Guild Wars 2

So I just started a new mesmer… I think I got him up to level 9 but I don’t know if I can continue playing him… I really went to have a mesmer, they seem cool… but it seems to take days and days killing enemies even of my level… I run GS and staff… all “strong” gear and it still takes forever… have I just been spoiled playing warrior and thief? Does mesmer damage pick up later on? I could have killed like 5 enemies with warrior/thief by the time my mesmer manages to kill one… and now I’m actually even richer, so I’m able to afford to buy all my gear instead of just running whatever I found as I did early on with warrior and thief… what’s up? Why is the mesmer damage so low? Someone please tell me later on it the game I won’t have time to go get some coffee while my mesmer is trying to finish off a drake…

Mesmer is slow until about level 40; then you take off. So far staff-GS is a good combo, though GS-sword/focus is a little faster, just by a bit.

The best thing you can do as a mesmer to maximize damage is get a feel for the CDs on your illusion skills and shatter whenever those skills come off CD, then bring the illusions right back up. Weapon swap often to maximize this technique. Get through the first 40 levels (maybe do some crafting), then you really start to own. It really does pay off at higher levels.

Mesmers’ damage depend on illusions, clones or phantasms, heavily but you don’t get the first useful trait (Illusionists Celerity) until lv15.
Damage-wise, things get better if you trait for Sharper Images but you are lv40 by then.

Mesmers are so epicly awesome later on that it has to build up slow or it’d just overwhelm you.

The power of mesmer is tied heavily into its traits and utilities. Things like Illusionary Persona and Sharper Images are absurdly powerful, even compared to traits used by other professions. In short, our power is located more in things unlocked farther up the line than the weapon skills you’ll unlock by level 2-3.

You might consider switch to Sword/Sword, Staff as GS only have max dps at max range.

Yeah seriously being a Mesmer you can out tank a guardian and a d/d ele at lvl 80. Its great.

I really hope it picks up… actually I started using mantra of pain… seems to do good damage early on?

Swap to Staff ASAP. Until you get Sharper Images that makes illusions bleed on crit only the Staff clones do damage.

Buy a minor sigil of Bloodlust too. Unlock Mirror Images. Don’t spunk all over your cooldowns to kill one mob. The beauty of Staff for low level mesmers is that it does not rely on cooldowns. You can easily start a fight with GS, throw the phantasms, Mirror Blade, Shatter, swap to Staff, do the clone + phantasm and have a dead mob.

Or you can start the fight with your Staff clone, do Mirror Images and just have your enemy die.

Yes, probably warrior and thief did spoil you as with mesmers you can’t really auto-attack-to-win, but weapon swapping and your skills are there to be used. Plus you can tackle down champions even at a low level.

P.S. First five points in Illusion.

I think the problem with low level mesmers is that it’s not so obvious how to kill quickly. You learn how to play it by level 35, great traits open at 40, and you get in the groove. I have an 80 Mesmer and went back to play at low levels, it’s better than my first time around.

Warrior hits 1, waits, mob dies.
Mesmer (say sword/focus) hits leap, phantasm, swap, blurred frenzy +shatter, mob dies.

Warrior hits 1, waits, other mob dies.
Mesmer swaps weapon (say to staff), phase retreat, phantasm, chaos storm, mob dies.

Takes the same time, more effort.

One thing that takes some getting used to is not being afraid of packs. A lot of our damage is AoE or multi-target, so pulling mobs one at a time really slows you down. (Sword and staff auto, focus phantasm, shatters, staff clones, chaos storm/armor.)

Short answer: yes, playing warrior and thief spoiled you- they have the highest dps/effort required ratio in the game. I’m not saying that other classes can’t achieve similar dps, but that it takes more effort.

Im in the same boat. I have a level 50 mesmer whom I HATE playing. I started with her, moved to ranger, which I love, and now when I try to level my mesmer it is SOOOOOOO SLLOOOOOWWW that I get bored within about 20 minutes and log off. Please tell me it gets better, faster, etc. Im using GS and Staff, as recommended…. shattering clones, etc. (Which, coming from GW1 I absolutely detest that clones are necessary – I wish they were weapon linked with an option to play without them and do more direct damage.)

I am EXCLUSIVELY PvE – and I see how they would be good in PvP, but, IMO the ‘clone mechanic’ is fairly broken against Enemy AI. They still go after me and pretty much ignore my clones, even when I keep my direct damage minimal. Sigh. I was a primary mes in GW1… totally different class I understand, but then, the profession should have been different IMO. I miss my old Mezzy.

