Guild Wars 2

Mesmer Tips: When you stealth, instead of running away from the opponent, which is obvious, cross pass them and run the opposite way instead.
//iLeap-Swap is an AoE immobilize
//Chaos Armor becomes more effective the more people who have it are close together. Blast that chaos storm!

Sup guys! I wanted to quickly address the “you’re never on!” messages I get everytime I log in. =P

As I’ve been getting swamped more with writing/drawing/capoeira I’ve found myself with less and less time to play, and when I do that gaming usually goes to the Xbox. I’m a console gamer at heart -from NES all the way through to X1- so before Gw2 came out I was practically console-exclusive.

That changed when this awesome game featuring this awesome class came out. I got to delve into a whole new world of gaming, meet some incredibly awesome and intelligent people (a true breath of fresh air from the intellectual standard of console gamers x.x) and even learned things about myself that I never really realized. No other game has inspired me to interact with a community like this one, to spend hours of my life writing guides (dat nerd wit somethin to say!), to co-host a podcast, write fan fiction and much more, but the most incredible, fulfilling thing about playing GW2 is the people I’ve met from around the world. Getting to talk builds with people from Greece, receiving compliments from strangers in Japan, nothing in any videogame has ever been more rewarding than moments like those.

To be clear, I’m not quitting GW2, I’ll still be hopping on from time to time specifically because of the people I’ve met, but I won’t be on often and with this asinine nerf to sword that just dropped I dunno how much of that time will be spent on Mesmer, so if I happen to not see yall again I wanted to give leave a note to a few special people:

- Fay: You’re the first female to ever beat me in any videogame despite me trying my very best.. and you beat me like it was nothing! Despite that, always enjoy getting to play with you.
- colesy: We probably don’t really agree on anything, and have polar opposite views on many things, but I do respect your diligence on the dungeon meta. I remember one PM we had, where I was trying to get a better view on your perspective on builds. I asked you to give me your opinion on the Chaos Maesto build… and you never responded to the PM again. =P
- StickerHappy: My lockdown buddy! I swear I never ignore you despite that my goldfish attention span makes it seem so. x_x You were one of the first lockdown Mesmer I was able to have a real nice conversation on the subject with and one of the first that comes to mind whenever I think Lockdown.
- skcamow: I wished you lived nearby, you’d make an awesome bar-hopping/drinking buddy. You always hold me down and are one of my best friends on GW2.
- Kaiwanan: I will never be able to pronounce your name right, and butchered it spectacularly on the podcast. You’ve been on the forums longer than I have, yet its a shame we never get to play/chat more often.
- Me Games Ma: I couldn’t NOT include you in this list, ever helpful and encouraging and you being inspired by me inspired me to be better overall!
- Pyro: Not much I can say here, really. You taught me the majority of what I know about the game, inspired me to believe in what I say as long as I have the facts to back it up, and helped me realize how much potential I really have.
- Alissah: ALISSAH! O_O WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ARE YOU EVEN READING THIS!? NO ME QUITTE PAS!

I know I’m missing people, of course, and probably some really obvious ones too. That’s just further proof of how many great people we have who’ve come together on our forums. *If you wanna keep in contact with me, you can still reach me on the forums via PM, on Xbox as “Chaos Archangei” or my art email at the_chaos.dimension@yahoo.com

THOUGHTS ON THE MESMER
We. Need. An. Expansion.
At this point, since Anet doesn’t seem to want to add the simple fixes that would be a huge help to the class and would rather nerf us time and time again, I feel like nothing short of new weapons/traits/utilities will add some luster to this dull gem. I love the class still, I love the core mechanics and style, but the devs seem determined to gradually lower the class’s effectiveness in all forms of play. The “bugfix” to iLeap is further proof of this and the last straw for me.

If I could change things, I’d make torch a true AoE Phantasm, summon phantasms with invuln until their first attack is finished, add a mainhand pistol or offhand dagger, add optional alternate shatter effects, and have the devs ACTUALLY COMMENT ON OUR FEEDBACK!

Im pretty much with you Chaos. The fact they nerfed Ileap was pretty much the last straw for me. Hopefully I will see you around as well. It was fun testing all your fun builds with you <3. Also, nice to know I am not remembered </3

I wish you all the luck, the mesmer community has been lucky to have people like you, people you listed and many more.
If we all think what is has been done in this community, is pretty big. Thousands of guides and ways to use this amazing class.

