(edited by EvGenius.6208)
State of mesmer - Post Nov. 15 updates
You forgot the biggest nerf of all: Our illusions failing to summon if someone dodges, blocks, goes invulnerable, or blinds you. The rest of the changes I could give two-craps less about, as they’re needed adjustments (though LOS still needs a fix desperately in this game).
Inspiration, illusions, and chaos all have traits that give passives which require illusions to be active. Not to connect their attacks, but just be active . It’s outrageous to allow pretty much all evasion and half the status effects in the game to cancel OUR CORE CLASS RESOURCE GENERATION and the CORE MECHANIC FROM WHICH MOST OF OUR UTILITY IS CHAINED.
This gives players TWO DIFFERENT chances to block one “attack”, and if they block the summon (WTF is this i don’t even…), they TRIPLE PENALIZE US by also blocking the utility passives provided by an active (but not necessarily attacking) phantasm AND the next shatter as well.
No other class suffers in this way. You don’t see necro pets failing to summon when the main target dodges. You don’t see symbols and wards failing on guardians when they’re blind.
It’s a ludicrous double-standard is horrendously unjust, and I won’t main my mes or pay a thin dime until I see it reverted.
(edited by plasmacutter.2709)
- Running 4 mantra build? Used all of them in combat? Now you have to wait for the cooldowns and then start recharging them. Effectively wasting 20-30 seconds of time. This combined with the first point is just horrible
You don’t have to use a single charge of all four mantras on a single enemy. Condition remover ? StunBreaker ?
I don’t see many problems with them. It’d be nice to have an additional way (or a background CD for mantra casts), but I think it’s impossible to realize with the current game’s mechanics.
- Mantra of concentration stability duration is too short. On 2 usages it’s 4 seconds then Mantra goes on CD then you have to re-charge it. Very short stability.
For me the main point of this mantra is the stun breaker (one of the mesmer’s stunbreakers that actually works). The 2s stability is just for you to move away from your KDed position, not to keep standing there.
You forgot the biggest nerf of all: Our illusions failing to summon if someone dodges, blocks, goes invulnerable, or blinds you.
Small correction: this only affects phantasms, clones still work. This forces you to trait deceptive evasion and further reduces build versatility though. The only defensive trait that relies on phantasms only is phantasmal healing, partly defensive weapon skills affected are phantasmal warden and phantasmal mage, utility skills phantasmal defender and phantasmal disenchanter. Still it’s not a well-thought-out change though and I agree the impact on our class is exceptionally dramatic.
Iruwen Evillan, Human Mesmer on Drakkar Lake
About the phantasm nerf on LoS, I believe there are two ways of looking at the problem:
1. Your phantasm are living conditions that are dispelled upon their death. This means that, like any other conditions, should you miss, their effect should be null and void. This approach is justifiable but not favoured by most since phantasms have no durations and do not behave like conditions in general. However, the most recent nerf treats them more and more like simple conditions whose damage increases with power, for the most case.
2. Phantasms are like pet. This interpretation does makes alot more sense since they are autonomous, have their own statistics based on the mesmer’s and have a particular attack that may not just ditch damage(iWarden=condition that blocks projectile???). Pet may run after their targets even if they escape the mesmer’s sight and behave independantly of the mesmer’s actions.
Based on the second interpretation, the easy fix around that problem would be to make the iBerserker spawn at the mesmer’s location and have his first attack being a whirlwind toward the target. This would raise the skill ceiling of the GS gameplay by having the mesmer lining his spawn attacks with combo fields or ennemy formations for maximum effect. Because the mesmer’s zerker was spawning on target and, like a pet, could run around LoS in his very nature, I firmly believe that was a total imbalance, but I fervently disaggre with that solution and would like it revert in favor of a point-blank spawn mechanic.
I cry a little inside every time iduelist fails to summon because there is a 2 inch rock between myself and my target. At least don’t put the skill on cooldown, just let us waste a global cooldown so we can try again.
Fantasme Bloodwen [R.I.P. Mesmer] | Andi Runi [Warrior] | Bonedoggle [Necro] | Zooerasty [Ranger]
Angry Intent [AI] | Yak’s Bend |
Angry Intent [AI] | Yak’s Bend |
I’ve washed my hands clean of the class (only class I enjoy playing in GW2), and the game. I haven’t logged in since those last changes went into place, and won’t log back in until the devs finally stop screwing over the mesmer.
