Guild Wars 2

It is fun to fight against the other professions that I can see….. even thief is better then fighting a Mesmer…. at least they need to get close to me to do anything! but mesmers.. wtf was anet thinking?

I know they may not be a problem for warrior or guardian (what is these days?) but it doesn’t matter what I do I cant beat them.. im not confused by them, I know where the Mesmer is.

the problem is staff skills are in the high extremes of lack luster .. oh noes 2 stacks of bleads and a chill what ever will I do? they stealth and teleport rendering any of my attacks redundant seeing as they need a target, high vigour uptime means they dodge the majority of my attacks even if they are just randomly doing it to spawn clones.

they deal large amounts of damage while invis they have a rather nasty spike that can be cast from stealth.. that immobs you!! not stun so unless you have an insta clear that does not require a target gl…. their defences are on a lower cd then most of my skills/own defences. their most usefull skills are also a stunbreak so fearing is rather pointless unless they over extend

the cc … stuns on shatters interrupt mantras gs knockback focus pull always giving them enough time to generate the clones/wait for the next stealth to be off cd

targeting… I don’t know if its just me but after the july update my tab targeting has been prioritizing pets, clones the kitchen sink before it targets the real Mesmer. I can even be rubbing up against them and its targeting clones behind me!@@#$ if anyone else is experiencing this please tell me im not the only one .

point of this thread? I need help I just don’t know what to do, going full condi is not an option.. that just leaves you open to warriors guardians(it actually makes them stronger to an extent) thieves love condi necro (the smart ones anyway) basically a free kill for them with only 18k hp and the amount of clears they have, elle .. lol engie.. not so much but all they need to do is dodge doom and not walk on the soulmark and they can keep you on the ground with cc for long enough to kill you that’s my experience with condi anyway

Trust me, mesmers do not need anymore nerfs. They are in a dire enough state as it is.

And secondly, is this WvW or PvP? In WvW, you can just run away from PU condition mesmers. And also, the standard shatter build has little to no condition removal, which is definitly their weakness. Most shatter specs can’t take mender’s purity or the mantra cleanse, and may have null field, but after thats gone they are helpless against conditions. PU condition builds may have maximum condition clear with mender’s purity, harmonious mantras, the heal mantra and the cleanse mantra, but thats it, and the weaknesses they gain by running that spec make it so you can just run away since they can’t catch up to you, or they simply won’t be able to hold a point or contribute to team fights well.

This is really just an l2p issue. True a good staff/GS shatter mesmer is tough, but condition necros are strong against them. Also their sword immob blurred frenzy combo is so overdone its rather easy to avoid, and doesn’t do enough damage to break DS.

but thats my opinion, so yeah mesmers can be tough until you know the class, then they’re fairly easy to deal with.

nearlight.3064:

Trust me, mesmers do not need anymore nerfs. They are in a dire enough state as it is.

And secondly, is this WvW or PvP? In WvW, you can just run away from PU condition mesmers. And also, the standard shatter build has little to no condition removal, which is definitly their weakness. Most shatter specs can’t take mender’s purity or the mantra cleanse, and may have null field, but after thats gone they are helpless against conditions. PU condition builds may have maximum condition clear with mender’s purity, harmonious mantras, the heal mantra and the cleanse mantra, but thats it, and the weaknesses they gain by running that spec make it so you can just run away since they can’t catch up to you, or they simply won’t be able to hold a point or contribute to team fights well.

This is really just an l2p issue. True a good staff/GS shatter mesmer is tough, but condition necros are strong against them. Also their sword immob blurred frenzy combo is so overdone its rather easy to avoid, and doesn’t do enough damage to break DS.

but thats my opinion, so yeah mesmers can be tough until you know the class, then they’re fairly easy to deal with.

probs should have mentioned pvp =\ and condi necro at least for me and from my experience versing them is not viable in pvp.. way too many counters

ps I have a lvl 80 Mesmer.. I do know the class I know they will most likely teleport behind me when they stealth then pop leap and try shatter spike me problem is what can I do about it? I cant see their actions while hidden and its usually started with a stun from a mantra/close clone -.- you also need to remember.. necro is not the most mobile class the cripple from the clones slows us down to turtle pace

I don’t have a problem with mesmers by themselves, it’s when they have teammate they become burst damage monsters.

I just avoid them.

I ran a PU condi mes earlier feels like i could killing everyone, only if they’re willing to fight me, which in most cases enemies simply escape. Recently I switched to PU hybrid with GS and sword/pistol. The only builds that I have problems are condition heavy ones, such as engi, necro, and warrior cuz the only condo removal I gear is Mender’s Purity.

