roaming....

i need some advice. For roaming with mesmer is it better chrono or mirage ? is it better power or condi ? any good build or advise ?

You can make either work.

In a forced 1v1, mirage will/should beat chrono depending on player skill.

But don't forget on chrono you have passive 25% movement speed, and can build to shrug off cripple/chill/immob through runes/food if you like.

On the flipside you either have to sacrifice something for it on mirage (ie runes, sigil, weapon or things like signet of inspiration), or be creative using ports and things like DBL shrines, objective auras and even those first aid kit skill 5 which give swiftness.

In general I see more power mirages than any other mesmer build currently, followed by condi/hybrid mirages and then the occasional chrono (most I'd say stick to larger group play where chrono is better) and rarely a core mesmer. You can play power on either, but if you want to play condi then mirage is better than chrono.

This is because power mirage is able to have the usual high burst output (and low ttk) of usual power mesmer, but with more survivability than either core or chrono. The sustain is still lower so you do need to kill fairly fast or gtfo, but it excels in doing this anyway. On that note as someone who used to be a die hard power mesmer - there seems to be this myth that power mesmer in general requires more skill than condi - in my experience it is easier and faster to kill with power, and the state of mesmer now is such that power burst doesn't require much effort anyway. The difficulty and skill in power mesmer comes not with killing, but rather with staying alive, as it's always been. And regardless of the improved survivability of mirage, you still need to be good to survive in tight situations.

On the flipside it requires comparatively more effort to kill with pure condi (assuming the opponent actually builds in cleanse/denial like most classes are capable of, and isn't one of those that will melt and come to the forum complaining about condi being "OP") and you can run into hardcounters that will end in stalemate. But due to stats, sustain is higher and it's easier to survive, so compared with power you're trading ease of kill for ease of survival.

Hybrid can vary depending on build stats and how glassy you are. The glassier, the lower the ttk - but it'll still be longer than pure power even if you go full glass grieving or viper. But if you're full glass then the sustain is no better than pure power - though specifics depends on skills and traits. The benefit of full glass hybrid is having damage output on both fronts - burst and high damage condi ticks, which can be very difficult for an opponent to deal with. But you can customise how glassy/tanky you are through gear/traits etc - trading ttk for sustain. Overall this results in a "bruiser" like playstyle ranging from higher damage light bruiser to slightly tougher but lower damage bruiser.

Overall I personally find good power mesmers more dangerous while roaming than condi (with hybrid being in between), because condi gives you more time to decide what to do as you don't have to worry about being 100-0, assuming building for enough cleanse.

Ultimately the choice is yours - go with the weapons and theme you enjoy most as you'll likely be more successful.

One big thing to consider is what kind of roaming fights you face most often. If you choose to fight mostly one vs one, a lot of builds can probably work. If you end up in a lot of outnumbered fights, then it's going to come down to what works for you to stay alive.

I spent a week or so trying a hybrid mirage, and just couldn't make it work. So I'm back to condi mirage now.

@eldenbri.1059 said:One big thing to consider is what kind of roaming fights you face most often. If you choose to fight mostly one vs one, a lot of builds can probably work. If you end up in a lot of outnumbered fights, then it's going to come down to what works for you to stay alive.

I spent a week or so trying a hybrid mirage, and just couldn't make it work. So I'm back to condi mirage now.

how do you play condi mirage ?

This is the build I'm using now. http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhQQRArc7fnsnBNohtpBmpBMMjlXDzv/FATgmrghTNBNAkTOCA-jFyCQB1T/Ae2fAAPAgKq8rgq/QhzAgEOIAoUJIpAqSnG-w

The last changes to torch really took a lot of the "burst" ability away, so fights can take a while. This is an example of a 1v1 versus a dragonhunter. (Note: My skill level is very average despite the thousands of hours of roaming, so other folks can probably play this build better)