Guild Wars 2

Read my leveling guide in the signature, try it. Try everything else. Find your playstyle.

Warning: Playing a Mesmer might result in the loss of interest in other classes.

Check the wiki:

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Commander

I mostly run Lazy Kai for Orr. But I run my own full mantra build from time to time too. I am more that kind of a ranged player though.
You can find both in my signature.

You may want to give my leveling guide a try (signature). It might been written for PvE, but it works perfectly fine in group Wv3. You will hit hard enough with nearly every attack to tag a mob or a player for the kill.

Play whatever race/class combination you want. Racial skills are in many cases inferior to class elite skills anyway.

I think Sea of Sorrows is the unofficial oceanic server.

My mesmers name is: Kaiyanwan.
Like all my first and main characters in over 15 years of online gaming (even though I’ve been playing online much longer… ^^).
Most people just call me Kai.

SadieDeAtreia.8912:

I just wanted to say: Awful, awful guide.

Following this guide has made me loose so much money I could have made farming Orr or running braindead speedfarm dungeons with my 80’s. Instead, I find myself having way too much fun and spending way too much time on my mesmer – a char which I used for storage until a few days ago. This also means I’ll have to spend gems on a new character slot soon to get my storage sorted out again. Extremely disappointing.

PS: for those who don’t get it: I don’t blame you… sarcasm takes effort and I was too lazy to try harder..

Oh, and thanks Kai ;-)

Hahaha, too bad I made you enjoy playing the mesmer… ^^

This might not be the most popular guide around the mesmer forum, but as long as people enjoy it and it helps new players to get a grip on the class, I will keep it up-to-date and eventually expand it.

Thank you for your feedback!

This is like being proud of eating with only one chopstick for years, until you realise you could have used two and been way more efficient…

STOP!

Sigil of Blood bugs:

Player tests suggest a five-second cooldown, although the tool tip says it is two seconds.
The superior sigil does not work on two-handed weapons.

Is any Sigil or Rune in this game actually working as described? Has anyone tested the Rune of Blood on a staff?
I will try with a lesser one when I am back to my gaming laptop.

Update: I won’t be able to log-in today and probably for the next few days (RL in good ways). If someone could give feedback on those bugs, I would be thankful.

Well, you have the choice beween:

Superior Sigil of Water:

30% Chance to Heal Nearby Allies (Cooldown: 10 Seconds)
Heals for 370 at level 80, and an additional 1 health for every 10 Healing Power.

and Sigil of Blood:

+30% chance to life steal on critical. (This effect cannot trigger more than once every 2 seconds.)
Deals a fixed 452 damage at level 80.
Heals for 453 at level 80, and an additional 1 health for every 10 Healing Power.

I’d go with blood any day. It heals like for seven times more (over 10sec in a best case scenario) on you and does damage. The group heal for 370 at 80 every 10 sec on Sigil of Water just doesn’t have much impact.

Valior.4712:

Kai I want to thank you for being lazy (and this great guide).

Thx, I am happy if it helps people to enjoy the class.

Just use pistol mainhand. Great range, awesome AoE and single target damage.
Phantasmal Sniper one-hits most normal mobs too.

I highly recommend to play some time with all weapons and trying a lot of builds. The best things are normally those, that you discover on your own.
Anyway, if you get stuck or want to speed up some leveling, take a look at my leveling guide in my signature. It might help.

EasymodeX.4062:

1. Pretty sure it would do enough damage.
2. If the target is going down in the next 0.75 seconds, you may not get enough Spatial Surge damage. One or two ticks of SS + the Mantra will guarantee a tag.
3. There’s not really much else in terms of utilities that would help with mob tagging.

I mean what, Mirror Images? You will typically have more than enough clones from abilities + DE to blow full MWs on cooldown. Still, it’s an option but that leaves 2 utility slots left.

Feedback is theoretically an option for the combo field to get damage on random stuff, but the damage is so low on the confusion it likely won’t tag anyways.

As I said, Spatial Surge might not be fast enough. Thats why I normally prefer Mind Stab for those situations. No need to switch the target, guaranteed tag, AoE.
Sometimes, everything is on cooldown, and sometimes, a single mob is just not worth all the trouble… ^^

LordByron.8369:

mm i’ll go zerker, maybe with heling on crit?
So i could use GS/Staff on difficult parts…

Gs to remove conditions and staff to get some HP?

Sure. Superior Sigil of Blood looks promising, with the critrate on your items, you should get the healing effect every time the sigil is off cooldown.

EasymodeX.4062:

Kaiyanwan.8521:

If you want to participate in DEs, the GS is a must.

Miscellaneous note: I also recommend Mantra of Pain for individual targets that get zerged that you need to land a spike of damage on.

