Guild Wars 2

Illusion of Life —> Mimic --> Illusion of Life

Come on Anet, I’d love a multi target 10sCD on Confounding Suggestions!!

Carighan.6758:

Ah, modern players discussing why torment applying AA is underpowered.

I feel old.

I thought it. You said it. I’m literally LOL right now.

Back on track, I think the trait needs more flavor imo. We don’t even know how it works in its functioning state. Thanks Anet.

I’m a huge fan of Ineptitude. Confusion aside, the blind every 10s combined with Blinding Dissipation makes it a much better pick than Malicious Sorcery imo. The only way I’d consider taking it over Ineptitude is if it went back to the 50% buff to torment.

Ross Biddle.2367:

So aparently a lot of people have a human female mesmer toon. Who’d of thought?

Mesmer top 3 fav class after Ele and Guard.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/why-do-people-hate-mesmers/page/4#post5273565

I never get tired of watching your female Norn Mesmer kick butt.

I’m glad this was revisited! I had always sort of wondered about this topic.

I think the only magic Warrior’s use are signets.

Fanboys are cute.

There are several remarkable people who contribute to the Mesmer community. Some more vocal than others. We all do our part. We’ve always been a passionate group of butterflies.

StickerHappy.8052:

MailMail.6534:

Hard counters are called hard counters for a reason. It allows someone with less skill to easily beat someone with more skill due to the innate imbalances between two specific build archetypes.

Comparing Condi War/Mesmer versus thief is not a legitimate argument here. The reason you might have not had as much success is because Condi War =/= Condi Mesmer. To reiterate, the builds and mechanics are different.

This is so wrong. Hard counters should be “an equally skilled or almost equally skilled (10 to a 9.5) player will have a greater chance to kill you because of a class mechanic” Otherwise, there would be no point if he is less skilled, he will never beat you if he is less skilled, if he does then i do not know what to say. That logic that thieves hard counters mesmers is true BUT, assuming this is equal skill. If you pitted me against a D/P thief more less skilled than me? (i.e. He is 7 and I am a 10) Goodluck to that thief.

If you still believe on your argument, Create a thief and fight my shatter mesmer. I am expecting you to win most if not all matches.

I’m not wrong at all. lol Whether you call it “class mechanic” or I say “innate imbalance between two specific build archetypes”, it still theoretically allows someone at a skill level of 7 to beat someone at a 10. The person at 10 has to work harder than the person at 7 if 7 is a hard counter. Maybe the thieves you’re facing are more of a 3 instead of a 7. I don’t think most thief players are very skillful at all anyway.

I don’t have to create a thief to prove the point, because countless high skilled shattered Mesmers have gotten destroyed by theives that were awfully less skill than them. Go watch some streams. I didn’t know this was even an argument among Mesmers.

abc.5790:

Saiyan.1704:

People are forgetting that there would be a surplus of Beginners joining in on Ranked and Unranked play… that faster 30s wait time in queue isn’t going to remedy 3 newbie players on your team.

+1 Yeah, that was my concern. It still exists but hidden. The few ranked games I’ve played definitely had hotjoin types (zerging, double, triple capping etc). Luckily it ended up well since we were also going against hotjoin types.

unranked is a better environment for noobs than hotjoin in terms of long term learning. There’s literally nothing to gain from hotjoin outside of learning basic fighting mechanics for your profession. Hotjoin is actually one of the few things that almost turned me away from pvp…

Choppy.4183:

Ross Biddle.2367:

Condi mes was a thief hardcounter before the patch. If you played mes more you’d of known that -_-u

I don’t think you’re fully appreciating the skill difference here. I still had to look at my skill bar to figure out what to do next and wasn’t sure where the burns and bleeds were coming from. That I haven’t played enough mes to know condi mes was a hard counter to thief should be evidence enough that I have no business dominating them without breaking a sweat.

Even for a hard counter build, that’s ridiculous. Further, I doubt I would have had nearly as much success running a condi or hybrid warrior against them, and I actually know that class very well. Finally, I’ve been wrecking pretty serious face in wvw, considering how bad I am, using a PU shatter build.

Hard counters are called hard counters for a reason. It allows someone with less skill to easily beat someone with more skill due to the innate imbalances between two specific build archetypes.

