Guild Wars 2

Hey, Mesmer community!

I’m just here hoping to have a few questions answered if it’s not too much trouble to answer them for me.

First and foremost, i should mention that i’ve never played a spellcaster before to a reasonable level, enough to understand them properly that is, in MMO’s, i think the only time i’ve ever played a Mage, is in the Elder scrolls series, but i don’t think that counts. I’m too used to buffing myself up with plate armor and taking the punishment, so i may ask some questions that seem very silly.

Now on with the questions!

1. I’m currently level 7, and I’ve been running around getting a feel for the weapons, they all feel incredibly weak compared to how i was doing on my warrior, but I’ve decided to stick with the great-sword & staff, i tried the sword, but it felt so weak, and i was taking too much damage up close, am i taking the right route?

2. My Illusions, how exactly do i manage them? The majority of them feel like they’re doing nothing at all, when they’re up, i see a lot of 0’s, will this change?

3. With my warrior, i found it easy to figure out which heal to use, but with the Mesmer, i’m having difficulties in figuring out which one would be the best to use, what one are most people using?

4. Are there any skills that are a must have to have equipped? For example with my warrior, i ended up having For great justice! on every build i had.

5. Traits – In the future i’m hoping to become a sort of buff/condition monster, sort of like Buff classes in other MMO’s, the bards in Everquest as an example, what would be the best build/weapon combo to go with this?

Thanks in advance guys, and sorry for the long post, just want to make sure i’m playing my Mesmer to the best of my ability!

1. Imo, PvE wise, Sword is the strongest weapon for mesmer(and you can wear an off-hand to make it even better!). The strong thing about GS is that #1 isn’t a projectile, yet is still ranged, however its damage is low. I only use GS for certain bosses where I can’t use scepter(perma reflect`Jades in Solid Ocean Fractal) or other bosses where I know I can’t melee.

2. Clones are not meant to do damages. Sure, damages will goes up a little bit as you level up, but they are shatter munitions. Phantasms on the other end does a lot of damage.

3. Ether Feast for the most of the times. If you have Harmonious Mantra(Grandmaster Major Trait from Domination), then you can use Mantra of Recovery instead of Ether Feast. Mirror has its uses, but meh.

4. All about preferences. I personally can’t get rid of Blink from my bar.

5. I have no idea what’s a buff class, but it sounds like priests/clerics from other games I’ve played, since they could buff their allies granting them different positive status.

I wouldn’t recommend going all-out on Boon Duration %, as your damage will be near nothing and mesmers are pretty limited in the boons we can give. You can, however, use Signet of Inspiration, but as you play mesmer more, I think you will prefer to use something else. One thing I’m not sure is if Boon Duration % is applied to SoI when used actively.

Sounds to me that this class is horribly broken if you have to play a certain way to even be viable. I mean why even give this class other weapons if the only “viable” option is great sword. Sounds to me that this class is a design failure. I think ArenaNet needs to take another look at this class and give it a major re-design.

I may not be the best one to answer this but I will try to help either way. I just hit 80 before the weekend on my Mesmer and I’m not rocking a full set of 80 rares or exotics yet… I have a condition / shatter build and i’ll get onto that later or let someone else better explain lol… I’m the opposite of you when it comes to casters tho. I always try to go for the “mage” first but this time, even tho the mesmer is “cloth”, it’s not a pure caster class like the ele.

1. I’ve noticed the same thing now that I have a few classes above 30. Some classes take time to build some power up, others are mechanics. The mesmer class, from my experience leveling is a mechanics kind of class. The staff and Greatsword are an awesome leveling combination. Just remember with the staff tho, you don’t want to be “max” range. You want to stay close enough to get the bounces. The mh sword + whatever is melee range and not too fun in PvE, it has it’s uses tho.. well, all weapons do. When I do use it in PvE content, I use it for “hit and run” tactics lol. Yes, that’s the right path. Get some gear with +power on it until you feel comfortable with the rest of what you asked, then go for a more condition oriented build.

2. Okay. Here’s the thing with Mesmers… We have Clones and Phantasms(illusions). They work slightly different and some are broken lol. Swap to your staff and push #2, thats a clone and does 0 damage. like an oh kitten button. now push #3, thats a phantasm and does some damage. The thing with #3 is that it does more damage if you have a condition build and you let the conditions build up a tad first. with the way I have my build set up, i use a scepter (ya i know, it’s garbage but…) + pistol and swap with a staff. reason for the scepter is that #3 is confusion and #1 is an extra clone on the 3rd hit, #2 is a block and a clone if you wait it out >_<, added with a pistol for the #4 phantasm duelist (decent damage) and #5 being a stun/blind/daze that bounces. Ive been able to solo champs up to 70 with my crap gear/build.

