Curse

maxxfury · May 23, 2010, 03:48 AM // 03:48

Not synergising with mop/barbs, gdw/splinter, soh, ebsoh, orders and also no way to power Sy or pproc daze...

Means this will always be a "fun" frontline, but way below ANYTHING a regular physical can do.

As trcvrs says tho, id be inclined to agree me/a with drunken master + dag mastery is probably the way to go..or a scythe if you gonna ball every thing i suppose.
daggers or scythe, rest is a waste.

Daesu · May 23, 2010, 04:02 AM // 04:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by trcvrs

12 dagger mastery is straight up, 26% more damage. There's quite literally, nothing else you can bring from other professions that will do that much for you. Since IW is a one-trick pony, you might as well be good at it.

Other benefits to Me/A - 1) daggers are way cooler than swords. 2) maintaining feigned neutrality is always fun.

If you do insist on Me/W for god knows why, you should consider Stability/flurry to make up for some ground lost to Me/A and also use as a cover enchant.

Feigned neutrality has a 25s recharge while lasting 9s at level 12 shadow arts. Also ends if you use a skill.

I suppose it is a good heal even though I dont really like it as a cover enchant over Channeling. If it is a /N I would recommend Blood Renewal.

Giro · May 23, 2010, 04:26 AM // 04:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Willow O Whisper

Your killing the bonus added with the update by adding to many non illusion skills.. Basicly you end up with a pre update version of the skill.

4 Illusion Magic skills still gives +20 armor, bringing you to 80 without insignia or a shield, so I would hardly say you're not using the newly updated bonus. Having all Illusion skills would make you rely on casting too much and ignoring actual attacking in my opinion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by trcrvs

12 dagger mastery is straight up, 26% more damage.

I agree it would increase the damage, however I prefer using a shield for defense or scythe for AoE over daggers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxxfury

Not synergising with mop/barbs, gdw/splinter, soh, ebsoh, orders and also no way to power Sy or pproc daze...

Means this will always be a "fun" frontline, but way below ANYTHING a regular physical can do.

I definitely agree this cannot replace, say, a warrior on the frontline, but it allows a Mesmer to play on the frontline without dying, while dealing constant armor ignoring damage, and still having some caster utility (Sympathetic Visage, Phantom Pain, Signet of Clumsiness, etc.).

ajaxfetish · May 23, 2010, 05:50 AM // 05:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by tghoodoo

i used great dwarf armor as my cover enchant. works great. plus its quite beneficial for extra armor

Hmmm, will the +armor from great dwarf armor stack with the new armor from IW? I doubt it based on the way armor mechanic works. I've been using dwarven stability as a cover enchant, since its duration and recharge are in the same neighborhood as IW and it cuts the energy cost of flurry in half. I've also been using ethereal and kitah's burdens, to keep targets from running away from me. They're pricey on the cast side, but pay for themselves and more.

Ajax

NerfHerder · May 23, 2010, 11:50 PM // 23:50

Im interested in a good Illusionary Weapon build myself. But I cant come up with anything much better than whats in this thread. I basically just added Epidemic so you can spread conditions, which a Warrior can do better if he brings the same skill. I used a caster sword and tactics shield -2 in stance.

IW Test

I tested this build and got the buried treasures and didnt have any nrg trouble. It tanks well but still cant compete with the other melee classes DPS. Ill keep my fingers crossed that someone can come up with an IW build with more dmg and similar armor effect.

Myotheraccount · May 23, 2010, 11:58 PM // 23:58

Tank with it.

awry · May 30, 2010, 01:52 PM // 13:52

the more illusion skills I add, the more i am tempted to just switch illusionary weapon to ineptitude. After all the more time I spend casting=less time i'll be autoattacking w/ the weapon, this is especially true for heros.

The Drunkard · Jun 01, 2010, 04:16 AM // 04:16

Unless you are running mystic sandstorm, IW is really not worth the investment. The new update didn't help it much (since you can just run conviction with it anyways) and there aren't really strong mesmer covers aside from celerity.

Lanier · Jun 01, 2010, 04:54 AM // 04:54

Yea... the update didnt really help IW at all as the skills that work well with IW (IAS's, BUH, Intensity, other survival skills) arnt found in the illusion attribute. Its still a really fun skill to use though

. I started using it with daggers, 12 dagger mastery, and that dwarven IAS and the double strike bonus from daggers really is pretty noticeable.

-Makai- · Jun 01, 2010, 06:13 AM // 06:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lanier

Yea... the update didnt really help IW at all as the skills that work well with IW (IAS's, BUH, Intensity, other survival skills) arnt found in the illusion attribute. Its still a really fun skill to use though

. I started using it with daggers, 12 dagger mastery, and that dwarven IAS and the double strike bonus from daggers really is pretty noticeable.

At the least, they should have turned the + AR bonus to a small percentage to block, damage reduction, or an IAS. As mentioned earlier, +AR is easy to get.

<imagines a sword-wielding Mesmer parrying strike after strike, all while sipping a snifter of brandy, tweaking his monocle and saying a guttural "M'yes">

Lanier · Jun 01, 2010, 02:02 PM // 14:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sante_Kelm

At the least, they should have turned the + AR bonus to a small percentage to block

That would be pretty cool and it would be more "mesmerish" than increased armor. When you think of mesmers, you dont think of an armored wall, but you do think of an illusionist who can manipulate what their enemies see.

Csquirrelrun · Jun 06, 2010, 09:13 AM // 09:13

I still don't see a great benefit in the update as it doesn't improve IW much past using Physical or Elemental Resistance as you'd need a full bar of Illusion skills to gain the same amount of armour. (Especially seeing as they don't reduce your AL below your normal 60) Yes by using either of them you can't use flurry but then you have 100 armour against physical/elemental damage and you still get say 80AL against other damage from your 4 Illusion skills.

The Josip · Jun 06, 2010, 09:32 AM // 09:32

IW buff went the wrong way, IMO.

Mesmers are *supposed* to be a fragile class. They should not get armor boost with IW. Armor should be their disadvantage. Buff should have been concerned with damage/utility from IW. When I say utility, I mean something like the effect Dwarven Battle Stance had, since ANet wanted to push mesmers more into interrupters. When I say damage, I want to say that IW doesn't synergize with anything, and to use speed buff you need to look out of illusion line which means, yes, the armor buff (the way it was made) makes less and less sense. What also makes no sense is.. are you casting spells or attacking with IW? To get my money's worth I'd need to keep attacking with IW the entire time, and even then damage would be pitiful. If I'm going to spend casting spells more than attacking with IW, what's the point of even having IW. I don't know what Test Crew was thinking about IW and this IW buff. Calculated Risk (PvE) will do more damage than IW in IW build. And it'll nullify half of the attacks as well.

IMO, IW mesmer needs to be "high risk high reward" build. Not a mesmer melee build which is worse in damage than anything else, worse in self-defense than any other melee build, and whatever utility contradicts with IW attacks or IW buff.

Lishy · Jun 06, 2010, 02:40 PM // 14:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Josip

I don't know what Test Crew was thinking about IW and this IW buff.

The Test Krewe does not have 100% say in the updates that happen. What the TK does however, is provide feedback and test.

I personally don't like the IW update, but there are always arguments on both sides.

maxxfury · Jun 06, 2010, 02:48 PM // 14:48

until it can carry weapons spells and proc phys buffs it wont stand up to the competition. resigned to 'lol' sessions when bored to be fair. Which wont happen.

Or unless someone find a solo farm with it thats faster than spirit spams for example :P /not holding breath