Optimal Open world/dungeon Spec

[Seabhac.6824]

I'm actually starting to kinda get into the S/S GS power Mirage.. only backdraw is I learn it better and not 100 % S/S is what I want in melee.. pondering Axe/Sword maybe? I dunno.. need to pull off all my Chronomancer runes now for something else I'm sure

 

[Myhr.9108]

Pick the weapons you like to use first and build from there, but remember that you either build Power or Condition. Hybrids are harder to balance. Greatsword is Power, through and through, and Axe is Condition.

[Wandering Mist.2973]

> @Seabhac.6824 said:

> Thanks Aliam, I'm really tempted to just push my way through making power Mirage work till I can get Viper,.. just switch and do it.. what are the best weapon combos and best utilities/heal to use with it?

 

I'm totally with you on favouring power over condi and I much prefer mirage over chrono, which is why I'm running the build I linked above.

 

I spend 90% of my time in GS and generally only switch to S/S if I have to do bar breaking (GS is terrible for Bar Breaking) or I get jumped on when my endurance is low. GS Ambush is surprisingly strong especially if you take Infinite Horizon. I will generally open with GS4 -> GS2 -> Illusionary Ambush (which spawns a 3rd clone and procs GS Ambush) -> GS3 -> GS Ambush -> GS Ambush. As a side note, since I take Infinite Horizon for the increased Ambush damage over Elusive Mind, your dodges don't break stuns or remove CC, which is why I take Power Cleanse instead of something more offensive. If you think you can survive without it you could swap that out for something like Mirror Images for clone generation or signet of domination for more bar breaking.

 

On the subject of S/S, I'm also not a big fan of it but the only alternative I can see working is S/Pistol but I haven't tried this out yet.

[AliamRationem.5172]

> @Seabhac.6824 said:

> I'm actually starting to kinda get into the S/S GS power Mirage.. only backdraw is I learn it better and not 100 % S/S is what I want in melee.. pondering Axe/Sword maybe? I dunno.. need to pull off all my Chronomancer runes now for something else I'm sure

>

 

As Myhr.9108 said, you probably want to consider the damage type on the weapons you choose. Having said that, I tested out a hybrid greatsword build using Sharper Images to stack bleeds and it didn't seem any worse than power greatsword. The condi axe build blew it away, but the difference should be significantly less since the axe clone-ambush build was nerfed into the ground in the recent patch.

[Cwnannwn.7681]

imnsho, Assassin everything with scholar runes and sigils of force and air, sword/focus and either pistol or sword on swap. Use mantras to tag. Dueling/Domination and whatever third line suits your fancy.

[Seabhac.6824]

I actually like pistol offhand due to the strength of duelist...might try sword/pistol with GS and pickup domination and duelist lines with mirage then go with assassin gear with scholar runes....I think I could make that work...

[Jasmine.8195]

Ty for this thread... finally took the plunge and am trying the mirage build linked above though with cheaper condi options since I can't afford viper.

 

I'm really having fun playing it, it's nice to actually stand in melee for a change. Very diff from playing a GS power build where I was constantly trying to kite and avoid melee... lol

[Esquilax.3491]

Here to support this build. I don't think I've come across anything quite like it, it's so easy to play, easy to survive and it has reasonable damage due to full offensive stats, massive large AoE and it's fun.

 

I have played ranged Phantasm builds in the past like Power GS/Scepter pistol which worked decently but once your phatasms died you were straight out of luck most of the time, which can happen quickly when fighting powerful monsters or groups of monsters. This build also didn't have the greatest AoE.

 

Infinite horizon staff condi viper mesmer is a whole new kettle of fish though. You can spam clones so quickly, especially by combining deceptive evasion and self deception with the Phase retreat skill which has a small cooldown. This build is truly incredible, I actually use two staffs with energy sigil for energy on swap. The max range, combined with an AoE auto, and spamming large AoE condi spheres with all the clones to distract your enemies feels borderline OP!

 

As mentioned it lacks burst and for 1v1 scenarios on low HP targets is likely quite inefficient, but the damage doesn't take too long to get going and it's really safe and efficient. Plus the orbs look awesome and it's just... fun.

