Guild Wars 2

If you are not rich, it would be perfectly fine to get knights/soldier rares, or even masterwork until you learn the dungeon, but keep exotics/ascended for your berserkers.

However, depending on your playstyle/role, knights/soldiers might be preferable anyway, especially in wvw if you want to play a survival/harasser build. In that case, get knights/soldier as your best gear. If you want to play DPS, definitely go zerkers, though.

… you press F4 on an alt and wonder why you still took damage (has happened to me ).

That makes no sense. If you feel compelled to use it, there’s a reason for that, and apparently it outweighs the value of another skill you’d put there. At least you’d have a choice to use it or not despite your shaky convictions about it.

@Jerrah:
This suggestion also provides a small bonus to confusion glamour builds, which typically have the hardest time getting swiftness.

draxynnic.3719:

I can understand it, in this case. Prior to the patch, ArenaNet described the Spatial Surge buff as something that would give the mesmer some more AoE capability with the greatsword, so they could nerf it’s AoE somewhere else (namely, shatters). I haven’t tried it myself yet, but the impressions I’m getting here is that the greatsword remains a theoretical AoE weapon – in theory Spatial Surge (and Mind Stab) are area attacks, but in practise it’s often impractical to actually catch multiple targets due to the small hitboxes.

Without the possibility of nerfs over the horizon, the change to Spatial Surge would likely be taken as a small buff that may not come into play on a regular basis but is cute when it is. With the possibility of nerfs over the horizon, though, there’s value in pointing out that it may not actually be as much compensation for the planned nerfs as anticipated.

Except there are no known planned nerfs. That was something Xeph, suggested, not the devs.

In agree scepter is better at closer range, and why I usually have a MH sword in my other set when using it, but one point to clear up: CI is an instant Beam. Opponents have no more time to react from 900 range as they do at 150, though general chaos of close combat can make it a bit more confusing to read your attacks if you juke around.

The auto-chain is much better at close range tho.

Well if you figure that one BF is actually 8 attacks, every GS auto is 3, and a full shatter is 3-4, the hits really add up. Many other classes have even more multi-attack skills.

Actually, mesmers have some protection from this build since many of our attacks are made by pets. Just imagine how a p/d thief feels.

325 isn’t much until you realize that you dish out 70+ attacks during the fight.

Not just PVP. TW was pretty sick in dungeons, too.

And did you notice that the only quickness skills that got compensation were the ones with penalties? Several of the other quickness skills got the same treatment we did. It’s not just a mesmer nerf. Gotta admit I wouldn’t mind a small CD reduction, though.

Yeah, I rolled a warr… back in September. But it had nothing to do with nerfs, so much as wanting to play a class without thinking too hard occasionally. :p

TheYakuza.2137:

The margin to the amount we got nerfed is far higher than any other class. Quickness was our elite skill on a 200 second cool down for 10 seconds. You are cutting a huge amount of the skill directly in half. At least give us something else, we aren’t even needed in dungeons anymore. CoF groups will be 5 man warriors because they got buffed.

Think about what you just said. No, we aren’t needed, nor should we ever be. No class should be needed for any game content. TW was OP for dungeons and golem rushes, now it is just a very good elite to have as a timely party buff and still devastating in coordinated teams, as it should be.

Unfortunately, I can’t get into WVW to test it, but for mobs in PVE its pretty good so far. CI does decent damage in a power build so targeting towards the back is getting me several hits on at least a few targets for respectable AOE damage. I have to imagine I’ll have similar success with it in wvw zergs. My con damage sucks, so I ’m not seeing big numbers there, but I do see a lot more purple bubbles.

Now if they can just improve the auto chain.

It’s odd, the width was indeed massive during my tests, but its not replicating in the field. Must be an anomaly with the LA training dummies. Shame. Would have been fun to confuse everything within a 3-mile radius with scepter 3. :p

You can still hit 3 closer targets (and 5 with scepter) even if your main target is out of range, tho.

OK, it’s a beam between you and your target, but the width is MASSIVE! Not likely intended as such, and it will probably be fixed/nerfed – and soon.

Edit: And they still hit the closer targets even if your primary target is out of range.

UPDATE: OK, the wide beam only seems to happen on LA test dummies, so scratch the huge effects I reported. Sorry for the confusion guys. You can still hit closer targets when your main target is out of range, tho.

