Recently ive seen (or couldnt) a few mesmers in pvp.
These guys just roamed around the map to fight an impossible fight against an unsuspecting prey.
They come out of nowhere with their stealth,put up what i think it is to be Mirror Images and Decoy right when they are near you and then blast Mind Wrack.
BOOM immedeatly dealt with if not insta-dead.
First time i saw the thing happen,i was playing my HGH Engi which has about 25k health.
Wish i had any video of the incident,first time on Niflhel.
So i need some advice,ive played Mesmer,though not solid,but was pretty decent at it.
What is your advice.
Could not be an Engineer IRL so i’ve become one in Tyria.
So the combo you’re seeing is greatsword 2 (mirror blade), dodge, mind wrack, greatsword 3 (mind stab).
This does a lot of damage, particularly if you don’t have toughness. The way to avoid this is to dodge immediately upon either seeing the animation of mirror blade, or as soon as you realize you’re taking damage. As you said, it’s an impossible fight against unsuspecting prey. Don’t be unsuspecting prey. When you know there’s a burst zerker mesmer on the other team, always be aware of where they are and be ready to avoid their burst.
Would love to mash on the elixir S there ever was a mirror blade flying towards me,yet that was non-existent :/
Maybe he was fresh out of a fight and had might stacked all the way from the spatial surge and the next thing i see is a trio of clones to my face.
Im suspecting mirror images and decoy because i cannot recall any GS animations that took place.
Not going to cry “OP” but,well,theres 4 dead due to the shatter after shatter at keep in Nifl and that’ve put the team about 50 points behind in a very quick manner.
Gotta work that Lock On trait it seems,just glad its not THAT common.
Could not be an Engineer IRL so i’ve become one in Tyria.
Would love to mash on the elixir S there ever was a mirror blade flying towards me,yet that was non-existent :/
Maybe he was fresh out of a fight and had might stacked all the way from the spatial surge and the next thing i see is a trio of clones to my face.
Im suspecting mirror images and decoy because i cannot recall any GS animations that took place.
Not going to cry “OP” but,well,theres 4 dead due to the shatter after shatter at keep in Nifl and that’ve put the team about 50 points behind in a very quick manner.
Gotta work that Lock On trait it seems,just glad its not THAT common.
Well, the key is that you can get to point blank range, and then the projectile has no distance to travel, and hence no travel time or animation to see. However, there still is a time delay between the first damage occurring and the main body of the burst. If you dodge immediately, you’ll avoid pretty much the whole painful part.
Again though, this is all reliant on you paying attention. If you don’t realize the mesmer is there, you can’t possibly react in time, so you have to be cognizant of that. Taking lock on is also a fantastic way to screw this up, since it relies upon starting in stealth for that surprise attack.
“point blank range, and then the projectile has no distance to travel, and hence no travel time or animation to see.”
Thanks for the heads up,though obvious couldnt really comprehend that part.
Yep. That’s important to know though, because it means that the mesmer is right on top of you when this burst is happening, they have to be. Blind grenades will screw it up, or just heavy aoe pressure will deny this pretty effectively and/or get the mesmer killed if they’re not careful.
So the combo you’re seeing is greatsword 2 (mirror blade), dodge, mind wrack, greatsword 3 (mind stab).
This does a lot of damage, particularly if you don’t have regardless of your toughness. The way to avoid this is to dodge immediately upon either seeing the animation of mirror blade, or as soon as you realize you’re taking damage. As you said, it’s an impossible fight against unsuspecting prey. Don’t be unsuspecting prey. When you know there’s a burst zerker mesmer on the other team, always be aware of where they are and be ready to avoid their burst.
Fixed that for ya! You would think 3.4k armor would be enough to not be getting hit for 4k/shatter on mind wrack, but it’s not :/ You can’t face-tank a well-set up mind wrack, period.
There is good advice here though; you really have to dodge, block, or invlun to survive those out-of-stealth bursts from a power mesmers. Be aware of that mesmer’s location, and get ready to hop on them as soon as they’re out of stealth/not invulnerable.
