Guild Wars 2

Like the title says, is it possible to beat a skilled condi mesmer that knows how to clone/etc with a ranger?

If so, can someone give me a quick guide or some tips on how to beat one?

LB power is your easiest time, watch for the reflect on evade thing and just run your booty off. Kill clones as much as possible. Shouldn’t be too bad.

Condi mesmer is the strongest general 1v1 spec in the entire game IMO, but power LB sort of counters it due to range and relatively high damage (i.e. clones die in 1 hit.)

Also disclaimer, I don’t play that much anymore but I’m not aware of anything having changed balance wise recently. I won’t be offended if this is out of date.

It’ s possible if you the ranger reroll as mesmer XD Then you can win.

Power works if you manage to slot sic ‘em before the fight, otherwise it’s hard to get in enough damage before they hop into stealth and reset the fight. One great thing is you almost always reveal them if they try using mass invis without chaining it off of decoy or the prestige thanks to the reflect on the manipulation cooldown trait.

However I have personally found condi ranger to be much stronger against condi mesmer. Most of them only run 1 condi removal, if it’s mantra of resolve you will be able to see it on their bar and bait out their cleanses before bombing them, if you don’t see the mantra they might have arcane thievery and you’ll have to watch out for your condi’s being transferred back to you. Luckily arcane thievery is one of those skills that seems to miss like 90% of the time.

I’ll put it this way, if you meet player that is not dedicated mesmer, u’ll have chance. But if you meet equally skilled mesmer that is dedicated to his/her class, and same goes with ranger, ranger stands no chance, it will take a while to kill each other but, on the end ranger will always die. We are talking open fight fair engage.

If it’s a shatter Mesmer, for sure. If it’s a condi Mesmer… Good luck.

Firelysm.4967:

I’ll put it this way, if you meet player that is not dedicated mesmer, u’ll have chance. But if you meet equally skilled mesmer that is dedicated to his/her class, and same goes with ranger, ranger stands no chance, it will take a while to kill each other but, on the end ranger will always die. We are talking open fight fair engage.

How many mesmer mains, or even decently skilled players do you find playing PU condi?

Agent Mulder.4531:

Like the title says, is it possible to beat a skilled condi mesmer that knows how to clone/etc with a ranger?

If so, can someone give me a quick guide or some tips on how to beat one?

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJARTnUqAtCi1CC+rActgBGh6fiSI15w9bDgec3gM4kNclVA-TliFABLcBAW7IAUlSQAeAAMpM6IlOEq+jAHCgh2f4MdBkBYZLA-w

I made that build specifically for beating PU condi mesmers, and it does it better than anything else I’ve managed to come up with.

Condition removal passive:
Empathic bond, 3 per 10sec
SoR, 1 per 10sec
Sigil of Generosity, Longbow

Condition removal active:
Trooper runes + 4 shouts
SoR
Brownbear

General rules:
If they open the fight on you, hunters shot off a clone then double swoop away. After about 10 secs, re-engage with full health. This way you have the advantage of longbows 1500 reach for a few shots and you arent trying to fight with a bunch of confusion on you. Further, they can’t slow you down, so you can reset at any time as long as you clear first.

Actively clear 3+ confusion with shouts and bear. Let poison come off before you heal. Everything else you can dps through and the conditions will fall off you fairly quickly. Confusion is the one that will kill you.

When they stealth, kill clones as fast as you can barring confusion. When using GS, always take the swing that cleaves the most clones. They are regening nearly 1k / sec health with 3 clones up until they finally blow their heal. Use Swoop, block, Taunt, Stealth to avoid burst when they stealth.

