced with mantras and forgot few times to check the number of charges left before to start fighting. I am very positive about the build and will keep using it and see how it goes.

For WvW I prefer a bit more defense and will use knight armor/centaur runes + everything else berserker. Will post feedback shortly. Great build Bunda, good job

PS: I know there are signet builds in the forum, but I am not aware of any mixing the shatter and signet concepts. So, if this is nothing new please, just forget about it :P

How do you see this build working (10/30/0/0/30)

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8fnUElQbAN20wWbEB1Dtr7+OSFctSP4td7CB-TsAg0CnIiRFjLGTMyYsxMsYFxGEA

I used the spvp setting but I meant using the wvw with zerker gear.
But the point is, is the build viable? As I see it, since torch is not traited could be replaced with pistol if someone wants and feels more confortable with a more aggressive approach (as it should be the shatter approach).

Also, one of the two signets in the utility could be replaced by a blink or decoy. But I wouldn’t use less than 2 signets overall or it would loose the “signet build flavour” and the talents I picked would feel like a waste.

By activating a signet you gain distotion and reflect (and by using Midnight a blind too!) which should be very handy in those hairy moments. I picked the signets with lower cd although signet of illusions would gel better with the shatter concept.

Haven’t tried it yet since I am at work, but if someone could do it and post a feedback would help hearing from you guys.

Thanks ^^

Pyroatheist.9031:

Additionally, the signet really suffers from low healing when you don’t have targets around. I’ve had the situation multiple times where my opponents had run away, but I was stuck sitting at half hp because I couldn’t get any new illusions out.

Sorry Pyro, I agree with what you say but I do not see what the problem in what I’ve quoted is. If someone runs you either get ofc soon or, if that doesn’t happen you can heal yourself. If you cannot heal because of CD the same would have happened if you had ether feast or any other healing skill. Ok, it’s on a longer CD and those seconds can sometimes be the difference between death and life. But if someone runs you shouldn’t be dying, and if an enemy joins in you can cast and dodge.

Tbh, as I said previously, the passive healing is a little bonus and we shouldn’t create a build around it.

On the other hand I agree that a PU condi build will not take adavantage from it. However a phantasm build can, but starting a fight with the healing on cd could be detrimental. My experience was that I went into fights without thinking I had a new skill and used it on need. Suddendly you see your zerker skill available again and you get a big smile on your face. And it can turn the tide of the battle

I love it too, even as a shatter mesm. I already run with signet of dom and Signet mastery becomes a very strong option now. I see the passive healing only as a bonus and don’t really play with that in mind. I just use the skill at need but I try to time it just after I casted a phantasm so that I take the most out of it.

So far so good

Vash.1920:

But maybe u can roll items to reach the stats u need with cavalier and valkyr gear as long your group shares fury.

Fury is crit chance. Knight and Berserker gear share same crit chance value.
By using Knight over zerker I would be missing on crit damage but gain on toughness.
I think I’ll stick to this set up for now and switch to the squishy setup once I have some hours of play of shatter under my fingers

Vash, I like your videos, your playstyle and most important your manners

I have a silly question which can be straightforward or difficult to answer depending on PoV. How many times per wvw session do you die? It seems silly and you can feel free to answer the truth or not, but while watching you I say to myself “I would have probably died there…” but you survived. But I’m sure it cannot always be good… I see your sigil of accuracy is not always fully charged to 25 stacks so… you do actually die like me isn’kitten

Second. I am trying shatter again but with knight armour and everything else berserker. How do you see this?

Yesterday I had a very good long roaming session without dying (which actually doesn’t say anything, but it was fun) save for a final run vs a war which literally past through me once and I was 50% hp and past through me twice and I was dead in 3 seconds. I still do not know what happened save for a wrong dodge probably. That’s to say that probably I would have died during the first charge did I not have the knight armour :\

I did looked on his channel but could not check all the vids. If someone could point me to the right vid would be a great time saver :P

Gee… that’s some serious kicking. I would like to know how it feels to down people (many people, actually) in few seconds… it usually takes me much longer ok, I’m on a 20/20/30/0/0 power build with same weaponsets but different gear and my shatters don’t get even close to yours they tickle the enemy probably