The problem with Mantra of Pain is, that if it does not crit, even with a 30/30/0/0/10 Mantra build in full zerker, it might be below the damage you need to tag a target (like 950 at lvl 80). You have to change the target anyway, so one Spatial Surge is normally enough to tag anything. But yes, it won’t always be enough time.

I for one am not the biggest fan of the mantra though.

If you use the staff as secondary weapon, I would get berserker stats on it.
I see it as a defensive tool, but you can still shatter your clones, and the iWarlock does actually scale nicely with power/prec/crit. It will crit for tons of damage, if there are many conditions on the target (fairly possible in a group scenario).

On the sigil, as I always say, it is a matter of preferences. So it depends, when and for what reason you want to swap to staff.

Pyroatheist.9031:

Kaiyanwan.8521:

Hey Fay, your list is growing fast… ^^

To give an update, I added a leveling guide lately.
My newest addition is a GS Mantra PvE build (Kai’s Go Go Power Ranger Build 30/30/0/0/10) as I couldn’t find anything similar on your list. They are both in the same thread as Lazy Kai.
No clue what to do with them, just thought I let you know… ^^

Oh jeez, I use that build in wvw when I can safely stand on top of walls or something and nuke people with the greatsword just for the lols of the unblockable damage. What on earth do you actually manage to use that in PvE for? I usually have like 15k hp with that build >_<

I don’t get hit. The Lazy Build has just the base health too. In PvE, if you know what you do, it is fairly easy to avoid most damage… ^^

Saulius.8430:

Moddo.7105:

I would put first 5 points into Illusions to get minor trait Illusionists Celerity"Illusion-summoning skills recharge 20% faster"

bad advice. it works only on summoning skills in utility slots. don’t affect summoning skills on weapon skills.

You are wrong, the tooltips are just broken, it works perfectly fine. Watch the timers…

As a mesmer it is fairly difficult to level as pure range, as you miss the punch to kill mobs before they reach you early on. That’s the reason why I have chosen a combination of ranged and melee in my leveling guide.

When you are getting close to 80, things change though, and you might want to give a look at my “Go Go Power Ranger Build”, which can be found in my signature… ^^

Hey Fay, your list is growing fast… ^^

To give an update, I added a leveling guide lately.
My newest addition is a GS Mantra PvE build (Kai’s Go Go Power Ranger Build 30/30/0/0/10) as I couldn’t find anything similar on your list. They are both in the same thread as Lazy Kai.
No clue what to do with them, just thought I let you know… ^^

Added Kai’s Go Go Power Ranger Build. ^^

As always, feedback is very welcome.

P. S.: Added some flavor to the text.

The event changes over time. I could bet those tents at the refugee locations on the maps have not been there at the beginning.
But to be honest, for now, this event is not worth anyones time (at least not more than you need to get the title…).

Most guides focus more on Wv3 and PvP in general, but they work fairly well in PvE too. I for one think that survivability in PvE is mostly a result of knowing your enemy and knowing when do dodge. That’s why my builds focus is on high sustained damage with some utility to escape.

I personally run GS and Sword/Focus. As things die fast most of the time anyway, I have grown tired of phantasm builds, as they feel sort of slow compared to shatter builds.

My guide is in my signature, feel free to give it a read.

Morrigan.2809:

Trahearne is a disappointment- he makes more sense if you play as a Sylvari but he is just so bland and useless….

That’s because he is made of soft wood log…

I have to admit, the 600 range feels very unnatural to the rest of the mesmer’s playstyle. AI could use some tweaking, but normally I am happy if the clone itself spawns… ^^

I would gladly sacrifice Trahearne in the blink of an eye, if I could get Sieran back.
Even though I would gladly sacrifice Trahearne without any deeper reason, I think Sieran was the best written character in GW2.

While I understand the importance of loss and how difficult it actually is to set up a NPC to achieve this goal, I still somehow wish she survived. Well played.

If you and the others know what they are doing, go 20/20/0/0/30 if you like the GS.

If not, speccing into Inspiration will help you and your group to live a bit longer. Take some trait points out of Illusions, as you want them as distraction and for the regeneration, and not for the mind wrack damage.

Well, I play the piano in RL. Not too well though.

I think Osicat’s builds are great for Wv3. I tried them in PvE too. I came to the following conclusion:

If you want to participate in DEs, the GS is a must. the iZerker will tag a whole group in one swing, Mirror Blade tags a mob with every hit (you need about 1000dmg on 80 to tag a mob) and Mind Stab will tag things too if they are close together.
The staff just lacks the damage to do so. The swords range is too short, things will be dead till you are in range most of the time. I use it as off-set with focus (well, the leveling guide might be a hint).
With IP you can spread the iZerker and clones, and cover a big area with mind wrack as every shatter will do enough damage to tag the mobs.