[Seabhac.6824]

> @Esquilax.3491 said:

> Here to support this build. I don't think I've come across anything quite like it, it's so easy to play, easy to survive and it has reasonable damage due to full offensive stats, massive large AoE and it's fun.

>

> I have played ranged Phantasm builds in the past like Power GS/Scepter pistol which worked decently but once your phatasms died you were straight out of luck most of the time, which can happen quickly when fighting powerful monsters or groups of monsters. This build also didn't have the greatest AoE.

>

> Infinite horizon staff condi viper mesmer is a whole new kettle of fish though. You can spam clones so quickly, especially by combining deceptive evasion and self deception with the Phase retreat skill which has a small cooldown. This build is truly incredible, I actually use two staffs with energy sigil for energy on swap. The max range, combined with an AoE auto, and spamming large AoE condi spheres with all the clones to distract your enemies feels borderline OP!

>

> As mentioned it lacks burst and for 1v1 scenarios on low HP targets is likely quite inefficient, but the damage doesn't take too long to get going and it's really safe and efficient. Plus the orbs look awesome and it's just... fun.

 

Sounds very interesting doing a pair of staves instead, infinite horizon condi with viper..i wonder if this would work with rabid or dire gear and which rune set, scholars?.I love the sound of this and would love to hear more!

[AliamRationem.5172]

> @Jasmine.8195 said:

> Ty for this thread... finally took the plunge and am trying the mirage build linked above though with cheaper condi options since I can't afford viper.

>

> I'm really having fun playing it, it's nice to actually stand in melee for a change. Very diff from playing a GS power build where I was constantly trying to kite and avoid melee... lol

 

Yeah! Get right in there with axe mirage and tear some faces off! It's great fun not getting hit while blinking around tossing out damage at close range! I love it! Now let's see ANet improve ambush builds to an acceptable state now that they've fixed the axe ambush bug.

 

> @Seabhac.6824 said:

> Sounds very interesting doing a pair of staves instead, infinite horizon condi with viper..i wonder if this would work with rabid or dire gear and which rune set, scholars?.I love the sound of this and would love to hear more!

 

Staff damage isn't great, but it is very mobile and has huge range, which makes your clones a far more effective distraction than they could ever be at melee range. I also like the way Illusionary Ambush plays with staff in open world. It's a random location teleport based on the range of your weapon, so with staff you have this massive radius of possible locations you and your clones can teleport to. Between this and phase retreat you can keep melee-bound enemies wasting time running toward you and your clones only to have the target blink away, all the while pummeling the enemy with ambush attacks from range.

 

Personally, I prefer to have a second weapon to swap to and I don't think staff's kit is strong enough by itself. The AA/ambush is okay, phase retreat is amazing, but skills 3 and 4 might as well not be there and 5, I think, is more useful as a compliment to another weapon (like axe!). Using staff, in order to benefit from both the offensive and defensive benefits of chaos storm, you have to negate your range advantage and stand in the field with the target. With axe, you're already at melee range and the relative benefits of pulsing aegis and daze are more apparent as a result, since you can't simply use range to avoid damage. Further, where staff has only the ability to combo leap for a fairly useless chaos armor application (you do get protection from chaotic dampening if you take that trait), axe has a double-whirl that can add some damage in the form of confusion bolts.

 

 

[Seabhac.6824]

Interesting idea..anyone ever tried this....i noticed illusionary ambush has the option to set it to autorun like the main hand weapon....i was having fun with it on auto last night...every time I initiated combat, instantly BAMF i was elsewhere with 3 illusions i would shatter...then as I'm fighting, without a thought to it, every 20 sec or so,..BAMF me and all my illusions are all over the place....it was HI lar ious watching mobs running around like beheaded chickens trying to figure out where we all were at lol....

[Jasmine.8195]

> @AliamRationem.5172 said:

> This is what I use in open world:

> http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAnfWnELDNohFMDWoBMMjlZjyf+7//3MEWhWqMAqtcD-jxxHQBAZ/hBq8beq/MO9BZUJIAOFA06JAQIgFrBA-e

>

 

Ok, so noob question this build - have you ever considered Illusion over Chaos? There's seems to be some really nice grabs in Illusion that would go with this build - reduced CD on Torch, faster shatters (which means more blinds to go with the dueling picks), more conditions, confusion duration (though at the cost of overall condition duration), and then possibly swap to scepter instead of staff to take malicious sorcery (or take Master of Fragmentation if you want to keep the staff)....