SO.. now, Im debating on rerolling her as a Necro so I can play a bit faster. I can’t handle the snails pace killing on my Mesmer.

SO.. now, Im debating on rerolling her as a Necro so I can play a bit faster. I can’t handle the snails pace killing on my Mesmer.Does it get ANY better?? Or did my ranger permanently spoil me?

@cinemapaula

You might want to take a look at MrPrometheus’ The Comprehensive Mesmer Guide

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Guide-The-Comprehensive-Mesmer-Guide-all-Parts

Part 2 particularly focuses in levelling.

When I hear about snail pace killing with a mesmer it makes me giggle. Sorry. At 50 you should have all the tools to kill quick, but if in 50 levels you haven’t figured them out, well….

The thing is, not every class is for every person. At 50 you have the mesmer pretty much as you’ll have it at 80 and if it does not please you, then it will not at 80. Mesmer is not for omfgtwohitkillcombo! Mesmer is for those who enjoy the trickery and the the clones, confusing mobs (and players) into which is which while laying the hurt.

But sure, since you asked. Go staff. Since you’re level 50 put 20 levels in the Duel tree to get the trait to create a clone when dodging. Along the way you will have picked the minor trait to get vigor when you crit, the major trait to give Fury to phantasms and the minor trait to make your illusions do bleeds when they crit.

Put the other 20 points in Illusions. Along the way you’ll have picked the minor trait to give yourself 20% CD reduction to all illusions (weapons and skills, it is a huge trait to have), +3% damage per illusion who is active, and the trait to get an extra bounce.

You will want Decoy (great panic button, and it adds another clone though that is less useful now you can do your clones with dodges), Arcane Thievery (steal the boons, or transfer the conditions, a dual edged skill) and Mirror Image (insta three clones laying the condition damage).

You will have two paths with gear. Either go Power/Precision and emphasize your Phantasms more, or go Condition Damage/Precision and emphasize your clones. Either way you will want Precision since it feeds you Vigor (more dodges, more clones from dodging) and Sharper Images (more bleeds from illusions, more damage).

IF you feel that mobs ignore your illusions, or kill them in one hit and then go for you, then consider removing 10 points from Illusions (though adding them back as you level) and put 10 points in Domination for the clones-cripple-when-killed trait. A great trait even at level 80 since it slows even bosses when they kill clones and will be crawling after your party members.

Kanto – I think I havent put much time into build due to my not enjoying playing the profession. I never even unlocked the second book because I was that unsure I was going to keep this character. XD Ive been trying it out, plodding along half-heartedly.
I LOVED playing Mesmer in GW1. This is NOT GW1. I do not like this version of the Mesmer at this point.

The reason why???

I think my issue is that I absolutely hate the clones. I don’t like the idea of them, and I hate using them. They feel like a silly novelty. I would like the class if not for those – but, I really just cannot stand them.

I SOO wish they were weapon linked so you could choose to use them as skills, or, not. In Engie, you can CHOOSE how to do your damage, but in Mesmer I feel forced to use a play device I do not enjoy. I don’t like the concept, the animation, or the execution.

Maybe due to that alone, I need to re-roll, but I always hold out hope Anet might give us the option for a clone-free build, which, I know, is a pipe dream.

i went from warrior to mesmer. It was a rough transition but once i got used to my mesmers GS skills (mind blade? takes dedication to use!) I destroy in WvW. Mantra of Pain traited to 3 ticks, iBerserker, mirror blade, mind blade can all be used in a VERY SHORT window and i often down someone before they can even think “oh kitten i need to dodgeroll”

I think possibly Mesmer may be more fun for those who play WvW or PvP. I dont do either, so I hear many of the best builds are much less effective in PvE. Well – that seems to be the rumor anyways….

cinemapaula.8673:

I don’t like the concept, the animation, or the execution.

Then I am afraid that the GW2 Mesmer profession isn’t for you.

At OP:
Try picking up a greatsword and a staff as a secondary weapon ASAP.

With the GS, you won’t even have to swap weapons most of the time. Even against 2-3 mobs, you can pretty much kill them without any issues. A +6 Might boosted Mind Wrack does a whole lot of damage.
If they do manage to flood you, a quick swap followed by a Chaos Storm + #2 will destroy anything that survived your initial combo.
And don’t forget to pick up Decoy, as it will be your most valuable Utility during levelling.

