Guild Wars 2

The rifle might be a “best chance” scenario that follows the Eviscerate model of getting a surprise devastating burst in there, but it suffers from many of the same problems.

Can be done at range as soon as stealth ends, but ks is pretty easy to avoid and mesmers can trait for reflect on skill use.

Longbow can be really good, not just because of the condi pressure but also because the fire will eat clones thereby reducing shatter damage. Be careful though, I run Arcane Thievery on my mesmer (not optimal probably, but it’s also traited to reflect), and that would allow me to give you your burn, bleed, and torment back while I take your fury, might, and swiftness. Manta of Resolve is a pretty good condi remover as well.

If a mesmer traits for reflect you can use this to your advantage:
- If he reflects on evade, this will not reflect killshot, since he needs to evade something else beforehand to get a 1.5s reflect.
- If he reflects on manipulation, start shooting at him when he starts channeling Massinvis. He will reflect for 2s after getting stealthed, so get hit by your reflected projectile to reveal him and waste a 72s cd.

Also, if a mesmer runs either Mantra of Resolve or Arcane Thievery, he can’t run either Decoy or Mantra of Distraction (or Blink, but umm…every mesmer runs Blink).

A lot of fotm mesmers are running mantra of distraction which is the discharge sound you keep hearing. Blink and decoy for stunbreaks and Sw-t/GS.

They are weaker than a newborn kitten against conditions though. Condi warrior would eat them alive.

They will try to lead with power lock to stun you for 1.25s, have a stun break ready for that, dodge after as they follow up with mirror blade, don’t try to block as it’s unblockable and always has been, so dodge.

They will put clones out and use iZerker from stealth, just count to 4 while cleaving them all out, they’re very squishy and there’s no penalty for just mowing them down. This reduces how much damage they can do. Watch out for the interrupt after 4s but as long as you’re using auto attacks you won’t waste skills and likely won’t be punished much for it.

You can block the shatter burst with shield, watch for the clones moving when in attack range of you.

Most of these mesmers are running full zerk but don’t have the skill to run full zerk, 2-3 hits will destroy them or a random 10k reckless dodge =P

The constant stealth can be off putting but treat it like a thief but with murdering clones as a way to neuter their burst damage.

P.S. Not all mesmers are running the same builds. A zerg support mesmer should be an easy kill for you. Interrupt mesmer (of equal skill) should nearly always win due to warriors having highly telegraphed attacks after repeated nerfs.

I also forgot to say, mesmers have very weak auto attacks, they are about half what other classes are and most of their personal attacks are about half of other professions. Most of their damage comes from shatters and phantasms, don’t let clones and phantasms live and you’ll have a much easier fight.

Other things that can help against the plethora of bad mesmers out there (like me, when I run mine): keep moving and clear clones/phantasms when they’re in stealth or it’s otherwise convenient.

An ideal scenario from the mesmer perspective is surrounding you with 3 clones and themselves for a burst. Don’t let the fight remain on a single point. I basically keep moving around, stringing the clones along so they’re following me, then I’ll throw a bladetrail or use a whirlwind to clear them out in one shot… sometimes auto attack. Pruning the clones and phantasms and otherwise slowing the shatter by not getting surrounded prolongs the fight.

Prolonging the fight provides more opportunities for the mesmer to make a mistake, and the bad mesmers will inevitably make them. Eventually they’ll be out of stealths and their clone production will slow down. Then set up a cc+burst or even a whirlwind attack (if using gs) to finish them off. You won’t always kill them, but you can force a retreat or reset, which isn’t bad for you either.

The above is what I’ve been doing as a zerk warrior in wvw. Slow the fight down by always moving and clearing clones, bait them close, surprise them with something painful. They have a clear build advantage, but at least you can limit the number of inferior players facerolling you.

Oh, and remember, they only have one teleport. If you catch them with a cc and they disappear, assume they’re still there and burst the hell out of the air. They might not actually be there (one of their stealths is a stun break, like the teleport), but you could get lucky.