Guild Wars 2

I think we’d provide useful feedback if we simply listed the skills we found best and worst. To make this useful, here’s what I propose:

1. List the three skills you think are best and the three skills you think are worst, with at most a few words of explanation.

2. Format your whole post so it’s easy for ANet to read through this thread and get a general sense. Separate out your skill choices from any commentary, and make a separate thread to debate whether a particular skill is good or bad. A short explanation at the bottom shows the thought you’ve put into these choices, which is probably more convincing to ANet than just a list.

3. “Best” skills are powerful and fun to use. You’re always happen when they’re off cooldown. They might not be the thing you use most or the core of your DPS/control/support output, but they are really good at what they’re for. This is a vote to ANet to make more of our skills like these.

4. “Worst” skills are skills you have tried quite a lot and still can’t enjoy. This category is for “bad at what it’s designed to do,” not “I don’t want a skill with this purpose.” Skills you’ve barely tried, skills that aren’t useful in your build, utility skills that are great in niche cases but not broadly applicable (e.g. Archane Thievery)—these aren’t the best ones to list here.

5. This probably isn’t the right place to propose solutions to bad skills—if your idea is great, it’ll get lost in a skim-through read.

6. Any skill is up for grabs—weapon, healing, utilities, elites, shatters.

7. We’re obviously not going to get objectively best and worst skills—there’s not one playstyle or even one game mode to judge.

Best:
1. Chaos Storm
2. Temporal Curtain → Into the Void
3. Feedback

Worst:
1. Phantasmal Mage
2. Mimic
3. Mirror

Chaos storm is super versatile and very fun. Temporal Curtain is deceptively strong, and Into the Void seals the deal. Feedback is the ultimate mesmer=troll move, super effective in certain situations.

Phantasmal Mage just seems to accomplish very little in the short time it manages to stay alive. Mimic is too hard to use effectively even when you know an enemy has projectiles, and not very powerful when it works. Similarly, Mirror must be used extremely skillfully to be better than Ether Feast—and even at that level of skill, the reward for your attention and quick reflexes is minimal.

Best :
Chaos Storm (Staff 5)
Phase Retrait (Staff 2) : up to 6 sec cooldown. Insta spell. Grants Chaos Armor when done in an ethereal field (I based my pvp on it and it works very good).
Temporal Curtain (Focus 4) : cripples, grants switfness, interrupt and pull back, quick cast.
(Greatsword 2) : up to 4.8 sec cooldown, good damage, bounce, creates an illusion, quick cast.

Unusable :
Mind Stab (Greatsword 3) : how to waste time.
(Sword 2) : no move.
(Focus 5) unless you have Phantasmal Haste (traits -20% phantansm’s skill recharge) when it becomes very good, mostly usable on PvE.

Best: Temporal Curtain
Worst: iMage

Best:
Chaos Storm
Illusionary Warlock
Phantasmal Warden
Null Field

Worst
Illusionary Counter
Illusionary Riposte
Arcane Thievary

I had to throw in Null field cause it just needs some love and its amazing to combo off of as well as the obvious benefits. I won’t go into why my top abilities are at the top cause quite obviously damage. So I’ll skip into the bad and I was lenient I could’ve added 5 more off the top of my head.
Why in Balthazar’s name would I even be in melee range using a scepter to begin with much less wanting to stand still and block an attack? I mean really? When you can dodge?
Pretty much the same applies for Illusionary Riposte. I doubt people are running around going Scepter+Sword thinking hey I’m a tanky light armor mesmer so I need more melee blocks. So you mess up with a scepter and need to block two attacks? God forbid you were dumb enough to go Sword+Sword if this is you… I feel for you cause you must have not seen the warrior class in character creation.
Lastly Arcane Thievery have any of you ever used the ability and thought yes! I actually used one of my valuable utility slots… yea maybe once or twice. Know what could’ve been in that slot? Feedback, Null Field, Radiation Field(Asuran), Illusion of Life. Need I say more?

