Guild Wars 2

So after the last write up I did on other classes’ perspective on Mesmer, a few people have asked to see Mesmers perspective of other classes. If ya’ll wouldn’t mind, I’ve got this handy-dandy interview sheet for anyone whos willing to answer any or all of the following questions. (I’ll give my answers when I get the chance to write more)

This is for PvP and/or WvW, just make sure to specify which you’re referring to.

• Name
• Played Mesmer Since
• Favorite Alt? Why?
• Least Favorite Class to Play?
• What is your favorite class to fight? Why?
• What is your least favorite class to fight?
• What is your favorite Mesmer spec? What is your role with this spec?
• What other class is your favorite duo partner?
• If you could give Mesmer a buff, what would it be?

• How do you feel about… Elementalist / Engineer / Guardian / Mesmer / Ranger / Thief / Necro / Warrior?

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?

• What do you think your odds of winning are?

• What is the ideal strategy against these classes?

Thanks!

Name : Redacted
Played : Since Beta’s
Favored Alt : Guardian
Disfavored Alt : Warrior
Favored Fight : Mesmers : Why? : Because it’s fair and interesting.
Disfavored Fight : Warriors : Why? : Stupidly Passive, Uncounterable and Predictable to the Extreme
Favored Spec : Shatters : Role : Rage Quit Initiator
Favored Partner : Thief
Dream Buff : Remove Clones and Phantasms from the class, Buff skills, CD’s, and Damage to compensate. TL;DR – Remove AI, buff damage to match the other classes.

What I Feel About~
Ele : I wish Anet knew how to balance your class. You keep going from Free Kill to Tank and Back again.
Engi : Cheese, Very effective but Your class has access to a lot of what keeps deep tatics at arms length from Gw2 and keeps combat Spammy.
Guardian : Hate the Invulns but I think the class more well balanced than most, needs a better Ranged weapon badly tho.
Mesmer : I like to fight them, I hate to see them played badly. Needs Buffs and Work from Anet.
Ranger : Tired of hearing about how your class is the only class crippled by reliance on bad AI NPCS…
Thief : I wish anet had never put Stealth in this game, or at least of all, given 99% of it to your class and then forget how to balance it.
Necro : Feel bad for you guys, but Don’t gloat in PvP, you never ever block or dodge my Moa..
Warrior : Why aren’t you still Playing a Power Ranger?

First Thought ~ (02/20/15)
Ele : Free Kill or Great, this is gonna take a while..
Engi : Oh gross.. is it Turret Spam or Kit Spam?
Guard : Hit It till it dies, You have to hit it a lot tho..
Mesmer : What’s it running
Ranger : Easy Kill, unless its a Spirit Snoozer… Which it never is anymore.
Thief : I hope someone else notices that thing and hits it for me..
Necro : Is Moa off CD?
Warrior : And here we go it’s off to the raceswith alongbownumber1 andthenanattemptedpindownfollowedbyafirefield~ (read in Old Timey Horse Track Announcer Voice)

Odds of Winning~
Ele : Depends, Probably 70%
Engineer : If not on a point – 100% | If on a Point – 60%
Guardian : 80%
Mesmer : Depends, Let’s say 50%
Ranger : 90%
Thief : 35%-40% (good thief only)
Necro : 65%
Warrior : 99%

Stratagey ~
Ele : Hit it after it uses up Water, repeat till dead.
Engi : Hit it Till it dies, let teammates help tho.
Guard : Hit this one first, Too much support and Might/Heals
Mesmer : Hit this one if it’s a threat, if its not, ignore it and let others kill it.
Ranger : Wait for Uncounterable Invuln cheese to wear off, Hit it once and it dies.
Thief : Point it out and let your team keep it busy, look for good openings to Hit it.
Necro : Use Moa so it dies quickly or Hit it over and over till it’s “died” at least 3 times before it goes down once..
Warrior : Avoid Typical Rotations, Hit till all Uncounterable, Super Passive, Unfun and Thoughtless Death avoidance’s have been used up, then Burst.

One post baby.

PVP

• Name
  Mogar

• Played Mesmer Since
  Release

• Favorite Alt? Why?
  Ele and Thief. Ele because they are fun button mashing class, thief well all that stealth is fun.

• Least Favorite Class to Play?
  Warrior

• What is your favorite class to fight? Why?
  Guardians, always a good fight and I know it’s slightly in my favor

• What is your least favorite class to fight?
  Turret Engis, takes a long time and very predictable kinda like a chore .

• What is your favorite Mesmer spec? What is your role with this spec?
  PU power. I’m roaming dps

• What other class is your favorite duo partner?
  in spvp turret engi hands down. in wvw s/d thief

• If you could give Mesmer a buff, what would it be?
  more hit points

• How do you feel about… Elementalist / Engineer / Guardian / Mesmer / Ranger / Thief / Necro / Warrior?

Warrior

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  It’s going to take a while to kill him.

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  80%

• What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
  Kite kite and kite. Warriors are so balanced and varied it’s hard to have a set way to fight them. A real good bunker warrior is unkillable 1 v 1 I just walk away unless I can fight an opening to moa them. DPS warrior is 50/50 they are harder to kite than guardians . Condi warrior is the easiest because they lack range and gap closer I can kite and kill them , just takes time.

Necro

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  Even fight

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  60%

• What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
  Moa. MM necros will get moaed for sure. A good power necro WILL kill me unless I find a los spot. Pretty much come down to los vs good power necros. If I can find somewhere to break los when they do their insane 5k bolts at me I win. Vs condi necros it’s easier stay away from them and let my izerker do the job.

Thief

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  Easy kill? well one way or the other it’s going to be easy

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  70%

• What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
  Burst and hope they don’t consume plasma . GS burst then staff chaos field on myself to counter their burst and condi them to death. Condi thieve are a pain even when they are bad, I try to avoid 1 v 1 them if I can. A good thief is not beatable for me, I can only try last long enough to get help but it’s rare to fight a real good thief.

Ranger

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  Pain in the butt

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  70%

• What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
  Power rangers are a pain I need los to beat them. It comes down to avoid damage when they pop their sig. Condi rangers are even bigger pain because they can take a beating like no other and their condi burst really hard counter me esp when they use a spider pet to CC me. I usually avoid 1 v 1 a good condi ranger.

Mesmer

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  Free kill

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  90%

• What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
  See other thread, most mesmers are dps it’s about out playing them . Vs Condi mesmers I try to stay at max range and just gs 1 auto attack them to death.

Guard

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  I hope he is dps…

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  80%

• What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
  Watch their boons. A tank guardian I don’t target till the last because they can soak up so much damage. DPS guardian get hit with a burst as soon as their protection is off, a lot of the time I’ll strip their boons when they get up to 12+ stacks of might and burst on them with the stolen might.

Engi

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  It’s going to take a while to kill him

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  80%

• What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
  Kite and kite and kite. Keep my distance at all times. Turret engi is matter of kill their turret or if they are dumb you can lure them out of their turret field and kill them outside. Condi engis is about not letting them get close to you.

Ele

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  Is he any good or not.

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  80%

• What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
  Bad ones melt, a really good one I have to play my best. Watch their boons to time my dps , watch their tells when they burst. It’s a long fight vs a good ele most likely end up in a draw unless one of us mess up . The fresh air ones are a pain their burst always surprise me . But second encounter works a lot better as I am expecting the burst damage.

