Guild Wars 2

Whenenver i talk one of my friends into trying pvp… The first thing they click is solo arena >_<

“I dont have a team. So this seems like the best choice.”. Thats how rank 1s get into it >_<.

I also know plenty of people who thought solo arena just meant 1vs1 battles. “OMG they finally added duelling? Finally something fun to do in pvp :D”. And then they get dissapointed :P. thats how rank 1s go afk in solo Q.

Sure, I’d love to help out

My IGN name ‘Alissah Cat’, And I’m a shatter Mesmer in competitive pvp. Sometimes I try ou other stuff for duelling and hotjoin facerolling (dven though most things are banned in duelling servers x.x).

I never used fraps, or nvidia shadowplay. I always used msi afterburner, not sure how the quality of that compares to the others.

Valarauka.2719:

If the mesmer has Deceptive Evasion on and dodges when you come for a backstab, you’ll hit the clone since the original target is evading (and you wouldn’t have hit it anyway). Same deal with the Staff blink move. This just follows from the basic game mechanics, nothing really “special” going on, and nothing you can really do about it.

Attacks will hit what’s there — if the original target isn’t anymore, and there’s a clone in its place, the clone eats it.

Sadly, sice the last patch or so, this trick is no longer possible. Evading, invulnerable or blocking targets now count for the aoe cap, and since backstab only hits one target, they wont hit the clone, and wont be revealed.

Yea. It was a nice trick that required some skill to use, but they kinda dumbed it down and removed it :P

uhh…

What do you want to do with this build, zerging?

Also, it’s not really a shatter build. You need Illusionary Persona for that.

I usually prefer far reaching manipulations, because phantasmal fury only affects one of your phantasms. But I guess thats just something personal. I dont feel like I get alot of damage out of the berserker.

Definitely replace halting strike with mental torment. You really want shatter traits in a shatter build :P.

Other than that, yay :o.

Oh my god, I didnt even realise shatter got nerfed :/. Theyre buffing Illuisonary invigoration, but also make ot compete with elestacity, which I use for mirror blade >__<.

Maybe we can let the shatter skills change slightly depending on traits?

Edit: just realised we have 4 Mesmer builds… And 4 shatters. Maybe each trait can just
affect a single shatter?

1. Shatter: improves Mind Wrack damage and shatter recharge rates (like it alreay does)
2. condition: Cry of frustration triggers on-death traits.
3. lockdown: diversion also applies chill 2s and blindness 3s
4. Phantasm: distorion doesn’t destroy phantasms, but instead gives them distortion (phantasms still count as a resource for the amount of distortion gained)

(This was before the edit above, and probably a bad idea. Every style changes every shatter)
Phantasmal strength/empowered Illusions:

1. Mind wrack: same effect as before. shattered phantasms are put on 1hp instead of dying, and permanently gain quickening zephyr (cannot heal)
2. Cry of frustration: same effect as before. Shattered phantasms permanently gain very high stacks of confusion.
3. Diversion: same efect as before. Shattered phantasms are stunned for 3 seconds, and are permanently chilled
4. Distortion: same effect as before. Shattered phantasms take damage whenever the Mesmer takes damage (but doesnt reduce damage on the Mesmer), and are permanently weakened.

Comfounding suggestions/Furious Interruption/Chaotic interruption:

1. Mind Wrack: also applies 1s cripple per shatter.
2. Cry of Frustration: also applies 2s weakness per shatter.
3. Diversion: also apply blindness ( or maybe chill?)3s per shatter.
4. Distortion: also gives the mesmer Chaos Armour for 3s per shatter.

Debilitating-/crippling dissipation.

1. also… Actually, I cant think of anything wed use. Maybe put clones on 1hp instead of dying? That way theyd still go close to your target, and be easy prey to trigger deaths.
2. on death traits are also triggered of a single shattered clone.
3. same as mind wrack
4. on death traits are tiggered of all clones.

Something like that, anyway.

Koltiron.6329:

Alissah.9281:

Somehow she managed to beat me… 5k swordsman hits O.o

What build were you using?

Shatter. 3/4 swordsmen hits and I’m gone xD

Last time I checked, duelist does about double/tripple single target dps. So if youre choosing just for the phantasm, go for scepter/pistol.

However, GS does higher damage at range than scepter, mirror blade is awesome for damage, and the zerker gives cripple. The zerker is also better for if you want to cap camps, because you get aoe from it.

edit: I once duelled a double sword phantasm mesmer… She played nearly perfectly, bt without a weapon swap you dont have much room for mistakes, and you cant really autoqttack :P.

Somehow she managed to beat me… 5k swordsman hits O.o

On the EU, we have a guild called [MILF].

Monsters I’d Like to Fluff :P

And wow, I sish we had these things in spvp. i just don have money or time to get all ghese chills and stuff in wvw v.v

Hey, feel free to add me and whisper in game/forum PM for mesmer related questions, like duelling, builds, strategy and most importantly: fashion.

If you’re EU, we can meet up too :o. But if youre NA we cant :/.

