Guild Wars 2

Haven’t played mes since the feature patch which killed Mes: what builds should I run on the rare occassions that I do play my mes?

you run the reroll build

Link in sig

Or you play a guard ;(

I only wanna play mesmer because it’s super pretty and pink tbh…

You have good taste, Cotser.

Feature patch killed mes? News to me.

You can either run:

6/4/0/0/4 (minmax personal DPS, slightly harder to maintain all 3 phantasms)
2/6/X/X/4 (easier to maintain all phantasms but skews DPS towards phantasm end)
2/4/0/4/4 (permareflects, less DPS)

Feature patch didn’t kill mes, it just changed one “catch all” build to several others which you can switch depending on the situation. The ferocity change hurt a bit, as reflect damage is a major source of our damage. Since the meta builds don’t use two-handed weapons, we didn’t benefit from double sigils. The nerf on perception/bloodlust stacking was annoying as well. None of this kills the class, but they’re all little irritants.

The meta had been moving away from mes before that (since other classes can do most of what a mesmer can do, with greater movement speed and higher DPS in most situations). The feature patch certainly didn’t help this trend.

But anyway, my sig has a list of useful builds and when to use them. Good luck~

The all round build is 2/4/0/5/3. Perfect if you are lazy and dont want to constantly change traits.

spoj.9672:

The all round build is 2/4/0/5/3. Perfect if you are lazy and dont want to constantly change traits.

I prefer 2/4/0/4/4 for that. Better reflect uptime with wardens >.> 5/3 is also very good ofc.

I have made a mathematical comparison and the difference between 2/4/0/4/4, 2/4/0/5/3, 2/3/0/5/4, and 5/4/0/5/0 builds was less than 2% at most. Just run whatever you are more comfortable with. 6/4/0/0/4 on the other hand was about 15% more dps than all of the above, which is why it is the meta right now.

And, mesmer wasn’t nerfed, it simply gotten a harder to pull off the mad dps we used to easily do with that one-build-for-everything setup. Now you have to work twice as hard to avoid being a dead weight on your party during a dungeon run.

In fact, there are cases where you can pull off MORE dps than before the “nerf” patches.

It’s the main reason I love mesmer and ele equally. I had to work hard to feel content with myself

Edit: which cases?

Iris Ng.9845:

work hard

ew
-deletes my mes-

play shatter and boon control.
Woops dungeon sub.

Iris Ng.9845:

Edit: which cases?

Anecdotal evidence, me beating previous record – 16s risen giant kill – with my 12s kill (all thanks to the healing signet and non bugged ph trait):

• https://youtube.com/watch?v=covdN2N886A

Granted, jerem did say he wasn’t going for a record with his attempts but 16s was definitely record fast back then, a time I couldn’t beat when I was trying before the patch.

frifox.5283:

I have made a mathematical comparison and the difference between 2/4/0/4/4, 2/4/0/5/3, 2/3/0/5/4, and 5/4/0/5/0 builds was less than 2% at most. Just run whatever you are more comfortable with. 6/4/0/0/4 on the other hand was about 15% more dps than all of the above, which is why it is the meta right now.

And, mesmer wasn’t nerfed, it simply gotten a harder to pull off the mad dps we used to easily do with that one-build-for-everything setup. Now you have to work twice as hard to avoid being a dead weight on your party during a dungeon run.

In fact, there are cases where you can pull off MORE dps than before the “nerf” patches.

If you’re running 4 in Inspiration for warden reflects, it’s not really about DPS so much as it is reflect uptime.

Also mesmer never had a catchall DPS+reflect build, it’s always been one or the other. If anything the perception that mesmers aren’t as good as they used to be for dungeons has been because of changes in tactics. Mesmers were good when they were the burst option for speedkilling annoying bosses through Time Warp and for shutting down other annoying bosses with permareflect, now with FGS being much more common, Time Warp isn’t as useful as it used to be and the mesmer’s high sustained single-target DPS loses to the guardian’s slightly better AOE burst DPS.

