Guild Wars 2

I’m a new player to the game with no other chars, invited to play by some old guildmates.

I’m levelling a mesmer strictly through WvW and would appreciate any tips on spending points as I go, since I know very little about the game and my friends don’t play mesmers. I realize the levelling would go much quicker with some PvE but I’m just not interested.

Currently level 15, chasing zergs around mostly, but with a very small amount of small grp WvW with some nice people who took me along. I"m sensitive to my softness, but have found that with a 2H sword and some situational awareness I can run the fringes of a zvz battle and reach in far enough to score steady points without getting burned very often.

So I’m running with 2H sword for the fighting and a 1H sword/focus for being speedy, putting my points into dominance (for spell damage?) and spending a few of my blue chevrons to get blink and another defensive utility skill (I forget the name of).

1) Am I doing it all wrong? (aside from the obvious WvW-only fetish)
2) Any tips or pitfalls you feel kind enough to mention?
3) Are there any low level builds along the way that might be interesting to try in the mid levels (say 40, or 60)? As small grp pvp is out of my league atm, I’d be particularly interested if you thought of any strategies for reaching out and touching a few more foes during large scale WvW engagements (instead of my current 2H sword raygun approach).

First 5 go into illusions.

After that, spending them in domination isn’t a bad idea. Leveling a Mesmer in wvw is gonna be tough, and you’ll want to stick with staff and/or greatsword mostly for your ranged damage, so domination and dueling are the lines for you.

Blink is pretty important as a first utility. You’ll also want to pick up feedback and keep that on your bar.

Once you can spend 20 points in a line, you can modify your build into a lightweight version of a glamour build, taking feedback, null field, and blink/portal/veil. This will allow you to get a lot of good tagging while remaining safe.

Normally I would say that portal is super important to have on your bar, but you will be far too fragile to effectively utilize it, so that’s of lower importance.

make sure u unlock port as early as u can as it is very useful in wvw, but pyro is right, u need to get a little tougher in order to be able to hide and then run past the guards and players to portal people in.Check out the mesmer forums to find the right build for yourself. Check out videos from kylia and Pyro, im in kylias guild and using the glam spec that pyro mentioned and it’s great for large scale fights.

Thank you for the tips, I’ll take a look at some of these ideas.

“First 5 points in illusions” Oops, and thank you for the tip, I’ll start saving 5 up again.

“Once you can spend 20 points in a line…” Does this mean a total of 20 points, or 20 points in a line after 5 points in illusions?

I’ll look for port, I assume that is in the blue chevron skill tree somewhere down the line.

I’ll look for Pyro’s posts.

Again, thanks for the tips, and add any others you might think I’ll find useful :-)

Ekstra.5264:

Thank you for the tips, I’ll take a look at some of these ideas.

“First 5 points in illusions” Oops, and thank you for the tip, I’ll start saving 5 up again.

“Once you can spend 20 points in a line…” Does this mean a total of 20 points, or 20 points in a line after 5 points in illusions?

I’ll look for port, I assume that is in the blue chevron skill tree somewhere down the line.

I’ll look for Pyro’s posts.

Again, thanks for the tips, and add any others you might think I’ll find useful :-)

You can reset traits, it costs only a couple silver at your class traitmaster.

I meant once you can spend 20 in one single line, i.e. level 40.

Portal is a bit farther down. Make sure you have blink, feedback, and nullfield before you get portal though. Honestly, you might even want to get veil before portal.

OK, so it sounds like I should keep plugging away with my low level fringe activities until level 40 and then switch to a lite zerg spec with glamour to get more aoe tags during the big fights.

I have blink, think I have null field, will look for feedback and portal as I get more points to invest.

Going to go and listen to the podcasts and see if I can pick up some more of the vocabulary and ideas people are talking about. Thanks a bunch for the tips so far!

5 in illusions then 20 in dueling for deceptive evasion imo.

Ekstra.5264:

Thank you for the tips, I’ll take a look at some of these ideas.

“First 5 points in illusions” Oops, and thank you for the tip, I’ll start saving 5 up again.

“Once you can spend 20 points in a line…” Does this mean a total of 20 points, or 20 points in a line after 5 points in illusions?

I’ll look for port, I assume that is in the blue chevron skill tree somewhere down the line.

I’ll look for Pyro’s posts.

Again, thanks for the tips, and add any others you might think I’ll find useful :-)

Go to the trait master and ask him to reset your traits. At your level, it should cost around 40 copper.

Deceptive evasion is overrated.

Xavi.6591:

5 in illusions then 20 in dueling for deceptive evasion imo.

Deceptive evasion is of questionable utility in any zerg, and even more so for a low level. This is a bad idea.

@Ekstra: You have the right of it. Try to get veil before portal though. As a low level without being in an organized wvw group, you’ll get more mileage out of veil.

