Guild Wars 2

Oh man Ross, I was just about to go in.

Instead, all I’ll say is an idea for alacrity I’ve been toying with is:

F5 -> Mimic+AlacrityWell -> AlacrityWell (F5) Mimic+AlacrityWell -> AlacrityWell

And the 12s of alacrity (not including shield phantasm, the fact that f5 and all other shatters grant 1s alacrity, OR the 33% alacrity boost trait) would of course… Recharge my AlacrityWell.

Sup guys,

Shan and I are gonna be trying to host the Mesmerized Podcast ( NEW episode with Myself, Pyro, and Shanaeri here every weekend. (No pressure, or anything… =[ ) so I was hoping to gather some input from y’all on some stuff you’d like to hear us talk about/analyze /explore in the next coming weeks. We have a few ideas in mind, but I figured since this is yet another community-driven project it’s best to have the community involved.

So any feedback, comments, criticisms ect. would be HUGELY appreciated, feel free to be as harsh as you want if you think it’ll help us improve. Even if it’s something like “Ughhh Chaos’s voice makes me wanna punch a baby.” .. Speaking of which, I apologize for any mic-issues with this past show .X_x

As well as ideas for topics and I’d like to go with Zumi’s suggestion of hosting a featured build for each show from the forums. I’ll definitely be pulling builds from my not-yet-obsolete build-testing thread if we get no submissions here.

Thanks again y’all.

Edit: Also, anyone have an opinion on the question at the end of the episode? “Do you think all we have to offer are Portal/Veil/Timewarp in groups and if not, what can we do to end that perception?”
—-

SUGGESTED TOPICS

• Lockdown Builds – Marsares
• Mesmers playing in WvW in different tiers of servers. – Eldenbri
• Perspective of the current state of support builds in all area’s of the game. -WitchKing
• Viable PvP builds. – Requiem

Yeah, feedback is one of my favorite skills. An anti-projectile Ethereal field that could give me 9 seconds of Chaos Armor? (10+ seconds when traited) More AoE in teamfights is always welcome but its especially nice for duels and when you’re running CI. Wait till that ranger/engie switches to ranged, interrupt&immobilize, pop Feedback.

Profit.

I … Can’t bring myself to play any other class for any amount of time.

I made the mistake of starting with Mesmer, cuz teleports illusions and psychic magic is awesome to me… Now every other class can’t hold my attention in PvP, or make me think “Ugh wish I was on my Mes.” =[

So yeah, Mesmer is lacking statistically and if you’re a math person you’ll start to feel lackluster when compared to other classes. But in terms of fun factor? In PvP? Mes is seriously hard to beat.

Unfortunately there is too much flame/immaturity for that in hotm. However you can likely find RPers that also PvP (and RP in party chat).

Shoot me a whisper and I’ll try to introduce you to the few that I know.

@Royale Hey dude, I tried out your build last night for a few rounds and had a lot of fun. It currently feels .. not entirely optimal in some ways, but nonetheless effective and enjoyable. Some notes I took:

• I didn’t realize (but secretly hoped) Confounding Suggestions doesn’t count stuns. So pistol shot stuns two targets. Or you can stun someone with the pistol, switch to sword, stun them again with the sword daze while your phantasms wail on them. Fun stuff

• Build still feels too single-target for my liking. While I can decimate nearly any 1v1, fighting outnumbered was difficult (though it was also in part because I’m not used to the build) and I didn’t feel very effective in team fights… Except making it a nightmare for my enemies to get off stomps/rezzes, which, now that I think about it, is actually pretty useful.

• Made some slight changes: Kept the pistol trait and the sword trait though I find it hard to justify traited swords over Blinding Dissipation, since blinding is a fantastic defensive tool and works along with ineptitude. Added Phantasmal haste, Persistence of Memory and Furious Interruption. Right now I feel furious is highly underrated, and it works well in this build.

• Conditions. Ugh. I gotta be good at this game like Warlord of Chaos and Jurica and get used to having next to no removal.

• Moa Signet is dope, never tried it before. Centaur runes are dope too!

• Celestial ughhhh. It works, but I feel it makes me lazy and holds the build back from it’s true potential. I feel theres not enough condition damage or heals here to make cele feel worth it, not just for the added defense.

So far it’s been fun, but like Ross said the first thing that came to mind is “Is Illusions worth it over Inspiration?” I feel Inspiration would make for a better fit here, but it is really hard to give up the sword cooldowns in both illusions AND dueling. I’m gonna keep working with Illusions for now and see how I feel, but so far it’s been a blast to play.

Stop guys. How am I ever supposed to get any actual work done at my job with all this potential spilling about!?

Really tempted to mimic signet of inspiration along with continuum shift and illusory inspiration

Uh..a ninja strikes from the shadows

@Fay: Why longbow warrior? With mirror and the Inspiration traits I don’t see wars being a particular threat.

@Happi: You are welcome! So lets take a look at this build..

PROS

• Runes & Sigils seem legit.
• Trait choices are solid.
• Solid defenses via staff & Chaos/Inspiration line.
• Respectable damage.

CONS

• Low clone production.
• Lack of role.
• Few reliable damage sources

To me, what stands out is that you opted to not take the Dueling line despite having Restorative Illusions. Restorative heals you per-clone-shattered so you’re missin out on a bit of survival without it, as well as losing some needed damage via shatters. I think your condition removal is decent enough with just restorative and heals, maybe consider a generosity sigil if condis are still a problem but the general shatter mesmer rule of “don’t get hit” applies here even despite your defenses.

Ironically, this build seems like it’ll rely pretty heavily on shatters both for damage and defense. Diversion (F3) becomes super important to master here; it grants fury for your GS burst and mind wrack shatters, keeps you safe when ganked by stunning, and is a necessary form of damage/defense when it interrupts and applies weakness. Yet another reason you may wanna find a way to worm dueling in here (if I had to chose, I’d replace chaos. None of the traits in chaos are crucial to the build functioning.)

As for lack of role, it seems like a build that is decent at lots of things but master of none. The good thing is that makes you adaptable and able to handle different situations, but it also means you can’t be relied on for anything that anyone else could possibly do better. Everything in this build is average stat-wise, you’re like the Super Mario of mesmers. If you’re happy with that, then awesome, it can definitely work, but if you’re more serious about the build then figure out your plan for when you enter a match.

So.. Damage. We’ve got GS wombo-combo (gs2 + 3 + shatter) / interrupts / phantasms / mind wrack. With such low clone production, very few of that is reliable. You’re gonna have to be pretty skillful to make this build highly effective, but for low/mid tiers I think you’ll be fine.