Welcome to pvp :P

He also forgot my most favouritest minigame ever: reaper’s rumble.

:’(

Muzical.1396:

sablephoenix.1593:

Speaking as someone who only does PvP casually for the achievements involved and, yes, the rank involved, removing rank progression and the earning of new finishers is a horrible idea.

I hate ladders, and no matter what I’m certain I’ll completely ignore whatever form of ladder you eventually put in the game. I would hate the ladder even more if it took away a form of reward which I can actually look forward to playing PvP for.

^ That
I’ve liked sPvP precisely because it was 100% divorced from PvE, and now that’s going away, and if Skill Points will have ANY part of it, well thank you, ArenaNet, for punishing me for my sPvP main not being my PvE main. (Map-clearing is just about the most boring mechanic I’ve ever found in a game, and that I’d have to do so to get my sPvP main extra skill points ticks me off; I don’t use her in PvE enough to get them through leveling, either.) I played sPvP on my lunch breaks at work, and I liked it because it rewarded persistence and dailies and monthlies could be slowly worked on in that hour timeframe. The leaderboards were something I could happily ignore, since nothing about them affected me in-game anyway.

I’ve only been playing since April, not launch or beta, and I didn’t start doing sPvP until a now-former guildmate introduced me to it, and I didn’t start sPvPing too regularly until I created my ranger. (Elementalist is hard as is, and in sPvP where I’m not up against some idiot AI, I was going squish more often than not.) I main the ele in PvE, but ranger in sPvP and since it all went into one big account-based pool, it didn’t matter on which toons I sPvP’d or how often, and I could use a toon who wasn’t even high enough level to HAVE skill points in PvE with no penalty. The second you introduce any PvE skill points, though, that separation, for me the strongest “sell” of sPvP, is violated. So I feel that I’m being “punished” in various ways for not playing PvE in a certain way and from not being in the game since launch.

If players have been farming Skyhammer, and I have no idea how they would (this thread is the first I’ve heard of it,) punish them and them alone and leave me out of it. I’d also like to throw out there that punishing EVERYONE for the behavior of a few gives me little initiative to report someone I DO see exploiting the system; if I report them, I’ll be punished in your next patch even though I didn’t do anything wrong.

This whole sPvP “roadmap” is one unmitigated disaster after another and after the December 10th patch starts the train, I’m leaving GW2. Thank you, ArenaNet, for ruining it; the Scarlet cancer had already mostly ruined PvE for me, y’all let her infect WvW, also, and sPvP was the only thing I really “had left.” (The PvE “rebalance” destroying my builds didn’t help, either.)

As far as I know, we can get skillpoints in spvp. We can buy the level up tomes, and levelling up also gives a skillpoint. Theyre not forcing you into pve just to do anything in pvp :P

Just bad luck, I had that 2 resets before :P

Lost about 85% of all games.

Verdelet Arconia.6987:

Deimos Tel Arin.7391:

actually, i came up with an excellent method to determine the “end of match participation gold reward” formula.

use team points. really. it is that simple.

for example,
if end of match participation gold reward for team arena is 1 gold
winning team scores 500
losing team scores 300
winning team gets 500 / 500 × 1.00 gold = 1.00 gold
losing team gets 300 / 500 × 1.00 gold = 0.60 gold
winning team then gets additional 2 gold for winning the match
losing team gets 0.60 gold for their effort of 300 team points

then we look at another scenario where one team destroys the other team
winning team scores 649
losing team scores 100

winning team gets 649 / 500 × 1.00 gold = 1.298 gold
losing team gets 100 / 500 × 1.00 gold = 0.20 gold

in this system, if people wanna farm in team arena, they need to put in some effort to score some team points or else they do not get much at all.

Supports this idea

That sounds like it could work, actually.

In solo Q, if you had a leaver, their reward should be spread out amongst the rest.

For example (1 gold per 500 points, its an easy number and i have no calc atm):
The team with only 4 players decide to just go afk after grtting destroyed, lose 10-500:
10/500*1=0.02G=2S
An extra 2 silver is spread out over the other teammembers: thry all get 2.5S each.
Now lets say they keep playing and still manage to pull in a 300-500 lose.
300/500*1=0.60G=60S
The extra 60S is shared, giving the remaining 4 teammembers 75S instead of 60.

Its just an example :P. it could work if win and lose bonusses are much higher, so you dont get extremely low money for losing 100-500, even if you tried hard. (4vs5 can be difficult, lol)

Josh Davis.6015:

eekzie.5640:

Josh Davis.6015:

Team Arena will provide the most gold, followed by Solo Queue, followed by hotjoin.

I believe we’ll be giving specific numbers on Friday’s livestream.

I understand that the team arena format is a higher competition format… but that leaves me lingering with a question.

Are the rewards for playing solo / tournament arenas going to be linked to your rating?
If not the whole argument of rewarding a more competitive scene kind of goes to waste, as really bad people would still get rewarded more in low rated matches.

