Guild Wars 2

This may be not be the best time to ask my questions since people are talking about the upcoming changes actively, but I hope some people will help answer some of my questions.

1) How is the skill-cap for Mesmer?

I think there is a high skill-cap for Elementalist and Engineer. For Elementalist, you need to be aware of 4×5 skills, its effects, its durations and its cooldowns, in addition to setting up combos. For Engineers with the various toolkits, knowing when to use which one at the right time is key.

I don’t think I can play at that level and wondering if I can still play Mesmer effectively. For example it may be optimal to spawn 3 clones at approx. the same distance from your enemy and then F1. The 3 clones will hit the enemy at the same time, causing burst damage. Hence positioning is important. Can I play Mesmer effectively without being able to do this well? I don’t want to play a totally faceroll class, but I know my own limitations.

2) What is my role as Mesmer in WvW (zerg & small group) and PvE?

Damage dealer? Buff bot? Utility bot? Kiting enemy non stop? Being up front?

3) Will latency affect my ability to play the class significantly?

I play with 250-300ms ping. I notice some traits are about interrupting your enemies. For a class like Elementalist, I think ping is a significant issue since you change attunements often and sometimes you need to setup a combo & finish it yourself. How about Mesmer?

Thanks!

(This is coming from a PvPer who occasionally jaunts around in WvW)

1) Mesmer has a high skill ceiling, and is more difficult than most classes to learn. That being said, you shouldn’t let that discourage you (nor should engi or ele). You’re gonna play the game at your own pace regardless of what class you pick, and your build will be at least in part a reflection of your skill and personality.

To master Mesmer requires quick reflexes, foresight, positioning, situational awareness and quick thinking along with a little creativity. To be effective at Mesmer simply requires some practice and repetition. It can be enjoyable, especially in PvP and WvW, but it reaalllyy helps to have someone teach you a few things that would’ve taken you quite some time to learn on your own.

Try the class, teleport around and spawn some clones.. See if it makes you feel all warm and giggly inside. (giggly in that “teehee I’m so cool even though I’m doing nothing” kind of way) if so, then don’t worry about all the other stuff, you’ll enjoy it and find a way to make everything else work.

2) In WvW currently you can roam solo with a condition build, flipping camps and scouting and the like, or you can join a small group and play shatter(kill all the things) or lockdown (strategically nullify key targets and protect allies). In a giant zerg you can pat yourself on the back with portal plays and other Glamours.

3) Uh.. I doubt it. Again, it depends on the build you play.

• Also, if you do choose Mesmer, there are plenty of people here who will be more than willing to help you out in-game.

1: Ele is the hardest followed by Engie. Mesmer has a higher skill floor than thief but that is debatable.

As far as skill ceiling with those top 4 hard classes we all have enough instant cast skills to cast during other skills that the number of combos skyrocket. You will always have more to learn. Many Mesmers focus on a style like shatter it lockdown to master first.

2. Anyone who answers this question does know what they are talking about if they talk about the future. We are undergoing a huge balance change. Right now the mesmer spot is in backline, gang squad, or roamer. But that is going to change very soon.

3. Shatter, lockdown, any build with chained instant skills or chained skills at all with make you tear out your hair. It depends how bad the lag is. Experiment to find your good spot. I have had to sit out PvP sometimes.

My 5 cents:

1) How is the skill-cap for Mesmer?

Pretty high I’d say. That being said, it doesn’t mean that you need to be absolutely pro to be successful. But it means you will have to learn a bit and adapt, if you want to be successful with Mesmer. With many Mesmer builds, I believe, you’d be at a disadvantage against Elementalists and Engineers of the same skill level in a PvP conquest setup. However, in WvW roaming, except for the ability of D/D Elementalists to recover, the battle field is quite more even.

There are certain combos/techniques/tricks with Mesmer I’d suggest you to learn. There are some nice videos out in the internet like Shatter Tactics from Vash Bash

2) What is my role as Mesmer in WvW (zerg & small group) and PvE?

Mesmers are very good at roaming in WvW. Despite the lack of a good out of combat speed like perma swiftness, Mesmers still are quite mobile with Blink (shortcuts in some places in the borderlands) and you can compensate with [quite expensive] traveler runes. Mesmers excel in 1v1 open field combat and the biggest rivals are Thieves. But also Medi Guardians and Zerker Warriors can be quite deadly. Most Mesmer defenses are active, so you need to watch what your opponent is doing closely but winning feels rewarding.

In small roaming groups, especially power based Mesmer builds, are deadly. I personally felt the most joy when playing the standard 4/4/6 CI lockdown build in groups, solely with the purpose of adding CC to the mix. But the dmg output and survivability is very strong. All in all either roaming alone or with a small group is very fun with Mesmer and Mesmer brings much dmg and utility to group fights.

In bigger Zerg Mesmers fulfilled for a long time only utility bot (Portal, Null field, etc.). But these days I personally run in the zerg with my roaming shatter setup and land some nice ranged dmg spikes. Some also like to play some kind of interrupt/reflect setup in WvW zergs. But all in all in Zergs Mesmers are atm a bit lackluster imho. With Chronomancer that might very well change.

No idea about PvE except for some dungeons. Mesmer can contribute by building around reflections skills/traits making them very good dungeon mates for fractals but also for Arah for isntance.

3) Will latency affect my ability to play the class significantly?

Latency issues are the worst enemy of Mesmer. While everyone is affected by them to some extend, with Mesmer, who relies in precise positioning and timing, latency issues will destroy your tactics and your offense as well as defense will simply suck. That gets even worse, if you wanna play some kind of Lockdown or Interrupt build, which are probably the builds that rely the most in the whole of GW2 on exact timings. That being said, 250-300ms ping should still be okay.

Thank you for all the responses. I actually have a Mesmer but never really able to enjoy him. I played him again for a couple of hours in WvW and sPvP but I feel so lacking. I know right now I lack the ability to utilize my Mesmer, but I find myself missing my Necro.

The recent patch notes make me (and many other Necros) questioning Anet’s intention towards necros though.

Anyway thanks!