This is all my personal opinion. Thank you.
Talking strictly PvE here leaning more towards high level. I’ve done exactly 0 sPvP matches and I usually only do jump puzzles in WvWvW daily.
I also have to add that sword MH is amazing but with torch and focus being vastly superior OH I say sword+sword is kitteny comparatively.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fgQQNAsdWlwzaoHVz5G2NJxZGRn6oUgdvTqgqLfA3A

The spec I run.

Best:
Chaos Storm
Phantasmal Duelist
Mind Wrack

Worst:
Scepter auto-attack
Mantras
Both blocks

Best:
Phantasmal Warden
Temporal Curtain > Into the Void
Blurred Frenzy

Phantasmal Warden does great damage and it aoes AND it reflects projectiles.
Into the Void is our best CC and can bring mobs into a single group.
Blurred Frenzy does very high damage, aoes and makes you invulnerable doing so.

Worst:
Scepter’s primary attack
Mirror
Mimic

Scepter does horrible damage and destroys your phantasms.
Mirror is too situational and inefficient, Ether Feast is much better.
Mimic is like a worst version of Feedback that doesn’t provide a field.

Rainbow.4721:

Best:
Chaos Storm
Illusionary Warlock
Phantasmal Warden
Null Field

Worst
Illusionary Counter
Illusionary Riposte
Arcane Thievary

I had to throw in Null field cause it just needs some love and its amazing to combo off of as well as the obvious benefits. I won’t go into why my top abilities are at the top cause quite obviously damage. So I’ll skip into the bad and I was lenient I could’ve added 5 more off the top of my head.
Why in Balthazar’s name would I even be in melee range using a scepter to begin with much less wanting to stand still and block an attack? I mean really?
Pretty much the same applies for Illusionary Riposte. I doubt people are running around going Scepter+Sword thinking hey I’m a tanky light armor mesmer so I need more melee blocks. So you mess up with a scepter and need to block two attacks? God forbid you were dumb enough to go Sword+Sword if this is you… I feel for you cause you must have not seen the warrior class in character creation.
Lastly Arcane Thievery have any of you ever used the ability and thought yes! I actually used one of my valuable utility slots… yea maybe once or twice. Know what could’ve been in that slot? Feedback, Null Field, Radiation Field, Illusion of Life. Need I say more?

This is all my personal opinion but feel free to let me know what you think. Thank you for your time in reading this!

Illusionary Counter and Riposte both work against any attack, ranged or melee; and neither requires you to stand still. When they Block something they also deal a big burst of damage against the enemy from any range, not just melee.

Seriously, have you even tried these two before you made your judgement?

Arcane Thievery is crazy powerful in PvP. Some just applied 15 Might on themselves and applied 15 Bleeding on you? Arcane Thievery. Situation reversed. I can tell though that you’re talking about PvE since you mentioned Radiation Field (which is not a Mesmer skill, by the way).

As for my best skills, it depends: sPvP, PvE or WvW? Worst skills though are more universal.

Phantasmal Mage
Veil
Mirror

iMage does very little, doesn’t help it has a ridiculously long CD either. Veil’s CD is too long for what it does. Mirror is outclassed by Ether Feast in almost every way, the reflection really can’t be purposefully taken advantage of.

Favorite Skills:
1. Temporal Curtain —> into the void
2. Feedback
3. Illusionary Leap —> Swap

Least Favorite:
3. iMage
2. Blink (press and pray it works properly)
1. Phantasmal Disenchanter

I’m raising an eyebrow at anyone who thinks the scepter’s auto-attack is a bad skill.
It just means you’re using an inflexible and boring DPS build.

@Embolism oh yea im talking stictly PvE. Since mobs don’t stack boons really since you don’t want to get hit at all pretty much you get 1 shot. Lastly Radiation Field is very much a mesmer ability but since your a pvper you can’t use it.

Best: Blurred Frenzy. Period. 2 second immunity to everything, on an 8 second cooldown. There is no substitute.
Probably put Time Warp and Illusion of Life up there for group play (dungeons specifically), and Feedback/Arcane Thievery for solo.

Worst: The Mantras. Any time that you need to recast them, you’re pretty much at a loss, even with the “but you can cast them three times”

God forbid you were dumb enough to go Sword+Sword if this is you… I feel for you cause you must have not seen the warrior class in character creation.