PS: the wining % is what I feel in a match since there are so many bad players my % is higher than 50% for every class. But if we assume good players I would say
Ele: 40%
Guard: 60%
Warrior: 50%
Thief: 5%
Ranger: 40%
Necro: 50%
Mesmer: 50%
Engi: 60%

•Name

- Nymeria | Lady Nymeria | Nymeria Sand

•Played Mesmer Since

- I honestly don’t remember exactly when I started playing mesmer but it’s been a while. I played Warrior and Elementalist before I discovered how fun mesmer can be.

•Favorite Alt? Why?

My favorite Alt is Elementalist. The constant attunement swapping and skill comboing is so intense and fun to me. Especially when i’m going up against someone good. It’s the only class that makes my hand tingle because of how much effort it takes to play the class. I’ve come to realize that mesmer is my main because I currently perform best while playing it but I have the most fun playing Elementalist. I think if I invested the time to get better it would be my main for sure.

•Least Favorite Class to Play?

- I like and play all classes but if I had to pick a least favorite it would probably be Ranger.

•What is your favorite class to fight? Why?

- Warrior. Mainly because they are somewhat predictable and their burst skills are fairly easy to see coming.

•What is your least favorite class to fight?

- If i’m playing as a shatter mesmer: Theif (for obvious reasons). Otherwise, i’d have to say other mesmers. I find the entire experience to be so annoying and it always makes me realize what other people must feel like fighting me. I just don’t do well against other mesmers most of the time. It really is a humbling experience lol.

•What is your favorite Mesmer spec? What is your role with this spec?

- Shatter is my fav because of the high AoE damage and utility is provides. But it can be quite weak against certain classes/builds in certain situations

•What other class is your favorite duo partner?

- Elementalist would be at the very top of the list. Does good damage while providing good support/sustain.

•How do you feel about…

Note: My approach to fighting other classes with phantasm oriented builds is mostly the same; Get phants out and use blocks, CC, Stealth, etc to survive (or do additional damage) while the phants go to work. I feel like I stand a good chance of beating anyone with these builds if I play well. Though it can still be up-hill battle with condi heavy classes/builds (ie Engineer/Necro). So i’ll answer from my experience playing shatter (And I am definitely not the best shatter mesmer).

Opinions are from a WvW/dueling perspective. I also assume that you’re not fighting the usual “casual” players but rather those who are skilled, really knows their class, your class and how to fight you.

Elementalist: This can be a difficult fight if they are a good D/D ele. So my first thought is, “Ok if it’s S/X fresh air I should be good. If it’s D/D, I better get ready”. I have to effectively kit and dodge their key skills in order to win. But even then, they have good gap closers and can neuter a lot of my damage by killing off clones with AoE attacks. It can go either way really.

Engineer: First thought – “Welp, this is probably not going to end well for me”. This mainly just comes down to condi pressure. Even with mantra of resolve it’s still rough. Now, don’t get me wrong, i’ve killed my fair share of engineers but not very many good ones while playing shatter. The good ones will dodge, invuln and use their frequent blocks (especially if traited) to avoid your shatters and wear you down with conditions. I feel like any engi that knows what they are doing should not lose a 1v1 against a shatter mesmer unless they make some pretty serious mistakes.

Guardian: First thought – “He’s probably Medi, and i’m more than likely screwed lol”. The amount of blocks and healing Medi guard has while being able to output so much damage is insane (which, admittedly, is why i love playing it so much). And then there is the BURNING. Even a power shout guardian can be hard to deal with. I feel like my odds of winning are pretty low.

Mesmer: First thought – “Sigh….”. If it’s any kind of phantasm build (CI/CS lockdown, Power PU, etc) the chances of losing are pretty high unless I can manage to get the jump on them and burst them down really quickly. Shatter and Condi PU are more or less a toss up. Can go either way.

Ranger: First thought – “I hate how good this class is now”. They are difficult to fight on both end of the spectrum. Zerk LB can take over half your health before you are anywhere near them and condi ranger is terrible to deal with for obvious reasons. I lose more than I win against them when playing shatter.

Thief: First thought – “I hate everything right now”. I’m not saying I always lose but any good thief is going to beat me far more than I beat them. I’m more or less an easy kill. But it’s pretty much a known fact at this point that shatter mesmer is very weak against thieves.

Warrior: First thought – “If he’s not condi, this will be a good fight”. This one of the few matches where the class doesn’t really exploit shatters weaknesses. It’s a mostly even mathup and mostly comes down to how well I kite and dodge the burst attacks. I think this matchup can go either way for a shatter mesmer.

Necro: First thought – “If I can keep my distance, I can win”. For me, it basically comes down staying out of range of the necro’s attacks as much as possible. If I have to go in close to burst then I need to get back out immediately and start doing damage from range again. If I can do this, I stand a good chance of winning. But this is a lot easier said than done against good necros. And conid necros only need to get close to you one time to end the fight.

Name
Lord Jurica (mes – main) / Mini Jurica (ele)

Played Mesmer Since
Wintersday 2013

Favorite Alt? Why?
I like my elementalist because of the large amount of CC and team support it brings (staff) it’s a great feeling when you CC a thief off your mesmer and heal your mesmer up from 30%-100%, so many skills to use is fun as well, though sometimes it does feel like a bit too much.
I usually prefer staff but I decided to start playing dd more.
I also play thief, on and off, I have a bad habit of deleting and I deleted an 80 thief 2 times so far after I got a bit bored. I like it because in terms of rotations it’s similar to mesmer, also a mobile damage dealer.
Necro / Engi are also fun due to kiting/positioning requirements.

Least Favorite Class to Play?
Ranger. It’s just too dull/easy for me. I like playing every class to an extent but there isn’t anything I like about ranger.

What is your favorite class to fight? Why?
Ugh.. Tough question. In an actual game I’d say probably guardian. Guardian I can easily bleed down with my staff clones (very strong condi pressure even with zerk amulet) and it’s a very easy fight to loose which makes it so fun.
In an actual 1v1 where there is no running away, I enjoy fighting thieves quite a bit. It’s a hard matchup for me to deal with but once I fight a thief a lot 1v1, other classes instantly become 10 times easier to fight.

What is your least favorite class to fight?
Mesmer. I have a big flaw which is taking my time in targeting people which cost me so many 1v1s against mesmers. I can spot the mesmer the second he appears but with all the clones and him walking around, it’s somewhat difficult to target him at a slow pace that I do stuff, meaning until I target I can’t do anything which gives them a huge advantage (I still manage to win a lot of 1v1s surprisingly)

What is your favorite Mesmer spec? What is your role with this spec?
I enjoy shatter a lot, it’s the only spec I play at the moment. I tried lockdown but it just didn’t end up being my cup of tea.
My role in PvP is the roamer role. I put in the DPS to turn fights, outnumber fights, take out key players quickly with the help of my pain train buddy(thief/DPS guard/ranger) and provide reliable stomp/resurrection negation as well as a large amount of boon rip.. Portal and moa are a big thing as well because effective use of portal and moa can make the difference between a win and a loss. Moa is an instant +1 for your team and portal can allow your team to leave 1 point unattended and put 5 people on 2 nodes while holding a 3 cap, allow your team to pull put of fights, resurrect elementalists safely (via vapor form through portal) ect. A lot of stuff mesmer can do for a team and if done well will be a massive, massive boon to the team.

What other class is your favorite duo partner?
I enjoy playing with thieves a lot because we both have good burst and mobility, so we can move around the map in tandem and 100-0 people down quite well after some playtime together.

If you could give Mesmer a buff, what would it be?
I would find a way to give shatter mesmer some way to deal with conditions. Perhaps add a minor trait that would remove a condition from you for every clone that you shatter or maybe something that would give protectio for 2-3 seconds as well as some regen when the mesmer takes more than 25% of his HP in 1 hit (would help against thieves)

I just wrote a friggin book on those last questions and it said it edited but it failed to save I guess, so I’ll be quite quick and superficial now.

