Guild Wars 2

I love everything about this. Good job, Anet.

On a side note and mesmer-wise:

i)
Can you stop focusing so much on mantras and resuming mesmer changes to either that or shattering? I know that it’s important to have mantra’s being useful but maybe try to make them more fun to play first? (not sure how this could be accomplished, tho; maybe have passives while unready? or buffing up the invulnerability mantra’s trait?) They’re not really fun to play as they are now, at all. I feel like they’re only truly useful as in stack increased damage output for PvE speed kill challenges.

ii)
You really need to do something about the torch’s phantasm. It’s completely useless even in confusion builds. Also because retaliation in this game is pointless; it scales terribly. Give it a blind instead of confusion for example or boon conversion instead of retaliation. Anything but it’s current state. I use the torch and refuse to summon it unless I’m desperate for shatter fodder. Even my clones are more useful.

iii)
I would also invite you to take a general look at all the clone’s effects. I currently main a prismatic clone factory condition build in sPvP and I’m forced to use sword+pistol/sword+torch (and my build is borderline OP) because every other clone type (exception to the staff one) SUCKS.

How can sword clones inflict vulnerability and remove conditions, the staff ones inflict random boons and conditions and the GS and the scepter do absolutely nothing?

This is also why the scepter is in such a crappy state for mesmers (even thought your last scpeter changes have been a huge improvement!), The GS would be in a similar state if it’s phantasm wasn’t completely OP (multistrike, area-damage, stays at relative safe range, summons from max range AND causes cripple… I don’t even..). But the scepter… Come on, give it some love.

In my pure clone/condition build I have zero interest in using the scepter a.k.a. the clone condition weapon(!) because it’s clones are useless (and because blocking sucks even thought torment is awesome [more about blocking in the next post]. Give scepter’s clones ANY effect! half a stack of confusion?; let them summon other clones (with a really slow attack speed)?; anything.

iv)
Mesmer’s have access to a really cool block build that every other month I go back to trying and always – very quickly – remember why I gave up in the first place. And I’d like to see more players encouraged to try that out – as with other block builds. Blocking can be extremely fun.

But currently blocking sucks if you’re fighting pet classes (minion builds, spirit builds, phantasms/clones, turrets) because you’re constantly being hit by 3000 minions and your precious effects don’t mirror to the player controlling them; which makes the build 100% unreliable against half your opponents.

Can’t block effects trigger on the person who summoned the pets, even if just for a percentage? This would buff the more offensive side of guardian block too (and necro retaliation builds if they ever existed), also it could even make retaliation viable (unlikely tho).

v)
One last point, more than changing the traits, a lot of wasted potential happens on skills. If you look at things like arcane thievery or mimic for example, and how there’s next to no incentive to using those skills either because they’re unreliability in fast paced battles or the existence of way superior alternatives (feedback, null field) it’s clearly something that needs and could bring change.

Hell, I would even argue other skill changes for signet of inspiration and veil (I know wvw people would kill me instantly tho). Yes, I know they have very strong situational uses but still, they’re not really doing much for build diversity.

Anyway, sorry for the long post. I’m really passionate about mesmers.

@Kaylinn

and to all people who mistake pvp to “just one more feature”. go kitten yourselves. GW1 community was all centered around pvp. MMOs selling point is about pvp or cooperation for dungeon/raid content. THERE IS NO OTHER GAME TYPE that does pvp better. ITS MMOs. It was and is this game’s selling points. Not jumping puzzles.

That’s why it’s build on this engine and not on one for platforms. Are you that stupid that you can’t understand that?

And for all that is sacred, try out pvp and stop being an idiot.

@Adamantium

wow, so brave, such courage, so intellect, smart shibe, wow

I deleted the post when I decided to turn it into a thread, kitten.

Josh Foreman.8250:

I said earlier, we have a great engine for GW2. But making it do platforming stuff is like getting a powerful heavy elephant to win a horse race. It’s not always pretty. Finding the sweet spot between pushing the boundaries of the engine to create new old-school mechanics and keeping the gameplay perfectly smooth is a constant game of compromise. I’m not claiming we’re perfect at it. But we’re trying. Check back after we get the changes in and see if we addressed most of the difficulty spikes.
I’m really appreciative to have this interchange with you guys. Some of your ideas are going directly into our fix. Though most of the warranted complaints are just a limitation of what we can and can’t do with our engine. (Like making the dart traps knock back instead of kill. That was our initial intent, but there’s no way to make it work.)