Skill level is relative. Ten equally skilled players in the lower end of matchmaking are playing just as hard as the top ten players. Their game experiences are identical for their skill level.

This isn’t about rewarding people for being better at the game – that’s what the ladders are for.

I’m going to be honest here: I never thought about it that way, and you make an extremely good point. Rewarding people for how hard they work, instead of how good they work, I wish real life had more of that ;D

Still, I can’t wait for ladders, and the livestream :D

Nikku.3562:

I’d be happy to help test this. I look forward to finding all the spots where you Phase Retreat through the ground ^^

Haha, it will be just like playing in the first fewmonths again :P.

I was actually afraid to ever phase retreat/blink/illusionary swap :P.

Cskibinski.9261:

Character: Ororu
Server: Borlis Pass
Playstyle: WvW mostly
Playtime: Eastern from 2 pm to whenever daily
Role: Mesmer is my main and I have played since launch, but I know there is always more to learn…so not sure I guess

Side note: I have been reading these forums for a while and don’t really ever comment, but I look forward to becoming a more active member of our mesmer community

I’m sure you’ll be a great community member/mesmer :P.

Also, you have the max number of guilds (5).

Xylith.4873:

Alissah.9281:

Illusionary defender: “who cares about an extra 40k hp?” -a year later- “Oh”. I use it more often than not in fractals.

The only ones I liked from the start are decoy blink mirror images and signet of illusions. Although im starting to very much doubt mirror images… It just doesnt do enough for the massive cooldown.

I never thought of using portal in pvp combat, but now I love it :P

Mantra of resolve: “nullfield strips boons, cleanses more from yourself and allies.” -since 2 months- “omg nullfield is so useless compared to the resolve mantra”. For shatter I always run decoy blink mantra of resolve now. Before the mantra, I had to inmedatally disengage whenever i get hit by pin down or sword throw… Now I dont ;D.

Also, in solo q, whenever I died, conditions always were the top 2 of y death breakdown. Direct damage just doesnt seem to touch me O.o

If only they gave shatter more condi removal… Maybe put illusionary persona to master tier instead of grandmaster. It would let us go 10 inspiration.

Nullfield so useless compared to resolve mantra? I’ve found nullfield invaluable in PVP, especially against bunker char’s. Guardian for example with his “Thou shalt not move me” with all his boons, nullfield down, threat eliminated.

having 4 boons removed every 11 seconds, and 4 ever 22 seconds is enough boon stripping for me :P.

Nullfield removes like 5 conditions total if you keep standing in it, on a 45 CD. The mantra removes 4 conditions on a 20 CD, and you dont have to awkwardly stand in a small circle.

IMO nullfield just isnt worth taking anymore… just imagine if you get hit by every single pin down from a warrior, its on like a 20 CD. perfect for coutnering it with the mantra :P

stunlock Warrior: very high reward/ very very low risk (or high reward/very low risk if teh player is not skilled)
condi necro: very high reward/ low risk (high/medium)
spirit Ranger: high reward/ low risk (or medium/medium
s/d Thief: high reward/ medium-high risk or (medium/very high)
condi Engi: high reward/ low risk (or medium/medium)
Ele medium reward/ very high risk (or horrible reward/extremely high risk)
bunker guard: high/low (medium/low)
dps guard: high/medium (medium/high)
shatter mesmer: high/low (low/very high)

I like making lists :P

You assume the unlocked skills are stronger than the current ones.

If any, new players don’t have as much choice, which they dont need anyway, there are enough skills and traits to choose from atm.

Im pretty sure downed people are immune against every control effect, except launch.

When youre launched and downed, just press any skill to normally use it. It happensall the time to me… If it doesnt work then its probably a bug.

Maybe a small medal next to one’s nameplate, like the 100% world completion. Or atleast show it when you target them.

The medal becomes more awesomer of your average score in each ladder season (like, each time it resets). You start with a bronze medal, and if you become better, it adds colors and decorations to it, and eventually it gets a glow and goes to silver/gold/platinum/orichalcum ;D.

So if you target someone and see an orichalum medal with all kinds of decorations and an aura in the shape of a dragon, you know that person is a badkitten, and he will kitten your kitten if you kitten with him.

It doesnt have to be big, just a small thing you could notice if you look at their health bar/name/whatever.

Illusionary defender: “who cares about an extra 40k hp?” -a year later- “Oh”. I use it more often than not in fractals.

The only ones I liked from the start are decoy blink mirror images and signet of illusions. Although im starting to very much doubt mirror images… It just doesnt do enough for the massive cooldown.

I never thought of using portal in pvp combat, but now I love it :P

Mantra of resolve: “nullfield strips boons, cleanses more from yourself and allies.” -since 2 months- “omg nullfield is so useless compared to the resolve mantra”. For shatter I always run decoy blink mantra of resolve now. Before the mantra, I had to inmedatally disengage whenever i get hit by pin down or sword throw… Now I dont ;D.

