Guild Wars 2

Thank you for the answer. To be clear, ascended armor and weapons are the only items that could boost my stats? Once I craft them, I will not miss anything when I face an active player in wvw (if not the lack of practice)?.

EDIT: jyaim, if I understood your first sentence the answer is simple. I have fun once I equip the item I was looking for!

Hello there. I quitted this game a year ago I think, just before the introduction of champion weapon skins (the rapier for example, I will need one!)
Now I would like to play my mesmer again, I read the last release notes and took a look at the wiki. Still, it is not easy to have a complete idea of what I should do once I log in.

I will try to give you an idea about how I play: I am competitive but I am not focussed on a particular aspect of the game. I tend to play alone.
I usually invest my time working on items (a skin I like, stuff with better stats and so on). I do everything in order to achieve what I want, be it pvp, pve or wvw.
When I am done I like wvw roaming or random pvp matches.

What I have: different sets of exotic armors and ascended jewelry (berserker, condition, ptv). I crafted sunrise years ago so it should be one less item to work on.
My primary goal is to have best in slot items so I will need to change some goodies.

Where should I invest my time? Could you be so kind to link me the items I will need to craft (or farm)?
Any tip on what I will need to do is appreciated. Thank you!

SteepledHat.1345:

That’s assuming you can get the phant to spawn in the combo field in the first place. I can never get it to work reliably. I suppose you could throw the field on the phant…

I assume you dont know how to use them.

stof.9341:

Those weapons are tradable. You can if you want, just wait for their price in the TP to stabilize and buy one there for a fixed non RNG gold price along with a fixed 99.999% chance to receive the weapon you want.

And again the only thing you have to do is gold farming. Almost everything work in this way, even legendaries.
You can farm champions, but you can also farm sparks for charged lodestones.

“Oh cool i have a shot at this rare weapon” counts for the first three attempts.
“Oh cool i just spent 20 dollars to buy the weapon, without rng” works.

Edit: Im not saying this is bad or good, but most of the time you do better to buy stuff from the tp (catchers come to my mind). It kills rng factor and possibly the fun.

I dont follow. Quickness make everything faster, i usually like to see the difference with the warden’s spin, its really nice with quickness.
Reasons are that you did not use time warp for a while or they changed something.

Also, using counter blade you lose a very strong burst. The skill is meant to be used as a last resource in case you dont block an attack.

Xavi.6591:

Until they cleanse because conditions are the new meta and everyone (except Mesmers) run condition removal.

Condition necros should have fun with this.

And you reapply it. Skills are meant to be used.
I dont know what weird type of mesmer you are but I definitely run condition removals on my mesmer – melandru runes, traited torch, arcane thievery with reduced cd and think, they also have offensive uses.
We can put so many conditions on a target that it will have a bad time to cleanse torment and other conditions. And if it does, you easily reapply them.

Edit: And dont forget that the two stacks on heal are aoe.

I have a build in my mind with iMage and iElasticity, it could work.
Dont forget tormenting runes, 7 stacks of torment with increased duration could be outstanding in wvw.

Poor counterspell.

Gaiawolf.8261:

Personally, I’d prefer more leaps, or rather for our current leaps to be available OOC without spasm-inducing camera jerking, over a simple signet. Sword #3 shifting you straight ahead when no clone is summoned would be a great start. But anything that buffs run speed would be appreciated, too.

Id have some troubles to replace an utility slot with a signet. I also think a better iLeap would be a good start (and again, id like something like feigned surge) and better traits.

selan.8354:

i think on a single target u do have chances to apply conditions and yes i love torment, but i was more referring to condition apply to multiple targets like with glam. reflection is pretty good in wvw, but i always feel like im lacking something.
in wvw a few necros can pretty much turn a chokepoint into a death trap.

well anyways, im hoping the new skills and traits open the path to many new builds!

