Power or Condi mesmer ?

Hello, I have been thinking of creating a mesmer but the recent patch made me unsure if I should go power or condi. Reason is because I currently have enough gold to get either the reaver of the mists (for condi mesmer?) or the whisper blade (for power?).

I am actually inclined towards power because I have the anomaly and its attack skill looks like its suited for power builds. I know that there is also the support build but I'd like a dps variant for open world and fractals. I might eventually gear up for raids if I get very comfortable with the class.

Lastly, 200g is a lot for a newbie like me so I hope not to get suggestions to buy both weapons :)

What game mode?

Do you have both HoT and PoF to get Chrono and Mirage? Base Mesmer will be terrible at Condi in PvE since it only really has access to Confusion. Not tried power without Chrono but base Mesmer should be much better at power then it is condi but you won't be getting high dps without Chrono.

Power tends to be better in Open world but condi Mirage can do well and has some advantages. Fractals tend to prefer power as well.

I would save your 200g and buy a different exotic with the same stats of each. Then you would have both weapons, with the same stats. You can probably find an carrion stats axe for less than 2g on the auction house. then spend another few gold to buy a nice weapon skin that you like.

if you don't have POF yet you might want to save your gold because getting your griffon will cost you about that much.

In short all you are doing is spending a large amount of gold for the skin on the weapon when you can buy a cheaper exotic version that will have the same stats.

Sorry, I have both PoF and HoT. The mesmer will be for open world and fractals. I don't think I will do raids anytime soon. And yes I really like the skin because it fits the mesmer very well :)

If I’m not mistaken both weapons you want have hybrid stats which aren’t just taking away dps if you want to run a power spec so you’d want to buy a zerker sword and reskin it with whisperblade at a later time.

@Haziq.3907 said:Sorry, I have both PoF and HoT. The mesmer will be for open world and fractals. I don't think I will do raids anytime soon. And yes I really like the skin because it fits the mesmer very well :)

Its really depends what you like to play honestly. Might be worth getting cheaper weapons and trying them both out but both builds should be fine for both content.

I find GS to be the better open world power weapon though but use Sword on my other set, along with Shield but Sword/Sword will provide you with more damage. Using the opening burst I can kill most things and stack up lots of Might and quickness to finish whatever doesn't die with Sword. Condi will have more ramp up time but can get the job done against trash.

Against Bosses Chrono starts with a big burst then the DPS starts to level out. It also has two build choices GS and Sw/Sw or Sw/Sw and Sw/F. Condi obviously starts slow and ramps up but ends up with the higher DPS, has a much easier rotation, and is more survivable since you will be building it to get as much evasions as possible.

Writing all this has just reminded me that sword off hand isn't a terrible choice for Condi Mirage now though. It still does good damage in Vipers and hits 9 times for Sharpened edges procs, torch is the higher damage though of course. Making the Sword skin more universal.

ive always felt and still feel that going condi is always a good option and will hide the fact that you're a trash player or a new one to the class. Power is how you learn to survive and get better overall along with quicker reaction times. That's my personal take on it. As a mesmer/thief main power is the only wae.

As a new player, you should resign to being ugly for a while as you get used to the class. Making an investment on a playstyle that you might not even like a month from now isn't wise. That being said, a lot of different builds work for open world and there's even wiggle room in Fractals. Good luck and welcome to Tyria!

For a new player, I would suggest condition mirage for your open world and fractal PvE play.

It is easier and still very fun. It does more damage than power build with less effort and you still have a lot of flexibility.

Go with the sword, it was recently buffed but even if it was nerfed it simply never loses its utility (evade, ambush skill as mirage for extra mobility and cc/gap closer)Also for open world power is always better, kills things faster and on top of that its a universal weapon while axe is Mirage exclusive.

Thanks all ! I decided to just get the skill points for both mirage and chrono so I can try them both out. Not gonna purchase the skin until I am certain of the build that I like. Last question, may I know if power or condi has an easier rotation ? I saw the rotations on this website https://qtfy.eu/guildwars/builds/ but I'm not sure if they are updated (if it needs to be) for the most recent patch.

@"Haziq.3907" said:Thanks all ! I decided to just get the skill points for both mirage and chrono so I can try them both out. Not gonna purchase the skin until I am certain of the build that I like. Last question, may I know if power or condi has an easier rotation ? I saw the rotations on this website https://qtfy.eu/guildwars/builds/ but I'm not sure if they are updated (if it needs to be) for the most recent patch.

No they haven't been updated. In fact what that site refers to as Power Chrono is actually the support Chrono build. Condi has the easier rotation.

Condi used to be way more fun and mindfucky, very much based on evading enemy attacks and slowly stacking conditions to lethal levels, but (and it's been several months since I've played, so take it with a grain of salt), now it seems like fairly straightforward confusion spam and kind of OP with no real strategy. Power mesmer is more difficult if you're doing 1vX stuff but way better in group fights. Condition damage scales pretty well for single-target mesmers and adds increased durability, so if you like being the roaming mesmer who someone stumbles upon, dies to, and then wonders wtf happened, go for condi. But expect to be relatively useless in huge fights, while power mesmers wipe out swathes with their zerkers and sword skills. Power mesmer also relies a lot more on defensive cooldown conservation imo because they're not very tough by nature and they don't have the same avenues of escape that thieves do, whereas condi mesmers both have increased health and/or toughness and more blocking/stealth/teleport options. Condi mesmers have a huge weakness in pvp though, and that is that they have little chasing power. If someone wants to disengage, a lot of times they can just walk away unless your blink happens to be off CD or you have a stun (I like to run signet of domination for this reason instead of subbing torch with pistol, although I think this is a bit unorthodox), and a large portion of confusion damage relies on your opponent being engaged with you. This is not as much the case with power mesmers.

Personally I like to run a prismatic understanding condi/healing power mantra build for the luls, but it's not very effective.

And if you're doing pve, both are equally viable. Power mesmers tend to kill faster while condi mesmers kill slower but can more easily solo big mobs that are intended for multiple players.

The bottom line that I've gathered from my (hopefully not obviously, but probably obviously) biased experience is that condi favors solo play while power favors team play.

Ahh sorry for the doubleposting. There seemed to be some error when I tried to edit my first post to make it more conclusive. I don't know if there's a delete function but if there is I can't find it. X.X

Condi does take time to build damage during your attack, so not a quick kill. Power is lots faster, but if you want to be able to escape and evade with a power build, you may have to make some sacrifices. I've actually made and currently play both. My chrono power Mesmer is great especially since that last patch. Power has improved slightly and I can down players quickly that make the mistake of running a bit too close in a zerg fight and don't have insane amounts of invul or blocks. They sorta just melt. But neither is very tough, although my Mirage can clear conditions faster and has better protection.