Shattering skills and traits

[RabidCoqui]

Conditional in that sense but it's also a field for combo. Plop it down and have your duelist shoot through it for example...

[Raye]

I have not experimented with feedback enough to say I can use it effectively, but it does sound like a kick-*** skill.

[nkuvu]

Feedback is one of my favorite mesmer utility skills. Especially hilarious with enemies that use a rapid fire skill.

[sorudo]

just a small question, is a scepter a good weapon for the mesmer or should i get rid of it as fast as possible?

[Raye]

Scepter is good if you want clones and confusion

[Alaris]

Scepter is more defensive, which is good in cases where you are fighting a boss or something and you want to keep making new clones to keep it distracted. It doesn't have good dps though, so I tend to prefer other weapons such as staff, greatsword, or swords.

[RabidCoqui]

Scepter dmg seems to be close to sword for me. I'm still leveling and gear keeps changing so it isn't like I've done a good comparison though. The dmg listed on the skills is a bit below sword and you can keep up the dmg more time due to not being close to enemies. Add in confusion and it might be close... not to mention more shattering.

[Alaris]

Generally speaking, melee damage is higher if you can stay closer, as it needs to be for balance. It's probably slightly higher even counting the hits & run, given the higher risk of closing the gap.

Don't pay too close attention to the stats on the weapon though, as that damage gets modified by the skills. Sword attacks are often AoE so you can hit multiple foes easily, and the main attack adds vulnerability, and even clones add vulnerability, making sure your target has a decent stack on. Skill #2 is both an AoE attack and a protective skill, whereas on scepter it's only protection. Confusion on scepter is nice, but in PvE foes attack less often so it ends up doing less damage than in PvP.

I can definitely kill much faster with sword mesmer than scepter mesmer. Scepter is good to survive long drawn-out fights.

[RabidCoqui]

I could blow up targets that were a couple lvls above me with scepter... not the case with sword. Of course, a lot of that has to do with me having more experience with scepter and the particular target.

I was going by the damage showing on the skills not the weapon dmg. Also, if an enemy targets me I have to move so sword dmg plummets. Except for enemies that are lower lvl than me, I just kill faster with scepter than with sword. We'll see how it goes after playing some more with sword.

[Alaris]

I do find it puzzling because I found the scepter to be slow at killing compared to the sword, and logically, it makes sense to from a design perspective.

Most of the time though, I don't move away when targeted, I circle strafe while continuing doing damage, putting in more clones, and hitting #2. I only really back off when I get significantly damaged.

I don't pay attention to numbers though, so I wouldn't say my evaluation was particularly objective. I will say this... if fighting a foe well above my level, I would pick the scepter. Even if the damage might be lower (by my evaluation) the staying power is much greater.