Guild Wars 2

So I’m planning on making an Asura Mesmer. I’ve recently leveled my Human Engineer to 80 and want to try something new, so I thought I’d give Mesmer a try.
Could you guys spare me some tips and just general things that you wish you knew while you were leveling your Mesmer?
Thanks.

This might help:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Lazy-Kai-s-Guide-to-PvE-Leveling-Guide/first#post850721

I was in almost the exact same boat as you. Had an engi, but switched to mesmer.

The two biggest things I will say that you should be aware of are this:

Mesmers are slower than engis. Mesmers are the only class without a reliable full time speed increase. So get used to feeling like you’re moving in slow motion. At higher levels you can equip runes to give you swiftness upon healing, and stack with the focuss ability to jury rig full time swiftness. But that’s it.

This coincides with my second point. Mesmers are a class that don’t come into their full power until very late in the levelling process. That means you’re going to feel very weak much longer than other classes. I didn’t peronally feel very strong until after lvl 60, and some people say mesmer is weak until you have lvl 80 and gear to work with.

But stick with it and you’ll end up with a very rewarding class.

Eliteseraph.4970:

I was in almost the exact same boat as you. Had an engi, but switched to mesmer.

The two biggest things I will say that you should be aware of are this:

Mesmers are slower than engis. Mesmers are the only class without a reliable full time speed increase. So get used to feeling like you’re moving in slow motion. At higher levels you can equip runes to give you swiftness upon healing, and stack with the focuss ability to jury rig full time swiftness. But that’s it.

This coincides with my second point. Mesmers are a class that don’t come into their full power until very late in the levelling process. That means you’re going to feel very weak much longer than other classes. I didn’t peronally feel very strong until after lvl 60, and some people say mesmer is weak until you have lvl 80 and gear to work with.

But stick with it and you’ll end up with a very rewarding class.

Anything that’s a change from Engineer would be great. After all the patches and nerfs, I really just want a completely different experience.

Protip… craft your mesmer up to 40… then play normally from there. It’s worth it. Seriously.

My signature has a link you might find useful.

If you are new, play the most easiest to use but exciting weapons: Sword, Torch, Staff.

1) Go into PvP
2) Hardly Try (spam clones, stealth EVERY time they lock you)
3) Wait for clones/allies/you if you get bored to wreck face.

Seriously, if you haven’t tried PvP yet, this is the class you wanna start with (provided you don’t mind hating other classes for not being as good in PvP, except maybe the unkillable ranger builds).

Spawn clones with weapon skills/one of your utilities, instantly ruin a player with our Moa Bird skill (which we, I don’t even have the first clue how, STILL have as essentially a free 10 seconds to set up/crap on someone in PvP), and have the rest of your skills as stealth skills (so you can make a clone and then forcibly un-lock your opponent).

I’m worried for the Mesmer, eventually ANet will realize there’s a REASON you wont go into a tourny match without seeing one/see high level dungeon partys ALWAYS wanting mesmers, and then we’ll get overnerfed.

Till then, you can enjoy some easymode

Shinjusuke.9156:

1) Go into PvP
2) Hardly Try (spam clones, stealth EVERY time they lock you)
3) Wait for clones/allies/you if you get bored to wreck face.

Seriously, if you haven’t tried PvP yet, this is the class you wanna start with (provided you don’t mind hating other classes for not being as good in PvP, except maybe the unkillable ranger builds).

Spawn clones with weapon skills/one of your utilities, instantly ruin a player with our Moa Bird skill (which we, I don’t even have the first clue how, STILL have as essentially a free 10 seconds to set up/crap on someone in PvP), and have the rest of your skills as stealth skills (so you can make a clone and then forcibly un-lock your opponent).

I’m worried for the Mesmer, eventually ANet will realize there’s a REASON you wont go into a tourny match without seeing one/see high level dungeon partys ALWAYS wanting mesmers, and then we’ll get overnerfed.

Till then, you can enjoy some easymode

^Necro

Sounds like he/she is still having problems telling the real mesmer apart from clones… and suggests using moa… Don’t listen to this very obvious troll.

Aberrant.6749:

^Necro

Sounds like he/she is still having problems telling the real mesmer apart from clones… and suggests using moa… Don’t listen to this very obvious troll.

Lol? I PLAY Mesmer, dude.

