Signet Mesmer Build

I did a search to see if people had tried to do signet based mesmer and i saw a few that were pretty cool so I thought I would try one out with some alterations. So here's the build:

Mesmer/Monk
Level: 20

Fast Casting: 12 (11+1)
Inspiration Magic: 14 (10+4)
Smiting Prayers: 10

- Mantra of Signets (Inspiration Magic)
For 24 seconds, the next time you use a Signet, it recharges immediately.
Energy:15 Cast:0 Recharge:30

- Mantra of Inscriptions (Inspiration Magic)
For 86 seconds, your Signets recharge 48% faster.
Energy:10 Cast:0 Recharge:20

- Signet of Humility (Inspiration Magic)
Target foe's elite skill is disabled for 15 seconds.
Energy:0 Cast:2 Recharge:20

- Leech Signet (Inspiration Magic)
Interrupt target foe's action. If that action was a Spell, you gain 14 Energy.
Energy:0 Cast:0.25 Recharge:45

- Signet of Judgment [Elite] (Smiting Prayers)
Target foe is knocked down. That foe and all adjacent foes take 55 holy damage.
Energy:0 Cast:2 Recharge:25

- Bane Signet (Smiting Prayers)
Target foe takes 46 holy damage. If that foe was attacking, he is knocked down.
Energy:0 Cast:2 Recharge:25

- Purge Signet (Monk other)
Remove all Hexes and Conditions from target ally. You lose 10 Energy for each Hex and each Condition removed.
Energy:0 Cast:3 Recharge:20

- Holy Veil (Monk other)
While you maintain this Enchantment, any Hex cast on target ally takes twice as long to cast. When Holy Veil ends, one Hex is removed from target ally.
Energy:5 Cast:0.62 Recharge:12

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I only have prophecies, so I didn't have access to factions skills though I will mention some variations that might be possible using this build. I did this in PvE but haven't tested it in PvP, so I can't say how well this would work in 4v4 or GvG.

The basic idea is to have mantra of sigs up almost all the time, and then to be able to cast intrrupts like leech sign, bane, and sig of judgement quickly. purge can help clear of conditions, and holy veil is for hexs which takes a burden off your monks. of course you can use mend ailment or inspired hex if you prefer. I think purge works better then mend ailment because this isn't a very energy dependent build so losing energy for each condition isnt huge at least in pve plus it is a "monk other" skill so no need to put points into protection, but again do what you feel most comfortable with.

obviously you might ask why have mantra of sig and mantra of inscription. i found that if i was using mantra of sigs and got hit with skills like distracting shot or disrupting chop which disable it, it significanlty hindered the effectiveness of the build, and having inscriptions as a backup is a god send.

Variations: For pvp, you could switch out sig of humilty for sig of weariness if you want to do energy drain on spell casters (signet of disrutption can help too). If you already have someone focusing on knockdowns, then drop bane and judgement for distortion (to avoid melee) and use keystone sig (which would allow you to drop mantra of inscriptions and still be effective if mantra of sigs is disabled and fill in inscriptions with something else of your choosing). another variation is to use sig of midnight to replace judement if you prefer. hex eater sig could be used instead of holy veil though you may have to move into harms way to use it. lastly, a monk might be able to use this sort of build that spams sig of rejuvination, sig of devotion, and boon signet, the two mantras, leech signet/distortion, mend ailemnt/purge, and holy veil (mesmers wouldn't be able to effectively use the divine spells). Sorry for the crappy grammer and lack of capitalization, I will fix it in a bit.

Any thoughts? I realize that there are many spells that can counter signets, so please don't list them off. Rather constructive criticism such as possible possble skill variations would be appreciated.

2 skills that I would suggest
Succor
Holy Wrath

Would dump the mantras and SoJ for Keystone

I would rly like to see a new take on this. The Smiting thing is getting old. We got given some wonderful and amazing new Signets. I don't see them here. No cookies for you.

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Holy Wrath
Retribution
Mantra of Inscription
Keystone Signet (E)
Unnatural Signet
Leech Signet/Signet of Disenchantment
Signet of Disruprtion
Rez/Signet of Humility

Why having all these energy for nothing? Using Holy Wrath/Retribution

The nrg you don't use, you can invest in 25 nrg skills. It doesn't have to be HWrath. And it doesn't have to include Smiting.

Still looking deeply into succor, divine favor/healing prayer linked signets.

I've actually made and used a Signet build before and it worked pretty well. Here it is:

Domination: 14
Inspiration: 12

Mantra of Signets
Signet of Disruption
Leech Signet
Unnatural Signet
Signet of Weariness
Signet of Humility
Ether Feast
Keystone Signet

I think that would work well with an Oath Short ranger/mesmer too. They have better defence, higher armour and energy isn't an issue. Mantra of Signets would cost very little with a decent amount of Expertise and a +5 energy weapon would also help.