If the berserker ‘fix’ was right then they need to either buff GS 3 with a bigger area and more damage/multi hit so we can carry on attacking walls like everybody else or stop all the ground targeted aoes from being cast up on walls/through doors.
Also playing mesmer, I think I can understand the impassioned pleas and righteous indignation others are feeling. Has any other profession been treated so disproportionately? How long did the annoyance over guardians and such last before some tweaking yielded any positive results? Why has mesmer suffered so long? I still manage to play well enough, but… Is this all just about the squeaky wheel minority whining and getting their way, against mesmers? If you can just give them a taste of this on THEIR favorite profession, that’d be appreciated Anet. Share the pain. Let’s drop some Epidemic (necromancer skill, I know…) while all the haters get close enough to nuke the conditions upon them.
GS is a ranged weapon- having iZerker spawn next to you then start spinning would be a complete waste of damage as it has to reach the target first. This would be ok if we didn’t have LoS to the target, cos at least we would have something to use instead of the ‘You fail’ with an ‘obstructed’.
GS is a ranged weapon- having iZerker spawn next to you then start spinning would be a complete waste of damage as it has to reach the target first. This would be ok if we didn’t have LoS to the target, cos at least we would have something to use instead of the ‘You fail’ with an ‘obstructed’.
Illusionary wave’s range is limited to close quarter yet belongs to the GS skill-set. It is justified as a kiting tool, hence the pushback.
The same can be said for iBerserker since he has a slowing effect which would also be a justification for the kiting functionality. Limiting its range for the first spin wouldnt be that much of a stretch.
We have to land all our attacks with phantasms twice. Once to summon and once to do damage.
Most all of our traits depend on clones/phantasms. Everyone makes sure to blind us now. So we don’t get to summon our clones/phantasms.
We’ve been broken to a shadow of our former selves. We’re on par with necro for any enemy with a brain.
“Failure to remain calm is the sign of a weak mind.”
I honestly don’t understand all these complaints about the nerfs being “out of hand” for Mesmer players.
I also play Mesmer, and I find this perfectly okay. When another class misses a skill because of obstructed, blind, etc., it’s placed on CD. Why do you think Mesmers shouldn’t follow this game rule? It seems more like a bug fix to me. The fact that players are seriously quitting the game because of this makes them seem extremely immature. This does nothing but put Mesmer in the same bracket as other classes. Mesmers aren’t now UP, kitten, etc. They’re still a very strong class, and far above other classes in terms of what they bring to the table.
It makes it annoying when sieging a base, I’ll give it that. But there are other classes who are terrible at this as well (Guardians, for example, are worse off than Mesmer in this regard).
Just because you now can’t do something else that no other class can doesn’t mean your class is now UP. That’s what balance is. There’s no reason for Mesmers to be able to completely ignore Obstructed, Blind, etc. on certain abilities.
I honestly don’t understand all these complaints about the nerfs being “out of hand” for Mesmer players.
I also play Mesmer, and I find this perfectly okay. When another class misses a skill because of obstructed, blind, etc., it’s placed on CD. Why do you think Mesmers shouldn’t follow this game rule? It seems more like a bug fix to me. The fact that players are seriously quitting the game because of this makes them seem extremely immature. This does nothing but put Mesmer in the same bracket as other classes. Mesmers aren’t now UP, kitten, etc. They’re still a very strong class, and far above other classes in terms of what they bring to the table.
It makes it annoying when sieging a base, I’ll give it that. But there are other classes who are terrible at this as well (Guardians, for example, are worse off than Mesmer in this regard).
Just because you now can’t do something else that no other class can doesn’t mean your class is now UP. That’s what balance is. There’s no reason for Mesmers to be able to completely ignore Obstructed, Blind, etc. on certain abilities.
Because other classes are not balanced the same way. Mesmers are balanced around their maximum potential which is having up to 3 illusions out at a given moment. If I have a skill that fails due to somebody dodging or running out of range I don’t care in the least as it’s a part of the game that affects everybody. When my core game play is affected by a bad patch and I can’t get max potential without spending 4 times as long to setup then it becomes frustrating. Most classes do not even need to setup to achieve their full potential, just pop a couple of skills and let fly.
