Guild Wars 2

Im using d/d with 0/30/30/10/0. Full Valkyrie set.

Any way to 1v1 a mesmer unless he’s really really bad? It’s insane.

Mesmer have more stealth, deal more damage, his illusions follow and damage you while you’re in stealth, not to mention that aegis-like spell, that prevents your backstab damage.

Yeah, im probably just on emotions, cause i lost duels to a mesmer, without any chance of winning, but anyway.

I will apreciate any advice, that’s not “run away if you see a mesmer”. Thanks

The fact you’ve said that mesmer have more stealth indicate you have some learning to do about the mesmer class.

Call target on the real person as soon as you see him. If you have trouble finding him, clones will either be standing still, or running straight at you, so find the one strafing. He can’t summon phantasms while he doesn’t have you targeted, so chain CnD off his clones and phantasms as soon as your stealth ends. Practice dodge rolling immediately after CnD lands, as existing phantasms will attack you the instant you leave stealth. Because of that, prioritize the phantasms to hit with CnD. Have patience, since you’ll regen health while in stealth. If you need to use shadow refuge, expect illusionary wave(if he’s using GS), so position yourself near the edge of the refuge area so you can dodge through the wave, and stay in stealth.

Mesmers arguably have better stealth than thieves, but you have more with dagger off-hand. Take advantage of that, and watch for veil, mass invisibility and decoy. Pester him into blowing those cooldowns, and don’t commit to bursting too much unless you know he’s vulnerable, or you know you can recover.

Thanks for advice Humble Crow, probably patience is a key to such mesmer fight

As a main mesmer myself, I agree entirely with Humble Crow’s post and yes, you hit the nail right on the head: Patience.

A lot of thieves are a little spoiled in that they’re so used to quick kills. Mug, CnD, backstab, collect bag, etc.

Mesmers have a lot of answers to these bursts – multiple sources of invulnerability (Blurred Frenzy, Distortion for days), a few stealths, and stunbreaks everywhere. Permavigor too.

But against a thief that knows how to withdraw and collect himself for a second burst after the first one has failed, things get a lot more dangerous. I get worried if the thief backs off and starts taking his time to reassess the situation and attack from a new angle.

Although, be careful about the clones; depending on the traits the mesmer has taken, killing them could well cause all kinds of conditions and being crippled while trying to move around in stealth can spoil anyone’s day. Particularly if there are a couple of iZerkers or iDuellists around.

Against PU mesmers (approx 90 percent of them who roam solo):

Basically just C+D non stop until you can set up a backstab, then c+d again and repeat.

Don’t be tempted into heartseeker spam unless he’s really low, as you’ll get caught in a shatter combo. Only come out of stealth to c+d or backstab, that’s it.

The fight takes so long, it’s honestly just tedious. PU gives them aegis,regen and protection everytime they stealth.

If they’re a scepter user watch for scep block, and don’t backstab until scep block is down.

You can easily tell who the real one is by the buffs, only the real mesmer will have food buffs etc.

All in all…..don’t bother. The PU spec is pretty cheesy, giving the best 3 buffs in the game every time you enter stealth…. Takes way too long to deal with. By the time i’ve dealt with one PU mesmer I could have killed 7 other people.

Greatsword/power build mesmers:

Much easier, just avoid the shatters, and they tend to be far less tanky, and have less escapes.

IF your heal and abilities are on cooldown, don’t re-engage, back off, as I can guarantee unless it’s a duel, as soon as it looks like you’re winning he’ll run. He has better escapes than you so there’s no way you can catch him so don’t worry.

Edit: OR….just change from d/d to a cheese perplexity spamming p/d condi spec thief
and kill them like that, it’s far easier since they really don’t get much condition clear.

Stabme.4381:

Im using d/d with 0/30/30/10/0. Full Valkyrie set.

Any way to 1v1 a mesmer unless he’s really really bad? It’s insane.

Mesmer have more stealth, deal more damage, his illusions follow and damage you while you’re in stealth, not to mention that aegis-like spell, that prevents your backstab damage.

Yeah, im probably just on emotions, cause i lost duels to a mesmer, without any chance of winning, but anyway.

I will apreciate any advice, that’s not “run away if you see a mesmer”. Thanks

What utilities are you using? I find Shadowstep and Blinding Powder invaluable for fighting a mesmer since Shadowstep will save you from the shatter burst and Blinding Powder allows you to stealth after they do so that they come out of it first and are there to be backstabbed.

As others have said though, patience makes a big difference. Keep yourself re-stealthed from CnD on clones until you get in a good spot to burst them. I find the best way to burst is to Basilisk while stealthed, then time a CnD to hit as soon as your stealth drops so that you can immediately backstab after.

If you’re just running up without stealth and using CnD → Backstab, you’re losing a lot of burst potential. It takes some practice to get the timing of hitting CnD with an immediate Backstab as soon as your stealth drops so that you don’t trigger revealed, but it makes a big difference.

Also, don’t forget that you get an Aegis when you use the stolen Plasma bundle. This can be a great help for a lot of situations.

