Guild Wars 2

I think your expectations are off. Engi is arguably the strongest class in the game currently whereas mesmer is one of the weakest. Also, why bother with soldier gear? Vitality is next to useless for mesmers.

For a quick, temporary fix, switch to Staff and trait it. If you can’t beat that champ with Staff then I’d say your damage reduction and evasion is too low for it.

Gave a BI + CI, GS build a try last night. I tried GS + Staff and then switched to GS + Sw/T with BI + PU. The GS + Staff with BI + CI was superior rather than the BI + PU hybrid. Neither worked as well as my current PU build. Clone spam + DD + PU gives you a ton of survivability and traited Duelist + ethereal field is unstoppable (EXCEPT verse reflection mesmer…. sigh).

That said, the GS + Staff build with at least BI worked surprisingly well. I used Runes of Hoelbrak (Noble not in PVP yet), Sigils of Battle, and a Rabid amulet. I could see possibly going Zerk amulet with Soldier upgrade here as well. The problem with this build is that it’s highly dependent on iZerker hitting and intterupts going off.

In the end, my interrupts were simply not landing enough. Yes, I was timing them, but against high skilled players in tpvp you see so much stability, evasion, and tuned builds that low duration dazes were nearly useless. The only thing that seems to win is outlasting your opponent and providing high, sustained damge and team coordination.

all maaaantra utility?
::tilts head::

For the love of mantra charging, why?

why not go GS + Staff if you’re might stacking? Why ignore the Chaos tree given that might stacking goes with interrupts?

Chaos Archangel.5071:

glam still works for snagging bags

Eh? Build? As I mentioned before in other threads I tested this a while back (before perplexity) and found glam condition (confusing enchantments) to be ineffective verse zergs.

Mesmer is one of the only ones with AoE knockback and pull. Dump Null Field, temporal curtain, pull them, and then iWave them. The zerg’s biggest weakness is that they clump together so it’s an easy target. These kind of early CCs are crucial to ZvZ since the fight is typically decided in the first five seconds.

phokus.8934:

More importantly, are Confusion and Bleed stacks going to be capped at 5? From the leaked notes, they’re not listed but from what j.sharp wrote, it sounded as if all boons/conditions were being capped at 5.

I don’t see confusion, bleed, or torment listed. Thieves and Guardians aren’t going to be happy though.

i find testing wvw builds in 8v8 spvp can be helpful.

I dunno. My mesmer is my main. I feel like she deserves one legendary. I’m leaning towards Sunrise.

LCV, I totally ran into a green sylvari TLB mesmer in wuvwuv just now near SM. Was that you? I waved like, 7 or 8 times I was the white/pink sylvari mesmer.

Xaylin.1860:

I also sometimes felt that my build lacked damage in certain situations

Smite your enemies with traited pistol and ethereal fields! Smite them I say!

@SenoZinD: New Legendaries? I heard someone mention them a bit ago, but am not up to date. When will they come out? What details are there for them on recipes and such?

@colesy: Agreed on both Sunrise and Bolt and those kitten Sunrise warriors look way too happy on youtube : ) Yet I still want one and, as Seno suggested, I may continue playing the waiting game.

If you’re hitting zergs with this build I’d suggest you open your skill rotation with Null Field to help strip off stability. Then drop Temporal Curtain, let a few walk through to cripple them, and then pull them. Going 20 into Inspiration allows you to both reduce your Null Field and Temporal Curtain CD. Perhaps take 10 from Chaos and Illusions to achieve this.

At this point, in my head, I’d want to hit them with iZerker and smash into them with iWave to make use of the might burst (possibly with a Mind Stab in there too). Nothing kills a zerg more quickly than CC combined with stability stripping and we just happen to be the best class at aoe boon removal. That said, without sufficient stealth, a GS charge (can u tell I love doing this?) may not end well so Staff may be prudent.

