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Chronomancer Vs Mirage for Solo PvE Content


chrispy.7182

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I have been playing stafff/staff Mirage for some time and I can solo most Champions and even some Legendary.

I have never played Chrono but I am wondering how well it performs against soloing Champions and large groups of mobs. I just wan to try something new.

Can you provide some details of your Chrono build and maybe a video or something so I can see how well it does compared to my current Mirage build? I don't want to spend any money unless I know it will perform better or the same as my current Mirage build.

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Inspiration traitlane is mainly for healing from summoning illusions and shatters, so you should be able to survive many things, because chrono can spam clones and shatter them all the time.Chrono has Chronophantasma which makes your illusions strike twice, but Seize The Moment gives you quickness, so it's up to you what you prefer. From my experience STM is better to kill trash mobs (and support your allies with quickness), but Chronophantasma is great for bosses.I'm using a build like this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PiwAw6FlVwaYUsNWJOSTrtSA-zxQYhgy3RHnxZEhKolpgZGA-eChrono has very poor access to Fury, so you should consider using Assassin's eq. 15% crit chance comes against slowed foes, so CCs are very important. It's only my setup, use whatever you think is better, like Scholar Runes to stack up more Ferocity.

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@Antycypator.9874 said:

I'm using a build like this: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PiwAw6FlVwaYUsNWJOSTrtSA-zxQYhgy3RHnxZEhKolpgZGA-eThis build is horrible, I am sorry. What is the point of giving tips on a class you have no idea how it works.

You should completely ignore the post above, most of things said there are not true.

However chrono in open world is much better than mirage imo not because it lacks fury or damage, but it doesnt have enough cleave and burst damage and suffers the same problem that condi mirage has. If you still want to go pchrono, here is what I suggest:

1st of all don't use shield on solo pve (unless you have diviner gear and want to support in big fights), in power build shield is pointless. Go sword/sword and sword/focus. Dueling 1 3 1, Illusions 2 2 1. Chrono 2 2 3 (I change chrono traits to 1 1 3 or 2 1 3 when I use time wrap and want to fight a tough enemy, like a bounty or smth, but Chronophantasma is a must if you play power chrono).

In this build you have access to fury, quicknes and might permanently. And are way more effective vs both mobs and bosses. Don't take inspiration traitline neither seize the moment trait from chrono unless you go support with diviner gear. In any case it lacks cleave, you can't do anything about that, it is just chrono porblem. You got a powerful pull though with focus which is very helpful.

If you really need ranged damage, you could potentially swap illusions traitline for domi and go domination 1 2 1 and take a greatsword. But I don't recommend it.. In in my honest opinion going pew pew power mirage with gs is more fun as the only time I'd go ranged on mesmer in open world is either when the mob are very weak, or for tagging trash mobs when you run with zergs in the metas. That's why power mirage is better there, you got more tag potential with gs, and damage is not primary there anyway.

For the skills... you could go Signet of the Ether (reset phantasms), mantra of PAIN, Phantasmal Disenchanter, mirror images (or Well of Calamity if you go greatsword), and for elite you go gravity well for cc, or time wrap (with the Danger Time trait) on tough bosses.

Do whatever but just don't use the build by @Antycypator.9874, it is really horrible :tired_face:

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You can also ignore the post above this one too, any build is viable solo pve, but quickness power chrono is king, but I am just about finished with all the expansions and I tried everything and I can say that

is THE best for open-world solo pve. (up-to-date build is the same just take Domination 1-2-1)

You get permanent quickness just by spamming your phantasms and alacrity by shattering them, in solo-pve, all that matters is how quickly you kill mobs as you mow through them one after the other.

So yes, any build can solo-pve, but if you want to kill things fast, that build is the best.

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@Armen.1483 said:@aaron.7850 weren't you the guy who was asking a basic question about shattering clones on mirage ? You don't belong here, dude

Solo pve is all I have been doing catching up with all the expansions and living world and trying all the builds, so my experience is valid in the context of this post. Also, I am no new player, played shatter and phantasm mesmer exclusively back when the game released.And any pro-mesmer should know better than anyone else that power-chrono kills faster in open-world.

And dont take my word for it, the guy in my video does all the explaining, in case you need to learn a thing or two :P

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@aaron.7850 said:Solo pve is all I have been doing catching up with all the expansions and living world and trying all the builds, so my experience is valid in the context of this post. Also, I am no new player, played shatter and phantasm mesmer exclusively back when the game released.And any pro-mesmer should know better than anyone else that power-chrono kills faster in open-world.I am a pro mesmer and I can 100% tell you the 2 problems pchrono has is bursting and cleaving, which makes him a very bad class in mob killing in comparison to many other burst damage classes. Proof of that: you don't see many pchronos in t4 fractals, do you ? Guess why. It doesn't mean that you can't play pchrono, I do it myself, because indeed open world pve is too easy, so all this doesn't matter much, you can just 11111 and you're good... unless you want to kill big things by yourself. Author of the post was talking about soloing champions and stuff.

