Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Esplen.3940

Esplen.3940

Against Matthias where reflects are necessary and needed on demand, being able to run a traited focus

I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt at first so I left it alone but I think you’re mistaken? Focus trait is in Inspiration. Manipulations gain reflect under Chaos, which is to say… it will start to affect their rotation, yes.

Oh yeah, my bad. As a chrono support, inspiration isn’t mandatory. That’s right, I totally forgot. /s

I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt at first so I left it alone but I think you’re mistaken?

I don’t know what part of traited focus involves running manipulations, but have fun with that. Chaos Insp Chrono works fine against Matthias (in fact, it works against any raid encounter that doesn’t utilize Distortion Sharing).

I’m not sure where your numbers are coming from. You don’t lose 3s of quickness by swapping to a Focus to reflect (you don’t lose any because the Chrono rotation at 100% BD isn’t ever pressing for more Quickness), and Focus reflect lasts a lot longer than 2s (it lasts 5s, which is more than enough time to reflect Matthias’ bubble).

Additionally, the point of running Chaos to not run Feedback is… wait for it… to not run Feedback (or need a meme kittenty condi mes build to bring Feedback for you). And yes, in many raids where they bring Condi Mes, they do so for the Condi Mes to take Feedback instead of the Chrono (because they have an open slot, not competing for more Alacrity). And while Alacrity is in abundance from Chrono, in a fight like Matthias, you’ll want every extra bit of Alacrity you can get because of the mechanics pushing people around (literally and figuratively, see tornadoes and poisons).

I’m not sure of your experience in raids as a Chrono (or Condi Mes), but Chaos is an acceptable line.

Going back to the initial statement in question (I’m still not sure why you’re fighting me on this):

I’m traveling with work at the moment and havent had the pleasure of trying out the new specs. I’m with you, Esplen, I’m more of a PvE player than WvW/PvP.
Can you see the new spec with axe being a PvE spec for fractals, dungeons, raids etc?

Raids I can’t see Mirage being useful. Although, to be fair, I also think Condi Mesmer is a meme build that shouldn’t exist. The only “argument” I really hear about running it is it’s safe dps and it brings reflects. However, a Chrono can easily bring reflects without hampering their rotation, and if the Chrono is set up with 100% Boon Duration via Chaos, they can run a traited focus without even touching their utilities. For Cairn… I guess? But honestly Condi Mes is only “safe” because the dps comes from Phants.

Chaos is a trash trait line with exactly one minor trait worth something and one major trait worth debating in specific comps.

It has exactly 1 minor, which is why it is ran. The Major is nice, but not necessary. Although if you want to talk about that, Inspiration is almost mandatory and ran specifically for 1 Major, everything else is icing on the cake.

(edited by Esplen.3940)

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Kadj.6725

Kadj.6725

Okay well your actual explanation for why you think Chaos is amazing is lacking and your wording pretty much went “chaos makes traited focus possible” without actually explaining where, at any point, you would make use of boons, boon duration, or manipulation skills.

I guess this conversation is a dead end, gg.

EDIT: I see you added more.

I didn’t exactly take it out of context – you provided little other actual information. I’m forced to extrapolate.

It has exactly 1 minor, which is why it is ran. The Major is nice, but not necessary. Although if you want to talk about that, Inspiration is almost mandatory and ran specifically for 1 Major, everything else is icing on the cake.

So you’re seriously running Chaos for boon duration?

Okay, maybe I don’t understand just what gear/party you’re using. No part of this makes sense. I’m willing to trust that you’re not an idiot, but I’m either being given misleading information here or you’re willing to sacrifice a mountain of other useful traits for something that different gear should be covering.

(edited by Kadj.6725)

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Esplen.3940

Esplen.3940

I mean, you take one sentence and pull it out of context. So… have fun, I guess?

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Toeofdoom.6152

Toeofdoom.6152

I mean, you take one sentence and pull it out of context. So… have fun, I guess?

I found it pretty difficult to tell exactly what you were getting at, but I think I figured it out… the idea is:

  • Drop feedback, take well of recall
  • Now I need reflects, so equip + trait focus.
  • That’s great, but because of sigil of concentration I often need to swap to shield and then find I can’t reflect for 10 seconds. Switch to a different sigil and use chaos to make up the difference – now I can stay in shield, then switch to focus whenever reflects are needed.

Right?
Step 3 is not immediately obvious

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Esplen.3940

Esplen.3940

  • Drop feedback, take well of recall
  • Now I need reflects, so equip + trait focus.
  • That’s great, but because of sigil of concentration I often need to swap to shield and then find I can’t reflect for 10 seconds. Switch to a different sigil and use chaos to make up the difference – now I can stay in shield, then switch to focus whenever reflects are needed.

