Spec for open world

[Eldon.6591]

I plan to do a lot of open world in the near future, farming for legendary trinkets, etc. Almost all solo.  I really like Condi builds, and wondering what spec might treat me best. I'm currently trying to decide between a Condi Staff/axe mirage, or a Condi Virtuoso.

 

At the moment, this would be just for open world solo things, although I do value flexibility as well.

 

Thanks for any advice you have.

[Mungo Zen.9364]

They are both fine choices for Open World.  Both can solo Champ Bounties and HP fairly well alongside all the normal OW stuff you might get into.  I find Virtuoso to be faster at navigating OW content, but feel that Mirage can offer better sustain if you need it.

I would also think that the play style being drastically different for each would be the deciding factor, at least to me.  Melee Mirage vs range Virtuoso, and the weapons you can use with each, will offer different ways to play.

Condi Virtuoso has been rather fun in OW, so I would suggest it, but that may just be the newness of the eSpec.

[Veprovina.4876]

I'd go with Mirage for soloing. Staff/Staff and Trailblazer for really hard content that's not meant to be soloed. But you can get away with Viper's really well because mirage has Jaunt which lets you escape harm, Virtuoso doesn't have much mobility. 

 

If you wanna go Axe, that's fine as well, but Staff/Staff is kinda better cause you get alacrity which in turn raises your dps, lets you jaunt more, etc., it'll be easier. Make sure you put an energy sigil into each staff.

 

For general open world, i'd go axe/staff, then if you plan on soloing a hard boss, switch to staff/staff. 

[Mell.4873]

3 hours ago, Veprovina.4876 said:

I'd go with Mirage for soloing. Staff/Staff and Trailblazer for really hard content that's not meant to be soloed. But you can get away with Viper's really well because mirage has Jaunt which lets you escape harm, Virtuoso doesn't have much mobility. 

 

If you wanna go Axe, that's fine as well, but Staff/Staff is kinda better cause you get alacrity which in turn raises your dps, lets you jaunt more, etc., it'll be easier. Make sure you put an energy sigil into each staff.

 

For general open world, i'd go axe/staff, then if you plan on soloing a hard boss, switch to staff/staff. 

To add to this good post. 

I wouldn't do Virtuoso for soloing if you don't have the gear, if you have to pick one do Mirage first and learn that. 

Virtuoso is currently hasn't got a defined role/build and still needs some core trait interactions. When people figure out what that is, then learn it. My current Virtuoso open world build is Inspiration and Illusions. It can essentially make you invulnerable minus being CC'ed. 

Edited March 26, 2022 by Mell.4873

[Hirosama Nadasaki.6792]

Open world is quite forgiving and non-demanding, either choice you mentioned would work for most content, along with other condi mesmer options that might suit your fancy. If you're struggling with bosses and such Mirage will give you the extra survivability you want.

You said you're doing OW for legendary farming. If that's the case, my recommendation is to switch around e-specs often. The biggest hurdle of legendary farming is the grind, more-so than the difficulty of it; switching around builds will keep it interesting and stave off burn-out. Having just one set of condi+vit gear will do the trick, since you can fit multiple mesmer builds with it comfortably, no need to get multiple gear sets. Play around with Mirage first as it'll give you the most survivability, switch to Virtuoso when you're bored of it, play around with chrono or core later when you got a better idea of how to build mesmer, swap around and keep it spicy during the long grind.

[taara.3217]

Mirage is excellent battle-tested option.
Have no any experience with Virtuoso - nothing to say.

[Veprovina.4876]

3 hours ago, taara.3217 said:

Have no any experience with Virtuoso - nothing to say.

I have, Mirage is better. Virtuoso only has a few blocks and maybe Aegis, it can't outright avoid damage like Mirage can. 

So you're always better going Mirage in tough fights because Virtuoso doesn't have enough defenses to avoid all that AOE spam.

Virtuoso supposedly would do more damage, but then again, you're not fighting a static golem while under every boon, and you don't DPS when you're dead, so realistically, Mirage can survive more because you can blink and jaunt if necesary. And dodging an AOE in place perfectly while doing an ambush is so satisfying! 😄 But that's a l2p issue, you can of course avoid mechanics with any class. 