And dont take my word for it, the guy in my video does all the explaining, in case you need to learn a thing or two :P

Actually the video is quite good, I agree... I like Wooden potatoes. You can actually run the build he proposes and do well. BUT even then many things he proposed are not quite true. If you tested it yourself you'd know, but I am sure you didn't, like wooden potatoes didn't.1st: while pack runes are the best on support chrono, they aren't that good on pchrono... run scholar runes.2nd. Wooden potatoes thinks that slow condi does damage... it is basic stuff, slow does the opposite of quickness, it doesn't do damage.. what it does however is breakbar damage and bumps pchrono damage if you take Danger Time trait (wp doesn't take DT in his build, so he wasn't refering to that for sure). Danger time bumps chrono's damage by a lot if you can mantain slow uptime (sadly it is not quite possible if you are solo).3rd. While you can totally run domination, illusions, chrono and do totally fine vs trash mobs, it has trash damage too. You should not do that vs bigger enemies though.4th. Phantasmal defender... just no... I am not going to comment that.5th. Chronophantasma does FULL damage in pve, he is wrong when he says there is damage reduction. No reason to take anything else than chronophantasma this patch sadly.

Apart from those and some minor things, the video is good. The build is actually ok for open world (just don't try to go to fractals with this pls).

I am no youtuber but the build I propose is much better for killing big things by yourself. It is the same concept by giving phantams boons and then taking them to yourself. Dueling is hard to ditch for anything else.. That traitline is so good for power chrono.So I ask you again, why should the author ignore my original answer ?

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This is not about fractals, or pvp. OP asked about solo pve, and from my direct experience power chrono is much faster.I did mirage throughout all the HoT zones, its fun, but perma-quickness and alacrity is just too good to pass out.But at least we can agree that @Antycypator.9874's build is just a sad christmas tale.

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This is not about fractals, or pvp. OP asked about solo pve, and from my direct experience power chrono is much faster.Faster than what ? Reaper ? Guardian ? Sb ? Warrior ? ele ? Anything will burst faster than mesmer. Go play any other class with full zerk stats, you'll see.I did mirage throughout all the HoT zones, its fun, but perma-quickness and alacrity is just too good to pass out.I agree, I never said that condi mirage is very strong in pve. Quite the opposite in fact. And it is not about quickness or alac... Condi is too weak in open world... It suffers the same problem as pchrono, slow damage, because it is condi.However, it is a little better at cleaving. On the other side there is POWER mirage with greatsword which is very strong at tagging mobs (not strong in terms of damage or anything, just pew pewing with the gs ambush skill to catch as many mobs as possible in dragon stand meta or halloween meta for example makes it very good). In terms of pure damage vs a solo enemy, chrono will surely win in damage if you compare it to condi mirage, however it is easier and safer to play condi mirage (apart some special rare encounters that are especially vulnerable to confusion and torment). Condi just sucks at open world mostly. I said it in another post lately too. I prefer playing power chrono than condi mirage. I want to get to my mount faster lol.But at least we can agree that @Antycypator.9874's build is just a sad christmas tale.Yea I can hardly imagine a build worse than that lol.. It is just random.. yesterday someone posted a "guide" how to play open world chrono.. it is the same level of randomness as this one :disappointed:

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@"Armen.1483" said:

However chrono in open world is not as good as mirage imo not because it lacks fury or damage, but it doesnt have enough cleave and burst damage. If you still want to go pchrono, here is what I suggest:Now I see I phrased it badly. I wanted to say that "chrono is not much better than mirage" not "as good as", my bad will edit it.

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Can you provide some details of your Chrono build and maybe a video or something so I can see how well it does compared to my current Mirage build?

Maybe a video, guys?

(I mean, if you’re gonna discredit something/someone, and they have a vid and you don’t...)

(Also OP seemingly wants to be able to solo legendary rank bosses, keep that in mind.)

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@Armen.1483 said:

@"Antycypator.9874" said:

I'm using a build like this:
This build is horrible, I am sorry. What is the point of giving tips on a class you have no idea how it works.

Did you read the post? Guess not."I have never played Chrono but I am wondering how well it performs against soloing Champions and large groups of mobs. I just wan to try something new."

