Challenge: Me/W that doesn't use IW

I'm looking for a Me/W build that doesn't use IW. Looking for hammer or something totally irregular, something that will throw people off. I want something that will fool people into thinking that I'm using IW and then completely kill them because of that assumption.

Winner of this challenge gets 1k cash. Not a lot of money, but what the heck, the game gets boring and having a fun challenge for a bit of cash never hurt anyone.

if you want to use hammers, you might as well be a warrior/mesmer.

anyways, i have a odd ranger/mesmer (or mes/r) combo in the works. i'll post it once i think it through.

Just thought this up.... it might work, or at least be fun.

Me_W no IW

Mesmer/Warrior
Level: 20

Fast Casting: 6 (5+1)
Inspiration Magic: 10 (8+2)
Illusion Magic: 12 (9+3)
Swordsmanship: 12

- Sever Artery (Swordsmanship)
If this attack hits, the opponent begins Bleeding for 21 seconds, losing Health over time.
Adrenaline:4

- Gash (Swordsmanship)
If this attack hits a Bleeding foe, you strike for 9 more damage and that foe suffers a Deep Wound, lowering that foe's maximum Health by 20% for 17 seconds.
Adrenaline:7

- Ineptitude [Elite] (Illusion Magic)
For 9 seconds if target foe attacks, that foe takes 68 damage and becomes Blinded for 10 seconds.
Energy:10 Cast:0.81 Recharge:20

- Conjure Phantasm (Illusion Magic)
For 12 seconds, target foe experiences Health degeneration of 5.
Energy:10 Cast:0.81 Recharge:5

- Distortion (Illusion Magic)
For 5 Seconds, you have a 75% chance to "evade" attacks. Whenever you evade an attack this way, you lose 1 Energy or Distortion ends.
Energy:5 Cast:0 Recharge:5

- Sympathetic Visage (Illusion Magic)
For 18 seconds, whenever target ally is hit by a melee attack, all adjacent foes lose all adrenaline and 3 Energy.
Energy:10 Cast:0.81 Recharge:30

- Spirit of Failure (Inspiration Magic)
For 30 seconds, target foe has a 25% chance to miss with attacks. You gain 4 Energy for whenever tha foe fails to hit in combat.
Energy:10 Cast:2.43 Recharge:10

- Resurrection Signet ()
Resurrect target party member. That party member is returned to life with 100% Health and 25% Energy. You may use this Signet only once per mission.
Energy:0 Cast:3 Recharge:0

Ok, use a 20/20 rockmolder and a 15% in stance sword and rogue armour

When your hapless warrior comes running at you give yourself SV and give him Phantasm. And start the attack. The warrior will get hits, but no adren and loose all his/her energy. Most likely the Warrior will keep attacking because dmg is being done. As SV wears out, or if you take too much dmg, cast Spirit of Failure and Ineptitude. This should blind him and start feeding you energy. If you have multiple Wars attacking you use Distortion and spread Spirit of Failure around. Energy should be pouring in. Use that energy to power Phantasm spams and then add to the pain with Bleeding and Deep Wounds (they shouldn't be able to remove the Conditions as you have removed their energy) One SV is back, cast it again, drop distortion, and drain some more energy. One hit will remove all that precious Adrenaline they have been saving (only a 19% chance of gaining Adren when you have Distortion and Spirit of Failure). Once SV is ending, or the pain gets too much, Repeat your energy gaining cycle. And keep Phantasms up. Dish out a bleeding/Deep Wounds when you can.

This build will require a monk to heal you, no self heals, although you could probably put one in (sub out gash for Ether Feast). Also, Hex removals will hurt you a bit (no huge e-gain) and enchantment removal will really hurt you (they get their energy and adrenaline back).

But, this could be fun to play as you will likely frustrate the hell out of a lot of warriors and rangers.

There is my Me/W build without IW

Migraine, Conjure Phanstasm, Savage Slash, Distracting Blow, Power Drain, Mantra of Persistance, Imagined Burden, Sig

11+1 Illusion
8+1+1 Insperation
11 Sword

Pretty suicidal, you'll need monk support, and yeah not very good, but it was my first home made character, built on the "spell slasher" idea. the rechage on both of the sword interupts is nice, and the extra damage from savage is useful. Useing rouges and no sup runes helps out his surviability. Btw, I don't really want the prize, though I wouldn't have gotten it anyway.

