Chronomancer - Inspi/Chaos Chrono

Part of the current metagame

Our curator decided this build is in the current metagame regardless of rating. The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great

Focused on: Crowd control, Boon removal and Utility

Designed for: WvW Zerg

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Easy

This build was last updated on December 19, 2023 and is up to date for the October 8, 2024 patch.

Overview

Support Chronomancer WvW build focusing on boon application, revival, utility and crowd control.

Skill Bar

Sword/Focus

Staff

Utility

Variants

Heal

• Signet of the Ether - provides more Alacrity/ Quickness but loses On Heal effect synergy

Utility

• All four of the following options are good choices, but a group should have at least 1-2 Veil and Illusion of Life before mesmers take other utilities
  • Veil
  • Illusion of Life
  • Signet of Illusions
  • Mimic

Elite

• Time Warp

Template Code

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Specializations

Variants

• Restorative Mantras
• Mental Defense

Variants

• Seize the Moment trade Alacrity for Quickness, worth taking if quickness uptime is low in party

Equipment

Head
Minstrel

Shoulders
Minstrel

Chest
Minstrel

Hands
Minstrel

Legs
Minstrel

Feet
Minstrel

Backpiece
Minstrel

Accessory
Minstrel

Accessory
Minstrel

Amulet
Minstrel

Ring
Minstrel

Ring
Minstrel

Sword
Minstrel

Focus
Minstrel

Sigil

Sigil

Staff
Minstrel

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x18

Relic

Equipment Variants

Relic

• Relic of Febe
• Relic of Cerus - for boon removal

Sigils

• Sigil of Superior Sigil of Nullification

Usage

Priorities

High

• Illusion of Life
• Veil
• Stability

Moderate

• Boon Support
• Boon rip
• CC

Low

• Cleansing

Surviving

• This build has high passive defense
• This build has low mobility skill access, staying very close to your tag and group is critical
  • Target isolated players to reposition with Illusionary Leap/Swap, the clone will die before Swap can be used if it is summoned into damage
    • Be ready to Dodge as soon as you press Swap
• Make sure to avoid having an enemy targeted when using Phase Retreat for movement
• This builds has moderate active defenses

Active defense priority

• Dodge
• Blurred Frenzy
• Distortion

Detailed Explanations

Illusion of Life

• Focus on reviving allies who are far away with Illusion of Life, don't waste the skill on players that can be hand rezzed.
• Normally Continuum Split should be saved for Gravity Well/Time Warp

Veil

• Save your Veil for the commanders call
  • If you aren't using voice communication, use it as your group pushes into melee, avoid wasting it for a range spike
• Place your Veil as close to the front of your group as possible without letting the line spawn on top of any allies

Stability

• Apply Stability with Mantra of Concentration or Distortion before allies get caught by enemy CC
  • Enemy CC is most likely to land when they spike your group, your group is moving through theirs, or your group is moving away from theirs
    • It is better to use your Stability too early than too late
  • Use one of your Shatter skills immediately after applying Stability to push it lower in the boon strip order
    • Boon strip skills like Null Field remove the last applied boon first
      • Boon corrupt skills like Well of Corruption remove boons randomly instead, but applying extra boons to lower the chance Stability is corrupted is still useful
• Avoid overlapping multiple Stability Stability sources on your party, both your own and other players
  • Prioritize recharging Mantra of Concentration over everything other than survival if it is uncharged and off cooldown

Boon Support

• Make sure to cast your Phantasms as often as possible to proc Stretched Time
  • Use Signet of the Ether to reset your Phantasms cooldowns for more application
• If possible, hit allies as well as enemies with Null Field, but prioritize enemies
• All of your shatters give boons with Illusionary Defense, Bountiful Disillusionment and Stretched Time/Seize the Moment
  • Use your shatters as often as possible, with the exception of Distortion which should be saved for when Stability is needed
  • Since Continuum Split resets all CDs, you should try to use
• Chaos Armor provides significant boon uptime to the party with Chaotic Transference
  • Phase Retreat and Illusionary Leap ⇒ Swap can be used to combo finish Ethereal Fields for more Chaos Armor

Boon rip

• Your shatters (Split Second, Rewinder and Time Sink) proc Shattered Concentration
  • Since your shatters are melee range, use them when crossing through enemies
    • Don't go out of your way to hit enemies with shatters if it would put you out of position
• Land Null Field just before an allies spike when possible. Try to place it so one edge is on the enemy group and the other edge is in the direction they are moving

Boon rip skill priority

• Time Sink - when in range and targets lack Stability, to proc Vicious Expression
• Split Second/Rewinder - when in range
• Null Field

CC

• Use your CC when:
  • Your group calls a spike:
    • Winds - Winds of Disenchantment
    • Wells - Well of Corruption+Well of Suffering
    • Shades - Desert Shroud
    • Traps - Procession of Blades+Test of Faith
  • On top of enemy downs (while alive players are on top of them)
  • Enemy groups moving defensively while your group is pushing
• Your CC skills also remove boons with Vicious Expression
• Use Continuum Split when casting Gravity Well to reset the cooldown
  • Use Continuum Split while out of the way of enemy damage and pushes so you aren't brought back in an awkward spot or have your split ended early by damage
  • While inside the split, use as many skills as possible such as Null Field and Shatter skills as the cooldowns reset
  • You can cast Continuum Split as another skill cast is finishing instead of before the cast to give yourself slightly more time in split
• Use Temporal Curtain to pull targets into other CC and spikes, including your own Gravity Well
  • Temporal Curtain is particularly important when revenants range spike with Phase Smash
• Use Illusionary Leap as your group pushes into the enemy or when trying to catch an enemy that is lagging behind
  • Do not put yourself out of position trying to use it

CC skill priority

• Temporal Curtain - on range spikes
• Gravity Well
• Temporal Curtain - general usage
• Illusionary Leap

Cleansing

• Most of your cleanse comes passively from Sympathetic Visage and Restorative Illusions
• When possible, aim Null Field to hit both allies and enemies
• Use Mantra of Recovery to proc Mender's Purity

Settings

• Under General Options / Combat/Movement turn on Allow Skill Retargetting and set Ground Targetting to Instant Cast, this will make Illusion of Life cast at the location your cursor is at the end of the cast, instead of where you initially targetted
• Under General Options / User Interface check Always show squad health bars and Always show party health bars. These will make it much easier to keep track of who needs your support
• Also under General Options / User Interface turn on Thick party health bars and Thick squad health bars
• Under Squad Options check View as a grid. This will allow you to keep track of your allies' health, enabling better decision-making and skill management

Tips & Tricks

Wall Pulling

• Place Temporal Curtain at the lowest point of a wall that is horizontally in line with the top edge (But not further than 600 range on desert BL walls)
  • Since Into the Void activates in a radius, this will not reduce the range of your pull but will hide its position and increase the chance of pulling people off walls
• Use Illusionary Leap ⇒ Swap to give Immobilize to pulled targets
  • It is easier if you pre target enemies likely to get pulled before casting Into the Void

Portal Bombing

• Portal bombing is a very high risk strategy and is never recommended
• Try to open Portal Exeunt behind terrain with respect to the enemy group if possible
• Swap your skills to Blink Portal Entre and Veil and Mass Invisibility
• Equip a torch for The Prestige
  • Optionally equip the Chaos traitline for Prismatic Understanding

1. Cast Portal Entre at your groups feet
2. Start running towards the location you want to open the portal
3. Use The Prestige while casting Mass Invisibility
4. Cast Blink at any time to get closer
5. Once in position open Portal Exeunt
6. Cast Veil directly on the center of the portal