Guild Wars 2

I have decided to make a light armoured class and I cant decide between Elementalist or Mesmer. I have been told they are both good but do have some flaws.

What do you find better in YOUR opinion, what are some of there pros and cons.

Thanks in advance

I’ve got both at 80, but still main Mesmer. Although, both are hardcore when played well. I’d say Ele if you want AoE/better healing abilities. Mesmer if you’d rather screw with the enemy’s head in a fight.

As for glaring weaknesses: Don’t let the Ele-haters confuse you, that insanely tankish D/D Ele stereotype is based on one niche build. Most Eles are considerably more fragile in a fight, due to their health being lowest rank (them/Thief/Guardian, IIRC. All 3 of which have a nifty mechanic what allows them to survive better for being low-health.)

The biggest Mesmer weaknesses would be out-of-combat speed and LoS issues. We have medium range health (along with Ranger/Engi), and can be built reasonably
tankish, or Glass Cannon, as you see fit. We have less AoE than an Elementalist, but
can definately still slap down the damage.

I’d go further, but need to head to work. Hope that helped

Yeah ive got both and ele and mesmer at 80 aswell. I really prefer the mesmer. Ele’s imo are just too much hassle to the same results as another class.

The D/D bunker build for example has ALOT of jumping around and attunement swapping, running in and out of combat, blowing the same rotation over.. and over.. and if you lay it all down perfectly and dont get caught in melee range or get locked down.. Congrats! You beat someone..

Mesmers on the other hand.. Stun breakers! Clones! Stealth! Butterflys! Boom!
They really are THE most fun class.. They’re like theives.. But with real control and flare. Mesmers are more forgiving than Ele’s too.. Make a mistake with your rotation? np.. Just kite and clone till your ready to go again..

Diversity. Mesmers have several viable and fun builds to play with.
Ele’s You’ve got DD bunker.. or staff support or Zerker.

Group play! Ele’s have superior survivability.. Which is great for supporting your team mates and being the last one standing.
Mesmers have a portal

Thats just my opinion though.. I wasn’t a really good elementalist.. Out of my 5 80’s ( Ranger, Thief, Warrior, Ele, Mesmer ) I prefer the Mesmer over them all.

i have both…
If its a first character use absolutely elementalist (D/D).

Is better at farming moneys and teach you game mechanics really well because you are uber squishy and you don t have any surviving mechanics (healing in pve is not good at all when almost everything oneshots you).

If alt go for mesmer, it have lot of support utilities expecially in www its more an all around character.
having an alt with portal, veil, mass invisibility is really useful….

Also it refines your positioning skills.

P.S. quite wrong D/D ele relies on the same rotation….cooldowns are too long.
It has the most interesting combos in game possibly, but they work only in pve.

Also its quite false you jump in and out of combat….those are thieves….expecially since last nerf

Its not so easy as people says unless you are facing a BAD glasscannon player.
ele have a quite hard time against mesmers actually due to arcane thievery, null field, clones (if you know how) but more than everything confusions stacks.

With mesmer if you are really good you can turn 2 of the best ele skills in self stun of 4-5 seconds or more…just swap with a clone and shatter…..

On the other hand ele absorb reflection skills are underrated in pve and imho they are far better than mesmers with scepter/focus you are almost invincible against things like lava shaman.

i have only 3 80s .. mesmer ele and thief … and mesmer wins 100%

ele have perfect aoe and grp support .. however ele have to be played in same way whole time .. especially dd ele ( still same combo ) after 100h played u can do ur job wo paying attention

mesmer on the other hand is soooo much versatile …. even with 1 build there is no strait forward way how to use it …. never gets bored

The clothies are pretty easy to classify, IMO:

• Do you want a class which can absolutely overload the enemy with the sheer diversity of their stuff? You always have timers at your disposal, everything you do changes all the time, and it becomes a nightmare trying to properly pre-empt you. Play an Elementalist!
• Do you enjoy being the last one standing and controlling the fight to slightly tilt the battle in your favour? Do you like the balance of having some abilities which are dangerous to you as well? Play a Necromancer!
• Do you enjoy a trickster class with lots of random effects, Clones to sometimes make enemies waste timers on? Do you enjoy indirect combat more than direct one? Play a Mesmer!

