Guild Wars 2

It would make iMage even MORE inferior to iDuelist, and I didn’t think that was possible…

hharry.1967:

Pull radius needs to be reduced. This + Daze shatter + GS knock down + chaos storm, over 5 seconds of low cd on demmand aoe CC.

We can only have two weapon sets at one time. The only way to pull this off is to use focus before combat and then switch in Greatsword/Staff… :|

The effect of such a tactic is underwhelming at best, and only used for pulling people off high ground.

Munkee.3542:

Can you describe why you think they aren’t condition weapons? Scepter still needs to be reworked, that’s already a fact. But how can you say that about Torch? Both skills do conditions.

When they buffed torch, they buffed the initial blast instead of the burning. Try it out with a power build, you’ll see the difference. And the best thing about iMage is retal not the confusion.

On the topic of MH Pistol, whenever they implement it (because I am certain they will for an expan) PLEASE make it some sort of AoE weapon. PLZ

Not worth it IMO. Maybe in a group setting where your team is based around you it could get some use. I’ve tried beefing glamours and none of the glamour specific traits are especially powerful, or even work! (Has Temporal Enchanter ever worked?) This blind trait would be great if it was pulsing(similar to a necro well) but alas, it is not. Glamour mastery is the only glamour specific trait I’d consider taking.

TheGuy.3568:

Finding the real one is a learn to play issue period end of story.

However shatter is OP atm. Its not so much the shatter that’s op but that all the utility skills that summon clones have such strong defensive properties its makes mesmers extremely hard to lock down while still allowing them full access to dps. The other thing is shatter has nearly no risk and the basic shatter builds have such strong defenses in the form of invulnerability and stuns that its makes for a mixture of skills that are simply too strong when combined.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Blurred_Frenzy
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Phase_Retreat
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Deceptive_Evasion
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mirror_Images
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Decoy

would be the main list of culprits. Plus some of the traits in the shatter line.

Should all these skills be nerfed? No. However some of them should be looked at. These counter skills are simply too offensive in the nature of a shatter build. Closing the gap on a mesmer more often then not means certain death.

There needs to be some analysis of risk vs reward given the shear amount of DPS burst a shatter build has.

^Mostly this. But I think the first minor trait in Illusions is a bigger deal than all of these skills sans Blurred Frenzy (too stronk).

KirinDave.6451:

I love how furious Necromancers get about minor traits. Several classes have useless minor traits they ignore to get Major traits or stat points. Why is Necromancer special?

People get so furious they have minion skills at all; but reanimator is not broken, not useless, and the only downside to it is that it triggers character voiceovers.

Afaik, people can still rally off this minion in pvp (someone correct me if this has been fixed). This makes any necro with 10 in death magic somewhat of a liability in teamfights. Greater marks trait is the only reason necros even put up with it.

Also, +1 because it’s one of the worst, if not the worst 5 pointer in the game atm

Ugh, I missed it. At least you record these matches

vutak.3186:

Out of curiosity, is anyone doing a shatter-ish spec with deep Chaos?… it sounds hard to pull off, but I’m wondering if it’s possible to get a pile of toughness and survivability and still shatter semi-often.

I’ve tried to make such a build, but with more into Inspiration. It didn’t work out too well, but I think some traits need to be rearranged. Restorative Illusions comes to mind, as Restorative Mantras is 10 times better (1k-2k AoE heals on Mantras) but doesn’t have the whopping 30 point prerequisite. I think all the support-shatter build needs is Restorative Illusions moved to master and the advent of a regen on shatter trait. How amazing would it be to have vigor-heal-regen-confusion all tied onto shatters? I also wouldn’t mind a ‘random boon’ on shatter trait in chaos either. Chaos appears to be our least shatter-centric traitline next to Dueling, but at least the latter has Deceptive Evasion to compensate.

For now I’m running the run of the mill ‘Shatterstorm’ build with 20/20/0/0/30 as it’s generally more effective than our support Shatter build.

CharrGirl.7896:

Caithe/Faolain story actually touched me, unlike the others. Real tragic romance there

Yes! I’m desperately hoping for a happy ending for these two, but I know a bitter ending is more probable.

