Guild Wars 2

That, at least in my case, is handled by either the Celestial trinkets or Soldier armor. That hands me both some spare Power and Vitality to work with. As for crit chance, I usually end up at 45-50%.

I’m pretty sure Pyro uses that set on his Zergmower build. The 6/6, plus Mimic’s functionality/Aegis procs … nasty stuff, there. I haven’t made a gear set for Balth use on my Mesmer yet, but I’m thinking heavy Rampager hybrid. Get the Burns, and a crapload of Bleed on folks.

Meh. My main contention with Mind Stab is the size of its AoE. It’s even more annoying after one fights Tazza in Sorrow’s Embrace. Now, that’s a freaking Mind Stab! I wonder how many Quaggans we need to sacrifice to get her version of the attack?

As for the thread’s original purpose:

• Balthazar’s one I’m going to build a spare suit for, eventually. Figure I’ll run heavy on C. Duration, so as to max out on the Burn effects.
• My current set was rescaled from Perplexity to Traveler. No one expects a Mesmer condi build to run their behind down, now do they?
• I rather wish there was a C. Dmg set with the +25% movespeed as 6/6. As is, you’re either running (for a “fast” Condi-mesmer):
  1. Traveler for some C. Dmg, and other stats
  2. or Speed (no C. Dmg, but a goodly amount of spare Vitality)

I’d use Rampager before Carrion, in a hybrid spec. The reasons being:

• Mesmer cond builds gain more benefit from Precision, due to extra Sharper Images procs.
• If you’re trying to stack extra Power (for Warlock damage, as an example), it’s then better to at least gain Precision while you do so.
• With that in mind, at least Rampager’ll grant the main “desired” stats, while handing over a bit of extra Pow.

Of course, my own “Hybrid” specs are generally:

• Rabid Armor, Celestial trinkets
• Knight/Soldier Armor, Rabid trinkets

Rampager weapons, with either option.

Ironically enough, I could have sworn focus Swiftness was supposed to be redone, this most recent patch …

calavel.6249:

Dhampyr.2104:

I guess it’s a good thing that I like GW2 more than anything else out right now – I’m still spending some cash in the gem store, but when something as fun as GW2 comes out from a developer who actually appears to care about their customer base………………….

Actually Anet cares very much about their customers. It’s just that all their customers live in China now.
But hey, thanks for betatesting for 2 years. Have some more transmutation charges.

Was that too negative?

I don’t think so. Hell, between this game and ANet’s desire to go for a Chinese release; and NCSoft (ANet’s Demon Overlord) doing similar things with their non-ANet games (Blade and Soul, anyone?), you can definitely argue that point.

Let’s be serious, here. Folk are bleeding well KITTENED OFF for good reasons:

1. Bugs/poorly designed abilities from frigging LAUNCH still in place (IE, ILeap, IMage.)
2. WORKING skills broken to near-unusability (Warden, and let’s not forget how long the Mesmer community mentioned IZerker before THAT got fixed.)
3. Strategic combat options nerfed, when ANet says that they prefer to “shave” troublesome skills. (WvW Glamourbombing, Power Block’s “issue” (which, with a slight tweak would have been ASTOUNDINGLY fun/tactical.))

The worst part isn’t even how bad Mesmers get toyed with; it’s the fact that this same wackiness happens with -oh- 6, 7 out of 8 classes in the frigging GAME. And we’re coming up on year 2. Less LS tomfoolery, more patching what needs fixed.

It’ll get fixed:

1. Like Warden did.
2. Or, as soon as IE works with clones.

#allisvain
Step away from my butterflies, ANet!

Osicat, me, Gods only know who else. Although, I love how TD was supposed to have no ICD. >.>

Zumi.6384:

Am I the only one who finds it funny that this thread was resurrected on Easter?

You have it wrong, Zumi. He’s not a Zombie, he’s a Vampire. After all, we have the oft-quoted; “This is My body, this is My blood.” Not to mention, the Lazarus incident, and self-revival after three days. Totally a Vampire

We’ll see that approximately one month before the release of GW3 … which will “incidentally” lack Mesmers.

Levetty.1279:

cyyrix.6105:

Did we actually throw a bone to mesmers?! Better hot fix it!

It is like this patch all over again:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/info/updates/Game-Update-Notes-January-3-2013/first#post1139008

Warriors can stack 25 might for themselves and their party in their sleep, nobody bats an eyelid.

Mesmers can stack a decent amount of might on themselves, everybody freaks the kitten out, Anet patches it quickly and actually issues a public apology for buffing it in the first place.