I don’t wanna sound like an kitten but maybe you could take that as a tip to going back to designing content that’s relevant to MMORPG players.

If we wanted to play old school platformers we’d probably go and buy those games. There are plenty of them! With better suited engines and that are overall a lot more fun.

I play GW2 because I love the combat mechanics, theorycrafting, playing with and against other players and the rpg elements. Jumping puzzles are cool, yes, but as a casual and from-time-to-time experience. Not as full scale living story updates and worlds, or mandatory and in the way to getting new skins and achievements kind of thing.

When I see you guys spending so much freaking time and effort in designing this enormous platform mini game content that speaks zero to players like me that bought the game and continue playing it for its RPG and PvP elements, it just makes me so frustrated.

Specially when I go about my daily pvp routines and (even a year after release) I feel ignored and lied to as a pvp player. Zero new game modes, no proper tournaments, a numb and broken progression and rewards system and 2 new maps that aren’t even that reliable for ultra-competitive play. I appreciate all the balance updates and interface changes the game has had related to pvp, but those were fixes that the game badly needed, not new content. PvP (and WvW) are lacking so much, and instead of you addressing that*, we get more mini games. Why?

*(and addressing these issues is not writing posts telling us how you understand the frustration and promising us you that are passionate about the game. Addressing the issues means designing and implementing new features to change the complaints and make the game actually better)

Still, I really appreciate your effort in communicating more with us through the forums. Thanks

/casts protection, stability, retaliation
Come at me, bros.

that’s all very nice but what i wanted to read was “these are the features we will be implementing soon to address the players concerns and revitalize the pvp community”.

Posting on how you love the game and “understand our frustrations” doesn’t really change anything.

I just feel like we keep living on generic promises about things that will “eventually” happen that never actually see the light of day.

I’m not even sure you guys are even discussing this issues internally. And your level of abstractness just kind of proves it. But yeah, designing the next 300 zerg living story missions must take away all the devs time. #bitter

And so pvp-ers are left salvaging pvp rewards they already unlocked one year ago and watching our irrelevant rank bar barely move. that’s gw2 pvp life, folks!

plus, “deathmatch is not fun so kitten that” I DON’T EVEN…!!…

Guild wars 2 is a very much community-centered game and an awesome example of how possible it is to create a friendly, strong and healthy gaming environments. That’s why we think this is a perfect place to find people interested in talking about building better online gaming communities.

—
Are you part of the online gaming culture and tired of how hateful and violent it can be? Are you a human rights activist who never had the chance to talk seriously about gaming communities? Are you a passionate gamer with a strong interest in human rights? Do you run an online gaming community, write about videogames or develop them and feel curious about this topic?

GameOver Hate is just for you!

GameOver Hate is a 6 day (23th-28th September) conference about building better online gaming communities and tackling online hate. Our focus will be on forging a community of gamers/professionals in the gaming industry that do not only understand and recognize hateful behaviors that happen in online gaming spaces but also proactively act to change them.

For more info check: http://gameoverhate.tumblr.com/

The call for participants is open until 31st July!

the only reason I don’t use mimic is because I get hit by the first shot which normally is the one i’m trying to avoid. it makes the skill kind of useless compared to feedback.

On the other had it is useful to have 4 seconds of invincibility. (:

I’d totally trade not having the second part of the spell if it could negate not being hit by the first projectile.

yeah, it’s weird. burning (the prestige) and confusion from the mage (as if anyone cared about this phantasm) do combo with condition duration and the cripple on clone’s death also relate to with the invisibility of the prestige. But meeh.

Dear OP, you’re brilliant.

I THINK ABOUT THIS CHANGES EVERY SINGLE TIME I PLAY! ):

I hope Anet reads this thread. /pray

I agree with the OP 100%.

<Team looking for players>

Team name: [Life]
Region: EU (Aurora Glade)
Members: around 10 active players each night
Practice Times: afternoons/early night (GMT after 19h)
Classes looking for: What we want are skilled players. We value sense of humor and maturity too. We can already make up lots of different combinations but what’s important is being skilled and being flexible. New builds and specs can always be learned/adjusted/debated as long as people are smart and able to communicate. We can even sometimes all try a 5 minion necros troll team just for fun. Everybody can have their preference as long as they’re honest about what they’re good at.
Other: We’re very friendly but also competitive. We always use voip and sometimes do factal runs / Guild missions

If you’re interested (and are an awesome person!), pm our guild leaders Sindrish.2501, Aies.8974 or Amateurgod.5403.

