Guild Wars 2

I’ve been playing with a new Mesmer character for a while now. I thought it’d be much fun at first but now I’ve gotten past level 20 and I’m starting to see a lot of issues and annoyances with the class that make playing quite frustrating from time to time.

Here is a list of frustrations in Mesmer gameplay I’ve encountered so far:

1. I understand shattering is one of the main things a Mesmer should be focused on but in my opinion it doesn’t just work. Using any shatter skill will shatter all my illusions, even phantasms that I find useful from time to time. Clones are pretty much useless waste but I want to keep my phantasms.

2. Shattering takes way too long to execute. The illusions always have to catch up with the enemy to shatter. If I want to make any use of shattering in PVE for example, it takes too long for the illusions to catch up with the opponent and 80% of the time the opponent is already dead when they get there.

3. All illusions only attack a single target. They vanish after your target is dead. You cannot cast any illusions without an enemy target. This is pretty frustrating especially in fast paced PVE where you kill lots of enemies and targets change constantly. Half the classes abilities are almost unusable in these scenarios.

4. Clones. Is there any other use for clones but to shatter them? They do not get aggro from the AI, they doubtfully fool players in PVP, they get instakilled by pretty much everything in the game and they do 0 damage. Can I even get any use out of them in a dungeon if any enemy happens to use an AOE attack?

5. No passive speed boosts. Most classes have passive speed boosts. Mesmer is a light armored class and has to stay away from melee combat so it adds even more incentive to have a passive speed boost but there is none. Why is that?

6. Some skills feel pretty weak. I understand the Blink skill was pretty neat before but now its just a small step forward with a massive cooldown. Mirror Images? Create two clones that:

(1. Do 0 damage.)
(2. Get instakilled by any damage.)
(3. Do not take enemy aggro even for a small moment.)
(4. Spawn right next to you which make them take a long time to reach a target and shatter.)

How am I exactly supposed to play this class? I haven’t enjoyed it much thus far. Any help appreciated.

Shaimou.6182:

2. Shattering takes way too long to execute. The illusions always have to catch up with the enemy to shatter. If I want to make any use of shattering in PVE for example, it takes too long for the illusions to catch up with the opponent and 80% of the time the opponent is already dead when they get there.

Mirror Blade (Greatsword #2) and Scepter autoattacks will spawn clones near the target. Sword clones are melee-range so they follow their targets closer.

A common way to set up a shatter burst is something like this:

• Circle around your opponent.
• Try to drop clones so they form a triangle with your opponent in the middle.
• Activate the shatter. Which ever direction your opponent goes, they’re basically running towards some clones.
• (If you’ve got Illusionary Persona, rush them yourself to add your damage to the burst.)

In PvE, I generally focus on phantasms and mostly use shatter for some extra AoE, though. (Try to put the clones on different targets so they don’t all die from one being focused.)

Shaimou.6182:

4. Clones. Is there any other use for clones but to shatter them? They do not get aggro from the AI, they doubtfully fool players in PVP, they get instakilled by pretty much everything in the game and they do 0 damage. Can I even get any use out of them in a dungeon if any enemy happens to use an AOE attack?

To get aggro onto clones in PvE, try some of these:

• Initiate with a clone-spawning attack (Mirror Blade is good for this).
• Pop clones, then go into stealth.

In addition to shattering, you can use:

• Clone death traits. Clones that die naturally will bleed, confuse, cripple, &c. your enemy.
• Condition damage builds. Clones don’t do damage but they can spread conditions.

Shaimou.6182:

5. No passive speed boosts. Most classes have passive speed boosts. Mesmer is a light armored class and has to stay away from melee combat so it adds even more incentive to have a passive speed boost but there is none. Why is that?

This sucks and it’s the reason why almost all of us use Traveler runes a lot.

Shaimou.6182:

6. Some skills feel pretty weak. I understand the Blink skill was pretty neat before but now its just a small step forward with a massive cooldown. Mirror Images? Create two clones that:

(1. Do 0 damage.)
(2. Get instakilled by any damage.)
(3. Do not take enemy aggro even for a small moment.)
(4. Spawn right next to you which make them take a long time to reach a target and shatter.)

Mirror Images is a skill for dedicated shatter bursts. Usually you want to already be on top of your target when you pop it. E.g. Mirror Images + dodge for clone (with Deceptive Evasion) → Mind Wrack.

TL;DR

I came to the Forums to complain about the Mesmer and just summarized the 7 topics in the threads under mine.