This is everything we need to know about the community and the devs.

That incident wasn’t helped -at all- by other Mesmer players also freaking the hell out and going “OMG, so many stacks of might from Shattered Strength! Must be OP!”
I said it then, and I’ll say it now … this class honestly suffers from a degree of Stockholm Syndrome, in that; any reasonable “buff” will be met with disbelief, mentioned to the (arguably biased against Mesmers) Devs as “bugged,” and rapidly nerf-patched to crap.

ROFLMAO
You made an account, just to troll a class what -in this patch- just got shagged dry, ridden hard, and put away sticky? I hand it to you, O Necromantic Troll, you’ve got some serious bloody stones.
(begins clapping, echoed by illusions)

And folk wonder why Pyro’s so bleeding pessimistic. Obviously, Mesmers aren’t allowed nice things, and ANet can’t admit that Defiant is an absolutely garbage concept that needs to be reworked. Meh.
Hmmm … wonder when Bless or Black Desert’re getting an English client …?

Blinding Befuddlement lacked an ICD, and could be used in concert with Glamour builds.

We always could go back to the “Lowest Common Denominator,” folks. Namely that, we’d all agree that ANet seriously needs a PTR.

Pyroathiest.4168:

Don’t worry, it’ll be fixed in 2 years. That’s just how long it took them to fix the signet distortion.

And a year after that, we’ll finally have:

• IE working with clones
• A proper rangefinder on Portals

I swear. You try to believe in folks…

Hyper Cutter.9376:

Advent.6193:

My opinions on the “new blood”
I actively like Marjory, Taimi, and Rox. Braham I can take or leave. Kasmeer … well, if I need an NPC Mesmer to deal with, where’s my Tegwyn? Or Anise.

Tegwen died during the lead up to Zhaitan’s defeat (in the Vigil “path to Orr” set of missions).

Oh … I know. That was rather my point; that ANet loves to kill the ones I like. Or only use ’em for a bit of the storyline. (sobs)

We can only hope it’s an oversight, silverfire. Using the same build, atm, and noticed that issue. (sobs)

Mainly, I just want the promised fixes. Besides Disruptor’s, I can work with the new GM traits; hell, I’m running a 2/6/0/0/6 condishatter, and having some ridiculous amounts of fun.

Keep it as is. You’ve got too kitten many Mesmer players a kitten-hair away from calling it quits. And we’re some seriously fashion-obsessed mofos. Lose too many Mesmers, you’re definitely losing out on some wardrobe sales.

Deus Xiphos.7046:

Ah, I cannot stress how hard it is to settle on one profession. Heck, now I’m even having a hard time choosing a race! (What Norn would want to have a Detective legend? Why would a Charr want to just solve cases instead of fighting [unless they’re Ash Legion, I suppose])

For Norn, I could see Snow Leopard or Raven being excellent spirit patrons for detective work. With Charr, Iron Legion operatives who deal in ballistics/Batman-gadget-setups, or Blood guys that walk the line between sleuthing and Dirty Harry-style vigilante stuff.

Deus Xiphos.7046:

For the Profession, I’m torn between a Blue-Collar Warlock Detective Elementalist type (Hellblazer FTW), or an Inquisitor type Guardian who also acts as some sort of judge.

I always love Hellblazer. Although, John Constantine’s -IMHO- closer to Necromancer (especially in the “classic,” communication-with-the-dead sense) or Necro/Mes than Elementalist.
I’d say that mainly since he doesn’t typically go for the overt, walking-nuke kind of magic-use, but has definitely mucked with minds and communicated with the departed. But, YMMV.

rofl. coulda sworn that kitten was still happening. /fail

I’ve said this one before in similar threads. An Ele’s survivability-to-damage ratio (Especially with Staff) is such that it’s honestly better to run with 2200-2400 armor, and funnel the rest into pure damage, if you’re planning to go for tail-kicking. Health’s more of a personal concept. I run about 14-15k, and feel survivable “enough.”

For EQ, I personally run:
Weapons: Knight’s
Armor: Knight’s, with a coupla Zerkers mixed in
Trinkets: Celestial amulet, Valk back, others even split of Valk/Cav.

Not per se an ‘optimal’ Ele DPS build, but it’ll keep me around long enough to smash some faces.

