10 replies to this topic

[Faye]

Greetings fellow Clone Machines,


I've posted this on the official forums but I'm aware some of the community goes here in stead so I figured I'd post it here as well.

I've been rocking a Mantra Power and Heal build for a while now, testing it out mostly in WvW and Dungeons. I've gotten A LOT of questions regarding the build as not many mesmers use mantras. So I hope this guide will show you how it works and demonstrate my build.

Here is a more accurate gameplay footage, I tried to find people in WvW but people seemed to really like to zerg yesterday! So I decided to do some late night sPvP, As the video progresses I start to get into the groove of things a bit more. 10 matches in total versus Guardians, Warriors, Necro, Mesmer. I hope to get more videos against some more professions when I can.

Gameplay:

VS Thieves & Ranger:



VS Warriors/Guardians/Necro/Mesmer:



Older video:



Heal = 0:36
Burst = 0:25 & 0:40

The Build:

http://www.guildhead...z7kIp70V7owX70m

Alternative:

http://www.gw2build.....0.30.20.0.20.0

30/20/0/20/0

Domination:

For this build to be useful it's important to take the 3x mantra trait. I know that you can get more heals out faster using Mantra of Pain with 2 mantras but you end up debilitating yourself by losing out on that extra heal/damage burst/condition removal/daze.

Crippling Dissipation is a bit of a personal preference but because clones get killed so often it makes for a great extra way to control the enemy during a fight. The other one to use would be Mental Torment.

Dueling:

I would suggest starting off with Protected Mantras until you are used to casting them, Afterwards I would suggest going for Blade training instead.

Inspiration:

Medic's Feedback is great if you intend on running with zergs (Or in dungeons). If you prefer skirmishing or sPvP I would suggested Mender's Purity.

Gear:

I went for Power, Prec, Crit gear. Before you shout 'Glass Cannon' I make up for the lack of toughness/vitality by using Power, Crit, Vit Rings and Jewels. I'm also using the 'Guild Caretaker Backpack of the Berserker' for a bit of extra healing power.

If you mostly do WvW I would recommend using Superior runes of the Centaur (Unless you like being VERY slow) Otherwise I would also recommend using Superior runes of the Wurm for the vitality.

You already have a fair amount of vitality from the 20 points in vitality so it adds up to a nice amount. In case you are wondering why Vitality and not Toughness. Vitality is better against condition damage and burst damage. Where as toughness is better for direct damage.

You should be able to mitigate direct damage fairly well using the sword, cripples, stuns, dazes, blink, knock back and even if you use mantra of resolve over mantra of distraction this will run out quickly when up against certain professions (Necro) and because you can't evade conditions on you, Vitality is better for mitigating this.

Sigils I use are Superior Sigil of Nullification on Gsword, Superior Sigil of Frailty and Superior Sigil of Paralyzation on Sword/Pistol.

Swiftness:

One thing to note on using the centaur runes with mantra of recovery, It gives you VERY reliable swiftness. You get 10 seconds of swiftness with 5 second downtime period in between. It will proc swiftness when you finish casting a mantra as well as when you use the readied mantra (So that is 4x swiftness). I demonstrate this here:



Healing:

Whenever I finish casting a mantra I heal myself and those around me for up to 2.8k (roughly). This is especially effective when stacked up as everyone is within range and not moving around (Think Lupicus Phase 1 or face rubbing a gate in WvW). Keep in mind that the range is about 400/600ish? So it's always better to be near someone you intend to heal when possible.

It is also of great use if you see an ally with low health to quickly run up or blink to them (while casting mantra of pain) and give them a quick top up. You can essentially decide whether to spam mantra of pain for a while to help heal the people around you (which also does damage) or you can use the heals more interspersed and instead focus on weapon skills. This is why I love this build, You can swap between damage and support in a heartbeat.

Here is a video demonstrating how mantra healing can be useful when attacking a gate while being attacked by arrow carts:




Combat Explanation:

Step 1: Always prepare your mantras well before a fight, Even if you have '2' in stead of '3' readied, use them and prepare again when possible.

Step 2: Start a fight with Phantasmal Berserker to cripple the enemy and as you run closer into melee range of the enemy use Mirror Blade to put on Vulnerability + Might to yourself (If you happen to get close enough by that point).

Step 3: Swap to Sword/Pistol and use Magic Bullet to give yourself a quick moment to summon 'Phantasmal Duellist' while making your way around the enemy.

Step 4: As your enemy gets out of stun use Illusionary Leap on them to get close and immobilize them.

Step 5: At this point you should have the Berserker, Duellist and Illusionary Leap clone up. So use Blurred Frenzy, Mind Wrack and Mantra of Pain at the same time. This will do some significant damage to your opponent.

Step 6: Dodge back and swap back to Greatsword and quickly re-apply Phantasmal Berserker, While using any remaining Mantra of Pain.

Step 7: Use this respite in the fight to cast Mantra of Pain again (This will heal as well).. Rinse and repeat.

