Guild Wars 2

Hey, I just bought this game and am actually downloading it right now. For some information about me im an avid MMO player (everquest 1 and 2, WoW, vanguard, War online, Age of conan, etc) as well as competitive (reach grand master in pretty much every WoW season i’ve ran a team in).

SO all that nonsense aside. I like casters alot, im into kiting, spiking damage, using ccs when in trouble, the fast and frantic mode of just staying alive when things dont go your way. So I was interested in playing a dagger ele in this game from what I could gather of the class however, I also wanted to be able to do dungeons.

Now the questions…

Is an elementalist viable in end game dungeons? In GW1 certain classes just werent accepted as feasable for end game dungeon content and I dont want to level a class that isnt going to perform to the expectations of those who run said content. I’m not looking for opinions just does this class bring anything to the table other classes dont and as such have a role in said content.

Is an elementalist viable in small pvp combat and large scale? From what i’ve seen they tend to do better in larger scale pvp while being easily killed by the other damage dealers in small. I do, however, plan on running a tanky ele not a glass cannon as we all learned from WoW arena and diablo 3 hardcore inferno (yeah I did a3 inferno with a hardcore wizzy =P) building for survivability will often mean you live longer then the enemy you’re fighting.

Is that viable? Or does a mesmer offer better damage and survivability by class mechnics without having to sacrifice optimal gear? If so, is glass cannon a better choice? Or is the class simply outshone in damage and defense by other classes either by mechnic or design?

Lastly, many say the class is difficult. this isnt a hindrence to me I actually find that to be a bonus, although does this difficulty equate to a satisfying reward? I mean is the step learning curve rewarding or does it simply require more effort for the same effect other classes give? Noone likes to show how good they are by being mediocre.

My appologies for the length of this post but if anyone would mind answering these questions I would greatly appreciate it. Right now im trying to decide between elementalist or mesmer. I really really want to play an elementalist but if the mesmer is just clearly better I dont want to bring rusty tools to an elite blacksmith.

Hey buddy, welcome to GW2!

I am also an avid mmo player with similar past experience as yourself and always played a caster class. Unfortunately Elementalists in GW2 is completely different from what we are use to in other mmos.
If you browse the elementalist section in the forumn you should be able to realise that this class is pretty underpowered at it’s current state…
The elementalist does not enough damage for its sacrifice of having low hp. Other classes deal the same amount of damage as we do with a LOT less effort as well.
For the amount of attunements and combos to master and switch around in our arsenal we should theoretically be able to to alot of damage or at least be able to gain some sort of advantage to other classes, this is sadly not true though… =(

At this state of the game, I highly recommend you to play any other class but the elementalist. Unless you want to get 2 hot by normal mobs, constantly kite around for hours on end to try and kill a trash mob while watching a warrior slash the same mob in 2-4 hits.

I stuck to my elementalist from the beginning and it was too late when i realised other classes were doing so much more damage and surviving so much more that I just had to play a kittened class to level 80.

Dungeons in this game aren’t really as "End Game’ as you would expect. Pretty much any random assortment of classes can complete a dungeon as long as the players are half competent at their own class. Sometimes that’s asking too much, yes, but for the most part it really doesn’t matter who you bring along.
Elementalist offers one thing no one else is willing to do. Support. They can create a insane amount of fields for boons and offer massive AoE healing. Not only can they support but they can do acceptable AoE damage while supporting. Dungeons in my opinion run so much smoother when you have at least one elementalist in the party. More than one hinders the party. I recommend bringing a staff into a dungeon.

Glass cannon in my opinion is not a option for a elementalist. We aren’t a dps type class. We are hybrid. The more you accept that the easier your elementalist career will be. Hell, the tankier you build leveling the easier it is.

From having capped both Mesmer and Elementalist I can honestly say Mesmer is just flat out better in every way. They offer the same support in dungeons by providing boons and conditions with Chaos Storm and they can dish out WAY more damage with Phantasms. They are superior in pvp because it just comes naturally to them. They have easier accessed answers to different situations. They can build glass cannons and with the ridiculously awesome abilities they have they can still take a beating. Its more difficult to take down a ‘Downed’ mesmer than it is a living mesmer.

