Guild Wars 2

Hi i played a mesmer for around 2 weeks at 80 non stop and found that apart from being a utility bot i was useless in big zergs am i playing this wrong or is this the norm i mean i tried changing builds but all illusions just die instantly chaos storm is a joke of a aoe also.

youre not playing it wrong, mesmers role in a zerg is UTILITY (we are so good at it)

Yeah but i just feel like a utility slave its nice being a team players but at certain points i feel like a pet or im just there to serve others theres no reward for yourself for being a teamplayer and helping rather than me going on my necro spamming wells and plague and getting loads of loot etc. What i am saying is it’s a thankless job.

yeah slave is a good description. if u play mes, u always have to be on top of commander. always veil ready, always veil traited for lower cd, then there are pulls required maybe and then tw and they might also ask u to use feedback.
i have to pretend im using focus and pretend im using pulls so i can use a power pu build which helps me survive in this terrible cc spam. i have to give up everything that helps me survive to serve my purpose as a veil/portal/tw bot. no freedom just veil veil veil.
u are not meant to deal dmg, u are not a caster, u are a utilitybot. then anet breaks the best phantasm iwarden and now we cant even reflect omegas well anymore. anet plays other classes and because of our 1v1 abilities, we will never see buffs. we will get more mantras which are horrible to use in a zerg, sry iknow some of u use it but i find it terrible that i have to recharge a skill or stand there with nothing to attack.

That’s the problem. Our class is based in AI, which sucks in zergs. Also, our traits are distributed in such a horrible way, it becomes a completely mess and impossible to take most of support/lockdown traits that would work on zergs.
So we’re only taken for our utilities (Veil, Null Field, Portal and TW).

There has been some threads both on Mesmer and Profession Balance discussing this problem. Hope devs listen to us…

Yeah i find that all i hear on ts is veil from the commander then im done for the fight. It’s a rather bad state to be in compared to my necro where is marks wells charge in with plague gg.

Ansau.7326:

That’s the problem. Our class is based in AI, which sucks in zergs. Also, our traits are distributed in such a horrible way, it becomes a completely mess and impossible to take most of support/lockdown traits that would work on zergs.
So we’re only taken for our utilities (Veil, Null Field, Portal and TW).

There has been some threads both on Mesmer and Profession Balance discussing this problem. Hope devs listen to us…

what traits are useful in wvw?……..

emilejuggernaut.1864:

Yeah i find that all i hear on ts is veil from the commander then im done for the fight. It’s a rather bad state to be in compared to my necro where is marks wells charge in with plague gg.

yup leveled a necro and omg i can actually enjoy the fights. i can spam aoes like a boss and can support my team with wells and marks, while weaken the enemy.
on my mes, commander:“veil veil veil veilv eilveil veil veil tw veil veil veil, pull, veil veil veil, tw,portal, veil veil, tw, veil veil veil veil, pull, feedback, veil , tw…”
“why are u scrub dead?”
“i was infront with u because of veil.”
“well then get out of the zergball. "
“well u wanted feedback so i only have 1 blink to defend myself and it was on cd.”

bOgz.7263:

youre not playing it wrong, mesmers role in a zerg is UTILITY (we are so good at it)

We are actually not so good at it. We are probably as good as Necro’s based on our utility’s, without any specific/usefull role around that, whereas any other prof besides thief, engi and ranger does have that role.

@ OP,
I’d suggest you to look at: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/balance/WvW-Mesmer-needs-to-be-balanced/first#post3514039
If you wanna know what’s wrong with mesmer in WvW.

Illusionary Persona, Shattered Concentration, Confounding Suggestions, Chaotic Interruption, Imbued Diversion, Dazzling Glamours…

We could have a debuff-lockdown role with them. But, as you can see, Debuff-Lockdown includes 4 GrandMaster traits over 3 lines. With 70 points it’s just impossible.

Even IF we excelled in a “utility” role, AN chose from the beginning to center everything in this game around spvp balance and dps, and so, as has been pointed out countless times, there’s nowhere near equal rewards for playing support. Which also makes me wonder about the planned Guardian changes, which will result in everyone expecting Guardians to invest heavily in healing. I don’t know why AN would want to pressure classes into roles that the game’s reward system punishes them for. A bit screwy.

well if mes was not able to fight in zergs since start and was more like a thief, i would somewhat understand the 1v1 thing, but we useed to be excellent in wvw. glamours, phantasms, immortal mes builds etc. we were strong and then boom glamours got nerfed to the ground, our core mechanic confusion got nerfed to the ground, perplexity gave other classes better confusion than we ever had, immortal mesmer nerfed to the ground, obstructed bugs all the time now. can barely hit a cannon or oil, now they are nerfing another core mechanic of the mes, the de shatter spec, etc. but hey they got mantras. i hate the way mantras work and i think it should be massively improved or removed, same with glamours, same with our stupid traitlines./ just delet mes and start from scratch and make us something like gw1 mes, that at least had aoe not ai! or make us a medium armor class then

What’s the best zerg build for mesmer is it glamour confusion? My guild i lacking in them for GvG but i spend a load of time with pugs so i was wondering if anyone more experienced could suggest builds with a link preferably.

