Guild Wars 2

So, decided I want to try out the mesmer.

Just wanted to know.. what are your opinions on the class? Fun? Easy or hard to play? How are they sitting right now in PvE and PvP?

How does the Greatsword feel on a mesmer? Viable?

How about sword/pistol?

They seem like fun, so I thought i’d at least get some ideas on the players point of view.

Mesmer’s are quite fun, I can’t really say if they’re hard or easy, that’s up to how you play them. Greatsword is very viable, so is Staff, Sword, and Pistol, I use all 4 depending on the situation. I hear a lot of, “I can’t lvl my mesmer cuz it’s hard”. But I had no problems with it using Staff, others used Greatsword to 80. Don’t let the nerf topics scare you. You can barely notice.

If you’re used to playing easymode Warrior or Guardian, you’re gonna have a hell of a time with Mesmer pve.

Skill cap of this profession is easily higher than the others. Plus, with the recent nerfs (Illusions require LOS) Mesmer is harder now in pvp than before. However, it’s a very rewarding class. Leveling up might be a pain for some but once you reach 80 it’ll be great. We have awesome survivability and we are still an awesome duelist 1v1 class.

As of last patch mesmers are broken.

Their traits and overall survivability are tied heavily to the presence of clones and phantasms which now cannot be summoned if your primary target blocks, dodges, or goes invulnerable, or if you happen to be blinded.

I myself was fine with all other patches prior to the last patch, and all changes in the last patch except for this change, but this change has utterly broken the profession, and I’m trying two other specific specs which caught my eye:

*double-dagger tank-support elementalist

*mace/torch – hammer support guardian

both are highly survivable, dynamic, and rewarding gameplay without having 65% of their survival and group utility spells crippled when their target blinds, dodges, or blocks them.

I started out on a Ranger, the went to a Guardian which I enjoyed but on later levels I felt a bit… hollow although doing well. Tried a Thief and then Mesmer. The Mesmer is very fun to play. Like some I feel there is a lot of hate post patch but I still feel I am very powerful.
It is a fun class to play. I use staff, sword/pistol and having a ball with it. If you are a sort of person that gels with this class you will faceroll and have fun.

I rolled a Mesmer as my first character, and still play him as my main at level 80. I’ve tried playing other classes but only Necromancer gets me close to the same satisfaction as Mesmer does. Is it impossible to faceroll people on a Mesmer like you can with thieves and warriors? Yes, but you can always dominate a fight if you know what your doing. As a Mesmer you are also very survivable in a 2 on 1, and are just as slippery as a Thief.

It’s been a while since I’ve done WvW, but my favorite combination is GS/Staff for the long range, and I’ve specced into 50% fall dmg (with chaos storm) and extra bounces. I go 10/0/15/15/30.

For sPvP my current favorite spec is 0/0/20/30/20, making sure to take all the traits that buff illusion and illusion shattering using Staff+Scepter/Sword. With this I can 1 v 1 anyone, and against stupid thieves that specialize in trying to one shot you in the back and then going invisible, you often just call it a draw and move on, you heal too quick for him to kill you and he runs away before you can get all the damage on him. The whole fight takes too long to really get anywhere so the winner is often who brings back up. Against 2 people it gets hard, it depends on how well they are at tracking you, in most cases you either have to just run or try to separate them.

Mesmers bring a ton to the table in terms of how versatile they can be, I find they can go from tank (Shatter and Vitality) to support (Staff+Scepter/Focus with 7-8-9 being large area effects, Time Warp as Ult) to heals (Mantras and Healing trait line) to main damage dealer (Power Build) with just a quick switch of traits and weapons.

I find the GS-Sword/Pistol build cliché, but it certainly a solid build for damage output, as it brings the highest damage Phantasms out, and quickly, and MH Sword 2 is good damage output and a good dodging tool.

