Guild Wars 2

So, i’m just curious here since there are quite a few ways to play mesmer (Shatter, Phantasm, Condition/PU, Lockdown, Hybrid, etc.).

What playstyle do you like best? Which do you feel is our most effective overall? Or more specifically, if you had to pick only one to deal with a variety of situations (1v1, 1vX, Group roaming, etc) which would you choose? And why?

Hybrid shatter or just pure shatter. I have played lots of PU(its great for killing newbie groups), but i find it all around lackluster. Phantasm has never worked for me in WvW.

Edit: I like shatter because of its explosive qualities. It has good movement kills quick and has an epic player skill cap. It can solo roam and also thrives with support. (PU and condition builds really don’t scale in effectiveness when supported by friends.) <— exception to that is having a raw damage thief.

Pwent.2639:

Edit: I like shatter because of its explosive qualities. It has good movement kills quick and has an epic player skill cap.

This ^ but to be able to have good movement and kill quick you need to be experienced with it and be reactive. The skill cap is high but if you put in the work to get a feel for the it, it can be mastered over time. Many mesmers play shatter style but to play it at a basic level, is not that hard. Get 3 clones and press F1. But when you understand the full extent of the class, you fully utilize all 4 F keys (especially in PvP) to match the situation. If you are willing to put in the work and time, Shatter is CURRENTLY the build with the highest payoff.

In terms of Phantasm, while it is very simple and isn’t as difficult to play kittenter, it is enjoyable to see how much damage your izerker and iduelist can pump out. Don’t count it out if you enjoy playing it.

Also, as a side note, Mantra mesmers are looking good after the patch so don’t rule them out either.

Finally, I picked mesmer because I believed that it was a challenging class to play but the payoff for working to be better at the class was very rewarding, which it is. But it shouldn’t be ignored that the mesmer is a very fun class. I advise you to try out each build and see how you like them and if you understand the builds, try making your own to get a better understanding of the class in general. Pick the class that YOU think is fun to play and the class that you THINK is enjoyable. Once you’ve tried them all out, make the decision for yourself and I wish you the best of luck

Hope I helped!

I like lockdown/interrupt playstyle most, because it’s challenging and I get lots of satisfaction with it.
I don’t really play pure phantasm or PU builds, but I think shatter is the most effective overall.
If I had to choose one build for everything, it would probably be shatter or 20/25/10/15/0 with celestial armor and sword+sword/scepter+torch. It’s fun to play and works well in 1v1/1vX and smallish groups.

Wow! Just popped on to this thread and surprised to see shatter so high on everyone’s list! I’d love to give it a try… Have any of the builds changed or are 20/20/0/0/30 and 0/20/20/0/30 still kind of the go-tos for PvE and WvW, respectively? I’d love a linky-link!

For WvW I don’t see Shatter as being as viable as it once was with the nerfs to it along with the current condition meta for many classes.

to be honest i dont like shatter because im more of a constant dps player then a burster. I currently run phantasm and im happy that way. Im not denying shatter has a good skill cap but if i REALY want to hurt my head over skill cap ill just play my elementalist or my enginer as id rather keep my mesmer as an effective pve character (lets be honest phantasm takes half the efforts for twice the results this isnt laziness its just practicism). Phantasm do have the advantage of perma regeneration as well as offering regen amonst illusions. runned with phantasmal defender it makes for an exelent pve build for fractals and such. with the new healing spell phantasm will likely become a bunker mesmer spec

It all comes down to what you like to play and what you play well. I run the shatter build in wvw groups and solo and the amount of skill and level it takes and is teaching me is amazing. I am becoming a better Mesmer with it. Just try them all and pick which one you like and are good at.

Kelthien.8593:

Wow! Just popped on to this thread and surprised to see shatter so high on everyone’s list! I’d love to give it a try… Have any of the builds changed or are 20/20/0/0/30 and 0/20/20/0/30 still kind of the go-tos for PvE and WvW, respectively? I’d love a linky-link!

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQFA8Ex0LqxWPig6h2BAfHpCtWJFAwFC-jUBBYfAJPFRjtMsIas6aYKXER1SBMqwI-w i left 10 traits to put wherever you want. Feel free to switch out some pieces of zerker gear. Pick your weapons staff will give you more sustainability Gs will give more damage and wand will let you use another offhand you like (just always bring Sword mainhand). Open skill slots are for you to fill.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Video-GS-Roaming-Basic-Shatter-Tactics and i will leave this here. Vash does an excellent job showing shatter placement. Don’t feel forced to use Gs though, but if you do traiting for an extra bounce can be amazing.

Edit: Here is a vid of a mesmer using staff for more defense http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpaPKXr4sL8 Joe does a great job of surviving and thriving when outnumbered.

Pwent.2639:

Kelthien.8593:

Wow! Just popped on to this thread and surprised to see shatter so high on everyone’s list! I’d love to give it a try… Have any of the builds changed or are 20/20/0/0/30 and 0/20/20/0/30 still kind of the go-tos for PvE and WvW, respectively? I’d love a linky-link!

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQFA8Ex0LqxWPig6h2BAfHpCtWJFAwFC-jUBBYfAJPFRjtMsIas6aYKXER1SBMqwI-w i left 10 traits to put wherever you want. Feel free to switch out some pieces of zerker gear. Pick your weapons staff will give you more sustainability Gs will give more damage and wand will let you use another offhand you like (just always bring Sword mainhand). Open skill slots are for you to fill.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Video-GS-Roaming-Basic-Shatter-Tactics and i will leave this here. Vash does an excellent job showing shatter placement. Don’t feel forced to use Gs though, but if you do traiting for an extra bounce can be amazing.

Edit: Here is a vid of a mesmer using staff for more defense http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpaPKXr4sL8 Joe does a great job of surviving and thriving when outnumbered.

Thanks! I ran a 10/20/10/0/30 a looong time ago and enjoyed it a lot. My team-support felt a bit week in large-scale ZvZ, but that’s always a tricky balance for the class. Phantasms are awesome in pve, shatters in solo play wvw, and reflects in ZvZ. Balance is hard!

I’ll definitely try it out again, maybe a more offensive build. I think my big complaint last time was that I was doing little support and lower damage in favor of personal survival.