No, it’s just intended to hit foes between you and your target.

Darx.9842:

So in that SotG video they mentioned nerfing shatters to counter the buff to GS and scepter.

Since theres no mention, does that mean there is a stealth nerf? Or it has yet to come?

No, they mentioned they would watch shatter damage to determine if a nerf was needed. This information was posted every time a shatter nerf thread appeared to help dispel the false rumors. Apparently the effort was wasted.

On a more relevant note, patch was a little underwhelming, but any patch w/o major mesmer nerfs is a good one. Now let’s look for stealth nerfs.

Also forgot the work they have been doing on culling almost the WHOLE time. They even released a test system in December. Just because it didn’t work out back then doesn’t mean they haven’t been working on it. In fact, it proves they care about the WvW experience; they just don’t care about it as much as PVE or sPVP is all.

loseridoit.2756:

123 hours is still too little to understand a mesmer

come back when you are 300 hours in and tested the sword, then you can start ovulating the class.

I only starting to master the class at fractal 10. at 400 hours in.

That may be true for those of us playing male mesmers, but my buddy rolled a human female and he can ovulate her every 28 days for his monthly.

:p

The guardian’s ability to lockdown and tank foes is always welcome for any mesmer, but since I have a bunch of points in Inspiration, it makes rolling with a guardian that can spread boons that much better. I just pick up Signet of Inspriation and between the two of us the whole group can have several stacks of practically every boon with near 100% uptime.

Only gripe I have with the class is the kitten poor speed for a supposed mobile class if you don’t want to use a focus.

P-haste is great for the warden. Problem is it appears bugged for some other phantasms, esp the swordsman, which is why a lot of players don’t take it.

At the very least, Compounding Celerity should changed to 10% per illusion (25% OOC), and iLeap should be modified to leap foward when you have no target.

I also recommend going with knight’s gear and some zerker/valkyrie/soldier pieces thrown in. I think my setup is roughly 50% knights, and the other 50% is spread for the others. GW2 does use more active defenses than most games, but in wvw you’ll never avoid it all, especially when outnumbered, jumped, or rushing into an enemy zerg. There’s just too much happening and too many stray projectiles.

In the end it comes down to your playstyle, and in smaller battles you can go either way (knights to outlast them or full zerkers to get them before they get you), but in larger battles all that extra zerker damage gets smaller compared to their total health pool. So I go defensive because I’d rather be able to escape with a few hundred health and heal up to jump back in than have to run all the way back from the WP.

Yeah, scepter/torch is sick even w/o CD gear. I’ve been running it for a while paired with sw/sw, and it’s the best dueling setup I’ve found. Return damage blocks on both sets coupled with other defenses that also hit back (BF and Prestige) means I always have the right defense (and some hurt in return) when I need it no matter which set is up.

Last night I was jumped by a thief while chasing down a necro, and it saved my kitten He hates me now, but the necro got away.

Sounds like my engineer. He has dark dark blue skin that glows and grayish white hair.

I believe it checks to proc the finisher at the beginning and end of the skill. So you may need to be in a field when you start the skill and then again 3s later when the burn procs. Note this does not need to be the same field.

Kind of a pain. I noticed it when they removed the blast finisher from the skill’s activation, but have not tested it thoroughly. Seems like yet another bugged mesmer skill. Not a phantasm skill this time!

Can’t really imagine a mesmer being anything other than a charr. Go charr or go home.

MH sword auto is not for damage; its for setting up damage. Hence the slower attack rate with vulnerability plus boon strip. You use your phantasms and/or shatters for DPS as a mesmer, maybe a direct attack on moderate CD for some weapons.

Yep, that build will work just fine, and is very close to some of the phantasm builds several of us run. Check out the link in my sig for some tactical advise for certain situations. The PVE variant is very similar to yours, and I offer tips to maximize some of the weapon strategies.

EDIT: Just a note, Phantasmal Fury will get you more DPS than blade training, but reduces your survival. Keep things like this in mind; don’t be afraid to change your major traits and weapon choices around to fit the situation.

Don’t forget that the first 2 attacks of the sword auto stack vulnerability. Semi-decent cleave damage, vulnerability, and boon stripping. This is one of the best auto-chains in the game coupled with 2s of invulnerability on an 8-10s CD and a gap closer that AOE cripples and immobilizes (albeit heavily bugged) all on one MH weapon.

