Guild Wars 2

Hi everyone!

I just purchased the game yesterday, and after about 15-20 hours of playing, im only lvl 11. Mesmer seems to be the best class for me, but I need some help. Here is the questions I would like to ask:

1) I love to have a 2 handed staff as main weapon, is that a problem for PvP and PvE ?

2) What kind of build I need …. be very simple please I never played WoW and understand almost nothing to the game yet.

3) What kind of stats I need on weapon/armors that best suit for me ?

4) About leveling… for now I try to follow my personnal story quest, but sometimes Im not strong enought to complete it, so I go explore at random places in the map… I find that leveling is very long in this game… so any advice for fast xp ?

5) Is Mesmer is a good class in PvP ? (Im mainlly a PvP player)

6) Is there anything else I need to know about Mesmer class ?

Thanks alot to anyone spend some minutes to answer me

Cya

1. Staff is really good for PvE. It, along with Mirror Images and/or Decoy allow you to keep up and rotate three illusions and also buff them to make them pseudo tanks with Chaos Storm. It’s really great for taking out multiple mobs because of the bounces with Winds of Chaos that all of your illusions will be using (Winds stacks conditions on foes and buffs on you/allies). So It’s a great choice for leveling as it helps a lot with survivability AND damage output. I can’t comment of PvP but I would assume it’s only okay since a lot of the conditions are random. I’d say something like Scepter/Torch or Scepter/Pistol would be fairly good in PvP.

2. Your build should focus on Condition damage, reducing cooldowns, and adding utility to your clones if you are using the staff. I’d like to point you in the direction of these videos to help you out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eZ0NNd7b60
It’s a series that is extremely informative and helpful, especially if you’re looking for guidance and to help you understand the way the class works.

3. Condition damage, Toughness (or Vitality), and Precision if going with Staff.

4. Explore. Find the hearts around a zone. Then do any Dynamic Events you come across. Find all the markers on your map (Vistas, Places of Interest, and Waypoints). Don’t worry about Skill Challenges unless you have a group to help you out since they can be hard to solo. Honestly, you shouldn’t rush through it. This game lets you really take your time to find cool places and discover the world it immerses you in. If you want to just power through it, then do what I said above and don’t bother exploring too much on the side. But if you want to get the most out of the game, look around and see what you can find behind bushes and in caves you find.

5. Again, I’m not much of a PvPer yet. I will later on, but for now I’m enjoying the PvE progression and leveling. But they were the best in Guild Wars 1, and they have fantastic control and utility in this game. So I would assume they are at least pretty good here as well.

6. Those videos I showed you should answer any other questions! (there are 3 in the series by the way).

Hope that helped!

Just going to add on to the last individuals nice post!

1) Staff is nice for both PvE and PvP. It’s superb in PvE. It’s #5 ability, Chaos Storm, can great Aegis to allies who stand within it. It essentially blocks attacks, which nullifies damage completely for a few hits. That’s a nice ability to use on your allies and illussions (particularly your phantasms, the ghosty guys).

2) Some interesting traits to look out for when you figure your build:

5 points into illusions will give you illusionists celerity, which reduces cooldowns on all illusion skills (those are the ones that make clones and phantasms)

10 points in domination can give access to Crippling dispensation — which cripples, or slows movement, or enemies when clones are killed. Nice for PvE.

20 points into chaos can give you access to a trait to reduce staff cooldowns. Nice.

20 points into illusions can give you access to illusionary elasticity, which gives bounce attacks an additional bounce. Superb when used with staff.

3. You want the stats the other guy mentioned, and lots and lots of condition damage. That applies to bleeds, burns, poisons, and confusion. Confusion is an excellent staple for mesmer in PvP should you choose to use it.

5. Mesmer is an excellent PvP class. I feel safer roaming in WvW than I do with my warrior. It does have a learning curve, but playing a lot in PvE should help give you a foot in the door.

Mesmer affords you a lot of manueverability (Blink, Decoy, Portal Entandre, etc.) and deception on the battlefield. You have to learn how to manage your clones and even try and blend in with them from time to time. Additionally, it’s good to use all your abilities at your disposal to help defend yourself. Confusion is also very devastating. Learn your shatters through and through — they can be useful. I typically use them when:

a) I’m discovered and my clones are not distractin’
b) I have skills up to replace them immediately

6. Video the guy linked is excellent, watched it myself when I started the class. Mesmer is a class that rewards you for your cunning and skill. I had reservations at first, but they’re far gone at this point.

Clones are meant to die. They’re meant to distract people from yourself and your phantasms. They are disposable and very useful. Keep up your clones and phantasms as much as you can. Use shatters sparingly and when you feel is appropriate.

Of course, the more you learn of the class and find your own playstyle — you’ll find your own way. Do what works!

Thanks alot guys for the help

Since english is not my main language, the video is a bit hard to understand at 100%, but i’ll try my best

Thanks again for the help!

To gain XP quicker – look at the Achievements tab in your Hero panel. The Daily Achievements are fairly simple to meet, and give you a nice XP + coin + loot reward. Plus there are a lot of other achievements. That said, level 11 in 20 hours is not horrible. Everything you do in the game does not give you XP – for example spending the time to equip your armor and weapons with nice upgrades.

Mesmer is a really fun class to play, but it is also quite challenging to be good at it. I would say most of the other classes are easier. But do what is fun for you – that should be your main goal.

A general tip to keep levelling quickly: As you reach max level for a zone, move to the a new zone for that level range.

Stick to events within 1-2 levels of you there (Even +1-2 levels above you, which will be harder — don’t be afraid to leave an event if it’s too hard and go do other ones) and that will help keep you moving through the levels.

While you can stay in lower level zones and keep participating in events and things, xp gain drops off pretty quick.