Guild Wars 2

This ever-evolving guide is dedicated to all those who would seek to learn and improve. To everyone who loves the Mesmer class and would play it despite any buffs or nerfs, and despite what anyone else says. And especially to the official Mesmer forums, a place that promotes testing new ideas; where there is practically always someone willing to take the time to help you improve; the people from all over the world that, in this Mesmer’s time of need, gave me more support than I could’ve ever imagined.
This guide is meant to have everything, from flavor text to important links, to help expand your knowledge about Mesmer. If you have any questions or have any information to add, please feel free to comment and if the answer isn’t already in the guide it will definitely be added.

The Mesmer is a psionic profession that specializes in manipulating Chaos magic to bend time and space to create various effects, from simple illusions and mind tricks to bending light to become invisible to manipulating the very flow of time. Mesmer utilize deception in the form of stealths, defense with teleports and distortions, and shape physical constructs that the opponents view as “clones” of the caster to do damage.
One thing I must stress is that this guide isn’t just my own creation. The information is gathered from various forum posts by those people who’ve taken the time to test and publish their findings for the good of all Mesmer everywhere. Instead of fishing through 100+ posts to find the information you want, you should be able to find it all compiled here.
You’re likely to read these following terms mentioned.

Shatter/Phantasm Build: Shatter and Phantasm aren’t specific builds as much as they are two distinct Mesmer playstyles. Shatter builds revolve around mass producing and shattering clones for damage. This playstyle tends to be a faster paced and melee-oriented with high risks and more immediate rewards.

Phantasm builds are more relaxed and focus on staying alive while your illusions beat down your opponent.

Proc – Proc basically means “to cause an effect.” For example: Signet of Inspiration procs a boon every 10 seconds.

Burst/Spike – A sudden chunk of high damage. Ex: Shatter Mesmers are “bursty” because of MindWrack’s instant high-damage shatter.

AoE Area of Effect – Something we Mesmer really lack beyond shatters, 2 Phantasms, and Chaos Storm. AoEs are the big red circle attacks that you’d do well to not stand in, but also can refer to beneficial effects that radiate to allies.

DPS Damage Per Second – Essentially how much damage something does.

RNG: Random Number Generator – Refers to anything that happens randomly, such as how Chaos Storm can proc 6 random conditions/boons.

CD : Cooldown – The time it takes for a skill to refresh after use.

Active/Passive : Active refers to something you manually use, “active defense” refers to teleports, stealths dodges, ect. to avoid damage while Passive is something that happens automatically, like how the Regeneration boon passively heals over time. Signets have both passive effects and active effects.

(i) Illusion: This refers to one of two of our class mechanics. Illusions either look exactly like the player (Clones) or like ghostly versions that wield separate weapons (Phantasms) and serve a number of functions, chief among them being our main source of damage either through their own unique attacks or by shattering them. Illusions inherit: Power, Precision, Condition Damage/Duration, Boon Duration, Critical Damage, Armor, and Healing Power. Illusions will benefit from the Mesmer’s Might stacks, as well as any effects that increase the above stats, such as Banner of Discipline or Spotter. Illusions inherit nourishment from food buffs, but do not gain from sigils (such as the 5% damage of Sigil of Force)

• Clone: Looks exactly like you and copies your auto-attack. They do no real direct damage but can cause bleeding when they score a crit(with 15 points into Dueling). Though often shatter fodder, clones do have some utility. Sword clones can remove enemy boons and stack vulnerability & staff clones are great for condition builds. At Lvl80 clones have 4,096HP (2,304 in PvP/WvW)

• Phantasm: Looks like a ghost of you. Phantasms have their own unique attacks and perform a variety of secondary features. At level 80 Phantasms have 7,955HP (3,332 in PvP/WvW)

—Why Mesmerize? —
”We contribute class and style to what would otherwise be an unseemly brawl” –Iruthien on Mesmer in WvW zergs.

So you’ve decided to take up the robes of a Mesmer, eh? Maybe you were inspired by Gwen, Queen Jennah, or Dr. Franz Mesmer himself. Maybe you were in battle and got tired of Mesmer stomping you 1v1 with you having no idea what the eff just happened. Or maybe, perhaps, you’ve finally come to realize that Mesmer is easily one of the most fun classes in the entire game. In any event welcome to a profession of majesty, deception, ambiguous purple butterflies, and angry noobs.

What can Mesmer do that other classes can’t?

• Portal: We can teleport up to 20 people at a time very large distances. And trust me, each non-Mesmer taking that portal is hating on us so hard for this skill alone.
• Reflects: Stay far out of melee-range and what will the enemy do? If not an obnoxiously telegraphed AoE then most likely, they’ll shoot you.We have more access to reflect abilities than any other class. Projectiles are one of the most common means of attack in the game, and we can turn that damage right back on our enemy.
  – Times and places to Reflect –
• Unparalleled Boon Sharing: Signet of Inspiration allows us to copy our boons onto allies, easily granting high might stacks when paired with certain classes. With Inspiration, Chaos, a Staff, and Runes of Altruism we can share 8 of the 9 boons in the game on our own every minute.
• Useful Elites: Time Warp is amazing for boss battles, Mass Invisibility has plenty clever uses, and Moa Morph will always- A) Make someone smirk & B) Make someone rage.
• Confusion: Confusion causes damage for every time the opponent uses a skill. While some classes can sometimes inflict Confusion, it is primarily a Mesmer condition. Runes of Perplexity notwithstanding

COMBO FIELDS

ETHEREAL - Ethereal combo fields are almost exclusively provided by Mesmer and easy to provide. Whirl & Projectile Finishers launch Confusion bolts while Leap & Blast Finishers create Chaos Armor – Chaos Storm (Staff) / Null Field / Feedback

LIGHT –Light combo fields are usually applied by Guardians, but Mesmer can also provide rather frequently with a traited Focus. Whirl & Projectile Finishers launch bolts that remove conditions while Leap& Blast Finishers provide Retaliation. – Temporal Curtain(Focus) / Veil

THE BAD NEWS…

• Often reliant on Summons for damage: No matter what flavor of Mesmer you are, your illusions will be crucial to your success.
• Awkward condition removal: Mesmers are excellent at avoiding physical damage. Conditions…? Not so much. Unfortunately no matter what we choose, our source of condition removal will be unorthodox (with the exception of Null Field).
• Difficult leveling experience: Many people have a rough time leveling with Mesmer compared to other classes.
• Slower than dirt: We have to try so ’effin hard to catch up with other classes, many of which have a passive movement speed increase. Not as frustrating of an issue if Mesmer is the only class you play… or you have a Chronomancer.

What Kind of Mesmer Are You?—
Mesmer, being such a varied and creative class, can be played in all manner of different styles. Each playstyle is radically different and requires time to learn. One of the most common reasons people dismiss a build as “bad” is because they expect to be able to play it masterfully within the first few moments of picking it up. As a general rule:

Phantasm – Easy to learn / More relaxed pace / Accessible for beginners.

Shatter – Takes practice / Fast pace / Medium difficulty but high risk high reward with high skill cap.

Condition – Easy to learn / Medium pace / Medium difficulty with high skill cap.

Support – Takes practice / Pace varies by build / Medium difficulty with high skill
cap.

Lockdown – Difficult to learn / Fast pace / High difficulty high skill cap.

- Fay’s List of Mesmer Builds/Guides -

• SHATTER
Shatter Mesmer can inflict sudden high damaging AoE spikes in bursts by manually destroying their illusions for a variety of effects. Shatter builds tend to be active, fast-paced reflexive playstyles that are highly mobile, flashy and confusing. The typical Shatter build uses clones for both offense and defense, and thus needs to have a high rate of clone production. Deceptive Evasion (Dueling Grandmaster) is perfect for this and practically essential for shatter builds, giving us the ability to spawn clones on dodge ( Protip: Orrian Truffle & Meat Stew increases our dodge rate.).

- Sample Shatter Build: Dom/Dueling/Chaos
- Key Weapons: Sword, Greatsword
- Key Skills: Mirror Images, Blink, Decoy, Portal
- Key Traits: Deceptive Evasion (Dueling) / Shattered Concentration (Domination)
- Most Popular Shatter Build: PU Power Shatter
- Shatter Tutorial: (COMING SOON)

• PHANTASM
Phantasm Mesmer play more like minion masters. The Phantasm playstyle is more welcoming to newcomers of the game/class as phantasms are devastatingly powerful 1v1 specs. The Mesmer merely has to focus on staying alive via stealths, teleports, and other kind of defenses while their Phantasms hit hard, respawn quickly, and have large fountains of health. Phantasm specs are also preferred for dungeon runs.

- Key Weapons: Greatsword, Offhand Sword/Pistol/Focus
- Key Traits: Empowered Illusions (Domination), Phantasmal Fury (Dueling), Phantasmal Haste (Illusions), Persisting Images (Inspiration)
- Key Skills: Phantasmal Defender/Disenchanter, Signet of Illusions
- Sample Phantasm Build: Domination/Inspiration/Illusions
- PvE Phantasm Build: (COMING SOON)
- Dungeon Phantasm Build:Metabattle’s Dungeon Phantasm Build

• CONDITION
Condition Mesmer have seen a rise in popularity recently and, to the ire of many Necromancer, have proven to be a devastating force to be reckoned with. Many condition Mesmer enjoy dancing in and out of stealth (and thus gaining high amounts of defensive boons like protection) while their releasing a plethora of debilitating conditions whenever an unfortunate enemy travels too close. Condition Mesmer use Confusion and Torment to great effect with the Scepter and shatters.

- Key Weapons: Staff, Scepter, Torch
- Key Traits: Sharper Images (Dueling Minor), Deceptive Evasion (Dueling), Chaotic Transference (Chaos), Master of Misdirection (Illusions )
- Key Skills: Signet of Domination, Signet of Midnight
- Sample Condition Build – Dueling / Chaos / Illusions –

• Support
Let us take a gander into the Inspiration line and see how it opens up a number of ways to add aspects of team support to a build. Not only do Mesmer have access to every boon in the game (6 of the 10 boons alone available to Staff), but we have the unique ability to copy any boons we have onto all nearby allies. (Video courtesy of Alissah.9281) This, combined with our ability to rapidly heal allies, cast group stealth, portal, and mitigate damage with dazes, pulls/pushes, solo stack up to 25 might, and reflects make Mesmer one of the best supportive classes along with Engineers, Guardian, and Elementalists. Mesmer support builds vary from heavy crowd control, boon support, heals, or a mix of all of the above and in some cases can be done without any major sacrifice to damage. Mesmers are brought to serious dungeon teams for their support and team utility rather than raw damage, and has been proven effective in PvP with the right team composition & WvW for both small man and zergs. (Protip: Chocolate Omnomberry Creams grant 20% boon duration)

- Key Weapons: Staff, Focus
- Key Traits: Chaotic Interruption (Chaos) & kitten near the entire Inspiration Line!
- Key Skills: Signet of Inspiration, Mantra of Resolve/Concentration, iDefender, iDisenchanter, Veil, Illusion of Life, Feedback, Null Field, Portal
- Sample Boonshare setup: Sword+Focus – Staff / Dueling, Inspiration, Chaos / 6x Runes of Altruism
- Sample Support Build: Holl’s WvW/PvP Boonshare Setup

• Lockdown
Lockdown Mesmer are all about control: limiting enemy movement, eliminating their boons, dazing/stunning, reflects and smothering them with debilitating conditions such as Weakness, Vulnerability, and much more. While Lockdown finds little use in dungeons due to the Defiant buff on most bosses, it’s popularity is rising in PvP. Most control builds grab traits that grant bonuses when interrupting opponents, the most popular being Power Block (Domination) which inflicts damage, Weakness, and a 15s CD on interrupt, and Chaotic Interruption (Chaos) which grants 5 stacks of might per opponent interrupted while simultaneous immobilizing them.

A thing of note about Lockdown builds; try to make sure whatever kind of Lockdown build you have can be strong on its own without interrupts. For example: (Domination/Dueling/Chaos) does very good damage via Shatters and Phantasms, has good lockdown/control via chain-dazes, and Chaos Storm, can rapidly strip enemy boons and stack vulnerability, and has AoE condition removal. These traits alone make it a strong build, but the rewards for nailing interrupts (5x Might / 3x Vuln / Instant 2k+ damage on interrupt) makes it that much better.

AoE control options.: Staff, Focus, Mantra of Distraction, Superior Sigils of Hydromancy, and Master of Fragmentation(Illusions)
- Key Skills: Mantra of Distraction, Signet of Domination, Null Field, Arcane Thievery
- Key Traits: Confounding Suggestions (Domination), Dazzling (Domination minor), Shattered Concentration (Domination), Chaotic Interruption (Chaos), Duelist’s Discipline (Dueling), Blinding Dissipation (Dueling)

- Sample Build: The “Meta” Lockdown

—*SHATTER* Like a Boss—
Shattering, the Mesmer class mechanic, manually destroys our clones to produce a variety of effects. All shatters are instant cast and thus can be used at any time, even in the middle of attacks. The four shatters can be divided into offensive [F1/F2] and defensive [F3/F4]. Mind Wrack and Cry of Frustration provide AoE damage to power and condition builds respectively, while all builds enjoy the control and defense of Diversion and Distortion. Shatters increase in effectiveness for every clone shattered, and the shatter effect will always originate from the prime Mesmer as well, allowing you to shatter with no clones on the field!

• Try to create and shatter clones before conjuring Phantasms.

F1 – Mind Wrack: Clones shatter for AoE power damage. (15- 11.5 secs) Mind Wrack is a main source of damage for shatter builds. When fully geared for damage, a single 3-clone Mind Wrack can do over 10,000 damage.

F2 – Cry of Frustration: Clones shatter for AoE Confusion damage (30- 23 secs) Cry of Frustration is one of our main sources of confusion damage in a single burst. With iPersona, a single 3-clone Cry of Frustration can burst a sudden 8 stacks of confusion (over 1k damage per enemy attack). When specced for damage, Cry of Frustration can still put out over 2k direct damage in addition to the confusion burst.