I agree with you that mesmers shouldn’t be able to ignore obstructions and blindness but we’re talking about our core ability. If I blind a thief or engi it doesn’t stop them from being able to stealth, or an engineer to switch tool kits does it? THAT is what has happened. Please keep up with the logic behind the class instead of adding your “please don’t change mesmers back” cries to the forums. It confuses other people like yourself that don’t actually comprehend the depth of the damage done.
I honestly don’t understand all these complaints about the nerfs being “out of hand” for Mesmer players.
I also play Mesmer, and I find this perfectly okay. When another class misses a skill because of obstructed, blind, etc., it’s placed on CD. Why do you think Mesmers shouldn’t follow this game rule? It seems more like a bug fix to me. The fact that players are seriously quitting the game because of this makes them seem extremely immature. This does nothing but put Mesmer in the same bracket as other classes. Mesmers aren’t now UP, kitten, etc. They’re still a very strong class, and far above other classes in terms of what they bring to the table.
It makes it annoying when sieging a base, I’ll give it that. But there are other classes who are terrible at this as well (Guardians, for example, are worse off than Mesmer in this regard).
Just because you now can’t do something else that no other class can doesn’t mean your class is now UP. That’s what balance is. There’s no reason for Mesmers to be able to completely ignore Obstructed, Blind, etc. on certain abilities.
Guardian’s smite is much better then anything we have for attacking keep walls and that is still bad so it tells you alot.
This change to Mesmer is not putting the Mesmer in the same level as other classes. You can’t block a Warriors Banner and stop it from coming out, the Rangers pet doesn’t go on cooldown if you blind the Ranger, you can’t run behind a rock to stop the Necro from entering Death shroud, you can’t stop Guardians from using Virtues by dodging and you can’t stop Engineers from calling in turrets by throwing up a reflect.
If they want to keep this change then they will have to untie almost everything we can do from phantasms or in other words a complete rework of the class.
I guess there’s one upside. Having to land my skills twice and still winning makes me just that much more boss.
“Failure to remain calm is the sign of a weak mind.”
I honestly don’t understand all these complaints about the nerfs being “out of hand” for Mesmer players.
I also play Mesmer, and I find this perfectly okay. When another class misses a skill because of obstructed, blind, etc., it’s placed on CD. Why do you think Mesmers shouldn’t follow this game rule? It seems more like a bug fix to me. The fact that players are seriously quitting the game because of this makes them seem extremely immature. This does nothing but put Mesmer in the same bracket as other classes. Mesmers aren’t now UP, kitten, etc. They’re still a very strong class, and far above other classes in terms of what they bring to the table.
It makes it annoying when sieging a base, I’ll give it that. But there are other classes who are terrible at this as well (Guardians, for example, are worse off than Mesmer in this regard).
Just because you now can’t do something else that no other class can doesn’t mean your class is now UP. That’s what balance is. There’s no reason for Mesmers to be able to completely ignore Obstructed, Blind, etc. on certain abilities.
Did you even read the posts above you? Does any other class lose passives, buffs, utilities, etc when blind is cast on them or when their target evades/blocks?
You can keep the mechanic and completely eliminate LOS issues. Perhaps one way would be to make zerker ground targetable. It only casts if something(player /arrowcart) is within the targetable circle or perhaps it just attacks straight ahead as soon as u place it.
Because other classes are not balanced the same way. Mesmers are balanced around their maximum potential which is having up to 3 illusions out at a given moment. If I have a skill that fails due to somebody dodging or running out of range I don’t care in the least as it’s a part of the game that affects everybody. When my core game play is affected by a bad patch and I can’t get max potential without spending 4 times as long to setup then it becomes frustrating. Most classes do not even need to setup to achieve their full potential, just pop a couple of skills and let fly.
I agree with you that mesmers shouldn’t be able to ignore obstructions and blindness but we’re talking about our core ability. If I blind a thief or engi it doesn’t stop them from being able to stealth, or an engineer to switch tool kits does it? THAT is what has happened. Please keep up with the logic behind the class instead of adding your “please don’t change mesmers back” cries to the forums. It confuses other people like yourself that don’t actually comprehend the depth of the damage done.
