Guild Wars 2

NOW we have a counter.

You did it for siege(siege use to be instant build and you added a cast time)

Mesmer portal #2 needs to be counterable.

Forgive me, but mesmers doing what exactly?

Sorry, I forgot not everyone realizes portals need a nerf.

Its for their portal. There should be a cast time on the 2nd portal.

Why?

15 Characters

So that we stop dying to the invisible man.

Soutalgon.3827:

Sorry, I forgot not everyone realizes portals need a nerf.

Its for their portal. There should be a cast time on the 2nd portal.

Saying they need a nerf, without stating why…… oh yeah, cause you said so. Someone kill you with a portal or something?

There is a lag spike when a large group travels through a portal. If they spawn inside the vanguard, most of it may be dead before people start to be able to see them.

Currently, a mesmer can drop a portal exit instantly from stealth. Even if you DO kill the mesmer at that point, he’s already done his job.

If there was a cast time on it, there would be at least some hope of dropping or interrupting him before he could finish casting.

draculthemad.6273:

There is a lag spike when a large group travels through a portal. If they spawn inside the vanguard, most of it may be dead before people start to be able to see them.

Currently, a mesmer can drop a portal exit instantly from stealth. Even if you DO kill the mesmer at that point, he’s already done his job.

If there was a cast time on it, there would be at least some hope of dropping or interrupting him before he could finish casting.

Or what if the portal ends if the mesmer is downed? So mesmers can’t “suicide run” a portal. If they plant a portal but are immediately downed afterwards…the portal is gone.

Does the render error also affect those who are portaled?

blink.4239:

Does the render error also affect those who are portaled?

No, and that is the problem. The invisible man comes in, pops a portal from stealth and a horde appears, but you cant see them or target them, and by the time you can see them you’re probably dead. The worst is when it is exploited for this very effect…

I would support some kind of timer, or if the portal disappeared when the memer was downed.

in any event it needs to get fixed.

terrible suggestion. If we use your argument to nerf a class for a game mechanic then we need to put a timer on exiting the postum gate of a keep as you can get exactly the same effect by simultaneously exiting straight into a siege.

Either way you look at it, this is just a terrible fail on Anet’s part.

I love a lot of things about this game, but I’m starting to think they were too ambitious.

The rendering issue is a big problem. Mesmer portal just adds to it. Anet needs to get serious.

Antinous.4537:

The rendering issue is a big problem. Mesmer portal just adds to it. Anet needs to get serious.

Yeah. Or else people will start cancelling their subscriptions in droves.

I’ve got a better suggestion. Make mesmer portals like combo fields in that only 5 separate people can interact with them. Then make the portal dissappear if the mesmer controlling it dies. This doesn’t outright prevent zerg jumping and teleporting, as five mesmers could all jump in to the portal to create five more portals, but it makes the tactic require a lot more coordination and makes it possible to counter more easily because you see the first portal coming before the swarm rolls through it.

^^ I also agree with Enenion.

Like pretty much EVERY other skill in the game that affects multiple teammates…the portal should have a limit to how many people it can teleport. Allowing 30 people to all use it simultaneously is just silly. It should be limited to a specific number of players before it closes. Or perhaps a specific number per time period (“Can only teleport 5 players every 10 seconds” or something…I don’t know exactly how long the portal lasts).

Scout: Have players watch out for incoming enemy groups. They should be spread out pretty far to give you adequate time to react. If possible a scout should try to slow down the enemy by providing a distraction. Less skilled groups of players will fall for this and either chase or waste time killing the scout.

Spatial Awareness: Be more alert and aware of enemies and spell effects happening around you. If you have scouting and proper communication then knowing a Mesmer might be incoming isn’t a problem. And any experienced player can spot a portal on the ground.

Anticipate: If you can’t kill the mesmer in time, then watch for his portal and prepare your AOE spells. You know its going to come because you’ve either seen it before or are reading about it here. It should be obvious that the mesmer is likely going to drop a stealth field also, to help his allies get in and spread out more easily. But that doesn’t matter because:

Attack: AOE the mesmer portal and/or use cc’s and stuns to keep players in place while others AOE the portal. Just like it takes you time to load in the enemies, it takes them time to get oriented and attack when exiting a portal. They are weakest at this point in time.

With good communication you will see how easy it is to counter mesmer portals.

chuiu.4985:

Scout: Have players watch out for incoming enemy groups. They should be spread out pretty far to give you adequate time to react. If possible a scout should try to slow down the enemy by providing a distraction. Less skilled groups of players will fall for this and either chase or waste time killing the scout.

Spatial Awareness: Be more alert and aware of enemies and spell effects happening around you. If you have scouting and proper communication then knowing a Mesmer might be incoming isn’t a problem. And any experienced player can spot a portal on the ground.