Because a Mesmer is so versatile, and key to being successful with one is to spend time with it and experiment with all your options. Run around in PvE just killing stuff with different combos to find what you like better. For me, PvE worked best with Sword/Sword and Staff as the Offhand, the playstyle of being in their faces while always having the option of switching to staff, blinking away and putting on a shield when things got dicey just fit my personalty. Personally I don’t know how people keep saying Mesmer is terrible to level up in PvE, I found it to be the easiest, I would solo everyone that came my way, I could solo elites and the occasional champion sometimes without taking damage. It’s all in the clone management. The hardest moments in PvE were ones when NPCs didn’t fall for the clones and kept attacking me rather than my clones. Late Game PvE though I’ve just been using GS/Staff like I do in WvW. Mostly because I don’t have good swords yet but its really easy burst potential and I can still solo all the content I want.

Fun?, yes
Easy?, no

i should also note that mesmers get nerfs out of the blue, and no decent reworks/buffs so far.

if you lvl fast, then by all means roll a mesmer, if not, i suggest you wait till ANet gets the class more balanced.

^ Agreed there. Honestly, the only professions that do not seem to be bugged and are generally satisfied in pvp/wvw/pve/dungeons are: Elementalist, Thief, Warrior, Guardian. Others seem to need work in my experience, especially ranger. Not to come across as someone who complains, but that’s the reality of it (in my opinion through my perspective).

plasmacutter.2709:

As of last patch mesmers are broken.

Their traits and overall survivability are tied heavily to the presence of clones and phantasms which now cannot be summoned if your primary target blocks, dodges, or goes invulnerable, or if you happen to be blinded.

Wa, wait, what? your claiming because your abilities do not work when your primary target blocks, dodges, or goes invulnerable, or if you happen to be blinded, that your mesmers are broken? I have heard of misinformation before but that is just a stupid thing to say. Because that is game design and it is how all classes work, stop trying to claim it broke mesmer, its embarrassing.

I would say that it’s an unsatisfying part of mesmer – the abundant reliance on clones. I wish the profession was able to cast its spells independently. More aoe, more flashy damage spells as an alternative to spamming shatter.

WeWantWaffles.2873:

I would say that it’s an unsatisfying part of mesmer – the abundant reliance on clones. I wish the profession was able to cast its spells independently. More aoe, more flashy damage spells as an alternative to spamming shatter.

Sometimes I wish this too but honestly you still can be highly effective without high clone generation. Glamor spells are truly very powerful, and and all of our elites are very useful. But in any case I don’t mind not have really flashy spells I think mesmer are more about mind games instead of being flashy

WeWantWaffles.2873:

I would say that it’s an unsatisfying part of mesmer – the abundant reliance on clones. I wish the profession was able to cast its spells independently. More aoe, more flashy damage spells as an alternative to spamming shatter.

The whole point of a Mesmer is to generate clones, thats why its in the F1 tab, if you want more flash AoE damage roll an Elementalist, besides the ability skins it looks like thats what you want.

Clones set Mesmer’s apart from the other Scholar Classes, if you think about the abilities both necros and elementalists have, our main abilities are a good mix between the two.

I know I don’t even notice my clones half the time I’m playing, don’t think of them as pets, think of them as extensions of yourself.

coglin.1496:

plasmacutter.2709:

As of last patch mesmers are broken.

Their traits and overall survivability are tied heavily to the presence of clones and phantasms which now cannot be summoned if your primary target blocks, dodges, or goes invulnerable, or if you happen to be blinded.

Wa, wait, what? your claiming because your abilities do not work when your primary target blocks, dodges, or goes invulnerable, or if you happen to be blinded, that your mesmers are broken? I have heard of misinformation before but that is just a stupid thing to say. Because that is game design and it is how all classes work, stop trying to claim it broke mesmer, its embarrassing.

Summons DO NOT EQUAL ATTACKS! say it with me, say it until it sinks in!

You should not be able to put a SUMMON on cooldown by dodging. You want the primary offensive ability to be dodged by dodging, SURE, but the current situation post-patch is someone can cause your SUMMON to fail by dodging, then, if by chance they mis-time it, they can either: dodge again OR kill the summoned minion. They just heaped the drawbacks of primary attacks on top of the current drawbacks of pets with low hp, and tried to call that “balanced”? I suspect the (literally, CONFIRMED BY RED POST) 2 person balance team has been denied sleep so long they’re no longer rational if they think so

When a necro summons its pet, and someone dodges, blocks, or parries, that pet still summons, and they still get everything they traited for in passives while that pet is active. The pet itself can be dodged — JUST LIKE THE PHANTASM OR CLONE CAN BE.