You are going to kill them by lining up the end of a Sic ‘em reveal with the beginning of a rapid fire. Wear them down with this play in mind. 50% is a good time for sic’em, followed by rapid fire. If RF isn’t quite ready, you can use taunt to buy you another second or two.

if they run, just dont follow them into into mobs. stealth is on their side, your bear is an aggro magnet, its going to be your problem.

regardless of who you are fighting, you also have about ~4 interrupts in downstate:
Thunderclap, taunt, petswap to dog+f1 (prey they leap attack), and by then thunderclap is ready again. Just for the trolls.

variants: Power/Shatter mesmers tend to run powerblock. Strength of the Pack is your friend here, but it has a cast time so try to do it during stealth. Protect me+bear is awesome, short cd as far as immunties go, and a stunbreak. SoR is also a stunbreak. Some mesmers run reflect on heal. Animation is obvious.

The build works great against thieves (sic ’em + rapid fire + protect me + GS), and any most any type of condi spec, including burn guards.

The hardest matchup for this spec is power warrior. CC from hammer is rough if they get the jump on you, and axe/shield variants are very strong against longbow. Lots of cleave means protect me will really hurt your pets. Build lacks poison needed to keep OP healing signet in check. It’s winnable, its just not in your favor.

Good luck. The amount of hate you will get from people when you kill them with a brownbear out is pretty funny too.

Edit: I use fire instead of blood on longbow for tags when in the zerg is near.

Some people will tell you that the best offense is a good defense. False. The best offense… Is offense.

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=VK;4sEkx-c2JEV-0;9k29;1Y_b;0257147247;4INl0R;1t_MTt_MTn-Fh3-gG-N_s7HbH6IbI6JbJ623WJ-2i;5F2Co;0C;7F2-o;9;9;9;96gl5I

This is the exact build that I run that I’ve found tremendous success with. The mix of shouts and survival skills really compliment each other and you’ll notice your pet makes a far greater contribution to keeping the mesmer and their clones manageable.

If you need help in-game mail or add me. Nicknobreak

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNBMhV6kSFoVQslFwkFgrFMkJUehv4N+XDR+E3JbAcAZM0JzgA-TJRGwAKOFAAeCAg2fAaZAA

Basically, dodge uptime+regen= Power builds are down. The on demand (smart) condi clear is also rather handy. If you feel less safe on this than I do (haven’t lost 1v1 to any class, including Cele) then you can trait Taunt over Zephyr as your BM GM as well as swap sigils of rage for generosity. =) Have fun.

The mesmer is gonna stay in stealth and apply tons of condi with clones and phantasms then stomp you without coming out of stealth once. Balance <3

If all they do is stay in stealth to apply condis, they won’t have burst conditions and my Warhorn 5 will outheal their damage. If they do come out even once, I can “Sic’em” and kill them in those 6 seconds. Balance?

Agreed. When the Mesmer exits stealth, all bets are off. Use “Sic ’em!” And barrage them to hell. Cripple effects are a big problem for them, same with chill.

Serious Thought.5394:

If all they do is stay in stealth to apply condis, they won’t have burst conditions and my Warhorn 5 will outheal their damage. If they do come out even once, I can “Sic’em” and kill them in those 6 seconds. Balance?

I assure you condi mesmer can burst you down without coming out of stealth.

Winbdorne notes is bugged since it was created, it applies just 6 seconds of regen not 12
anyway with 0 healing power your regen is gonna tick at a non noticable 130 /s
Furthermore you have for only condi removal 2 survival skills, meaning you can clear an average of 1.2 condi per 10 seconds non noticable again.

Sick em is a nice skill to use against thief/mesmer sure, but it works only against them and it’s not like stealth is the only protection mesmer have (they can gain distorsion or portal out of range for example) . It isn’t a garanteed kill even against thief.

I main mesmer, and rangers are difficult for me.

• a mesmer is deadlier in melee range
• a mesmer suffers a lot from immobilize (the main builds use dodges to create clones + have little condition removal). In particular, condi mesmer is dead to an entangle because we lack the cleave to get rid of the vines.

Also, I don’t play much ranger, but I guess the pet have a easier time following the “real” mesmer when it just reappears out of stealth.

When the Mesmer blinks and gains reflection that’s when you should be switching to GS and attacking them with quickness (either by pet swap or quickening zephyr). Reflect doesn’t work against melee and if they’re getting defensive enough they feel the need to blink away, then you have them on the ropes.