Elementalist
Opinion – Fun class to play, dd needs to be toned down a bit but other than that all good
Odds – 85%
Strategy – Stay off point, kite/position yourself, burst after they leave earth/water, don’t attack into frost aura, staff clones are strong pressure, rip boons via CoF. Generally in mes favor due to boonrip

Engineer
Opinion – Supply crate OP, wonderful CC, very vulnerable to focus and CC so decently balanced.
Odds – 75-85%
Strategy – Kite/position, dodge magnet pull, don’t camp poison nades, burst after CC, try to interrupt the heal, autoattack a lot.

Guardian
Opinion – DPS guard is the most sustainable zerker, nice CC via hammer
Odds – 65%
Strategy – Staff clones will melt him after a while, kite a lot, chaos armor if you’re getting bursted with GS, burst after the heal.

Mesmer
Opinion – Most fun, described why it’s awesome earlier
Odds – 70% and if I target properly, 90%
Strategy – Autoattack a lot, if they’re playing sw/x, you wanna be in staff when they’re in sword to port out of immobilize, try to get him to use decoy first, you should win then. Popping chaos armor on staff and quickly swapping into GS before the engage (to get a free swap) is good. Dodge mirror blade and iZerker, LOS is good.

Ranger
Opinion – Annoying as hell, easy to play, low risk high reward, entangle OP and CD is too low,
Odds -Against condi 30%, against power 80% because most power rangers are bad and are in a way easy to kill
Strategy – Against condi, get a friend to come over and 2v1 him. Against power – LOS a lot.

Thief
Opinion – Fun to play, not as easy as it seems (excluding SD)
Odds – Against most thieves in soloq 75%, against good thieves 15% if on SD, 30-35% if DP.
Strategy – Don’t let them land their steal, try to AA from far when you see them to hopefully get in a mini air/fire burst. Always be in your clones, chaos storm on yourself if he’s stealthed and you think he may attack you, save iWave for shadow refuge, staff clones are good pressure. Micromanage your clones and REALLY pay attention to your shatter timing.

Necro
Opinion – Fear spammers are cheesy, meh until a really, really good player picks it up, then it’s very, very friggin powerful. Power necros get moad and die quickly.
Odds – 85-90%
Strategy – Kite, LOS, don’t go on point, kill when he doesn’t have DS up. AA from range, try not to walk into the marks (easier said than done), interrupt the heal.

Warrior
Opinion – Not too annoying (except banner)
Odds – 95% if you don’t tank pindown
Strategy – Don’t tank pindown and don’t sit in fire field.

Generally against most of these classes you just have to position yourself properly and kite a lot. Mesmer looses almost all 1v1s if you do not do that. (Example thief -> Not something you can do against them thus you loose fights a lot). You can’t expect to play on point and you need to avoid all the danger as really, it’s unforgiving. Ele can recover from a screwup and still win but on mesmer it’s really unlikely.
Most of the precentages were really pulled out of my abc, not really too precise.

Hiya! I’ll try to keep mine brief, but I want to contribute.

~fillaen
~Mesmer for a good bit ova a year.

~Alt: Ranger. Started on Ranger! Then Warr for 2v2s!
~Least Fav: I’ve tried them all, but I just am not a Guardian.
~Most Fun to Fight: Warr and Necro for sure. They’re like super intense PvE that you simply have to outplay to beat. It’s nice to dodge their big skills and dance around them!
~Least Fav to Fight: Ele. So much AoE and sticking power. Also near impossible to kill 1 on 1 if they’re good and running something tanky like knight’s or cele.

~Fav Mes Spec: A power, mobility focused build I made. Uses staff, sw/sw (style points for dual sword!)
~Role as Fav Spec: In PvP, to bunk points (with zerk) as well as +1 fights with the one big burst it has.
~Fav Partner: Uhm… I roam with a pistol whip thief a lot! Aside from that, a condi horn shout warr, probs.

~Mes Buff: I think the focus is the most dynamic weapon a Mesmer has, and its very mesmer-y. The problem is that it has too much competiton. I honestly want to see the focus curtain block projectiles as well as a slightly reduced cd on the phant summon. I want to have incentive to use the focus, and I feel that its current utility untraited is a bit inadequate. The trait would have to be reworked ofc, but it’s in such an awkward place anyway! Regardless, I’m sick of the Ranger pew pew.

Keeping it brief, so yea! Hopefully this at least shows an interesting perspective from a Mesmer, if nothing else

WvW

• Name :
  Anborn D

• Played mesmer since:
  2years and some months.

• Favorite Alt? Why?
  Hmm mesmer?
  My necro i think it’s funny to kill thief in less than 5s. (play necro 5% of time )

• Least Favorite Class to Play?
  Even if i have all class, i only play mesmer, so none.

• What is your favorite class to fight? Why?
  I think ele, fight an ele is always interesting.

• What is your least favorite class to fight?
  Hmm thief or ranger. Even if i suck more against other class.

• What is your favorite Mesmer spec? What is your role with this spec?
  I often change spec, but maybe lockdown or condi shatter (i didn’t expect to have so much fun with this).

• What other class is your favorite duo partner?
  I’m a solo roamer, but sometimes i found mates, ele or thief.

• If you could give Mesmer a buff, what would it be?
  In my mind, our damage are decent.
  I think a little acces to condi remove will be nice.

Against elementalist:

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  “okay, so d/d or scepter/x ….. kitten that looks bad :s "

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  ele/mes
  60/40

• What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
  I wait/avoid the first burst and wait the end of might stacking, then i use boon removal. I tried to put the pressure constantly and burst after the water.

Against engineer :

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  I think “100% sure, it’s a condi engi” and i’m right.

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  Engi/mes
  30/70

We have better range, and better range damage.
Celestial engi, i don’t see much of them so don’t know.

• What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
  Just with range we can put decent pressure on them.

Against guardian :

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  " another medit guard "

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  Guard/Mes
  50/50
  because i’m bad against them.
  But i think a good mesmer have the advantage.

• What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
  Break the focus block, avoid the first engage, and kill their boon.

Against mesmer :

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  “nothing special”

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  100/0 (in the end, mesmer always win)
  50/50

• What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
  Just look at the skill, the boons, everything which can tell what is the spec he use.
  
  If it shatter, who burst down the first.
  If it’s condi pu, need range when he’s in stealth, and rush him with a full shatter combo.
  if it’s a rupt, don’t do anything stupid, like heal when he have MoD.

Against ranger:

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  “where are these kitten*n trees :s "

• What do you think your odds of winning are ?
  ranger/Mes
  20/80
  If you come in short range

• What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
  Use los, distortion and stealth. And burst after the signet.

Against thief :

*What is the first thing you think when facing them?
“alt+f4 you won’t have my bags”
“okay remember, avoid backstab, dispell blind, or run”

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  Thief/Mes
  75/25

*What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
I use illusionary invigoration, so i burst them and when they think i have nothing left, burst a second time and hope they are dead.

Against necro :

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  “too much condi "

*What do you think your odds of winning are?
Necro/Mes
40/60

• What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
  Don’t rush, i have more mobility and range. If you stay at range, it will be okay.

Against warrior :

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  “ZZzzzZZZzzz "

*What do you think your odds of winning are?
War/Mes
35/65
*What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
Kite them, cc for their burst, put pressure and hope for a mistake.

Name: Rad Mage

Playtime: about 800 hours on 3 different mesmers.