Oh I assure you that elementalist is so much more rewarding than a mesmer. mesmer is the flavor of the month. If a Mesmer kills someone everyones like meh, saw it coming. If a elementalist kills someone everyones shocked and thinks the elementalist is a extremely skilled player. The reason its hard to play is because the average class has 10 skills they switch between and 4 utility/elite. The elementalists has 20 and you have to be extremely familiar with all 20 and use them all actively to be successful. Each one is a answer to a different situation. You need to switch to the right attunement at the right time and press and the right skill.

I will say Mesmer is just flat out better than a elementalist in every aspect of the game but a elementalist thats skilled can take down the flavor of the month Mesmers. Elementalist is not a bad class. It just requires more work, faster reaction, more clicking for effectively the same results but in my opinion the same results are more rewarding.

The post above my is from someone who is not a very good elementalist and dont let him discourage you. Hes likely trying to play a caster. We are a battle mage. I recommend reading this : https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/PvE-Pro-Tips/first#post240845
I EASILY pull an entire camp of monsters and take them out with a single spell.

If you need any advice I forgot what server I’m on but if you list the 2-3 servers with ‘normal’ population I can tell you which. You can ask me anytime and I can guide you to becoming a great elementalist if you can keep up.

In terms of PvP, there are 2 types.
sPvP and WvW

sPvP- Guardians, Rangers, Warriors dominate the battlefield. Guardians with their protective buffs making them unkillable. Rangers with their burst & range shots hurting alot. Warriors with their 2h swords 100 blades combo that kills light armorers in one combo.
Elementalists don’t really shine in sPvP, even if your good at the class, the 3 classes listed above just have a way easier time than us.

WvW – This is probably the only thing that we are decent at. With a staff elementalist, you could rain down aoe meteor shower on enemies on top of your castle to defend it. Too bad it has a long cooldown though. In WvW pretty much all range classes are viable though as most have a range aoe as well such as the rangers hail of arrows.

*Even if you run a tanky ele instead of glass cannon which is what I am currently running, you will find that your damage is really really low for the class that your suppose to be.

If you want a caster that has good survivability and decent damage then the only other option is to go with Mesmer (ranger is not a caster). Mesmers cloens offer much better survivability.

Is an elementalist viable in small pvp combat and large scale? From what i’ve seen they tend to do better in larger scale pvp while being easily killed by the other damage dealers in small. I do, however, plan on running a tanky ele not a glass cannon as we all learned from WoW arena and diablo 3 hardcore inferno (yeah I did a3 inferno with a hardcore wizzy =P) building for survivability will often mean you live longer then the enemy you’re fighting.
Is that viable? Or does a mesmer offer better damage and survivability by class mechnics without having to sacrifice optimal gear? If so, is glass cannon a better choice? Or is the class simply outshone in damage and defense by other classes either by mechnic or design?
Lastly, many say the class is difficult. this isnt a hindrence to me I actually find that to be a bonus, although does this difficulty equate to a satisfying reward? I mean is the step learning curve rewarding or does it simply require more effort for the same effect other classes give? Noone likes to show how good they are by being mediocre.
My appologies for the length of this post but if anyone would mind answering these questions I would greatly appreciate it. Right now im trying to decide between elementalist or mesmer. I really really want to play an elementalist but if the mesmer is just clearly better I dont want to bring rusty tools to an elite blacksmith.

Warrior, Guardian and Ranger are not the top dogs of sPvp :P
Mesmers, Thiefs and Guardians outshine everyone. Mesmers being the obvious top dogs. I personally don’t even consider Rangers a threat on any class. Ever. Engineers are more of a threat than rangers simply because if anyone is gutsy enough to play a engineer in pvp then they probably know how to play the class.