Stealthing yourself will help immensely in this fight as well to set up knockdown/ rf/ pet spikes (I’m assuming you’ll be running beastly warden). But it is an uphill fight for sure.

I do it all the time with Condi ranger.

You need a quick dodge reflex and a solid understanding of where the damage comes from. Condi mes is also beatable.

Nicknobreak.7543:

Some people will tell you that the best offense is a good defense. False. The best offense… Is offense.

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=VK;4sEkx-c2JEV-0;9k29;1Y_b;0257147247;4INl0R;1t_MTt_MTn-Fh3-gG-N_s7HbH6IbI6JbJ623WJ-2i;5F2Co;0C;7F2-o;9;9;9;96gl5I

Guy is having a hard time winning and you tell him to go full zerker with no immunity button and barely any condi clear.

Unless you have incredibly good dodge skills (especially with zero energy sigils) this is probably the worst build a solo roaming ranger could run in wvw.

Absolutely, and don’t knock it until you try it. What exactly about my build is bad? The fact I’m running full zerker? Well then just add in some toughness or vitality I guess. NBD there.

Secondly, if one is standing around making the mistake of waiting for the mesmer to exit stealth then you’ve already lost. No matter what gear or traits you have. My best suggestion is to look on YouTube for some Ranger v. Mesmer fights or watch these match ups in game.

Edit: I also saw a build probably on the Ranger build compilation thread that used two clerics rings and maybe defender runes? That would work fantastic with survivability. Can’t look it up atm.

Ultimately this is not a one-size-fits-all problem and there are numerous solutions, but truthfully the OP is going to have to do a bit of research and practice in his own to find a solution that works best for him.

Nicknobreak.7543:

Ultimately this is not a one-size-fits-all problem and there are numerous solutions, but truthfully the OP is going to have to do a bit of research and practice in his own to find a solution that works best for him.

i came off a bit harsh there. what i meant was, skill floor for such a glass build is pretty high. this paragraph though, i completely agree with.

I was in the OP’s shoes until just recently within the last couple of months or so. I felt helpless against mesmers and thieves and believed defeating them was utterly impossible for Rangers. I adapted my playstyle, learned more about mesmers (playing one for a week or so), and adjusted my traits accordingly. Now I am at the point where I can attack a Mesmer with confidence and think “This guy is getting fragged so hard.”

If I lose, I’ll know it’s because of a mistake I made, because Mesmers don’t have nearly the amount of survivability we rangers do.

Nicknobreak.7543:

I was in the OP’s shoes until just recently within the last couple of months or so. I felt helpless against mesmers and thieves and believed defeating them was utterly impossible for Rangers. I adapted my playstyle, learned more about mesmers (playing one for a week or so), and adjusted my traits accordingly. Now I am at the point where I can attack a Mesmer with confidence and think “This guy is getting fragged so hard.”

If I lose, I’ll know it’s because of a mistake I made, because Mesmers don’t have nearly the amount of survivability we rangers do.

Power mesmer are easier to 1v1 because of protective ward
PU condi is a whole other story, regular ranger builds having low condi removal and single target dps

Puck.9612:

Firelysm.4967:

I’ll put it this way, if you meet player that is not dedicated mesmer, u’ll have chance. But if you meet equally skilled mesmer that is dedicated to his/her class, and same goes with ranger, ranger stands no chance, it will take a while to kill each other but, on the end ranger will always die. We are talking open fight fair engage.

How many mesmer mains, or even decently skilled players do you find playing PU condi?

I didn’t say anything about PU, but let me tell you, you can notice difference from a braindead PU or PU that things a little bit.

As a power mantra mesmer, I only found condi rangers difficult but I still have a good chance against them with 3 mantra heal condi removal and 1 sec cool down mantra of pain heal.
I remember fighting a really skilled aids ranger and the fight went on for half an hour and we both got bored.

Totally off topic, but…

Nicknobreak.7543:

Some people will tell you that the best offense is a good defense. False. The best offense… Is offense.

“The best defense is a good offense” is how that usually goes, fyi. The best offense is a good defense makes no sense.

