So iv'e been playing for a year now and when I got PoF Mesmer became my main. I love creating my own builds and having fun with them but I do definitely use the meta builds for raids. I created my own little build that I use in WvW and open world with the gear being full asceneded trailblazer . I didn't create this build to be "cancerous" as what mostly people tell me it is...… I wanted to use condi so I got a stat with condi damage ofcourse then I saw expertise and was like "why not?" then I saw toughness and I thought to myself that it would go perfectly with the trait that turns 10% of you toughness to condi dmg. I'm using 2 trailblazer staves and 2 energy sigils, 2 malice ,4 nightmare runes , 2 trapper with ofcourse signets of midnight and domination. My condi duration is 97% but i'm pretty sure its maxed out when i'm fighting because of the trait that gives you increased condi duration for each boon you have on yourself(2%) and my condi damage is 1669 base but when fighting it definitely goes over 2k with like 2500+ being the highest ive seen it. It is INCREDIBLE in WvW as ive done quite a few 3v1s with it. I use the mirage traitline ofcurse, chaos most definitely and lastly dueling. I use signets of midnight and domination jaunt the mirage heal skill and the one that lets you and all your clones shadow step around your target and gain mirage cloak. I always swap the mirage heal skill with the mirror heal skill and my other mirage utility skill with blink(I use them interchangeably) I must say, I always tweak this build when i'm fighting longbow rangers because I can easily get a 4 sec reflect with the mirror heal skill with a 12 sec cooldown, personally, this is build is undefeatable with pew pew rangers ther is even a reflect when you do a successful evasion. Attention always focuses on me using trailblazer stats and double and people i've fought whether I win or loose always seem disgusted by my build. I would like to know what are your thoughts and if they're anyone else that play this build or similar. =)

Ehm yeah i was actually aiming for a similar build but i realised that trailblazer is kitten expensive so i aimed for grieving hybrid stats.I play PvE so i cant speak about WvW but your build seems solid.

My thoughts are that, Trailblazer is suboptimal in the current meta and not having a power component severely hinders you vs high condi cleanse classes, like bunker eles, FBs and regen scrappers (I'm sure there're more, those just off the top of my head). Meaning you'll draw and have minimal impact on fights where those classes are involved.

The price of the lilies has dropped significantly meaning lowered demand.

nuffsaid

First, trailblazer has been OP since the stats released. Every time someone post the inevitable "this class is OP!" thread moaning about how a class can do insane condi damage and bunker at the same time, it inevitably end up with "well only with this particular gear".

Secondly, it's a cleanse filter in WvW. People that bring none falls flat. But the condi pressure from a mirage is nothing compared to a scourge for anyone that actually do bring condi cleanses and the more people with AoE cleanses this build engage, the worse it becomes. They usually handle ok alone but I find condi mirages are crap for small skirmishes and essentially worthless for zerging.

If you can make two staves work then more power to you (or condi dmg), I cant imagine this is in higher WvW tiers as such a slow build would be crushed by power built gank parties in seconds even with trailblazer.

i came to the conclusion that trailblazer alone wont give enough sustain for a "condi bunker". Inspiration for example needs healing power to be worth with traited shatters.Thats why i started mixing Cele and some other stats , to get an overall good stats.The perfect mix is up to your personal preferences, while that beeing said ; i still dont feel like I have the perfect Build for me. I'm always at 90-95% satisfaction only, hoping for changes, new stats etc.-> Hope you dont got those problems.

@InsaneQR.7412 said:Ehm yeah i was actually aiming for a similar build but i realised that trailblazer is kitten expensive so i aimed for grieving hybrid stats.I play PvE so i cant speak about WvW but your build seems solid.

thx =)

@"Arlette.9684" said:My thoughts are that, Trailblazer is suboptimal in the current meta and not having a power component severely hinders you vs high condi cleanse classes, like bunker eles, FBs and regen scrappers (I'm sure there're more, those just off the top of my head). Meaning you'll draw and have minimal impact on fights where those classes are involved.