Also, if you can manage it, I found Mantra of Pain to be quite useful. It is indeed kinda annoying to have to constanty re-cast it but it does help speed up the battles a lot.

I was looking over Mesmer again trying to decide if I should re-roll and if I re-roll, which light profession should I move to. I have enough medium armor ones, and am not a fan of heavy armor on females, so… Necro or Ele might be more my forte. Its a shame, I loved Mesmer in GW1 SO much.

Of course that if you do play at 50 without even having bought your second book and then say you find mesmers slow at killing and annoying it becomes even more giggle worthy. You are purposefully playing in some sort of crippled challenge and then complaining.

Try my advice above, mention if you notice any slight difference before and after.

Ah yes, the 10/10/10/10/10 build. That can be a little tedious.

The reason why mesmers are so weak early on is quite simple, actually. It’s so simple I don’t know why people don’t (usually) come right out and say it:

Mesmers are the most trait dependant profession in the game.

If you don’t have access to traits, the leveling experience might be hard (personally, I didn’t mind it at all, but I guess I’m not typical in this).

The other side to this is that mesmer traits are probably the best in the game, and mesmers probably have the widest range of viable builds. Traits probably has have a far more drastic effect on how a mesmer plays than they do on most other professions.

cinemapaula.8673

I think my issue is that I absolutely hate the clones. I don’t like the idea of them, and I hate using them. They feel like a silly novelty. I would like the class if not for those – but, I really just cannot stand them.

I SOO wish they were weapon linked so you could choose to use them as skills, or, not. In Engie, you can CHOOSE how to do your damage, but in Mesmer I feel forced to

They’re not at all a “silly novelty”: they are central to every single sort of mesmer type out there.

And you couldn’t just link them to one weapon, since generating and (more or less often) shattering them is important in any situation and with any build.

If you aren’t willing to learn how to use them, then you shouldn’t consider touching the mesmer.

scyld.1743:

The reason why mesmers are so weak early on is quite simple, actually. It’s so simple I don’t know why people don’t (usually) come right out and say it:

Mesmers are the most trait dependant profession in the game.

I think it’s not fair to reduce it to traits. Yes, traits make a huge difference. But the things low level Mesmers are good at also aren’t that useful for leveling. You can be very survivable early on, you can get very powerful utility skills early on, but all in all, leveling is easier if you can just sneeze at the mobs and they die like a Warrior (for example) can.

I have to Q this FT, though:

If you aren’t willing to learn how to use [illusions], then you shouldn’t consider touching the mesmer.

That’s like saying “I’m an Elementalist but I really want to play as a fire mage” or “I’m a Ranger but I hate animals” or “I’m a Thief but I hate being invisible all the time”…

damny.9342:

scyld.1743:

The reason why mesmers are so weak early on is quite simple, actually. It’s so simple I don’t know why people don’t (usually) come right out and say it:

Mesmers are the most trait dependant profession in the game.

I think it’s not fair to reduce it to traits. Yes, traits make a huge difference. But the things low level Mesmers are good at also aren’t that useful for leveling. You can be very survivable early on, you can get very powerful utility skills early on, but all in all, leveling is easier if you can just sneeze at the mobs and they die like a Warrior (for example) can.

I have to Q this FT, though:

If you aren’t willing to learn how to use [illusions], then you shouldn’t consider touching the mesmer.

That’s like saying “I’m an Elementalist but I really want to play as a fire mage” or “I’m a Ranger but I hate animals” or “I’m a Thief but I hate being invisible all the time”…

“I’m an engineer but I hate versatility”
“I’m a warrior, but I hate being overpowered as heck in PvE” (what, you mean that isn’t their class mechanic?)
“I’m a necromancer but I hate death shrou… ok that’s a bad example, EVERYONE hates DS (partially because of the fact that it’s a kittenty downed state masquerading as a core class mechanic, partially because even condition necros are balanced around it):P

ok, being serious now
I have a friend that I convinced to play mesmer, and let me tell you, he SUCKED at it, he despised clones, he didn’t dodge, he never shattered.

then I introduced him to the second tier of traits, and showed him deceptive evasion, and he LOVES it.
he went from never dodging to dodging all the time, he shatters and makes clones, today he told me he soloed 5 harathi centaurs and 3 rock dogs at once without getting downed. I almost wept with joy. :P

if you want to give mesmers one last go, take deceptive evasion and 20 in illusions, and learn to love the ability to use dodging as a weapon, if that doesn’t get you to love the purple butterflies and the sound of glass breaking, there is no hope for you, mesmers are just not your thing