Some advice from personal experience: If you move away from where the mesmer is, they’re not going to be able to do a point-blank mirror blade throw, and will likely chase you. If the mesmer is stealthed and nearing the end of their stealth duration, s/he will likely just throw the mirror blade from wherever s/he currently is, keep chasing you, or blink to you to get the burst in. In all three cases you have made the situation slightly more advantageous for yourself. Aside from dodging, move around, constantly keep attacking (negates a +15% damage modifier they could have), and move away from stealthed mesmers to avoid that burst!
So the combo you’re seeing is greatsword 2 (mirror blade), dodge, mind wrack, greatsword 3 (mind stab).
This does a lot of damage, particularly if you don’t have regardless of your toughness. The way to avoid this is to dodge immediately upon either seeing the animation of mirror blade, or as soon as you realize you’re taking damage. As you said, it’s an impossible fight against unsuspecting prey. Don’t be unsuspecting prey. When you know there’s a burst zerker mesmer on the other team, always be aware of where they are and be ready to avoid their burst.
Fixed that for ya! You would think 3.4k armor would be enough to not be getting hit for 4k/shatter on mind wrack, but it’s not :/ You can’t face-tank a well-set up mind wrack, period.
There is good advice here though; you really have to dodge, block, or invlun to survive those out-of-stealth bursts from a power mesmers. Be aware of that mesmer’s location, and get ready to hop on them as soon as they’re out of stealth/not invulnerable.
Some advice from personal experience: If you move away from where the mesmer is, they’re not going to be able to do a point-blank mirror blade throw, and will likely chase you. If the mesmer is stealthed and nearing the end of their stealth duration, s/he will likely just throw the mirror blade from wherever s/he currently is, keep chasing you, or blink to you to get the burst in. In all three cases you have made the situation slightly more advantageous for yourself. Aside from dodging, move around, constantly keep attacking (negates a +15% damage modifier they could have), and move away from stealthed mesmers to avoid that burst!
Eating a full burst from a burst build isn’t going to feel like a gentle massage, no matter the build. If you’ve got that much toughness, you’ll easily survive it though.
So the combo you’re seeing is greatsword 2 (mirror blade), dodge, mind wrack, greatsword 3 (mind stab).
This does a lot of damage, particularly if you don’t have toughness. The way to avoid this is to dodge immediately upon either seeing the animation of mirror blade, or as soon as you realize you’re taking damage. As you said, it’s an impossible fight against unsuspecting prey. Don’t be unsuspecting prey. When you know there’s a burst zerker mesmer on the other team, always be aware of where they are and be ready to avoid their burst.
Vid is a comparison of Zerker GS burst under Power Block vs Mental Anguish, so the last 8 bursts are the harder hitting. Anyway, you can see the skills used and the damage totals on a lite golem.
So the combo you’re seeing is greatsword 2 (mirror blade), dodge, mind wrack, greatsword 3 (mind stab).
This does a lot of damage, particularly if you don’t have toughness. The way to avoid this is to dodge immediately upon either seeing the animation of mirror blade, or as soon as you realize you’re taking damage. As you said, it’s an impossible fight against unsuspecting prey. Don’t be unsuspecting prey. When you know there’s a burst zerker mesmer on the other team, always be aware of where they are and be ready to avoid their burst.
Vid is a comparison of Zerker GS burst under Power Block vs Mental Anguish, so the last 8 bursts are the harder hitting. Anyway, you can see the skills used and the damage totals on a lite golem.
So in ideal burst situations, PB hits harder right?
So the combo you’re seeing is greatsword 2 (mirror blade), dodge, mind wrack, greatsword 3 (mind stab).
This does a lot of damage, particularly if you don’t have toughness. The way to avoid this is to dodge immediately upon either seeing the animation of mirror blade, or as soon as you realize you’re taking damage. As you said, it’s an impossible fight against unsuspecting prey. Don’t be unsuspecting prey. When you know there’s a burst zerker mesmer on the other team, always be aware of where they are and be ready to avoid their burst.
