Guild Wars 2

I only have 40 Elementalist. The class is actually to my liking since it can be effective range with aoe. However it’s the playstyle that I’m looking to switch.

Currently to play Elementalist effectively you’ve to time your attunement switch (for auras) and time your combo fields (massive boons). You also need to keep tracks of your various cooldowns (4×5 skills). Play right and it’s effective.

However I feel like I’m doing a lot of button pressing sometimes. I feel like I’m doing more to get the same result compared to other classes. Browsing the net, it’s been suggested many times that Mesmer is fun and effective to play, especially in WvW (which is my main enjoyment). But people note that the difficulty of playing a Mesmer is on par with Elementalist.

My question is how is it difficult? That you’ve to constantly move to find the right position? That you’ve to time your illusions right? etc etc. I’m looking for answers on the pros & cons of playing a Mesmer effectively.

Thank you.

It’s less about positioning and more about cooldown management, in a nutshell.

as a D/D ele i can tell you mesmer is as much fun…

i Use a GS SW/P build mostly on shatters and the costant movement/tp, shattering, invul skills management etc etc are fun and button intensive as elementalist combos.

There are also some party tricks like signet of inspiration u.u
Also you are not locked into a single range.

Sword Mesmer with at least 20 in the Dueling tree is some of the most fun I’ve had (I’ve leveled up a Guard, Warrior and Ranger). It is a very active play style without crazy button mashing. Natural things like Dodging create extra clones while crits with your sword give you Vigor to dodge more. I find myself Dodging because I can, not because I have to and it is a fun change.

CruelPhate.3569:

Sword Mesmer with at least 20 in the Dueling tree is some of the most fun I’ve had (I’ve leveled up a Guard, Warrior and Ranger). It is a very active play style without crazy button mashing. Natural things like Dodging create extra clones while crits with your sword give you Vigor to dodge more. I find myself Dodging because I can, not because I have to and it is a fun change.

Yeah, 3 dodge forward, dodge backward, cancel dodge mid-air with 3 again, shatter while hitting 2.

4 second invuln combo with mass damage.

If your problem is that you feel like you’re pressing too many buttons for the same results other classes get, Mesmer may not help you.

There are builds that require less than others,
But if your goal is to damage at range, it will require some quick buttoning.

The burst damage of a GC mesmer can just about rival that of a thief, except you have to line up twice as many skills to all connect at roughly the same time.

if you don’t want button pressing, pick warrior.

P.S. make you you have backup button 2

• Though you don’t have as many skills to learn as an Ele, learning Shatters and effective weapon combinations does take some time investment. Many mesmer skills, especially the staff, have an alternate secondary effect that’s just as crucial to learn as the primary effect (Ex: Sword autoattack can remove enemy boons. Learn to use 3 sword clones in conjunction with your own autoattack to remove 4 boons at once.)

• Mesmer defense often relies on good movement skills and quick reflexes. Teleports, defensive shatters, AoE Ethereal combo fields and very specific weapon skills require both awareness and a bit of creativity to be most effective.

• Mesmer can do just about anything effectively. (Stealth, condition damage, burst DPS, tanking, boon distribution, ect.) and even can do some things other classes can’t come close to (reflects, portals). But a warrior will have easier time bursting, thief stealthing, guardian supporting, ect. Our talent lies in the ability to mix and match what we want to do, even if it takes us longer to learn how to do it.

The mesmer is a high execution(lots of different buttons to push all the time) class, but it isn’t necessarily harder per se. Just demands more creativity than most classes. If you play an Ele, then you shouldn’t have much problem with the Mes.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

• Though you don’t have as many skills to learn as an Ele, learning Shatters and effective weapon combinations does take some time investment. Many mesmer skills, especially the staff, have an alternate secondary effect that’s just as crucial to learn as the primary effect (Ex: Sword autoattack can remove enemy boons. Learn to use 3 sword clones in conjunction with your own autoattack to remove 4 boons at once.)

• Mesmer defense often relies on good movement skills and quick reflexes. Teleports, defensive shatters, AoE Ethereal combo fields and very specific weapon skills require both awareness and a bit of creativity to be most effective.

• Mesmer can do just about anything effectively. (Stealth, condition damage, burst DPS, tanking, boon distribution, ect.) and even can do some things other classes can’t come close to (reflects, portals). But a warrior will have easier time bursting, thief stealthing, guardian supporting, ect. Our talent lies in the ability to mix and match what we want to do, even if it takes us longer to learn how to do it.

The mesmer is a high execution(lots of different buttons to push all the time) class, but it isn’t necessarily harder per se. Just demands more creativity than most classes. If you play an Ele, then you shouldn’t have much problem with the Mes.

I will say an engineer is harder to play than a mesmer.

However, clicking mesmer skills is more gratifying

if you trait as a shatter mesmer(IP), then positioning is one of the most important skills you have to master to be good.

wads.5730:

if you trait as a shatter mesmer(IP), then positioning is one of the most important skills you have to master to be good.

actaully ip made a shatter mesmer build too easy to play. It is harder to play without ip because 1 sec invulnerability on demand is little hard to give up

You can say the Mesmer is more of a reactive profession. With an Elementalist, you want to get straight up in your opponents face, and then run away to heal up, if you’re dealt too much damage. With a Mesmer, you want to get straight up in your opponents face, try to anticipate their next move, and then counter the damage (through clones, stealth, distortion, interrupts, boons, and so on).

The Mesmer is also a much better condition damage profession, and arguably a better utility profession.