Scepter just doesn’t compare and is why you see so many mesmers with a sword or two.

Monoman.2068:

Mobility changes are nothing small and mesmer is one of the classes that can be broken by such a change. I’m not too sure why you guys would want to risk it since any nerfs that would follow, will most likely spill over into other mesmer abilities broken by the speed.

First, we already have mobility where it matters for most balance issues: in combat.

Second, the ability that would be most effected by any OOC class speed bonus would be Portal for obvious reasons. The problem with that point is that we already have access to the most speed any class can get through buying subpar, expensive runes and using what is probably our most powerful OH weapon. So, we just have to pay more for it, can’t fit it into some of our weaker builds, and have to get to level 60 first. So all that making OOC speed more easily available through class abilities would do is create better build diversity for us (a stated goal of Anet), make it cheaper to acquire (nobody is complaining that mesmers are too rich), and make it available to poor sluggish mesmers trying to level through 1-60 (who aren’t a balance issue at all).

Shiren.9532:

Not all classes should have access to a movement speed signet (or easy sources of permanent swiftness). Do mesmers really need this? They are quite strong and half multiple combat positioning skills available to them already. I don’t think they are really a roaming class (not in the same way a thief or a ranger are, then again I don’t understand why necros have a 25% IMS signet).

You raise a few good points here:

#1: Actually, yes, mesmers were described as a duelist class with lots of mobility and good for roaming during beta. However, just about everything the devs said in beta about balance was directed at sPVP, where mesmers are incredibly mobile and considered “in a good place” there. In PVE it’s less of an issue due to WPs. This seems to be a problem the devs overlooked for wvw where most of the frustration is more apparent to us. Increasing our OOC speed, at least for PVE content, would help resolve that.

#2: You are right. Several classes for which speed does not fit their theme get more OOC mobility than a mesmer, which was indeed intended as mobile class (or at least described that way during beta). That description is also one of the core reasons I champion this cause, and one of my primary disappointments with the class after spending so many hours of my life to level it (along with the multitude of bugs affecting our illusions).

But its a bad form of balancing because it doesn’t affect the core gameplay and just adds frustration to the players. Iruwen is spit on here. The relationship between our speed and combat prowess is the same as saying that since guardians are such great bunkers, dps, and control units, but they can no longer use gates and WP, only much less extreme, obvious, and ridiculous. Same relationship, though. None.

Espen’s setup is the same as my PVE variant for the build in my Sig. It works great in PVE, but I don’t recommend putting all your focus on phantasms in wvw. The main variant in that build is good for wvw and still uses phantasms quite a bit with some stealth and ambush tactics.

The best build for what you suggest is a glamour build because it bypasses the 5 target AOE limit. Spreading massive amounts of the confusion condition will break up a zerg, or better, kill them, like nothing else. Coordinate with a necro, and you can literally dominate many times your number.

There are a few floating around in Fay’s list: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/List-Find-your-Mesmer-Build-Guides/first

@Dahkeus:
No one is really saying mesmers suck, or in a bad place overall. In fact most of the reasoning for desiring more speed for the class comes from players that do play other classes – and so we realize just how painful it can be to move around as a slug. Think about it. If you only played mesmer, then you’d probably be ignorantly content to move with “normal” speed.

As some posters have said, it’s a quality of life issue that really doesn’t have any basis. It wouldn’t make us OP (our other abilities did that in the past, but like you I believe we are in a good place right now overall), and it fits our theme.

In short, if we like the mesmer’s theme and gameplay in combat (which let’s face it is the majority of this game’s focus), why should we be pushed towards playing another class just because we suffer from unnecessary out of combat frustrations, especially when it can prevent us from getting there in time to enjoy an event/battle/etc and presents only a mild balance issue at most?

EDIT: Also, no one here is saying “Anet, don’t work on other classes; just give us speed.” The issues other classes have should also be addressed to make this game the best it can for players of every class.

Generally straight mesmers use Rapid gear, but like Lion said, you’ll have to be more specific about how you want to play to get better help. Do you have a build in mind? Go here to get few ideas: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/List-Find-your-Mesmer-Build-Guides/first.

Yeah, the only phants that needs some rethinking are the mage, and maybe disenchanter. Personally, I don’t think a +25% sig is necessary, but since many other classes have it (or similar options), it seems a “mobile” class like the mesmer should have something comparable.