Corrupt Boon, Plague Signet, Well of Corruption, Dark Path (traited), Deathly Swarm, Putrid Mark… They like to load up boons and we have plenty of corruption, also we have high enough HP to face-tank some condis and toss ‘em right back at the mesmer whenever they reveal themselves. Add a DS #3 (Doom) or Reaper’s Mark for the lulz.

Keep an eye on the player and not the clones. If they’re running a stacking sigil, it’s ezmode.

Remember that stealthing is an evasive/defensive maneuver about 85% of the time. As such, look towards the 1200 range when they do vanish (and Spectral Grasp ’em back home or Dark Path port to ’em).

Biggest piece of advice: roll a PU mesmer and play it for a few days. They’re tricky but surprisingly fragile.

Sors Immani.8429:

Corrupt Boon, Plague Signet, Well of Corruption, Dark Path (traited), Deathly Swarm, Putrid Mark… They like to load up boons and we have plenty of corruption, also we have high enough HP to face-tank some condis and toss ‘em right back at the mesmer whenever they reveal themselves. Add a DS #3 (Doom) or Reaper’s Mark for the lulz.

sure plenty of corruption…. most of them need a target tho…. some have long cast time and obvious aftercast which means it just gets dodged or a clone gets shoved in the way from staff 3/dodging so rather pointless… plus everyone just says go full condi I already said I cant.. then ele becomes a god against you and they are just as prevalent as mesmers now.

I have played pu Mesmer and it was easy to kill people with it, I have already stated im not confused by the clones but I still need to actually make it over to the Mesmer to do damage which is hard when they keep vuln/cripple on you all the time or they just dodge the obvious animations/aftercasts and they never hit. ds 4 and 5 just result in me killing myself because they want you to kill their clones that’s the entire point.

I guess its just one of those things =\

Not to sound rude but…

PU is a dead weight in sPvP, especially with how dependant it is on stealth.

Also, idk what you’re asking. It seems to be a mix of Shatter/PU/Condi/On-Death all rolled into 1 and it sounds like your complaining of a mythical 30/30/30/30/30 build.

No PU condition would have that amount of “burst” or use Sword/x for immobilize burst.
No PU shatter (is this even real? It certainly is non viable) would carry on death traits.
No PU power phantasm would have that staff
No PU condition has that much stuns (they mostly use Scepter/Torch + Staff)

Mesmers are nowhere near prelevant or viable in sPvP. Even when I main a Mesmer, I now PvP as an Elementalist and I literally groan when a Mesmer is in my team for Solo/Team Q

be as rude as you want I dont care that was just a list of what goes on when a Mesmer is around. just wanted to know how to beat them without going full condi

There’s always trying to burst them down before the clone army appears. Try an opener with FGC, Dark Path, Doom & Tainted Shackles. When the clones appear, blow ‘em up with ranged aoe (ie, marks) if you’re concerned about taking damage & getting hit with condis.

The stealth skills (Prestige and Decoy) are on a 24 and 40 sec CD, respectively (and 90-sec on MI if they’re running it). In addition, each time they stealth only 1 condition will be cleansed.

Point is, the mesmer has no access to perma-stealth or massive condi clears, which is key in combating them and any bleed/poison/etc you can do will help even without going full-condi. In addition, I know it’s not particularly easy to stay on target vs a mesmer, but it’s not overly difficult, either. There’s always a tell- be it a still-active bday or MF booster, stacking sigil, or unique boons. Think whack-a-mole: when the mesmer reveals him/her self, thats when you unleash Hell upon ‘em. Don’t panic or get frustrated/angry.

I ventured over to the Mesmer forums after my first stint with the class, and wrote a little rant about simply failing at life with it. The mesmer community came forth with pointers and ideas, revealing a good bit of strategy on combating the class as well.

If you didn’t catch the hint, click here for the link to the thread :D

[Edit]
Have you tried running WoP to help deal with Cripple/Vuln? What about Putrid Mark? Are you marking where they should be instead of where they are? I mean, our marks last for 30s, so even if they don’t detonate right away, they will eventually.

I think what will help everyone who is trying to help you, would be to post what build & equipment you’re running.