When a guardian uses save yourselves, his symbols, his wards, they still WORK when the primary target blocks.

When ANYONE ELSE’s one attack fails, it does not domino into other attacks and prevent them too.

When you try to summon illusions and they fail, that summon goes on cooldown, and you gain none of the traited survival talents in illusions, chaos, or inspiration. Further, you lose your shatters, which are the core mechanic of the entire class.

This includes:

The projectile block(traited: reflect) ward from the warden
The regen from the phantasms.
The ability to teleport to a random clone location (sword 3)
Your phantasmal defender (primary purpose: SELF MITIGATION) does not spawn and you get trained because you were blinded.

And much, much more.

coglin.1496:

plasmacutter.2709:

As of last patch mesmers are broken.

Their traits and overall survivability are tied heavily to the presence of clones and phantasms which now cannot be summoned if your primary target blocks, dodges, or goes invulnerable, or if you happen to be blinded.

Wa, wait, what? your claiming because your abilities do not work when your primary target blocks, dodges, or goes invulnerable, or if you happen to be blinded, that your mesmers are broken? I have heard of misinformation before but that is just a stupid thing to say. Because that is game design and it is how all classes work, stop trying to claim it broke mesmer, its embarrassing.

Your post is embarrasing, not his. If the same rules are aplied to ALL classes, then it is fine, but if it is only mesmer who cannot use his CORE ability when blinded or target block/dodge, then there is something wrong. Mesmer is build around illusions, and i agree right now it is semi-broken as clear LOS will still often get you “obscured” message and your ability goes on full timer without working.

I think it is a bit insulting how it was assumed that I should play an elementalist just because I’d like to have direct damage options to mesmer. That is incredibly closed-minded, because why should we be forced to rely on one mechanic constantly? That’s boring!

Warriors get options from their F1 skill, so do guardians. Just because I want to have a chance to do direct damage with spells, like a wizard, independent of clones, I therefore need to play a profession with an entirely different playstyle? Come on. Anyway, Monztor’s reply was nice and constructive <3

My first level 80 was a Necro, not level 80 yet on the memser but so far its is extreamly easy to play and level up. I think its faster then my thief and obviously faster then a necro.

I dont understand the people that say Mesmer is hard to play, comparied to what? A necro an Ele? I think not mesmer is not complex and its strong in spvp tpvp wvw and pve, if anything it needs a bit of a nerf.

p.s. alot of you crybabies need to play another class, role an ele and necro and see how fast you come running back to mesmer.

WeWantWaffles.2873:

I think it is a bit insulting how it was assumed that I should play an elementalist just because I’d like to have direct damage options to mesmer. That is incredibly closed-minded, because why should we be forced to rely on one mechanic constantly? That’s boring!

Because its like rolling a warrior then complaining that you don’t want to hit people with big weapons and you’d rather cast spells. It’s just not what the class is about. At all. Clones/illusions are integral to the Mesmer class.

plasmacutter.2709:

Summons DO NOT EQUAL ATTACKS! say it with me, say it until it sinks in!

You should not be able to put a SUMMON on cooldown by dodging. You want the primary offensive ability to be dodged by dodging, SURE, but the current situation post-patch is someone can cause your SUMMON to fail by dodging, then, if by chance they mis-time it, they can either: dodge again OR kill the summoned minion. They just heaped the drawbacks of primary attacks on top of the current drawbacks of pets with low hp, and tried to call that “balanced”? I suspect the (literally, CONFIRMED BY RED POST) 2 person balance team has been denied sleep so long they’re no longer rational if they think so

Totally agree, it makes no sense. I understand they put in a LOS check to stop people summing iBerserker on people through walls, but surely they can make it check LOS without also causing it to fail on dodge/blind.

Those were separate fixes. The LoS fix was justified, but they didn’t consider that we don’t really have reliable ground-targeted damage AoE capabilities to be used in sieges. Also, LoS is broken of course, but that’s a problem all classes have to deal with. It just hits us a bit harder. The other change is complete bs they obviously didn’t think through. Being able to double-dodge and also kill a primary source of our damage as well as many defensive abilities doesn’t compute and is nothing any other class has to deal with.
We can still get out clones in all cases, I just don’t like the idea of being forced to trait deceptive evasion, now even more.