Right?
Step 3 is not immediately obvious

Uh, sort of?

Step 2 and 3 are merged, so it’s more:

  • Condi Mes is brought for safe (low) DPS and Reflects

Chrono boonbot can reliably reflect without ruining rotation by reaching 100% boon duration without Sigil of Conc.

This lets Chrono:

  • Have weaponswap up.
  • Trait Focus
  • Reliably Curtain
  • Still run Well of Recall (or Feedback if they want overkill/redundancy options)

This requires:

  • Chaotic Persistance (Chaos Grand Minor)

What you lose:

  • Domination Line aka:
  • Empowered Illusions (minimal dps gain)
    OR
  • Confounding Suggestions (because your group doesn’t know how to cc)
  • Blurred Inscriptions (distortion sharing is not necessary, main usage is for cooldown)
  • Condi Mes

What you gain:

  • Illusionary Defense (helps since Matthias is an attrition battle)
  • Additional DPS slot[s]

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Carighan.6758

Carighan.6758

4.) The shatter traits confuse me. If I want a shatter build, I should play Chronomancer. So why not do something different? Let F1-F4 focus on buffing our clones and phantasms. Keeping our illusions up will help us blend in, reinforcing Mirage deception.

That mess is a mess because our main class mechanic – shatter – is still nothing but a delivery vehicle for trait effects. It’s so bad on its own that it might as well not exist.

The strength of heart to face oneself has been made manifest. The persona Carighan has appeared.

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Esplen.3940

Esplen.3940

4.) The shatter traits confuse me. If I want a shatter build, I should play Chronomancer. So why not do something different? Let F1-F4 focus on buffing our clones and phantasms. Keeping our illusions up will help us blend in, reinforcing Mirage deception.

That mess is a mess because our main class mechanic – shatter – is still nothing but a delivery vehicle for trait effects. It’s so bad on its own that it might as well not exist.

But it is nice having panic buttons.

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Carighan.6758

Carighan.6758

But it is nice having panic buttons.

Sure, but I’d prefer them to to actually do something meaningful then. Yeah sure F4 is nice, and F3 can sometimes predictively interrupt something, but frankly they just don’t work the way they were advertised.

And mostly because ANet seems scared of making anything Mesmer very powerful, no matter how much they buff other classes to do top DPS just with their AA.

The strength of heart to face oneself has been made manifest. The persona Carighan has appeared.

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Esplen.3940

Esplen.3940

Yeah, that’s definitely fair. I’m not saying that shatters are good, in fact I was hoping that Chrono would remove them before HoT came out because shatters, along with illusions are kind of holding back Mesmer.

Inb4 someone jumps on me for saying shatters and illusions are Mesmer so they can’t be holding Mes back.

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Hot Boy.7138

Hot Boy.7138

I am pleased with Mirage. I love the concept. I’ve been having a lot of fun all weekend on it. I will definitely get the expansion.

However, i acknowledge there is a lot of issues, specially with the deception skills, ambush skills, and the mirror mechanic is just annoying. But i am confident anet will fix the issues and improve the traitline, skills and weapon. that is the point of having a beta, to get feedback and make changes.

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Levetty.1279

Levetty.1279

I am pleased with Mirage. I love the concept. I’ve been having a lot of fun all weekend on it. I will definitely get the expansion.

However, i acknowledge there is a lot of issues, specially with the deception skills, ambush skills, and the mirror mechanic is just annoying. But i am confident anet will fix the issues and improve the traitline, skills and weapon. that is the point of having a beta, to get feedback and make changes.

Its not a beta, its a Demo. We are 1 month from release and they have bug fixes from all classes a mile long to deal with before they even get to balancing. Mirage very design is flawed, theres only so much they can do without just scrapping it. People have been saying they are condifent anet will fix Mesmer since the game launched.

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Kadj.6725

Kadj.6725

{an explanation}

Oh thank god, an explanation. Now I understand what you’re getting at.

Okay, so Chaos is not trash tier except for the part where it literally needs to be the rarest encounter type in the game, a reflect-abuse boss. … Where it is used as a base stat crutch, and only because Anet’s encounter design sucks so badly that Mesmer – as usual – is carrying everyone through it. Which in my book makes it Chaos trash tier.

Goooood stuff.

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Blood Red Arachnid.2493

Blood Red Arachnid.2493

I’m not happy with the spec, either. I can’t figure out how it is supposed to deal damage, the skills are clunky to use, the mirrors are an inconsistent and poorly explained mechanic, the dodge is jarring. I haven’t done a full review of it, largely because I don’t PVP, but from testing on the golems the Mirage is neither fun nor powerful.

