Guild Wars 2

Build Saving, at least for PvP. Please.

I agree the pile of corpses is in poor taste and unsportsmanlike.

It’s a good thing we don’t do this at the Olympics.

Please don’t bring back class dailies. Their removal has improved match quality and it is very easy to get dailies by winning 1 rated match.

Abelisk.4527:

Hmm, Mender’s isn’t that bad actually. I must have used the wrong build with it!! It is pretty good, you’re right.

It really buffs the regen, too!

If there is an ele in the party, or if I decide to take portal over disenchanter (which was a great tip btw), I’ve switched to Paladins, otherwise I’ve run Menders. However my experience with this build is still very limited. Really enjoying it so far though.

EDIT: not saying you should switch between the two amulets in those scenarios every time, it’s just the criteria I as using for testing.

Abelisk.4527:

I’ve tried Mender’s, but I feel like it sacrifices too much damage for a bump in Well of Eternity’s healing. Plus the healing doesn’t scale that well with the heals we have.

Interesting, I thought it scaled fairly well with Restorative Illusions and Healing Prism. I tried the build out in unranked and to me, it was a lot more fun than condi for sure. YMMV.

Thanks for sharing Abelisk! I noticed today that you were doing pretty well on the ladders this season. I am getting really frustrated with the condi build this season, so I may give this a try.

Just curious, have you tried running Mender’s Amulet instead of Paladin?

Hibiskus.8294:

due to to randomization, you can not stack conditions good……and i mean it is a 2 hand weapon…and lesser dmg numbers than a 1 hand weapon

This is true. It is challenging to stack conditions and damage is pitiful.

Rain.7543:

I am going to assume here that you never tried playing chronoshatter build? There is reason its been top mesmer build in pvp for months now. It just (imo) outperforms the core power shatter GS build by far.
To answer your question: Yes, there is much point taking chrono in pvp for three simple reasons: utility, skills and traits.

Lets see the skills first…

You forgot Well of Eternity.

I also love the new look and feel of the new PvP lobby. It’s beautiful!

I agree that the sparring NPCs are much too close, as bouncing projectiles will inadvertently aggro them all. However, this may have been intentional to make it more like an actual PvP match.

I would also like to see the sparring NPCs builds updated to at least be one of the default builds you can select for PvP.

They removed profession specific dailies from PvP because it was affecting the meta. People played professions just for the daily, and it was lowering the quality of matches. This was a change many on these forums advocated for. The guild hall rooms may have been an unintended consequence.

Doam.8305:

When the sea rises and all the other classes are buffed and uplifted while we remain unchanged as the water inches higher and higher ready to put us under then were nerfed

This is true. If most classes were buffed, and mesmer and engineer were not, then mesmer and engineer were nerfed by omission.

Levetty.1279:

OriOri.8724:

Its a very strong condi weapon,

Not really. The conditions on auto are a joke, mostly due to never getting the same buffs that other condition applying skills got when they reworked conditions, the phantasm is power based and the only other damaging condition is a random short poison in Chaos field that also never got the condi buff.

It is a good defensive weapon but that is mostly thanks to skill 2. Chaos field has been left behind by the power creep and chaos armor has a too high cd even if the protection was baseline, not to mention the attack that got attached to it is pretty terrible.

Regarding Staff, Phase Retreat and Chaos Storm, mainly due to the pulsing AoE interrupt and combo field, are the only things that are keeping Staff viable in my opinion.

No one can afford to run the Chaos trait line in sPvP.

The damage and conditions applied by Winds of Chaos (staff 1) are underwhelming. Increasing the duration of the randomly applied Burning to from 1 to 2 seconds and, as Ori suggested, improving the speed of the projectile and cool down of the skill would help.

Chaos Armor is better than it used to be now that it has an initial AoE attack, but still not consistently useful. I agree the cool down (30 seconds for a 5 second duration) is too high.

