Mesmer PvE | Dungeon Sword/Sword, Sword/Focus | Control GFC CC Phantasm Spec
Table of Contents
Summary
This build is all about controlling the flow of a fight through crowd control skills. This build provides fantastic access to AoE dazes and vulnerability application against trash mobs, while good single target damage potential.
Couple this with projectile reflects, party-wide heals, condition clears, and distortions and you have a strong CC support build for a fractal party.
This build lacks party-wide aegis, protection, and regeneration, and thus may be too specialized for fractal runs with randoms.
I. Weapons and Skills
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- Mind Gash½Gash your foe to make them vulnerable.Damage: 202Vulnerability: 5 sRange: 130
- Mind Spike½Stab your foe and rip a boon off of them. This skill does an additional 50% damage to targets with no boons.Damage: 280Range: 130
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- SwapSwap locations with your clone. Immobilize nearby foes.Immobilized: 2 sCombo Finisher: LeapRange: 600
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- Counter Blade¾Shoot out a bolt that dazes foes in a line.Daze: 1 sDamage: 34Range: 900
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- Power ReturnInstantly heal yourself.Healing: 3.260
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- Power Lock5Daze your foe.Daze: 1 sRange: 1,200
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Weapon and Skill Details
Mantra of Distraction, Illusionary Riposte, and Into the Void are your primary interrupt skills. Diversion with baseline Illusionary Persona is great for stripping Defiance. Feedback and Signet of Midnight are there to protect your party from burst damage and projectiles. Most of your personal survivability comes from well-timed Blurred Frenzies.
Traits
Domination
- Illusion of VulnerabilityInterrupting a foe inflicts 3 stacks of vulnerability for 5 seconds.
- Confounding SuggestionsIncreases daze and stun duration on foes by 25%. When you would daze a foe, you stun them instead (5s ICD).
- Empowered IllusionsYour illusions deal 15% more damage.
- Rendering ShatterShatter skills inflict 1 stack of vulnerability for 8 seconds on foes they hit.
- DazzlingDazing a foe inflicts 5 stacks of vulnerability for 8 seconds.
- Shattered ConcentrationShatter skills remove 1 boon from foes they hit.
- Furious InterruptionGain quickness for 3 seconds whenever you interrupt a foe (5s ICD).
- FragilityDeal 0.5% more damage to foes for each stack of vulnerability on them.
- Imagined BurdenReduces recharge of Greatsword skills by 20%. Gain 2 stacks of might for 5 seconds whenever you or an illusion uses Spacial Surge. All of your other greatsword skills inflict cripple for 2s when they hit.
- Mental AnguishShatter skills deal 15% more damage. This bonus damage is doubled on foes that are not activating skills.
- Power BlockInterrupting a foe inflicts damage and causes weakness for 5s. Additionally if the interrupted skill has a recharge time greater than 0 it is put on a 15 second recharge.
Dueling
- Critical InfusionGain vigor for 5s when you critical hit.
- Phantasmal FuryYour phantasms gain 10 seconds of fury every 10 seconds.
- Desperate DecoyCast Decoy when you are struck while below 50% health. This trait benefits from the recharge bonus provided by Master of Manipulation.
- Duelist DisciplinePistol skills recharge 25% of their full recharge when you interrupt a foe. Pistol attacks from you and your illusions have a 33% chance to inflict 1 stacks of bleeding for 5 seconds.
- Sharper ImagesYour illusions inflict 1 stack of bleeding for 5s when they critical hit.
- Blinding DissipationWhenever you use a shatter skill you blind foes around you for 3 seconds.
- Evasive MirrorWhenever you successfully evade an attack, gain a projectile reflecting barrier for 1.5 seconds (1.5s ICD).
- Fencer’s FinesseReduces recharge of sword skills by 20%. Whenever you or an illusion hits with a sword attack you gain a stack of Fencer’s Finesse that gives 15 ferocity for 6 seconds (maximum 10 stacks).
- Confusing CombatantsYou and your illusions inflict 1 stack of confusion for 3 seconds on critical hit (33% chance).
- Harmonious MantrasMantra skills can be activated 3 times before needing to be channeled again. Whenever you use a mantra skill gain a stack of Harmonious Mantras for 10 seconds which increases your damage by 4% per stack (maximum 5 stacks).
- MistrustWhenever you interrupt a foe inflict 2 stacks of confusion for 6 seconds to foes in a radius around your target.
- Deceptive EvasionWhenever you use a dodge roll you create a clone.
Inspiration
- Mender’s PurityWhenever you use a healing skill you cast Power Cleanse. This trait benefits from Harmonious Mantras.
- Medic’s FeedbackRevive allies 10% faster. When you start reviving an ally cast Feedback. This trait benefits from the recharge bonus provided by Temporal Enchanter.
- Restorative MantrasWhen you finish preparing a mantra you heal allies around you.
