Guild Wars 2

Hi. I’m completely new to this game, but I’ve had a lot of experience with MMOs in general as I’ve pretty much played each and everyone sometime or another, a few of them over a longer period of time :P

I decided to finally buy GW2 when I saw it was on sale, and I’ve heard that the PvP is pretty awesome so I thought I’d give it a try. So far I’m loving it, and I decided to play a Mesmer. But after talking to some people, both in a guild I’m in and RL friends who play this game, they all recommend me to play something else so I can get the “hang of the game” instead of playing such a complicated class as Mesmer.

Are they right? And if they are, do you have any good classes to recommend as “beginner” classes?

Mesmer is one of the more complicated classes as it isn’t as straightforward with its play and you have to keep track of more than just yourself.

That being said, if it is the class you are wanting to play, stick with it. Whatever you play, you’ll have to learn it. Mesmer is a very fun class.

HairyPig.3795:

Hi. I’m completely new to this game, but I’ve had a lot of experience with MMOs in general as I’ve pretty much played each and everyone sometime or another, a few of them over a longer period of time :P

I decided to finally buy GW2 when I saw it was on sale, and I’ve heard that the PvP is pretty awesome so I thought I’d give it a try. So far I’m loving it, and I decided to play a Mesmer. But after talking to some people, both in a guild I’m in and RL friends who play this game, they all recommend me to play something else so I can get the “hang of the game” instead of playing such a complicated class as Mesmer.

Are they right? And if they are, do you have any good classes to recommend as “beginner” classes?

for PvP, I would not bother with Mesmer, especially for beginners. Not to mention one of the most popular class in thief is a hard counter to the Mesmer class, no matter which build you go with.

Play whatever you like – if the theme/style of mesmer is attractive to you then who is to tell you otherwise.

I say dive right in, learn as you go.

You’ll probably die a lot at first – don’t be put off, just keep at it – I promise you’ll gain a much deeper appreciation for the class by sticking with it through the difficult learning phase.

Edit: For the record – I never played GW1 and the last tab targeted game I have played is KotOR 2. I had never played a game with holding right click to rotate the camera, so the entire combat experience in GW2 was completely alien to me at first.
I started with thief (got bored after 2 weeks), then moved straight to mesmer – took me at least a year to properly understand how to play, but it has been my main ever since and I have absolutely no regrets. Actually I feel like all the deaths and failures have given me an invaluable experience of the class – including stupid things like doing most of map completion without a focus/speed boost.

I’m very happy I didn’t faff about with other classes to “learn the basics” because it would have been a waste of time – and less time I could have spent enjoying mesmer.

A more and less scaredy answer is this..

Yes and no.

Yes it’s a good class to begin with as it’s a bit less straight forward. It gets you into deeper mechanics in gw2 faster than other classes will and it’ll make you a more scrappy player who looks at not just health bars and CD timers but terrain and los and so on so forth.

It’ll also teach you about bugs and exploits and cheats of some manner to fudge fights into your favor.

It’s also terrible for brand new players as the leveling process is very hard and will be frustrating and long. The current trait unlock system is also a giant mountain to overcome kitten much of what makes Mesmer good is in its traits and not it’s skills or weapons..

It’s more up to you what your willing to put up with and how fast you can learn

Mesmer isn’t a good choice for anyone.

I started as mesmer, and maybe it wasn’t the “optimal” choice for a non-veteran MMO’er, but screw optimal! I wanted to play what I liked, I liked the idea of manipulating minds to win and shooting lasers from swords, so I just played with the game in mind instead of trying for being “Elite/Top-Tier/#1” right off the bat, and frankly neither should you. It’s a bit kitten leveling, but nothing we haven’t all overcome. If you like the concept and style of mesmers, you should play it, and that’s all. If you find you don’t, just switch over and no harm done, I thinks.

As of right now the Mesmer is the most disappointing train wreck of a class.. There is just about zero synergy between the skills and traits; making you spend your trait points all over the place. There have been sooo many nerfs done to the mesmer that just finding viable build is near impossible, and even if you do it will be sub-par next to the Thief or Ele’y. You will forever kick yourself for wasting time and effort into this scrub class..

Mesmer’s are a DEAD class.

If you’re not playing Mesmer in this game you’re better off playing another game. It’s the single best part of the game. All other classes are boring by comparison. You’ll get more out of eating wheatbix.