Leeroy Jenkins!

the number 2 on the staff works, I think. can someone confirm this?

Vayra.3290:

AmateurGod.5403:

milo.6942:

AmateurGod.5403:

And yes, it is a teleport skill as it brings you from one place to other instantly. It doesn’t give swiftness, it takes you where you want to go in a flash. You can even cross gaps with it – something that other teleport skills can’t even do.

pls don’t distract the discussion with pointlessly wrong assertions
rtl should be affected by slows like all gap closers.
the end.

You are a pointlessly wrong assertion.

I was replying to that guy’s comment as I’m allowed to. And I’m the OP, so chill the kitten out.

Being the OP has no relevance.

RTL is not a teleport. It’s a charge. And since all other charges are allowed with the orb, so should RTL. You saying it is a teleport does not make it so. Teleports by their very nature are instant, RTL is not. Lightning Flash is, and rightly drops the orb. Your assertion was wrong, deal with it.

So now you’re calling it a “charge” and giving it a different name – Something also irrelevant to the discussion. Whatever you call it, it’s an OP skill. No one cares.

Some other “charge skills” effects were reduced while carrying the orb, so RTL should too. “Charges”, in general, like teleports, (two completely different things not to be mistaken with each other cause the Apocalypse might come!) should drop the orb since they have the same effect and result.

Honestly, all the eles’s coming here to defend RTL is ridiculous. Are you really that much bad players that your only possible accomplishment is in exploiting that map? Go capture some points and try to kill players. Isn’t it boring to RTL+Mist form all day long?

And the simple truth is that It’s no fun to play that map when you’re only efficient in one class and one build and when others have 0,5 % chance of stopping you.
Eles’s aren’t even the only “mobility class” in the game, why are they the only viable build for carrying orbs? It’s lazy, stupid and obviously broken.

The only real solution for this as has been suggested before is to just lock down all the skills and make the teams protect the carrier. (or make specific skills for the orb that are the same for everyone). Let’s Encourage team work, ditch the mandatory fixed build for all teams and promote different tactics. It’s not that hard, really.

dejay.2598:

Dralor.3701:

DDog.4350:

Putting mist form/elixir S on cd to stomp somebody will put himself in a position where he has no escapes at all. Your team can instagib him at this point.

How do they have no escapes? Both of these classes are usually bunkers, but anyway this isn’t the point of my topic. Please read what I have written below.

Plenty of classes use quickness, stealth, stability etc. to stomp but those abilities can still be countered. (or the player killed)

The point is two abilities are completely immune to any sort of interruption/damage. It doesn’t make sense, it isn’t fun and it makes for extremely poor interaction/counter-plays. A player should not be allowed to stomp with one of these abilities active.

since you want to talk about team play, how about ressing? either double res or cooldown res? maybe stealth blanket? or maybe just don’t die huh?

guys nerf rally. it’s totally op. I backstab + steal gibbed this mesmer and as I’m stealth stomping him (totally balanced btw) SOMEONE RALLYS HIM! WTF? I HAVE TO KILL HIM AGAIN? I DID, BUT STILL. I HAD TO PRESS MORE BUTTONS. nerf this please

edit~ maybe you should stop playing a necro, they definitely aren’t top tier class but they are still a good class. stop comparing yourself to the gimmick fotm builds that abuse limited game diversity. necros aren’t a faceroll class for sure. but complaining about engineers? what’s next, warriors? lol

just recognize you have the most powerful boon/condition manipulation in the game topped with decent dps & decent survivability for someone who specs dps

I’m really sorry that you have no idea what balance means.

Yeah, you’re right, the game is perfect as it is. Don’t even touch it.

milo.6942:

AmateurGod.5403:

And yes, it is a teleport skill as it brings you from one place to other instantly. It doesn’t give swiftness, it takes you where you want to go in a flash. You can even cross gaps with it – something that other teleport skills can’t even do.

pls don’t distract the discussion with pointlessly wrong assertions
rtl should be affected by slows like all gap closers.
the end.

You are a pointlessly wrong assertion.

