Guild Wars 2

I have been pouring my discontent on the mesmer down skill for t he longest time. It hurts more than help. Allow me to copy-paste my general thoughts:

Arikyali.5804:

This downed skill – deception – is not very helpful. Mesmer’s basic auto attack is fine, and the phantasmal rogue can deal pretty nice damage, but deception is not the least bit reliable. Most classes have their ‘last ditch’ saving grace, but I have rarely had that experience with Deception.

1. It requires a target in order to be activated. So if you can’t even see what is killing you, you’re trapped on the ground and can’t move. You’re pretty much as good as dead. I’ve found myself spamming 2, and nothing is happening. By the time I realize it and try to target something, it’s usually too late.

2. You can’t choose the direction you’re going. I’ts very possible the place you warped to will end up with a monster or player that will just kill you faster.

3. If I’m downed in PvE, the LAST thing I want is to pull aggro to myself. This is exactly what the deception clone does. It keeps blasting at enemies, gets its attention, then gets itself destroyed before the mesmer can heal up. Then the enemy targets the player, and proceeds to deliver the killing blows.

4. I suppose it is okay for PvP and WvW, because enemies will usually stomp the clone instead of you. But there’s still the possibility of warping someplace you don’t want to end up, and probably nowhere near an ally that can help you. Besides….someone who’s observant would just leave the clone and move to you. Then what?

If I could have the opportunity to update this skill, it would include: 1) choose where you warp, and 2) not require a target to activate the skill. There have been times where I’m downed and I manage to rally back up alone. Perhaps if the clone was instead healing itself, it may be more helpful. Then it wouldn’t draw aggro, and people couldn’t tell the difference between the real mesmer and the clone. (The real mesmer is always the one that’s trying to heal) The damage it does isn’t enough to kill the enemy anyway. That’s what the berserker is for. I would really like to see the skill save me more often than kill me.

By the Six, I just broke out of prison.

I swam up to one of the many shallow sandbanks that surrounded Lion’s Arch. One of the city’s tall rocky cliffs loomed overhead, supporting the haphazard structures from toppling over into the sea.

What do I do now? Where do I go? I couldn’t stay in Lion’s Arch anymore. Once the Vigil found out I was missing, the Lionguard would be searching. There were plenty of hiding places in Lion’s Arch, maybe, but there were OTHER bounty hunters too. Other pirates and thugs that wouldn’t mind the idea of cutting down the competition. And the bombs! There might still be bombs in the city!

I need to get out of here…and get far, far away. I sloshed up the beach, wringing the seawater out of my coat. But where would I go? My family…I – I can’t show my face to them…

A small tear dripped down my cheek. I angrily brushed it away. Are they still safe? Now people knew my real name. They might come after me…or if they couldn’t find me, go after my mother and sister. That Sylvari from earlier; could I trust what she said?

I shook my head. Sylvari were terrible actors, I knew that much. Their faces were as legible as an open book. This one meant well. But regardless, my family could still be in danger from other people.

Either way, I couldn’t stay here. I could always find work elsewhere. I just had to run back to my house, pack up, and leap into the Asuran Gate when no one was looking. Easier said than done.

I snuck along the base of the cliff, making my way to a broken gate that would lead to the sewers. I hated travelling by the sewers. They were slimy, dirty, and smelly. I covered my nose with my sleeve, trying not to gag. How could Hylek and Skritt put up with the stench was beyond me.

I made my way as quickly as possible, avoiding the locals that frequented the dark tunnels. I made a turn and – Darn. They closed that exit… I went down another tunnel. The sewers would be a great place to hide bombs…it was a literal maze down here.

I emerged from one of the sewer tunnels, finding myself just outside the market. I nicked a hat from a nearby stall, keeping my head low and trying to blend in with the crowd. No one pays attention to someone who just crawled out of the sewers. Instead, they try to keep their distance.

I had a long way to go to get to my house. The front entrance was easy enough to get to. But the entrance I wanted to use – the window – required some footwork. I only used the front entrance when I wanted to be seen. I slipped past the Lionguard, relying on my stealth to get by. Scale up a scaffolding, up the third ladder, clear the small gap between two buildings, go down a fight of stairs, around a balcony (and avoid the lionguard below), jump down to the ledge, then a short hop down to the roof.

I couldn’t complain. The window gave a nice view of the city (easy to watch guard patrols) and the landlord agreed to a discount for the hard-to-reach room.

I gently lifted the frame of the window and swung into the room. One room apartment, with everything cramped inside. At least my ‘office’ got a second room, where I could have my potions and weapons, and-

I froze. Someone was in my room.

“You…”

Zach.3264:

No build makes your illusions any more confusing. They are the exact same from beginning of the game until end. The best you can do is go Asura (or even a large Charr?), spam illusions/clones/phantasms and utilize stealth as much as you can.

