Guild Wars 2

I’ve just come back after about 4 months off GW, and imagine my surprise at seeing that not only is Lion’s Arch rebuilt, that my beloved Mesmer is not the one I came to know and love..
I’ve been trying to read up on the changes, trying to understand the so called Hero Points and specializations, but what I feel I really need is a build that can re-introduce me to the new class mechanics. I was never more than n OK Mesmer before, so I don’t think I’ll master it in a day, nor am I looking for a super complicated and powerful build..

What I’m asking your help in is suggesting an easy-going build, and a few clues on how to play it.

Please help a Mesmer in need..

I just randomly came by this thread, and I dont play a mezmir, but I can give you some pointers!

A tldr would be metabattle, there you can find top working builds with instructions, and more importantly know that they actually work/worth investing into.

But more importantly I would just go through all traits and read up their function. You want to know your class, even though you dont pick a certain trait/gir style. With the trait revamp they mixed more traits into one, giving each of the three traits in a tier more distinct differences and playstyles. This way it should be easier for a newcomer to quickly pick up “hey, I want this!”.

Luckily for you mezmir is in a good spot now, at least for PvP that is.

Rule 1: don’t be intimidated! The new system is actually easier to work with than the old one.
Rule 2: unlock everything! If you are lvl 80, you actually have all the hero points you need to unlock every trait and skill. So get to it, and don’t look back!
Rule 3: don’t worry about where your skill points went. They got divided between the part you could spend on mystic forge stuff, and the part you could sirens on yourself, which is how it should have been in the first place!
Rule 4: Mesmer may be more powerful now, but the gameplay is still mostly the same. Phantasm builds are harder.

I’m sure someone will post a build for you sometime, and

Okay, I’m on a computer now.

Here’s the whole deal:

The New System
1. You have to unlock everything. There’s a separate tab for that. If you’re level 80, you can unlock everything without worrying about it at all.
2. Instead of the +/- buttons for each trait line, now you pick the three lines you care about, and add them. So you’ll have 3, and it’ll look something like http://dulfy.net/gw2traits#build=AgMBfAO0AnQ~
3. Trait lines (specializations) don’t have stats anymore, and when you pick a specialization, you get the whole thing. No more 4/4/2/2/2 builds, or whatever.
4. Choosing traits in a line is easy. Pick one for each level, you have 3 options at each level. It makes hot-swapping in dungeons easier, too.
5. To buy mystic forge stuff, you have a new currency in your wallet called spirit shards, instead of spending skill points. Some of the things that used to give you skill points now give you spirit shards, but skill challenges on maps now all give hero points. One system for character progression, one for buying mystic forge stuff, and never the twain shall meet!

The New Mesmer
1. It’s not really new, everything you could do before is still mostly there. Phantasm traits are scattered all about though, so pure-phantasm builds aren’t as viable. But were they ever, really?
2. Build diversity is actually higher than it used to be. There are four main build types that get used, with some variation in trait choices even within them, and even more builds that aren’t considered “optimal” but are still decently functional.

• Lockdown. We’ve got interrupt traits coming out of our ears, and one trait that turns dazes into stuns in the Dom tree. It’s…a little OP, but Anet is busy nerfing all our other toys instead of the real problem, which is that stun.
• Power shatter. Dom tree’s got a trait that adds 15% to shatter damage…30% if they aren’t channeling. Hey, we’ve got ton of dazes! And that same tree has a whole bunch of vulnerability application, and a trait that increases the potency of vulnerability for you! Basically it’s sooper-easy to get a really strong burst these days.
• Condi. Condition builds have made a comeback! There are two main branches, one that uses Carrion gear and one that uses Rabid gear. Rabid builds generally go Chaos/Illusions/Dueling, Carrion builds go Illusions/Dom/Whatever (Inspiration for defense, Chaos for condi duration/stability/interrupts, Dueling for clone generation). Dire gear also shows up in WvW, and those builds can either do the Carrion or the Rabid route. In PVE and WvW you’ll also see Sinister gear pop up as the glass cannon choice, but imo the durability from Carrion/Rabid/Dire is more valuable.
• Honorable mention, you’ll hear people refer to “PU” builds. They’re talking about Prismatic Understanding, which is very different now. It’s double stealth duration with weaker boons. PU builds trade power for ninja. PU Condi is roflstomping strong in WvW, passable in pvp, and pointless in PvE (because you don’t need stealth against NPCs unless you’re doing dungeon skips). PU shatter is a gimmick build that is making everyone qq in WvW, and is seeing use in pvp as a roaming back-capper, and is laughably kitten in pve. Combined with The Pledge, which is broken and adding more cdr to torch than it should, you can get almost permanent stealth all by your lonesome self.
• Boonshare. Signet of Inspiration lets you share your boons on a 30s (24s traited) cooldown. Except, there’s now GM trait in Inspiration that cast’s Signet of Inspiration when you cast a phantasm, so you can share boons twice in 30(24)s. Mesmers are decent at generating boons, and Inspiration has some other nice group support. Thus is born the boonshare mesmer! It’s mostly a group pvp thing, but it could be useful in dungeons with the right group (it’s not like they’re bringing you along for your damage).

There are various crossovers between the different build types.

Thanks guys, really gave me back my confidence.
Appreciate it.

Also, now conditions stack above 25 (except vuln) and poison/burning also stack in intensity. So conditions now make a bit more sense in PvE than before (although still not as strong as direct damage), and burning is quite OP, so you may get yourself burnt to death by guardians and engis.