Xovian.8572:

Lux.6490:

Ansau.7326:

- Tab targeting now prioritizes players over npcs (including minions)(mesmer clones are an exception).

Also: Mesmer clones spawned from Deceptive Evasion will still see rabbits and moose as top priority targets. We are also working hard to include mice in this rotation.

This made me giggle.
+1 for the funny.

:D The other day after spiking an opponent on Kyhlo I dodge absentmindely and my DE clone ran purposely off to kill some boxes.

I’ve shifted my gameplay from mainly wvw to more pve focused. I’ve collected quite a bit of resources and am slowly nearing map completion (78% total with 100% in wvw) for my mesmer. Only having 200g, about 200 ectos, and no precursor means I’ve a ways to go, but I was looking at beginning to focus my efforts.

Mainly, I’m having trouble deciding which legendary to go after. I’ve watched many videos of the new animations and like what I see for Sunrise, Bifrost, and Bolt. My pve/wvw gameplay lately has included a lot of GS usage and nearly every build I use includes the Sword. I don’t want to discount Staff right away though and the Bifrost meshes well with the softer sylvari look. What do you guys think regarding a first Legendary?

I suppose for now… I’ll simply work on map completion and leveling up Weaponsmith and Armorsmith. I’ll also simply try to create my Gift of Fortune and Gift of Mastery now to get them out of the way since those are required by all legendaries. Then there’s those T6 mats of course…

colesy.8490:

skcamow.3527:

<snip>

Generally if you sift through my frustrated vitriol you can find my main points.

I’m just sick of people telling me I’m wrong about things I’m not.

Perhaps expressing less vitriol and employing better tact would result in less frustration.

Swords! Can’t go wrong with those. Then just dump your trait points into traits that “increase damage”.

The main thing that jumps out at me is the use of a non-traited focus in a pve/wvw build. Even if you’re just using it for BI (and swiftness) the reduced CD from traiting it is also helpful. An alternative would be an OH sword and if that’s the case you may as well trait sword.

When used optimally, BI can be pretty powerful. Into the Void works nicely with it as does Imbued Diversion. A 0/20/20/0/30 with sword/focus + scepter/sword could work there with along with Mantra of Distraction to maximize your intterupt capability. You’d want to spam Diversion as much as possible. Signet of Inspiration and Decoy might work for secondary utilities, but this (as always) leaves you with little cleanse capability.

Granted, that makes for a possible low synergy build and Imbued Diversion is not always useful in a tpvp. This, of course, pushes those skill points up to Halting Strike, Chaotic Interruption, and 10 points leftover likely going into Domination to get Dazzling and Shattered Concentration.

Nothing too amazing by the looks of it. Even with a mantra buff I still won’t be likely to use them until they change how they work.

“Tab targeting now prioritizes players over npcs (including minions)(mesmer clones are an exception)” did jump out at me though. This is a huge nerf/fix against minion necros. Minion necros are pretty popular in pvp and omg it’s impossible to find them amongst their horde. When you tab it currently cycles through them starting with the closest opponent. If they move around it’s possible to cycle over the actual necro forcing you to tab like 20 freak’n times to get him. This then forces you to mouse click him which, in the middle of a battle, can be very challenging. This was an unintending advantage for necros and, honestly, they shouldn’t have a better “confusing” aspect over mesmers. They can produce 5+ minions when we can only have 3. Theirs are more permanent as well and kitten near every one of these minion necros is a tiny Asura who dresses up to look like a minion…

After this (hopeful) change it will be a rough wake-up call for these necros. The same goes for engineers actually. I’m not as familiar with engineers, but some seem to have a macro that dumps 5 turrets at the same time on a pvp point.

builds that work in wvw tend to work well enough in pve. Haven’t seen your guild in wvw before though…

Interesting build. Granted, I feel like you could just take pistol, signet of domination, and sigil of paralyzation, slap it on just about any other build, and have nearly the same effect.