Pyroatheist.9031:

Deceptive evasion is of questionable utility in any zerg, and even more so for a low level. This is a bad idea.

I disagree with this assessment. The main reason for taking DE at level 40 is not about group utility, but about personal survival. A double dodge followed by Distortion can get you out of many sticky situations in WvW.

SuburbanLion.8095:

Pyroatheist.9031:

Deceptive evasion is of questionable utility in any zerg, and even more so for a low level. This is a bad idea.

I disagree with this assessment. The main reason for taking DE at level 40 is not about group utility, but about personal survival. A double dodge followed by Distortion can get you out of many sticky situations in WvW.

depends how you roll.

In a zergball there are better options, but in smaller groups its a much more useful way to go.

SuburbanLion.8095:

Pyroatheist.9031:

Deceptive evasion is of questionable utility in any zerg, and even more so for a low level. This is a bad idea.

I disagree with this assessment. The main reason for taking DE at level 40 is not about group utility, but about personal survival. A double dodge followed by Distortion can get you out of many sticky situations in WvW.

For the type of playstyle I would advise for a low level Mesmer in wvw (lightweight glamour) extremely careful play is rewarded, and so that shouldn’t be necessary.

One thing interesting to mention. Make sure that all of your gear is level appropriate and has stats you want. This is really important because of how the upleveling algorithm works. Also make sure you are using level appropriate foods with the proper stats. That will make an enourmous difference in your performance.

On your helpful suggestions, I did respec to get the first five traits in illusion and it was cheap enough to afford. Thank you for the tip. Assuming I have to do another 10-20 levels with GS, I’ll dump the next few pts in Domination until I respec for lite glamour.

Struggled a bit last night while experimenting with staff, I’m pretty sure it slowed me down a bit, so I’ll return to GS for a while longer. Is lvl 40 a good place to consider making the crossover to lite glamour build? I think I’m 18 or 19 atm.

Thanks for the tips on gear and food, I’ll have a sniff around to see what can be afforded on my skimpy WvW budget. Maybe I ought to see about crafting my own food.

well, imho a skeleton glam build would need at least 30 trait points(not that familiar with mesmers tho.) Level 40 seems like a good stretch.
It will still be rather lacking tho :>

To be perfectly frank, I’d try to stay away from large open field fights until you reach the level cap and get your exotic gear. You’d be a much more valuable asset to your team by scouting, running supply, and manning defensive siege.

A good place to grind would be the cannons in Stonemist. You’ll probably tag kills at a much faster rate than you will by zerging and the defense events provide nice XP and Karma. Seriously, those cannons are like little bag factories!

A skeleton glamour build requires 20 points into any given line, and so requires level 40 minimum.

The staff is a great weapon. It also sucks for long range fighting because the autoattack moves pretty slow. Stick to your greatsword for now, and have a sword/focus swap for the swiftness.

Thank you for the additional tips. I’m happy to hold off any respeccing until 40, when I might want a few more aoe abilities for tagging.
Thanks for the tips on the cannons at Stonemist, I’ll to and try to figure them out (and siege in general). Some of the commanders I’ve run with specifically ask lowbies to man siege.
I’m having a great time with my GS raygun, and playing with the various other abilities as I start to earn them. I think I’m 25 now, so just 5 levels from veil. WvW is very fun, looking forward to being a bit more useful soon.

OK I got up to level 50 with my run and gun peripheral zerg play with a GS. I’d be interested in trying something with a bit more AOE to help with XP tagging zergs now.

Does anyone have a suggestion for doing WvW levelling from 50-80? I’ve toyed a bit with a confusion spec, but as a beginner I’m not sure I’m spending my first 50 points effectively. (0, 10 (V), 20 (IV, X), 0, 10(V)) and I’m positive I’m not playing what I’ve got particularly well yet.

What I have to work with:
Gear : not great, I’m essentially wearing what I drag off other people’s corpses (after a rinse in the lake). I’m saving laurels, karma for gear after the level grind, so I’ll be plenty squishy. Basically I’m just trying to be alert and keeping out of harm’s way as my defense.

Utilities: on advice from this thread, I’ve got veil, feedback, blink, time warp, and null field. to help out.

I’m generally tagging along with fast moving guild groups of 20 or so, facing between 10 and 50 opponents, often in enclosed places.

Any spec advice or tips much appreciated!

Ok, level 50. You have 40 trait points available.

20/0/0/10/10

Take w/e for the first one in domination, but take glamours cause confusion for the 20 point trait (I use cripple on clone death).

Take glamour cooldowns in inspiration.

Take 33% increased confusion duration in illusions.

Buy some cheap blue or green gear from the trading post, you’ll have plenty of cash for it. You want condition damage major, and then power/vitality/toughness/precision minor (carrion or rabid).