Favorite alt: Ele, was my first class I played when I started, fresh air is fun.

Least favorite class to play: none

Favorite class to fight:
Necro, I get to burst the living kitten out of them 2 times.

Least favorite class to fight:
Thief, LOL WHY DOES THIS MATCH UP SUCK SO MUCH.

Favorite Mes spec: shatter. Role: Roaming/Mid point assault

Favorite duo: Thief, to kill other thieves.

Buff focus to be instant pull on 4 (like before) and reduce cool down to 20, reduce range to 800 reduce pull radius 400 change 5 to be a clone that does a single eviscerate-like strike, dealing decent damage and applying 5 stacks of vuln on hit the phantasm strike time should match that of zerker illusion. OR change it to be like warrior 5 spin and it follows the enemy dealing about the same damage and applying vuln.

Change pistol 5 cool down to 20 seconds

Change blurred frenzy back to distortion

Rating classes based on difficulty out of 10, 10 being the hardest.

Ele is easy – mid 4/10
Win: all but s/f
Lose: S/F fresh air

Engi is mid – hard 8/10
Win: P/S/P, SD
Lose: Cele

Guard is easy – hard 6/10
Win: Bunker, Shouts
Lose: Medi

Mesmer is mid 5/10
Win: shatter, condi, interupt
Lose: shater, condi, interupt

Ranger is mid 6/10
Win: power ranger
Lose: conditions

Thief is LMFAO 10/10 would get bent again
Win: if they aren’t utter trash
Lose: you could use purely short bow and still win

Necro is 5/10
Win: power, minion
Lose: fearmancer

Warrior is 5/10
Win: Power (almost all)
Lose: anything condi, cele shouts

WvW

• Name
  Si Lly (power based Mesmer), Ka Tess La Ve (condition based Mesmer)

• Played Mesmer Since
  pre release

• Favorite Alt? Why?
  Necromancer. I like the profession theme and I am still hoping that life siphoning will one day be viable

• Least Favorite Class to Play?
  Warrior. From a play style side it is the opposite of Mesmer.

• What is your favorite class to fight? Why?
  Thieves. It’s an uphill battle with the most common builds. And I wanna be able to win those battles^^

• What is your least favorite class to fight?
  Engineer. Turrets, bombs, knockbacks, more turrets, more bombs and more knockbacks. Pinned down? Uh let me be invulnerable or block everything… or well… I just stealth, cuz I got that too. Uh… I seem to lose… let me just quickly jump outa here. That is more annoying than thief disengages.

• What is your favorite Mesmer spec? What is your role with this spec?
  Lock down builds of any kind. Mostly power based CS or CI. I roam, take camps and dollies and scout. If outnumbered in my attempts I switch to power PU.

• What other class is your favorite duo partner?
  S/D thief. Just makes life easier, to have them on your side

• If you could give Mesmer a buff, what would it be?
  A way to rely less on clones.

• How do you feel about… Elementalist / Engineer / Guardian / Mesmer / Ranger / Thief / Necro / Warrior?

Elementalist

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  Does he have a staff? If not, fight might take a while.

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  >90% staff ele
  50% everything else

• What is the ideal strategy against these class?
  Staff eles are easy fudder. No real strategy needed except ovoid to stand in their AoE. For D/D (I rarely meet anything else in WvW) the fights can end very quickly with a lucky shatter or the fight take ages. If I fail a good early shatter, my interrupts remain unused for a while to wait out stability and try to bait cool downs. If I survived that long, than I chain CC the ele and it’s over.

Engineer

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  <30%

• What is the ideal strategy against these class?
  No idea. I seem to be at a loss against engineers in WvW. It depends very much on their skill lvl, less on mine. Interrupts can be devastating against them, but I seem to have problems to figure out their rotations for proper lock down and burst setup. However, I meet them rarely and I have not that much experience fighting them. One time though I managed to interrupt the engie’s heal, and supply drop 2 times in a very short time… I destroyed that guy^^ But that was more luck than actually skill^^

Guardian

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  Hopefully he is a Medi Guard. Everything else just is no threat.

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  80%

• What is the ideal strategy against these class?
  Wait and kite their bursts (medi Guard) and after they blew a lot of their cool downs – they tend to do that very fast, they are very aggressive – they are easy fodder. Sometimes they manage to heal up and come at you again. That can happen very sudden. If one is on the lookout for that and avoid it, the fight is won.

Mesmer

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  Hopefully no condi PU or Phantasm build.

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  <10% PU condi
  80% everything else

• What is the ideal strategy against these class?
  PU condi: Exploit LoS and run, just get the kitten outa there or bring a friend.
  Everything else: Fighting shatter mesmers is all about avoiding their bursts. Luckily many shatter mesmers I fight are kinda predictable. If I don’t pay attention though, the fight can be lost very quickly. Phantasm builds are quite the challenge. It is similar to Pu condi, but less impossible. Interrupts come down to their heal and MI. Also killing the phantasms is often a must. Other lock down builds can go either way. I figured that good lock down mesmers play very adaptive. So it is a question of who adapts better. I had this one fight with another lock down mesmer in BL once. Took us about 10 mins. Sadly in the end I lost, but I learned a lot in this fight. Also, many of my interrupts were blown into nothing that fight…

Ranger

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  Trapper? Be a trapper, pelase. I like fighting condi rangers with the rune of the trapper. I don’t really know why. Other than that he is most likely long bow pew pew ranger.

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  90%

• What is the ideal strategy against these class?
  Rangers always were and still are easy picks. If they are trappers, the fight will be a bit more interesting and often results in a stale mate. It’s all about predicting their movement and not being to over eager to kill them (cuz that will get you killed most likely). Since I play lock down I haven’t met such a ranger though. My experience draws from fights, when I used the standard IP shatter build, but with Focus instead of torch. Long Bow rangers are somehow lame. Their rapid fire can be a thread… but often isn’t. Open terrain can be a bit problematic, but as soon as I can abuse LoS the fight is easy in my favor. Running from a long bow ranger in open terrain is almost impossible with my build. So I engage them before I know what their actual intend is.

Thief

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  Don’t be P/D condi

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  around 0% against any decent P/D condi thief
  50% against anything else

• What is the ideal strategy against these class?
  Anything not P/D condi: Fighting thieves is a lot about patience and mind games. Thieve is the profession I have the most experience with fighting. Sometimes they wanna open with a shadow refuge. Often easily dealt with blink and GS #5. Interrupts can easily fail against them. So I try to avoid shatter and interrupts and hope my phantasms can dps them down a bit. When he is at low health I chain CC him and game over. Shattering can sometimes be very affective and end the fight quickly, but for this the setup (might, vulnerability) and clone positioning must be very good.

Necromancer

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  Wohooo. Easy target.

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  >90%

• What is the ideal strategy against these class?
  Necros have many skills with a long cast time, making it easy to interrupt them but also hard to choose, what to interrupt. Their HP and LF pool can make them very resilient and they can still surprise you with a dmg spike (condi and power all the same). Their threat potential rises exponentially with how close you are to them. In open field, if they see you coming and manage to get some dmg on you (especially when they load you with conditions, before you can actually threaten them) then the fight can be lost quickly. Chill and cripple make it hard to escape from a lost fight. So I am aggressive and use stealth and blink to reposition myself to avoid their damage. Interrupting the heal and chain CCing him on medium to low health wins the fight (Necromancers can still be very threatening on low life. I managed on my necromancer with health <20% to kill both of my opponents in a 1v2).

Warrior

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  Booooooooooooooooooooooooooring. Hammer and GS? Yep: hammer and GS. Well, let the dance begin.