The other classes can be good for a kitten , but Mes has lasting power. Regardless of what “spot” it is or isnt in atm.

HairyPig.3795:

Hi. I’m completely new to this game, but I’ve had a lot of experience with MMOs in general as I’ve pretty much played each and everyone sometime or another, a few of them over a longer period of time :P

I decided to finally buy GW2 when I saw it was on sale, and I’ve heard that the PvP is pretty awesome so I thought I’d give it a try. So far I’m loving it, and I decided to play a Mesmer. But after talking to some people, both in a guild I’m in and RL friends who play this game, they all recommend me to play something else so I can get the “hang of the game” instead of playing such a complicated class as Mesmer.

Are they right? And if they are, do you have any good classes to recommend as “beginner” classes?

The mesmer class is one where there really isn’t an “Oh kitten” button to get out of a situation. It’s a lot less forgiving than most of the other classes but if played right can have a very good results.

With that said, it doesn’t matter what class you start out with. If you’ve played MMO’s before and like the concept of the mesmer then go play a mesmer. Mesmer isn’t a complicated class but just watch your cooldowns and you’ll be okay. “You’ll be mediocre at it. Probably still pretty bad, though.”

Mesmer rocks. Just start small. Ignore the people that say shatter or die. Ease into the class with forgiving specs such as condition pu move to power pu. Then gradually change over pieces to become a bursty spec in pvp/wvw. Mesmer is a boss class. Become feared on your wvw home world!!

phokus.8934:

The mesmer class is one where there really isn’t an “Oh kitten” button to get out of a situation.

Err. How ’bout Blink, Distortion, and Mass Invis?

Naw, the problem is that we’re a really trait-dependent profession, which makes it boring when you’re leveling and gives you a lot of opportunities to create a build that just does nothing.

denis.9487:

Mesmer rocks. Just start small. Ignore the people that say shatter or die. Ease into the class with forgiving specs such as condition pu move to power pu. Then gradually change over pieces to become a bursty spec in pvp/wvw. Mesmer is a boss class. Become feared on your wvw home world!!

Now I know you’re tolling.. No one and I mean NO ONE fears a Mesmer..

Seriously other classes can accomplish what a Mesmer can do in half the time with minimal deaths, but if you like pain with little reward then the Mesmer class is for you. I would not start any crafting or sink gold into soulbounds until you truly think this trash class is for you.. Oh and get used to being kicked from groups just because of your class.. (got a portal?). I would try other classes just to compare and you will see for yourself.

Oh LOOK OUT!!! Here comes NecroN’s Mesmer.. Haahaa OMG thats a good one… Thanks I needed that laugh.

I feel like mesmers are a challenging, yet oddly rewarding profession depending on how patient you are with the leveling and learning curve. If you’re the kind of person that likes to see big numbers and/or easy mode, you’re rolling with the wrong class.

I remember when i was a brand new player (back at bwe 1), started with mesmer and played it ever since. I’m pretty sure there are others like that. I’m also pretty sure that if not for the mesmer class, i would not be playing this game anymore. For what? The other classes don’t really deserve to be mained.

Also, no dungeon parties kick mesmers for being mesmers, unless they already had one or were looking for other specific classes and you joined as mesmer (this is true for every other class though, if you are not what the lfg asked for).

So i would definitely start a mesmer to see how it is, in case you feel overwhelmed you can still reroll a warrior and spam 100b and be a banner-bot and have your fun.

Nyhmz.3672:

So…..

I’ve been looking into doing level 80 stuff for a while on my mesmer. I read up on some guides and I always make sure to fully read a guide on the dungeon I’m about to go into.

Yet every time I go look around to find a group to do anything I always get the same-ish answer, “Do you have a zerk warrior/ele/thief?” I say that I don’t and they usually give a response along the lines of “Well reroll you kittenlord”

Is that a common thing that it gets hard to get into any PvE with a mesmer? Since the game has come out I’ve only been doing sPvP so I’m nowhere near a beginner but I’m quite confused as to how I’m supposed to even do dungeons if I always get told to bugger off.

I wouldn’t even know how to start looking for a guild that would welcome players like myself who have a lot of experience in PvP but little to none in PvE and that wouldn’t mind actually bringing me along for stuff.

