Guild Wars 2

Sup guys,

Shan and I are gonna be trying to host the Mesmerized Podcast ( NEW episode with Myself, Pyro, and Shanaeri here every weekend. (No pressure, or anything… =[ ) so I was hoping to gather some input from y’all on some stuff you’d like to hear us talk about/analyze /explore in the next coming weeks. We have a few ideas in mind, but I figured since this is yet another community-driven project it’s best to have the community involved.

So any feedback, comments, criticisms ect. would be HUGELY appreciated, feel free to be as harsh as you want if you think it’ll help us improve. Even if it’s something like “Ughhh Chaos’s voice makes me wanna punch a baby.” .. Speaking of which, I apologize for any mic-issues with this past show .X_x

As well as ideas for topics and I’d like to go with Zumi’s suggestion of hosting a featured build for each show from the forums. I’ll definitely be pulling builds from my not-yet-obsolete build-testing thread if we get no submissions here.

Thanks again y’all.

Edit: Also, anyone have an opinion on the question at the end of the episode? “Do you think all we have to offer are Portal/Veil/Timewarp in groups and if not, what can we do to end that perception?”
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SUGGESTED TOPICS

• Lockdown Builds – Marsares
• Mesmers playing in WvW in different tiers of servers. – Eldenbri
• Perspective of the current state of support builds in all area’s of the game. -WitchKing
• Viable PvP builds. – Requiem

I’d love to see a podcast about lockdown builds… they’re still under-utilised I’d argue.

I’d love to hear about mesmers playing in WvW in different tiers of servers.

I hear about some kinds of builds not being viable in WvW, and I’m wondering what things are like in other places.

Thanks for doing the podcast – it makes the commute a better time

It would be great to hear you guy’s perspective of the current state of support builds in all area’s of the game (pve open-world and dungeons, wvw and spvp). Also love the idea of hosting a build in each podcast, would be great to hear different builds in the meantime of the botm contest being put on hold

I’d be interested in a viable PvP shatter build, if such a thing exists.

I was playing around with a dumb variant of
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/PvP-Mind-Crush-w-Dueling-Video/first
earlier, with cheap-as-hell exotic gear with perplexity runes just because I didn’t feel like spending too much, and well, tahlkora gear (lol) with sword/focus and gs, and the jankiest 30/30/10 (chaos storm yay!) trait build… I found myself interrupting, knocking down, locking down and harassing players so much that I may just switch to this full time.

it has a few kinks to work out, but since I’ve got the computer to make it work, i can run a lockdown build in wvw. had me a couple one on one fights and just wrecked people who had NO IDEA they weren’t going to land any really important skills.

Finding more mesmer builds would be awesome, but I’d be interested to hear from other people’s experiences in wvw with the lockdown builds, because there’s a lot you can do with them.

Ty guys, lots of interesting stuff to talk about.. Keep ‘em coming. Also, if y’all heard this weekend’s episode do ya’ll have an opinion on the question at the end of the episode?

“Do you think all we have to offer are Portal/Veil/Timewarp in groups and if not, what can we do to end that perception?”

If I recall correctly, it was a dungeon specific question about being nothing more than a TW bot?

That kinda goes back to the Sword vs GS argument =/. The reason Guang created that previous thread is because mesmers do awesome damage and he wanted to get rid of the stereotype that mesmers cant do DPS. That thread and many others then blew up. We also have the highest reflect uptime as well which can add a significant amount of damage on top of our amazing dps. (Remember, reflect damage is based on enemy power but OUR crit dmg/chance.)

However, the only other group buff we have is signet of inspiration. Compared to banners, spirits, +150 to all ally traits, this isn’t as tangible. For ideal groups, it isn’t necessary. For sub-optimal groups, it is rarely noticed. % increases (besides traits) also don’t affect our phantasms. I don’t think we should get those straight bonuses as we are great at what we do but this does hinder us at the high end of optimization. This inevitably trickles down the perception of mesmers are low DPS in sub-optimal groups although it is the opposite. Furthermore, not having a 90k 100b combo doesn’t help since most ppl still think the last hit is actually doing 90k when it doesnt >_>.

As for what we can do to end the perception? Guang tried and most mesmers failed to embrace it. I want to reiterated that if you aren’t having fun, don’t run that build but it’s usually the optimized/top tier that give the general population their views. If the mesmer community cant even agree on hard facts/numbers, this is just makes it worst for us.