Just saying.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Totally off topic, but…

Nicknobreak.7543:

Some people will tell you that the best offense is a good defense. False. The best offense… Is offense.

“The best defense is a good offense” is how that usually goes, fyi. The best offense is a good defense makes no sense.

Just saying.

Sure it makes sense. Just twist it equally in the opposite direction. Put up a hard defense and let the enemy run themselves ragged trying to break it. Once they are exhausted, counter.

I disagree that it makes sense. You still need to go on the offensive for it to be offensive. You are not winning by merely defending. Therefore any offense is a better offense than defense.

Plus, you cannot have both be true at the same time. If someone purely defends and someone purely attacks, both cannot have the best offense.

power ranger is very powerful in duels……only reason its not in meta is because of teamfights.

if its condi mesmer its best 1vs1 build in game……if its power pu its possible if its not in teamfight where you have to watch other 65 things

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

I disagree that it makes sense. You still need to go on the offensive for it to be offensive. You are not winning by merely defending. Therefore any offense is a better offense than defense.

Plus, you cannot have both be true at the same time. If someone purely defends and someone purely attacks, both cannot have the best offense.

At first reading this I thought I was confused. After reading it twice more I realized it was you who was confused.

Justine.6351:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

I disagree that it makes sense. You still need to go on the offensive for it to be offensive. You are not winning by merely defending. Therefore any offense is a better offense than defense.

Plus, you cannot have both be true at the same time. If someone purely defends and someone purely attacks, both cannot have the best offense.

At first reading this I thought I was confused. After reading it twice more I realized it was you who was confused.

You cannot say the best offense is a good defense if in order to win, you need to also go on the offense. Whereas you can say that the best defense is a good offense because you already won with your offense.

It is a hard match up. Here are some things I have found that work:

• Run away from them. Seriously it gives you the upper hand. In order to follow us, they have to blow important getaway cooldowns because they are generally pretty slow. When they do this, turn on them and go all out. In pvp you just rotate away from them, in wvw they shouldn’t kill you unless they get the drop on you, as your the one controlling when the fight happens.
• immobilize makes them panic. They usually only have one way to get out. Taking drakehound, muddy terrain and entangled can keep them locked down even while invis. Taunt works well in addition to keep them locked up.
• wilderness survial vs condi. Allows you to cleanse on demand with lr muddy terrian etc.
• dont rely on counter attack from great sword. they will daze and then combo you. Its better to set up to dodge an f1-4 skill by being ready to lr or dodge out of the burst.
• recognize a reset. If they go invis for an extended period they have reset, you need to, too.

Nothing can kill a condi mesmer.
The only reason people play shatter instead of condi it’s cuz condi has huge ramp time and takes forever to deal damage, while shatter is 4,2,f1 and gg.

robertul.3679:

Nothing can kill a condi mesmer.
The only reason people play shatter instead of condi it’s cuz condi has huge ramp time and takes forever to deal damage, while shatter is 4,2,f1 and gg.

I die all the time on my dire cheese condi mesmer. It’s very strong, but it has weaknesses.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Justine.6351:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

I disagree that it makes sense. You still need to go on the offensive for it to be offensive. You are not winning by merely defending. Therefore any offense is a better offense than defense.

Plus, you cannot have both be true at the same time. If someone purely defends and someone purely attacks, both cannot have the best offense.

At first reading this I thought I was confused. After reading it twice more I realized it was you who was confused.

You cannot say the best offense is a good defense if in order to win, you need to also go on the offense. Whereas you can say that the best defense is a good offense because you already won with your offense.

Defending is about repelling an offensive. If going on the offensive to exploit the aggressor’s lack of defense, you are still being defensive. If you manage to put the aggressor on the defensive, and they ofcoarse have no reasonable defense cause they put everything into offense, they lost.

The best defense is a good offense, is both fallacy and truth. Condi bunker vs glass cannon.