So yeah, what should I do? I don’t really wanna roll a class that doesn’t interest me in the slightest and I just generally don’t like alts :/

Not just me..

That’s because the “meta” is 2 eles, guard, thief, warrior and pugs try to imitate that. Also because these pugs are full of people who don’t know what any other class does besides theirs (which is generally a terrible thing, not knowing what your team mates can/can’t/are supposed to do).

I’m also pretty certain that most people don’t bother even thinking about how much “dps loss” they are dealing with when bringing something other than what they’ve read/heard is best. It’s negligible, unless you are really going for some speedrun records, which you won’t be doing as pug.

You can come up with any reasoning you like, but the fact is this happens all the time.

My reasoning was that the same could be said for engineer, ranger and necromancer. So don’t base your decision of what to play on what pugs do. Also, it does not happen “all the time” as i have never been kicked from any pug or asked if i had another class, etc.

HairyPig.3795:

Hi. I’m completely new to this game, but I’ve had a lot of experience with MMOs in general as I’ve pretty much played each and everyone sometime or another, a few of them over a longer period of time :P

I decided to finally buy GW2 when I saw it was on sale, and I’ve heard that the PvP is pretty awesome so I thought I’d give it a try. So far I’m loving it, and I decided to play a Mesmer. But after talking to some people, both in a guild I’m in and RL friends who play this game, they all recommend me to play something else so I can get the “hang of the game” instead of playing such a complicated class as Mesmer.

Are they right? And if they are, do you have any good classes to recommend as “beginner” classes?

You know, out of all classes Mes has the strongest, best laid out community. There’s no shortage of builds, guide, or experienced advice. There’s plenty of youtubes to fast track learning how to mes. You can even join OMFG to get in game help. There’s really no reason to concern yourself with starting the game fresh as a Mesmer thanks to the community we have.

NecroN.8306:

No one and I mean NO ONE fears a Mesmer..

My WvW guild typically fields about 1/3 mesmers, 1/2 rangers. We’re plenty scary.

ASP.8093:

NecroN.8306:

No one and I mean NO ONE fears a Mesmer..

My WvW guild typically fields about 1/3 mesmers, 1/2 rangers. We’re plenty scary.

Mobs usually are.

HairyPig.3795:

Hi. I’m completely new to this game, but I’ve had a lot of experience with MMOs in general as I’ve pretty much played each and everyone sometime or another, a few of them over a longer period of time :P

I decided to finally buy GW2 when I saw it was on sale, and I’ve heard that the PvP is pretty awesome so I thought I’d give it a try. So far I’m loving it, and I decided to play a Mesmer. But after talking to some people, both in a guild I’m in and RL friends who play this game, they all recommend me to play something else so I can get the “hang of the game” instead of playing such a complicated class as Mesmer.

Are they right? And if they are, do you have any good classes to recommend as “beginner” classes?

You will be frustrated by Mesmer.
It is weak and need babysitting to not be completely chained kitten d by thieves.
And even with a full team behing you top players estimate that they are gimping their team playing the class (see supcutie comments).
As a beginner you will just eat flowers in the ground whole day long.
If you are patient and want something efficient in the end I would recommend elementalist or thieves. These two classes can shine everywhere (WvW GvG / Roaming / sPvP and PVE)
Yes Thieves are top class also for dungeon clearing.

Both elementalist and thief needs a lot of learning to be played properly and effectively in either game mode. I don’t see how they are any more “beginner friendly” than mesmer.

If anything, pick a warrior. In PvE you can hug your gs all the time and spam banners and people will love you. In PvP grab a shoutbow build and cleanse all day long and people will love you. In WvW kill stuff you can kill and run away from everything else with supreme mobility.

HairyPig.3795:

And if they are, do you have any good classes to recommend as “beginner” classes?

Warrior, Ranger, Necromancer.

serow.6524:

HairyPig.3795:

And if they are, do you have any good classes to recommend as “beginner” classes?

Warrior, Ranger, Necromancer.

My first was a ranger, back when they sucked. Tried to fight mesmers back then and just died so fast so I thought WTF and rolled a mesmer. I think it’s good if you start with another profession, there is so much to learn in this game and having a class that is too complicated just makes it less enjoyable. Learn the game mechanics and the basics then switch to a more advanced class. My background I also from playing too many MMOs and mesmer is very different from the “normal” classes.