Also, in solo q, whenever I died, conditions always were the top 2 of y death breakdown. Direct damage just doesnt seem to touch me O.o

If only they gave shatter more condi removal… Maybe put illusionary persona to master tier instead of grandmaster. It would let us go 10 inspiration.

Justin ODell.9517:

Kharr.5746:

There are a number of problems with assuming that there’s a magical solution to finding everyone’s perfect MMR in SoloQ:

1) Every player has variance in their ability depending on time of day/fatigue/health/how drunk they are.

2) Player skill and knowledge is constantly changing. The skill of inherently good, but new, players will go up each match as they learn new tricks from watching others/dying to them (e.g. terrain use/positioning on maps — you only have to see it once to know that you can provide pressure onto a point from certain areas better than others)

3) Players are not equally skilled at all professions, yet they sometimes swap what they play on-demand, or just for fun. Also, professions aren’t necessarily balanced. This adds even more noise.

Given these problems and the massive amount of day-to-day and match-to-match variance in player ability, the current system does an amazing job balancing the teams in SoloQ.

1) This is basically impossible to predict or deal with. If you’re constantly playing while in a state that your skill is significantly impaired, I’d say a lower MMR is proper.

2) The system is designed to allow MMR to raise or fall over time, just not as rapidly as when your deviation is high (i.e. new player or long periods of inactivity.)

3) I’ve pitched the idea internally of having two MMRs, one account bound and the other per profession. Does any one have an opinion on this?

Id like profession specific MMR and leaderboards, even though it wouldnt affect me, I only play Mesmer anyway ;D.

Also, people can easily switch after they get a match, so for profession specific MmR to work, you’d have to lock people for character switching first :/. I dont, but I know that some people swap depending on composition.

I’d really love profession specific leaderboards, though :P

A “nope” build is definitely possible, atleast in pvp.

In pve, the ai is just too unintelligent to actually do skmething, of get confused :P.

In pvp, Mesmer’s in general depend alot on the user’s creativity. Nearly every skill has multiple ways to use them, and will be devestating if used and timed right. To properly ‘nope’ someone, you have to:

1. know your own skills
2. creativelly use your own skills
3. think fast, but accurate
4. know your enemy

When you mastered these 4, you can couter any enemy, regardless of their build, or your build.

In pvp, we have 4 effective damage oriented Mesmer builds:

• Shatter. Shatter your clones, dealing instant and very high burst damage. It has an incredible skillcap, because you can’t be predictable and rely alot on active defense. (A warrior for example can tank alot).
• phantasm: summon phantasms to eat your opponent, while you troll them and dont even get hit. The enem kills your phantasms, you make more. The enemy tries to hit you, he takes massive damage from phantasms.
• condition: whittle your enemy down. Relies alot on either combos, or just survivng with staff clones (they are the highest damage clones). Has the most passive defense, and thus is perfect for newer players to just et used to how skills feel. (But still has a high skillcqp)
• and finally: lockdown. Interrupt key skills, such as heals to really kitten people up. Thief wants to stealth with his stealth-heal? Nope. Interrupt. You can trait your interrupts to give you boons, give conditions to the enemy, do damage (up to 4k, most people have about 18k health), and much more. Then again, lockdown is more than just interrupts. Teleports, cripples, and chill (their skills recharge much slower) all help you in achieving mqximum frustration for your enemy.

Lockdown is difficult, as it requires extensive knowledge and the ability to identify your target… But very rewarding once you gt it right.

Sadly, phantasm is the optimal build for speedrunning, but for now, you dont have to bother.

While leveling, just try out all weapons, and see which one you find the most fun.

If you have any questions about pvp/builds/levvelling/fashion or whatever, feel free to send me a private PM, or whisper me in game.

edit: oh, and sorry if you didnt care about pvp :P. Theres not really a point in locking down mobs :P and if you want to see lockdown builds in action, feel free to click the awesome link in my signature, and watch the video called ‘Mind Crush Duelling’.

takatsu.9416:

super mesmeresque

Omg. I’ll remember that one ;D

My least favourite are 40 and 50, agonizing trip.
Theyre basically a gear check, and if you dont meet the requirements you take more damage from passive agony than from enemies :P

My favourite iiiisssss… I dunno, actually.

Anti elitism is the easiest. I never use my elite anyway :P

Jus skip lvl 33, problem solved :P

YES, YES, YES!

Im interested :D

Morinmeth.9823:

I hope I’m not the only one that likes the changes.

PvE people inside PvP! Oh my god, this is gonna be hilariously fun! Free wins everywhere!

Well its been a while since ive been facerolling 1v3 in pvp ;D.

I actually cant wait to see the playerbase grow. Doing solo Q against the same people every time gets a bit annoying :P

felivear.1536:

I’ll post in this one since it appears to be the official discussion thread on it.