I actually have read that post wulfrim, I also watch that video of the elementalist that posted his tournament video. thats why I was thinking of going d/d as a tanky spec and running a close range rock shieldy thing build (lol I havent played the game yet but its stone aegis or something).

I got like forever for it to download still (college internet connection) so im just trying to get my research done since I will probably not have enough time to roll 2 classes. The large and varied amount of skills are actually why I want to play this class. in WoW i ran a mage and a priest (both shadow and disc in pvp and pve). I’m not scared of binding twenty hotkeys to play the game i’ve bound 22 to play wow (hell I even bounded hour long buffs)

However, all things aside I want an honest answer for my questions if what my expectations i posted in my questions are not done flat out better by other classes. I’ll be playing a long term gaming friend so im not sure what server hes on (though he already said hes down to switch) so I may take you up on that kind offer wulfrim.

I just want to avoid hitting 80, getting into an elite pvp guild and kindly being asked to reroll a mesmer despite my skill.

in the early TBC of WoW at one point warriors were just rogues in plate and my gaming friend of 5 years who I ran a 2v2 with had to actually leave the team when we realized he was kittening us and i’d be better off going priest warrior. Thankfully after rogues got an MS debuff we could run PMR, however, I want to avoid situations like that where im just not in a competitively acceptable class.

Wulfrim.4793:

Dungeons in this game aren’t really as "End Game’ as you would expect. Pretty much any random assortment of classes can complete a dungeon as long as the players are half competent at their own class. Sometimes that’s asking too much, yes, but for the most part it really doesn’t matter who you bring along.
Elementalist offers one thing no one else is willing to do. Support. They can create a insane amount of fields for boons and offer massive AoE healing. Not only can they support but they can do acceptable AoE damage while supporting. Dungeons in my opinion run so much smoother when you have at least one elementalist in the party. More than one hinders the party. I recommend bringing a staff into a dungeon.

Glass cannon in my opinion is not a option for a elementalist. We aren’t a dps type class. We are hybrid. The more you accept that the easier your elementalist career will be. Hell, the tankier you build leveling the easier it is.

From having capped both Mesmer and Elementalist I can honestly say Mesmer is just flat out better in every way. They offer the same support in dungeons by providing boons and conditions with Chaos Storm and they can dish out WAY more damage with Phantasms. They are superior in pvp because it just comes naturally to them. They have easier accessed answers to different situations. They can build glass cannons and with the ridiculously awesome abilities they have they can still take a beating. Its more difficult to take down a ‘Downed’ mesmer than it is a living mesmer.

Oh I assure you that elementalist is so much more rewarding than a mesmer. mesmer is the flavor of the month. If a Mesmer kills someone everyones like meh, saw it coming. If a elementalist kills someone everyones shocked and thinks the elementalist is a extremely skilled player. The reason its hard to play is because the average class has 10 skills they switch between and 4 utility/elite. The elementalists has 20 and you have to be extremely familiar with all 20 and use them all actively to be successful. Each one is a answer to a different situation. You need to switch to the right attunement at the right time and press and the right skill.

I will say Mesmer is just flat out better than a elementalist in every aspect of the game but a elementalist thats skilled can take down the flavor of the month Mesmers. Elementalist is not a bad class. It just requires more work, faster reaction, more clicking for effectively the same results but in my opinion the same results are more rewarding.

The post above my is from someone who is not a very good elementalist and dont let him discourage you. Hes likely trying to play a caster. We are a battle mage. I recommend reading this : https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/PvE-Pro-Tips/first#post240845
I EASILY pull an entire camp of monsters and take them out with a single spell.

lol… you know nothing about me and calling saying im bad at my class, i’ve constantly scored the highest points in spvp. I’ve constantly run dungeons without wipes. I’ve constantly pulled groups of mobs without dying. All that does not matter, other classes can do the same with much much less effort and can do it BETTER.

I get that you are trying to defend the class, but no need to ruin a new players experience. You know very well that this class is broken at its current state, if not then all other classes needs a nerf, in any case, our class is very underpowered.

