Open World\Story\etc. build question, advise.

[Joxer.6024]

 Asking about Mesmer and playing in open world/story type of game play and then maybe getting back into raids at some stage (have cleared w1-4, but left game 5 years ago).

So, do things look pretty good for a Mesmer? Its the one class that i have not played alot as when chrono-tank was a thing I was a bit daunted by it. Now I have played Virt and Mirage to some degree and being 61 and fat fingered Mirage can be a tad freaky but I can get stuff done, and its fun! But am really drawn to the Mirage staff build i see.

So, after seeing the "many" videos out the by Hizen, Guildjen and others, I want to ask just everyday players what works for them in terms of open world/etc. build for say Mirage. The staff/staff build looks strong as and maybe a good stepping stone to get better at the class, since axe Mirage looks really fun and seems to have a place in raids\etc. should i venture that way? 

What say you folks? Anyone play that open world Staff Mirage build of Hizen's? Or any other?

Mesmer looks like the one class that has alot to offer in many different ways and I like that, just dont want to step into something that may perhaps be a bit too daunting and thus turn me off to the class altogether.

Cheers!!!

[Mell.4873]

My recommendation is to focus Elite Specialisations and build around them. It is very easy to get lost in the Core traitlines and focus to much attention on them (they lack alot of synergy). 

 

Mesmer is by far the most unique elite we have and not becouse of the mechanics but how you end up playing.

Chronomancer can be simultaneously a high burst phantasm build and an incredibly tanky build. By slotting in Phantasmal Defender your rotation can taunt groups of enemies into not touching you. You have multiple ways to access aegis and blocks.

Mirage can also provide high burst while going essentially immune to any damage or status effects. Staff is the safer option for most encounters but Mirage really shines with main hand Axe. While chronomancer relies on phantasms for defence, Mirage can simply overwhelm enemies with clones and then switch position with them. This let's your not only soak up damage with them but lock enemies in place while you reposition. 

Finally Virtuoso, this in some ways where everything comes together. It normally is thought of as a Low Intensity Build but if played right it is anything but. With the loss of clones managing the battlefield is very important. There a multiple configurations you can position enemies in that can not only create the highest damage output but allow you to heal off it (with conditions). Unlike other elites where you can juggle a bunch of clones for defence you are super reliant on your shatters for Virtuoso so anticipating and shatter correctly is now the key to success. Signet of Illusions becomes vital and can allow to go immune for 10 seconds or more. 

Edited November 21, 2022 by Mell.4873

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

Mostly I do not play mirage in open world.  The ramp-up on the conditions takes forever to kill enemies on the condition builds.  The power builds are largely inferior to just running power virt or power chrono.

When it comes to open world builds, there's two way to go about it.  First is to murder things as fast as possible.  That's pretty simple to build: equip assassin and berserker gear to get 100% crit chance under fury, and then build yourself with dueling + domination + whatever.  For example, this build is my overworld chronomancer build.  If I were to tweak it for mirage, it would look like this, and power virtuoso looks like this.  

The second way to do it is to build yourself to kill champions solo.  For this purpose, something like Staff Mirage is excellent, because it is incredibly hard to kill, mobile, spams evades, and the ramp up time isn't much of an issue.  An axe equivalent can also work.  Personally, for soloing champions I go with Condi Virtuoso.  If you don't use Signet of the Ether's active effect, the self-regeneration from all the blades is absolutely massive.  Though for easier champions, I will just go with the above chronomancer build, because the weaker ones won't survive the Continuum Split burst rotation.

Edited November 21, 2022 by Blood Red Arachnid.2493

[Infusion.7149]

Play mirage on bosses, it's terrible against trash mobs. Against openworld garbage you want power virtuoso that cleaves 5 targets with dagger mainhand.

Power chrono should be better after Nov 29 as chronophantasma is getting un-nerfed in PvE, the main thing you need to remember is that chrono has a massive delay on DPS variants running Chronophantasm which makes it inherently less bursty than virtuoso. StM is similar to power scrapper with less sustain, less mobility, more boon rip at the cost of DPS, and more complexity. StM chrono is much weaker than years past when it could output plenty of boons other than quickness, personal alacrity on shatter, and ("self") might. For a while pChrono was balanced with slow in mind (Danger Time) which is not realistic outside of chrono stacking.

edit: Oh and you want to run Sigil of Impact not accuracy on chrono unless Arenanet changed it so phantasms gain the accuracy sigil's crit chance. Something akin to http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PiwAwyFlVwYYbMPWJO0KdNXA-zxQYhojtDuMqtCqIFM5gIG9k9AWG1MCA-e
Although Tipcat the chrono benchmarker lately had this with thief rune which is not great while solo since you can't flank:
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?Pi1Aw6FlVwYYTsN2JOyKdNXA-zxQYhojercHCKtyo2UoiKwzDSYsHeLy%2FaBA-e

Edited November 22, 2022 by Infusion.7149

[Westenev.5289]

For instanced content, look up condi virtuoso. Arguably the easiest and most effective dps class in the game.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Westenev.5289