F3 – Diversion: Clones shatter to Daze a single target (45 – 34.5 secs) Diversion is key for lockdown builds. Since Daze does NOT stack duration, it can be difficult to use Diversion to fullest effect. Sending clones out to different targets before shattering or take Imbued Diversion (Illusions XII) to hit multiple targets, or staggering their distance (ranged clones and sword clones) for a longer lockdown on a single target takes time and practice. Diversion is great for proccing Dazzling (Domination 15) to stack obscene amounts of Vulnerability on high-priority targets.

F4 – Distortion: Clones shatter to make you invulnerable. (60 – 46¼ secs) Distortion is a Mesmer’s strongest defense; once activated, all incoming damage is entirely negated. While it prevents us from taking any form of damage, it does not stop any conditions already applied. No matter what the build, a well-timed Distortion can and will save lives! If nothing else, make sure to master this shatter no matter what build you use.

Shatter Traits

-Rending Shatter (Domination) – Vulnerability on Shatter.
-Shattered Concentration (Domination) – Boon removed per-clone-shattered.
-Bountiful Disillusionment (Chaos) – Gain Stability & a boon on shatter.
-Restorative Illusions (Inspiration) – Heal & condition removed per-clone-shattered
-Persistence of Memory (Illusions) – Shattering a Phantasm reduces all Phantasm cooldowns.
-Illusionary Retribution (Illusions) – All Shatters cause Confusion
-Maim the Disillusioned (Illusions) – All Shatters cause Torment
-Shattered Strength (Illusions) – 1 stack of Might per-clone shattered.
-Master of Misdirection (Illusions) – Confusion lasts longer / Shatters recharge quicker
- Master of Fragmentation (Illusions) – All Shatters have additional effects.

—THE ART OF CHAOS—
Every weapon has a use in some sort of build. People’s opinions vary on why one weapon is better than another, and some weapons are statistically stronger than others, but Mesmer do not have any outright useless weapons. Some people prefer the Scepter over the Sword, others the Staff over the Greatsword. Do not let someone else’s opinion of whether a weapon is good or bad deter you from trying out all of the Mesmer tools and deciding for yourself what suits you.

SWORD
The one-handed sword is our best mainhand DPS weapon. It has our most damaging autoattack, provides one of our best defenses, and offers excellent mobility in the form of a teleport. Sword clones are capable of removing enemy boons and are ideal for offensive shattering since they stubbornly chase opponents. The sword is also our most damaging offhand, with a phantasm that hits like a truck and a counter that hits just as hard. It is completely viable to forge a build with 1h Sword in both weapon sets in PvE. (Ex: Sword+Sword/Sword+Pistol for a high damage phantasm build)
Pros: Highest power DPS / Excellent offensive-defensive mix with Blurred Frenzy / Mobility / Stun Break
Cons: Lousy damage for Condition specs.

1) Mind Slash/Gash/Spike – Slice at the opponent’s body and thoughts. Our most damaging auto-attack. This chain cleaves up to 3 additional opponents and can remove a single boon. If the opponent has no boons, it does 50% additional damage. Though it’s mostly forgettable, the first two attacks in the chain apply 1xVulnerability for 5 seconds.

• Sword clones also apply vulnerability & remove boons at the end of their autoattack

2) Blurred Frenzy – Bend time & space to strike rapidly while dodging attacks. (12-9.5 sec CD) – Blurred Frenzy strikes eight times while evading all attacks for 2 seconds. It is one of Mesmers best skills on any weapon hands down. It also happens to be a high damage cleave. While the damage it provides is tempting, Blurred Frenzy is better saved as a defensive ability in most cases.

• Hits 8 times, thus EXTREMELY vulnerable to Retaliation.
• Roots on use; moving cancels skill.

3) Illusionary Leap – Conjure a clone near the opponent, ready to swap places at a moment’s notice. (12- 9.5- 7 sec CD) Illusionary leap is a utility move that does absolutely no damage. Instead, it launches a clone at the opponent (600 range) that you can swap places with for 5 seconds. Unfortunately, it is somewhat unreliable -even if you are in range- due to terrain/pathing issues and, like Phase Retreat, has a slight chance of accidentally teleporting you hopelessly into a wall. This means that in order to use it effectively you have to be careful with your timing and positioning. If the clone is destroyed, you cannot swap.

• Swap is a melee-range AoE immobilize & stunbreak.
• Initial attack causes 1s cripple.
• Swapping off of a combo field results in a LEAP Combo Finisher

4) Illusionary Riposte – Counter and strike back leaving a clone beside your foe. Can instead shoot a wave off your sword that dazes foes in a line for 1s. (15- 12-9.5 sec CD) Illusionary riposte blocks one attack and retaliates with heavy damage and a clone. At any time during the block you can active the skill again to throw a projectile that dazes multiple targets. The daze is great for saving allies from stomps, but the counter hits as hard as iSwordsman. There is a brief period of vulnerability between the block and the strike.

• When facing multiple opponents DO NOT use the counter, as it leaves you vulnerable and you’ll likely take more damage than you dish out. Use the daze instead.

5)Phantasmal Swordsman – (20- 16- 12 sec CD) Phantasmal swordsman does the highest single-target power DPS (not including potential of bleeds) of all phantasms while attacking at the quickest rate. Despite it’s name, Swordsman stays safely out of melee range when it is not attacking. It’s lunge attack, in addition to evading damage, is also a LEAP Combo Finisher.

• When summoned, Swordsman applies its LEAP combo bonus to the caster.

SCEPTER
Scepter is the ranged main-hand alternative to the sword. While it lack’s the sword’s mobility and defensive capabilities, it is capable of providing high condition damage, spawning clones off its auto, and attacking at range. At around 600 range, the Scepter can actually provide more damage than the Greatsword due to its quicker attack rate the closer you are to the enemy.
PROS- Superior for Condition Dmg builds / The only ranged 1h weapon (900 range)/ Rapid clone production
CONS- 2nd worst power damage / Lousy defense

1) Ether Bolt/Ether Blast/ Ether Clone - The Scepter auto chain is … lacking. While it provides better damage than the staff, it still falls short of the 1h sword and can only surpass the Greatsword’s auto at much closer ranges. On the bright side.. the third hit -though painfully slow- spawns a clone.

• Though it’s a ranged attack, the auto chain is more effective the closer you are to your opponent, this is because the next part of the chain activates after the previous bolt hits.
• You can delay casting the third part of the chain for up to around 3 seconds. (Example: Scepter auto 1, auto 2, summon phantasm, auto 3) If you’re in combat, you can preemptively swing the first two parts of the autoattack out so you’ll launch the third immediately.

2) Illusionary Counter/Counterspell - Block the next attack, creating a clone and applying Torment. (12-9.5 sec CD) iCounter is the best attack for the scepter. It is on a low cooldown, applies Torment (which can lead to MASSIVE condition damage), produces a clone, and can block heavy hitting single attacks. It does a bit of power damage as well, making it useful for any build, but you’re vulnerable for the second inbetween countering and attacking so be careful when being attacked by multiple foes.

• Counter can do somewhat decent power damage.
• Scepter counter is slightly faster than sword counter.

3) Confusing Images- Fire a beam of disorienting light that scrambles the opponent’s thoughts - (15-12 sec CD) This move, also known as Confuse Ray (Pokémon reference), is a channeled beam that hits up to 5 times for fairly good power damage while adding a stack of Confusion per hit. It’s an awkward attack that can easily miss, but very rewarding when it hits.

• The beam can hit 4 additional targets within the stream.
• Does more damage than Blurred Frenzy.

TORCH
When you order a delicious ovenfresh pie, do you expect to get back half mouth-watering pastry? Would you settle for riding half a horse? Wouldn’t you break a chair on someone who gave you half a paycheck? If you don’t enjoy feeling like you paid full price for half of a product, then you may not be too happy with the torch. While one skill is a fantastic Stealth/AoE Blind&Burn/BLAST Finisher, the other is a potential candidate for the “Most Useless Skill in Guild Wars 2” Hall of Shame.
PROS Great for Prismatic Understanding & Condition builds / Can be traited to remove conditions / The only BLAST Finisher Mesmer have
CONS: Pathetic damage for Power builds.

4) The Prestige (30- 24 sec CD) Vanish into stealth for three seconds, Blinding (5sec) nearby foes within 120 radius. AoE 3 second Burning damage (240 range) when you reappear. This skill’s Blast finisher makes it ideal to spread AoE Chaos Armor from out Ethereal combo fields.

• BLAST finisher.
• Slight power damage in an AoE when you reappear.

5)Phantasmal Mage (30- 24 sec CD) Summons a Phantasm that shoots a bolt that causes 1x Burning for 3 seconds on hit and bounces twice, causing 3 seconds of Fury on allies. For some ridiculous reason, this skill cannot bounce to the same ally twice. Semi decent condition removal when torch is traited. Makes decent shatter fodder, at least.

• So bad.

PISTOL
The versatile Pistol is an offhand that offers good damage for both power and condition builds with a powerful ranged Phantasm and controls multiple targets with a bouncing projectile that Stuns/Dazes/Blinds. It is often paired with swords in high damage phantasm power builds (Sword/Pistol – Sword/Sword) but can work in a condition build via iDuelist stacking bleeds/confusion.

4)Phantasmal Duelist (20- 16- 12 sec CD)- iDuelist stands safely out of harm’s way while unloading 8 shots at an opponent with each projectile having a 20% chance to combo when shot through fields. With Sharper Images (Dueling 15) and a high crit chance, Duelist can fit snugly into a condition build.

5) Magic Bullet (25- 20sec CD) Shoots a bullet that bounces between three enemies, 2s Stunning the first, 2s Dazing the second, and 5s Blinding the third. When traited with Illusionary Elasticity (Illusions) it gains a fourth bounce that Confuses.

FOCUS
The Focus is more of a utility weapon than one meant for any sort of damage. While it’s phantasm hits hard, the Focus is more noteable for it’s ability to provide long lasting group-wide swiftness, condition removal, our only LIGHT combo field, an AoE cripple, and an AoE pull famed for yanking people off of keep walls in WvW (and that’s just all on one of the two skills) the iWarden hits hard and can shut down enemy projectiles, two Warden’s together with Phantasmal Haste (Illusions) can permanently shut down projectiles.
PROS- Projectile reflection / LIGHT combo field / iWarden hits hard in power builds / Our only reliable form of Swiftness
CONS- iWarden rarely hits all 12 times / Offers little damage for condition builds

4)Temporal Curtain- (25- 20sec CD) –Tear a magical rift in time/space that grants 12s Swiftness to allies who do not already have it and 5s Cripples enemies who pass through it. Temporal Curtain is another skill that benefits highly from the creativity of the player. Besides Veil, it is our only LIGHT combo field (Light fields are usually exclusive to Guardians) which makes it good to pair Focus with 1h Sword to stack Retaliation. You can collapse the curtain to pull all nearby enemies toward its middle point, great for stacking mobs together for AoEs.

• If you’re fast enough, curtain effect lingers after being activated, allowing for further comboing. ( Temporal Curtain -> iLeap/Swap -> Curtain Pull -> Staff: Phase Retreat for a triple LEAP-finisher )

• Video: How to cluster enemies using curtain.

5)Phantasmal Warden- (25- 20sec CD) iWarden can to great things. In addition to being one of the most damaging Phantasms, the iWarden also happens to be a stationary projectile absorbing/reflecting, condition removing machine. Cast it, and stand inside it’s bubble attack when you fight. If you cast this BEFORE you cast Temporal Curtian, you can ensure its WHIRL Finisher cleanses conditions by placing the Light field beneath it’s feet. If you cast this AFTER Temporal Curtain (Place curtain > Summon Warden > Pull curtain before Warden appears) you can ensure damage. Speaking of which, good luck trying to hit someone with all 12 hits of Warden’s attack.

STAFF
People tend to either love the staff or hate it. If you’re one of those haters, go kick kittens you don’t know what you’re missing! Staff offers some of our best mobility and defensive options, and is likely the greatest defensive weapon in the Mesmer repertoire. As it can provide 6 of the 9 boons in the game on it’s own, and is the only weapon to come with an Ethereal Combo field, it is an excellent choice for Support-oriented builds. However, it should be noted that staff is not good for builds intent on maximizing damage; it offers little DPS for Power builds besides it’s Phantasm. Staff does better damage in condition specs, but its phantasm is one of the most powerful Power-damage phantasms we have.
PROS: 1200 Range / Excellent defensive skills / Provides Ethereal Combo Field / Good Condition damage / Auto (&clones) grants boons / Phase Retreat
CONS: Low power damage

1) Winds of Chaos -Send a crackling, unstable bolt of Chaos magic drifting towards your opponents- Winds of Chaos does a small amount of power damage, but can apply Burning, Bleeding, or Vulnerability when it hits a target. It bounces twice, either to another opponent or back to the caster. In condition builds, you can actually sometimes get away with pretending to be a staff clone since they use the exact same version of this skill. (minus the power damage)
* Bounces once unless traited.

• With over 70% boon duration the Might/Fury granted from this skill can become significant, especially with 2 or more staff clones.
• Has two different animations.
• Initial cast is slightly slower than followup bolts.

2) Phase Retreat (10- 8- 6 sec CD) –Teleport away from your opponent, leaving a clone in your place.Phase Retreat rocks. Because of it’s low cooldown it rocks for clone production, it rocks as a defense, it rocks as a combo finisher. Phase Retreat is an instant cast, so it can be cast in the middle of other skills (Ex: Heals, Mantra charges), while you’re dazed/stunned/knocked down, and can teleport you up onto some ledges. (Warning: Unlike Illusionary Leap, Phase Retreat is NOT a stunbreak. You will remain in whatever state you teleported from.)

• Teleports forward when running away from target.
• LEAP combo finisher.
• PvP Phase Retreat Guide

3) Phantasmal Warlock (18- 14.5- 11 sec CD) – Creates a phantasm that shoots a somewhat slow moving projectile with lousy tracking, player characters can easily avoid . The projectile -while hard-hitting on it’s own- does 10% more damage for every condition on the target, making it great for boss battles if you have Necro or Engineer in your group.

