Showing Posts For Super Goose.1467:
You just described why Mesmer is one of the most engaging and imo most fun class in all of GW2 and in all of mmos period. Deciding when to shatter, what shatter to use, weighing the costs vs the benefits of shattering… all of that is what makes the Mesmer the epitome of what GW2 strives to be: a mmo unlike any other, one that involves split-second critical thinking and unparalleled player involvement. Simplifying can be a good idea in mmos but not in this case. I would really question Arena Net if they compromised on their goals just because some players aren’t quite adjusting as quickly to the new standard.
We didn’t say you deal no damage, we said you deal less damage. And just because you can kill one bunker class with another doesn’t make your class overpowered, it makes you a good player (congrats by the way!). Surviving 3 vs 1 against burst is the definition of bunker build and if you do a little search you can find examples from just about any of the classes where this is possible. One of my favs was the TankCat engineer spec, it’s hilarious to watch him just run a group of 10+ around in circles while his team takes the advantage. Here’s the link: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/engineer/The-TANKCAT-build-Prybar-some-faces
All those skills have long cooldowns which you can’t really build around because you are already built to use mantras. Also phantasms die really quickly, especially when there is AoE or cleave damage involved.
And just to name a few classes that have more survival ability than mesmers: Engineers get a shield with a reflect projectiles and a block/stun that will block projectiles for its duration plus the chance to equip another kit with another general block that just blocks anything for its duration plus a plethora of ways to kite mobs while still dealing hefty damage with either bombs or grenades. Rangers have Greatsword that has a built in evade on 2/3 of the skills in their auto-attack and a moving block plus they can have two bears with mega vitality to tank for them oh and they can swap these bears every 15s for instant skill/health refill. Necromancers have a second life bar that they can recharge over time and can bring along some minions to take of the heat, they also have many ways of blinding or chilling foes. Warriors and Guardians both have lots of armor and several blocks and they ability to apply perma-weakness which is huge damage reduction. Elementalists can zip in and out of fights at a moment’s notice and have cantrips and auras. And thief has perma-stealth…
Basically every class has lots of ways to avoid damage and any of them can be built into something similar to what you described, in fact there is a word for these builds: Bunker Builds. I think every class has at least one variety of Bunker that can outlast multiple foes.
As far as being able to max out healing and power… yeah you can get those both pretty high but then you are missing out on precision and crit damage and toughness and vitality. You can really only choose two to really “max” and just power alone leaves your damage output way below those who have power and precision with a splash of crit damage. there is always a tradeoff.
Yeah, with a skill named Illusionary Riposte (and also the Warrior’s less cool regular Riposte) you would imagine there would be at least one sword skin that looked like a rapier or other sword fit for dueling.
I’m sorry but that’s a bit like asking if there are any decent Elementalist builds that don’t involve switching attunements. But you don’t have to build your entire bar around shatters, with weapon switching and deceptive evasion you should be able to summon clones/phantasms as quickly as you can shatter them while leaving the rest of bar free for whatever utility you want. Many people like feedback for ranged counter, null field for amazing condition/boon removal, and blink or even decoy can buy you precious seconds if you need to escape. I have found that summoning phantasms and letting them do one round of attacks before shattering lets me set off a huge burst and with weapons swapping/traits that reduce cooldown I can resummon just a little bit after they would have attacked again anyways.
I will agree that Mesmers seem to be built more around burst rather than sustained damage (unless you go something like staff with heavy conditions) but that is just the nature of the class. You might think it unfortunate that certain classes only have a couple viable ways to deal damage but the alternative, every class being able to do every kind of damage/support, would essentially result in every class inherently being the same except for their animations, I honestly don’t know which is worse.
Have you considered Altruistic Healing on the Guardian? You are comparing a character specifically built around a very niche build that sacrifices a lot of utility to one that simply slaps on a healing skill and one trait. Traited and skilled correctly, Guardians have just as many, if not more ways of providing additional healing while not really sacrificing as much as Mesmers. Compare a full build to a full build and then your argument might find more legitimacy.
The bards in GW1 were Paragons. You know, the class that had Arias, Chants, even SONGS? Mesmers were always mind warpers which is translated into confusing foes with clones, I thought they did an excellent job with Mesmers in GW2 (always wondered why the GW1 creation screen showed a mesmer with a sword when clearly they were not supposed to use them in GW1).
That being said, I would not mind the return of both Paragon and Dervish classes although I think the combination of Guardian and Warrior was meant to replace them.
How is Mesmer’s class mechanic any different from Engineer? Both give the class access to four more abilities, and in fact Engineer’s can be argued to be better because you can actually change what abilities you get and using them doesn’t sacrifice the effects of another skill and potential damage. Also, using toolbelt skills is easier. Knowing when to shatter and which shatter to use at the right time while balancing illusions and clones is almost as difficult as managing attunements I would say, yet Mesmers have far less mobility than Elementalists.
Unless you meant that Mesmer’s class mechanic is too powerful to warrant mobility as well in which case I still fall back to Elementalists, who have one of the best, if not the best, class mechanics in the game. What boils down to the equivalent of 2 free weapon slots at the mere cost of mostly being locked into a particular range, short for daggers, medium for scepter, and long for staffs. D/D as a set alone provides more mobility than Mesmers can get with a full skill bar and on top of that you can get a +25% signet, a teleport and Mistform..
Call it a hornbow. They were the ones from GW1 that had the slowest fire rate but came with inherent 20% armor penetration so they hit like a truck, seems to be the idea you were going for. Although honestly that kinda sounds like a bow a warrior would use and I bet you’d get a lot of them whining that their bow is kitten in comparison.
Mesmers have the option to get 100% 33% runspeed, but not for free.
Focus + 2x rune of air, 2x monk, 2x water +20 inspiration + 20 chaos + Signet of Midnight = 100% uptime, or 30chaos no Signet = 100% uptime.
Rune of the Centaur 12sec swiftness, 15sec CD, again 20chaos +signet or 30chaos for 100% uptime.
Both heavy commitments, but its not like the focus buff was useless.
Compare this to Engineer, another class that doesn’t have a +25% runspeed signet (or any signets for that matter). For just 20 points in Tools, which I feel a lot of Engineer builds have anyways for +20% recharge on toolbelt and +20% crit damage, they can slot a trait called speedy kits that allows them to perma-swiftness just by clicking one button every 5 seconds. No runes, no boon duration, no need to even use a skill just have those 20 trait points and your choice of kit
Granted engineers have their own problems to worry about but mobility, even in-combat, isn’t one of them, perma-swiftness, rifle 4 + 5, elixir gun 4, rocket boots (and its toolbelt is a small but effective 300 range jump). In fact if I was going to rate classes in terms of mobility even including in-combat, I’d put Thief and Elementalist well ahead of Mesmers who would probably be tied with Engineers and be just barely ahead of Guardians (teleport/leap on their sword/greatsword and a teleport of their own that actually inflicts damage albeit on a 50% longer cooldown).