Struggling to find an open world and story build for mesmer

[dou.7083]

I've spend at least 250 hours on this very class in the last month and I still struggle to find a comfortable build to play story and OW content on.I've considered 2 of the popular suggestions: marauder power chrono and rabid staff/staff mirageAs for the former, I just can't stand how it lacks self-sustain. Even if you play it with a proper healing ability instead of the signet. I really like playing s/s (or s/f) and gs but whenever I get hit for half of my hp but some random ability I just run around for my lifeThe latter is complete opposite - it's impossible to kill, but it also can't kill anything fast enough. What takes me on the power build (or any other character with the power build) around 3 seconds to kill, this build will work through for at least 10 seconds. What takes 10 seconds on a power build, this build tackles in a solid 1.5 minutes. This TTK is highly uncomfortable, even though you're practically unkillable.

I've tried many variations of the builds and I've by now memorised almost all of the available traits of this class, but I just can't find the combination that would be comfortable to playIt is for sure a matter of skill and I don't claim that I play perfectly on chrono (which is the go to recommendation from what I've read), but I just don't want to memorise every single animation of every single enemy that I fight to be able to... not die? Staying alive on half of other classes takes no attention or effort, but staying alive on power chrono is the primary goal of the gameplay, so you're playing monster hunter against every enemy you encounter.

Any suggestions?

[Pirogen.9561]

[Orack.9756]

Hello,I feel you, I used to love Chrono and GS, but for open world it's just not good enough.I finaly switched to Mirage after testing way to much chrono build, and I never come back, Mirage is amazing, kill trash and boss fast, ton of evasion, utility and pretty easy to play.The only downside : torment rune are very expensive.But you need them to made the build that effective, however, you won't regret it I promise.It a fast and dynamic playstyle and yet very fogiving if you do error.Here is the build I run on it : http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PiABc+drlRwSYQMEmJWyP6vOA-zRRYcxHHZQjlRXVVmpq3zivTbA-e(you only need 1 axe)

If you want to stick on chrono cuz you love it I don't really have solution, it's a good class but for solo open, lot of thing will be unbeatable with it.S/S are good in raid/fractal or some meta where you can stand close with not to many risk, but most of the time for solo open world it's just bad as soon as you try something harder by yourself.The problem with chrono is : the burst and especialy aoe is a fantasm on GS, and against a pack of mob like raptor, if the main target die, then the skill end too which let you with no defense.

TLDR : for easy open world content chrono is fine, for harder solo, forget it, majority of other class will do way better.Like I said at start, Mirage is one of the king of open world. But please, don't use staff build. It's can be good for lazy people, but it's just bad. Damage are abysmal compared to axe/torch. Once you get used to axe you'll never come back, it's stupidly strong, I still don't have find any encounter I can't solo with it.

[Ashantara.8731]

This is by far the best IMO:

Build: http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?Pi1AEx3lVUx2abd1Nm8WZnO0WatdA-zRZYBR9IGMcYlTURQbhQfFQhJQEBaFBlaXkw4vlIOjA-e

[Veprovina.4876]

Here's a joke build i made. I call it The Crit Kitten:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PiyAwyFlNwcYLMFWJW6WZtKA-zxIY7o7/UiSIGnEIQBSEqKVOLyPaB-e

It's surprisingly good for general PvE, although very glass cannon-y.

@Orack.9756 it uses a Greatsword, and it's definitely good enough. Not for soloing though.

[Kondor.2904]

But you don't have to play hizen's rabid staff/staff mirage unless you're only soloing bosses that are not supposed to be done solo. You can just play regular axe mirage with tormenting runes which will give you tons of resustain potential, occasionally switching to staff as secondary weapon for might stacks/kite potential when you fight 1 champion or something.

For most open world you can use viper's or (if you don't plan on doing anything like 100 fractal or raid bosses requiring cdps) you can use grieving's to help you cleave trash mobs quicker, if that's you concern (you'll still achieve like 60% torment duration thanks to the runes and sigils). You might also be switching between chaos/illusions traitlines, depending on the amount of passive dmg reduction you need, since even tho confusion lacks in efficiency against regular mobs, I still find that it speeds up the killing process if you time your confusion bursts and do not break target/go invis, so mobs keep attacking you. With all that kills really don't take 10 seconds. And i believe that any condi build (which allows you to be more flexible around kiting, avoiding prolonged aoes, doing mechanics) will still be more dps than any mesmer power build made to be sustained rather than glass canon (but don't quote me on that, I don't have the dps meter to actually test that).

