Originally Posted by
Sueisfine
eheh, when I mentioned iBerserker was only regarding your quote about Phantasms not working in dungeons (with which I respectfully disagree) and also because my setup for dungeons is GS+Staff.
But I understand why you (and others) dislike staff because your focus is a shatter build and with that in mind your points are totally valid ofc! It's a matter of playstyle, I tried shatter builds and I personally don't enjoy them much. In dungeons I rather remain ranged as much as possible and be supportive in the form of boons and glamours (and yeah I use SoI but not directly because of staff, ofc, but having both is even better!) while also doing damage with my phantasms; the more time they stay up (which also has to do with where you place them) the better! I didn't say I only cast them for 1-hit willingly (if this was the case, I totally agree with you!), I said IF they only get 1-hit I consider the cast was already worth it! Remember that I run a phantasm build so my phantasm damage is buffed, where in the case of a shatter build is the shatter damage that is buffed, not the phantasm damage per se.
But once again, it's all a matter of playstyle, staff fits very well in mine and I really like it but I totally understand it doesn't fit in yours! I encourage everyone to try all the options (you have several playstyles to try with a mesmer, thankfully!) and see what fits you!