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  60%

• What is the ideal strategy against these class?
  Most warriors I meet run (literally run^^) GS/Hammer. Their ability to disengage and reangage is the actual thread. Even if you seem to win, they can slowly wear you down and make you blow cool downs. Then they turn on their Nikes and run. The thing is they just might come back a few seconds later and come at you again. Avoid hammer stuns and keep kiting them is the basic formula. If the warrior is not on this setup but has also a Axe/X weapons set, one has to look out for eviscerate. I lost recently very unfortunately against a warrior: I almost completely owned the fight and he was at <10% HP, I was at >80%. Until I failed to see his eviscerate coming (kitten little Asuras) and I went down.

PvP

• Name – Doctor Octogon/Daliriant

• Played Mesmer Since – Release

• Favorite Alt – Ele, so much utility and options in every situation. You can play any role and be in any fight and do just fine if you adjust to the situation right.

• Least Favorite Class to Play? Guardian, something about it just doesn’t agree with me. Animations feel slow, skills seem to basic.

• What is your favorite class to fight? Why? Mesmer! So long as it’s not condi lol. It’s fast paced, so much mind games trying to bait cooldowns, one mistake from either player can end the fight instantly. Also I like to test myself against fellow mesmahz.

• What is your least favorite class to fight? Logic says S/D thief but my heart says Ranger. It’s not overly satisfying vsing bleed stacking auto attacks or getting jibbed from 1500 while out of cooldowns, even if I do back myself to win more often then not.

• What is your favorite Mesmer spec? What is your role with this spec? Going to give two answers. Traditionally I’ve always been a huge shatter advocate but recently after coming back from a hiatus I’ve been playing both 4/4/6 CI and shatter equally.

• What other class is your favorite duo partner? On shatter, def a D/P thief. On lockdown, either a medi guard or FA ele.

• If you could give Mesmer a buff, what would it be? Have deceptive evasion moved to a 5 point minor to allow build diversity. I would be ok with nerfs to compensate but having to go 4 into dueling whenever theory crafting is a total bummer.

Elementalist – Elez r gr8 I love them. D/D cele does need a slight tone down, even though it’s not a hard match up for mes. But really notice it when playing it or fighting one on an alt.
First the I think is “Oh goody”, I back myself to take a D/D down before he gets his heal rotations off.
Odds of winning, considering reasonably close MMR/skill, would be 85%, as long as I don’t get impatient and try to contest the point.
Ideal strategy is boon stripping the regen/protection, keep em clear of those, burst as soon as he’s out of water, that’s your opening. If he bruning speed’s in he’s likely to firegrab, interrupt/avoid that at all costs and you should be good. Also, stay out of drakes breath (not hard to do)

Engineer – Hope to god there turrets/cele rifle/zerker. Condi engies are a kitten pain when doom/IP/torment etc passively proc off a bleed AA. I enjoy playing engi a lot, enjoy fighting em even more when things are going your way
Odds of winning, Turrets: 90% Cele Rifle: 85% Zerker: 85% Condi: 45%
Ideal stategy… range the kitten out of em. Keep em cc rolled and keep moving to avoid nades, avoid magnet pull at all costs (the green line that connects to you and pulls after 3 seconds) or if they stealth, blur/dodge if sword after 2 secs, have phase retreat ready to instant port back if staff. Dont let em get close with rifle and your fine.

Guardian – Eh, not the biggest fan of fighting guards. Def not a fan of playing them either.
First thing to look for is there weapon set, quickly identify if there medi or not (90% chance they are in this meta).
Shatter vs medi guard odds 45%, lockdown vs medi guard odds 60 %
Just stay in staff, seriously, burn/bleed will take em out. Phase retreat his JI, Rupt his WW, and phase retreat/blink away from his pull.

Mesmer – Oh boy a mesmer!! I love you and Imma kill you@!
Odds of winning, once again assuming equal skill/MMR (most people I face are not but lets ignore that)
Shatter 75% Lockdown 40%
Gs > Staff / Staff > Zword / Sword > GS (assuming you’ve already closed the gaps and engaged. Keep them at the disadvantage. Bait dodges with mirror blade/zerker/f2 then burst em when there of dodges and in GS.

Ranger: Fun class to play, particularly S/D condi bunkers, but god I hate fighting them.
Assuming equal skill, condi ranger is about 40% power ranger 75%
Rangers have so many ways to ez kill mesmers. If you meet a ranger that can actually handle his pet this is seriously a thuggin hard match up. Don’t Ignore the pet, watch out for the leap (2 second KD) and the fear, both have very obvious animation tells. If it’s a condi ranger do not get on a point with him, not even to burst, keep loSing him, if he hits entangle on you it’s GG. Power ranger is the opposite, keep em cc’d, keep em close, be aggressive and keep behind him to keep triggering cancel of his lb skills.

Thief – “Oh kitten off man” xD I love playing thief, I love hunting Mesmers as a thief, its hilarious, but yeh, vsing a good S/D thief as a shatter Mes is one of the most fustrating things in this game.
Odds of winning, shatter vs d/p 40% lockdown vs d/p 60%, shatter vs S/D 25% lockdown vs S/D 45%
Strat vs D/P rupt once he black powders, that HS/stealth is coming and rupting gives revealed + uses his init for both BP and HS and will trigger halting, lots of options to quickly burst a D/P before he gets you, be aggressive. Chaos storm/armor is godly in this match up.
S/D, I dont even know… lol… Baiting out a LS by letting him hit flanking then grab a quick cc on him, avoid his opening at all costs panic strike/basilisk procs will be your death.

Necro – Not the biggest fan of necro’s tbh, very unpredictable in player skill (probably much like Mesmers) Dislike playing as one, vsing one is hella fun if your playing lockdown though. The necro is always my primary target, and should always be your teams primary target too. Too much of a game changer to be left unchecked.
Odds of winning vs condi 60%(if he gets the jump on me its either gtfo or die, but its a bit easier for me to get the jump on him usually)
Power 80%
Is an odd one to fight, kite away, LoS his DS, obvious animations, avoid the black hands! Dark path is killa, dont let him get close enough to instant cast his doom. Once his DS is down he is ez mode, keep your cc’s for his painfully obvious heal and play aggresivelly for the next 6 or so seconds till you know DS will be back up.

Warrior – I actually don’t mind fighting warriors, it really worth assaulting there capture point 1v1 vs a shoutbow, but some warriors are hilarious to fight (especially the ones the chase you round the map spamming GS/hammer skills while im trying to play in fits of laughter)
Condi – 45%
Shoutbow – 60%
Hambow – 80%
Zerker GS – 60%
Talking shoutbow, as thats pretty much what everyones running these days, avoid pindown at all costs, save your dodges for it. CC’s are the way to take down shoutbows, no stunbreaks/stab make em not a bad target in larger team fights as well. in 1v1’s use LoS and kiting, its a slow painful fight but they have obvious tells, avoid there burst skills, avoid pindown and avoid final thrust it should be a slow, but easy fight.

Edit sorry for the novel… how did that even get to be that long of a post?

TL;DR: Bunch of crap about things and stuff

Name: Rylock

Played Mesmer Since Beta

Favorite Alt? Why? Necro, as it is able to shut people down and make enemies weaker. Closest thing to gw1 mes as well.

Least Favorite Class to Play? Warrior or Guardian. I’ve never been good with warrior type of classes.

What is your favorite class to fight? Why? I would say Mesmer. Mirror matchups are always the most intense for me.

What is your least favorite class to fight? Thief, for obvious reasons.