The price of the lilies has dropped significantly meaning lowered demand.

nuffsaid

I actually tried out trailblazer stats first then I switched to viper stats for a good while then I switched back to trailblazer again because I had come up with a "perfect" build in my head this time. I have done tons of fights in WvW and the only ONLY class I have trouble with are deadeyes mostly because mirror cant reflect the their auto attack skill(the one that makes them be revealed when the come out of stealth). This build is like a "slow killing" playstyle but after I stack just 2 ambush staff skills on them, if they don't know what their doing it kills in seconds its like a "slow constant burst"

@"Dawdler.8521" said:First, trailblazer has been OP since the stats released. Every time someone post the inevitable "this class is OP!" thread moaning about how a class can do insane condi damage and bunker at the same time, it inevitably end up with "well only with this particular gear".

Secondly, it's a cleanse filter in WvW. People that bring none falls flat. But the condi pressure from a mirage is nothing compared to a scourge for anyone that actually do bring condi cleanses and the more people with AoE cleanses this build engage, the worse it becomes. They usually handle ok alone but I find condi mirages are crap for small skirmishes and essentially worthless for zerging.

If you can make two staves work then more power to you (or condi dmg), I cant imagine this is in higher WvW tiers as such a slow build would be crushed by power built gank parties in seconds even with trailblazer.

You are definitely right about it being usless in zergs as I 95% of the time solo when roaming so I guess I have made a build that suits my playstyle

@"FaboBabo.3581" said:i came to the conclusion that trailblazer alone wont give enough sustain for a "condi bunker". Inspiration for example needs healing power to be worth with traited shatters.Thats why i started mixing Cele and some other stats , to get an overall good stats.The perfect mix is up to your personal preferences, while that beeing said ; i still dont feel like I have the perfect Build for me. I'm always at 90-95% satisfaction only, hoping for changes, new stats etc.-> Hope you dont got those problems.

well I definatley don't use inspiration with trailblazer , 1.there would be no link between the two(if traiting) and the shatter I mostly use is invulnerability 2. healing power not that necessary if you have so much health and toughness and a heal on a 12 sec cd the least.I see a lot of people mix stats, ive never actually thought about that as I developed a sense of having one stat in most you possible you can.true, well most of the build is perfect for me except for the fact that I always alternate my heal and my third utility skill then I would have to trait them to make them most efficient.so yes I get problems too :#

@necromaniac.7629 said:

@InsaneQR.7412 said:Ehm yeah i was actually aiming for a similar build but i realised that trailblazer is kitten expensive so i aimed for grieving hybrid stats.I play PvE so i cant speak about WvW but your build seems solid.

Maybe try out axe torch too.It has nice mobility and stealth with high burst and bit CC.You do not need the trapper-nightmare combo though. With some boons you automatically shoot over the cap. You could replace some trailblazer with dire though if you like the runes. So you get more condi dmg and toughness and you can minmax your duration by calculating your average number of boons.Hope this advice helps somewhat.

I had more fun with a hybrid build though, just because sword on mirage is freaking awesome and you can make a fantastic grieving burst build that is probably more a meme build in WvW but very good in open PvE.

axe torch were the very first weapons I tried out when I made a mirage, its the best condi weapons ive used but it got boring for me. I'm honestly not clear on what amounts of condi dmg and expertise would give me greatest condi output when using staff. With the build i'm using right now the duration of all the conditions of: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Chaos_Vortex is doubled but I want more damage from the ticks so i'm wondering if expertise or if condi damage would give me that, I know both gives an overall increase to your condi output but on that specific skill I linked above, I want to know which of those two attributes affects the skill more. I'm not really into the hybrid thing but adding dire stats would make sense cause the only the difference is the expertise. The only thing about the trapper nightmare combo that sometimes annoys me is the 100condi dmg I don't get, If I should add some dire stats which equipments would be best to put them on (armor, weapons, trinket thingies). Ive tried every weapon and couple builds on Mesmer but in pvp alone cause experimenting too much in other game modes gonna cost me. i'm trying to find the "perfect" build for ME as I don't want to follow meta builds for everything, I would give my build a 85% so far.

