Guild Wars 2

Shattered Conditions is bugged with IP, so it doesn’t clean conditions if you don’t have illusions to shatter.

When you shatter them, you clean condition in AoE around you with a range of 600.

My second compilation.

Well, finally I’ve done my second video compilation of my raids. I finally ended up with the typical shatter boon-ripping build and I find it very fun.

The problem with TW being a Glamour skill is it’d be upgradeable too much. Lower CD, longer, applies confusion to everybody who enter/exit it and blinds everybody inside it. Maybe that’s why they decided not making it Glamour.

But wiki says: “Glamour is a type of utility skills exclusive to mesmers that create shining fields on the ground, which have helpful effects on allies or harmful effects on enemies.” So…

In zergs (+15vs+15), direct damage >>>>>> conditions, anytime. Nowadays people go with a lot of condi cleansing and condi duration reduction.

If you want to run the same build when roaming and zerguing, shatters and PU build are the only that can be useful on both situations.

Well, here’s my experience with a low-end laptop.

Mine is i5-2410m, gt 525m playing at 1600×900 and 6gb RAM. http://tinyurl.com/l9dglry

CPU: Good for dungeons and open PvE, but it struggles at zergs and dragons and other big bosses. With lowest settings on both WvW players settings I get ~20 fps. Mine is around 40% better than that Pentium, and also you’ll get bottlenecked for the only 2 cores.
I’d recommend at least a Haswell i3-4000m or i5-4200U, which is more or less the same as mine, and forget about APU. With less, you’ll have a lot of problems to run the game at acceptable fps.

GPU: I have the gt 525m, which is in the bottom line of GPU that can run GW2, but I have it overcloacked to 710MHz (gt 540m runs at 672MHz). I play everything at minimum except native sampling and low postprocessing (at a resolution of 1600×900). I get around 55 fps at open world and 28 at zergs.
With that GPU you’ll be playing at the same fps, cause the lower resolution equals the lower performance.

RAM is more than enough, the game eats around 1.5gb, plus the typical 1.5gb of the system. With 4gb you’ll be able to run the game perfectly, but here it ends. I’d get at least 6gb and better 8gb. With that you’ll be able to have open the game, browser, msic player, TS, recorder and much more.

Unluckily for you, you’ll need to spend around 500€ to get a laptop that allows you to play at minimum with some fps and will last you some years. Cause most of cheapest laptops nowadays don’t have dedicated gpu, and without it you won’t be able to play GW2.

Finally, this is a video I did and where you can see how it’s like to play in lowest settings. In some parts you can see at the top-left part of the screen, the actual fps when recording, WHEN RECORDING xd Without recording it gets to 15-17 fps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXg5X-Z9YAU

PD: If you get a gpu from the family gt 5xxM and have Windows 7, get the drivers 314.22, by far, the best for me, even much better than some of the newest. Windows 8 doesn’t support it.

Personally, I’d go with the gtx 660 and spend the difference to get an i5 3570/4670 (or k). GW2 is a game that demands tones of single CPU core performance. You will get more fps with an i5 4670+gtx 660 than an i3+gtx 760.

Also, if you want to get the best performance/price ratio, you may look at amd r9 270×. It’s between 660 and 760, but closely to 760, but with the same price that the gtx 660.

Both r9 270x and gtx 760 will be able to run all games at maximum at ~60fps and 1080p. With the 660 you will need to put the most-demanding games at high instead of maximum to get that amount of fps.

Lool making wars even more stronger in the hammer trains hahahahahaha

Serioulsy Swagg, spend more time playing and less acting like a dev.

PD: Yo know nothing about skill coefficients and damage listed on skills. Just remembering 1500 (2.85) and 1700 (2.85) means there’s no damage modification. Only coefficient matters…

JakeG.9620:

You also have [DEX] in Ruins of Surmia, medium server, I’m not sure if you’re interested

Its only about NA servers xd But would be interesting to do an EU list also.

LunarNacht.8913:

And what’s wrong with necromancer?
Wellmancer, MMBunker, Condimancer and some Fearbuilds seem to work. They are always welcome in wvw and s/tpvp.
When I tried it in wvw or openworld pve it was the lootgod.
It’s a little boring, but is that the problem?

