Guild Wars 2

Most of my toons are Lv.10 or so since I got the game a week ago and have been testing the classes. I haven’t gotten around to trying the mesmer in depth. I have played mostly everything else. My favorites so far have been my Norn Necromancer, and Charr Ranger(I also like warrior but eh…)
I like the necro but I’d like a bit more versatility. Should I give the mesmer a shot?

Mesmer is a rough class to solo PvE with. It’s more a class if you’re already beat the game on easy and want to try the hard level. That said, for the people who stick with it, they find the challenge worth it.

Why exactly is it hard to PvE with?

CommanderPC.8609:

Why exactly is it hard to PvE with?

Basically, you phantasms getting 1shotted everywhere.

That’s it? My necro’s minions die pretty fast too.

Necro is extremely bulky compared to a Mesmer. PvE is pretty rough until about ~40 then it’s fine.

Best advice is just to try it out.

I generally just the solo PvE effectiveness of a class by:
1) How quickly and efficiently can you dispatch groups of 3 equal level mobs?
2) What happens when you pull two groups?
3) How well can you handle ranged mobs?
4) How well can you solo bigger mobs?

Mesmer performs well vs range with feedback bubble. Mesmer performs well vs stronger mobs either shattering clones or leaving phantasms. The defensive skills on the staff and the conditions you apply to mobs generally means you get stronger in longer fights.

Against the 3 pull trash, I generally use the sword with the staff for defense. Basically you’re kiting in circles and then tanking for two seconds every time sword #2 is up.

Totally worth it. Really takes off around 40 and is one of the most complex, rewarding, and diverse professions. Plus: looks awesome!

There are plenty of people frustrated with the class, and rightfully so in some ways. Our DE tagging abilities are sparse, but so are many other builds. I see it more a problem with DE tagging than the class itself.

We’re great in PvP and WvW. Our high-level PvE abilities are misunderstood but immensely powerful. We’ve got some of the highest up-time for projectile immunity. Our rapid Illusion generation is always understated. Our damage is solid and our builds range more than many other classes.

Try it, love it, and guide others.

I tried it out in HoM and won’t lie, it’s pretty cool.
How would you rate it’s versatility? I’m just trying to look for something that can switch things up(besides engineer) That’s what bothers me about necro.

I’d say mesmers are very versatile. We have condition builds, support builds, control builds, glass cannon builds, tank builds. Melee and ranged.

I think the class will grow over time really well. I hope they introduce a few more weapon options. I’d love another melee weapon and a 1h Ranged weapon.

But overall, I feel more workable, diverse play-styles on my mesmer than I do on most other classes.

Well, no matter what weapon you’re using you’ll mostly be doing your damage by spawning phantasms, shattering, and autoattacking. What really changes between weapons is how you use your abilities to survive, which for us is highly dependent on positioning. We have a lot of versatility in our utilities, but I’d say most of them are more significant in pvp than in pve.

So we are versatile, but not in the same way as an elementalist or engineer.

I can’t belive some of you saying mes is bad to solo… how exactly can a class be bad at soloing when your illusion distract enemies 80% of the time? Seriously just think of that for a sec… Having 3 illusions permanently is easy and you’ll have them at all time so all there is to do is auto attack and go afk lol. Mes was bad under level 30 but at 80 i don’t see any classes to solo better, any.