Disappointment?

[Alaris]

I shatter pretty often. Basically, if my foe is about to die anyway, or if I have 3 illusions up and I can easily roll up another set of illusions (which is often easy because I bring at least two illusion skills in my optionals), then I shatter.

Scepter/sword seems pretty good defensively, and yes, staff is pretty good all-around. My problem right now is that I don't have a good damage set, this will be easily fixed though when I find a good staff or sword. Also, yes, traits could help a lot, but I am still relatively low level so I don't have access to good traits yet.

[RD]

I like gun offhand for that stun. Duelist is good damage, too.

[EnoughAlready]

If I could actually choose my own skill set. You know, what I want to set, not what is ordained for me, it would lay heavily on glamours & illusions.
But I'm not allowed, so there's no point dreaming

[Alaris]

I'm trying to figure out good traits for someone who produces a lot of clones, and shatters often but randomly. I'll be using staff, and either sword/sword or sword/pistol.

So far, I like the traits that lets my illusions inflict bleeding, that inflict conditions when illusions die, and that help me produce more illusions faster. I'm not sure which ones are good though...

[RD]

I have to mess around with a trait builder today myself.

[JoeKnowMo]

I'm trying to figure out good traits for someone who produces a lot of clones, and shatters often but randomly. I'll be using staff, and either sword/sword or sword/pistol.

So far, I like the traits that lets my illusions inflict bleeding, that inflict conditions when illusions die, and that help me produce more illusions faster. I'm not sure which ones are good though...

Rending Shatter (Major Adept in Domination) will add vulnerability to your shatters. Illusionary Persona (Major Grandmaster in Illusions) counts yourself as an illusion for shatters which would go well with a sword. You should probably build for conditions if you decide to spend 30 points in that trait line. Illusionary Elasticity (Major Master in Illusions) adds an an extra bounce to your staff attacks which would help spread conditions. And your Warlock does more damage to foes with conditions...

[Alaris]

Ok, noobie question here... any tips for how I should build for conditions? I keep hearing that, but I only have a vague idea of how to go about it.

The traits you mention sound good, except, are those better than those I mentioned? I stayed away from shatter traits because I am probably not a reliable shatterer, especially as I keep my clones when I need to be more defensive.

Extra bounce seems great for staff, good for pistol too, but useless for sword/sword.

[JoeKnowMo]

If you want to increase you condition damage, go for condition gear and put trait points into the Illusions line as it will increase your malice. The Illusion line is most suited to shattering, imho, but the other lines have some good options too.

When you are heavily invested in a trait line, it would pay off to build around it. Also, when you're not heavily invested in a trait line, you don't reap the full benefits from it. For example, the illusions applying bleeding trait is based on critical hits and luckily for us it is in the Dueling trait line. This means you should consider putting more points into Dueling for the increased chance of crits. You should also consider picking Phantasmal Fury (Minor Master in Dueling) to further enhance your chance of crits.

The clones inflicting a random condition is in the Chaos trait line (Major Adept) but it does not apply on shatters and it does not apply for phantasms. It only applies when a clone is killed or when you replace it with a new clone or phantasm. This means you would be better off using a weapon whose clones will stay close to the target.

If you're using a sword then it might be worth getting the trait that reduces sword skill recharge and adds +50 precision (Major Adept in Dueling).

I had an incorrect interpretation of what you meant when you said you shatter "often." You've cleared that up. But if you plan on shattering a lot, then Illusions would probably be your best trait line. If you plan on using your illusions as a significant source of damage, the Dueling trait line will add some oomph to them while Inspiration can be a good secondary trait line. However, note that not a single trait in Dueling benefits from shatter. If you're going to shatter a lot, then Illusions as your main (since it also reduces shatter recharge time) and probably Domination as your secondary would work well.

I'm not even level 50 yet so take all this with a grain of salt.

[Alaris]

You've given me lots to think about, so thanks a lot for this.

It's easier to pick your synergies when you know what those are! Good point about boosting my crit chance, I'll be keeping an eye on that.

It's a toss up between shatters and clones dying then, because both happen fairly often, it's not clear which one I should emphasize... I was more going for clones dying because I thought it worked on shatter, but if you say it doesn't, then it's not as good as I thought. Still good, but more so for when I am losing clones often which means I am losing a fight. When I shatter that's because I am winning... so I have to pick between being stronger on wins or less weak on losses.

[Xunlai Agent]

PvE Mesmer is absolutely beast, people complaining about this are wrong! I guess haters gonna hate...

Mesmers sucked so hard in Guild Wars 1 PvE it hurt to play and you people are complaining that you don't like the new incarnation over the old one? That is insane, I have no words...