No, their main problem is the lack of roles. They can only do DPS, and in pve it is weak, cause of the conditions limitation. Also, they have a lot of bugs, like us. Death Shroud, minions and trait causes them a lot of problems. And finally they have no access to vigor, neither to stability.

I also have problems only with iWarden, but its been bugged since even before the iWarden change on December.

Other phantasms work perfectly.

Well, the poll is closed and mesmer has ended in the 5th place.

Order is: Ranger – Elementalist – Engineer – Necro – Mesmer – Thief – Warrior – Guardian

Apart from warriors, guards and thiefs, all other 5 classes need big redesigns. But I’d say ranger and eles have the most issiues. Necros, engies and mesmers suffer from tons of bugs and a bit lack of build and role diversity.
Would love mesmer were the third class, but we are seen as a very strong class in pve and OP in roaming, thats why there’s no love for us from the players.

Aioros.4862:

Ansau.7326:

PvE (No presence of support or DPS in some classes, control needs to be revived):
1. Ranger (Too much bow dependence, pet AI useless, bad support)

What do you mean too much bow dependence? if you want to do the most damage as a ranger in pve you have to use melee weapons and go close quarters, as a low armor class. I think if anything it is the other way around, the unparalleled archer should not have bows as a second rate skill.

I meant most players you find play only with bows, and they become the worst, they bring bad DPS, no support, and they spread the mobs. Changed for more clarity.

I’ll put 4 instead of 3 in every game mode, cause I find there’s more space to explain the issues.

PvE (No presence of support or DPS in some classes, control needs to be revived):
1. Ranger (Bows are the most inefficient but used the most by far, pet AI useless, bad support)
2. Necromancer (Bad DPS, no support)
3. Thief (No support)
4. Elementalist (Too much Conjure Weapons dependence, very low base stats)

sPvP (Main problem is the condition metagame):
1. Mesmer (No place in it, lack of speed and bad condition cleansing)
2. Elementalist (Lots of nerfs, bad condition cleansing)
3. Engineer (Bad condition cleansing, turrets bugs)
4. Necromancer (Lack of build diversity)

WvW (Few OP roamer builds make most other possibilities unviable, AI.based classes are useless in zergs):
1. Ranger (No place in zergs as pet AI simply doesn’t work in WvW, lack of support and DPS in zergs)
2. Mesmer (Utilitybot in zergs, AI useless in zergs, PU clone-death builds are overpowered when roaming, no ranged AoE damage while being a light armor class, retaliation problem with Feedback)
3. Thief (Bad build and role diversity, too much biased on stealth, no place in zergs)
4. Engineer (Condi spammer build overpowered, turrets bugs, Retaliation problem, master of nothing and jack of nothing)

Overall (Podium and what to do):
1. Ranger (Pet redesigned and less AI dependence)
2. Mesmer (Less AI dependence, lots of bug fixes, better build diversity)
3. Elementalist (Really needs a fresh restart, a whole trait design and a look at base stats)

Swagg, I’m just waiting for the mesmer post. Cause, as it will be like all other of your class post, a total nonsense bunch of biased changes and hours of fun and laughs.

About the engineer… Here’s the Castingeer, the class that will blow away the enemies wasting all the time casting his skills!!!

PD: The autoattack Bomb with 10s of CD just killed me. And the acidic armor, really??

insanemaniac.2456:

dont tell the devs.

Hahahaha, if you don’t want the devs to know, don’t mention it either

Carighan.6758:

Meh, then I’d add it on a more supporty weapon. Staff would work well in that regard, maybe the Warlock summons in an explosion which counts as a Blast finisher?

Why support weapons are the only one meant to have blast finishers?

Elementalist:
Scepter = 2 blast finishers on fire (DPS skills).
Focus = 1 blast finisher on water “Comet” (Hard CC) and another in earth “Earthquake” (a mix of everything).
Arcane Wave = Blast finisher on a DPS skill.
Eruption: Blast finisher on a DPS skill.

