Guild Wars 2

K, gonna start working on a mesmer tank for fun.
Im thinking getting some retaliation stuff, mad dodge skills, and blocks.
Yeah i know 1 shot im gonna be dead but thats where the fun of this is.

so…

lets hear some suggestions for me to try out. While i do have an 80 mesmer i dont wanna
be blowing money restating for pve and wvw all the time so this will mainly be tested in sPvP. Ill be checkin back to share my results. i dont wanna see no posts like “go guardianLOL!”, remember this is for fun.

--=(Reserved.)=--

Hi Erigais,

I play a Mesmer Tank or well Pseudo Tank shall we say. Trying to find a talent calulator at the moment.

But basically I split my great between (Power, Toughness, Precision) and (Power, Vitality, Critical Damage) and so far it works very very well.

I use a Sword/Focus and my second set is greatsword for those annoying range only fight and for a second Knock back.

Focus is amazing for tanking. Wardens pretty much stop all procetiles and in some boss fights turn the boss 100% against himself. for example the two golems who have to die at the same time in Sorrows Embrace, the warden reflects his aoe making the fight a cake walk.

Temporal curtain is great. I use it as a control skill, stack the enemy up and your party AoEs them all down, use it to pull a mob off a squishy. It really is an amazing skill. Speccing into focus is a must for the cooldown and turning the curtain into yet another reflect spell.

In short you become a tanky anti-range controller. My regular dungeon group love it, it makes their lives so much easier.

Right time to copy out my build. which I am still fine tuning.

Edit:

Ok here is my build:
http://en.gw2codex.com/build/18932-mesmer-tank

It seems that phantasms cause bleeding when they crit despite the skill saying Illusions which has lead me to believe that phantasms may well also give you the 3% damage reduction per a illusion. Not 100% on that though.

@SkipSpence

Actually Illusions refers to both phantasms and clones.

Phantasms = Phantasms Only
Clones = Clones Only
Illusions = Both Phantasms and Clones

That is why you’re seeing the bleed on crit with your phantasms.

For a Mesmer “tank” build I would go with the following:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fgAQNAW7dlwzKqnUTqGb9IhZG9G5oes9s/9yHwNA;TsAAzCpoay0koJbTumkNtAZAy2DA

Mesmers can “tank” in several different ways, and have several options for “control” which is what we really need. You should go for high toughness, probably condition damage (you will probably be going for a battle of attrition on a tankier build), quick clone generation, damage mitigation and utility.

I would go with a Staff and Scepter/Focus build for tank/control Mesmer. Staff is inherently defensive due to Phase Retreat, Chaos Armour and Chaos Storm. It also gives you a good plan of attack for killing enemies (condition damage). Phase Retreat will generate clones for you to take the heat off as well as being a “dodge.” Scepter/Focus provide alternative condition damage in confusion, clone spam to redirect attacks (clones which end up in melee which means you can Daze shatter for interrupts more reliably) it also provides a block against telegraphing mobs (which generates more clones) and is ranged so you can kite once you draw hate. Focus is anti-range, provides an interrupt with Into the Void and allows for mobility control. It also stacks Bleed stacks well for Sharper Images and provides you with very valuable AoE damage outside of Chaos Storm.

Utility skills can include things like Phantasmal Defender (half damage), Decoy (take hate off you temporarily, allows for stun breaks, shatter fodder, another body to hit…) and Null Field for group condition removal. If you aren’t in a condition-heavy environment this can be something like Signet of Domination (increase condition damage, another stun/interrupt), Feedback (more ranged hate to suppliment Focus) or Blink (positioning is also control).

For my Elite, it is up to you but personally I like the idea of Mass Invisibility. Yes, it is rarely used but it can be the ultimate “start over” and if you are tanking for a group, you can save them from death. This combos well with Runes of Lyssia (removes all conditions, gain all buffs for the ultimate do-over) if you decide to use them. Personally, I would use either that or Superior Rune of the Undead for more toughness and even more condition damage.

These are all suggestions and a disclaimer as this is theorycrafting ONLY as I have never run this spec.