First, let me start by saying that this blog post was great. I have posted many threads over the past year stating what I think should happen to PvP and almost all of them has been done now or has been stated as planned. Obviously, that means I’m happy. I do want to break down how I feel about each one:

Gold and Experience in PvP

• This one is huge. I’ve played PvP since head start. I leveled my thief to 80 via crafting, and I had to buy gems to do it. Otherwise, I’m made almost no money.
• The same issue is with character progression. I acquired skill in PvP and I had no way to immediately carry that over to WvW because I was at a major level disadvantage. Like I said, these 2 changes alone make my day. I also love they are coming on the 10th.

Removing PvP and PvE gear difference

• Again, this is something I totally agree with. See the above bullet points for gold/experience. After 1,000+ hours in PvP, I shouldn’t walk into Lions Arch looking like a trial account. Love it.

Achievements

• This is one of my few concerns. Although, I really love this addition, I don’t like the timing. The reason I say that is the MMR issue. Currently, MMR is too high for new players. They are pooled by default in with the veterans. What this change does is guarantees that you are going to have an influx of new people in PvP. Where are those new people going? Straight for ranked tournaments, the place they least belong. I’ll reserve full judgment here, but I am mildly concerned.

Setting goals for gear

• Although they didn’t give a lot of details, I’m pretty sure I understand what they mean. I think they mean where you identify a piece of gear you wish to obtain and then through a journey of sorts, you obtain it. This is what has been missing in PvP. Currently, it’s just a random mess of gear being dropped all at once, then nothing to work toward after. I love the idea of putting in a lot of hours to achieve a specific item.

Glory being retired as a currency

• This one really has me puzzled. Not that glory is being retired, this is also something I’ve suggested. The weird thing is that it’s being replaced with gold. Who has the most gold? PvE players. Who has the least gold? PvP players. So, what prevents a PvE hero from coming in here and dropping all of their gold on everything day one? Your aesthetics should be a sign of your skill level. The other part of this, and possibly the most concerning, is the fact that gold can be bought with gems. If you have the best rewards tied to gold, and gold bought with gems, doesn’t that mean you can purchase the best rewards in PvP? I’ll have to hear more on this and just hope for the best for now.

Removing Rank

• I personally love this. I think rank in this game was a really bad initially implementation. Rank was gained by glory gained, not winning. The fastest way to gain glory? Farming hotjoins with builds that weren’t conducive to team play. I think the whole rank system is a farce and I’m glad to see it die.

Ladders

• Yes please! This is the true progression. More than gear or anything else, a ladder creates the progression that is the most meaningful…skill progression. You travel through each tier as you get better by playing with people in your same skill range. The top tier people should get the best rewards and when you see someone that has those rewards, you should immediately know that he/she is a beast.

Unknown
So, there are 2 things that I was really hoping to hear in addition to all the other goodies.

• I have hundreds of chests. Should I wait to open them?
• I have a bunch of glory boosters, hundreds of each of the tokens, etc. Is there any plan on finding some way to convert those items to gold or glory? It seems like all of those rank tokens would be completely wasted if there is no way to convert them to a usable currency.

In summary, thanks for the blog. I am hopeful for the things to come. I’m mildly nervous for the time frame (next few months) only because of what that has meant in the past. Hopefully the devs will understand our skepticism with that.

Exactly my thoughts! Im super excited for almost everything :D

Remember that we will get an achievement based on our rank, well be able to spend our leftover glory before removing it, AND skins we already had still has value.

Source: pvp rewards blog.

Also note that the new system will probably reward skilled players. If you achieved a high rank, you probably are more skilled/experienced than. Newer player. You’ll have an advtantage, and isnt that what pvp was about for the past year? Just having fun and fighting?

Again, I dont agree with them removing rank, and I completely afree with akamon. Just wanted to point out the new system will probably be awesome :P

I personally dont really care about ranks, if the new reward system is better.

The only time I ever ‘noticee’ my rNk was when I was about to hit a 10th, and even then its just for the skins, even if I Lready have everything I want :P.

An ‘easy’ fix is to keep our rank and rank points after each match, but don’t tie any rewards to it. Let that be done by the new system.

Also, I’m super excited for everything, even the december 10 :D

Edit: it seems like the new progression system is based on skill, and rewards skillfull players better than new players. The win vs lose rank points update did this too, and it only had good effects: people tried harder to win. Yea, there was alot of rage, but the community will rage regardless of… Whatever. The point is that there will always be a toxic people in the community :P

And sorry for typos, trying to type this from my phone

IMO they should give us gauranteed rares at the end of a run. 1 rare per 10 levels, so 5 T lvl 49 and 6 at lvl 50.

Saturn.6591:

Alissah.9281:

Temporal curtain is very much like leap, you can immediatally activate it for a predictable (but still devestating if used properly) effect,

Well; not really immediately anymore. Though I guess that’s why you called it “predictable”. ^^

Yup.‘immediatally’ being after a 1 second delay is predictable :P. Without the delay, it wouldnt be telegraphed at all :o.

Beautifull times :’(

ok :>

For solo Q (team has some more options) shatter is your best bet. It has the best aoe burst, enough active defense, aoe boon stripping (more important than it sounds). Its also power based.

traits:
20/20/0/0/30
Domination: mental torment, shattered concentration
Duelling: far reaching manipulations, deceptive evasion
Illusions: illusionary invigoration, illusionary elestacity (if using greatsword), illusionary persona.