No build maybe, but traits and stats that help strengthen illusion-based gameplay and combos are what I’m looking for.

Like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AktPcA_vJM

I’ve been playing around with skill sets, and this is one of my favorite combos. There’s plenty more, and many ways for them to intertwine. Clones can be more than just shatter fodder.

It gave me over 20 seconds of retaliation boon. That’s not so bad. Long enough for me to swap back to a sword as well. It would certainly be tricky to find someone who would stand still while I beat them up, but the chain is pretty speedy. And they’re facing 2 sword wielders and one staff user, with the real Mesmer far in the back.

Hm…did my clone also get retaliation?

Note: I am not hating on shatter skills. Shatter is awesome. I just feel like it’s overused and the clone’s full potential isn’t utilized before being shattered.

Start practicing dropping it in zerg fights…..it’s awesome.

Very tricky to pull off, but man….if it lands right, the field is suddenly covered with stomp-able invaders.

Sanduskel.1850:

I play a thief, and played correctly, yes, stealth equates to invulnerability. Sorry.

Shh! Go back and hide in your shadow. Now that you said that, they’re just gonna nerf us all….

Everyone is actually a necromancer. You just sucked the life force out of the creature you killed.

Edit: Dangit, Astral beat me to it.

LoreChief.8391:

Grubs are actually Wurm Larvae.

But we have wurm hatchlings. I dunno, the name sort of implies they just recently hatched.

Larvae > Hatchlings > adult wurms?

Eh, compared to this, the only thing I’d be jealous of is the mithril box. But after almost one year of playing, I’m pretty sure I can make all the 18 slot bags I’ll need. I won’t miss it. :/

I personally don’t like the armor skins (but I understand why people would be annoyed if they did like it). Besides, I thought they released them in the gem store before, so aren’t they not as rare anyway?

A staff, hm? I never really liked staves, but they really are more viable for this kind of build. Perhaps I’ll give them a second (or third, or forth) try.

BlackDevil.9268:

Get as many clone spawns, stealthes and move as less possible when not stealthed. Don’t get too many boons, don’t spawn phantasm, don’t do anything wierd your clones wont do and don’t attack while running.

But yeah, 0 DPS.

Pyroatheist.9031:

Yeah, black devil pretty much covered it. In order to look like a clone you must

• Not move when using a ranged weapon
• Manually autoattack slower than normal
• Use no signets or mantras or boons
• Only attack while not moving when using a melee weapon
• No dodging or strafing
• No using any skills other than autoattack
• When shattering, stop everything else and charge your target
  • How you got clones to shatter while doing the above is not clear

Doing anything other than what I said will result in any competent player immediately recognizing the real Mesmer.

I actually had a few friends help me test it, and this ideology of ‘acting like a clone’ does NOT work. My friends were still able to win fights and pick me out…because they could kill the clones quickly. But after switching to a more ‘sneaky’ approach and moving constantly, they were more confused during the actual fight. So I have to strongly disagree that acting like a dumb AI and spamming auto attack is the only way to utilize clones outside of shredding.

Xavi.6591:

Chaos Gun dropped for me 2 days ago. Sold it 1 hour later.

/jelly

Waldir.2571:

We manage to kill them before they evolve.

But if we are doing that, then how are there still larvae hatching? Parents need to be laying the eggs somehow…

Let people farm…that’s their way of enjoying a game, so let them do it.

This market is pretty balanced, and a balanced market will fix itself. The only farmers that we should smash hammers and punish, are bot farmers.

Sirendor.1394:

There already is wayyyy too much money. I know people who have at least 10 legendaries and are still piling up their gold by the thousands.
The problem is; the gold is extremely unevenly distributed. I have for example only 7 gold at the moment. Sure I get maybe a gold each day from playing WvW, but there’s no way I can keep up in order to buy fancy items. I’m going to lay the blame at the fact that players in PvE get so much better rewards for doing extremely easy things, while players in WvW get extremely low rewards for very skill-requiring things, such as 1v1 duels, small group fights, ninjaing towers and keeps (ninjaed stonemist with 5 people) and so forth.

Wait, really? I find myself getting more gold in WvW than PvE.

I only have 100 gold in my bank, which, imo, isn’t a lot. It’s enough to keep me happy. The uneven gold distribution stems from people that want/can afford to put effort in to make all that money, to people who can’t.

Dungeon farming is the best gold generator I know of. Just that it’s boring and grindy.

At least this game’s inflation is stable to the gold being generated. I recall getting an exotic drop quite a few months back – I got greedy and posted it for the min sell offer instead of selling to the highest bidder – about 6g/8g. It never sold, and sat there all those MONTHS as its value dropped down to 1g. I finally got tired of staring at it and sold it for that price.