IMO, a Me/W with Tactics instead of any Weapons skills.

Like:
Me/W
Fast Casting: 7 +1
Domination: 9 +3
Illusion: 10 +1 +1
Tactics: 10

Healing Signet
Power Block {E}
Arcane Conundrum
Phantom Pain
Shatter Delusions
"Watch Yourself!"/Distortion (Arenas: Distortion, definitely. Other places, you decide.)
"Shields Up!"
Clumsiness

I once made a W/N battery/support which would try not to draw attention to himself by being a Warrior

Of course, the low energy pool sucked...

All nice, I'm waiting for more people to put in their's and I'm currently trying out these builds to see what really sparks my intrest. From what I see, it looks like it's a good competition, and I'm actually considering making a second and third place prize. I really want to see stuff that works that is thinking outside the box.

The problem is, save IW, a mesmer has no skills that really augment a melee attack situation, whereas most other classes do. This makes a Me/W a basically inferior setup to most other stuff.

I'd bring crippling anguish, sever/gash, maybe phantasm, BLACKOUT, some other dom skills... not really sure

I made this to farm charcoal from fire imps but maybe it'll inspire someone to do something with it for PvP...

Sword 12
Tactics 9 (or 10 if you want to boost your healing signet)
Inspiration 8+4
Domination leftovers+1

Sword +15^50 or while is stance
Shield +45 hits / -2 damage while in stance

1. Power Spike (or Cry of Frustration, which I don't have)
2. Seeking Blade (or Riposte / Deadly Riposte for PvP?)
3. Savage Slash
4. Watch Yourself (Rez Sig for PvP)
5. Ether Feast
6. Healing Signet
7. Physical Resistance
8. Mantra of Flame (Elemental Resistance for PvP)

The stress here is on interrupts, self healing and self fortification, which worked ok in CA... it was way more effective as an axe W/Me though.

I'm not using an elite here either, but then my mesmer is a PvE character and not exhaustively developed skill wise. I could replace Seeking Blade with Hundered Blades, but I don't have it on my mesmer, heh. It would be possible to use any weapon, but a hammer would lose the 16 def shield with 45 hits / -2 damage in stance (and your stances last forever...)

Might try this again (pvp).

Made an Axe/Sword warrior Mes many moons ago that took advantage of everyones expectations of IW.

Still used Illusion, but had Arcane Conundrum and Distracting Blow and Distrupting Chop or some such (can't remember now). It was a dedicated caster killer. It was also able to put out some damage.

It was a fun, effective, build (somewhat).

I do remember, that it was one of those builds that got me the most PM's after matches ("What was that you were doing?" "Can you list me your build please?"...etc.). When I get home, and if I remember, I'll try and work the whole thing up again.


PS. Just had a thought....howse about Arcane Conudrum and Skull Crack just for the heck of it sometime?

If I'm allowed to post a second one...

IMO you'd need a battery, perhaps.

Me/W
Fast Casting: 5 +1
Domination: 10 +1 +1
Illusion: 10 +3
Tactics: 10

Empathy
Shatter Delusions
Phantom Pain
Riposte
Ineptitude {E}
Healing Signet
Bonneti's Defense
Sympathetic Visage/Illusion of Haste (According to taste)

An Anti-Warrior Mezzie. You should be one of the prime targets, hence Riposte and Bonneti's. Preferably a HoD sword, but they're expensive :P Or else, a Zealous sword of Defense. No requirement required. And bring a wand. Cuz when you're not attacked, get the Wand. 20/20 Illusion foci and 20/20 Domination wand, or vice versa. When you're attacked by Wars, then yeah. Switch to Zealous sword, and get the energy back. o_O totally random idea. This is supposed to be Arena.

You might want to put a Clumsiness in there, perhaps instead of Empathy. Since smart warriors would stop attacking. But Arena is full of stupid warriors

well my guild uses a me/w for flag runner, though the only warrior skill he has is balanced stance for gale.

Inspiration Magic-14 (1+1)
Hammer Mastery- 12
Fast Casting - 4 (+1)

Flurry
Back Breaker
Belly Smash
Crushing Blow
Epidemic
Energy Tap
Ether Fest
Physical Resistance

Just cuz you asked for a mes/hammer combo, I tried it out and it was kinda fun. Run up to the warriors, flurry kd, blind, wound, epidemic

Use energy tap and ether fest to keep ya up

Phys resist to not get as hurt.

