Guild Wars 2

I am new to the game, actually i used to play a year ago -just hit level 20 that day and stopped playing since last week- and i am returning player BUT with little knowledge so just call me newb, so my questions are; (please note that i’m reading lots of guides but can’t find a guide for begginers, rotations and explanations for recent patches also i pick mesmer not for opness i chosed mesmer for animations, like who can’t love gs auto attacks? Channeling sword without touching, cool yeah)

1) I have little problems killing mobs, i mean i don’t die but i also can’t kill easily. I tried staff/sword-focus gs/sword-focus guns scepters etc. I’ve seen a lot mesmers in my leveling areas whose can easily drop healths. What’s the main rotation for killing mobs? aside from auto attacking to death while casting staff 3,

2) I also play pvp -mostly- my rank is 14 but i can’t burst someone down. I know what my abilities are doing and my build is exactly same as metabattle’s burst/shatter mesmer build. I basically harras with few GS autos and GS 3, then cast GS 2 for a clone (maybe 4 also) then i switch to sword/torch 3 and cast decoy, press 3 again to immobilize and diversion after that i cast torch 5 immidietly double roll to summon 2 more illusions and mind wrack. Sometimes add sword 2 etc. for more damage while immobilized. I came up with that rotation so it’s all a noob’s rotations. Plus this isn’t so simple at all most of the time i can’t even cast more illusions especially when i’m out of rolls. What are the real rotations for pvp? I know every sceneraio changes in terms of your opponents, your teammates etc. but some basics? Because i think spending dodge rolls for damage isn’t good. And after my burst (yeah sometimes i manage to hit) i’m very vulnarable.

1) For leveling PvE, danger is most often about a group of enemies. So staff 3 is not such a great choice in this case. I think GS/sword-focus is the best combination as it is cleaving. When you’re on GS, don’t forget to use 5 to keep distance (GS is more effective at range + you take less damage).

I think this guide is a good one for new mesmers
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Guide-Kai-s-Complete-PvE-Compendium/first

2) For PvP, the best way to start is not harassing with GS autos. When you want to play bursty, you want to surprise your opponent very fast with a burst.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/MirrorBlink-A-Secret-Recipe-for-Mesmer-Burst/first

Now, while people complain that mesmer burst damage is a bit too easy, it does not mean it is easy if you’re all new in the game. PvP is a very fast pace mode, and it is difficult to get into. The question is how familiar are you with deceptive evasion + shatter as a play style. If you are not, then try it in PvE. It is not very efficient in PvE, but it should be working enough to survive and get a grip over the fast paced it is. Then, in PvP, you may want to try condi shatter build with a rabid gear. It is more resilient and thus more forgiving while still having a shatter gameplay. Finally, if you move to pure damage bursty shatter, try to rehearse your opening burst on golems in PvP training, to make it as fast as possible. You should be able to kill the heavy golem is about 5s or less. A bursty mesmer is very weak after its opening burst (illusions and shatter on cooldown, low endurance) so you really want to make the best of it!

Oh thank you very much, i’ll practice this guide for now.

I run sword-sword/GS when leveling.
Prioritize power/precision, then toughness. When you get to 3-stat armor, berserker is still #1, but there’s room for something a little more tanky.
Get Signet of Ether.
First trait line: Dueling (Phantasmal Fury, Fencer’s Finesse, Deceptive evasion)
Second trait line: Illusions (Compounding Power, Phantasmal Haste, Master of Fragmentation) or Domination (Empowered Illusions, Blurred Inscriptions, Imagined Burden)
Third trait line: whichever of the above you didn’t pick.

On approaching a single enemy from a distance:
Phantasmal Swordsman → Signet of Ether → Phantasmal Swordsman → Swap to GS
→ Phantasmal Berserker → Mind Stab.
The Swordsmen take their time getting into melee range, so they hit about the same time the iZerker does. Most regular mobs die instantly when the combo hits, and popping them in the face from max range with Spatial Surge tends to finish them off.
If your phantasms are healthy, you can just keep that up and watch the enemy melt. If your phantasms are getting hurt quickly, f1-shatter really quick and move in close.

On attacking up close, single target:
In melee range, pop up any phantasms you have off cooldown,
Then Mirror Blade → Mind Stab → Swap to sword → Blurred Frenzy or Phantasmal Swordsman. If you don’t have 3 illusions right now, sword 2 then f1-shatter.
Illusionary Riposte hits really. hard. Use it as much as you can, and you’ll find yourself taking less damage, and killing the target faster. Between Riposte, Blurred Frenzy, dodges and clones, you shouldn’t be taking much damage at all even in a zerker build.
Up close, Mirror Blade will bounce off your target to you, then back. You have to be almost in melee range for that to work, but it gets you 3 hits on target, for extra damage, 9 vuln stacks on target, and 9 might stacks on you.
In pvp people will already have their illusions up, and will often immediately shatter.
In pve insta-burst isn’t necessary, but the upfront damage helps your time to kill, and makes you feel like a bawss. Still, depending on what you’re fighting, it can be better to take a little more measured approach.