If you need an example where what I said is true then go back to gw1 Fort Aspenwood-Kurzick side. If you just try to turtle forever you maybe will win barely. But if people go out and take the cap points you will win most of the time. Doesn’t matter how aggressive kurzick side is, they are still the defender.

I could explain to you further but I’m not a teacher in the art of war. Actually there is a book I think called just that lols.

regarding condi mesmers, you can kill them without breaking a sweat using my cele build (posted in sig). you don’t see condi mesmers in the higher skill brackets though, and power ranger specs are generally much more useful overall. not sure how obnoxious condi mesmers are now, but a month or two ago when I was playing, I didn’t have much of an issue using my valk build either (26k HP, plenty of condi clears, and plenty of damage).

[off topic, regarding power mesmers: yes ive beaten some of the best mesmers in the game, not necessarily 1v1, but easily in a team fight, even when no one is paying attention to them. in fact, I make it my job to kill mesmers in a team fight. 1v1 it’s 50-50 chance against a competent Mesmer running meta. but chances are only this good if youre running a sturdy hard-hitting build that doesn’t rely on LB, like my Valkyrie one.

birds, maul, QZ, and taunt. dodge the interrupts intelligently, time your invuln and quickness properly, and just keep the pressure up until he drops or you die trying. you cant really approach mesmers if youre not hyperaggressive. ]

mistsim.2748:

regarding condi mesmers, you can kill them without breaking a sweat using my cele build (posted in sig). you don’t see condi mesmers in the higher skill brackets though, and power ranger specs are generally much more useful overall. not sure how obnoxious condi mesmers are now, but a month or two ago when I was playing, I didn’t have much of an issue using my valk build either (26k HP, plenty of condi clears, and plenty of damage).

[off topic, regarding power mesmers: yes ive beaten some of the best mesmers in the game, not necessarily 1v1, but easily in a team fight, even when no one is paying attention to them. in fact, I make it my job to kill mesmers in a team fight. 1v1 it’s 50-50 chance against a competent Mesmer running meta. but chances are only this good if youre running a sturdy hard-hitting build that doesn’t rely on LB, like my Valkyrie one.

birds, maul, QZ, and taunt. dodge the interrupts intelligently, time your invuln and quickness properly, and just keep the pressure up until he drops or you die trying. you cant really approach mesmers if youre not hyperaggressive. ]

I made a vid in it where an spvp Mesmer got crushed like a bug with my condi longbow. A couple nights later I saw them again and we did duels. 0-4 them. On review, they were jumping in stealth and once stealth dropped they would burst and immediately jump back into stealth.

They are like thieves with no Reveal.

put the bird on them, taunt, and stack some condis. dodge/kill illusions from distance. I guarantee they will reappear from stealth with half their health missing. birds hit light armor for like 5k minimum. but you really need to run a build that has plenty of evades, decent condi damage, and high vit (like my cele build). this was about 2 months ago, but I crushed Countless in under 25 seconds 1v1. not sure if people are running stronger condi builds now, but I’m sure it would be fine. don’t expect to kill a good condi Mesmer with a goofy, situational build.

mistsim.2748:

put the bird on them, taunt, and stack some condis. dodge/kill illusions from distance. I guarantee they will reappear from stealth with half their health missing. birds hit light armor for like 5k minimum. but you really need to run a build that has plenty of evades, decent condi damage, and high vit (like my cele build).

I can review my 4 fights some more but I think they were running mantras, likely condi removal spam. ;-(

Review* ;-)

mistsim.2748:

put the bird on them, taunt, and stack some condis. dodge/kill illusions from distance. I guarantee they will reappear from stealth with half their health missing. birds hit light armor for like 5k minimum. but you really need to run a build that has plenty of evades, decent condi damage, and high vit (like my cele build). this was about 2 months ago, but I crushed Countless in under 25 seconds 1v1. not sure if people are running stronger condi builds now, but I’m sure it would be fine. don’t expect to kill a good condi Mesmer with a goofy, situational build.

Put a bird on it!

