Guild Wars 2

The current maps in ranked rotation don’t have side objectives that are OP for certain classes. Any profession can commune, treb or kill an NPC.

However, Skyhammer HEAVILY favors engi/necro/Mesmer, and Spirit Watch HEAVILY favors guard/war.

Courtyard is a different matter. I actually think people suck for not liking that map. It’s fantastically done, and I sometimes have great matches when there’s two competent teams playing. The only issue with it being included is because it’s such a jarring difference in format from Conquest. 1 minute is not enough time to switch from a conquest build to a death match build.

I wish they’d bring Capricorn back for unranked. That map was seriously so fun to me!!! #SoManyTears Maybe if they put the mid point on top of the ship and sort of redesigned it, people would like it better? If skyhammer and orb is still there, I see no reason why Capricorn shouldn’t be there.

But no to the OP. Some maps give an overpowered advantage to some classes that would make those maps broken and unfair. It wouldn’t be fun seeing two teams with 3 War/2Guard racing to the orb.

Obviously he’s running standard shatter, hence why he would put Ranger as 2nd hardest match-up. lolz

Smirgel.9460:

MailMail.6534:

2. Ranger: while you can’t kite as well as he can, this is still a great match up for us Mesmers, especially when in melee range. I say we beat rangers 60% of the time. With the current meta, Ranger serves as a single-target zerk staff ele, which is very dangerous.

Ranger a great match up? I’d say it’s the second hardest one right after thief. Supcutie ranked it second hardest in the interview as well. And I’m talking at equal skill level here. Power ranger pew pews at 1500+ range with stab 60-70% of your hp in a second. Condi evades your burst and procs constant bleeds while being extremely tanky. If you go melee range you get hit by geo+doom and pet CC. Also dat entangle immob duration…

I can’t speak for shatter mesmers, as I haven’t played it in a while, but I don’t have trouble against them when I run CI dps, and I only use one of Decoy or Blink. Maybe I’m facing scrubs, but I don’t think they’re that bad. iWarden also helps a lot.

On my assassin’s phantasm build found here: http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fhAQNAsaRnsISjaWoGeoB3aIR1QObznorLpCUyOfA-TpBCABOcEAA4EAE0+DgXGIvHAQFHCAA I also don’t have any troubles against Ranger. they usually can’t recover from the opening burst and chain stuns from pistol and S. Domination.

When playing on condi shatter, it’s also an easy match up due to the toughness. If confusion works on anyone, it’s pew pew Ranger.

Double Ranged shatter would be difficult I guess, since you are obviously not meant to be in melee. In theory, I still see GS+sword/torch shatter being superior to pew pew ranger.

They should just make the carapace armors available just like the glorious track in pvp.

It’s been broken for a long time, and I think it’s time for a fix.

Often times, I’d like to search the forums for specific topics. It’s often frustrating when new players come here for help or information, and it’s hard for vets to refer them to the appropriate thread.

I also imagine it would be more effective for devs to peruse topics if certain discussions were more consolidated. There would be less duplicate threads if people were able to search the forum. Thus, you’d be able to gauge what’s most important to the different communities here.

I don’t know about anyone else, but this would be a huge quality of life improvement for the forums.

It’s been my experience that the only way you can shatter without DE is taking the sword CD, Celerity and using Sword/Sword+X. Taking another weapon CD also helps a lot. It’s still arguably less effective than just taking DE.

Zaxares.5419:

I still use good old Ether Feast in PvE, just because sometimes I’ve been in situations where I’m dying to crazily stacked conditions while out of combat, and I don’t have any more condi cleanse or enemies to spawn clones on so I’m dying bit by bit. Ether Feast’s heal on demand is a literal lifesaver in those situations.

With no enemies near, you could still just pop the signet heal. Their base healing is very close in numbers.

edit: the only downside in this situation is the longer cool down.

@Seyiwaji
You actually don’t have to go the phantasm route when in the Inspiration line. You can simply go 2 points into Domination if you want 15%+ dmg for illusions. It’s actually very sporadic and versatile in your options. Yes, you can go for increase in phantasm health, but you also have traits that buff support on shatters (Vigorous/SC), self-sustain (Menders/RI), mantra heal that’s self-sustain AND supportive and glamours…

The Inspiration trait line, in theory, is actually really nice, but its implantation is horrible. Typically, when I go 6 deep into Inspiration it’s so that I can take multiple Adept traits. What does that say about the majority of the trait line?

you guys are fun to play with!