Vid is a comparison of Zerker GS burst under Power Block vs Mental Anguish, so the last 8 bursts are the harder hitting. Anyway, you can see the skills used and the damage totals on a lite golem.
So in ideal burst situations, PB hits harder right?
Eh, I don’t think so. A PB interrupt on a full zerk build can net you 2-4k extra damage, which brings them about even, more or less. The difference is ONLY made up in additional interrupts throughout the course of a fight, pulling PB ahead.
However, as any experienced player will know all the difference in a fight can occur in that burst instant. If the target scraped by with a few HP, they can pop their invulns and heals, prolonging the fight and potentially escaping danger altogether. So which is better? Circumstance is everything. You can’t just look at a few numbers and call it :p
So the combo you’re seeing is greatsword 2 (mirror blade), dodge, mind wrack, greatsword 3 (mind stab).
This does a lot of damage, particularly if you don’t have toughness. The way to avoid this is to dodge immediately upon either seeing the animation of mirror blade, or as soon as you realize you’re taking damage. As you said, it’s an impossible fight against unsuspecting prey. Don’t be unsuspecting prey. When you know there’s a burst zerker mesmer on the other team, always be aware of where they are and be ready to avoid their burst.
Vid is a comparison of Zerker GS burst under Power Block vs Mental Anguish, so the last 8 bursts are the harder hitting. Anyway, you can see the skills used and the damage totals on a lite golem.
So in ideal burst situations, PB hits harder right?
Eh, I don’t think so. A PB interrupt on a full zerk build can net you 2-4k extra damage, which brings them about even, more or less. The difference is ONLY made up in additional interrupts throughout the course of a fight, pulling PB ahead.
However, as any experienced player will know all the difference in a fight can occur in that burst instant. If the target scraped by with a few HP, they can pop their invulns and heals, prolonging the fight and potentially escaping danger altogether. So which is better? Circumstance is everything. You can’t just look at a few numbers and call it :p
But the same goes for mental, not alot of targets will eat your burst like the golem so you dont get the extra dmg multiplier. Unless they have no stun breakers
So the combo you’re seeing is greatsword 2 (mirror blade), dodge, mind wrack, greatsword 3 (mind stab).
This does a lot of damage, particularly if you don’t have toughness. The way to avoid this is to dodge immediately upon either seeing the animation of mirror blade, or as soon as you realize you’re taking damage. As you said, it’s an impossible fight against unsuspecting prey. Don’t be unsuspecting prey. When you know there’s a burst zerker mesmer on the other team, always be aware of where they are and be ready to avoid their burst.
Vid is a comparison of Zerker GS burst under Power Block vs Mental Anguish, so the last 8 bursts are the harder hitting. Anyway, you can see the skills used and the damage totals on a lite golem.
So in ideal burst situations, PB hits harder right?
Eh, I don’t think so. A PB interrupt on a full zerk build can net you 2-4k extra damage, which brings them about even, more or less. The difference is ONLY made up in additional interrupts throughout the course of a fight, pulling PB ahead.
However, as any experienced player will know all the difference in a fight can occur in that burst instant. If the target scraped by with a few HP, they can pop their invulns and heals, prolonging the fight and potentially escaping danger altogether. So which is better? Circumstance is everything. You can’t just look at a few numbers and call it :p
But the same goes for mental, not alot of targets will eat your burst like the golem so you dont get the extra dmg multiplier. Unless they have no stun breakers
Well you always get the bonus 15%, that said the whole idea of Mental Anguish is maximizing its potential of burst under Lockdown. So if you can dump the full thing under 1s before a stun breaker/invuln reaction, then you’re golden.
obviously pre-empting the Mesmer is the strongest approach. Popping stability or invuln/blur/evade works really well. But the strongest defense? Weakness, lots and lots of weakness. It’s relatively low investment, shuts out anyone without condi cleanse, and can be reapplied even if it is cleansed :p.
So the combo you’re seeing is greatsword 2 (mirror blade), dodge, mind wrack, greatsword 3 (mind stab).
