Guild Wars 2

I just reached lvl 29, so I know I’m not too experienced yet as a mesmer. So much more to learn. But for now, the thing I wonder about is why the enemies are ignoring my clones. The problem is that I’ve been usingthat skill that gives us two clones that attack the target quite a lot, as well as a greatsword. Greatswords can be thrown and bounced between enemies, and it’ll leave behind a clone that attacks the enemies.

Up until lvl 26ish, this worked quite well. Most enemies would go for the clones first, then after me. Though for whatever reason, if they don’t go after the clones immediately, a “force push” (GS skill 5) towards the clones usually does the trick. But lately, the enemies have started ignoring the clones more and more. Why do they do this, and how cam I make the clones more attractive for the enemies? It’s not a huge problem, just a bit annoying. Considering the class is build entirely around clones and phantasms, it would be nice if they were more reliable. ;-) They do some decent damage, though, so there’s that.

Most mobs will ignore clones, because they don’t do any damage. They’ll more often focus on phantasms, since some aggro in this game is dps-based. However, enemies attacking phantasms rapidly becomes more annoying than helpful since your phantasms are a major component of your damage.

In general, enemies will attack you. This is doubly true in PvP, where skilled players will always be able to recognize the real mesmer. Play in an appropriate way based on that fact.

Illusions are ment to either be shattered when the right time comes or to stay alive for damage (as their attackrate is faster than the summoning CD)
So having them aggro enemies would be awful for a mesmer and we wouldn’t have a chance to build up our damage.

Clones are never really meant to be your personal tanks. More than anything they’re a resource. If you want them doing more damage, I suggest using staff clones for condition damage. Or… just make them and shatter them like crazy. While they’ll never be more than a distraction when it comes to taking hits for you, they make for very nice butterfly explosions.

Thanks, guys. As for clones, the tooltip says I can summon two clones that will attack my enemies, so I figured they would, you know, attack my enemies. ;-) And they do. They even do some decent damage. I’ve noticed this quite well last night, as I was tasked to destroy some centaur barricades or somethingin Gendarran Fields) When I summon the two clones, the damage on those barricades went up quite a bit. It does make sense that the clones don’t draw aggro, though.

However, to explain the problem better, I’m using a Greatsword and the skill Mirror Image. I first use Mirror Blade to throw the blade and let it bounce a bit, and it also creates a clone. Clone, not a phantasm. I then put up the Mirror Image to create two more clones. If I now use Illusionary Wave (think Force Push) and throw the enemies towards the clones, the enemies usually stay there and attack the clones. Whether this was a bug or not, it happened so often, I started relying on it as part of my strategy. It’s only the last two or three levels this isn’t working anymore.

That’s the real problem here. Or not “problem”, as I don’t depend on it, but I just wonder why it did work before, and why it won’t work anymore. Also keep in mind the clones were (usually) left alone all along, except when I use Illusionary Blade to throw the enemies towards them. It could be that the MB reduces my aggro or something, but the tooltip doesn’t say anything about it.

Zenith.7301:

Get good and stop passively relying on AI to take the damage for you.

Well, I never said I’m having a problem surviving or doing damage. Far from it. I entered Gendarran Fields last night at lvl 27, started fighting enemies lvl 30 without a problem. That might not seem too impressive for a guardian or warrior, but for a mesmer with light armor with low defenses and only ranged weapons, I impressed myself. :-)

EDIT: Enemies don’t attack clones? Tell that to this centaur. ;-) This clone was from Mirror Image, btw. It didn’t last long on its own, but three clones combied with one or two phantasms does last a while.

There are clones and there are Phantasms. You’re allowed three of any combination of the two at any given point in time. Clones do basically next to no damage. This becomes especially apparently later on, as their damage scales with level, but these are meant to be shattered or used as decoys/bodyblocking for one attack. Clone skills usually have shorter cooldowns due to their repeated use from shattering them as cannon-fodder for extra damage or effects.
Phantasms are a bit bulkier in terms of their health pools, and provide very large sums of damage intermittently. They only have one attack, and repeat this attack until they die, or the target dies.

Monster aggro is determined by a few factors:
Proximity to the monster (who’s the closest) + Damage dealt (who hurts the most) + Armor value (as a means of letting tank specs hold aggro without a taunt system) + pets/summons for open world PvE.

Depending on when you cast the clones/phantasms, they may be closer in proximity or dealing more damage than you (say if you start with a phantasm and stop attacking to summon more things in the meantime), and typically, open-world monsters will focus on summons, pets, etc. before attacking the player just as a means of keeping the open-world content a bit easier for classes which can let their summons take hits.