- Persisting ImagesPhantasms you summon spawn with retaliation for 6 seconds and have 20% more health.
- Inspiring DistortionWhenever you grant distortion to yourself, you also grant it to nearby allies for 1 second (5s ICD)
- Warden’s FeedbackFocus weapon skills reflect projectiles and have their recharge reduced by 20%.
- Restorative IllusionsUsing a shatter skill removes 1 condition from you and heals you based on the number of illusions shattered.
- Protected PhantasmsNewly summoned phantasms gain distortion for 1 second. When you use a shatter skill, all illusions gain protection for 2 seconds.
- Healing PrismEach illusion you control grants you 200 healing power. Whenever you heal yourself, you heal nearby allies by a small amount. 10 second internal cooldown.
- Mental DefenseWhenever you successfully block or evade an attack cast Phantasmal Defender on your attacker. This trait benefits from the recharge bonus provided by Illusionist’s Celerity and Persistence of Memory.
- Illusionary InspirationPhantasms grant 3 seconds regeneration to allies near them every 3 seconds. If you have any boons when you summon a phantasm you cast Signet of Inspiration. This trait benefits from the recharge bonus provided by Blurred Inscriptions.
- Temporal EnchanterGlamour skills last an additional 2 seconds. When you first create any glamour nearby allies within the glamour radius gain 2 seconds of superspeed and 3 seconds of resistance.
Trait Details
Domination: Pick Empowered Illusions over CS and Rending Shatter. Confounding Suggestions is too single-target focused, and the 5s ICD on it limits its effectiveness against trash mobs. Rending Shatter is buffs your shatter skills marginally, but you shouldn't be shattering unless the target is going to die anyways. Pick Blurred Inscriptions for your Master trait. Boon strips are nice against the mages in the Ascalon fractal but interrupts are better. The ICD on Furious Interruption and the existence of the Defiance mechanic knocks that trait out of consideration. The Distortion on Blurred Inscriptions will synergize well with the Inspiring Distortion minor trait in Inspiration to protect your party. Power Block is the best grandmaster for PvE group content due to its raw spike damage from the old Halting Strike trait. Imagined Burden only generates might for yourself and Mental Anguish runs into the same dilemma with shatters mentioned before.
Dueling: As we are using S/S and S/F, Phantasmal Fury is the go-to choice. Fencer's Finesse is an all-around strong trait that gives us a defensive boost via CD reduction on Blurred Frenzy. It also allows us to interrupt more often with Illusionary Riposte and cast swordsmen faster. You shouldn't need Blinding Dissipation if your Elementalist/Thief is doing their job properly.
Choose Harmonious Mantras for the GM because of its synergy with MoR and MoD. This trait will let you stack up some impressive damage modifiers if you need to use conjures, and also improves your personal survivability and group condition cleanse- a must have for this build.
Inspiration: If you can't clear an encounter within 20s, Restorative Mantras provides some of the sustain your party needs to keep their scholar bonuses up. The health increase on Persisting Images isn't very useful since most bosses and mobs will one-shot them regardless. Medic's Feedback can be useful for the Grawl or Dredge fractals, but players shouldn't be going down in the first place. Warden's Feedback is the no-brainer for our master trait. Restorative Illusions is too selfish and Protected Phantasms will be more useful in WvW. For our GM, I picked Temporal Enchanted for its glamour duration and resistance. Illusionary Inspiration is a strong contender but the ICD on the boon share (24s w/ Blurred Inscriptions) and the lack of notifications for when it's available make it too unreliable for me to use it.
III. Stat Specifics & Effects
Primary Stats
- Health 16622 (+700)
- Vitality 1070 (+70)
- Armor 1967 (+0)
- Toughness 1000 (+0)
- Attack 3665 (+1615)
- Power 2562 (+1562)
- Critical Hit 66% (+66%)
- Precision 2155 (+1155)
Secondary Stats
- Boon Duration 10% (+10%)
- Critical Damage 70% (+70%)
- Damage 1103 (+5%)
- Defense 967 (+0)
- Experience from Kills 20% (+20%)
- Ferocity 1061 (+1061)
Boons
Conditions
Control
Fields & Finishers
Stat and Effect Details
In an organized group with Fury and 25 stacks of might, you'll want to grab as much precision as possible without compromising your overall stats. There is a marginal decrease in direct damage by speccing for Precision, but your damage from reflecting enemy projectiles is significantly greater.
IV. Food, Armor, Trinkets & Upgrade Items
Food Nourishment
Power: 100
Vitality: 70
Experience from Kills: 10%
- (30min)
- Power: 100
- Vitality: 70
- Experience from Kills: 10%
Utility Nourishment
Gain power equal to 6% of your toughness
Gain power equal to 4% of your vitality
Experience from Kills: 10%
- (30min)
- Gain power equal to 6% of your toughness
- Gain power equal to 4% of your vitality
- Experience from Kills: 10%
Armor & Runes
- Defense: 77
- Precision: 63
- Power: 45
- Ferocity: 45
- Power: 25
- Ferocity: 35
- Power: 50
- Ferocity: 65
- Power: 100
- +10% damage while health is above 90%.