[dou.7083]

@Kondor.2904 said:But you don't have to play hizen's rabid staff/staff mirage unless you're only soloing bosses that are not supposed to be done solo. You can just play regular axe mirage with tormenting runes which will give you tons of resustain potential, occasionally switching to staff as secondary weapon for might stacks/kite potential when you fight 1 champion or something.

For most open world you can use viper's or (if you don't plan on doing anything like 100 fractal or raid bosses requiring cdps) you can use grieving's to help you cleave trash mobs quicker, if that's you concern (you'll still achieve like 60% torment duration thanks to the runes and sigils). You might also be switching between chaos/illusions traitlines, depending on the amount of passive dmg reduction you need, since even tho confusion lacks in efficiency against regular mobs, I still find that it speeds up the killing process if you time your confusion bursts and do not break target/go invis, so mobs keep attacking you. With all that kills really don't take 10 seconds. And i believe that any condi build (which allows you to be more flexible around kiting, avoiding prolonged aoes, doing mechanics) will still be more dps than any mesmer power build made to be sustained rather than glass canon (but don't quote me on that, I don't have the dps meter to actually test that).

Maybe the rune of tormenting was the missing piece of the puzzle to being able to survive with the axe. I'll definitely try it out

[Veprovina.4876]

@dou.7083 said:

@Kondor.2904 said:But you don't have to play hizen's rabid staff/staff mirage unless you're only soloing bosses that are not supposed to be done solo. You can just play regular axe mirage with tormenting runes which will give you tons of resustain potential, occasionally switching to staff as secondary weapon for might stacks/kite potential when you fight 1 champion or something.

For most open world you can use viper's or (if you don't plan on doing anything like 100 fractal or raid bosses requiring cdps) you can use grieving's to help you cleave trash mobs quicker, if that's you concern (you'll still achieve like 60% torment duration thanks to the runes and sigils). You might also be switching between chaos/illusions traitlines, depending on the amount of passive dmg reduction you need, since even tho confusion lacks in efficiency against regular mobs, I still find that it speeds up the killing process if you time your confusion bursts and do not break target/go invis, so mobs keep attacking you. With all that kills really don't take 10 seconds. And i believe that any condi build (which allows you to be more flexible around kiting, avoiding prolonged aoes, doing mechanics) will still be more dps than any mesmer power build made to be sustained rather than glass canon (but don't quote me on that, I don't have the dps meter to actually test that).

Maybe the rune of tormenting was the missing piece of the puzzle to being able to survive with the axe. I'll definitely try it out

Axe applies a ton of torment, and runes will heal you for it, but your survivability isn't dependant on those runes. Use distortion and other evades, in addition to your natural one.

Alternatively, use trailblazer's stat. You can buy it off TP now, no need to craft it anymore, it's no longer account bound.It's just a small DPS drop from Viper's but you get tons of tankyness in return. So if you're having trouble surviving, consider trailblazer's gear.

[Crackmonster.2790]

For easy content/many small mobs/event tagging:Berserker | Vampirism Runes | mirage - GS/GS - stamina + energy sigil in both | infinite ambushes facerolling | extremely underrated - it's best buildDueling (1/1/3) + Domination (1/2/3) + Mirage (1/2/1)

For toughcontent:Trailblazer | Tormenting Runes | mirage or chrono | one corruption sigil good choice | Scepter is the king | Scepter/Pistol + Axe(or Scepter)/TorchDueling (3/{1 or 2}/{2 or 3}) + Illusions ({1 or 3}/3/3) + Mirage (1/{3 or 2}/3) OR Chronos ({1 or 3}/2/3)

With builds now in game you can easy swap in and out, and stay in GS/GS except when facing tough content. You will never need other, maybe except staff for zero damage but even more hard to kill. You can prob use i think it's dire instead of trailblazer for budget.

[Kondor.2904]

@Crackmonster.2790 said:For easy content/many small mobs/event tagging:Berserker | Vampirism Runes | mirage - GS/GS - stamina + energy sigil in both | infinite ambushes facerolling | extremely underrated - it's best buildDueling (1/1/3) + Domination (1/2/3) + Mirage (1/2/1)

For toughcontent:Trailblazer | Tormenting Runes | mirage or chrono | one corruption sigil good choice | Scepter is the king | Scepter/Pistol + Axe(or Scepter)/TorchDueling (3/{1 or 2}/{2 or 3}) + Illusions ({1 or 3}/3/3) + Mirage (1/{3 or 2}/3) OR Chronos ({1 or 3}/2/3)

With builds now in game you can easy swap in and out, and stay in GS/GS except when facing tough content. You will never need other, maybe except staff for zero damage but even more hard to kill.