Chaos Storm did not get the same treatment as thieves Choking Gas (yet), which was nerfed due to it’s AoE daze and ability to control downed state situations. The pulsing interrupt is the most useful thing about this skill and the fact that it is a combo field helps. The random 4 seconds of poison is good, but the 1 second of Chill is useless. I would like to see the cool down of this skill reduced and Chills duration increased to 2-3 seconds.

Changes to staff are very unlikely however, as it is probably the most used mesmer weapon in sPvP outside of main hand sword.

I’m just thankful mesmer wasn’t nerfed again.

If the mesmer is wielding a great sword, they are most likely playing a burst build, similar to what is popular in WvW. I have experienced the 100-0 in 2 seconds burst you speak of. This build is primarily a glass cannon and has little sustain. You just have to survive the burst. There is a recent thread I posted asking about this very same GS burst (https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/GS-Burst-sPvP/first#post6620649) . It’s typically Power Lock (which inflicts daze) followed by Mirror Blade at point blank range, followed by Mind Wrack (which hits twice) and then Mind Stab. You have to time it perfectly.

If they are using a staff, it’s condi chrono. This is the “meta” build in ranked. This build has much more sustain, but is not really capable of the 100-0 burst. Conditions are primarily applied by the staff weapon skills and shatters. Shatters in this build also provide healing and condition clearing. Damage is primarily done through Confusion and Torment. Most other conditions in this build are cover condis. The trick is not attacking through Confusion!

Both of the above builds typically run Sword/Shield as a secondary weapon set, and it’s primarily used defensively or to CC a target for a burst or Moa with Swap or Tides of Time.

A mesmers main sources of stealth are Decoy and/or Torch. This is uncommon in higher ranked play, and is generally used when they are running a core mesmer build and not the elite specialization, Chronomancer.

Phase Retreat and Blink are the primary teleports. Most mesmers also run Portal, but this is used primarily to move between nodes and “safe stomp”.

Like the thief, the mesmer is not really suited well for team fights. You should always be looking for the unguarded node. Never stop moving.

For condi chrono, In my experience, DH is a hard counter. It’s best to avoid them 1v1. A good elementalist (Auramancer build specifically) or engineer will stalemate with you as you just can’t do enough damage over time against their condi clears and sustain. It may not be worth your time. Revenants and Necros are your best matchups.

Hackuuna.4085:

SaltAndLight.4652:

Thanks for the replies!

I distinctly remember seeing two mind wracks for a little over 5K damage each, which hit nearly simultaneously. My mind wracks never hit for that much =)

Scholar runes 10%
Sigil of Savagery 3% (assuming Power Lock daze or stun on you)
Mirror blade gives you 6 might and target 9 stacks of Vuln (Domination line)
Daze applies 5 stacks Vuln (Domination line)
Interrupt applies 3 stacks Vuln (Domination line)
If running Mental Anguish 30% damage (while you are inactive/dazed/stunned)
17 stacks vuln adds 8.5% damage (Domination) and 17% from vuln itself

In total the Mind Wrack would have a potential damage multiplier of 1.815 from those. Ferocity multiplier means total multiplier of about 3.5211. You would need a 1420 damage on Mind Wrack before multiplier to achieve a 5k crit.

Damage formula is

Weapon Strength * Power * DamageCoeff / Armor

Assume Berserker and Scholar on Mesmer, you with similar armor (i.e. base armor):

Avg Greatsword weapon strength = 1047
Berserker amulet + scholar + 6 stacks might, power = 2555
Mind Wrack Coeff = 1.15
Medium armor (no toughness) = 2064

1047*2555*1.15/2064 = 1490.479
1490.479 * 3.5211 = 5249.6

Some numbers may be off but that seems to be over 5k each from the mesmer traits and skills alone.

Wow! That is really good info. Thanks for the detail analysis.

Thanks for the replies!

I distinctly remember seeing two mind wracks for a little over 5K damage each, which hit nearly simultaneously. My mind wracks never hit for that much =)

So every damage message on screen is cumulative from when it first started channeling?