Mesmers are still very good for long-haul fights in pugs who aren’t using FGS or burst tactics, because that’s when having very high sustained DPS really makes a difference.

Also, 100% solid proof that mesmers do more dps than everything in gw2… hopefully:

• http://youtu.be/KpNK9WBTwxs

Mesmers suck

The Mexican Cookie.3690:

Mesmers suck

Yeah but they look stunning in pink.

frifox.5283:

Also, 100% solid proof that mesmers do more dps than everything in gw2… hopefully:

• http://youtu.be/KpNK9WBTwxs

Meh, ele can do better. Fer SHURE! Anyhow, I recalled that healing signet is the only good reason for an increased DPS by increased phantasm ramp up time. But the skill was introduced way before the April 15 patch. In his 16 second record, I think Jerem was using … Wardens? Can’t remember for sure…

Cotser, get the Minstrel for your mesmer!

Yea he had 1 clone, 1 swordsman, and 1 warden. Compared to 2 swordsmans and 1 duelist that’s right about 20% less dps. Signet was introduced Dec 10th and his video is dated also Dec 10. If instead the signet was used to summon 3 dps phantasms the time should have been 16sec x 0.8 = 12.8sec. Ferocity nerf in April lowered glass mesmer dps by nearly the same amount so kill time probably would have jumped right back to 16 sec.

I was running 2/4/0/5/3 before the patch due to phantasmal haste not working for several phantasms. Has this been fixed? Otherwise, which trait are you using in the Illusions line?

Yes, PH now works for all. In Illusions you pick III and X.

Thanks. I never expected anet to fix anything on mesmer.

frifox.5283:

Yea he had 1 clone, 1 swordsman, and 1 warden. Compared to 2 swordsmans and 1 duelist that’s right about 20% less dps. Signet was introduced Dec 10th and his video is dated also Dec 10. If instead the signet was used to summon 3 dps phantasms the time should have been 16sec x 0.8 = 12.8sec. Ferocity nerf in April lowered glass mesmer dps by nearly the same amount so kill time probably would have jumped right back to 16 sec.

You’ve made a lot of assumption there to justify the conclusion. I wouldn’t say there is any DPS increase after the feature patch without a solid comparison. Just a question: According to your calculation, what is the dps difference between 24053 and 24044 builds with 3 phantasms surviving (i) longer than 15 seconds and (ii) less than 15 seconds?

Correct, which is why I said it’s an “anecdotal” evidence. I didn’t bother actually calculating anything past some quick napkin math, which is swordsman doing 15% more dps with the fixed ph trait compared to pre april 15th patch when ph was practically useless.

For the question above, solo or meta dungeon party? Those builds compare differently depending on the environment.

Cant really use them in a meta dungeon party. They would definitely boil me and hang me on a stake if they found out I’m using those builds :s

Same rotation, same gear, different builds – 6/4/0/0/4 – 2/4/0/4/4 – 2/4/0/5/3.

Damage/Time

• 15 sec view – http://i.imgur.com/xWjOnN4.png
• 30 sec view – http://i.imgur.com/nhqkJxQ.png

PS: all done vs subject alpha, solo, 10 rounds per build.

Thank you very much!

So, the DPS is pretty much the same across the two builds if phanstams can last a bit longer and 24053 is better when they get killed fast.

Hmm…

Iris Ng.9845:

Thank you very much!

So, the DPS is pretty much the same across the two builds if phanstams can last a bit longer and 24053 is better when they get killed fast.

Hmm…

2/4/0/4/4 has better reflect uptime, though, fwiw. That’s enough for me to prefer it in most situations.

Yeah, to do perma reflect with 2 wardens you need PH, and that’s what your’re sacrificing with 2/4/0/5/3 – perma reflect traded for better initial damage burst.

I normally change to these builds in fractals where sometimes it’s too chaotic to get close to the boss to deal any meaningful damage. As such, phantasms also die fast too. I haven’t thought of any scenarios to get the most out of 24044. Maybe at the Grawl Shaman?