3. I use ether feast and havent really used anything else lol.

4. As I leveled with a “shatter” build so to speak, I love having clones and illusions out as much as possible. Decoy and or Mirror Images are pretty much a must. One of those is ALWAYS in one of those utility slots. Since you brought up condition farther down in your post, I’ll recommend using Signet of Domination (+condition damage). Feedback is awesome as well but only works on projectiles and signet of illusions (recharge shatter skills) is nice later on too. Portal is portal and well, its portals lol.

5. I’m not a “buffer” but i’m condition / shatter i guess. I use 0/20/20/0/30. Phantasmal fury and Deceptive Evasion. Debilitating Dissipation and Chaotic Dampening (sometimes Bountiful Interruption). I switch between Confusing Cry and Compounding Power, also use Illusionary Elasticity and Illusionary Persona. Staff is a must with condition builds. my swap goes to the scepter + pistol mostly to keep the range, the pistol phantasm and the extra clone.

Takes a little while to get the play style of the mesmer down and to figure out your play style with the class. The mesmer is probably my favorite class tho =)

I got a little time.

1) This what I tell everyone: GS+staff is a great combo with good AOE. Don’t stand at max range tho. Staff is much better at short-mid range, and even GS is OK due to Mirror Blade bounces and iWave. Unfortunately, GS is a little bugged right now. Still usable, but not optimal.

Sword takes some getting used to, but sword/focus is the highest damage combo you can do in PVE with power/crit gear. Focus also has the best mobility and utility for mesmers, but it takes some time to master. Once I mastered focus, sword/focus hardly ever left my bar until level 80 when I just wanted to try something new. Sword/pistol is a good set once you learn sword, and if you can’t get the focus down, but GS/staff/sword/focus are all better for AOE in PVE.

2) Clones do very little damage. You can get them to do some bleed damage with 15 points in Dueling, but they will never be primary damage dealers. Phantasms can do great damage, but they too are bugged right now. Once the delay is fixed, they will be back in their prime. Until then, they are still moderately OK.

3) Ether Feast as other say. Don’t waste your time on others until you develop a build. They are more specialized.

4) Decoy for starting mesmers. It will increase your survival better than any other skill while leveling. After that, it’s all about preferences. I found Feedback and Mirror Images to be really useful at all stages of play for many builds.

5) You’re quite far away from that, but when you get higher level, the Inspiration and Illusion lines are your best bets, unless you want to go for a specialty build like mantra healing. For now, put 5 points in Illusions and then start on the Domination or Dueling lines. Once you get to level 40, you can respec and unlock the master traits and find your identity.

I’d like to add besides the bleeding for dueling 15 trait, staff clones will copy winds of chaos and bleed/burn/vulnerability or might/fury allies, and sword clones will add vulnerability and remove boons.

1. The Mesmer is one of those professions that you have to shape into greatness. But once you do, it will be that much sweeter to play. At around level 30-40 you should start feeling a change, due to both your traits and your experience with playing the profession.

2. Clones are there to confuse your foes, and for shatter footer. Phantasms are the damage dealers. Clones can do a significant amount of damage with the staff, though, thanks to condition stacking.

3. Most use Ether Feast, because it has the highest amount of healing. Mirror can be great in WvW, because there’s a ton of ranged damage there. Mantra of Resolve is only really valuable in a mantra focused build.

4. Nope. This is where the Mesmer shines, if you get bored of using the same skills easily. The Mesmer can use many different weapon/healing/utility/elite skills for different situations, depended on if you are playing alone, with allies around you, if you’re defending a keep in WvW, or just running with a zerg. Except for my weapons, I change my skills around constantly. If I’d have to mention one skill, though, it would be Decoy.

5. I would suggest playing a Guardian if you want to focus mostly on boons. The Mesmer can deal out a great amount boons, but it’s all really random, which makes it a bit pointless. It is possible, though. I would probably go with; staff, scepter/torch, Decoy, Arcane Thievery, Signet of Inspiration.

Wasn’t expecting so many replies so soon, thank you very much for the replies guys. I’ve taken all your information and advice and i’ll be adjusting and building my Mesmer around it. :-)