Guild Wars 2

My small, but active guild is working on getting our members dungeons that are often not done in PuG’s, so they can get the Dungeon Master Achievement. This of course, has led to something of a learning curve, because before this point, most of us are somewhere between casual and hardcore, where we work for good exotic/ascended gear, but don’t live to play the game. Players are reasonably skilled, and pay attention to good strategy, which leads me to my question.

We, as a group understand the value of stacking for certain bosses, in order to spread buffs around, etc. That part of the tactic is not in question, however the mesmer in our group, when stacking is done, almost always dies, or comes close to it. One of our guildmates (our dungeon-running guardian) has suggested that this has something to do with them being just outside the hitbox, where because the amount of damage the mesmer does, gets them stomped right through the stack, rather than the bigger norn guardian being hit first. This has prompted the mesmer to want to attack outside of the stack, rather than getting stomped in the stack. This tactic has largely been fine, but the guardian believes this is making keeping the group as a whole alive, a problem.

So, I’m looking for some sound tactical advice here. Is it OK for the mesmer to stay out of the stack (after, say initial LoS pulls, etc.) or do they need to stay in the stack, no matter what happens?

The mesmer should use a one handed sword and focus, with the focus set to reflect projectiles. The second skill of the one handed sword gives them a decent amount of dodges, in addition to their regular dodges.

A lot has to do with how a mesmer traits as well.

I’ve mained a mesmer in dungeons for a long time and seldom go down.

The mesmer could accidentally become the target, and the boss may leave the stacking position if the mesmer is ranging. Mesmer is a really easy class to use for stacking, because of the #2 sword skill, f4 skill, dodges, #4 sword skill, etc. I started using mesmer several years ago because my game would freeze constantly and I always knew I would be safe because timing dodges, reflects, invulnerability, and blocks makes a mesmer invincible in stacking. I hate to say it’s a L2P issue, but it is.

My advice is to keep the mesmer stacked with you and he/she will eventually become better at surviving in the stack. I know greatsword is a really popular mesmer weapon, but it should rarely be used when stacking due to the damage decrease it gets at close range. In my experience, I’ve found mainhand sword to be the best weapon for stacking. This will take practice and may be frustrating at times when an error in timing can be fatal, but it will definitely be worth it. This is a learning experience after all, and I hope your mesmer and the rest of your guild become great dungeon runners!

One last thing I should add – it is sometimes better to stack directly on top of some bosses instead of pulling them to a wall or corner. Some bosses in the game were only pulled around a corner because of the elementalist’s fiery greatsword #4 skill; since this skill has been nerfed substantially, not all bosses are best stacked around a corner. This being said, another survival tip for mesmers is to stand behind the boss if you are stacking on top of it out in the open. This way boons will still be easily distributed without risk of pulling the boss away, just be careful with cc skills.

Good luck to you guys!

you dont’ have to stack.

But if you get agro mobs would move out of the stack and melee people would have to chase them.

And there is some boss (for example first boss in SE path 1) will do special attack if someone isn’t in melee range. In that case, you can fight at the side or behind the boss, but you dont’ really have to stand in front to take the hit. But you need to be in melee range else the boss will do his special attack.

When I’m playing my staff elementist, I dont’ always stack up. Because there is no point unless I get agro, I’ll have to stack up on the group so mobs wont’ move out of the way.

One of our guildmates (our dungeon-running guardian) has suggested that this has something to do with them being just outside the hitbox, where because the amount of damage the mesmer does, gets them stomped right through the stack, rather than the bigger norn guardian being hit first.

Base on my understanding, it have nothing to do with it.

Thanks so much for the input so far, everybody. I know the mesmer is a GS shatter mes, but does actually have a sword and focus they use occasionally too, so getting them to use that or swap in two swords for the extra block. They’re a pretty decent player (the whole group is pretty skilled, to take nothing from them), so I’m hoping this works towards better group cohesion.

I tend to use a phantasm build, not a shatter build for PvE. Shatter builds, in my opinion, work best in PvP.

If you can keep your clones up, you can spec for taking less damage and doing more damage with those clones up. And phantasms are more hearty than clones.

GS simply does not make sense to use while stacking since its best utility is for kiting and it does the greatest damage at max range.

One thing to keep in mind for Blurred Frenzy is that you will lose the full length of its evade if you cancel your animation, this can be a mistake. Watch the bosses and don’t use Blurred Frenzy until you need the 2.5s evade.

laokoko.7403:

you dont’ have to stack.

/thread

ps: http://dulfy.net/2014/07/21/gw2-mesmer-pve-class-guide-by-sanderinoa/

Its mostly a L2P issue for the mesmer as it’s one of the easiest profession to play full zerker. Sword/Sword will give him enough block to survive fight where he doesn’t have enough dodge.

Try to find out why ppl stack. At first it was because of the Warrior meta. Back then warrior was view as the biggest dps and a corner boost their dps even more. After it was the Ele FGS that needed a corner to excel. But now, you are often better to not stack and fight the boss where he is. You still need to stay close to each other and the boss, but you can walk around in a 300 range circle around the boss.

Some bosses still need to stack tight so he don’t more around too much or to pull him or to make him waste an attack , etc. But always ask you why do we pull in a corner? More than often you’ll see that corner is not as good at it use to be.