As much as I hate having lost the potential 6g-8g, this is a good thing. Exotic values dropping to affordable prices means they’re available to those with light coin purses. And this is a game where you don’t need to rely on high-end gear to get by.

When you think about money coming into the economy, it’s mostly from money that came out of ‘thin air’. Not money that came from trades. This mean coin bags, event rewards, mob drops, npc junk, etc. You can’t make much money based on that. Most of the money a player can make, comes from trade (black lion).

As for people who are stockpiling all that gold….there is yet another gold sink. There’s plenty of nice cosmetic items in the gemstore.

Anierna.6918:

You will never fool anyone who has played a mesmer, or is experienced in fighting them, that your clones are actually you. Why? Because clones don’t dodge, and you do. So they can just spam AoEs until they see the dodge, call target on you, and you’re dead. If you stealth, they’ll just repeat AoEs until they see the dodge.

True, but I have a different build for PvP for my mesmer. Any element of surprise for PvP is short term. I’m aiming more for roaming and concentrated zerg fights in WvW. And PvE…but monsters don’t need trolling.

HOWEVER…..I have come across one mesmer in PvP who was a pain in the neck with clones. My team had a hard time targeting the real mesmer.

Yargesh.4965:

Arikyali.5804:

Perhaps a fee to enter dungeons?

Fee for leaving, 1 silver for every mob left alive.

This could actually have some very beneficial basis….needs tweaking, but I like.

Perhaps a fee to enter dungeons?

By a true mesmer build, I’m aiming for one that can utilize illusions in their ability to confuse an enemy – not condition wise. I want a trait build that can successfully trick an enemy into thinking the illusion is the real mesmer, and not just use illusions as condition fodder. Mainly a ‘trololol’ build.

My draft includes maxed dueling and chaos. This gives Deceptive Evasion, Mirror of Anguish, and Debilitating Dissipation. I also like interrupting skills, so I might drop 10 points into domination.

My preferred weapon set are: scepter/pistol, and greatsword. I am debating if I should swap scepter out for sword. I just prefer range over melee, so I’m intent on keeping scepter, even if the sword is more deceptive. (And I already carry a greatsword and pistol. Kinda feels odd to play a magic-based class and not use a magic-based weapon..)

Utility wise, I’m not a fan of mantra skills, so I’m avoiding most of the traits for them. I want my shatter to focus on inflicting vulnerability/end the combo for a killing blow, instead of adding conditions. To be honest, I’d rather have illusions out on the field longer, and being a general nuisance, than sending them to the enemy for max condition damage.

Confusion is fun to troll people with…so I still want to have that utilized. I want to be able to pile confusion on an enemy at a decent rate without relying on shatter skills…but I cannot find a proper way to accomplish this. I don’t want to dump X amount of stacks all at once on my opponent….just drop it every now and again when they least expect it.

To be honest, I have never relied on boon generation for my mesmer…I just relied on other people to give it to me. Worked fine in zergs. What is your take: are boons worth experimenting on for a mesmer? Any boons I got was just a plus, and never bothered to be incorporated into the fight.

Right off the bat, I don’t want to limit my mesmer’s damage output. I currently play a modified zerker build, so I’m used to the glass cannon style. I understand I need to sacrifice damage for survivability, but I don’t want to have such a major switch in the mechanics. I am wondering….would getting full zerker armor/jewelry, while having a defensive trait set, be viable?

Please share me your advice, input and experience. I’d very much appreciate it.

(And please don’t /insert-link-of-step-by-step-of-someone-with-a-good-build. I want to create my own build for my own play style – I want something unique. I’m picking off bits here and there and taking what I like, but I do not want a copy pasta of someone else. Other people can have great ideas – which is why I’m asking on the forums. I just want to branch away from the general builds for mesmers.)

Did that sylvari mesmer summon the phantasms BEFORE the enemies were in range?

I’ve always wanted to summon without a target…

I wanna use portals for combat. I tried that once ingame and found myself running from the monsters.

Yerol.9546:

((Curse you for breaking her out, I wanted to do that ))

You need to message me for this stuff! Jaric and I had been discussing the escape via PMs before you even got explosives.

Oh wow, that’s hilarious…I gotta try that now!

If they had ‘mesmer swords’ named Lyss and Ilya I’d never bring this up. We can dual wield swords. But I just skimmed the gallery and the only mesmery sword I found is the whisperblade – which is still solid and not phantasm in design.

There’s actually 3 pistols that are pink and see-through. The two are the Lyss and Ilya, and the third is the Chaos gun. Chaos gun however, is only available through the rarity of Mystic Forge, and acts as a precursor.

I wanna see more! Keep em coming.

Sophiera.1209:

Come to think of it….
I think I sensed some really, really nasty traps hidden at the front porch. If I was a conjob, that girl would have pulled the trigger. I don’t know which of the sisters built that, but that’s sooooo cool!