Don’t know what devs have in mind with the mesmer, but really is not a profitable, enjoyable and useful class in the game.

I had some hopes from the last Balance Twitch since they were talking about mesmer issues, but, at least for me, issues are problems, things to improve. Not making things worst and narrowing the options for a profession.

kitten DEVS, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN YOUR HEADS!!!

AND STUPID CORRECTOR FROM THIS FORUM, I CANNOT EVEN SHOW MY RAGE, kitten.

Warlord of Chaos.7845:

Im pretty much with you Chaos. The fact they nerfed Ileap was pretty much the last straw for me. Hopefully I will see you around as well. It was fun testing all your fun builds with you <3. Also, nice to know I am not remembered </3

inb4 dat correction for warlord INC

Great playing and interacting with you as well Chaos. It’s been an awesome ride. Best to you in your exploits!

I actually tried to edit it to put: "*Warlord of Chaos:* Who else will shout me out in the middle of a game with “HAI CHAOS!” while I’m trying to be incognito? And then proceed to hunt me down and slay me over and over again like some serial killer." but it didn’t fit. =[

And ty guys, like I said I’ll still be playing here and there.. but dat Xbox. x_x

I never talked to you but, thank you for all the inspriation and great work you did for this community. I totally understand you leaving after this final mind stab from Anet.
Have fun!

Chaos Archangel.5071:

I actually tried to edit it to put: "*Warlord of Chaos:* Who else will shout me out in the middle of a game with “HAI CHAOS!” while I’m trying to be incognito? And then proceed to hunt me down and slay me over and over again like some serial killer." but it didn’t fit. =[

And ty guys, like I said I’ll still be playing here and there.. but dat Xbox. x_x

Ohhh I see how it is. Guess helping you with all your builds (while killing you) isn’t memorable. </3

i could have been banned when you sent the pm, idk

once you reach a certain level of punishment you get banned from even sending pms, lol.

You should come join us in dragon nest. It’ll be fun, I promise!

At any rate, I’m not really angry at the devs anymore. I’m just disappointed. This is the first point at which if someone asked me what class they should play, I’d tell them to avoid Mesmer. It’s really just a shame what this game has devolved to for us. Maybe in the future things will get better, but I have no faith, respect, or hope for the devs anymore.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

- Fay: You’re the first female to ever beat me in any videogame despite me trying my very best.. and you beat me like it was nothing! Despite that, always enjoy getting to play with you.

It was my pleasure and honor to kill you repeatedly hehe

That said, the great thing about GW2 is that you can hop on whenever you have time or feel like which is one of it’s strong points. Once I stopped playing it 24/7 it was kind of a relief to be able to go and play other games for a while and not have to worry about subscription fees. I’m also sure the game will get better with time but that it will just take time.

Sorry to see you go dude, you’ve been a great asset to the community over the years. Would have loved to be able to jump into some pvp or something with you, but couldnt join the custom arena as I’m on EU.

I was hoping for some good bug fixes coming in season 2, and feared it could be the last straw for many if they didnt. And looks like your not the only one leaving as well. Good job Anet, well done.

After reading the patch notes I closed the game client without even wanting to login. No effort to fixing any of the many “real” bugs, and didnt want to face logging in to see what they had secretly broken this time!

A shame, though I can’t say I blame you – I’m equally disillusioned at the moment.

Might just casually poke through the living story for light entertainment, but I can’t take any form of pvp seriously until we get a decent expansion to the game mode.

Can’t see myself playing GW2 with much commitment right now.

First pyro then you!! Whaaaaat!? This is really sad. I hope calliope is staying. I know the state of the game is just…reptitive and dull but you guys are my reason for playing. Anyway, i enjoyed the ride with you chaos hopefully when i email you, you do reply!

Ive been working with skcamow lately and i was hoping to share a new lockdown build with you!

Turns out that email address won’t work X_x gawd. I’ll have to make a new one.

Again ty for the support all! Like I said I’m not leaving though (and jenzie I definitely recognize ya. I think we’ve spoken atleast once in the past =P) I’m with Fay in hopes that one day everything will improve with time… Or an expansion.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

I’m with Fay in hopes that one day everything will improve with time… Or an expansion.

