Looking for a highly survivable solo PVE build with high (preferably aoe) damage.

[Amethyst Lure.5624]

In open world, I personally play viper Mirage with Axe/Torch + Staff. I use sigils of Energy and for fun I have a set with runes of the Adventurer, both for survival and because of the ambush trait which goes very well with mitigating going into staff, as I tend to mostly do that for evasion refresh. It's actually hilarious how much evasion I can put up, and the staff has its obvious survival perks. It's simply the most fun I have had in this game since I fell in love with mesmer on day one of playing. And, this is of course strictly open world, which is the game mode I enjoy the most because I get to be the most creative with my class, even in group content in it to an extent.

So, the caveats for my style is... not a raid build but personal, while still trying to make the best of those choices. :)

[Assassin.7890]

@Amethyst Lure.5624 said:In open world, I personally play viper Mirage with Axe/Torch + Staff. I use sigils of Energy and for fun I have a set with runes of the Adventurer, both for survival and because of the ambush trait which goes very well with mitigating going into staff, as I tend to mostly do that for evasion refresh. It's actually hilarious how much evasion I can put up, and the staff has its obvious survival perks. It's simply the most fun I have had in this game since I fell in love with mesmer on day one of playing. And, this is of course strictly open world, which is the game mode I enjoy the most because I get to be the most creative with my class, even in group content in it to an extent.

So, the caveats for my style is... not a raid build but personal, while still trying to make the best of those choices. :)

Hey, thanks - could you refer to a specific build (link maybe)?

Thank you!

[Jimbru.6014]

@"FlyingK.9720" said:Here's my recommendation:http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQJAWWnELDVohNoB2LDMMjlZjyv+3//3sC2tWqMAutkB-jxxHABEp8bcdBPpEk2nAAAXCg4V/5j9HAA-e

Staff / Staff condi mirage: high toughness, high evasion, high mobility, good might stacking, good ranged damage from rapidly stacking large amounts of bleed quickly, 100% bleed duration with two boons. Would say the toughness is a potential downside as you'll tank most things, but between evasion and mobility you can kite all day without even trying. fun synergy with evasive mirror and mirage cloak that adds more survivability.

Starting out, go full exotic rabid with one staff and an agony sigil in lieu of energy to keep the 100% bleed duration for a lot less gold than the final build. Eventually you'll want the energy sigil and two staffs for the extra mirage cloak it gives every 9 seconds.

Build is 100% designed around the staff ambush, get 3 clones asap with staff 2 / evasions and push out as many ambush attacks as you can. Try to get used to keeping vigor up 100% of the time for the extra condition damage and endurance. Bonus points for standing in the path of your clones' ambush attacks to get extra might stacks. Staff ambush inflicts damage on anything that's in the path (I'm not even sure there's a target cap), large and huge hitboxes still appear to get hit multiple times as well as enemies that are moving along the same path.

After experimenting with a bunch of different builds for my mesmer and not being happy, to the point I was about to give up on her, I tried out this build and really like it. As you suggested, I'm using full Rabid gear, with Krait runes. Sigils on my staffs are Energy and Agony, because Malice is so expensive. Viper gear is a ways down the road, but so far I really like the survivability of this build, being able to dance around fights at range without feeling so fragile. Thanks for the posts about it. :)