Though you’re right, I have a Necro too. Funny, it’s like you can have 5+ characters…

Nobody has issues telling a “real Mesmer” apart from clones. Seriously, nobody in tPvP. The fact that we can rotate stealths with our clones so they have to cycle through 2-3 targets to get to us every 10-15 seconds is Mesmer is going to get nerfed. Might as well suck it up.

Moa is still OP in PvP, btw. It’s one of the major reasons you haven’t seen a MM Necro in any tPvP high-tier games in ages, or why Guardians wont even go into fights without the Mesmer being absent..

If you wanna talk crap dude, fine, but at least know your stuff. You’re embarassing the rest of the PvP community lol

Oh, that reminds me, since you mentioned Necro, we also outclass them as condition DPS/Utility by a mile, which except for the new retaliation/fear builds starting to pop up (I should add, we also have almost double the “retaliation” potential they do too), is widely considered the only viable tPvP build atm.

But hey, naw, you’re obviously right. I’m just trolling lol -_-"
Seriously dude, don’t get snippy just because you’re not interested in keeping the class balanced. I personally would prefer a few minor nerfs now to the potential ruination that usually comes from a class not being evaluated for a long time. That’s all I was saying.

I’d say use sword/focus and either GS or staff depending on whether you want more offense or defense, respectively.

The focus goes a long way to helping our speed issues at lower levels and it takes a bit of practice to master, so you need to spend some time with it. Going through the leveling process is a good opportunity for that. Plus, once you master the fcous, nothing in the game does more damage for a mesmer than a focus#5 → sword#2 → f1 combo.

Shinjusuke you came into a player tip thread… say this…

1) Go into PvP
2) Hardly Try (spam clones, stealth EVERY time they lock you)
3) Wait for clones/allies/you if you get bored to wreck face.

call mesmer easymode… call for nerfs… first post of yours in the mesmer forums… and clam to not be a troll. Seems legit. Good day sir

I’m looking for some tips on this too. I have been using Sword + Torch/Focus/Sword in various combinations (although I have been recently favoring the Sword/Torch combo) along with staff. I am level 64 and I have 20 trait points in Domination, 20 points in Dueling (for the Deceptive Evasion), and 14 in Illusions atm.

I feel like I have been doing pretty well for myself, and I am getting pretty good at clone bombing, ie.. timing max vulnerability stacks with a Mind Wrack. Problem is I feel pretty impotent when anyone wielding a 2h sword shows up. I can put in the effort, and do well by dodging/weapon switching and good timing, but these guys show up and just stand still, never dodging, pressing like 2-3 buttons and kill everything in 1/3 of the time. People tell me that Mesmers are really desirable for endgame content, but I am not sure how I could compete with classes that have that kind of durability and damage output. I have looked through all the most excellent ShatterCat videos and tried to learn from them but I feel like I must be doing something wrong for this type of enormous disparity to occur.

So are Mesmers really good in endgame content, or is that just the “party line” as it were? If so what niche would I be filling, ie, what makes them so desirable? I need reassurance, and guidance if I am doing something wrong.

TIA
EDIT: I suppose I should note this is just about PvE. I’m going to hit up WvW shortly as I find that kind of PvP fun. I couldn’t care less about tPvP.

I’ve only just started playing GW2 in the past couple of weeks and the mesmer’s the only toon I’ve tried… I’m up to level 25 now and am enjoying a scepter+pistol/sword+sword build with debilitating dissipation and illusionist’s celerity. I focus on condition damage gear. Only a few days ago, though, I was still fooling around with all the weapons and trying to find a goal. That’s what I’d recommend to you as well. Try everything out and see what you like. There are tons of guides to give you ideas. W/r/t how I’m playing specifically, the ideal is this:

Open with sword/sword…
Summon phantasmal swordsman
Illusionary leap
Mirror images
See if you can get another clone from illusionary riposte and then
Switch to scepter/pistol…
Summon phantasmal duelist
Kite while looking for an opportunity to use illusionary counter for another clone
Work in magic bullet to help you get more auto-attacks and more clones
Flip back to sword if you need blurred frenzy

The trouble is that I find fights go on long enough that I keep flipping weapon sets more than I had thought would be necessary. Part of that may be due to my not having bought new weapons in a couple of levels. I hope you have as much fun as I am with the mesmer. Good luck!

p.s. – I suppose this isn’t a lot of help but I don’t have a lot of knowledge yet. I figured someone at a lower level could at least shine a light on what it’s like to play before you have many options.