I'm not sure about scepter (it's golem dps is quite low and ambush feels painful w/o quickness, but maybe confusion makes up for it in an actual fight), but staff actually boosts your axe dps if you line up yourself properly to get might stacks (that's the reason hizen's staff/staff build actually deals decent dmg in 1v1 scenario), so it's not just a kite weapon.

[Crackmonster.2790]

In a real fight, the fight mechanics dictate how well you are free to stack up. You can never count on staff. It can also miss if things move, lul, uber slow projectile. I wanted to like staff so bad man it's my favorite weapon for looks and i really really wanted to make it worthwhile in tried many speccs it always just.. its meh.

Scepter on the other hand is amazing. It has quite good dps on the ambush, it also spawns tons of clones which serve as shatters and tank for you. Also it has a very low cooldown block that spawns 2 extra clones and does an enormous dot when an enemy hits you. You learn to use that block offensively. In practice this weapon gives you huge survival and covers up problems with clone generation. It's such good weapon for general use, the only thing it doesn't have is aoe, but then you can swap to axe/torch for heavy aoe. It fills so many roles, and makes it so easy to cover up from mistakes or when something bad happens. Scepter alone means you can be pushing out shatters like crazy over time. It also gets 20% attack speed from talents. I can't imagine playing a condi mirage witout a scepter and without illusions for shatter torment.

Staff is like do almost no dps but have long range and more protection like stuff and a little teleport back. It's only real use is when you are trying to push the limits of what is literally possible to do, damn how long it takes. It generally also needs signet of illusions just to be somewhat semi-decent.

I have tried so many mesmer builds i wanted this class to be my one, but i retired it because it's so nerfed on so many fronts out of people fearing and jealousy about it's coolness. You can just log on a scourge and press a few buttons and do far more aoe dps in a total no brain way, or work your ass off on mirage spamming tons of clones shattering, abiltying whatnot and still not clear that fast. Now i just use it for what it does best - world content. I love it there, and the GS/GS power mirage is my go to event build it's just so good at it i feel while the tormenting rune condi mesmer with clones to help tank is so so good for tough things.

[Lucio.4190]

This is what I'm going for at the moment, that I would like to try.http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PiFBcqtzlVwgYPMJmJOeP7vWA-zRRYMBTGvjIG72PSQ83y73WA-e

I like to be close to my enemy and move fast. So far it's okay. Not much hp but I manage on PvE.

[TheAgedGnome.7520]

I started w/staff-staff condi mirage but find this greatsword power mirage so much better for 99% of OW and events. It lacks toughness but you stay out of trouble using range and distortion. Signet of Illusions provides lots of clones, Mantra of Concentration is for the stun breaks (because it's not a high toughness build.) It usually is at ~2800 power and 85% crit chance, with plenty of vigor, so it kills fast and has easy access to distortion. Sigils of Blood and Bloodlust could be changed as desired. Exotics are fine, ascended is just a luxury with this build. Fireworks runes because I like the speed buff; could even use Travelers for a cheaper options w/a bit less power.Edit: had wrong build linkhttp://gw2skills.net/editor/?PixAEtzlFwUYbMLmJWyP2PVA-zRRYBKxMFgYwHSTCh+kARoCU80wgzIA-e

[Kondor.2904]

@Crackmonster.2790 said:In a real fight, the fight mechanics dictate how well you are free to stack up. You can never count on staff. It can also miss if things move, lul, uber slow projectile. I wanted to like staff so bad man it's my favorite weapon for looks and i really really wanted to make it worthwhile in tried many speccs it always just.. its meh.

Scepter on the other hand is amazing. It has quite good dps on the ambush, it also spawns tons of clones which serve as shatters and tank for you. Also it has a very low cooldown block that spawns 2 extra clones and does an enormous dot when an enemy hits you. You learn to use that block offensively. In practice this weapon gives you huge survival and covers up problems with clone generation. It's such good weapon for general use, the only thing it doesn't have is aoe, but then you can swap to axe/torch for heavy aoe. It fills so many roles, and makes it so easy to cover up from mistakes or when something bad happens. Scepter alone means you can be pushing out shatters like crazy over time. It also gets 20% attack speed from talents. I can't imagine playing a condi mirage witout a scepter and without illusions for shatter torment.

