Guild Wars 2

Been a long time and want to do some PvP but I see as expected the game has changed quite a bit. Just looking at pointers or some good build advice, traits etc. Tks.

Courtesy of Fay, the gentle giant
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/List-Find-your-Mesmer-Builds-Guides
Fay put this together and it really has helped me out, I believe he/she keeps it up to date. Only issue might be if a build uses a sword main hand. The passing of the sword main hand hit us quick, it hit us hard.

Welcome back to the game, I hope you like condi mesmers.
Or you really like staff+gs.
Because that’s pretty much all that you can play right now…

Menaka.5092:

Welcome back to the game, I hope you like condi mesmers.
Or you really like staff+gs.
Because that’s pretty much all that you can play right now…

(in 1v1)

(you should not be fighting 1v1, it’s equivalent to intentionally losing)

Carighan.6758:

Menaka.5092:

Welcome back to the game, I hope you like condi mesmers.
Or you really like staff+gs.
Because that’s pretty much all that you can play right now…

(in 1v1)

(you should not be fighting 1v1, it’s equivalent to intentionally losing)

That’s like saying you should not GvG because it’s not a supported game mode.

I get a lot of fun out of a good straight up 1v1 (or 1/2 v 2/3/4…) – moreso than conquest nonsense or zerg nonsense.

I don’t mind whether it’s supported, I said that it’s equivalent to intentionally losing. Your primary directive in same-size-teams lineups like tPvP should be to always create situations where you are fighting with more numbers, and prevent the enemy from forcing them in turn.

This goes hand in hand with not giving combat if it would drag out or not be advantageous. If you’re defending a point, a long drawn out fight is usually good, sometimes a quick win is better to be able to move elsewhere. Either way though, ideally you simply overpower the enemy 3-1 and 2-3 of you move off to elsewhere to create similar situations.

The same basically applies in WvW, but presence becomes another factor there. Instead of only fighting with superior numbers, fighting with superior coverage is a very similar application of the idea of never fight fair, but in a different way.

But yes in short, don’t fight fair. Fighting fair is for when losing is an acceptable outcome, and it’s the outcome I want to avoid.

PvP – Shatter sword/focus gs or gs/staff are still viable (yes, even after the ileap bug fix). I wouldn’t necessarily run portal in hotjoins or solo que, players aren’t smart enough to use it effectively but if you want to create plays yourself then by all means run it just don’t expect people to use it effectively. For more organized team ques portal is insanely useful.

WvW – Shatter specs for GvG are viable or you could run PU in GvG for distraction as your dmg is hindered a little bit (burst dmg mostly, consistent dmg is still quite good even running PU but you play a more distraction role as opposed to gank/snipe role like if i you ran shatter). For roaming you’d probably run a more defensive spec like PU Condi or power still works flawlessly. Your hard counter is thief, so that’ll really be the only problem you’ll end up facing roaming as a mesmer (or another good mesmer ^.^). The 2 best roamers at the moment in WvW are thief and mesmer followed by engineer, elementalist , warrior and the list dwindles down from there.

PvE – I don’t pve , not really sure … I think they’re still viable but warriors/guardians/ele are more optimal for PvE from what I’ve seen.

Carighan.6758:

I don’t mind whether it’s supported, I said that it’s equivalent to intentionally losing. Your primary directive in same-size-teams lineups like tPvP should be to always create situations where you are fighting with more numbers, and prevent the enemy from forcing them in turn.

This goes hand in hand with not giving combat if it would drag out or not be advantageous. If you’re defending a point, a long drawn out fight is usually good, sometimes a quick win is better to be able to move elsewhere. Either way though, ideally you simply overpower the enemy 3-1 and 2-3 of you move off to elsewhere to create similar situations.

The same basically applies in WvW, but presence becomes another factor there. Instead of only fighting with superior numbers, fighting with superior coverage is a very similar application of the idea of never fight fair, but in a different way.

But yes in short, don’t fight fair. Fighting fair is for when losing is an acceptable outcome, and it’s the outcome I want to avoid.

Yes that’s true when it comes to winning pvp conquest match or wvw points.

Often losing conquest is acceptable if it means I have a fantastic 1v1 or 1v2 with skilled fighters. And “losing” wvw is acceptable if it means I have a good time pulling some opponents around.

My perspective is obviously skewed and not in line with what the game dictates as “winning” in conquest or overall in wvw (but lets be honest – how many people care about overall score in wvw, it’s whether you’re victorious in the immediate fight or survive to fight another time), and I’m one of the kittens in favour of deathmatch pvp modes!

I have been looking at weapons and gear and it seems to me I am still viable to a point. I see they raised trade skills somewhat higher. I am guessing there are exclusive pvp armor/weps as well but I have not found them. Also see new currency that I am trying to figure out heh.

Looks like PvP is still a Zergfest which is what I am not looking for. Hoping to find a guild/Clan that runs light to increase personal gratification. So much to learn…..

I do not think pvp is a zergfest, especially now where the standard format has been changed to a max of 5v5. I still find myself in a 4v5 quite often and that is shame because it clearly gives an endge to the other team. But I wouldn’t call it a zerg and I find it quite fun tbh

trooper.2650:

I do not think pvp is a zergfest, especially now where the standard format has been changed to a max of 5v5. I still find myself in a 4v5 quite often and that is shame because it clearly gives an endge to the other team. But I wouldn’t call it a zerg and I find it quite fun tbh

Since he followed that sentence with one about a guild/clan running light, I’m assuming that he’s referring to WvW.