Amen to that, take care chaos

Even though I don’t know you really and I left mesmer a long time ago for many reasons, I know how important you are to the mesmer community chaos. It makes me sad that quite a few great players have been leaving the game, and the living story patch didn’t really seem to help.

Anyway I hope you will one day post and theorycraft for the mesmer again, when its not in such a dire state at the moment. Although every class that isn’t thief ele warrior or guardian seems to need some desperate buffs for various game modes and for various different reasons right now.

Chaos you’ll be missed by us all.

ya that ileap nerf was the last straw for me as well. warden glitch being the 2nd to last.
im done with this game. at least for mesmer. and THAT is a sad thing
sword and focus are broken and they were my favorite weapons. GG anet
the funny thing is they were perfectly fine before anet “fixed” them
ive played this game since release and have always thought that maybe….MAYYYYYBE anet would start making sensible updates and polish in areas that it needed taking this game down the right direction. rather than random and sometimes idiotic balance/bug fix’s in seemingly random areas.

sadly after almost 2 years of playing this game ive come to the understanding that anet will make sensible balance/bug fix’s rarely IF AT ALL, and will instead break/bug/imbalance their game

anet has made a few changes i kinda like…which i cannot even recall…i wonder why…
BUT for the most part ANY pvp related bug/balance update has left me cringing and or scratching my head trying to GRASP why they chose to do THAT .

ileap as i have already said was the last straw.
WHY “fix” iswap? just why? THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER BUGS THAT NEEEED TO BE FIXED. why choose this one? that point aside why even fix this bug
i personally thought that this was not a bug. it fit the class, was not op, it just FIT. it was perfect. obviously anet did not think so……and anet knows best…..apparently

iswap is just a 600 teleport in the direction of were the clone died WITH a 4 sec widow in which to use it…….?? its a MUCH MUCH MUCH weaker version of http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Infiltrator%27s_Return (infiltrators return)
less spam ability, less travel distance. location dictated by a clone…

now the skill is usless and along with it the main hand sword. auto? weak. blurred frenzy? nerfed to oblivion. leap? gl swapping
thank you anet for destroying another weapon choice for us mesmers. you destroyed focus and now sword. GG
i just wonder if anet tried to grasp the effect that this bug fix would have on the game.

i get the feeling they did not. GG anet GG

Personally, i’ll keep playing for a while I’d like to see where anet goes with LS2 and how they handle the game with NCsoft focusing on the new baby and the China release over and done with.

Do I have any expectations for Gw2 that involve improvement of my favorite Class? Improvements on core mechanics and game play and the core game? No, none. zero..

I’m personally looking at Wildstar and the Esper class and contemplating giving it a go. when i have the funds for a P2P MMO.

It’s sad really.. it took a Buy once play forever free game to inspire me to look into Pay to Play that I’ve disregarded for so long…

If anyone out there is aware of, or is playing a game where there is a Mesmer type of class (bard/illusionist/CC specialist) Please hit me up on the forums or in game (if you still play). I’d love some options.

Maybe when Gw3 hits shelves Anet can do Mesmers some justice or just remove them entirely from the game like my old favorite (Monk) so I can just move on..

/salute

Hope to see you on often enough.

(edit)
And while I know you just mean “extra skills”, I still disagree that we need an expansion. More skills can work, and given how glacially they rebalance, maybe the GW1- style of just throwing hundreds of random skills out until a few by chance turn out powerful might work.
But in theory I’d prefer working with the existent skills, really. In theory.

Going to miss you, even though we only met once. But you, Warlord and a few other Mesmers really turned me around. Thanks again, and I hope you find a great game elsewhere.

Never spoken to you, but I’ve read tons of your stuff. Sad to hear you won’t be around much anymore, your posts and presence on the forums were always nice motivators towards playing.

Can’t blame you, or Pyro. Hell, only reason I’ve been on for a good couple of months now is Plot or Guild Missions. As far as other games, TERA for me (until stuff like Archeage, Bless, and Black Desert hit over hereabouts, at least); would try DN, but Nexon leaves a bad taste in my mind, tbh.