Against multiple targets:
Sword and Greatsword both cleave, but Greatsword basic attacks are next to worthless up close. Everything in the greatsword is aoe, including the phantasm, so that’s your primary aoe weapon while at range, and you’ll be swapping back and forth while in melee. Just don’t let yourself waste time on the GS #1 while in melee: pop over to unload, then back as soon as you can.
Shatters 1 and 2 are aoe, Shatter 1 is pretty much better in most situations.
When you shatter, the shatter effect is duplicated at your location. So when you’re shattering, you’ll get double damage if you do it up close, pretty much melee range.
Sword #1’s third hit hits extra hard, and cleaves, so make sure you let yourself get to that third hit when you are auto-attacking. It also rips off boons, which will help with those mobs like Dredge Disaggregators that love to pop up protection all the time.

If you find yourself shattering more often and letting your phantasms burn the target down less, switch Phantasmal Haste for Shattered Strength.

General philosophy:
1. Phantasms do superior damage over time as long as they can stay alive, and don’t have to chase after the target.
2. Against most mobs, most of your survivability is in the illusions. Shatter-3 and Shatter-4 make great panic buttons in those cases.
3. Shatters kill things faster up-front, so if you are up against weaker targets, shattering your phantasms will outperform, just because you don’t have to wait.
4. If you’re popping a phantasm to fill your third illusion spot, and you’re gonna shatter it, wait til it attacks first :P
5. Over time, pay attention to the tactics you like more. Shatter builds and phantasm builds are kind of split right now, so if you find you like one more than the other, adjust your traits accordingly and you’ll be rewarded. Shatter builds are much stronger in pvp right now, so leaning toward shatter as you get higher in levels will help with your pvp muscle memory, and when you get to 80 the shatter build will mostly outperform in pve too.
6. Don’t even think about condition builds until lvl 80. Don’t even think about Interrupt builds until you’ve got at least 2 full trait lines. Don’t bother with a tanky build until lvl 80.

Those are just my leveling suggestions :P
I don’t sPVP, so I’m not qualified to do more than parrot what people have said on the boards.

I would really prioritize sword-focus over sword-sword because iWarden is AOE + the extra swiftness is so much welcome. But yes, when facing a single challenging foe (champion/elite or whatever) going to sword-sword is more efficient.

First, as I understand it, the swiftness from the focus doesn’t stack with the swiftness from Signet of Inspiration, so you’ve either gotta time it perfectly, or let the 50% swiftness uptime on the Signet suffice. It’s pretty good, I’d stick with it.

Second, I never suffer for aoe when leveling mesmer with sword-sword/GS, so Warden’s aoe is kinda moot. Also, iWarden’s placement issues make it less effective against a lot of targets. Also, because iSwordsman has to run to the target, you can pop 2 of them with Signet of Ether, and still have time to get an iZerker up before they get to the target, giving you a 3-phantasm + Mind Stab burst to instagib most regular mobs, which in leveling is extremely valuable. Lastly, iSwordsman has a LOT higher single-target dps than the iWarden for a power build. As you noted, this is better for large targets, but it’s better for veterans as well, which are far more common.

Third, the pull cc on the barrier isn’t nearly as useful in solo play (read: leveling) as the block+hit from offhand sword. That retaliatory strike is the hardest-hitting single attack the mesmer has outside a full shatter. Further, once you get Ineptitude, that block blinds as well, making nearly any single-target melee fight a cake walk, and that kind of fight makes up 70-80% of combat while leveling.

Timing the swiftness on your focus is not rocket science but gives you close to 100% swiftness uptime with Signet of Inspiration.

The problem with with your S/S GS approach is, if you start with S/S and than switch to GS, you will be stuck for 10 seconds on the GS until you can swap back to S/S.

If you start with GS from range and get your berserker out, as well as the clone from mirror blade and a clone from dodging, you will be ready for a full shatter including you the moment you are at the mob.

While facing normal mobs, there will be no need to get two phantasms out. If the mob is not dead after the full shatter, switch to S/F and kill it with Sword 2.

While leveling, you want to be as efficient with your skills as possible. Normally, after my rotation, you still have a phantasm, a clone generator and a clone from dodging left for a full second shatter, you can use that one on a second mob. And you can switch back to GS to start over. The problem with your rotation is the long cooldown on Signet of Ether. Three phantasms on a mob are overkill anyways unless it is an elite or champion.

The most important things while leveling are speed and efficiency. A GS S/F combo will succeed best in this matter.

I know that I still have to finish the rework of my guide, I will work on it when I have time. If you have any questions on leveling feel free to PM me.