Let me add some more to the list, shimmerless:

• Revert the Blinding Befuddlement nerf. That ICD addition was foolishness of truly
  epic magnitude, and is only compounded by the existence of other class’ options
  RE: kittenloads of Blind.
• Fix all Mesmer class bugs. (Although, we’re finally seeing some of them handled.)
• Clones that show a Mesmer’s Signets/Mantras, et cetera.
• Remove the cute little trick of disabled NPC nameplates allowing a person to see
  the real Mesmer. (Seriously, how has that not been addressed? It’s like ANet wants a Mesmer to be found out. )
• Put Distracting Strikes where it properly belongs. On. The. Confusion. Class.
• Buff the bloody IMage. Yesterday.

(The next two are for all classes)

• Fix the bleeding LoS implementation.
• Fix the Condition stacking mechanism.

My opinions on the “new blood”
I actively like Marjory, Taimi, and Rox. Braham I can take or leave. Kasmeer … well, if I need an NPC Mesmer to deal with, where’s my Tegwyn? Or Anise.

I’ll probably go back to my old condi-shatter (0/20/20/0/30, or 0/25/15/0/30). Staff/SC/Focus. Go figure, the IE fix might somewhat make non-Dueling condi builds workable.
/shrug

Give me a Mesmer, or good Engi. More CC and condis to cover the hot lead from my side.

I spent that vid laughing my tail off, and trying to figure out what server yer from. DH?

Meh. This kinda conversation again. The “Bull in the China Shop” here, is the simple fact that Thieves are rather … heavily pushed into Stealth setups. Frankly, if ANet’s guys would’ve moved equivalent condi-clear and self-sustain into Acrobatics, you’d probably see a lot more zero-stealth Thieves running around. Hell, I run with P/P and S/P most of the time; believe me, you rapidly realize how much easier it is to survive as a SA Thief.

Now, the troublesome side is that: as the game’s mechanics are now, it’d be almost impossible to move Thief stealth down the chain to operate in a less “constant” fashion, due to the weighting of SA > Acrobatics. Especially since the nerfing of Vigor messes with the idea of going high evasion. (Because, you know … in an “active” combat game … there’s such a thing as “dodging too much.” )

OTOH: Stealth access on other classes, as previously stated in this thread, is arguably
“balanced,” as much as invisibility can be. Less easy to stack duration, and longer C/Ds across the board.

Let me tell you … I’d be willing to offer up my firstborn Mesmer for insane Phantasm imagery that shocks and astounds the enemy. Hell, if ANet can make holographic
dragon wings (multiple types, mind you!), then they should let their artists and Mes-coders go buck-freaking-wild with how Phants look.

Today’s Postscript: Three words, ANet (and they’re the same three what’d fix Engi’s Hobosack issues). Gem. Store. Skins.

I’ve gotta chime in with Norn. Especially Norngineer with the “drunk too much at a moot” storyline. Soooo freaking funny, man. And, the Cultural looks plenty good, on a female.
And then, you get an Asura Ranger with most of their pets bigger than they are. Win-win, I’d say.

Well, sirrealist … the “problem” with Condition stacking is:
Conditions stack to a max of 25 stacks. Unfortunately, those stacks are overwritten by any other application of that Condition from another user. For example, all those Bleeds you just popped on someone? Some schlub sword-warrior just wrecked your whole stack, as soon as they proc even a single Bleed.
This is pure, unadulterated SUCK in its most base form.

@Ansau
I’ll give you the upper hand, RE: Perplexity vs. large groups. Unfortunately, Mesmer’s not really equipped for anti-zerg “big numbers.” Which’d be fine, but a Mesmer still can’t win, in the court of public opinion. Hell, Confusion was whinged about until it got beat with the Ugly Stick, and folk never stopped complaining about Mesmers in 1v1 or small-man comps.

@ Ross Biddle
Quite true, and the reason many Mesmer players feel dissatisfied with the class’ usefulness in a GvG or zerg situation. You’re pretty much there for utility, in most cases; and while Mesmer’s great for utility, some folk wouldn’t mind a way to contribute on the “damage” side of the equation. It’s also a bit more embittering, when one remembers that the old Glamourbombers did precisely that.

Nah, I just had some theories in my head, and decided to get ’em out. Meh, 1 week to go … suspense is killing me. >.>

Lightning Gun/Tesla Cannon (Elite) Kit.
“Borrowed” Megalaser, or some kinda Death Ray.

I mean, seriously, you’re dealing with THE Technology/Mad Science profession – I want my Death Rays, yesterday. >_<
Melee ideas: Torch could work, especially as an “arc-welder” setup. Mace for “claw hammer,” or “crescent wrench.” (Although, that does somewhat step on Tool Kit’s sac a bit …). Now, as for “new” weaponry, ginormous drill or buzzsaw.