LordByron.8369:

Also its quite false you jump in and out of combat….those are thieves….expecially since last nerf

To clarify, i meant running like a coward to reset the fight then coming back in when its in your favor ( WvW ).

Bren Ranger.3725:

LordByron.8369:

Also its quite false you jump in and out of combat….those are thieves….expecially since last nerf

To clarify, i meant running like a coward to reset the fight then coming back in when its in your favor ( WvW ).

to clarify i think that 33% CD increase on RTL cooldown + nerf to vigor and swiftness is quite enough….

I know people didn t understand last patch….but at least they shouldn t complain.

Now even ele have to rely on runes to put up some decent swiftness duration….but complainers aren t happy yet.

Also for www there is not even a comparison between ele and mesmer…..just take your mesmer you have many builds some of wich are hugely OP for current www state of zerg wars…….

On the opposite D/D ele is awfully situational at moment…….(in www)

P.S. on his side ele can stop siege machines bullets with focus air4 (probably a bug) and farm badges with staff air1 spam..the second is really egohistic…..and gets you hated with good reasons.

Carighan.6758:

• Do you enjoy a trickster class with lots of random effects, Clones to sometimes make enemies waste timers on? Do you enjoy indirect combat more than direct one? Play a Mesmer!

I take offense at the indirect combat line just because in pve my mes is up close and personal as much as possible with sw/sw because i can proc 3 clones use sw 3-3 and hit blurred frenzy while shattering with illusionary persona. I played an ele for 10 lvls before rerolling as a mes and I never regretted it but it’s all about playstyle, I suggest looking at some different builds for each and maybe watching some youtube vids before deciding

LordByron.8369:

to clarify i think that 33% CD increase on RTL cooldown + nerf to vigor and swiftness is quite enough….

Now even ele have to rely on runes to put up some decent swiftness duration….but complainers aren t happy yet.

Also for www there is not even a comparison between ele and mesmer…..just take your mesmer you have many builds some of wich are hugely OP for current www state of zerg wars…….

Ok for a starters.. I havnt really played my ele in awhile.. so i dont know how those changes have affected their mobility.. But i can guarantee my ele can still hold perma swiftness, runes or not.

As for “Zerg Wars” Thats actually where Ele’s would outshine Mesmers. We’ve got 1? Build for zerg fights and thats the glamour confusion build. Mesmers are alot stronger in small skirmishes.

Carighan.6758:

The clothies are pretty easy to classify, IMO:

• Do you want a class which can absolutely overload the enemy with the sheer diversity of their stuff? You always have timers at your disposal, everything you do changes all the time, and it becomes a nightmare trying to properly pre-empt you. Play an Elementalist!
• Do you enjoy being the last one standing and controlling the fight to slightly tilt the battle in your favour? Do you like the balance of having some abilities which are dangerous to you as well? Play a Necromancer!
• Do you enjoy a trickster class with lots of random effects, Clones to sometimes make enemies waste timers on? Do you enjoy indirect combat more than direct one? Play a Mesmer!

Carighan, where have you been all my life? Do you know how hard it is to get a basic, straightforward answer about which scholar to play? I have asked this several times (I am very indecisive when it comes to scholars and want a character of each armor type), and get so much opinion instead of basic, straightforward answers. I know you are being facetious, but this is good stuff.

Bren Ranger.3725:

As for “Zerg Wars” Thats actually where Ele’s would outshine Mesmers. We’ve got 1? Build for zerg fights and thats the glamour confusion build. Mesmers are alot stronger in small skirmishes.

Dont ask me…log 5 minutes in www find a zerg that knows how to www and look with your eyes.

probably 0 eles at least 4 mesmers.

They put aoe cap and that made eles balanced (some even bad……but D/D without aoe cap was indeed OP due to RTL+earthquake + MIST form )….now ele can t do much….

Seems they forgot to put a similar mechanic to fields….so chaos storm and other stuff are completely OP.

Also because you can never know if its friendly or not….

Hm, those fields also only affect five targets, just like most AoEs. There are very few that don’t. And the unfriendly ones are the ones with a red ring (which is missing for a single skill iirc, there has been a thread about this lately).

/e: judging by your other posts, you’re very busy complaining about almost all other classes or saying eles have been nerfed to death…

They are both awesome classes and fairly interesting to play. I would say it all comes down to which one you have more fun with. Not really a super helpful answer, but I feel like it’s the only one that matters.