Guild Wars 2

Hello,

One of my least favorite classes to fight is a mesmer, specifically the Shatterer Mesmer. I just can’t seem to counter them and get very frustrated. I need some help understanding how this class deals its damage/plays with this build because I’ve looked at the build and still don’t understand how I can counter it. I’m hoping a third party explanation will be more clear.

Basically right now I try to fight a mesmer by using my AoEs (engineer) to take out his clones while dealing damage. There’s a few issues for me right now. One is everytime I dodge his shatterers or take out a clone, another one or phantasm seems to immediately replace it. I also don’t know who to watch. I usually try to watch animations in this game and I have so much trouble with mesmers. Do I watch the mesmer himself? What about his phantasms? Sometimes I take a lot of damage despite the mesmer just auto attacking me with his sword which leads me to believe it must be the phantasms. How do I counter them without the mesmer taking advantage of my shift of focus? I try to negate all the damage he throws at me but it seems like the minute I stop dodging or blocking I take 1/3 of my hp in a second. Then you have portal, how does one counter the portal? I see the entry portal placed down and I know if I leave say home point he will portal in possibly with friends. What do I do in this situation? Just sit there watching the portal?

Right now mesmer is the main class for me that frustrates me to the point losing the desire to sPvP and I think it’s due to a lack of understand of the class and I’d really like some help on understanding him. Right now combat log, experience, and videos/spectator aint doing a thing for me.

When you watch videos/spectator, do you actually watch from the Mes’s perspective? Have you seen them being defeated by others, and paid attention to what their opponents are doing?
You could also try playing the class yourself to get some insights.

I don’t actually know anything so I have no specific advice to give.

Maybe, try to play a few matches as mesmer? 50-100, even hotjoin. For me it worked, you have to understand mesmer mind to beat him.

it very much depends on your profession. some may "completely ignore" the clones and simply evade the phantasm spawning skills and just hit the mesmer where it hurts (not in the faces, noble jedis!), others simply have to deal with the fact, that the mesmer spawns a kittenload of hard hitting mongrels. basically, rieselle has provided the one and only answer.

plus: every mesmer plays differently in every part of the game. roaming builds, shatter, you name it, every part of the game needs a totally different movement and therefore, a completely different approach to the mesmer.

- Focus the mesmer.
- Blinds cancel the phantasm spawning so remember that.
-When a mesmer dodges toward you, it means he’s going to shatter on you, so make sure to dodge as well.
- If he shatters away from you, dodge toward the shatters, not away from them so that they shatter whilst you’re mid-dodge.
- Drop AoEs to take out the clones because they do have to spend endurance to spawn more. But when you drop AoEs, make sure you’re also giving the mesmer some pressure. People always freak out and relieve you of pressure when they themselves are dieing.

An engi has great abilities to take down a mesmer anyhow,
I’d advice you to listen to the guy above here, as he is right.
Besides that, condi’s nail shatter mesmers quite hard aswell,
as they do not (besides maybe nullfield, but in higher tier pvp you use decoy anyways)
have any condi cleanses. I think your biggest problem is the targetting,
just make sure you’ve got the real one

For the portal of the mesmer. Nope. There’s nothing you can do besides waiting.
The strenght of a mesmer besides a decent spike is its mobility and that’s
what could make the diffrence bringing in a mesmer into a match.

Kind Regards,

Vindex

-Mesmer

Most run GS+staff

Dodge after he raises his sword, most use his at start to open with GS#4 phantasm.
Dodge if you can when he throws his sword at you GS#2, as this makes a clone and gives might + vuln

CC him to force him into staff. GS autos hurt a lot and the gs cones stack bleed. Staff auto doesnt hurt as much, but the clones stack lots of bleeds if theres many and now theyll bounce
Exit out of the chaos storm ASAP, try to dodge through the clones, when he shatters.

Hes now back to GS, stay on him as GS only has #5 knockback for defense. Dont let him get at range as it deals more dmg and him being in safety.

In general, they always dodge after a shatter to create a clone or two. if you have aoe at that time use it , it puts them out of ammo. Also when they stealth, and dodge, a clone will appear and thats where they were at last.
Avoid spamming skills when they daze combo you, it can activate hakting strike mutliple times and deal dmg

Best way to deal with most Shatter mesmers as an engi since they have no condi removal is to learn to play around the CD on your 7sec burning proc. You basicly want to single target the mesmer ONLY when thats up to get burning on him then you can use your aoe to clear phants and blocking/kiting/stealthing abilities to wait out the duration then repeat. Poison when it wants to heal. Dodge the izerker and mirrorblade. Your bouncing confusion bolt is also very well suited to fighting mesmers – will hit the mesmer twice (if timed correctly you can blind 2 important attacks). Do NOT underestimate the power of kit swapping on top of the mesmer, the poison/bleed/burn you can proc from your sigils and trait is very strong.

Just beware of the GS ranged damage and work through that process of burn proc (best with a weapon switch) and aoe pressure inbetween while dodging mirrorblade and izerker – you have a good chance of killing it but mesmer GS is a very strong weapon vs engis so don’t get too sad if you lose. Remember clever mesmers will try to trick you into burning their clones as it gives them 10secs where you aren’t as threatening to them – keep track of your burning.

Whenever you don’t know the weakness of a class the best method to gain insight is to play that class. You will become intimate to it’s weaknesses this way.