@"necromaniac.7629" said:axe torch were the very first weapons I tried out when I made a mirage, its the best condi weapons ive used but it got boring for me. I'm honestly not clear on what amounts of condi dmg and expertise would give me greatest condi output when using staff. With the build i'm using right now the duration of all the conditions of: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Chaos_Vortex is doubled but I want more damage from the ticks so i'm wondering if expertise or if condi damage would give me that, I know both gives an overall increase to your condi output but on that specific skill I linked above, I want to know which of those two attributes affects the skill more. I'm not really into the hybrid thing but adding dire stats would make sense cause the only the difference is the expertise. The only thing about the trapper nightmare combo that sometimes annoys me is the 100condi dmg I don't get, If I should add some dire stats which equipments would be best to put them on (armor, weapons, trinket thingies). Ive tried every weapon and couple builds on Mesmer but in pvp alone cause experimenting too much in other game modes gonna cost me. i'm trying to find the "perfect" build for ME as I don't want to follow meta builds for everything, I would give my build a 85% so far.

in wvw i use a maximum of 30% condi duration through signet and traveler runes only. People cleanse or die. For example 3 clone axe 3 , jaunt , 3 clone traited F2 will burst 24 stacks of confusion on the enemy if everything hits. He then may not use ANY skill in the next 3 to 4 seconds or he has to cleanse. If he cleanses , he does it directly. If he doesnt cleanse and uses skills he dies after 2 maximum 3. No need to further burst Condi duration imho.

Fun fact ; 24 stacks confusion//dmg per skill activation

0 condi dmg ; 120025 stacks might(750 condi dmg) ; 2928full dire without any runes etc (1328condi dmg) ; 4416full dire, infusions,traveler runes,buff food,stacked sigil of corruption(1878 condi dmg); 5568full dire, infusions,traveler runes,buff food,stacked sigil of corruption+ 25 stacks might(2628 condi dmg); 7320

I'm no PvP/WvW expert, but I can tell you that staff/staff is too slow to be effective in multi-opponent fights and gets worse the more enemy players there are present. Mirage is simply awful in zerg with any build, but even in smaller scale I would not use only staff. It really only works in 1v1 against enemies with very poor sustain and condi cleanse (which will be practically nobody you meet while roaming in WvW!).

I would try pairing staff with axe/torch if you're using trailblazer. You can afford to take more damage and the axe/torch burst is far superior to staff. You can wear down enemies with strong condi cleanse this way, but not with staff alone.

@FaboBabo.3581 said:

@"necromaniac.7629" said:axe torch were the very first weapons I tried out when I made a mirage, its the best condi weapons ive used but it got boring for me. I'm honestly not clear on what amounts of condi dmg and expertise would give me greatest condi output when using staff. With the build i'm using right now the duration of all the conditions of:

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Chaos_Vortex

is doubled but I want more damage from the ticks so i'm wondering if expertise or if condi damage would give me that, I know both gives an overall increase to your condi output but on that specific skill I linked above, I want to know which of those two attributes affects the skill more. I'm not really into the hybrid thing but adding dire stats would make sense cause the only the difference is the expertise. The only thing about the trapper nightmare combo that sometimes annoys me is the 100condi dmg I don't get, If I should add some dire stats which equipments would be best to put them on (armor, weapons, trinket thingies). Ive tried every weapon and couple builds on Mesmer but in pvp alone cause experimenting too much in other game modes gonna cost me. i'm trying to find the "perfect" build for ME as I don't want to follow meta builds for everything, I would give my build a 85% so far.

