Guild Wars 2

IGN: Atin Vexien
Server: Sanctum of Rall
Role: Scholar
Play time: Random, mostly evenings and nights
Playstyle: Very heavily sPvP for now, but may branch off later

First, a few clarifications;

What is the scale of the fight? Is it just a 3v3, or is it a zerg where you’re just focusing on those 6?

More important if it’s 3v3, but either way, are the 3 Mesmers all allied, or are they split between the opposing forces?

A few ideas;

If it’s a WvW group battle, Veil and/or Portal is a must. I read your epic story back when it first came out, so forgive me if I’m remembering incorrectly, but I don’t think you used either ability in that one. Which makes sense in a duel.

A long-ranged Mesmer. Greatsword and Pistol would both be great to use, and I especially like Alissah’s idea of him/her blinking between elevations.

Suicide Mesmer. I’m not entirely sure how well you would be able to describe it, but it’s what I play in PvP and I feel obligated to promote it

For the other professions, I feel like you definitely need a physical ranged character (meaning not long-range magic, like Elementalist), probably in opposition to the previously mentioned long-ranged Mesmer. Ranger and a pet would be neat. For the “cool” factor you could bring in a dual-pistol Thief. A Rifle Warrior sniping would also be really neat, but could be impractical depending on the scale of the battle.

And finally, you can’t have WvW without including the strongest Mesmer weapon ever:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29G6S7mhPgc

While I find Mesmer to be a blast in everything in SPvP, I have found two repeated occurrences that give me the greatest satisfaction:

1. Blink-stomping Thieves. While it doesn’t work every time, seeing your enemy teleport away and immediately teleporting after them to finish them off is amazing. And I love imagining what goes through their minds.

2. Using Portal to deny captures. I usually act as a roamer for my team, and I can usually 1v1 the far cap point and take it. I lay down a portal and head to the mid cap point to help out my team. As soon as the contested symbol appears on the point, I lay down the other portal and go back to engage them again. Even if I don’t win (due to coming from other combat), I hold up the capture for a decent amount of time.

Congratulations, you made it over the hump. Level 40 is a big milestone because you can grab Deceptive Evasion, which makes the leveling process so much easier. As for the build and weapon sets;

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Lazy-Kai-s-Guide-to-PvE-Leveling-Guide-Update (second post)

TL:DR – GS + Sword/Focus, 20/20/0/0/30 Shatter build.

Montari.1824:

“Whena the next time I see the six fingered man I will say to him …. Hello My name is Indigo Montari You ate all my nachos prepare to die!”

As a recreation of my gw1 mesmer Indy has been waiting for rapiers for 250 years, He is an amalgamation of the dread pirate Roberts and Inigo Montoya.

That looks great. What armor are you wearing?

When you wonder why your Warrior is taking damage while using 100B.

Every. Single. Time.

(It doesn’t help that they’re the same button)

Chaos Archangel.5071:

Actually… I hate the Greatsword (or I did, atleast, till I randomly found a Crystal Guardian this weekend). It does great damage and is better in PvE, but its too straightforward for me, and I always felt Mesmer is all about creativity.

I did about 90% of my leveling without it, and never brought it with me to Orr. IMO, if you grab a set of knight’s gear and take some Zerker weapons, you can use just about anything with staff as offhand.

Sword + X / Staff – shouldn’t be much problems, atleast for me it wasn’t. Staff is my favorite Mes weapon besides the sword, and can easily keep you alive in Orr.

The classic 20/20/0/0/30 shatter build does fine in open world PvE, may wanna change to a more Phantasm-based spec for dungeons though. Osicat’s Shattercat series, especially Shattercat Mist, can give you all the survivability ya need… but again, that’ss just my opinion.

Fair enough. I actually have been going through this debate with myself. Despite using GS for the past 70 levels, I still don’t have nearly as much fun with it as when I switch to my Sword. I plan on never touching another GS once I get to level 80, but the benefits of leveling up with it were too much to pass up. But it’s up to the individual player to decide whether they would rather kill things faster or use a more survivable, and more enjoyable build.