We are not speaking about multiple targets, the thread is about dealing with a good necro. Also, with debilitating dissipation, traited torch and staff you have good ways to apply aoe conditions.
A condition build with PU is one of the best builds to deal with them, period.

@Engels: Stability/fear is not really a problem with a mesmer, however it can be if you steal the boon with arcane thievery.

Sigils are already covered i guess.

As for debilitating dissipation, its useful for tagging with mirror blade but it really shines with DE and you dont have it. Since you have traited GS and traited pistol, might on interrupts can be a good idea (dont forget diversion). They seems the only useful options for your build, with descent into madness in second place.

The traits seem ok, you run two glamors so id probably try glamour mastery instead of GS training (im a big fan of this trait combined with iElasticity and IC, but i dont love it alone). This is just another option i see but i think traited veil and null field could help you with survivability and also stack confusion.

Bumbler.7581:

Levitas.1953:

And you obviously did not quote the first post, huh?
You can do the same thing with scepter main hand, but as i said in my first reply that setup can be good if you you always want to stay melee and autoattack.

I think a GS could do more damage even in melee range with the shared CD issue while stacking might better.

Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t even see it. Then I agree with you , having 2 swords is only useful if you are in melee spamming the auto (which you are likely even only doing in an organized guild group), although Scepter doesn’t cleave which I guess only matters on trash? Though I hate scepter (everything is just too slow for me), so I never use it.

I’m unsure about the GS though. You are going to get max 2, 2k crits every 8 seconds (so you can use it twice per weapon swap), with 3 might stacks if you get the bounce (so up to 6 might stacks of which to pass). Hrmm, this could definitely be better for might passing in melee, actually, on bosses, which could make it more effective for the group’s overall dps. I’ll have to try and see how effective it is for comparison.

Im not really good with math so it was just an assumption.
Your secondary set has shared cooldowns and iLeap that does no damage. Also, some off hands have no/low damage skills like magic bullet or temporal curtain. GS skills do damage (iWave not so much, but still) and you can use mirror blade twice per swap. It should not be hard to gain might stacks since you fight on close range.
That said, you lose a sigil.
If it does less damage it would be a good way to complain about spatial surge scaling.

And you obviously did not quote the first post, huh?
You can do the same thing with scepter main hand, but as i said in my first reply that setup can be good if you you always want to stay melee and autoattack.

I think a GS could do more damage even in melee range with the shared CD issue while stacking might better.

Iavra.8510:

Bumping this until a dev reads it.

iElasticity and staff clones. Now. I have the build ready, I deserve it.

selan.8354:

i dont get why 1 class gets given every single condition in the game appart from 1 and that one got nerfed to the ground.

You may want to check how many conditions mesmers can apply.

Pick up a condition build and try. If you still cant kill him a least you wont die.

1) useful clones.
2) torment applies at all ranges.
3) completely change the animation of confusing images.
In my opinion, those are the three steps to make scepter an amazing weapon. For the moment, torment is the only reason i use it (a very strong one tho).

Osicat.4139:

Tbh 20-20-30 destroy necros in spvp and wvwvw. The stealth combined with constant preasure from clones and phantasm condition applying drain their health and leav em emty. Just make sure not drag on a revealed buff without have a shatter nr 4 or blink ready.

/Osicat

That was a secret for the few condition mesmers out there.
A balanced power gear could also do it.

I currently play two setups, the first one is my favourite for wvw while the other is for pvp.
• 20/20/30/0/0 – staff and scepter/torch – traited torch, traited arcane thievery, melandru/undead runes.
• 0/30/30/10/0 – staff and sword/pistol – mender’s purity, null field, melandru/undead runes.

With rabid gear/jewel and the typical mesmer’s ways to avoid damage it is really hard to die, be it direct or condition damage.
Edit: And its also easy+fast to down someone in 1vs1 or 1vsX.