Help. How do I realistically deal with conditions. I know I have the Null Field and Arcane Thievery but the cooldowns are long enough that I could get 100 more on me by the time the cooldown is up. Torch 4 removes if traited, but Torch 5 doesn’t seem to do this. So what is a good way to deal with conditions as a Mesmer?

Darkheron.6271:

I’m looking for some tips on this too. I have been using Sword + Torch/Focus/Sword in various combinations (although I have been recently favoring the Sword/Torch combo) along with staff. I am level 64 and I have 20 trait points in Domination, 20 points in Dueling (for the Deceptive Evasion), and 14 in Illusions atm.

I feel like I have been doing pretty well for myself, and I am getting pretty good at clone bombing, ie.. timing max vulnerability stacks with a Mind Wrack. Problem is I feel pretty impotent when anyone wielding a 2h sword shows up. I can put in the effort, and do well by dodging/weapon switching and good timing, but these guys show up and just stand still, never dodging, pressing like 2-3 buttons and kill everything in 1/3 of the time. People tell me that Mesmers are really desirable for endgame content, but I am not sure how I could compete with classes that have that kind of durability and damage output. I have looked through all the most excellent ShatterCat videos and tried to learn from them but I feel like I must be doing something wrong for this type of enormous disparity to occur.

So are Mesmers really good in endgame content, or is that just the “party line” as it were? If so what niche would I be filling, ie, what makes them so desirable? I need reassurance, and guidance if I am doing something wrong.

TIA
EDIT: I suppose I should note this is just about PvE. I’m going to hit up WvW shortly as I find that kind of PvP fun. I couldn’t care less about tPvP.

Let me say that the ‘blame’ lays on your weapons. Though at 65 Berserker gear opens and you will notice a bound forward in your damage.

Since you have 20 in Domination try traiting the GS -20% reduction. If you have thought of it, put a major sigil of Bloodlust on on a GS. Now just try to open with a Mirror Blade, iBerzerker, dodge, Shatter and give us news.

As for PvE everything works so you won’t be shoved off. You provide good utility, sometimes as simple as having your clones up and the boss is going for them instead of your team mates. That’s pretty much an Aegis worth of protection. Adding the clones-cripple-when-killed and it is a second layer of utility.

Roquelaure.4015:

I’ve only just started playing GW2 in the past couple of weeks and the mesmer’s the only toon I’ve tried… I’m up to level 25 now and am enjoying a scepter+pistol/sword+sword build with debilitating dissipation and illusionist’s celerity. I focus on condition damage gear. Only a few days ago, though, I was still fooling around with all the weapons and trying to find a goal. That’s what I’d recommend to you as well. Try everything out and see what you like. There are tons of guides to give you ideas.

The reason why it takes so long is that condition damage is not optimal at level 25. You will do tons better with Power until level 40. My signature has a link about these leveling woes.

Darkheron.6271:

Help. How do I realistically deal with conditions. I know I have the Null Field and Arcane Thievery but the cooldowns are long enough that I could get 100 more on me by the time the cooldown is up. Torch 4 removes if traited, but Torch 5 doesn’t seem to do this. So what is a good way to deal with conditions as a Mesmer?

A): don’t get hit.

B): Use only when needed, AKA not when you have 3 bleeds.

C) The trait to remove conditions when chattering is pretty OP….IF you can stomach going 30 points in Inspiration. I can safely say it solved all my condition woes, but that trait line is really uninspired, IMO.

Kanto.1659:

Darkheron.6271:

Help. How do I realistically deal with conditions. I know I have the Null Field and Arcane Thievery but the cooldowns are long enough that I could get 100 more on me by the time the cooldown is up. Torch 4 removes if traited, but Torch 5 doesn’t seem to do this. So what is a good way to deal with conditions as a Mesmer?

A): don’t get hit.

B): Use only when needed, AKA not when you have 3 bleeds.

C) The trait to remove conditions when chattering is pretty OP….IF you can stomach going 30 points in Inspiration. I can safely say it solved all my condition woes, but that trait line is really uninspired, IMO.

Ok thanks. Basically I just need to learn to avoid stuff better.

EDIT: Should getting regen from Chaos Armor proc Menders Purity? What about the lifesteal procs from runes? Or should it only be your main heal on the 6 button?

Main heal, I fear. In theory it has no ICD, but don’t quote me, so a mantra with three charges can do good things. Can’t say I’ve ever really done it. Condition damage is just our weakness… unless we trait condition removal on shatter and then it becomes a non entity.