Waste of a thread, move along people, nothing new or anything that hasn’t been discussed and beaten to death

Swish.2463:

TL;DR

I came to the Forums to complain about the Mesmer and just summarized the 7 topics in the threads under mine.

Waste of a thread, move along people, nothing new or anything that hasn’t been discussed and beaten to death

Check his posting history. Considering the age of this player, this is an incredibly disrespectful response, especially to a well-written post.

Shaimou.6182:

I’ve been playing with a new Mesmer character for a while now. I thought it’d be much fun at first but now I’ve gotten past level 20 and I’m starting to see a lot of issues and annoyances with the class that make playing quite frustrating from time to time.

N.B. Mesmer is pretty awful until 70-80, keep in mind that you’re basically playing half of the class until then.

Shaimou.6182:

1. I understand shattering is one of the main things a Mesmer should be focused on but in my opinion it doesn’t just work. Using any shatter skill will shatter all my illusions, even phantasms that I find useful from time to time. Clones are pretty much useless waste but I want to keep my phantasms.

2. Shattering takes way too long to execute. The illusions always have to catch up with the enemy to shatter. If I want to make any use of shattering in PVE for example, it takes too long for the illusions to catch up with the opponent and 80% of the time the opponent is already dead when they get there.

Shattering is a PvP mechanic, almost exclusively. Shatter simply is awful in PvE for the vast majority of situations. You’ll want to focus purely on phantasm damage, and just let them chew on your targets.

In PvP, landing shatters is largely a function of good clone placement. As was mentioned elsewhere, placing your clones so that they surround the target before shattering allows for reliable shatters. Randomly shattering with clones scattered all over will definitely make for difficulties.

Shaimou.6182:

3. All illusions only attack a single target. They vanish after your target is dead. You cannot cast any illusions without an enemy target. This is pretty frustrating especially in fast paced PVE where you kill lots of enemies and targets change constantly. Half the classes abilities are almost unusable in these scenarios.

The iZerker and iWarden both do significant amounts of aoe . That being said, you’re right that mesmer has a difficult time tagging lots of mobs that die quickly. Try using greatsword and Mantra of Pain in those situations.

Shaimou.6182:

4. Clones. Is there any other use for clones but to shatter them? They do not get aggro from the AI, they doubtfully fool players in PVP, they get instakilled by pretty much everything in the game and they do 0 damage. Can I even get any use out of them in a dungeon if any enemy happens to use an AOE attack?

Clones have 3 main uses. The first is for shatters, this one is obvious. You’re right that they don’t fool players in PvP at all (decent players anyway), so that’s not a use. The key to doing damage with clones is that despite doing 0 damage, they still use the autoattack of that weapon. This means scepter clones apply torment and staff clones apply bleeding, vulnerability, and burning. Additionally, those 0 damage hits can still crit, causing bleeds from the minor trait Sharper Images. Lastly, you can trait to cause clones to spread aoe conditions when they die; this is a very strong usage for them in PvP, but not PvE.

Shaimou.6182:

5. No passive speed boosts. Most classes have passive speed boosts. Mesmer is a light armored class and has to stay away from melee combat so it adds even more incentive to have a passive speed boost but there is none. Why is that?

Yeah, this sucks. Run with a focus and get either centaur or traveler runes to fix that issue.

Shaimou.6182:

6. Some skills feel pretty weak. I understand the Blink skill was pretty neat before but now its just a small step forward with a massive cooldown. Mirror Images? Create two clones that:

(1. Do 0 damage.)
(2. Get instakilled by any damage.)
(3. Do not take enemy aggro even for a small moment.)
(4. Spawn right next to you which make them take a long time to reach a target and shatter.)

As was mentioned, mirror images is a skill used for bursting shatters rapidly. If you’re in melee range, mirror images allows for a nearly instantaneous shatter.

Blink is an incredible skill. It has a quite low cooldown (look at the cooldowns for lightning flash and shadowstep) and quite a long range (if you trait for 1200 range anyway). It’s a stunbreak and significant mobility skill all in one, and enjoys an almost permanent spot on the bar of every PvP/WvW mesmer due to its strength.

Shaimou.6182:

How am I exactly supposed to play this class? I haven’t enjoyed it much thus far. Any help appreciated.

You get to level 80 ASAP, by any means necessary. At that point you can actually begin playing mesmer.

I don’t do much PvE, but i expect mesmer to be not so useful there, since we are mainly a “dueling” class, means we are best when fighting a single opponent. PvE mobs usually die fast or have lots of AoE that our phantasms won’t dodge.

Also leveling a mesmer is a pain, since the class relies a lot on traits to function properly.