What is your favorite Mesmer spec? What is your role with this spec? Favorite spec is 4 4 6 CI mes. Role is to make people explode and constantly interrupt and immbo enemies.

What other class is your favorite duo partner? A good thief or necro. Guard is always nice as well.

If you could give Mesmer a buff, what would it be?
First, consume plasma needs a nerf. Second, I think DE should be automatically given to us. Finally, depending on the new resistance, slow, and taunt stuff, we could get enough buffs.

DE as a class mechanic, not a trait would be so sweet… Oh, the dreams! Quite interesting reading about all the buffs people would add to mesmer..

You guys can all call me MailMail, which is my irl nickname, but I go by “Cho” in Guildwars 2. All 4 of my Mesmers begin with the name Cho, which loosely translates to “butterfly” in Japanese. Depending on character theme and/or build type, they have different last names. I’ve exclusively played Mesmer since the Flame & Frost patch which seems like oh so long ago!! Around that time, I was in an amazing casual guild that did all types of game play. I was an integral part of the 500+ guild until I became a pvp purist around the Nightmare of Towers patch.

In terms of my Mesmer-ing style, I tend to play either CI lockdown or a variety of condition builds whether it be my “Malignant Inscriptions” build or a variety of Maim. I’m very passionate about creating builds that are atypical from the top tier standard shatter. I want people to realize that the Mesmer class is the most versatile when it comes to mid-tier gameplay. We can play tanks. We can play support. We can play condition. We can play zerker. We can literally do everything, so you will typically see me theory-crafting and testing out weird builds for the sake of our community. And when I’m not doing that, I’m sticking to my familiar condition builds or CI. Because of this, I tend to either roam or play home guard/defender in organized teams. In pugs, as an experienced player, I play whatever roles I feel my team needs the most and to the most of my capabilities.

My favorite class to fight against by far is the Necromancer. No matter what build I’m on, I find their skills to be amazingly easy to interrupt. And because every single Mesmer build has a minimum of 3-4 interrupts at its disposal, it’s no wonder that we’re a strong counter to Necros. Notice, I didn’t say “hard” counter, because the only hard counter in this game is thief vs Mesmer. Anyway, Necros are easy for me to demolish no matter what build I’m playing on, but especially when I’m on an sort of interrupt build with MoD.

On the other hand, my least favorite class to fight is definitely the engineer. If I get my rotation off well, I should usually be ok with the builds I typically play, but the biggest problem against engineers is their constant CC. Once I get CCed a few good times, it’s usually gg.

If I could give Mesmer one single general buff, it would simply be to fix our bugs and make certain skills work the way they say they actually do…

Class Match-ups

ELEMENTALIST

• Odds are 55% in my favor.
• Oh you’re an elementalist? Cool beans there darling. It takes a lot of skill to be an overall decent ele, so I’m already impressed. Unless they are one of those one trick pony zerker eles, I’m pretty prepared for most attacks and not worried. A lot of the skills are easily telegraphed, but someone hard to interrupt. The problem is their burst healing and the ability to disengage easily.
• Ideally, you have to watch out for only a few things when fighting an elementalist. The long lasting burning is one of the biggest concerns if you’re running low amounts of condi removal if at all. Also, regen/protection are readily available for eles, so if you’re planning to out-sustain, have a plan. This is usually accomplished through boon strip and timing your burst efficiently. I usually play enough condis where this isn’t a problem, and it becomes a bait and kite match of out-sustain.

ENGINEER

• Odds are 40% in my favor
• As soon as I see an engineer, I’m deathly afraid of the crate. Simply standing inside of it is a death sentence for most builds which automatically puts me on defense. I typically become very anxious at the thought of being chain CCed by turrets, knockbacks and dazes with a nice condi bomb waiting to happen.
• Luckily, engineers have the same issues as Mesmers, which is a lack of stability. Where as we have “creative” ways of evasion, they have a single OP block and an abundance of CC in order to make up for it. I typically bait out their block before chain-dazing/stunning. If that doesn’t work, we’re the better kiter as long as you keep the pressure up, because they have great healing capabilities. It basically comes down to who can dodge the most CCs first and get their skill rotation off. Unfortunately for us, they can take more hits than us, so they have the upper hand.

Guardian

• 50% in my favor
• Whenever I see a guardian, I wonder if they’re playing the boring dps medi guard or something more interesting. I respect guardians, because in the past, they have typically served as support roles, which are currently very out of the scene now.
• Because I play Condi builds for the most part, I don’t have trouble against dps guards. God forbid I’m playing Malignant Inscriptions, because I’ll gladly create clones for them to plow through. Their main attacks are easily telegraphed, so you can prepare to react to them. If it’s not a dps guard, they aren’t very threatening at all.

MESMER

• 20% in my favor
• As soon as I see a Mesmer, I kittening panic. Yes, this is the way our low tier class typically succeeds against evenly matched opponents!! You’d think being apart of OMFG would help me with this, but Mesmer remains by far my weakest match up because they cause me to panic and make silly stupid mistakes.
• My strategy when facing a Mesmer is IMMEDIATELY identifying their build. You can guestimate a lot based on several indicators. I won’t go over them all, but there’s some obvious signs like signets, mantras, GS = phantasm/shatter, scepter = heavy condi, etc etc. The most dangerous thing about the Mesmer is their team, so knowing when to pressure the Mesmer and when to refocus on their teammates after they blow an evasion (Decoy/Blink) is key to using your time & energy wisely. If you don’t panic and remain calm, you will beat a Mesmer every time. I need to do a better job at following my own advice here.

RANGER

• 70% in my favor.
• Because I don’t play dps shatter anymore, I don’t really understand how or why Rangers are such an issue for us. Well, I do understand, but I just can’t relate due to the type of Mesmer builds I play. I usually don’t pay them any mind unless they are pew pew, and if they are, getting in their face for even a tiny bit will shut them down completely. God forbid I’m on CI lockdown as they are EASILY locked down with interrupts. It’s almost as sad as a Necro.
• Obviously my strategy if they’re pew pew is to get into melee range, and it’s a 90% chance you drop them no matter what build you’re playing. If it’s anything else, you simply dodge the elite immob and the condi burst, and you’re fine. I always save my condi clear for the entangle, because that’s their one trick pony. If you beat that, you’ve beaten the ranger.

WARRIOR

• 45% in my favor
• First off, I think warriors in a general sense are the whiniest players in the game. Why, when their class is the only to be mostly OP/balanced in the game, I’ll never understand. The irony is that I feel like this class complains the most about all other classes being OP. So right off the bat, I’m annoying by facing a warrior. LOL
• Unfortunately, warriors are tough no matter what build you’re playing. I think in general, we have a hard counter (thief), a soft counter if your skill is lower (engineer) and a regular counter in Warrior. They have stability. They are not easily burst. They have the capacity to endure conditions over a period of time. It’s just tough. If skill is equal, I typically win; it just takes a long time. The higher their skill level is, the more likely they are to win, which is obvious, but this is more so with the Warrior. Dodging their bursts is easy, but it becomes more of “who makes a mistake first” than anything else really.

THIEF

• 65% in my favor
• If you’re playing dps shatter, then you have a 10% chance of winning, but I typically run builds that directly counter thief. Fortunately, most thieves don’t expect this, which makes me happy to see thieves, because they typically waste their time engaging me instead of a weaker teammate. It’s also funny to see a thief CONTINUOUSLY target me out of frustration, because they don’t understand how they aren’t rekting me. This happens quite often. I’m also annoyed by thieves in general for similar reasons as the Warrior. The difference is that MOST thieves are bad players, but have inflated egos.
• My basic strategy is to NOT blow through CDs right off the bat. I’m way more conscious of CDs when facing thieves than with other classes, because there’s usually a wait period in between their bursts where you have time to relax. Most of my builds use Staff, so having Chaos armor up when you know they are going to burst is VERY important due to the protection that it usually procs. Chaos armor are theives worst nightmare as the blinds will also help to mitigate a tone of dmg. It usually takes a high skilled thief to take me out, which I don’t see often at all.