I tried to look for the the video with the build and gear but couldn’t find it. Can anyone share it for me, please? Thank you

Maxhzalot.2301:

trooper.2650:

this is my current build and armor

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8flwzipXUzgGb9IipHBnvBckUYavWJF82FC-j0DBYfAYLQINwkFA0HwJQFRjtmpIasaGYKXCxaXQKYoGzoWzCRmzweEYRBhRA-w

Utilities. I used to use sigil of domination but I dropped it to try other ones. however I keep going back to it because I love it. 3 seconds of stun @ 1200 range is enormous either for running and chasing. I do not really care about the condi damage boost. I often use it as an opener which allow me to start the fight with the upper hand and put pressure.

I am planning to switch torch for knight and back for zerker. The only thing I am doubtful is the food. There are so many good ones… which one do you think is the most appropriate?

Runes. Currently using centaur. What do you think about runes of air? Is traveler worth it? These are the option I am considering. Thanks

I have seen your build. I just want to ask you than when u use the gears mixed by knight and zerk then can you still win the fight of 1v2 or 1v3 ? As you completly abandon the condition damage , whats you feeling about it ?

Feeling is very good and you can still win 1v2/3. However, from what I see on most of youtube videos (and my experience too), this happen when people are bad pIayers.

I think power builds still have their own place in the game. Right now I am very hard to kill thanks to torch which is an incredible escaping tool. At the same time I can dish out a lot of damage and have a decent control thanks to GS#5, sword #2&3 and Signet.
Runes. In wvw I go with centaur. Easy, straight forward, and they do the job. In spvp I use runes of Air.
Right now I do not know whether I should increase power, crit or health by food. That’s the only doubt I’ve got

Laceration.4290:

Neoheart.2750:

Why are these kind of “check my pro” videos always asuran characters?

They love the race lore right? ….

Or just that they are small, annoying and hard to keep a track on sometimes.

Maybe they just love the way they carry GS over their shoulder

What Bunda says is absolutely true and I quote it. He couldn’t answer any better.

I’ve already stated that pistol is my personal choice. However, my concern is vs rogues and those hairy moments where you wish you were elsewhere (1vsXXX)
In those situations torch is just superior. And since you all know how wvw is, you know that there are plenty of those moments. But it’s down to personal preferences.

I should also add that I am a roamer and don’t love to join zergs. If I was in a small organized group or zergs I would defenitely swap torch for pistol any day (although that would force me to drop signet of dom. for a condi removal utility like Bunda says)

@ themenace
It is difficult to say which is better. My experience is that stealth is OP. Enemies cannot kill you if they do not see you. However, you can harm them while stealthed. More stealths you have and more advantage you gain. It’s a simple fact and one of the reasons why rogues can be deadly if played correctly.

BlackDevil.9268:

Hm, wouldn’t say 2 experienced players always win against 1.

Without torch I can also still escape ^^

If the game you are playing is balanced, yes

BlackDevil.9268:

trooper.2650:

Bunda.2691:

Qaelyn.7612:

I’m still working on my “Blackdevil/Blackwater hybrid” so to speak, but it looks somewhat interesting so far. The basic configuration is Blackdevil’s build but 20/20/30/0/0, adding the GS boost and dropping Mender’s Purity, then dealing with conditions using sigils, food and possibly the mantra if need be.

I’ve settled on a 20/20/30 Greatsword & Sword/Torch hybrid and love it. Zerker armor, Rabid trinkets w Zerker (Ruby) jewls. Zerker GS and Rabid Sword/Torch. It uses the standard Blackwater build but adds a ton of CC and power damage (and retains decent condition/bleed pressure). I find too that people are unused to it and unprepared for the damage spike of iZerker + blurred frenzy + mind wrack. Plus the GS gives good might stacking and chasing.

Also, use the 20 in Domination on the Torch, not the Greatsword. Condi clearing plus more invis is invaluable.