Anticipate: If you can’t kill the mesmer in time, then watch for his portal and prepare your AOE spells. You know its going to come because you’ve either seen it before or are reading about it here. It should be obvious that the mesmer is likely going to drop a stealth field also, to help his allies get in and spread out more easily. But that doesn’t matter because:

Attack: AOE the mesmer portal and/or use cc’s and stuns to keep players in place while others AOE the portal. Just like it takes you time to load in the enemies, it takes them time to get oriented and attack when exiting a portal. They are weakest at this point in time.

Isn’t it too much effort for one specific profession and skill? Would you write a similar essay for any other profession or any other particular skill?

EDIT: Why my warrior doesn’t have such a skill that scares the kitten out of enemy zergs?

Half of what I wrote should apply to every situation in WvW. Only the last part applies exclusively to Mesmers. And every class has their own unique abilities that can easily have a guide to countering them.

EDIT: I dunno, most people scream 2 is op as hell. Warriors already get tons of advantages in the game over every other class. They have the highest dps, they have the most finishers and arguably the best ones, they have many of the best utilities in the game, large AOE heals and condition removal with short cooldowns, the second most flexibility in the game and the most varied weapon sets. Highest health, highest armor. Warriors are easily considered the best and most well rounded class in the game.

I don’t believe its the portals causing the problem. Its the same issue as running into a big zerg, or being in a zerg and running into another populated area. In some large zerg groups you can’t even see all your fellow players. We built 15 or more golems one night. I could rarely see more than 6. People fade in and fade out in our own zergs, just standing in a group on a very high end box.

There is render/loading lag and limitation and a 1 second cast time will not fix it. You need to sweep well for hiding mesmers when you take something over with lots of hiding spots so these things don’t happen.

The LOS issues bother me more. Not being able to hit the people on the wall who can hit me, or vice versa. Also being able to cast thru a wall or gate, or use a catapult on a gate from inside to knock players outside back and damage them, but not the gate. Putting siege equipment inside building and using them to for protection, but they are freely able to fire out.

Let’s stop trying to act like the portals are the problem: they aren’t. They are a symptom of the bigger problem, that being the rendering issue. If that gets fixed, this becomes a non-issue.

Personally, I don’t think they should focus on anything else until they get their kitten together with the rendering problem. It doesn’t just happen with mesmer portals either. It’s a mechanical flaw with the game in general. It’s incredibly game-breaking, and it’s 100% on ANet’s shoulders.

Also, I’ve even seen this happen at popular events on high-pop servers and a lot of mobs. That should tell you how big of a problem it is.

Portals are the problem though, if the mesmer stealths into a heavily sieged area they can INSTANTLY drop a portal to allow a near infinite force to suicide onto the siege for no drawback. There IS no counter to instant portal. They nerfed instantly building siege and they need to nerf instant portal. Needs a cast time so it can be countered like any other moves in the game.

No one else thinks mesmers portal needs a counter?

So… balance something that is working as intended, because of an issue with rendering?

That’s like spending a thousand dollars putting in a tiled floor to prevent water damage instead of fixing the leaking pipe.

If you see a purple mesmer portal in the middle of your group AoE the crap out of it. Mesmer’s don’t need to be nerfed people just need to get more situational awareness.

Portal gives 10 guys a fighting chance against the zerg. The zerg are generally idiots and crap gamers. Hugging each other for protection, a guild portal team will destroy them (no rendering problems) due to the fact they are a mindless zerg who keep attacking the door, even though there is just 5-10 attackers behind them – cause guess what, they dont pay attention! Portals allow for some counters to the unskilled mass that run around together. Against guild groups and organised warbands a portal is a inconvience at best, like a poster above said, just aoe/cc the portal and what comes through dies.

Aslong as the skill less, spine less zerg sticks together, there will be portals and plenty of kills.

“So… balance something that is working as intended, because of an issue with rendering?

That’s like spending a thousand dollars putting in a tiled floor to prevent water damage instead of fixing the leaking pipe."

The issue with rendering is making it not work as intended. It’s not intended to make the people going through it invisible, but that’s what it’s doing, so I don’t see how you can say it’s working as intended.

As for scouting being a counter to this, I don’t see how. This tactics was used on us 5-6 times over the course of a night – we know it was coming, we knew where the portal was starting (inside the walls) and ending (in the middle of our siegers), and many of us were watching for mesmers, which was also called out in /t and /say.

The mesmer can run right out his own door to do this, they can stealth and drop off the walls, they can do any number of things that are functionally impossible to counter. AOEing people you can’t see is not going to work, and AOEing the entrance portal is not possible because it’s inside the wall.

Furthermore, this tactics was rendering other forms of defense redundant. Our server attacked the western keep (Bay) 5-6 times over the course of an entire night. Every time I saw build sites for cannons and oil, but no cannons and oil – they weren’t bothering to build them because there was no need. I don’t think Anet intends for this to be the case.