Comparing Condi War/Mesmer versus thief is not a legitimate argument here. The reason you might have not had as much success is because Condi War =/= Condi Mesmer. To reiterate, the builds and mechanics are different.

Choppy.4183:

ASP.8093:

DrDivine.5378:

it’s about on the same skill level as other classes now.

Err, good?

I mean, every class should be a class worth playing, accessible to anyone who likes the general style and flow of it.

The way to show off your skill level is to win, not to play trashy stuff.

No, it’s considerably worse than that. I made a condi mesmer in a private arena today (no idea if it’s a good build or not, I slapped it together) and it was insanely easy to repeatedly beat two very capable thieves in my guild.

#SpoilerAlert: Condition Mesmer counters thieves. It would be like if I made a thief, slapped a build together and then dueled a pre-revamp power shatter Mesmer. Chances are I’d have a pretty good shot at taking him down…

StickerHappy.8052:

Ranger not needing a rework? Are you serious?

By rework, I meant, those are the only classes NOT over-buffed. I see Necro/Ranger as bottom tier classes unfortunately. Warrior is in a good place. Thief/Engi are nearly in a good place. Guardian/Ele/Mesmer are top tier.

Anyway, we are overbuffed dude. One example, What was the uniqueness of Shatter builds before? IP.

Sorry, but this second assertion is blatantly incorrect. Shatter builds existed without IP before. The difference is that the ONLY shatter build that was [arguably] viable was 4/4/0/0/6 with IP & DE. IP makes shattering viable in and of itself; considering shattering is our class mechanic, I don’t know why this shouldn’t be baseline.

Guess what any build can now have an on demand shatter.

Again, this is a good thing and not to be considered an “overbuff”. Anet finally has made shattering less of a punishment. See above reply.

IE which is also a very powerful trait made baseline. Blink is a 1200 range stun breaker/port now. The new trait further bolsters this. 1200 range stun breaker/port, 24 second cd, 2 second reflect. adept major.

While IE is an arguable subject, I see nothing wrong with the Blink buff. We are compensated with such evades due to being a light profession that can’t stand to be in the thick of battle.

15% Phantasm damage baseline. Tealots tested this with me, you know how much i zerker hits me? 8k in full glass. All 4 hits. One phantasm. Can be casted on range, in stealth, does not break stealth.

Again, your issue should be directed towards power stat creep among all classes. Other classes are doing similar dmg if not more. Stealth is a separate issue that I probably agree with you on.

StickerHappy.8052:

We got overbuffed people. Not hating. Just Keeping it real.

The only traits that need re-balancing are CS and PU. This is in addition to a game-wide scaling of power.

We are hardly the only class that got “overbuffed”. Outside of bugs, the only classes not needing much of a reworking are Warrior, Ranger and Necro.

Aomine.5012:

Iavra.8510:

serenke.4806:

Come on guys. You complain about incoming nerfs when we didn’t do anything but ask for nerfs ever since the specialization patch. Of course the shining beacons of our community that asked for those nerfs haven’t commented here yet.

Mesmers have been nerfed every patch since release and complaining about it. This time we went the opposite route by asking for nerfs and did not receive any.

You should thank us for our masterful reverse psychology.

Funny thing is even after those unimportant nerfs… -snip-

appears out of a bursting cloud of smoke like Team Rocket STOP RIGHT THERE!! I can’t even read your post past that sentence.

The maim nerf was knee-jerk. It was the first time since launch that Mesmer was able to condition burst. Now that playstyle is no more. The Healing Prism “re-balancing” is a nerf in my eyes, because 10s is just too long of an ICD despite its buffed healing power. Instead of actually fixing the problem with Vampiric Aura, they simply nerfed the skill to not have much of an impact at all.

Overall, these nerfs are important because it simply reinforces the same play style Mesmer has always had (power shatter burst). Instead, they continue to limit our options to go condition or support-based. This is not to say we’re in a bad place, because obviously we’re a top tier profession now, but it is worth saying that they are completely nerfing the wrong things on Mesmer and unnecessarily reducing build diversity.

I didn’t know people still played in Hot Join.

#MindWrack

I always enjoy watching your videos.

