Guild Wars 2

These are just general suggestions, not any particular build.

Probably want to put 30 points into your precision line so you can get that critical damage boost as well. Can get abilities like produce clone at dodge and such. Can give your phantasms fury, too.

20 points into the power line and you can get the GS ability to reduce those cooldowns. Quite nice if you put 5 points into the bottom line to get that reduction in illusion recharge.

I was runnin staff in wvw. It has its uses, sure, but sometimes you find yourself in that situation where you just dont have enough time to peg people enough or what have you.

Swapped to GS with full berserker’s — was able to shatter and dish out quite a bit of damage much quicker. Got quite a few more badges than when I ran with staff.

I’ve experimented with Staff and GS in PvE and a few different kinds of equipment. I think both are excellent weapons for PvE in different ways.

When it came to staff I used carrion [pow/vit/con] (as it was the most readily accessable and gives lots of con damage bonuses). I used sword/focus or scepter/focus in offhand.

20/0/20/0/20 was where I traited. I took traits such as cripple on illusion death, staff recharge reduction, extra bounce attacks in each line respectively. Whatever build you make, I would consider putting 5 points into the last line — reduces recharge on illusion skills by 20%.

The staff and scepter/focus gave me the ability to be defensive and maintain momentum. Battles werent won quickly, but you can pretty much outlast anything — even multiple monsters when you get the hang of it.

With GS I went full on berserker stats and chucked condition damage out the window. I experimented with a hybrid build, but didn’t find it as effective in PvE. In my offhand I used sword/focus. The raw damage output was pretty incredible in cursed shore. You’ll find yourself running and dodging quite a bit — but the weapon damage plus shatters is fantastic if you want to take something down quick. I feel you have to think quicker with a GS than a staff if things get nasty, but its great when you get the hang of it.

For traits with that I went 20/30/0/10/10. It’s something I might refine down the road. I took the greatsword recharge reduction. I would take mind wrack 20% damage increase. In the precision line I’d take defensive things like generating a clone on dodge and such. Phantasm with fury is excellent for phantasmal berserker.

In the last two trait lines I took glamour skills reduce 20% (for null field and feedback) and mindwrack 10% crit chance increase. With this build/playstyle I find myself shattering quite a bit. It’s quite bursty.

Lots of great tips. I just wanted to post some reassurance.

When I started my mesmer I had a lot of reservations. I didn’t entirely understand the mechanics of the class and its role. It has a learning curve, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. It’s an excellent PvE and PvP class.

The class rewards you for the amount of effort you put into it. It takes awhile to get used to using all of the abilities before you and planning two steps ahead — but once you start to get a feel for it, it’s hard to go back to a class like Warrior.

I wish ya luck and good hunting!

Like infinitus mentioned, I’m lovin the focus in spvp. If I have a condition build I love runnin’ scepter/focus — if somethin else, then sword.

When it comes to up close and personal, I’ve rather liked staff. You’ve got the chaos armor, chaos storm, and typically trait up on some toughness to get that staff recharge. It’s a nice defensive/support weapon and can wear people down while you keep up your momentum.

GS has its knockback when up close, and the #2 and #4 can be decent too — its primary attack outputs more at a distance. I find myself more comfortable using it at a greater range or when I just want to output more raw damage. If I use sword/focus as a backup it can be nice if someone tries to get too close (#2 and then #4 to push ’em away).

Letting people get close though can be risky business, though. Typically melee-oriented classes will have some means to temporarily lock you down in some manner (stuns, dazes, immobolizes). I like having blink to escape if I’m immobolized, or use the staff’s defensive abilities like phase retreat or chaos armor. The greatsword’s knockdown move seems to take a bit of time to cast if you find yourself in a locked-down situation.

It’s a bit of a tossup, really. I would consider what you want to accomplish with your team and select a playstyle you find more suitable for yourself and your team.

I feel scepter is viable as a backup weapon if you are heavy into condition damage. It offers a nice way to stack a good deal of confusion and a blind/block.

Brutal when applied proper in PvP, and nice results in PvE as well if you give it a chance.

Some things that may help in addition to what others have said is to use some utilities that may help you get out of dodge momentarily — decoy and blink would be some suggestions. Mirror image can help to pump out more illusions quickly for various uses.

Using the sword’s #2 can give you evasion, which can make you immune to hits as well as dish out some damage. Using the focus’s #4 ability twice can suck enemies through the line you put down like a knockback, which can help keep them at bay for a moment as well.

