Guild Wars 2

Just finished catching up on some of the suggested/guaranteed changes to most of the professions show cased by anet, and the nerf to black powder caught my attention. Im honestly curious to know what went through anet’s minds when they said that a blind field with an incredibly high initiative cost is too over powered and needed to be nerfed. Not only did the blind’s duration get decreased but the frequency of the blinds as well turning it into an almost completely ineffective attack – but since the patch hasn’t hit and we haven’t tested it its too soon to tell how big of a nerf this is and how ineffective D/P will become due to it. But sadly i fear that anet is planning on turning this skill into an even worse (if possible) version of the engineers smoke bomb which is currently mostly RNG based do to its in-frequent blinds not allowing the player to counter the enemies animations – or even downed skills properly if at all.

All this is just speculation, i personally am not incredibly familiar with the D/P spec on thief, but i am familiar in dueling it with a large variety of specs and classes, and personally, if ANY player is having trouble walking outside of that tiny field and eating all those blinds, its 100% his issue, and since that is what the community is leading me to believe is the logic behind the nerf – which i sincerely hope is inaccurate, because that reasoning is flawed in my opinion – anet needs to recheck this incredibly un-needed nerf (and if it was needed, why now after 2 years without significant changes to the skill if any?). Another reason i hear for this nerf is that the skill is over powered in PvE settings, but then the question of why does this have to affect SPvP or WvW at all is raised, and since i personally this reason is more absurd than the 1st im inclined to believe its not it.

So first off, could some one please explain to me why this no longer popular spec is being nerfed so critically to one of its (if not its most) crucial skill, and secondly do you all agree that BOTH the frequency of the blinds AND their duration need to be changed? Isn’t one enough?

Thank you for reading and any and all input is welcome, if anything i wrote above is incorrect or inaccurate i will make corrections.

Hey guys, so currently in SPvP the specs are i run are static discharge engineer, shatter mesmer, D/P thief, and fresh air ele. I’m tired of getting ‘out played’ by face roll specs and wanted to ask your guys’s opinions on some fun specs that will allow me to be more suitable to fighting – well to be completely honest, cheese. I really enjoy the specs above, but from time to time i want to try hard, do any of you know any zerker specs that are more suited for the condi spam and AI faceroll meta? Just to be clear I’m not looking for face roll specs that will do the work for me, just fun power based specs that will give me a better chance to deal with the meta.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and answering.

I’m sure A-Net is well aware, not to mention the entire SPvP player base, that dishonor does absolutely nothing to thwart those that wish to leave their team behind in the dust, and that due to their own incompatence give up on the match leaving their team to lose. After the changes made to the dishonor de-buff we all noticed that no more players left matches! But instead they just stay in the base, moving their characters every now and then so they won’t get kicked, and laugh at their team for trying to have fun playing this game, and complain about how much they are incompetent – despite the fact that they are the ones responsible for the loss with their departure.

What would you guys suggest that A-Net does in order to fix this sadly common issue? IMO the best thing that can be done atm is to implement a way to report those players to ruin the game for us all, so that way if its a common issue with said player and gets a lot of reports for abandoning his team, he will get dishonored! Do you guys have any other suggestions or improve upon mine? Thanks for taking the time to read.

Hey guys, is it just me or is mesmer’s #2 skill while downed in need of a fix? I realize that our class mechanic is illusions and using them to fight, but when we are downed and use said skill, the first thing to show itself is our illusion and only then do we appear. And if that isn’t obvious enough then our downed bodies have a red arrow pointing at us that the downed illusion does not. This makes it painfully obvious which one is the player and the illusion. I feel that if the illusion and the player were revealed one after the other randomly and without an arrow above the player (or an arrow above the illusion as well) the skill could be used to much greater effect. What do you guys think? Thanks in advance for reading.

Hey guys, I need help regarding build choice for SPvP (solo ques). Lately I have been running with a shatter build (20/20/0/0/30) and am reaching average (give or take depending who I’m up against) results. After the upcoming patch what should i run?

Sadly shatter specs are not as viable as they used to be, and after A-Net are nerfing our vigor uptime (crucial for our shatters – each dodge spawns clones) and critical damage whilst buffing lockdown and condition builds with the new grand master traits i was curious to know what you guys think.