Gear

• Berserkers amulet, and dont even try to change it :P
• I personally like runes of speed. The movement speed is good for getting around, and even for defense :o. It also makes my hp 20022, which is a funny number. You can use lyssa, divinity or air if you just want more damage.

Weapons
Here comes the fun part :D. Your chosen weapons are highly dependant on your style, and there is no ‘best’ set.

Sword: most shatter Mesmers use it, but its by no means a nescessity. You will very rarely get an autl atack of, its just too dangerous.

1. Blurred frenzy is a great defensive tool, that gives you 2 seconds of safety to plan your next move.
2. Illusionary leao has many uses, you can immobilize someone off a point so your team can cap/decap it. You can use it as a stunbreaker, or even just to prevent them from dodging your shatter! In time, you’ll learn to appreciate the beauty of this skill ;).

staff: a defensive weapon.

1. Winds of chaos is mostly a condition skill, dont rely on it for damage.
2. Phase retreat is amazing. Its instant and generates a clone. You can even swap to staff, and then retreat if you’re stunned :o.
3. Thr phantasmal warlock can crit 4k, but you’re a shatter build and better of shattering.
4. Chaos Armor (skill) is best used vs something that attacks fast, like a shorbowranger. never try to tank, though!
5. Chaos storm is amazing. You can put it on a downed teammate to somewhat safely revive them, or when you’re solo to become ‘untouchable’ for 6 seconds vs melee :o.

greatsword, is usefull for burst damage, and casual ranged damage in team fights.

1. spatial surge does some damage. Thats it.
2. mirror blade is devestating if used right. With illusionary elestacity you get 6 might stacks and a clone. Immediatally shattering, eith only 2 effects, is the same damage kittentering 4 with 0 might. Kind of. The point is that it requires only 2 skills on very low cooldown to be effective ;).
3. mind stab is aoe damage. Hm.
4. the berserker is great for kiting. Its best used while “running away”, to gain alot of distance.
5. Illusionary wave is great for pushing people off circles, or just for defense if needed.

focus

1. like illusionary leap, the temporal curtain has more uses than t first seems like. Yes, it all involves pulling.
   Place the curtain dosnwhile revivng or stomping, then pull away potential threats.
   Pull a thief our of a shadows refugee.
   Simple kite and place the curtain, saving the pull to interrupt when its needed. (Interrupting a warrior using earthshaker is hilarious).
   This is my favourite: put the curtain on a glass panel in skyhammer, run over it, then pull someone as it shatters. If you do it properly, and strip stability, you can camp the cannon for the whole match, and even win. 1vs3 :P. Heck, you could win 1vs5.
2. place the warden on a downed person to destroy projectiles, typically warrior and engineer who try to interrupt you or an ally. In case of nearby enemies, it will also do cleave danage to them in case they revive.

I dont really have enough time to type the other weapons, but pistol and sword should be obvious :o.

shatters
Mind wrack: Your burst damage. Its pretty awesome :p.
Cry of frustration: use it to get rid of a pesky blind, or strip boons such as high might stacks, stability, protection, signet of rage. Dont use it for damage, unless theyre extremely low health.
Diversion: interrupt things, like heals. Or use it for defense if you have nothing left.
Distortion: its invulnerability, ’nuff said.

utilities
Decoy and blink are your bread and butter for survival.
With all the con D flying around, you may also wan to pack some removal. I recommend mantra of resolve.
Your team often demands portal or illusion of life, but a usefull mesmer is an alive mesmer. Your runes of speed and traited blink will let you go to circles quickly.

jportell.2197:

Sigh… Just when I thought it was time to pick up my mesmer soon. :/ kitten anet.

Now is the perfect time to run Mesmer. Especially in pvp, where decent Mesmers are nearly exctinct. You’ll get extra bragging rights for not being instantly eaten by stunlock/con D/AI.

Thats probably not what you wanted to hear :/. Mesmer is still very strong in pve, though

Pyroatheist.9031:

If you try to summon iZerker immediately after a weapon swap, it will fail.

This isn’t a new bug, for what that’s worth, but it is a nasty one.

When you use mirror blade right after swapping from sword, you also get a hilarious bug where you do the Blurred Frenzy animation, but the mirror blade comes flying out :P.

The bad thing is that you can’t move during it, and it gives you the blur cosmetic effect… Which sometimes makes me believe im actually using blurred frenzy, so I dont dodge that earthshaker/killshot/signet of spite/ ranger autoattack on purpose :P

On a serious note: I haven’t noticed any changed in the berserker’s behaviour since the last patch.

The “confused” or “overwhelmed” advantage is like aegis or damaging conditions. In most cases it doesn’t matter when you apply it, but rather how often.

What Im trying to say is, that target drops via stealth aren’t the only tricks we have at our disposal ;). It’s difficult to explain, but feel free to whisper me for a duel if you’re EU :D

Here’s a small hint anyway:
Most skills can be delayed, or used in a certain combo to make them more effevtive, and most skills can be used in several ways.

