Guild Wars 2

Generally condition tooltips will display the total amount of damage the condition will do over its full duration.

I highly recommend you visit the wiki and take a look at how to calculate the damage of conditions to get a better idea for yourself what damage you’ll be doing.

Mesmers don’t get nice things, the warrior forum is that way —→

The best part is that I’m sure they made this change because their metrics said that mimic was extremely underused. Unfortunately, they didn’t stop to wonder if this change was turning the skill into something that no one would want to run ever in any possible build…

Edit: oops. You oopsed too

So instead of complaining about being buffed and potentially viable now, I’ll actually critique the OP’s build.

The first thing I notice is that your only condition removal is null field. This is really inadequate as a personal removal, and you’ll end up getting condie loaded in a bad way if that’s all you’ve got. I’d recommend taking pDisenchanter instead, keeping the boon ripping capability, but just massively increasing the output.

It’s definitely tempting to recommend taking phantasmal fury over long range manips, but 1200 range blink is so essential that I don’t think that’s really an option unfortunately.

BI vs chaotic dampening is a hard choice. BI will situationally give more pressure, but chaotic dampening is more suited to the type of attrition fight that condition builds generally get into. I’d recommend trying out BI to see how it feels, but I would expect chaotic dampening to b better.

You definitely should have 2x energy and 2x doom sigils. While geomancy has nice aoe bleeds, you’ve got plenty of bleeds from other sources, and more dodges is simply so powerful for a Mesmer build that it’s not really an option to drop energy sigils.

Lastly, I don’t personally love krait runes on Mesmer. You really rarely get to use the 6-bonus from elite activation, and that makes me feel as though they’re sorta a waste. They certainly can work, but I tend to go for either nightmare runes for condition duration on all of the conditions, or undead runes for simply more potent conditions.

So not to rain on this parade, but have any of you actually tried using a leap combo on temporal curtain?

Back in the heyday of the Immortal build, the leap combo with iLeap and temporal curtain was extremely reliable and worked great. At some point though, they changed something about the field. It suddenly became incredibly difficult to reliably combo on it—the only reliable way was basically leaping down along its length, not across it.

Now, however, iLeap isn’t a normal leap. It’s near impossible to control where the clone ends up, so you can’t guarantee that it actually lands on the curtain for a leap combo. Basically, in normal play you’ll get maybe 1/10 leaps to actually work on curtain, and that’s a big problem.

maha.7902:

Aither.2859:

Also judging by what you have just posted could it be that a rabids condition build may have a higher damage output than power builds? That would be wild.

Classes capable of applying heavy amounts of conditions already do more damage in rabid vs berserker against heavy targets.

If I can add mesmer to the list of condition soloing classes that’ll be great. The only class I can think of with terrible condition application would be guardian and apparently ele isn’t very good at it either.

Emphasis on condition soloing though. Conditions still are absolutely not viable in a party.

frifox.5283:

Though I wonder if that will still be true with Knights gear

Lower power, lower ferocity, same crit rate. This’ll mean bleeds form a larger total % and duelists will overtake the swordsmen.

Superior Sigil of Cleansing
Because warriors needed more strong on-swaps to stack with their 5s weapon swap.

Superior Rune of Evasion
Just in case thieves feel they don’t get enough stuff from dodge rolling (but actually the ICD makes these runes horrid even for thieves)

Superior Rune of the Trapper
Because now we like releasing rune sets that only 1 build on 1 class will ever use I guess?

Superior Rune of Radiance
….See note on trapper runes

Esplen.3940:

y u no calculate 3x duelist using sword in one set and pistol in other set (total 2 weapons, not 3), slotting battle for dat sweet sweet dps

Because swordsmen outdamage duelists?

Yeah, I’d struck off ever creating another alt back when they changed the trait system at feature patch one. This update just puts the final nail in that coffin.

I’m thinking you could increase your dps by using 2x staves and either putting battle sigils on both, or doom instead of battle.

Nerfed? Yes. Stealth nerfed? No. Check the patch notes.

It was a nerf targeted at PU builds.

As usual, it actually hits all non-PU builds that use decoy harder than it hits PU builds.

#anetbalance

Chaos Archangel.5071:

I haven’t dueled supcutie in a while, so maybe I’ve leveled up to the point where I can give him something of a run for his money. =P

Also, I’m gonna start working on some Confounding Suggestions vids soon too, as I’ve been a bit biased towards CI recently. x_x Can’t help it with that sword/focus -staff CI setup being so awesome! But sword/sword is calling my name.

