Guild Wars 2

…

4 things to see and avoid:
iCounter – insanely easy to see and not proc
Confusing Images – obvious animation
Shatters – easy to avoid with a tiny bit of brainpower
iDuelist Unload – easy to avoid/LoS

Everything else is fluff – illusion auto attacks, ineptitude/BD confusion procs and so on. The damage is easily mitigated.

If you avoid iCounter you will never be hit with double figure stacks of torment. If you avoid confusing images, same for confusion.
If someone blows 3+ shatters in a row just to condi burst you, they’re ripe for the counter attack.

Most mesmers shatter predictably so can be anticipated and dodged/blocked/evaded if you know how they will play. I’ve been in many “stalemates” with mesmers in the past (on different builds – power and condi and different classes) because we could easily read each others shatters and avoid them.

Oh nevermind that:
Confusion – if ~5+ stacks, don’t spam skills. Cleanse or kite.
Torment – if <~3 stacks, ignore. If more, cleanse or be careful with unnecessary movement.

I wish you could counter insane burning/poison/bleed stacks in the same way.

Mikkel.8427:

it does shock me so many people complain about condi shatter post specialization patch… I was capable of MUCH bigger condi shatter bursts pre patch and condi shatter was still not thing.

Absolutely.

The only benefit now with IP is chain shatters which were previously not an option. However now Chronomancer will be mandatory in order to have condi shatter burst/application be better than it was pre patch.

Even then I’d rather have higher torment/other condition stacks on burst and less frequent application instead of spamming shatters at low cooldown to keep the condi pressure up…

Silverkey.2078:

People don’t like conditions. If they take a 10k backstab from stealth it’s fine, but confusion ticking during 6s for 1.5k damage is OP.

Yes, condi mesmer suffers from a lot of QQing in other parts of the forum (mostly from WvW roamers). You could expect that with the stealth nerf, this will change, but when people start to hate a build, it takes long to undo it (people still complain about mesmer power bursts even after the mirror blade nerf, while it is infinitely more counterable than a backstab)

Also, DD would not have been OP in any real situation. In theory, against a dummy, 3 iDuelist + mesmer sword AA was a higher DPS in sinister/rampager than 3 swordsman+mesmer AA on a berserker build (not by much). When is the last time you managed to keep 3 duelists alive in PvP???

Yeah this.

It’s weird – people qq about mesmer condi damage/application when it is pretty much worse than every other class’ condi builds and weaker than power.

It’s an irrational hatred of DoT (of which the big damage attacks have to still be actively applied/cast) and mesmer illusion mechanics.

The only thing worth considering:

Ross Biddle.2367:

Other considerations

• Ele – talk about your boring staple of MMO classes
• Mesmer – Best, most amazing class experience for all time. For all time! ~Kanya West.

Ele theme is in almost every fantasy game, mesmer is pretty much only gw2 at the moment.

Luvok.5697:

Curunen.8729:

At the moment – Traveler.

When Chrono 25% runspeed hits – anything I feel like.

:)

I’ve been thinking similar. I can’t stand the runspeed difference. But do I want to go with traveler and then lose all of them when the expansion hits and I re-rune?

Right now I wouldn’t bother spending on traveler unless you are still going to want to play a core spec build in wvw in 3 weeks or so.

Better just take a break and do some pvp instead for the next few weeks and wait.

At the moment – Traveler.

When Chrono 25% runspeed hits – anything I feel like.

:)

Wow I love the Disenchanter. :o

Might actually take it with Chronophantasma this weekend.

Personally the only reasons for doing the collection for me is the unique tiered precursor skins, and some of the (hopefully) fun lore based “quests”.

From an efficiency point of view, I’ve almost saved up all the gold needed for the legend – just going to wait and see if it drops in price by a couple of hundred and then I’m buying off the TP.

I’ll do the collections for the new legendaries if I like them, but not going to bother much for the old ones.

Well at least we can finally evade/block the pet taunt.

Angel de Lyssa.4716:

What they have to do with PU is, change the interval on 0.5, because 50% with skill “Prestige” and “Decoy” increase stealth on 4.5 second, now the interval of PU is 1s, the 0.5s of stealth remaining does not count interval, so only we win one buff extra, when before we won 3 buff.