Glamour build is no longer effective. The nerf to glamour and confusion combined was to hard. I suggest you look at osicat’s shatter builds, there is at least one which is viable for frontline combat.

Glamour confusion nowadays only works as a tagger build, cause you won’t be dealing good DPS, not only because of its nerf, but also cause the huge condi-cleansing zergs have.

The easiest ones to take are shatters: good tag and more useful if you focus on boon-ripping. apart from that, there’s not much to look for. In zergs, mesmer support builds are outperformed by other professions.

I also tried a 20/20/0/30/0 with Restorative Mantras and Shattered Conditions.. It’s quite effective, but it’s a very high skillcap, as you can do lots of things (support, debuffing and DPS spikes) and you rely a lot on dodges. Anyway, it will be crippled with tomorrow patch…

Mesmer’s are there to help other classes in the zerg to get loot bags.

Xavi.6591:

Mesmer’s are there to help other classes in the zerg to get loot bags.

yup pretty much this. this is how i feel as a mesmer. i gotta always be on top of the leader then he stacks and he will be fat with veil callout…so u are still right infront of the zerg. then u dodge aside and try to deal as much dmg as u can which is terrible most of the time. meanwhile u have to use all your stunbreakers at once, have to dodge the countless aoes(and meteorshowers that can hit for 8k if classy ele), while the GWEN train fights eachother. 1wrong step or dodge and u will get perma immobilized,perma interrupted, perma knockeddown, stunlocked, peram crippled,perma feared and perma chilled and therefore need to run pu or melandru runes….

Another option is to not get used as a veil / portal machine – go on strike ;-) Sometimes I just play as part of the soldiers, not the support in zergs. Which means much greater survivability. Makes it all more fun…

I zerg on my mesmer all the time. Your only role does NOT have to be a utility bar. Just play the way you want and if anybody has an issue with it, tell them to go make their own kittening mesmer is they want Veil so badly. It’s a game. Nobody is forcing you to do anything.

I run a variation of Chaos’ Shatterlock build with the intention of dropping AoE stuns into the zerg. There are other anti-zerg builds out there too, like skcamow’s Chillruption or Pyro’s Zerg Mower. Check them out and see what is the most fun for you.

A mesmer just isn’t going to bring the heat like GWEN in a zerg, the profession isn’t about burst damage or large aoe, it’s actually a hybrid of both. That said, you don’t have to be the veilbot/golem bus either. I find effectiveness playing outrider to zergs, sticking close enough for help if needed, but picking off enemy herd from the flanks.

Outside the zerg mesmers can be deadly roamers paired or alone, if you have the skill.

Thothkepara.2539:

A mesmer just isn’t going to bring the heat like GWEN in a zerg, the profession isn’t about burst damage or large aoe, it’s actually a hybrid of both. That said, you don’t have to be the veilbot/golem bus either. I find effectiveness playing outrider to zergs, sticking close enough for help if needed, but picking off enemy herd from the flanks.

Outside the zerg mesmers can be deadly roamers paired or alone, if you have the skill.

well to be honest veil is pretty much the only thing that people remeber about a mesmer. yes u can hit a few people here and there, but dont forget, mesmers used to be a strong part of the zerg. the countless nerfes have made us what we are atm. veilbots or roamers. i love massive battles and always will, thats why i plat wvw and no roaming will never replace that ever. and no i dont wanna be a support ever/1 this class used to be strong in those battles for months and then 1by1 all was gone. so no i refuse to be a ganker like a thief or a stupid utilitybot or stuck with boring 1v1’s and taking a camp!
i wanna be strong in a large massive battle and all classes should be able to be part of it. why is GWEN the only one having all the fun?i didnt play this class to become a roamer, because thats not what we were. we were strong and now we have very little builds left. anet please do something.

One thing that makes my experience different is that most of the zergs I get involved with are not with my own guild, so the expectations I’m dealing with are lower.

That being said, I feel like I bring something to a large battle. I usually run a glam/confusion build (yes, I know that they’re nerfed into the ground, but I’m stubborn), and I don’t feel useless. Dropping an aoe that will cause multiple enemies to loose boons, miss their next attack, hit themselves w/ projectiles, etc. while our side keeps on truckin makes me feel special. CS is very effective both defensively and offensively. Then there’s mass invis for a moment for everyone to breath or revive, or timewarp, which I think is the single longest source of quickness in the game and has a massive radius. No, I’m not melting faces, but I’m not just sitting on the sidelines wishing I could could play too.