I wont try to change your mind as i know we would finish to post 30 replies.
Just to give you an idea, three very different builds with at least 20 points in inspiration come to my mind: a common phantasm build (with all the possible variations, even if it may be your “i have seen ONE build” this is the best pve build for us), varconi’s condition build, chaos maestro build.
Raw damage with phantasms, conditions and support. Completely different builds, same tree.
Even if you say it isnt, i still think its a problem of understanding why someone would put points in that tree.

Forgot the end: everything is fine and i still have to meet a player that likes every single tree. However, there are really strong builds that use inspiration and this shows thakittens not under used, garbage or whatever. Confused? Im not sure, maybe, but i think its really nice that completely different playstyles use that tree.

Edit: As i said, we would finish to post 30 replies. Time will tell.

I really dont get why you are against inspiration tree. Under used? Every optimal pve build has at least 20 points in it.
Saying that in your opinion is under used does not have sense at all. “I dont understand the tree” would be better.

Also, compounding power. Its one of the best shatter traits (and trait in general) we have.
Does not work with phantasms or conditions, works with everything else.

Regarding a transformation skill, id really like (and pretend) an ethereal butterfly.

edit: while using DE clones could copy the first attack of the elite.
I think it should be aoe oriented, with also a phantasm and some mobility skills. Dont forget a trail.

The answer is in the date. I dont think people use sword main hand in both sets anymore, although you can use almost everything in pve and still be somewhat effective.

I think he means sword/x and sword/y.
Using sword MH in a set and OH in the other one does not give problems with CDs.

However, if you use sword/pistol and sword/sword the situation is the one you described. In my opinion, scepter is not that bad to justify the shared cooldowns so you would do better to use different main hands.

Edit: I think i also made a mistake. the set is probably sword/pistol and then only sword in the OH slot.
anyway, this is only useful if you want to stay melee and spam the autoattack chain. If you are enough bursty you can pop duelist and then change to sword OH and down the opponent, in this way you dont have to buy a secondary weapon

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Project-Mesmer-WvW-build-Reflection-guide

I think this thread can help you, the second post of the OP is all about reflection.

Mind stab. Mind stab. Mind stab.

This is what i use:
Zerging: gs and sword/focus.
Roaming with condition build (my favourite): staff and scepter/torch.
Roaming with shatter build: staff and sword/sword.

You did not told us if it was a 18k hit.
Anyway, with a gc mesmer (and you are not) you could do roughly the same amount of damage with a rotation.
Kill shot is one of the easier skills to see in a 1vs1 and you really have to be blind to eat the damage. In a situation with more people its way different, especially if the warrior is a little asura stacked on a norn!
Almost every skill set has a counter to that skill – focus outshines the other for pull and warden dome plus reflection if traited (remember that you need stack on warden to do this), sword MH gives you blur, sword OH a single hit block, same with scepter (counterspell and counterblade also work), torch provides a blind, gs a kb, staff a daze for him or aegis for you and so on.
Next time, save your cds if you know they can help you. At that time a thief could also start to backstab you and you did not have a skill ready.

In my opinion, two changes could be enough:
1) change Mind stab into a strong aoe. I dont care about CD, just needs to be good.
2) replace confusion&glamour traits with something else.

I did not read all your post but… phase retreat? You clearly dont know how it works. If you want to use it as gap opener you need to target something behind you. It never failed for what i wanted to do.
The only thing that sucks about it is that you can stuck.

edit: Just finished to read. As you know we’ll have more traits/skills in the future so we only have to hope that they will be good and group oriented.
In my opinion, if Anet give us another viable glamour build (and this is easily done with good traits) then we can be happy.

The attack is also divided in five hits, each one triggers retaliatation.
If the enemy has enough power, you’ll probably receive more damage than you deal (this is especially true if you run a condition build with rabid, killing the raw damage of the skill for a condition that can be cleansed or avoided by doing nothing).
The skill is probably better with power gear than condition damage.
Also, as you said, the slow animation. This skill should need some love.