Prismatic Understanding

Increased stealth duration from mesmer skills. Gain random boons while you are in stealth.

Duratión Increase: 50%

Interval: 0.5s

And the buff leave alone: Aegis (3s), Protection (3s) and Regeneration (3s). And even add Resistance (3s).

Woah, that would be seriously overpowered if the boon interval was 0.5s! :o

I’d say better to reduce the stealth duration further to +33% so decoy and prestige become a whole integer of 4seconds.
Then buff base veil to 3s and mass invis to 6s, and with PU they also become integers of 4s and 8s respectively.

And then leave the boon interval alone at 1s.

Same error here (UK).

The Pledge – :o

Well I’m not complaining!

Disenchanter buff sounds great on paper – I just wish the cast time would also be lowered a fraction of a second.

I also agree with getting rid of aegis.

But instead also get rid of might/swiftness and put only defensive boons:
Regen, Protection, Vigour, Stability, extremely short duration Resistance.

Kageseigi.2150:

Like I’ve said before, people won’t agree that the Thief is weak even when it has been nerfed to have only ONE hitpoint and ONE “weapon” (Shortbow) with ONE skill (Infiltrator’s Arrow).

They will still complain about how overpowered and essential it is because the top teams still play with one.

And again, the Ranger would most likely push Thieves out of the meta if they could only send their pet across the map to (de)cap a point.

Heh, just like people won’t stop complaining how overpowered Mesmer is even if they are nerfed down to the damage/survivability of a single clone.

Some things are irrational. ‘shrug’

Thief might be boring/pigeonholed/lack of variety/uniqueness, but it’s not weak.

doodoohed.6405:

Been using this look since the glorious armor pieces gave me what I needed to have a armored/fine look, I love it lol

I usually don’t care for human characters, but this one is extremely good. Very stylish, good job!

At least it’s a friday so there’s the weekend straight after (unless you also work all weekend).

Yay, good to see you back with another video!

I envy you for never experiencing being hit by Beastly Warden.

It’s nasty.

If Duelling – Rabid for sharper images.

If no Duelling – Carrion

Once Chrono 25% runspeed is available, then Settlers + Undead runes + Chaotic Transference will be nice. Or Rabid + Undead if taking Duelling. And Carrion + Scavenging is another nice option.

The only reason I stack toughness currently is Chaotic Transference.

Bear in mind, Rabid is full glass vs incoming conditions.

messiah.1908:

Curunen.8729:

Good god I can’t wait until that pet taunt becomes evadeable.

And people complain about condi mesmer being cheese…

i hardly see condi mesmer these days in tpvp . i wonder why….

And they still complain when they see one/fight against one…

Good god I can’t wait until that pet taunt becomes evadeable.

And people complain about condi mesmer being cheese…

Eagelseye.6312:

Thanks Curunen.8729 for the info as it gives me some sort of motivation in an otherwise confusing forum here.

Can you please help me understand the League system you just mentioned?

I’ll let someone else explain the league system as I don’t understend it properly and don’t want to spread misinformation.

Regarding motivation – I strongly recommend trying all the classes and stick with those you enjoy the theme of – as well as the audio/visual skill effects. Balance patches mean things will come and go, but if you enjoy the core theme of a class then you’ll enjoy the game.
I wouldn’t feel motivated to play purely for efficiency alone because it might not be as enjoyable.

I agree with your choices – if you want to play a bunker/support/tank come HoT, I’d look at Revenants (Herald), Rangers (assuming druid performs well) and Guardians.

Inspiration/Chrono mesmers with sword/shield + staff and wells might also end up being strong bunkers.

You can do it on others, but those would be my choice.

The reward is the combat itself – not gear/equipment. I play because I enjoy the combat, simple as that. Everyone is on level ground when it comes to equipment, so ideally only player skill should matter. Edit: the only thing I “grind” for are unique skins and wvw gear.