There’s another thread where we discuss this grand master trait…

This would be much better if it were combined with Restorative Illusions. Additionally, the healing should be AOE. It’d make going into Inspiration actually worth it and give you and your team some amount of sustain.

It would also give room for a glamour or phantasm grandmaster trait. fingers crossed for glamours Also, I’d hope they rework the interrupt gm trait to actually be effective.

The only thing this effects is my interrupt build. Everything else I play is untouched by this change. Hmm

This is a necessary nerf, but one that inadvertently hurts the most viable Mesmer builds.

Xyonon.3987:

check out maim? o.O i don’t get it.

A nerf to might is a nerf to the most (some say only) viable tpvp build we have, which is dps shatter. I’m being cheeky when I say, as an alternative, people should check out condi shatter.

Loooove the reduced CD on Nightmare runes. It’s my favorite condition rune to use, and works well with CI even as an additional interrupt plus longer duration on CI condis!

With all the nerfs to might, maybe you peeps might want to check out Maim???

I wish confusion did more in PvP. shrug I think the only reason they’re afraid is because of perplexity runes in wvw roaming. I wish they wouldn’t balance the game around a sub-format of a game mode. It’s counter-productive. Bring back Glamours!! <3

Hmmm, when focusing a target, the goal should always be downing someone the quickest and getting the stomp off. I read a few posts here that says the thief is the biggest threat, but his effectiveness becomes null if you can quickly +1 the fight. This is usually my goal. If anyone goes down, you rally off the first target. Everything depends on YOUR Mesmer build and YOUR comp as well as the ENEMY comp. However in the most general sense, here’s my priority list:

1. Necro: their long cast times and general squishiness make for an extremely easy target to interrupt. Every Mesmer has at minimum 3 interrupts at our disposal, so take advantage of this. An important skill being interrupted at the start of a battle while being focused can lead to the Necro’s quick death. They have the same problem with lack of stability that we do. Difference is we have creative evades and the ability to strip the rare time that they pop stability. We are the Necro’s natural counter. It’s not as hard of a counter as Tthief vs Mesmer (nerf please), but all things equal, you should beat the Necro 80% of the time.

2. Ranger: while you can’t kite as well as he can, this is still a great match up for us Mesmers, especially when in melee range. I say we beat rangers 60% of the time. With the current meta, Ranger serves as a single-target zerk staff ele, which is very dangerous.

3. Thief/Mesmer: I put these under the same category, because they typically serve similar roles. Note that thief is obviously your biggest threat, but not necessarily your team’s. The problem however is that targeting these classes can waste time as they will often break targets. You don’t want to spend waste time tabbing through targets while you could be more helpful targeting another player. It’s also a lot harder to stomp them. That being said, if your team all helps to track them down, they are the best threats to eliminate as a Mesmer.

4. Engineer/Ele: The reason they’re last is because targeting them first really depends on your Mesmer build. I’m currently running a Maim build on one of my 3 Mesmers that hkittentered Concentration, iDisenchanter and Arcane Thievery……. So basically, these classes NEVER have boons, and they always have poison on them. It completely shuts down the cele meta. However, in most cases that I play other Mesmer builds, their burst healing and plethora of boons will make them hard to take them down, wasting valuable time in the long haul.

5. Warrior/Guardian: And here we have the Marios of gw2. More often than not, there’s simply better targets to focus on.

Note, you can find a glass cannon on any class. If you encounter those, it may be best to focus them (besides Mesmer/Thief still)! XD

First off, the only thing I’m more of a fanboy of than signets is glamours! Everything about them screams Mesmer to me with their dual effects and needing to balance between the active/passive. However, a lot of them do need a rework.

• Signet of Inspiration would be cool if the passive was remove a condition every X seconds and also give a 25% speed buff. On active, you and nearby allies gain all boons for a short period of time. Make the times balanced and impactful. This would arguably be better support than its current state. Not that we need more condi removal (all you shatter mes stop complaining; you DO have options), but Signets is the only utility type that doesn’t have one. Manipulations give us AT, illusions is iDisenchanter and glamours give us Null Field.