Justine.6351:

mistsim.2748:

put the bird on them, taunt, and stack some condis. dodge/kill illusions from distance. I guarantee they will reappear from stealth with half their health missing. birds hit light armor for like 5k minimum. but you really need to run a build that has plenty of evades, decent condi damage, and high vit (like my cele build).

I can review my 4 fights some more but I think they were running mantras, likely condi removal spam. ;-(

Review* ;-)

they could run mantras, I wouldn’t care. a/d, s/t condi ouput is constant and if youre running tanky with plenty of condi removal, you can make them blow their mantra reasonably quickly through constant pressure. when I reinstall, i’ll clock some more time on my cele build, but I’m certain it was very strong against Mesmer cheese earlier this summer.

Puck.9612:

Put a bird on it!

that’s basically been my slogan since June 23. birds are stronk and I keep telling people not to duel them but no1 listens.

Introduction:

Okay so I’m Necro’ing this thread from page 2 of our forums because I’ve encountered some new information or rather I’ve adopted a new stance on the PU Mesmer. First a little about me and my setup to validate my tests and environment: I have been playing Guild Wars 2 since launch as a Ranger and possess rudimentary knowledge of the Mesmer class, having played a Mesmer infrequently over the past 1.5 months. My PC is capable of running GW2 on ‘High’ settings without issue. I have been using a Razer Naga Epic gaming mouse for over four years and I am adept at using this hardware. My ping remains steady at around 60-70. There are no issues of lag or hardware problems. Here is what I’ve learned…

Analysis:

As a typical ranger of average skill (and questionably of reasonable intelligence) I set out to test how Ranger fares against PU Mesmers in a WvW environment in 1v1 situations. Over the course of several days I selected four PU Mesmers from the enemy server to duel by whispering them and requesting a duel behind the southern borderlands camp. These mesmers agreed and were all condition based. In these fights I tried two different builds commonly used by rangers in WvW. Each player was dueled 3 times. First I tried going full zerker (Ascended).

This didn’t work at all against condi PU Mesmers. Even with “Sic ’Em!” they were able to shrug off my hardest hitting attacks as they were able to stack toughness and vitality to mitigate the damage. I noticed that I never landed more than a 5k hit when I can typically crit for over 7k on cloth armored targets without resistance. This was usually what happened for the first round against each opponent.

For the second and third rounds in each series I switched to a LB Trapper build with trapper runes. I adjusted my build accordingly. I noticed that traps were significantly more effective against mesmers especially when they provided the advantage of granting stealth and super speed. A few duels lasted as long as 20 minutes before the mesmer was able to whittle me down or before I just got bored and reckless. I did not have the opportunity to test full dire or condition centric gear personally. I did notice that even though the mesmer knew quite clearly they were walking towards traps they did not stop and were able to recover or reset the fight through hiding in stealth.

On an occasion separate from my personal tests I observed my clan mate duel two different PU Mesmers using a similar LB trap build while using full condi gear. His results were also the same and he was defeated in much the same manner. Power build mesmers are a completely different story, however. It appears that being able to reveal them leaves power mesmers with fewer ways to recover or escape and due to their lack of toughness they are easily defeatable with power ranger builds. If they do manage to survive while “Sic ’em!” Is on cooldown however, your chances of survival are severely diminished, especially without toughness or healing power.

Conclusion (aka TL;DR):

It is my opinion now that rangers of average skill level or those who do not consider themselves able to compete at a tournament level with an appropriate build specifically tailored to engage and defeat PU Condition Mesmers refrain from fighting them in an open WvW scenario in a 1v1 fight as it will undoubtedly lead to the Ranger’s defeat. If at all possible melee range should be explicitly avoided at all costs against players running condition mesmer builds. Power mesmers should also be treated with caution and awareness and a ranger should have extensive practice before fighting or approaching power mesmers of the aforementioned variety.

Implications:

Sample size is small and there is little to no verifiable or empirical data. Most data in this post is based upon qualitative data and personal conjecture. This report is subject to peer review.

Nicknobreak.7543:

*Conclusion (aka TL;DR)

I think you wrote a big report on common sense. Everyone already knows condi mesmers are a tough fight.