Staff is like do almost no dps but have long range and more protection like stuff and a little teleport back. It's only real use is when you are trying to push the limits of what is literally possible to do, kitten how long it takes. It generally also needs signet of illusions just to be somewhat semi-decent.

I have tried so many mesmer builds i wanted this class to be my one, but i retired it because it's so nerfed on so many fronts out of people fearing and jealousy about it's coolness. You can just log on a scourge and press a few buttons and do far more aoe dps in a total no brain way, or work your kitten off on mirage spamming tons of clones shattering, abiltying whatnot and still not clear that fast. Now i just use it for what it does best - world content. I love it there, and the GS/GS power mirage is my go to event build it's just so good at it i feel while the tormenting rune condi mesmer with clones to help tank is so so good for tough things.

Again, that's not true at all about the staff. First of all, ideally you don't use within a 1200 range, you try to stack your staff clones as tightly as possible and close to the mob (as well as ultimately position yourself in a way ambush projectiles go though multiple enemies if present), so that all the aa bounces will be quick, ambush projectile travel time will be reduced to minimum, and you will stack yourself up with loads of might. Might stacks play a really important role. If you run around the mobs on a 1200 range, carelessly positioning clones and stuff, yeah sure, staff will be worse, I guess. But you don't do that, nor you camp it.

I will try using scepter against trash mobs (but again I don't really think you need anything besides axe for that (scepter is too slow for trash mobs imo)), however, shortly after I left a response here, I did try soloing a bounty on scepter/axe and it was much less dps and much more unpleasant experience overall. Scepter ambush is also actually slower than staff ambush, even if you take Malicious Sorcery, and if we're talking about ambushes, in OW scepter ideally needs quite a bit of precision to stack bleeds with those 25 hit ambushes to maximize its efficiency, which doesn't really work with trailblazers. Everything to one's own taste, I guess, but saying staff is useless most of the time and does 0 dps is not true.

And this all only applies to solo ow, you use neither of those weapons in a non-ow or non-solo situations, just wanted to mention that, since you talked about mechanics(?) a bit.

[Strider.7849]

@dou.7083 said:I've spend at least 250 hours on this very class in the last month and I still struggle to find a comfortable build to play story and OW content on.I've considered 2 of the popular suggestions: marauder power chrono and rabid staff/staff mirageAs for the former, I just can't stand how it lacks self-sustain. Even if you play it with a proper healing ability instead of the signet. I really like playing s/s (or s/f) and gs but whenever I get hit for half of my hp but some random ability I just run around for my lifeThe latter is complete opposite - it's impossible to kill, but it also can't kill anything fast enough. What takes me on the power build (or any other character with the power build) around 3 seconds to kill, this build will work through for at least 10 seconds. What takes 10 seconds on a power build, this build tackles in a solid 1.5 minutes. This TTK is highly uncomfortable, even though you're practically unkillable.

I've tried many variations of the builds and I've by now memorised almost all of the available traits of this class, but I just can't find the combination that would be comfortable to playIt is for sure a matter of skill and I don't claim that I play perfectly on chrono (which is the go to recommendation from what I've read), but I just don't want to memorise every single animation of every single enemy that I fight to be able to... not die? Staying alive on half of other classes takes no attention or effort, but staying alive on power chrono is the primary goal of the gameplay, so you're playing monster hunter against every enemy you encounter.

Any suggestions?

Rabid used to be good on Mesmer prenerf. Now the conditions fall off too quickly without any investment in duration. Also staff/staff, while it may be functional, promotes bad playing behaviour that will only keep your abilities at or below average.

My suggestion since you're still learning the game and want to be beefier, use the GW2 build editor and have a mix of rabid/trailblazer (only if you are using the dueling trait line). If you don't take dueling, go full trailblazers. Stats to aim for is 41% Crit chance (a bit less is okay too), minimum 20% condi duration (aiming for 40-53% ideally with expertise/without modifiers). If going mirage use axe/torch-staff, if core Mesmer scepter/torch, sword pistol (or staff). Also for your power build, if you're feeling too glassy and haven't mastered use of the mesmers invuls/blocks/etc, I suggest swapping out your trinkets for Knights trinkets, and slowly adding back in your zerker ones as you get better. You shouldn't notice too much of a significant DPS drop in open world.