Guild Wars 2

So, I’ve been trying to get “Been there done that” which means I’ve been slogging my way through the WvW maps to get the POIs.

Which is incredibly hard for me, because after much introspection, I’ve figured out I really, really suck at this.

I managed to get a single kill, but only by virtue of the three other allies standing around me. Otherwise I die – a lot.

So, I’m trying to understand what I need to be doing to at least give myself some kind of fighting chance. I’m a level 80 Sylvari Mesmer, and generally prefer greatsword, though my secondary set is a sword/torch. This is my only character, so I’ve probably really screwed up something, somewhere along the line. I’ve got a full set of exotics which I purchased from the Black Lion, so my gear seems to be OK, and my weapon seems also fairly decent, at least in terms of damage output.

But the more baffling aspect of it is the playstyle, and the tricks people seem to employ. For example, the skirmishes I’ve been involved with, the people seem to dodge constantly which I can’t do, without my meter depleting rather quickly. One time, after I died, I stayed put just to watch my killer fight some other people who showed up near me. He killed them too. But what was most impressive was his ability to just constantly heal himself. His attackers would deal damage, and then a few seconds later, he’d heal himself back – his health bar constantly moved back and forth as if he were constantly chugging some sort of health potion. How is that possible?

I think the last battle I fought, I completely unloaded on the guy, and I ended up dead, and he ended up with about 70% health. What am I doing wrong??

Well, there are two points to address here.

First, map completing in WvW. I highly recommend joining a guild rather than trying to solo WvW. There are many guilds that offer map completion event nights and safety in numbers is a good motto to keep in mind until you are comfortable holding your own on those maps.

Second point is learning the different class abilities. This player you were going against, do you know what class you were fighting? There are abilities that may look like a dodge (called evades) and a player could also be using food buffs or traits that increase endurance.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Endurance

Again it takes time to learn how to counter the different classes, safety in numbers until you learn

The dodging you’re seeing is from extra endurance from the Vigor boon, and possibly from Superior Sigil of Energy. Possibly Orrian Truffle and Meat Stew, but that’s a relatively rarely used one.

The constant healing could be a lot of things, and it depends on the class. Basic guess, though: Regen boon and a heal skill with short cooldown.

It really depends what Professions you are fighting, and you may get more feedback on the Mesmer sub forum. Having full exotics is not enough, the stats you are using matter greatly and many PvE builds will not fair well in a PvP setting for a number of reasons.

1. Endurance regeneration and thus dodge roll frequency can be augmented with the boon “Vigor” and Superior Sigils of Energy on your weapons. Some professions also have evades on weapon skills.

2. The ability to heal is very profession specific, most warriors run the healing signet so they have very little burst heal while elementalists will have their health bars bouncing all over the place. What profession were you fighting?

3. To be successful in small scale WvW encounters you must have great area awareness and knowledge of the abilities and animations of other professions, don’t fret these skills come with time!

4. Off hand torch is great for running away, but the phantasm is terrible so you will not pack much of a punch. If you are fighting a profession with a lot of AE they will laterally kill most of your DPS before you can harm them if you can only get 1 damaging phantasm out (assuming you are running a phantasm build).

If you are in T1 pm me some time as I usually roam on Mesmer and would be happy to help, even if you are not TC (in game name Antoine Mesmer, guild OBEY)

I think it’s amazing you are actually asking for help and trying to understand/learn rather than making another whiny OMG OP NERF PLIZ GIF ME MY POIS NOW!!-topic like bazillion other PvE people have done in the past. I salute you and I hope you get your title soon.

Roll a Blackwater PU or meditation based mesmer. Both are easy to play and very powerful in WvW fights. The trick is to kite enemies, generate clones and press an attack only when the enemy is disoriented by your clones.

The other option is to simply roll a thief or warrior and start over. Both are the easiest classes to do world completion.

Straegen.2938:

Roll a Blackwater PU or meditation based mesmer. Both are easy to play and very powerful in WvW fights. The trick is to kite enemies, generate clones and press an attack only when the enemy is disoriented by your clones.

The other option is to simply roll a thief or warrior and start over. Both are the easiest classes to do world completion.

Meditation based mesmer?

I suggest getting into the mesmer subforum and checking out builds specific to what you’re doing in WvW. Are you running with the zerg? Are you roaming alone or with a small group? In this environment, everything you do and have is important. What trinkets are you using? Are you condition based or power based? Lots of things to know. Just saying “I have exotics” means nothing if your total build, including armor, weapons, sigils, runes, skills, trinkets, traits, food, etc, don’t synergize and work well together. There is so much more to playing against another player than there is in beating down on an NPC. Once you have a good build locked down, you may also find it helpful to go to the PvP area and at the least do some PvP against the trainers there, or if you feel braver, go on into some real PvP matches to improve your skills.

Clownmug.8357:

Meditation based mesmer?

I assume he meant Mantra.

Clownmug.8357:

Meditation based mesmer?

Mantritations!

Virtute.8251:

Clownmug.8357:

Meditation based mesmer?

Mantritations!

ahhh I see…..Mantratic Understandings…..

Jeknar.6184:

Clownmug.8357:

Meditation based mesmer?

I assume he meant Mantra.

But he said it was easy to play. =P

Mesmers are highly trait reliant. You might just have a crappy build. As people have said, go on over to the mesmer forums to find a good build. Mesmers also have a high skill floor (for certain builds), so being a good mesmer means practice.

Huh, such courage coming to these forums with that question

As others have mentioned:

- You need a good WvW build to do well – PvE builds don’t really do well against other players
- Energy sigils, and vigor boon restores endurance like crazy – also on mesmer well timed blurred frenzies help a lot
- You didn’t give specifics on what class you were fighting who had that heal, but judging from the description I assume guardian or ele – yeah they can do that

Some tips:

- travel in small groups for small objectives (camps, possibly towers)
- use the commander zerg (or your guild) for larger ones
- If you are running solo try to avoid fights with guys with Silver/Gold/Platinum ranks – they probably are very experienced guys
- Have patience, some places (like enemy keeps on EB) are very hard to get into

Ps.: I run a mesmer mainly in WvW, can send my build over (easy to use and powerful) if you need it. Send me a PM if interested. (for those wondering, it’s a power based PU)