• Works very well with Chaotic Interruption (Chaos)
• Attacks every 5.57 seconds; attacks every 4.13 seconds with Phantasmal Haste.

4) Chaos Armor (35- 28 sec CD) – Evokes a shield that, when struck grants the user 3 seconds of Regeneration or Protection or Swiftness and inflicts the attacker with 3 seconds of 1xConfusion or Cripple or Blind. The RNG nature of this skill makes it an unreliable defense, but can offer very good rewards (Protection / Blind) or yield crappy results (1xConfusion/Regen)

• Powerful defense when used inside of Chaos Storm

5) Chaos Storm (35- 28 sec CD) – Conjure a field of surging, unstable chaotic energy that grants 3 seconds of Retaliation/Swiftness/Aegis to allies and debilitates foes with Daze / Weakness / Poison / Chill. Like Blurred Frenzy, this skill is better cast defensively on allies though it can put out rather decent damage (2000-3000+ in Berzerker gear) . 3 second boons may not seem like a lot, but this skill pulses 6 times, and with a bit of boon duration (around 50%) Chaos Storm’s boons can be pretty long lasting. This skill can be a lifesaver for rezzing downed teammates, and can be a great source of group-retaliation for damage from both players AND illusions.

• Always try and Phase Retreat inside of Chaos Storm.

GREATSWORD
The Greatsword is an excellent weapon for leveling in open world PvE and for ranged damage in PvP/WvW. This is NOT an ideal weapon for dungeons! 1200 range puts you out of allied boons and Sword outdamages it against bosses. It’s auto attack beam pierces through enemies and it’s Phantasm hits hard in an AoE. Greatsword is one of our best options for hitting large groups, and when paired with the Sword+Focus can make clearing large groups of enemies much easier. Mirror Blade has the potential to stack high amounts of Might, and with a bit of boon duration, and 2x Superior Sigils of Battle can maintain a permanent 12+ Might stacks.
Pros: Good for tagging groups / Powerful Phantasm / Most damaging ranged (1200r) option / High Might stacking potential
Cons: Not too good for condition builds / Weaker at closer range / Hard time grabbing ally boons while fighting at 1200 range

1)Spacial Surge Convert light into a beam of energy that can pierce up to three foes. Spacial Surge does more damage the further away you are, growing in damage from 300 – 600 – 900 range.

2)Mirror Blade (8- 6 sec CD) Throw an illusionary greatsword that bounces three times between allies and enemies. Does decent damage and grants 3x Might for 10 seconds on hitting allies. With a bit of boon duration (50%) this skill works wonders for stacking Might in builds with a higher boon support focus.

• PROJECTILE Combo Finisher.

3)Mind Stab (12- 10.5 sec CD) Strikes up to five targets in a relatively small AoE with an illusionary blade. Does decent damage and removes one boon on hit but underwhelming compared to most Mesmer skills.

• Can use this skill on walls. (Impresses the ladies.)
• Best to merge with a shatter or combo’d behind Mirror Blade.

4)Phantasmal Berzerker (20- 16-12 second CD) Summons a Phantasm that spins through targets for (usually) heavy damage and applies a 1s cripple for each hit. Though Phantasms tend to get shredded in massive fights, the iZerker is a great way to snag bags in big events and clear out trash enemies. The Berzerker also has the honor of being one of the first abilities that come to mind when people think “Mesmers OP”

• WHIRL Combo Finisher.
• Attacks every 6 seconds normally. 4.8 seconds with Phantasmal Haste.

5)llusionary Wave (30- 24second cooldown) Push up to 5 foes away from you with a wave of magical energy that rushes out in a cone. If you have Chaotic Interruption this skill is great for building might via proccing interrupts when facing large groups but overall it’s a bit lackluster for a 30 second cooldown.

—HEALS & ELITES—
While Ether Feast is the most popular, reliable and straightforward heal, every single Mesmer healing skill is useful in some way. There is no particularly bad choice of healing skills but not every heal benefits every build.

Ether Feast (20 sec CD) – 5,560 (1.0) + 640 (.1) per illusion Heal yourself for more depending on how many illusions are active. This is the go-to skill for most Mesmer builds for good reason; the base heal is strong even without illusions and it scales pretty well with healing power.

• If you activate a shatter and the illusions are still running towards the target Ether Feast will still heal for as many clones as are alive.

Mantra of Recovery (10 sec CD) – 2,620(.4) x2 – After charging the mantra, you have two instant-cast heals that, combined, heal for slightly less than a clone-less Ether Feast. While this may seem inferior to Ether Feast, the lack of having a cast time combined with the Mantra traits can make this heal extremely potent.

• Works with Restorative Mantras to add an initial heal once you finish charging.
• Works well with “on-heal” runes like Altruism because of it’s instant cast. Procs the runes’ effects when first charging the mantra and while spending the charges.

Mirror (15 sec CD) – 3,915(.6) – Channels a 2s reflect while healing the caster. Pretty straightforward, and though it heals less than the other healing skills the reflect can be very potent when used properly and the 15 second cooldown perfectly matches almost all “on-heal” runes.

Signet of the Ether (35-28 sec CD) – Active: * 5,560(.85) *Passive: 340(.045)/660(.085)/980(.125) Signet of the Ether is the newest and least-explored heal in the Mesmer repertoire. Excellent for Phantasm builds, it can be extremely useful in dungeons (Warden > Swordsman > Signet > Warden) and in many other parts of the game but takes a bit of skill to fully utilize properly.

Mass Invisibility (Manipualtion – 90 sec CD) – Grant 5 seconds of Stealth to five allies within 1200 range Mass Invisibility is the best all-purpose elite skill. It provides a rare teamwide stealth for skipping mobs, allows allies to initiate attacks or escape danger safely, or save someone from getting stomped in PvP/WvW.

• When traited with Master of Manipulation, this skill becomes a less viable defensive tool as you can accidentally reflect projectiles and Reveal yourself.

Signet of Humility ( Signet – 180 sec CD) – Turn one foe into an adorable Moa for 10 seconds
Ever wanted to mine the delicious salt from an enemy’s eyejelly? Then this is the skill for you! In coordinated team this skill effectively deletes an opponent from the battle for 10 seconds. While it can be hard to land, it is fantastic for insta-gibbing one unfortunate pink feathery foe. Oh, the passive is cool, too.

• Use this enough times and you’re guaranteed to receive a salty PM.
• Bosses with Defiant will have their Defiant bar reduced rather than be Moa’d.

Time Warp (180 sec CD) – Create a massive ETHEREAL dome that pulses 1s Quickness/Slow to five allies/enemies within for 10s.

Despite it’s obnoxious cooldown, TimeWarp can be game changing. This ability makes all foes trapped within attack considerably slower, while speeding up allied actions. This includes stomps, rezzes, channels, abilities, and anything else one could think of. Since it’s an Ethereal field, every leap/blast inside will cause Chaos Armor and every Whirl/Projectile will apply confusion.

• Absolutely glorious with Chaotic Dampening!

—UNDERWATER & DOWNED—
(One day.. )

—CLONES—
Clones are the expendable copies of yourself. They’re good for confusing the enemy, shattering, stacking conditions, body-blocking projectiles, and checking your teeth/hair without a mirror. Clones do next to no damage, but often have secondary effects: Sword clones stack Vulnerability and strip Boons / Staff clones do good condition damage / Greatsword clones can stack bleeds very well, stack might when traited, and have a more profound psychological effect on opponents.

• Deceptive Evasion ( Dueling ) – Create a clone when you dodge / Desperate Decoy ( Dueling ) – 3 sec stealth and spawn clone at 25% HP / Illusionists Celerity (Illusions) – All illusion skills 20% cooldown.
  
  —-

Decoy (40 – 34 sec CD) Decoy is a stunbreak that stealths you for three seconds and sends a clone at anyone you have targeted within 1200 range. It is one of our best ways to disengage from a fight and one of our best abilities to confuse an opponent with.

Mirror Images (45 -36 sec CD) Mirror Images breaks stuns and sends two clones charging at a targeted opponent within 1200r. Since it is an instant cast, it can be used in the middle of other skills (Blurred Frenzy + Mirror Image + Mind Wrack = Own’d)

—PHANTASMS—
Phantasms are a huge source of damage for most builds, but it can be confusing knowing which illusions are good for which situations. As a general rule, try not to shatter Phantasms if you can help it as they can add a significant amount of damage even in Shatter builds when left alive.
(The Torch’s Phantasm, iMage, isn’t listed here because.. well.. there’s pretty much nothing about it worth noting.)

• Empowered Illusions (Domination) – Illusion damage +15% /
  Sharper Images (Dueling) – Illusions cause 1x Bleeding for 5 seconds on crits.
  Confusing Combatants (Dueling) Illusions cause 1x Confusion for 3 seconds when killed.
  Phantasmal Fury (Dueling II) – Phantasms have Fury.
  Protected Phantasms (Inspiration) — Phantasms gain distortion briefly upon creation. Illusions gain protection when you activate a shatter skill.
  Illusionary Inspiration (Inspiration) — Phantasms grant 3s regeneration to nearby allies. Whenever you summon a phantasm, cast Signet of Inspiration.
  Persistence of Memory (Illusions) — Shattering a phantasm recharges all phantasms by 2s.
  Persisting Images (Inspiration) –Phantasms have 20% more HP & Retaliation
  Illusionists Celerity (Illusions ) – All illusion skills 20% cooldown
  Phantasmal Haste (Illusions ) Phantasm attack rate increased.
  
  —-

DAMAGE PHANTASMS
iSwordsman (Offhand Sword 20-16-12 sec CD) – Does the highest single-target power DPS (not including potential of bleeds) of all phantasms while attacking at the quickest rate. Despite it’s name, Swordsman stays safely out of melee range when it is not attacking. It’s lunge attack, in addition to evading damage, is also a LEAP Combo Finisher. When summoned, Swordsman applies its LEAP combo bonus to the caster.

iDuelist (Offhand Pistol 20-16- 12 sec CD) – While it does a bit less power damage than the Swordsman(as is usually the case with melee vs ranged skills) the Duelist can perform well in both power AND condition builds. It’s 8 projectile attacks can proc an abundance of bleeds on crit, and when the Pistol is traited, its shots have 100% chance to be a PROJECTILE Combo Finisher. Combined with our Ethereal fields like Null Field and Chaos Storm, the Duelist can stack massive amounts of confusion.

iBerzerker (Greatsword 20-16-12 sec CD) – iZerker hits four times and does a spin similar to the Warrior’s “Whirlwind” ability. While its power damage is less than the iSwordsman’s, it can hit multiple targets near eachother. Its WHIRL Finisher, while a nice touch, is mostly forgettable.

iWarlock (Staff 18- 15.6- 11 sec CD) – On it’s own, it is the slowest and weakest Phantasm of the four, yet it compensates this by having an attack that does 10% more damage per boon on a target. It’s projectile does not track and can be easily dodged, but in big boss battles Warlock will often hit harder than the rest.

UTILITY PHANTASMS
iDefender (30-24 sec CD) The iDefender is an interesting beast. When you look past the obnoxious cast time, the Defender is a very good damage mitigation tool. Though it has to run into melee range like a moron, once it attacks it grants an AoE buff to 5 allies in 600 range that allows it to absorb half of all incoming damage. Making Guardians, Eles, and Thieves weep with a beefy 19,943HP at level 80 (8,354 in PvP/WvW) it’s especially glorious if you can keep it alive via Regeneration and Mantra heals.

iDisenchanter (20-16 sec CD)Another phantasm with a needlessly long cast time. Disenchanter shoots a bouncing projectile that removes 2 conditions and two enemy boons. Bounces twice and has a preference to allies, its one of our best condition removers… and yet it gets so little love.

iWarden (Focus, 25-20 sec CD) iWarden can be your best buddy. In addition to being one of the most damaging Phantasms, the iWarden also happens to be a stationary projectile absorbing/reflecting, condition removing machine. Cast it, and stand inside it’s bubble attack when you fight. If you cast this BEFORE you cast Temporal Curtian, you can ensure its WHIRL Finisher cleanses conditions by placing the Light field beneath it’s feet. If you cast this AFTER Temporal Curtain (Place curtain > Summon Warden > Pull curtain before Warden appears) you can ensure damage.

—GLAMOURS—
Glamours are AoE abilities that, despite doing no damage directly, offer exceptional team utility. When people think of Mesmer, besides the illusions, they think of skills like Feedback, Veil, and Portal. (Most likely because Glamours are flashy and obnoxious while most of our abilities are more subtle.) All Glamours, with the exception of Portal, are combo fields.

• Temporal Enchanter ( Inspiration ) – Glamour skills lasts 2 seconds longer; grant 3s Resistance and 2s Superspeed to allies near glamour cast (including Medic’s Feedback).

Feedback (32 sec CD) One of the best skills in the entire game, Feedback places a large Ethereal projectile-reflecting dome up to 1200r. As projectiles are a very common form of attack, this skill is great for all forms of gameplay (PvE,PvP,WvW) and it’s reflects can easily trivialize some major battles (such as the spider boss Malrona in Twilight Arbor). The only major weaknesses of this skill is that it must have a target selected or else will be cast at it’s full range directly infront of the caster. Also, crafty Necromancer can use their Death Shroud ability “Dark Path” to drag a Mesmer towards him … usually for the unfortunate Mes to be grusomly mutilated by the Necro’s team. – Times and places to Reflect –

Null Field (32 sec CD) Places a wide Ethereal field that pulses 6 times. Each pulse removes one condition from allies and one boons from enemies. Null Field is one of our most reliable, strongest forms of condition removal that, like Feedback, also works well in all aspects of the game. Also like Feedback, it can be used for both offense and defense.

Veil (72 sec CD) Veil is our only other LIGHT Combo Field besides Temporal Curtain . It provides two seconds of stealth, which may seem insignificant, but since it is not an AoE ring, it does not have the usual restriction of affecting only 5 targets. This means that it’s excellent for disrupting enemy targeting during large-scale WvW skirmishes. You can hop up-and-down on the curtain’s strip to refresh your stealth duration when it wears off, and can do this while Phase Retreating or charging Mantras.