Hope that helps explain things a little.

Strange. I thought a picture of a monster attacking my clone would be enough ‘evidence’ that they do indeed attack clones, but here’s another one just in case. This time there are two clones, and the enemy is clearly attacking them.

From what I’ve noticed so far on my own:

1. Bosses (obviously) don’t care about clones. Not that I expected them to.
2. Enemies below my level usually go after the clones.
3. Enemies my own level usually, but not always, go after the clones.
4. Enemies above my level usually, but not always, ignore the clones.

I guess the whole problem I had, and why I made this thread in the first place, was because the first enemies I found in Gendarran Fields were higher level than me, and thus ignored the clones most of the time. Now that I’ve leveled up to 34, they enemies are once again back in the clone wars era, right where I want them. Like it or not, but at least 90% of the enemies are attacking the clones again. (This rose to nearly 100% after adding a few traits to increase illusion damage etc.)

(and yes, I mean clones, not phantasms. I have yet to see an enemy attack them. Even my phantasm defender is left alone, strangely.)

BTW the tactic I said in the first post still goes. I get that clones can draw aggro if I throw them near a monster and don’t attack my own, but I can clones during fights, and they still draw more aggro than me most of the time. A monster could be half-dead when I summon my Mirror Image clones, and the monster will still (most of the time) go after them. Especially if I use the Ollusionary Wave to know the monster towards the clones.

As has already been said, agro is partially determined by proximity to the monster. As you level the difference between your damage and your clones’ damage will become greater, outweighing the agro from proximity. For now it’s a workable strategy. You can beef up your clones with traits to increase this period of time where it works. But… don’t get too used to it since soon enough your own dps will become too much for clones to keep up with for too long.

It also depends on the weapon you’re using. A GS or staff mesmer usually won’t take aggro due to how far away it attacks from. A sword mesmer, on the other hand, will take it much more frequently.

Clone stats and pet stats are scaled per level, which used to be the way stats increased before the NPE. Now, stat points are allocated in mass quantities every few levels, instead.

You’re probably experiencing clones take aggro in such instances because your clone’s base stats in regards to their toughnes/armor values are higher than yours, are closer to the monster, and may be dealing more damage. Again, as I said, many mobs in PvE are scripted to focus on summons/pets first before the player as a means to make it easier. This could also be affecting your experience.

The way I described aggro above is factually how the system handles it. Unless there are special rules (such as “always attack marked target,” “always attack the player performing x action,” etc., which basically don’t exist in open-world PvE, this is how your clones are taking aggro.

DeceiverX.8361:

Clone stats and pet stats are scaled per level, which used to be the way stats increased before the NPE.

Citation needed.

All illusions inherit their base stats from the Mesmer. I see no reason for this to be not the case if you’re under level 80.

There are some creatures and enemies that will ignore pets more than others. Risen are the biggest offenders I find, Risen will ignore pets 90% of the time no matter what kind of pet they are (even buffed up Ranger pets) and go after players instead. Others that tend to go after players and not pets, off the top of my head, include bears, destroyers, and a lot of the Mordrem enemies.

BattleCat.2098:

I just reached lvl 29, so I know I’m not too experienced yet as a mesmer. So much more to learn. But for now, the thing I wonder about is why the enemies are ignoring my clones. The problem is that I’ve been usingthat skill that gives us two clones that attack the target quite a lot, as well as a greatsword. Greatswords can be thrown and bounced between enemies, and it’ll leave behind a clone that attacks the enemies.

Up until lvl 26ish, this worked quite well. Most enemies would go for the clones first, then after me. Though for whatever reason, if they don’t go after the clones immediately, a “force push” (GS skill 5) towards the clones usually does the trick. But lately, the enemies have started ignoring the clones more and more. Why do they do this, and how cam I make the clones more attractive for the enemies? It’s not a huge problem, just a bit annoying. Considering the class is build entirely around clones and phantasms, it would be nice if they were more reliable. ;-) They do some decent damage, though, so there’s that.

most enemies attack based on toughness, and proximity. Clones have your same toughness, so basically its a proximity problem. If you want them to focus your clones, make them be the closest targets.

Fay.2357:

DeceiverX.8361:

Clone stats and pet stats are scaled per level, which used to be the way stats increased before the NPE.

Citation needed.

All illusions inherit their base stats from the Mesmer. I see no reason for this to be not the case if you’re under level 80.

Apologies. I thought armor was also scaled per level, but it appears only health is scaled on a per-level basis.