[taara.3217]

6 minutes ago, Veprovina.4876 said:

I have, Mirage is better. Virtuoso only has a few blocks and maybe Aegis, it can't outright avoid damage like Mirage can. 

So you're always better going Mirage in tough fights because Virtuoso doesn't have enough defenses to avoid all that AOE spam.

Virtuoso supposedly would do more damage, but then again, you're not fighting a static golem while under every boon, and you don't DPS when you're dead, so realistically, Mirage can survive more because you can blink and jaunt if necesary. And dodging an AOE in place perfectly while doing an ambush is so satisfying! 😄 But that's a l2p issue, you can of course avoid mechanics with any class. 

Thank you, something like this is what I thought...

Edited March 26, 2022 by taara.3217

[Veprovina.4876]

Just now, taara.3217 said:

Thank you, pretty much what I thought...

Yeah. I mean, it's ok up to a point, i did solo a few elites with it without much issue, but after that, it gets dicey... 

I mean, to be fair, i wouldn't bring Chrono to those fights either, Mirage is just more suited for something like that due to all the evades. You still need to know how to play it, and it's not invincible, but i found it easier to solo hard stuff with Mirage.

[Mungo Zen.9364]

35 minutes ago, Veprovina.4876 said:

Yeah. I mean, it's ok up to a point, i did solo a few elites with it without much issue, but after that, it gets dicey... 

I mean, to be fair, i wouldn't bring Chrono to those fights either, Mirage is just more suited for something like that due to all the evades. You still need to know how to play it, and it's not invincible, but i found it easier to solo hard stuff with Mirage.

As I dislike Mirage, I made some builds for Chrono that can be quite viable in soloing a lot of content like Champ Bounties or the like.  Scepter/Shield has loads of blocks, and with Improved Alacrity can basically become your engine for clone generation.  One of my litmus tests for sustain on a build (any prof) is to stand at Tequatl's foot during phase one.  Scepter/Shield Chrono with Wells can stand there all day.

Virtuoso can't do that with the builds I have tried out, but making Virtuoso a tank doesn't make much sense.  However I haven't tried the rumoured Inspiration/Illusions/Virtuoso build yet, so who knows (as I write this, I think I might have to try this).

While I agree that Mirage is likely the 'easier/better' choice, based upon my experience with Virtuoso, it can handle a lot of Solo situations like Champ Bounties, HP or the like with ease.

[Suyheuti.1732]

I suggest you power mirage (gs/s-torch or pistol) for OW. Very good damage, even if you use berserker gear, it has decent sustain, especially for aoe cleaning trash mobs. (And also awesome in PvP and WvW roaming) For champion bosses, staff/axe-pistol is better choice (trailblazer). If you wanna do solo legendary, trailblazer staff/staff is the only choice but it takes long time to kill.

[Veprovina.4876]

11 hours ago, Mungo Zen.9364 said:

As I dislike Mirage, I made some builds for Chrono that can be quite viable in soloing a lot of content like Champ Bounties or the like.  Scepter/Shield has loads of blocks, and with Improved Alacrity can basically become your engine for clone generation.  One of my litmus tests for sustain on a build (any prof) is to stand at Tequatl's foot during phase one.  Scepter/Shield Chrono with Wells can stand there all day.

Virtuoso can't do that with the builds I have tried out, but making Virtuoso a tank doesn't make much sense.  However I haven't tried the rumoured Inspiration/Illusions/Virtuoso build yet, so who knows (as I write this, I think I might have to try this).

While I agree that Mirage is likely the 'easier/better' choice, based upon my experience with Virtuoso, it can handle a lot of Solo situations like Champ Bounties, HP or the like with ease.

I tried something similar, Diviner's with scepter, and quickness on shatters, alacrity, slows, but power builds are inherently squishy in this game because they require 3 stats.  And without all 3 in some balance, the damage is bad. Condi ones only require 2 to do damage, and that's why trailblazer is so much better at tanking than anything else really. And i never tried a condi chrono, idk, that whole traitline is messed up, there's nothing really to pick that goes either way power or condi. 

And yes, Virtuoso should be played as glass canon, blocks run out, so do dodges, you can't really sustain with Virtuoso for longer periods.