Support Chrono - Gearing Help

[xiede.8543]

My Mesmer is nearing in to level 80 and looking to start getting him geared to actually try to do those fractal and raid things. If I am looking at support, what gear stat should I be looking towards for my first set? I have looked at Metabattle and I looked at Snowcrows and I looked at Discretize and some are similar, some are very different so I am confused on what I should be looking at as a first set. Any advice?

[NICENIKESHOE.7128]

Wait for 8th Jan, diviner stat may be out by then which will give power/concentration + precision/ferocity if its the same as the PvP amulet. This can be a solid power choice if you're not looking to tank.

 

If you're tanking, then minstrel/harrier mix is a good choice. I usually modify my gear set etc from Snowcrow just to make boon duration 100% with food.

[Durzlla.6295]

> @"NICENIKESHOE.7128" said:

> Wait for 8th Jan, diviner stat may be out by then which will give power/concentration + precision/ferocity if its the same as the PvP amulet. This can be a solid power choice if you're not looking to tank.

>

> If you're tanking, then minstrel/harrier mix is a good choice. I usually modify my gear set etc from Snowcrow just to make boon duration 100% with food.

 

Sorta hijacking the OPs thread, but do you think the Diviner’s set (assuming PvP Stats) would be good for supporting? I’d love to play chrono but have literally no desire to tank, so if diviner can do that I’m gonna have to jump on it!!

[NICENIKESHOE.7128]

> @"Durzlla.6295" said:

> > @"NICENIKESHOE.7128" said:

> > Wait for 8th Jan, diviner stat may be out by then which will give power/concentration + precision/ferocity if its the same as the PvP amulet. This can be a solid power choice if you're not looking to tank.

> >

> > If you're tanking, then minstrel/harrier mix is a good choice. I usually modify my gear set etc from Snowcrow just to make boon duration 100% with food.

>

> Sorta hijacking the OPs thread, but do you think the Diviner’s set (assuming PvP Stats) would be good for supporting? I’d love to play chrono but have literally no desire to tank, so if diviner can do that I’m gonna have to jump on it!!

 

Easily able to support if you're not looking to tank. It has concentration as major stat rather than minor in minstrel or harrier. So probably can even fit some berserker or assassin once you reach 100%.

 

Though keep in mind the recent change made both wells necessary for support, so your utility are not flexible enough for DPS chrono job. You'll do more damage as support but still won't be considered a dps. My guess is you probably can still do 10-15k without zerk/assassin gear. So if you are solo chrono this is a good choice (if duo chrono don't have to worry about too much boon duration in support, consider zerk/assassin for 15k)

[Durzlla.6295]

> @"NICENIKESHOE.7128" said:

> > @"Durzlla.6295" said:

> > > @"NICENIKESHOE.7128" said:

> > > Wait for 8th Jan, diviner stat may be out by then which will give power/concentration + precision/ferocity if its the same as the PvP amulet. This can be a solid power choice if you're not looking to tank.

> > >

> > > If you're tanking, then minstrel/harrier mix is a good choice. I usually modify my gear set etc from Snowcrow just to make boon duration 100% with food.

> >

> > Sorta hijacking the OPs thread, but do you think the Diviner’s set (assuming PvP Stats) would be good for supporting? I’d love to play chrono but have literally no desire to tank, so if diviner can do that I’m gonna have to jump on it!!

>

> Easily able to support if you're not looking to tank. It has concentration as major stat rather than minor in minstrel or harrier. So probably can even fit some berserker or assassin once you reach 100%.

>

> Though keep in mind the recent change made both wells necessary for support, so your utility are not flexible enough for DPS chrono job. You'll do more damage as support but still won't be considered a dps. My guess is you probably can still do 10-15k without zerk/assassin gear. So if you are solo chrono this is a good choice (if duo chrono don't have to worry about too much boon duration in support, consider zerk/assassin for 15k)

 

Sweet! Definitely gonna have to get on gearing my Mesmer up so they can finally leave the land of PvP lol

[viegarnov.7935]

I am a returning player to Gw2. I was looking into what class to play and thought mesmer was looked fun allot of support and a bit of tank i like that. but then nerfs came and so many people said it was a bad class to play/learn. no im not sure if I should play mesmer. I enjoy almost every other class so playing something else wound't be to difficult. so may question is "is playing mesmer worth it for someone who is a casual player?".

