Showing Posts For Chaos Archangel.5071:

mistrust gutted

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

It’s not like mistrust was impactful outside of being a super gimmicky 1-trick-pony type deal. The new trait synergizes really well with blinding dissipation.

d00d check ur PMs

Also, was there anything about this balance pass that anyone is happy/ok about? All I see are tears everywhere.

8/8/2017 Mesmer Balance

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

I was ready to cry about how I just got back and how I had to spend so much time getting used to all the changes like two days ago.. and now this.

… But then I tried out this swanky new Mantra of Distraction. All is forgiven, Anet.

[Video] WvW Roaming - Return of the FLIMP!

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

It’s just your standard condie build with sc/sh + staff. He’s running insp/ill/chrono, probably a mix of rabid and dire based on the crit rate.

Thanks a lot Flimp!

looks at acc name

That’s a new one.

I asked him, not you, take a seat.

Goodness, such hostility for being literally exactly correct? It’s not like it’s rocket science to figure out a build from a video. It took me about 30 seconds of clicking to random parts in the video to figure out exactly what the build was, and anyone with actual knowledge about the class should be able to do that.

Always.

Making.

Frands.

.. Good stuff, FLIMP!

[GUIDE] Lyssa's Grimoire: The Mesmer Handbook

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Well now. They didn’t remove the sticky… So I suppose it’s only right that I update it!

I’ll be on to run some tests and get beat up by my OMFG frands this weekend. Till then, ia there anything super pressing be added to the guide immediately?

Mesmer Balance Changes

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Sweet Lyssa… Someone please tell me Levetty is wrong!

Mesmer Balance Changes

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Downloading now… Can we even talk about this here? xD

Anyways. How does Mesmer feel since the alacrity & friends nerf guys? Is it really “mez ded” or more of a really inconvenient and ill-thought change that makes the class harder and less rewarding to play… But somehow still viable?

Mesmer Balance Changes

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

A martial-arts based MMO? Dude.. I’m trying to play guild wars here. I just got back! What is this greatness you are distracting me with?

All I wanted from guild wars was a martial arts class. =[ If B&S (which for a second I thought was Batman and Superman) has a Capoeira-based style I think I may never play any other game ever again

Mesmer Balance Changes

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

I’ve technically sorta-kinda been back for a little bit, just been lurking mostly though until I get my computer set up properly.

Ty tho!

Mesmer Balance Changes

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Oh my god tho… x_x I come back to see this and immediately feel a need to go throw up in my mouth.

Yo yo!

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

ty! :D

and thats interesting.. Anything new on the WvW/PvE front?

Any new builds pop up or high profile streamers ect.

And who is OP now? Revs still?

Yo yo!

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

After being gone for a bit (smite on Xbox ONE will do that to you) I come back to see.. Nerfs? o_O

Whats changed for Mesmer in the past few months?

I feel useless in PvP as Tempest??

in Elementalist

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Ironically, Tempest has become my favorite and most rewarding class to play atm.. And as a dedicated Mesmer that’s really saying something.

I run a fresh air staff auramancer using Water/Air/Tempest and I’ve been having a blast.

Too much alacrity stacking

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

“I’m salty that Rangers got nerfed so lets nerf Mesmer too”

If alacrity uptime was like Quickness it’d be useless… They’re nothing alike.

And dude.. how about you TRY it before you call for nerfs and see how “overpowered” it actually is to manage keep Alacrity on allies, especially in PvP.

Rune of Chrono: Bug or Tooltip?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

  • Apply 2 seconds of quickness when you cast a Well.

“Apply” generally means the effect is given to allies whereas “Gain” (Gain 2 seconds of quickness) usually refers to only the player.

Currently Rune of the Chronomancer only applies its affect to the caster. Are they meant to apply 2s Quickness to allies within the well, or is it just a misleading tooltip?

I feel like a raid boss

in Necromancer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Grenth on a cupcake. xD

This thread made me wanna play a reaper

[PvP] Quick Tips: Building Your Chronomancer

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

I’ll be at peace when I have linked a Condi build that won’t make Embolism go set my house on fire.

[PvP] Quick Tips: Building Your Chronomancer

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Don’t you sass me! The Condi build was total guesswork. xD

/edits

… Uh.. Can one of yall Condi players build-edit me a condi build? Can’t from phone.

(edited by Chaos Archangel.5071)

[PvP] Quick Tips: Building Your Chronomancer

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

(Lyssa’s Grimoire is 80% updated! While I add in the Chronomancer bits, I’ll work on mini-threads -that’ll eventually be merged into the Grimoire- to help get the info out as soon as possible)

So you wanna make a Chronomancer for PvP real quick, but not sure what traits work? Perhaps theorycrafting just isn’t your thing? Here are some quick notes for building your own Chronomancer.


TRAITS

  • Domination & Dueling go with EVERYTHING In any game type, you can never go wrong with Dom/Dueling. This works for Chronomancer as well… if you’re going for a power build. For more specific traits…

SHATTER: (Dom/Dueling/Chrono) – Mental Anguish, Shattered Concentration, Deceptive Evasion, Time Catches Up, Illusionary Reversion

CONDI: (Dueling/Illusions/ Chrono) – Deceptive Evasion, Ineptitude, Maim the disillusioned, Malicious Sorcery, Illusionary Reversion

LOCKDOWN: (Dom/Chaos/Chrono) – Power Block, Chaotic Interruption, Mirror of Anguish, Delayed Reactions, Danger Time, Lost Time

PHANTASM: (Domination/Illusions/Chrono) – Empowered Illusions, Persistence of Memory, Phantasmal Haste, Improved Alacrity, Chronophantasma

SUPPORT: (Chaos/Inspiration/Chrono) – Chaotic Dampening, Bountiful Disillusionment Illusionary Inspiration, Shattered Conditions, Alls Well that Ends Well, Improved Alacrity, Chronophantasma


WEAPONS

  • Get ready to see a lot of Greatsword. It’s the “meta” weapon for PvP Mesmers for a reason. However if you need a bit more defense, add a Staff into the mix.
  • SHATTER: – Sword/Torch + Greatsword
  • CONDI: – Scepter/Pistol or Torch + Staff
  • LOCKDOWN: – Sword/Shield + Greatsword
  • PHANTASM: Sword/Pistol or … Any offhand that isn’t torch + Greatsword
  • SUPPORT: Sword/Shield or Focus + Staff (Suck it, greatsword!)

AMULETS

  • Marauder, Celestial, and Rabid Amulets are your best bet Power damage = Marauder. Condition Damage = Rabid. Celestial for a safer build at the cost of being as powerful as the other two options.

POWER: – Marauder, Berserker, Celestial
CONDITION: – Rabid, Celestial


RUNES

  • There’s some variety and options here, never be afraid to explore But this will list the most popular runes currently.

POWER: Strength, Hoelbrak, Chronomancer, Lyssa, Melandru, Pack
CONDITION: Undead, Nightmare
SUPPORT: Altruism, Mercy, Pack


SIGILS

  • Same as above. Lots of good options And.. A lot less creativity on my part to fill out this following sentence. o_o

POWER: Fire, Air
CONDITION: Geomancy, Blood, Doom
GENERAL: Energy, Generosity, Purity


UTILITIES

  • It can be hard to pick the right utilities sometimes. Especially when not all utility skills match every situation/matchup. You always want to carry atleast one stunbreak and it’s wise to always bring either Blink or Decoy into any combat engagement.

STUNBREAK: Blink, Decoy, Well of Precognition

TEAM FIGHTS: TimeWarp, Mass Invisibility, Well of … Anything, really.

STOMPS/REZZES: Well of Precognition, Well of Action

MESMER-SPECIFIC GREATNESS: Portal, Gravity Well


SAMPLE BUILDS

  • Keep in mind that most Chronomancer Grandmasters work with most builds, as of now it’s a matter of personal taste.

SHATTER

CONDITION

LOCKDOWN

SUPPORT


Anddd you’re good to go. Any further questions feel free to post in this thread!

(edited by Chaos Archangel.5071)

Ridiculous Aura Support Build

in Elementalist

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Will be trying a variant of this today for sure! Ty!

Rune Chronomancer

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Jeez.. Even the tempest runes suck!

Those Herald Runes look promising though.

… What the eff are concentration and expertise?

Rune Chronomancer

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Mwahahahaha!!! PvP Support Mesmer rejoice!

This is glorious… Especially for Well of Action (3s Quickness on final pulse)

"Mesmer is OP" - Facts vs Fiction

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

YOU! Yes, you who just scrolled down without reading. Don’t even think about posting before you’ve read the above.

I read it. And it’s well written. Hopefully this will help, But you have to realize players come from all different backgrounds in this game. There will still be posts about Mesmer being OP because someone played 5 hot joins and kept dying to the Mesmer. But thanks for writing this hopefully some people will inform themselves.

I didn’t write it. That’s all Chaos’ hard work.
I just tried to get some of the people who just scroll through the posts to actually read em before posting.

And I TOTALLY appreciate that! Smiled when I read it.

"Mesmer is OP" - Facts vs Fiction

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

  • Most Mesmer only have 2-3 forms of stealth: Decoy (3s. Stunbreak), The Prestige (3s) and Mass Invisibility (5s. Elite)
  • Most Mesmer only have 2 teleports every ~20 seconds: Blink (30s), Illusionary Leap (12s – Sword)
  • Most Mesmer run the same effing build: (Sword/Torch + Greatsword. Blink/Decoy/Portal (or Mantra of Distraction – Dom/Dueling/ X )

So the Mesmer builds that are being targeted here are your standard shatter Mesmer and standard condition Mesmer (can someone provide me the link to condi Mes? I don’t wanna assume and screw it up) yet in actuality,* the majority of the above complaints are focusing on a few things: Greatsword damage burst, Prismatic Understanding (Chaos Grandmaster – 50% stealth duration & random boons every second stealthed), Confounding Suggestions (daze = stun every 5 seconds + increased daze/stun duration) combined with Mantra of Distraction (instant 1200r daze).*

That’s about it.. The entire class claimed OP mostly because of two traits and how they interact with two utility skills… But are these traits really OP?


”MESMER HAS AN INSTANT-CAST 0-100 BURST! THEY CAN INSTANT STUN YOU EVERY 5 SECONDS! THEY DOMINATE 1v1s!”


Why yes, yes we do. If you’d like to see it in action, take a gander here..

Now here’s the fine print to this so-called instant burst. Or rather, here are the requirements:

  • Enemy must be wearing Marauder or Berserker Amulet (any tankier and it wont work)
  • Enemy be a Mesmer, Ranger, Guardian, or Thief
  • Mesmer must engage with this burst or single out one target in a teamfight.

There is a little guide on performing the burst, linked here and it is super powerful in 1v1s.. But guess what? Mesmers were designed to be master duelists. This is the burst that makes people claim Mesmer takes no skill, or atleast far less skill to master than before.

Heres the thing… One trait doesn’t mean you’ve “mastered” anything. Even if it did, it only means you mastered one build. Take away that guys greatsword, or mantra of distraction, and see how much of a “master” they are.

CS doesn’t make Mesmer as a whole easier to play, it makes a somewhat hard-to-grasp meta build more forgiving. If the only thing that makes CS too “faceroll” is the combination of dom/dueling + fire/air runes + marauder amulet + mantra of distraction + greatsword…

… Then you’re not mad at the trait, you’re mad at a specific build that incorporates it.


SO.. IS MESMER OP?
At the end of the day, the only format Mesmer are OP in are duels. Not teamfights, not WvW zerging, not PvE open world or dungeons, not organized PvP. All of the above complaints come from people who lost to a Mesmer or play a Mesmer in small skirmishes.. Where the Mesmer is MEANT to shine.

People will always find a way to blame their faults on something or someone else, it’s just human nature. They didn’t lose because they’re bad, they lost because you’re OP. Or because their team sucks, or a glitch, lag, a bug, a pet, or whatever else they need to tell themselves for sake of pride and to ignore the fact that they could’ve done something better.

Fact is there’s always gonna be someone better than you, and there are always going to be higher levels of play. If you’re not playing top tier, or studying the class, then what gives you the right to argue with the people who put HOURS of time and work into learning their class and builds?

And if you do have a valid complaint or concern, voice it in a way that actually can be discussed. Be literal and direct, rather than obtuse, because saying things like “tons of X” or “can ALWAYs do Y” or “this happens all the time” or “a bunch of conditions” then you slip into the realm of hyperbole and half-truths.

An educated discussion is always welcome. Whining an ranting will get you flamed.

(edited by Chaos Archangel.5071)

"Mesmer is OP" - Facts vs Fiction

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

(This is a PvP/WvW-oriented thread. This one’s a doozy, but please read)

While I don’t normally try to speak for an entire community, this thread is meant to address the influx of “Mesmer OP” claims that we’ve been receiving … all our Mesmery lives. With the advent of HoT and many new players joining the class, I feel now is one of the best times to start to separate truth from hyperbole and open a real discussion on the current state of Mesmer.

So, lets kick off with a fanciful quote…


”You are not entitled to your opinion.
You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant.”


-Harlan Ellison

”You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant.” -Harlan Ellison


A lot of what people say about Mesmer comes from people who don’t actually play the class so they’re taking bits of information they’ve gathered, adding the experiences they’ve had fighting Mesmer, and sprinkle in some quotes parroted by others to try and add authenticity to their claims. Odds are if you’ve played Mesmer or browse the forums then you’ve heard one of the following things:

  • “Mesmer is super easy to play. I can 1v2 just about anyone just by hitting a few instant-cast buttons.”
  • “Mesmers have too many escapes! They’re impossible to defeat because they can just keep resetting the fight with perma-stealth!”
  • “Mesmer has an instantcast 100-0 burst from an instant unstoppable 1200 range stun that they can cast from stealth every 5 seconds! FIVE seconds! Anet wtf! Wtf anet!? Wat!? Wot!”
  • “I hate Mesmer! I like turtles. You’re just trying to defend your broken class!”
  • “Mesmer takes no skill because they have tons of invulns and teleports and stealths and can just hide while the illusions do all the work.”
  • “Mesmers can have perma 12 stacks of confusion and torment and hide in stealth!”
  • “Signet of Humility (Moa Morph) is an “I win!” button and totally broken!”

Or maybe, if you’ve played Mesmer long enough you’ve heard some variant of all of the freakin’ above! Now before I address the individual claims, I’d like to make one thing clear: All of these claims are bloated with half-truths or outright lies… Except for the instant-cast burst thing, that’s kinda true.

So.. How do you argue with someone who ..
A) Is using arguments based on what someone else said to justify losing to a Mesmer.
B) Claims you’re just blindly defending your class
C) Calls anyone who’s response doesn’t agree with their opinion a troll.

Well you do so with some fast facts. Let’s hit these arguments and see how accurate they really are…

—-

“MESMER TAKES NO SKILL! THEY HAVE TONS OF EVADES AND TELEPORTS AND STEALTHIES AND INVULNS! THEY JUST RESET THE FIGHT WITH STEALTH+HEAL WHENEVER IN DANGER”

”MESMER CAN JUST HIDE WHILE THE ILLUSIONS DO ALL THE WORK!”

—-

How do you define “no skill”? Is it when the class is so easy you don’t have to actually learn their mechanics to win? Is it because some skills are so monsterously overpowered that they take little effort to actually use properly? The term “no skill” is thrown around a lot, often from people who want to make themselves feel better about … themselves, like in the following:

“Mesmer is so easy to play! I picked one up and without even knowing all my skills I was scraping people.”

“All you do is hide while illusions do the work and press 1 button to shatter!”

If you hear any of the above, you’re identifying a scrub… Ah, sorry, that’s rude. “A player with less skill than others who expresses themselves in a scrub-like fashion, further addressed as ‘a scrub.’” Theres only two scenarios where the above happens: When you’re fighting against people who have NO IDEA how to defeat a Mesmer (newer players) or when you’re fighting against people who have NO IDEA how to play GW2 properly.

You’d be surprised how many people base their perception of a class from their experiences in hotjoin, where you literally jump into a match against largely inexperienced players. There is no way to beat a decent player who knows your class and skills by merely spamming everything off cooldown. Bottom line is that Mesmer is not so easy to play, no matter what build you run, where you can merely faceroll to victory. Also..

(edited by Chaos Archangel.5071)

Why does veil have such a long CD?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

My idea..

- 60s Recharge
- Reveals stealthed enemies that pass through.

Chaos you dope!

I’m sure you can guess what I’m gonna tell you.

“Chaos you dope” essentially always means. “Your inbox is full!”

In which case… Ross you dope!

[Rapid Fire] in HoT

in PvP

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Where was this written?

And what does it mean for Spacial Surge. o_O

Why does veil have such a long CD?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

My idea..

- 60s Recharge
- Reveals stealthed enemies that pass through.

Nerf Confounding Suggestions

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Wait.. Why am I a troll? O.o

Is a troll just.. Anyone who doesn’t agree with you? Cuz usually big brother Ross rolls in and does all the trolling anyone ever needs.

.. Can we get this thread locked yet?

(Also, Ross, I hate you. -_-)

Nerf Confounding Suggestions

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

One trait doesn’t mean you’ve “mastered” anything. Even if it did, it only means you mastered one build.

Take away that guys greatsword, or mantra of distraction, and see how much of a “master” they are.

CS doesn’t make Mesmer as a whole easier to play, it makes a somewhat hard-to-grasp meta build more forgiving. If the only thing that makes CS too “faceroll” is the combination of dom/dueling + fire/air runes + marauder amulet + mantra of distraction + greatsword…

… Then you’re not mad at the trait, you’re mad at a specific build that incorporates it.

Give Mimic an [X] Cooldown!

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Where [X] = the cooldown of the mimic’d skill.


Pushing my mathing to the limits!

So Mimic is in an odd place right now. It’s an interesting utility that could see a lot of play if it weren’t gated by two things:

  • 90s Cooldown is longer than most skills.
  • Not many utilities are worth mimicing.

Thus my idea of making Mimic match the cooldown of whatever skill you copy. As it stands, Mimic is only actually preferable if you grab Illusion of Life. Not only would it allow you to double-rezz, but Illusion of Life is on a 120 second cooldown, whereas Mimic is on a 90s (72 when traited) cooldown, making it more efficient to just Mimic the skill rather than casting it. Even when traited, its cooldown is lower than or equal to few other abilities…

  • Illusion of Life
  • Veil
  • Portal

Right now, there aren’t many skills you’d actually want to copy on a 90s cooldown. It makes mimicking a skill like Blink feel like a waste, it doesn’t work with portal (or does it?), and… what exactly happens when you Mimic a mantra?

Oh, how I’d love to mimic Well of Recall or Precognition.

But at it’s current cautiously high cooldown, it isn’t really worth the utility slot. I think making the cooldown of Mimic match the cooldown of the mimic’d skill could really help with this, what say you?

The Great Traits Stuck in the Shadows

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

@keenlam: ooh yeah, Blurred Inscriptions is a good one worth mentioning.

@xaylin: arghh I’m gonna prove the greatness of this trait when chronomancer drops. Now you’ve got me determined!

FI works great on… Scepters? What am I missing, because last I checked Scepter had no interrupts… or are you just saying the Quickness benefits Scepter in general?

Last I checked mainland sword didn’t have interrupts either. =P all depends on your choice of offhand.. Like pistol, for the bleeds and it’s sweet interrupt trait (25% cooldown reduction on interrupt)

But yeah, scepter auto and confuse ray benefit highly from quickness.

(edited by Chaos Archangel.5071)

Nerf Confounding Suggestions

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Diatribe (die-uh-tryb) – A sharp and bitter criticism or denunciation.


Wow look at that, I actually learned something from this thread that’ll stick with me for the rest of my life.

Thank you, fellow pleb.

Nerf Confounding Suggestions

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Sigh.. I didn’t wanna jump into this thread for this exact reason. This is further proof that you kinda just seem to enjoy arguing.. Or attention or.. Bumping your own threads, idk.

You said you can’t dodge the GS burst when stunned by CS + Mantra.

So.. Should we nerf Decoy and all forms of stealth? Should we nerf Signet of Domination? Magic Bullet? Nerf teamfights?

And this is all assuming a duel. How easy is it to dodge a regular GS burst if you didn’t see the mes coming in the first place?

Again.. There are way worse things in this game to worry about.

So Hype For Druid! But.. Its Kinda Boring.

in Ranger

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

As for gameplay, here.. I was running Druid/Nature Magic/ and uh.. Whatever traitline has the sword x_x

Skirmish? Weird choice.

Swap that out for Beastmaster and swap crow for Owl or Eagle. Won’t fix your problem with Druid but it will be a better build.