• Signet of Midnight is great in a mechanical sense. There is literally no better tool that we have for stomping/rezzing than this outside of distortion (which should be saved if ever possible). The passive unfortunately needs a buff to 30%, and then you have a competitive stun-breaker that makes a huge difference in builds that take BI or those that wish to stack might.

• Signet of Domination is fine as is, except I think the passive should ALSO give you power stats. This goes hand in hand with the Mesmer domination theme anyway. Perfectly fine in it’s current state really. When chain stunning, you bait out the enemy’s stun-breaker with another skill. Then pop this. 3 seconds is a looooooooong time. It all but guarantees panic and death.

• Signet of Ether just needs an increase in healing per illusion. It’s perfect.

• Signet of Illusions is terrible as is, and very rarely is it decent to use in any build. Add a 10% illusion dmg buff to the passive, and change the active to refreshing all illusion summoning skills and the health pool of current illusions. So this would be different from S. Ether to include things like Mirror Blade, Phase Retreat, iLeap etc. This also makes it a better signet for phantasm builds (my current build would have a 40%+ dmg increase on phantasms #rekt)

Unfortunately, our signets are actually decent, but rarely are they useful outside of a signet build. This shouldn’t be the case. Utility skills should be decent in and of themselves and not need 3 traits for them to be remotely useful. See my original build below for my take on a decently effective (and fun!) signet build for unranked/hotjoin play!

I think the signet is very underrated in pvp. Due to its active effect, you have to take into account that it gives your build more dps than if you were to use Ether Feast. It’s not just a heal, in which case it shouldn’t heal more than EF. Also, if your stats take advantage of toughness, then this is also a good heal to use, as your passive healing will off-set a lot of dmg over time. It’s great if your role is to kite from far.

I always use signet in PvE.

Tom Gore.4035:

gervasium.4567:

snip.

Yeah. Odds are they changed the Sylvari to be more “beautiful”, because ugly/monstrous races are generally not favored by players.

What about the Charr? XD

Ross Biddle.2367:

Terrorsquad.2349:

Where dem mesmer hands at! \o/

People use staff?

There’s people who don’t use Staff? :O

The only specs that need DE are builds that use Mind Wrack often.

It depends on the spec I’m running.

CI Lockdown
Best partner is a thief or a ranger with immobs. Anytime you’re running dps, Thief is going to be a devastating combo. People tend to really panic when they see mesmer/thief combo and for good reason… Rangers help to further lock down enemies. The fight quickly becomes too overwhelming for them if they continue to be interrupted.

Condition Specs
Engineer is always fun teaming with due to their high amount of CC, which allows the conditions to quickly eat away at enemies. Also, with so much AI in the way of turrets and clones, it becomes a congested on-point battle for the enemy.

What the hell are you talking about? Purple? Really?! Lilac, only lilac.

That would be wildly over-powered if they made that change. As you obviously can see from the ileap fix, anet’s goal is to make Mesmer’s viable, and this would be a step in the right direction.

Warshade.2984:

I have some ideas, but I’m only going to mention one, (one that has been mentioned here before multiple times)…

1. Range indicator on [Mesmer] Portal.

The best way they could logistically do this is to make portal ground targeted.

My wish is for glamour traits/utilities to be buffed.

Or better yet, I’d love it if the hue on Confusing Images was changed to a darker color purple.

FlamingFoxx.1305:

MailMail.6534:

Wow, some egos in this thread need a nerf. That meltdown was a great read!!

I honestly loved the reveal. Despite some people theorizing this outcome, the ferociousness of its detractors actually helped to make this a surprise to me despite it making sense all a long. I guess I should be thanking those bullies for shutting down productive conversation.

People refuting arguments without actual evidence is ‘bullying’.

fixed

Wow, some egos in this thread need a nerf. That meltdown was a great read!!

I honestly loved the reveal. Despite some people theorizing this outcome, the ferociousness of its detractors actually helped to make this a surprise to me despite it making sense all a long. I guess I should be thanking those bullies for shutting down productive conversation.

LOL @ Pyro not understanding that this thread is chock full of sarcasm.

On a more serious note , at least they finally fixed bugged iWarden.

Ross Biddle.2367:

Just level in an EoTM karma train. Run whatever you want.

Split your time between this and pvp. Do the region tracks as I believe they give more tomes than dungeon tracks.

As a Mesmer, the only viable thing in PvE is zerker. You can run Staff+Sword/Pistol and still achieve some success on zerker. Scepter is literally horrible for PvE. Torment does nothing.