[inaho.2046]

> @"viegarnov.7935" said:

> I am a returning player to Gw2. I was looking into what class to play and thought mesmer was looked fun allot of support and a bit of tank i like that. but then nerfs came and so many people said it was a bad class to play/learn. no im not sure if I should play mesmer. I enjoy almost every other class so playing something else wound't be to difficult. so may question is "is playing mesmer worth it for someone who is a casual player?".

 

Support Chrono can give alacrity and quickness only - to those who stack (maybe a few stragglers too with the tides of time from the shield). You can find build on snowcrows. The current support builds are not tanky. I'm still holding onto my commanders chrono which does fine in open world content, and still has a place in raids - I'm waiting to see what the final outcome of their plan is since we just got part one with the chrono nuke. You can still boon yourself - the chrono nerf simply destroyed the chrono's ability to act as a major support to others. For instance, a support revenant can give alacrity without requiring stacking. Mind you support chrono is still fun to play as an individual, but it is a low DPS class with a steep learning curve to make good use of it if you are not used to playing mesmers already. Commanders gear like I am running is riddiculously expensive to gear up in as the exotic recipies have a dismal drop rate in dragons stand and cost a great deal of gold - making ascended cheaper to use (but still expensive). If you're a casual support chrono I'd reccomend a mix of diviners and givers armor and trinkets until you hit about 1550 toughness and 100% concentration, then berserkers for everything else. It's not meta - but it's more attainable than commanders (assuming you bought the givers recipies during wintersday at some point). Then practice, practice, practice. The chrono nuke itself was killing off your ability to share boons - but you can extend boons players get from others or self generate. I'm living on hoipe that they will fix it and at least put us back to boonsharing to 5 people instead of 10. That said alacrity is very powerful and welcome class and you still have decent CC even though the chrono nuke did a number on it's cc ability. A large number of chrono's have since refused to play the class - some of the best chrono's I know in my raiding group are now playing DPS or druid full time - so there is a still a need and you will have no trouble finding open slots in fractals nad raids if you're properly geared. Minstrels is riddiculous expensive to gear on a chrono too - if you want to be able ot tank anything - and post chrono nuke snowcroes updated that as well to a mix of minstrels and nomads. I'm hoping they save the class and it' ssupport ability - and I think it's worth playing, but when the rest fo the balance comes out my mind may change on that - so there is uncertiantiy. My best reccomendation is to wait a few weeks on chrono - level a mesmer to 80 without boosting in the meantime to learn the class. If they don't fix the chrono in the next balance patch you can easily recycle the slot for a boosted revenant and then equip with harriers and givers mix of armor and trinkets and offer better boons and alacrity than a support chrono can, and some really nice boons and healing too. I'm holding out hope - but not touching my builds until I know where the classes are headed.

[Safandula.8723]

If u want to play support chrono in raids u should aim at 100%bd at start, and later think about optimized builds from SC and other YouTube videos with around 66 bd or less. Ur boons are more important for swauad than 1-2 k dps lose

[Gulbasaur.1865]

> @"Safandula.8723" said:

> If u want to play support chrono in raids u should aim at 100%bd at start

 

This week I got to ~55% (diviner's on 3 trinkets & 2 weapons with food, oil and the sigil of concentration, everything else berserker's) and have 98% alacrity uptime and similar quickness, which is fine for real-life play.

 

The other chronomancer's subgroup was slightly lower than mine in boon coverage but not enough to question it.

 

You absolutely don't need 100% if you're playing with two chronomancers in the squad. Boon duration is a safety net to help you catch boons with SoI. Get to about 30 and stock up on cheap food and maintenance oil and stick a sigil of concentration on your shield.

 

> @"inaho.2046" said:

> If they don't fix the chrono in the next balance patch

The patch notes were quite clear that they didn't want chronos to be a "one stop shop" for all your booning needs, so I wouldn't hold your breath. Also, it was ridiculously broken before to the extent that it controlled the entire meta... Druid's meta position is 90% because it meshed well with chronomancer but that's a conversation for another thread. I really, really doubt you'd see anything like the boonshare chronomancer again because it was proven to be overpowered in actual play and Anet want some kind of balance.

 

> @"viegarnov.7935" said:

> "is playing mesmer worth it for someone who is a casual player?".

I think it's fun and my mesmer has become my main. I tend to do boring chronomancer nonsense in raids but the rest of the time I'm DPS. Mirage is easy mode in PvE and quite powerful in PvP. A lot of people here and on Reddit get uppity about mesmers because of how often they're hit by patches and how godlike they once were, particularly because they used to be tough to gear but in game it's much more chilled out.