You should probably rename the thread in master of swiftness.
The problem i see here is that (with a common build) you need focus to feel less slow, then you can blink or phase retreat forward. Without traits/food/whatever.
If you run PU, you also have 30% boon duration with no effort.
If you run shatter, you may have air runes that means longer swiftness from temporal curtain and longer swiftness from heal (usually mirror).
Also, you may want to check boon duration food and save those trait points for something more useful.

Edit: forgot centaur runes. There are simply better ways to achieve a good swiftness uptime, but you sacrifice something.

If it works like portal, it means more people will be able to help each other with jumping puzzles and so on. We can do it without that item and this is nice for me, I wont even touch that new recipe.

Warriors will be so happy to skip stones without a mesmer!

^Focus is not underappreciated. Its probably the most used off hand for mesmers and not only to stack swiftness or farm cof.

As a lot of people pointed out, GS and sword/focus is the best choice for aoe damage.
Dont forge mind wrack, its strong aoe damage and thats why you should aim for deceptive evasion, 20 dueling.

edit: oranisagu, it seems you have a really bad luck when you run alts then.

Ehm. Its the fact that it stacks in duration that makes the trait worth it during a fight.
Chaos storm: With retaliatory shield aegis will also add retaliatation, its even better with that trait.
iMage: retaliatation is near to useless if your only source is chaos storm and this phantasm.
Confusing cry: Domination, dueling and even inspiration offer better options than illusions line for PU builds. Also, f2 has few space in condition or phantasm PU builds.
Focus: If you run a power build its ok, if not a trait in a perfect tree as dueling is way better.

It does not work well against single hit burst yes, but it wrecks MANY skills.

Im wondering how you can spec for phantasm damage and attack recharge speed.
Phantasmal haste would (probably) worth it if you use iElasticity and iMage, stacking 6 confusion at time. iWarlock is arguably the worst phantasm you can have in a condition build, if you run rabid its near to useless.
Also, id rather prefer PU and DE instead of IC. By far.
I never tried 4 nightmare and 2 lyssa because undead works well and they are cheap, melandru is also a valid option.

edit: forgot sharper images, those three traits simply outshine 25 points in illusions.

That said, the idea to go deep in illusions is not that bad. iElasticity could do a huge difference if it would work with staff clones and id probably go for 0/20/30/0/20. Oh it would be perfect.

SupahSpankeh.8452:

It’s hilarious.

There’s nothing “legendary” about legendaries except for the stupifying amount of grind required to get one. When I see one, I have a few reactions:

1) Does that person even enjoy GW2? I mean the actual gameplay – I enjoy WvW/instances/etc. far too much to consider taking time out to farm crap.

2) Does that person realise that there are games out there where high polygon weapons with particle effects are available for practially zero time? (TF2 etc)

3) In WvW, they’re the train target for me. Love seeing a legendary, means my zerg has a nice easy target to focus down.

If you have a legendary, that means you didn’t sell it for ~1500g. That shows a serious lack of mental processing. Either that, or you had 1500g spare, which means you’re a trading post trader (thanks for the inflation guys!) or you converted cash to gold, in which case your real life priorities are so kittened there aren’t words for it.

So no, I’m not impressed.

Or you found two precursors and sold them. You know, mental processing.

Its a skin, and i can be impressed by characters with a good look not by the legendary itself. If they combo it with good armor and dyes, then its nice to see.

edit: the recipe is a joke.

locoman.1974:

I find your lack of fat male norn disturbing..

I usually dont like those kind of characters but this one is… perfect.
A lot of people already pointed it out but you did a great job!

Iavra.8510:

We also have vulnerability that is better than an istant cast.

Condi mesmers would like to differ…

I thought they were a myth? edit n2: this is also a joke.

Giving mesmers more seconds of stealth also increase PU usefulness, and its already a strong trait.
I somewhat like the fact that you need to go through veil twice to gain full effect when solo, and a condition cleanse while doing it could be nice.