Yeah, MoP has less utility than MoD overall, but I think in a build like this, it actually gets more bang for its buck considering you’re running heal on mantra charge.

I think halting strike is still good in this build, but the illusion buff would also be nice considering that you aren’t shattering ALL the time except when being condi bombed or you want the burst of Mind Wrack. 30%+ increase in dmg for your phantasms is ALOT.

• Pack Runes vs Centaur:
  I guess Centaur gives you more control over when you want swiftness, but outside of that, I think Pack is better considering that it also gives you might and fury. The CD is lower, but it also gives you an insane amount of precision along power. I actually think it’s kind of ridiculous how good Pack Runes are. But for wvw, that’s outside of my expertise, so maybe Centaur is better there!

Bump bump bump!!! If you’re a Mesmer, and you DON’T know this, you’re lagging and might as well trait for down-state.

Logging on to send you your gold donation now!! I’ve been meaning to forever, but I forget often. <3

Urosh Uchiha.9732:

MailMail.6534:

I also feel as though Mesmer never gets in on the daily rotation or am I just imagining that?

Rarely as well. Engineers, Guardians and Elementalists surely are the most common.

I literally feel like every day I see one of those professions on the list.

I really like the feel of this build. Great job!

I actually used assassin’s ammy instead of zerker for the extra dmg. Also, instead of MoD, I used MoP. It does the same amount as Halting Strike without needing an interrupt on MoD. It also serves as an on-demand healing due to it’s extremely low CD.

MoD is probably better overall as a utility (stopping stomps/rezzes and interrupting heals) but I like the feel of MoP in a weird build like this.

edit: I also used Pack Runes. What was your rationale behind Centaur? I think there are plenty of other Power based runes that would be better, but maybe there’s something you’ve thought of that I didn’t.

I also feel as though Mesmer never gets in on the daily rotation or am I just imagining that?

Not touching this one.

Jack Angelfoot.2697:

After I just explained how to handedly beat a mesmer every time, all the whiners ignored it. This is a flame post. Just some bottom-tier players whining because they don’t get the purple butterfly animation.

Stop trying to explain to them how to beat mesmers, they don’t want to learn; they want to complain.

Good news! You know how much ArenaNet pays attention to logicless, skillless whiners? About as much as the girls in their middle school.

To those on this forum page who cannot beat mesmers, I have bad news. Stop trying, you never will. You need to pay attention to the game to do that. Which – judging by this post – you are incapable of doing.

+1

Looks interesting! I love the idea of someone working in the Inspiration tree and experimenting with Shattered Conditions. When I have some time, I’ll give some further critique, but nice job so far!

Looks like a nice build. Good job.

I love all the shade in this thread. lol

edit – We dueled on this build a while back and you rekted me. I imagine it being strong in 1v1s. A great home point defender. On paper I wonder if you have enough vigor for clone generation. I remember your constant stealthing being a major highlight of this build.

Julian.2971:

MailMail.6534:

^ Yes, this is scaring me. You’re allowed to switch during the 1:30 minute window before a match starts right?!

No, you get the complete penalization (deserter, loss and 0 points, and dishonor if enabled)

I’m on the forums, so idk if this is sarcastic or not, but if not, that is literally the dumbest thing ever.

^ Yes, this is scaring me. You’re allowed to switch during the 1:30 minute window before a match starts right?!

While I like that you’re giving PB the benefit of the doubt, I think the main problem here is that running more than 1 Mesmer in a comp in ranked play significantly lowers your chances of winning if skill levels are all equal.

I LOVE the idea of PB, and I’d be willing to test it out with you in unranked.

Ross Biddle.2367:

Amir.1570:

Ross Biddle.2367:

MailMail.6534:

Warlord of Chaos.7845:

Ross Biddle.2367:

DeWolfe.2174:

For all the passive AI work being done by phantasms and clones, a Mesmer should get toned down. It’s pretty much why Ranger Pet’s (cat’s/birds) got nerfed. Too much passive damage output by the AI’s allowing the Ranger to sit back.

Mesmer AI OP, please tone down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKHY6gJRhXM

Well done Ross. This clearly shows the OP Mesmer AI.

Listen, there’s nothing wrong with our Mesmer AI in that video. They just need to nerf dolyak movement speed and spam evasions, then we’ll have esports.