God forbid someone find a melee option that’s entertaining and actually works. Considering your lack of understanding on even the simple block mechanics (how much damage they do, or even how they work) is distasteful. That you’d even compare it to a Warrior simply because of melee weapons (surprise any profession can ) is quite laughable.

Kelesti.2458:

Best: Blurred Frenzy. Period. 2 second immunity to everything, on an 8 second cooldown. There is no substitute.
Probably put Time Warp and Illusion of Life up there for group play (dungeons specifically), and Feedback/Arcane Thievery for solo.

Worst: The Mantras. Any time that you need to recast them, you’re pretty much at a loss, even with the “but you can cast them three times”

God forbid you were dumb enough to go Sword+Sword if this is you… I feel for you cause you must have not seen the warrior class in character creation.

God forbid someone find a melee option that’s entertaining and actually works. Considering your lack of understanding on even the simple block mechanics (how much damage they do, or even how they work) is distasteful. That you’d even compare it to a Warrior simply because of melee weapons (surprise any profession can ) is quite laughable.

Mantras are funny – especially the Mantra of Pain. I am convinced that this skill was designed not to actually do anything on its own, but rather to abuse the mantra-triggering traits that Mesmers have.

Best skills:
1. Feedback
2. Blurred Frenzy
3. Portal

Least Favorite:
1. Any Mantra, lacking the traits, although the worst offender is MoP.
2. Phantasmal Mage
3. Ether Clone

A lot of people have mentioned Feedback so far. I would say for PvE and WvW it’s the skill holding us up near the top, entirely by itself. This skill is absurdly devastating against any group of PvE-mobs (due to their per-shot damage) or against a zerg in WvW.
Blurred Frenzy is one of the strongest defensive moves I have. Attention span is tiny in WvW, there’s 50-100 other people to attack around. If I go invisible and slash around for 2 seconds, people just click on someone else and try to kill them. And hence I can Decoy out or something like that.
I haven’t seen Portal mentioned much, so far. It’s a very versatile spell which is amazing for any kind of group situation. Jumping Puzzles become noticeably easier with a Mesmer around as a result of this spell. In WvW it’s a recovery tool for an otherwise suicidal flanking maneuver.

As for my least favorite:
The Mantras have too great a power-disparity between traited and untraited. They simply have too many traits with too great an effect. MoP as an example goes from anywhere near “2 autoattacks” to “3 spike hits to finish someone off”. The difference is night and day, and really makes the Mantras problematic to use if you don’t have the traits.
PMage is just… odd. If he would apply a short-lasting 5-stack of Confusion, I would understand it. But the way it is, his damage is the same as another Phantasms in perfectly ideal situations only. And those are rare as hell.
Lastly, Ether Clone. Oh Ether Clone… I don’t mind the ability so much, as the clone it produces. A clone which stands there, using a slow auto attack with no secondary effect (like Sword / Staff), and also lacking the attack speed to synergise well with Sharper Illusions (like the GS clone). I simply don’t understand why this clone was singled out to being so… weak. The other ones all have their use, stacking Weakness (+ removing boons), stacking Conditions, stacking Bleeds faster than the others.

Rainbow.4721:

@Embolism oh yea im talking stictly PvE. Since mobs don’t stack boons really since you don’t want to get hit at all pretty much you get 1 shot.

Getting one shot by a non-telegraphed attack is a myth. Mesmers do just fine in melee, and with a decent build are almost at necro levels of dealing with Damage. A one-handed sword is generally our top damaging attack chain (as well as self-maintaining Vulnerability).

Being able to stay in melee with a sword (rather than a pistol) means that on a short cooldown we can block any one effect (including huge aoe blasts) without ever having to leave melee range. It just requires a better connection than cups attached together via string.

In PvE, the Illusionary Swordsman also evades during its entire attack chain, meaning unilke the pistol, it readjusts its position to keep distance, and actually has a higher survivability than Duelist that just stands in any/everything.

And of course, Blurred Frenzy is probably one of the most imbalanced spells in the game, for any melee, for any profession period.