Outside of DEs, mobs will be dead as soon as you reach them and shatter with this build, which is just way faster then closing in first.
When soloing champions, I can just stand back and fire along with the GS, using my illusions as distraction. No need to get in range to land some damage and get hurt. I even stopped changing Mental Torment with Crippling Dissipation, as the tactic is fairly bulletproof.

“Now, if the mobs die fast because you use your keybord like a korean StarCraft player, good for you.”

This still stands. Play as you like. Just my 2 yen on this matter…

Arc.7310:

Im getting the Distiguished Circle of Logic with a Gilded Infusion
– using pure pow, prec, crit. dmg. gear for my shatter build

This. For PvE the best bet if you like the GS.

Thx for the feedback. I wouldn’t call myself a min/maxer myself but I get what you mean. Efficiency is fairly important for me. If I can survive with skill, I will avoid using gear for it. On the other hand, if I am dead, I do not contribute to anything.
For me, this build offers the perfect balance for any PvE situation. Utility skills are a matter of change depending of the situation of course.

@ cinemapaula: Give the leveling guide a try. If you are in your 50s, you have left the hardest part behind you. While Mesmers are not the fastest profession to level, my leveling guide is set up to level as fast as possible as a Mesmer. ^^

The veteran chicken is half chicken, half dragon AND half undead.

To be honest, event chests themselves are not worth the time of the event. Lately I am happy if I get some green item out of the box. Overnerfed by a mile, but I think it’s ANet’s way to tell us, don’t do them…

marnick.4305:

applekwisp.2139:

people are over reacting about these “guild missions.” likely they will just be current content and just give additional rewards for being in a guild group. last month didn’t really add anything and this month seems to be pretty much the same thing

Last month fixed a ton of issues. You may want to reread the patch notes. January was the best patch yet. Considering Halloween and Wintersay were pretty epic, that says a lot.

They didn’t nerf the mesmer this patch, in terms of balancing, I liked it the best of ’em all. Contentwise…

A warrior complaining about damage in PvE? Now I have seen everything.

Check builds on warrior forum, watch warriors soloing dungeons, get some gear, win.
You should do fine.

No other profession guides sorry. I have a hard time playing anything else than my mesmer.
I am not a big fan of alts anyway and the playstyle of the mesmer is just too entertaining. Leveling other classes feels just plain boring.

If you want to solo dungeons, warrior is better.
Otherwise, the answer is yes.

I at least agree with Mount Maelstrom is short on DEs. I run this zone from time to time for crafting materials and compared to others, it is way too quiet…

WvW is coming in March…

Teofa Tsavo.9863:

lekyii.9856:

Anyone Know whats that Guild Missions?

Is some type of Large PvE content for Guilds? or is you and 4 guild m8s collect mats or kill 10mobs ?

If is the second, i think that we all do that already…

Team Up for Guild Missions

Join your fellow guild members to take on an entirely new category of content! These missions, designed for coordinated group play, include everything from bounties to group puzzles to cross-country challenges. You’ll need to work together to complete the missions and earn new Guild Merits, which can unlock cool upgrades and rewards. It pays to be in a guild!

Who knows. Im assuming instanced somewhere, since you would think the content would be limited to Guild members only. I have no idea.

The last thing this game needs right now, is another reason for players to hide in dungeons. I don’t think they would strengthen their world by getting the players out of it.

AkiLeaves.2613:

I caught that. Thanks! I am having a blast leveling my Mesmer with your guide right now; it was due to my own stupidity that I didn’t see the Persona trait. Thanks!

I am happy you like my leveling guide. Got really little direct feedback on it, so I wasn’t sure if people like it. Feel free to leave a comment and bump it so others may see it… ^^

Many shatter builds include the Illusionary Persona trait, which is 30 deep in Illusions.
To get the max shatter effect, you need to be close to your target. You can shatter from any range though.
On your build, try different ones, find one that suits you. I run Lazy Kai in dungeons most of the time, as long as you have some experience, damage builds will do fine.

If you need distraction, keep the illusions alive, if not or if the mob has AoE, just blow them up. Keep distance if you feel uncomfortable.

kokiman.2364:

Arnath.2319:

It makes me so sad to say this but currently Guild Wars 2 has the worst PVE in the history of MMO’s.

What’s the second worse MMO PvE wise?

Must have been Asheron’s Call 2.

To be honest, I like PvE in GW2. It just misses the stream of new content. Seasonal content is sort of OK, but it feels so unrelated to the story.
I want more story, be it personal, living or whatever. Just make it happen.

What I say is the following:

What we learnt from Portal: If you promise cake and you do not deliver, players will tear you apart.