I have a tip, make your first a Thief they are fast and got lots of stealth which is good when your new (and easy to play, just spam #1, they are pretty fragile though but it’s good to get that into your play style. The thief play style is in some ways similar to mesmer (they make a great roaming pair in WvW) and by learning thief you will also have a huge advantage if you switch to Mesmer later on. Knowing how thieves play is essential in beating them and they are and have always been our biggest nemesis.

Best choice is what you enjoy because no matter how hard that class is you will try to learn it.

Mesmer is probably the most frustrating class to start with, dealing no damage, especially if you don’t know how to play them at least semi good, resulting into switching to ele / war and never touch anything utility focused ever again in gw2, blaming every other player that plays mesmer with being useless.

TL;DR: No.

I don’t like these ‘frighten’ strategies regarding classes, does it really mater ? If you don’t play the class in question, you can’t learn how.

Not to mention that everyone is different, what you find hard, OP might not. I found Mer no harder then Engi, but man, don’t get me to play warrior,guardian or thief I can’t play those at all. Just shows that people are diverse creatures.

TLDR; go for it, do note that squishies are a bit harder to lvl and the lack of traits will make it a bit difficult.

Ross Biddle.2367:

If you’re not playing Mesmer in this game you’re better off playing another game. It’s the single best part of the game. All other classes are boring by comparison. You’ll get more out of eating wheatbix.

The other classes can be good for a kitten , but Mes has lasting power. Regardless of what “spot” it is or isnt in atm.

My thoughts exactly.

Mesmer is the most unique thing in GW. The only reason I still play is because you can’t find mesmer like mechanics in any other game – whereas you can find all your stereotypical warriors/guardians/thiefs/rangers/eles/necros in any other fantasy game, and engineers in any kind of role playing tps/fps.

Also it has happened in the history of online games that developers have “hit the mark” with a balance patch and a class that was said to be oh-so-bad suddenly became part of almost every meta in said game (mesmer in gw1 and panic).

So you should never base the decision which class to play on where they are in the “meta” right now, nor what some other people say about them.

Nothing keeps you from playing it for a bit, try out traits and mechanics in pvp and then decide for yourself. If you think that is a waste of your time, then play some other game because any class can fall out of the meta just as fast as they fell into it so telling you play X class wouldn’t work either.

Also, there is nothing sweeter in the entire game than landing a 3-clone F3 into a 3-clone F1 burst (talking PvP here, BTW).

Despite the various things that have been done to Mesmer that I disagree with … I still enjoy my Mesmer, and that is what really matters.

Play what you are going to enjoy. It won’t matter if you’re the most OP/UP class in the game, the easiest/hardest class in the game, etc. if you don’t simply enjoy the class you are playing at its core.

NecroN.8306:

denis.9487:

Mesmer rocks. Just start small. Ignore the people that say shatter or die. Ease into the class with forgiving specs such as condition pu move to power pu. Then gradually change over pieces to become a bursty spec in pvp/wvw. Mesmer is a boss class. Become feared on your wvw home world!!

Now I know you’re tolling.. No one and I mean NO ONE fears a Mesmer..

Seriously other classes can accomplish what a Mesmer can do in half the time with minimal deaths, but if you like pain with little reward then the Mesmer class is for you. I would not start any crafting or sink gold into soulbounds until you truly think this trash class is for you.. Oh and get used to being kicked from groups just because of your class.. (got a portal?). I would try other classes just to compare and you will see for yourself.

Oh LOOK OUT!!! Here comes NecroN’s Mesmer.. Haahaa OMG thats a good one… Thanks I needed that laugh.

Weird, all these try hard Cele elementalist/engis seem to fear me :X. Maybe they are just giving me free kills because I chose to play a suboptimal class

OreoWolf.9564:

NecroN.8306:

denis.9487:

Mesmer rocks. Just start small. Ignore the people that say shatter or die. Ease into the class with forgiving specs such as condition pu move to power pu. Then gradually change over pieces to become a bursty spec in pvp/wvw. Mesmer is a boss class. Become feared on your wvw home world!!

Now I know you’re tolling.. No one and I mean NO ONE fears a Mesmer..