Edit n1: really cant believe you guys took that phrase seriously. Were rabbits and that phrase on the same line, come on.

Were rabbits. We also have vulnerability that is better than an istant cast.

Seriously, I like the carighan’s suggestion. Id also like a curtain that create a shattered glass/screen on the enemy monitor or something that hide the GUI (like screen mode?).
As for veil, when i run PU i dont take it for the long cd and because i need that slot for arcane thievery or null field if i run pistol. A condition cleanse effect when you go through it could solve my problem.

Winds.3087:

Alpha.1308:

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/professions/mesmer/#close

That stuff also features oneshotting chaos storm and oneshotting instant winds of chaos. Mesmer we lost that day :<

Rabbits still die with wind of chaos, its not a loss.

Enemy hits you for 2000 with a single attack. you lose 2000 and deal, say 300, damage to him. Damage is based on the formula on the wiki, 300 is just an example.

Reflect is really the wrong word.

Argh, you dont know how the boon works. how is it possible!
In few words you do X damage every attack you receive. Confusing images, scepter #3, provides a good example since you are running that weapon.
You land FIVE hits (i discover something new every day with this forum, kittens!) and each one will trigger retaliatation damage if the enemy has that boon. This is especially powerful in combination with confusion and against skills that has more hits (confusing images in an example, another could be thief’s unload).
Retaliatory shield is absolutely worth it if you play a PU build with staff and scepter/torch. Even if the damage scales with power you’ll be able to tank many hits without a problem and retaliatation will add to all the conditions you have.

iPersona, DE and PU for easy reasons. Theres really a huge difference between those traits and the others.
The same huge difference can be found with warden’s feedback and other training traits (torch and pistol are also great, but this one?).
My last choice goes to iElasticity, i see a lot of potential for this trait and id pay if it could work with staff clones. Three hits mirror blade, 6 stacks of confusion from iMage, 4 hit magic bullet are also good.

iElasticity is one of my favourite traits. The day it will work with staff clones condition mesmers will be really op.
As for your build, the trait still work on staff autoattack and iMage (6 stacks of confusion) but i agree its not optimal.

Illusionary invigoration is always a good investment, new daze/distortion and new burst in a trait.
I ran something similar a lot of months ago and is funny, the prestige is really nice in both power and condition builds.
Id also try berserker amulet and see if you really cant handle conditions.
Sigils of energy could also increase survivability while creating clones at the same time.

Im sure a lot of those builds are already in the forum but i feel to post what i have anyway.

build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8alwzyoXQTmGZ9IhJFE33keYaXf6SKwduB-jUCBYLCykfwUEA0yQJPFRjtwpIas6aYKXER12bAA-w
focus: CC – use arcane thievery instead of blink if in group.

build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8dlwziqXVTmGaNJxZGMf5oegdv/dSFUdZBA-jUyAYLBZKCAJCmIAl8KiGbboIas6aMlLRUtBHAA-w
focus: phantasm and support for pve. can be tweaked to be a decent shatter.

build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8al4zioHSTlGZ9IBqCYn0jWr6VX6BuztsB-jUyAYLBZKCABCmIAl8KiGbhrIas6aMlLRUtBHAA-w
focus: kill things fast.

build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAW7flwzKqXTTmGb9IipHEXwBckUUavWJF62FC-jUyAINBZaBEVBg+AnDLiGbZsIasqbMdMRUt5GAA-w
focus: PU build with retaliatation on block.

build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAW7alwzKqHVTmGb9IipHBHyBcnKAdlegb52FC-jUyAINBZaBEVBg+AnDLiGbZsIasqbMdMRUt5GAA-w
focus: PU variation with pistol.

build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAR8dl0z6pXVTmGa9IhpCE/0Dlvcmj6B47+3B-jUyAoLBZCCA9BmKAl9KiGbtrIasKbM1LRUtJHAA-w
focus: reflection.