This does a lot of damage, particularly if you don’t have toughness. The way to avoid this is to dodge immediately upon either seeing the animation of mirror blade, or as soon as you realize you’re taking damage. As you said, it’s an impossible fight against unsuspecting prey. Don’t be unsuspecting prey. When you know there’s a burst zerker mesmer on the other team, always be aware of where they are and be ready to avoid their burst.
Vid is a comparison of Zerker GS burst under Power Block vs Mental Anguish, so the last 8 bursts are the harder hitting. Anyway, you can see the skills used and the damage totals on a lite golem.
So in ideal burst situations, PB hits harder right?
Eh, I don’t think so. A PB interrupt on a full zerk build can net you 2-4k extra damage, which brings them about even, more or less. The difference is ONLY made up in additional interrupts throughout the course of a fight, pulling PB ahead.
However, as any experienced player will know all the difference in a fight can occur in that burst instant. If the target scraped by with a few HP, they can pop their invulns and heals, prolonging the fight and potentially escaping danger altogether. So which is better? Circumstance is everything. You can’t just look at a few numbers and call it :p
But the same goes for mental, not alot of targets will eat your burst like the golem so you dont get the extra dmg multiplier. Unless they have no stun breakers
Well you always get the bonus 15%, that said the whole idea of Mental Anguish is maximizing its potential of burst under Lockdown. So if you can dump the full thing under 1s before a stun breaker/invuln reaction, then you’re golden.
obviously pre-empting the Mesmer is the strongest approach. Popping stability or invuln/blur/evade works really well. But the strongest defense? Weakness, lots and lots of weakness. It’s relatively low investment, shuts out anyone without condi cleanse, and can be reapplied even if it is cleansed :p.
Burst Mesmers worst nightmare :p
I get what you mean tho, but my argument still stands, on the video you posted, PB is almost the same as MA, without the HS damage, and granted you will get the modifier 50% since you Are hitting a golem.
So a very good Interrupt Mesmer will make use and outdamage MA repeatedly if he manages to Chain His interrupts. Like proper Clone positioning for Diversion.
So the combo you’re seeing is greatsword 2 (mirror blade), dodge, mind wrack, greatsword 3 (mind stab).
This does a lot of damage, particularly if you don’t have toughness. The way to avoid this is to dodge immediately upon either seeing the animation of mirror blade, or as soon as you realize you’re taking damage. As you said, it’s an impossible fight against unsuspecting prey. Don’t be unsuspecting prey. When you know there’s a burst zerker mesmer on the other team, always be aware of where they are and be ready to avoid their burst.
Vid is a comparison of Zerker GS burst under Power Block vs Mental Anguish, so the last 8 bursts are the harder hitting. Anyway, you can see the skills used and the damage totals on a lite golem.
So in ideal burst situations, PB hits harder right?
Eh, I don’t think so. A PB interrupt on a full zerk build can net you 2-4k extra damage, which brings them about even, more or less. The difference is ONLY made up in additional interrupts throughout the course of a fight, pulling PB ahead.
However, as any experienced player will know all the difference in a fight can occur in that burst instant. If the target scraped by with a few HP, they can pop their invulns and heals, prolonging the fight and potentially escaping danger altogether. So which is better? Circumstance is everything. You can’t just look at a few numbers and call it :p
But the same goes for mental, not alot of targets will eat your burst like the golem so you dont get the extra dmg multiplier. Unless they have no stun breakers
Well you always get the bonus 15%, that said the whole idea of Mental Anguish is maximizing its potential of burst under Lockdown. So if you can dump the full thing under 1s before a stun breaker/invuln reaction, then you’re golden.
obviously pre-empting the Mesmer is the strongest approach. Popping stability or invuln/blur/evade works really well. But the strongest defense? Weakness, lots and lots of weakness. It’s relatively low investment, shuts out anyone without condi cleanse, and can be reapplied even if it is cleansed :p.