Warrior:
Earthshaker: Blast finisher on a DPS and hard CC skill.
Arcing Arrow: Blast finisher on a DPS skill.
Call to Arms: First blast finisher on a support skill.
Stomp: Blast finisher on a hard CC skill.
Banners: All support skill but with massive CD.

Guard:
Mighty Blow: Blast finisher on a DPS skill.
Shield of Wrath: Second support skill with blast finisher.

Thief:
Cluster bomb: Blast finisher on a DPS skill.

Ranger:
Call of the Wild: Third support skill with blast finisher.

Engineer:
All turret explosions and other blast finisher skills are CC or DPS (Too much to write them).

Mesmer:
The Prestige: Blast finisher on a DPS action.

Necro:
Putrid Mark: DPS skill with a blast finisher.

Really, don’t understand what’s in common with blast finishers and support, when most of blast finisher skills are either DPS or CC.

Also, why people complicates so much the life that prefer to redesign a whole phantasm to suit in it a blast finisher, than just add the effect to a skill that its design is perfectly meant to be a blast finisher?

Seriously, I don’t see such arguments against blast finisher in Mind Stab. First of all, the description of blast:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/blast
blast [blast, blahst]
2. the blowing of a trumpet, whistle, etc.: One blast of the siren was enough to clear the street.
3. a loud, sudden sound or noise: The radio let out an awful blast before I could turn it off.
16. to affect with any pernicious influence; ruin; destroy
24. to produce a loud, blaring sound

Now, why people have such amazing ideas to make skills to have blast finisher that doesn’t have any relation with explosions, aoe or anything like it, like Chaos Armor???

Then, why you’re looking into other blast finisher skills CD’s to state Mind Stab would be OP? There’re skills with 5-6s Cd and others with +40s, and the idea to make it inviable only because its CD is below the mean is just silly. The cooldown of any skill is, and should be, determinated only by what it does. Forget about other skills, means, medians, etc.

Mind Stab is a ground-target aoe skill that creates an illusionary GS from the ground making some sort of noise and causing aoe damage and soft cc. Even the description says it’s a thrust, which has a lot of relation with blast. So just from what it does and how is designed, having a blast finisher should be perfectly normal.

Now, Mind Stab is a small aoe skill with 12s of CD and acceptable damage (coefficient is 0.85) that removes 1 boons from up to 5 enemies. Also, it’s a movement-locked skill, moving while casting it will interrupt the skill. For what we can see, is pretty weak. The CD is fine, but long for what what the skill does. The damage could be much higher (Autoattack at 900 range have better coefficient), and the area is so small it becomes quite complicate to stab an enemy if it moves.
That makes Mind Stab the fewest used skill in GS, as all other skills bring a lot more are: AoE damage and CC.

A well rounded Mind Stab could be:
Mind Stab (15s CD): Thrust your Greatsword into the ground, damaging foes and removing 1 boon.
Coefficient = 0,85.
Number of targets = 5.
Radius = 150.
Blast finisher.

I don’t stream, but I record quite a lot. This is the only raid compilation I’ve done so far. In few days I’ll start the second compilation

No problems here, yesterday I was able to blast a lot of statics and other fields, as always.

The problem I see is most of fields don’t last as much as the skill does. For example, Static Field lasts for 4s, but I’ve been only able to blast during the first ~2s.

Poor skelks, it’s harder for them to catch a clone than for devs to fix a bug…

Being in the Edge of the Mists for a while and now fighting thiefs is nonsense. Their thiefs guilds don’t die until you kill them, but phantasms always disappear.

It’s only a mesmer problem, as our pets are the only ones that die if there’s no target. This bug makes al our mechanics worthless…

ronpierce.2760:

It’s not as bad as people thought, and in fact many people think it’s just thieves who the bug pertains to, but that’s not the case. The real case is that most stealths are so short that the illusions don’t try to attack in that time frame, and don’t die. This happens pretty frequently still even against thieves. You can, however almost bet on them dying if you see either a shadow refuge, or black powder HS combo (assuming he does it twice).

Is as bad as we think when fighting thiefs. Even our phantasms are destroyed everytime.