Seriously other classes can accomplish what a Mesmer can do in half the time with minimal deaths, but if you like pain with little reward then the Mesmer class is for you. I would not start any crafting or sink gold into soulbounds until you truly think this trash class is for you.. Oh and get used to being kicked from groups just because of your class.. (got a portal?). I would try other classes just to compare and you will see for yourself.

Oh LOOK OUT!!! Here comes NecroN’s Mesmer.. Haahaa OMG thats a good one… Thanks I needed that laugh.

Weird, all these try hard Cele elementalist/engis seem to fear me :X. Maybe they are just giving me free kills because I chose to play a suboptimal class

Please tell us all the players names that told you that they fear your obviously op Mesmer?….. What was that??…. Oh you said “seem” I’m sorry nevermind..

It’s hard to say whether or not you should start with Mesmer. On the one hand, Mesmer is flat out abysmal until level 70 or so. This is due to not having access to the necessary traits. As a result, Mesmer can be a brutal class to start with.

On the other hand, starting another class and then making a Mesmer second basically means that you’re going to be hyper aware of how absolutely awful Mesmer is by comparison. Starting Mesmer first means you have no basis for comparison.

Either way, Mesmer is not a fun class to level, not an easy class to learn and play, and not the most rewarding to master. My personal recommendation is to start with something else, and only make a Mesmer when you’re ready/able to power level it to 80 without actually playing it.

I have the most fun w/ mesmer out of the other classes. I know some people that hate it, though. Play all the classes and stick with the one you enjoy most.

I personally chose Mesmer as my first toon, and even til this day he is still my main. My friends always said something along the lines of “oh my, you didn’t choose an easy class as your first character huh?.” I also have a friend who mains ele, and she says that Mesmer is too hard for her.

PvE/Dungeon/Fractals:
I think people say mesmers are hard [to play] because they deal weak damage. Period. You don’t run to a Mesmer asking them to do damage. Warriors can deal 45k+ damage ez. You’d be lucky to even deal 4k damage (and that’s with 25 stacks of might and 25 stacks of vulnerability). You need to understand that the Mesmer’s role is mostly support/utility.

PvP:
pvp is all skill based. but imo memser is a class that is hard to be good at in pvp. yes there’s the ‘cheese’ build (PU) but even with that build it requires knowledge and patience with cooldown. also, thieves are one of the hardest counters, if not the hardest counters to a Mesmer. Mesmer is all about ‘good for me, bad for you,’ well a thief can swap all those boons and conditions on them in a heartbeat. however confusing a thief is easy as well – when they go stealth, go stealth and stand still, they will think you’re an illusion.

WvW: I hate wvw as a Mesmer, you’re basically a scout and sole purpose is for portal.

I would say picking a Mesmer as your first class would be great! why? because they ARE weak. because they ARE hard to play, and survivability IS difficult. you WILL level slow, you definitely will struggle a little. but in the end it’ll all pay off, because now you know how to play a class that deals little damage to a single target. people who say leveling a Mesmer is slow are people who played a different class before a Mesmer, I picked a Mesmer as my first class, so I didn’t know I was leveling ‘slow’. BUT! Mesmer, imo, is the ‘jack of all trades, and a master of none (except illusions)’ – they can go power or condi, they have group stealth condi clear and, stab, CAN be mobile, range/melee

I’m not saying don’t pick a Mesmer, I’m just trying to be as realistic as possible.

I … Can’t bring myself to play any other class for any amount of time.

I made the mistake of starting with Mesmer, cuz teleports illusions and psychic magic is awesome to me… Now every other class can’t hold my attention in PvP, or make me think “Ugh wish I was on my Mes.” =[

So yeah, Mesmer is lacking statistically and if you’re a math person you’ll start to feel lackluster when compared to other classes. But in terms of fun factor? In PvP? Mes is seriously hard to beat.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

I … Can’t bring myself to play any other class for any amount of time.

Here’s another approach.

Make Mes your main, you won’t regret it.

Create a staff ele later for WvW Zerging.

Level a Warrior to 80 at some point so you can kitten the easy mode weapon spam, or do what I do and run around non Killshot warrior for the uber cheap thrills : D. Like yesterday JQ took our garrison and I went and stood on the outer wall. A couple of solo’s trickled up to have a go. One was a glassy ele. I opened up on them then went for the kshot, but they decided to bail back down off the wall. The kshot hit them mid air, downing them, and they died on the fall. Good times : D

I’ve been playing Mes for about for about 2 years now in all game modes except fractals. My straight up honest option is no a mesmer is not a good beginner’s class to start with. The class requires a lot of patience and can be very frustrating, especially in any PvP. It takes a very long time to get use to the class mechanics, both its strengths and weaknesses.