TomSawyerAM.8701:

I’m trying to figure out how to use my mesmer best in PvE, mostly dungeon settings and events as I’ve got regular questing figured out. Is there ever a time in PvE where I’d want to use anything other than Mind Wrack as far as a shatter? The daze and confusion shatters don’t seem better than the raw damage of Mind Wrack and the protection shatter seems like more of an “oh s***” kind of thing.

Any help is appreciated!

Cry of Frustration needs to be timed to do anything significant, like right before the mob swings at you. It’s alright when Mind Wrack is on cooldown. Diversion however, is great at removing stacks of defiant. Distortion can be used as a clutch safety net, but it’s better to use it right before getting hit by a huge skill rather than after. You could also use it to rez allies reliably. Afaik Distortion negates every skill in game, you can solo that Hylek boss in Caledon forest without getting transformed just by using distortion every minute. You can even use it while cc’d!

Commentary would be nice. Your montages are fun, but a skill break down would be nice

Knote.2904:

Trying to make use of phantasms with shatters is also annoying mainly because of the delay phantasms have before they attack after spawning, if they attacked instantly it would feel a bit more fluid. And another crazy idea, what if Shatter cooldowns were adjusted based on what level clone shatter it was.

They do attack as soon as they’re spawned, BUT they are bugged at the moment if you don’t have 5 points in inspiration. Without it, they have a 1 sec delay before attacking and with it, the damage pops before they even materialize. This will be fixed along with all the other bugs eventually.

As far as the Mesmer’s mechanics, the only change I’d like is Phantasms contributing more to shatters than clones. Shattering them should cause better effects than shattering clones is all I think the profession needs. Although I feel this is probably harder to implement than it sounds or they would’ve already done this. Perhaps a redo of Diversion and certain Phantasms as well.

The hard part about editing the Mesmer (or any profession) in any way is to keep different builds balanced. They could buff shatters across the board, but they would have to edit shatter-centric traits heavily as to keep the “Shatterstorm” Mesmers in check without nerfing them into the ground.

I cannot believe people actually think Caithe/Faolain is forced. They were confirmed before the game even launched. As for Eladus and Dagdar…wtf? They were in what, ONE SCENE? Tiachren and Ysvelta had much more screen time and were 10 times more nauseating. “D-don’t you love me?” BLARGH KILL HER, YOU FOOL.

brogarn.8723:

Wow you guys have gone off the deep end. Comfortable with your own sexuality? Arguments defending your masculinity? And yet you give those of us who don’t care for the butterflies crap over it just being a video game. Err… okay.

Anyways, depending on how much I liked the game at the time and how much it was, I’d probably consider paying for alternate spell effects. That’s actually kind of a neat idea and would be an interesting addition to the gem shop.

Oh, and it was brought up earlier, but I don’t know if it was directed at my comments on the very dark nature of the class… but i’m not looking for black clothes and eyeliner or “Necro Lite” but you gotta admit… this is not a goody two shoes class. This is class that specializes in breaking people’s minds. That’s pretty evil. Once again, though, I’m not looking for black and dark effects. I’m just not at all fond of the butterflies but it ends there. I like the class for what it is and that’s why I play it.

You make an interesting point! Yes, the Mesmer is one of the more sinister professions. But the whole beauty bit is also a keystone in their design whether you think it fits or not. I think it does, if you take note of certain conspiracy theories revolving around the entertainment industry and the government.

Personally, I think the Mesmer’s animation graphics are a loose allusion to Monarch mind control. The shattered glass effect seems symbolic of the shattered personality victims have once they ‘break free’ from programming ,or in the Mesmer’s case, once they release their victims from their own grasp. It’s all theoretical of course! My own interpretation.

It’s also worth noting that the ancient Greek word for butterfly is Psyche, as in Psychology, Psychosis, Psychoanalysis, see the trend? I think this reference is more believable as opposed to my theory above, as anything with the Psych- prefix has something to do with the mind. Personally, I dig the butterflies. It’s a bold move for sure, but without them I fear the Mesmer wouldn’t have that extra ‘oomph’.