I don’t know if I’d really want to focus on Mimic-ing Illusion of Life. That just means you have to constantly pick up people that keep going down. I’d actually replace Mimic with Arcane Thievery in this case. I just think there’s plenty more utilities worth mimic-ing than IoL, and if you’re using Mimic, you better have those two utilities worth doubling up on! haha

Overall, this looks pretty nice and is worth exploring! I love the use of s/s. I imagine that set should see more play in pvp with CS and better access to traits that might buff pSwordsman (phantasmal haste for example) who m btw hits like a semi.

nearlight.3064:

I think its an okay build, but you’re not going to be all that great in larger (more than 2-3 oponents) fights due to all the cross cleanse by eles/guardians/mantra mes that are on most “good” teams.

Mesmers aren’t really able to stand on point for a good amount of time even with the support of their team. Otherwise, they have to burn through their mantra charges or self-sustaining utilities. That being said, them having to range will mean less cleansing for their team.

As my previous post alludes to, I think it’s best if Maim builds try to trend more towards a supportive role rather than “condition bursting”. That’s the role of engineers and necros, not Mesmers.

1v2 Fights
Typically, you’re able to hold off for quite some time. Blinding Dissipation in conjunction with Ineptitude completely rekts enemies, messing up their entire rotations. It is not to be underrated. Don’t worry about contesting the point. Most people will chase you around which is great for torment. The idea is to just distract and annoy them long enough for backup to come or for other points to be captured. Very good here.

Team Fights
Again, it’s worth mentioning that some maim builds can support the team in different ways. Bountiful Disillusionment and Temporal Enchantment are the two builds that I’ve tried the most with, and both prove to be very helpful in different ways. Going Domination is best if you’d like to take more okittengressive approach (CS/Rending Shatter, Shattered Concentration, Powerblock). I honestly think that the better trend for Maim builds is to go more supportive than aggressive. Here’s some key observations:

• Moderate AOE pressure with confusion/torment. Single-target confusion is very strong. You alone will get enemies to use their self-sustaining utilities which opens them up to enemy attacks.
• Dmg mitigation from team with blinds. Note that dodging AOE attacks procs Ineptitude, which blinds every enemy whose attack you dodge/evaded. Ineptitude is a very strong trait. Add in Blinding Dissipation, and you’re mitigating a lot of dmg as well as keeping a constant stream of AOE confusion.
• Stomping enemies via shatters (blind and/or stability on shatter).
• Rezzing allies via shatters (blind and/or stability on shatter) or Medic’s Feedback with Resistance.
• This is just my experience, but Time Warp with Temporal Enchantment has 100% guaranteed every team fight where I used it. Without even mentioning the Resistance and Quickness, Slow completely rekts enemy teams. I literally smash my face into the keyboard and win fights when I have TimeWarp up.

Builds I Use

• Bountiful Condition Shatter: http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-R3SZ;1VPV1187wW-71;9;4UTW;0258238056;4TwW6U;1jzyvjzyv2k

• Temporal Condition Shatter: http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-R3SZ;1VPV1127wWV71;9;4VTW;0048238056;4TwW6U;1jzyvjzyv2D

Thanks for your observations. Of course, there’s a lot of variety in the way you can play maim now which might lead to a slight differing of opinion on our conclusions. i.e. The choice between pistol and torch. I prefer Magic Bullet to the additional survivability Prestige gives. It gives you AOE control and 2 confusion procs. I’ll include mine now:

Contesting Points 1v1
Elementalist : If they are diamond skin, you have 100% of losing. It’s best to disengage long enough for backup to come. Otherwise, the key to defeating them is to not burst but to spread your confusion/torment applications out in a consistent pattern. They will often clear the condis, but they have to furiously click skills and move throughout the entire engagement. They typically melt themselves because of this innate style of play.
Engineer : lol so easy. Simply dodge and mitigate their burst, and you’ve won the match. You might have to initially get off the point in order to do this, but they are easy pickings afterwards. idk what happened to all of their condi removal, but I have had the easiest time against engis more than any other class on Condi Shatter. One Scepter Block sends them into a tizzy!
Guard : Your hardest counter after diamond skin ele. This match up depends on your maim set up. Unfortunately, my two builds don’t exactly help my case. You can’t really contest the point without eating a lot of dmg and letting all your clones die. If you have access to reflects, time them wisely.
Mesmer : This can be very hard. The good thing is that Mesmer burst rotations are easy to predict. You see a mirror blade coming? Get out of there. You see a clone leap right on top of you? Get out of there. The problem is that if you get locked down and your stunbreaker is on CD, you need to pray for Dwayna that you don’t get 1-shot. Otherwise, the battle is in your favor. Despite the new improvements, dps mesmers still can’t contest points compared to other builds.
Ranger : Another class that you shouldn’t have trouble with. Very easy to get the Scepter 2 block off. The issue will be condi Rangers (which are typically the best rangers in the game). Save your condi clears for when they burst. Don’t get entangled. Most of the time, it should be a decent match up.
Thief : Blinding Dissipation says hello. Their rotations are painfully easy to predict at this point. They have to come into melee range in order to do any big dmg which just happens to be Maim’s strongest position. A good thief still has 60% odds of beating you, but there aren’t many good thieves out there. A good thief will go in and out of melee, letting you waste your CDs. Remember, they don’t have CDs, so their attacks recharge faster. There’s not much you can do, but the point will always be in your favor regardless.
Warrior : I haven’t had issues with warriors yet. You typically either have a lot of toughness, self-sustain or both long enough to survive through a Rampage or any of their dmg nullifying stances. Even the condi clearing shouts aren’t enough to putpace your shatters if you time them right. Switch weapons often to proc poison. Easy fight here.

Funny you bring this up. I just sent my friend a message about Temporal Condi Shatter:
http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-R3SZ;1VPV1127wWV71;9;4VTW;0048238056;4TwW6U;1jzyvjzyv2D

You have ok AOE pressure from shatters, but the highlight is the self-sustain (Restorative Illusions) as well as the awesome team fight support you have with Medic’s Feedback, Null Field and Time Warp. The latter has won every single fight that I’ve used it in. It also doesn’t hurt that I was on a 5-person team on teamspeak, so we can coordinate when we use it. If you aren’t on an organized team, this build is great for holding home (except against diamond skin eles and dps guards), but it’s best with the team.

The build I was using prior was Bountiful Condi Shatter. This offered the ability to guarantee stomps as well as offer some minor boon share on shatters. While it was very defensive in nature with reflects and the ability to do more dmg (Staff CD as well as increased condi duration), it has less sustain in the way of healing and condi clear. It also doesn’t do much at all in the way of supporting the team outside of some boon share. It’s more selfish in nature. Here it is, if you prefer that build:
http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-R3SZ;1VPV1187wW-71;9;4UTW;0258238056;4TwW6U;1jzyvjzyv2k

Change PU back to adding 1 additional second to stealth abilities. THEN buff Veil to last for 5s and Mass Invisibility for 7. Maybe more or less depending on what they want…

In my head, I imagine Anet buffed PU for WvW Mesmers. What they forgot, however, is that the skills that benefit most from the PU buff was Torch 4 and Decoy… They simply should have buffed Veil/MI and left PU entirely alone.

VenerateWarlock.2816:

Anyone else hate the new trait system for the Mesmer?

Well there’s you. I don’t know of many others.

Previously, Mesmers had traits that would boost and add effects to the utility skills. Now, it’s all about shatters.

They’re finally enhancing Mesmer’s basic class mechanic and making it more fluid. I think this is a good thing.

I used a build based around Glamours, where the traits added extra conditions to them. All but one trait for Glamours have been taken away now. This is completely disappointing because of the amount of fun, pride, and work that I had in that build.

While specialized glamour builds in the way of being a condition playstyle have been taken away, the new grand master trait actually makes each of them and Medic’s Feedback very effective in a supportive way. Time Warp as well is much easier to take with these additional benefits.

It’s not only that build, though. The same thing happened for Mantras.

Mantras have been infinitely buffed. They’re easier to use just like glamours.

I don’t really see the point in the new system at all. It’s less challenging, because of the stats no longer being bound to traits. There is less customization, because there are fewer traits, and an absolute limit to 3 trees, instead of being able to split up the points as the player sees fit for their style. Furthermore, one of the things that made GW2 different (not using trees) is gone.

I just wish ANet would actually add instead of taking away.