Fun fact #2Mirage could apply 60-80 Stacks of Confusion on its release

@"AliamRationem.5172" said:I'm no PvP/WvW expert, but I can tell you that staff/staff is too slow to be effective in multi-opponent fights and gets worse the more enemy players there are present. Mirage is simply awful in zerg with any build, but even in smaller scale I would not use only staff. It really only works in 1v1 against enemies with very poor sustain and condi cleanse (which will be practically nobody you meet while roaming in WvW!).

I would try pairing staff with axe/torch if you're using trailblazer. You can afford to take more damage and the axe/torch burst is far superior to staff. You can wear down enemies with strong condi cleanse this way, but not with staff alone.

staff/staff being being slow and not effective in zergs and multi-opponent fights is very true but that doesn't affect me because I never roam with squads as for small parties....that would be very rare, so basically i'm a very lonely person that only solo roams. You said it only works in 1v1 against enemies with poor sustain and condi cleanse so i'm wondering if that would be every enemy in WvW because that's not quite the case, What you said is what someone who knows what they're talking about would say because that's what I thought before I used this build also but trust me it could work in any 1v1 the only claases I can recall that have killed me in a 1v1 are thieves overall(including deadeyes) I do personally try to stay away from fighting othere mesmers MAINLY because to me its always just an all over the place confusing fight and I just don't like fighting other memsers(no offense). I have learnt to know when to evade and all that and with sigil of energy on weapon, the 40% endurance regen food mirage mirror from other skills etc and invulnerability I take the most advantage of that. I think one of the best things ive seen about mirage is the ability to do so much damage while evading worse when youre invulnerable. I don't play heavy armor classes well because those are not my playstyle I can deceptive classes as mes and thief are my main when i'm in pvp or wvw. I love fighting heavy armor classes as they are easy to kite for me but sometimes guards are dangerous to me with all that shadow-stepping, speaking of kite, I learnt to kite and its quite easy for me; phase retreating and jaunting everywhere while being able to attack from range. I thinking why i'm winning is because I don't know if you would find anyone with this same or similar build as me, primarily the fact that i'm using double staff so people don't have much experience with it well i'm condi anyway so some know how to fight condi overall but this build to me is very weird.....well i'm weird too :p . II think I've tried enough mirage builds and I came to the point that this staff/staff is truly weird to some people I tell but I guess I just know hot to play it well. I don't really care about burst my goal is to really kill but axe/torch would be truly better when i'm fighting especially thieves(mainly deadeyes cause they mostly kill me) I don't really wanna change it up defend myself from them as i'm learning how to deal with them.well I think staff autoattack with 3 clones up (I always have 3 clones up) is enough to wear them down I think mainly cause my condi duration maxes out whenever i'm fighting. I don't mean to brag lol but its this funny story: I was fighting this spellbreaker(he came at me,i was minding my own business lol) then like a couple seconds in the fight he looked pressured then he just withdrew and went about his business, I PMed him and was i like whats up, why you, left then he was like he realized i'm cancer so he just left. I don't mind being called "cancer" in a joking way, I actually take it as a compliment cause I just feel supreme xD but somepeople are extremely rude and mad at me for using literally what the game provides... :/after experimenting with lots and lots of mes builds I just like aum…….I just thought that staff is underated and i'm just loving it more and more.

Quote

@FaboBabo.3581 said:

@"necromaniac.7629" said:axe torch were the very first weapons I tried out when I made a mirage, its the best condi weapons ive used but it got boring for me. I'm honestly not clear on what amounts of condi dmg and expertise would give me greatest condi output when using staff. With the build i'm using right now the duration of all the conditions of:

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Chaos_Vortex

is doubled but I want more damage from the ticks so i'm wondering if expertise or if condi damage would give me that, I know both gives an overall increase to your condi output but on that specific skill I linked above, I want to know which of those two attributes affects the skill more. I'm not really into the hybrid thing but adding dire stats would make sense cause the only the difference is the expertise. The only thing about the trapper nightmare combo that sometimes annoys me is the 100condi dmg I don't get, If I should add some dire stats which equipments would be best to put them on (armor, weapons, trinket thingies). Ive tried every weapon and couple builds on Mesmer but in pvp alone cause experimenting too much in other game modes gonna cost me. i'm trying to find the "perfect" build for ME as I don't want to follow meta builds for everything, I would give my build a 85% so far.

