About to roll a mesmer..could use some advice
So here’s the good news: on my journey to 80 I played every weapon combo available, and they are all viable for world pve.
Here’s the bad news: You will underperform in dungeons. No matter what build you pick, another class will do it better. I finished CoF EXP the other day with a 3-mesmer, 2-ranger group, so you’re not completely impotent; however, you’ll constantly wish that you had <x> class, that could do a better job than whatever you are doing. People will tell you they don’t want a mesmer and wait for another class to LFG.
In WvWvW people will say you are super OP, but in reality, you are super OP in 1v1, 1v2 and sometimes 1v3 if you are clever and they are not. Otherwise you are strong, but not ridiculous. Your phantasms will get bursted down so fast you’ll wonder if they got damage off.
On the plus side again, yoinking people off of ramparts to their doom using the focus is ultra hilarious. Moa is one of, if not the, greatest small-fight skills in the game. Noobs will be perplexed by your illusions. Sword / torch (my fave) or sword / pistol makes you a really fun and tricky melee class. Using sword’s #3 to create a clone and root, then rolling away and invising on torch’s 4, fools more people than you would really think. Then they’re on fire.
I’m not the greatest mesmer on the planet, but it’s the only class I play and I feel pretty successful in pve and pvp…but in doing so I recognize that I could be a lot more effective if I played classes which are both easier to control and do more damage.
(Also, they don’t get nerfed every patch…unlike Mesmers who still have a ton of broken / incorrect abilities
)
When running around in WvW, I always carry all weapons and swap between them all, as we have no “perfect” weapon combo. And each is better in different situations
These are just some of my opinions fromn my experience as a Mesmer so far. I am a level 80 Mesmer, have toyed with a few builds but still trying out other builds.
Which weapons are best for WvW? GS because it’s very powerful in a power/prec build.
which are best for single target dps? GS is good damage output overall. GS with Sword+pistol/focus are also good combos. All their phantasms are great; pistol phantasm can also cause a lot of bleeding which is great if you trait for it and have decent cond. damage.
which are best for PVE? So many viable options depending on your build.
most op skills? Moa DEFINITELY for pvp. In PvE, elite Time Warp is great support skill and is amazing in dungeons.
least op skills? Mantras.
Best way to trait? Again, so many things you can do. I personally go with a Power/Prec. build primarily which I believe is the most popular. I honestly believe Mesmers have a lot of build diversity, maybe even the most out of every class, since we can do so much and do it well!
So here’s the good news: on my journey to 80 I played every weapon combo available, and they are all viable for world pve.
Here’s the bad news: You will underperform in dungeons. No matter what build you pick, another class will do it better. I finished CoF EXP the other day with a 3-mesmer, 2-ranger group, so you’re not completely impotent; however, you’ll constantly wish that you had <x> class, that could do a better job than whatever you are doing. People will tell you they don’t want a mesmer and wait for another class to LFG.
In WvWvW people will say you are super OP, but in reality, you are super OP in 1v1, 1v2 and sometimes 1v3 if you are clever and they are not. Otherwise you are strong, but not ridiculous. Your phantasms will get bursted down so fast you’ll wonder if they got damage off.
On the plus side again, yoinking people off of ramparts to their doom using the focus is ultra hilarious. Moa is one of, if not the, greatest small-fight skills in the game. Noobs will be perplexed by your illusions. Sword / torch (my fave) or sword / pistol makes you a really fun and tricky melee class. Using sword’s #3 to create a clone and root, then rolling away and invising on torch’s 4, fools more people than you would really think. Then they’re on fire.
I’m not the greatest mesmer on the planet, but it’s the only class I play and I feel pretty successful in pve and pvp…but in doing so I recognize that I could be a lot more effective if I played classes which are both easier to control and do more damage.
(Also, they don’t get nerfed every patch…unlike Mesmers who still have a ton of broken / incorrect abilities
How do we underperform in dungeons? I run a decent amount of dungeons but nothing compared to some of the better mesmers out there that I’ve seen in vids and in game and I am more often than not the one that survives the most in dungeons. I also only have 5 points in Chaos! I am pretty much glass cannon.
Our Advantages:
-Feedback (can also trait for reduced CD on glamour skills)
-Null field (strip allies or yourself of conditions AND strip boons from enemies AND it’s a combo field that you or your team mates can take advantage of with their finishers.
-Clones and phatasms help with survivability as they distract enemies (they can also do good damage especially if traited for it)
-Chaos storm (grants aegis and protection to you and allies, although its much better on yourself. Also, another combo field to take advantage of)
-All your stealth abilities (Veil, Mass Invisibility, and Decoy; these skills can be useful for team/personal survivability and also for team repositioning)
-Portal (you can save your group a lot of time and headaches if you know when and where to use ESPECIALLY in a less competent group)
I’m sure there are many more advantages that I have missed but those are off the top of my head.