Stealth isn’t the thief’s “core ability.” It’s initiative and steal, and blind or obstructed could hurt a thief more because of global cooldowns than it could any other class. A mesmer can still stealth if they are blinded, too. By the way, it’s not a “core ability” if other classes are able to do it. Shatters are a mesmer’s core ability, with illusions and phantasms using them to their max potential. If one of your Phantasms get blocked because of a legitimate reason like obstructed, out of range, or blindness, then you move on and adapt. You can’t honestly think it was okay to be able to summon Phantasms whenever you couldn’t even see your opponent. Blindness and blocked might be stretching it a little bit, since it should just blind the Phantasm on summon as well or block the phantasm’s attack, but the others are legitimate.
Once again, the only time this comes into play is when you’re sieging a base. You’re blowing it way out of proportion and trying to act like Mesmer still isn’t powerful in all aspects of the game.
Not really gonna reply to other people that replied to me. I mean, really, dude, Warrior banners as your example? If anything, Adrenaline would have been a better complaint, since they don’t lose their adrenaline on a miss, block, etc. The skill just gets put on CD (which can hurt them equally in some cases). You also haven’t played Guardian if you think Smite is any good at sieging a base. If they move two steps to the side during a ridiculously long AoE, you just wasted your time. Thinking Scepter is even balanaced by itself is pretty silly.
Phantasms are a weapon ability and need to be treated as such.
(edited by Krathalos.3461)
Krathalos, the anger from the last patch isn’t spawning from no longer being able to summon phantasms when you couldn’t see your opponent. It’s from the fact that the whole multi-step ability phantasm skills are can be completely negated by simple spammable conditions/actions. LoS requirement is fine, people don’t have problem with that. However any means to stop the spawn on cast -especially considering all the skill does at this point is summon; nothing is actually done to the target and the premise of summoning being blocked or dodged is simply bizarre- and thereby cancel all utilities/functions tied to it is stretching it.
Anet added yet another weakness to an already underpowered skill set. There are no weapon abilities that can be negated over and over again as phantasm skills do. First by blindness/block/dodge/invulnerability on cast, then the same again on the phantasm and its ability, then again by the death of said phantasm. No skill should be this unreliable in its performance.
You can’t honestly think there is nothing wrong with phantasms failing to spawn on cast when their function can be negated twice more afterwards even if you do land a hit on cast sucessfully. I don’t understand why you think mesmers ever completely ignored such conditions; the latter two methods of negating phantasm skills were always there.
Not only that but there are so many traits, skills and utilities directly related to phantasms and/or the number of illusions you have out. Condition removal, projectile reflection, more damage/speed/defense, shattering…etc. No other classes have skills that are so useful to their class yet so unreliable.
Phantasm skills are much, much more than weapon abilities. They should not be treated in such a way.
(edited by ddoi.9264)
I’m in complete agreement with most of everyone’s complaints here. Why do we have to hit twice with our skills to do the same damage, if not less, than another profession? The LOS is warranted. Failing to use a core part of our class because of a blind or block is not warranted. I would of been okay with this change is they turned our illusions into something similar to the Guardian spirit weapons which can be summoned like pets.
Mesmer used to be my main, but after these changes I simply can’t enjoy the profession because my main resource is pigeon holed.
Illusions are pets.
Here’s my full rundown as to why: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/suggestions/Point-blank-illusion-spawning-Proposal/first#post873678
(In retrospect, putting it under suggestion was not that great a plan)
Basically, and I believe that this is the big issue regarding illusion summoning, the failure state of summoning illusion is not having a summoned illusion. As a pet, summoning it under a failing scenario should result in a summoned illusion whose attack fails.
For instance, illusionary leap failure would result in not summoning the clone because it is treated as range attack. Treating it as a pet would result in the following: The clone would be summoned regadless and ITS attack, the leaping-crippling attack, would miss.
I would say the idea of spawning iZerker and iWarden on groundtarget would increase the skill-ceiling of the GS/focus mesmer class while making it unable to spawn it out of line of sight altough the first attack could land out of line of sight of their owner.
