Curse

Timotheus Amadeus · Jan 15, 2008, 01:43 PM // 13:43

The meaning of my thread is that ofcourse I can find Illusionary Weaponry builds anywhere. Like the other Illusionary Weaponry thread suggests for finding builds. Ofcourse I know where to find them. But the only thing I need to know is, like my Mesmer / Necro thread. How does this build work. I have the following questions. Because I recently found the versatility of the mesmer and the fun it is to use all the different sides of this profession.

-What is the base for this build? (other than illusionary weaponry ofcourse)
-What should I think of when building my own one? (what skills, attribute points given and weapon mods)
-Is Illusionary Weaponry the most powerful with Warrior as a 2nd profession?
-What swordmods should I use?
-Do I need to give points to swordmanship? (Or do you only wield a sword for the swordmods?)
-Is an Illusionary Weaponry build powerful in PvE and PvP aswell?
-How should a build like this be played?

Thanks already mates!

makosi · Jan 15, 2008, 01:49 PM // 13:49

The reason IW isn't cast up often is that your entire build is dependent on an Enchantment spell to which there are countless counters. Each chapter has brought more and more Enchantment-stripping spells and skills which weakens the core of any IW skillbar.

The old-fashioned IW bar looked something like this:

Me/W

[skill]Illusionary Weaponry[/skill][skill]Imagined Burden[/skill][skill]Healing signet[/skill][skill]Flurry[/skill][skill]Illusion of Weakness[/skill][skill]leech signet[/skill][skill]disciplined stance[/skill][skill]resurrection signet[/skill]

Any increased-attack speed skills are beneficial for the obvious reason that they boost your DPS. Flurry seems to be the best because it has no drawbacks on an IW build because the damage reduction doesn't apply. I've seen people use Frenzy with IW and needless to say, they were mauled fairly quickly.

A +5 Energy sword with +20% Enchanting is ideal with a Tactics shield with whatever mods you feel comfortable with. You don't need to meet the requirement of the sword but it's handy to meet the requirement for anadditional 8 armour - which a Mesmer can benefit greatly from.

Silhouette · Jan 15, 2008, 01:50 PM // 13:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timotheus Amadeus

-What should I think of when building my own one? (what skills, attribute points given and weapon mods)

The thing is you're very fragile as a mesmer, so you have to take blocking skills: (Deadly) Riposte and Distortion are common.

Quote:

-What swordmods should I use?

Enchanting or Fortitude. The prefix has no bearing on your damage.

Quote:

-Do I need to give points to swordmanship? (Or do you only wield a sword for the swordmods?)

You can leave swordsmanship at 0, because you will do constant damage, regardless of your skill with the weapon.

Quote:

-Is an Illusionary Weaponry build powerful in PvE and PvP aswell?

I've seen it in PvP a couple of times and, if played right, it's pretty powerful. Enchantment removal, especially ugly stuff like Corrupt Enchantment, will kick its ass, though.

Those are the questions I can answer.

Kattar · Jan 15, 2008, 02:22 PM // 14:22

In truth Tim, I wouldn't bother with it. Mesmers aren't meant for front line. I would focus my energies, and skill points, on something else.

Timotheus Amadeus · Jan 15, 2008, 03:00 PM // 15:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katsumi Rikyu

In truth Tim, I wouldn't bother with it. Mesmers aren't meant for front line. I would focus my energies, and skill points, on something else.

Ofcourse, I know this is just for the fun when you're bored of casting. But can you still actually do effective damage, like easily complete missions with it like I do with my Domination and Illusion builds. Or is it only useful in PvP. Because I would really love to run around with a caster sword like I do with my monks.

SlimChance · Jan 15, 2008, 03:28 PM // 15:28

Enchantment removal will be more common in PVP than in PVE. So IW is better suited for pve. There are several mesmer farming builds based on IW, and it can be a nice change in pace for the mesmer.

But like Katsumi has mentioned, mesmer's aren't meant for the front line. That is not their strength.

Painbringer · Jan 15, 2008, 03:34 PM // 15:34

It actually is bad …. just bad, but fun sometimes for something different

In RA and PVE it can kill rather well, but the 60 armor class is what will kill you ( I have sometimes green farmed Sorrow furnace with an IW build but you need a good monk)

Do not forget about [skill]Sympathetic Visage[/skill]

You are not limited to a sword…………. by the way you can go dagger which is a faster attack speed.

Do not waste a point in daggers

Sin Ideas
[skill]Shroud of distress[/skill]
Smoke Powder Defense
[skill]Viper's Defense[/skill]

Do not waste a point on sword load up tactics

Other ideas if using a sword
Warrior ideas
[skill]Deadly Riposte[/skill]

Kattar · Jan 15, 2008, 03:39 PM // 15:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlimChance

There are several mesmer farming builds based on IW

Oh, and that solo farming build, with IW and Me/E doesn't work anymore, fyi.