Also… Decoy > Mirror Images almost all the time.

(If I get a chance, ill try to record a match using this build!)

Hey Cody, while your at it can we fix Chaos Storms(Staff 5) sound? It was awesome before but now it just sounds like I accidentally dropped a Greatsword on the floor.

Hey guys, wanted to give a quick update and address a few key issues people are having.

Incomplete Guide/Build
Yes, the build in it’s current form is still just out of incubation and in it’s infant stages. This means that within the next two weeks parts of the build are very likely to be altered to improve it. The reason I put the build up so early is specifically to get feedback on the negative aspects people are noticing and then gear my testing to address them, at the same time the build is still functional enough in it’s current state to work… also, I realize I never make easy to use builds either. x.x My builds tend to take some time investment to practice and learn.

Alternative Traits/Skills
I never make a build that can’t easily be tweaked or customized to fit whoever wants to pick the template up. The core of the build revolves around 30/20/0/0/0 for the two Mantra traits, but the remaining 20 points are flexible and can be placed wherever. MoStability and Recovery are the most important Mantras, leaving two open utility slots for whatever you’d like. I prefer to place the extra traits into either Chaos (Boon duration) or Inspiration for a number of different options.. Medic’s Feedback is a great alternative choice, as are a traited Focus or Mender’s Purity (3 conditions removed every Heal with a 12 second recharge)

Usefulness
The build was designed with smaller engagements in mind. The goal of the spec is to provide damage via Phantasms while maintaining a near 50% stability uptime and constant condition removal in addition to the benefits of boons from skills such as Temporal Curtain, Chaos Storm and Ethereal fields. If you prefer Null field over Mantra of Resolve for condition removal (and of course boon removal), then by all means go ahead and grab it. Having Mantra of Concentration and Mantra of Recovery alone justifies taking Mantra traits, and you don’t actually need to grab both 3 charges (charges are preferred) and Mantra cooldowns to be effective with the mantras. So far in my testing Staff and Greatsword seem to be the best mix but I am seeing some potential in a 10/30/0/0/30 shatter variant.

Weaknesses
Mobility is looking like it’s definitely going to be an issue no matter what, but that has nothing to do with traits.

Oh, and, I’m still figuring out this video program, so some demos will definitely help when I get em down..

• Mistrust (Inflict AoE 2x Confusion on interrupt) Oh, Mistrust, how I want to love you. WHY must you battle with Deceptive Evasion!? Mistrust is an excellent teamfight skill that really pushes the possibility of condition-interrupt being just as viable as power. Since there is no ICD, abilities like Temporal Curtain(Focus), Illusionary Wave(Greatsword), AoE Diversion(Master of Frag) and Mantra of Distraction that can proc multiple interrupts at once can potentially cause a sinister chain reaction of anguish.
  Now just toss perplexity runes on that, trait into illusions to make Cry of Frustration inflict 2x Torment + 2x Confusion + Cripple and we’ve got some real AoE condi pressure potential.

• Chaotic Interruption ( Gain 5x Might + Random Boon on Interrupt / Inflict Immobilize + Blind/Cripple/Chill on interrupt) it’s the old faithful. Chaotic Interruption used to be the best interrupt trait a Mesmer could take, but now that honor goes to Power Block. However, with CI being merged with Bountiful Interruption, this skill is still the second best option for any interrupt Mesmer.
  Not much to say here.. A great trait got even better.

• Master of Fragmentation (Lots of fanciful shatter stuff, but all we care about is AoE Diversion) Its the moment Lockdown Mesmer have been asking for for years.. We can FINALLY take Imbued Diversion along with iPersona, and as a bonus.. We also get Cripple on Cry of Frustration and more crit-possible Mind Wracks!
  This is a shatter trait first and foremost, but AoE Diversion is such a powerful tool that it deserves to be mentioned. The synergy this has with every interrupt trait (Power Block, Chaotic Interrupt, Furious Interrupt, Mistrust, Dazzling) shouldn’t be underestimated, especially since we don’t have many options to inflict AoE daze. Grab this trait if you’re a shatter Mesmer looking to add a spice of lockdown to your rotations and have already invested in Power Block or Furious/Chaotic Interruption or building a condition-interrupt build with Mistrust.

POTENTIAL BUILDS - Link to Chronomancer Traits -

DOM/DUELING/CHAOS: The “Meta” Lockdown
- Confounding Suggestions, Shattered Concentration, Power Block
- (Any), Blinding Dissipation, Deceptive Evasion
- Master of Manipulation, Mirror of Anguish/Chaotic Dampening, Chaotic Interruption

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=VSFRg;1VP;9;9;3STU;0038238236G

While there are some GREAT options in the Chronomancer tree, including that ever-tempting Continuum Shift and the shield’s fantastic CC, I don’t think any of that is actually necessary to make a powerful lockdown build. In fact, unless Alacrity of one of these wells really shine, I’m assuming that one of the most tournament-viable builds we’re going to have is going to be this one.
The combination of Deceptive Evasion, Chaotic Interruption, Power Block, & Shattered Conditions makes for an extremely strong build already, but add in AoE Blinds on shatter, Illusionary Persona baseline, Protection-on-Chaos Armor, and even Evasive Mirror(reflect on dodge) and you’ve got a build that’s far more powerful than our current “standard” Shatter with all the benefits of both shatter and lockdown combined into one!

SHATTER – DOM/DUELING/ILLUSIONS: Shatterlock 2.0
- Confounding Suggestions, Shattered Concentration, Mental Anguish
- (Any), Blinding Dissipation, Deceptive Evasion
- Compounding Power, Shattered Strength, Master of Fragmentation

http://dulfy.net/gw2traits#build=AgMBWALcBag~

This build is still under scrutiny, but it offers something for players who still prefer a more shatter-focused style. What makes this build stand out from the others is the ability to grab Master of Fragmentation, which causes our Diversion shatter to become an AoE. Not only is having another AoE interrupt great, but the Illusions line also lowers the cooldown on our shatters, granting this build access to the most frequent bursts and highest power damage of the bunch.

PHANTASM – DOM/DUELING/CHRONO: Temporal Duelist
- Confounding Suggestions, Furious Interruption, Imagined Burden
- Duelists Discipline, Fencer’s Finesse, Deceptive Evasion
- Delayed Reactions, Illusory Reversion, ChronoPhantasma

http://dulfy.net/gw2traits#build=AgMBXALcBrg~

This is actually a Phanta-rupt build, relying mainly on iDuelest and GS Phantasm for damage. I’m hoping that the addition of wells and the reduced cooldown on pistol allows for more AoE-oriented phantasm build that allows you to still focus on locking down key targets.

http://www.twitch.tv/guildwars2/v/9763687?t=5h000m20s

Here you’ll find gameplay for all the elite specs, Chronomancer starts at 05:00:00…. in German. x.x

This guy kinda failed epicly with Continuum Shift, but otherwise he showcases the wells and some general Chrono stuff. Just a little something to whet the appetite until more footage later tonight!

