Logo Albion iconAlbion Online Deadlock iconDeadlock GW2 iconGuild Wars 2 TL iconThrone & Liberty

Virtuoso - Inspiration Duelist

Under construction.webp This is a placeholder build that was useful in the past. Click here to view current builds.

Focused on: Direct damageCondition damage and Sustain

Designed for: PvP Conquest

Expansions required: End of Dragons builds

Difficulty:
TBD

Overview

A 1v1 Virtuoso build that deals unblockable burst damage, has good sustain through blocks and heals. This build is a capable sidenoder with potential to add ranged damage to teamfights. Has both power and condi variant.

Best played as a Duelist with some roaming capability.

Skill Bar

Scepter/Pistol
Sword/Focus
Utility

Variants

  • Signet of Humility instead of Mass Invisibility for more single target CC.

Traits

Variants

  • Maim the Disillusioned for Condi variant
  • Master of Fragmentation for or variant


Equipment

Scepter
Pistol
Sigil
Sigil
Sword
Focus
Sigil
Sigil
Rune
Amulet

With this gear you will have 70% crit chance, and 100% crit chance thanks to Quiet Intensity when you have Fury Fury from Duelist's Reversal.

Variants

Condi variant - Higher toughness, focuses on damage through Confusion Confusion stacking via Bladesong Sorrow.

  • Rune of Undead

Zerker amulet variant - More damage, less survivability

  • Rune of Evasion

Marauder amulet variant - Safest power option, takes Master of Fragmentation to make up for lost crit

  • Rune of Lynx

Why not X?

  • Why not Dueling traitline? - Dueling has more condi damage via Blinding Dissipation, Ineptitude, Duelist's Discipline, allowing Bladesong Sorrow to apply up to 20 stacks of Confusion Confusion. However, it has both longer cooldown than Bladesong Harmony and can't get 2 charges via Shatter Storm, resulting in less frequent pressure.
  • Why not Torch offhand? - Because Bladesongs have cast time, and are not instant like say Mind Wrack, you want CC to increase their chance to land. Torch is a good defensive weapon, but the CC from Into the Void or Magic Bullet is too good to pass up.
  • Why not Sword offhand? - Again, for the same reason as Torch, it doesn't provide hard CC to setup Bladesongs. Though,Illusionary Riposte makes it a nice defensive option that synergizes with Virtuoso block traits.


Usage

Blade Generation

  • Make sure to make good use of your blocks from Illusionary Counter, Bladeturn Requiem and Aegis from Bladeturn Refrain to generate blades and make your Bladesong Harmony and Bladesong Sorrow unblockable via Psychic Riposte.


Burst Combos

  • Scepter/Pistol burst combo:
    • Phantasmal Duelist
    • Bladesong Harmony OR Bladesong Sorrow
    • Magic Bullet
    • Confusing Images
  • Sword/Focus burst combo:
    • Phantasmal Warden
    • Temporal Curtain
    • Bladesong Harmony OR Bladesong Sorrow
    • Into the Void
  • In both cases the point is to get Quickness Quickness through Phantasmal Haste to speed up your Bladesong casts and following up with CC from either Into the Void or Magic Bullet to ensure the Bladesongs land.
  • Note that the Malicious Sorcery gives 20% attack speed increase on ALL skills while you are in your Scepter/Pistol set! That includes your Bladesong Harmony, or your Signet of the Ether. This bonus does not stack with Quickness though, but is still very nice.


  • In case of the Condi variant, you don't get Quickness Quickness from Phantasms, so you can skip them and go straight into Bladesongs + CC combination
  • You may also land these combos without Phantasms in either variant with the Quickness Quickness gained from Duelist's Reversal after successful block/dodge.
  • Mass Invisibility can also be used to land your Bladesong Harmony OR Bladesong Sorrow from stealth.


Sustain and Defense

  • The primary sustain of this build comes through the looping synergy between Virtuoso and Inspiration traitlines:
    • Blocks/dodges stock up blades via Psychic Riposte -> which heals through Signet of the Ether -> Bladesongs heal and condi cleanse via Restorative Illusions and give aegis thanks to Bladeturn Refrain -> enabling block and continuing the loop.
  • It is important to maintain tempo by constantly blocking -> stocking up blades -> firing Bladesongs to heal and enable more blocks.
  • Main defensive cooldowns are:
    • Blade Renewal - heals for a bit thanks to Signet of the Ether and is safe from unblockables.
    • Bladeturn Requiem - 2 second block that gives blades back on succesful block thanks to Psychic Riposte. Keep in mind that the block duration doesn't scale with blades, so use it with any number of blades.
    • Signet of Midnight - stunbreak, Stealth Stealth, AoE Blind Blind and 5 condi cleanse.
    • Blink - stunbreak and 1200 range shadowstep.
  • Condition cleanse is available through:
    • Restorative Illusions - cleanses 1 condition at the start of a Bladesong cast.
    • Sympathetic Visage - cleanses 1 condition when summoning Phantasmal Warden or Phantasmal Duelist.
    • Signet of Midnight - cleanses 5 conditions thanks to Blurred Inscriptions.
    • Sigil of Superior Sigil of Cleansing - cleanses 1 condition on both weaponswaps.

Counters

  • Power Bladesworn is a direct counter matchup for this build. Dragon Trigger attacks with Unyielding Dragon cannot be blocked, blinded and they stun while doing lot of damage. The main options are to evade by dodge rolling or by distortion from Blade Renewal or Blurred Frenzy.
  • Projectile Destruction/Reflects - Corrosive Poison Cloud, Seal Area, Magnetic Wave, Swirling Winds etc. Blades that are made unblockable via Psychic Riposte will not be destroyed/reflected/blocked, but blades generated from skills such as Phantasmal Warden, Phantasmal Duelist, Ether Clone, Illusionary Counter, Blade Leap won't be unblockable!
    • Due to a bug, the blades from Psychic Riposte will not be unblockable when traited with Master of Fragmentation.
  • For the Power variant especially, high Protection Protection uptime builds such as Protection Holosmith can be tough to kill as this build lacks boon removal. Sigil of Absorption is good choice in such a matchup. Alternatively, Phantasmal Disenchanter or Arcane Thievery can be used at cost of personal defense/mobility.


Media


Ratings

This build has a rating of 3 stars based on 1 votes.
Log in or register to rate this build.
3 stars
MadTavish gave this build 3 stars • July 2022
This build attempts to play more sustained dueling role by utilizing the synergy between Inspiration and Virtuoso traits, however like most Virtuoso builds it suffers from the need to get hit often enough to generate its sustain and offense, but not too often as not to die. The damage is passable if one can shatter on CD, the unblockable property really helps when dealing with Willbender, Untamed and Vindicator blocks. However, lack of instant CC or domination trait line for boonstrip, as well as more easily avoided burst from bladesongs make this build struggle to perform better than Chaos Staff Mirage in the duelling/sidenode role.

Comments

Get MetaBattle Premium
Enjoy an ad-free experience & support the website, for less than $1 per month! Upgrade to Premium
MetaBattle is recruiting!
We are seeking an experienced Build Admin for Throne and Liberty with a deep understanding of the meta across most weapons and game modes. Get in touch with Galaxian on Discord if you're a good fit for the role or know someone else who is. This is a paid position.
Split Metabattle Logo