Make sure you put major corruption sigils on your weapons. These will perform amazingly with the upleveling calculation.

Take an appropriate level tuning crystal, and find the appropriate level version of +condition duration food.

As you level, put more traits into illusions to get confusion on blind and glamours causing blind. Lastly, you’ll put another 10 points into inspiration. Weapons should be scepter/focus and staff (with a greatsword swap).

Wow, awesome response! Thank you Pyroatheist. I’ll go and respec and sniff around the trading post for the gear you suggest right now!

@Pyro, quick question for you re scepter/focus. Why not scepter/torch to get the extra 3 stacks of Confusion from #5 (PM)?

And yes, Thank You! These tips are a huge help to us uplevel mezmers. :-)

Thorson.9218:

@Pyro, quick question for you re scepter/focus. Why not scepter/torch to get the extra 3 stacks of Confusion from #5 (PM)?

And yes, Thank You! These tips are a huge help to us uplevel mezmers. :-)

Focus is generally better in wvwvw. The speed line is amazing, esp given mesmers limited movement speed increases, and doubles as a rather nice control ability, can also be traited for a projectile barrier.

Torch has limited use in a zerg, prestige is ok, but you really wont need to stealth much if you are winning, and if not, well, it probably wont save you from what wiped your group! too much aoe being thrown around.

The mage probably won’t even live long enough to use its attack. The attack only hits one target, and is unaffected by condition duration.

The focus temporal curtain can be used to pull multiple people through your glamours. The warden is good for placing on cannons and such for damage, and will do a whirl combo in the glamours for more aoe confusion. Once you trait the focus, temporal curtain additionally reflects projectiles.

^^^

Awesome input, thanks guys! :-)

Ekstra.5264:

Wow, awesome response! Thank you Pyroatheist. I’ll go and respec and sniff around the trading post for the gear you suggest right now!

Green gear shouldn’t be all that expensive. Less than a gold. Remember to upgrade every 5-10 levels. Save your karma for the armor in Orr, and gold for weapons and jewelry for your lv 80 exotic weapons.

Also, your best weapons in wvw are teamwork and communication. Look into running with your server’s better wvw guilds, or your preferred commander in Mumble.

This is pretty much exactly what I did to level my mesmer alt except I did the first few levels via crafting. It’s also almost my exact spec currently in WvW.

That is awesome news, Midnight, it gives me good confidence that I’m headed down the right path :-)

Do you have any tips on what 3-4 abilities you open with while using this spec? Did you do it differently at lvl 60?

I only hit 80 last night, and am really just learning. Right now I use a Glamour+Blind confusion build and hang back,. Usually Feedback into the enemy zerg, aiming for possible zerker/GS warriors or other potential glass cannons. Then Chaos Storm and Phantasmal Warden, Phantasmal Warlock. Scepter 2, Staff 1. Mirror Images. Null Field as needed.

If we’re stomping them I’ll use Cry of Frustration. If it’s even I leave the illusions up until CD are done, and try to give us theedge with Time Warp. If we’re getting rolled I don’t break until the commander says to go, then I’ll use Phase Retreat, Decoy and Focus 4 to get to deep water (nobody ever looks there) or Waypoint.

I don’t use a more aggressive style since I’m new to the profession and not good enough at it yet. I stay away from Confusing Images most of the time since it shows the enemy where the opposition mesmer is in our zerg. And my mesmer is small asura in grey nondescript robes – hard to spot, easy to hide. ^^

Several utilities have been mentioned but I don’t think Portal is out of line early. Not for portal bombing but for portal stomping. It and invis are the only two ways we have of downing folks in a large fight before they can be rallied.

To portal stomp you have portal started nice and away from the fight. When you get the stomp chance run up to your target, start portal, start stomp, take portal. These actions have to happen right on top of each other so for me it’s Alt-2, F, F in very quick succession. You’ll now be standing at the other end of the portal. You can start spamming the return or you can chill a second once you learn the timing. If you don’t catch the return ASAP though you’ll miss the stomp. I highly recommend going to the Mists and practicing on the NPCs that are used for stomp practice. Once you get it working though it’s awfully fun.

If you buy armor at the 1s and 6s (e.g., levels 31, 36, 41, 46…) it’s cheaper than at the 0s and 5s. A full set of Fine armor is a few silver. Set the level at the previous 5 for trinkets (If you are level 51 look for trinkets from 45-51) to get a set of those. There’s not reason not to be in the lastest armor since you’ll sell your leveling sets back to a merchant for not much less than you bought them for.

So…..would you guys still recommend the same build (Glam) given the new sniff confusion nerf that’s coming? >:(

Whoa, when exactly is the nerf?

I might have to put you guys back to work on lowbie specs for me :-)