This is only a mesmer problem, cause there’s no problem with thiefs guild, or other pets from other classes.

Oficially dead no, but this bug really makes us useless for roaming and sPvP.

Seems for a target lost issue than a stealth. Hope they fix it as soon as possible, but iZerker took 6 months and iWarden is been bugged for 2…

Didn’t noticed the bug, cause I haven’t played since the patch, but wow, this bug is the biggest we have ever seen. Totally destroys the game against thiefs and other mesmers.

This needs to be an emergency for anet…

Unfortunately, due to our guild privacy policy, I cannot tell the exact build. But what I basically do is ripping boons and some DPS.

Here is some of my footage. Most of the builds are not what I actually run, cause I was theorycrafting, but you can see more or less the in&out tactic.

You misunderstood some things:
- Going DPS doesn’t imply going mostly offensive stats.
- You understood ranged weapons are bad for zergs. I said going full ranged is bad. GS has a lot to offer in zergs, that’s why I run GS.
- Tanky frontlines have no sense, easy to be interrupted and the need to fully spec deffensive as we are light armor makes us inefficient. Backline has lower and a very slow DPS, and most of our support is ranged, so it can be done perfectly in the backline.

In & out, frontline and backline are all tactics. Frontline (as guards and wars play) is worthless in a mesmer. We’re light armor and we lack sustained DPS. In fact, we excel in bursting.
Backline is easier, safer and grants better support, but the DPS is much lower.
In&out is a mix of both, but it’s mainly frontline, cause you do your role while in the “in”. The “out” is there for an emergency scape or still be useful while your burst is in CD.

Then, we need to look at which skills bring more DPS (aka better skill coefficients). Those are phantasms and melee skills (Apart from Spartial Surge). About phantasms, only iZerker and iWarden are good for zerg. If you read again my post, both phantasms have place in my ideal weapon set (GS + Sword/X).
And melee skills: shatters, BF, sword autoattacks, The Prestige have the highest skill coefficients (Or also they grant additional conditions). Those higher skill coefficients allows you to have good DPS while being more tanky.
Also, DPS in zergs works as burst. Is more important to deal big numbers than seeing thousands of numbers on your screen. And melee skills deals the damage much faster.

So now we know melee skills bring much DPS, we can conclude frontline mesmer will have more DPS than a backline. And here is, as I said in my previous post, when IP (Illusionary Persona) is the bet for DPS. It allows you to bring added DPS through shatters without the necessity of illusions.

Finally, being in frontline doesn’t mean running PVT. Is a weak stat combination and it can be surpassed by mixing other stats. In fact, I don’t have any soldier item. All is a mix of zerker, cavalier, knight and valkyrie. Maybe with the critical damage nerf I’ll get some PVT.

PD: It would be great if you added some footage. Then I’d see your DPS and compared with mine.

I don’t think your roles are the best. I’d say there’s backline utility/support mesmer, and frontline DPS mesmer. You deal much more DPS with Mind Wrack, Blurred Frenzy, The Prestige and sword autoattacks than with GS/Staff from backline.
Our range DPS is quite bad. Only iZerker and Mirror Blade are good ranged options. Staff has general bad DPS and with GS autoattack you need to be out of the battle to do decent damage, so you lost the support.

About the build, I find that running both GS/Staff is not the best, the sword offers so much in zergs for not taking it. Also, Staff is a slow and bulky weapon for zergs. Long CD’s, slow autoattack and useless phantasm. It’s good for begginers, but I always prefer GS Sword/X for any zerg build.
Then, shatters are the best choice for DPS, and I find IP mandatory. The rest is up to you, but note that Chaos line is more oriented to duels.

Taken from the balance preview:

All existing percentage critical damage stats on gear and items will be converted into the appropriate amount of ferocity, which will then factor into your critical damage multiplier.

I assume all external modifiers, as food, possible sigils, runes, even banners or other skills will grant ferocity instead of critical damage.

