I present my WvW mantra lockdown mesmer build. The concept isn't novel, but I've yet to encounter this formulation.
|| Goal ||
The objective of this build is to develop a zerg-friendly mesmer that will take advantage of the new stability paradigm.
|| Features ||
- Multiple AoE hard CC skills that cause 2 second immobilize on interrupt
- AoE stability sharing (up to 9 consecutive seconds)
- Traditional mesmer utility with survivability
|| Build ||
Sword/Focus + Staff (Nullification/Cleansing + Fire/Cleansing sigils)
Mantra of Recovery, Mantra of Concentration, Mantra of Distraction, Veil/Portal, Mass Invisibility
0
6 Mantra Mastery, Protected Mantras, Harmonious Mantras
6 Descent into Madness, Chaotic Dampening, Chaotic Interruption
2 Mender's Purity
0
Soldier Gear (Traveler runes)
|| Guide ||
Overview: This is a support build in the sense that it's designed to funnel glory to your teammates rather than yourself (unless it thrills you to hear "nice veil"). Many of your AoE CC skills won't yield tags, but will set up your buddies to make paste of your foes. Plus you can still veil, portal, time warp, drive golems, etc.
Weapon Skills: Staff is fundamental to this build because it brings the best skill: Chaos Storm, an AoE field that pulses dazes (which immobilize on interrupt), boons for your buddies, soft control on your enemies, damage, and is an ethereal field. This is a legit bomb when the pin calls for such. I'm still not in love with staff overall; though Phase Retreat is good for positioning and clone generation, the auto-attack is trifling, the phantasm is single target, and Chaos Armor is a modest buff at best. Nevertheless, Chaos Storm makes it all worth it.
Sword is quite useful- invulnerability, clone generation, teleport, immobilize (when iLeap feels like working), and just something to cleave downies when you find yourself in close-quarters combat. Focus is also too useful to leave behind: the AoE pull that can proc immobilize, plus the group swiftness. And the phantasm is decent for damaging siege I suppose.
Sword/focus emerged as the best complement to my playstyle but scepter/focus or even greatsword could be utilized in a pew-pew variant of this build. Both would still have AoE hard CC. The improved scepter projectile is more reliable than the staff's autoattack, you get a channeled block, and this variant could run dire gear to improve staff a bit. Greatsword is a superior ranged option to both but the lack of defense would orient you more toward the backline than I prefer.
Utility Skills: Though the mechanism of mantras is simple, the gameplay is nuanced. First there's the technical level. Channeling mantras doesn't lock you out of using instant cast skills, which for this build are not not only the other prepared mantras but also Phase Retreat and Chaos Storm on Staff. Using these skills while channeling mantras is a unique style, and this bleeds into the tactical level, where the decisions to commit to a mantra channel or burn a single mantra charge to reset to three require anticipation and knowledge of the flow of battle.
The healing mantra is boosted by traits. Cleansing two conditions per cast permits you to use this just for clearing your own condis, given the short cooldown. And while channeling mantras your toughness surges from 2900 to 3500; waiting to channel until you're running into damage is viable. With traveler runes, the stability mantra reaches a round 3 seconds. Given three casts and an internal cooldown of 2 seconds, you can chain 9 seconds of stability to your allies on a ~23 second cooldown. What say you guardians? Lastly, I'm not sure everyone is aware that the daze mantra is a PbAoE centered on your target at 1200 range. If Chaos Storm is the centerpiece of the build, this is your bread and butter. Just don't use it on foes with stability- yet.
Before moving on, I want to put in a word for the aesthetics of mantras. The animations, both overhead when you channel and around your target when you cast, are very pretty. The mantra channeling animation really shows off your offhand weapon. Plus you periodically get silly voice clips. Definitely a plus of the build.
Traits: The value of the mantra traits is self-evident. The fall damage trait may seem silly at first, but it procs more Chaos Storm, and situations present themselves if you're looking. Besides, any illusions you generate don't last long enough for the reduced damage trait. The boons on interrupt trait would also seem more appropriate for this build, but it's mainly for might stacking and it's hard to land enough hits to make this worthwhile. I recommend taking reduced staff cooldowns for moar chaos storm! And of course, the precious immobilize on interrupt- 2 seconds on anyone who dares to use a skill in your Chaos Storm or near someone you instantly daze or near your focus pull.
Gear: Since the daze mantra and focus pull (and staff auto-attack) are non-damaging, I favor Soldier's stats- good survivability and you can still cleave with sword when necessary. I can't bear playing mesmer without improved movement speed. The fire sigil on staff should proc enough with maintenance oils. Cleansing sigils help against condi burst. I'm open to suggestions on the sword sigil, but nullification was improved in a recent feature patch and synergizes with the build.