NECROMANCER

• 80% in my favor
• My mouth literally salivates when I see a necromancer.
• Save my condi clears for when they use their long-lasting chill conditions, which is usually the biggest hindrance for me. Also save my stun break for the 2nd fear. If they have a 2nd fear, it means they have a 3rd in their rotation. Keeping these two things in mind, it’s simply a matter of interrupting any big moves they make. If I know they have a lich coming soon, I save my boon strip and interrupts to rekt them then when they’re most vulnerable.

Gamemode: WvW solo/smallscale roaming, WvW/PvP duelling

Name: Pocket Mirror
Played Mesmer Since: ~1.5 years
Favorite Alt: Guardian, actually my first main. Because it wrecks thieves, which i struggle against on mesmer.

Favorite Class to fight: Other mesmers, engis. Mesmer fights are even and help to find out what, how other players see you in fight. Engis (SD in particular) are challenging and usually provide fun fights.

Least favorite Class to fight: Thief. GS shatter can’t fight what it can’t target and has no passive defense to rely on.

Favorite mesmer spec: GS shatter, because it kills people and leads to a very active playstyle. I’m currently learning lockdown, though, which also makes a lot of fun but seems not as fitted for roaming.

Favorite duo partner: I’m used to engis, but generally anyone who can peel thieves from me.

Other classes:
- Elementalist:
Depends on the spec. Scepter burst usually leads to fun fights which involve a lot of decisions over a short time. D/D is painful and i will have to keep attention to my cds, since the ele outresources me.

- Engineer:
SD is the same as Scepter ele, good and fastpaced fights with a lot of split second decisions. Other builds i can usually outrange with GS if i manage to kite (note that i mostly play with torch trait and cleanse mantra).

- Guardian:
Medguard is my bane after thieves, most guards in WvW are too tanky for me to kill before they get to their zerg/tower, so i won’t bother chasing.

- Mesmer:
Condi is a pain, i’ll need a large area for kiting around. Phantasm is hard too, i need a lot of pressure to force him into F4. Other shatters are fun, similar to ele and engi.

- Ranger:
Good LB rangers will ruin my day if i don’t have the means to LoS them. Condi BM takes forever with better chances for him.

- Thief:
Urgh

- Necro:
I actually much prefer fighting condi necros over power ones. If there is LoS, i can fight power, too, otherwise i autolose once he reaches enough LF.

- Warrior:
Take forever to fight against while still doing extreme damage. Against certain builds i usually have to avoid every skill, including AAs.

I don’t feel like giving clear odds, since a lot can happen during a fight. The only classes i feel i have absolutely no chance against are (S/D) thieves and medguards.

WvW roamer here

Name: Mallas Elerviel

Played Mesmer Since
I got the game, Christmas 2013

Favorite Alt? Why?
Still playing around with different classes. I could see myself running a zerg Necro.

Least Favorite Class to Play?
Warrior. Feels too simple and straightforward.

What is your favorite class to fight? Why?
Guardians always put up a good fight. Warriors and necros are free food.

What is your least favorite class to fight?
Thieves. You are cancer

What is your favorite Mesmer spec? What is your role with this spec?
I’ve played around with a ton of builds and I’m still going back and forth. CS and MtD shatter are probably my favorites. Zergs have never been my thing, but sometimes I like to tag along and pick off people on the sides of clashes.

What other class is your favorite duo partner?
I don’t really roam with other people, but AoE buffs from Warriors prove to be the most useful

If you could give Mesmer a buff, what would it be?
A reliable source of Fear. I know people say that’s the Necromancer’s condition, but I think it fits the Mesmer thematically.

How I feel about…

Warriors
Good or bad, you guys are very predictable. When I lose to a warrior, it’s because I didn’t react quickly enough. Highly telegraphed attacks, very easy to interrupt. Generally a pretty easy matchup.

Guardians
Guardians are always an interesting fight. They’re the opposite of Mesmers in terms of survivability. Guardians survive by soaking up hits and healing rapidly. Mesmers survive by jumping around all over the place. As a result, these fights tend to be the longest by far.

Thieves
Kill yourselves

Engineer
They’re either amazing or garbage. Builds are all over the place, so it’s hard to generalize. The best ones are usually defending objectives with turret spam. It’s cheap, but it works.

Ranger
Anyone who says Rangers are weak because they use AI-controlled pets is a bad Ranger. They’re quite mediocre in a one on one fight. Blink in next to them, immobilize or stun, and they’re dead. Our reliable sources of boon stripping can eat them up quickly too. Where they shine is in groups. End up against a ranger and somebody who can fight up close, and you’re gonna have a bad time.

Elementalist
Not all that difficult to fight. They’re quite zippy, but once you get them pinned down, they die very quickly.

Mesmer
So many bad Mesmers in WvW. It’s always phantasm spam. Seriously guys, we have to step it up. A lot of us are very predictable. Mesmers are supposed to be chaotic and unpredictable.

Necromancer
Free food. We can heal conditions well, we can strip their boons, blink breaks fear, and they have no way to get away from us. Death Shroud only delays the inevitable.

NAME: Jesse Possum
Played Mesmer Since: I made the Shutdown Mesmer which was early 2013
Favorite Alt? Why? Engineer because possibilities
Least Favorite Class to Play? Elementalist
What is your favorite class to fight? Why?
Any player that is good. Because you learn a lot fighting good players

What is your least favorite class to fight?
Other Mesmers.

What is your favorite Mesmer spec? What is your role with this spec?
Shutdown Mesmer. My role is to SHUTDOWN ALL THE THINGS!

What other class is your favorite duo partner?
Necro or Engie due to a good mix of condi pressure and burst being the best. Always.

If you could give Mesmer a buff, what would it be?
The ability to see cast bars. And that Phantasm that deals damage when someone attacks you.

Elementalist:
What is the first thing you think when facing them?
Another one, I bet he thinks he’s good. Let’s find out if he is.

What do you think your odds of winning are?
80%

What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
I put phants on them and interrupt all channeled skills or skills that could turn things bad for me. The worst thing an Ele can do against an interrupt mesmer is to actually go into water without Stab. You’re just asking for it at that point.

Engineer:
What is the first thing you think when facing them?
Another one, I bet he thinks “I’ve got the meta build and condis. Easy peasy, mesmer killsies.”

What do you think your odds of winning are?
60%

What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
As a Mantra Mesmer, you avoid allowing burning to tick on you for too long. Don’t spam your rupts on anything but perceived Rifle skills and nades. They can win, mostly by chance but you’ll be on top most of the time.

Guardian
What is the first thing you think when facing them?
He’s going to use Judge’s into Whirling Wrath isn’t he?….. Yeap…. predictable.

What do you think your odds of winning are?
50%

What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
As a mantra, await the Ji + WW combo with glee, dogde, shatter to remove the first block (very important), they’ll either dodge or keep spinning, if they choose to spin, rupt them, if they choose to dodge, wait for them to decide whether they want to leap at you or cast Binding Blade before you interrupt them. Then proceed to unload with phants and shatters.

Mesmer:
What is the first thing you think when facing them?
Urgh, another one. He’s probably going to spam stealth like a mad man isn’t he….. yeap… thanks man. You’re a great player.