As a side note on Krathalos’ stealth as not being a core thief mechanic, I have this to say: You are wrong. No other profession benefits and capitalizes from stealth the same way as thief. They have stealth-exclusive “surprise attacks”, can be built around stealth mechanic with shadow arts tree and can gain stealth far more easily than any other profession. Just because you choose not to use it, which is a legitimate strategy(poison spec, trap spec, accrobatic, stealing spec, bleeding spec etc) but even so, you can still capitalize from it independantly from your spec. Most mesmers use illusions while not using shatter, yet shatter is not any less of a profession mechanic even if, say, necromancer can summon bone horror just to blow them up later in the same way a mesmer would shatter his illusion.
Mesmers are still fine.
Anyone who is having issues should be looking at how they are playing.
Pro-tip, if you are blind don’t try to summon illusions, and learn what the blocking (boon and sheild blocks) look like.
Yeah, we should re-evaluate how we play so we can be prepared for the next round of nerfs. They’re coming for your thief next. Don’t worry though, eventually we’ll all roll a warrior so we can get some love.
“Failure to remain calm is the sign of a weak mind.”
My questions is why our phantoms dont even use up the block on our target? The phantom fails to summon goes on full cool down but the aegis/block is not burned. Do other classes have this issue? Or did they not even think this nerf through all the way?
Also, why is the Iduelist and the Warden not considered a channel attack? Shouldnt they hit the target with the block up and keep attacking? If they are not changed back, then all channel attacks should be interrupted if they attack a target that has block up.(or is this already the case for some classes?) Why should mesmer be the only class that has channeled attacks follow different rules?
Does ele dragon tooth fail to appear and hit target if target has block up? (just curious as i dont know for sure).
My questions is why our phantoms dont even use up the block on our target? The phantom fails to summon goes on full cool down but the aegis/block is not burned. Do other classes have this issue? Or did they not even think this nerf through all the way?
Also, why is the Iduelist and the Warden not considered a channel attack? Shouldnt they hit the target with the block up and keep attacking? If they are not changed back, then all channel attacks should be interrupted if they attack a target that has block up.(or is this already the case for some classes?) Why should mesmer be the only class that has channeled attacks follow different rules?
Does ele dragon tooth fail to appear and hit target if target has block up? (just curious as i dont know for sure).
To answer your first question: Because creating a phantasm deals no damage and should be considered as a summoning ability, yet isn’t.
To answer your second question: If you are referring to the phantasm’s attack, they are.
To answer your third and last question: No, the impending AoE appears and the block is dispelled upon contact with it resulting in null damage and righteously so.
Mesmers are still fine.
Anyone who is having issues should be looking at how they are playing.
Pro-tip, if you are blind don’t try to summon illusions, and learn what the blocking (boon and sheild blocks) look like.
I would be fine with this nerf if it applied to all classes and not just mesmer. All multi hitting attacks should no longer occur and go on full cooldown if they are blind/blocked/dodged as this is what happens with our multi-hitting phantoms. Then we would be on something closer to equal footing… but every other class would still have an advantage… as this also has changed how our utility phantoms have been altered to not appear on blind/block/dodge. It would be an ok start though….
Tarnished Coast
Salvage 4 Profit + MF Guide – http://tinyurl.com/l8ff6pa
Salvage 4 Profit + MF Guide – http://tinyurl.com/l8ff6pa
If I blind dodge invuln any other classs 1-9 skills theirn f1-f4 still do something.
Blind dodge a mesmer clones and phantasms now I don’t use those f skills
Anyone find mesmer useless when seiging a wall when you’re below with this LOS nerf to mesmer? None of my ability is able to hit anyone on top of the wall unless they come right to the edge. Other classes have lots of aoe to compensate, but mesmer require a target to cast
e.g I can clearly seeing the person on the wall, but since theres a little barricade in front of the person I have targeted, none of my greatsword ability can do any damage to that person because of obstruction
(edited by sil.4160)
If I blind dodge invuln any other classs 1-9 skills theirn f1-f4 still do something.
Blind dodge a mesmer clones and phantasms now I don’t use those f skills
Necromancer and warrior say hi.
How to fight a mesmer:
———————————————-
OMG a mesmer! Quick!
Blind him!
Attack him!
Ha, oh no he cured it.
Dodge!
Attack him some more!
Now block his skill!
Attack him some more!
Oh no, he summoned a phatasam!
Quick, blind it!
It’s worn off!
Quick Dodge!
Damage the phatasam.
Oh, it’s been 8 seconds, it’s attacking again!
