Guild Wars 2

I’ve always been curious if mesmer magic itself only dwelled in illusions or more along the lines of actual warping of reality to do harm. Like spatial surge for example, if it was only illusions are we only attacking the mind or are we actually warping it and doing psychical harm.

Time warp is also an interesting example along with the portal abilities. Do they effect our own perception of time by making things happen faster then they actually are or making us do a routine action to reach a location but us not knowing it ever happened.

I’d love to hear other people’s ideas and thoughts regarding what mesmer magic really does besides just illusions or if it really is only illusions.

Mesmers are masters of illusion and control, subverting the enemy’s Energy for their own use, and that of their allies. Combined with any other profession, their skills provide excellent support, turning enemies’ powers against them and changing the very fabric of reality to hinder foes and help allies. Mesmers have the ability to cast spells quickly, which can make all the difference in the heat of battle. Their powers of domination allow them to take control of enemy skills and Energy. Their unique illusionary talents can slow or even halt enemy movement and skill casting, or cause imaginary illnesses that drain Health and Energy from foes while healing and energizing allies. While Mesmers are not known for brute strength, their ability to confuse, distract, and drain the enemy’s resources more than compensates. – GuildWars Manuscripts

I’d say it deals with both.

As Dustfinger said, it deals with both affecting reality and just the mind.

Most of GW1’s spells focused on the latter – which created the misconception that mesmers only dealt with illusions of the mind – while GW2’s spells focus on the former of bending reality.

Here’s more tidbits for you.

Distortion:
“By focusing the ether around my body, I can create a barrier. It is almost as though the air itself hardens, stopping arrows and deflecting blades.”
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Research_Journal

Glamours:
“Glamours are enchantments that manipulate the fabric of reality around mesmers. For example, Veil is a wall that bestows invisibility upon any ally that passes through it.”
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/professions/mesmer/

Eric Flannum:
“For the record the GW1 Mesmer has never been just about illusions and messing with peoples minds. They have always had the ability to manipulate raw magical energy as embodied by the skill chaos storm. Arcane thievery is not the mesmer tricking someones mind but rather them manipulating magical energies. The same goes for some of their interrupts such as cry of frustration. This has always been the intent behind the mesmer.”
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/21429-does-the-new-mesmer-fit-the-old-mesmer-lore/page__st__90

I’ve always thought The Elder Scrolls is a great analogy – Mesmer is a perfect match with an illusionist/mystic under their character build scheme.

Mysticism in TES covered spells that manipulate and channel raw magic and bend space and time; turning the victims own energies against them, drawing, siphoning or trapping energies and even providing limited teleportation and precognition.

Couple that with Illusion (Which I shouldn’t need explain) and you have the mesmer’s concept laid out in it’s entirety

(If the school is unfamiliar to Skyrim fans it’s because they took a knife to mysticism and merged it with alteration in TES5: Skyrim, and removed the teleportation spells in TES4: Oblivion)

I kind of like that the distinction between a Mesmer’s “real” magic and “fake” magic isn’t at all clear. After all, visceral confusion about what’s even real any more: that’s part of the descent into madness, isn’t it?

Some attributes to keep in mind — you can apply a Phantasm to a wooden gate, or use Veil to sneak past an automatic defense grid. Things like Portal can take someone places they’ve never been or were unaware of, or even could not reach on their own (in the case of players without a Swiftness buff, or certain particularly nasty jumping puzzles).

There are some things that do depend on the victim’s mind. You can’t apply Confusion to objects without a mind or fascimile thereof, nor can you apply Blind — automatic turrets simply don’t work that way.

That said, it’s not clear that the difference between illusions and reality is a well-drawn line in this setting. Phantasms and Illusions ‘die’ with their target, whether or not the Mesmer wants that to happen, but can be harmed by other actors or even harm actors other than their target. The magic may not be on the target’s mind, but the magic is dependent on the target.

Personally, I think Mesmer abilities are all psionic. They are able to bend time and space with their minds as well as use arcane energy to turn their thoughts into reality.