Speed boosts certainly is a huge concern. As already mentioned, Traveler runes help, as do Speed runes for less gold. A mantra build can use Mantra of Recovery (the heal) with Runes of the Centaur as well. I imagine focus works well in PvE, since you will probably trait it anyway for the reflect and can achieve good swiftness uptime with Runes of the Pack or the like.

If you’re interested there’s plenty of gameplay videos that will quickly and easily show you what a Mesmer is capable of with appropriate level, gear, and skill/understanding of the class. I’d recommend you watch something, because the Mesmer class can look like quite a mystery until you see it at its potential.

Shaimou.6182:

3. All illusions only attack a single target. They vanish after your target is dead. You cannot cast any illusions without an enemy target. This is pretty frustrating especially in fast paced PVE where you kill lots of enemies and targets change constantly. Half the classes abilities are almost unusable in these scenarios.

For solo gameplay you shouldn’t be able to kill targets that quickly on a pre-80 mesmer :P
For group play/zerg events “viability” doesn’t really matter, and like all classes you just spam the skills that secure the largest number of tags. Which for Mesmer means Greatsword with a Sigil of Fire, and Mantra of Pain (for many Centaur/Orr events you can charge it inbetween enemy waves); use auto-target or drop a Chaos Storm if mobs die before you can manually target them for GS1/MoP

Shaimou.6182:

5. No passive speed boosts. Most classes have passive speed boosts. Mesmer is a light armored class and has to stay away from melee combat so it adds even more incentive to have a passive speed boost but there is none. Why is that?

Speed Runes or Centaur+Mantra/Transformation Tonic for speed. Centaur 6-piece speedboost works with any skill linked to the #6 hotkey.

You are wrong about staying away from melee combat though, mesmer can troll PvE really well in melee: Blurred Frenzy is a 2.5s evade (much longer than dodge roll, and longer than quite a few enemy channels, on a traited 9.5s cooldown!), and iLeap+Swap usually roots enemies long enough for you to reposition yourself without blowing a teleport cooldown or dodge roll.

Shaimou.6182:

6. Some skills feel pretty weak. I understand the Blink skill was pretty neat before but now its just a small step forward with a massive cooldown. Mirror Images?

Most of those are balanced around PvP, like any condition damage ever. Don’t use anything Confusion-related in PvE.
The skills you should look into are Glamours and Mantras. Glamours provide heavy-duty, sometimes even unique team support, as does Signet of Inspiration (only really works with coordinated allies though).
Mantras aren’t something to build around, they’re more like “apps”: Getting tossed around? there’s a Mantra for that. Getting overloaded with conditions? There’s a Mantra for that. Need something to stop pummeling you RIGHT NOW!? There’s a Mantra for that. Mantra of Pain can essentially be renamed to “Mantra of Tagging”. Also, Restorative Mantras.

Shaimou.6182:

How am I exactly supposed to play this class? I haven’t enjoyed it much thus far. Any help appreciated.

One thing you should accept in general (and which in my eyes makes Mesmer the best “pet” class for GW2’s spammy combat action) is that illusions are expendable! Their cooldown starts upon summon, not upon death. Their AI is simplistic to nonexistant. Shatters destroy them to grant you, their creator, a tactical advantage: Mind Wrack ends open world mobs that precious second earlier, Diversion is another instant-cast interrupt if you have a clone in melee range, Distortion lets you cheese out some nasty dungeon mechanics (Cry of Frustration is useless in PvE though)
While you will want to maintain Phantasms for sustained dps, you shouldn’t feel bad when they’re destroyed. To quote the Necro: “Kill my minions? I’ll simply make more.” Except we do it much faster than them.

Cant you all wait just three more month until HoT and the rebalance + specs?

Xyonon.3987:

Cant you all wait just three more month until HoT and the rebalance + specs?

Kinda right.. but i’ll prolly be playing something as my main by that time. & as for rebalance, well.. lets just say it remains to be seen. You never know.

Mesmer is not a fun pve class, you’re basically there for portal, feedback, and time warp. Occassionally iwarden stacking.

Mesmer is a fun wvw roaming class and even in spvp, thief issues aside.

So, basically, play it if you like PvP. In PvE nothing waits but frustration because it’s largely a pet class in a game where pets are atrociously weak and vulnerable. Ranger and minion necro are the same story, except the necro’s minions are an optional playstyle, and the ranger’s pets have more health (but still die in an instant to most pve mechanics).