@Kelesti high level areas Veteran lvl 80 hulk smash guys can root you before they hit you for over 30k

again like i said that was my opinion. im not saying there arent uses for the abilities but in high level PvE they are just dangerous. Even in a group you dont want to be wasting a skill set where AoE is needed on blocks. You cant tag anything with a block.

Rainbow.4721:

@Embolism oh yea im talking stictly PvE. Since mobs don’t stack boons really since you don’t want to get hit at all pretty much you get 1 shot. Lastly Radiation Field is very much a mesmer ability but since your a pvper you can’t use it.

Radiation Field is an Asura racial ability, not a Mesmer ability. I play PvE and PvP pretty equally, by the way.

And I have to ask again, have you ever used Illusionary Counter/Riposte? You seem to have lots of misconceptions about how these skills actually work.

@embolism didnt know it was Asuran only never looked it up. I did use them and didnt like them especially compared to many other skills.

Best Skills:

1. Feedback (Easily our best skill for WvW. Feedback alone can do so much damage from reflect)
2. Illusionary Berzerker (Honestly probably our best Phantasm. Does a ton of AoE damage with a 50% slow. You don’t require line of sight for it to work.
3. Blurred Frenzy (High damage ability that makes you avoid everything for 2 seconds. Crazy strong.

“Worst” Skills:

1. Mantras. (In general I just feel they aren’t worth it. I haven’t tried the Mantra DPS build yet though, but still its more based off of the trait rather than the abilities.)
2. Mass Invisibility (It doesn’t seem worthy of an Elite skill when you can just use Veil to a similar effect.)
3. Signet of Illusions (It doesn’t seem to work well with its self. You get increased Phantasm health [Ok, I guess] but then can refresh CD on an ability that destroys all of your phantasms?

Also noticed a couple of people mentioned Blink. Honestly I’ve never had issues with the ability, it’s probably one of our best escape skills.

Also to the guy talking about the Block abilities, they can block at a range as well. And Sword/sword is actually what I run while leveling, although I do prefer Sword/Pistol for sPvP purposes).

Best Skills:
Null Field
Chaos Storm
The Prestige
Decoy

Worst Skills:
Mind Stab
Matnras
Mimic

First of all I have to say I’m a sPvPler. I think i could add a few more skills to “Best Skills” like “Feedback” and “Phase Retreat”, which both are good skills. But I choose these, because these skills gives tons of gamecontrol and a good amount of support for your team.
By throwing in “Null Field” or “Chaos Storm” into a battle it does not only remove boons and condition/gives boons and conditions, but it can trigger some really nice ethereal Combo Fields, including “Chaos Armor” and “Confusing”.
Al it’s really good to have stealth with you. It does not only helps you flee, but hold points for a long time against a few attackers if played right and gives you the possibility to backdoor points. You have the control over the battelfield I’d say.

I think there were already said enough about the skills, I don’t like. But I want to say something to “Mirror”. I think this skill isn’t bad at all (at least in sPvP), if used good. I will post my Build in order to that post, that you can try it. In the combination of e.g. “Superior Rune of the Adventure” and a lot of mobility skills it’s really worth the healing spot.

Here’s my build: http://www.gw2build.com/builds/spvp-backdooring-defending-mesmer-spvp-mesmer-cap-1on1-dueling-5906.html

Nadril.7510:

1. Signet of Illusions (It doesn’t seem to work well with its self. You get increased Phantasm health [Ok, I guess] but then can refresh CD on an ability that destroys all of your phantasms?

Keep in mind this actually synergizes perfectly – or would, if it weren’t bugged.

Clones and Phantasms get +50% health, and you can reset shatter CD. The +50% health makes sure your C/Ps actually arrive at their target when you press Shatter. Ultimately the signet is all about boosting your shatter output, quite a bit.

The problem is the bug. The +health is applied with a delay, often your Cs especially are dead by the time the +health would come into effect.

