Guild Wars 2

Full zerker Mesmers have always been particularly squishy, seeing as we rely on active abilities and cooldowns for defense. I feel like this has been amped up in HotS, and I find myself dying over and over in personal story instances, as well as open world PvE.

Is there still an immortal Mesmer spec going around? I was thinking maybe adapting the tank Mesmer for open world PvE. That’d mean soloing, but also world bosses.

Has this been done before? I’d appreciate any advice as to where to start looking.

Take SW/Sh and Staff, Chrono, Inspirations , Chaos.

You’ll deal little to no damage, but you’ll have plenty of stunbreaks, Staff 2 will be useful for evading AoEs or large attacks, and Shield itself just has tons of sustain. You’ll also have large-ish access to prot and regen from the Chaos line, especially if you take some boon duration gear like minstrels (speaking of minstrels, the healing you’ll output from RI would be insane in PvE with full minstrels).

Note though that while this build is close to immortal if played right, the damage you deal will be absolutely pitiful, it will take you forever to kill anything, which will make it incredibly boring for solo play. If you want an immortal build for solo play PvE, a Necro is a much better choice than a mesmer.

Sword shield or sword sword and great sword are fine. Sword shield is a bit better though due to two blocks, an evade, shield wave and two stuns. I’m marauder but seem to be surviving just fine.

Currently running Insp/Chaos/Chrono with Zerker/Assassin gear, Sw/Sh + Staff. Can’t explore the Tangled Depths to get waypoints without getting swarmed by Chak. Can’t outrun them. Can’t aoe them. Can’t take on more than 2-3 at a time (and they spawn in swarms, so).

I just keep dying, and the HotS maps are extremely frustating to navigate without nunoch wallows mastery.

Really, I’m thinking of just running a full soldier/clerics build. I know there used to be “immortal” roaming PvE builds pre-chrono. I’m not interested in contributing or doing high DPS in HoT content at this point, just tagging and staying alive. Everything else is much too frustrating.

Malice.8439:

Is there still an immortal Mesmer spec going around? .

You don’t need to worry to much about spec, you are given the tools you need to survive that kind of content.

Use the terrain and your skills to control the mobs, cleave/spike, and kite when necessary.

Malice.8439:

Currently running Insp/Chaos/Chrono with Zerker/Assassin gear, Sw/Sh + Staff. Can’t explore the Tangled Depths to get waypoints without getting swarmed by Chak. Can’t outrun them. Can’t aoe them. Can’t take on more than 2-3 at a time (and they spawn in swarms, so).

I just keep dying, and the HotS maps are extremely frustating to navigate without nunoch wallows mastery.

Really, I’m thinking of just running a full soldier/clerics build. I know there used to be “immortal” roaming PvE builds pre-chrono. I’m not interested in contributing or doing high DPS in HoT content at this point, just tagging and staying alive. Everything else is much too frustrating.

Zerker/assassin with staff ? No I would say it is not a great combination. If you run staff, you need to go hybrid. When I want to get myself easy, I personally run Gs/staff in insp/chrono/chaos with a mix of berserker/rampager (is it really the name ? The stats that give precision/condi/power with precision in major) for trinkets and a rampager/aristocracy rune and armor set.

flog.3485:

Malice.8439:

Currently running Insp/Chaos/Chrono with Zerker/Assassin gear, Sw/Sh + Staff. Can’t explore the Tangled Depths to get waypoints without getting swarmed by Chak. Can’t outrun them. Can’t aoe them. Can’t take on more than 2-3 at a time (and they spawn in swarms, so).

I just keep dying, and the HotS maps are extremely frustating to navigate without nunoch wallows mastery.

Really, I’m thinking of just running a full soldier/clerics build. I know there used to be “immortal” roaming PvE builds pre-chrono. I’m not interested in contributing or doing high DPS in HoT content at this point, just tagging and staying alive. Everything else is much too frustrating.

Zerker/assassin with staff ? No I would say it is not a great combination. If you run staff, you need to go hybrid. When I want to get myself easy, I personally run Gs/staff in insp/chrono/chaos with a mix of berserker/rampager (is it really the name ? The stats that give precision/condi/power with precision in major) for trinkets and a rampager/aristocracy rune and armor set.

The staff is a more defensive weapon, if anything. It synergizes very well with the Chaos tree, not to mention that Zerker Warlocks are amazing at champions.

I’m open to experimenting, though. Would you say that GS/Staff hybrid provides good survivability? Could you perhaps link your build?

So the build I gave you is more than enough to be immortal on a mesmer regardless of what your gear is, and like @cptaylor said in his reply, you don’t even need it. You can be immortal as a mesmer by playing something much less forgiving but with higher damage output (which in turn is a valid way to stay alive, by killing stuff faster).