The reason full condi is better is because of Aegis/Protection/Regen which they gain each time they stealth. Aegis/Protection absolutely destroy LifeBlasts as well as body blocking with clones. Which is where most of the dmg comes from on power spec. Scepter and Staff bypass the stupid clones body blocking.
DS 4/5 is for getting rid of clones.
The key to beating them is to burst them down with a fear-chain after they have used blink/decoy. They usually carry the stealth wall as the third utility.
I also think plague signet/well of power is very useful against the condition heavy ones.
Finally Path of Corruption does wonders against the boons they get in stealth.
It just takes a lot of practice honestly.. you can not waste time finding the real mesmer so you need experience.
I do not understand when you say full condi is useless against ELE. If they are using diamond skin then yes you have a point. But no class can cleanse the amount of condis we can output if you are doing it right.
Corrupt Boon and Path of Corruption are so essential in this boon-heavy meta. I always run them nowadays.

Dude,it is a l2p issue,mesmers constantly got nerfed untill a point they considered the most useless class in the game.Shatter builds got nerfed hard(vigor and ferocity).
PU is not viable as ppl mentioned.
So the only thing you need to watch out are those phntasam mesmers which they are also very easy to counter if you know when to dodge.

In conclusion,when fighting a mesmer always be on alert for the ibeserker of the greatswords and the immoblise which ususally comes blurred frenzy afterwords.
and the duelist,which can e outranged

Sors Immani.8429:

The stealth skills (Prestige and Decoy) are on a 24 and 40 sec CD, respectively (and 90-sec on MI if they’re running it). In addition, each time they stealth only 1 condition will be cleansed.

LMFAO depends on the build they are running. if they’re running the balthazar build they will cleanse a lot more conditions than you can think. Plus the torch trait removes 2 conditions per torch skill used. not just one. Just a heads up.

Souldestructor.9576:

Sors Immani.8429:

The stealth skills (Prestige and Decoy) are on a 24 and 40 sec CD, respectively (and 90-sec on MI if they’re running it). In addition, each time they stealth only 1 condition will be cleansed.

LMFAO depends on the build they are running. if they’re running the balthazar build they will cleanse a lot more conditions than you can think. Plus the torch trait removes 2 conditions per torch skill used. not just one. Just a heads up.

0.o

good to know,

so what would be the NEcromancer counter to that? If you are running Condi? call for back up?

or just run power?

1 messer is no problems hard but beatable if u have played the class and know his reaction and rotations

2 well played messer’s are a kitten pain in the arss tho
thats one duo that can wreak havoc

Souldestructor.9576:

Sors Immani.8429:

The stealth skills (Prestige and Decoy) are on a 24 and 40 sec CD, respectively (and 90-sec on MI if they’re running it). In addition, each time they stealth only 1 condition will be cleansed.

LMFAO depends on the build they are running. if they’re running the balthazar build they will cleanse a lot more conditions than you can think. Plus the torch trait removes 2 conditions per torch skill used. not just one. Just a heads up.

LFMAO the torch trait removes 1 condition per torch skill used

It seems to me like you are having problems identifying the type of mesmer you are fighting, therefore unable to counter play accordingly.

- PU condi will be rolling scepter/torch and Staff.
This build will tickle you. Seriously stand on the point and dont attack them and you will get the cap and tank it. Most of there damage comes from sceptre block/on clone death. there damage is tiny!

- PU Power will be sword/torch and GS
This build is reasonably squishy, but a great 1v1 build with the uptime from PU boons. However, seeing were talking about PvP the trade off there made is being a hinderance on there team. They can one vs one well, relatively slowly, while kiting off point/stealthing. The weakness of the build is still conditon damage and aoe. Dont be disheartened losing your 1v1 vs them though, they likely would have lost the match for there team running a 1v1 spec.

- Shatter Mesmer.
This is the standard that most mesmers are running in pvp. And to be honest, it is weak, with a giant burst. The weapons really can be any combination excluding scepter and your best approach would be to presume each mesmer is a shatter untill they show otherwise. Most shatter Mesmers optimise there burst being relatively useless at other roles. Therefore, they are squishy as hell and mostly run 0 condi removal or at least very little. That 2 stacks of bleed and chill will hurt the mesmer a lot, as they rely on kiting. AOE will destroy a shatter, and if you run boon corruption is close to a death sentence. If there running with sword and the clone leaps into you, there setting up there burst. Laying a fear mark or simply dodging will negate the mesmer being able to immobilise you as the swap with the current position of the clone ( which will spaz out and run away if you dodge). Play agrresively vs a shatter Mesmer and force them to blow cooldowns defensively, as most there utilities serve as both a defensive/offensive in the right situations and they will be unable to set anything up on you.

Edit: Kinda feel dirt telling you how to completely disable a Shatter Mes with how weak they are in there current state :s

If this is WvW, just leave. There isn’t much they can do about it. If its pvp then call for help because they won’t take the point from you because of stealth.