- Defense: 77
- Precision: 47
- Power: 34
- Ferocity: 34
- Power: 25
- Ferocity: 35
- Power: 50
- Ferocity: 65
- Power: 100
- +10% damage while health is above 90%.
- Defense: 330
- Precision: 141
- Power: 101
- Ferocity: 101
- Power: 25
- Ferocity: 35
- Power: 50
- Ferocity: 65
- Power: 100
- +10% damage while health is above 90%.
- Defense: 140
- Precision: 47
- Power: 34
- Ferocity: 34
- Power: 25
- Ferocity: 35
- Power: 50
- Ferocity: 65
- Power: 100
- +10% damage while health is above 90%.
- Defense: 203
- Precision: 94
- Power: 67
- Ferocity: 67
- Power: 25
- Ferocity: 35
- Power: 50
- Ferocity: 65
- Power: 100
- +10% damage while health is above 90%.
- Defense: 140
- Precision: 47
- Power: 34
- Ferocity: 34
- Power: 25
- Ferocity: 35
- Power: 50
- Ferocity: 65
- Power: 100
- +10% damage while health is above 90%.
Armor Stat Totals
- Defense 967
- Power 490
- Ferocity 415
- Precision 439
Rune Bonuses
Superior Rune of the Scholar- Power: 25
- Ferocity: 35
- Power: 50
- Ferocity: 65
- Power: 100
- +10% damage while health is above 90%.
Accessories & Jewels
Accessory Totals
- Power:692
- Precision:466
- Ferocity:466
Weapon Set Sigils
- Weapon Strength: 950-1050
- Precision: 125
- Power: 90
- Ferocity: 90
- Weapon Strength: 950-1050
- Precision: 125
- Power: 90
- Ferocity: 90
Weapon Set I
Sigil of Superior Force+5% damage.
Sigil of Superior Accuracy+7% crit chance.
- Weapon Strength: 950-1050
- Precision: 125
- Power: 90
- Ferocity: 90
- Weapon Strength: 873-927
- Precision: 125
- Power: 90
- Ferocity: 90
Weapon Set II
Sigil of Superior Force+5% damage.
Sigil of Superior Accuracy+7% crit chance.
- Weapon Strength: 950-1050
- Power: 125
- Precision: 90
- Ferocity: 90
- Weapon Strength: 950-1050
- Power: 125
- Precision: 90
- Ferocity: 90
Water Weapon I
Superior Sigil of the NightOutgoing damage is increased by 10% at night.
Water Weapon II
Sigil of Superior BloodlustYou gain +10 power each time you kill a foe. (max 25 stacks and ends on down or weapon change)
Upgrade Item Details
Assassin's armor with Scholar runes, Assassin's weapons with Force/Accuracy/Slaying, and Berserker's trinkets give us strong damage output, even when factoring in Condition builds with Rampager's/Sinister gear. You'll want to use a Force or Energy sigil combined with a Slaying, Accuracy, or Night sigil. Superior Sigil of the Night on the spear is handy for killing Mossman.
V. Basic Gameplay
Compared to other classes with set rotations, Fractal Mesmer is a very active play style that relies a lot on properly timed reflects, feedbacks, and invulns. You'll want to spawn as many phantasms as possible in single-target encounters whereas trash mob clearing will require good focus usage followed by interrupts. Use defensive cooldowns like Feedback or Signet of Midnight as necessary.
Main Skill Rotation
Although not shown visually, you'll want to start with pistol offhand and spawn a duelist before you get into combat. After your phantasm appears, quickly swap your offhand back to focus before continuing with the rest of the setup.
Clearing Trash Mobs
Pull mobs together with Focus 4, timing it so that your warden appear on top of them immediately after the pull. Sword 2 to generate Fencer's Finesse and evade their burst while simultaneously dazing them with MoD. Use Sword 4 to daze once more before using Sword 5 and your shatters on any survivors.
Reflections
For permanent reflect uptime without Illusionist's Celerity and Phantasmal Haste:
0s - Spawn Warden
5s - Feedback
13s - Signet of Midnight
14.2s - Warden 1 attacks
19.2s - Projectile block/reflect from party member
23.7s - Spawn Warden
28.4s - Warden 1 attacks
33s - Temporal Curtain
37.9s - Warden 2 attacks
42.6s - Warden 1 attacks
47.3s - Spawn Warden
52.1s - Warden 2 attacks
56.8s - Warden 1 attacks
61.5s - Warden 3 attacks
Mossman
Against Mossman, stay with spear and spawn Mariners until you have three of them. Once you have three illusions, just cast Feigned Surge whenever it is off cool down, making sure not to Feign