More customization but less effective builds. If you prefer this type of Mesmer, then I’m glad you’re in the minority. There are a ton more viable builds available. If you’d like me to list some off for you, I can send you a private message.

serenke.4806:

Come on guys. You complain about incoming nerfs when we didn’t do anything but ask for nerfs ever since the specialization patch. Of course the shining beacons of our community that asked for those nerfs haven’t commented here yet.

Oh darling! “The shining beacons of our community” have only asked for a nerf of Confounding Suggestions and PU. And our suggestions on re-balancing those traits have been very well-received. Don’t indulge in conjecture and hyperbole when trying to attack others. It just makes you sound ridiculously bitter.

As a person with the ability to be objective, I don’t think it’s unfair to ask that all professions be balanced. You people attacking mesmer mains for having that mentality need to take a breather.

Tristan.5280:

So i recently start playng with my mesmer in pvp, and in one of my first match one of my teammates told me that i am using an OP class and started telling baad things of me. And this happened to others matches and other players too.

Why all this hate? I though that the most hated class was thief, not mesmer

btw, i was using a burst shatter build that a friend of mine suggested me. Is that build so OP?

Because currently, Mesmer is a top tier profession for the first time in history, and no one knows how to process this change. Well maybe they were a thing pre-glamour/confusion nerf but still… it’s be a long time.

Like with every other class post-revamp, there’s probably a few things on our class that should be… re-balanced.

Helseth used PU today in the ESL Monthly Final.

Good players can use PU very well in pvp. If they’re in stealth the entire match, they aren’t a good player…

At least we weren’t nerfed… to our knowledge.

What they should have done is simply buffed Veil to 7s and MI to 10 and not buffed PU at all.

StickerHappy.8052:

Sagat.3285:

Something tells me mesmer is next…

lol, mesmer got knee jerk reactions even before the patch hit.

MtD, (While testing on a golem /facepalm) Confusing Combatants

And we already got the Power Block damage fix, you know..

They’re never slow to fix bugs that negatively impact Mesmer effectiveness. On the flip side, it took them 2+ years to fix pWarden. Two of our weapon traits still don’t work now. I can list many more examples.

messiah.1908:

i think this build depend more on group comp

if you got thief, ranger, warrior, guardian, 3 of them probably wont get the distortion as it 300r and probably position them self far from each other

it may work on far or close where the point radios is shorter but mid

i will give it a try

That doesn’t make sense to me. Warrior, Guardian and even Elementalist are usually right on top of any given point for most of the engagement. Thieves have to go into melee range in order to shank their enemies. This point is where thief is most strong and also their most weakest, which is why they probably benenfit the most from this build. Additionally, all points are of equal size except for the mid point of Legacy. That being said, of course some points give way to more melee combat than others…

Mesmers/Rangers/Necros are the classes that stay slightly off point, only going in for the kill when they see the opportunity arise. Those are the only 3 classes that typically don’t take full advantage of the AOE distortions.

Let me know how it feels for you. I’m going to do some more recording now on Cho Reiki.

Sad and perplexed to see some of the comments I’ve seen these last three pages…

I will say I think Anet has done a good job at representing queer people in the game in a natural and non-gimmicky way. While I’m almost always mad at you guys from a pvp balancing stand point, I’m usually more than satisfied when it comes to your lore and the fantasy world you provide. gg Anet!!

Yeah, that’s some interesting speculation, Konig!

Since he’s not in the city’s council, it wasn’t up to Evon to sign off on the Consortium bid for the surveying and rebuilding effort, though presumably he went along with it to get himself new office and vault space in the bargain

Yeah, Evon definitely got some great new working space with the new LA set up, so I’m not feeling bad for him at all. I mean, have you seen the black weapon specialists vault?! #breathtaking If anything, Ellen Kiel seems to have forced a mutually beneficial treaty between BLTC and the Consortium.

It’ll be interesting to see how things develop with both companies gaining a lot from the rebuilding of LA.

Leodon.1564:

The general problem I have with distortions is that I think it will be difficult to use them as a support tool for others and that you’ll mainly use it to prevent damage to yourself. Do you find that you are providing good support to your team through distortions? It sounds like it might be possible if you are good at using them but sounds difficult to pull off.

Since this build is a melee fighter (you fight on point where the battle is most intense), it doesn’t take much practice to ensure that your distortions are transferred over to allies. The only allies who aren’t getting support are those ranging.