Burst Mesmers worst nightmare :p
I get what you mean tho, but my argument still stands, on the video you posted, PB is almost the same as MA, without the HS damage, and granted you will get the modifier 50% since you Are hitting a golem.
So a very good Interrupt Mesmer will make use and outdamage MA repeatedly if he manages to Chain His interrupts. Like proper Clone positioning for Diversion.
Your argument is wrong. As long as you either bait a stunbreaker first or just execute your burst precisely fast, you’ll get the bonus damage every time. Executed properly, the mirror blade will land an instant after the stun, followed by the shatter. You can do the whole thing in less than half a second.
So the combo you’re seeing is greatsword 2 (mirror blade), dodge, mind wrack, greatsword 3 (mind stab).
This does a lot of damage, particularly if you don’t have toughness. The way to avoid this is to dodge immediately upon either seeing the animation of mirror blade, or as soon as you realize you’re taking damage. As you said, it’s an impossible fight against unsuspecting prey. Don’t be unsuspecting prey. When you know there’s a burst zerker mesmer on the other team, always be aware of where they are and be ready to avoid their burst.
Vid is a comparison of Zerker GS burst under Power Block vs Mental Anguish, so the last 8 bursts are the harder hitting. Anyway, you can see the skills used and the damage totals on a lite golem.
So in ideal burst situations, PB hits harder right?
Eh, I don’t think so. A PB interrupt on a full zerk build can net you 2-4k extra damage, which brings them about even, more or less. The difference is ONLY made up in additional interrupts throughout the course of a fight, pulling PB ahead.
However, as any experienced player will know all the difference in a fight can occur in that burst instant. If the target scraped by with a few HP, they can pop their invulns and heals, prolonging the fight and potentially escaping danger altogether. So which is better? Circumstance is everything. You can’t just look at a few numbers and call it :p
But the same goes for mental, not alot of targets will eat your burst like the golem so you dont get the extra dmg multiplier. Unless they have no stun breakers
Well you always get the bonus 15%, that said the whole idea of Mental Anguish is maximizing its potential of burst under Lockdown. So if you can dump the full thing under 1s before a stun breaker/invuln reaction, then you’re golden.
obviously pre-empting the Mesmer is the strongest approach. Popping stability or invuln/blur/evade works really well. But the strongest defense? Weakness, lots and lots of weakness. It’s relatively low investment, shuts out anyone without condi cleanse, and can be reapplied even if it is cleansed :p.
Burst Mesmers worst nightmare :p
I get what you mean tho, but my argument still stands, on the video you posted, PB is almost the same as MA, without the HS damage, and granted you will get the modifier 50% since you Are hitting a golem.
So a very good Interrupt Mesmer will make use and outdamage MA repeatedly if he manages to Chain His interrupts. Like proper Clone positioning for Diversion.
Your argument is wrong. As long as you either bait a stunbreaker first or just execute your burst precisely fast, you’ll get the bonus damage every time. Executed properly, the mirror blade will land an instant after the stun, followed by the shatter. You can do the whole thing in less than half a second.
Here is the thing though, on a first engagment, how would you know how many stun breakers he has, you can bait the first one yes, but how bout the second? the third?
If he has 2 or 3, how many is off CD , how many Isnt? How many is almost off CD?
Unless you can predict it 100% of the time then yeah for sure MA will always outdamage PB.
Doing the burst extremely fast I agree with if you can caught him off guard, but let’s be honest, this rarely happens (depends on what matches you get tho)
So the combo you’re seeing is greatsword 2 (mirror blade), dodge, mind wrack, greatsword 3 (mind stab).
This does a lot of damage, particularly if you don’t have toughness. The way to avoid this is to dodge immediately upon either seeing the animation of mirror blade, or as soon as you realize you’re taking damage. As you said, it’s an impossible fight against unsuspecting prey. Don’t be unsuspecting prey. When you know there’s a burst zerker mesmer on the other team, always be aware of where they are and be ready to avoid their burst.
Vid is a comparison of Zerker GS burst under Power Block vs Mental Anguish, so the last 8 bursts are the harder hitting. Anyway, you can see the skills used and the damage totals on a lite golem.