The aetherblades are giving me hope though. As more enemies get boons and “boss fights” become more than 1 boss, it’s feeling like I’m playing my gw1 mesmer more. Actually, just the living story dungeons in general are better designed although they can still be cheesed. If Anet adds heals that need to be interrupted/poisoned, regen/prot/stability on lots of mobs, and mobs with faster but weaker attacks, Mesmers, Necros (boon stripping), and in general, tankiness would be more welcome in dungeons. Until then, full zerker and stack is the way to go.

Meh. Just deleted one of my pretty walls of text. I’ll try to keep it shorter this time.

• Featured build: Great idea. Could relate to one of the topics or be taken from the monthly contest. Evasive Signets would be interesting.

• Future of the class: Due to the recent preview for the classes I would like to know your points of view on the state of Mesmers exclusive skills like Mantras and Glamours. What do you think how they perform right now, should they be changed and if yes in which manner?

• Your question: I’m not done with the podcast yet so I’ll assume it’s referring to WvW, PvP and PvE.

• Time Warp: The question here is a bit moot since we are literally limited to a small choice when it comes to elites. I feel that Timewarp is mandatory in PvE while MI is more important in WvW and PvP. I’m fine with that but it could be mixed up by reworking Moa into a new group related skill (either support or cc).

• Veil: I feel it is gimmicky and VERY overrated. It is useful for trolling when running in a zerg but extremly inefficient in smaller fights because of its long cooldown. I’d rather see it getting a target limit if this results in a lower cooldown and maybe a new feature to it which could be used for something else besides stealth (e.g. crowd controll or debuffing your enemies who cross). As long as it does not have a target limit, people will make Mesmers bringt it because it is unique. However, if it wasn’t unique people might not want Mesmers in their team. Not sure if I prefer being forced to use a skill or not to be welcome at all. Right now, I feel that Mesmers do not bring a lot to the table in WvW (zerging, keep fights) because phantasms and shatters do not work that well in this environment and the range is rather low. Mesmers might need more viable skills and traits which are less reliant on those mechanics (crowd control and interrupts, Mantras, Signets and Glamours). I do not see Veil being important in PvP or PvE.

• Portal: Similar situation like for Veil. It’s unique so people will want you to bring it. You could either make it unusable inside of keeps (but making something useless always is a bad way of making sth. less mandatory) or introduce other forms of entering a keep. For example, in DAoC stealth classes could climb keep walls. But again: Do we want to be less unique to not be forced into skills? Would we still be viable? I think tPvP shows what can happen if a class doesn’t bring anything outstanding to a fight. Thieves can hop from cap point to cap point like Mesmers using a Portal. But they are actually better at it which – besides the current meta which is unfavourable for Mesmers in general – might also have contributed to Mesmers not being that common on tPvP teams.

One thing I’d love to see discussed is counterplay specific to mesmer interrupt traits. Maybe you could do a series on this since you could really get into some deep discussion on each one. I think I remember seeing a list of those traits you put together some time ago Chaos. Just go down each one and explore how mesmers can use them not just at surface value, but how we can anticipate the effect of an interrupt when it occurs. Perfect examples of what I’m talking about are charging mantras while under the effects of Furious Interruption or playing around a Chaotic Interruption immobilize.

I’ve had an idea for awhile to write up a series on this but it sounds so daunting I can’t motivate myself to do it. Maybe the podcast would be a good format for it.

Another idea is to go through the mesmer traits one at a time and discuss how they can be used – like the benefits they offer, what they bring to the table. I think this would open up awareness to lesser known/used traits. This could also help spark new build ideas.

I’d like to see a discussion on effective and sustainable clone generation with Sw/<something> for Shatter builds in PVE (Fracs).

I’ve been toying around with Shatter builds a bit, and I’m really having trouble generating clones continuously without blowing my endurance and leaving myself without that needed dodge for agony avoidance.

The standard 20/20/0/0/30 shatter build is what I am working from.

Also, what weapon do people find works well in PVE dungeons for range on fights where range is really crucial? The GS seems to be frowned upon, but the staff and scepter seem to both be so very “meh” in PVE.

Very good episode, gentlemen!

Regular featured build segment would be great.

