Guild Wars 2

I’m looking for some feedback as to whether I’m being stupid or not. Things seem to work out for the most part, but I am sure I could do something smarter.

I currently am level 48, traits 8-20-0-0-10 with major traits being:
Domination-working towards 5 (clones cripple when killed)
Dueling-2 (phantasms have fury), 10 (clone on dodge)
Illusions-4 (distortion grants retaliation) or 3 (3% damage buff for each illusion)

I’m using staff and scepter/pistol. My hp is 6k at this point and my gear is a mix of prec/power, precision/condition damage. I’ve got tier 1 cultural weapons My gear was obtained via drops, the only white being my helm (l44), yellow boots and shoulder (l39), green chest, blue pants/gloves (l44/46). Basically, if it’s an upgrade armor wise, I use it.

Skills wise:
Heal-I’ve been alternating between the mantra and the standard ether feast. Standard is more satisfying, but the mantra came in handy during some kite fests at earlier levels.
7-Mantra of pain-I’m open to changing this out and would likely take Feedback if I were doing a dungeon or experiencing difficulty with ranged opponents.
8-Phantasmal disenchanter-Mainly to remove conditions, though the clones are nice.
9-Signet of Inspiration-I hardly ever “use” the skill as I play solo (ungrouped), but I like the occasional swiftness and having 1) some random buffs along with 2) one less skill to worry about the CD on (since I never activate it) seems to be working out well.
10-Moa-I was using the 10pt golem npc helper for awhile, but I seem to not use it much, so I switched to Moa since it doesn’t root me when I use it (or I just haven’t noticed if it does).

Playwise, I tend to use F1 and F4 the most for my shatters and tbh, I don’t see why I wouldn’t just stick with F1 since the cooldown is much shorter and I don’t seem to notice any real effect when I F2-4. I usually open with pistol 4 into either pistol 5 or scepter 3, tabbing targets before s 3 when there’s a group and I want to spread damage around (or before I pop staff 3). Scepter 2 is used conditionally as needed/convenient. I try to shatter when I’ve had 3 clones up for a bit. I make pretty good use of weapon swapping and staff 5/2, staff 3 when I have 0-2 clones up (on a different target than pistol 4 unless it’s a vet or champ mob), save staff 4 for when staff 5/2 wears off if I feel I’m in over my head, and generally use staff 1 when either a big group (and my s/p clones are out/on CD), have several grouped enemies low on health, or have a vet/champ with a regular minion that I’m kiting around.

I’ve used sword/pistol and sword/torch in the past (levels 1-28 pretty much), but a run through the molten dungeon at 29-30 put me off melee attacks except for sword 3 when i accidentally staff 2 into a wall and can’t blink out. In general I don’t feel like I’ll have much use for focus outside of wvw or possibly focus 5 in dungeons.

Anyways, if you made it all the way through this and still feel like offering up your thoughts, I appreciate it.

Honestly, as long as you have 20 Dueling and 5 Illusions, the rest is up to you. May as well work yourself up to 10/20/0/0/20 until level 60 and swap into 0/20/0/0/30 shatter build when you get the book.

Scepter is a very weak weapon, you should swap it out for a Sword for leveling. A Scepter’s main benefit is confusion, which is very poor against AI controlled enemies. Staff is more defensive, and while it is fine to use it does mean your other option should be more offensive, i.e. Sword again.

While you may not like Sword, you better get used to it, it is a staple in ALL content for a Mesmer as one of their most offensive AND their most defensive tools.

Power/Precision/Crit% is the way to go, maybe Power/Precision/Toughness if you find you’re struggling a bit as Mesmers tend to when still learning.

Ether feast is certainly a better heal for leveling. Mantra of Pain is weak and poor and should be substituted for something else, similar with Phantasmal disenchanter. Signet is good for mobility due to occasional swiftness, it’s fine to keep on. What you are doing without Time Warp baffles me.

You have an assortment of utilities you can use:

1. Feedback for projectile reflection.
2. Null Field for condition removal.
3. Mantra of Resolve for condition removal.
4. Mirror Images for added burst.
5. Blink for faster travelling.

Those are pretty much your only option.

Consider putting a focus in your bag to get around faster, I’m sure you’ve noticed how little out of combat mobility a Mesmer has.

Thanks for the reply. I have time warp purchased, but haven’t used it yet. As far as out of combat mobility goes, I honestly don’t mind not having the focus. Getting around really isn’t that big a deal, and I do have some decent level focus and torch drops sitting in my bag in case I decide to use them. I’m not opposed to going back to sword since I am comfortable with the abilities, I switched to gs/staff to get through molten without getting downed quite as much and decided to mix things up for a bit after (hence scepter, which I hadn’t used since level 5). I’ll give time warp and your other info a try when I have time to play tomorrow.

Flissy.4093:

Honestly, as long as you have 20 Dueling and 5 Illusions

At a more meta level, what you really want is constant illusion spawning. Whether you get that from 20 pts in Dueling for Dueling X Deceptive Evasion, or some other method, doesn’t matter. There are alternatives.

Here’s a leveling guide based on cripple-kiting mobs with staff. Very survivable, able to solo same-level Vets, some Champs, and survive accidental overpulls in enclosed areas (bandit caves and the like).

I figured this out while leveling my mesmer and it was the most fun leveling I’ve had in this game (3x 80s, and a 60).