I was pretty annoyed with feeling forced to use focus all the time, but I’ve really fallen in love with that “knock back” move thing that you can do. Void, is it called?

It’s so amazingly useful in both PvP and PvE, and I find the ability to use that pretty much (or almost) makes up for having to use that weapon.

I also like to use Superior Rune of the Undead, as I use staff/scepter with focus on condition damage and since I trait into staff that I like that synergy with toughness and the runeset (albeit its not a super bonus, but nice).

I would also look into orbs. You might find the outright stat bonuses of orbs to outweigh the perks runes offer when considering your particular playstyle.

Edit:

It sounds like youre talking about Carrion Stats (Pow, Vit, Con) vs Rampager (Pow, Pre, Con). Personally when I focus on condition damage — I go all out as much as I can. In that regard, I like to go wtih Carrion because the condition bonus with Carrion is greater than Rampager if I recall correctly. The vitality bonus is also nice (although personally I like toughness more over vit).

If you use the staff or scepter, I think you can sacrifice precision. Greatsword is a different matter imo — unless youre goin’ for a hybrid build/playstyle, I would go power, prec, and %crit damage (berserker). Con damage just doesnt synergize as well with GS alone like it does with staff, unless you want to shatter for confusion and use scepter in offhand.

I’ll cover some parts of your post, OP. For me, the mesmer had a learning curve and it took some time to understand the class. Here are some tips that worked for me:

1) Don’t shatter your illusions too often in PvE.

Shattering, to me, seemed good to do when the monster for whom the illusions were attached to was about to die and I was fighting multiple monsters that were close to the dying target. In that way, I could do damage or detriments as a final hurrah with those illusions.

It’s also okay to shatter when you can immediately replace your illusions. This can help avoid you get in a tight, vulnerable spot.

You’ll eventually get a personal feel on when it is okay to shatter, but I quickly got the impression that for most situations it is best to only shatter on occasion.

2) Practice fighting multiple enemies.

You will quickly find that the mesmer class is definitely about adaptability and quick response when you get in a situation that is out of hand.

A mesmer player will also find that, if they get good, they can take on quite a lot without being downed once.

For example, you might be using a staff (a great defensive and PvE weapon), or a greatsword. You have to keep up your illusions and use your defensive abilities to your advantage. Chaos storm grants aegis, and you have chaos armor with staff. With GS you have the knockback.

Enemies still closing in on you? You can run with a focus in your offhand, and use the line to cripple enemies or knock them back. Running out of clones with your weapon? Use mirror image to help keep those illusions up, or use abilities like blink or decoy to help escape and recoup.

Overall I find myself planning while I fight and planning ahead. I keep track of which monster has my illusions, and typically assign my third illusion slot to another enemy and spread it out a bit. I use all my abilities at my disposal to survive and outlast my opponents while my weapons/illusions wear them down.

It’s a challenging and rewarding experience — and it can become natural.

3) Bind your hotkeys for easy access.

I bind R Z X C V respectively for my heal, 3 utility, and elite skill. Works for me, might work for others.

4) For utility skills and elite I typically go with a mixture. You can find yourself changing these on the fly though depending on the situation, and should adapt to doing so.

I often go with mirror image, as that is a win. You can sacrifice that though if you go with weaponry and traits to help with quicker illusion creation.

I like null field, as that is a great condition removal skill.

For my third utility I typically go with something that helps me survive. I like blink, personally, but you can also slot something like decoy.

Other worthy skills are feedback, which reflects projectiles back onto the opponent.

Timewarp is excellent for PvE as your elite, and I dont really find myself using the others in PvE.

I made a warrior and got him to 80. Made a mesmer afterwards and got her to 80. The warrior is a nicely rounded class, but I haven’t really got back to him since playing as a mesmer.

The mesmer is an amazing class if you understand the mechanics and fall in love with them. It really shines in all facets of play, in my personal opinion. All of the weapons the mesmer brings to the table has its uses and styles.

In general PvE, one thing I found I could do better than the warrior is keep up fighting momentum with multiple mobs and continuous pulls. While I might eventually run out of steam on my warrior and be overwhelmed, the mesmer can really hold its own. It does take time to learn and it does take effort, but it’s definitely rewarding.