We are hybrid, correct. We can support, correct. However we are not the best support. Sure we have boons, warriors also have alot party buffs, guardians have even more than us. Heals? sure we have some heals, haels that requires casting time, rangers also have an aoe heal, so do engineers… We are good at support, correct, but so are the other classes if specced for it.

Point is, we cant really do anything other classes can’t do. Most classes do our jobs better.

If I had to guess necromancer will eventually be the top dogs of pvp. They have so much potential right now but they have over 100 bugs and glitches that just ruin the class.
I will say honestly that a Mesmer is just better in everway but as you saw in those videos a elementalist CAN be a threat. I prefer S/D over D/D because D/D is a balls to the wall approach. You risk everything being at close range and have to build less survivability to make the damage worth the risk. S/D allows more of a tanky build and has more strategy involved imo. I switch it up every now and then. You wont need to bind 20 different keys. It will always be 1-5 that changes based on which attunement your in.
You can switch servers for free every 24 hours. As long as you are in a medium population server I don’t mind switching to it. I usually have to switch servers anyway for map completion to get around glitches.

@Dire, you score the highest in spvp? no way! You must be a pro at capturing points and finishing downed players…..
You finish dungeons without wipes? That must be entirely your doing and not anyone else in the party!
Yet you somehow got 2 shot by normal monsters and spent a long time kiting? Something about this story just doesn’t add up.
Is this your first time playing a hybrid class? We will never reach top damage. We will never have top support. We will never be the top tank. We will never shoot the furthest, run the fastest, eat the most pies, burp the loudest, guess the correct number of cookies in the cookie jar but we will always have the most amount of answers to any given situation. Its all about reaction time and keyboard mouse coordination. Just because your elementalist experience was bad doesn’t mean the elementalist is a bad class. I’ve said this over six times, mesmer does everything better but that doesn’t make elementalist bad at all. Elementalist can do things a mesmer cannot. Believe it or not but not everyone is as good a player as they think. My elementalist experience was great. The first twenty levels sucked because I hadn’t figured out the class but the next 60 were easy street. The first several hours of pvp were awful but now Im confident enough in my class to not back down from any 1v1. Do i always win? No, but i always put up a fight to remember.

Forget about them nay-sayers, Elementalist is a great class and is not broken; anyone who says it is just needs to Live 2 Party.

@Dire, if you see ‘difficulty’ as an indication that something is broken, then WoW has just launched Mists of Panderia – you’re welcome there where everything has been nerfed to the ground. Want to mash just one button over and over and get top scores? They’ve got a class for that. Meanwhile, in the land of the people who like challenge in games, we’re all looking at folks like you and think “Like 2 Pretzels”.

killah.2857:

I actually have read that post wulfrim, I also watch that video of the elementalist that posted his tournament video. thats why I was thinking of going d/d as a tanky spec and running a close range rock shieldy thing build (lol I havent played the game yet but its stone aegis or something).

I got like forever for it to download still (college internet connection) so im just trying to get my research done since I will probably not have enough time to roll 2 classes. The large and varied amount of skills are actually why I want to play this class. in WoW i ran a mage and a priest (both shadow and disc in pvp and pve). I’m not scared of binding twenty hotkeys to play the game i’ve bound 22 to play wow (hell I even bounded hour long buffs)

However, all things aside I want an honest answer for my questions if what my expectations i posted in my questions are not done flat out better by other classes. I’ll be playing a long term gaming friend so im not sure what server hes on (though he already said hes down to switch) so I may take you up on that kind offer wulfrim.

I just want to avoid hitting 80, getting into an elite pvp guild and kindly being asked to reroll a mesmer despite my skill.

in the early TBC of WoW at one point warriors were just rogues in plate and my gaming friend of 5 years who I ran a 2v2 with had to actually leave the team when we realized he was kittening us and i’d be better off going priest warrior. Thankfully after rogues got an MS debuff we could run PMR, however, I want to avoid situations like that where im just not in a competitively acceptable class.