Illusionary Leap

1. leap and swal to immobilize an opponent, usually if they’re not paying attention on you, or they used both dodges.
2. leap and keep swap as a stunbreaker.
3. leap while retreating, then swap and run past your target to create some distance. It’s just a last effort to stay alive if youre completely out of defenses.
4. leap while running any direction, then swap to immobilize after they either wasted a dodge or do nothing.
5. leap, then wait for them to waste a dodge (lol).

Back in the first few months of launch, leap (and shatter Mesmah) was OP because all Mesmers used leap-swap-mirror images-blurred frenzy + mind wrack, and people just couldnt dodge it :P. Some still cant, but thats besides the point. Decent players will dodge it, so its now considered UP, because it is only seen as ‘a single predictable move that will always fail because everyone knows what it looks like’.

Temporal curtain is very much like leap, you can immediatally activate it for a predictable (but still devestating if used properly) effect, or you can do all kinds of cool things if you place it down, and then wait.

Mesmer skills have more potential than it first seems like ;).

This one is kind of for personal use, and I just quickly put it together using a butterfly from another picture I had. It doesn’t have to be in the contest because it cant be in game, but I figured I might aswell upload it for fun.

Edit: feel free to use it for your own TS3 profile, or something :P.

keenlam.4753:

@ Natsu: a bit off-topic here but how do u hotlink in the OP to direct to the specific post in the thread?

Click the chain button (permalink) next to a post, and it changes your url to that post :P.

Wow.

This is an L2P issue. Learning how to counter ‘OP meta builds’ is a skill on it’s own :/. While I’m really annoyed that we ave to play nearly perfectly with shatter, while they have incredible room for mistakes with the same damage output as us, it’s an L2P issue in your case.

Yes, I believe the Mender’s Purity buff is going to help alot, but it won’t fit in shatter. If any, shatter should be buffed by moving Illusionary Persona to 25 or 20 Illusions :/.

Btw, nobody fears Mesmers because Mesmer has a high skill floor and ceiling, especially in this meta of very tanky and professions that allow for lots of mistakes. The only time you fear a Mesmer, is when it’s already too late and you’re getting your face melted by a good Mesmer :P.

Inverted.7439:

uh, what about doing this Not on the mesmer forums?

I dont think its against the codes of conduct… And I read it 3 times by now :/.

Buuut… What other place than the Mesmer forum did you have in mind?

Something like a site :O? Back in another mmo I played, we had a community website with a live chatbox, where players with questions could go look for an experienced player. It had a PM function too, incase more than 300 people were there at the same time, whiched happened… alot.

It’s like the OMFG on crack, it doesn’t take up one’s guild slot, and supports infinite (disclaimer: probably not infinite) people.

Then again, we dom’t need such a site, because our guild isn’t even full yet :P. I’m not ven sure how a site works, but its probably not free :/.

I agree with almost everything you said. Just the torment change doesnt make sense to me.
What about this: deal 75% damage of bleed while not moving, deal 125% damage of bleed while moving OR 200% damage while under a movement-impairing effect (immobilize, launch, knockdown, stun etc. But not daze, cripple or chill)

I also like the idea of making blind skills instant. Right now conditions are mostly fire and forget, and makkng them an active choice to save them for when you need them (like most other damage skills), is always a good thing.
I’d suggest we do the same with poison! Maybe it can do a little bit more damage, but has the duration decreased alot, and make it nearly instant. It’s like a counter to healing, if one doesn’t have control effcts to interrupt it.

Josh Davis.6015:

Hey Sensotix,

Thanks for the write-up.

I’ve been seeing a lot of threads like this on the forums lately, often accompanied with an itemized list of suggestions or concerns. I think the reason we’re seeing them pop up so often is because people aren’t exactly sure what direction we’re heading in terms of PvP – and that’s understandable.

This thread is slightly ill-timed. I say that because, yet again, I have to say that we’re almost ready to release a ton of information on PvP, but we’re not quite there yet. Next Monday (after the long holiday weekend) we’ll be releasing a blog post that will road-map a great deal of things our team will be working on implementing through the end of this year and going into next year. This should address a lot of the concerns you’ve raised and answer many of your questions. Starting next week we’ll be able to engage in discussion regarding future changes like we’d like to.

After the blog post we’re going to take strides to keep you guys in the loop as much as possible. This is a big priority for our team. As I’ve mentioned in previous threads, we’re going to start running a bi-weekly livestream that will give updates on PvP, tournaments, balance updates/previews, and just about anything else PvP related. That should help fill the gaps. Plus, you guys will get to see my baby blues again.

As for the balance changes – I’m not a part of that team so I can’t speak on their behalf. I hop into meetings from time to time to give feedback on changes or to present feedback from the forums, but that’s about the extent of it. I will, however, pass the thread along to them in case they haven’t seen it already. (Hint: They probably have.)