It sounds like go play power necro so it’s tough to really fight them, you need to CC chain them which isn’t always easy so you can lock them down Long enough to actually deal damage. Condi has a somewhat easier time against mesmers because they don’t have the best removal, but it doesn’t sound like you want to play condi, and you shouldn’t switch just for one class.

Hey dude, I don’t play Necro like … at all, but I think I could give some tips on versing a Mesmer.

The thing to remember is that not every Mesmer that uses stealth is a PU Mesmer, and nearly every Mesmer has a vulnerability to condition damage. Even if you’re not specced for conditions, poison HURTS and the rest of the conditions will often cause a bit of panic in your opponent. When fighting a Mes, one of the best things you can do is look at the weapon they’re wielding before deciding to engage.

Greatsword – They’re intending on keeping you away at range since the closer you are, the less damage the GS does. The main burst comes from a combination of Mirror Blade, Shatter, and MindSpike (essentially you’ll see them unceremoniously pitch their GS at you which does damage/summons a clone next you and then spike it into the floor + Shatter for a nutty wombo-combo burst) If you can dodge that, then all they have left is spamming autoattacks at range, summoning a phantasm and they’re vulnerable.

The other thing to keep in mind is the GS phantasm is one of the most deadly phantasms we have, when you see the Mesmer summon (raising the greatsword to the sky) try to jumpdodge (jump + V) the initial hit, and kill it before it has another chance to strike.

Scepter – They’re likely a PU Mesmer. Their main source of damage will come from Torment via scepter’s counter attack. If you have minions, let the minions do the work, unblockable wells work well too. Like most mesmer, PU Mesmer are much more vulnerable to condition damage than power damage. If you can manage to kite the clones and cleanse the torment they won’t be able to kill you.

Sword – If they’re wielding a sword, they’re going to try and shatterburst you. This means that they have to get into melee range to do damage, and that’s where you’ll excel. Don’t be afraid to drop marks on yourself or near you, rather than trying to catch the Mesmer with them. Make it nigh impossible for them to approach and when they do, if you can dodge the Illusionary Leap, you can render most of their burst useless.

Stealth – Yeah, stealth sucks but it has a couple noteable weaknesses. For one, stealth does NOT mean invulnerability: Wells, Marks, Life Siphon can still give away the Mesmer’s position or eff them up.
For another Mesmer stealth only lasts 3 seconds (4 if using PU). Counting down the time really helps predicting when the Mesmer is going to attack and when to dodge.
Oh.. and most mesmer only carry 2 forms of stealth. Only one is a stunbreak, and the other is either an Elite (5 second mass invis) or attatched the the Torch.

Pistol/Sword/GS Phantasms Kill them! Kill them asap!

• It helps to remember that Mesmer tend to usually only carry 3 stunbreaks at max.

• Decoy/Blink are staples of most Mesmers, and as a result every 15 seconds or so we have some form of escape. Try to bait these out before going for a heavy hit.

• Mesmers are extremely dodge-happy; we have to be in order to produce the clones we need for damage/defense. A good Mesmer is never gonna be easy to takedown, but a single dodge takes 10 seconds to recharge (5 with Vigor) so if you see a Mesmer dodge twice in 10 seconds then they’re vulnerable. Lifeblast our culo.

… Ah man. I am such a traitor.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

Hey dude, I don’t play Necro like … at all, but I think I could give some tips on versing a Mesmer.

The thing to remember is that not every Mesmer that uses stealth is a PU Mesmer, and nearly every Mesmer has a vulnerability to condition damage. Even if you’re not specced for conditions, poison HURTS and the rest of the conditions will often cause a bit of panic in your opponent. When fighting a Mes, one of the best things you can do is look at the weapon they’re wielding before deciding to engage.

Greatsword – They’re intending on keeping you away at range since the closer you are, the less damage the GS does. The main burst comes from a combination of Mirror Blade, Shatter, and MindSpike (essentially you’ll see them unceremoniously pitch their GS at you which does damage/summons a clone next you and then spike it into the floor + Shatter for a nutty wombo-combo burst) If you can dodge that, then all they have left is spamming autoattacks at range, summoning a phantasm and they’re vulnerable.

The other thing to keep in mind is the GS phantasm is one of the most deadly phantasms we have, when you see the Mesmer summon (raising the greatsword to the sky) try to jumpdodge (jump + V) the initial hit, and kill it before it has another chance to strike.

Scepter – They’re likely a PU Mesmer. Their main source of damage will come from Torment via scepter’s counter attack. If you have minions, let the minions do the work, unblockable wells work well too. Like most mesmer, PU Mesmer are much more vulnerable to condition damage than power damage. If you can manage to kite the clones and cleanse the torment they won’t be able to kill you.