I don’t have opinions. I only have facts I can’t adequately prove.

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Carighan.6758

Carighan.6758

I really thought that the deception skills would be our F1-F4 skills. Because frankly shatter makes 0 sense for a Mirage.

And that Phantasms would just do the ambushes like clones do. :<

The strength of heart to face oneself has been made manifest. The persona Carighan has appeared.

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Esplen.3940

Esplen.3940

{an explanation}

Oh thank god, an explanation. Now I understand what you’re getting at.

Okay, so Chaos is not trash tier except for the part where it literally needs to be the rarest encounter type in the game, a reflect-abuse boss. … Where it is used as a base stat crutch, and only because Anet’s encounter design sucks so badly that Mesmer – as usual – is carrying everyone through it. Which in my book makes it Chaos trash tier.

Goooood stuff.

I mean, I typed that multiple times in different ways. You just glanced instead of reading. And that’s not the only place where Chaos is usable, that’s just where it shines.

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Kadj.6725

Kadj.6725

Explaining something in such an obtuse way that even other people misunderstand you isn’t a problem with me, mate.

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: MikeL.8260

MikeL.8260

Mirage would work somewhat fine if there wasn’t so much aoe dmg going on which makes short work of our puny clones and leaves us completely open in a matter of seconds. Even then the numbers are simply too low for a class that’s supposed to be inspired by Thieves.
The spec is a joke compared to the Chronomancer, the only things it has going for it is the Elite skill and Axe 3.
Losing Shield off-hand (hands down the best off-hand in the game), Alacrity, Continuum Split or even the passive 25% movement speed that everyone underestimates simply ain’t worth it.

To be honest I didn’t expect it to be better than Chronomancer since in my opinion Chrono is the most “complete” spec in the game, has a role everywhere and is even essential in some content BUT I did expect something more than that, at least bigger numbers. I can’t see what the Mirage’s role is, in what kind of content would a Mirage be better than a Chronomancer?

(edited by MikeL.8260)

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Curunen.8729

Curunen.8729

As I continue to play (build in sig) I am warming to the style more and more, and finding myself preferring the flow over Chrono shatter spam gameplay.

I’m going to be sad once this demo is over because I want to continue playing Mirage, even in its current state.

So actually I’m really looking forward to the buffs and fixes it needs to receive and very much looking forward to how it ends up on release. I feel I am close to something more than workable, but very enjoyable once the necessary reworks/fixes take place.

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: glenndevis.8327

glenndevis.8327

I’m running something similar but I prefer more stealth so i’m using PU. (in WvW at least.)

I really enjoy Mirage’s playstyle a lot more myself. i’ve never been much of a fan of the shatter mechanic but I always really loved the clone & phantasm mechanic, so i’m very happy that Mriage got a spec that doesn’t shatter as much.

I really hope Anet does well in the next month to fix the things that are wrong with Mirage and that they give us something nice & polished.

I think my biggest worry is the Mirage Mirror mechanic. It doesn’t need buffs, it needs a complete rework or just be replaced.

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Daishi.6027

Daishi.6027

If I had to quantify where most of my disappointment does comes from:

It would be that other than utilities and a choice of A. Stun Break/Condi clear on doge, or B. Illusions do Ambush.
We really don’t get that much compared to things like Holo, Scourge, or Spell breaker.

We’re pretty much core with more mobility options, cast flexibility, and a bit more vigor. (Which I honestly think is the worst since it’s an unreliable precursor to our mechanic and survival.) and this is in a world where core kind of sucks.

For a doge class we still doge less than core thief, and our ambushes are not only underwhelming offensively across the board, but are often unsafe.

I am somewhat pleased with the direction but the problems are evident, and we’re only a month away.

“I control time and space; you can’t break free.~”
“Maybe I was the illusion all along!”

Am I the only one at least a little pleased?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Hot Boy.7138

Hot Boy.7138

As I continue to play (build in sig) I am warming to the style more and more, and finding myself preferring the flow over Chrono shatter spam gameplay.

I’m going to be sad once this demo is over because I want to continue playing Mirage, even in its current state.

So actually I’m really looking forward to the buffs and fixes it needs to receive and very much looking forward to how it ends up on release. I feel I am close to something more than workable, but very enjoyable once the necessary reworks/fixes take place.

Same. The more I play mirage the more I love the flow. Definitely looking forward to the fixes. I’m never going back to chrono again when this spec launches. Mirage is definitely more my style and suits me much better.