More mesmer problems:

- iWarden: Bug (not attacking).
- Phantasmal Haste (Trait): Not working with iWarden, iSwordman, iZerker and iMariner.
- Temporal Curtain: Bad design. Swiftness not stacking and pull has so much internal CD.
- Mantras: Even with the buffs, they are still meh. Too much cast time just for having them ready.
- Portal: Needs a timer and a range indicator. With 60s to put the exit and a range of about 2500 is quite difficult to know how much and how long you have to put it.

Likes:
1- Variety of game modes and freedom in the same map. There’s a lot of things to do. Guild zergs can be a blast in a map. Karma trains are a good way to take whole maps. And even there’s space for roamers.
2- Competition and coordination in servers. I didn’t think it was able for 300-400 people to coordinate strategy, map organization, even there’re server events, like minions day or golem rushes. There’s a whole tactic and organization world in every server.
3- The feeling you’re a part of a big war when facing blobs or defending a full upgraded keep. It’s completely different from a team vs team.

Dislikes:
1- There’s only space for GWEN in zergs. Rangers, thiefs, mesmers and engis have minimal space as they’re only designed for small scale fights. Also, there’re huge differences in roaming., some builds and mechanics have to be toned down.
2- No rewards for defending keeps. It way better to let others take your keeps and towers and then retake them. That’s how Karma trains started.
3- No rewards or distinction for dedicated guilds.
4- Sometimes is quite frustrating with some Siege. You only need 5 Superior Arrowcart and a Trebu to stop any blob that wants to take you keep. Or a Golem Rush is unstoppable.

I stopped using the focus in raids since the change. I only use iWWarden in PvE cause is the only phantasms with iSwordman that goes with the stacking metagame.

I think you’re tanking to the wrong way. Comparing ranger pets with phantasms won’t bring you anything.

Yes, ranger pets are horrible, but complain about what is wrong with them, not what other AI have.

Do whatever you want, but it was you who started attacking and despise others with nonsense sentences like:
- im not impressed with builds that are designed to play in groups that are either the same size or lower its possible to get better stats. Yeah, cause tanking a melee train is so much rewarding…
- i have 3.2k armor (3.8k when channelling mantra) 23k HP 3.1k power 42% crit chance and 55% crit damage. What a kitten with such stats…
- i dont understand how someone could lose so much stats. You may mean tank stats…

All I’ve been saying is your build does nothing out of your team, nothing else…

lool, where also did I say you only heal with the mesmer?? You still don’t understand anything.

This isn’t about your build in your team. Is about recommending your build to anybody else but you in your team…

You have understood nothing, and this is my last post, cause I see what are you trying to say, but if you want to discuss about how good is your build in your team, make a thread of videos and it will be grateful to discuss about it. All your points are just cases based on specific moments of a build designed for a specific group.

I’ll repeat. My build is meant to be in my guild, which is a group of 20-25 people, but most zerg builds could be more o less the same. If I was playing mostly 5 people team, no doubt I’ll bring another build.

I find a group is not optimized if it relies on the mesmer to heal. We have a lot more options to be better at bursting or lockdown. I’d focus mesmers on that, and let to other professions the roles of healing-support.
Just an example, a single bomb-healer engi can heal around 4500 with 2 combo fields and 3 blasts and give 11s of regeneration in about 2s, apart from healing explosions. Then you’ve to count the combined other blasts.

Finally, in zergs, you don’t need faster blink, you need it to be farther. If you really need to used everytime, is because you don’t move well.

In my first post I was just discussing. Then, some funny sentences and your awesome tanky build made my day.

The stats difference doesn’t come from gear, but from traits. You’re running a PU build, and I don’t see any valuable trait for my raid in Caos. And your attack is very low, mine base is +3100.

Anyway, you play 5 people team and I play 20-25 people zergs. No way our builds have to be similar. But even if you play 5 people team, I see no reason to take 3200 armor. There’s no offensive pressure neither burst (so important in small scale fights) and we have a lot of active defense, with skill there’s no need to reach such big numbers in both armor and health.

PD: Just a note, you heal easier and much more with a guard/ele/engi than a mantra mesmer.

I can’t tell you it exactly, as we’re not allowed to show raid builds (Guild privacy). But I have 2 roles. One is obvious, utilities (Portal, Veil an TW) and the second is boon-ripping. Stats in mesmer are totally personal and I have 2550 armor, 19,5k health, 2000 power, 32% crit chance and 50% crit damage. Only food included.