What do you think your odds of winning are?
50%

What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
Condi, very cautious because anything can go wrong and you’ll be dead. Interrupt when his desire to hit you with confusion is higher than his smart choices in life.
Shatter, I’ll probably interrupt all your phants so calm down and stop stealthing please.
PU, I’ll let you run circles around me because I can’t be bothered to fight you.
Other Mantra Mesmers, okay GAME ON NOW! And I don’t really know how to beat other Mantra mesmers because most of them suck at playing Mantra mesmers.

Actually most Mantra mesmers only have two MoD interrupts so, I have the upper hand in that I have 3. And some of them run staff so I have the higher damaging Phant. But when it’s equal, it’s just who the heck has the best eagle eye/trigger finger.

[CONT’D]

Ranger:
What is the first thing you think when facing them?
Rangers. Cool. No one’s better than Rom or Kanscout so shut up.

What do you think your odds of winning are?
60%

What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
First thing, waste one rupt on them instantly. Get that crappy weird stealth/stun break out of the way instantly. Then proceed to pummel their face in until they decide it’s time to SoS (signet of stone). Then you just blurred frenzy, dodge twice and rupt whatever it is they want to do. If they stealth and you know they are going to come in with the GS to attack and you’ve still got MoD charges left and you know they are next to their pet, target the pet, MoD they pet. They’ll get rupted as well.

They say it’s easy to kill us, I think it’s just as easy to kill them.

Thief:
What is the first thing you think when facing them?
If you aren’t Pistol Whip, get out ma face. You’re only good when you’re 2v1ing someone.

What do you think your odds of winning are?
80% against S/D
40% if I’m not running Mantra of resolve against D/P
and 40% against pistol whip.

What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
For S/D, wait for the point in which they are about to touch you with their dagger when using Flanking strike and then rupt. Then rekt.

For D/P, they’ll shadowshot or Blinding powder which will blind whatever rupt you want to do to them so you have to have mantra of resolve to remove it and then rupt them. Do it fast enough and they are rekt before you can say “Oooh, so that’s what that does.”

For S/P, you have to have a target on them and you have to interrupt them AS SOON as they teleport in or you’re eating that damage like a Taco on Sunday.

Necro:
What is the first thing you think when facing them?
Are you Teh Prototype? No. Are you Djooce? No. You’re dead to me.

What do you think your odds of winning are?
80%

What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
GS Phant, interrupt Staff 5, they jump into DS, cleanse the fear, dodge the Dark Path, interrupt the Life Transfer, CC them so they run out DS with the GS knockback, they’ll try to heal, rupt that, shatter, dead? Maybe.

Warrior:
What is the first thing you think when facing them?
My bane. Hopefully this one sucks.

What do you think your odds of winning are?
40%

What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
Most of them play bunker-y specs. I usually avoid the ones I think are good because I find it EXTREMELY hard to keep up clones and Phants against them due to the wide area the longbow burning covers. So I usually avoid this match up unless I know the Warrior is squishy.
Hammer Wars, GS Wars, Mace Wars, all sorts of bloody Wars give me trouble. The only time I can handle them is if I take Arcane Thievery and even then many bunker wars still give me trouble so I tend to just join someone else in taking them down fast.

The first thing I’m thinking is create a Pistol Phant far away from the point, don’t shatter too often so the Phant can do it’s thing and RUPT. EVERY. STUN. no if’s, no buts.
If they have stab and you have no boon removal well just run away and come back when they don’t have stab. Better option than dieing there, trust me.

• Name: RaGe (Rogelio Rosa)
• Played Mesmer Since: Early access… awhile…
• Favorite Alt? Why?:
  Guardian, Specifically Meditation… It’s fast, mobile and when done properly, surprisingly tanky, while maintaining that damage.
• Least Favorite Class to Play?: Ele, Absurd playstyle, spend more time fighting the control system than fighting other players…
• What is your favorite class to fight? Why? 1v1 Other Mesmers, it’s a Challenge (a fair challenge)
• What is your least favorite class to fight? Thief, Class basically just nullifies you, you can’t run, can barely even damage them half the time and if they get low on health, they cloak and heal up only to reengage while everything is on cooldown for you no contest for them, free kill
• What is your favorite Mesmer spec? What is your role with this spec?
  Constantly shifting, but favorite previous was signet distortion, role was essentially the same, damage with a little party support just with more survivabilty
  Currently, shatter because that’s the only way to get even remotely decent damage out of the class.
• What other class is your favorite duo partner?
  engi, because if things get hairy they can drop turrets and distract them allowing me to pull off a few shatters
• If you could give Mesmer a buff, what would it be?
  possibilities in order of preference:
  1. Additional conditions on scepter/staff(for staff mayhaps 2 random conditions from skill 1 instead of simply 1)
  2. better survivabilty (healing increase and/or increased base health/armor) to help deal with thieves and power rangers (speaking of which wtf is with the tracking while in stealth)
  3. General DPS improvements to phantasms, (mayhaps an extremely small shatter damage nerf in exchange) combined with phantasm (specifically) health/armor boost to make them vastly more resilient

• How do you feel about…
  Elementalist: OMFG GAHH!!!!!!!!!!! tears hair out
  Engineer: a bit wonky, a tiny tiny bit too powerful, needs slight nerf to CC in many ways overall good diversity.
  Guardian: Good versatility, diverse range of roles… being made exceedingly obsolete as meta shifts
  Mesmer: Underpowered needs changes to survivability, or changes to damage to allow builds more focused on survivability. (lacks viable diversity)
  Ranger: the damage output is too high, and lacks viable build diversity (condi/power)
  Thief: back stab OP, needs slight debuff to that and conditions are slightly underpowered for this class. (lacks build diversity, [by design])
  Necro: LOL brain-dead, but good diversity in roles, lacks decent stun counters/gtfo buttons (probably by design, but me no like)
  Warrior: annoying to play/play against too basic… and therefore relegated to tanky/support roles consistently (… boring)

• What is the first thing you think when facing them?
  Elementalist: oh great another tank with aoe dmg… oh yay -.- (d/d)
  Engineer: Too many cc… nty
  Guardian: medi or tank? anyone else around? No? Sweet! Round 1, FIGHT!
  Mesmer: Round 1, FIGHT
  Ranger: Let me get first hit, and don’t hax ur way to firing through my stealth.
  Thief: Nope, nope, nope.
  Necro: Come at me bro!
  Warrior: I should leave, by the time i get him down the other 4 members of his team will be here… kittening tanks -.-

• What do you think your odds of winning are?
  Current statistics.. 55.5% per game
  in 1v1
  Elementalist: 25%
  Engineer: 10%
  Guardian: 50-90% (depending on build)
  Mesmer: 50-70% (depending on skill)
  Ranger: 30% (rapid fire tracks while ur in stealth, pure bs)
  Thief: 0-25% (assuming lower skill player)
  Necro: 50%
  Warrior: 90% (assuming no allies come to the rescue)

• What is the ideal strategy against these classes?
  Elementalist: Take out enchantments, slowly wear down his health, shatter while at relatively low health…
  Engineer: Stay away from the bullets, until no more turrets
  Guardian: Confuse with stealth, and hope to catch him off guard with shatter.
  Mesmer: Find him first, and confuse him until it’s shatter time.
  Ranger: Get in close, and act like a clone to avoid longbow dps
  Thief: Hope like hell he slips and gives you an opportunity to stun while he’s at low health.
  Necro: Hide with stealth and slowly wear down
  Warrior: Slowly wear him down, use well-timed confusion to get max damage. and generally avoid damage.