Empty your inbox fool!

The signet traits have massive problems, but it’s not immediately evident.

Signet Mastery
This trait shares a spot with the following traits:

• Mental Torment: Required for shatter builds focusing on burst
• Halting Strike: Required for interrupt builds that like doing damage
• Empowered Illusions: Required for phantasm builds that like doing damage
• Crippling dissipation: Required for clone-death builds that like some modicum of control

There’s almost no situation where you’re able to give up one of those traits for signet mastery.

Blurred Inscriptions
This trait shares a spot with the following traits:

• Deceptive Evasion
  …I think I’ve said enough.

Cleansing Inscriptions
This trait shares a spot with the following traits:

• Bountiful Interruption: A very important trait for interrupt builds to maintain damage
• Chaotic Dampening: Very important trait for builds that take staff, reducing cooldowns of a lot of very strong skills

Overall, this trait is the one most accessible…and it’s pretty inaccessible.

All 3 of these traits share spots with other very powerful and/or needed traits. This means that in order to have a spot for the signet trait, you’re forced to burn more traits into that line and forego either a master trait, or in 2/3 cases a grandmaster trait. There’s not a whole lot wrong with the traits themselves, other than them being potentially on the weak side, but the main issue is that they’re simply in spots that make it impossible to take them.

Mogar.9216:

savius.2617:

What do you guys think are well-balanced stats for a WvW mesmer? I want my mesmer to have decent offensive and defensive power. I was thinking something like 2k atk, 50% crit chance, 2.8-3k armor, and 200% crit dmg. I mostly run with the zerg and prefer burst dmg to condition dmg, but I want to be able to hold my own if I decide to run solo or roam.

I’m going to test celestial gear today. I think anet is push every class toward that .

Trouble with celestial gear is that it has a lot of stats that aren’t useful in a given build. Healing power isn’t really ever good, and a tiny bit of condition damage is also a waste. You can more effectively get a stat distribution by mixing and matching different armor stats than by just taking celestial.

There’s a large build/guide list stickied in the forum. You can find many builds there. The new trait system has less than nothing to do with being ‘up to date’.

Ben K.6238:

Xaylin.1860:

Signet of Ether
Add a small constant life regeneration while keeping the maximum possible amount of regeneration. There is absolutely no point in not having a benefit at all when there are no Illusions around.

It’s a thought, but honestly it’s already the best heal for most mesmers and needs the drawback.

Just a quick note. Signet of the ether is only the best heal if the mesmer doesn’t actually need to rely on it for healing. The active is weak and on a very long cooldown, and the passive is outhealed by ether feast quite significantly, even under absolutely perfect conditions.

DaShi.1368:

I do like that he has a PU build in his sig.

LOL

Blades of Sabatine.5639:

Ross Biddle.2367:

Blades of Sabatine.5639:

If the dev cannot see that this one trait is doing so much harm to the class, I don’t know what to say. Are we saying this trait is the bread and butter of all builds and the class???

Please explain what harm is being done to the class, or offer any argument of any kind as to why you think PU is “bad” or “a problem” at all. Because right now your post contains nothing but tears and hyperbole, only there’s no justification as to why. Saying PU is a cancer doesn’t help either.

Really what is there to write about that has not been written already. Anyway am not going to start writing chapters after chapters why that trait has cause so much ham to the class.

I haven’t seen much in the way of ‘why’. I’ve seen an awful lot in the way of ‘I got beaten by PU and so I think it’s OP’, or ‘It seems cool to use the word cancer and yell about PU, so I’ll do it too’, or ’I’m going to whine about PU for no specific reason at all, but I feel offended that this trait exists’.

I think this post falls into the….second category with a sprinkling of both the first and the third. Basically, it’s completely useless whining with no backing, no reasoning, no logic, and certainly no substance. Posts like this are the real cancer in this forum, not PU.

Edit: And seriously it’s ‘thread’, not ‘triad’. That’s as bad as those people making the complaints threads about engineer ‘turrents’.

maha.7902:

Why does society like to condescend and despise people who excel at their speciality? It’s not even a GW2 thing, it’s rampant everywhere. Famous people get mocked for … being famous. Rich people mocked for … being rich. Good players at GW2 frothed at for … being good. Like, I don’t even know anymore.

Welcome to planet earth, hope you enjoy your stay…

Warlord of Chaos.7845:

it will remove blinds

Not a big buff for clone-death builds, but a significant buff for non-clone-death builds that happen to take a clone death trait.