(Btw the float effect looks dope!)

….for the ultimate 3 man PvP/WvW team?!

Reaper & Tempest, imo

Reaper – frontline damage. With their inherent tankiness and access to AoE chill/damage they’d be the perfect ones to keep enemies trapped within our wells. (when they’re not.. y’know.. fearing them away)

Tempest – Keeping enemies locked down should be no problem for us with a reaper, which means Tempests should be able to use their overloads in relative safety, and Warhorn/Rebound combined with our Alacrity could be devastating.

I think its 1s per illusion for a total of 4 seconds. 4 secs is plenty of time to cast quite a few skills, and makes you decide whether to use long-cast time skills like illusion of life or instants like blink and mantra charges.

Remember its not just cooldowns reverted, its damage as well. 20s would be obscene.

Ross Biddle.2367:

Chaos Archangel.5071:

For “pure” lockdown I’d bet: (Dom/Chaos/Chrono) but it remains to be seen if we can make it without the clone production of DE.

“We”. I haven’t used DE for 6 months. The chains that bind

But your build is crazy squishy and so single-target focused. O.o and you still haven’t taken my advice to shatter more! Would make a big difference.

It may be fake, but lets be honest…

Who here hasn’t looked at Illusionists Celerity and said, “Wow. Thats… really beastly for 5 points.”

We got spoiled by it, but in a sense we shoulda saw this coming… but Grandmaster!? Not even Master!? wtf.

Yes. Flavor of the Month 2-week Mesmers are strong, but not OP. Mostly because they don’t really know what they’re doing outside of their FoTM Bursts.

… Where is that dead horse .gif? I think I’ll need it for the future.

Edit: Yes! <3 Expiatus!

Oh my god tho… x_x I come back to see this and immediately feel a need to go throw up in my mouth.

CI = Chaotic Interruption ( Interrupted foes are Immobilized + Blind/Cripple/Chill)

CD = Chaotic Dampening ( Gain toughness with staff equipped & reduce cooldowns by 20%)

A lot of people who spectate my weird 0/4/6/4/0 build often ask me why I choose Chaotic Interruption despite not necessarily considering it a lockdown build. I’ve fallen into the habit of almost always traiting CI whenever I grab Staff and Focus because in my opinion it offers a better benefit to both weapons.

CHAOS STORM
The majority of staff’s damage comes from iWarlock (4k+ dmg) , second to that is Chaos Storm (3k+ dmg). Both these skills are difficult to land on mobile opponents … or anything that has legs and a brain, really. Chaotic Interruption works very well with Chaos Storm for trapping people in it’s radius when it interrupts. Since c-storm also has a chance to proc chill, CI helps really dampen an opponent’s mobility.

iWARLOCK
… Which is why I summon Chaos Storm before I summon iWarlock. iWarlock does 10% more damage for every condition on the opponent, but also has the curse of barely ever being able to strike any enemy that has the ability to.. hell, wiggle. Not only does CI’s immobilize make it easier to for Warlock to hit, but since CI drops an instant two conditions on the opponent, it already guarantees an extra 20% damage boost.

TEMPORAL CURTAIN
This is the same reason I use CI with Focus. Temporal Curtain is an excellent CC ability, not only does it cripple but after being cast, the magic rupture lingers for about five seconds. This is very dangerous for the opponent! Many people like to cast curtain and pull instantly, but this is predictable and easy to avoid. Temporal Curtain is one of the best “mindgame” skills we have: letting it linger usually forces an opponent to waste one or both of their dodges and makes them extremely uncomfortable with using any skills with longer cast times. It’s almost always better to summon the curtain and not immediately pull. This also gives you access to a cripple field and a LIGHT combo field.

iWARDEN
But you can do all that without CI. Dealing damage iWarden is the real reason you want to use CI with Focus. A proper (summon curtain > summon warden > pull curtain before warden is fully summoned) combo can land a couple of iWarden’s 12 hits, but landing an interrupt before summoning -combined with swords Illusionary Leap- can immobilize an opponent long enough for nearly all of Warden’s attacks to hit, while at the same time giving you an opening for a blurred frenzy or full sword autoattack from inside the Phantasm (and thus safe from projectiles)

These are just a couple examples of why I enjoy using CI even when I’m not running Mantra of Distraction or Halting Strike. Saving people from Stomps/Preventing rezzes and random immobilizes are all well and good in teamfights too, has anyone else come up with other creative ways of using this excellent trait?

Somehow I missed the other comments. The additional info is much appreciated!

As far as the “tree” thing goes, I turn into a Jamaican every 10th day of the month and that becomes perfectly fine. =P (and technically, that’s a spelling issue rather than grammar)

Credit is given in the first paragraph.

What I meant is that despite the infraction-to-ban-worthy list of complaints I have about the game, I haven’t found a reason to abandon the class yet.

In PvP, I win more on Mesmer than I do on Elementalist, Thief, or Guardian because I’m better with the class. I don’t want to learn to go deeper into the other classes because their mechanics aren’t as fun as the Mesmer. Despite the nerfs I can still succeed the way I always have, I still enjoy trying out different builds, I still have a good time washing up baddies with my friends and for me that’s where my fun comes in.

I feel the problems with the game hold the class back more than the class itself. Confusion being nerfed, lameish dungeons, ect.

Awww yea. We in there!

PlagueParade.7942:

Wintel.4873:

PlagueParade.7942:

Is there a way to report people that intentionally do not play because their team is either losing or there’s an afker\ D/Cer (or other various reasons) in the team? Cause on occasion we have this and it gets rather annoying that they stop b/c they’re going to lose. I mean at the least they could fight for the extra glory points you can accumulate while fighting if anything else.

Evan Lesh.3295:

Until we get a report option for being AFK, I suggest just report them for botting.

Evan Lesh, are you serious??? I cannot believe this.
So ANet will take action against someone who chooses to AFK due to being on the losing end of a 4v5 (or 3v5) scenario? It’s a waste of time if they play, there is NO OPTION TO RESIGN/LEAVE and the outcome of the match has already been DECIDED. In a 5v5 I always try my absolute best to win, but in a 4v5 I have zero motivation to leave the starting area.

