Is this guide still relevant?

[Oldirtbeard.9834]

Is this guide still relevant, if so I'm leveling a Mesmer?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/596shf/gnus_guide_to_easy_quickness_in_five_simple_steps/

[Faction.4013]

As far as I know, there was a slight change in quickness or something last year, but the guide is still good. I use this myself in Fractals and have no issues. You just NEED 100% Boon duration.

I stopped raiding awhile ago, so I can kinda cheese the Boon duration requirements in Fractals with the Mobility Potion - as long as you have 150 AR.

I use this guide as a bible and have become a clock-stopping god: http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Chronomancer_-_Utility_DPS

[Cyninja.2954]

https://qtfy.eu/guildwars/mesmer/fractal-chrono-quick-guide/

or

https://qtfy.eu/guildwars/mesmer/power-chrono-quick-guide/

or

https://snowcrows.com/raids/mesmer/

is your basic gear setup. As far as rotation, your basic idea is to keep permanent quickness and alacrity up. Going to quote myself from an older post on the forums because I'm to lazy to rewrite everything:

@Cyninja.2954 said:Stacking in durationBoons that stack in duration will cap out at 5 stacks and will increase the duration of the boon. Reapplying the boon while at the maximum number of stacks will overwrite the stack with the lowest duration. (e.g. having 15 seconds of Protection.png Protection (5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1) and reapplying with one that lasts 10 seconds will replace the stack that lasts 1 second, increasing the duration to 24 seconds)

Boons that stack in duration will start using the strongest application before using the others regardless of when it was applied.

• https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Boon

If you check your individual quickness applying skills base duration:Tides of Time - 1.5 secondsWell of Action - 4 secondsTime Warp - 2 seconds per tick, 5 ticks over 10 secondsSignet of Inspiration - 3 seconds

You will soon realise which skills are your main quickness providers (with 100% boon duration in mind). Most notably Signet of Inspiration.

Very simply put:ToT and WoA are there to provide base quickness so you can copy it with SoI (or any phantasm cast which applies SoI).Time Warp will cap your quickness duration stacks but not overwrite longer duration stacks provided by WoA or copied with SoI.

As Refia said, with enough boon duration you can upkeep perma quickness with just casting skills off cooldown. Since the quickness base duration is often low, chances are high you will not be constantly at 5 stacks anyway.

More important is to memorize the correct order of skills:

• ToT gets cast before SoI or a phantasm
• WoA gets cast ideally before SoI or a phantasm and not during TW
• TW will give you a good base amount of quickness and its huge area will mean most players are affected
• SoI will provide the 2nd longest quickness stacks (3s base) but ONLY if you are already affected by quickness, thus try casting this after gaining quickness and towards the middle or end of a TW.
• Phantasms, while providing quickness, are more important for rotation and alacrity (especially shield phantasms). If possible cycle or recast them when you have quickness up (usually not hard with permanent quickness) but it's more important to have enough shield phantasms up (2+) than use them for quickness.

EDIT: The synergy between SoI, phantasms and boon copying is one of the main reasons why mesmer rotations are more of a priority system and smaller rotations within a big rotation setup where most other classes stick to 1 fixed rotation. Add in distortion, continuum split and occasional encounter specific skills which will mix up the priorities and you'll soon realise why many people avoide the class. Once mastered it can be a lot of fun though.

[Oldirtbeard.9834]

Not sure if I'm at 100% boon duration how ever, all my armor is ascended Commanders with Firebrand Runes, my Main Hand Sword is Commanders with Sigil of Concentration, since my Back Piece is Blood Stone I could theoretically swap those stats to Commanders as well. For weapons I'm running Ascended Great Sword Zerker, with Ascended Commanders Sword, and Exotic Zerker Shield.

I'm still unlocking Chrono I'm half way there.

What do you guys do for Open World it's really hit or miss for me, I either handle things with ease or melt like plastic wrap in a fire. I think most of my problems lay with Conditions. There are these Dinosaurs that nail you like a machine Gun that I can't do much about since my blocks don't last as long as the duration of their rapid fire.

[Faction.4013]

You're probably talking about the Bristlebacks. Turtle-looking things that fire those giant spikes at you? There's not a time when I've ever taken one of those down solo. Unless I get lucky with my Tides of Time and interrupt. Those things wreck everybody. Even my Warrior gets trucked by them, so that's not a measure of skill.

My Open-World build is here: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQRAse8dnsICtfi9fCmfCEgiFcjCNIaieruVv1ctMASgfB-jBSBQBT8JAkQ1XAwJBgf7PgH9DXR53BVhwMKBBA-e (Just look at the traits. Gear and such doesn't change from my Fractal build based on the guide I posted above)

I ALWAYS have a Sword in my main-hand. Deceptive Evasion is SUCH a clutch trait in Open-World that I pretty much base my entire playstyle around it outside of group content. Also, I use Master of Fragmentation over the more popular Phantasmal Force simply because of the F3 Stun - can stun 5 mobs rather than just 1. Which is PRICELESS when you're surrounded or ambushed by a Forged Raiding Party - or to interrupt Bristlebacks.

Starting a fight depends on if I'm mounted or not - AND - if there's more then one mob.

• If I'm mounted against multiple enemies, I'll use my Raptor tail-whip to pull them to me, then hit Shield 5, then Sword 2, Sword 3, dodge (2 Illusions up then), then Well of Action / Calamity and F1 shatter once the well(s) are cast.
• If it's one mob, I'll run towards them, cast Sword 3, then sword 3 again to shadowstep, then Dodge for your 2nd clone. You can Sword 2 and / or F1 Shatter. If its a Veteran or higher use Shield 4 after you F1 shatter. You can just as easy Raptor tail-whip on a single mob and start the rotation the same, as the tail-whip does some good damage.
• Remember to use your wells constantly - even against single mobs like Sand Sharks. They're more than just "emergency" utilities. With the Alacrity you get just from being in them, your CDs are low enough to where you can use them in almost every fight. Remember to STAND IN THEM! They're not ranged attacks. Keep them under your feet at ALL times.
• Remember your shatters. They are more then just damage: F3 stuns - which interrupts, F4 gives you distortion based on how many illusions you shattered, and F5 can be used in MANY creative ways.

[bart.3687]

@Oldirtbeard.9834 said:Not sure if I'm at 100% boon duration how ever, all my armor is ascended Commanders with Firebrand Runes, my Main Hand Sword is Commanders with Sigil of Concentration, since my Back Piece is Blood Stone I could theoretically swap those stats to Commanders as well. For weapons I'm running Ascended Great Sword Zerker, with Ascended Commanders Sword, and Exotic Zerker Shield.

I'm still unlocking Chrono I'm half way there.

What do you guys do for Open World it's really hit or miss for me, I either handle things with ease or melt like plastic wrap in a fire. I think most of my problems lay with Conditions. There are these Dinosaurs that nail you like a machine Gun that I can't do much about since my blocks don't last as long as the duration of their rapid fire.

About the Dinosaurs (aka Bristlebacks):Evasive Mirror trait and Mirror heal rock against them :tongue: