Guild Wars 2

Hi Guys n Gals of GW2.

So, this is my first post since getting the game (16th Oct). Totally new to GW/GW2. Have spent the last year and a half in LoL and ESO – so have some concept of how the game in general works…kinda ?

So after looking around and reading and speaking to friends who moved across to play GW2 (6 of us in total) I decided to go for an Asure Mesmer. Everything kind of pointed towards taking an “easier” route and going for pure DPS but wanted to concentrate on something that would take a while to master.

There’s the back story. Sorry if I bored you, but thanks for sticking with me. Thought it would be worth putting it into context.

As of last night, I am at LVL35.5 and seem to be holding my own so far. But I’m not really sure what I am doing when it comes to investing the Hero points and what I should be looking to build. As with all forums and information on these types of games, almost all builds and Theorycrafts revolve around a LVL80. Which I do understand, but doesn’t help those starting from scratch.

I’m running GS (main) and Staff (Secondary)
I’ve maxed Duelling as everyone said that’s the way to go.
I’ve almost maxed Illusionary I think as well (going from memory and typing from work)

So what should I be looking at and what should I be doing at this stage?

I’ve seen a few builds on the forums and links to BattleMeta and the likes but I’m not one to “just run with the Meta”.

I’m also so new, PVP and WvW is low on my list right now – just enjoying the change of scenery and the PVE for now. Possibly with some Dungeons in due course.

So what would your advice be to a newbie like me?

Cheers All
Mos.

Ahoy!

Most ppl are discussing lv80 builds ‘cos:
1) It’s “easy and fast” to level up to 80
2) Mesmer is Trait-heavy, a lot of builds are using the same 2/3 utilities while are “different” (even condi/power is running same utils [Blink/Decoy anyone? ])
so discussing/theorycrafting sub80 builds is.. not worth for most ppl.

Now about PvE:

Weapons:
Open-world – You’ll need AoE damage which is mostly from Shatter (F1) and GS #4 iZerker and Staff is nice for the clone generation/defensive/kite abilities when/if you need it, or you can run sword+focus with more swiftness and another AoE iWarden.
But GW2 open-world is easy so you can run what you want, experiment and still do everything, maybe slower than a meta-build, but if you don’t want to rush things you have time anyway.

Dungeon – You’ll need “sustained” (not just a shatter burst) dps, mostly from phantasms, some dungeon-path need Reflects. Sword+Pistol/Sword+Focus should do it (you don’t have to get 2 swords, just equip only-offhand and it’ll use the other set’s mainhand) but Metabattle is always there to get some idea.

Traits:
You can unlock everything if not earlier, when you are lv80 so you can just take what seems interesting, if you have Dueling already then maybe Domination as next is good, but I think just take what you want to try out faster.
For PvE-builds, MetaBattle should have the “most optimal DPS” build, so either run that or have fun with your own, in Open-world none cares and if you play with friends, it doesn’t matter even in dungeons.

Thanks for responding Bubi

From what I’ve read over the last 2-3 pages, Conditional Damage is pretty much out (or Average) and Power is where it’s at…

But I did see an interesting “Chaos build” which is Staff based posted on Page1 somewhere and also seen a few posts about “Chronomancer Builds”.

Also, with regards to builds, I assume you have to think about Toughness/Power/Vitality/Condition – is it’s simply the larger the figure the better on the route you take for your build?

Regarding gear I always approached a full offensive route with Power, Precision and Ferocity. For open world PvE and Dungeons that’s actually all you need. No idea how it will be after Heart of Thorns has been released. But even then, if you keep to core Tyria and Dungeons you should be fine with Berserker or Assassins gear.

Much of the gear you get as level up reward or that drops is actually not very optimal in my experience. When I leveled my first Mesmer (just after release, so the experience might be different now) I was crafting my armor (Tailor) and some of my weapons (Artificer) myself – I was mainly using Staff + Sword/Focus. Crafting in itself is a good way to gain additional levels

Regarding trait lines: For leveling I do not find Dueling optimal. I’d focus actually on Domination (phantasm damage, especially helpful with GS), Inspiration (Phantasms can have Retaliation and more HP + Focus Trait) and Illusions (Phantasmal Haste makes Phantasms attack more often, you can reduce cooldown for all Illusion skills and for shatters).

As Bubi said, for open World PvE many things work well, for it’s fairly easy content. If I leveled a new Mesmer without any “help” (like tomes of knowledge and stuff), I would focus on this: click me. Yes, it’s a level 80 build, but should just give an idea of traits, weapons, utilities and gear setup I would personally focus on (Focus + Signet of Inspiration helps for swiftness).

For your average PvE content (what we have now before HoT), Berzerker (Power-precision [aka crit chance]-ferocity [aka crit dmg]) is the “best” for power and Sinister (Condi dmg-power-precision) for condi (hard to get as new player, I would recommend Carrion/Rabid if Sinister not available).
Basically the average PvE content can be done by full-glass builds if you can use dodges/defensive mechanics good (which you will by the time you will gear yourself up) and just use whatever gear you get from mobs until lv80 (I’m too lazy to buy gear while leveling).

You can get a few defensive trinkets/armorpiece if you want, a bit more Vitality/Toughness, but most of the “hard” pve content is 1-hit kills and the simple kill faster than be killed works for every other attack. (You’ll see that most dungeons are run by stacking in a corner and “mindlessly” dps-ing down the boss/mobs.)

Thanks Guys. I’ll do some more research when I get back tonight.
I’ve been looking at Crafting and Artifacer seems to be the right way to go in our group.

This guide will probably prove most helpful. It really should be a sticky, I might request that. There will likely be some changes come Friday and it appears Kai is going to be actively updating it.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Guide-The-Leveling-Open-World-Compendium-1

Remember to read Lyssa’s Grimoire: The Mesmer Handbook. It’s stickied at the first page.

Thanks for the responses all.

I’ve read much of what you folks have linked in here and there is still contradiction on what/how to take your build lol

I’ve got Dueling maxed now, so that’s a start. Domination is coming along nicely with Illusion. Hopefully those will help me out

I would say you could change either of the weapons with sword/focus. With Signet of Inspiration and Temporal Curtain(focus4), you can sustain permanent swiftness, which helps sooo much in open world

@rainpool.7189 Oooo. Perm. Swiftness. I’ll look in to that tonight

Did my first jumping puzzle last night and completed it on third attempt. The one at the Spiral? Not to bad in terms of challenge. Thankfully a few people to revive me a couple of times

skcamow.3527:

This guide will probably prove most helpful. It really should be a sticky, I might request that. There will likely be some changes come Friday and it appears Kai is going to be actively updating it.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Guide-The-Leveling-Open-World-Compendium-1

I will keep it up-to-date, but I do not expect too many changes to the core mesmer. Tomorrow we will know for sure… ^^

It may be a good investment to put a few points into chaos, just enough to get reduced cooldown on manipulation skills. Blink is great for every game mode and having that on a lower cool down will make exploring and surviving alone a lot easier and fun.

Hi Mosferre, welcome to our dysfunctional family!

First off, welcome to the game, and for choosing the most awesome, epci class GW2 has to offer :P.

Most mesmer builds rely on Deceptive Evasion, where you create a clone on a dodge while in combat. This helps alot when it comes to shatters (the more clones you have out, the more effective/powerful your shatter becomes) .

The ‘meta’ (strongest build) will change come tomorrow so cant say much right now. If you ever want help, and you are on EU, feel free to w/ me and il try and help in what way. I have mained mesmer for 3 years, and have over 5k tpvp wins on the class.

Mesmers don’t really come into their own until you get higher in levels since we are so trait dependent. Therefore, I wouldn’t worry too much about optimizing your build while leveling but rather use the time to experiment with different weapons/traits and find out what suits you best.

One thing often overlooked by new GW2 players is the importance of traveling speed in this game. A lot of your time is spent traveling so you want to make sure that you have access to good mobility skills at all times.

The following are a few of the things that should help you level quickly:

1) Get a sigil of speed for both sets of weapons (weapon swap) so that you gain swiftness each time you kill a mob; get a sigil of bloodlust for one of your weapons (the boost in damage is noticeable and is useful for leveling but the power of this sigil tapers off as you get higher in levels)
2) Use a focus for swiftness
3) For utilities, Signet of Inspiration and Blink can be slotted for extra swiftness/mobility
4) Stay current with armor and weapons. You can buy armor/weapons roughly every 5 levels. Armor doesn’t make as much of a difference as your weapon (plus there is a lot more pieces to upgrade) so I would recommend just buying blue armor so you can sell it back to recoup your costs. I’d recommend buying a green weapon though as you will make up the costs by killing faster and getting more loot/exp. Buy both armor/weapons ahead of time using the buy order option to minimize your costs. (Your costs should be roughly zero doing it this way.)
5) Buy some cheap exp food

Thanks once again guys and gals for your input. All really useful info from my perspective having never played.

I have to say, I’m really getting in to it. Loving the exploration as well, and finishing each zone at 100%

Halfway through level 44 as of last night. Need another 11 Hero points (excluding the Hero points from dinging level 45) to have Domination maxed with Dueling.

I’ve got a Signet of Insp. that gives me a speed boost every 5 seconds or so, which is invaluable. Had that for a while now and it does make a big difference (even through it can mess with me on Jumping puzzles)

My out right power right now is circa 650 and health around 5600 – not sure how that benchmarks in general, but I am killing things – just takes a little time