PD: Attack is not used in any calculation, is just there cause every primary stat has an own secondary one. It helps to have an idea of weapon damage comparison, but as every skill has a coefficient, its irrelevant.

@RedCobra, first, I still don’t see your stats possible. I think you misunderstood Power with Attack (which is totally useless), because with 3,2k of armor, 55% crit damage and 20k base damage, power is less than 2000, even with bloodlust stacks. And this is with all gear ascended…

Then, I said what I said about your server cause this is the first week I faced low servers. And I wasn’t refering about individual skill. I haven’t seen such weak and scared zergs in my life. I now understand why people prefer to roam in low part of EU servers, because when zerguing, they only run from you and die if fighting in such a ridiculous way it’s even funny.
With this type of zergs, of course it’s easier to play “as a thief”. But in most other servers is just impossible. You’re not doing anything by trying to kill some necro o ele. In the attempt, you will be focused as hell and there’s no skills or tanky build to help you.

Just a note, this trait is bugged with IP, so activating a shatter without any illusions won’t clean any condition.

The trait is placed in the right line. But there’s no other good enough trait from that line to become GrandMaster. In fact, since it’s buff, Shattered Conditions is the best trait from Inspirations.

I think Inspirations is the least messy line of mesmer. Only Malicious Sorcery is bad situated. The rest? All are related with buffing phantasms, glamours and aoe support traits.

A mesmer with 3,2k of armor, what a waste of time and stats. Even guards and warriors have less toughness… Also, please, next time don’t put ideal stats. I also reach tons of stats with every buff possible at maximum.

BTW, what is the point to make a tanky build to face 5vs10? If those 10 are good, there’s no build or strategy that could work. If those 10 are bad, only matters the player skill…

PD: He’s asking for a build for raids. I’ve noted that you play on one of the top down servers of EU, and your server faces the same enemies most of the times. Don’t take this badly, but I won’t take your experience as exportable to other players.

Redcobra, I run 2550 armor in raids and I’m totally fine, so armor of Hidden Cat should be also finein terms of armor. 2600-2650 would be good numbers for general pug zerg.

But Hidden Cat has other 2 main problems in zergs (+20vs+20):
First is your role. Hidden Cat is a build meant to do a lot of pressure on a single target while having a lot of survivability, That’s why it excels on small scale fights. But in zergs, single target DPS has no impact and when you see the aoe DPS of eles or necros, you realize even iZerker has meh aoe damage.

Second is the low health pool. 16,8k base health is very low and with no Condition mitigate, you’re fresh meat for conditions. Around 20k and lemongrass is enough to make them not a thread.

Bazzoong.7145:

@BlackDevil, you can build mesmers for support aswell especially for guild zergs (which is what I guess you are aiming at).

Check out the GvG build this guy shows in this vid (I know it needs to be done a bit different now but the basics are the same). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDXWRSKlQec

Mesmers offer a lot of different play styles way more then most other classes and are probably the most balanced of all proffesions in that you have very good builds for a lot of different “roles”.

One thing is if a build can work, another different is if it’s optimal. From my experience, that build is far from optimal. There’s only 1 video and is from stomping a distracted zerg on a gate (the easiest way to success).
Note he need 8 seconds to generate all the boons and send to his party. By that time, most of enemies are downed. Then, he’s only able to tag 4/5 people of a zerg of ~20 and do you thing it’s good for us to become Restorative Mantras spammers?

I’d like to see this build in an open-world fight, taking a keep or against bigger zergs, where there’s a lot of mobility, lots of pressure on you, no stomping distracted people, things cannot wait to be ready and have to be instant…

PD: And having a lot of play styles doesn’t mean we excel on everything. Ele’s are there kicking at PvE, zergs and roaming with 2/3 builds….

Glamour confusion nowadays only works as a tagger build, cause you won’t be dealing good DPS, not only because of its nerf, but also cause the huge condi-cleansing zergs have.

