What should I build to Solo PvE?

I know most people will say "play whatever, everything works" but when I test it out, I find a difficult time in some areas, I can't seem to find a balanced build.

Most PvE (raid, raid fractals, etc) builds that I find are either traited for defenses, or for pure offense, so I either take 5 minutes per mob, or get killed if I miss more than one dodge.

Right now I'm running the latter, with Dueling (1-3-1), Illusions (1-2-1) and Chronomancer (3-1-1) with Sword/Sword and Greatsword. It's a power build. Not Only Am I squishy, but also I have no means to clear conditions... I've thought about taking Inspiration, the clear, alongside Regen would definitely be useful, but I'm not sure what to replace...

Dueling gives me fury and extra powerful crits, alongside sword Recharge reduction...Illusion makes my phantasms faster, and also increases my dmg for each illusion (I usually start with 2 phantasms), and ofc, makes my phantasms more powerful the longer they last (but that only really gives a benefit on bosses)chronomancer gives me the final 30% crit I need to get 100%, AoE in the form of Wells, and 25% move speed (which i guess isn't all that hot with the Reptars roaming around, but I still value it)

so Its hard to decide.

On the other hand, I'm wondering about Condi Builds, how do they fare in the open world?

if you mean running the story and getting map completion etc, then, condition mirage/chrono should be fine

when i was running around i'd use zerker chrono with sword/shield and power blockshield interrupts twice for a lot of damage plus keeps them stunned for you to just auto attackmantra of distraction turns into not only stopping something from hitting you, but a big hit, too

right now i'm trying to enjoy mirage interrupt but it's just no where near as good as chrono...but without turning this into another "mirage is bad" discussion, i'm sorry to bring up what you're so used to hearing, but, if you're by yourself....."play whatever, everything works"

you can just add some soldier gear in place of zerker to beef up a bit to not get one shot if you're struggling with surviving, but if you try out an interrupt build, i personally just never had to bother taking damage because of so many evades, blocks, and interruptseverything was a breeze for me, and i enjoyed playing the class i wanted to main by running what i wanted to, even if it's not "meta" to be running a pvp build in pve

@Kayvaan.9863 said:Right now I'm running the latter, with Dueling (1-3-1), Illusions (1-2-1) and Chronomancer (3-1-1) with Sword/Sword and Greatsword. It's a power build. Not Only Am I squishy, but also I have no means to clear conditions... I've thought about taking Inspiration, the clear, alongside Regen would definitely be useful, but I'm not sure what to replace...

I'm not sure I see the idea behind your build but anyway;In my opinion Inspiration is a must have (3-2-1) or (1-2-1) in any possible situation, extra heals, condi cleansing and defender phantasm generation is never useless. Also again what's the idea behind your Chronomancer traits? It should look somehting like (3-2-3) since you are using wells, the Chronophantasma trait is so good to have for so many reasons.. also you're not using shield which is probbaly the best off-hand weapon in the game and boosts your survivability a tone.

Since you're asking about open world PvE stuff I would go with Inspiration (1-2-1), Chronomancer (3-2-3) and whatever other trait line suits your taste (all work fine with power builds) with full Berserker or Marauder gear and runes of the Chronomancer. Weapons I'd go with are S/Sh for melee and GS for ranged. With this you don't lose personal DPS and you can also give decent support (Alacrity/Quickness) to your team with wells/time wrap or moa/gravity well for cc bars.Condi is also viable but I find it slow in killing most monsters since it takes a lil bit of a build up to get the DPS going unlike power where the bursts are instant. Even as condi I wouldn't change my Inspiration and Chronomancer traits.

Guardian is pretty good.

going for the 30% crit bonus from chronomancer when the enemy is slowed, and the other point is the one that slows an enemy after 5 crits.

@Kayvaan.9863 said:going for the 30% crit bonus from chronomancer when the enemy is slowed, and the other point is the one that slows an enemy after 5 crits.

You can run whatever you want, but to my mind, Lost Time is a waste of GM trait and it cripples any build that could otherwise benefit from Chronophantasma or even Seize the Moment (depending on if you shatter a lot or not).

I've been trying to use Lost Time so many times, but there's just something about this trait that makes it underwhelming.

And answering your question about condi builds in open world: I do run one atm and personally I find it a lot more fun than generic power builds with sword/x and greatsword. It has less burst (obviously) so youll take a little longer to deal with trash mobs, but when it comes to mobs with more hp and defense where you can stack your condis, youll gonna deal pretty okay damage.

Played through the story on a full ascended trailblazer Mirage.

Had no issues whatsoever. The upside, I wasn't face down immediately if I missed a new mechanic or boss ability. The downside, I didn't rush through stuff as fast as a full viper build might have. Then again, why rush? Damage was absolutely sufficient to get speed achievements done first try too (meaning not knowing they are up and reacting on the fly to the achievement bubble showing up).

Knowing the story and fights comming up I'd say build for both, single target and aoe (real helpful I know).

That said, I prefer the "I can deal with anyhting and survive" chrono options, prefer the core power Mesmer build for single target and would take the Mirage condi build (mostly because it gave me a ton of clone uptime for shatters and retargets not having to wait on cooldowns of phantasms) for aoe story stuff.

I guess it comes down to mostly how much gold/ressources you want to spend to get through the story and how much you want to try Mirage. If you want to stay power, I'd say stick to chrono and if need be switch to core power mesmer for boss fights.

I recently ran a new boosted Mesmer through part of the story to get into the first zone and get my mount. I ran with Soldier's gear w/Pwr-Tough-Vit and 6/6 Supr Rune of the Mesmer. All were exotic as I did not have the ability to get ascended gear yet. Weapons were GS (supr sigils of Force & Accuracy) +Sword (sigil of Force) and Focus (without sigil because I forgot about it), and used only exotic accessories with Pwr/Toug/Vit stats & jewels.

I used the following spec setup: Inspiration 3,2,2, Domination 2,2,2, and Dueling 1,1,3. I died a few times trying to solo some of those mobs that just dog piled on me, and I felt a bit under powered but stuck with it. I know I probably could use a better set of gear and weapons, however, I did not find much in my research ahead of time that provided much insight for better options in this new area. I would like very much to find a better spec setup and obviously need input on gear/weapon and stuff that will work better in this area.

BTW I have looked at the meta builds but most of those don't really note open world pve options. I don't raid nor do I do fractals. Occasionally I will run with guild groups in WvWvW, but use my old ranger for that as I find it more fun.

I am not a melee fan so am not sure I will use the new elite spec right now. However, I certainly would appreciate input to help me with better gear/stats, etc. So if anyone can offer up some suggestions I would appreciate it.