Guild Wars 2

Hi, i’m a new player in the spanish server, just bought the game this weekend, and i’d like to ask a few questions, if you don’t mind.

I still believe the funniest char i have played in ANY mmo (And i played around two dozens of them), was GW1’s mesmer. I had a disruption one, with cancels in every single slot (and the refresher elite), and it was so fun to fight off every single enemy, as they got damage for attacking, casting an spell, or doing anything that I didn’t want to

So my first question is: Is there any way of reproducing such a build (the “nope” build as i named it) in GW2?

Secondly… i realised that, despite clones offering a nice way of fighting, they are super-weak, getting two shot most of the time, and dealing single-digit damage, while my sword flurry tecnique makes me invincible for 2.5s and slashes everyone around for a total of 200 or so. Thus, i’m not satisfied. I chose to play a mesmer, a char that is supposed to deceive the enemy, making them ask themselves who to attack, and getting punished for choosing the wrong target. Somehow, i feel i’m playing a warrior. Why should i worry about micromanaging my clones, exploding them and creating new ones while using my switch spell, when my basic attacks deal more damage than 3 of them detonating at the same time? Will this change at higher levels? Will i be able to have more than 3 clones/phantasms, or have at least one that can actually do stuff? (the phantom duelist is the only one that actually deals damage)

Lastly… i’ll appreciate any tips and tricks you experienced players want to share with me ^^.

Thanks!

A “nope” build is definitely possible, atleast in pvp.

In pve, the ai is just too unintelligent to actually do skmething, of get confused :P.

In pvp, Mesmer’s in general depend alot on the user’s creativity. Nearly every skill has multiple ways to use them, and will be devestating if used and timed right. To properly ‘nope’ someone, you have to:

1. know your own skills
2. creativelly use your own skills
3. think fast, but accurate
4. know your enemy

When you mastered these 4, you can couter any enemy, regardless of their build, or your build.

In pvp, we have 4 effective damage oriented Mesmer builds:

• Shatter. Shatter your clones, dealing instant and very high burst damage. It has an incredible skillcap, because you can’t be predictable and rely alot on active defense. (A warrior for example can tank alot).
• phantasm: summon phantasms to eat your opponent, while you troll them and dont even get hit. The enem kills your phantasms, you make more. The enemy tries to hit you, he takes massive damage from phantasms.
• condition: whittle your enemy down. Relies alot on either combos, or just survivng with staff clones (they are the highest damage clones). Has the most passive defense, and thus is perfect for newer players to just et used to how skills feel. (But still has a high skillcqp)
• and finally: lockdown. Interrupt key skills, such as heals to really kitten people up. Thief wants to stealth with his stealth-heal? Nope. Interrupt. You can trait your interrupts to give you boons, give conditions to the enemy, do damage (up to 4k, most people have about 18k health), and much more. Then again, lockdown is more than just interrupts. Teleports, cripples, and chill (their skills recharge much slower) all help you in achieving mqximum frustration for your enemy.

Lockdown is difficult, as it requires extensive knowledge and the ability to identify your target… But very rewarding once you gt it right.

Sadly, phantasm is the optimal build for speedrunning, but for now, you dont have to bother.

While leveling, just try out all weapons, and see which one you find the most fun.

If you have any questions about pvp/builds/levvelling/fashion or whatever, feel free to send me a private PM, or whisper me in game.

edit: oh, and sorry if you didnt care about pvp :P. Theres not really a point in locking down mobs :P and if you want to see lockdown builds in action, feel free to click the awesome link in my signature, and watch the video called ‘Mind Crush Duelling’.

Ehm I beg to differ, there is nothing like the GW1 mesmer in gw2. Mesmer was quite possibly the strongest char in gw1 that could shutdown entire groups by being fast and with some good prediction. The shatter builds are powerfull but nothing like a shutdown mesmer in gw1. Pve/wvw point of view because I know kitten about pvp in gw2.

Youtube has plenty of videos with examples of what the mesmer is capable of

You could make a stun heavy build, but it’s nowhere near the gw1 Mesmer. It’s a totally different class. Confusion is sorta like the old “Visions of Regret” elite skill. But it’s not as good here in gw2 as the condition is easily removed by all classes.

Also, Phantasms can be traited to bring a lot of pain. The best damage is from having 3 phantasms up, but like you said, that’s hard cause they die quite fast. Having 1 or 2 up is still good damage though.

The best build for Mesmer (at least in PvE) is to build for pure damage/precision and to trait for heavy hitting illusions. Also, try not to shatter them unless it would kill a group of mobs. There are Mesmer shatter builds that focus on quickly shattering illusions for damage, but having strong Phantasms up is a way more damaging build.

GW1 mesmer and GW2 mesmer is 2 different thing. If you want to play old style GW1 shutdown mesmer, you can, it’s just an higher skill ceiling because you don’t have the charging bar anymore.. It’s less appropriate for PvE open world though.

People already answered you for clones/phantasm so I won’t.

As for shutdown : Sword off hand, Pistol, Signet of Domination, Mantra of Distraction, Diversion and random Chaos Storm (Staff). For more info : http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Daze

Here’s a tip: forget everyting you know about the Gw1 mesmer. The two are quite different due to different game mechanics.

Double post due to missing edit edit button: I don’t mean to sound snarky or anything this is mostly from experience. Whether you like it or not the use of clones is the primary role of the Mesmer and there’s not much in terms of avoiding them. Learn to love them if you want to use a Mesmer. Personally I prefer shattering my clones but there are some useful phantasm builds you can learn.