It's not "I'm looking for super ultra dps build to one-shot everything". It's "soloing Champions and large groups of mobs". I'm mostly creating builds to solo champs, bounties, dungeons and fractals — trust me, I know what I'm doing because I can actually beat content with these builds and it's easy. You need good healing. You need CCs and generate slow.You didn't try this build so how do you know it's garbage? Becasue you're like "omg only full nobrain dps spam skills no reason to play other way blah blah blah"? Because this is how YOUR build looks like. I'm telling people like you: take your build, go to vabbi and solo that 4 djinn champs. Then delete your character because your build actually sucks at soloing without 0 healing and blocking.

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Oh what have I caused haha.I do think a video would settle this. A lot of people trash other peoples builds and say theirs is superior. Prove it guys.I will set two challenges for you to solo with your builds:

  • Champion Mushroom Queen HP in Rata Novis, Tangled Depths
  • Balthazars Rest HP
  • (Optional) Against large groups of enemies: The event in Crucible of Consecration (Forged Foothold) Crystal Oasis.
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I think you guys are in the wrong thread, honestly. The OP is playing staff mirage and is talking about soloing champions/legendaries. He's probably not worried about the damage output and wants to try a chrono build that can do more or less the same thing.

Unfortunately, I don't think that exists. Staff mirage is probably the most effortless sustain build there has ever been. Pretty much any build you shift to is going to require more effort all around and most of the open world builds players will suggest won't be capable of doing what you're asking (or at least, if they are, it will be a lot more difficult!).

Here's a video WP put out last year featuring a well-balanced chrono build (I'm guessing? I don't know chrono!). He deals solid damage with this setup, but you can see the sustain is nowhere near the level of staff mirage and WP is a very experienced player, so he's probably doing a pretty good job at that.

If you'd like a mirage build that is just adding some much-needed damage and variation to the playstyle of staff dodge/ambush spam, while retaining all of the sustain (because it still runs staff!), maybe try this:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PiwAc+ZlRwQYSMMmJW0P6vOA-zRJYkRHfZkTKkZF49sUl0G-e

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@chrispy.7182 said:I have been playing stafff/staff Mirage for some time and I can solo most Champions and even some Legendary.

I have never played Chrono but I am wondering how well it performs against soloing Champions and large groups of mobs. I just wan to try something new.

Can you provide some details of your Chrono build and maybe a video or something so I can see how well it does compared to my current Mirage build? I don't want to spend any money unless I know it will perform better or the same as my current Mirage build.

can you share your build? i would love to be able to solo champs and legendaries

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@castlemanic.3198 said:

@"chrispy.7182" said:I have been playing stafff/staff Mirage for some time and I can solo most Champions and even some Legendary.

I have never played Chrono but I am wondering how well it performs against soloing Champions and large groups of mobs. I just wan to try something new.

Can you provide some details of your Chrono build and maybe a video or something so I can see how well it does compared to my current Mirage build? I don't want to spend any money unless I know it will perform better or the same as my current Mirage build.

can you share your build? i would love to be able to solo champs and legendaries

I don't know the specifics of the build in question, but staff mirage is difficult to mess up. I put this video out nearly 2 years ago, but the principles are unchanged.

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@castlemanic.3198 said:

@"AliamRationem.5172" said:

I don't know the specifics of the build in question, but staff mirage is difficult to mess up. I put this video out nearly 2 years ago, but the principles are unchanged.

thank you, that's really helpful! I'll give it a shot

Sure thing! Just a little context here. This build is not what I recommend. The point of it was to show that you can slap on the cheapest 80 exotic gear and sit in the fire pushing 1 and dodge and still easily defeat champions. Staff mirage is that ridiculous for open world.

Having said that, it's more tank than most people need and you could probably have more fun, survive just fine, and do a lot more damage with a more balanced build.

See my mirage mushroom queen test video for that build. It still had staff, so you can play it just as tanky. Or get up close and personal with axe and deal some damage.

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@Noodle Ant.1605 said:

Can you provide some details of your Chrono build and
maybe a video
or something so I can see how well it does compared to my current Mirage build?Maybe a video, guys?I would like to make a video, but sadly my hardware is not potent enough to stream a video...(I mean, if you’re gonna discredit something/someone, and they have a vid and you don’t...)I don't think I need to prove something by a video either.
  1. Concerning the WP video, I didn't discredit it, I just pointed out some evident false things that were in that video... If I make a video where I say the same thing that I wrote in the post above it won't make anything more true than it already is. What about showing the performance of my build, I can provide a dps report of some solo encounter if you really want.
  2. What about @"Antycypator.9874" build.. I think that commenting on that build is
    ... If you really wanna try it I am not restraining you from that lol.

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@Armen.1483 said:I don't think I need to prove something by a video either.The context of this thread demands a video, really. In this case, anyone can say anything about other people's builds. What about the proof?