Beastmastery! I had tried skirmishing first but moved on to BM.. Not sure if the clip reflects that since my rather lousy pet management wouldn’t reflect it one way or the other.

What does the owl offer?

Mesmer "Shatter Me" Video Contest!

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

ROFL ross!

The Great Traits Stuck in the Shadows

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

We’ve got a lot of traits that don’t get much mentioning, and it’s not because they’re bad… They’re actually pretty kitten good! The problem is that sometimes, no matter how good a trait may seem on paper, another trait competing for the same spot may just offer more practical gains. Such is the case for …

  • FURIOUS INTERRUPTION (3s Quickness on Interrupt – 5s CD) Furious interruption works fantastically with scepters and greatsword, especially with Chronomancer soon to offer even more sources of quickness. The problem is .. This trait simply cannot compete with Shattered Concentration. In almost every situation, Shattered Concentration is the better choice between the two, as it is the single strongest boon ripping trait in the game!
  • EVASIVE MIRROR (1.5s Mirror on successful Evade – 1.5s CD) This turns Blurred Frenzy into an epic Dragon kitten projectile reflection ability. Seriously, that’ll be the first thing that comes to mind when you Blurred (and thus evade) through a ranger’s Barrage. Even simple dodges can proc this, and it offers a very strong version of ranged defense… So it’s a shame that Blinding Dissipation completely overshadows it, being more useful as a melee defense and a clutch savior against thieves.
  • BOUNTIFUL DISILLUSIONMENT (Stability + Boon on shatter) Stability! Stability in spades at that, especially when you merge Illusions into your build. All of the boons on this skill are decent (save for Regen on Distortion), granting us access to boons that are normally difficult for a Mesmer to obtain, such as Vigor on f2 or Fury on f3… But if you’re in the Chaos line, you’ve mostly likely come for Prismatic Understanding or Chaotic Interruption. Shame, sorry BD.

Edit: apparently I was wrong, and this trait is more popular than I thought!

  • TEMPORAL ENCHANTER ( 3s Resistance + 2s Superspeed on glamour cast) You’d think Resistance would be pretty highly desired in all gamemodes, being that it prevents you from taking any condition damage! But the problem comes in the fact that it’s tied to Glamours and it’s rare to ever take more than one glamour for … Anything.

That’s my list, what say you? I personally run Bountiful Disillusionment and have fallen in love with the trait but the others just.. Cannot get any love. Think any other good-but-overshadowed traits deserve some spotlight?

(edited by Chaos Archangel.5071)

So Hype For Druid! But.. Its Kinda Boring.

in Ranger

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Theres a lot of people replying to this thread that kind of misunderstand (or didn’t read) my OP.

I wanted to pick up Druid because I WANTED to play a strong healer

That’s the whole draw for me. I was interested in Druid on reveal, but after playing the spec there’s nothing there that would make me want to build for anything other than support. I’m not saying that I CANT build otherwise, but I really didn’t want to.

As for gameplay, here.. I was running Druid/Nature Magic/ and uh.. Whatever traitline has the sword x_x

And the class didn’t feel bad, or weak or anything like that… Just kind of dull in a “spam everything in astral mode, spam nearly everything on staff” kind of way.

Mesmer "Shatter Me" Video Contest!

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Ladies and gentlefolk thank you all for participating (and a special thanks to those who donated to increase the prize pool!) Voting is now closed as the votes from PMs, in-game messages, and this thread are all tallied up.

Tomorrow the winners will be announced, along with the final message to Lindsey Sterling (the winners may add whatever they’d like to the message). I’d write all the info now but.. there’s only so much I can do from my cellphone. =[

Anyways, thanks again and stay tuned!

Mesmer "Shatter Me" Video Contest!

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Forum bug -_-

Nerf Confounding Suggestions

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

I think this video is a good example of why CS doesn’t need to be nerfed:

That, right there, is what people are complaining about. That’s pretty much the same whether or not you stun them.

Soldier Chrono (PvP/Vid)

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Hey Skcamow, here is one of the clips from the matches we played together:

It doesn’t show much, unfortunately, but how smooth your beta-Mesmer looks. =P Though at one point in the clip someone on the enemy team is chastising their Mesmer because of how their damage doesn’t compare to yours

Chaos, I want to give you the benefit of the doubt, but having watched your two most recent chrono vids, I cant help but think your chrono build is innefective, or sub optimally built (or something). It’s not that it can’t do anything, but there’s constantly all these situations where I feel like you should be able to do more but you can’t :/

Just chiming in here, but I think a staff sw/shield well build would overall do better with a tankier amulet. In particular celestial comes to mind, though if you went that route it’d be wise to drop either dom or chaos for illusions to pick up maim, and if you kept Chaos and CI you could stack might fairly well with might duration runes. If you kept domination, you could make it work by using the traits to stack vulnerability to keep the sustained damage quite high for cele.

The other idea is to just conform to the meta hive-mind and use GS over staff for more focused burst damage overall, which would be a bit more optimized with marauder than staff would be, since sw/shield gives you enough survivability.

That’s the thing. So often Chaos is off point, and when on point not a particularly strong point holder. And since he’s not there contending points, you’d expect more direct pressure vs targets where’as they barely seem to sweat most of the time.

I know the weapons are certainly your “set”, Chaos, but are you sure this build is properly functional?