One thing I’d like to mention, you cant bind keys in GW2 like in WoW. You will only have one skill bar, no binding other extra keys.
I remember when War’s were the Rogues in plate, those were fun times being a War…
I also remember when Pally’s could pretty much 2 shot other classes…
If you are planning on doing sPvP alot which is what sounds like it would be, then you would be at a disadvantage compared to other classes. A really overpowered good class duo combo currently would be the Warrior & Guardian. But then if you want a caster class then Mesmer & Thief, Mesmer & Warrior, Mesmer & Ranger is still quite viable.

In terms of PvE, dungeon runs can be done by all classes in this game, so it does not really have much importance. I’ve got the full Arah dungeon set and the full CoF dungeon sets with my Elementalist so I know.

I’m not going to comment anymore as I’ll be playing now.

But the choice is ultimately up to you in the end. If you want a class that cannot out damage other classes or do anything better than other classes than be my guest. I’m just warning you straight up, its up to you.

Also bear in mind, your in an elementalist forumn, they will all defend the class. You should know how it’s like if you play WoW and browse the WoW class forumns. =)

Amnon.4769:

Forget about them nay-sayers, Elementalist is a great class and is not broken; anyone who says it is just needs to Live 2 Party.

@Dire, if you see ‘difficulty’ as an indication that something is broken, then WoW has just launched Mists of Panderia – you’re welcome there where everything has been nerfed to the ground. Want to mash just one button over and over and get top scores? They’ve got a class for that. Meanwhile, in the land of the people who like challenge in games, we’re all looking at folks like you and think “Like 2 Pretzels”.

Well im in no way afraid of a challenge but if he is indeed right and a mesmer or thief can mash a single button and acheive better results that is going to make them a more competitive pick. I don’t really care how difficult or easy a class is just how effective they are at the job they do. Eles look alot of fun to play and I love how technical they are but if im in a premade tournament setting and i’d be more effective standing behind someone spamming 2 then playing an elementalist perfectly i’m simply going to be a hinderance to my team.

However, if elementalists are in line for some quality of life changes or are very good in a competitive setting (or at least effective) I really do want to play one. However, I will be playing with friends (and honestly I think my friend rolled a thief and hes an extremly skilled player so he will probably be deadly with one).

I’m not here to argue which one is more fun or which one is “easy mode”. I just simply want to bring the sharpest knife to hunt with. I suppose what I am asking is this, is an elementalist a strong pick for a tournament premade? if so, do they bring anything to the table unique that other classes cant bring just as well or better?

You should also know how class forums work. Everyone is negative. If you aren’t negative then you don’t belong on the forums. Look at the mesmer forums at the moment. They have absolutely NOTHING to complain about. They have maybe 2-3 bugs for the entire class. The excel in every aspect of the game and yet they STILL complain on the forum. Its mind boggling. The only class who should be complaining is necromancer and thats ONLY because of the over 100 bugs they currently have. I’m not even exagerating with that number. It’s a well balanced game, about as balanced as a game can be. I’ve seen engineers take down 1v2s against classes they are outmatched against. I’ve seen rangers take down guardians. Elementalists take down everyone. Ive seen warriors take down guardians. Skill plays a larger role in this game than most.

What is this, ele isn’t a competitive class? hm m

killah.2857:

I just want to avoid hitting 80, getting into an elite pvp guild and kindly being asked to reroll a mesmer despite my skill.

If thats your concern:

Don’t worry. sPvP in GW2 is completly seperated from PvE. You don’t have to do any PvE to do sPvP, since you get max level, max gear, all skills etc. as soon as you enter sPvP.

So… that would also be my advice: Create all classes you like and teleport into the mists (you have to do the tutorial before you can enter the mists)… then experiment with different classes and skills etc, there are training golems and hostile training NPC’s in the mists for that.

Other than that… atm all classes are viable, if played good enough. Some classes are just better than other classes, when it comes to certain roles… but there are team-setups for every class.