Fast Casting - 5 (4 + 1)
Illusion - 12 (3 + 1)
Domination - 8 (7 + 1)
Inspiration - 8 (7 + 1)
Sword Mastery - 12

Fevered Dreams {E}
Sever Artery
Gash
Seeking blade
Blackout
Physical Resistance
Ether Feast/Hamstring
Rez Sig

Keep physical resistance up to reduce damage. Head for enemy monk or caster. Use blackout first while you build up adrenaline, then fevered dreams followed by Sever artery and Gash. Spam seeking blade for damage. Use ether feast to regain health. If others gather round to protect the monk, they should also suffer from bleeding and deep wound. Use hamstring to cripple large group if you have nukers.


Alternate build with hammer:

Fast Casting - 5 (4 + 1)
Illusion - 12 (3 + 1)
Domination - 8 (7 + 1)
Inspiration - 8 (7 + 1)
Hammer Mastery - 12

Fevered Dreams {E}
Counter Blow
Crushing Blow
Belly Smash
Staggering blow
Physical Resistance
Ether Feast/Irresitible Blow
Rez Sig

Same idea, inflict deep wound, blind, and weakness on a group with a hammer. Replace ether feast w irreristible blow if you're suicidal or have a monk. Good damage and unblockable.

Premade Spellslasher.

Not to rain on your parade, but if you don't take IW the warrior secondary doesn't really offer anything to the mesmer.

I came up with the Fevered Swordsman build six months ago at another site, so I'll list it below to answer the challenge. Fragility has been tweaked down since then so ignore the numbers and just know it doesn't do as much damage as before (a simple cut 'n paste here):

========================================
Fast Cast or Domination - 4
Illusion - 16
Swordsmanship - 12

Fevered Dreams {E}
For Great Justice!
Sever Artery
Gash
Hamstring
Fragility
Distortion / Sympathetic Visage

This is a build designed to cause maximum headaches for the Condition curing Monks... hard to cure it all when everyone is suffering. As a bonus, your main target will die hard unless he has healing help.

I choose a Mes over the Warrior for better energy options. Be sure to stock up on Rogue Armour before going in to aid in melee defense. That, with Distortion or SV, you shouldn't go down easy against Warriors or Rangers.

Here's the approach. Target an enemy of your choice and get in close. Cast Fragility then Fevered Dreams. Before they try to run away (casters) smack him with Hamstring and Fragility triggers for the first time, and EVERY enemy in ward range is Crippled for 13 seconds as well due to Fevered Dreams!

Shout "For Great Justice!" to get double adrenaline and start wailing on him with your sword. Unlike with IW, there's full melee damage for the Mes this time without disenchant issues... but the normal anti-Warrior stuff applies. Someone actually put Soothing Image on me once today, lol.

You will VERY quickly get to use Sever Artery... that causes Bleeding to everyone walking around as a Cripple for 21 seconds, as well as trigger Fragility a second time on your target. He's missing you while you do this - Distortion at -1E a whiff. Almost right after Sever Artery, you'll have the Adrenaline to use Gash, which causes a Deep Wound to all the Crippled Bleeders (17 secs.) as well as trigger Fragility a third time. All throughout the downtime, you are inflicting full sword damage on your target. Combined, your victim will go down once the Conditions wear off, and Cripple keeps them from running during your assault.

Why not use 0 Sword stats to spike Fragility faster? With AoE Conditions all around the area, you want maximum length as your team works on the other targets. If each enemy is slowed, suffering from -3 DoT, and receiving a 20% damage hit (with a -20% healing penalty), it should be a bit easier to get the win. By the time you finish, Fragility will be close to recharged (15 sec. recharge) and Fevered Dreams is already set for the next mob you want to face (10 sec. recharge).

Other considerations....

I switched in Leech Signet for FGJ! as a way of interrupting a healing/Troll attempt by the main target and it makes a difference on getting the quick kills. You charge adrenaline noticibly slower, but it's not too bad with Distortion and Rogue armor on. Next I plan to see how well Distracting Blow works at interrupting heals... it recharges in 10 secs. and only costs 10E. Hexes are a pain, but there's nowhere for protection if you want to maintain the build integrity. Either that or ditch Leech/FGJ!

