Guild Wars 2

I usually do my own testing and research on what classes can do when I start them. I don’t like hopping onto bandwagons with the most omgopwtfbbq builds so I have to find something that works for me and then compare to what works for other people. My issue seems to be with Mesmers so far. Earlier I fought against one that did a 2.8k lightning strike, among other skills, but before I could tell which was him (out of stealth) I was at 50% hp. Obviously a well played glass cannon build. My build consists of having around 20k hp and with Earth 2 (S/D) I have 1.8k toughness. Power is close to around 2.8k. I think my build is something like 10/20/0/20/20.

I do pretty well with this setup for not knowing my keybinds that well, so my question is. Are there any recent ele vs mesmer videos that show how ele’s with s/d deal with Mesmers with shatter/phantom high spike builds?

Thanks in advance.

Best bet is to aoe the illusions down quickly. Otherwise your only option is to get good at spotting the real mesmer while dodging the incoming shatters. Not easy to do against a good mesmer I’ll agree.

I don’t know about blowing your AOE’s on illusions… I mean the mesmers can summon illusions constantly without respite chances are your big AOEs have high CDs and you need them to hit the mesmer with not the clones which he can constantly generate. Also, its almost impossible to tell when hes hit one of his shatters if he summons clones while mesmer is holding a sword because sword wielding illusions will charge at you anyway to hit you with skill 1. You just have to get better at spotting the real mesmer and DPS him down before he DPS you. Easier said then done of course but you’ll learn to escape the full brunt of his burst by being faster than his clones and by that i mean dodge as soon as you get hit by a shatter, use your get out of jail card if he immobilizes you with iLeap and teleports to you because chances are hes going to blurry frenzy+f1 shatter which is usually his main way of bursting. I know i said its hard to tell when he sets off his shatters but chances are if he does set it off all the clones won’t explode at once. So as soon as you get hit by 1 clone dodge in the direction that the clones are coming at you from.

Mark the Mesmer with ctrl-T and save your AOEs for when they summon clones.

Problem solved.

Hurf ! ctrl+T ! does it realy work?

yeah but only if the mesmers dont stealth or other plp call target cuz then you lose it

I’ve switched up my build again to 0/20/10/20/20. Have over 2k toughness with S/D Earth 2 up and usually start a fight with Rock Armor for protection and stability being up, which is nice for damage mitigation. I almost always have protection up since I have the Rock Armor trait for 50% HP as well.

Still, with 2k toughness and 19k HP, thieves are still backstabbing for 6k+ and stealth CnD combo hits for about 7k. Using Mist form now so now it’s just a matter of not being outplayed. Got a ton of survivability with this setup and damage is still somewhat respectable. Fire and Air attunements are hitting over 1.4k on pretty much everyone, Firegrab being my hardest hitter I think with 3.5k crits (only 20% crit damage).

Even after learning my combos for Might stacks, it’s a challenge. Now I see why my Ranger destroyed Ele’s so easy. It’s a ton of work to dish out the damage, stay alive, and then escape; on top of having to learn how to cope with different classes, this class is extremely fun but also very very frustrating.

So far the only things I’m losing too are Mesmers and Thief, which is no surprise since their damage and survivability is still ridiculous.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNArfWl0zKq3QToGbNJiZG9WwdSB1FdoFUSxsdhA;T0AAzCpogx4jwH7MOYkzsIY8xJiXFzFA

That’s a mesmer bunker build I’ve been seeing more of lately. Most use Sword/Pistol but torch might work for them after the update. Defender or Disenchanter are optional in utility depending on preference. Not sure how to fight it, shatter mesmers are easy once the patterns are established but this bunker one is a pain to try and whittle down.

Thieves are actually a lot easier to deal with. Most backstab thief damage is front loaded so the trick is to survive the first burst and heal back up. They usually open up with venom+steal all you gotta do is hit your condition removal or teleport when you get hit once. Then heal back up and do your combo. Every time you get immobilzed do whatever it takes to get out of it.

Thanks for the help guys.

After playing around with Staff and S/D, I think I’ve finally settled into a 0/15/15/20/20 D/D build. Does very well against Glass cannons, but doesn’t have a TON of burst. Highest damage I’ve seen out of it was around 5.3 with Firegrab on a burning Thief.

Haven’t lost to a Thief in 1v1 yet BUT I have come very close to it. The only thing I’ve lost too thus far in 1v1 is a Guardian and Mesmer.

Speaking of Mesmers, Whimsical, that build I think is the one I’ve lost too (or at least a modified version). The damage output can be very large at times, but I have beaten a couple of badly played ones easily.

I think I’m getting better at comboing now, but as far as boon stacking at such—I’m not sure how people are really doing it yet. I can stack Fury and Swiftness to near perma during combat, but Might I’ve only stacked up to 4 by myself, with as high as 17 with teammates around.

I really do appreciate all of your input. If anyone does FRAPs a lot, I would love to see some videos, especially if you are fighting and beating Mesmers on a regular basis.

My main problem now in sPvP is scoring points. With my Ranger it didn’t seem to be hard at all, but for some reason it’s like I’m putting in triple the effort on my Ele and getting half the points. This is even while I run around and try to do nothing but cap points.

Luckily the build is very mobile, but still.. I’m sure it’s a L2P issue. sPvP is just a huge zergfest anyway.

If there are any good mesmers on EU I would love a chance to record some duels with you, as I would like to improve my play against mesmers as well, as good ones usually are able to give me some trouble on my elementalist.