Guild Wars 2

What can a Mesmer do that would warrant me taking it over a different professions meta build?

Currently the two meta mesmer builds in tpvp are:
20/20/30
-immob on interrupt
-boon strip
-okay burst
-more sustain
-blinks
-low condi clear
-portal

20/20/0/0/30
-high burst
-high amounts of boon stripping(due too lower shatter cooldowns)
-less sustain
-blinks
-low condi clear
-portal
Both are good, but both will get shredded by thieves. It is imo that if eles are abundant with the next patch the boon strip will be very valuable.

Jackums.3496:

The Mesmer does nothing that makes it worth taking over a Thief in the current meta.

This is correct. No matter how many wvw PU mesmers jump into this thread and tell you they are useful, just know that an equal skilled thief is a FAR better option.

Jackums.3496:

The Mesmer does nothing that makes it worth taking over a Thief in the current meta.

^- Unfortunately this

Hey. I’ve seen some fancy portal plays from some creative teams before. =P

Mesmer brings a lot of utility and aoe damage to a fight. Shatter bursting is incredibly strong damage, with aoe boonstrip as a plus. Portal is incredibly strong, and no other class truly has access to the utility it offers. Lastly, Illusion of life is one of the strongest resurrection skills in the game.

Unfortunately, the counter to mesmer is thief. Unless the team is prepared to strip the enemy thief from their mesmer, the mesmer will either die or be forced to devote their attention to avoiding the thief, rather than doing anything useful.

So, in order for a mesmer to be worth taking over a thief, the team has to build completely around the mesmer. They need to be prepared to strip the thief quickly and effectively, run interference to allow the mesmer to do what they’ve been brought to do. This is possible, as demonstrated by one of the recent high level teams running a mesmer, but it’s difficult. Most teams will simply opt to take a thief and toss in another hambow, because why not.

Edit: Note that this is only applicable for organized team queing. If you’re solo queuing or solo queuing in team queue, there are multiple mesmer builds that work just fine.

I will say it’s been refreshing to see mesmers more recently in tourneys. Seems they are running the 2 builds PhDusk mentioned – standard shatter build but I also see 20/20/30 commonly, which has established itself in the meta.

Last weekend supcutie mentioned on his stream that 20/20/30 is the most viable mesmer build at the moment.

I have seen quite a few different Mesmer builds in PvP. My Guild does duel quite often and there are some unique builds coming out of that.

With supcutie, that is one opinion and I am sure there are more (not taking anything away from that opinion just stating it)

What is the 20/20/30 build/gear? Is that mainly a team build or good for solo queue as well? I’m new to pvp and have been doing solo queue exclusively, primarily as 10/30/20/10/0 clone death.

Kobeathris.3645:

What is the 20/20/30 build/gear? Is that mainly a team build or good for solo queue as well? I’m new to pvp and have been doing solo queue exclusively, primarily as 10/30/20/10/0 clone death.

Berserker gear usually, otherwise you just are not doing enough damage. The important trait is the chaos grandmaster Chaotic Interruption which will immoblize your foe for like 2,5s if you interrupt a skill. Rest of the traits are basic stuff: DE, Shattered Concentration, Halting Strike… You can try with a couple different weapon sets like staff & GS or Staff and Sword/Sword or GS & Sword/Focus or a mixture of these. The point is that you need a weapon that has skill with which you can interrupt skills.

Jackums.3496:

The Mesmer does nothing that makes it worth taking over a Thief in the current meta.

Not over a thief but you could take mesmer besides thief (see 55 hp monks or TCG).