Personally, I’d be happy if our illusion abilities were made so we can use them OOC. Then we could use iLeap as a dash and Compounding Celerity with a few tweaks. iLeap would need to be a bit more responsive or maybe longer range, and Celerity could seriously use a buff.

@pahldus: My charr doesn’t look thespian to you? :p

But there is no need to limit our mobility to just combat. To force that restriction is just silly. I’m sorry I have no better word for it. No other class except guardian shares that distinction, but even they are not nearly as limited by it as us.

I’m sorry but not only is it completely unnecessary, it goes against their manifesto that class abilities should be straightforward and not overly complex. No, its not directly an overly complex ability, but it is counter intuitive to so agile but so kitten slow in any fantasy theme.

Works pretty well for my Lone Wolf build. Check it out in my Sig. I spend most of my time in SW/SW.

It wouldn’t feel so bad if the mesmer wasn’t described as a “magical duelist” that “shares some of the mobility of the thief.” Now guardians and engineers I can understand being a little slower than some of the other classes, since they were advertised as blockade units that control areas and other players’ movements instead of so much of their own. Though all classes, even engi and guard, should still be able to spec for mobility since it’s such an important role in wvw (and they can with less investment than the mesmer, esp engineer).

But based on certain dev comments during beta, I fully expected the mesmer to be one of the more mobile, faster classes, and along with stealth was one of the reasons I chose the class in the first place. To find that hype substantially unrepresented in the game is kind of like a slap in the face.

How do you figure that?

Nuka Cola.8520:

Dastion.3106:

Nuka Cola.8520:

Geikamir.6329:

I am personally pretty excited about the GS skill change. I think it’s gonna be awesome. But I’m majnly thinking of sPvP.

you won’t be very happy when you’ll see a significant damage decrease just because now Spatial Surge is aoe.

This is a poorly thought out statement, just like Xeph’s reactions. It is entirely possible, and likely, for a profession to have adequate single target damage but be lacking in area damage potential. In that case, adding more AoE damage to the profession doesn’t increase their single target damage, so why would that aspect now need to be nerfed? Such a nerf would be illogical.

That’s kind of like deciding your sweater isn’t warm enough for the cold so you go get a jacket, and to ‘balance’ out adding the jacket you take your pants off too.

how many people have you seen wanting Spatial Surge to be updated? None. For months (since game was launched) everyone wants Mind Stab to be changed but they change a skill no asked to. Its a ‘nerf’ to Spatial Surge, wait and see.

Mind Stab, or whatever they change it to, is already slated for an update this patch.

Profano.9514:

Ross Biddle.2367:

Bah, slow builds = complainers.

Good boon duration + focus swapping + 1200 blink = faster than your zerg spamming speed skills.

Your typical mesmer:- 0% boon duration + no focus (or a smart one who swaps to focus when travelling, might even be traited) + no, or 900 range blink = complains on the forums, or takes runes of centaur/air much to the hate of mesmers who believe it’s a silly sacrifice to have to make.

All this to say that, sure there’s a problem, but there’s something to be said about the players build that’s a part of it. Also, leave Signet of Midnight alone. That’s 10% more boon duration right there!

Here’s a pro tip: 2x rune of monk, 2x rune of water, 2x rune of speed = 50% boon duration to speed (+30% to every other boon), + upwards of 30 points in chaos trait line = +80% swiftness duration (and 60% to all other boons).

Personally 50% bonus swiftness is plenty for me. I prefer a bonus 20% might duration instead.

Best answer ever.

It would have been if it applied to all classes, or at least all except thief; possibly ranger.

Depending on your current power score, centaur can be a more reliable damage boost, too. But if that lightning blast hits at the right time, air is awesome.

For my current playstyle the centaur works better for me, but air is generally better for shatter builds if you can handle being a little slower. The only exception would be some sort of ranged build that uses shatters, because centaur can give illusions swiftness to help them get to the target and hit.

thetarot.8246:

Confusion Damage isn’t “doubled” in WvW, It’s unchanged. It’s only in sPvP that it’s changed, and I have not seen a confusion build in sPvP in a long while.

Technically, it was changed for PVE/WVW. Confusion used to do the same damage it does in sPVP through all game modes, but was buffed for PVE content to roughly double its former damage. Doesn’t change the current situation, I know, but there seemed to be some confusion in Anet’s logic for how the condition is balanced. TBH, it’s just… not.