P.s. never use Shadow’s Refuge against a mesmer that has a GS unless you have a dodge available, a block available (plasma), or you know for sure that the GS knockback is on cd. Otherwise, you’ll get knocked out and revealed.

vincecontix.1264:

The fact you’ve said that mesmer have more stealth indicate you have some learning to do about the mesmer class.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Health

What ? I mean, they DO have more health.
A little less than 5k health extra is at times a big deal. Especially since toughness really doesn’t scale all that well unless you spec full bunker.

anyone of you has tips for defeating a mesmer when im with dagger pistol? stealth is abit harder to get, not to mention more expensive

Personally, mesmers must be my favorite class to fight against.
They seem intimidating at first, but I soon realized how good my playstyle is against them.
Basically, with my build at least, the more I stealth, the better. I use Sword/Dagger.
Mesmers basically generate clones all the time, right? Don’t try so hard to find the real one.
What you have to do is use Cloak And Dagger on any enemy that’s close to you. If it’s a clone, its HP will basically drop to half or get destroyed. If it’s the real one, you have your chance to backstab.
Also, if you see the mesmer creating too many phantasms, putting you in a tough spot, try destroying them with Cloak and Dagger by stealthing constantly. The mesmer probably won’t burst you down if you time it well enough.
This is a short version of the strategy. The more you fight them, the better you’ll get.

D/P against a mesmer is quite a bit tougher than D/D. This is one of the reasons I’ve been loving D/D lately (lots of mesmers popping up in PvP lately).

The blind field can still come in handy to some extent, but since so many attacks come from ranged, it’s not close to what it is in a fight against something like a warrior. However, good utilities will make a difference.

Some other little tips for fighting a mesmer:
– If a mesmer is downed and you have no allies around, stealth and go for the stomp. However, if there is someone or something for the mesmer to target, they’ll use their #2 ability to stealth and teleport. In this case, just dps them down and only attempt a stomp if they have already used their teleport and have a good chunk of HP left.

- Since they changed the tab target system, finding a mesmer among clones is easier than ever. If you lose track of the real mesmer, just drop your current target and hit tab. The first mesmer you target will be the real one unless they are stealthed. Also, you can usually identify the real mesmer since they will have boons.

Takato.4976:

vincecontix.1264:

The fact you’ve said that mesmer have more stealth indicate you have some learning to do about the mesmer class.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Health

What ? I mean, they DO have more health.
A little less than 5k health extra is at times a big deal. Especially since toughness really doesn’t scale all that well unless you spec full bunker.

Lol that says stealth not health.

Also i agree if they’re PU condi don’t waste your time, they can’t do anything if you choose to walk away anyway. In 1vX kite clones and ignore them.

izi answer. just kite away the IA on the mesmrs are pretty dumb, usually they will just stop and stand still if u go far enough.

but just look for the noob that is dodging, even better yet just cloak and dagger all the clones.

Dahkeus.8243:

D/P against a mesmer is quite a bit tougher than D/D. This is one of the reasons I’ve been loving D/D lately (lots of mesmers popping up in PvP lately).

The blind field can still come in handy to some extent, but since so many attacks come from ranged, it’s not close to what it is in a fight against something like a warrior. However, good utilities will make a difference.

Some other little tips for fighting a mesmer:
– If a mesmer is downed and you have no allies around, stealth and go for the stomp. However, if there is someone or something for the mesmer to target, they’ll use their #2 ability to stealth and teleport. In this case, just dps them down and only attempt a stomp if they have already used their teleport and have a good chunk of HP left.

- Since they changed the tab target system, finding a mesmer among clones is easier than ever. If you lose track of the real mesmer, just drop your current target and hit tab. The first mesmer you target will be the real one unless they are stealthed. Also, you can usually identify the real mesmer since they will have boons.

I did not know about this, I’ll have to try it. I usually click target to catch them again.

@OP-With D/D CnD the clones until you can CnD the real one. Blind on stealth really helps this one as it will cause the clones on attacks to not be created. Be patient when fighting high stealth mesmers. Backstabbing and getting yourself revealed is not always the best course of action unless you’re reasonably sure you can down them in a burst during the reveal period. There is one mesmer in my guild that I just can’t seem to beat which I believe is a PU build. I do however last a good amount of time against him. A lot of being a D/D thief is not setting up a recognizable pattern or going for the backstab if it’s going to put you in a tough situation.

You may be interested in my thread.
Please feel free to say your opinions as thieves.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/How-to-counter-Prismatic-Understanding

Lys.8621:

You may be interested in my thread.
Please feel free to say your opinions as thieves.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/How-to-counter-Prismatic-Understanding

A lot of the early posts seem to give pretty sound advice. The most dangerous PU mesmers I’ve fought were hybrids and the only way I beat those (barely and not consistently) were P/D conditions as someone else mentioned.

Thanks for all the insight guys, keep advices comming. Much appreciated.

PU is in 1v1 over the top. I fear nothing with thi build.
Bring nothing really good in tPvP but it is a killing machine in 1v1 with a pretty low level of skill required.
You become tanky and can abuse stealth for a very long time.
Even if Stealth is not perma like it can be on some thieves build, it is awfully bad design IMHO.

Magische Boek.2530:

anyone of you has tips for defeating a mesmer when im with dagger pistol? stealth is abit harder to get, not to mention more expensive

I run D/P a lot. It is indeed harder to fight mesmers with compared to D/D. Especially with the changes to ini. But it’s still doable.

You really need to time your burst (just like in other specs). I often prefer to engage with my shortbow out. Hop around, target the clone nearest to the mesmer. So you deal dmg to the real one and kill the clones. Then I stealth and use SB immo to lock them down. If they use their tools out of burst I switch to D/P and set up backstab.

Keep shadowstep ready for the shatter and have fun fighting a very powerful enemy! :P