I would say the reason why some people love this class is because it is hard to play, but it is hard to play because it has a bad class philosophy and punishing mechanics. Any class where you have to lose LoS to survive is inherently badly designed. On top of this the class has been nerfed pretty heavily, making it even more difficult to play. If you persist with Mes you will be rewarded, but that persistence will probably take about 1.5 years until you get to a place where you are happy with it (if it is your first class).

The main annoyances of the class are:

- Very limited condition damage removal, in a game that loves to plaster the entire ground with never ending aoes condition fields (PvE and PvP). Dying to conditions, including being immobilised while having conditions pile up, never gets old.

- Limited stability. Expect to be knocked around like a ping-pong ball if the wind pick up slightly.

- In and out of combat mobility is poor compared to other classes. Trying to keep up with other classes in say WvW requires some heavy traiting, or weapon changing that isn’t great for fighting. I’m running traveller runes for the permanent 25% speed boost in open world, but that means you never really get to experiment with rune builds

- In WvW and PVP your main nemeses will be thieves and (possibly) rangers. With thieves you can’t hit what isn’t there. Neither can your phantasms or shatters, more importantly you can’t actually put any of them up if you don’t have a target because they are in stealth, which usually makes you a sitting duck. I have a special build for these guys.

- Mes doesn’t really benefit from a glass cannon build, because the base damage is comparatively low, especially due to the relying on phantasms and clones for damage, which have low health pools (even when traited for). So they can die before they pull off their skill, or only get one shot off.

Vague Memory.2817:

Mes doesn’t really benefit from a glass cannon build, because the base damage is comparatively low, especially due to the relying on phantasms and clones for damage, which have low health pools (even when traited for). So they can die before they pull off their skill, or only get one shot off.

What the heck.

kolompi.1287:

Vague Memory.2817:

Mes doesn’t really benefit from a glass cannon build, because the base damage is comparatively low, especially due to the relying on phantasms and clones for damage, which have low health pools (even when traited for). So they can die before they pull off their skill, or only get one shot off.

What the heck.

Well, half of that statement is fairly accurate, just the conclusions drawn from it are…unique.

The only thing accurate is that phantasms die fast.

Xyonon.3987:

The only thing accurate is that phantasms die fast.

Which happens to be roughly half of that post…

Ignore what everyone else says about Mesmers being bad or not good for beginners. When I first started truly pvping, Mesmer was the first one I chose and was also the first Champion title I achieved. To this day, my Mesmer still has more wins than all other other 7 classes’ wins combined. I played Engi for a while and still do and it’s the only one that came close to the amount of wins as my mes.

If you learn what to and not to do; where and where not to place your phantasms; who you can and cannot fight; it will allow you to be a great Mesmer. Thieves are no longer a “hard counter” for me, they are actually quite easy because now when I see a thief on other team, I mentally prepare myself. Expect at any moment to be hit by about half your health snatched, stunned, and possibly immobilized as well.

Most thieves see you’re a squishy class and think it’s a free win. If you’re quick on the draw, it doesn’t take long to use a stun break right after they first hit you, stealth and then set up your phantasms. Most thieves can’t actually sustain in a head to head fight and will die soon after.

Most of them have the same pattern and once you learn it, it’s easy to avoid it. Half the time you get caught off guard, it’s still possible to recover and win (just depends how far your brain was wandering at the point of getting ganked).

One word of advice, don’t be the person that “plays easy classes to get a hang of the game.” If you like a class, I suggest you play it and learn it. “Easy” classes are cheap and they may be effective in most cases, but they still are, in my eyes, lame when everyone and their mamas are using it just because it’s easy. (No offense to mamas)

I was a bad Mesmer at first until I fought a guild member that was playing very well and I learned how to use the environment to my advantage. Mesmers can’t always fight well on a point (unless they’re condi perhaps but all the going invis may eventually lose them the point they’re on) but they sure can make someone else run off of it.

