Guild Wars 2

So I’ve notice the mesmer is just pretty weak when it comes to dps in PVE.
I mean yeah, he can be very slippery, but his damage is so low, it takes so long to do stuff on his own (which means he needs to avoid damage way longer) .
Clones usually don’t even live long enough to shatter, and even if I shatter them, I lose other factors.
Is this class really supposed to be that hard playing alone? Cuz I don’t want to always rely on people on stuff like world completion and such.

Also, am I the only one who thinks that Mesmer’s Focus skill #4 should hace ground targeting?
The clone that destroys protect from projectiles almost never seem to spawn in a place where it actually blocks anything (for example: between the mesmer and the target).

That’s pretty false, Me can be the highest Dps but it’s mostly situational.

Shatter is not really the way to go, phantasm and focus oriented builds are more effective if there is some projectiles.

By itself the mesmer dont hit that hard, but he is n°1 when having the 3 phantasm helping him.

Problem is… it’s situational, trash dont last long enough, focus is not easy to manage, so you use your Me to pack ennemies, tu return projectiles, to cele your allies…

Mesmer definitely isn’t anywhere near the top as far as pve classes go. Warrior and ranger can solo open world the fastest and effecient. Thief and warrior are the top when it comes to dungeon solo. As far as dungeon groups go, mesmer is only wanted for the utilities it brings, they have the worst dps unless they have 3 phants out for an extended period of time, but lets not kid ourselves, that pretty much never happens.

A pretty weak answer here, as I’m not a ‘leet’ player, but when I was levelling my Mesmer, I found it easier than expected as many of the skills have quite fast-recharge rates.

I disliked Mesmer in GW1 and loved Elementalist, but in GW2, that situation is strangely reversed.

Lifestealer.4910:

Mesmer definitely isn’t anywhere near the top as far as pve classes go. Warrior and ranger can solo open world the fastest and effecient. Thief and warrior are the top when it comes to dungeon solo. As far as dungeon groups go, mesmer is only wanted for the utilities it brings, they have the worst dps unless they have 3 phants out for an extended period of time, but lets not kid ourselves, that pretty much never happens.

Now that’s the problem, I find it very hard to maintain 3 phants for a long time.
And people usually don’t even consider taking me on a dungeon group (for the fact that people in pve want pretty much only dps).

It’s a shame the PVE META leaves the mesmer out like that.
I remember a time where people didn’t only care about dps in PVE and you didn’t have hard time finding groups just because you’re a mesmer/necro/etc.

mightyJAWS.3621:

Lifestealer.4910:

Mesmer definitely isn’t anywhere near the top as far as pve classes go. Warrior and ranger can solo open world the fastest and effecient. Thief and warrior are the top when it comes to dungeon solo. As far as dungeon groups go, mesmer is only wanted for the utilities it brings, they have the worst dps unless they have 3 phants out for an extended period of time, but lets not kid ourselves, that pretty much never happens.

Now that’s the problem, I find it very hard to maintain 3 phants for a long time.
And people usually don’t even consider taking me on a dungeon group (for the fact that people in pve want pretty much only dps).

It’s a shame the PVE META leaves the mesmer out like that.
I remember a time where people didn’t only care about dps in PVE and you didn’t have hard time finding groups just because you’re a mesmer/necro/etc.

You can still find group easily with mesmer, as long as the party doesn’t already have another mesmer, even pugs would be willing to take you on board.

The utility mesmer brings are still really nice, its just situational because alot of the things that they does, guardian does better all while providing alot more dps.

My personal gripe with mesmer since their dps is so low (literally the only class they beat in dps is necromancer) is that it becomes more of a chore when being in disorganized groups due to the fact that pugs tend to not use proper dps rotation so the overall party dps is really low and even if I play mesmer optimally, I won’t be able to bring the dps up. Not only that, soloing in open world is just soo slow, kill slows and they also roam slow.

Start by playing a better build for pve than shatter, that will help. Focus is more of a utility weapons for reflect and pull. Its nice in group, and when there is projectile, but otherwise you will have more dps with sword and pistol as offhand (their phantasm also usually live longer since they are not in melee all the time.).

But of course, even with the best build, Mesmer is not about DPS. Each profession have stuff to bring in a group (except necro, sorry). Mesmer are there for the utilities. Feedback and Portal alone can do wonder in a dungeon.

Keeping up 3 phants on a boss isn’t really that big of a deal. With the signet heal you can get all 3 up in under 5 seconds, with a 4th ready to go on weapon swap if one dies. This is true for all but a small few bosses that kill clones too quickly.

Some bosses will never damage clones. Some bosses don’t require specific utilities, which allow you to swap in the signet for illusion health to keep phantasms up much longer. Some bosses are only a threat for melee phants which allow you to swap in pistol and pop duelists in the back that never get hit.

Trash pulls are a different story, but they die so fast and we can often make up for it in reflections.

If you are talking just open world,

Zerker gs, sword/focus
Focus Skill 4 is ground targeting BTW.
I’d use 20 points to get focus trait. Reflect is nice in pve too.

My only character to have 100% map completion is my mesmer and I never play her anymore.

I basically just started a mes and at lvl ~25ish, I love it. I use a GS, with Sword/Focus and I feel like a monster. I can start a fight at max range, its dead before it gets to me. Vets have no chance, same start but also pop 2 clones, knock em back, blow em up, when they get close switch to sword/focus, burn em with sword2 (or use it defensively), use that skill that makes 2 clones at once, sword 3 and focus 5, blow em all up, focus 4 to run away and reset….I love my Mes and its only going to get better with traits. PvE is a joke.