Portal (72 sec CD) Portal transports up to 20 allies from one spot to .. uh.. another. The range is rather hard to calculate without practice, and the spell can completely fail if you cast the portals too far apart. Once you place the entrance, you have 60 seconds to place the exit, but the skill’s cooldown begins after the entrance is set, so if you fail to set an exit you do not have to wait a full 90 seconds.
(- Portal Tricks - )

Portals are “map range.” So you and anyone in your party can see the range and direction.

PREPARATION:
(For open PvE & WvW)
1. Set your Mini Map to maximum zoom in. Make sure you are centered in the map.

EXECUTION

1. Set a personal waypoint on your icon in the mini map. (Right Mouse + alt )
2. Drop your portal.
3. Now roam freely. You and anyone in your party can now see the approximate range and relative direction to your portal. As long as the waypoint remains on your mini map and not stuck in the margin, you are within portal range. This is especially useful in WvW where you are often stretching portals as far as possible.

(Ty Ithilwen.1829!)

—MANIPULATIONS—
Manipulations tend to be stylish skills that benefit from the creativity of the user. While all of the Manipulations have interesting effects, they often have less-complicated counterparts. Blink vs Decoy (Disengage) / Mimic vs Feedback (Reflect)/ Arcane Thievery vs Null Field (Boon&Condition Mitigation) / and Illusion of Life vs Mass Invisibility (Keeping allies’ buttcheeks unmolested). Though comparatively difficult, Manipulations often have interesting benefits that reward creative and skillful play.

• Master of Manipulation (Chaos) – 20% cooldown reduced & Reflection on cast.
  
  —-

Arcane Thievery (45- 36 sec CD) Arcane Thievery, like a bad relationship, steals 3 boons from an opponent while generously replacing them 3 of your conditions instead. The skill can make you laugh or cry. It literally throws the opponent’s conditions back on them, using their own condition damage to calculate, er, damage. It’s also great for stealing boons from some bosses and player opponents (Warrior, Engineer, Necro for example). Arcane Thievery is not unblockable, and thus affected by Aegis, Blinds, evades, invulns, range, and line of sight making it very dangerous as a build’s lone form of condition removal.

Blink (30-24 sec CD) Blink, in its simplest terms, is a basic teleport. It’s also an instant-cast stunbreak, which means that you can use it in the middle of anything at anytime . Since Blink does not put you in combat, it can even be used in Civilian clothes. Perhaps the most useful aspect of Blink is that, when traited for range (Dueling I), it can teleport us anywhere a Thief’s shadowstep can.
- Supcutie’s list of sPvP Blink Locations -

Illusion of Life ( 130- 104 sec CD) Illusion of Life temporarily restores up to 5 allies from Downed-state and allows them to fight for 15 seconds. If they manage to kill an enemy in that time, they fully revive, and if not they’ll go back downed. This great for WvW, & sPvP, but bringing it to dungeons is usually frowned upon (The prevailing thought is that allies should either be able to rally themselves, get rezzed the normal way, or respawn in time to return to the fight). Illusion of Life has a relatively long cast time, obscenely long cooldown time, and takes practice and timing to use effectively.

Mimic (30- 26 sec CD) Mimic copies 5 boons from the opponent for their exact current duration. While synergetic with Arcane Thievery, Bountiful Disillusionment, and Signet of Inspiration, Mimic in it’s current state is rather underwhelming as it is block/blind/dodgeable and there is almost always a better utility to take.

—MANTRAS—
Mantras are some of the most difficult Mesmer skills to use. Mantras are skills that have a 2¾ second cast time (and 1200 range) but give you two instant-cast uses(aka charges) before going on cooldown. While their effects can be profound, it is difficult to recharge Mantras in the middle of combat. Staff is a great weapon to run with Mantras as Chaos Storm/Armor grant protection while charging and you can Phase Retreat without interrupting yourself. While taking one or two individual Mantras is perfectly fine, it is very difficult to form full-Mantra builds. (Sidenote: A mantra is a method of focusing by repeating something over and over; like a spiritual motto )

• Harmonious Mantras (Dueling) – Mantras hold 3 charges instead of 2, activating a mantra gives 3% damage bonus for 8s (5 stacks max) / Restorative Mantras ( Inspiration ) – Heal allies for 2600HP when charging a mantra.
• Toughness raised by 600 when preparing a Mantra

Mantra of Pain ”Agony, Torment, Pain!” (1 sec CD. Yes, really, one second.) –Mantra of Pain is a 240r PBAoE (point blank AoE) that hits up to 4 additional opponents around the initial target. It is good for adding a noticeable amount of instant-cast damage (even while in the middle of using other skills), and tagging mobs for PvE and zerg combat but it’s even more useful for adding consistent AoE group heals via Restorative Mantras. The one second cooldown means that this skill can be constantly recharged and actually can do quite a bit of noticeable damage when specced in full-damage gear (over 1k per hit).

Mantra of Resolve ”Unbroken, Unshaken, Resolve!” (20- 16 sec CD) – Removes two conditions per charge. One of our best forms of condition removal, especially when specced with Harmonious Mantras (Domination XI)

Mantra of Concentration ”Fixed, Focus, Concentration!” (25- 20 sec CD) – Grants 2s Stability per charge. It is our only way of maintaining Stability, charges can be blown rapidly for a longer lasting Stability. Traited for cooldowns, and with 50% boon duration, this skill can maintain over 40% Stability uptime. (Yes, I just used “Stability” in every sentence. No it was not intentional)

Mantra of Recovery “Health, Vigor, Recovery!” (10- 8 sec CD) – Heal a moderate amount per charge. One of the strongest heals with Restorative and/or Harmonious Mantras but one of the lousiest without. Note: “On-Heal” Runes will proc both when the mantra is charged AND a charge is spent.

Mantra of Distraction _”Obfuscate, Disorient, Confuse!” (30- 24s CD) – Dazes a foe and up to 4 targets in melee-range around the foe for 1 second. Excellent in a lockdown build and our best skill for interrupting an opponent and preventing stomps/rezzing. Since it is an instant cast, it makes a good defense while stunned.

—SIGNETS—
Mesmer signets can range from being incredibly useful to questionable at best. Signet of Illusions is great for Phantams builds, Signet of Inspiration is essential to add a strong boonsharing element to a build. The problem many people have with our signets is that you usually take them for either the passive OR the active. Rarely both. The exceptions to this are Signet of the Ether and Inspiration.

• Blurred Inscriptions ( Domination )1s Distortion & 1 condition cleansed on Signet use. Signets have a 20% recharge reduction.

• Blurred Inscriptions works well with Inspiring Distortion ( 1s party-wide Distortion when you distort. )

Signet of Inspiration (45- 36 sec CD) Passive- Every 10 secs grants 10s Aegis – 5s Fury – 20s Might – 3s Protection –5s Regeneration – 5s Retaliation – 10s Swiftness – 5s Vigor Active- Copies all boons onto nearby allies within 600 range. Great for adding a strong support element to any build.

Signet of Illusions (90- 72 sec CD) Passive- Illusions gain 50% HP. Active- Recharge all of your shatter skills.

Signet of Domination (45- 36 sec CD) Passive- +180 Condition Damage. Active- Inflict a 3 second stun on target within 1200 range.

Signet of Midnight (35- 28 sec CD) Passive 10% boon duration (10%? Really, Anet? -_-) Active Stunbreak & AoE 3s Blind within 360 range.

Signet of the Ether (35-28 sec CD) Passive Gain health per-active-clone every 3 seconds. Active Heal yourself (5,560 × .85 Healing Power) and refresh all phantasm recharges.

—Making Your Mesmer—

WHO AM I?
With such a versatile, creative class one of the first and constant problems less experienced Mesmer have is trying to figure out what kind of Mesmer they want to be. While the leveling process can feel painful and rather tedious(like trying to sleep with an Asura) it is an important chance to discover your favorite weapons, skills, traits, and playstyle. Experiment with everything and ask yourself the following questions

• What’s my favorite weapon?: Do you prefer the Sword or the Scepter? Staff or Greatsword? It’s important to figure out exactly what weapons you have the most fun using or find the most interesting. Every weapon has a place in a build, and as a general rule of thumb:

- Power builds: Sword, Greatsword, Pistol, Focus
- Condition builds: Scepter, Staff, Pistol, Torch

• What do I want to play?: Not every build excels in every scenario. If you’re planning to speedrun, then don’t bother with a Support or Condition build. If you want to PvP, make sure you have the proper skills to deal with stuns and conditions. It’s crucial to tailor your build to whatever content you play the most.

-Open World PvE/Farming: Tired of the indignity of running screaming with your arms waving while mobs of centaurs have a grand old time chasing you across Tyria? Having a hard time hitting mobs in an AoE? A Sword/Focus – Greatsword Phantasm build is great for forcing enemy groups into tight clusters (Focus 4, Sword 3) while your AoE Phantasms have their way with them.

- Dungeons: It is generally accepted that most dungeon bosses can be melee’d with the proper amount of CC. If your goal is to maximize damage to cruise through Dungeon, fractal content then you’ll want to outfit in Berserker/Assassin’s gear, grab Sword+Pistol/Sword+Sword (with Focus on hand when needed), Feedback, Signet of Inspiration, and go take a gander at metabattle.com HOWEVER if you are not used to the dungeon content or are not confident in constantly staying melee, run Scepter or Greatsword to learn enemy rotations. Do not use Greatsword is an eternal crutch, anyone can learn to melee and you’re mentally limiting yourself by not trying to increase your skillset. We are Mesmer, and thus should hold no such menial mental blocks. ( Maxinion’s Mesmer Dungeon Guide )

- PvP: Besides acting as overdramatic Thieves, Mesmer can have a hard time finding a place in sPvP. Our most favored team oriented skills are Portal, Time Warp, and -if Chronomancer- the numerous wells at our disposal. PvP Mesmer are known for traits like Power Block and Shattered Concentration(Domination) but MAKE SURE no matter your composition, you have at least 1 stunbreak (Decoy, Blink) and 1 form of Condition removal (Null Field, Arcane Thievery). Lyssa Runes, Vampirism and Melandru Runes are popular for defense while Hoelbrak/Strength runes are taken for offense.
( SOAC Supcutie PvP Interview )

- WvW: Mesmer make excellent roamers and scouts, and in larger fights our Glamours (Feedback, Veil, Null Field) can make a difference when properly placed. We lack the travel mobility of other classes, but we can take Traveler’s runes, a Focus, and/or traited Blink (Dueling I, Chaos III) to keep up. Portal is especially noteworthy for transporting Golems and supply runs.
( Osicat’s Best WvW Moments Part 1 )

- GvG: (Under Construction) Seriously.. We need more people talking about Mesmers in GvG.

DAMAGE / CONTROL / SUPPORT / SURVIVABILITY
Though a build is made up of many parts, chief among them are a build’s damage output, ability to control enemys, ability to assist allies, and how well it survives. Investing in one category usually means a decline in another, so finding the right balance is crucial. At the same time, having too much balance can be a detriment; a jack-of-all-trades is a king of none. You want your build to stand out, to be excellent at something and fairly good at most others sometimes at the cost of lacking in one section. A full mantra damage build lacks the team support/control Mesmers excel at. A full boon/healing support build will excel with a partner, but be ineffective alone. Make sure you trait accordingly:

>>> DAMAGE - Made up of either Power or Condition Damage (sometimes both)While a majority of our DPS comes from either shattering or maintaining clones and phantasms, Mesmer damage tends to go hand-in-hand with control (Ex: Reflects and clone-death traits). Our only utility skill that does damage is Mantra of Pain

CONDITION
- Mistrust – Cause AoE confusion on interrupt (Dueling)
- Sharper Images – Illusions cause Bleed on Crit. (Dueling)
- Ineptitude – Cause Confusion when you Blind a Foe. Blind when you Evade. (Illusions)
-Master of Misdirection – Confusion lasts 33% longer (Illusions)
- Chaotic Transference – 10% of Toughness = Condition Damage (Chaos)
- Maim the Disillusioned – Inflict 1x Torment per clone shattered. (Illusions)
-Compounding Power -3% more damage for each of your active illusions. (Illusions)

POWER

- Power Block Damage on interrupt (Domination)
-Mental Anguish 15% more shatter damage, 30% on inactive foes. (Domination)
-Compounding Power -3% more damage for each of your active illusions. (Illusions)
- Empowered Illusions – Illusions inflict 15% more damage (Domination)
- Phantasmal Fury – Phantasms have Fury (Dueling)
- Empowering Mantras – 4% more damage for each casted mantra. (Dueling)

• Damage Skills: Mind Wrack/Cry of Frustration [F1/F2], auto attacks, Phantasms, Blurred Frenzy, Illusionary Riposte, Illusionary Counter, Confusing Images, Mirror Blade, Mind Spike, Chaos Storm, Mantra of Pain

>>> CONTROL -Control is the Mesmer’s specialty. Hindering movement (Cripple), reflecting projectiles, punishment for attacking (Confusion), and eliminating boons/conditions are some of the many ways we can hinder the enemy, most of which are in the DOMINATION land CHAOS lines. With access to an abundance of reflects, nearly all the boons/conditions in the game, and a control ability on every weapon, Mesmer is a swiss-army-knife of utility.