So in ideal burst situations, PB hits harder right?
Eh, I don’t think so. A PB interrupt on a full zerk build can net you 2-4k extra damage, which brings them about even, more or less. The difference is ONLY made up in additional interrupts throughout the course of a fight, pulling PB ahead.
However, as any experienced player will know all the difference in a fight can occur in that burst instant. If the target scraped by with a few HP, they can pop their invulns and heals, prolonging the fight and potentially escaping danger altogether. So which is better? Circumstance is everything. You can’t just look at a few numbers and call it :p
But the same goes for mental, not alot of targets will eat your burst like the golem so you dont get the extra dmg multiplier. Unless they have no stun breakers
Well you always get the bonus 15%, that said the whole idea of Mental Anguish is maximizing its potential of burst under Lockdown. So if you can dump the full thing under 1s before a stun breaker/invuln reaction, then you’re golden.
obviously pre-empting the Mesmer is the strongest approach. Popping stability or invuln/blur/evade works really well. But the strongest defense? Weakness, lots and lots of weakness. It’s relatively low investment, shuts out anyone without condi cleanse, and can be reapplied even if it is cleansed :p.
Burst Mesmers worst nightmare :p
I get what you mean tho, but my argument still stands, on the video you posted, PB is almost the same as MA, without the HS damage, and granted you will get the modifier 50% since you Are hitting a golem.
So a very good Interrupt Mesmer will make use and outdamage MA repeatedly if he manages to Chain His interrupts. Like proper Clone positioning for Diversion.
Your argument is wrong. As long as you either bait a stunbreaker first or just execute your burst precisely fast, you’ll get the bonus damage every time. Executed properly, the mirror blade will land an instant after the stun, followed by the shatter. You can do the whole thing in less than half a second.
Here is the thing though, on a first engagment, how would you know how many stun breakers he has, you can bait the first one yes, but how bout the second? the third?
If he has 2 or 3, how many is off CD , how many Isnt? How many is almost off CD?
Unless you can predict it 100% of the time then yeah for sure MA will always outdamage PB.
Doing the burst extremely fast I agree with if you can caught him off guard, but let’s be honest, this rarely happens (depends on what matches you get tho)
On a first engagement, I execute my burst precisely to land it regardless of stunbreakers. It’s not all that hard to land it within .5s.
So the combo you’re seeing is greatsword 2 (mirror blade), dodge, mind wrack, greatsword 3 (mind stab).
This does a lot of damage, particularly if you don’t have toughness. The way to avoid this is to dodge immediately upon either seeing the animation of mirror blade, or as soon as you realize you’re taking damage. As you said, it’s an impossible fight against unsuspecting prey. Don’t be unsuspecting prey. When you know there’s a burst zerker mesmer on the other team, always be aware of where they are and be ready to avoid their burst.
Vid is a comparison of Zerker GS burst under Power Block vs Mental Anguish, so the last 8 bursts are the harder hitting. Anyway, you can see the skills used and the damage totals on a lite golem.
So in ideal burst situations, PB hits harder right?
Eh, I don’t think so. A PB interrupt on a full zerk build can net you 2-4k extra damage, which brings them about even, more or less. The difference is ONLY made up in additional interrupts throughout the course of a fight, pulling PB ahead.
However, as any experienced player will know all the difference in a fight can occur in that burst instant. If the target scraped by with a few HP, they can pop their invulns and heals, prolonging the fight and potentially escaping danger altogether. So which is better? Circumstance is everything. You can’t just look at a few numbers and call it :p
But the same goes for mental, not alot of targets will eat your burst like the golem so you dont get the extra dmg multiplier. Unless they have no stun breakers
Well you always get the bonus 15%, that said the whole idea of Mental Anguish is maximizing its potential of burst under Lockdown. So if you can dump the full thing under 1s before a stun breaker/invuln reaction, then you’re golden.
obviously pre-empting the Mesmer is the strongest approach. Popping stability or invuln/blur/evade works really well. But the strongest defense? Weakness, lots and lots of weakness. It’s relatively low investment, shuts out anyone without condi cleanse, and can be reapplied even if it is cleansed :p.