Kill the phatasam!
Blind the mesmer again!
Yeah. Oh, another 8 seconds!
———————————————-
Repeat till dead.
Better?
In order to provide better understanding I’m going to provide some feeback.I hope this spells things out more explicitly. Subtly can be used to make a point. I believe this post, originally, was fine as it was. My opinion and sight of view on the topic at hand is that there are way to many ways to thwart a mesmer. Anyone with sense can see what I was saying. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean it should be censored. Subtlety is not lack of content.
“Failure to remain calm is the sign of a weak mind.”
Anyone find mesmer useless when seiging a wall when you’re below with this LOS nerf to mesmer? None of my ability is able to hit anyone on top of the wall unless they come right to the edge. Other classes have lots of aoe to compensate, but mesmer require a target to cast
e.g I can clearly seeing the person on the wall, but since theres a little barricade in front of the person I have targeted, none of my greatsword ability can do any damage to that person because of obstruction
Yeah switch to a Focus and try to pull them off the walls.
Fantasme Bloodwen [R.I.P. Mesmer] | Andi Runi [Warrior] | Bonedoggle [Necro] | Zooerasty [Ranger]
Angry Intent [AI] | Yak’s Bend |
Angry Intent [AI] | Yak’s Bend |
I don’t understand all the complaints about the 15th nov patch; I’ve barely noticed the difference. Besides, the whole point of dodge, block and blind is to prevent your foe’s attack, if phantasms spawn regardless to attack only a few seconds later, what was the point of their dodge/block/blind?
The big issue with mesmers is not our attacks being prevented when they are prevented, it’s the ease of telling clones apart from their masters. Sigils, Food, Unremovable buffs (like Outnumbered), Full-health-on-spawn, Gold Star and being Target Marked renders clones completely useless.
Sephire Blackrose
- A crummy Mesmer on Piken Square
- A crummy Mesmer on Piken Square
I have read that when a Mesmer is blinded and tries to summon a phantasm, not only does the phantasm fail to spawn but also the blindness is not removed (as it would be with any other attack) and simply remains.
Valiant Aislinn – Aveneo Lightbringer – Shalene Amuriel – Dread Cathulu
Fojja – Vyxxi – Nymmra – Mymmra – Champion of Dwayna .. and more
Highly Over Powered Explorers [HOPE] – Desolation EU
Fojja – Vyxxi – Nymmra – Mymmra – Champion of Dwayna .. and more
Highly Over Powered Explorers [HOPE] – Desolation EU
I don’t understand all the complaints about the 15th nov patch; I’ve barely noticed the difference. Besides, the whole point of dodge, block and blind is to prevent your foe’s attack, if phantasms spawn regardless to attack only a few seconds later, what was the point of their dodge/block/blind?
The big issue with mesmers is not our attacks being prevented when they are prevented, it’s the ease of telling clones apart from their masters. Sigils, Food, Unremovable buffs (like Outnumbered), Full-health-on-spawn, Gold Star and being Target Marked renders clones completely useless.
I find it hard to believe that any serious mesmer player to not be able to tell how huge changes were since the patch… but ok… I’ll explain…
You dodge to avoid the damage, like with any aoe or multi hitting attack.
Unlike with mesmers, other class’s attacks can still hit other people in the line/area of attack. ONLY With mesmer do these attacks not even occur at all. Even our utility phantoms such as iDefender can be stopped by a dodge/block/blind because of this change.
On top of that illusions are our main class resource and our class skills become unusable. Denying us ALL of those to use by a simple dodge/block/blind is obviously unbalanced and needs to be changed.
That’s why people are upset. Either apply this change to ALL classes or remove it from mesmer.
As far as being able to pick a mesmer out of a lineup… it’s not hard even without the obvious signs. The mesmer is the one that has the faster attack rate and isn’t moving in an obvious ai fashion.
The dev’s have said that this game’s balance is based off of high end players… they can instantly pick up on which is the real one regardless. It would be far more fair if the clones were obviously not us like the phantoms, but our class mechanics were the same as every other class vs the opposite (which what we have now).