Warlord of Chaos.7845:

and blocks now

This is pretty significant for clone death builds. More consistent application of scepter torment blocks in particular is very strong.

MSFone.3026:

Thanks for reply Warlord , but what I’m asking is: Do you consider the build taking MtD with scepter/focus(or whatever) and staff cheese? I’m not asking what people think of the changes to each of those individually, we already know very well what everyone thinks about that.

Cheese is a false construct made by those who aren’t capable of intelligent counterplay.

That being said, I’ll just assume you asked if it’s going to be very strong. The answer will be no. MtD will be better than it is now, but it’s still lacking heavily just in the fundamental concept of the trait usage. MtD builds will still be outclassed by clone-death builds, even after associated buffs/nerfs.

zaxon.6819:

his test was just as static.. as you can see the clones are just piled up auto attacking.. which i agree is how the test should go.. and he still produced less bleeds even with both kinds of food equipped.

The difference is that GS in general has the capability to produce many fewer conditions than staff. GS is limited to vuln, bleed, and cripple. Staff can do bleed, burn, vuln, cripple, confusion, blind, poison, and chill. When in a real situation where condition cleanses are being used, cover conditions become incredibly important in maintaining your damaging conditions.

StickerHappy.8052:

If I were you, just play what you want. Why would you even bother making a thread like this?

First of all if you find PU boring, no one is forcing you to use PU.

The real cancer here is people like you.

Wonderfully worded.

These posts are a cancer on this forum. Non-stop complaining about a particular trait and playstyle? People need to learn to just suck it up and play better, learn to counter, learn to avoid, and quit moaning about it all the time. We’d all be better off for it.

zaxon.6819:

so adding 1 static boon and then random would solve the issue? what boon would be the static boon and what would be the random boons.

That’s not necessary. You just need the overall RNG of it to be coherent.

Instead of might, add vigor or retaliation. Done.

zaxon.6819:

i agree with you there.. but complaining about the randomness of pu without taking into account that is almost a mechanic of mesmers is not right imo.. if we are talking about changing the whole theme of randomness because its a bad design i can go for that..

It’s not a problem of randomness. There’s good random and bad random. Good random is like chaos armor. You’ve got a range of effects, but they all have the same theme. Bad random is staff auto. You’ve got a range of effects, 2 of which make sense and the last is completely out of the blue.

zaxon.6819:

you understand that that is the basis of half of the mesmer abilitys.. on death.. you have a choice of 3 things happening in a perfect world you want one or 2 of those things happening more then the third.. same thing with chaotic interuption.. boon signet. staff auto attack. bountiful interuption, chaos armor..

they all have “bad rolls” for your situation.. or one thing that would benefit you more then the other choices.

BI always gives you might, and then another random boon. This is fine design.

Chaos armor gives swiftness, regen, or prot. These are all defensive boons, this is fine design.

The passive on SoI is so weak it’s not even worth mentioning.

CI always roots, and then applies another offensive condition. This is fine.

Staff autoattack and debilitating dissipation are the other two random abilities that are poor design. Staff has 2 damage conditions and then vuln. This is bad RNG. Same thing with DD, it has a damage condition, a defense condition…and vuln. Again, bad RNG.

The fact that poorly designed skills exist in the game is not an excuse to put MORE poorly design skills in.

zaxon.6819:

the might is put there for a reason.. the change was a nerf.. might is your bad roll on the random buff list.

There shouldn’t be a ‘bad roll’. That’s poor design. That would be as if whenever you used a skill, it had a 20% chance to just do nothing.

Watering down the very strong defensive boons with lesser defensive boons makes sense. Tossing on something completely related is just bad design.

Trying to do conditions in PvE will just give you a bad time in the best of scenarios. Using a shatter condition build will be even worse. Additionally, any variant of a condition build is completely dead weight in dungeons, so by taking that sort of build into a dungeon party, you’re essentially forcing them to carry you. As a point of reference, I’ll kick any condition mesmer on sight from my dungeon groups, because they’re just that useless.

Condition shatter in general is questionably effective, even in PvP situations, although it is getting buffed slightly with the patch. In general, other builds are stronger if you want to go for conditions.

For all your dungeon needs, please take a look at the stickied thread titled ‘How to mesmer in dungeons’.