Roles are flexible; different classes can be adapted into a number of roles – even more so once the new specialisations are released. Of course some roles are more efficient than others (ie you’d never try to build a bunker thief and expect it to be as effective as a bunker guardian in conquest…)

There will soon be leagues and stuff for players to climb the ranks and show off.

The game has many problems, but being free of the archaic and forced trinity system as well as gear grind being mostly cosmetic (if you ignore the difference between exotics and ascended) are not problems – in fact I’d say they are the best thing about gw2.

SyncTrizon.2453:

If I remember correctly, the extra bounce was added to Mirror Blade, and other bouncing skills on Mesmer, as default after the June 23rd Patch, since the previous trait for additional bounces was removed.

Yeah then they removed it again from mirror blade… with no option to trait it back.

Daishi.6027:

I thought damage was a little high before, but that was before sigil nerfs.

With the sigil nerfs I feel it is a little to low now, and the game never got to see any longevity of the middle ground.

I think it should at least added to “Imagined Burden” since it would disallow for the use with “Mental Anguish” or “Power block” which could be considered an aspect of it’s balance, as well as making the less popular trait more appealing.

Very good idea, IB is the perfect place to put it.

Quadox.7834:

Something else you could do is move up Confounding suggestions to master tier. This forces the player to choose between it and Shattered Concentration- both amazing traits. A problem Mesmer has always had is that nothing competes with Boon-strip Shatters.

This I totally support, and maybe move Furious Interruption down to adept.

Embolism.8106:

As it is the Sceptre is really a hybrid weapon, not a condi weapon. In a Power build Ether Bolt does comparable damage to Mind Slash and Confusing Images does more damage than Blurred Frenzy. Illusionary Counter also does a respectable amount of direct damage, which is much more than could be said about Illusionary Leap.

I really hope balancing for the Sceptre keeps its currently hybrid nature instead of trying to push it further into the condi weapon niche. For one thing it’s a kitten shame, for another the Mesmer only has two mainhands so have one of them be a hybrid jack-of-all is perfect… provided it’s competitive either way.

Although confusing images and the auto attack do solid power damage, I find that iCounter direct damage is weak compared with before they split it to add torment.

Even with the bugs, I’ll take ileap’s mobility over iCounter in a power build any day.

Maybe if they reduced the duration of the torment stacks on iCounter, and buffed the direct damage.

MailMail.6534:

It’s this simple:

BUFF VEIL
BUFF MASS INVISIBILITY
REVERT PU BACK TO +1s

End of story. Or no, we’ll keep avoiding the real issues and keys to balancing Mesmer stealth.

Quoted for truth.

(Or 33% would be the same as +1s on presige/decoy and veil if the base duration was increased to 3s and more to mass invis)

Edit: And I also agree with getting rid of the might/swiftness and only adding defensive boons (maybe throw vigour, stability and very short duration resistance with low proc chance into the mix).

There’s nothing wrong with blinding dissipation – especially since it can be avoided and also when people will take dom/duel/chrono because it will be one of the few defensive options in play. This doesn’t need any changes.

I agree CS should have taken the hit rather than mantras.

If it’s too much nonsense then kitten that – I’ll just continue saving gold, play what I like and buy it off the TP when I have enough gold.

Valento.9852:

Class A (Useful, Distinct, Fun)
1. Herald
2. Scrapper
3. Druid
4. Chronomancer
5. Reaper

Class B (Ok-ish…)
6. Dare Devil
7. Berserker

Class C (Fail, Uninteresting, Not on pair)
8. Dragonhunter
9. Tempest

Yeah I agree with this assessment.

Cynz.9437:

apharma.3741:

Caedmon.6798:

atlrising.5134:

Oh and plus why shouldn’t be able to stealth as a defensive measure…do you know how many times thieves do this….fight…stealth….fight…jump through ring to stealth… its crap you guys complained about PU so much but forgot about the bigger stealth picture as a defensive mechanic.

Does a thief have countless of blocks + invulns ontop of that stealth ? Thieves only defense mechanism IS stealth.

No they have countless blinds, teleports and evade frames instead.

2 builds in 1? nice

People seem to do that all the time for mesmer – except not only two, but several builds in one… (or the almighty 6/6/6/6/6 allocation).