 

The trade off is you lose the combo fields/buffs from chaos storm healing, as well as stability + buffs from shatters... hmmm.

 

[Seabhac.6824]

Everyone posts very interesting options and ideas, I think in the end we all play what's fun for each of us,..personally I find theorizing and finding the best most synergistic combos fun. I have a deadeye thief I'm playing with a pistol/pistol build that absolutely blows away my mesmer dps and he survives much better too with stealths and even has some mild boon spreading too...my biggest issue is that 4 years ago I used to have a blast with Mesmer because I could go full power phantasms build and do decent dps while still offering decent support. I came back this past couple months to gw2 and I'm trying to find fun and value in my mesmer but I'm having a hard time finding more value in mesmer over my deadeye P/P unload thief.

[Seabhac.6824]

ok tonight I got used to using GS ambush using mirrors and heal mirages to keep me almost nonstop GS ambushing.. it's like insane AOE nonstop..I AM LOVING IT

[AliamRationem.5172]

> @Jasmine.8195 said:

> > @AliamRationem.5172 said:

> > This is what I use in open world:

> > http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhAQNAnfWnELDNohFMDWoBMMjlZjyf+7//3MEWhWqMAqtcD-jxxHQBAZ/hBq8beq/MO9BZUJIAOFA06JAQIgFrBA-e

> >

>

> Ok, so noob question this build - have you ever considered Illusion over Chaos? There's seems to be some really nice grabs in Illusion that would go with this build - reduced CD on Torch, faster shatters (which means more blinds to go with the dueling picks), more conditions, confusion duration (though at the cost of overall condition duration), and then possibly swap to scepter instead of staff to take malicious sorcery (or take Master of Fragmentation if you want to keep the staff)....

>

> The trade off is you lose the combo fields/buffs from chaos storm healing, as well as stability + buffs from shatters... hmmm.

>

 

I actually tried illusions first. The burst is stronger, but I found chaos produced better sustained damage and survivability. However, keep in mind that this build was designed prior to the patch and the axe ambush nerf. Things may have changed.

[Seabhac.6824]

Kudos to Aliam...he's on the same sever withme and came with me to attempt windswept haven ...just the 2 of us..and we had an epic win with second left! Impressed me with how well he knes what he was doing, pulling 3x my dps and surviving longer! He knows what he's doing! Thanks for the hand Aliam!

[AliamRationem.5172]

> @Seabhac.6824 said:

> Kudos to Aliam...he's on the same sever withme and came with me to attempt windswept haven ...just the 2 of us..and we had an epic win with second left! Impressed me with how well he knes what he was doing, pulling 3x my dps and surviving longer! He knows what he's doing! Thanks for the hand Aliam!

 

Wow, that's high praise! Thanks! And congrats on the guild hall!

[Jasmine.8195]

> @AliamRationem.5172 said:

> I actually tried illusions first. The burst is stronger, but I found chaos produced better sustained damage and survivability. However, keep in mind that this build was designed prior to the patch and the axe ambush nerf. Things may have changed

 

DPS testing I do have to say that I tried variations of the chaos build and then swapped Illusion out for Chaos and was able to consistently kill the golem a solid 20-30 seconds faster over anything I tried in chaos. It's a loss in healing/boons/protection without chaos, but rolling faster shatters gives me more blinds and vigor - plus slightly more frequent torch 4 if I need to use it defensively between heal CDs so I'll take it for the dps boost... for now :)

 

Going back through my story to work on the mastery achievements and the Axe just destroys stuff that I would have me struggling with on GS. I love the build so much I went all in on Axe by investing in Frostfang + Rodgort last night. :)

 

[Seabhac.6824]

So I want to propose something....I've now attained a set of exotic viper gear with adventurer runes and I've been running the typical axe/ torch combo as Mirage....I'm having a hard time getting in the swing of it so how bad would it be to stick with my Viper gear, but use a GS instead with staff offhand and run Domination (for gs), Chaos (for staff) and mirage skill lines..not sure how much of a dps loss it would be but I think I would enjoy it more and viper to enhance it all....just an idea...