The easiest ones to take are shatters: good tag and more useful if you focus on boon-ripping. apart from that, there’s not much to look for. In zergs, mesmer support builds are outperformed by other professions.

I also tried a 20/20/0/30/0 with Restorative Mantras and Shattered Conditions.. It’s quite effective, but it’s a very high skillcap, as you can do lots of things (support, debuffing and DPS spikes) and you rely a lot on dodges. Anyway, it will be crippled with tomorrow patch…

I also don’t understand, and I’ve played only mesmer since the release.

Devs decided to nerf all vigor sources, cause they want fights to be less dodge-depending. As you say, other professions have had their vigor nerf. It was a matter of time for us to receive the nerf.

This change won’t affect as much as people is whining. I think it will happen the something similar as Illusionists Celerity. A lot of complaints and whines before the change, but even now that they have made it Master, how many build do you see nowadays with x/x/x/x/15?
The impact of the change hasn’t been as big as it was expected. Same will happen with Critical Infusion. We will experience with having a little bit less active defense, but maybe this will help to use better our dodges. We’re used to spam them.

PD: We will have to wait till Tuesday (3 days from now) to see how DE has been changed. Not a lot of info have been given… Also, we only know a tiny bit of the whole balance, there can be good buffs hidden.

Focus is, IMO, has 3 big problems:
- Swiftness that doesn’t stack.
- Pull with a 1s internal CD, which make it very predictable and most of the times you fail.
- Bugged iWarden. Sometimes he dies trying to catch the enemy, cause is freaking slow at it due to the attacking CD. Sometimes, it even doesn’t attack a single kitten time…

We have the base to be a very useful profession in zergs and teams, the problem is we were designed to excel in dueling, so most of our traits/skills are designed on that.
But it has ended to be the least common situation on this game: PvE is about parties, for every single-roamer in WvW there’s 200 people blobbing, doing raids or in roaming teams. Only in sPvP we see dueling is important, but because sPvP is a game mode based on 5-8 people teams that have to take 3 points quite far from each other, so those distances and small size teams provoke a lot of duels, but not because sPvP is based on them.

Ansau.7326:

Illusionary Persona, Shattered Concentration, Confounding Suggestions, Chaotic Interruption, Imbued Diversion, Dazzling Glamours…

We could have a debuff-lockdown role with them. But, as you can see, Debuff-Lockdown includes 4 GrandMaster traits over 3 lines. With 70 points it’s just impossible.

Also, we can excel on support, as we have quite good support traits, like Restorative Mantras or Shattered Conditions (it needs to work with IP). But this needs much more changes.
We have a lot of support traits/skills that only benefits us, and making them AoE would make us a really good support profession. I’m talking about Restorative Illusions, Mender’s Purity, Cleansing Inscriptions or Confusing Cry.
Mantras mechanics also need to be redone. With only 2 casts, such CD’s that start after all casts are used, nearly 3s of cast time, and CD’s between casts, they’re a big MEH, not only in zergs, but in most of game situations. They should have 3 base casts and Harmonious Mantra could be reworked to decrease the cast time, or make you have stability while casting mantras.

Illusionary Persona, Shattered Concentration, Confounding Suggestions, Chaotic Interruption, Imbued Diversion, Dazzling Glamours…

We could have a debuff-lockdown role with them. But, as you can see, Debuff-Lockdown includes 4 GrandMaster traits over 3 lines. With 70 points it’s just impossible.

That’s the problem. Our class is based in AI, which sucks in zergs. Also, our traits are distributed in such a horrible way, it becomes a completely mess and impossible to take most of support/lockdown traits that would work on zergs.
So we’re only taken for our utilities (Veil, Null Field, Portal and TW).

There has been some threads both on Mesmer and Profession Balance discussing this problem. Hope devs listen to us…

There has been another post about this problem.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/balance/PvP-WvW-PvE-Mesmer-Illusionary-Leap-Fix/first#post3498349

I also enjoyed that we’re not bound to anything role, cause it let me try a lot of things. But after some months of playing in a dedicated guild, I need some sort of a defined role, which I can focus on, start improving my performance on it and stop searching how I can be more useful to my guild.