To someone who has faced countless 4v5’s and is completely sick of it, it’s a very tall order to tell them to play that round just for a tiny bit of glory. You know, putting aside the fact how difficult it is to score any points because whenever they try to kill someone (or cap a point), multiple enemies show up and they’re quickly outnumbered.

After facing endless 4v5 scenarios it’s incredibly infuriating at this point that ArenaNet still hasn’t done anything about it…and if you really accept “reports” of people who AFK just because the battle was already lost to begin with, then frankly I am left speechless. Treating them on the same level as botters…unbelievable.

That’s about as polite as I can get in my response to both you and PlagueParade.

Simply unbelievable.

What’s “simply unbelievable” is that you won’t even try. I’ve been in the same boat as you plenty of times but, hey, I’m no quitter and I’ve even won a couple times in a 4v5. It’s called learning tactics. Coordinate with your teammates. Stick in groups of 2 or zerg it. Have a 3 man group cap areas to draw people in and the 4th cap another area or vice versa. I’ll play to gain even a small amount of glory rather than nothing at all. At the very least I can try and gain some experience with multiple people attacking me and I occasionally take one down before being taken out myself. In almost every case, yea the four man group will lose but like I said, I’ve won a handful of times too. How do you think you’re going to get better sitting up there or staying dead on the ground? You think you don’t get killed by multiple people in a 5v5 while your by your lonesome capping an area or taking an orb?

What I do not need are defeatist people like you who whine about it and decide to quit making it worse for the rest of us who TRY to win even if the chances are small. So if someone in my group acts like you I’ll report you as a bot as the dev suggested. I’m here to play pvp not sit on the sidelines bemoaning my bad situation.

+1 To this. Its great to hear that not everyone just bends over and spreads their cheeks to accept the ramming. If I know I’m gonna lose either way, I go down effin’ fighting; not crying like a wet girl.

About to hit Supcutie with some more questions, does anyone have anything they’d like to ask as well?

Diru.4531:

I see your point. Does swapping “Warden’s Feedback” with the new minor trait “Inspiring Distortion” make more sense?

Anyway, I hope there’s something they can do. I don’t see many mesmers raid much anymore so a change like this is pretty disappointing.

Keep in mind you may not even be using Focus for much longer once Chronomancer drops, the Shield offers a lot of possibilities and kind of overlaps roles with the Focus.

Fay.2357:

skcamow.3527:

Fay.2357:

So much for mesmers having a viable and strong condition spec to play…

Bringing it down to 1 stack without a corresponding duration boost is a significant nerf to the trait that goes above and beyond any boosts that it was given with IP. Just demonstrates once more how truly directionless and incompetent balance decisions are made at Anet central.

Hehe, was waiting to see how long this response would take to surface.

They really need to let it play out a week or so and not base their findings off stationary golems eating damage that don’t dodge, don’t have damage mitigating skills and cleanses.

Yep, it’s really an issue. Knee-jerk reactionary and poorly tested modifications have been the MO for Mesmer balance decisions throughout the entire game, and is a significant contributing factor as to why mesmers are in their current abysmal state.

We had the instant nerf to power block, the neutering of blurred frenzy, the elimination of confusion, the ruining of blinding befuddlement, the massive nerf to shattered strength (with an accompanying apology just for an extra insult) and probably other nerfs that I can’t even remember atm, all of which were poorly conceived and obviously not subjected to anything approaching a logical or critical thought process.

Compare that to the warrior healing signet nerf of 8% that took 4 months of deliberation to execute.

Don’t forget the absolutely random CD increase to my beloved Chaos Storm/Armor. =[

Wow.. Epic fail? Because of two classes getting a new condition that we know barely anything about or how they’ll be able to apply? What about the fact that they also mentioned that some builds are getting nerfed? Or that nearly every class is getting some skill/trait tweaks?

Seriously… Its like any new thing that gets released/mentioned someone is going to cry about because it wasn’t specifically what they wanted.

“I’m salty that Rangers got nerfed so lets nerf Mesmer too”

If alacrity uptime was like Quickness it’d be useless… They’re nothing alike.

And dude.. how about you TRY it before you call for nerfs and see how “overpowered” it actually is to manage keep Alacrity on allies, especially in PvP.

(While the following is somewhat personal, it is in fact Mesmer-related and I feel a good lesson/reminder to everyone. Us in the Mesmer forums are more than just a bunch of strangers around the world, we’re a community that looks out for one-another as been proven many times in the past. Also, I find venting my frustrations out through writing to be oddly therapeutic. )

A lot of times when I play vs other players, my inner snob comes out and I immediately assume they’re not as skilled as myself (that, AND if they’re not a Mesmer/Engineer/Warlord of Chaos then they they have little chance. =P). So needless to say when I get put down fairly in a 1v1 I’m usually a little surprised…

Today I found out that the Ps4 I was trying to sell on ebay got bought by a scammer using a fraudulent account. I always knew about those dangers but assumed it would never happen to me. ‘Lo and behold, I got careless and it did and now I’m struggling to figure out how to get an express package back from Nigeria and the $100 I spent shipping it there back. Dude I was SO kitten ED!

There’s a key word in both those stories, and a key fallacy there that makes for both stupid players and stupid people (which, in both of these cases, is me):

“ASSUME”

A wise woman (the front desk clerk @ my job) once told me. “When you assume, you make an A*_SS out of U and ME” and only now did I realize how true those words are. How often do we assume in this game?

“Mesmers OP, of course I’m gonna lose this match.”
“Only skillless players and cowards run PU builds.”
“Everyone hates on the Scepter so I’m not gonna use it.”

And how often do we assume in real life? .. Whats soap made out of… Clean stuff? How healthy is this Chinese food? Has Pyroathiest really set something on fire? Does Chaos really rag on Pyro every chance he gets? (Yes!)

The Mesmer class is all about exploiting mental weaknesses in your opponents, but what about our own mental weaknesses? When that situation happened to me, I was ANGRY, and I realized right there and then that my emotions dictate my desires. I was angry, so I wanted to fight, so the guy sitting next to me on the train who coughed on me almost got punched in the face. Sure, I likely woulda got arrested but that first hit would have felt so good. When we’re sad, how easy is it to fall into a deeper pit of despair and depression.. flipping anything we see into something negative? When we’re happy, how generous do we become? We’re more giving and less selfish. It seems to me that our emotional states perpetuate themselves in this way, which is what makes it so important to really think thing’s through before acting. To realize that your thoughts while angry are NOT the same as your thoughts while happy, or while sad.