-Illusion of Vulnerability/Dazzling – 3x Vuln for 5 seconds on interrupt. / 5x Vuln for 8s on Daze (Domination 5 / 15)
- Rending Shatter -Shattering illusions causes vulnerability for 8 seconds to nearby foes. (Domination IV)
- Imagined Burden -Greatsword skills cripple foes. (Domination)
- Shattered Concentration -Shatter skills also remove a boon on hit. (Domination VII)
- Confounding Suggestions – Cause a 1-second stun whenever you daze a target. Dazes/Stuns last 25% longer (Domination)
- Mirror of Anguish -When disabled (by stun, daze, knockback, knockdown, sink, float, fear, or launch), you mirror the disable back to the source. This effect can only trigger once every 60 seconds. (Chaos)
- Warden’s Feedback -Focus skills reflect projectiles. Reduces recharge of focus skills by 20%. (Inspiration)
- Chaotic Interruption -Immobilize your target when you interrupt them and randomly apply blind, cripple, or chill. (Chaos)
- Persisting Images – Grants retaliation to Phantasms. (Inspiration)
- Ineptitude – Blind foes on dodge. (Illusions)
- Blinding Dissipation – Blind foes on Shatter (Dueling)

• Control Skills: Distraction [F3], Illusionary Leap, Illusionary Counter, Illusionary Riposte Illusionary Wave, Chaos Storm/Armor, Magic Bullet, The Prestige, Temporal Curtain, iWarden, Arcane Thievery, Feedback, Null Field, Mantra of Resolve/Concentration/Distraction, iDisenchanter, Signet of Domination, Signet of Midnight, Moa Morph

>>> SUPPORT – Mesmer support, besides our many ways to control the enemy, comes in the form of boons and healing. Because of our staff and Signet of Inspiration, boon support is our primary way of assisting allies while heals are a secondary, if not tertiary affair. Mesmer support tends to be enemy control first, damage second, boons third and finally, if needed, AoE healing. All of our support traits are in the INSPIRATION and CHAOS lines

-Illusionary Inspiration -Phantasms pulse 3s Regeneration every 3s. Cast Signet of Inspiration on phantasm summon.
-Medic’s Feedback -Create a feedback bubble while reviving an ally. 10% faster revive speed.
- Mental Defense Summon iDefender on dodge.
- Restorative Mantras -Heal allies when you charge a mantra.
- Temporal Enchanter – Grant Resistance & Super Speed to allies around Glamour casts.
- Inspiring Distortion – Grant 1s Distortion to allies when you Distort.
- Bountiful Disillusionment – Grant a boon on shatter. (Chaos)
- Chaotic Dampening – Grant Protection with Chaos Armor. (Chaos)

• Support Skills: Chaos Storm, Temporal Curtain, iWarden, iDefender, iMage, iDisenchanter, Signet of Inspiration, Null Field, Portal, Veil, Illusion of Life, Time Warp

>>>SURVIVABILITY- Mesmers naturally have a lot of ways to deal with physical damage at the cost of a weakness to Condition Damage. Though we’re a light armor class our weapons, shatters, and traits make us extraordinarily hard to kill… Just ask anyone who’s fought a Mesmer in PvP/WvW. The _CHAOS, INSPIRATION,
and DUELING lines has our most Survivability traits.

-Critical Infusion -Gain 5 seconds of vigor on delivering a critical hit. This effect can only trigger once every 5 seconds. (Dueling)
-Desperate Decoy- -Cloak and leave a clone of yourself behind at 25% health. (Dueling)
-Blurred Inscriptions -Activating a signet grants you 1 second of distortion and removes a condition. (Dueling)
-Deceptive Evasion -Create a clone at your current position when you dodge. (Dueling)
-Metaphysical Rejuvenation -Gain 10 seconds of regeneration when your health reaches 75% (30-second cooldown). (Chaos)
-* Illusionary Membrane* -Gain protection for 3 seconds when you gain regeneration. This effect can only occur once every 15 seconds. (Chaos)
- Descent into Madness -Create a chaos storm when you take falling damage. Take 50% less damage from falling. (Chaos)
-Illusionary Defense -3% reduced damage for each illusion you have in the world. (Chaos)
-Prismatic Understanding -Cloaking skills last 50% longer and you gain a random boon once every second while stealthed (protection, regeneration, swiftness, might or aegis). (Chaos XII)
-Mender’s Purity -Remove 2 conditions when you heal. (Inspiration)
-Restorative Illusions -Heal a small amount and remove a condition when you shatter illusions.

• Survivability Skills: Distortion [F4], Blurred Frenzy, Phase Retreat, Chaos Armor/Storm, Prestige, iDefender, Blink, Decoy, Mirror Images, Signet of Midnight, Mass Invisibility

—TRAITS—
Forging an effective build is not very hard as long as you do not overreach. Every build is a delicate balance between damage, support, and control and a Mesmer can specialize in any of these three aspects. Some traits, like Deceptive Evasion (Dueling X), seem like a must-have for all builds but never let let anyone trick you into believing that “In order to properly play Mesmer, you HAVE to have these traits.” That being said, there are some traits that are highly important for specific types of builds.

Shatter – Deceptive Evasion (Dueling), Mental Anguish (Domination)
Phantasm – Empowered Illusions (Domination) / Phantasmal Haste (Illusions X)
Condition – Crippling&Debilitating Dissipation (Domination&Chaos V) / Sharper Images (Dueling 15)
Lockdown – Shattered Concentration (Domination) / Power Block (Domination) / Chaotic Interruption (Chaos VIII)
Support – Warden’s Feedback (Inspiration VIII) / Bountiful Disillusionment (Chaos) / Illusionary Inspiration (Inspiration)

• Illusionists’ Celerity (Illusions) works along with “weapon cooldown” traits even if the timer does not show it.

• It is usually not a good idea to grab a trait for only one skill unless there are no better options(Ex: Manipulation cooldowns in a build that only has Blink)

DOMINATION:
The Domination line focuses on dealing damage and controlling enemies. It grants the most benefit to POWER builds, and almost all Shatter/Lockdown builds travel this route in PvP. PvE-wise, Blurred Inscriptions helps for party-wide protection during boss fights and 15% damage bonus to Phantasms helps immensely with personal DPS. If you want to add an element of oppressive force/control to your build, Domination is for you/

Weapon Cooldowns- Greatsword
Traits to AVOID – Rending Shatter (Has no use in any build that wouldn’t be better fit by the other options)
Adept: Illusion of Vulnerability – 3x Vulnerability for 5 seconds on Interrupt
Master: Dazzling – Dazing a foe applies 5x Vulnerability for 8 seconds.
Grandmaster: Fragility- 1.5% damage to Vulnerable foes.

—-

ADEPT

I) Confounding Suggestions – Stun % Daze durations increased by 25%. The next daze you inflict is a stun (5s ICD) An excellent trait PvP for a low cost. Synergizes with Runes of the Mesmer/Sigil of Paralysis to make lockdown builds extra lockdown-y. Works well in shatter builds too, (F3-stun-F1) especially if you’re grabbing Mental Anguish, but remember that not every CC you have is a daze (Only F3. Mantra of Distraction, and Chaos Storm/Magic Bullet).

II) Empowered Illusions – Illusions inflict 15% more damage- While useless for clones, this trait is a must for high damage Phantasm builds and PvE.

III) Rending Shatter -Shatters cause 1xVuln for 8 seconds per-clone-shattered. While not a bad trait, Rending Shatter tends to be.. not as good as anything else. Even a shatter build would better benefit from Confounding Suggestions.

MASTER

I) Blurred Inscriptions – Signets have a 20% reduced recharge. Activating a signet removes a condition and grants 1s Distortion If you’re grabbing at least two signets, consider picking up this trait. It helps make Signet of the Ether a more reasonable heal and can save you during boss fights where you simply cannot dodge or block. This skill works fantastically with Inspiring Distortion (Inspiration minor) to grant team-wide Distortion to allies.

II) Furious Interruption -Gain 3s Quickness per interrupt. (5s ICD). A strong interrupt trait that has the unfortunate misfortune of competing with Shattered Concentration. Quickness is a better boon for Greatsword (and Lost Time stacking) and Scepter, two weapons which rarely get paired together in one build. While it may be tempting to grab this for a full lockdown build, keep in mind that Shattered Concentration is a stronger form of lockdown.

III) Shattered Concentration -Shatter skills remove a boon per-clone-shattered. A must-have for PvP. It is one of the strongest forms of boon stripping in the game if you have Deceptive Evasion and even without it is very effective. This is a staple trait for PvP Mesmer, as boonstripping is one of the things Mesmers excel at over other classes. In PvE.. Meh.

GRANDMASTER

I) Imagined Burden -Greatsword skills cripple on hit/ Gain might when you or a clone uses Spacial Surge (auto) / 20% Greatsword reduction. If you love your greatsword, you’ll grab this trait. If not, you won’t. The might stacking synergizes with Sigil of Battle

II) Mental Anguish Shatter skills do 15% more damage. 30% against foes affected by a hard CC (Stun/daze/knockdown ect) Pretty straightfoward. Most shatter burstss start with F3(Daze) into F1(Damage) anyways, and this trait makes that shatter combo even more vicious when properly executed.

III) Power Block Deal damage and apply (5s) Weakness on Interrupt. Interrupted skills go on 15s CD This is the godfather of lockdown traits. Normal interrupted skills only go on kitten cooldown, with this whenever you interrupt someone the skill goes on 15s cooldown (brutal on heal) and makes them do less damage. In a power build, the damage tends to be around 2k per interrupt. This is near-mandatory if you’re grabbing Mantra of Distraction.

DUELING:
The Dueling line is a must-have for builds focusing on maximizing damage, both in PvE and PvP. Rather than passives, there are a lot of active traits here such as Evasive Mirror and Blinding Dissipation that reward quick reflexes and precise timing.
Weapon Cooldowns- Sword , Pistol

Adept: Critical Infusion – 5s Vigor on crit (10 second CD)
Master: Sharper Images – Illusions inflict 1xBleed on crit for 5 seconds.
Grandmaster: Master Fencer- Gain Fury for 5s when striking an enemy below 75% health.

—-

I) Desperate Decoy – Cloak for 3 seconds and leave a clone of yourself behind when struck by an attack at 50% health. (40-32 second CD) – Desperate Decoy automatically casts Decoy on you when you are struck below half health. A great addition to Prismatic Understanding builds but something to keep in mind in order to not accidentally Reveal yourself.

II) Duelist’s Discipline – Interrupting a skill reduces Pistol cooldowns by 25%. Pistol attacks from you and your illusions have a 33% chance to cause 2x Bleeding for 5s. This skill does very little for PvE and largescale WvW, but in solo encounters and smaller fights it synergizes with Mantra of Distraction and Power Block to make you a lockdown champion… provided you can land interupts.

III) Phantasmal Fury – Phantasms have Fury. Giving Phantasms an extra 20% crit chance is great for any build, especially since they don’t inherit your bonus from fury. (Fury increases crit chance, NOT Precision. )

MASTER

IV) Blinding Dissipation – Inflict 3s of AoE Blind in a 240 radius when you activate a shatter. Blinding Dissipation is one of our best defensive abilities when used properly and also makes for a good lockdown skill. Blind is a powerful condition, forcing enemies to completely miss their attacks and put their abilities on a full cooldown. Great for combatting melee-oriented classes like Thief, Guardian, and Warrior. In fact, it’s a NIGHTMARE for Thieves!

VI) Evasive Mirror – Gain a reflective barrier for 1.5s after successfully dodging an attack (1.5s CD). – This trait has the unfortunate placement of being right next to Blinding Dissipation. If Blinding Dissipation is an excellent melee defense, Evasive Mirror is it’s ranged counterpart. Keep in mind that this only procs AFTER you evade, so it works better against rapid fire skills like iDuelist or ranger’s Barrage. Anything that counts as an evade, such as Blurred Frenzy will proc this. (I swear proccing this with Blurred makes you feel like some sort of epic anime hero)

VII) Fencers Finesse – Gain a stacking Ferocity (Up to 5 stacks of 15 ferocity) buff for 6s with each sword strike from you or an illusion. Reduce Sword/Spear skills by 20% A must-have when going sword/sword, and a core damage boost in PvE dungeons. This ability doesn’t see much action in PvP due to having to compete with Blinding Dissipation but in PvE this is a staple trait.

GRANDMASTER
VIII) Deceptive Evasion – Create a clone at your current position when you dodge. Easily the most favored Mesmer trait. Deceptive Evasion is our best clone-production tool and the savior of struggling Mesmer everywhere. Clones produced by this trait have a nasty habit of running off and attacking random targets, but this can be useful for a multi-target Diversion shatter.

X) Harmonious Mantras – Mantras can be activated three times before needing to be channeled again. Gain a stacking damage buff (10s) when activating a Mantra. (5 stacks, 3% boost per stack) Mantras are pretty good on their own, and this trait simply makes them more effective. Not recommended if you’re going for rapid AoE healing via Restorative Mantras, and again a core trait for PvE dungeon Mesmer.

XI) Mistrust – Inflict 2x Confusion for 6s on Interrupt. (240r) _I’d like to be able to recommend this trait for condition-interrupt Mesmer, but I honestly cant. Useless in PvE and lackluster in WvW, this trait only has a chance in PvP, but honestly you could net more Confusion from a well-timed F2 shatter with Deceptive Evasion. Its aallmossst decent, but for now I’d avoid this trait until it sees a minor buff.

CHAOS:
The Chaos line features a lot of RNG-related traits. Offers a lot of options for gaining boons and is ideal for Support and Condition builds
Weapon Cooldowns- Staff
Most Valuable Traits: Prismatic Understanding / Chaotic Interruption / Bountiful Disillusionment / Chaotic Dampening / Master of Manipulation

Adept: Metaphysical Rejuvination – 10s Regeneration at 75% HP (15 second CD)
Master: Illusionary Membrane – 3s Protection when you gain Regeneration. (15 second CD)
Grandmaster: Chaotic Persistence- Gain 3% outgoing boon/condition duration for every boon on you.

—-

ADEPT

I) Descent into Madness – Create a chaos storm when you take falling damage. Take 50% less damage from falling. (40 second CD). _Useful for traveling around WvW and open world PvE. Not really useful for much else. Swap to it as needed but don’t keep it as a main trait. _

II) Illusionary Defense – 3% reduced damage for each illusion you have in the world.- A good skill when combined with other forms of damage-reduction and if you have a high rate of clone production.

III) Master of Manipulation – Manipulation skills have 20% shorter cooldowns & grant 1.5s reflection on cast.- Though you shouldn’t take a trait for one skill, I’d grab this for Blink alone.. but that’s a personal preference.

MASTER

IV) Chaotic Dampening – Chaos Armor grants 5s Protection. Staff skills recharge 2.5% faster when affected by Chaos Armor. _A great trait for staff users, and even decent if you’re running a couple wells (or glamours) without staff assuming there is someone to blast for you and you’re running sword – which, admittedly, is kind of rare. In most cases Ethereal fields aren’t desired as much as Fire/Water fields and you have to be careful not to overlap your AoEs ontop of others.