MailMail.6534:

Sorry for the triple post! eeek! Other thoughts now that my ranting out of my system. lol

I love the signets for Mesmer except for S. Illusions. It really is contradictory. The fact that they’re giving us a better one for shattering while not changing this one is mind boggling. The CD is astronomical and makes no sense. I’d rather see it do something more defensive like give all your clones Aegis/Protection/Regen for 5s or simply max out their health on active.

This would give more flexibility to support phantasm builds that utilize iDisenchanter OR phantasm tanks that use iDefender.

Signet of Inspiration could use a buff of sorts as it really is only used in boon share builds like mine or for those wanting the swiftness. If they simply gave it a passive speed boost, I’d love it forever and ever.

I LOVE the new Signet. I don’t tend to run 6 into Illusions, because I hate the idea of depending on DE, which restricts build diversity and the opportunity to take other shatter traits in other trees. I will definitely be making some interesting shatter builds with the use of this signet.

Uhm.

That was something tetrodoxin put as an idea….

-_-

From the perspective of a non engineer:

Nobody ever looks at the backpacks to see what kit/if the engineer is using a kit. That would take forever, and all the backpacks look basically the same anyway. You just see the skills they use, the same as you do for almost any other class.

tetrodoxin.2134:

Absconditus.6804:

Don’t forget that Signet of Midnight is a instant-cast Stun Break with an Unblockable AoE 5-target Blind. You can pair it well with Blurred Inscriptions, if you wish to try doing something with that.

I did not forget that – however, do we really need another stunbreak utility? We have plenty of options that are way more flexible. The blind is still meh, and the blurred inscriptions point applies to all signets.

I said this in another thread at some point, but I’ll say it again here.

Signet of midnight makes no sense. It’s a pbaoe instant blind. It’s also a stunbreak. If paired with the trait, it’s also an invuln.

So, if you blind your target, you don’t need the stunbreak. If you need the stunbreak, it means you already got hit, the blind isn’t super useful. If it’s an invuln, then you don’t need the blind OR the stunbreak.

Yes, there are situations where multiples of its uses can be helpful. However, that doesn’t make it any more cohesive in these non-niche situations.

NICENIKESHOE.7128:

I think frifox is testing a condition PvE build (Condition! I know aye? I’m quite excited about this) with staff IE fix where you can solo stack 18 bleed/perma burn/23 might/perma fury in melee range. It’s really interesting and hopefully we can see more about this after the patch

Note that this would be a build used for soloing only. It would not be viable in parties, since that perma burn goes down to a tiny uptime, and the 18 bleeds will drop to at least 10-12.

Doni.6095:

Do you mean to swap Phantasmal Fury with Far-Reaching Manipulation? I was led to believe that Phantasmal Fury was paramount for Phantasm damage? Also, I was under the impression that Phantasms inherited your crit chance, were affected by Boons, AoEs and Conditions. I haven’t found out exactly which of your stats they inherit though, is Power one of them then?

Phantasms inherit all the mesmer’s BASE stats, with the exception of vitality. This means that crit chance is not inherited…but precision is. Things that boost crit chance (such as fury on the mesmer) do not transfer to phantasms, but things that boost precision do. Additionally, this also means that things boosting base stats on phantasms (such as might) do nothing, but those same things on the mesmer will transfer to the phantasm.

Doni.6095:

With regards Blink, I nearly always have that trait equipped because it is just so useful. However you mention that: “Extended blink opens up so many special juke locations.”
Can you expand on this please? I was always frustrated that blink seems unable to send you to any place that doesn’t have both direct LoS from you current position and is free from vertical obstructions or drops. Is there a way to use it more advantageously?

I highly recommend you watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35ozCg25--E&list=UUYUY9_i44IDNOs_Ja815mlA

A quick summary though is that blink skills do a search for a walking path from your position to the target position. If one exists within a certain range, even if it’s roundabout, you’ll be able to blink there.

Yes for all….but.

The way the feedback visual effect is formed, it nicely overwrites the red circle, making it effectively impossible to see.

Doni.6095:

Fay.2357:

Doni.6095:

Esplen.3940:

You can check out a PvE/WvW boon share interrupt build. It won’t be particularly viable versus bosses (either in dungeon or open world) but it’s a support build, so you’re able to assist your allies in nearly every scenario.

Additionally, since PvP has it’s own traits/gear/runes/sigils, you can set a build and just swap to it on the fly. The only thing to note is that you have to equip the appropriate weapons.

I have no idea where the boon-share interrupt build is, but it’s basically S/F + Staff. You can swap Focus for Torch to get a blast, but you lose out on some lots of Retaliation.