At the end of the day, there’s several things to learn from this:

1) Never assume! Never assume an opponent is weaker or greater than yourself. Go through real life taking as few guesses as possible (assuming is just an educated guess after all).

2) Don’t let emotions cloud your judgement. As Mesmer we should be able to recognize and understand our own emotions and desires while screwing up opponents. Getting angry means making mistakes, so get the opponent angry!

3) Every loss is a lesson. There’s a reason you lost, and there’s a way to improve it it: be it tweaking your build, improving reaction time, or even just knowing when you’re overmatched. Even after losing the Ps4, after my rage played itself out I had to accept that it was my own ignorance that caused it. I assumed everything was legit, so I didn’t ask questions when I saw odd things in the transaction that made me curious.

I may have lost a lot of money and valuable merchandise, but I’m a smarter, better man because of it. Every altercation, every crisis has the potential to make us better people either internally, externally, or sometimes even both.

.. Whew! That felt better.

Hey, wanted to drop a quick reply from my phone since maayybe linking Colesy’s dungeon spec wasnt the best example of a phantasm build for new readers. Will definitely amend that.

Anyways, Id say try going 10/10/0/10/0 with Sword/Focus-Greatsword or staff for now for a couple reasons..

Domination: Crippling Dissipation(Dom V- Clones cripple nearby enemies when killed) will give you better control over enemies by cutting their speed in half. Dom III is also a good alternative if you feel you’re not doing enough damage.

Dueling: The minor trait (Dueling 5-Vigor on crit) essentially doubles your dodge rate (one dodge usually takes 10 seconds to refill. Vigor makes it 5) and cooling down your sword skills (Dueling IV) will increase both damage AND mobility. Alternatively you can grab Phantasmal Fury (Dueling II) for more phantasm damage.

Inspiration: Will make your phantasms heal you since they’ll start pulsing regeneration. Climbing this line will improve your Focus, Phantasms, and team support.

I say Sword/Focus-Greatsword because its the best way to hit large groups. (Cluster them together with Focus 4, immobilize with sword 3, and let your phantasms go to work) It also allows you to safely disengage or fight at range.

If ya ever have any questions always feel free to shoot me a PM.

(Click Here to learn to play Shatter! otherwise Click Here to learn to play Lockdown!)

You know it’s odd.. I’ve only recently been asked the following question:

“Why do you play lockdown Mesmer over Shatter? Is it just for fun?”

I’ve been seeing this debate rise up more and more often as lockdown has gained popularity and as a result wanted to start a bit of discussion on the topic with the community we have here, because I found my answer to be much more complicated than I expected…

Shatter is currently seen as the best Mesmer build to use in PvP, and for good reason. Shatter Mesmer deal massive damage, have unparalleled boon stripping, and can very quickly turn the tide of battles with an organized team. Add portal to the mix and Mesmer allows for creative plays mixed in with high PBAoE burst damage (PBAoE = Point Blank AoE, an AoE that centers on a target, such as a shattering clone or Mantra ability) . This is something that very few other classes can excel at beyond Mesmer, Elementalist, and Thief (Who is more single-target focused).

SHATTER PROS

• Insane burst A three-clone-plus-Mesmer MindWrack is the stuff of nightmares.
• Unparalleled boonstripping Even moreso than lockdown Mesmer considering iPersona makes the Mesmer also count as a shatter.
• Utility via Portal Portal is love. Portal is life.

SHATTER CONS

• Squishy Without strong positioning and awareness, thou shall die.
• Trouble fighting on point Due to the gurella playstyle a shatter Mesmer employs, it is very hard to fight on point for prolonged periods of time.
• No condition removal Or no portal. Take your pick. Not as bad in organized teams that can handle cleansing for you.

So why play lockdown? Here’s my opinion.

Lockdown Mesmer are very different. Not only are they remnicient of GW1 Mesmer, lockdown builds are one of the more cerebral and strategic builds in GW2. Playing lockdown feels different from other Mesmer types. You CANNOT play Lockdown mesmer with a Shatter mesmer mentality, else it will feel ineffective, and you can’t simply pick-up-and-play the build like a PU Mesmer. You have to develop specific skills to play lockdown, you have to train your reflexes to spot interruptible skills and know when to spend those precious Mantra of Distraction charges. In my opinion, Lockdown is the most fun type of Mesmer once you learn how it works.

LOCKDOWN PROS

• Heavy damage Not quite as bursty, but properly combining interrupts with phantasms and shatters can net heavy damage.
• Boonstripping While Shatter Mesmer strip more boons, Lockdown Mesmer strips more strategically.
• AoE control Immobilizing Focus Pulls, Greatsword Pushes, Chaos Storms and Mantra charges, AoE Weaknesses/Vuln from clone deaths, and more
• Stomp/Rezz control If the enemy team does not have stab, odds are they aren’t stomping or rezzing with a lockdown Mes around.
• Solid defense So many boons and an extra 300 toughness definitely help a lockdown Mesmer fight on point

LOCKDOWN CONS

• Difficult to learn/be effective A lockdown Mesmer is much more difficult to make effective in a group play than shatter. All those above-mentioned pros need to be put into constant use.
• Not as bursty Uh.. not as bursty.
• No portal Or no condition removal.. Take your pick.

Hey guys,

So the guild has been growing steadily and it’s been great fun chatting and meeting with ya’ll in game. We have activities planned, a steady stream of information, and people on at every hour of the day, except for one problem…

.. People aren’t repping. =/

Now, no one is required to rep of course, but it leaves our guild chat unfortunately silent. (Until Chaos hops on and gets it poppin! /pats-self-on-back) and thus making it harder for everyone to meet and collaborate. So I was thinking.. why not have our unofficial meeting days be on Sundays? Here’s what I had in mind.

Sunday will be the day where, if you’re not doing anything with you’re guild or required to rep, you rep OMFG for the day. We have hundreds of people in the guild, so if even a fraction of us do this, we’ll have a lively and active chat where we can easily link up, run dungeons or tourneys or races or.. whatever. Again, this isn’t a requirement, but I think if we all agree’d to attempt to do this it could end up being awesome.

Thoughts?

Deimos.. Why did you have to start this flame train up again?

Sorry guys! I know we technically don’t have any “leaders” of the guild but I do feel I’ve been neglecting this thread a bit. Lets break thikittenus with some events this weekend.

Jumping puzzle race! Jumping puzzle race! Both US and EU! Any supporters? Lets goooo

You know you get infracted for reposting the same thread a mod closed, right?