Finally, an alternate use of this setup is to focus more on a single target... change Ineptitude (Blind condition for Warriors/Rangers) or Skull Crack (Dazed condition for casters) for Fevered Dreams and you now have a 4th Condition for your Fragility damage: -34x4x2 = 272 damage, Bleeding adds 21x6= 135 (+ Gash damage), Deep Wound adds another 100, Ineptitude chips in 82, and a minimum of three sword attacks adds 60.... 649 after 21 seconds.

The main setup above featuring Fevered Dreams and three Conditions gives you 495 damage on your target, BEFORE counting all of your extra sword slashes during Bleeding DoT. It's worth messing around with.
========================================

me/w
illusion 11 (10+1)
domination 15 (11+1+3)
inspiration 11 (10+1)
arcane conundrum
power block
power leak
power drain
power spike
leech signet
signet of humility
rez sig

incidentally...this also happens to be a viable build for a mesmer/ranger...mesmer ele...mesmer monk...

^^;

Quote:

Mesmer/Warrior
Level: 20

Fast Casting: 9 (inc +1 from rune)
Illusion :11 (inc +2 from rune & mask)
Swordsmanship: 10 (for sword & crits)
Tactics: 9 (healing sig= +107 & deadly ripiste)

- Sever Artery (Swordsmanship) degen..

- Conjure Phantasm (Illusion Magic) to cause damage without even seeing yuor blade, also stack with bleeding

- Clumsiness (Illusion) -- auto stop 1 attack & damaging

- Ineptitude [Elite] (Illusion Magic) - obvious..

- Deadly Riposte (Tactics) - to miff warriors & bleed them

- Distortion (Illusion Magic) -- to not get hit !

- Healing Signet (Tactics) -- Distortion gives you time to heal 107 hp

- Resurrection Signet

Ok, use a 10/10 rockmolder and a +15% ^50% health, +20 health, 10/5 sundering flamberge and rogue armour

I dont belive in the +3 runes as fro melee you need health. And as a caster class staying alive can be hard in melee if you miss a beat

Play goes as thus: 1v1 of a fighter class you use ineptiude, phatasm and bleeding, if taking damage use ditortion & heal sig to stay sstanding. otherwise use dealy riposte.
Vs Caster go melee and bleed, phantasm and keep hitting !!!

~~~~~

some people think that the domination spell slasher build could work but this works for me. Most people think Iman easy kill in melee

There is a 10% +1 rockmolder, no 10/10 one though

@Warskull - but mesmers with swords look cool

Me/W is completly inferior to Me/R in the IW sence, tiger's fury and pet interrupts are way too good. Back on topic though.

Just a rough draft, but how about just screwing swords/axes/hammers and just using tactics? We could even through in a denravi to give the whole mesmers look cool with swords shabang, and give some 'omfg another IW lets disenchant it!" mind game.

Basic concept would be shield stance, or disciplined stance, as we do not have any adrenal skills. In addition to this we get a spiffy +16 armor, with our +15 while casting puts us at 81, we could use a +5 on that denravi for kicks and make this 86, now make that shield -2 while stanced +5 armor while stanced and we have 91, cool no?

And since we ARE using a sword, lets go all the way with repos and deadly repos

Now we could use heal sig, or we could skip it, your choice

For mesmer skills, we could use spirit of failure, keep energy up and all, would be nice.

And okay Im out of ideas, just typing this up rq before I head off to a dance. ttyl, eai out

Quote:

Quote:

Okay, here's the build I've been using... and it tanks very nicely, but sadly has the damage output of a level 1 rabbit.

Inspiration: 13 (11 + minor rune + hat)
Swordsmanship: 10
Tactics: 10

Sword w/ Defense Mod (Shocking/Barbed hilts? lol, I don't know.) (+15% in stance)
Shield w/ +45/-2 in Stance.

Riposte
Deadly Riposte
Watch Yourself
Healing Signet
Ether Feast
Ele Resistance
Phys Resistance
Res Sig

Full Rogue's Armor, of course, with Sup Vigor.

It ends up with 150ish Armor vs. Phys damage, or 140ish vs. Ele. Depending on current stance. It took a Life Transfer vampiric necro and a Flareway Me/E 25 minutes to kill me, and that's only because of interrupts and my horrible timing of skills.

Again, the damage output is crap, but used properly... it's hard to die. Of course, I'm thinking one of the Ripostes might be overkill, so it might be worth switching for Thrill of Victory or something. I dunno. I'll give it a shot.