With an additional 30% stun duration you’d have a nearly 7 seconds worth of stun. Get someone to 50% health, get 10+ bleeds on them, roll those stuns, and you should win fairly easily most of the time.

I gave glam confusion in wvw, zvz a good try for nearly a month after confusion was nerfed and “fixed”. I failed to make it effective and rarely got bags. I swear, some fights we’d hit a medium size zerg, rout them, and I’d get zero bags. I’d see some numbers, but it was not very much. That said, I’m still interested, simply cuz I love glamour spells.

The future of Rune of Perplexity is uncertain as well and I’d rather our build need not depend on a rune type. I also like our projectile combo and it synergizes with this glamour theme. Perhaps go 20(III,VIII)/0/0/30(II,VII,IX)/20(V,VII) with Staff + Scepter/Torch. This should allow you some aoe projectiles to lay on additional confusion to what Confusing Enchantments already does. Push up your condition or confusion duration via runes and food and probably go Rabid for gear.

If you take Runes of Perplexity into account though, you would increase your chances of success imo. This build would then have to shift from leaning towards projectile combos to interrupts.

That’s not to say we aren’t still effective verse zergs as I’ve posted several times about.

good points Chaos. I’m glad you spoke up. I had written up a preachy, supporting response, but I think your post is enough.

Not to mention we get to play hide-and-seek in keeps in wvw where there was a failed attempt to take it. It’s quite entertaining to tie up an entire zerg for twenty or more minutes with your fellow “ARC” mesmers. Certainly this task is made easier with a fellow thief but wvw is often chaotic and thieves and zergs don’t often mix.

It’s interesting just how versital mesmers are in wvw. We can easily flow from zerging, to roaming, to scouting, to infiltration without more than a few utility changes. It’s a bit surprising you don’t see more of us in wvw. Granted, the reality is that wvw is laden with necros and guardians cuz it’s easy tags.

After leveling my mesmer to 80, which was my first 80, it took me something like six months to level another character to 80. Mesmer has always been my main and is still my primary choice. The play style, somwhat similar to Ele, is very mobile and active. To bring the mesmer’s full potential to bear takes a fair amount of skill and build knowledge. It’s that challenge that attracts many to the class. That and we kill people with pink butterflies.

Also, careful with Sunrise and mesmer. I read the GS legendary animations on mesmer are lacking.

what Warlock said

I used to be a mantra user like you… then I got roflstomped a hundred times in spvp

Mice.8921:

@Rinzler – my server just got put against JQ and Blackgate – I might try moa too

Ah… hello Fort Aspenwood.

Stealth stealth stealth (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Prismatic_Understanding)… there’s simply no better weapon in wvw. If you enjoy Staff + Sw/Focus then perhaps try a 0/20/30/20/0 build. That said, and as much as I like the focus, iWarden is probably the worst phantasm for wvw and Into the Void pull is weaker now.

I currently run a GS power build in wvw. I’ve yet to change that simply due to the crazy numbers iZerker puts out verse a zerg. I will waylay a 20man zerg by myself occasionally a few seconds before they engage a friendly zerg because I can. MI, approach from an angle, drop null field, zerker, iWave, prestige, dump clones into them for DD, frenzy, and Decoy to (possibly) get away.

But why flank them solo when you can stealth-flank with your whole zerg?

Shtos Vant.4182:

@nearlight
Agreed.

I also agree on this when regarding 1v1, 1v2, or 2v2. Sword/Pistol combo outperforms GS in every way verse a single target. However, for group combat in wvw the GS actually has a decent place. Even in a small team of 4 or 5, the GS can be effective. iZerker cripples, iWave can disrupt rez or spikes, and iWave is an awesome first strike disruption CC to an initial engagement. If you’re team focuses fire well you don’t need an uber burst. Plus, sometimes your team might want to mingle with a zerg and take/defend a tower. If that’s the case you’ll just be sitting there doing very little if you don’t have a GS.