And your perception that Mesmers are perfect screams L2P. Some people have solid, detailed arguments about what aspects of Mesmer need to be worked on / looked at from the perspective of not just one class and can present them in a way that opens for discussion. Give actual examples, rather than “active defenses need toning down.” Give comparable numbers rather than “too much stealth.”

You make an ambiguous nerf thread and then are surprised when people argue with you? Dude.. What’re you doing?

Arshay Duskbrow.1306:

No matter what anyone else says, no matter what positive spin people try to put on it, Thieves are getting even stronger and we will still have no way to deal with them. Short of receiving active stealth-canceling abilities, Mesmer is and will remain a “PvP-centric” profession that can’t PvP because we are effectively deleted from the game by another profession.

It’s way too early to make this kind of claim.

Everyone is getting stronger, we don’t know what our or any other 6th trait line will add. With these new trait changes we very we’ll may be able to deal with them, hell Mesmer may be able to spec more tanky now while still dealing damage (chaotic dampening).

There’s too much going on to tell.

Edit: as a smash bros player, I’ve developed an unhealthy hate for jigglypuff x.x

Hey Jon, reading the OP really took me back. In the MMO I played before this (Champions Online) I had pretty much posted the same thing. Quick question: Do you use the mouse to click some of your skills? It’s a very common thing for people new to MMOs to do (unless you come from some other CPU game like Starcraft. I, unfortunately, came from consoles and had to learn all this frustrating keyboard stuff) if so, it may help to keybind your 6, 7, 8, 9, 0 to something more like Shift+1, Shift+2, Shift+3, Shift+4, Shift+ 5.

Explore EVERYTHING! Try out WvW, try out PvP, don’t be afraid of dungeons. Never be afraid about being judged by anyone or that your performance is gonna drag anyone down. Especially don’t let that hold you back from exploring any and every bit of content that’s avaliable to you… And don’t be afraid to use sPvP (The Mists, Crossed-swords icon at top of your screen) to practice and experiment with builds. Even if you don’t go into an actual match, there’s a big playground where you can test all skill effects, weapon abilities, play around with your traits, ect with test dummies and enemy NPCs (fist symbol all the way north) you can screw with.

Also, don’t be afraid to PM anyone here who’s responded to you (and a few others around the boards) with questions or concerns whenever ya need. Really helpful bunch. I’ll post some parts of the Mesmer guide here that may help ya out… The full guide (as linked above) can be found in my signature.

alanis.6094:

alanis.6094:

Holy menders purity buff…

For those not watching, they basically made Menders Purity an aoe cleanse. Oh, and the merged Restorative Mantra’s into it.

/Hype intensifies!

Chaos Maestro may be returning soon. Dat Dueling/Chaos/Inspiration spec.

Where are people seeing Dom/Dueling/Chrono from? …That was obviously an illusion.

Illusions: What? What!? Do I finally get to be included!? Put me in, coach!

Shush, you..

(Though Dueling does work in this build for a more shatter-based alternative wheras Domination favors timing interrupts)

A- Dueling / Chaos / Inspiration / Domination
B- Inspiration / Domination / Dueling / Chaos
C- Dueling / Chaos / Domination / Inspiration
D- Dueling / Domination / Chaos / Inspiration
E- Inspiration / Chaos / Dueling / Domination

DOMINATION

You’ve probably got one of those looks.. the kind that make people uncomfortable when you stare at them, gets them all insecure and squirmy because they feel they’re wrong for arguing with you. You’re the type of Mesmer who likes to be in control of any given situation. You value others opinions, but when you believe you’re correct then it’ll take a battering ram to knock you from your ideals (a battering ram of unyielding logic no less). You’re either a natural leader or that person everyone hates to argue with, but either way you’re will is stronger than most others and you intend to get your way. Try to keep in mind that it’s impossible to always be right, and an alternate perspective isn’t a wrong one.

Your actions decide who will and won’t take action: No one will stomp your allies while you around. All those boons that opponent has? Gone, because you said so. Let no stability stop you, go and dominate your opponents.

• PvP – Lockdown is for you, and you’ll likely want Greatsword for it’s oppressive offense. You’re style is going to be hyper-aggressive in order to keep your enemies constantly trying to react to you rather than stage any sort of offense, and you’ll be often relying on active defense to stay alive rather than tankiness. A keen eye for paying attention to multiple enemies (and of course your allies) is important, and you’ll want to learn how to watch animations. If paired with Chaos, it doesn’t hurt to grab Staff.

Your best bet is to go Confounding Suggestions – Shattered Concentration -Power Block. Your ideal utilities are Mantra of Distraction and Blink though Decoy and Signet of Domination could get fun.

Look into Sigils of Paralysis & Hydromancy / Runes of the Mesmer or Hoelbrak.

• PvE- You’re going to have to get a little chatty, and get really comfortable with the Focus. People who don’t play Mesmer or know dungeon runs well won’t know what you offer or how to best work with you. Explain how you lockdown bosses with reflects like Feedback and iWarden and make sure to type or link “Timewarp” before casts.

DUELING

You’re smart, and you know it. Probably a bit witty, slightly underappreciated, but always on-point when you need to be. You revel in precision and having things done accurately, having no tolerance for sloppiness in your execution, and would rather tackle problems one-at-a-time instead of all at once. You are your own worst enemy, because no one is a bigger critic of your actions than yourself. Yeah yeah, no one is perfect, but in your eyes, that’s no excuse not to try to be. In fact, the beauty of imperfection means we can never stop improving!
You are the reason people fear Mesmer. You’re the devourer of noobs, the burst in the night (Edit: Yeah, uh.. sounded better in my head), the endless army of illusions that smother your enemies both physuically and mentally. For you, the best Mesmer is one with the quickest reflexes. For your enemies, even the toughest have about 10 seconds until death.

• PvP – You’re the Shatter type, so match Dueling with Domination for a winning combination. The best traits for you are Deceptive Evasion and Blinding Dissipation. Get used to a Sword + torch to go along with Decoy and Blink to get all the mobility you need, making it a bit less risky to run around with that greatsword. Conditions will be your worst enemy, but if you’re good at what you do then in many cases you’ll only need one form of mitigation: Not getting hit! (Otherwise mantra of Resolve helps if you don’t trait into Inspiration). Oh, also, Portals will make you meta.

Consider Runes of the Pack or Runes of Lyssa / Sigils of Fire&Air along with Sigils of Energy

• PvE – Your world is one of Mantras, both for the damage boost and the utilities they bring. Instead of Deceptive Evasion go for Harmonious Mantras and be prepared to cycle through different mantras as the situation demands, leaving your other traits for Phantasms (and traiting mainhand sword, your highest DPS weapon).
  You’ll likely want Assassin’s gear if you’re not already in Full Zerker. Runes of the Scholar are one of your best bets.