In dungeons you definitely offer quite a bit of support and can do decent damage. I think you’ll find that both the mesmer and warrior have different uses in a dungeon, depending on what party you’re bringing and what you’re up against.

In both sPvP and WvW, the mesmer is a monster. You bring amazing utility options to a fight, and various ways to eliminate your opponents. Focus on condition damage and stack confusion and detriments with your staff and scepter. Watch your opponents :melt: themselves. You can focus on berserker stats and get nasty numbers on the greatsword. Suck enemies into a cuddle pile, put a chaos storm on them with your staff, and put time warp on your enemies as you shatter your clones to put confusion on top of that. Stealth your team to confuse the other when you charge them, or create portals to invade a keep when they think they’re safe and repaired their walls.

There’s quite a few ways to weave evil on your opponents, and different ways to output good damage. I dont think the mesmer lacks in damage at all.

The mesmer is also excellent at escaping a bad situation when things get out of hand. Great maneuverability on the battlefield.

Enjoy exploring your means as you level up your mesmer!

Started a warrior, got him to 80. I thought he was a really awesome melee class, one of the most fun I had played in an MMO to date (EverQuest 2 comes as a personal second for me when it comes to that archetype).

Made a mesmer thereafter and had reservations for a time. Once I understood the mechanics of the class, I fell in love and I haven’t gone back to that warrior playstyle.

I love mesmer so much because the class works thematically as well as rewards you for the amount of effort/skill you put into it. The amount of attention, adaptability, and thinking-on-your-feet required for any given situation just becomes addicting.

Just going to add on to the last individuals nice post!

1) Staff is nice for both PvE and PvP. It’s superb in PvE. It’s #5 ability, Chaos Storm, can great Aegis to allies who stand within it. It essentially blocks attacks, which nullifies damage completely for a few hits. That’s a nice ability to use on your allies and illussions (particularly your phantasms, the ghosty guys).

2) Some interesting traits to look out for when you figure your build:

5 points into illusions will give you illusionists celerity, which reduces cooldowns on all illusion skills (those are the ones that make clones and phantasms)

10 points in domination can give access to Crippling dispensation — which cripples, or slows movement, or enemies when clones are killed. Nice for PvE.

20 points into chaos can give you access to a trait to reduce staff cooldowns. Nice.

20 points into illusions can give you access to illusionary elasticity, which gives bounce attacks an additional bounce. Superb when used with staff.

3. You want the stats the other guy mentioned, and lots and lots of condition damage. That applies to bleeds, burns, poisons, and confusion. Confusion is an excellent staple for mesmer in PvP should you choose to use it.

5. Mesmer is an excellent PvP class. I feel safer roaming in WvW than I do with my warrior. It does have a learning curve, but playing a lot in PvE should help give you a foot in the door.

Mesmer affords you a lot of manueverability (Blink, Decoy, Portal Entandre, etc.) and deception on the battlefield. You have to learn how to manage your clones and even try and blend in with them from time to time. Additionally, it’s good to use all your abilities at your disposal to help defend yourself. Confusion is also very devastating. Learn your shatters through and through — they can be useful. I typically use them when:

a) I’m discovered and my clones are not distractin’
b) I have skills up to replace them immediately

6. Video the guy linked is excellent, watched it myself when I started the class. Mesmer is a class that rewards you for your cunning and skill. I had reservations at first, but they’re far gone at this point.

Clones are meant to die. They’re meant to distract people from yourself and your phantasms. They are disposable and very useful. Keep up your clones and phantasms as much as you can. Use shatters sparingly and when you feel is appropriate.

Of course, the more you learn of the class and find your own playstyle — you’ll find your own way. Do what works!

Thank you to those who have extended offers so far. I just want to add a note that we are not interested in transferring worlds from Tarnished Coast — apologies!

My brother and I are seeking a guild with a strong focus on World vs World and PvP on Tarnished Coast.

I have an 80 Mesmer and Warrior. My bro plays an 80 elementalist. We’re adult gamers, reside in North America CST time zone, and have mics. We have PvP experience from other MMO’s and we’re gettin’ more and more into it within GW2.

We prefer:

-NA Time Zone oriented guild
-Scheduled, organized gatherings on the kill-murder agenda
-A guild with voice chat, such as TS or Vent
-A guild that does not describe themselves as “casual”

In return you get two team players that want to have blast and make buds and … well, make murderdeath.

Feel free to post in this thread or send me a private message. Thank y’all for your consideration!