• Best used with Sword+x/Staff and atleast one additional Ethereal field.

V) Chaotic Transference – 10% of your toughness becomes condition damage. – A no-brainer for condition builds stacking the rabid amulet.

VI) Mirror of Anguish – When disabled (by stun, daze, knockback, knockdown, sink, float, fear, or launch), you mirror the disable back to the source. (60 second CD).- A decent trait in it’s own right, this is an ability you tend to grab as an added bonus defense when you travel up the Chaos line for the grandmasters rather than something you actively seek out

GRANDMASTER

VII) Chaotic Interruption – 2s Immobilize your target when you interrupt them and randomly apply 3s blind, cripple, or chill. Gain 5x Might for 10s and either 5s Fury, Protection(3s), Regeneration, or Swiftness – Though it’s a bit redundant to have a cripple/chill at the same duration as the Immobilize, this trait offers great disruption on interrupts and is an alternative (or compliment) to Confounding Suggestions. In fact, this is easily one of the best lockdown traits available and can even work well in a supportive boonshare build (assuming you grab a Focus).

VIII) Prismatic Understanding – Cloaking skills last 50% longer and you gain either 3s Aegis, Protection, Might (5s), Swiftness (5s), or Regeneration once every second while stealthed. Another one of the greatest traits a Mesmer can choose from. Prismatic Understanding turns our stealths into incredible defensive abilities. In fact, this trait is one of the best traits you can take for solo roaming in WvW to take on multiple opponents at once.. And win!

IX) Bountiful Disillusionment – Gain 5s Stability & a boon on shatter: [F1] 15s 3x Might / [F2] 5s Vigors / [F3] 5s Fury / [F4] 10s Regeneration. This is an excellent trait for any build that needs on-demand stability, but it shines the most in boonshare. Vigor and Fury are otherwise hard to gain boons, and 15 seconds of 3x might can go a long way when paired with some boon duration and a traited greatsword.

INSPIRATION:
The Inspiration line holds all traits that could affect allies, making it integral for Support builds. It also holds most of our Phantasm-enhancing abilities.
Weapon Cooldowns- Focus (Warden’s Feedback),
Most Valuable Traits: Illusionary Inspiration, Mental Defense, Restorative Illusions, Warden’s Feedback
Adept: Mender’s Purity – Cleanse 2 conditions in an 240r AoE when you heal. (Casts the Mantra skill Power Cleanse – Affected by Mantra traits)
Master: Inspiring Distortion – Grant 1s Distortion in an 300r AoE when you gain Distortion (either through f4 or Blurred Inscriptions)
Grandmaster: Healing Prism – When healing yourself, nearby allies in a 300r are also healed 532(0.2). Gain 100 healing power for each illusion you control.

—-

I) Medic’s Feedback – Create a Feedback dome when reviving allies, you revive 10% faster. (10 sec recharge) A good trait, especially in WvW. You do not have to maintain the rezz inorder to maintain the Feedback. If someone is downed near you, simply tap them and the bubble will form, especially good when dead NPCs are nearby. This trait is affected by Temporal Enchanter, and shares the same internal cooldown as Feedback. Works wonders with Runes of Mercy.

II) Persisting Images – Phantasms have 20% more base health & spawn with 6s Retaliation.- A useful but not crucial trait, its especially good for the iDefender. This is one of those “eh.. nothing better to chose” kind of traits.

III) Restorative Mantras – Heal nearby allies within 600r when a Mantra is charged.- _This trait scales very oddly, and is rather lousy until around level 70. At lower levels, Regeneration actually heals better. At level 80, this skill heals for 2600 and scales by 0.2 Healing Power. (In fully +Healing Power gear, this trait heals for around 3000HP) It is our main source of AoE healing when used with Mantra of Pain and can be very strong in support builds. Restorative Mantras doesn’t make you a healer, it allows you to keep allies alive while their main heal is on cooldown.

MASTER

IV) Protected Phantasms – Phantasms gain 1s distortion briefly upon creation. Illusions gain 2s protection when you activate a shatter skill. – This is a decent trait, but is more geared towards largescale WvW combat where summoning a phantasm into a zerg usually ends up with it being… well.. deleted on arrival.

V) Restorative Illusions – Heal a small amount when you shatter illusions. Lose a condition when activating a shatter- This trait is an excellent form of sustain, especially when paired with Deceptive Evasion, Chronophantasma, and Illusionary Reversion for clone production. One of our best survivability/defensive traits, it is one of the reasons people travel into the Inspiration line.

• No Clone = 872(0.2)
• 1 Clone(1124) = 1,064
• 2 Clones(1316) = 1,256
• 3 Clones(1508) = 1,448

VI) Warden’s Feedback – Focus skills reflect projectiles. Reduces recharge of Focus skills by 20%.- Besides Feedback, this is our greatest form of projectile reflection. It’s worth noting that there are some projectiles that cannot be reflected but can still be destroyed by an untraited iWarden.

GRANDMASTER

VII) Illusionary Inspiration - Phantasms grant 3s regeneration in a 240 radius to nearby allies. Whenever you summon a phantasm, copy all boons to nearby allies in a 600r(cast Signet of Inspiration.)- This is an excellent grandmaster to take if you’ve also invested into the Chaos line, or are in a semi-organized group (with Fire fields and blast finishers and all). Like the skill itself, this trait has a 30 second cooldown. This trait is good to help maintain constant boon stacks in a dungeon, and is a staple for boonshare support builds, allowing you to double up on your boonsharing.

• Be careful to not accidentally use this trait by beginning a battle with a Phantasm summon.
• Affected by Signet traits.

XI) Mental Defense - Cast Phantasmal Defender on your attacker when you successfully block or evade an attack. Good for small groups and more defensive builds. You can use this trait combined with it’s corresponding utility skill and Signet of the Ether to quickly summon 3 Defenders (with Chronomancers able to keep one in reserve)

• Affected by Illusion traits.

XII) Temporal Enchanter - Glamour skills last 2s longer. When you cast a glamour, allies near the glamour gain 3s resistance and superspeed. _A largely underexplored trait that doesn’t see much use in PvE, is outclassed by it’s competitors in PvP, and is outshined by Chronomancer wells in WvW. Alas, poor Temporal Enchanter is a great concept

ILLUSIONS: +10 Condition Damage / -1% Shatter Cooldowns.
The Illusions line offers something for every type of build, but specializes in Shatter effectiveness.
Most Valuable Traits: Compounding Power, Illusionary Elasticity, Illusionary Haste, Illusionary Persona
Adept: Illusionary Retribution – All Shatter skills also inflict 1x Confusion for 3 seconds
Master: Shattered Strength – Shattering illusions grants you 1x Might per illusion for 10 seconds (iPersona not included).
Grandmaster: Illusionists Celerity – Illusion-summoning skills recharge 20% faster.

---

I) Precise Wrack – 10% higher crit chance with Mind Wrack- Practically exclusively useful only for power builds heavily reliant on Shatters for damage.

II) Confusing Cry – Cry of Frustration grants 5s Retaliation per illusion.- Our best way of maintaining a near permanent Retaliation

III) Compounding Power – 3% more damage for each of your active illusions.- An excellent trait for builds looking to maximize their damage, requires Deceptive Evasion to remain effective.
IV) Masterful Reflection – Distortion grants Reflection – Nifty, but there aren’t many situations where you’d prefer this over other options.

V) Master of Misdirection – Confusion inflicted lasts 33% longer.- Since Confusion isn’t very good in PvE due to the slow nature of NPC attacks, this trait is better for condition builds in sPvP/WvW
VI) Illusionary Invigoration – Recharge all of your shatter skills at 50% health (90 second CD). – A great trait for Shatter builds, the 90 second cooldown should be no deterrent, as it’s actually not so bad.

VII) Illusionary Elasticity – Bouncing attacks have an additional bounce. – This skill affects staff clones, and is a big boost to Staff’s autoattack DPS. This skill also effects Mirror Blade (Greatsword) / Magic Bullet (Pistol) / iMage (Torch) / Siren’s Call (Trident)

VIII) Dazzling Glamours – Glamour skills Blind foes for 3s at target location.- Only affects Glamours cast ontop of an enemy, and not enemies walking into/out of the field.

IX) Blinding Befuddlement -Cause 1x Confusion for 4 seconds when you Blind a foe (5 second CD)- The cooldown makes this skill worthless for stacking Confusion. Way to go, Anet.
X) Phantasmal Haste – Phantasms attack at a faster rate- Though the tooltip says 20% faster, that’s simply not true Here’s the truth!

XI) Illusionary Persona – Shattering illusions creates the shatter effect on you as well. – A must-have for Shatter builds, this trait improves both offense and defense considerably. iPersona is especially great because it allows you to use your defensive shatters (Diversion/Distortion) instantly without needing a clone.

XII) Imbued Diversion – Diversion hits up to 5 targets in a large area.- Turning Diversion into an AoE is great for Lockdown builds. The trait would be even better if it didn’t have to compete with iPersona, which is also great for Lockdown builds… and nearly every other build.

XIII) Maim the Disillusioned – Shatters also inflict 1x Torment for 4s. _Besides Power Block, this is the one new Grandmaster trait that actually shows potential. While it hasn’t been explored too much, and opinions vary, there have been somewhat-successful condition-shatter builds created with this (in PvP). _

—MESMERING IN TYRIA—

LEVELING YOUR MESMER
(UPDATED) Sanderinoa’s PvE Guide
Following info taken from Kaiyanwan.8521’s Lazy Kai’s Leveling Guide

Part 1 – The Basics

Leveling as a Mesmer is – unfortunately – not as lazy as most other classes. So before you can get lazy, you will have to make your way to the pinnacle of existence, known as level 80.

There are several stages in the ascend of a new Mesmer, and I will try to cover the shifts as simple as possible.

1.1.1 General Advice: Did you know?

Nourishment – Food:

There is a plethora of food in Guild Wars 2. The good point – some of it is dirt cheap. Why would you bother? Well, most food give a 10% experience boost (some 15%) for all kills, which will, over time, sum up. The food is actually so cheap, even a level 2 can get some off the auction house (just search for food and sort by price). So just buy it. You won’t get much food in the open world, unless you become a cook, but that’s another topic…

Nourishment – Utility:

As with food, utility buffs (from slayer potions, maintenance oils, sharpening stones and tuning crystals) also offer a 10% experience boost. The great thing is, one food buff and one utility buff will stack. They are all crafted by thier respective professions, or you can simply buy some off the auction house.

Boosters:

Boosters can further improve your leveling speed. They can be randomly aquired out of Black Lion Chests or directly from the Gem Store or for Laurel (reward for daily quest). They will stack with each other and potions/food. Combining an Experience Booster, an Improved Experience Booster and a Laureate Experience Booster will already give you additional 180% kill experience. This can be pushed by a further 100% with a Kill Streak Experience Booster, as long as you keep up with killing things.
If you want to invest real money to level, boosters can be a great help to speed things up, but they are in no way a necessity. My advice is to at least save your Laurels for gear instead of investing them in boosters.

1.1.2 What grinds my gears: Stuff

Armor:

Power is what you want as primary stat. Secondary is Precision. If both is on the armor, perfect. Leveling is all about killing things fast, this will help.
Personal advise: Armor is cheap on the trading post, most of the time, you can get level accurate stuff for about the same coin it will give you back when you sell it to a merchant. Keep your gear up-to-date.

Weapons:

Greatsword + Sword/Focus, same stats/advise as armor.

What to put in slots:

While leveling you will change your equipment – a lot. In early levels probably several times a play session. So buying upgrade components is not the best idea. You will probably find yourself running around with empty slots on your armor most of the time.
You can find some upgrade items from different sources, use them if they offer useful buffs.
Later on it is very helpful to at least choose a sigil for your weapon to help you with an area you feel lacking (probably condition removal or simply more damage).

Gathering and salvaging:

The first things you should buy the moment you earned your first few coppers are some gathering tools and salvage kits.
Gathering will give you experience and resources you need for crafting, that again will also give you experience (you can level a character completely with crafting).
Salvaging will also give you resources and will help you to manage your limited inventory space.

1.2 Leveling Guide: Part 2 – Leveling

1.2.1 Leveling 1-20: Me, Myself and I – How to blow up the guy in the mirror.

Here we go, after wasting hours on the character creation screen to find a name that is not taken, you have arrived in the world of Guild Wars 2, Tyria.

The good news is that you are wielding a rusty little sword right now, a formidable choice. Swords will be your friend on your way to 80, so get some practice with it. Do not replace it unless you find a better sword or – even better – a greatsword. Well, you can fool around with other weapons and you should, but for leveling itself everything with the word “sword” in it is your first choice.

The third sword skill will generate an illusion – to be more specific – a clone. There are two kinds of illusions, clones and phantasms.
Clones are as pretty or ugly as you are, doing close to no damage and are as durable as ice cream in a melting pot. Sounds promising? Do not despair, clones are mostly seen as a resources for the Mesmer’s profession skills – aka shatters. More about that in a bit.
Phantasms look like you too – sort of – just without textures and more transparent. They actually do good damage and can take a hit, and they also are a resource for shatter skills.
The maximum amount of illusions you can have at a time is three, if you cast a new illusion with three illusions out, one of four things will happen:

1. If you cast a clone, the oldest clone will be replaced by the new one.
2. If there are three phantasms, the clone will replace your oldest one.
3. If you cast a phantasm, the oldest clone will be replaced by it.
4. If there are three phantasms, the oldest phantasm will be replaced by the new one.

So what to do with all those illusions? The same thing you do with all stuff you no longer need in real life – blow them up! Shatter skills (F1-F5) will cause an effect which will get stronger the more illusions you have available. While you can use all shatter skills without a single illusion, which can be very useful in certain situations, it is more often the wiser choice to cast a full shatter (three illusions) to maximize damage.

Your first shatter skill “Mind Wrack” will unlock at level 5. It is our bread and butter and what else you would put on a bread skill. It will be hard to get enough illusions on the screen below level 10 to cast a full shatter, as the mob will be pretty dead until then anyway. Remember, illusions are bound to the enemy they got cast on and will disappear the moment this enemy dies. It is therefore better to cast a Mind Wrack with only one or two illusions, if the enemy is close to dying anyway.