However I have killed plenty of condi mesmers on a variety of ranger builds, so ‘avoiding them at all costs’ is a bit of an overstatement. I have even killed them with pure melee builds, although that is one fight I would try to avoid. Sometimes you land enough CC at the start you give it a try anyway.

How to play condi builds: apply condis and then run away. Of course that’s hard to fight.

Also : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthian_shot

Yes of course. This is the second hardest fight after a good dd elem, but you have the advantage with AD/ST Apothocary BM. Just sick your bird on the real on and pop his clones with MH axe. Lyssa runes and generosity sigils help if you know you are going to face one.

Justine.6351:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Justine.6351:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

I disagree that it makes sense. You still need to go on the offensive for it to be offensive. You are not winning by merely defending. Therefore any offense is a better offense than defense.

Plus, you cannot have both be true at the same time. If someone purely defends and someone purely attacks, both cannot have the best offense.

At first reading this I thought I was confused. After reading it twice more I realized it was you who was confused.

You cannot say the best offense is a good defense if in order to win, you need to also go on the offense. Whereas you can say that the best defense is a good offense because you already won with your offense.

Defending is about repelling an offensive. If going on the offensive to exploit the aggressor’s lack of defense, you are still being defensive. If you manage to put the aggressor on the defensive, and they ofcoarse have no reasonable defense cause they put everything into offense, they lost.

The best defense is a good offense, is both fallacy and truth. Condi bunker vs glass cannon.

If you need an example where what I said is true then go back to gw1 Fort Aspenwood-Kurzick side. If you just try to turtle forever you maybe will win barely. But if people go out and take the cap points you will win most of the time. Doesn’t matter how aggressive kurzick side is, they are still the defender.

I could explain to you further but I’m not a teacher in the art of war. Actually there is a book I think called just that lols.

I always play on the Kurzick side and I noticed that if we have more than two healers (be it monk or ritualist), the chances are higher. They can hold the last gate by keeping the juggernaut alive. Things would look great for Kurzick side if they have one protection monk and one healing monk.

neptunechild.4831:

Justine.6351:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Justine.6351:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

I disagree that it makes sense. You still need to go on the offensive for it to be offensive. You are not winning by merely defending. Therefore any offense is a better offense than defense.

Plus, you cannot have both be true at the same time. If someone purely defends and someone purely attacks, both cannot have the best offense.

At first reading this I thought I was confused. After reading it twice more I realized it was you who was confused.

You cannot say the best offense is a good defense if in order to win, you need to also go on the offense. Whereas you can say that the best defense is a good offense because you already won with your offense.

Defending is about repelling an offensive. If going on the offensive to exploit the aggressor’s lack of defense, you are still being defensive. If you manage to put the aggressor on the defensive, and they ofcoarse have no reasonable defense cause they put everything into offense, they lost.

The best defense is a good offense, is both fallacy and truth. Condi bunker vs glass cannon.

If you need an example where what I said is true then go back to gw1 Fort Aspenwood-Kurzick side. If you just try to turtle forever you maybe will win barely. But if people go out and take the cap points you will win most of the time. Doesn’t matter how aggressive kurzick side is, they are still the defender.

I could explain to you further but I’m not a teacher in the art of war. Actually there is a book I think called just that lols.

I always play on the Kurzick side and I noticed that if we have more than two healers (be it monk or ritualist), the chances are higher. They can hold the last gate by keeping the juggernaut alive. Things would look great for Kurzick side if they have one protection monk and one healing monk.

Do people still play FA/JQ/AB? I went there recently and no one was in any of those maps. They show up on the days/weeks for the quests?

Justine.6351:

neptunechild.4831:

Justine.6351:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Justine.6351:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

I disagree that it makes sense. You still need to go on the offensive for it to be offensive. You are not winning by merely defending. Therefore any offense is a better offense than defense.

Plus, you cannot have both be true at the same time. If someone purely defends and someone purely attacks, both cannot have the best offense.

At first reading this I thought I was confused. After reading it twice more I realized it was you who was confused.