Xyonon.3987:

Cant you all wait just three more month until HoT and the rebalance + specs?

i would wait…, but then again i do have my doubts about the rebalance. a proper rebalance would be for me personally(so id play mesmer again) that i can play my mes again in wvw and teamfights without being a veilbot or portal train.maybe a way to avoid ai and have an option to spec for aoe.
in spvp im sure there will be some interesting changes, but wvw…i have sorta lost faith for mesmer unless we get hexes or something that could bring back the mesmer to its former gw1 glory or somehow glamour mes wvw glory(maybe a little less deadly than what it used to be XD)

1.) You don’t necessarily need to focus your efforts on using shatters, but I’d encourage attempting to learn using them.

Distortion is an amazing shatter that can allow you to be immune for incoming damage, crowd control and new Conditions for up to 3 seconds (4 with the Grand Master trait, XI – Illusionary Persona, in the Illusions trait line once you’ve reached Lv.80).

Diversion can be a good shatter to practice with in PvE, especially if you wish to practice interrupts. I would suggest the investment of a trait point into II – Halting Strikes within the Domination line, from Lv.30 onward. This will cause interrupts to deal some damage. Note that an interrupt is when you stop a skill from being executed, not when placing Daze on a target not currently using a skill. Keep in mind that you can interrupt with Pistol (Magic Bullet), offhand Sword (Illusionary Riposte > Counter Blade), Greatsword (Illusionary Wave), Focus (Temporal Curtain > Into the Void), Mantra of Distraction (Utility skill with 2 interrupts, or 3 with the Grand Master trait, XI – Harmonious Mantras, from the Dueling trait line) or the Signet of Domination. You can also get a few interrupts with Staff (Chaos Storm), but those are more randomized. Under water, you can use both Spear (Slipstream or Vortex) and Trident (Illusion of Drowning), to interrupt as well.

You can see Cry of Frustration as a weaker Mind Wrack, although it does put a number of Confusion stacks on to your target, a Condition that currently is more effective in PvP, more so than PvE due to slower enemy attack speeds. You can use it to some effect together with the Elite skill, Polymorph Moa, which will make most enemies attack a lot faster, but that’s a tactic very limited in its use.

And Mind Wrack, the damaging one of the shatters. This will be your friend in a lot of cases for damage spikes. If you wish to maintain some Phantasms, I recommend using it with clones you create before summoning a Phantasm, or after the recharge period is about done, so that you can summon a new Phantasm right after the shatter. Don’t get too fixated on the idea that you must have 3 illusions up before you shatter either. You can blow up just one too, and do a little more damage with it.

2.) Don’t see the Mesmer profession as a ranged one. Play with it up close and personal. Most our weapons benefits from this and includes means of avoiding damage, even Greatsword—besides its auto-attack doing more damage with more distance—benefits from being up close and personal, since Mirror Blade will bounce nearly instantly between you and your target (granting you 6 stacks of Might in the process) for a quick and far less likely to be avoided burst of damage. We may use Light armor, but we are more than capable of going toe to toe with every foe and profession in this game. If you shatter up close and personal, your clones do not need to run anywhere, they are already there.

3.) Look at illusions as a visual “hex”, a condition for your specific target at the time. You have tricked their mind into thinking there is something there, even though it’s not. If your enemy is defeated, you no longer have any power over their minds, and as such, the illusion breaks. Get used to (tab-)targeting to a new enemy as soon as the current one is about to die. It may be a good time to use a Mind Wrack as well, to finish it off before you focus on the next enemy, possibly hurting the new target with AoE damage in the process.

4.) They will perform and apply the conditions from your auto-attack skills (e.g., Sword ones will apply Vulnerability). They can be altered through traits to apply Bleeds from critical hits, a select few random conditions upon death, to make you move faster in combat, take less— or deal more damage the more that are active in the world. Their main purpose is to supplement the core mechanics of shattering the “hexes” however.

5.) Most Mesmers will state the same, we lack movement speed. A lot of Mesmer players will load up on Traveler (or cheaper alternative) Runes to circumvent the feeling of being slow.

6.) Blink is a Stun Break, it will allow you to re-position quickly in combat, or traverse a respectable distance in the blink of an eye (pun intended). You can use it tactically to teleport up on ledges that you can normally reach through running. If you would not be able to reach the location normally by running there, it will not work. Mirror Images is also a Stun Break, it’s a way to do a very quick burst with say Mind Wrack. Again, you need to see Mesmer as a melee class more so than a ranged class. The closer you are, the more effective you get, but you are also more exposed to the damage. It’s a trade off. Most our skills has good use if you really think about it. Mimic is perhaps the only one that I consider truly to be bad (and a terrible re-design).

Mesmer.. yaaaaay……plrrrrt!