Personally, I think the changes coming on December 10th will have a significant impact on our current meta. The full implications? I don’t think anyone can predict that quite yet. There may even be a few surprises in there…

Next year is going to be a great year and I’m happy that we have so many devoted and dedicated players that are coming along for the ride with us. For those of you that have drifted away from the game for one reason or another – I honestly hope we’ll see you in-game again.

GROUCH OUT!

Edit: Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I cant wait

The Warden is very unreliable in it’s new state, especially in pvp where people keep moving around. More often than not, it will just chase themwithout attacking :/.

Ill uplload mine tomorrow

It uses nothing from the game… So it wont be usable. But I alredy started on it before I knew how it actually worked, and I kind of want to finish it now :P.

And I vote for the face of prestige, and Pyro’s nameless.

jenzie.4083:

I think you need to be admin in a guild to be able to be able to play around with emblems.

Can we have a emblem of someone kittening a god? (as in Oh My kittening God) Any kittenuing illustrations in the emblem builder?

Edit: Yes I know OMFG stands for Official Mesmer Forum Guild

Wait, what :/

Freedan.1769:

Chaos.3579:

THE WARDEN CHANGE IS NOT COOL!!!!!!!!

The wardens main use is projectile protection/reflection

Having the warden chase around a target makes the utility and protection it provides useless because it does not use its attack often enough if at all, AND it makes predicting when next it will,provide the utility/defense extremely hard
Any damage it inflicts is a bonus.

Overall. A very bad update.
If arena net wants to improve the warden = damage buff. Simple
Any ai change just makes the skill usless

I disagree with you. The main purpose of ALL our phantasms is damage to the target in one form or another. That’s where most of our heavy damage comes from, outside shatters. The purpose of the warden is not PRIMARILY for defense even if that is how you use it, it is for damage and always was intended that way. This change mostly seems to have been to make the warden able to chase targets so it’s DAMAGE isn’t being wasted when it spins its arms in open air: something you appreciated for its secondary, not primary effect. Obviously the developers felt its damage needed to be more consistent, hence the change. The warden’s damage is already currently sufficiently powerful, among the best we have for phantasms assuming all attacks hit a target. What made it weak was its missing. Again, you obviously weren’t bothered by this preferring to use it as a ranged shield, something incidental to its main purpose. Lastly, to answer the chasing around and not knowing when it will attack: this is a bug that was not factored into the warden’s attack cycle when the change was made. If the Warden was functioning correctly based on this update, it would at least attack immediately on summons as before and continue to attack on its normal cycle, the only difference being it moves to chase down its target. Just remember: your interpretation of what the Warden’s purpose is shouldn’t be assumed to be the one that other’s see, including development. And if I am wrong, and you are right and this phantasm’s purpose is utility based instead of damage based, I am sure that will be fixed anyways.

What about the defender and disenchanter? Those are defintely not based on damage.

The warden is actually the worst phantasm in terms of damage (not including the mage… Because its just a joke). Berserker is better for aoe, and the rest is better for single target. much better.

It does like 7k damage per, i dunno, 14 seconds? Thats about500 dps, and very insignificant.

Its better for aoe than single target phantasms, but other than that, the main purpose of this one is definitely projectile protection.

keenlam.4753:

How about we have a Guild emblem design contest? Hahaha

I see what he did there.

Natsu made a horrible emblem on purpose, just to make us come up with the fontest idea ;D.

How does a guild emblem work, I dont even know :/. Do you make it as a picture and then upload it… Or just in game? If its a picture, I know the perfect butterfly :D

paleeshi.1924:

Kind of a noobie question, but what is the point of Confounding Suggestions? I know it will be changed with the patch but currently it just has 50% to do a stun instead of daze and aren’t they in practice the same?

Other than that, I really like the idea of the build, I’ve played it in spvp (though I’m more of a WvW player). However I still can’t decide whether I’d prefer shatter or this kind of build. Like someone else posted earlier, I feel that shatter build is more suitable for pvp matches.

A dazed foe cant use skills with cast times.

A stunned for cant use skills with cast times, or move.

And I feel the same way too :/. Shatter has more burst and stuff v.v

themenaceofseventhdimension.2075:

Actually, it is false when you guys say that you have constantly appreciated iWarden in 1 vs 1. the only message i’m getting from this statement is the idea that you guys do too much of 1 vs 1 in tight pvp arenas. In WvW, there are usually more kiting than stayin still, so I fail to see how you would constantly duck behind a iWarden if you are trying to chase/defeat an enemy.

As for Freedan. Your idea is brilliant. I just hope they make it so that the iwarden actually catches up to an enemy instead of trying to chase like 2 seconds after the opponent decides to run.

That is not false.

Whenever the enemy uses projectiles, I, and some others can very well use the warden.

Even against lomg ow warriors, it protects you from pin down and all theres left to do is dodge the exploding arrow.

I actually use focus for tpvp with shatter, the warden is really usefull for cleavage/projectile destroying vs downed targets too.

Just because you cant use a warden doesnt mean others cant :P