I don’t wanna derail the thread, but real quick..

I’d like to say that the build could use some tweaks, but I honestly don’t think it does. The setup of Dom/Chaos/Chrono is solid, the runes and sigils are solid, and the weaponset works… So I really think its just me.

I kind of go through this process when learning a build I really like where I absolutely suck at first, and gradually swim out of the swamp of my own badness as I learn from my mistakes.

The reason I’ve chosen to stick with this setup is because I see the potential here, I just haven’t unlocked it yet. And there are plenty of variants I could make:

  • Swap staff with GS
  • Swap to cele ammy
  • Swap a well with Precognition
  • Swap a well with Mantra of Distraction.
  • Swap sword with scepter and go condi

I think any of those changes would make the build easier to run, and maybe a bit smoother, but I really like staff and the damage from marauder… That being said, skcamows concept of getting damage via crits from slow is really intriguing. And something I wanna look into.

But yeah.. Right now the bad videos are more my own foolish mistakes while learning the build then the fault of the setup. To be honest (and very self-criticizing) I feel I’ve been slacking on several fronts .. Like with the guide.. As irl stuff intervenes. But I plan to remedy that soon. I’ve replaced the other video in the Clockdown thread with one that better represents the build.

Skcamow.. From what you played do you think the tankier amulet is worth it with danger time?

I'm Going To Main Druid No Matter What

in Ranger

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Purecura you traitor!

And after that motivating rant about how much you love Mesmer! Muh heart can’t handle the stress.

New to GW2. Mesmer mind-games. What works?

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

I wasn’t able to read through all the replies here, but from my experience there are mesmer players that are more “deceptive” than others. There are some players out there that are a nightmare to try and target, or are overwhelming for many opponents, or are just downright more tricky than others.

I’m seeing some things like “nothing works against good players” and “only bad players can be tricked.” And while this is true to a degree, I don’t think its entirely accurate. Mesmer has many tools to mentally tax a human opponent, much moreso than say Warrior or Guardian. These are the techniques I’ve seen to be the most effective -to varying degrees- at any level.


  • STEALTH – Decoy: I think the most important tool for trickery is the skill Decoy. On it’s own, Decoy cloaks you and sends a clone out in your place. In a straightforward fight, where you and your opponent are squared off, it’s obvious when the Mesmer stealths.. But add in a few of the points below, and things get more complicated.
    Stealth breaks target, so immediately the opponent has to try to retarget you before they can attack. Things like Phase Retreat (Staff 2) + Decoy or Blink + Decoy (Not recommended unless you’re pretty skilled or know you’re safe) can make the opponent hesitate before finding you again.
  • Stealthing and running/teleporting BEHIND the opponent forces them into a situation where they have to spin their camera around to catch you.
  • Stealthing while there are clones around forces the opponent to have to deal with the threat of shatters/phantasms.
  • Stacking stealths (Mass Invis + Decoy) makes it much harder for the opponent to try to predict when you’ll reappear, putting you at an advantage.

  • POSITIONING – Blink: Blink is, in my opinion, one of the staple Mesmer skills. It offers so much mobility, so much possibility, and so much flexibility that I’ve come to the point where I can’t really build without it.
  • Position yourself in fights where you can teleport vertically; best way to practice this is on maps like Battle of Kyhlo where you can even teleport onto the roof when done properly. This way you always have an escape ready, and even if you go and dive into a 3v1 fight you’ll be able to waste the time of 3 opponents while having an escape ready.
  • You can sit out of range of an opponent’s attacks (1200r to be exact), making them think they’re safe from any of your phantasm summons or attacks. Since blink is instant-cast, it works in the middle of casting other skills. You can start casting a phantasm from 2000r away, blink into range, and complete the cast while the opponent is offguard, giving you the intiative.

  • PRETENDING TO BE A CLONE – Phase Retreat Ohh this is tricky. luckily I already wrote a thang on this. But to summarize: You can never pretend to be a clone for more than a couple seconds, unless the player is exceptionally bad. Are there benefits to doing this? Yeah, but it requires a pretty specific setup to pull off effectively.
  • Stealth + Staff is the best way to pretend to be a clone, and tends to be a bit more effective in condition builds. Having Deceptive Evasion also helps, but what you essentially want to do is stealth, summon a couple phantasms (dodge roll and phase retreat) and … pay attention.
  • Remember that the opponent can see less behind him than infront of him, so stealthing and blinking behind, phase retreating a clone out, and scampering off elsewhere before stealth wears off to start autoattacking can net you a few seconds of breahting room. Enough to atleast get some other cooldowns recharge or debilitate them with conditions. (Or to simply try to get them to waste some skills)
  • In my experience, this only works with staff and scepter. All other weapons require too much mobility. Even then, you have to be very observant to even find the opportunity to pull this off. (except in hotjoin. You can fool people all day in hotjoin)

  • STRESS via OVERWHELMING FORCE – Greatsword: Make ‘em panic! Mesmer excells in overloading an opponent’s defenses with shatters, phantasms, and pewpew lazers. The greatsword is fantastic for making an opponent freak out when you burst the hell out of them.
  • Panic.. We all feel it from time to time, and especially when things get dire! The moment you appear out of stealth with a heavy burst, start driving lazers into their back AND have a spinning zerking Phantasm harassing them, you’ll set your opponent into a different mindstate. Capitalize on this without getting too blood thirsty and you’ll even be able to protect allies by peeling enemies off them with raw aggression.