Greatsword + Sword/Focus shatter build. Greatsword and Sword are great at dealing damage, and allow you to dance in and out of range as the battle demands. And if you’re going for map completion, your sanity will most likely necessitate a Focus, which is also very viable in combat. Staff has the best survivability, but will take a very long time to kill with. Greatsword and MH Sword with a shatter build put out the best raw burst damage a Mesmer can have access to. While you can adjust it for personal preferences, the overall build is demonstrated in Lazy Kai’s guide:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Lazy-Kai-s-Guide-to-PvE-Leveling-Guide-Update/first

For sigils, you have several options. Bloodlust is probably your best bet for a stacking stat, although the Precision sigil is also an option. I like running with a Sigil of Energy on my Focus, which pairs nicely with Deceptive Evasion, but that’s a personal preference. Other good options include Air (single-target damage) or Fire (AoE damage).

Runes are mostly personal preference. Since your going for map completion, I think Centaur Runes would be extremely helpful for the mobility.

Armor is all Berserker.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

Dat Focus pull.

Dat Portal… everything.

As a follow-up question, is a weapon (and therefore a chance of a precursor) guaranteed?

For leveling up, I am currently using this amazing guide, with some variations because of personal preference;

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Lazy-Kai-s-Guide-to-PvE-Leveling-Guide-Update/first
(second post)

It basically goes with what everybody else is saying. Greatsword + Sword/X (Usually focus) are your weapons of choice. Once you get to a level where you can produce clones quickly, your basic shatters become great sources of AoE damage. It’s a very efficient and powerful build for leveling. There are some better builds for when you’re at level 80, so I’m going to have to learn an entirely new playstyle then, but I find it worthwhile for how great this build is for leveling.

Phandel, what gear is that?

The recipe may be soulbound, but the gift is not. You can still make it on your alt and send it to your main.

I’m also leveling my Mesmer. I just passed the level 40 milestone, and I can assure you that it gets better. I run Greatsword + Sword/Sword with all of my equipment giving Power and Precision. This is what I’m currently running at level 50:

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-N;4VPVz0z6cVV71;9;49J;090;039;50;9;7FW0-g2vJ

The general idea is to have a ton of burst damage available on demand through phantasms and Mind Wrack. I generally have a Greatsword equipped for entering combat, but I switch weapons very often in combat.

If you’re only fighting one normal mob and you aren’t in a hurry, open with iBerserker and Mirror Blade, use the auto-attack until the mob gets down to ~33% health, and then Mind Wrack.

In situations that demand more burst, an opener that is absolutely deadly is;

iBerserker -> Mirror Blade -> Roll towards the mob (continue running at the mob throughout the next attacks until you reach melee range)-> Cry of Frustration -> Weapon swap -> iSwordsman -> Illusionary Leap (and Swap if you’re out of melee range) -> Roll through the mob -> Turn around and use Blurred Frenzy and Mind Wrack at the same time

Any non-veteran or champion mob in the game will be dead by now, and the same combo can be used against tight groups. For bosses, you can open with this, and then dance in and out of melee range, swapping between weapons depending on where you are. Use Mirror Images for more on-demand Mind Wracks if your weapon skills are on cooldown, use Decoy for defense and/or clone generation, and use Blink to help either close or open a gap.

Best of luck to you, and I promise that it gets better.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, if you are having a difficult time surviving a particular boss or encounter, use Staff. Between kiting, Chaos Storm, and Chaos Armor, the survivability increase is pretty noticeable.

I’m currently using GS to level my Mesmer, and I find it absolutely fantastic in that area. As pointed out previously, iBerserker and shatters can absolutely melt PvE mobs. However, I doubt that I’ll be using it endgame. It has the damage, but it is a very straightforward weapon, and that’s not how I want to play. Just a personal preference though.

Seren.6850:

hmm didnt realise it was in the crit tree, would involve me shifting 10 points from the power tree and losing 12% dmg at full adrenaline

If you’re going to be using Earthshaker a lot, you won’t be missing out on much (except for on Earthshaker itself).