Since Hella seems to want something besides smiting here is a damage/degen build I thought up using a Me/N.

Mesmer/Necromancer
Level: 20

Fast Casting: 11 (10+1)
Inspiration Magic: 15 (11+4)
Blood Magic: 10

- Mantra of Signets (Inspiration Magic)
For 25 seconds, the next time you use a Signet, it recharges immediately.
Energy:15 Cast:0 Recharge:30

- Mantra of Inscriptions (Inspiration Magic)
For 90 seconds, your Signets recharge 50% faster.
Energy:10 Cast:0 Recharge:20

- Signet of Agony (Blood Magic)
Sacrifice 10% maximun Health and suffer from Bleeding for 25 seconds. All nearby foes take 33 damage.
Energy:0 Cast:0.75 Recharge:15

- Barbed Signet (Blood Magic)
Sacrifice 8% max Health. You steal 46 Health from target foe.
Energy:0 Cast:2 Recharge:20

- Life Transfer [Elite] (Blood Magic)
For 10 seconds, target foe suffers Health degeneration of 6, which you gain as Health regeneration.
Energy:10 Cast:1.3 Recharge:30

- Life Siphon (Blood Magic)
For 20 seconds, target suffers -2 Health degeneration, and you gain +2 Health regeneration.
Energy:10 Cast:1.3 Recharge:2

- Leech Signet (Inspiration Magic)
Interrupt target foe's action. If that action was a Spell, you gain 15 Energy.
Energy:0 Cast:0.25 Recharge:45

- Distortion (Illusion Magic)
For 5 Seconds, you have a 75% chance to "evade" attacks. Whenever you evade an attack this way, you lose 4..2 Energy or Distortion ends.
Energy:5 Cast:0 Recharge:5

Basically, cast Agony and Barbed to deal damage, then use life transfer/siphon to self heal, you could also use wither/malaise for energy degen instead. No points in illusion since putting points into into it would only decease the energy lose by distortion by 1-2 pts which doesnt seem worth it. Obviously this doesn't have the condition removal that the previous build had.

Here's a slight variation:

Mesmer/Necromancer
Level: 20

Fast Casting: 11 (10+1)
Inspiration Magic: 15 (11+4)
Blood Magic: 10

- Vampiric Gaze (Blood Magic)
Steal 46 Health from target foe.
Energy:10 Cast:0.65 Recharge:5

- Mantra of Inscriptions (Inspiration Magic)
For 90 seconds, your Signets recharge 50% faster.
Energy:10 Cast:0 Recharge:20

- Signet of Agony (Blood Magic)
Sacrifice 10% maximun Health and suffer from Bleeding for 25 seconds. All nearby foes take 33 damage.
Energy:0 Cast:0.75 Recharge:15

- Barbed Signet (Blood Magic)
Sacrifice 8% max Health. You steal 46 Health from target foe.
Energy:0 Cast:2 Recharge:20

- Unnatural Signet (Domination Magic)
Target foe takes 15..63 damage. If that foe was a Spirit, this signet recharges instantly.
Energy:0 Cast:1 Recharge:40

- Keystone Signet [Elite] (Inspiration Magic)
All of your Signets except Keystone Signet are recharged. All of your non-Signet skills are disabled for 5 seconds.
Energy:0 Cast:2 Recharge:30

- Leech Signet (Inspiration Magic)
Interrupt target foe's action. If that action was a Spell, you gain 15 Energy.
Energy:0 Cast:0.25 Recharge:45

- Distortion (Illusion Magic)
For 5 Seconds, you have a 75% chance to "evade" attacks. Whenever you evade an attack this way, you lose 4..2 Energy or Distortion ends.
Energy:5 Cast:0 Recharge:5

More damage from the unnatural and keystone is in so we can drop inscriptions, then vamp gaze to heal after using the barbed/agony sigs. Any thoughts?

I still think a monk (I know this is a mes forum but I think it is worth mentioning) using boon sig, sig of devotion, and sig of rejuvination with the two mantras, leech signet/distortion, mend ailemnt/purge sig, and holy veil would be pretty bad ass. If anyone tries this let me know.

Keep the discussion going. =)

EDIT: Forgot to switch attribute points for the last build, unnatural sig needs points in domination. Just adjust to your tastes.

A couple notes on signet mesmers: You tend to get owned by interrupt rangers, and you operate really well under Quickening Zephyr. Half recharge on skills that don't cost any energy is win.

14 Domination
13 Inspiration

Keystone Signet {E}
Signet of Weariness
Signet of Humility
Signet of Disenchantment
Purge Signet/Hex Eater Signet
Leech Signet
Mantra of Inscriptions
Res Sig.

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