The Future: As of today, the multiple AoE hard CCs must be applied judiciously. But soon you'll be able to toss them directly into the enemy frontline, ripping stacks of stability in all directions before revealing the nougaty center. In theorycrafting for the upcoming stability changes, I think builds that deal and capitalize on CC will rise to greater prominence.
|| Goal ||
The objective of this build is to develop a zerg-friendly mesmer that will take advantage of the new stability paradigm.
|| Features ||
- Multiple AoE hard CC skills that cause 2 second immobilize on interrupt
- AoE stability sharing (up to 9 consecutive seconds)
- Traditional mesmer utility with survivability
|| Build ||
Sword/Focus + Staff (Nullification/Cleansing + Fire/Cleansing sigils)
Mantra of Recovery, Mantra of Concentration, Mantra of Distraction, Veil/Portal, Mass Invisibility
0
6 Mantra Mastery, Protected Mantras, Harmonious Mantras
6 Descent into Madness, Chaotic Dampening, Chaotic Interruption
2 Mender's Purity
0
Soldier Gear (Traveler runes)
|| Guide ||
Overview: This is a support build in the sense that it's designed to funnel glory to your teammates rather than yourself (unless it thrills you to hear "nice veil"). Many of your AoE CC skills won't yield tags, but will set up your buddies to make paste of your foes. Plus you can still veil, portal, time warp, drive golems, etc.
Weapon Skills: Staff is fundamental to this build because it brings the best skill: Chaos Storm, an AoE field that pulses dazes (which immobilize on interrupt), boons for your buddies, soft control on your enemies, damage, and is an ethereal field. This is a legit bomb when the pin calls for such. I'm still not in love with staff overall; though Phase Retreat is good for positioning and clone generation, the auto-attack is trifling, the phantasm is single target, and Chaos Armor is a modest buff at best. Nevertheless, Chaos Storm makes it all worth it.
Sword is quite useful- invulnerability, clone generation, teleport, immobilize (when iLeap feels like working), and just something to cleave downies when you find yourself in close-quarters combat. Focus is also too useful to leave behind: the AoE pull that can proc immobilize, plus the group swiftness. And the phantasm is decent for damaging siege I suppose.
Sword/focus emerged as the best complement to my playstyle but scepter/focus or even greatsword could be utilized in a pew-pew variant of this build. Both would still have AoE hard CC. The improved scepter projectile is more reliable than the staff's autoattack, you get a channeled block, and this variant could run dire gear to improve staff a bit. Greatsword is a superior ranged option to both but the lack of defense would orient you more toward the backline than I prefer.
Utility Skills: Though the mechanism of mantras is simple, the gameplay is nuanced. First there's the technical level. Channeling mantras doesn't lock you out of using instant cast skills, which for this build are not not only the other prepared mantras but also Phase Retreat and Chaos Storm on Staff. Using these skills while channeling mantras is a unique style, and this bleeds into the tactical level, where the decisions to commit to a mantra channel or burn a single mantra charge to reset to three require anticipation and knowledge of the flow of battle.
The healing mantra is boosted by traits. Cleansing two conditions per cast permits you to use this just for clearing your own condis, given the short cooldown. And while channeling mantras your toughness surges from 2900 to 3500; waiting to channel until you're running into damage is viable. With traveler runes, the stability mantra reaches a round 3 seconds. Given three casts and an internal cooldown of 2 seconds, you can chain 9 seconds of stability to your allies on a ~23 second cooldown. What say you guardians? Lastly, I'm not sure everyone is aware that the daze mantra is a PbAoE centered on your target at 1200 range. If Chaos Storm is the centerpiece of the build, this is your bread and butter. Just don't use it on foes with stability- yet.
Before moving on, I want to put in a word for the aesthetics of mantras. The animations, both overhead when you channel and around your target when you cast, are very pretty. The mantra channeling animation really shows off your offhand weapon. Plus you periodically get silly voice clips. Definitely a plus of the build.
Traits: The value of the mantra traits is self-evident. The fall damage trait may seem silly at first, but it procs more Chaos Storm, and situations present themselves if you're looking. Besides, any illusions you generate don't last long enough for the reduced damage trait. The boons on interrupt trait would also seem more appropriate for this build, but it's mainly for might stacking and it's hard to land enough hits to make this worthwhile. I recommend taking reduced staff cooldowns for moar chaos storm! And of course, the precious immobilize on interrupt- 2 seconds on anyone who dares to use a skill in your Chaos Storm or near someone you instantly daze or near your focus pull.
Gear: Since the daze mantra and focus pull (and staff auto-attack) are non-damaging, I favor Soldier's stats- good survivability and you can still cleave with sword when necessary. I can't bear playing mesmer without improved movement speed. The fire sigil on staff should proc enough with maintenance oils. Cleansing sigils help against condi burst. I'm open to suggestions on the sword sigil, but nullification was improved in a recent feature patch and synergizes with the build.
The Future: As of today, the multiple AoE hard CCs must be applied judiciously. But soon you'll be able to toss them directly into the enemy frontline, ripping stacks of stability in all directions before revealing the nougaty center. In theorycrafting for the upcoming stability changes, I think builds that deal and capitalize on CC will rise to greater prominence.
Two of each or?