Mesmer is my favorite profession to play in PvP, because it’s so much fun to watch your opponents run around either attacking clones, or damaging themselves with confusion on them. It’s also a ton of fun to hide inside keeps in Worlds PvP, and then use portal to sneak your allies inside and kill the lord. But for these same reasons, I don’t like to play Mesmer at all in PvE. It’s just not the same to trick bots, as it is to trick other players. So in PvE I play my Ranger, which is the best PvE profession in my opinion.

Kasama.8941:

Mesmer is my favorite profession to play in PvP, because it’s so much fun to watch your opponents run around either attacking clones, or damaging themselves with confusion on them.

You’re actually playing competitive PvP relying on that? I guess you meant “trololo I’m a lvl1 guy testing the game” WvW enemies…

Iruwen.3164:

Kasama.8941:

Mesmer is my favorite profession to play in PvP, because it’s so much fun to watch your opponents run around either attacking clones, or damaging themselves with confusion on them.

You’re actually playing competitive PvP relying on that? I guess you meant “trololo I’m a lvl1 guy testing the game” WvW enemies…

Is there a point to this comment, or are you just trying to be offensive?

Iruwen.3164:

Kasama.8941:

Mesmer is my favorite profession to play in PvP, because it’s so much fun to watch your opponents run around either attacking clones, or damaging themselves with confusion on them.

You’re actually playing competitive PvP relying on that? I guess you meant “trololo I’m a lvl1 guy testing the game” WvW enemies…

Look at the pretend elitist, portal is a great game winning tactic in tpvp also… Notice I said tactic something you clearly dont understand perhaps you should try whatever class you think is OP…. you might quit the game when you cant win with a normal class. Mes is strong.

I started GW2 as a ranger, played to 80, then rolled a mesmer (GS/Staff). Ton’s more fun in my opinion but a bit harder than ranger. As a ranger I just let my pet hold aggro, then unload and kite a little when necessary.
My play style with the mesmer is a lot of kite/dodge. Had a bit of a tougher time from 1-30 esp. when you come from a lvl. 80 class. Died quite often in the beginning and had to get used to the dodge/kite need. Mesmers are a ton of fun!!

WeWantWaffles.2873:

That is incredibly closed-minded, because why should we be forced to rely on one mechanic constantly? That’s boring!

You are not forced to use clones, youre more than free to play another class to use a different mechanic. Not trying to be snide(not not trying either), but if you dont like the way Mesmers play then dont play one.

Mesmer is active. That is why I play one because my character never stays still to fight. You constantly are on the move and doing things.

I was dodging all the time as a mesmer and that was before I got a clone on dodge (now that I do it’s even more golden to dodge).

It feels like you are dancing while battling.

If you don’t feel like thinking and moving while battling then don’t roll a mesmer.

Drunken Mad King.8193:

Mesmer is active. That is why I play one because my character never stays still to fight. You constantly are on the move and doing things.

I was dodging all the time as a mesmer and that was before I got a clone on dodge (now that I do it’s even more golden to dodge).

It feels like you are dancing while battling.

If you don’t feel like thinking and moving while battling then don’t roll a mesmer.

Well said. Tbh, put on a good song, grab a staff and a prefered mh/oh, attack 1 vs x and start the dance Lovely lovely profession, soon 600 h mostly in wvwvw here and still love every moment of it. Good that there is so many ways to play the class aswell, find your approach while lvling is my 10 cent

Xom.9264:

Iruwen.3164:

Kasama.8941:

Mesmer is my favorite profession to play in PvP, because it’s so much fun to watch your opponents run around either attacking clones, or damaging themselves with confusion on them.

You’re actually playing competitive PvP relying on that? I guess you meant “trololo I’m a lvl1 guy testing the game” WvW enemies…

Look at the pretend elitist, portal is a great game winning tactic in tpvp also… Notice I said tactic something you clearly dont understand perhaps you should try whatever class you think is OP…. you might quit the game when you cant win with a normal class. Mes is strong.

I didn’t say it’s not strong. I also didn’t say anything about portals or any elite skill, be it moa, mass invisibility or time warp. Imo mesmers are not OP, but the strongest class. But they’re not strong because people are actually confused by clones.