That being said, I’ve found this build to be best paired with bursty thieves who are constantly coming on and off the point in order to shank enemies. Basically, it helps burst classes to survive on point so that they can get the job done!

Having faced a few more Power Mesmers using PU lately, I must say it is extremely frustrating.

The difference between Mesmer and Thief is that thief has to be on top of you in melee in order to burst. Mesmer doesn’t (you don’t need a 4 clone shatter to knock someone down several pegs) AND Mesmer’s burst is AOE. I see issues here with PU.

This is super cool in theory. I haven’t seen many people talk about this trait, but 2 seconds seems very strong especially considering that you are already in the Illusions trait line with Illusionist Celerity.

Maybe try recording some videos for us, and thanks for testing this out for the community, darling!

messiah.1908:

take blind when shatter instead of distortion which mitigate dmg

There are definitely different types of support builds you could create. This is a phantasm build. Shattering cuts down on your self-sustain via Signet of Ether. The clones are actually very tough. There’s not many times where I have less than 2 clones up.

Ross Biddle.2367:

So my first question is what role is this build intended for? Point holder? Pure support? Obviously not roaming DPS :p. In our 5 man mes comp, Chaos was running Blurred Inscriptions with boon share as mid point holder. But in the end he moved his boon share build away from Blurred Inscriptions because of the negative impact Distortion can have on maintaining a point. While, arguably this could be offset by the presence of other team mates (maintaining Chao’s survive), your build takes it a step further by granting distortion to teammates in the same second you have it. Your support will be costing your team the point :/

The build is intended to support your teammates during big fights. Of course, distortions can not hold a point extremely well, but the emphasis is on mitigating damage for your team, some AOE healing (Healing Prism nerf SUCKS) and boon sharing. If your teammates aren’t doing their job at downing enemies, then you have a bigger problem with your team comp that is outside of your control and that of this build. Ideally, this build pairs very well with zerkers who are very squishy. Again, if they aren’t finishing off opponents with your support then something else is wrong.

I will say that I haven’t had issues with this specific critique. The only time the point is decapped is when I’m 2v1 at mid alone. I have no issue surviving, but sometimes it gets hairy. 1v1, I don’t believe I’ve ever decapped my own point from the signet use.

I have the videos captured, but I’m in the process of editing. I might send you the hard copies, Ross.

Based on your limited knowledge of the game, I can only pray to Kormir that you are blessed with the blinding truth of light when it comes to the Mesmer class. SIGH

-10000000000000

Sword/Focus+Staff is my all time favorite weapon set for PvP. All 3 weapons are designed for melee fighting and gives you a lot of self-defense. I love the interrupt style, and this weapon set helps with AOE interrupts a lot.

I’m also becoming a huge fan of sword/pistol+Staff for similar reasons.

I’ll take you calling my 3 builds cheesy as a compliment. Thanks for the tips everyone.

2/3 of my builds are more melee fighters than kiters which is why I probs have the best luck on Power Shatter.

trooper.2650:

Tried the build MailMail posted and it was fun with certain professions, but mesmers.
Power-interrupt mesmers can have the opening on you thanks to the 1200 range MoD, followed by mirror blade blink shatter which puts a lot of pressures from start. So I found myself often on the defensive side, running away, trying to let pistol doing his bleeds and conditions ticking.

Yeah, I find the only hard match up to be that of guardian and diamond skin ele for several obvious reasons. Ironically, I have more trouble with power mesmers on my other two builds. The key is baiting out a good Scepter 2 every chance you get and early (Chaos Storm, Spatial Surge and Illusionary Wave are easy to block). It instantly puts power Mesmers on the the defensive since they don’t have a choice but to rapidly keep moving even if they haven’t cleared the condition. Other tips on facing power Mesmers with my maim build:

• Get into Melee range. Even if you don’t have a full clone shatter, the aoe Blind will protect you, and the 2+ stacks of confusion and stack of torment will slowly eat at them. Letting them kite is the worst thing you can do as it gives them free fire/lightning procs and the opportunity to set up their burst. Don’t run away. Get in their face.
• Space out your condi applications in between letting clones do the dmg. This way, if they have ample condi clear, you can continue to apply dmg even after they clear.
• I can’t emphasize enough to ensure that your Scepter Block connects with the Mesmer instead of a clone.