Looks like ANet’s cake is a lie.

Heijincks.9267:

Kaiyanwan.8521:

Ok, I will bite. Look for the coming free content update for LotRO, update 10. A regular free update for a F2P MMO.

Maybe I’ll get an infraction for this, but people in this thread seem to never have played any other MMOs.

Most other MMOs I’ve played don’t have massive updates the first few months after its released. Lost Shores would be considered a reasonably big one, but too bad not many people were satisfied.

That’s a different story though. I just expect more of an announced “expansion worth of content” than I get from a regular content update in an other MMO.

I fear the day we get a payed expansion with that amount of content…

Ok, I will bite. Look for the coming free content update for LotRO, update 10. A regular free update for a F2P MMO.

Maybe I’ll get an infraction for this, but people in this thread seem to never have played any other MMOs.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/pvp/wuvwuv/Upcoming-WvW-Updates/first#post1385839

Heijincks.9267:

Kaiyanwan.8521:

Oreoz.2573:

Kaiyanwan.8521:

Oreoz.2573:

Arnath.2319:

Sadly once again there is no new PVE content, heaps to do for fans of PVP, but we have had no new PVE content introduced since Fractals.

Im starting to think there is no point playing this game anymore as clearly the developers have no interest in PVE.

We were promised an “expansion worth of content”, ArenaNet has failed to deliver on this promise thus far.

another player misinterprets the devs…….

When he said that he meant that OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS we’re going to be getting an Xpac’s worth of content. Not all at once. You’re gonna quit after a simple patch displeases you? There’s no sub? Waddya gonna do, uninstall the icon from your desktop?

facepalm

No, but people expect a bit more than regular content patches, delivered by most common MMOs if they are promised “an expansion worth of content”.

For what I see, nothing in the February update looks like it is worth to be part of an expansion…

That’s because you misinterpreted the statement.

These content updates are happening over the next few months and altogether they will make up the sort of content that you would find in an Xpac.

If I said I had an apple every monday for a month, I wouldn’t say “MAN I HAD APPLES ALL MONTH!”, now would I?

C’mon, with that argumentation, ever singe AAA MMO out there is offering xpack worth of content all the time. Book updated in LotRO, xpack worth of content. Patch for that real big MMO I do not like, xpack worth of content.

Sorry, that does not work.

Releasing stuff fast means more bugs, which means more complaints. Asides from that, let’s not jump to conclusions. We don’t know what March is like. Heck, the February update might be even bigger than you think it is.

This are just excuses though. All this has already been delayed for at least one month. WvW update has been delayed till March.
Just ask yourself what you would expect to see in an expansion, and if that will be in the next few updates or not.

No no landmass, no new profession, no new race.
New dungeons? I doubt that there will be more than one, or any at all.
New story? Well, we had a very weak start on that topic.

Who would buy such an expasion, at least if the person is interested in PvE?

Oreoz.2573:

Kaiyanwan.8521:

Oreoz.2573:

Arnath.2319:

Sadly once again there is no new PVE content, heaps to do for fans of PVP, but we have had no new PVE content introduced since Fractals.

Im starting to think there is no point playing this game anymore as clearly the developers have no interest in PVE.

We were promised an “expansion worth of content”, ArenaNet has failed to deliver on this promise thus far.

another player misinterprets the devs…….

When he said that he meant that OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS we’re going to be getting an Xpac’s worth of content. Not all at once. You’re gonna quit after a simple patch displeases you? There’s no sub? Waddya gonna do, uninstall the icon from your desktop?

facepalm

No, but people expect a bit more than regular content patches, delivered by most common MMOs if they are promised “an expansion worth of content”.

For what I see, nothing in the February update looks like it is worth to be part of an expansion…

That’s because you misinterpreted the statement.

These content updates are happening over the next few months and altogether they will make up the sort of content that you would find in an Xpac.

If I said I had an apple every monday for a month, I wouldn’t say “MAN I HAD APPLES ALL MONTH!”, now would I?

C’mon, with that argumentation, ever singe AAA MMO out there is offering xpack worth of content all the time. Book updated in LotRO, xpack worth of content. Patch for that real big MMO I do not like, xpack worth of content.

Sorry, that does not work.

Oreoz.2573:

Gallrvaghn.4921:

Kilrain Daggerspine.6843:

Oh no! Now ill be forced to join a guild, why do I have to join a guild in guild wars? Why Anet Why!!!!

Yea, we will be seeing more of these at the end of the month

that is because people are stupid. lol

If you think the guild in guild wars 2 has anything to do with being in a guild, you should read the lore.

To be honest, there is more living in Orr than in this story.
In fact it doesn’t feel like a story at all, just a stationary event…