CHAOS

You’ve tried to keep a wallet, or a planner. You may or may not flake on your next engagement depending on how important it is. Why do something now when you could do it later? Actually, lets just do it now and get it out of the way. You’re unpredictable and hard to follow, but that’s part of your charm. You may randomly plan a trip, or go exploring, or do something that makes everyone around you scratch their heads.. but it makes sense to you. You’re one of the “weirdos,” at least in your own head you are, and are simply allergic to the word ‘normal’. That’s cool, but don’t ever forget that everyone does everything for a reason. “I don’t know why I did that” is no excuse not to go find the answer, even when your heart is telling you something your mind disagrees with. Learn to study people, why do we make certain faces? What does that subtle change in tone mean? Normal people are predictable, read them like a book.

Chaos is a more PvP/WvW-oriented supplementary tree. There aren’t many builds you can create with a focus on Chaos, but it does compliment every other type of build. Shatter, Condition, Support, and Lockdown can all benefit from traits in Chaos. Master of Manipulation personifies a trait that will be almost universally useful, making both Mirror and Blink even more gooder as well as reducing the cooldown of one of our elites: Mass Invisibilty. (“gooder,” didn’t expect that right? How chaotic!)

Shatter – Prismatic Understanding
Support – Chaotic Dampening / Bountiful Disillusionment
Condition – Chaotic Transference / Prismatic Understanding
Lockdown – Chaotic Interruption / Chaotic Dampening

INSPIRATION

You’re that guy/girl. Y’know.. The one everyone loves because they’re always so friendly and giving. That’s you, the team teddy bear. You’re the one who makes people cringe when they hear you cuss – because the words actually MEAN something when they come from you! – and the one who everyone would jump to defend because they know that your side tends to be the right side. Perhaps you are giving to a fault, placing the needs of others above your own. Don’t fall into this trap! You’re not just some supporting character in another person’s life story, and you cannot let your own value be determined by how useful you are for other people. You are one of the rare good ones, but you have to make sure you’re set and strong before you can support others.

Though your words help, it is action that inspires people; be the change you want to see in the world.

• PvP – It looks like you’ll either be boonsharing, mantra healing or dropping some glamours. It is hard to build an inspiration-focused Mesmer that is effective, and as a result most people who focus on support usually REALLY LIKE the playstyle. As of now, the (tested) most effective support Mesmer is Dueling/Chaos/Inspiration Boonshare, but this build is not easy to learn nor is it optimal in every situation. You work very well with Guardians, but be careful not to become redundant if there is too much defense on your team already.
  You’ll want to invest in Staff and the best traits for you are Restorative Illusions for personal sustain, and Illusionary Inspiration though the other two grandmasters also make great options. If you’re going to heal with Mantras, invade your teammates’ personal space and use Mantra of Pain/Recovery for constant heals. Illusionary Defender, Illusion of Life, Signet of Inspiration, Mantra of Concentration are all good supportive options.
  Sigil of Speed is great for boonshare builds. As is Runes of Altruism while Runes of Mercy go great with Medic’s Feedback

• PvE- This’ll be an important tree for no matter what build, as a traited focus is crucial for a lot of PvE content. You can still go boonsharing, essentially running Dom/Dueling/Inspiration but as with all PvE content keep in mind if the situation actually calls for it or not.

(Site borked out when I tried to post this before. x_x)

It would be this one…

(Helseth in sPvP goes undefeated the entire match)

and this one…

(Pyro & Kylia breaks down what went wrong in a 5v5 Mesmer vs Guardian tourney. Lots of great info about team comps and adapting your strategy… and LMAO at Pyro’s rage. You can hear how appalled he is in his voice, and Kylia as usual proves an awesome counterbalance.)

Anyone else have videos they think all Mesmers should see to improve their game? I wanna add a video list to the guide.

This ever-evolving guide is dedicated to all those who would seek to learn and improve. To everyone who loves the Mesmer class and would play it despite any buffs or nerfs, and despite what anyone else says. And especially to the official Mesmer forums, a place that promotes testing new ideas; where there is practically always someone willing to take the time to help you improve; the people from all over the world that, in this Mesmer’s time of need, gave me more support than I could’ve ever imagined.
This guide is meant to have everything, from flavor text to important links, to help expand your knowledge about Mesmer. If you have any questions or have any information to add, please feel free to comment and if the answer isn’t already in the guide it will definitely be added.

The Mesmer is a psionic profession that specializes in manipulating Chaos magic to bend time and space to create various effects, from simple illusions and mind tricks to bending light to become invisible to manipulating the very flow of time. Mesmer utilize deception in the form of stealths, defense with teleports and distortions, and shape physical constructs that the opponents view as “clones” of the caster to do damage.
One thing I must stress is that this guide isn’t just my own creation. The information is gathered from various forum posts by those people who’ve taken the time to test and publish their findings for the good of all Mesmer everywhere. Instead of fishing through 100+ posts to find the information you want, you should be able to find it all compiled here.
You’re likely to read these following terms mentioned.

Shatter/Phantasm Build: Shatter and Phantasm aren’t specific builds as much as they are two distinct Mesmer playstyles. Shatter builds revolve around mass producing and shattering clones for damage. This playstyle tends to be a faster paced and melee-oriented with high risks and more immediate rewards.

Phantasm builds are more relaxed and focus on staying alive while your illusions beat down your opponent.

Proc – Proc basically means “to cause an effect.” For example: Signet of Inspiration procs a boon every 10 seconds.

Burst/Spike – A sudden chunk of high damage.

AoE Area of Effect – Something we Mesmer really lack beyond shatters, 2 Phantasms, and Chaos Storm. AoEs are the big red circle attacks that you’d do well to not stand in, but also can refer to beneficial effects that radiate to allies.

DPS Damage Per Second – Essentially how much damage something does.

RNG: Random Number Generator – Refers to anything that happens randomly, such as how Chaos Storm can proc 6 random conditions/boons.

CD : Cooldown – The time it takes for a skill to refresh after use.

Active/Passive : Active refers to something you manually use, “active defense” refers to teleports, stealths dodges, ect. to avoid damage while Passive is something that happens automatically, like how the Regeneration boon passively heals over time. Signets have both passive effects and active effects.