[Safandula.8723]

> @"Gulbasaur.1865" said:

> > @"Safandula.8723" said:

> > If u want to play support chrono in raids u should aim at 100%bd at start

>

> This week I got to ~55% (diviner's on 3 trinkets & 2 weapons with food, oil and the sigil of concentration, everything else berserker's) and have 98% alacrity uptime and similar quickness, which is fine for real-life play.

>

> The other chronomancer's subgroup was slightly lower than mine in boon coverage but not enough to question it.

>

> You absolutely don't need 100% if you're playing with two chronomancers in the squad. Boon duration is a safety net to help you catch boons with SoI. Get to about 30 and stock up on cheap food and maintenance oil and stick a sigil of concentration on your shield.

>

> > @"inaho.2046" said:

> > If they don't fix the chrono in the next balance patch

> The patch notes were quite clear that they didn't want chronos to be a "one stop shop" for all your booning needs, so I wouldn't hold your breath. Also, it was ridiculously broken before to the extent that it controlled the entire meta... Druid's meta position is 90% because it meshed well with chronomancer but that's a conversation for another thread. I really, really doubt you'd see anything like the boonshare chronomancer again because it was proven to be overpowered in actual play and Anet want some kind of balance.

>

> > @"viegarnov.7935" said:

> > "is playing mesmer worth it for someone who is a casual player?".

> I think it's fun and my mesmer has become my main. I tend to do boring chronomancer nonsense in raids but the rest of the time I'm DPS. Mirage is easy mode in PvE and quite powerful in PvP. A lot of people here and on Reddit get uppity about mesmers because of how often they're hit by patches and how godlike they once were, particularly because they used to be tough to gear but in game it's much more chilled out.

 

I agree 100 is not needed but I said for start ;) he will be making some fk ups so it's better to be safe

[Gulbasaur.1865]

> @"Safandula.8723" said:

> I agree 100 is not needed but I said for start ;) he will be making some kitten ups so it's better to be safe

 

That was my first raid as a chronomancer and like third raid ever...

[inaho.2046]

> @"Gulbasaur.1865" said:

> The patch notes were quite clear that they didn't want chronos to be a "one stop shop" for all your booning needs, so I wouldn't hold your breath. Also, it was ridiculously broken before to the extent that it controlled the entire meta... Druid's meta position is 90% because it meshed well with chronomancer but that's a conversation for another thread. I really, really doubt you'd see anything like the boonshare chronomancer again because it was proven to be overpowered in actual play and Anet want some kind of balance.

 

That may be. If it is as you say - then I already have a mirage. I'll put my chrono's gear in the bank and recycle the character slot for a weekly key farm. I have DPS classes and a druid for raids - and tempest will never replace druid because tempest lacks offensive boons. Im chronoing in my raid group right now because I'm a former DPS player in raids and already able to switch and the former chronos are learning DPS classes. I started learning support a while back and discovered I liked playing a support, I really don't anymore - chrono has become mechanical with a child simple rotation. I'm there to keep up alacrity and swiftness pretty much, and a few k of DPS. Before, playing chrono well was a tremendous challenge to get the maximum boons out. If I'm not playing heal druid now, I'll be playing deadeye, banner warrior, or holosmith.

 

To be honest, I find the continual nerfing frustrating and I'm not alone in that. They took a great deal from chrono, and they did say that they had not finalized where things would fall. So I'm holding onto my chrono as is until I find out what, if anything, Anet will give back. If they truly wanted raids to be less "toxic" and more open to different compositions then lowering the DPS requirements and extending the length of the enrage timers would have allowed for that. They created the challenges in high end fractals and raids that required min-maxing builds, the players just adapted. That said it seems like the changes they described as their intended ones would require a much more fixed composition of DPS's who would also provide a specific set of boons. The players would solidy around a specific composition and only those classes will be wanted. Before there was chrono tank, support chrono, druid, and banner warrior - leaving 6 open DPS slots in most raids - with the primary concern only being that the DPS's could deliver damage. Now whatever it is, the composition will leave less room open for any DPS.

 

So call me overly optomistic if you must, but I belive that Anet is going to find a way to put something meaningful back for Chrono. It does not seem long ago they were working to get people to play support characters - by giving credit for boons shared and healing in events. This current direction appears so far to make everyone a sub-par DPS to cover a boon or 2 - which is a huge change. I hoping for clear direction - so I can make some expesive decisions without worrying that a month later I won't be undoing them all in the next nerf.