Guild Wars 2

After playing an engineer for a while and getting nerfed (my main build was a condi confusion build, and I didn’t feel like regearing) I went to thief. That didn’t last long due to how many are scrubs and freak when their burst combo fails. I’d rather avoid being compared to them. I like the ideas of mesmer, and have one at level 31, but I admit I’m not that great currently. I’ve read osicats guides and will use those until I’m better with the profession.

But here is my biggest challenge; other mesmers. I’ve got a hard time keeping track of my illusions position and keeping track of the real enemy mesmer at the same time. Has anyone else had this issue? What are some tips for getting better at it?

Welcome to the purple hordes! We love new mesmers. I came from Eng too, it’s a great background to have. Mesmer is tough at first until you hit level 40. Stick with it. It’s really a class that opens up significantly when you get access to all the traits. We are having a bit of an identity crisis (perfect for our class) at the moment because of the disastrous, wrong-headed april 30th nerfpocalypse which destroyed our glam / confusion builds in WvW. That aside, there are still many viable builds out there, like the one I’ve been running recently:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Hidden-Fire-New-Mesmer-Build-WvW/first#post1970687

Still considering dropping my engineer to. Hate playing HGH and it seems to be our only decent build. Mesmer were the class I most looked forward to at launch but mostly because I love stealth and support.

As for tracking Mesmers I just look for their name above there head. Just make sure NPC names are off.

PhelanDisturbed.1650:

After playing an engineer for a while and getting nerfed (my main build was a condi confusion build, and I didn’t feel like regearing) I went to thief. That didn’t last long due to how many are scrubs and freak when their burst combo fails. I’d rather avoid being compared to them. I like the ideas of mesmer, and have one at level 31, but I admit I’m not that great currently. I’ve read osicats guides and will use those until I’m better with the profession.

But here is my biggest challenge; other mesmers. I’ve got a hard time keeping track of my illusions position and keeping track of the real enemy mesmer at the same time. Has anyone else had this issue? What are some tips for getting better at it?

Semi-related, but I apologize about the majority of the noob-ish thief community. -_- I’m working on a set of tankier, less bursty builds for thieves, and they’re turning out quite well right now. The main issue is getting people to cut out the dogma that “lol thieves can only burst, your 0/0/X/X/X build is worthless”. Which is sad, but… Whatever.

Good luck with mes, always wanted to try one out. Unfortunately, I can hardly bear the leveling, and overall, I’ve preferred thief. But mes is a close second.

if you are comming here because you dont like being nerfed. this may not be the spot for you. if you just think it looks fun then this is a good spot

@op, happy to have you here in our purple place filled with butterflies and sunshine. If you like ot you will soon love it. The best part of the mesmer community itseslf is the big amount of helpfull players like BAS, Kylia, Pyro, embolism and many others who gladly answer new players questions. Ofc there is a few depressing threads after every patch where some ppl dump bad mojo in but overall the forum is a oas in the forum desert.

/Osicat

Those butterflies get everyone. And the purple.
As for keeping an eye on the “real” Mesmer, there are a few ways:

The “cheap” way (that ANet should really fix …)
Turn off NPC names. IIRC, this shows a name over the actual Mesmer only. But, yea – it’s a cheese method, and should really be dealt with.

Non-cheap:
Clones lack the following: Offhand Weapons, Dodging ability, any attack besides the weapon’s autoattack, and nourishment/guild buffs. Phant attacks are different in nature, but still one attack spammed infinitely.

Lol, everyone’s giving friendly welcomes and advice while completely ignoring the fact that op did ask a specific question.

In general, you don’t need to worry so much about where your own illusions are, within reason. As a side benefit of playing a Mesmer though, you’ll begin to recognize the differences between illusions and the real Mesmer, and as time goes on, you’ll be able to spot the real one very quickly. This is mainly a skill that just takes time and experience to develop.

Pyroatheist.9031:

This is mainly a skill that just takes time and experience to develop.

Welcome to the ranks, we all hope you will stay and learn to love our class, and remember to look around the forums for advice. But remember, leveling a mesmer takes way too much time. It is a really slow start, but once you reach 40+ especially 60 when you gain access to tier 3 traits (illusionary persona for me) then it goes really quickly and you soon become a purple god. Ignore the nerf posts, some people just can’t handle change…

PhelanDisturbed.1650:

After playing an engineer for a while and getting nerfed (my main build was a condi confusion build, and I didn’t feel like regearing) I went to thief. That didn’t last long due to how many are scrubs and freak when their burst combo fails. I’d rather avoid being compared to them. I like the ideas of mesmer, and have one at level 31, but I admit I’m not that great currently. I’ve read osicats guides and will use those until I’m better with the profession.

But here is my biggest challenge; other mesmers. I’ve got a hard time keeping track of my illusions position and keeping track of the real enemy mesmer at the same time. Has anyone else had this issue? What are some tips for getting better at it?

Mesmer has a high learning curve and rewards smart gameplay. If you stick with it, and maybe spare some bank space for alternate gear sets, you’ll notice you can be a thief, guardian, ranger, necromancer, or all of the above depending on how you spec. It’s probably the deepest class in the game.

