Here are some tips that helped me while leveling my Mesmer.
1.) PVT gear will go a long ways while leveling( Power/Toughness/Vitality)
2.) The build guide you’re using is pretty spot on. It is the one I used actually
3.) Conditions are absolute kitten in PvE
4.) Dodging is the best defense anyone has in PvE
Hope that helps a little bit but don’t get discouraged if even with these tips it is hard. Leveling is one of the reasons not many people like Mesmers, it is just really hard if not the hardest around (IMO)
Aye man I just started this game and so far leveling mesmer is super easy. Not as easy as warrior but much easier than ranger. Even after I tamed a drake and shark along with making my own new weapons and armor every 5 levels… the damage is super slow all-be-it reliable. It’s easier to stay alive as a ranger over a mesmer but all that can be solved by using the mesmers CC abilities a lot for aid. While Leveling up I’m using;
-Mantra of Pain for extra damage and making fights end faster.
-Decoy for Stealth and break stun as well as clone
-I start all fights with my scepter and focus because I find a sword to be rather weak in damage while making you more at risk while using abilities.
-I start fights by using (focus) Phantasmal Warden and (scepter) Ether* 3 times so I have 2 clones. I then place down (focus) Temporal Curtain behind my enemy/ies and activate it.
-When enemies get pulled away from me I switch to Greatsword and do 1 of 2 things…
1. If it is single target I use (GS) Mirror Blade so it bounces back to me and grants me Might which boosts the Damage from exploding illusions you have up with Mind Wrack by a huge amount.
2. If it is more than one target I then use (GS) Phantasmal Berserker which cripples your enemy and reduces their movement speed by 50%.
-also keep in mind that using the other illusion destroying spells can get you out of a pinch if you are trying to do missions or solo mini bosses in higher level areas.
…With all of this said… I barely have to rely on Dodge Rolling (as i like to call it) to keep myself alive in fights even when I’m solo. Unlike Warriors who rely immensely on Dodge Rolling to stay alive in longer/tougher fights, Mesmers have tons of CC, utility, damage and evasion skills already
and the number of files thing reset to the beginning too. So it’s not just showing the percentage of whats left because i had less than 75k files left and now I have over 250k files remaining… I mean really… This already finished.. 2nd huge problem I have run into with this game and I haven’t even had my serial code for more than 24 hours yet lol…