Kristie: Actually, mom built those.

Mother: …I already lost a husband. And a daughter. I can’t lose the third.

Ana: ….Ow mom, knife through the heart…

Mother: You should write home more often!

Ana: I try! It’s not easy to find time to write home when I’m being chased by Lionguard, thugs, pirates, bandits, krait, and my landlord!

Mother: I’m sure you can find enough time to write a short letter at least once a week. I worry, you know?

Ana: Siiiiiiigh…..

((By the way, Kristie is about…10-12 years old)

Goldsinks are important. It’s very easy to make money in this game. If there’s no sink, there will be too much money. Then most of that money will accumulate among high leveled, veteran players. Incoming players, or casual players, will have a very difficult time matching up to the inflated prices – which the veteran players will directly, or indirectly be setting. It would not be a free market, because the veteran players will be the ones controlling it.

People should not be able to resell high-end gear. In a market that will always be inflating, these are VERY profitable, long term investments. (Trust me on this – I know :P) Today I buy a weapon for 5 gold, use it as I need, then resell it a few months later for 25 gold. Now let’s do that for all 6 armor slots, and 4 weapon slots. I buy 50 gold of gear, use them as I wish, and resell it for 250 gold. Now I got 250 gold to drop into whatever I want. Having more money = sellers increasing prices. Repeat this for every player that has high-end gear.

Then comes in a new player who just hit 80. A set of exotics will cost them 250 gold. How is he gonna get that? No one wants him in dungeons because he doesn’t have the good gear for speed runs. He can’t make his own gear because mats will be expensive (less gear salvaged = less crafting materials. Supply < demand) Only those that can afford the mats for crafting are either a) people who can bot and farm nodes or b) have the money to buy what they want when they need it. ===> another increase on prices. He’ll be stuck at the bottom.

Binding gear will force the player to buy their new, better set without retrieving the gold from their prior set. This is a big thing that keeps prices from inflating. The items salvaged won’t upset the market either.

Ah great. I wrote a wall of text on gaming economy. I wonder if people will read it. If you did, yay for you.

I had given the Sylvari directions on how to locate this ‘friend of a friend’ of mine. Not like she’d ever find him among the heavily tangled web of shady acquaintances. She was more than capable of taking care of herself, so I didn’t need to worry about any incurred debts from her or my business contacts. This had left me to return to my bunk and stare at the stone wall, as I tried to plan my next move.

I sighed softly. Bombs in the city. Wonderful. Here I was, trapped in a cell, with bombs somewhere in Lion’s Arch primed and ready to go off. I had picked up from the conversation of the guards that at least two more were found – making a supposed total of three. But for all anyone knew, there could be more than just three bombs planted. There were a slew of hiding places that could easily overlooked, ranging from the sewers to back allies. Among misaligned buildings and within the rocky cliffs. Lion’s Arch had several nooks and crannies for hiding, and I knew my fair share. They were extremely useful when you needed a place to hide.

Maybe I could reveal some of those places to the Lionguard to shorten my own sentence? No, that wouldn’t do any good. All that’d accomplish was less hiding places for me (and anyone else who used them). That is, if they still existed after the bombs went off. Either way, I’d be back in the cell and no better off than before.

My thoughts were interrupted by a quiet clink at the corner of the bars. At first I’d have dismissed it as nothing, but it was followed by a soft voice.

“Hope you didn’t sabotage the lock this time.”

I immediately spun around and sat up, but there was no one there. But right at the edge of the cell, was a key.

I reached down and grabbed the key, eyes darting to the outside of my cell. To my slight surprise the two guards on duty were either fast asleep…or conveniently knocked out.

I didn’t waste any time. With key in hand I stood up and quietly stepped toward the cell door. My eyes tried to pierce the dark room outside. No movements. I reached over and inserted it into the lock. It fit. I turned it cautiously. The mechanical interworking of the lock clicked as the bolt slid back. My heart was aflutter.

I gently pressed my hand against the frame of the door, slowly adding my weight against it.

Crrrrrrk

I froze. I shot another glance at the guards outside. They hadn’t moved. Even the smallest noise sounded a lot louder in the dead of night. I pressed the gate again.

Crrk

I clenched my teeth. In the room next to the cell, I could hear the shuffling of paperwork on the Warden’s desk. They stopped. I held my breath. The papers ruffled again, followed by a pen scratching against parchment.

Okay…I can do this. I gently pressed the gate again, my eyes locked on the sleeping guards outside.

Crrrk

The papers stopped. My heart was pounding, but the opening was wide enough. I slipped through the small gap as quickly and quietly as humanly possible. Once out, I stealthed myself and silently crept across the room.

The warden was still in his office, gnawing at the end of his pen. His eyes flicked up at the movement of a shadow casted from the candlelight, then he went back to his paperwork.