Painbringer · Jan 15, 2008, 04:15 PM // 16:15

Here is a suggested me/a untested build (now you have me thinking I need to unlock some skills to try and run this……. there goes my money again)

Personally I would get a pair of daggers + 20% enchantments

[skill]illusionary weaponry[/skill] [skill]shroud of distress[/skill] [skill]Dark Escape[/skill] (not tested….but my assumption since you do not hit with an attack with IW you would take ½ damage for 13 seconds) [skill]viper's defense[/skill] [skill]death's charge[/skill] [skill]shadow refuge[/skill] [skill]Illusion of Weakness[/skill] [skill]resurrection signet[/skill]

Could just use [skill]Feigned Neutrality[/skill] instead (As long as when you have IW up it does not count as a hit …. Just can not use skills)

zwei2stein · Jan 15, 2008, 04:27 PM // 16:27

Another "efficient" use of iw is probably on Me/R

Beastmastery provides self heals (Companionship), perma cheap ias (Heket's Rampage) and pet to improve DPS.

Painbringer · Jan 15, 2008, 04:36 PM // 16:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by zwei2stein

Another "efficient" use of iw is probably on Me/R

Beastmastery provides self heals (Companionship), perma cheap ias (Heket's Rampage) and pet to improve DPS.

Good point Hekets can be maintained almost constantly and you still can use weapon of choice

Turtle222 · Jan 15, 2008, 05:23 PM // 17:23

Ive never tried a scythe w/ IW and flurry since you dont need to spec any points in SM, you can still go M/W and use a scythe to spread damage to 3 opponents. this is regarding pve

anyone tried it? is it worth the reduced attack speed?

Epinephrine · Jan 16, 2008, 05:33 AM // 05:33

Gave IW with a pet a try, it worked ok. Bar was

Illusionary Weaponry
Heket's Rampage
Kitah's Burden
Predatory Bond
Feral Aggression
Comfort Animal
Charm Animal
Resurrection Signet

Was interesting, put out 60 or so DPS on the Master, the Feral Aggression+Predatory bond made for decent healing over time, since you can activate it while kiting and keep healing up. Energy is a bit tight, was nice to be able to send a pet after one opponent while pressuring another with the IW. Not amazing or anything, but an interesting build. 10 seconds of IAS on 5 energy is nice.

Lordhelmos · Jan 16, 2008, 09:27 AM // 09:27

Me/D is the best IMO for Illusionary Weapon. Conviction + Mystic Regen cover your armor and survivability problems while also masking IW. You can even split into wind prayers for Mystic Twisters for an AoE bomb from your stacked enchantments. /D also allows you to bury your IW in a whole stockpile of enchants so it's hard to strip and Whirling Charge offers a decent IAS.

Syntonic · Jan 16, 2008, 09:55 AM // 09:55

IW is bad in PvP partly because of the above reasons and partly because IW's DPS just sucks for the most part despite what you may try to think of to counteract it. So why use it in PvE? Because you can and it doesn't matter. In fact, there were a few solo farm builds centered around IW.

Timotheus Amadeus · Jan 16, 2008, 10:57 AM // 10:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lordhelmos

Me/D is the best IMO for Illusionary Weapon. Conviction + Mystic Regen cover your armor and survivability problems while also masking IW. You can even split into wind prayers for Mystic Twisters for an AoE bomb from your stacked enchantments. /D also allows you to bury your IW in a whole stockpile of enchants so it's hard to strip and Whirling Charge offers a decent IAS.

In combination with a scythe or sword?

Pyro maniac · Jan 16, 2008, 11:01 AM // 11:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timotheus Amadeus

In combination with a scythe or sword?

both, scythe for multiple mobs, sword for single

LouAl · Jan 16, 2008, 09:45 PM // 21:45

IMO the only real use for IW is 55IW
IW
Prot Spirit
Healing Breeze
blah blah (usually ancestor's/sympathetic visage or both)
blah blah
Mending
Essence Bond
Balthatzar's Spirit

It isn't as fast as other 55's but you can kill some things that you can't with others (many monks and bosses are killable).

The only other place where I have used it with decent success is in FoW where I took IW to beat on the monsters that came to the backline. It only helped because in a PuG, the tank will often see monsters in the backline and think "I gotta get back there and help out," then you have even more monsters and a potential wipe. In this situation, I just brought it (without an IAS) instead of my usual Illusion elite without making it the core of my build. It wasn't great but was decent as a lame wammo deterrent.

Timotheus Amadeus · Jan 17, 2008, 03:39 PM // 15:39

My mate just gave me a req 9 Celestial sword, and I bought a 20% Enchanting Mod for it, in combination with Elemental Resistance and Backfire I managed to kill some Fire Imps in hard mode lol. Though I have to work out a more specific build. It was just my first Illusionary Weaponry try ever!

Damn, I payed 3,5K for such a simple sword mod...

LouAl · Jan 17, 2008, 05:44 PM // 17:44

meh, don't feel bad bout the 3.5k

back in the day, I paid 19k for a +20% axe mod... I also paid about 120k for all my monk runes for my 55mo and about 500g for the runes for my 55mes