As far as other mesmers go, the more you play them, the more you’ll notice. Deceptive Evasion is the most common tell. The Mesmer is hopping around like a frog on cocaine to get shatter fodder up. (Shatter builds are sort of like the d/d ele, backstab thief, HB warriors, etc: Amazing in the hands of a master, but it’s simple enough to use, so the scrubs run for it) Things like food buffs, world completion icons, offhands will be a big tell also, but most mesmers just won’t hold still.

Wow. Much friendlier than the thief forums. Most of that is l2p, nerf stealth, or as a poster above me said, burst or gtfo. (I didn’t use a burst build either)

As a different profession, I can spot the real mesmer fairly easy (the dodging usually) but I was under the impression I was supposed to pretty much have my target surrounded or else my shatter would fail lol. I’ve noticed a few times I’ll have someone targeted, press a shatter, it goes on cd yet I still have 3 illusions o.o

Thanks again for the warm welcome

PhelanDisturbed.1650:

Wow. Much friendlier than the thief forums. Most of that is l2p, nerf stealth, or as a poster above me said, burst or gtfo. (I didn’t use a burst build either)

As a different profession, I can spot the real mesmer fairly easy (the dodging usually) but I was under the impression I was supposed to pretty much have my target surrounded or else my shatter would fail lol. I’ve noticed a few times I’ll have someone targeted, press a shatter, it goes on cd yet I still have 3 illusions o.o

Thanks again for the warm welcome

When you summon illusions, they are bound to a specific target. That target will be the one they attack when you shatter them, not your current target at the time of shattering.

I main ranger (for now) may be joining as well because Mesmers are a lot more awesome than I originally though!

Thanks pyro… I feel silly now xD that information alone should help immensely.

Excuse me as I sigh discontentedly which even having to remind the masters of out profession that it’s… called… fuchsia!

As for the OP’s question, a great man once said, “Don’t brand the cattle; brand the buyers. They’re the ones likely to stray.” Basically don’t try to track your illusions. Instead, track your opponent and trick them into fighting on your terms. There are plenty of guides around to give you more specific tricks but I can tell you one tactic that should always be in the back of your mind. Never stop plotting. What truly makes mesmers great is that our builds very drastically. Our opponents never know what to expect until they are actually fighting us. Even that can be used to your advantage.

Sometimes I act like a shatter-zerker, spawning clones quickly then using F2 as if it was Mindwrack. Pros will notice this behavior and are likely to focus on dodging that shatter. When they do, I go into rabid mode and tele-dance around them while spawning more clones. Considering I have rampager gear, some are quite shocked to see how much damage I can put out. Oh, and they burned a dodge on a pitiful confusion shatter while I still have Mindwrack in my back pocket.

@Crossplay lol omg I do the exact opposite (bait a dodge with mind wrack) on my condi heavy build and then smack em in the face with f2

Ya. That’s another thing that makes mesmer appealing. The ability to troll so well. Am I a power mesmer? Or will I harass you with conditions? What happens when I go invisible? Will I run away? Stand still? Or burst in to a ball of “fuchsia” flame behind you? Not to mention I offer my group utility as a mesmer than a thief, and I like to partake of every aspect of the game. Roaming, s/tpvp, pve, abs occasionally zerg. Crossplay, I like that quote btw. XD

The #1 thing gaining my love for Mesmer are the manipulation skills, “oh what lovely boons you have there Mr ele bunker! Let me just take that prot, regen, and vigor from you!” “Oh HGH engi with 25might? Don’t mind if I do!”

That was my favorite thing about the buffed s/d thief. At least I’ll still have that :p

Off topic but my favorite thing about mesmer is in the combat mobility hands down.

With the right gear and setup you can be flashing all over the place.

Imagine an s/d troll thief but more “fuchsiaier” (new word).

(honorable mention to mesmer utilities)

This thread no longer has a topic lol. Kind of like a general discussion for us since my primary question was answered. Now to get the motivation to get money again… dropped 30g on my thief and had him clear 7 zones. But at least I was wise and saved my laurels!

PhelanDisturbed.1650:

This thread no longer has a topic lol. Kind of like a general discussion for us since my primary question was answered. Now to get the motivation to get money again… dropped 30g on my thief and had him clear 7 zones. But at least I was wise and saved my laurels!

Owch. :/ I am one of the worst money savers ever, so I feel your pain, bro.

Welcome Phelan!

“Telling the real Mesmer” mostly just comes down to experience. When I’m against another Mez I already know what all of his skills will do. For example, in a downed state the real one’s always the second to appear. When someone hits Staff #2 the clone is the one left in the place they just blinked backwards from.

Moreover you’ll find that clones just don’t behave like real players. They’ll never dodge. A Mez in another thread noted how you can run in circles and they’ll always follow you.

It really does just come down to experience and knowledge, which is why our most common ‘tricks’ become harder to pull off against more-experienced players.

Best of luck and hope you enjoy your time with our class, win or lose.