My stealth would not last long. I hurried out of the prison and broke into run, diving underneath a carriage just as the stealth wore off.

I was out of the cell but I wasn’t free yet. There were guards at every exit. People were cheering on the participants in the Iron Gauntlet arena nearby. The Mist warrior recruiters continued to beckon the nearby adventurers to enter the gates.

I breathed quietly, trying to still my racing heart, and praying no one would look underneath the carriage. I just had to wait until I could stealth myself again.

Which direction should I go? The West gate was too far away, with little places to hide. The East gate was right next to me, but the guards had a clear vantage of the beach ahead. Could I run fast enough to escape their range of vision? No…probably not. The North gate was a fair distance away, but…I could make it out in time and leap off the bridge.

That was my best option. I tensed, readying myself like a sprinter waiting for the starting gun. I stealthed, forcing myself to wait the few seconds needed for the Shadow Arts magic to seep for the longer duration.

“Did you see something?

“See what?”

“By that carriage. I thought I saw movement.”

I bolted out and sprinted down the plaza, straining to reach the wide opened gate. I dove and rolled out of the path of a passerby, who was perplexed at the gust of wind that rushed past. I leaped up, narrowly missing another citizen. I could feel the stealth starting to vanish around me.

I raced out of the gate and made a sharp turn to the left, leaping off the edge just as the stealth left my form. I held my breath, holding in my scream, as I plunged into the sea below.

Dragonax.6487:

*It’s the only class that even low skill players can single handedly dive into a mob, kill some squishes without them being able to fight back, and retreat easily and safely. *

If a thief wants to disappear, there is no hope of finding him no matter how big your blob is. In 1 v 1, thief is technically invincible if played correctly, low health = stealth = rolf.

That is so very not true. A low skilled thief would get destroyed inside a zerg. Picking off the sides of the zerg, maybe, but right in the middle? Your timing has to be pretty decent to pull that off.

Anyone, regardless of class, can kill ‘squishies’. Or people who are not as well equipped as others. And lag would also be a factor in blob fights. People are easy pickings if they’re lagging.

Thieves can dish out serious damage, but they have the highest learning curve as well. They’re not ‘insta-win’. I just cannot except any argument saying ‘thieves are so OP regardless’ when I can think back on killing a thief while I was downed. (I was solo roaming when he jumped me, did the whole ‘rofl-stealth’ deal, got me downed, but with his health drastically low, I killed him with my own downed skills).

-waiting for nightfall in Lion’s Arch-

Why is it when I need screenshots at night, it’s daytime. And when I need them at day, it’s night…

Donari.5237:

(( I want to read a fantasy detective novel by you, Arikyali. You really get the feel down, and you write different characters so believably and well! ))

You have no idea how much that means to me. Truth is, I used to be a writer in my free time, but I never really gathered anything to construct a proper book. Perhaps I should go back to working on it…

If you want, I did write a short one-shot for GW2 a long, long long time ago. Just something for fun. It never took any recognition so it got buried and forgotten. https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/community/fangen/All-Things-Have-A-Right-To-Grow/first

The Demonic Spirit.3157:

After some changes >

Could you explain the mesmer?

Xyonon.3987:

Because not everyone should be able to do everything with a weapon. Why can’t Thiefs dual swords? Why can’t Guards? Why can’t a Mesmer use a Dagger? Cuz it would take away the unique part of weapons.

It’s also pretty much a design win that thiefs change their 3 depending on main and offhand. Unique.

There was never an announcement that the current weapons will become aviable for other classes and hands. There are just new weapons under contruction.

That’s not my point. They specifically made a weapon set of dual pistols that has ‘mesmer’ written all over it in pink butterfly – covered handwriting. But Mesmers cannot dual-wield pistols.

It just wouldn’t feel complete to have one and not the other.

“Okay…” I said, “so let me get this straight…Scarlet came to Lion’s Arch, and got bombs planted somewhere in the city…”

My Sylvari visitor nodded. “Yep!”

“They’ve found at least one…”

“Uh huh!”

“The Lighthouse has been used as some sort of base…”

“That’s right!”

“Which…you apparently scaled with a rocket-powered gun…”

“And the help of lots of caffeine and sugar!”

“Okay…and you need a code cracker to locate the last two bombs.”

“Correct!”

I shifted my gaze from the energetic Sylvari to the Charr Warden behind her. “Well…let me see…”

The Charr growled. “What?” he asked.

“…Trying to think how much do I get out of offering my help.”

His tail switched in annoyance. “How about this: you can either be helpful, or I’ll add ‘infringing on public safety’ to your record.”

“…That’s part of the law?”

“Yes.”

I frowned “…then whoever built all the dilapidated ship-houses in Lion’s Arch should be arrested and fined. Those structures are a safety hazard.”