I was replying to that guy’s comment as I’m allowed to. And I’m the OP, so chill the kitten out.

Verdelet Arconia.6987:

i think its a fair mechanic,you have to sacrifice and suffer cooldown on that ability for a stomp. Its not an exploit anyways.

It would be fair if everyone had access to invulnerability stomps and everyone could also equaly prevent them.

Mesmers, eles and thiefs can always prevent stomps from multiple people and invulnerability doesn’t even affect their ability to do so. Thiefs can even do it 2 times in a row. $#"%$#

Necros, for instance, on the other hand, can only interrupt one person (1!) and if that person has stability.. well kitten you necro, you’re dead.

And then there’s the ‘who has access to stability and quickness’ part. Mesmers, as long as they have one illusion out, they can always get invulnerabily (no need for specific skills). Other classes have access to invulnerabilty and stability stances aswell but they have to sacrifice an utility slot (mist form, etc)

What about necros? – you ask.
Well, Necros, on the other hand, need to invest 30 freaking points in one specific trait line if they want to taste any kind of stability whatsoever. And even then it’s a difficult to control one and that requires life force as you need to get in and out of death shroud instantly.

Awesome, hem? And we wonder why no one plays necros. (:

So yeah, there, my friends, is the definition of unbalance. And what stomping and the downed state is just a one more reason against e-sports and serious spvp.

Thieves, mesmers, eles = Awesome as kitten; Warriors, guardians, rangers = yeah, ok, whatever; Necros = the cancer of arenanet.

dejay.2598:

Nikkle.4013:

AmateurGod.5403:

Mist form drops the orb.

Nope

make rtl drop the orb, revert nerf. then you can cry about eng double elixir s immune + perm vigor + higher base armor + 4k more base hp + mass condi drop + knockback spam + gluebomb + tool kit block

Let me guess, you main an ele?

Everyone can spec for vigor, with more or less advantages. Why are only elementalists teleport skills being untouched?

And yes, it is a teleport skill as it brings you from one place almost instantly. It doesn’t give swiftness, it takes you where you want to go in a flash. You can even cross gaps with it – something that other teleport skills can’t even do. Denying that RTL is OP in that map is just pathetic.

Mist form drops the orb.

For God’s sake how long does it the devs to even try skills on maps to realize they’re clearly not working as intended?

If you’re baning teleport skills from taking the orb on Spirit Watch why the hell is Ride the Lightning an exception? How many more speed bunker eles on spirit watch is it gonna take for you to fix that incredibly easy to spot exploit?

Also, take a look at the speed movement traits and skills, btw. Speed while carrying the orb should be fixed and the same for everyone.

As if ele’s weren’t overpowered enough already in conquer maps for all the aoe.

/rant

(PS: Love the map, thanks <3)

So I guess I’m one of those players who gets a kitten from collecting all the different possible armor pieces/ weapon skins available in the game for my characters. So many! not nearly enough!

The problem is, of course, inventory space, item stats and item upgrades. Oh no.

This game makes it impossible for me to be able to wear the armor and the weapons I have when I want because the skins are tied to specific items with specific stats and upgrades.

I might have unlocked a full berzerker set on some random skin, but if I want to wear it, for instance, on my cultural armor set keeping those same exacts stats + sigils/runes/upgrades… Though luck then! Either I transmute the whole thing and will never be able to wear again it (OMG WHY WOULD I EVER WANT TO DO THAT?!) or unless, of course, I farm the whole set again from scratch, just to transmute away to the item. thanks, but no thanks. grinding is cool when it has a purpose. when you’re doing it again and again just to replicate the stats you already have, it’s just stupid. nope.
Plus, the game might give you some fine transmutation stones now and them (as in, once and never again), but if you’ll want to use them more often, the only way to get them is though the gem store (or some RNG on the map completion which almost never works).

Turning 2 items into one and loosing one skin in the process is just – simply put- a broken game mechanic. And punishing me for having worked harder in unlocking more skins in game also makes no sense.

Conclusion: all those skins wasted away because giving them the best stats you have on other random items is just too complicated and expensive.
Let’s just stay ugly and give a massive f-u to encouraging people to use whatever they like and to allowing them to change their tastes and self expression as often as they want.

And Yes, transmutation stones and inventory space are a way to get money, I get that. But I do honestly believe that it’s just ruining the whole concept of skins in pve and not giving the company that much profit.