Use a stealth build. One benefit of doing so forces the necro to guess where his marks should go.

If you aren’t zerging or hitting towers then I’d suggest using a condition build as well.

Identifying the “best” build for pve is too subjective. Even so, I will throw in my subjective consideration and say phantasms are the way to go. Frontloaded, shatter burst builds in pve is far too much work for such a casual environment.

Is there a way to get this with no access to the pavilion?

http://intothemists.com/guides/381-gs_prismatic
is my current wvw build.

They will need to rebalance soon if they want to keep a stable pvp environment. What’s annoying about these unbalanced situations is that by now everyone’s rolled a necro and a ranger. They’ll both get nerfed soon and all those people will cry to no end.

That said, now’s the time to do other, pve’ish things in the game. That or roll an OP class…

try to cripple them as well. If you do that and continue moving, dodging, and stealthing it will be hard for them to get behind you. If stealth and dodge aren’t an option I typically walk irregularly like walking backwards in a circle.

Perhaps try (30(II,VIII,X)/0/0/30(II,VII,VIII)/10(V)) with GS + Scepter/Focus.

ign: Sanakan Killy
server: Blackgate
play: all (currently more pvp than pve or wvw)
role: any
time: 7-11pm est, most days

Unfortunately, my current guild is 100% rep… Maybe I could haggle with them. Also, I’m not sure how a cross-server guild would work.

i’m inclined to agree with Xel on this. Wut the heck? This is clearly a skill balanced specifically for zerg wvw play. Why not change it outside of wvw? Bring it more in line with the other glamours and make it a 40s CD and a 4s stealth.

I play what I find fun. I enjoy the mesmer. That said, I do occasionally spend time on other classes in hotm to learn their skills and builds. I often find I enjoy playing them too sometimes. Perhaps just spend a day on each class. Tune the build as you would for wvw/pve and mess around in the lobby and in spvp 8v8 to see how you like it.

Thanks for the heads up OP. I’ve yet to catch that kind of flak in tpvp solo join, but at least I won’t be surprised now if I do.

As for pvp performance I suggest one of the many prismatic build variations. Setup mainly for clone-death you can turn it into a condition nuker. On my build I push my first rotation to press my opponent. Then I nuke them with conditions and roll into my next rotation to finish them off. Also, while some people can make it work, I’d suggest against using either GS or Focus in tpvp. I find they underperform verse the alternatives. GS is especially weak in a 1v1 imo.

I’ve played a fair amount of tpvp solo join lately and with so much stealth I seem to be the one rez’n my ranger and necro teammates more than they are dominating. I feel we are quite valuable in many pvp roles. I prefer far point personally, but will fill most any role the team needs.

Another thing to look into is your interface setup. This is key to reaching a high level of performance in this game in both pvp and pve. My original teacher for this was Kripparrian’s videos on youtube. The basic idea is to bind all of your ingame actions to your keyboard and mouse in such a way that you don’t have to pickup your keyboard hand. Specialized mice like the Logitech gaming mice line (mine is the G700 and is cheaper at newegg) enable you to bind more skills, particularly the ground-target ones. Second to this is mouse-turning over keyboard turning. Mouse turning allows you to continue pressing your skills while you direct your character.

Pyroatheist.9031:

I only play Mesmer, and I have no problems winning in solo queue. Unfortunately, winning in solo queue is about 10% skill and 90% ending up on the winning side of the 5v4.

Over 70% of my solo queue games played were 5v4 or worse.

I very rarely see this issue. Perhaps it’s due to the server you play on?

Zahl.8564:

Overlord.7394:

One more problem, I find roaming very VERY difficult with lack of swiftness but I guess that just comes with being mezzy

I have the same issue. I am switching a bit between two builds . One uses Sw/Focus + GS (Phantasm), the other Sc/Pistol + Staff (Condi) and I REALLY miss the swiftness when I use spec 2. On another note I REALLY like the playstyle from a condi-spec. It`s just a matter of adjustment really. Haven`t decided what to go for yet

Centaur Runes. They really aren’t that bad.

snizzle.6143:

So what to do against condition thiefs ?