The charr answered with a low threatening growl. Right. Not a good idea to make the warden angry.

“Forget I said that.” I turned my attention back to the Sylvari. “Well, I’m not really that great with code-cracking…but I might know someone who can help.”

“Yaaay!! Okay, I’ll go now and talk to him and – wait, who is he? Or is it she? Maybe he’s a she. Is he a she? Or she a he?”

I smiled. “Ten gold.”

She blinked. “Their name’s ‘Ten Gold?’ That’s a strange name.”

I shook my head. “No, no. I’ll tell you how to find him for ten gold coin-”

“Midniiight,” the Charr warned threateningly, flexing his wrist and extended his long, sharp claws. “Remember what I said about ‘infringing on public safety’?”

“You know what?” I said quickly, shooting a look back to the Sylvari. “I’ll just tell you for free. I know a friend, of a friend, of a friend’s friend, of a friend whose cousin’s second niece’s daughter’s ex-boyfriend’s friend knows a friend, of a friend, of a friend….who’s a pretty reliable code cracker.” Hey, she confused me. I thought Might as well confuse her too.

“Okay!” she said, “I got it! Where can I find your friend, of a friend, of a friend’s friend, of a friend whose cousin’s second niece’s daughter’s ex-boyfriend’s friend knows a friend, of a friend, of a friend who’s a pretty reliable code cracker?”

…or not.

Sophie, I really hope I didn’t write you into a corner here. I don’t think I did. Just PM me when you get the chance.

I just made a slight teeny edit in my last post…nothing major. Time to start tinkering for the next one…

So have we found all the bombs yet, or no?

blackoil.2673:

Why are mesmers allways females, pinks, and seem useless? Q.Q

Probably because they never played mesmer ~.~;;

Okay, here’s mine.

Jaric.5679:

((Laughing at work for no reason is frowned upon. You trying to get me in trouble? I can hear that ‘Mhm!’, like a cute, short, high pitched one so clearly in my head))

I’m sorry!!!

There was a rap on the metal bars outside of my cell that perked my attention. “You got a visitor.”

Last thing I want is a visitor…probably someone who came to gloat at my misfortune… I sat up, slightly surprised to see a bubbly and excited Sylvari eagerly grinning from behind the bars. “Uh…hi?” I asked.

The unfamiliar Sylvari happily clapped her hands upon seeing me awake. “Okay Midnight,” she said excitedly, “my friend of a friend of a friend’s friend friend told me that probably family members are getting reeeeeeeeeeeaaaally worried about you not coming home. And now you’re stuck here…. I don’t know how to explain to that friend of friend of…. you get the idea.”

I blinked. “Uh…wha-? My…fam-”

“Could I maybe get an address and escort them here to see you instead?"

“…Well, I-”

“No, wait, maybe not. We still have two more bombs that are supposed to be detonating tomorrow. By any chance do you know how to read codes? Because it’ll help. Like, really really help.”

“….wait, bombs…?”

“Ok,” she said, “you’re probably super confused.” I nodded slowly, opening my mouth to try and get a word in edgewise, but she launched straight into her next sentence before I could say anything. “I understand. Combustible Lemons and all. Bad Salads have holed themselves up in the Lighthouse for goodness how long. They’ve used the space to spy the city and make plans and you get the drift. They even changed the locks. I had to use rocket powered guns to shoot myself to the top of that tower!”

“Rocket-powered….they made bombs out of combustible lemons?”

“Right, focus focus focus. So, how do you want to settle the problem? I’d like to hear something really soon because I need to go out there and help them lions find the bombs. My head hurts from lack of sleep and too much coffee.”

All I could do was sit there and blink.

She stood there with a happy grin and awaited my response.

But I could do nothing more than sit there and blink.

“Could you repeat that again,” I finally asked, “and a little more slowly?”

She took a deep breath. “Okay Midnight, my friend of a friend of a friend’s friend friend told me that probably family members are getting reeeeeeeeeeeaaaally worried about you not coming home. And now you’re stuck here…. I don’t know how to explain to that friend of-”

“Whoa, hold on,” I put my hands up. “Did you…just…have that whole speech prepared before coming here?”

She nodded quickly. “Mhm!”

I stared at her in disbelief. You can meet some really interesting people in prison…

Oooh, how do you get the preview code to work?

I had awoken from my nap, and was now staring at the wooden underside of the top bunk. Well, Ana. Here you are…behind bars. I gave a small sigh. It wasn’t the first time I ended up in a prison cell, but it was the first time I ended up in Lion’s Arch prison cell.

I sat up and looked around. Stone walls. No windows. High ceiling. Thick bars. Wooden cell frame. I stood up and checked the frame. Iron spikes anchoring the frame to the wall. kitten.