Some things I have on mind:

1. PvP corner – What are weaknesses of other professions and their builds and how to exploit them on your mesmers. What builds/utilities are well suited for that, etc. What should be a mindset of a less experienced mesmers when fighting them. Something like one enemy “build” a episode, for example: hammer/longbow warrior, dagger/pistol tieves, spirit rangers, etc.
2. PvE corner – Each episode go through a specific encounter and describe how to fight it from the mesmer’s point of view. What are the tips & tricks, what weapon to use, what utilities, etc. You can discuss dungeon encounters, fractal ones, Tequatl, some farming techniques and places (Orr?). We have a host with a lot of PvE experience and we should put it to use.
3. Featured forum topic(s) – What were the topics to read, if there were any, of course. Just a few people should really not pass. They may be only recent ones or a older gems you have bookmarked. Maybe there is not much to discuss on the show itself about them, but at least putting them into shownotes would be great for people who don’t have time to read forums daily.
4. Community highlight – Each episode you will select a mesmer streamer/blog writer/youtube channel owner/forum poster that should people check and why. It will support them and also help to build the community. This can be also part of show notes without a lot of text in case there won’t be space for it in the podcast itself.

I think all the ideas can be supported by a forum topic where can people put down their ideas and after the show provide a feedback.

So we will have:

1. Topic where can people advertise their mesmer streams, youtube channels, sites, blogs, etc.
2. Topic for interesting discussions/posts in the mesmer (or other) forums. If somebody found something interesting (builds, dungeon tactics, ..) they can put it there.
3. Topic discussing upcoming PvP corner episode. Let’s say you want to discuss D/P thieves so you will create the topic days before the show and people can provide their knowledge.
4. Same thing as above but for the PvE corner.

( This post is from WvW perspective )

I don’t think Portal/Veil/Time Warp are everything we have to offer, but those are the uniquess skills that make us very important in certain situations.

Yes, we can be considered Veil and Portal bots, but basically that is our unique role allowing the group to gain tactical advantage when used correctly. When well placed and timed they can win the fights when heavily outnumbered. In big fights different professions have different primary roles and I think it is absolutely fine.

When you are helping to chain portal 15+ golems accros enemy borderland while the main part of the force is providing a distraction on the other side of map, you will really feel important. Non-obvious portal bombing can win the battles as can initiation using a veil.

Yes, all those tactics require people that know what they are doing and in a “random pug zerg” mesmer will feel lot less useful. I personally have the pleasure to be a part of alliance raids that is heavily utilizing mesmers so I have always something to do outside of trying to tag everything frantically.

Replying from phone so I can’t yet update the OP but these are all fantastic suggestions, please keep ’em coming!

kubetz.3058:

Very good episode, gentlemen!

Regular featured build segment would be great.

Some things I have on mind:

1. PvP corner – What are weaknesses of other professions and their builds and how to exploit them on your mesmers. What builds/utilities are well suited for that, etc. What should be a mindset of a less experienced mesmers when fighting them. Something like one enemy “build” a episode, for example: hammer/longbow warrior, dagger/pistol tieves, spirit rangers, etc.
2. PvE corner – Each episode go through a specific encounter and describe how to fight it from the mesmer’s point of view. What are the tips & tricks, what weapon to use, what utilities, etc. You can discuss dungeon encounters, fractal ones, Tequatl, some farming techniques and places (Orr?). We have a host with a lot of PvE experience and we should put it to use.
3. Featured forum topic(s) – What were the topics to read, if there were any, of course. Just a few people should really not pass. They may be only recent ones or a older gems you have bookmarked. Maybe there is not much to discuss on the show itself about them, but at least putting them into shownotes would be great for people who don’t have time to read forums daily.
4. Community highlight – Each episode you will select a mesmer streamer/blog writer/youtube channel owner/forum poster that should people check and why. It will support them and also help to build the community. This can be also part of show notes without a lot of text in case there won’t be space for it in the podcast itself.

I think all the ideas can be supported by a forum topic where can people put down their ideas and after the show provide a feedback.

So we will have:

1. Topic where can people advertise their mesmer streams, youtube channels, sites, blogs, etc.
2. Topic for interesting discussions/posts in the mesmer (or other) forums. If somebody found something interesting (builds, dungeon tactics, ..) they can put it there.
3. Topic discussing upcoming PvP corner episode. Let’s say you want to discuss D/P thieves so you will create the topic days before the show and people can provide their knowledge.
4. Same thing as above but for the PvE corner.

I’m really digging that format, I think everyone would like that.