So, a discussion with Ansau in the Glamour-build viability thread got me thinking.
Namely, about possible “replacement” Runes for those of us who’re currently using Perplexity, or Undead sets. So far, I’m personally thinking that “good” sets for a Condi-mes might include:

• Antitoxin. Especially if ANet doesn’t mangle the -C. Duration on ‘em. Solid Condition Damage buffing, and a bit of help versus one of the class’ biggest weakpoints.
• Balthazar could be interesting, if one wanted to try to amp the potential Burning uptime from WoC procs. It could also have some fun results from The Prestige.

So, my question then becomes:
What do we, as Mesmers, think about some of the potential Rune changes, and their relation to our builds?

Don’t get me started on the #4 change. But at least you’d proc from it, considering you’d already be planning to get hit for RS to trigger. And, TBH, I probably would slot DD in that kind of build. After all, free stealth + a clone to death-bomb with isn’t horrid.
As for interrupts, Diversion/random Chaos Storm procs/Focus pull are all ways to plop that out on someone’s behind. Now, I dig that Mesmer interrupts aren’t as “easy” to toss out as /P Thief or Warrior, but we do have ‘em.
Regarding the Duration issue, with how much Confusion we can slap out between Glamours/Scepter 3, there’s where my point kicks in. Why not try to double that business … and hell, there’s a reason my comment said MoM and/or Perplexity.
Between either and the C.Duration food, you’d add some extra time on your Conf.
Truth is, even nerfed, Perplex will still be a strong “go-to” Rune for Confusion-heavy builds. (Go figure, and they’ll be even worse on Warr or 30 Trickery /P Thief… )

Ansau:
Why would you go for Retalitory Shield, with such a low Power stat? Hell, why use RS, period? I’d also question a “Confusion”-oriented build that lacks Master of Misdirection and/or (even nerfed) Perplexity Runes. That’s extra Confusion proc potential wasted, and arguably (assuming they manage to finally fix the duration) longer time for your Confusion stacks to stick around and punk the enemy.

Ack, posted this in the wrong thread …

Go figure. My own theory for improving Conjures is rather opposite to that of many players. Namely, you set all Conjures as innately “neutral,” and allow for them to be cast per element. Sure, that idea would be more complicated, but who wouldn’t want a Lightning Greatsword, or Ice Axe?
Failing that, we really should have access to an “Arcane” weapon, considering we already have Arcane attacks, defense, and heal/attack. Where’s my Arcane Lance, or something similar?

Well, sirrealist:

Exotic Weapons/Armor can be snagged from dungeon trinkets. TA’s got Rabid, iirc. Trinkets are bought with Karma from the Temple of Dwayna.
As for Elasticity … (begins drooling). Now, if we could just get ANet’s guys to fix the Condition stacking in PvE, things would get plenty bleeding fun. (C’mon, Dev-folks … IIRC, at least some of your original core folks came from kittening Blizzard. And those guys, as much as some of their game design is not-so-stellar, they were capable of handling DoT attacks. I expect nothing less from your guys, even if it would take time to fold, spindle, and outright mutilate the code for such a thing to happen. )

There’s always one of my Condition/Interrupt setups. What you’d want by level 80:

Full Rabid EQ (Runes of Perplexity on armour), 0/20/30/0/20 for Traits.
Major Traits to pick: Bountiful/Chaotic Interruption, Master of Misdirection, Illusionary Elasticity, Deceptive Evasion.
Weapons: Staff (Superior Torment), Scepter(Superior Earth)/Focus(Superior Hydromancy).
Heal: Mirror.
Utilities: Decoy, Mantra of Distraction, Arcane Thievery.
Elite: Mass Invis.

• The Immobilize from CI will keep fools locked down in general, you have multiple ways to proc it (Focus 4 (AoE), Staff 5 (AoE and random), Diversion Shatter, MoD.)
• Bountiful Interruption’s there mainly for more Might to boost your damage, but other Boons are always good to have.
• The Chill from Hydromancy will slow opponents down (and mess with their skill C/Ds if you’re fighting human opponents).
• You’ve got Torment access via Scepter 2 and the Sigil on Staff, to further control enemy movement.
• Confusion from Scepter 3 or all Shatters (mainly against humans, or fast-hitting mobs; you’ll also proc some via #4 and #6 of Perplexity).
• Random Bleed/Burn from Staff autoattacks. Random condis from Chaos Armor and Storm.
• More Bleed from illusions critting, or from 60% of Scepter crits.
• Mirror serves two purposes: Heal with a decent C/D, and on-demand Reflection.
• Decoy is for stunbreak/stealth, MI for stealth, and Arc. Thievery for the trollish fun of
  stealing enemy boons, while planting a few of your unwanted condis on them.