Oh and one last thing:
If you say you want to kite/cc/burst… mesmer may be more your playstyle than d/d ele. Mesmer and Nekromancer are the “typical casters” while Ele plays pretty different. But just try them all out and you will see, whats your favourite class.

Wulfrim.4793:

You should also know how class forums work. Everyone is negative. If you aren’t negative then you don’t belong on the forums. Look at the mesmer forums at the moment. They have absolutely NOTHING to complain about. They have maybe 2-3 bugs for the entire class. The excel in every aspect of the game and yet they STILL complain on the forum. Its mind boggling. The only class who should be complaining is necromancer and thats ONLY because of the over 100 bugs they currently have. I’m not even exagerating with that number. It’s a well balanced game, about as balanced as a game can be. I’ve seen engineers take down 1v2s against classes they are outmatched against. I’ve seen rangers take down guardians. Elementalists take down everyone. Ive seen warriors take down guardians. Skill plays a larger role in this game than most.

Forums are useful you just have to know how to read them. From one person I got (ele is a good class just not for noobs that like to spam 1 button). This is in reference to the thiefs backstab-steal-cloak and dagger combo. I’ve read up on that already. It sounds rather effective but im not interested in playing a rogue. Also they can be taken out of stealth spamming area of effects so theirs counter play.

You yourself said mesmers did everything better but eles are fun. Fun is a sound option but I want competitive. However, it seems mutually agreed they are fine for pve (which means hopefully I can occupy myself with that while waiting on buffs).

The complaints are because happy people play the game upset people complain about it. Its normal and I dont mind it, you just have to read between the lines and you can trust me im doing research and not beleiving everything handed to me.

My findings thus far is any ranged class does well in WvW due to spamming ranged aoes (ala warhammer keep defense bright wizards and sorcs “rained” supreme)

Though it looks like eles have serious issues in close ranged combat. Though, i heard somewhere an ele can actually beat the flavor of the month mesmer. If thats actually true since alot of mesmers are sought for node defense that could give an ele an important niche. Do eles outduel mesmers?

In team oriented pvp having a single elementalist on your team is paramount. A thief is very powerful but a thiefs ability caps quickly. A thief wont really do anything unexpected. They will stealth, appear and spike damage you then disappear. If you prepare for it or react fast enough they aren’t hard to stop.
Elementalist and Mesmer go pretty hand to hand.
A mesmer’s chaos storm is extremely effective in organized pvp, while so is a elementalists churning earth. A elementalist can cure conditions and apply boons on his allies much more effective than anyone but engineer. Elementalists also move faster than any other class with ride the lightning which can result in some early points.
It’s really hard to compare two classes. On a pvp team you will want both a mesmer and elementalist but not two of each. The more versatile your team is the more effective it will be. Both elementalist and mesmer can hold points by themselves more effective than other classes. Remember you are playing a game of rock paper scissors. A thief will kill a elementalist easier than it will kill a mesmer but a elementalist can kill a guardian easier than a mesmer can.
Just remember a mesmer has faster easier access to answers than a elementalist. When a thief jumps you a elementalist has to pop a cantrip, switch attunements, knock him down, roll away, blind him, charge him, knock him down, switch attunements, burn him. All a mesmer has to do is drop chaos storm. Chaos storm is a answer to so many problems its ridiculous.

killah.2857:

Well im in no way afraid of a challenge but if he is indeed right and a mesmer or thief can mash a single button and acheive better results that is going to make them a more competitive pick

Don’t worry, this will never happen

killah.2857:

I’m not here to argue which one is more fun or which one is “easy mode”. I just simply want to bring the sharpest knife to hunt with. I suppose what I am asking is this, is an elementalist a strong pick for a tournament premade? if so, do they bring anything to the table unique that other classes cant bring just as well or better?

Yes he is a strong viable pick and you will even be able to use him in most team-comps.

@Killah
All I can tell you is that I regularly score amongst the top 2 in sPvP matches as an elementalist, and I don’t find 1v1 fights difficult. I do, however, find 2v1 difficult to survive through.