I might not be understanding what I am seeing, but the on screen damage is not matching what is in the combat log

So I got my boots bursted off of me the other day in unranked sPvP, and it was probably somebody on here that did it. I wish I had taken a screen shot, but I didn’t.

I was at nearly full health and playing a D/P thief at the time.

They were using GS and hit me with the following, everything critically hit, dmg is approximate from memory.

Power Lock – 1K
Mirror Blade – 3K
Mind Wrack – 5K
Mind Wrack – 5K
Mirror Blade – 3K
Mind Stab – 3K
Spatial Surge – 2K

I’ve tried replicating the damage in the PvP Lobby using the power shatter build on Metabattle, but I’ve come nowhere near these numbers. What am I missing?

I don’t buy/wear hats for this very reason. It looks awful now matter how cool the hat is.

Mesmer got a condi buff to their downed skill #3, the phantasmal berserker projectile now makes the skill reveal you, and then there is that nerf to illusionary reversion…

I’ve traded my staff for Scepter/Sword and taken Improved Alacrity instead of Illusionary Reversion.

2 blocks, 1 hard hitting phantasm, confusion beam, and clone generation.

OriOri.8724:

The cleanses haven’t been changed at all, its 1 cleanse per shatter, not per illusion.

Good point. I stand corrected.

I need help fighting thieves in PvP. Since the last balance patch I am completely at the mercy of thieves as a chrono.

Any constructive advice is greatly appreciated.

I’m not seeing a condi meta…

Heartpains.7312:

And they don’t want Mesmer to be able to fight thieves at all it seems =p

I thought it was just me!

After this patch, I suddenly have no sustain vs. Thief in PvP. None. Really frustrating.

Nerfing the Illusionary Reversion trait is really a reduction to sustain in PvP as mesmers use their shatters not only for damage, but also it’s their main form of condi cleanse and a secondary form of healing with Healing Prism and Restorative Illusion traits in the Inspiration line.

Shatter damage was buffed in part to make up for the loss of clone creation. Healing and condition removal was not.

From my experience so far after the patch, it’s not a minor nerf.

With all of the AoE, illusions don’t last very long. It’s much harder to trigger this trait now.

This is the first season in which the leader boards are affected by the minimum required games rule, which increases every week. So, while the population is actually less this season, the perception is magnified each week when the minimum games required increases and suddenly you see people in Gold in the top 250.

Thanks for taking the initiative!

Thief home is generally not a good idea. Mesmer should take home if you have one.

To that end, I always greet my team and call the point I am going to at the start.

Example: “Hi team, I’ll take home”
“Please call targets and focus them down”

Exciton.8942:

It is due to portal and moa(with F5). These two skills are so strong that mesmer has to sacrifice a lot of its other personal power to balance out.

The end result is that you are heavily reliant on good usage of portal and moa to win games. Your teammates also have to some basic understanding of portal and moa(which is not true in a lot of the games).

This makes mesmer quite situational in solo queue play and can be really frustrating at times.

This is a pretty good analysis. You cannot make your teammates use your portals, and it is difficult to coordinate the usage in solo queue.

I am experiencing the same issue.

I am experiencing the same issue.

EDIT: I never get out of the loading screen. I have even tried closing my client and logging back in, tries to reconnect me to the same match but it never loads.

Another difference between GW1 and GW2 is that your enemy had a skill activation progress bar (aka “skill monitor”). You could see what skill your target was activating and the progress of skill activation beyond watching their sprite for animations.

It does somewhat encourage the issue of class stacking, especially during non peak hours.

I would rather see it change to win 2 games daily as well.

There are enough achievements to encourage people to try new professions.

Ranked is not the place where I want someone choosing a profession they aren’t optimal with because they want to get their dailies.

DerJoker.9081:

It makes it a bit difficult to balance, because a lot of classes don’t have problems getting of the roots, because they have teleports (thief and mesmer almost always have one, some eles run it),

Thoughts?