On a separate note, I am extremely excited that the ranger pet taunt will finally be evadable/blockable.

Good riddance to that nonsense too.

Meh, about time it was nerfed. Good riddance to that overpowered bs.

Hopefully the fotms will reroll and others will reduce the moaning about Mesmer… oh wait, no that’ll never happen – there will always be something to complain about Mesmer…

Anyway, both BD and CI are far more fun to use -hopefully more players will now use these traits.

I have fingers crossed for a buff to Cry of Frustration, or at least something that justifies its cooldown compared to mind wrack…

I just want to see sword get some native condition options – either through traits (ie confusing combatants) or on the skills. At least vuln now affects condi damage, but I don’t like how scepter and sword are forced into completely different damage types.

Should have been down to +33%, and then buff base veil and mass invis durations.

But whatever, at least it’s finally going to be dealt with.

kitten , it looks amazing. :o

Proper game changer, and could be very powerful.

Embolism.8106:

Hopefully Geesus will save us from the heresy of bouncing phantasm attacks that don’t go for sloppy seconds.

I hope iMage also finally gets the buff it deserves when they sort the bouncing out.

I don’t mind the salads.

Player characters are annoying (the voices…), but I like some salad npcs, ie Sieran…

Mesmer + Guard so I can take Blink with JI among other things.

Would be a lot of (overpowered) fun.

Not this again.

Maim the Disillusioned was already nerfed, all illusion death traits deleted…

Conditions applied by shatters are mediocre in damage, easy to avoid, and easy to counter (don’t spam skills if you have 5+ confusion stacks… torment stacks are never going to be high in the first place since the MtD Nerf unless you’re careless enough to eat iCounter in which case you deserve to lose).

Anyone playing Duelling/Chaos/Illusions Condi shatter is highly vulnerable to conditions. When they are not hiding in stealth they are easy to burst either with power or conditions. The problem is PU extended stealth allows mindlessly easy disengage if losing.

Once Chrono comes, anyone swapping Duelling will obviously lose out on DE, Blinding Dissipation, Sharper Images and with it a whole lot of effectiveness. Anyone swapping Chaos for Chrono will lose all the defensive Chaos traits. Either way it is a big sacrifice.

Anyone taking Inspiration/Illusions/x obviously loses out on one each of the above, depending on choice.

Regarding Mental Anguish – nerf this in any way and it no longer deserves to be a Grandmaster trait – everyone will take Power Block (and a few niche builds with IB).

Can’t wait to see what the others are.

Shall we have some guesses:
I imagine Druid might be a tree with the staff symbolised as the trunk
Ele could be some gusts of wind like the new warhorn skin
Chrono is most likely a circular clock/shield of some sorts
Reaper a scythe blade?
Herald probably Glint’s head (or generic dragon head)
DH is a tough one – maybe two wings?
Berserker also tough but could be just a small torch with a flame
DD is difficult – I honestly have no idea.

Need to learn a bit more about some other classes skills/tells, especially with all the new elite specs coming.

Need to sort out my interface devices which could do with being better. It’s already difficult enough finding a comfortable location for F5. I prefer the shape of my ss ikari mouse, but the scroll wheel is kitten awful and the two side buttons not enough.

Need to continue to learn to save cooldowns when kiting – this is ongoing refinement.

Continue to improve situational awareness in 1v2+ scenarios.

Oh my…

…that’s amazing. :o

I support this wholeheartedly – solves PvE and a number of other issues in one stroke.

nearlight.3064:

Curunen.8729:

Sword/Shield + Scepter/Focus Chrono Power Interrupt
PvP ~ WvW

Domination: Confounding Suggestions, Shattered Concentration, Power Block
Inspiration: Restorative Mantras, Restorative Illusions, Mental Defence
Chronomancer: Delayed Reactions, Danger Time, Chronophantasma

MoRecovery, Blink, MoDistraction, Decoy, GW(PvP) / MI(WvW)

Armour: Berserker + Rune of Melandru
Trinkets: Berserker (WvW), Marauder (PvP)
Weapons: Berserker Sw/Sh + Sc/F (Energy/Generosity)
Chickpea Poultry Soup + Quality Maintenance Oil

I would do so many things to get Staff #1, #2 and #3 as a Mainhand option. Scepter is not the ideal choice here but there’s no alternative.