Tarnished Coast
Salvage 4 Profit + MF Guide – http://tinyurl.com/l8ff6pa
Salvage 4 Profit + MF Guide – http://tinyurl.com/l8ff6pa
(edited by Aberrant.6749)
Mesmers are being treated the same as the other classes. Phantasms are not AoE abilities, they are single target skills of which two will do AoE damage as a bonus. If a player dodges/blocks/blinds your attack, it is completely unreasonable that a phantasm would spawn to continue attacking the player unless they kill it. They prevented the attack, why should they still have to deal with consequences as if the attack landed? When I dodge a skill from another class, I don’t expect to just avoid the first part of the damage, I expect to avoid the entire attack (and I do), so should it be with Mesmers.
Sephire Blackrose
- A crummy Mesmer on Piken Square
- A crummy Mesmer on Piken Square
Scepter needs to be more viable. Right now scepter #1 is simply the worst #1 of all weapons no matter what build you’re trying (condi, tougness, vitality, power, precision, it doesn’t matter it’s still the worst)
While I generally agree, also take into account this thread .
The strength of heart to face oneself has been made manifest. The persona Carighan has appeared.
Mesmers are being treated the same as the other classes. Phantasms are not AoE abilities, they are single target skills of which two will do AoE damage as a bonus. If a player dodges/blocks/blinds your attack, it is completely unreasonable that a phantasm would spawn to continue attacking the player unless they kill it. They prevented the attack, why should they still have to deal with consequences as if the attack landed? When I dodge a skill from another class, I don’t expect to just avoid the first part of the damage, I expect to avoid the entire attack (and I do), so should it be with Mesmers.
You didn’t dodge the attack, you dodged randomly for no reason while a character was summoning something. You want to dodge the attack, wait until the attack is being preformed. It makes about as much sense as dodging a Warrior and expecting his Theif friend to miss his attack. Mesmer’s shouldn’t be punished for player’s lack of skill, that makes no sense.
Can a single blind can stop an entire hundred blades, flurry, whirling axe or pistol whip? Can dodging out of the way of Warrior Banners stop them from appearing? Can you stop a Guardian from putting one its symbols down by applying Aegis to yourself?
This is the only class in the game where our spells/attacks can be killed, after this patch we have 0 benefits to make up for this major weakness. It changes Mesmer from a unique and interesting mechanic to different for the sake of being different.
I’ll head on neutral grounds here and request formally a definition of design:
What is an illusion?
As I said earlier, I did a breakdown in which in conclude that an illusion is a special pet with special rules.
I’ve seen some allegations by which illusions are more like range attacks, which they kinda are nowaday and others pleading that they are special kinds of conditions since they inflict periodic damage to a single target.
Whatever is your take on what it should be, we can all agree that illusions, since this patch, had its nature changed since it can be blocked or dodge. When you break it down, illusions are defined as a weird mix of a ton of things to the point that each and every phantasms may be defined as something different from each others(iProtector is more of a AoE in nature and iDefender is more of a banner-ish nature).
To sum it up, this whole debate regarding illusions is actually a definition debate: What is an illusion? Was the change in their nature meant to be? Was it a mean to end the berserker exploit through walls in WvWvW?
@ Steepledhat: Your reasoning is based on anectodict evidence which is not a solid foundation for an argument since it requires specific conditions rather than general application. It portrays a specific scenario in order to attempt to generalize your point and validate your argument. Down to a point, one might see it as “trolling”. I can see what your point is, that is to say, counterplay is somewhat necessary and the update provides more viable options, but the delivery ruins this argument because the form is fallacious.
See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/fallacy
Agree with the tweaks to mantras. I like the mantra skills themselves but the mechanic to recharge them is problematic for exactly the reasons the OP listed:
1. Cannot recharge to “full” when only partial charges remain. Have to consume the remaining charges and put the skill on c/d before recharging to full.
2. Cannot recharge during the c/d period.
I’m not looking to eliminate the c/d, but a great “fix” would be to allow the recharging during the c/d so the matra is available after the c/d expires. To me this would be the single greatest improvement to the mantras. It’s very easy to find yourself in a situation where you cannot recharge the mantras after the c/d has expired (i.e. in a new combat fight). It’s unreasonable to expect the mesmer to stay out of combat until his mantras finish c/d so he can recharge. Yeah you could say “that’s how mantra’s work”, but the risk is currently not worth the reward imo.
Part of me thinks that someone in ANet was thinking “hey, wanna see something funny? Watch this…”