Virtuoso - Power Virtuoso

The community gave this build a rating, making it second-tier: Good

Focused on: Strike damage

Designed for: Open World and Open World General

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Easy

This build was last updated on May 26, 2024 and is up to date for the October 8, 2024 patch.

Overview

Power Virtuoso is a relatively simple build with good burst damage at very long ranges. Virtuosos cannot summon clones. Instead, they stock Blades. This has the disadvantage of clones no longer tanking for you, but the advantage of Blades persisting after combat unlike clones which die after the fight.

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Skill Bar

Dagger/Focus

Greatsword

Utility

Weapon Variants

• Mainhand Sword - Lower DPS, melee. Strong defensive utility via Blurred Frenzy. Boonrip.
• Offhand Sword - Can replace Greatsword or Focus for higher DPS + a block at the cost of CC.

Skill Variants

Healing

Signet of the Ether combines healing and damage by refreshing your phantasm skills.

• Ether Feast - can be used when you require more healing.

Utility

• Mantra of Resolve - condition cleanse for yourself and nearby allies.
• Feedback - projectile reflection.
• Mantra of Concentration - personal stunbreak and AoE stability.
• Portal Entre - utility.

Elite skill

Thousand Cuts provides good damage and great CC, you will almost never replace it.

• Signet of Humility - slightly less cc than Gravity Well but it happens immediately if you need to break a defiance bar really fast.

Specializations

Specialization Variants

• Bladeturn Refrain - sacrifices damage for extra defense

Domination

Domination can be taken over Illusions if you are playing in a group providing you permanent Quickness and Might.

Equipment

• Ascended gear is not required.

Head
Assassin

Shoulders
Berserker

Chest
Berserker

Hands
Berserker

Legs
Assassin

Feet
Berserker

Backpiece
Berserker

Accessory
Berserker

Accessory
Berserker

Amulet
Berserker

Ring
Berserker

Ring
Berserker

Dagger
Berserker

Focus
Berserker

Sigil

Sigil

Greatsword
Berserker

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Relic

• Rune of Superior Rune of the Dragonhunter and Rune of Superior Rune of the Scholar are interchangeable.
• You can use Relic of Zakiros to trade a minor amount of damage for sustain, Relic of the Cavalier to start combat with boons, or Relic of Durability for a little extra defense.
• For defense, equip the highest tier Jade Core you can afford. Use defensive food, traits, or skills if required. If necessary, use Knight trinkets.

Consumables

Budget consumables are acceptable for use in open world.

DPS

• Prioritize Steak Ascended food.
• /
• /

Farming

• Prioritize Steak Ascended food.
• /
• (and variants)

Usage

This build plays very similarly to core mesmer. Clones are replaced by Blades and persist after combat. Shatters are replaced by Bladesongs. Once you stock 5 Blades, use Bladesong Harmony.

Damage

The build is very simple to use.

• Prioritise your phantasm skills for damage and Blade generation. Use Signet of the Ether to cast Phantasmal Swordsman twice, but only when Phantasmal Disenchanter is on cooldown.
• Start fights with greatsword, use all skills, then swap to dagger+focus.
• Only use Bladesongs when you have 5 Blades stocked to get 2 back from Infinite Forge. This is extremely important because, unlike condition virtuoso, your Blade generation is quite slow.

Defense

• You're a fully ranged build, use that to your advantage. Never stop moving, get out of enemy attacks or dodge them.
• When using sword, Blurred Frenzy dodges incoming attacks for 1 second. Use this to avoid attacks instead of dodging.
• Illusionary Riposte is a block.
• If you need condition cleanse, slot Mantra of Resolve.
• Phantasmal Warden is a projectile block

Crowd Control

• Counter Blade - daze
• Bladesong Dissonance - daze
• Illusionary Wave - knockback
• Temporal Curtain > Into the Void - pull