The problem is that all of mesmers defenses are active defenses. Using BF as an evade. Using Distortion as an on demand invuln if you need it. Using F3 to interrupt large attacks. Using staff 2 to evade an attack/get out of an AoE field. Until you get those down, which does involve learning the tells from the enemies, you will have trouble surviving as a mesmer. It might sound harsh but its the truth with mesmer. Our defenses are all active.

OriOri.8724:

So the build I gave you is more than enough to be immortal on a mesmer regardless of what your gear is, and like @cptaylor said in his reply, you don’t even need it. You can be immortal as a mesmer by playing something much less forgiving but with higher damage output (which in turn is a valid way to stay alive, by killing stuff faster).

The problem is that all of mesmers defenses are active defenses. Using BF as an evade. Using Distortion as an on demand invuln if you need it. Using F3 to interrupt large attacks. Using staff 2 to evade an attack/get out of an AoE field. Until you get those down, which does involve learning the tells from the enemies, you will have trouble surviving as a mesmer. It might sound harsh but its the truth with mesmer. Our defenses are all active.

I am grateful for all the advice I’ve been given here, but I still feel like the HoT areas are in a league of their own. I’ve played Mesmer since launch, and I’ve never had any issues surviving in the open world before the dawn of HoT. Our defenses are, as you say and as I mention in the first post, all active abilities, and I feel like that’s no longer enough for me to survive in the open world (or even storyline instances, for that matter).

I do think you’re hitting the nail on the head regarding enemy tells, though. I don’t feel like I can predict what enemies will do before it’s too late. I feel as if I’m just running through open terrain one second, and the next second I’m in a downed state, because a mushroom popped from behind a bush and exploded, or red AoE circles swarm the ground beneath me and murder me before I can react and blink away to safety. I also don’t know how to deal with swarms that do not die from popped wells + 3 Mantra of Pain.

Perhaps practice will make perfect. But not surviving fights, and having to spend another 10-15 minutes to navigate those awful Tangled Depths tunnels doesn’t make for enticing gameplay. It’s not something I feel like trying over and over again – and so if it doesn’t work, I’ll turn off the game and do something else. I was hoping there’d be a trait/gear/rune setup that’d make that part of the game somewhat more bearable, but I guess I’m out of luck. :x

Edit: While I have been trying the build you’ve suggested (as it seemed to have the most “keep me alive” traits) I haven’t tried Minstrel gear. I’ll give that a go.

Minstrel is expensive gear, and I wouldn’t recommend shelling out the money for it unless you also plan on using it in other content like fractals or even raids as a minstrel chrono tank.

If you want more survivability in HoT maps, I would suggest rolling a Necro. They have absolutely insane survivability in PvE due to the combination of a high HP pool, shroud, and minions to take aggro and conditions from you (if traited). I find that a necro also makes story missions trivial to complete, and their personal DPS is way higher than mesmers as well, so you complete the instances more quickly.

As to learning the tells of the enemies in HoT maps, it just takes practice. And map awareness. I might be alone in this, but when I’m running through those maps, my camera is spinning around quite frequently. I mostly use it to look at the scenery because I love the maps, but it also is extremely important in telling me where enemies are waiting. Don’t be afraid to use the CTLR key to highlight them either. And over time you will learn which parts of the maps have which enemies in them. The tells themselves though just takes practice. I highly recommend playing through on Necro, and that way you can spend more time learning the tells of the enemies in those maps, which will make playing your mesmer easier.

What OriOri said in his first comment is correct. You have to choose between clearing content in a reasonable amount of time but occasionally dying to tougher fights or surviving everything but taking forever to do anything.

I have been running this build exclusively for PVE for a year now and finding it pretty effective.
https://gw2efficiency.com/c/Sankofa%20Jimiyu

Blocking attacks to produce clones and the Scepter for Torment, and Shatter: Cry of Frustration can shut down most level 80 mobs.
Focus 1: Temporal Curtain, Greatsword 5: Illusory Wave, and Shatter: Diversion for boss break bars.
Its not for everyone, but it has served me well, even in Dungeons, Fractals and some of the new content effectively.

I’ve switched to using mostly marauders/assassins instead of zerker.

You do just slightly less damage. With having 24k health. Allowing for less squish.

Also, as a chrono/Mesmer you are slanted towards support. You aren’t really….needed to dish out tons of damage in pve.

To survive in solo play, use illusions to distract the mobs. Hence I advise scepter which generates clones effortlessly while keeping your distance. Also take Deceptive Evasion trait if possible, to make a clone when you dodge.

Skilled staff will get you out of most situations. It’s great to assist others during boss fights and to tag mobs.

Mantra of Recovery heals you instantly, but requires some skill to use.