Of course fights vary significantly but I found the above method is a great 'base' method to work from.  

I also find you end up having to press a lot of buttons at the same time which I sometimes struggle with (being female, got small hands) so I do sometimes click on abilities I can't reach at the time as I'm using other abilities already.

When using mantra of distraction I would advice saving this for when you really need it (You're getting low in health and/or you need to re-cast mantras). Or when you can see a big attack coming from the enemy.

If you find yourself getting into a tight spot (For example you have no mantras remaining and no heals).

Use this moment to blink away from your enemy, pop timewarp, cast your Mantra of Recovery (and mantra of distraction or pain if you can) as this will heal you up quite a bit. Then use the remaining quickness to use your greatsword + mantra of pain. Hopefully at this point finishing off your enemy.

Conclusion:

I hope this guide is of help, I just really wanted to share my experiences with my mantra build and gameplay. It takes some getting used to using mantras but because less enemies expect it (if at all) you have the upper hand using them. I does require a high skill level and profession understanding.

You can quite easily swap things around in a mantra build to your own preference. I feel there is a lot of potential hybrids to the build, I'd just say try it out :3

Feel free to mail/whisper me questions if you have any IGN: Lilyfay (Or as a reply to this thread)

Best of luck,

Lilyfay

Edited by Faye, 09 January 2013 - 03:18 PM.

[Elr3d]

Hello,

I actually never played a Mesmer past lvl15, but when I did I looked around mantra builds.

When choosing your rune, did you play around with other runes that proc on heal? (Air, Water, Dwayna, Balthazar, Grenth and other, you already mentioned Centaur)

Also, would this build be fit for leveling?

In any case, I must say I almost never faced mantra mesmers in WvWvW (or if I did I didn't notice it), so it's cool to see new builds like this emerge

[Faye]

Elr3d, on 09 January 2013 - 03:13 PM, said:

Hello,

I actually never played a Mesmer past lvl15, but when I did I looked around mantra builds.

When choosing your rune, did you play around with other runes that proc on heal? (Air, Water, Dwayna, Balthazar, Grenth and other, you already mentioned Centaur)

Also, would this build be fit for leveling?

In any case, I must say I almost never faced mantra mesmers in WvWvW (or if I did I didn't notice it), so it's cool to see new builds like this emerge

I had a look at the other runes but centaur gave the longest swiftness duration. If I'm going to compromise some of my stats in favour of some swiftness for WvW I might as well do it properly   At least it has power which is useful. If you do sPvP or Dungeons I would strongly advice using Rune of the Wurm in stead.

As for levelling, I'm not sure but I don't see why it wouldn't work for levelling. I guess you'd have to try it out and see how it goes

I'm not surprised you haven't run into mantra mesmers there are virtually none around in PvP. Very few people use mantras or if they do it's usually just one and not a proper mantra build. So I hope posting this will make the build clearer to other mesmers and so they can see the potential of running such a build or at least trying it out/playing around with mantras.

Lilyfay

Edited by Faye, 09 January 2013 - 03:29 PM.

[Altoid974]

My wife and I wanted to know the musical artist  on the first video.

Thanks

[Running4Cover]

You're seriously going to force me to bust out my first toon just to try this build?  Curses!

...by which I actually mean "Thanks for the post, and I'm going to play around with this."
^Reading between the lines 101

EDIT:
Also, Altoid974, I believe the artist is Alice Gold.  "Orbit" or something similar is the song's name name.

Edited by Running4Cover, 13 January 2013 - 09:41 PM.

[Faye]

Altoid974, on 13 January 2013 - 09:24 PM, said:

My wife and I wanted to know the musical artist  on the first video.

Thanks

As Running4Cover said it's Alice Gold - Orbiter

Running4Cover, on 13 January 2013 - 09:37 PM, said:

You're seriously going to force me to bust out my first toon just to try this build?  Curses!

...by which I actually mean "Thanks for the post, and I'm going to play around with this."
^Reading between the lines 101

Hopefully you had some luck with it!

[cruzydub]

Hm...looks interessting but dousn´t that spec lack of mobility? You only have blink.
So do you think that works with staff too?

[SCLOBERNOCKER47]

Good to see people using mantras again. Ill admit, even after all the beta theorycrafting, I dont use mantras at all in WvW anymore.
Your build is very similar to mine still... Perhaps Ill throw them back in and see how it goes.

[burpyierz]

I got a question about rune with on heal proc

Does the rune only activates when you cast the heal mantra ? or does it activate also when you use the 2 or 3 x heal ?

[Kuskah]

Just as I was getting bored on my mesmer, I find this thread. Love it!

Btw, here's my "glass cannon" variation of this: BUILD

[Wardi]

Awesome build! Btw i have an idea, what if I buy Water runes? (6th bonus: "
When you use a healing skill you and nearby allies are healed for a small amount. (Cooldown: 10s)") It would be really nice with MoR because cooldown is nearly the same.

Edited by Wardi, 04 February 2013 - 03:03 PM.