Condi thieves, especially some of the newer sword builds, can be very tough to counter. You have to time your dodges and stealth well and take advantage of every oppurtunity he gives you. Get familiar with his stealth CD, position yourself while continually moving, and prep each counter. I find landing torment, along with constant bleeds and cripple, to be key. When I don’t land torment against high skilled thieves the fight often drags on. Hence, try to dodge his first attack out of stealth, throw up Illusionary Counter and make an easy target. Then burst the heck out of him once you land Torment. Having one or two duelists out doesn’t hurt either.

Hmm… roaming you say? As Osicat most eagerly displays, we mesmers dominate wvw roaming. I roll with GS (not a great 1v1 weapon) and still crush every thief I cross. That said, thief is a solid second and thieves who do their homework should do very well. For some reason though, people who only do wvw get sloppy in the pvp area. I know almost instantly when I’m up against a true pvp’er in wvw and there aren’t many. Plus, the uplevels kinda water things down making a 1v5 often more like a 1v2.3; Possibly respectable, but certainly nothing to brag about.

Winds.3087:

It’s mesmers who should have access to better confusion, not engineers or warriors or whatever else. It even has butterflies. It’s mesmer condition, like anomaly and of the mists are mesmer weapons. We even have traits for confusion. How come engineers can stack it better without such traits? It’s simply insulting.

Sigh…

I give up… I’m just gunna go play mah spirit ranger where I simply spam Sword 1 to do stupid damage to everything. Here I’ll be mindlessly tapping 1 while all those poor mesmers are furiously trying to execute complex skill rotations, tactics, and whatever else all while developing an unhealthy drinking habit. Granted, necro is nearly as mindless if you want it to be. Necro pvp flow chart: “target something” -> “target has no conditions?” -> “spam conditions!” -> “win”

Personally, I’ve more trouble with condition engineers than I do necros. Engineers “bunker down” better and if I’m not running a power build it’s kitten near impossible to kill their turrets. With necros I just stealth, kite, and avoid the red circles. A necro who takes plague (in pvp not wvw) is a simple to beat. A necro who takes flesh golem is typically more compitent and deadly. A good necro will time his staff marks with his golem rush and then have followup rotations. If you can break the cycle somewhere and push the necro into shroud form early you’ve typically won.

If you’re running with perplexity runes I’d expect Confusing Combatants and ethereal projectile combos from your Duelist (aka feedback and/or null field).

GS is definitely the way to go imo. Staff and Scepter are simply too pvp oriented. After that your options pretty much are limited to Sword/Focus unless you’re going for a very specific use case. Pistol is probably the next best choice if you take Sharper Images and Glamour util. Glamour is a best support utility type so it makes sense to dump 30 in inspiration. Then 20 in Chaos for trait your GS. After that 20 points in Dueling makes the most sense. The Illusions tree for a Phantasm build is nearly a waste of points. The Chaos tree is mainly geared towards survival and interrupts.

I see shatter builds being suggested. Shattering in PVE never made much sense to me. Shatter is very “front loaded” damage and requires more micro managing than phantasm builds. Phantasms are “fire and forget” which allows you more time to focus on the fight.

kite like mad and keep your phantasms up. Cripple works well in this.

Senjun.8149:

I’m just here to send alittle anti moa message is all, if you hate it MOVE ON.

Perhaps you should move on. I think the ele and warrior forums are that’a’way. Your comments have been less than constructive.

Moa is actually one of our weakest elites and can only be of use with a coordinated effort. As others have mentioned, it can be dodged, blocked, and moa attack skills were buffed a lot. That you were defeated by such a weak elite and then thought it necessary to complain about it here is pitiful.