Best:
Feedback
Both scepter and sword blocks
Phantasmal Warden/Confusing Images (cant decide)

Worst:
Mantras
Veil
Mantras

Best:
blurred frenzy
Portals
Swap/blink

Worst:
Mind stab(GS)
Mimic
Deception

Others already stated why for mimic and GS mind stab.

however deception is feeling really lacking, but it feels so weak compared to other downed skills. Mes is gimmicky already but deception feels like a pointless gimic.

I also I don’t get why you guys hate the block skills… Now I don’t use scepter much but offhand sword is win! Instant shatter fodder and deny .

Kelesti.2458:

Rainbow.4721:

@Embolism oh yea im talking stictly PvE. Since mobs don’t stack boons really since you don’t want to get hit at all pretty much you get 1 shot.

Getting one shot by a non-telegraphed attack is a myth. Mesmers do just fine in melee, and with a decent build are almost at necro levels of dealing with Damage. A one-handed sword is generally our top damaging attack chain (as well as self-maintaining Vulnerability).

Being able to stay in melee with a sword (rather than a pistol) means that on a short cooldown we can block any one effect (including huge aoe blasts) without ever having to leave melee range. It just requires a better connection than cups attached together via string.

In PvE, the Illusionary Swordsman also evades during its entire attack chain, meaning unilke the pistol, it readjusts its position to keep distance, and actually has a higher survivability than Duelist that just stands in any/everything.

And of course, Blurred Frenzy is probably one of the most imbalanced spells in the game, for any melee, for any profession period.

i agree with everything said here. i have spvp’d alot and i have to say, as long as you are PAYING ATTENTION you can stay in melee range all day. you just have to spec to make sure you are hard to hit.

Rainbow.4721:

@Kelesti high level areas Veteran lvl 80 hulk smash guys can root you before they hit you for over 30k

again like i said that was my opinion. im not saying there arent uses for the abilities but in high level PvE they are just dangerous. Even in a group you dont want to be wasting a skill set where AoE is needed on blocks. You cant tag anything with a block.

You obviously don’t even understand how the skills work. Stop pretending to be an authority.

Best:

- No comment, don’t particularly care to get things nerfed.

Worst:

1. Scepter2 / Sword4. The block -> clone abilities.

I find these to be problematic due to the player stagger that occurs when the clone is summoned on block. Typically, I like to move in a certain direction while blocking. When the block activates, the player is jerked in another direction (seems like to the side) for a second. This is typically what I do NOT want to happen when I am blocking and it makes those abilities very dubious to use in practice and simply jarring in general.

2. Prestige

Prestige is great, but as suggested elsewhere, the burn and blind effects should be reversed. This would significantly increase the smoothness of the ability for use by the player. It just makes a hell of a lot more sense for the player to throw a burn then stealth, and then cause a blind when they are again targetable. The blind-then-burn sequence makes the ability awkward, even though it’s a rather nice ability.

3. Mind Stab.

The animation lock on this ability is atrocious. I understand that the animation intuitively mandates that the player stand still, but the duration where you are locked in the spot is insane for the fluidity of combat in GW2. The strangest part is that I seem to be able to animation cancel it sometimes but not others. The animation on this ability could do with some tuning for sure.

EasymodeX.4062:

I find these to be problematic due to the player stagger that occurs when the clone is summoned on block. Typically, I like to move in a certain direction while blocking. When the block activates, the player is jerked in another direction (seems like to the side) for a second. This is typically what I do NOT want to happen when I am blocking and it makes those abilities very dubious to use in practice and simply jarring in general.

Hrm, not sure how I feel about this. Without that jerk, it’d be absolutely trivial to follow the “real” Mesmer around. With the random mini-movement, it’s not entirely trivial at least. Sometimes people go for the clone with the first attack after getting blocked, simply because they can’t immediately see 0,2s after which is the real one.

best: Mantras in a build utilizing all the associated traits
worst: signets (for my playstyle)

Carighan.6758:

Hrm, not sure how I feel about this. Without that jerk, it’d be absolutely trivial to follow the “real” Mesmer around. With the random mini-movement, it’s not entirely trivial at least. Sometimes people go for the clone with the first attack after getting blocked, simply because they can’t immediately see 0,2s after which is the real one.

