Taken directly from the Guild Wars 2 wiki: “Mesmers are masters of mirage. They weave deception magic that seeks to confound, disorient and dumbfound their enemies.” Therefore, the reader can conclude that a Mesmer is a class designed on confusing, disorienting, and manipulating their opponent using the art of deception. The main area where ArenaNet has actively gone counterproductive to this is with the debuff of Confusion.
Based on the description that ArenaNet gave the Mesmer class (thereby defining the class’s role), Confusion should be the Mesmer’s domain. That means the Mesmer should be the only class who can reliably apply stacks of Confusion and maintain those stacks easily, and the Mesmer should actively benefit from applying Confusion.
Instead, the Mesmer is the one class who has the hardest time applying Confusion reliably. If a group needs stacks of Confusion reliably maintained, the group will rely on an Engineer to apply the debuff through Pry Bar, Static Shot, Confusing Speech, and Concussion Bomb. The fact that an Engineer can apply Confusion more reliably than a Mesmer is a grievously fundamental flaw. It slaps the core concept of the Mesmer in the face.
Allow me to use an example of another class to highlight the problem. A Fire Elementalist relies heavily on the Burning debuff. They can do more damage to a target who is burning, and many of its skills apply Burning. Therefore, it becomes an on-going cycle that ultimately benefits the Elementalist, and it is detrimental to their foe. It happens naturally in the course of the fight. This is how Confusion should work with the Mesmer.
Now, let’s imagine that ArenaNet did the same thing to the Elementalist that was done to the Mesmer. The Fire Elementalist would no longer be able to consistently and reliably keep up Burning. Therefore, the player would have to work extra hard to try to maintain that debuff in order to receive the increased damage benefit. Now, to add insult to injury, let’s say that a Guardian could actually keep the burning debuff up longer and more reliably. See the flaw?
As Burning is to the Fire Elementalist, so too should Confusion be to the Mesmer. Confusion should be applied easily and effortlessly for the Mesmer, and the Mesmer should be able to easily and reliably maintain Confusion on a mob. The Engineer should be the one who has a harder time keeping confusion on a mob, not the Mesmer.
As a result, the Confusion mechanic needs to be completely reworked so that the Mesmer actually gets to perform the role that ArenaNet designed the class to fulfill. Where I feel ArenaNet went wrong is that instead of giving the other classes a reliable counter to Confusion in PvP, they instead nerfed the Mesmer’s ability to use it – thereby crippling the Mesmer in PvE as a result. That brings me to a solution.
The reality is that it is impossible to balance the classes for PvP and PvE using the same batch of code. PvP and PvE should have separate balancing mechanics and coding. The tweaks made to skills in PvP should not effect the skills in PvE, and vice versa. The “one-size-fits-all” mentality for balancing skills does not work when PvP and PvE are both effected. The two styles of play have two completely different balancing rule sets.
As a result of the tweaks made for Mesmers in PvP, the Mesmer in PvE has been crippled and essentially turned into a second-class profession. That is a shame because the Mesmer is an extremely fun class to play, and it has so much potential that is being withheld. However, with the current single batch of coding, ArenaNet can’t undo the damage caused in PvE without unbalancing PvP. Yes, it will mean more work on the programming side, but it’s the only viable option to make both groups of players happy. Otherwise, one is happy at the expense of the other. Why should the players who only PvE be punished because the Mesmer in PvP is overpowered? In bringing the Mesmer in PvP back in line with the other classes, the Mesmer in PvE is relegated to portal/veil duty in a group because what the Mesmer can do, other classes can do better.
Sea of Sorrows