Anet, You showed us how a fully functional skin locker could work – in pvp (and it’s awesome), and other MMO’s have also managed to get it right too (city of heroes, lord of the rings..). The time has come for you to admit that this whole lack of pve locker thing is not such a smart financing policy after-all but instead a thing that’s ruining the fun for everyone and dumbing down the this wonderful game.

Why would ever grinding for inventory space + the means to replicate a gear’s status in another skin need to take 10 times more work than unlocking/buying/crafting my exotic (and non exotic) gear?

/rant

timmyf.1490:

Here’s my issue: wanting to watch the videos, kill all the mobs, and otherwise PLAY THE GAME (as opposed to EARN ALL THE TOKENS) does not make you a n00b.

Some of us just prefer to work for real money at our real jobs and play games for fun in our spare time. We shouldn’t be insulted for that.

Are you all about 6m speed runs? Fine. Be open about it when you try to party up and make it easier for us to avoid you.

This. ^

Blix.8021:

AmateurGod.5403:

What do you think?

I think this horse has been beaten enough.

If it’s still happening and more and more often, I guess that horse needs something else besides a beating.

Dungeons in GW2 are getting dangerously filled with jerks who just want to skip, zerk and bully any player who actually wants to enjoy the content of the game.

What the hell is up with these nasty people on dungeons keen on not letting others enjoy the game? It’s really starting to get under my skin. Or I am delusional in trying to help other players, not skipping mobs and enjoying the content the developers created for us?

I’ve experienced people telling others after they told them it’s their first time in that path and that they want to see the cinematics (not speed runs, not on CoF) “go watch the videos on youtube, noob”, “oh, the little noob wants to see the videos!”.

One time 2 people on my party said they wanted to kill the mobs instead of skipping them in TA “also for the loot” and the reply was “LOOT? go farm Orr instead LOL”.

Once I was kicked from a party because I refused to take orders from some random dude who was horrified when I actually said I didn’t want to skip the mobs. IRONY: I ended up being re-invited to the team because they needed me after all. (I told them to kitten off by then)

One time I was in a group where 3 of us kept dying trying to skip the mobs and 2 random players who refused to stop running kept going without us knowing we were being unable to pass the mobs. I stayed behind trying to help these new players who were seemingly lacking in evasive skills (one of them was a low level engineer and still learning I guess). Eventually they came back for us when they realized they couldn’t kill the final boss by themselves. I told them how stupid of a strategy it was to ignore that more than half of your team was dead and unable to progress. I was then called a noob and kicked out. Bad for them, though, I was the instance creator.

Suddenly skipping and speed running is the only “cool” way to do dungeons, even if it’s some forsaken Sorrow’s Embrace story mode. God forbid anyone wanting to kill the mobs! What, risking gaining some exp and loot! LOL NOOB L2P!!1

And worst, sometimes people even end up dying more often because their team decides to skip mobs than because of the actual fighting the mobs. It just gets stupid. You waste more time rezzing, WP and running back because you’re saving time not killing mobs. !?

I do understand how speed runs work. That’s why I only do them when I specifically want to farm tokens and such. But these previous examples were all from “normal” runs – whatever that means. Even when you warn people you want see the videos or that “can we not skip the mobs this time?”, most of the times people just run it through half-way. It’s just depressing.

I don’t care if some human gamer bots want to run back and forth killing the same 2 bosses and dodging the same five fire balls every 8 minutes. But why do we all have to accommodate to this mindless-grind playstyle of people who only care about the gold per second ratio?

Also, not being a newcomer to MMO’s, I’m used to jerks trying to bully others and “being l33t and OMG so much better than anyone else”, only to have them choke on their words later when I’m the one rezzing them for the 5th time. But this is Guild Wars 2, I have different expectations for it community-wise.

[/rant]

Solutions?

What I tell my friends is:

- avoid “speed runs”, people looking for specific classes (as in, warriors) or advertising for “no noobs” when looking for groups (because 9 out of 10 times, these are jerks);
- leave groups where they ask you to ping your equipment/trinkets or where people force you to play a certain style;
- try to ask people in beginning of the runs not to skip the mobs;
- try to play with your guild/irl friends;
- when someone gets left behind, ask people to join you and helping them;
- and stand up against bullies and people trying to be elitist, don’t tolerate abuse.