(i) Illusion: This refers to one of two of our class mechanics. Illusions either look exactly like the player (Clones) or like ghostly versions that wield separate weapons (Phantasms) and serve a number of functions, chief among them being our main source of damage either through their own unique attacks or by shattering them. Illusions inherit: Power, Precision, Condition Damage/Duration, Boon Duration, Critical Damage, Armor, and Healing Power. Illusions will benefit from the Mesmer’s Might stacks, as well as any effects that increase the above stats, such as Banner of Discipline or Spotter. They also are not affected by any equipped sigils.

• Clone: Looks exactly like you and copies your auto-attack. They do no real direct damage but can cause bleeding when they score a crit(with 15 points into Dueling). Though often shatter fodder, clones do have some utility. Sword clones can remove enemy boons and stack vulnerability & staff clones are great for condition builds. At Lvl80 clones have 4,096HP (2,304 in PvP/WvW)

• Phantasm: Looks like a ghost of you. Phantasms have their own unique attacks and perform a variety of secondary features. At level 80 Phantasms have 7,955HP (3,332 in PvP/WvW)

I really like the elite idea countless. Sounds great.

As for confusing combatants, I think it’s just poor wording. It’s likely “you and your illusions cause confusion on crit”

Condition Mesmer is looking really good ATM, tho I’m surprised you’re cool with the whole lack of clone death thing.

The PU buff is.. Odd, but I don’t see it being that big of a deal. Even with duration increases, fact is we still can’t stealth nearly as much as thief because of our cooldowns, so I don’t think we’ll actually be seeing that big of a difference between Mesmer stealth now and when updated. Seems more like an improved escape/disengage or to help stealth runs through dungeons.

Errr sorry, forgot to mention. Deceptive Evasion is also key in the standard lockdown build rather than Duelist discipline, no matter which variant you make. (DE is important for chain dazes among other things)

It essentially plays more like a shatter build than phantasm.

Pyroatheist.9031:

themenaceofseventhdimension.2075:

if I get a brilliant idea

a brilliant idea

brilliant

lol.

Gozzo.7380:

somehow i got the feeling, that i am encountering an OP who undestood the very core mechanics of the mesmer – Confusing your enemies and making them question their perception of reality, as he is:

- changing thread titles faster than i can pop my clones (hm a new built on the forum lets check it out … oh no i already read this…twice???)

- slapping my eyeballs with massive walls of text

- attracting my attention by the tremendous use of bold letters (kitten i read it…again)

- apologizing for selfbumping threads will still not showing any ambtion to do otherwise

Congratulations menace. You are the real Mesmer, cause still i am

(Dat Hilarious Attatchment)

I lol’d. People looked at me funny.

@overlord- Pfft. Don’t even worry about it bro, everyone has a right to speak their mind. No one has said anything that he should be acting like a victim the way he is. This is all actually nonsensically funny if you read through the posts.
Edit: I responded before I read your post. Then I saw it and said “oh dam_n Overlord just went in” Haha Still, you just gave voice to how a lot of people are feeling.

—Why Mesmerize? —
”We contribute class and style to what would otherwise be an unseemly brawl” –Iruthien on Mesmer in WvW zergs.

So you’ve decided to take up the robes of a Mesmer, eh? Maybe you were inspired by Gwen, Queen Jennah, or Dr. Franz Mesmer himself. Maybe you were in battle and got tired of Mesmer stomping you 1v1 with you having no idea what the eff just happened. Or maybe, perhaps, you’ve finally come to realize that Mesmer is easily one of the most fun classes in the entire game. In any event welcome to a profession of majesty, deception, ambiguous purple butterflies, and angry noobs.
What can Mesmer do that other classes can’t?

• Portal: We can teleport up to 20 people at a time very large distances. And trust me, each non-Mesmer taking that portal is hating on us so hard for this skill alone.
• Reflects: Stay far out of melee-range and what will the enemy do? If not an obnoxiously telegraphed AoE then most likely, they’ll shoot you.We have more access to reflect abilities than any other class. Projectiles are one of the most common means of attack in the game, and we can turn that damage right back on our enemy.
  – Times and places to Reflect –
• Unparalleled Boon Sharing: Signet of Inspiration allows us to copy our boons onto allies, easily granting high might stacks when paired with certain classes. With Inspiration III, Chaos XII, a Staff, and Runes of Altruism we can share 8 of the 9 boons in the game on our own every minute.
• Useful Elites: Time Warp is amazing for boss battles, Mass Invisibility has plenty clever uses, and Moa Morph will always- A) Make someone smirk & Make someone rage.
• Confusion: Confusion causes damage for every time the opponent uses a skill. While some classes can sometimes inflict Confusion, it is primarily a Mesmer condition. Runes of Perplexity notwithstanding

COMBO FIELDS

ETHEREAL - Ethereal combo fields are almost exclusively provided by Mesmer and easy to provide. Whirl & Projectile Finishers launch Confusion bolts while Leap & Blast Finishers create Chaos Armor – Chaos Storm (Staff) / Null Field / Feedback

LIGHT –Light combo fields are usually applied by Guardians, but Mesmer can also provide rather frequently with a traited Focus. Whirl & Projectile Finishers launch bolts that remove conditions while Leap& Blast Finishers provide Retaliation. – Temporal Curtain(Focus) / Veil

THE BAD NEWS…

• Often reliant on Summons for damage: No matter what flavor of Mesmer you are, your illusions will be crucial to your success.
• Awkward condition removal: Mesmers are excellent at avoiding physical damage. Conditions…? Not so much. Unfortunately no matter what we choose, our source of condition removal will be unorthodox (with the exception of Null Field).
• Difficult leveling experience: Many people have a rough time leveling with Mesmer until they reach level 40 and can grab Deceptive Evasion.
• Slower than dirt: We have to try so ’effin hard to catch up with other classes, many of which have a passive movement speed increase. Not as frustrating of an issue if Mesmer is the only class you play.

Sup guys.

I have the draft for one of my stories (Featuring Gasmic) posted up and was hoping to get some help/criticism tweaking it before the final copy is done. If you see anything youd change, improve, or particularly like please let me know.

Mesmer versus Elementalist

3 gold to the first person who can point out all the Mesmer skills/traits displayed. 2 mmore gold for the Ele skills. =P

With every utility/heal/elite getting a type (Glamour, Manipulation, ECT.) We’ll finally be able to reduce the cooldowns on our elite skills.

Timewarp – Glamour
Mass Invis – Manipilation
Moa Morph – Manipulation

This also extends to heals meaning Ether Feast may also become a manipulation. Anyone can math up what a 20% reduction would make our cooldowns? And does this change make you more likely to branch out?

Dude.. Mesmer is monstrous in 1v1s against nearly all classes. What build do you run?