Burst Mesmers worst nightmare :p
I get what you mean tho, but my argument still stands, on the video you posted, PB is almost the same as MA, without the HS damage, and granted you will get the modifier 50% since you Are hitting a golem.
So a very good Interrupt Mesmer will make use and outdamage MA repeatedly if he manages to Chain His interrupts. Like proper Clone positioning for Diversion.
Your argument is wrong. As long as you either bait a stunbreaker first or just execute your burst precisely fast, you’ll get the bonus damage every time. Executed properly, the mirror blade will land an instant after the stun, followed by the shatter. You can do the whole thing in less than half a second.
Here is the thing though, on a first engagment, how would you know how many stun breakers he has, you can bait the first one yes, but how bout the second? the third?
If he has 2 or 3, how many is off CD , how many Isnt? How many is almost off CD?
Unless you can predict it 100% of the time then yeah for sure MA will always outdamage PB.
Fay isnt wrong. It is easier to land the burst in that fraction of a second than it is to react and time the stun break, which is why I said it’s easier/smarter to pre-empt the Mesmer, and if you can dump weakness on them. Generally speaking, this is also why Mesmers will +1 burst, that way the target is even more distracted and will be almost guaranteed to be unable to react.
All this aside, like I said you can’t just look at numbers. To maximize damage an interrupt Mesmer running PB is going to allow his opponent to open up, thus the target can begin new channels with which to be interrupted. MA works better in a lockdown setup, therefor he can more easily chain his CC, not worrying about interrupting skills, and continually land his, and his teams damage. When targets become locked down in a PB Mesmers scenario, he’s effectively locked out of his additional damage .
Best tip for the OP: If you see no-one around, assume someone is there in stealth and finger that elixir S button and keep fingering it till you know where the burst players are.
Soon as you take damage or something happens like a daze and no-one is there hit it.
Should help you survive enough of them to know what is going on and how to negate it with a dodge as Fay said. Vampirism runes can also help.
Also arcadeus there’s no way an engineer sitting on 25k health will get 100-0 from a shatter without optimal circumstances which would likely blow all cool downs.
If I see there is an enemy mesmer or thief on the other team I automatically go into hyper vigilant mode for the match.
ie, finger ready to hit F4, thumb on dodge, idling with mainhand sword out and blurred frenzy at the ready, stunbreaks at the ready.
Also regularly checking the minimap to see if the enemy mesmer(s) or thief(ves) is(are) engaged in combat elsewhere in the map or not. If it’s nit obvious where they are then I prepare for incoming stealth burst.
If I see a mesmer stealth and know they plan to attack then it’s much easier to time/see and dodge/avoid the burst. It’s when they +1 you and you’re unprepared when the pain happens.
Curunen is right, you have to be hyper vigilant because if you eat the Mesmer’s opener you are pretty much screwed. The meta zerker build for Mesmer takes a trait (MA) that gives a shatter damage bonus vs opponents who are not using an ability, so never be idle. This also means that you will see a lot of Mesmers using a stun as a lead out to the burst from stealth, the most common form of this is the mantra which has a very distinct auditory queue. If you become stunned and hear something that sounds like a high pitched space laser firing, get ready to mitigate a lot of burst.
The good news is that once mind wrack is on CD, the Mesmer is not going to be able to do a ton since the only damaging phantasm that this build brings is iZerker and engi has very decent AE cleave. If the Mesmer has spent his F1 shatter and his opponent is still sitting at decent HP and not on the defensive, then he is pretty much left hanging with his pants down. Try to keep pressure on the mesmer as much as possible, after all he is glass, while using AE to kill his clones and phantasms. At the very least you should be able to force him to retreat off point.
I feel for you since my guildies almost made me rage with their inability to neutralize this type of mesmer last night. But with some practice, it is a winnable fight. I guess the major weakness of engi in this matchis that they tend to carry very few stun breaks.
.