Hmm, that’s true. I have run a boonshare build from Chaos’ post.. Chaos Maestro thread. Will have another look and see how well it can be personalised.

That sort of build can work excellently in PvP and WvW group fights, but you’ll have a bad time in WvW roaming (boon share requires people to share it with of course). Note that in WvW group fights you might miss out on some tagging that you could otherwise get with a more offensive build.

Don’t try to run it in PvE though. Mesmers can’t produce the truly important PvE boons (might+fury), so it’s better to focus on damage and other utility.

Any suggestion on a build that I can run Fay? One whose core concept remains the same but I can tweak for WvW vs PvE vs Dungeons etc?

Well, let’s start with dungeons, because they’re the most cut and dry of any game type.

In dungeons, you want full berserker’s gear (assassin’s is actually technically better). You’ll be running a phantasm build generally with mantras for extra personal damage. For more specifics on that, take a look at the stickied dungeon guide.

So now you’ve got a set of glassy power gear. This’ll work just fine for open world PvE as well, same builds will work just fine too. Open world PvE is…yeah. It’s pretty dull/easy. The only thing is that the optimal damage runes in dungeons will be something like scholar/strength, but for open world PvE you’ll really want centaur for that permanent swiftness.

For WvW, you can roam in glassy gear. You can do this as a shatter build, interrupt build, or phantasm build. The issues here are that you’re going to have a lot of trouble dealing with many standard roaming builds if you’re solo. If you roam with a buddy or two, this becomes much less of an issue.

Now for WvW group play…this is tougher. I’ll only address builds you can run post-patch, since pre-patch there’s really nothing good. You’ve got limited options for what you can do with glassy gear. You’re very much backline, because any frontline build needs more defense than that. However, you can focus on something like support through mantras+aoe damage with mantra of pain, or you could go even more offensive with triumphant distortion allowing your iZerker to get a spin off and such. You can really play around with your build a bit there, but the important thing is that you’re absolutely a backliner if you’re in glassy gear like that.

Esplen.3940:

dandamanno.4136:

Sandrox.9524:

what? prolly the best condi cleanse we have with the trait :P

I think idisenchanter might be better (2 boons and 2 conditions removed per bounce and it has 1 more bounce on a 20s cd) but they both suffer a bit from a lack of on demand cleansing and RNG. Oh and the fact they can be killed too.

With the trait, I thought it also removed a condition when you casted it.

It does remove a condition on cast and on bounce…but the cooldown is massive compared to pDisenchanter, it doesn’t strip boons, the bounce logic is screwy, it only removes 1 condition per bounce, and it attacks far slower.

Dusty Moon.4382:

Torch skill 5 is amazing in WvW – please leave it like it is.

Please tell me you’re joking?

Qraitz.5792:

Fay.2357:

Qraitz.5792:

Hello,

I just hit 80, im going to start crafting my ascendence gear but im not sure what stats to choose.

I will mainly play wvw, is assassin or berserker a good choice to start with?

Would also appreciate some tips on a build to start with.

Thanks

What aspects of WvW do you play?

Im roaming mostly.

Well, you can either go for a condition build or a glassy build. For solo roaming, mesmers generally take condition builds due to their higher durability, and you’d want a set of rabid gear in that case. You can also go for a glassy build, perhaps a shatter build, but you may have a pretty rough time unless you roam with a couple friends.

If you’re going shatter, either berserker or assassins works well. You can also experiment with taking some knights/cavaliers into the build for more durability. If you’re going to try a shatter build and mix the gear a bit, I’d highly recommend getting rare/exotics to begin with, that way you’re not wasting so many resources on ascended gear that you might not be happy with.

If you’re in a situation that allows pDisenchanter to survive at all, it’s by far the strongest condition removal/boon strip we have. That’s a big if, but it’s something you should always keep in mind.

Qraitz.5792:

Hello,

I just hit 80, im going to start crafting my ascendence gear but im not sure what stats to choose.

I will mainly play wvw, is assassin or berserker a good choice to start with?

Would also appreciate some tips on a build to start with.

Thanks

What aspects of WvW do you play?

Doni.6095:

Esplen.3940:

You can check out a PvE/WvW boon share interrupt build. It won’t be particularly viable versus bosses (either in dungeon or open world) but it’s a support build, so you’re able to assist your allies in nearly every scenario.