Ramiah.5648:

Okay I’m really confused. Why does the nerf to Shattered Strength lower our ability to tag mobs in PvE and get the loot/credit from events? All I saw was mention of Greatsword, and I’m not sure how the two correlate.

Not exactly sure of the situation, but:

Might = Higher damage
Popular events = Mobs die very quickly
Higher damage = Better chance of dealing enough damage to a mob in order to receive loot/credit

Also, Greatsword = Event weapon of choice

Agreed. My secondary weapon often changes, but staff will always be my main.

I love your videos. Always great imagining the thought process of your enemies, especially during a particular scene in your rallying video:
1. Starts out ~1 v 4, a few more people join in and your health drops like a stone.
2. You run away, jumping into water nearby and pulling a skelk.
3. Condition damage kills you, ~8 enemies jump down in a frenzy of attacks to finish you off.
4. Skelk dies, you rez and decoy, run away.
5. Group of enemies stands still for several seconds wondering what just happened.

Fantastic

Depends on the event. Staff is awesome in boss events, but not so much in tagging events. GS, in addition to having the only reliable ranged AoE (Mirror Blade), has a fast auto attack that you can use by just target swapping and firing. If the area is small enough, Sword/Torch is a great melee build for tagging.

Edit: Forgot to mention the universal AoE tag – spam clones on different targets and use Mind Wrack.

Manticore Five.9867:

Isn’t he a little short to be a stormtrooper?

*Applause*

Bravo.

That’s what clones do. Staff clones apply conditions and boons, sword clones apply vulnerability, and all of the rest are shatter fodder.

I’m not into high level fractals yet, but I’ve been using;
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/74697-build-sonic-boon-shout-greatsword/
I love it so far.

Just to clarify, do regular overwrites also count as clone deaths? You never seem to mention that, but I don’t know if it’s because it doesn’t work or because dodging is much more reliable.

Ace.1726:

Does the precursor need a certain sigil or will anyone do?

Yes and no. No, you do not need to put a sigil into the precursor. However, you do need the Legendary’s specific sigil in crafting the “Gift of [Legendary Name]”

Example: Gift of The Bifrost requires a Superior Sigil of Nullification, which is the sigil that The Bifrost contains when crafted.

Harrier.9380:

Axes are great for events, as Axe 5 has no target limit, meaning you can easily tag every mob.

Right and wrong. Axe 5 has the same target limit as every other AoE skill in the game- it can only hit 5 enemies at a time. However, the fact that it hits 15 times and hits 5 random enemies each time means you spread the love around quite effectively. I agree with what you’re saying, just wanted to clear that misconception.

Bug with asura:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/warrior/Comprehensive-list-of-Warrior-bugs-2/page/2#post496275

I agree with the shatter, but if you want something a bit different, here’s another post:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Arn-t-mesmers-awesome-at-tanking-PVP/first#post825074

I am also leveling a Mesmer, and as many of my observations go along with dare’s analysis, I’ll just throw in my two copper.

First off, staff is absolutely the best primary weapon to run with. I use Sword/Focus as my secondary weapons, but the focus can easily be swapper for a pistol. Scepter isn’t terrible, but I feel like it doesn’t do anything that Staff + Sword can’t do better (aside from confusion). But don’t rely too much on Sword, being in melee range is dangerous.

For utility skills, I agree that Null Field and Feedback are great skills to use. I also highly recommend Mirror Images. With staff, being able to bring up 3 clones almost instantly is a massive benefit when you just want to kill one enemy really quickly. For the healing skill, Ether Feast all the way.

Edit: Just realized dare didn’t bring up another reason why Staff is amazing: the clones are the most useful clones that Mesmers have access to.
Most clones: Shatter/Tank fodder
Sword clones: Applies vulnerability to enemy
Staff clones: Applies vulnerability, burning, and bleeding to enemy and applies Might and Fury to you/allies

Also, just so you know, don’t do this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaGw1DOzQhE