(“zerker” as in, people only wanting players in full berzerker gear)

What do you think?
/endure pain

TLDR: skip-elitist-zerkers are ruining the game.

My Tier 3 Silvary magic glass greatsword me makes super proud. <3

Ojimaru.8970:

Anet says mesmer phantasams and clones are just regular attacks it follows…

Please provide the source of this quote. I have a nagging feeling that you’ve taken a quote out of context.

Regardless, you’re comparing a Warrior’s direct attack to – what is essentially – a pet’s attack. Apples and Omnomberries.

Illusions are not pets. They’re temporary and only attack the target they were summoned to. If the target dies, they’re gone.
Ilusions are more like conditions than pets.

I agree with the OP’s possible critical trigger, but I’m afraid it might get op’ed. IDK, maybe the global cooldown would work and not make it imbalanced.

I think though that it could trigger only for phantasms and not for clones. Clones were designed to be mainly a distraction, kind of like an evasive utility (even though they can be used for attack). Phantams, on the other hand, are our main source of DPS (in most builds). They are just like our attacks and their stats come directly from the mesmer and the mesmer’s equipment (even though this also applies to clones). So I think it would make sense for the sigils to trigger.

Arenanet should bring back fighting staves. It’s the most tradition weapon in martial arts and I never understood why it was suddenly just a useless gigantic magic stick.

Also, of course, Mainhand pistol!

CrazyAce.3842:

Well, if you ask me, Signet of Illusions’ passive and active effect are totally at odds. The passive effect supports a Legion build and the active effect supports a Shatter build. Kinda wonky.

But the fact of the matter is I don’t use it in the first place because my utilities are Decoy, Mirror Images, and Null Field. For my current build I’m one of the few Mesmers that doesn’t use Blink in PvE. I’ve never found that I need it. Maybe if it gave me Z-axis transversal I’d use it, but I find clone spamming to be more useful to me.

Exactly. It’s a weird signet and that was one of the points of the post.

TBH I don’t understand why you’d use mirror images in a phantasm build. it works wonders with a staff condition build or with shattering but I don’t really see the point in a legion build.

I got decoy and nullfield as well and I don’t use blink either – it’s not good enough for speed and the camera angles in most fights end up kittening its true potential.

I used to put on the Phantasmal Disenchanter as my 3rd utility mainly for the membrane buff since he would stay away and wouldn’t die as often. Now I’m still testing.

Congrats on deciding to join the conversation as an adult.

NO ONE LIKES YOU, FOCUS. WE’RE JUST USING YOU FOR SPEED.

—

@Staff users:
Are you kidding me? Chaos storm gives 3 seconds of swiftness and you have to wait until that boon comes. It’s useless for speed.

@VoodooTina
[ I think you’re looking for things to be sad about. ]

No, bb, I’m not looking for things to be sad about. What I’m doing is helping this game improve by questioning somethings that me and some other mesmer players think could be improved. Ever heard of constructive criticism? Ever heard of feedback and patch notes and tweaks?

[ First off, it makes perfect sense for every single Mesmer to use shatters – at the right time. Your precious phantasms disappear no matter what once they have done their job. You may as well get some benefit from them before they do. ]

First of all, just because it makes sense for me to shatter it doesn’t mean I should invest in traits and skills that focus on them if that’s not the core of my build. I never said I want shattering to be removed. If you read my post from beginning to end you’ll notice that I’m questioning one specific skill and one specific trait that are both forcefully connected with both phantasms and shattering. Get it?

[ The active benefit of Signet of Illusions is of no importance in a phantasm build. Using the signet will make your phantasms easier to kill. Not something you want to do if you rely on them for everything, is it? ]

Do you even know what you’re talking about? The active effect recharges my shatter skills, how does that make my phantasms easier to kill? be serious or GTFO
What’s difficult in understanding that I might be interested in a skill that grants more 50% health to my phantasms?…

[ You’re also going at least 10 deep into domination for Empowered Illusions. Why aren’t you complaining that you’re forced to pick up Illusion of Vulnerability along the way? It does nothing for your build either. ]

I’m not complaining about that because the 2 best weapons for phantasms (pistol and GS) have both extremely useful interrupts. So it makes sense. And because I’m complaining about one trait that seems to be designed with a use in a phantasms build and not complaining about general trait lines. I am not allow to question things?