build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQRArc8alwzKq3QTmGbNJxZGQP6oZgdvTqgqLVA3A-jkyAYrBRTRAIMQ0HYSEYyrIasFuioxqrxUuER12bAA-w
focus: phantasms – can use iDefender instead of decoy, staff instead of scepter/sword and go soldier.

build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAW8clwzaqXUTmGb9IxpHQP5PH1DsD+vXqAvB-jEyAYLBZCDEFKwJvioxWOLiGruGT5SEVbvBAA-w
focus: life steal.

build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQRArf8dlwzKqXTTmGb9IhpHEv3AH1jtf9vXqguB-jkyA4sBRTQAoPhmKAlCLiGbZsIasKbMNKRUt9GzjAAA-w
focus: retaliatation/confusion.

build: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fgAQNAW8dlwzSq3QTmGb9IhpH9G5D/0Dov8oXqwsB-jEyAoLBZ6TgpCQZvioxWGLiGryGT9SEVbzBAA-w
focus: survivability.

I really cant like light version for male. Human t3 seems better under every aspect (at least for my tastes).
On the other side, the female version has gorgeous shoulders and gloves. Legguards are also nice and since i recently changed my mesmer from female to male, im a bit disappointed.

More love to light male versions!

I remember a video on dulfy but i cant say for sure if it was t4.
That said, i only tried it a couple of times (well three, i can run t4 but i never tried it) and PU helped me a lot.

You must be kidding me. Im playing since 3 hours while looking at the forum via smartphone.
Stop trolling or better, ask to close this useless thread.

Edit: you know, free time.

dani.1956:

Dastion.3106:

Mesmer Design Philosophy:

Mesmers rely on illusions in order to accomplish their goals. They need illusions to accomplish some of their highest damage and control, and without the illusions, they become fairly fragile. They can deal with enemy boons better than most classes, but enemy conditions can often be a problem. They share some of the stealth and mobility that the Thief enjoys, but suffer from a low health pool if you get past all their tricks.

Necromancer Design Philosophy:

The necro boasts the highest natural health of all the caster classes, and also has death shroud to extend that life total even higher. While they don’t have some of the escape or damage reduction capabilities that other classes boast, they do have a lot of ways to win attrition fights. They have access to poison on multiple weapons, they are able to combine condition damage with raw damage, and they have multiple disables to interrupt enemy skills. Necomancers also have multiple movement disabling abilities, while allows them to chase down enemies who are low on health.

Paper, meet scissors. Necros are one of the more difficult professions for us to go up against because they excel at attrition battles whereas we do not. Even then, nothing is set in stone. You can build yourself to be able to survive a necro.

Too bad illusions damage nerfed to the ground !

Do we play the same class?

You even checked my ap! you are amazing (or silly?).
I only have one character, that is mesmer, and i use character slots to study a class when i need to.. I dont care about living story, i dont care about slayer/weapon master achievements, i dont care about radiant/hellfire skins. What do i need ap for?
You are the one that is whining because you dont win a 1vs1, what can i say for you? Go farm your ap.

dani.1956:

Mesmer
Mesmers are magical duelists who wield deception as a weapon. Using powerful illusions, clones, and phantasmal magic to confuse and distract their foes, mesmers make sure every fight is balanced in their favor and their opponents can’t believe their eyes. ( copy paste from class description )

From what i know duelist means they pretty good at 1vs1 , but WE SUCK BAD ! We can’t win vs any good player of other class out there !

This is false.

Edit:

ShadowPuppet.3746:

I think one of two things is happening here, you have fought players that are better than you and you simply got outplayed, or you are fighting a build that your particular build is weak against IE, not having enough condi cleanse/lockdown tools against a necro because of the build you are running.

This is true.

But you dont prove anything in this way. Being a dev or a 3000+ ap necro does not mean you know how to use the class.
A bad dev could duel a random warrior and lose, does it mean we cant kill warriors?
Necros provide good fights, if they are conditions based you need defense against them. The same can be said for every condition build, even mesmer.