Elixir.2169:

Azgarn.2145:

Not sure about mesmer CC, but condi mesmers definitely need some adjustment and toning down. At least in small/roaming fights and 1v1. Infinite stunbreak/teleports, stealth, and continuous offensive pressure.

This is 100% right and from what I’ve seen in WvW is the only big problem with mesmers.

You realize, I hope, that Mesmer/Thief are intended to be beasts in 1v1/small-man roaming mode? Not to mention, if you bring down roaming Mesmer effectiveness, there’re still few true “group” roles, besides the much-lamented Utilitybot. A good deal of that issue, of course, stemming from the Great Confusion Nerf™.

As much as all names mentioned are hella skilled, I’d have to toss out two more:

1. Flimpy – Considering I started as a pure Condi-mes, that man’s vids were a source of much inspiration
2. Andromeda (forum name: Themanbat) – Formerly from our server, and one of the downright sickest 1vMany Phant-mesmers I’ve ever encountered.

Who knows, maybe (one of these days) someone’ll eventually mention me

Abe Kleine.3568:

I find it pathetic that instead of criticizing or giving a counter argument to the OP with legit reasons for the Moa, everyone turns to “Oh boy, let’s all make fun of the guy qqing about moa”. Could you act like 5-10 years older please? every other professions forum is more mature than this one as it stands

As much as I said not to “feed the Troll,” I’m going to jump in on this comment.
Are you SERIOUS? Most class forums are generally filled with two things:

1. QQ posts about “Aspect X” of “Class Y” being OP, and in need of a nerf.
2. Posts by members of said class, discussing how a certain aspect of their class is UP, and needs buffed.

Hell, man. Go to Thief-land, and say something negative about Stealth or Sneak-attacks, you’ll get ragged far harder than this.

Heh. I did most of my 1-80 with Condi-spec. It worked, but it’s not terribly “easy.” And yes, you’re going to get overwritten in any “zerg” content. Unfortunately, between ANet’s wonky stack system, and the difference in (pve) damage between Condition and Non-Condition Mesmer, you honestly want to go Non.

Eh. My idea of a hold-button-to-charge system would at least add “levels” of control to the overall situation. For example, imagine a reworked MoD, where, depending on how long you charge it, could offer a variety of stun times. (say 1/1.5/2 sec). It would simply seem a little more “fighting game-esque” in overall style, which (IMHO) would be a better fit in an “active” combat system. /shrugs

Believe me, I know full well we’re stuck with some sort of “down time” on the darn things. I just would like a more fluid system.

I actually like the #2. Especially since I mainline S/D; #2 away, #5, #2 back in. Then I can feel free to save #3/4 for when I need to evade attacks. Hell, the only thing Sword needs is the AA modified, which we’re supposedly getting this month.

You want a Ranger weapon that needs honest assistance? Let’s swap this convo over to MH Axe.

Pyroathiest.4168:

jportell.2197:

mrauls.6519:

To be honest if confusion was toned down I’d be happy. That’s the ONLY thing making condi spamming professions so ridiculous right now. If they didn’t have access to crazy amounts of confusion it’d be an even playing field

Come the 15th Warriors are gonna be better confusion spammers than mesmers….. Which bugs me why does blinding befuddlement have such strict ICD’s and the confusion doesn’t even last as long as the ICD when distracting strikes has NO ICD and it will stack with runes of perplex…. Come the 15th condition interrupt warriors will rule… FML.

Because the devs are [redacted to avoid infraction].

Yer preachin’ to the choir, jportell and Pyro. Hell, how long have I been questioning decisions such as the Befuddlement nerf, and/or the existence of Distracting Strikes as a Warrior Trait. Yet again, the Perplexity issue could’ve been avoided if our … ahem lovely Devs had placed the Confusion-via-Interrupt Trait on the class that’s supposedly the “main” Confusion guru. (And by doing so, avoided the “need” for that aspect on Perplex 6/6).

[redacted to avoid infraction], indeed. Or, perhaps the current balance team is completely different from the original one. I have no idea, I just want “Them” to figure out, and bloody well implement whatever in the ever-loving kitten Mesmer truly is.