Virtuoso - Inspiration Duelist

This is a test build. You may comment and rate it.

Focused on: Direct damage, Condition damage and Sustain

Designed for: PvP Conquest

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

TBD

This build was last updated on July 07, 2022.

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 from Duelist's Reversal.

Variants

Condi variant - Higher toughness, focuses on damage through 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. 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 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 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 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, AoE 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 uptime builds such as Protection Holosmith can be tough to kill as this build lacks boon removal. Sigil of Superior 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

• Youtube: Build guide
• Twitch: Blindside_TV