NecroN.8306:

denis.9487:

Mesmer rocks. Just start small. Ignore the people that say shatter or die. Ease into the class with forgiving specs such as condition pu move to power pu. Then gradually change over pieces to become a bursty spec in pvp/wvw. Mesmer is a boss class. Become feared on your wvw home world!!

Now I know you’re tolling.. No one and I mean NO ONE fears a Mesmer..

Seriously other classes can accomplish what a Mesmer can do in half the time with minimal deaths, but if you like pain with little reward then the Mesmer class is for you. I would not start any crafting or sink gold into soulbounds until you truly think this trash class is for you.. Oh and get used to being kicked from groups just because of your class.. (got a portal?). I would try other classes just to compare and you will see for yourself.

Oh LOOK OUT!!! Here comes NecroN’s Mesmer.. Haahaa OMG thats a good one… Thanks I needed that laugh.

That made me laugh pretty hard (not really). I’m assuming everything you’re talking about is in PvE because in PvP, a good mesmer can do what other classes can do “in half the time.” All classes serve purposes and just because another class —- no, build — can do something quicker doesn’t mean it’s better.

In PvE, mesmers may not deal a lot of damage compared to wars/thieves/eles, but they also have much more utility. A heck of a lot of condi cleanse for the whole party, boon removal for many mobs or bosses that may have some annoying boon on, and not to mention quickly rotated reflects. Defiance removal, CCing and hello! Time warp?

Any party that kicks you because you’re a Mesmer are either mentally kittened or only sees ZERKER ZERKER MAX DAMAGE as the only way to play through a fricken dungeon. While they’re at it, I’ll bet they wiped 3 times in the process.

Don’t let anyone tell you that a Mesmer isn’t good unless it’s a specific situation where you can judge for yourself whether or not they are not exactly beneficial to certain places. Don’t let anyone tell you anything bad about a class until you experience it yourself and find out for yourself. Most people that claim things are bad are people that look at “all the pros” and think that only meta builds or classes work. Those are people you should feel sorry for.

To the people who say mesmers are kicked from dungeon parties – you’re wrong. Yes, I main mesmer and yes, I don’t do dungeons constantly. However, mesmer brings utilties such as reflects and portals to parties that some ‘pros’ highly favor. You could say, ‘Oh, why don’t you use guardian then? They have a reflect!’ but the duration of a guardian’s reflect is puny compared to a mesmer’s (feedback, focus 4, double phatasmal warden using healing signet). Often a mesmer can deal massive damage just through assassin’s armor and reflects.

FoRcExVoRtEx.9548:

To the people who say mesmers are kicked from dungeon parties – you’re wrong. Yes, I main mesmer and yes, I don’t do dungeons constantly. However, mesmer brings utilties such as reflects and portals to parties that some ‘pros’ highly favor. You could say, ‘Oh, why don’t you use guardian then? They have a reflect!’ but the duration of a guardian’s reflect is puny compared to a mesmer’s (feedback, focus 4, double phatasmal warden using healing signet). Often a mesmer can deal massive damage just through assassin’s armor and reflects.

And the reflect potential once the patch hits will be insane – through evasive mirror, manipulation cooldown mirror (which also means mirror heal will be on 12s), traited focus and feedback… that’s a lot of reflects.

I can see some serious troll builds to annoy pew pew rangers, engis and power necros among other things (maybe even troll p/d condition thieves).

kolompi.1287:

Vague Memory.2817:

Mes doesn’t really benefit from a glass cannon build, because the base damage is comparatively low, especially due to the relying on phantasms and clones for damage, which have low health pools (even when traited for). So they can die before they pull off their skill, or only get one shot off.

What the heck.

What I meant to say is mes doesn’t really benefit as much as other classes with glass builds (context is PvP). We are mostly reliant on Phants and clones as a main damage source which are squishy and can be cc’d etc. This is not as good as straight up direct damage.

denis.9487:

Mesmer rocks. Just start small. Ignore the people that say shatter or die. Ease into the class with forgiving specs such as condition pu move to power pu. Then gradually change over pieces to become a bursty spec in pvp/wvw. Mesmer is a boss class. Become feared on your wvw home world!!

I stand by this. Mesmer is wicked in wvw. What other class can 100 to 0? Learning the class and what you can do is the fun part. I started the same way in first post. Now running 44006 gs/sword torch. The joke I suppose is on your spiked corpse clicking a way point.