And I don’t think it’s a major issue with the condition itself (I like how it works), but more of how mobs react in PVE. Good luck getting that changed, so we’ll probably see some kind of band aid fix if we see anything at all.

I’m a big fan of how versatile mesmers are, and it’s the main reason I chose one over a thief. But the key to a good hybrid is finding synergies between your chosen tactics. Your traits work against each other, and cannot be used with each other at all. If you shatter, you don’t get the on death effects; if you don’t shatter, you don’t get the shatter effects. You need to find traits that can work together while applying either tactic.

You say you don’t want to rely on phantasms, but still want them to do some damage for you while playing keep away, so I suggest you try to modify your build into a hybrid shatter/ranged DPS kiting build. Drop all but maybe one on death trait. If you really want one, I’d keep Crippling Dissipation b/c it will help you kite. Playing at range means you will probably spend most of your time with GS, so drop the points in Chaos and put them in Illusions for Elasticity (it will help both staff and GS much more than your token D in Chaos). You can always make up the defense with 1 or 2 gear slots without losing much power/crit. I’d probably pick up the GS trait too.

Playing a ranged shatter build can be tricky since your illusions have to run far, but it can be done. Especially since both GS illusions spawn near the target. Staff is great utility, so it works as a secondary weapon when enemies get in close or for support even w/o traits, but now you also have an extra bounce and a bit of extra confusion to boost your warlock and cover your DoTs.

Synergies.

I still wouldn’t call it optimal, but hey, hybrids rarely are. Their strength is in their ability to adapt to changing situations, go from one battle to another quickly, and most importantly change up the play to your advantage when someone is outplaying you. And I’m not one to put a certain playstyle down. You may find some hidden key that makes your playstyle work. It just looked a little out of sync to me, and that’s why I posted my advice.

Two problems with the build.

First, you have no damage support. You don’t have the phantasm traits to let your illusions do damage, you have MW +20%, but not enough in Illusion to bring the CD down for any viable shatter build, and you don’t have any +% damage to any skills other than MW.

Second, you have some clone on death traits, and some shatter traits with nothing to back them up. These two types of traits generally don’t work well together (on death don’t proc when you shatter) so it’s generally not a good idea to take more than 1 of both.

I’d suggest you decide whether you want to shatter or not for damage, and then we can help you better.

Dahkeus.8243:

Giving a 25% movement sig to mesmers doesn’t make any sense unless you truly believe that every class should have one.

ANet has said that Thieves should be the kings of mobility with rangers close behind, but it doesn’t make sense for mesmers to be the sprinters (they are, after all, a class dressed in ball room dresses and suits). Mesmer mobility is best illustrated by cunning, not pure physical prowess.

Great idea, but it will never happen. Certainly not any time soon. Give mesmers more “smart” movement abilities (TPs, wormholes, arcane dashes), and the forums would erupt in “mesmers Portal is now even more OP” threads. Thematically fits, though.

Kazhiel.8194:

And if you’re wandering around solo what are you in a hurry for anyway? I spend a good portion of my wvw time solo, on a bl I can cross the map back and forth to get all the yaks easy peasy, ebg isn’t so simple but lol.

Gee, let me think. Running supply for a falling tower sounds like something that has happened to me when in my siege gear. A commander’s call, “help! we need everyone at Bluevale NOW” happens often when I’m roaming solo. For other classes, this means popping in a sig or trait and off I go. For my mesmer, it means switching into my centaur armor, taking up the focus, need Blink and Master of Manip… “never mind, tower fell… we wiped.”

Kazhiel.8194:

You want to make it so I can run even faster? lol If I spec for speed then I have plenty of it, if I don’t then I don’t. Same as all the other classes :P

As I explained in my paragraph, it’s NOT the same. That’s the issue. Most other classes DON’T have to spec for speed. They just temporarily pop a sig or single adept trait and they are good to go with little impact to their build. For mes, we have to build for it with a weapon choice, utils, traits, and possibly gear to get the same return.

@Dastion:
There is only one critical overstep and flaw in your summation that renders your argument completely invalid: It prevents brilliant posts on the forums such as “they are going to destroy my shatter build!” and “now that they are nerfing shatters to the ground” from having any merit. Therefore, you, as I was, must be wrong or cynicism and unproven certainty would not prevail.