Mesmers are still immobilized after they Blink, Phase Retreat, or Swap. They are just relocated.

Cleaving the roots is the only way to really get free.

Please add the ability to preview items from the “promotions” tab of the gemstore.

Chic, heeled boots and more outfits with pants, please!

Please add quartz and/or charged quartz crystals to the Maguuma Wastes PvP reward track.

Ruru.1302:

If they know how to play multiple classes, why shouldn’t they have an advantage over you?

This.

I would much rather have a dagger than an axe. Axes just don’t have the right flavor for mesmers imho.

A phantasmal assassin would be a great skill for mainhand or offhand dagger.

EDIT: I doubt they will do it, but it would be cool if they created new weapons altogether. If they did, I would love to see mesmers use whips.

Ben Phongluangtham.1065:

OriOri.8724:

But you need 2 hands to shoot a bow

http://i.imgur.com/vcJfmIc.jpg

I’m pretty sure those are short bows

Daishi.6027:

Problem is DH is a hard counter, and there is an over abundance of people who roll DH.

Thief although more fair of a matchup has some pretty one sided advantages. Which sucks even more when competing for the same slot.

Everything else other than Necro takes to long to even bother fighting or is a stalemate, and Necros have felt like one of the lowest performing for a while now. (at least to me)

In the context of 5v5 conquest I guess it’s fine, but feels lacking unless you have a decent team. There is no reason to roll something that counters the lowest common denominator, but is countered by two of the most prevalent outside of portal.

This.

steelheart.7386:

Mesmer is actually the best class to carry with in solo queue if you are good on them. Either them or thief. Problem is most people suck on them even most of the people that think they are good on them. All those so called bad matchups are really not all that bad at all. Just watch somebody like Helseth.

These conversations always comes back to Helseth. A player of his caliber could carry in solo queue using just about any class. He just happens to prefer Mesmer and post videos about it.

Mesmer is in an interesting spot at the moment. They lack a clear purpose. Mesmers are good at 1v1 but they are unable to bring down most classes quick enough to justify spending the time contesting. But, they aren’t that great in a team fight either, relying on Staff skills to buff allies and spread conditions to enemies.

They are the only profession that provides team mobility via Portal, but you can’t make your team use your portals.

Necro is the best matchup while DH is the worst.

Extra exits were a good addition, but I miss the old clock tower. I like the idea of improving the camera inside the tower, but I miss the walls and windows. I wish there was another way to accomplish that without removing so much of the tower.

The last 3 or 4 days in ranked have been much worse than the entire season in my experience. AFKs, disconnects, and the quality of play really seemed to drop for whatever reason.

I thought this weekend was really bad. I experienced more disconnects and players with less skill in my division then during the rest of the season. It just felt hopeless, so I quit trying late Saturday as I just kept going backwards.

Edit: This was my first full season and I started in low bronze, played almost 300 games, and climbed into tier II silver.

Vague Memory.2817:

The reality is that mes has one of the lowest burst with sustain out of the all the classes. The base philosophy of Mes is that we give up crit chance and power because we have illusions and phants, in many respects it is an old school class where if you want high burst you are likely going to have a glass build. Some other classes can have very high burst and sustain at the same time.

Mesmers are, however, very mobile with traited 25% movement speed buff, Blink, and Signet of Inspiration swiftness (though still not as mobile as a thief), and they are the only class that can teleport your entire team from one point to another via Portal.

Flumek.9043:

SaltAndLight.4652:

I guess we are not getting any mid season adjustments?

Have you ever seen them asking coming to forums to openly talk about a direct specific topic? like “is this traitline in good spot” ?

Theyd need like 1 guy for every 2 classes to read 10 pages in several weeks….i think you should buy more outfits.

I was referring to the dev comments in the link in the OP and the regular patch today, which had no PvP skill updates.

I guess we are not getting any mid season adjustments?