People chime about organization this and that, so why not cap the portals or add a cast time? You will still need to be organized either way. You know kitten well its in need of a nerf and thats why exploiters defend it so heavily.

So we can all agree that this is the way to nerf mesmer portal?

Alarox.4590:

So… balance something that is working as intended, because of an issue with rendering?

That’s like spending a thousand dollars putting in a tiled floor to prevent water damage instead of fixing the leaking pipe.

Soutalgon.3827:

So we can all agree that this is the way to nerf mesmer portal?

I do not think the Portal needs any sort of nerf at all, at this time.

I think you are short-sighted in your request.

No i disagree

I read about an invisible man and a mesmer casting portal from stealth

How is a mesmer in stealth and how is he invisible? I dont get it
The torch stealth is what 3 sec? so how much ground can a mesmer gain in 3 sec of invis
This seems pretty blown out of proportion

I have seen mesmer use portals and I have always seen the mesmer so I guess I need that explained to me

And talking about making it castible requires a whole change to the first cast and the second cast as well. If it is channeled or has a cast time you would have to increase the length of time the first portal stays open as well.

Easiest fix is to make the portal an object and have it killable imo

Is it that hard to see the big pink portal on the ground and drop all aoes on top and kill 30 people in 15 seconds as they get adjusted to the new surroundings? I’ve seen this done many many times. All it takes is one person in TS yell out that theres a portal, every turns and blows the hell out of the self-imposed choke point.

So you want to basically make Mesmer’s even more useless in RvR because you cannot cope with mass PVP.

The invisible issue is not a mesmer portal issue. Stop trying to make it one.

Celestian.2689:

So you want to basically make Mesmer’s even more useless in RvR because you cannot cope with mass PVP.

The invisible issue is not a mesmer portal issue. Stop trying to make it one.

I disagree with the OP, but mesmer useless in WvW??!?!!

Are you out of your mind? Mesmer is one of the strongest WvW professions, in my opinion.

mangarrage.1062:

No i disagree

I read about an invisible man and a mesmer casting portal from stealth

How is a mesmer in stealth and how is he invisible? I dont get it
The torch stealth is what 3 sec? so how much ground can a mesmer gain in 3 sec of invis
This seems pretty blown out of proportion

I have seen mesmer use portals and I have always seen the mesmer so I guess I need that explained to me

And talking about making it castible requires a whole change to the first cast and the second cast as well. If it is channeled or has a cast time you would have to increase the length of time the first portal stays open as well.

Easiest fix is to make the portal an object and have it killable imo

With the help of a thief a mesmer can easily be stealthed more than long enough to get somewhere he needs to be. In fact the stealth will last long than you can run for your portal range (Your portal skill will be out of range before you come out of stealth that is).

I really don’t want mesmer portal to get nerfed as it brings a very distinctive variety to game. However with invisible armada problem it’s a bit too over powered right now.

chuiu.4985:

Scout: Have players watch out for incoming enemy groups. They should be spread out pretty far to give you adequate time to react. If possible a scout should try to slow down the enemy by providing a distraction. Less skilled groups of players will fall for this and either chase or waste time killing the scout.

Spatial Awareness: Be more alert and aware of enemies and spell effects happening around you. If you have scouting and proper communication then knowing a Mesmer might be incoming isn’t a problem. And any experienced player can spot a portal on the ground.

Anticipate: If you can’t kill the mesmer in time, then watch for his portal and prepare your AOE spells. You know its going to come because you’ve either seen it before or are reading about it here. It should be obvious that the mesmer is likely going to drop a stealth field also, to help his allies get in and spread out more easily. But that doesn’t matter because:

Attack: AOE the mesmer portal and/or use cc’s and stuns to keep players in place while others AOE the portal. Just like it takes you time to load in the enemies, it takes them time to get oriented and attack when exiting a portal. They are weakest at this point in time.

With good communication you will see how easy it is to counter mesmer portals.

I like this very much. Mesmers aren’t hard to stop if you just pay attention.

Please don’t ‘nerf’ one of our only useful utility skills. Portals are not OP, they are useful, and can make or break a good siege, but besides any obvious exploiting, they can be easily countered. When you see a giant pink hole in the ground, AOE. We are wearing light armor, so kill us before we can drop a portal into your group of 20. Stun lock me out of casting the exit portal, etc…. Plus, enemies are showing up as invisible in multiple situations, so blaming the portal usage is just one small part of the problem.

Mesmer portal isn’t broken, it’s balanced in the sense every server has a Mesmer that can use it. Less qq go play the game, and maybe of you’re lucky find a Mesmer who instead has a portal to be used rather pew pewing like everyone else

Additionally just kill the Mesmer the portal goes away if he is downed.