Guild Wars 2

I tried leveling a Mesmer, and got to around 25 but I ended up deleting it, because I wanted to give every class a try. I had a hard-ish time leveling, and 3 enemies at once my level was a struggle.

Are there any suggested weapons for PvE to make it a little easier? My assumption would be what ever has the most AoE on it, but I don’t know how effective a GS+Staff would work together, one being a power weapon and the other a condition weapon. Are power builds or cond builds more effective in WvW?

Also regarding clones. Is it worth investing in a Phantasm build, considering how often you move between groups of enemies and the cooldowns involved? Would it be better to run with a shatter build, or would it just be easier to get the -on death- traits and only use clones as a distraction, to tank a hit or two for you?

I love the overall theme of the Mesmer, but already having done all starting areas 3 or so times each, it gets boring, so the easier and quicker it goes, the happier I am! Thanks for any suggestions

You could try my build as it made the playing very easy and funny.
http://tinyurl.com/boseadv
mirror images + any other clone skill = mind wrack

I found that using a sceptor/sword+staff or sword/sword+staff to be effective for lower level Mesmers. Swords autoattack is an AoE attack, but only in melee range. Using Blurred Frenzy helped a lot to avoid damage and with Distortion you can get up to 5 seconds of invulnerability.

In WvW I’d suggest power builds because a lot of people would carry condition removal skills.

Whilst the Staff may be a condition weapon it’s usually used defensively with Chaos Armour and a small blink skill, Phase Retreat. Also using Chaos Storm and Phase retreat will cause a Combo and create another Chaos Armour, a neat trick to remember.

Clones and Phantasms… With my suggestion of using sword or staff to spawn phantasms you won’t have them a big damage dealers. Early levels iSwordsman can do some good damage but later levels it’s not impressive and with iWarlock the damage is nice, but only when the target has lots of conditions on them.
From what I’ve read a phantasms build isn’t as effective as a shatter build. Only get the -on death- traits if you plan on spamming clones/phantasms and can deal/take reliable damage on your own.

There’s only so much a forum can tell you in regards to builds. Any advice to take to heart is find a build that works well for YOU. No point in playing a class with a build that’s boring or tedious to you.

Thanks for the advice guys! I really enjoy the staff, and I did figure out the Chaos Storm and Phase Retreat trick before. And thanks to Mr Prometheus, I realized you can use Chaos Storm to keep Illusions alive much longer!

I’m thinking of pairing the Staff with the GS, because it has all AoE attacks which I’ve always found key in PvE. I’ll play around and see what works best for me for sure, I still have to unlock the other abilities.

What about Mantras? I remember a while ago people saying they are absolutely useless. In PvE some of the better utilities aren’t so useful (Null Field is one for sure, although it’s another ethereal combo), so I’m thinking maybe Mantra of Pain if its any good. Maybe also Mantra of Recovery, but I assume that won’t be as good until I get the 3 mantra trait

Levian.6742:

Thanks for the advice guys! I really enjoy the staff, and I did figure out the Chaos Storm and Phase Retreat trick before.
What about Mantras? I remember a while ago people saying they are absolutely useless. In PvE some of the better utilities aren’t so useful (Null Field is one for sure, although it’s another ethereal combo), so I’m thinking maybe Mantra of Pain if its any good. Maybe also Mantra of Recovery, but I assume that won’t be as good until I get the 3 mantra trait

You are welcome bro , did you check my build ?? http://tinyurl.com/boseadv
I use Mantra of recovery and pain ( both are traited ) , they will give you the most healing you can ever get from your class. Mantra of Pain will damage and heal at the same time.

Feel free to contact me whenver for questions of any kind. I’ll answer anything, but keep the obvious questions to a limit, though!

Just kidding, hit me up ingame whenever i’m online.

The Demonic Spirit.3157:

Mantra of Pain will damage and heal at the same time.

That is not quite true. MoR aside, mantras do not heal on activation.

The Demonic Spirit.3157:

Levian.6742:

Thanks for the advice guys! I really enjoy the staff, and I did figure out the Chaos Storm and Phase Retreat trick before.
What about Mantras? I remember a while ago people saying they are absolutely useless. In PvE some of the better utilities aren’t so useful (Null Field is one for sure, although it’s another ethereal combo), so I’m thinking maybe Mantra of Pain if its any good. Maybe also Mantra of Recovery, but I assume that won’t be as good until I get the 3 mantra trait

You are welcome bro , did you check my build ?? http://tinyurl.com/boseadv
I use Mantra of recovery and pain ( both are traited ) , they will give you the most healing you can ever get from your class. Mantra of Pain will damage and heal at the same time.

Yea I checked it out and it looks pretty good. The only thing I’m thinking is that it won’t be very effective until I get Harmonious Mantras, and Restorative Mantras which won’t happen until 60. I’ll still give it a try though and see how it is!

Razor.9132:

The Demonic Spirit.3157:

Mantra of Pain will damage and heal at the same time.

That is not quite true. MoR aside, mantras do not heal on activation.

There is a Master trait under Inspiration, trait X called Restorative Mantras the heals allies on activating a Mantra. I would assume it heals the caster as well.

Mantras only heal on cast. Runes that activate on heal will activate on casting and activation of Mantra of Recovery, but keep in mind the 15 second cooldown on these runes.

Levian.6742:

There is a Master trait under Inspiration, trait X called Restorative Mantras the heals allies on activating a Mantra. I would assume it heals the caster as well.

Casting does not equal activation when it comes to mantras. They heal you and your allies on cast, not activation.

Razor.9132:

Levian.6742:

There is a Master trait under Inspiration, trait X called Restorative Mantras the heals allies on activating a Mantra. I would assume it heals the caster as well.

Casting does not equal activation when it comes to mantras. They heal you and your allies on cast, not activation.

Awh, really? I guess that would have been a bit OP if it was on activation, but kitten