Additionally, since PvP has it’s own traits/gear/runes/sigils, you can set a build and just swap to it on the fly. The only thing to note is that you have to equip the appropriate weapons.

I have no idea where the boon-share interrupt build is, but it’s basically S/F + Staff. You can swap Focus for Torch to get a blast, but you lose out on some lots of Retaliation.

Hmm, that’s true. I have run a boonshare build from Chaos’ post.. Chaos Maestro thread. Will have another look and see how well it can be personalised.

That sort of build can work excellently in PvP and WvW group fights, but you’ll have a bad time in WvW roaming (boon share requires people to share it with of course). Note that in WvW group fights you might miss out on some tagging that you could otherwise get with a more offensive build.

Don’t try to run it in PvE though. Mesmers can’t produce the truly important PvE boons (might+fury), so it’s better to focus on damage and other utility.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

Sethren.8472:

Hrm…

- I hate when Mesmers approach class changes through a singular, “tunnel-visioned” lens (usually PvP or WvW), and they forget there is a third mode of play (PvE). cough Scepter cough

- I hate when certain Mesmers achieve the rank of arrogance that some display on these forums daily. You may call them “experts.” The real word is “arrogant” or “pompous.”

- I hate when Mesmers act like know-it-alls.

- I hate when Mesmers contradict themselves.

- I hate how much animosity there is between PvP/WvW Mesmers and PvE Mesmers.

- I hate when Mesmers cry for Mesmer nerfs because they want to preempt the other classes crying for Mesmer nerfs.

- I hate when Mesmers are scared of being damage dealers. Any buff that increases damage, they immediately call OP, and say ArenaNet needs to nerf it.

- I hate how PvP/WvW Mesmers look condescendingly on PvE Mesmers. Just because you enjoy one game mode over the other does not make you better than those who enjoy the opposite mode.

- I hate arrogant Mesmers.

Jeez, Pyro. Can you feel all the love?

By the way, Sethren, that’s a presumptuous list filled to the brim with hyperbole.

Also, its possible to be a “pompous, arrogant” expert.

Can smell it from all the way over here.

Fixing thread.

/15char

Doni.6095:

If I can get a build that enables me to do WvW, open world PvE and bosses as well as dungeons then I’d be a very happy bunny

Here’s the deal. You can use 1 set of gear for roaming WvW, open world PvE and bosses, and dungeons. You can not use 1 set of traits. You’ll need to retrait and change weapons as different encounters come up. Since you don’t have to visit a retrainer and it’s free to do now, there’s absolutely no excuse to do so. Trying to make a build that works in all of those game types will simply result in a build that’s bad at all of them.

Clownmug.8357:

Using Time Warp on siege weapon - It only works on golems.

YESSSSSSS!!! This so much. I can’t count the number of times I see people burning time warp on flame rams…just /facepalm

I’m going to separate dealing with PU condie builds from all others. The thing with PU is that it’s heavily based on countering, so you can reduce the pressure on yourself by choosing to stop attacking, and in that way can get a breather. You also need condition removal of course, but that relationship between your pressure and their pressure is unique to PU condie builds.

The key with all other condition builds is that they function around nonstop spammable application of conditions. This is a basic problem with condition builds in this game, but mesmers do have the tools to counter it.

To counter nonstop condition spam, you need nonstop removal spam. This can be accomplished in several ways.

• Mender’s purity with the healing mantra has strong condition removal output.
• The condition removal mantra itself also has a good rate of condition removal.
• A traited torch actually has strong removals as well. Both skills remove a condition on activation, and the iMage will remove conditions from allies hit by the bouncing bolt.
• The pDisenchanter is an extremely potent condition removal. In some situations or against an opponent that lets it stay alive, it can actually suffice to counter condition spam by itself.

Basically, those are the condition removal options for Mesmer. Note that I did not include 3 notable things: shattered conditions, null field, and arcane thievery. Shattered conditions is nearly unviable in any build, and so not generally worth discussing. Null field and arcane thievery are easily countered and are on extremely long cooldowns, and so are not sufficient as condition removals in any way.

The general rule of thumb I use is that to counter condition spam, you need any 2 or more of the options I mentioned. The more you have, the safer you are, but the less your build can do other than just remove conditions. 2 of those options combined with effective use of active defenses and offensive pressure should be sufficient to defend against most condition spam. Taking less than 2 is potential viable, but understand that you will melt to sustained condition pressure.

Milamberr.1705:

I stopped watching after the 4th fake laugh.

Yeah…was too cringe-inducing for my taste.