A-Net made it obvious that they are interested in punishing active power specs like shatter and want to replace them with passive specs, so my question is which do you think is most effective/fun/useful and has the lowest/highest skill cap if any in order to master it. My options so far are lockdown specs, phantasm specs, condition specs, and lastly shatter – if you guys think it will still be viable and capable of competing with the other for-mentioned specs. Im curious to hear your opinions regarding builds for solo ques and which i should run, please leave a link to your suggested build so i can test it and reach my own conclusions. Please keep in mind that is solo ques I will be focusing on 1v1’s and my own hide – so team support (although helpful overall) is not a top priority. Thanks in advance for reading this and an even bigger thanks to those who posted an answer below.

Whit what you say in my opinion is correct and a huge part of what gives thieves the upper hand in duels and becoming the only roaming profession in SPvP. What i don’t agree with is the need to conform to the passive faceroll (sorry for the description – i know it doesn’t feflect all the meta builds, but most) builds in order to win or contribute to my team. That is exactly what needs to be changed, if the meta, and in topic discussed above, thieves get some much needed changes then professions like mesmer and elementalist and unviable specs might finally get a chance to see the light in SPvP solo and team ques.

In SPvP mesmers and thieves compete for the exact same role, solo roamers meant to harass nodes and help burst down targest. The question is why are there rarely any mesmers in high tier SPvP or even average tier like solo ques while there are thieves all over – inside and out in hotjoins games and up to high tier matches?

The answer is quite simple, thieves are easier to play, less risk, higher reward, their burst is easier to land with no complicated maneuvers needed for it to succeed and more. Lets compare shall we?

The main (and currently only top tier spec) that mesmers use in order to burst down targets and fill the role of roamers as best as they can is with a shatter spec in which they utilize their class mechanic to inflict as much damage possible in a short amount of time requiring for their clones (which are constanlty being destroyed by AOE and even random auto attacks) to reach their targets and explode. The more the clones up the more damage – getting as many clones up, keeping them up and then forcing your target to go near them long enough for the to shatter is quite a challenge. Thieves on the other hand have lots of viable specs that rely on different weapon sets such as S/D, S/P and D/P. These specs are, unfairly, much easier to play – and S/P and S/D for example are specs that are based around a single attack – and are not only viable, but are incredibly potent with low risk and astoundingly high reward with their insane damage output allowing thieves to both burst and completely avoid damage all together (and with S/P even CC at the same time).

Another comparison that is made between mesmer and thief is their mobility. Another quality that is crucial for roamers to have is mobility, mesmer’s portal can be used in a variety of ways that can easily turn the tide of a match one way or another – but in a solo que or hot join matches where your team and you are not coordinated it is rendered quite useless. Unlike mesmers thieves have access to plenty of mobility skills ranging from their shadow step (a 1200 range stun break and condi cleanse), to their shortbow #5 skill which can be used repeatedly to cover great distances along with their signet and steal to close the gap between them and their target which require no coordination what so ever.

Another comparison is stealth. The stealth mechanic is one shared by both professions allowing their glass cannon specs a little extra breathing room when they are in tight situations and could potentially help their team-mates avoid getting stomped and for a quick un-expected burst (and an escape if needed). Mesmers have access to 1 stealth via torch offhand #4 for 3sec, their elite with a long cast time for a 5sec stealth, decoy for 3sec and veil (which i have yet witnessed to be used in SPvP by anyone) for another 3sec stealth. Thieves on the other hand have their heal for a 3sec stealth, blinding power for 3sec and more that escape me at the moment. Then why am i bringing this up? Due to the fact that they can achieve near perma stealth if needed to using weapon sets that include a pistol off hand and being allowed to spam skills, along with shadow refuge which grants a ridiculously long stealth with a MUCH shorter cast time than the mesmer ELITE for a much longer stealth – and did i mention that it heals? And one last thing… its cool down… you guessed it, a whole 30sec less than the mesmer elite. In other words a thief utility skill achieves much higher stealth uptime, while healing the thieves, on a lower cool down – and a much shorter cast time compared to another professions ELITE skill.

All these points (which are all i could think while typing this up) bring to ask myself the question that most other mesmers asked themselves: Why should i play mesmer if a thief can do my job, better, with greater success, less risk, less hardships in order to land their burst – and all for the same goal.

Thanks for reading, and if im wrong or forgot to add something to this massive wall of text let me know and ill make sure to edit it.

IGN: íllusionary paradox
Server: Gunnar’s Hold (EU)
Playstyle: PvP, PvE and on my way to WvW
Role: Scholar + Tester
Playtime: Weekends

I currently have 203 boosters, despite opening as many as possible for no reason at every and any chance i get (even when doing PvE and WvW).

I apologize ahead of time guys, but this is a QQ post regarding the state of mesmer. Does mesmer have room in the current SPvP meta? Sadly the answer is looking more and more like no with each passing day without the interference of A-Net to make sure such things dont happen.

Mesmers are sadly now dealing with what ele’s dealt and are still dealing with, they are were they should be, but all the professions around them have been buffed and put ahead of them. Mesmers are slowly becoming the new ele’s in the SPvP setting (by which i mean they are overshadowed by other professions who fill their role better with less skill required whilst offering more utility and countering them) in the SPvP scene in which thieves counter them and preform their job with less “effort” as roamers due to their high mobility and unlimited access to stealth with certain weapons sets allowing them to constantly move around the map while avoiding combat completely if they need it in order to free cap nodes and/or deal immense burst to help take down targets.

Due to this the mesmer meta was forced to shift from active specs like shatter to passive specs. This is due to the passive meta – mesmers have been forced to take up “cheesy” specs that are hard to counter and rely on little to no actual need or talent to achieve results like phantasm, PU, condition and interrupt/lockdown specs in order to deal with the passive meta from other professions like warriors (which have become all passive lately with stances, signet heal and their insane condi dmg for landing single skills like longbow 5 and off hand sword 4), spirit rangers that passively apply conditions while being healed and revived by their elite if you do manage to take them down and power rangers (referred to as auto attack rangers), condition necromancers who lock you down with fears (that do a lot of dmg when traited), and sadly many more specs that have become the “go to” specs that are mainly if not the only specs that you encounter lately in SPvP hotjoins, solo ques and team ques.

Yet the sad part about this is that even most “cheesy” mesmer specs that most are forced into are regarded by a large player base as not up to par with other profession’s “cheese”. In the past a mesmer was a great help to a team with their utility and impressive burst, now their burst is overshadowed and their utility is un-needed whilst having their roles filled out better with less effort needed. This sadly is the reason that you will not see any twitch GW2 streamer play mesmer in SPvP, the “famous” mesmer players such as Helseth have openly expressed themselves regarding the subject and Helseth for example re-rolled to thief with Sensotix following suit afterwards from what ive heard.

Ive discussed this topic with many players and streamers on twitch which have given some of the points stated above. No one that i have discussed the topic with has yet to tell me otherwise, and the only positive information i recieved from said people is that mesmers are exactly where they should be (like i have stated before) but are overshadowed in many aspects such as burst, mobility, survivablity ETC and thus rendered inefficient by most and only one mesmer exsists in high tier (Misha from 55HP monks) as far as ive been made aware of. If i am mistaken in any of my points id be glad to be corrected and ill make adjustments to my post. Thanks for everyone who took the time to read.

IMHO the problem with PW is three fold:
1) Its a quick access to a stun at a moments notice to interrupt every and any skill needed to by a thief – coupled with their seemingly infinite shadow steps – could land every time if played correctly.
2) It’s amazing defensive qualities. When i manage to apply pressure to thief running with S/P they just press their 3 skill allowing themselves to evade until their defensive CD are up again (not to mention the DMG they are doing at the same time – or the fact they can just stealth and reset over and over until they feel confident they finally have the advantage and can win).
3) The damage it deals itself. The skill deals a metric kitten ton of DMG and due to the initiative thieves rely on that just got buffed, can be spammed like there is no tomorrow not allowing players to re-act (because it stuns), fight back (they are evading) or even dodge (the sword 2’s immob is easy to land allowing the combo to rarely miss). Not only all of this, but even professions with ‘the same’ skill or similar do not gain half of the dmg PW has, like mesmer for example. Their sword MH #2 allows them to be invul, but doesn’t even do a third of the DMG PW is capable of or stuns.