Asuras get access to two awesome skills. Radiation field and summon golem as elite. Former is a long lasting poison field to help kill faster via DoT and combos. Latter is a pet that distracts the mobs while dealing heavy damage, so stuff dies faster. Because we know mesmer is low DPS and needs all the help they can get.

had the same issues surviving any hot maps but now is less difficult with full commander gear, although it takes a lot to kill things so in some occasion you just die.
if you are just running around take invisibility with you, and blink. i usually use the signet of ether as healing skill in solo play because of the passive heal and to generate more phantasms. also with domination you can reduce its cooldown.
anyway surviving hot maps with mesmer it is still difficoult, if i really have to do stuff there i’ll bring necro. although i have all of the maps full explored with my mesmer, but i did that with my boyfriend a guardian who can kill things in seconds i just had to buff him and do the casual damage

This is the PVE open world I have been using. GS/Sword/Shield Zerker or Assassin gear, strength runes, etc. Dom221, Ill122, Chrono333. A bit boring as you kill form distance mostly with GS and your phantasms, but effective. I usually run wells for tagging. Rarely die with this build.

In PvE open world, I usually use GS/Sw/Sw with Zerk/Sin gear. The reason I don’t use the shield is because the phantasm is dismal in solo play, and you don’t do enough damage yourself to make up for the loss of hard hitting ones. Most common mobs can be cleared with GS and wells. Tougher bosses just require getting out at least two iSwordsmen and an iZerker. I run Ins/Ill/Chro. Inspiration for the condy clear, because cripple is annoying. Illusions for the increased speed of phantasms, and Chro for alacrity and chronophatasma.

Since the update, I’ve trying out pistol more instead of the off-hand sword.

I play a Berserker Mesmer in PvE and WvW. It is not a build recommended for all because it is so squishy. This post may not answer the original poster’s question but I hope it can help someone.

My basic philosophy is that I can kill anything that doesn’t kill me first. I pick skills that cause the maximum damage from me and the least damage from the mobs. My build is looking to maximize power and movement. If I can keep moving, I can avoid a substantial amount of damage.

In solo PvE, I recommend using the Signet of Inspiration for Swiftness. You can at a focus to give you unlimited swiftness. I also use Superior Runes of the Pack for extra Power, Precision and Swiftness (+30% duration).

I like combining Harmonious Mantra (from Dueling) with Mantra of Recovery for 3 heals instead of 2 heals. I also use Mango Pies for a constant health regeneration.

My key traits are:
Domination:
Empowered Illusions (15% damage)
Imagined Burden (for Might and Cripple)
Dueling:
Phantasmal Fury (20% crit for phantasms)
Fencer’s Finesse (Stacks ferocity up to x10 and recharges sword skills faster)
Critical Infusion (Increased endurance regeneration)
Harmonious Mantras (for healing)
Chaos or Chronomancer as needed

If I plan to run through zones like Auric Basin or Dragon Stand, I will use Signet of Inspiration and Blink. You can even use Mimic to get a second Blink. The idea is to avoid engaging mobs while traveling. I don’t have any toughness and I have minimal health so the mobs in HoT cause me to melt away in a few hits. Run away to safety as fast as you can. Only engage when you have the advantage.

I always run Greatsword/Sword/x. I often use the focus for the extra swiftness but I also carry a pistol, a shield and a second sword.

An example of an encounter might do like this. In Dragon Stand, most mobs are in groups. A good start for a fight would be to engage them on your own terms on favorable terrain. Since they all move on a path, you can select where to engage. Pick the mob to engage. Start with your offhand weapon. If I am using the focus, I will attack with Phantasmal Warden(5) at long range. Immediately switch to greatsword and cast Mirror Blade and Phantasmal Berserker. This series of attacks should cause serious damage to most mobs. Then you need to keep kiting the mobs.

I hold down ‘D’ and the right-mouse button and I can turn in a large while pew pewing the mobs with the Greatsword (1) skill. When you see the opportunity, switch to the sword/focus, use the Illusionary Leap and Swap skills (press (3) twice). This will root the mob. Then use Blurred Frenzy (2) to heavily damage the mob. Hopefully by turning in a circle, you have been able to keep all of the mobs together and all of your attacks are hitting all of the mobs.

If the situation turns bad, turn and run forward to get maximum distance from them and re-engage. Also, Temporal Curtain(4) on the Focus will also cripple the mobs. If they are running at half your speed, they cannot hit you. If they have slow distance attacks, you can avoid them by dodging.

I rarely ever use shatter. It is counter-intuitive to intentionally destroy your main source of damage output.

If I am using Chronomancer skills, I will usually take Gravity Well (elite skill). It is so cool to see the well grab a group of mobs, lift them up and slam them into the ground. While this is happening, they are not attacking you. Also, Well of Calamity also has a Cripple and Weakness for 2 seconds.

Some advice though:
If you are trying to get hero points in the HoT zones, there are generous people who run groups/squads that do through the zones and get the vistas, hero points, and POI’s. Don’t try to solo everything. Look in LFG and see what groups are running through these zones.