Sword – If they’re wielding a sword, they’re going to try and shatterburst you. This means that they have to get into melee range to do damage, and that’s where you’ll excel. Don’t be afraid to drop marks on yourself or near you, rather than trying to catch the Mesmer with them. Make it nigh impossible for them to approach and when they do, if you can dodge the Illusionary Leap, you can render most of their burst useless.

Stealth – Yeah, stealth sucks but it has a couple noteable weaknesses. For one, stealth does NOT mean invulnerability: Wells, Marks, Life Siphon can still give away the Mesmer’s position or eff them up.
For another Mesmer stealth only lasts 3 seconds (4 if using PU). Counting down the time really helps predicting when the Mesmer is going to attack and when to dodge.
Oh.. and most mesmer only carry 2 forms of stealth. Only one is a stunbreak, and the other is either an Elite (5 second mass invis) or attatched the the Torch.

---

Pistol/Sword/GS Phantasms Kill them! Kill them asap!

• It helps to remember that Mesmer tend to usually only carry 3 stunbreaks at max.

• Decoy/Blink are staples of most Mesmers, and as a result every 15 seconds or so we have some form of escape. Try to bait these out before going for a heavy hit.

• Mesmers are extremely dodge-happy; we have to be in order to produce the clones we need for damage/defense. A good Mesmer is never gonna be easy to takedown, but a single dodge takes 10 seconds to recharge (5 with Vigor) so if you see a Mesmer dodge twice in 10 seconds then they’re vulnerable. Lifeblast our culo.

… Ah man. I am such a traitor.

You hereby banned from Mesmer forums.Thanks for your service.

its funny .. you make it sound as if I have a world of time to tease out all the mesmers defences and can easily and happily move around even tho I will be crippled for the entire fight even when not attacking clones… and its just so easy to stop an auto attack or already cast range attack from hitting the sword block =|……………..

full on pu mesmers that have staff focus sceptre are not the problem.. I actually do not see many of them. its the hybrids that shatter and damage with sword, they got easy access to condis without even speccing into condi damage lines-.- and can do damage way too well all in one build and it doesn’t take long to overwhelm you…

anyway you can stop responding to this now.. its just a question of go condi and melt them or let them melt you.. not much you can do (or just turn into a litch and watch them run away) like everyone does

Well, that’s the last time I explain seriously exploitable weaknesses my class has to a struggling player. It will remain a l2p issue for you.

Maybe I was just fighting a bad mesmer the other night, but I basically drop staff 2, 3, 5 on him, then scepter 2, dagger 5, drop a spectral wall in his way. By now he has a clone army up so I life syphon them down and doom (DS 3) the mesmer followed by DS2 and 5, then back to staff and continue to fear him and beat him into a corner.

I had an argument with a guildie that night too… Claiming Terror damage is useless after the nerf… It’s not. It ticks for 1k per second and my lowest fear is 2 sec… And I have 5 fears between skills, runes, and traits… Not to mention the damage still ticks through stability.

Neptune.2570:

Well, that’s the last time I explain seriously exploitable weaknesses my class has to a struggling player. It will remain a l2p issue for you.

Ikr? We just went so hard for this guy.. x_x

One last note OP, it’s probably your perspective that’s off. If you just think “omg nothing I can do its too hard” then you’re just defeating yourself. A good Necro can crush Mesmers the same as any other class, stealth or not.

Staff is not really designed for single target ranged attack. This goes back to the discussion threads and is, in my mind, a functional gap in weapons selection. Pistol, rifle, or long bow were identified, then. Only staff auto attack is useful for some specific situations. You are forced to DS and spectral grasp for gap closers, neither of which are especially effective against players or new dragons.

Btw, I have also noticed targeting favors distractions now, too.

I have a Supper Cheese Mesmer (full on Blackwater build with full ascended/ legendary everything) I have been playing for the last 2 years and have now moved over to Necro to find out how in the world they work because they give me so much trouble. Imagine my surprise when I run onto this post. The worst class to face off on in my opinion with the build I run. In order of difficulty for me are:
1. Lock Down Mesmer
2. Condi Necro
3. Condi Engi (some of the good ones are a pain)
4. All the other classes if the driver has put the time in and learned their class and how to deal with other classes can be a real challenge.
Now if I could just get one of you salty Necro’s to give me all the Pro tips like Chaos Archangel did for this OP? I would have it made with my new Necro….

just gank em down. once i spot the real mez press F2, Doom and Autoattack him to death. they can be tough as they want but power DeathShroud crits usually take 3-4 hits to finish the job