Pro tips on how to avoid clone aa spam.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QnRg6M56ABw#t=70

As warrior, spam “run forward in a direct line evade” and/or use attack skills. Watch as clones AA fly by to no effect.

You don’t fight competent people on your Warrior if you’re saying Warrior beats Mesmer. You can if you’re condi but that’s just a fail 1v1 mind set. Let’s talk about team fights though.

That’s not what’s being said here at all :p

He doesn’t understand how a debate works. He’s like a mix between a baby and pre-teen girl. It’s all “me me me! Look at me and my needs!” with random bouts of incessant crying.

Mesmer is rewarding in bottom tier play. Climb out of the noob/bottom tier, and maybe you’ll find other profession builds to complain about, Amir. There are a lot of resources that give advice on how to improve your skills and ability to help your team.

This thread is a great start!
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/pvp/How-to-make-a-difference-in-Solo-Q-s/first#post4668844

Denied Guild Wars has a great playlist on “How to TPvP: Tips and Tricks” I highly recommend him as well.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2BWjrZ0WtzvdLikgvzyIFZ8aOugJSa_L

Amir.1570:

Ross Biddle.2367:

MailMail.6534:

Warlord of Chaos.7845:

Ross Biddle.2367:

DeWolfe.2174:

For all the passive AI work being done by phantasms and clones, a Mesmer should get toned down. It’s pretty much why Ranger Pet’s (cat’s/birds) got nerfed. Too much passive damage output by the AI’s allowing the Ranger to sit back.

Mesmer AI OP, please tone down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKHY6gJRhXM

Well done Ross. This clearly shows the OP Mesmer AI.

Listen, there’s nothing wrong with our Mesmer AI in that video. They just need to nerf dolyak movement speed and spam evasions, then we’ll have esports.

Pro tips on how to avoid clone aa spam.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QnRg6M56ABw#t=70

As warrior, spam “run forward in a direct line evade” and/or use attack skills. Watch as clones AA fly by to no effect.

You don’t fight competent people on your Warrior if you’re saying Warrior beats Mesmer. You can if you’re condi but that’s just a fail 1v1 mind set. Let’s talk about team fights though.

Amir, you didn’t even watch the video. That’s how I know you are [once again] incapable of containing your ignorant rage and lack the tact or tenacity to engage in debate. I don’t know why people even respond to you still after all the ridiculous posting you’ve done in this forum.

Warlord of Chaos.7845:

Ross Biddle.2367:

DeWolfe.2174:

For all the passive AI work being done by phantasms and clones, a Mesmer should get toned down. It’s pretty much why Ranger Pet’s (cat’s/birds) got nerfed. Too much passive damage output by the AI’s allowing the Ranger to sit back.

Mesmer AI OP, please tone down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKHY6gJRhXM

Well done Ross. This clearly shows the OP Mesmer AI.

Listen, there’s nothing wrong with our Mesmer AI in that video. They just need to nerf dolyak movement speed and spam evasions, then we’ll have esports.

Mesmer is only OP against noobs and bottom tier players. Mesmer is actually severely UP in top tier play. This is why balancing for Mesmer has been so kittened up.

This Amir guy and the OP sound like bottom tier players. sigh. Take the advice listed in this thread. We aren’t hard to beat if skill-level is equal.

This is FANTASTIC and constructive! Thanks for being a positive and helpful member of the pvp community. +1

Nice post, Chaos. My assassin’s phantasm build is similar to this minus the iSwordsman (traited pistol and GS instead). Basically, you do a lot more kiting while letting your phantasms/clones do their job since they have the range to do so. You only go it for the burst of a frenzy if you know you can pull it off.

Yes, single-target dmg is awesome in builds like this, and the way you described it in comparison to a thief is spot on.

I think it should be totally random in ranked. I’m sick of foefire. The voting is very satisfying in unranked as is to me. I don’t get skyhammer/courtyard often, but when I do, I usually joke that we should 9v1 the person who voted for it. It’s nice to get those maps every once in a while.

mango.9267:

Still makes the bad maps possible, for the people dumb enough to enjoy them, but offers a better safeguard against that one troll that often ruins everyone else’s fun.

There’s nothing dumb about people who enjoy any particular map. To say such is extremely elitist and unhelpful.

I like the way it works now. I’d hate for Foefire to be the only map in conquest. The format would be even more stale than it already is.