Continuum Split - Please help me understand [Answered]

I've been trying to understand the continuum split shatter skill and I just can't wrap my head around how it is to be used and how useful it's supposed to be. I play open world PvE almost exclusively. Please help me to understand this skill and when/why I would ever use it.

Thanks!

The simplistic explanation is: why wouldn't you want to cast some of your skills twice, without waiting for their full cool down?

The most useful example for open world and instanced content is a double Signet of Humility.

• Ideally, with three clones up, start the signet.
• Activate continuum split.
• (do important stuff depending on your rotation)
• Split ends, your Signet is again off cooldown, so use it again.

In this way, you can single-handedly break defiance on a huge fraction of foes.

Obviously, skilled use of CS involves using more than just a single skill. There's even a technique to get two portals up in a row, which is handy for everything from helping folks with JPs, to moving siege golems rapidly across WvW maps, to skipping trash mobs.

Continuum split is a skill that has 2 uses linked by a maximum duration. When you enter continuum split, the skill changes to becomes a new skill that will remove you from continuum split. You will also be removed if you reach the maximum duration.

When you enter continuum split, your skill cooldowns, health, location, and trait cooldowns for traits that trigger a skill are saved. When you exit continuum split, you will revert back to that saved configuration. This means that any skills you use, movement you take, and health you lose (or gain) will be reverted to how they were when you entered CS.

Ah! Thank you both. That makes a lot more sense now. I just didn't get it with the tooltip or in practice, but your posts really help.

Clearly, this isn't my most proficient profession. :)

Besides that, it's also super fun the first few times. (After you get the hang of it.)I recommend using it "too often" initially so you can get a feel for when it helps the most, when it's a waste to use it, and (every chrono's favorite), when it's a bad idea entirely.

• You continuum split to get extra defiance break, extra reflection, and those sweet boons.
• The floor opens up under you, and you deftly move aside.
• The split ends and you find yourself channeling Wile E Coyote, right before you fall to your tragic (or hilarious?) death.

There are some easy tricks with CS. The obvious ones is to double cast your elite skill (Gravity Well or Signet of Humility) for breakbar damage, or cast them once and still have them up so you can use them later when the bar pops up again. Also, you can use it with Time Warp so that you effectively half its cooldown (instead of hardcasting Time Warp, you only cast it every time CS is up, which is a significantly shorter cooldown).

Now since you play chrono in open world, I assume you use the power build. One nice trick that is actually used in the meta rotation is to combine CS with Signet of the Ether. SotE resets the cooldown of all your phantasms, but since it has some aftercast, its own cooldown starts after the reset happens. You can use Cs during that narrow window, so that you both get the phantasm reset and the CS reset on SotE. That means that you can use all your phantasms, use SotE+CS and use all phantasms a second time, then cast SotE and use your phantasms a 3rd time, making for some heavy burst damage.

If you have clones up, you can even cast your phantasms 4 times, by using them during CS.

And a final tip, you can combine CS with Mimic to get a triple cast out of all your utility skills. Cast Mimic and use CS in the middle of the channel. When CS ends, you have the Mimic buff, while Mimic itself is off cooldown. So, use the utility skill you want to copy, use Mimic again, cast the utility a second time, then cast it a 3rd time. Some common examples are triple Blink, triple Feedback when you need long-duration reflect, and triple Portal for when you need to port multiple times in a row. Depending on the skill, you can do the same thing as the phantasms example above and get a 4rth cast by using the skill during CS.

Thanks, this is really helpful. @RabbitUp.8294 , never assume anything! I'm still figuring this out and as a very casual player I'm not entirely convinced I'm running power anything. :) Still, everyone's points have been helpful.

Another question: CS duration shows 1½ seconds which is increased per illusion shattered. Does that mean with 3 clones up, CS will last for 4½ seconds?

Another question (as I said, I'm still figuring this out -- appreciate the patience!): as a chronomancer, does it make more sense to run phantasm utilities and forgo wells? Or is that more dependent upon what I'm striving to do in OWPvE?

@kharmin.7683 said:Thanks, this is really helpful. @RabbitUp.8294 , never assume anything! I'm still figuring this out and as a very casual player I'm not entirely convinced I'm running power anything. :) Still, everyone's points have been helpful.

Another question: CS duration shows 1½ seconds which is increased per illusion shattered. Does that mean with 3 clones up, CS will last for 4½ seconds?

Another question (as I said, I'm still figuring this out -- appreciate the patience!): as a chronomancer, does it make more sense to run phantasm utilities and forgo wells? Or is that more dependent upon what I'm striving to do in OWPvE?

1.5 seconds base, additional 1.5s per clone. With 3 clones the total duration is 6 seconds.

@kharmin.7683 said:Another question (as I said, I'm still figuring this out -- appreciate the patience!): as a chronomancer, does it make more sense to run phantasm utilities and forgo wells? Or is that more dependent upon what I'm striving to do in OWPvE?

Wells are supportive abilities, with the exception of Well of Calamity and Gravity Well, so they are best for support chrono. WoC is good for AoE damage, but you can also use Mantra of Pain which has smaller area of effect, but more sustained damage. Personally, I use Well of Calamity, and swap it for a supportive mantra (condi cleanse or stun break) when necessary. Gravity Well is the elite I use the most.

The other 2 slots are for phantasms, Disenchanter and Defender. They do great damage and you can reset them with Ether.

Thanks, everyone, again for your responses. I know that PvE is pretty much play whatever and it will work and that's kind of what I've been doing. I haven't been spectacular with my chronomancer and don't expect I will ever be raid-worthy (nor do I aspire to that); however, I felt that my builds lacked synergy. I knew that to be more effective that I would need to make more use out of CS because that, to me, is the focus of the build. Perhaps I am wrong about that? Either way, I just didn't understand how CS was supposed to work and the posts here have been very helpful.

I'm going to keep working with the suggestions here and see how things play out. I certainly welcome any additional comments/feedback on this elite specialization. :)

One tric you can use is that skills go on cd when you finish casting so you can cast something (like timewarp) and as it cast press cs and you get cd back. You cannot start cs and then tw with no clones up.

@"ButcherofMalakir.4067" said:One tric you can use is that skills go on cd when you finish casting so you can cast something (like timewarp) and as it cast press cs and you get cd back. You cannot start cs and then tw with no clones up.

To clarify here: non-instant skills do not go "on cooldown" until both the cast and the aftercast is complete. If you enter CS during the aftercast, it still treats that state as not used when you revert.