I mostly play WvW, so my situations when using this ability tend to center on running away from 5+ players. In that situation, I strongly prefer not to lose distance while still employing the defensive block effect. In those situations the deceptive effect of the clone is nil.

To consider the following situations:

1. Block while moving. In this event, your clone will not move, and will proceed to turn around and autoattack your opponent. Any opponent of decent skill will already know that it’s a clone and that the real Mesmer is actually running. Any dumb opponent will tend to continue to attack the moving opponent. Either way, the stutter is ineffective for a moving Mesmer.

2. Block while standing. In this event, it will do as you say and create some degree of deception.

Hmm, don’t see any immediate way of meeting both requirements unfortunately.

best: most phantoms, arcane thievery, mirror images

worst: 1h sword is pretty much useless, mantras

Best skill-
1) temporal curtain
2) nothing else comes close to temporal curtain.
3) I said nothing…

the amount of uses this skill have is so huge that nothing deserves to be mentioned next to it….. No other skill have 10+ different situational uses that is just that important to have, and no other mesmer skill gives a fragment of.

Why do people hate mantras so much?

Yes the cast time is a little high, but the 2 use thing is pretty nifty. And you can trait for each mantra you have available you increase all your damage.

Although I’d never roll with more than 1 mantra.

People dislike mantras because they are cumbersome. That and ANet has half a dozen traits specific to them, haha.

EasymodeX.4062:

People dislike mantras because they are cumbersome. That and ANet has half a dozen traits specific to them, haha.

I’d agree that mantras are situation specific and the long cast time does prevent them from always being ready in a certain situation.

But the look on the face of a hammer wielding warrior using the double stun removal or the thief or necro going condition builds have all their conditions wiped has got to be precious.

A mesmer with arcane theivery and mantra of resolve is a necromancers worst nightmare.

Indeed. I like using Mantra of Distraction combined with a Shatter build for insane Daze combos. I always forget to recharge thekittenthing though.

Of course, when I do remember, I do it in combat by mistake and it gets me killed.

#%&^&#%*#$

Favorite
Mantras (<3 +20% dmg (39% total) w/ 115% crit dmg, 50% crit, and 2.3k power)
Into the void
Blink

Worst
Mind Stab (I only use this on slightly obstructed thing in wvw like oil and on people rezzing when everything is down and I can’t go in for illusionary wave)

The damage is bad, the radius is horrible, and the casting time makes you wonder if anet have even used the ability after their changes. If it did the damage of something like churning earth or the radius/cast time were changed it’d be good. The boon removal isn’t impressive either…

Best:
Chaos Storm
Temporal Curtain/Into The Void
Chaos Armor

Honorable Mentions:
Null Field
Feedback
Winds of Chaos

Worst:
Illusionary Mage (Are you even trying?)
Mantra of Pain (This one has been talked to death already)
Mass Invisibility (You’ve got to be kidding me)
Mind Stab (Talked to death already)
Cry of Frustration (An ability I’m STUCK with that has little to no use without an extremely Confusion oriented build.)

Odaman.8359:

Favorite
Mantras (<3 +20% dmg (39% total) w/ 115% crit dmg, 50% crit, and 2.3k power)

That one Mantra trait is +4% per, for 16% with 4. Don’t think anyone’s tested it though.

Best/Favorite:

1) Feedback – This is pretty much a class defining skill. What’s not to like about shutting down ranged attack spammers, which are everywhere?
2) Blurred Frenzy – The only reason why it’s not #1 is because I can’t move while using it.
3) Time Warp – Huge area, sets off combos, turns you and your allies into killing machines. Why is it not #1 or 2? Huge recast time. :/

Least favorite:
1) Morph Moa. – I was expecting a lockdown with this ability, not a new way to die.

I don’t dislike the other abilities really, just feel that they are more situational.

Mantras are horrible because even the best mantra build is atrocious compared to mediocre builds without them.

Please do not throw away all your utility slots and time with mantras.

The stun one is situationally alright though.

I think one issue with players in general (and I did this as well) is to try to use Mantras in bulk as a “Mantra build” rather than just saying “ok, a 2-shot cleanse would be useful in this build”. This makes Mantras appear a little worse than they are.