OP, you’re right, Mesmer is a creativity-oriented class and you have to think outside of the box to be successful. The best advice I could give you is to be observant. Keep the basic fundamentals in mind: The opponent only has 4 skills they can use before having to switch, a dodge costs 10s to recharge (5 with Vigor) so if they spam both dodges they’re open, blind ruins skills (blinding dissipation – Dueling master – FTW!) and enemies tend to switch strategies at 50% HP.

Watch, master your abilities (many of which have dual purposes) and duel as many people as you can, you’ll come into your own unique Mesmer fighting style in no time.

(edited by Chaos Archangel.5071)

Nerf Confounding Suggestions

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

*Confounding is fine. If you needa nerf something, nerf Mantra of Distraction. Confounding is only “OP” when combined with it, but in every other instance its fine… That doesn’t qualify a nerf.

I’m sorry Chaos, but I have to disagree with this. MoD has barely changed since release. The only real buff it has received as when it became AOE effect. And even then, it really didn’t see much play time. And never was an issue.

ONLY when CS became a 100% daze to stun, are players complaining about MoD. So to me, if anything should be nerfed it should be CS.

Yeah, and there’s the rub..

Mantra of Distraction shouldn’t be nerfed just because of CS. CS shouldn’t be nerfed just because of Mantra of Distraction.

… Though, honestly, I don’t think either of them need to be nerfed. -_- Nerf greatsword.

Wait.. lets not do that either.

Nerf these kinds of threads.

There’s enough tears about Mesmers already without Mesmer-mains needing to complain. How about we just.. enjoy what we have right now? Its bad enough Chronomancer is going to see nerfs without abusing core Mes.

Nerf Confounding Suggestions

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

So, I was trying to avoid this thread mostly because I didn’t want to fall into another seven-year argument with Frenchfry. But if I may throw in my opinion…

  • Frenchfry is a good player. Matter of fact, he’s one of the better players I’ve faced. (albiet, Frenchfry, you’re madly spammy on your GS auto, you cancel it before all three hits even connect. =P) And is definitely experienced with the class.
  • Confounding is fine. If you needa nerf something, nerf Mantra of Distraction. Confounding is only “OP” when combined with it, but in every other instance its fine… That doesn’t qualify a nerf.
  • Making the trait on-interrupt is silly and unnecessary. Especially “when you interrupt with a daze” we only have two reliable daze sources.
  • All of this sass and back-sass is highly unnecessary.

So Hype For Druid! But.. Its Kinda Boring.

in Ranger

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

Now, let me preface this by saying I’m admittedly pretty lackluster at Ranger. Once longbow is gone I flounder pretty bad, and have ‘meh’ pet management. Nonetheless I was super hype to try out Druid. I’ve always played healer classed in every game they’re available and always loved/excelled in said role.

And Druid was no different.

Astral Force manipulation /management was fairly easy to learn. Healing allies was a cinch. I loved being able to play a viable healer when I got my hands on the spec but after about an hour playing I came to realize.. It’s really rather boring.

I like the concept of the spec, I’m cool with the idea of building life force to go into healer mode but the abilities themselves available to the druid are so bland, both functionally and aesthetically that I didn’t really gain any sense of excitement.

  • The staff skills are dull, besides the dash and projectile wall. The autoattack not only looks bad, it feels really ineffective for both healing and damage. Skill 2 is as forgettable as its corresponding trait, and the vines bother/help no one when needed.
  • The astral skills are dull, with skill 3 being an enhanced version of skill 1. Astral mode is so.. Spammy. You need very little thought as to how to use the abilities and there is very little creative freedom beyond rolling your face through the skills. Also skill 4 and 5 look painfully similar. If skill 2 is a “nature” ability why not add more nature-related animations? Speaking of which…
  • Why can a THIEF plant an entire tree when he steals from a Ranger, but DRUID can barely even sprout a flower?
  • Maybe take notes from Revenant? Ventari offers many more interesting ways to support allies, even the herald heal that converts damage into life could’ve been an interesting mechanic for Druids staff. (tweaked in some way, obviously)

Druid was a bit of a disappointment in that it is so straightforward to play that I didn’t really feel engaged in the game. Even dropping burst heals (Or rather spamming AF 3 & 4) did not feel very rewarding. Am I missing something here? Or does the class lack interesting abilities.

(edited by Chaos Archangel.5071)

Alacrity For Dummies (Like me)

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

So.. If I’m understanding this properly:

If I drop 2 wells on a Warrior who just spammed Hundred blades…

…His hundred blades (normally 8s CD) will recharge in… essentially 5 seconds?

Stupid stereotypical writer-brain. This is really not processing in my head for some reason. >_<

Alacrity For Dummies (Like me)

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

/summons an AlphaTheWhite

Working with Chronomancer well-support has made me curious about the exact effects each burst of alacrity I’m granting to allies. Specifically, I’d like to figure out how much I’m reducing their cooldowns.

But that involves numbers. I’m woefully allergic to numbers.

So instead I’ll present this question off to the mathematically-inclined Mesmers out there: Around how much (rounded to the nearest .5) am I reducing the cool down of my allies when I hit them with.

