How to support as a Chronomancer?

[Fingerhut.1493]

Hi,

I tried to find a good guide that isn't outdated. I found a build for a DPS Buff Chrono and one for a tank build (is minstrel tank still viable?) but none of those guides realy mentioned how to stack up alacrity/swiftness. Since I never played the Chrono when it came out I don't know how to use my skills (e.g. the continuum split) right.

 

Could anyone explain to me (pref. like talking to someone not already knowing how it works :smiley: ) how to stack those buffs for me and a potential group (or how to use continuum split right)? Or if you know a good up-to-date guide that would be a great help too.

[Ojimaru.8970]

[snowcrows](https://snowcrows.com/raids/mesmer/) and [quantify](https://qtfy.eu) have guides to the many variant Chrono builds and their associated rotations.

 

A support Chronomancer has many jobs, with the most basic being generating and providing Quickness and Alacrity for the group. Quickness is generated by Well of Action and Tides of Time, and shared via the use of Signet of Inspiration and Lesser Signet of Inspiration (from Illusionary Inspiration). This at the same time will share other boons you gain from other group members, e.g. Vigor, Protection, Regeneration, etc. from your friendly Druid or Tempest.

 

Alacrity, on the other hand is provided through Phantasmal Avengers, and sometimes through Well of Recall.

 

Mastering the use of Continuum Split will be one of the many skills you will want to learn. Again, going back to your basic role as a provider of boons, Continuum Split is typically used mid-cast of Tides of Time during your opening rotation. This will not only refresh the cooldown of Tides of Time once you are out of Continuum Split, but also allow you to cast an extra set of Well of Action, Well of Recall, Well of Eternity, and Signet of Inspiration. Continuum Split is also commonly used prior to completing the cast Signet of Humility (half-way through the cast time if no Illusions are present).

[Fingerhut.1493]

Wow, that looks awfully complicated with rotations up to 70 steps. Pretty much most of the steps are repetitive. Thank you very much for the guides, they are great.

[Carighan.6758]

> @"Fingerhut.1493" said:

> Wow, that looks awfully complicated with rotations up to 70 steps. Pretty much most of the steps are repetitive. Thank you very much for the guides, they are great.

 

Most rotation guides have this problem because for some reason I cannot understand, people in GW2 have a mad obsession with giving combat guides as **rotations**; Instead of a conditional priority list.

 

And since CDs are different, elements won't line up the next time they come around, so the rotation becomes huge until it actually loops. Back on the old qtfy-site, only condi engineers ever had a priority list, and it was quite short and conscise.

 

As a non-tank support chronomancer, it should look something like this:

 

1. Use Continuum Split.

2. Swap weapon (assuming you use a Sigil of Concentration).

3. Is it less than 15 seconds until Continuum Split is back up? Skip to step 6.

4. Assuming you have Quickness, cast Signet of Inspiration.

5. Cast Tides of Time.

6. Cast you Well skills. If you came here from (3), skip Well of Action.

7. Summon a Phantasm to trigger more free signet casts.

8. Fill with autoattacks.

 

This is a priority list. Go from the top, find the first one which fits, execute it, then back to the top.

[Fingerhut.1493]

That's much shorter and sums it up, yes. :smiley:

I would never have tried to memorize a thousand steps long rotation. I've played many games and some classes just don't have rotations but prioritys. The prioritys are now (vaguely) clear, now I have to train it.

Thanks guys the guides and the summary were very helpful.

 

Wich trait-lines do you normaly use? Seems Inspiration/Dominance is the most popular one. Chaos/Insp seems appealing to me but I don't know how much damage will be lost with that for more/even longer buffs.

Since I never used weapon swap sigils: does the Sigil of Concentration procc when I put it on my sword and just swapping offhands?

And one thing I didn't see in the guides: do I even shatter my illusions at any point other than for Continuum Split?

[Oneira.7691]

signet of concentration is so, so expensive :(

[Imperadordf.2687]

- Inspiration/Domination is the best choice at the moment at most PvE content due to extra vulnerability stacks- extra stuns- extra shatter damage.

- Yes, you can swap offhands to proc Concentration sigils. Shield is a must have, you can use it with Focus as a secondary or Sword off-hand.

- You can shatter them when the boss is at %1-2 health to finish it a bit early, when you need to get a boss to %X health (e.g. No Updraft tactic on Gorseval), or when you need extra CC you can use Diversion.

[Deaeira.2651]

> @"Carighan.6758" said:

> Most rotation guides have this problem because for some reason I cannot understand, people in GW2 have a mad obsession with giving combat guides as **rotations**; Instead of a conditional priority list.

 

Thank you for pointing this out. For some reason, even the term rotation makes me feel horribly bored. It also implies that nothing the enemy does is sufficiently relevant to change strategies. Could we just find and replace all mentions of rotations by priority lists? :-)

 

[Pyroatheist.9031]

> @"Deaeira.2651" said:

> > @"Carighan.6758" said:

> > Most rotation guides have this problem because for some reason I cannot understand, people in GW2 have a mad obsession with giving combat guides as **rotations**; Instead of a conditional priority list.

>

> Thank you for pointing this out. For some reason, even the term rotation makes me feel horribly bored. It also implies that nothing the enemy does is sufficiently relevant to change strategies. Could we just find and replace all mentions of rotations by priority lists? :-)

>

 

Well, rotations are relevant sometimes, like for weavers where the wrong sequence of skills can screw up the attunement pattern. For mesmers though, it's a very inadequate way of describing the buff combination.