When you reach level 6, you will get the choice between a greatsword or a torch. This is actually not a choice, it is a test. If you pick the greatsword you have been reading the guide carefully up to this point. If you take the torch, god help you. I surely can’t. Only excuse, you found a better greatsword on the way, or on the trading post…
The greatsword is a great weapon. It is ranged, everything hits more than one target and its fourth weapon skill, which gets unlocked conveniently at the very same level as your first phantasm skill, is the “Phantasmal Berserker”.

Now that you got your first phantasm, you also got a decision to make every single fight: To shatter the phantasm or not. Sure, while the phantasm is alive, it will cause great damage, but if it dies, you have missed the opportunity of a stronger shatter. If you ask me, and you should, let the phantasm do its job once and then, with some clones around create butterflies – which means use it for shatter fodder. Later on you will get a better feeling for when it is right to wait, but for now, you should get some practice on how to shatter in the first place.

At level 10 you will finally unlock the ability to swap between two weapon sets – good times ahead. While one of the sets will be the greatsword, your second set should consist of a sword and a focus. You might have expected a sword in the offhand too, as I said everything sword it good, and yes, a second sword would be a good choice, but for leveling, the focus is simply better. Especially the skill “Temporal Curtain” which gives you swiftness is great. Besides making you run faster it also has many other uses.

Now that you can swap weapons, it will be fairly easy to produce enough illusions for a full shatter. General rule is:

Start with greatsword skill 1 (Spatial Surge), skill 2 (Mirror Blade, your clone generator) and skill 4 (Phantasmal Berserker), swap to sword/focus and cast skill 3 (Illusionary Leap, your second clone generator) which gives you a full shatter for F1 (Mind Wrack).

Now you still have your focus phantasm left, which gives you some nice damage for the time when your shatter is on cooldown. The sword is also preferable in melee range as it does more damage, which is why we start the fight with the greatsword and then swap to the sword/focus and not the other way around.

At level 11 two things are happening. Firstly, you get your second shatter skill, “Cry of Frustration”. It is called that way because you are mad that Mind Wrack is on cooldown and you have to use this inferior shatter to cause damage. But until level 21, you can mostly ignore this skill.
Secondly, you can now pick your first utility skill. My personal advice is to spend four points into “Signet Training” to get both, “Signet of the Ether” – your new healing skill, and “Signet of Inspiration” – your first utility skill.

Signet of the Ether will give you some passive healing, a good base heal and a way to reset your phantasm timers. So even if you do no need healing, you can use this skill to greatly buff your damage. Signet of Inspiration is very nice, as it gives you swiftness and together with the focus you can have permanent swiftness uptime.

At level 15 and again at level 19 you will unlock your next shatter skills and a utility slot. The two shatter skills “Diversion” and “Distortion” are only of very limited use for leveling, so I will skip them for now.
Your second utility skill should be “Blink” which is to be found under “Manipulation Training” and your third the “Signet of Illusions” from “Signet Training”.
Blink is just awesome. Getting out of tight spots never was easier and you can also use it to get faster from A to B. Signet of the illusion keeps your illusions alive a bit longer which is not bad, but the main reason we are picking this signet is the active part. Being able to reset shatters will be very useful later on, especially when you start producing even more clones with the upcoming traits.

1.2.2 Leveling 21-44: I see myself four times. I must be drunken twice.

You did it! Yeah, you might not have realized it, but you have left your early days behind and are now to become one of us. What made the difference? Traits. If you were as greedy with your hero points as I have hinted earlier (like not spending them on skills to actually experiencing the beauty of GW2), you will have some left to dump into your traits. The obvious question is, where to put them. And if you are reading this, the obvious answer is: You have no idea. Fear not, the answer is at hand.

You will have to pick one trait line, and the one you should choose is Dueling. From now on, EVERY SINGLE HERO POINT you earn is to be spent here. You should have enough hero points to actually get some nice stuff. We are specifically aiming for Phantasmal Fury (adept), Fencer’s Finesse (master) and Deceptive Evasion (grandmaster). Getting these traits is your Nr. 1 priority. Nothing else matters. If you do anything else with your hero points, you will regret it later on, be warned.

Chances are slim that you will get all the way up to Deceptive Evasion right at the start. So as a rough guesstimate you should aim for level 31 to get Deceptive Evasion as a follower of this guide from the start. Things change quite a bit as you produce a clone whenever you dodge in combat from now on. What the happy little trees are in the “joy of painting”, the fragile little clones are in the “joy of mesmerizing”. From now on they are everywhere and you should not be greedy with them. The trick is to use dodge clones as fillers when your other illusion skills are on cooldown. Most of the time you might not even need to swap from greatsword to sword/focus to kill a single enemy.

Level 31 also unlocks your elite skill slot. What you want in that slot is Time Warp. But wait a sec – just forget about that. You might want it, but you won’t get it. Why? Ain’t nobody got hero points for that. But praise the six gods, with the new trait system, racial elite skills are unlocked by now. So unless you are a Norn, you might actually find something useful on your list.
The problem with hero points is, that at level 45, you will unlock you second trait line, and at that time, you want a kitten 52 hero points saved up to get down to business. So unless you grind all hero challenges on your way to level 45, you will probably not going to get close to having enough points for your traits and Time Warp. You will get it later, you will survive without it, you will enjoy it when you finally get it. It is always good to have something you can look forward to.

1.2.3 Leveling 45-70: Leveling 45-70: Nothing but an illusion, until it blows up in your face.

So you made it this far. Good. Level 45 offers you another choice to make. Which trait line will you unlock next? If you want to make the choice by yourself, go ahead, if you want to make the right choice, read on.

The best choice (with exception of all others) would be investing heavily into Illusions. You will benefit greatly from the minor traits Illusionists Celerity and Master of Misdirection as well as getting a serious amount of extra punch from the major traits.
The traits you want to pick are Compounding Power (adept), Shattered Strength (master) and Master of Fragmentation (grandmaster). With Illusions as second trait line, you will generate illusions faster, have a shorter cool-down on shatters and hit harder than ever before. A win-win-win situation, especially for the play-style we use with this leveling guide.

Not much more to say here, all you need is to safe up 52 hero points for level 71. Depending on your focus (PvE/WvW) you should have enough hero points to spare for getting Time Warp by now. If not, remember that filling up trait lines as soon as they unlock should be your Nr. 1 priority.

1.2.4 Leveling 71-80: All good things come to an end.

If you have been following this guide and reached 71 by blindly accepting my questionable decisions, you will have at least 52 hero points to spare and a choice. Yeah I know, choices have not been a thing I have offered before, but it is time to learn standing on your own feet.

Luckily for you, I will give you some clear advices first. Your third trait line to pick shall be Domination, dump your 52 hero points there. Good.

Now if you liked the way you have been leveling your Mesmer the last few dozen levels, you should get Empowered Illusion (adept), Blurred Inscriptions (master) and Mental Anguish (grandmaster). Your play-style won’t change much, but your shatter damage will significantly improve.

If you want to relax a bit while playing you can also simply use the trait setup found in the Lazy Kai Build (link) from now on. It is top efficient in open world and quite fun. You can also fool around with different weapon setups with your free secondary set while mainly using a greatsword.

That’s it, thank you for following this leveling guide.

—TIPS & TRICKS—
(Under Construction)
Mesmer Tricks of the Trade

Teleports & Stealth

—AWESOME LINKS—
SOAC Presents Mesmerized: The Mesmer Podcast

—MESMERIZING DUNGEONS—

Maxinion’s Dungeon Guide
Brazil’s Dungeon Mesmer Guide

How to play a Mesmer in dungeons (By: TheKillerAngel.3596)

I have spent close to 800 hours playing a Mesmer (for a total of over 3000 hours in game time so far). I see so many bad Mesmers in dungeons that I think it’s time I write a guide on not just how to build a Mesmer, but how to play one effectively. This guide will spend less time on builds and more on explaining the how and why of playing a Mesmer (though builds and weapon choices are still discussed).

The Mesmer fills several important roles in dungeons:

• Controlling and positioning the enemy, primarily through effective use of Temporal Curtain
• Mitigating and enhancing damage through reflections
• Boon and condition management, by removing conditions on your team, enhancing your teams boons, and removing boons from the enemy
• Speeding up runs through use of portal

While the Mesmer is by no means a “mandatory” dungeon class, it is often highly beneficial to include one because of its aforementioned versatility.

Slot Skills

There are some utility skills that a Mesmer will find more useful in dungeons. Switch out your utilities when necessary. Here is a list of what I use most often:

On my utilies bar almost all the time, no matter what:

• Feedback

On my regular rotation:

• Mantra of Concentration (Stunbreak and stability)
• Mantra of Resolve (Condition cleansing)
• Null field (Condition/Boon management)
• Blink (Stunbreak)

Occasionally used:

• Signet of Inspiration (For copying boons)
• Portal Entre
• Veil (for runs)
• Illusion of Life (Useful when pugging Arah)
• Mirror Images
• Decoy

Rarely used, but still used for some specific encounters

• Mimic

As for healing skills, what you use depends on your builds. If you are using mantra damage multipliers, go with the healing mantra. Otherwise, take ether feast.
For Elites, Time warp is ideal most of the time, but for some runs mass invisibility is preferred. Any other skill aside from these 2 is usually a waste of your elite slot.

Traits

There are some traits that are mandatory for a Mesmer in dungeons. They include:

Minimum 20 Inspiration for:
1. Reduced recharge on Glamour skills
2. Reduced recharge on focus skills, while granting them the ability to reflect projectiles

Minimum 20 Dueling for:
1. Permanent vigor on crit
2. Reduced cooldown on sword skills
3. Reduced cooldown in pistol skills
4. Clones on dodge, which help immensely with setting up shatters

To maximize reflect damage, you want to get as many % damage increases as you can. The rest of your points are preferably distributed into Illusions (for 9% bonus damage with illusions) and Domination (for some additional power, increasing illusion damage, or enhancing your shatters), along with optional enhancements to the Dueling and Inspiration lines. The Chaos trait line offers very little for dungeons, so points in it are generally a waste.

Armor and Weapons

Colesy gives an excellent breakdown of the Mesmer weapon types and their strengths and weaknesses in this thread. https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Guide-PvE-Dungeons-Phantasm-build-s As such, I will not spend much time covering this, as it has already been covered.

A Mesmer, optimally played, will use a sword mainhand and alternate between focus, pistol, and sword offhand a majority of the time. There are some situations where a ranged weapon is necessary or preferred, in which the greatsword can be used as a secondary weapon. However, use of the greatsword should be minimized as much as possible, as the weapon has low DPS and its other abilities are generally not suited for dungeons.

If you are going to be running dungeons a lot, you will almost never need a torch, staff, or scepter. I like to carry at least one of every weapon in my inventory, but the use of these three weapons is rarely, if ever optimal in a dungeon environment.

With permanent vigor, invulnerability on the F4 shatter, a 2.5 second evade with blurred frenzy, and a block on offhand sword, the Mesmer is actually one of the most durable professions in dungeons in spite of wearing light armor. Wear full berserker or assassins gear, and if you time your dodges and skills properly, you will take a minimum of damage while dealing maximum damage.

How to play a Mesmer and why

So, now that you have proper traits, armor, two swords, a focus, a pistol, and a greatsword, what do you do?

Control

The first role of the Mesmer I mentioned, which I personally think is the most underutilized and one of the most important, is control. This is where I see the majority of Mesmers fail – they do not effectively position the enemy in such a way that minimizes their killing time. Instead, they let the enemy run about, which can make them take 10x longer to kill and increase the odds that they will wipe your team.

Temporal Curtain (Focus 4) is the bread and butter of the Mesmer’s control tools, and Illusionary Wave (GS 5) is occasionally used to push single targets into corners or walls. How do you use these effectively? Temporal curtain has a pull radius of 600 units, and is frequently used to pull enemies into corners or walls. The following video demonstrates: http://youtu.be/fLfeDzsfy3o

Why corners or walls? There are several reasons. First, Temporal Curtain has a tendency to overshoot enemies that aren’t backed into a solid object. An improperly placed temporal curtain can scatter enemies rather than grouping them up, and by choosing a wall, you limit (or eliminate) this possibility. Second, grouping enemies into a wall or corner dramatically improves your party’s damage, as melee weapons will cleave through them with ease. Instead of hitting a single stray target, you are now hitting a full group.

In addition to grouping enemies up, Temporal Curtain is also used to clear or split enemies on trash runs. Since the pull from temporal curtain does not generate threat, it can be safely used to split enemies off the main path of a trash run so your group can run past them without drawing their attention.

If you want to learn how to focus pull, this is an excellent video guide: http://youtu.be/ajFtp6mnM1k?t=18m28s

Reflects

Another critical, and often underutilized role of Mesmers, is mitigating and enhancing your party’s damage through reflects. Many Mesmers blindly spam feedback on bosses or use feedback at the wrong times. When to use feedback is a lengthy discussion unto itself, and requires a thorough understanding of each enemy in particular encounters. Nevertheless, it is a good idea to use feedback against enemies in dungeons which are projectile heavy. They include Caudeceus Manor, Sorrows Embrace, Twilight Arbor, Crucible of Eternity, and Arah, One of the most frequently missed reflects I see is against the first trash pull in CoE, in which many players do not use reflects. Strife demonstrates why you should feedback them in the first 10 seconds of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B--IxGbvmIc

Boon and condition management

A secondary role Mesmers offer is boon/condition management. Often, if you are a Mesmer in a pickup group, you will have to fulfill this role, as your teammates may not be using builds or classes with effective condition removal. Null field, as of this writing, is the best condition/boon management a Mesmer brings to a party, though the Mesmer’s ability to remove conditions via mantras is going to be buffed soon. Condition management is hugely important, as stray bleeds, poisons, and burns in some fights can mean the difference between barely finishing an encounter and wiping.