  • 1 Well / iAvenger (2s Alacrity)
  • 2 Wells (4s Alacrity)
  • 3 Wells (6s Alacrity)
  • Well of Recall (5s Alacrity)
  • Well of Recall traited (7s Alacrity)
  • 4 Wells Without Recall ( 8s Alacrity)
  • 4 Wells With Recall (11-13s Alacrity)

If you could use what a 20s CD would be reduced to as an example, would be much appreciated

Least to Favorite - Rate The Wells!

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

I’d like to preface this by saying that in my opinion, all the wells are great (Kudos to Rob Gee and Team). Each well has an interesting role and is competitive with its counterparts. Each well offers a strong, unique effect and many of them work very well when combined. As a result, it’s really hard for me to list my favorite wells but from least to favorite it goes…


  • Well of Eternity - (30s CD) Creates a well that rewinds time, removing conditions from allies. When it expires, the well heals all allies in the area.

I mostly take this out of obligation. It’s a good heal, not much better than Mirror or Ether Feast except that it grants alacrity, removes 3 conditions, AND heals allies for a decent burst. It’s a powerful ability, especially when double-cast with f5, but if I’m not going supportive (or don’t need the condi removal) I wouldn’t choose it.


  • Well of Precognition - (45s CD) Creates a well that gives allies the ability to see the future and allows them to evade(Blur) all incoming attacks. When the well ends, allies within the well regain 35% endurance.

It’s not that I don’t like this well, it’s just that I like it less than all the others. I actually love this well, and its extremely useful in all gametypes, though a bit tricky to learn to use properly at first.


  • Well of Action - (30s CD) Create a well of delayed time, damaging and slowing(1s) foes. When the well expires, time snaps back, granting quickness(3s) to allies.

As a mini Timewarp, this skill rocks. It’s better dropped defensively on yourself or a downed ally/enemy, though the damage it does isn’t bad. Maybe it’s my love for slow, or how easy this skill makes it to stomp/rezz/prevent stomps, or maybe it’s the nerdy D20 Dungeons & Dragons (Or Pathfinder, if you will) dice for it’s icon but this skill won a special place in my heart.


  • Well of Recall - (40s CD) Creates a well that steals memories from foes, damaging and chilling them. When it expires it restores memories to allies, granting 5s Alacrity.

From my least favorite to one of my most, well of Recall’s very slight adjustment has made it a competitor with Well of Action. Recall now does the same amount of damage as Action per pulse, while striking foes with Chill rather than Slow. The big difference here is the final pulse: 5-7 seconds of Alacrity makes a bigger difference than 3s Quickness.


  • Gravity Well - (90s CD) Create a powerful well that warps space in an area, knocking down, floating, and pulling foes caught in its event horizon. When it expires, foes still inside the well take heavy damage.

I’m sorry, but this well is HIL-AROUS to watch. People get lifted dropped, and dragged all while taking heavy damage. It’s very powerful against anyone not smart enough to bring a stunbreak or not able to capitalize on the (very narrow) window of escape. When traited with Power Block this skill is glorious.


  • Well of Calamity - (20s CD) Creates a well that rends time, damaging, weakening(2s) and crippling(2s) foes in the area. When the final pulse of Well of Calamity triggers, it deals massive damage to foes in the area.

My favorite well, though not by a longshot. This happens to be the well that is constantly on my skillbar, it offers defense in the form of Weakness along with massive damage, heavily dissuading melee-oriented classes from stepping into your little circle of misery. The cripple helps keep foes trapped to combo other wells. For me, it’s the combination of a low cooldown, high damage, and plenty of utility (plus dat alacrity) that makes this my top

Dom/Chaos/Chrono - From Lockdown to Clockdown

in Mesmer

Posted by: Chaos Archangel.5071

Chaos Archangel.5071

I don’t understand what you think you are showcasing in that ranked video. You got a single kill in the match at about 10 minutes in 1v1 versus a Ranger, barely. The rest of the time your team had the numbers in virtually every encounter. Your damage and utility didn’t seem very impressive, and your sustain certainly wasn’t either as you dipped fairly quickly any time the numbers weren’t skewed in your favor. I didn’t notice a single instance in which Chaotic Interruption “kept someone in a well”. And on top of that you threw your shield into obstructions no less than 5 times, which just makes it looks inconsistent at best.

I didn’t even see anything to show that you even fulfilled a role for the match. What did you think you were showing us?

His quite literally just showing “Here’s a video of the build in a ranked match.”

I was, but really, that’s no excuse.

Celeras has a very good point; I didn’t check the quality of the two match videos I posted… I literally just went “Oh look this was a close match” and “oh look skcamow is in this one!” Without actually taking a critical eye to the quality of the gameplay.

I wish I had seen this last night when I coulda edited the thread with better videos, but to address what you said Celeras, you’re absolutely right.. That first video is especially poor quality, both in demonstrating the build and the gameplay in general. My hope was to show an interesting match, because a lot of the other matches were do often heavily skewed to one side (500-200 ish) but better showed the build in action.

So tonight I intend to remedy that, and address each criticism bit-by-bit. I appreciate the honesty.

(Also, as you can see.. The Tides of Time “fix” didn’t quite work as the wave still dies on walls… It’s supposed to bounce off.)