Motivation:
- to run Focus and Shield at the same time for aoe crowd control potential.
- to build up as much passive condition reduction as possible.

Key features:
- High passive condi duration reduction
- Good active condi removal and sustain
- AoE projectile destruction
- AoE crowd control

Weaknesses
- low toughness/vitality
- scepter is not ideal

Questions to answer:
- Is the passive condition resistance worthwhile?
- Are there enough sources of illusions to shatter in practice?
- Is it necessary to go full zerker in wvw for damage?
- How good will it be at chasing enemies in wvw without greatsword?
- Just how awful is scepter/how much do we need another mainhand…?
- Is Staff + Sword/Shield better in pvp, to use chaos storm for interrupts on point?

Saw this build in your sig, and personally I don’t recommend using either scepter or focus. Focus used to be a good weapon but I find its lockdown ability paying in comparison to pistol, which itself isn’t that great. Personally I would drop sc/f altogether to take either staff or greatsword, either of them would offer way more to your build in nearly every way. In particular I believe that GS is a mandatory weapon on burst builds, even lockdown just because the damage is so great and the mantra ensures it rarely fails to land.

I plan to run GS/sw/sh most of the time but I’ll swap s/sh out for staff on forest since it ha the most important phase retreat spots compared to other maps.
Personally in not a fan of the mantra heal, since charging it in combat is too risky when any other heal gives your more relatable healing in longer fights, so you can take your peeling time with MoD as priority in comparison.

Yeah I realise that unfortunately.

But in the same way I don’t like using Scepter in condition builds (hence sword/torch + staff for condition shatter), I don’t like being forced to use Greatsword in power builds. GS while amazing is a bit one-dimensional and I did get bored eventually playing gs + sw/t power shatter in the past.

I loved Scepter/Focus as a set in skcamow’s Chaotic Perdition condirupt build, pre patch – but condirupt is bleh at the moment compared with just straight up shatter condi application so I dropped that build altogether. I’d like to be able to use Scepter/Focus again in a new build – hence this idea.

By far the biggest downside is not being able to take Warden’s Feedback and RI together – this makes me so unhappy I can’t put it into words. I wish RI was back at grandmaster level so I could trait focus with it.

The thing is I absolutely love temporal curtain, even with its problems – and it really makes my mouth water to use both focus and shield together. The downside is of course our abysmal mainhand limitations…

I don’t particularly like MoRecovery either and I’ve barely used it in the past – so I’ll probably most likely go with Ether Feast anyway.

Oh and I absolutely hate Pistol – it is the only mesmer weapon I have never got on with, despite trying. Just not my cup of tea unfortunately.

I was toying around with the idea of Sw/Sh + Staff, but because I use staff a lot in a condition build I wanted to have some variety so as not to get bored of weapons.

Thanks anyway – I appreciate the feedback and will very likely be forced into greatsword anyway because it’s just so much better than the alternatives in power builds.

Of course I just pray that mesmer gets a new mainhand added to the core class so a build like this will be workable.

Or ideally I’d love to take as one single weapon:
1. WoC
2. Phase Retreat
3. iWarlock
4. Temporal Curtain
5. Chaos Storm

And then Sword/Shield as the other set.

That would be godkitten sexy.

Aveneo.2068:

Curunen.8729:

Depends on your build and playstyle.

Sometimes it can be that little bit extra which can save you in a pinch – especially if you don’t need a different sigil apart from Energy.

Obviously I don’t think it’s worth the current gold cost for wvw – don’t bother until they reintroduce it hopefully this Wintersday.

PvP is free so just mess around and test it for a bit with different sigils – see what works best for your build/playstyle.

They didn’t reintroduce it last Wintersday, so what makes you think they will reintroduce it this Wintersday?

Because they didn’t last time…

That’s why I said “hopefully”.

I’d go with Charr Necro.