What WP showcases is a general build that handles itself well in general pve, has potential to solo champs but is not specifically designed for it. Afaik, it was never a crime to make alterations to his build more to your liking (your suggestions). You've suggested a high-skill (glasscannon) build that optimises efficiency in general pve, but has little to no focus on tools to solo a variety of champs (supposedly apart from 'skill' :trollface:). @Antycypator.9874's build seemingly sacrifices efficiency in general pve to specifically focus on soloing champs.

Maybe you didn't see the intention through his build choices?

I can provide a dps report of some solo encounter if you really want.A dps report does not show in which ways you've mitigated the pressure that soloing champs/legendaries is known for. What access to blocks, evades, invulns, etc. do you have? When do you use them? Did you decide just to post a log of a boss which you can leeroy on/that has minimal mechanics - what if the boss outsustains you?

Do you even have condi clear? Stun breaks/escape tools in case you get snagged by some cc? What are your choices when you drop to 2k hp?

How comfortable would someone be using your build? Just an fyi - unless it's a thread asking for the absolute optimal setup for group endgame content (this one is not), people on the forum have a strange tendency to butcher whatever builds you suggest to suit their own playstyle, frankly because they're more invested in surviving/not constantly panicking/roleplaying rather than dps/speed.

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@"Noodle Ant.1605" said:How comfortable would someone be using your build?Hmm that question got me.. I admit you are right.. Maybe playing dps chrono is not for everyone :anguished: : At least if you can't execute the already hard combo perfectly considering mechanics, everything is screwed. I don't know about legendaries (I would still stick to mirage there for soloing), but hps like balthasar's rest are easier with high dps. If I know a fight gonna take a while. Chrono is very good at fights that end in 30 seconds - 1 minute because you can have slow uptime. Having at maximum 30 seconds of slow uptime (using 2 times Time Warp) is the reason for that.... So I presonally would just swap to another class If I know the fight is gonna last long... But I won't make the fight last longer than it should by using antisynergy builds.build seemingly sacrifices efficiency in general pve to specifically focus on soloing champs.If anything, explain me then why he takes Danger Time while he got no relyable slow. Or how taking Mental Anguish over other opions is specifically focusing on soloing champs especially when he got more or less bad clone generation and doesn't have the illusions traitline to make the synergy with Shatter Storm and Master of Misdirection? Using inspiration traitline with 0 synergies. He could ran inspiration with focus (and focus trait ofc) to reflect, or illusions traitline for aegis (much more blocks btw + phantasms get to destination). And lastly, while running gravity well he takes Mantra of Distraction...Isn't it a bit too much for cc ? Gravity well with cont split (and 1 for free after) is already 1100 breakbar damage+ you got your f3 and gs ... It not only sacrificies efficiency, it sacrifices my time lol. I don't think it would help to solo champions, I bet it does quite the opposite. You get absolute no protection of all those "sacrifices", you sacrifice TONS OF DAMAGE for what ? If you want to get aegis just run illusions 2 2 1 with inspiration 3 3 1 and voila, you sacrificed damage for survivability and it might be worth for safe play if you're looking for that and want to use inspirations traitline.

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@Armen.1483 said:explain me then why he takes Danger Time while he got no relyable slow. Or how taking Mental Anguish over other opions is specifically focusing on soloing champs especially when he got more or less bad clone generation and doesn't have the illusions traitline to make the synergy with Shatter Storm and Master of Misdirection? Using inspiration traitline with 0 synergies.Why are you asking me? Does my name look like @Antycypator.9874 to you?@Noodle Ant.1605 said:@Antycypator.9874's build seemingly sacrifices efficiencyMy best answer is, he's kitted out all this cc which complements his choice to take Delayed Reactions, which auto-synergises with Split Second slow bonus which then synergises with Mental Anguish. Having no Chronophantasma means that his shatter resource is not delayed (let's face it, the second phantasm does barely anything because trash would be almost dead anyway). This appears to be main source of dmg (Split Second), which synergises with Restorative Illusions...

He probably takes Danger Time because he knows he's not going to take Duelling; he takes Inspiration for sustain instead (healing). Danger Time is intended to cover the now non-existent fury through Delayed Reactions + all these cc's you'd can use for breakbar/stunlocking trash (this is a thing btw). This isn't a build I'd usually play, but hey; it's got a shield with a stunlock playstyle, it's uses Inspiration for some sustain (i.e. healing) when you can't avoid everything, it's got range and spams human missiles, etc.

And then I'll quote myself:

Afaik, it was never a crime to make alterations to anyones build more to your likingHE SAID you can take chronophantasma.HE SAID you can take scholar runes.HE SAID you can use 'whatever' you think is better.YOU DON'T have to specifically use his build. I'm still not sure how it performs anyway (hence why a video is required).

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