Boon removal is less frequently used, but when it is important it makes a tremendous difference. Off the top of my head, some of the most important enemies where boon removal is key are the security golem in Crucible of Eternity, Dredge in Sorrow’s Embrace and fractals, and Risen Hunters in Arah. The security golem maintains permanent protection, which will reduce your group’s damage by 33%. The Mesmer sword and clone auto, in addition to null field, will strip protection off without requiring your team to destroy the protection turret. Boon removal is tremendously important against Risen elites in Arah, as Hunters will buff them with stability and fury. With stability on, you cannot pull or stun them, so either kill them before they get it or remove it as soon as possible.

Hopefully, this helps at least one Mesmer become a better player. Over time , I’d like to see more dungeon-specific class guides that can help players.

—Where and When to Reflect—
Full list here

FRACTALS OF THE MISTS

• Harpy fractal (Traited focus is great for 90% of it. The mid point golem fight requires an untraited focus. I believe it is the only skill that can currently negate is spinning poison spread. )
• Fractals (Grawl) Endboss’ Agony Arrow
• Fractals (Dredge + Dredgeboss) Bombs (I think you just destroy the bombs instead of reflecting them)
• Fractals (Swamp) Mossman’s Axe/Bloomhungers Shockwave
• First archdiviner in cliffside fractal has an attack that can be reflected where he spins around A note about the archdiviner. Sometimes when reflecting ( or not, I haven’t been able to figure out what on earth is really happening) you can get hit with a LOT of damage from an attack called ‘ring of warding’. Just something to watch out for.
  Ring of Warding is the projectile attack that you “should” be able to reflect. It appears that even if you reflect it with feedback, and see him take 6 8k crits, the ability pierces through and can still hit the player. Since the damage is the same as if a bolt hits the player, I assume this is the case. Usually, this happens when I feedback at the moment he is doing it, whereas I am never hit if there is a good 2-second window where he is in the bubble.
• Cliffside: For the arm seals, many of the trash mobs have a reflectable attack within feedback.
• Ascalon: The archers and mages have reflectable attacks.
• RANGED DREDGE EVERYWHERE
• Jade maw fractal: the squid mobs have a charged up knockdown attack that can be reflected.
• Ascalon fractal: when the final boss is in the firey greatsword stage, his standing still autoattack can be reflected for upwards of 25k damage.
• Grawl fractal first boss: he uses a projectile burning attack that can be nicely reflected.

ASCALON CATACOMBS

• AC p3 boss has an attack similar to the effigy which can be knocked back
• AC path 2 final boss: the ghost eater uses a frontal cone aoe that is similar to risen elementalists, except it also applies bleeding and cripple. Chaining reflects will kill him incredibly quickly.

TWILIGHT ARBOR

• Up/Up first spider boss and second spider boss: both use projectile attacks. First spider boss will receive 5x increased damage if you are poisoned. Same effect with champ spiders in arah.
• Lavaelementals can be reflectet to not hit the Ooze
• Sparki’s projectiles ignore reflections/destructions(Smoke Screen tested) (didn’t test untraited focus)
• Slick’s shots can be destroyed but not reflected
• Endboss’ AoE (Tools and Gears) can be reflected

CRUCIBLE OF ETERNITY

• COE golem primes itself to fire a red projectile which can be reflected for like 20k
• Icebrood Elementals

HONOR OF THE WAVES

• first legendary boss in hotw p1 has a projectile attack that can be reflected
• Most of the HotW stuff is projectiles based, story included. Final bosses rom explorables are excluded, since 2 of them are underwater and the one from path 1 has more aoe attacks than projectiles.

CAUDECUS MANOR

• When in doubt, reflect. You’ll probably hit something.
• Also in Caudecus story there’s a lot of projectiles. I remember that the final boss in story mode is a ranger, which didn’t touch me anytime thanks to iWardens and temporal Curtain.

CITADEL OF FLAME

• COF effigy has an attack where it slams its fist in to the ground which fires five projectiles that can be reflected for around 50k

ARAH

• Risen Elementalist in Arah basically kills itself on Wardens (he takes about 30% per blade volley).
• Alphard, Serpent of the Waves can be completely shut down.
• Orrian Turrets can be easily killed with any reflect skill.
• Wraithlord’s Mage can be totally shut down, just like Alphard.
• In addition to what was mentioned, mages use a projectile that reflects for about 10k. Hunters are by far the best, as they use a bouncing projectile that reflects for about 10k-12k and bounces around decimating everything. You can also reflect the poison spray from the orrian drakes, this will do a ton of damage to them.
• Lupicus’ aoe attack in p2 can be reflected, but you have to actually be inside feedback for it. I will trait mender’s feedback, stand next to a downed ally, and wait to revive them jus as lupicus uses the aoes. Additionally, in p3 the attack with a large red circle right in front of him where he sprays the ground with green stuff can be reflected for massive damage.

- Legendary Jotun Stargazer of path 1, feedback can be used to reflect his main attack instead of needing reflecting crystals.

SORROWS EMBRACE

• Prototype golems in sorrow’s embrace p1 can be decimated by reflects very quickly.

PVPING WITH MESMER
Supcuties Comprehensive Mesmer sPvP Shatter Guide
Pyroathiest’s Mesmer SoloQ Guide
Sensotix’s PvP Builds and Tutorials Collection
Supcutie’s Mesmer youtube Channel
PvP Phase Retreat Teleport Spots

WVWING WITH MESMER
(Under Construction)
WvW Theorycrafting thread: Veil-bots Unite!
—-
GVG WITH MESMER
Unofficial GvG site
Unofficial GvG Thread
—-

INTERRUPTS AND LOCKDOWN
- Full Article Here -
The Mesmer is a master of controlling opponents. We’re the only class that has traits that reward successfully interrupting your opponent, Confusion is almost exclusive to Mesmer, two of our 4 shatters [F2/F3] are control abilities, and we can reflect projectiles better than any other… And that’s just scratching the surface.

WHAT IS LOCKDOWN?
When you break combat down to its simplest terms, you find that almost everything can be mitigated in some way.

Movement – Cripple/Chill/Torment
Cooldowns – Chill/Interrupt
Projectiles – Reflect
Skill Use – Daze/Stun/Confusion/Blind
Healing – Poison
Damage – Weakness
AoE – Retaliation
Boons/Conditions – Removal

Mesmer have enough tools that we can quite easily shutdown any (and even all) of the above in a single build without having to sacrifice damage. Though a boss may be immune to daze/stun, Weakness, Vulnerability, & Chill (Debilitating dissipation, Hydromancy Sigils) still cuts their damage by 50%, increases skill cooldowns, and more vulnerable to damage.

CONTROL, MESMER-STYLE

Mesmer have 3 main ways to control opponents.

Boon Removal
Null Field, iDisenchanter, Arcane Thievery, Sword 1, Greatsword 2, Shattered Concentration (Domination VII)
Mesmer have wonderful AoE boon removal. Shattered Conditions combined with Null Field can make you a boon-nullifying nightmare on the battlefield. This is especially good against enemies that like to stack Might, Fury, Vigor or Stability. A sneaky combo is Arcane Thievery + Signet of Inspiration to steal long-lasting boons (Example: Signet of Rage is a very common elite among Warriors that grants 30 seconds of Might, Fury, and Swiftness… Did a sinister grin tug at your lips yet?).

Reflects
Feedback, Mimic, Medic’s Feedback (Inspiration I), Warden’s Feedback (Inspiration VIII)
Linger out of melee-range and what happens? Most likely, the enemy will try to shoot you. Projectiles are a very common form of attack, and skills like Feedback turn that damage right back on the enemy. Reflects are not affected by power, but are affected by critical chance and critical damage. A reflected projectile will count as YOUR attack, and thus proc any corresponding sigils. An excellent write-up with examples is depicted in Ansau’s Reflection Guide.

Confusion and Conditions
Cry of Frustration [F4], Scepter 3, Torch 5, Illusionary Retribution (Illusions 5), Confusing Enchantments (Domination VIII), Blinding Befuddlement(Illusions IX), Confusing Combatants (Dueling 25)
Confusion is a stacking condition that does damage to the opponent for every skill they use. It does half as much damage in PvP/WvW as it does in PvE, but can still be a very strong source of damage and highly discourages players from attacking. As long as we conveniently ignore Superior Runes of Perplexity (/shakefist @ Thieves with these runes) then we can say that Confusion is a nearly Mesmer-exclusive condition, sort of like Fear for Necromancers. Torment is another punishing condition that deals double damage to moving enemies. Our Scepter’s counterattack can inflict large amounts of Torment that can do several thousand damage to enemies. In addition to this, Mesmer can easily inflict AoE Cripple (-50% movement)/ Weakness (50% damage) / 3xVulnerability (1% more damage per stack) / 3xBleeds simply by spitting out clones and allowing them to be killed via Debilitating Dissipation and Crippling Dissipation (Domination V/ Chaos V).

HOW TO MAKE OTHER CLASSES HATE YOU

• Guardians and Warriors hate… Boon removal & Clone deaths.
  Guardians and Warriors thrive on boons such as Protection, Stability, and Fury for both doing damage and survival. A Warrior without Stability, or a Guardian without Protection can end up being a hilariously easy kill. Many of these soldiers also are at their best while in melee. Clone-death traits makes it difficult for them to attack you in melee without risking being crippled/weakness, effectively making them.. well, suck.

• Rangers and Engineers hate… Reflection.
  Pretty self-explainatory, but not always a constant rule. Reflection shuts down a huge majority of what Rangers and Engineers can do for damage and throws it right back in their faces. Feedback and traited Focus together can really shut these classes out of a fight for a bit.

• Thieves and Elementalists hate… Halting Strike & Chaotic Interruption.
  Thieves and Elementalists both have very low base HP, and thus are classes that must maintain their mobility in order to be effective. Elementalists are very succeptable to interrupts, and Halting Strike hits them very hard due to their low armor. Chaotic Interruption deserves mention here because all of the conditions it applies can really ruin these squishy opponents’ day. Mantra of Distraction with Halting Strike hurts Eles particularly hard since their heals are rather easy to interrupt and Halting Strike can very easily finish them off. In my experience, certain Thief-specs are very interruptable as well, but I don’t play Thief well enough to be able to explain how/why.

• Necromancer hate… Mantra of Distraction & Boon Removal.
  Have you ever seen a Necromancer go Lich/Plague form only to have their long-lasting Stability get ripped off them by a crafty Mesmer? It’s hilarious. Suddenly that giant lich is getting yanked left & right, dazed and stunned, and is nothing but a big green target for everyone else. Serves them right for flaunting those incredible glowing 6-pack abs liches have for.. whatever reason. When they’re not using wells or Staff, Necromancer are actually rather easy to interrupt.

• Mesmer hate… Condition Damage.
  I’ll be honest.. There’s no one particular way to keep a Mesmer locked down. Too many teleports and stealths for that pathetic nonsense that those other inferior classes can’t hand-…er, Mesmer fanboyism leaking in. Apologies. Anyways, while Mesmer are resiliant to hard CC (stuns, dazes, ect.) conditions tend to screw us over sideways with no lubricant. Most Mesmer carry only one form of condition removal, and that tends to be either on a long cooldown (Null Field) or tied to some silly stipulation (Arcane Thievery needs a target / iDisenchanter can be destroyed/shattered ). Condition damage and condition debilitations are the best way to take down a slippery Mesmer.

OK OK.. no mas. Last reserve. x_x

Are you sure? Because I really am wondering how to troll you next
Seriously tho thanks for putting this up Chaos. It is quite amazing.

Good. ^^

You missed the 1-40 part of the leveling guide…

Great work all around though

P.S.: I will delete this post if needed…

Alright guys, well the formatting/editing is a nightmare I’ll have to deal with tomorrow. (Fay, gonna be reaching out to you here for help on this)

The core information is all down, and I intend to have the guide entirely complete in time for the weekend. I left out a few things I still want to polish up and if any of the information is inaccurate or incomplete then make sure to comment with corrections.

I honestly intend for this guide to become the greatest Mesmer guide ever created, and I can only do that with all of your help.

To be honest, twice I almost gave up on this project entirely. I felt like it was too much work for something anyone could’ve done, and to make it worthwhile it’d have to be better and more informative than the official Wiki. With the death I had to deal with, it felt like this would just be too much additional stress, but with all the incredible support you guys gave me, I felt obligated to give something back.

So in a sense, this is my “thank you” gift to all of you.

This game has ended up helping me grow as a person, it’s made me realize my love of teaching, helped me grow more confident in my abilities, and allowed me to meet and talk to people all over the world from Greece, to Japan, to Australia, to even someone who lives in the same city.

And to be honest.. I never worked so hard(lol profanity filter)on anything in my life. This guide took well over five hours to write over several days. I can’t think of any time I’ve ever spent so much effort going over research and doing calculations for school/work. But at the end of the day the reasoning is simple:

I wanna become a game developer, and GW2 -for all its issues- is the exact kind of game I always wanted to create. I kid you not, the Mesmer profession is the class I always wanted to use in an MMO, and with you guys, I’ve found a forum community I’ve always wanted to be a part of.

This game has truly helped me grow for the better in ways I could’ve never expected, so if this guide helps educate even one person, then all the work was entirely worth it. Enjoy!

- Chaos

@Kai: Thanks for pointing that out, I added it. And that guide ROCKS bro, so thank you.

Nice post so far, having everything Mesmer put together in one big thread would be nice

just a thought, would it be possible to hotlink each of the sections up the top to jump down to the corresponding post when clicked on?

Vote for sticky, of course.
A lot of editing ahead though, but I know you can do it! ^^
The Gathering and Salvaging part of the leveling guide is in there twice, and the linking from the opening post is sort of weird.

Write me a pm or a post if you need something more on the leveling guide, I will let you know when I update it.

Amazing! Thank you Chaos!

Great job Chaos, now let’s hope it gets stickied.

Great work! I’ve added it to the guide section of the stickied build/guide list.

Oh hey, someone copied the wiki onto this site. That’s useful!

Nilgoow.1037:

Oh hey, someone copied the wiki onto this site. That’s useful!

Look at this guys post history..

Good work so far Chaos looking forward to it being expanded upon

Lahel.6381:

Look at this guys post history..

Gaze upon it and despair.

This is absolutely amazing. Great work!