Guild Wars 2

Hey there, just a quick question really about weaving in a few bits of more defensive gear.

Currently run full zerkers gear for PvE purposes, but plan to swap a few bits out for some more defense when doing WvW. I was just curious as to whether there’s a particular setup that provides the biggest bonus for Mesmer.

For example, it’s recommended that Thieves swap out a few of their main pieces for Soldier’s gear as it performs better for both damage and survivability than, say, Valkyrie or Knight’s does.

Would a similar setup be viable for Mesmer? Or is Valkyrie actually pretty good for us? How about Cavalier? I understand that toughness > vitality for mitigating direct damage, but with the amount of condition builds running around in WvW right now, would it be as useful as the extra Vitality?

Would it be better to swap up my armour, weapons or trinkets?

Any advice would be appreciated

Have you considered taking Prismatic Understanding? That’s enough survivability for a Mesmer in WvW IMO.

Yeah But my build tends to vary with the people I’m running with, it’s not always the most sensible option to take.

Let’s assume I’m ignoring traits for the purposes of the topic if that’s alright

My thou about DEF.

Below 2,2k = Pure Glass. 1 enemy hitter can take easily
2,3-2,4k = Standard Backliner DEF. Still squishy but still ok for Hitter Role. Normally need around 2-3 enemy hitters to spike u at once to kill u(Except Thief? Maybe?).
2,7k = Standard Melee Frontliner with Hitter Role.
3k = Tank

About VIT Vs DEF can;t say much. I found DEF is better if u have Healer on ur side. More about EHP talk i think. But at least as a Mesmer i think 16k base HP is good assume u have DEF and Condi Removal.

I like using knight headpiece/shoulder/coat/skirt and the rest berserker. It puts me on exactly 2050 armor, which is an amazing number. Some think its a bit low, but I like insta-gibbing people :P

If I want to roam with a slightly tanky build or go in zergs, I just get my cavalier rings and necklace + knight assesories. It puts me on 30ish crit chance unbuffed and 40%+ with buffs. I always try to aim for atleast 40% for roaming.

I wanted to make my assesories cavalier too, but I bought knight by accident :/.

With defensive trinkets I have like 2500 armor, whih is alot for me. But it all depends on your style, some people like going with nearly 3000 ;0

edit: I also avoid vitality at all costs, in slightly longer fights (30 seconds) its just a wasted stat that doesnt do anything and is better put somewhere else :/.

I ran with full pvt for a long time and have since changed to full glass. Reason being the only class I have a real tough time with in full glass is D/P thieves. In the end it’s not worth giving up extra burst for just 1 build of 1 class. With soo many zerglings running tank build I feel the extra bit of burst often means the difference between getting a kill and not downing someone fast enough before they rejoin the zerg.

Just mix em up. PVT, Knigths, Cavalier (you may even sneak in a Berserker there). Its all good. Here’s the stats of my slightly buffed Mesmer (only got 16 bloodlust)

Dawdler.8521:

Just mix em up. PVT, Knigths, Cavalier (you may even sneak in a Berserker there). Its all good. Here’s the stats of my slightly buffed Mesmer (only got 16 bloodlust)

What exactly are you using there, Dawdler? They’re some pretty respectable stats, I’m assuming Borderlands Bloodlust ( and you mentioned 16 stacks of BL ) but still not bad at all for a tankier set of gear.

I am always swapping between the gear, but if I’m not mistaken its 3 Knights/2 PVT/1 Berserker with Traveler runes, 2 Cavalier/2 PVT trinkets with Knights amulet and PVT/Knights backpiece. Knights staff and Cavalier Greatsword. All parts Ascended (or Legendary) except armor and backpiece.

Buffs are 16 bloodlust, 50 border, 4 guards, precision oil and precision/crit food. For zerging I just use different food, this was in a fairly small group where I didnt care.

0/30/20/20/0 build.

what kind of wvw?
small scaled roam? pvp? large scaled zerg? guild raid? gvg?
build?
challenge?

but i can say generally example for zerg as a pug u fight.. go survival.. if u ve already ascendant trinkets go all armor weapons soldier, invader.. get -%40 condi removal.. etc etc need more go trinkets soldier.. anyway u ll get much more bags instead being zerker.. and pls dont die dont rally bot.. or just fun whatever