@necromaniac.7629 said:

@"AliamRationem.5172" said:I'm no PvP/WvW expert, but I can tell you that staff/staff is too slow to be effective in multi-opponent fights and gets worse the more enemy players there are present. Mirage is simply awful in zerg with any build, but even in smaller scale I would not use only staff. It really only works in 1v1 against enemies with very poor sustain and condi cleanse (which will be practically nobody you meet while roaming in WvW!).

I would try pairing staff with axe/torch if you're using trailblazer. You can afford to take more damage and the axe/torch burst is far superior to staff. You can wear down enemies with strong condi cleanse this way, but not with staff alone.

staff/staff being being slow and not effective in zergs and multi-opponent fights is very true but that doesn't affect me because I never roam with squads as for small parties....that would be very rare, so basically i'm a very lonely person that only solo roams. You said it only works in 1v1 against enemies with poor sustain and condi cleanse so i'm wondering if that would be every enemy in WvW because that's not quite the case, What you said is what someone who knows what they're talking about would say because that's what I thought before I used this build also but trust me it could work in any 1v1 the only claases I can recall that have killed me in a 1v1 are thieves overall(including deadeyes) I do personally try to stay away from fighting othere mesmers MAINLY because to me its always just an all over the place confusing fight and I just don't like fighting other memsers(no offense). I have learnt to know when to evade and all that and with sigil of energy on weapon, the 40% endurance regen food mirage mirror from other skills etc and invulnerability I take the most advantage of that. I think one of the best things ive seen about mirage is the ability to do so much damage while evading worse when youre invulnerable. I don't play heavy armor classes well because those are not my playstyle I can deceptive classes as mes and thief are my main when i'm in pvp or wvw. I love fighting heavy armor classes as they are easy to kite for me but sometimes guards are dangerous to me with all that shadow-stepping, speaking of kite, I learnt to kite and its quite easy for me; phase retreating and jaunting everywhere while being able to attack from range. I thinking why i'm winning is because I don't know if you would find anyone with this same or similar build as me, primarily the fact that i'm using double staff so people don't have much experience with it well i'm condi anyway so some know how to fight condi overall but this build to me is very weird.....well i'm weird too :p . II think I've tried enough mirage builds and I came to the point that this staff/staff is truly weird to some people I tell but I guess I just know hot to play it well. I don't really care about burst my goal is to really kill but axe/torch would be truly better when i'm fighting especially thieves(mainly deadeyes cause they mostly kill me) I don't really wanna change it up defend myself from them as i'm learning how to deal with them.well I think staff autoattack with 3 clones up (I always have 3 clones up) is enough to wear them down I think mainly cause my condi duration maxes out whenever i'm fighting. I don't mean to brag lol but its this funny story: I was fighting this spellbreaker(he came at me,i was minding my own business lol) then like a couple seconds in the fight he looked pressured then he just withdrew and went about his business, I PMed him and was i like whats up, why you, left then he was like he realized i'm cancer so he just left. I don't mind being called "cancer" in a joking way, I actually take it as a compliment cause I just feel supreme xD but somepeople are extremely rude and mad at me for using literally what the game provides... :/after experimenting with lots and lots of mes builds I just like aum…….I just thought that staff is underated and i'm just loving it more and more.

If staff/staff is working for you, then have at it. I love staff and I've done great work with it in duels against some very skilled competition. But I don't really see a down side to using both weapons. For me, an extra dodge from energy sigil every 9 seconds instead of every 9+ seconds isn't worth giving up the versatility of a second weapon set.