Spellbreakers almost immune to condi?

[eldenbri.1059]

I mostly roam solo in wvw with a condi chrono build. I usually learn how to beat builds by just playing against them. So far, it feels like there's an answer for pretty much all of them except spellbreakers. I've only recorded a couple of fights, but it seems like I just can't make much of a dent in their health. I see the resistance boon a lot, and I'm stripping it pretty frequently using the disenchanter. But it just seems like I can't make enough progress driving down health in the windows of time I can get resistance off of them.

 

Anyone have any tips to share or should I just skip these fights?

[skcamow.3527]

There is a new profession in the game called Spellbroken. Best to just avoid for now, nerfs should be coming soon enough.

[FaboBabo.3581]

impossible to win if the spellbreaker is decent. Not only he gets resistance he applies condis currently inflicting him back to u. The more Condi burst u do against him, the more it backfires IF full counter hits.

[UrMom.4205]

I went 1v1 against a good spellbreaker and won by the skin of my teeth, it was a very hard fight. Be noted I was running condi shatter chrono, insiration, illusions, chrono, trailblazer gear, scepter shield and staff. At the time of the fight I didn't really know how spellbreaker worked and the fight was about a week after PoF launch, but after doing some research it looks like you have to kite them out and then dive them right after they blow their full counter. A guildie told me that your clones can trigger full counter so staying out of their range is key. I'm guessing as time goes on, more and more spellbreakers will be stacking more resistance (especially with all the scourges running around) so it could be harder and harder to beat. Have to slowly wear them down with more sustain I suppose.

[Windwalker.7421]

Results are the same for Power/Interrupt Mirage, can't even dent a **decent** SB. It's so lopsided that you feel completely useless against them 1v1. I suspect most other professions/builds have the same issue, judging by all the nerf cries.

 

I trust they will get nerfed soon enough...mainly their sustain is just retarded.

 

That and Scourges...why Anet continually repeats balance mistakes is really frustrating. Scourges make post HoT DHs seem like sissies. In a game mode that **entirely** centers on point control, they keep making expansion classes that can completely dominate a point. Epic design fail. Considering how long it took them to tone DH down to a remotely reasonable level, I don't have much hope that we will see swift action this time around either. :(

[Nowaki.2136]

If you manage to play 100% of the time WITHOUT clones, you MAY win, if you cant, nvm since clones will trigger Full counter 11 out of 10 times, if you trigger full counter they can heal back and deal dmg and get rid of conditions and give you conditions if in range, if you are out of range they'll still be able to heal back and clean condi... so yeah...

[OriOri.8724]

I wouldn't fight spellbreakers until they are nerfed. They are just too strong against conditions right now. And loading them up is also dangerous due to revenge counter, it will copy 5 of their conditions, full stacks, back onto you. That could potentially apply a boatload of torment/confusion on you if you proc a full counter and get hit with it.

[Frostwolve.2916]

They are only immune for a duration. Counting full counter I think spellbreakers can keep resistance up 17 seconds. Most aren't gonna run but 1 resistance ability and so will itwill be less. But most of them have almost zero condi clear attached to their build. I would bait them out until they use up all their resistance

[Curunen.8729]

Arcane Thievery - if this had the ammunition mechanic with 2 charges it would be awesome...

 

Ah, one can hope...

[Daishi.6027]

I'd like to say power would be a better option vs them, 1v1 I've killed quite a lot of platinum, and went endless or achieved narrow victory with a few legendary as power.

(tho admittedly I've gone endless regardless of ranking.)

But regardless of build you either get pushed off point in a proper PvP match, and in WvW the fights lasts forever until one of you screws up hard enough or, either +1 or zerg catches up to you.

 

They are pretty strong vs condi sure; but they just have to much sustained survivability over all for conquest.

[Zenith.7301]

What's ridiculous is that they still allow things like clones/pets triggering full counter and being able to be used for cloak and dagger despite the fact you can't make them dodge or reposition them.

 

Your own class mechanic is your worst enemy, but that's been the life of mesmer and ranger since the game released.

[Doctoris.2675]

I played against Spellbreakers but from a sPvP perspective so it may not be entirely relevant in WvW. It seems like you've got the general gist of the match-up down though. We're fortunate in that Mirage is an incredibly powerful dueling spec, so the tools are there to beat Spellbreaker (and pretty much every other class except for Plague Signet...freaking Plague Signet) despite them being overtuned at the moment. You say you've got a few fights recorded, so if you upload them, we'd be able to offer much better advice.

 

As general advice goes though, Spellbreaker is somewhat one-dimensional. It is entirely melee, and they only have one particularly fast option to close in with Greatsword 5 (please, please dodge the obvious Shield 4), so you can do a lot of work by kiting them. To keep it simple, I'd say there are 3 big things to keep in mind when dueling a Spellbreaker.