This is how i feel, not stating it as a fact, but please read it and consider mine and the other poster’s experiences with this truly un-balanced skill.

Below i attacthed an image of my combat log of a fight i had with a thief. I was on my mesmer running with staff, blink and decoy. The fight lasted roughly 5-15sec in which the thief started off in stealth (couldn’t summon my clones/phantasms) then he opened with a steal and PW combo, i used blink to get away and stun break, he used a shadow step and continued the dmg, i then used staff #2 to get farther away, he used another shadow step, i then used my F4 shatter, but PW outlasted it and i died due to the overload of DMG without a way to fight back even though im rank 40+ and have a thorough understanding of the game and shouldn’t meet an opponent i can’t seem to land a hit on. I added this picture not to QQ about how OP of a skill PW is, but i believe in order to get my point across an example cant do any harm.
Thanks for reading.

Hey guys ive been debating creating a mesmer for a while now and keep hearing mixed opinions regarding the profession. What i am considering is creating a glass cannon shatter mesmer for WvW roaming. Lately i rarely see any mesmers roaming, and when i do, they are always running passive condi PU specs that require to active gameplay, is it because shatter isn’t viable in the condi meta? Is it because they fear the upcoming nerfs to shatter mesmers and their vigor uptime and crit dmg? Am i going to waste my time on a shatter mesmer not being able to kill anyone? I really want to play a shatter mesmer, one of the funner glass cannon specs IMO but i fear itll get really old really fast if i won’t be able to kill any other players or waste all my gold on a outdated spec that is going to get nerfed soon anyways. What do you guys think?

I find it odd that any and all necromancers hard counter engineers. As is engineers are one of the professions with the least (i say “one” even though we have the least) amount of condi clears, our only clears are 1 condition every 15 sec with med kit and 2 conditions every 20 sec with healing turret. To help us out A-Net gave us a broken trait that almost all engi’s are now forced to take (making many builds not viable) in order for us to be able to fight any condi warriors, spirit rangers, necromancers, ETC (reffering to AR). making us re-work our specs, armor, traits, weapon sets, utilities ETC. I don’t know if this is by design or not but i find it unfair that warriors have a 100% condi clear utility skill along with an 8 sec condi immunity, and traits like reduced chill/cripple/immob and cleansing ire allowing them to actively remove 3 conditions every 8 sec. Or another example is necromancers which have heal that allows them to cleanse all their conditions, a utility that allows them to clear all their conditions, and 2 weapons skills that transfers their conditions to their enemies. I see more and more engi’s forced into playing elixers to have the 409 elixer trait and run with elixer C, reducing their dmg from condi’s and DPS to non-exsistant (this is exaggerated, but you get the idea). Arena Net please take this into consideration this coming patch and maybe considering reworking a trait or 2 to allow us to be more viable in this condi meta – off the top of my head id say a trait that allows our tool belt skills to remove 1-3 conditions each. I love this profession and i refuse to re-roll to another like most of my guild mates were forced into doing with their engineers. Thanks for all your time reading this and if ANY of you have a good way to remove conditions that could help me out, please let me know down below, because i for one am out of ideas.

Hey guys in this condi meta engi’s are falling behind with their lack of condi cleanse, so i decided to try and run Med Kit instead of healing turret for the 15sec condi clear… and what do i find out? Despite it’s description claiming to be a removal for condition*S* it only removes 1! Is this a bug or an incredibly in-accurate description on A-Net’s part?

Guys, its sad to say, but this condi meta is here to stay. Players are being rewarded for passive play in which all they do is spam all their condi skills and watch other players melt. As of now in SPvP 80% of all specs (that i have encountered this previous week of gameplay – it was actually 76.795 but i rounded up) that ive encountered were condition based because it they require little to no talent/skill to play well to get amazing results. On top of all that A-Net has now decided to nerf (even though its a small nerf) power based specs – the only specs in the game that require a skill cap to play well. Guys, in all honesty, what do you feel of this current meta? I personally feel that conditions need to be reduced before this game loses a large majority of its player base due to frustration.
(examples of this ridiculous meta are spirit rangers, PU mesmers, terrormancers, condi engi’s, condi warrior’s and ETC)