You cannot say the best offense is a good defense if in order to win, you need to also go on the offense. Whereas you can say that the best defense is a good offense because you already won with your offense.

Defending is about repelling an offensive. If going on the offensive to exploit the aggressor’s lack of defense, you are still being defensive. If you manage to put the aggressor on the defensive, and they ofcoarse have no reasonable defense cause they put everything into offense, they lost.

The best defense is a good offense, is both fallacy and truth. Condi bunker vs glass cannon.

If you need an example where what I said is true then go back to gw1 Fort Aspenwood-Kurzick side. If you just try to turtle forever you maybe will win barely. But if people go out and take the cap points you will win most of the time. Doesn’t matter how aggressive kurzick side is, they are still the defender.

I could explain to you further but I’m not a teacher in the art of war. Actually there is a book I think called just that lols.

I always play on the Kurzick side and I noticed that if we have more than two healers (be it monk or ritualist), the chances are higher. They can hold the last gate by keeping the juggernaut alive. Things would look great for Kurzick side if they have one protection monk and one healing monk.

Do people still play FA/JQ/AB? I went there recently and no one was in any of those maps. They show up on the days/weeks for the quests?

I hop on once in a while and still see people playing JQ. More often than not, I will see about 8 people on each side queing for JQ. FA is completely dead which is a shame.

Agent Mulder.4531:

Like the title says, is it possible to beat a skilled condi mesmer that knows how to clone/etc with a ranger?

If so, can someone give me a quick guide or some tips on how to beat one?

Yes!

It’s easy, but it’s work. Easy as in it’s easy to make sure you aren’t hitting a clone.

Kiting is key, don’t stand still! Rooted tools will probably mean you are close to or dead.

You find his real “self” – look for the buffs, the clones can’t have them – once I know which I am cycling for, tab becomes my best friend.

Do I win every time?

Nope, but it’s not every single time.

Condi clear galore is necessary so you have to trait and use the clears.. and I am not glass…

I’ve had a few ask for my build; no one can figure out how I play it so it makes me frustrated that my gain can’t be easily duplicated – it’s work, it’s fun, but it’s not godmode.

Justine.6351:

neptunechild.4831:

Justine.6351:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Justine.6351:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

I disagree that it makes sense. You still need to go on the offensive for it to be offensive. You are not winning by merely defending. Therefore any offense is a better offense than defense.

Plus, you cannot have both be true at the same time. If someone purely defends and someone purely attacks, both cannot have the best offense.

At first reading this I thought I was confused. After reading it twice more I realized it was you who was confused.

You cannot say the best offense is a good defense if in order to win, you need to also go on the offense. Whereas you can say that the best defense is a good offense because you already won with your offense.

Defending is about repelling an offensive. If going on the offensive to exploit the aggressor’s lack of defense, you are still being defensive. If you manage to put the aggressor on the defensive, and they ofcoarse have no reasonable defense cause they put everything into offense, they lost.

The best defense is a good offense, is both fallacy and truth. Condi bunker vs glass cannon.

If you need an example where what I said is true then go back to gw1 Fort Aspenwood-Kurzick side. If you just try to turtle forever you maybe will win barely. But if people go out and take the cap points you will win most of the time. Doesn’t matter how aggressive kurzick side is, they are still the defender.

I could explain to you further but I’m not a teacher in the art of war. Actually there is a book I think called just that lols.

I always play on the Kurzick side and I noticed that if we have more than two healers (be it monk or ritualist), the chances are higher. They can hold the last gate by keeping the juggernaut alive. Things would look great for Kurzick side if they have one protection monk and one healing monk.

Do people still play FA/JQ/AB? I went there recently and no one was in any of those maps. They show up on the days/weeks for the quests?

I find your comment to be funny.

JQ? You must not be playing at the time when the map looks red to the opposing team.

BG? Yep, they seem to want JQs spot… Funny that they have to side with JQ to do it… JQ slides down one and YB stays at third – poor JQ :={/

YB? We are Yaks. We just want more players, better people who don’t cheat , who like the team concept and who do have honor.