 

1. **Keep a Phantasmal Disenchanter up.** If Spellbreaker (and to a lesser sPvP extent, Bunker Firebrand) wasn't a thing, this skill would be better as anything else, but because Spellbreakers have a million ways to get resistance, you need something that can strip very reliably. Phantasmal Disenchanter is that something. 900 range, 2X Strip and 2X condition clear on cast and every 2 seconds. This will make the Spellbreaker susceptible to taking any damage at all in the first place.

 

2. **Stay away when Full Counter is up.** Getting hit by a full counter is how you lose the fight. Mirages are in the unique position that even if you really mess up and get hit by a stun, you can still dodge while stunned (but seriously, take Elusive Mind), removing one of the few remaining pillars of offense Spellbreakers have outside of Full Counter (Dagger 3/Shield 4 stun > Greatsword Burst). With the disenchanter ensuring you can deal damage to the Spellbreaker, keep chipping away at their entirely melee build with Staff. Staff 2, Blink, and Jaunt are waaay more than enough tools to keep away from the Spellbreaker. I run mainhand sword/torch as a secondary weapon set, so untargeted Sword Ambush 1 and Torch 4 are additional methods to keep away if absolutely necessary. Because so much of Spellbreaker's healing is locked up in Adrenal Health which requires them to spend adrenaline, you know what they eventually have to do? Use Full Counter in unoptimal situations just to stay alive. When that happens--

 

3. **Go in for burst damage during the 6* second cooldown of Full Counter.** I know it's technically 8 seconds, but no Spellbreaker in their right mind doesn't run the discipline trait line. This is the most vulnerable a Spellbreaker is going to be. It's ironic that despite having almost infinite resistance, Spellbreakers have extremely poor condition cleansing. Again, I use Sword/Torch as a swap set, so the instant that Full Counter misses, I go in. Sword is deceptively good on condition builds as the ambush spawns a clone and delivers all other sword clones directly to your target (and may even interrupt something important), feeding fuel for shatters and negating the need for superspeed shatters (and sword offers so much more mobility and invulnerability). You can get some nutty damage off in this 6 second window. After that, you can back off and play from ranged again. Alternatively, if you're in a very advantageous position when those 6 seconds are up, you can bait the second Full Counter which 9 out of 10 Spellbreakers are spamming on cooldown when under pressure and pop the distortion shatter right as the Full Counter cooldown comes back up. A lot of Spellbreakers don't usually survive past the first burst, very few stick around to keep dueling.

 

So it is essentially about keeping Disenchanter up, not panicking about taking autoattacks, keeping distance to neuter Full Counter's effectiveness, dodging the important Full Counter/CC/damage, and then bursting during the windows when full counter is on cooldown. It's obviously harder than I'm making it sound, eating a single full counter widely swings the match-up win chance, and they do have respectable damage outside of that as well, but it's all manageable as the class is fairly one-dimensional and telegraphed. Good hunting.

[Bunnytown.7801]

I've been playing a lot of Spellbreaker in WvW since PoF came out. What Doctoris says above is very good advice. Spellbreaker 9 times out of 10 will be pure melee, so kiting them is the strongest counter. Also as Doctoris also says, you must must MUST avoid getting caught in full counter. If I hit you with full counter it can be devastating for you, if I miss a full counter it can be devastating for me. From what I've been experiencing Spellbreaker has a time limit against ranged condi builds. I only have so much resistance. If you kite properly, and just be annoying for awhile, you will run that timer out, then I'll have next to nothing unless I hit you with full counter (for a few seconds of resistance), or blow my signet heal for the resistance (And If I use signet heal, it's a last ditch effort).

[Sifu.9745]

No way to deal with spellbreaker as condi mesmer, you can only kite him with your greatsword for a while. So i am afraid GS Power builds are your only choice.

[FaboBabo.3581]

Tbh Staff is ur best friend vs Spellbreaker. As some mentioned above, kite kite kite, see the window, swap to meele weapon and burst.

 

While i'm not playing chrono currently i can imagine that Chrono looses to the loss of in combat mobility.

 

Mirage can use jaunts and staff 2 very efficient vs Spellbreaker.

I recommend sword too, cause u can "dodge" the counter while beeing aggressive at the same time.

U can actually interrupt spellbreakers too with sword ambush F3 and Chaos Storm. In combination with Chaotic interruption u can actually kill them as Mirage, but i think it's still a "skill"-matchup

[Exciton.8942]

Not a matchup worth contesting in PvP. If you see more than 1 spellbreakers, just don't play condition mesmer. Condition chrono can semi-counter them by brining in phantasmal disenchanter and potentially kill by landing a moa burst. However, it is really not worth it by taking a sub-optimal skill and you have to play perfectly to get a kill.

 

In WvW though, you don't need portal so you do have space to take phantasmal disenchanter to counter them. You also don't need to worry about capture points. So it is a manageable matchup. You just have to kite for a long time and wait for them to make mistakes.

[zealex.9410]

Spoonbreaker is really strong atm. But if you play around fc its quite easy to deal with them.

[Zenith.7301]

You won't kill a half decent spellbreaker in WvW using durability runes anyways.

 

They can easily disengage and reset the moment the fight goes south for them.