Guild Wars 2

Okay so really new to Mesmer.
I’ve been reading quite a lot over different Mesmer builds. PU doesn’t appeal to me. I put together a power/shatter build that seems to me would be a good time in WvW. I will be running almost exclusively in groups of 10-20. While running to and from would use S/F offhand for the perma-speed with the centaur runes, and switch to staff/GS for engagements(while with the group would keep staff/GS as swift would be provided for me). Gear is what I can get as soon as I hit 80 on my Mesmer, so I know its not optimized.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhQQJARWlsnpUttqxMNcrNSpxg6xurOSGwDlckyB-T1CBAB8oShh6CmVJoWKPeZ/BlUiJxDAAgLBAOqr8gJOtPCABAQA4m38mhUADsAA-w

It seems that many/most Mesmers really like condi, which is understandable, but as I wouldn’t be roaming much, and in a groupfight conditions tend to be wiped relatively quickly I though focusing on power/crit might be better. I have not played Mesmer in WvW yet(EotM doesn’t count), and am used to necro/warrior/guard so it will take a bit of time to acclimatize myself to the nuances of the Mesmer.

My question is if that particular build and gearset is a viable setup to get started on Mesmer-izing in medium/large group WvW fights? Really would like to avoid PVT, and am hoping that the toughness / vitality would be good enough.

Really the bigger the group size, the less impact you will be able to make as a Mesmer. In saying that you’ve chosen a build with great burst potential so you’re role will just be a little different. Don’t stay with the melee group, roam around between your backline and there’s and target certain targets (ele’s and power necro’s) and burst them down. If your group runes with another Mesmer or thief between you should be able to instajib there glassy casters doing the damage with a co-ordinated burst.
My suggestions would be to pick up Illusionary elasticity over the shatter recharge trait in illusions traitline. The extra GS 2 bounce followed by your shatter makes the burst that much better.
Also run it as glassy as you feel comfortable with. It will be odd positioning that gets you killed, not a lack of tough/vit.
Maybe add a sigil of air or replace the sigil of fire with sigil of air (air has higher single target damage than fire) on the GS, because once again it’s about bursting that caster down, especially if there relying on that one ele for there group heals. Honestly I wouldn’t bother with centaur runes and would opt for Str, Hoelbrak, Scholar, Eagle and just let your party/guard symbols give you the swiftness to get from A to B.

Well, first I’d like to note that you say groups of 10-20 people. This not really a normal range. A 10 person roaming group is closer to a fast-moving kill team. A 20 person group is verging on a full raid that’s going to be slower, but carries enough supply to make legitimate assaults on more well-defended objectives. The dynamic in these two groups is vastly different, and so is the mesmer’s role.

In a 10-man group, you primarily are going to perform the role of aoe boon strip + heavy burst damage in a mobile and glassy shatter build.

In a 20-man group, you primarily are going to want to perform the role of ‘veil in front’ in a tanky build that won’t die in larger clashes.

What you’ve got here is a bit more geared towards the mobile and glassy shatter build, but not at all good for the larger group utility role.

From what I gather when running with 20 I would be part of the pick squad. So I I’m really hoping the potential burst outweighs the lack of survivability. Fingers crossed

@Fay: Most often we run 12-15 so I kinda thought giving up the potential DPS for sustain might be detrimental to the group as a whole. If necessary I could easily use badges to buy a set of soldier’s for those nights when we run too fat. Also we have a dedicated Glamor Mesmer so I would be a backup veil at most. Would you feel that the traits are viable for both styles if I replaced the armor with Soldier’s on fat nights?

@Neptune: Thought a lot about Rune of the Air for the single target, and may still move that way, but I kinda thought that perhaps the Fire would incidentally tag any other casters near the target. What do you think about Sigil of Torment?

Thank you both for the input and responses.