Guild Wars 2

I can 1v1 pretty darn well, but in the opinion of the mes community, what’s the most effective team based build? I’ve run stuff with chaotic interruption, but it’s unreliable. I’ve also tried imbued diversion, but again it’s a bit random.

I can kill people as a point defender, but because of the small area I’m forced to remain out of the circle especially if I’m killing a necro or a warrior. This defeats the purpose. Stealth is another issue as points get decapped.

So question – what is the best way a mesmer can help his/her team and what role do we fulfill?

(Assuming ur talking about pvp. And replying from phone so forgive typos)

Thats a bit of a broad question as Mesmer has many different options for team support. Some of the most valuable tools we have are:

- Boonstripping (Dom VII, iDisenchanter, Null Field)
- Boonsharing (Staff+Focus, Signet of Inspiration)
- Reflects (Feedback, traited Focus)
- Control (Chaotic Interruption and friends)
- Condition Removal (Mantra, Disenchanter)
- Utility (iDefender, Portal, Veil, Illusion of Life)

The trick is blending those aspects into a build without spreading yourself too thin. We can do great damage while taking any of the above as a secondary (and even tertiary depending on the build) feature and make ourselves invaluable to a team. Id say boonstripping, portal, reflects and condition removal rank among our most useful team-oriented abilities.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

(Assuming ur talking about pvp. And replying from phone so forgive typos)

Thats a bit of a broad question as Mesmer has many different options for team support. Some of the most valuable tools we have are:

- Boonstripping (Dom VII, iDisenchanter, Null Field)
- Boonsharing (Staff+Focus, Signet of Inspiration)
- Reflects (Feedback, traited Focus)
- Control (Chaotic Interruption and friends)
- Condition Removal (Mantra, Disenchanter)
- Utility (iDefender, Portal, Veil, Illusion of Life)

The trick is blending those aspects into a build without spreading yourself too thin. We can do great damage while taking any of the above as a secondary (and even tertiary depending on the build) feature and make ourselves invaluable to a team. Id say boonstripping, portal, reflects and condition removal rank among our most useful team-oriented abilities.

Thanks for the list! I guess some of these functions would be better performed by other classes. For eg, for boon stripping I would guess a necro would be better and condition removal, a guardian and again a guardian for sharing boons. For control, I’m guessing a hammer warrior or even a necro (though single target) would be more appropriate.

Reflects and portal…those are solid mesmer benefits I think.

Mesmer have the best boonstripping in the game with Shattered Concentration (shatters remove boons.) And iDisenchanter (attacks every 4 secs and strips 2 boons/condis with a projectile that bounces 5 times) depending on whether you’re a shatter or phantasm build.

Our condition removal can be really good depending on the build, and same goes for boonsharing. Guardians have a better reputation for it, but Mesmers can share boons just as well though not the same boons that guards can (guards have protection/stability unparalleled but Mesmers collect boons from different sources and duplicate them onto allies. Bountiful Interruption+Focus+Signet of Inspiration+Lyssa Runes = win.

Control, we’re up there with hammer Warriors if not a bit better and definitely more versatile, and almost definitely superior to Necros.

if focus just wouldnt be so buggy….

bhagwad.4281:

So question – what is the best way a mesmer can help his/her team and what role do we fulfill?

… kill the enemy.

If we’re talking sPvP (judging by the “point defender” comment), then the best role of the Mesmer I’ve found is to be a burster. It doesnt matter what build you’re on as long as you got some damage. Sure bunker builds work if you want/like that, but for the Mesmer that IMO is the most boring role they can take and it goes against the principle of constant clone generation, core of Mesmer PvP philosophy. Offensivly a Mesmer is just so much more fun.

Personally I run a pure weapons based barbarian/valkyrie 20/30/20 staff/greatsword with speed runes build. I dont have any “role”, I just win fights by firepower, personal skill and being where they need me. Most teams seem to like it when I come in cavalry style and roflstomps an enemy they cant kill/fight to a standstill, lol. Perhaps it sounds brutish, but its effective. Though I’m probably alone to run it, lol.

Dawdler has a point (however brutish and Charr-like it may be. =P), and that reminds me of one important distinction that is crucial to remember: you don’t have to run a support build to have an aspect of team support in your build.

I dunno Dawdler’s traits, but if he’s running Dueling X (Deceptive Evasion) and Chaos V (Debilitating Dissipation) then in addition to his AoE burst he’s also hitting enemies with Weakness/Vuln when his clones die. Weakness cuts damage by 50% and Vuln makes enemies take 1% more damage per vuln stack. Even while he’s focusing on obliterating everyone around him, he’s still protecting his team in a way with that AoE weakness.

The standard shatter build usually grabs Shattered Concentration for the same reason. No other class can strip boons as effortlessly as a Mesmer, so in the shatter Mesmer regular rotation they’re helping out their team by ripping off boons like Protection, Fury, Stability, ect in an AoE.

As long as it’s smoothly incorporated into your build, and not something you have to consciously stop and switch roles or alter your focus for, then you’re on the right path. For what you’re looking for, I’d recommend considering adding Glamours to grab that Reflect and Portal; portal takes a bit of practice to make effective though.