This place is a fort. Literally. I leaned against the wall. Okay….okay. Not impossible – my life wasn’t over. How long was my rap sheet? Well, considering the Lionguard could only hold me accountable for crimes they had evidence on, at the least I’d get…anywhere from a week to a few years? What did they know about me? There was that time I kidnapped the son of that wealthy visiting family (man, that kid was a brat…) and got busted. I escaped, but that would certainly be on my file. Also when I joined the heist to rob the storage bank in the main square….there’s also that one time I jumped one of the Black Lion merchants on his way home…. Not too bad, right? So maybe I was stuck here for a few months…I hoped.

And I still had to go through a trial. Maybe I could sweet-talk my way around it? They weren’t going to let me go off easily, but I couldn’t be as bad as a few of the other riff-raff that lived in Lion’s Arch.

There was always the Iron Gauntlet. I certainly didn’t mind the idea of fighting in the arena to shorten my sentence. Downside of that is more recognition. I wanted to keep as unknown and unnoticed as much as possible.

All right…what would dad do? Have a backup plan ready far ahead in advance and escape in the cover of the night. Mom? never do anything to get imprisoned in the first place. Kristie? Be the cute sweet innocent kid that could convince everyone she wasn’t guilty of any wrongdoing. Old sparring partner Razortooth? Bash the gate down with raw strength and convince the Lionguard to let him out, in the interest of their own health. Martrika? Use her good looks to entice a male guard into her cell, then knock him out and take the key. Joshua? Invite the guards to a game of dice or cards and win the key in a gamble. Glontt? That Asura could make an explosive charge out of the basic materials in the cell and blast his way out.

Curse it all. MY plot to get out of prison involves not getting caught in the first place!! I fumed. How could this have happened? Fake names and hidden identities had always been my forte. I was supposed to be ‘Jenna’ when that Lionguard patrol found me. How did they link Jenna to Midnight? Midnight wore a mask, came out only at night, and only showed herself to people when she was working. Jenna was just your average citizen of Lion’s Arch who sold trinkets to tourists.

No, they knew Anakysha… I let out a long defeated sigh. I had made the foolish mistake in my first days as a bounty hunter, to use my real name. But that was far away back in Kryta. They must have somehow linked ‘Jenna’ to ‘Anakysha’ and linked that to ‘Midnight’. Whatever the case, they knew who I was, and now I was in prison.

I returned to my bunk, and rolled over to stare at the stone wall. No one was going to come help me. No one cared enough about ‘Midnight,’ ‘Anakysha,’ or ‘Jenna’. I had no ties, and no connections. There were no extending favors from acquaintances that I could cash in on. My family was too far away to help. I swore I couldn’t burden them with my work – my work was supposed to lessen their burden, not the other way around.

No one cared about me. Not the Lionguard, not ‘so-called’ friends, and certainly not any one of the many heroic, adventuring, good-hearted souls that frequented Lion’s Arch in its time of need. I was alone.

I hate being alone.

Yerol…..your eyes are scary…..

o.o;;

((I’m catching up! Wait for me!!))

Mesmers are the class of illusion magic. They are well known for chaos. Their color scheme is pink and purple.

Lyssa is the human goddess of beauty, water, and illusion. She is also considered to be related to chaos. They are often depicted in the color pink and/or purple.

Lyssa is in actuality two beings, named Lyss and Ilya

There exist two exotic guns named Lyss and Ilya – direct reference to Lyss and Ilya the goddesses, who are considered one entity as Lyssa.

Lyssa, in turn, shares close similarities to mesmers.

…..So why aren’t mesmers dual pistol wielders?

Wait, how’d you find the bombs? Did she ever drop any hints of their locations? I don’t recall…

Fortus.6175:

Would you be as kind as to redirect me to where they mentioned the backstab cahnges? Im REALLY looking forward to see that skill nerfed into balance, so you bette rnot be lying to me! I will be majorly disappointed!

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/arenanet-tracker/topic/278436-dec-10th-thief-changes/

Hm..seems I was mistaken. They’re working flanking strike, not backstab, sorry.

Edit: Hang on, which one are you referring to? Flanking strike is the S/D skill. Backstab is the dagger chain skill.

/sigh. Can people please stop interpreting my posts as saying “Thieves are helpless without stealth?” I never said that!! The OVERALL SURVIVABILITY meant I can stand out there and dish out more damage, longer and more effectively, with my zerker mesmer, than my defensive thief. With my thief I’m stealthing, leaping, evading, pulling back, attacking, and dodging. With my mesmer I’m attacking while piling on disabling skills, and using the occasional dodge/block.

What do I have to do, write a wall of text that no one would bother reading anyway?

Fortus.6175:

There is no counterplay there, there is no fun on the receiving end, there is no fun of the giving end because at the point in which you become good, you realize how easy it is. Im lazy to find it now, but there is this good thief player playing S/D, going agaisnt good players, 3v1, and winning…… that tells worlds about the class…..