Mantra’s are slow and their dmg doesn’t even compare to other builds.

For me, coming from a completely PvE interested perspective (and not necessarily the best dexterity/player skill), my best three would be:

1. Chaos Storm
   Love the boons and conditions, love the aegis, love the ethereal combo field results, love the look, and I love the AoE damage tagging.
2. Clones summoned with trident (yes, probably a bug)
   I absolutely love that they reliably stack confusion, and if not handled quickly will cause the target to implode all over themselves.
3. Feedback
   Seems to work really well and fit with the class theme brilliantly, makes ranged attackers a lot of fun, and looks fantastic!
4. Runner up – first Downed skill, Mind Blast
   Again, I love being able to cause confusion reliably, and the two illusion summoning skills are just gravy on top. I’m a bad enough player that I sometimes feel as though I can deal more damage while I’m downed than when I’m fighting!

Worst:

1. Clones summoned by scepter/greatsword/spear
   Pointless shatter-fodder. Not interesting or appealing in the slightest compared to clones from other weapons, unless I’m missing something.
2. Mirror
   Worst heal. Personally I find it almost impossible to use the reflect because of its short duration.
3. Phantasmal Mage
   Compared to all other phantasms, seems by far the weakest.

Great replies. Loved everyone’s responses so far. I definitely need to try feedback out!

My top 3 are:

1. Chaos Storm (Epic blocks, clones don’t die in CS, and overall very good skill in pvp/wvw/pve)
2. Illusionary Wave (Love knocking people off cliffs or jumping puzzles, cancelling rez!!!)
3. Distortion (Shatter skill – LOVE to distortion and stomp, survive, and pwn big dmg combos i.e. Bull Rush knockdown >> Hundred Blades, or Heartseeker Spam)

Bottom 3 are:

1. Mind Stab (Small radius, cast time too long, misses way too often in pvp/wvw)
2. Phantasmal Warden (Junk in PvP/wvw because it doesnt move! At least give it some more range…)
3. Mirror (Reflection too short to be worth much)

Wish Phantasmal Warden was better, because Temporal Curtain is so awesome. Warden is worthless if players aren’t terribad.

Best:
feedback
decoy
chaos storm

feedback – A versatile power that can be used both offensively and defensively at the same time.
decoy – An all purpose defensive power.
chaos storm – One of the few mesmer aoe damage abilities, the most frequently available source of chaos armor, and it’s conditions increase iwarlock’s damage while being useful in and of themselves.

Worst:
Mantras
Scepter #1
iMage

Mantras – with such an absurdly long cast time they would need to be quite powerful indeed to be worth using, which they are not. For example, for every second an enemy spends dazed from power lock you spend 2 seconds charging Mantra of Distraction.
Scepter #1 – a particularly low damage auto attack which only has the side effects of spawning clones. In addition to clone spawning being something one generally wants to do at certain times and not at others, the clones it spawns don’t even share the same attack pattern. Worse, it’s the only 1h ranged option on the class even though it’s such a niche weapon.
iMage – It deal low damage, it attacks slowly, and it applies a single stack of a low damage condition and a fairly weak boon. Staff, sword, and greatsword clones with shaper image are more useful for damage. It’s on the longest cooldown we have for a phantasm too so it’s not even good for shatter fodder.

Since mantras specifically have come up:

Best mantra: resolve
Worst mantra: healing

Resolve really simplifies some dangerous dungeon fights. It’s worth charging compared to dying to conditions, and easy to charge when you don’t need it (standing away from danger spots) so you have it when you need it.

MoHealing interacts badly with the downed system. Maybe it’s better in PvP, when you rally less often. But in PvE, you rally and don’t have it available, whereas the other heals cool down while you’re downed.

Can someone tell me what “iMage” refers to? We have no skill called i___ Mage, so I’m not sure… maybe it’s Phantasmal Mage, but that doesn’t fit the descriptions I’ve read here.

Phantasmal Mage summons a phantasm whose name is Illusionary Mage.

EasymodeX.4062:

Phantasmal Mage summons a phantasm whose name is Illusionary Mage.

Well, that’s just dumb. haha

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