Guild Wars 2

Heya.
im playing the game more than 4 years so to speak and i got a bunch of various professions lvled up and played trough and now Ive been looking into mesmers lately.
I have a cool armor set i “made up” for it, im very happy and excited to be able to work on collecting the phtantasm weapons for the mesmer (as i did get the spirit weapons for my Dragon Hunter) and i like how different it plays compared to other professions i have (warrior, guard, ele, necro, ranger, revenant)

While i play mostly pve ( 40% World exploration> 25% story> 20%dungeons> 10%fractals> 5% raids) with various classes i also sometimes play pvp (a few times almost every day) and i do find my self playing from 1-10 hours in wvw per week (depending on the commander in teamspeak) however i simply cant grasp mesmers…

Every time i try to make a build on mesmers it just ends up a complete mess, i tried toying with the online build calculator, i read the traits and skills and i know what they do and how they play but i still end up having a character who does 100 various moves and effects but only 20 of them seem useful and somehow rewarding??

Is there something im missing and not understanding about the mesmer? Am i using all the wrong traits and skills that are completely useless and weak in most situations?

For referencing this is my build that i came up with : http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vhEQNAsdWl0nhS0YNawSNQtGLqGEZAqQxL7QJGAa1TT2B-TRxMAB0p+T9KBBY/BbU+pkeAA-e

The build is ment for pve world exploration mostly. I think it has good dmg/crits, i focus on phantasms and some shattters. Mantras are there for permanent swiftness trough runes of centuar, extra spike dmg and dazes for breakbars/ quickness.

I like staff and use it as a defensive weapon. Ofc i also switch around various utilities depending on the situation with skills such as mimic, feedback, portals,blink.

I havent leveled chronomancer to full but did try it out in the pvp lobby a few times and because of a few traits such as chronophantasma ,illusionary reversion and the f5 skill im back to square 1… i have no idea where to start and how to make a proper build.

I go with a shatter skill with scepter and those traits for a TON of phantasms/clone spamming but it ends up a mess, mobs move and take some of the illusions with them or some die very quickly and then im “defenseless” for a few seconds so to speak while i wind up my illusions back on another target and then at times i deal very low dmg compared to anything im used to play with…

And then we have the f5 skill..i do understand what it does and how it works, but every time i use it when i think its a good thing to use it on i feel like i messed it up and wasted it, like i could have used it up on something better.

I use it on ultimates like time warp or gravity well for break bars. Sometimes i use it (when i have 3 illusions up) to load out a bunch of heavy skills/utilities +ultimate. I rarely,if ever use it on my health bar.

I understand that there are a few classes that play totally different compared to other professions. For example:
-Ele : nukes a lot of aoe dmg on lots of targets, group up and aoe
-Guard: Using symbols for aoe dmg and cleaves, group up and aoe
-Warriors: High sustain, group up and cleave
-Necro: Super sustain, group up and aoe/cleave, has fun minions
-Rev: Similar to guardians, group up and cleave/aoe
-Ranger: Axe/torch+ longbow, group up and aoe, has fun pets to tank while i pew pew behind

-Then i started playing thieves and ,while it couldnt simply group up lots of mobs and aoe them down (cause of my low sustain and lack of cleaving/aoes) i still found a perfect set up/build for my thieves and had super fun and had a awesome feeling playing thieves with blinds, shadow arts, stealths, traps ect

But mesmers?? I just cant make it work for me… I spend a lot of time in PvP lobby trying out different things (for pve) and even when i do find something good, it feels like the rest of the 60% of the build works against what i made…

What am i doing wrong?

I’m going to start off by saying that I mainly play mesmer/chrono. That said, mesmer in open world exploration—especially in the HoT maps—is kind of a pain. Like you mentioned, having to summon phantasms and clones for individual enemies and rely on cleave to kill mobs is kind of terrible.

That said, there are a few things for the build you’re running that would personally allow ME to enjoy mesmer more. Your mileage may vary.

a) I would take fewer mantras. Having to spend 2.75 seconds to charge up each mantra is an absolute pain in the butt, and the charges are spent quickly. Most mobs in the open world don’t require huge break bars; you can make do with a triple (+yourself) F3 shatter + temporal curtain usually. Or you could just kill the thing and ignore break bars. That would allow you to remove mantra of distraction at least.

b) For movement, I would just get chrono for the passive 25% speed bonus, throw on signet of inspiration for the swiftness (50% uptime passive, no boon duration), add blink for extra movement + stun breaks, and run through temporal curtain off cooldown. If you have boon duration gear, this can help with movement (it’s also great for group content). This would allow you to replace your runes too.

c) Abuse the pull on temporal curtain. Learn its range. Combo.

Example: Target the strongest creature near by, staff 3 for a phantasm (or 2 for a clone), swap to sword/focus, drop temporal curtain, start casting phantasmal warden, use the pull from the curtain (warden finishes casting after your pull), use illusionary leap (sword 3 x2) to engage, blurr frenzy while using mind wrack (+ cry of frustration if you want) near the end on your neatly stacked group of enemies. This combo creates 3 clones/phantasms, allows your warden to get some good cleave damage in before shattering on your stack of enemies, and leaves you cool downs on staff to follow up once you swap back.

d) I would take blinding dissipation over fencer’s finesse, especially since you feel “defenseless” after shattering. If you feel like you’re having trouble surviving at all, taking a more defensive trait line like inspiration might be beneficial. The condition clears + heal on shatters is particularly useful (if you’re low on health, just use your shatters!), and something I miss when I swap to a full offensive condi-mesmer.

e) Generally speaking, I only use F5 as part of a quickness rotation or to use utilities or elites twice/three times (if you use mimic). This is because, as it’s a shatter, it uses up phantasms and isn’t worth wasting what illusions you have up already to try to create more for shattering (most weapon skills). For example, I use it at the end of casting mass invisibility and immediately cancel f5 by pressing it again if I’m helping my fractal group skip some areas. For a double heal, you’d have to take healing well since your health reverts back to what it was. The well stays on the ground and the last pulse will still heal you if you’re done with F5 by that last tick (then you cast it again for more health).

All that aside, some of the reasons you mentioned (phantasm/clone re-targeting) are why mesmers shine not at damage, but utility. You can keep up quickness 100% of the time for a party of 5. You bring alacrity. You can bring shared distortion/invulnerability. But DPS? That’s a bit harder to work.

I have the most fun with my mesmer in group content like fractals and raids, but again, your mileage may vary.

tnx for the long reply!

I understand about mantras but like i said i do switch around skills depending on the situations. I also use mantras while im out of combat, running towards my next target or event and only focus on my healing skill later mid fight.

Ill give blinding dissipation a try. I dont have much trouble staying alive its just that once i shatter my illusions (something i usually do in order to finish up the monster the illusions are tied to), the other monsters (if i fight multiple at once) that are still alive turn to me for a short period when i dont have any illusons up.

I guess i havent been using my f5 wrongly then. I thought i did cause during various fights there are so many moments where i think to my self “this is the moment where hiting f5 would be great!”. But the moments are super short, they pass, and then another opportunity appears for me to use f5. So in the end i made it simple and fixed it only to double cast my ultimate, or blow out all utility skills.
I guess i can double cast the well healing skill but i find my self not needing that much heal.

I understand illusions are temporary and “Bound” to the target they have been casted on, i also understand my dps relies on bursts so to speak rather than steady dps and that the entire class is focused on great utility and support, thats not a problem. I just need “enough” good dmg to solo roam around the world and map complete. Everything else is group content so to speak in which ill be happy to play the “mesmer suport”