Guild Wars 2

Hey everyone.

I played a Mesmer for almost 2 years. I recently switched over to my Elementalist for a while, and have to say that as a Staff Ele it’s such a huge change when roaming with zerg in WvW. I feel so useful. I can heal, I can actually tag things in ZvZ fights because of ground targets. I have blocks, slows, bleeds, burns, roots, reflect.

My basic question here is… I really like playing my Mesmer, but having had a taste of Elementalist it’s tough to try and come back.

What does a Mesmer have in WvW/large scale fights that Ele doesn’t? Or rather, what is the Mesmer’s “role” in large scale fights? I just feel like as a GS/Staff Shatter mesmer in WvW I’m simply there to tag along for the ride. When defending, I don’t really do much. When attacking… I don’t really do much?

I’m guessing you’re sincere but man, does this read like a troll thread.

I’m totally sincere, sorry if it comes across as a troll. I really want to like my Mesmer more than my Ele (mostly because Sunrise, lol). It just seems that the… variation?… of Ele FAR surpasses that of a Mesmer.

Looking for some things I can focus on that Mesmer’s do better, if possible.

I had even tried to come up with a viable GS/Staff Condi build but… it just didn’t work out that well. Mesmer seems very pigeon-holed.

I actually like my Mesmer in zergs :/
I mean its not as strong as others but you have some great skills. Things like Feedback just melt people which is hilarious….Of course you have to make sure your heal is off cool down or you will be downed. I went from full health (20k) to downstated JUST using Feedback is hilarious.

It all depends on play style, i use my GS when with a zerg and find it to be fine, i mean its not like hugely amazing but no class should be amazing at everything in the game and this is just one of those areas that Mesmer is a little weaker.

You cast veil and you’re done.

You basically need to play like a Thief that hasn’t bothered to equip shortbow. So you want to be moving along the edges of the enemy zerg, bursting down squishes, making sure you have an escape plan for when you inevitably get focused. Other than that, Mesmers have very little use in a zerg outside of casting veil and maybe Timewarp and even those are rarely needed.

If you want to be shatter in zergs, your main weapon set should be sword/torch, and play an in&out tactic trying to coordinate prestige, BF and shatters. You can reach nice bursts and even pretty high numbers if you raid in a dedicated guild.
Also, with Shattered Concentration you’ll be one of the best boon-removals in the game.

Together with D/D ele, shatter mesmer is the most skilled build to bring in zerg fights, so be prepared xd

you have to play like a thief. you cant bomb with frontline cus you’ll get kitten on by retal

In a zerg, it’s difficult as a Mesmer. You have 4 really amazing utility skills (Veil, Portal, Feedback, Time Warp), and one more rather important skill in Temporal Curtain.

But mosty… that’s it. Everything else we do, others can do better. However, we are still very good, just not number 1. And we are really good if the enemy employs skirmishers in zerg fights, because we excel at killing those.

I’m trying to put together a Condition Shatter build (check out my other thread) to have some sort of AoE presence besides just shattering. Struggling with trait setup and what’s worth it/isn’t but… if you have any ideas, check it out.

Would be nice to focus on fast/spammable shatters that apply Torment/Confusion/Bleeds on Crits still for pressure in smaller scale.

As someone mentioned, playing as a pseudo-thief is one option I find quite effective. Equip a bunch of stealth skills and maybe a torch, running shatters and stalk the edges of the enemy zerg picking off targets and disrupting things.

Given mesmer are considerably less squishy, can hit multiple targets easily, and can generate much more havoc than a thief, diving into the enemy backlines and flanks with such a setup can cause considerable disruption and damage to the enemy force. Especially in places liek EotM where you can use GS5 and Focus4 to throw handfuls people into the mists removing them permanently from the enemy force.

Eucalyptus.9784:

I’m totally sincere, sorry if it comes across as a troll. I really want to like my Mesmer more than my Ele (mostly because Sunrise, lol). It just seems that the… variation?… of Ele FAR surpasses that of a Mesmer.

Looking for some things I can focus on that Mesmer’s do better, if possible.

I had even tried to come up with a viable GS/Staff Condi build but… it just didn’t work out that well. Mesmer seems very pigeon-holed.

well we are pigeon-holed. in wvw we used to be good, we used to be strong, but the nerfs made everything that was wvw related dissappear. i rerolled as mainly plat wvw and only play my mes here and there in spvp. i love my mes, but its terribad in wvw due to lack of aoe and due to the fact that gw2 mes is a pet class and ai is bad in groupfights. ele is a ton of fun in wvw and so is necro, so if u wanna reroll id recommend one of those 2. im glad, i dont have to play my veilbot in wvw during guild rallie anymore as my guild leader saw how frustrated i was with that job.
maybe ill give mes tray if the bugs are getting fixed,but i have very little hope left for this class when it comes down to wvw viable gameplay.
if u really want to play your mes though, try shatter, but not gs/staff, id recommend gs, s/focus or s/s.its tough to survive as u would wanna go glassy, but at least u get to kill some stuff.

http://www.twitch.tv/doiidrg/b/532140338
Raid in eb this night. Fun fights are at:
24;35
39;00
55;20

4/6/0/0/4 is pretty good GS shatter, but I 6/2/6/0/0 with halting/confounding/chaotic int. for zerging.

When I’m irritated by my mesmer poor performance at zerging/tagging, I go on my necro/guardian to zerg and get the bags…