If I recall correctly, they are going to balance S/D, including the backstab. I just wish they didn’t also adjust S/P as well…I just recently went back to trying out the sword, and actually liking it, heh.

Fortus.6175:

Its pointless, man. No matter how many times you tell them, they will somehow believe the are the most vulnerable class in the game, the red-headed child of ANet, all this while thieves were all over the place in the last competitions. What did eles have to show? A big zero at MLG and nearly none at the one after that.

I can bet you this guy has not played zerker ele, I guarantee you that if he wasnt lying about being a mesmer who “rolled temporarily” a thief (and not the way around) that the moment he rolls zerker ele and take it anywhere that isnt behind a zerg in WvW with staff, he will know the true definition of critter vulnerability

Whoa now, ‘most vulnerable?’ HAH….no. A good thief can leap into the middle of a zerg and not get downed. When did I ever say they were the ‘most vulnerable’ class in the game? Do I need to elaborate my points more clearly? What I’ve been trying to say is thieves need stealth as it is right now, unchanged, because it’s a vital part of their defense mechanism. Without stealth, THEN a thief is vulnerable. Just like any other class without their defensive skills.

And of course I’ve never played a zerker ele outside of a zergforce. Why would I want to play a class that’ll get ripped to shreds in seconds? That’s silly.

and kindly please don’t start questioning the validity of my posts. My mesmer is my main. I do play a zerker mesmer. My second lvl 80 is a thief. And it is not a ‘temporary roll’ because I’m quite intent on making a thief that can kick butt.

Sanduskel.1850:

true for any class that specs high dps glass cannon. most thieves choose that spec then wonder why they can’t survive. other classes have it far worse. thieves aren’t especially vulnerable, sorry.

I can’t tell if you’re agreeing or disagreeing with me. :/

But I’d still say that a thief is vulnerable even without the glass cannon build. My thief is mostly dire/sentinel in stats, so she has good defense for a thief. But in an even fight, my berzerker mesmer still has better overall survivability. (Yes, there’s still the factors that I’m better as mesmer than thief, and my mesmer has more exotic gear too). But even a thief that doesn’t focus on damage can still be vulnerable. I admit I’m not a great thief, but I’d like to think I’m okay. :P

I really wish people would stop piling all this hate on stealth. I’m betting most of it is coming from ‘perma-stealth’ thieves, which the devs already said they wanted to change.

I used to hate fighting thieves with my mesmer – they were the only class that gave me problems.

So what did I do? I rolled a thief, learned its strengths and weaknesses, and incorporated that knowledge into my play style. Now I can kill thieves.

If a thief stealths and runs off I usually don’t bother following after them. I know by then that they’re too far to chase. But they don’t ‘rofl-STOMP’ anymore. A thief’s ability to flee from a fight they can’t win is one of their greatest advantages. They need that, because fighting as a thief can very quickly shift in and out of their favor. Most classes (I’m assuming here) can gauge if they’re winning or losing. For thieves, it’s pretty haphazard.

This downed skill – deception – is not very helpful. Mesmer’s basic auto attack is fine, and the phantasmal rogue can deal pretty nice damage, but deception is not the least bit reliable. Most classes have their ‘last ditch’ saving grace, but I have rarely had that experience with Deception.

1. It requires a target in order to be activated. So if you can’t even see what is killing you, you’re trapped on the ground and can’t move. You’re pretty much as good as dead. I’ve found myself spamming 2, and nothing is happening. By the time I realize it and try to target something, it’s usually too late.

2. You can’t choose the direction you’re going. I’ts very possible the place you warped to will end up with a monster or player that will just kill you faster.

3. If I’m downed in PvE, the LAST thing I want is to pull aggro to myself. This is exactly what the deception clone does. It keeps blasting at enemies, gets its attention, then gets itself destroyed before the mesmer can heal up. Then the enemy targets the player, and proceeds to deliver the killing blows.

4. I suppose it is okay for PvP and WvW, because enemies will usually stomp the clone instead of you. But there’s still the possibility of warping someplace you don’t want to end up, and probably nowhere near an ally that can help you. Besides….someone who’s observant would just leave the clone and move to you. Then what?

If I could have the opportunity to update this skill, it would include: 1) choose where you warp, and 2) not require a target to activate the skill. There have been times where I’m downed and I manage to rally back up alone. Perhaps if the clone was instead healing itself, it may be more helpful. Then it wouldn’t draw aggro, and people couldn’t tell the difference between the real mesmer and the clone. (The real mesmer is always the one that’s trying to heal) The damage it does isn’t enough to kill the enemy anyway. That’s what the berserker is for. I would really like to see the skill save me more often than kill me.

((Oooooooh. Okay.))

((Why does everyone talk in double parenthesis?))