I do wonder why Evon would willingly allow the Consortium to be so involved in the rebuilding of LA, essentially extending their influence. Maybe he refused to offer his huge sum of wealth in order to spite Kiel?

jportell.2197:

Furious interruption should not strip boons…

Why?

Because we have shattered concentration. What good is shattered concentration if furious interruption does that?

Makes no sense…

You wouldn’t be able to strip stability with Furious Interruption. Obviously, there would still be a strongplace for Shattered Concentration which is also AOE and more team-oriented. FI would be more selfish in nature. Additionally, one is shatter and one is interrupt. That makes a world of a difference. See Bountiful Disillusionment vs Chaotic Interruption. One is for builds wanting to shatter more. The other is for those focusing on interrupts..

It makes a lot of sense actually why the two skills would be different in use.

Hello peeps! Mesmer main here! I’ve noticed that since the revamp, I have had more difficulty against guards than I ever had before. Guards, especially of the dps variety, have always been good at destroying clones, but pressure has increased a lot with burning application and condi removal. It seems as though I have the most trouble with guards more so than any other class now (Blinding Dissipation alone has helped even the playing field against thieves).

The builds I use:
Condi Shatter: http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-R3SZ;1VPV1187wW-71;9;4UTW;0258238056;4TwW6U;1hoHAhoHA2G
Obviously, the issue here is that guards clear conditions so fast. I don’t really add enough pressure unless I have a teammate with me. I can’t help but feel that when I beat a guardian on this build that the guardian was simply less skilled than I (spamming with lots of confusion or chasing with stacks of torment and burning through their condi clears).

Power Signet Shatter: http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-Rg-FR;0k2l61y6gWF71;9;4STW;0047238037;4INlBC;1jzyvjzyv5P
I have the best odds here because of the the frequent distortions/reflects and ability to burst at the right time in addition to long stun durations & Mental Anguish burst. Still, it’s a pretty rough match up for me, and I can go down at any second if I make a single mistake.

Support Signets: http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-RZ-Fc;0k2l61S7cWF71;9;4SUV;0048156237;42xlFU;1rRnCrRnC3r
Even being really tanky, killing all of my clones usually spells doom unless I can spread them out enough and last long enough until support comes. I can sometimes reflect the whirling blade if Focus4 isn’t on CD.

No matter which of my 3 builds I use, I still find guards somewhat troublesome. Luckily, I play with pretty skilled people most of the time, so I’m still winning matches, but I would like to brush up on my guard match ups. Some pointers would be much appreciated.

Unranked seems to be more chaotic than ranked. Try doing ranked while we are in the off season. And when I become frustrated with solo unranked, I grab 2 or more teammates and steamroll over the competition. Sometimes simply getting one more person that you know is coordinating with you makes the difference.

Overall, I have a good ranked solo q experience. Sorry your experiences haven’t been the same. Goodluck and Lyssa bless!

I’d love to give them more time to balance, but it seems like they are in quite the rush to nerf Mesmers. They definitely have the time based on some of the silly changes they’ve made to our class.

Consortium <3 <3 <3

They remind me of Team Rocket from Pokemon. They are silly yet nefarious at the same time! I love getting a glimpse into their organizational culture.

And besides, them being the foil to Evon & the BLTC is the only way to make the latter look positive by comparison!! haha

I need Brandon to come explain himself and why he left out this important current information on Ranger pets ruining the game.

ronpierce.2760:

MailMail.6534:

This profession is ruining the game.

No your class is, and it’s OP and has been in every WTS game since GW1. It needs deleted.

Lyssa approves.

I’ve always thought Furious Interruption should strip 2 boons and gain quickness & fury. I don’t think there are many situations where it would be better to take Furious Interruption over Blurred Inscriptions or Shattered Concentration. That being said, it’s not a bad trait and definitely has some niche uses where you could pull of some amazing plays (stomps, mantras, Confusing Images, GS skills, Frenzy etc). This is in terms of PvP.

For PvE, I see Shattered Concentration being utterly useless. Furious Interruption is much better here but slightly less useful than signets.

Overall, I don’t think it needs much of a change. Stripping boons and gaining fury/quickness would make sense to me, but I think it’s balanced across the game modes.