AHAHA, that’s amazing! I wasn’t sure if I should post what I have been running since it’s starting to differ from BlackDevil build (although it all started by reading this 3d) and didn’t want to mess up the thread. And then I read Bunda… it’s a carbon copy (almost) of what I am using and I can say I can finally settle down. I use knight armor plus centaur, everything else zerker but the torch which is rabid, but I will probably change that to knight. I am not too concerned with bleeds and I just go for Crit and power and it’s just amazing the damage and survivability I get. I just love it

Eww.. I can’t imagine this build without pistol… Torch is just giving you 1 stealth with a little bit damage.
Pistol gives amazing damage and suits perfect in combo’s for your phantasm to actually hit their full attack.

You are 110% right and I’d love to swap torch for pistol… it’s my favourite off hand. I do not use torch for damage but as a defensive tool (blind, stealth and condi removal all in one) However, without torch good thieves will kill you. Full stop. You may win few duels, but that’s it. I can already hear ppl saying that my experience is not everyone’s but although I am not the best I am experienced, played Mesmer a lot and watched tons of videos. Torch is more user friendly and helps making up mistakes. Also when doing 1vsX the survivability torch gives you is unmatched and let crappy players like myself win. I even manage to survive to zergs running over me with people scattered everywhere to try to find me or catch up with me. In some ways I find it op if traited and paired up with PU and this is why I think the iMage will never get boosted.
Pistol is great and can help you win 1vs1-2 and even 3 if you are good but experienced players (and especially good thieves) will stomp you more often than not. I do not think anyone can deny that.

In short 1 experienced player vs 2 experienced players = you loose
Torch can let you make a run at least ;-)

this is my current build and armor

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8flwzipXUzgGb9IipHBnvBckUYavWJF82FC-j0DBYfAYLQINwkFA0HwJQFRjtmpIasaGYKXCxaXQKYoGzoWzCRmzweEYRBhRA-w

Utilities. I used to use sigil of domination but I dropped it to try other ones. however I keep going back to it because I love it. 3 seconds of stun @ 1200 range is enormous either for running and chasing. I do not really care about the condi damage boost. I often use it as an opener which allow me to start the fight with the upper hand and put pressure.

I am planning to switch torch for knight and back for zerker. The only thing I am doubtful is the food. There are so many good ones… which one do you think is the most appropriate?

Runes. Currently using centaur. What do you think about runes of air? Is traveler worth it? These are the option I am considering. Thanks

Bunda.2691:

Qaelyn.7612:

I’m still working on my “Blackdevil/Blackwater hybrid” so to speak, but it looks somewhat interesting so far. The basic configuration is Blackdevil’s build but 20/20/30/0/0, adding the GS boost and dropping Mender’s Purity, then dealing with conditions using sigils, food and possibly the mantra if need be.

I’ve settled on a 20/20/30 Greatsword & Sword/Torch hybrid and love it. Zerker armor, Rabid trinkets w Zerker (Ruby) jewls. Zerker GS and Rabid Sword/Torch. It uses the standard Blackwater build but adds a ton of CC and power damage (and retains decent condition/bleed pressure). I find too that people are unused to it and unprepared for the damage spike of iZerker + blurred frenzy + mind wrack. Plus the GS gives good might stacking and chasing.

Also, use the 20 in Domination on the Torch, not the Greatsword. Condi clearing plus more invis is invaluable.

AHAHA, that’s amazing! I wasn’t sure if I should post what I have been running since it’s starting to differ from BlackDevil build (although it all started by reading this 3d) and didn’t want to mess up the thread. And then I read Bunda… it’s a carbon copy (almost) of what I am using and I can say I can finally settle down. I use knight armor plus centaur, everything else zerker but the torch which is rabid, but I will probably change that to knight. I am not too concerned with bleeds and I just go for Crit and power and it’s just amazing the damage and survivability I get. I just love it

BlackDevil.9268:

If you want to use knights instead of bezerkers gears then I can already tell you that you wont have enough damage to win most 1v3’s
The reason behind this is because you don’t have any cooldown reduction on your phantasm, so sometimes you just lack damage, even with the gears I’m running.

I already praised your build but I was wondering is bleeding such an important damage source in a build where power seems to be a more appropriate choice due to the weaponset you have choosen? Why not using knight armor instead of rabid? I tried both and the bleeding I get from knight is in the 40-50 damage per tick range while using rabid gives 70-80 per tick.

On the other hand you would gain 224 power, same crit and a great boost to toughness. This would also let you choose a different food to pump even more damage or crit if you need to.