The outcome of a mesmer vs elementalist duel will be entirely skill based. A elementalist needs to know how to find the mesmer out of the clones. He needs to have quick access to condition removing abilities and know when to pop his cooldowns to counter the mesmer. Mesmers are more predicable than elementalists so a elementalist has a slight edge. If there are three clones out you can expect them to come exploding in your face in a second, so it might be who of you to get protection up. If you are turned into a moa bird you better break line of sight for as long as you can. If chaos storm hits the field you better break line of sight. If they switch to great sword close the gap asap and start pounding keeping to his back to avoid the knockback. If hes in staff try to keep your distance. If you are too close the projectiles fire faster and your conditions will build up quickly. Its entirely skill based.

Wulfrim.4793:

The outcome of a mesmer vs elementalist duel will be entirely skill based. A elementalist needs to know how to find the mesmer out of the clones. He needs to have quick access to condition removing abilities and know when to pop his cooldowns to counter the mesmer. Mesmers are more predicable than elementalists so a elementalist has a slight edge. If there are three clones out you can expect them to come exploding in your face in a second, so it might be who of you to get protection up. If you are turned into a moa bird you better break line of sight for as long as you can. If chaos storm hits the field you better break line of sight. If they switch to great sword close the gap asap and start pounding keeping to his back to avoid the knockback. If hes in staff try to keep your distance. If you are too close the projectiles fire faster and your conditions will build up quickly. Its entirely skill based.

Well thats cool, if its a skill based fight then that means its pretty balanced. As for finding out which is the mesmer from what I read clones have no offhand weapon which is a pretty good giveaway, also they dont show conditions (I dunno why AN refuses to just cave and call them debuffs). As you may have guessed im not really afraid of skill requirements i’m more afraid of class limitations.

Though for anyone interested in answering how does gearing work? I get mixed signals on it can you bring PvE gear in spvp? WvW pvp? Are dungeon sets optimal or crafting? Just curious as this isnt really going to affect my decisions.

You have to play very good to have a chance versus a mediocore Mesmer… and of course you have to play very good versus another very good Mesmer as well.
I’d say Mesmer got the advantage in that fight… but it’s not impossible to defeat a Mesmer and Elementalist does better at killing Mesmers than most other classes do.
But well… Mesmer is by design the strongest 1v1 class.

killah.2857:

Though for anyone interested in answering how does gearing work? I get mixed signals on it can you bring PvE gear in spvp? WvW pvp? Are dungeon sets optimal or crafting? Just curious as this isnt really going to affect my decisions.

You can’t bring gear from PvE into sPvP, in sPvP everyone has maxed gear. You can get better/different looking gear by doing sPvP, but that is also only usable in sPvP.

On the other hand PvE gear is worn in WvW and vice versa. That means, for WvW it really helps to be max lvl and max geared.

Optimal gear… you can aquire it by different ways:

- doing dungeons
- crafting
- WvW

The best gear you can get from crafting is as good as the best gear you can get from dungeons etc…

One thing I forgot to mention is a mesmer has a pretty decent chance of winning a 3v1. A d/d elementalist, at least one of my skill level can do no better than buy time from a 3v1. I’ve won 2v1 but either because I outgear or outskill my enemies.
Another important thing to note is mesmer is the flavor of the month so the chances of seeing a poorly skilled mesmer are much greater than seeing one who knows what hes doing.

Gelrod.1295:

You have to play very good to have a chance versus a mediocore Mesmer… and of course you have to play very good versus another very good Mesmer as well.
I’d say Mesmer got the advantage in that fight… but it’s not impossible to defeat a Mesmer and Elementalist does better at killing Mesmers than most other classes do.
But well… Mesmer is by design the strongest 1v1 class.

I blame that entirely on Moa bird haha.

One important thing I forgot to mention. When fighting a mesmer Ctrl T him right away, this will make it very easy to tell the mesmer from the clones.