Thoughts on Scepter now

So since the beginning of the game, Mesmer scepter has hands down been the worst weapon we had. Outside of mirage it still is kinda underwhelming.

So my question to you guys is how do you feel about it now with ether barrage, the improved block, and reduced cast time on confusing images?

Its all pretty meh outside the damage on confusing Images in power builds. Ether barrage is probably the worst skill on it.

As someone who played mesmer at launch Im just amazed that the scepter is actually doing something.

It's a viable choice for mirage in pve now. My problem with scepter is the trait, it's bad design to have a trait that is invalidated by quickness, and then you have a grandmaster trait that the only thing it does is the standard 20% cdr.

@jportell.2197 said:So since the beginning of the game, Mesmer scepter has hands down been the worst weapon we had. Outside of mirage it still is kinda underwhelming.

So my question to you guys is how do you feel about it now with ether barrage, the improved block, and reduced cast time on confusing images?

i don't like how it works but now i find it viable for condi mirage. It is not a fun gameplay but it can works well

@RabbitUp.8294 said:It's a viable choice for mirage in pve now. My problem with scepter is the trait, it's bad design to have a trait that is invalidated by quickness, and then you have a grandmaster trait that the only thing it does is the standard 20% cdr.

Somewhat agreed. I mean, I think most weapon traits are pretty meh because they always end up being soft-required for the specific weapon type.

Due to usually bringing some crazy power spike like 20% CDR + something else.

I'd prefer if weapon traits became more of an option, doing something strong but not inherently about just adding power. The pistol trait which reduces CDs on interrupts is pretty cool as a result.

I think its sweet. dunno how I will make it work without confounding suggestions... guess i'll have to take chaos *cringe.it basically one shots people, the block does good damage and the evade on top of it is good, the aa clone gen is awesome.

I feel scepter is good on condimirage.I prefer it in "duels" over axes due to block and range kite. Also ambush scepter looks hilarious.

Though i run staff + Scepter(or Axe) /Torch in WvW. Staff offhand new meta hype o_OStaff with mirage IH trait much stronk.

@"Noha.3749" said:I feel scepter is good on condimirage.I prefer it in "duels" over axes due to block and range kite. Also ambush scepter looks hilarious.

Though i run staff + Scepter(or Axe) /Torch in WvW. Staff offhand new meta hype o_OStaff with mirage IH trait much stronk.

What did they change on staff. I thought they reduced the Condi stacks from ambush.

@jportell.2197 said:

@"Noha.3749" said:I feel scepter is good on condimirage.I prefer it in "duels" over axes due to block and range kite. Also ambush scepter looks hilarious.

Though i run staff + Scepter(or Axe) /Torch in WvW. Staff offhand new meta hype o_OStaff with mirage IH trait much stronk.

No clue, more people pick it upp for the staff ambush skill now and its great utility.Staff ambush is actually quite great with viper stats... And the animation is lul :)Maybe its just the flavour of this patch.

Scepter is a top tier weapon in several raid boss encounters such as Soulless Horror, Cairn, and Largos Twins. So the buff got the job done I guess. Partially related to scepter but Condition Mirage PvE needs to get looked at normalized because it varies based on the boss from straight up garbage DPS to godly 40k DPS in actual practical situations while also being impossible to measure on normal DPS golem tests because golems don't trigger confusion or move. I personally love the idea of mesmer dps being more dependent on the specific boss. But Axe should probably be consistently pulling 33-34k DPS with Scepter shatter capable of doing more on encounters where confusion and torment can really shine. Right now Axe mesmer is almost as low of DPS as Condi Scourge.

Been playing Dire+Trailblazer Scepter+Pistol / Sword+Torch in WvW. 1v1 it's pretty unstoppable. A block into evade on 4+ 3/4 second cooldown is crazy. Plus two clones when you successful block or a clone if you use counter spell are also very, very strong. I'm considering dropping axe for it in SPvP and that is only partially to do with me crafting Xiuquatl.

I fell in love with scepter again today. Wasn't playin for a few months, so the illusionary inspiration + scepter 2 changes come in at once for me. Pretty heavy sustain while pumping out good damage. Currently using a build like this, which finally allows me to really do 1vX, if i play it right.scepter 2 roughly heals for 1300, when you can block with it. Shatter those 2 clones for another 1510 heal + high regen-uptime for 250 every second + usual mirage evades and mobility skills. I just like mirror images as extra stun break + clone generation. Mirror images into F4 can turn a fight pretty heavily. I'd say this is cancer.

Now we just need to delete EM and replace it with some sweet boons - boring but efficient.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQRArc3fnsIaPjO1EMbFaC0wMNFawwsMRLvG2ZRIIkcQDA5kjgf/rAeAB-jlyCABHqEciDiwXK/6UlAKeSBAqhZS1d2b/h70PAwJEIzQAwkkUrqUVVVSBUlON-w

-The numbers have been buffed an innumerable amount of times.-Both counter and confusing images are technically very strong.-Scepter still feels terrible, slow, sluggish to use.-Scepter still feels boring and annoying to face (mostly because it feels spammy and very unsatisfying to dodge, confusing images esp.)-Even with 15% skill speed trait, scepter feels bad.

Conclusion -> scepter needs a redesign of all 3 skills but esp. skill 1 and 3. Not just a numbers buff.

@Quadox.7834 said:-The numbers have been buffed an innumerable amount of times.-Both counter and confusing images are technically very strong.-Scepter still feels terrible, slow, sluggish to use.-Scepter still feels boring and annoying to face (mostly because it feels spammy and very unsatisfying to dodge, confusing images esp.)-Even with 15% skill speed trait, scepter feels bad.

Conclusion -> scepter needs a redesign of all 3 skills but esp. skill 1 and 3. Not just a numbers buff.

This sums it up well. I'm speaking from a PvP perspective.

The damage is good, better even recently. The weapon wasn't meta before the changes - and borderline sluggish to play with, even with the scepter trait. It's terrible now with the confusing images cast time increase. Even with cancel casting the last hit to get the same behavior as before, it's not very fun to play unless you run a meme perma quickness build. They went in the wrong direction with fun, active game play on scepter.

When the scepter trait was first introduced, it breathed new life into the weapon and it was a lot of fun to play. With the game evolving, becoming much faster with PoF, scepter has lagged and now continues to in a worsened state.

Aside from a complete redesign, I think they could actually make confusing images feel like a laser by decreasing the cast time significantly and normalizing the hits/damage along with that. Also ether barrage needs less overall hits and longer condition duration.

I was using Scepter since the end of the previous PvP season and I was actually surprised by how viable it actually was (promos + plat 1). Ironically I switched back to Staff right after the rework due to climbing in higher ranks where Scepter suddenly stops being as viable.

What I think about it? It's alright from a PvP perspective but then again it always was. I hear it's really good in Raids now, not my area of expertise though.

I tried scepter for a while, but at the end , i find staff much better for spvp and wvw