Many people have personally told me that the mesmer is a bad vlass for soloing. There have been numerous comments on how bad a mesmer is. There are people that have absolutley NOTHING great to say about the mesmer. But are they right?
When people start a new character for the first time, alot of them do not do their research beforehand. Therefor, when the class/proffession they choose does not turn out what they expect it to be, they complain. That’s what people do, theres no denying it. The mesmer has, by no stretch of the imagination, the best DPS in the game. It DOES, however, have some of the best party utility skills. There have been numerous occasions where, at the time before someone had come up with a better method, thing seemed almost IMPOSSIBLE to do without a mesmer in the party. I remember, when my guild and I where running CM on Explorer the first time, we reached a room where there was an insane amont of silver mobs. seeming to die on every attempt to kill them, i ended up bypassing the whole area via use of the mesmer’s many invisibility skills, and portals. This has worked amazingly well in numerous occasions, yet it is not the only thing mesmers are good for. Null field is GREAT when running dungeons suc as CoF, where almost EVERYTHING applies burns, Time Warp is arguably the best elite skill when it comes to group utility, and Winds of Chaos, coupled with the charr’s roar racial (3 stacks might, fury), and chaos storm planted at your feet, you can use your signet to apply all your boons to nearby allies… pretty great, no? And, if you bother speccing into it (i know that not many people do), you get your feedback bubble on yourself when reviving a team-mate… This skill has actually helped me ALOT in both pvp and pve. A bunch of ranged devourers all hitting you? go up to an ally and press “F”. wait 10 seconds, press “F” again, and just watch those devourer’s health drop.
Many people ask, "As a mesmer, to maximize my DPS should I stack Power, Precision, and Crit? Or should I stack Power, Precision, and Condition damage? The answer-> Totally depends on how you play. If you are sticking with your staff most of the time, the extra condition damage can be a great help. This can also work if you take the trait that makes your greatsword apply bleeds. However, sacrificing the +Condition damage for +crit damage isn’t a bad idea either, If you want to see huge numbers rolling off your enemies, especially if using a shatter build.
Another question about the mesmer is, “What weapons should I use?” Once again: Totally up to your playstyle. Want to be in the thick of things? There aren’t as many choices for a melee mesmer, sadly, but learn too make the most of it. Going double sword provides you with a REALLY handy block, but using a pistol off-hand gives you a bouncing projectile, a stun, and a really efficient ranged phantasm. Want to play ranged? Staff can bring out great tanking potential, conditions all over the place, and a decent aoe (albet with a longer cooldown). Greatsword brings out those big numbers that people always get excited about, and has a nice melee-aoe phantasm (the pushback is useless when playing with a party, as most people will yell at you for knocking mobs out of their aoe’s). The scepter allows for fast clone generation, which is pretty useful when using a shatter build, and the focus gives a nice swiftness generator, a semi-decent aoe damae phantasm and, if traite properly, 2 more ways to reflect projectiles back to their source.
So, In short, If you really want to measure a class’ potential, you really have to play that class properly, and leave lots of room for experimentation. If you have any questions for me about my playstyle (I have tried them all), my trait build (Remember to experiment with it yourself from time to time), or any general questions about playing as a mesmer, feel free to ask.