[ The trees aren’t designed with any one build (ie, yours) in mind. You’ll make compromises. The same is true of shatter builds, mantra builds, shutdown builds …. You get the point. You can’t focus a build 100% on any one thing, the game isn’t made that way.]

Well, I think they are. And if you use one second to think about it I’m sure you’ll come to the same conclusion. Or is it not that the inspiration tree kinda focus on phantams, the illusion tree on shattering, the chaos tree on condition damage, the dueling tree on mantras and the domination tree on shutdown? They clearly have specific focuses by their design, if that ends up working or not just means they aren’t very well balanced and organized.

@CrazyAce

[ If you don’t want to shatter your phantasms, you’re not playing your shatter build right. In a shatter build you summon your phantasms, let them attack, then shatter right after because most of them have long pauses between their attacks, especially the iDuelist.

GUESS WHAT? IT’S NOT A SHATTER BUILD, kitten. READ THE POST.

[ TL:DR… My point? QUIT WHINING AND LEARN TO PLAY YOUR CLASS.
Take ten minutes and read the trait line options before you go complaining about a core class mechanic that works as intended, and works well at that. ]

What? read the “trait lines”? What’s that? Is it in the game? Is that magic? And “Learn to play my class”? How? Like reading books and stuff? Can your mother maybe teach me, oh wise one since you know so much yourself? Maybe I’ll ask her directly next time she’s around.

If you sincerely believe that shattering is perfectly working as intended in such an extreme way that no one can even suggest that maybe they don’t want to shatter their phantasms all the time, then please understand that there are a lot of people that disagree with you that do know how to play the class in a very successful way. I also invite you to get to meet more mesmer players. Try making some friends, you know, you’ll see it’s fun.

TL:DR: Quit trying to bully people because you have no self esteem and are lost, you end up sounding like an annoying little kid (if you’re not already). And start reading other people’s posts before raging on them. Also, get a life.

Exactly. This game has now reached officially the after Princess Wand era. I used to want a legendary and now I’ve got it. <3

So, this has been on my mind for quite some time now. I’ve been playing mesmer ever since the very beginning and for the last month I’ve settled (like most mesmers that don’t like to rely on shatters) for a full phantasms build.

Still, there are two thing that continue to annoy me in our lovely, lovely profession more than anything else; More than our lame mantras, more than the unreliability of our confusion builds, more than the utter ineffectiveness of our blocks in PVP, more than the extremely imperfect trait tree for condition damage, more than our sad lack of swiftness and more than the total uselessness of our Grandmaster traits. And those two things are the Signet of Illusions and the Phantasmal Haste trait.

Reminder:
Signet of Illusions (skill): grants more health to illusions [passive] and recharges shatter skills [active]
Phantasmal Haste (trait): Phantasms recharge 20% faster | Trait X (needs 25 points in the Illusions tree)

The thing is:
A Phantasm build wants (needs) its phantasms to have more health and to recharge faster since all its power comes from them being alive. That’s the core part of the build: keeping phantasms alive and re-summoning them as fast as possible, thus the importance of these trait and skill.

But then if I want to get this skill and trait why does the game force me to invest in shattering (through the illusions tree) and in a skill with a shatter-focused effect when that’s the exact opposite of what this build is trying to accomplish?

If I shatter, my phantasms die and there goes my DPS, my regeneration and protection, my +defense, my +damage (and my +mobility if I actually cared for Compouding Celerity).
These two skill and trait are related to the core part of a phantasm build. This build is the one for which they seemed to be design for and the one they will be more effective on. So I don’t understand why would the game put them in a tree that’s totally unrelated to the mechanics of this build and in a skill with an active effect that the build simply will not use.
/cry of frustration/

Oh “But shattering is a core mechanic of any mesmer!” says arenanet. And my answer is: potato.

We all know that phantasm builds don’t shatter unless the apocalypse is about to come and we need diversion or an interrupt (and even then.. does it make sense to give up on our core source of DPS and protection/evasion?)

There are a lot of options for a mesmer (even if most of them don’t actually work effectively) and It’s ok if you don’t want to use a phantasm build. But Arenanet, don’t put phantasm essential skills and traits in the game that I simply cannot use while in a phantasm build. It’s pointless.

The only remotely intelligent explanation for this that I could come up with was that maybe it’s some kind of trolling. The game teasing us by showing us skills that we should be using but just cannot. Is that it?, The ultimate inner troll mesmer revenge?

And that’s it. Discuss