Having only played Mesmer since the beginning of the year, I’ve spent a lot of time on the forums trying to improve by reading posts from the likes of you Chaos. Those you thanked have been no more or less influential to my knowledge of Mesmer. This community is full of wonderful voices: smart, sarcastic, encouraging, and clever. You’ll be missed greatly, but rest assured, your mark has been left. On all of us I’m sure.

I’ll miss your posts. I hope the podcasts still happen – I think there’s still a bit to talk about (especially things like fighting against other classes if you’re a Mesmer using different kinds of builds – I’m too lazy to go learn all their abilities)

Chaos, if you keep writing, consider submitting your manuscript to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest. It happens every year (in February I think). I submitted a book a few years ago and got some nice feedback as it went through the different rounds. http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000633821

I’ve been drawn to Mesmer from the first time I got this game thanks to Osi’s videos.
I’ve only ever played lockdown mes PvP-wise ever since I started PvP/WvW thanks to seeing your lockdown thread Chaos. I was even about to make Bolt cause sw/sw was so great.

Sadly I’m about to quit/go inactive too with only half a year of playing. The game has been great, too bad I can’t say the same with the devs running it.

I’ve mostly been a lurker here but watching the mes community was more intriguing compared to other class forums imo.

Off to try the new FF14 content for me.

Least GW2 doesn’t start you off fighting ladybugs and delivering pies…

I pretty much stopped GW2 (but I tried the new update and I feel like playing Super Mario, clearly not what I was looking for as an MMO player).
One day ANet might give us a reasonable sized map to explore, maybe then I will try GW2 again.

On my name, it is pretty simple. Just pronounce it:

Kai-Yan-Wan

or just skip the Yan-Wan part, and call me Kai, as all do anyway (in that case, the “ai” is pronounced like “eye”).

Always happy to help. ^^

A lot of really touching responses guys, really swells the heart. Thanks so much! =) I’ll still be posting here and there. I’ve one last fiction to write up, I will get a video out once in my life >_< and will update the Grimoire at least one more time.

Thanks for the great guides, and the often optimistic fresh takes on things was definitely inspiring thus far.

If you mainly played consoles before, you have -so- many games you should look up on the PC that you may have missed! It’s actually what i do between inspirations to hop into GW2. Like Fay said above the wonderful thing with sub-less is you feel much more free about it – when I play a sub mmo I feel this need to at least make something out of the time I paid.

Anyway, have fun

Since our “interview” over at necro forums, it’s been an honor to be able to follow your posts. You’re a fairly talented writer (I was pleasantly surprised at your fanfics, the quality was far superior from what I was expecting) and a window into a world I can’t quite figure out.

It’s sad to hear such an interesting player is going on hiatus, but the paths we each tread throughout life do such to us. Take care, and hopefully we’ll all catch fleeting glimpses of you online in one form or another.

So sad to see you go…
I think OMFG is one of the many initiatives that came from you. I joined it because I wanted to be part of it and play with people on this forum but due to my limited play time I actually never represented the guild. I never played with you but I wish I had… you are one of the few people I truly admire on this forum: always polite, helpful and very creative.

I hope to see you around sooner than later!

You did a superb job…honnestly thanks to you guys.
I think it is not exagerating that you made (with some other guys) mesmer community the best and more interesting out of all professions.
We saw a kind of passion for this class.
So sad it has been neglected by Anet.

That’s the arguable “advantage” of a B2P MMO. Namely, if -at some point- the kicking of Mesmer in the pills reverts, and/or some of the class’ Bug-cyclopedia gets handled, one loses nothing by leaving for a while and then coming back.
Otherwise, the sense of the class being rather “neglected” is a pretty spot-on observation. Using how bad Ele used to get whacked as an example, we might see Mesmer back to snuff in (high-end) PvP within 6-12 months. But that also depends on how many more things ANet decides to “fix” on the class. By which, I use Warden and ILeap as examples …

It’s so sad to see so many leave this class, but I can’t say I don’t understand. I’m thinking about leaving the game because it would hurt less than to leave mesmer.

Bye Chaos, have fun with RL/drawing/capoeira and whatever else

And another one bites the dust.

To be honest, I feel kinda good about this. And Chaos, you have my thanks.

The more people that abandon the Mesmer, the more likely ANet is to take notice. Hah, as if.